The Religious Context

The Religious Context
Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, the three great religions that developed
in the subcontinent, share certain basic beliefs: that time is cyclical, and the
universe is created and destroyed in endless cycles; that the world is transi-
tory and the appearance of permanence is illusion (maya); that all living
beings are born and reborn in different lives and bodies (samsara); and that
one’s good and bad deeds (karma) accumulate from life to life and determine
the form in which one is reborn. The goal is to accumulate enough good
deeds to finally be released from cycles of birth and rebirth by attaining
nirvana (extinction or quiescence) in Buddhism, or moksha (release or liber-
ation) in Hinduism.
Over the centuries, as these religions have evolved, they have incorporated
a variety of physical disciplines and esoteric and magical practices such
as yoga, meditation, trance, breath control, and the repetition of mantras
(words of power). An essential feature of all three religions is a holistic view
of life: all forms of life—gods, demons, humans, animals, and vegetation—
are integrally connected.
Although Buddhists and Jains believe in maya, samsara, karma, and eventual
release (as Hindus do), they reject caste, Hindu gods, sacrifices, and the
power of the priestly caste (Brahmins). The founders of Buddhism and
Jainism both lived in the sixth century B.C. and were born in the warrior, or
kshatriya, caste.
Early Religious Practices in India
An ancient form of religious practice was the worship of spirits believed to
dwell in trees, rivers, and rocks. Many Indians still hold such beliefs. One
form these beliefs took is the worship of yakshas and yakshis, male and
female deities associated with the fertility of the earth. Serpent kings called
nagarajas and their consorts, naginis, as well as makaras, fabulous croco-
dilelike creatures, are all associated with the cult of life-giving waters. These
early deities were incorporated into the major Indian religions as minor gods.
image 1
Only fragmentary information can be pieced together about the religion
of the Indus Valley civilization. Horned animals (image 1), trees, many
female figurines (probably mother goddesses), and phallic sculptures suggest
that the people practiced some kind of fertility worship. Depictions of
figures in yogic postures suggest that meditation was used. These images
relate to those of later Indian religions, and some may be prototypes of later
Indian deities.
Some time after the collapse of the Indus civilization, Aryans migrated
down to the subcontinent from Central Asian steppes, bringing with them
beliefs in gods, predominantly male, who personified forces and nature and
were worshipped in elaborate sacrifices performed by Brahmins, the priestly
class. The Aryans composed religious texts beginning with the Rig Veda,
Soma Veda, and Athar Veda (ca. 1500–1200 B.C.), which contained hymns
to the gods and descriptions of the customs, behavior, and traditions of
Aryan life. The Upanishads, composed later (700–500 B.C.), contain profound
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philosophical speculations about the “One who lies behind.” This “One,”
called Brahman, is eternal, formless, all encompassing, and the origin and
essence of all things.
Hinduism
There is no single founder or doctrine of Hinduism. It has evolved over the
centuries, incorporating previous doctrines and deities, for instance, main-
taining reverence for the ancient Vedic texts and adopting some of the Vedic
deities but in new guises, and responding to non-Vedic religious movements
such as Buddhism and Jainism. Hinduism as we know it seems to have
coalesced at the beginning of the first millennium A.D.
Initially, Hinduism was centered around three male gods: Brahma, creator
of the cosmos; Vishnu, preserver and protector of the universe; and Shiva,
destroyer of the universe so that from the formless void it may be created
again. Brahma has never had a large number of worshippers. Shiva, Vishnu,
and the Great Goddess Devi (Mahadevi) in their myriad forms are the most
widely worshipped Hindu gods. They are described in the Puranas, a group
of texts formulated between A.D. 200 and 800.
Shiva is worshipped as the ascetic god, remote when in meditation but also
image 22
at times wild, passionate, and loving. As Lord of the Dance (image 22), he
both destroys and creates the universe. His cosmic dance visualizes the
cycles of creation and destruction in human lives, in the history of nations,
and in the universe. Shiva is also manifest in a phallic emblem called a linga
image 17
(image 17), and it is in this form that he is most often portrayed in the inner
sanctum of his temples. Worshippers of Shiva believe that he is the supreme
god who contains and controls all creation.
image 16, 20
Vishnu (image 16 and 20) preserves and maintains order in the universe.
Whenever destructive forces, usually symbolized by demons, threaten to
overwhelm the world, Vishnu descends in the form of an avatar to restore
moral order. His concern for human political and social activities expresses
the gentle and just-minded side of the One. It is believed that in our present
universe, Vishnu has already appeared in nine incarnations, taking such
animal forms as a fish and a tortoise and various human forms such as
Krishna, Rama, and the Buddha. It is believed he will appear once more in
image 38
the future. As Rama (image 38), he symbolizes the importance of loyalty and
image 30
obedience. As Krishna, he is the divine lover (image 30) as well as a slayer
image 15
of demons (image 15). Krishna’s consort, Radha, and his female devotees, in
their passionate longing for him, symbolize the soul’s desire to be one with
image 29
God (image 29).
One of the most striking characteristics of Hinduism is the importance of
goddesses. As Hinduism developed, Vedic goddesses came to the fore.
Lakshmi and Sarasvati, for instance, became the consorts of Vishnu. Other
goddesses, who may have been worshipped independently outside of the
Vedic tradition, gradually appeared as powerful deities on their own, most
prominently, Devi, who represents the essence of female power.
