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RST 29.1 (2010) 81–92 Religious Studies and Theology (print) ISSN 0892-2922 doi:10.1558/rsth.v29i1.81 Religious Studies and Theology (online) ISSN 1747-5414

Hinduism and the Global Village

K. R. SUNDARARAJAN

St. Bonaventure University

[email protected]

Abstract

As the world evolves into a “global village,” a community in which people of different religious persuasions, ethnic and cultural diversities function- ing together with common goals is being formed. However, this movement stretches the theological and traditional resources of adherents of religions whose doctrines have hitherto been silent on “believers versus non-believ- ers” or “insiders versus outsiders” relationships. Against this backdrop, this article examines the challenges that Hindus in diaspora-communities face, especially the inevitability of interacting with other members outside the Hindu faith. It is concluded that the notion of a “global village” presents an opportunity to explore the possible resources and dynamism of the Hindu tradition for a community living, where the community is constituted of members of diverse religious groups.

Keywords Hinduism, global village, diaspora communities, identity, Christian fundamentalism

Introduction

My purpose in this article is to look at a positive side of globalization, the notion of a “Global village,” which is still a theoretical construct coming out of the globalization process that has broken barriers of distance and commu- nication, and to look at the theological and traditional resources of a religion such as Hinduism, which has shaped the worldviews of a large number of people of Indian origin, to support such a community where people of differ- ent religious persuasions and ethnic and cultural diversities function together with common purposes and goals. One of the consequence of globalization

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has been the emergence of “diaspora-communities” consisting of people from Asia, Africa, the Middle-East, and South America living in Europe and America, whereas in the “colonial modern period” these diaspora-commu- nities” of Indian origin were seen primarily in British colonial countries in Asia, Africa, and Caribbean regions. One consequence of globalization is that through improved communications the “diaspora-communities” in the modern world are able to reconnect themselves with their “source communi- ties” and authenticate their religious beliefs and practices within a “traditional framework.” This “reconnection” has interestingly enough given rise to what I would describe as “Hindu fundamentalism” in the Western world.

This is however, different from the “Christian fundamentalism” seen in America. Hindu fundamentalism is more focused on removing some of the “Western misunderstandings” of Hinduism due to the Orientalists and even some contemporary scholars with definite “disciplinary biases” in their study of the Hindu tradition. The other side of globalization is the felt need of these diaspora groups to interact with the members of the majority community often at family, social and political levels, raising ultimately the question as to how far the Hindu tradition is “open” to “outsiders,” the non-Hindus in terms of its theology. This is the issue that is central to the title of my paper.

Historically ancient India was a society marked by its “tolerance to outsid- ers.” India traded with Rome, Babylonia, Egypt, and Greece. It has been said that some the kings of South India employed Roman soldiers to guard the palaces and temple premises (Mookerji 1961, 29–30). India which has been dominated by Hindu culture has been hospitable to outside religious groups. For instance, the Zoroastrians, now called Parsis, have lived in India for a very long time with their arrival from Iran traced by some historians to pre- Christian times. The Christian missionaries seemed to have arrived on the Indian scene in the early Christian Era, and many Indian Christians believe that the apostle Thomas came to India for missionary work and his tomb near the modern city of Madras is still a pilgrimage site for Indian Christians. Again, India has had one of the earliest settlements of the Jewish community in Kerala though many of their descendents have left India after the modern state of Israel was formed (Basham 1954, 342–345). Islam in its early stag- es spread through trade, though in later stages through “Mogul conquest.” A classical Tamil work, Manimekalai, that belongs to the Early Christian Era, gives the image of a (South Indian) society where Hindus, Buddhists and Jains lived amicably with a degree of interaction.1 This is not to deny the fact

1. For instance, in the Tamil classic of Sangam age, Manimekalai, the heroine is advised to study at Kanchipuram in South India the philosophical systems of Veda, Visnu, Ajivaka, Jaina Samkhya, Vaisesika and Lokayata. Some of these are belong to the fold of orthodox, Brahmanical Hindu tradition, and some belong to what the Hindus

