Hinduism is the largest national religion in the world. According to the encyclopedia "Peoples and Religions of the World" (M., 1998), in 1996 there were about 800 million followers of this religion in the world, which amounted to 14% of the total population of the globe. Today Hinduism is the dominant religion in India (Hindus over 80 percent of the population) and Nepal (Hindus about 80 percent of the population). In addition, there are Hindus in all countries where Hindus live. The largest Hindu communities in 1996 were in Asian countries: Bangladesh (15 million), Indonesia (4 million), Sri Lanka (2.5 million), Pakistan (1.3 million), Malaysia (1, 1 million). The largest community of Hindus in Africa was in South Africa (700 thousand), the largest community of Hindus in America - in the United States (575 thousand), the largest community of Hindus in Europe - in Great Britain (500 thousand followers).
Hindu worshipers (they are called "brahmanas") say that "you cannot become a Hindu - they have to be born." It means that only Hindus by nationality can be supporters of Hinduism. However, despite the assertions of the clergy that non-Hindus cannot be Hindus, in the USA, Canada and Great Britain, people of other nationalities can also be found among Hindus.
Hinduism originated in India between the 1st and 5th centuries. AD The predecessor and main ideological source of Hinduism was the religion called Brahmanism (VII century BC - V century AD). In turn, Brahmanism was preceded by the so-called Vedic religion (XVI century BC - VII century BC). The worshipers in all three religions (in the Vedic religion, in Brahmanism and in Hinduism) urged believers to pray mainly to the same gods. In the Vedic religion, Indra, the god of thunder and lightning, was recognized as the supreme god. In Brahmanism, as the supreme god, they worshiped Brahma, the creator of the world and the patron saint of worshipers. In Hinduism, there are different confessions and different gods are worshiped in them as supreme. But in none of them Brahma is considered the supreme god. The lack of recognition of Brahma as the supreme god is the main difference between Hinduism and Brahmanism.
Such a revolution in religious beliefs reflected a revolution in real life. In India, castes existed and still exist (another name: varna). Castes (varnas) are groups of people, belonging to which is determined by birth. In the past, belonging to one or another caste determined what kind of activity people should engage in (now the authorities are fighting this custom, but not always successfully). The brahmanas were the privileged caste. Only they alone could be worshipers. The god Brahma was considered and is considered their patron. That is why the word "brahman" (translated from the ancient Indian language called Sanskrit - "reflection of the will of Brahma") meant both a person from this caste and a cult minister.
The brahmanas in ancient India had great advantages. In addition to a monopoly on professional religious activity, they also had a monopoly on teaching and research. These three types of professional activities brought them great income. But, in addition, they still had the right to appropriate half of all taxes that were received by the secular authorities. The privileged position of the brahmanas in society was reflected in the religion of that time. The patron saint of their caste and the profession of clergy, which monopolized this caste, the god Brahma, was also considered the supreme god. Brahma with his supernatural power, as it were, consolidated those material privileges that brahmanas had in real life. Representatives of the other three main castes (kshatriyas, vaisyas and sudras), dissatisfied with the current situation,made a social revolution. The Brahmans were deprived of the right to appropriate part of the taxes, they were also deprived of their monopoly on teaching and scientific activities. All that was left to them was the right to be worshipers.
At the same time and in connection with this, the other three main castes also achieved a lowering of the status of the god Brahma. Brahmanas ceased to be the most privileged stratum of society, and their patron god was no longer considered as the supreme god. Confessions in Hinduism. The total number of denominations in Hinduism is unknown. But the main ones are two: Vishnuism and Shaivism. The beliefs of the main confessions of Hinduism coincide in everything, except for the answer to the question of which of the gods is the main one. Vishnuites consider Vishnu to be the supreme god, Shivaites - Shiva. Vishnuism and Shaivism are the largest and approximately equal confessions. They include about 40 percent of all Hindus. Vishnuite communities are found mainly in the north of India, Shaivite - in the south of India. The third largest Hindu denomination is Shaktism. Shaktists worship the supreme goddess,which has several names and one of them is Shakti. Shakta communities comprise approximately 8 percent of all Hindus. They are mainly located in Bengal (this is the northeastern part of India) and in the south of India.
