Religion assignment

profilejennyswufe
WR1Blecture4Upanishadsandvedantaupdated2017.ppt
Home>Social Science homework help>Sociology homework help>Religion assignment

Hinduism 4

The Upanishads and Vedanta

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))

*

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.

*

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.

*

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.

*

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.

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.

                                                                                                                                       

Rishis, Gurus and Sadhus

  • An (often ascetic) alternative to hierarchical priesthood?

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

*

Vedanta

  • Vedanta means “the end of the Vedas” – “end” meaning both the finishing point, and the PURPOSE or INTENT of the Vedas.
  • Vedanta teachings are based on the Upanishads, texts attached at the end of the Vedas.

Upanishads

  • The Upanishads are a collection of texts of religious and philosophical nature, written in India probably between c. 800 BCE and c. 500 BCE, during a time when Indian society started to question the traditional Vedic religious order.

Useful Introductory notes on the Upanishads can be found at http://hinduism.about.com/od/scripturesepics/a/upanishads.htm

*

Core philosophy:

Context: Brahminical Hinduism

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)

From the Chandogya Upanishad

  • The sage Uddalaka sends his son , Svetaketu, to learn the Vedas – he is away for twelve years.
  • When he returns, his father sees he is “Greatly conceited, thinking himself well read, arrogant…”

The Vedanta as mystery

  • He asks his son if he is aware of “the instruction by which the unhearable becomes heard, the unperceivable becomes perceived, the unknowable becomes known…”

Form and Essence

  • He teaches Svetaketu that all gold is still gold, all iron still iron, no matter what forms they take…
  • The names change, the functions alter, but the essence remains the same.

What is the essence of the Human person?

  • The essence of the human person is the true self; whatever it is that makes us “the same person” from when we are born to when we die… and when we are re-born… and when we die again…

From the Chandogya Upanishad (Part 6 Ch XI)

  • If, my dear, someone were to strike at the root…the middle…the top of this large tree here, it would bleed but live…Pervaded by the living self, that tree stands firm, drinking in its nourishment and rejoicing…

The self is the life

"But if the life (i.e. living self) leaves one of its branches, that branch withers; if it leaves a second, that branch withers; if it leaves a third, that branch withers. If it leaves the whole tree, the whole tree withers.

Tat Tvam Asi: “That Thou Art”

  • "In exactly the same manner, my dear," said he, "know this: This body dies, bereft of the living self; but the living self dies not. "Now, that which is the subtle essence-in it all that exists has its self. That is the True. That is the Self. That thou art, Svetaketu."
  • "Please, venerable Sir, give me further instruction," said the son.
  • "So be it, my dear," the father replied.

Forest teaching…

  • “Bring me a fruit of that nyagrodha (banyan) tree.”
  • “Here it is, venerable Sir.”
  • “Break it.”

Svetaketu breaks open the fig

  • “It is broken, venerable Sir.”
  • “What do you see there?”
  • “These seeds, exceedingly small…”

He breaks open the fig seed

  • “Break one of these, my son.”
  • “It is broken, venerable Sir.”
  • “What do you see there?”
  • “Nothing at all, venerable Sir.”

The Essence

  • The father said:
  • “That subtle essence, my dear, which you do not perceive there-from that very essence this great nyagrodha arises. Believe me, my dear…”

Tat Tvam Asi: “That Thou Art”

  • “Now, that which is the subtle essence - in it all that exists has its self. That is the True. That is the Self. That thou art, Svetaketu.”
  • “Please, venerable Sir, give me further instruction” said the son.
  • “So be it, my dear,” the father replied.

The reality of the invisible

  • "Place this salt in water and then come to me in the morning."
  • The son did as he was told.
  • Next morning, the father said to him: "My son, bring me the salt which you placed in the water last night."
  • Looking for it, the son did not find it, for it was completely dissolved.

Tasting and experience

  • The father said: "My son, take a sip of water from the surface…the middle… the bottom. How is it?"
  • "It is salt."
  • "Throw it away and come to me."
  • The son did as he was told, saying: "The salt was there all the time."

Tat Tvam Asi: “That Thou Art”

  • Then the father said:
  • "Here also, my dear, in this body you do not perceive Sat (Being); but It is indeed there.“
  • "Now, that which is the subtle essence - in it all that exists has its self. That is the True. That is the Self That thou art, Svetaketu."

What is the true self?

  • “Take refuge in wisdom. Those who seek the fruits of action are to be pitied…”
  • (Bhagavad Gita 2:49)

The self explained: the chariot

  • 'Know this: The self (atman) is the owner of the chariot; the chariot is the body; soul (buddhi) is the body's charioteer; mind the reigns; senses, they say, are the chariot's steeds; their object the tract before them.'
  • Katha upanishad Ch 3

Vedanta

  • The teachings of the Vedanta schools build on the religious philosophies of the Vedas, they do not replace them.
  • The philosophies of sacrifice are complex – the mimamsa school of thought interpreted Vedic sacrificial rituals as being the proper expression of sanatana dharma.

