Hinduism

1. Introductory
Hinduism is perhaps the oldest of all the living religions.
It has neither any definite date of its origin nor has it any
definite founder assoc iate d with it. It is called Sanitana
d ftarma, a religion coming down to people t hrough et ernit y.
It is thus unique religion in one very import ant se nse .
a

Nearly every religion of the world is associated wit h a

definite personalit y claimed to be its first originat or or
founder and has a definit e text which is regarded as its
b asic religious text. But Hinduism has none. It can more be

regarded as a spontaneous growt h assiste d at various stages

of cimsat ion from various side s rather t han a creation or
construction of somebody. As Sir Charles Eliot remarks in
this connechon,"Hinduism has not been made, but has

grown. It is jungle, not a building."Similarly, K.M. S e n'

m ake s the f ollowing observations in his book Hinduzsm,
"Hinduism is more like a tre e t hat has grown gradually
than like a bmding t hat has be e n erected by some great
architect at some definit e'point in time. It contaim within
itself the influences of many cultures and· the body of Hindu
t hought thus offers as much variet y as the Indian nation
 a
N

·
12 Com p a r a tiu e
R el i g i o n

itself."1 The names of a host of sage s and saints are of c ourse

associated wit h Hinduism, but none can claim to be its
founder; they have all simply cont ribut ed
to its growt h
in
an enormous
their. own specific ways. Similarly, corpus of
sacred lit erat ure is also associated wit h Hinduism to which
one is to refer for having an idea of its chief beliefs and
practices, but none can claim exclusive aut horit y. Some of
the important religious texts of Hinduismare-the Vedas,
t he Upanisads, the Puranas, t he Dharma Shtras and
Dharma astras, the R5mayana, the Mahabharata and the
not exhaustive. Of the se ,
Bhagavadgft 5. But t his list also is
Vedas are the oldest, rat her t hey are regarded by the Hindu
tradition as beginningless (Anadi) and in a
way exert the

highest aut hori t y. Nevert heless ot her t ext s also are regarded
no less sacred.
as
Not only it is that Hinduismhas no one as its definite
f omder and no book as it s one exclusive text, but also that
it has got no well- defined, rigid and dogmatic principles of
fait h or pract ice. Varying beliefs and pract ices can be found
amongst those who call t hemselves Hindus. A polytheist is
as much a Hindu, as a monotheist or a monist or even an

at heist . Hinduismis really a vast and incoherent apparent ly

religious complex. It is right ly charact erised as a vast jungle
in which it is very difficult to mark out how
many kinds
of trees and plant s flourish. In
fact, to summarise t he main
principles, beliefs and pract ices of any religion is very
difficult , but in c ase of Hinduism it seems Me
impossible.
variet y and complexity of Hindu beliefs and cail
be seen implied into t he practices
very basic philosophy (of religion
that Hinduism entertains
and professes. T here is only o ne

1. K.M. S en, Hind uhm

( P e n g u in Books) , p p . 14-15.
 13
Hilr, i l ¢ ($ w

basic everything which is dif f erently

realit y unuerlying
named in different religions. All the Uiffw ent r cligions are
r eally like,lifferent
paths leading to the same goal. S o there
is no quest ion of prescribing any rigicl set af principles or

prac tic e s. Everyone has got the right to follow his own pat h
and approach God in his own way. Hinduism never claims
t hat a particular prophet is llw prophet and a part icular
faith is the f aitlr It does not believe in inflict ing rigid r nies
of prayer, worship etc. As a matter of fact, the way of
worship or prayer or any other such way is not the only
way of realising God or at t aining salvation. There are various
ways, of which Hinduism more often speaks of three-the
way of knowledge (lii tna/7itirgn), the way of action (Karma
/niirga) and the way of worship and prayer (Bhakti miirga).
Anyone according to his temperament may adopt any of
the se ways and at t ain to salvation. Thus Hinduism is in it s