If in Hinduism it is possible to find some differences in the doctrine, then, rather, not between confessions, but between different temples of the same confession. The peculiarities of the organization of Hinduism give rise to some peculiarities in its doctrine. In Hinduism, the scope of a religious organization is limited to the framework of temples. No denomination has a centralized government, even statewide, let alone the country as a whole. Therefore, Hinduism does not have any church councils that would make any governing decisions, including on issues of doctrine, or a centralized leading religious press. Of course, the brahmanas of all temples ultimately rely on the same sacred literature. And this ensures unity in the main thing. However, the sacred books needed in the past and now need to be interpreted. And in some ways the interpretation was and remains different. And this means that the provisions of the doctrine in the interpretation of the brahmanas of different temples in something insignificant may differ from each other.
Promotional video:
There are four main points in the doctrine of Hinduism:
- about sacred books,
- about supernatural beings,
- about the soul,
- about the afterlife.
In Hinduism, a large number of volumes are revered as sacred. The exact figure is unknown, but in any case there are several hundred; they are divided into two groups.
The first group is called sruti, ("heard") the second - smriti ("remembered"). (All terms in Hinduism are voiced in Sanskrit.) The authors of the Shruti books are the gods. But they are authors in a special sense. Nobody created sruti books. They arose by themselves along with the rise of the gods. Shruti books did not arise as books, but as knowledge that was in the heads of the gods. The gods miraculously transmitted this knowledge to the rishis (sages). And the rishis wrote down this knowledge in the form of books.
According to their content, the books are divided into seven groups. The first group - Vedas ("Knowledge") These are 4 books-volumes. The main content of the Vedas is the texts of religious songs, texts of incantations and descriptions of religious rites.
The second group of sacred books - Brahmanas ("reflection of the will of Brahma"). These are several dozen volumes. In terms of content, these are commentaries on the Vedas, mostly of a cult nature. It is believed that the god Brahma transmitted their content through the clergy and for the clergy.
The third group - Aranyaki ("Forest books"). Several dozen volumes of Shruti books. Contents: rules of conduct for hermits, reasoning about the essence of rituals.
The fourth group is the Upanishads ("Secret Teaching"). The name is explained by the fact that in the past, the teachings contained in these books were transmitted only to the brahmanas and their disciples. The literal translation sounds like this: "beside" (upa) and "below" (not) "sitting" (shady). Near and below, i.e. at the feet of the brahmana teacher, his disciples were sitting. In terms of their content, these are religious and philosophical commentaries on the Vedas.
The fifth group - Puranas ("Ancient traditions"). These are several dozen smriti books. The most ancient Puranas originally existed in the oral form; in content, these are stories about the gods.
The sixth group is one book-work: a poem called "Mahabharata" ("Great Bharatas"; Bharatas is the name of a people in India). The poem contains about 100 thousand couplets. The Mahabharata is divided into 18 parts, which are also called “books”. Books-parts have different sizes: from 320 couplets to 14372's.
The seventh group is again one book-work and again a poem. It is called "Ramayana" ("The Legend of Rama"). "Ramayana" consists of 24 thousand couplets. The Ramayana is divided into seven parts, which usually appear in one volume.
Hindus believe in the existence of two groups of supernatural beings: gods and demons. Although the gods occupy a much higher position in the hierarchical ladder of the supernatural world than the demons, we will nevertheless begin the characterization of supernatural beings with demons, for this order of the story is more convenient from a methodological point of view. Demons. Demons are divided into three types: asuras ("heavens"), rakshasas ("those who are shunned"), pisachi (translation unknown). Asuras are opponents of gods, and Rakshasas and Pisacas are opponents of people. Rakshasas harm people in all possible ways, and pisachas - mainly through the diseases that they send to people. The functions of demons: to do evil, to be opponents of the gods, to be opponents of people. But among the demons there are also those who perform certain good deeds.
There are many demons: there are millions of them. Demons are flesh and gender. In their usual form, they look ugly, but to carry out their insidious plans, they can take on the appearance of men and women. Demons are mortal: their bodies die in battles with gods and people, and their souls - along with the death of the universe. Sometimes people perceive demons with their senses, sometimes they do not. But if in Judaism (as well as in Christianity and Islam) the emphasis is placed on the fact that in the overwhelming majority of cases people do not see or hear demons, then in Hinduism there is no such emphasis. Demons are divided into senior and junior. The main demon is called Bali. He, along with many other demons, lives in the underworld.
