What is Vedānta?

The word “vedānta” is a combination of two words “veda” and “anta”. “anta” means ‘end’. From these individual words, the meaning of the term “vedānta” is derived. It has two definitions – (1) ‘end of the Vedas’, (2) ‘end goal of the Vedas’. The first definition ‘end of the Vedas’ refers to the Upanishads that literally comes towards the end of the Vedic literature and the second definition ‘end goal of the Vedas’ refers to the philosophy expounded by the Upanishads

The canonical texts of Vedānta are (1) Upanishads, (2) Brahma Sutra and (3) Bhagavad Gita. These three sacred texts are called “prasthāna traya” meaning ‘three courses’ or ‘three systems’ in the understanding of the self for liberation or salvation. The study of the vedānta is incomplete without the understanding of prasthāna traya.

The philosophy of the vedānta is the essence of Hinduism. It is the sublime knowledge. It is the perfect vehicle for an individual seeking spiritual enlightment and liberation from the cycle of birth and death. It leads to the path of immortality and bliss by destroying one’s ego and ignorance

The fascinating aspect of Vedānta is that it is all about just two characters – individual and Brahman. It exposes and explains the divine relationship between the knower and the known, the subject and the object, the finite and the infinite in intimate and intricate detail. The analogies given by the authors are apt and coherent that stimulates self analysis and introspection.

To understand Vedānta, one must acknowledge and appreciate the following

·      ‘Individual’ is a human being, a live person. The Vedāntic texts do not discriminate individuals based on gender, race, caste, wealth, health, education, character, profession, religion or location. Individual can be male or female, black or white, rich or poor, Gandhian or terrorist, virgin or prostitute. The texts use the term ‘man’ that refers to humanity and not to the male community

· Brahman is the Absolute, All-Pervading, Infinite and Transcendental Being. See http://hinduism-as-i-understand.blogspot.com/2011/04/who-is-hindu-god.html

The relationship between the individual and Brahman is subject to interpretation by the reader. This has led to three major schools of Vedāntic thought – (1) Advaita or non-dualism by Shri Ādi Shankara who believes that individual and Brahman are one and the difference lies only in realizing it, (2) Dvaita or dualism by Madhvāchārya who believes that individual and Brahman are different like purusa (life) and prakrti (matter), (3) Vishishtadvaita or qualified non-dualism by Rāmānuja who believes that individual and Brahman are similar but not the same

The philosophy of the Vedānta can be summarized in its most simplistic form as below

• Brahman is the Absolute Supreme. It is addressed as “Paramātma” or Universal Soul or Universal Self
• Ishvara or Personal Godhead like Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva came from “hiranyagarbha” or ‘golden womb’ whose source is Paramātma
•  The universe that encompasses life and matter is created by Brahma, sustained by Vishnu and destroyed by Shiva
• Human life is the outcome of the play of Brahman which is its very nature
•  The “prana” or life force within us is called the “jivātma” or Individual Soul or Individual Self
• This jivātma is a manifestation of the Paramātma. The Upanishads state that this relationship is analogous to a drop of water in an ocean or a spark flying out from a fire. Hence, the nature of jivātma is the same as that of Paramātma which is sinless, immutable, infinite and immortal
• The mahāvakyas from the Upanishads elucidates the relationship between jivātma and Paramātma as below

Chandogya Upanishad:    “tat tvam asi”                           ‘You are It (Brahman)’

Mandukya Upanishad:      “ayam ātma brahma”              ‘The Self (jivātma) is Brahman’

Aitareya Upanishad:         “prajnanam brahma”               ‘Consciousness is Brahman’

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:         “aham brahmāsmi”                  ‘I (Self) am Brahman’

• The jivātma is constrained within a physical body giving the individual an identity, life and ego. Body and soul are different though the latter is embodied in the former
• The sole purpose of existence of jivātma is to merge, yoke or unify with the Paramātma. As soul is within the individual, the purpose of the jivātma is also the purpose of the individual
• Bhagavad Gita states that until the self merges with the Supreme Self, the cycle of birth and death of the self and hence the individual is unavoidable
• As the self is only a manifestation of the Self, to merge with the Supreme Self, one’s individual self is to be realized and experienced
• There are multiple ways to realize one’s self.
• The way of the Upanishads is to lead a life of renunciation and ascetism. Emphasis is given to controlling the mind and the senses through concentration, meditation and yoga of the Absolute
• The way of the Bhagavad Gita is three-fold. (1) Bhakti Yoga – Individuals are to surrender themselves completely to the service of God like performing rituals, puja, chanting mantras, singing devotional songs, etc, (2) Karma Yoga – Individuals are to carry out their duty for the maintenance of this world with a spirit of detachment to fruits of their action and dedicate it to God. They perform work as a service and sacrifice to God without any desire for themselves, (3) Jnana Yoga – Individuals lead a life of introspection and analysis with a spirit of non-attachment to worldly pleasures. Meditation is their way of life
•  The individual is free to choose the way for the self realization. Immaterial of the way chosen, the individual must be non-attached to desires yet live among them just like a lotus leaf in a pond that never gets wet because of the surrounding water.
• Every attempt made by an individual towards self realization is rewarding and no attempt is useless
• It might take several births to attain this realization but in every birth, the individual must make every effort to realize It
• The realization leads to destruction of the ego and bondage to earthly life giving extraordinary freedom and unimaginable joy. This state is called “avadhoota”. Some of the great sages who have attained this state are Narada, Yajnavalkkya, Vyasa and Dattatreya. Dattatreya in his poem ‘Avadhoota Gita’ gives a wonderful description of his feeling on the realization of his self.
• Rebirth is no longer possible for a person who has realized his true self. That individual soul merges with the Brahman and remains with It forever

What gives Hinduism its uniqueness?