very temperament against any rigid rules of religion. It is

very liberal and broad hearted in its approach and out look.
Hindu religion, as we have said above, is an amalgam
of various kinds of beliefs and pract ices.
Although t his
religion has generally been recognised as a religion of t he
Aryans, in fact, various et hnic and cultural groups have
exerted t heir influence from time to time in
shaping and
reshaping the various beliefs and practices that are prevalent
in Hindu religious complex. At least the two et hnic
groups
present in India from before the advent of the Aryans had
their definit e marks on Hindu
religious beliefs. Aryans made
no effort to convert
everyone t o t heir own fait h. Instead
Aryan beliefs and practices themselves assimilat ed a great
deal wit h the beliefs and
practices of bot h the Dravidians
and the
aboriginals. S o the overall cult ure or religion which
is now known as Hinduism
is a gradual growth out of t he
amalgam and synt hesis of beliefs and practices of various
Strands. Hinduism has very appreciably ret ained within
 C Ot l l p amti t)e
14 Re l{g io h

tic e s
itself all the se kinds of beliefs and Pt· a c ranging from
and ideas to gross
most profound religious t hought s
well be se e n
superst it ions and magic which may very the
amongst the people who go
t o compose Hindu
in general, may be said to
pantheon. Thus Hindu religion,
be somet hing t hat is lived by
Hindu people. No other
it.
characterisation c an do full justice to
social system and
Hinduism is not only a religion, but a
a t radit ion too. T he most obvious
and import ant mark of
t his social system has been its uarna dharm a. As a matter of
been able to be a Hindu who
fact, t radit ionally only he has
has belonged to any of the four varnas present in Hindu
social system. T his has be e n rat her the dist inguishing m ark
of being a Hindu. One may have any kind of belief regarding
God e tc . And one may follow any kind of religious practice
of his c hoic e . That will not check anyone from being called
a Hindu. But he cannot be a Hindu unless he belongs to
one or other c lass or Varna. Formerly, the classification
seemed more based upon the apt it ude and worth t hat o ne
had, but in c ourse of t ime birth became t he only crit erion o f
dist inct ion. It may be said here that in spit e of all the
variet ies of beliefs and practices that a Hindu has,
belongingness to one or other of the four vamas has
been

an essential mark of someone being a Hindu. Any othe r

thing which has bound Hindus t oget her as one religious
group in spite of t heir differences in beliefs and prac tic e s
c an be said to be t heir f aith in the Ve das
supremacy of the
as well as t heir
regard and respect for some ot her religous
texts such as t he Ramayana, t he Mahabhirata and the
Bhagavadgit . Some ot her features which have be e n a b le
to bind Hindus
together as one religious group have
been

t heir common beliefs in the law o f

immortality of soui, the
karma and rebirt h, the Thus in
possibility of Moksha etc.
spite of variet ies and differences in beliefs and P ra C tiC:. :
:
there are certain common a jl y
grounds which Hindus gener
share.
 Hind i/isln 15

2.Basic feat ures of Hinduism as a religion

As there are hardly any well- defined criteria of Hindu
religion and one can be a Hindu by simply coming under
the fold of one of the c lasse s specified by the Varna Dharma
notwithstanding his other beliefs and practices, it is very
difficult t o enumerate any such feat ure or feat ures of
Hinduism which may be characterised as basic in the sense
that they are commonly and essentially shared by all
Hindus. However, we have se e n above t hat in spite of the
differences of beliefs and practices, there are cert ain such
features of Hinduism which bind its followers t oget her,
howsoever loose that bond may be . There are cert ain beliefs
which a good majority of Hindus se e m s to hold and also
there are cert ain practices which are more or less common
amongst the Hindus. Such beliefs and practices may· form
the basic feamres of Hinduism as a religion and t hey can
be summarised as follows:
1. Hinduism is a complex religion admit t ing of vast
differences of beliefs and practices amongst its followers.
That is, there is neit her any definit e set'of beliefs nor any
definit e set of practices which are observed and f ollowed
by each and every Hindu alike.
one obvious point which demonst rat es t he complex
nat rire of Hinduism as a religion is that it is polyt heist ic,
monot heist ic, monist ic and atheistic all at the same t ime. In
other words,believer in many gods and goddesses is as
a
much a Hindu, as a believer in only one God. Similarly, a
believer in a personal God is as much a Hindu, as a believer
in an impersonal Absolut e or Brahman. Even a believer in
no God can be, and is very much, a Hindu. Again, as t here
are different kinds of believers, so there are different kinds
of pract ices also,' and this f urther adds t o the complex
nature of Hindu fait h.
2. As a natural corollary t o t he above, Hinduism has
neit her any one definite religious t ext nor any definite creed,
 t :.'"ll"'".'"eliRio+ t

of\he world
or a]m trst all other reliions
h ay e
a s se vur a s thc most ancient
al
r and
Thu Vc das, however, are elarcled Vedas, there are
Be sic le s the many
aufhe ntic religious te xts. the Rim5yana, the
n ig a ds,
other tex ts, suc h as, the pa U

