Category Archives: b. Significant Hindu Organizations

2. Saiva Sects, b. Significant Hindu Organizations, K. South Indian Hinduism

The Lingayat/Virasaiva tradition

The Lingayat tradition, also known as Virasaiva, is a Hindu sect with a vast following in Karnataka, a southern state of India. They are known as Virasaivas because of their relentless and deeply passionate devotion to Siva, a deity who is worshipped by both upper and lower caste Hindus, as well as other marginal groups in Hindu society (Basu 475). The origin of the sect is traced to the eleventh and twelfth century as a small-scale socio religious movement and founded by Basavanna, a government minister. In order to maintain their purpose within the broad framework of the Lingayat tradition, Basavanna adapted and reconstructed the principles of the influential Saivite (Siva-worshiping) religious traditions superior during his time in Kashmir, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu (Basu 475). The Lingayat tradition highlights the shared dependence between Siva and individual human beings. TheParama Sakti (ultimate spiritual force) is believed to have been established by Siva; that is, Siva and the cosmic force are considered to be equal or alike (Basu 475). The Lingayat tradition believes that before the cosmos was created, Siva was the “The Supreme Self” in terms of purity, beyond space and place, beyond design, nameless, shapeless, and deedless (Basu 475). Basavanna preached that work, in all its forms, was to be worshipped. Therefore, Lingayats are washermen, barbers, weavers, carpenters, teachers, farmers, and members of practically every occupational group (Ishwaran 148). Work was to be worshipped as a continuation of the design of the Creator, the deity Siva.

            Lingayat tradition was a reaction to specific features of Hinduism and can barely be assumed or understood aside from orthodox Hinduism. Its practices and beliefs are either taken over from Hinduism, or they illustrate a deliberate contradiction of Hindu principles or rites. Lingayatism preaches that all men and women, whatever their birth or position in society, are all equal. In noticeable opposition to Hinduism, there is no ritual interpretation of female inferiority. For the Lingayats, there is no heaven, no hell, no life after death. They believe that reward for virtue and punishment come in this life and one makes this world a heaven or a hell (Ishwaran 148).  In Sanskrit, Linga signifies a mark or a symbol; hence, the Siva Lingam is a symbol of the supreme being, Siva. The practice requires that followers, both men and women, carry the Siva Linga/Lingam around their necks or across their chests. Basavanna and other Lingayat preachers tried to fight the polytheistic notions of Brahmanic Hinduism through the Lingayat tradition (Basu 475). Basavanna’s monotheism not only ousted the Vedic deities (cherished by Vedic Hindu followers), but to Lingayats, also disclosed the dishonesty of the Brahmanic interpretations of the Hindu scriptures. Therefore, the Lingayat tradition preferred a social order free of the caste system and social slavery and as a result, it originally accepted men and women from all Hindu castes, as well as the lowest (Basu 475).

             There are three sacred areas in every Lingayat home. Their homes are very meaningful for them,  because the home is not only a place for living, but is the means of close connections between family and members. The first sacred area of every Lingayat home is a raised platform (gaddige) which serves as the family altar. On this altar are the images of the personal gods of each family member. At this altar, daily worship by the family as a whole, represented by a male member, forms the regular feature of domestic festivals. The kitchen is also a sacred place. On festive days, the first element of all food prepared is given to the priest, and a second part sacrificed to the gods. Food is treated with the utmost respect, as is the stove where it is prepared. The native stove (vali) itself is worshipped, and all food is eaten, after which the plate is washed clean by the priest, and the water used in ablution is itself drunk, that none of the holy food be dishonoured. The doorway is also sacred in the home of all Lingayats. It is very crucial that a bride steps across the doorway with her right foot at marriage. Each bullock is stopped at the door of each Lingayat house and made to step across the doorway with his right foot during the procession of bullocks. On a daily basis, the doorway is washed and worshipped by the women of the household, and special rites of worship are done on festival days.

          Sororate marriages are accepted among the Lingayats, but more commonly practiced is the marriage of a girl to her mother’s brother (Ishwaran 153). Cross-cousin marriages are ordinary and chosen. It also frequently happens that two families may perform an exchange marriage. Usually, marriages ensue right after puberty and they are comprehensively organized. The marriage of a girl is commonly arranged at, or considerably before, the beginning of puberty. A marriage which is formed by love is considered to have a poor possibility of success. Love is considered to come in the normal course of events after marriage; should it exist before, the marriage is likely to be damaged by struggle both between the partners and between each of the partners and the in-laws (Ishwaran 154). If an arranged marriage leads to separation, the elders accountable for the marriage are susceptible to harsh criticism and sometimes to open animosity. By all means the bride must be younger than the bridegroom. Men must marry women who are younger in age so that wives stay submissive to their husbands, and care for them in their old age. Culture commands that girls are born to be given away and they must be married as soon as they reach puberty (Ishwaran 155). The current system of arranged marriage has allowed them to endure. Partners in one’s own kindred circle are regarded as committed, admired, and trustworthy on whom spouses can rely throughout life (Ishwaran 155).

        In the early nineteenth century, a scholar named Jean Antoine Abbe Dubois who had spent thirty years collecting materials and articles connected to Hindu behaviour, customs and ceremonies, distinguished what he heard, read, and studied about the Lingayat tradition (Chekki 108). He observed that the sect of Siva is dominant in several states. They refrain from eating animal products, and rather than burning the dead, like most Hindus, they choose to bury them. They also do not acknowledge the laws pertaining to degradation, which in most cases are recognized by other castes. Dubois mentions a proverb that says “There is no river for a  Lingayat”, which means that the followers of this sect do not value ablutions (Chekki 108). In addition, he specifies that the Lingayat tradition rejects many principles of the Hindu religion, particularly the cycle of birth and rebirth. The Lingayats, therefore, have no anniversary festivals to celebrate or honor the dead (Chekki 108).

         Prominently, there are at least three extensive stages or aspects of the Lingayat research traditions which discloses the preceding analysis. The first phase commenced in the early nineteenth century and progressed until the first decade of the twentieth century, which consists of  a large majority of Western scholars (Chekki 125). These observers from the West, based on very narrow or no knowledge of the earliest sources, seized only an incomplete view of the Lingayat tradition and culture. These scholars, with a few special cases, presented inadequate, definitive, distorted, and deceptive accounts of the Lingayat tradition and society. The second phase of the Lingayat studies, which surfaced in the 1920s, incorporates two streams of domestic scholars. Based upon an extensive exploration and analysis of Virasaiva classics in Kannada and Sanskrit, they contributed a great deal to the understanding of Lingayatism as a significant religious sect (Chekki 125). Their knowledge of the initial sources, modern outlook, and experience as members of the community aided them to produce trustworthy analyses of the Lingayat tradition and philosophy (Chekki 125). Nevertheless, some of these studies needed impartial scientific examination. The third phase of the Lingayat research, set in motion since the 1960s, has taken place broadly in institutional settings such as universities and research institutes (Chekki 125).

       The present day Lingayat/Virasaiva tradition research has become more multidisciplinary by nature and today, diversified disciplines in the humanities and social sciences examine Lingayat/Virasaiva history, literature, religion, philosophy, society and culture (Chekki 126). An abundant portion of the publications in the Lingayat/Virasaiva tradition, especially in the Kannada language, still seem to be laudatory and repetitious (Chekki 126). They are for the most part explanatory and based on inner experience rather than fact, lacking critical analysis. An extensive number of studies are on Basavanna and his reform movement. A majority of the authors are men. Women authors, and writings on women saints and their contributions, are minimal (Chekki 126). The question, “are Lingayats a caste or a religion?”, has both sociological interpretation and realistic significance. The Government of India categorizes the Lingayats as Hindus. Lingayat leaders, nevertheless, urge their followers, when asked their religion, not to answer Hindu, but Lingayat (Ishwaran 149). Whether the rank and file Lingayat considers himself as a Hindu caste or a separate religion is a matter of practical concern. Moreover, the demand to train a new generation of researchers cannot be disregarded on purpose. Numerous aspects and features of the Lingayat/Virasaiva tradition are still in need of examination by researchers.

REFERENCES AND FURTHER RECOMMENDED READING

Basu, Rajshekhar (2002) “Lingayat.” In Karen Christensen and David Levinson, eds. Encyclopedia of Modern Asia, p. 475. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

Boratti, Vijayakumar (2017) “War, Words, and Communities: Lingayats and World War I.” Economic and Political Weekly. Accessed February 3, 2020. doi:10.1017/9781108594646.008.

Copeman, Jacob, and Ikegame Aya (2012) The Guru in South Asia: New Interdisciplinary Perspectives. London: Routledge.

Chekki, Danesh A. (1997) Religion and Social System of the Vīraśaiva Community. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group.

Chekki, Danesh A. (2012). “The Spiritual Path of Devotion: The Vīraśaiva Perspective.” Anthropos 107(2):555-560. Accessed January 30, 2020. doi:10.5771/0257-9774-2012-2-555.

Desai, Prakash (2019). “Quest for Egalitarian Socio-Spiritual Order: Lingayats and Their Practices.” Journal of Human Values 25(2):87-100. Accessed January 30, 2020. doi:10.1177/0971685819826729.

Gutridge, Bryan (2006) The Religion of Revolution: A Historical Study of the Virasaiva Movement. Bloomington: Indiana University.

Ishwaran, Karigondar (1966). “Lingayat Kinship.” Journal of Asian and African Studies 1(2):147-160. Accessed February 1, 2020. doi:10.1177/002190966600100206.

Related Topics for Further Investigation

Lingayat

Virasaiva

Karnataka

Siva

Basavanna

Kashmir

Gujrat

Tamil Nadu

Basavanna

Saivite

Parama Sakti

Sanskrit

Siva Lingam

Linga

Gaddige

Vali

Kannada

Noteworthy Websites Related to the Topic

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lingayat

https://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/History/prelims/virasaiva.html

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/who-are-the-lingayats-and-why-they-want-a-minority-status/articleshow/63368295.cms?from=mdr

https://lingayatreligion.com/

https://www.lingayatreligion.com/What_is_Lingayatism.htm

https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/the-history-of-lingayat-religion-is-not-written-and-this-is-the-main-reason-for-/309860

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329504845_The_Rise_of_Lingayat_Religion_and_Its_Founder

https://shaivam.org/scripture/English-Articles/1374/the-virasaiva-religion

https://thediplomat.com/2018/03/a-new-religion-in-india-karnatakas-lingayats-seek-recognition/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingayatism

Article written by: Jonalyn Saballa (February 2020) who is solely responsible for its content.

2. Saiva Sects, a. Significant Figures in Hinduism, b. Significant Hindu Organizations, K. South Indian Hinduism, M. Colonization and Reform

Basava and the Lingayat tradition

Basava, also referred to as Basavanna, was a south Indian philosopher who is widely regarded as the founder of the Lingayattradition of Hinduism (Das 161). He is viewed as an early advocate for socio-religious reform, promulgating his teachings in what is now the Indian state of Karnataka (Ishwaran 2).

Although little is known about Basava’s early life, there are a few texts that provide details about his childhood. In addition to scarce historical records, the Basava Purana, written by Palkuriki Somanatha, provides a hagiographical account of his life. In addition, the Basavaraja Devara Ragale, a poem written in the 13th-century by Harihara, also provides important information about his life (Leslie 239). His poems, typically referred to as vacanas, have also provided extensive descriptions about his life and his beliefs (see Schouten 50-61).

Basava was born in a small village called Bagevadi to a Brahmin family (Ishwaran 1). His father was appointed by a local king to be the chief of his village. Though Basava was not born in a particularly wealthy family, he nonetheless enjoyed social privileges by virtue of his class and his father’s role in the village as the chief (Leslie 239). Over the course of his childhood, Basava engaged in activities that were traditionally prescribed for Brahmin males. Therefore, he was exposed to various religious rituals and also received formal religious education (Leslie 240).

However, despite the formalities that he had undergone, Basava grew increasingly disillusioned with the Brahmanical tradition in which he was raised (Schouten 2). In Harihara’s Basavaraja Devara Ragale, Basava was forced to participate in his sacred- thread ceremony – a crucially important initiation ceremony for twice-born males – at the age of eight. In contrast, according to the Basava Purana, he did not participate in his sacred-thread ceremony (Leslie 240). His father construed Basava’s reluctance to participate as egregiously disrespectful to tradition, creating friction in the relationship between Basava and his father (Rao and Roghair 58). Both accounts of his life relay a similar motif, namely his criticisms of the Brahmanical tradition at a very young age.

At the age of sixteen, Basava left his home village of Bagevadi and went to Kudalasangama, a popular pilgrimage site for Siva worshippers. The impetus for his decision to leave was marked by “a desire to escape… the religious ritualism and social prejudice of his environment” (Leslie 240). It was also at this time that Basava had become particularly fond of the Hindu god, Siva. Although several Saivite sects were prominent during this time, it is likely that Basava was exposed to the Lakulisa- Pasupata sect of Saivism in Kudalasangama (Das 162). He subsequently spent the next twelve years of his life in Kudalasangama where he extensively engaged in the service and worship of Siva. In addition, Basava continued to expand his education and also composed works of poetry (Das 162).

