Hinduism II

Love as a path to salvation:

Hindu Gods & goddesses

Introduction to World Religions Fall 2007 Dr. Hannah Schell

Agenda for class meeting

Review basic concepts of the Hindu worldview

Atman = Brahman

Can God be described? God without attributes vs. God with attributes

Hindu gods & goddesses:The Hindu “triad” of Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva

I. Review of basic concepts

This world is samsara – an illusion, the unending cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth

The spiritual goal, and one of the four aims of human life, is moksha, or liberation.

There are several paths to moksha, including knowledge, action and devotion.

Atman=Brahman (see next slide).

Atman = Brahman (the basic metaphysical insight of

Hinduism) Brahman – the Supreme Being; Being Itself/

the ultimate, the transcendent, the Godhead.[from br – to breathe and brih – to be great; see Smith 47].

Brahman is being, awareness, and bliss (47). Atman – the self or soul; the hidden self; the

part of the human being that is more than the body, more than the personality.

But, Atman = Brahman! The philosophers call this “monism” – the

idea that all reality is fundamentally comprised of one ‘substance’ or character.

“Behold the universe in the glory of God: and all that lives and moves on earth. Leaving the transient, find joy in the Eternal: set not your heart on another’s possessions…

The Spirit, without moving, is swifter than the mind; the senses cannot reach him: He is ever beyond them. Standing still, he overtakes those who run. To the ocean of his being, the spirit of life leads the streams of action….

Who sees all beings in his own Self, and his own Self in all beings, loses all fear.”

- Isa Upanishad, The World’s Wisdom, 9.

Atman = Brahman

An American version of the same idea“Standing on the bare ground, my head bathed by the

blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, all mean egotism vanishes.

I become a transparent eyeball-I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me-I am part or particle of God.

The name of the nearest friend sounds then foreign and accidental: to be brothers, to be acquaintances-master or servant, is then a trifle, and a disturbance. I am a lover of uncontained and immortal beauty. In the wilderness, I have something more connate and dear than in the streets or villages. In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature (1836).

Key points from the Smith reading

Souls (jivas) come of age in the universe over the eons

Transmigration of souls from one life to the next, in accordance with karma

The world is ultimately maya – deceptive, tricky

The world is lila – the play of the divine in the cosmic dance (see Smith 55).

II. Can God be described?

God-with-attributes (Saguna Brahman) God without attributes (Nirguna

Brahman)

Nirguna Brahman is an example of negative theology:

“Oh Thou, before whom all words recoil.” (Quoted by Smith, 47).

Example of negative theology:Creation story from the Rg

VedaThere was neither non-existence nor existence then;

there was neither the realm of space nor the sky which is beyond. What stirred? Where? In whose protection? Was there water, bottomlessly deep? There was neither death nor immortality then. There was no distinguishing sign of night nor of day. That one breathed, windless, by its own impulse. Other than that there was nothing beyond. Darkness was hidden by darkness in the beginning; with no distinguishing sign, all this was water. The lie force that was covered with emptiness, that one arose through the power of heat.

(see handout for rest of passage).

God with Attributes

Influence of the great epic literature – The Ramayana The Mahabharata, which

includes the Bhagavad Gita, “Song of the Blessed One.”)

Also, the Puranas – collections of stories about the gods and their incarnations.

The “theology” of Hinduism

God with Attributes: Vedic Deities Deities of classical Hinduism:

Brahma (the creator) Shiva (and his consort) Vishnu (in his many avatars)

Vedic Deities

Indra: “King of the Gods” – a warrior, a king, associated with thunder.

Agni: “The priest of the Gods” – the god of fire, associated with lightning, fire, the sun.

Soma: deification (but not personification) of a hallucinogenic elixir from a plant.

Vedic Deities

Sarasvati: goddess associated with a river, also learning, sometimes identified with speech; truthful words.

Watch video now.

Video clip from Understanding Hindu Tradition (1994); clip is approximately 15 minutes.

The path of devotion“Always glorifying me, striving, firm in their vows,Paying me homage with devotion, They worship me, always

disciplined…I am the universal father, mother, granter of all, grandfather,Object of knowledge, purifier, holy syllable OM, threefold sacred

love…Men who worship me, thinking solely of me, always disciplined,

win the reward I secure…The leaf or flower or fruit or water that he offers with devotion, I

take from the man of self-restrain in response to his devotion.Whatever you do- what you take, what you offer, what you give,

what penances you perform – do as an offering to me, Arjuna!You will be freed from the bonds of action, from the fruits of

fortune and misfortune; armed with the discipline of renunciation your self liberated, you will join me..

If he is devoted solely to me, even a violent criminal must be deemed a man of virtue, for his resolve is right… Keep me in your mind and devotion, sacrifice to me, bow to me, discipline your self toward me, and you will reach me!”

From the Bhagavad Gita, included in World Religions; Eastern Traditions, 2nd ed. (37).

The triad of Hindu divinity

Brahman (the creator) Vishnu (the preserver)Shiva (the destroyer)

The “trimurti” (three forms) – 8th century.

Brahman, the creator

The first-born being, seated on a lotus that stems from Vishnu’s navel

Vishnu the preserver

The ultimate reality, the source of the universe

Usually shown as a dark blue man wearing a crown, with four arms, with four objects associated with him:

A conch shell

A discus

A mace

A lotus

Vishnu is concerned with the welfare of mankind.

Vishnu: the “all-pervasive one”

Appears in the world in several incarnations (avatars) to rid the world of evil and establish dharma or righteousness (Oxtoby, 40).

Avatars: literally, “descents”; incarnations of the deity into bodily forms.“For the protection of the good and the destruction of evil-doers, and for the re-establishment of dharma, I come into being in successive ages.” - Bhagavad Gita (Qted by Zaehner, 91).

