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Goals of Hinduism (Hindu Students Organization, University of Western Ontario)
The Hindu scriptures recognize four ends that humans may pursue in their lives. The first two are
artha, which is wealth and power, and kama, which is pleasure and the satisfaction of desires,
especially that of sex. Artha and kama are legitimate goals and are acknowledged as an important
part of the needs of every man, but they are secondary to the two remaining ends of life: dharma,
right conduct; and moksha, release from the cycle of unending rebirth.
Dharma
The goal most widely recognized among Hindus is dharma. In addition to morality and right conduct,
it also signifies quality and duty. Dharma is eternal and immutable. It is also specific. All things,
animate and inanimate, were assigned dharma at creation. The dharma of gold is yellow color and
brightness; the dharma of a tiger is ferocity and eating other animals. A person's dharma, manavadharma, encompasses essential human qualities and characteristics as well as the conduct proper
for every person. It includes respect for priests and scriptures, speaking the truth, abstaining from
taking life, performance of meritorious acts, and worship of the gods. A person must also follow
other dharmas, depending on one's position in life. One must follow the ordained norms of one's
nation, of one's tribe or caste, of one's clan, and of one's family. Dharmas differ for men and women,
for old and young, for married and single, and for rulers and common people; there are dharmas, in
fact, for every major order of human differentiation. When dharmas conflict, that is, when duties
toward one group conflict with duties toward another, the interests of the smaller group, such as the
family, should be sacrificed to the larger, such as the caste.
Faithful fulfillment of dharma is, in popular belief, the best way to improve one's condition in future
lives. Thus, for most Hindus, especially the uneducated, dharma is the major goal of life. Since
dharma is generally synonymous with custom, the result has been a powerful adherence to tradition,
especially to that of caste. The Bhagavad-Gita states, "Better one's own duty [dharma], even
imperfect, than another's duty well performed."
Moksha
While the overwhelming majority of Hindus regard the future of their souls only in terms of better
rebirths, the highly influential philosophic stratum of Hinduism is concerned with moksha, complete
release from rebirth. The soul is enslaved, they believe, to the never-ending wheel of reincarnation,
which is powered by the law of karma.
Philosophic Hinduism has recognized at different periods in history a number of techniques for
achieving moksha. Although all of these are equally valid paths (margas) to salvation, three have
achieved particular acceptance and sanction in the scriptures.
The Path of Action (karma-marga) is the simplest path and the closest to the doctrine of dharma.
Salvation by the karma-marga calls for a life of deeds and actions appropriate to one's station in life.
But all actions must be performed selflessly, that is, without regard to gratification of personal desire.
Such a life leads to detachment from the self and to union with brahman.
The Path of Devotion (bhakti-marga) brings salvation through uncompromising devotion and faith to
a personal god. Very often the object of devotion is the god Vishnu, or Krishna, one of his
incarnations. Such devotion draws the believer closer to brahman (of which the god is a
manifestation) and can generate the insight of the unity of all existence in brahman.
The Path of Knowledge (jñana-marga) is the most sophisticated and difficult path to salvation. It
calls for direct insight into the ultimate truth of the universe: the unity of brahman and atman. Such
insight generally follows a long period of spiritual and physical discipline, which involves the
renunciation of all worldly attachments and a rigorous course of ascetic and mystical practices.
One of the most important such courses used by the followers of jñana- marga consists of a number
of techniques known collectively by the name yoga. Yoga is a Sanskrit word meaning union or
discipline; it is cognate with the English word ``yoke.'' The goal of the practitioner, called a yogi or
yogin, is achievement of a state of samadhi, or dissolution of the personality, as a means of knowing
brahman. The rigorous course of training followed by a yogi is nearly always directed by a guru, or
spiritual teacher. It includes strict adherence to prescribed moral virtues, such as truthfulness,
nonviolence, and chastity, training in control of the body and obliteration of the sense perceptions,
extreme mental concentration, and meditation. Bodily control is an important part of yoga, and a
trained yogi can achieve difficult postures, breathe through either nostril at will, and even stop the
heartbeat. The basic form of yoga, which follows this pattern, is known as raja- yoga (royal yoga).
