Religion assignment

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Hinduism 3:
Dharma, Karma and Samsara

Varnas

Asramas

Caste

Sanatana Dharma:
“the eternal law”

Remember the sacred syllable AUM, evoking the nature of everything that exists: things come into being, exist, and pass out of being, all according to the law of karma (cause and effect) in the cycle of samsara.

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Dharma

  • In the Mahabharata, the god Krishna defines dharma as,
  • Dharma upholds both this-worldly and other-worldly affairs
  • —(Mbh 12.110.11).

The “eternal law” of dharma applies both to the physical aspects of the world, and to moral dimensions. Hindus are moral realists – they do not tend to see morality as merely being “socially constructed” – good and evil are discovered, not invented.

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What is the dharma of fire?

Thinking about what makes a “good fire” will help get a sense of how moral realism can be applied to the inanimate world. It is a very different way of looking at the world, and yet there are considerable overlaps between this world view and the language we use about inanimate objects, so it is perhaps not as alien as it wold first appear.

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Note that, just as with the devas who can be both benign and terrifying, fire can provide warmth and life, but also bring death and destruction. This is the dharma of fire.

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What is the dharma of a tiger?

The natural world does not conform to human notions of good and bad – if it is the nature of a predator to kill for its food, then it is doing a good thing, fulfilling its dharma, as part of the complex interconnected wholeness that is the universe.

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So what is the dharma of a person?

  • Are there really different types of people?

People are blessed and cursed with the notion that they are free to choose what sort of person they are, and what they should do with their lives. To a traditional Hindu world view, this is a mistake. We are born with a natural predisposition to fulfil our roles. Those best suited to governance may not make the best business people, for example, nor would a skilled academic necessarily make the best person to defend the country in a time of war.

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Vedic ordering of life:
Four varnas (classes/types)

  • NB “Untouchable”, pariah, Harijan and dalit are outside this system but still a product of it.

The vedic ordering of life is traditionally seen as hierarchical, but we need to consider a more holistic interpretation as well:

“The Hindu sacred texts clearly relate ‘varnas’ to the ‘guna’ i.e., behavior and character, rather than the birth.

The argument against the notion that a hierarchical caste system is “divinely inspired” and ‘intrinsic’ to Hinduism is powerful and profound.

The 90th Sukta of the 10th mandala in the Rig Veda, talks about the entire universe as the body of God (Purusha), and of all creation as emerging from only Him; proving the hierarchy based theory wrong.”

(see http://swarajyamag.com/culture/caste-hierarchy-and-discrimination-not-sanctioned-by-the-vedas )

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Purusa’s Division

  • In the Purusa Sakta the divine form is divided into four “varnas”…
  • A later insert into Rig Veda?

The Purusha Sukta varna verse is now generally considered to have been inserted at a later date into the Vedic text;  "there is no evidence in the Rigveda for an elaborate, much-subdivided and overarching caste system", and "the varna system seems to be embryonic in the Rigveda and, both then and later, a social ideal rather than a social reality“

(Jamison, Stephanie; et al. (2014). The Rigveda : The Earliest Religious Poetry of India. Oxford University Press. pp. 57–5)

For translation of the text of this sukta, see http://www.stephen-knapp.com/purusha_sukta.htm

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Primal Sacrifice

  • In the beginning was the self, the Purusha.
    Alone, afraid wondering what made him lonely and fearful.
  • If there was loneliness and fear There should also be company and pleasure
    Restless, he split himself…
  • (from the Brihad Aranyka Upanishad)

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One of the most fascinating myths of origin depicts the entire cosmos resulting from the Primeval Person (Purusa) sacrificing himself to himself in order to engender through his own dismemberment the various aspects of the cosmos, most particularly the four great castes (R.V. 10. 90). He is at once sacrificial victim and the divinity to whom the sacrifice is offered, and is also known as Prajapati, who replaces Varuna as arbiter of the cosmic order. By "heating" himself, Prajapati generates the universe through either his sweat or his semen, thus establishing through his self-sacrifice the order of things that is perpetuated through the rituals and sacrifices of the Brahmins.

How is this determined? (and do we look at them, or at their parents?)

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What makes a dentist? Or a priest?
Nature? Or nurture?

Not a fixed system!!!

  • Issues of caste, varna and class do not figure highly in many westernised Hindu cultures.
  • Beware of confusing ritual status with material wealth.

So… How do I know what I am?

All is determined by the law of karma: action and consequence, cause and effect, played out over the history of the whole universe.

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Karma = “Action”

The “law of karma” is comparable to any natural law, e.g the law of gravity.

Natural laws do not need to be “enforced” or “policed”.

It is action and consequence; cause and effect.

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Samsara

  • “…just as a man will give up his worn-out clothes and accept new ones to wear, in the same way the embodied soul (atman) gives up a worn-out old body and accepts a new one”
  • Bhagavad Gita 2.22

What is reborn?

Atman: the true self

  • Distinguish from jiva – individual/personality

  • Philosophical questions about personhood, identity etc.

