In this episode, we discuss what it means to be a Hindu. We present some fundamental concepts that are important to an understanding of Hindu Dharma. A knowledge of the basic framework will help us raise confident young Hindus.
[0:04] Rekha: Namaste and welcome to the Hindu Parenting podcast episode One. I’m Rekha and today Shalini and I will be exploring the topic of what does it mean to be Hindu? Namaste Shalini!
[0:19] Shalini: Namaste Rekha, carrying on from our first podcast or our launch episode, we are going to delve into what it means to be a Hindu. Just to start with, why is it important that we underline this: what it means to be a Hindu? Why is that so important?
[0.35] Rekha: I think it ties right back into where we left off last time, which is the concept of identity. So, what it means to be Hindu is something that parents need to know to form a clear identity in their children. And this is important, I think for two reasons. First is to give you a structure, so that it can be a framework for you to hang your thoughts and actions on. The second important reason for knowing what it means to be Hindu is that it gives us a lens with which we can view the world. So, clarity and perspective both become very important.
[1:24] Shalini: So, where are we going to start?
[1:26] Rekha: We should start with something that Hindus are so commonly laughed at… this concept of murti puja or idol worship as it is commonly but wrongly known. So what are your thoughts on murti puja, Shalini?
[1:45] Shalini: We are always told that we are worshipping idols. But I think that’s the wrong way to look at that form of worship. Hindus are used to worshipping the divine along with a form and name as a representative image. And what sort of representative image? It’s one that we think reflects ourselves. So I think that’s what murti puja is about, and for us, a murti or a framed picture of a deity or a vigraha, normally vigraha is also called idol but prefer to use the word vigraha…because we do associate a living, breathing form in a persona that we worship. Vigraha is also consecrated in a temple, and they do prana pratishta, which means that you actually invoke the life force into the deity before it is consecrated. And hence, it’s probably not even right to call it idol worship. And I think we should all start to call it as murti puja.
[3:07] Rekha: That’s an excellent point. And don’t you think when it is called idol worship so commonly outside, there’s a tendency to confuse vigraha, the concept of vigraha, with an idol as in a pop idol or a cricketing star or a film star? These two are so widely different. Would you like to talk a little bit about that? And, tell us in what way we can view them differently?
[03:40] Shalini: Yeah, okay. When we talk about, you know, for me, this person is an idol or that cricketer is an idol, it is an aspiration. This person is somebody who’s far away from us, but we aspire to be like him or her. There is a sense of distance from this idol that you’re worshiping…worshiping or whatever, because you’re very much looking up to him, you’re very much in adoration of this person. So it’s akin to, let’s say, worship, and you’re very far away from this person. So there is the aspect of distance. Whereas in when we when we worship the divine in the form of a murti, it is somebody who is close to us. Of course, I’m not saying that there’s no aspiration, even in murti puja, we are aspiring to reach the divine. But there is also the sense of that divine form as also our closest confidant. We often submit all our prayers, our wishes, our desires, etc, to this divine form that we are worshipping. I don’t think we do that to our idols, right? With film stars, cricketers, we don’t do that.
[05:09] Rekha: There’s another interesting thing that comes up here. The very act of performing a puja is to take care of this living entity (murti), as we would take care of another member of the family. And even in temples, the deity is bathed, clothed, and so on and all this feeds into the ritual that we performed in temples.
[05:40] Shalini: What do we call a temple? We call a temple a devalaya. And what is the meaning of an aalaya? Aalaya is a home: so a temple is basically the home of the deity, and when we are going to the temple to worship the deity, whoever the pratishtha is in that temple, we are going to his or her home. So we have to observe whatever we observe, when we enter someone’s house. That’s pretty much the same, in a broad sense, what we do in a temple. So, actually, our murti puja mimics in one sense what we do in real life, but we do add the dimension of a higher power. So something aspirational at the same time personal. Therefore, I think murti puja can never be idol worship and for a Hindu I think we should stop calling it as idol worship and move towards using the word murti, murti puja.
[06:43] Rekha: Yes, that’s so important. I think using the right terms is very important. And that’s something that we as parents can teach children, right from a very young age, so there’s no more confusion about these terms as they grow up. That’s a great point.
Moving on to the concept of Ishta devata. So we have so many, millions or crores of devis and devatas. And then there is this concept of an ishta devata that a person can choose to worship. How does one choose an ishta devata? And, you know, what does this tie in to? I think, personally, I feel that the concept ishta devata is actually a showcase for the kind of respect for diversity that we have in Hinduism. Because when you do have so many devatas, you don’t see followers of one devata fighting with another, or in a family, you don’t see people who have different ishta devatas, insisting on the whole family worshipping the same ishta devata. I think there’s a lot of respect for each other’s concept of a deity that we personally resonate with; that is, something in us resonates deeply with a particular principle or a certain concept embodied by the deity that we so often choose as an ishta devata.
