Hinduism is about discovery, instead of a hand-me down approach towards finding truth. The various gods are representations of various attributes to concentrate upon. For instance, Shiva represents austerity, Lakshmi represents prosperity, Saraswati represents knowledge, Shakti represents valor and so on.
All Hindus worship a one Supreme Being, though by different names.This is because the peoples of India with different languages and cultures have understood the one God in their own distinct way. Through history there arose four principal Hindu denominations Saivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism and Smartism.
For Sai vites, God is Siva. For Shaktas, Goddess
Shakti is supreme. For Vaish-navites, Lord Vishnu is God. For Smartas who see
all Deities as reflections of the One God the choice of Deity is left to the
devotee. Due to this diversity, Hindus are profoundly tolerant of other
religions, respecting the fact that each has its own pathway to the one God. One
of the unique understandings in Hinduism is that God is not far away, living in
a remote heaven, but is inside each and every soul, in the heart and
consciousness, waiting to be discovered.
