Hinduism |
|||||||
Those who believed more in Lord Shiva... were termed shaivites. Those in Lord Vishnu... Vaishnavites! In absence of any particular God people followed Sanatana Dharma... something that existed from times immemorial (in Hinduism Sanatana stands for eternal... perennial... from the beginning of time)
Hinduism is also termed Sanatana Dharma for the prime reason that before advent of any preceptor like Mahavira, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ or Prophet Mohammed... mankind still survived. Even Lord Krishna was not yet born.
Venturing into times of King Rama... people followed Sanatana Dharma! Dharma in Hinduism stands for "Your right to do what is just and right and not what was destined". People followed their inner instinct and worshipped God Almighty with whatever means available!
As of today Hinduism primarily consists of Vedas (Hinduism revelations)... the first words of God made available to mankind! The four primary Vedas that governed mankind in the initial stages of life are Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda! Vedas were not written by anybody. The messages contained in Vedas were directly invoked by sages and saints of different era.
Before Vedas came into existence existed Dharma (righteousness) and only Dharma. After Vedas came Bhagavad Gita... the doctrine given to mankind by Lord Krishna in the battle of Mahabharata! To differentiate good from evil... to overpower evil forces of adharma... the teachings of Bhagavad Gita became a necessity in those times!
Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism is one such scripture following which any human being world over could easily reach stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) and finally salvation (moksha)! Before wisdom of Bhagavad Gita came into existence, if one could gain enlightenment... it was only through path of bhakti yoga... path of bhakti as detailed in various scriptures of Hinduism including Gita! But there were some exceptions.
During times of King Rama it was primarily path of bhakti following which human beings reached stage of enlightenment and finally salvation. But sages like Jnanavalakya (composer and compiler of Brihadarankya Upanishad) followed path of jnana yoga... path of absolute wisdom! Sage Jnanavalakya and also King Janaka (father of Sita in Ramayana)... both gained enlightenment in their lifetime! And so did Maitreyi... the second dutiful wife of Sage Jnanavalakya.
Along with Bhagavad Gita came various Upanishads (independent treatises) by various learned sages and saints of different era! Most Upanishads deal with different topics related to spirituality and religion! In Hinduism spirituality primarily consisted of teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita and various Upanishads. Religion had nothing to do with spirituality... the path to God Almighty!
Before India gained independence it was a conglomerate of above 600 independent princely states that were bonded together through delicate laws of ethics, morality and godly forces of nature! When Muslim invaders from West attacked India... they had to cross river Indus. As Muslims pronounced H for I... the people living east of river Indus were named Hindus and the religion Hinduism.
Hinduism religion primarily was given to India (erstwhile Bharatvarsha) by Aryans. Those living in upper reaches of Himalayas and searching for God all the time when finding living conditions non-conducive migrated to lower warmer regions. They finally settled in the region called Bharatvarsha (now India)! Hinduism primarily is never termed a religion... it is a way of life!
In present times if one wanted to study Hinduism... one must look forward to scriptural texts relating to spirituality never religion! Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism relates to spirituality never religion. For reaching God Almighty in present life... for gaining enlightenment and salvation... teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita sufficed for humanity in present times.
