The Basics on Hinduism

Indian history and culture is closely intertwined with its religious history. Shaped deeply by Hinduism, India is sometimes affectionately referred to as ‘Hindustan’ meaning “Land of the Hindus.” For someone unfamiliar with the religious landscape it can be a daunting task to even begin understanding such complex and ancient religion.

Murti of Ganesha.

This is not meant to be a theological lesson on Hinduism. My goal is to provide a basic understanding of the core beliefs of these religions, how this religion aligns with the military in America, and provide some holidays and a brief description. I’ll start with the disclaimer that I was raised Hindu, but don’t possess any formal training on Hinduism. I was raised with a basic understanding, celebrated some of the holidays with my family, and we went to temple. When I was growing up, I had listened to the stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharat told by my grandmother. Limited knowledge at best. Most of this research will come from what I find perusing through articles and organizations who specialize in educating others on their respective religion instead of relying on my own knowledge.

Hinduism is a pluralistic religion meaning it understands that everyone connects to the divine in their own way and can manifest in different forms. This pluralism is what’s responsible for the increased spiritual and religious freedom one witnesses within Hinduism through worship of different deities, paths for salvation, schools of thought, ways of worship and saint traditions. Hindus believe that it is inherently flawed to insist that one’s own path towards God is the only true and meaningful path and based on this idea Hinduism has never sanctioned proselytization.

Due to the wide range of beliefs and practices, summarizing the core tenets of Hinduism is rather challenging. However, most Hindus can agree the core ideology includes a combination of these tenets: dharma, karma, samsara, moksha, brahman, atman, and the Vedas.

Dharma is the concept of righteous duty and moral order that governs individuals and societal behavior, it can be viewed as one’s duty in fulfilling his karma.

Arjun receiving the Bhagavad Gita from Krishna on the battlefield.

Karma is the idea of positive and negative deeds. If the deeds of an individual are positive, selfless, and righteous they will experience positive effects. If the deeds are negative, then their results will be negative. Karma is based on a combination of an individual’s thoughts, words, actions, and the choices they make. Hindus believe that the effects of karma may be felt in their current life, a future life, or they may be feeling the effects of karma resulting from a previous life.

The talk of future and previous lives presents a natural transition into the idea of reincarnation and atman. This “karmic bank account” accumulates and manifest in a person’s life and how those individuals deal with those circumstances in their next lives. An individual can be reborn as any living being based on their karmic debt from a previous life. The atman – or soul – is what is being born and reborn in the endless cycle. This cycle of birth and rebirth is known as samsara The goal for Hindus is to break this samsara and achieve moksha, or salvation. Upon achieving moksha, the soul stops creating karma that binds it to the physical world and achieves salvation. Because of this idea of karma and reincarnation, Hindus do not believe in the ideas of heaven and hell, instead they will continue their cycle of rebirth until they have achieved enough “karmic balance” to achieve moksha.

The original scriptures of Hinduism are known as the Vedas that form the sacred texts of Hindu religious knowledge and rules. While the Mahabharat and Ramayana are epics they have received a status of special scriptural significance and homages to these epics are seen all around the world. The Mahabharat tells the story of a war between two branches of a family and contains an abundance of stories on the practices of Dharma and upholding dharma. Within this epic Lord Krishna verbally delivers the Bhagavad Gita to Prince Arjun. The Bhagavat Gita to Hinduism is what the Holy Bible is to Christianity.

As a Soldier I find the inception of the Bhagavad Gita absolutely energizing. The skilled warrior, Prince Arjun, is on the battlefield facing down the other side of his family. He has entered a bit of a quandary with himself and is wondering if it is righteous for him to go to war against his own family. Arjun’s resolve is wavering. Lord Krishna (an avatar of Lord Vishnu who is a manifestation of Brahman) steps in and describes to Arjun on the battlefield why it is Arjun’s dharmic duty as a warrior to lead his army and use his skills to fight injustice and return his kingdom to peace. What Lord Krishna tells Arjun on the eve of battle came to be known as the Bhagavad Gita. The Bhagavad Gita helps one understand that upholding one’s duty can be a challenging task, especially when there is no clear right or wrong.

The last portion we will explore is the representation of God in Hinduism. Hinduism is often thought of as having thousands of deities and that is true to an extent. There is one “God” as Hindus see it who is referred to as Brahman that is all-powerful and ever-present and that the universe and Brahman are one. The many different deities are manifestations of Brahman that take on different qualities and characteristics. Rama, the protagonist from the Ramayana and Krishna, from the Mahabharata, are considered avatars of Brahman who appear at different times to eradicate evil from the world and establish righteousness.

Many important deities sculpted onto a temple.

Example of a shrine typically found in a Hindu household with a murti of Ganesha, photos of ancestors or a prominent guru, incense, and some sweets to offer to God. Source: wikiHow

While Brahman is an abstract concept many Hindus believe it to be accessible by a murti (moor-ti). Murti translates to “idol” or “image” in English, but a better translation is “embodiment.” Hindus believe that a murti is a visual tool for contemplating the nature of God and communicating with God. An important distinction is that Hindus do not believe God is limited to the murti. In many Hindu homes and business there will be some sort of small shrine for their murti or an image of a deity hanging on the wall to bring forth positive energy.

Hinduism and the Military

I am writing this to serve as a guide for someone who isn’t familiar with Hinduism and wants to learn more for their own sake or maybe the sake of their Soldier. Some additional information I’d like to include is regarding dietary restrictions, and burial service.

