Hinduism has more adherents than any other Indian religion. As recorded in the 2001 census, its followers number about 828 million, or 80.5% of the population. More than a religion, Hinduism is a total way of life encompassing social order, law, science, literature, and art.
Incorporated within Hinduism is the body of Indo-Aryan thought and
ritual, which has a tradition dating from some time between 2000 B.C. and 1000 B.C.,
stemming from the ancient religious books known as the Veda but altered
and expanded in post-Vedic times as the Aryan invaders blended with the
non-Aryan indigenous Indians. This constitutes the "higher" religion called Brahmanism.
It is contrasted with a mass of belief subliterate in origin, some of
it pre-Aryan, and coming from all the racial and cultural elements that
have existed in the country. The latter is the "lower" religion, or popular Hinduism.
Hinduism countenances a vast range of religious beliefs, many of which are contradictory. It varies from a naïve animism to polytheism, monotheism, and even a rigorous, sophisticated intellectual monism. It has no formal creed, no standardized cult practice, and no controlling ecclesiastical organization.
Its adherents usually ascribe incontrovertible authority to the Vedas,
but refer to that ancient body of texts less frequently than to later
literature.
To Hindu devotees of pure monism all phenomenal existence is only relatively real. Others accept simpler and more easily grasped concepts. Ideas of deity also vary. On medium and high intellectual levels Hindus usually adhere to sects or cults devoted either to the great gods Shiva (śiva) and Vishnu (viṣṇu) or to lesser deities associated with them. Vishnu may be worshiped in his incarnations (avatar, avatāra); Shiva is often worshiped in his phallic symbol (linga), with which may be associated the female sex symbol (yoni) as the emblem of his wife Pārvatī. A variation of Hinduism is the adoration of the female principle or power called Shakti (śakti), represented as a goddess, as the creative and effective energy in the universe. This type of worship a variety of Tantrism,
is usually directed toward Devī ("the goddess"), wife of Shiva, and
otherwise called by such names as Pārvatī, Umā, Durgā, Gaurī, Bhavānī,
Kālī, and Ambikā, who is viewed as the universal mother.
On
the highest intellectual level a Hindu seeks the one reality, whether
conceived impersonally as the neuter Brahman or theistically as Shiva or
Vishnu. Once he succeeds, he may continue to live in the world but without emotional attachment to it. He has passed beyond sorrow and joy, pain and pleasure, and good and evil.
Hinduism accepts on faith the joint doctrine of rebirth and works.
Every living being at the time of death is reborn in a different form,
either higher or lower, whether as a human being, an animal, a heavenly
being, or a hell-dweller, and from that state he or she will again be
reborn, and so on endlessly. The precise form of each rebirth is determined by the balancing of the being's deeds, good and evil, in previous existences.
Escape from the cycle of rebirth constitutes salvation, a state of
perfect blissful consciousness, which may be gained by acquiring perfect
knowledge or performing one's duty perfectly, or through the grace of
the supreme deity won by pure devotion (bhakti).
In theory, salvation is the goal of every human being, but is so
difficult to attain that most Hindus aim only to improve their condition
in the next existence.
The social structure of Hinduism is embraced in the four-tier varna, or caste, system, which arranges humankind in a hierarchy of groups. Caste is hereditary, and nontransferable.
The caste system prescribes regulations concerning marriage, eating,
and many other phases of life, though these restrictions have often been
modified or discarded by civil law. In
theory, each caste has a separate social function or occupation, but in
practice this rule has never been strictly enforceable.
At
the top of the caste system are the Brahmans, representing about 3.5%
of the Hindu community; in traditional law they are a highly privileged
group, the custodians of sacred learning, who also constitute the
priesthood. At the bottom, outside the caste system, are the Dalits (the Panchama, or "fifth" category, the so-called untouchables). Between Brahmans and Dalits are three major caste groups: Kshatriyas, theoretically temporal rulers; Vaisyas, merchants or artisans; and Sudras, servants.
An outstanding ethical principle of Hinduism is ahimsa (ahiṃsā),
the noninjury of living beings, which should be practiced not only
toward one's fellow human being, but also toward the animal world. The cow, which holds a place of peculiar sanctity and inviolability, is to be given special protection.
The remains of the early Indus civilizations in prehistoric times, especially of the Harappa period (about 2500–1800 B.C.),
offer presumptive evidence of worship of a god with some
characteristics of Shiva, of a cult of the Great Mother or Earth
Goddess, and of phallic worship. Certain trees appear to have been sacred, including the pipal. On some seals of the period are trees associated with female figures that may represent fertility deities.
The
religious beliefs and practices of the Indo-Aryans, who are believed to
have entered India in the second half of the 2d millennium B.C., are recorded in a body of texts known collectively as the Veda, meaning "knowledge."
