Essentials of Hindu Religions - 1

This is the English version and the first post of the series which I am writing for a popular e-zine in Tamil. 

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Hinduism – An Introduction

Many people think Hinduism is a religion. It is a massive system containing within itself a large number of religions, beliefs, cultural and linguistic traditions, codes and principles of life within each region, universal ethical principles applicable to all human societies and much more.

The term ‘Hindu’ was given to the people living in the east of the river Sindhu. The word ‘Sindhu’ also refers to a river, a wide body of water or sea. The Persians, who were trying to invade India, could not pronounce the word ‘sindhu’ and instead pronounced it as ‘hindu’.

So, in a larger sense, Hinduism is a name of one massive code box, huge system, comprising religions, belief systems, codes and mores, cultural and linguistic traditions, etc., which emanated from Indian sub-continent and thereabouts. So, one would find within Hinduism a cluster of religions which hold Vedas as supreme & follow the rules laid in that tradition [वेदसम्मत – Vedasammata] and also the traditions which do not hold Vedas as supreme. In the same way some schools and systems within the fold of Hinduism place importance on fire in rituals and ceremonies while some others do not. Some traditions place local deities much above widely accepted Indian gods and goddesses, while some advocate worship of nature and natural objects such as rivers, mountains, trees and some animals too. So, any and all attempts to simplify or generalize Indian faiths and beliefs is downright foolish and fly in the face of hard fact and evidence.

There are certain unique features to the cultural components of all the systems which emanated from Indian sub-continent. Some of them were incorporated later in other cultures and religions. Of course some historians have argued few of these components came from cultures outside the sub-continent.

First is the focus of Hindu religions. Volumes have been written about the foggy, dreamy, other-worldly and impractical nature of these religions. Nothing could be farther from truth than that. In fact, Hindu religions are highly ‘man’ centric in nature. Be it religions of Kashmir or Tamil Nadu or the religions which rose as reactions to mainstream religions – Jainism and Buddhism, one thing that connects all schools of philosophy of India and religions is the release of a being from the cycle of birth and death. 

Whatever name it carries, nirvana, moksha, mukti, it is all about letting the fly out of the fly-bottle. Some, out of partial understanding, argue that this focus on ‘release’ is more to justify the creation and existence of heaven and the world of gods in myths of Hindu religions. If that is so, there is no explanation for schools like Buddhism which do not accept even the existence of soul, leave alone God, to focus on end of samsara. From Vedas to Upanishads to later code digests in Sanskrit dominated scriptures and in the Saiva schools of Tamil Nadu or Kashmir or Vaishnava schools spread across India or any of the mainstream six religions of Hinduism or even Jainism, it is the cessation of suffering of a human that dominates the spectrum and their universe. That ‘partial understanding’ need not be a wrong understanding and in fact puranas and auxiliary scriptures have excess of world of gods etc. I will write about these later. So, in short, Hinduism is probably the first ‘existentialist’ philosophy in the world which put ‘man’ at the center.

Next is the nature of time and what is made of matter. It is very crucial to understand this, if one were to get a better grasp of religions of Hinduism. According to these religions, without exception, time is cyclical. In Hindu cosmology from a second to an epoch, periods of time are defined and divided. Not only for the periods of time on earth, but also for the world of gods. Why the world of gods? Anything that exists, can be experienced or visualized or thought of is material. Hindu religions divide matter into two broad categories – gross matter or sthoola and subtle matter or sookshuma. By this understanding, the mind, thoughts, jiva (individual soul), the world, karma, the gods and goddesses, Brahma (the creator) and everything that falls under human experience is material. Because they are matter, they obey the physical laws of creation, existence and destruction. Again, in Hindu religions the end of time is defined variously for various entities, beings and worlds. In this series, we will see more of that later – pralaya. This is the reason why there are different creators, seers and worlds exist in Hindu religions for different time cycles. The credit for identifying karma as matter should go to Jainism rather than mainstream Hindu religions or schools of thought.

Hindu religions place highest emphasis on individual development, evolution and release over worship, doing rituals etc. The latter are also important, but individual development is perceived seriously as essential. These religions lists out eight essential qualities as a pre-requisites for evolution. These eight essential qualities takes precedence over religion and material development. The point is one cannot have one’s foot in the kingdom of gods while one’s hand is stealing from another’s pocket.

