Texts in Hinduism

Shruti vs. Smriti

All the Hindu scriptures can be classified into two parts.The first is called Shruti. This form of text is “What has been heard” So this this means that this knowledge actually came directly from God and so is considered to be “revealed.” The texts that were written after that were considered to be what have been remembered, or Smriti. All the texts that come after the Vedas are considered Smriti because they have been remembered not revealed. This form of text is more of the traditional texts that have rituals, codes of law, and stories.

What are some Hindu scriptures that you have heard of and what are the divisions?

Vedas:

The Vedas are dated back to 1500- 500 BCE also known as the early Vedic period and is the Sanskrit word for “knowledge”.  The Vedas are the only texts in Hinduism that are Shruti because they are believed to have been directly revealed thus relating back to the definition of shruti “what is heard”.  The Vedas have four divisions: the Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and ArtarvaVeda. From the different divisions you can see that the Vedas consists of very concrete and ritualistic material.  Everything is very natural and abstract.  

QUOTE: “Darkness was hidden by darkness in the beginning.  All this was an indistinguishable sea.  That which becomes, that which was enveloped by the void, that alone was born through the power of heat.” –RigVeda-

Here we can see that this text is very natural and abstract especially when it mentions “void”.  It really represents the Rig Veda scripture because of its description of the origins of the world. Here you can see that it is very broad and does not pertain to a certain individual.

Upanishads:

The actual sanskrit translation for Upanishad is sitting down near. This refers to the students that sat near their teacher and heard and learned these texts. Since they are what was remembered by the acharyas - they are smriti texts. Though they aren’t Sruti, they were written in the vedic time period towards the end. This is why sometimes they are also referred to as vedanta because antam means the end so its the end of the vedas. The upanishads are considered to reveal truths about the nature of ultimate reality which is brahman, and moksha which a form of human salvation. There are also other commentaries of the vedas in the upanishads in the form of sutras. As you can see, the upanishads are still very abstract but here it is more accessible and organized. These become easier to use than the Vedas.

Dharmashastras:
The dharmashastras were written after the vedic time period and therefore they are considered smriti. In fact, these set of texts have been extracted from the vedas. This very large set of scriptures is the code of law of hindu dharma. It is everyone’s religious and legal duty. Dharmashastra is as much or more about religious life as it is law. However during the time of british colonization, the dharmashastra was used as the law of the land for Hindus in India. The dharmashastra is actually divided into three mains topics - acara, vyavahara, and prayascitta.

Sruti is what has been revealed directly from God and smriti is what has been remembered. However, on an everyday basis, not everyone lives by the vedas. Many people use codes of law such as Dharmashastra or lessons from stories such as the Bhagavad Gita to live their daily lives spiritually.

Do you believe one form of scripture is more important than the other? Do you believe that one warrants more authority than the other?

Itihasas:

Itihasa were written during the Classical time period.  The Itihasas literally means “so indeed it was” and are refered to as “historical events.”  They are basically stories or epics; thus they are classified as Smriti because they are “what are heard”.  There are three major epics in Hinduism.  Two of them we discussed last meeting: the Mahabharat and the Ramayan.  In both you see that they are stories of dieties who decended to earth and the conflict between good and evil.  Throughout the epics, different morals and lessons are taught.  The Bhagavad Gita, which is widely known in Hinduism is actually specific part of the Mahabharat where Krishna teaches Arjun about the importances of Dharma right before the big battle as well as provide a guide to self realization.

Bhagavad Gita is both Shruti and Smriti.

Krishna is talking so it is “coming from God”

But the Gita was told by a bystander who heard Krishna talking to Arjun so is Smriti

QUOTE: “He by whom the world is not afflicted or troubled, who also is not afflicted or troubled by the world, who is freed from the troubled agitated lower nature and from its waves of joy and fear and anxiety and resentment, he is dear to Me.”

The vedas do talk about moksha but in a more broad sense as opposed to a specific individual.  However, in this quote from the Bhagavad Gita, you can see that it is more specific to a certain individual.

Puranas:

The Puranas are literally translated from Sanskrit to mean “of ancient times”.  They primarily consist of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods as well as descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography!  Some examples are stories such as how Ganesh got his elephant head or the numerous stories of Krishna when he was younger or the stories of the creation of the universe.  So in other words, the Puranas can be described as Hindu mythology. An important note about the Puranas is that not all of Hindu mythology comes JUST from the Puranas, a lot of them do come from the Vedas but most of them are found in the Puranas.  

