Ch. 3 Hinduism

Hinduism

• Umbrella term gradually imposed on Hindus, and then accepted by them

  • Hindu - First appeared around 500 B.C.E as a Persian word for the Indus River and the inhabitants of the valley

• Upper-class Hindus in India refer to their religion as the “eternal way of life”

Swastika

Indian symbol of good luck

The Vedic Period

• Around 2500 B.C.E, the Indus Valley civilization thrived in northwest India

  • Main city-states - Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro

  • Inhabited by dark-skinned Dravidians

  • Traded internationally

  • Declined around 1500 B.C.E, when the Aryans migrated into northwest India

The Vedic Period (1500-600 B.C.E.)

• Aryans brought oral collections called Vedas

  • Vedas: Books of knowledge

    • Consists of Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva Vedas

    • Comprise hymns to various deities, instructions and songs for sacrifice, and spells to bring on blessings and keep away evil

The Vedic Period (1500–600 B.C.E.) (continued 1)

• Rituals

  • Sacrifice by means of fire

    • Heart of Vedic religion

  • Vedic sacrificial rituals aimed at aiding and strengthening deities

    • Deities strengthen the world so that those who offer sacrifice may prosper

  • Agnihotra ritual to the sun

    • Symbolizes Agni carrying sacrifice to Indra, Varuna, and Brahma

The Vedic Period (1500–600 B.C.E.) (continued 2)

• Rishi: “Seer” of the divine

  • Writer of the Vedas

  • Took a trip to the realm of the deities and experienced their hidden truth when he drank soma

• Sacrifice became a necessity in Aryan society

  • Religious and social power were consolidated in the hands of the Brahmins

  • Brahmanas - Books detailing sacrifice

Upanishadic Period (600–400 B.C.E)

• Upanishads: Philosophical scriptures at the end of the Vedic period

  • Included dialogues between teachers and students who sought sacred knowledge through a withdrawal from ordinary life

  • Brahman: “world soul” Foundation of all physical matter, energy, time, space, and being itself

    • Present in all people as atman

      • Atman: Individual’s innermost self or soul

• Religious quest is to realize that brahman and one’s atman are the same

  • Realization brings freedom from ignorance and misery, and liberation from the endless cycle of reincarnation

• Teachings coalesced into yoga: Ancient practice that yokes the body and mind for religious deliverance

Classical Period (400 B.C.E–600 C.E.)

• Rise of converts to Jainism and Buddhism promoted intergration of foreign elements

  • Upanishads were accepted into the Vedic body of scriptures

  • Low gods of the non-Aryan classes were incorporated

  • Non-Aryans were taken into the religious system as lower castes and outcastes

  • Sadhus: Renunciants, also known as “holy men”

  • Bhagavad Gita: “Song of the Lord”; a poem on duty in the Mahabharata

The Devotional Period (600 C.E.–Present)

• Rise of devotional movements

  • Bhakti: Devotion

    • Advocates of bhakti in southern India used poetry and song to praise Shiva and Vishnu around the sixth century C.E.

    • Spread into most Hindu traditions by the seventeenth century

  • Famous devotees - Mahadeviyakka and Mirabai

The Devotional Period (600 C.E.–Present)
(continued 1)

• Tantrism

  • Writings in the Tantric movement based on practices outside the elite Brahmin tradition

  • Tantras criticize the religious establishment and also affirm traditional Hindu teachings

    • Right-handed path - Employs mantra, mandala, and ritual techniques based on body geography

    • Left-handed path - Ritual actions forbidden in mainstream Hinduism

The Devotional Period (600 C.E.–Present)
(continued 2)

• Rise of Hindu reform movements or revisionism

  • Caused by the arrival of European colonizers and Christian missionaries in the nineteenth century

  • Aimed at ending:

    • The harshest features of the caste system

    • Superstitions

    • Popular blessings and curses

    • Worship of images

The Devotional Period (600 C.E.–Present)
(continued 3)

• Government of modern India has tolerated all religions

  • Has brought significant improvement to the lives of the lower classes and the outcastes

    • Has provoked a religious- political reaction widely referred to as Hindu fundamentalism

Santoshi Ma (Mother of Satisfaction)

is a goddess of prosperity

Shiva - God of Destruction

• Guides and empowers destruction in the cosmic cycle of creation, destruction, and recreation