[08:30] Shalini: So what you’re saying, actually boils down to a personal God for every Hindu, right? We are accused of being polytheistic, worshipping many gods and that’s not great.. and that’s not good and whatever not. But ultimately, when you say ishta devata, what you’re saying is, eventually everybody zeroes in on one devi or devata that you resonate with, right?
[09:03] Rekha: And that best meets your aspirations, I think, because these are the different ways. All of us are different and I think this principle is so beautifully recognized by Hinduism. We are not all similar. And each of us resonates deeply with one core principle that can be used to transcend our natures, and to put us on the right path. So I think to that extent, it is really extremely diverse. There’s a lot of respect for diversity, which is not something that is often taught to kids or something that we think about.
[09:45] Shalini: So is it necessary that everyone then should have an ishta devata? Or can we if we choose to, worship any number that we want? Is there any injunction against worshiping more than one?
[09:58] Rekha: Not at all! In fact, I think there are two forms of worship, right? There is saguna worship and then there is nirguna form of worship also, which is that you can worship a formless entity, but that is supposed to be much harder. And for a normal human being, I think, approaching the divine with nama and rupa is so much more easier. And for an average person, a deity with a name and a form, is an entity that can be worshipped, adored, treated as a friend.
[10:39] Shalini: So while we talk of devis and devatas and all that, are our devis, as important as our devatas? Is there a concept of equal respect for the feminine form? Or is it masculine like in other faiths?
[11:03] Rekha: It is interesting that you bring this up, because I think we are probably the only living, continuous culture with a known element of feminine, the divine feminine in it. Our devis are every bit as important as the devatas. Just take a few examples – Every child knows the importance of praying to Devi Saraswathi before starting on a course of study, there is Annapurneshwari who is worshipped as a giver of food. And there is Devi Durga, who, of course, I mean, we all know Navaratri. And we know that we worship different forms of the Devi. And there is no business enterprise that is started without a prayer or puja to Lakshmi Devi. So these are some of the examples. And definitely I think our devis are as important in their own right, as any devata that we commonly worship. I think that kind of answers your question, right?
[12:19] Shalini: Yeah. But given this, given what you’ve just said, we often find that an accusation is thrown at Hindus, that rituals in Hinduism, are mostly performed by males. And, that there is no role for the woman in ritual. Is that true even?
[12:44] Rekha: I think that is a misconception. Because, every ritual, every puja that a married couple undertakes, mandates the presence of the wife next to the husband, without which the ritual is not valid at all. Take this case of Sri Rama performing the ashwamedha yajna…he had to also install by his side, a golden statue of Devi Sita, because without his ardhangini by his side, even a king as pious, as Sri Rama was not allowed to perform the yajna by himself. And this holds good in our daily lives. There are a lot of rituals that a man who has lost his wife, is not allowed to perform. This is not commonly known.
Shalini: This is news!
Rekha: Definitely, I think a man who is either unwed, single, or who has lost his wife, and who is a widower is not allowed to perform certain karyas in Hinduism.
There’s another one that I would like to mention here, because it’s just so important and that is the concept of Punarjanma. A Hindu believes that this is not the only life that we live; that we have had multiple births, many crores of births before this current birth and that we will continue to have many, many births in the progress towards the ultimate moksha.
[14:33] Shalini: But this will be called out as unscientific because people will tend to ask you on what basis you are saying that this is not about just one life… and multiple lives and things like that. So, there is an element of unscientific claims to this. So, how can we counter something like that?
[15:01] Rekha: There are many universities today where the concept of Punarjanma or reincarnation as they call it, is being scientifically tested. How do you explain something like a child prodigy? Where is he or she getting this innate wisdom and knowledge from? It’s almost like they have left off when their previous life ended and just started now with so much wisdom that they already carry… or knowledge. And then there are also many instances where children, especially up to the age of four, have recounted lucidly, and in great detail, a previous life episode that they have had.
[15:51] Shalini: All this research happens abroad. And I remember watching a video sometime back, which was from I think it was…
[16:04] Rekha: University of Virginia, I think Virginia Medical Center. Yes, they are carrying out research into this concept and how is it that so many children have reported accurate details about lives that they would have absolutely no access to? So, this is still being studied and we can await this with great curiosity, but Shalini, would you say that this validation is important to a Hindu either way?
[16:37] Shalini: Also, while we talk about science and being scientific, having the scientific scientific temper and all that. I actually think that Punarjanma also is broadly scientific. I may be right or wrong in my assumptions, but I just do feel this. In physics, we have learned that nothing can be created and nothing can be destroyed. So, in that sense, if we say that a man or a dog or any living being is just about biology and chemicals, and just some material things put together I don’t think that that explains completely what constitutes a living being. So, there is something beyond just the material and while you can say that, with the death of the physical body, the material being is lost, what then happens to the extra something that you say, makes you living? So, there is that extra something, and that extra something also is part of the universe. So, if nothing can be destroyed, and nothing can be created, then obviously…the material part is ashes to ashes, dust to dust, as they say, but what about the subtle part or the something that makes you a living being? What happens to that? In my view, punarjanma explains what happens to that subtle being, it takes another form, another body and is reborn. And hence, in my view, maybe a limited point, but I still think that this conception is no less scientific. In fact, it is probably more scientific than saying that you have only one life and with your death, everything’s finished. That to me, sounds unscientific, actually.