If we look at the transition from vedic literature to dharmashastra to the itihasa and puranas, there is a shift in the writing. From a more natural, ritualistic, and abstract form of writing, it goes to stricter and more specific codes of law to supernatural stories.

Why do you believe this shift took place? Is it necessarily beneficial or detrimental

Conclusion:

So as we have discussed we can see that there has been many shifts throughout the texts in Hinduism.  Starting with the Vedas and Upanishads which are very ritualistic and abstract and natural, we then have the dharmashastras which provided more control by providing codes of law to the Itihasa or the epics which are very supernatural and involve stories that are more relatable to us on a day to day basis.  But now Hinduims has shifted again to be more personal and spiritual.  So what we would like for y’all to take away from this meeting is the question: do you think Hinduism will develop more texts that will reflect this more personal and spiritual characteristic? and where do you think Hinduism will go towards in the next couple of hundred years?

There is a shift between the Texts in Hindusim.

Do you think Hinduism will develop more texts that will reflect a more personal and spiritual characteristics?

Mahabharat vs. Ramayan

The Mahabharat and Ramyan are two well-known epics that have shaped Hinduism. Both epics are distinct in their differences and similarities, and have contributed to the way Hinduism is practiced today.  In the Mahabharat vs. Ramayan meeting, we first scratched the surface of both epics by looking at the major/minor characters and their plotlines, and then we went into depth by looking at the similarities and differences in both of the epics.

                The Ramayan is a story about when Rama is sent to exile for fourteen years because of King Dasaratha’s second wife Kaikeyi (Rama’s second mom). Kaikeyi used her two boons given by the king to make her own son, Bharath, the king and send Rama, the next heir to the throne, away to exile. When Rama was in exile, his wife Sita and Laxaman accompanied him as well. Ravan who was seeking vengeance for a long time, found Sita’s need for a golden deer as a perfect time to kidnap her to Sri Lanka. After Rama and Laxman discovered that Sita was kidnapped by Ravan, they teamed up with Hanuman and his monkey army to attack Sri Lanka. In the end Ravan was killed, and Sita was rescued. But before Sita returned safely to Rama, she had to pass the test of purity. In Sita’s second test of purity, she exclaimed Mother Earth to take her if she is pure and within moments a crevice opens and Sita is engulfed into the earth. Sita’s engulfing marked the end of the Ramayan. (*It is important to note that this is a brief overview of the Ramayan, which means important details may have been left out for the purpose of trying to discuss the similarities and differences between both epics.)

                The Mahabharat is a story that is based around what happens after Bhishma declares his celibacy in order for his brother to be king. Somewhere down the lineage, Pandu and Dhirtarastra were the next in heirs. Pandu had five sons; the eldest was to be the next heir to throne after his uncle (Dhitarastra) who had taken over because Pandu’s health was not doing so well. King Dhirtarstra also had sons of his own, and the eldest Duryodhan believed he deserved the throne after his brother rather than his eldest cousin. This led to a conflict between the five brothers and Duryodhan. During a gamble, the Pandu’s five sons gambled away their kingdom and go for thirteen years of exile. Upon the end of the exile, Duryodhan did not want to give them the kingdom which resulted in a major war known as the Kurkshetra. (*It is important to note that this is a brief overview of the Mahabharat, which means important details may have been left out for the purpose of trying to discuss the similarities and differences between both epics.)

Ø  Discussion Question: Is this information worth knowing and why?

Ø  Discussion Question: Upon looking at both storylines, what are some similarities and differences found in both of these epics?

Some of the similarities we found in the Mahabharat and Ramayan are:

Ø  Battle between good and evil

Ø  Major war and exile in both

Ø  The avatar is a major character in both

Ø  Strong brotherly love

Ø  Both Dhritarastra and Dasaratha were weak in will

Some of the differences we found in the Ramayan are:

Ø  Rama was the protagonist

Ø  War is strictly good versus evil

Ø  Sita’s kidnapping was the direct cause of the war

Ø  Manthara causes discord

Ø  Ramayan ends when Sita commits suicide

Ø  Tells how man should live

Some of the differences we found in the Mahabharat are:

Ø  Krishna was not the protagonist

Ø  War is within the family

Ø  Bhishma’s celibacy was the direct cause of the war

Ø  Shakuni causes discord

Ø  Mahabharat ends with Krishna’s death

Ø  Tells how man should not live

In conclusion, the Maharabharat and the Ramayan are well known epics that are referred to from time to time as a way to live our everyday lives and how not to live them as well. These two major texts are just some of the texts in Hinduism that shape the way Hinduism is practiced and interpreted today. There are so many other texts that have also played a vital role in in how Hinduism is perceived, and we encourage you to come next week to discover some of these other texts and their roles in Hinduism.

