Hinduism is also known as "Sanatana
Dharma" to Hindus. In Sanskrit, the original language of India, 'Sanatana'
means Everlasting and 'Dharma', by a crude translation, means Religion. The
Everlasting Religion, Hinduism was founded, exists and flourishes in India.
At this point, let me make a very important
observation. Hinduism is probably known to most people outside India as a
religion. The truth is - it is both a religion and a way of life. India gave to
the world the original, oldest and most profound philosophy of life. The
brilliant ancestors of present-day indians explored the truth behind our
existence and defined multiple philosophies and theories that explained this
truth. However, they also created a set of rules for "good living" on
this earth. The philosophical concepts that Indians gave to mankind are eternal
and constitute no religion by themselves. However, the rules for good or
"Dharmic" living that they laid down constitute the Hindu religion.
Most people mistake the term "Hinduism" to be only a religion. This
article will refer to "Hinduism" for both the philosophy and the
religion, for purposes of simplicity.
The message of Sanatana dharma (Hinduism) is
perennial and will never become outdated with time. This religion does not have
a starting point in history and the sages who shaped it merely reiterated the
teachings of the Vedas (Hindu scriptures). The Vedas are believed to have no
origin.
Important Concepts and Misconceptions
The Caste System of the
Hindus
The Importance of
Devotion to God in Hinduism - Bhakti Yoga
Is conversion
allowed in Hinduism?
Sruti, the unwritten portion of the Vedas
tells us this about the Almighty - "OM Poornamadah Poornamidam Poornaad
Poornamudachyate; Poornasya Poornamaadaaya Poornamevaavashisyate".
Translated, this verse means "What is Whole - This is Whole - What has
come out of the Whole is also Whole; When the Whole is taken out of the Whole,
the Whole still remains Whole". The purport is that the Infinite cannot be
measured arithmetically - God is Infinite. However, although you cannot divide
or subtract from the Infinite, you can definitely represent the Infinite in
different ways. The Infinite also manifests in billions of ways.
Detractors of the religion consider it to be
polytheistic (Belief in many Gods). The truth is - Hinduism is monotheistic
(Belief in One God). Sanatana Dharma believes in One Supreme God, the Almighty.
Hinduism believes not only in One God, but
also in His Supreme Personality. This personality of the Supreme Being is
manifested in different forms around us and within us perpetually. To meditate
on the Supreme Being, man would have to absorb all these infinite
manifestations (which are continually taking place without a starting point or
an end) with his finite or limited capabilities. Clearly, this is not possible.
Therefore, the Infinite manifests Himself in billions of ways to help mankind
visualize him. This belief of Hinduism is confused with polytheism.
We all observe the unending processes of
birth, existence and death, which seem to be continually taking place around
us. We constantly witness these processes and are yet ignorant of them, living
as we do in the comfort of our illusory lives. The seers of ancient Hinduism
realized the truth behind these activities. They gave form and shape to the
truth beginning with the Hindu Trinity - Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Brahma
creates, Vishnu sustains, and Shiva destroys or consumates everything in the
universe.
The above examples should make obvious the
fallacy in the argument of fools that Hinduism worships multiple Gods. It
should be clear from the above that Hinduism worships multiple forms of the one
God. Such worship is truly a tribute to His greatness.
That the Supreme can be worshipped in any form
is a unique concept in Hinduism. Different sects worship different deities of
their choice as personifications of the Supreme One. At the same time, Hindu
scriptures also recommend the practice of meditation on the formless aspect of
God.
Another common argument against Hinduism is
that it promotes idol worship. How can a man-made idol be equated with the
Supreme God - this is primitive and abhorent, according to detractors of the
religion. True - equating an idol with God is disservice to the Almighty, but
that is not what Hinduism asks its followers to do.
Hindus do not worship idols, but worship God
in the form of idols. This is done to facilitate contemplation of the Infinite
with our finite capabilities. To quote none other than the great intellectual,
Swami Vivekananda on this matter - "If a person wants to drink milk, he
uses a cup as he cannot drink it directly. For the quivering and unsteady mind,
there should be a visible form or a symbol, the idol, so that it becomes a
foundation for his adoration. It helps to maintain the continuity of one's
devotional exercises. The idol form of God is akin to a vessel which enables a
man to drink the milk. Through the instrumentality of an idol, a devotee
comprehends divinity. The divine incantations ('Mantras' in Sanskrit) uttered
during the worship of consecrated idols transform man into a centre of
spiritual power."
Cow slaughter is considered sacrilege in the
religion. The cow is revered as a mother to all mankind because of the
nourishing milk she provides. A mother feeds her child without expecting
anything in return. Similarly, the cow provides us with life-giving milk
without any expectation. Hence, the religion compares the slaughter of a cow to
the murder of one's own mother.
Indian society was largely agrarian and
depended on the cow for a living. Indians also realized the potential of cow
dung for several practical purposes - For example, it is used as a fertilizer
and as a disinfectant. All these and similar reasons must have prompted Hindus
to treat the cow reverentially as opposed to sending it to the butcher.
