A WIDE CANVAS
HINDU RELIGION : TWO CRISES
Hinduism has been under attack in India for several centuries now. It faced problems from the proselytising religions, riding on political support. After independence, we have had to face problems from our own govt. In the name of secularism, they have hurt the Hindus in various ways, and promoted the minority religions- the same religions that have been troubling us for centuries. It seems the govt of Independent India have joined the relay race to hurt Hindus. For them, secularism means anti-Hinduism. This is ironical, considering how deeply religious Gandhiji was as a person, and how he did not hide his religious orientation in his public activities. Hindus are not organised, with no central authority and no recognised leader. They often speak with conflicting voices, and they cannot even prioritise their interests. Nor do they have the intellectual equipment to face the forces gathering against them.
But the Hindus face an internal crisis too. This is far deeper than the other one.
Hinduism has lost its traditional bases of support, its traditional roots. Many traditional practices are disappearing, being wilfully discontinued by the younger generation. Talk to youngsters under 35 - most of them do not even have knowledge of the basics. Education is now secularised. Hindus have not had a system of formal religious instruction, except for the Vedic scholars. Most of them took up the traditional practices as part of the system in the family. But such a family system is disintegrating. But even when they take up the practice and continue, most do not know the meaning of the mantras they utter, or significance of the rituals they perform. This is the position even in most of the so called orthodox families. Popular Hinduism as it is practised today is "little more than a withered survival of formal worship paid to a host of ancient gods and goddesses". (This is how Roman religion was described in the days of Seneca , the early decades of the first millennium. See: Seneca- Letters from a Stoic; Translated by Robin Campbell. Introduction, p.18. Penguin Classics. 2004)
The traditional Mutts exercise some influence in some quarters, but are not able to face and tackle the problems of modern life. They only want you to follow the traditional practices- ie go back in time,as if the world has stood still. But even here many compromises have taken place, concessions taken. In important matters, their advice is not followed. Realising this, they have stopped talking of sensitive matters.The performance of marriages by the brahmin community alone will illustrate how much things have changed in the last 40 years or so- exactly when some of the Mutts have been very popular!
Modern gurus have taken up the space. They have adopted some form of philosophical belief, combined it with some Yoga practices and given it as a modern package. Many youngsters do like such packages. But such exercises are merely theoretical and do not lead to steady practice of concrete religion.
It may be asked: Do we not have temples? Do not visits to temples amount to religious practice? They may, but in truth, they are not essential aspects of our religion. That is why Hinduism has survived despite the destruction of thousands of temples by the Muslim invaders. Our religion is based on the performance by individuals and families of certain rites and rituals at home, and not in the temples, in a congregation. It is these which are being given up now.
The basic prescription of Hinduism is that every one born is under debt to five sources, and the first religious duty is the discharge of these debts. These necessarily apply to the first three varnas, especially to the brahmins. Marriage and family life are prescribed to enable the proper discharge of these duties and debts. These are:
- debt to rishis, who have given us knowledge of God and hence shown the way for Liberation. This is discharged by learning what they have given us, and teaching it.
- debt to pitrus, who have enabled us to take birth as a human being, in congenial surroundings, so that we may strive for Liberation. Among all forms of life (there are 84,oo,ooo forms of life in the universe) only man can think of and strive for Liberation!
- debt to gods or devas who regulate life in the universe and to whom we have to show gratitude and who we have to foster
- debt to society in the form of caring for the poor, the destitute,etc.
- debt to all other forms of life- like animals and birds- which help us in innumerable but invisible ways by sustaining life on earth.
These five debtors have the first claim on the householder's income!
This is only the essential stage.This is called the 'pancha Maha Yajnas. It is clearly said that the performance of these yajnas does not confer any religious merit; their non-performance attracts demerit! In practice, pious households used to follow them in various ways.
4 ideals are placed before the Hindu: dharma, artha, kama and moksha. He has to learn and adhere to the proper and righteous way of living and on that basis seek economic strength and the fulfilment of his normal earthly desires. The Vedas prescribe many yajnas for the fulfilment of these desires, and for the attainment of heaven. But heaven is not the highest or permanent goal. It is based on merit of actions done on earth, and one will have to leave heaven and be born again, once those merits are exhausted.The Gita warns against the performance of such 'kamya' karma.(2.42-44; 9.20-21) This is the religion of the common man, of the masses.
