OUT OF INDIA

 

Out of India come the world’s most famous “non-Jewish” religions, even though its own native Buddhism has long been evicted from the subcontinent. Talking about Buddhism and Hinduism, both as the religions of India, Schopenhauer observes a common tradition of non-violence in them:

“Although it is a matter of common knowledge that about the fifth century of our era Buddhism was driven out by the Brahmans from its ancient home in the southernmost part of the Indian peninsula, afterwards to spread over the rest of Asia, as far as I know, we have no certain account of any crimes of violence or wars or cruelties, perpetrated in the course of it. That may of course be attributable to the obscurity, which veils the history of those countries; but the extremely mild character of their religion, with a steady inculcation of forbearance towards all living things, and the fact that Brahmanism by its caste system properly admits no proselytes, allows one to hope that their adherents may be acquitted of shedding blood on a large scale, and of cruelty in any form.”

The Time Almanac says: “No single creed binds Hindus together. Intellectually there is complete freedom of belief. Hinduism is a syncretic religion welcoming and incorporating a variety of outside influences.” If so, why did the Brahmans chase the Buddhists out of India? (The last question renders a pleasantly subtle double-meaning to my title, which pleases me greatly, as the pun was initially unexpected.) Was it politics, stupid? At any rate, the Almanac’s assertion about “complete freedom” and the “welcoming mat” does not quite stand up to our very first scrutiny.

Hinduism is defined by the BBC World Religions Project as “a group of faiths rooted in the religious ideas of India.” It is considered the world’s oldest religion, dating back to prehistoric times, and having over nine million to a billion-plus adherents worldwide. It is not a single doctrine, with no single founder or teacher. Ironically, just as Buddhism originated in modern-day India proper, but is no longer considered an Indian religion proper, Hinduism originated in the Indus Valley in modern-day Pakistan, now at least technically no longer part of what we call India today.

More than 80% of the Indian population regard themselves as Hindu, although neither the word Hinduism nor the word Brahmanism used by Schopenhauer, are used by them themselves. Hinduism was actually the name invented by the British administration in India during colonial times, whereas the Hindus call their religion Sanatana Dharma (eternal religion), or Vaidika Dharma (religion of the Vedas), the Vedas being the most ancient religious Hindu text, believed to have been received by Hindu scholars directly from God and passed onto generations by word of mouth. Apart from the sacred Vedas, other important Hindu texts include the Upanishads (dealing with Vedic philosophy and forming the conclusions of each of the Vedas: “elaborating on how the soul Atman can be united with the ultimate truth Brahman through contemplation and mediation, as well as on the doctrine of Karma: the cumulative effects of a person’s actions”), and the Ramayana (concerning the life of the hero Rama, viewed as an avatar of Vishnu, and as “a principal deity in his own right.” Its written form is credited to the poet Valmiki). There is also the Mahabharata, a group of books attributed to the sage Vyasa, recording the legends of the Bharata tribal group. Its sixth book the Bhagavad-Gita is a poem describing a conversation between the warrior Arjuna and the God Krishna. It is an ancient text that has become a main sacred text of Hinduism and other belief systems.

As far as the classical European-written history of Hinduism is concerned, with its Christian emphasis on an “Aryan invasion,” presumably harmonizing Vedism with the Biblical Book of Genesis, it is, apparently, not worth too much, to be given a place in this entry or anywhere else, for that matter:

“There is no racial evidence of any such Indo-Aryan invasion of India, but only of a continuity of the same group of people who traditionally considered themselves to be Aryans. This academic concept in 18^th and 19^th century Europe reflected the cultural milieu of the period. Linguistic data were used to validate the concept that in turn was used to interpret archeological and anthropological data. There was no invasion by anyone.”

Hinduism believes in a universal eternal soul called Brahma the Creator, but its adherents worship other deities as well, recognizing different attributes of Brahma in them. There are two major divisions within Hinduism, recognizing either Vishnu or Shiva as the ultimate deity.

Hinduism has commonly been viewed in the West as a polytheistic religion, but this is not quite accurate. On the other hand, some have viewed it as a monotheistic religion, as it recognizes only one supreme God Brahma, the panentheistic principle of all reality being a unity. Some view Hinduism as Trinitarian which is an interesting stretch, because Brahma’s manifestations in Vishnu the Krishna (Preserver), and in Shiva the Destroyer can be viewed in parallel, although without any deeper similarities, with the Christian triad of God the Father as manifested in God the Son and the Holy Ghost.

Strictly speaking, most forms of Hinduism are considered henotheistic: they recognize one supreme Deity, but also other gods and goddesses as facets, forms, manifestations, or aspects of that supreme God.

This last term is intriguing, as it appears to combine the philosophical monotheism of a great religion with its traditional cultural mythology. In a way Christianity does have a mythology of its own, as represented by a host of its Saints and patron saints, angels and guardian angels, and, of course, by the cult of the Mother of God. Poor Protestants, though. Deprived of mythology, they either had to look for it elsewhere, like in the Nibelungen Ring, for instance, which was not such a bad thing as losing all their culture, like it is now the case among the American Evangelicals.

Before I am done with this entry, here is a word about the important Indian religion, known as Jainism. It is important enough as a cultural phenomenon, to have its festival dates listed in the Time Almanac, but as a religion it is not receiving a similar mention. The BBC World Religions Project calls Jainism an ancient philosophy and ethical teaching that originated in India, the word “religion” conspicuously missing from this short description. The longer description, however, is not so blunt.

“Jainism is an ancient Indian religion teaching the way to liberation and bliss in a life of harmlessness and renunciation. Its essence is concern for the welfare of every being in the universe and for the health of the universe itself.”

There is no single founder of Jainism, although tradition frequently ascribes this role to the semi-legendary ancient sage Mahavira Vardhamana. Although not the first among the Jains (24^th to be precise), he is said to have developed the basic doctrine of Jainism. (I am by all means resisting the temptation to compare him to Christianity’s own St. Paul!)

The distinguishing peculiarity of Jainism is its belief that all animals and plants, as well as human beings, contain living souls. Each of these souls is considered of equal value and must be treated with respect and compassion. Jains are strict vegetarians and live in a way that minimizes the use of the world’s resources. Other than this special condition, Jainism is philosophically too close to the Hinduist religious tradition to merit a special distinction.

Most Jains live in India, and there are reported to be over four million throughout the world. The highest published figure is 10 million, which is clearly incorrect. But its historical and philosophical import is far too great to omit it from at least this brief and non-independent consideration.