Do Hindu Gods share some similarity with the Gods of other religion? If yes, then are there any stories or traits that we can compare? I have heard that the Greek Gods are a bit similar to Hindu Gods, may be there are others too.
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Well for starters they are all gods, I am not saying I am good to answer that but it seems ambiguous as to what is being asked, the answers could be subjective and too broad – skv Nov 20 '14 at 14:36
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2Yes from what I read, the Twelve Greek Gods on Mount Olympus are very similar to the Twelve Devatas (or Adityas according to Wikipedia). The leader is Zeus who is known as God of sky and thunder, perhaps similar to Indra is believed to carry a Vajra or lightning bolt. Similarly with other Greek Gods. As for other stuff, Hinduism believes in Saptarishi or the Seven Sages who take care of all. Similarly Christians (or Jews I could be wrong) believe in the concept of Seven Archangels (or Angels) whose most famous is Gabriel, come and take care of various prophets. There are many similarities sir – Sai Nov 20 '14 at 16:33
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2Similarly in His book, "The second coming of Christ", Sri Paramhamsa Yoganandaji explains that God, The Father of Christian mythology and Brahman of Hinduism are quite similar. One simliarity (among many) Christian God is associated with the phrase "I am that I am" in the Bible whereas Brahman is also related with the phrase as "Soham" (I am that). Also the God Allah of Islam can be similar to the concept of Isvara or God of Vishishta Dvaita. He is formless, but having qualities or attributes and is the bestower of goodness and lord of the universe:) – Sai Nov 20 '14 at 17:05
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Abrahamic Religions are "incomplete" without a definition of SATAN, or Shaitan... An equally powerful opposite to its (one) God... Hinduism doesn't have such thing. So its kinda absurd to compare Hinduism and Abrahamic Religions. Where Abrahamic religions are "Black & White", Hinduism is NOT a "religion" at all... – Hindu Nov 26 '14 at 10:54
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@Hindu, but in Hinduism also we have Devas and Daityas, which represent the Good and Evil sides resp. – Aby Nov 27 '14 at 07:23
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NO, there is no such "representation". Deva-Asura are powerful, but MORTAL beings and EACH have both of "goodness" and "evil", like us humans. What you say is due to the West influenced, misinterpreted translations of Hindu scripture and (Slave-Brain) Indian Media. According to one speculation, the Zoroastrian God, Ahur Mazda actually is an Asur! The 's'-sound there became 'h'-sound, exactly same as the river 'Sindu' became an ethnicity 'Hindu', in ancient times. – Hindu Nov 27 '14 at 08:42
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Hmm...I agree to that. However, Devas are also said to be immortal as they had Amrit. I had read various stuff on internet and through that I have started believing that there must be some foreign people in past who know Indian Mythological stories and might have misinterpreted them in their books due to language/region/belief constraints to suit to their lands. The same could also hold true for outside stories interpreted as taking place in India. I know I could be wrong but just trying to find if there is any connection. – Aby Nov 27 '14 at 09:10
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3Nothing is everlasting my friend, except Lord Shiva (The Avyakta God) and Lord Vishnu (Pure God Consciousness). Life of Lord Brahma (The Vyakta God) is 100 'Brahma-years'. And one 'Brahma-Day' is of about 4.3 Billion human-years. Now think if Brahma Himself would vanish eventually, how can the petty "Amrit-Drinkers" will survive for eternity. Indeed so much of misinterpretation, deliberate poisoning of Hindu scriptures is there. But who cares? Just sit peacefully under a secluded tree and closely speculate abt nature, and you may become Buddha yourself. Vedas are in the Balance of Nature! – Hindu Nov 27 '14 at 14:26
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The Hindu gods do not 'map' to the Greek gods for several reasons.
First, Hindu gods are 'devas'. The exact translation is 'shining one'. 'god' is a loose and inexact translation.
Second, the Greek gods were eternal, there was no other God above Zeus. But, they came to power by wrestling power away from another group of gods. Devas are not eternal, they are only for this cycle of creation. Brahman is the eternal One.
Third, devas are humans from another prior cycle. After the end of this cycle, they are reborn again according to their karma. Greek gods were eternal.
Fourth, the philosophy of the Greek gods was polytheistic. Hindus are (depending on the sect), advaita (non-dualist), vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualists), or dvaita (dualist). None are polytheistic.
There is similarity between the triune god of the Rig veda (Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva) and the trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) of the Christian tradition.
Like Brahma, God the Father is the Creator. After the creation, he is not heard of much similar to Brahma. God the Son is, like Vishnu, the sustainer of the creation. He is the one that incarnates (as Vishnu is the one that has incarnations) as a human to lead humans to the Way. The similarity breaks down with Shiva (the destroyer of the cycle) and God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is more described as the breath of God.
Although similar, the triune god of the Rig Veda is not the eternal Brahman. The Christian Trinity is described as three persons in one God and is the eternal God.
Swami Vishwananda
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There are similar questions like
Is Jesus an avatar of Lord Vishnu?
Can one be a Hindu that worships through Christ?
Did Hindu scriptures predict Muhammad and/or Jesus?
All these concluded that Jesus or Mohammad are nothing like the concept of God in Hinduism. The God(ultimate reality) in Abrahamic faiths is a personal God who is a jealous God. That is, HE is jealous of other Gods and thus proclaims he alone is the true God while rest are false Gods. In Hinduism there is no such claims by any God. For most Hindu schools, ultimate reality is not such a male personal God. The holy-trinity of Christianity is a false equivalence with the trimurti of Hinduism. The acceptance of this theory is derived from an inculturation attempt by Missionaries according to whom Hinduism itself is derived from Christianity through Apostle Thomas. This article talks about such inculturation attempts.
Hinduism bears a close relationship with Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism's supreme God Ahura Mazda bears resemblance to Purusha of the Vedas. There are several common deities which are described this paper Vedic Elements in the Ancient Iranian Religion of Zarathushtra by Subhash Kak.
Now coming to the Greeks. @Swami Vishwananda's answer provides some contrasts. The book India in Greece:Truth in Mythology by Edward Pococke mentions about Hindu-Buddhist influence on Greek thought and theology which could be a reason for similarity in the gods.
Hinduism shares a lot commonalities with Buddhism & Jainism as they co-evolved in the same geography. For example Yama the deva of death is also deva of death in Buddhism.
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"male personal God". Sorry, but in Islam and Judaism, God is without any gender. In fact it is a blasphemous sin in both of the religions to assign such a attribute to God. – Zaid Khan Mar 02 '19 at 14:14
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That is incorrect. Yahweh is male, so is God the "father" and Allah. Abrahamic religions call their god with the pronoun "He" and not some gender neutral pronoun. – Bharat Mar 03 '19 at 15:37
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This is an ancient phenomenon in human languages, but there are some things that have nothing to do with real gender, as is the case with inanimate objects such as mountains, and concepts such as justice. In these cases, masculinity and femininity are not applicable in the true sense. Semitic languages, for example, divide nouns of the third category, which is neuter, between the first two categories. So nouns in them are all either masculine or feminine. – Zaid Khan Mar 08 '19 at 05:24
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This is also the case in the French language, in which all nouns can only be either masculine or feminine. English differs from French in this regard. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_personal_pronouns (However please note that 'it' In English is used generally for inanimate objects which would be inappropriate for God) – Zaid Khan Mar 08 '19 at 05:24