Soft Power
Introduction
In Hinduism, Whoever reaches the space of Enlightenment, they are God. We revere every being who has transcended to the space of Enlightenment as God.
In Hinduism, God is not one. God is Oneness. If you see, God is not one autocratic leader, as depicted in other religions. He is not Hard power. He is soft power.
God is not Indra, or some autocrat who is one person ruling over everyone, and insecure if someone else is trying to become powerful like him. He is not a Judge and there is no Judgement Day where he is going to say you are doing something right or wrong.
That is why if you see Mahadeva - Shiva - He is just sitting in the remote Himalayas and meditating. He does not constantly control all the universes, worlds, planets. He just sits in Meditation/ Samadhi. Once in awhile he opens his eyes and teaches or blesses people. And he is Happy, and waiting for more people reach his space, and become Him!
That is why - in the Hindu scriptures - If you read a scripture on Ganesha - it will say that Ganesha is the ultimate God. And if you read a scripture on Devi, it will say she is the ultimate, and all other Gods are insignificant, and under her.
Just seeing all these, we can understand how we have infinite Gods, all are the ultimate - and all are infinitely powerful. We can never compare one with the other.
In reality, monotheism and polytheism, are both too small of words to define Hinduism. The context is totally different for Hinduism. As Swamiji - my Guru says “Some believe that there is one God. We believe that there is ONLY God.”
Resources
http://www.nithyananda.org/video/life-runs-inspiration#gsc.tab=0 http://www.dhyanapeetam.org/video/you-are-god#gsc.tab=0