Other variants include hatha-yoga (the yoga of force), which puts even greater emphasis on physical
skills and acrobatics, and which regards sexual union as a means of salvation; mantra-yoga (the
yoga of spells), which advocates repetition of magical phrases; and laya-yoga (the yoga of
dissolution), which particularly stresses breath control and meditation.
Basic Features
Despite the contradictions among the many varieties of Hinduism, there are certain fundamental
assumptions underlying most Hindu belief.
Behind the ever-changing physical world is one universal, unchanging, everlasting spirit, known as
Brahman. The soul, or atman, of every being in the universe, including the gods, is part of this spirit.
At death the soul does not perish but passes, or transmigrates, to another body, where it is
reincarnated as a new life.
The fortunes of the soul in each rebirth are determined by its behavior in former lives. This law of
karma (literally ``action'') states that no sin ever goes unpunished and no virtue remains
unrewarded; if people do not receive punishment or reward in this life, they will in some succeeding
life. By their behavior people determine whether their rebirth will be in a higher station or lower;
rebirth may be as a human being, as a god, or as the lowest insect.
Proper conduct, or morality, which governs a person's rebirths, is known as dharma. Hinduism lays
down very specific rules of dharma, including special behavior appropriate to the members of each
caste. All Hindus are born into such hereditary social groups, and most believe that a person's caste
is determined by proper fulfillment of dharma.
For the majority of Hindus, the doctrines of dharma, karma, and transmigration provide a satisfactory
explanation of people's place and destiny in the universe. Many intellectual and philosophically
inclined Hindus, however, have found these views emotionally and logically insufficient. For them,
an endless chain of rebirths and redeaths seems pointless and even frightening. Their goal is not
better rebirths but moksha, or complete release from the entire chain of reincarnation. Although
exact means for attaining the salvation of moksha differ according to the particular schools and
sects of Hinduism, the process typically involves withdrawal from active participation in everyday
human affairs, ascetic behavior, and, ultimately, insight and release acquired through meditation.
For most Hindus, the gods also play an important part in religious belief. Hinduism has hundreds of
gods, ranging from lesser local deities to major gods, whose exploits are known in every household
of India. Among the best-known gods of Hinduism are Vishnu; Rama and Krishna, two forms, or
incarnations, of Vishnu; Siva (Shiva); and the creator god Brahma.
Scriptures play a major role in all varieties of Hinduism. Philosophical Hinduism emphasizes such
classical Sanskrit works as the Vedas and the Upanishads. Popular Hinduism, while revering the
Vedas and Upanishads, uses as its texts the stirring epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, often
translated into vernacular languages from the original Sanskrit. One section of the Mahabharata
epic, called the Bhagavad-Gita, is known by nearly every Hindu. It is the closest that Hinduism
comes to having a universal scripture
Gods and their Cults
In Hindu belief, divinity is an extension of the universal spirit brahman. Like brahman it is infinite and
found in every portion of the universe, manifested in many different forms. Thus, although the
Hindus have many gods, the gods have a oneness in brahman; they are all the same divinity. In the
Bhagavad-Gita, the god Krishna says, ``Whatever god a man worships, it is I who answer the
prayer.'' Most Hindu families favor for worship either Vishnu, Siva, or a Shakti, the wife or female
companion of a god, as the supreme manifestation of brahman.
Vishnu
Vishnu is often known as the Preserver, in distinction to Brahma the Creator and Siva the Destroyer.