The socio-religious context in Karnataka during the 12th– century played an instrumental role in shaping Basava’s conceptions about the Brahmanical system of which he was particularly critical. A central facet of the Brahmanical system – the varna system – was construed by Basava to be an inherently oppressive system (Sahasrabudhe 225). In the Rg Veda, the Purusa – Sukta hymn situates the Brahmin class to be at the top of the social hierarchy, followed by the ksatriya, vaisya, and sudra classes. The class system was highly influential in Karnataka during this time, and the stratification of society closely followed the hierarchy implicit in the Purusa Sukta (Ishwaran 8). Devotion to god – bhakti – was a very popular mode of religious practice in Karnataka. This led to the creation of many temples that were primarily run by Brahmin priests. Due to the emphasis placed by the Brahmins on the importance of devotional practice, sudras felt that they were religiously obligated to donate their time and money to the priests (Ishwaran 7). Consequently, this led to the emergence of significant socio-economic and socio-religious disparities that were particularly conspicuous in Karnataka during this time. Basava was profoundly impacted by the segregation of worship that was commonplace in Siva temples. Devout sudras were unable to engage in the worship and service of Siva “in the company of the higher castes” (Ishwaran 7).  Basava viewed this unfair treatment by the Brahmins as prejudice masked under the pretext of notions about ritual pollution (Das 163). In his vacanas, Basava extensively articulates his concerns about the oppressive and exploitative Brahmanical system in place; moreover, he assigned culpability to the Brahmin priestly class for reinforcing this system (Schouten 55). Ultimately, the socio-religious context of the time served as the major impetus behind shaping many of the reformist attitudes that Basava later came to hold.

The next significant transition in Basava’s life is marked by his move away from Kudalasangama to a small town named Mangalavada (Leslie 242). Legendary accounts suggest that the Hindu god Siva had appeared in one of his dreams and instructed Basava to move to Mangalavada (Leslie 241). However, Basava was frightened by the notion of having to leave Kudalasangama given the profound impact the village had on his religious and spiritual development. Siva reappeared in a subsequent dream where he presented Basava with his own personal Siva linga, a symbol that represents Siva in Saivite tradition (Das 162). This reassured Basava that regardless of where he was, Siva would always be there for him, manifest in the form of a linga. Therefore, it is said that these dreams spurred his transition to Mangalavada because Basava viewed it as incumbent upon himself to “articulate his emotional commitment to [Siva]” (Leslie 242). In a place like Mangalavada, his message could reach a larger audience which would allow him to fulfill his goal.

            Mangalavada was a small town that was under the control of the Calukya empire in the 12th– century and was primarily inhabited by low class sudras (Leslie 242). Basava viewed this as an opportunity to promulgate some of his notions regarding religion and the importance of social reform. Over the course of the next several years, Basava regularly engaged with the people in his community through conversation and dialogue (Das 163). In addition, Basava regularly wrote works of poetry – vacanas – to disseminate his teachings to a broader audience (Leslie 242). In contrast to the Brahmanical system which valorized the use of Sanskrit as the principal way to communicate religious and spiritual topics, Basava instead decided to write in Kannada (Sahasrabudhe 223). He was a strong proponent of communicating religious and spiritual matters in the vernacular language in order to ensure that those teachings could be accessible to the greatest number of people. Sanskrit, however, was a language that was only accessible to relatively few people in society (i.e. primarily Brahmins), and therefore its use alienated the majority of people who had no knowledge of the language (Schouten 11). Thus, the preservation of the Kannada language and culture is heavily attributed to Basava due to his resistance to Sanskritic influences (Ishwaran 1).

In many vacanas, Basava presents arguments that undermine the intrinsically hierarchical nature of the class system (Schouten 51-52). Prejudicial attitudes towards lower class members of society (e.g. sudras) by the upper classes were commonplace (Ishwaran 8), and Basava argued that citing ritual pollution as a justification for such attitudes by the Brahmins was flawed. Central to Basava’s argument was his belief in the polluting origin of life (Schouten 59). The womb was traditionally regarded as a source of pollution, and because humans are born of the womb, one’s existence is plagued with pollution the moment they are born. Therefore, Basava concluded that “any pretension to high birth is meaningless” (Schouten 60) because regardless of one’s class, no one could escape the impurities associated with birth. In other words, the hierarchical nature of the class system, according to Basava, made no sense because of the common impure origin of human beings.

For many people, Basava’s ideals of social reform and equality were particularly impactful because he did not exclude anyone from his teachings on the basis of class or caste (Schouten 39). In addition, he espoused progressive views towards women, namely his recognition of women as individuals with rights (Sahasrabudhe 224). At the time, his acceptance for all people was construed as a radical departure from the traditional Brahmanical system because the egalitarian principles that Basava championed were, in many ways, contradictory to the views of the Brahmanical system (Das 163). This, in turn, was particularly attractive to lower class Hindus who had been traditionally alienated by the Brahmanical system.

In addition to his teachings about equality and social reform, Basava disseminated teachings about the nature of God and offered prescriptive approaches for the realization of God (Leslie 242). Because Basava was a devotee of Siva, many other Siva devotees, particularly from lower classes, found refuge in his teachings. Therefore, Basava was able to cultivate a large following which primarily consisted of Siva devotees – saranas – that distanced themselves from the Brahmin orthodoxy and instead embraced the inclusive model of Hinduism that Basava championed (Schouten 10). These saranas, according to Basava, no longer retained their class identity. This, too, was viewed unfavorably by the Brahmin orthodoxy, which, in contrast, stressed the immutability of one’s class (Das 163).

Due to a lack of royal patronage, Basava initially found it difficult to disseminate his teachings to a greater audience. The city of Kalyana – capital of the Calukya empire – had not yet divorced itself from the rigid Brahmanical orthodoxy; moreover, the Calukya leadership was generally apprehensive about Basava’s radical ideas because his ideas were met with strong contempt by the orthodoxy (Das 163). However, Bijjala, a powerful feudatory of the Calukya empire and a Saivite, was especially fond of Basava’s teachings (Leslie 242). The sustained decline of the Calukya empire coupled with poor leadership under Taila III led Bijjala to overthrow Taila III in 1162. Thus, he installed himself as the new emperor of the Calukya empire, paving the way for Basava to spread his teachings in Kalyana (Leslie 242). In addition to his religious endeavors, however, Basava was also a prominent political figure in the empire. He was appointed by Bijjala to serve as the chief minister of the empire, a position he held for thirty-six years (Ishwaran 6).

Basava continued to rally support from the people of Kalyana, with a particular focus on uniting Siva devotees and sudras. He later established the anubhava mandala, an institution that was central to accomplishing this goal. It served as a platform that enabled people from all walks of life to freely discuss spiritual, religious, and philosophical topics (Schouten 4). As time went on, a profound distrust of the Brahmanical system coupled with a growing sense of fraternity among Basava’s followers led Basava to formally establish the Saivite Lingayat sect (Ishwaran 2).

The monopolization of temples by the Brahmins was particularly disconcerting for Basava because it prevented many low-class Hindus from engaging in the worship of Siva (Ishwaran 7). Consequently, Basava reconceptualized the way people approached the worship and service of God – bhakti – to accommodate for the alienated peoples of society and to undermine the already waning influence of the priesthood. Basava explicitly declared that it was not necessary to visit a temple in order to worship God (Leslie 242). According to Basava, the linga is a manifestation of Siva; thus, it could serve as an object of worship. For many people, God was no longer a distant entity confined to the inner depths of temples. One could now freely worship Siva without concerning themselves about the mandates of orthodox tradition. In recognition of the all-encompassing presence of God, Basava believed that one could transform any object into a linga that could be worshipped if their devotion was strong enough (Rao and Roghair 33). The significance of the linga for practitioners of the Lingayat tradition continues to persist in contemporary practice, as well. Children will often undergo an initiation ritual (diksa) where a guru will present the child with a linga; moreover, one is expected to wear the linga around the neck for the rest of their life and worship it five times a day (Rao and Roghair 8).

There are two cornerstone principles of Lingayatism – kayaka and dasoha – that Basava argued were valid forms of worship and service to God. From God’s perspective, one’s profession did not dictate his or her worth in the eyes of God. Manual labor – kayaka –  was looked down upon by the orthodoxy, but Basava emphasized that the precise nature of one’s work did not matter, insofar as one did his or her work with effort and honesty (Leslie 243). The principle of kayaka was wildly popular because it gave people the reassurance that doing their work dutifully was a viable path toward God (Das 164). Dasoha refers to a concern for the wellbeing of others in one’s community (Ishwaran 10). A portion of one’s earnings, according to Basava, should be used to improve the lives of other people, regardless of their class affiliation. The principle of dasoha was therefore adopted by many people in Kalyana who no longer donated their earnings to the priesthood (Leslie 243).

Basava’s rising influence in Kalyana was inevitably met with protest by the orthodoxy who accused Basava of exploiting his political power and his position as chief minister of the Calukya empire (Das 163). In order to dismantle Basava’s influence in Kalyana, the orthodoxy believed that altering Bijjala’s perception of Basava could create a significant rift between both individuals. Consequently, Basava was accused of inappropriately using empire funds to support saranas who needed financial support. In addition, he was also accused of “polluting the royal court” (Leslie 244) through his interactions with sudras and untouchables. Accusations against Basava continued to climb, further exacerbating social tensions between the Brahmins and the saranas. Though these social tensions were not initially manifest in the form of violence, this dramatically changed after a sarana man was said to have married a Brahmin woman. The orthodoxy was fiercely critical of this wedding because the man was an untouchable (Schouten 49). Thus, the wedding was construed as an affront to the established orthodoxy, and the married couple was subsequently put to death by the Brahmins (Das 164). The saranas felt betrayed by Bijjala because he ordered the death of the couple, and violence soon flooded Kalyana (Schouten 50). Meanwhile, Basava was accused of organizing an insurgency against Bijjala’s empire, further heightening tensions (Leslie 244).

As conflict continued to escalate in Kalyana, Bijjala’s army intervened and killed many of Basava’s followers. Distraught by these events, Basava decided that he could no longer witness the terror that had unfolded in Kalyana (Ishwaran 85). He moved back to Kudalasangama where he died a few years later in 1167 (Das 164). Meanwhile, the growing resentment the saranas had towards Bijjala ultimately led to Bijjala’s assassination (Rao and Roghair 13).

The future of the Lingayat sect was uncertain following Basava’s death. His leadership was crucially important in maintaining cohesion within the sect and a sense of fraternity. However, his absence left the Lingayat tradition susceptible to Brahmanical influences (Schouten 15). The so-called Brahmanization of the Lingayat sect was manifest in a number of ways. For instance, temples dedicated to Siva had been built and the Brahmanical practice of donating money to priests had also surfaced in the tradition (Ishwaran 4-5). Over the next few centuries following his death, steps were taken by influential adherents of the Lingayat tradition to ensure that the distinctive identity of the sect was not eroded upon by Brahmanical influences. Many of Basava’s vacanas and other writings had been consolidated; moreover, these texts were given canonical status in Lingayatism (Ishwaran 4). Another significant development in the tradition was the establishment of the Virakta monastic system (Schouten 15). Moreover, this system was  important in preserving a sense of community in the sect by facilitating religious discussion amongst its followers in addition to providing Lingayat education (Ishwaran 4). Collectively, these developments were able to resist Brahmanical influences and thus enabled the tradition to retain its unique identity.

REFERENCES AND FURTHER RECOMMENDED READING

Das, Sisir K. (2005) A History of Indian Literature, 500-1399: From Courtly to the Popular. Delhi: Sahitya Akademi.

Ishwaran, K (2019) Speaking of Basava: Lingayat Religion and Culture in South Asia. London: Routledge.

Leslie, Julia (1998) “Understanding Basava: History, Hagiography and a Modern Kannada Drama.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 61:228-61. Accessed February 3, 2020. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00013793.

Michael, Blake R. (1983) “Foundation Myths of the Two Denominations of Virasaivism: Viraktas and Gurusthalins.” The Journal of Asian Studies 42:309-22. Accessed February 24, 2020. doi:10.2307/2055116.

Rao, Velcheru N., and Gene Roghair (2014) Siva’s Warriors: The Basava Purana of Palkuriki Somanatha. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Sahasrabudhe, M (1979) “Mahatma Basavesvara – A Social Reformer.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 40:221-26. Accessed February 3, 2020.

Schouten, Jan P. (1995) Revolution of The Mystics: On the Social Aspects of Virasaivism. Delhi:  Motilal Banarsidass

Srinivas, Mysore N. (1976) The Remembered Village. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Related Topics for Further Investigation

Siva

Kalamukha

Basava Purana

Basavaraja Devara Ragale

Palkuriki Somanatha

Harihara

Bijjala

Dodda Basavanna Gudi

Calukya Dynasty

Basava Jayanthi

Noteworthy Websites Related to the Topic

https://lingayatreligion.com/Philosophy_of_Guru_Basava.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basava

https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/lingayats

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Basava

Article written by: Bhadra Pandya (Spring 2020) who is solely responsible for its content.

2. Vaisnava Schools, b. Significant Hindu Organizations, f. Devotional Worship (Bhakti)

The Pustimarg in the Bhakti Movement

The Bhakti Movement is a Hindu movement of devotional worship that took place between the 9th and 17th centuries. Bhaktiwas initially elaborated upon in the Bhagavad Gita, an ancient Hindu text, prior to the first century (Novetzke 257). During this time, the doctrine’s attitude towards ritual worship deviated from that which was upheld in Hindu orthodoxy and worked to undermine the religious authority of the priestly Brahmin class. It was not until India had undergone a period of great sociopolitical and economic reformation that the philosophy of bhakti grew in popularity and spread throughout the Indian subcontinent. The Bhakti Movement is a movement tied not only to religion, but to Indian culture as a whole. Today, the movement is largely discussed in terms of the literature produced during this time, known as bhakti poetry. The general message of loving devotion that is expressed in this poetry reflects the experiences of common people in their culture and society (Pandey 129). While the poetry is an integral component in the history of the Bhakti Movement, the social world that foreshadowed the revival of bhakti must not be ignored.