So, they place before man the ultimate goal- Liberation, freedom from the cycle of births and deaths. This involves intense striving and earnest efforts, firm resolve and total dispassion. What is to be done is broadly indicated in the Upanishads but how it is to be done is not detailed anywhere!The Gita goes farther, and deeper, than all our other scriptures. It lays down the essential spiritual disciplines and ethical conduct as the foundation of a righteous life, but about the actual practice, it advises us to approach a Teacher who Knows! It is here that a Guru becomes necessary. In the Kathopanishad Yama instructs Nachiketas:
Uttishtha: Jagrata:
Praapyavaraan nibhodhata
Kshurasanna dhaara nishitaa
Duratyadurgama patha:
Tat kavayo vadanti
Arise! Awake!
Approach the Great (who know the Truth) and learn.
Like the sharp edge of the blade is that path- hard to tread and difficult to cross.
So say those who know the Truth (Reality).
Sri Krishna repeats it in the Gita (4.34) in slightly different words. This is the true, higher form of Religion or Spirituality.Those who pursue it are bound to be few in any society. As the Gita states:
Manushyaanaam sahasraeushu
Kashchit yatati siddhayae
Yatataamapi siddhaanaam
Kashchin maam vaetti tatvata: 7.2
Perhaps one in thousands of men strives for Perfection (Realisation/ Illumination). And, perchance, one among those who strive thus, knows Me in reality.
It is important to remember here that such striving after the Supreme is possible only when society is congenial, and facilitates such striving. Society fulfils itself when it produces one such Perfect man, just as a lamp fulfils itself when the tip of the wick burns, when we say the lamp burns!
Our scriptures laid down four Varnas and four Ashramas as the institutions for the proper learning and discharge of these duties in society. A true Hindu life is a stream of the proper discharge of responsibilities; pursuit of enjoyment per se is not the goal . It is incidental, and is occasioned by prarabda.There is no talk of rights anywhere. But for the pursuit of the higher form of religion, one has to transcend these divisions, and become detached and renounce everything not connected with the spiritual pursuit. (Vanaprasta and sanyasa).
Uttishtha: Jagrata:
Praapyavaraan nibhodhata
Kshurasanna dhaara nishitaa
Duratyadurgama patha:
Tat kavayo vadanti
Arise! Awake!
Approach the Great (who know the Truth) and learn.
Like the sharp edge of the blade is that path- hard to tread and difficult to cross.
So say those who know the Truth (Reality).
Sri Krishna repeats it in the Gita (4.34) in slightly different words. This is the true, higher form of Religion or Spirituality.Those who pursue it are bound to be few in any society. As the Gita states:
Manushyaanaam sahasraeushu
Kashchit yatati siddhayae
Yatataamapi siddhaanaam
Kashchin maam vaetti tatvata: 7.2
Perhaps one in thousands of men strives for Perfection (Realisation/ Illumination). And, perchance, one among those who strive thus, knows Me in reality.
It is important to remember here that such striving after the Supreme is possible only when society is congenial, and facilitates such striving. Society fulfils itself when it produces one such Perfect man, just as a lamp fulfils itself when the tip of the wick burns, when we say the lamp burns!
Our scriptures laid down four Varnas and four Ashramas as the institutions for the proper learning and discharge of these duties in society. A true Hindu life is a stream of the proper discharge of responsibilities; pursuit of enjoyment per se is not the goal . It is incidental, and is occasioned by prarabda.There is no talk of rights anywhere. But for the pursuit of the higher form of religion, one has to transcend these divisions, and become detached and renounce everything not connected with the spiritual pursuit. (Vanaprasta and sanyasa).
In the modern age,the institutions supporting these arrangements have collapsed. Modern social and economic arrangements do not support these structures.Striving for livelihood has become the prime concern for every one in every generation. People have to work even after retirement, far into old age as supports such as joint family have disappeared. Even sanyasis have to organise themselves, as the householders do not support them. In the circumstances, it is idle to pretend or preach that the old standards or methods must or can be maintained.
