A quick start on Hinduism, its basic scriptures and Gods are included.

A Quick Start on Hinduism: What is Sanatana Dharma?

Rig Veda says: “Ekam Sat, Viprah Bahudha Vadanti”, which means that there is only One God (Truth) and people see Him (It) differently.

A lot of Western books with information on Hinduism lack a quick start introduction, which appears very useful in situations like when you want to assemble a computer. If you start reading comprehensive information like what is DDR-RAM or AGP, you may keep “assembling” your PC even for months. But if you a have quick information guide with info like which slot/socket serves which component, you have good prospects to assemble your PC even within 10 minutes. The goal of this quick start intro is to use a similar approach for Hinduism. What is the spine of Sanatana Dharma – one of the oldest religions of the world?

A simple question, isn’t it? Let’s answer it simply too. First of all, it is living with the principles of this beautiful Universe (and nature, of course); many outwardly complicated things are simple from within and are only made “complicated” by people who want to mask their purpose to manipulate others. Many “Coca Cola Gurus” appear around with this goal.

Hinduism is very old. It is a hybrid corpus within the body of which many different opinions, even the contradictory ones, can coexist peacefully with one another. If someone tries to define this nonmonolithic hybrid with “Western thinking”, he or she will usually write a definite nonsense. Thus, it is not an easy thing to try to define Hinduism. But a good thing is to draw it near to the eyes of novices or those who prefer few minutes to several hundred hours of unorganized talks.

“Sanatana” means eternal, never ending and never starting… The word “Dharma” means a Way to Liberation; it is also the God of Justice. Sanatana Dharma is eternal community.

Sanatana Dharma or Dharma is a religion revealed by Gods in the ancient history of our earth, several thousand years before Christ. For followers of Dharma the Vedas and the epics like Ramayana or Mahabharata are the same what Holy Bible to Christians and Holy Qur’an to Muslims. Hinduism differs from Western (and European) style of thinking, which – on a philosophical premise – does not solve existential problems for most of the time (except for Christianity) but rather makes huge knots of interpretations even of the simplest things and nurtures various “conceptions”, whose purpose is to put their coarse “interlocking approach” with its tangled definitions almost everywhere. Have you ever read a book about who is faster – a turtle or Achilles? Don’t smile… Such books do really exist (not only with the verbatim title of the above example)!

Sanatana does not have one founder; it does not have one theological system; it consists of a variety of religious groups that had come into being many thousand years ago, and which gradually evolved and are evolving even today. Like every religion, it has false and enlightened teachers. As it is difficult to judge many aspects of ancient wisdoms, a “guru” is often chosen to help followers grasp the astuteness of Gods. Dharma is a theistic religion. Some teachers became generally accepted, for example, a famous Indian philosopher Adi Shankar, as well as many others.

The difference between Hinduism and other religions like Christianity and Islam.

Hinduism is a diverse, nonmonolithic theistic religion and a body of various views.

Christianity (only Christ is in the focus) and Islam are monolithic with exception of Buddhism, which is less monolithic and for which gods are not so important.

Moksha

The goal of Dharma is moksha – it is the final state of a soul that liberates itself from the circle of reincarnations and unites with the Devas – Higher Beings. A path to this liberation is contoured in Hindu scriptures and brought closer via instructions of gurus, who often do not share the same views among themselves. Moksha results in Absolute Peace (Shanti), Absolute Knowledge (Videh), Absolute Enlightenment (Kaivalya) and Absolute Bliss (Swarga).

Within the concept of Sanatana Dharma, there are Absolute Gods – Trimurti or the Holy Trinity in simple words: Brahma – Creator, Vishnu – Preserver, Shiva – Destroyer (though this label can be deceptive, as Shiva and Vishnu appear in many roles and any of them can be seen as the Supreme God). However, there are also groups that emphasize Parvati, Skanda, Ganesh, or even Surya as Absolute Gods. People may also choose their own gods, or their forms (like Kali, for example).

Four Yugas

Dharma’s view on the development of our macro age is based upon the conception of four ages; every age is called “Yuga”.
These are (solar years):
1) Satya Yuga (1,728,000 years)
2) Treta Yuga (1,296,000 years)
3) Dwapar Yuga (864,000 years)
4) Kali Yuga (432,000 years)

What is Trimurti?

It is the Holy Trinity of Gods: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Followers of Vishnu are Vaishnavists and followers of Shiva are Shaivists. These Gods also have their sectarian followers (not mentioned here).