He has been reborn, according to his devotees, the Vaishnavas, in a number of incarnations, or
avatars, each time to save the universe from a catastrophe. Vishnu is generally represented in art as
dark blue in color, bearing in his four hands his symbols: the conch, the discus, the mace, and the
lotus. Sometimes he is resting on the coils of a many-headed snake, Ananda, with his wife,
Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune, sitting at his feet and the Brahma-bearing lotus growing from his
navel. At other times he is astride his mount, the eagle Garuda. Vishnu's avatars are Fish, Tortoise,
Boar, Man-Lion, Dwarf, Rama with the Axe, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and Kalkin, who has not yet
appeared. The inclusion of Buddha among Vishnu's avatars is typical of Hinduism's tendency to
assimilate all faiths; some Hindus add Christ to the list as yet another avatar.
The avatars of Vishnu most widely worshiped, especially in northern India, are Rama and Krishna.
Rama, the princely hero of the epic Ramayana, is the perfect ruler, and his wife Sita is the ideal of
Hindu womanhood. Because of the devotion of this couple to each other, young married couples are
often called Sita-Ram. Krishna, the most frequent object of bhakti, is worshiped as a powerful but
mischievous child, as a dark-skinned erotic youth who plays his flute and sports with the milkmaids,
especially with Radha, his favorite, and as the adult hero of the Mahabharata epic and preacher of
the Bhagavad-Gita.
Siva
Siva, the Destroyer, has many aspects. His devotees, the Shaivites, hold that destruction
necessarily precedes creation and that Siva is, therefore, also the god of creation and change. Siva
is portrayed in many different ways. Sometimes he is seen as an ash-white ascetic in a state of
perpetual meditation, seated on a tiger skin high in the Himalayas. Cobras coil his neck and arms.
The crescent moon is fixed to his matted topknot of hair, from which springs the sacred River
Ganges. Sometimes he is Nataraja, who whirls about gracefully, maintaining the cosmos by his
unending dance. Siva is often accompanied by his wife Parvati and his bull, Nandi, which serves as
his mount. He is most frequently worshiped as a simple rounded post, usually of stone. This post is
the lingam, or phallic emblem, of Siva and may indicate his origin as a fertility god.
Shaktis
The Shaktis are female divinities, generally the consorts of the gods Vishnu and Siva. To their
cultists, the Shaktas, they represent the active forces of their husbands and the personified power of
brahman. Most often worshiped is Siva-Shakti, the consort of Siva. She appears in many forms. As
Parvati, Uma, or Annapurna she is a beautiful woman. But she is also a fierce and terrible goddess
in the forms of Durga, Kali, Chandi, or Chamundi. Durga, a stern-faced warrior, sits astride a lion
and bears an assortment of deadly weapons in her hundred hands. Kali, a charcoal-black ogress
with a protruding blood-red tongue and terrible fangs, wears about her neck a garland of human
heads and carries a blood-stained sword. Kali is associated with disease, death, and destruction,
but she is also a protector of the faithful. She is worshiped, often with animal sacrifice, as Mata, the
Divine Mother. Some Shakta cults have carried their worship to an extreme that is not generally
well-regarded in Hinduism. These Tantric sects, so called from their sacred scriptures, the Tantras,
include in their initiation rites the breaking of orthodox taboos, such as eating meat, drinking alcohol,
and engaging in illicit sexual intercourse. The Tantrists prefer magical rituals and the recitation of
mystical utterances (mantras) over karma-marga, bhakti-marga, or jñananamarga as the means to
salvation.
Other Gods
Hinduism has many other gods, who are worshiped on special occasions or for special purposes.
The most popular of these is Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Siva, propitiated before
undertaking most practical enterprises. Skanda, or Kartikeya, is another son of Siva, particularly
popular in southern India. Frequently worshiped is the monkey-headed Hanuman, faithful ally of
Rama in the Ramayana epic. Sitala, the goddess of smallpox, is also widely propitiated. Although
Brahma figures importantly in mythology as the Creator, he is not generally worshiped. However, his
wife, Sarasvati, is loved as the goddess of music, art, and learning.
There are also hundreds of lesser local gods. The Hindu villager recognizes tutelary deities for all
the hills and streams around his village. The village potter also worships the deity in his wheel, and
the farmer worships the god of his plow. Divinity, in popular Hinduism, is universal.
