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 Hinduism
v. p. (hemant) kanitkar
and w. owen cole
 teach
yourself

Hinduism
v. p. (hemant) kanitkar
and w. owen cole

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Impression number 10 9 8 7 6 5 4
Year 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
 V

o
o
3
<D
acknowledgements
authors' introduction
viii
3
01 diversity and unity
a sacred thread ceremony

Varansai
CO
02 the temple 11

temples in Britain 15
the arati ceremony 15
temples in India 18
parts of a temple 19
consecration of a murti 22
03 murtis and mythology 23
Vishnu 25
Lakshmi 27
Shiva 28
Durga 29
Ganesha 31

Hanuman 32
04 gods and priests 35
prominent vedic deities 36
Brahman 37
saguna Brahman 38
Shakti, the Mother Goddess 39
devatas 42
grama-devatas 43
how many gods? 44
priests 45
ritual 46
05 the family 49
the joint or extended family 50
the four stages of life 52
women in Hindu families 54
ritual cleanliness, purity and pollution 55
Hindus in Britain 57
children's games 62
06 religion in the home 64
what is sva-dharmaft 72
religious life in the villages 79
07 family rituals and ceremonies 81

traditional 16 samskaras 82
naming a baby 83
marriage 86
cremation 99
08 scriptures 105
shruti texts 106
smrrti texts 108
sacred literature in regional languages 112
other sacred literature 113
the role of the written word in Hinduism 113
09 pilgrimage 115
pilgrimage (Yatra) 116
10 liberation; enlightenment;

the place of the Guru 129

the Guru 132
11 Hindu philosophy 139
the six systems of Hindu philosophy 140
does God exist? 150
12 the path of loving devotion 152
Islam in India 154
some famous Bhaktas 155
13 the beginnings of Hinduism 159
vedic religion of the Aryans 160
Indus people 162
conflicting interpretations by scholars 164
14 ethics 165
caste 166
 women 167
VII
medical ethics 170 o
o
drugs 171 3
<D
alcohol 171 3
food and fasting 171

wealth and work 172

prejudice 173
care for the needy 173
15 Hinduism since 1757 175
influence of Islam and European Christianity 176
Ram Mohan Roy 177
the Brahma Samaj 179
the Arya Samaj 179
Swami Narayan (Sahajanand) (1781-1830) 181
Sri Ramakrishna (1834-1886) 182
Annie Besant (1847-1933) 183
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) 184
Bhimrao Ranji Ambedkar (1891-1956) 184
SatyaSaiBaba(1926-) 185
16 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi 187
Gandhi's politics influenced by Hindu ethics 189
the consequences of Gandhi's beliefs 194
Gandhi and Hinduism today 195
17 some aspects of Hinduism today 198
the Hindu Diaspora 205
the Hindu Mahasabha 212
18 global Hinduism 213
problems and prejudices 214
Hindutva 217
the positive side 217
taking it further 221
further reading 221
websites 223
glossary 225
index 227
VIII

fi)
o
o The authors wish
typing
Gwynneth
much
to thank Predrag (Prem) Zivkovic for help in
of the manuscript, and Dr Helen Kanitkar and
Cole, our wives, for their constant support at every
stage of writing the book. Mel Thompson, Sue Hart and Sarah
Mitchell of Hodder 6c Stoughton Educational have been very
patient and always ready to provide advice when asked. We are
grateful to them for their kindness, which exceeded the limits of
(D
a professionalism.

The of many Hindus in several countries has

friendship
increased our own
understanding of beliefs and practices, which
are far too diverse to be encompassed in one book.
Nevertheless, we hope that we have not failed them but given
the reader helpful and interesting insights into what it means to
CD be a Hindu.

3 For the
Thanks
new edition
are due to Mr Tilak Suriya for help in typing much
CD material needed for the updating of the book.

Helen Hart, Katie Roden and Sue Hart have been very patient
and ready to discuss the extra material for the new edition.
The authors appreciate all the help received.

(/> Material concerning the Hindu Diaspora is added at the end of

Chapter 17, and the bibliography is updated. The new chapter
on global Hinduism, which includes latest facts and figures from
the Internet, makes this book invaluable for the 21st century.

Photographs
All photographs are reproduced with kind permission of
V. P. (Hemant) Kanitkar.
Hinduism is still a developing, living tradition, one which

maintains a capacity to adapt and modify itself according to

the needs of its believers and its perceived relevancies to the
socio-religious environments in which it functions. Without
such adaptability it would have rapidly deteriorated into a
cracked, decaying monolith, silent and ineffective, which
could have no positive communication with twentieth-century
seekers after truth.
In thisbook we have tried to show the life of Hinduism. This
lifehas its roots in a varied scriptural tradition, encompassing
images of God in the Rig-veda; the philosophy of rebirth and
liberation in the Upanishads; the tales of gods and heroes
illustrating dharma in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana;
the development of the personal deity in the Bhagavad-Gita;
and the ideas of worship in the Puranas. It nevertheless leaves
room for individual and sectarian interpretations, ways of
devotion, and recognitions of the Godhead in the forms of
Vishnu, Shiva, or Shakti, the Mother Goddess.
The Banyan tree of Hinduism draws from its varied doctrinal
roots the energy to nourish the spreading boughs of
expression and practice, under the shade of which the varied
definitions and experiences of the faith may thrive. It has been
suggested that there are as many ideas of Hinduism as there
are Hindus, and Hinduism does offer the individual
considerable freedom of understanding and worship; but the
roots of the Sanatana Dharma, the universal rule, or duty,
hold firm for all, and secure the life of the faith.
that we try to show here; we hope that readers
It is this life

will beencouraged to seek out individual Hindus and talk to

them about their beliefs and practices; those who do so will
not be overwhelmed by variety but enriched by the different
experiences that are living Hinduism.
V. P. (Hemant) Kanitkar and W. Owen Cole June 1995
c a
0)
wmmm

3
a In this
•

•
chapter you will leam:
about a British Hindu boy's
sacred thread ceremony
about the Gayatri Verse used
in morning prayers
• about the importance of
pilgrimage
• about priests
• about bathing in the Ganges.
 'My name Mohan Joshi and my father's name is Mohan
is Raj
Ganesh my second name is my father's first name, and
Joshi. So
his second name is my grandfather's first name. Our family
; name is Joshi, which suggests that one of my ancestors probably
«? worked as a priest in the village in western India from which our
family comes.

Hindus in different parts of India follow varied systems of naming

individuals.

In northern India, a person's name very often has two parts; the
first is his/her personal name, the second
is the family name. For

example, Ramesh Chatterji, Hemchandra Goswami, Savitri

Yadav, Uma Sharma.
In western India a person has three names. The first one identifies
the individual, the second one is the father's name and the third
is the family name. For example, Saguna Baburao Patil, Ratan
Maganlal Shah.
In the south a person has four names. The first initial denotes the
second is the father's name, the third is the
village of origin, the
person's given name and the fourth signifies caste. A famous
southern Indian was Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, Chief Minister of
Travancore.

'I was born in north London. My sister Meena was born when
I was about four. My sister and I went to the local primary and
secondary schools, wore European clothes and spoke English. At
home my parents spoke Marathi and I picked up a few sentences,
but because of the school work and constant contact with other
pupils, we never learned to read and write Marathi. I am now
studying for my A levels and hope to do computer science later
on. My sister wants to be a doctor if she can get the necessary A
levels in science and get admission to a medical college. I was
born in Britain and my first language is English, but my skin is
brown. When I was seven years old I became the target of name-
calling in my school. Many pink-skinned boys and girls used to
call me 'you bloody Paki' and say, 'you Paki go home'. When I
said, 'I was born here', they used to call me 'a curry-smelling
liar'. That experience put me off 'spiced food', so mum prepared

sausages and beans for Meena and me, while Mum and Dad ate
rice, chapattis and vegetable curry. Sometimes mum prepared
chicken curry for dad, sausages or omelette for Meena and me,
but she always ate only vegetable dishes.
'Since I was about five or six I have seen Mum
doing a puja after
bathing in the morning. She used to stand before a little shrine
which is on a shelf in our kitchen. She would wash little metal f
statues and dry them, then offer a couple of flowers to the /

statues. She would light a small lamp and wave it about along
with an agarbatti (Westeners often call it a joss stick), which had
a strong smell. While she was doing puja she said prayers in c
Marathi that I could not understand. She used to ask me to
stand before the statues, joining my hands in front of me, and
say, 'Devaa viddya day' (God grant me learning). Then she
would give me a sugar crystal from the metal bowl in front of
the statues. I didn't really understand how the little statues
would give me learning. I was in my primary school where the
teacher was helping me to learn to read, write and do sums.

The name-calling I had suffered at school made me want to find

out more about my Indian family and what they believed in. All
of us used to visit a temple every Saturday afternoon. My
parents used to take some fruit to place before the statue there,
put some coins in the gift box and say prayers in Marathi, a
language spoken in western India. Meena and I always did our
namaskar by joining our palms together in front of us and
bowing low before the statue.

'Sometimes we temple where there were many

yisited another
statues that looked like men and women, but two statues
particularly amused me. One looked like a powerful monkey
holding a club and the other was half man-half elephant, sitting
on a chair and wearing a golden crown. Dad told me the names
of the different statues, but it took me many visits to the temple
before I remembered them all. He told me that these statues
showed how different people imagined God to be.
'Once we visited a third temple where people said their prayers
in a language that Mum and Dad did not understand. Dad said
that the language was called Tamil, which was spoken in southern
India. (When we got back home I looked at the map of India in
the atlasand found the words Tamil Nadu towards the pointed
end of the map.) The priest in that temple applied a little ash to
my forehead in blessing, but when we visited the temple with
many statues (I later learned that they were called Murtis) the
Pandit there applied a little red powder to my forehead. Dad
assured me that God's blessing was the same; only the colour of
the powder was different.
 'Inour school there were boys and girls whose parents had come
from India or east Africa. Their parents spoke Gujarati and
regularly visited a temple which had a different murti. They said
they were also Hindus but went to a temple where the grown-
«? ups spoke Gujarati and the prayers were in Gujarati. There
were two boys whose parents spoke Punjabi but one was a
Hindu and the other was a Sikh. At that age I found it all very
confusing but I accepted my father's assurance that I was a
Hindu like all those people who spoke Punjabi, Gujarati or
Tamil and went to different temples.

A sacred thread ceremony

'A few months before my eighth birthday dad received a letter
from my grandfather who had retired from his teaching job and
lived in Pune. The letter said:

Raj will soon be eight years old; his sacred thread

ceremony has to be performed during his eighth year. It
would be a good idea if you all came to India for a short
break so that our family priest can do the ceremony in our
family house, where your younger brother Prakash now
lives with his wife and children. Write and tell me in detail
what you think of this idea and whether you four can
make the journey when the time comes.

'Mum and Dad talked about the letter and the thread ceremony
for weeks. Dad spoke to the Pandit in the temple about it.

"Does the ceremony have to be performed only during the

eighth year?" he asked the Pandit.

"Strictly speaking, yes, Mr Joshi, but if the circumstances are

not favourable, the sacred thread can be performed up to the
age of twelve. In any case it should be done before marriage.
You see, Mr Joshi", the Pandit went on, "the upanayana, which
is the ceremony's correct name, is an educational sacrament, and

it should be celebrated when the boy reaches an age of

understanding. He should be able to learn the Sanskrit mantras
when he has reached his eighth year. That is about the time he
is beginning to find his school work interesting. If you leave it

too late, Raj will have considerable difficulty in learning and

reciting the Sanskrit mantras."

"But Panditji," argued my dad, "Raj was born in this country

and his first language is English. He is going to be trained in the
English educational system. He doesn't need to learn Sanskrit
mantras." Q.

That is true, Mr Joshi," said the Pandit, "but by experiencing 2>

the upanayana, Raj will be initiated into the duties and g

responsibilities of an adult Hindu. Without the sacred thread w
ceremony, he will be a Hindu in name only, since he was born
of Hindu parents."

'Mum and Dad talked some more and decided that my sacred
thread would have to wait until I had finished my primary
school education. I would still be younger than 12 and my Dad
would have time to save money for our trip to India. Then Dad
wrote and explained everything to grandfather.

Three years passed. My last term in primary school came to an

end. I was to start secondary school six weeks later. During the

summer holidays all four of us had arranged to visit India for

my thread ceremony. Dad had booked our flight to Bombay,
and because we had British Passports our visas were also
arranged in good time. Meena and I were looking forward to
our first air journey. We would meet grandfather and grandma
for the first time. We were asked to address them as Ajoba and
Aji when we met them. We also looked forward to meeting
Uncle Prakash - Prakash-kaka, Auntie Leela - Leela-kaku, our
cousins Vasant and Gauri, Dad's sister Asha-attya, her husband
and their son, Arun. Mum and Dad bought saris, shirts, dresses,
earrings, two watches and perfume sprays, so that everyone in
our family in India would get a present.

'When all the passengers were in their seats the captain

announced that we would take off in ten minutes. Mum and Dad
said a prayer to the god Ganesha for a safe journey to Bombay.

There were many Indian families on the plane, but I could not
tell whether they were all Hindus.

'Our plane landed in Bombay at midday. It had rained that

morning but as we got off the plane the air was hot and humid.
Passport check, security and customs formalities took nearly an
hour. Prakash-kaka and Leela-kaku met us outside the airport.
Dad and Prakash hugged each other. We went by taxi to Leela-
kaku's brother's place at Dadar, a little suburb of Bombay,
where we all freshened up. Leela-kaku then lighted a little ghee
lamp, put a dab of red powder on our foreheads and waved the
lamp in front of us to welcome us and ward off evil spirits. We
all made our namaskars to Ganesha and other gods in the shrine
in the kitchen before having a late lunch.
X~" The next day we travelled by train to Pune. It was very sultry
in Bombay and the noise of car horns never seemed to stop. As
the train left Dadar station and towards Pune, the
travelled
noise and the crowds of Bombay vanished. I enjoyed the journey
through the mountains; it was less dusty and we passed through
|
22 tunnels. Soon we reached Pune and met Ajoba and Aji. My
grandparents cried as they hugged Meena and me. Dad and
Mum bowed low before them and touched their feet. Prakash-
kaka and my auntie did the same.
*
Ajoba and Aji lived in a flat with two large rooms, a kitchen
with a dining table and folding metal chairs, a toilet with white
tiles and a pan sunk in the floor and a bathing room. At night,
all the men slept in one room and all the women in the other
room. During the day, the bedding was rolled up and the rooms
became sitting-rooms. We stayed in Pune for three weeks. Ajoba
took Meena and me to see various temples. I liked the Ganesha
temple, which was about 30 years old and the Devi temple on
the hill, which was over 200 years old. At the Ganesha temple I
saw two holy men, which was a new experience for me. Outside
the Rama temple there was a cow standing in the middle of the
road, quietly eating some grass. No one tried to move the
animal and many people respectfully touched its back as they
passed it. Ajoba said that different Hindus see the One God in
different murtis, and believe that trees and animals also have the
spirit of God in them. A cow is considered holy.

'A few days after our arrival in Pune, our family priest - whom
we always called Guruji - came and discussed the arrangements
for my sacred thread ceremony. It was decided to hold the
ceremony in Ajoba's flat. All our relations and some very close
friends of Ajoba and Prakash-kaka attended the ceremony. I will
always remember the important rituals.

'On the day of the ceremony we all bathed before sunrise. Mum
and I ate a meal together. My head was shaved by a barber,
leaving only a top-knot. Then I had to have another bath. Dad
gave me white cotton shorts to wear and a soft cotton cloth to
cover my upper body. A piece of deerskin on a cotton thread
was placed round my neck like a garland. Dad and I offered
puja and prayers to our family gods. Guruji lit a fire in a metal
container, and Dad and I offered ghee to the fire while Guruji
chanted the mantras in Sanskrit, which I did not understand.
Guruji prepared the sacred thread, which was placed round my
left shoulder and under my right hand. Dad touched my heart
and I touched his feet. We sat before each other. A shawl
covered us both. Dad said the Gayatri mantra, one word at a
time, and I repeated it. Then I offered puja to a three-foot-long
(1 m) staff of palasha, a medicinal plant, which is believed to
stimulate intelligence. Guruji and the guests sang some verses of 2
blessing and showered us with rice grains. Guruji then asked me 3
to be respectful to my parents and teachers, to study hard and
not to eat or drink anything that would be harmful to me.
3

$*?ffi''
*2T: /3^ c1cfl(^JJUjj SOT

Gayatri mantra

Transliteration
Om bhur bhuvah swahah. Om tat savitur varenyam bhargo
devasya dhimahi. Dhiyo yo nah prachodayat.

Translation
We concentrate our minds upon the most radiant light of the Sun
god, who sustains the Earth, the Interspace and the Heavens. May
the Sun god activate our thoughts.
(Rig-Veda: HL62.10; transliteration
and translation by Hemant Kanitkar)

Varansai
'In the distant past, Hindu boys would go and live at their
Guru's home for their religious education, but nowadays boys
only pretend to leave home and go on pilgrimage, often to the
holy city of Varanasi, so I did this. My grandparents and parents
gave me food and fruit for the journey. After the ceremony I
received many rupees as presents and we had a ceremonial
lunch.

'Grandfather told me that I was now allowed to study the

Hindu holy books. Throughout my childhood in London I had
 not been quite sure whether I was a Hindu. After the sacred
8
thread ceremony in Pune I was no longer in doubt: I was a
a
< Hindu.'
3
Raj was given a surprise treat
QJ after his thread ceremony. He
3
a fully expected to return home to
c
England, but his parents had
3 planned otherwise. 'No point in
seeing only Bombay and Pune,'
his father had told his mother.
'Let's give him an experience he
will never forget.' Little did Raj
know that when he made as if to
go to Varanasi at the end of the
upanayana ceremony, he would
actually be there in a few days'
time. They travelled by plane to
save time, even though his uncle
said that the only way to see
a Hindu boy after upanayana,
India is to go by train - second
carefully listens to the Gayatri
class! Once they had reached
verse at the morning prayers
Varanasi they used scooter taxis.
Taxis get stuck in the crowds, his dad explained; and the
scooters were exciting enough.

When Raj became accustomed to the crowded streets, he started

to pick out individuals. One was a solitary ascetic. Once he had
noticed him, he realized that he was one of many. Varanasi is
famous for them. Some were young men striding out
purposefully, obviously going somewhere - probably to another
place of pilgrimage. He also saw an old man shuffling along the
road. All were wearing russet brown robes made of a single
piece of cloth, and some wore sandals, though he noticed that
some were barefoot. Each carried a staff, a water pot and a
gunny bag; no other possessions. They are sannyasis, he was
told, holy men who have quit the world to devote themselves to
the spiritual quest. Religious people everywhere are aware of a
tension between the everyday life which they have to lead, and
the wish to concentrate their minds on eternity. Some resolve it
by embarking upon a religious life in which they leave the world
behind. Sannyasis do this, and most Hindus, though not all,

recognize the value of their choice.

Pilgrims f~^
Raj also met a family that was on a pilgrimage, and spent the
day visiting temples with them. He wondered what the \
difference was between and their journey. He
his tourist visit %
discovered that they were all going - husband and wife, his »
mother and their two children - to Vrindaban, the birthplace of
Krishna. The husband's father had died recently, and he had
taken some time off work to accompany his mother to
important centres of pilgrimage for those who regard Vishnu as
the supreme manifestation of God. Even though Varanasi is
particularly sacred to the deity Shiva, there are associations with
Vishnu. Most Hindus will find holiness in every temple or
sacred place they encounter, no matter which deity they may
especially worship. The old lady, the widow, was fasting, eating
only vegetables and no milk products. Of course, meat had
never touched her lips throughout her life. For the children,
aged about seven and six, it was a holiday, a sightseeing tour,
but they were picking up the spiritual significance of pilgrimage
from their elders. Indian employers generally recognize the
importance of domestic obligations. The man's job would still
be there when he returned home after three months, and no
questions would be asked if it took four, other than an enquiry
about whether his mother had found the comfort of soul which
she sought. She would find it. She was going to deposit her
husband's ashes in the river Ganges at Varanasi. They hired a
boat which rowed them into the middle of the river one morning
at dawn.

Priests
Sitting at the entrance of many of the small shrines that Raj
visited, and inside the others, were men robed in white - the
priests. People came singly or in groups, as Raj's family did,
bringing gifts of a few coins or fruit, which the priest offered on
their behalf to the deity whose image was housed in the temple.
The priest belonged to the Brahmin varna\ his ritual purity set
him apart from other Hindus and enabled him to represent them
to God. His task is to make offerings and perform ceremonies, not
to teach or give guidance. For that, Raj was told, the Hindu turns
to a Guru. When Raj had made the family's offerings the priest
gave them some nuts and fruit, prasad, the symbol of God's grace.
Raj had seen priests before, of course - after all, his family was of
the Brahmin varna - but never so many in one place.
^] Bathing in the Ganges
Each morning that he was in Varanasi Raj and his family joined
§ hundreds of other Hindus to bathe in the Ganges, just before the
J; sun rose across the holy river.

By the time Raj returned to Pune, and then to London, he

realized that Hinduism is much more varied than he had
expected. He still felt that he was a Hindu, but he hoped no one
would ask him what he actually meant when he described
himself as one.

'When we returned to London I noticed the dustfree atmosphere

and the orderly traffic. In my new school, when the other boys
and girls saw my shaved head they began to call me Hare-
Krishna, but the teasing did not last long. My hair soon grew,
and the experience of the thread ceremony gave me a new sense
of belonging.'

After reading the experiences of a young British Hindu, you will

have some inkling of the diversity and unity of Hinduism.
In this chapter you will learn:
• about a Christian GCSE
pupil's visit to a temple
in London
• about a Hindu
businessman's visit to a
temple on a festival day
• about Puja, Arati Verses of
praise for different deities
• about temples in Britain

and India
• about the parts of a temple
• about locations and styles
of temples
• about the consecration of
a murti.
 The temple is the home of the murtis (images or statues), the

material representatives of the divine spirit. Brahman, the

9
(0
Supreme Spirit, is believed to pervade the land, the oceans,
rivers and air, all the creatures in the universe, vegetation, the
3 planets and stars. A
part of the creative force must be seen, and
D
O remain, in the creation. For this reason the murtis representing
different aspects of Brahman (God) can be male or female;
human, animal or bird; or a combination of these.

A Hindu temple is here described by Jane, a GCSE pupil, who is

Christian.

A Christian school pupil visits a Hindu temple

I had to a Hindu temple and write a report as a part of my
visit

project for the GCSE Hinduism course. The temple is situated in

a busy road in east London. The building is of solid, red-brick
construction of British design, and gave no obvious indication
that it might be a Hindu temple. However, there was some
decorative oriental design in plaster above the entrance and a
signboard which read 'Laxmi-Narayan Temple'. The door was
closed, so operated the push button of the electric bell and
I

waited. The door was opened by a man in his late thirties. He was
wearing Western clothes but had a red spot on his forehead. It is
called tilak or tika and is a sign of spiritual purification. explained I

my purpose and pointed out that was not a Hindu. I

'No problem, miss,' the man said, 'you are welcome, as long as
you respect the way we worship God.' As entered the temple, he I

closed the door. 'We have to be careful and keep the vandals out,'
he explained. Just near the door there were shelves where visitors
left their shoes before going into the entrance hall.

'Why do we have to remove our shoes?' I asked.

'Because leather is spiritually impure; all visitors to a Hindu
temple enter barefoot.' removed my shoes and went into the
I

entrance hall.
As stood
I in the entrance hall I noticed a small shrine behind me
facing the main shrine, where the murtis of the god Vishnu and his
wife Lakshmi were installed. The small shrine contained a murti of
an eagle which was told was Garuda, the vehicle of Vishnu. A
I

brass bell hung from the ceiling near the Garuda shrine. The man
who had welcomed me was the priest at the temple. He explained
that the worshippers ring the bell to announce their presence
before they approach the main shrine. The assembly area was
30 ft by 15 ft (9m by 4.5 m), and fully carpeted. The main shrine
was in the form of a temple with an ornate spire. There was a
 marble platform In front and a marble floor round it so that the 13
worshippers could walk around - circumambulate - it.
(D

On the left hand side of the assembly area there were two small
shrines set against the wall. The first one contained a murti of god 3
Ganesha, and the second god Hanuman. While was there
that of I (D

some women came into the temple, rang the bell and offered
flowers to the Garuda, Ganesha and Hanuman, before standing in
front of the main shrine with their hands joined together and
bowing. After offering this namaskara greeting and saying a
prayer they walked round the Vishnu shrine, put some coins in the
offering box, and sat on a carpet in the assembly area facing the
main shrine.
to
The had left me to look at the temple and had gone to get
priest
ready for the midday worship. When he emerged from his room in
the basement, he wore a white dhoti, a necklace of sandalwood
beads and the sacred thread, leaving his upper body quite bare.
Ileft the temple, hoping to return soon to witness the evening puja

and the arati ceremony.

As mentioned above, consecrated murtis of gods and goddesses

live in a temple; it is their home, and the priests are their
servants who take care of them and treat them as if they were
human. In large temples in India, the deities are awakened,
bathed, dressed, garlanded and offered puja and food in the
morning. After the midday puja the doors to the inner shrine are
closed so the deities may rest. The evening puja and arati
ceremony are well attended by the worshippers. At night the
deities are put to sleep in a bed chamber. Worship in Hinduism
usually takes place at home, and attendance at the temple is
optional. The worshippers visit the temple as guests of the
deities and ring the bell at the entrance to announce their
presence. On festival days the deities visit the worshippers;
replicas of the murtis are carriedthrough the town or village in
a procession, so that the people can pay homage and offer light,
flowers and fruit to the murtis.

Here a Hindu businessman describes his visit to another temple

at festival time.

The temple on a festival day

The temple I is housed in a large hall. It is
attend every Saturday
off the main road and there
a large parking area. After the hall
is

was purchased a temple management committee was elected.

The was removed and in its place murtis were
existing stage
installed. was decided that the temple should have murtis of
It

Krishna and Radha at the centre of the altar, with Ambaji, the
mother Goddess, on the left and Shiva and Parvati on the right.

This arrangement of having Vishnu (Krishna), Shiva and Shakti in

the same temple was approved by all. Two small shrines on either
side of, but separate from, the main altar were built to install
Ganesha and Hanuman murtis. When the main altar was built
sufficient room was left round it for circumambulation. The
assembly area is large and capable of seating about 500 people
facing the altar, which is roped off from the worshippers. The
temple is registered as a religious charity, and all expenses are
met through donations from the worshippers.
Last year when we celebrated the annual birth festival of god
Krishna, many Hindus from outside London attended the function
and the assembly hall was packed to capacity. Normally the
various Hindu festivals in Britain are celebrated on the Saturday
nearest to the actual date of the festival, to enable people to take
part. The evening began at about 9.00 pm with a discourse on the
Bhagavad Gita, one of the most popular Hindu scriptures, by a
guest speaker who explained god Krishna's message about each
person's dharma, or moral and social duty. After the discourse a
group of about 20 men and women led the singing of bhajans -
devotional songs - in which the entire congregation joined. Two
local musicians played a harmonium and a sitar (a stringed
instrument), while the tabla drums and small brass cymbals
provided the beat. Women and men sat separately on the
carpeted floor and everyone, including the musicians, faced the
altar. The singing of the bhajans went on until 1 1 .30 pm.

The priest read the story of god Krishna's birth from the
scriptures. At midnight, when Krishna is believed to have been
born, everyone stood up and offered namaskara to the murtis in
homage. There followed the arati ceremony, during which nine
metal trays with ghee lamps and tablets of camphor oil were
used. As the lights were waved in a vertical circle before the
murtis, the priest and the men and women holding the trays sang
verses in praise of the deities. The trays were then taken among
the congregation for people to receive the warmth and blessing of
the deities. Milk sweets were first offered to god Krishna and
other deities and then distributed among the congregation as
prasad, the blessed offering. The celebrations ended in the early
hours of the morning. The next day a prasad lunch was provided
for everyone.
Temples in Britain lis
A Hindu temple in Britain, unless it is in a private house, is a
public building and as such is and sanitary
subject to fire $
regulations. There are many temples in cities such as London,
Southampton, Leicester, Coventry, Birmingham, Manchester, »
Leeds, Bradford and Luton. Many have kitchens, where prasad
meals are cooked for the worshippers. There is a large temple in
north London where upwards of 1,000 prasad meals are served
every Saturday and Sunday. Mostly women, but some men, do
the cooking and the food is vegetarian. Rules about spiritual
purity and cleanliness are strictly observed (see Chapter 6 for
these rules).
ro
Worship in Hinduism takes place mainly on an individual basis.
Each person offers flowers, rice, grains and prayers to murtis at
the family shrine after the main puja is performed by the senior
male or female. But in sectarian practice, worship becomes
congregational; the priest performs the puja while the devotees
closely observe the various rituals,and the whole group says the
prayers together. In non-sectarian temple in India, for
a
example, where people gather together to celebrate a festival, at
the end of a puja the arati ceremony becomes a congregational
act, with the whole group joining in the singing of verse-prayers.
Worship in Hindu temples in Britain is becoming more and
more congregational, since a large number of people visit the
temples and participate in puja, prayer and arati as a group. The
arati ceremony involves the singing of prayers and the receiving
of spiritual purification and the deity's blessing, as people pass
their hands over the lights and touch their eyes and head. Young
Hindus experience the spirituality of the tradition more through
participation in the ceremony than through distant observation
of a puja or through listening to the stories from mythology.

The arati ceremony

Two ideas are prominent behind the performance of the arati
ceremony. The first is that of darshan - the viewing of the murti
and receiving grace through sight of the deity. The second is that
of mukti or moksha (liberation). The verse-prayers figure the
word mukti, and seek God's help so that the worshipper may be
able to break the chain of rebirths and achieve spiritual
liberation.
 Here are some arati verses in translation taken from three
16
different hymns praising the Gods Ganesha and Vishnu, and the
I Goddess Durga.

Ganesha
Maker remover of miseries, whose grace extends
of happiness,
and does not leave a trace of any obstacle remaining,
love to us,
you have a layer of red lead around your whole body and a
necklace of pearls shines brightly around your neck.
Victory to you, victory to you o god of auspicious form. At your
sight [darshan] all desires of the mind are fulfilled.

(From Paul B. Courtright, Ganesha, Oxford University Press,

1985 p. 165)

Vishnu
Om, victory to you god Vishnu, Lord of the Universe, o master,
victory to you god Vishnu, Lord of the Universe. Dispel the
difficulties of your devotees in an instant.

Victory to you god Vishnu, Lord of the Universe.

(Translation: Hemant Kanitkar)

Durga
O goddess Durga, without your blessing this life's path is hard to
traverse. O Amba, the protector of the helpless, spread over us
the mantle of your compassion. am caught up in this long cycle
I

of birth, death and re-birth. Release me [o Mother] from this

calamity. Victory to you, o goddess, the destroyer of the demon
Mahisha, the bestower of boons and the protector of all the gods
[and humans].
(Translation: Hemant Kanitkar)
This is a translation of an arati hymn which is very widely used
17
by Hindus in Britain:

Victory to you Vishnu, Lord of the Universe and Master of all.

3
Accept our Homage, O Hari.* o
You remove the difficulties of your devotees in an instant. Victory
toyou O Hari. (Verse 1)
You reward those who sing your praises and remove their Sorrow,
O Master. Through your grace, happiness and prosperity become
ours; and pain disappears. Victory to you O Hari. (Verse 2)

O Lord, you are my Mother, Father and only refuge. There is no one
but you; I desire no other refuge. Victory to you O Hari. (Verse 3)
to
O Master! You dwell in all beings; you are perfect, all pervading, all

powerful, and all seeing. Victory to you O Hari. (Verse 4)

You are indeed the ocean of compassion protecting all. O Lord

help and save me from my ignorance and lust. Victory to you O
Hari. (Verse 5)

You are the Life in all life, yet you are invisible to human eye. O
Merciful Master, how can I find you with this burden of ignorance?
Victory to you O Hari. (Verse 6)

You are the support of the weak and the remover of pain and
suffering. Protect me and bless me with your compassionate hand
as surrender myself to your will. Victory to you O Hari. (Verse 7)
I

Cleanse me, O God, of my passion, suffering and sin. With your

grace grant me firm faith, divine love and a spirit of service. Victory
to you O Master Hari. (Verse 8)

(Translation: Hemant Kanitkar)

* 'Hari' is a commonly used epithet of the god Vishnu.

A temple in India mainly fulfils the religious needs of the

community. A Hindu visits a temple mainly to view (darshan)
the murti. Since visiting a temple is Hindu may go to
optional, a
the nearby temple every day, once a week or only at festival
times. In Britain a temple has many social functions in addition
to the religious one. By and large, Hindu families are scattered
in different areas of Britain, although in some districts in
London Hindus numbers. Temples are not always
live in large
conveniently situated for many people, and visiting a temple at
the weekend may involve travelling 20-30 miles (30-50
kilometres). The temple therefore becomes a meeting place for
ZT1 who may phone each other and arrange to visit
distant families,
the temple on the same afternoon. Meeting friends, exchanging
f news about relatives in India and renewing friendships are very
<d important social aspects enjoyed on temple visits.

Hindu families do not always do an elaborate puja at the home

performed by a priest chanting
shrine, so full ritual in a temple,
the appropriate mantras, sacred phrases and verses from the
scriptures, very significant in instructing children in the
is

religious tradition. Many temples hold three pujas every day,

but the evening pujas and arati ceremonies at the weekends are
attended by many worshippers, as they are free to do the
necessary travelling. Various Hindu festivals are enthusiastically
N> celebrated in the temples.

British-born Hindus speak English as their first language, and

only a few are equally familiar with the language that their
parents speak at home, such as Guj arati, Hindi or Bengali. Even
fewer youngsters can read and write their parents' language.
This language barrier often hampers everyday communication
between parents and children, and also prevents the younger
generation from fully understanding the sacred phrases and
prayers, which are in one of the Indian languages. Many temples
are remedying this situation by conducting language classes,
where children are able to learn their parents' language.
Some temples hold music classes, where children can learn to
play an Indian musical instrument, a sitar or a harmonium, for
example. Other temples are fortunate enough to find qualified
dance instructors to enable girls to learn classical Indian dance.
Facilities for table tennis are possible at temples with larger
premises. Hindu weddings or sacred thread ceremonies are
performed at some temples.

A temple in Britain is not only a place of worship but also a

community centre; as such, it plays a large part in the social life

of Hindus of all ages.

Temples in India
In India, temples vary enormously in size. A shrine dedicated to
some minor deity and situated near a winding mountain road is
no larger than a medium-sized fridge. It is constructed with
roughly-hewn stone slabs, and an egg-shaped stone covered
with red lead symbolizes the deity. As it is believed to protect
travellers, drivers of bullock-carts and heavy lorries stop to [ 72
make offerings of food or small coins.

A temple in a village could be as large as a double garage and

dedicated to Hanuman or a local version of Shiva. It is usually
brick-built, with a short spire above the murti. Inside there is |
just enough room for three or four worshippers to make
offerings and circumambulate the murti, always in a clockwise
direction, taking God's grace in their right hands.

In a prosperous village, a temple dedicated to the patron

goddess of the place could be twice as large as the Hanuman
temple described above. The shrine housing the murti of the
goddess is perhaps stone-built with a spire, while the assembly ^^
area in front of the shrine (capable of seating 50 people) has a
corrugated iron roof. All newborn babies from Hindu families
in the village are brought to the temple on their first outing.

In manysmall towns near rivers all over India, there are stone
built temples above the steps leading down to the river. They are
dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu or the Mother Goddess and given the
local names of these deities. Some temples are situated in high
mountains; others are on the sea shore. Some well-known Shiva
temples are Kedarnath in the Himalayas, Somnath in Gujarat,
Vishveshwer at Varanasi, Trimbak near Nasik in western India,
and Rameshwer at the southern tip of India.
Popular pilgrimage sites are Vishnu temples at Badrinath in the
Himalayas, Jagannath at Puri in Orissa, Venkateshwer at
Tirupathi and Padmanabh at Trivandram. Famous temples
dedicated to the Mother Goddess are Kali at Calcutta,
Vishalakshi at Varanasi, Mahalakshmi at Kolhapur and
Meenakshi at Madurai. In Mathura and the Vrindaban area,
south of Delhi, there are many temples of varying sizes visited
by a vast number of pilgrims. When a British pilgrim to
Mathura asked his guide about the number of temples there, he
was told that there were perhaps 500, perhaps 5,000! The guide
was pointing out that Hindu homes are temples since they have
home shrines where consecrated murtis are worshipped.

Parts of a temple
Hindu temples are built according to a plan, and each of the
various parts of the structure has a special significance. A
temple, or mandir, is a dwelling place for a god or a goddess,
 whose consecrated murti sanctum, called
is installed in the inner
20
the garbha-griha 'womb-house'). Directly above the
(literally,
B
o inner sanctum is built a tapering tower or spire called the
o shikhara. The whole shrine containing the garbha-griha is called
3 the vimana, which refers to the heavenly chariots of the deities
o
mentioned in mythology. The shikhara symbolizes the sanctity
of the vimana. The development of the temple as it is seen today
was gradual, and the various parts were added to the
initial essential element. The devotees who came to worship
stood in front of the shrine. The space in front was cleared, and
raised to form a platform, and an assembly area with a roof and
was
pillars built, evolving into the pillared hall called the
IO mandapa.

ARDHAMANAPA
(porch)

MANDAPA
GARBAGRIHA (pillored hall) STONE 'VEHICLE'
(cella or shrine room) or e.g. Nandi, Shiva's bull
MAHA
MANDAPA

PITHA (basement)
I
STATUE OR STATUES
ANDHAMANDAPA
MANDAPA

MAHA RISING SUN

*
MANDAPA

PRADAKSHINA TORANA
(arched entrance gateway)
processional and ambulatory passage
between outer wall and garbagriha

ANTARALA
stepped access from
central hall to shrine room

diagram of a Hindu temple

The mandapa was detached from the vimana at first so that 21
there were two separate buildings, one for the deity and the
3"
other for the devotees. These two buildings were joined by a <D

covered interspace, while at the front end of the mandapa was <D
3
added a covered porch, a half-mandapa with steps leading down o
(D
from the temple.
There are parts of the temple complex set apart from the main
structure which are used for subsidiary functions, such as the
preparation of food for the deity and the devotees, the chanting
of the mantras, and the storing of the utensils.

to

the Lakshmi-
Narayan templi
in Delhi

In large temples there are separate buildings serving as the

dancing hall for the temple dancers, the hall of offerings, and
shrines for the consort of the main deity, as well as Hanuman
and Ganesha. A separate shrine in front of the porch houses the
vehicle of the deity. This is an animal or a bird on which the
deity rides; for example, Nandi, the bull, for Shiva, and Garuda,
the eagle, for Vishnu. Since going round the murti in reverence
 is part of the worship, many temples have a circular path round
22
the inner sanctum so that the worshippers can circumambulate
the deity. This type of temple structure is most commonly seen
in north India.

In the south the temple plan is different. There may be three or

four concentric squares covering the temple complex, the main

shrine being in the innermost square. Between each square there
is an open courtyard called the prakaram. Various small shrines

dedicated to associated deities are set against the boundary

walls of the squares. Each of the four walls of the outer squares
has a tower built in the centre, those in the outermost walls
being the tallest. The spire above the main shrine is very short;
ro it may even be a dome. The towers in the outer walls are called

gopurams. Some southern Indian temples, such as the

Meenakshi temple at Madurai, or the Shriranga temple near
Trichanapally, have very tall and highly sculpted gopurams;
some are 150 ft (50 m) tall. The typical gopuram is rectangular
in plan and tapers on all sides as it rises. The top is flat and
holds six or seven small shikharas in a line.

The tallest structure in a northern Indian temple is the spire

above the inner sanctum, but in the south, the tallest structure
is the gopuram in the centre of the outermost wall of a temple
complex.

Consecration of a murti
The procedure for consecrating a murti in a new temple is given
in a Purana text. The statue is fully immersed in cold water. It is
dried and the top of its head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, chest,
back, navel, arms and legs are touched with a piece of thin gold
wire which is dipped in ghee and honey. It is then sprinkled with
a mixture of milk, yogurt, ghee, sugar and honey, while mantras
are recited. Afterwards it is bathed with cold water, dried, fixed
on a pedestal in the inner shrine and offered an elaborate puja.
After these rituals, the spirit of God is believed to enter the
statue, which then becomes a murti to be worshipped as a
symbol of the Divine Spirit. Four guardian spirits are invoked
and established (although not in material form) at the four
corners of the courtyard around the temple. Puja and offerings
of cooked food and fruit to the guardian spirits make the plot of
land and the temple sacred. These guardian spirits are believed
to protect the temple from evil influences.
In this chapter you will learn:
• about three streams of
worship
• about representations of
Vishnu, Lakshmi, Shiva,
Durga, Ganesha and
Hanuman
• names
different for the major
deities of Hinduism.
24 I
The previous chapter shows how a statue of a deity can change
in significance and become the home of the spirit of God, a
£ murti. Hindus use murtis to represent the supreme spirit
=j". Brahman in worship, either at the home shrine or in temples.
§ Murtis in most temples are made of stone or some metal alloy.
a Large wooden replicas of murtis in some temples are used for
j[ procession through the town at the time of the deity's annual
: festival. Many Hindus install consecrated clay murtis of deities

g such as Ganesha or Durga in their homes for the duration of the

annual festival. These symbols of the divine are carried in
procession through towns and villages and put in the local river
_> at the end of the festival.

CO Broadly speaking, Hindus may be classified into three groups

with reference to worship: those who worship Vishnu and
Lakshmi, or Vishnu's important incarnations, Rama, Krishna
and Narasimha; those who worship: Shiva in the form of the
lingam or Nataraja, the cosmic dancer; and those who worship
the Mother Goddess, Shakti, variously termed Parvati,
Mahalakshmi, Ambaji, Durga or Kali.
There are many temple complexes in India that have murtis of
Shiva and Parvati, Vishnu and Lakshmi as well as Ganesha and
Hanuman, representing all three patterns of mainstream
worship. Some temples in Britain also have similar
arrangements, except that they have Krishna and Radha instead
of Vishnu and Lakshmi.

The design of these temple complexes in India follows a square

plan, where a large Shiva and Parvati temple
is built at the inter-

section of the diagonals. a visitor stands facing the Shiva

If
temple, a smaller shrine of Surya, the Sun, is seen at the front
left hand corner of the Square, and a Vishnu shrine at the front
right hand corner. Two shrines dedicated to Ganesha and
Kartikeya, the sons of Shiva and Parvati, are seen respectively at
the left and right hand corners of the square behind the Shiva
temple. Ashrine dedicated to Hanuman is not included in the
square plan, but situated near a side entrance to the temple
complex. A shrine of Nandi, the bull, who is Shiva's vabana
(vehicle) is situated between the Surya and the Vishnu shrines,
and faces the Shiva temple. All shrines can be circumambulated
without any difficulty.

The mythologies of these higher gods and goddesses of

Hinduism are given in sacred texts called the Furanas. There
follow the mythologies of some important deities.
Vishnu [25"
Vishnu was a minor deity of light in the vedic pantheon, but in I
modern Hinduism he represents the Preserver aspect of =j:

Brahman. He is spoken of as the luckiest of the gods in early o>

scriptures. His worshippers consider him the greatest among the °-

gods. He is referred to as Narayana, the ever-present and all- J

pervading. Vishnu is associated with primeval waters and is f
often depicted reposing on a lotus or upon the coils of the o
serpent Shesha. Vishnu, along with Brahma, the creator, and '
Shiva, the destroyer and regenerator, form the trimurti, the
image of the three great gods of Hinduism.
^^
The Rig-veda, the oldest scripture, describes in the hymn to CO
Vishnu the legend in which the god of light covered the earth,
atmosphere and sky in the 'three great strides', perhaps referring
to the rising, zenith and the setting of the sun. Vishnu preserves
and protects the universe and he is believed to have appeared on
earth in his avatars, or 'descents', to save humankind from
natural disasters or from cruel tyrants. The Bhagavata Purana
mentions 22 avatars, but the best known and accepted avatars
are given below:

• Matsya As a giant fish he saved the seventh Manu from the

great flood.
• Kurma He took the form of a tortoise during the 'churning
of the ocean'.
• Varaha In the form of a boar he destroyed the demon
Hiranyaksha.
• Narasimha As a half-man, half-lion, he killed the demon
Hiranyakashipu.
• Vamana As a dwarf he tricked the demon king Bali. The
story in the Purana incorporates the 'three strides' legend
mentioned in the Rig-veda. (Bali was a demon king who was
renowned for his harshness as well as his virtue. He was
generous to a fault, and never allowed any supplicant to go
empty-handed. Through his penance he became invincible
and ruled over the three worlds, heaven, earth and the
netherworld. Indra, the king of heaven, appealed to god
Vishnu to restrain Bali. Vishnu appeared as Vamana, a dwarf,
in his fifth avatar, to protect the world from the tyrant.
Vamana went to Bali and asked for just enough land for him
to step over in three paces. Bali looked at the dwarf and was
amused by the small request. Without any hesitation, Bali
granted Vamana's modest wish. Immediately, Vamana
 (Vishnu) assumed his cosmic form. He covered the heaven
26
with one stride, the earth with another and, placing his foot
3 on Bali's head, pushed him into the netherworld, where he
c
a was allowed to rule.)
3>*

0) • Parashurama Rama of the Axe protected the Brahmins

i.
from the tyranny of the Kshattriyas.
• Rama Rama's deeds of valour in his struggle against
io Ravana, the king of Lanka, are described in the epic
o
Ramayana.
• Krishna As Krishna he destroyed the wicked, protected the
righteous and established a new order (dharma).
• Buddha The founder of Buddhism.
CO • Kalki The last avatar of Vishnu that is yet to come, at the
end of the present 'Age of Darkness'. He is expected to
appear as a rider on a white horse.

Vishnu is represented in sculpture and painting in human form,

with a dark bluish complexion. In his four hands he holds a
padma (lotus), a gada (mace), a shankha (conch) and a chakra
(discus) which, when used as a weapon, returns to his hand after
hitting the target. He wears a precious jewel round his neck. His
vahana (vehicle) is Garuda, the eagle. Of his many titles,
Keshava, Narayana, Madhava and Govinda are recited at the
start of a puja.

Vishnu

-^ D

Ke\ ;

A = Conch
B = Discus
C = Mace
D = Lotus
E = Jewel
Lakshmi ("27

The word Lakshmi is often used applied to define a fortunate 3

c
woman. from mythology Lakshmi is the
In one ancient story 3:

daughter of a great sage, Bhrigu. Once, being displeased with q>

the gods, Bhrigu pronounced a curse on all celestial beings, °-

which included his daughter. To escape from the curse, Lakshmi J

took refuge in the primeval ocean. When the gods and the
demons churned the ocean to obtain the drink of immortality, 5
Lakshmi appeared from the waters as a beautiful woman in a
lotus flower; hence she is also known as Padma or Kamala,
meaning lotus.
In a later story she is the wife of Vishnu. In her many CO
incarnations she appears as the wife of the Vishnu avatars.
When Vishnu came as Vamana, Lakshmi was Padma; when
Vishnu became Rama, she was Sita; and when he came as
Krishna, Lakshmi was Rukmini.

She is shown as a beautiful woman with four hands, rising from

a lotus. In two hands she holds lotus flowers, with the third she
bestows wealth in the form of gold coins and with the fourth she
blesses the worshipper. As the goddess of wealth and good
fortune, she is offered special worship on the Lakshmi-puja day
during the Diwali festival.

Lakshmi

Key:
A = Lotus
B = Gold
C = Protection
"a] Shiva
I
Long before the Aryan migration into northwest India, the
3-. people in the Indus valley worshipped a male deity whose
picture is found on a seal. He is seen sitting cross-legged in a
a yoga posture, surrounded by animals. Rudra, 'the terrible', was
3 a chief of the storm deities in the vedic pantheon, who possessed
g- destructive as well as healing powers. Most scholars believe that
o god Shiva, the destroyer and regenerator aspect of Brahman in
™
modern Hinduism, was the result of metamorphosis of the pre-
Aryan and vedic deities mentioned above. Shiva worship
combines many contradictory elements; fear, uncertainty of the
unknown, regeneration, powers of death and destruction,
CO mystic forces of human psyche and malignant aspects of nature.
He is called Mahadeva, great god and Bhava, existence.
As Nataraja, the Lord of the Dance, he controls the ordered
movement of the universe and as such he is the god of
destruction. He is also the god of regeneration and sexuality,
and in this aspect he and his shakti (female energy) are
worshipped in the form of the linga and yoni, the male and
female organs of generation.

He is Mahayogi since he is the god of asceticism, and in

called
this aspect he is represented as a naked man with matted hair,
his body smeared with ash, sitting on a tiger skin, wearing a
skull garland and absorbed in deep contemplation.

He is associated with evil and cruel spirits, ghosts, goblins, and

vampires, which haunt funeral grounds. He is believed to have

a third eye in the middle of his forehead, with which he
destroyed the god of love.

As Nataraja, he is represented with one face and four arms. The

two upper hands hold a damaru, a small hand-drum controlling
the rhythm of creation, and a flame of the fire of destruction. He
offers abhaya, protection, with his lower right hand and
indicates salvation with the left hand. He dances on the demon
of ignorance with his right foot, while the left foot is raised. His
whole body is surrounded by a torana, an arch of flames. Shiva

as the consort of the goddess Meenakshi is called Sundareshwar.