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that there were occasional conflicts between religious groups of Indian origin. Some sort of “theological hostility” to non-Hindu religions (of India) could be in the writings Hindu schools of philosophy (darsanas) where Buddhism and Jainism are branded as “atheistic traditions” (nastika), since they reject the scriptural authority of the Veda and of the Brahmanical tradition. Fur- thermore, these theological works, as a matter of convention, first examine and then reject the view points of their opponents (purvapaka) before stating their own doctrinal positions and establishing them (siddhanta). However, it is also true that Hindu philosophy/theology has been influenced by Bud- dhism and Jainism and some of their concepts have found their way into Hindu philosophical and theological formulations. For instance, the central concept in Sankara’s Vedanta philosophy, maya, illusion, is believed to be of Buddhist in origin, and this has led to Sankara being labeled a “Buddhist in disguise” (praccanabauddha) by his “Hindu opponents” belonging to other schools of Vedanta philosophy. Furthermore, the concept of Ahimsa, non- violence which is essentially Jaina in origin became central to both to the Hindu and Buddhists practices. Since the early times public debates among those holding differing view points have been common place in India, and the “debating tradition” minimally required that the opponent be taken seri- ously so that he could be defeated at the end. The success of such debates was often decided on logical and epistemological premises, but rarely “miracles” substantiated the validity of one’s viewpoints.

Outside the encounter with the Nastika traditions, the attitude of Hin- duism towards religions such as Christianity and Islam, which entered the Indian scene later, could at best be described as “peripheral openness.” The reason is that the Hindu, Brahmanical orthodoxy remained largely indifferent to the presence of these “outside” traditions, though more dynamic interac- tions were taking place at lower levels of the tradition. Religious conversions were taking place at the lower strata of Hindu society, and these were largely ignored at the higher levels of Hindu society, especially by Brahmin theo- logians and experts of the Vedic tradition. I wish to cite here comments of Al-Biruni, an Islamic scholar who visited India in the eleventh century. He

consider as heretical, non- orthodox (nastika) systems. (see K.A. Nilakantha Sastri, A History of South India, 1963, 41–44). Even in the seventh century AD, the Chinese pilgrim Yuan Chaung saw the Hindus and Buddhists living in harmony, though he noted conflicts among the Buddhists themselves (Zimmer 1969, 510–511.) However, there are also stories of conflict arising out of conversions and counter conversions are heard at this time.

Tirunavukarasu, one of the Nayanmars, is said to have converted a South Indian ruler by the name Mahendravarman to Saiva faith, who had earlier been converted to Jaina faith. (Sastri 1963, 423). Among the devotees of Visnu, Tirumangaialvar is said to have been a Jaina, Buddhist, and a Saiva before he became a Vaisnava. (Sastri 1963, 46).

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writes: We can only say that folly is an illness for which there is no medicine, and the Hindus believe that there is no country like theirs, no nation like theirs, no kings like theirs, no religion like theirs, no science like theirs. They are haughty, foolishly vain, self-conceited, and stolid. They are by nature nig- gardly in communicating that which they know, and they take the greatest possible care to withhold it from men of other caste among their own people, still much more, of course, from any foreigner. (cited in Ikranl 1964, 28)

I want to give an example for this attitude of indifference shown by Brah- manical tradition to “outside religions” by citing the case of Vedanta Desika, a renowned Vaisnava theologian who lived in the Tamil regions of Southern India in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. His personal life was affected by “Muslim intrusions” at that time into the city of Sri Rengam, a strong Vaisnava center, where he was living. At one stage, we are told he was forced to leave the city due to these intrusions, and when he felt that his life was in danger. For one who wrote very extensively and vehemently against his theological and philosophical opponents, we do not come across a single men- tion of Islam, nor a reference to these “foreign invaders” who vitally affected his day-to-day and religious life. Perhaps Vedanta Desika also knew from the biographies of Ramanuja, the founder of the Vaisnava school of Vedanta, known as Visistadvaita, that the temple at Tirunarayanapuram which was built at the initiative of Ramanuja, was destroyed by some of the early Mus- lim incursions in the twelfth century. While the historicity of this episode is questionable, as the episode may have been part of the sacred history, these narrations point at least minimally to the fact that the life of South Indian Vaisnavas in the twelfth to fourteenth centuries was in someway affected by the Muslims. Thus, if one reconstructs the religious history of India from the works of Brahmanical theologians, one would hardly detect the presence of Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Zoroastrians. One would, however, gain the impression that the Buddhists, Jains, and Carvaka were theologically active even in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when as a matter of fact their influence had declined considerably since the ninth and tenth centuries (Sun- dararajan 1986, 245).