Pur5qas, the BhagavadgitEi e tc .,

Mah5bhbra ta , the various
of Hinduism and Hindus
which a s sacre d te xts
are
regarded
them as a mark of t heir sacre d
so ofte n repeat line s from

us a sufficient hint of the

3. The ab o ve p° ints m ay give definite mark of
som e one
fac t that the re can b e hardly any
but wit h certain reservations it m ay
being c alle d a Hindu,
b e said that belief in the
overall aut horit y of the Vedas and
of the four Varnas are, more or l es s ,
be]angingness to o ne
a Hindu. Of the se t wo also, the
the e sse ntial m arks of being
the former, b e cause
tatter is perhaps more imp° rt ant than
o ne may continue to b e a Hindu even
if he refuses to believe
in the authority of the Vedas, but he will not be a Hindu
unle ss hebelongs to o ne of the four c lasse s. It is perhaps
this condition which has deterred Hinduism from being a
missionary religion. If anyone is convert ed from other
religion to the Hindu fold, the problem of the settlement o f
his Varna will at onc e arise : to what Varna, after all, will
he be taken to belong? of course, belongingness to one o f
the four Varnas se e m s more to be a social mark than a
religious one , nevertheless, it is essent ially associated wit h
Hindu religion,
4. Hinduism, whet her it be theistic or atheistic, believes
in an overall supremacy of the
spirit ual over the profane
and the mat erial. It is
generally believed in it that behind
and beneath the mundane
world-order, t here is a
spirit ual
order or realm, which is the
basic, t he essent ial and the
eternal. Man, therefore, even
while in this material
living
world should always bear in mind that he essent ially
belongs to the spirit ual order, and t herefore he is never to
be overinvolved in or
t his mat erial unduly at t ached to t he attractions of
world- order.
 5. Quite in c on son a n c e with th e ab o ve b e lie f, Hinduism
firmly b e lie ve s that th e e sse n tia l n a tu r e of
man is spiritual.
T he bodily a sp e c t of man i s
only e xte rnal
and sup e rficial.
In his inne r and e sse n tia l
b e ing man i s a so ul. T his s o ul in
man i s im m ortal.
Nothing can de stroy it. T he Bhagavadgita
d e sc r ib e s this
indestructibility of
sou l in th e
following
th e
m anne r:"We apons canno t c u t it nor can fire burn it; wate r
c annot wet it nor can wind
dry it:"2 Thus th e sou l survive s
bodily d e ath.
6. In c ontinuation of its b e lie f in th e
immortality of th e
human so ul Hinduism b e lie ve s in th e
transm igration of th e
sou l from o ne
body to anothe r, from th e o ld to a ne w on e .
This is m ore popularly known as th e d o ctrine of re b irth
in
Hinduism. The de ath of a body me ans
simply sou l' s
off that body in o rd e r to put o n anothe r o ne so as t ocasting
b e g in
a fre sh
worldly life . The Bhagavadgita characte rise s this
transmigration of the so ul from o ne body t o anothe r as
follows:"As a man by shedding worn-out garm e nts, take s
the othe r new o ne s, like wise the e mb o d ie d soul,
by casting
off worn-odt bodie s, e nte rs into o the rs whic h a r e th e ne w
//3
o ne s.
This transmigration of so ul from o ne body to anothe r,
7.

I.e ., rebirth, is not, however, take n as som e thing d e sirab le

in Hinduism. It is a sign of so ul' s bondage which b e g e ts
c ontinue d suffering. Rebirth, the re fore , is not a boon, but a
curse which m ust b e got rid o f.
8 . What cause s this c hain of birth and rebirth and the

consequent bondage and suffering is man's own ac tion

(frc arma). Hinduism firmly b e lie ve s in what is calle d the law
of karma. This law implies that no actio n d o ne by any man

2, Nainam c h i n d a n ti § as tr5ni n a i n a m d a h a t i p 5vak ah na c a i n a m k l ed ayantyap o

na §
o g a ya t i m a m ta h
The Blta gua dg}tb, I I . 2 3.

