Hinduism Reading Guide #1

Hinduism Reading Guide #1

Divine Principles in the World

Dharma

The law of karma holds people responsible for their actions. Applying that law requires some standard for determining the rightness or wrongness of actions. That standard is dharma, or ethical duty based on the divine order of reality.

Dharma

The significance of dharma can hardly be overstated. The term dharma is Hinduism's closest equivalent to our term religion. More than just a specific list of rights and wrongs, dharma is the complete rule of life. For every activity, there is a way of acting that conforms to dharma. Hindus look to four sources when seeking guidance about dharma in particular situations. These sources, in order from highest to lowest level of authority, are (1) divine revelation, as expressed in the sacred scriptures; (2) sacred tradition, as passed on from generation to generation; (3) the practices and example of those who are considered the wisest members of society; and (4) conscience.

Dharma

Whenever Hindus strive to fulfill desires, dharma limits their pursuits. Dharma also shifts the focus from satisfying private cravings to caring for others. In its ultimate effect of nourishing unconditional concern for the world, dharma has much in common with the primary Christian ethical principle of unconditional love and with the Buddhist counterpart of infinite compassion. Dharma is thus a major feature of the ethical dimension of Hinduism.

Hindu Society:

Mapping the Individual's Identity

Mapping the Individual's Identity

Despite their sometimes dizzying complexity, the many aspects of Hinduism are for the most part in harmony. Basic principles are interconnected. Karma, the moral law of cause and effect, is based in dharma, ethical duty. Dharma, in turn, is connected to social order. A person's particular dharma is determined by gender, caste, and stage of life. Within this social order, Hindus are free to choose from among four legitimate goals. Together these circumstances map an individual's identity.

Mapping the Individual's Identity

The dharma of women, for example, has traditionally emphasized obedience toward men— first the father, then the husband, and finally the sons. The duties of caste and stage of life, which figure prominently in constituting the dharma of men, are less relevant for women. However women's primary role of providing for the welfare of the family has always been a basic aspect of Hindu society. By traditionally performing this role with energy and perseverance, women have tended to earn a reputation for having more integrity of character than men, who are sometimes regarded as less dependable and more prone to frivolity. On the other hand, women's domestic responsibilities have limited their educational and career opportunities compared with those of men.

Open Ended

How does dharma differ between men and women in Hindu society?

Doing One's Job: The Caste System

Hinduism's caste system incorporates a traditional division of society into four distinct classes—brahmin (brah'min), consisting of priests; kshatriya (kshuht'ree-yuh), including warriors and administrators; vaishya (vish'yuh), made up of producers, such as farmers, merchants, and artisans; and shudra (shoo'druh), composed of servants and laborers.

Doing One's Job: The Caste System

The original four classes of the caste system were divided and subdivided until over three thousand distinct categories emerged. These categories correspond primarily to different occupations, especially for men. For women the primary significance of caste pertains to whom they can marry; traditional dharma provides specific rules regarding marriage with respect to caste. An additional category consists of the "outcastes," those who are considered to be outside of society altogether.

Doing One's Job: The Caste System

This group includes the Untouchables, who only recently have begun to enjoy some legal rights, thanks to the work of Mahatma Gandhi. He renamed the outcastes Harijan, "God's children." In general the caste system is rigidly based on heredity. One is simply born to a lifelong caste identity, as determined by karma, which directs the soul into whatever situation it deserves.

Doing One's Job: The Caste System

In this way karma can be seen to justify the caste system itself. People do not just happen to be born outcastes; they deserve their lowly status because of their "stinking conduct" in previous lives. Likewise brahmins deserve their privileged position because of their meritorious karma in previous lives: they have lived in conformity to their dharma, and consequently are now closer to salvation.

Open Ended

How do heredity and karma each justify the caste system? (Look up heredity if you don't know what it means)

Doing One's Job: The Caste System

The original term used for this division by class, varna, means "color," which is apparently related to the differences in skin tone between the darker original inhabitants of India and the fairer Aryans who invaded and conquered most of India during the centuries of Hinduism's origins (beginning about 2000 B.c.). The Aryans considered it important to prevent the two racial groups from intermingling, so they distinguished their own classes—the brahmin, kshatriya, and vaishya—from that of the native peoples, the shudra.

Open Ended

What group invaded India around 2000 B.C.? What are they responsible for creating?

Multiple Choice

Warriors and administrators with political power:

• brahmin

• kshatriya

• vaishya

• shudra

Multiple Choice

Priests and teachers with religious authority:

• brahmin

• kshatriya

• vaishya

• shudra

Multiple Choice

Servants and laborers with little social standing:

• brahmin

• kshatriya

• vaishya

• shudra

Multiple Choice

Farmers, merchants, artisans with economic force:

• brahmin

• kshatriya

• vaishya

• shudra

Multiple Choice

An additional category in the caste system who are considered to be

outside of society altogether.

• sannyasa

• outcaste

• sanskar

• Ashramas

Multiple Choice

Included in those who are excluded from the caste system are the Untouchables or the...

• Durga's

• Puja's

• Dalits

• Formless One's

Multiple Choice

__________ changed the way Hindu's treated the outcastes by calling them Harijans, meaning children of God.

• Mahatma Gandhi

• Mahabharata

• Guru Nanak

• Durga Puja

Doing One's Job: The Caste System

Karma determines caste identity, and caste, in turn, determines the specific dharma governing a person's actions. For example, the ethical duties of a brahmin differ from those of a kshatriya. The Bhagavad-Gita presents a striking illustration of how caste identity determines dharma. Arjuna, a great warrior (thus of the kshatriya class), is poised to enter a crucial battle. As he considers the gruesome tasks that lie before him, including the killing of kinsmen and old friends, he hesitates, wondering if he should avoid battle. The god Krishna, disguised as Arjuna's charioteer, reminds Arjuna of his dharma:

Open Ended

Explain how karma, dharma, and social order are interconnected in Hinduism?

