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Up3
Hinduism is said to be one of the oldest religions in the world. It is a polytheistic religion and there are thirty-three types of deities in this religion.
Religion at its core teaches us to be tolerant and spread peace. Even though there are several religions in the world, all of them have the same teachings. Also, religions spread through a process called diffusion. As the name suggests, diffusion is the process of religions getting diffused into different cultures of the world. This is also one of the reasons why different religions have similarities among them.
Hinduism being one of the oldest religions will undoubtedly have similarities with other religions of the world because of the above-mentioned factors.
Some religions closely related to Hinduism are Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. But there are other religions, which are seemingly unrelated to Hinduism, that have many similarities with it.
The ancient religions of Egypt have deities which are quite similar to Hindu deities. For example, the Egyptian Sun God Ra and the Hindu Sun God Surya. They both share the same purpose, which is life-giving energy. Then there are Osiris and Yama who are both associated with the afterlife. Horus and Vishnu are said to be the preservers of cosmic order and righteousness. Bastet and Durga are said to be the female warrior deities who symbolise feminine strength. Thoth and Brahma are associated with the creation of the universe.
The Greek deities also have many similarities with Hindu deities. The concept of the Holy Trinity of Hindu Deities, namely, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva is very similar to the three supreme gods of the Greeks, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades.
Zeus is said to be the lightning god who has a thunderbolt as a weapon. In Hinduism, Indra is called the god of the sky and rain and he uses thunderbolts whenever he is angered.
Heracles is said to be the epitome of strength in Greece while Bhim is the Hindu deity of strength.
The Greek serpent Lernaean Hydra is similar to the Kaliya Naag in Hinduism. The stories surrounding them are also quite similar. While the Lernaean Hydra, the nine-headed serpent, was killed by Heracles, the thousand-headed Kaliya Naag was killed by Krishna.
The Greek God of Death known as Hades is similar to The Hindu God of Death Yama. Hades resides in the Underworld whereas Yama resides in Patal as per texts.
In Greek texts, Apollo is the sun god and in Hindu texts, Surya is said to be the sun god.
Athena in Greek texts resembles Durga in Hindu texts. Both are fierce goddesses of war who represent feminine energy.In the Abrahamic religion of Christianity, we can see the holy trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit which can be loosely compared to the Hindu trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
We have various deities in various religions and although the names vary from culture to culture, they all share the same purpose which is to spread the message of peace and tolerance.
- This topic was modified 1 year ago by .
- This topic was modified 1 year ago by .
Up3Sanatan Dharm is the oldest existing religion in the whole world, so it wouldn’t be wrong to say that it has inspired many other world religions. And there are many similarities between Hindu Deities and Deities from other religions. Not only deities, the teachings are also pretty much the same.
While religions such as Buddhism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism share the same belief with Hinduism i.e. of righteousness and are even called sister religions of Hinduism/Sanatan, the Greek Gods and Japanese Deities show connections with Hindu Gods.
The Shinto Religion Of Japan
A few years back when I was watching an anime named “Naruto”, I was surprised to hear the terms “Indra” and “Ashura” referred to as the ancestors of the two main clans. Fast-forward to now when I found out that the connection between our deities is much more significant than how it is shown in an anime series. The Shinto religion from Japan might not have any particular divine beings who started the religion unlike Hinduism but the deities in both are as similar as they could be.
1. Shri Ganesh And Kangiten
Both Ganesh Ji and Deity Kangiten are
humans with the head of an elephant
and both of them are known as the Gods
who remove all the obstacles of their
devotees and are called “Vinayak”
2. Kuber And Bishamonten
They are both known as Gods of wealth
and the punishers of evil. They are also
called “The Protector Of Wealth”.
3. Saraswati And Benzaitensama
Both of these Goddesses are known
as the personification of
Knowledge, Music and Poetry. They both have
a stringed musical instrument in
their hands and inspire millions of
musicians, poets and/or artists in general.
4. Yam And Enma
Regarded as the Gods Of Death, both
Yam and Enma have the powers to
judge the lifelong acts of a human and
punish them for their sins. Basically,
They are the controllers of Hell or Patal Lok.
Now these are only a few of the many examples of deities that are completely similar in both the religions. The main reason behind these many detailed similarities between deities is that both Hinduism and Shinto are said to have originated from the sun.
Not only the Shinto religion but the Greek Gods, known as Zeus, Poseidon and Hades are quite similar to The Hindu Gods Indra, Varuna and Yama respectively.
Both Zeus and Indra Are Kings of Gods and have a thunderbolt for a weapon. They have similar abodes and both of them have slayed a sea-monster.
The Protectors of aquatic life and the rulers of the oceans, Varuna and Poseidon are similar as they both are known for controlling the oceans. Varuna uses a pash for a weapon and Poseidon uses a golden trident.
Yama and Hades are both known as the rulers of the Netherworld or Patal Lok, who decide which human will go to heaven and who goes to hell.
Also, In both religions, there are gods of love and desires. Kamdev in Hinduism and Cupid in ancient Greek religion are both known for connecting people and making them fall in love with each other by shooting them with their arrows. They are the purest of Gods fulfilling people’s sensual desires.
So, these are some of the many connections Hindu Gods have with deities from other world religions. While some of these are not be backed by any evidence or proofs, we may never know if these connections even mean anything or are these pure coincidences as Albert Einstein once said“Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous”.
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