Views of the Absolute in World Religions
Center for Media and Independent Learning - University of California Extension
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Hinduism
Course Guide written by Mike Fedel
HINDUISM AND THE ABSOLUTE
God is one without a second, absolute and indivisible. Though impersonal, beyond name and form, God assumes various personal forms to reveal himself to us. . . . All the incarnations (manifestations of God on earth) are actual embodiments of Divinity. No one incarnation can be regarded as the only manifestation of that Divinity. - from the pamphlet "What is Vedanta", Vedanta Press.
I am the self abiding in the heart of all creatures I am their beginning, their middle, and their end. I am Vishnu striding among sun gods . . . I am gracious Shiva among howling storm gods . . . I am golden Meru towering over the mountains . . . I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of creations, Arjuna. - Krishna from Bhagavad-Gita [10.20,21,23,32]
The highest deity is basically none other than brahman. But by aiming the light of consciousness at itself, out of the wish to unfold itself, brahman becomes a subject; and from then on, all God's further unfolding of Himself is shot through with a personal quality. . . . Power in Sanskrit is shakti, a feminine noun, so that the sum of all God's capacities for unfolding Himself is interpreted in the myths of the Shaivaites as a great goddess, as Shiva's female partner. - Heinrich von Stietencron in Christianity and the World Religions, edited by Hans Kng, p.192.As the above quotes show, Hinduism is an especially good place to proceed with our exploration of different religious views of the Absolute. Hinduism has been able to generate and/or accept more images of the Absolute than any other living tradition. Hinduism speaks of everything from an Absolute with no attributes (nirguna brahman) to gods of the elements (Agni and Indra) to a three-fold representation of god as creator (Brahma), preserver (Vishnu), and destroyer (Shiva) of Reality. Hinduism includes all of these views and more.
The first quotation, written from the point of view of Vedantic Hinduism, shows the concept of an impersonal Absolute which becomes manifest when necessary in order to reveal itself to us or to intervene in human history. This impersonal god is understood as the reality which undergirds the reality we perceive and is discussed by Smith in pp. 59-63.
The second quote stresses the personal aspect of God. In this excerpt from the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna that when others worship the personal gods Brahma, Vishnu, or Shiva, they are actually worshipping him. Krishna says that even those who believe they worship an impersonal God worship him, as in 12.3:
Men reach me too who worship what is imperishable, ineffable, unmanifest, omnipresent, inconceivable, immutable at the summit of existence.In the third quotation, the feminine element in Hinduism is shown, adding yet another important element to the idea of a personal God.
In this section, we will consider Hinduism's views of the Absolute by discussing three of the primary manifestations of God. We will then provide a brief overview of the major Hindu texts.
God: Personal or Impersonal?
One of the principle features in religion is the idea of an Absolute. In some religions, this is conceived of as an impersonal force, in others, as a being with human qualities magnified to an infinite degree. In Hinduism, these categories are dealt with as Nirguna Brahman or God-without-attributes and Saguna Brahman or God-with-attributes. Both views are alive in contemporary Hinduism and can trace their roots back to at least the Upanishadic period in Indian history. These two ways of thinking about the Absolute have variations, but the broad categories of personal and impersonal are the first level of distinction.The idea that the Absolute is a single unity rather than a variety of gods seems to have developed as early as the period of the Rig-Veda. The brahmins speculated that there was a single magical power underlying reality, the power that was being used in their ceremonies. This was abstracted into a principle in the Upanishads, and formalized into a school of philosophy by Shankara (8th century C.E.). His proposition was that brahman is the only true reality and that all we see is an illusory reflection. We can still talk of personal gods and physical objects, but we must realize that we are speaking of "ordinary" as distinguished from "higher" reality. In ordinary reality, we meet people, build houses, and pray to various gods in personal forms. But when we understand higher reality, we see that there is only one reality--brahman--and that all else is secondary appearance.
How can brahman be described? It cannot, it can only be talked about through negation--we can more easily say what it is not than what it is. The famous Hindu phrase neti-neti reflects that reality: neti-neti is translated as "not-this, not-that". Some of the Upanishads describe Brahma as a god, but this is to be understood in the same way as Shiva and Vishnu: as manifestations of the real underlying impersonal brahman.
There are several prominent personal forms of god in Hinduism. The four most commonly mentioned are the trimurti (triad of gods) Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, and a god probably more familiar to Western readers: Krishna. Brahma, often depicted as a god with four heads or four faces to symbolize his eternal wisdom, is god in the image of Creator. However, Brahma is not widely worshipped. Vishnu, Shiva, and Krishna are the most popular in Indian worship.
