In Hinduism, animism and polytheism, pantheism, panentheism and henotheism, dualism, monotheism and pure monism exist side by side. The communication with gods can be done through elaborate rituals, through trance, through Yoga and asceticism, through offerings of animals and through bhakti (devotion). Beliefs in Karma, rebirth and casteism are questionable and not considered as blasphemy. Hindus are free to choose their ishtadevata, the deity to whom they wish to devote themselves fully. They are also free to change their favourite deity. All these factors make one to consider Hinduism as not one religion but a group of distinct Indian religions. The above factors was the reason according to Heinrich Von Stietencron for Hinduism to create a culture of accepted diversity, able to develop generous liberality and tolerance between religions and ideologies to a degree which civilizations based on Judaism, Christianity and Islam were never able to achieve.
Hinduism, a Parliament of Religions
Even from very early times, there had existed in India side by side with the Vedic religion, several popular tribal religions. The gods and goddesses of these tribal people were different from the the divinities of the official Vedic divinities. So also the religious practices of the tribal religion were different from the Vedic religious practices.
There were pre Vedic gods like Pashupati – Yogishvara, Sivan, Sharva, Bhava, the cult of Mother Goddess. These gods were worshipped in the form of an image, or a carved figure or some other concrete symbol and were offered bali in the form of blood of animals. Yoga, penance and austerities, wandering mendicancy, ecstatic conditions engendered through special medicaments constituted some of the main factors of their religious practice which was known as Muni-Yati culture in contrast to the Vedic culture which was the culture of the Rishis. Just like the Vedic texts some literature of the non Vedic religious texts may have been produced in the Vedic age. But as no special efforts as in the case of the Veda were made to preserve it, those texts may have been lost forever.
These popular tribal religions soon came under the spell of Vedism and though they did not actually adopt the religious ideology and practices of Vedism in any appreciable measure they vowed allegiance to the Veda. The decline of Vedism offorded these tribal religions to assert themselves and even Vedism in order to meet the challenge of the heterodox movement encouraged these popular religions to a certain extent. Consequently most of the popular religions, with their variety of gods and religious practices came to be organised into one single but multi-charactered whole, which was held together by means of the thin thread of their allegiance to the Veda. This is the genesis of Hinduism.
Hence according to R.N.Dandekar, Hinduism in its origin was verily a parliament of religions, over which the Veda formally presided but whose normal functions like any other presiding authority in modern parliamentary systems, it does not seem to have noticeably influenced.
Hinduism has no trace of Vedic influence
The Vedic texts contain no Hindu dogma, no basis for a creed of Hinduism, no clear guidelines for the Hindu way of life. It may suffice to recall here the cyclical world-view, the doctrine of Karma and rebirth, the ethical principle of ahimsa and the soteriology of final liberation for all of these, the oldest and most fundamental Vedic texts provide no clear identifiable basis. The Hindu pantheon, the forms of worship and devotion (bhakti) and the temple cult are not Vedic. Some of the prominent features of Hinduism like bathing in holy rivers (Kumbh mela), taking out religious processions (rath yatra), celebrating festivals, collective singing (kirtana) are all alien to Vedic cult.
Many popular religious ceremonies participated by all sections of the Hindu society including Brahmins have nothing to do with Vedic cult. For instance in Karnataka, Bhutaradhane (worship of spirits), Nagaradhane (worship of Nagas), Karaga (pot worship), all had its genesis among the non-Brahmin communities.