  • Destruction symbolizes removal of obstacles to salvation

• Consorts - Parvati, Durga, and Kali

• Son - Ganesha, the elephant-headed god

• Maon symbols - Lingam, Nandi, and trident

Vishnu - God of Life

• Supervises universal order and prosperity

• Protects and preserves the world

  • Incarnates when needed to defeat enemies of humans and gods

    • Rama in Ramayana

    • Krishna in Bhagavad Gita

  • Consort - Lakshmi, goddess of fortune

Shakti - The Goddess

• Portrayed in the Rig Veda as the powerful upholder of the universe

• Worshiped as Devi and Mahadevi

  • Female power in the goddess is seen as the cause of creation, preservation, and end of the world

  • Forms - Lakshmi, Kali, and Durga

  • Yoni: Symbol that represents the feminine power of the cosmos

Hindu Doctrinal Concepts

• Dharma

  • Righteousness, law, duty, moral teachings, religion, or the order in the universe

  • Specific to one’s social position, caste membership, stage of life, and gender

  • A Hindu must conform primarily to his or her class and caste dharma, which will lead to better reincarnation

Hindu Doctrinal Concepts (continued)

• Stages of life

  • Samsara: Cycle of reincarnation

  • Jiva: Personal soul that collects karma and is subject to reincarnation

  • Karma: Deeds or acts that influence reincarnation

  • Moksha: Liberation from rebirth and samsara

Four Stages of a Man’s Life in the Upper
Three Castes

Student stage

• Gaining knowledge for caste duties

Housholder stage

• Marrying and raising a family

Forest-dweller stage

• Retiring

Sanyasin stage

• Becoming a renunciant

Goals of Life

Dharma

• Social morality and ritual duties

Artha

• Material success and prosperity

Kama

• Aesthetic pleasure of mind and body

Moksha

• Release from life

Lives of Hindu Women

• Hindu women get married while young

  • Bear children, raise them, and run the home

  • Traditionally not allowed at the shrine or in the kitchen during menstruation

• Abortion is legal and frequent

  • Prenatal gender-testing is outlawed since 1994 because of selective abortion of females

• Divorced or widowed women are considered unlucky

Hindu Rituals

• Puja/worship

  • Honor or veneration of the gods

  • A daily ritual event for observant Hindus

  • Murti: Representation of the deity

    • Suggests something beyond the visible form that receives worship offered in visible form

    • Power or essence of the deity is believed to inhabit the murti

Temple Worship

• Deity and temple belong to one of the strands within the Hindu pantheon

  • Shaivite, Vaishnavite, or Shakta

• The murti is central and treated as an honored guest

  • Essence of the food offered is received by the deity and the leftovers are given back as prasad

  • Fragrance, light, and hymns of praise are offered, and devotees bows to show respect

Home Shrines

• Family god has the center stage

• Daily worship involves:

  • Bathing and purification of space with mantra

  • Ringing a bell to honor gods and get their attention

  • Lamp swung before the shrine

    • Divinity resides in the fire and worshipers receive it by holding fingers over the flame and then touching their eyes

Pilgrimage

• Brings purification from sin and ritual impurity, gains merit, fulfills vows, and leads to betterment of this life and the next

• Kumbha Mela is the largest pilgrimage event in the world

Festivals and holidays

• Indicate change of seasons, celebrate harvests, and promote fertility of animals and crops

• Dedicated to gods or goddesses, and mark events from Indian epics

Funerals

Death rites enable the decreased to join dead ancestors happily

Yoga

• Tool for achieving liberation, or the mental discipline that can lead to liberation

• Types

  • Hatha yoga

  • Karma yoga

  • Jnana yoga

  • Bhakti yoga

Vivekananda

• First successful Hindu missionary to the West

• Established first Hindu temple in North America

  • Stressed the philosophical teachings of the Upanishads

Paramahansa Yoganada

• Founded the Self-Realization Fellowship of North America in 1920

• Teaches yoga that enables one to realize the god within

Maharshi Mahesh Yogi

• Founder of Spiritual Regeneration Movement or Transcendental Meditation (TM)

• Teachings emphasize one’s inner divine essence and the liberation in knowing one’s true identity