Acting One's Age: Four Stages of Life

Hindu society distinguishes four stages of life, each with its own set of specific duties. The stages have traditionally been especially relevant for males who belong to the vaishya, kshatriya, and particularly brahmin classes.

Upon undergoing an initiation ritual at about the time of puberty, a Hindu boy enters the first stage, that of the student. Characterized by intensive study of the Vedas (vay'duhz) and other sacred literature, this stage lasts until marriage.

Acting One's Age: Four Stages of Life

Hindu marriages are traditionally arranged by the parents, and the bride and groom commonly do not know each other until the time of the wedding. Though customs such as these are changing, especially in urban areas, many Hindus adhere to the traditional way. A contemporary young woman named Vimla, whose marriage was arranged, reasons: "We don't choose the family we're born into, we adjust to it. So why should we risk choosing our marriage? It's too important to be left up to individual choice" (quoted in Mitter, Dharma's Daughters, page 18).

Open Ended

Describe the marriage customs in Hindu society.

Acting One's Age: Four Stages of Life

In the second stage, that of the householder, the worldly tasks of pursuing a career and raising a family are central. Women are involved in this stage along with their husbands. The birth of the first grandchild marks the beginning of the third stage, called the forest dweller stage. A man may choose to ask his wife to accompany him through this stage, which allows him to retreat from worldly bonds (sometimes literally by dwelling in the forest) in order to engage fully in a spiritual quest.

Acting One's Age: Four Stages of Life

The fourth stage is that of the sannyasin (sun-yah'sin), or wandering ascetic. This stage is for forest dwellers who are ready to return to society, but remain detached from the normal attractions and distractions of social life. Engaged with the world but not attached to it, the sannyasin is, as described in the Bhagavad-Gita, "one who neither hates nor desires" (5:3). Women who have accompanied their husbands into the forest might naturally advance to the fourth stage as well. If they do so, the husband and wife live detached from each other, having transcended the ordinary ways of this world, including those of marriage.

Fill in the Blanks

Brahmacharya (

) - first stage of life begun with an initiation ritual and marked by study of the Vedas, another sacred scripture, until marriage.

Fill in the Blanks

Grihastha (

) - second stage of life marked by

the pursuit of a career and raising a fam ily until the birth of one's first grandchild.

Fill in the Blanks

Vanaprastha (____ ____) - third stage of life marked by a

retreat from worldly bonds to engage fully in a spiritual quest.

Fill in the Blanks

Sannyasa (______ ______) - fourth and final stage of life for those ready to return to society but remain detached from normal attractions and distractions of social life.

Seeking One's Desire: Four Goals of Life

Liberation from samsara, in the Hindu view, is the summit of spiritual perfection. Moksha is the ultimate goal of life. But what if we enjoy this world, welcome the challenges of this life, and relish its fruits? What if we are so content in this world that we appreciate reincarnation as yet another opportunity to seek the many pleasures of existence?

Sensual Pleasure

Hinduism embraces such pleasure seeking, even as it teaches the ultimate goal of liberation. Pleasure, or kama (kah'muh), is a legitimate aim of life. No religion denies that humans desire pleasure. Religions differ drastically, however, in their judgments as to the goodness or rightness of fulfilling that desire. Hinduism tends to surpass most religions in its outright celebration of the pursuit of pleasure. Kama, which refers mainly to the pleasures of sensual love, is to be embraced by whosoever desires it, provided that the lovers remain within the limits of dharma. So legitimate is the pursuit of kama that some of Hinduism's sacred literature is devoted to the enhancement of sensual love.

Material Success

Despite its complete legitimacy, the appetite for kama is believed to have a limit. Eventually the fulfillment found in love will no longer satisfy completely. A yearning arises for something else. For most people this yearning is for artha, material success and the social power and prestige that accompany it. Just as North American secular society tends to embrace the pursuit of money, Hinduism celebrates the goal of artha. But also like the pursuit of money, artha eventually proves unfulfilling. In due time people experience a yearning to strive for something beyond pursuits that provide only for personal and material needs.

Harmony with Dharma

This yearning leads to the third goal of life, which is called dharma. Dharma as a life goal maintains its meaning as the general principle of ethical duty. But it is no longer merely a duty, begrudgingly performed. It is now that which is most desired. The deep joy of living in harmony with dharma is known firsthand. No one needs to tell the Hindu who pursues this goal that it is more blessed to give than to receive. The blessings of dharma give fuel to its fire. Yet even perfect harmony with dharma is a limited joy, destined eventually to lead to even deeper yearnings. After all, the world for which the ethical person has concern—even if the concern is unconditional—is still the world of this realm, afflicted with the unending pains of samsara.

The Bliss of Moksha

All Hindus are destined to seek the fourth goal of life: the infinite being, awareness, and bliss of moksha, the great ocean into which all rivers eventually flow. And the paths to moksha that are available to Hindus are as numerous and diverse as the rivers of India.

Multiple Choice

- pursuit and celebration of earthly pleasure and sensual love as it teaches the ultimate goal of liberation.

• artha

• moksha

• dharma

• kama

Multiple Choice

- yearning for material success, prosperity, and social prestige.

• artha

• moksha

• dharma

• kama

Multiple Choice

- joy of living in harmony with one's principles of ethical duty.

• artha

• moksha

• dharma

• kama

Multiple Choice

- infinite being, awareness, and bliss in the release from samsara.

• artha

• moksha

• dharma

• kama