Hindu Scriptures

All major religions are based upon a specific set of

teachings encoded in sacred scripture. Christianity

has the Bible, for example, and Islam has the Koran.

Hinduism proudly embraces an incredibly rich collection of

scripture; in fact, the largest body of sacred texts known to man.

The holiest and most revered are the Vedas and Agamas, two

massive compendia of shruti (that which is “heard”), revealed

by God to illumined sages centuries and millennia ago. It is said

the Vedas are general and the Agamas specific, as the Agamas

speak directly to the details of worship, the yogas, mantra, tantra,

temple building and such. The most widely known part of

the Vedas are the Upanishads, which form the more general

philosophical foundations of the faith.

The array of secondary scripture, known as smriti (that which

is “remembered”), is equally vast, the most prominent and widely

celebrated of which are the Itihasas (epic dramas and history—

specifically the Ramayana and Mahabharata) and the Puranas

(sacred history and mythology). The ever-popular Bhagavad

Gita is a small portion of the Mahabharata. The Vedic arts and

sciences, including ayurveda, astrology, music, dance, architecture,

statecraft, domestic duty and law, are reflected in an

assembly of texts known as Vedangas and Upavedas. Moreover,

through the ages God-Realized souls, sharing their experience,

have poured forth volume upon volume that reveal the wonders

of yoga and offer passionate hymns of devotion and illumination.

The creation of Hindu scripture continues to this day, as contemporary

masters reiterate the timeless truths to guide souls on the

path to Divinity.

A clear sign that a person is a Hindu is that he embraces Hindu

scripture as his guide and solace through life. While the Vedas are

accepted by all denominations, each lineage defines which other

scriptures are regarded as central and authoritative for its followers.

Further, each devotee freely chooses and follows one or more

favorite scriptures within his tradition, be it a selection of Upanishads,

the Bhagavad Gita, the Tirumantiram or the writings of

his own guru. This free-flowing, diversified approach to scripture

is unique to the Hindu faith. Scripture here, however, does not

have the same place as it does in many other faiths. For genuine

spiritual progress to take place, its wisdom must not be merely

studied and preached, but lived and experienced as one’s own.

The Nature of God

What is the nature of God in Hinduism is a question

that defies a facile answer, for in the Hindu

family of faiths each has its own perspective on

the Supreme Being, and its own Deity or Deities. For this reason,

Hinduism may, to an outsider, appear polytheistic—a term

avidly employed as a criticism of choice, as if the idea of many

Gods were primitive and false. For the Hindu the many Gods

in no way impair the principle of the oneness of Reality. Further

complexity and confusion have been introduced with the diaspora,

that phenomenon of recent history that has, for the first

time, spread Hindus throughout the globe. Outside their native

soil, groups of mixed Hindu backgrounds have tended to bring

the Deities of all traditions together under one roof in order to

create a place of worship acceptable, and affordable, to all. This

is something that does not happen in India. This all-Gods-underone-

roof phenomenon is confusing, even to many Hindus, and it

tends to lend credence to the polytheistic indictment. Nevertheless,

ask any Hindu, and he will tell you that he worships the

One Supreme Being, just as do Christians, Jews, Muslims and

those of nearly all major faiths. The Hindu will also tell you

that, indeed, there is only one Supreme God. If he is a Saivite,

he calls that God Siva. If a Shakta Hindu, he will adore Devi,

the Goddess, as the ultimate Divinity. If a Vaishnava Hindu, he

will revere Vishnu. If he is a Smarta Hindu, he will worship as

supreme one chosen from a specific pantheon of Gods. Thus,

contrary to prevailing misconceptions, Hindus all worship a one

Supreme Being, though by different names. This is because the

diverse peoples of India, with different languages and cultures,

have, through the longest existing religious history, understood

the one God in their own distinct ways. Analogously, India is

the only nation with fourteen official languages on its paper currency.

All those names don’t change the value of the note!

A crucial point that is often overlooked is that having one Supreme

God does not repudiate the existence of lesser Divinities.