The wide acceptance of bhakti is complex involving a web of interconnections between the religious, economic, and political spheres of India’s culture, and the social stratification that occurred during the Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526 CE). Changes in each realm of society contributed to the escalation of discomfort with Indian life, ultimately leading to the proliferation of bhakti. The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic Empire, characterized by Muslim conquest of India that unified the subcontinent under a single sovereign state. This political reformation triggered civil conflict among feudal lords and intensified marginalization of Indian workers and common people. The increasing discontentment with Indian life eventually worked to undermine the authority of the Sultanate, and by the declining years of the Empire, many small feudal states asserted independence from Delhi (Pande 215). The economic sphere of India was arguably where the most change occurred, producing an economy that was infinitely superior to the previous. Changes such as improvement in technology, expansion in towns, and advancements of craft production and commerce called for a surplus of merchant and artisan workers. The high demand for workers belonging to the Vaisya class allowed these people to benefit  in terms of wealth and power; however, the social rigidity of the Hindu caste system remained unchanged. Therefore, the Sultanate created a social stratification in which the most wealthy and economically powerful members of society were excluded from the uppermost religious echelons (Pande 216). The social sphere was characterized by oppression of lower caste individuals, known as Candalas, or ‘untouchables’ (Pande 216). Attitudes embedded in orthodox Brahminism, which held supreme religious authority at the time, allowed this social oppression to flourish. Prior to the reign of the Sultanate, orthodoxy held that the Brahminclass were the only people to receive education of the Vedas, as well as lessons in reading and writing Sanskrit. Because Hindu ritual worship required recitation of the Vedas, the Brahmins were able to monopolize the religious sphere in India and thus maintain their status quo (Pande 216). The Candalas were completely excluded from their culture’s religion, as orthodox Brahminism regarded them as ritually impure and deemed them incapable of achieving spiritual liberation. The synthesis of civilizations resulted in the accumulation of social unease across the castes, and bhakti provided these marginalized members of society with a liberative platform to let their voices be heard.

The Bhakti Movement gave rise to a number of bhakti sects. To provide a more comprehensive illustration of bhakti ideology and the movement’s ties to a transitional society, this article will focus on one community in particular, the Pustimarg. The Pustimarg, or “Path of Grace”, is a Krsnaite devotional community that sustains a philosophical system of Pure Non-Dualism, suddhadvaita (Saha 302). This school centralizes devotion to Krsna, the Hindu deity of love and compassion, as the means to salvation (Saha 307). Vallabhacarya, also known as Vallabha, is identified as the founder of the Pustimarg, establishing the school in the 16th century (Saha 299). Vallabha lived through the chaos of the Sultanate’s disintegration and rise of the Mughal Empire (Saha 302). According to Vallabha, he received a message from Krsna to administer the brahmasambandha-mantra (Saha 303). This mantra became key to the Pustimarg as its administration acted as an initiation to one’s pursuit of a devotional life on the path of grace. Evidence of the Pustimarg institutionalization as a response to the pandemonium in India can be found in the Srikrsnasryah, a written account by Vallabha. His work also provides possible evidence for how the fall of the Delhi Sultanate and rise of Mughal Empire influenced the trajectory of his travels (Saha 305).

Vallabha travelled around India and spread his philosophy in various cities. There are many reasons to account for the great success and acceptance of the Pustimarg. One reason may be the fact that his philosophy was not of a radical nature for its time. Certain similarities have been identified between Vallabha’s philosophy and the Bhagavad Gita, pointing to the Pustimarg’s possible inspiration (Saha 304). Another factor may be due to the target areas where Vallabha travelled. It seems as if he travelled to target areas where patronage of Hindu institutions was weakest and social instability was greatest (Saha 306). The Pustimarg also outlined a means of salvation that transcended the class system and was accessible to everyone, contrary to traditional Hinduism, which requires a Brahmin priest to perform any religious worship to the deities. It also emphasized the compatibility between pursuit of worldly duties, such as pursuit of wealth, so long as one channels it towards the cultivation of a “single-minded devotion to Krsna” (Saha 307). For this reason, the Pustimarg carried a message that resonated most deeply with the dominant Baniyacommunity (Saha 312). The Baniyas were a Gujarati mercantile community who, due to the Sultanate Empire, served as the economic backbone of society (Saha 307). This period was particularly unsettling for the merchants of society as their livelihoods were dependent upon social, political, and economic stability, making any form of social conflict detrimental to their survival (Saha 308).  Vallabha’s ability to appeal to the dominant wealthy class is fundamental to the Pustimarg success as it provided financial support to guarantee material and physical well-being of this particular Bhakti community (Saha 310). Vallabha also appealed to the marginalized members of lower classes, offering these oppressed people of society a sense of community and freedom to worship. While the Path of Grace transcended the caste restrictions in a religious sense, it still upheld the varnasramadharma system in a social sense.

As mentioned previously in this paper, the Bhakti Movement is largely interpreted as a literary movement in which poet-saints of lower ranking castes transcended the limitations preserved by the orthodox Hindu notion of ‘Brahminhood’ and were able to speak on the sociopolitical oppression engrained in Indian culture. In turn, the poetry and songs of bhakti devotion worked to spread the idea that a reform of social democracy was in order. It was the preaching of these devotional songs that unified the marginalized members of society and gave shape to the idea of an egalitarian society (Pande 218). In the past, education was limited to Hindus belonging to the Brahmin class. This class alone understood Sanskrit and thus held religious authority to perform Vedic rituals and rites. The steady increase of cultural awareness brought about by the Bhakti Movement triggered a linguistic reform in which several vernacular languages were developed, reducing the power held by the hierarchy. For the first time, the gap was bridged between Sanskrit and common everyday language. Although expression varies, the general theme of bhakti poetry is distinguished by its expression of rebellion against the feudal-system and priests and themes of love and devotion (Pandey 206). A contributing factor to the success of this poetry is that their stories are “born out of the idealized tradition of Sanskrit poets and are popular takes on public life” (Pandey 135).

It is clear that the Bhakti Movement marks a period of great transition in nearly all realms of society. However, it would be incorrect to assert that bhakti is a socially progressive philosophy. As discussed in the sections above, the accumulating discontent across the Ksatriya, Vaisya, Sudra, and Candala castes called for an egalitarian reform, and the Bhakti Movementwas the answer. Despite the movement’s considerable success in democratizing the caste-bound religious limitations, the austerity of the varnasramadharma system in India is still prevalent today. Why did such a widely accepted and powerful movement fail to effect social change? The answer to this question may be tied to the ambiguity of the word ‘Brahmin’ as it appears in bhakti poetry (Burchett 130). In subtle ways, the poems and songs of bhakti saints actually reinforce the social hierarchy and preserve the notion that Brahmins possess “a social identity of higher purity and value than any other” (Burchette 116-117).  In a social context, ‘Brahmin’ refers the identity of the class that one is born into. In a spiritual context, the members of this class, ‘the Brahmins’ are identified as the spiritual ideal. The poet-saints work to break down the notion that ‘Brahminhood’, pure spiritual conduct, is not a function of caste but rather a mindset of devotion; however, ‘the Brahmin’ is still regarded to as the spiritual ideal in these texts (Burchette 130). In this light, bhakti can be seen to emphasize the inherit inferiority and superiority of the classes. The Bhakti Movement’s impact on society is not so much radical changes but rather modest modifications. These small adjustments helped to reduce ridged caste attitudes and make norms more flexible, but at the same time they made those norms and attitudes more durable (Burchette 126).

The Bhakti Movement was influenced by several interconnected elements of India’s sociopolitical and economic climate throughout the 20th century. By tracing the history of Vallabha’s Pustimarg community, it is clear to see the reasons behind this philosophy’s appeal and the significant ties to the period when it flourished. Devotional worship to Krsna granted civilians a sense of security and control during a period of great social unease and strife. The works left behind from the poet-saints provide evidence for the Bhakti Movement as a call for an egalitarian and democratic reformation in the social world. However, because the Hindu class system and religious system are inextricably linked through the notion of Brahminhood, the movement only resulted in relief from caste distinctions in the religious sphere. Nonetheless, by democratizing worship and offering a path to liberation that was fit for the householder’s life, bhakti revolutionized Hinduism as it is known and practiced today.

REFERENCES AND FURTHER RECOMMENDED READING

Burchett, Patton. (2009) “Rhetoric in the Hagiography of ‘Untouchable’ Saints: Discerning Bhakti’s Ambivalence on Caste and Brahminhood.” International Journal of Hindu Studies 13: 115-141. Accessed February 2, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/40608021.

Latif, Shaikh A. (1993) “The Indian Elements in the Bureaucracy of the Delhi Sultanate.” Proceeding of the Indian History Congress 54: 158-162. Accessed February 2, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/44142942.

Pande, Rekha. (1987) “The Bhakti Movement -An Interpretation.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 48: 214-221. Accessed January 29, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/44141682.

Pandey, Manager, and Tyagi, Alka. (2001) “Bhakti Poetry: Its Relevance and Significance.” Indian Literature 45: 129-138. Accessed February 1, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/23345761.

Saha, Shandip. (2006) “A Community of Grace: The Social and Theological World of the Pusti Marga vrata Literature.” Bulletin of School of Oriental and African Studies 69: 225-242. Accessed February 2, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/20182037.

—. (2007) “The Movement of Bhakti along a North-West Axis: Tracing the History of the Pustimarg between the Sixteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.” International Journal of Hindu Studies 11: 299-318. Accessed January 29, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/25691069.

Related Topics for Further Investigation

Delhi Sultanate

Mughal Empire

Pustimarg

Baniya Community

Krnsa

Suddhadvaita

Srikrsnasryah

Hindu Caste System

Bhakti Poetry

Noteworthy Websites Related to the Topic

http://pluralism.org/religions/hinduism/introduction-to-hinduism/bhakti-the-way-of-devotion/

https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-indias-caste-system-195496

https://www.britannica.com/topic/bhakti

https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/delhi-sultanate-socio-economic-setup-1416545738-1

Article written by: Josi Koerber (February 2020) who is solely responsible for its content.

b. Significant Hindu Organizations

The Radhasoami Movement

The Radhasoami movement was started in Agra in 1860 by Swami Shiv Dayal Singh during the period of British occupation in India (Juergensmeyer 3).  Shiv Dayal sought a new spiritual identity that was not like the Christianity that was being offered to him by missionaries, but rather something else that linked him to his Hindu culture (Juergensmeyer 18). In order to accomplish this, he drew from many sources, some of them from Sikh culture (Juergensmeyer 19). Shiv Dayal gained a following and began introducing his devotees to a new yogic practice that did not involve breathing exercises (Juergensmeyer 17). Shiv Dayal is regarded as an “exemplar of the Radhasoami vision” by every subgroup of the Radhasoami movement – the only agreed upon matter by some of the subgroups (Juergensmeyer 31).

Shiv Dayal named Rai Saligram his successor while noting their difference in views (Juergensmeyer 35). During his life, Rai Saligram edited Shiv Dayal’s work, Sar Bachan, which is a two-volume work of poetry and sermons (Juergensmeyer 24-25). The prose volume is authoritative throughout the Radhasoami subgroups (Juergensmeyer 25). The subgroups still debate whether Rai Saligram is an incarnation of Swami Shiv Dayal or a loyal disciple (Juergensmeyer 38). Regardless of the true nature of the role he occupied, Rai Saligram managed to continue the Radhasoami movement.

After the death of Saligram, the Radhasoami movement splintered under their disagreements (Juergensmeyer 44). As a result of this, Misra, a Brahman of a merchant-caste community, decided to form the Central Administrative Council in 1902 (Juergensmeyer 45). This council was made up of ten-members, the notable ones being the President, Pratap Singh, the next in command, Misra, and Saligram’s son (Juergensmeyer 45). These three people held the power to induct members and later disperse that authority to leaders of Radhasoami fellowships in regions that were further away (Juergensmeyer 45). Jaimal Singh lead the Beas subgroup, which rejected the formation of the council and continued to separate their group from the rest (Juergensmeyer 45-46). As more and more leaders arose, more and more divisions were formed within the Radhasoami movement; however, all of them still trace their origins back to Swami Shiv Dayal (Juergensmeyer 46-47).

The Radhasoami movement has made its way across the globe through different subgroups (Babb 293). This could be due in part to DuPertuis’s idea that the sect is appealing to Westerners because of the use of English publications and Western ideologies (114). Westerners had found their way to Rai Saligram while he was developing the sect and adapted to his teachings (Juergensmeyer 52). Daualbagh and Beas colonies have records of Westerners settling among them in the 1930s, but the major addition of Westerners in the sect occurred during the 1960s and 1970s when Sawan Singh was leading the Beas subgroup and began touring abroad (Juergensmeyer 52). When Sawan Singh’s grandson, Charan Singh, took over leadership, he pointed out that Radhasoami is universal, as the sacred sound could be found in many religions (Juergensmeyer 52).

The Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj, and the Singh Sabha are all movements in Hinduism that occurred around the same time as the Radhasoami movement (Dimitrova 89). As a result, there are similarities between the Arya Samaj and the Radhasoami (Dimitrova 89). Some would say that the Radhasoami are an offshoot of Sikhism; however, this is incorrect despite the similarities between the two religions (Juergensmeyer 7). Another comparison that has been made is that Radhasoami members could be considered Hindu if one was referring to the religious culture, but Radhasoami spiritual teachers reject some rather essential parts of Hinduism, such as image worship (Juergensmeyer 7).

Like Hinduism, the Radhasoamis are trying to discover their true self, or surat, which means “subtle self” (Babb 297-298). They believe that surat used to be a part of the supreme being Radhasoami but, was separated from Radhasoami long ago and has since been wandering around, lost in the “darkness,” suffering through life after life (Babb 298). The surat is believed to be inside humans and therefore one must foster their awareness of their true predicament and find the way to their “true home” through the guidance of a guru (Babb 298). Once surat has been realized and the highest realm of consciousness has been achieved then one is in the realm of Radhasoami (Dimitrova 92).

Radhasoami comes from the word radha which theologically means “the energy centre” and svami which means “master of”” (Dimitrova 92). Energy is important to the Radhasoamis because they see it as the essence of God, who is pure energy (Dimitrova 92). They also believe that this energy is within the guru (Dimitrova 92). The Radhasoamis hold the guru in a high regard since they believe gurus to be the embodiment of God (Dimitrova 92).

The spiritual journey that Radhasoamis must embark on to achieve surat is to be guided by a guru; therefore, the guru is essential to Radhasoami teachings (Dimitrova 93). The guru is believed to have healing powers that source from darsana, or “sacred sight.” As such, sacred sight is longed for by Radhasoami devotees (Dimitrova 93). Due to the importance that the guru holds for Radhasoami followers, there is an encouragement for “loving devotion” to be directed to the guru, making guru bhakti  a main concept of Radhasoami (Babb 303; Dimitrova 93).

 

References

Babb, Lawrence A. (1983) “The Physiology of Redemption.” History of Religions 22: 293-312.

Dimitrova, Diana (2007) “The Development of Sanātana Dharma in the Twentieth Century: A Rādhāsoamī Guru’s Perspective.” International Journal of Hindu Studies 11: 89-98.

DuPertuis, Lucy (1986) “How People Recognize Charisma: The Case of Darshan in Radhasoami and Divine Light Mission.” Sociological Analysis 47: 111-124.

Juergensmeyer, Mark (1991) Radhasoami Reality: The Logic of a Modern Faith. Princeton, NJ.: Princeton University Press.

Related Topics

Guru

Meditation

Hindu

Sikhism

Bhakti

Seva

Yoga

Related Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radha_Soami

https://www.rssb.org/

https://twitter.com/radhasoami?lang=en&fbclid=IwAR2_EeSG8GpJqFZAPvNK0xiBjO5xxVHrE0HrwBOwam5kQFkJsVcM6-8td6Q

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Radha-Soami-Satsang

This article was written by: Desiree Kmiecik (Fall 2018), who is entirely responsible for its content.

6. Vedanta, a. Asceticism and Renunciation, b. Significant Hindu Organizations, b. The Four Goals/ Aims of Life, d. Moksa (Spiritual Liberation), I. The Hindu Temple and Worship Rituals, Sacred Specialists

Hindu Monasteries (Matha)

Hindu monasteries or mathas are any residential monastic establishments or educational centre for renouncers or sannyasis; even though, the ideal monk is classified as a wanderer. A matha can also refer to a single hut with only one ascetic or a large community of ascetics and their disciplines and students. They were founded by Sankara, a great teacher, in the 8th century. The original four mathas were strategically placed in India to be used as bulwarks for the missionaries and centres for Sankara’s ten religious groups: on the east coast, in Puri, the Govardhana matha for the Aranyakas and the Vana orders; in the Himalayas, near Badrinath, the Jyotih matha for the Giri, Parvaya, and Sagara orders; on the west coast, in Dvaraka, the Sarada matha for the Tirtha and Asrama orders; and lastly, in south India the Srngeri matha for the Bharati, Puri, and Sarasvati orders (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Later a fifth matha arose in Kancipuram, near Madras, called the Saradaptha matha (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

Each matha that was founded by Sankara is led by either a teacher or a spiritual leader also known as a Sankaracarya or a Jagadguru. Individual mathas and their history are directly associated with the succession of its spiritual leader; therefore each matha operates completely independent to any other matha. Typically, the current Sankaracarya appoints one of his followers to become the new spiritual leader in the event of his passing; however, issues can arise if no successor was named and the Sankaracarya passes away unexpectedly. Eventually gurus were even given the responsibility of providing social and economic services to the community. Each Sankaracarya has their own set of followers and their goal is to meet their own religious needs such as “focus on ritual activity and devotional worship rather than renunciation or meditative realization of non-dual brahman” (Fort 613).

There are several important initiations rites to the ascetic life. According Miller and Wertz the first being that after one has determined they want to enter the ascetic life they need to acquire a guru who is willing to take them as his discipline (84). The guru can either be an ascetic from one’s village, a religious teacher or in some cases an uncle (Miller and Wertz 84). Then the discipline must cut all his family ties by performing death ceremonies with his parents (Miller and Wertz 85). After the death ceremony the discipline will no longer be allowed to perform any household services (Miller and Wertz 85). The head ascetic of a monastery will then administer a ritual called diksa (Miller and Wertz 84). The head ascetic must be a man who has already performed his last vows of renunciation (Miller and Wertz 84). The two forms of diksa are when the guru administers the ritual to a lay disciple and the other is only given to ascetic disciples (Miller and Wertz 84). This recognizes the “would be” ascetic and that he is permanently separating himself from his former life (Miller and Wertz 84). Finally, the discipline must acquire a religious name that ends with his sub-order’s name (Miller and Wertz 84). After performing these basic initiation rites a man can enter the ascetic life.

According to Guru Saccinananda the main function of a matha is to give ethical advice and moral teachings to the disciples in hopes of creating “honest, peace-loving, independent, moral, and well behaved” people (Miller and Wertz 25). However, according to Saccinananda several other functions are “to provide education in Sanskrit, to feed guests, to give money to the poor, shelter to the helpless, and the burial to the dead who have no family’ (Miller and Wertz 25). He also claimed that there are ten daily practices that are basic steps to liberation. The first is that the discipline must get up before sunrise each morning (Miller and Wertz 26). The second is that they must pay respect every morning and evening to the sun God Savitri (Miller and Wertz 26). The third is each day while bathing the discipline must recite sacred mantras or verses to a deity of their choice (Miller and Wertz 26). The fourth is that they must perform daily sacrificial fire offerings and yoga postures (Miller and Wertz 26). The fifth is that they must service all their guests (Miller and Wertz 26). The sixth is that the funeral offerings to one’s ancestors must be performed at noon (Miller and Wertz 26). The seventh is that they must take sacred food in the  afternoon and before each evening (Miller and Wertz 26). The eighth is that each evening the disciples’ deity of choice must be worshipped (Miller and Wertz 26). The ninth is that each evening before they go to bed they must perform meditation for the welfare of humanity (Miller and Wertz 26). Lastly, they are only allowed to sleep from the hours of 11pm to 4pm (Miller and Wertz 26).

According to Jagadananda, in a Hindu matha, there a ten precepts of ethical behaviour that one must follow. The first is that you must act kind towards a harsh and unpleasant man and by doing so you have the ability to change him (Miller and Wertz 34). The second is that even if others do not like you that does not mean you have to dislike them back. Eventually these people will lose their power and someday feel bad for their negative actions (Miller and Wertz 34). The third is that you need to ensure you are using the appropriate dialogue when conversing with others as this is a main factor when determining if they will be an enemy or a friend (Miller and Wertz 35). The fourth is that you must respect others when it is their turn to talk as everyone was created equally and by God (Miller and Wertz 35). The fifth is that you should not be disrespectful to people in lower classes as you might be born into that class or position on your next rebirth (Miller and Wertz 35). The sixth is that only ignorant men are prejudiced to one’s caste and skin colour (Miller and Wertz 35). The seventh is that you must consider your “superiors as well wishers and your inferiors as blessed” (Miller and Wertz 35). The eighth is that you need to be independent but also care for your parents needs at the same time as they were the ones who made you into the man you are by giving up their money, time and resources (Miller and Wertz 35). The ninth, is that when you pray to a deity you should be praying for the greatness and happiness of humanity  and not for yourself; the deity will only listen and respond to a man who is concerned about the welfare of others (Miller and Wertz 35). Lastly, “do not grasp onto things” or be materialistic; Brahman, the Vedic creator god, is always around and is everywhere in the universe (Miller and Wertz 35).

Even though numerous mathas have been established over the years as either additions to other institutions or by an individual guru, the original four mathas created by Sankara are still the main ones. Srngeri, Dvaraka, Badrinath and Puri are special and are also known as the amnaya mathas as they are connected with the four Vedas, the matching Upanisad Mahavakyas and Sankara’s four main followers (Sundaresan 110). The most famous and influential matha is Srngeri, in Karnataka State, in South Asia. It is also known as the centre of the Sankaran Vedanta tradition and was originally used as a place to stay and study for samnyasins. In the Srngeri matha the samnyasins who reside there highly regard the Vivekacudamani (Sawai 22).  However, since the fourteenth century it became a place for pilgrimage, worship and philosophical study (Fort 613). The main goddess that is now worshipped at Srngeri is Sri Sarada (Fort 613). The lay adherents of the Vedic tradition or smartas also now visit Srngeri for advice and boons from the Sankaracaryas (Fort 613).

 

REFERENCES AND FURTHER RECOMMENDED READING

Fort, Andrew (1994) The Faith of Ascetics and Lay Smartas: A Study of the Sankaran Tradition of Srngeri. Journal of Asian Studies 53.2: 613. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.

Isaeva, Natalia (1993) Shankara and Indian Philosophy. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Web. 5 Feb 2016.

Matha (2016) Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. Web. 07 Feb. <http://www.britannica.com/topic/matha>.

Miller, David M., and Dorothy C. Wertz (1976) Hindu monastic life: The monks and monasteries of Bhubaneswar. McGill-Queen’s Press-MQUP. Web. 5 Feb 2016.

Prasad, Leela (2006) Text, Tradition, and Imagination: Evoking the Normative in Everyday Hindu Life. Numen 53.1: 1–47. Web. 5 Feb 2016.

Sawai, Yoshitsugu (1987) The Nature of Faith in the Sankaran Vedanta Tradition. Numen 34.1: 18–44. Web. 5 Feb 2016.

Sears, Tamara (2008) Constructing the Guru: Ritual Authority and Architectural Space in Medieval India. The Art Bulletin 90.1: 7–31. Web.7 Feb 2016.

Shankara (2016) Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. Web. 07 Feb. 2016 <http://www.britannica.com/biography/Shankara>.

Sundaresan, Vidyasankar (2000) Conflicting Hagiographies and History: The Place of Sankaravijaya Texts in Advaita Tradition. International Journal of Hindu Studies 4.2: 109–184. Web. 7 Feb 2016.

 

Related Topics for Further Investigation

Sankara

Guru

Samnyasin

Smarta tradition

Jadadguru

Advaita Tradition

Srngeri matha

Amnaya mathas

Sankaracarya

Diska

 

Noteworthy Websites Related to the Topic

https://www.himalayanacademy.com/monastery/about

http://indiafacts.org/the-hindu-matha-a-introduction/

http://indology.info/papers/sundaresan/shank-jyot-ascii/

http://www.sringeri.net/history/sri-adi-shankaracharya

http://www.bhagavadgitausa.com/sringeri.htm

http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp/sankara-life.html

 

Article written by: Hailey McLean (March 2016) who is solely responsible for the content

 

 

 

a. Significant Figures in Hinduism, b. Significant Hindu Organizations, e. Other Sects, Poets and Playwrights

Dadu Dayal

Dadu Dayal is known as the saint of compassion. Dayal, meaning compassionate or merciful, is in part from where Dadu’s title as the saint of compassion stems (Gold 184). His compassionate actions and religious teachings earned him the title after death (Gold 184). The other reason for his title is from his divine birth and mysterious origins leading to the creation of his religious panth (Shomer and MeLeod 183). There are mysterious circumstances surrounding his birth and his unordinary beginning to life is very similar to other northern Indian saints such as Kabir and Nanak (Gold 221). Dadu Dayal was born in 1544 CE in Ahmedabad and lived in Narayana in the state of Rajasthan till his death in 1603 CE (Heehs 371). Dadu’s major religious teachings surrounded self-realization and japa along with the goal of unification of the divergent faiths (Sen 100). Dadu along with Kabir, Namdev, Nanak and Radias are considered the back bone of the Northern Indian Saint tradition (Zelliot 254). Dadu is the founder of the Dadu-Panth and is renowned for both his ability to compose hymns and his religious teachings. The main area in which his panth is presently established is Narayana in Rajasthan and is run by a disciple in the lineage of Dadu (Shomer and MeLeod 184). The Dadu-Panth has changed in contemporary times by adapting to the changing societal patterns and norms allowing it to maintain influence in its major centre (Shomer and MeLeod 184).