Furthermore 700 shlokas verses contained in
Bhagavad Gita contained everything from A to Z of Hinduism. Right from origin of cosmos (with occurrence of big
bang) to stage of dissolution of cosmos (termed Pralaya in Hinduism)... all is
contained in sacred Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism. To assimilate pearls of wisdom contained in Bhagavad Gita is
understanding Hinduism in totality. For living physical manifest life in an orderly manner... one could follow any religion, belief or path! But for travelling spiritual journey... the journey of our true inner self... for reaching our soul atman... the spirit within... understanding Hinduism in its entirety was necessitated! How to reach God... is best detailed in sacred Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism... foremost of all sacred scriptures existing on mother earth! Assimilate teachings contained in 700 shlokas verses of Bhagavad Gita and you shall realize self... realize god in this very life! The most sacred part of Hinduism is... for assimilating pearls of wisdom contained in Bhagavad Gita... one need not convert to Hinduism... become a follower of Hinduism! Even while following ones religion... one could ceremoniously follow teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita! The teachings of Bhagavad Gita are universal in nature... have universal appeal! The wisdom of Bhagavad Gita is not a proprietary of Hinduism! Anyone world over could easily follow Hinduism! Jesus Christ did it... and so could others! Hinduism primarily can be divided into three phases... the spiritual phase... the mythological phase and the religious phase! To follow God... to reach God in present life we need following path of spirituality as detailed in Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism! Mythological stories carried no meaning on spiritual path. Through the path of mythology none ever reached God. Religious preaching... teachings also carried no meaning in spiritual world! In present times by following religious traditions none has ever reached God. If we take example of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa or Maharishi Ramana... the true spiritual stalwarts who gained enlightenment in their lifetime... we notice that initially both Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana started their search for God via path of religion... path of rituals... path of bhakti yoga! But finally both Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana realized that they could not reach God via path of bhakti yoga alone. Finally both switched to path of jnana yoga... path of absolute wisdom to reach God in their lifetime! The essence of life always laid in spiritual part of Hinduism... the teachings of Bhagavad Gita! Never by chanting... never by going to temples alone could human beings reach God. To reach God Almighty... one had to follow path of jnana yoga... path of absolute wisdom as detailed in Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism. Apart from Bhagavad Gita one can refer to various Upanishads of which Katha Upanishad, Kena Upanishad, Isa Upanishad and Chandogya Upanishad were main! Hinduism is primarily following path of absolute truthfulness always and ever! Following path of dharma (righteousness) was what Hinduism all about! The central beliefs of karma and yoga meditation formed integral part of Hinduism. Simply indulging in rituals does not mean following Hinduism in its entirety. Hinduism practically was much more than mere rituals like going to temples, praying to idols and indulging in other religious activities! Hinduism no doubt had billions of followers world over... exceeding 1.2 billion and remains the third largest religion on mother earth! Hinduism consists of two large epics... the sacred Ramayana and Mahabharata! Ramayana primarily was a religious document relating to life and times of King Rama! Following Ramayana... is following rituals that carried no meaning in spiritual world. Followers of Ramayana alone could never reach God Almighty in their lifetime! The epic Mahabharata relates to times of Lord Krishna! The epic battle of Mahabharata was fought between Pandava and Kaurava Kings. The Kaurava King Duryodhana wanted to take over entire kingdom by deceit! This was not acceptable to the five Pandava Kings comprising of Arjuna, Yudhisthira, Bhima, Nakula and Sahadeva. This finally resulted in a war of world war magnitude called Mahabharata in Hinduism! Great injuries were inflicted on both sides in this war This war of Mahabharata that was fought between forces of dharma (righteousness) and evil forces of adharma (lawlessness) necessitated coming of avatar... savior... messiah of that era! In absence of Lord Krishna... this war of Mahabharata could have never reached its logical end! When King Arjuna refused to fight his opponents consisting of his maternal grandfather Bhishma Pitamah, his teacher Guru Dronacharya and his near and dear cousins... Lord Krishna intervened with sermon of Bhagavad Gita! Truly Lord Krishna was an avatar of his era (God manifest in human form)! It was during the war of Mahabharata... the entire teachings of Bhagavad Gita were given by Lord Krishna to King Arjuna! By the time the sermon ended... King Arjuna realized his folly! And what did King Arjuna realize... King Arjuna simply realized that as a king he was morally duty-bound to protect his countrymen from ugly happenings of the war! He also realized that the mortal body was just a frame... a unit to work out karma by our soul atman... the spirit within! It is teachings of Bhagavad Gita that tell us... life truly belonged to our soul atman and never the manifest human form! As per Bhagavad Gita our soul atman... the spirit within is the absolute master and controller of all life on mother earth including human beings! At any given moment of time... we were only doing the bidding of our soul atman! Our soul atman only wanted to liberate self from cycle of birth and death forever and reach abode of God Almighty at the earliest. It is Bhagavad Gita that tells us to travel journey of life in a spiritual way! By realizing our soul atman... the spirit within... human beings finally reached stage of enlightenment and