Hinduism (redirected from Hindu symbolism)

Hinduism (hin`dĭzəm), Western term for the religious beliefs and practices of the vast majority of the people of India. One of the oldest living religions in the world, Hinduism is unique among the world religions in that it had no single founder but grew over a period of 4,000 years in syncretism with the religious and cultural movements of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is composed of innumerable sects and has no well-defined ecclesiastical organization. Its two most general features are the caste system and acceptance of the Veda as the most sacred scriptures.

Early Hinduism

Hinduism is a synthesis of the religion brought into India by the Aryans (c.1500 B.C.) and indigenous religion. The first phase of Hinduism was early Brahmanism, the religion of the priests or Brahmans who performed the Vedic sacrifice, through the power of which proper relation with the gods and the cosmos is established. The Veda comprises the liturgy and interpretation of the sacrifice and culminates in the Upanishads, mystical and speculative works that state the doctrine of Brahman, the absolute reality that is the self of all things, and its identity with the individual soul, or atman (see Vedanta). Later Upanishads refer to the practices of yoga and contain theistic elements that are fully developed in the Bhagavad-Gita.

Post-Vedic Hinduism in all its forms accepts the doctrine of karma, according to which the individual reaps the results of his good and bad actions through a series of lifetimes (see transmigration of souls). Also universally accepted is the goal of moksha or mukti, liberation from suffering and from the compulsion to rebirth, which is attainable through elimination of passions and through knowledge of reality and finally union with God.

Responses to Buddhism and Jainism

In the middle of the first millennium B.C., an ossified Brahmanism was challenged by heterodox, i.e., non-Vedic, systems, notably Buddhism and Jainism. The priestly elite responded by creating a synthesis that accepted yogic practices and their goals, recognized the gods and image worship of popular devotional movements, and adopted greater concern for the daily life of the people. There was an increase in writings, such as the Laws of Manu (see Manu), dealing with dharma, or duty, not only as applied to the sacrifice but to every aspect of life. Their basic principle is varna-ashrama-dharma, or dharma in accordance with varna (class or caste) and ashrama (stage of life). The four classes are the Brahmans, Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (farmers and merchants), and Shudras (laborers). The four stages of life are brahmacharya or celibate student life (originally for study of the Veda), grihastha or householdership, vanaprastha or forest hermitage, and sannyasa, complete renunciation of all ties with society and pursuit of spiritual liberation. (In practical terms these stages were not strictly adhered to. The two main alternatives have continued to be householdership and the ascetic life.) The entire system was conceived as ideally ensuring both the proper function of society as an integrated whole and the fulfillment of the individual's needs through his lifetime.

The post-Vedic Puranas deal with these themes. They also elaborate the myths of the popular gods. They describe the universe as undergoing an eternally repeated cycle of creation, preservation, and dissolution, represented by the trinity of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer as aspects of the Supreme.

Medieval and Modern Developments

In medieval times the esoteric ritual and yoga of Tantra and sects of fervent devotion (see bhakti) arose and flourished. The groundswell of devotion produced poet-saints all over India who wrote religious songs and composed versions of the epics in their vernaculars. This literature plays an essential part in present-day Hinduism, as do puja, or worship of enshrined deities, and pilgrimage to sacred places. The most popular deities include Vishnu and his incarnations Rama and Krishna, Shiva, the elephant-headed god Ganesha, and the Mother-Goddess or Devi, who appears as the terrible Kali or Durga but also as Sarasvati, the goddess of music and learning, and as Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. All the gods and goddesses, each of which has numerous aspects, are regarded as different forms of the one Supreme Being. Modern Hindu leaders such as Swami Vivekananda, Mohandas Gandhi, and Aurobindo Ghose, have given voice to a movement away from the traditional ideal of world-renunciation and asceticism and have asserted the necessity of uniting spiritual life with social concerns.