An antiquated religion: Hinduism is mankind’s oldest religion still in existence today with all its grandeur. It has seen civilizations rise and collapse. It has seen great souls and dreadful tyrants rule this earth and pass away. It has seen wars among Gods and men. It has weathered natural disasters. It has been through the best and worst of times over the last several millennia. All through history, whenever its ideals were questioned and its existence threatened, it had come out unscathed and even more glorious than before. The pyramids of Egypt built around 4500 BC is in ruins today but Hinduism, which is older than the Egyptian civilization, is still being followed by millions in India and around the world

A religion without a founder: Jesus Christ founded Christianity. Gautama Buddha founded Buddhism. Prophet Mohammed founded Islam from the revelations of Allah. Who founded Hinduism? The answer is that no specific individual founded Hinduism. This religion is based on a set of Divine Principles between man and God that were revealed to the enlightened and liberated seers of pre-Vedic times. These principles were later handed down to successive generations of seers who not only received them with great humility but also added more to these principles by way of their own knowledge gained through enlightenment. So, Hinduism could be summarized as “a religion that is founded by enlightened seers based on their direct experience of the Absolute”

A religion that is in perfect harmony with nature: The purpose of birth of a human on this earth is two-fold: one is to give birth to offspring and the other is to seek salvation in God. The first is the materialistic duty and the second is the spiritual objective of our existence. To meet these ends, Hinduism compartmentalizes the life of a man into 4 stages:  Brahmacharya (student life), Grihastha (family life with wife and children), Vanaprastha (retirement life) and Sannyasa (renunciation or wanderer life). Each stage of life is well defined with principles and practices. Each of these principles and practices ensure that the individual carries his duties in harmony with nature and never incurs its wrath. Principles like righteousness and practices like yoga are stressed. Yoga, by itself, is the purest form of natural union of mind, body and soul. Even very minor acts like using the right leg first when entering a new home, etc have been meticulously observed and codified for the benefit of the individual.

A religion that emphasizes man and woman as equal: The Gods in Hinduism are always shown as couples – Lord Brahma and Saraswati, Lord Vishnu and Sri Lakshmi, Lord Shiva and Parvati, Lord Rama and Sita, Lord Krishna and Radha. No other religion has a Goddess. By defining husband-wife relationship at the level of God, Hinduism categorically states the equality between man and woman and goes further to stress the importance of woman in every man’s life.

A religion that gives freedom in life: There are a number of practices that need to be followed by a Hindu according to scriptures like surya namaskar, yoga, meditation, morning prayers, etc. However, the number of people following these practices as per the Hindu dharma is very few. Then do the others who do not follow incur sin? No. Hinduism offers various practices to help an individual tread on the path of righteousness. When that individual deviates from their path, these practices when followed bring them back into the right path. Hinduism is one of the religions that give freedom to the individual to choose their way of life. It does not compel one by force to follow its practices. An instance of this freedom can be pointed to in the epic Mahabharata. In the battlefield of Kurukshetra, when the battle is about to start, Arjuna drops his Gandiva (the mighty bow) and says to Lord Krishna  that he cannot fight against his own kinsmen (brothers, friends, grand fathers, teachers, their children), kill them for the kingdom of Hastinapura and incur the sin that can never be cleansed. Lord Krishna dispels Arjuna’s ignorance through His discourse of the Bhagavad Gita and encourages him to fight. At the end of His speech, Lord Krishna, instead of forcing Arjuna to fight, gives him the option to either fight the war or surrender to the enemy. He only persuaded him to fight by revealing the profound wisdom to His friend.

