Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent and is often referred to as Sanātana Dharma (सनातन धर्म) by its followers, a phrase from Sanskrit meaning ‘eternal law’. Having no single founder, “Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion after Christianity and Islam, with approximately a billion adherents, of whom 905,000 live in India. Other countries with large Hindu populations include Nepal, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, Fiji, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, and the United States.”[i]
The name Hindu has its origin in
Old Persian word ‘Hindu’–a reference to the Indus River. Muslim writers of Arab
origin referred Hindu to include “the land of the people of modern-day India.”[ii]
Hindu reform movements and revivalists started using the term Hinduism in the
19th century. Its widespread forbearance to differences and
inflexible ingenuousness make it complicated to be classified as a religion
according to conventional Western ideas. Hinduism is an Eastern religion, is
non-missionary, belief in life is cyclical, and that god is ultimate reality
and “immanent.”[iii]
In Hinduism, “God so conceived is
called Saguna Brahman, or
God-with-attributes as distinct from the philosophers’ more abstract Nirguna Brahman, or
God-without-attributes. Nirguna Brahman
is the ocean without a ripple; Saguna
Brahman the same ocean alive with swells and waves.”[iv]
With Brahman being the absolute,
this religion of 33 million gods, has its scriptural knowledge preserved in the
Vedas written in Sanskrit-the language of the Hindu scriptures. The gods of
Hinduism include Brahman who is the creator god, Vishnu the preserver god with
10 avatars, and Siva or Shiva who is the god of destruction. The Hindu path of
knowledge is identified as Jnana Yoga with
yoga being discipline or yoke. Hindus believe in Karma which entails cause/effect actions while Dharma implies law, duty, or correct behavior.
Denominations of Hinduism
Hinduism may be categorized into
four denominations: Saivism, Shaktism, Smartism, and Vaishnavism.
- Saivism. The followers of this denomination who believe in
Shiva as ‘All and in all’ is the oldest of all the sects of Hinduism. They
believe that Shiva is the creator, preserver, destroyer, revealer, and
concealer of all that is. Adherents
can be found throughout India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka and most notably in
Southeast Asia especially in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.
- Shaktism. This sect focuses on the worship of the Hindu divine
mother Shakti or Devi as the absolute, ultimate godhead. They regard
Shakti as the supreme Brahman and the “one without a second”, having all
forms of divinity, female or male, as divine expression. The most
fundamental and crucial text of Shaktism is the Devi Mahatmya, compiled almost 1,600 years ago. Other
important canonical texts include the Puranic literature and Devi Gita. Shaktism has transcended
borders and is no longer restricted to India alone. Shakta temples can be
found in Southeast Asia, the United States of America, Europe, and
Australia where Indian Diaspora Hindus have become deeply rooted. Despite
Hinduism being regarded a non-missionary religion; two major temples in
the confines of major U.S. cities include the Kali Mandir in Laguna Beach, California, and the Sri Rajarajeshwari Peetam, a Srividya Shakta temple in rural
Rush, New York. The proliferation of Shaktism in the U.S. and the
East-West synthesis of ideological interchange have endeared many doubting
agnostics to embrace it causing troubling and intricate enlightening
appropriation.
- Smartism. Worshippers of the six signs (Ganesha, Shiva,
Shakti, Vishnu, Surya, and Skanda) or the resemblance of all the deities
as the unanimity of godhead and the conceptualization of the myriad
deities of India, Smartans believe Brahman is essentially without attribute
or is attribute-less. Described as liberal or non-sectarian, Smartans
“…follow a philosophical, meditative path, emphasizing man’s oneness with
god through understanding.” [v]
- Vaishnavism. This is the fourth branch of Hinduism. Adherents
believe in reincarnation, samsara,
karma, and various yoga
practices with emphasis on bkati
yoga (devotion) to Vishnu.
