FALLACIES OF HINDU SOCIETY

Let me begin this essay by stating that, I purely intend to have an overview discussion of few misconceptions on Hinduism. As a practicing Hindu, my research & study is not politically affiliated & I sincerely try my best to have a source for all of my arguments.

What is Hinduism? This is the question with million answers, and all of those answers you have is partially correct. Because religion is a social-cultural system that is defined with individual perspectives & many of those interpretations maybe flawed or superstitious for that matter. But it is 'your view' through the hole & that's why it makes perfect sense to you. The stark difference that I have seen in Vedic Culture & other different religions of the world is that - the Sanatana Dharma, as it is called is designed to be relevant for all times. We can actually see many modern ideologies such as Equality, Inclusion are not only discussed but are the fundamental principles of Puranas & Itihasa's . Hindu culture is so tremendously vast, it is near to impossible for any one person to provide all the necessary information on it. Foreseeing such an issue our ancestors have constructed all the traditions, rituals & other such cultural constructs on the basis of Vedas. Before I further this discussion, let me ask you this. What are Vedas according to you? Take a minute & think before you scroll down. We shall see if your answer & my brief explanation of the topic are merging somewhere. If not you learnt something new!

Ancient Indian heritage has been well preserved in its consecrated scriptures of 6 broad sects which forms the foundation of its Education & Value system. These scriptures describe in great detail about Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Astronomy, Health sciences, Linguistics & many more branches of science & technology. They are -Shruti, Smruti, Puranam, Itihasam, Agamam & Siddhantam . Since our focus is only on Vedas we shall discuss only that.

Shruti - It is also commonly known as Veda (bouquet of knowledge). There are 4 vedas -

1. Rig Veda : Rig means ‘to Praise’. It explains in various hymns praising the elements of the nature & cosmos,

2. Yajur Veda : Yajur means ‘to Worship’. It explains different procedures of worship of the nature & cosmos,

3. Saama Veda : Saama means ‘to Sing’. It gives a music driven canonical format to other vedic verses with ease of recitation.

4. Atharvana veda : Atharva means ‘to Stable mind’. It sets the rules for daily activities & also discusses many theological concepts.

Each veda consists of 4 internal blocks - Aranyaka, Brahmana, Upanishad & Samhita. Each of the 4 internal blocks of veda describes Theosophical, Philosophical & Physiological anatomy of the Cosmos as well as the Nature & fundamentals of human existence. And these four are further supported by 6 more external blocks-

1. Shiksha - Study of Phonetics

2. Vyakaran - Study of Grammar

3. Chandus - Study of Linguistic Rhythm

4. Nirukta - Study of Etymology

5. Jyotisha - Study of Astronomy

6. Kalpa - Study of Rituals

Each of the 6 external blocks of vedas are called “Vedanga” - which complements the knowledge framework of vedas with different & intricate specializations each. Each 4 vedas has an “Upaveda” (an offspring) dealing with different branches of Ancient Indian Education in different fields.

1. Ayurveda - Study of Medicine (branch of Rig Veda)

2. Dhanurveda - Study of Archery & Warfare (branch of Yajur Veda)

3. Gaandharvaveda - Study of Music, Art & Dance (branch of Saama Veda)

4. Arthashastra - Study of Business, Administration & Political sciences (branch of Atharvana Veda)

Irrespective of class or varna every child received vedic teachings through Gurukul system. Where children spent at least 12 years learning & specialising in different fields. The most prominent feature of Gurukulam is that every lesson was explained through discussions & debates which in turn enabled students to think and question. We can see several examples of these educational discourses in Ramayana & Mahabharata - may it be Narada Sutra (discussion of Raja Dharma between Sage Narada & Raja Yudhishtir) or Yoga Vaasishtha (highly philosophical debate between Sage Vasishtha & prince Raam) - everything was questioned and debated over before formulating any opinion.