A religion that gives right to disagree: Hinduism never advocates blind belief. Rather, it encourages one to ask questions, disagree, debate and understand the truth. It strongly believes that there is no other way to gain wisdom than to be free to agree and disagree. If not for this quality, there would not be 3 major schools of Vedanta which are Advaita by Adi Sankaracharya, Dvaita by Madhvacharya and Vishishtadvaita by Ramanujacharya. Another testament to this quality is the well known debates around who is great, Shiva or Vishnu and Shiva or Shakti. Any Hindu can point a finger on any scripture and challenge its merit on a truthful basis. This is not possible with any other religion

A religion whose cornerstones are knowledge and truth: Foundation of Hinduism is the Vedas. The word “Veda” means ‘knowledge’. It’s the knowledge about the divine, the man himself and the path to reach the divine. There are different paths to reach the divine but in any path, the truth is the guiding principle. This truth is Sanātana Dharma or Eternal Law, the unchanging one. Simply put: whatever is changing is not truth, whatever is unchanging is the truth. Hinduism is all about to understand this Absolute Truth by way of knowledge. This knowledge is spectacular, powerful and very difficult to comprehend. But, Hinduism wants everyone, educated and the illiterate, to gain this knowledge. So, it gave Vedas, Upanishads, Brahma Sutra, Bhagavad Gita to the educated while it gave Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas which are in the form of stories to the less qualified or illiterate. This is a unique feature of this religion which differentiates it from the others

A religion that offers more than one path to God: Christianity preaches the path of love. Buddhism preaches the path of non-violence (ahimsa). Islam preaches the path of surrender to Allah. Hinduism offers not one but three paths. Why? All humans are not bestowed with the same qualities like intelligence, courage and compassion. Some people might be more intelligent than the others but less courageous. Some people display a lot of compassion but might not be intelligent or even illiterate. Due to these differences in the nature of the people, everyone cannot follow the same path to God. Bhagavad Gita offers three paths – path of “bhakti” or devotion to God, path of “karma” or action and path of “jnana” or knowledge. An individual, depending on their nature, is free to choose any path or a combination of them to seek liberation. Example: Annamacharya chose the path of devotion. Mahatma Gandhi chose the path of action. Sri Raghavendrar chose the path of knowledge.

A religion that extols service and sacrifice: Service and sacrifice are the profound values of Hinduism. Without these values, an individual cannot progress towards God. Service is ‘desireless work’. Blood donation is an example. Here, one does not expect anything in return from the beneficiary not even their goodwill or blessings. An act of service is performed purely for the good of the society at large. Sacrifice is ‘giving up for the good’. It is spoken about in various degrees in different scriptures. Vedas extol yajna to the Gods like Agni, Indra, Varuna, etc as one form of sacrifice. Upanishads extol renunciation of all attachments including family, children and wealth as another form of sacrifice. Bhagavad Gita extols any work done in a spirit of sacrifice as an ultimate form of sacrifice. A well known example of sacrifice is in the epic Ramayana. Lord Rama along with wife Sita and brother Lakshmana sacrifice their princely life and live in the forest for 14 years to uphold Dasharatha’s promise to his second wife Kaikeyi. These values of service and sacrifice are deep rooted in the Indian culture through Hinduism.

A religion that offers heaven on earth: Christianity and Islam offer heaven after the Judgement Day (after one’s life). But, Hinduism offers heaven on earth, that is, in one’s current life and not after death. The path to this infinite bliss or paramānanda is detachment from desires and self restraint of the senses that are the seats of desires. When one remains even minded in pleasure and pain and controls their lust, greed and anger, one attains bliss in their current life. This bliss is enlightenment and freedom as was achieved by Buddha and many more sages before Him like Narada. This is what Hinduism wants everyone in this world to achieve and ordains it in the scriptures like Vedas and the Upanishad

An all embracing religion: The purpose of this religion is to help an individual realize the divinity in them and guide them to God. Divinity in oneself can be realized when the divinity in others is appreciated. This happens through faith and belief. When a man regards a stone, a tree or even a piece of wood as divine and offers prayer to it sincerely, Hinduism says that his prayers will be answered as a result of his faith. Hinduism does not hesitate to embrace that stone or tree or that piece of wood as a God for two reasons (1) God is present in everything and everywhere and (2) the faith reposed in it by people. It does not shatter the faith of people but includes them in its mainstream. This unique aspect of this religion led to the emergence of so many Gods from Vedic Gods to the village Gods and so many different practices. To the ignorant, Hinduism is polytheism but to the learned, it is practical monotheism

What is the Veda?

Veda is mankind’s oldest extant religious text. It is the core and fundamental religious scripture of Hinduism. It is the very foundation upon which the religion called Hinduism is built. There is not even a single religious scripture in Hinduism that does not make a reference to the Veda. In fact, every other religious scripture attributed to Hinduism is in a way derived from the Veda

The Sanskrit term “veda” is derived from the root word “ved” which means ‘to know’. “veda” means ‘knowledge’. This knowledge is not about astronomy or astrology but the sublime and divine knowledge of how a man must seek the truth about himself to reach the feet of God

The Veda is so ancient that it neither has any authorship nor a date of its origin. The great sages who realized the timeless wisdom and experienced the absolute truth have meticulously passed on this secret to their trusted and qualified disciples who in turn have passed it on in exactly the same form to their disciples and so on. This disciplinic succession of the Veda was only through an oral tradition and no one knows for how long this continued until it was compiled by Sri Veda Vyasa as four Vedas, Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva Veda, as we know it today

The age of the Veda is always a debatable question. Indian scholars date it to 3000 BC while the western scholars date it to around 1500 BC. However, everyone agrees to the fact that these dates are when the Veda is committed to written form by Sri Veda Vyasa. Anyone who has read even a single mantra of the Veda (for instance, the famous Gayatri mantra) would feel ecstatic and humbled at the same time because of their intricately constructed linguistics. Such a development not only in linguistics but also the noble thoughts ascribed to the Veda would have taken eons. Hence, the Veda is called “anādi” meaning ‘without a beginning’ and rightly so.

