CHAPTER THREE -
RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT: VEDIC TRADITIONS AND HINDUISM
THE
VEDAS
Discussing religious
beliefs in ancient
Indian religious traditions
are believed to be the result of the fusion of the early
POLYTHEISTIC WORSHIP
The oldest of the Vedas -
the Rig-Veda - consists of hymns and prayers to the gods of the Aryans.
This reflects one of the fundamental aspects of Vedic (and later Hindu)
tradition - the central importance of giving worship and devotion to many
deities and sacred beings. In Vedic/Hindu beliefs, there are thousands
of gods; devotion is displayed through prayer, sacrifice, pilgrimage, and
observance of feast days and festivals. Worship and offerings are made to
deities, sacred symbols, animals and even natural objects such as trees, all of
which have sacred importance. Worship of the many deities in the Hindu pantheon
remains an important religious duty, to the present day. In recent
years, festivals bringing Hindus to holy cities in observance of key religious
festivals have resulted in the largest gatherings of humans on earth! The deep,
reverential relationship with nature and in particular the great rivers is
still a powerful force in Indian religious life today.
LIFE AND DEATH
There is another level of
Indian religious belief which evolved during the formative period of 1500 -
300's BCE. This was the Indian conception and understanding of life
and death. Unlike other civilizations we have and will discuss,
Indians did not view life and death as linear: life, then death, then
(maybe) an afterlife. Rather, Indians believed in an ongoing circle
of birth, death, and then a rebirth of the soul or eternal force into a
new body on earth; this rebirth was the start of a new life cycle. This
ongoing cycle of birth, death and rebirth is referred to as
"transmigration of the soul" or samsara. In the
West, the term "reincarnation" is often used to describe this concept
of life and death as a cyclical pattern. Indian belief formulated that
this cycle of life/death/rebirth continues for thousands of life cycles.
Recognize, in ancient (and
modern) Indian society, where one was reborn was extremely
important since one's birth determined caste status and therefore most other
aspects of one's life. So much was determined by caste status, that it
clearly was an important religious issue to determine what life,
what caste status, one was reborn into. In Vedic tradition, a religious
answer emerged - the next life cycle of a "soul" in the wheel of
samsara was determined by one's karma. Karma is a term often
misused in the West. It does not, as some think, mean some arbitrary and
unknowable fate. One's karma is not based on the gods or chance. In
fact, Indian religious thinking identifies karma as determined by one's own
actions, thoughts, deeds - the life as lived by that person determines the
karma at the point of death and rebirth. The law of karma is referred to as the
"law of the deed". During the course of one's life cycle, good or bad
karma accumulates based on one's own deeds and thoughts. At the end of one's
life, there is an accounting, a sum total of a person's life - the
"tally" taken of good and/or bad karma accumulated over a
lifetime. This sum total then determined birth status in the next life.
In other words, one's karma was determined by oneself. The
actions/thoughts/deeds of this life determined the status one would have in the
next life. Your karma was up to and dependent upon -- you. It was
not arbitrary, it was not the gods, it was not a roll of the proverbial dice
that determined one's next life. It was how well one fulfilled one's
obligations and duties in this life that determined one's karma and thus
placement in the next cycle of life.
Linked to this
understanding is another critical religious term - dharma, one's
moral duty. Accumulation of good karma was based on how well
one fulfilled one's dharma. The definition of dharma evolved over
time; by the third century BCE, dharma, a person's moral duty, was defined as
the need to fulfill personal devotion to the gods, living a just life, but most
critically, one's moral duty explicitly included fulfilling one's caste
duties and abiding by caste laws!! This link is explicitly stated in
the Upanishads. One had to abide by a number of laws and strictures,
including fulfillment of the duties of caste or
Think of what this
means. To
fulfill your *religious* moral duty (and thus accumulate good karma) you had to
follow the *social* rules of caste laws and restrictions! The social
system and the religious systems became directly linked. One's
religious duties and goals included adhering to and obeying the social system,
and not upsetting caste traditions! As a result of this connection, the
deep and profound religious desire for a better next life helped to sustain
adherence to the caste system, resulting in a remarkable degree of social
stability. It is only by understanding this connection that one can appreciate
how
CONNECTION TO THE CASTE SYSTEM
What should be clear at this
point is that it is impossible to understand the caste system, and in
particular people's willingness to live by this system for thousands of
years, without connecting it to the intertwined religious beliefs. The
cyclical view of samsara, the belief that one creates one's own karma, and that
good karma depended in part on obeying caste laws and restrictions, meant that
the religion supported the social system, and the social system
confirmed these religious beliefs. We can see this connection in three ways.
First, Vedic/Hindu beliefs
offered hope of mobility. While it was not possible to advance or change
one's class status in this life, it was possible to move up and have a
better existence in the next life cycle - if one obeyed the caste
system and fulfilled dharma.
Second, religion created a deterrent
against people rebelling or upsetting class relations. From the perspective
of Indian religion, there were powerful reasons to fulfill one's caste duties,
even if they were difficult. Life might be tough for a female
member of a servant sub-caste, however, if the proper caste duties were not
carried out and established caste restrictions were not observed, not only
would there be social punishment in the present, but in the next life
cycle things would be worse. Those who dissented, rebelled, or disobeyed social
obligations accumulated bad karma and thus would have an even more difficult
time in the next life cycle.