Just as Christianity acknowledges great spiritual beings who

dwell near God, such as the cherubim and seraphim, who have

both human and animal features, so Hindus revere Mahadevas, or

“great angels,” who were created by the Supreme Lord and who

serve and adore Him. Each denomination worships the Supreme

God and its own pantheon of divine beings. The elephant-faced

Lord Ganesha is among the most popular, and is perhaps the only

Deity worshiped by Hindus of all denominations. Other Deities

include Gods and Goddesses of strength, yoga, learning, art, music,

wealth and culture. There are also minor divinities, village

Gods and Goddesses, who are invoked for protection, health and

such mundane matters as a fruitful harvest.

Each denomination identifies its primary Deity as synonymous

with Brahman, the One Supreme Reality exalted in the

lofty Upanishads. There, in the cream of Hinduism’s revealed

scripture, the matter is crystal clear. God is unimaginably transcendent

yet ubiquitously immanent in all things. He is creator

and He is the creation. He is not a remote God who rules from

above, as in Abrahamic faiths, but an intimate Lord who abides

within all as the essence of everything. There is no corner of

creation in which God is not present. He is farther away than

the farthest star and closer than our breath. Hinduism calls God

“the Life of life.” If His presence were to be removed from any

one thing, that thing would cease to exist.

If terms be required, we could characterize this family of faiths

as both monotheistic and henotheistic. Hindus were never polytheistic

in the sense of believing in many equal Gods. Henotheism

(literally, “one God”) better defines the Hindu view. It means

the worship of one Supreme God without denying the existence

of other Gods. Another set of philosophical terms describes God’s

relationship to the universe: panentheism, pantheism and theism.

Hindus believe that God is an all-pervasive reality that animates

the universe. We can see Him in the life shining out of the eyes

of humans and all creatures. This view of God as existing in and

giving life to all things is called panentheism. It differs from the

similar sounding view, pantheism, in which God is the natural

universe and nothing more, immanent but not transcendent. It

also differs from traditional theism in which God is above the

world, apart and transcendent but not immanent. Panentheism

is an all-encompassing concept. It says that God is both in the

world and beyond it, both immanent and transcendent. That is

the highest Hindu view.

Unlike purely monotheistic religions, however, Hinduism tends

to be tolerant and welcoming of religious diversity, embracing a

multiplicity of paths, not asking for conformity to just one. So,

it’s impossible to say all Hindus believe this or that. Some Hindus

give credence only to the formless Absolute Reality as God;

others accept God as personal Lord and Creator. Some venerate

God as male, others as female, while still others hold that God is

not limited by gender, which is an aspect of physical bodies. This

freedom, we could say, makes for the richest understanding and

perception of God in all of Earth’s existing faiths. Hindus accept

all genuine spiritual paths—from pure monism, which concludes

that “God alone exists,” to theistic dualism, which asks, “When

shall I know His Grace?” Each soul is free to find his own way,

whether by devotion, austerity, meditation, yoga or selfless service.

The Nature of Self

The driving imperative to know oneself—to answer the

questions “Who am I?” “Where did I come from?” and

“Where am I going?”—has been the core of all great

religions and schools of philosophy throughout human history.

Hindu teachings on the nature of self are as philosophically

profound as they are pragmatic. We are more than our physical

body, our mind, emotions and intellect, with which we so

intimately identify every moment of our life, but which are temporary,

imperfect and limiting. Our true self is our immortal

soul, or atma, the eternal, perfect and unlimited inner essence,

unseen by the human eye—undetectable by any of the human

senses, which are its tools for living in this physical world.

The Vedas teach that the Divine resides in all beings. Our true,

spiritual essence is, like God, eternal, blissful, good, wise and

beautiful by nature. The joining of Brahman, or God, and the

atman, or soul, is known as yoga, a Sanskrit word that shares

the same root as the English word yoke. We spend so much of

knowing that these objects of our desire are already within us as

attributes of our own soul. If we turn our focus within through

worship and meditation, identifying with our true spiritual self,

we can discover an infinite inner treasure that easily rivals the

greatest wealth of this world.

Personal spiritual development is enhanced through understanding

the closely related processes of karma and reincarnation.

The individual soul undergoes repeated cycles of birth,

death and rebirth. This is known as the wheel of samsara. During

each earthly manifestation, an individual’s karma (literally

“work” or “actions”) determines his future psycho-physical state.