3. Vas 5ms i j i m5ni yath5 vih 5 ya nav5ni g rhn5ti n a ro ' p a r5 q i tath5 a r ir a n i vi h5ya
j i m5nyany5ni s amy5ti navni
dehf
Ibid., I I . 22.
 vain It necessarily b e ars its fruits and the m an
.--jn the fruits of his ac tion. T hat in,
the ac tion has to re ap th e
man rJning the action has necessarily to undergo the
co nsccjue nce s of
his ac tion; he has to b e ar the burden of h
results that his good or bad ac tions p ro d uce .
good o r bad
Na one c an e scap e the results of his ac tions. 1f one d o e s no t
exhaust the g° o d or bad c onse que nc e s of his ac tions in th e
to take another birt h for bearing the
present life, he has
burden of his remaining ac tions. T hus, rebirth is the re sult
nf one's own past karm as.
i]ut again all sorts of ac tions done by som e one do no t
which generate fruits
cause rebirt h or bondage. T he actions
are known attached ac tions
apd which c ause rebirt h
as
actions are actions done wit h a sem
(sa)uima karm as). S uc h
of attachment, I.e., with ome narrow egoistic passion or
d e sire . Actions opposed to these, I.e., actions done with a
se nse of non-attachment are known as non-attached actio ns
are like-fded se e ds which
(nigkiima karmas). S uc h actions
do not generate any fruit s and consequently do not c a u se
rebirt h or bondage.
9. Thus action done with a se nse of attachment (faim )
is the root c ause of man's cont inued involvement in the
chain of birt h and rebirt h. Nrma and Samsiira, therefore,
be liberat ed from the c hain
go hand in hand. If one wants to
of Samsiira, he will have to be free from karmas, I.e., from
attached, egoistic actions.
10. As indicat ed above, release from the chain of birth
and rebirth is possible. T his cont inuing chain is not the
dest iny of man. Me dest iny, according to Hinduism,
is

Moksha, which is life et ernal, a life of pure spirimality. In

t his life the soul becomes free from all worldly suffering
and at t ains its original pure spirit ual nature. T his is state of
eternal bliss. In this state, the soul attains it s real inunortal
nature.
11. Moksha is at t ainable by the adopt ion of any of the
of
following three pat hs-t he pat h of knowledge, the path
n!
U H i }t d u is m

ac tions and the

path of devotion to God.
The path of
knowledge is th e path of
attaining true
th e nature of dge ab o ut
reality by dire c t re alim tian. Tknowle
he
is really the path of path of a c ti on
disinte re ste d or no n-attache d a c tion s
(ni§ kma karmas) and the path of d e vo tio n
t o G o d i s th e
path of worship and p raye r with full
se n se of to tal subm ission sinc e rity and with a
and surre nd e r to G o d .
Be sid e s the se , the re are a
ho st of othe r b e lie fs and
which an ave rag e Hindu se e m s t o
p ractice s
e nte rtain and
follow, but they are not
very p e rvasive a n d mo st of the m
are only regional or
loc ational in nature . We n e e d no t,
the re fore , m e ntion the m h e r e .

3. God
We have sa id ab o ve that o ne can b e a
g o o d Hindu without
having any b e lie f in any g o d or g o d d e ss. T he re is a full-
fledged, rat her highly e ste e m e d, system of Hindu
philosophy, known as the S am khya syste m , whic h is c le arly
athe istic . Thus in
it may look rather o d d or
o ne se nse
irrelevant to talk of Hindu co nce p tio n of God. But
really it
is An ave rage Hindu se e m s to b e a firm b e lie ve r in
not so.
God-eit her in o ne G o d or in se ve ral g o d s and g o d d e sse s.
Hindu belief in God rang e s from polytheism through
abstrac t m onism to a co ncre te m onothe ism . Ve d as are
regarded as the m ost original so urce of Hindu faith and
they clearly polytheistic in nature . The y abound in
are
various gods and godde sse s of whom Varuna, Mitra,
Agni, Indra e tc. se e m to b e prominent. Although in late r
Hinduism, the se gods have hardly any ho ld o n the c om m on
m a ss, still polytheism having o the r gods and g o d d e sse s such
a s, Ganesh, Hanuman, Durg5, Kali, e tc . se e ms to b e the
dom inant faith of the ave rage Hindu. An ave rage Hindu
e ve n now worships so me or all of the se gods and g o d d e sse s
on diffe re nt o ccasio ns. But a m onothe istic te nde nc y wms
to b e present in Hinduism right from the a g e of the Ve d as
the m se lve s. apparently the Ve d as sp e ak of a ho st
Alt hough
 C{'"wlrmtiue H
li

