Mr joseph vempeny Posted on : 29/01/2008 06:46:04

Hinduism

Hinduism

Joseph Vempeny

Oriental Thought

Among the Oriental philosophic circles of 1000 to 400 B.C. the idea of an impersonal God, a spiritual being transcending all human attributes is very common. Some of their views are given below. First let me cite what the Encyclopaedia Britannica has written on the Hindu view. “The uncreated, eternal, infinite, transcendent, and all-embracing principle, which comprising in itself being and non-being, is the sole reality, the ultimate cause and foundation, source and goal of all existence. This ultimate reality is called Brahman.” This could be from one of the many Upanishads – ancient texts that deals in a very philosophic manner, with the metaphysical aspects of our existence. Here is another one from Taittiriya Upanishad; “That from which all these entities are born, that in which they live, that into which they enter in the end, know that: that is Brahman”.

The Japanese view of ‘Kami’ the spirit that underlies all matter is explained in one of their ancient texts like this, “The nature of kami cannot be fully explained in words as kami transcends the cognitive faculty of man. Devotees are however able to understand kami through faith.”

Lao-tzu, a Chinese philosopher, one of the masters of Taoism, a contemporary of the Buddha, Confucius and Socrates, explains the concept of God like this: “It is something formlessly fashioned, that existed before heaven and earth. Its name we do not know. Tao is the byname we give it. Were I forced to say to what class of things it belonged I should call it immense.”

The concept of the impersonal God is not for the common man, only for the thinkers and the masters. For common man to relate to this Creator, to pray and worship the Hindu masters conceived two aspects of the Brahman. The Saguna Brahman is God with human attributes. We can conceive him as loving and merciful, as fair and just, as a father or mother, as a king or judge. Nirguna Brahman is the God of philosophy, the impersonal God with no human attributes. Atman is another term used in Hindu literature to describe the Cosmic Soul or God. Kena Upanishad has something interesting to say about the personal and impersonal aspects of God, on what God is to the thinker and the common man. “To the man of true knowledge, It is the unknown, while to the ignorant It is the known.”

Indian Synthesis of Religions

The major religion of India, Hinduism is a collection of the religious beliefs and practices of many cultures extending over six or seven millennia, if not more. The main reason for the present polytheistic nature, the presence of so many gods, goddesses and forms of worship and belief can be attributed to this way of mixing of faiths and cultures. Known as the mother of all religions, Hinduism is considered to be the oldest known religion and its origins are shrouded in the mists of distant past. Yet we can make the following observations about the earliest inhabitants of the subcontinent, which cannot be far from the truth.

Pre-Aryan Cultures

A turning point in the story of these people is the Aryan invasion or migration that happened about 4000 years ago. We can identify three separate groups of people who migrated here before the Aryans. We may list these as : pre-Aryan, Dravidian, and pre-dravidian. During the course of the past millennia there could have been several migrations to the subcontinent. The fertile regions of the Indo-Gangetic plain had always been a magnet that attracted people from the earliest humans.

Pre-Dravidian or Aadivasis

The earliest of these, were there for tens of thousands of years. Today we call them Aadivasis and they are found in various parts of India as hill-tribes. Certain groups of the so-called untouchables also belong to this early people. Even these Aadivasis seem to be of two separate groups in origin, if not more. The most ancient and most effective form of herbal medical treatment for certain ailments is practiced by some of these even today.

To the Aadivasis God was a mother, the source of life. 7000-year-old terra cotta figurines of female deities attest to this assumption. Kaali (as in poly) is the name they give to their God the Mother. These people were monotheistic from time immemorial. Even today, in spite of the galaxy of Indian gods and goddesses being worshipped all round them and in spite of the fact that they do not deny or disclaim any of these, to the Aadivasis still there is only one God, Kaali, the mother.Kaali or Bhadra Kaali is often pictured as an incarnation of terror, a murderess, and one who delights in blood sacrifices. How can such a being be associated with divine nature? Wouldn’t the terms beastly or devilish suit her more, one may wonder? True, Kaali is pictured as destroying some one. That someone is the demon, the personification of evil. In other words, what Kaali represents is the victory of good over evil.