Every ethically good act results, sooner or later, in happiness

and spiritual development; whereas ethically wrong actions end

in loss and sorrow. Thus, the principle of karma is an idea that

celebrates freedom, since at every moment we are free to create

our future states of existence through our present actions and

states of consciousness. This philosophical worldview encourages

followers of Hinduism to live happily, morally, consciously and

humbly, following the Eternal Way.

Hinduism is a mystical religion, leading the devotee to personally

experience the Truth within, finally reaching the pinnacle

of consciousness where the realization is attained that man and

God are one. As divine souls, we are evolving into union with

God through the process of reincarnation. We are immortal souls

living and growing in the great school of earthly experience in

which we have lived many lives. Knowing this gives followers

a great security, eliminating the fear and dread of death. The

Hindu does not take death to be the end of existence, as does

the atheist. Nor does he, like Western religionists, look upon life

as a singular opportunity, to be followed by eternal heavenly existence

for those souls who do well, and by unending hell for

those who do not. Death for the Hindu is merely a moment of

transition from this world to the next, simultaneously an end and

a new beginning. The actions and reactions we set in motion in

our last life form our tendencies in the next.

Despite the heartening glory of our true nature spoken of in

scripture, most souls are unaware of their spiritual self. This ignorance

or “veiling grace” is seen in Hinduism as God’s purposeful

limiting of awareness, which allows us to evolve. It is this

narrowing of our awareness, coupled with a sense of individualized

ego, that allows us to look upon the world and our part in it

from a practical, human point of view. Without the world, known

as maya, the soul could not evolve through experience. The ultimate

goal of life, in the Hindu view, is called moksha, liberation

from rebirth. This comes when earthly karma has been resolved,

dharma has been well performed and God is fully realized. All

souls are destined to achieve the highest states of enlightenment,

perfect spiritual maturity and liberation, but not necessarily in

this life. Hindus understand this and do not delude themselves

that this life is the last. While seeking and attaining profound

realizations, they know there is much to be done in fulfilling

life’s other three goals: dharma, righteousness; artha, wealth; and

kama, pleasure.

In some Hindu traditions, the destiny of the soul after liberation

is perceived as eternal and blissful enjoyment of God’s presence

in the heavenly realms, a form of salvation given by God

through grace, similar to most Abrahamic faiths. In others, the

soul’s destiny is perfect union in God, a state of undifferentiated

oneness likened to a river returning to its source, the sea, and

becoming one with it—either immediately upon death, or following

further evolution of the soul in the inner worlds. For still

others, the ultimate state has no relationship with a Godhead,

but is understood as undifferentiated oneness without form or

being, a return or merger in the infinite All, somewhat akin to

the Buddhist’s nirvana.

Hinduism in Practice

H induism’s three pillars are temple worship, scripture and

the guru-disciple tradition, around which all spiritual

disciplines revolve. These include prayer, meditation

and ritual worship in the home and temple, study of scripture, recitation

of mantras, pilgrimage to holy places, austerity, selfless service,

generous giving, the various yogas, and following good conduct.

Festivals and singing of holy hymns are dynamic activities.

Hindu temples, whether they be small village sanctuaries or

towering citadels, are esteemed as God’s consecrated abode. In

the temple Hindus draw close to the Divine and find a refuge

from the world. God’s grace, permeating everywhere, is most

easily known within these holy precincts. It is in this purified

milieu that the three worlds—physical, astral and causal—commune

most perfectly, that devotees can establish harmony with

inner-plane spiritual beings. Traditional temples are specially

sanctified, possessing a ray of spiritual energy connecting them

to the celestial worlds.

Temple rituals, performed by Hindu priests, take the form of

puja, a ceremony in which the ringing of bells, passing of flames,

presenting of offerings and intoning of chants invoke the devas

and Gods, who then come to bless and help the devotees. Personal

worship during puja may be an expression of festive celebration

of important events in life, of adoration and thanksgiving,

penance and confession, prayerful supplication and requests, or

contemplation and the deepest levels of superconsciousness. The

stone or metal Deity images enshrined in the temple are not

mere symbols of the Gods; they are the form through which

their love, power and blessings flood forth into this world. Devout

Hindus adore the image as the Deity’s physical body, knowing

that the God or Goddess is actually present and conscious in it

during puja, aware of devotee’s thoughts and feelings and even

sensing the priest’s gentle touch on the metal or stone.

