Hinduism

It is well known that everyone is born for a noble cause. So, everyone has to be noble in thoughts, words and deeds. But what could be that noble cause? God is the all pervading spirit, the Universal Spirit, the Universal Consciousness activating everything everywhere with infinite power eternally. Everything starts from and ends with this infinite power which has no beginning and no end, which is immanent and transcendental, and absolute and independent but everything within is finite, temporary, imperfect and interdependent with one another. Of all the creations man only seems to be exceptional, rational and unique. So, man’s beginning must be in God and therefore man’s end should also be in God only. Because of this noble cause not only man has to be noble in mind, heart and soul but also has to lead noble life and finally embrace God nobly. If he is not so, he has to make himself so by practice and fulfil his destiny with full realization.

Hinduism is the religion of the large majority of the people of India and Nepal. It is the third largest and the oldest religion of the World. No one is actually certain how old is Hinduism but it can be said with certainty that Indus valley civilisation contributed some ideas to Hindu religion. The earliest known Hindu scriptures are the "Vedas". Vedas वेद्द describe the religion of Aryans आर्यन , who invaded India around 1500 B.C.

It essentially arose as the religion of the Aryanas आर्यन who settled in the northern India from central Asia which was called in ancient days as Aryavarta आर्यावर्त , and the originator initiates were mostly the Rishis ऋषि and Munis मुनि ( पुरानो व वेदों में प्रमुख अन्तर यह है की ब्रह्मा जी के मुह से प्रकट होने पर भी वैदिक मंत्रों का दृष्टा ऋषियों को कहा गया है , जब की पौराणिक ज्ञान धारा को ग्रहण करने वाले मुनि कहलाये अर्थात अर्थात अर्थात वैदिक ज्ञान धारा , यज्ञा व कर्म कांडी संस्क्रित्यों का वाहन ऋषि कुल परम्परा ने किया , जब की पौराणिक ज्ञान की लौकिक व्रत , उपासना , तीरथ व अनुष्ठान संस्कृति के वाहक मुनि बने । ऋषि द्रष्टा हैं व मुनि प्रवक्ता । ऋषि शब्द के चार प्रमुख अर्थ हैं ।

1. Gatee गती , 2. shruti श्रुति , 3. satyaa सत्या . 4. tpas तापस . ब्रह्मा जी के कथनानुसार जिस मनुष्य में ये चारों गुन एक साथ हों , वह ऋषि कहलाता है । मुनियों की लक्षणों की चर्चा करते हुए कहा गया है की जो तप करने वाला हो , शुन्यघर में निवास करता हो , और भ्रमण करते करते या चलते चलते सायंकाल में किसी भी स्थान पर विश्राम के लिए रूक जाए , वही मुनि है । ) as incarnations of God, as held by many, or at least the great souls which had attained a high position in their moral, intellectual and spiritual development. This religion was not only for the training of the entire nature of man and for his intellectual, moral and spiritual growth or evolution but for guidance of him in his life as a citizen in the family, the community and the nation.


The Vedic वैदिक religion was not Hinduism although Hindus consider Vedas वेद्द as their scriptures. Of the Hindu "Trinity" Brahma ब्रह्मा the creator, Vishnu विष्णु the preserver, and Mahesh महेश (परमात्मा ) the destroyer only Vishnu's विष्णु name appears in the oldest Vedas वेद्द. The concept of Trinity dates back to 500 A.D. Around the same time, the importance of goddess began which appears in many forms of Shakti शक्ति (Shiva 's consort).

However, Upanishads उपनिषद which were written several hundreds years later have characteristic Hindu ideas of unity of soul with Brahman ब्रह्मा , karma कर्म , reincarnation, and salvation (Moksha मोक्ष - escape from reincarnation). The notion of class and caste which was absent in Vedas वेद्द starting appearing during this period. Hindus हिंदू are mainly divided into three groups

i) Shivites, who are devoted to Shiva shiv , whom they consider as their creator and preserver of the universe
ii) ii) Vaishnavas , who assign the above roles to Vishnu vishnu and
iii) iii) Shaktas , who worship Shakti .

These divisions of Hinduism are not very rigid as in other faiths and it is not strange for people of one belief to mix with others. The Hindus do not form congregations and mostly worship at home. They worship other God and Goddesses as well as these are considered as another reincarnation of main Hindu Gods. As a result, the major Gods and Goddesses are worshiped in many names and forms. Hindus have little missionary feeling because they believe that the proper way to become a Hindu is to born one. Hindu rituals cover all areas of a person's life. Hindu society has a high standard of conduct, with little immorality, crime, or violence.

The Vedas which are 4 in number. The Rig Veda, Yujarv Veda, Soma Veda and the Atharva Veda. The first three agree in their form, contents and language, though the Rig Veda is the chief, which was mostly the collection of the inspired songs of the Aryans aaryan after they settled in Northern Indian to preserve their precious treasure against the prayers or worshiping of many gods by the Dasus and natives in the Panjab region where they settled first.

