UNIT-3

INDIAN RELIGION, CULTURE ,

TRADITION AND PRACTICES
 Pre Vedic and Vedic Religion
• The definition of religion is a controversial and complicated subject in religious
studies, with scholars failing to agree on any one definition.
• Religion: ”It is the name of the belief in that power gives internal cleanliness to human
beings”.
• Friedrich Schleiermacher in the late 18th century defined religion as commonly as
"the feeling of absolute dependence".
• His contemporary Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel disagreed thoroughly, defining
religion as "the Divine Spirit becoming conscious of Himself through the finite spirit.

• Edward Burnett Tylor defined religion in 1871 as "the belief in spiritual beings". He
argued that narrowing the definition to mean the belief in a supreme deity or
judgment after death or idolatry and so on
 Roles of Religion
• It played a very vital role in the lives of the Indians from a very
early stage.
• It deals with the spirituality.
• It deals with the existence of the power of a Supreme being
above all the human beings.
• It also deals with the Philosphy of life.
• It teaches us discipline, in one way of or others.
• It teaches us about the importance of togetherness and
oneness.
Religion Traditions of Pre- Vedic
(Harrappan Period): Harrappan
civilisation beginning: Rural culture of
Neolithic times- (Nal, Kulli, Zhob, Quetta)
cultures.
It dates around 3000 B.C.

It started declining around 1700 B.C.

Most important deity is the (mother
Godess or nature Godess.

The representation in Harrappan times

was a female figure, turned upside down,
with outstretched legs and a plant
emerging from her womb.
Shiva-In Harrappan religion Shiva was the
principal male deity.

Many evidences are found which shows the :

Worshipping animals.

Worshipping natural objects, live water, fire,

trees e.t.c.
Vedic Religion:
Vedic Tradition-Primarily a tradition: By priests and priestcraft.

Sizeable temples of natural deities.

Chief religion practices: Sacrifice involving specialized priest

and slaughter.

Originally a rite hospitality for gods. Obtain a material rewards

on earth and heaven.
Ancient seers- Two approaches of Vedic
Religion:

Pravirti Lakshana- It means actions.

Nivarti Lakshana- Renunciation sacrifice.

Aim of Religion:

Abhiyudaya- It means the prosperiety in the

life in this world and enjoyment in heaven.

Nihshreyasa- It means the permanent

freedom from all the bondage and sufferings.
Buddhism: Buddhist scriptures and
Dharamparishads:

Buddha preaching's are divided into 3 parts:

Sutta Pitaka: 1. Preaching in the dialogue
form.

2.Five Nikayas: tells about the rebirth of the

Buddha.
Vinaya Pitaka: Collection of rules and
code of conduct, for the buddhist Monks
and Nuns.

Abhidhamma Pitaka: It sums up the

Buddha’s thought in the question and
answer form.

Meant for scholars.

Dharam Parishad:

1. Compiled version of Buddhist

teaching.

2. Grand assemblies were organised

from time to time.
Jainism:It is considered as the ever all
time existing religion.

Through Tiratharakanas, retold time to

time
 st
1 : Rishabh deva.
nd
22 : Neminath.

23: Parshvanath.

24 : Vardhman Mahavir.
Parshvanath Ideas: He gave the four principles-
1. Satya.

2. Asatya.

3. Brahmacharya

4. Aparigrah

His follower wear white clothes, consisted of 8

ganas, 8 gandharas, 1000 Shramans.
Mahvir Ideology:

1. Reinterpreted existed philosophy & code of conduct.

2.Contributed new principles of non-violence ( Ahinsa).

3. He adopted ardh-magadhi for preaching the people.

4. Due to his simple code of conduct and use of simple

language is considered as the actual founder of Jainism.
Six systems of Indian Philosophy : Hindu
Philosophies , world views and teachings that are
emergent in ancient India. These are following:

Samkhya: It is one of the oldest Indian philosophy.

It means to calculate, enumerate, count, was
propounded by Kapila. Two ultimate realities:
Purusha and Prakriti. Lost its relevance in the
Gupta Period.
Yoga: One of the six major philosphies of
ancient India, attributed by Patanjali.
Eight Limbs of Yoga sutras of Patanjali shows
greater cosmic essence and enhance sprituality.

Those 8 limbs are: Yama, Niyama, Asana,

Pranayasna,Dharma, Dhyana,Samadhi.
Nyaya: Given by Gautam Muni, Nayaya
philosophy states that nothing is acceptable
unless it is in accordance with the reason and
experience(scientific approach).Nayaya is
considered as a technique of logical thinking.
Nayaya Sutras say there are four means of
attaining valid knowledge: Perception,
inference, comparison and verbal testimony.
Vaisheshika: It is given by Kanada, The basis
of the school’s philosophy is that all the
objects are reducible to a finite number of
atoms and Brahman is regarded as the
fundamental force that causes consciousness
in the atoms.

This system is considered as the realistic and

objective philosophy of the universe.
Vaisheshika thinkers believe that all
objects of the universe are composed of
five element- Earth, water, air, fire and
ether.

The Vaisheshika and Nyaya schools

eventually merged because of their
closely related metaphysical theories.
Purva Mimamsa:This philosophy is given by Jaimini,
It encompasses, the nayaya-Vaisheshika system and
emphasizes the concept of valid knowledge.