The devotional movements in Northern India during the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries, which are outside the main stream of tradition of Brahmanical Hinduism, show some degree of openness to these outside traditions. A good example is Kabir, who, even though he was born in a poor Muslim family of weavers, directed his devotion towards Rama, one of the important Hindu deities. For Kabir, devotion is to be directed to the divine person whether one names this divine person, Rama, Krishna, or Allah. Kabir says:

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Rama, Khuda, Sakti, Siva are one. Then to whom do the prayers go? The Vedas, the Puranas and the Quran are only different manners of description. Neither the Hindu nor the Turk, neither the Jain nor the Yogi is cognizant of the secret. (Husain 1957, 20)

In another context, he says:

Brother! From where have the two masters of the Universe come? Tell me who has invented the names of Allah, Ram, Keshav, Hari and Hazarat What is a Hindu? What is a Turk? Both inhabit the same earth. One reads the Veda, and the other the Qu’ran and the Khutba. One is a Moulana and the other a Pandit. Earthen vessels have different names, although they are made from the same earth! (Husain 1957, 20)

In terms of popular piety, the Hindus have always venerated holy persons from other religious traditions, We could cite the following examples: the veneration of Muslim holy men (saints) in Nagore, the veneration of Mary in the Church at Vellangani, and the shrine of “Tullukanachiyar,” meaning the “Muslim consort of the Lord,” near Madurai, all pointers to fruitful interac- tion between Hinduism on the one side, Islam and Christianity on the other.

In a Global Village one needs more than tolerance of others, since common endeavors between people of different faiths and cultures are possible only if they come to understand, appreciate, and cooperate with one another.

In the early Vedic religion there are many prayers that highlight the spirit of religious tolerance. The most inspiring passage, which is often cited by modern Hindus and Hindu scholars, is a passage from the Rig Veda, which reads: “The seers call in many ways that which is One...”(I.164.46, Pan- ikkar 1977, 660). This has often been read as expressing the Hindu attitude towards other religions where the validity of all the religions engaged in the pursuit of a common goal is acknowledged. Here the paths are parallel rather than hierarchical. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa expresses the same theme stat- ing the essential identity of the great religions:

There are so many religions and so many paths to reach the same goal. I have practiced Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, and in Hinduism again, the ways of different sects. I have found that it is the same God towards whom all are directing their steps, though along different paths.

The tank has several ghats. At one Hindus draw water and called it jal. At an- other Mohammedans draw water and called it pani; at a third Christians draw the same liquid and called it water. The substance is one though the names differ, and everyone is seeking the same thing. Every religion of the world is one such ghat. Go with a sincere and earnest heart by any of these ghats and you will reach the water of eternal bliss. But do not say that your religion is better than that of another. (Prabhavananda 1979, 341)

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Swami Prabhuvananda in his book, The Spiritual Heritage of India makes the following comments concerning the passage cited above from the Rig Veda:

Casual visitors to this ancient land carry with them the impression of an elaborate polytheism. True it is that India has always had many gods—but in appearance only. In reality she had had but one god, though with prodigal in- ventiveness she has called him “by various names”—Indra, Varuna, Hiranya- garbha, Rama, Krsna, Siva. What does it matter? Whichever of these or many others the Hindu chooses for his adoration, that one becomes for him God himself, in whom exist all things, including, for the time being all other gods. It is because India has been so permeated with the spirit of Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti (“The seers call it in many ways that which is One”) that she has known relatively little of religious fanaticism, of religious persecution, of religious wars. Characteristically she has sought the truth in every faith- even in faiths not her own (1979, 34–35).