After independence in 1947 the impact of Hinduism on the political life of a country in which more than 80% of the people are adherents was moderated by the long-term rule of the Congress party (see Indian National Congress, which has striven to maintain a secular democracy. Tensions between Hindus and Muslims, however, have long been a fact of life in India, as evidenced in the creation of Pakistan, the conflict over Kashmir, and the subsequent wars between India and Pakistan. There have also been tensions with the Sikh minority, some of whom have sought independence for the Punjab, leading to violence in the 1980s (see Sikhism).

Since the late 1980s there has been increasing popular support for Hindu nationalist parties among the people of India. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which has long rejected the secular state and called for orthodox Hindu religious practice, is influential in the mainstream Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), one of India's most important political parties. The extremist Shiv Sena and Vishwa Hindu Parishad parties have been relentless in their attacks on Muslims. The 1992 destruction in Ayodhya of a Muslim shrine and anti-Muslim riots in Mumbai in 1993 were sparked by Hindu nationalists and are among the events that have heightened Hindu-Muslim tensions.

Bibliography

See C. N. E. Eliot, Hinduism and Buddhism (3 vol., 1921; repr. 1968); A. B. Keith, The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads (1925, repr. 1971); S. Radhakrishnan, The Hindu View of Life (1927, repr. 1962); L. Renou, Religions of Ancient India (1953, repr. 1968) and Hinduism (1961); R. G. Zaehner, Hinduism (1962); A. T. Embree, ed., The Hindu Tradition (1966, repr. 1972); T. J. Hopkins, The Hindu Religious Tradition (1971); P. H. Ashby, Modern Trends in Hinduism (1974); A. L. Basham, The Origins and Development of Classical Hinduism (1989).

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Hinduism

Oldest of the world's major religions. It evolved from the Vedic religion of ancient India. The major branches of Hinduism are Vaishnavism and Shaivism, each of which includes many different sects. Though the various sects each rely on their own set of scriptures, they all revere the ancient Vedas, which were brought to India by Aryan invaders after 1200 BCE. The philosophical Vedic texts called the Upanishads explored the search for knowledge that would allow mankind to escape the cycle of reincarnation. Fundamental to Hinduism is the belief in a cosmic principle of ultimate reality called Brahman and its identity with the individual soul, or atman. All creatures go through a cycle of rebirth, or samsara, which can be broken only by spiritual self-realization, after which liberation, or moksha, is attained. The principle of karma determines a being's status within the cycle of rebirth. The greatest Hindu deities are Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. The numerous other Hindu gods are mostly viewed as incarnations or epiphanies of the main deities, though some are survivors of the pre-Aryan era. The major sources of classical mythology are the Mahabharata (which includes the Bhagavadgita, the most important religious text of Hinduism), the Ramayana, and the Puranas. The hierarchical social structure of the caste system is also important in Hinduism; it is supported by the principle of dharma. In the 20th century Hinduism blended with Indian nationalism to become a powerful political force in Indian politics. In the early 21st century there were more than 850 million Hindus worldwide.

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Hinduism, Hindooism

the complex of beliefs, values, and customs comprising the dominant religion of India, characterized by the worship of many gods, including Brahma as supreme being, a caste system, belief in reincarnation, etc.
www.himalayanacademy.com
www.hindunet.org

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Hinduism 

one of the principal religions of the world.

Most Hindus are concentrated in India (approximately 95 percent) and in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the Republic of Sri Lanka (Ceylon until 1972), but some live in the Republic of South Africa, the island of Bali (Indonesia), Mauritius, the Fiji Islands, Guyana (formerly British Guiana), and other areas (particularly Southeast Asia and Africa) where Hinduism spread during the various emigrations from India. According to the constitution of India (drawn up in 1950 when India became a republic), Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism are included in Hinduism, but in scholarly literature on India they are considered independent religions.

The sources of Hinduism go back to the naϊvely mythological naturalism of the religions of the ancient Aryans and the autochthonous Indian tribes. Brahmanism arose as a result of their synthesis, taking its basic structural pattern from the Vedic religion. In turn Hinduism is regarded as that form of Brahmanism practiced in the first millennium A.D. Thus, the Vedic religion, Brahmanism, and Hinduism are all stages of one religion, which, at a late period in its historical development, became extremely diffused and bound its followers together not so much through common ideological and theoretical principles as through a definite type of religious conduct and thinking.