Dravidiens

The next major migrant group is the Dravidians who now occupy most of south India especially the Tamilnadu. Tamil is considered by many scholars as the oldest of all the world languages spoken today. Many scholars point out that there are two distinct groups among the Dravidians – those with Negroid features and those with Mediterranean features. Both these groups were present in India before the Aryans but I do not think that we can classify these two into one group – the Dravidians. I would rather consider them as two distinct groups.

The Dravidians were also monotheistic. They had only one God Siva, also known today by a host of other names such as, Rudra, Sankara, Mahesa (the great ruler), Parameswara (the supreme God). Later mythology assigned to him a consort, Parvathy and two sons, Ganesa of the elephant face and Subrahmanya with the spear (Vel Murugan). The Dravidians of today try to distance themselves from the Aryan gods and their religion is devoted to the worship of Siva or his sons. Temples for worship of Ganesa and Muruga can be found all over Tamilnadu but the worship of Siva is not limited to that region. Siva’s temples are found all over India. In spite of the numerous gods and deities brought by the Aryans, Siva still holds in India the position of the Supreme God.

Pre-Aryans (Mediterranian)

Then we have the people from the Mediterranean region, those previously thought to be a subgroup of the Dravidians. These could be considered as the authors of the Indus Valley Civilization that flourished almost 5000 years ago. In my opinion, the Rishis who spent long periods of time in caves and grass huts to meditate on the mysteries of life should have belonged to this group. It was at the feet of these masters that seekers after truth among the Aryans learned the precious lessons that later became the texts of Upanishads. They also had only one God. Like the Aadivasis, their God was also a mother, a loving, caring personal God who always listens to the call of the children. Their descendants today call this mother Durga or Devi. 6000-year-old terra- cota figurines of a female deity were found in the Mediterranean region. These are similar to those found in India. The influx of Aryans pushed these people to the south and the east. The descendants of these people, though they lost much of their identity through a liberal mixing of their genes as well as faith with the Aryans and Dravidians, can still be found in these regions of the east and the south especially Bengal and Kerala where Durga or Devi temples are abundant. Today in many parts of the country the place of mother goddess is taken by Parvathy, the consort of Siva, or Saraswthy, the goddess of education and fine arts or Laksmi, the goddess of prosperity. The title ‘Aadi parasakthi’ meaning the original supreme force or the force of creation is also used for the consort of Siva. To me it seems that this also is one of the ways by which ancient Indians used mythology to create harmony between differing views. By marrying the mother goddess, Parasakthi of the earliest inhabitants to the supreme god, Parameswaran, of the Dravidians they were helping the amalgamation of the two faiths into one. Here we have a very good example of using the faith of the people to unite them and not to cause division among them. This also teaches us that what we call our creator is not what is important but how we relate to Him/Her/It.

There are three distinct sects in Hinduism today, the Sivites – those who worship Siva, Muruga or Ganesa -, the Vaishnavites – those who worship Vishnu or his incarnations chiefly Krishna – and the Sakthi sect who worship the mother Goddess – as Durga, Devi or Kali. The Sakthi movement is comparatively new as a formal sect. This does not mean, as some people infer, that the worship of God as a mother is new to Indians. As mentioned earlier the earliest inhabitants had no other God than the mother. Millennia back the name given to her might have been different, other than Durga, Devi or Kaali, yet the prehistoric ancestors of the people of Kerala and Bengal as well as the Aadivasis worshipped a mother Goddess without doubt. Nor was the worship of a mother Goddess limited to India. The prophet Jeremiah had to warn the Israelites against worshipping and offering sacrifices to ‘The Queen of Heaven”.

