God transcends gender and gender is simply used for
embodied human beings to worship. For example, Shaivites and
Vaishnavites worship God in non-anthromorphic images, namely, the Linga
and Saligram respectively. The principle that God's true nature is
sexless is emphasized in the Vishnu Sahasranama, a prayer reciting the
1000 names of Vishnu.
Just as Muslims focus on (God) Allah's 99 "attributes" stated
in the Qur'an, the holy book of the Muslims, many Hindus worship Vishnu
daily by chanting his names which are also attributes.
The first few names of Vishnu Sahasranama, in particular, do not
describe features of Vishnu in detail and hence are not anthropomorphic
in nature, and instead focus on His inherent nature or characteristics
such as pervading the universe and as destroyer of sin.
While Vishnu is commonly portrayed with human features, Swami
Tapasyananda in his book Bhakti Schools of Vedanta reminds readers that
Vishnu pervades everything and is not anthropomorphic. He has no
particular material form but can manifest in any form, and is a center
of all force, power, will, auspiciousness, goodness, beauty, grace,
responsiveness, etc.
Swami Tapasyananda said, "Vishnu is the Indwelling Spirit in all
beings and the whole cosmos constitute His body". As Vishnu is the
all-pervading Spirit and the Supreme Personality, anthropomorphism is
deemphasized in Vishnu Sahasranama. Thus, like Judaism and Islam, God's
inherent nature transcends gender. However, Vishnu has been
traditionally referred to using male grammatical gender.