Every human being is different from another. Given the divergent nature of biological constituent components and cultural conditioning of each, it is no surprise that there is a plethora of interests, aptitudes and behavioral patterns in the human world. What appeals to one person or a group of persons need not appeal to another. To address this fundamental issue in religious sphere, Hindu religions promote multitude of gods, goddesses, natural objects fit for worshiping and provides freedom to individuals to choose the object of worship. There are some who love to adorn their bodies with varieties of clothes and jewels. Same way some like to worship an object which may be repulsive to others. Hindu religions provide options here too – formless worship for those who love to tread that path. Some people are extrovert by nature while some others are introverted. For those who would like to be in thick of action all the time, Hindu religions provide temples, pilgrimages, rituals and much more, while those who are not inclined towards constant action can aspire to reach godhead through more subdued and personal approaches.

In the traditional and conservative communities in rest of the world atheists are seen as bad, counterproductive and negative people. In the Indian philosophical systems, however, agnosticism and atheism alongside purely materialistic thought which deny anything apart from the physical world, are also given due importance. Balance is very important for any given society. In the religious sphere, it is atheistic school of thought which provides balance. Hindu religions perceive atheism as a valid school of thought and in reality they are the conscience keepers of religious schools to prevent people from committing constant excesses in the name of religion and god. Later in the series I will write in detail about Carvaka and other schools with similar philosophies.

Rebirth for human beings and reincarnation for gods is another important and unique feature of Hindu religions. Again unlike many other religions, Hindu religions accept and promote a large number of scriptures as Holy. They range from purely mythical to metaphysical to highly localized legends about temples, towns and rivers. Another unique feature of Hindu religions is the presence of 'Guru.' Guru is more than a master, a preceptor, a teacher – he is seen as possessing necessary qualities to dispel darkness from the lives of those who approach him. Essential nature of Guru is not to teach anything, not to have disciples or an institution, but to lift one and all those who approach Him or Her.

These and much more I hope to write in this series and also some people will read and find these beneficial. Hindu religions contain some of the noblest and loftiest thoughts unparalleled in the human history. The highest philosophical principles contained therein do not prevent these religions from caring for lowest of the low and poorest of the poor. It is exhaustive and is like a large tree with a large number of branches that provides shade, comfort and nutrition to everyone under sun. What has been presented here are but a few of the fundamental characteristics as a sort of introduction to the deeper philosophical and metaphysical truths contained in it.

Next in the series will be about eight aatma gunas or eight essential qualities.

If flawsaphor chooses .....!

Ten Amazing Books

It is very difficult for anyone – well-read or otherwise – to choose 10 or 20 books as the best they have read and make it as public too. Such actions are always fraught with the danger of one missing out prominent or popular book or even nominating less deserving ones. But given the highly individualistic nature of action involved, the level of subjectivity can never be wiped out. It is all the more difficult for people like me, being in the kind of profession I am in, it is a Himalayan task. People in my trade inevitably read thousands of words day in and day out – covering a wide range of subjects. So, making a list of best 10 books is almost impossible given the sheer range of subjects we are exposed to given each one of us tend to read books in the subjects we love more than others.

Through three and a half decades that I have been reading books on a constant basis, one thing most irritating is people coming up, every now and then, with posts like “The 10 books that shaped my life” or some such similar mindless stuff. Can books alone shape one’s life? Books are part of any given culture and one of the many tools that shape a person’s life and career. Again, when the word ‘Culture’ is uttered people tend to think of many gaseous and vacuous stuff. The habits, mores, customs, practices, value systems, institutions, societal tools, laws and many more comprise culture. Given all these, such claims are nothing but a pretentious, attention grabbing techniques.

So, here I am choosing 10 books among thousands that attracted me most – though they might not have had even 1% impact on my life and thinking pattern and ability. I am choosing these just for the sheer ability to arouse curiosity and interest.

