The Longest Poem: Writing with the Mahabharata Class 1 Handout Hinduism Basics Hinduism is an entire universe of gods, concepts, traditions, and philosophies. Just as you can practice any religion concurrently with being a Hindu, you certainly don’t have to be a true believer to take advantage of Hinduism in your writing practice. Any of the Hindu texts can provide an entrée into this universe and lead to a richer writing practice. As always, feeling these concepts in your writing practice is the goal. Give yourself permission to take risks and let your writing flow with the universe’s energy—every piece of writing is a vehicle to get closer to truth. There are no rules—multiple truths can exist and be in tension with one another. Accept whatever parts of Hinduism work for your writing practice! What Hinduism Is Hinduism is both the oldest of the world’s major religions, and not a traditional religion at all. It can also be read as a way of life—a slew of beliefs, philosophies, and practices in many different traditions. What you see in Hinduism is often what you choose to see—because Hinduism is deeply syncretic, it has assimilated cultural and religious practices and concepts from all of the diverse peoples of the Indian subcontinent and beyond. Hinduism traces its origins back to the ancient cultures of the Indus Valley, although the term “Hinduism” itself is a term of administrative convenience coined by Mughal and British conquerors. Hinduism embraces both a pantheon of its own homegrown gods and prophets, as well as the gods and prophets of other religions, including Jesus and the Buddha. Hinduism is flexible—there are no wrong answers, just many possible paths to enlightenment. This kind of syncretism and flexibility does a writing practice good as well. Major Hindu Texts Hinduism stands in contrast to other religions that rely on a single, seminal text (or person) for spiritual authority. Instead, Hinduism’s major texts reflect the religion’s diversity—the volume of Hindu scripture is so massive it would take several lifetimes to absorb. The foundational texts are called “shruti” and include the four Vedas (Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas), the Aranyakas, and the Upanishads. The secondary texts are called “smriti” and include the world’s longest poems, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the Puranas, the Agamas, and literally thousands of other texts. The Ramayana and Mahabharata are likely the best known Hindu texts in the West. The former tells the tale of the god Rama, who journeys to the island of Lanka to rescue his wife, Sita, from the demon king Ravana. The latter is centers around the moral questions raised by the conflict between the Pandavas and Kauravas, two sets of cousins who fight the war to end all wars over a kingdom. The oft-cited Bhagvad Gita, a narration by the god Krishna to the warrior Arjuna on the eve of a seminal battle, is part of the Mahabharata and a popular condensed source of Hindu wisdom and philosophy. Where you start depends largely on your taste. Any of these can be a good place to start learning the seminal concepts of Hinduism, and many can be taken together to illustrate fundamental tensions. 1 For example, in the Ramayana, God (in the form of Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu, the Hindu god of preservation) is an archetype of duty and justice, while in the Mahabharata, God (in the form of Krishna, another incarnation of Vishnu) is a rule-breaker who must take upon himself the responsibility of morally questionable choices to restore the balance of the universe. Both epics raise complex ethical conundrums that continue to be deeply examined by scholars of successive generations. Some Seminal Concepts in Hinduism (20 min) Panentheism Hinduism embraces the concept of panentheism, meaning the divine interpenetrates all parts of the universe, but is also beyond the universe, time, and space. Hinduism is often described as a pantheistic religion, but that’s only partly correct—Hinduism does indeed have thousands of gods but all are considered manifestations of the single truth called Nirguna Brahman (see below). Many of these gods originated as local deities or personal family gods, elevated by thousands of years of developing legend and ritual to epic, divine status. Happily, this means it matters less what vehicle you choose to worship—all are ways to get closer to truth. Eternal Truth: Brahman and Atman The supreme truth or god in Hinduism is called Nirguna Brahman—in this form Brahman is formless, changeless, ultimate, eternal, and indestructible. This highest truth is the ultimate goal for any soul to attain, and all individual gods are ultimately vehicles that can make aspects of this ultimate truth comprehensible in human terms. When manifested in those