HINDUISM

1
HINDUISM

• OF GODS AND SCRIPTURES

2
I. Hindu Scripture

• Shruti (what is heard)
• Supreme scriptural authority
• Contains eternal divine wisdom not of human
  authorship
• Includes
• Vedas
• Foundations of Hinduism
• Communicatied by rishis (seer-poets in Ludwig)
• Primordial authority co-equal w/time
• Brahmanas (commentaries on Vedas concerned
  w/ceremonies)
• Upanishads (philosophical spiritual wisdom
  books)

• Smriti (what is remembered)
• Of human origin
• Less authority
• Includes
• Sutras (guides)
• Shastras (textbooks concerned w/laws)
• Puranas (mythological stories)
• Poems
• Ramayana Mahabharata (includes Bhagavadgita
• Bhagavadgita considered by many Hindus as shruti

3
Scriptures (cont.)

• Shruti
• The Vedasknowledge
• Gathered for ritual purposes, not as historical
  data
• Originally orally transmitted through priests
• To write them down would have polluted them
• Early Vedic texts focus on sacrifice as main form
  of worship
• Later texts (e.g. Upanishads shift focus away
  from ritual)
• Focuses on worship in different forms, including
  sacrifice praise
• Important acts of sacrifice serve to reinforce
  fabric of creation. I.e. all creation is upheld
  by the proper performance of these sacrifices

4
Scripture The Four Samhitas

• The Four Samhitas (collections)
• The Rig Veda
• Oldest of Samhitas
• Worlds oldest living religious literature

5
Scripture Gods Goddesses

• Gods and Goddesses as symbols of fundamental
  powers of existence
• E.g. wind, water, fire, consciousness
• Different aspects of the same underlying reality
  (esp. towards end of Rig Veda)
• See Rig Veda 10.114.5
• Gods/Goddesses are not the most fundamental
  reality
• Gods do not create out of nothing but work with
  what is already there

6
Indra

• Indra
• Opens way for emergence of existence in
  overcoming forces of chaos and non-existence
• Warrior leader
• Main function to lead Ksatriya class
• ¼ hymns devoted to Indra
• In some sense creator as is Varuna
• Lord of the Thunderbolt
• Defender of the gods and humankind against evil
• Separates heaven earth (notice he finds the
  Sun)
• Great drinker/capacity for soma

7
Varuna

• Varuna
• Model of order
• Presides over order of cosmos not unlike later
  Hindu idea of dharma
• Dharma sacred pattern underlying both the cosmic
  and social orders micro and macrocosms
• Knows all
• Moral judge includes punishment
• Upholds truth

8
Agni

• Agni
• God of fire
• Thus symbolizes central element of sacrifice
• Sacrifice is consumed/transformed
• Essence travels upwards to realm of gods from
  human to divine realm
• Agni coveys that which is sacrificed to gods
• N.b. Hindus are still cremated, not buried
  perhaps linked w/funeral fire sacrifice atman
  is thus transported to heavenly realm

9
Scriptures Soma, Hymns

• Soma
• God of intoxicating beverage
• Consumed as part of the sacrificial ritual
• Special consciousness achieved through divine
  power of soma
• Vishnu Shiva
• Hymns indicate henotheism (one god at a time)
• A kind of theism
• Later hymns in the Rig Veda begin to probe for an
  overarching reality prior to the gods cf.
  Creation hymn

10
Scriptures Brahmanas Aranyakas (four samhitas)

• Brahmanas sacrificial manuals
• Aranyakas philosophical speculations esp. on
  sacrificial fire

11
ScripturesUpanishads

• Upanishads (c. 600 B.C.E.)
• Latest portion of the Vedas
• Moves from sacrifice rituals to philosophy,
  esp. doctrine of reincarnation
• Concerned with knowledge of the ultimate reality
  as opposed to concentration on action
• Samsara- cycle of death and rebirth. Humans are
  caught in the eternal wheel of existence
• Samsara linked to karma (action). Every action
  has a consequence which is carried on to the next
  life
• Atman and deeds
• Problem includes gods

12
Upanishads (cont.)

• Develop speculation of overarching reality behind
  gods and phenomenal world
• This reality is source of all termed Brahman
• Brahman is outside eternal cycle
• Knowledge of Brahman helps bring about moksha of
  atman from samsara
• Power of transformation lies in inner knowledge
  gained through meditation on atman as Brahman
  

13
ScripturesSmirti

• Smirti
• Gods tend to be more personal
• Dharma Sutras law codes legal texts, moral
  guides
• Regulate human life society
• Part of eternal order
• Eternal order dharma specifically ones
  religious moral duty
• Great epic stories
• Mahabarata (contains Bhavagad Gita)
• Ramayana
• Emphasis on bhakti
• Provide paradigms for human conduct
• Reinforce values of dharma

14
Smirti (cont.)

• Puranas
• Develop mythology of classical Hinduism
• Details cycles of creation and destruction of the
  world
• Genealogies of kings and gods

15
OM The Sacred Sound

• Vedic tradition places great emphasis on sound
  and correct recitation
• OM (AUM)
• Greatest of Hindu mantras
• Used also by Buddhists and Jains
• OM- the eternal vibratory sound of Brahman that
  permeates creation
• OM represents unity of universe
• Often chanted in Hindu mantras and during Hindu
  ceremonies

16
OM (cont.)

• Can represent the triads of
• Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva
• Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda
• Earth,atmosphere, heaven
• Meditation on OM can lead to enlightenment
• AUM (from Ludwig 64)
• A waking state, consciousness directed outwards
• U- dreaming state, consciousness directed
  inwards, but not unified
• M- deep sleep state blissful, unified, massive
  consciousness.
• Silence - fourth state and final goal experience
  of AtmanBrahman

17
OM

• 15. Yama said 'That word (or place) which all
  the Vedas record, which all penances proclaim,
  which men desire when they live as religious
  students, that word I tell thee briefly, it is
  Om . 16. 'That (imperishable) syllable means
  Brahman, that syllable means the highest
  (Brahman) he who knows that syllable, whatever
  he desires, is his. 17. 'This is the best
  support, this is the highest support he who
  knows that support is magnified in the world of
  Brahmâ
• -- Katha Upanishad 1.2. 15-17

18
OM Sanskrit Letter

• The long lower curve of the Sanskrit letter OM
  represents the dream state
• The upper curve stands for the waking state
• The curve issuing from the centre symbolizes
  deep, dreamless sleep.
• The crescent shape stands for "maya", the veil of
  illusion
• The dot represents the transcendental state.
• One passes through the veil of illusion,
  achieving liberation from the first three states,
  finally reaching the transcendental state