We have had only two Gurus who show the way under modern conditions: Ramakrishna and Ramana Maharshi. Their teachings are simple, direct and uncomplicated .(They do not merely repeat what is in the books.) They can be practised wherever we are, whatever we do.
Ramakrishna advises that God is the only permanent reality; everything else in the world is impermanent. The purpose of life is to know God. The way of devotion shown by Narada is the best way for this Kali Yuga. We must adopt a definite attitude towards God- as his children, as his servant etc and practise actual disciplines. Mere belief does not amount to religion. We may make use of all traditional aids where they are available. But sadhana is essential.
Ramana Maharshi says: Enquire or Surrender. We must enquire into and understand our own reality first: Who Am I. Or, we must understand that a Great Power controls and runs the world. We must surrender to it. These are not part-time or fixed-time activities. These are the attitudes that must pervade our life- totally, every aspect of it. He has explained how this is to be done- but we have to do it! He also expressed that the traditional disciplines (achara) should not be given up. (But the problem today is that the traditional disciplines are disappearing- the institutions supporting them are disintegrating.)
We will thus see that neither of them taught any philosophy, but practical methods of spiritual striving.These are derived from their own experience. Neither of them was a scholar or had studied philosophy. But scholars now weave philosophies out of their words!
They were perfectly aware that we ordinary people do have difficulties. Their advice is to pray to God. Ramakrishna used to make simple vows like offering a green coconut to Simhavahini or his other favourite deity.But he never prayed for anything for himself in the world.Even in the case of Narendra (Vivekananda), he did not pray for worldly things, even when Narendra's family was suffering from dire poverty! He only said that by the grace of the Mother, they would not lack "ordinary food and clothing". On 1 January,1886, he blessed the devotees present: "May you all have spiritual illumination!". Ramana used to say that we must place our burdens before God, as we would place our luggage in the train, and not carry it on our head. But he also said that our present life is ordained by prarabda karma and it will run its course. We are free to pray, but it is for God to decide!. This is the first ever message he gave, and that to his Mother! But he also made Mother skip future births and conferred Liberation on her! This is the power of the Sage! But we cannot fathom its operations!
They did not simplify Vedanta or Advaita. They did not seek to popularise it. Ramakrishna no doubt said that only God is real, the world is unreal. But he also warned that the householder should not BEHAVE as if the world is unreal ie as if it does not exist! He gave the example of the house maid. She comes from the village, where she has her home, her family,her children. But while in the master's house, she treats his children as her own, she lives there as if it is her own home. But all the time, she knows that her real home is different. This is how we have to live in the world. We are like the maids here . Our real home is God. Ramana also said that while one may hold Advaita as a belief, it should never be adopted in practice. (Supplement to Forty Verses, no.39.)
Advocates of orthodoxy speak as if Hindu religion has remained unaltered through millennia. But our own scriptures say that the Dharma varies according to the Yuga. In the Satya Yuga,the main practice was Dhyana. In the Treta Yuga, it was the performance of Yajnas. In the Dwapara Yuga, it was the Puja or archana .All these assumed the proper maintenance of the Varnasrama. Scriptures themselves say that in the Kali Yuga, these means will not work: everything is infected by impurity, even the mind is polluted. So, in this age, it is only the continuous remembrance of the Name of God which will save us. For this no external props such as temples are necessary: even they are polluted and defiled in this Kali age. Hindu temples are in fact run by the so called secular govt! This is the conclusion of our scriptures like the Bhagavata, not the teaching of any modern reformer. We observe that in the last thousand years or so, all our saints have advocated this path alone.