individual gods, Brahman is called Saguna Brahman—eternal truth in a form that human beings can relate to as parent, lover, sibling, or spouse. Manifestations of Brahman within a single individual are called Atman, which could be interpreted as a single soul or consciousness. Cyclical and Cosmic Time: Kalpa and the Yugas The Hindu concept of time is cyclical. The entire universe goes through endless cycles of birth, death, and rebirth, moving through phases of cosmic time as it does so. Each universal lifetime is a Chaturyuga, consisting of four Yugas (eras) in which the universe’s order slowly disintegrates, followed by its complete destruction. The Hindu concept of time is also mind-bogglingly lengthy. In one interpretation from the Shiva Purana, for example, 365 human years make a divine one; 12 million divine years (1,000 Chaturyugas, or a Kalpa) form one day of Brahma; each Brahma lives for roughly 24 billion years; the lifetime of Brahma is one day of Vishnu; and the lifetime of Vishnu is one day of Shiva. The implication is that human history is only a tiny fraction of cosmic time, and that our world is an integral part of a much larger universe of time and space. Reincarnation: Samsara and Karma The soul is considered immortal in Hinduism, and like the universe, goes through cycles of birth, death, and rebirth, known as Samsara (the wheel of rebirth). Karma, or spiritual cause and effect, moves with the soul through these cycles—a particularly meritorious lifetime results in a soul 2 moving closer to the eternal truth of Brahman in its next cycle. The ultimate goal is to break the cycle. Dharma Perhaps more than any other concept, the Mahabharata revolves around the idea of dharma—that there is a right action to be taken by any actor at any given point in time, dictated by a host of factors, including the individual’s societal role and life stage and the totality of the circumstances. Dharma for a kshatriya (warrior) at a certain point in his life would consist of just warfare; if that kshatriya shuns a just war to retire to the forest and adopt the lifestyle of a religious scholar (brahmin), he goes against his dharma. The Mahabharata complicates this concept by introducing a variety of complexities at different stages, that bend these seemingly immutable rules. Illusion and Salvation: Maya and Moksha Maya is the idea of illusion or delusion that ties an individual soul to the body and to the physical world—in other words, when ego manifests itself in an individual and they become attached to the material, they cannot achieve salvation, or moksha. (Example—in the Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna that the vast armies he’s seeing on the plain of Kurukshetra, preparing for battle, are in fact just illusions and in ultimate truth are already destined to perish.) Moksha happens when the soul achieves unity with the ultimate reality (or highest truth, or God, or Brahman), at which point the cycle of rebirth is broken. Sounds and Cosmic Resonance: Aum In Hinduism, sounds may have cosmic resonance that reverberates through the past, present, and future. This is one reason why so many mantras—spiritually powerful sounds often used as chants—exist in Hinduism. The root of all mantras is the sound “Aum” (often transliterated as “Om”), which is said to contain within it the entire universe, and the chanting of which can bring spiritual peace. How things sound is cosmically important! A Sampling of Hindu Deities The Vedic Pantheon The oldest gods of Hinduism—dating back to the Vedas—are likely to be familiar to devotees of Greek and Roman mythology. These are essentially animist gods and include: Indra: King of the gods and ruler of the heavens, lord of thunder and lightning. Painfully fallible and humanlike at times, prone to periodic falls from grace, often due to his huge ego. Surya: God of the sun, drives a chariot pulled by seven horses. Agni: God of fire, often invoked in ritual because as smoke from sacrificial fires, he delivers the offerings of humankind to the gods. Yama: God of death, and also god of the sacred order of the Vedas. This reflects the concept that justice pervades the circumstances both of an individual’s life and of their death. 3 Vayu: God of the wind, known for his strength and beauty. The Triumvirate and Shakti Over time, the animist pantheon was replaced by the triumvirate—essentially splitting Hinduism into worshippers of Vishnu and Shiva: Brahma: God of creation. Often depicted as an old man with four heads. Not widely worshipped. Vishnu: God of preservation. Vishnu rests on Adishesha, the king of snakes, and floats on the eternal sea of bliss. Vishnu incarnates on earth when the cosmic balance of the universe needs restoring—often in response to a direct threat in the form of a demon or other manifestation of evil.