“And that is why all of us with one voice call one God differently as Paramatma, Ishwara, Shiva, Vishnu, Rama, Allah, Khuda, Dada Hormuzda, Jehova, God, and an infinite variety of names. He is one and yet many; He is smaller than an atom, and bigger than the Himalayas. He is contained even in a drop of the ocean, and yet not even the seven seas can compass Him. Reason is powerless to know Him. He is beyond the reach or grasp of reason.”
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Probable attribution
This saying is widely associated with Mahatma Gandhi, but the attribution is not supported by a reliable primary source.
Likely origin: What is Hinduism? (compilation of Gandhi's writings) - 'one God... Paramatma, Ishwara, Shiva, Vishnu, Rama, Allah...'
About this quote
Behind a hundred different names for the divine sits the possibility of a single reality that no one tradition owns. Holding that view softens the urge to treat your own label as the only correct one, and it keeps a person humble about a mystery that reason can point toward but never fully capture.
When to use it
- Neighbors from different faiths realizing their quiet prayers before a shared meal are reaching for the same thing.
- A traveler noticing that temples, churches, and mosques each frame the same longing in their own vocabulary.
- Two friends who argue less about whose religion is right once they focus on the humility each one asks for.