It is a fact of history that Christianity and Islam have conquered and spread over the whole world, destroying in their wake, the old religions, and the cultures based on them. They have also been present in India. We may look at it as the work of the devil, or we may see in this phenomenon the Time Spirit, the very hand of God. It is the lesson of history that no civilisation is destroyed by external forces unless there is some major internal weakness to aid them. The way Judaism has survived two thousand years of persecution shows that a religion survives if it retains its essence, its soul.At the same time, the fate of American Indians shows that no localised, indigenous form of religion can survive an organised assault by inimical forces, who command superior material resources..Tibetan Buddhists were a peaceful people, but the brutal Chinese have subjugated them. None in the world helped them. However the revival of 'paganism' and emergence of new cults all over the world shows the undying religious instinct among all people, and the new forms it may take. In the world as it is today, Hinduism cannot remain as an island, or retain its old forms. It should therefore understand its essence, and adhere to it.## But it need not become an arm-chair exercise!
Advocates of orthodoxy speak as if Hindu religion has remained unaltered through millennia. But our own scriptures say that the Dharma varies according to the Yuga. In the Satya Yuga,the main practice was Dhyana. In the Treta Yuga, it was the performance of Yajnas. In the Dwapara Yuga, it was the Puja or archana .All these assumed the proper maintenance of the Varnasrama. Scriptures themselves say that in the Kali Yuga, these means will not work: everything is infected by impurity, even the mind is polluted. So, in this age, it is only the continuous remembrance of the Name of God which will save us. For this no external props such as temples are necessary: even they are polluted and defiled in this Kali age. Hindu temples are in fact run by the so called secular govt! This is the conclusion of our scriptures like the Bhagavata, not the teaching of any modern reformer. We observe that in the last thousand years or so, all our saints have advocated this path alone.
It is a fact of history that Christianity and Islam have conquered and spread over the whole world, destroying in their wake, the old religions, and the cultures based on them. They have also been present in India. We may look at it as the work of the devil, or we may see in this phenomenon the Time Spirit, the very hand of God. It is the lesson of history that no civilisation is destroyed by external forces unless there is some major internal weakness to aid them. The way Judaism has survived two thousand years of persecution shows that a religion survives if it retains its essence, its soul.At the same time, the fate of American Indians shows that no localised, indigenous form of religion can survive an organised assault by inimical forces, who command superior material resources..Tibetan Buddhists were a peaceful people, but the brutal Chinese have subjugated them. None in the world helped them. However the revival of 'paganism' and emergence of new cults all over the world shows the undying religious instinct among all people, and the new forms it may take. In the world as it is today, Hinduism cannot remain as an island, or retain its old forms. It should therefore understand its essence, and adhere to it.## But it need not become an arm-chair exercise!
I am not a religious scholar or expert. I am also a striving , struggling individual. But seeing the kinds of material now offered on the Net, their confusing and conflicting stands, the claims and counter claims,the sheer obscurantism of some of the self-appointed advocates of Hinduism, I thought I might share with friends some of the things I have understood.This is not offered as advice. You should examine them on your own.
##A light Urdu verse to illustrate the point!
Mujhe dena gaize mein dhamkiyan
Mile lakh bar ye bijliyan
Mere sultanate ye aashiyan
Mera milkiyat ye char pankh.
(On a stormy night, with heavy rain, thunder and lightning, the nest of a small bird is destroyed. The bird is not disheartened. It addresses the elements and says)
Do not try to frighten me.
O lightning, you may strike me a lakh times.
You may take away my home and my possessions.
But my real possession are my wings. ( Only I have sway over my wings.What can you do so long as I have my wings?) We survive so long as we keep our essence.
[I heard this verse recited by Chandrasekhar when he became Prime Minister. I have written it here from memory. I have not been able to find its source. Knowledgeable friends may correct me.]
##A light Urdu verse to illustrate the point!
Mujhe dena gaize mein dhamkiyan
Mile lakh bar ye bijliyan
Mere sultanate ye aashiyan
Mera milkiyat ye char pankh.
(On a stormy night, with heavy rain, thunder and lightning, the nest of a small bird is destroyed. The bird is not disheartened. It addresses the elements and says)
Do not try to frighten me.
O lightning, you may strike me a lakh times.
You may take away my home and my possessions.
But my real possession are my wings. ( Only I have sway over my wings.What can you do so long as I have my wings?) We survive so long as we keep our essence.
[I heard this verse recited by Chandrasekhar when he became Prime Minister. I have written it here from memory. I have not been able to find its source. Knowledgeable friends may correct me.]
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