Veda is “apoureshya” meaning “of non-human” origin. The Veda is said to have been the breath (“nishwashitam”) of the Supreme Being and was revealed to Brahma. Hence, the Veda is called ‘revealed text’. The seers who were in deep penance received it in the form of sounds which only they were able to perceive. Hence, the Veda is called “shruti” meaning “that which is heard”.

Veda is “anantha” meaning infinite. What has been given to us by our great teachers and ancestors is only a fraction of the divine knowledge that is wholly available in this universe waiting to be discovered. This signifies that the Veda is eternal – neither having a beginning nor an end

The Veda is in poetic form and not in prose form for very obvious reasons. It is easy for the human brain to remember poems which are in verse form and following a strict metre. A metre is a rhythmic element of poetry where it means the number of lines in a verse, number of syllables in a line, etc. As the primary mode of teaching of the Veda and its communication is through recitation, the metre of the vedic verses becomes extremely important for the students to remember the Veda. To illustrate this point, one can easily sing several tens of songs without missing a word while it is difficult to remember and recite a single page of speech or text. Hence, most of the ancient texts like Veda, Upanishad, Ramayana, Mahabharata, etc are in verse form.

The Vedas are four in number

1. Rig Veda – The term “rig” means ‘hymn in praise’. This Veda contains hymns or mantras extolling the different deities like Indra, Agni, Varuna, etc

2. Yajur Veda – The word “yajur” is derived from the root word “yaj” meaning ‘worship’. “yajna” means “sacrificial worship”. This Veda contains the rites and rituals along with detailed procedures to conduct them for every occasion

3. Sama Veda – “sāma” means ‘peace’. This Veda contains the mantras from the Rig Veda but set to melodious musical tones which when recited brings shanti or peace to the mind. Bhagavad Gita chapter 10, verse 22 alludes to the importance of Sama Veda when Lord Krishna says to Arjuna that “Of all the Vedas, I am the Sāma Veda”

4. Atharva Veda – This Veda contains the mantras extolling deities not found in the other Vedas to ward off evil and hardship and to defeat the enemies.

Each Veda has 3 sections

1. Samhita – This section contains the mantras in verse form. When Vedas are chanted in any religious event, it is the hymns or mantras in the samhita portion that gets sung

2. Brāhmana – This section explains the rituals to be performed when mantras from the samhita portion is being recited. The entire section is in prose form and acts as a guidebook for the proper performance of rites and rituals during a yajna

3. Āranyaka – This section contains the mantras and the tantras for those seeking the truth in the tranquility of the forests. Within this section is the esoteric Upanishads that contains the distilled teachings of the Vedas.

One fascinating aspect of the Veda is that its linguistic construct has remained unaltered for several thousand years despite it being handed down through generations. As the Veda is the revealed to the seers as Divine Sound, there is extraordinary emphasis on the preservation of intonation when reciting the Vedas. To preserve the intonation of this Divine Sound, the seers resorted to communication through recitation rather than written form because it is quite impossible to express the whole gamut of sounds through writing. It is said that a person reciting the Vedas with perfect intonation will receive the benefits of the mantras even if they do not know the meaning of the mantras being recited. To preserve and police the intonation along with other core aspects of the Veda like sacrificial rites, Vedangas came into existence.

Vedanga means “organ or limb of the veda”. There are six of them

1. Siksha – Text that deals with euphony and pronunciation of Vedic mantras. This is the first and most important limb of the Vedas and rightly considered to be ‘nose’ of the Vedas that carries the life breath.

2. Vyākarna – Text that deals with vedic grammar. This is the second limb and is the ‘mouth’ of the Vedas

3. Chandas – Text dealing with meter or rhythmic structure of vedic mantra composition. This is considered to be the ‘feet’ of the Vedas

4. Niruktha – Text dealing with etymology or origin of words. Considered to be ‘ear’ of the Veda

5. Jyotisha – This is the ‘eyes’ of the Vedas and deals with astronomy

6. Kalpa – Text dealing with the vedic procedures of performing rituals. This is the ‘hands’ of the Vedas

Performance of vedic karma is the necessary first step in establishing a connection with the Holy Spirit. But, performance of vedic karma alone cannot lead one to salvation. The path to salvation requires faith in God, patience and perseverance but this path starts with the vedic karma

“anantha vai vedah” – Limitless are the Vedas

What sacred texts form the core of Hinduism?

Bible is to Christianity, Koran is to Islam, Dhammapada is to Buddhism, Zend Avesta is to Parsee but what sacred text is to Hinduism? The authoritative text of Hinduism is the Vedas. The four Vedas, Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva, are the solid foundation upon which Hinduism is built. They provide the supreme guidelines for living the life to the fullest in harmony with nature and the Creator.