Religious Life & Practices
Although temple worship does occur, Hinduism is not basically a congregational religion. Most Hindu
religious activity centers in the home, involving only an individual, or perhaps a few friends or
relatives.
The most common type of religious rite is the puja, or worship service. In nearly every Hindu home
there are sacred pictures or images of favored gods before which the puja prayers are chanted,
hymns sung, and offerings made. In the simplest homes puja is a modest ceremony. The mother of
the household recites prayers at dawn and rings a small bell before several bazaar-bought colored
pictures of the gods in one corner of her room. In the richer households puja may involve elaborate
offerings of food, flowers, and incense in a family shrine room containing decorated altars, icons of
one or more gods and goddesses, and a sacred perpetual fire. In such homes a family priest, or
purohit, may be called in on special occasions to aid in the puja. Such devotional services are
performed particularly among adherents of the bhakti stream of Hinduism. To indicate their cult
affiliation the worshipers often have colored marks painted on their foreheads and occasionally on
their bodies. Shaivites typically mark themselves with three horizontal white lines, while Vaishnavas
use a white V bisected by a vertical red line.
Many family rites center on the important transitions of life. The family priest, generally a Brahmin for
the higher castes, officiates at these rites, reciting from the sacred scriptures and directing the
offerings to the gods. The birth ceremony takes place before the umbilical cord is cut, and about 10
days later there is a naming rite. Among the highest castes, the upanayana rite is performed when a
boy reaches puberty. At that time he is invested with a sacred thread, which he wears across one
shoulder for the rest of his life. The lengthy and complex Hindu marriage ceremony requires the
couple to walk around a sacred fire with their garments knotted together. The couple recites vows of
an eternal bond. In most parts of India widows may not remarry, and formerly many high-caste
Hindu widows burned themselves on their husband's funeral pyres. Most Hindus dispose of the
dead by cremation. The corpse is burned shortly after death and the ashes are thrown into the
Ganges or another sacred river. For about 12 days after the cremation, members of the family give
daily offerings of rice balls and milk to the deceased to prevent his or her ghost from doing harm.
Among the orthodox of the highest castes, his shraddha rite is performed periodically by
descendants of the deceased for several generations.
Domestic religious activity, particularly in the villages, also involves worship at sacred sites, such as
special trees, streams, and stones. Two species of trees, in particular, are considered sacred, the
banyan and the pipal, a variety of fig tree. A number of animals are also venerated. These include
monkeys, associated with Rama, and snakes, especially the cobra, associated with Siva. The most
revered animals, however, are bulls, also associated with Siva, and cows, which represent the earth.
All cattle are inviolate, and beef is eaten by very few Hindus. In the villages, cow dung is used widely
for purposes of ritual purification and for making sacred images. On special occasions the cattle are
decorated with bells and gaily colored streamers.
Communal and temple ceremonies are more elaborate than domestic worship. Congregants gather
to sing hymns and to read responsively with the priests from the Ramayana epic and other
traditional literature. Festivals devoted to the temple gods are attended by pilgrims from a large
area. In the temple a procession of temple servants with flutes, drums, and torches may
ceremoniously escort the god to the shrine of his goddess to spend the night. There is often singing,
dancing, and recitation from the epics. The largest temple festivals, such as the Jagannatha festival
in Puri, Orissa, draw pilgrims from all over India. A huge image of Jagannatha, a horselike form of
Vishnu (and the source of the English word ``juggernaut''), is placed on a wooden cart and pulled by
devotees through the streets of the city.
Pilgrimage is an important feature of Hindu religious life. There are hundreds of sacred places in
India where the faithful can go to participate in temple festivals and religious fairs and to bathe in
sacred rivers. The most important sacred places are Banaras (Varanasi), Hardwar, Mathura, and
Allahabad in northern India; and Madura, Kancheepuram, and Ujjain in central and southern India.
