HINDUISM

OVERVIEW

Hinduism is a collective term applied to the many

philosophical and religious traditions native to India.
Hinduism has neither a specific moment of origin nor a
specific founder. Rather, the tradition understands itself to be
timeless, having always existed. Indeed, its collection of sacred
texts is known, as a whole, as Sanatana Dharma, "The Eternal
Teaching." It is thus a complex tradition that encompasses
numerous interrelated religious doctrines and practices that
have some common characteristics but which lack any unified
system of beliefs and practices. Hinduism encompasses a
number of major sects, as well as countless subsects with local
or regional variations. On one level, it is possible to view these
sects as distinct religious traditions, with often very specific
theologies and ritual traditions; on another level, however,
they often understand themselves to be different means to
reach a common end. The Hindu worldview is grounded in the
doctrines of samsara (the cycle of rebirth) and karma (the
universal law of cause and effect), and fundamentally holds
that one's actions (including one's thoughts) directly
determine one's life, both one's current life and one's future
lives. Many, but not all, Hindus hold that the cosmos is
populated by numerous deities and spiritual beings — gods
and goddesses, or devas — who actively influence the world
and who interact with humans. The tradition is typically
divided into four major sects: Shaiva (devotees of the god
Shiva), Vaishnava (devotees of the god Vishnu), Shakta
(devotees of the goddess), and Smarta (those who understand
the ultimate form of the divine to be abstract and all
encompassing, Brahman).
Quick Fact Details:

 Formed: The exact beginnings of Hinduism are

impossible to determine, since they evolved as time and
culture impacted the religious ideas of early India.
 Deity: Many Hindus recognize a vast diversity of gods
and goddesses; others believe in a Hindu "trinity"
(trimurti): Brahman, Vishnu, Shiva; yet others claim an
essential monotheism, believing that all the gods are
manifestations of one.

ORIGINS

Beginnings

The term "Hinduism"

derives from a Persian word that refers to the Sindhu (or
Indus) river in northwest India; "Hindu" was first used in the
14th century by Arabs, Persians, and Afghans to describe the
peoples of the region. By the end of the 19th century,
"Hinduism" was adopted by the British colonial
administration in India to describe the various religious beliefs
and practices of the majority of India's population.
It is, however, extremely difficult to say when Hinduism
began. The tradition itself maintains that it is a timeless
religion that has always existed. Historians generally hold that
the origins of what we call Hinduism can be traced to the
ancient Indus Valley civilization. This would mean that the
religion is over 4,000 years old, although it is a dynamic
religious tradition that has continued to develop and evolve.

One way to understand the origins

of Hinduism is to divide it into several overlapping historical
periods. The first is really a pre-Hindu period, the Indus Valley
Civilization, which dates to around 2000 B.C.E., and was
located, as the name implies, in the region of the great Indus
(or "Sindhu") river, in northwest India. Although relatively
little remains of this civilization, fairly extensive
archaeological evidence indicates that its religion was centered
on various fertility goddesses and the purifying qualities of
water. Sometime between 2000 and 1500 B.C.E., a new
religion began to emerge in India, the religion of the

Vedas. Some scholars hold that this

religion was brought to India by nomadic, horse-riding
warriors, a group known as the Aryans, from the steppes of
central Asia. This has, in recent years, become a matter of
some dispute in India. Regardless of where they came from,
the Aryans practiced a sacrifice-based religion that was
centered around the purifying and transformative qualities of
fire, and that was oriented toward influencing a vast array of
powerful gods, called devas.

Many of these gods were

personifications of natural elements—wind, fire, water—while
others were warrior-like figures. The Vedas, a vast corpus of
mythological and ritual texts, describe this divine pantheon, as
well as prescribe, sometimes in great detail, the rituals to be
performed to keep these gods "happy," and thus insure that
they benignly interact with the human realm.
VEDIC TEXTS
1. the Rigveda: hymns
(for the chief priest to recite)
2. the Yajurveda: formulas
(for the priest to recite)
3. the Samaveda: formulas
(for the priest to chant)
4. the Atharvaveda: collection of stories, spells, and charms

The religious realm of the Vedas is centered on the proper

performance of ritual sacrifice, which, essentially, involves the
offering something of value—an animal or food—in order to
receive the favor of the gods; there are Vedic rituals intended
to gain wealth, sons, protection, and abundant crops.
 The ritual priests of the Vedas
were a group known as the Brahmins. They were entrusted
with the sacred texts and with the performance of the rituals.
Sometime after 1000 B.C.E., some of these priests began to
ask whether there might not be more than this ritual world of
exchange in which the "payoff" of religious action was largely

material wellbeing. Some

began to reject the rituals and their material trappings. They
renounced the material and social world, and focused instead
on asceticism and meditation. Gradually a new body of
philosophically-oriented texts, the Upanishads—sometimes
referred to as Vedanta, the end (or completion) of the Vedas—
began to emerge.

Unlike the Vedic world of ritual exchange between humans

and gods, the Upanishads present a philosophically
speculative worldview. They put forward the idea that the
material world is not, in fact, "real," but only an illusion that is
created by ignorance. What is real is an abstract divine
principle, Brahman. The Upanishads focused on how to free
oneself from the bonds of material attachments, and thereby
attain a state of oneness with Brahman.
List of "principal" Upanishads
(there are over 100 others)
1. Aitareya
1. Svetasvatara
2. Brhadaranyaka
2. Katha
3. Taittiriya
3. Mundaka
4. Chandogya
4. Mandukya
5. Kena
5. Mandukya
6. Isa

What is sometimes called "classical" (or "Epic") Hinduism

emerges sometime after the Upanishads. In this period, which
begins around 500 B.C.E., the major gods and goddesses of
Hinduism—Vishnu, Shiva, Krishna, Parvati, Lakshmi—
develop their "personalities" through a vast corpus of myths.
Innumerable new gods and goddesses emerge, as do a
multitude of ritual— many based on the earlier Vedas—and
forms of veneration. Devotional traditions also emerge, in
which the strictly ordered world of sacrifice is supplanted by
loving devotion to individual gods and goddesses.
Early periods of Hinduism
Indus Valley Civilization 2500-1500 BCE
Vedic Civilization 1500-500 BCE
Rigvedic period 1500-1000 BCE
Brahmanism 1000-500 BCE
Epic period after 500 BCE

Hinduism is a perpetually evolving collection of an astounding

array of philosophical and ritual and devotional traditions.
There is no founder, and although historians may attempt to
assign an historical "beginning," really there is no moment of
origin. Indeed, Hindus often refer to their religion as
"sanatana dharma"—the timeless, eternal truth.

Study Questions:
1. Why is hard to pinpoint the start and founders of
Hinduism?
2. What are some possible explanations of its origin?
3. Who were the devas?
4. What are the Vedas, and what is their purpose?
5. What is the relationship of the Upanishads to the Vedas?

