Essentials of Hindu Religions - 2

There will be minor differences between this English version and Tamil translation appearing elsewhere online. But overall content remains the same.

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Aṣta Ātmaguṇas Or Eight Essential Qualities

In the last post, I wrote that Indian Philosophical Schools / Hindu Religious Systems have the ‘person’ at the core compared to other philosophical / religious systems across the world.

But, why? In the Hindu philosophy and religions, more importance is given to the basic personality of a person compared to what she / he can achieve or how to be successful in life. Especially the early systems. In fact, it may be shocking to many from the conservative traditions from other parts of the world that in Indian philosophical schools and religious systems leading a dharmic life is given more importance than leading a religious or spiritual life. One reason for this could be that if a person is basically upright and correct, then with that as basis that person can utilize his/her talent to the optimum levels and achieve what he/she sets out for before death.

Again I wrote earlier that Indian philosophical schools / Hindu religious systems cater to vastly different and divergent groups of people and their tastes. In the same way, these schools and systems do not consider what is written in a Book as supreme, but rather, as Veda Vyasa declares towards the end of Bhagavata Purana, what is righteous (dharma) and what is not righteous (adharma) vary from time to time, region to region, clan to clan, situation to situation and what is laid down in the Books is nothing but pure guidelines. This understanding of relativity of righteousness is prevalent not only in religious texts written in Sanskrit but among all the schools and systems across India.

Despite this acute awareness of relativeness of morality, most of the schools and systems of India have evolved over the period of past 2000 years certain basic qualities that should desirably be possessed by every individual and some schools and traditions even go to the extent of asserting that they are mandatory for leading a quality life.

There are some interesting things which we can see first before taking a look into what these essential qualities are.

Mention about and discussions on the desirable qualities occur in most systems and right through history, even in tales. Gautama, in his Dharma Sutras, has listed out eight of these qualities as most desirable and since most of these eight are acceptable to most, these eight qualities have been adopted. Otherwise there is no sanctity in the number.

Before and after Gautama these principles existed, but somehow the tag ‘8 atmagunas’ stuck with Gautama, very much the same way in which ‘Panchasheela’ stuck with Buddha though much before him we find reference to ‘Panchasheela’ in King Parikshit. Again, Buddha and Parikshit offer evidence to the existence of desirable qualities or dharmic principles before and after Gautama. Even in the Vedic period we find that ṛta and satya being held above sublime philosophies.

Unlike other moral traditions and systems, we don’t find ‘call’ to shun the enjoyments etc., nor do we find singular sticking to middle path in Hindu religions and traditions. Everyone is encouraged to live a full life so long as one’s life doesn’t interfere with someone else’s. Aspirations are not to be stunted but one should guard against it turning out to be a greed. In the ancient Hindu systems we find the realization that it is the natural proclivity of all beings to satisfy natural cravings such as hunger, thirst and sex and hence not much stress is laid on curbing of these. Upanishads make a distinction between what is hita or beneficial and what is hitātama or most beneficial. Every being is encouraged to treat another as one’s own self. A person is encouraged to indulge in that which is most beneficial either to the individual or a family but if it is against the Nature or society, such indulging is looked down upon. To have this perception, the Hindu religious systems attempt to inculcate in the individuals the sense of value of worldly things and also of those things which will aid in one’s release from bondage. In Bhakti schools the concept of sublimating lower impulses to a higher goal is followed.

In Hindu traditions there is a belief that every individual must perform certain rituals beginning from birth and ending in death and these are popularly known as Samskaras and they are widely accepted to be 16 or 40 in number. But the very same traditions uphold the view that it is of no use to an individual who completes all the 40 rituals but do not possess any of the essential desirable qualities. On the other hand, if a person who does not perform any of these rituals but possess eight qualities which Gautama enumerates, then such a person is held in high esteem compared to the former or the learned.

So what are these eight essential qualities or Aṣta Ātma Gunas propouned by Hindu religions and which every human being should possess irrespective of the nationality or caste or creed or religion?  

The Aṣta Ātma Gunas are

1) Dayā or love and compassion for all beings,

2) Kṣānti or forbearance,

3) Anasūyā or absence / freedom from envy,

4) Śaucā or purity of body, thought and action,

5) Anāyāsā or absence of painful exertions that arise due to ambition and greed,

6) Maṅgalā or possessing cheerfulness, lightness and auspiciousness,

7) Akārpaṇyāor being generous and dignified and not demeaning oneself and

8) Aspṛhā or absence of clamoring after undesirable.

Dayā

Dayā means love and compassion for all creatures. When a person has compassion for all the creatures in the world, automatically that person will not harm anyone even by thought. Out of this emerges a strong love for all and this enables him/her to lead a peaceful, contented and fulfilled life. There has been lot of debate as to whether in the place of Dayā, the concept of Ahiṁsā or non-violence would have been more appropriate. But if a person has love and compassion for everyone and thereby not harming any one even by thought, he/she is naturally non-violent. So, Dayā is more fundamental and also includes Ahiṁsā. For this reason, Dayā is given a pride of a place among the essential qualities that every person should possess as it is the foundation from which all other qualities emerge.