Religions Panel

Whether you follow a religion, or faith, cultural and religious awareness is very important for every individual to possess. Interfaith Religions Panel gives the members of the University of Texas community a chance to learn about various faiths, religion, and irreligion. This is a chance to get misconceptions cleared without feeling embarrassed and to learn about the backgrounds of your various peers. Not only do the panelists and the audiences learn about various faiths, but they also learn about their own faiths. Questions focus on a range of topics such the basic tenants of one’s faith and a possibility of amalgamation of religion and science in one’s faith. This year, Judaism, Sikhism, Islam, Baha’I Faith, Christianity, Secular worldview, and Hinduism will be represented on the panel

Some questions that were asked: 

Is there a generalization, assumption, stereotype, or criticism about your respective faith that you would like to address? Or What is the greatest misconception about your faith that you can think of? Please clear it up.

Who founded your faith? What is the central message of your faith? 

What are the basic tenants of your religion?

Most religions have a text(s) that they base their beliefs on. What is the particular text in your religion and what role does it play in the way people live their lives?

Movie Night Meeting

During this meeting we talked about two different concepts seen in Hinduism.  We started off the meeting asking members what the significance of om was!  After that we showed this clip to jumpstart further explanation and discussion of this concept: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwSKkKrUzUk

When Om is written in its original form it indicates three morae or syllables:  ओ३म् or a-u-m(a).  Each syllable represents one of the three elementary aspects of Shakti or devine energy. A is for creation, U is for preservation and M is for liberation or destruction.  Here the circle of life represents that cycle.  As an expansion of that, here is another clip from the lion king that we looked at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW7PlTaawfQ.  In Mufasa's explanation, creation is essentially when a lion is born, preservation is the lion's appetite for the antelope and destruction/ liberation is the death of the lion.  It comes in full circle when the lion's become the grass for the antelope, thus the circle of life is om.

Before we talked about maya, we gave everyone a maze. You can find that maze online at http://www.weirdly.net/artwork/mazes/maze-1.png. The point of the activity was to show that the maze represents an illusion that stands between the start and the finish.  From there we go into maya.  

In the simplest form maya can be described as an illusion of distinction or separation.  To clarify the concept further, we told a story about Krishna and a friend.  The friend asked Krishna what maya was.  Krishna told his friend to get water and he will tell him.  On the way to get Krishna water, the friend met a woman, fell in love, got married, had kids and began his life.  Soon enough a flood came and washed everything away and took the friend's family and home away from him.  The friend ended up waking up next to Krishna.  At this point Krishna said told his friend that the family, wife, kids and home he had were all an illusion.  With that said we showed the part of the Wizard of Oz where the wizard was unveiled by the dog Toto after Dorothy, the scarecrow, the tin man and the cowardly lion returned from killing the witch.  The unveiling of the Wizard shows Dororthy and the others, that the Wizard was just an illusion, that her journey to the wizard was her maya.  To emphasize this point further, we showed the part of the movie where Dorothy misses her chance to return to Kansas with the Wizard and Glinda the Good Witch tells Dorothy that she had the ability to go home all along and that she did not have to take the journey.  

In conclusion, Hindu concepts are universal; thus they appear in a lot of movies.  These were only a few examples.  We encourage you to search for others.  What other movies can you see Hindu themes come up in?

Bhagavad Gita Meeting

We have talked somewhat extensively about Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Jnana Yoga, and their prevalence in the Bhagavada Gita. We have understood how the Bhagavada Gita is split up into three sections with Shree Krishna essentially detailing the differences between the three yogas. That said, as an oversimplification, the three yogas are as follows: 

Karma Yoga: Yoga of action. Perform actions every day according to your dharma, and as if you are performing them for [God] or even as [God]. 

Bhakti Yoga: Yoga of devotion. There are many devotional practices that can be performed that allows for a close connection with [God]. These can be explained as the attitudes of: 1.Santa Bhava (the attitude of peaceful adoration), 2.Dasya Bhava (attitude of servant towards the master), 3.Sakhya Bhava (attitude of a friend), 4. Vatsalya Bhava (attitude of a parent to the child), 5.Madhurya Bhava (attitude of the lover towards the beloved).

