Hinduism
Scriptures
(a brief)
by Octavian Sarbatoare (BA USyd)
- The scriptures of Hinduism in
their oral and written forms have a long history
going back thousand of years. There is a rich
literature of Hinduism, some works being amongst
the oldest of humanity. It is generally agreed
that chronologically Hinduism can be divided into
five periods namely proto-historic, Vedic,
classic, medieval and modern.
-
- The existence of the proto-historic period of
Hinduism is demonstrated by the archaeological discoveries of what is known as the Indus valley
civilization (approx. 4000- 2200 BCE). The
conquering tribes of Aryans brought with them
their traditions and beliefs. Linguistic research asserts the proto-indo-European language
naming the sky 'Deiwos', that is the root-source of words
related to the terminology of the divine like 'Deus' in Latin, 'Div' in Iranian,
'Deva' in Sanskrit, etc. The development of the
indo- European pantheon of deities reflects a common
origin for the supreme power; Zeus for Greeks,
Jupiter for Romans, Dyaus for the Vedic tribes.
There is no written scripture dated back to the proto-historic period of
Hinduism. The
oral tradition managed to retain these beliefs that were incorporated
later on into the Vedic era.
-
- The second historical period is
the Vedic era from about the middle of the
second millennium BCE until about 500 BCE. A
class of deities (Deva-s) strongly emerged out of the proto-historic
era as described in the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, the
Rig Veda (Lit. 'the
Veda of praise') . The notion of religion was more crystallized,
the creed became known as 'the path of
noble people' (Arya Dharma), the Veda (Lit.
'knowledge, wisdom'). The scripture of Vedic period is a collection
of writings structured in four parts known as
Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka and Upanishad.
-
- The
main Samhita-s are the well-known Vedas, Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva.
The Vedic trinity
of that time consisted of gods like Indra,
Agni and Surya. An important god was Soma, thus the
fourfold godhead of the Veda-s are Indra, Agni,
Soma and Surya. Rig Veda is undoubtedly the most ancient
sacred book of Hinduism consisting of 1028 hymns
arranged in ten Mandala-s. Based on the calendars
used in the Veda-s and stars position description, Rig
Veda is thought to date in its oral form to 4000
or 6000 B.C. when Saraswati river (now dried to the surface) was
a mighty river of an ancient India.
-
- The post Samhita period known
as Brahmana emphasizes on the sacrifice/ offering (Yajna/ Agnihotra) as the
main practice to obtain gods' favours. There were
works written by the Brahmana-s (Brahmins) the best known being Shatapatha Brahmana and Taittiriya Brahmana.
Aranyaka (Lit. 'forest; produced in the
forest') are also a specific kind of
philosophical works, Aitareya
Aranyaka and Taittiriya Aranyaka are well-known. The Upanishad-s
(Lit. 'sitting by the side')
were a class of philosophical works exposing the spiritual secret doctrine. Traditionally there are
108 Upanishad-s, however about 10 to 14 are considered to be
authoritative only.
-
- The Upanishad-s are
undoubtedly the major source of
Vedanta
(Lit. 'end of Veda') and indeed of all the six Indian schools
of spiritual salvation developed during the classical
period of Hinduism (see below). The word 'Upanishad'
(Lit. 'sitting by the side') refers to the
secret knowledge acquired by sitting near the
master. Scholars agree that the most important and very elaborated Upanishad-s
are Brihadaranyaka and Chandogya. Basically the entire philosophy of Upanishad-s is summarised by the four great sayings known as
Mahavakya-s, i.e. Tattvamasi ('that you are'),
Ahambrahmasmi ('I am Brahma'),
Prajnanam Brahma ('the ultimate truth
is Brahma'), Ayamatma Brahma ('the extension of the Self is Brahma').
Other relevant Upanishad-s are Katha, Ishavasya
(Isha), Prashna, Mundaka, Mandukya,
Shvetashvatara, Kena. The Vedic
era ends about 500 BCE with the emergence of the classical
period.
-
- The classical period of
Hinduism lasts between 500 BCE to
500 CE. The decline of Vedic cult is followed by its conclusion
known as Vedanta that retains the essence of Veda in a
comprehensive and easy way to understand. Societal development
triggered to need to set up rules and regulations of religious and
social life. Thus 'The Laws of Manu'
(Manavadharma Shastra) was created as a moral and religious code to regulate
the Hindu life in all its aspects. The essential religious and
social goals were elaborated in a written form. These laws are
based on the concept of Purushartha-s, the aims
of the human life, viz. Kama - accomplishment of
desires, Artha - gaining of prosperity,
Dharma - having of the right life conduct and Moksha - attaining of final
liberation.
-
- The classical period saw the emergence of three important
godheads, the Trimurti (Lit. 'three images'') of Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva.
Three
dominant religious traditions emerged during the classical
period: the Vaishnava - following Lord Vishnu, Shaiva - following
Lord Shiva and Shakta - following Goddess Shakti, the Mother Goddess.
The Mother Goddess cult emphasized on Shakti principle of life as material aspect
of Shiva as epitome of pure consciousness. During this
period a whole range of old oral literature known as Purana-s (Lit. 'ancient')
were now available in written form.
-
- Purana-s were a class of Sanskrit scriptures
consisting of stories
about deities as manifestations of one reality known as Brahman.
Purana-s, works written in a popular manner circulated initially
in oral forms. They are seen as part of sacred books of Hinduism,
sometimes being named 'the 5th Veda'. Most relevant Purana-s are Vishnu
Purana, Markandeya Purana, Shiva Purana, Bhagavata Purana..
However, the Hindu epics were the crown of such kind of literature
of stories with a strong spiritual message. Works like Ramayana and
Mahabharata are the best known Hindu epics.