The Sundareshwar murti in the Meenakshi Temple at Madurai
depicts Shiva performing the Cosmic Dance with his left foot on
the demon of ignorance while the right foot is raised. This pose
is reversed in the representation of Nataraja Shiva at
Chidambaram.
Shiva's abode is Mount Kailasa in the Himalayas. His wives are 29
Parvati and other representations of Shakti (the Mother
3
Goddess). His sons are Ganesha and Kartikeya. Some of Shiva's c
a.
1008 names are Bhairava (Terrible), Chandra-Shekhara (Moon-
crested), Gangadhara (Ganges-bearing), Kedarnath (Mountain 3
a.
Lord), Mahakala (Dissolver of Time), Pashupati (Animal Lord)
and Vishvanath (Universal Lord). I
3*
O
o
Nataraja

CO
A B

Key:
A = Hand drum
B = Fire
C = Action/salvation
D = Protection/blessing
E = Demon ignorance
F = Snake garland
G = Matted hair

Durga
The Mother Goddess, the female principle in creation, also
known as Shakti,worshipped in her own right and not merely
is

as a consort of a male deity. Since Shiva is the god of

regeneration, his consort Parvati, and her other forms, receive
veneration as mother. Although all female deities, including
Mahasarasvati and Mahalakshmi, are worshipped as Shakti, it
is Parvati, Amba, Durga and Kali who are the main recipients of

the title Mother.

Durga means 'inaccessible' or 'fort'; she is the warrior form of

Parvati and closely identified with Kali. The story of Durga 's
origin is given in an episode called the Durga Mahatmya (or
30
Dm Mahatmya) in theMarkandeya Purana. The Dei/*' episode
dates from 700 CE of the Common Era, equivalent to AD).
(i.e.
3 Historically she seems to belong to the non- Aryan tribal culture,
c
a-
w but she is now among the higher deities of Hinduism.
fi>
3
a A demon named Mahisha performed long penance and
3 obtained a boon that 'he would be invincible to all enemies
3" except a woman'. He defeated the gods in battle. The gods were
O angry at Mahisha 's victory, and through anger gave out their
o
energies, which combined to form a beautiful woman. Each god
gave her his weapon so that she was armed with Shiva's trident,
Vishnu's chakra, the wind god's bow and arrows, and a sword
and shield from another god. She then confronted the demon
GO and killed him. She appeared again and again to destroy the
demons and protect the world. She was the creation of the male
gods, yet she did not get any help from them when she faced and
killed the male demons. Durga is described as the mother of the
world, who produces food crops through her blessing.

She rides a lion and lives in the Vidhya forests. She holds many
weapons. In sculpture she is shown standing over the demon
Mahisha as she kills him. Her prominent breasts declare her
'Mother' status.

Her important epithets are Simhavahini (lion-riding); Vindhya-

Vasini (Vindhya-dwelling), Shakambhari (Provider of food
crops) and Jagat-dhatri (Support of the world). The Durga-puja
festival is celebrated each year to honour her.

Durga

Key:
A = Sword
B = Shield
C = Trident
D = Mahisha
E = Lion
Ganesha HaT
The Ganesha mythology is given in many Puranas (mythological
texts). Here are two stories from it. jjj".

Once, Shiva's wife Parvati made a statue of a little boy and |

threw it in the river Ganges. As it came in contact with the 3
river goddess, the boy came to life. Both goddesses claimed ^
him as their son, since Parvati had given him his body and %
Ganga gave him life. g
Once, Parvati, using the scurf of her body, made the figure
of a boy and breathed life into him. She asked the boy to
^^
guard the house while she bathed. Shiva was absent at this 5^
point. When he returned, the boy barred the way and in
'

anger Shiva cut off his head. When Parvati emerged from
her bathing and saw the corpse, she said that she
considered the boy her son. Shiva promised to replace the
head and sent his attendants to bring the head of anyone
found sleeping with their head pointing north. The
attendants found a baby elephant in that position, and
brought its head, which Shiva attached to the torso,
bringing the boy back to life.

Shiva made their new son the leader of his ganas, semi-divine
attendants, which is how the boy with the elephant's head came
to be called Ganesha (Isha means lord or leader) or Ganapati.
From the early Middle Ages, Ganesha came to be considered
and widely worshipped as a god of good luck, a remover of
difficulties and obstacles, a god of wisdom and a patron of
learning. There is a widely-held belief that the sage Vyasa
dictated the epic Mahabharata to Ganesha, who wrote it down.
Prayers are offered to Ganesha at the beginning of a puja
(prayer ceremony), as well as at the life-cycle rituals of the
sacred thread and marriage, before leaving and after entering a
house, at the start of a battle, or when faced with life's
problems.

The Ganesha murti shows him with a large human body of pink
complexion and an elephant's head with one tusk. He is riding
on or attended by a rat. He has four hands, three of which hold
a goad and axe, a snare, and modaka sweetmeats; with the
fourth he offers protection and blessing to his devotees.

A ten-day annual festival is celebrated in his honour in western

India.
32 Ganesha

a.
W
0)
3
Q.

3
3 1

O
o
CO

CO
Key:
A = Snare
B = Goad/axe
C = Sweetmeats
D = Protection
E = Single tusk
F = Snake girdle
G= Rat

Hanuman
Hanuman, the monkey-chief, is the son of the wind-god Vayu or
Marut and a semi-divine female called Anjana, who was
married to a monkey, Kesari. Hanuman is renowned for his
heroic feats as a helper of Rama and these exploits are described
in the epic Ramayana.

There are many legends which idealize his qualities. He is

regarded as almost divine and possessed supernatural physical
strength. He was able to change his shape at will and, by leaping
high, to cover great distances through the air. He had a very
long tail of considerable strength, about which there are many
stories.

Once Bhima, who was also the son of the wind-god Vayu, and
so half-brother to Hanuman, came to see him. Hanuman
pretended to be ill, his tail lying across the visitor's path. Bhima
was proud of his physical strength and decided to move
Hanuman's tail out of his way without disturbing its owner.
Bhima failed even to lift it, let alone move it out of his path, and
felt somewhat humbled when he realized that he was not so
strong after all!
In the Ramayana there is an amusing tale of Hanuman's tail. [
ZZ
Ravana, the king of Lanka (Ceylon) abducted Rama's wife, Sita,
in the forest, and carried her off to Lanka where she was kept
under guard in the palace garden. Hanuman was asked to
search for Sita. He went to Mahendra mountain, leapt high and 2j

flew over the straits, landing near Ravana's palace. Assuming

the form of a cat he wandered through the palace. After a long 3
search Hanuman found Sita in the palace garden, gave her o
Rama's ring in token of recognition, and reassured her that she <§
<
would be rescued soon. He was captured and brought before
Ravana, who was seated on his throne. Hanuman made a seat
of his coiled tail and sat on it at a higher level. Each time Ravana
raised his throne, Hanuman raised his seat. Ravana's son 25
suggested that Hanuman should be humbled and disgraced.
Rags were tied to Hanuman's tail and set on fire. Hanuman
lengthened his tail and, leaping from house to house, caused
enormous fire damage to Ravana's capital. He returned quite
unharmed and told Rama that Sita was alive and safe.

During the battle against Ravana, Rama's brother, Lakshmana,

and other warriors, were wounded. The physician needed
medicinal herbs to revive the wounded, but the herbs could only
be found on a distant mountain called Gandhamadana.
Hanuman was sent to get the herbs, but when he got there, he
could not identify the plants, so he lifted the mountain and
brought it to the battlefield. After the physician had got what he
wanted, the mountain was returned to its original site.

When Rama had defeated and destroyed Ravana, and rescued

he returned to his kingdom from his long exile. Hanuman
Sita,
went with Rama, Sita and Lakshmana to Ayodhya. In
recognition of Hanuman's invaluable help and faithful service,
Rama rewarded him with long life and everlasting youth. In
many temples worshippers first take Hanuman's darshan and
offer him puja before going to the main shrine. Devout Hindus
believe that Hanuman is a living deity, and thousands of villages
have shrines dedicated to him.

He is the deity of physical strength particularly honoured by

wrestlers, and depicted as a strong
is monkey with human hands
and feet, holding an Indian club.
34 Hanuman
3
c
3
55'

0)
3
a
3
3"
O
o
9

CO
Key:
A = Mountain
B = Indian club
"DCQ
3.0
(D Q.
(/> 0)
0) Q)
In this chapter you will learn:
• about prominent vedic
deities
• about Brahman, saguna
Brahman and Shakti, the
Mother Goddess
• about major deities, godlings
and grama devatas
• about the vastness of God in
Hinduism - 330 million gods,
One God or none at all?
• about the importance of
rituals
• about the function of priests.
^T] Prominent vedic deities
<§ The concept of the Divine in some form or other occurs in most
& Indian (Hindu) philosophical systems. The samkhya systems of
o>
3
o of a Divine Being. The vedic Aryans showed reverence for the
o controlling spirits of the forces of nature. Natural phenomena
were thought to be beyond human control, and brought danger
to humans. The deities that presided over these phenomena
were propitiated to gain favour and protection. They were
praised and flattered through the hymns of the Rig-veda. They
were propitiated through offerings made at the fire rituals. The
chieftains and the householders performed sacrifices with the
assistance of the priests. The offerings of oblations - ghee, grain
and sacred woods - were made to Agni, the god of fire. It was
believed that Agni would convey the offerings to the various
deities. Agni is therefore called Havyavahana, the conveyor of
oblations. The deities were invoked through the hymns and
given oblations with the help of Agni.

Many among them

deities are praised in the Rig-veda, the chief
being: Aditi, the mother,and the Adityas, the deities of light
(including Vishnu); Agni, God of fire; Aryaman, God of
ancestors; Dyaus, God of the sky; Maruts, the storm deities,
Rudra being the among them; Mitra and Surya (the Sun),
chief
deities of light; Par any a, God of rain; Prithvi, Goddess of earth;
j

Ushas, Goddess of the dawn; Varuna, God of water; Vayu, the

wind God; and Yama, God of death. In successive periods of the
evolution of religious thought among the Aryans, the
predominant god varied. Dyaus symbolized nature worship;
Varuna, the moral and ethical concept of Rta (cosmic order);
Indra, conquest and domination; and Prajapati, ritual worship.
Brahma, the creator God of later Hinduism, evolved from
Prajapati. Vishnu became prominent along with Shiva, who
evolved from Rudra. During the vedic period, the goddesses
such as Aditi, Ushas and Prithvi were of secondary importance.

Although the Aryans revered many deities with diverse names

and functions, the vedic sages had formed the idea that the
various deities were really different aspects of one supreme
power. They called it Truth. This concept is expressed in book
one of the Rig-veda:
The One and the Many
Truth One; the sages call it by different names such as Indra,
is

Mitra, Varuna, Agni, Yama, Garutman or Matarishvan

(Rig-Veda: 1-164.46)
Brahman [37
o
You will often come across three similar words: a
W
Brahman - the name often given to the One Supreme Reality,
0)
3
a
God.
Brahmin - the priestly varna or caste; sometimes used to describe
the priest himself.
Brahma - Hindu creator god.

In some books the first two words are spelt the same. To remove
this confusion we spell the word for the priestly caste with an T:
brahmin.

This idea of One Truth in the Rig-veda was expanded and

elaborated towards the end of the vedic period in the texts called
the Upanishads, which were believed to have been composed in
their present form between 400 and 200 bce (bce is the exact
equivalent of BC, standing for 'Before the Common Era'). The
Upanishads are discussions between teachers and pupils about
the meaning of life. They form the basis of Vedanta philosophy,
which is further discussed in Chapter 08. The One Truth of the
earlier scriptures is termed Brahman in the Upanishads, to
convey the abstract concept of the Divine; God as the Ultimate
Reality beyond all description. Brahman is without attributes,
unmanifest, eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful and all-
pervading.

The Isha Upanishad says that 'this whole universe is pervaded

by God, i.e. Brahman, Ishwara'. The Brihad Aranyaka
Upanishad describes it as 'with form and without form, that
which perishes and that which does not, the static and the
dynamic, things that are seen as well as things which are beyond
comprehension'.

Gradually, 'that Ultimate Reality, beyond all description* began

more meaningful to ordinary men and
to be described in terms
women. The transcendent Brahman was said to have 'qualities',
since the whole universe was filled with them. Phrases with
three words were employed to express these qualities: truth,
knowledge, infinity; truth, goodness, beauty; or being,
awareness and bliss. Brahman was further described as the
Supreme Soul, Parama-atman. This idea of the world-soul
indicated a relationship between Brahman and the jiva-atman,
the soul of an individual living being.
 Worship of the formless Brahman was possible through prayer,
3g |

and during yoga meditation the Supreme Soul is the object on

: which the mind is concentrated, in order that the atman may
finally be one with the Absolute. In the early stage God was an
abstract idea, the Absolute Reality quite independent of this
world; however, later on it was thought of as shining forth,
apparent and active. The One became the many through its act
of will and brought into existence the visible world, sustaining
it and finally taking it back into itself.

The Cbandogya Upanishad says that the world is born from

Brahman, is vitalized by it and ultimately returns to it. However,
the first concept of Brahman as the Absolute Reality is
maintained and emphasized by saying that the manifest world is
mere sport, a diversion of Brahman brought about by its power
of Maya (creating an illusion). In fact the world itself is unreal,
and only Brahman is real.

The theory that Brahman created the world as a sportive

diversion not acceptable to the Samkhya doctrine, which
is

suggests that the universe evolved through two self-existing

principles, the Purusa, or cosmic spirit, and Prakriti, the cosmic
substance. If Brahman is not the maker of the world, then how
did it come into existence? It was put forward that Brahman,
through its power or by a process of emergence, brought into
existence agents who are responsible for the creation, the
preservation and destruction of the world. This theory
combined the 'one and the many' idea in the Rig-veda and the
'beginning, the middle and the end' concept of the Cbandogya
Upanishad.

Saguna Brahman
Brahman as the universal consciousness is too abstract a
concept for ordinary men and women to comprehend. For them
God needs to be something materially recognizable in order to
be meaningful. Thus the agents or aspects of Brahman emerge
as the major deities of Hinduism. Brahman is still thought of as
nirakara, without form, and nirguna, without attributes, but to
link the major deities to Brahman, it is described also as sakara,
with form and saguna, with attributes. The many manifestations
of God, worshipped in physical manifestations, are the diverse
appearances under different names of the saguna Brahman.
In the Chandogya Upanishad the nirguna Brahman is in the f
^g
neuter, asshown by the formula Tat Warn asi, 'you are it also'.
If, however, Brahman is described as saguna, with attributes,

might it not be human, animal, bird, male or female? Once the

saguna concept was accepted, such varied representations of §.

Brahman were inevitable.

Shakti, the Mother Goddess

It is believed that the vedic Aryans adopted the idea of the
Mother Goddess from the Indus valley people, and in the post-
vedic period the goddesses began to receive homage equal to
that offered to the male deities. In the later sacred texts, called
the Puranas, God is not only male but also female. The
goddesses began to be worshipped in their own right, and not
merely as consorts of the gods. The Mother Goddess in her
many manifestations is termed Shakti, the female energy in
creation, and worshipped as the supreme female aspect of
Brahman. The Vaishnavites consider Vishnu as the supreme god,
the Shaivites worship Shiva as the great god, Mahadeva; in the
same way, the Shaktas worship Shakti as the Supreme Mother
and look upon her as the creator, protector and defender of the
world. The wife of god is referred to as Shakti, she who
manifests her power. The god and the goddess together
represent the power of the godhead. In many cases the female
consort is inactive, for example, Indrani, wife of Indra, or
Rudrani, wife of Rudra, and plays no significant part in the
active life of the god. In some cases the consort of the male deity
was considered more active and important, and when such
divine couples were named, the female name was placed first,
for example, Sita-Rama, Lakshmi-Narayana, Radha-Krishna,
or Uma-Mahesha.
The epithet Shakti is applied primarily to the consort of the God
Shiva. She looked upon as One, combining the universal male
is

and female, and is the central object of worship. Shakti is

worshipped under different names, stressing her various aspects,
such as the Mother Goddess or Mother. In this form she is
represented with prominent breasts and swelling hips to
emphasize her maternal qualities (see the line drawing of Durga
in Chapter 03). Shakti as the tender and loving wife of Shiva is
represented by Parvati or Sati. There are lesser goddesses called
matrikas (mothers), and dozens of female deities worshipped in
 minor aspects of Shakti. Shiva is described by
villages are also
40
1008 and Shakti by the female counterpart of each of
epithets,
en
o these names. The terrible aspect of Shakti displaying terror,
a
0)
destruction and bloodshed is represented by Kali, Durga and
0)
3 Bhavani.
a
Hindus look upon god as all-powerful, all-knowing and all-
pervading. Every possible aspect of the creation has some divine
spark in it. These aspects or attributes of divinity are described
in the Bhagavad-Gita. In Chapter 10 God Krishna says to
Arjuna that 'the best of everything in the world is a part of me'.
In the eleventh chapter, Arjuna sees the entire world in Krishna,
as the deity shows his cosmic form. The representations of the
Saguna Brahma are so diverse and numerous that the Hindu
concept of the divine appears to be polytheistic, the gods and
goddesses being worshipped as murtis (statues), pictures or
symbols. The following table shows that Hindus have
worshipped, and continue to worship, many aspects of the
divine in the heavens, on Earth and in the sea.

In the heavens
Of the many vedic deities mentioned at the beginning of this
chapter, Agni, Vishnu, Rudra and Shiva are worshipped in modern
Hinduism.

Surya, Savita, Mitra the Sun

Indu,Chandra the Moon
Mangala Mars
Budha Mercury
Guru Jupiter
Shukra Venus
Shani Saturn
Rahu and Ketu a demon cut into two parts by Vishnu at
the time of the churning of the ocean
Dhruva the Pole star
Nakshatras asterisms, constellations, some being
considered inauspicious
All major gods and goddesses are believed to reside in their
special abodes in different parts of the Heavens, but they are
worshipped at special places of pilgrimage in India; some of these
are mentioned in Chapter 02 of this book.

On Earth
Major deities
Brahma The creator aspect of Brahman, worshipped only at
two temples in India. His murti shows him with four
 heads and four arms, holding a drinking vessel, a
bow, a sceptre and a book. His vahana is a swan.
Saraswati The wife of Brahma, the goddess of wisdom and the
arts. She is white in colour, shown as a graceful
woman with two arms, holding a stringed musical
instrument, the veena, and riding a peacock.
Vishnu The preserver aspect of Brahman, (see Chapter 03)
Lakshmi The wife of Vishnu, (see Chapter 03)
Shiva The destroyer/regenerator aspect of Brahman, (see
Chapter 03)
Durga The wife of Shiva. Also known as Parvati, Amba, Kali,
Bhavani and Uma, and by many epithets meaning
mother, (see Chapter 03)
Ganesha The elephant-headed god of wisdom. The remover
of obstacles (see Chapter 03)
Hanuman A hero mentioned in the Ramayana, considered
almost divine. He is the patron of physical culture,
(see Chapter 03)
Kartikeya The son of Shiva and Parvati. God of war and ruler of
planet Mars. He killed the demon Taraka. He is
depicted with six faces and six arms, holding many
weapons in his hands. His vahana
is a peacock. In

western married women rarely enter a

India
Kartikeya temple. His other names are Skanda,
Kumara; as Murugan he is widely worshipped in
south India.

Rivers The goddesses as personifications of the river

deities are offered homage and worship on the
annual festival days. Many places along the banks of
the sacred rivers are considered as tirthas, holy
bathing places, where Hindus go to bathe; it is

believed the rivers will wash away their sins. The

seven sacred Sindhu, Yamuna, Ganga,
rivers are
Sarasvati, Narmada,Godavari and Kaveri.
Haradwara, Prayag (Allahabad) and Varanasi are
some of the well-known tirthas.
Lakes Lake Pushkara near Ajmere and Laka Manasa in the
Himalayas are considered sacred.
Trees The Indian fig trees, namely banyan, pippal and
udumbara; palasha (Butea Frondosa) and mango are
considered sacred and are offered worship. Their
wood is offered as oblation to Agni, god of fire, at
42 Hindu weddings and the sacred thread ceremony.
CO
O Animals The cow is considered sacred for its usefulness to
a
o» humans. Nandi, the bull, and Mushaka, the rat, are
Q)
3 sacred because they are the vehicles of Shiva and
a
•o Ganesha respectively.
3.
Birds Garuda, the divine eagle, is Vishnu's vehicle. The
! swan is the vehicle of Brahma. Saraswati and

Kartikeya ride a peacock.

Flowers The lotus is the favourite seat of Lakshmi.

Other objects revered on earth are snakes, especially the cobra;

implements of trade at Dasara; statues of famous men and
women; tombs of Hindu and Muslim saints and departed
ancestors at the annual remembrance. Sacred designs called
mandalas, and the symbols om and swastika are used in worship.

In the sea
Bathing in the ocean is considered an act of religious merit. The

conch shell is sacred and is sounded in large temples before the

worship of the deity.

Some Hindus see the murtis and other symbols of the divine as
aids to worship; to many others they became the objects of
worship. It depends on the faith and the understanding of the
worshipper.

A Hindu often chooses from the pantheon a particular god or

goddess as his/her ishta-devata (personal deity) and offers
special prayers and worship to the deity, yet without excluding
other deities from the worship. This is well illustrated at the
arati ceremony in a temple when verses praising many deities
are sung. The higher gods of Brahminical Hinduism are called
deva; the goddesses are termed devi. The minor deities and
spirits are called devata, while the deities worshipped in villages
are known as the grama-devata.

Devatas
These are the lesser manifestations (godlings) and spirits of the
Divine, mentioned in various major scriptures and minor texts
of Hindu mythology. They are usually associated with a major
deity and cause no harm to humans.
Grama-devatas [43
(Q
The three male deities in the trimurti along with their respective o
a
consorts, Shakti (the mother in her various appearances),
0)
Ganesha, Kartikeya and Hanuman are sometimes called the \
higher gods and goddesses of Hinduism. Yet they reveal only
half the story of the Hindu concept of the divine. Most of the
large temples at the various places of pilgrimage in India are
dedicated to these higher deities, but there are literally hundreds
of small shrines in the villages which are dedicated to deities of
local importance. The higher gods and goddesses are too remote
for the Hindus The local deity in the village
living in the villages.
shrine is the real godhead for them, to whom they offer prayers
and gifts in thanksgiving and in times of distress.
These and spirits play an important part in the lives
lesser deities
of millions of Hindus.They are called the grama-devatas, village
gods and goddesses. Although in some villages the local deity is
a male form of Shiva, most of the grama-devatas are female, and
are considered guardians of the villages. These goddesses are
looked upon as a mother and called by a local name meaning
mother, such as Amma, Ma, Amba, Mata. A goddess named
Maha-amma, 'Great Mother', or Mahamba was worshipped
widely in western India. The patron goddess of Mumbai
(Bombay) is known as Mumba-devi, which is believed to be a
corruption of Mahamba. A goddess called Ellamma, another
aspect of the Mother Goddess, is widely worshipped in south
India.

The patron goddess of a village fulfils many functions. She is the

deity of fertility and a woman wishing to have a child will pray
to her and promise a gift, such as a sari or a chicken, after the
child is born. She is the provider of food and the bringer of a
good harvest, and as such she is referred to as amma-purna or
anna-puma, the mother of plenty. All new-born babies are taken
to receive her blessing.

Ifa child suddenly becomes ill, its parents visit the shrine of the
guardian goddess with an offering of a coconut in order to
please her, and pray to the 'mother' to protect their child.
Prayers are offered to her whatever the difficulty, in the sincere
belief that she will find a remedy. There are smaller shrines near
the boundary of the village dedicated to spirits that bring disease
and sickness. These spirits are believed to control diseases in
that they cause the sickness when displeased and remove it when
propitiated. As a result regular offerings of foods or a piece of
,. red cloth are made to these evil spirits to ward off disease. Most
of these spirits are female and preside over matters that are
o potentially dangerous, childbirth or pregnancy, for example.
w Shashthi is a goddess believed to injure babies on the sixth day
| after birth, so special gifts and prayers are offered to her on that
-o day to protect the baby.
5"
In rural Bengal, Manasa is propitiated against danger from
serpents. There are poison and tiger deities who protect
deities
from those dangers when propitiated. The goddess Sitala is
worshipped in many parts of north and western India for she is
believed to control smallpox. In south India Sitala is known as
Jyeshtha. Maraki or Mariaee is propitiated when there is a
cholera epidemic. There are a number of spirits who are believed
to reside in old trees or at the crossroads in the village who are
made offerings of food to keep them pleased. These grama-
devatas are approachable and are believed to understand the
problems faced by the people in the village. The Kshetrapalas are
the field guardians who protect and guard the crops.

In many villages the annual festival and fair of the guardian

goddess is a joyous occasion attended by people from the
neighbouring villages. In spite of the variety of grama-devatas a
farmer would explain that these are different forms of the same
Bhagavan; in the same way, a scholar might say that the higher
deitiesof Hinduism are different aspects of the Saguna
Brahman, the Absolute Reality.

How many gods?

You will have realized by now that God in Hinduism is not
restricted to a particular place or limited by gender, appearance
or name. The vastness of the concept of the Divine, the variety
of forms and places of worship, and the multiplicity of murtis,
icons and symbols as constant reminders of the sacred, have
given rise to a misleading statement that Hindus have 330
million gods. Sometimes the number is increased to
330,000,003.

The Rig-veda refers to 33 gods, which is thought to mean that

there are 11 gods in the heavens, 11 in the atmosphere and 11
on earth.But more than 33 are mentioned by name in the
Rig-veda. Another vedic text also mentions 33 gods, which
some scholars have decided include eight Vasus, the guardians
of the directions, 11 Rudras, the deities of storms, 12 Adityas,
the deities of light, Dyaus, the sky god and Prithvi, the earth f~7^
goddess. In another interpretation, Indra, the god of conquest or
the king of the heavens, and Prajapati, the Lord of creatures, are £
included, instead of Dyaus and Prithvi. Although 31 deities are
put into three groups and called eight Vasus, 11 Rudras and 12 g.
Adityas, each individual deity in each group had a separate "§

identity, name and function; and when the two single deities are
added to the list, there are 33 distinct gods. To explain the
phrase '33 Koti devas', actually meaning '33 different kinds of
gods', the word Koti appears to have been mistranslated.
Because the word Koti means 'kind or type', as well as the
number 10,000,000, use of the alternative meaning of the word
Koti has given rise to the statement that Hindus have 330
million gods. At least, this appears to be the most logical
explanation. Without going into arithmetical acrobatics, it can
sensibly be said that Hindus have One Divinity, which is
worshipped in various appearances and under different names.

330 million gods, One God, or - none at all?

Some Hindus do not believe in even One God, but in an
impersonal cosmic principle - Rta. The term Rta signifies the
cosmic order, or the regularity of the cosmic processes, such as
day and night, the seasons, springtime and harvest; and the
intrinsic justice, moral law and order underlying all things. The
god Varuna of the Rig-vedic pantheon is the guardian of Rta.

Priests
There is no centrally trained and ordained priesthood in
Hinduism. The efficiency and scholarship of a priest is largely
determined by the scholarship of the teacher. Many men who
have the ability to learn Sanskrit, the classical language of
Hinduism, undertake a long course of study under the guidance
of a local scholar and study the various scriptures. The
scriptures include the Vedas and certain branches of post-vedic
studies considered essential to the understanding of the Vedas,
such as the texts giving the mantras and the order of actions in
various religious rituals, performed in the home by the
householders. They further include the study of the dharma
shastras, the law books, phonetics, grammar and the metres of
the Vedas. Some knowledge of Hindu philosophy, the epics (i.e.
the Ramayana and the Mahabharata) and the Furanas, is also
necessary.
 The religious rituals performed to mark the growth and
46
development of children are called samskaras. The mantras used
O in the sacred thread and marriage ceremonies are taken from the
Q.
0)
vedic scriptures, while the puja mantras are mainly taken from
0)
3 the Furanas.
a

a family priest showing the consecrated thread to the Sun God at an

upanayana ceremony in Mumbai (Bombay)

After completing a course of study, including wide knowledge of

the theory and practice of Hinduism, these men function in
various priestly capacities depending upon their inclination,
scholarship and effectiveness. Some prefer to teach, some
conduct rituals and ceremonies for their patrons, while others
become religious mendicants seeking their salvation through
asceticism and meditation.

Ritual
The theory of Hinduism is contained in its scriptures and in the

various texts dealing with theology, philosophy, religious law,

mythology and literature. The procedures and the mantras for
the performance of rituals and ceremonies are contained, in
codified form, in the texts called the Grihya-sutras. A balance
between the understanding of knowledge and the correct [ *-*

rites, rituals and ceremonies makes Hinduism a

observance of
way of life.
|
The early scriptures, called the Brahmanas, which give the §
theory behind the rituals, maintain that the performance of
a
o
ritual actions, Kriya, control the forces of nature. It is through
these rituals that the spiritual forces are directed. Another i
scripture knowledge and good deeds
on philosophy says that
cannot produce human happiness without the accompanying
rituals.

The chanting of the vedic or puranic mantras used in puja, the

thread ceremony and marriage, without the appropriate ritual
actions, will not, by themselves, enable the participants to
experience the spirituality of the ceremonies. The physical
actions necessary to make the various offerings to a murti in a
puja; the actual wearing of the sacred thread, and learning the
gayatri mantra in a thread ceremony; and making the offerings
to the god of fire, exchanging garlands and taking the seven
steps together at a marriage service, are all essential rituals
which complete the ceremonies.
Ritual is important in the celebration of festivals. The actual
travel and physical hardship, as the puja and
well as
darshan (viewing the murti) after the ritual bathing, make a
pilgrimage more meaningful. Special ritual actions are
performed in the ceremony of initiation into various Hindu
sects. Recitation of the mantras by the participants is
essential in all ceremonies. Knowledge of the theory and
philosophy, with the accompanying breathing exercises
and postures, are indispensable to the practice of yoga.
Putting the theory into practice by performing the correct rituals
is known as the path of rites, which is believed to increase the

participant's spirituality and therefore lead to ultimate

liberation.
Many specialist priests take part during the performance of the
vedic sacrifice, and their services are necessary if such a fire ritual
is undertaken in modern Hinduism.

The vedic priests

Ritvij The chief officiating priest who supervises the whole

procedure.
Hotri The priest who recites the Rig-veda hymns.
Adhvaryu The priest who recites the hymns of the Yajur-veda.
Udgatri The priest who sings the hymns of the Sama-veda.
Brahmin The priest of the Atharva-veda.

The teachers who perform priestly functions

Acharya A scholar. A spiritual or religious teacher and guide. An

authority on the correct observance of dharma,
religious conduct. He initiates and instructs pupils in
the Vedas.
Guru A teacher and spiritual guide.
Swami A spiritual teacher and holy man, usually a sannyasin
belonging to some order of Hindu monks.
Bhatta A man of great wisdom, often a religious teacher.
Pandit A scholar who interprets the Dharma Shastras, the law
books, and philosophy.
Shastri A man learned in the scriptures.
Pauranika A man learned in the Puranas.

The priestswho conduct the performance of rituals

Brahmin A name applied to a number of priestly castes. Many
priests are Brahmins, but not all persons belonging to
the Brahmin varna are priests.
Purohita A family priest who conducts religious rituals and
ceremonies for a number of families. Sometimes he is
addressed as upadhyaya or Gump.
Jangama A priest of the Lingayat sect. Different castes have
their own priests.
Pandya A Hindu temple priest and guide who also conducts
rituals for the pilgrims at holy places. He keeps a
record of families who worship at his temple.
Pujari One who conducts puja at a temple or a shrine,
concerned mainly with ritual procedure.
In this chapter you will learn:
• about the joint or extended
Hindu family
• about the hierarchical
position of different family
members
• about the changed position
of women
• about the four stages of life

and life cycle rituals

• about Hindus and their home
in Britain
• about vegetarianism
• how different young Hindus
follow their faith.
^ol The joint or extended family
ix Before we consider what constitutes the Hindu family, try to
2» answer the following questions. Who comes to mind when you
| think of 'family'? Write down their names, and the kinship term
you would use to describe each one. Have you got your parents,
brothers, sisters and cousins on your list? Did you include your
aunts and uncles? All these relatives are members of the same
family, but they do not all live in the same household. When a
Christmas card is sent to Mr and Mrs Smith and family, it is
meant for parents and their children living in that household.
Gone are the days of large households. In Britain nowadays
en families are largely nuclear. Hindus who have settled abroad in
the countries of their dispersion often tend to have a nuclear
family unit, but in some Hindu households a paternal
grandparent exercises a gentle cultural influence.

Until the middle of the 20th century many Hindu households in

villagesand towns in India had three or four generations living
under one roof, pooling their incomes and having one kitchen
where the women of the household prepared food for everyone.
The decisions about how the family's money was spent were
taken by the older men, with the informal advice of the senior
women. There might be the expenses of a boy's education, or a
granddaughter's marriage. Although the payment of a dowry
has been made illegal by the Indian Parliament, the tradition
continues to burden many Hindu fathers. Insufficient dowry
payment to the bridegroom's family often results in ill-treatment
of the new daughter-in-law.

This type of family structure has been described by sociologists

as joint or extended; it applies to Hindu families as well as
others. Both males and females had their places of authority and
respect within the family hierarchy. Each member played a role
in rituals. Men exercised a great deal of authority and had their
meals before women and children. The hierarchical positions of
different members of the 'extended' Hindu family still continue
to indicate the authority of, and respect due to, individuals,
through the kinship terms used to describe various persons.
These positions come into play when a religious ritual, such as
marriage, is celebrated in a British Hindu family, or when the
younger British-born members travel to India to meet relatives
living there. Hierarchy in Hindu families is important, and
children will learn the correct kinship term and the behaviour
that is expected when
dealing with each relative. For example, [
~*
many marriage and after the ceremony give
relatives attend a
their blessing to the newlyweds in hierarchical order. The ©
newlyweds offer namaskar (greeting with hands together) to the §
family deities first, and then to their grandparents, the elder
brother of the bridegroom's father and his wife, the
bridegroom's parents, the younger brother of the bridegroom's
father and his wife, then the mother's relations. The bride and
bridegroom will bow before the elder relatives and touch the
floor with their hands.

In English the word 'aunt' describes four different persons,

namely, father's sister, mother's sister, father's brother's wife and
mother's brother's wife. In Indian languages four different CXI
words are used to describe the precise relationship. For
example, in Gujarati, an aunt might be called:
• massi mother's sister
• faeeba father's sister
• mami mother's brother's wife
• kaki father's brother's wife.

An elder brother is called dada in Marathi, and anna in Tamil.

An elder sister is called tai in Marathi, and akka in Tamil. Indian
languages have many kinship terms used by Hindus in various
regions of India.

In the 1990s, through industrialization and urbanization, the

traditional extended families are breaking up. Young men leave
home for education or jobs and live in towns and cities. When
they marry they have little spare space in their small flats for
relatives to stay permanently. Modern Hindu women have the
same rights to inherit property as their brothers, as a result of
secular legislation. For example, I know of elderly parents who
continue to live in the family house in a small town, with their
younger son, his wife and their children. One elder son is in
Bombay with his wife and children, another in Britain with his
wife and daughter. Although these people do not now live under
one roof, they still continue to think of themselves as
members of a joint or extended family, in social, economic and
ritual relationship. Decisions about the marriages of younger
men and women will be taken by the father and his elder sons;
contact with the parents will be maintained through visits, and
the expenses of ceremonies and religious rituals will be shared
by the father and his three sons.
52

cn

an extended Hindu family, consisting of various nuclear units living in flats

in Mumbai (Bombay), assembled here to celebrate a Hindu festival

The achievements of its members increase the prestige of a

family. The bad conduct of any member affects the honour of
the family. Males are the permanent members of the family;
women move in or out of the family through marriage. A young
bride will have a lot of work in the house and very little
authority in her new family when she first marries. But after
having children, especially sons, and with greater experience of
life, she begins to exercise considerable influence.

The four stages of life

Hindu man passes through four stages as
tradition holds that a
he goes through towards the final goal of spiritual
life

liberation, or moksha. These four stages, called the ashramas,

are of unequal length. Men, and some women, belonging to the
Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaisha varnas pass through the first
three stages. The fourth stage is optional and only a few men
enter it. Women are discouraged from entering the final
renunciation stage.

The first stage is brahmacharya, when some boys embark upon

a long course of study of the Vedas and other scriptures. In
modern India boys and girls have equal opportunity for [ ZZ
education, and many pass through primary and secondary
school. But they still remain the privileged few. vedic study for ©
boys begins after the sacred thread ceremony, called the g
upanayana.

The second stage is that of a married householder, grihastha.

After completing either a vedic or Western type of education
and obtaining employment, a young man marries and becomes
a grihastha. In the Hindu family structure, he does not
necessarily become the head of the household, since his father
and even his grandfather may still be living.

The third stage is the retirement stage called vanaprastha. A {j\

man does not, in practice, leave home to live in a forest to
meditate and study scriptures. He nevertheless hands over most
of his responsibilities to his eldest son, and exercises his
influence over major family decisions, such as marriage, as an
interested bystander. Traditionally this stage is reached when a
man sees the first son of his son; he is happy that the family will
continue, and his son can take over a householder's duties.

The fourth stage is called sannyasa, an optional renunciation

stage which a man may enter only after all his family duties are
done. He then gives up his worldly possessions - even his name
- and devotes his remaining life to pilgrimage, meditation and
study of the scriptures, wandering from place to place, begging
for food, journeying towards moksha. When he dies, he is
buried, since he has no known male relatives to perform the
cremation rites. fact, make shraddha (memorial)
His family, in
offerings in his name annually from the time he becomes a
sannyasin, for, in theory, he has then abandoned worldly
interests.

The householder stage is considered the most important, and in

order to be of some service to society, a man has a religious duty
to marry and have children who will continue the family name
and traditions. We have already mentioned that in a large Hindu
household women cook for all the family, the most senior
woman setting the standards of cleanliness and ritual purity
which the younger helpers follow. If a new daughter-in-law is to
fit in with the established pattern of her new home, she needs to

have had training under similar rules of ritual purity. That is one
of the reasonswhy many Indian, including Hindu, marriages are
arranged by the parents. The family, and particularly the
householder, stage is considered the sustainer of other ashramas.
i-a 1 A Hindu lawgiver, Manu says:

The four ashramas, brahmacharya, grihastha, vanaprastha

and sannyasa all came into being from the householder
stage.
*g As great and small rivers finally find shelter in the ocean,
so men of all ashramas find protection with householders.

(Manu: 6.87, 90)

The head of a Hindu joint family is the senior male and the family

property passes down the male line, but now, as a result of secular
legislation, daughters inherit equally with their brothers. Many
Hindus do not think it fair that a daughter takes wealth to her
Ol J
new family, as it can make a farm uneconomical when part of the
land goes out of the family. The head of the family has a duty to
ensure that the needs of all members are provided for, such as the
children's education, marriages of the daughters and
granddaughters, and the care of the elderly.

A householder supports the students, the retired folk and,

through giving, the sannyasins, the religious mendicants. Thus the
extended family is indeed the support for many persons. In India,
generally, the group, such as the caste association or the family, is
the unit to be reckoned with. The individual members owe loyalty
to the group and, in return, other members of the group provide
social, economic and moral support to the individual.

Women in Hindu families

Next let us consider how women fare in a Hindu family. All
domestic decisions, like the performance of religious rituals,
cooking, and buying clothes for women and girls, are in the
hands of the senior woman in a large household in a village. The
same responsibility befalls the wife in a small household in a city
flat. Girls in well-off families are likely to receive a good
education, but those in poor families in rural areas may not even
reach the secondary school; they are probably needed to work
in the fields or tend the cattle. Educated young women in cities
can hold jobs in various offices and schools and are likely to
keep them after marriage as they supplement the family
finances. The father of an educated girl with a job may have to
pay very little dowry when she gets married, but the dowry
burden will be high for the family of a young woman who has
little education and practically no prospect of a job. This old
Indian tradition seems to ignore the dowry prohibitions of
55
modern lawmakers. Newspaper reports relate how the modern
scientific technique of amniocentesis is misused to abort female
foetuses, although the clinics in large cities charge up to 500
3
rupees to determine the sex of the foetus. Parents are prepared
to spend that amount before the girl is born, rather than spend
thousands at her marriage. Yet there are families who rejoice at
the birth of a girl and do not neglect her in any way. Friendship
across the sexes is practically non-existent, even when young
men and women may be attending the same college or working
in the same office. In this situation an arranged marriage is the
safest way of finding a life-partner. Sometimes it is the only one!

A Hindu woman can now have a separate bank account, earn a CXI
salary, and own land and other property, in addition to enjoying
the gold jewellery she given as a bride. A wife can share in the
is

performance of religious rituals with her husband, but women

hardly ever have a priestly function, even in minor rituals.

Traditionally, property - especially land - belonging to a Hindu

family passed to the next generation through the male line. This
patrilineal succession enabled Hindus to keep the land in the
family, provided they had sons to inherit. Many Hindu couples,
even if they do not own land, wish for male offspring. The birth
of a child is welcomed with joy, but that joy is greater when a
son is born. A daughter is considered another's property for she
will leave the natal family when she marries. A son will be a
permanent member of the family; continue the family name and
traditions; look after the parents, it is hoped, when they become
old; and, when the father dies, perform the cremation rites. In
many cases a son is the main financial support for the father in
old age. The life-cycle rituals, called the samskaras, are
performed for sons and daughters. These childhood sacraments
mark the growth and development of children, and are
occasions when members of the extended family gather together
to celebrate them. It must be said, however, that these
ceremonies, such as naming a child or taking it on its first
outing, are more elaborate for sons than for daughters.

Ritual cleanliness, purity and pollution

In general religious terms, the concept of pollution marks out
what is dangerous or threatening to the deity, the devotees, the
faith and the rituals through which it is understood and
 expressed, and the whole community within which the religion
56
is practised. Hinduism, as a 'way-of-life philosophy', takes its
§* perceptions of ritual pollution into the secular sphere of daily
of interaction, so that avoidances of material objects, foods, or

\ people (sometimes permanently, sometimes temporarily) may be

enforced through scriptural teachings or popular myth. Dalits,
or untouchables, are polluting to higher castes to varying
degrees; their pollution is derived from the occupations they
follow or the substances they handle, e.g. soiled clothes, leather,
dead animals. In many religions worldwide, blood is a
threatening substance: its uncontrolled loss can result in death,
and death constitutes a threat to a community. The risk
JJj associated with menstruation and childbirth is linked with this
belief. Where ideas of pollution operate so ubiquitously, in both
religious and secular life, as in Hinduism, ritual means of
purification must also be prominent.

A form of ritual purification, commonly performed at the

beginning of a puja and other ceremonial acts of worship, is
known as acbamana. Water is taken in the hollow of the right
hand, sipped and swallowed. Before the sipping of water
Vishnu's name is uttered. These actions are done three times.
Afterwards the name of the god Vishnu is spoken a fourth time,
and water from the right hand is allowed to trickle into the
copper dish before the worshipper. It is believed that evil
vapours are formed in the mouth as a result of impure acts or
thoughts, leaving the saliva and the mouth ritually unclean. This
ritual cleansing of the mouth is essential before chanting the
sacred mantras. Orthodox Brahmin priests not only clean the
body with water after performing natural functions but also
rinse the mouth thoroughly. Mourners always rinse the mouth
after attending a cremation.

Bathing and external cleansing of the body is done before all

religious ritualsand cooking. Many Indians use a neem (lime)
twig to clean their teeth. The kitchen is the area of ritual purity,
and women bathe before the preparation and cooking of food.
Footwear and soiled clothing are ritually impure; these are not
allowed in the kitchen. For the entire cooking process only the
right hand is used to touch the food, when preparing the dough
for making chapattis, for example. When tasting a curry or dal
to determine the level of seasoning, a small quantity is taken out
of the pot and tasted. Of course, the spoon which has touched
a human mouth is not used for stirring food.
In orthodox households menstruating women are not allowed [
57
to cook; they are even forbidden to enter the kitchen. When
there is a death in the family, all adult blood relations and boys
wearing the sacred thread are in a state of ritual pollution for up ~
3
to ten days. Cooking is done by young, unmarried girls or
neighbours. Food cooked by Brahmins is acceptable to all
sections in Hindu society.

Rules about purity and pollution also govern the serving of

cooked food and its consumption. The senior woman supervizes
the cooking and serving of food. Each member of the family is
served helpings of the different dishes on a metal plate called a
thali. The right hand is used to convey solid foods, such as rice,
vegetables and chapattis, to the mouth. A small spoon may be cn
used for liquid foods. In a traditional household men eat first.
Usually people sit on the floor, placing the thali in front of them,
taking care not to touch it with their feet.

Westernized families in large cities like Bombay or Birmingham

all sittogether at a table for their meals, using china plates and
spoons. Separate metal beakers are used to drink water at meal
times. Some people do not touch the rim of the beaker with their
lips but carefully pour water into the upturned mouth, which is

rinsed carefully before and after meals.

Hindus in Britain
There are an estimated 380,000 Hindus in Britain who have
come from India, east Africa, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and
Mauritius. Nearly half that number are British born. The first
generation Hindus from India brought with them many regional
forms of the faith, and these variations are reflected in their
food, in the language they speak at home and the way they
worship. Seventy per cent originate from Gujarat and have
come via east Africa. Fifteen per cent come from the Punjab in
north west India. The remaining 15 per cent include those from
Bengal, western India, southern India, Sri Lanka and other
countries. Important Indian languages spoken in British Hindu
homes are Gujarati, Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi and
Tamil. In spite of this variety, there are some features that are
common to most Hindu families.
jjJP|
Visiting a Hindu home in Britain

If you have Hindu friends and are invited to visit their home,
you will notice certain things not normally seen in other British
I
homes. In the entrance hall there may be a framed picture of the
Hindu god Ganesha. He is the remover of obstacles from human
affairs, and most members of the family will offer namaskar
(greeting with hands together) to him before leaving the house
to seek blessings for a trouble-free journey. Ganesha will be paid
similar homage when the person returns home in thanks for a
successful day. You will also notice a decorative pelmet above
the door to the main living room, depicting pictures of Lakshmi,
the goddess of good fortune, and some auspicious religious
en symbols, such as a swastika and a vessel with a coconut on it.
Major family affairs are probably discussed in the main sitting
room, and divine guidance is sought through the symbols on the
pelmet above the door.

All outdoor footwear, especially leather shoes and sandals, is

removed on entering the house and kept in a cupboard or on a
shoe-tidy near the front door. Some Hindus will insist that all
visitors remove their shoes, others may be more tolerant and
will excuse the visitors from the normal household practice.
Leather is considered a polluting substance, and the reason why
shoes are removed is because there is probably a household
shrine, either in the kitchen or in the parent's bedroom.

If you are invited to have a meal, it is best to remain in the

dining area. Your offer of help in clearing the table after the
meal and with the washing up will be politely refused since the
kitchen is the place of greatest ritual purity where visitors are
not normally allowed, especially if the family shrine is located in
the kitchen. Health visitors, social workers and the police need
to be sensitive to these matters. Reluctance to allow a stranger,
such as a police officer or social worker, into the main bedroom,
implies neither secrecy nor guilt, but simply indicates that this
room is their main place of worship, or houses the household
shrine.

Hindu families in Britain experience tensions between parents

and their British-born children over many factors. Some of these
differences of opinion can be resolved through compromise;
others may not be so easy to deal with. Food is a factor that can
create tension in a Hindu family.
Vegetarianism 59
Vegetarianism amongst Hindus was not universal. Three
thousand years ago the early Aryans ate meat and enjoyed sr
intoxicating drinks. A vegetarian diet gradually became popular, 3
as it was more Orthodox Brahmins
suitable for a hot climate.
generally prefer to remain vegetarian, and avoid onion and
garlic during a four-month period from July to October, owing
to the cooler weather of the monsoons and the need to officiate
at the numerous votive rituals that occur during that period. A
young Brahmin professional in cosmopolitan cities like Bombay
or Delhi is not averse to eating eggs, fish or poultry, and
sampling Indian-made beer or spirits. Even these 'rebels' will
not knowingly eat beef. Meat is considered spiritually polluting CXI
and Hindu priests in India are strictly vegetarian.

In Britain the parents' generation in many families is vegetarian;

equally, many Hindus non- vegetarian foods
in Britain enjoy
except beef. These family traditions are often challenged by the
British-born youngsters.

Jay, a young Hindu, is now studying for his A' levels. His parents
are vegetarian but since his secondary school days Jay has been
eating fish and chicken. When he was 1 1 he developed a dislike
of highly spiced, hot curry.He wanted to eat sausages and beans
or hamburgers at weekends. His mother argued that she would
not cook any such thing in her kitchen because of the household
shrine there. Jay refused to eat spiced food and chose only rice,
yoghurt, chapattis and fruit. Jay's father suggested a
compromise. The household shrine was moved from the kitchen
and installed in the parents' bedroom. Jay's mother agreed to
prepare 'English' food for her son but refused to have beef in the
house. The parents continue to be vegetarian.

Food that has come into contact with another person after
serving, even accidentally, is unacceptable to Hindus. Each

family member will have a large plate, or thali, on which

separate helpings of food are placed.