Lin. T his may he se e n in

involved ther Rise in favoLtr I he
mont llhtrisnr is a pr of any fa c t

r henever there godo r

that 1

""t t ir?
s s in praise reigns
forms.
supreme
over all and'":
There is a clear indicat ion towards
r":
various
just his
also when
the Vedas declare t hat the S a m e
nttmtrtheism
is called by various names (Eknm saduiprii b a h ttd h ii
one!-eality
tendency of the Vedic polyt hiesm towards
""drvzti). T his
characterised by
Maxmuller a s
monot heism is amply as we have said above, an
henotheism. Although, a host of gods and
average
Hindu even now worships godde sse s
Ganea, Krtikeya, Hanumsnd,
such as Viu, iva,Saraswat, Laksmi etc. (there are
P5n· at i, Durg, Kili, in Hindu
said

to be 33 crore g° ds and goddesses pantheon),

most illiterate of Hindus
there is an inherent
f aith in even the
one God and the various
t hat at bot t om there is only g od s
various forms or
and g° ddesses are just his manifestations,
come t o t he stage of the Upanisads,
Anyway, when we
t he associat ed rit ualism) se e m s
the Vedic polytheism (and
to be convert ed here int o a philosophic
monism. As a m atte r
of fact, in the Upanisads t here are two trends of which the
drift t owards monism is t he one. T he other trend gives vent
to monot heism. It is really these two dif f erent t rends present
in the Upanisads which give rise to two equally important
Hindu philosophic systems of Samkar's Advaita and
Ramanuja's Visist 5dvait a, t he former being an exquisite
example of absolut e monism and t he lat t er of a full-fledged
t heism. These two philosophies based upon t he Upanisads
have really bot h capt ured t he Hindu religious mind,
although it is t he former which is more well known amongst
the West erners as t he characteristic
Hindu philosophy and
religion. T he former speaks of God as an at t ribut eless
Absolute (Nirguna God as
Brahma), while t he lat t er takes
t he Lord, t he 'Inner
controller' who indwells the entire
cosmos. T his me
God is not God,
a
god of t he Vedas, but the
 21

h in , luis·

omniscient e tc . And the

only sLipre m e bt ing, omnipotent,
universe T his Gud is callce l he re thc tigHt."
S

rnle r trf the entire of the

is the latter view assiste cl by the theism
Brahnra.]t which
the Mah5bh5rata and the Bhagavadgit ii
Riim Eiy alla,
the minds of the
has a m ass jmpact and has captured
popular
Hindu milleau. T he former has proved to b e great
has gained
Hindu philosophy, but a s a religion the latter
to exp° und here in
m ore ground. We shall therefore try
the theism of
brief the conception of Cod a s envisaged in
Ramanuja and the Bhagavadgit.
soul of
God is Ant aryiimi, the inward dweller, the inner
the entire universe. He is infinit e, eternal and all- pervading.
He is the
He is omnipot ent , omniscient and omnipresent.
supreme value also and is endowed with infinit e auspicious
qualities suc h truthfulness, knowledge, bliss, tenderness,
as
and destroyer
compassion e tc. He is the creator, preserver
of the world. He c re ate s the world not out of nothing (as
Judaism and se e m to believe in), but out of the
Christ ianit y
material of his own being. He has within his being t wo
arid ac it (Mat t er) (Para and
aspe c ts of cit (Consciousness)
and he creates
Apara in the language of the Bhagavadgit )
the entire universe of material objects and conscious beings
out of the se t wo aspects. T he objects of the world are the
re al expressions or modifications of these t wo aspects. God
is thus bot h the efficient (Nimit t a) and the material