Jnana Yoga: Yoga of knowledge. This is the accumulation of knowledge throughout life to eventually end with philosophical knowledge which helps understanding a distinction between different metaphysical concepts. 

Knowing what we now know about these complex concepts, is it possible to acheive Moksha (self realization) through just one of the yogas explained by Shree Krishna? If not just one, then which one(s) are necessary? Which one(s) are not necessary? 

Yugas and Avatars

Yuga in Hindu philosophy is the name of an epoch or era within a four age cycle. According to Hindu cosmology, life in the universe is create and destroyed once every 4.1 to 8.2 billion years, which is one full day for Brahma. The cycles are said to repeat like the seasons, waxing and waning within a greater time-cycle of the creation and destruction of the universe. Each Yuga involves stages or gradual changes which the earth and the consciousness of mankind goes through as a whole. A complete Yuga cycle from a high Golden Age of Enlightenment to a Dark Age and back again is said to be caused by the solar system's motion around another star.

The four Yugas were Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, and the last one which has not occurred yet is the Kali Yuga.

The Satya Yuga is the Yuga when humanity is governed by gods, and every manifestation or work is close to the purest ideal and humanity will allow intrinsic goodness to rule supreme. It is sometimes referred to as the "Golden Age". The Satya Yuga lasts 1,728,000 years. During this Yuga, we see four incarnations of Vishnu which appear to save humanity.

1. Matsya: the fish. Lord Vishnu takes the form of a fish to save Manu from a flood, after which he takes his boat to the new world along with one of every species of plant and animal, gathered in a massive cyclone.
2. Kurma: the tortoise. When the devas and asuras were churning the Ocean of Milk in order to get amrita, the nectar of immortality, the mount Mandara they were using as the churning staff started to sink and Lord Vishnu took the form of a tortoise to bear the weight of the mountain.
3. Varaha: the boar, He appeared to defeat Hiranyaksha, a demon who had taken the Earth, or Prithvi, and carried it to the bottom of what is described as the cosmic ocean in the story. The battle between Varaha and Hiranyaksha is believed to have lasted for a thousand years, which the former finally won. Varaha carried the Earth out of the ocean between his tusks and restored it to its place. 
4. Narasimha: he half-man/half-lion appeared in the Satya Yuga. The rakshasa(An evil person) Hiranyakashipu, the elder brother of Hiranyaksha, was granted a powerful boon from Brahma, not allowing him to be killed by man or animal, inside or out, day or night, on earth or the stars, with a weapon either living or inanimate. Vishnu descended as an anthropomorphic incarnation, with the body of a man and head and claws of a lion. He then disembowels the rakshasa at the courtyard threshold of his house, at dusk, with his claws, while he lay on his thighs.

Treta Yuga is the second out of four yugas. Treta means third in sanskrit. The famous events in this yuga were Lord Vishnu's fifth, sixth and seventh incarnations as Vamana, Parashurama and Rama respectively. 

1. Vamana: Vishnu incarnated as the dwarf son of Aditi to stop King Mahabali of the Asura race, the grandson of Prahlada, from completing a sacrifice which would allow him to overshadow Indra in power and splendor. The jealous and worried Devas persuaded Vishnu to send Bali, a bhakta of his, to Patala, the underworld. Vishnu did so by taking advantage of the King's kindness and refusal to go back on his word, but allowed him a luxurious dwelling and sovereignty in one of the lower worlds.
2. Parashurama, Rama with the axe. He is son of Jamadagni and Renuka. He received an axe after a penance to Shiva. King Kartavirya Arjuna and his army visited the father of Parashurama at his ashram, and the saint was able to feed them with the divine cow Kamadhenu. The king demanded the animal, Jamadagni refused, and the king took it by force and destroyed the ashram. Parashurama then killed the king at his palace and destroyed his army. In revenge, the sons of Kartavirya killed Jamadagni. Parashurama took a vow to kill every Kshatriya on earth twenty-one times over, and filled five lakes with their blood. Ultimately, his grandfather, the great rishi Rucheeka, appeared and made him halt. 
3. Rama: Ramachandra, the prince and king of Ayodhya.  Rama is a commonly worshiped avatar in Hinduism, and is thought of as the ideal heroic man. His story is recounted in one of the most widely read scriptures of Hinduism, the Ramayana. While in exile from his own kingdom with his brother Lakshman and the monkey king Hanuman, his wife Sita was abducted by the demon king of Lanka, Ravana. He travelled to Ashoka Vatika in Lanka, killed the demon king and saved Sita.