In another passage in the Rig Veda, God is stated to be the “common Lord of all” (IV. 32). A passage in Atharva Veda expresses a similar sentiment:

May the Earth that bears people speaking in varied language With various religious rites according to the places of abode, Enrich me with wealth in a thousand streams. Like a milch-cow that never fails. (xii.1.45, Bose 1960, 283).

If Varuna, we have sinned against the man who loves us, or against a friend or a comrade for ever, or a brother, Or against a neighbor who is always with us or against a stranger, From that sin may Thou release us (IV.16.8).

A prayer in Yajur Veda expresses the theme of concern for humankind. May all beings look on me with the eye of a friend; May I look on all beings with the eye of a friend; May we look on one another with the eye of a friend (26.2).

The creation stories in the early Vedic writings seem to suggest that all human beings belong to the four major classes (varnas) that characterizes the Hindu society. This includes those who are outside the area of Bharata- varsa (India) also. The creation story in the famous “Hymns to the Primor- dial Person” (purusasukta) where the (self ) sacrifice of the primordial person produces humans belonging to the four classes (varnas) undoubtedly refers to humans in general. This is stated explicitly in the Visnu Purana where it is stated that the seven regions (continents) of the earth were populated by people who also belonged to the fourfold division of classes, like those in Jambudvipa, the continent in which Bharatavarsa (India) is located (Dutt 1978, 122–127). In fact, the people in the “other” continents are described as having different colored skins, and their life is even “superior” to those who live in Jambudvipa, since unlike the latter they are not subject to the cycle

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of four ages (yugas), from the age of perfection (krta yuga) to the age of most imperfection (kali).

There are four Yugas or ages in the Bharata-Varsha, O Great Muni, namely the Krita, the Treta, the Dwapara, and Kali—there is no such cycle of ages in any other land. (II.3, Dutt 1978,121)

Within Jambudvipa, however, the Visnu Purana hastens to add, Bharatavarsa is the best.

Bharata is the most excellent division of Jambudvipa; for this is the land of works, while the others are places of enjoyment. Perhaps in a thousand births, a living being obtains here that most excellent condition, humanity, the receptacle of virtue. The gods sing, “Happy are those beings, who, when the rewards of their merits have been exhausted in heaven, are, after being gods, again born as men in Bharata Varsa.” (Muir 1876, 495–496)

It should be noted that the term “humanity” (manusya) which is used with reference to the inhabitant’s of Bharatavarsa, also applies to those residing in other regions. Again, it is to be noted that all these continents are said to be descendents from the same “first family.” According to Visnu Purana, the whole earth consisting of seven regions separated from one another by oceans, was first populated by the family of Manu Svayambhuva.

In the beginning and in the Treta Yuga the entire earth, the seven continents with their mountains, oceans and mines was inhabited, land by land, by the sons of Priyavrata, the grandsons Svayambhuva.

(Dimmitt and Buitenen 1998, 56–57).

Manu distributed the seven dvipas of which the earth is composed, among seven of his sons (Muir 1879, 489).

In Vayu Purana, it is even suggested, contrary to the above story of creation of four social classes, that in the first age (krta yuga), which is the age of per- fection, there was no distinction of social classes. According to this version, Manu establishes the social classes in treta vuga and not in krta yuga.

The means of subsistence having been provided, Svayambhu established divi- sions among them according to their tendencies. Those who were rapacious, and destructive, he ordained to be Kshattriyas, protectors of others. As many men as attended on these, fearless, speaking truth and propounding sacred knowledge (Brahma) with exactness, (were made) brahmins. Those others, engaged in the work of slaughterer, who as cultivators (kinasah), had been destructive, and were active in connection with the ground, were called Vai- syas, husbandmen (kinasan), providers of subsistence. And he designated as Sudras those who grieved (sochantah), and ran (dravantah), who were addict- ed to menial tasks, inglorious and feeble. Brahma determined the respective functions and duties of all these persons. (Muir 1976, 97–98)

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I do not want to deny that there are some “sacred geographies” where outsiders are considered as “inferior” to those residing in Bharatavarsa, for they abandoned the four classes, they are called Mlechas. For instance we find in Manu: “Those tribes which are outside the classes produced from the mouth, arms and thighs and feet, (of Brahma, i.e. Brahmans, Ksattriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras,) whether they speak the language of the Mlechhas or the ryas, are called Dasyus.” According to the commentator Kulluka, these dasyus are those who “by loss of sacred rites, and so forth, have become outcastes from pale of four castes, Brahmans, Kshattriyas, Vaishyas, and Sudras” (Muir 1976, 482–483). Thus being outside the pale of four classes and also by fail- ing to observe the duties of the four classes (varnas), the outsiders have indeed become a sort of “fallen” humanity.