Gods. In sacred literature in different places, a different number of gods is indicated: 33, and 333, and 3306, and 3339. In fact, 9 gods are the most revered in all confessions. The gods are the supreme supernatural beings who rule the world. As in any other polytheistic religion, each of the gods has its own specific functions. Some gods look like ordinary people, but, as a rule, of enormous stature, others - mainly like people, but with some peculiarities in the structure of the body (four arms, three eyes, etc.), and still others - like animals (for example, as monkeys), the fourth - as half-humans-half-animals (for example, the king of birds Garuda is depicted with the head and wings of an eagle and with the body of a man). One of the gods (Brahman) has no visible body at all.
The gods require worship, which is denoted by the word "puja". Gods are worshiped in temples and at home, in front of the family altar. Puja includes the awakening of the gods in the morning with musical sounds before their images (for example, the ringing of bells), offering flowers, water and food to the images of the gods, prayers, etc. The nine most revered gods can be divided into three threes.
The first three include the supreme gods. Two of them are now revered as the supreme gods (Vishnu and Shiva), one as the supreme god was revered in the past, in the previous religion (Brahma).
The second three are their wives (Lakshmi, Parvati, Saraswati). The third three include gods, although not supreme, but very respected by the Hindus (Brahman, Ganesha, Kama).
Vishnu (“penetrating into everything”, “omnipresent”) is the supreme god in Vishnuism. In addition to the function of being the supreme god, he has two more specific functions. First, he is the guardian of the universe. The universe is created by Brahma, but the created universe must be protected from premature destruction and from the seizure of power over the universe by demons, which is what Vishnu does. Secondly, he is an assistant to people in solving their life problems.
Vishnu is most often depicted (both in drawings and in sculptures) as a four-armed man. In one hand he has a battle shell (he blows it during battles), in the second - a club, in the third - chakra (throwing weapon in the form of a metal disk), in the fourth - a lotus flower. A weapon in three hands symbolizes Vishnu's readiness to fight the forces of evil, the lotus flower symbolizes his love for people and his willingness to help them. To characterize Vishnu it is very important to use the concept of "avatara". Literally translated, this word means “descent”. In essence, an avatar is another and earthly body of God. Together with another body, God receives another name. During the transmigration of the soul of God into an earthly body, this soul simultaneously remains in heaven, in the main, heavenly body of God. This soul doubles as it were. Second, additional,the physical body of a god has only existed for a time. Then it dies, and the soul of God returns to its main and eternal body.
According to the mythology of Hinduism, Vishnu already had 9 avatars and one more will be in the future. Here are the avatars that were already there. First: life in the body of a fish. Second: life in the body of a turtle. Third: life in the body of a boar. Fourth: life in a half-lion-half-human body. So, in the first four avatars, the soul of Vishnu has not yet settled in the human body. In the other five avatars, she lives in a human body. Fifth: in the body of a dwarf named Vamana. Actually the word "vamana" means "dwarf". Sixth: in the body of a man named Parasurama (“The Dark One with the Ax”). He was a warrior, the son of a brahmana, who always walked with a battle ax. Seventh: in the body of a man named Rama ("Dark"). Eighth: in the body of a man named Krishna (also translated as "Dark"). Ninth and last: in the body of a man named Buddha ("Enlightened One"). It is about the founder of Buddhism. Future,the tenth avatar will also be in the body of a person who will be called Kalki. Kalki, according to the teachings of Hinduism, will arrive on a white horse and in a royal dress. Therefore, this avatar is also called “the king on a white horse”. He will come many years later, when the power on earth will belong to the villains. Kalki will punish the villains and establish a golden age on earth.
Shiva ("Merciful") is the supreme god in Shaivism. According to his specific functions, Shiva is the god of destruction of the Universe (he destroys it when the time appointed by the gods comes for this), the god of death and human birth (Hindus say: Shiva stands at both the coffin and the cradle), the god of living nature (he takes care of and about plants and animals). Shiva is most often depicted as a dark blue or purple man with four arms and three eyes. The third eye, which is located in the middle of the forehead (not horizontally, but vertically), not only sees, but also emits a supernatural fire that burns everything in its path. Shiva also has avatars, there are more than 20 of them.
