Introducing Hinduism E-Book

Borin Van Loon

• Herausgeber: Icon Books
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: Graphic Guides
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 116

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

Why do Hindus revere the cow? Must Hindus be vegetarian?  Hinduism is the world's oldest religion, yet the word 'Hindu' was never used before the 18th century by Hindus to describe themselves. it is defined as polytheistic, but Gandhi declared that a Hindu needn't believe in any god. it is a religion as much of myth as of history – it has no founder, no single authoritative book, even few central doctrines. Introducing Hinduism offers a guide to the key philosophical, literary, mythological and cultural traditions of the extraordinarily diverse faith.  It untangles the complexities of Hinduism's gods and goddesses, its caste system and its views on sex, everyday life and asceticism.  Vinay Lal and Borin Van Loon's hugely enjoyable tour through Hinduism also explores its links with and differences from Buddhism, Jainism and other religions, the resurgence of Hindu extremism, the phenomenon of Bollywood and the overseas Hindu diaspora.

Leseprobe

Published by Icon Books Ltd, Omnibus Business Centre, 39–41 North Road, London N7 9DPEmail: [email protected]

ISBN: 978-184831-114-5

Text copyright © 1995 Darian Leader

Illustrations copyright © 2013 Icon Books Ltd

The author and illustrator has asserted their moral rights

Originating editor: Richard Appignanesi

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any means, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

What is Hinduism?

Elusive Hinduism

Uncertain Origins in India

The Indus Valley Civilization

Aryans and Hinduism’s Origins

An Early Mix of Elements

Sanskrit: Language of the Gods

Hindu Religious Literature

The Cosmological World of the Vedas

Gayatri Mantra

Hymn to Creation

The Caste System

Varnashrama Dharma

Brahmin Superiority

Pollution and Purity

Sudra Pollution

Dalits: Are They Hindus?

Gandhi and Ambedkar

Is Caste Intrinsic to Hinduism?

Four Stages of Life

Values at Each Stage

Sannyasa

The Upanishads

Transmission of Knowledge

Esoteric Teachings?

On Being a Brahmin

Brahman and Atman

Svetaketu’s Story

Union of Brahman and Atman

Doctrine of Mayo

The Illusion of Ignorance

Revolt against Brahminism

Buddhism

Mahavira and Jainism

Ahimsa or Non-Violence?

Lokayata: Indian Materialism

Affirmation of Life

Artha: the Pursuit of Wealth

Karma: The Life Of Desire (Pleasure)

Dharma: Completing the Triad

Dharma in the Mahabharata

The Great War

The Story of Aswatthama

Dharma and Hindu Ethics

Dharma and Freedom of Action

Mahabharata Hinduism

The Ramayana

Rama’s Story

Rama’s Doubt

The Ideal Hindu Couple

Versions of the Ramayana

Puranic Hinduism

Puranas

Puranic (Ludic) Lore

The Hindu Trinity

Shiva

Aspects of Shiva

Shiva Lingam

Lingayats: A Shaivite Community

The Personal Lingam

Shiva as Ardhanarisvara

Shiva and Parvati

Shakti: The Feminine Principle

Traditions of the Devi

Durga: The Ferocious Aspect of Parvati

Kali, “The Black One”

Festivals of Durga and Kali

The Darshan

Little Goddesses: Sitala

River Goddesses

Are Goddesses Autonomous?

Matriarchal Resistance

Vishnu: The Trinity Completed

The Doctrine of Avatars

Ten Avatars

The Revenge of Hiranyakashipu

Narasimha: Uses of Ambiguity

Buddha: Vishnu’s Incarnation

Kalki: Avatar for the Kali Yuga

The Traditions of Krishna

Krishna the Charioteer

The Bhagavad Gita

The Three Yogas

Bhakti yoga

The Other Krishna

The Child Krishna

Krishna and the Gopis

Erotic Allegory?

The Bhakti Movement

Characteristics of the Bhakti Movement

Caste and Bhakti

Women and Bhakti

The Voice of Bhakti

Hinduism in Islamic India

Guru Nanak

Bauls: Singing Bards

Reform Movements in Hinduism

Rammohun Roy and Hindu Monotheism

Brahmo Samaj

Arya Samaj

Nationalistic Hinduism

Sri Ramakrishna

Swami Vivekananda

Mohandas Gandhi*

Hinduism in the Modern World

Women in Hindu Society

Hindu Scriptures on Women

The Practice of Sati

Hinduism and Bollywood

Mythologicals

The Gods in Film

Jai Santoshi Maa

Gods and Humans

Hindu Culture and Hindi Cinema

Bollywood’s Hindu Inspiration

Hinduism and the Cow

Vegetarianism in Hindia

The Doctrine of Ahimsa

The Sacred Cow

Muslims and the Cow

Cows in the Colonial Period

The Cow in Contemporary Hinduism

Hinduism and Ecology

Chipko: Ecological Resistance

Bishnoi: Ecologically Aware Hinduism

The Future of Hinduism

Hinduism in the Television Age

The Internet and Hinduism

New Hindu Histories

In the United States

The Hindu Diasporic Vanguard

The Softer Hindu Diaspora

Hinduism and Hindutva

Gandhi’ Ashram

Hinduism and Politics

Gandhi’s Hinduism and Hindutva

A Proper Religion for a Proper Nation-State

Bajrang Dal: Debasing Hinduism

The Babri Masjid Episode

History and Mythos

Further Reading

Acknowledgements

About the Author

About the Illustrator

Index

What is Hinduism?