The Hindu Caste System
“The Hindu caste system is unique
in the world, but resembles in some ways Plato’s ideal society of philosophers,
warriors and commoners. A caste is a division of society based on occupation
and family lineage. Hindu caste system recognized four distinct classes or
divisions among people based on these criteria and enforced it through a rigid
code of conduct that was specific to each class and rooted in the dharmashastras (law books) of the later
Vedic period.”[vi]
From the cry of the author of
above article, we learn that in Hinduism, caste is an important factor in
determining where one belongs as categorized below:
- Brahmins. These are the priestly class or caste that enjoys
the highest degree of honor. They dedicate their entire lives to learning
and preserving the Vedas, perform rituals and procedures, and observe
self-punishment. They show exemplary behavior and are the caretakers of
knowledge and traditions. As recorded in the Dharma (sacred tradition), a
Brahmin is raised to look after and serve the Dharma. The Brahmins are
regarded as a noble class endowed with knowledge and intellect.
- Kshatriyas. They belonged to the warrior and landowner caste
and were empowered to protect the people, shower the Brahmins with gifts,
abstain from sensual cravings, present sacrifices to the gods and the
ancestors, learn the holy texts, and bestow righteousness.
- Vaishyas. Though not allowed to marry women of higher castes,
they enjoyed the advantage of merchants and peasants, they studied the
Vedas, they were traders and money lenders, and were allowed to
participate in certain rituals.
- Shudras. Their main duty was to serve the three higher castes.
Traditionally, they were looked upon as laborers and were not duty bound
to read or study the Vedas.
- Chandalas. The lowest of all castes, they were considered
impure and unholy. Living on the fringes of society, they were regarded as
untouchables because they practiced magic and had unclean habits, were
considered loathsome and despicable by the upper castes. Perhaps, seeing
the living disparities of the Indian people and the abject poverty this
group lived in is what drove Mahatma Gandhi to classify them as “Harijans”
or “god’s people.”
Regardless of
the existence of Bhakti (love/devotion) in the Vedas, and the prevalent
categorization of society as a result of Karma, the visual focus known as
Tantra, the daily reverent gesture of Namaste and the all-encompassing overall
responsibility of Ahimsa (non-injury), if we are go by the admonitions of the
Vedas, exclusively for the unconditional observance of the Mantra which is the
sacred word or formula, we are led to the conclusion that Hinduism will undergo
revivalism if equality and justice is to be attained before the revered Brahma
regardless of equanimity of Samsara (cycle of birth). Many in India see their
mode of governance as far from being a democracy but a ‘castocracy’–a system of
administration where people vote for the leader in observance of the caste
system that is so ingrained in the mental make-up of the general population.
Hinduism Goddesses
- Ganesha. “All Tantric and
spiritual worship in the Hindu tradition begins with the invocation of
Ganesha (Ganesh), the elephant-headed god.”[vii]
There are many historical versions regarding how Ganesha got her elephant
head. One version relates how Parvati (Shiva’s wife) created Ganesha in
the absence of Siva (Shiva) to watch over her quarters. When Shiva wanted
to see Parvati, Ganesha objected to which Shiva cut off her head. Later
on, Shiva gave Ganesha the head of an elephant because there was no
replacement.
- Annapurna. She is the Hindu
goddess of food and cooking. An incarnation of the Hindu goddess Parvati,
wife of Shiva, Annapurna is said to have the power to nourish indefinite
number of people.
- Saraswati. She is described as the
Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, and the creative arts. Also called the
goddess of speech, Saraswati is often seen dressed in white, riding on a
swan and sometimes on a peacock, and is depicted holding a palm leaf–an
indication of knowledge.
[ii] Thapar, R.1993. Interpreting Early India. Delhi:
Oxford University Press. P. 77
[iii] Encarta Dictionary: English (North America). Existing
in all parts of the universe. Describes God as existing in and extending into
all parts of the created universe.
[iv] Huston Smith: The World Religions. Harper Collins
Publishers Inc. 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022