Rohini is in her first year at college. Her parents came from Delhi,
and for many years of their stay in Britain the whole family
enjoyed thick nan bread, lentils and lamb or fish curries. Rohini,
through her new friends' influence at college, decided to become
vegetarian. Her parents still eat meat but now there are more
vegetarian dishes in their diet.
^1 Language
5 Language, not only the Indian language that the parents speak
i at home, but that which is used to conduct religious rituals, can
\ bring about differences of opinion between the generations.
Many first-generation Hindus are inclined to use their mother
tongue at home, while their children have English as their first
language. Children in many Hindu families learn to speak their
parents' language, even though they cannot read or write it.
This shortcoming is remedied by some temples where language
classes for children are run. Some youngsters are embarrassed
by and Indian accents.
their parents' Indian English sentences
When parents intersperse their English sentences with Indian
en words there is a breakdown in communication.
Many Hindu prayers and mantras - sacred phrases - used in
worship and rituals are in Sanskrit, or regional Indian
languages, which the youngsters do not understand. Often the
parents or the priest conducting the ritual fail to explain the
mantras in English, and as a result children become bored when
attending religious rituals. After a while some young men and
women begin to refer to the chanting of the mantras as 'a load
of mumbo-jumbo' and try to stay away from elaborate rituals.

Young Hindus
Young Hindus make friends with their white British peers at
school. Some of these friendships last a long time, but most seem
to fade away when they reach the senior level in their secondary
school. Parents want their children to do well at school and pass
examinations, so the children are persuaded and even
pressurized to give up socializing after school or at weekends.
Usually the family will want to visit relatives or go to the temple.
These weekend visits, or the school work and further studies,
are plausible excuses used by the parents to protect their
children from outside influences. Daughters are free to have
other girls, white or Indian, as friends, but friendships with boys
are not encouraged and sometimes forbidden. Sons have a little
more freedom to continue friendships with other young men of
their age, but girlfriends, if they are white, are not readily
acceptable to parents. This does not mean that young Hindu
men and women never have white, even Christian marriage
partners. There are many marriages across the ethnic and
religious divide, but they are a small minority. Having a
daughter-in-law who has a different mother-tongue, or who has
a different religion and cultural values, requires a great deal of
61
adjustment on the part of the mother-in-law if the son is looked
upon as an insurance for old age. Friendships between boys and
girls are not encouraged, even when both are from the Hindu
community. If such a friendship is likely to blossom into love
and marriage, and if the young people are not from the same
caste group, both sets of parents may consider it a disaster and
put up stiff opposition. If the younger people continue their
friendship in spite of the parental opposition and eventually
marry, they may have to face the prospect of severing contact
with both families.

Radha was born in East Africa and came to Britain 20 years ago
when she was ten. After taking a degree in geography she now
works in an office as a clerical officer. She says she likes to
worship at the family shrine every day and she often visits a
temple. 'Being a Hindu means showing respect for other religions.
My father often reminds me of my duties but does not tell me
what my Having lived in this country have decided to
rights are. I

earn my living and be independent. My parents have said that I

should get married and have suggested many possible young

men as marriage partners. They are all Hindus from hard-working
families but don't think any of them will be suitable for me. They
I

look at me as a possible future possession and not as an equal

partner. have had a couple of dates with young white men. We
I

enjoyed disco dancing and shared a meal afterwards, but they

were looking for sex without commitment, while was hoping for I

a genuine friendship. So, that was the end of that. shall marry a I

man of my own choice. Because hold these views of

I

independence and free choice, that does not make me any the
less a Hindu.'

What it means to be a Hindu is expressed in a variety of ways

by adults and children, and these statements emphasize the fact
that Hinduism is a way of life.

Gita a Gujarati girl born in London. She says that because she
is

was born in a Hindu family, she can visit the mandir (temple) every

Saturday afternoon and meet other Hindu girls and their parents.
Rupal's parents came from India and speak Marathi at home.
Rupal says that when some white children at school call her 'Paki'
she feels hurt. She tells them that she is a Hindu because she can
wear skirts or trousers and does not have to cover her head.
 Madhu, a government employee with a wife and a daughter,
local
says: 'I mantra 108 times after bathing every
recite the Gayatri
morning. work honestly at my job, provide for my wife and
I

daughter and believe in God. do not often go to a temple. My

I

wife does the puja at our household shrine before she goes to
work. We don't eat meat and do not smoke. We visit our relations
I

in India every four or five years and send money to my younger

I

brother when can. As long as don't cheat anyone and do my

I I

job well, I shall consider myself a Hindu.'

Children's games
A variety of games, sports and recreations are enjoyed by
Indians of and the opportunities for these are provided
all ages,
by festivals, village fairs, full moon nights and the start of the
monsoons. There are games needing individual skills, team
games, games requiring expensive equipment, such as polo,
cricket or tennis, and games that have no need of any
equipment. Acrobatics and wrestling matches, along with
cricket, are spectator sports in large cities and towns and
villages. Indian children whose parents cannot afford any
elaborate equipment choose and enjoy the traditional games.

Girls traditionally play a game with 12 dried berries which tests

their skills in catching, picking up and neck balance. A group of
girls sit ina circle with the right leg folded backwards. The
berries are shaken in two cupped hands by one player and
thrown like dice on the floor within the small circle. The girl
tosses one berry high up, then picks one berry from the floor
without touching any other, catching the first berry as it comes
down using only one hand. This is repeated until she has picked
up the berries; each successful 'pick up and catch' earns one
all
point. If she touches two berries while picking up, she loses her
chance in that round and the next player takes over. Each girl
gets her turn and collects points. The highest score wins the first
round. In the second round, two berries must be picked up
before catching the first berry, in the third round three berries
are picked up, and so forth. The most skilful girls can pick up
11 berries in their final round - using both hands of course!

Other indoor games include blindfolding (like blind man's buff),

chess and hide-and-seek. A game involving reciting verses from
memory can be used for individual competitors or for two teams
of 12-15 boys or girls. One person recites a verse in Sanskrit or f~7T
the regional language. A player from the opposite team has now
to recite a different verse beginning with the last letter of the
first team's verse. The successful recitation earns no point, but if
no member of the second team can recite a verse to match the
<=
first team's effort, the first team scores a point. A teacher acts as
referee to make sure that a verse is not repeated by either team.
In a classroom situation boys and girls can take part in this
memory game, but normally the sexes are segregated.

Outdoor games that children enjoy include a game similar to

hopscotch, in which each player hops on one leg over diagrams
made on the ground, playing with marbles, games with stick
and stub, and skipping and other rope games. Boys or girls en
separately enjoy swinging on rope swings at festivals or at
village fairs. Tug-of-war and wrestling are popular with boys.
Kabaddi is a team game which requires two teams of 12 and a
pitch the size of a tennis court. One player stands on the centre
line, starts saying, 'Kabaddi-kabaddi', and invades the
opposition's territory. If he touches a player from the opposition
with his fingers or foot and returns to the centre line still saying,
'Kabaddi-kabaddi', he scores one 'kill'. A player from the
second team now invades the first and hopes to score a kill. Of
course, if he is caught, he himself becomes the victim. The team
with the larger number of survivors over a set period of time
wins the game. There are leagues of kabaddi in different states
and even interstate competitions. One such championship was
recently shown on British television. A game of tag, either
running or hopping, is also very popular.

Indian boys are keen on cricket and, in villages and towns, any
open ground is used to play this game, perhaps with a piece of
wood shaped like a cricket bat and an old tennis ball. In cities
like Bombay, the game is played in narrow streets, and called
'gully cricket' (gully means a narrow street); a batsman is out if
he hits a tennis ball higher than first-floor level. This is good
discipline for hitting the ball along the ground.
 In this chapter you will learn:
• about the home shrine
• about puja and the 16-stage
puja at festivals
• about food and fasting
• about women and religion in

the home
what sva-dharma
(D •

•
is

about the Divali festival

• about the social
manifestation of caste
• about religious life in the
villages.
Most Hindu rituals take place in the home. They include all life-
65
cycle rituals, or rites of passage; festive occasions to
commemorate the birth of certain deities, and regional festivals 1
celebrating gods such as Ganesha or Durga, as well as those O
3
having national appeal such as Divali, Navaratri or Holi. There
are many forms of worship in Hinduism; the most common
form is called puja and many Hindus perform the daily puja at
the household shrine.

In the following account, a Hindu woman living in Britain

explains howshe performs the daily puja, and describes her
home shrine and the significance of this daily religious ritual to
her spirituality.
o>
Iam Kamal. came to London from Bombay 25 years ago with my
I

husband Madhav and our daughter Shanta. Our son Shriram was
born here five years after our arrival. Madhav and run a I

newsagents' while Shanta looks after the sub-post office. Shriram

is away training to be a teacher of physical education. We have a

three-bedroom flat above the shop.

Because of the nature of our work, we all get up very early, then
complete our ablutions and have a cup of tea. While Madhav and
Shanta sort our newspapers and see to their delivery, bathe and I

prepare the puja tray.

Our home shrine is arranged in a small wall unit in the kitchen. We

replaced the door of the wall unit with a fretwork arch, so the
shrine looks like a miniature temple. Behind the small altar in the
shrine there a framed picture of Ganesha. In a copper dish on
is

the altar there is a stone Shiva linga, a murti of our family deity,
the goddess Parvati, a rounded bluish stone, symbolizing peace,
and representing God Vishnu, and a murti of Goddess Lakshmi.
The two murtis of the goddesses are made of silver. On the altar
there a small conch shell on a brass pedestal to the left of the
is

copper dish and a small silver hand-bell to the right. In the wall
unit below the altar there is a shelf where store the materials I

used for the puja.

On the puja tray keep a copper beaker filled with cold water, a
I

copper spoon, red kumkum, yellow turmeric, rice grains, an

upright lamp with a wick soaked in ghee, some small flowers, and
one joss stick. For food offerings use milk or sugar crystals.
I

I sip water three times to purify myself, offer namaskar to the

deities and ring the bell. The previous day's flowers and rice
grains are removed from the copper dish. All the murtis, the
66 conch and the bell are placed in another tray, and bathed and
dried before they are returned to the copper dish on the altar. The

conch shell, the bell and the murtis are anointed with the coloured
powders and offered rice grains. The Ganesha picture frame is
wiped clean and anointed with kumkum and turmeric. Flowers are
offered. light the lamp and the joss stick and offer light and
I

fragrance to the deities. After the food offering wave the lamp I

before the murtis while I chant arati verses, praising the deities. At
the end of the puja I offer namaskar and prayers for the deities'
blessing.

After seeing to the papers, Madhav and Shanta bathe, then offer
namaskars to the deities, after which we have breakfast.
o>
spend no more than 20 minutes on the daily puja. Through it
I I

remind myself that without God's blessing our work would not run
smoothly, and we would not enjoy peace and harmony.

The type of home shrine described by Kamal is found in

Brahmin households in small towns in India. Where more space
is available, some families may set aside a small room for the

shrine. In an Indian farmer's house in a village, a shrine set in a

small alcove or an opening in the wall may contain only an
embossed piece of copper showing a picture of the guardian
deity of the village. In a small flat in a city where space is at a
premium, a shrine may be set up on one side of a shelving unit
fixed to the wall.

A daily puja is very simply performed, sometimes even without

the chanting of the mantras. But an elaborate puja is performed
for the consecration of a clay murti at the start of a festival such
as the annual Durga or Ganesha festival.

Here a young Hindu, living in a small town in western India,

describes how he performed the consecration puja to a murti of
Ganesha on the first day of the deity's annual festival:

I Vasant and my sisters are called Gauri and Padma. We live

am
with our parents and grandparents in a fairly large house.
Between the front door and our sitting room there is a small
courtyard. In the wall of the sitting room facing the front door is
an alcove, two feet wide, two feet deep and three feet high, with
a semi-circular arch at the top. Four days before the Ganesha
festival last year, my sisters and removed books, newspapers
I

and odds and ends from the alcove and swept it clean. My father
painted the alcove and the surrounding area with a yellow
emulsion paint.

Next day we three helped our mother to stick cut-out flower

patterns of coloured paper into the small panels of a rectangular
wooden frame. This decorated frame was to be fixed on two
wooden pegs set in the wall on either side of the alcove, so that
visitors would be able to see inside the alcove through the
opening in the frame.
The day before the festival my father and went to the sculptor,I

who makes clay murtis of different gods and goddesses for

religious occasions. We paid 40 rupees for our murti, which had
been ordered two months in advance. We brought the murti home
and placed it in a copper tray on a small stool in the alcove. After
the decorated frame was put in place and the electric light inside
the alcove switched on, the smiling Ganesha could be seen
clearly, even across the front courtyard.

Grandfather suggested that since I had undergone the thread

ceremony six years earlier, I was well qualified to represent the
family in any religious ritual, therefore I should do the
consecration puja the next day. I could not possibly disappoint
grandfather. pointed out, however, that
I did not know the I

mantras or the procedure, but was assured that our Guruji would
I

explain everything.

On the first day of the festival we all

got up very early and bathed.
Guruji, our family priest,had promised to conduct our puja at
eight in the morning. Grandma, Gauri and Padma had arranged
all the materials on two large brass trays. A basket held flowers

and a variety of leaves especially needed for Ganesha worship.

The puja utensils were made of copper. Three wooden boards
were placed on the floor below the decorated alcove - one for
Guruji, one for me and one for the murti.

Isat on the board facing the murti. Before me were a copper dish,
a copper cup and long spoon. Another copper vessel had water
inside and a coconut on top. There were a conch shell and a silver
hand-bell as well. Guruji sat on my left; grandfather, father and my
sisters sat near by and observed the puja. As Guruji chanted the
appropriate mantras, I did the various rituals.

I sipped cold water three times to purify myself, speaking the

names of God Vishnu. On the fourth name, water was allowed to
trickle from my right hand into the copper dish.

I then joined my palms and offered namaskar to various deities,

including those especially important to my family. Guruji then
68 recited verses in Sanskrit praising Ganesha, Parvati, the Sun,
Saraswati, and the trimurti.

The exact location and the time and day of the puja were
announced. I had to repeat Guruji's words.
'I offer worship to God Ganesha, according to our family tradition,
with my limited knowledge and with whatever is available, in order
to gain for myself and for my family the blessings described in the
Puranas and to fulfil the dreams and desires of all my relations
assembled here, to ward off all evil from our lives and to secure
well-being, stability, long life and prosperity for all!'

Worship was offered to the water vessel, representing the holy

o> rivers, to the conch shell and to the bell. After the meditation

prayer the 16 stages of the main puja followed.

The 16 stages of the puja are:

• Invocation rice grains were sprinkled on the murti. A blade

of grass dipped in ghee was held near the murti, touching its
eyes and heart. The spirit of god was believed to enter the
murti at this stage.
• Offering a seat rice grains were spread in the copper dish
below the murti.
• Washing of the feet the feet of the murti were touched with
a wet flower.
• Oblation of reverence water and a mixture of milk,
yoghurt, ghee, honey and sugar were offered. A drop of it
was applied to the mouth of the murti.
• Drink fresh water was offered as a refreshing drink.
• Bathing the murti was bathed symbolically. A flower
dipped in water and the honey-yoghurt mixture was used to
sprinkle the image lightly. Saffron and sandalwood paste
were also used for bathing.
• Robes a red cloth was draped round the neck and shoulders
of the deity.
• Sacred thread a sacred thread was draped around the
murti.
(At this point, I lifted the copper tray with the murti and
placed it firmly on the stool in the alcove. When the morning
and evening pujas were done during the ten days of the
festival, the murti was not to be moved. I continued the main
puja standing up in front of the alcove.)
• Sandalwood paste and red and yellow powders were
 applied to the murti's forehead.
[ gg
• Flowers and leaves were arranged round the murti. -,

• Joss-sticks were lit and waved before the deity.

• A ghee lamp was lit and waved before the deity.
• Food copra and raw sugar were offered.
• Fresh fruit was placed before Ganesha. Some rupee coins »
were placed before the deity as a gift. o
• Circumambulation was not possible, so I did a complete o
turn about myself in a clockwise direction. I begged Ganesha
to accept the whole puja, which was offered with devotion,
and to forgive any omissions.
• Arati and flower offerings using another ghee-lamp and
Q^
camphor tablets, we performed the arati, singing verses
which praised Ganesha, Devi, Shiva and Vishnu. Gauri and
Padma played the brass cymbals to maintain the rhythm.
After the arati everyone offered flowers to Ganesha and
prostrated themselves before the deity in reverence. In
conclusion, Guruji chanted the benediction verses. Before
lunch, I placed 21 modaks, a special sweetmeat, before the
deity. The sweetmeats were received back as prasad and given
to everyone at lunch.

Food as Brahman
The vedic Aryans, during the early centuries of their stay in
India, ate a rich diet including fish, meat, vegetables and milk
products, and enjoyed intoxicating liquor. Their attitude to food
was liberal, prompted by a philosophy of having healthy minds
in healthy bodies. A later vedic text, called the Taittiriya
Upanishad, equates food with Brahman. In modern practice, a
verse used to say grace before a meal states that Annatn asti
puma Brahman, 'food is total Brahman', and that eating is not
an act of merely filling the stomach but a religious sacrifice, in
which oblations of food are offered to the fire in the stomach
that consumes all. These two concepts explain why rinsing the
mouth is considered an act of ritual purification.

Vegetarianism
As a result of the ahimsa (non-injury) religions, namely
Buddhism and Jainism, meat-eating on religious occasions was
declined. More and more Hindus favoured a vegetarian diet,
which is more suitable for a hot climate. There are many Hindus
who are strict vegetarians, orthodox Brahmin priests, for
 example; at the same time, meat, fish and poultry are enjoyed by
7Q ]

many people in India and abroad. In some sects meat-eating and

liquor are obligatory in certain rituals, but these are considered
polluting by many Hindus. Onion and garlic are totally avoided
by Brahmin priests, and food offered to deities in temples will
not be polluted by these ingredients. They are, however, widely
used on non-religious occasions for their medical benefits.

Food and pollution

Foods are classified as pukka, those deep-fried in ghee, and
katcba, those cooked in water. Pukka foods last longer without
q£ refrigeration in a hot climate and do not pass on ritual pollution
to those who eat them. Thus an orthodox family on pilgrimage
can eat deep-fried food without it losing its ritual purity.

Katcha food not only goes off quickly but can also be polluted
in many ways, and can pass on ritual pollution to those who eat
it. Food cooked the previous night, cooked twice, or left over

from a meal, is ritually impure. Food that has been touched or

smelt by an animal or another human being is rejected. Most of
these rules about purity and pollution applied to food seem to
be based on rules of food hygiene, although they are expressed
in religious terms.

Fasting
Fasting is a religious act undertaken voluntarily. Some people
fast on a particular day of the week considered sacred to their
chosen For example, Monday is sacred to Shiva, Saturday
deity.
to Hanuman, so people worshipping Shiva or Hanuman fast on
those days. Some Devi worshippers fast on a Tuesday; other
people fast on a particular day each month to propitiate god
Ganesha. Motives for undertaking a fast are varied. Some do it
to increase self-control, others to propitiate a deity. Women fast
to bring religious merit and God's blessing to their family.

In Hinduism, fasting does not mean going without food

altogether. Fasting foods include milk, yoghurt, fruit, certain
root vegetables, dates and sago. But rice, wheat, millet, pulses,
onion and garlic are excluded from the list. In spite of there
being many permissible foods, many people allow themselves
only water to drink between sunrise and sunset, and break their
fast after the moonrise.
Women and religion in the home f^j~
Although major financial decisions affecting the welfare of the 3
various members of a joint Hindu family are taken by the senior <§;

males in consultation with the senior womenfolk, women are a

largely free to decide how the various religious rituals are
J
carried out in the home. The cooking of food and the ritual ©
purity of the kitchen are domains of women. They arrange the g"

food for the feast days to celebrate the rites of passage and |
festivals. They are ever-vigilant about the observance of fasts,
not only for themselves but also for other persons in the family,
and arrange for the appropriate fasting foods.
The wife performs the daily puja of the family deities when the Q>
husband is busy with his job. In some households husband and
wife do the puja on alternate days. Women decide how the
childhood sacraments for the new generation are to be
celebrated. These include the naming of a baby, its first outing
to visit the guardian deity of the village, and its first solid food.

Important religious rituals in which women participate

prominently are the during pregnancy, which ensure the
rites
psychological and physical well-being of the mother. A woman
experiences the spirituality of the faith at her own marriage
ceremony as she goes through the rituals with her future
husband. Her social and religious status changes when she
marries.

The undertaking and performance of and

certain votive rites,
the fasting associated with them, are a woman's exclusive
decisions. At her son's sacred thread ceremony her involvement
is only partial; after sharing the ceremonial meal with her son,
she takes no further part in the proceedings. At a thanksgiving
puja, such as the satya-narayan puja, she sits to the right of her
husband before the temporary altar, and jointly repeats the
mantras to announce the reason for the puja and the blessings
they hope to receive for the welfare of the family. She then
retires to the kitchen to supervize the cooking for the ensuing
feast, while her husband completes the puja under the direction
of the priest. She has a great deal of freedom and authority over
the practice of religion in the home, but a woman is not allowed
to officiate in a priestly capacity at important occasions such as
the sacred thread and marriage.
72I What is sva-dharma?
The sva-dharma, the personal code of religious practice of a
4 family and its individual members, is determined by the varna
(social category) and caste (jati) to which the family belongs.
Each person's code of religious, social and moral duty is of
3" prime importance, and takes priority over the general practice in
the wider Hindu community. In the Bhagavad-Gita God
Krishna says that it is better to perform one's own dharma badly
than to do another's dharma well.

The sva-dharma of a family decides which deity is worshipped

at home, which temples are attended for the darshan (viewing)
0> j
of the deity, how the various Hindu festivals are celebrated at
home, whether the sons experience the sacred thread, and who
the marriage partners should be.

If the family belongs to one of the many sects of Hinduism, their

personal practice may be different from that of other people
belonging to the same varna. For example, certain orthodox
Brahmins are strict vegetarians, while other families belonging
to the same varna may occasionally eat fish. The celebration of
festivals may differ from family to family in the same region. For
example, the Genesha festival is celebrated as a public festival
for ten days by the wider Hindu community in western India,
but different families may celebrate the festival at home for two,
five or seven days, depending on their sva-dharma traditions.

Sometimes an aspect of personal religious practice may be

changed through a religious experience. A devout farmer, for
example, may have taken a vow on a pilgrimage to give up
eating meat, while other people belonging to the same farming
community may continue to eat meat on certain occasions. Thus
the sva-dharma practice of an individual or family may be
different from that of the wider Hindu community.

Varna-ashrama-dharma
The word Hindu, derived from Sindhu, meaning the Indus river,
was used by Persians to denote the people living beyond the
Indus. The term Hinduism, used by Western scholars, refers to
the religions of the Hindus. Hindus themselves describe their
faith either as sanatana- dharma, the ancient or eternal way of
or as varna-ashrama-dharma, meaning a way of life based
life,

on varna (social category) and ashrama (different stages of life).

The explanation of the four ashramas, namely the celibate
student stage, the married householder stage, the retirement [
7^
stage and, optionally, the renunciation stage, can be found in
Chapter 05.

The classification of people into social categories, called varna,

originated among the vedic Aryans. A verse from the hymn
called the Furusha-sukta found in the tenth book of the Rig- g"

Veda says: g
When they split up Primal Man (Purusha), into how many
parts was he divided? What did his mouth, arms, thighs
and feet represent? The Brahmin was his mouth, the
Kshatriya his arms, the Vaishya his thighs and the Shudra
were born from his feet. Q}
(Rig-Veda: X.90, w.11-12 Translation: Hemant Kanitkar)

A priest uses his mouth for recitingand teaching scriptures, a

soldier needs the strength of his arms to defend his country from
its enemies, a merchant or a farmer uses his thighs for

transporting goods for commerce or for working in a field,

while the artisan provides services to the three upper varnas just
as the feet serve the body. The order in which the four varnas
are listed in the verse was interpreted by Brahmin scholars to
imply that the Brahmin was at the top and the Shudra was at the
bottom of the social scale.

Some scholars have suggested that the verse in question was a

forgery. Manu, the well-known lawgiver, codified the rules
governing the conduct, duties and interrelations of the four
varnas, which firmly established the concept and the order of
precedence in Hindu society. The first three varnas are termed
dvija (twice-born); they have a second spiritual birth when they
receive the sacred thread, and can study the Vedas. The Shudras
do not receive the sacred thread and cannot study the Vedas.
Some scholarsput forward the theory that the Aryans
differentiated themselvesfrom the original dark-skinned Indian
people on the basis of their lighter complexion. The Sanskrit
word varna means colour, which, they suggest, is the foundation
of the varna classification. The duties of the varnas are
described in the Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 18, verses 41-44:

O Arjuna, the duties of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas

and Shudras have been fixed according to their qualities
arising from their inherent natures.

The natural duties of Brahmins are serenity, self-restraint,

religious austerity, ritual purity, forgiveness, uprightness,
jm 1 spiritual knowledge and belief in God.
The natural duties of a Kshatriya are bravery, splendour,
fortitude, dexterity, courage in battle, generosity, and the
o exercise of authority.
3
The natural duties of a Vaishya are agriculture, cattle-
rearing and trade. In the same way, rendering service
through work is the natural duty of a Shudra.
g (Translation: Hemant Kanitkar)
<t>

The Brahmins are priests and professionals; the Kshatriyas are

soldiers and administrators, Vaishyas are the businesspeople
and the Shudras are the artisans. The varna duties remain
qJ unchanged, but the duties of an individual change as he/she
progresses through the ashramas.

Duties of a Brahmin householder

A Brahmin should earn a living and maintain a family by
an occupation which does not affect other men's interest.
A Brahmin's speech and feelings must befit his birth,
wealth, age and education.
No guest should be allowed to stay in a Brahmin's house
without receiving hospitality, food, water and bed.
(Manu: 4.2,18,29)
Duties of Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras
A Kshatriya's first duty is to protect people and property.
Agriculture, banking, commerce and dairy farming are
suitable occupations for a Vaishya. Serving the three twice-
born varnas is If a Shudra cannot get
the duty of a Shudra.
a good living by he may become a tradesman or
service,
learn a craft, but he should always serve the upper varnas.
(Yajnavalkya: 1.119-21 Both translations: Hemant Kanitkar)

Religion in the home of a dvija

The first three varnas are termed dvija. However, it is Brahmins
in India who are most likely to progress through the ashramas,
and experience the traditional 16 samskaras, or rites of passage.
The popular rites of passage among British Hindus are:
seemanta, a ritual performed during pregnancy to enhance the
psychological and physical well-being of the expectant mother;
the naming of a baby; a baby's first visit to the temple; the
sacred thread, for boys in devout families; the wedding
ceremony with mantras from the Rig-Veda and other scriptures;
and cremation.
The daily puja of the family deities is performed either by the
75
husband or the wife, where both are working full-time. In India
the daily puja in a dvija household is usually performed by the £
senior male. Special puja is on the
offered to various deities 5'
3
festival days dedicated to them. The birthdays of gods
Hanuman, Rama, Narasimha and Krishna are festive occasions
commemorated at sunrise, noon, sunset and midnight
respectively, on the appropriate days in the Hindu calendar. The
head of the household usually observes a fast on the day of the
nativity, and a festival dinner is enjoyed by the family the next
day. The regional festivals dedicated to Ganesha and the
Goddess Durga are celebrated privately in dvija homes; they are
also celebrated as public festivals by the whole community - o>
Ganesha in western India and Durga puja in Bengal.
Brahmin and Vaishya families celebrate the major festivals at
home; these are Navaratri, Dasara, Divali and Holi. The whole
Hindu community is involved in Divali and Holi celebrations,
with lights and fireworks for the former and bonfires for the
latter. The religious aspects of these festivals are emphasized in
dvija homes.

Observing various fasts on different days throughout the year,

reciting evening prayers so that children learn verses praising
different deities, telling stories from mythology to youngsters,
and offering water to the sun at sunriseand sunset, are some of
the religious practices found in the Brahmin households. Here
the wife of a dvija describes how her family celebrated the Divali
festival in their small flat in Bombay:

Iam Tara; my husband is called Madhu and we have a 1 2-year-old

son named Raju. My father is named Vishnu but Raju calls him
Ajoba. Madhu's parents are Nana and Aji. Madhu's younger
brother Sudhir is married to Rajani and they have two daughters.
Madhu's three sisters are married, so they celebrated Divali in
their own homes. Sudhir and his family live in their own flat in
north Bombay. Nana and Aji came to Bombay for Divali from the
small town where they live.

I had been busy the previous week preparing milk sweets and
deep-fried savoury dishes for Divali. Raju had organized the small
oil lamps and also made a lantern using bamboo slats and
transparent coloured paper. Madhu and Raju did a lot of
shopping, buying shirts, dhotis, saris, cloth for making blouses,
hair oil, sandalwood soap, and fireworks (such as sparklers,
crackers and bangers), not forgetting marigold and jasmine
flowers for puja.

Our flat is one of 20 dwellings, built in two wings of ten flats facing
each other, with an open quadrangle between the wings. All the
flats open onto wide verandas, which were decorated for Divali
with paper chains, and throughout the festival dozens of small oil
lamps illuminated them. The quadrangle was swept clean and
sprinkled with water, then small groups of girls drew rangoli
designs of intertwining geometrical patterns, using different
coloured powders. These colourful rangoli drawings and the rows
of lights created a joyous atmosphere, which was enhanced by
the fireworks.
On the evening of Divali prepared an oil lamp and placed it
first I

on the veranda just outside our front door, in such a way that the
single flame pointed south to honour Yama, the spirit of death
who rules over that quarter. For the rest of the year a single-flame
lamp must never point in that direction.

On the second day we were up very early, and after our morning
tea Aji and applied perfumed oil to the head and upper body of
I

Raju, Madhu, Ajoba and Nana before they bathed. Aji and also I

applied oil to our bodies before bathing. First Madhu offered puja
to the family deities and then Nana offered a special puja to the
god Vishnu, to commemorate Vishnu's victory over the demon
Naraka.
After this worship we all enjoyed the special Divali food for
breakfast. That afternoon we invited some of our friends for
refreshments, and we also visited their flats for snacks.

On the third evening up a temporary altar in our front room,

I set
to offer worship to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. On the altar
table placed some gold and silver ornaments, coins, ten rupee
I

notes and our cheque books round a small silver bowl containing
milk sweets. All of us offered red and yellow powders, rice grains
and flowers to the goddess represented by the ornaments. Then
Ioffered light and a joss stick. All our friends from other flats came
to receive prasad. That evening we illuminated the verandas with
lightsand the children enjoyed the fireworks. We offered prayers
to Lakshmi for her blessings throughout the next year.

We had invited all our relatives in Bombay

lunch on for a festival
the fourth day. To follow the tradition, and received a Aji, Rajani I

present from our respective husbands. On this main day of Divali,

King Balee is remembered for his generous nature. The story in
mythology relates that god Vishnu restrained Balee and pushed
 him into the nether world, but granted him a boon by which the 77
King would be remembered on earth during Divali.
The fifth and last day of Divali is celebrated as sisters' day. o
Madhu, Sudhir and Raju visited their sisters and cousins for lunch
and gave them cash presents. The illuminations and fireworks
continued for another week or so, after which our lives returned
to normal routine.

Jati
most important category for most Hindus; this word is
Jati is the
translated as caste, derived from the Portuguese word casta o>
meaning breed, race or kind. Most scholars hold that by the
seventh century bce northern Indian society, formed through the
intermarriages between Aryans and the original inhabitants, was
changing, and had gradually begun to add a fourth varna, called
shudra, to the earlier threefold division. New settlements needed
new skills, which the artisans developed, as well as providing
goods and services to the three earlier groups. There were many
families doing 'unclean' jobs, such as tanning leather and
removing dead animals from the villages. These people belonged
to the fifth group, and were excluded from the varna categories.

As centuries passed, occupational groups (castes)

different
evolved, fitting into varna groups. The skills of each craft were
guarded within the families and passed on to the sons, who
began to follow the occupations of their fathers. In the early
period, however, it was possible for some people to change their
occupations, and to move either up or down the first three
varnas. In some cases the Shudras moved up the varna scale;
some became petty chieftains, thus following the Kshatriya
occupations. But those doing the 'unclean' jobs forever
remained at the bottom of the social scale.

As time went on, various occupations became exclusive, and

each group created a vested interest in its own particular
occupation, thus making it very difficult for people to change
their jobs. Occupations became hereditary and exclusive to
certain groups, giving rise to rules prohibiting intermarriage and
dining between castes. A hierarchy of castes within the varna
system emerged; this ranking was not uniform all over India,
although the varna ranking was. For instance, the dhobi
(washerman) caste might rank above the barbers in some
regions, but below them in others; nevertheless, both remained
 Shudras and always ranked below the three upper varnas. Varna
7o I

and jati are therefore not interchangeable terms. Varna is a

larger group comprising smaller caste groups doing different
jobs and maintaining different family traditions. A family priest,
a temple priest and a funerary priest all do their jobs differently
within the Brahmin varna.

The social manifestation of caste (jati)

(D

Ritual pollution
Members of the upper castes consider the lowest castes to be
__ ritually unclean. They feel they can be polluted by the proximity
0> of the low castes, by eating the food cooked or touched by them,
or by using the same well. The former untouchables now call
themselves Dalit, and untouchability has been abolished by law.

Eating together
Members of the same caste eat together, and only fellow caste-
members are invited to a meal in the home. Forbidden foods
such as meat, fish, onion and garlic, eaten by low castes, are
believed to pass on ritual pollution. Different castes in a village,
at awedding feast, for example, sit in different rows, thus eating
at the same time but not eating together. Food cooked by
Brahmins is acceptable to all castes.

Marriage within the same caste

A marriage partner for a son or a daughter is generally chosen
from the same caste, but intercaste marriages are legal. The
choice of a marriage partner from the same caste ensures
common ritual and cultural traditions.

Hereditary occupation
In modern India, greater educational opportunities offer training
and young people can apply for jobs regardless
in different fields,
of caste, although those from professional homes are still more
likely to follow their fathers' professions. Nevertheless, people
do not necessarily follow the traditional varna/caste occupations:
for example, a Brahmin may work as a bank clerk, own a
grocery shop, or become an officer in the armed forces. A
Kshatriya may prefer to farm the family land, or run a haulage
firm transporting goods by road. A Vaishya may be a senior
Customs officer, or become an airline pilot. A Shudra can take
advantage of the special educational opportunities, and become
a doctor or a lawyer, or may become an MP
and eventually a
Minister in the State or Central Government.
Economic interdependence f^T
In the past, certain castes such as the barber or the washerman _
performed services for the higher castes, and were paid in kind =
at harvest time. Priests were also paid in kind as they provided J
3
services to Kshatriyas or Vaishyas. This system prevails in some
villages, but the cash wages earned in factories or government
offices diminishes this aspect of caste in modern times.

Varna and caste today

For the past 75 years at least, caste barriers regarding social
mixing and eating together have been broken down in large
cities. In 1950, untouchability was abolished by law, and
temples were 'open' to all Hindus. The underprivileged are
o>
given preferential treatment in education and jobs. But caste and
varna are still important in relation to marriage. Caste loyalties
are activated during elections or when applying for jobs.

The varna-ashrama-dharma is, in reality, alive only in orthodox

Brahmin families. Brahmins always know they are Brahmins.
Shudras and Dalits always know that they are considered to be
on a lower level in society. The two in-between varnas, the
Kshatriyas and the Vaishyas, are not very clear about their
varna status but they know which caste they belong to. A Hindu
is born into a particular caste and stays in it, even though he/she

may change religious loyalty. F ormer Hindu s now converted to

other faiths find that the change of religion has not improved
their social status. Caste gives its members a sense of belonging,
but the caste label sticks in spite of economic success or political
power. The caste system is peculiar to India, and affects all
religions and regions.

Religious life in the villages

In many few Brahmin households, although
villages there are a
the majority of Hindus earn their living as farmers, farm
labourers or artisans such as bricklayers, carpenters,
blacksmiths, basket makers or barbers. The majority may not be
conversant with the religious observances that take place in a
Brahmin home, yet they have a religious life of their own which
is important to them. In some homes there might be a picture of

the guardian goddess of the village embossed on a piece of

copper placed in a small alcove. This symbol of the divine is
offered flowers in worship on certain days and joss-sticks may
be lit at the same time. There might be a picture of Ganesha or
qq 1 Hanuman printed on the calendar which will receive reverence.
A picture of Sai-Baba, or some regional holy man, will receive
similar homage.
<o

§ While bathing in the local stream the people utter the name of
Ganga (Ganges) or say 'Jai Bhagawan\ Victory to God'. Going
to the Mata shrine or visiting the Hanuman shrine is a popular
g- act of devotion for many people in the village. Village deities
have their annual festivals called Jatra (fairs), at which time
many people will make offerings to the deity, and dab their
foreheads with the holy ash kept near the murti, as a mark of
receiving God's blessing. These fairs are occasions for enjoyment;
there are wrestling contests and folk plays. On the day of the
o serpent festival, young boys and girls enjoy themselves on rope
swings which are suspended from the branches of banyan trees.
Snake charmers bring live cobras to the village square, where
many women offer flowers and milk to them. There are hardly
any instances of snake-bite on that particular day!
The Holi festival is celebrated in hundreds of villages with great
enthusiasm. When the Holi bonfire is lit at dusk, pieces of
coconut are offered to the fire. Going round the bonfire is
considered sacred. The next day the men of the village play
games near the dying bonfires and children sprinkle everyone
with coloured powders or coloured water, in fun. In all these
activities there is a religious element, which reminds people of
the existence of the superhuman power which they call
Bhagawan.
cl!

(D
3 c
o In this
•
chapter you will learn:
the traditional 1 6 samskaras
- life cycle rituals
• about naming a baby and
the childhood sacraments
<5 • about marriage and the
Hindu wedding
0) • about death and cremation.
82 Traditional 16 samskaras
Among family rituals and ceremonies, the samskaras are
3 i. considered very important, especially in Brahmin families.
3<
5 =• Samskaras are sometimes translated as sacraments, but in
si Hindu use the term differs substantially from the Christian
concept, as indicated below. Samskaras are rites of passage,
03
3 comprising various rituals performed during a person's lifetime.
a
These mark the growth and development of an individual,
purify and sanctify the body, ennoble the soul and refine the
personality. Traditionally there are 16 samskaras, but the lists
given in various sacred texts are not always consistent. Regional
practice stresses some rites as vital, while omitting minor ones
such as learning the alphabet, for example. Only orthodox
Brahmin males experience all 16; many Brahmin boys
experience about ten, and girls about six; most Hindus
experience at least three rites of passage. A widely accepted list
of sacraments is given below.

Hindu samskaras
Before the birth of a baby

1 Conception
2 Prayers for begetting a son
3 Hair-parting

Childhood sacraments

4 Birth ceremonies
5 Naming a child
6 A baby's first outing
7 First solid food
8 A boy's first haircut
9 Piercing the upper part of the right ear
10 The sacred thread ceremony
1 Starting to learn the scriptures
12 End of vedic education

Rites for an adult

13 Marriage ceremony
14 Householder stage of life

15 Retirement stage of life, ritual performed on 60th birthday

16 Cremation
Naming a baby fs3
The naming ceremony is called Namakarana and is performed
3 i.
on the 12th day after birth. Many Hindu families in Britain 3<
celebrate this rite of passage. The mother and child are in a state § =.

of ritual pollution for ten days after childbirth, and no one j" §
except the midwife has physical contact with them. This period
of ritual pollution prevents any infection from reaching them. i.

Many Hindu women in small villages have their babies at home,

and the ten-day period of segregation of the mother and child
from the rest of the family is a wise precaution against infection.
Well-to-do women in large cities can afford to have their babies
in hospitals or private nursing homes, where infection is easily
prevented, and so the segregation is not strictly observed. The
birth of a baby is joyfully welcomed in all families, but Hindus
celebrate the occasion with greater enthusiasm if the new arrival
is a son. The naming ceremony is both a religious and a social

occasion. The modern tendency among rich city-dwellers in

India is to perform this ceremony in a hired hall witnessed by
many relatives and friends, who stay to enjoy a lavish dinner
afterwards.

Orthodox families usually follow the procedure given in texts

that deal with religious rituals in the home. The parents and the
baby are dressed in new clothes, and the baby is held by the
mother on her lap as she sits on the right of her husband. The

family priest conducts the ritual. Rice grains are spread on a

metal plate which is kept in front of the couple. The father, using
a gold ring or a piece of gold wire, writes the name of the family
deity, followed by the date of birth of his child and the proposed
name. The father whispers the name into his baby's right ear. All
those present bless the child and the priest receives a cash gift.

In many families the ritual is quite informal, and mainly

attended by women in the late afternoon on the 12th day after
the child's birth. The baby is dressed in new clothes, with a soot
mark on its forehead to avert the envious eye. It is placed in a
cradle which is suspended from the ceiling. Some families light
12 lamps and place them under the cradle. The name of the
oil
baby is announced by the senior woman in the family. The
assembled women then sing cradle songs in which the new name
is inserted at the appropriate place. Everyone is given cooked

chick-peas and refreshments. In many families the village

goldsmith is invited for the occasion; he pierces the baby's
earlobes with fine gold wire, which is made into a thin ring.
84 Personal names
o jy The scriptures recommend that boys' names should be of two or
n I. four syllables, while girls' names should be of one, three or five
syllables. In ancient days the male names were suffixed by

O | specific words; Sharma for Brahmins, Varma for Kshatriyas,

to XL.
r Gupta for Vaishyas and Dasa for Shudras. Thus the names
S might read Vishnusharma, Mahendravarma, Devagupta and
Devadasa. Such names in modern Hindu society do not
necessarily indicate varna or jati.

Girls could be named after certain constellations, rivers or birds,

and in the past names such as Rayvati, Rohini, Ganga, Yamuna
and Maina were quite popular. Names chosen by modern Hindu
parents for their children are not so traditional, and may come
from the worlds of film, music or literature.
The births of all Hindu children in Britain are registered, as the
law demands for all; but in India this is not always the case,
which can give rise to problems in later life regarding passport
applications, school or college enrollment, or pension claims.
Many parents in India get round this difficulty by having
horoscopes cast for their children, which show not only the date
but also the time of birth. These are acceptable to Indian
officials, but such documents may not prove adequate in Britain
without further documentation; and it is often difficult to get
this from India.

Important childhood sacraments

If a Hindu woman has her baby in a hospital or a private
nursing home, the journey from the hospital back home has
first
no religious significance. The rite of the first outing is performed
in the third or fourth month after birth, so that the child
becomes aware of its surroundings. The scriptures suggest that
this rite should be done in the light half of the month, when the
moon is clearly seen. On the day of the ritual, the parents and
the baby bathe early. The father offers puja and special prayers
to the family deities at the home shrine; the child is dressed in
new clothes which are of dark colours, and a small dab of lamp-
black or soot is applied to its forehead and cheek. This is
designed to avert the eye of envy from women who have no
children of their own. The baby is taken out of the house and
shown the sun for a few seconds; care is taken not to harm its
eyes through overexposure.
In a city, a baby is taken to the nearest temple, but in a village [ g«-
it is taken to the shrine of the guardian goddess to receive
blessings. The mother and baby
are accompanied by other 5 §
female relatives who
carry flowers, a piece of new cloth and a 3 5
coconut which the mother offers to the goddess with prayers for
a long and healthy life for the baby. In the evening, the child is «
|
shown the moon. A four-month-old baby is made aware of o>

light, darkness, shapes and colours through this ritual. Q-

The rite of the first solid food is performed seven or eight

months after birth. In well-to-do families, the father offers
special prayers to the family deities as he performs the morning
puja. The child is first fed a small quantity of boiled rice mixed
with yoghurt, ghee and honey by the father, using a spoon. The
mother then completes the feeding. A child from a poor family
may be given only some rice and milk as its first taste of solid
food. The rich, Westernized families in India probably use
special baby-food from an expensive tin for this ritual.

The time boy is chosen after his first

for the first haircut of a
birthday, and the ritual may
not be performed until the third
year if the child is weak. Nowadays, only the orthodox Brahmin
families perform this rite elaborately. The barber is paid cash
and a quantity of rice and millet. The head is not completely
shorn; a small tuft of hair is left at the front. Most boys,
however, follow the Western fashion. In some parts of India,
young girls also experience this ritual. A medical text from
about 180 CE recommends periodic shaving of the head to
promote a strong growth of hair.
Until the beginning of this century, many Brahmin boys had the
upper part of their right ear pierced when they were about six
years old. This ritual enabled them to wear an ornament
consisting of a golden ring with pearls, but the custom has
steadily gone out of fashion. A child's earlobes are pierced either
on the day of its naming ceremony or when it is a few months
old.

These rites mark the important stages in a child's growth. The

most significant rite of passage is the sacred thread, which
marks the end of childhood. A young Hindu's experience of his
thread ceremony is given in Chapter 01 of this book.
asl Marriage
1

g S Marriage is perhaps the most important event in a Hindu family.

| = It is a significant rite of passage for a young man or woman
§ 3. since changes their ashrama, or stage in life. For a woman, it
it

jj r is also a major religious ritual marking adulthood since women

normally do not experience the sacred thread ceremony.

Arranged marriage: a cultural phenomenon

In Western culture the majority of marriages take place because
and have mutually
the couple have fallen in love with each other
decided to marry. In India the majority of marriages are
arranged or assisted by people interested in the welfare of the
couple. Because 82 per cent of India's population is Hindu it is
assumed that only Hindus have arranged marriages. In fact, it is
a cultural phenomenon that applies not only to Hindus, but also
Sikhs, Jains, Muslims and Christians.

The need for such a practice

Where a young couple have themselves chosen each other as
marriage partners without any assistance from either family,
and intend to set up a nuclear home, either in Britain or in India,
they are not likely to have day-to-day contact with other
members of the extended family. Of course, they will meet the
others for short periods on special family occasions. But in their
home in a large city, the young wife will have the freedom to run
the small household to suit her husband and herself, and
develop her own lifestyle.

But when a young bride comes into her husband's family and
has to live in a large household where two or three generations
live under the same roof, she has to adjust to the cultural pattern
in her new family. The senior woman, probably the mother-in-
law, runs the household, supervizing all domestic matters such
as cooking, the daily puja, washing of clothes and the
celebrations of various religious rituals. If the young bride
comes from a family which does not have cultural traditions and
patterns of behaviour similar to those in her new home, she will
find it hard to adjust to the new lifestyle, and there will be minor
clashes with almost all members in her new home. A daughter-
in-law, for example, may favour wearing shalwar-khamiz
(trousers with a long overshirt), though her new family may
insist on a sari; she may use garlic in cooking, which could be a
polluting food for her husband and his relations; her ritual
observations may not be in harmony with those of her f
q7
husband's family. For these reasons a young man's parents and
other senior relatives will undertake a long search to select a
bride for him from a family with similar religious, cultural and 3 5
financial traditions and own. For example,
capabilities as their |. 3:
problems would certainly arise should a young man from a
villagebackground, studying agriculture at university in order Z
to increase output from the village landowners' farms, fall in o-

love with and marry a sophisticated urban graduate, and expect

her to adapt to a rural lifestyle. In a society full of wide status
and custom divergences, as modern India is, arranged marriages
safeguard family unity and prosperity to the benefit of husband
and wife, their children and relatives, and their community.

The match-makers
Both parents of a marriageable young woman begin their search
for a suitable bridegroom by speaking about it to their close
friends, who in turn spread the word among families of similar
religious and cultural traditions with marriageable sons. In these
preliminary soundings, details of the prospective bride's caste
and varna, age, physical appearance, skin complexion,
accomplishments, education, paid employment if she has one,
and the financial status of the family, are given to the possible
bridegroom's family. The search may continue for months, even
a couple of years. Many candidates are rejected: perhaps
because they are very rich, or not suitably educated, because
they are rich and highly educated but belong to a lower varna,
because they have some physical defect or because some
member of their family has leucoderma, diabetes, or some other
hereditary disease.

Sometimes the search is very short and the parents quickly find
a prospective bridegroom from a family of equal standing to
their own. A meeting of the two families is arranged. If the
young people like each other, their parents enter into serious
negotiations. At this stage, the family priests of both sides study
the birth horoscopes of the bride and bridegroom, and if they
match, the betrothal takes place, a suitable auspicious day for
the wedding is chosen, and the preparations begin in earnest.

Advertisements in the matrimonial sections of prominent

Sunday newspapers in India are quicker match-makers because
they cut out the middleman and directly reach those seeking
marriage partners. Families from all five religious groups
mentioned above who are seeking suitable partners for their
 sons or daughters, and some Europeans living in India, take
88
advantage of the 'matrimonial columns' service provided by
newspapers such as The Hindu in Madras or The Times of
India, in Bombay.

Matrimonial advertisements

BRIDEGROOMS WANTED The Hindu

Enquiries invited from middle-class Andhra Brahmin parents of
sons between 28 and 32, professions India/UK/USA for Andhra
Brahmin, smart graduate girl 25, height 158 cm. Doing
postgraduate study in the UK. Reply with photo and horoscope.
Box 123, c/o The Hindu, Madras.
girl 33, MA. A divorced graduate
Alliance invited for a Tamil Iyer
with sound income and no children will also be considered. Reply
with photo and horoscope to Box 629, c/o The Hindu, Madras.

Kerala Muslim girl, 32, graduate, college lecturer. Well placed,

pious family, invites alliance. Box 792, c/o The Hindu, Madras.

BRIDES WANTED The Times of India

A handsome Parsee doctor, 28, height 180 cms, earning 15,000
RS. per month in Bombay invites enquiries from parents of well
educated, fair and attractive daughters. Photo. Apply box -
M121, The Times of India, Bombay.

Indian Christiancomputer engineer, 35. American citizen. Own

house in New Wants sophisticated girl, any caste. Apply
Jersey.
with photo. Box T35 US. c/o The Times of India, Bombay.

