Ishvara (ईश्वर in devanagari script, pronunciation "ī:shvərə"), also variously transliterated (romanized) as Īshvara, Īshwara, Īshwar, Īśvara, etc. (Sanskrit: "the Supreme Lord, and hence the Cosmic Controller") is a Hindu philosophical concept of God meaning that entity or the Supreme Being which is the lord and the ruler of everything. Image File history File links Created by me. ... The Brahmic family is a family of abugidas used in South Asia and Southeast Asia. ... Rigveda manuscript in Devanagari (early 19th century) DevanāgarÄ« (देवनागरी — in English pronounced ) (ISCII – IS13194:1991) [1] is an abugida alphabet used to write several Indian languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Bihari, Bhili, Konkani, Bhojpuri and Nepali from Nepal. ... In linguistics, romanization or latinization is a system for representing a word or language with the Roman (Latin) alphabet, where the original word or language used a different writing system. ... Sanskrit ( संस्कृतम्) is a classical language of India and a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. ... A Hindu is an adherent of Hinduism, the predominant religious, philosophical and cultural systems of Bharat (India) and Nepal. ... The term God is used to refer to a specific monotheistic concept of a supernatural Supreme Being in accordance with Christianity, and is capitalized in the English language as a proper noun. ...

Hinduism uses the term Ishvara exclusively to refer to the One and the Supreme God in a kind of monotheistic sense. The Atharva Veda explicitly says that Ishvara is an epithet of the Supreme Spirit Brahman. This must not be confused with the various deities of Hinduism, called devas. The lay Hindus today use the terms Ishwar, Parameshwar and Bhagwān interchangeably for God. Interestingly, the word is also used to denote "Lord" in a temporal sense, as any master or king (just like in English). This article is about the Hindu religion; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation). ... The term God is used to refer to a specific monotheistic concept of a supernatural Supreme Being in accordance with Christianity, and is capitalized in the English language as a proper noun. ... The Atharva Veda is a sacred text of Hinduism, part of the four books of the Vedas. ... Here the underlined vowels carry the Vedic Sanskrit udātta pitch accent. ... A Deva, in Hinduism, is a deity, controlling forces of nature such as fire, air, etc. ... Parameshwara, also transliterated from Sanskrit in various other ways, literally means the Supreme God. ... Bhagwan is a Sanskrit word meaning Blessed one. ...

Ishvara in Hindu Philosophy

All the six systems of Hindu philosophy believe in Ishvara, ie., God. Hindu philosophy (one of the main divisions of Indian philosophy) is traditionally seen through the prism of six different systems (called darshanas in Sanskrit) that are listed here and makes up the main belief systems of Hinduism. ... The term God is used to refer to a specific monotheistic concept of a supernatural Supreme Being in accordance with Christianity, and is capitalized in the English language as a proper noun. ...

The philosophy of Sāmkhya was originally explicitly atheistic, denying any need for the concept of God beyond Purusha, ie., person and Prakriti, ie., nature. Its offshoot, the Yoga philosophy strongly advocates faith in God. Since the way of salvation or mokşha could not be explicated by Samkhya, later, their followers acceped the Yoga way of salvation and also their concept of Ishvara. The Yoga philosophy also logically proves that there can be one and only one Ishvara, and is possibly the first philosophy to attempt proving monotheism by logical reasoning. Samkhya, also Sankhya, (Sanskrit: सांख्य) is a school of Indian philosophy, and is one of the six astika or Hindu philosophical schools of India. ... In Hinduism, Purusha ([Cosmic] Man) is the self which pervades the universe. ... Prakrti or Prakriti (from Sanskrit language) is, according to samkhya philosophy the basic matter of which the universe consists. ... Yoga (Sanskrit: Integration and union) is science, art and philophy of life. ... Moksha (Sanskrit: मोक्ष, liberation) or Mukti (Sanskrit: विमुक्ति, release) refers, in general, to liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. ...

Similarly, the philophy of Nyāya or Indian logic, though theistic, earlier said very little about Ishvara. But later they became vehement supporters of belief in Ishvara, as opposed to the Buddhists who, though agnostic, had at that time became vehement atheists. The followers of Nyāya system, called Naiyānikas, gave elaborate "proofs" for the existance of God based on logic. Nyaya is the name given to one of the six orthodox or astika schools of Hindu philosophy - specifically the school of logic. ... Logic (from Classical Greek λόγος (logos), originally meaning the word, or what is spoken, (but coming to mean thought or reason) is most often said to be the study of arguments, although the exact definition of logic is a matter of controversy amongst philosophers (see below). ... A replica of an ancient statue of Gautama Buddha, found from Sarnath, near Varanasi Buddhism is a religion based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. Buddhism gradually spread from India throughout Asia... Logic (from Classical Greek λόγος (logos), originally meaning the word, or what is spoken, (but coming to mean thought or reason) is most often said to be the study of arguments, although the exact definition of logic is a matter of controversy amongst philosophers (see below). ...

