Why do People Worship Demigods?

People often misunderstand the Vedic school to be a polytheistic tradition. The path of sanatana-dharma, however, is a strictly monotheistic path, though it offers a poly-cultural approach. The Vedic teachers were aware that the majority of people would not simply be searching for selfless connection with the one Supreme God, but would also have many other ‘not-so-spiritual’ desires during their sojourn in this world. Thus, different types of worship are recommended so that one can step onto the ‘spiritual ladder’ while simultaneously pursuing their material aspirations.

For example, some scriptures recommend worship of various demigods to attain wealth, health and prosperity. Such worship and practice, over a period of time, will bring the practitioner to a more refined and pure sense of spirituality, where they completely divorce themselves from worldly pursuits. They eventually arrive at the point of desiring a relationship and reciprocation with the one Supreme God.

Therefore, although strictly monotheistic, the Vedic tradition does recommend different types of worship. Unfortunately, people nowadays misinterpret all such worship to be on an equal level, asserting, quite erroneously, that all paths lead to the same destination. Other people become confused and frustrated by seeing so many varied recommendations of worship, feeling it to be contradictory and unclear. Thus, we must understand the various scriptures and their different injunctions in context of the entire body of knowledge. Only with such broad vision and integrative understanding, can one fully appreciate the ingenuity of the multi-level spirituality offered in the Vedic theology.