Another popular misconception is that all
Hindus are vegetarians and Hinduism prohibits meat eating. According to Sage
Valmiki's account of Lord Rama's life (Valmiki Ramayana), Lord Rama's (an
incarnation of God) diet also consisted of meat, since he belonged to the
"Kshatriya" caste. Kshatriyas are allowed to hunt for food and eat
meat, as long as it is offered to the Almighty first before consuming it. The
scriptures say that every human being should pursue his or her own dharma
perfectly instead of following another's dharma imperfectly. A Kshatriya's
dharma is to defend the nation and his people against enemies. A vegetarian
cannot do so for lack of physical prowess. At the same time, a Brahmin's duty is
to master the scriptures and realize the Supreme. He should refrain from eating
meat and eat simple food to maintain equanimity. Hence, a Hindu could be a pure
vegetarian or a meat eater. At the same time, a meat-eating Hindu would never
kill a cow. Also, the religion prohibits the killing of animals for any purpose
other than food.
Hindu society was originally divided into
castes based on occupation. The four main castes of the Hindus are - the
Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas, and the Shudras. The division on the
lines of occupation established Brahmins as priests, Kshatriyas as warriors,
Vaishyas as merchants, and Shudras as workers. This division probably does not
hold true any more. In modern, westernized Indian society there is probably
only one occupation - making money.
Traditionally, people are born into a caste.
However, the scriptures have a different opinion. Sage Parashurama was born
into a Brahmin family, but is reverred as one of the mightiest warriors (a
Kshatriya) ever known. Sage Valmiki was born in a hunter tribe(Shudra), but he
became one of the greatest sages (Brahmin) of Hinduism. Sage Vishwamitra was
born a Kshatriya and became one of the most respected sages (Brahmin). Hence, a
man's caste in the religion is dictated by his deeds and his merits, not his
birth.
The Gita presents Devotion as one of the
several ways to achieve Moksha. In fact, devotion to God in any form that the
devotee conceives of is one of the four Yogas - the Bhakti Yoga. This idea is
expressed clearly by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, ``Whosoever offers to
Me with love a leaf, a flower, a fruit or even water, I appear in person before
that devotee of sinless mind and delightfully partake of that article offered
by him with love. Arjuna, whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer
as oblation to the sacred fire, whatever you bestow as a gift, whatever you do
by way of penance, offer it all to Me.'' The service rendered by Guha, a
character in Ramayana, to Rama endears him to the Lord so much that while
taking leave of him, Rama says to His brother Lakshmana that He considers Guha
His own brother. It is a devotee like Guha that the Lord has in mind when He says
in the Gita, ``To those devotees who worship Me, thinking of none else, who
devote their mind to Me and are ever perseverent in My service and in My
contemplation, I confer that permanent heavenly abode from which there is no
return to life.''
Such devotion can be towards any form of the
Almighty. A Rama devotee will not spend a minute without thinking of Him and
the Divine Mother. A Shiva devotee will spend his time eulogizing His
"Lingam". If looked at more analytically, in fact, the other Yogas
also become an extension of Bhakti Yoga. A Karma Yogi immersed in the service
of the poor and destute sees God in them and hence cannot bear separation from
them.
The entire cosmos is subject to the vicissitudes
of time and hence whatever has an origin at a point of time has to come to an
end. According to Hinduism, all the worlds, including the heavenly realm of the
creator (Brahma), are conditioned by time. The process of creation (Srishti)
and dissolution (Pralaya) of the universe is a periodic cycle in which the
entire cosmos becomes manifest at the time of creation and is withdrawn at the
time of dissolution. The Almighty alone is beyond time - beginningless and
endless.
According to Hindu philosophy, the cosmos is
created and destroyed in cycles of time. These cycles consist of
"MahaYugas", each of which consists of four yugas. The four yugas are
- Satya/Krita yuga, Treta yuga, Dvapara yuga, and Kali yuga - in that order.
Together, they form a "Mahayuga". One day of Brahma (a Cosmic day)
consists of 1000 Mahayugas as also does one Cosmic night. The Satya yuga lasts
1.7 million earthly years. The Treta yuga lasts 1.3 million earthly years. The
Dwapara yuga lasts 0.9 million earthly years and the Kali yuga lasts 0.4
million years. We are currently in the Kali yuga. Therefore, one Mahayuga
equals 4.3 million earthly years. 1000 mahayugas (1 Cosmic day) = 4.3 billion
earthly years. All embodied beings come into existence from the unmanifest
condition at the beginning of each cosmic day and merge into the subtle body of
the creator during the cosmic nightfall. The bonded soul is reborn countless
times during one such cosmic day.
Brahma (the Cosmos) lives for 100 Cosmic
years, where 1 C.year = 12 C. months; 1 C. month = 30 C. days + 30 C. nights; 1
C. day/night = 4.3 billion earthly years by the above calculation. Therefore,
Brahma's life equals a fantastic 311 trillion and 40 billion earthly years. At
the end of Brahma's life, another new Brahma is born who lives another 100 C.
years. This process goes on endlessly as countless Brahmas die and resurface.