Founders
Hinduism has neither a specific moment of origin nor a
specific founder. Rather, the tradition understands itself to be
timeless, having always existed. Indeed, its collection of sacred
texts is known, as a whole, as Sanatana Dharma, "The Eternal
Teaching." At the beginning of each new cosmic age,
or yuga, the core of these teachings is (re)revealed to human
beings by the gods.
Some texts posit that the first human to receive the sacred
texts is Manu, and so in some sense he is understood to be the
founder of the tradition, although it is important to note that
he is not the author of the texts, only their

recipient. The great epic

the Mahabharata says that Manu, as the first human, is thus
the progenitor of all future Hindus.
Many of the numerous sub-sects and sub-schools that
conglomerate to form the religion we know as Hinduism do,
however, have individual founders. The Advaita Vedanta
school of philosophy, for instance, which for many modern
Hindus articulates the core philosophical principles of
Hinduism, is often said to have been founded
by Shankara Acharya in the late 8th
century C.E. Shankara is credited with authoring some of the
most important commentaries on key sacred texts, particularly
the Upanishads commentaries that later became the basis
for many of the devotional (bhakti) and meditational (yoga)
principles and practices of later Hinduism. The core of his
teachings is that there is no essential difference between the
divine principle of the cosmos (Brahman) and the material
and human realm. Shankara argued that what we think of as
"the world" is merely an illusion, and that through knowledge
(jnana) we are able to cut through this illusion and realize
union with Brahman (called moksha).

Six branches of Hindu philosophy

1. Samkhya
2. Yoga
3. Nyaya
4. Vaisheshika
5. Mimamsa
6. Vedanta

Likewise, Ramanuja (1017-1137), another great theological

commentator, is often seen as a "founder" in that he
articulated a complex theological and devotional system
known as Vishishtadvaita Vedanta (qualified non-
dualism), which, like Shankara's Advaita Vedanta, had a
tremendous influence on later Hindu thought and practice.
Ramanuja argued, in contrast to Shankara, that there is an
essential difference between the world and the divine,
although individuals contain a fragment or portion of the
divine. For the followers of Ramanuja, knowledge is not as
essential as devotion (bhakti).
Founder: Shankara Acharya Founder: Ramanuja
School: Advaita Vedanta School: Vishishtadvaita Vedanta
Belief: the material realm and the divine Belief: the material world and the divine
cosmos are essentially the same are different

Again, Hinduism is not a single institution, but a vast, complex

collection of schools, subschools, sects, subsects, etc., that
together make up what is known as "Hinduism." As such,
there can be no single founder, but rather a diverse group of
men and women who have contributed, over the course of two
millennia, essential philosophical and ritual and devotional
principles that, together, can be understood to make up the
whole of the religion.

Study Questions:
1. Who was Manu?
2. What was Shankara Acharya's contribution to Hinduism?
3. Who was Ramanuja, and how did his teachings conflict
with those before him?
4. Why is it incorrect to classify Hinduism as a single
institution?

Sacred Texts
 The textual tradition of
Hinduism encompasses an almost incomprehensible
collection of oral and written scriptures that include myths,
rituals, philosophical speculation, devotional poems and
songs, local histories, and so on. There are two basic categories
of religious texts within this vast collection, Shruti (revealed)
and Smrti (remembered). Shruti generally refers to the Vedas,
the Brahmanas, and the Upanishads; some Hindus also
classify the Bhagavad Gita as shruti. Smrti typically refers to
everything else.
Shruti (revealed) Smrti (remembered)
*the Vedas *vast collection of myths, epic texts, and traditions
*the Brahmanas
*the Upanishads (=Vedanta)
[*the Bhagavadgita]
The Vedas form the foundation of Hinduism, the bedrock
upon which the entire tradition is built. Indeed, although
Hindus of different schools and different sects typically align
themselves with different texts, virtually all Hindus recognize
the legitimizing authority of the Vedas. There are four primary
Vedas—the Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, and Atharva
Veda—that together comprise over 1,000 hymns of praise
addressed to the gods, as well elaborate instructions on how to
conduct sacrifices to these divine beings, and a huge corpus of
myths. Each Veda, in turn, has four divisions. The primary
division is called the Samhita, which is the vedic text itself.
The other three divisions—the Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and
Upanishads—are commentaries and elaborations on the
primary vedic text.
VEDIC TEXTS
1. the Rigveda: hymns
(for the chief priest to recite)
2. the Yajurveda: formulas
(for the priest to recite)
3. the Samaveda: formulas
(for the priest to chant)
4. the Atharvaveda: collection of stories, spells, and charms

Although technically included in the Vedas, the Upanishads

are in fact rather un-vedic scriptures. The principal
Upanishads, of which there are traditionally thirteen, were
probably composed between 800 and 100 B.C.E. The
Upanishads are typically understood by the Hindu tradition as
an extension of the Vedas; they are also known, collectively, as
Vedanta, the "completion" of the Vedas. However, the
Upanishads significantly reject many of the Vedic ideas and
practices. The Upanishads largely reject the multiple deities of
the Vedas, arguing that all one gets from such ritual is more
material. The sages who composed the Upanishads sought
something more—ultimate, eternal salvation. Thus they posit a
single, eternal, impersonal divine force that animates and
permeates the entire cosmos—Brahman.
List of "principal" Upanishads
(there are over 100 others)
1. Aitareya
1. Svetasvatara
2. Brhadaranyaka
2. Katha
3. Taittiriya
3. Mundaka
4. Chandogya
4. Mandukya
5. Kena
5. Prasna
6. Isa

The word "Upanishad"derives from a Sanskrit term that

means "to sit near." Specifically, it refers to a student sitting
near a teacher and learning directly through questions and
answers. The bulk of the Upanishads record such discourses,
and the single most pressing question posed by the students to
the teachers is: "What is the nature of Brahman?" This is a
deceptively simple question. On a basic level, the answer is
equally simple: "Everything is Brahman." But behind this
simple answer is tremendous theological complexity.
The Upanishads hold that since everything is Brahman, the
individual is also Brahman. What separates the individual
from the absolute Brahman, and thus from salvation,
or moksha (release), is ignorance of this fundamental reality.
Individuals think that the things that make them who they are,
such as one's relationships, or appearance, or even thoughts,
are real. The Upanishad holds that these are merely elaborate
illusions. We hold on to these illusions, and it is this holding
that keeps us from realizing the ultimate truth, Brahman. Thus
the Upanishads advocate an ascetic path. If one wishes to
realize the ultimate, then one must detach oneself from all of
these unreal things. One must go off and meditate on the
reality of Brahman, which begins with meditation on the self,
the atman, which is in essence the same as Brahman.

The category of scripture known

as smrti is vast, encompassing the classic epic texts—the
Mahabharata and the Ramayana—as well as a group of texts
known as Puranas, and all manner of local myths and legends.
The Mahabharata, the "Great story of India," is a huge text of
over 75,000 verses, or nearly two million words, composed
over a long period, probably between the 5th century B.C.E.
and the 4th century C.E. It is a difficult text to classify, since it
contains mythology, philosophy, theology, historical events (it
is often classified in Hinduism as "ithihasa," or history), ritual,
and social commentary. Early on, the text states: "What is
found here, may be found elsewhere. What is not found here,
will not be found elsewhere."

The central story of the Mahabharata is the dynastic conflict

between two sets of paternal cousins, the Pandavas and the
Kauravas, each of whom claim the rightful rule of Bharata
(India). Their conflict culminates in an epic battle that is
eventually won by the Pandavas. Over the course of the
narrative, issues of kinship and kingship, familial loyalty and
duty, and ultimately good and evil are complexly debated.

The most well-known part of the

Mahabharata is the Bhagavad Gita, the "Song of the Blessed
One," which becomes one of the most important theological
treatises in all of Hinduism. The central message of the
Bhagavad Gita is a complex reconciliation of the seemingly
contradictory worldview of the Vedas—emphasizing ritual
action and duty—and the Upanishads—emphasizing
renunciation of worldly involvement and meditation. The text
consists of a conversation between one of the Pandavas,
Arjuna, and the god Krishna. Krishna resolves the conflict by
proposing a new path: that of selfless devotion (bhakti) to the
divine (here Krishna). As long as one is selflessly devoted, it
does not ultimately matter what sorts of actions one engages
in, since they are all, ultimately, part of the divine.