Rajasthan, a state in northern India, is where Dadu was born, lived and established his religious panth (Sen 100). Born in Ahmedabad in 1544 CE Dadu has several stories surrounding his mysterious birth (Shomer and MeLeod 182). The Dadu-Panth mostly recognizes the story in which Dadu was found in and taken from Sabarmati River near Ahmedabad (Gold 93). He was then raised by a brahmin family and received initiation from an old sadhu and that in his early adult life he worked as a cotton carder before beginning his religious journey (Heehs 371).The second most accepted within the panth is the story that he was born to a dhuni-woman which means a women of the river and was abandoned and was raised in a merchant family and pursued a career as a cotton carder until later becoming interested in religious life (Shomer and MeLeod 183). A cotton carder cleans and processes the raw cotton into lose strands to then later be further processed (Shomer and MeLeod 183). Most scholars, however, think that Dadu came from a Muslim family. This fact was concealed or changed to him being raised by a brahmin family or that he was adopted after being found in the river by a brahmin family (Sen 100). Although these origins are similar in nature, key differences are the source of much debate between scholars and followers (Shomer and MeLeod 189). One story describes Dadu’s divine birth to a woman and another his divine appearance upon the bank of a river. Many scholars theorize that the reason there are two conflicting accounts of his origins stems from the fourteenth verse of the Grantha Sadha Mahima (Shomer and MeLeod 185). The fourteenth verse can be translated in one of two ways, the first being “Dadu was born in the womb of a dhuni-woman” the second being “Dadu was found in a river” (Shomer and MeLeod 185). All tell the tale that his religious interest stemmed from a feeling of exclusion from the strict caste system and Vedic teachings (Shomer and MeLeod 6). In all accounts he was a cotton carder by trade and his renunciation and rise to religious power was not widely accepted by the Hindu caste system (Olson 182). His low caste birth but higher class upbringing made him an ideal teacher in the sant parampara tradition (Shomer and MeLeod 6). Like Kabir, one of his greatest influences was that he was born into a low class but with great religious knowledge which allowed him to form  his own opinions and beliefs outside of the strict Hindu tradition (Sen 101). Dadu died in 1603 at the age of fifty nine in Narayana city in Rajasthan. It is rarely speculated how Dadu died but some texts say he ascended to heaven from his shrine in Narayana when his work was done (Oman 133). In the same fashion as Kabir many sources speculate that his body miraculously disappeared after his death (Olson 182). Although his origins are mysterious he is only referred to under one incarnation unlike Kabir who in his panth is theorized to have appeared before (Gold 95).

Dadu’s religious teachings stemmed from his inability to find roots in the Vedas (Gold 49). Even though he was a man of great knowledge and devotion he struggled with some of the ideas and concepts within the Vedic teachings (Gold 49). In Dadu’s religious panth he rejected the concept that the Vedas held ultimate knowledge (Gold 49). In turn he believed in the power of self-realization and inner experience for achieving moksa (Heehs 371). Dadu believed that to fulfill this realization followers must surrender their lives entirely to god and subsequently reject their egotism (Kumar and Ram 99). He also rejected the class system and its social and religious conventions (Kumar and Ram 98). Dadu identifies himself as a house holder and believed that this stage was ideal for achieving self and spiritual realization (Kumar and Ram 100). Dadu encouraged his disciples to write in Hindi and to translate Sanskrit texts into Hindi to further the accessibility of these texts to everyone (Kumar and Ram 100). This he hoped would further his ideal of uniting the divided faiths.

The Dadu-Panth which was founded by Dadu himself, is a part of the Northern Indian sant parampara tradition (Gold 14). Its epicenter is located at its main temple in Narayana in Rajasthan (Hawley and Juergensmeyer 179). The Dadu-Panth is closely linked to Kabir’s Satguru Kabir panth and the Sikh tradition (Ralham 60).  In the Dadu-Panth Kabir is held in a revered position and his influence is noted in the Dadu-Panth text (Ralham 60).  In panth traditions the founder is often revered as the real guru, where as in the Dadu-Panth it is Dadu’s book of teachings and hymns, the Dadubani, and the Ram Mantra which receives the most attention (Gold 105). The repeated recitation of the Ram Mantra in considered a form of japa in the Dadu-Panth (Sen 100). Dadu did not initially seek to begin a panth but to expand his own concept of religious life (Gold 93). Dadu prohibited the eating of meat and all violence, but did not prohibit his disciples from marrying or still holding businesses in the world (Shomer and MeLeod 188). His disciples were allowed to pursue their religious life along with their social life within society to create a balance (Shomer and MeLeod 188). Dadu’s poetic aphorisms and devotional hymns were collected by his disciples and arranged in to a 5,000 verse bani (classical Indian music genre) titled the Dadubani (Gold 94). The book is revered as a sacramental object and a hand written copy is the most divine object within the panth (Gold 95).

The main center of the Dadu-Panth is still located in Narayana in Rajasthan where majority of followers in this panth live (Hawley and Juergensmeyer 179). Though the influence has dwindled through time the panth still is quite powerful within the area. The panth still holds some socioreligous roles in Narayana and surrounding area (Shomer and MeLeod 184). The panth has allowed makanvale (house-dwelling monks) to have wives and children unofficially (Hawley and Juergensmeyer 204). This breaks away from the tradition of monastic celibacy, previously seen as favorable within the panth, although it was never strictly upheld (Hawley and Juergensmeyer 204). The temple in Narayana is where Dadu was laid to rest in 1603 CE (Gold 94). Over time this site has been up kept by the lineage of Dadu’s disciples (Gold 95). In the present day an annual festival is held in Narayana on the anniversary of Dadu’s birth which is said to fall on the eighth day of the bright half of Phalgun (Shomer and MeLeod 186). The eighth day of Phalgun, which is the twelfth month in the Hindu calendar, falls in the end of February or beginning of March in the Gregorian calendar (Shomer and MeLeod 187). Though Dadu is not considered to have an important role in the Sikh tradition he is still respected as a great poet in his own right (Duggal 212). There is a story about Guru Gobind Singh in the Sikh tradition commenting on Dadu’s poetry and the Guru bowed his bow in front of a great shrine to Dadu out of respect (Duggal 213).

 

REFERENCES AND FURTHER RECOMMENDED READING

Duggal, K. S. (1980) the Sikh Gurus: Their Lives and Teachings. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.

Gold, Daniel (1987) The Lord as Guru: Hindi Sants in the North Indian Tradition. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hawley, J. S. and M. Juergensmeyer (trans) (2004) Songs of the Saints of India. New York: Oxford University Press.

Heehs, Peter (Eds) (2006) Indian Religions: the Spiritual Traditions of South Asia- An Anthology. New Delhi: Pauls Press.

Kumar, R. and S. Ram (2008) Hindu Saints and Mysticism. New Delhi: Crescent Publishing Corporation.

Olson, Carl (2015) Indian Asceticism: power, Violence and Play. New York: Oxford University Press.

Oman, John Campbell (1984) the Mystics, Ascetics and Saints of India: a study of Sadhuism, with an accounts of the Yogis, Sanyasis, Bairagis, and other Strange Hindu Sectarians. New Delhi: Cosmo Publications.

Ralham, O. P. (2004) Great Saints of India Vol. 2: Kabir the Apostle of Hindu-Muslim Unity. New Delhi: Anmol Publication Pvt. Ltd.

Sen, K. M. (1961) Hinduism. London: Cox and Wyman Ltd.

Shomer, K. and W. H. MeLeod (Eds) (1987) The Sants: Studies in a devotional Tradition of India. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

Zelliot, E. and R. Mokashi-Punekar (Eds) (2005) Untouchable Saints: an Indian Phenomenon. New Delhi: Lordson Publishers Pvt. Ltd.

 

Related topics for further reading

Japa

Ram mantra

DaduBani

Bani

Grantha Sadha Mahima

Sant parampara

Kabir

Satguru Kabir Panth

Namdev

Nanak

Radias

Sikh Tradition

 

Noteworthy Websites Related to the Topic

https://medium.com/sant-mat-meditation-and-spirituality/sant-dadu-dayal-the-poet-mystic-of-rajasthan-in-the-tradition-of-kabir-ba4b63a4ecbc#.q3tjm8ewd

http://ignca.nic.in/nl003204.htm

https://astrodevam.com/festivals-of-india-dadu-dayal-jayanti.html

http://www.britannica.com/biography/Dadu-Hindu-saint

 

Article written by: Brienne Leclaire (March 2016) who is solely responsible for its content.

7. Yogananda Paramahansa, a. Hinduism for the West, a. Significant Figures in Hinduism, b. Significant Hindu Organizations, R. Hinduism and the West, Related Topics in Yoga

Yogananda Paramahansa and the Self-Realization Fellowship

Yogananda’s Life

Born January 5, 1893 in Gorakhpur, India, Yogananda grew up with the name Mukunda Lal Ghosh (Yogananda 1971:4). He would later take upon the name of Yogananda as a result of his pledge to his spiritual teacher, Sri Yukteswar, to become a swami (teacher) in the philosophies of kriya yoga. Raised by his father, Bhagabati Charan Ghosh, who was a mathematician who worked for the Bengal – Nagpur Railway, and mother, Yogananda grew up in a ksatriya family (Yogananda 1971:4). As the son of disciples of a renounced religious figure, Lahiri Mahasaya, Mukunda was introduced to the traditionally demanding practice of kriya yoga at a young age as a student of Sri Yukteswar (Farge 51; Segady 189). According to his devotees and himself, Yogananda was able to recall many transcendent events that led him towards the pursuit of liberation or moksa at a young age. Below are summaries of these events found in his autobiography.

When he was a small child, Yogananda was overcome by Asiatic cholera. As reported in his autobiography, his mother being a disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya told Mukunda to pray to the Cosmic beloved and Lahiri Mahasaya for bettered health. He recounts remembering the physical weakness he felt during this time in which he could not “lift a trembling arm”. Instead he was tasked with bowing mentally to pray for a cure. With repetitive mental prayer Mukunda was cured from a usually terminal sickness (Yogananda 1971:10).

As a baby fresh from his mother’s womb, Yogananda was able to recall the troubles of being an infant he was quoted in his autobiography as saying: “I was resentfully conscious of being unable to walk and to express myself freely. Prayerful surges arose within me as I realized my bodily impotence. My strong emotional life was mentally expressed in words of many languages. Amid the inward confusion of tongues, I gradually became accustomed to hearing the Bengali syllables of my people. The beguiling scope of an infant’s mind! adultly considered to be limited to toys and toes” (Yogananda 1971:1).

Yogananda was educated in the traditional Indian school system while studying the philosophies of Sri Yukteswar (Farge 51). While studying under his guru (teacher), Sri Yukteswar, he pursued an A.B. degree at Serampore College, a branch of the University of Calcutta (Yogananda 1971:219). Yogananda was not as studious or dedicated in his pursuit of academic knowledge as he was in his pursuit for spiritual realization. According to his autobiography, throughout his education, Mukunda was a seen as the “Mad Monk” and was generally an outsider in the academic world (Yogananda 1971:223). He would apply religious ideas he learned from Sri Yukteswar to academic fields such as philosophy. In doing so Yogananda was not perceived as a “good” student by his professors and colleagues. According to Autobiography of a Yogi, during his final year of study he was set to fail his final examinations but for another transcendental event (Yogananda 1971:220). As exams approached, Mukunda was aware of his failing grades and he knew if they persisted he would not obtain his degree, to the disapproval of his father. Through the guidance of his guru, Mukunda approached his friend for help. Mukunda was able to pass all of his exams as every question he studied was on the exams he wrote (Yogananda 1971:221-226).

After obtaining his A.B. degree at Serampore College, Yogananda decided to set up his own organization with the purpose of educating students in a comprehensive format, both spiritually and intellectually (Yogananda 1971:254). Described in his autobiography, Yogananda was “averse” to the concept of traditional organizations as they distracted people from serving the “true organization” the Cosmic Beloved (Yogananda 1971:254). Originally set up in Ranchi, India in 1918, the Yogoda Satsanga Brahmacharya Vidyalaya has grown increasingly with the objective of providing students with an education in agriculture, business, industry and academics along with spiritual practices (Yogananda 1971:254). Run alongside his western organisation known as the Self-Realization Fellowship, or SRF, Yogananda prescribes that the school’s environment resembles an orthodox ashrama. According to orthodox Hindu philosophy, during the student stage of life, also known as brahmacarya [also defined as a stage of celibacy], children are tasked with the pursuit of proper dharma or knowledge. Yogananda developed a traditional ashram set in nature to allow students to properly pursue this life goal. It was at this campus that where Yogananda began to develop his yogoda techniques of meditation with the purpose to “recharge life’s battery” (Yogananda 1971:255). The guru took the originally rigorous demands of kriya yoga, taught by his predecessor Sri Yukteswar (Farge 51), and transformed them into a practice designed to move one from “self to Self” (Farge 55). Yogananda used postures or asanas to create a science for the attainment of moksa (liberation). Currently, the Yogoda Satsanga Brahmacharya Vidylaya supports four ashrams in Ranchi, Noida, Dwarahat and Dakshineswar. Today many of these sites are held in sacred regard for his devotees as Paramahansa Yogananda experienced the Divine there.

Once the setup of the Yogoda Satsanga Brahmacharya Vidylaya, or now known as the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, was complete, Yogananda decided to travel to the United States of America as the delegate for Brahmacarya Ashram of Ranchi at the Congress of Religious Liberals (Segady 188; Farge 51). In August of 1920, he set off for America on the “City of Sparta.” Yogananda, having been raised and taught speaking Bengali, had troubles with lecturing in English to an English speaking audience. Recounted in his biography, his devotees believe Yogananda went through a transcendental experience at the beginning of his lecture on the ship where God granted him the ability to speak fluent English (Yogananda 1971:357).  His presentation of the “Science of Religion” to the Congress of Religious Leaders in Boston was met with great success and led to Yogananda staying in Boston and Philadelphia for several more years (Farge 51; Segady 188). In 1924, the Yogananda embarked on a transcontinental tour to promote the Yogoda philosophies. His presentations were attended by thousands, and by the end of 1925, he had set up the international headquarters for the Self-Realization Fellowship on Mount Washington in Los Angeles, California (Segady 189).