Hinduism, one is tempted to say, can be anything to anyone. Hindus themselves are fond of describing Hinduism as a way of life rather than as a religion.

Hindus, do not turn to the same book for moral guidance as muslims do the quran or christians to the bible. Mahatma gandhi, the most famous Hindu of recent times, had his own opinion. A man may not believe in god and still call himself a hindu.

No one has any idea whether Hinduism accepts converts to its religion. Hare Krishnas, the most visible sign of Hinduism’s spread to the West, emphatically declare that they do not view themselves as Hindus. The word “Hindu” itself is not of Indian origin, and Hindus did not describe themselves as such until the 18th century. Yet, Hinduism’s adherents characterize it as the world’s oldest faith.

Elusive Hinduism

In the West, Hinduism is comparatively invisible. Some people view it as synonymous with yoga, which has been reduced to aerobic-like exercises and meditational practices. From the Sanskrit “yuj”, which means “to yoke”, yoga is a school of Indian philosophy which aims to help the practitioner to come closer to the divine. All this has been largely forgotten.

To others, Hinduism is some vague, undefined and colourful religion with numerous deities.

Manu of its gods and goddesses appear to have multiple arms and legs.

Hindus also believe in something called karma.

Hinduism certainly looks less stern as a religion than Islam, Christianity or Judaism.

Uncertain Origins in India

The central tenets of Hinduism are not easily described.

Unlike most major world religions, Hinduism has no historical founder.

Christians accept the teachings of jesus christ.

Buddhism revolves around the Buddha.

Islam prescribes belief in muhammad as its prophet.

All one can say of Hinduism’s origins, by contrast, is that it originated in the Indian subcontinent and that the religion has largely been confined to that part of the world.

The Indus Valley Civilization

The earliest civilization in India has been given the name of “Indus Valley” or “Harappan” after one of its most well-developed cities, Harappa, now in Pakistan.

This advanced, urban civilization, which developed around the river indus, flourished around 2500–1500 BC.

The Indus Valley people, who may be the forerunners of the Dravidian population of South India, appear to have been gradually pushed down south by the Aryans, who commenced their migrations from the Caucasus Mountains (in the present-day region of Georgia in the former Soviet Union) to India around 2000 BC.

Aryans and Hinduism’s Origins

The word “Aryan” originally meant “noble”. Nazism has given the word racial connotations in the 20th century. The early Aryans were a nomadic people. They brought to India the horse and the chariot, as well as the sacrificial altar.

The veneration of fire, around which hindu marriage rites are conducted, can be dated back to the aryans. Om, bhur-bhuvah-svah …

The oldest literature attributed to the Aryans, known as the Vedas, furnishes a relatively clear picture of their Gods, associated largely with different aspects of nature. Chief among them were Indra, the god of rain and thunder; Surya, the sun god; Varuna, the god of wind; and Agni, the fire god.

An Early Mix of Elements

Hinduism is generally viewed as having originated with the Aryans, but it is far more accurately described as an amalgam of pre-Aryan and Aryan elements. For instance, image-worship, which predominates in popular Hinduism, finds almost no mention in the Vedas. Shiva, the all-important god besides Vishnu, is almost certainly a non-Aryan god (absent in the Vedas) who eventually made his way into the Hindu pantheon. The innumerable mother goddesses (devis) who spangle Hinduism are also non-Aryan.

The Aryans most likely looked down upon the people they conquered as inferior. Indra is described in the Rig Veda, the most important of the Vedic scriptures, as the vanquisher of a dark-skinned people and destroyer of forts and citadels.

The indigenous people are seen as possibly matriarchal and “softer” in their approach to life. The Aryans are viewed instead as patriarchal and more inclined to prize masculinity.

Sanskrit: Language of the Gods

Though the Indus Valley people were literate, they left behind no literature. The Indus Valley script remains undeciphered down to the present day. The Aryans, on the other hand, were largely illiterate; but they bequeathed to India a prolific literature.

The religious literature of the Aryans consists of a wide variety of texts, all composed in Sanskrit, which means “perfected” or “well-made”. Sanskrit is sometimes referred to as a dead language in the manner of Greek or Latin, but this is incorrect in several respects.

Sanskrit was never a naturally spoken language, certainly not among the common people. Its use was confined to the educated. It probably served to link the élite across the country, as English does in india today.

More so than Latin, Sanskrit retains an honoured place in Hindu rituals, and is used widely on ceremonial occasions.