The Ramayana, like the

Mahabharata, is a huge text. At its core is the story of the god
Rama and his wife Sita, their exile, Sita's abduction by an evil
demon (Ravana), Rama's rescue of Sita, and the eventual
restoration of their kingdom. Interwoven into the narrative is
a mixture of myths and history and theology as well as a
particular focus on the proper actions of a dharmic (moral,
righteous) ruler.

The Puranas (the word means "Ancient") are a diverse

collection of texts that, like the epics, contain mythology,
theology, history, and geography. Many of the Puranas focus
on a single god or even a single temple, narrating key myths
and philosophical/theological principles.

The categories of Shruti and Smrti are essential for

understanding the vast array of Hindu scriptures, but it is
important to note that not all Hindu scriptures easily fit into
these categories. There are also thousands of "lesser," local
scriptures—many of them only known in oral form and known
only in vernacular languages—that are central to the lives of
many, many Hindus.

Study Questions:
1. How are Hindu texts categorized? What are some
examples of each, and why has more authority?
2. What is the purpose of the Vedas, and how are they
divided?
3. Why might it be problematic to name the Upanishads as
Vedic texts? What is their main teaching?
4. Describe the role of the Bhagavad Gita within Hindu
scripture.

Schisms and Sects

FOUR MAJOR SECTS OF HINDUISM
1. Shaiva
2. Vaishnava
3. Shakta
 4. Smarta

Hinduism encompasses a number of major sects, as well as

countless subsects with local or regional variations. On one
level, it is possible to view these sects as distinct religious
traditions, often with very specific theologies and ritual
traditions; on another level, however, they can understand
themselves to be different means to reach a common end.
Likewise, although there is a wide variety of theological and
ritual variance within Hinduism, it would not really be
accurate to call any single movement, after the major breaks
with Buddhism and Jainism, a schism.
It is typically held that Hinduism has four major sects: Shaiva,
Vaishnava, Shakta, and Smarta. Although this is in a sense
technically accurate, it is also only one of many potential ways
of classifying the varieties within Hinduism. In practice, these
divisions often overlap, and individual Hindus do not
necessarily define themselves in such terms.
List of "principal" Upanishads
(there are over 100 others)
1. Aitareya
1. Svetasvatara
2. Brhadaranyaka
2. Katha
3. Taittiriya
3. Mundaka
4. Chandogya
4. Mandukya
5. Kena
5. Prasna
6. Isa

For instance, the term smarta, which comes from the Sanskrit
"smrti," or "remembered," generally refers to those Hindus
who understand the ultimate form of the divine to be abstract
and all encompassing, Brahman. This theological position is
most saliently associated with the Upanishads, a genre of
literature that posits that the cosmos is permeated by
Brahman (indeed, it is Brahman). The
philosopher/saint Shankara (or Adi Shankara, or
Shankaracarya), who lived in the 8th century C.E., is often
seen as the founder of the Smarta tradition. Shankara is said
to have travelled throughout India spreading his theological
message, and is credited with founding four monasteries
(maths) where monks could live and cultivate his teachings.
Smartas see any particular manifestation of the divine—that is,
any single god—as encompassed by this larger divine power.
Since everything, and all gods, are a part of Brahman, smartas
typically hold that one is free to choose any god or goddess to
worship—or, as is often the case, many different gods and
goddesses—since in worshipping any individual god, one is
really worshipping Brahman. For smartas, then, the divine is
both saguna, "with form"—the individual and particular gods
—and nirguna, "without form"—the all-encompassing
Brahman. Some Hindus who might technically be classified as
smartas favor the nirguna understanding of Brahman
associated with the Vedanta, and reject any worship directed
to any particular form of the divine.
 Shaivas and Vaishnavas, in
contrast, tend to be more overtly sectarian. The Shaiva
tradition (also called Shaivism), is perhaps the oldest sectarian
form of Hinduism, emerging out of the Vedas at or around
the beginning of the Common Era; the fully developed Shaiva
tradition formed significantly later, however, probably
between the 8th and 11th centuries. Although it is impossible
to date the origin of any of these traditions, the Vaishnava
tradition probably emerged slightly later. It too was fully
developed in the last few centuries of the first millennium of
the Common Era.
Shaivas, as the name implies, worship the god Shiva, who they
believe is the creator, maintainer, and destroyer of the cosmos.
There are complex theological and philosophical schools
associated with the Shaiva tradition, as well as a great variety
of devotional practices.
 Some Shaivas worship the god in the
form of the great ascetic; Shiva in this guise is depicted as a
semi-naked yogin who rejects the trappings of the material
world in order to seek a higher plane of knowledge. He is
typically covered in ash and sometimes is quite wild in
appearance, with long unkempt hair and blazing eyes,
although his devotees see through his outward appearance and
know him as the supreme god. Others worship him as
Pashupati, the lord of all creators who shelters and nurtures
all who follow him. Still others worship one of his fierce forms,
such as Bhairava. As Bhairava, Shiva is a fierce, demonic god
with long fangs and a frightening cudgel. His devotees,
however, see through this and venerate him as a powerful
protector.
 As with their Shaiva counterparts,
Vaishnavas have developed an incredibly complex
philosophical and theological tradition, with dozens of
subschools and sects. Vaishnavas worship one or several of the
many forms of Vishnu. Vishnu is typically understood to be
the preserver of dharma, order. When disorder threatens to
overwhelm the world, Vishnu incarnates himself in an earthly
form, called an avatara, literally a "crossing down" from the
heavens to the earth. There are ten classical avataras, although
in local traditions there are many more than that. The most
prominent of these are Krishna and Rama.
TEN CLASSICAL AVATARAS
1. Matsya, the fish-avatar who saved Manu
2. Kurma, the tortoise-avatar
3. Varaha, the boar-avatar
4. Narasimha, the half man-half lion avatar
5. Vamana, the dwarf-avatar, who defeated the demon-king Bali
6. Parashurama, sage with the axe who killed the thousand-armed
king Kartavirya Arjuna
7. Rama, the king of Ayodhya and the hero of the Hindu epic Ramayana
8. Krishna, the king of Dwarka, a central character in the Bhagavata
Purana and the Mahabharata and reciter of Bhagavad Gita
9. The Buddha (Gautama Buddha) meaning "the enlightened one"
10. Kalki ("Eternity", or "time", or "The Destroyer of foulness"), who is expected
to appear at the end of Kali Yuga.

Each of these, in turns, has numerous sub traditions. Some

followers of Krishna, for instance, worship him as a playful
and mischievous young boy; the devotee loves and takes care
of the god in much the same way that a parent loves and takes
care of a child. In other contexts, Krishna is a handsome young
man, and the devotee approaches him more as a lover does a
beloved. And in still other groups within the Vaishnava
tradition, Krishna is the wise counselor and guide.