      

               1)   Dialogues of Plato –translated and edited by Benjamin Jowett 

If there is a sheer joy and happiness in written words [mention irony!], they are in these dialogues. It is amazing to even conceive that people who lived thousands of years ago discussed the fundamental problems of human living thread bare and the dialogues have withstood the test of time and changing value systems. Bertrand Russell corrupted my mind and I may tend to believe with Russell in the superiority of Plato’s imagination and the dialogues could be a book of fiction, yet this remains one of the foremost books that will arouse curiosity and logical thinking in young minds.

2)  Gay Science by Nietzsche - translated and edited by Walter Kauffman

This book has become popular by the atheists and agnostics from all over the world for about a century now for the famous “God is Dead.” But these claims stem more from defective understanding of the book and inability to comprehend the thread. I know people will throw stones at me, but I stick my neck out and cling on to what I am telling. Aphorisms, scathing assessment of luminaries and throwing light on humanness, this book has all that and much more. Whether this was the precursor to “Thus Spake Zarathustra” or its sequel, the book remains my favorite.

3)    Commentaries on Living series by Jiddu Krishnamurti 

If there is someone who is most misunderstood and most underrated thinker, then it has to be JK. In this series and throughout his lifetime, he comprehended much in advance the lives human beings would be leading in the digital and mechanical era, rapidly declining value systems and deterioration of reasoning and pleaded with the listeners in one talk after another. Yet none of us seem to have listened to him – at all. The lives we are leading is an ample testimony to that.

4)    Surely You’re Joking Mr Feynman

This is one book from the title to last page that captivates the imagination of the readers. As such it is a simple book that records the adventures of Feynman through his life, his remarkable insights in the working of physics and the laws of nature etc. But the success of this book lies in the fact that every single reader wanted to open the safes, drink tea with lemon and cream, investigate every disaster of the machines and all such adventures of Feynman. Every travel junkie harried around to find more about Tannu Tuva and yearned to visit this remote land after reading Sure You’re Joking, Tuva or Bust and the Last Journey. Feynman broke the myth that scientists have to be mysterious and serious and this book highlights a fundamental truth that any proper understanding of Nature and expressions of such an understanding have to be simple so that any layman can understand them. 

5)    Godel, Escher, Bach – An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter

If there is one book after reading which a youngster would emerge more knowledgeable than ever before, it is this one. Taking common themes from the works of Godel, Escher and Bach, Hofstadter tears into the foundations of intelligence, meaning, symmetry and almost whole of life – how cognition, intelligence and communication are possible. As the book progresses, every page is a treat with breathtaking paintings of Escher, koans, general puzzles and emerging new meanings and patterns of life. After the book, every reader is bound to view every dimension of life from a new angle. One word – Exhilarating.

6) The Self and its Brain – by Popper and Eccles

Simply put, this is a book that talks about interaction between body and mind, how biological and chemical processes impact thoughts, behavior etc. It would have ended up as one of the countless boring philosophical debates but for the individual brilliance of Karl Popper and John Eccles. Dividing the book into three parts, Popper deals first with the world of objects – the phenomena, Eccles, the acclaimed neurophysiologist, with the neurological understanding of thoughts, emotions etc and the final part is the dialogue between the philosopher and the neurophysiologist. This is a very fundamental book but a very important one for understanding dualism that asks very significant questions such as how life emerged from matter among others. But the sub-title of the book “an Argument for Interactionism” gives away what is the fundamental problem with the western thought. Unlike Hindu philosophies which treat mind, thoughts etc as physical, whole lot of European philosophies have treated mind, thoughts and emotions as something apart from physical world. This problem is beyond Popper and Eccles, yet this is a very significant conversation from about 40 years ago.

7)     The man who mistook his wife for a hat – Oliver Sachs

In this book of 24 remarkable essays featuring the descriptions of case histories of some of his patients, Sachs takes us through a journey of enchanting and yet frightening world of people with abnormal faculty functioning and yet very sad in real life. In the centuries that went by these people would have been dismissed as possessed by evil and in some cultures would have been beaten to death. 

8)    Bhaarathiyaar Kavithaigal

This is one of the most captivating and energizing poetry collections that one can ever lay one’s hands upon. To me personally it is one of the eternal fountains of creativity compressed into few lines of poetry. Nothing more. Go read and get inspired!