For dietary restrictions many Hindus may practice some form of limiting consumption of animal products. Indians love dairy everything from cheese, yogurt, milk, and ice cream so there are no issues there. Issues arise with things like eggs, and meat. Depending on how orthodox that individual is they will even avoid foods with eggs as an ingredient, animal-based enzymes, and even gelatin found in products like Jell-O. They are almost entirely vegan save the dairy part.

Other Indians, such as myself, have adopted a more flexible diet that I like to describe as a conscientious carnivore. I will eat eggs, chicken, and fish but rarely eat pork, beef, or lamb products unless they have been ethically sources (along the lines of hunted by a close friend or sold by a farmer who treated that animal with dignity and respect). This is a controversial topic in Hinduism and almost all Hindus will agree that it is against the orthodox way of behaving, but adherence to any religion is a spectrum as opposed to something that is black and white. As a new generation of Indians grow up in America, many of them have adopted an omnivore diet as opposed to vegetarianism. I recommend to commanders to be cognizant of that Hindu, Sikh, or Buddhist service member in your ranks who may have that dietary restriction but has not come up on the net.

If a Hindu service member passes away and asks for a Hindu service, the best bet is to find a Hindu Chaplain who might be able to perform that rite. Unfortunately, I have had immense trouble locating a Hindu Chaplain, let alone a Buddhist or Sikh Chaplain. If this becomes the case, a nearby temple should be able to provide a Hindu priest to perform these rites. It will more than likely be a cremation and there is a ceremony that precedes this cremation service that involves the close family members. I encourage that Casualty Assistance Officer to work closely with the family to ensure they are providing the service member the proper funeral in line with his beliefs.

I’ll conclude this on a more upbeat note and mention the celebrations in Hindu culture and, by extension, the subcontinent of India. Some of the major holidays in Hinduism are listed below. Because the dates are observed on a combined solar-lunar calendar, like Judaism, holidays don’t land on the same day each year. All these celebrations may include fasting, temple visits, special rituals, chanting of mantras, singing of devotional prayers, dancing, and all-night vigils. The popular ones seen around the world are Holi and Diwali where there is feasting on delicious foods, fireworks, dancing, and an overall jubilant energy among the Indian community. If you ever get the chance to visit India during Diwali or Holi I highly encourage going as it is an unforgettable experience.

Religious Celebrations

• Shivaratri (February/March) — Pays homage to Lord Shiva, the divine manifestation of transformation and regeneration.

• Ram Navami (March/April)— Celebrates the birth of Lord Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu and embodiment of dharma.

• Krishna Janmashtami (August/September) — Celebrates the birth and life of Lord Krishna, one of the most endeared incarnations of Vishnu and deliverer of the Bhagavad Gita.

• Ganesha Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chaturthi (August/September) — Pays homage to Lord Ganesha, also known as Lord Vinayaka, the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati and divine manifestation of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune.

• Navaratri (March/April, June/July, September/October, December/January, January/February) — A nine night celebration of the feminine divine that occurs five times a year (the spring and fall celebrations being amongst the more widely celebrated). The most popularly worshiped manifestations of the feminine divine include Goddess Durga representing the Mother Goddess and Shakti (Divine Energy), Goddess Saraswati representing knowledge, speech and the arts and Goddess Lakshmi, representing good health, wealth and prosperity. Many fasts and rituals associated with Navaratri are exclusive to women.

Seasonal Celebrations

• Makar Sankranti, Uttarayana or Pongal (January 14) — One of the few solar holidays that marks the transition of the Sun into Capricorn or Makara rashi on its celestial path and the northward journey of the sun. It also broadly coincides with the winter harvest in many parts of India. Hindus thank God for the bountiful harvest and may pay homage to Goddess Saraswati on this day as well as to ancestors. Pongal is widely celebrated in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. In the state of Gujarat this is celebrated by flying kites and having kite battles.

Holi celebration in India where participants throw colored powder on each other.

• Holi (February/March) — Welcomes the arrival of spring and the harvests it brings. It also celebrates triumph over divisiveness and negativity. A visually stunning event with people tossing colored powders in the air and using dyed water in an atmosphere where culture, camaraderie and oneness are honored. In the evening, the community lights bonfires and eats festive foods. One of the largest festivals in the world, Holi is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists.

• Vaisakhi (April 13) — Vaisakhi is an ancient harvest in the Indian state of Punjab as well as Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. It also marks the solar new year for Hindus in Nepal and the Indian states of Kerala, Orissa, West Bengal, and other regions with celebrations paying homage to various regional deities. For Sikhs, Vaisakhi is especially significant as commemorating the establishment of the Khalsa (collective family of all initiated Sikhs) in 1699.

Other Celebrations

• Raksha Bandhan / Veda Upakarma (August/September) — A holiday which celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters. Sisters tie a decorative sacred thread or amulet on the right wrist of her brothers (often including distant cousins and friends considered honorary brothers) with her prayers for his protection and well-being while sweets are exchanged. In return, brothers give their sisters small tokens or gifts of appreciation.

• Diwali (October/November) – One of the most celebrated Hindu festivals, commemorates the victory of good over evil. The word refers to rows of earthen lamps celebrants place around their homes. The light from these lamps symbolizes the illumination within the individual that can overwhelm ignorance, represented by darkness.

The source for this article is the Hindu American Foundation. They have plenty of additional resources for anyone curious on learning more about Hinduism.

Hinduism 101 - The Basics, The Hindu American Foundation, 2014, www.hinduamerican.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/The_Basics3.0.pdf.