Although it is not certain when

Shaktism historically emerged, it may be linked to the Indus
Valley civilization, which placed particular emphasis on
female figures. Shaktas are, most basically, followers of the
various forms of the great goddess (Maha Devi). The name
Shakta comes from a form of the goddesses' divine
power, shakti. As with the male gods, the goddess can take
many forms—fierce and wrathful, motherly, wifely.
Shaktas understand the goddess, Devi, to be the supreme
manifestation of divine power and energy. This is
mythologically expressed in a number of different accounts of
the cosmic origin of the goddess as
Durga. In the Devi Mahatmya, an
important Shakta scripture, Durga was created by the three
great gods—Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva—to defeat a demon
named Mahishasura whom the gods could not individually
defeat. They combined their energy and collectively created
Durga to slay the demon. She is thus taken by her followers to
be more powerful than—and uncontrollable by—any god,
because she is the combined power of all gods.
Both men and women worship the goddess, who takes many,
many forms. She is worshipped as the fierce Durga or as Kali,
who are tremendously powerful but who also often demand
blood sacrifice to appease them (to cool their energy). As such
they often have a particular, although by no means exclusive,
appeal to the lower castes.

Study Questions:
1. Who benefits from the classification of Hinduism into four
major sects? Why?
2. What are the four major sects, and what do the
individuals within each believe?
3. Who are the three major gods of Hinduism? What is the
role of each? The major goddess?
BELIEFS

Sacred Narratives
There is no single story of a founder in Hinduism, since there
is no founder. There is no single story or even collection of
stories that lays out the divine realm. There is no single story
of creation, since the world is recreated countless times.
Indeed, in the vast corpus of Hindu myths there is not only
tremendous variety and variation, but there are often what
appear to be conflicting stories about the creation of the
cosmos, about the deeds of the gods and goddesses, and about
the ways humans should interact with these divine beings.
Purusha Shukta: opening verses
(Hymn 10.90 of the Rig Veda)
The Purusha (the Supreme Being) has a thousand heads, a thousand eyes and
Verse
a thousand feet. He has enveloped this world from all sides and has (even)
One
transcended it by ten angulas or inches.
All this is verily the Purusha. All that which existed in the past or will come
Verse
into being in the future (is also the Purusha). Also, he is the Lord of
Two
immortality. That which grows profusely by food (is also the Purusha).
So much is His greatness. However, the Purusha is greater than this. All the
Verse
beings form only a quarter (part of) Him. The three-quarter part of His,
Three
which is eternal, is established in the spiritual domain.
In the Rig Veda, one of the earliest Vedic texts, there are
actually several creation stories. One of the best known is
contained in the Purusha Shukta, and is sometimes referred to
as the "Hymn of Cosmic Man." The myth describes the origin
of the cosmos as the result of a primal sacrifice, the sacrifice by
the gods of the first person, a giant named Purusha. The gods
sacrifice this primal being, and out of the pieces of his body
the divisions of the human world, and indeed the world itself,
are formed. The Brahmins come from his mouth; the
Kshatriyas from his arms; the Vaishyas from his thighs; and
the Shudras from his feet. This is
often understood to be the first articulation of the caste
system, although it is important to note that the myth itself
does not present a divisive hierarchical ordering, but one
which makes the different parts of society fundamentally
interdependent (like the various parts of the human body).
The Purusha Shukta also reflects the Vedic emphasis on
sacrifice as a creative act. After describing the formation of the
human realm from Purusha's body, the hymn goes to describe
the formation of the physical world: the moon comes from his
mind, the sun from his eyes, wind from his breath, the earth
from his feet, and so on. It ends, "Thus they [the gods]
fashioned the worlds."

Each of the major divisions or

sects—Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism, etc.—within
Hinduism has its own set of sacred narratives that, although
distinct to a particular sect, also contains overlapping
elements. The Shaivas, for instance, hold Shiva as the highest
form of the divine, and thus emphasize Shiva in their myths
and sacred narratives. Many of these myths depict Shiva as a
renouncer of the world who abandons the trappings of the
world and goes off to the Himalayas to meditate. In some of
these myths, a beautiful mountain girl, Parvati, falls in love
with the wild-haired ascetic, much to the chagrin of her
parents.
In one of the best-known such stories, the myth of Daksa, the
power and sometimes unpredictability of Shiva is
demonstrated (as well as his reputation as "the

destroyer"). Parvati (who is here

called Sati) is married to Shiva, although her parents are very
much against the marriage. Her father Daksha holds a great
sacrifice, and as a slight to Shiva, he does not invite him. Shiva
is not bothered by the insult, but Sati is. She goes to her father,
and in her extreme anger she commits suicide (in some
versions her anger simply causes her to catch fire). Shiva,
enraged, destroys the sacrifice and kills Daksha, thus creating
cosmic disorder, adharma. The gods then praise Shiva, who
relents and restores the sacrifice and brings Daksha back to
life (Sati's body is scattered, and she is reborn as Parvati).
 Narratives concerning Vishnu tend to
reflect, in contrast, his status as the cosmic maintainer
of dharma. Some of the best-known of these narratives are
the myths having to do with Vishnu's avataras, the forms he
takes to come down to the human realm and restore cosmic
and social order. The many, many myths and stories having to
do with Krishna are among the most popular and oft-
repeated sacred narratives in the Hindu world. Particularly
important are the devotional stories and songs in
the bhakti tradition that narrate the relationship between
Krishna and his human consort, Radha, in the sacred forest
of Vrindavana.

The great Hindu epics,

the Mahabharata and the Ramayana are often seen as
Vaishnava texts, although they contain many myths and
rituals oriented to Shiva and the goddesses as well. For many
Hindus, the stories and myths in these texts represent the
most sacred of all narratives, because they describe the
activities of the gods in the human realm. On one level, these
are simply great stories. They are told and retold, enacted,
sung, and, in the modern realm, filmed. They are also great
myths, however, sacred narratives that unveil profound truths,
present moral and ethical guidance, and articulate the
formation and order of the cosmos.
Three principal sects of Hinduism
Name of the Where sect is
Sect Supreme Being Texts
followers most widespread
India Vedas
Shaivism Shiva Shaivas Nepal Bhagavadgita
Sri Lanka Upanishads
Upanishads
Vaishna- Vishnu (or his avatars: Bhagavad
Vaishnavas India
vism Rama and Krishna) Gita
Puranas
Puranas
Shakti (or Devi), the Tantras
Saktism Shaktas India
Divine Mother Devimah-
atmya
For many Hindus, the most sacred narratives are those having
a much more local scope. Some of these narratives are
contained within the Puranas, a huge collection of diverse
religious texts. Many of the Puranas contain stories and myths
that are linked to particular places, such as mountains or
temples, as well as narratives that have pan-Indian resonance.
The Puranas also contain variations of myths found elsewhere.
Virtually all of the pan-Indian gods and goddesses appear in
the Puranas.
Division of Purana texts
(various divisions and numbers of texts are possible)
The Mahapuranas (most important puranas)
1. Brahma Puranas: Brahma Purana, Brahmānda Purana, Brahma Vaivarta
Purana, Mārkandeya Purana, Bhavishya Purana
2. Vishnu Puranas: Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Nāradeya Purana,
Garuda Purana, Padma Purana, Varaha Purana,Vāmana Purana,Kūrma Purana,
Matsya Purana, Kalki Purana
3. Shiva Puranas: Shiva Purana, Linga Purana, Skanda Purana, Agni Purana,
Vāyu Purana

The Upapuranas: secondary texts (no official list, but include the following)
Sanat-kumara, Narasimha, Brihan-naradiya, Siva-rahasya, Durvasa, Kapila, Vamana,
Bhargava, Varuna, Kalika, Samba, Nandi, Surya, Parasara, Vasishtha, Devi-
Bhagavata, Ganesha, Mudgala, and Hamsa
The Sthala Puranas: deal with traditions about temples and shrines
The Kula Puranas: deal with the origins of various castes
Jain and Buddhist Puranas

The Puranic version of the birth of

the very popular god Ganesha is one of the most well known of
all myths in Hinduism, one version of which is recounted in
the Shiva Purana. Shiva's wife, Parvati, was alone while Shiva
was away meditating. Parvati intended to take a bath, but was
afraid of intruders, so she created Ganesh out of the turmeric,
which was used something like soap, she was going to use to
bathe. She instructed the boy to stand guard outside of her
door. Shiva returned and encountered the strange boy, and
demanded that he step aside so that he could enter his home.
Ganesh, not knowing his father, refused, and Shiva, enraged,
lopped off his son's head. Parvati was
furious and distraught, and she demanded that her husband
restore their son to life. Shiva, after searching in vain for the
head, was forced to replace it with that of an elephant. This is
an etiological myth, namely a sacred narrative that explains
the origins of a god or sacred place; it is also a myth that
considers Shiva's sometimes unpredictable nature, as well as
his power to restore.