salvation! Realization of our true inner self becomes possible by full awakening of kundalini energy, the coiled serpentine energy lying dormant in base of spine! By practice of absolute celibacy for a minimum period of 12 years in continuation human beings finally awakened their Kundalini Shakti fully! The teachings of Bhagavad Gita do not relate to war of Mahabharata alone but form essence of life on mother earth! With passage of time teachings of Bhagavad Gita have not diluted... nor will they ever! The teachings of Bhagavad Gita are eternal. In Hinduism... teachings of Bhagavad Gita form the core! Similar as a human body could not survive without a soul... life on mother earth could not survive for long in absence of Hinduism... the sacred teachings of Bhagavad Gita! The complete teachings of Hinduism rotated around one single concept... that God Almighty is one and only one... termed Brahman in Hinduism! Reaching Brahman in ones lifetime is the essence of life on mother earth! As per doctrine of Hinduism the journey of life always belonged to our soul atman and never the manifest human form. Reincarnation... rebirth carried no meaning in Hinduism! When our soul atman is indestructible... how could it take rebirth... reincarnate! A soul atman only manifests bodies after another! To work out its karma in totality... in its lifetime every soul atman manifested a maximum of 8.4 million bodies of which initial 7.3 million manifestations occurred in insect, plant and animal form. In remaining 1.1 million manifestations in human form... one is expected to travel spiritual path and reach stage of enlightenment and finally salvation moksha! Reaching moksha is the end goal of life for every human being. Vedas that form earliest Hinduism scriptures are direct revelations from God Almighty! The four primary Vedas... Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda are so voluminous that it was difficult for commoners... masses to assimilate teachings of Vedas. With coming of Lord Krishna and his teachings of Bhagavad Gita, essence of all four Vedas was reduced to Bhagavad Gita... which is also termed Vedanta... end of Vedas! In present scientific age... one need not refer to Vedas at all! In present times the
teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita sufficed for human beings to reach stage of enlightenment and salvation. Vedas
primarily contained religious inclinations following which Hindus indulged in sacrifices... pujas! In present
times... such pujas... sacrifices carried no meaning! Indulging in pure wisdom... termed jnana in Hinduism is what Bhagavad Gita
all about! Even before development of science... even before coming of Charles Darwin... even before Albert Einstein was born there existed in Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism the complete scenario of formation of cosmos! Big bang theory of evolution... big bang theory of creation is an absolute fact of life... no intelligent human being could ever deny! Whatever is stated in Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism is explicit proof of theory of creation of the universe. The massive explosion at the time of inception of cosmos was what created the entire cosmos as visible today!
And what caused the big bang? As per the big bang theory detailed in Bhagavad Gita... nothing other than God Almighty exists in cosmos! This has been invariably proved in the doctrine of Maya (veil of illusion) put forward by Adi Shankaracharya... a renowned Hindu sage! How can we say with total confidence that God Almighty was the only truth of life! Other than God Almighty... other than Brahman of Hinduism nothing else existed in cosmos!
The doctrine of Maya (veil of illusion) interprets the whole cosmos as a ball of gas... cloud formation! Broken down to basic building block of cosmos... the whole cosmos is gaseous formation... clusters of atoms and molecules! There was nothing solid in cosmos. Only when perceived from senses point of view... things appeared solid! From a spiritual angle... nothing other than God Almighty existed in cosmos! Nothing other than the lot of all souls’ atmans existed in cosmos!
Furthermore, doctrine of Maya (veil of illusion) put forward by Adi Shankaracharya says... if the present cosmos had a boundary... then what beyond! If the present cosmos does not have a boundary... then Cosmos has to be endless... which it is not! As per doctrine of Maya... the whole cosmos could exist only in the thoughts of God Almighty! This concept of cosmos can only be understood from spiritual point of view... never from religious or scientific angle!
The evidence of universe creation theory... the roots of creation theory of the universe laid in teachings of spirituality contained in Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism! As per Bhagavad Gita... other than souls' atmans nothing else existed in whole cosmos! When comes time for dissolution of entire cosmos (termed Pralaya in Hinduism)... the entire cosmos reduced to the size of half a thumb! The sacred Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism is absolutely clear on this point.
Devoid of all dross impurities within... the entire mass of souls' atmans in cosmos occupied the volume of half a thumb! This mass the size of half a thumb... is what we called God Almighty... Brahman in all its glory! This magnanimous primordial cosmic energy... the size of half a thumb... the collective power of all purified souls atmans in cosmos... unable to contain itself for long in its prime pure state again explodes with a big bang... giving rise to a new cosmos... a new journey of life! In Hinduism a soul is termed atman and God Almighty Brahman.
The theory of creationism as detailed in Hinduism mythology does not depend on fact! God Almighty is not the form of human beings. The present cosmos was not created by Brahma... an attribute of God Almighty! The entire cosmos is not a creation of six days at the hands of God Almighty! Such whimsical statements are not to be... prime reason why the contents of sacred Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism could not be understood by commoners... masses! Even learned scientists world over failed to understand gist of Bhagavad Gita.
