Hinduism

Hinduism. It is one of the most widespread and important religions in the world, not only because of its number of followers (estimated at more than 800 million individuals), but also because of the profound influence it has exerted on many other religions during its long and uninterrupted history. which began more or less in 1500 BC. n. and.

Summary

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• 1 History
• 2 Etymology of the word
• 3 Fundamental principles
• 4 Doctrines
• 5 Gods
• 6 Cults and rituals
• 7 Sources

History

Hinduism, one of the original religions of India – the others being Buddhism , Yainism and Sikhism – whose inhabitants continue to profess them today. Its faithful practice them even when they have emigrated from that country to the rest of the world. It has no founder, it is not a homogeneous religion or a philosophy , but rather a set of metaphysical, religious beliefs, cults, rites, moral principles and customs that make up a common tradition, in which there are neither defined dogmas nor a central organization.

In what is called “Hinduism” different and even contradictory conceptions of divinity, the human being and the world come together, coexisting peacefully in a common religious tradition, called in Sanskrit: sanātana dharma (eternal religion). What is important is not so much the doctrinal content, but rather the correct behavior, the correct ritual, well-lived religiosity.

This religion has been influenced by other religions because it has an extraordinary capacity to absorb and integrate foreign elements, contributing significantly to the syncretism of the religion and the assimilation of a great variety of religious beliefs and practices. It has been given the character of a doctrinal and social system which extends to all aspects of human life.

Etymology of the word

In an inscription in the Avestan language , from the time of the rule of King  Darius I (in 500 BC ), the form hindūś [jindúsh] is mentioned , which is the Persian version of the Sanskrit word sindhu (‘ river ‘, referring par excellence to the great river Indus ). The Persians used that name to refer to those who lived in the lands beyond (further east) of the Indus River. That’s where the word “Hindu” comes from, from which the name of the Hindu religion is derived. When Muslims from Persia and Central Asia conquered India in the 11th century , this Hindu name also began to be used in India.

Hindus define themselves as dharmis (‘religious’), vedis (‘those who are governed by the Veda texts ‘) or varnásrami (‘those who are classified into [four] castes [varna] and are governed by the [ four] stages of life [asrama] ‘).

In the strict sense of the word, in Spanish, “Hindu” does not mean the same as “Indian”, although the former is often confused with the latter.

The term has always referred to the person who professes Hinduism regardless of his nationality, while the native of the country India (or Hindustan) is called Indian or Hindustani. However, according to what is established by the RAE (Royal Spanish Academy), the term “Hindu” refers to both the natural person of India and the person who professes Hinduism.

The term “Hinduist” was also created to refer to an exclusively religious context. In some Latin American countries, because the word “Indian” is used pejoratively and wrongly to refer to the natives of the American continent, “Hindu” is sometimes used as a demonym for a person born in India. The SAR accepts this as valid, as long as there is no possibility of confusion (which could represent an offense to Muslim Hindustanis or those of other religions).

According to the definitions of the Dictionary of the Spanish Language (of the RAE), “Hindu” has two meanings:

1. and COM. From India or relating to this Asian country.
2. Follower of Hinduism: Hindus are the religious majority in India.

The plural of the adjective “Hindu” is Hindus or Hindus.

Fundamental principles

The norms of Hinduism are defined in relation to what people do: within Hinduism there is greater uniformity in actions than in beliefs.

• Hindus are divided into four castes, or well-defined social strata:
  • brahmins ,priests
  • the ksatria(chatrías), warriors and rulers
  • the vaisias, landowners, ranchers and merchants
  • the sudras, laborers who worked for food and shelter, generally darker skinned, descendants of the local tribes conquered by the Aryans in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. n. and.
  • the pariahs, untouchable slaves, generally black-skinned, outcasts.
• Hindus of the first three classes mentally recite the secret Gaiatrihymn at dawn, at noon and at dusk.
• They worship Siva, Vishnu and the goddess Devi through simple rituals – based on the complicated rituals of temples – but they also worship other minor deities, such as Ganesh , Kali , Suria .
• There are practices such as worshiping brahminsand cows .
• The prohibition of eating meat (especially cow).
• Marrying only a member of the same caste (jati) in the hope of having a male heir.

Each individual perceives a model for living that they must follow and that gives order and meaning to their life. In Hinduism there is no doctrinal or ecclesiastical hierarchy, but the complicated social stratification, inseparable from religion, gives each person the feeling of occupying a position within this enormous human group.

Doctrines

The spiritual origin of Hinduism is found in the Rig-veda (the oldest text in India, composed orally around 1500 BC ) by the so-called rishis (anonymous and more or less mythical religious men and poets). Starting from the original Veda , in the following centuries three other Vedas were created – the Sama-veda , the Iáyur-veda and the Atharva-veda – whose texts revert the original hymns. They were composed orally – the Indians did not invent writing (which was already used in other, older civilizations, such as Ancient Egypt and Sumeria ) until 500 BC. n. e.― in Vedic Sanskrit, the sacred language of India. The hymns of the Vedas do not contain any philosophical doctrine, they ignore reincarnation, meditation and spiritual liberation, nor do they speak of a transcendent soul. The center of the religious life of people in Vedic culture was based on the sacrifices of animals (such as cows and goats) to the gods Indra , Varuna and Mitra .

