OUR HERITAGE

THE BASIC TENETS OF THE HINDU RELIGION

Our ancient religion of Hinduism has many aspects of greatness. It is unfortunate that many people have not understood its basic features properly. The understanding of most people is like that of the blind men with regard to the elephant; somebody touches the ear and says that the elephant is a huge flat thing; somebody touches the trunk and says that the elephant is like a thick rope; another person touches the feet and says that the elephant is like a huge pillar and so on. Very few people understand the basic tenets of the Hindu religion in their true form.

Basically, there are three or four special characteristics of the Hindu religion.

Firstly, in Hinduism, Isvara can be worshipped in two forms. No other religion advocates such a thing. In other religions there is only one omnipresent being. But in Hinduism, he is omnipresent and yet he is also present in special forms. Our God is without attributes and without form, that is, nirguna and nirakara, and yet and also saguna. Thus, our God can be worshipped in both the forms. In fact, he incarnates in the form of Rama or Krishna and dwells among mortals. He also incarnates in the form of Mahapurushas or holy personages or great souls. Thus, God comes down to the earth in many forms in order to bless us and bestow his grace on us. No other religion has got this concept. Other religions speak of only one omnipresent being. The special characteristic of the Hindu religion is that God can be worshipped in particular forms, and thus we have idol worship or murti-puja or ‘Uruva-vazhipadu’ as we say in Tamil. Idol worship or idol puja or murti-puja has a special significance and special purpose behind it. We think of God in a particular form in our minds and then pray to Him. In the same way, we install idols in the temples and create divine presence or sannidhya and divine power in them and then worship and get the blessings of the particular deities.

It is difficult for householders to worship the omnipresent form of God. If they start closing their eyes in order to mediate on the omnipresent being, their eyes, ears and mind will start wandering somewhere else. Therefore, ordinary householders have to think of God in the sakara and saguna form only, i.e. in the form of a particular deity. In fact, there are as many forms of Isvara as there are human beings in this world. God takes form and shape and comes down to us in order to bless us. We worship that form which we like according to the results that we aspire for.

As Sri Krishna says in the Gita:

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There are four types of devotees in the world, those who are suffering from something, some disease etc.; those who want money; those who want to get certain things done; those who want to know about the Lord. All of them worship God in that form which is best suited for the fulfillment of their desires. For instance, for the removal of all obstacles, Vinayaka is worshipped. For wealth, Agni is worshipped; for health, the Sun is worshipped; for Jnana Siva or Dakshinamurti is worshipped, and for Moksha Vishnu is worshipped.

Since Vinayaka removes all obstacles, we find very often students worshipping Him at the time of examinations so that they may pass the examinations successfully. Motivated by the desire to get some results, they start worshipping Vinayaka. It is this motivation that makes them develop bhakti towards one particular deity or the other. In the same way, one who desires to have a lot of wealth will start worshipping Satyanarayana or Lakshmi and so on.

But, actually each one of these forms is Paramatma only. If Vinayaka has the power to remove obstacles, it does not mean that he has only that power; he is also Paramatma. He displays the special power to remove obstacles, just to attract the devotees. Similarly, Lakshmi is also Paramatmasvarupa. She displays the power to grant wealth, mainly to attract the devotees who desire money. By displaying the power to fulfill certain things, these various forms attract the devotees to themselves.

While there is devotion to God in our society, unfortunately, we find that, that much of devotion is not there towards religion or dharma. Along with Isvarabhakti we should also know the substance and basic tenets of our religion and also have unshakable faith in our religion. For this, it is necessary to understand the basic and salient aspects of our religion.

For the purpose of worshipping the deities, we have constructed many temples. In other religions, their places of worship are mainly prayer halls. There is no question of any installation of idols in other religions. There is just a big hall, and prayers are offered by people congregating there. But in our religion, it is not so. Our idols have got divinity in them. Till a particular day, the sculptor will go on chiseling it and striking on it. But the next day we start doing dipaharati, abhisheka, etc. to it, and the idol acquires power, chaitanya, etc.

Further, the prayer halls of other religions are built according to the size of the audience, and so, all the people can congregate there at one and the same time. They have the statistics in regard to the audience, and, therefore, they build the prayer hall accordingly. But in our temple, people have got to go one by one, and we cannot all enter in a crowd near the sanctum sanctorum. Whatever the size of the crowd, we have to go one by one only near the sanctum sanctorum according to the discipline prescribed and then offer our worship. Our temples are built with some sanctity and divinity, and each temple has some history behind it, and our temples are thus places where idols or deities exist with divine power or sakti.

Some people say that in the places of worship belonging to other religions, in their temples, there prevails silence; but our Hindu temples are full of noise all the time. In our temples, there are two types of noise. One is a desirable type of noise such as the ringing of the bell, the sounding of musical instruments like nadasvara, shahnai, archana, recitation of namavali, recitation of mantras, etc.

In this way, because there is divine presence in our idols, when we worship these idols, our evils get washed away and our poverty also gets banished. When we see an idol, we are not seeing a mere stone but we are seeing the form of God in it. We see an object of beauty. Thus, idol worship has been given a special place in the Hindu religion.

In the same way, wearing of some mark on the forehead is also a special characteristic of the Hindu religion. Jains and Buddhists also wear marks on their foreheads, and so they can also be considered as Hindus. The Jains do not accept the Vedas, but they do accept only Vairagya as the means for attaining Moksha, and yet they have accepted the wearing of marks on their foreheads. They also accept the concept of horoscope or jataka. This means that they accept the theory of rebirth and they believe in the existence of past and future births. Buddhists also have accepted this theory of rebirth. Therefore, they wear chandan, kumkum, etc., according to the Hindu culture.

