Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices (The Library of Religious Beliefs and Practices) Read online

  Hindus

  Julius Lipner's Hindus is widely recognized as essential reading for everyone wishing to understand one of the world's great religious traditions. Hinduism comprises the religion and culture of the great majority of the people of India, a country tipped to become a world superpower politically, economically and culturally in the course of the present century. The vast array of diverse beliefs and practices usually described as ‘Hindu’ has been notoriously difficult to corral under a single regulating theme. Julius Lipner provides not only a wide-ranging introduction to Hindu religious and cultural diversity but also suggests a way to characterize Hinduism as a distinct tradition that has survived and adapted to changing circumstances from ancient times to the present day. Lipner is a recognized authority on Hinduism's polycentric emphasis, and his book is based on a lifetime of research and personal experience of his subject.

  In this thoroughly revised and substantially enlarged second edition, students of Hinduism will find more coverage of the debate about Hindu origins, the nature and practice of Hindu worship, the role of women, the scope of dharma and morality, Hindu philosophical thought and the use of reason, and the way caste functions.

  Julius Lipner was born and raised in India, where he learned about Hinduism first hand. He has been teaching Hinduism at the University of Cambridge since 1975, and has lectured widely on the subject, travelling regularly to India to undertake research. He is the author of numerous publications, including The Face of Truth: A Study of Meaning and Metaphysics in the Vedantic Theology of Ramanuja, and Anandamath, or The Sacred Brotherhood. He is a Fellow of the British Academy.

  The Library of Religious Beliefs and Practices

  Series editors:

  John Hinnells and the late Ninian Smart

  This series provides pioneering and scholarly introductions to different religions in a readable form. It is concerned with the beliefs and practices of religions in their social, cultural and historical setting. Authors come from a variety of backgrounds and approach the study of religious beliefs and practices from their different points of view. Some focus mainly on questions of history, teachings, customs and ritual practices. Others consider, within the context of a specific region, the interrelationships between religions; the interaction of religion and the arts; religion and social organisation; the involvement of religion in political affairs; and, for ancient cultures, the interpretation of archaeological evidence. In this way the series brings out the multi-disciplinary nature of the study of religion. It is intended for students of religion, philosophy, social sciences and history, and for the interested lay person.

  Other titles in the series include:

  Mahayana Buddhism

  The Doctrinal Foundations

  Revised Second Edition

  Paul Williams

  Muslims

  Their Religious Beliefs and Practices

  Andrew Rippin

  Religions of Oceania

  Tony Swain and Garry Trompf

  Theravada Buddhism

  A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo

  Revised Second Edition

  Richard Gombrich

  Zoroastrians

  Their Religious Beliefs and Practices

  Mary Boyce

  Hindus

  Their religious beliefs and practices

  Second edition

  Julius Lipner

  First published 2010

  by Routledge

  2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

  Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

  by Routledge

  711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

  Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

  ©2010 Julius Lipner

  Typeset in Jenson by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

  British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data

  A catalog record for this book has been requested

  ISBN13:978–0–415–45676–0 (hbk)

  ISBN13:978–0–415–45677–7 (pbk)

  ISBN13:978–0–203–86464–7 (ebk)

  This second edition of Hindus is dedicated to the memory

  of my father, Vojtech Lipner (1916–2008).

  tajjīvanaṃ pathadarśako dīpa

  ‘His life a lamp to show the way.’

  Contents

  Preface to the second edition and procedural note

  Map of India showing some important sacred sites

  1

  About ‘Hindu’, Hinduism and this book

  Part I

  Guiding voices

  2

  The voice of scripture as Veda (I): performing the Word

  3

  The voice of scripture as Veda (II): discerning the Word

  4

  The voice of scripture as Veda and ‘Veda’

  5

  The voice of tradition: smṛti and its divisions (I)

  6

  The voice of tradition: smṛti and its divisions (II)

  7

  The voice of tradition: caste and its realities

  8

  The voice of tradition: itihāsa and sacred narrative

  9

  The voice of tradition: folklore and the intellectual heritage

  10

  The voice of experience

  Part II

  Reason and morality

  11

  A story with a tale

  12

  Morality and the person;the belief in karma and rebirth

  Part III

  Images of time, space, and eternity

  13

  Reckoning time and ‘progress’

  14

  The Sacred and its forms

  15

  Ways, means and ends

  Concluding postscript

  Select glossary

  Notes

  Select bibliography

  Index

  Preface to the second edition and procedural note

  I am glad to know, of course, that this book is seeing a second edition. It was first published in 1994. I have taken the opportunity to thoroughly revise and substantially enlarge the book, making use of further research and reflection on the subject undertaken (by myself and others) in the intervening years. I have, on the whole, maintained the original structure, tone and approach of the book, trying to introduce religious Hinduism, at some depth, as a tradition that engages reflectively with the world. There is both a restraint in this tradition and a joie de vivre that results in a unique approach to worldly living, expressed through a multitude of ways and emphases. At the end, in a concluding postscript, I have sought to bring to a head the regulating theme of this book – an orientation that I call ‘polycentrism’, which is a way of survival and propagation, and which, I maintain, is at least a defining characteristic of the phenomenon we are pleased to call ‘Hinduism’.