On August 22, 1935, Yogananda returned to India to check on the progression and affairs of the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India as well as confer with his guru, Sri Yukteswar. Upon his arrival he was met with great fanfare and applause (Yogananda 1971:377). When he did make it to Ranchi, he found his school in dire need of financial support as Sir Manindra Chandra Nundy, who had donated large amounts of money to the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, had passed away. Once Yogananda had publicized his need for financial support, money came flowing in from his disciples in the West saving the original school (Yogananda 1971:381). Yogananda toured around the country visiting many temples and notable people. Before his guru, Sri Yukteswar, passed away, he bestowed on Yogananda the sacred title of Paramahansa (Yogananda 1971:401). In Sanskrit, the word Paramahansa can be broken down into the roots parama, meaning “highest” and hansa meaning “swan” (Yogananda 1971:401). It is the white swan that is said to be the mount of the Creator, Brahma (Yogananda 1971:401). By 1936, Paramahansa Yogananda had returned to the West to continue his mission of spreading the word of kriya yoga. On March 7, 1952 the freed Yogananda Paramahansa passed away after a presentation to his disciples in California. In Hinduism, it is said that a realized or freed being can voluntarily “exit” their body once their mission has been completed. Yogananda’s disciples believe that he had attained that state of liberation. It was on March 7, 1952 when Yogananda Paramahansa entered his mahasamadhi or last conscious exit (Yogananda 1971:498). Twenty days after Yogananda “exited” his body, the mortuary reported no signs of biological decay. This report was published throughout the popular world, and Yogananda’s devotees believe this affirms his connection with the divine (Yogananda 1971:498).

 

The Self-Realization Fellowship

After the first center for the Self-Realization Fellowship was set up in Waltham, Massachusetts in 1922, Yogananda began a transcontinental tour to further disseminate his teachings of kriya yoga. By 1925, he had finished his tour and set up an international headquarters for the Self-Realization Fellowship on Mount Washington in Los Angeles, California (Segady 190). At its creation and until the present the Self-Realization Fellowship has followed a specific set of ideals and aims, which according to their website, include: “To disseminate among the nations a knowledge of definite scientific techniques for attaining direct personal experience of God. To unite science and religion through realization of the unity of their underlying principles.”

Following these ideals, the SRF experienced substantial growth throughout the 1920s. By the mid-1930s, the Self-Realization Fellowship had grown into a nationwide organization built around Yogananda’s aims and practices (Segady 190). As a result of the popularity, the organization decided to publish their own magazine, East-West, in the West promoting Eastern philosophy. This publication further increased SRF’s popularity as it applied Eastern religious practices and to Western society (Segady 190). In 1935, the SRF had become an active member of the Parliament of World Religions and an official non-profit religious organization, the first eastern religious organization to do so, in the state California (Segady 190). By 2008, the SRF had grown to recognize 500 SRF or Yogoda Satsanga temples, centres or groups in 50 countries. Its members spanned over 178 countries staking its claim as a permanent global spiritual organization (Segady 190).

The SRF and Yogoda Satsanga Society both follow kriya yoga philosophies set up by Yogananda and his preceding gurus. The Sanskrit term kriya can be roughly translated to mean “action”. As described by Yogananda, the yoga-meditation techniques used by the SRF are a developed science used to reach Self-Realization (Farge 63). In Yogananda’s form of kriya yoga the goal is to combine bhakti (devotion), jnana (knowledge) and karma (action) within the meditations to help devotees realize samadhi or realization [for further reading see Yogananda (1986)] (Segady 191). Yogananda believed that once a person had perfected this art, then it was at this time the said person achieved moksa.

Yogananda further explain his teachings and the attainment of realization using the force called kundalini (Farge 62). According to Yogananda, kundalini can be described as a snake at the base of the spine (Farge 62). When a person is “clouded” in his or her realization the snake would be “asleep”, feeding on the person’s senses and pleasures. The snake’s venom would then dictate the feelings of lust the person would feel (Farge 62). Through asanas or posture and the practice of yoga, a person can awaken the snake and allow it to travel up the spine to the brain, where they would experience true realization. This awakening is known as vasuki (Farge 62).

As is a common occurrence in the works of Yogananda, he uses both science and religion to explain his philosophies. The ascent of consciousness can be described in turn with the spinal centers (Farge 62). Based on a person’s enlightenment, the force or kundalini will reside in one of the centers. The centers can be categorized by the level of self-realization. In an ordinary person, the kundalini will remain in the lumbar, coccygeal or sacral center (Farge 62). Whereas in an enlightened being, the kundalini has travelled up towards the cerebral center and exited through the ajna or the “single eyed passage” (Farge 62). In-between the top and bottom, the believers of the divine reside in the heart center, the calm yogi’s kundalini sits in the cervical center, where a yogi who understands the Cosmic Vibration is centered in the medullary center or Christ center (Farge 63). As stated previously, it is when the kundalini has travelled the entirety of the spine that one will achieve realization [for further reading on kundalini and the ascent of consciuousness see Yogananda (1995)].

Through the explanation of kundalini and the practice of kriya yoga, Yogananda developed his philosophy on the attainment of moksa, but he also used seven of Patanjali’s traditional steps to realization (Farge 64). As Patanjali noted in his Yoga Sutras, Yogananda also prescribes the steps to realization as: yama, the actions which not to take; niyama, the actions in which to take; asana, body stillness; pranayama, control of breath and body; pratyahara, the disunion of the mind and the senses; dhyana, concentration on the cosmic consciousness and samadhi, attainment of realization  (Farge 64).

Yogananda invoked the language of science in his techniques (Segady 194) and tolerance of all religions (Segady 191) to promote the Self-Realization Fellowship’s ideals and aims. One of SRF’s more unconventional features was comparison of orthodox Hinduism philosophies to Christian philosophies. In promoting the SRF, Yogananda claimed it to be a “Church for All Religions” (Segady 190). He enforced this by not forcing people to dismiss their original belief when joining the SRF. He believed the goal of all religions was the same and that was to realize and become one with God or the Creator (Segady 191). In one of his original works, The Second Coming of Christ, Yogananda Paramahansa compares the Hindu idea of the Cosmic Vibration to the Christ or the “Son” and the Cosmic Consciousness to the “father” or God [for further readings on Yogananda and Christianity see Yogananda (1982)] (Farge 58). It was these comparisons with popular culture in the West and the acceptance of all religions that aided Yogananda in the expansion of the SRF’s ideals (Segady 191).

 

REFERENCES AND FURTHER RECOMMENDED READING

Farge, Emile J. (2009). “Going East with Merton: Forty years later-and Coming West with Paramahansa Yogananda Today.” Cross Currents 59:49-68. Accessed on February 6, 2016. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-3881.2009.00049.x.

Segady, Thomas W. (2009) “Globalization, Syncretism, and Identity: The Growth and Success of Self-Realization-Fellowship.” Implicit Religion 12:187-199. Accessed on February 5, 2016. doi: 10.1558/imre.v12i2.187.

Yogananda, Paramahansa. (1995) God Talks with Arjuna – The Bhagavad Gita. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship.

Yogananda, Paramahansa. (1986) The Divine Romance. Dakshineswar: Yogoda Satsanga Society of India.

Yogananda, Paramahansa. (1982) Second Coming of Christ. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship.

Yogananda, Paramahansa. (1971) Autobiography of a Yogi. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship.

 

Related Topics for Further Investigation

Kriya Yoga

Kundalini

Lahiri Mahasaya

Patanjali

Sri Yukteswar

Mahasamadhi

Moksa

Notable Websites Related to the Topic

Self-Realization Fellowship website: https://www.yogananda-srf.org/

Yogoda Satsanga Society of India website: http://www.yssofindia.org/

 

Article written by: Sean Gaiesky (March 2016) who is solely responsible for its content.

b. Significant Hindu Organizations, b. The Four Classes (Varna) Of Hindu Society, c. Hinduism and Modernity, d. The Untouchables

Dalits and the Dalit Movement

Just as in any functioning society, Hindus in India are organized into groups, and the daily interactions that go on within the groups are facilitated by the social class to which one belongs. While outsiders studying the system may see it as extreme and difficult to understand, Hindu lives have functioned within the social system they know and participate in. The caste system in India dates back as far as around 1400 BC, when the Vedic Aryans migrated into Punjab, India and enslaved the groups already inhabiting the land, including the Dravidians. Before migrating to India, the Aryans already had a system of clan divisions, and when they conquered the people they met in India they segregated them from themselves by race, calling themselves the “Arya Varna” (meaning “master class”), and the slaves the “Dasa Varna” (meaning “slave cast”) (Raj 2-3). This simple distinction was the basis for the system that would grow and develop, eventually forming the modern caste system used by Hindus in India today. The social system, based on ethnic, economic, and religious segregation, divides the people into four main classes, or varna. In Sanskrit, varna means “colour”, and it was speculated that this emphasized the segregation of the coloured races, dating back to the Aryans and the conquered peoples. However, this has since been challenged, and it has been suggested that colour was simply used as a means to distinguish people, not relating to ethnicity at all, but more in the way that one could distinguish the color “pink” from “purple” or “white” from “black” (Varna 2016).

The class system is set up with a basis of four main classes (or varnas): the Brahmins, the Ksatriyas, the Vaisyas, and the Sudras. Each class functions according to the expectations they know to be true for their class; expectations which have both evolved and emerged as the history of Hinduism developed. The origins of the four specific varnas are unclear, and different myths and stories have arisen depicting their creation. In one hymn, the Purusasukta, the varnas are said to have developed from the parts and limbs of Purusa. In this depiction, the Brahmin are said to have come from the mouth, the Ksatriya from the arms, the Vaisya from the legs, and the Sudra from the feet (Davis 52). This imagery clearly demonstrates the places each class holds in society. The four classes are also mentioned in the Rg Veda (one of the most influential Hindu texts), but in the form of three classes called Brahma, Ksatra, and Visa (Ghurye 44). The Brahmin class is the uppermost class, consisting of the elite priests. The Brahmin are responsible for the upholding of dharma, as they themselves are held to a high standard of moral behavior. The Brahmins are distinguished from the Ksatriyas by their ritual knowledge. A Brahmin is able to perform rituals, and can offer up prayers for others, especially in the matter of protection of his king (Ghurye 47). The Ksatriyas form the militant class of India. They are able to carry weapons and it is expected that they would protect the rest of the people in this way. There are some stories of Ksatriyas acting as priests, and the tensions between the Brahmins and the Ksatriyas led to conflict every now and then as they each challenged the authority of the other class. Still, the two classes are known to work closely with each other in order to ensure the function and protection of daily society (Ghurye 50). The Vaisyas constitute the third class, known to be farmers and labourers. This class, best known as “the tenders of cattle”, are in a position of uncertainty. The two upper classes can easily be grouped together, as they both display their authority over Indian society, but the Vaisyas can be grouped either up or down, depending on the behaviour or the situation being analyzed (Ghurye 63). In some situations they are seen as an upper class, while in others they are grouped along with the lowest class, the servants. This makes the lines between the classes hard to distinguish at times, and certainly provides an insight into the complexity and difficulty that comes along with trying to understand the caste system. The fourth class is the Sudras, the lowest of the four. The Sudras are a class destined for tedious, unskilled labour, and service of the upper three classes (Davis 52). Participation and placement in the classes are determined by Jati, meaning one’s birth group, from the Sanskrit word “jata”, meaning “born” or “brought into existence” (Jati 2016). In this way, it is understood that birth determines one’s place in the caste system.

Not included in the four varnas are a fifth class, a class so low in the caste system that they are referred to as “Untouchables”, and therefore excluded from the four-varna system. This class, the Dalits, occupy the lowest of the low in Hindu Indian society, and are highly discriminated against in all aspects of life. They are segregated and given the label of poor status in the economy, politics, employment, and so much more (Kaminsky and Long 156-157). As an outsider analyzing the system, it is important to acknowledge the role that the Dalits play in the interactions among the groups, but from a Hindu point of view, the Dalits are totally unacknowledged (Sadangi 18). The people that occupy this class are viewed by the rest of the classes as polluting, and are therefore given the “polluting” tasks in daily life. Ritual purity is an extremely important concept in Hinduism, and tasks are typically assigned levels of purity or pollution. It is of utmost importance that the upper classes maintain their ritual purity, especially the Brahmins, as they need to be ritually pure in order to perform their rituals. The tasks that are too polluting for the four varnas to participate in are given to the Dalits, as they are already polluted in their fundamental status. Besides occupation, Dalits are excluded from all aspects of daily life of Hindus of the other classes, including social and sexual contact, and eating. Contact between the Dalits and the four varnas is controlled and regulated, and eating among the groups is completely and wholly separated (Shrawagi 2006).