Vishnu’s avatars

1. Matsya - fish2. Kurma - tortoise3. Varaha - boar4. Narasinha - man-lion5. Vamana- dwarf6. Rama with the battle-ax7. Rama8. Krsna (Krishna)9. Buddha10.Kalki - who brings the end of the aeon.

“ I have no record of austerities; I do not possess any subtle knowledge; still, I cannot be quiet even for a moment without you, O Lord lying on the serpent-couch! O Father! I will not be too much of a burden to you!…

I desire that if I saw you, I would impetuously take you and simply swallow you; but, stealing a march over me, you yearned for me and drank me off completely, O dark, cloud-like God… O you impatient Lord!”

- Alvar poet (Tamil - South India, 6th c.)

Vishnu as Krishna with Radha

Vishnu as Krsna (Krishna)

“Krishna, master of all yogis, revealed.. His transcendent divine Form, speaking from innumerable mouths, seeing with myriad eyes, of many marvelous aspects, adorned with countless divine ornaments… full of revelations, resplendent, boundless, of ubiquitous regard. Suppose a thousand suns should rise together into the sky: such is the glory of the Shape of Infisnite God.”

- The Bhagavad Gita

Consort: Sri or Laksmi (Good Fortune or Wealth)

“Lakshmi, mistress of material abundance (artha) goes wherever there is Vishnu, guardian of righteous conduct (dharma) bringing with them their son, Kama, lord of worldly pleasure.”

Source: http://www.indobride.com/stories/laksmi.htm

Prayer to Vishnu

Lord, you dwell in everything, you are everything, you take all forms and you are the origin of everything. You are the Self of all.

You, the Self of all beings, the Lord of all creation, you are the source of all that exists. You know everybody’s desire.

Salutations to you, the omnipresent, who are inseparably linked with the universe. You are the first object of all meditation.

- From Vishnupurana, Ch. XII

Vishnu summary

Understood to be the ultimate reality, the source of all creatures

Frequently depicted as blueComes in avatars (manifestations)

such as Krishna or Rama.

Shiva: The Destroyer

Associated with the lingam Supreme yogi The bull, Nandi Trident, crescent

moon Dancing Shiva Consort, Parvati Son: Ganesha

The myth of the curse of Shiva“We bow to you, O lord of the

gods and people.. We bow to you, the eternally successful yogi, the support of all the universe, the highest ruler, the highest reality, the undying, the highest place… You are quality of sound in space; you are the origin and dissolution of creatures. You are the perfume in the earth, the fluidity of the waters, the brightness of fire… You destroy all the worlds; you are Time, the Ender, made of death. You alone maintain the three worlds, and you alone create them, o lord… In one way or in many ways, you create the worlds and destroy them, O god.”

- Brahmanda Purana (Textual Sources, 86). (Read full story on page 85-86 of Textual Sources).

Shiva & the lingam

Associated with the lingam – a phallic symbol that represents fertility, generativity, creation, power.

Shiva as the supreme yogi

Dancing Shiva

Shiva Natarja

Elephant-headed Ganesha

o Remover of obstacles

o Associated with literature, being a student

o Playful, mischievous

Shiva’s consort: Parvati

Shiva bhaktiI love the Handsome One;He has no deathDecay nor formNo place or sideNo end nor birthmarks.I love him, O mother. Listen

I love the Beatufiul OneWith no bond nor fear…

So my lord, white as jasmine, is my husband.

Take these husbands who die, Decay, and feed themTo your kitchen fires!

Better than meetingAnd mating all the timeIs the pleasure of mating once After being far apart.

When he’s away I cannot wait To get a glimpse of him.Friend, when will I have it Both ways,Be with Him,Yet not with Him, My lord white as jasmine?

- Mahadevi (poet-saint from the 12th century). Sources of Indian Tradition,

2nd ed. 349-350.

Hymn to Shiva (Poem by Sankara)

I worship Siva in my heart,He can be known through the Vedas,He is delightful to the heart,He has destroyed the three cities.He is before all time and has three eyes,He looks majestic with his head of matted locks,He wears snakes as ornament and antelope skin for a dress,He is the Great God, gracious Lord of Souls,He is consciousness and bliss,The companion of Parvati.O Lord of Souls!The one sun that is visibleTakes away the darkness from the earth.Your splendor surpasses that of a thousand suns.Why do you not become visible and take away my darkness?Destroy that night of mine and show yourself to me!

Shiva summary

Note that Shiva includes all of the following elements:

Ascetic elementErotic elementFamilial elementKnown as the god of grace as well as

the god of destruction

Ramakrishna gets the last word..

Ramakrishna (1836-1886):

All is One“My dear friend, when you hear one of

the glorious Divine Names – be it Allah, Tara, Krishna, or whichever revealed name is closet to your heart – if tears of ecstasy come spontaneously to your eyes or if the sensation of weeping springs forth secretly in your heart.. This is authentic confirmation that you are awakening… You will not have to renounce the formalities of religion. Formalities of every kind will simply disappear from your being… Even the Divine Names most intimate to you will eventually disappear, and you will commune directly with the One Reality, which precedes and which emanates all names and forms…

“Gradually yet inexorably, one is drawn into the living heart of worship. Simplification and intensification occur. Finally, the practice of religion merges into the source of religion. One abides blissfully in the supreme Source, even as this infinite fountain continues to flow with all the precious sacraments, all the powerful forms of worship and meditation ever revealed to humankind.” -Ramakrishna (1836-1886); quoted in

The World’s Wisdom, 43-44.

[Gandhi once said that Ramakrishna’s life enables one to see God face to

face; 40].