Communal Relations - Conflicting Narratives

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<!--QuoteBegin-Hauma Hamiddha+Apr 14 2007, 09:17 PM-->QUOTE(Hauma Hamiddha @ Apr 14 2007, 09:17 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->is it true that mention of Gods and Godesses like Shiva, Laxmi, Ganesh and others is found only in Puranas and there is no mention of them in Vedas and Upanishads?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

shiva and lakShmI are deities worshipped in the vedas. The classical elephant headed gaNesha is a very late deity emerging in the late vedic/post-vedic period and is not mentioned in the vedic saMhitA-s

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Also, in Hinduism are God and Parmatama(Param Aatmaa) different? <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
God is an english word- if you translate Ishvara as god then paramAtman and god are not the same. If brahman is translated as god then may be yes.

Given the link between language and the thought process, Indic languages are a must for correct description of Hindu terms.
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HH,

I thought Shiva/Vishnu/Lakshmi are qualified ideas of Rudra/Purusha/Devi mentioned in Upanishads/Vedas. Since, qualification of these entities I thought came up later in the Purana section of "Hinduism". Maybe I am wrong.

Also, the word "God" as used by Christians/Muslims do not apply to the Hindu concepts of Ishwara, or Nirguna Brahman. Maybe Saguna Brahman, at par with Indra, Varuna, Vishnu etc. I think the Hindu ideas have much more granularity wrt the concept of God - as in a Hindu KNOWS the differences, even the ones without any Vedic initiation or study.

Regards,
Eswar