Vedas were passed down through generations from time immemorial through a very structured oral tradition. Such is the rigidity of this structure that there exists a set of supplementary texts that must be adhered to while learning and understanding the Vedas. These texts are called the “Vedanga”. “Anga” means ‘limb’ and “Vedanga” means ‘limb of the Veda”. There are six Vedangas as listed below

1. Siksha – Text that deals with euphony and pronunciation of Vedic mantras. This is the first and most important limb of the Vedas and rightly considered to be ‘nose’ of the Vedas that carries the life breath.

2. Vyākarna – Text that deals with vedic grammar. This is the second limb and is the ‘mouth’ of the Vedas

3. Chandas – Text dealing with meter or rhythmic structure of vedic mantra composition. This is considered to be the ‘feet’ of the Vedas

4. Niruktha – Text dealing with etymology or origin of words. Considered to be ‘ear’ of the Veda

5. Jyotisha – This is the ‘eyes’ of the Vedas and deals with astronomy

6. Kalpa – Text dealing with the vedic procedures of performing rituals. This is the ‘hands’ of the Vedas

There is no other ancient religious text in the world that has such a comprehensive auxiliary texts as the Vedas. This is the most significant reason why Vedas have not undergone any change inspite of being in existence for several millennia – it is recited and practiced the same way today as it was 3500 years ago when it was first written down by Sri Veda Vyasa!!

The other significant sacred texts like the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Brahma Sutra, Ramayana and Mahabharata are derived from the Vedas. See picture below for more information

Summary: Vedas are the authoritative text on Hindhu Dharma and in turn, Hinduism. All other sacred texts including Bhagavad Gita that is said to be the 'Fifth Veda' is an offshoot from the Vedas

What is Om?

Om is the most familiar of symbols representing Hinduism. There are a number of other important symbols like the swastika, lotus, trishul, naamam, pratik, etc. but none of them is as profound as the Om. The symbol Om is adorned on the top of main gopuram (towers) of old but famous temples in South India. People have wooden or metallic frames of this symbol in homes and offices. It is also painted on the walls. Many men and women wear gold or silver chains as jewelry with the symbol Om as a pendant mostly for fashion but sometimes as a mark of reverence of the religion. Though the symbol itself is widely known across the whole of India, the significance of this sacred syllable and symbol is scarcely known among the populace

Om or ‘Aum’ is the primordial sound, a sound that has always been in existence and that which will continue to exist forever. It is the cosmic vibration of this universe. It is also the cosmic energy behind all that exists today. Scriptures say that Brahma, the Creator, created this universe by chanting Om and reciting the Vedas. Such is the power of Om.

Om is a “bīja” or seed mantra which means a mantra that is the source of power to all other mantras. This might be the reason why the everyday mantras like “namah shivāya” and “namo narāyanāya” are prefixed with the syllable Om to make them even more powerful

Māndukya Upanishad, which is one of the few “mukhya” (important) Upanishads, is totally dedicated to explaining the meaning and significance of Om in twelve wonderful verses. This Upanishad categorically states that Om is verily Brahman, the Supreme Being, the Omnipotent and the Absolute from where we came and to where we go

The scripture further states that the ātman or self or consciousness in us is Brahman. Our consciousness has 4 states

1. Waking state – This is the state in which we are when awake. In this state, the consciousness is affected by perception of the sense organs (eyes, ears, etc) to the real objects in the vicinity of the body. Examples: sweet smell from flowers, taste of fruits, a thorn in the leg causing pain, etc. The consciousness is bound by the limitations of the real world in terms of time and space. One cannot rewind time to become younger or jump from one city to another

2. Dreaming state – This is the state in which we are when asleep. In this state, the consciousness is affected by perception of the sense organs to the imaginary objects in the vicinity of the mind. Examples: terror due to visualizing some strange creatures, meeting your good old school friends, etc. The consciousness is no longer bound by the limitations of the real world in terms of time and space. Anything can be achieved, good or bad

3. Deep sleep state – In this state, the consciousness is totally shutdown as the sense organs are no longer responsive. This is equivalent to a coma state when nothing is registered in the mind but the body as such is active and performing its life saving functions – heart beat, breathing, functioning of the liver, kidney and digestive system, etc. Nothing is remembered during this state

4. Still state – In this state, the consciousness is active but still and in rest. The sense organs are functioning but do not affect the consciousness. It is under complete control. It thinks of nothing, acts on nothing. Unlike the other three states, it transcends time and space. This is the state one must achieve to attain bliss. This state is the ātman, the Brahman. Can this state be achieved? Yes but requires concentration, will power and patience over a long period of time. Each one of us would have experienced a lower form of this state at least once if not more. Have we not forgotten ourselves when doing something with tremendous concentration? Like reading a thriller novel, preparing for exams to get the best score, working to meet the deadline, etc. In each of these cases, we tend to forget the time and sometimes even the space. Hours would have passed but we feel like it has only been minutes. In all these cases, though the notion of time and space is lost, the mind is active and focused on something. It is not still. It is not in rest. When the mind becomes still without thinking of anything, it is called the still state.