-
- Worth to mention
here is Bhagavad Gita, the famous spiritual work, as being part of the
epic Mahabharata, more often regarded as its essence. Bhagavad Gita, a
Yoghic scripture
par excellence, is far from plunging the reader into
withdrawal from the material reality, but recommends the integration
of a spiritual
aspirant into the social life by following the path of Dharma
(virtue, right conduct). Thus, seclusion is seen unnecessary
once the mental attitude of renunciation to the fruits
of actions is employed. Bhagavad Gita extols the three major
directions to attain spiritual liberation as the path of action (Karma), the path of knowledge (Jnana) and
the path of devotion (Bhakti).
-
- During the classical
era the six classical
philosophies (Shad
Darshana) developed. These Indian spiritual traditions known Mimamsa, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya,
Yoga and Vedanta do accept Veda as being authoritative.
The six orthodox Astika (i.e.
accepting the Veda) schools of salvation emerged from the Upanishad-s.
-
- The medieval or middle periods
of Hinduism followed from the 6th century to the
19th century CE. A new philosophical
system emerged, the Advaita (Lit.
'without duality') Vedanta inspired by
Upanishad-s. The expounder of this
doctrine was Shankara. Pertinent to Advaita Vedanta is the fundamental
concept of identification between the supreme
Soul (Paramatman or Brahman) with the individual
Soul (Atman or Jivatman). The monastic approach to knowledge
sees all existence as part of one reality. The conceptual ideas of
Advaita Vedanta converged with the theistic philosophical
currents found in Vaishnava, Shaiva and Shakta traditions.
-
- During this period of
Hinduism the Bhakti concept flourished. One of the best known work of
Bhakti is Ramacharitamanasa written by the 16th century poet Tulsidas
(Tulsidasa/ Tulasidasa). This Hindi language popular version of the story of
Ramayana of Valmiki (written originally in Sanskrit) extols the
exploits of Lord
Rama, the ideal man descended on earth as the 7th incarnation of Lord
Vishnu in order to reinforce Dharma. However, the central figure of the Bhakti
renewal during the medieval or middle period was Lord Krishna, the 8th
incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
-
- This era is characterized by a strong re-emergence of
Tantrism that is a much
elaborated philosophical system having its roots in the spiritual beliefs of
Dravidians and aboriginal people, the pre-Vedic inhabitants of
India.
Outstanding works were
produced in Hindu Tantra like Tantraraja Tantra, Saundarya
Lahari, Mahanirvana
Tantra, Kubjika Tantra to name
a few. Shaiva tradition has produced a
distinctive school known as the Kashmir Shaivism (Trika), its
work the Shiva Sutras being well-known. An expounder of this
school was Abhinavagupta.
-
- The modern period of Hinduism
started at the beginning of 19th century. The many new cultural factors brought by
the British to India have created a revival of
Hinduism, so that generating change and transformation.
There were movements of socio-spiritual nature
like Brahmo Samaj started by Ram Mohan Roy in
1828. Later on another revivalist movement was Arya
Samaj founded by Dayananda Saraswati in 1875. Influent personalities were
also Mme Blavatsky
and Colonel Olcott, the founders of The
Theosophical Society. Well known representatives
of Hinduism from this period were Ramakrishna
Paramahamsa and his disciple Swami Vivekananda,
also Sarada Devi the embodiment of the Mother
Goddess. Swami Vivekananda brought the message of Hinduism to Western
countries. His work like "India's
contribution to world thought and culture"
helped to establish Hinduism as an equal to other major world religions.
-
- Another important contribution
to the modern Hinduism is that of Shri Aurobindo.
Two of his important works are: "Essays
on Gita" and "Life
Divine". It is worth to mention here his concept of 'superman'.
However,
the most significant influence
both socially and spiritually during the modern time was that of
Mahatma Gandhi. His writings like "All
men are brothers", "Ashram
observances", "Autobiography"
had a significant impact to raise the
self-awareness of Hinduism and bring important
social changes that including the establishment of India as an
independent state in 1947.
-
- To conclude this brief presentation of
Hinduism is to say that there is a rich Hindu scriptural
literature having a wide range of beliefs and philosophical
approaches. Basically, Hinduism is not homogenous by nature,
but rather diverse, depending on the historical
period and the specific school of thought.
-
- The spiritual
charge of any spiritual concept is never lost, but rather becomes added
to a wider spiritual picture thus being integrated within the new layers
of Hinduism. Therefore there are many "methods" or
"recommendations" to any spiritual progress
and finally to "liberation" or "salvation". It
can be said that Hinduism is one long human endeavour to bring down the divine
consciousness by sanctification of the human existence itself.
- Recommended further readings
(in alphabetical
order)
-
- Eliade, M. Istoria credintelor si
ideilor religioase (A History of Religious Ideas), Universitas, Chisinau, 1992 (in Romanian)
-
- Gambhirananda, S. Chandogya
Upanishad, Nabajiban Press, Calcutta,
1992
-
- Gambhirananda, S. The
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Sri
Ramakrishna MathPrinting Press, Madras, 1992
-
- Gandhi, M. All men
are brothers, Navajivan Pub.,
Ahmedabad, 1980
-
- Hinnells, J. A
Handbook of Living Religions, John R.
Hinnells and Penguin Books Ltd, 1994
-
- Sharma, D. S. Hinduism
Through The Ages, Bharatya Vidya
Bhavan, Bombay, 1973
-
- Vivekananda, S. India's
contribution to world thought and culture,
Vivekananda Rock Memorial Committee, Madras, 1970
-
- About
the author
Copyright © 1998 and subsequent years by
Octavian Sarbatoare - Australia - E-mail. The article was updated.
This article is copyright-protected. The author
grants the right to copy and distribute this
file, provided it remains unmodified and original
authorship and copyright is retained.
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