In due course of time, symbolism has crept in Hindu practices also where many followers start providing great importance to symbolic art of their religion in terms of its Rituals, Rites, Yajnas and Recitations. All these are taken as outward expressions of ideas intellectually held and emotionally felt. These rituals are concerned with the expressions of these ideas and feelings, specifically called religious. Ultimately, these are all tools and means by which mind is purified and transformed. These are instruments where consciousness of the devotee is shaped into forms of experiences that are taught by holy scriptures. Let us briefly touch these.
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| Rituals |
Vedic Fire Ceremonies
Called by various names like yajna, havan, homa or agnihotra, it consisted of a continued sacrificial fire, invocations of one or more divinities, placing offerings of ghee, samagri and grains into the flame while Vedic Hymns are recited. Vedic fire ceremonies are known to have been held from antiquity of Vedas or even earlier. These were held during auspicious astrological moments in the hope that the patron conducting these Yajnas will be blessed by the Gods with abundance of fortune, cattle, healthy life and male progeny together with all possible material benefits as also for removing obstacles from their way. Fire has been treated in Hinduism as a medium of establishing contact with the desired Gods and all offerings to fire are to be treated as direct offering to the God invoked. These were to be carried in the presence of elders and well-wishers and the ceremony was to be followed with distribution of gifts and charities as per financial position of the patron.
The rationale behind these yajnas was to sanctify the life of a householder and to provide it a spiritual touch. Initially, people themselves conducted these ceremonies but later, due to increased sophistication and complexities of Vedic mantras, these were to be conducted only with the help of an experienced and qualified pujari (priest). Still later, these got more elaborate and were conducted only by kings or aristocrats. The elaboration involved, took these away from the reach of common man. Movements like Arya Samaj have brought in larger focus back on Havan by keeping the elaborations away and making efforts to encourage individuals to carry out these rituals independently without losing many benefits. One can come across many families holding Havan on important events in their life and inviting family and friends and experiencing unexplainable feelings of realizing the strong influence of Vedic Mantras recited in that environment.
Daily Rituals
Every Brahmin is supposed to undertake worship of gods at every junction of the day and night called 'Sandhya Upasana'. The activities prescribed for this daily ritual begin with having taken bath as token of physical self-purification. Offering of water to Sun God follows bath with recitation of 'Gayatri Mantra' from the depth of the heart. After water offering to the Sun God one is required to sprinkle water over own face and touch various parts of body with wet finger. Idea is to pray for removal of obstructing negative forces and obtain control over demons of anger, lust and greed.
Besides Sandya Upasana, the daily rituals include offerings to the Gods, offerings to all living beings, to departed souls, showing hospitality to others and continuous remembrance of God through recitation of the Vedas or other holy scriptures. These activities are intended to bring in a lot of merit to the being by bestowing illumination, mental peace and grace. Prescribed as Nityakarma (daily obligation), these are like mandatory for every Hindu wearing Janen, the sacred three-thread mala.
Samskara (Sacraments)
Hindu followers are also advised by traditions to celebrate rites related to marking the passing of various stages in human life. These start from the stage where 'would be parents' decide to seek the child and go right upto the death of the person. The major samskara prevailing to this day include one for seeking pregnancy, after three and six months of pregnancy, after the child birth, for assigning the name of the child, after six months of the child for feeding grain first time, after one year for his first hair cutting, at six to eight years when he is sent to his Guru for study, after completing his study, at the time of his marriage, at the time of starting third (Vanprastha Ashram) and fourth stages of life (Sannyasa Ashram) and finally, after the death of the person (kriya karma). In short, all stages from conception to cremation get covered.
The objectives of these rites at each stage are different and are intended to add different colours to a picture called human life. To begin with, it is to seek good impression on the embryo, then for proper growth of the baby in mother's womb, for healthy birth, etc. The ritual at the age of 6 to 8 while being sent for education is called "Yagyopaveet or Upanayana" and is celebrated as an important ceremony. This is taken as a beginning of next stage in life and also as a second birth; a spiritual birth of the child. A sacred thread consisting of three strands knotted together is offered to the child who is soon to be sent to his Guru for starting his Brahmacharya stage of life. The three threads (janeu) are to help the boy to exercise triple control over his mind, speech and body so that all his thoughts, his words and his actions are aimed solely at attaining perfect knowledge in his chosen field. Next big occasion marriage well known to all.
Finally, at the time of death of the physical body, the last rite of Antyeshti is held. This includes consigning the body to flames as the best use of a dead body. The soul is supposed to remain cling to the body (on account of attachment) until it is fully destroyed. Burning the body is to help the soul travel from Pret Loka' to Pitri Loka'. Left out bones are to be immersed in a river or some other water body. People, who can afford, also take these to offer to Ganga at Hardwar or Varanasi as Ganga is known to be capable of washing sins or bad karmas of human at any stage of their life.
Regular Jap (Chanting) of "Aum"
Chanting of AUM has paramount importance all through Hinduism. Invariably, all the prayers from Vedic times start with "AUM". This word is much more powerful than the three letters that make it. "AUM" not only carries three distinct sounds but the pronunciation of the word generates the fourth sound of vibrations. This vibration is said to be essence of all other sounds in the Universe. Even with all the scientific discoveries in so many fields, the vibrations created by AUM are not repeatable in any other combination of words in any other language of the world. It is hard to comprehend the levels of insight of our great ancestors who left us such proud heritage.