For useful definitions of Hindu religious and philosophical concepts, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/concepts/concepts_1.shtml

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Dharma

  • Sva-dharma
  • (including varna-ashrama-dharma)
  • Sanatana dharma

4 Proper goals of life

  • The goals of life in Hinduism are understood in terms of:
  • Dharma (both sanatana dharma, and the personal sva-dharma – see later)
  • Artha – wealth and well-being
  • Kama - pleasure
  • Moksha – release from samsara

An orthodoxy: ashramas or stages of life

  • Within the dharma philosophy, a rigid “life plan” emerged for the twice-born classes:
  • Brahmacari (student) – learning sva-dharma
  • Grihastya (householder) – artha and kama
  • Vanprastha (Forest dweller) – realising dharma
  • Sanyasa (renunciant) – seeking moksha

Dharma not in Vedas

  • O Indra, lead us on the path of Rta, on the right path over all evils
  • Rig Veda 10.133.6

From rta to dharma:
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

  • Verily, that which is Dharma is truth.
    Therefore they say of a man who speaks truth, "He speaks the Dharma,"
    or of a man who speaks the Dharma, "He speaks the Truth.“
    Verily, both these things are the same.
  • —(Brh. Upanishad, 1.4.14)

Dharma, satya, ahimsa

  • Righteousness is always connected to truth (satya) and the principle of non-harming (ahimsa)

Next time…

  • Upanishads and the philosophies of Vedanta

(Additional notes in following slides)

What has always been the case?
These are not in the “eternal Vedas”:

The worship of deities, and even the deities themselves come into being and pass out of being, according to the eternal law of dharma.

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Vedic “gods” – the devas

  • Sources of light, truth and goodness, e.g.
  • Surya
  • Vayu
  • Varuna
  • Agni
  • Soma
  • Prajapati

The deities (“shining beings”) of the Vedic culture included personifications of natural powers – including Vayu, the wind; Indra, the storm; Surya, the sun; Agni, the fire; Varuna, the ocean, and Prajapati, the Lord of living creatures. The devas are united in their life-supporting qualities, whereas the other beings are more problematic. Note that even the devas are capable of destruction.

A short, accessible account of Indra can be found at http://www.ancient.eu/Indra/

Asuras are mythological beings in Indian texts who compete for power with the more benevolent devas (also known as suras). Asuras are described in Indian texts as powerful superhuman demigods or demons with good or bad qualities. The good Asuras are called Adityas and are led by Varuna, while the malevolent ones are called Danavas and are led by Vritra.

In the earliest layer of Vedic texts Agni, Indra and other gods are also called Asuras, in the sense of them being "lords" of their respective domains, knowledge and abilities. In later Vedic and post-Vedic texts, the benevolent gods are called Devas, while malevolent Asuras compete against these Devas and are considered "enemy of the gods" or demons

(ref - Edward Hale Was, Ásura in Early Vedic Religion , (1999))

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Sacred action: karma

  • Sacrificial Culture: “Indra-ism” into Brahmin-ism

Sacrifice and Karma – the way of action – changing meaning of “karma” from (proper) “performance of the sacrifice”

Always retaining the idea of actions which are sacred.

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Changes

It is important to remember the extraordinary length of history )and prehistory!) in the development of “Hinduism”, as well as the diversity of the Indian subcontinent, with its different geographies, flora and fauna, along with the rich variety of cultures within it – it would be astonishing if there had been no alteration in beliefs and practices. The genius of Indian civilisation is its ability to encompass such rich diversities within itself. Whether the diversity is coherently reconciled within the philosophies of “Hinduism” is a matter of continuing debate.

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Priests and temples: from worship to control

The development of Brahminical Hinduism was gradual – the Brahmin priests developed their ideas over time, from placating the gods to controlling the gods.

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Sacrifice, darshan and prasad

  • Rather than burning sacrifices, devotees are blessed by the sight of their god.
  • This experience is called darshan.
  • They share food offered to images, it becomes prasad.

Rishis, Gurus and Sadhus

  • An (often ascetic) alternative to hierarchical priesthood?
  • Who are “the real Hindus”?
  • Who are the “insiders”?

“Unorthodox” schools of thought include Jainism and Buddhism, which are usually considered to be separate religious traditions.

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The decline of Indra.

  • Over the years, the focus of worship changed. No longer was Indra, the god of storm and battle, seen as the most important of the devas.
  • This would reflect important changes in society.

Brahmins and Ksatriyas –
Priests and Warriors

  • The most important social changes were the shifts in power between the two most powerful classes of society: the Brahmin Priestly class, and the Ksatriyas – warrior princes.
  • This is remembered in the myth of Parasurama.

The transformation of the devas

  • The process of transformation can be illustrated by seeing the centrality of the sun (Surya) being overtaken by the power behind the sun (ref to Vishnu, “the Pervader”)

The Gayatri Mantra

Oh God! Thou art the Giver of Life,

Remover of pain and sorrow,

The Bestower of happiness,

Oh! Creator of the Universe,

May we receive thy supreme sin-destroying light,

May Thou guide our intellect in the right direction.

                                                                                                                                       

The rise of Vishnu and Shiva

  • Vishnu is not prominent in the Vedas.
  • Shiva was only an adjective, “Gracious” applied to the terrible Rudra in the Vedas.