[18:40] Rekha: Interesting. And there’s this concept, you mentioned that there is something subtle, that carries on from janma to janma. So, it is not necessary that all these multiple births are only human, right? We firmly believe that depending on your karma… now, that again, we will delve into that word, but the broad belief is that depending on your actions in this life, you will get a body in your next life, right? And if you are very good with your deeds and thoughts in this life, you will probably be blessed with another manava janma, which is a human birth.
[19:31] Shalini: Interestingly, karma is often translated as fate. And with whatever we’ve discussed, it’s actually an anti thesis to the word fate. There’s nothing fateful about karma. It’s all dependent only on you. Fate essentially means that you’re not in control, whereas what we’re saying is that your karma defines who you will be in your next birth. Karma basically is reaping the fruits of your own actions …and who is in charge of your own your own actions? Yourself! So frankly, it is absolutely wrong to equate karma with fate. It is the opposite of fate, it is actually something that keeps you on the road to getting a better birth in your next life.
[20:27] Rekha: Yes, a couple of points here. Last time, we mentioned that Hinduism has an innate structure, whereby you can follow the moral path and it can bring about a course of self correction. So I think this karma ties very well with that, because it is in your hands, right? It can almost be thought of as a motivational theory for you to make sure that your actions conform to the right conduct today, so that you will have a good forward progression in your future janmas.
[21:06] Shalini: And to help with that, to help with proceeding in a better direction, I think Hinduism has laid down sort of a broad map and we call that as purusharthas. So the goal of human life is to work towards certain purusharthas. Maybe you can come in and explain what they mean?
[21:31] Rekha: Yes, the purusharthas are four in number and they are called dharma, artha, kama and moksha. These give us a framework for things to aspire to…what is most important for a human being, I think…achieving a certain status, wealth, power or enjoyment. This is explained by the two words artha and kama. And it is not wrong to aspire to lead a life of comfort, or to earn money. But both of these, should be governed by something called dharma, which is a certain order. Even if you take our day to day lives, nobody really likes to live in an environment of utter chaos, nobody is happy living in such an environment. So we do need some kind of order. And when kama and artha are bounded by the dharma, it is as simple as trying to understand a person who wants to move his elbow in a crowded room. You can move your elbow as long as it doesn’t, you know, interfere with somebody else’s ability to move their elbows or, or till you don’t hurt somebody. I think that is a simple way to understand how unbounded artha and kama leads to chaos and problems. But the temporal bounding is done by this concept of dharma in our day to day lives. And that leaves moksha. Would you like to talk about Moksha?
[23:12] Shalini: Moksha, I think, is the final pursuit of, of human birth. And it is something that is rarely achieved. But it is something that every hindu aspires to attain. So we might take multiple, by multiple I mean, probably births over millennia, but every hindu thinks that there will be some birth at which he or she will be released from this entire cycle itself of birth and death, and will sort of merge into the divine and become one with the Divine. In such a state, this person and Moksha can be attained not just after death, you know, as it is sometimes wrongly believed. It can be achieved even while a person is living, and we do have many exemplars, it doesn’t mean that we stop living just because we have merged into the divine, we continue to live, we continue to do what we do, except that we are unattached in the state of moksha. The person who has attained it is unattached to material things, to family bonds to, to anything, it is a universal love. That is the motivating force for any action, you know, so and there is no expectation of returns, there’s no expectation of fruits of the action. There’s no expectation from another person. It’s completely universal, and it’s a very blissful state to be in, you know, so and that is the concept of moksha. And that’s what all Hindus aspire to eventually at some point.
[25:00] Rekha: At some point, yes. And so so we have discussed a few core concepts of what it means to be a Hindu here. And to know all this gives you a very clear lens to live your life by and also a certain moral compass. And we do know that maybe, in today’s world, consequences may not be enforced immediately, or the consequences to children may not be apparent. But a Hindu child who knows the concept of Punarjanma would certainly know that there are karmic consequences to any of the actions that we perform today. And also, you know, it gives him or her a sense of agency – to better your life is in your hands. So I think on that note, we can probably end today’s episode.
[25:52] Shalini: We have a lot more to discuss. And I think there are a few more very important concepts that we should cover, but we shall do it in the next podcast. So we will join back in another fortnight and continue this conversation. So as always, we request our listeners to send in their comments, share their views, send their questions, and we will be seeing you in a fortnight. So thank you. Thank you for listening and thank you Rekha. So until the next time namaste.