Orthodox Brahmins were opposed to temple worship
Image worship was essentially non-Vedic in origin and was adopted by the Brahmin priests when Vedic sacrifices became too expensive and went out of vogue. Yet the orthodox Brahmanas looked down upon such priests and Manu states that the temple priests should not be invited to a sacrifice offered to the gods and manes. He regards the food given to them as wasted, a later text goes further and forbids the people to touch, or speak to, those who live on temple service. The excuse for despising the temple priests given by the orthodox Vedicists was that they (the temple priests) degraded religious devotion by making it a means of livelihood. But it should be noted that the Vedic priests themselves accepted big amounts of wealth as fees for sacrifices performed for their patron. Hence the main reason for criticising the temple priests was due to their being the custodians of non-Vedic traditions. The Samba Purana mentions that temple priests denounced the code of Manu which shows that originally the temple priests did not accept the social rules of Manu but followed a different tradition and this may be one of the reasons for their unfavourable position in the orthodox texts. Though from around 400 B.C. the use of images became popular among all Hindus, the Srauta Brahmins refused to adopt the cult of images. And till some two centuries ago (1800 A.D) there were Srauta Brahmins in existence who had never bowed down to idols. It was only after the identification of Vedic deities with non-Vedic popular divinities that the use of Vedic mantras in the ceremony of worship must have followed. But it remained confined to the members of the upper three varnas.
Brahmin Puranic writers unified and assimilated all cults into a single framework
In India there existed a vast variety of cultures and religions; from the most simple to the most complex or sophisticated. The Puranas played a tremendous role in unifying these cultures and religions. For instance the so called ‘little traditions’ like the influence of forests, worship in temples, worship of Mother goddess, worship of Shiva and Linga, worship of animals and trees and probably the practice of vegetarianism, teetotalism and ahimsa were all assimilated and integrated into a ‘new great tradition’ of Hinduism by the Puranas. The writers of Puranas absorbed and synthesized polaristic religious ideas, multiplex belief systems and cultic tradition and were able to religiously unify all possible classes and segments of society, literate as well as pre literate.
Popular Gods of Hinduism are all non-Vedic gods
Prominent gods of present day Hinduism like Shiva, Rama, Krishna, Jagannatha of Puri, Venkateshwara/Balaji of Tirupathi, Vittala of Pandrapura, Ayyappa of Sabarimalai, Muruga/Skanda/Subramanya, Ganesha, Hanuman, Durga, Kamakya Devi and a host of other gods and goddess are all non-Vedic gods. For instance Shiva called Rudra in Rigveda is referred as a relentless destroyer of sacrificial rites, a war-lord and cattle lifter. It is this Rudra who gets absorbed in Shiva. In the process of becoming Mahadeva, Shiva had also absorbed numerous other contradictory cultic male and female deities by the time of the Puranas like Ganapati, Muruga, Manasa, Durga, Amba who were deities specifically associated with tribals residing in forested and hilly areas. Another prominent god of modern day Hinduism, Vishnu absorbed and appropriated Balarama, the haladhara, god of agriculturalists, the cowherd god Gopala Krishna, Narayana, Jagannatha, Venkateshwara and numerous totemic cults through the unique mechanism of avataras (incarnation).
Avatara theory synthesised gods of various cults
The Avatara theory may be regarded as a major factor in the religious synthesis brought about by Hinduism. Originally, the different divinities like Rama, Krishna, Parashurama, etc., seem to have been the gods of different religious cults. In course of time when these cults federated themselves to form what came to be known as Hinduism, some kind of unity of godhead was sought to be achieved by those gods being represented as the incarnations of a one single god Vishnu. This also helped to elevate the status of the objects of worship of certain primitive cults.
Brahmins themselves disowned their gods
The Purana writers especially those who had a leaning towards Vaishnavism denigrated the Vedic gods to extol and elevate their own particular god. As Indra the Vedic god stood in the way of the ascendency of Vishnu, they distorted the Vedic accounts of Indra and even fabricated new stories to bring Indra into disrepute. Similarly false stories about Brahma, the gods of Brahmins were invented by the Purana writers affiliated to Shaiva and Vaishnava cults to belittle and disgrace him in the eyes of the devotees. The writers of Puranas were Sanskrit knowing scholarly Brahmins. If Gods like Indra, the popular and foremost god of Vedic Brahmins and Brahma were shown in poor light in the Puranas, it means that some section of the Brahmin community had lost charm with their gods and found gods of other religious cults appealing. So much so that they not only incorporated tribal deities but also some of their prominent physical traits and iconic features along with rituals and mythical beliefs connected with them. For instance, the image of Lord Jagannatha of Puri is known to manifest distinctly tribal features and continues to be crafted of wood; while Dattatreya is found to be represented in the Puranas as a forester given to strong spirituous liquor and who according to Markandeya Purana (xix.10-12) has to be worshipped with the offerings of meat, wine, perfume and garlands to the accompaniment of music. Spirituous liquor is said to be a weakness of yet another incarnation of Vishnu, namely Balarama.