  How to read this book? The (dogged) reader is welcome to start at the beginning and end at the end, of course, but this modus procede
ndi is not required. The book is amply cross-referenced; there is also a fairly detailed index. On consulting this signage, the reader can proceed to read topic-wise. Thus, if one wishes to follow my thoughts on image-worship and its rationale, one may be advised to go directly to Chapter 14; if the reader wishes to know what I have said about caste, it might be appropriate to begin with Chapters 6 and 7. The Veda and its development is the theme of Chapters 2–4. Karma and rebirth is discussed principally in Chapter 12. Dharma is discussed throughout the book, but its outworking is analysed especially in Chapter 11 – similarly, for such topics as sacred narrative (Chapter 8), bhakti (Chapter 15), historiography in Hinduism (Chapter 13) and so on (these focuses are signalled in the index). Since I adopt what I call a ‘radial’ approach, recourse to the index, and (as one reads on) follow-through of cross-references, will amplify what the book has to say in other chapters on the subject(s) concerned. There is also a glossary for significant Sanskrit terms used in the text.

  Once again, I am grateful for the work and advice of colleagues from around the world in my continuing labours to understand this complex but exhilarating tradition; in particular, I would like to mention Pradip Bhattacharya, John L. Brockington, and John D. Smith, for their constant willingness to supply information. For the use made of all the help received, however, only I am accountable. I am grateful too to generations of students for compelling me on numerous occasions to clarify my thinking and dig ever deeper into the subject (all those ingenuous but potentially barbed questions!). I must mention too the helpful conversations I had, not so long ago, with Arie Langstraat and Paul Higdon during rugged coach journeys across large tracts of the subcontinent; these helped clarify my mind further about the intricacies of polycentrism. Finally, it is a pleasure to express my gratitude to Lesley Riddle, the commissioning editor of this book, for encouragement and support in bringing to a conclusion what often seemed a daunting task. Thanks also to her team, especially to Amy Grant and Caroline Watson, for their courtesy and efficiency in seeing the book through to completion. And thanks once again to John Hinnells, who, all those years ago, got me to write the first edition of this book. The dedication of this second edition means a great deal to me.

  Julius Lipner

  Divinity Faculty

  University of Cambridge

  Spring 2009

  Map of India showing some important sacred sites

  1

  About ‘Hindu’, Hinduism and this book

  The ‘books-on-Hinduism’ industry is as busy as ever, so that in an apparently saturated market, we must ask: is there room for another? The answer must be: surely yes. Not necessarily for this particular book, of course, but in theory for an endless stream of books. It can be argued that Hinduism – or the plural reality labelled as such – has been a major cultural phenomenon for well over 4000 years. It has regularly produced men and women down the ages who have made outstanding contributions across the range of the civilized human endeavour that we have come to value in our increasingly cross-cultural world: in religion and philosophy, in the sciences and the fine arts, in physical, technical and literary skills. Outstanding Hindus apart, Hinduism has sustained and oriented every aspect of the lives of countless ordinary people. It has played a crucial part in the rise of at least two great religions – Buddhism and Sikhism – and in the development of two more, Christianity and Islam, during the many centuries that these two faiths have been present in the Indian subcontinent. All this is reason enough to continue to study Hinduism indefinitely.

  But Hinduism remains a major world force today, its contemporary global influence apparently greater than ever. In the twentieth century India occupied a prominent place in the public eye: as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the widespread British empire; as the field of endeavour of Mahātmā (‘Great-souled’) Gandhi, in the struggle for Independence; during the Partition of 1947, as the theatre of some of the most horrific religious and political strife ever recorded;as the cockpit for more than one internecine war; as the home of yoga and age-old religious and philosophical wisdom; as exporter to the West of assorted gurus and godmen; as a conducive environment for the work of a Mother Teresa, and yet, as a developing country, achieving rapid scientific and technological expertise (once India had acquired its own space and nuclear capability, it launched a man into space before the UK); as the stage for literary and artistic genius of the calibre of R. K. Narayan, Rabindranath Tagore, Satyajit Ray and Ravi Shankar.