Hindus consider it most important to live near a temple, as it

is the center of spiritual life. It is here, in God’s home, that the

devotee nurtures his relationship with the Divine. Not wanting

to stay away too long, he visits weekly and strives to attend each

major festival, and to pilgrimage to a far-off temple annually for

special blessings and a break from his daily concerns.

For the Hindu, the underlying emphasis of life is on making

spiritual progress, while also pursuing one’s family and professional

duties and goals. He is conscious that life is a precious,

fleeting opportunity to advance, to bring about inner transformation,

and he strives to remain ever conscious of this fact. For him

work is worship, and his faith relates to every department of life.

Hinduism’s spiritual core is its holy men and women—millions

of sadhus, yogis, swamis, vairagis, saints and satgurus who

have dedicated their lives to full-time service, devotion and God

Realization, and to proclaiming the eternal truths of Sanatana

Dharma. In day-to-day life, perhaps no facet of dharma is as

crucial as the spiritual teacher, or satguru. These holy men and

women are a living spiritual force for the faithful. They are the

inspirers and interpreters, the personal guides who, knowing

God themselves, can bring devotees into God consciousness. In

all Hindu communities there are gurus who personally look after

the spiritual practices and progress of devotees. Such preceptors

are equally revered whether they are men or women. In few

other religions are women allowed such access to the highest

seats of reverence and respect.

Within the Hindu way is a deeply rooted desire to lead a productive,

ethical life. Among the many virtues instilled in followers

are truthfulness, fidelity, contentment and avoidance of greed, lust

and anger. A cornerstone of dharma is ahimsa, noninjury toward

all beings. Vedic rishis who revealed dharma proclaimed ahimsa

as the way to achieve harmony with our environment, peace between

people and compassion within ourselves. Devout followers

tend to be vegetarians and seek to protect the environment.

Selfless service, seva, to God and humanity is widely pursued as

a way of softening the ego and drawing close to the Divine. Charity,

dana, is expressed though myriad philanthropic activities.

Hindus wear sectarian marks, called tilaka, on their foreheads

as sacred symbols, distinctive insignia of their heritage. They prefer

cremation of the body upon death, rather than burial, knowing

that the soul lives on and will inhabit a new body on Earth.

Perhaps one of this faith’s most refreshing characteristics is

that it encourages free and open thought. Scriptures and gurus

encourage followers to inquire and investigate into the nature

of Truth, to explore worshipful, inner and meditative regimens

to directly experience the Divine. This openness is at the root

of Hinduism’s famed tolerance of other cultures, religions and

points of view, capsulated in the adage, Ekam sat viprah bahuda

vadanti, meaning “Truth is one, the wise describe it in different

ways.” The Hindu is free to choose his path, his way of

approaching the Divine, and he can change it in the course of

his lifetime. There is no heresy or apostasy in Hinduism. This,

coupled with Hinduism’s natural inclusiveness, gives little room

for fanaticism, fundamentalism or closed-mindedness anywhere

within the framework of Hinduism. It has been aptly called a

threshold, not an enclosure.

There is a false concept, commonly found in academic texts,

that Hinduism is world-negating. This depiction was foisted

upon the world by 19th-century Western missionary Orientalists

traveling in India for the first time and reporting back

about its starkest and strangest aspects, not unlike what Western

journalists tend to do today. The wild-looking, world-renouncing

yogis, taking refuge in caves, denying the senses and thus the

world, were of sensational interest, and their world-abandonment

became, through the scholars’ eyes, characteristic of the entire

religion. While Sanatana Dharma proudly upholds such severe

ways of life for the few, it is very much a family oriented faith.

The vast majority of followers are engaged in family life, firmly

grounded in responsibilities in the world. Hinduism’s essential,

time-tested monastic tradition makes it no more world-negating

than Christianity or Buddhism, which likewise have traditions

of renunciate men and women living apart from the world in

spiritual pursuits. Young Hindu adults are encouraged to marry;

marriages are encouraged to yield an abundance of children;

children are guided to live in virtue, fulfill duty and contribute to

the community. The emphasis is not on self-fulfillment and freedom

but on the welfare of the community, as expressed in the

phrase, Bahujan hitaya, bahujan sukhaya, meaning “the welfare

of the many and the happiness of the many.”

 

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