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Hinduism - Tracing our
Roots |
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This is a reprint of the article
that appeared under Culture in Chandamama,
U.S. and Canada Edition |
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Indian civilization began hundreds of years ago, long before the birth of Christianity and long before Europe and the rest of the Western world became organized and civilized. Over 2,500 years before Christ was born, in India, there were prosperous and thriving communities living in the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro in Northern India called the Aryans (a honorific word meaning "superior being"). Although a few claim that the Aryans were of Indo-European origin, recent archeological evidences contradict this claim. The Aryan communities were known as the Indus valley civilization and they were dependent on agriculture. Accordingly, the people worshipped the land, the water and the atmosphere - elements that were adopted as symbols of what would later be called Hinduism. It was during this period that Vedic literature -- the Upanisads, the Samhitas and the Brahmanas were developed. Each Veda consisted of four parts: the Mantras or the hymns; the Brahmanas or explanations on mantras; the Aranyakas or meditations; and, the Upanisads, treatises on spiritual matters. In general, the Vedas were ritualistic texts and provided step-by-step instructions on dealing with everything - from birth of a child to marriage between man and woman to death of an individual. For example, the Vedas provided guidance on what prayers and mantras one should recite in the morning and at bed time; how sacrifices must be offered to a God; how a marriage should be conducted and so on. There were four Vedas (Rig, Atharvana, Sama, and Yejur) and over twelve Upanisads. The Upanisads were composed around 500 B.C. and were philosophical texts that contained discussions between a teacher and a student. The teachings often criticized the ritualistic and procedural approach to life described in the other Vedas and urged people to seek a higher purpose in life. The Upanisads focused on elevating the ordinary individual to a higher philosophical level rather than simply giving the individual rules to live by. The Aryans were nomadic people who moved from place to place. Around 400 B.C., they finally settled around the river Ganges and thus emerged the beginnings of the country of India. The Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha, were written around this period. The two epics narrated the lives of kings and other royalties and reflected the beliefs and revolved around the conflicting values projected in the early Vedas and the Upanishads. For example, while the Vedas asked an individual to perform rituals and help maintain an orderly society, the Upanisads required an individual to renounce everything, leave the society and become an ascetic. The Mahabharata and Ramayana grew out of these often incompatible world views and the actors from these two epics portrayed these conflicts. In the Mahabharatha, two royal clans - the Pandavas and the Kauravas - are fighting a war with each other for control over a kingdom. Yudishtra, the eldest of the five Pandava brothers is very depressed by the war and the killing and wants to renounce the hard won kingdom, the wealth and the power and retire to a forest for the rest of his life. However, he is discouraged from doing so because he is royalty and he has an obligation to his citizens. It is his duty to preserve order and take care of the welfare of his people. Eventually, Yudishtra is compelled to put aside his inner conflicts, obey his assigned duties and take over the reins of the kingdom. In the Ramayana, Rama, the hero of the story, is torn between the law of the land which requires the eldest son to inherit the kingdom from his father and his father Dasaratha's request that Rama give up the right to the kingdom in favor of his younger brother, Bharatha, and retire to a forest for fourteen years. Rama is torn between the dilemma of following the law and disobeying his father. Should he refuse to handover the kingdom to his younger brother or should he follow his father's request and retire to a forest? Rama decides that moral obligation to his father is more important than the law of the land; Rama renounces his title to the kingdom and retires to a forest. Conflicts such as these, where an individual is pulled among personal desires, social obligations and responsibility to others are still relevant today. The greatness of the stories from the Mahabharatha and the Ramayana are that they provide us guidance on dealing with conflicts and illustrate the benefits and repercussions of our choices. In keeping with the theme of moral conflicts, around 600 A.D., the ingenious Hindus developed the concept of bhakthi. The word bhakthi refers to action, service, attachment, loyalty, worship, knowledge, and devotion to a personal God. Through devotion to a God, an individual learns to deal with the problems of every day life. In India, worship of a God is much more than a passive belief in a superior force or an authority. Bhakthi is a highly personal activity, where an individual worships a God according to his or her preferences. Bhakthi helps an individual to become mature and learn to cope with the trials and tribulations of life. An individual need not be a scholar or a philosopher to be a devotee of God. Everyone, regardless of age, education, or standing in life can practice bhakthi and because it is personal, an individual can worship God in any form or fashion he or she prefers. This is one of the prime reasons why Hindus worship so many Gods and in so many forms and names. Bhakthi allows us to humanize God and to express love, devotion, compassion and other emotions as humans. However, the basic principle of Hinduism remains, "true God is within oneself and one must look inward to find God." Bhakthi is a path that leads to this profound knowledge. I will conclude with a short note on the modern history of Hinduism. Two important historical events influenced Hinduism in later years, the Muslim invasion of India around the 8th century and British occupation of India from around the 18th century. The interaction with foreign cultures began to change Indians and their views on Hinduism. A few individuals, reformers as they were known, began to question some of the beliefs and values of traditional Hinduism. These reformers included: Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, and Mahatma Gandhi. A few of these reformers even suggested that Hindus adopt Western ideas of service and humanism and move away from individual liberation as the principle goal of Hinduism. A true depiction of these reformist ideas is well reflected through the life of Mahatama Gandhi. Gandhi believed that true devotion comes from service to others and from helping people less privileged than oneself. Gandhi became the voice of the poor, the oppressed and the untouchable people of India. Liberation, in the words of Gandhi, meant liberation from hatred, caste prejudices, economic and political slavery imposed by foreigners. Religion, in Gandhi's view, meant equality of all beings, regardless of caste, creed, power or wealth. God, in Gandhi's opinion, lived within the soul of every being and God was indifferent to your possessions. This short history of Hinduism
illustrates that as a religion, Hinduism cannot be traced to the authoritative
statements of a founder or a leader. It is the product of the collective
reflections of many people -- from ritualistic scholars to reform-minded
liberals. In spite of the diversity of gods and goddesses and various
rituals and practices, Hindus, one and all, believe that that there
is only one God. And regardless of how differently we interpret that
God, Hinduism as a whole remains unaffected. Perhaps this willingness
to have faith in the intangibles and yet mold our beliefs is what has
enabled Hinduism to remain relevant today - it has evolved along with
centuries of human evolution. |