Phonetically, Om is composed of 3 sounds – A, U, M. Each sound is said to correspond to a specific state of our self or consciousness. The sound ‘A’ in Om is said to correspond to the awakening state of the self. The sound ‘U’ corresponds to dreaming state and the sound ‘M’ corresponds to the deep sleep state. The silence that follows Om which is unutterable and which is nothing but the absence of sound corresponds to the still state, state of absolute peace and bliss. This, the Upanishad states, must be realized

So transcendental is the sound of Om that if chanted and meditated upon gives immense goodness by purifying the mind and freed from distractions. The purpose of human life is to reach Brahman and the vehicle to reach it will be the supreme Om. Mundaka Upanishad beautifully describes this as below

Om is the bow; Ātman is the arrow; Brahman is the target. Shoot with great vigilance to merge ātman with the Brahman

How can chanting Om breed goodness? Human mind thinks both good and evil. When evil is suppressed, goodness fosters. Primary evil thoughts of the mind are lust, greed and anger. The intensity of these thoughts varies with the individual. By meditating on Om, the mind is denied the freedom to think and nurture these evil thoughts. Once the evil thoughts are shut out, goodness prevails and the mind is purified. Purified mind brings great benefits to the body. Such a person beams with confidence and perfect health. Even others benefit from this person and as a result their family and community benefits.

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti

Which God to worship?

Hinduism is known for its many Gods unlike other religions of this world. Any Hindu follower, young or old, can rattle out the names of at least a dozen Hindu Gods within a minute. To an ordinary person, where is the knowledge coming from? Awareness of the presence of a number of Gods comes right from childhood. Parents first plant a thought about concept of God when the child is about 2 to 3 years old. They teach the child to clasp its tender hands and pray to God either in the temple or puja room of the house. When the child grows a year older and is able to understand conversations and dialogues, the concept of God is first enhanced as a bestower of desires and punisher of wrong deeds. In fact, the parents project God as a threat more often than a bestower to control the mischief of the playful child. As the child grows and attains ability to distinguish and remember, parents slowly introduce the concept of many Gods, why a particular God needs to be worshipped and what benefits does one get from that God. Prayers now become specific to the God. Parents advice the child to pray to Goddess Saraswati for knowledge (especially during exams), Goddess Lakshmi for wealth, Lord Ganesh for removing obstacles, Lord Hanuman for courage, Lord Ram for righteousness, Lord Krishna for happiness, so on and so forth.

Temples, big or small, have multiple deities with one main deity in the sanctum sanctorum. Every God has at least one temple where he/she is the main deity. Thus temples effectively promote our belief system in many Gods. Even in the puja room of a household there will be idols or photo frames of many Gods with one God being the primary one typically called the “kula deivam” or family or community God

This belief system inevitably leads to a question as to which God to worship to gain maximum benefit, material or spiritual. Here is the short answer: As all Gods are one and the same, one can worship any God.

Sounds absurd, isn’t it? This is because many Hindus are not aware of the most fundamental and essential truth of our religion, the Brahman. Those who know the Vedas know that Brahman is the Supreme Being, the Paramātma, the Omnipresent. To know more about Brahman, read my other blog titled “Who is the Hindu God?”. All the other Gods that we know are manifested and personified forms of that Supreme Being. To know more, read my other blog titled “Why so many Gods?”.

As the source of all Gods is Brahman, why not worship Brahman rather than “Ishwara” or Personal God? Worship of Brahman is extremely difficult for normal human beings for the following reasons

• Brahman has no name, no form: We can immediately relate to our Personal Gods like Lord Krishna, Sri Lakshmi, etc because they have a name and they also have a form. Personal Gods have temples and in those temples, the deities are beautifully decorated with flowers and ornaments to capture our mind’s attention. Once the attention is yoked, a very strong personal bond is formed between us and the God. However, our mind which is a function of our senses cannot relate to the nameless and formless Brahman and fails to create this very bond that is the source of faith in God. Imagine temples and puja rooms with no idols or photo frames !! How are we to worship Brahman? Traditional forms of worship in temples do not apply to the Supreme Being, the Brahman. Even the great sage Dattatreya who lived 4000 years ago (late Vedic period) and who is considered to be an incarnation of The Trimurthi says this in his composition ‘Avadhuta Gita’: “How shall I salute the formless Being, indivisible, auspicious, and immutable, who fills all this with His Self and also fills the self with His Self?” Such is the difficulty of worshipping Brahman
• Brahman can only be experienced through inward self reflection by means of concentration and meditation. Brahman cannot be experienced through prayers
• Realization of Brahman requires renunciation of the worldly affairs. Our mind must be free from sensual desires and must not be affected or attached to the objects of sense. This is pretty much inhuman to do except for the few mahātmas

Given these difficulties, Bhagavad Gita emphasizes on worship of Personal God to reach Brahman. Note that this Personal God can be any God and not just restricted to Lord Vishnu or Lord Shiva. All that is required during worship is the faith in that Personal God

Interestingly and conveniently for us, this inquiry comes from the great warrior Arjuna himself. The divine conversation is given below from the Bhagavad Gita (chapter 12)

“arjuna uvāca

evam satata-yuktā ye

bhaktās tvām paryupāsate

ye cāpy aksharam avyaktam

teshām ke yoga-vittamāh”

Meaning: Arjuna inquired: Who are considered to be more perfect, those who are always properly engaged in Your devotional service or those who worship the impersonal Brahman, the unmanifested?