This endless cycle of births and rebirths that
all "souls" experience, whether it is during one cosmic day or during
one Brahma's life is called "Transmigration". All souls are cursed to
experience transmigration, except the one Absolute Truth, which is beyond
creation or destruction. Beyond even this unmanifest subtle state before
creation is this unmanifest existence, the Ultimate Reality, which does not perish
even though all beings are subject to decay. This unmanifest is spoken of as
the Indestructible, the Supreme Being, who is the goal to be attained, after
which there is no more return to the mortal world. The methods by which this
goal can be attained have also been elaborated in the Bhagavad Gita (Bible of
the Hindus).
A good analogy to transmigration of the soul
is of a person retiring to sleep who wakes up the next morning in the same
place. During sleep, the person is unaware of what happens to him. Similarly,
the transmigrating soul at birth does not remember its state prior to coming
into existence. So, death is also nothing but return to the same state from
which one has come to this world. There is a way to transcend this process of
transmigration, to which all created beings are subject. This is again
presented in different ways by different philosophers of the religion. Adi
Shankara believes that we are indeed the Absolute Truth, but that the illusion
of our worldly lives prevents us from realizing this Truth. Others believe that
we are "bonded souls" that merge with the Truth once we achieve the
Truth. A discussion of these concepts follows later. In brief, however, this
transcendental state that we should all strive for is called "Moksha"
in Hindu philosophy and "Nirvana" in Buddhist.
Hinduism believes in transmigration of the
soul. Such transmigration is what results in reincarnation. This, in short, is
the popular theory of Karma.
Clearly, all forms of life on earth do not
undergo the same experiences and are not at one level of existence. Man is the
most superior form of life, but there are also billions of life forms which are
far less superior than him. Even among us humans, we constantly witness
differences in our modes of existence. Some of us are billionaires and some are
paupers. Some of us are extremely healthy and some are always disease-prone.
Some of us are drawn towards matters of the spirit, while others are totally
hedonistic and indifferent to God and religion. Some religions preach love and
compassion, while some others preach violence and slaughter. There must be a
reason for these different experiences that all forms of life go through, even
within their own species. Hinduism's answer to this question is the theory of
"Karma".
Karma and rebirth are interrelated concepts
unique to Indian philosophy. Without these concepts, there cannot be a
convincing explanation for the differences we perceive among life forms in the
world.
According to the theory of Karma, we are all
part of a cycle of births and rebirths. This cycle has no beginning nor end. We
are simply experiencing the results of our own actions in our journey through
this cycle. Each spoke in the cycle is a predecessor to the next spoke. When a
cycle moves, all spokes move one after the other in a never-ending chain.
Similarly, in the cycle of "Samsara", life forms are spokes that
evolve from one experience to another, and from one form to another according
to their actions. Good actions cause good effects (Law of Cause and Effects),
while bad actions cause bad effects. It is as simple as that.
At this point, it will be useful to support
Shankaracharya's argument against atheistic Buddhist philosophy (More on this
topic follows below). In a cycle, can the sum effect of the actions of all the
spokes make the cycle move? Clearly, the answer is no. The answer is that an
external force has to act upon the pedal, which acts upon the chain, which in
turn moves the spokes making the cycle move. The sum effect of all karmic
actions of life forms alone cannot be the reason for the never-ending samsara.
There are so many non-life forms too in this universe. It is therefore the
Supreme Atman which creates, sustains, and destroys all entities in order to
run this cycle.
Coming back to individual actions, our actions
are bound by the theory of Karma. The actions are themselves binding, and such
bondage-causing action is known as "Karma". The bondage refers to the
confinement to this samsara just as spokes are confined to the wheel of the
cycle. While good actions cause us to be reborn to experience the good effects,
similarly bad actions cause us to be reborn to undergo pain and suffering.
Yogis are free of karmic actions and are therefore not bound by the cycle of
transmigration. Such a state of everlasting freedom from samsara is known as
"Moksha" or "Nirvana".
'Vedanta' refers to the philosophy of the
Hindus. It encompasses all of the intellectual wealth of the vedas, both the
'Sruti' and the 'Smriti', as well as all individual enlightenment that is
achieved through severe Yogic experiments. An explanation of Yogas and what
they stand for follows later.
There are three Major shools of thought in
Hindu philosophy about the relationship between human and the Truth - Dwaita,
Adwaita, and Vishishtadwaita. Translated into English, the three mean -
Dualism, Non-Dualism and Conditional Non-Dualism - in the same order as above.
The three great Sages who contributed these three concepts were Madhwa Acharya,
Shankara Acharya, and Ramanuja Acharya again in the same order. (Acharya in
Sanskrit means Teacher and it is a respectful title given to a deserving few.
When written, it is usually written as a part of the person's name. Hence,
Ramanuja Acharya becomes Ramanujacharya and so on).