In the hymn “Purusha-sukta” of the Rig-veda a very ancient version (prior to the second millennium BC) of how the world was created is presented, which possibly refers to a time of human sacrifices. The world was created through the bloody slaughter of a primeval god, the Purusha, who was forgotten in later myths. The priests, after killing it, ritually cut its parts and with them create each part of the world.

The Brahmin priests did not have any philosophical doctrine: they only knew about complicated rituals to kill animals. Kings and warriors, on the other hand, passed on ideas about the existence of a transcendent soul from generation to generation, and in response to the question about good and evil, they created the doctrine of reincarnation.

At some point in the 7th century BC. n. and. The idea of ​​ahimsa began to spread among the wise hermits – which four centuries later would give rise to the creation of Buddhism by Buddha – and new texts, the Upanishads , were attached to the Vedas , which did not have the form of hymns and which They presented questions and answers from these great sages regarding philosophical topics. Gradually the ritualism of the Vedas was put aside, and the language in which they were pronounced – Vedic Sanskrit, which is similar to Indo-Iranian languages ​​such as Avestan – was transformed into Classical Sanskrit and Prakrit.

The Upanishads contain the spiritual message of Hinduism. They have guided and inspired Hindus for the last 25 centuries, according to the advice given in their verses:

Taking the great weapon of the Upanishad as a bow , you must place upon it an arrow sharpened by meditation , stretch it with a thought directed to the essence of That and penetrate, my friend, that imperishable like the target.

The Upanishads consider the Vedic gods to be secondary to a transcendent and incomprehensible god, Brahman . Since then, the basis of all Hinduism is the idea that the plethora of things and events that surround human beings are nothing but different manifestations of that ultimate reality. Brahman is the unifying concept that gives Hinduism its character of unity, despite the worship of various gods. It is the final reality, the inner essence (the soul) of all things. It is infinite and beyond any concept; It cannot be understood by the intellect nor can it be adequately described in words:

Brahman, beginningless, supreme: beyond what is and beyond what is not. Incomprehensible is that supreme soul, unlimited, unborn, which cannot be rationalized, unthinkable.

The Bhagavad-gita (which is just a few chapters of the extensive epic-mythological book Mahabharata (from the 3rd century BC) describes three paths to achieve religious realization:

• the path of activity or karma(acts of sacrifice and rituals are mentioned here),
• the path of knowledge or gñana(the Upanisadic meditation of divinity) and
• the path of devotion to God or bhakti, a religious ideal that came to combine and make the other two paths a more transcendent path.

The Upanishads managed to reconcile Vedantic monism with Vedic polytheism by creating the concept that all individual gods (said to be part of the sa-guna Brahman, ‘God with attributes’) are subject to the universal spirit (the nir- guna Brahman, ‘God without attributes’), from which all emanate. Therefore, most Hindus pay tribute (through bhakti) to gods whom they worship in rituals (through karma) and whom they understand (through gnana) as aspects of the ultimate reality, the reflection material of which everything that exists is a Mayan illusion created by God by far.

Gods

The four-headed god Brahma is the mythical creator of the world.

The triple manifestation of the supreme God, known as the Hindu trinity (Trimurti), are Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, creator, preserver and destroyer respectively. Although these are the main gods, the Hindu pantheon has an incredible 330 million gods. Each god has multiple avatars. An avatar is a reincarnation of the god on earth.

Although Hindus recognize the existence and importance of many gods and demigods, the majority of the faithful are, first of all, devotees of a single god or goddess; Among these, the most popular are Siva, Vishnu and the Goddess (Devi).

The four-armed god Vishnu.

• Vishnu: is the Hindu god of preservation and goodness, he is worshiped as a god who is everywhere (supreme god for his worshipers), the god from whose navel a lotus flower sprouted, giving birth to the creator (Brahma) . Vishnu created the Universe, separating heaven from earth. He is also worshiped in the form of many avatars, gods who descend into the world (or incarnations, in a rough sense). Many of them are animals that often appear in Hindu iconography: the fish, the turtle and the pig.

shiva

• Siva: embodies the apparently contradictory aspects of the god of the ascetics and the phallic god, whose symbol (the lingam or phallus) constitutes the central and sacrosanct point of all the temples dedicated to him and all the homes of his worshipers; It is said that her priapism of him was the result of her castration of him, with the consequent worship of the disembodied phallic symbol of him. In addition to this, it is said that Siva would have been present on Earth in different human, animal and plant forms.
• Nara-Simja, an avatar of Vishnu as ‘lion-man’, who disemboweled the demon Jirania-Kashipú and devoured him.
• Buddha, atheist religious who fought against Hinduism, and whom the Hindus turned into a secret avatar of Vishnu who incarnated in order to teach a false doctrine to pious people born in demonic families).