According to the Mimamsa philosophy vedas are eternal

and possess all knowledge, and religion means the
fulfilment of duties prescribed by the vedas.

It says that the essence of veda is dharma. By execution of

dharma one earns merit which leads one to heaven after
the death.
Bhakti Movement : It was the significant
religious movement in mediviel Hinduism,
that sought to bring the religious reforms to
all the strata of the society by adopting the
method of devotion to adopt salvation.
th
Originating in the Tamilakam during 6
century CE.

Scriptures of Bhakti movement are the

Bhagvad Gita, Bhagvad Purana and Padma
Purana.
The Bhakti Movement was developed around
different god and goddesses, and some sub-sects
were Vaishnavisms, Shaivism, Shaktism and
Smartism. Bhakti movement preached using the
local languages so that the messages should reach
to the masses.
This movement was inspired by many poet-saints,
who championed a wide range of philosophical
position ranging from theists dualism of Daviata
to absolute monismof Advaita Vedanta.
Sufi Movement : Sufism is an important concept
that influenced religion in India in the medievial
ages. There are many sufi saints whose Dargahs
still attract people from all over the country
irrespective of their religious affiliations.

In India, Sufism is adopted many native concepts

such as yogic postures, music and dance. Sufism
found adherents among both muslims and
hindus.
There were two broad Sufi orders;
1. Bashara- Those who obeyed Islamic laws.

2. Beshara- Those who were moral and liberal.

The Beshara who also called the ‘mast

kalandar’. They comprised wandering monks
who were also called Baba.
Sufism was a liberal reform movement
within Islam. It had its origin in Persia and
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spread into India in 11 century. Most of the
Sufis (mystics) were persons of deep
devotion who disliked the display of wealth
and degeneration of moral following the
establishment of Islamic empire.
The four most popular silsilas were the:

The Chisti Silsila.

The Suhrawardi Silsila.

The Nashaqbandi Silsila.

The Qadri Silsila.

Impact of the Sufism: It impacted both rural and
urban regions and had a deep political, cultural
and social influence on the masses.

The most important contribution of sufisms is

that it helped to develop a bond of soliditary
and brotherhood between Hindu and muslim
community.
Important Sufi terms in India:

Sufi, Pir, Murshid – Saint.

Murid- Followers

Khanqah- Places where Sufis lived.

Khalifa- Disciples.

Zikr- recitation of God’s name.

Urs- Death.

Sama – Musical gathering.

 th
Socio- religious reforms of 19 century:
The Indian society in the first half of the 19th century was caste ridden,
decadent and rigid.

Types of reform movements sought to bring the changes in 19th century in

India:

1. Reformist: These movements responded with time and scientific temper

of modern era.

2.Revivalist: These movement started reviving ancient Indian traditions and

thoughts and believed that the western thinking ruined Indian culture and
ethos.
Bramho Samaj: Founded in 1828 in
Calcutta by social reformer Raja Ram
Mohan Roy(1772-1833), The movement
fought against idol worship, caste
oppression, unneccessary rituals and evils
like sati pratha, polygamy, purdah system
child marriage e.t.c.
 Aligarh Movement: Sayyid ahmad Khan
founded Mohammedan Anglo-oriental
College in Aligarh in 1875. Later it
became Aligarh Muslim University. It
offered modern education to the
Muslims.
Prarthna Samaj:
In 1863, Keshub Chandra sen help found the
Prarthna Samaj in Bombay.

In Prarthana samaj preached monotheism and

denounced priestly dominations and caste
distinctions.

It activities are also spread in south India, through

the efforts of the Telugu reformer, Veeresalingam.
Chandravakar, basically a philosopher, was a great
leader of Prarthna Samaj.
Revivalist Movements:

1. Arya Samaj:

The social and religious reforms in North India

was spreadheaded by Swami Daynand
Saraswati (1824-1883) who founded the Arya
Samaj in 1875.
This society strove against the idolatry,
polytheism ,priesthood ,animal sacrifice, child
marriage and caste system.

It also encouraged the dissemination of the

western knowledge.
It worked for the improvement in the
conditions of women, advocated social equality
and denounced untouchability and caste
rigidities.
Deoband Movement; It was revivatilist
movement. In 1886, Muhammad Qasim
Wanotavi and Rashid Ahmad Gangohi
Founded school in Deoband , U.P.

It focussed mainly on the upliftment of the

muslim community through religious
education.
Other Important Movement were:

The Theosophical Movement.

The Rama Krishna Mission.

The Satya Shodhak Samaj.

Young Bengal Movement.

Widow remarriage Association.

Modern Religious Practices In India:
For most of the Indians, the high
importance of religion is reflected in
religious practices entred at home.
Roughly 81% Indian adults have an altar,
shrine or religious symbol at home for
worship and almost 78% have said that
they have invited a religious leader to
conduct the religious rites at their home.
The home based religious practices,
though are much less common. For
instance while yoga is strongly promoted
as the core Indian Practice, 62 % of Indian
have reported to never practice yoga.
Scripture reading is also not common.
Buddhist are the least likely group to engage in
many of these religious practices. And
Southern Indians are often less observant than
by other Indians.