Hindu Religious Literature

The word “Vedas” [knowledge] is sometimes used loosely to refer to a mass of early Hindu writings, but strictly speaking there are four Vedas [caturveda]: Rig, Sama, Atharva and Yajur. Along with a class of texts known as Aranyakas (forest books), Brahmanas (ritual manuals) and, most importantly, the Upanishads (philosophical meditations), the Vedas are known as shruti (meaning “heard”) or divinely revealed texts.

In theory, the vedas rank for above all other Hindu religious texts, which are collectively known as smriti (meaning “remembered”).

The law books (dharmashastras), the epic literature of the Hindus, the mythological texts (Puranas), and even the Bhagavad Gita, the most widely known work of Hindu literature in the West, all number among the smritis.

The Cosmological World of the Vedas

Belief in the infallibility of the Vedas is commonly accepted as one of the three central tenets of Hinduism. Such a view illustrates one of the fundamental difficulties in understanding Hinduism, namely the gap between the “textbook” and the view from the ground.

If the vedas are infallible for hindus – as the Quran is infallible for Muslims – one would expect widespread familiarity with these texts. But scarcely any hindu knows anything of the vedas.

The Gita Press, founded in 1923 to popularize the Hindu scriptures, has printed over 300 million copies of smriti literature, but they will not publish the Vedas on the grounds that these divinely-revealed texts may not be tampered with by human beings.

Gayatri Mantra

Nevertheless, a few lines from the Rig Veda (II.62.x), known as the Gayatri mantra, have become synonymous with Hinduism for many believers. The Gayatri mantra is the first thing that even little children are taught.

Its proper utterance is supposed to cleanse the mind and confer blessings on the believer. Om, bhur-bhuvah-svah Tat Savitur-varenyam bhargo-devasya dhimahi dhiyo yo nah prachodayat Om Now, do try this at home …

so what’s it all about? It says, “Let us meditate on the wondrous splendour of the sun; may it arouse our minds.” That doesn’t sound too lofty. It can also be translated as: “Let us bring our minds to rest in The glory of the Divine Truth. May truth inspire our reflection.”

Hymn to Creation

No one knows why, from a text as voluminous as the Rig Veda with its 1,028 hymns or 10,500 verses, the Gayatri mantra assumed such importance. The Rig Veda has many remarkable passages, none more so than its “Hymn to Creation” (Nasadiya Sukta, X.129).

God didn’t create the universe in six days. Nor were the waters parted, as in the Bible, Genesis 1.

Rather, the author invokes the mystery of the Creation …

There is only the One; but “desire” introduces differentiation, and the wise come to perceive that “in nonbeing lay the bond of being”. The hymn’s author ends with an affirmation of the uncertainty we have about creation: who can say from where it all arose and what is the universe’s origin?

One might think the Creator, at least, would know. But here the marvellous humour and agnosticism of the hymn confounds us all …

The Caste System

Over a period of several centuries, the Aryans came to have a more settled existence. By 1200 BC, they were ensconced in Middle India [Madhya Desh]. At what precise point an elaborate social structure developed, which would henceforth govern the lives of Hindus, is not known; but the Rig Veda, which can be dated as far back as 1400-1000 BC, has a famous hymn, Purusha Sukta, the “Hymn to Man” (X.90) which describes the origins of the four castes from the Primeval Man.

From His arms was I made. I came from His mouth. His thighs produced me. His feet gave birth to me.

The Brahmins, the priestly caste, became the custodians and transmitters of sacred knowledge. They also conducted the rituals to mark the important milestones in a person’s life – birth, puberty, marriage and death. The Kshatriyas, or warriors, were charged with the defence of the land, and the duties of kingship and governance. The Vaishyas were the merchant and professional caste. The Sudras served the three upper castes (together known as Dwijas, the “twice-born”) and did work considered dirty or degrading.

Varnashrama Dharma

Some defenders of the caste system (varnashrama dharma) argue that the four varnas, or social orders, were originally viewed as equal. The entire system rests on the reasonable premise that different people must perform different duties in life.

Brahmins might have ritual superiority over the other castes, but we were expected to lead lives of indigence. Over time the system deteriorated beyond recognition. I described the caste system as an excrescence upon Hinduism, and yet I unequivocally asserted my trust in it.

“Varna and Ashrama are institutions which have nothing to do with castes … The calling of a Brahmin – a spiritual teacher-and of a scavenger are equal and their due performance carries equal merit before God and at one time seems to have carried identical reward before man.” Gandhi

Brahmin Superiority

An elaborate set of rules, which has considerably loosened in the urban areas of modern India, has governed the relations between the four varnas. These rules are set out in the dharmashastras, or law books, the best-known of which is Manusmriti, “The Laws of Manu”.

The sanctity and immutability of varnashrama dharma, and, in particular, belief in the ritual and social superiority of Brahmins, were inscribed into the practices of Hinduism.

“Brahmins are ‘gods among humans’ [manusyadevah].” “The brahmin is the lord of the varnas because of his superiority, the pre-eminence of his origin …”

Pollution and Purity