Ishvara: Difference between revisions

Ishvara is a Sanskrit word meaning “Lord of the universe” or “Lord.” In Hinduism, '''Ishvara''' is seen as the “immediate personal aspect of the supreme impersonal Godhead.”<ref>R. S. Nathan, comp., ''Symbolism in Hinduism'' (Bombay: Central Chinmaya Mission Trust, 1983), p. 13.</ref> We cannot know God unless we know him personified, and God personifies himself in extensions of himself to whom he gives spiritual and physical form. In reality, there is only one God, but the one God appears to us in his many manifestations. Thus, the many gods in Hinduism are simply rays of light from the one central Source.