Recognize, not only might
one be reborn at a lower social scale, one could descend into the realm of animals.
In the Hindu conception of the universe, it was not only humans who were part
of the universal cycle of life and death, animals also had an eternal
life-force that was reborn, and these lives were part of the universal
whole. So there was the threat of a potentially worse future - if you
aren't dutiful as an untouchable, there were worse life cycles one might sink
to in later rebirths - for example a beast of burden, a lot tougher life!
This religious belief in the religious consequences of social rebellion clearly
helped to secure obedience to the caste system.
Finally,
the concepts of karma and dharma, in association with the caste system, eliminated
any sense of injustice. From the perspective of the Vedic religion, (later
called Hinduism), there was nothing unjust about being born into the misery of
the untouchable caste, nor was there an unfair advantage for those born to the
power and privileges of the Brahmin. Someone born Brahmin had earned
this position by fulfilling their dharma in their previous life (or lives).
Conversely, if someone were in a low caste, this reflected accumulated bad
karma due the actions of that individual in a previous life or
lives. Put simply, if you were suffering in a miserable life, it was
because you earned that status through actions/thoughts in
previous lives. Those in elite status also deserved their status
and lifestyle; they earned that power and wealth by continually fulfilling
their dharma and acquiring good karma.
ATMAN - BRAHMAN
For the
majority of those practicing Hinduism today and for their ancestors in ancient
Vedic India, religious duty and practice means prayers and showing reverence to
the deities, as well as fulfilling their dharma and accumulating good
karma, so as to achieve a better rebirth in the next cycle of samsara.
However, for some Indians, there was (and is) one final concept and pursuit
associated with Hinduism, based on the idea that the final, culminating
religious goal is to actually get out of the cycle of life, and
thereby achieve eternal serenity and peace. This ultimate and difficult
goal in Hinduism is to escape samsara - and avoid the suffering that
comes from any life cycle. As your textbook describes, the idea of
samsara, a continual cycle of life, was not a happy concept for Indians - it
was a cycle of life, but also seen as a cycle of suffering since life
inevitably entails suffering. Thus, the escape from this cycle became an
important goal for those ready to pursue the most challenging religious pursuits
and practices.
The idea that escape was
possible was based on the a fundamental Hindu belief. The religious texts
of the Upanishads argue that all the different manifestations of existence,
from animals to humans and even the gods themselves, are all different forms or
manifestations of one universal force or essence or energy - this universal
force is the Brahman. The goal was to rejoin one's particular part of
the eternal, that individual soul or essence which is eternal and continually
reborn through samsara - to reconnect that with the universal Brahman. To
end the separation of existence in mortal bodies, and to achieve this
individual piece of the eternal achieve unity with the universal whole, it was
believed, would mean the achievement of serenity, by escaping the suffering
cycle of bodily existence. The achievement of this unity, and thus escape, was
termed moksha.
The Vedic conception of Brahman
cannot be easily defined, as is often the case with religious terms; it
is sometimes referred to as the idea of a universal soul. Hinduism is based on
the belief that every living thing contains a piece of the Brahman - it is in
essence the individual 'soul'. That part of a creature that is eternal and is
reborn in samsara is a piece of the Brahman. This individual piece of the
eternal essence or soul is termed the ATMAN. The goal, then, is to make the
connection between the individual atman and the universal Brahman - a
connection not made intellectually or superficially but at a deep spiritual level.
In short, to escape the
continual cycle of life and death, one must recognize the underlying
interconnectedness of all life, and thus get beyond daily distractions and the meaningless
differences between beings. Another term for this achievement
of union and thus escape is termed ATMAN-BRAHMAN.
As your text discusses, to
make this ultimate religious connection required a Hindu to retreat from
society to a life of intense meditation and self-denial. An ascetic life was
required in which one did not indulge the senses or the body; it was a life of
severe deprivation and denial of all bodily indulgences. One was trying
to realize the impermanence and unimportance of that particular, individual
body - and realize the "truth" that all beings and souls are interconnected.
Another path to this
realization was (and is) yoga; yoga is the
practice of extreme discipline over the body, and it is intended to diminish the
attachment to one's body and this particular stage of existence, to be able to
then perceive the deeper reality of Brahman. Recognize - yoga has deep and
profound religious implications as a reflection of spiritual control and
supremacy over the body - in Indian tradition it was and is not intended as an
exercise program!
This is very complex,
abstract thinking, and gives you some idea of the richness of Indian religion.
Hinduism as it evolved from those early roots in the Vedas is a religion which
encompasses many kinds of religious pursuits. Being a Hindu means worship of
gods; it also means living life to fulfill dharma, therefore abiding by
caste duties to achieve good karma. Finally, the religion of Hinduism for some
practitioners also encompasses those committed to an ascetic and
demanding life of self-sacrifice and pursuit of the union with the universal
through almost constant meditation.
Clearly, then, one of the
most remarkable things that ancient India contributed to human civilizations
was its emphasis on religion and the evolution of a fascinating and complex set
of spiritual traditions. And the story is not quite over. Not only did
the region of
Interesting Related Web Sites
A Journal of Hindu Philosophy and
Religion
Dharma
and Philosophy
More
on the Upanishads
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