The philosophy of identity based on the notion of the all pervasive Reality, Brahman, is the core of the Upanisadic teachings which is fully developed in the Hindu philosophical/theological schools of Vedanta. From a theo- logical perspective, it is appropriate to claim that the Hindu tradition has been dominated by the notion of the “oneness” or “unity” of all creation, including all life forms. This is the same message that we find in the Vedanta schools; “oneness” denies the “real reality” of multiplicity in Sankara’s Vedanta (Advaita Vedanta), and preserves the unity of multiplicity of Ramanuja’s school (Visistadvaita). “Verily, this whole world is Brahman,” says Chandogya Upanisad (3.14.1). In Mundaka Upanisad: we find the following statement: “This is the truth. As from the blazing fire sparks of like form issue forth by the thousand, even so my friend, various beings issue from the imperishable and also return thither” (see Sarma 1961, 84). The same theme is expressed in the very first verse of Isavasya Upanisad, which reads: “All this, whatso- ever moves in this moving world is pervaded by God” (Sarma 1961, 31). Based on this notion of non-duality\unity, the Upanisads proceed also to affirm that one’s own true self (atman) is none other than Brahman, “That Thou art” (tat tvam asi). In Chandogya Upanisad, a father tells his son: “That which is the finest essence—this whole world has that as its soul. That is Reality. That is Atman. That art thou, Svetaketu” (6.13.3). As stated before, both Ramanuja and Sankara basically echo the same theme of unity. Hence, I want to say that from the point of view of such “unitive theology” there are no theological grounds to draw distinctions or to discriminate between one person and another, between “insiders” and “outsiders.” This basic vision of the Upanisads runs counter to the notion of social hierarchy on which the Hindu social structure is explicitly built. There is an interesting episode in the life of Sankara which highlights this tension between the unitive message of the Upanisads and the discriminative and hierarchical nature of the Hindu social structure.

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One morning, Sankara was going to the temple of Lord Visvanatha, accom- panied by his disciples, after a bath in the sacred river. A candala (untouch- able) followed by dogs and with a pot of liquor in his hand came near him. Sankara asked the candala to get out of his way. The candela enquired as to which should go away, the body or the self. As for the body, it is the same in composition in the case of every person. As for the self, it is one and all pervad- ing. Sankara realized at once that this was no ordinary candala. In fact, it was the Lord Siva Himself that had come in the guise of an untouchable. Sankara prostrated before the Lord and sang a hymn in which he declares that the one who has realized non-duality is his master, be that one a brahmin or candala.

(Mahadevan 1965, 92)

In the Vedanta school of Sankara, Advaita Vedanta, the world of multiplic- ity, difference, and social hierarchy are characteristic of a “fallen” state (sam- sara) that is to be transcended. This “fallen” world is characterized by social hierarchy and by notions of “insiders” and “outsiders.” The goal of religious life is to transcend the state of duality. The ideal person in this school of Vedanta, jivanmukta, is one who has attained this goal of unitive experience, a non-discriminative state of mind. Such an “ideal person” looks at all things and persons as equal, since every person and everything are truly forms of a single all pervasive reality, namely, Brahman.

We could now explore the social dimension and the Hindu social values expressed in the concept of dharma which guides the life of a Hindu defin- ing his/her duties and obligations. The hierarchical Hindu social structure and the unitive philosophy of the Upanisads and Vedanta are interestingly enough held together by a distinction drawn between the samsara-state and the moksa-state, state of bondage and the state of freedom respectively. It is the laws of dharma that regulates an individual’s life in the samsara-state, while one gives up the family and social sides of dharma as one proceeds towards the moksa-state by assuming a life of a renouncer (sannyasi) and seek- ing a life of total freedom.