Study Questions:
1. How do Hindu scriptures present a creation story?
2. What is the role of violence within many sacred
narratives?
3. What are the Puranas, and what do they offer?

Ultimate Reality and Divine Beings

 One of the most commonly
retold Hindu myths is that which describes the creation of the
world involving the so-called "Hindu Trinity"—Brahma,
Vishnu, and Shiva. There are many variations of this basic
myth. Here is one of the most popular:

In the beginning the entire

universe was pervaded by Brahman, the abstract divine
force. There was no earth, no heaven, nothing. At a particular
time—when the time was "right"—a vast ocean washed over
the cosmos, and a huge serpent emerged from the waters.
Vishnu appeared, sleeping on the serpent. As Vishnu slept,
floating on the waters, the sound "om" began to vibrate
throughout the universe. Vishnu awoke, and out of his navel
grew a lotus. When the lotus opened, Brahma was sitting
there. Vishnu said to him that it was time to create the world.
 Brahma then set about creating the
world. He broke the lotus into three pieces, and with the first
made the heavens, with the second the skies, and with the
third the earth. He then populated the earth with all living
beings.
Shiva often does not appear in this myth, although in some
versions he appears later when the world has been engulfed in
chaos. He begins to dance, and in the process creates
tremendous religious heat that engulfs the world in flames,
destroying it but at the same time purifying it (much like what

the sacrificial fire does). The

cosmos is then once again void, until the waters reappear, and
the whole cycle begins again. Just as human beings are born
and reborn over and over again, so too is the cosmos. This
is samsara.
Accordingly, Brahma is often understood to be the creator,
Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer. This, however,

is only part of the story. The

Hindu idea of the gods is complex. Though in one sense there
is only one god, Brahman, this god is not really a single,
manifest entity but the divine principle that animates the
entire cosmos. Each of the individual gods, in this sense, is
thus a manifestation of Brahman.

Vishnu, for instance, takes many,

many forms. Sometimes he is just Vishnu, often depicted as a
royal god who resides in the heavens with his consort,
Lakshmi, and maintains the order, or dharma of the cosmos.
But Vishnu also manifests himself in the human realm when
dharma has broken down; he sends himself down to earth in
the form of an avatara. Krishna is an avatara of Vishnu, as is
Rama. But these forms of the gods are not understood to be
"lesser" versions of Vishnu. They are each fully and completely
Vishnu, as are all of the other manifestations of Vishnu or, for
that matter, Shiva or Brahma (although he typically does not
have multiple forms). This is related to the concept of
Brahman. Brahman is the overarching, all-encompassing
divine principle that contains all beings—all of the gods, all
humans, all demons, and even all animals. Thus each
individual god is at once a particular god with particular
characteristics and "personality" traits, and at the same time a
complete manifestation of Brahman.
Thus Hinduism is polytheistic in the sense that there are
many, many different gods—classically there are said to be 330
million! Hindus often worship a particular form of the god or
goddess, what is called an "ishtadevata" in Sanskrit, a chosen
or personal god. Some of these forms are pan-Indian, such as
Krishna or Shiva or Ganesh, while others are local, often only
known at the village level.

There are thousands of goddesses

in the Hindu pantheon: Lakshmi, Parvati, Saraswati, Kali,
Durga, and so on. These goddesses can be quite distinct.
Lakshmi, the embodiment of grace and good fortune, is a
"cool" goddess, Vishnu's consort, who is motherly and utterly
benign. Kali, in contrast, is often a ghastly figure with flaming
eyes and a lolling tongue and earrings made of severed heads.
Despite their very different personas, however, they are often
understood to be different manifestations of Devi, the great

goddess who is one. Humans are often

only able to see the outward form of the gods and goddesses,
because our vision is limited and because we are enmeshed in
the illusion that the world we see is the "real" world. This is
the effect of maya, illusion.
It is maya that makes us think, for instance, that we are
individual selves, or atmans. Certainly on one level we exist–
we have bodies, we have feelings, thoughts, personalities. But
ultimately all of these things are only just illusions. Ultimately,
we are all part of Brahman (according to Advaita and
Vishishtadvaita and other monist schools, but not Dvaita
Vedanta and other dualist schools). Indeed, there is nothing
that is "us" that is not Brahman. However, we are ignorant and
deluded (by maya), and thus we think we think we are
individuals.

The individual forms of the gods

and goddesses are often understood to be simply the forms
that we perceive, while the reality behind or beyond these
forms is Brahman. Kali appears to be hideous and fierce,
because our human vision is conditioned by maya; in reality,
she is a benign, protecting, nurturing mother. And, on an even
more ultimate level, she can be understood to be no different
than Brahman. Again, when one worships an individual god or
goddess, one is both worshipping that particular deity and, at
the same time, interacting with the ultimate reality that is
Brahman.

Study Questions:
1. Describe the most popular Hindu creation story.
2. How many Hindu gods exist?
3. What is the role of maya in interpreting the self?
Human Nature and the Purpose of
Existence
PATHS (MARGAS)
Path of action
Karma marga Vedas
(especially ritual action)
Path of knowledge
Jnana marga Upanishads
(meditation and analysis)
Path of devotion
Bhakti marga Bhagavadgita
(especially towards Krishna)
Hinduism articulates several different, overlapping paths,
or margas for humans to follow. Although these paths may
seem to be inconsistent, and even contradictory, fully
developed Hinduism holds that they are in fact three different,
and sometimes overlapping, means to fulfill the same religious
goal.
In the earliest layer of Hinduism, the purpose of life is quite
straightforward: humans are to perform the proper sacrifices
to the gods. The Vedas emphasize that the life of the
householder is the most exemplary model for humans. One
should do one's societal duty (which later becomes worked out
as the caste system), bear children (especially sons), and,
essentially, live a proper life. This is known as the
karma marga, the path of action, particularly ritual action.
VEDAS UPANISHADS
Emphasize asceticism
Emphasize one's duty as householder
(disregard material world)
The Upanishads significantly challenge this worldview. The
sages responsible for these texts reject the Veda emphasis on
the life of the householder and the primacy of sacrifice to the
gods. They argue, instead, that there is a higher reality beyond
the human realm, Brahman. Human beings can ultimately
become one with this higher reality, but only if they change
how they see and behave in the world. Specifically, the
Upanishads hold that people must renounce the trappings of
the world and embark on a life of asceticism.
 In this way, they can train
themselves to disregard the things of the material world,
which only lead to grasping and attachments, and thus the
creation of karma. If one meditates on the true nature of the
self (the atman), one can realize that everything that one
thinks of as the self, as "I," is in fact no different than
Brahman. One can thus learn to be in the world in such a way
that one is not attached, and thereby not creating karma
(although still acting). When one dies, one is free of karma,
and thus not reborn; instead, this person is release
from samsara. This is moksha, which literally means
"release," but which really refers to ultimate salvation, union
with Brahman.
To attain this state of karma-less being, one must, through
meditation and intense philosophical analysis, develop the
proper knowledge of the true nature of the self. This path, as
most clearly laid out in the Upanishads, is known as the
jnana marga, the path of knowledge.

