Hinduism: a Very Short Introduction
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Hinduism: a very short introduction Dr. Varuni Bhatia Assistant Professor of Hindu Studies A timeline for Hinduism Vedic Period c. 1500-500 BCE Axial Age and Rise of New Religions c. 500 BCE-200 CE Classical Hinduism c. 300-600 CE Puranic/ Temple Hinduism c. 600-1200 CE Devotional Movements c. 1000-1600 CE The Vedic Period Some of the earliest and most venerated texts of the Hindus are a collection of liturgical and sacrificial verses called the Vedas. The Vedas are composed in a form of archaic Sanskrit and are traditionally considered revealed literature. They are revealed by the gods to sages and wise men, who hear them and pass them down orally to future generations. As such, the Vedas are not man-made (apauresheya) and are firmly placed within an oral-aural (shruti) tradition. The Vedas were composed by migrating Central Asian tribes into the subcontinent, called the Aryans. Aryan tribes settled in north India between c. 1500-1000 BCE. The Aryans were a group of BCE BCE GEOGRAPHICAL SPREAD OF THE ARYANS, C. 500 Sanskrit-speaking pastoral and nomadic people who entered South Asia from the west. Scholars generally agree that Sanskrit-speaking and fair-skinned Aryans originated in Central Asia, and migrated westwards, eastwards and southwards. The branch that migrated into South Asia (i.e., eastwards) developed Sanskrit language and were authors of the Vedas. Migration took place in gradual waves, and these Aryans or ‘noble men’—as they called themselves— settled in the plains of rivers, reinhabiting the regions that once flourished under the Indus Valley Civilization, but had gradually fallen into ruin due to a variety of causes, including climatic and epidemic. “When the gods performed the sacrifice with 10.90 HYMN TO PURUSHA, THE PRIMORDIAL MAN, This hymn appears in the tenth chapter of the Rig Purusha as the oblation, then the Spring was Veda collection. It is its clarified butter, the summer the sacrificial perhaps a later addition, but it gives one of the fuel, and the autumn the oblation…. clearer pictures of how the Creation of the world was From that wholly offered sacrificial oblation imagined by the Vedic were born the verses and the sacred chants; people. from it were born the meters; the sacrificial Creation is imagined here formula was born from it…. as an act of ritual, a sacrifice made by the Gods His mouth became the Brahman; his two arms of the primordial Man, from whose body parts were made into the rajanya; his two thighs emerged the cosmos, the the vaishyas; from his two feet the shudras natural elements, human were born. beings, classes, and societal organization. The moon was born from the mind, from the This is also the earliest eye the sun was born; from the mouth Indra reference that we find in and Agni, from the breath the wind was born. literature of the four classes in Vedic traditions: From the navel was the atmosphere created, Brahmana (Priest), Kshtriya (Warrior), Vaishya (Trader/ from the head the heaven issued forth; from Agriculturalist), and Shudra the two feet was born the earth and the (Servant). Duties of these classes will become more quarters from the ears. Thus did they fashion codified and clear over the the worlds….” RV next few centuries, as will oppositions to this form of hierarchical ordering of society. Gods and men in the Vedas Over a period of a thousand years, Vedic literature developed from a core set of four liturgical texts to a vast corpus of commentaries. The hymns in the core texts are mostly devoted to Vedic deities in praise, making offerings to them, and asking them for favors in return. Vedic gods, and some goddesses, are considered by scholars to be anthromoporphic, i.e., forces of nature that were assumed to have human form. Primary Vedic deities are Indra (Rain and Thunder), Agni (Fire), Surya (Sun), Vayu (Wind), Varuna (the upholder of order), Soma (the magical plant), Usha (Dawn), and so on. Worship was done to these gods in the form of a yajna or fire sacrifice. An altar of fire was built, ritual sacrifices were made for a fixed period of time (that could often run into days and months), and at the end of the sacrifice, the altars were destroyed. Metaphysical Literature Out of the elaborate performances of Vedic sacrifices emerged a need to understand these external rituals metaphorically and metaphysically. A vast body of philosophical texts that dwell upon the nature of the Self (atman), the Absolute (Brahman), and the Real (Sat) emerges in around the 6 century BCE. These texts are called the Upanishads. Early Upanishads put in place a non-dualist conception of the world. They decidedly shift emphasis from external sacrifices to an internalization of sacrifice. The Upanishads lay emphasis on the attainment of knowledge instead of the performance of the correct ritual. Rise of Buddhism