The earliest and most important Vedic book—which is also India's oldest
book—is the Rig Veda (Book of Knowledge of Hymns), probably compiled
before 1000 B.C. and consisting of 1,028 hymns composed by sages (rishi or ṣi) for use in the religious sacrificial ritual. Accompanying it and of almost equal antiquity are three other compilations:
the Yajur-Veda, which preserves the prose formulas used in the Vedic
sacrificial ritual; the Sāma-Veda, which contains the chants for the
ritual; and the Atharva-Veda, which provides material for private
religious use.
The Veda looks upon the universe in dualistic terms of good and evil.
The gods, most of which are anthropomorphic personifications of natural
forces or phenomena, are benevolent and figures of light; opposing them
are demons, malevolent figures of darkness. Indra leads the gods against the demons and slays their leader, Vritra (tra), but the warfare between good and evil never ceases. The gods enforce a system of order, known as the rita (Sanskrit ta), on earth, in the atmosphere, and in heaven. The demons, living in a place of chaos and darkness beneath the earth, oppose the rita and seek to undermine it, to obstruct the will of the gods, and to destroy human beings.
The gods are strengthened in this warfare by the sacrificial fire ritual, which men celebrate through the Brahman priesthood. In return for this mortal support the gods grant favors to men—progeny, health, long life, wealth, victory over mortal enemies.
Hence, great importance is attached to this ritual; it becomes ever
more complicated as time passes, and eventually is esteemed as more
potent than the gods themselves, who are subject to its power.
The increasing complexity of the ritual and the consequent increase in
the importance of the Brahmans are exhibited in texts, called Brahmanas,
that are appendages to the Vedas.
Late
in the Rigvedic period, however, doubt was expressed about the accepted
view of cosmogony and the supremacy of the gods; even the sacrifice was
subject to skepticism. New explanations were offered, some monotheistic in character, and a neuter monistic first principle was posited.
These philosophically speculative attempts led to a series of texts
called Upanishads, which had a remarkably stimulating effect upon the
development of Indian thought.
The Upanishads investigate the nature of both the universe and the human psyche, or soul. The monistic identification of the human soul (ātman) and the universal soul or essence (brahman) is the supreme achievement of those texts, though a dualistic view also appears in them, affirming the reality of both soul
(purusa) and matter (prakrti). The Upanishads are the first texts to develop the doctrine of rebirth and retribution for one's deeds (karma) in succeeding existences. They also speak of yoga as an aid to meditation.
In the period of approximately 1,000 years from the time of the older Upanishads, or roughly from around 500 B.C. to 500 A.D.,
the six orthodox systems of Indian philosophy, which provide the
intellectual basis for Brahmanical Hinduism, were evolved and gained
their classical form. They are 1) Pūrva- or
Karma-Mīmāṃsā, "discussion of the first, or practical, part" of the
Vedic religion; 2) Uttara-Mīmāṃsā, "discussion of the latter part" of
the Vedic religion (the Vedānta); 3) Nyāya, "logical method"; 4)
Vaiśeṣika, "differentiation," the philosophy of atomism; 5) Sāṃkhya,
"reason" or "enumeration," an analysis of nature; and 6) Yoga, an exposition
of the technique of meditation.
The two great heterodox indigenous religions of India are Jainism and Buddhism. Both deny the validity of Brahmanical ritual and reject the supremacy of the Brahmans but accept as axiomatic the doctrines of karma and rebirth.
Jainism teaches that salvation, or release from the cycle of rebirth,
can be won only by the most rigorous asceticism and intense meditation.
Buddhism was founded in the 6th century B.C. by Siddhārtha Gautama, known by the honorific title Buddha, "the Enlightened One." Its distinctive teachings are expressed in the Four Noble Truths:
1) birth, sickness, death, and frustration are painful; 2) the pain
arises from thirst or desire; 3) the cessation of pain comes from
complete extinction of this desire; 4) the way to extinguish desire is
to follow the Noble Eightfold Path of right views, right resolve, right
speech, right action, right living, right effort, right mindfulness, and
right concentration.
Among the other religions originating in India, the most virile today is Sikhism. It was founded in the Punjab in the 15th century A.D. by Guru Nānak, who drew on Islam as well as native Indian tradition. Nānak abhorred idolatry and rejected the Hindu caste system. He accepted the doctrines of karma and rebirth and required exaltation of the spiritual preceptor (guru) by his disciples (sikha). Sikhism preaches monotheism, service to others, humility, self-restraint, and the mystical value of prayer.
Reformed Hinduism
In the 19th century, religious reform movements arose partly from the impact of Western ideas upon Hinduism. Foremost among these was the Brahmo (Brāhma) Samāj founded by Rām Mohan Roy. A theistic, nonidolatrous cult, the Brahmo Samāj favors social reform.
Another
important 19th century movement was the Ārya Samāj, founded by a
Brahman named Dayānand Sarasvatī (Dayanand Saraswati), who aimed to
restore the religion and social institutions of the Vedas, to protect
cows, to restore India's glorious past, and to check the advance of
Islam and Christianity.
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