The third path is the bhakti

marga, the path of devotion. This is perhaps first described in
the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most important sacred texts
in all of Hinduism. In the Bhagavad Gita, the
god Krishna explains to the warrior Arjuna that the highest
and most effective form of religious activity is absolute
devotion (in the Bhagavad Gita, it is specifically absolute
devotion to Krishna). The logic of the Bhagavad Gita's
advocacy of the bhakti marga is complex, but essentially
Krishna says that since he, Krishna, is the highest
manifestation of Brahman, all beings, including all of the other
gods, are contained within him. Thus there can be no action
that is not, in the end, part of Krishna: ultimately all sacrifice
is to Krishna, all worship, all good and bad actions on earth.
So the highest form of action is selfless, loving devotion to
Krishna, which is bhakti.

The message of the Bhagavad Gita is considerably more

complex than this. Krishna actually builds a very convincing
case against the Upanishadic notion of renouncing the world
to attain the highest religious goal, moksha. Krishna tells
Arjuna that he must, in fact, continue to follow the path of
action, to do his duty, dharma, as defined by his caste.
Arjuna is a kshatriyan, and so he must fight. However, and
this is one of the reasons the Bhagavad Gita became so
important in Hinduism, Krishna says that Arjuna can both
fulfill his duty (the point of the karma marga) and at the same
time be free of karma (the point of the jnana marga). He must
do his duty but renounce the fruits–the karmic effects–of his
actions. How can he do this? By devoting all of his attention,
all of his thoughts, on Krishna (and this is the bhakti marga).
THE FOUR ASHRAMAS
Ashrama (station in life) Duties
Student Learn duties of his caste
Householder Raise a family
Forest dweller Study sacred texts
Renouncer Meditate
An important part of Krishna's message to Arjuna is the
concept of Ashrama (or Ashram). Krishna tells Arjuna that
he must act according to his caste (varna) and his particular
station in life (ashrama); this is related to the concept of
varna-ashrama-dharma. One is born into a particular caste as
a result of past karma, and one's caste determines what sort of
life one will live, what sort of work one will do. As one
progresses through life, one is also governed by the concept of
ashrama. There are four ashramas: student, householder,
forest dweller, and renouncer. At each stage, there are certain
duties that one must attend to, certain obligations: a student
should focus on learning the appropriate duties of his caste; a
householder should raise a family; a forest dweller should
focus on study of the sacred texts; and a renouncer should
leave the trappings of the world behind to meditate.
What this system does is put everything in its proper place. It
is a model of the overarching Hindu concept of dharma, of
order. It provides a structure so that at each stage of one's life,
one has certain duties and obligations, defined by that stage
and one's caste. The Bhagavad Gita adds the concept of bhakti
to this, thereby introducing the idea that no matter what one's
caste is, from the highest Brahmin to the lowest Shudra, and
no matter what one's age, if one performs the appropriate
duties with the appropriate devotion, one is engaged in the
highest religious acts.

Study Questions:
1. How has the Hindu purpose of life changed throughout
history?
2. How do the three paths differ from one another? What
are their similarities?
3. What is bhakti, and why is it important?

Suffering and the Problem of Evil

The key to understanding the existence of suffering and evil in
Hinduism is the central concept of karma. Karma is at once
the simplest of concepts and the most complex. The word itself
simply means "action," and originally referred to the sacrificial
action that was at the center of the Vedic world. Karma
gradually took on the meaning of both action and the effect of
action.
Karma is understood within Hinduism—and Buddhism and
Jainism as well—as the fundamental and universal law of
cause and effect. When a person does something, it has an
effect: good actions have good effects, bad actions have bad
effects. Thoughts have effects as well. An individual person
carries around these accumulated effects, this karma. Over the
course of a single lifetime, an individual performs countless
actions, has countless thoughts; all of these bits of karma—
good and bad—are something like spiritual baggage, or
deposits in a spiritual bank account. When a person dies, all of
his or her karma is, in a sense, added up. A "positive balance"
leads to a more positive rebirth; a "negative balance" leads to a
more negative rebirth.

Two concepts are essential here:

the first is that of the atman, the permanent self; the second
is that of samsara, the cycle of rebirth or reincarnation.
Hinduism holds that just as the world is created, maintained,
destroyed, and recreated endlessly, so too people are born,
live, die, and are reborn endlessly. Although samsara is often
called "reincarnation" in the West, it is important to note that
it is not the "person" who is reborn, but the permanent self,
the atman (which includes elements of personality).
The quality of each rebirth depends on the accumulated karma
of prior rebirths; this karma "sticks" to the atman, and
determines what sort of form it will take in each

rebirth. Thus if a human being

does particularly good deeds while alive, he or she might be
reborn as a "better" human being: a particularly
good shudra might be reborn as a Brahmin, for example. But
if one does particularly "bad" deeds, called papam in Sanskrit,
he or she might be reborn into a lower life form—a member of
a lower caste, say, or even as an animal or insect. One might
also be reborn outside of the earthly realm, as a demon or
even, according to some schools, as a god or goddess.
According to this worldview, there is no such thing as evil.
There are "bad" people, who are bad because they have done
or continue to do bad things; bad events happen as a result of
karma as well.
There is another way of understanding things that might
appear evil that focuses not on humans but on the gods.
Sometimes things happen that do not seem to be the result of
any karmic activity: earthquakes, say, or tsunamis, or
droughts. One way to understand such events, which of course
can be quite catastrophic, is that they are the result of the play
of the gods, or lila. Although the gods' lila can be a profoundly
positive source, such as the "play" of Krishna with which he
combats demons, it can also be negative in the human realm.
Ultimately, such divine play is mysterious. Humans cannot
possibly understand why the gods do what they do, why they
allow bad things to happen to good people. It is simply lila,
mysterious.
YUGAS
Satya Yuga (or Krita Yuga)
Treta Yuga
Dvapara Yuga
Kali Yuga
A way to think about the issue of evil in Hinduism is found in
the image of the cosmic ages. Hinduism breaks each cosmic
age—that period between the creation of the universe and its
destruction—into huge expanses of time called yugas. In the
beginning, when the world has just been created, there is
peace and tranquility in the world, perfect dharma, or order.
Because human beings possess free will, and because we grasp
on to the things of the world out of ignorance of the ultimate
reality behind this world—Brahman—the world gradually
devolves. Sometimes this is depicted using the image of a cow:
when the world is new and dharma is perfect, the cow stands
on four legs. As a result of human greed and negative karmic
acts, however, the cow eventually loses one leg, then two, then
eventually three, leaving it with only a single leg to stand on.
The cow, here a symbol for order (dharma), is profoundly
unstable, tottering. This is the age we are currently in, the Kali
Yuga. Eventually things will become so bad, so adharmic, or
disorderly, that the world will go up in flames, and then,
eventually, be engulfed in water. Eventually Vishnu will
reappear on the waters, and the world will begin again.
What appears to be evil, then, is in this view an inevitable
result of the Kali Yuga.

Study Questions:
1. Why is it better to be freed from karma than to continually
accumulate good karma?
2. How is rebirth determined? What are some of the
outcomes of rebirth in correlation to karma?
3. What is lila? How can it be explained?
4. How do the yugas demonstrate the cyclical nature of
Hinduism?

