Question

Hindu teachings state that there is a single divine essence in the universe but also state that there are 330 million gods. to use a nonreligious example, it is somewhat like when one white light is split by a prism, it transforms into a rainbow of colors. your questions:

1) would it be accurate to use this analogy as a way to understand the 330 million gods of hinduism? (why or why not? )
2) what would be another nonreligious example to illustrate the one essence yet the presence of multiple gods?

Answer 1

1) would it be accurate to use this analogy as a way to understand the 330 million gods of hinduism? (why or why not? )

Yes, the analogy is quite accurate. The 330 million gods in hinduism represent vastly different things, they are like the color of a rainbow, but they come from a single entity.

2) what would be another nonreligious example to illustrate the one essence yet the presence of multiple gods?

In a way, it would be like the evolution of biological species: Animals, plants, bacteria, fungi, archaea, and protista, represent the six biological kingdoms, and include very different species, however, they all have one common ancestor from which they evolved.