God and Gender in Hinduism - Shiva and Vishnu

Shiva and Vishnu

In Vaishnavism and Shaivism, which are exclusive monotheistic denominations of Hinduism, and, like the Judaeo-Christian traditions, God, Vishnu or Shiva is personified as male when, in fact, God transcends gender and gender is simply used for embodied human beings to worship. For example, Shaivites and Vaishnavites worship God in non-anthropomorphic images, the linga and saligram respectively. Furthermore, for example, the principle that God's true nature is sexless is emphasized in the Vishnu sahasranama, a prayer reciting the 1000 names of Vishnu. Just as Muslims focus on (God) Allah's 99 "attributes" that are stated in the Qur'an, the holy book of the Muslims, many Hindus worship Vishnu daily by chanting his names which are also attributes.

Thus, the first few names, of Vishnu sahasranama, in particular, do not describe features of Vishnu in detail and hence are not anthropomorphic in nature and instead focus on His inherent nature or characteristics such as pervading the universe and as destroyer of sin. While Vishnu is commonly portrayed with human features, Swami Tapasyananda, in his book, Bhakti Schools of Vedanta, reminds readers that Vishnu pervades everything and is not anthropomorphic. Vishnu has no particular material form but can manifest in any form, and is a center of all force, power, will, auspiciousness, goodness, beauty, grace, responsiveness, etc. As Swami Tapasyananda said, "Vishnu is the Indwelling Spirit in all beings and the whole cosmos constitute His body." As Vishnu is the all-pervading Spirit and the Supreme Personality, anthropomorphism is deemphasized in Vishnu sahasranama. Thus, like Judaism and Islam, God's inherent nature transcends gender but Vishnu has been traditionally referred to using male grammatical gender.

Additionally,the power of God in those religions is anthropomorphically viewed as female, or Shakti. However, God and his power are indivisible, unitary, and the same. The analogy is that fire represents God and the actual heat Shakti. In one example, Lord Śiva assumed a form and split into two halves of male and female indicating the origin of the Ardhanarishvara - the union of substance and energy, the Being and his Shakti (force).