Dwaita means "Dualism". This theory
states that man and God are distinct entities and they share a unique
relationship between them. According to it, man, the finite element, is
constrained by the cycle of births and rebirths. The Infinite element (God) is
free from all these constraints i.e., He is free from births and rebirths. God
has no beginning nor end. The Infinite element in this relationship is referred
to as 'Paramatman' and the finite element as 'Jivatman'. Through devotion,
'Jivatman' attains 'Paramatman'. Madhwacharya founded the Dwaita school of
thought. According to him, God is an ``Independent Being'' possessing
unrestricted powers, He is all-knowing and controls all sentient and insentient
objects in this universe. According to Madhvacharya, the entire universe is
divided into ``Independent'' and ``Dependent''. The former is infinite in His
attributes. He is the home of all auspicious qualities. It was also his view
that Jivatman is eternally dependent on the Paramatman in this relationship.
According to Madhva's philosophy, all souls except the Lord are under bondage,
which prevents them from knowing their identity and blocks the Lord's vision.
This two-fold ignorance, constituting the bondage, is responsible for the
selfish, violent and unjust activities of man. Not knowing his nature, he
identifies himself with the body and seeks the pleasure of the senses.
Adi Shankara propounded the "Adwaita" or Non-Dualistic theory.
He proclaimed that the finite and Infinite elements are not distinct elements
but are indeed One and the Same. According to him, there is a screen of
illusion ('Maya' in Sanskrit) which separates man from God. As soon as man
realizes his folly and comes out of his illusion, he is one with the Infinite.
From time to time great spiritual leaders
appeared in India whenever there was a threat to the religion of Sanatana
dharma, to re-establish its eternal principles for the benefit of humanity.
Among them, Adi Shankara Bhagavatpada ('Bhagavatpada' means Divine Feet) played
the pivotal role of not only reinstating the Vedantic religion but also
reorganizing the religion on the lines of systematic worship, known as
'Shanmata', thus establishing that philosophy and religion complement one
another in the tradition of Sanatana dharma.
It was very long ago (Since there is unending
controversy about Shankara's birth date, I will avoid mentioning any date) that
a village by name Kalady neighboring the holy city of Trichur in Kerala State,
south of India, was chosen for a divine happening. To a blessed couple,
Sivaguru, a scholarly Brahmin, and Aryamba, his pious wife, was born the godly
child Shankara, later to be known as Adi Shankara BagavatPada to the world.
The period of Shankara's birth was witness to
the spiritual degradation of India and a mass adoption of atheistic
philosophies by Indians. Buddhism was rampant and was slowly diverting people
away from the Vedas and Hinduism and was drawing them into atheism. People
started denying the existence of God and adopted Nihilistic philosophies.
Buddhism and Jainism are both believed to have
appeared in India at around the same time thousands of centuries ago. It is wrong
to consider Buddhism and Jainism in their original forms as religions. They
were both philosophies propounded by two great Hindu seers, Gautam Buddha and
Mahavir Jain. To this day, both Buddha and Mahavira are revered by Hindus in
India. Both Buddha and Mahavira preached that all life forms on earth
experience pain, pleasure, sorrow and happiness due to their bondage to
Samsara. They urged mankind to renounce all earthly attachments in order to
achieve liberation from rebirths and attain Nirvana. According to both seers,
we are the sum of our thoughts. When we realize this and give up attachment to
"bondage-causing" thoughts and resulting actions, we free ourselves
of the shackles of "Karma" and attain "Nirvana". Both teachers
therefore corroborated the Hindu premise that the Truth manifests itself as us
and we continue to manifest as long as we identify with this illusory world and
fall into the trap of desires. Unfortunately, both Masters' silence on the
topic of God was misconstrued to signal a denial of His existence. This led to
a brief period in Indian history that witnessed the growth of atheistic
philosophies, questioning the very existence of God. God therefore incarnated
as Adi Shankara to convincingly defeat such philosophies and reestablish faith
in God and the superiority of Vedic philosophy.
Although Adi Shankara's earthly sojourn was
very short- barely 32 years - he traveled the length and breadth of the
subcontinent of India, preaching his philosophy of 'Adwaita', and defeated all
forms of atheistic philosophers - Buddhists, Jains, Nihilists - in every nook
and corner of India, thereby reestablishing the superiority of Sanatana Dharma
and the Vedas. Many eminent scholars from all corners of the country became his
disciples. He restructured the various desultory Hindu religious practices into
six ways of worship or six sects - 'Ganapathyam' (The worship of Lord
Ganapathy, the son of Lord Shiva), 'Kaumaram' (worship of Lord Kumaran, the
second son of Lord Shiva), 'Sauram' (worship of Lord Surya, the Sun),' Shaivam'
(worship of Lord Shiva, the Destroyer) 'Vaishnavam' (worship of Lord Vishnu,
the Preserver) and 'Shaktham' (worship of Mother Shakthi, the feminine power of
God). He is hence hailed as the 'Shanmatha Sthapanacharya' (The Teacher who established
the Six Sects). During his trek across the country, he held debates with
several scholars and defeated all of them, establishing the superiority of
Hinduism. He also authored several immortal philosophical treatises. Chief
among them is the concept of 'adwaita', besides commentaries on the Brahma
Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, and the ten principal Upanishads.