Other important Gods

Shiva has two sons, who are worshipped separately by some groups as Absolute Gods. One is Ganesh and another one is Murugan. There are also sectarian followers of Ganesh (Ganapatyas) and followers of Murugan (Kaumaram). But I should not forget to mention followers of Durga – Devi Mata (female principle). The concept of Durga comes from Shaivism and ancient tribal prehistoric forms of devotion that developed many thousands years before Christ, whose rationale was to worship female attributes of nature. People in India also worship several other gods like Hanuman, a monkey god (a representation of Lord Shiva), or Surya – the sun God, who had His worshippers in ancient Iran as well. Some gods disappeared from the mainstream denominations.

Brahma

The Hindu Trimurti starts with Brahma, who was (is) the Creator. Certain denominations have different opinions (Shaivists may understand Brahma to be the energy of Lord Shiva who created the universe). In order to produce a human race (legends say), Brahma created a goddess from Himself, who was a half-man and a half-woman – Gayatri, also known to many as Saraswati. Today, she is acknowledged as the goddess of wisdom, arts, knowledge, and music (she is often pictured with veena, a kind of Indian lyre). Saraswati is a Brahma’s consort similarly like Lakshmi is a Vishnu’s and Parvati a Shiva’s consort.

In India, there are only few well-known temples dedicated to this God in contradiction to thousands of temples dedicated to Lord Shiva or Lord Ganesh.

Brahma was cursed, legends say. In one such a legend, the great priest Bhrigus cursed Brahma. Bhrigus prepared for a very big sacrifice and decided to invite the Highest Gods too. When he came to Brahma, He was so immersed to music He heard from Saraswati playing her veena that He did not hear him. Angry Bhrigus cursed Brahma – “no one shall ever worship You”, he said. It appears that this really happened.

Vishnu

Vishnu is the Supreme God for the Vaishnava denomination.

1) The first incarnation of Vishnu was “Matsya” or Fish. There is also Matsya Purana.
2) The second was Kurma or Turtle.
3) The third is Varaha or a Boar; Vishnu killed a bad demon in this form, saved the Vedas from the bottom of the ocean, which He brought back here.
4) The fourth is Narasingha (often the word Narasimha is also used) – a half-man and half-lion (a parallel to Egyptian sphinx?).
5) The fifth is Vamana, or a “dwarf incarnation”.
6) The sixth is Parasurama.
7) The seventh is Rama, who killed a bad demon Ravana, who kidnapped His consort Sita. The entire story is written in Ramayana.
8) The eighth is Krishna.
9) The ninth is Buddha, but some say that it could be Jesus as well.
10) And the last one is Kalki, the coming of whom is yet expected at the end of Kali Yuga; Kalki will destroy darkness on earth and will establish justice.

The most known Bhagavad-Gita is a book taken out of Mahabharata (there are also other Gitas), as it has an exceptional value, because Lord Krishna appears to Arjuna and reveals Himself to him. It is a book about struggles between two royal family clans – the Pandus and the Kurus. The Kurus used trickery to deprave the Pandus of any participation in the shared kingdom – they had always planned to reap the whole empire from the Pandus. They had lured them to play dice and depraved them of their possessions and status, and finally expelled them to the woods. Later, the Pandus came back, as their coming was legal – that is, the number of years determined for their exile expired. Krishna gets involved and patiently explains to the Kurus that the war should be avoided. He has no success. Finally, Krishna and Arjuna have a deep philosophical discussion in which Krishna reveals Himself to Arjuna; He even shows him His four hands. Arjuna, a member of the Pandu family clan, is doubtful of what the war might bring and Krishna explains to him that the soul is actually immortal. The war starts and ends with the Kurus being totally defeated.

Vishnu’s vehicle is Garuda (a large mythical bird).

Shiva

Shiva is the best yogi, tantric and meditator. For Shaivists, Shiva is the Supreme Deity.

The worship of Shiva in the pan-Hindu tradition is supposed to have been the oldest one. He has several attributes, of which few are here.

Attributes of Lord Shiva

1) Rudraksha beads: These beads, as legends say, have their origin in Shiva tears, from which rudraksha trees emerged. Rudraksha beads – natural products of these trees, are used to form a sacred Shaiva rosary with 108 beads.

2) Third eye: Shiva is often depicted with a third eye.

3) Serpents: Shiva is often shown garlanded with snakes.

5) Trident: Shiva’s weapon is the trident.

6) Ashes: Shiva smears His body with ashes.

7) Nandi: the Bull (as Shiva’s vehicle).

8) Holy Mountain Kailash in Tibet: Shiva’s abode.