By the eighth to sixth centuries B.C. the destruction of the native tribal democracy, coupled, among other things, with the increasing exploitation of working people, had given birth to numerous heresies and sectarian movements attacking the privileges enjoyed by Brahmans (who monopolized worship services and rituals) and the costly rites and sacrifices. In these teachings and sects the main criterion of a virtuous life was not the observance of formal rites and ritualism prescribed by the varna system (early caste system) but understanding, by various means, the inner meaning and essence of existence. The most important result of this dialectic was the appearance of the Upanishads (philosophical commentaries on the Vedas), the philosophical and ethical sections in the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana, and the teachings of Buddhism and Jainism. Throughout the second half of the first millennium B.C., Brah-manism was engaged in a long process of interaction and struggle with these beliefs and sects, during which it assimilated them to a certain extent; finally, in the early Middle Ages it took the form usually known as Hinduism.

During the first half of the first millennium A.D., Hinduism divided into two main currents, Shivaism and Vishnuism. Hinduism proper exists primarily in the form of these two currents, although within them and apart from them numerous sects that are important regionally still remain, and new ones are constantly arising (for example, Tantrism, which preserves strong ties with ancient magic, and Shaktism within Shivaism).

At the foundation of Hinduism lie the actual everyday observances of folk beliefs and customs, which vary widely depending on local, ethnic, regional, and social conditions. These observances consist of the saying of prayers and the performance of prescribed ceremonies and rituals for all the more or less important occasions in the believer’s life.

Although there are numerous temples and sacred places (some, such as the Ganges River in the Varanasi [Benares] region are important throughout India), local shrines serve as the main centers of worship. The temple priesthood, the village Brah-mans, the wise men (gurus), and wandering monks serve as leaders and teachers at the local shrines. Many ritual practices are performed by the head of a family before the house altar.

Indian polytheism includes local divinities, who are usually considered partial manifestations of the principal gods—hence the multitude of images and names for the main gods. The related doctrine of avatara states that the specific gods are actually embodiments of the higher divinities, Vishnu and other gods. In the Middle Ages, Vishnu was worshiped almost solely as his avatars of Rama and Krishna, and in Shivaism, Shiva was thought able to embody himself in any form and in any divinity. All the male gods have wives who are goddesses, but among the female goddesses only Deva, the wife of Shiva (known also as Durga and Kali), is worshiped as a god in her own right. She is a national god in Bengal. In communal beliefs the worship of the Mother Goddess still plays an important role. Usually each village or community has its own god, and even in modern India (according to its census) the local divinities are the principal objects of worship for 80 percent of Hindus. Animism, ancestor worship, fetishism, idolatry, and magic, characteristic of popular belief, have become a part of Hinduism. Many mountains, rivers (especially the Ganges), plants (such as the lotus), and animals (the monkey, elephant, snake, and particularly the cow) are worshiped in Hinduism, and any unusual natural phenomenon becomes an object of veneration.

The caste system is the form of social organization among Hindus, and the individual forms of worship and religious conduct are largely determined by caste membership.

The belief in the reincarnation of the soul (samsara), according to which a man’s soul is reembodied in new form as a plant, animal, or a human after his death, is accepted by all Hindus. Karma, or recompense for deeds done in one’s former life, determines whether the soul will be reincarnated favorably or not. Release from the chain of reincarnation, moksha, is considered the highest religious goal.