Afterlife and Salvation

In the earliest strata of Hinduism, the Vedas, there is very
little discussion of the afterlife, and really only a vague notion
of salvation. Some texts, such as the Rig Veda, suggest that
different people go to different places after they die, but there
is little detail regarding the matter. This was simply not the
focus of the religion. Rather, the concern was the proper
performance of rituals that would keep the gods satisfied, and
thus keep the cosmos in order.
List of "principal" Upanishads
(there are over 100 others)
1. Aitareya
1. Svetasvatara
2. Brhadaranyaka
2. Katha
3. Taittiriya
3. Mundaka
4. Chandogya
4. Mandukya
5. Kena
5. Prasna
6. Isa
Some in the Vedic world eventually rejected this sacrificial
emphasis and set out to find a new path, a path that would
lead to eternal salvation. This path is among the focus of
the Upanishads. In these texts, there is much discussion of
what happens after death. In a famous passage from the Katha
Upanishad, a sage named Nachiketas wins a boon from the
god of death, Yama, and asks the god what happens to humans
after they die. Yama at first refuses to answer, and then, after
Nachiketas persists, tells the sage that if he wishes to know the
answer to this question, he must study the nature of the self,
and in the process he will be able to leave both joy and sorrow
behind.
This is a typically cryptic message from the Upanishads, but it
points to a basic understanding of salvation articulated there:
human beings continue to be reborn because they continue to
generate karma, and they continue to generate karma because
they are ignorant. They are ignorant of the true nature of the
self. According to the Upanishads, the individual self,
or atman, is no different than the ultimate reality

of Brahman. However, human beings

are deluded, and think they are different. They think "I am,"
and thus they grasp on to the things of the material world. "I
want . . . that is mine," and so on. But there is nothing that is
not encompassed by the ultimate, by Brahman. According to
the Upanishads, if one knows the true nature of the self—that
it does not, in any ultimate sense, exist—then one will stop
grasping. If one stops grasping, then one stops
generating karma. And when there is no karma, there is no
rebirth. One is released.
This release, called moksha, is ultimate salvation. The
individual is absorbed in the ultimate, Brahman, in the same
manner that a stream or a river (a metaphor for the individual
atman) is absorbed into the ocean (Brahman). When one
attains this state, rebirth stops. One is released, forever. The
individual is one with Brahman.
This path, the jnana marga or path of knowledge, is not the
only means to attain ultimate salvation. Indeed, Hinduism
very much holds that there are many paths to reach the same
destination.
PATHS (MARGAS)
Path of action
Karma marga Vedas
(especially ritual action)
Path of knowledge
Jnana marga Upanishads
(meditation and analysis)
Path of devotion
Bhakti marga Bhagavadgita
(especially towards Krishna)
The Bhagavad Gita introduces the path of devotion,
or bhakti marga. One can attain salvation, in the context of
this path, through selfless loving devotion to a chosen god. In
the Bhagavad Gita this god is Krishna, although because all of
the gods in Hinduism are ultimately encompassed by the
overarching divine powerhouse Brahman, bhakti directed at
any god can lead to salvation.

Bhakti is often discussed in

distinctly human terms, using human love as the model. A
parent's love for a child, for instance, is the model for the
devotee's love of the god; a parent's love is utterly selfless,
absolute. Likewise, the love of a devotee for a god is also
described in amorous terms.
Some of the best-known and most beloved stories in Hinduism
involve the love "affair" between Krishna and Radha (a
particularly beautiful example is the Gita Govinda, by the poet
Jayadeva). Krishna in these stories is a lovely young man who
plays a bewitching flute. Radha is a beautiful young woman.
She is, however, a human

being. She abandons her

worldly duty to be with Krishna. The point of these stories is
that although worldly duties are importance for the
maintenance of society, love of the divine (here specifically
Krishna) transcends the worldly dharma. Through such
absolute love, one attains salvation through the grace of the
god.

Study Questions:
1. What are a few of the varying Hindu beliefs about
afterlife?
2. What is moksha?
3. How does one attain salvation?
Rites and Ceremonies
The most fundamental of all rituals in Hinduism is sacrifice.
Sacrifice was the primary religious activity of the Vedic
period, and although the concept of sacrifice has undergone
dramatic transformation as Hinduism has developed over the
past few thousand years, it remains the bedrock of the
tradition, and Vedic sacrifices continue to be performed
throughout the Hindu world.
Vedic sacrifice is a highly structured affair. Strict rules govern
the purifying preparations for the Brahmin priests,
construction of the altar, the preparation of the offering—in
the contemporary world, various vegetable and grain offerings,
particularly ghee (clarified butter)—and the performance of
the ritual itself. All of this is to satisfy the gods and thereby
maintain order, or dharma.
The ascetic challenge to the Vedas, as embodied in
the Upanishads, on one level rejected ritual action as not
conducive to ultimate salvation. On another level, however,
the Upanishadic renouncers took the basic ideology of the
sacrifice and internalized it, taking the transformative heat of
the fire sacrifice and turning it into the purifying heat of
asceticism. And although the Upanishads openly rejected
ritual, even the act of becoming a renouncer is itself a

significant ritual. When one

becomes a renouncer, one essentially performs one's own
funeral: the sacred thread is cut, one's normal clothes are
exchanged for the ascetic's minimal garb, the hair is shaved,
and all of these objects, representing the trappings of worldly
life, are burned. This is a symbolic cremation. The ascetic,
through this ritual, is now understood to be dead to the world,
and when he or she physically dies, no cremation is
performed.

Many Hindu rites and ceremonies

take place in a temple setting and are directed toward a god or
goddess, but by no means do all such rituals take place in the
temple; indeed, many Hindu rituals are distinctly domestic
affairs, taking place in individual homes. And certainly not
all rites and ceremonies are directed toward the gods and
goddesses. Virtually every aspect of Hindu life, in fact, is
marked by ritual actions.

Death is a critical moment in the

life of a Hindu, not only because it marks the end of life, but
also because it marks the transition to the next life.
The shraddha, funeral rites, therefore, are among the most
important rituals in Hinduism. Such rituals are
called samskaras, rites of passage. It is utterly important that
the rituals associated with death—not only the cremation itself
but also the preparation of the corpse and the purification of
the surviving family—be performed properly, because if they
are not, the deceased may become "stuck" between this life
and the next, and remain in the world as a preta, a ghost, to
haunt the surviving relatives.
 One of the most important rituals
associated with death is the pinda pradana, a ritual that is
performed at several precise points after death and that
involves the offering of small rice balls (pinda), which are
thought to feed the deceased prior to his or her rebirth.
Additionally, often the family will journey to a tirtha, a
"crossing" of a sacred river, at set points after the death and
"sink" a portion of the deceased cremated remains, further
insuring a safe passage to the next life.
Sixteen major samkaras
Garbhadhanam: the act of conception
Pumsavanam: the expectant mother consumes barley, grain, and curd
ritual in the fourth month of a woman’s first pregnancy
Seemantam: *the expectant mother is anointed with oil, her hair is parted,
and bystanders chant the words “om” and “vyahritis”
birth ritual performed for a male newborn
Jatakarman:
*the baby receives mixture of ghee, honey, and gold
naming ceremony
Namakaranam: *on the twelfth day after birth, the father repeats the new name
three times
child leaves the home for the first time
Nishkramanam:
*usually occurs four months after birth
Annaprasanam: ritual for giving child solid foods for the first time
Choodakaranam: ceremony of cutting the child’s hair for the first time
Karnavedham: ritual for piercing the ears (boys and girls)
beginning of learning
*a child who is between three to five years old receives these
Vidyarambham:
words written on its tongue: "Hari sri ganapataye namah
avignamastu"
eight-year-old boys begin wearing the sacred thread
Upanayanam:
(Yajnopaveetam)
Praishartham: studying the Vedas and Upanishads
Kesantham: ritual marking a sixteen-year-old boy's first shave
Ritusuddhi: ritual associated with a girl’s first menstruation
Samavartanam: the end of formal education
ritual of first sexual intercourse, performed shortly after the
Vivaham:
wedding
Anthyeshti: funeral rites

