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Indian Religions - Hinduism
 


India’s major religion, Hinduism, is practised by approximately 80% of the population, over 670 million people. Only in Nepal, the Indonesian island of Bali, the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius and possibly Fiji, do Hindus also predominate, but is is the largest religion in Asia in terms of number of adherents. Despite its colourful appearance it is actually one of the oldest extant religions with firm roots extending back to beyond 1000 BC.

The Indus Valley civilisation developed a religion which shows a close relationship to Hinduism in many ways. Later, it further developed through the combined religious practices of the southern Dravidians and the Aryan invaders who arrived in the north of India around 1500BC. Around 1000BC, the Vedic scriputers were introduced and gave the first loose framework to the religion.

Hinduism today has a number of holy books, the most important being the four Vedas (Divine Knowledge) which are the foundation of Hindu Philosophy. The Upanishads are contained within the Vedas and delve into the metaphysical (Great War of the Bharatas) is an epic poem containing over 220,000 lines. It describes the battles between the Kauravas and Pandavas, who were descendant of the Lunar race. In it is the story of Rama, and it is probable is highly revered by Hindus, perhaps because a verse in the introduction says ‘He who reads and repeats this holy life-giving Ramayana is liberated from all his sins and exalted with all his posterity to the highest heaven’. The Bhagavad Gita is a famour episode of the Mahabharata where Krishna relates his philosophies to Arjuna.

Basically the religion postulates that we will all go through a series of rebirths or reincarnations that eventually lead to moksha, the spiritual salvation which frees one form the cycle of rebirths. With each rebirth you can move closer to or further from eventual moksha; the deciding factor is your karma, which is literally a law of cause and effect. Bad actions during your life result in bad karma, which ends in a lower reincarnation. Conversely, if your deeds and actions have been good you will reincarnate on a higher level and be step closer to eventual freedom from rebirth.

Dharma or the natural law defines the toal social, ethical and spiritual harmony of your life. There are three categories of dharma, the first being the eternal harmony which involves the whole universe. The second category is the dharma that controls castes and the relations between castes. The third dharma is the moral code which an individual should follow.

The Hindu religion has three basic practices. They are puja or worship, the cremation of the dead, and the rules and regulations of the caste system. There are four main castes: the Brahmin, or priest caste; the Kshatriyas, or soldiers and governors; the Vaisyas, or tradespeople and farmers; the Sutras or menial workers and artisans. These basic castes are them sub-divisions. Beneath all the castes are the Dalits (formerly known as Harijans), or untouchables, the lowest caste-less class for whom all the most menial and degrading tasks are reserved.

Westerners have trouble understanding Hinduism principally because of its vast pantheon of gods. In fact you can look upon all these different gods simply as pictorial representations of the many attributes of a god. The one omnipresent god usually has three physical representations. Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the pre server and Siva is the destroyer and reproducer. All three gods are usually shown with four arms, but Brahma has the added advantage of four heads to represent his all-seeing presence.

The four Vedas are supposed to have emanated from his mouths.

Each god has an associated animal known as the ‘vehicle’ on which they ride, as well as a consort with certain attributes and abilities. Generally each god also holds a symbol; you can often pick out which god is represented by the vehicle or symbol. Brahma’s consort is Sarasvati, the goddess of learning. She rides upon a white swan and holds the stringed musical instrument known as a veena.

Vishnu, the preserver, is usually shown in one of the physical forms in which he has visited earth. In all, Vishnu has paid nine visits and on his 10th he is expected as a Kalki, riding a horse. On earlier visits he appeared in animal form, as in his boar or man-lion (Narsingh) incarnations, but on visit seven he appeared as Rama, regarded as the personification of the ideal man and the heor of the Ramayana. Rama also managed to provide a number of secondary gods including his helpful ally hanuman, the monkey god. Hunuman’s faithful nature is ikllustrated by the representation of him often found guarding fort or palace entrances. Naturally incarnations can also have consorts and Rama’s lady was Sita.