Devi or Durga.

• Rama, the hero god-king of the Ramaiana ).
• Krishna, the hero shepherd-king, created in the Mahabharata (300 BC) and developed in the Bhágavata-purana (1100 BC). According to the Vishnuists, Krishna is an avatar of Vishnu, but according to the Vishnuists of Bengal (or Krishnaists), Krishna is the original god from whom Vishnu and all the avatars were produced.
• Devi(the ‘goddess’): in some myths, Devi is the first to propose movement, action, leading the group of male gods to carry out the tasks of creation and destruction. She is also shown as Durga, whom no one can approach, who in the great battle kills Majisha , the buffalo demon. In many tantric cults, this Goddess is identified with Kali .

There are also more peaceful representations of the Goddess, usually in the form of the wives of the most important gods: Many of the local goddesses of India – such as Manasha (the snake goddess in Bengal) and Minakshi (in Madurai ) – are married to gods, while others like Shitala , goddess of smallpox , are worshiped on their own. These latter goddesses are feared for their indomitable powers and bad temper, and for their outbursts of anger.

• Laksmi, the submissive and docile wife of Vishnu
• Parvati, wife of Siva and daughter of Mount Himalaya
• Ganga, the great goddess of the Ganges River , who is also worshiped independently; She is said to be one of Siva’s wives.
• Saraswati, the goddess of music and literature and wife and daughter of the four-headed god Brahma; She is associated with the Saraswati River.
• Radha, the chief of the lovers of the teenage god Krishna.

There are some minor gods who are included in the central pantheon because they are identified with the most important gods or with their children or friends.

• Hanuman(the monkey god ) – appears in the Ramayana as Rama’s resourceful assistant at the siege of Lanka. Skanda (the general of the army of the gods) is the son of Siva

Ganesh, the elephant man

• Ganeshaor Ganapati , is the elephant -headed god , god of scribes and merchants, who helps eliminate obstacles; He is fervently invoked at the beginning of any important business.

Cults and rituals

From the most important to the least transcendent of the Hindu gods, it is an object of veneration both in public ceremonies and in the sphere of family intimacy. Given the social bases of Hinduism, the most important acts are those that include rites of passage (samskaras or sacraments).

• Birth and when the child eats solid food (rice) for the first time.
• The first haircut (for a male child).
• Purification after the first menstruation (for a girl).
• Marriage
• The blessing for pregnant women, so that they have a male child and thus ensure a birth without difficulties and that the child survives the first six days after birth, which are the most dangerous (for which they are entrusted to Shashti, the goddess of Six). Traditionally, children under two years of age, in Ayurvedic medicine, are called Kumara (‘die easily’, with ku:‘easy; and mara: ‘die’).
• The last ceremonies are those of death (cremation and, if possible, the ashes being scattered across the Ganges, the sacred river).
• The annual offering to dead ancestors. Of the latter, the most notable is that of the pinda, a ball of rice and sesame seeds given by the eldest son of the deceased, so that the ghost of his father can leave limbo and be reborn.

As part of the daily ritual (usually performed by the wife, who is supposed to have more power to intercede with the gods).

• Hindus offer (puja) fruits and flowers before a small altar installed in the home.
• Offerings to local snakes, trees or dark spirits (benevolent and malevolent) who live in their own garden, at crossroads or in other places in the town considered magical.
• Many towns and cities of different sizes have temples where priests hold ceremonies throughout the day: they pray at dawn and make certain types of sounds to awaken the god who is holy among saints (the garbagriha or mother house); They wash, dress and fan the god, feed him and distribute the remains of the food (prasada) among his worshipers.
• The temple is also a cultural center where songs are sung, sacred texts are read aloud (both in Sanskrit and the common language) and rituals are performed in the evening.
• Generally, once a year and during certain special days, the image of the god travels throughout the cult complex on magnificent carved wooden floats (ratha).

Hindu worshipers at the Ganges River.

• Many sacred places or sanctuaries, such as Rishikeshin the Himalayas or Benares on the Ganges River, are the object of pilgrimage by faithful from all areas of India.
• In Bengal, the visit that the goddess Durga makes to her family and then her return to the side of Siva, her husband, is celebrated every year in Durgapuja. Images of the goddess are reproduced in paper mache, figures that are worshiped for ten days, and later, in a dramatic ceremony held at midnight, they are thrown into the Ganges River. All this is accompanied by the beating of drums and the light of candles.
• Some festivals are celebrated throughout India: Diwali, the festival of lights in early winter, and Joli , the spring carnival, in which different members of all castes mingle, let down their hair and get their hands wet. others with cascades of red dust and water, which probably symbolizes the blood that they may have used centuries ago.