Shiva is the God of paradoxes.

The fundamentals of Hindu literature

Some Slavic and Sanskrit words are almost identical. In Slovak, “veda” is science (wisdom, knowledge), which is the same (in writing, meaning, and pronunciation) as the Sanskrit word “Veda”. “Swarog”, a pan-Slavic Sun God, sounds similar to “Swarga” (Sanskrit word related to heaven, bliss, etc.). In Slavic languages, the word for God is “Boh” or “Bog” (Russian, Polish…) – similar to the Sanskrit word “Bhaga” (lord).

The spine of the Dharma scriptures consists of the following vertebras:

There is a lot of information in English Wikipedia, but its organization is not so tight. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_scriptures

The absolute scriptures

I. Shruti (Sruti), the God’s word (a cosmic sound of Truth that was once heard). Here are the four Vedas:

1. Rig Veda; 2. Yajur Veda; 3. Sama Veda; 4. Atharva Veda.

The Vedas are poetical hymns about Gods; they have their subgroups: Aranyakas, Brahmanas, and Upanishads.

Aranyakas discuss philosophy and sacrifice.

Brahmanas are commentaries to the Vedas. Every Veda has its Brahmana.

Upanishads discuss philosophy and nature of God; they bring the secret meanings of the Vedas to light. The source from Wikipedia says that the following 11 belong to the class of the “key Upanishads”:

1. Aitareya, 2. Brhadaranyaka, 3. Isa, 4. Taittiriya, 5. Katha, 6. Chandogya, 7. Kena, 8. Mundaka, 9. Mandukya, 10. Prashna, 11. Svetasvatara.

The following section differs from the above one in varied assortment approaches depending on religious groups that follow particular ideas or paths.

II. Smriti – the God’s word that was remembered. Four Upavedas belong here:

A)

1) Ayurveda – about “science and health”; it belongs to Rig Veda; 2) Dhanurveda – about “military skills”; it belongs to Yajur Veda; 3) Gandharva Veda – about “art and science”, it belongs to Sama Veda; 4) Arthashastra – “science about politics and economics” (Atharvaveda).

B)

Six Vedangas – organs of the Vedas:

1. Siksha – phonetics, 2. Vyakarana – grammar, 3. Chhandas – prosody (melodies of speech, etc.); 4. Nirukta – etymology; 5. Jyotisha – astronomy and astrology; 6. Kalpa – methods for various rituals.

III. Sacred epics (Itihasas)

Ramayana and Mahabharata.

IV. Puranas (sacred legends and history)

A) 18 main Puranas or Mahapuranas

1. Bhagavata Purana (written some 1300 years before Christ). It is about the life of Krishna (18,000 verses), 2. Vishnu Purana (23,000 verses), 3. Naradiya Purana (25,000 verses), 4. Garuda (Suparna) Purana (19,000 verses), 5. Padma Purana (55,000 verses), 6. Varaha Purana (10,000 verses), 7. Brahma Purana (24,000 verses), 8. Brahmanda Purana (12,000 verses), 9. Brahma Vaivarta Purana (18,000 verses), 10. Markandeya Purana (9,000 verses), 11. Bhavishya Purana (14,500 verses), 12. Vamana Purana (10,000 verses), 13. Matsya Purana (14,000 verses), 14. Kurma Purana (17,000 verses), 15. Linga Purana (11,000 verses), 16. Shiva Purana (24,000 verses), 17. Skanda Purana (81,100 verses), 18. Agni Purana (15,400 verses).

These are also divided into categories that fall under one of the Trimurti Gods: Brahma, Vishnu, or Shiva. Shakta denomination has its own category. Some of the above Puranas may be classified differently, for example, Markandeya Purana as glorification of the Great Goddess.

B) 18 Upapuranas (standing near Mahapuranas, “upa” – near)

These are:

1. Sanat Kumara, 2. Narasimha, 3. Brihannaradiya, 4. Sivarahasya, 5. Durvasa, 6. Kapila, 7. Vamana, 8. Bhargava, 9. Varuna, 10. Kalika, 11. Samba, 12. Nandi, 13. Surya, 14. Parashara, 15. Vasishtha, 16. Devi-Bhagavata, 17. Ganesha, 18. Hamsa.

C) Specific Puranas, for example, Tamil Puranas like Shiva Purana or Periya Purana (this part may be extended to a much larger number).

V. Agamas (manuals for sacred worship)

VI. “Six philosophies” or “Upa Vedangas”

Yoga belongs here, for example.