On visit eight Vishnu came as Krishna, who was brought up with peasants and thus became a great favourite of the working classes. Krishna favourite of the working classes. Krishna is renowned for his exploits with the gopis or shepherdesses and his consorts are Radha the head of the gopis, Rukmani and Satyabhama. Krishna is often blue in colour and plays a flute. Vishnu’s last incarnation was on visit nine, as the Buddha. This was probably a ploy to bring the Buddhist splinter group back into the Hindu fold.

When Vishnu appears as Vishnu, rather than one of his incarnations, he sits on a couch made from the coils of a serpent and in his hands he holds two symbols, the conch shell and the discus. Vishnu’s vehicle is the half-man half-eagle known as the Garuda. The Garuda is a firm do-gooder and has a deep dislike of snakes-Indonesia’s national airline is named after the Garuda. His consort is the beautiful (Laxmi) who came Ganesh is the elephant-headed god of pros-perity and wisdom, and is probably the most popular of all the gods. Ganesh obtained his elephant head due to his father’s notorious temper. Not pausing to think that their son might have grown up a little durig his absence, Siva lopped his head off! He was then forced by Parvati to bring his son back to life but could only do so by giving him the head of the first living thing he saw-which happened to be an elelphant, Ganesh’s vehicle is a rat. Siva and parvati’s other son is Kartikkaya, the god of war.

A variety of lesser gods and goddesses also crowd the scene. Most temples are dedicated to one or other of the gods, but curiously there are very few Brahma temples-perhaps just two or three in all of India. Most Hindus profess to be either Vaishnavaties (followers of Vishnu) or Shaivites (followers of Siva). The cow is, of course, the holy animal of Hinduism.

Hinduism is not proselytising religion since you cannot be converted. You’re either born a Hindu or you are not; you can never become one. Similarly, once you are a Hindu you cannot change your caste – you’re born into it and are stuck with it for the rest of that lifetime. Nevertheless Hinduism has a great attraction to many Westerners and India’s ‘export gurus’ are many and successful.

A guru is not so much a teacher as a spiritual guide, somebody who by example or simply by their presence indicates what path you should follow. In spiritual search one always needs a guru. A sadhu is an individual on a spiritual search. They’re an easily recognised group, usually wandering around half-naked, smeared in dust with their hair and beard matted. Sadhus following Siva will sometimes carry his symbol, the trident. A sadhu is often someone who has decided that his business and family life have reached their natural conclusions and that it is time natural conclusions and that it is time to throw everything aside and go out on a spiritual search. He may previously have been the village postman, or a businessman. Sadhus perform various feats of self-mortification and wander all over India, occasionally coming together in great pilgrimages and other religious gatherings. Many sadhus are, of course, simply beggars following a more sophisticated approach to gathering in the paise, but others are completely genuine in their search.

Entry Prohibited One clear contrast to the general Indian mood of tolerance is the way Westerners are not allowed into some Hindu temples. This chiefly applies to the temples in Orissa and Varanasi, and to some temples in the south, particularly in Kerala. It’s in complete contract to Jain and Budhist temples or Muslim mosques, where you are almost always allowed to wander at will. These regulations have been relaxed over the years and today there are far fewer places where an outright ban applies. It’s worth noting that it took Mahatma Gandhi to open many temples, even to some Hindus. Untouchables were banned from entering temples earlier this century.

An irritation is that in many cases the national or state tourist boards expound at length about the glories of these places, and yet never mention, even in the smallest print, that if you’re a Westerner you may not be allowed into various parts of the temples, or in some, even across the threshold. The Orissa publicities are particularly guilty of this. In Tamil Nadu, where there are many wonderful temples, attitudes are fairly relaxed and, at most places, you can explore all but the inner sanctum. If you’re appropriately dressed and sufficiently respectful you may even be invited in there.

  
 

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