and Jainism, c. 500 BCE Around the time that the earliest Upanishads were being composed, another social and religious upheaval was to take place in India. This would be the rise of Buddhism and Jainism —two non-Vedic, heterodox systems of thought that would over the years develop as independent world religions unto themselves. The Vedas had put in place a four-fold system of class hierarchy in Aryan society, consisting of the priests, the warriors, the traders, and the servants. The founders of these new religions posed a tremendous challenge to this hierarchy. Indeed, both the Buddha and Mahavira were themselves princes (and thus warriors) who chose to renounce wealth and power and become wandering ascetics. These traditions of renunciation are called Shramana traditions. SHRAMANA (RENOUNCER) TRADITIONS, REJECTION OF VEDIC RITUALISM Jainism Buddhism Hinduism: Main Concepts Some of the main concepts of Hinduism are put in place by this time. These are: Law of action or Karma An essential Self, Atman or Jiva The Absolute, Brahman Transmigration of souls and Rebirth, Samsara Bodily and mental disciplines, Yoga Class divisions in society, Varna Release from the cycle of births and deaths, Moksha Classical Hinduism Gods and Goddesses, Temples, and Devotional Movements The Rise of Hindu Brahmanical Kingships For many centuries after the rise of Buddhism, India was ruled by kings primarily patronizing Buddhism. Brahmanical kings assume power with the Gupta Dynasty in c. 400 CE in north India. The reign of the Gupta kings is classified as the Golden Age in Indian history. It was a period of immense cultural production in the realm of Sanskrit literature, mythology, texts on law and society, metallurgy, music and dance, the arts, and (most importantly for our purpose) temple building and sculptures. Similarly, the rise of the Chola Dynasty in southern India in c. 9th century CE heralded a similar age in that part of the subcontinent. Dharma, and other goals of Man In this period of what scholars have termed Brahmanical (or Vedic) resurgence in the Indian subcontinent, Dharma is established as the key aspect governing all aspects of social and ritual life of (upper caste) Hindus. Dharma, a term translated as ‘Religion’ today, derives from a Sanskrit term dhri which means ‘to hold up.’ Hence, Dharma is anything that upholds. In the Gupta period, a number of Dharma texts are written. These are codes of social law governing relations between kings and subjects, the various classes, rules of marriage, rules of studentship, and prescribing the role of women in society. Brahmanical kings, such as the Guptas, actively proclaimed to rule according to Dharma as laid down in these texts. Gupta and Chola Empires (at the height of their extent) Sacred Sites in South Asia Some of the earliest dated sacred and consecrated sites in South Asia are of a Buddhist nature. The Buddhists constructed two kinds of large structures: the Vihara, or Monastery for its large order of renouncer monks and nuns; and the Stupa or a structure under which the Buddha’s remains were kept. Dhamekh Stupa, Sarnath, c. 5th Sanchi Stupa, c. 3rd century BCE century CE Viharas Buddhist Monasteries Nasik Ellora, 400-900 CE Bodhisattva Padmapani From Ajanta Caves 2nd century BCE to 6th century CE Early Hindu Temples These are either small shrines or cave temples. Temple to the Ten Incarnations at Deograh, c. 4-6th century. Rock-cut/ Cave Temples Kailashnath Temple, Ellora Caves, c. 700 CE Large Temple-Cities and Complexes, 800-1200 CE Large temple complexes, with a main shrine dedicated to one of the chief Hindu deities such as Vishnu or Shiva or Devi, with smaller surrounding temples dedicated to numerous deities, emerge in this period. These temples are akin to royal capital cities, being the center of both sacred and temporal authorities. Key centers: Madurai (Minakshi, The Fish-Eyed One), Tirupati (Venkateshwara, Lord of the Venkata Hill), Puri (Jagannath, Lord of the World), Tanjore (Brihadeshvara, The Great Lord), Rameshvaram (Lord Rama), Bhuvaneshvar (Lingaraja, Lord of the Linga). Tanjore Brihadeshvara Temple, 10th century CE Chola Dynasty, Raja Raja Chola Temple Complex at Khajurao (Madhya Pradesh) Chandela Dynasty, 11th century CE Lingaraja Temple, Bhuvaneshwar (Orissa), 12th century CE Chodaganda Dynasty, King Anantavarman Hindu Gods and Goddesses Temple building and myths went hand in hand with each other. During the same period as large scale temple building, patronized by prominent Brahmanical kings, commenced in India, so did myths and legends about gods and goddesses. Temple structures narrated these legends, and the sculptures on their walls and images of divinities enshrined within their sanctum sanctorum embodied these legends. We witness the emergence of prominent Hindu Gods in this period: Shiva, Vishnu (and his most-loved incarnations Rama and Krishna), and the Great Goddess.