Dvapara Yuga is the third out of four Yugas. According to the Puranas, this Yuga ended at the moment when Krishna returned to his eternal abode of Vaikuntha. This Yuga last 864,000 years. The only two pillars in this age are Compassion and Truthfulness.

1. Krishna: was the eighth son of Devaki and Vasudev. Krishna is the most commonly worshiped deity in Hinduism and an avatar in Vaishnava belief. His name means 'dark' or 'attractive', and he appeared in the Dwapara Yuga alongside his brother Balarama, and was the central character of the Bhagavad Gita. He is mentor to Arjuna, delivering him the Gita at the Battle of Kurukshetra. He is often depicted playing the murali and having a mischievous spirit.
2. Buddha: In this age, the true devotion to Vedas was replaced by empty rituals. To enlighten the world, Lord Vishnu descended the earth as Buddha, the enlightened one. He was born as the crown prince of the Kapilavastu to King Suddhodana and Maya. He was named Siddhartha, meaning "All things fulfilled". But his mother died soon after his birth and was brought up by Prajapati, the sister of Maya. Buddha was saddened by death of living creatures, and vices like poverty. He wasn't happy with any answers that were provided to him and he decided to find out the meaning and the absolute truth and he left his wife and child to a hermit's life in the forest and became the enlightened one. Buddha advocated the Middle Path, in which he offered a balanced, harmonious way of life, steering between two extremes of self-indulgence and total abstinence.

Kali Yuga is the "age of Kali" and is the last of the four yugas. Kali Yuga is associated with the demon Kali. This is associated with strife, discord, quarrel, or contention. 

1. Kalki: is the final incarnation of Vishnu, foretold to appear at the end of Kali Yuga, our present epoch. He will be atop a white horse and his sword will be drawn, blazing like a comet. He is the harbinger of end time and will destroy all unrighteousness and evil at the end of Kali Yuga.

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“Whenever righteousness wanes and unrighteousness increases I send myself forth.For the protection of the good and for the destruction of evil,and for the establishment of righteousness,I come into being age after age.” (Gita:4.7–8)

DQ: Why do the Yugas get smaller every time? If Satya Yuga was so good, why did they need 4 avatars and we, in the Kali Yuga, only get one?

Idol Worship

Murti or idol worship is currently an integral part of Hinduism. It is important to distinguish between murtis and idols. The term "murti" means "divine form", and can refer to anything which one prays to when conducting a puja. However, the term "idol" refers to a humanoid figure representing Brahman or God.

            Originally, Hindus did not worship idols, but instead focused on murtis such as Agni (fire) or Surya (sun). Proof of this can be found in the Yajurveda, with this quote: "Of him there is no likeness, whose glory is infinite". The quote describes how no one idol could describe God or Brahman fully. However, a shift eventually occurs; In the Ramayana, Rama worships a Shivalingum in Rameswaram before attacking Sri Lanka. Further proof of this can be seen from the conception of the Shilpa Shashtras, a collection of various Hindu writings that rose to prominence as the use of idols for prayer grew. They we're used as the primary source of information regarding the creation of any murti.

Why do you think idol worship started becoming more and more popular as the standard form of Hindu worship?

            The historical answer for the above question is that Buddhists first started to used idols in their prayer. Hindus, craving the ability to worship at any time outside of a proper puja or havan chose to create their own idols.

            Of course, there are reasons for and against the use of idols within worship. As described by Swami Vivekananda, idol worship helps people to focus on the formlessness nature of God. Idols also allow for a very personal connection with God. One easy way to explain this was through the use of a clip from the cartoon Naruto. Within the clip, the title character is learning how to focus his thoughts onto a specific point. This serves as an analogy for the concept of focus. The clip can be found here--http:/www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=N85THbFWOBc

            However, there are many arguments against the use of idols in worship. For example, the Vedas specifically describe the form of God as formless and describe worship through havan as the primary method for connection with God. Furthermore, certain idols (also murtis) are given extra importance over other murtis. One example of this is the predominant worship of Tirupati within South India. Of course, it is up to the individual to form their own opinion of idol worship and to choose their own path.