Vishnu
The devotees of Vishnu are called Vaishnavites. Vishnu is a benevolent deity and has many devotees among the Indian masses, perhaps especially women and those of lower castes. Vishnu is the preserver of values who is always watching over his devotees and who incarnates himself in times when the world is threatened with destruction by the forces of evil. There are 10 recognized earthly incarnations of Vishnu: nine of which have already occurred. The nine historical incarnations are: the fish Matsya, the Tortoise, the Boar, the Man-Lion, the Dwarf, Parashu Rama, a second Rama (the hero of the Ramayana), Krishna, and the Buddha. The final incarnation will be Kalki, who will come at the end of history to save the righteous and destroy those who are evil. Vishnu is seen by his devotees as the primary manifestation of the Absolute. A popular image of Vishnu shows him reclining in the primeval waters on the coils of the world-serpent, with a lotus growing from his navel. The lotus bears Brahma, who creates the world. In this way, even though Brahma is acknowledged as the Creator, Vishnu maintains his position as the predominant expression of God as the creator of Brahma.Two of the most popular and widely-worshipped of Vishnu's incarnations are Rama and Krishna. Rama is the hero of the Ramayana, one of the two epics of Hindu literature (the other being the Mahabharata). Rama is the son of Dasaratha, king of Ayodhya, and husband of Sita. Sita is kidnapped by Ravana, the demon-king of Sri Lanka. Rama enters into fierce battle and eventually rescues Sita.
The popularity of Rama is largely due to his depiction as the ideal man (accompanied by Sita--the ideal woman). Rama is the exemplar of honor, virtue, and heroism. Parrinder notes that the cult of Rama appears "only about the time of the Muslim invasions", which may account in some degree for his popularity as a paragon of "kshatriya chivalry and heroism".
Krishna
Krishna is an even more popular figure. He is the central figure in the much-beloved Hindu classic the Bhagavad Gita, the story of Arjuna's crisis of conscience on the eve of the battle between two related royal families, the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Arjuna understands that it is his duty (dharma) as a member of the kshatriya class to enter into the battle, but he struggles with the dilemma of killing so many countrymen and kin. Krishna teaches him that the fulfillment of one's duty, and especially the fulfillment of that duty without any attachment to the results (often put as renouncing or giving up the fruits of the action), is the only way to avoid the accumulation of karma which leads to rebirth in this world (see Smith 64-68) after death of the physical body. As well as being the central figure in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna is also known in many folk-tales and legends. Especially well known are his love affairs (as a cow-herd) with various milk-maids, and especially with his favorite, Radha. These stories have been interpreted as an allegory for the relationship between the individual soul and the Absolute: Krishna as the ultimate god loves the soul, represented by the maidens. In eastern India, and especially Bengal, at least one Radha-Krishna cult has emerged which sees Radha as his eternal consort and seeks the favor of both.Shiva
Worshippers of Shiva are known as Shaivites. The god Shiva is a later form of the Vedic god Rudra, a terrible divinity who was feared and constantly demanded homage. Noss writes that "His presence is felt 'in the fall of the leaf,' and he is the bringer of disease and death". But, the understanding developed that he was not only the god of destruction but also the god of rebirth: "Shiva destroyed in order to make room for new creation". A commonly seen representation of Shiva is Nataraja. As Nataraja, Lord of the Dance, he has four arms and is shown dancing, balanced on one foot, crushing the demon of ignorance and delusion. In this incarnation, he is celebrating the creation of the world and therefore the energy of life itself. Ninian Smart says that Shiva "dances out the universe simply as an expression of his exuberant personality: his creative activity is an end in itself." In this way, life is affirmed without answering the question "why are we here?"Shiva also celebrates the union of male and female sexual energy. Both Shaktism and Tantrism develop under the domain of Shiva. From early on, Shiva was identified with the sexual energy symbolized by the lingam and yoni, the stylized male and female reproductive organs. Shiva is often depicted with one of his consorts or lovers, chiefly Kali. It is interesting to note that in some areas of India, worship of the spouses of Shiva has become a religion in its own right. This type of worship would be a form of Tantrism, but ideally identified as Shaktism (to distinguish it from Buddhist Tantrism). Shakti is understood as the power of the god personified as his wife. It is generally understood to be the opposite pole of the male attributes of consciousness and rest. In this way, neither the masculine nor the feminine aspect of the gods can survive without the other.
Conclusion
We have looked at how the Absolute is pictured in Hinduism: either an indescribable god-without-attributes or any of a variety of gods, four of which we have described. The different views respect each other, though each tends to reinterpret the others in its own light (i.e., the followers of Vishnu accept the other gods, but as manifestations of Vishnu, the followers of Vedanta accept the idea of a personal God, but only as an expression of brahman, which is indescribable).TEXTS
This section will introduce you to the major Hindu texts by giving their names and a brief description of each. The primary texts of Hinduism are the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the epics called the Mahabharata and Ramayana. There are other texts which are also listed below, but they constitute a lesser-known set of works.The entire body of works falls into two categories: shruti or those revelations which were "heard" and therefore sacred revelations from God, and smriti, or revelations which are "remembered" and composed by human beings. The Vedas, Upanishads, Brahamanas, and Aranyakas are considered shruti and the others, including the epics, are considered smriti.