The actual number of samskaras varies considerably, but by

any count there are dozens. These include death, as well as
birth, naming, the taking of the sacred thread (for the top

three castes), marriage, etc. The taking

of the sacred thread, or upanayana ritual, is a particularly
important samskara, because it marks the point at which a
person becomes a full and responsible participant in Hindu
life, a dvija or "twice born." Only the top three castes—
Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya—perform this
samskara. (In this sense, the caste system thus confines the
lowest caste, the Shudras—as well as the outcastes—to a kind
of non-Hindu status.) In significant ways, the upanayana
ceremony is similar to the bar or bat mitzvah rites in
Judaism, or first communion, in Catholicism. Typically the
young Hindu—almost always only a male—goes through a
series of symbolically charged ritual acts in order to become
a brahmacari (brahmacaryan), the first of the
Hindu ashramas: his hair is shaved (symbolizing his purity);
he is given a staff (symbolizing his ascetic journey for
knowledge); various mantras are chanted; and his sacred
thread is put on.
THE FOUR ASHRAMAS
Ashrama (station in life) Duties
Student Learn duties of his caste
Householder Raise a family
Forest dweller Study sacred texts
Renouncer Meditate
The Hindu marriage is also a significant samskara. Marriage is
a highly elaborate affair that involves all manner of religiously
significant rituals and ceremonies. Marriages are typically
arranged according to caste, and the proper match is
determined on the basis of astrological charts and with the
help of a pundit, a particularly learned

Brahmin. Marriage often begins

with a ceremony focused on the god Ganesh, the remover of
obstacles, weeks before the actual ceremony. The marriage
ceremony itself is long and involves dozens of steps, nearly all
of which are religious significant. One religiously important
aspect is the kanya dana, during which the bride's father pours
out sacred water, and the groom recites Vedic hymns
(particularly to the god Kama, the god of love) and promises to
help his bride attain three of the four sacred ends of
life: dharma (duty), artha (purpose),
and kama (love). Moksha (salvation) is the fourth sacred goal,
but is not attained through marriage.
In the modern western world, the separation between the
sacred and the secular, between aspects of life that are and are
not religious, is taken for granted; in Hinduism there is no
such separation. Life is fundamentally religious, and religion is
fundamentally about life—all aspects of life, from the most
mundane to the most sublime.
Study Questions:
1. Why is sacrifice one of the most fundamental Hindu
rituals?
2. Why is death ritualized?
3. What are the samskaras? Give a few examples, and
explain why they are ritualized.
4. How do Hindu ceremonies eliminate the dualism of
sacred and secular?

Symbolism

One of the most common symbols in

Hinduism is the Sanskrit letter om (or aum). This is the
understood not only as the first letter (or sound) of the sacred
alphabet, but the first sound in the cosmos that led to creation.
It is thus the first principle of the universe. There are many
philosophical discussions of om; some hold that it is actually
composed of three separate sounds. The first embodies the
three worlds—the earth, atmosphere, and heavens; the second
embodies the three great gods—Brahma, Vishnu, and
Shiva; and the third, three of the Vedas—the Rig, Yajur, and
Sama. Om typically begins Hindu mantras, sacred verbal
formulas, and prayers, and it is often the first (and last) letter
of sacred texts. Om is also used in various yogic meditational
practices.
 The swastika is another common
symbol. Although the Nazis appropriated this symbol in the
1920s, the swastika is an ancient Hindu symbol that denotes
well-being and auspiciousness. Temples are adorned with
swastikas, and it is used in a wide range of context: weddings,
festivals, all manner of rituals, and to decorate everything
from trucks to cakes.
Lotuses are ubiquitous symbols in Hinduism. Hindu gods and
goddesses are typically depicted with lotuses: they sit on
lotuses, they hold lotuses, sometimes they emerge from
lotuses. Gods and goddesses are also described using lotus
imagery: Krishna, for instance, is called

the "lotus-eyed one," and

goddesses are frequently compared to lotuses. Lotuses are
particularly associated with purity: although they begin in the
mud, they grow up through the water and emerge on the
surface. When they open, the flower is utterly cleansed.
The lingam is a symbolic representation of the god Shiva,
although it is also more than a symbol in that like other
images of the gods, it is seen as an actual embodiment of the
god. In other words, it is not a symbol of the god; it is the god.
It is one of the most prevalent images in all of Hinduism, and
can be found in almost all Shiva

temples. It may have its origins in

the Vedas, where sacrificial posts, or stambha (or skambha),
sometimes symbolized the gods, or it may have been borrowed
from the Buddhists, who erected reliquaries, or stupas, to
enshrine the relics of the Buddha. At any rate, the lingam is a
quite complex sort of symbol.
Some have seen the lingam as a phallic symbol, although this
is a matter of significant dispute. There are myths that
certainly resonate with this phallic imagery, but this does not
mean that most Hindus who venerate Shiva in this form in any
way associate the lingam with the phallus. Rather, the lingam
is treated as an aniconic manifestation of the god. Lingams
are typically human created images, but there are also
important naturally occurring lingams. In cave temples in the
Himalayas—Shiva's special abode—stalagmites are sometimes
regarded as lingams. At Amaranath, in the Indian state of
Jammu and Kashmir, there is a cave that is mythically
associated with Shiva and Parvati in which an ice stalagmite
forms each spring and summer and which is worshipped by
pilgrims as a particularly auspicious lingam.
 There are also all manner of
symbolically significant physical acts. Mudras are symbolic
bodily gestures that denote particular religious sentiments or
intents. For instance, the abhaya mudra, the gesture of "no
fear" made by opening the palm outward, is often displayed by
gods and goddesses to symbolize their protective abilities.
Mudras are very important in classical Indian dance, in which
each of the gestures of the dancer has specific symbolic
resonance.
Many Hindus wear a symbolic mark, or tilak (in Sanskrit,
literally "mark"), across their forehead. Although Sadhus
(renouncers) and priests wear tilaks at all times, many people
wear them only after a visit to the temple or on an important
day, such as during a religious ritual or on a festival

day. Shaiva tilaks are typically three

lines—sometimes chalk or sacred ash—representing
the trishula, the trident that Shiva and his ascetic followers
carry. Vaishnava Hindus, likewise, wear a variety of tilaks
that symbolize their chosen deity, Vishnu.
One of the most commonly performed symbolic gestures is
the anjali mudra. When Hindus meet one another, they
typically display the anjali mudra, placing the palms together
and raising the arms and bowing, usually saying "Namaste" as
they do so. This is a gesture of respect and greeting, and is
done not only when two people meet, but when a worshipper
approaches a god.

Study Questions:
1. What is om?
2. Why is the lotus used frequently in Hinduism?
3. Should the lingam be considered a Hindu symbol? Why or
why not?
4. Why are hand positions considered symbolic gestures?
What are some examples of mudras?