Are there 330 million Gods in Hinduism?

That in Hinduism there are 330 million Gods is a misinformation created by non-Hindu (mostly western) scholars. Nothing could be more damning than such a misinterpretation to the religion. According to Hindu Puranas (Holy mythology), there are a category of extra-terrestrial beings called Devas, whose abode is Indra Lokha (or Deva lokha or Swarga, the Heaven). According to Hindu mythology and belief, people who do extraordinary good deeds in this earth, after their death get a higher birth and they reach the Deva Lokha and live there as Devas, enjoying the fruits of their good deeds. The count of such Devas is normally referred to as 330 million.

The word Deva is also used to glorify Hindu Gods in poetic expression in hymns and perhaps this usage has been misinterpreted by ill-informed scholars to assume that all the 330 million Devas are Gods!

Devas are no doubt described as more evolved, more powerful and more enjoying beings; they have no physical body. Their existence is only in the form of subtler body (prana) and their enjoyment is again in the form of subtler pleasures only. In fact, according to Veda, Devas' dependence for happy well being is linked to the humans' sacrifice of food and other materials, conveyed through "Yagnya"- Fire Sacrifice.

Devas do not have eternal existence. Once they have completed or depleted their accumulated good karmas by enjoying the fruits of their past good deeds, they have to come back to this earth to take birth again.

Now that the confusion about Devas and Gods are cleared, the next question comes: In Hinduism, there are definitely multiple forms of God. How do you explain it?

It should be understood that Hinduism has multiple facets, multiple schools of philosophies and multiple sub-sects but all ultimately leading to one highest truth. Hinduism is not a religion of multiple Gods as some non-Hindus wrongly believe. Hinduism actually accepts worshiping and adoring various forms of the One God - called Brahman, Parabrahman or Paramatman. Hinduism recognizes the fact that different people have different tastes, temperaments and capacity of intake in the matter of religion. Hence it offers 'different strokes for different folks'.

Hinduism permits a worshiper to adore a specific God form, whose looks and attributes are most appealing to him; it permits him to adore that God to be the all pervading, supreme being. Great spiritual masters emphatically state that God will definitely manifest in the particular form that a devotee loves. There are countless Hindu saints who have had divine vision of their personal Gods in glorious form. However, as one progresses in his spiritual quest, he gradually evolves from the form to the formless, from his personal God to the impersonal; From the finite to the infinite.

We must also know that Hinduism does not insist on the path of worship of God alone as a means to attain salvation.

One essential feature of Hinduism is YOGA - meaning Union. The purpose of human birth is to attain this yoga - union of the individual soul with the Supreme Soul. One of the path for this Yoga is the emotion-laden - the path of Love towards God which is Known as Bhakthi Yoga (path of devotion). It is the most suited path for the majority. It is in this path that devotees are at liberty to choose the God form most dear to them and direct all their emotional spirit towards loving the personal God.

The other approach or Yoga is intellectual - the path of inquiry - known as Gnyana Yoga (Path of knowledge). In this path, God is perceived as formless and the ultimate goal is to realize by experience that the Individual soul and the Supreme soul are one and the same.

Both the paths are not strictly compartmentalized; They can co exist in an earnest aspirant and one path can lead to another; One can complement the other. One can be more predominant than the other. Many realized saints have equivocally declared that Bhakti and Gyana are both sides of the same coin.

It is a pity that even many Hindus are woefully ill-informed about this diversity leading to unity in Hinduism.

Further reading: Introduction to the various Gods worshiped in Hinduism.