Since western civilisation first came into contact with the pantheon of Vedic gods there has always been the speculation that the Vedic people, often referred to as Hindus, were pagans – pagan meaning the worshippers of many gods and not one Supreme God. Thus western observers conclude that monotheism, the worship or reverence of one Supreme God, originated with the Abrahamic religions of the west. This however is not a fact.
The Vedic pantheon does indeed include many lesser gods, but the Vedic texts are quite clear that there is only one Supreme Being or Super Consciousness that is above all. That is always referred to as Brahman, Paramatma, Bhagavan, Vishnu or Krishna. For example, the Rg Veda (1. 22. 20) states as follows:
tad vishno paramam padam sada pasyanti surayah diviva cakshur atatam
The divine feet of Vishnu are above all, like the sun above our heads. His holy feet are like the vigilant eye of a grand guardian over our heads like the sun.
Shrimad Bhagavatam says:
ete camsha kalah pumsah krishnas tu bhagavan svayam
The various avataras are either plenary expansions or parts of plenary expansions. But Shri Krishna is the original source of all these avataras. (Shrimad Bhagavatam 1.3.28)
Historically speaking, it is erroneous to assume that monotheism was developed by Abrahamic civilisations independent of any outside influence. In fact, the Abrahamic religions borrowed the idea of monotheism from the Persians after King Cyrus subjugated Babylon and Judea circa 500 BCE. Prior to the arrival of the Persians, and continuing into the 2nd and 3rd Centuries, Judaism and Christianity were known to have belief systems based on one or more gods. Thus, monotheism only gradually developed among the Abrahamic religions.
Since the monotheistic concept found in the Vedas is much older than the Abrahamic religions, it is only logical to conclude that the latter borrowed their thinking from the former. During the interim, the Persians, under the influence of Zoroaster, took the monotheistic philosophy from India and then transmitted it to the Middle Eastern civilisations. Indeed, monotheism has always been the central theme of India’s Vedic literature.
However, failing to look deeply into the philosophy of the Vedas or possibly being culturally intimidated by the superiority of Vedic knowledge as opposed to western philosophies and religions, Eurocentric academics and fundamental religionists have marginalised the ancient Vedic civilisation of India. The German scholar Max Muller propagated further misinformation on this subject in the 19th Century with the invention of the Aryan Invasion Theory, stating that Vedic civilisation did not originate in India. Yet all this is quite far from the truth.
Further reading: The myth of the aryan invasion Real Religion is not Man-made
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