The calendar of festivals varies from one part of India to another. Perhaps the most widely
celebrated festival is Divali, held in late October or early November. It is primarily a New Year
festival but has other special significance in different regions. During Divali, ceremonial clay lamps
are lit, presents are exchanged, and prayers are typically addressed to Lakshmi, the goddess of
wealth and good fortune. Holi, a spring festival, is marked by street dancing and processions,
bonfires, and generally unrestrained festivities. Celebrants throw colored powders at each other and
squirt each other with colored water. Other popular festivals include Dashara, celebrated by north
Indian Vaishnavas; the Ganapati Festival of Maharashtra; the Dolayatra, or Swing Festival, of
Orissa; and Pongal, the Rice-Boiling Festival, of southern India.
Scriptures
There are two main categories of Hindu scriptures, sruti, or divinely revealed works, and smriti,
traditional works of acknowledged human authorship. All of the sruti literature is in Sanskrit, the
language of ancient India; the smriti literature uses both Sanskrit and regional vernacular languages.
The major sruti work is the Veda (``Wisdom'') composed between 1500 b.c. and 900 b.c. The Rig-
Veda, the first of four parts of the Veda, contains hymns addressed to the male gods who were
worshiped in India at the time. The other Vedas contain various ritual formulas, charms, spells, and
incantations. Between 800 b.c. and 600 b.c. a series of prose expositions were written on the four
Vedas. Known as the Brahmanas, they deal in meticulous detail with complex sacrificial rites
surrounding worship of the Vedic gods. About 600 b.c. a number of further commentaries called
Aranyakas appeared. They explore the symbolic meanings of the Brahmanic rituals and suggest
that knowledge of the meaning of ritual is more important than its correct performance. Over a long
period, from before the latest Brahmanas until well after the latest Aranyakas, a series of writings
known as Upanishads were composed. Although the Upanishads are not entirely consistent in their
philosophical position, they stress the concepts that still dominate. Hinduism today: the allpervasiveness of brahman, the unity of brahman and atman, the doctrines of karma and the
transmigration of souls, and the theme of escape from rebirth. This entire body of literature, Vedas,
Brahmanas, Aranyakas, Upanishads, is sacred. In many regions of India it is in the exclusive
custody of the Brahmins and may not even be seen by people of lower caste.
Unlike the divinely revealed sruti literature, the smriti works may be read by anyone. Most are either
sutras, brief aphorisms compiled for easy memorization, or shastras, treatises elaborating a variety
of topics. The Hindu goals of artha, kama, and dharma are represented by the Arthashastra of
Kautilya, a treatise on kingship and the exercise of power, the Kamasutra of Vatsyayana, a text on
sexual pleasure, and numerous Dharmashastras, codes of law and morality by Manu, Baudhayana,
Yajnavalkya, and others.
The two most popular portions of smriti literature are the epic poems Mahabharata and Ramayana.
Both were composed over a long period of time from a blend of folk legends with many philosophical
interpolations. The Mahabharata tells the story of a dynastic struggle and a great war. It contains
within it the Bhagavad-Gita (``Song of the Lord'' ), one of the most important of all Hindu writings.
The Gita, as it is often called, takes the form of a sermon by Krishna and outlines the fundamentals
of the three paths to salvation, jñana, karma, and bhakti. The Ramayana tells of the adventures of
Rama and his wife Sita. The epic is full of action, including a kidnapping of Sita by a demon and her
dramatic rescue by Rama and his friend Hanuman, the monkey-headed god. Its ethical content is
great and it is the most popular scripture in the villages of India. Its stories are often given dramatic
and dance presentations.
Other Hindu literature includes the Puranas (``Ancient Stories''), collections of legendary material
and religious instruction, and devotional literature. Two famous Vaishnava works in these categories
are the Bhagavata Purana, which recounts the life and teachings of Krishna, and the Gita Govinda,
a Bengali work that describes Krishna's love for Radha.