The unique, ineffable, absolute reality of
Brahman (Paramatman or God) was Shankara's theme. And his mastery of the
scriptures enabled him to establish this doctrine. Shankara's youth was spent
in extraordinarily swift mastery of the sacred scriptures following his
'Brahmopadesa' (a ceremony in the Preistly Hindu Caste of Brahmins, wherein a
Guru initiates his disciple into the hallowed years of Brahmacharyam (Celibacy)
for mastering all the Vedas in their entirety) in his fifth year. Shankara
became a 'sanyasi' (monk) at the tender age of eight. Becoming a recluse at
such an early age is something altogether unique and unusual. Shankara wandered
forth on foot across India.
By the end of his short but remarkable life,
the greatest Acharya India has ever known, had successfully eradicated
Buddhism/Jainism/Atheism from the face of India and reestablished Hinduism
firmly.
Adi Shankara is my greatest and most inspiring
idol and hero of all times, and I sincerely believe that his Adwaita philosophy
is the most outstanding and the best of all (Although I am totally unqualified
to make a statement on such supreme philosophical concepts). Salutations to this
great seer, who in a span of just thirty-two years of a hectic life, achieved
so much so powerfully and so incredibly.
Vishishtadwaita or "Conditional
Non-Dualism" was propounded by Ramanujacharya. He followed a long line of
Srivaishnava seers who maintained that the Supreme Being is full of auspicious
attributes. His system is known as Vishishtadwaita, which refers to three
Realities viz. God, soul and matter, the first alone being independent, and the
other two being dependent on Him. The Acharya pointed out that we are
experiencing a temporary separation from the Lord, which can be overcome
through the method of devotion.
Ramanuja was born in Sriperumbudur, to the
south of India, in 1017 A.D. According to him, "All creation is the body of
the Lord; ``isaavasyam idam sarvam.'' The figure of the Isa is all-auspicious.
Hence there is nothing illusory about this world and our experience of the
same. Salvation is but the beatific permanence in the presence of the Supreme
where such closeness leads to the transformation of the mortal being into a
likeness of the Divine". Countless are the ways to attain the Divine but
the easiest is the path of devotion, according to Ramanuja. However, this is
also a severe discipline and hence a yoga. The starting point as well as the
final movement in Ramanuja's 'bhakti yoga' is faith in a loving God. At the
same time, Ramanuja cautioned that the personal God must not become a fetish
leading to intolerance.
The Vedas are the primary scriptures of
Sanatana dharma. They are the basis of ethics and morality and govern the
principles of this universe. Those who follow the directives of the Vedas are
governed by transcendental values and not social values; which is why the Vedas
have stood the test of time. There are four vedas - the Rig Veda, the Yajur
Veda, the Sama Veda, and the Atharva Veda. Each Veda is considered a separate
branch of knowledge and together, the four present a 'comprehensive science'.
No wonder, Professor Max Mueller remarked, "India is like a donkey with a
bag of gold on its back". The word Veda is a derivation of the word 'Vid'
which means Knowledge. Both transcendental knowledge and material knowledge is
found in the Vedas.
The vedas can be broadly classified into
"Shruti" and "Smriti". "Shruti" is that class of
vedas which is not written and has been passed on by way of mouth.
"Smriti" is the other class, which consists of documented texts. Of
the documented texts, the most important are the "Itihasas" or Epics,
and the "Bhagavad Gita". The two founding pillars of Hinduism are the
two itihasas, "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana", which are also
known as the "Mahakavyas" or "Great Poems". The Mahabharata
contains the "Bhagavad Gita".
The' Bhagavad Gita' is the Holy Bible of the
Hindus. 'Bhagavad Gita' means 'Divine Song'. The Gita addresses the problem of
Karma right at the outset. Lord Krishna seeing Arjuna's dilemma and sorrow at
the prospect of killing his kith and kin, tells him,``Arjuna, you grieve over
those who should not be grieved for and yet speak like the learned; wise men do
not grieve over the dead or the living.'' Krishna is clearly referring to the
process of transmigration and implies that what comes into existence and
vanishes is impermanent, whereas the soul is permanent and never ceases to
exist. Wise men are free from the existential bane that all of us experience
and are therefore free from any state of existence. Karma is the bane of our
existence and getting rid of karma is the answer to the illusion of our
existence.
Usually, some emotional crisis is essential to
force man to come to grips with his life and drive him towards understanding
the meaning of life. Such an emotional crisis is dramatised with telling effect
in the first chapter of the Gita. The profound spritual knowledge which can
liberate man eternally from samsarik bondage is imparted in the Gita.
The Gita vividly portrays the brave warrior
prince Arjuna undergoing an intense emotional dilemma in the battlefield. Lord Krishna,
his charioteer, becomes his Guru (Teacher), and thereby, the 'Jagadguru' (World
Teacher).
