Hinduism in the historic times wasn’t a single religion rather
religion of religions, there were Vedic, Saiva, Vaishnava, Sakta and many more
religious traditions which in combined form got the name Hinduism. Pluralism
is the vein of Hindu tradition – “Ekam Sat Viprah Bahuda Vadanti” i.e. Truth is
one, people call it by many names, this itself reflects the tolerant nature of
this belief system.Hinduism is a synthesis of religion and philosophy, it is
not just a set of religious rituals and codes of conduct, but it’s a way of
life. Moreover, Hinduism has evolved itself wrt space and time, without loosing
its spirit.
Philosophy, mythology, and rituals are three aspects of
every religion. In the words of Swami Vivekananda, “Philosophy…presents the
whole scope of that religion, setting forth its basic principles, the goal and
the means of reaching it. The second part is mythology, which is philosophy
made concrete. It consists of legends relating to the lives of men, or of
supernatural beings, and so forth.…The third part is the ritual. This is still
more concrete and is made up of forms and ceremonies, various physical
attitudes, flowers and incense, and many other things that appeal to the
senses. These rituals which are secondary help to keep the religion alive.
Recently there has been a lot of debate regarding the
rationality behind Hindu rituals and traditions especially Worshipping Idols. Some
say how can the supreme power be reflected through this materialistic element
and some say its not rational to worship idols. Well, Hinduism never claimed
that Idols are Gods rather it says "Every soul is equivalent to God", if one reads
Advaita Vedanta he would know that every soul is Brahma(ultimate reality) and
thereby equivalent to God.
Idols only serve as a reminder of God . The material image
calls up the mental idea of God and helps us meditate. To behold God everywhere
& to practice the presence of God is not possible for the ordinary man. The
mind wants a ‘prop’ to lean upon as it cant have a conception of absolute in
the initial stages. In the beginning meditation is not possible without a
symbol hence an Idol is just a medium to concentrate all our energies in one
direction to enter the next stage where one realises the power within and all metaphysical misconceptions get diluted.
Considering the scope and range of aspects, ethics, virtues
of Hinduism many more articles will follow, this is just the first part of this
series.
( to be
continued….)