  But in this, the twenty-first century, the prospects for world attention seem even more compelling. Bollywood and Indian cuisine are shifting more and more into the heartland of Western lifestyles, while the gurus and godmen continue to ply their trade. But perhaps even more eye-catching has become India's developing economic potential – as a market for global enterprise among one of the fastest growing, Westernizing middle classes of our time, and as the nursery for the rise of powerful business empires that are already rocking the marketcapitals of the world. Together with its neighbour, China, India is viewed today as a prime challenger for the role of leading economic and cultural superpower of this century. And the dominant and dominating context of this kaleidoscopic image has been, and will continue to remain, an adapting Hinduism. According to the findings of the 2001 Indian census, Hindus comprise over 80 per cent of India's population, or nearly 900 million people.

  Not so long ago, I was asked by a Greek businessman what Hinduism had contributed to the world. ‘Everyone agrees, of course’, he said confidently, ‘that Greek culture exists at the very roots of our civilization. But what contributions has Hindu culture made to civilization?’ Various things flashed through my mind: the use of zero in our calculations; chess; yoga and meditational techniques; the use of spices such as pepper, ginger and cardamom; the export of cotton and other textiles; expertise in herbal remedies; the endorsement of Gandhian nonviolence in the field of morality and the ethics of negotiation; providing a role for the exotic, the different ‘other’ in mapping alternative ways of human thought and endeavour outside the matrix of the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam ... Then I realized that I was probably on the wrong track, that this was perhaps not the best way to answer. For my Greek interlocutor had assumed that there was a normative perspective for providing an answer. He had assumed a Eurocentric stance and expected a Eurocentric response: the dominant criteria of human civilization derived from Europe, and any reply I made on behalf of Hinduism needed to fit in with these criteria. For historical and political reasons, perhaps he was correct. But there is no reason why this must be so in the future. As we are impelled to become more cross-cultural and global – there seems to be no going back – a number of other perspectives to determine what constitutes good food, good literature, good behaviour, right living, a ‘civilized’ lifestyle, will come into focus, and it is unlikely that these will be simply Eurocentric. Other cultures and worldviews, not least the ancient ones of our planetary history, will play an increasingly large part in determining what it is to be fully human and civilized, and it is here that Hinduism, if it continues to adapt and remain vital, will make an irrevocable contribution. Hinduism, which has been shaping and civilizing the lives of many millions for over 4000 years, albeit in somewhat enclosed parameters, is now poised to emerge more fully onto the global stage. It makes sense, therefore, to reflect carefully on this rich phenomenon, both as to its origins and its potential trajectories.

  Further, while Indians have always ventured beyond the shores of the subcontinent for trade and other reasons, it has been in the last 150 years or so that we have witnessed unprecedented Indian emigration to various parts of the world. Today there are appreciable numbers of Indians in Europe, North America and Africa, the Middle East and Australasia. In all these places they have continued to relate with the host communities and to practise their faith and culture, and it is significantly in terms of Hinduism that this presence has been felt. Thus, not only numerically but also geographically, Hindu
ism has become a major global phenomenon. All the more reason, then, for its continued study.

  But what is Hinduism? Hindus have a tendency to regard substances as having an inner proper form or svarūpa – peculiar to the object and hidden in some way – which may yet be experienced variously in external forms or which manifests itself under different aspects (bahurūpa). Hinduism itself seems to be something like this. It is experienced as so many things by Hindus and non-Hindus alike that one may well ask if it has a svarūpa at all! The issue is complicated by the fact that many otherwise perceptive Hindus – who should know better as adherents of a way of life pervasively suspicious of absolutist claims! – behave and talk as if their brand of Hinduism is the ‘real thing’, or is what Hinduism is all about. To form some idea of the enormous complexity of this multifaceted reality, here is a sample of what both Hindus and non-Hindus have considered Hinduism, and Hindus, to be:

  1.

  ‘[Hinduism] is both a way of life and a highly organized social and religious system ... quite free from any dogmatic affirmations concerning the nature of God. The Hindus themselves call their religion the sanātana dharma, “eternal dharma” [way of life] ... and any writer on Hinduism who accepts [this] definition ... must choose between producing a catalogue which will give ... the maximum number of facts ... or ... attempt, at his peril, to distil from the whole mass of his material the fine essence that he considers to be the changeless ground from which the proliferating jungle that seems to be Hinduism grows’ (Zaehner 1966:1–3).