The concept of Ishvara was also used by Maharshi Kaņāda, the Indian philosopher and founder of the school of Vaisheşhika Darshana, (in present day Afghanistan) in its meaning as the ultimate cause behind all causes. Ishvara is that entity, according to Vaisheshika, which controls the association of particles in the universe by controling the Cosmic Mind, in which matter is a projection. Kanada however failed to explain the exact relation between this Ishvara and the creation, effectively creating a dualistic philosophy instead of a monistic one. Kanada was a Hindu sage who founded the philosophical school of Vaisheshika. ... Vaisheshika, also Vaisesika, (Sanskrit: वैशॆषिक)is one of the six Hindu schools of philosophy (orthodox Vedic systems) of India. ... The deepest visible-light image of the cosmos. ... The term dualism can refer to a variety of doctrines, mainly in theology and philosophy, each involving the purported existence of two opposites of some kind. ... Monism is the metaphysical view that there is only one principle, essence, substance or energy. ...

Similarly, the school of Mīmamsā did not say much about Ishvara originally. Though they fully believe in Vedas and Vedas talk about Ishvara, their school did not believe in an omnipotent God and instead, place the power in the "divine magic" of the yagnas or fire-sacrifices. The main objective of the Purva (earlier) Mimamsa school was to establish the authority of the Vedas. ... The Vedas are part of the Hindu Shruti; these religious scriptures form part of the core of the Brahminical and Vedic traditions within Hinduism and are the inspirational, metaphysical and mythological foundation for later Vedanta, Yoga, Tantra and even Bhakti forms of Hinduism. ... The ancient symbol of the pentagram is often used as a symbol for magic. ... Yagna is an ancient vedic ritual, where sacrifices are made to a particular divinity, using fire (Agni) as a medium. ...

The Vedanta school, the most popular one, fully believes in Ishvara. The Advaita sub-school, the most influential of all its sub-schools, is highly monistic. It says that the Supreme Spirit or Brahman is the only actual reality in the world, and everything else is illusionary, including the universe. Since Brahman is without attributes (it is the subject of meditation and not worship), it is a concept even beyond God. For them, Ishvara is Brahman which is manifested upon the material world due to a complex illusionary power called Māyā. Ishvara can be given all positive attributes (Saguna Brahman) like being worshippable, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, etc but the ultimate reality remains Brahman and nothing else. The other sub-schools tend to identify Brahman with Ishvara to various degrees, and in turn Ishvara with their favorite deity like Vishnu or Krishna. Vedanta (Vedānta, वेदान्त, pronounced as ) is a principle branch of Hindu philosophy and is a form of Jnana Yoga (one of the four basic yoga practices in Hinduism; the others are: Raja Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga), a form of yoga which involves an individual seeking the path of intellectual... Advaita Vedanta is probably the best known of all Vedanta schools of Hinduism, the others being Dvaita and Vishishtadvaita. ... Monism is the metaphysical view that there is only one principle, essence, substance or energy. ... Here the underlined vowels carry the Vedic Sanskrit udātta pitch accent. ... Maya, in Hinduism, is many things. ... Saguna Brahma, in Hindu philosophy, is God or Supreme Consciousness with gunas (qualities or attributes). ... For other uses of the name Vishnu, see Vishnu (disambiguation). ... Lord Krishna revealing his Universal form to Arjuna Krishna (कृष्ण, pronounced as kŖιŞhÅ…É™, Sanskrit for black), is according to common Hindu tradition the eighth avatar of Vishnu. ...

The more modern idea of Ishvara being intimately connected with all of His creation made it possible for personal manifestations of God such as Shiva and Krishna to be considered as Ishvara. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Lord Krishna revealing his Universal form to Arjuna Krishna (कृष्ण, pronounced as kŖιŞhŅə, Sanskrit for black), is according to common Hindu tradition the eighth avatar of Vishnu. ...

Ishvara and Saguna Brahma

Although both Ishvara and Saguna Brahma are concepts for God closely associated with creation, the idea that Saguna Brahma could be incarnated into a single human form seems flawed because the whole of creation is already associated with Saguna Brahma. So some say that Ishvara should not be equated with Saguna Brahma. Saguna Brahma, in Hindu philosophy, is God or Supreme Consciousness with gunas (qualities or attributes). ...

Trivia

The anime Fullmetal Alchemist potrays this Hindu concept as a religion on itself, and has a minority group based upon this (called Ishbalans Or Ishvarites, depending on your source of translation), centered upon the town of Ishbal / Ishvar in the East Area. They believe that all the world is the body of Ishbala / Ishvara, vehemently denouncing the use of Alchemy which, to them, is unnatural and 'showing blatant contempt for God's gifts to man'. This stance puts them in direct conflict with the military based dictatorship government, that was actively pursuing Alchemy for use in combat. Fullmetal Alchemist (鋼の錬金術師, Hagane no Renkinjutsushi, lit. ...

Eventually, an Ishbalan child would be accidentially shot, triggering off a civil war of epic proportions. The war was locked in a stalemate... until the government figured it would be a great way to gague the use of Alchemists in combat. The end of the conflict came soon after, with State Alchemists (armed with imperfect Philosophers' Stones) razing Ishbal to the ground. This all occurred before the start of the main plot iself, but Ishbalan survivors are still around, in refugee camps, shantytowns, small, isolated communities across the land... Either that, or they end up half-crazed by the holocaust and wander aimlessly, seeking revenge on the State Alchemists who tore their society apart... like the serial killer 'Scar'.