Those who wear marks on their foreheads are Hindus. There are many reasons why marks like Vibhuti are worn on the forehead. It is unfortunate that many people do not know the significance of this Civilisation has advanced so much that we do not even know the reasons why marks have to be worn on the forehead.

The wearing of Vibhuti or Bhasma reminds us of the pure white form of Paramatmasvarupa. It also denotes the ultimate state of everything when it is completely burnt. When everything else is burnt, ultimately Isvara alone remains. Since Vibhuti is prepared from cow-dung which is obtained from the hind part of the cow where Lakshmi resides, the wearing Vibhuti is also a mark of wealth. It is said, ¦ÉÖÊiÉ®èú¶´ÉªÉÇ. If only our whole nation starts wearing Vibhuti, our nation will have wealth all the time and well never have to incur debts. In fact, all our debts can also be wiped off if we wear this. It is because people have left off wearing Vibhuti that we are suffering today.

Similarly, kumkum which is red in colour and which is prepared from turmeric, by adding lime juice, ghee, etc., reminds us of Lakshmi who is also red in colour. So, again, kumkum also is a symbol of wealth.

The wearing of carbon black line on the foreheads by the Madhvas is a reminder of the great truth that when a thing is burnt or destroyed, it gets charred and becomes black. And black is Vishnu’s colour, and the carbon streak therefore reminds us of Vishnu. This shows that the whole world is of the nature of Vishnu: ºÉ´ÉÇ Ê´É¹hÉ֨ɪÉÆ VÉMÉiÉÂ

The wearing of chandan bands or chandan dots on the forehead reminds us of Parameshvara, who himself wears these marks on his forehead, which are a sign of wealth as well as prosperity.

This habit of wearing a mark is not prevalent among the followers of other religions. Of late, even people belonging to other religious denominations have started this practice of wearing tilaks on their foreheads; but unfortunately, it is our Hindus who have left off this habit. This habit should be revived once again, and then we shall not only free our country from debts but also attain prosperity.

Further, the other religions do not mention any reasons for man’s happiness or sorrow. But in our religion, we believe in the theory of re-birth according to the theory of karma. This theory of karma is a special characteristic of our religion. The Atman never perishes, but it is only the body which perishes. The Atman is changeless and eternal. The Jivatma takes various bodies in accordance with the fruits of its actions until it realizes its true nature, namely the changeless and eternal Atman.

The manner of disposal of dead bodies by burning or cremation is also another special feature of the Hindu religion. Other religions do not have this practice. In other religions, the dead bodies are buried. Of course, in Hinduism also, some dead persons are buried. In Buddhism and Jainism, all are not buried but some people are burnt also. What is the principle behind this cremation? It is only among those who do not accept another birth and of those who have no further birth, that the dead bodies are buried. Those who feel that they have no other birth are buried, as for example, sannyasis, Sadhus and mahapurushas. The bodies of these great souls are only buried and samadhi is raised over them. In the same way, those who do not believe in this theory of rebirth are also given samadhi!

Those who believe in the theory of rebirth are cremated when they are dead. The Jivatma goes over to another body and enjoys in that body, and, therefore, the dead body is burnt here. The Jivatma goes on to take another birth, and experiences joy or sorrow, happiness or suffering according to its karma. In the case of a sannyasi, there is no need for a new body, and the same is true of Sadhus and jnanis. Their bodies are buried and they mix with the five mahabhutas from which they had first come into existence by their combination.

Does this mean that all others who are buried also do not have rebirth? If they do not believe in the theory of rebirth, they are also given samadhi! This does not mean that they will not be born again. In fact, nobody knows how many more births they may have to take.

Sometimes, people come to me and say ‘I am having so much of unbearable difficulty. I am suffering so much. It is not better for me to commit suicide?’ They may say like this because of some family difficulty or some chronic diseases and so on. They think that after this present body goes away, all suffering would disappear. But actually, once this body goes, one does not know whether one will have to suffer more or not in one’s future life and how many more births one may have to take and how much suffering one may have to undergo in all those births. Once the present body goes, whom can the person approach and ask? Can he come and ask me for advice at that time? He may be at one place and I may be at another. So nobody should think of committing suicide. One should learn to put up with the suffering and, then everything would be all right. To live till one dies his natural death is the proper thing to do. Committing suicide is so much of sin only.

As I was saying, those who believe in the theory of rebirth are alone cremated. Among the Rajputs, the habit of sati was there; when a Rajput soldier or king died, his wife also used to ascend the same funeral pyre and burn herself alive along with him; the idea was that they might be together as husband and wife in their next birth as well.

The dead bodies of those who do not have any further births are buried and their souls get Moksha. Therefore, in our religion samadhi is meant for great men. In he Lingayat community also, this custom of burying the dead is there. From the time of birth, the person wears a linga and worships it and does puja to it, and, therefore, the Lingayat feels that he has no further rebirth. He feels that he has got Sivasannidhya. Therefore, a Lingayat is not cremated but only buried when he is dead. Those who believe in Moksha or those who have no further births are buried.

Thus, cremation of ordinary men and burial of great men or sannyasis are the special characteristics of the Hindu religion. People who had come from Thailand and Cambodia also told me that in their countries also some people were cremated. In the case of some great souls, however, their bones are preserved and some ceremonies are being performed for them.

Even Buddhists and Jains believe in the theory of karma; and they believe in jataka and therefore in the theory of rebirth also.

So, to sum up, Hinduism has got the following as its basic features;

(1)    The concept of idol worship and the worship of God in his Nirguna as well as Saguna form.

(2)    The wearing of marks on the foreheads.

(3)    Belief in Jataka and hence belief in the theory of past and future births in accordance with the theory of karma.

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