I was astonished to discover that 'Dharma' is the most misunderstood word in this nation second next to the word 'No'. Most people recognize dharma as an adjoint of word 'Hindu' & hence their translation of the word is into religion. Well that is far from truth, the best explanation is as धारायती इति धर्मः । Which roughly translates to "what is to be followed is Dharma". Dharma is nothing but ethically, morally constructed path which every active member of the society is expected to follow in order to maintain balance & harmony among all. If you visit any temple & request the priest to perform archana (flower offering) you can hear a certain mantra that is said before handing over any prasadam back to you. It goes like this - धर्मार्थ काम मोक्ष चतुर्विद फलपुरुषार्थ सिद्ध्यर्थं । That roughly means " may you attain the 4 Purusharthas i.e, - Dharma, Artha, Kaama & Moksha" . Dharma is the backbone of every aspect of hindu society - whatever wealth you attain (Artha) has to be achieved through Dharma, whatever desires the stimulate you (Kaama) should be quenched only with the means of Dharma & attaining Nirvana is also through Dharma alone. This reminds me that, one of the stupidest concept (pardon the language) that most people believe is by going to temple or with huge offerings one attains good karma, and this in turn paves the path towards heaven. This notion frustrates me a lot not because I'm not a believer, because this is nowhere mentioned in any Vedic scripture ever! I need not have to read every scripture to make this argument because the notion of heaven is not considered as the end point in Hinduism. Attaining Nirvana is the highest goal of spiritual journey, because to attain Moksha is to break the cycle of life & achieve highest philosophical happiness. As famously quoted by Daenerys Targaryen "I'm not going to stop the wheel, I'm going to break the wheel" (this the best pop culture reference that I could provide for this instance) Moksha is the way of breaking the wheel & Dharma is the way to it.

The term Yoga which is indigenous to this land is completely white washed today. In fact it is simply understood as a form of body bending exercise and nothing more! I agree that an individual's religious perspective shouldn't be forced onto others, but Yoga is not a belief. Yoga is the tool of Jnana (Knowledge) & Saukhya (Existential well being) as mentioned in Vishnu Sahasranama. Control of breath is one of the core practices of yoga, which grants its practitioner the control of one's mind. Sounds bonkers right? Let me give you an example, when you are stressed out or completely nervous, what do you do to overcome that? You instantly take a sharp breath which calms your nerves. Imagine if this simple act of breathing provides you strength to overcome your hurdles, what you can achieve with intricately designed set of yogic principles. I do not have mastery over Yoga to provide in depth understanding of it, yet I have tried to shine some light over it.

Apart from Vedic Sanatana culture, Hindu society is also comprised of many tribes & septs. Many of these clans function only on the framework of dharma and have their own set of traditions & values. Some of them include animal sacrifices & have very bizarre rituals. These sects have existed from several centuries in India & are also mentioned in epics such as Ramayana & Mahabharata. Even if you consider these Itihasa's to be nothing more than mere stories, you have to agree that at least some of it is based on the contemporary world view. Thus we can see how Secular & Inclusive people really were, and every form of belief system existed in harmony with each other.

That said, I am no where denying the fact that casteist prejudice has systematically destroyed our once Incredible nation! But not everything was bad, and it doesn't mean that what was once followed is the only right way live. Let me give an example, Brahmin's do not have the right to take any form of gold, silver or monetary reward as salary. They have right to alms & should only ask for what is necessary to lead a life (we can see the same explained by Lava & Kusha to Lakshmana when they were given gold as reward in Valmiki Ramayana) . But by today's standard of living this form of life style is improbable. With changing times, our society eventually changed & currently we are at a stage where someone like me (who is nothing more than a student learning) is trying to explain very basic information such as Dharma & Veda. Not that this is bad, but we need more intellectually acquired people to take reins of the society to create a moderately functioning community with boundaries as well as freedom of choice, We need a Reformation both in our civilization & within ourselves, critical thinking & in depth assessment has to be learnt and practiced efficiently. Let us all make some effort to remove the veil of ignorance from our community to create a better tomorrow.