Reasons for insisting Vedic origin of Hinduism
In spite of glaring evidence which proves that Hinduism has nothing to do with Vedism, many Hindus especially orthodox Brahmins insist that Hinduism is nothing but Vedism. This is because having spent a considerable time in memorising the Vedas with great effort, the truth that it has nothing to do with Hinduism will make their knowledge irrelevant and themselves jobless. Moreover many Brahmin mutts teach Vedas to children who spent nearly ten to twelve years memorizing the mantras and studying the Vedangas texts. The government provides grants to many of these mutts and it is a source of livelihood for many pandits. Many rich Hindus also provide donations to these mutts (though they send their children to convent schools and universities abroad). While disowning the Vedic background of Hinduism will affect the livelihood of a few people, its acceptance would give anti-Hindu forces lot of ammunition to criticise Hinduism and break unity among Hindus by harping on issues like caste discrimination, restriction imposed on Shudras to study Vedas, contents in the Manu Smrti wherein Shudras are degraded, etc., all features restricted only to the Vedic cult, but could now be used to defame Hinduism when identified with Vedism.
Disparaging Hinduism means disparaging the OBCs and Dalits
Many people make derogatory remarks against Hinduism thinking that it is a religion of Brahmins. But the fact is Hinduism comprises various religious cults and sects founded by non-Brahmins and Tribals. Hence criticizing Hinduism means abusing the ancestors of present day OBCs and Dalits. It should be noted that the role of Brahmins in Hinduism was that of a synthesizer, who brought all diverse and local cults under an all-India Sanskritized frame-work. His other role was that of a custodian of temples (constructed and patronized by non-Brahmins), the responsibility of which was handed over willingly by the non-Brahmins themselves.
Reference
P.L.Bhargava – The Origin and development of Puranas and their relations with Vedic Literature, ABORI, vol – 58/59, Diamond Jubilee Volume, 1977-78
R.N.Dandekar - Hinduism and the Bhagavad Gita: A fresh approach, Journal of the Oriental Institute, M.S. University of Baroda, vol – xii, No.3, March 1963, p.233
R.N.Dandekar – Early Indian Philosophy – Some Casual Reflections, ABORI, vol-75
R.N.Dandekar – God in Hindu Thought, ABORI, vol 48/49. Golden Jubilee, 1968
Surabhi Sheth – Religion and Society in the Brahma Purana, Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, 1979
Vijay Nath – From Brahmanism to Hinduism: Negotiating the Myth of the Great Tradition, Social Scientist, vol – 29, No 3/4, March-April 2001
Krishna Mohan Shrimali – The Formation of Religious Identities in India, Social Scientist, vol – 45, No 5/6 May-June 2017
Wilhelm Halbfass – Tradition and Reflection Explorations in Indian Thought, State University of New York Press, 1991 ,pp: 1,2
Suvira Jaiswal – Origin of image worship and its rituals, Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol – 28, 1967
J.N.Farquhar – Temple and Image Worship in Hinduism, The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, No.1, January 1928
Heinrich Von Stietencron – Hinduism: On the Proper use of a Deceptive Term in Gunther – Dietz Sontheimer, Hermann Kulke Edited: Hinduism Reconsidered, Manohar, New Delhi, 2001
No comments:
Post a Comment