The samsaric life is marked by social hierarchy and inequality in the Hindu tradition. The goal is not so much to reform the society, but to transcend social norms and values in the pursuit of one’s final freedom (moksa). How- ever, dharma in its noblest aspect involves the virtues of friendship, and car- ing for the well-being of all humankind and creatures. In the dharma setup, such tasks are placed on the shoulders of the householders (grihastha), who are in their second stage of life (asrama), after having completed their first stage of life as students involved in learning. A householder, in the first place, is required to support the family. Apart from this, there are certain ritual and social obligations for the householders including what is called a “five-fold obligation.” These are obligations to the ancestors, other living creatures, fel- low human beings, to the gods, and to the sages. Of these, the obligation to

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the sages is fulfilled by learning, which is done in the first stage of life as a stu- dent. To the gods, one fulfils one’s obligations by worship and sacrificial of- ferings. To fellow human beings, by acts of charity. Manu, who is considered as the primary codifier of the dharmic rules and obligations, says in one place stressing charity that—he who prepares food for himself (alone), eats nothing but sin (Buhler 1964). Manu regards the reward for charitable acts as, indeed, Heaven (Buhler 1964, III.93). These acts of charity can be directed, in princi- ple to any one who is in need, and not necessarily to an “insider.”

It is interesting to note how the essential qualities of a brahmin, are described. These are, “Freedom from anger, from exultation, from covetous- ness, from perplexity; from hypocrisy and hurtfulness; truthfulness, silencing slander, freedom from envy, self-denying liberality, extinction of passions, subjugation of senses, peace with all created beings, peacefulness and con- tentment (Sundararajan 1969, 45). Such a person of nobility is indeed the “ideal person” from the perspective of Hindu dharma, for whom the focus of concern is all humankind, and indeed all created beings. I wish to cite a pas- sage from Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan’s address on the occasion of the formal opening the Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions:

India strove throughout her history for the freedom of spirit and the union of hearts. She does not destroy differences but discovers their underlying af- finities. India did not treat other peoples who came to settle as aliens, did not ridicule their customs as incongruous but recognized and accepted them all. She entered into the lives of others and assimilated elements from outside. When new ideas arise, old traditions are not discarded but treated with re- spect and introduced by way of interpretation. She did not crave for uniform- ity. There is a famous passage in the Atharva Veda which refers to the earth that bears various peoples, speaking different languages, practicing different religious rites according to their various places of abode and nourishes them all with milk with equal affection. (Radhakrishnan 1961, 24)

By way of conclusion, I should like to draw attention to an aspect in the area of religion. Though religions are historically “time-bound”—beginning at a particular period in history—their “traditions” continually evolve, change, and sometimes even disappear as they respond to the needs of their follow- ers. It is the newly emerging traditions that account for a living religion. This “openness” to deal with the emerging new situations and challenges that its community faces, is largely due to the richness of its scriptural materials which yield a variety of interpretations and thus support and justify the discovery of hitherto unknown aspects of the scripture. For this reason, scriptures come to be seen as “timeless,” as they provide for their community of believers defini- tive guidance in any age, past or future. Hence, part of my attempt to study the issue of the global village is to bring into focus the intrinsic dynamism of

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Hinduism which is indeed the most ancient “living” religion. Again the ques- tion that the global village raises as to how to live meaningfully in a “global world,” is an issue that is critical to Hinduism now since it had traditionally been one of the “non-evangelical” religions stressing “birth” membership and participation in the community life and to that extent lacked a clearly formu- lated theological statement on “believers versus non-believers” and “insiders versus outsiders.” This is in contrast to the “evangelical” religions such as Christianity and Islam which justified their evangelical efforts on the basis of their theology of non-believers and “outsiders.” This article by stressing the notion of “global village” has explored the possible resources of the Hindu tradition for a community—living, where the community is constituted of members of diverse religious groups. Again, global village is a metaphor that seems to elevate the vision of the Hindu tradition, traditionally tied to social practices based on social hierarchy and “insider-focus,” to look at its theologi- cal resources for living in a “common world” that the globalization process is increasingly presenting to us.

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