So, chanting of "AUM" is said to produce a strong vibration inside the human being which resonates with the universal vibration and this helps us in elevating our mind from every day mundane matters to the true Self. Many Hindu practitioners can be seen chanting of this strong word with or without external aids. Many people do it with a mala of beads; some do it by counting on fingers while many others just chant it by itself.
Regular chanting of the word "AUM" is also reported to result in several other health related benefits like slowing down the nervous system, calming the mind from pressures, making the mind ready for meditations etc. May be it is because of such multiple benefits that chanting of "AUM" is one of the few practices which have survived many thousands of years and have continued holding its importance from Vedic time to this day.
Outward Symbols in Hinduism
Hinduism of modern time has continued providing importance to external symbols as continuity since Vedic period. Over the periods in History, the symbols have also seen improvisation keeping in line with developments in its surrounding environment. Let us briefly look at the main external symbols and the logic or reference related to each.
To begin with, we have tilak. It is to be taken as a mark of auspiciousness together with cultic identity. Initially, the tilak was to be applied in the middle of forehead at the place of the third eye. The sandal paste, which was the ideal material for tilak, was supposed to have medicinal benefit of calming the heat generated during concentrating the mind in meditation. The soothing nature of sandal was to nullify the negative energy. Later, Vaishnavites and Shaivites started their own separate styles to add the tilak to denote their cult and sub cult identity. In line with that, Shiva followers use 'bhasm' to apply horizontal lines while Vishnu followers use vertical lines using sandal paste. Similarly, followers of Shakti apply kumkum. In all cases, having the tilak works as an invocation by the person that "may my eye of intuition open and guide me with the right perception of this world". This feeling is to get renewed every time one applies the Tilak.
Invocating small prayer before every meal comes as second symbol. Here the devotee sprinkle little water around the plate with food and make an offering to all five types of pranas and lastly to the Brahman residing inside, his physical body, as a mark of accepting the food for the body. Hinduism considers food not for its taste or elaboration but as an offering for well being of this physical body made out of five elements. Having 'Shika' (choti) and wearing 'janeu' are another symbols starting from the student life of Hindu boys. These are intended for achieving self-discipline, generate noble thoughts and help in controlling passions. More prevalent in Vaishnavites, these also appear to be symbolic continuity with full-fledged asceticism of Shaivites.
Having 'mundan' (shaving the head except 'shikha') is another such symbol used frequently by many followers. Shaving of head is associated with sacrifice of attachments with this world. It denotes that the person having mundane has moved on from the normal attractions of this world and has decided to pursue spiritual ambitions by sacrificing desires for sensual objects and thoughts. Mundan by a person out side student life also denote that the person has given up being part of specific "four stages of life" and have decided to directly engage himself for attaining 'Moksha' as the sole purpose of remaining life.
Use of Lights, Dhoop, camphor, sandal paste and ringing of bells are other well known symbols associated with Hindu worship system in general. Lighting of 'diyas' by burning ghee or oil is to dispel human ignorance in the same way as light removes the darkness. The Lamp shown at the cover of this book may also be taken as reinforcement of this very logic. Dhoop denotes worship for all pervading God where the spread of scented smoke reflects the presence of God and his creative powers. The scent is to help remove all vasanas from human thought by purifying it and working on the generation of good thoughts. Melting of camphor and its burning is identified with quick melting of individual ego under the influence of flame of 'self realization' without even leaving its residue ash. Applying sandal paste is to remind the being of maintaining patience even under testing times and replacing the urge for outbursts out of pressure to calmness of sandal fragrance. Lastly, ringing bells are to create rippled vibrations of sounds to ward off external sounds and to make the mind focused inward for concentration and meditation.
The sign of 'Swastika' is yet another highly used symbol in Hinduism. Infact, it is considered as auspicious by Hindus as Cross for Christians. The very name combination of three words namely 'su' meaning good or well, 'asti' meaning being and 'ka' which is used in Sanskrit to intensify the verbal meaning of the subject. The combined meaning comes out as 'this that is auspicious'. The symbol has been now traced back all the way to Sindhu Sarasvati Civilization where many seals are found having swastikas imprints. Since the ancient time, swastika sign has been used by all Indian origin religions as a symbol of auspiciousness. The four sides are taken as showing energy flowing to all four directions or as four faces of Brahma, the creator. Many people also relate its importance to 'Purusharthas' the four aims of human life. May be it is the power of this sign that it is used, with little variations, in most parts of Asia and Europe and some parts of Africa as well with universal meaning of its association with the auspiciousness.
Suffice to say that Hinduism has moved over to token symbolism under practices influenced by its sects and also as absorbing symbolic ideas from other faiths from India and abroad. But like all symbols, these are just to create separate identities for outsiders for easy recognition. Beyond the tokenism and gesticulation, these external symbols do not have much relevance and their limited role is to reflect the core values of the faith.
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