The goal of the Vedas is to help man realise
his spiritual nature and in order to make their comprehension easy to the
masses, the sages of ancient India presented them in the form of 'Puranas' and
'Itihasas' (Epics). The 'Mahabharata' is an Itihasa that captures all the
teachings of the Vedas in the brilliant form of a story. At the heart of
Mahabharata lies India's greatest treasure - the Bhagavad Gita. The other great
Itihasa of India is the "Ramayana', which serves the same purpose. The
hero of the Mahabharata is Krishna, and that of the Ramayana is Rama.
A Shashtra is an authority on a subject. There
are several shashtras in the Hindu religion and each shashtra when followed is
expected to aid us in understanding the subject on which it has been written.
The Bhagavad Gita is the crux of the Vedas. It
is a 'Moksha shastra', which means that it is an authority on 'Moksha'. Moksha
is the state of eternal freedom from which there is no return to Samsara.
Sanatana dharma establishes certain values
(dharmas), which are not only important for the well-being of the individual
but also society as a whole. The religion establishes four 'Purusharthas' or
goals of human life - Dharma (righteousness), Artha (wealth), Kama (sensual
pleasures) and Moksha (liberation from Samsara). At the same time, it
establishes the basis for the pursuit of all these Purusharthas as dharma.
Dharma is a universal principle, the goal of
which is to enable everything in the universe to function according to the Law
of Nature. Because Insentient things do not swerve from their nature but man
has the unique opportunity to exercise his will against Nature, the Vedas
established Dharma. It entails certain duties upon man and commands him to
discharge them to the best of his ability. Which is why it allows the pursuit
of Artha and Kama, but within the boundaries of Dharma. Basically, man is
allowed the pursuit of wealth and sensual pleasures as long as they are morally
right.
The Ramayana is a dharma shashtra or authority
on dharma for the welfare of mankind.
The Ramayana, through the characteristics
possessed by its hero, Rama, depicts Him as the repository of all righteous
values. He is a personification of the Divine law of nature and is a paragon of
virtue, whom men can follow in order to follow Dharma. Sage Valmiki, who is the
author of the Ramayana, describes Lord Rama as the only human who possessed the
16 great virtues of a Mahapurusha (An enlightened man). Just as the Bhagavad
Gita is referred to as "Moksha Shashtra", the Ramayana can be called
"Dharma Shashtra", a treatise on Dharmic way of living.
The Almighty and the Divine Mother descended
to this earth in human forms and underwent extreme human sufferings to
illustrate to mankind the need to uphold Dharma in the face of all calamities.
Since we are their children, the Almighty and the Divine Mother incarnated as
Rama and Sita to save us from sin.
A very brief sysnopsis of the Ramayana can be
presented beginning with the birth of Prince Rama and His three brothers,
Lakshmana, Bharata, and Shatrughna to the three Queens of King Dasharatha in
Ayodhya (in the modern day state of Uttar Pradesh in North India). Rama, the
eldest of them, was born to Kausalya. Lakshmana and Shatrughna were born to
Sumitra, while Bharata was born to Kaikeyi. Rama grew up to become the
kingdom's beloved and charismatic Prince. His charm, grace, humility and
affability made Him everyone's darling. He won the hand of Princess Sita,
daughter of King Janaka, one of the most respected Kings in those times.
Princess Janaki (Sita) was unmatched in beauty in the whole universe. Princes
from every nook and corner of India vied with each other to win her hand. In a
test of supreme strength conducted by King Janaka to choose the most suitable
bridegroom for his daughter, Rama won while everybody else lost. After Rama and
Sita got married came the turning point in their lives. Having grown old,
Dasharatha decided it was time for Rama to succeed him as the new King of
Ayodhya. Just when the people had voted to elect Rama as their future King and
His coronation procedures were underway, came a big blow. One of King
Dasharata's three wives, Kaikeyi, mother of Prince Bharata demanded that her
son be made the King and that Rama be banished to the forest for 14 years of
exile. Kaikeyi had once saved King Dasharatha on a battlefield shortly after
their marriage. As a measure of his gratitude, Dasharatha had granted her the
right to demand any two boons from him. (In ancient India, there was a practice
of granting boons. A boon granted entitled the receiver of the boon to demand
anything from the granter of the boon. Boons were granted by word of mouth. In
ancient India, spoken words were as strong as written words. Unlike in these
days, something uttered orally was never retracted. Such were the morals of
those times.) When Dasharatha had granted her two boons, Kaikeyi had decided to
seek them later in her life. Kaikeyi now decided to seek those two boons - One,
that Bharata be made the new King and Two, that Rama be banished to the forest.
Bharata, who was on an official tour away from the kingdom along with
Shatrughna, was unaware of these developments. Bharata was noble and
pure-hearted and would never have allowed his mother to carry out her evil
schemes if he had been present at the time. Dasharatha was shocked by the
demand, but realized that he was bound by the promise he had given to Kaikeyi.
Rama, being the epitome of Dharma would not disobey the words of His father,
even if they were extorted by someone else through evil ways. Promptly
discarding all royal attachments, Rama left for the forest. Seeing Rama leave
for the forest, Sita automatically left with Him. Lakshmana, being extremely
attached to Rama, decided to leave with Him too. As a distraught and helpless
father, Dasharatha watched his most beloved son leave for the forest and died,
unable to bear the shock.