(Dpiidiina) cause of t he universe. (Here it should be

remembered t hat the Nyaya regards God as only t he
efficient cause and not the material cause). He is bot h
immanent in the world as its indwelling sustainer as well
a s transcendent to it as its creat or. He is the inner soul of

the world, which, as if, constitutes his body. Just as t he

soul is unaffected
by the changes in the body, similarly God
remains unaffected by the changes in the world. He is
changeless in his nature. He is also unaffect ed by the
 22
Ctrtnp arati l ' " l tel i
a
U;_

a in the B h a g a V

He is adg; t
Purusot t am
God is regarded as the Ramanuja.
by
and as N5r5yaoa and vsLdeva neither
0 nal but super-personal. Ramanuia a lso
personal nor imp e rs at the time of creat ion proje c ts
takes God as villu, who
from wit hin him at the t ime of di 55 olu ti o rl
the whole world
him.
wit hdraws everything wit hin God

is
Alt hough the above concept ion of

very much acceptable

to a Hindu,
average,
as:
an iH:
Hindu conceives God in a way which se e m s
unsophist igat ed
Purias. T he average Hindu in his
very much based on the that God has n o
own unsophist icat ed manner believes
definite shape and form. He is niriikara.
He is above time
and space and is et ernal and infinite. But he has t hree asp e cts
within him L t he creative, t he preservat ive and destructive.
His creative aspect is personified as Brahma, t he perspective
destructive aspect as Shiva. T he se
aspect as Visnu and t he
three aspect s are so oft en t aken as the t hree deit ies, althou
within the one supreme Lord. Brahms, Visnu and Shiva
(Mahesh)t herefore constitute what may be called t he Hindu
Trinity. The one basic reality of which the t hree are taken
inseparable aspect s is himself known as Visnu. Heis
as t he
conceiwd as essent ially loving, compassionate, kind a n d
good. He is furt her conceived as eternally sleeping on his
couch, unless disturbed by t he supplication of other
gods who on occasions require his intervention for the

4. T ile B/tag auad g itb , XII, pp. 15-16.

 23
h in tiu isn t

of righteousness and good in the world:

It is
presen'"t ion whenever on
believ e d t hat unrighteousness reigns supreme
the ear th, Viqu incamates himself in
the world and does
S o far he has incarnat ed nine times in
away wit h all evil. a bear, a
different forms in the forms of a fish, a tortoise,
man- lion (Nrsit plm), a dwarf (Vlimann) and four t imes in
·

human forms as those of Parasurama, Rama, Krishna, the

Buddha and the tenth is due in near fut ure.
Brahm is regarded as the aut hor of all creat ion. He,
however, is not worshipped by the Hindus as a principal
but
deit y. It seems t hat Brahm-worship was once popular,
was over- thrown by the worshippers of Visnu and Shiva.
Brahm myt hologically known to have t aken birt h out of
is
the navel of Visnu while he keeps asleep wit h his consort
Lakshmi at the time of the equilibrium of the world. T his is
symbolic of t he creat ive aspect of Vignu.
me worship of Shiva, t he third deity of Hindu Trinity,
is the most popular· amongst the Hindus. Alt hough Shiva
is primarily regarded as a god of destruction, t he average
Hindu worships him as a very kind and beneficent deit y.
He is regarded as t he god of regeneration and is believed t o
be pleased by lit t le of prayer and devotion. He is equally
the god of t he ascetics as well as of t he Hindus leading an
ordinary domest ic lif e.
4. World
mere definite theory of creation in Hinduism. Even
is no
this is not clear whether t he world is an act of creation at
all. T here is at least one Hindu syst em of thought-the
Samkhya syst em which believes that t he world is a product
Samkhya is an at heist ic Hindu systm and
of evolut ion.
therefore for it t here is no quest ion of creat i on. In t he absence
of any creator God, t he
quest ion of creat ion does not
arise.Me world arises out of an evolut ion of Prakrt i, t he
primordial matter, with t he help and co-operat ion of Purusa,
the
non-changing primordial consciousness. Even t hose