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The roots of religion in India date back to the days
of the Rigveda. The belief is that the Veda (vid = to know)
emanated like breath from Brahma, the soul of the universe
and were revealed to the sages (Rishis). Hence, the Veda is
known as shruti (what was heard). The Veda is composed of
mantra (instrument which conveys thought) and braahmana (mantra
illustrated by numerous legends and ritualistic manuals).
The collections of mantras which are prayers and praises are
composed in metrical hymns and constitute the Samhitaas.
The early hymns conceive of a Supreme Being and elaborate
the powers of nature personified as specific deities such
as Agni (fire), Indra (Atmosphere) and Surya (Sun). Aditi
was the infinite expanse; Varuna was the sky; Ushas was the
dawn; Ashwins were twin sons of the sun riding a golden car
as precursors of the dawn; Prithvi was the broad earth. A
conflict between the drought Vritra and Indra, the fury of
Rudra (tempest and storm), the judgement of Yama (the god
of the dead) and the exhilarating rasa (alchemical produce)
of Soma are elaborated in the hymns.
The hymns continued to be transmitted from generation
to generation, orally, even after Krishna Dwaipaayana (the
arranger) had collated the hymns.
The Vedanta or Hindu philosophy is derived from the
Veda. There are six darsanas (demonstrations) of Hindu philosophy
whose principal objective is to emancipate the soul from future
birth and existence and its absorption into the supreme soul
of the universe.
The six schools are: nyaaya (logical analysis
based on the reality of five senses and of the external);
vaiseshika (existence of a transient world of aggregated eternal
atoms); sankhya (atheistical but discriminative); yoga (existence
of individual souls and the all-pervading spirit which is
free from the influences which affect other souls); purva-mimamsa
(interpretation based on both speculative and practical aspects);
uttara-mimamsa (God is omniscient and omnipotent; is the cause
of existence, continuance and dissolution of the universe).
These doctrines of Vedanta constitute the core of the
Hindu religion, exemplified by the icons of Brahma, Vishnu
and Shiva, deities representing creation, sustenance and dissolution
of the universe. Brahma is the supreme soul of the universe
from which all things emanate and to which all things return.
Vishnu in the Rigveda is a manifestation of solar energy (vish,
to pervade) and striding through the universe in three steps
is the unconquerable preserving power. Shiva (occurs in the
plural as Rudras in the Veda) is described in the Satarudriya
of the Yajurveda as the deliverer, the first physician; is
described in the Atharvaveda as the protector of cattle and
as dark, black, destroying, terrible, the fierce god. The
Ramayana adores Shiva as a great god. As Mahaakaala, he is
the dissolving power; yet, he is also Sankara the auspicious,
perpetually restoring what has been dissolved.
Puranic mythology embellish the trinity with an array
of anecdotes and stories and invent a number of icons representing
various aspects of divinity as ideals to be sought by the
worshipper or enquiring soul.
The avataara (descent) is an incarnation of a deity,
of Vishnu in particular. Hinduism is so eclectic that
the Buddha (Gautama) is absorbed as the ninth avataara before
Kalki. The ten avataaras, each of which is explained by a
legend, are: matsya (fish); kuurma (tortoise); varaaha (boar);
narasimha (man-lion); vaamana (dwarf); parasurama (rama with
the axe); rama (the hero of the Ramayana); krishna (the dark-complexioned
god); buddha; kalki (the white horse). The great epics, Ramayana
and Mahabharata are poems of the heroic age and
exhort the divinity and divine attributes in men and women.
The Mahabharata includes the Bhagavad Gita which
depicts the quintessence of the Hindu view of life. Puranas
are mythological elaborations of the divine powers, of heroic
exploits and legends are woven around many familiar heroes
and heroines of the great epics. Mother Goddess is represented
by Durga (goddess of battle), Kali (the incarnation of Shakti
or primordial energy). A code of laws is enunciated as the
Dharma-shastra (law book) which include Smritis (recollections,
as distinct from Sruti, what is heard) recorded by the sages.
The law book (authored not by one, but by many sages)
is generally composed of rules of conduct, judicature and
penance.
Religion is the observance of rites and ceremonies and
a set of moral and social duties; religion is composed of
various regulations of society, intercourse, marriage, inheritance,
birth-rites, funeral rites.
Purusha
is the great architect of the universe and is Visvakarman
(Maanasaara, II, 2-5). Temple is a means of measuring the
great Lord, just as His activity measures the wide heaven
(Atharva Veda, IV.2.3)
The Hindu
temple as a monument has its outer surfaces and pillars adorned
with sculptures of manifestations of the Supreme Soul.
The Vimaana
is the house and body of God, built by the application of
proportionate measurement. A synonym of vimaana is praasaada,
the seat and dwelling of God, a raised platform on a mound.
Praasaada denotes pra-sad or settling down. The main shrine
is the Garbhagriha, the womb and house of the embryo, the
main object of worship. The temple is devaalaya, the house
of God consecrated with the manifestation (muurti) of the
Supreme Principle. The forms may vary, denoting a number of
attributes of divine energy. Samaraanganasuutradhaara (XVIII.57)
gives many names for the temples:
- deva-dishnya
- surasthaana
- caitya
(piled up like the Vedic agni, citi or fire)
- arcaagriha
- devataa-aayatana
- vibudha-aagaara
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