“sri-bhagavān uvāca

mayy āvesya mano ye mām

nitya-yuktā upāsate

shraddhayā parayo petās

te me yuktatamā matāh”

Meaning: The Supreme Personality of Godhead (Krishna) said: Those who fix their minds on My personal form and are always engaged in worshiping Me with great and transcendental faith are considered by Me to be most perfect

To conclude, worship any God as you wish but worship with faith to reach the Supreme Being, the Absolute Brahman

Why so many Hindu Gods?

The major religions of the world are Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. Jesus is the principal God in Christianity. Allah is the only God in Islam. But in the case of Hinduism, there is no principal God. Several million people in India worship Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesh and many other Gods as their Personal God but there has never been a consensus about who has the supreme authority. This has led to the question in the minds of many as to why there are so many Gods in Hinduism unlike other religions in the world. To answer this question, one must understand the origin of these Personal Gods (the Gods we worship) themselves.

In my earlier blog titled “Who is the Hindu God?” I had written that Brahman is the Supreme Being and is beyond all the Gods that we know and worship today. The Trimurthi of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are the 3 manifested forms of the One unmanifest Brahman residing in the “devaloka” to carry out the functions of this universe. Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the maintainer or preserver and Shiva is the destroyer or transformer.

The divine consorts of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are Saraswati, Lakshmi and Shakti respectively. These goddesses are divine female counterparts of the Trimurthi assisting them to carry out their functions

Whenever evil rises to dangerous proportions in this material world and threatens the truth, an avatar of the Trimurthi descends on this earth to slay the evil and uphold the truth. The human race of that time worshipped that avatar and that tradition continues even today

Lord Krishna says this to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita (4-7:8) as below:

“yadā yadā hi dharmasya

glānir bhavati bhārata

abhyutthānam adharmasya

tadā ‘tmānam srjāmy aham”

Meaning: Whenever and wherever there is a decline in righteousness and rise of unrighteousness, O Bhārata (Arjuna), I descend (incarnate) Myself

“paritrānāya sādhunām

vināsāya ca duskrtām

dharma-samsthāpanārthāya

sambhavāmi yuge yuge”

Meaning: For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked and for the establishment of righteousness, I come into being from age to age

All the Gods that we worship today are avatars of the Trimurthi especially Vishnu. Few of them are listed below

Rama-Sita: Vishnu and Lakshmi incarnated as Rama and Sita to defeat Ravana in the epic battle of Ramayana. This was in Treta Yuga

Krishna-Radha: Vishnu and Lakshmi incarnated as Krishna and Radha to defeat Kauravas in the epic battle of Mahabharata in Kurukshetra. This was in Dwapara Yuga

Narasimha: Vishnu incarnates as Narasimha (part-human, part-lion form) to kill the demon named Hiranyakashipu, father of Prahlada who was a great devotee of Vishnu

Vamana: Vishnu incarnates as a dwarf Brahmin to control the arrogance of the demon king Mahabali who won the authority of the heavens from Indra

Venkatachalapathy-Padmavati: Vishnu and Lakshmi incarnated as Venkatachalapathy and Padmavati to cure the disease of samsara in the areas of birth and death

Anjaneya: Shiva takes the avatar of Anjaneya to assist Rama to defeat Ravana

Durga: Durga is a manifestation of the fierce power of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva put together to defeat the demon Mahishasura. She is the warrior form of the divine Mother

Kali: Kali is born out of the frowned forehead of Durga and takes fierceful and ferocious form to kill the evil forces

Thus, it is very clear that all Personal Gods we worship today are avatars of the Trimurthi who in turn are manifestations of the Supreme Being, the Brahman. In worshipping one of the many Gods of Hinduism, we are indirectly worshipping the unmanifest and the infinite Brahman

As all Gods are manifestation of the only Brahman, there is no question of who is more powerful among the Gods (Vishnu or Siva?). To the ignorant, this is not known. To the wise, all Gods are one and it is Brahman

Who is the Hindu God?