VII. Other texts

In addition to the above texts, there are many other scriptures, for example, various Gitas like: Brahma Gita (from Skanda Purana), Shiva Gita (from Padma Purana), or even Surya Gita, etc.

VIII. Secular texts of spiritual touch

1) Stories of wise recommendations, or opinions written by various authors in various periods of the Indian history, or even recently; 2) Poetry; 3) Dramas; 4) Speeches, 5) Tales, 6) Philosophy, 7) Psychology.

Conclusion

Many Hindu websites write that Ganesh is the God of all people. If you ask: who may be a follower of Dharma? The answer is: just anybody who follows, with pure heart, the principles of the above bequests. Dharma is in harmony with nature. Nature’s rules are such that flowers do not run after bees, but bees come flying to flowers. If you see Coca Cola gurus running after you with thousands of billboards everywhere inviting you to “meditate”, be skeptical! It is enough for you to start reading some of the above holy books and pray a few moments every day. The point of Dharma is that you become a bee, not an insect. Only then can you take advantage of the scent and beauty of the flora.

Copyright (c) Juraj Sipos

Website: freebsd.nfo.sk

In Hinduism Saraswati (Sanskrit: सरस्वती sarasvatī) is the goddess of knowledge, musicand the arts. She is the consort of Brahma. Saraswati is considered to be the “mother of the Vedas”.

The name Saraswati came from “saras” (meaning “flow”) and “wati” (meaning “a woman”). So, Saraswati is symbol of knowledge; its flow (or growth) is like a river and knowledge is supremely alluring, like a beautiful woman.

Saraswati is known as a guardian deity in Buddhism who upholds the teachings of Gautama Buddha by offering protection and assistance to practitioners. She is known in Burmese asThurathadi (သူရဿတီ, pronounced [θùja̰ðədì] or [θùɹa̰ðədì]) or TipitakaMedaw(တိပိဋကမယ်တော်, pronounced [tḭpḭtəka̰ mɛ̀dɔ̀]), Chinese as Biàncáitiān (辯才天), in Thaias Surasawadee (สุรัสวดี) and in Japanese as Benzaiten (弁才天/弁財天).

In Durga Puja in Bengal, Saraswati is considered to be a daughter of Durga along with her sister Lakshmi and her brothers Ganesha and Karthikeya.

Mythology

In the Rigveda, Saraswati is a river as well as its personification as a goddess. In the post-Vedic age, she began to lose her status as a river goddess and became increasingly associated with literature, arts, music, etc. In Hinduism, Saraswati represents intelligence, consciousness, cosmic knowledge, creativity, education, enlightenment, music, the arts, and power. Hindus worship her not only for “secular knowledge”, but for “divine knowledge” essential to achieve moksha.

In some Puranas (like Skanda Purana) she is sister of Shiva (Shivaanujaa) and in some Tantras with Ganesha.

The original (spiritual) forms of devas including Saraswati are present in the spiritual world:

Accompanied by Lakshmi and other associates, the chatur-vyuha [Four Expansions] headed by Lord Vasudeva are manifest in the eight directions, beginning with the east. In the directions beginning with the southeast, the palaces of Lakshmi, Saraswati, Rati, and Kanti respectively are situated.[4][clarification needed]

According to Vedanta she is considered to be the feminine energy and knowledge aspect (Shakti) of Brahman, as one of many aspects of Adi Shakti.

Maha Saraswati

In the Devi Mahatmya, Saraswati is in the trinity of Maha Kali, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Saraswati. She is depicted as eight-armed.

Her dhyāna shloka given at the beginning of the Fifth chapter of Devi Mahatmya is:

Wielding in her lotus-hands the bell, trident, ploughshare, conch, pestle, discus, bow, and arrow, her lustre is like that of a moon shining in the autumn sky. She is born from the body of Gowri and is the sustaining base of the three worlds. That Mahasaraswati I worship here who destroyed Sumbha and other asuras.[5]

Mahavidya Nila Saraswati

Nilasaraswati is another form of Mahavidya Tara. There are separate dhyana shlokas and mantras for her worship in Tantrasara.[6]

Iconography

The goddess Saraswati is often depicted as a beautiful, light-skinned woman dressed in pure white often seated on a white Nelumbo nucifera, which symbolizes that she is founded in the experience of the Absolute Truth. Thus, she not only has the knowledge but also the experience of the Highest Reality. She is mainly associated with the color white, which signifies the purity of true knowledge. Occasionally, however, she is also associated with the colour yellow, the colour of the flowers of the mustard plant that bloom at the time of her festival in the spring. She is not adorned heavily with jewels and gold, unlike the goddess Lakshmi, but is dressed modestly — representing her preference of knowledge over worldly material things.[7]

She is generally shown to have four arms, which represent the four aspects of human personality in learning: mind, intellect, alertness, and ego. Alternatively, these four arms also represent the 4 Vedas, the primary sacred books for Hindus. The Vedas, in turn, represent the 3 forms of literature:

• Poetry — the Rigveda contains hymns, representing poetry
• Prose — Yajurveda contains prose
• Music — Samaveda represents music.