The Aryans

Then came the Aryans. They were polytheistic. The chief of their legion of gods was Indra. They worshipped the sun and another major god Vishnu. They came riding on horses, brandishing their swords, ready to go to war with who ever they were to meet. But war was not in the programme of the peaceful people of the Indus valley. Their interests lay elsewhere. This onslaught from the northwest displaced many to the south or the east. Others were subjugated or dominated. If the San people (Bushmen) of Southern Africa in the nineteenth century considered the Europeans who came in their flying machines as gods, no wonder some people of India considered the Aryans on their horses as gods 4000 years ago. And the shrewd Aryans capitalised on this. In the legends and epics to follow the Aryans described themselves as gods coming from the land of gods (devaloka), and the Dravidians as demons (Asuras or Rakshasas). The Aryan warlords who successfully defeated the resistance from the kings in the south - in Kerala, Karnataka or Sri Lanka, namely, Vamana, Narasimha and Sree Rama, became the incarnations of their god Vishnu. The Aadivasis who helped Rama to defeat Ravana the king of Lanka were called monkeys. In return for this help, their leader Hanuman was elevated to the position of a god.

It is said that the Aryans were terrified of the powers of the Dravidian God known to them as Rudra. This may be partly due to the mystical powers possessed by some Dravidians through Manthravada, some special Indian black-art similar to Voodoo, which they ascribed to their faith in Siva or Rudra. This made the Aryans accept Rudra as one of their holy trinity, the other two being Brahma and Vishnu. Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu has, among the Hindus, a place somewhat similar to that of Christ among Christians. The Tamilians may be an exception in this regard as they refuse to worship any of the Aryan gods these days. In place of Krishna, the Dravidians have Muruga and Ganesha.

The most important contribution of the Aryans to the Indian religious scene is the Sanskrit literature with its Vedas, Upanishads, and epics like Ramayana and Mahabharatha along with many other ancient books of fiction, mythology and philosophy. Ramayana, the story of Rama, is the most revered book in Indian homes and a very edifying one, with its emphasis on the duties of each state of a person, on family values and human relationship in general. Geetha, a small part of the great epic Mahabharatha, is a holy scripture in its own right.

The Caste System

An all time world record for human right violations, something that far surpassed feudalism, serfdom, slavery, apartheid, holocausts, or all these combined, as well as a Nobel price for ingenuity and craftiness should go to the Aryan leaders who conceived, introduced and established the caste system and weaved it so neatly into the social structure of the population and justified and even sanctified it on religious grounds as the will of the gods and the result of the deeds in the past birth. Caste system was the strong foundation on which the concept of rebirth was built into the philosophical systems of Hinduism. Even as heaven was promised to the serfs of Europe for their passive submission to the atrocities of the feudal lords, the reward of good deeds, of doing the duties assigned to your cast was rebirth into a higher caste. The Brahmin was called the twice born and was closer to the final goal of Moksha, final union with God.

Over the last two and a half millennia many reformers have attempted at eradicating this scourge. Sri Buddha almost succeeded in getting rid of the caste system when Buddhism spread through the length and breadth of the subcontinent. But after Buddha’s time the Aryan leaders or Brahmins managed in re-establishing Hinduism as Brahmanism. A last stand against this was taken by the Buddhists in Kerala. This brought another incarnation of Vishnu - Parasuraman - to the rescue of the ‘gods’ and reclaimed the land for the gods. Even after the havoc done by this incarnation, the second in Kerala, the proud people of Kerala refused to accept Aryan priests. That is when they put the holy thread of Brahmins on a particular guild of the population and formed the Malayalee Brahmins known as Namboothiris. There are also those that hold the view hat the Namboothiris are Brahmins who in the past migrated to Kerala from Mangalore area. It could be that Parasuraman brought these from Mangalore or thereabouts to establish their domination.

Gandhi spent much of his time and energy to fight for the rights of the untouchables during and after his struggle for India’s independence from British colonialism. The constitution of India acknowledged the principle of equal rights for every caste and made special reservations in the fields of education and employment for the low caste people so as to alleviate the injustices of the past. This had very positive effects especially in the southern states but the caste system is still prevalent in India and the low caste people are ill treated, especially in the Aryan dominated north.