Austrian businessman, carpet exporter, central India, 38. Height

1 75 cm, fair hair, blue eyes, seeks very attractive, well-educated

Westernized Hindu girl. Complexion and caste immaterial. Send

photo c/o Box AB95, c/o The Times of India, Bombay.

A Kshatriya government officer with car and flat in Bombay, 27,

height 168 cm
seeks bride from a high caste Hindu family. Must
be a graduate, with a light complexion. Photo. Box KG854 c/o
The Times of India, Bombay.

In the specimen matrimonial advertisements given above, four

factors are considered as important in almost all of them. Can
you say which they are? Most
of these advertisements found in
Indian newspapers are placed by the families of the prospective
brides or bridegrooms. Orthodox Brahmin families usually ask
for the horoscope of the prospective bride or bridegroom. As the
Tamil girl in the advertisement is in her thirties, her family f

gg
cannot be choosy, and are prepared to consider a divorced
graduate. Invariably these advertisements refer to skin 2 |
complexion and caste, either directly or indirectly. In contrast, 3 ^
such advertisements from men and women seeking partners also § 5.'
appear in British newspapers, but here they are placed by the 8 g.
individuals themselves. They mention personal interests such as a>

music, theatre, wining and dining, country walks and the like, o-

which the advertisers hope to share with their partners. Indian

newspaper advertisements do not mention any personal
interests of the young men and women concerned.
The third type of matchmakers are the matrimonial agencies
found These charge a fee for providing full
in Indian cities.
information about prospective brides and bridegrooms and their
families to their clients. The agencies are approached by parents,
who supply details about their son or daughter and state their
own expectations. From the hundreds of completed forms in the
files of the agency, the parents then receive details of possible
partners for their children. These agencies in India invariably
introduce families to each other, which underlines the fact that
Hindu marriages are unions between two families rather than
two individuals.
There are introduction agencies in London and Leicester which
specifically cater for professional young Hindu men and women.
The people who run these introduction parties, which include
dinner and disco dancing, are well known to the parents of the
young people attending the parties. The organizers and the
participants belong to the same caste associations. It is the young
people wishing to find suitable marriage partners who enrol their
names with the agencies; although their parents do not attend the
parties they are reassured by the knowledge that the organizers
will act as watchful, but almost invisible, chaperones to ensure
responsible behaviour by the young participants.

Here, Nisha, a young Gujarati woman, who works as a

computer programmer, describes an introduction party she
recently attended:

Introduction party
I registered my name with 'Introductions Select' nearly three
months ago. My parents had been suggesting for quite a while
that should think of getting married but had told them that did
I I I

not want an arranged marriage. When two of my friends, Gita and

90 Pushpa, told me that they had enrolled their names with the
agency called 'Introductions Select', registered with the same
I

3 i. agency. When there was no early response, thought that had I I

3<
O wasted my £1 0. had almost given up. Then the invitation came
I

3.
through the post. The same day Pushpa phoned to tell me about
her invitation, and told me that Gita had also received a similar
one.
The party was arranged from 7 to 11pm at a small hotel, and
included soft drinks and chat for an hour, followed by a formal
dinner and a disco afterwards. We were greeted by the Gujarati
couple who organized the party. There were about 1 5 women and
maybe 20 men. Each of us had to wear a lapel card with our
name. Over the soft drink cocktails chatted to three young men.
I

One spoke Hindi, which created a kind of barrier between us

since speak English and Gujarati, but not Hindi. One or two girls
I

seemed shy and the adult staff took the trouble to introduce them
to some young men. got on quite well with the other two men,
I

and must say rather liked one of them called Raman. He spoke
I I

Gujarati and was also into computers. We sat next to each other
at dinner and talked non-stop. He was a good dancer too. I

enjoyed myself at the party, and the evening cost £20.

Before leaving, Raman asked me for my phone number. Whether
he phones me or not, intend to attend more parties to widen my
I

choice. have decided to wait until the right man comes along.
I

After all, I am only 24.

As has already been indicated, not all Hindu marriages are

arranged. Many young men and women, particularly from
Westernized families living in the cities, find their own marriage
partners. In India, such self-choice pairings are termed 'love
marriages', and these may be between men and women from
different religions, or, if both are Hindu, they may not belong to
the same caste. Many young people in cities meet their future
partners at college, at their place of work or at amateur drama
groups. In these situations they tend to be drawn to those with
family backgrounds similar to their own, and their love
marriage is approved by their respective parents, because the
parents' expectations of having a son- or daughter-in-law from
the same caste are automatically fulfilled.

In Britain, many young Hindus exercise their freedom of choice

with active encouragement from their parents, and there are
many cases in which a Hindu man or woman has married a
partner who is Christian and white. In most cases the European f~Z7
daughter-in-law is warmly welcomed into the Hindu family
whether she becomes a Hindu or retains her Christian faith. $ |
Now European sons-in-law, too, are becoming more readily 3 9
o
acceptable to Hindu families.

CO

Wedding preparations 0)
3
a
After theyoung son or daughter has found a suitable partner
and agreed to marry, both families begin their preparations.
Although the practice of dowry has been made illegal by Acts of
the Indian Parliament, some sort of financial agreement is often
made between the families. An auspicious day for the wedding
ischosen and a priest is selected. Not all families worry about
selectingan auspicious day, but orthodox families will consult
the Hindu almanac, which lists propitious days for weddings. In
India marriages are usually celebrated during the eight months
from December to The months from August to November
July.
are unsuitable because of the monsoons and the celebration of
major festivals, such as Navaratri and Divali. Traditionally, the
wedding takes place in the bride's home, and all expenses are
borne by her family. In most cases nowadays a hall is hired to
accommodate a large number of guests, and caterers are
appointed to provide the wedding feast. The bride's family buys
her various gold ornaments, such as necklaces, bangles and
rings, but the wedding necklace of black beads is given by the
bridegroom on the day of the ceremony. Wedding invitations are
printed in regional Indian languages, but for a Hindu wedding
in Britain the invitations are usually printed in English.

Pre-wedding rituals
In India, since the 1955 Hindu Law reform legislation, all
Hindu marriages though this is not always
are to be registered,
the case in practice, especially in rural areas. In Britain, all
marriages between Hindus are subject to formal registration
because the hired halls used for the religious ceremonies are
usually not registered for the solemnization of matrimony. A
few days before the main ceremony, worship is offered to
Ganesha and the family deities by the parents of the bride and
the bridegroom in their separate homes. Prayers are said in the
hope that the couple may be blessed with wealth, prosperity,
children, long life and happiness, and that the wedding day will
be free from any obstacles.
92 A specimen invitation for a Hindu wedding
in Britain
3 i. (Reproduced with the permission of the bridegroom's family)
O !5

Pramod and Asha Nawathe

request the pleasure of your company

at the wedding of their son

flJflV

with

SVLVlfl

(Daughter of Tudor and Pam Edwards)

on
Saturday, 24th July 1993

With the compliments of the Nawathe Family

Pune • London • Bombay

the above invitation shows that the bride is not a Hindu

the picture of Ganesha, the swastikas, and the water vessel with a coconut
on it and a lamp beside it are auspicious Hindu symbols usually printed on
wedding invitations
the bridegroom's family is settled in London, but maintains close contact
with other relatives living in India
The wedding day [~^~

The length of the religious service has always depended on the g 5?

scholarship of the priests, and has varied enormously in the 3 I
past. Time was when Hindu weddings lasted for four or five o 3
days, with a couple of religious rituals performed each day, the
devoted to feasting! But now the religious
rest of the time being
service is shortened and streamlined. The service explained

below contains mantras from the Rig-Veda and other scriptures,

which are recited in Sanskrit to accompany and emphasize
rituals with religious significance. The whole service lasts for
about three hours, which leaves sufficient time for an elaborate
wedding feast before the hired hall has to be vacated.
Meaningful participation in the service by the guests is
determined by the design of the hall. Usually the assembly area
is used for dining and the service is conducted on the stage at

one end. This is not a very satisfactory arrangement because the

guests sitting towards the back of the hall cannot see the rituals
or hear the mantras clearly. If a school hall is hired for the day,
the dinner can be served in the school dining hall and the main
assembly hall can be used for the religious service. Ideally, a
temporary altar is set up in the middle of the hall, on which are
arranged the murtis of Ganesha and the family deities and the
two water vessels with coconuts. The metal container for the
sacred fire and other materials can be laid out near the altar. The
guests can be seated on chairs on all four sides of the altar, so
that everyone can see the rituals and hear the mantras clearly.
The bride and her parents sit before the altar facing east, and
purify themselves by sipping water as the priest utters 24 names
of Vishnu. The following 15 rituals are performed on the
wedding day as the priest recites the appropriate mantras:
Invocation of Ganesha The hired hall is considered the
temporary home of the bride. The bride's parents invoke the
family deities, the river goddess represented by the water vessels,
and god Ganesha, to be present at the place of the wedding, to
remove all obstacles and to bless the couple. The priest recites a
mantra from the Rig- Veda to invoke Ganesha. A simple puja is
then offered to the deities.

Worship of Parvati The bride then withdraws to a small room

to offer private worship to Parvati and Shiva and to seek
blessings for prosperity, long married life, health and children,
especially sons.
ZT"] The bridegroom arrives The bridegroom arrives at the place
of the wedding with his parents. He is welcomed at the door of
8 | the hall by the bride's mother who has a sacred light to ward off
g ^ evil spirits. The priest recites a verse praising Vishnu, for on the
=• day the bridegroom and the bride are likened to Vishnu and
8 S Lakshmi and given due honour. The bride's parents and the
priest bring the bridegroom into the hall and give him a seat of
a honour near the altar.
Honey and welcome He is then given honey by the bride's
father to sweeten the welcome, while the priest recites a mantra
from the Yajur-Veda.
A daughter is given in marriage The bride's parents formally
give their daughter in marriage and she is accepted by the
bridegroom and his parents. By this action parental consent is

made open and public, being witnessed by the guests. In this

ritual three generations of ancestors of the young couple are
mentioned three times by name.
The you must not offend against me in
bride says: 'Dear friend,
your observance of dharma (religious and social duty), artha
(the earning of money) and kama (enjoyment of the good things
in life); you must be moderate.'

The bridegroom replies: 'Fortunate one, I promise to be

moderate in dharma, artha and kama.'
After having her bridegroom's promise of moderation, the bride
will be happy to promise in return, at the 'seven steps' ritual,
that she will support her husband in his lawful endeavours.

The young couple and their parents stand facing each other
holding hands, while making a vow of friendship.

Expressing three wishes The couple stand facing each other,

holding rice grains in their left hands, each alternately
expressing the hope that their three wishes be fulfilled. As the
bridegroom expresses his wish the bride puts rice grains on his
head and says, 'So be it', voicing her support. The bridegroom
similarly voices his support when the bride expresses her wish:
'I hope for increasing good fortune, plenty of money and

healthy children.' The bridegroom then says, 'I hope to be able

to perform yajna (havan) and other rituals, fulfil my dharma
and achieve success and fame through my occupation.' This
ritual indicates that the marriage will thrive only through
mutual co-operation.
Symbolic marriage bond The couple sit opposite each other.
95
The bridegroom ties a piece of soft cotton thread tinged with
yellow turmeric (or with a piece of turmeric root entwined in it)
3 i.
round the left wrist of the bride. The bride ties a similar thread 3<
o -i
round the bridegroom's right wrist. This ritual symbolizes their
marriage bond. This thread with the turmeric root is used as an Si
amulet to exorcise evil spirits, to enable the couple's relatives to
prosper, and to bind the couple in mutually dutiful affection.

a bride and bridegroom

offer roasted rice and
ghee to Agni, the God
of Fire at their wedding
ceremony

The marriage necklace The bridegroom then fastens a

necklace of black beads round his bride's neck to bring them
good fortune, love and affection, and lifelong friendship. Black
beads are used to avert the evil eye.

Taking the bride'shand The bridegroom takes his bride's right

hand in his righthand and repeats the mantra which the priest
first recites. The mantra means: 'I take your hand to bring us
good fortune. I hope you grow old with me as your husband.
The gods have entrusted you to me so that I may fulfil my duties
as a married householder.'
of Offerings to the sacred fire The couple sit before the sacred
fire, which is kindled in a metal container. The materials for
oblation, namely darbha grass, sacred woods and ghee, are
|^ placed in front of them. The bridegroom sprinkles water over
§ S the materials to purify them. As the priest recites the
8 S appropriate mantras, the bridegroom offers darbha grass to the
fire which is meant for god Skanda (son of Shiva). The bride
touches his right hand as he makes the offerings. The sacred
wood is then offered to Agni, god of fire.
Then follow the seven oblations of ghee, the first to Prajapati,
the second to Soma and the remaining five to Agni.

Roasted millet offering, circumambulation and stepping on a

stone slab This three-part ritual is performed three times. The
firstoblation of roasted millet is given to Agni. The sacred fire
and the water vessels are circumambulated, the bride following
the bridegroom. The bride is asked to step on a stone slab and
be firm as a rock. This order is repeated twice more.

The second oblation of roasted millet is given to god Varuna

and the third to the Sun god. The next two rituals are performed
after each offering. Before each circumambulation the
bridegroom says: 'My bride, I am sky, you are earth. I am the
melody of the Sama-Veda, you are the hymn of the Rig-Veda.
Let us marry and have children. Dear to each other, radiant, well
disposed, let us live for a hundred autumns.'

'Seven steps' ritual In the past, when the religious ceremony

was the only requirement for a valid Hindu marriage in India,
the 'seven steps' ritual was crucial to the completion of the
marriage wherever this ritual was included in the service. A
marriage could be declared null and void at any stage before this
ritual. It is an important stage in the service, but in some cases
it is not performed in Britain.

The scriptures demand that the 'seven steps' ritual be performed

to the north of the fire in a straight line, where the priest makes
seven small heaps of rice, about 30 cm apart. The bridegroom
should put his right hand on the bride's right shoulder. When the
bridegroom speaks the mantra the bride takes a step forward
with her right foot, onto one of the heaps of rice, and brings her
left foot forward to stand still. Each step is taken with the right
foot in a slow march as the mantra is repeated.

The couple stand side by side, and before each step the
bridegroom says, 'My bride, take the first step for a plentiful
supply of food. Support me in my endeavours.' The bride takes f
gy
the step and says: 'I will support you in your righteous
undertakings.' g §
The mantra is modified as necessary and the seven steps are o 3.
3
walked together by the couple: o £T
22.

Take the second step for strength, g>

Take the third step for wealth,

Take the fourth step for happiness,
Take the fifth step for children. May we be blessed with
many sons. May they live to a ripe old age.
Take the sixth step so that we may enjoy seasonal pleasures
together.
Take the seventh for a lifelong friendship.

Prayers to Agni One more oblation of ghee is given to Agni.

The couple stand before the fire and offer prayers.
'Grant me, O Agni, the conveyor of oblations, faith, intellect,
success, understanding, learning, wisdom, riches, strength, long
life, power and good health.'

The priest sprinkles the couple with water, reciting a mantra:

'With the inspiration from god Savita, with the arms of the
Ashvins, with the hands of god Pushana, with the brightness of
Agni, with the lustre of the Sun, with the power of Indra, I
sprinkle you with this water mixed with gold, so that you may
be blessed with strength, riches, success and food. May this
action turn out to be a sprinkling with nectar. May there be
peace, prosperity and contentment.'

The marriage ceremony is brought to its conclusion by the

bride's parents.

Verses of blessing Now that the bride and the bridegroom

have reached the status of wife and husband, the assembled
guests give their blessings.

The bridegroom stands facing west. A silk cloth decorated with

the sacred symbols, Om and swastika, is held by two close
friends of the families as a screen in front of the bridegroom.
The bride, escorted by her maternal uncle, arrives and stands
opposite the bridegroom, facing east. They cannot see each
other. Rice grains tinged with red kum-kum are distributed
among the guests. Eight verses of blessing are chanted by the
priests and others. At the end of each verse after the refrain the
go |
guests symbolically shower their blessings upon the newlyweds
by throwing a few grains of rice.
8 "
S 3 At the end of the verses of blessing, the silk screen is removed.
The couple give each other garlands and put a few grains of rice
i c on each other's head.
" I
Blessings, good wishes The bride's parents advise their
daughter about her duty to her new family by saying:

'My daughter, be a queen with your husband's father, be a

queen with your husband's mother, be a queen with your
husband's sister, be a queen with your husband's brothers'
(implying that she should win over their hearts by her charm
and modest behaviour).
The priest blesses the newlyweds with the following three
mantras:

'Remain and act as a couple without any difference of opinion.

May you be blessed with long life. May you happily live in your
home playing with your sons and grandsons.'
'May your hearts hold similar intentions and thoughts. May you
act with one mind. May your actions reflect unity of purpose.'

'May you progressively prosper and live to enjoy 100 autumn,

winter and spring seasons. Worship and propitiate the gods
Indra, Agni, Savita and Brahaspati. They will grant you a
further 100 years.'

With these blessings ends the wedding service.

In the evening the couple offer prayers to Ursa Major and the
Pole Star. When the bride enters her new home, she is asked to
kick a pot of grain at the threshold so that the grain will spill
into the house, symbolically bringing prosperity into her new
home. Then the bride is given a new first name symbolic of a
new beginning.
(All mantras given in quotation marks in this wedding service
translated by Hemant Kanitkar.)
 8f
3 i.
3«<
o -i
3 3."

8 1
(0

a bride and bridegroom walk the 'seven steps' together at their wedding;
each step is taken with the right foot after speaking the relevant mantra

Cremation
The final rite of cremation, which is the normal
passage is

practice of disposing of the dead. However, very young babies,

who are not yet named and therefore not full members of the
family, are not given ritual cremation, but are buried. So are the
sannyasins (world-renouncers), since they have no relatives to
perform the cremation rites.

When a Hindu villager dies a natural death, the local doctor or

the subsidised medical practitioner (equivalent to a paramedic),
signs the death certificate, and the nearest male relative of the
deceased has to arrange the funeral. In large cities, the corpse
can be conveyed to the cremation in a motorized vehicle, and is
burnt using gas or electricity. But in small towns and villages a
different method is employed:
Who performs the funeral rites?
Deceased person The performer

A married woman The husband

A widow (eldest) Son
An unmarried woman Father, or elder brother
A married man/widower (eldest) Son, grandson
An unmarried man Father, brother, uncle

Ramji's story
I am Ramji and am a farmer in a village in the Maratha country.
I

The nearest market town is five miles away. own two fields of six
I

acres each, where grow millet and sugar cane.

I have two I

bullocks, a bullock-cart, one buffalo and my own wooden plough.

Most of the millet provides our bread for about eight months in a
year, but sell the sugar cane crop to the sugar factory for cash,
I

which is sufficient for us to buy clothes and extra food.

I was married
to Manju for 20 years, but two months ago she died
of a stomach illness. have two sons aged 16 and 12 and both
I

help on the farm.

Manju had been about three months. Our local medicine

ill for
man began she didn't improve, so took her to
treating her but I

hospital in the market town. The doctor there told me that Manju
had some illness in her stomach for which he had no cure. He
gave her some medicine to reduce the pain.
Poor Manju! She suffered a lot. One day she said that should I

give her some Ganga water and some basil leaves. went to I

Pandit Govind, our village priest, who had a small copper bottle
with Ganga water. came home, opened the bottle and gave
I

Manju the holy water. She said it was Bhagwan's (God's) wish. My
two sons and sat near her that night. She seemed to be asleep.
I

Suddenly she opened her eyes, touched our hands and said,
'Rama, Rama'. Then she closed her eyes and grew cold and
lifeless. Our medicine man came and said that she was dead. We

had to control our grief and prepare for her final journey.
 I sent my eldest son and a neighbour in our bullock-cart to the
hospital in the town, to tell the doctor of Manju's death and get
the death paper. I had also asked them to bring wood fuel for
burning the body. It was the middle of the night when the bullock-
cart left town and it would not be back until noon the next
for the
day. In the morning went to Pandit Govind, who agreed to say
I

the mantra words on the cremation ground near our local stream.
The wives of neighbours came to bathe Manju's body and dress
her in her new sari. Two neighbours went to cut the bamboo poles
from the thicket on the edge of the village. had already bought a
I

piece of white cloth since I knew that Manju would not live long.
The bullock-cart returned at 1 1 o'clock with the death paper, dry
wood fuel and cowdung slabs. Now Pandit Govind came with
some flowers, joss stocks and camphor tablets. When the
bamboo poles arrived, we prepared a stretcher, placed Manju's
body on it and covered it with the white cloth, leaving the face
open to the sun. put some red and yellow powders on Manju's
I

forehead, and placed flowers on her body. walked in front I

carrying an earthen pot with live coals. Three neighbours and my

elder son lifted the stretcher. Manju's feet pointed in the direction
of the cremation ground. We all chanted the name of god Rama
throughout Manju's last journey. The wood fuel and the cowdung
slabs had arrived before us. With the help of my friends built a I

pyre. The body was placed on it, feet pointing south. Pandit
Govind placed the sandalwood joss sticks and camphor tablets on
the pyre. He said the mantra as lit the pyre on all sides, pouring
I

vegetable oil on it. Pandit Govind drilled a hole in the earthen pot
and filled the pot with water. walked round the blazing pyre
I

holding the pot. Water dripped onto the ground making a line.
Then stood with my back to the pyre and flung the pot
I

backwards. It fell near the pyre and broke into pieces. The pyre
blazed for an hour, and when we heard the skull crack, we bathed
in the stream and went home. We were in mourning for ten days.

On the third day Pandit Govind and went to collect the ashes. On I

the tenth day he helped me to offer cooked rice balls to Manju's

soul. Pandit Govind does only funerals and charged me 25 rupees.
Even after two months we three walk with heavy hearts.

In Britain Hindu funerals are carried out in the same way as

other funerals, the corpse being placed in a coffin and left in the
funeral parlour at the undertakers' until it is time to take it to
the crematorium, where the cremation is by gas. Pandit Sharma
relates his experiences:
 Iofficiate as a priest mainly at Hindu rituals and ceremonies such
as thanksgiving puja, festivals, the sacred thread and marriage. I

normally do not conduct any funeral rites because they are

spiritually polluting. But there is a shortage of Hindu funeral
priests in Britain, so occasionally have to perform funerals. On
I

such rare occasions, do not charge a fee and certainly do not

I

accept any gifts, because the sins of the deceased are believed
to cling to such gifts.

Close relatives come to the funeral parlour, where the chief

mourner is asked to wind soft cotton thread round the coffin. This
acts as a boundary round the soul, so, it is believed, that it will not
come back to earth as a ghost and haunt the living. In some
cases, six pindas, balls of dough made with wholemeal flour, are
placed on the body in the coffin. Water mixed with sesame seeds
is poured into the mouth of the corpse. Many unlit joss sticks are

placed round the corpse, or alternatively, sandalwood. A flower

garland is placed round the neck of the corpse. The relatives and
friends who come to the funeral parlour offer a flower to the
deceased to say good-bye. After this ritual, the coffin is closed
and brought to the chapel at the crematorium.
When the mourners have taken their seats, I read ten verses from
the second chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita, which describe the
nature of the soul and advise the mourners not to grieve because
death is natural to all who are born. The close relatives are asked
to place flowers on the coffin. Then recite the funeral verse from
I

the Veda. As the coffin slowly begins to slide through the window,
all the mourners stand and chant the name of god Rama.

When I home, put all the clothes am wearing into the

return I I

laundry bag, and bathe to purify myself. The clothes are

immediately washed. advise the relatives of the deceased to
I

send a cash gift to a medical charity such as Cancer Research, or

the British Heart Foundation, in remembrance of the dead.

The ashes are collected from the crematorium by the relatives,

and are either sent to India to be deposited in the Ganges or
committed to the sea here.

The shraddha ceremony

On the 11th day after death an offering of ten pindas (balls of
cooked rice, moistened with milk and water) is made, which is

believed to help the deceased to acquire a new body for the next
existence. These immediate post-cremation rites are inauspicious
and spiritually polluting.
The shraddha ceremony is the annual homage paid to the
103
departed ancestor, and the procedure is described in special texts
called Shraddha-Kalpa. The annual homage rites are auspicious.
3 i.
Many Hindus try to perform the first annual shraddha at a holy 3<
place such as Hardwar on the Ganges; thereafter the ceremony 8 3.

is performed at home by devout Dvija families. Each invited si (/>

Brahmin represents a departed ancestor on the day of the 0)

3
ceremony, and many families commemorate all departed a
ancestors on the same day. All close relatives are also invited to
share the offerings, which consist of sesamum, water and pinda.
The Brahmins are fed before the relatives. Other food is also
served according to local custom, along with the pinda. Very
close relatives receive a portion of pinda, with sesamum and
water; remote relatives receive only sesamum and water. Each
Brahmin is given a cash gift at the end of the meal. Many Hindu
families in Britain take care to observe the shraddha ceremony
after the death of a relative.

Rebirth
Some scholars hold that the idea of transmigration of the soul
was adopted by the vedic Aryans from the original inhabitants of
India. It was first mentioned in the Shatapatha Brahmana text and
later developed in the Upanishads, the laws of Manu and the
Puranas.
Hindus believe that the individual atman, the soul, passes through
a long cycle of existence occupying different bodies and
experiencing repeated births, deaths and rebirths. This cycle is
called samsara; it is what every Hindu tries to break to reach
moksha (liberation).

This concept may become clearer we think of samsara as a post

if

to which is tethered a calf, representing the individual soul. The

rope that ties the calf to the post is the restricting and controlling
force of karma.

The word karma is used in different senses to mean action,

deeds, destiny, fate; but in the context of rebirth karma means the
consequence or the result of actions. The universal order, rita,

which is the foundation of dharma, is governed by the natural law

of cause and effect. Action is unavoidable for all beings, for it is
through actions that life is sustained.

Even unconscious actions such as breathing, or thought

processes, produce results. There are actions undertaken with a
particular motive and actions that are essential to fulfil one's
104 social position or to satisfy one's nature. Every kind of action
produces some kind of effect, good or bad.
3 i. The sum total of an individual's desires, feelings, thoughts and
3< karma in a previous
actions constitutes his/her karma. It is

existence that determines the kind of body occupied by the

Si (0
atman in the next existence. It is possible to cut the ropes of
karma and escape from the post of samsara.
The different paths that reduce the burden of karma are: the
knowledge of Brahman, atman and the universe; selfless actions;
deep and single-minded meditation and exercise; and total and
complete surrender to God to receive divine grace, which will

neutralize karma.

Thus the law of karma, which adjusts debit and credit for good
and evil actions, determines rebirth. It can be said that man is
punished by his wicked actions, not for them.
0)
o

In this chapter you will learn:

• about Rig-Veda, the oldest
holy text
• about the Shruti texts
• about the Smriti texts
• about the role of the written
word in Hinduism.
..Qgl Scripture doesn't play the central part in Hinduism that it does
in some other faiths. The student might search in vain in a
temple for a sacred text, but it will not be found in the form of
"§.'
a book. It will be there in the words spoken by the priest
3 performing the ritual.
w
The now known as Hinduism are
earliest scriptures of the faith
believed to have been composed between 1200 bce and 1000 bce,
by the Aryans who began to settle in north-west India in about
1500 bce. This was the start of the vast amount of literature
produced during a period of 1000 years between 1200 BCE and
200 bce. This period is known as the vedic Age since the
scriptures are called the Veda, which comprises four different
compositions. It is strongly believed that these texts were
received by inspired scholars from God; they learnt them by
heart and passed them on to the next generation by word of
mouth.
The vedic texts are traditionally called shruti, 'hearing', for two
reasons: they are believed to be eternal, and wereby 'heard'
scholars from God. For centuries they have been
directly
received by pupils orally from their teachers who recited them.
The pupils repeated the words and intonation of the teacher
exactly as they heard them, so that they have been preserved
orally for thousands of years. The earliest manuscript of the
Rig-Veda dates from the 15th century ce. Modern scholar
priests prefer to recite a vedic text from memory, even though it
may be available in printed form. The shruti texts are composed
in the older form of Sanskrit, called the vedic.

Shruti texts

The Vedas: (1200-1000 bce) These are four separate compositions

called the Rig-Veda, the Yajur-Veda, the Sama-Veda and the
Atharva-Veda. Each Veda has four parts: chronologically these
are the Samhita, the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and the
Upanishads.
The Samhitas contain hymns praising God under different names.
They constitute the main body of each Veda and are the most
ancient part.

Rig-Veda Samhita: This is the oldest of the four Vedas. The text is

divided into ten books (called mandalas) and has 1028 hymns
praising ancient deities. Some of these deities have been
mentioned in Chapter 04. Many hymns from the Rig-Veda also
occur in the next two Vedas, but they are differently arranged for
ritual purposes.

Yajur-Veda Samhita: This was used as a handbook by the priests

performing the vedic sacrifices. The present text is in two
collections.

Sama-Veda Samhita: This consists of chants and melodies, and

indicates tunes for the singing of the hymns at special sacrifices.

Atharva-Veda Samhita: This has preserved many pre-Aryan

traditions dealing with spells, charms and magical formulae.

Many mantras from these texts are used in modern Hindu

worship and ritual. The Gayatri verse from the Rig-Veda is widely
recited in daily worship. Hymns describing god Vishnu and
Purusha, Cosmic Man, are recited during the performance of an
elaborate puja. Verses from the first two Vedas are used as
mantras in the sacred thread and marriage ceremonies.
The Brahmanas: (800-500 bce) These are prose manuals of ritual
and prayer for the guidance of priests. They form the second
section of the vedic literature and were composed after the
Samhita. There are seven important Brahmana texts.
The Aranyakas: (400-200 bce) These resulted from discussion in
the forests about worship, meditation and ritual. They form the

third section of the shruti. There are only four texts surviving,
which are attached to the first two Vedas.
The Upanishads: (400-200 These compositions contain
bce)
mystical concepts of Hindu philosophy. The word upa-nishad
means 'near-sitting', which indicates that these texts were
tutorials given by Gurus to their chosen pupils, who sat near them
to receive the mystical teaching.

These texts were composed towards the end (anta) of the vedic
period and form the basis of what is therefore called Vedanta
philosophy. Although composed later than the other three
sections, some
them are incorporated in the Brahmanas and
of
the Aranyakas and have similar names. The Brahmanas deal with
ritual performance but the Upanishads are concerned with
philosophical knowledge. Traditionally, there are 108 texts, but
only 1 5 are considered important.
Some of the most important Hindu philosophical ideas are
contained in these texts. They are:
• the individual soul (atman) and universal soul (Brahman) are
identical
 Brahman is without form and is eternal

o the visible world is an illusion (maya)

the soul passes through a cycle of successive lives (samsara)
I and its next existence is determined by the consequences of
3
its actions (karma) in the previous existence
the soul is capable of achieving liberation (moksha)
there is a unity of all things in the created universe.

Smriti texts
The popular Hindu Mahabharata and the Ramayana,
epics, the
are classed as smriti texts,which include religious, moral and
educational writings based on 'remembered' tradition. These
texts were composed from 500 bce onwards. Most devout
Hindus accept the teachings of smriti texts as long as they do
not conflict with those of the shruti. The shruti texts, believed
to be the direct word of God, remain the supreme authority.

The Bhagavad-Gita is very popular with many Hindus, and

although a smriti text, it is believed to be the word of God, since

Krishna is an important incarnation of the God Vishnu.

The Bhagavad Gita, which might be translated as The Song of

the Adorable One', is part of the sixth book of the
Mahabharata, the world's longest poem. However, many
scholars think that it has been inserted into the Mahabharata
and date it between 200 bce and 200 ce.
The Bhagavad Gita takes the form of a dialogue between prince
Arjuna and his charioteer, Krishna, who turns out to be an
incarnation of the supreme God, Vishnu. The setting is the
battlefield of Kurukshetra, where the great and terrible war was
fought. The sons of King Pandu are preparing to fight their
cousins, the sons of Dhritarashtra. Arjuna, a Pandu prince,
decides to turn away from the battle. He envisages the carnage
that will ensue and has no wish to kill his kinsmen. Krishna tells
him bluntly that it is his dharma to fight.
Dharma, it will be remembered, is a word of many meanings. It

is the nearest term to the word 'religion'. Hindus call their religion
the sanatana dharma, the eternal dharma. It also means custom,
or way of life, and duty. Arjuna is a kshatriya, a member of the
warrior varna, and as such he has a reponsibility to fight in a just
war, dharma yuddha, a struggle in the cause of righteousness. The
war against those who tricked his family out of their kingdom
\-\qq
(which the enemy, the Kaurava princes, had done), is just.
o
The thread of dharma runs through the Gita, so that even in the §*
last chapter Krishna says:

Better to do one's own caste duty (sva dharma), though

devoid of merit, than to do another's, however well
performed. By doing the works prescribed by his own
nature a man meets no defilement (18:47, cf. 3:35).

Caste duty is laid upon a person at birth and by birth.

Throughout the Gita Krishna warns against the confusion
which must necessarily develop in the divinely ordained order of
things if individuals take it upon themselves to reject their own
place for that of another.

However, dharma is not the Gita's only theme. A dominant

theme is that of bhakti, loving devotion to God and the love of
God. Krishna teaches that:
Whoever bears me in mind at the moment of death
accedes to my own mode Then muse on me
of being.
always, for if you fix your mind and soul on me you will
come to me set free from doubt (8:5).

This idea is perhaps taken further than in any previous writing,

for Krishna also says:

Whoever makes me his refuge, though he may be base-

born (of low caste), even a woman or a shudra, theirs it is
to tread the highest way (9:32).

They need give only a flower, the merest token of love, in the
spirit of bhakti for Krishna to accept them. He suggests that it
is even easier for Brahmins to come to him, thus further
suggesting that it is not the purpose of the Gita to undermine the
varna-ashrama-dharma in the process of offering liberation,
moksha, to everyone.
The Bhagavad Gita mentions the words samkhya and yoga, two
of the orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy, which may be
translated literally as 'theory' and 'practice'. The systems are
closely, if not inseparably, related. Samkhya provides the
yoga the method of attainment. In the Gita,
analysis of reality,
as in the earlier Svetasvatara Upanishad, Samkhya-Yoga is
theistic. The teaching and method are endorsed in the Gita,
however, the goal is not isolation but becoming Brahman, and
the 'highest Brahman' is Krishna.
 Action, karma, is also a subject of discussion. Actions cannot be
avoided but they should be performed without desire and
offered sacrificially to Krishna: then they will benefit the one
§.' who performs them. Done with selfish motives, even if they
seem praiseworthy, they will not have good karmic
consequences.

As natural as the theme of action in a dialogue set in the context

of war, is the subject of the fate of the soul after death. Arjuna
is assured that it does not die with the body, but will be reborn.

The prospect is horrifying:

Birth after birth in this revolving round, these vilest of
men, strangers to good, obsessed with hatred and cruelty,
I ever hurl into devilish wombs. They never attain to me

and so they tread the lowest way (16:19).

Grace is offered to thosewho behave morally and rationally, but
there is a need for human effort. This tempers the doctrine of
predestination enunciated by Krishna when he is persuading
Arjuna to fight. The fate of the combatants has been decided;
Arjuna is merely the agent. In commending devotion to Krishna
the Gita's author touches on the worship of other gods. They
possess reality but are inferior in a sense to Krishna. He says:

Whosoever worships the gods will surely go to the gods,

but whosoever loves and worships me will come to me
(7:23).

The perceptive worshipper of any god will realize that the one
who is really being worshipped is Krishna.

Those who devote themselves to other gods and sacrifice

to them filled with faith, really worship me (9:23).

The focus of the Bhagavad Gita is Krishna, the main character

in the dialogue. Defence of dharma seems to be a subordinate
theme to commending a devotion to Krishna - which involves
the observance of dharma. Arjuna must fight. A hidden purpose
of the book may be the repudiation of non-theistic Buddhism,
which permitted king Ashoka to embrace pacifism and reject
dharma.
Much of popular literature is in the form of stories and poetry,
and the source material for plays and pageants performed
it is

during the celebration of many festivals. The rules of behaviour

for different categories of people given in a smriti text can be
altered to suit changing circumstances. This enables Hindus to
adapt their dbarma^ or personal code of behaviour, according to
111
the needs of the times.

the drawing shows God Krishna, the Divine Teacher, in the Bhagavad Gita,

driving Arjun's chariot as the warrior prince sets out for the battlefield

Smriti texts
1 The educational texts composed after the Veda, but
considered essential to its study. They deal with the
performance of rituals, law, astronomy, grammar, phonetics
and literature.
The texts explaining the six orthodox systems of philosophy.
The epics, the Bhagavad Gita.
The texts on Hindu mythology. These are called the Puranas.
The texts of various Hindu sects worshipping Vishnu, Shiva
and the Mother Goddess.

Various authors composed the sacred texts at different historical

times, and the ideas about God, what is right and wrong, and
the forms of worship from the earlier texts, were re-explained in
later compositions. This helped to continue the religious and
cultural traditions. As has already been mentioned, the early
scriptures were in the vedic and Sanskrit languages, but from
about the seventh century CE, they were brought to the ordinary
people through writings in regional Indian languages.
 Sacred literature in regional languages
The and philosophical thought contained in the Vedas,
religious

T3
the shruti texts, was a closed book to many men and women
because they were outside the pale of the twice-born, who had
S a right to study the Vedas. Tulsi Das, Tukaram, Mirabai, Dadu,
Jnanadeva, Eknath and many other Indians, often of low caste,
made available the teachings of Hinduism in poetry, composed
in regional languages, to people who were not twice-born or
literate. These poets were inspired by their deep personal
experience of God. Like the sculptors who worked on some of
the magnificent medieval temples, they did not hesitate to
employ the imagery of erotic love to describe their relationship
with God. Bhajans, or devotional songs, composed by some of
these poets can be found in the chapter on bhakti (Chapter 12).
Others included the Maharashtrian bhakti poets of western
India, who composed their works in the regional language,
Marathi, to bring the teachings of the Bhagavata-Purana, the
Bhagavad-Gita and the Upanishads within the reach of
ordinary men and women, and include Jnanadeva, Namadeva,
Tukaram, Eknath and Ramadasa.
Namadeva (14th century ce), a tailor by trade, stressed through
his many songs that caste status was no barrier to complete
devotion to God. Jnanadeva (1275-1296 ce) wrote a book on
the Upanishads and over 1000 devotional songs, and his
commentary of 9000 verses on the Bhagavad-Gita, written in
old Marathi, is highly popular. It combines devotional
philosophy and musical poetry, the two qualities that have kept
the book ever-fresh for 700 years.

Eknath (1533-1599 ce) edited Jnanadeva's great work, which

had become corrupted since its compositon in 1290 CE, and
wrote a commentary on the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavata-
Purana, which is held to be a classic in Marathi. His devotional
songs express his mystical experiences. He made no distinction
between brahmin and outcaste and preached Bhakti to all. He
re-wrote the Ramayana in Marathi.

Ramadasa (17th century CE) is best known for his book, the

Dasahodha, which is much influenced by the teachings of the

Bhagavad-Gita. He was a devotee of god Rama and wrote his
Marathi version of the Rama story.

The epic Ramayana, by Valmiki, is in Sanskrit, and for many

centuries was beyond the reach of men and women who spoke
only their regional languages. Various poets between the 9th
and the 17th centuries CE produced the Rama story in Tamil, \-\-\s
Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati and Bengali. All these writers insisted
on using regional languages to bring the earlier religious §.

tradition from Sanskrit works within easy reach of ordinary

people. Their commentaries, devotional songs and other jjj

writings in regional languages have the same sanctity and

authority as the earlier scriptures written in Sanskrit.

There were many bhagats (devotees), often of low caste, who

rejected the caste system, wrote about what they had
experienced, and declared that God's liberating love was
available to everyone.

Other sacred literature

The story of Hindu sacred literature has no end, only the
occasional update. Many Hindus might consider Gandhi's
commentary on the Bhagavad-Gita inspiring. They would
certainly treasure the words of Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886 ce),
the influential Hindu mystic of the 19th century. The writings of
A.C. Bhaktivedanta (Prabhupada), the founder of the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) -
the Hare Krishna movement, are popular beyond the Hare
Krishna devotees, and are used in the religious education of
young Hindus of Indian origin growing up in Britain.

The role of the written word in Hinduism

Although the correct performance of various religious rituals is
firmly based on scriptures, the physical presence of the scripture
in the form of written words is very often non-existent. The
worshipper or the officiating priest learns the procedure and the
mantras from the written texts, commits them to memory and
recites them at the appropriate time in the ritual to accompany
the actions.

Orthodox Brahmins recite from memory the Gayatri verse and

other mantras from the Rig-Veda when they perform daily
Sandhya, the worship of the sun, offering water oblations to it.
Professional priests officiating at the sacred thread or marriage
ceremonies hardly ever look at the written words of the mantras
from the Vedas or the Grihya Sutras (texts giving the procedure
and mantras of home based religious rituals). They prefer to
recite the mantras from memory to accompany the actions of
the participants.
7771 The mantras for the daily puja, either at the home shrine or at a
temple, are taken from the Puranas. A householder who is not
conversant with the Sanskrit mantras will of course look at the
§. written word, but both family and temple priests will recite the
puja mantras from memory. Puja is offered to a deity such as
Ganesha, Durga, Lakshmi, Vishnu or Shiva at the celebrations
of certain festivals, for which recitation from memory is the
normal practice.

There are some occasions, however, when the written word

becomes important. When a householder performs a satya-
narayana (thanksgiving) puja with the assistance of a priest, the
puja mantras are recited from memory, but the story of the
origin of a ritual is read by the priest from the written word
while everyone present listens to the spoken word. The people
attending the puja consider it more important to hear the words
of the sacred text spoken by the priest than to read the story
themselves.

When god Krishna's birthday is celebrated in many temples in

India, the priest reads the story of Krishna's birth from the written
text of the Bhagavata Purana and the people present experience
the spirituality of the occasion through hearing the words.

During the Ganesha festival, in many homes and temples in

India and in Britain, there is daily reading of different portions
of the Bhagavata Purana for seven days, which is attended by
many Hindus. For most people attending these readings,
hearing the words of the scripture spoken by the priest is an act
of devotion.

Of course, learned Pandits will read and re-read the texts to

increase their understanding of the subject, but for most Hindus
the spirituality lies in the hearing of the sacred words, whether
the priest recites them from memory or reads the written word.
3
Q)

(D In this chapter you will learn:

• about different sites of
pilgrimage
• about the purpose of going
on a pilgrimage
• the sacred locations - rivers,
mountains, lakes, famous
shrines dedicated to Vishnu,
Shiva and the Mother
Goddess.
116 |
Pilgrimage (Yatra)
"2. Hindu religious rituals are classified into three categories: Nitya,
2. Naimittika, and Kamya.
<d Nitya rituals are those occurring every day, such as offering
<D
water to the Sun in the morning, or performing puja to the
family deities at the home shrine. These Nitya rituals are
essential to Hindu practice. Naimittika rituals are important but
they only occur at certain times during the year, such as the
celebrations of different festivals, the performance of a special
thanksgiving puja when good fortune smiles on the family, and,
of course, the celebrations of the various life-cycle rituals such
as naming a baby, the sacred thread and marriage. The third
kind of rituals are called Kamya. These are highly desirable but
optional, and pilgrimage falls into this category. The 19th-
century Hindu reformers condemned pilgrimages and ritual
bathing in holy rivers, along with untouchability, caste and child
marriage.

For many people in India, going on a pilgrimage and

experiencing the physical hardships that are necessary to reach
their destination is almost a normal way of life. During certain
festivals such as Navaratri, dedicated to the Mother Goddess,
many people go on a short pilgrimage to visit a shrine of the
goddess, which is perhaps situated on a hill near their town or
village. The journey is made on foot, and the effort of climbing
the hill might take a couple of hours. The physical exertion
enhances the spirituality of the experience. Obtaining darshan
(viewing the Murti) and offering flowers, a coconut and cash at
the shrine are the main objectives of these local pilgrimages. A
particular day during the festival is set aside for the visit, and the
whole village may be involved in such a local pilgrimage.
Many people in western India walk up to 200 miles to visit a
historical temple at Pandharpur, about 150 miles south-east of
Poona, which is dedicated to the god Vishnu, locally known as
Vithoba. This particular pilgrimage takes place twice a year, in
July and November, and thousands of Hindus from towns and
villages in Maharashtra walk to the shrine in groups, singing
devotional songs, some of them carrying on their heads small
pots of the holy basil plants. Hindus from different varna and
jati groups, such as priests, office workers, shopkeepers,
carpenters, leatherworkers, washermen, married women,
widows and college students, intermix and eat together as they
walk towards their goal. Caste awareness recedes into the
background during the pilgrimage, but grows in significance as L^y
they return home.

People also go on very long pilgrimages to distant holy cities and

famous shrines, spending many hours, even days, in crowded r

trains, and walking the last stage of their journey to reach the *§

pilgrimage site. The distances really are vast. For example,

Bombay to Varanasi is nearly 1000 miles; Delhi to Tirupathi,
near Madras, is even longer. Although pilgrimage is optional, it
is very popular in India, and many tour operators specialize in

arranging group travel to distant sacred sites.

CO
Why do people go on a Yatra?
There are many motives for a Hindu Yatra. Bathing in a pool or
a river at a sacred place is believed to cleanse the spirit of sinful
thoughts or actions, and thus increase spirituality and
accumulate punya, religious merit. In Hinduism the seven sacred
rivers are the Ganges, Yamuna, Sindhu (Indus), Sarasvati (which
is underground), Narmada, Godavari and Kaveri. The most

sacred of these is the Ganges, and thousands of Hindus travel to

north India to places like Hardwar, Varanasi or Allahabad
(Prayag) to bathe in the Ganges. To bathe at the confluence of
two or three sacred rivers is even more meritorious. Ganga,
Yamuna and Sarasvati form a triple confluence at Prayag
(Allahabad), so Prayag is very popular as a place for ritual
bathing. But these north Indian places are too distant for those
living in the south, so people there do their ritual bathing in
their local river on full-moon days in October and February.

Special bathing fairs (Kumbha-Melas) occur every 12 years at

Hardwar on the upper Ganges and at Nasik on the Godavari.
As many as 100,000 Hindus from all walks of life gather at
these places for ritual bathing, sincerely believing that their sins
will be washed away.
After the ritual bathing and spiritual purification comes the
important religious moment and, in a way, the culmination of
the exhausting pilgrimage. The devotees may have to stand in
long queues for hours before they find themselves at the
entrance to the inner sanctum so as to obtain darshan of the
deity. After viewing the murti, they make cash offerings, receive
the sacred light from the lamps held by the priest and gain god's
blessing in the form of prasad.
 All pilgrims perform pradakshina, or circumambulation,
walking round the main shrine in a clockwise direction so that
the shrine is always on their right-hand side. Hindus maintain
(D
that the right-hand side of the body is spiritually purer; this is
|
why the right hand is always used for making religious
• offerings, for eating and for giving and receiving money.

Many Hindus go to a place of pilgrimage either to deposit the

ashes of a deceased relative in a sacred river such as the Ganges
at Varanasi, or to perform the first shraddha, the annual
.

remembrance ritual.

Atonement for sin is a powerful reason for pilgrimage to certain

shrines. If a person breaks the law he/she is punished by the
courts, but breaking a sacred religious rule, such as killing a cow
or damaging a murti in a temple, necessitates making amends.
The atonement may involve suffering some physical hardship,
giving money to charity, or performing a special puja at a place
of pilgrimage.

Some Hindus may visit a distant shrine in the hope of finding

some relief from pain caused by an incurable disease.

Important places of pilgrimage in India

Hindu sacred sites of pilgrimage are often situated near a river or

the sea, or on a hilltop. Some shrines are high up in the Himalayan
foothills, 10,000 ft (3,000 m) above sea level. There are literally
hundreds of temples all over India, but the following shrines are
important as well as popular places of pilgrimage.

Shrines dedicated to the Mother Goddess

The Mother Goddess at the temple in Calcutta is known as Kali.
At Varanasi she is called Vishalakshi. The Mahalakshmi temple
at Kolhapur in Maharashtra is popular with the devotees of the
Mother Goddess. In her temple at Kanchipuram in south India
she is named Kamakshi, while she is popularly worshipped as
Meenakshi in her magnificent temple at Madurai, also in
southern India.

Shrines dedicated to the God Vishnu

The Badrinath shrine is situated 10,350 ft (3150 m) up in the
Himalayan foothills in Uttar Pradesh. At Dwaraka in Gujarat,
the god is called Krishna. At Puri in Orissa, in eastern India,
Vishnu is worshipped as Jagannath and at Tirupathi he is named
Balaji, while at Trivandrum in Kerala he is Padmanabh.
Shrines dedicated to the God Shiva
119
The god Shiva is called Amarnath at his shrine in Kashmir. His
shrine at Kedarnath is 11,750 ft (3580 m) up in the Himalayan
foothills in Uttar Pradesh. At Varanasi he is worshipped as
Vishveshwar (Lord of the Universe), in Gujarat he is Somanath
and at Nasik in Maharashtra he is called Trimbaka. His
southernmost shrine is at Rameshwaram. At all these shrines
Shiva is worshipped in a phallic form called the lingam, but at
Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu he is worshipped a* Nataraj, the
Lord of the Cosmic Dance.

Pilgrimage - a personal experience

CO
Here a British Hindu describes his experience of the pilgrimage
to Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath in the
Himalayan foothills in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. This
mountainous region is known as Uttar a-Khanda.