The four hands also depict this thus — prose is represented by the book in one hand, poetry by the garland of crystal, music by the veena. The pot of sacred water represents purity in all of these three, or their power to purify human thought.

She is shown to hold the following in her hands:

• A book, which is the sacred Vedas, representing the universal, divine, eternal, and true knowledge as well as her perfection of the sciences and the scriptures.
• A mālā (rosary) of crystals, representing the power of meditation and spirituality.
• A pot of sacred water, representing creative and purification powers.
• The vina, a musical instrument that represents her perfection of all arts and sciences. Saraswati is also associated with anurāga, the love for and rhythm of music which represents all emotions and feelings expressed in speech or music. It is believed that children born with that name will prove to be very lucky in their studies.

A hamsa is often located next to her feet. The sacred bird, if offered a mixture of milk and water, is said to be able to drink the milk alone. It thus symbolizes discrimination between the good and the bad or the eternal and the evanescent. Due to her association with the bird, Saraswati is also referred to as Hamsavahini, which means “she who has a hamsa as her vehicle”.

She is usually depicted near a flowing river, which may be related to her early history as a river goddess.

Sometimes a peacock is shown beside the goddess. The peacock represents arrogance and pride over its beauty, and by having a peacock as her mount, the Goddess teaches not to be concerned with external appearance and to be wise regarding the eternal truth.

Sarasvati Puja in Eastern India

In the eastern part of India, Odisha,West Bengal, Bihār and Assam, Saraswati Puja is celebrated in the Magha month (January–February). It coincides with Vasant Panchami or Shree Panchami i.e. the 5th day of the bright fortnight of the lunar month of Magha. People place books near the Goddess’ statue or picture and worship the Goddess. Book reading is not allowed on this day.

Sarasvati Puja in South India

In the southern states of India, Saraswati Puja is conducted during the Navaratri. Navaratri literally means “Nine Nights”. But the actual celebrations continue during the 10th day which is considered as Vijaya Dashami or the Victorious Tenth Day. Navaratri starts with the new moon day of the bright fortnight of the Sharad Ritu (Sharad Season of the six seasons of India) during September–October. The festival celebrates the power of the feminine aspect of divinity or shakti. The last two or three days are dedicated to Goddess Saraswati in South India.

In Tamil Nadu, Sarasvati Puja is conducted along with the Ayudha Puja (the worship of weapons, and implements including machines). On the ninth day of Navaratri, i.e. the Mahanavami day, books and all musical instruments are ceremoniously kept in front of the Goddess Sarasvati early at dawn and worshipped with special prayers. No studies or any performance of arts is carried out, as it is considered that the Goddess herself is blessing the books and the instruments. The festival concludes on the tenth day of Navaratri (Vijaya Dashami) and the Goddess is worshipped again before the books and the musical instruments are removed. It is customary to start the study afresh on this day, which is called Vidyarambham

In Kerala, the last three days of the Navaratri festival, i.e. Ashtami, Navami, and Dashami are celebrated as Sarasvati Puja. The celebrations start with the Puja Veypu (Placing for Worship). It consists of placing the books for Pooja on the Ashtami day. It may be in one’s own house, in the local Nursery School run by traditional teachers, or in the local temple. The books will be taken out for reading, after worship, only on the morning of the third day (Vijaya Dashami). It is called Puja Eduppu (Taking [from] Puja). Children are happy since they are not expected to study on these days. On the Vijaya Dashami day, Kerala celebrates the Ezhuthiniruthu or Initiation of Writing for the little children before they are admitted to nursery schools. This is also called Vidyarambham. The child is made to write for the first time on the rice spread in a plate with the index finger, guided by an elder of the family or by a reputed teacher. The little ones will have to write “Hari Shri Ganapataye Namah” and recite the same to mark the auspicious entry in to the world of education. This is considered a memorable event in the life of a person. In some parts of Kerala bordering Tamil Nadu, Ayudha Puja is also conducted during this period.

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