From karma to jnana

  • The Upanishads developed the ideas of dharma further, investigating the true nature of the “self”.
  • If we are to live according to our own dharma, we need to realise the true nature of our selves.

Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva

  • Three very different interpretations of the Veda are offered in Hinduism – and three very different conceptions of the self.
  • They form the basis of acaryas, or philosophic/devotional schools of thought

Shankara

  • The most influential Shaivite philosopher, founder of the Advaita school of thought.
  • Advaita means “non-dualism” – not really “monism”.
  • Brahman is identified with atman

Advaita

  • Being a devotee of Shiva, Shankara reflected on the mysteries of being, and paid particular attention to the distinction between Vidya (knowledge of truth) and Avidya (ignorance)

See useful and accessible overview of Advaita at http://www.iep.utm.edu/adv-veda/

*

Shankara’s image of Moksha

Sat Cit Ananda

  • Sat is truth, that which is.
  • Cit is consciousness.
  • Ananada is bliss.
  • The only unchanging truth is the self (atman).
  • All that changes or is impermanent is illusion (maya).
  • The nature of the atman is sat-cit-ananda.
  • Atman is identified with Brahman.

Ramanuja

  • Entirely opposed to Shankara’s philosophy was the Vaisnava saint Ramanuja, who maintained that the nature of Brahman was Hari, the Divine Form of Vishnu.

Ramanuja’s image of Moksha

Vishnu Narayana: the proper home of Mankind

  • Visistadvaita Vedanta (qualified non-dualism) “maintains a crucial differentiation as well as a fundamental unity” (Klostermaier p 413)
  • Hence Krishna and Radha are seen as “all attractive”

Vishishtadvaita, ( Sanskrit: “Qualified Non-dualism” or “Non-dualism of the Qualified”) one of the principal branches of Vedanta, a system (darshan) of Indian philosophy. This school grew out of the Vaishnava (worship of the god Vishnu) movement prominent in South India from the 7th CE century on. One of the early Brahmins (members of the priestly class) who began to guide the movement was Nathamuni (10th century), head priest of the temple at Srirangam (in modern Tamil Nadu state). He was succeeded by Yamuna (11th century), who wrote philosophical treatises but no commentaries.

Yamuna’s successor, Ramanuja, or Ramanujacharya (“Master Ramanuja,” c. 1017–1137), wrote commentaries on the Brahma-sutras (the Shribhashya, “Beautiful Commentary”) and on the Bhagavad Gita and a treatise on the Upanishads, the Vedarthasamgraha (“Summary of the Meaning of the Veda”). Ramanuja was the first of the Vedanta thinkers to make the cornerstone of his system the identification of a personal God with the brahman, or Absolute Reality, of the Upanishads and the Vedanta-sutras. As a personal God, brahman possesses all the good qualities in a perfect degree, and Ramanuja does not tire of mentioning them. For him the relation between the infinite and the finite is like that between the soul and the body. Hence, non-duality is maintained, while differences can still be stated. Soul and matter are totally dependent on God for their existence, as is the body on the soul.

God has two modes of being, as cause and as product. As cause, he is in his essence qualified only by his perfections. As product, he has as his body the souls and the phenomenal world. There is a pulsating rhythm in his periods of creation and absorption. For Ramanuja, release (moksha) is not a negative separation from transmigration, or a series of rebirths, but rather the joy of the contemplation of God. This joy is attained by a life of exclusive devotion (bhakti) to God, singing his praise, performing adulatory acts in temple and private worship, and constantly dwelling on his perfections. In return, God will offer his grace, which will assist the devotee in gaining release.

Vishishtadvaita flourished after Ramanuja, but a schism developed over the importance of God’s grace. For the northern, Sanskrit-using school, known as the Vadakalai (“Monkey”) school, God’s grace in gaining release is important, but a human individual should make the best possible effort, as a baby monkey must hold fast to its mother. This school is represented by the thinker Venkatanatha, who was known by the honorific name of Vedantadeshika (“Teacher of Vedanta”). The southern, Tamil-using school, known as the Tenkalai (“Cat”) school, holds that God’s grace alone is necessary, just as a kitten need do nothing when the mother cat carries it.

The influence of Vishishtadvaita spread far to the north, where it played a role in the devotional renaissance of Vaishnavism, particularly under the Bengal devotee Chaitanya (1485–1533). In southern India the philosophy is still an important intellectual influence.

*

Monkeys and cats

Either or Both?

  • While Shankara’s ideas have gained support from western scholars (perhaps because his nirguna Brahman is closer to the god of the Philosophers), Ramanuja’s theistic ideas sit more comfortably with the Hinduism of the Vedas, Epics and Puranas.

Madhva

  • A more extreme exponent of Dvaita philosophy was Madvha, who maintained that there was an absolute distinction between individual souls (jivatman) and the Divine Bhagavata, Vishnu.

                             

Next time…

  • The sources of popular devotion in the Puranas, Epics and images of divinity, will be explored in the next lecture…