The contents of sacred Bhagavad Gita can only be understood by reading in between the lines! By travelling spiritual path... by undertaking spiritual journey any human being world over could easily fathom theory of creation of the universe as detailed in Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism. Those who could not travel spiritual path... those who preferred religious path than spiritual journey could never understand intricacies of big bang theory of evolution as detailed in Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism! The contents of Bhagavad Gita can only be understood by seekers of spirituality!
In Hinduism there is no dearth of sacred literature! However teachings of Bhagavad Gita prevailed above all other scriptures of Hinduism including Vedas and Upanishads. Believing in religious rhetoric one could never reach absolute truth about proof of creation theory as detailed in Bhagavad Gita! Truths of Bhagavad Gita only unveiled to those who had the power of absolute truthfulness behind them! It was truth and only truth that sages of earlier era invoked Hinduism revelations directly from God Almighty!
The path of truthfulness played a very pivotal role in Hinduism! One just could not travel spiritual path unless one was truthful in life! The entire gist of Bhagavad Gita... the original doctrine of Bhagavad Gita given to mankind by Lord Krishna is available for mere $.60 (Rs. 30/=) from Gita press, Gorakhpur, India. This highly subsidized publication from Gita press, Gorakhpur, India is available with English transliteration for the benefit of English speaking masses! The entire details of big bang theory of creation could be had for $.60 (Rs. 30/=)... something truly unbelievable!
Mythology in Hinduism was never meant for spiritual travellers... seekers of God Almighty! Hinduism Mythology totally relates to religious practices... rituals! For fathoming depth of Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism... undertaking spiritual journey was an absolute must! We had to reach the core of life... truth of our soul atman... the spirit within!
As per Bhagavad Gita the creation of cosmos is a repetitive process! After trillions and trillions of years into the future when escape velocity of cosmos reduces in comparison to gravitational pull of cosmos... the present cosmos would stop expanding! This would announce contraction of cosmos... dissolution of cosmos in entirety. At this stage as per Bhagavad Gita every single soul atman in cosmos reached its last manifest stage... the 8.4 millionth manifestation!
Does it mean every single manifest form at
the time of dissolution of cosmos reached stage of salvation moksha... yes, the cosmic truth is so! Drained of
dross impurities within... the entire volume of souls' atmans occupied the size of half a thumb! This cosmic
power eventually again explodes with a big bang... resulting in creation of a new cosmos!
Hinduism religion is primarily not a religion... it is also called "a way of life"! For all practical purposes the foundation of Hinduism was laid during the Vedic era when learned sages of that era invoked eternal messages from God Almighty... Hinduism revelations that were finally termed Vedas! All four primary Vedas... Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda are the primary Hinduism scriptures... holy books that were initially revealed to mankind by God Almighty! Hinduism primarily is a conglomerate of various faiths, beliefs and practices! The holy books of Hinduism consisted of Vedas, the epic Ramayana and Mahabharata, the sacred Bhagavad Gita and various Upanishads apart from Puranas, Itihasas, Agamas and Darshanas. Amongst all Hinduism scriptures... the wisdom contained in sacred Bhagavad Gita is the foremost! It is following teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita human beings finally gained enlightenment and salvation moksha! In present times enlightenment and salvation could never be achieved via path of religion... path of rituals! By following teachings contained in Vedas and Upanishads alone human beings could never reach stage of enlightenment in present scientific age! Both Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana initially started in search of God via path of religion... path of bhakti... path of rituals but finally both switched to path of jnana yoga... path of absolute wisdom! Wisdom of Bhagavad Gita played a pivotal role in human beings reaching end of cosmic life. As per Hinduism even before start of any religion existed Dharma (righteousness)... "Your right to do what is just and right and not what was destined". This Dharma formed basis of life on mother earth in the initial stages of life. During times of King Rama when no religion existed life was primarily governed by Dharma... that inherent aspect of life that existed in all living beings from the beginning of time! It is Dharma that compels us to live life morally and ethically! The principles of dharma also existed in lower species like birds and animals! In Hinduism... the statement "who was the founder of Hinduism" did not play any significant role! Life in Hinduism primarily remained governed by wisdom contained in Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads! Believers of religion and rituals followed teachings contained in Vedas and other religious scriptural texts. Everyone in Hinduism had something to follow whether religious or spiritual! Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism was a purely spiritual text... having nothing to do with rituals! Who were the sages and saints of earlier era who invoked Hinduism revelations of Vedas? When
conditions were not conducive for living in higher regions of Himalayas... Aryan tribes migrated towards erstwhile
Bharatvarsha (now India). These Aryans along with local wise invoked the first sacred teachings of Vedas! Even
though Hinduism does not have an individual founder... still, the initial messages of God Almighty were first
invoked by these Aryans tribes! Historically... from a spiritual angle... Aryans were the first to lay seeds of
wisdom in Bharatvarsha (now India)! More on Hinduism founder Simply chanting praises to pay obeisance to God Almighty... to please God Almighty never meant anything. Bhakti yoga can only be performed by one who had absolute faith in God Almighty. Absolute faith in God was always one-sided... it meant total surrender to God Almighty. It was always unconditional... unparalleled! Mira Bai had an unwavering... unconditional.... unparalleled faith in Lord Krishna. She was a true example of bhakti movement in India.