While there are multiple terms used today to describe the “untouchables”, including Harijan, the term “Dalit” itself, although in existence for hundreds of years, was not always used to classify the excluded class, and was popularised fairly recently by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (Mohanty and Malik 114). Ambedkar effectively attacked the Indian caste system in his adult life, basing his entire campaign on the sole foundation of social equality (Jagannathan 2015). Born a Dalit himself, Ambedkar has successfully created a new definition for the term “Dalits” as a group of people who are “economically abused, politically neglected, educationally backward, and oppressed in religious and cultural ground because of caste discrimination in society” (Mohanty and Malik 114). The Dalit movement in India really began when India gained independence, but the Dalits were still denied any independence or equality in the new society (Sutradhar 91). This desire for equality urged members to begin pushing back against the upper classes. The upper classes traditionally starved the Dalits in social interaction, education, and the economy, believing that if they could maintain their powerless position in society and prevent them from furthering their education of equality and human rights that they could prevent any notions of dissent against the system, and continue to render the Dalits defenseless against the discrimination imposed on them (Sutradhar 94). However, the Dalits, after enduring centuries of abuse and oppression, began to feel angry about their position in society. They were working the land and serving the upper classes with no enjoyment of the fruits of their own labour. Thus, the Dalit movement was born, and fostered in the minds of those fighting for equality among the classes.

Jyotiba Phule was the first to emphasize the importance of the education of Dalits when it came to the Dalit’s movement, recognizing that with education would come the ability to reason and develop rationale, as well as the ability to carve out a place for oneself in politics and the socio-economic world (Sutradhar 96). This sentiment was carried even further by Dr. Ambedkar, who (along with another great thinker, Gandhi) fought for Dalits’ equality. While Ambedkar deeply desired equality among the classes, he recognized the importance of the caste system in daily social structure, and acknowledged the fact that a whole organization of society cannot change overnight without total chaos and disarray ensuing soon after. In this way, he recognized the need for separate-caste marriages, and pushed for smaller movements toward equality. By doing so, he hoped that eventually the Hindu caste system could gradually transition from one embedded in inequality to one with equality at the forefront, redefining daily interactions and social structures.

The Dalit movement is one that has been going on for years, heightening especially in the 1970’s, but is largely ignored in the grand scheme of things (Sutradhar 97). The feelings of exclusion and oppression felt by the Dalits in India continue to motivate them to keep quiet. The feelings of embarrassment and dedication to the caste system that is so deeply entrenched in Hindu thought and beliefs, and the acceptance of the way things are prove to be huge obstacles in the continuation and growth of the movement, not only in India, but on the world stage. Still, thinkers such as Phule, Ambedkar, and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan fed the fire that drives the movement. Radhakrishnan had spoken out against the caste system directly, attacking its values. He emphasized the need to abolish the system (and the idea of untouchability) in order to achieve a modern nation with democracy and human rights for all (Minor 386). Today, in a world so focused on human rights, equality, and liberty of all people, the Dalits movement begs for people all over the world to recognize the needs of their friends in India. In order to see change there must be pressure put on the Indian government both nationally and internationally, and Dalits must come together with non-Dalits in order to achieve a global movement to push for human rights in India to transcend the caste system (Bishwakarma 2015). Until then, over one-sixth of the population of India will continue to live in oppression under the caste system, born into the fate of a Dalit life (Overview of Dalit Human Rights Situation nd).

 

REFERENCES AND RELATED READING

Bishwakarma, Dil (2015) “ICDR President’s Opening Statement from First Global Conference.” International Commission for Dalit Rights. http://icdrintl.org/icdr-presidents-opening-statement-from-first-global-conference. Accessed February 6, 2016.

Davis, Marvin (1983) Rank and Rivalry: The Politics of Inequality in Rural West Bengal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ghurye, Govind S. (1969) Caste and Race in India. Mumbai: Popular Prakashan Pvt. Ltd.

Jagannathan, R. (2015) “Rescuing Ambedkar from Pure Dalitism: He Would’ve Been India’s Best Prime Minister.” Firstpost. http://www.firstpost.com/politics/rescuing-ambedkar-from-pure-dalitism-he-wouldve-been-indias-best-prime-minister-2195498.html. Accessed February 28, 2016.

— “Jati.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Edited by Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/topic/jati-Hindu-caste. Accessed February 28, 2016.

Kaminsky, Arnold P., and Roger D. Long (2011) India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic. California: ABC-CLIO.

Minor, Robert N. (1997) “Radhakrishnan as Advocate of the Class/Caste System as a Universal Religio-Social System.” International Journal of Hindu Studies 1.2. Springer. 386-400.

Mohanty, Panchanan, and Ramesh C. Malik (2011) Ethnographic Discourse of the Other: Conceptual an Methodological Issues. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

— National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights. www.ncdhr.org.in. Accessed February 6, 2016.

 Raj, Ebenezer S (1985) “The Origins of the Caste System.” Transformation 2.2. London: Sage Publications Ltd. 10-14.

Sadangi, Himansu Charan (2008) Emancipation of Dalits and Freedom Struggle. Delhi: Gyan Publishing House.

Shrawagi, Rohit (2006) Purity vs. Pollution. http://rohitshrawagi.blogspot.ca. Accessed February 28, 2016.

Sutradhar, Ruman (2014) “Dalit Movement in India: In the Light of Four Dalit Literatures.” IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences. 91-97.

 

Related Topics for Further Interest

Cardala

Dharma

Dharma Sastras

Duija

Harijans

Havik Brahmins

Jati

Laws of Manu

Madi

Mallige

Morathas

Muttchuchetu

Purusasukta

Rg Veda

Vedas

 

Websites Related to the Topic

National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Campaign_on_Dalit_Human_Rights

http://www.hrln.org/hrln/dalit-rights.html

http://www.countercurrents.org/dalit-george270405.htm

https://www.amnesty.org.in/about/what-are-human-rights?gclid=CP6F_vfmoMsCFYiVfgodwgsClg

http://philosophy.lander.edu/oriental/caste.html

http://hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_caste.asp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._R._Ambedkar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untouchability

 

Article written by: Jennie Elder (February 2016) who is solely responsible for its content.

b. Significant Hindu Organizations

Swami Chinmayananda and the Chinmaya Mission

This account of Swami Chinmayananda’s life is derived from a single source, who may be a devotee, and therefore reflects the overly sympathetic orientation of the source.

Swami Chinmayananda, also referred to as Balakrishna Menon, who was born in Kerala, India during 1916. He earned an Undergraduate Degree in English Literature at Lucknow University in India. At the time of his studies, India was in a political dispute with Britain in order to gain their independence. Menon was a socialist and performed political actions such as, writing leaflets and give speeches in order to rile up the nation (Patchen 8). He was one of many students who demonstrated his differing ideologies against the colonial British, in the events leading up to India gaining independence during the 1940’s (Patchen 7). Because of this political uprising, many Indians were locked up and killed. Balakrishnan Menon came to realize that a warrant was issued for his arrest. He spent the next two years moving around, until he thought it was safe enough to come out. However, government officials soon found him and he was imprisoned (Patchen 10).

Menon caught typhus in prison because of overcrowding, bad ventilation and poor nutrition within the penitentiary. In the old country typhus was commonly known as jail fever because of the confined spaces in prison (Patchen 11). This allowed for the disease to spread rapidly among inmates. Menon was then later released on the side of a road, just out of Delhi, because of contracting typhus. A passerby rescued Menon and he later recovered from his illness. After several weeks he made his way to Baroda, where he stayed with his cousin, Achuthan Menon (Patchen 12).

When Menon was staying with his cousin, he started type writing. He chose articles such as, Mochi “Street shoe cobbler” (Patchen 14) to write on and expressed his socialist views. This marked the beginning of his journalism career. These short responses were then being published in Indian nationalist newspapers (Patchen 14). He was more interested in India’s social reforms than the Hindu religion at this time. Menon left Baroda and headed back to the University of Lucknow, where he achieved his Master’s Degree in English Literature. He became an editor at the local newspaper, but soon found through his work that something was missing.

“Each one of us is in the right atmosphere and environment for our evolution. Don’t try to be more intelligent than universal intelligence. Stay where you are and start opening!” stated Swami Chinmayananda (Patchen 23). Menon started to look deeper into the daily lives of the rich and poor within India. He soon became empathetic towards the poor, but also explored how the rich gained from their lifestyle (Patchen 23). Menon realized that he had to choose his own path and let religion back into his life. He had made a resolution for himself and moved onto a spiritual path for three years. After practicing spiritually, coming to know ones true self, for three years, Menon studied philosophy in order to gain more knowledge of life (Patchen 25). Through his studies, he came across the concept of the Eternal Truth, also known as Sanatana Dharma, within the Vedas. He wanted to achieve the divine goals that were marked in the scriptures because it would lead him to become a true teacher (Patchen 25).

Menon was inspired by the many sages who have attained these divine goals and soon followed their words that “truth cannot be disguised to a sincere seeker” (Patchen 26). He continued to study these wise sages and gained guidance from their words. However, he still had many unanswered questions and doubts. In order to find his answers, he journeyed to the Himalayas in hope of finding these great sages (Patchen 29). He set off to Rishikesh, the place to find a man full of wisdom which is a Swami, in order to find Swami Shivananda on the north bank of the Ganga (Patchen 35). There he spent a few days learning from Swami Shivananda, while gaining spiritual knowledge. For several years, Menon would travel to the Himalayas and continue to learn about spiritual matters from Swami Shivananda. It was not until the late 1940’s that Balakrishnan Menon received initiation into the sannyasa asrama, also known as the life of renunciation, from Swami Shivananda (Patchen 55-56). By being initiated into the sannyasa asrama, Menon was close to achieving the goal of self-realization (Patchen 56). Balakrishnan Menon formally became known as Swami Chinmayananda, meaning “one who reveals in the bliss which is pure consciousness” (Patchen 57-58).

A few days after his initiation, Swami Chinmayananda made his way to the small village of Uttarkasi, in the eastern valley of Varanavatha mountain, where he sought to meet another great sage (Patchen 69). There he met Swami Tapovan, the master of Vedanta, to teach him the scriptures of the Vedas and took him as his guru, (teacher). Swami Tapovan believed that one should not rush their learning process because the ideas already in one’s mind need to be clear before an individual moves on to the next stage (Patchen 70). Therefore, Swami Chinmayananda did not start his new learning right away. Swami Chinmayananda did not spend all his time learning about the philosophy of Vedanta, but he also took time to do chores in order to release natural energy and maintain his strength. He then traveled on foot for a few days with Swami Tapovan and other students in order to get to Gangotri, a place of meditation and peacefulness (Patchen 71). Swami Chinmayananda would chant early every morning before the teachings of the scriptures began. He learned the first Vedanta text which was the beginning of the scriptures that identified all the concepts of the Upanishads in Sanskrit (Patchen 72). These concepts included the nature of the true Self and information on the nature of Brahman. The information given in the first text of Vedanta gave Swami Chinmayananda the core concepts of the scriptures, but also allowed him to further learn the Sanskrit language. Swami Tapovan would slowly read the scriptures out and explain each Sanskrit term for the students to fully understand the meaning of the texts.

Swami Chinmayananda spent a few years of continually traveling from Uttarkasi and back to Gangotri to learn about the scriptures and philosophy of Vedanta. By the time Chinmayananda turned thirty years old, he was able to travel back to his homeland of Kerala, India (Patchen 80). He was able to see his family after a decade and enjoyed sharing with them what it was like to become a Swami. While Chinmayananda was home, he visited many temples and talked to spiritual teachers’ within the area. He was also asked to give many lectures to the public about his life as a Swami. After his visit home, Chinmayananda returned back to Uttarkasi and continued his learning with the guru. He was now ready for the final step in his religious journey, “the dive into Self-realization” (Patchen 84). Several more years of teachings with guru, Swami Tapovan, led Swami Chinmayananda to his greatest achievement of understanding the nature of the mind.

When Swami Chinmayananda reached his goal, he went on a tour of India and decided to do a series of Upanishad Jnana Yagnas, teaching concepts of true knowledge and the nature of absolute reality. Swami Chinmayananda taught these concepts in various cities around India (Patchen 155). He wanted to bring spiritual enlightenment to the people within these cities and educate them on their cultural roots. Chinmayananda wanted to use his knowledge of the Vedic concepts and bring benefit to all of society. He then started teaching right from the scriptures and made his way to the first city, Poona, where he performed his first lecture (Patchen 156). After his first lecture to the public on Vedanta, Chinmayananda decided to live life with the people and encounter the issues they had. He packed all his belongings up and the left the comfort of the Himalayas in order to start the “Divine Mission” (Patchen 158). He believed that the people of India deserved to know more about their Hindu religion, while applying these concepts to every life struggle they would have. He then lectured on the first Yagna, but not many people came. As Chinmayananda continued to lecture on Vedanta, more people would attend (Patchen 163).

Chinmayananda’s passion was to liberate people with his knowledge of Vedanta, which essentially brought happiness, “Maximum happiness for the maximum number of people that is our goal!” stated Swami Chinmayananda (Patchen 203). Groups of educated Brahmins, who went to listen to Swami Chinmayananda lecture wanted to create a program that spread the meaning of his teachings further, and the understanding of Vedanta. They then created the “Chinmaya Mission”, meaning “the true knowledge”, to carry spiritual concepts and discussions to the people (Patchen 203). People would gather from various cities just to hear Swami Chinmayananda talk and soon the group expanded. The “Chinmaya Mission” was now an organization that had grown into something great, while giving the people the knowledge and spiritual guidance they needed. Swami Chinmayananda was all about helping the people and through the “Chinmaya Mission” he was able to create the Chinmaya Mission Hospital during the late 1900’s (Patchen 241). Many more great projects came out of “Chinmaya Mission”, but Swami Chinmayananda died of heart issues in late summer of 1993 (Swami Chinmayananda 1). Through his studies and knowledge of Vedanta, Swami Chinmayananda changed the lives of many people and the “Chinmaya Mission” still carries on in his name.