Kṣānti

Kṣānti means forbearance or patience. It is not negative sense of the term where a person has to endure patiently all the miseries one may face in life such as disease, poverty and so on, but the positive sense of loving every one, including those who do wrong to us by forgiving them and ignoring the pain and trouble that may arise in the due course of such an action that has to be understood, accepted and practiced. If a person with lots of hatred merely endures all the miseries, then that will do more harm to him/her. So, one should possess Dayā, a basic quality which will give a person forbearance soaked with love.

Anasūya

Anasūya means absence of Asūya or jealousy. With compassion, one must love all and should not become jealous of another’s wealth or fame or beauty or ability. Jealousy creates heart burning in one, thereby spoiling the body and also removes peace of mind. When body is not well and mind is not at peace, then such a person will automatically resort to hatred and in extreme cases even violence. Sage Atri’s wife was called Anasūya because she was utterly free from jealousy. When one is free from jealousy, one’s mind and body will be in alignment and such a person can focus better and do lot of work better than one who is afflicted with jealousy.

Śauca

Śauca means cleanliness or purity. Everyone should maintain purity not only physically, but also in their mind. One should maintain only clear and pure thoughts for they determine how one’s actions are going to be exhibited. Śri Bhagavatpāda Ādi Śaṅkarācāryā maintains that āhāra means not merely what a person eats through his/her mouth, but all that is being consumed by our sense organs. Therefore āhāra śuddhi means not only clean food but also purity in what we perceive through our senses. Therefore when a person, who maintains physical purity by means of bathing, wearing clean dress and eating clean food, also perceives only pure things through his/her senses, there will be a complete alignment of thought, word and action in such a person.

Anāyāsa

Anāyāsa is the opposite of āyāsa which means strain, exertion, etc. Though anāyāsa is, technically, the opposite or absence of āyāsa, it means variety of things. It means having lightness, to take things easy, absence of strain and painful exertions. More often than not, we see in the world, excessive ambition and greed pushes people to labor hard for many things. Though this trait has come to be accepted as one of modern day’s virtues, it causes endless harm to the body and mind. Such painful exertions make persons heavy, angry, jealous, violent and so on. One of the fundamental reasons for increased violence and intolerance in societies across the world is the fast vanishing of these qualities. No doubt, a person has to work hard and sincerely for anything that he/she takes up. But all labor and exertions propelled by excessive ambition and greed make a human being extraordinarily selfish and narrow minded. Due to the toll such a painful endeavor takes on the body and mind, a human being seldom has time for others or society. As the number of such selfish persons raises, it creates a society with very little values, more intolerance, families laden with greed and lust and in the end, brains that cannot grasp more subtle things than the given phenomena.

Maṅgala

Maṅgala means auspiciousness. Here, it is the quality of being happy and cheerful at all times. There is inevitably an air of auspiciousness around a person who is happy and cheerful at all times. When a person is cheerful, happy, contented and lively, that person also spreads the air of happiness around. This creates the atmosphere of happiness. So maṅgala is essentially the quality of being light and cheerful and radiating a sense of cheerfulness and happiness. So, when a person who is full of love and compassion, who is pure, who is free from jealousy and is cheerful always [all the qualities mentioned hitherto] does a work, it is Anāyāsa, the previously mentioned quality.

Akārpaṇya

Akārpaṇya is the opposite state of being kṛpaṇa or miser. That is, being generous. The word also means not demeaning or abasing oneself and also behaving in a dignified manner. It is a quality of a courageous, generous and zestful person who tackles all situations calmly, with purity, determination and love. Miserliness shrinks and generosity expands one’s personality. There is nothing worse in the world than losing one’s dignity however lowly position a person finds himself/herself in.

Aspṛha

Spṛha means excessive desire and grasping nature. Aspṛha means a state where one does not have this grasping tendency. Though the Hindu śāstrās allow a person to indulge in enjoyments that are not opposed to Dharma or righteousness, they encourage the people to see the frailty and uselessness of all desires. That is why it is even being said, “One should renounce all attachments and desires even if it is with the Lord”. That is the highest state and everyone should lead a dhārmic life as enjoined by the Śāstras and reach a state devoid of all desires.

May everyone in the world have all these eight qualities of the soul!
May all beings live in harmony and peace!
May all prosper with health, happiness and wealth!

Those who are interested in reading more about Aṣta Ātma Gunas can consult the following works:

J. Patrick Olivelle. The Dharmasutras of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana and Vasishta, (Sanskrit and annotated translations), In Sources of Indian Law, 2000, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

P.V. Kane. History of Dharma Shastras, 5 vols, 1962-1975, Pune: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.

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.