In the early ages... during times of Vedas (Hinduism revelations)... people indulged in bhakti to reach God. The meditation mode of self enquiry was practically non-existent during those times. Just by offering sincere prayers... chanting hymns in praise of God Almighty people succeeded in reaching God. During mediaeval times... renowned saints of that era like Eknath, Namdev, Sant Tukaram, Sant Kabir and Sant Jnaneshwar... all reached God in their lifetime.
Singing bhajans (devotional spiritual songs) all the time... these sages and saints finally merged their inner self with supreme self... God Almighty himself! Devotion to God always is one-sided. None could practice bhakti in absence of total surrender to God Almighty. Indulging in karma nishkama karma way is what bhakti mode of meditation is all about. When we offered fruits of our karma to God Almighty all the time... we truly reached God in our lifetime.
Bhakti form of yoga is distinct from indulgence in religious rituals that truly carried no meaning in spiritual progress. Bhakti form of yoga can only be indulged by one who had willpower of total submission to God Almighty. Expressing absolute faith in God Almighty... all these saints of mediaeval times finally reached God. A true Bhakta is one who completely surrenders to God Almighty... one who can negate karma to zero in totality.
In present times... in the present scientific age practising bhakti as detailed in Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism was not possible... prime reason why both Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana... who initially started in search of God via path of bhakti yoga finally switched to path of jnana yoga... path of absolute wisdom! In present Kali Yuga... Dark Age... metal age God can only be reached via path of contemplation... self enquiry... Neti (not this, not this)!
Bhakti Hinduism is truly a phenomenal concept but its practice is very difficult... almost impossible in present times. Only an ardent seeker of spirituality... one like Swami Vivekananda can finally succeed in reaching God in present times. Swami Vivekananda was not a follower of bhakti path of Hinduism. He indulged in contemplation on God Almighty via path of jnana yoga that entailed self enquiry... path of Neti (not this, not this).
Just because Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa said it... was not believed by Swami Vivekananda! He always reached the ultimate answer through path of contemplation. Only when he realized that Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa was truly an enlightened soul ... did he become his favorite pupil (shisya). For Swami Vivekananda... search for God Almighty was always one-sided. He never believed in anyone other than his own self enquiry.
For a true practitioner of bhakti yoga... the immediate family carried no meaning! A true Bhakta always becomes so engrossed in singing spiritual hymns related to God Almighty that one forgets everything on mother earth. Pace by pace... step-by-step a true Bhakta finally went ahead in spiritual journey of life. Contemplating on God Almighty all the time... a true practitioner of bhakti finally reached God.
Bhakti in Hinduism has no parallel in
mankind. Never in any other religion had human beings reached God via path of bhakti yoga.
 Subscribe
Weekly Newsletter "Spiritual Secrets Unveiled"Whats more... it is free. You would love you did!
Hear Vijay Kumar speak on Brahmacharya kya hai - What is Celibacy:
Hear Vijay Kumar speak on Samudra Manthan ki gatha - Samudra Manthan story:
Hear Vijay Kumar speak on Kundalini Jagran for aam aadmi - Kundalini Awakening: | |||||||
Top of page
Delicious
Digg
Facebook
Twitter
Reddit
© Copyright 2004-2018, vijaykumar.org. All rights reserved.