The Sama Veda Yujar Veda is mostly liturgical collection for rites, rituals ceremonies and sacrifices or Yajas. In them the freshness and simplicity of the Rig Veda was replaced by coldness and artificiality. The emphasis was on sacrifice and the supremacy was on the priests who were the organisers of the rites. In this age people were more anxious about the completion of their rites and sacrifices than the perfection of their souls. They were more concerned with formal observances of rites than with the true spirit of religion, in spite of suggestions of a higher ethics and religion in the Upnishads of these Vedas. There was need for a restatement of the spiritual experience, the central meaning of which was obscured by conventional piety. There was ethical necessity and need of duty of one's gods, forefathers or ancestors as there was belief in rebirth and theory of Karma. The caste distinctions also become more rigid. Though in the beginning under the ceremonialism of the Vedic religion the families of Brahmans formed a class and the kings became Kastriya. The rest were classed as the people earning and cultivating and were called Vaisyas as they were originally occupational. The aboriginals and tribal" as Dasus who were serving the Aryans were called Sudras.

This division soon became hereditary though the system of caste was introduced to meet the social needs of the times. This social order was originally to conserve the culture of the various classes, but it in reality did not help in national advancement, as it was psychologically wrong to divide people in various classes and groups or castes. Everymen and his work are enough and any other labeling was harmful. There also was the faith in 4 division of ones' life, Brahamchariya, Grahasth, Banprasth and sanayas with 25 years devoted to each division or Ashrams. The caste distinction and Ashram dharma were more elaborated by Manu later with logical justification, but in the Vedic period there were these divisions of society and of ones own life well established.

The 4th Veda was Atharveda which was for a long time was not considered as a Veda, as a different spirit runs through this Veda. If shows a compromising attitude with the so many gods and godliness worshipped by the native and primitive people of the region which the Aryans were subduing. Vedic did not encourage or recognise sorcery and magic, which in Atharva Veda are the main theme. The Word religion itself that the Atharva Veda represents is doubtless, older than that of the Rigveda, though the collection of Atharva Veda is a later one. The religion of the Atharva is of the primitive, Dasyus, Chandals and aboriginals who believed in ghosts, demons, sprits, magic witchcraft and tantarism though in some parts of it there is a common element with Upanishads and Brahamas.

In Atharv Veda are mentioned the powers of formulas or incantations, mantras magical practices connected with marriage, initiation anointing of the King and curing of boldness and jaundice and so on abound. Shiva in Rig-Veda means auspicious but in Atharvada he is a god to be worshipped as the phallus. Rudra in the Rig-Veda is a malignant cattle destroying deity, here he is the lord of the cattle or the Pashupati. Sex also became prominent in Tantric and magical practices. The idea of Hell with its horrors and tortures was expounded. Asceticism also was eulogised and ascetics were believed to control nature by tapas or by austerities and mortification of the body. One could see people (even these days) sitting in the midst of 4 or 5 fires all round or standing on one leg or holding one arm above the head with the idea of commanding the forces of nature of subduing the gods to get things done. Such ideas could only be held by superstitious and ignorant people believing in demonology and the powers of unknown forces in their imagination away from reality and in Atharv Veda truth and reality seemed to be obscure. One may say that on the whole, the Vedic religion was dominated by prayers, worship, rituals and sacrificial fire or Yajay to propitiate the various Gods inhabiting the natural forces and resources.

The Vedic polytheism was tempered with monoism more in Upanishads as under the ritual songs there was to be the divine personality and a spiritual life was to be lived for liberation of the self or for self-realization with which consisted in being the Brahma himself which each individual or everything else was in its final reality. This spiritual life was to be lived with self control or by subduing the animal desires, with self-abnegation, renunciation or giving up egoism and being more altruistic benevolent with active charity and kindness. These characterised essentially the Hindu home life and these were particularly noticeable in the homes where joint family prevailed. In Hinduism there was not only the Quest for the ultimate as the goal of life but also for the practical guidance for the householder to live in the manner which could lead him to the realizations of this goal.

The guidance was provided for life in the family, in the community and in the nation as a whole with duties indicated for the child, father and mother, brothers and sisters, elders and for guests. Duties were also assigned to the householder in his 4 stages or ashrams of life like Brahamcharya, Grahastha, Vanprasth and Sanyas. Duties of the Kings and his subjects and for the 4 Varnas or castes as a Brahaman, Kashtriya, Vaish & Sudra for doing what was the best in the interest of the society and in his own interest. The quest for the final reality as the goal of life has been the subject of the Veda and the Upanishads as indicated briefly above and the guidelines for the citizen to play the different roles for the sake of his duties or dharma are indicated in the epic poems, the Mahabharata, Ramayana and also in the Dharamshastra - of Manu and the Gita. A brief mention of them is called for. The Mahabharata was complied by Rishi Vyas near about the 6th or 5th century B.C. according to some authorities though some thought that it occurred much earlier and concerns with the Great War between the Kauravs and Pandavas. We come across in the Mahabharata the polytheism of the Veda, the monism of the Upanishads and the dualism of Sankhyas and the deism of Yoga.

The Braham of the Upanishads becomes invested with a distinct personality and called Ishwar who was given different names as Shiva, Vishnu and Krishna for worship or Bhakti, though the impersonal absolute was still the more real of the two. In Mahabharata emphasis is on the personal god, on the Krishna or personal Vasudeva. There is also evidence of Shakti worship, as Durga was worshipped by Arjun before the battle and Durga was considered the energy drawn from Parmatmaडुरगवस्पेरसोनिफied as Uma the wife of Shiva as the function of creation preservation and destruction of all existences can not be possible without the help of this energy. Originally she was said to be the virgin goddess worshipped by the wild tribes of the Vindhayas and her name is thus borrowed from the aboriginals.