Day 1 Iwas able to join a group of 22 people; 19 of them were

Brahmins and of these, eight were men and 1 1 were women. We
planned to go on a pilgrimage to four holy places in the Himalayan
foothills. Various members of the group travelled from the USA,

Canada, Britain and distant cities in India such as Coimbatore,

Madras and Hyderabad, to Delhi, where the organizers had
chartered a bus for our journey. We were complete strangers to
one another, but we were linked by a common goal.
When everyone had reached Delhi, one member performed a
simple puja to the god Ganapati in the evening, with prayers for a
trouble-free journey, offered sweetmeats to Ganapati and
receivedthem back as prasad. That blessed offering was shared
by everyone, and the act of worship strengthened our sense of
belonging to a group.
Day 2 We left Delhi in the early morning and after a hot and
dusty journey of 200 km, including a break for lunch at Cheetal
Grand Hotel in Muzafar Nagar, reached Haridwar (or Hardwar)
about 2.30 in the afternoon. We had a short break for
refreshments and then went on another 24 km Our
to Rishikesh.
rooms were booked at the Hotel Ganga Kinare ('On the Bank of
the Ganges').

There was only half an hour for a quick bath, change of clothes
and tea or coffee before we went back to Haridwar to witness the
arati of the goddess Ganga. Our coach had to be parked nearly a
mile away from the ghat (steps leading down to the river). I was
rather put off by the and excrement on the footpath. After a
dirt

little hop, skip and jumpwe managed to reach the paved path
near the river. Even here we had to avoid the many cooking fires
which the pilgrims had lit to prepare their evening meal. Some
holy cows had also left their calling cards in places!

However, nothing daunted, we threaded our way through the

throng of pilgrims towards the Ganga temple. We had to leave our
sandals at a booth, for a small charge, since leather footwear
causes spiritual pollution at a temple or a holy ghat. Now the
crowd was really pressing; everyone was trying to protect their
wallets, keep their balance and crane their necks to get a glimpse
of the arati flames. Fortunately we could hear the verses sung in
praise of the rivergoddess on the public address system. When
the arati ceremony was over, our group moved to one side to
enable the crowds to thin a little. Then most of us managed to
climb down the slippery steps to reach the water's edge. Our tour
guide had managed to locate about four priests, who assisted a
number of us in offering puja to the goddess Ganga. made anI

offering of 51 rupees in charity to the priest, after had placed rice

I

grains and flowers in the sacred river, and prayed for the material
and spiritual welfare of my wife, myself and all our relatives,
friends, dependants and domestic pets. stood in the water of the
I

Ganges while doing this puja and praying.

There must have been at least 10,000 people on the ghat at
Haridwar on that evening, but remarkably no one was hurt or
drowned. There were many devout souls bathing in the holy river,
hoping for the goddess's blessing to lead them to moksha,
spiritual liberation. People from different varna and caste groups
from various regions of India had gathered to pay homage to God,
before whom all stood equal.

Day 3 The day dawned and warm in Rishikesh. Some

bright
pilgrims said their morning prayers sitting on the steps near the
river behind our hotel. After breakfast, which was prepared and
served by the two cooks and four helpers who travelled with us,
we set off to visit the famous meditation centres situated within a
few kilometres of Rishikesh. An exciting bus ride along a winding
mountain road took us to a temple, where a murti of Lakshmana
alone is seen. Normally, Lakshmana is shown with Rama and Sita
in many temples dedicated to god Rama. Our tour guide related

a story which said that since Lakshmana had killed Ravana's son
in battle, he had incurred the sin of killing a Brahmin. Lakshmana

therefore had to expiate his sin through penance, and the temple
is builtnear the place where he is believed to have performed this
penance. Nearby is a suspension bridge called Lakshmana Zula.
The earlier footbridge, made of rope and wooden slats, collapsed
in 1925. A substantial donation by a rich merchant, and active

support by the British Raj resulted in the steel suspension bridge

being constructed between 1927 and 1929. It is a remarkable feat
of British engineering. There is a second steel suspension bridge
of post-independence construction, called the Rama Zula.

The Ganges was in full flood, but the rushing water was quietly
making its progress downstream towards the sea when walked I

across the Lakshmana Zula. There are many 'business' temples

of recent origin, where unwary but devout pilgrims place money
in the dana-peti (donation box), which supports the people
running each temple.
is to be found; this is an ashrama
Here, too, the Divine Life Society
founded in1936 by Swami Shivananda, which has temples,
lecture halls, a meditation centre and a hospital. The swarga
ashrama is a complex of buildings consisting of inexpensive
accommodation for pilgrims; it has a temple dedicated to the
Bhagavad-Gita.
Our return journey to the hotel for lunch was quite a hair-raising
experience. Our tourist coach had to join a long queue of heavy
goods vehicles across a bailey bridge, which had temporarily
replaced a recently damaged road bridge. The driver displayed
great skill in taking the coach along the narrow bridge and over
the rough and pot-holed road to safety. The morning outing had
been rather tiring, so opted out of the organized activities for the
I

rest of the day and evening. It had been a scorching day, but a
spiritually fulfilling one nevertheless.

Day 4 We had to leave Rishikesh early when it was still dark,

and without breakfast because of the (peaceful) political protest
and the area-wide strike in the northern part of Uttar Pradesh. Our
coach was able to get away from the trouble spot and stop for
breakfast and lunch along the way. We reached Dev Prayag and
saw the confluence of the rivers Alakananda (rising near
Badrinath) and Bhagirathi (rising at Gangotri). After this
confluence at Dev Prayag the combined waters of the two rivers
are known as the Ganges. Next we stopped at Rudra Prayag to
look at the breathtaking turbulence caused by the confluence of
the rivers Alakananda and Mandakini (rising at Kedarnath); thus
between Rudra Prayag and Dev Prayag the river is known as
Alakananda. Just before we reached the village of Rampur, we
had another occasion to admire the daring and skill of our driver.
There was a landslide across the mountain road which had
broken the surface, creating an incline of 45°. We asked the driver
whether we should get out of the coach. 'No need', he replied,
'we are on a pilgrimage and God will protect us. Trust in Him.
Besides, have driven this coach through worse obstacles
I

before.' With remarkable skill and judgement he drove the coach,

slowly but surely, over the damaged road and brought us to
safety.

Late in we reached Rampur. In our guest-house the

the evening
were poor: no electricity, damp walls and damp beds.
facilities

The evening meal was taken in dim candlelight. Physical

discomfort and hardship is supposed to enhance the spirituality
of the experience on a pilgrimage.

Day 5 After a damp and got ready for the day

restless night we
in and set off for Gauri
candlelight, ate breakfast in buffet style
Kund, about 30 km away. On the way we saw the spuming waters
of Son Ganga and Mandakini at the confluence of Son Prayag.
Many of us walked down the steps and dipped our feet in the
refreshing water. Bathing at a confluence is believed to increase
religious so our partial effort probably increased our
merit,
religious merit by a fraction! When our coach reached Gauri Kund
we were surrounded - by about 1 00 eager young men seeking
business. They were looking for customers who wanted to hire a
horse or a doli (litter) to climb the mountain. After a lot of shouting
and stick-waving our guide managed to push the crowd away
from the door of the coach, then arranged for us all either a litter,
which is carried by four strong men, or a horse, which one may
ride or use to carry the back-pack.

I hired a horse, put my back-pack on the saddle and started to

walk up the path. A few yards further on bought a strong, metal-
I

tipped bamboo stick to help me keep my balance on the slippery

path and continued to walk. Gauri Kund is about 6500 ft (2000 m)
above sea level, while our goal, Kedarnath, is 1 1 ,750 ft (3580 m)
high. The winding path up the mountain is 14 km long. About six
or seven people from the group decided to walk; others opted for
a litter or a horse. As the altitude increases, the air becomes thin
and has less oxygen, so it is necessary to inhale through both
nose and mouth in order to get adequate oxygen into the lungs.
As walked up the path had a truly spiritual experience. Some
I I

unknown power prompted me to recite the Gayatri mantra aloud,

which meant was taking in sufficient oxygen to maintain my
I
energy level. recited the mantra and walked on without feeling
I

any altitude sickness. The young man whose horse had hired I

kept on urging me to ride, but became more determined to walk

I

the whole distance. Honestly, did not think about the rarefied air.
I

I simply kept on reciting the mantra and stopped only when I

touched the steps leading to the Kedarnath temple. When I

walked into the hostel other members of the group greeted me

with loud cheers. was the only one to have walked the whole
I

distance from Gauri Kund to Kedarnath.

I discovered that at least six people needed oxygen to combat
altitude sickness.The hostel had a resident doctor and oxygen
cylinders,so medical help was promptly obtained. After a much-
needed cup of coffee and some snacks, went outside to stand I

and look at the majesty of the mountain. The peaks behind the
temple were covered in snow, which glistened in its silvery
brightness in the rays of the setting sun. The thin string of the river
Mandakini was frozen white on the upper reaches of the slope as
if the god Shiva had been experimenting with a giant tube of icing

sugar, while the crystal-clear water further down tumbled joyfully

over the rocks and gathered momentum on its downward journey.
The temple of Kedarnath is very old; it houses a black phallic-
shaped rock, about 1 m tall - the symbol of Shiva. We were able
to obtain darshan (view the lingam) from the doorway, but could
not enter the holy of holies. Afterwards we were given sugar
crystals as prasad. It had been a memorable and spiritually
satisfying day.

Day 6 We got up in the early hours to get ready to attend the

puja at the Kedarnath temple, whicti was to start at 5 am. Each of
us was supplied with a bucket of hot water to bathe, because we
could not possibly attend the puja without bathing. In our
enthusiasm we forgot to take precautions against exposure to the
cold mountain air. It was a recipe for disaster, and some of us
caught chills and colds that persisted for a few days. Since it was
very cold at Kedarnath and some members had suffered from
altitude sickness, it was decided that we should leave after
breakfast and seek shelter at a low altitude in Rampur.
The temple of Kedarnath is built in black stone, and set against the
magnificence of the snow-covered Himalayan peaks. It is very clean
inside and the surrounding paved courtyards are free from litter.

After breakfast we offered namaskar to the god Shiva, and began

to climb down towards Gauri Kund. In three or four places water
was rushing across the path, so I decided to ride the horse for
7 km to a village called Rambada where we stopped for lunch. I

walked down the rest of the mountain path to Gauri Kund. From
there onwards our journey was fraught with unforeseen
difficulties, both natural and man-made.

We arrived at Gauri Kund and the bus

to face a general strike,
station was full Our coach was parked
of stranded vehicles.
further awayout of sight of the protesters, so we were able to get
in and drive off, but at Son Prayag we came to a halt because of

a barricade.. Fortunately, all the horses we had hired were from

Rampur, so we were able to ride back there. Then the heavens
opened and we progressed in driving rain towards Rampur.
Everything, including our back-packs, was thoroughly drenched.
Before leaving Rampur we had deposited our suitcases in a
different guest-house where there was electric light and the
rooms were clean and so changing into dry clothes and
dry,
drying the wet ones was fairly
easy. The cooks prepared excellent
food for our evening meal and we had a restful night. Every bone
in my body ached as a result of my first-ever horse ride.

Day 7 Because of the general strike we had no option but to

stay at Rampur, so we made the most of this enforced rest-day.
The sun shone brightly and all of us were busy washing clothes
and hanging them out to dry. It was the first day of the Ganesha
festival, which we celebrated by offering prayers to the formless
Ganesha before breakfast and then by singing devotional hymns
in Sanskrit and Tamil. Three people were unable to participate in

the hymn-singing because they spoke only Telugu. Mango sweets

were also given to all as prasad. After a hot bath and a good lunch
our tiredness diminished and our spirits were revived.
Day 8 We were up very early and left Rampur at 5 am to travel
to Badrinath. We retraced our steps to Rudra Prayag; then we
turned north and travelled almost parallel to the river Alakananda,
where we enjoyed the beauty of its confluences with other smaller
streams.
The Pindar merges with the Alakananda at Kama Prayag; the river
Nandakini meets its waters at Nanda Prayag; and Vishnu Ganga
embraces it at Vishnu Prayag. Our coach travelled along the
steep but well-maintained mountain road through spectacular
scenery, and after a 13-hour exhilarating journey we reached the
town of Badrinath, which is 10,350 ft (3150 m) above sea level.
The accommodation at the Paramarth Loka Hostel was adequate,
but there was no electric light. After freshening up we walked to
the temple of Badrinath to obtain darshan of the deity before the
 125

2.
3
0)

CO

MAIN CENTRES OF PILGRIMAGE

RIVERS

ROUTE TAKEN BY PILGRIM

map showing the route followed by the pilgraims and main sites of
pilgrimage
temple closed at 7.30 pm. The evening meal by candlelight was
enjoyable, and a warm bed was even more welcome after a tiring
journey.

Day 9 At Badrinath the main town and the temple are

separated by the river Alakananda, over which there is a
suspension bridge. Not far from the temple, which is dedicated
to god Vishnu, there is a hot water spring that fills four stone-built
pools, two of which are used by men and two by women for their
ritual bathing. Many young men from the town carry large cans

of this hot water to the hostel for the pilgrims' morning bath and
charge five rupees per bucket (about 1 0p). My day started with a
refreshing bath before went with others who wanted to bathe at
I

the spring. About 10 feet (3 m) away flows the river with its ice-
cold water. While at the spring witnessed the second naming
I

ceremony of a young girl, who wanted to have the ritual repeated

in holy surroundings.

Some members of the group, after bathing at the spring, went on

to a special area on the ghat to offer pindas (balls of cooked rice)
to departed ancestors. When we went to the temple, we placed
rupee coins in front of the deity; these were blessed by the priest
and returned to us to be kept in our home shrines. It is believed
that such blessed coins bring continued prosperity to the family.
There were many stalls in town near the suspension bridge selling
books, maps, brass and copper utensils for puja, different types
of rosaries and many other religious artefacts. bought a copper I

plate which showed embossed images of Badrinath (Vishnu) and

Kedarnath (Shiva) for our home shrine. also bought two sealed I

copper bottles of Ganga water.

In the afternoon all the pilgrims went for a short walk to the source
of the river Alakananda; we saw it emerge from an opening in the
mountain, gushing out forcefully in its milky magnificence.
Although the day had been spiritually fulfilling and warmed by the
Himalayan sun, at dusk it was chilly, and after our candlelit meal
it became decidedly cold.

Day 10 The Badrinath temple shows the influence of Nepali and

Tibetan Buddhist architecture. The popular belief is that the
present murti was originally that of the Buddha seated in a lotus
posture, but that during the Hindu renaissance it was thrown into

a pond, where it remained for many years. The first Shankara

restored it to its present position as the murti of Vishnu and
named it Badrivishal. The murti is made of black stone and is not
well defined, but the deity is seen seated in a lotus posture. In
Hindu mythology, the Buddha is considered the ninth avatar of
Vishnu.

Many of us attended the early morning puja, and after a quick

breakfast we left Badrinath at 9 am to enjoy a truly spectacular
drive through the Himalayan foothills.

We reached Jyotir Math in two hours, where, in the present

monastery, there is a cave; here the Adi-Shankara, the Vedanta

scholar, first established the monastery. There is also a Lakshmi-

Narayan temple. We passed through many small towns during our
journey before reaching Srinagar in the Gadhawal district, where
we stayed the night at Prachi Hotel. It was sheer luxury to have
modern amenities and electric light again (provided by the hotel's
own generator) for the first time since leaving Rishikesh.
Day 1 1 Our morning was free; there was no organized activity.
Our suitcases were packed and loaded on the roof of the coach
by 1 1 am. After 'brunch' we left the hotel and began our journey
to Uttar Kashi, a distance of 125 km through the mountains, along
well-maintained roads. However, we did hit a stretch where the
road was rough and dusty.
When we reached Uttar Kashi at 6.30 pm, we learnt that the roads
to Gangotri and Yamunotri were blocked by landslides, slippery
and very dangerous. We had to consider the welfare of some
senior citizens in the group. It was decided that we should stay at
Uttar Kashi for two nights.

Day 12 Today there was no long coach journey. Our feet were
to be on firm ground, so after breakfast we began to explore the
town of Uttar Kashi (3500 ft) (1000 m), which is situated on the
banks of the river Bhagirathi, which rises at Gangotri. Thus far,
from the start of our yatra, our coach had climbed and descended
16 high mountains.
In the morning we visited the Kashi Vishwanath (Shiva) temple
and offered puja and prayers individually. Within the same
precincts there is a Shakti-Devi (Mother Goddess) temple, inside
which is a 30-ft (nine-metre) tall carved stone pillar that cannot be
moved with force, but can be slightly pushed away from the
vertical with just one finger. At the top of the pillar is a stone
axehead and above it a trident. It is very ancient; no precise date
can be ascribed to it. Near the Devi temple there is a very large
yajna-shala (place of fire-sacrifice) where a few years ago a large
and prolonged havan (fire-sacrifice) was performed with prayers
for world peace.
That night there was a blackout in town to avert political protests,
but the river Bhagirathi quietly flowed downstream in the dark
towards Dev-Prayag, to meet the Alakananda.
Day 13 The trips to Gangotri and Yamunotri were considered
impossible, so it was decided to go to Mussoorie and to stay
there for three nights. But after leaving Uttar Kashi we learnt that
there was a curfew round Mussoorie, so we made our way to
Chamba and checked in at Hotel Trishul Breeze, whichis on top

of a high mountain, affording a panoramic view of many peaks.

the Vithoba (Vishnu) templi

at Pandharpur in western
India; it is a popular
pilgrimage site in July and
November each year

The night stop at Chamba was restful, but it was very cold during
the hours of darkness. There was a general strike at Chamba as
well, so our coach was halted for a few hours the next day.
Day 14 The manager of the hotel went into the town of Chamba
and negotiated with the protestors a safe passage for our coach
to Rishikesh. Soon after lunch we left Chamba and made our way
down the mountain to Rishikesh. The journey was without much
incident; however, 100 buffaloes had claimed the right of way
ahead of our coach. Their own bandh (strike) had also checked
our progress for a while.
When we reached Hotel Ganga Kinare all of us clapped with
enthusiasm to express our appreciation for the efforts and skill of
the driver, Mr Kuldeep Singh, and Mr Joshi, our tour manager and
guide. All of us breathed a sigh of relief to have concluded our
pilgrimage safely. The memory of the great mountains and the
temples in their isolated holiness will remain with all who shared
this yatra; some regretted ever having to descend to the mundane
matters of daily life, though we all carried with us God's blessing.
20(D0
C(D33
CD
3 In this
•

•
about
ways
chapter you will learn:
the place of the Guru
reality and
of liberation
unreality

• about the Guru as teacher

and spiritual guide
• about the death of a Guru.
130
Liberation from what?
5 =• Hindu family life, the gods and their stories, fascinating and
* $ enjoyable festivals and dietary matters must not distract us from
g- realizing that what matters ultimately is belief. If we forget this
g
• ?. then we have fallen into the snare against which Hindu teachers
| and scriptures continually warn us: we are in danger of
(d <|! confusing the ephemeral with the real.

II What is unreality?
The short answer is that it is the world of the five senses; it is

materialism; it is the illusion that this world is real in the sense

that we can enjoy it forever. This is the samsaric trip upon which
we embarked at birth. Samsara means coming and going, and
embodies the idea that our real self, the atman, which is spiritual
and non-material, is imprisoned in our body and is destined to
pass from one body to another until we become aware of this
fact and do something about it, Samsara can appear very
enjoyable. Many of us say, not entirely joking, 'If I come back
I'd like to be a world class footballer, a jazz musician, the prime
minister'. We forget that the pleasant experiences that are so
attractive in the lives of these people must themselves come to
an end.

Reality has no end

Indian religious traditions tend to assert that the problem faced
by all human beings is one of unenlightenment. That is why we
mistake the unreal, temporal and temporary satisfactions of life
for those that are permanent and eternally satisfying.

As one of the Hindu scriptures (an Upanishad) puts it:

Lead me from the unreal to the real, from darkness to

light, from death to immortality (Brihadaranyaka 1:3:28).
The illusory goals are those against which most religions warn:
wealth, power, sexual satisfaction, greed, pride - in short, all
those things that dupe us into believing life is so pleasant that
we need look no further for happiness.

The goal of liberation

The goal, liberation (moksha) of the spirit, soul or atman, from
an apparently endless series of rebirths, is envisaged in a number
of ways. Some Hindus will offer the analogy of a drop of rain
[ 131
entering a stream and progressing back to the ocean from which ^_
it came. Others speak of many inter-related atoms moving © f
around one another. There may be a focus, like the sun as centre "g.
g.
of the solar system, or there may be none. There is no uniform § |
view as to whether the individual atman becomes one with 8,0
Brahman or remains in some respects distinct. Others still may 5=
refer to the process of rebirth as the shedding of the various o£
sheaths that imprison the soul. These must be removed if | |
liberation is to take place. Even the wish for personal survival §
into eternity is one that Hindus might consider selfish and **

therefore to be relinquished. Can there be any better goal than wm ±

to be united with Eternal Reality, however that Being, the ^5
Absolute, or God, may be understood?

The ways of liberation

Hindus believe that there is more than one path to liberation.
The sannyasin, who forsakes even his name when he enters the
final stage of life, and cremates an effigy of his body to show
that the past is totally dead, is practising the rejection of earthly

attachments so that he may realize Brahman. This is one of the

traditionally acceptable ways of pursuing moksha, though it
was one which Gandhi and Nehru tended to reject. Nehru,
attempting to build the new independent Indian State, said,
'Aram haram hai' (To rest is forbidden). He felt that withdrawal
from the world was not something that would benefit the
country - but then, he was not a religious person. Others value
the lifestyle of sannyasins highly, providing them daily with food
as they make an alms round. Most Hindus, however, follow a
less rigorous path, by performing religious actions, karma
marga, which includes selfless deeds and puja, or bhakti marga,
or loving devotion, in which faith and God's grace are
important as the means of deliverance. (Some of these are
discussed in greater detail in Chapter 12). A third marga is the
philosophical one, that of knowledge (jnana). It may seem
strange to some people that knowledge can have any saving
worth whatsoever, especially when the word 'philosophy'
is attached to it. However, this is the term that Hindus prefer

over 'theology'; it revolves around darshanas, ways of seeing

reality or the truth. The purpose of Hindu philosophy is to
enable the believer to attain spiritual liberation, not to play
intellectual wordgames as Western philosophy sometimes seems
to do!
Some years ago the BBC broadcast a programme about atheism
in which some participants suggested that it is a Western rather
than an Eastern religious problem. This is certainly not true for
Sikhism, but Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism are religions in
which it is perfectly possible and respectable to be an atheist. Let
us consider how an atheist can achieve liberation. If one takes a
completely materialist outlook, believing that only the material
world exists, then there can be no liberation. There is no non-
material essence to be liberated from its material bonds.
However, with the existence of the atman, which somehow or
other has become imprisoned within the material body, and
which is destined to suffer reincarceration until the bonds are
finally broken, liberation is a possibility. Through ascetic
techniques, which subdue the material world, or yogic
meditation which enables the practitioner to transcend it, the
atman can be freed. The atman, which escapes the gravitational
pull of the material world, goes into orbit around the Absolute,
or plunges into it/him/her, and thus liberation is achieved. There
are six philosophical schools which are described as orthodox
(astika), that is, which claim to be based upon the Vedas. They
will be discussed more fully later, but some reference is
appropriate here. Of these the two that are most important are
Advaita Vedanta, non-dualism, and Vishishtadvaita Vedanta,
qualified non-dualism.

Advaita teaches that the material world is an illusion, ultimately

unreal. When this becomes clear, we realize the

intuitively
identity of Brahman and atman. As it says in one Upanishad,
'tat tvam asi\ 'that (Brahman) is what you are'. Once grasped
intellectually, the task is to realize and base one's life upon this
truth. (The chief exponents of the two major philosophical
schools will be discussed in Chapter 11.)

For many Hindus the path to spiritual liberation lies in

following the teachings of a Guru, the kind of master (they are
usually male), or adept, which Muslim mystics, Sufis, and
Christians also regard as essential. In fact it is widely held that
the path should not be undertaken without a personal teacher.

The Guru
Two very important features of Hinduism are the place of oral
teaching and the emphasis upon spiritual experience. The Rig-
Veda, the earliest scripture of Hinduism, may be dated earlier
 it was not written down fully for over 2000
than 1000 bce, but [T33
1400 ce). A belief that the sanctity of the
years (until about
spoken word would be affected by putting it into writing may S" jj

be one reason for this delay; another may be a belief that the "2.
g.

word should be transmitted or communicated by men who § §

knew its meaning intuitively and empirically. These men were 8, •
mostly Brahmins. A collection of laws known as the Laws of ? ="•

Manu, dating from about 200 bce, would suggest that this was ©2
because only Brahmins had a right to study and teach the Vedas. | |
However, there is evidence in the Upanishads of non-Brahmin g
teachers. Those who were Brahmins might also have acted as **

priests, but it is their role as spiritual teachers that is of concern ^

here. The name used for such men, and today some women, is ^5
Guru. A Guru is a spiritual preceptor, not a teacher in the
normal sense of the word. However, he not only provides
spiritual guidance; he may also advise on careers or marriage.
After all, the whole of a person's life is directed at the attainment
of moksha, and choosing an inappropriate form of employment
might hinder or even prevent it being achieved. The importance
of husband and wife walking this path together is mentioned in
the marriage service. The word Guru is often explained by
splitting it into two parts. Gu means darkness and ru means
light. A Guru is one who dispels spiritual darkness and gives
light to the disciple (called a chela or sishya). Guru can also be
linked with a word meaning heavy. He is a person who removes
the burden of doubt and ignorance, the karma which the
disciple brings. To be effective, a Guru must traditionally
possess four essential qualities: he must be shratiya, well versed
in the scriptures; he must be brahmanishtam, established in
brahman (this means he must have realized the spiritual goal
himself); he must be akamakita, unsmitten by desire; and he
must be nishkalamika, stainless, free from guile. Only such a
person can enable the seeker to achieve liberation. As the Guru
Chaitanya (1486-1533) said:

The Guru is the skilful helmsman, divine grace the

favourable wind; if with such means man does not strive to

cross the ocean of life and death, he is indeed lost.

A helmsman who does not know the way across the ocean of
birth and rebirth samsara, is actually worse than useless, and
can cause untold spiritual damage.

Hinduism teaches that God, Brahman, is within everyone, but

humanity is one in which this awareness
that the natural state of
is made impossible through ignorance. The sadhu, the
4*a\ wandering ascetic or holy man, may have overcome ignorance
and become liberated and yet have no calling to share
g"
jf
enlightenment with others. The Guru, however, is convinced of
3
"2. a divine vocation. The chelas, for their part, are equally sure of
Q)—.
g o the Guru's ability to help them achieve the same status of
o^ Brahma vidya, knowledge which is intuitive as well as
£? = intellectual, and the realization of Brahman.
CD<§.

£ <d Gurus often trace their lineage to God. Chaitanya is often

2 3 considered at a popular level not only to be a devotee of
<t>

Krishna, but also his incarnation. In the Mundaka Upanishad,

Brahma, the first of the gods, taught the science of Brahman to
his eldest son. Eventually this knowledge was handed down to
Angiras, the Guru whose teaching the Upanishad contains. In
other words, Brahma is the Adi Guru of the Mundaka
Upanishad. The very word Upanishad means 'sit-down-near',
and describes the posture of the student who approached the
Guru in the hope of being allowed to sit at his feet in study.
As the words of Chaitanya state, the Guru is essential to the
achievement of moksha. This is a belief that most Hindus would
share. There are those who put their trust in the practice of
austerity, but even sannyasins often have a spiritual director.
Hindus who emphasize the path of ritual action karma may
often combine it with following the teaching of a Guru who will
guide them in which actions they should undertake and what
foods they should eat. The priest who officiates at religious
ceremonies and the Hindu who performs them (and attempts to
his dharma perfectly) are aware that there is esoteric
fulfil
knowledge, truths that cannot be committed to books, mantras,
and techniques of meditation that are too intimate to be make
public. It is the Guru who possesses these.

Some Guru movements have emerged as distinctive Indian

religions: Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism - largely because the
teachings of their originators were not based on the Vedas and
have always been critical of their authority and that of their
interpreters, the Brahmins. Most, however, have remained within
the Hindu tradition, even though they may not have had Brahmin
Gurus. For many Hindus it is not orthodoxy of teaching that
matters but how the Guru matches up to the devotee's prayer; a
great medieval Guru called Kabir illustrates this idea:

The pearl is found in the oyster, and the oyster is in the

sea. The diver brings it up. No one else has the power to
do this.
In other words, theGuru only helps us to achieve self-realization, \-\25
to become what we really are. He does this by giving darshan. ^ _
This is more than the audience which a king grants a subject. It S"
f
is a gracious glance. It bestows grace. It penetrates our very 2. Q)
"§.
0) £*.

being and goes to the heart of our needs. When a disciple says, g |
'My Guru knows everything', she or he may be making a
statement about his omniscience, but is probably affirming that - .

L
he knows what they need before they ask him. He is like a o^
perceptive parent. In fact, some scholars have suggested that the | |
Guru is of major importance in Indian religion because the g
nature of the extended family encourages dependence rather
than independent initiative. He is a father-figure upon whom all
burdens may be cast, But he is probably much more than this.

Darshan, the gracious glance, may not be received by everyone

who visits a Guru. They may not yet be ready for it, and the
Guru will recognize this. He may ignore them, as (in one Hindu
myth) Shiva ignored someone who performed the great ascetic
act of standing on one leg outside the cave where he (Shiva)
lived, for 1000 years. Only after this period of penance was he
ready to receive what Shiva could impart. On the other hand, he
may give them a menial task to do because he knows they need
to be prepared for the obedience which discipleship entails.

Initiation
When the seeker is finally ready to become a chela, the Guru will
confer initiation, or diksha. This usually entails the giving of a
special word or Sanskrit verse to the initiate, with an instruction
to meditate upon it regularly. The verse or word, which is
whispered in the chela's ear, should be kept secret; it is personally
chosen and not to be shared. If it is told to someone else its
power will be lost. Like all religious experiences it is a private
matter. Hindus will not give personal testimonies of the way God
has become active in their lives in the way that members of some
other religions do. This would be to betray a trust.

Upon initiation, the disciple takes certain vows relating to

various aspects of his or her lifestyle. This vow may be of
celibacy, of abstinence from using drugs including alcohol and
tobacco, or it may be to adopt a vegan diet. Gurus often have
two kinds of initiated chelas. There are disciples who give up all
aspects of their previous lives to live permanently in the ashram.
Others continue their occupations and live with their families,
but are available immediately, should the Guru summon them to
TZT1 undertake some act of seva, and will keep certain lesser vows to
those of chelas living in the ashram. Their employer would
f jf
know that their first duty was to the Guru, and should not
"2. 3 express annoyance at their absence from work, however much
~
I he might be inconvenienced. (Often he would have the same
o ^ Guru as his employee.) They will probably keep the same
5 J: dietary rules, and perhaps abstain from sexual intercourse
-J except for purposes of procreation.

il
3
St
The death of a Guru
When a Guru finally departs for his heavenly abode ('dies'
^ would not be a word normally used), his body will not be
— ' cremated. It is likely to be buried in a seated lotus posture, and
a monument known as a samadhi may be placed over him. It
will become a venerated site. If the Guru is aware of his
approaching death he may appoint a successor and even induct
him as Guru. Otherwise the disciples will have to agree who
should take his place. A Guru might state that there will be no
successor, but more often than not a cult is established. The
successor must, of course, know the teachings perfectly
intuitively as well as intellectually. He must be at one with his
Guru - so much so that he may even take the Guru's name.
Spiritual enlightenment is the principal requirement, of course.
No one can carry the burdens of others who is weighed down
himself by karma. It might be prudent if the community already
respects him, but this is not essential; the conferred authority of
the outgoing teacher should be sufficient.

The other kind of Guru is one who appears for the first time and
has no acknowledged master. He may undergo a personal
experience in which he becomes certain that God has called him
to be a Guru. It may
be that his family or friends detect special
qualities in him and seek his advice on matters of concern,
including spiritual development. When someone has chosen to
become his disciple and has been accepted then the man
becomes a Guru. If he is a Brahmin he will probably gain
devotees from all classes, depending on whether he makes
himself available to low caste men and women or not. A low
caste Guru would have to be a remarkable person to win the
devotion of Brahmins and other high caste people. It would be
even more difficult for a woman to win chelas. Her support
might come from non-Hindus, or Hindus who were indifferent
to traditional ways of thinking, or perhaps Westerners. She
might well be the subject of unwarranted gossip. The Guru will
setup an ashram or compound of buildings which will be his
137
base,and where some disciples will settle and others come at the
weekend or other convenient times.
5.3
r+
ft)
o o
The teachings of a Guru © 3
a©
Spiritual liberation main provision that a Guru makes for
is the
disciples. The sadhana or means of achieving this end may vary.
Concentration may be on a particular method of meditation.
Nowadays service in Indian society is frequently stressed. 3
3

A day in an ashram
This is just one account. Other ashrams may have different ways
of life, but there will always be some form of discipline, or
ashram dharma.

3.30 Rise and bathe.

4.30 Aratl and chanting bhajans, devotional songs.
7.00 Breakfast. A simple meal of sliced bread and tea.
8.00 Seva, selfless service, that is, work to God as a
offering
form of worship. It might take the form of washing the
dishes, cleaning latrines, gardening, or generally keeping
the ashram clean. Devotees must do what is required of
them. Through this they learn obedience.
11.45 Chanting
12.00 Lunch, followed by rest. This is essential in the hot Indian
climate.
2.00 Return to seva. Seva might include going from the ashram
in a jeep or lorry to give service in the wider community:
manning mobile clinics, providing milk and food for
children.
During this afternoon period the Guru gives darshan. Members
who wish to receive darshan gather seated in an open area in the
Guru's presence. When attendants tap them on the shoulder with
a fan (chauri), they may approach the Guru for an audience. The
Guru will know who is in need of darshan and what the nature of
the need is.

6.30 Tea, followed by arati and evening chanting.

9.15 Bedtime.
13~ «|
Several festivals will be celebrated in ashrams, depending upon
_ the teachings of the Guru. In those devoted to Shiva, it is likely
ff that there will be a yajna, or sacred fire ceremony, lasting as
3
"2. long as ten days, or to Ganesha; a Shanti yajna to remove evil

g o and secure peace and tranquillity.

* § When the Guru gives public teaching the address is unlikely to
© <o be sophisticated. It is the quality of the message that counts. The
§o Guru's ideals will be emphasized. Perhaps devotees will be
2 3 encouraged to recognize God in each other, to seek to be free
a from suffering by rejecting all attachments, and to attain bliss
(anand) by obeying the Guru, meditating, and practising seva.

f~% Nowadays there are many Gurus whose disciples are to be

found worldwide, including Westerners as well as people of
Indian origin. Occasionally they appear on television and give a
message which is so simple that audiences find it unconvincing.
This is because they are looking for deeply philosophical
homilies and, disciples would say, are not on the wavelength of
the Guru. Only those who enter into the intimate relationship
and perceive that the Guru in his teaching will pass beyond the
limits of their ignorance, receive darshan and enter upon a new
life. The great philosophers Shankara and Ramanuja were

Gurus as well as highly intellectual teachers.

oI

o
<
In this chapter you will learn:
• about the six systems of
Hindu Philosophy
• about the Yoga Sutra and
the eight steps of yoga
• arguments for whether God
exists.
140 |
When questioned about the beliefs an orthodox Hindu should
hold, the reply tends to include:

£ • belief in one ultimate reality

c
o • belief in the authority of the Vedas (which includes the
Upanishads)
• belief in the principles of karma and samsara, and the
eventual attainment of moksha; to these might often be added
the performance of dharma, right conduct and the
observance of caste duties.

With these in mind, we may assert that Hindu systems of

philosophy, and religious movements and teachings, are
motivated not merely by the purpose of discovering Truth but
also by realizing Truth in life. In other words, the teacher
analyzes the nature of Reality, so that the student may no longer
be caught up in the cycle of rebirth but may achieve moksha.
Hindu philosophy is therefore perhaps nearer to Western
theology than to Western philosophy. However, the philosophy
that concerns us in this chapter is distinctive and should be
studied in its own right. The main purpose of philosophy might
be regarded as the elimination of suffering, rather than the
explanation of evil or of creation and existence, though these
themes are often discussed.

The six systems of Hindu philosophy

There are six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy, or
darshanas, which are based on the Vedas (including, of course,
the Upanishads and Gita). These are known as astika or
orthodox. The most famous nastika, or unorthodox schools, are
the Carvakas, Buddhism and Jainism, which reject the authority
of the Vedas as divinely inspired and provide their own
alternative world views and paths to liberation.

The six astika schools are now usually grouped in pairs, but this
was not necessarily the original arrangement, and the pairs do
not always complement one another. They are:
• Nyaya and Vaishesika
• Samkhya (sometimes spelled Sankyha) and Yoga
• Mimamsa and Vedanta.

All these systems can be traced back beyond the Common or

Christian Era. Nyaya means By the use of
logical analysis.
perception, including the senses and insight, inference, analogy, \-\a-\
and verbal testimony - which came to include the authority of
scripture (shruti) as the system was developed - valid knowledge
resulting in moksha could be acquired. Vaishesika is said to
derive from a term meaning 'a category of knowledge denoting
essential difference, individuality, particularity'. Great
importance is attached to the concept of substance, which is §
comprised of the five elements of earth, water, light, air and <
ether, in addition to time, space, the essence of being (the atman)
and mind. Everything has its unique essence, its particularity,
and release is obtained by recognizing the atomic nature of the
universe, the difference between matter and soul and the
separation of the two. Ethical conduct was important in
achieving this goal. The system in its original form had really no
place for Brahman but Ishvara was added later in response to
criticism.

Samkhya
The oldest astika system is that of Samkhya. Its origins are
obscure and it may originally have been materialistic (though it
regards matter as eternal and atheistic, but in the available
written forms it tends to be theistic and linked with yoga as the
method of release. The classic treatise on samkhya is the
Samkhya Karika, dated to about the second century CE; that on
yoga is Yoga Sutra of Patanjali of the second century
the earlier
bce. Earlier references are to befound in the Gita. It must,
therefore, be about 2300 years old. The principle behind
Samkhya is the complete cessation of suffering. This is attained
through yoga. Samkhya teaches that individual souls (Purushas)
and matter (Prakriti) have existed since time immemorial: both
are uncreated, Purusha is neither produced (created) or
productive. Prakriti is also unproduced but is productive. Thus
it changes and evolves, although it can never be destroyed.

The complete cessation of pain is the complete goal of

humanity.' These words are attributed to Kapila, the sage who
is regarded as the originator of Samkhya.

Pain is to be understood in the Indian philosophical and

spiritual sense as an awareness of dissatisfaction, alienation
from the cause of or peace, craving after illusory goals, or
bliss
wrong attachment. does not necessarily relate to physical
It

suffering. Hindus will tell many stories of people whose lives

were materially enjoyable and who were never exposed to
.|42 1
physical pain, but who were acutely aware that they were
suffering.Gurus and philosophical teaching often begin by
diagnosing the causes of suffering, and then prescribing a
remedy which leads to its cessation, the attainment of spiritual
: liberation described as nirvana, or moksha. The Hindu
U philosopher has been traditionally a doctor of the spirit,
o Samkhya is sometimes described as the oldest known
philosophical system in the world and can be traced back the the
Indus Valley civilization, which came to an end about 1700 bce,
even though the writings of its legendary founder, the Samkhya-
karika, only belong to the third century ce. It is mentioned in
the Svetasvatara Upanishad:

Eternal among eternals, conscious among the conscious,

the One among the many, he disposes over desires: he is the
cause, he can be comprehended in theory (samkhya) as in
spiritual exercise (yoga); knowing this God a man is from
every fetter freed.

and in the Bhagavad Gita where Krishna tells Arjuna:

This wisdom has been revealed to thee in theory

(samkhya); listen now to how it should be practised
(yoga): if by this wisdom thou art exercised, thou wilt put
off the bondage inherent in all works.

Samkyha means 'enumeration', probably because of the detailed

way it analyzes human personality, though it is not unique in
this respect. It is two ultimate
a dualistic system that postulates
or eternal realities, purusha and prakriti. Its diagnosis of the
cause of pain is based upon the view that the soul or cosmic
spirit (purusha) is not identical with the body or matter
(prakriti). The purusha is essentially free, but is so caught up
with matter that it appears to be in bondage to it, hence the
sense of pain. Evidence for the existence of purusha takes the
form of the awareness that human beings have of a state that
transcends the realities of phenomenal experience, and the
desire to attain it. The existence of prakriti is self-evident.
Samkhya divides prakriti into 24 parts (26 if prakriti itself is
included), of which the most important are the three gunas or
strands, like those of a rope; these are responsible for the
tendency to evolution or change, which characterises prakriti.
As already stated, purusha is neither produced nor productive,
but prakriti, though unproduced, being eternal, is productive.
The three gunas are sattva, rajas and tamas. Sattva is potential
consciousness, goodness, pleasure, pain, bewilderment. Though it
might be described as good, it nevertheless binds the purusha to
things like wisdom and joy, thus apparendy depriving it of N43
freedom. Rajas is activity or passion. It leads to craving and desire.
Tamas is darkness, the coarse quality which results in ignorance. -

Liberation is obtained by freeing the purusha from the influence -o

of sattva, rajas and tamas, which coil around it like a rope, or |

hold it in bondage like a chain. Once it is set free, the purusha g
can enjoy kaivalyam, isolation, as one monad among many.

The dualism of samkhya is not between good and evil, or

between the real and the unreal, but between the unchangeable
and the constantly changing. It is a non-theistic system with no
outer agency (God or God's grace) to help the process of
liberation. In fact, such help as there is comes from prakriti,
which not only causes bondage but also provides the
experiences that lead ultimately to detachment and freedom.

In the Svetasvatara Upanishad and the Bhagavad Gita, samkhya

may be translated as theory or knowledge. In its earliest
traceable forms there is no God, nor is there any advice on how
kaivalyam might be realized. Traditionally, however, the way of
liberation has been through the combining of samkhya analysis
with yoga practice, for which it provides the metaphysics,
though among the six astika schools yoga is given a place of its
own. In its theistic form samkhya adds a twenty-sixth category
to prakriti: Ishvara, the Lord. However, iheistic samkhya still
teaches the goal of kaivalyam, not union with Ishvara, which is
itself detached: as the Yoga Sutra puts it:

Concentration is attained by devotion to Ishvara. Ishvara

is a special kind of Purusha, which is untouched by
affliction, karma, fruits, or hopes. In him the seeds of
omniscience is perfect. He is the Guru of the ancients
unlimited by time.

He is merely an object of devotion or a focus for meditation.

Such a Lord is very different from the medieval development of

tantric yoga, in which purusha (male) becomes Shiva and
prakriti (female) becomes either Shakti, or the Lord of the Gita,
Krishna, who offers integration rather than isolation. Yoga is
the means of achieving liberation. In its unliberated state the
purusha appears to be subject to subtle changes in the body, to
moods and effects brought on by tensions between the three
gunas. In reality it is free, but this freedom has to be realized in
practice. The categories outlined in samkhya have to be
controlled and their influence eliminated. This is done through
a disciplined process. The philosopher Patanjali described eight
steps or limbs (angas).
 1 Abstention This includes such things as non-injury (ahimsa),
speaking the truth (satya), celibacy (brahmacharya) and the
rejection of greed and theft.
2 Observance This includes positive attributes and attitudes
such as self-discipline, purity, equanimity. The Gita says:
The one whose mind (buddhi) views friends, comrades and
enemies in the same way, is outstanding.
Simplicity, awareness of one's own personality and motives,
seeing God in everything, and accepting all the experiences that

God provides, also play central roles.

3 Posture (asana) This is important so that it is possible to
concentrate on meditation without distraction. The posture
should be steady and pleasurable. The amazing contortions often
associated with yoga in the Western mind are not advocated.
4 Breath control Anyone who is at all self-observant will notice
how they breathe rapidly when they are upset and how the advice
'take a deep breath' helps composure. In yogic practice breathing
is highly disciplined, but has the same purpose and effect.

5 Sense withdrawal Switching the mind off from its normal

functions, as we do when sleeping so successfully that we do not
hear a clock strike - i.e. making the senses serve the mind.
6 Concentration Mastering the mind so that it is bound to one
object of attention, instead of flitting aimlessly out of control.
7 Meditation Filling the mind with the single object upon which
one is concentrating.
8 Contemplation This is known by a number of names such as

a state of higher consciousness or illumination. It

self-realization,
is reached when the thought supply is exhausted and the
individual continues to look attentively without desire or thought or
will. It is something
a 'penny-dropping' realization after long
like

thought. In thisindependence (kaivalya), the self exists in

state of
isolation, like the lotus in a dirty pond, unbesmirched by the
surrounding grime and pollution. The stage beyond this is moksha.

Yoga one of the six astika schools of philosophy. The

is

description of its purpose above may come as a surprise to some

Westerners, for whom yoga is only a physical disciplines.

Although one may see Hindus in amazing postures, it is
important to realize that none of these is necessary; control of
the body is merely the third stage in the list and can be achieved
by sitting in a comfortable chair!
Ishvara [^
One category has not yet been mentioned: Ishvara, which means
Lord. He is mentioned in the Yoga Sutra. There may not need to a
c
be a place for a creator, but this concept recognises the value
which the worship of God might have for some seekers after
perfection. It describes Ishvara thus: \
"O

Ishvara is a special type of spirit, untouched by suffering,

works (karma), or the result of works or impressions. In
him is the highest knowledge of everything. He was Guru
of the ancients and is not limited by time.

This twenty-sixth category of yoga leaves a place for bhakti (see

Chapter 12) within the philosophy, though the texts do not
speak so much of reciprocated love as of an object of devotion,
a help to meditation and concentration, and a model of
perfection.

As we have Samkhya-Yoga has developed over the

seen,
centuries. advocates were sometimes critical of vedic
Its
teachings and rituals, though they are included in the orthodox
schools of philosophy. This may say something about the
eclectic nature of Hinduism. It may also suggest that the origins
of samkhya and yoga lay outside the Aryan tradition, which
produced the Vedas and were survivals, which eventually found
acceptance in the great tradition, from the earlier civilization
which flourished in the Indus Valley region.

Mimamsa
'Enquiry' is coupled with Vedanta, but was merely an exposition
of the Vedas rather than a way of liberation. Eventually, it
affirmed that moksha was to be obtained by respect for the
Vedas and observation of the rituals included in them. It later
tended to merge with Vedanta, and was therefore sometimes
called Uttara Mimamsa, or later Mimamsa.

Vedanta
Vedanta probably the area of Hindu philosophy best known
is

in the West, through writers such as Christopher Isherwood.

Vedanta means the Veda's end, and has also been described as
complete knowledge of the Vedas and is used to refer to the
philosophies which began with the Upanishads (which are
themselves philosophical treatises in the form of the teachings of
Gurus to their disciples).
TTTj What we shall now consider are two particular and differing
interpretations of the Upanishads. The first is that of Shankara.

= Shankara
^ Shankara, a south Indian, Tamil, and devotee of Shiva, was
o born in 788 CE; he became a sannyasin as little more than a child
--
and died at the age of 32 in 820. His opponents accused him of
being a crypto-Buddhist because they could see no difference
between his teaching on Brahman and the sunya doctrine of
Buddhism. Other Hindus noted that his name meant
'auspicious' and was one of the epithets of Shiva, so they
claimed that he was an incarnation of that deity. He has often
been described as Hinduism's greatest philosopher. Besides
being a philosopher he composed some hymns to Shiva and
devotional books. He regarded belief in Ishvara as a useful, but
lower, path to that of knowledge, jnana, and founded four
colleges which have survived to the present day, at Dwarka in
the west, Puri in the east, Badri in the north, and Shringeri in the
south, as well as an order of monks known as Dashanamis.

Shankara's philosophical system is known as advaita vedanta,

non-dualism; it is based upon an unequivocal belief in the
authority of scripture, shruti. A verse in the Chandogya
Upanishad (6:10:3) reads, 'tat tvatn asi\ 'that you are'.
Shankara took it to mean that the individual soul or atman, and
Brahman, are one. This monistic doctrine took some justifying.
After all there seems to be a considerable distinction between
one person and another.

This is actually an illusion based on ignorance (avidya). The

Absolute, Brahman, is sat-chit-ananda y pure being or truth, pure
consciousness, and pure bliss - unconditioned by time, space or
causality. Anything less must, by definition, be less than
Absolute. The personal self, atman, must possess the same
properties, otherwise it cannot be eternal.

Ignorance causes us to look at a shining object on the beach and

say it is a piece of silver when it is merely a shell, or to conclude
that a partly submerged stick is bent when it is actually
completely straight, or stand terrified as we see a snake in our
path only to discover that it is only a rope, or to believe that the
sun turns red as it disappears over the horizon. We are victims
of maya, illusion. Sense experience and even the intellect
mislead us. Proper perception is only possible when we
intuitively accept that Brahman alone is real, the world is false
and that the individual is Brahman and nothing else. Until we \-\a-j
reach this position we will continue to superimpose our false
perceptions upon the Real, and we will persist in error.

Of course, Shankara was not concerned about such trivial

things as ropes and shells; he was interested in liberating people o
from the bondage of suffering. Bondage and liberation, he said, I

exist in the mind only, but the ignorant attribute them falsely to
the atman itself - just as they say the sun is darkened when it is
merely covered by a cloud. The Brahman, the one without end,
the unchangeable reality, remains unattached. It is pure
consciousness.

Dualism, reliance on actions and individualism had no place in

the teachings of Shankara. Brahman, the one reality, could only
be realized when the penny dropped, when the enlightened mind
perceived its unity with the One. When this happened suffering
would cease because it would be seen to be unreal.
The teachings of Shankara seemed to leave no place for bhakti,
devotion to a personal God, or to any kind of emotional element
in religion. True, as has been mentioned, he composed hymns
and was in some respects a devotee of Shiva, but worship of
Ishvara was a lower order than intuitive direct experience.

