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My conception of hindu faith
Writings
I have read only extracts of the 4 Veda, (Rig, Sama, Yajur, Atharva), which word means knowledge. This holy knowledge was transmitted by Lord Brahma to his sons then to the first of the patriarchs of the mankind, Manu. Historically, they were written partly just before and right after the invasion of Ganges and Indus plains by the Aryan in the middle of the 2nd millenium before Christ. Rig Veda is an imposing compilation of prayers (at least 1000) in verse to the various ancestral gods: for a great part to Agni, Indra, Varuna, Mitra (the " Friend "), Surya. Lets recall that each of these gods did not make part of a polytheist pantheon but were successive aspects of the Almighty. As for many other words which I used until now in this text, the word deva (the One who gives) is so vague that it applies as well to the parents, the guru or even the guest. We have seen that one could even put forward that there are not 1 god per day in the Hindu calendar but 6 billion gods on earth. Each dévotional poem of Rig Veda has a philosophical content, the astonishment about the beauty of Nature, the wondering about the meaning of the Creation and the role of the man in all that. They are still recited nowadays, in particular Gayatri during the morning prayer (puja) by facing the rising sun since it is addressed to Savitri (Surya):
Om bhur bhuvah svah
tat savitur vare?ya?
bhargo devasya dhimahi
dhiyo yo nah pracodayat
The first line can be read: Supreme truth source of the earth, the air and the ether or of the matter, the energy and the spirit. Then: Adorable Savitri, can my prayer help me to raise me towards your divine splendour.
Sama and Ayur Veda are liturgical collections of text in verses and prose, written for the ceremonies and with less philosophical contents and Atharva Veda is later (dating from the installation in India and the assimilation from the local gods). Each one of the Veda includes, in addition to Mantras, precepts (Brahmanas) and philosophical analyses (Upanishads). However the 15 principal Upanishads were written later, between 1000 and 500 before Jesus Christ. I am not a specialist in the writings but everyone agrees on the fact that they contain the essence of the philosophy, of which I try to give you some notions. Being written in Sanskrit, concise language with a complex grammar, where even the order of the words is not that which comes to the mind in Hindi, modern authors propose several possible interpretations of each shloka (set of 4 verse lines) , but they are never contradictory.
Mahaabhaarata does not constitute in no case a religious work and is even proscribed in the library of somewhat superstitious Hindus because it contains too many scenes of violence. However that's a true gold mine in the field of the analysis of the human condition and the beautiful case of a jewel: Bhaagavad Gitaa. Mahaabhaarata is a gigantic work of 100000 shlokas, an attractive epopee on which are grafted multiple additional fables and philosophical long discussions. If you do not have time to read the full text of this epopee nor that of Ramayana, I advise you their version rewritten into 100-200 pages by one of my preferred modern novelists, R.K. Narayan.
Has Bhaagavad Gitaa been inserted afterwards or conceived by the same authors as the "point d'orgue" ( peak) of this masterpiece ? It will never be known but Gitaa is sung by Lord Krishna to Arjun on the battle field of Kurukshetra and, if it keeps all its spiritual value and lyric character when forgetting that is a chapter of Mahaabhaarata, it would lose part of its message if removing the first 2 and last chapters consisting in a of a sermon to perk up the hero before the battle (Arjun). Gitaa is the bedside book of educated Hindus if Ramayana is the preferred work of the masses. You probably understood that it is my favorite reading by the number of quotations, undoubtedly for its lyricism but also because in matter of philosophy the Gitaa is more accessible when Sanskrit subtleties are not understood. The message is clear contrary to that of (other) Upanishads of which each shloka is the subject of multiple interpretations in works of the well-read authors. And yet, can you imagine that Arjun dared to say to Krishna some time after the Kurukshetra battle that he forgot the tuition! Lord Krishna, somewhat discouraged, refused to repeat the same talk to him, but knowing the limited capacity of the human mind (or will I dare to say of hindustani minds without fearing to be lynched?) made instead a new speech about sankhia and vedanta philosophies.
Raamyana, at my opinion, is not strictly speaking a religious work, even if it tells the peregrinations of Lord Raama (it is the meaning of the title). I will give a summary of the story in the following paragraph. If Raamyana is so much appreciated and its reading recommended “during nine days of 5th to 13th from the new moon of three month of Caitra, Magha or Kartika” according to my edition (and especially for the pregnant women according to what I could judge among my close relations), I challenge you to read it in a so short times or then you succeeded without thinking about it. Concerning me, I like to stop and read again some passages. In particular, I like the true beginning of the story within the "song" n°3, which starts about in following terms (I prefer to say it of memory): In the beautiful city of Ayodhya (located in the North of India, close to the border with Nepal), people always said the Truth, were not greedy and were satisfied with their fate. Song n° 2 tells us how Valmikhi, the author, meditating on the bank of a river sees a hunter killing a crane and, becoming morose, composes the first verse of the human literature about the unhappy fate of this bird. Then, Lord Brahma tells him shabash my son, now you are well armed to tell the story of Raama. If this story is very moral (to be started with the quotation on Ayodhya) and if one can only believe in every adventures, because Valmiki, despite his talent, cannot have invented all that, this splendid text does not contain a single philosophical essay. Rabidranath Tagore, great poet and wise man of the beginning of the 20th century was even less credulous than me, since he said that Raamayana is the most beautiful fairy tale ever told. But do not repeat what I said to some my friends, in spite of the proverbial peaceful nature of the Indians (Ahimsa compels to). Bah, too bad for me if, in accordance with the precept of Lord Raama I said what I thought to be truth.
Purana are later texts in verses (first centuries after Jesus Christ), each one telling the actions of a particular god, should I say during present creation or including all the others. Indeed, that is sometimes not very clear, probably because of the rebirths of gods also. They expose the creation, the ruling laws of the Universe (sankhia, vedanta, gunas…), myths concerning the activities of the gods and the patriarchs (Manus) according to a particular angle emphasizing the primacy of Vishnu, Shiva or another god. To remain impartial, I will advise you to read no particular purana instead of another.
Invested during a certain time of a material envelope to enjoy the creation of God, our soul must learn to get freed of this subjection by detachment and meditation for recovering its true nature. "Two are the objects of the soul, to make one with the Supreme Brahman and to be for ever for the good of all the world; whether here or elsewhere does not essentially matter" (Sri Aurobindo).