The development and grounding of paths to and means for achieving moksha have been the central focus of the various religious and philosophical schools of Hinduism. The idealistic Vedanta system in its various forms has been the most significant Hindu philosophical school. In Vedanta, spiritual reality, or Brahman, is the ultimate and supreme ground of existence; the concrete empirical world is unreal, an outward appearance or illusion (maya), or the play (lila) of Brahman. The essential meaning of life therefore consists in grasping this spiritual absolute, in the merging of the individual soul (atman) with Brahman; the two are supposedly one, but most people, out of ignorance, consider them independent realities. Although Vedanta considered practical religion untrue, a delusion, it rationalized it as the fate of the uninitiated mind, as the lowest possible path (marga) by which one could comprehend the absolute. Other paths were through emotional devotion and love for god (bhakti), through knowledge of and meditation on the true principles of existence (jnana) as laid down in Vedanta, and finally through mystical meditation achieved through yoga practices (raja-yoga). Its religious philosophy contains the concept of the trinity (Trimurti) of the abstract figure of Brahman (as the god Brahman his worship is virtually unknown in India) and the two principal gods of Hinduism, Vishnu and Shiva. Of the three gods Brahman represents the creator of the universe, Vishnu its protector, and Shiva its destroyer.

The sacred literature for all Hindus includes the Vedas (hymns, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads), the epic Mahabharata (particularly such parts as the Bhagavad-Gita and the Ramayana), the Puranas, and the Dharmashastras.

The complex of Hindu beliefs and practices that had taken form by the early Middle Ages did not change substantially later, although various sectarian movements, heresies, and teachings have continually criticized its basis and have attempted to reform it. The most significant of these was the bhakti movement (12th-17th centuries). During the 16th century Sikhism grew out of one of its schools.

Despite the presence of a number of universally recognized doctrines and norms, Hinduism had neither a relatively harmonious or uniform system of beliefs nor a unified dogma and ritual, nor did it have a strictly canonized “holy scripture,” a centralized religious organization, or a priesthood appointed to oversee it. It has always remained a rather diffuse, amorphous phenomenon.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, during the formation and development of the national liberation movement in India, the prevailing ideology—bourgeois nationalism—to a significant degree took the form of the rebirth and reformation of Hinduism (the so-called Hindu renaissance, neo-Hinduism). Many of the countless religious reform groups and organizations, such as the Brahmo Samaj and the Arya Samaj, supported neo-Hinduism, as did such public, ideological, and philosophical figures as Ram-mohan Roy, Ramakrishna, S. Vivekananda, D. Sarasvati, R. Tagore, and M. K. Gandhi. Most religious and philosophical schools within neo-Hinduism based their theoretical position on an inner spiritual unity of all religions, which differ only in their formal practices; they believed that this universal, spiritual, and ideological substratum would be revealed and that it would form the basis of a “new,” “unified,” and “universal” religion, cleansed and freed of the fanaticism and obscurantism common to every existing religion. One of the most significant motives for such a movement was the fact that India contains almost every major religion in the world—Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam, and Christianity—and was thereby forced to reconcile religious and communal contradictions and hostilities that were stirred up during British colonial rule (from the mid-18th century until 1947).

After India won independence in 1947, freedom of conscience was proclaimed, discrimination on religious, caste, or ethnic grounds was banned, and a series of measures was passed abolishing many of the medieval customs once sanctified by Hinduism (the excesses of religious fanaticism were banned). In contemporary India the militant side of Hinduism is represented by religious and local parties, such as the Hindu Mahasabha and the Jan Sangh, which demand that India become a theocratic state. Yet, despite the fact that Indian society still preserves strong traces of her past and that discord among religious communities still exists, the social basis of Hinduism in independent India has begun to decline.

REFERENCES

Bart, A. Religii Indii. Moscow, 1897.
Krasnodembskii, V. E. “Induism.” In the collection Ezhegodnik Muzeia istorii religii i ateizma, vol. 1. Moscow-Leningrad, 1957.
Il’in, G. F. Religii Drevnei Indii. Moscow, 1959.
Anikeev, N. P. O materialisticheskikh traditsiiakh v indiiskoi filosofii. Moscow, 1965. Chapter 1.
Piatigorskii, A. M. “Religii Indii.” In Istoriia Indii v srednie veka. Moscow, 1968. Chapter 5.
Farquhar, J. N. The Crown of Hinduism. London, 1930.
Coomaraswamy, A. K. Hinduism and Buddhism. New York, 1943.
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Sinha, J. The Foundation of Hinduism. Calcutta, 1955.
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N. P. ANIKEEV