However, one man, more than anyone else, challenged

Shankara 's interpretation of Reality.

Ramanuja
Ramanuja is said to have lived from 1017 CE to 1137, but his
birthdate may have been altered to enable him to be placed
directly after Yamuna as the head of the Shrirangam temple,
which he entered after an unsuccesful marriage. He certainly
was in charge of for much of his life, although this did not
it

prevent him from travelling widely elsewhere in India,

converting people to Vaishnavite Hinduism, repairing temples
and engaging in disputation. He wrote commentaries in Sanskrit
on the Vedanta Sutra, the Gita and the Upanishads. The choice
of Sanskrit was probably intended to convince an intellectual
readership, who might have shunned his writings had he used
the regional Tamil language favoured by the Alvar bhakti poets.
Of course, most Hindus elsewhere in India would not have
access to any regional language other than their own. Sanskrit
was the national language of the brahminical tradition. Unlike
the Alvars Ramanuja did not disregard caste, as is seen in the
 ritualhandbook for his temple, which he organized along caste
14 o|
lines,though accepting the bhakti teaching that all castes could
reach God. There was a place for Shudra servants and Shudra
c ascetics in the ritual life of the temple.

Ramanuja was faced with three tasks. These were:

• to reject Shankara's concept of higher and lower levels of

truth
• to answer Shankara's argument that the world is illusory
• to accept some kind of unity of Brahman and atman.
He could not accept the non-theistic, dualist, samkhya analysis,
which in any case emphasized liberation through knowledge
and the detached and detaching practice of yoga. He believed
strongly in dependence upon God and the real existence of the
world. To show this he used the following analogy. We possess
a body which is subservient to the self, to 'me'. We say, for
example, 'my body'. The human being and the world are the
body of Brahman. A person has also two aspects, consciousness
and bodily states. The cosmos is the body of Brahman. Here
Ramanuja's analogy faced a problem: Buddhists criticized
by pointing out that the cosmos is in a state of constant
theists
change - how could there be a changeless God? Again he used
the personal analogy. We say, 'I remember . .
.'. This suggests the
existence of something permanent and beyond change, the T
which is capable of observing. God is, by analogy, changeless.

Ramanuja argued that there are many individual selves, but that
they are not completely free and independent. God is the inner
controller, and any freedom which finite selves possess is God-
permitted. In Ramanuja's teaching God
has some need of
human beings and cannot maintain himself without them. The
words of the Gita, The man of wisdom is my very self, (7:8),
mean just this. Tat tvam asi' means that the atman has divine
attributes. At liberation the life monad, the jiva, realizes its

essential Godlike properties, and so enters upon an eternal life

of bliss derived from dependence of God. Taking Shankara's
analogy of the lotus growing in water but being unaffected by
it, Ramanuja pointed out that the lotus does have a dependent

relationship with the pond. It needs water to sustain it. This

more accurately describes the Brahman-atman connection than
that of the advaita school. Ramanuja's system was known as
vishishtadvaita vedanta, or qualified non-dualism. Like
Shankara, he was concerned about dualist philosophy, but he
also saw danger in complete monism. Monism seemed to \-\aq
provide no essential link between the individual soul and God;
dualism denied the existence of such a link. Ramanuja argued =
Q.
from experience that deity, Brahman, is real and independent c
and that souls, atman, are also real but totally dependent on
deity. With Samkhya in mind (which claimed that both the Spirit J
and Matter, Purusha and Prakriti, were eternal), he wrote in his §
commentary on the Gita:

The body, being a perishable entity, cannot be

imperishable, and the atman, being an imperishably entity,
cannot be perishable nobody can kill the atman; the
. . .

verb 'to kill' means nothing but 'to separate the atman
from the body'.
The world, and therefore all spiritual and material entities,
constitute the body of Brahman; they are the products of
Brahman's creative power. Thus they are parts of Brahman. The
individual atman is dependent on Brahman, but moksha does
not mean the end of an apparent but unreal distinction, as
Shankara taught. Tat is 'that', the absolute, the first cause, tvam
is 'you', the inner controller modified by the embodied soul.

This is qualified non-dualism, vishishtadvaita vedanta.

Ramanuja's teaching upon a degree of distinction between the

atman and Brahman, and the idea of the soul being dependent
upon God, enabled him to justify bhakti (devotion), the lower
way which Shankara had grudgingly acknowledged. Whereas
Shankara had written a commentary upon the Gita
unenthusiastically, only because it was such a popular scripture,
but had found its emphasis on bhakti distasteful, Ramanuja
welcomed the opportunity to express his views as being the true
interpretation of the book, noting acceptance of the need for
its

ritual action as a step on the path of devotion, and its

acceptance of bhakti with its stress on surrender and grace but
The question of the relationship between grace and
also effort.
human effort, which he did not resolve, eventually caused a split
among Ramanuja's followers. One group the marjara (cat)
Ramanuja as teaching that the devotee
school, interpreted is the
passive recipient of God's grace, delivering the atman as a
mother cat does her kittens, by grabbing them by the scruff of
the neck. The markata (monkey-hold) school believed that it
was necessary for the devotee to make an effort, to cling onto
the mother as a young monkey does. But both agreed that grace
was essential.
15q|
Ramanuja also gave considerable attention to arguments or
proofs for the existence of God, but considered that knowledge
of God is not achieved as the result of human reasoning,
c However, his main contribution to Hinduism is his justification
"§. of bhakti and his provision for it of intellectual acceptability and
rationality. Bhakti has always been the most popular religious
path because everyone can follow it, women as well as men.
However, it was often regarded as irrational emotionalism, to be
despised by those of superior intellect who might also be
anxious that it might provide a justification for flouting the
varna-ashrama-dharma. In Ramanuja bhakti found a
champion, a Brahmin impeccable in his observance of the
shastras.

Does God exist?

As we have seen, there are forms of Hindu philosophy that did
not originally postulate the existence of God. These offered
explanations of the cosmos, and paths of liberation that did not
necessitate belief in God as the source of creation or of
salvation. There were also Jain, Buddhist and Charvaka
philosophers to contend with. The teaching of this last group
may be summed up in the words: 'while you live, live well, even
if you have to borrow; for once cremated there is no return'.

These hedonists ridiculed the Vedas and the Brahmins as well as

rejecting caste. Thus, long before the Common/Christian Era,
emergent Hinduism was confronted by a denial of the basic
vedic and Upanishadic teachings that there is one ultimate
Reality.

The theists based their defence on the following arguments:

• awareness of order in the universe; for example, phases of the
moon do not occur in a random, unpredictable manner (our
example); this means there must be an intelligence that is the
source of this order
• human intuition also points to existence of this intelligence.

They might, of course, have argued from the authority of the

Vedas, when discussing existence, with other philosophers who
would accept their authority. For example, the Vedas speak of
Rita (pronounced like *
bitter'), the cosmic order that the Gods
must protect, especially Varuna. This order is moral as well as

scientific. Book One of the Vedas includes the words:

 That which is One the sages call by many names (1.64.46). (T^T

In Book Ten is the interesting assertion that:

With their words the wise poets shape the One into many
forms; agni, Yama or Matarishvan (10.114.5).
o
The famous Hymn of Origins states: §
In the beginning there was neither existence nor non-
existence;
Neither the world nor the sky beyond.
What was covered over? Where? What gave it protection?
Was there water deep and unfathomable?
Then was neither death nor immortality,
Nor any sign of day or night,
That One breathed, without breath, by its own impulse;
Other that That there was nothing at all . . .

In the beginning was love,

Which was the primal germ of the mind.

The seers searching in their hearts with wisdom
Discovered the connection between existence and non-
existence . . .

The Gods are later than this world's creation -

Therefore who knows from whence it came?
That out of which creation came,
Whether it held it together or did not,
He who see it in the highest heaven,
He only knows - or perhaps even He does not know
(10:129)

This is a very late hymn, but, nevertheless over 3000 years old.
It demonstrates the existence of philosophical speculation. Its

agnosticism, however, seems less akin to later Western thought

and more an example of questioning the original existence of
the dualities (which it mentions), and asserting a primordial
unitary reality that cannot be comprehended further.
o

CD Q)
a
< o
o
o In this
•
chapter you will learn:
what Bhakti is

3 •

•
about the Upanishads and
the Bhagavad Gita
about Islam
some famous
in India
Bhaktas.
Bhakti, the belief in the possibility of a relationship with God \-\m
based on love, can be traced back in literature as far as the ^
Svetasvatara Upanishad (C5/4 bce), in which this verse occurs: < ®
g

His form cannot be glimpsed, none may see him within the
eye: Whoso should know him with heart and mind as
H
dwelling in the heart, becomes immortal (6:20). o

It ends with the statement that the teaching of the Upanishad <o

can be understood only by 'the great-souled man who loyally

and greatly loves (bhakti) God' (6:23).

The Bhagavad Gita declares that God's gracious love is

available to anyone who comes to him, including outcasts and

women (9:32-34): N>
Whosoever makes me his haven, base-born though he be,
yes, women too, and artisans, even Shudras, theirs it is to
tread the all-highest way.

How much more should it be the way for the Brahmins,

pure and good, and royal seers who know devoted love
(bhakta). Since thy lot has fallen in this world
impermanent and joyless, commune with me in love (bhaj).
On me thy mind, for me thy loving service, and to me be
thy prostrations: let thine own self be integrated, and then
shalt thou come to me, thy striving bent on me.

Some verses earlier, God Krishna, says:

Be it a leaf, or flower, or fruit, or water that a zealous soul

may offer with loves devotion (bhakti), that do I willingly
accept, for it was love that made the offering (9:26);

and
Those who commune (bhaj) with me in love's devotion
(bhakti) abide in me and I in them (9:29).
(translations from R. C. Zaehner, Hindu Scriptures, Dent)

The Alvars, Vaishnavite bhakti poets (devotees of Vishnu) who

flourished in southern India during the Gupta period (c.5 CE),
must not be forgotten either, but it is of Chaitanya, Tukaram,
Mirabai, Kabir, Tulsidas, and others such as Guru Nanak and
Ravidas that many Hindus think today, when the bhakti
movement is mentioned.
Two questions face the student of bhakti: the first is where its
origins lie. It is not vedic and it appears, somewhat suddenly and
 unheralded, in the Svetasvatara Upanishad and the Bhagavad
154
Gita. It may be that it was part of the indigenous tradition
associated with the Indus Valley (see pages 140, 158-9) which
2; "g was submerged by Aryan influence, only to re-emerge centuries
§ 3 later. Secondly, its period of greatest prominence coincided with
o
Muslim penetration of northern India. Whether this flowering
of devotional poetry would have occurred without the existence
<§ of Islam is again a debatable question. What can be said is that
these and other bhaktas made God available to low caste and
'outcaste' men and women, those outside caste on grounds of
pollution, to the extent that conversion to Islam as the only way
of gaining spiritual satisfaction was not necessary. Many low-
^^ caste people did convert, some for religious reasons; often,
however, the motive was social mobility; the hope of escaping
from the rigidity of the caste system. Islam, however, failed to
provide this relief, as did conversion to Christianity during the
period of the Raj, which succeeded the Mughal Empire.

Islam in India
Islamic contact with Indiafirst came through Arab traders. It
was not 1001 that Islam made a strong impact upon the
until
subcontinent through Mahmud of Ghazni, whose raids led to
the destruction of Somnath and the occupation of Punjab.
However, only with Babur, the first Mughal emperor, in 1526,
was the permanent conquest of the north achieved.
Mughal rule was generally tolerant. The jizya (poll-tax on non-
Muslims) was imposed from time to time, but often Brahmins
were exempt, or paid a reduced amount. Rulers intermarried
with Rajput princesses, and Hindu customs were countenanced
at court. Temples received government grants. Much of this has
been forgotten by those twentieth-century Indians who wish to
demonstrate the alien nature of Islam, and by religious leaders
who link Hinduism with Indian nationalism. For all of them the
Emperor Aurangzeb (1658-1707) typifies Mughal rule. He
demolished temples and replaced them with mosques, imposed
the jizya relentlessly, and closed Hindu schools. His piety also
alienated Muslims, for he imposed a strict code of Sunni
morality upon his Muslim subjects who, along with Hindus and
Sikhs, had been used to the relaxed and tolerant regime which
flourished most completely during the reign of Akbar the Great
(1556-1605). The long decline of Mughal power began with the
Emperor Aurangzeb, whose expansionist policies paradoxically (155
almost took the empire to Cape Camorin, the southern tip of a „
India, but resulted in widespread rebellions against his rule. % a
M
Q
Some famous Bhaktas
3
Chaitanya <°

Chaitanya 1485-1533, was a Bengali Vaishnavite Brahmin,

whose devotees regarded him as an incarnation of Krishna. Part
of his catechism reads:

Question Which knowledge is highest of all? K5

Answer There is no knowledge but devotion to Krishna.
Question What is counted wealth among human
possessions?
Answer He is immensely wealthy who has love for
Radha -Krishna.
Question What is the heaviest of sorrows?
Answer There is no sorrow except separation from
Krishna.
Question Among songs what song is natural to creatures?
Answer Itis the song whose heart is the love-sport of
Radha-Krishna.
Question What is chief among the objects of worship?
Answer The name of the most adorable couple, Radha-
Krishna.

Little has survived of his poetry. He is best known today as the

inspiration of the Hare Krishna movement (see page 110).

Mirabai
Mirabai ('bai' is an honorific term often attached to a woman's
name) was born about 1498, and was a Rajput princess. (Some
scholars place her a century earlier.) The Kshatriya culture of
Rajasthan was one in which, if menfolk were defeated in battle,
their wives committed jauhar, mass suicide, to prevent them
from falling into the hands of the enemy. Chastity and obedience
were highly valued virtues. Mira's family were devotees of
Vishnu. Her great-grandfather founded the city of Jodhpur and
her grandfather won victories over the advancing Mughals. It is
said that as a child Mira was given a murti of Krishna by an
 ascetic;soon afterwards, when a marriage was being celebrated
15e|
nearby, she asked who her own bridegroom was to be. She was
~ told by her mother, pointing towards Krishna, There is your
|
§."§ bridegroom'. In 1516, however, she married the son of the ruler
§ B of Me war, leader of the Rajputs.
Q
Legend surrounds Mira's life and her marriage. It is said that on
her wedding day she performed the marriage rituals with the
murti of Krishna before performing those with her husband,
and on entering the family home she refused to give up worship
of Krishna for Durga, their ishtadevata. When she attended the
temple it is said that she danced and sang in public, often with
men and women of low caste, an act unheard of among Rajput
^^J aristocrats. Mira's husband died but she refused to become a
sati; then her own father and father-in-law died fighting the
Mughals. The new king tried to kill her and she left the palace
to live a life of wandering as a worshipper of Krishna. She died
in 1546.

Mirabai deserves attention because she is a rare example of a

woman bhakta, as well as for the intrinsic quality of her

devotional poems which, of course, were composed during her
wanderings, and not written down during her lifetime. The
attraction of her poetry lies in her ability to identify with
Krishna at a personal level, with all her awareness of his beauty
and the experience of his presence, and an ability to express the
deep pain of separation from him. She regarded herself as a
bride of Krishna.

Sometimes she described herself as a lover waiting, suffering

painwhen Krishna does not come.
I am longing for you, O my Lord, for the season of the
swing has come but you are not beside me.
Clouds gather on my brows and my eyes shed heavy
shadows.
My parents gave me to you, I have become yours for ever;
who but you can be my Lord?
This separation troubles my breast; make me your own;
make me perfect like you, O Lord of Perfection.
(from A. J. Appasamy, Temple Bells, YMCA Calcutta, n.d.).

Look how he wounds me again.

He vowed to come and the yard is empty, food flung away,
my senses.
like
Why must you shame what you say?
You've wisped yourself away, lifter of the mountain, left

me here to splinter.
Yet she can also affirm: *„
My love, g.
®
he is here §
inside "
o
3
He does not leave, o
He doesn't need to arrive.

Daringly, she even compares the Supreme God, Krishna, to one <§
of the lowest of human beings, a washerman. His love made
clean the souls of all devotees:

Hari is a dhobi, takes in all stained clothes.

In the river of his love, with the soap of his peace glowing
iridescent in the sun he washes everyone. [N^
No envious smear returns.
The souls he's done are like muslin when worn, says Mir a.
(These translations are taken from In the Darkness of the
Heart, ed. Kerry Brown and Sima Sharma, Harper Collins,
1995. Those which follow are again from Temple Bells)

Kabir
Kabir 1398-1518, was a low-caste weaver of Varanasi. His
julaha weaver caste had probably converted en masse to Islam
some time before his birth in the hope of improving their status.
He is an example of a bhakta who refused to accept the titles of
Hindu or Muslim. Another was Guru Nanak, a younger
contemporary, whose teachings are, however, quite independent
of Kabir's. Kabir said:

If God be within the mosque, then to whom does this

world belong?
If Ram be within the image which you find upon your
pilgrimage, then who is there to know what happens
without?
Hari [a name of Vishnu] is in the east: Allah is in the west.
Look within your heart, for there you will find both Karim
[a name of Allah, meaning Generous] and Ram;
All men and women of the world are his living forms.

Tulsi Das
TulsiDas (d. 1623) was a Brahmin who spent most of his life in
Varanasi where he composed the Ramacharitmanas (Sacred
Lake of the Acts of Rama), in Hindi rather than Sanskrit, which
 would have been inaccessible to most people - and all those of
15a |

lower caste.
a^
g • Many are the means of crossing over the ocean of
transmigration which the pure words of the Vedas speak of. But
8* Tulsi says: 'Real happiness of heart cannot be attained without
$ giving up the ideas of "I" and "mine'
<

Tukaram
Tukaram, 1607-1649, a Maharashtrian Shudra, regarded
pilgrimages and other external practices of religion as
ineffectual. The only source of liberation was God's grace.
K)
No deeds I've done nor thoughts I've thought;
Save as your servant I am nought.
Guard me, O God, and O, control
The tumult of my restless soul.
Ah, do not, do not cast on me
The guilt of mine iniquity.
My countless impurities, I, Tuka, say,
Upon thy loving heart I lay.
The poems of Nobel prize winner Sir Rabindranath Tagore
(1861-1941), and My Sweet Lord by George Harrison, might
also be included in the bhakti tradition, which has no end any
more that it had a clear beginning.
o
(D

3 <D

In this chapter you will learn:

• about the vedic religion of
the Aryans
• about the cosmic principle

II •

•
of Rta and the importance of
sacrifice in relation to Rta
about pre-Aryan people
about the Indus people
Hindu concepts taken from
the pre-Aryan people
about fertility cults and the
0) •

Mother Goddess
• about some conflicting
interpretations by scholars.
ITTI We have noted the diversity of Hinduism, and the apparent
tension which sometimes exists between one expression of the
3 O religion and another: for example, the strength of the emphasis
upon and pollution, as opposed to the statements,
caste, purity

1 1j- particularlyfrom the bhakti traditions, of the effectiveness of

God's grace, which can provide liberation for even Shudras and
<g women, to paraphrase the Bhagavad Gita. It is now time to ask
o what the origins of Hinduism are, and how its diversity and
seeming contradictions are to be explained.

To provide answers, it is necessary to begin with the known and

proceed tentatively to the unknown. The known is the religion

which is to be found in, or clearly developed from, the Vedas.
CO We must then look at what is left unexplained and ask whence
it might have come.

vedic religion of the Aryans

vedic religion is the religion of the Aryans, and the main source
of our knowledge about it comes from the Vedas. The Aryans
were a people of European origin, who spread westwards as far
as Ireland (Eire) and eastwards into such areas as Iran and India.
They entered India in about 1700 bce and replaced the
dominance of the Indus Valley culture with their own.
The nature of vedic religion is known from the Vedas; these are
four in number. One of them, the Atharva Veda, differs from the
rest and can be dismissed from discussion at this point, since it
may throw more light on non-Aryan ideas than it does on vedic
religion, although it does contain some hymns to the gods of the
vedic pantheon. The principal vedic text is the Rig-Veda. It was
recited by the hotars, the priests who were responsible for the fire
sacrifices. We know, therefore, that the focus of worship was
sacrifice, sometimes using animals, and that there were officiating
priests who attended the fire, and chanting priests, the Udgatars.

The content of the Vedas varies considerably. There are hymns

to the gods who were worshipped by the Aryans. These were
mostly male, and the concerns expressed were related to such
natural phenomena as storms and rains. As many as a quarter
of the hymns were dedicated to Indra, who helped the Aryans
overcome the Dasa people of the Indus valley as well as Vritra,
the force who holds back the light and the rain. Another
important god was Varuna, the universal monarch responsible
for the moral order.
The Aryans brought the caste system with them to India, though \-\a-t
not in its developed form. One scholar named Basham
fully
believed that it was a two-tier structure of nobles and others;
another, Dumezil, claimed that it has three parts; the Brahmins, c J"
the Kshatriya warriors, and the Vaishyas, who were the | f
ordinary people. One of the hymns of the Rig-Veda, the Purusha
Sukta, or hymn to Purusha (primeval man), composed after the w
Dasa people had been assimilated into the varna system, gives it S
divine origin. It Brahmins were created from the
states that the
mouth of Purusha; the Kshatriyas from his arms; the workers,
Vaishyas, from his thighs; and the Shudras, or serfs, from his
feet. The same hymn says that the sun came from the eye of
Purusha, the gods Agni and Indra from his mouth, and the earth ^3
from his feet. Thus, something of the monism, which emerges
strongly in some of the Upanishads, is also to be found in this
hymn.
Another strand, usually reckoned to be late (the Vedas may be
the product of 500 years or more of religious development), is
one of sceptical philosophical enquiry. Part of it reads:

Neither not being nor being was there at that time. There
was no air-filled space, neither was there sky beyond it.
What enveloped all? And where? Under whose protection?
Neither was there death nor immortality at that time.
There was no distinguishing mark of day or night. That
One breathed without wind in its own special manner.
Other than it, indeed, and beyond, there did not exist
anything whatsoever . . .

Wherefrom this creation has issued, whether he made it or

whether he has not he who is the superintendent of the
world in the highest heaven he alone knows, or, perhaps,
even he does not know.
(Book 10:129)
Despite the multiplicity of gods there is more than a hint of
unity. The Rig-Veda in fact explicitly affirms this:

To what is One, sages give many a title; they call it Agni,

Yama, Matarisvan.
This is echoed in the Yajur Veda:

For an awakened soul Indra, Varuna, Agni, Yama, Aditya,

Chandra all these names represent only one basic power
and spiritual entity.
 The Aryans believed in a cosmic principal, Rta. This was
162|
precarious, and had to be sustained by sacrifice as well as by the
if proper performance of dharma, its corresponding equivalent in
a
c earthly terms. Hence the proper ordering of things which was
| <|. the responsibility of the priests, and the reason why the Vedas
|. (and the ritual system which has given rise to them) were
<g eventually to be supplemented by the shastras - manuals or
treatises which ranged from the conduct of rituals to the
ordering of society and which included philosophical tracts,
especially the Laws of Manu.
Much of the emphasis in Aryan religion was upon a successful
happy life here and now; however, the Vedas may mention an
CO after-life (scholars are not agreed on this), with the righteous
going to the World of the Fathers, and the wicked to the House
of Clay. The transmigration of souls was not part of vedic
teaching, but it does appear in one or two later passages,
doubtless as the result of non-vedic influences. From such
examples, and the incorporation of the Atharva Veda into the
corpus of shruti (that which has been heard), the direct
revelation of Brahman, there is some indication of the power of
the Indus Valley tradition, or perhaps of the eclecticism which
becomes one of the characteristics of later Hinduism.

We must now try to establish the source of important aspects of

religion not found in the Vedas; for example, the Mother
Goddess and the female element in Indian religion; and yoga,
and bhakti, the strong devotional strand based on belief in a
personal and loving God.

Indus people
When the Aryans arrived in India they came across people whom
they described as Dasd* or 'Dyas* - dark-skinned, snub-nosed
l

worshippers of the phallus whom they clearly regarded with

derision. They were defeated by the Aryans who were inspired by
the Gods Indra and Agni, upon whose appearance 'the dark-
hued races scattered leaving behind all their possessions'.

Archaeology may have revealed more information about them.

In the Indus Valley there have been found the remains of an
urban civilization which flourished in the valley region of the
what is now mainly Pakistan, between about 2500
river Indus in
and 1700 and extent are known largely through
bce. Its nature
excavations carried out since 1920. The vedic references are
thought to indicate these people whom they conquered, and
with whose survivors they probably intermarried. The principal \-\ao
Indus Valley cities were Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. Other
sites at Kalibangan, Lothal and Surkotada have been examined 5' o
since the 1960s, and work is still proceeding.
W (Q
The only direct literary evidence for Indus religion is the vedic 3 5
reference to worship cited above. It provides an
phallic <|
symbols and other
interesting link with the discovery of phallic
artifacts which might have associations with fertility cults, such
as figurines of women which might represent the mother
goddess. Most importantly, there is a seal bearing the image of
a horned, three-faced male with erect phallus, seated in a yogic
posture, surrounded by a goat, a tiger, an elephant, a bull, a
cobra, and a rhinoceros. This figure has been identified as the 1^**
god Shiva Pasupati, Lord of Beasts. However, the link must be
conjectural in the absence of further literary evidence, but
reasons for making it are as follows:

• The vedic mention of Dasa phallus worship is significant; the

lingam is associated with Shiva in later Hinduism.
• Shiva not one of the vedic gods. It is attractive to postulate
is

his existence as an Indus deity, and his later incorporation

into post- vedic Brahminism. He is the subject of one of the
principal Upanishads, the Svetasvatara.
• Fertility cults, part of developed Hinduism, are not Aryan.
Their existence might be explicable as an Indus survival
associated with Shiva.
• The vedic statements of the destruction of the Dasas does not
stand up to archaeological scrutiny. Not all excavations, by any
means, have yielded evidence of destruction. If, as seems likely,
there was intermarriage between Aryan warriors and Indus
women, it is conceivable that it resulted in a cultural synthesis.
The kind of extrapolation provided by this example is the
method that scholars have to use to try to discover the nature of
the Indus religion. Taking this case further, the bhakti tradition
of devotion to a loving and gracious God is not found in the
Vedas, being first encountered in the Svetasvatara Upanishad
mentioned above. It is attractive to see this too as part of the
Indus legacy.

Several other archaeological features have given rise to similar

speculation. An open space with what may be a sacrificial
square and statues, found in the same context, suggest the
possibility of temple worship, which was not practised by the
Aryan nomads. The other most important find was the discovery
IZTl of a great bath at Mohenjodaro. The complex, which had side
rooms and statues associated with it, may indicate the practice of
religious bathing to remove the taint of pollution. Again, it may
c r have links with fertility rites; the suggestion has been made that the
| S. rooms were used for the purposes of cult prostitution. More
|. definite is the link with the ceremonial importance of water, which
<g would be natural in a riparian civilization (that is, one living on the
banks of the river), and which is an extremely significant aspect of
later and modern Hinduism.

Conflicting interpretations by scholars

CO
Many scholars have been inclined to look at the Hinduism that
becomes identifiable as such between about 200 bce and 200 ce,
to take from it what is clearly Aryan, using the literary source of
the Vedas, and say that what remains must have come from the
Indus Valley culture. Such speculation is tempting, especially
bearing in mind the eclectic nature of Indian religion, and it may
be the only way in which the content of Dasa religion can be
deduced, for even if a bilingual text enables the Indus seals to be
deciphered, this does not constitute a considerable amount of
literary material.

It is add a word of warning. Other

necessary, however, to
influences account for some - even much - of the non-
may
Aryan practices of Hinduism, especially in the early southern
cultures of Karnataka and Andra Pradesh. Moreover the lack of
literary evidence makes statements about beliefs particularly
risky. It may be that the belief in rebirth, samsara and karma
(scarcely found in the Vedas), and yoga philosophy, as well as
bhakti beliefs, are Dasa in origin, but certainty is not yet
possible and perhaps never well be. If they are not indigenous
and the product of the Indus Valley culture, we are left so far
with no other source to which they may be ascribed. Some
nationalistic Hindus may be encountered who play down the
Aryan effect completely, ascribing the origins of Hinduism
completely to beliefs and practices found within India; and
others have claimed that to find them we should not look to
northern India at all but to the Tamil-speaking south. This
language is the true tongue of Hinduism, they say, thus rejecting
attempts to make Hindi the spoken language of the sub-
continent. The attempt to mould scholarship to ideology is not
exclusively a Western phenomenon ...
CD

O
In this chapter you will learn:
• about caste and family
influence and about the
positive discrimination
included in the Indian
Constitution to deal with the
practice of 'untouchability'
• about the changed status of
Hindu women
• about the preference for a
male child
• about medical ethics -
drugs, alcohol, food and
fasting
• about wealth and work
• about care for the needy
• the five great sins.
 Even in days when individualism seems to dominate, children
16g]
from meat-eating families anywhere in the world are likely to be
unquestioning carnivores. This is their way of life. Similarly, the
offspring of parents whose ancestors have served for
generations in the armed services will probably regard the army
as a natural vocation. Not all decisions are matters of personal
ethics. The family and caste influence is especially strong in
Hinduism. Mahatma Gandhi's vegetarianism was originally the
result of his Vaishya upbringing. In England, where he
encountered meat on the menu for the first time in his life, and
flirted with eating it, his vegetarianism did eventually become a
matter of conscience. His rejection of cow's milk, once he saw
how India's sacred animal was treated, was an ethical matter;
but it is doubtful whether many other Indians ever considered
this issue as ethical, certainly until Mahatma Gandhi is
Bapu (as
sometimes known) made Ahimsa, non-violence,
his decision.
was a Jain teaching, related to keeping pure; Gandhi linked the
emphasis on it to the ethical principle of reverence for life, and
related it to the political principle of non-violent resistance.
Incidentally, the Mahabharata (written possibly between 300
bce and 300 CE) asserts:

That mode of living which is founded upon total harmlessness

towards all creatures or (in the case of necessity) upon a
minimum of such harm, is the highest morality.
It might often seem more appropriate to think of the Latin word
'mores' in preference to the word ethics, because it has fuller
social implications, morals being the customs of a society at a
given time. In this respect the Hindu behaves in accordance with
dharma, which varies from one jati to another. Thus one may
eat meat and another be vegetarian. According to the Bhagavad
Gita this may exist between varnas. As we have already seen,
Prince Arjuna, a Kshatriya, is required to fight - that is his
dharma - but he has no wish to do so for a number of reasons.
He seems eager to behave like a Brahmin, who should not
pollute himself with the shedding of blood. His charioteer, who
turns out to be the Supreme Deity, Krishna, rebukes him, telling
him that it is 'better to do one's own dharma badly than
another's dharma well'.

Caste
The very fact that the Gita deals with the issue of performing
caste duty is an indication that, even 2000 years ago, the system
had These numbered Buddhists, Jains and Charvakas.
its critics.
[fgj
It is therefore possible to argue that caste was an ethical issue
long before the Arya Samaj, Gandhi and the man who framed
modern India's constitution, Ambhedkar, criticized caste 8
discrimination and the India Constitution outlawed it. It also
provided for the schedu led classes, previously called
'untouchables', to be treated with positive discrimination in
certain areas such as education.

Untouchability is another ethical issue that arises out of caste.

Untouchables were men and women who were outside the

Hindu varna structure and who were in a state of permanent
pollution because of their birth and occupation. The Indian
Constitution made this practice, which Gandhi had described as
'a crime against humanity', illegal, and positive discrimination
in the areas of employment and education was introduced; but
oppression nonetheless continues. Cases are difficult to prove,
and belief in purity and pollution is not going to be eradicated
by parliamentary legislation. It must be admitted that much of
the oppression of dalits, or 'the oppressed', as they call
themselves now, instead of Gandhi's paternalist name of
Harijan, 'children of God' (which can also mean 'love child' or
'bastard'), is usually socially and politically motivated, with
religion serving, as so often, as a pretext to justify inhumanity.

Women
This another area of ethics that has become important
is

recently, though Hinduism has seen their status change

dramatically more than once in its long history. By considering
this in some detail we may achieve some perspective on the
tradition. It is simplistic to imagine Hinduism as a religion that
has always been the same. This is far from true.

Scholars tend to divide their studies of the place of women in

Hinduism into three historical periods. These are: from ancient
times to about the third century BCE; a long middle period from
then until the 19th century, when little appeared to change; and
modern times.

There is some evidence that in the vedic era women received

sacred thread initiation, upanayana, and thereafter studied the

Vedas with a Guru. In fact, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
contains an account of a woman philosopher, Gargi Vacaknavi,
questioning the famous teacher Yajnavalkya, who according to
16 q]
some traditions was the originator of the doctrines of Yoga.
Though this is only one example, it is sufficient to affirm that
such things did happen. For good measure, however, it may be
pointed out that Yajnavalkya also instructed his own first wife,
Maitreyi, in the nature of the soul, according to the same
Upanishady which also teaches the ritual for securing a scholarly
daughter. There is evidence too that girls could offer sacrifices,
that sons were not an absolute necessity for this purpose, and
w
that omen need not marry bu t m ight become asc etic s in pursuit
of moksha In the heterodox movements of Buddhism and
.

Jainism women played important roles. There was, however, a

trend in the opposite direction. In the Mahabharata, which
belongs to this early period, the sage Dirghatamas ordained that
no woman should remain unmarried. Kuni, a celibate, was told
that she could not go to heaven unless she married, despite all her
other qualities. She persuaded the sage Shringavat to marry her,
and stayed with him for one night so meeting the requirement
successfully. The Atharva Veda provides details of the rituals for
securing a son rather than a daughter.

From this evidence can be seen that women had a positive role
it

in the tradition thatbecame Hinduism, but that there was also

a tension, perhaps related to its differing Aryan and Dravidian
strands. The attitude towards woman was ambivalent. She was
to be honoured like Lakshmi, whose tears could move a tyrant,
but the Rig-Veda also said that she was fickle and unstable, and
the Mahabharata portrayed her as a temptress. By the time of
the Laws of Manu, somewhere about 300 CE, this ambivalence
was being resolved to the detriment of women. Manu states that
women should always be protected: by their fathers, then by
their husbands, and finally, if necessary, by their sons. It also
lays down that they must obey these guardians.

The story of the middle period is that of the suppression of

women, though there are a few examples to the contrary. When
the great ninth-century philosopher Shankara debated with
Mandanamishra, the latter's wife acted as umpire. However, the
status ofwomen had fallen so dramatically that even nunneries
had gone out of vogue in Buddhism by the fourth century CE. In
Hinduism child marriages were becoming more the norm, and
with them came neglect of a girl's education; and the thread
ceremony became only a formality, instead of initiation into
education with a Guru. In fact it was acceptable to class girls
with Shudras, as having no thread of their own, their status
depending on their husband.
One factor more than any other seems to have affected the place \-\qq
of woman in the Hindu tradition: the concept of ritual
pollution. According to this teaching women are periodically
impure, mainly because of menstruation. Contact with her 8
rendered food impure, as well as the people she might
accidentally brush against. Even today, there are Gurus who will
not allow the glance of a woman to fall on them, those in the
Swami Narayan movement, for example. Women must turn
their backs on the approach of a Guru to avoid this
happening.

The coming of Islam, and with it the seclusion of women,

including those who were members of Hindu families, only
further diminished their status. In modern times there have been
changes. Hindu reformers such as Ram Mohan Roy and the
Guru Swaminarayan opposed female infanticide and the
practice of sati, which was outlawed by the British in response
to Hindu pressure in 1829. The Brahmo Samaj, a reform
movement founded by Ram Mohan Roy, built some girls'
schools - though the e mphasis was upon education for
domesticity rather than for a career. The Arya Samaj, a later
movement, encouraged the provision of a full curri culum rather
than mere domestic training. It also opposed child marriage,
and argued that the modern status of women did not reflect
their position in the Vedas. It allowed female participation in the
vedic fire ceremony, havan. Professor D. K. Karve (1857-1961)
married a widow in 1893 after the death of his first wife. This
was something for which the Brahmo Samaj had successfully
campaigned, but for a well-known Brahmin actually to do it
was more effective than any legislation. Divorce became legal
only with the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955.

Hindu feminists refer back to the early period of Hinduism, to

argue that they are merely seeking the status they once had.
They are also reinterpreting such stories as that of Rama and
Sita, emphasizing their role as women of moral courage.
However, Brahmins teach that only boys can be initiated
through the thread ceremony, and perform the funeral rites and
annual memorial ceremonies for the dead. A son is still
preferred to a daughter. The strong economic reasons for this
are not always appreciated. Sons remain with their parents.
They provide the only security against old age in a society where
pensions are rare. Daughters leave home to join their husbands.
Girl beggars continue to thank the giver by saying, 'May you be
blessed with sons'; there is still a long way for the Hindu woman
 togo before the ideals she claims were reality in the vedic period
170
'
]

become reality today. Dowry deaths, where a young married

5 woman dies mysteriously in the home of her in-laws because the
dowry was not large enough or had not been paid in full,
indicate the inferior status of women compared to men, as does
the need of the Indian Parliament to restrict the use of
amniocentesis and ultrasound for determining the sex of a
foetus in 1994. So great has the rate of abortions of girl babies
become in recent years that legislative action has become
necessary.

This mention of parliamentary legislation to outlaw

discrimination against dalits and women serves a purpose,
reminding us of an overarching issue of principle. There are
Hindus who strongly believe that the Indian government has no
right to interfere in such matters; they are religious matters and,
they claim, governments have no right to pronounce upon them.

Medical ethics
Medical eithcs do not necessarily have the same priorities in
India as they do in the West. For most Hindus, the question of
when to turn off a life-support machine is unreal; so is receiving
an organ transplant, but numbers of poorer people have been
persuaded - and paid - to part with a kidney to meet Western
demands. Birth control is widely accepted in theory and often
adopted in practice. India has reduced its level of births
considerably, but it must be remembered that in a country where
only a minority of professional people enjoy pensions, the
parents' guarantee of a bearable old age lies in having as many
sons as possible to care for them. Indian stamps and roadside
posters depicting a mother and a father with a son and daughter
carry the slogan 'A Happy Family is a Two-Child Family'. It
takes courage to accept this teaching in practice, especially when
one of the children will end up in another family supporting its
old people!

Abortionis legal and accepted by Hindus as a method of ending

unwanted pregnancies, and therefore of birth control. The
danger of using it to reduce the chances of having a daughter has
been mentioned already. Suicide has never been considered
wrong in Hindu society. It was often seen to be an act of religious
merit, the final austerity. But it is not approved of as a way of
escaping from suffering. Mercy-killing is not acceptable, but the
use of opium to remove pain is likely to cause death eventually.
Drugs 171
Most Hindus regard the use of drugs such as speed or crack as ^
wrong, but there has always been a tradition of some Hindu g
groups using hallucinogenic drugs to enhance spiritual
awareness. Cannabis has often been used for this purpose.
Hashish is made into a cigarette or sometimes chewed, as is
ganja. Bhang is a drink made from its leaves.

Alcohol
Alcohol is regarded as acceptable. The Rig Veda refers to soma,
The plant from which it was made
a special intoxicating drink.
isno longer known. Alcohol and its manufacture is regarded as
polluting, but the ban on alcohol in some Indian states is
motivated by social concern and has no religious basis.

Food and fasting

Vegetarianism is not the whole story. Not all Hindus are
vegetarian. Some eat mutton, butvery rare to find one who
it is

will eat the meat of a cow. Members of the Prajapati caste,

Gujarati artisans, eat meat, but will ask for vegetarian food on
aeroplanes to avoid the possibility of being given beef. They
might adopt the same strategy when visiting non-Hindu friends
or at school. There are also vegetarians who will avoid such
things as onions and garlic. Sometimes red foods are not eaten
- beetroot, carrots, red water melon and red wine - because red
is the colour of blood. Such groups as ISKCON, or the devotees

of Satya Sai Baba, are vegetarian. This may be because meat is

thought to arouse the passions of sex and anger, and perhaps
because the breath which utters the sacred mantras from the
Veda should not be contaminated.
Occasionally Hindus will fast completely, for example at the
birth festivals of Rama and Krishna. Usually only certain foods
are avoided at the times of a fast (vrat, or barat in Punjabi).
These include preparations using rice, wheat, millet and pulses,
but every rule has its exceptions. When special prayers were
being offered to Shirdi Sai Baba, a woman might eat a mixture
of lentils, rice and spinach, and nothing else. Permitted foods
include milk, peanuts, fresh fruit, dates, almonds, sago, yoghurt,
sweet potatoes, coconuts and clarified butter (ghee). The high
protein level of many vegetarian or fasting foods means that
 health is not threatened in any way by diet. Concern is often
172 |

more in the minds of older people in the West who are brought
^ up to believe that meat is an essential part of diet, than a reality.
v Some Hindus, when they came to countries like Britain,
accepted the idea, but many of them reverted to their Indian
food traditions with no ill effects! Vrats are associated with
certain groups; on Thursdays with Sai Baba, on Fridays with
followers of Santoshi, for example. A special Punjabi fast is

Karva Chaut, which is celebrated about 11 days before Divali.

Married Sikh as well as Hindu wives, and sometimes their
daughters, observe it for the welfare of their husbands, and will
fast completely from dawn until the moon is sighted in the
evening. It may be an exaggeration to say that Hindu women
are always fasting, but they do so frequently.

Purity-conscious Hindus will carry food in tiffin boxes when they

make a journey or go to the office, rather than risk eating food
in a canteen or buffet. Of course, many Indians do this simply as
a health precaution, or because they prefer their own food.

Wealth and work

Asceticism has been mentioned many times. Despite its
importance there is as much a place for wealth, artha, as there
is for leisure, kama. These are proper pursuits in life (see pages

92, 168). They should be kept in check, however, and not

allowed to dominate life. The very existence of the fourth stage
of life is a reminder that wealth, especially, has limited worth. It
should also be properly acquired, by honest and appropriate
work. Traditionally, a Brahmin could not be a surgeon, doctor,
or soldier, as these occupations involve contact with blood: but
today they are to be found in most forms of employment,
though the low status of being a butcher (as well as handling
carcasses) would deter them from selling meat.

As the Indian army is made up of volunteers, it is difficult to

know how important an issue pacifism is for most Hindus, and
whether purity and the avoidance of pollution, or the awareness
of God's presence in everyone, as with Gandhi, might be the
motive. (Most Ayurvedic doctors are Brahmins.) It is likely that
Hindus who are very concerned about ritual purity bathe and
put on clean clothes as soon as they return home if they work in
conditions that might cause pollution, as most do in cities.
Prejudice [173
Prejudice is often seen to be one of the most difficult evils to
eradicate in modern
India. The varna system (see Chapter 06)
seemed to and perpetuate it, especially as it developed
justify
over the centuries. Varna means colour and still one comes
across marriage advertisements that state that a woman has a
lightcomplexion, or that a man seeks a bride who has a pale
skin. In cities, advancement may be possible if a migrant can
conceal the family name, which often denotes a person's caste.
After all, India has had a prime minister and several cabinet
ministers who came from one of the scheduled or dalit castes,
but many more cases are documented of suicide because, despite
a good honours degree or similar qualification, a person finds it
impossible to break out of restrictions imposed by tradition.
Dalits may come into their own at election time, because they
are numerous enough to affect the vote in most constituencies,
but they are not usually well enough organized to be fully
effective. Once the MP
has been elected, however, election
promises may easily be forgotten. Those who face prejudice and
discrimination because of caste or gender can only hope for
redress when leaders arise who can harness their latent power.
Since Mahatma Gandhi, no one has been able to unite the
'teeming masses' of India, to use his phrase.

Care for the needy

This must be mentioned for three reasons. Firstly, Westerners
often think that only Mother Teresa cares for India's poor. In
fact, there are many Hindus who care for the exploited and
disadvantaged. Secondly, stories persist of Hindus who will not
help the crippled and poor because their lot is the consequence
of karma, and to go against it is to attempt to thwart God's will,
and must result in dire consequences. We have to admit that
there have always been people who create a peculiar theology
which absolves them from helping others. They are usually the
better off! In fact, care for the needy is a meritorious act which
can bring karmic benefits to the one who performs it.

Against the notion of interfering with karma there is the strong

teaching of social responsibility which is found in Hinduism.
One must care for one's extended family and for one's biradari,
or caste group. Those Hindus who employ servants often act
 towards them with paternal concern. In the West, servants are
174 |

now memories of a bygone age, whereas in India,

jj schoolteachers may employ servants, at least part-time, even
; though they will never be rich enough to own a car! Wages are
low; technology is expensive; a motor scooter is the finest mode
of transport that teachers and doctors may hope to own,
although more are now joining the car-owning classes. To
provide work for the poor by employing them, as washermen
and women, as ironers of clothes, to clean the house, to garden,
is an act of social responsibility in a country where there is no

unemployment pay or welfare benefit. Not to give them work

would be an act of meanness, and Hindus should be people of a
generous spirit. Often, having a servant means caring for a
family, and including them in the family to some degree. The
parents work directly; and their children are helped to receive an
education. When someone falls sick, any doctor's bills are paid
by the employer. Traditionally, Hindus have believed that there
are five great wrongs which they should not commit:

• killing a learned Brahmin, for this is an attempt to sustain

ignorance against wisdom and knowledge
• drinking alcohol, especially spirits, for this clouds the mind
• stealing gold
• having disrespect for one's Guru and his wife
• permitting wilful abortion.

In the past these acts denoted a lack of moral and physical

goodness, and threatened the fabric of society. Now that life is
more complex, and perhaps less religious, these traditions are
no longer observed. Some Hindus note a decline in society as a
whole and blame neglect of traditional values for it.
0)
Ml 11X
3 3
O idui

^1 3
01 3 In this
•
chapter you will learn:
about the influence of Islam
^J and European Christianity on
Hinduism
• about the work of Ram
Mohan Roy, Swami Narayan's
work, Ramakrishna,
Annie Besant, Rabindranath
Tagore, Ambedkar and
Satya Sai Baba
• about the Arya Samaj
• about Hindu society
reformed from within.
-lye] Influence of Islam and European
Christianity
E. On 20 May 1498, Vasco da Gama harbour of
sailed into the
3 Calicut, thus opening up a route
European trade with the
for
East not dependent upon Muslim countries. Europeans
established trading posts in India, but it was not until 1757,
when the British under Sir Robert Clive defeated the French and
their allies, that the prospect of European colonization became
a reality. Britain replaced the Mughal Empire, and ruled India
until 1947.

During this time Hinduism developed considerably, partly, no

cn doubt, because of this European presence. Islam had affected
Hinduism in earlier centuries, as we have seen (p. 150), but by
1757 it was a spent force, even though the Mughal Empire was
to survive for another century. The last Mughal was asked to
intervene in an argument between two men that was taking
place below him, just outside the walls of the Red Fort. He is
reputed to have replied, 'My power does not stretch that far'.
When Clive won the Battle of Plassey in 1757, things were not
really so different.

The 1757 picture given by scholars is one of a stagnant

Hinduism. It had survived the Islamization policies of Emperor
Auranzeb (effectively emperor from 1658 to 1707) and his
immediate predecessors, but had not been challenged
intellectually. The European Enlightenment occurred at about
the same time as European colonization of India. The
Enlightenment Europeans, mainly French but British too,
brought scepticism and sometimes critical hostility to India.
They openly attacked the heathenism that they encountered in
the caste system and the treatment of women, especially sati,
infanticide and the seclusion of widows. The truth of the view,
which many held, that religion imprisoned the human spirit,
seemed borne out there even more than in Europe. They were
not the first to criticize the disregard of human rights, of course.
The Buddha and Gurus were amongst Indians who had
the Sikh
earlier voiced their disapproval. What the Europeans brought
was power to effect change, (especially as India became
colonized), and European education, which many liberal
Hindus found attractive. In this respect their attitude contrasted
appreciably with that of Muslims who, for the most part,
retained their allegiance to Persia, and so ruled themselves out
of employment by the East India Company and any significant
part in the development of British India during the 19th century.
Ram Mohan Roy was Hindu of note to respond to
the first \-\-7-7

European influence, should be stated that his early

but it

education and employment had already brought him into 5'

contact with the monotheism and anti-caste beliefs of Islam. He c,

was a Bengali Brahmin living in the part of India that was the |
centre of East India Company activity and of British rule, until <2.

the time of King Emperor George V. g

a
Ram Mohan Roy (1772 or 1774^1833)
Ram Mohan Roy was born into a brahmin family which had a ^_
long history of service in the Muslim government of Bengal, and q-|
later in the East India Company. His religious background was *

one of devotion to the Hindu bhakti teacher Chaitanya (see

page 150). At school in Patna he learned Persian and became
aware of the teachings of the Sufi mystics of Islam. He may also
have encountered Muslim rationalist teachings. He served the
British in the Bengal Civil Service. He was clearly a precocious
young man, for at the age of 16 he wrote his first tract, a Persian
critique of what he described as the idolatrous system of the
Hindus. It caused a temporary rift with his family, and raises the
question as to whether Roy is actually to be regarded as a
Hindu. The answer is that he was definitely not an orthodox
Brahmin in the strictest sense of the word. If he had been, he
would have had no social or employment contact with non-
Hindus, whose very presence would pollute him. His writings
on Christianity show that he did not accept the Trinity or the
vicarious suffering of Jesus for the sins of humanity. If labels are
needed, he was between a free-thinking Hindu and a Unitarian.
In fact, he established a Vedanta College in Calcutta in 1816 for
the 'propagation and defence of Hindu unitarianism'. In 1823
the Unitarian Society of London published The Precepts of
Jesus: A Guide to Peace and Happiness, which had appeared in
India in 1820. During the controversy that it caused with
Christian missionaries at Serampore, he persuaded one of them,
the Reverend William Adam, a Baptist, to become a Unitarian!
Social reform was also a great importance to Roy. He had seen
his sister-in-law commit sati on her husband's funeral pyre, and
this intensified his already strong opposition to the custom. It
was his influence that led to the Britishgovernment, always
reluctant to interfere in Indian religious affairs, declaring sati
illegal. He also supported the education of women and was
against the practice of child marriages.
17 g]
To describe Ram Mohan Roy as the founder of modern
Hinduism, which is a popular assertion, must depend upon a
number of factors, including each individual's standpoint. He
1
certainly seems to have awakened many Hindus from a period
of intellectual stagnation. His own critique of the religion may
» predate his knowledge of Christianity, but in anticipating its
F attacks on what it considered to be idol worship, and what he
called its fanciful mythology, as well as Hindu ethics, especially
regarding the treatment of women, he demonstrated the
persistent ability of Hinduism to criticize and reform itself from
within. It may be that his response deflected intellectual Hindus
from the path of conversion to Christianity. He may have done
little to alleviate the position of people of low caste, but he did
{jl
attack the exploitation of them by Brahmins, and the way in
which they were often denied access to their spiritual heritage
because of the attitudes of the Brahmin priests. It might be
claimed that the movement which Roy founded, the Brahma
Samaj, produced men who were eventually to take up the cause
of the oppressed classes.