The Vedas were composed between 1500 - 900 B.C.E. to assist with the formal religious services. There are 4 Vedas, each serving a different purpose. The Sama Veda contains chants, re-arranged versions of some of the hymns in the Rig-Veda. The Yajur Veda contains instructions and formulas to be used to conduct sacrifices. The Atharva Veda contains many magical spells and incarnations. The most useful for purposes of understanding later Hindu development was the Rig-Veda. This is a collection of 1028 hymns to the Vedic deities, composed by the Aryans during this period. Included here is the famous passage which explains the creation of the universe from the sacrifice of the original cosmic Man, Purusha. This is an important myth in at least two respects. First, it introduces the idea of sacrifice into Vedic thought. The universe was created by the sacrifice of the god Purusha, replacing earlier myths of the universe as being created by the bursting of a primeval Golden Embryo (as in Manu-Smriti) or by an indescribable cosmic process (as in Rig-Veda). Second, it institutes the idea from which the Hindu caste system grew. Part of the hymn reads:
The brahmin was his mouth,
of his arms was made the warrior [kshatriyas]
his thighs became the vaishya
of his feet, the shudra was born.
[Rig-Veda, 10.90]
The Brahamanas (composed 800-600 B.C.E.) were devoted to explanation of the hymns
of Rig-Veda and their mythology, etc. They include mythical explanation of some of the Vedic
rituals as well as about the universe itself The idea of rebirth first appears here. There are
several Brahamanas, associated with the Vedas: the Aitareya-Brahamana and Kaushitaki-Brahamana are associated with the Rig-Veda. The Satapatha-Brahamana and the Taittriya-Brahamana are associated with the Yajur-Veda (the Yajur-Veda is broken down into a White
Yajur-Veda and a Black Yajur-Veda, one of the Brahamanas associated to each). The Gopatha-Brahamana is associated with the Atharva-Veda. There are several Brahamanas associated with
the Sama-Veda, but none of any importance for us here. An additional set of works known as
the Aranyakas was composed circa 600 B.C.E. and deals with the symbolic meaning of various
Vedic rituals.
The next major set of works is the Upanishads, estimated to have been written between 600-300 B.C.E. In these works we find both dualistic and monistic views of the Absolute. There are over 100 Upanishads (Basham cites a "canonical" list of 108), but 13 are of primary importance, generally agreed as authentic. The list follows:
- Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
- Chandogya Upanishad
- Taittiriya Upanishad
- Aitareya Upanishad
- Kaushitaki Upanishad
- Kena Upanishad
- Isa Upanishad
- Katha Upanishad
- Mundaka Upanishad
- Prasna Upanishad
- Mandukya Upanishad
- Svetasvatara Upanishad
- Maitri Upanishad
The two epic works of Hindu poetry and prose are the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. The Mahabharata is a long poem of a claimed 100,000 verses describing the conflict between the families of the Pandavas and Kauravas. A primary underlying theme is the recurring presence of Vishnu's avatars--incarnations of Vishnu who come to earth when the world is threatened by the forces of evil. This work is very well-known and is still used as a basis for popular movies and books in India.
The Ramayana is the more straightforward story of a single hero, Rama. Rama becomes the heir to the kingdom of King Dasaratha by stringing the bow of Shiva which the King has in his possession. But, before Rama can be crowned prince, one of the king's wives requests that he be banished from the kingdom and exiled to the woods. Because the king had promised his wife two wishes, he keeps his word. Rama and his wife Sita retire to the forest. Thus begin Rama's adventures, which end with him losing his wife Sita back to her mother--earth--and Rama himself ascending into the world of the gods. Another set of works are the Puranas, a collection of creation myths, legends and various religious doctrines.
The last work to be mentioned here is the Bhagavad Gita, a central text with which every student needs to be familiar. This is the story of the conversation between Arjuna and Krishna on the eve of a great battle between the Pandavas and their cousins the Kauravas. Arjuna refuses to fight the battle because he is in deep conflict. He knows that this is his duty, but also knows that the battle will kill many of his family as well as many of his cousins. Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu but posing as Arjuna's charioteer, explains to Arjuna that he is confused. He must realize that the killing he speaks of is only illusory. The true self of each of those who will die is only an aspect of the eternal atman, enfleshed in a particular incarnation. Therefore, he is not actually killing anything but the physical vessel--the atman which resides within cannot be created or destroyed.
Krishna uses other arguments as well. One particularly strong theme is that Arjuna must not forsake his duty, his dharma. For better or worse, in this incarnation, he is a warrior and this is what he must do. Krishna stresses, however, that in order to not accumulate karma, Arjuna must enter the battle unattached to the outcome. He must conduct the battle because it is his duty, not because he feels he will win.