Rama, Janaki and Lakshmana spent 10 peaceful
years of ascetic life in the forest. However, their peace was shortlived, for
evil Rakshasas (demonaic people) ruined their peace. Witnessing Janaki's
matchless beauty, they reported the news to their King, who ruled Lanka.
Ravana, the King of Lanka (present-day Sri
Lanka), was a powerful but immoral emperor. When he learnt about Sita from his
minions, his lust was kindled. He had abducted several married women in his
life and so, the immoral Ravana decided to abduct Sita from Rama's hut in the
forest. Entering the hut stealthily in Rama and Lakshmana's absence, Ravana
forcefully abducted Sita. Although forcefully abducted, Sita's power of
chastity deterred Ravana from causing her any harm. Carrying her away by force
to Lanka, Ravana imprisoned Sita in the false hope that she would succumb to
him one day. Throughout her confinement in Lanka, Sita hardly ate anything and
merely meditated on her husband, beseeching him through prayers to rescue her
from the evil Ravana. Ravana made several attempts with his wealth, power and
threats to force Sita to marry him, but all in vain. Foolish and blinded as he
was by lust, Ravana failed to realize that Sita was in fact the Divine Mother
herself. To this day, pious Hindu women worship Sita as the symbol of chastity
and follow her ideals of love and devotion to their husbands.
Rama was distraught on learning about Sita's
abduction. With His brother's support He managed to regain his composure and
went in search of Sita. In the process, Rama and Lakshmana met a forest tribe
and made friends with them. Gathering a few hundreds of the tribals, Rama
entered Lanka for war with Ravana. Rama led his small and primitive tribal army
against Ravana's mighty Lankan army. A terrible war ensued and in spite of the
superiority of Ravana's military, Rama single-handedly vanquished the enemy,
killed Ravana and brought Sita out of confinement. Both the Almighty and His
consort were reunited in their human incarnations to the joy of all His
devoteed. Returning to Ayodhya with His wife and brother, Rama went on to rule
the kingdom for the rest of His life.
Key to the reunion of God and the Divine
Mother in the Ramayana was a humble and yet highly intelligent person called
"Hanuman". Hanuman was one of the leaders of the forest tribe that
Rama and Lakshmana befriended. It was Hanuman's valiant efforts that helped
Rama win the war against Ravana. To this day, Hanuman is worshipped by pious
Hindus as a paragon of devotion to the Almighty.
King Rama and Queen Sita were both divine
incarnations. Lord Rama was an incarnation of the Compassionate Narayana and
Mother Sita was the Divine Mother Herself in human form. Both the Lord and the
Mother came to this earth and endured human sufferings for the sake of their
children - us. Such is the boundless compassion of the Almighty for mankind
that He decided to descend to this earth in human form. When questioned on His
true identity, Rama merely replied, "Who Am I? As far as I know, I am the
son of King Dasharatha and that is all I know about my existence". The
Lord and the Mother underwent all the miseries of human life, its sorrows and
angsts merely to demonstrate to us lesser beings the need to uphold Dharma in
the face of calamities. Where can one find such compassion and love for
mankind? There is no parallel to Lord Rama and Mother Janaki, who are my
guiding light. Both are my eternal parents who have been constantly leading me
through the dark chambers of life. I cannot imagine spending a day without
thinking of both of them, just as they are thinking of me all the time. For,
don't parents worry about their children constantly? This child longs to see
them both with my eyes one day, feed them with my hands, wash their feet, and
rest my head on their laps. When will that day come? Or will it ever come for
this sinner who thinks about money and worldly matters more than my eternal
parents? I pray to them to give me the wisdom and courage to attain them in
this very birth through my own efforts.
The Mahabharata is about a catastrophic war
fought by brother against brother, student against teacher, friend against
friend, and grandhildren against grandparents. At the center of the epic is the
Absolute Truth, Lord Krishna. The war took place between the Kauravas and the
Pandavas. The seeds of the war were sown long before the war itself, due to the
inherent hatred in the Kauravas, who were the sons of King Dhritirashtra, for
the Pandavas, who were their cousins. Krishna, the King of Dwaraka, shared a
special relationship with the Pandavas as their mentor and best friend. Among
the Pandavas, dearest to Krishna was his own brother-in-law, Arjuna. Duryodhana
and his evil brothers, with the covert support of their blind father
Dhritirashtra, deluded the Pandavas into playing a game of dice with them.
Winning the game by crook, the Kauravas then claimed as their wager, the entire
wealth and kingdom of the Pandavas, and drove them into the forest for 14 years
of exile.
When the Pandavas returned after their exile
to rightfully claim their kingdom, the Kauravas refuse to part with an inch of
land. Enraged, the Pandavas decided to fight for their kingdom. Meanwhile,
Krishna approached the Kauravas as a peacemaker and tried to mediate, but in vain.
Finally, when war seemed inevitable, the Kauravas and the Pandavas decided to
settle scores on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. The most interesting part of
the war is that Lord Krishna lent his impressive military to the Kauravas but
He guided the Pandavas on the battlefield. The Lord gave the two enemy camps
two choices - they could have His army or they could merely have His guidance.