9)     The Secret Doctrine by Madame Blavatsky

There is a running joke that if there is one book that no human ever completed including its author, it has to be Secret Doctrine by Blavatsky. It is a mammoth book with tall claims, with equally stunning range of subjects covered, from philosophy to religion to occultism to science and evolution of races, and extraordinary details. Even discounting the subjects covered in the book, I doubt whether any human being other than Blavatsky knew so many languages, had such in-depth knowledge of the lost civilizations and remarkable foray into future and distant planets in the solar system and beyond. From Atlantis and Lemuria to life in Venus this book covers a vast range of interesting postulations with intricate details and elaborate footnotes. Major sections are really boring but proem and those sections dealing with remote cultures and civilizations are really interesting. But I doubt the book indeed achieves the claim it makes – wedding religion and modern science.

10)     The History of Dharma Shastra by P.V. Kane

Kane wrote this magnum opus of his over three decades! This book in five volumes is a rare collection and interpretation of evolution of social codes and laws through two thousand years in India. From the worship of stones on the road to highest philosophies, from the role of law texts in the lives of ordinary people to rules governing the rulers, from the controversies concerning the existence of multiple texts and authors to evolution and creation of modern Indian law, from greatest poetries of India to religious schools and monasteries – there is nothing about India that this book does not touch upon. For me the greatest strength of this book is neutral analysis of all the topics it covers – caste system, the role of so called scriptures in the lives of people, beef eating, astrology, astronomy, so on and so forth. This one book has been the launch pad of thousands of books on all the topics it covers. As Olivelle observed, it is the single most telling contribution by any individual in India from the medieval times onwards.

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As I said in the beginning it is inevitable that many good books would get unmentioned. May be there are 100 more such books. However, time and health permitting, I may write few lines in near future about

1.      The Emperor’s New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds and 

the Laws of Physics by Roger Penrose

2.     The Society of Mind by Marvin Minsky

3.     Morphic Resonance: The nature of formative causation by Rupert Sheldrake

4.     Myth of Invariance: The origin of Gods, Mathematics and Music 

by Ernest McClain

5.    Collected Works of Baba Saheb Ambedkar

6.     The biological and historical significance of Vedic mythology 

by A.K. Bhattacharyya

7.     One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

8.     Ulladu Naarpadhu by Ramana Maharshi

9.     An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding by David Hume

10.                       Adi Shankara's commentary of Bhagavad Gita

11.    The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

Some Random Thoughts in தமிழ்

மானுடம்

வந்த வழி அறியாது

சென்ற வழி புரியாது

பிருட்டங்களின்

நிழல்களைத் தேடும்

மிருகக் கும்பல்

அண்ணாமலை

மா மலை

மருந்து மலை

ஞானத் தபோதனரை

வா வாவென்று அழைத்த மலை

அண்ணாமலை

தேவி கல்லோத்தரையில்

ஜப தப பூசை புனஸ்காரங்களை

தவிர்த்தல் நலம் என நல்கிய

சிவனையே

சடங்குச் சாமானாக

மாற்றியது பக்தர்கள் கூட்டம்

பிரமிள்

மொழியற்ற, சாதியற்ற, மதமற்ற

உண்மையை காணத் துடித்த அவனை

இந்த உலகம் புரிந்து கொள்ளவில்லை

அவனுக்கும் இவ்வுலகம் புரியவில்லை

நீட்ஷேவின் வாக்கு பொல்லாததுதான்

பாவம்

அவனை மற்றும் தாக்கிற்று

நான்

காலையில் வரும் பால் காரருக்கு

கணக்காளர்  வூட்டம்மா

தாலி கட்டினவருக்கு

மனைவி

பிள்ளைகளுக்கு

அம்மா

என் பெற்றோர்களுக்கு

மகள்

கூடப் பிறந்தவர்களுக்கு

அக்கா / தங்கை

சேர்ந்து பணி புரிபவர்களுக்கு

"கொலீக்"

ஆனால்

பார்வதி, அத்தை, மாமி, ஆண்டி,

என்று

தினம் தினம் நான் எடுக்கும் அவதாரங்கள் அநேகம்

ஆனால்

நான் யார்?