The eclectic nature of modern Hinduism owes much to Roy. It

can be argued that his openness to other views is characteristic

of the religion, and with this comes the ability to find responses
within the rich diversity of Hinduism itself. Certainly, in his
readiness to study the Sufis and Christianity, he pioneered the
approach which many other Hindus were to follow, especially
Ramakrishna, also a Bengali Brahmin. Roy died in Britain,
worn out by tours of England and France, during which he had
impressed society tremendously. In this he might be said to have
anticipated the influence of Vivekananda, Ramakrishna's
disciple, 70 years later.

The purpose of Ram Mohan Roy's visit to Europe was partly to

government
give evidence about the state of India to a British
committee. There can be no doubt that he was a patriot, not an
Indian who unquestioningly accepted Western ways and ideas.
In his opposition to the British government's establishment of a
Sanskrit college, and his support instead for one which was
science-based, he was showing the way ahead for India as he
understood it. The 'quit India' movement lay many years into
the future. It would be unfair to side with later Hindu
nationalistswho criticized his co-operation with Britain, though
itmight be correct to say that in that sense of nationalism he
was certainly not a founder of the freedom movement. At a time
when much of India was still outside British control, and the
Mughal Empire had not yet been overthrown, the prospect of {hjq
independence scarcely existed. It was a concept which India
might be said to have forgotten. Hinduism is a religion with no 5
original founder and is splendidly diverse. To describe Ram c
Mohan Roy as founder of any kind in this context may be to 3
ignore these considerations. However, he was the person who 2.

seems to have awakened Hinduism from its slumbers, and g

replaced stagnation with a vibrancy that continued throughout 3
the 19th century to the present day. 3

The Brahma Samaj

Ol
In 1828 Ram Mohan Roy founded the Brahma Sabha, which
became the Brahma Samaj (also spelt Brahmo Samaj) in 1830.
It met every Sunday evening and encouraged worship of the

Eternal, Immutable Being, using approved passages from the

Vedas and Upanishads, and sermons and hymns composed by
Roy himself. The services began with Sanskrit verses read by
Brahmins in a separate room from the rest of the congregation.
Its membership always tended to be high caste and intellectual.
It attempted to purify Hinduism from what it considered to be

the same kinds of excesses as those which the Arya Samaj later
decried. However, its approach was rationalist and, after Roy's
death, increasingly eclectic, using Muslim and Christian
material in its liturgies. These features did not help it when
Indian politics and Hinduism assumed a nationalistic tendency
in the late 19th century. The Brahmo Samaj still exists, but the
influence it exerts upon Hindu thought and life is minimal.

The Arya Samaj

A very different society is the Arya Samaj. It is dedicated to the
and to the insight of one man,
restoration of pure vedic religion,
Dayananda Saraswati, more than any others.
Dayananda Saraswati was born in Gujarat in 1824 into a
Shaivaite Brahmin family. At the age of 14, during a night-time
vigil, he saw a mouse enter the building, sniff round the murti,
and eat the food that had been offered to it. When other
devotees awoke he told them of his experience. They informed
him, quite correctly, that the murti was not the visible presence
of God but only a symbol of deity. However, the experience had
its effect; he could no longer accept the idea of image worship.
18q|
He began to question other aspects of this tradition, and set off
to live the of a sadhu. He learned yoga and found a Guru,
life

= Virjananda Saraswati, who asked him to vow to reform

c Hinduism of its impurities: image worship, belief in avatars (the
|
doctrine of divine incarnation), and the ideas contained in the
w Puranas, the myths which provide a basis for popular
n Hinduism. His views alarmed orthodox Brahmins, who debated
them with him at Varanasi (also called Banares and Kashi).
«j Though defeated he remained undeterred, and in 1875 founded
the Arya Samaj, which he led until his death in 1883.

Dayananda summed up his teaching, which became Arya Samaj

doctrine, as follows:
en
Ihold that alone to be acceptable which is worthy of being
believed by all men in all ages. I do not entertain the least
idea of founding a new religion or sect. My sole aim is to
believe in truth and help others to believe in it, to reject
falsehood and to help others in doing the same.

The key to understanding his thought and impact lies in his

Vedas are not only the oldest scripture, but that
belief that the
they contain the eternal truths which all humanity should
accept. These are that there is one God, who is the primary
source of all true knowledge; that God is All-Truth, All-
Knowledge, All-Beatitude, Incorporeal, Almighty, Just,
Merciful, Unbeggoten, Infinite, Unchangeable, Without
Beginning, Incomparable, the Support and Cause of all, All-
Pervading, Omniscient, Imperishable, Immortal, Exempt from
Cause of the Universe, the One to whom
Fear, Eternal, Holy, the
alone worship is The Vedas are the books of true
due.
knowledge, which every Arya should read, or hear being read,
to teach them and preach them to others.

This is a paraphrase of the first three principles of the Arya

Samaj. The other seven tend to reinforce them, with one
additional thread running through most of them, namely an
insistence upon the treatment of all other human beings with
love and justice in accordance with their merits. The most
important consequences of this teaching were the rejection of
caste and eventually of discrimination against women,
accompanied by programmes of social reform, the
establishment of schools and colleges so that the poor and
socially disadvantaged could obtain an education, and, above
all, the assertion -that the criterion of truth was the Vedas as they

interpreted them. This brought them into conflict with the Sikhs
in Punjab where, for a time, a Sikh-Arya alliance against the Nqh
Christian missionaries seemed a possibility. More importantly, it
led to a strong Arya reaction against the missionaries, and a 5"

counter-claim to their assertion that Jesus and the Bible were the c
expression of divine truth. Arya missionaries went around the |
villages persuading people to take part in a shuddhi, or <2,

purificatory thread ceremony. They were particularly successful

in winning people of low caste and in developing a pride in the
Hindu heritage. From just under 4000 in 1881, their numbers Q
grew to over a million in 1931. The movement was strongly
critical of the Bramha Samaj. The Arya Magazine of May 1882
summed up its opposition as follows:
They declaimed the observance of Durga Puja festival as cn
unfit to be reformed, and began to exchange presents at
Christmas, to which they saw no objection. They thus saw
all evil in everything national, and all good in everything
European.

Quite simply, the Aryas thought the Brahmas despised the

Hindu heritage, which they claimed to be the foundation of all
learning and culture worldwide, derived from the world's oldest
civilization. It is likely that the 'Quit India' movement would
have developed sooner or later without the Arya Samaj.
However, the argument can be made that the Brahma Samaj
might have encouraged India to remain a British
territory; the Arya Samaj could never be happy with the
relationship. The Arya Samaj continues its educational work
especially through Dayanand Anglo-vedic (DAV) schools and
collegesand its members often display a pride in Hinduism that
is tinged with criticism and suspicion of the West and the
Christian religion as well as a strong social conscience, which
results in them working among the poor.

Swami Narayan (Sahajanand) (1781-1830)

Swami Narayan was another person who established a
movement that came to have considerable influence in India and
beyond, although the person most famously associated with it
was a man born Ghanashyam Hariprasad Pande. He was
Narayan order, which traced its teachings to
initiated into the
the philosopherRamanuja. Upon initiation he was given the
name Sahajanand. Sahajanand was born in Uttar Pradesh in
1781. When his parents died 11 years later, he renounced the
 world and became a wandering student, eventually settling in
18 2|
Dwarka Through him the Swami Narayan movement
in Gujarat.
became well known, and in recent times it has enjoyed a strong
following, first among East African Gujaratis, and more recently
in Britain and other countries to which they migrated, especially
w when Uganda expelled its Asian population in 1972. Gujaratis
form the largest Hindu ethnic group in the UK.
Sahajanand encouraged the building of hospitals and care for
the poor. He joined in the opposition to sati, which resulted in
it being outlawed, and condemned infanticide. He also
supported the right of young widows to remarry should they
wish to do so. Nevertheless, the satsang has strict rules for the
CJ1 separation of the sexes. There are separate women's meetings,
but in mixed gatherings women must observe from the back,
and should turn their back on leaders of the community
(acharyas) whenever they encounter them. The reason for this
stringency is an acceptance of ritual pollution.

Swami Narayan told the Anglican Bishop Heber, when they

met, that there would be no caste in the hereafter, but accepted
its existence, and built into his teachings such things as the

prohibition of taking food or water from people of lower caste.

These people are divided into two groups: Sat Shudras, who are
traditionally part of Hinduism, and Shudras, those who used to
be called untouchables but now refer to themselves as dalits. Sat
Shudras may enter the movement and become ascetics; in fact
the third successor to Sahajanand was of the tailor jati - Pragji
Bhakta, who died in 1897.

The satsang accepts the truth of all religions, encourages

vegetarianism and is pacifist. It requires high moral standards from
members, and their discipline has often led to them becoming
trusted and successful businessmen like the Jains. Wealth, however,
should lead to generosity; it has no intrinsic value and is regarded
as a great threat to spiritual development. Sahajanand taught that
blessing came from the distribution of wealth. The movement
remains very largely Gujarati in membership and culture. What
will happen as the children of Western members cease to have
access to the language remains to be seen.

Sri Ramakrishna (1834-1886)

Sri Ramakrishna was a poor Bengali Brahmin. He believed that
God is present in every religion, and may be found through any
of them. He taught that, 'A truly religious man should think that Ng^
other religions are also paths leading to the truth'. This has
become one of the principles of modern Hinduism. He also
maintained, 'Every man should follow his own religion. A
Christian should follow Christianity, a Muslim should follow §
Islam, and so on. For Hindus the ancient path, the path of the <2

Aryan Rishis, is the best'. The most famous and influential of g

this followers was Narendra Nath Datta, better known as
Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902). It was he whose attendance Q
at the Chicago Parliament of Religions in 1893 first introduced
many Westerners to the spiritual riches of the East - so much so
that some of them questioned the propriety of sending
missionaries to India! cn
Sri Ramakrishna was not at all political in his motivation, nor
was he antagonistic to Christianity, though he was active at the
same time as Dayananda Sarasvati. He himself founded no
society, but his disciples established the Ramakrishna Mission,
which has developed his syncretism (a blend of ideas from
several religions), and is therefore influenced to some extent by
Christianity. However, it is eclectic in its approach, and has
chosen only to accept the liberal aspects of Christian teaching.
As with Ram Mohan Roy decades earlier, its interpretation is
one which has upset many Christians for its neglect of the
Salvationist work of Jesus' death and resurrection. A typically
Hindu viewpoint, they valued the light which Jesus brought to
humankind, but found the idea of victory over evil through
participating in his death unattractive, if not offensive.

Annie Besant (1847-1933)

Annie Besant was neither Indian nor Hindu, but went to India
after meeting Madame Blavatsky the Theosophist in 1889. She
founded the Madras Hindu association in 1904 'to promote
Hindu social and religious advancement on national lines, in
harmony with the spirit of Hindu civilization'. She was
President of the Indian National congress from 1917-1923. Her
place in these pages serves as an additional indication of the
cross-fertilization between Europe and India which was taking
hold towards the end of the nineteenth century.
7a4] Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
3
'I am a singer of songs and am ever attracted by the strains that
| come from the House of Songs,' is one of his famous sayings. He
too was a Bengali Brahmin. Awarded the Nobel Prize for
literature in 1913, his emphasis on the Divine Love and his
denunciation of nationalism as 'organized selfishness' made him
attractive to the liberal intelligentsia of the West at the time of
S the founding of the League of Nations. With Nehru and Gandhi
^1
(whom he may have been the first to address as 'Mahatma'), he
personified India in the West. Perhaps he was more popular
than Gandhi, since he did not see colonialism as responsible for
India's ills, or independence as the solution to them. He looked
cn instead to education, setting up Shanti Niketan (Abode of
Peace), at Bolpur near Calcutta. The college has no temple, to
emphasize the role of all religions in the quest for peace.

Be not ashamed my brothers, to stand before the proud

and the powerful
With your white robe of simpleness.
Let your crown be of humility, your freedom the freedom
of your soul.
Build God's throne daily upon the ample barrenness of
your poverty.
And know that what is huge is not great and pride is not
everlasting.

Tagore, Ramakrishna, and Vivekanada, are men who emerged

from undoubtedly Hindu backgrounds to testify to
their
something that transcended all religions and provided India
with its secular ideal of respect for all religions, without
according any one of them a position of privilege.

Bhimrao Ranji Ambedkar (1891-1956)

A story of Ambedkar's childhood tells how he and his brother
were going to visit their father, who was a soldier. They were
given a lift on a cart, but in the course of conversation the driver
came to know that they belonged to the Mahar jati, by
occupation collectors of the carcasses of animals, a highly
polluting activity.He raised one end of the vehicle and threw
them into the road. The boys were thirsty but no one would give
them water or allow them near water tanks or wells.
This was apparently Ambedkar's introduction to caste, and \<\qr
discrimination on grounds of untouchability. Although he had
to overcome many difficulties, the boy went to high school, |
where a Brahmin teacher named Ambedkar gave him c
encouragement. Ambedkar decided to change his name from the
family name of Ambavadekar to that of his teacher, though his
3
hopes that his would shield him against discrimination were .;

mistaken. He went to Elphinstone High School in Bombay, took

his degree, was employed by the Maharaja of Baroda and was 3
sent to the USA, where he gained a doctorate.
When he returned to India in 1917 he discovered that even the
Maharaja's patronage meant nothing in the office. No one
would work with him or give him water, and he could find CXI
nowhere to live. Further education in England was still followed
by discrimination back home. He led campaigns to win
untouchables the right to water supplies, and took part in the
Round Table Conferences with the British, which discussed a
constitution for India. He won a large reservation of seats for
untouchables in the proposed parliament. When India became
independent, Ambedkar, as Law Minister, was largely
responsible for enacting India's constitution. However, he was
never convinced that caste discrimination could actually be
overcome and finally decided to convert to Buddhism. This he
chose in preference to Christianity and Islam, because he saw it
as an Indian religion having cultural affinities with Hinduism,
even though it had long been extinct in the subcontinent.
Sikhism was presumably not considered because it was,
erroneously, thought to be a form of Hinduism and was known
to accept untouchability. His followers, 600,000 members of
what by then were known as the secluded classes, converted
with him shortly before he died.

SatyaSai Baba(1926-)
Well known, perhaps more outside India than within it, is Sai
Baba. His picture may be seen in many mandirs, and in a large
number of homes. He is instantly recognizable by his Afro-style
haircut and broad smile. His birthplace was in Andra Pradesh;
his name was Satyanarayan Raju. In 1940 he declared himself
to be the reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi, who died in 1918.
Sometimes pictures of this elderly, long-haired, rather
stereotypical ascetic may also be found in homes. In 1963, Sai
^ogl Baba affirmed that he was the incarnation of Shiva-Shakti, the
divine creativepower in both male and female form. God is
beyond form (nirguna) according to the Baba's teaching.
% Appearances are merely illusion (maya) and unreal. The widely
attested miracles popularly associated with the Guru are signs of
» paranormal powers Love and God are one, so worship
(siddhis).
consists of singing devotional songs (bhajans) and serving the
(0
community at large (seva). Bal Vikas classes are organized for
children (Bal) to help them blossom (vikas) into moral and
through living according to the values of peace,
spiritual beings
non-violence, truth, right conduct and love. The satsang's
programme of Education in Human Values has been
fj\ implemented in schools in India with Government support. In
1984 and 1985, with the Inner London Education Authority,
(now defunct), the Sai Council in Great Britain organized
courses for teachers on moral education in a multi-ethnic
society. The movement attracts members from all ethnic and
religious groups.

Hinduism, as we see, continues to evolve. Conservative

orthodoxy lives on, as the recent growth of the Bharatiya Janata
Party demonstrates. Its appeal to Hindus, associated with a
spirit of nationalism, questions many assumptions about the
eclectic, tolerant nature of the religion. New expressions of
Hinduism arise, for example the cult of Santoshi Mata, a little
known deity (the daughter of Ganesha) until a film transformed
her into a popular goddess overnight.

The presence of Hindus worldwide, and respect for the sanatana

dharma which Mahatma Gandhi and other modern Hindus
created, have meant that the West's interest in Eastern
spirituality continues. What impact meditation and attachment
to a Guru will have upon Christianity, as it struggles against
materialism, remains to be seen - as does the manner in which
Hindus themselves cope with the materialism which is
challenging the traditional values of Indian society.

Some of these matters are taken up in Chapter 17.

In this chapter you will learn:
• how Gandhi's politics were
influenced by Hindu ethics
• about the influence of the
Upanishads and the
Bhagavad Gita on Gandhi
• about Gandhi's life of work

in the service of others

• what the result of Gandhi's
beliefs were
• about Gandhi and Hinduism
today and the right wing
Hindu influence in Indian
politics.
ia o| To devote whole chapter of this book to one Hindu might
a
seem rather excessive.The reason will hopefully become clear as
§o tne story of Gandhi and his religious thought unfolds. It lies in
a 3" his ability to criticize Hinduism from within, a common feature
""
g. of the religion through the ages. He was a major figure of the
20th century, to the extent that the centenary of his birth was
2{ commemorated in 1969 by almost every country in the world
g when special stamps were issued. In India he is probably best
§ remembered now for his contribution to the Independence
=j Struggle (in this Richard Attenborough got it right. In the 1980s
Attenborough directed a film, Gandhi, which brought this great
. Indian to the attention of many people who had never heard of
q^ him. His spirituality emerged implicitly but the film emphasized
his political role). Almost every Indian town has a street named
after him, and most towns of any size boast a statue. His
samadhi in Delhi, a square plinth of black marble, is a place
where all visiting dignitaries must pay their respects. In
London's Tavistock Square, there is a beautiful and emotive
statue where marigolds can still be seen, placed in his honour.

If it was Ram Mohan Roy and the Brahma Samaj who

introduced Western philosophers and rationalists to Indian
thought, it was Gandhi who captured the popular imagination.
Of course, not everyone took to this 'half-naked faqir', as the
war-time British Prime Minister Winston Churchill described
him, but when he visited England in 1931 he gained the
affection and respect of people ranging from Quakers to mill-
workers. The press found him to be 'good copy'. He told one of
them, 'You people wear plus-fours, mine are minus-fours'.
When, wearing his usual loin cloth, shawl, dollar watch, and
sandals, he went to tea at Buckingham Palace, he said
afterwards that, 'The king had enough on for both of us'.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known as 'Bapu',

was born at Porbandar in Gujarat on 2 October, 1869. His
family was of the Bania jati, belonging to the Vaishya varna.
When he came to England at the age of 1 8 to train as a lawyer,
he was already married and the father of a son. The early years
of this marriage were not happy and convinced him of the folly
of the custom of child marriages. He was called to the bar in
1891. In 1893 he went to South Africa, to take up a court case
on behalf of a Muslim merchant. It was there that he first
experienced discrimination, at Maritzburg. Although he
possessed a first-class ticket he was forcibly ejected from the
railway carriage because a white man objected to sharing it with
a 'coolie'. This event led to his embarking upon a lifelong Nog
struggle against discrimination and oppression, which is how he
came to view British colonialism, though at first he collaborated § o
2 3-
with the British and saw merit in their government. %§
a
He was assassinated in Delhi on 30 January 1948. $

Gandhi's politics influenced by

Hindu ethics
Underlying Gandhi's life of action was a deep spirituality. He
might be described as the perfect karmayogin of the Bhagavad
o>
Gita; a man devoted to the service of Rama, his family's
ishtadevata, rather than Krishna, and who expressed his love in
desireless action on behalf, especially, of the weak members of
society. It was with the name 'Rama' on his lips that he died. His
so-called Talisman read:

Recall in the face of the poorest and most helpless person

whom you may have seen and ask yourself if the step you
contemplate going to be of any use to him, will he gain
is

anything by Will it restore him to control over his life

it?

and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj, self-

rule, for the hungry and also spiritually starved of our
countrymen?
Then you will find your doubts and yourself melting away.

It is not too difficult to see that this teaching emanates from the
first verse of the Isa Upanishad, his favourite Hindu text:

All this, whatsoever moves on earth, is pervaded by the

Lord. When you have surrendered this, then you may
enjoy. Do not covet the wealth of anyone.
Gandhi was not a natural ascetic, and was always opposed to
those who followed the path of self-denial to the point of
refusing help to those in need. Such asceticism was merely
selfish. This was only one way in which by his example he
demonstrated that the life of action, and not the path of
inaction, was the preferred way of Hinduism; he thus implicitly
criticized the tradition which made so much of the fourth stage
of life, that of sannyas.

His whole method of teaching was practical. The story is told of

a young American who walked with him at six o'clock in the
^oq] morning, hoping for wise words, only to find that Gandhi said
nothing, but bent down constantly to remove night soil from the
§? path. 'Will you teach me?' asked the young man. 'I have been
a g" teaching you; perhaps you were not listening', was Gandhi's
d. 3
g- reply. C. F. Andrews, a Christian missionary from England and
his close friend, described him as 'A saint of action rather than
» contemplation'.
q)

| The main literary influences upon Gandhi, who was a widely-read

:. man, were John Ruskin's Unto this Last, The Kingdom of God,
o- by Leo Tolstoy (with whom he corresponded), the Sermon on the
Mount from the Gospel of St Matthew in the New Testament, the
Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads, and especially, from his own
o> tradition, the Ramayana. Though he demanded that the British
should quit India and objected to the work of Christian
missionaries, he was more representatively Hindu in his
eclecticism than the Arya Samaj and the many nationalists who
rejected the thought of the West as well as its political presence.

Itwas, however, interaction with people that affected him more

than reading. Perhaps the most important of these were a Jain,
Raychandbhai, who was the nearest he had to a Guru, and his
wife Kasturbai, who he married when they were both 13 years
old. His treatment of Kasturbai, especially in his younger years,
was often inconsiderate. He forced his ideas of poverty and the
acceptance of untouchables almost violently upon this woman
from a very traditional, pollution-rejecting society. Her loyalty
and common sensewon her his respect and made him a more
tolerant person. When she died in 1944 he was bereft, and on
the 22nd of each month until his death (she died on 22
February), a memorial service was held, at which there were
special prayers and a recitation of the Gita.

An important teaching that Gandhi used to considerable

practical effectwas the doctrine of ahimsa, non-violence, This,
fasting, and asceticism were practices drawn from the Jainism of
Raychandbhai, though in each case he modified them and gave
them an interpretation of his own. The Jain tends to see the
avoidance of pollution as the major reason for not harming
other living beings; for Gandhi it became a reverence for life,
which respected his opponents to an extent that might annoy
them, but sometimes also won them over to his views. Jains also
believe in the many-sidedness of reality, anekantavada, the belief
that we only have a fragmentary knowledge of truth. This led
Gandhi to believe that we have no right to impose the fragment
that we possess upon others, or believe it to be the complete f^j
truth. Jain asceticism might in fact be directed at individual
spiritual perfection, but Gandhi justified it socially as the way 2j o
one should a country of poor people, on the grounds
live in § §
firstly that fasting was energy-creating, and secondly that with g-

so much on food and clothing would be better

to do, time spent
used in serving the great causes of independence and social -

welfare. Here we see Gandhi, as so often, taking established

traditions and reinterpreting or developing them.
°-
Gandhi was deeply religious but not a mystic, though he was
very much aware of the inner voice of God. He wrote:

The time when I learned to recognize this voice was, I may

Q>
time when I started praying regularly. That is, it
say, the
was about 1906.
Later he described the experience in some detail. It was:

Like a voice from afar and yet quite near. It was as

unmistakeable as some human voice, definitely speaking to
me and irresistible. I was not dreaming at the time I heard
the voice. The hearing of the voice was preceded by a
terrific struggle within me. Suddenly the voice came upon
me. I listened, made certain it was the voice, and the
struggle ceased. Iwas calmnot the unanimous verdict
. . .

of the whole world against me could shake me from the

belief that what I heard was the voice of God.

Each day he held a morning and evening prayer meeting, first at

his ashram in Sabarmati, then at Wardha. The ashram hymnal,
bhajanavali, included Rock of ages, Abide with me, Who would
true valour see, and his favourite Christian hymn, Lead, kindly
light. The emphasis of some Christian thought on the 'blood of
the lamb', or the 'power of the blood', offended him as a
vegetarian and believer in ahimsa (although When I survey the
wondrous cross was also a favourite hymn). God was gracious,
compassionate and protecting. This was his experience; its
theological basis lay in the Ramayana, in which Rama, his
ishtadevata, seeks his wife and dutifully cares for his people.
From this comes the concept of lokasamgraha: the welfare of
all, not merely a concern for the inhabitants of Rama's kingdom

but for the whole of humankind, and a belief that everyone must
share that concern. Lokasamgraha is also the basis of Ramrajya,
the kingdom of righteousness on earth, which again is a
universal concept not confined to Hinduism or India.
..go) In mandirs, especially those in which Rama is particularly
revered, Hanuman
stands in a position to give darshan before
§? anyone else because of the devoted service which he rendered to
a g" the king. Gandhi expressed his own devotion to Rama thus:
—
q,
§ Hanuman tore open his heart and showed there was
* nothing there but Ramanama. I have nothing of the power
of Hanuman to tear open my heart, but if any of you feel
| inclined to do it, I assure you that you will find there
5? nothing but love for Rama, whom I see face to face in the
starving millions of India.

God and dharma were inseparably linked, and both were

0> combined with moksha. Religion and politics could not
therefore be divided. Dharma and moksha were social, not
individual concepts. Or samajik, to use Gandhi's expression. In
the Gita Krishna, God is a friend (bandhu) who comes to
Arjuna in his time of distress. This should be remembered when
we read that for Gandhi, Truth is God\ Truth is no impersonal
absolute, nor a substitute for God. Truth clarifies what God
meant when he used the term. It is also a source of power; hence
his use of the word satyagraha, truth force. Once he explained
it thus:

Its root meaning is holding onto truth, hence truth-force. I

have also called it love-force or soul-force.

An observer of many of his actions, Madeleine Slade, Mirabhen,

wrote:

With Bapu (an affectionate name that meant far more to

Gandhi than the term Mahatma, which he disliked), it is
his 'life and acts (from the most important to the smallest)
that speak more than words (that are more eloquent than
words)'.

One example of many must suffice. On one occasion he was

walking from village to village in East Bengal to console the
victims of communal rioting when he came across a child who
needed an enema. Eventually he managed to obtain one, and
walked back to the village to administer it to the sick child.
To be assured was acting out of true motives was
that he
essential. In his earlydays at the bar he learned a lesson that he
never forgot. His elder brother Laxmidas had antagonized the
British political agent in Porbandar, a man who could secure
him the prime ministership of the small native state; Mohan
(Gandhi) had met the man in London. Naturally his brother
expected assistance. Gandhi responded in the only way that an N93
Indian family could understand, even though he was
uncomfortable at the thought of interceding. The agent told him § o
that if Laxmidas has a complaint he should seek redress through § §
the proper channels. When Gandhi obstinately persisted in his "
g-

protest the agent ordered his peon to eject him. Gandhi had
£
failed. When he came to analyze his failure, he decided that the
reason was that he had not been acting from a position of truth. =

He knew in his heart that he had been trying to defend untruth, =r

so there had never been any possibility of success. In case there

is a temptation still to see heartless principle at work in the

name of truth, two other phrases might be quoted; 'out of truth ^^

emerge love and tenderness'; and, the seeker after truth should q^
have a heart 'tender as a lotus'. This truth led Gandhi to refuse
to drink cows' milk when he saw how cows were treated, and
above all made him reject the idea of untouchability, the most
inhuman aspect of Hindu society.

not impossible, to fit Gandhi into any of the

It is difficult, if

philosophical schools of Hindu philosophy but some scholars

might regard him as an advaitist, for his belief in an ultimate
unity between God and the universe. He wrote:

I subscribe to the belief or the philosophy that all life is in

essence one and that humans are working consciously or
unconsciously towards the realisation of that identity. The
belief requires a living faith in a living God who is the
ultimate arbiter of our fate.

Here the Western reader, brought up on tales of Eastern fatalism

(be it in the form of karma or kismet), should realize that this is
a belief expressed by, 'He's got the whole world in his hands', or
the prayer, 'Thy will be done'. Gandhi's God was effective, not
merely an intellectual concept.

Elsewhere he wrote:

Man's ultimate aim is the realization of God, and all his

activities, social, political and have to be guided
religious
by the ultimate aim of the vision of God. The immediate
service of all human beings becomes a necessary part of the
endeavour, simply because the only way to find God is to
see him in his creation and be one with it. This can only be
done by service for all. I am part and parcel of the whole,
and I cannot find him apart from the rest of humanity.
4qa] The search for salvation or liberation can be selfish, claimed
Gandhi; hence his criticism of the sannyasin who left society,
Ȥ including his family, to pursue his own spiritual journey,
a g"
Buddhist teachers and Swami Vivekananda had expressed the
" g. view that no one would obtain moksha until the last one had
J achieved liberation. Gandhi shared the view that:
B
i He is a true Vaishnava (devotee of Vishnu) who feels the
| suffering of others as his own suffering.

= These are opening words of his favourite hymn, composed by

Narsinh Mehta. It has sometimes been claimed, that far from
> desiring moksha, Gandhi's wish was to be reborn an
O) untouchable.

The consequences of Gandhi's beliefs

The Mahatma's aims and methods were based on his beliefs.
The concept of ahimsa convinced him that those who used
outward force became caught up in the bondage of violence. His
captors often found, during his 2089 days in Indian, and 249 in
South African prisons, that it was they not he who was the
prisoner. Some accused him of deceitful manipulation, of
playing on their weaknesses, but often he won over his
opponents through the use of satyagraha, the convincing truth
of his arguments.

Less evident, but just as real, questions on caste and the position
of women were influenced by his belief in the presence of God
in all human beings. On caste he wrote:

Caste has nothing to do with religion. It is harmful both to

spiritualand national growth.
and also:

The varnashrama of the shastras is today non-existent in

practice. The present caste system is the very antithesis of
varnashramadharma. The sooner public opinion abolishes
it the better.

On aerograms today his words can often be found:

'Untouchability is a crime against humanity', but it nevertheless
persists,and caste is still a potent force in Hindu life, although
in theory most Hindus agree with the constitution, which
outlaws caste discrimination. Gandhi's witness is an important
inspiration to those who are still working to allieviate its effects.
The need for their work Not long ago the British
continues. \-\qr
Hindu dalit girl who had gained a
press carried a report of a
degree but could find no better employment than that of her § o
mother: washing eating utensils and scrubbing floors. These § g
"'
words of the Mahatma's are still frequently unheeded in §
practice:
£
0)

Men should learn to give place to women, and a

|
community or country in which women are not honoured o
cannot be considered as civilized. Marriage must cease to g
be a matter of arrangement made by parents for money. a
The system is ultimately connected with caste. So long as
choice is restricted to a few hundred young men or women
of a particular caste, the system will persist, no matter <J>
what is said against it. The girls or boys or their parents
will have to break the bonds of caste if the evil is to be
eradicated. All this means education of a character that
will revolutionize the mentality of the youth of the nation.

The dowry system (though now) and dowry deaths show

illegal
how great the gap betweenlaw and practice is, and how strong
traditions are which are not only still found in Hinduism, but are
present among Indian Christians and Muslims, as well as Sikhs.

Religious pluralism was another belief with practical

consequences. Gandhi combined personal commitment with an
openness to other faiths, as we have seen. In practice this meant
that his friends and influences ranged across the spiritual
traditions but also, when communal violence arose in the run-
up to partition and independence, he was to be found visiting
troubled areas and threatening to fast to the death until
harmony between Hindu and Muslim was restored. His
entreaty, 'Let each keep his own religion and become better
within it', did not mean building barriers but bridging divisions.

Gandhi and Hinduism today

It is in the area of religion that the teaching of the Mahatma
might best be remembered and revived. At present there is a
resurgence of Hindu nationalism, accompanied by a suspicion
of Islam and Christianity as alien to India and threatening to
Hindu values. Even moderate Hindus may be heard to say that
they have been too tolerant to the minority religions. There has
been a recent rise in militant Hinduism, seen in the growth of
the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won considerable
.jog] support in the 1991 elections. Much of the religious support of
this political party comes from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
02 Sangh (RSS), an organization which was founded in opposition
& g" to the pluralistic stance of Nehru and Gandhi who advocated,
Z3 successfully, the establishment of a secular state (that is, one in
g-

which all religions are given equal respect, and none is given a
SJ position of advantage). The RSS wanted a Hindu state. One of
its supporters was the man who assassinated Gandhi in 1948.
The recent Muslim-Hindu tensions, which came to a head
| during the Ayodhya temple-mosque dispute, demonstrate a
threat to the tolerant secularism effected by the Mahatma, and
are causing Indians, especially Hindus, to discuss the relevance

O^ of his teaching for today. The Jain concept of ahimsa greatly

influenced Gandhi, who renounced violence and became a
pacifist. Satyagraha (truth-force), a word which he coined in
South Africa where he first employed the method of non-violent
opposition - relying instead on the moral force of the truth of
one's argument - was the form that Gandhi's pacifism took. Its
relevance to the crises facing Hinduism and other religions in
India today is yet to be explored. Perhaps it can only be an
effective instrument in the hands of a person of the Mahatma's
moral stature. The importance of Gandhi in the context of inter-
religious tension, not only between Hindus and Muslims but
also in the Hindu-Sikh situation in the Punjab, and in occasional
allegations that Christians and Muslims are not truly Indian, lies
in the fact that he provided an alternative to sectarian violence.

Mahatma Gandhi is universally revered in public in India, but is

sometimes considered to be a figure of the past. This is largely

because of his attitude towards Western technology and
products. Each day he spent a period of time at his spinning
wheel, less to produce thread than to affirm his belief in
traditional Indian ways. He preached the gospel of swadeshi,
the use of only Indian-produced cloth and other raw materials.
The majority of Indians, like most people of countries that were
once European colonies and are now recovering economically,
look to the West and its technology for solutions to their
economic difficulties. There are now supposedly detached
observers, mostly Western, who doubt that what India needs is
a technological revolution, but Indian politicians are suspicious
of this being the latest Western scheme for keeping power in the
hands of Europe and America. Gandhi's importance in this
respect is doubtful. India is unlikely to return to its pre-
industrial past. It might, however, listen to his view that the land
of the villages should be given to the peasants, rather than [-197
amassed as the possession of a few rich landowners.
Gandhi is a reminder, as Ram Mohan Roy and Dayananda J =r

Saraswati were before him, that Hinduism possesses the ability « g^

to criticize and reform itself from within. As the religion moves §
in a more nationalistic and militant direction, there are many £
other Hindus who wish to maintain the secular principles of the
Indian Constitution, and who believe that it is time to turn again o
to the teachings and practices of the Mahatma. &>

o>
In this chapter you will learn:
• some aspects of Hinduism
today
• about the Hindu diaspora.
Hinduism is now a world religion, not only in terms of its
199
widespread distribution but also in its impact upon ideas and its

ability to attract people of different cultures.

IS
c ®
It isnot usually considered to be a missionary religion but can
a B
be in some of its forms. Movements are at work among the
tribal people in India, attempting to bring them into Hinduism,
II
and the Arya Samaj continues to attempt to win Hindus to its **
8.
particular ways of thinking. Best known in the West, however,
is ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness, better recognized by its popular name of the
Hare Krishna movement. Once it was merely regarded as a
hippie cult of the sixties. Now, despite the misgivings of some
ultra-orthodox Hindus in India, it is an accepted form of ^1
Hinduism. When, in the 1980s, a temple was opened on the
island of Inish Rath in Northern Ireland, the ceremony was
attended by Indian-born Hindus from many parts of the UK and
the Irish Republic. During the Bhakti Vedanta Manor dispute of
the 1990s the majority of Britain's Hindus supported ISKCON.
Its attractively produced literature is to be found in many
mandirs and homes, and has made a large contribution to the
religious nurturing of British-born Hindus. The Hare Krishna
movement's origins can be traced to 15th century Bengal, with
the appearance of a spiritual teacher and social reformer named
Chaitanya. He was a devotee of Krishna (in fact, many Hindus
regard him as an avatar of that deity). Following a doctrine
taught by the 13th-century philosopher Nimbarka, known as
dualistic non-dualism, he believed that God was both the same
as, and yet different from, individual souls. Chaitanya travelled
widely in northern India and encouraged devotion to Krishna,
especially expressed through kirtan, the chanting of devotional
songs, though only eight of his own verses have survived. He
died in 1534, and the movement he initiated continued, though
the popularity it enjoyed in his lifetime was not sustained. We
may pass over the story of the movement (which is well told by
Kim Knott in My Sweet Lord, Aquarian Press, 1986) to the year
1933. In that year a man named Abhay Char an De was initiated
into the Gaudiya Vaisnava Mission, as it was now called, and
given the name Prabhupada. His Guru, Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati, had a vision of the message of Chaitanya reaching the
English-speaking world beyond Bengal and India and, two
weeks before his death in 1936, he entrusted the work to his
disciple. Prabhupada responded by publishing a magazine in
English, Back to Godhead, and preparing a commentary on the
Bhagavad Gita. In 1959 he left his family to take the vows of a
20Q 1 sannyasin and, in 1965, he set sail for the United States. He
some young people and students, and in
eventually attracted
September 1966 initiated his first disciples and conducted the
c <d marriage ceremony of two initiates. Soon afterwards he
announced, much to their consternation, 'We are going to chant
in Washington Square Park'. Such an act was unheard of, and
§ 5f could only provoke ridicule or even hostility, but since then it
< Q has become one of the normal sights that greet visitors, work
people and shoppers in many countries. In August 1968, three
married couples came to England. Before very long they had
achieved one of their important aims: meeting the Beatles. The
Hare Krishna Mantra was issued as a single in August 1969
with devotees appearing on Top of the Pops. Seventy thousand
copies of the single were sold on the first day. For a large
number of Britons this was the first time they had heard of the
movement. At the time of writing, ISKCON passes unnoticed by
most of the British public. Its kirtan-singing processions now
attract little attention. The Rathayatra celebrations of the birth
of Krishna, marked by processions in London, and other major
cities on either side of the Atlantic, no longer feature on
national television; despite attracting thousands of Hindus, the
anti-cult press pays little notice. There has been a legal battle
relating to an approach road to Bhaktivedanta Manor, the
donation of George Harrison, and this has attracted most media
attention in the mid-1990s. ISKCON is no longer winning
devotees in great numbers (most movements gained dozens or
hundreds of adherents, rather than thousands, anyway, despite
press allegations and parental anxieties; and the drop-out rate of
converts in the first two years is about two out of three). The
appeal of novelty has gone, to be replaced by a respected, non-
suspected, mission, whose literature and educational services are
widely used within the Hindu community and in UK schools,
and greatly valued. Many students of religion would argue that
one kind of impact, ephemeral and limited, has been replaced by
another that is more sustained and effective, and one for which
British Hindus are extremely grateful. Others might speak in
terms of failure, if the aim was to capture the hearts and minds
of Westerners in great numbers. One of the distinctive features
of ISKCON is its demand for clear commitment to a lifestyle
that requires chastity, the rejection of alcohol and tobacco as
well as drugs, and vegetarianism. This kind of severe
commitment may no longer be what people are seeking at the
end of the century.
No movement or established religion, such as Islam, has yet \or\-\
succeeded in replacing Christianity in the West, despite its
decline in appeal and membership. The vacuum may be being
filled to some extent by movements offering techniques to aid c 3
spiritual development, rather than demanding membership of § «
an organization. In these less formal ways, Hinduism is having g"
o
an impact upon the non-Hindu world. The most important of ft •
these are meditation and yoga. These disciplines have been
made popular by teachers such as the Guru Maharishi Mahesh
Yogi and Swami Abhishiktananda.

Guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's fame was linked with the

Beatles, but since thebreakup of the group he has continued to
have a following. His teaching of Transcendental Meditation
(TM) is based upon Vedanta, but he claims quite justifiably that
it can be used independently of Hindu philosophy. TM
courses
are on offer in many British cities. In the 1992 general election
and the 1994 European elections the Natural Law Party, based
upon his teachings, contested every constituency in Britain. It
won several thousand votes but no however, win
seats. It did,
the right to make a party political broadcast on radio and
television, due to the number of candidates it put up, and copies
of its manifesto were sent to every voter. The presence of Hindu-
influenced meditation centres in the West is often seen as an
indication of traditional religion's inability to meet spiritual
needs. Once they were dismissed as a passing phase that young
people went through, but they have persisted. Yoga classes are
to be found advertised in the programmes of most adult
education institutions. Sometimes the emphasis is on bodily
keep-fit exercises. As noted earlier, yoga for health falls short of
the true purpose of the practice if its aims are only physical.

Yoga is the arresting of mental activity. It aims at nothing

all
short of emptying the mind. This void has been found
threatening by some Christians, who fear that the mind will be
filled by evil, and who have consequently denounced yoga.
Abhishiktananda, however, has declared that the void is not
actually wanted for its own sake but that once the mind is
emptied and the mental processes stopped, the deep power of
light, which normally lies hidden and inactive within everyone,
rises up and shines forth by itself. The Quakers speak of this: of
God in everyone, and the inner light. Christian practitioners of
yoga believe that their meditation is enabling them to respond
to the presence of God.
2Q2J
Of course, yoga is not the path for everyone. Hindu spiritual
masters stress that the most suitable way depends on the
temperament and calling of the individual. Here again,
Hinduism may have something to offer to Christians. It is clear
| 3> that diversity much a characteristic of their religion as it is
is as
g- g of Hinduism, but for many centuries attempts have been made
§ w to promote uniformity as the norm. It may be that an
< Q understanding of Hinduism may enable Christians to rediscover
a diversity of which its scholars too are again becoming aware.
However, Hinduism does not exist to serve other religions, and
one of the important attractions of yoga is that, unlike prayer,
which presupposes the existence of a deity, it need not be
attached to any religious belief. Perhaps this is one of the
reasons why it is popular in the West. Another may be that it
does not require commitment to a set of doctrines, or a lifestyle,
as most new religious movements do.
We have briefly mentioned Swami Abhishiktananda. He was
born Henri Le Saux in a town in Britanny in 1910, and died in
India in 1973. He became a priest and a member of the Order
of Saint Benedict, and served in the French army until its defeat
in 1940. In 1947 he went to India, and with another
Frenchman, a priest from Lyons named Jules Monchanin, set up
a Christian ashram in 1950, at a place called Shantivanam. This
was the year in which Sri Ramana Maharshi died. Le Saux had
not known the famous sage long, but had been deeply impressed
by his spirituality. In the vedic chanting of the teacher's
followers he became aware of 'a call which pierced through
everything' and of these experiences he wrote 'their hold on me
was already too strong for it ever to be possible for me to
disown them'. In keeping with Indian tradition Le Saux took a
new name, Abhishiktananda (Bliss of the Anointed One).
Shantivanam is north of Madras. Abhishiktananda came
increasingly to feel that his ashram should be in the north, near
the Himalayas and Ganges. In 1968 he moved north, leaving his
original ashram to Bede Griffiths. There he lived until his death
in 1973. Abhishiktananda went to India believing that taking
sannyas would enable him to witness effectively as a Christian
to Hindus. By the time Ramana Maharshi died, he was unable
to state that Christianity was the only authentic way of coming
to God, and he moved beyond believing that Christianity was
the fulfilment of Hinduism. For him the Upanishads were true,
and the Bible was true. As he wrote to one of his sisters, his
primary concern was 'to pass on the honey which I gather in the
Hindu world, and vice versa, however dislocating it may be at
times'.As God became more and more *a cosmic mystery' and
203
'the cosmic Christ' identical with Ishvara and the Purusha
(archetypal human being) of the Upanishads, he found it
li•
increasingly difficult to express his beliefs and experiences in C
words. He might be called a Christian advaitist. A film of his life B
3 %
(0

was shown on TV in 1994.

li
James Stuart wrote Swami Abhishiktananda: His Life told
through his Letters (Indian SPCK, Delhi, 1989), which readers
wishing to learn more about this man may find helpful. Bede
Griffiths is the othername that springs to mind when we think
of Hindu influence upon Christian belief and practice. He died
in 1993 at Shantivanam (The Forest of Peace), the ashram given
to him by Abhishiktananda and his companion Jules -*l
Monchanin, Swami Panama Arubi Anandam. He too was a
Benedictine, and his ashram was authentically Christian, based
on the rule of that monastic order. However, he dressed like a
sannyasin and incorporated Hindu symbols into his worship,
for example using sandal paste placed between the eyes at
morning prayer to signify consecration, kumkum at midday as
a symbol of illumination, and ash in the evening for
purification. This was not, however a form of syncretism. It was
the use of the symbolic language of the land in which he was
living, just as many Western practices, and the vestments worn
by priests, belonged originally to the European world into
which the religion spread. He once set out his aim saying, 'We
try to live within the Christian contemplative tradition, but
following the customs and way of life of India. In other words
in a way which is totally Indian and totally Christian'. (Notice
he did not use the word Hindu.) Perhaps he should be described
as a Hindu-influenced Christian who remained far more rooted
in the Christian tradition than Swami Abishiktananda.

There are a host of other ways in which Western interest in

Hinduism is noticeable, ranging from cuisine to music. It must
be admitted that most people who enjoy Indian food do not
consider the concepts that underlie it; most, in fact, cannot
distinguish between a Bengali Muslim-run restaurant and one
owned by Hindus. Nevertheless, the growth of vegetarianism
since the end of the 1970s has often been associated with Hindu
ideas about bodily health. Likewise, the significance of concerts
devoted to Indian dance and music, the nine-hour performance
of the Mahabharata on television, and the influence of Indian
music upon Western composers may be difficult to estimate, but
(at least) it seems to point to an intellectual attitude far different
 from that of Lord Macaulay who, in his famous minute of 1 834,
2Q 4
claimed that one shelf of European literature was worth more
=- § than all the books produced by the East!
a g
f to
•
Tolerance and respect are the aims of British governments, and
3-S to this end they have recently recognized the developments that
§. 2. have been taking place in Religious Education in schools. It is a
< o compulsory subject from which teachers and pupils may
withdraw only if they make formal written application to do so.
Few do. A Department of Education Circular of January 1994
requires that all the major religious traditions found in Britain
today to be taught to children. Hinduism is one of these
religions. One might argue that the United Kingdom is the only
country in the world where every child should learn about
Hinduism as well as Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism and
Sikhism. The purpose of Religious Education is to understand.
Whether study will have some kind of affective outcome, or
only a cognitive one, time alone will tell.

A significant group committed to interreligious dialogue is the

Brahma Kumaris, as was evident in 1993, the Year of
Interreligious Dialogue and Co-operation, being the centenary
of the Chicago Parliament of Religions mentioned above. They
organized a special pilgrimage to Mount Abu. Global Co-
operation House in London is also an important interreligious
focus in Britain. Similar centres exist in other countries. Brahma
Kumaris accept that they are a movement that has Hindu
origins. The movement began in the 1930s in Hyderabad in
Sind. From there, after persecution, they moved to Karachi and
finally to Mount Abu in Rajasthan, the site of their present
headquarters. Their lifestyle is vegetarian, and celibate, and
smoking and alcohol are also forbidden.
'Meditation is both the journey and destination, revealing the
secrets of consciousness, the treasures of the soul and the power
to be more alert and our interaction with each other
effective in
and with our precious world', to quote one of their pamphlets.
They are active in the United Nations through the Global Co-
operation for a Better World Movement. Its literature states that
it is active in 55 countries, and an independent estimate gives its

membership as about 250,000. Hindu influences are to be

found in the Indian membership and clothing of many of the
movement's members; in the belief that we are living at the end
of the Kali Yug, the fourth Hindu era or kalpa, which will be
followed by a new Golden Age; and the belief that human
beings are souls rather than bodies, who will attain mental
union with God: soul consciousness. The movement is probably 205
unique in being woman-led. It works energetically to improve
individuals, and create a world based on peace. This global 5"
§
concern could make an impact in another form: concern for the c ©
environment. Hindus have always taught the unity of life; | w
humankind and its environment are one. Another international o o
movement is the Ramakrishna Mission. It may not have enjoyed &
the success that its visionary founder hoped for (see page 178),
but through its centres, and such monks as Swami
Bhavyananda, who died in England in 1993, it shared in the
work of such organizations as the World Congress of Faiths and
the Interfaith Network, UK, reminding people of faith, and of
the Hindu teaching of many paths leading to one goal.