The God in Hinduism is “Brahman”. Brahman is NOT Lord Brahma, the Creator of this world. Brahman is above all Gods that we know – Brahma, Vishna, Shiva, Ganesh, Rama, Krishna, Lakshmi, Saraswati, etc. Brahman is the Supreme God. Brahman is the ONE that the sacred texts like Vedas, Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita talk about. Brahman is the ONE that the great sages want to realize. Brahman is the ONE that we are destined to reach in this birth. From Brahman came the Gods Brahma, Vishna, Shiva for sustenance of this universe. From them came the other Gods as avatars for defeating the evil and helping the truth to prevail in this world. Through these Gods, we must reach the Brahman to attain “moksha”

The well known sloka below alludes to this

“gurur brahma gurur vishnu

gurur devo maheswarah

guru sāksāt parabrahma

tasmai shree gurave namah”

Meaning: Know the guru to be Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Know that guru is verily the Supreme Brahman. Offer thy salutations to this peerless guru

Brahman has no name. Brahman is “nirguna” or formless. Brahman is not male, not female and not neuter. Brahman is beyond gender. Brahman is transcendental – that which is beyond human knowledge. Brahman is Omnipresent, all pervading. Brahman is Invincible and Indestructible. Brahman is Invisible. Brahman is Infinite (limitless, unbound, endless). Brahman is Absolute (perfect, complete, whole).

Taittireya Upanishad describes Brahman as “satyam jnanam anantam brahman” which means ‘Brahman is Truth (real, not illusion, eternal), Knowledge and Infinite’

Brahman is the origin and end of all things, material or otherwise. Brahman is the “prāna”, the life force sustaining us. From Brahman, we came. To Brahman, we go. All is Brahman in manifest form

Brahman is indescribable. How would you call something which is indescribable? Let us take the example of the physical form of Lord Narasimha who has a lion head and claws with a human body with many hands. For a moment, assume that you do not know this form. Also, assume that you see this form while you were in a park. Now, you want to tell what you saw to your friend. How would you communicate? It will be like this: “I saw something strange today. It has a lion head, many hands and a human body. It was huge. I was scared on seeing that and did not know how to react”. As we cannot associate the figure to any known name, form or gender, we tend to use the words ‘it’ and ‘that’ to describe the unknown. In the same way, the sacred texts address Brahman as “tat” (‘that’) because it cannot be described. An instance of this appears in the following “mahāvākya”

Chandogya Upanishad:                      “tat tvam asi”              ‘That thou art’ (transliteration)

Brahman is Infinite. This is beautifully explained in the first verse of Ēsavāsya Upanishad or Isopanishad

“oḿ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaḿ pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate

pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate”

Transliteration:

Om ! That is the whole.

This is the whole.

From That whole has come this whole

Yet wholeness still remains

Meaning: Brahman (addressed as That) is Infinite. From Brahman has come this material universe which is also infinite. Though this infinite has come from That Infinite, It does not become less but still remains Infinite.

Analogy: Consider the sun. We proclaim that the sun is the infinite source of energy for our galaxy. But scientifically the sun’s energy is constantly reducing by the day and in few billion years, the sun would have no fuel to burn and eventually collapse. The measure ‘billion years’ is theoretically infinite for the human race but for this universe ‘billion years’ is a just another point in time and hence is not infinite. Note that the earth is 4 billion years old already. So, whatever we term as infinite is, in reality, not infinite. Nothing in this material world is infinite. Only the Brahman from which this material world originated is infinite

Brahman is “sat-chit-ānanda” which means ‘Truth, Consciousness, Bliss’

To sum up, “ekam sat” – ‘Truth is ONE’ and it is Brahman

Hinduism - As I Understand

As the title of the blog rightly says, this article is about Hinduism as I personally understand it after reading few religious books and browsing the internet about this religion. My journey on this religious quest started while reading the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi titled ‘My Experiments with Truth’. In his book, Gandhi remarks ‘When disappointment stares me in the face and all alone I see not one ray of light, I go back to the Bhagavad-Gita. I find a verse here and a verse there, and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming tragedies -- and my life has been full of external tragedies -- and if they have left no visible or indelible scar on me, I owe it all to the teaching of Bhagavad-Gita’. If a man of his stature makes such a significant comment on Bhagavad-Gita, it must be truly great and I then decided that it would be the next book I would read.

I bought a book titled ‘Bhagavad Gita’ by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, 2^nd President of India. I read the book from cover to cover with a lot of patience and an open mind to assimilate as much information as I could understand. But I was not satisfied. I did not understand much. Most importantly, I could not get the answer to my first question ‘What is Hinduism?’. Because of this, I was not able to appreciate the timeless wisdom of the Gita

It dawned on me then that I should blog (share) the knowledge I have gained through my reading and analysis in the form of questions and answers rather than in prose form about Hinduism which is already available in the books and also in the internet. Some of the questions are very fundamental and as followers of Hinduism, we must know the answers to them to appreciate its greatness.


In my blogs to come, I will answer the following questions

1.       What is Hinduism?

2.       What is “Brahman”? How is this God different from Lord Vishnu, Lord Siva and the other Gods?

3.       It is impossible for me to leave this material world to become a sage or a sanyāsi and seek ‘True Happiness’. Are there other ways to reach my destiny?

4.       Holy Bible is to Christianity, Holy Quran is to Islam but what religious texts are for Hinduism?

5.       Who gave us these religious texts?

6.       What are Veda and Vedanta?

7.       Are Vedas relevant today?

8.       Hinduism is called the mother of all religions. What makes it so special?