பெயரா? உடலா? உறவுகளா? சம்பந்தங்களா?

நான் யார்?

தீராத கேள்விக் குறி

?????????????

We Tāmilarā are not fanatical!!!!!!

We Tāmilarā are not fanatical!!!!!!

It is not surprising that Tamils are loved all over the world. In Northern India especially Tamils are loved for their genial and gregarious nature, wit, intelligence and more than anything for their law-abiding nature. But, invariably among people of other communities beyond the borders of Tamil Nadu if there is one thing people don’t like that is associated with all the Tamils, it is their love of their language.

Yes, surprisingly, over past two decades many a native speaker of other languages of India have told me and on and off written in vernacular languages – these Tamil chaps take their love and affinity to their mother tongue to the level of fanaticism.

Last year in a meeting of the doyens of Indian literature [among them were Jnanpith award winners and who’s who of Indian literary scene], many of them told me that while Tamilians are role models in preserving and promoting the mother tongue, they don’t approve of fanaticism. I am no body in front of those doyens. So, I quietly listened to them as they went on and on.

Some people even went to the extent of saying this ‘fanaticism’ of Tamils and Tamil nationalism of 20^th century are sowing disruptive seeds among other communities and showing definitively a wrong way. Unanimously they all are of the opinion that Tamil Nationalism and ‘Tamil only’ was the first of its kind and while there are some positives to be taken away in the approach, the fanatical element is the impediment to knowing other cultures and ways of living.

How accurate and correct are these perceptions? I want to give many examples but limit myself to a case where there are no ambiguities and that which is beyond dispute.

First and foremost, in the last 500 years [any period less than that loses value in the minds of modern ‘intellectuals’ – LOL!], Tamilians were not the first or alone to reject the influence and usage of Sanskrit and Hindustani languages!

Much before the advent of early 20^th century Tamil nationalism even took the seed form, there was a cyclone sweeping entire Bengal [entire = including present day Bangladesh].

Coinciding with the rise of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, loud whispers began to emerge all over Bengal as to the usage of Sanskrit and Hindi and the ensuing corruption of the original Bengali. By 1850s the whispers were turning out to be loud roars. The turn of events in the next ten years quietened down things a bit. But not for long and by this time journals (!!!!) have started and people were writing in pure Bengali.

Furious debates took the centre stage on the ‘acceptable style’ of Bengali writing and almost all the periodicals that were in vogue voiced their opinions. Two strong and warring sides, Sanskritpanthi (proponents of Sanskrit usage) and Banglapanthi (proponents of Bengali usage) were at loggerheads.

Raging debates saw plenty of acrimony and sarcasm spewed on air like never before. At one point it even threatened to split Bengal into three. Then came along Bankim Chandra!

He wrote a superb essay "Bangla Bhasha" in Bangadarshan [1285 Jaishta / May-June, 1883] and dismissed the Sanskritpanthi as Prachinponthi (backward looking), but did not completely support the Banglapanthi and he pointed out the perils of ‘only Bengali’ thought process.

He advocated the middle-path, the path aimed at enriching the still evolving Bengali language by using pure Bengali wherever possible and at the same time retaining Sanskrit words wherever necessary. The situation demanded that kind of authority and scholarliness. It is unbelievable that Bengalis, who are one of the most argumentative in the world, took his word and settled the dispute once for all. They had run-ins with English, Hindi and Urdu / Persian at various times in the 20^th century but had wonderful guide rule to settle down in the middle path.

These events are recorded facts. Given that it is remarkable that even the most well-read people from all over India hold on to such false assumptions – even Bengalis.

Without doubt, part of Tamil renaissance in 20^th century took casteist dimensions but that was part of higher anthropic principle in operation at that over Tamil Nadu. Struggles between various castes and communities will go on, but when it comes to Tamil Language nationalism, the intentions were not fanatical.

The intentions and actions are about resisting what my beloved friend on Twitter @dagalti wrote

#மதுரமல்லிமதுரமல்லிமதுரமல்லிமதுரமல்லி    

*I have selected and edited a fine English translation of Bankim’s “Bangla Bhasha” and it will appear in June or July issue of Indian Literature journal. Those who are interested can buy that and read.