 REFERENCES AND FURTHER RECOMMENDED READING

Patchen, Nancy (1989) The journey of a master: Swami Chinmayananda : the man, the path, the teaching. Berkeley, California: Asian Humanities Press.

Swami Chinmayananda (2000) Hinduism Today: Chinmayananda Up Close. Kauia, Hawaii: Himalayan Academy.

Noteworthy Websites on the Topic

Chinmayananda Saraswati

< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinmayananda_Saraswati>

Chinmaya Mission

< http://www.chinmayamission.com/who-we-are/swami-chinmayananda/#.VP3wKPnF9yU>

 

RELATED TOPICS FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION

Vedanta

Jnana Yagna

Chinmaya Mission

Pancbadasi

Upanishads

sannyasa asrama

Rishikesh

Bhagavad Gita

Divine Mission

Atman

Brahman

 

Article written by: Annalee Bragg (March 2015) who is solely responsible for its content.

 

b. Significant Hindu Organizations

The Arya Samaj

Arya Samaj: The Hinduism Reform Movement

Hinduism is a religion rich and diverse in terms of the culture, the language spoken, and the practices and traditions followed. Through its history, many reform and unorthodox movements have emerged that have attempted to modify its cultural practices. One of these reform movements that attempted to reinstate the sacrosanctity of the Vedas was founded by Dayananda Sarasvati in the late 1800s and was known as Arya Samaj (Jorden xiii). The characteristics of this movement, which is still thriving in the world today, are that it opposed many social evils existing in Hinduism at the time, and provided roots for Indian nationalism. (Rai 3-6).

Dayananda Sarasvati was the eldest child of a Saivite Brahmin family of the Samavedi branch of the Audichya caste in the state of Mourvi (Jordens 4). During his early years, he was strictly encouraged to participate in Saivite rituals. Throughout his childhood he started noticing, what he perceived as flaws and misbeliefs that were a very important part of his orthodox family such as idol worship and sraddha rituals (Jordens 14). After leaving his family and devoting most of his life to the study of Vedantas (particularly Yoga and Sanskrit grammar Vedantas), he was convinced that the deepest secret of religion and moksa were present in the Hindu scriptures, specifically the Vedas (Jordens 32). Eventually, between 1863 and 1872, this sanyasi became a social and religious reformer by being partially influenced by anglicised Bengalis and Marathas (Jones 34). Focusing solely on the Brahmin class in the earlier years as a reformer, he travelled across upper India attempting to reform others’ ideals (Jordens 34).  Additionally, learning from other reform movements like the Brahmo Samaj, he changed his mode of proselytization from Sanksrit to Hindi, and continuously travelled experimenting and attempting to form an organization (Jordens 34-35). Finally, in 1875, Dayananda Sarasvati first published his book the Satyarth Prakash, which summarised his ideas and beliefs in detail. However, his ideas about idol worship, caste system, etc., met huge criticism during these early years of the reform (Jordens 34-35).

Eventually, in 1875, he setup his first successful organization, the Arya Samaj, when he met with his followers in Bombay and created the ten principles(niyams) of the Samaj, which were finalized later on in 1877 in Lahore (Jones 35). Even though this movement failed to set its roots in southern India, it started to develop a bigger following in the northern states of Gujarat, Rajashtan, and mainly Punjab (Jones 36-40). Despite the criticisms and opposition from the leaders of the Brahmo Samaj about the sanctity of the Vedas, he held his ground. Not only did he believe that the Vedas were inspired by a divine body, he considered them prehistoric and pre-human, and thus considered them the ultimate source and guide for Hinduism (Rai 4). Dayananda Sarasvati aimed to revive Vedic religion and eliminate the abuses and misnomers that he believed had emerged in Hindu belief with time (Dhanpati 17).

The ten principles that were decided upon by the Arya Samaj are an exposition of the organization’s doctrines. The Arya Samaj’s teaching about the Vedas and its representation of God is explained in the first three principles. The Ten Principles of Arya Samaj are as follows:

  1. God is the primary source of all true knowledge, and of all that is known by its means.
  2. God is All-truth, All-knowledge, All-Beautitude, Incorporeal, Almighty, Just, Merciful, Unbegotten, Infinite, Changeless, Without a beginning, Incomparable, the Support and Lord of all, All-pervading, Omniscient, Imperishable, Immortal, Exempt from fear, Eternal, Holy and the Maker of the Universe. To him alone is worship due.
  3. The Vedas are the books of all true knowledge. It is the paramount duty of all Aryas to read them and to instruct others in them, to hear them read, and to recite them to others
  4. All persons should remain ever ready to accept the Truth and to renounce untruth
  5. All actions ought to be performed in conformity to virtue, i.e. after due consideration of right and wrong.
  6. The primary aim of Arya Samaj is to do good to mankind i.e. to amerliorate the physical, spiritual and social condition of all men.
  7. All ought to be treated with love, justice, and due regard to their merits.
  8. Ignorance ought to be dispelled and knowledge diffused.
  9. No one ought to remain satisfied with his own welfare. The welfare of the individual should be regarded as included in the welfare of all.
  10. In matters which affect the well-being of all, the individual should subordinate his personal likings; in matters that affect him alone, he is to enjoy freedom of action. (Jones 321).

Laid out in simple terms, these principles are thought to be free of controversy, and are organized so that the Arya Samaj could be made as “catholic” as possible without losing its Hindu character (Rai 3).  To become the member of the Arya Samaj, the requirement is the belief and obedience of the ten principles or niyams, regardless of the opinions on other matters (Rai 9). Dayananda Sarasvati refrained purposefully from including any particular doctrines or philosophical questions within the principles so as to make it more approachable by an average man (Rai 12).

Other than the ten principles, there are beliefs and religious teachings that the institution has come to be known for. One such belief is that some persons might be more divine than others, and even though they are not priests in the sense that they are in Christianity, they should be treated with higher respect as they are the benefactors of the human race (Rai 30). Furthermore, despite the fact that enlightenment is possible by being in contact with these divine humans, moksa or salvation can only be attained at an individual level and not by demonstrating faith and devotion to another human soul (Rai 30). In other words, being in contact with these divine humans can help one to be in a higher state of spirituality, but this alone will not be able to grant moksa (Rai 30). Another strong ideal of the Arya Samaj is that “to err is human”, and thus every individual is bound to make mistakes regardless of his spiritual state (Rai 30). The Arya Samaj’s only approved forms of worship are contemplation, communion, and prayer (stuti, prasthna and upasana) performed with pure thoughts, words and deeds (Rai 30). There is a strong belief in the doctrine of karma by the Arya Samaj, and thus it is maintained that all actions have a consequence which cannot be recompensed by any actions (Rai 30). Despite the strong belief in karma, the Samaj negates any belief in fate, unless it is presented alongside karma (Rai 31). As well, any ancestor-worship is not believed in by the Samaj, but respect and remembrance is considered to be a more appropriate sentiment towards them (Rai 31). Finally, the Samaj also encourages its followers to have a strong belief in the Vedas and to interpret their own personal meanings from them (Rai 31).

Along with these religious teachings, the Samaj advises some particular religious observances and practices. There are five mahayajnas that should be observed by the members of the Arya Samaj every day. These include the brahma yajna which is a bipartite practice including sandhya and swadhyae (Rai 32). Sandhya means worshipping god twice a day, in the morning and the evening, by the three ways contemplation, communion and prayer (Rai 32). Swadhyae means daily reading of the some part of the scriptures at least once every day (Rai 32). The second is the deva yajna which is more commonly known as the homa or the sacrificial fire where ghi (clarified butter) is burned in order to purify the household physically and spiritually and has very strong Vedic importance (Rai 32). Pitri yajna is the third of the mahayajnas which requires a daily act that serves the parents (Rai 33). The fourth is the athithi yajna which obliges the members to feed an ascetic or another learned man who has not been invited to the household before (Rai 33). Lastly, the bali vaishva deva yajna requires every member to give food to any one of the following beings according to one’s resources: poor, disabled, orphans, or animals (Rai 33). The Arya Samaj maintains that in combination with these five daily mahayajnas, the sixteen Sanskars (sacred ceremonies) that serve as the sixteen mile-stones in each individual’s life, must be performed. These rituals are common in Hinduism, but others that were superstitious in the view of Arya Samaj and that had eventually become the Hindu norm, are excluded. The Sanskar Vidhi is the book that defines these rituals in more detail and was compiled by Dayananda Sarasvati himself (Rai 34-35).

Moreover, the Arya Samaj maintains a strong social ideology along with the religious observances and practices. The ideology is based upon the ultimate fatherhood of God, the brotherly nature of man, the equality between the two sexes, justice and fairness between men and between different nations, availability of equal opportunities for everyone depending on their nature, merit and karma, and finally love for all (Rai 36-37). Dayananda was strictly against the caste system of the Hindus and believed in their salvation, and since there was no caste by birth in India during the Vedic times, the Arya Samaj believes in providing equal opportunities to all men and women (Rai 38). Due to this belief, many alienated castes started feeling more comfortable with the customs and attitudes of their surrounding societies after becoming members of the Arya Samaj (Jones xii). The Arya Samaj attempted to uplift the lower castes by allowing everyone to wear the sacred thread of twice born, regardless of the caste, and eliminating classes, such as the untouchables (Rai 122).  As well, the Arya Samaj emphasized a lot on gender equality. The conditions of Indian women at the time Arya Samaj was emerging were believed to be disgraceful. The society became one of the top most agencies providing education to Indian women in Punjab, Agra, and Oude regions (Rai 44).  Like Vyasa, Dayananda disapproved of multiple marriages, but he believed that couples who would like to remarry for the sake of having offspring should be allowed (Rai 46-47). As well, the Arya Samaj stood strongly in opposition to child marriage (Rai 49).

In combination with its social concerns, the Arya Samaj vigorously promotes education. Since it is part of the ten principles to impart knowledge to others, providing educational institutions for men and women of all castes and backgrounds was part of its agenda (Jones 67). Dayananda Sarasvati believed that the filtration theory of education that was in practice at the time was not going to solve the problem of illiteracy, and thus he believed in free and compulsory education for all, regardless of caste or gender (Yadav 10-11). As well, Dayananda believed that the curriculum should be widespread so that it represented all branches of knowledge and provided knowledge about languages, arts, sciences, technology and social equality (Yadav 11). The Dayananda Anglo-Vedic College was opened at Lahore, Punjab and Gurukula near Hardwar followed by many more colleges and gurukulas that followed Arya Samajic principles and Dayananda’s ideals about education (Yadav 10-11).

Apart from the religious and educational agendas, the Arya Samaj engaged in charitable efforts at a very grand scale, also known as the shuddhi (Rai 111). Some of this work included setting up orphanages and widow homes, participating in famine reliefs during many famine-stricken years, and social services like medical relief during times of calamities (Yadav 11-12 & Rai 111-120). Furthermore, lectures and educational information was provided in order to eliminate slavery and the caste system (Rai 122-133).

Dayananda Sarasvati also believed that national consciousness needed to be aroused in the country, especially since India was under British control at the time (Yadav 11). Thus, the Arya Samaj did not believe in using Western ideologies to reform Indian society, but instead turned to principles found in the Vedas (Dhanpati 21). Sarasvati strongly believed that if Indians became strong, religiously pure and simple, their freedom would not be very far (Dhanpati 21). The Arya Samaj stressed on the fact that swarajya was most important (Yadav 15). Two major leaders to the Indian National Congress who advocated for social reform, the swadeshi movement and political freedom of India, Lala Lajpat Rai and Swami Shraddhananda, belonged to the Arya Samaj (Dhanpati 175-194). By providing equal rights and education to so many of the estranged classes, the Arya Samaj was responsible for creating a sense of unity and promoting nationalism among its members (Dhanpati 58-62).

The Arya Samaj is a movement that targeted to reform not just the religious aspect of the nation, but the educational, social, and political aspects with it. It is still socially vibrant and continues to promote its agenda in modern India and around the world.

Bibliography and Related Readings:

Pandey, Dhanpati (1972) The Arya Samaj & Indian Nationalism. New Delhi: S. Chand Publications.

Kenneth, Jones (1976) Arya Dharm: Hindu Consciousness in 19th Century Punjab. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Rai, Lala Lajpat (1991) Arya Samaj: an Account of its Origin, Doctrines & Activities. (Edited by S.K. Bhatia).  New Delhi: Reliance Publication House.

Jordens, J.T.F (1978): Dayananda Sarasvati: his Life and Ideas. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Sarasvati, Dayananda (1978) Autobiography of Dayananda Sarasvati (Edited by K.C. Yadav). New Delhi: Manohar.

Related Research Topics:

The Brahmo Samaj

Dayananda Sarasvati

Yajna

The Indian Independence

Homa

Sanskara

Sraddha

Idol Worship in Hinduism

Widows and Widowers in Hinduism

The Caste System

Related Websites:

http://www.aryasamajjamnagar.org/

http://www.sanskrit.org/www/Hindu%20Primer/HinduPrimer.htm

http://www.aryasamajtoday.com/

Article written by Shuchi Talwar (Spring 2012), who is solely responsible for its content.