The Kauravas opted for His army, believing in the strength of human forces. The
Pandavas, being aware of Krishna's true identity, opted for His guidance,
believing in the strength of the Almighty. Consequently, the Lord acted as
Arjuna's charioteer during the war.
On the first day of the battle, Arjuna seeing
his own brothers, forefathers, nephews and teachers on the other side of the
battlefield, became despondent. He lost heart at the prospect of killing his
own kith and kin and throwing away all his weaponry, refused to fight. Krishna,
seeing his devotee's despondency gave him and all mankind the everlasting
sermon of all ages - the Bhagavad Gita. Admonishing Arjuna for his delusion and
condemning his dilemma as impotency, Krishna instructed Arjuna to pick up his
weaponry and fight the war.
The bloody war ended in victory for the
Pandavas, and left thousands of people dead on the battlefield. The effect that
the 18-day war has on the minds of the reader of the epic cannot be described
in words. Such a dramatic work has no parallel in the history of human
literature. Sage Vyasa, who authored the Mahabharatha, the Bhagavad Gita and
the Bhagavadam, is indeed Bhagawan Shri Krishna, the Absolute Truth.
Through its teachings, Hinduism conveys to us
that lust is mankind's worst enemy. The Ramayana's essence is this. The
Bhagavad Gita emphasizes this. All great saints of the religion have preached
this. Lust is a degrading evil that leads man astray from the path of all
goodness. It defiles the mind, contaminates the spirit and wastes man's energy
and time. Sex within the boundaries of Dharma (through marriage) is not at all
evil. When sex becomes a pastime, an occupation, or even an obsession, that is
when it destroys mankind.
According to Hindu philosophy, all life forms
fall under three different categories. These categories are called
"Satwa", "Rajas" and "Tamas". "Satwa
Guna" or the quality of Goodness is the most ideal quality. However, 95%
of today's world population is of "Rajo Guna" or the quality of
Passion. There are a few among us of "Tamo Guna" or the quality of Ignorance.
People with the quality of Goodness like good things and believe in God. People
with the quality of Passion are given to vices such as hedonism, alcohol,
immoral sex and so on. People with the quality of Ignorance worship demons and
ghosts, murder, rape, committ all horrible crimes and detest God. The most
amazing revelation, however, is that the true "Yogi" transcends all
three qualities of mankind. The Yogi is free of material existence and has
realized his true identity. He is therefore not bound by Goodness, Passion or
Ignorance.
In Hindu philosophy, Yoga is a means to attain
the Supreme. It is a skill, an art and a separate branch of knowledge. There
are four Yogas and each one can lead the individual aspirant to the goal of realizing
the Truth. They are -
Considered by many to be the highest and the
best form of Yoga, especially in today's times, this is the path of Devotion.
Bhakti yoga is for the person with an emotional nature, the lover. It teaches a
devotional relationship with God, since God is love itself.
Jnana yoga is the approach to spiritual
enlightenment through discrimination and reason. This path makes strong use of
the powers of the mind. It is the path of the philosopher who wants to go
beyond the visible universe.
Karma yoga is for the worker. It teaches us
how to work in a spirit that will bring peace of mind, and yet harness the
natural desire to be productive. This Yoga lays stress on doing one's duty
('karma') without expectation of the fruit. In other words, it refers to doing
service to mankind as service to God.
Raja Yoga is sometimes called the yoga of
meditation. It is the soul of all the yogas. The emphasis here is on
controlling the mind through concentration and meditation. Raja yoga is also
called the psychological way to union with God.
While on the subject of Hinduism and its
greatness, let me take the opportunity to anayze drawbacks in the religion
today. It is my sincere belief that an analysis of this incomparably great
religion without mentioning its drawbacks will be a great disservice rendered
to it. Hence, with the blessings of Bhagawan Adi Shankara.
Another common question that comes up about
Hinduism is whether conversion is allowed in the religion. To those who have
read this page carefully so long, the answer should be clear. Given that
Hinduism is not a religion, how can the question of conversion to it arise? You
can be a Catholic and yet practise Hinduism. You can be a Jew and yet practise
Hinduism. You can be a Moslem and yet practise Hinduism. You cannot really
convert to Hinduism in the strict sense of the word. There are innumerable
instances of people living in India, who profess different religions and yet
follow Hindu Dharma. Several followers of great Indian Sages like Ramana
Maharishi, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Kanchi Paramacharya and so on asked their
Gurus about conversion. The single and unique answer they all received was -
remain with the religion you belong to and follow your religion honestly. For
example, a Catholic was asked to remain a Catholic and follow Jesus Christ's
teachings sincerely. Hinduism asks each one of us to search for the Divine
within us. It asks us to do this in whatever way suits us - through Christ's
teachings, through Mohammed's teachings, or through Shankara's teachings. The
essence is to capture the Truth within each one of us. We are all potentially
divine, and each one of us has the capacity to realize this divinity within us.