Sir Sarvepali Radhakrishnan (1888-1975), Spalding Professor

of Eastern Religions and Ethics at Oxford and President of India
1962-1967, was another intellectual who brought up an
awareness of the profundity of Hinduism to the rest of the
world. Between his Oxford career and the presidency he
represented India at the United Nations.

Perhaps the summary of direct or indirect Hindu contributions

to Western life and thought may have offset the image still
presented by the media of the kinds of activities and lifestyles
associated with such people as Bhagvan Rajneesh, whose loving
meditation and 'orange people' (as his most fervent devotees
were called because of their dress), made news headlines in the
1970s. When he died in 1992 his movement had been largely
discredited.

The Hindu Diaspora

Hindus have migrated, and are now to
Since the 1830s at least,
be found worldwide. At first they went to the Caribbean to
work on plantations, when the newly freed slaves refused to
work for their former owners. They went especially to Trinidad
and to the country now known as Guyana. This explains the
who have played for the
long line of cricketers of Indian origin
West one captain, Rohan Kanhai. They also
Indies, including
migrated to the south Pacific, Mauritius, and East and South
Africa. A second wave of migration took place after the Second
World War, especially to Britain and North America.
The effect upon the countries where they settled has been slight,
compared with the influence of intellectuals and personalities
 like Vivekananda and Gandhi. This is because the majority of
206
Hindus who settled in these countries were economic migrants,
~ o who had often to accept employment in menial occupations,
c » Their children and grandchildren are now moving into the
| 8 professions, but still their contributions are likely to be
o o economic rather than cultural. They have come to countries
with deeply established cultures and, unlike the British in India,
< o
they have not come in as powerful rulers able to determine
educational and other developments. As a rule, then, we have to
talk about the effect of migration upon the Hindu communities.
Here we will concentrate on Britain, home to the largest
population of Hindus outside India. It is impossible to do more
than guess at its size, as British censuses include no religious
questions, but a figure of about 360,000 has been suggested by
Dr Kim Knott of Leeds University.
The main influx of Hindus to the UK occurred in the 1950s and
60s, in response to appeals for workers that even Irish migrants
could not meet, though they were then and still are the largest
ethnic minority in Britain. These Hindus came mainly from
Gujarat, Punjab and East Africa, though most parts of India are
now represented in Britain's population as well as the
Caribbean. The total may now be almost 400,000, nearly two-
thirds of whom are British-born. It is not easy for new migrants
to gain entry to Britain, even though they may be relatives,
perhaps ageing parents of Hindus already in the country.

Migrants came from areas with a tradition of migration. Those

from East Africa, as well as Sikhs and Muslims, were the
descendants of people who had gone there in the 1890s to
provide the newly-developing parts of the British Empire with its
commercial and skilled artisan class. They built its railways and
created businesses in the new cities, and they left when former
colonies became independent and began programmes of
africanization. Many stayed on in such countries as Kenya, but
President Idi Amin expelled almost all of them from Uganda. The
Ugandans were unable to bring with them most of their
possessions, but other East Africans were, and they provided
some of the wealth and many of the leadership skills that
strengthened communities already in Britain. It is often argued
that the growth in mandirs following their arrival was more than
coincidental. The migrants went to regions and occupations
where labour was needed; to the Midlands, Yorkshire,
Lancashire, London; and to the textile mills, not to the declining
coal or shipbuilding industries. Often, Gujaratis would settle in
one part of a city and Punjabis in another;though they might \of\~r
share the same Hindu faith they spoke completely different
languages.Kim Knott has skilfully mapped the settlement of
Hindus in Leeds in Hinduism in Leeds (Leeds University, c ®
Department of Theology and Religious Studies, 1986). | w

Extremely strict orthodox Hindus would never cross the Kala

Pani, as they call the oceans around India. Those who migrated < o
were, therefore, somewhat more liberal in their attitudes to the
kinds of work they would do, to purity and pollution, and to
social mixing between castes. It is to be noted, however, that
management committees of mandirs are often led by Hindus,
though whether it is for caste reasons or because they happen to
be the best-educatd members of the community it is difficult to
assess; and marriages are usually still arranged, with caste as an
important consideration.

Features of traditional Hinduism are not always evident in

mandirs. Food will be vegetarian, but it has been known for
visitors to be invited into the kitchen to see it being prepared.
(They should not assume that a family they visit will share this
attitude.) Despite what has been mentioned earlier, the president
may not be a Brahmin, and women can be found in leadership
positions. In fact, mandirs are instruments for the development
of a new concept of Hinduism, based on a community of
believers and unity of belief. We have frequently suggested that
in India there are Hindus and Hinduisms; it might be said that
a new Hinduism is emerging, as differences give way to an
emphasis on certain basic essentials and unity. Worship has
often to be regularized and limited in timing because of the
availability of people to conduct it. Increasing affluence has
enabled mandirs to employ priests on a full-time basis, but
many still officiate only on Sundays, or in the evenings, when
members are free from their daily occupations.
Passing on the culture is a conscious process as it has never
needed to be in India, where the extended family and the village
nurture children in the parental and social aspects of their
dharma. Grandparents are missing, parents have little time to
tell stories to their children, or to do the puja, which children

would observe and into which they would gradually be

absorbed. Classes in Gujarati, Hindi, or Punjabi are held in
mandirs or schools hired at weekends; dance and music classes
are also given. We have noted the positive contribution of
ISKCON in providing literature in English which Hindu
children can use and show teachers at school, certain that they
 will present a good image to teachers who might be inclined to
208
comment adversely on the quality of some publications
IS produced in India. Attention has also been drawn to the
a potential for enabling children to learn about Hinduism in
c i
3(0 Religious Education lessons in school, and so develop self-
o
esteem. But it has to be said, reluctantly, that the education
§- 5f system of Diaspora countries is more often a threat to Hindu,
< Q Muslim, Sikh, and Jewish children; for apart from Religious
Education, (in those countries which have such a subject in the
curriculum, and in those schools which take it seriously in the
UK), the rest of the curriculum places little or no value on the
language, history, music, literature, or ethics of the cultures that
they bring to school. Members of the second generation can be
found who have deserted the parental tradition, being taught by
implication that it is of no worth outside India, a land to which
they will never return. This is not the whole story, though it may
be typical of many British-born Hindus. Racism is forcing many
of them to return to the tradition, as they have been told
effectively that they are not British. Others, for positive reasons,
are growing up within their culture, attending the mandir,
observing fasts and festivals, and developing their personal
spirituality, as well as being members of Britain's fast food
society! Robert Jackson and Eleanor Nesbitt have documented
this in detail in respect of Coventry in Hindu Children in Britain
(Trentham Books, 1993).

Meanwhile, in India, there are of course changes taking place in

Hinduism. To quantify them is difficult, as it is with social,
political or religious developments anywhere in the world. The
media may claim that 'everyone is agog', waiting for news of the
World Cup, or that the latest political crisis, or incident
concerning a royal, or presidential scandal is what everyone is

talking about over coffee. We all know itnot to be true.

Similarly, Hindu life in Varanasi, or one of India's thousands of
villages, may be unaffected by some of the issues that we now
discuss. When Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram
Godse in 1948, India-watchers were reminded that the peculiarly
Indian secular ideal of a state, in which all religions should be
respected equally and none given privileged status, was not
shared by everyone. The dominance of the Congress Party
suggested that factionalism was not very important, but in 1970
the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was formed. It was a coalition
of several Hindu sectarian and nationalist groups, including the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, (RSS), who felt that secularism
espoused by the Nehru dynasty and Congress governments had
gone too far. The dominant Hindu population, numbering about
209
80 per cent, was suffering neglect at the hands of various
minority groups, especially the Muslims. In 1991 they almost £8
won the general election. Disputes surrounding a mosque at c ®
Ayodhya, standing on the site of a former mandir where Lord | »
Rama was born, have been the focus of agitation and communal o o
violence during the 1990s, and this has enabled the BJP to S"
< Q
maintain its criticism of the central government for inaction and
implicit favouring of the Muslim minority.

communal disturbances might have been kept

Until recently,
local; now new factor has to be dealt with by Indian
a
governments who exercised careful and strict control on radio
and television, namely the ability of satellite television to
broadcast pictures worldwide. Mrs Indira Gandhi, Nehru's
daughter was a great exploiter of the media. She made black-
and-white television sets available at low prices, so that most
villages could possess one. The evening news seldom contained
fewer than six clips of her activities each day, and none of her
opponents - unless it was to their discredit. The newspapers
remained free of censorship, often at much cost to owners and
journalists, but, of course, comparatively few people could
afford a newspaper. Now CNN can beam pictures into homes
and villages that have invested in satellite dishes to pick up sport
and films. When the Ayodhya temple/mosque dispute made
international news, coverage was seen in most of India, and
communal rioting was more widespread and better coordinated
than in former times.

The impact of international television upon Indian life cannot yet

be gauged, but for a long time the Indian film industry has exerted
a strong influence, not only in India. In the late 1980s, mandirs
and gurdwaras in Britain lost worshippers when Hindi films were
scheduled for soon after noon on Sundays. Children complained
if activities prevented them from being home for the start of the

film. The 94-episode Hindi Mahabharata film, with English

subtitles, proved so popular that a weekly repeat was provided.
Videos have now led to viewing times being less restricted, life in
mandirs and gurdwaras has reverted to normal. How these
broadcasts are providing an incentive for children to learn their
parental tongue would be an interesting subject for research.
Children of course may be satisfied with subtitles!

Vijay Sharma's/tff Santoshi Ma is a film about a Hindu goddess

who, a Brahmin once pointed out very sharply and dismissively,
'is not vedic'! The story is of Santoshi Mata, goddess of
 contentment, daughter of Ganesha and his wife Riddhi-Siddhi,
2iol
and therefore the granddaughter of Shiva and his shakti. This
|=o places her within the Hindu pantheon, but not in the aloof
c a> position of her more established classical counterparts. Her
»
m to popularity seems to be related to her ability to understand and
3
g- g respond to the kinds of modern problems and needs that women
§ to have. Devotees perform v rata every Friday. The vow consists of
fasting throughout the day, and making a simple and
inexpensive offering of one-and-a-quarter annas* worth of gur,
raw sugar, and cana, chick peas. As the anna ceased to be legal
currency in 1957, this indicates that devotion to the goddess
predates that year. (Such apparently minor details are
important, for the history of devotion to the goddess is not
easily discovered). Members have claimed that she was
worshipped in what is now Pakistan before partition, and was
brought into India by Hindu refugees. At Hard war, when an
enquiry was made about the age of the mandir there the reply
came, 'It is very old'. (An inscription dates it to 1964!) Material
gifts are not what the goddess wants. She desires only affection.
The kinds of boons that are sought are things like washing
machines ('It is no good asking Parvati or Ambaji for such
things, they wouldn't know what I was asking for', was what
one woman said.) A husband's promotion is another petition.
When the request has been answered, a special meal must be
prepared and fed to a group of eight boys. The film Jai Santoshi
Ma describes Santoshi enduring and overcoming the cruelty of
her three sisters-in-law, Parvati, Lakshmi and Brahmani (not
part of the original myth). This is a trial that many brides have
had to face. Eventually she wins through, and the three women,
with their consorts, Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, make obeisance
to her. Perhaps part of her popularity lies in her successful anti-
establishment rebellion.

Of a very different sort is the story of Roop Kanwar, who

attracted international attention in September 1987 when she
committed sati on the funeral pyre of the man she married nine
months earlier. She was 18 years old. This was said to be the
40th act of its kind since independence. During the previous 100
years only four deaths by this method had been recorded. Why
Roop Kanwar achieved more fame or notoriety than other
women it is difficult to say. Her youth may have had something
to do with it; for us it may be enough to note that defenders of
her action, mostly but not exclusively men, came forward, and
that people flocked to her village in Rajasthan to revere and
 THE GUARDIAN Friday April 15 1994

'Oppressed of Indian' turn on Gandhi

John Rettie in New Delhi India from the greed and venality of the
West. But as a result of his long dispute
with Ambedkar, he gradually accepted
time that the rigid caste system was unjust,
For for

46 years ago,
the
Mahatma Gandhi's
first since
assassination
his role as the
and he
marriage.
even advocated inter-caste

revered and saintly 'father of the To modern Dalit leaders this change
nation' being challenged by leaders of
is was too little and too late.
the people he called Harijans or Children 'Our society is still dominated by
of God - the Untouchables. upper castes who are chelas (disciples) of
Now calling themselves Dalits - the Gandhi,' said Ms May await, deputy
Oppressed - the leaders of the Bahujan leader of the BSP.
Samaj Party (BSP), which was swept to 'These people treat Gandhi as their
power in the northern state of Uttar god. I don't.'
Pradesh last year, have denounced She accused him of 'gestures
Gandhi as 'the biggest enemy of Dalits'. smacking of tokenism' when he helped
The upper castes who dominate the Untouchables to clean latrines and shared
media, the bureaucracy and the armed meals with them - practices which caste
forces have reacted with outrage. But Hindus regard as intolerably polluting.
conscious of the new-found voting power 'There is a new awakening among the
of the Dalits, India's Brahmin prime Dalit masses who realize that they were
minister, P. V. Narasimha Rao, went to misled all these years,' she declared.
Bombay yesterday to unveil a statue of 'This awakening isbound to result in
their hero, the late Dr Babasaheb them becoming more assertive in
Ambedkar. demanding their rights.
If they don't get
'Ambedkar carried out the daunting them, they'll fight.'
task of demanding rights for the lowest The veteran socialist historian,
people, but the still more daunting task of sociologist and one-time Madhu MP
implementing his ideals remains,' Mr Limaye said the BSP was making a
Rao said. 'Only when caste serious blunder. The Dalits' situation was
discrimination stops and political parties still bad, although, with reserved
stop getting mileage out of these positions for them in parliament, the
divisions can we say his dream has come bureaucracy and the forces, 'it is much
true.' better than in my youth'.
Mr Rao was not the only one to cash in 'Mayawati and others are causing
on the 103rd anniversary of the birth of great harm to the Dalits because they'll
Ambedkar, the Untouchable who beat the lose the sympathy of millions of Dalits
system by going to the United States and who respect Gandhi,' he said.
Britain, becoming a brilliant lawyer and While Gandhi has certainly been
drafting India's constitution. idolised in the past, even by Dalits, the
The leaders of many states and independent country he forged has done
political parties attended public meetings, little for the overwhelming majority of

to be seen garlanding his statues or Dalits.

unveiling new ones. The BSP is the engine of their
The day emphasized what last impatience, but whether it can be the
November's elections had shown - that vehicle that will solve their problems, is
Dalits are at last demanding their own another matter. Mr Limaye thinks not. He
rights. accused the BSP leader, Kanshi Ram, of
Gandhi, whose trader caste is a sub- dismissing questions about his economic
group of Vaishya, third on the overall policies by saying: 'Just give us power,
scale, grew up as an orthodox Hindu, the rest will follow.'
although he opposed the denigration of 'A party with no policy for production
Untouchables. For much of his life he and creating jobs has no future," Mr
believed in caste as an orderly system of Limaye declared. "It may not last for
doing one's duty and 'following one's more than three years.'
father's calling' which could protect
 worship her. For many she had become a goddess, and the site
212
of her death a place of pilgrimage. She certainly attained a
5§ position of respect and importance in the home of her in-laws,
ii
c ® which she had not enjoyed during her brief life with them. We
55" to
3 tt mention this incident to remind ourselves that the old traditions
= -a
-* (D
o o of Hinduism still have those who would justify them. Sati has
&sr been illegal for over a century and a half, and the vast majority
< o%
of Hindus would agree with those Hindus who worked for its
abolition in the 1820s, but some can still assemble a theological
argument to justify it.
Caste oppression also has its supporters, who argue that the
order established in the Vedas cannot be changed. They are not
->l being oppressive; they assert that the so-called liberals are
flouting dharma. The result of disregarding cosmic law (rta)
must be catastrophic. Dalits, meanwhile, continue to struggle to
win the rights which the Constitution gave them. They have
formed their own
political party, the Bahujan Samaj Party, and
lost patiencewith other groups who, they claim, offer only
words. Even Mahatma Gandhi has become an object of scorn,
as the previous article illustrates.

The Dalit issue is one which will not be resolved quickly. The
BSP may be the latest attempt to exert pressure on the
government; it is unlikely to be the last. Perhaps another Gandhi
or Ambedkar is needed. Individuals, not parties, seem to have
most effect in India.

The Hindu Mahasabha

Hinduism has no central authority. The great assembly, the
Hindu Mahasabha, which comprises many sectarian groups and
ascetic orders, is its nearest equivalent. It will meet at certain
times when large numbers of Hindus are together, for example
at the Kumbha mela, a festival held at the confluence of the
rivers Ganges and Jumna at Allahabad every 12 years. Some 15
million people have been known to take part in this five-day
festival. Indeed, it is estimated that over 17 million took part in
the January 1995 gathering. Almost by definition, the members
of the Mahasabha are orthodox and conservative. They are
unlikely to respond positively to the demands of women or
dalits, or become involved in any other social and political
issues. Were they to do so, and to agree, it is uncertain what
practical impact they could have.

The future of Hinduism is at least as difficult to predict as that

of any other religion. We will therefore not attempt it!
 1

Hindu population in the world [^3

1 Australia - Some Hindus 5 §
2 Bangladesh - Hindu minority g-
3 Bhutan - Hindu minority g g
4 Burma - Hindu minority ^. "§>

5 Canada - Some Hindus g.§

6 Fiji - 40% Hindu * Q
7 Germany - Some Hindus
8 Guyana - Some Hindus
9 India -83% Hindu
10 Indonesia - 11% Hindu and Buddhist
11 Kuwait - 5% Hindu and Christian
12 Malaysia - Small Hindu minority
13 Mauritius - 51% Hindu (31% Christian; 17% Muslim)
14 Nepal - 90% Hindu
15 New Zealand - Some Hindus
16 Singapore - Hindu minority
17 South Africa - Hindu minority
18 Sri Lanka - Hindu minority
19 Surinam - 28% Hindu
20 Trinidad and Tobago - 25% Hindu
21 UK - Hindu minority 500,000
22 USA - Some Hindus
Some Hindus live in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
O

3
a
c
In this chapter you will learn:
• about Hinduism in a world
context

3 • about Hinduism
to other faiths.
in relation
It isover 100 years since Swami Vivekananda drew the attention [Z7
of liberal religious people to the Hindu tradition in 1893. Since
then Hindus have migrated to many parts of the world, 5
especially to countries linked to India through the British s>

Empire and Commonwealth. The results of contacts with

Hindus by members of other faith will constitute the bulk of this g-
chapter. The diaspora locations of Hindus are given elsewhere
|
(see end of Chapter 17).

Everything has not always been felicitous, certainly in the United

Kingdom, and it is perhaps as well to begin with the downside.

All too often there is a pretence that this does not exist.

Problems and prejudices

In his famous Minute Macauley, (1834) asserted that one shelf
of European literature was worth more than the totality of the
literature of the East. This sense of Western superiority has
persisted even into the 21st century. It has often been
accompanied by colour prejudice. There are patients who would
wail long and in pain rather than see a doctor from the
subcontinent. The same people, however, unless the trouble is
abdominal, will happily go home to a curry, Britain's favourite
dish!

Interfaith challenges
Missionary societies prospered on money collected to alleviate
the spiritual plight of 'little brown babies overseas' whose
eternal prospects were bleak unless they came to Jesus. This is

still the belief of some if not many evangelical Christians who

will not attend interfaith gatherings and are certainly opposed
to anything that might be described as interfaith worship. Some
will not enter a mandir. One girl who did on a school visit
wrote: people were lovely and friendly. We had a
The
wonderful time, but it made me very sad to think that they were
praying and singing so sincerely but God was not listening to
them because they were not worshipping in Jesus' name'.
It is still Hindus described as idol-worshippers
possible to hear
and though not long ago a former missionary wrote
polytheists,
a book entitled, What is Idolatry? (Roger Hooker; British
Council of Churches; 1986: ISBN 0-85169-122-6), in which he
challenged many Christian assumptions and misunderstandings,
2^1 laying to rest, for many
evangelicals this particular notion. Still
difficulties persist inusing appropriate language; sometimes we
(Q
t are not happy to take on board new words when there already
» seem to be ones that adequately express our meaning. Thus we
may find 'idol' being used by some, those who are more
a sensitive using 'statue', while the even more sophisticated may
I prefer 'icon'. There is a need to add 'murti' or 'rupa' to the
language. Neither is included in the Oxford English Dictionary
of 1998. The same must be said of 'mandir' for which 'temple'
is frequently used and sometimes even 'Hindu church'. It must

be admitted that sometimes Hindus are themselves the culprits,

employing 'church' or 'idol' in an attempt to be helpful to
British students, or visitors to their places of worship.

Caste
Other prejudices are related to caste, polytheism and women.
The first of these is real enough, of course, but often it is
described in lurid terms more to do with Victorian England than
today and with no recognition or admission of discrimination
being a global phenomenon. Birth, accent, skin colour and
gender can affect the way a person is treated in Britain. This, of
course, is not a defence of the caste system, just a plea that self-
criticism might accompany the readiness to criticize others.

Polytheism
The second feature of Hinduism that might be described as
common knowledge and a subject of Christian opposition is

polytheism. That Hindus worship many gods is still a popularly

held concept, not helped by the tendency of some activists in the
interfaith movement to talk about the three monotheistic
religions. When challenged they may rephrase their comments
and refer to the three great monotheistic faiths, so justifying the
exclusion of Sikhism, or the three abrahamic religions, thereby
justifying their choice. (There seems to be no awareness that
Islam regards Christianity as polytheistic, as do many Jews!) We
have dealt with the Hindu views of God elsewhere, here we
would simply remind readers that one of Hinduism's features is
its willingness to express the unity and diversity of divinity

pictorially whilst the three abrahamic faiths choose the verbal

path, the 99 names of God, for example, or the words of the
Christian hymn:
 Immortal, invisible God, only wise,
[otf
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the ancient of days, 5"

Almighty victorious, thy great name we praise. S>

x
5'

Equality for women I

Finally, stories are still transmitted that describe the role of
women in Hindu society as mere chattels. Again there is little
readiness to accept that women in the West have only gone part
of the way to winning an equality with men that is expressed in
some passages of the New Testament. It is easily forgotten that
India had a women Prime Minister earlier than the United
Kingdom and that there is much evidence that women do not
receive equal pay for equal work in either country. Should the
reader argue that we are leaving religion behind and making
social comparisons, a Hindu might point to Roman
Catholic
the
attitude to the ordination of women and the
into the priesthood
continued opposition of some Anglicans. They might argue that
notions of ritual impurity apply in both faiths when it comes to
the status of women.

Violence
A further concern of Christians is the treatment that some

Indian members of the faith have received recently. Most

influential was the murder, in 1999, of an Australian missionary,
the Reverend Graham Staines, who had worked among leprosy
sufferers for 20 years. He and his two sons were burnt to death
while sleeping in their jeep. They had been attending an
evangelical rally. Mr. Staines's widow decided to remain in
India, continuing their work. A year later, in May 2000, a large
number of youths entered a girls' hostel run by Christian
missionaries a village in Nashik district. Property was
in
damaged but the girls, though scared, were physically
unharmed. Blame for these and other disturbances aimed at
Christians, has been focused on the Vishnu Hindu Parishad
movement, and the Rashtriya Sevak Sangh. Both of these
organizations have links with the governing BJP party.
^1 Hindutva
^ At this point we must introduce the concept of Hindutva. It
means 'Hindu-ness' and was coined by V. D. Savarkar in 1923.
He was opposed to Gandhian ideas of harmonious co-existence
£ between Hindus and Muslims and favoured an exclusive
Hinduism. India was the land of the Hindus and foreign
3 religions, Christianity and Islam, if they were to remain in India
must recognize the place of the dominant religion and desist
from all missionary activities. Existing Indian Christians and
Muslims might practice their religion, but they must not attempt
to spread it. While it is possible to trace Hinduism back through
the Arya Samaj to the Aryans the supporters of Hindutva are
unwilling to accept the idea of an Aryan invasion of India. The
Aryans were indigenous to the land. The teaching that there are
many paths to the one goal of moksha favoured by
Ramakrishna, was at best secondary to the view that India is the
Holy Land and the religion of Hinduism the one from which all
others emanated. Hindu nationalism is founded on Hindutva
theology. The Rashtriya Sevak Sangh was founded two years
later, in 1925, by K. B. Hedgewar, originally as a right wing,
non-political national cultural revival movement.

In 1999 Hindu hostility to Christians was further aroused by the

USA. They issued
actions of Southern Baptist Christians in the
a pamphlet that described India as '900 million people lost in
the darkness of Hinduism'. The Hindus of Bombay (Mumbai),
were, 'slaves bound by fear and tradition to false gods and
goddesses'. Calcutta was under the rule of Satan 'through Kali
and other gods and goddesses of Hinduism'. This was published
to coincide with the festival of Diwali in 1999. A week later the
Pope vistited India and was well received. Large crowds turned
out to welcome him, witnesses to a Hinduism that is accepting
and respectful of all forms of spirituality. Since 2000 there has
been little Hindu-Christian tension but there is an awareness of
the need to work hard to recreate the earlier atmosphere of
tolerance. Christians and Muslims can still be made to feel that
they are members of foreign religions and Hindus may
encounter aggressive evangelism.

The positive side

There is an upside. Some aspects may seem trivial but in a
situation where the Western world continues to be convinced of
its superiority and that it has nothing to learn from Hinduism, [*§*
almost anything may be welcomed. For example, in the major
towns and cities of Britain Hindu restaurants are beginning to o
flourish, especially among the growing vegetarian
nation's fi>

population, though most Britons may still be unaware that

Indian restaurants are, for the most part, Muslim owned. School
meals usually include vegetarian dishes. Government
publications are increasingly to be found in Indian languages.
The term 'host community' is employed less and less as Hindus
and others are acknowledged to be citizens, not guests who will
one day go home! Religious Education, a compulsory subject in
the schools of England and Wales, is required to include
Hinduism in syllabuses intended to introduce pupils to the six
major faiths found in Britain today. There is an Interfaith
Network, founded in 1987, which includes over 80 groups in its
membership, many of which are Hindu. In 1993 it published the
first Directory of Faith Organizations with essays on all of them
and the address and other details of places of worship. The third
edition appeared in 2001. While a clergyman may attract
headlines in the press by refusing permission for the church hall
to be used for yoga classes, he will now be an exception rather
than the rule. Yoga, including meditation, is a popular exercise
on the curriculum of many institutions. The path taken by Bede
Griffith years ago is now congenial to many seekers after
spirituality. Meanwhile those who cannot make his journey
spiritually or geographically experience the Hinduism
exemplified by Vivekananda and Gandhi, one concerned with
universal values, social justice and human rights, respect for all,
ecology - where else might one come across the book for
younger children entitled The Earth our mother? This global
Hinduism is adding its insights to those of members of other
faith or none that take these issues seriously.

Internationally, 'Hinduism' is to be found on the Internet, (see

pages 223-4). Oxford University, UK, established a Chair in
Sanskrit in 1832 and now Hinduism may be studied at first
degree level in many universities worldwide. Which has been the
greater influence, the so-called 'hippie' interest in Indian
spirituality in the 1960s or the presence of a Hindu diaspora is
difficult to judge. It is, however, significant that the increasing
liberalism of Western societies during the last half century,
coinciding with the migration of Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and
Muslims, has led to more interfaith activity, of the kind
mentioned above, than there was in earlier times, even though
members of these faiths have lived in many large cities for over
 a century. Christians, it has to be said, have been the initiators
220
and promoters of religious dialogue, for several reasons. One is
§ their majority status; a second is that immigrants, with a few
w exceptions, are primarily concerned with such necessities as
i setting up their homes and finding employment. Thirdly, it has
a to be admitted that dialogue is a minority activity. Many
55" Hindus, as also Sikhs and Muslims, have been surprised when
the society that sent missionaries to evangelize them, is now
eager to visit their places of worship and learn about their
beliefs practices! Jews, who have been members of the
and
British community and have lived in Britain since their
readmission by Oliver Cromwell in 1655, are even more amazed
that people who ignored them or caricatured them, (Fagin
comes readily to mind), now have many Christian members in
the Council of Christians and Jews.
Dialogue is still a minority interest. The young sometimes feel
no need for it. They have an open attitude. Those who are
involved in matters spiritual and religious may take a 'live and
Evangelicals may seek the conversion of other
let live' attitude.
faith members to Christianity. Generally speaking, the forms of
dialogue that exist are Christian and all other faiths, or
Christian, Jew and Muslim, the three abrahamic traditions.
Only completely inter-religious meetings do faiths other than
in
Christian have much conversation with Hindus.

The death of George Harrison, late in 2001, resulted in a revival

of interest in a Hindu lifestyle, and once again his bhakti
composition, 'My sweet Lord' found its way into the charts of
popular music. For about 20 years Hindu bhajans have been
performed at the BBC Promenade Concerts. What was once a
minority interest of music lovers familiar with compositions by
Delius and Hoist have entered the music repertoires of the
young.

Diaspora Hinduism is itself being affected by the major

community in which it lives. Mandirs have been established
which serve as community centres. In India this is unnecessary.
Services are congregational, though many individuals and
families come for puja daily. (In Leicester, UK, the William
Carey Memorial Baptist Church is now one of that city's 50
mandirs!). Often these reflect the regional representations to be
found in the locality but they combine to celebrate major
festivalsand to take part in interfaith activities. Most Hindus
are content to have their children taught in mainstream schools;
there is little desire for the creation of Hindu faith schools.
Concerns about mixed marriages are to be found in every
221
community, but less so among Hindus than Jews or Muslims.
O
Finally, almost unknowingly, elements of Hinduism are creeping
7
into religious life in general. It is becoming customary, in prayers
for peace to find used the famous Hindu prayers,

From the unreal lead us to the real

From darkness lead us to the light
From death lead us to immortality.
Peace. Peace. Peace.
(Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad: 1:3:28)
222

Q)

Further reading
The Indian Way John M. Koller, Macmillan, 1982.
A study of philosophy.
Hinduism David R. Kinsley, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1982.
Hindu Children in Britain Robert Jackson and Eleanor
Nesbitt, Trentham Books, 1993. An examination of their

C religious nurturing and development.

My Sweet Lord (The Hare Krishna Movement)
Aquarian Press, 1986.
Kim Knott,

Gods, Demons and Others R. K. Narayan, Heinemann,

1964. Narayan is one of the world's greatest short story
writers. Most of them, and his novels, give humorous and
authentic insights into the Hindu way of life.

Seasons of Splendour Madhur Jaffrey, Pavilion Books, 1985,

and Penguin paperback (less well illustrated). The festivals
and their foods fascinatingly told.
Gandhi: An autobiography Jonathan Cape, 1949, with many
reprints. Also published as Gandhi: my experiments with truth.
We Are Hindus Hemant Kanitkar, St Andrew's Press, 1987.
The Indestructible Soul Geoffrey Parrinder, Allen and
Unwin, 1973.
The Hindu Scriptures Hemant Kanitkar, Heinemann, 1994.
A beautifully illustrated survey of the variety of Hindu
sacred texts.
Hindu Festivals and Sacraments Hemant Kanitkar, privately
published. Available from HSK Bookshop, 46-48
Loughborough Road, Leicester LE4 5LD
UK, A Multifaith Directory University of
Religions in the
Derby, 1993. Lists most mandirs and Hindu organizations
(and the same for other groups). Invaluable. Every library
should have one. Persuade yours!
Hinduism in Leeds Kim Knott, Leeds University. Detailed
and advanced but a good next step for readers interested to
learn about a particular community so that they can then
begin exploring their own. <§

Meeting Hindusim W. Owen Cole, Longman, Harlow, 1987. *

Skills in Religious Studies (3 vols.) Fageant, J. & Merrier, S. C, |
Heinemann, Oxford, 1990. 3 vols.
Approaches to Hinduism Jackson, R. 6c Killingley, D.,
John Murray, London, 1988.
Upanayana Ritual and Hindu Identity in Essex, Kanitkar,
H. A., in Rohit Barot, ed., Religion and Ethnicity:
Minorities and Social Change in the Metropolis, Kok Pharos
Pub. House, Kampen, 1993 (pp. 110-22).
Hinduism Kanitkar, V. P. (Hemant), Stanley Thornes,
Cheltenham, 1989 (reprinted 1993, 1994).
Hinduism Penny, S., Heinemann, Oxford, 1988.
An Introduction to Hinduism Gavin Flood, Cambridge
University Press, 1996. ISBN - 0521 438780

Websites
http://www.hindunet.org/ The Hindu Universe - Hindu
Resource Center. Largest Hindu and Hinduism site on the net.
Contains comprehensive introduction to Hindu dharma,
complete text of 85 books, several scriptures, listing of Hindu
temples around the world, newsgroup archives, information on
Hindu culture, etc.
http://www.hinduism-today.com/ Hinduism Today
magazine, affirming Sanatana Dharma and recording the
modern history of a billion-strong global religion in
renaissance.
http://www.punjabi.net/Faith/Hinduism Punjabi virtual
community.
http://www.amesefc.org/hindu.htrnl Hinduism website.
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~jfuller/relsl63.html Hinduism
syllabus - Introduction to Hinduism at the University of
Pennsylvania.
http://www.hindu.org/ The Directory of Hindu Resources
Online - a massive Hindu resources website dedicated to
Hindu solidarity, culture and the dissemination of the vast and
timeless knowledge of Sanatana Dharma to all the people of
the world.
224

Agni The Lord of Fire.

akara Shape or form.
Antarala The space between the assembly hall and the inner
shrine in a temple.
Ardha-Mandap A porch at the front of a temple.
artha One of the four aims of life.
Arya Noble.
asceticism The practice of rigorous self-discipline, fasting,
meditation and prayer.
Ashrama A stage in life, e.g. student stage, householder stage,
etc.
Atharva-Veda The fourth Veda.
Atman The animating energy in any living creature, usually
referred to as the Soul.
Aum The sacred syllable (also spelt Om) - it is believed to
contain the sound of all Reality.
Avatar An incarnation of God. (The avatars of Vishnu are more
widely worshipped than those of Shiva.)
Bhagavad-Gita An important and popular Hindu religious
book.
brahmacharya The student stage in life.
Brahman The Supreme Spirit in Hinduism.
brahmanas Religious texts composed for the guidance of priests
in the performance of sacrifices.
Brahma The Creator aspect of Brahman in the Hindu Trimurti.
Brahma-Sutras Holy books in concise verse containing Hindu
philosophy.
Brahmin A member of the first group in the social divisions
called varna.
caste An occupational group within the larger varna divisions.
darshan Viewing an image in a temple.
deity A name for a God or a Goddess. 225
deva A Sanskrit word for God.
devata A minor deity. o
devi A Sanskrit word for Goddess. jjj

dharma Religious or moral duty of a Hindu based on his/her 5

age, education, occupation and social position.
Dharma-Shastra A book containing the customary law relating
to social conduct.
Dhoti A cotton garment, five metres long and one metre wide,
worn to cover the lower part of the body.
Ganga Indian name for the river Ganges.
Garbha-Griha The innermost room in a Hindu temple where the
image of a deity is installed, the holiest part of a temple.
Gayatri A hymn from the Rig-Veda praising the Sun God.
Gopuram The tallest structure above the main gateway in a
south Indian temple.
Grihastha A householder; the second stage in life.

havan A sacrifice where offerings are made to the sacred fire.

Indus A holy river whose Hindu name is Sindhu.
ishta-Devata A personal deity worshipped by a Hindu (see
Ishwara).
Ishwara A personal deity worshipped by a Hindu.
jati Indian word for caste, signifying one's social position, which
is determined by occupation.

jnana Philosophical knowledge of God, man and man's position

in the world.
kama Enjoyment of the good things in life; the third aim in life.

karma The total effect of one's actions. (The word also means
action.)
Kshatriya A member of the second group in the varna division.
kum-kum Red powder used in a puja; it is also used as a tilak
on the forehead.
Mandala A religious diagram used in a special puja or
meditation.
Mandap The assembly hall in a temple.
manga la sootra The marriage necklace of a Hindu woman.
mantra A sacred formula, always in Sanskrit.
moksha Liberation of the soul from successive births and
deaths.
Murti An image of a deity in a temple.
namaskar Indian word for greeting.
Om The sacred syllable (see Aum).
Pinda A ball of cooked rice offered to the spirits of departed
ancestors at the time of shraddha.
226
prasad A blessed offering distributed among the worshippers at
the end of a puja.
5- puja A common form of Hindu worship.
Puranas Ancient Hindu myths and legends.
Rig-Veda the first of the four ancient holy books.
sacred thread A loop of three or five strands of strong cotton
thread used in the initiation ceremony.
Sama-Veda The third Veda, an ancient holy book,
samsara The cycle of successive births, deaths and rebirths.
Samskara A life-cycle ritual performed at important stages
during a person's life, to purify the body and the spirit,
sanatana-dharma The ancient or eternal way of life.

sannyasi A person who gives up his name, family ties and most
of his possessions, and devotes his life to meditation in order to
attain liberation (moksha).
Sanskrit An ancient language of India.
satya Truth.
satyagraha 'The insistence upon truth', a method of non-co-
operation used by Mahatma Gandhi.
Shikhara The tallest structure above the image in a north Indian
temple.
shraddha The annual rites of offering pinda to the spirits of the
deceased ancestors. (The first 'a' is sounded as 'a' in car.)
Shruti A holy book believed to have been 'revealed' by God to
wise men, and therefore 'heard' by them.
Shudra An artisan, a member of the fourth group in the varna
division.
Smriti A holy book, composed by wise men from 'remembered
tradition'.
Upanishad A book of Hindu philosophy.
Vaishya A member of the third group in the varna division.
Vanaprastha The retirement stage in life.
varna A social category (The four varnas are Brahmin,
Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra.).
Vedanta A system of philosophy composed at the end of the
vedic period.
Vimana The inner sanctuary in a temple (see Garbha-Griha).
Yajur-Veda The second Veda; an ancient holy book of the
Aryans concerned with the performance of sacrifice.
Yama The Spirit of Death.
Yamuna A holy river in north India, also spelt Jumna.
yatra A pilgrimage; the word also means a procession.
yoga A system of philosophy combining physical exercises and
meditation.
 227

3
Q.
(D
X
Abhishiktananda (Henri ie Saux) Bhaktas 112
202-3 bhakti 109,131,152-8,219
achamana 56 Bhaktivedanta 1 1 3, 1 94, 1 95
Acharya 48 Bhavani 40
Aditya 36, 45 Brahma 25,36,41,42
advaita 132, 146 brahmacharya 52
aggarbati 3 Brahman 12, 24, 36, 37, 39, 104,
Agni 42 107-9, 130-8, 144-6
ahimsa 69, 191, 193 Brahmanas 47
Amba 14, 23, 29 nirakara 38
Ambedkar, B. R. 185 nirguna 38, 183
animals (sacred) 42 saguna 38-40, 44
Aranyaka 107, 108 sakara 39
arati 15 Brahma Kumaris 204
arati verses 16, 17, 65 Brahmanas 47, 103-7
artha 94 1 72 Brahma Samaj 166, 179, 184
Aryans 28, 36, 37, 72, 76, 103-6, Brahmin 10, 49, 53, 56, 58, 73,
160-2 82,84,103,113
Arya Samaj 179-81 Brihad-Aranyaka 37, 129, 165
ashram 137-8 Buddha 25, 125, 174
ashrama 52-4, 73, 86
Atharva-Veda 106, 157-63 care for the needy 173
atman 38, 103-7, 144-5 caste (Jati) 72, 77, 80, 108, 112,
jiva atman 13, 38 137, 146, 153, 164, 165, 184,
parama atman 38 192, 212, 215
transmigration of 103-5 social manifestations of 78, 79
Aum (Om) 8, 98 Chaitanya 155, 199
avatar 25 Chandogya 37, 38, 143
avatars of Vishnu 188-91 childhood sacraments 84, 85
children's games 62
Bede, Griffith 202 Christianity in India 176-7
Besant, Annie 183 circumambulation 13, 14, 69, 96,
Bhagavad-Gita 14, 40, 102, 118
107-10, 112, 120, 140-1, 150-3, cremation 82, 98-102
165, 185-7, 196 in India 98-9
Bhagavan 44, 79, 80 in Britain 101
Bhagavata Purana 114
bhajan 14, 112, 183 dalit 55,77,164,206,211
 darshan 1 5, 1 6, 1 7, 34, 47, 71 Guru 10, 48,132-5
228 115,133 death of 138-9
darshanas 130, 136-8 initiation by 135
Dasara 42, 74 teachings of 137
Dayananda 177, 193 Guruji (family priest) 6, 7, 8, 66
death 98-101, 108
deva 42 Hanuman 13, 21 , 23, 32-4, 41 , 43,
devata 43 79,188
ishta 42, 185
devata Harappa 160
Devi 42 Hare Krishna Movement 11,112,
dharma 14, 71, 93, 94, 107, 109, 113,152,195,196
137, 164 havan 94, 126, 136, 168
dharma shastra 46 Hinduism
sva dharma 72, 109 beginnings of 159-61
Divali 76-7 today 199-212
Durga 16, 23, 29, 30, 40, 41 , 64, Hindu diaspora 205-8
113 Hindus
epithets of 30 in Britain 55, 56
Durga puja 30, 65, 178 young children 60-2
dvija, twice born 74,76 Hindu mahasabha 212
Dyaus 35, 45 global Hinduism 215-20
Hindu polytheism 215
Eknath 112 Hindutva 217
ethics 165-74, 189, 192 Holi 80
alcohol 171
caste 166, 167 Indra 35, 45
drugs 166 Indus Valley 141,159
medical 170 Isha Upanishad 36, 185
women 167-70 Ishvara 141, 142
Islam in India 150, 154, 166, 173
family 2, 49-52, 65-81 ISKON 199-200
fasting 73, 171-2
festivals 13, 23, 64, 74, 102 jati(see also caste) 76-99
food 171, 172 Jatra 79
as Brahman 69 jnana 130, 143
food and pollution 56, 58, 70 Jnanadeva 111-12

Gandhi, M. K. 188-97 Kabir 157

Ganesha 6, 7, 13, 16, 21, 23, 24, Kali 23, 29, 41
31,66-9 Kalki 25
festival 31,66-9 kama 94, 172
murti 31-2 karma 103, 104, 107, 110, 130,
mythology 31 137, 161
Ganga 10, 11, 41, 79, 83, 100, as action 102, 154
102,103,116-19 consequences of action 102, 137
garbha-griha 20 Kartikeya 24,41,42,46
Garuda 13,21,26,42 kirtan 195
Gayatri 8,47,61,106,113 Krishna 10, 14, 23, 25, 27, 40, 108,
god(s) 4, 7, 35-47, 105-12, 146-9 109,110,112,156
gods - how many? 44, 45 kshatriya 25, 52, 72, 73, 83, 108,
gopuram 22 154,188
grama-devata 42, 43 Kumbha mela 117,209
grihastha 53, 96 Kurma 24
gunas 140
Lakshmana 33 Nirguna 156
Lakshmi 1 2, 23, 26, 27, 41 , 57, 94, Nyaya 137 229
113,167
moksha)
liberation (see also 15, Om (Aum) 8, 97
103,129-38
means to 104,129-38 patasha 8, 42
literature (sacred) in regional Pandit (Pundit) 5, 6, 14, 48, 99, 100
languages 111,112 Parashurama 25
lotus 25, 26, 43, 190 Parvati 14, 23, 29, 94
peacock 42, 43
Mahabharata 46, 107, 165, 166, philosophy 47, 140-51
200,204 schools of 109
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi 201 pilgrimage 8, 79, 115-27
Manasa (lake) 42 types of 115,116
Manasa (goddess) 44 reasons for 115,116
mandapa 20, 21 pinda 101, 102, 125
mandir (see also temple) 19,61, planets 12, 39
183 pradakshina 117
mantra 7, 8, 18, 22, 46, 59, 65, 66, Prajapati 35, 36, 45, 96
75,93,95,97,100,106,113 prakaram 22
Manu 54, 74, 103, 160, 167 prakriti 37, 137-40
marriage 53, 60, 86-98, 102, 106 prasad 10, 15
arranged 86, 91 prejudice 4, 60, 173
advertisements 88-90 priests 10, 44, 45, 46, 47, 59,
ceremony 92-8 93-8,114-16
necklace 95-8 Prithivi 35, 36, 46
Mata (Santoshi) 169, 183, 205 puja 4, 27, 46, 47, 65-103, 112,
matchmakers 86-9 114
Matsya 24 simple 65
maya 106, 143, 184 elaborate 67-8, 70, 105
Mimamsa 137, 142 Puranas 24, 25, 29, 46, 102,
Mirabai 155, 156 110-14,177
Mohenjo-daro 160, 161 purityand pollution 55-7, 65, 83
moksha (see also liberation) 12, 15, Purohita 49
52, 102, 129, 139 purusha 105, 138-9
Mother Goddess 39, 42, 1 1 0, 1 1 4, Purusha-Sukta 73, 151, 161
116,117,125,159
Mundaka 131 Radha 14, 23, 39
murti 5, 12, 13, 15, 23, 39, 42, 47, Rama 33, 34, 99, 102, 120, 167,
65,115 184,188
consecration of 22, 24 Ramadasa 112
Mushaka 42 Ramakrishna 182, 183
Raman uja 135, 145-7
Namadeva 112 Ramayana 32, 33, 46, 106, 112
namaskar 4, 14, 51, 65 Ravana 33
names 832, Rig-Veda 24, 25, 35, 36, 37, 44,
personal 84 72, 74, 92-8, 112, 148, 157, 159
kinship terms 6, 7, 50 rites of passage (see also samskara)
ceremony 83 54,64,70,74,98,115
naming systems 3 ritual 46-7, 65-103
Nandi 42 rivers (holy) 41,115
Narasimha 23, 25 Roy, Ram Mohan 177-9
Nataraja (see Shiva) 28, 29 Rta (cosmic order) 35, 45, 159
Navaratri 64,74,90,115 Rudra 27, 35, 45
 sacred thread 4-9, 47, 53
230 Sahajanand (see Swami Narayan) upanayana 5, 6, 52, 84, 86
179 Upanishad 37, 102, 105, 107, 109,
Saint-poets (Marathi) 111-13 111,137,151,158,160,165,
Sama-Veda 95, 105 176,187,200
samkhya 38, 138-40
samsara 103, 109, 128, 132, 161 vahana 24, 26
samskara 46, 54, 82-103 Vaisheshika 138
sanatana dharma (see also varna- Vaishnavite 39
ashrama-dharma) 73, 108, 184 Vaishya 53, 73, 74, 84, 161 , 166,
sannyasa 52 188
sannyasin 9, 52, 98, 129-31 Vamana 25, 26
Sanskrit 7, 45, 60, 92-8, 1 05, 111 Vanaprastha 53
134, 177 Varaha 24
Saraswati 41 42 , Varanasi 7, 8, 9, 1 0, 1 1 , 41 , 1 1 6,
sati 177,210 117,118,178,204
satyagraha 188-92 varna 71-4, 77, 78
Satya Sai Baba 185-6 varna-ashrama-dharma 72, 79,
Savita 96-7 109, 191
Scriptures 105-14 Varuna 35, 45, 95, 148
Shakti - Mother Goddess 14, 19, Vasu 45
28,29,38,39,126 Veda(s) 45, 46, 52, 72, 102, 105,
Shankara 124, 136, 143-5 106, 110, 113, 130, 132, 137, 176
his interpretation of Vedanta Vedanta 107, 138, 143
143-4 vegetarianism 59, 69
Shastri 48 vimana 19, 20, 21
shikhara 19, 20, 22 vishishta advaita 149-51
Shiva 10, 14, 19, 21, 23, 29, 31, Vishnu 10, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 24,
37,41,93,111,116,120,121, 25-6, 30, 41, 55, 110, 112, 118,
125,126,141,160 123, 125
epithets of 28 names of 26, 96
lingam 28, 64 Vivekananda 183, 184
shraddha 53, 102, 103 Vyasa 31
shrine 10,18,43,58,64,116
shruti 106-7 wedding 90, 91
shudra 72, 73, 83, 108, 145, 155, day (marriage ceremony) 92-9
159, 164, 180 invitation 90, 91
Sita 27, 33, 167 preparations 90, 92
Sitala 43 Western influences and interest in
smriti 108-11 Hinduism 183, 201-5
Surya (Sun) 23, 24, 35, 95, 96 women 54-5, 71,1 67-70, 21
Swami Narayan 181-2 in Hindu families 54-5
swan 42 worship 13, 92, 95, 96, 111-14
swastika
www wwwwww -— 91
42,,— - written word 113-14

Tagore, Rabindranath 184 Yajnavalkya 167

temple 3,12,116,117 Yajur-Veda 93, 105, 161
in Britain 3, 12, 15, 17 Yama 95
in India 17, 18 Yamuna 41,83
structure 19-21,24 yatra (see pilgrimage)
worship 18 yoga 47, 130, 137, 139, 140, 159,
trees (sacred) 42 160,201
Tukaram 158
TulsiDas 112,157
 teach
Hinduism
yourself
v.p. (hemant) kanitkar & w. owen cole

• Do you want a clear and practical introduction to Hindusim?

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V. P. Hemant Kanitkar officiates as a priest for major Hindu rites

of passage and was a teacher for many years. Owen Cole is a

vice president of the World Congress of Faiths.

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