Ganesha ("Chief of the Retinue") is the son of Shiva and Parvati, the god of luck and entrepreneurship, the chief of his father's retinue (the retinue consists of gods of the lowest order). Believer thieves and swindlers in India consider Ganesha to be their patron, the god of thieves' luck. Ganesha is depicted as a teenager with four arms and a head similar to that of an elephant. This is the only god in Hinduism who has a trunk instead of a nose. Hindus strive to have a sculptural image of Ganesha at home. They do not start a single business without a prayer to Ganesha. And in order to especially please Ganesha, they scratch his stomach in the morning.
Kama ("Sensual desire", "Love") - the god of love. He is depicted as a young man with a bow and arrow in his hands. His bow is made of sugar cane, the bowstring is made of living bees, the arrows are made of flowers. When the arrows of Kama pierce the bodies of gods or people, they excite a burning passion of love in them.
According to the Hindu doctrine, the gods are immortal. But there are two exceptions. The first exception is Ganesha and the second is Kama. Kama died, incinerated by the fiery ray of an angry Shiva. But then, at the request of Parvati, Shiva made sure that Kama was born a second time.
The afterlife has two stages. The first stage is called samsara. The second is the way out of samsara. The literal translation of the word "samsara" from Sanskrit sounds like "wandering". Along with the Sanskrit term "samsara", the French word "reincarnation" and the Russian word "rebirth" are also used in literature to designate the first stage of the afterlife. In essence, this is the transmigration of the soul from one body (after his death) to another.
The mechanism of samsara is karma ("deed", "deed"). Karma is the law of rebirth, according to which, with the predominance of good deeds, a person gets a good rebirth, with the predominance of bad ones, a bad rebirth. In connection with this, the Hindus say: what is karma, so is samsara. If you have good karma, then there will be good samsara. A good rebirth is the body of a healthy, wealthy person with a happy destiny. A bad rebirth is a body or a plant, or an animal, or a sick, poor and unhappy person. According to the views of Hindus, a criminal in one of the next lives becomes a victim of the crime that he committed. The thief will be robbed, the rapist will be raped, the murderer will be killed. Specific stages of samsara is the stay of the souls of people in heaven (for the righteous) or in hell (for sinners). After temporary bliss or temporary torment, souls return to earthly life. Hell is designated by the term "naraka". It is believed that hell has several branches (the following numbers are called: several thousand, 50, 28, 21, 7 and 3). Most often, the number 7 is called, and in this regard, supporters of Hinduism speak and write about the "seven circles of hell". In each subsequent section of hell, the torment becomes more intense. Those who have fallen to hell are exhausted by insomnia, thrown into rivers with sewage, forced to embrace a red-hot iron, given to be torn apart by animals, birds and snakes, torn apart, boiled in boiling oil, burned in a burning pit … At the same time, the unfortunate remain alive in order to continue to suffer further until the period determined by their bad karma ends. To which department should the soul of the deceased be sent, what torments should be subjected to,decides the lord of the kingdom of the dead, the god Yama. The second stage of the afterlife for sinners is getting into the last (most often: the seventh) compartment of hell. The point is that being in the last compartment of hell goes beyond samsara. The most inveterate sinners are sent here. From the previous divisions of hell, the souls of sinners sooner or later, but return to the earthly shell. There is no return from the last branch. Here the souls of sinners remain until the end of the “day of Brahma” and with the onset of the “night of Brahma” they are destroyed. There is no return from the last branch. Here the souls of sinners remain until the end of the “day of Brahma” and with the onset of the “night of Brahma” they are destroyed. There is no return from the last branch. Here the souls of sinners remain until the end of the “day of Brahma” and with the onset of the “night of Brahma” they are destroyed.
The second stage of the afterlife for especially honored saints is designated by the term “moksha” (“deliverance”, “liberation”). Moksha in its essence is the merging of the souls of especially deserved saints with the soul of Brahman. This merger means the exit from samsara and is understood as the highest and eternal bliss.
Hinduism is the largest national religion in the world, and this is already a very serious reason for a careful study of Hinduism.