In the seventh century, Hinduism and Buddhism were influenced by Tantra,
a new religious movement that employed esoteric knowledge to speed the
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believer toward spiritual liberation. The Hindu pantheon of gods expanded
to include shaktis, female counterparts to male gods and personified as their
consorts. Shakti is female energy, which activates the powers of the male
gods and emanates from the goddess Devi. Many other goddesses represent
aspects of Devi’s powers, for instance, Parvati, the beautiful, loving, and
image 18
obedient consort of Shiva (image 18), and Durga (image 24), Chamunda
image 24
(image 19), and Kali, whose actions and moods indicate anger, ferocity, and
image 19
the horrific. This range of emotions symbolizes their multiple purposes and
the variety of forms female energy and power can assume.
From its beginnings, Hinduism has possessed a remarkable ability to
assimilate rather than reject new ideas. It has developed complex overlays
of beliefs, cults, gods, and forms of worship. Hindus recognize no single
founder or prophet. There is no single holy book similar to the Bible or
Qur’an; the religion is not supervised and interpreted by a hierarchy of
priests, and its great texts were not inscribed but handed down as an oral
tradition. Hindu worship is based on a one-to-one relationship between
devotee and god rather than being congregational. This practice intensified
beginning in the seventh century with the popularity of bhakti, passionate
personal devotion to an individual god or goddess. Over the centuries, a
number of important poets and musician-saints emerged from the bhakti
tradition whose works, such as the Gita Govinda, became classics of Indian
culture.
Indian people have treasured, in particular, two great epics: the Ramayana
(2nd century B.C.) and the famous epic poem, the Mahabharata (500–400 B.C.),
both of which may be based on actual historical events. The Ramayana has
been, and still is, a rich source for art.
Today the great majority of Indian people are Hindus. Although Hindus may
select one deity for personal worship among the great gods and goddesses
and the countless regional and local gods, all of these deities can be under-
stood as representing the many aspects of the One.
Buddhism
Siddhartha Gautama, who later became the Buddha, was born in North India
in the sixth century B.C. According to legend, Siddhartha was the son of a
king of the Shakya clan (hence the name Buddha Shakyamuni, by which he
is often referred). At his birth, a soothsayer predicted he would become
either a great military ruler or a great spiritual leader. To prevent the latter
from happening, Siddhartha’s father kept him within the palace, providing
him with luxuries and pleasures so that he would remain unaware of the
harshness and suffering in the world.
One day, already a young man, Siddhartha managed to escape from the
palace. For the first time he saw an old person, a sick person, a corpse, and
an ascetic holy man. He was stunned and deeply affected by their suffering.
Realizing that pleasures are transitory and cannot prevent suffering, he put
aside all his jewelry and fine clothing. Leaving his wife and son at the
palace, he embarked on a journey to seek the meaning of life and the ways
image 5
in which humans can attain peace (image 5).
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At first Siddhartha turned inward in his quest for knowledge. He went into
the forest to seek the advice of holy men and to meditate. In Siddhartha’s
time, yoga was already an ancient way to seek inner knowledge and under-
standing of universal truths. He became an ascetic and attempted extreme
forms of renunciation, nearly starving himself to death. Having recognized
that extreme deprivation was not the way, he once again took food. He sat
meditating beneath a bodhi tree, overnight according to some accounts and
days and days according to others. The evil demon Mara, realizing that
Siddhartha was close to enlightenment, tempted him with his beautiful
daughters and threatened him with a powerful army. But Siddhartha touched
the ground with his right hand, calling the Earth to witness his resolve to
achieve enlightenment and thereby vanquishing Mara. When Siddhartha
arose, he had become the Buddha, which means the Enlightened One (or the
Awakened One). He realized that the causes of human suffering lay in the
attachment to physical desires of all kinds, and as long as this was so,
the karma-laden souls of living creatures were destined to suffer endless
rebirths. Only with the complete elimination of worldly attachments could
one reach release into a state of eternal selfless bliss, called nirvana, the
Sanskrit word for “extinguishment.”
Buddhism was a philosophical and ethical system with the Buddha as its
greatly revered founder. The Buddha spent the rest of his life teaching his
ascetic doctrine, gaining an ever-growing group of followers. He taught
that nirvana could only be achieved through first realizing the Four Noble
Truths: that all life is suffering; that suffering is caused by desires; that to
eliminate suffering, one must eliminate desires; and that this can be done
by following the Eightfold Path, which includes right thoughts, right inten-
tions, right deeds, and the right concentration in meditation. Nirvana can
only be attained through the extinguishment of one’s ego by following the
Eightfold Path.
Buddhism attracted many people for whom caste and the Brahmins’ exclu-
sive control over worship were problematic. Even before the Buddha’s death,
many of his followers had become monks and nuns and were settling into
monasteries provided by wealthy laity as merit-producing gifts. Gradually
the monks spread his teachings across northern India in peaceful conver-
sions. The main focus of worship became stupas, hemispherical mounds
containing relics of the Buddha or other transcendent beings and often
decorated with scenes from the Jatakas (folk tales about the past lives of
the Buddha). The faithful also made pilgrimages to important places in the
Buddha’s life, including his birthplace, the bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya where
he reached enlightenment, and the Deer Park at Sarnath where he preached
his first sermon. As the centuries passed, pilgrims throughout Asia came
to visit these sacred sites. There they learned about the Buddha’s life and
his teachings.
The earliest form of Buddhism is called the Theravada (Way of the Elders). It
adheres strictly to the Buddha’s teaching and to his austere life of meditation
and detachment. Theravada Buddhists believed that very few would reach
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nirvana. Initially, in this system, the Buddha was represented in art only by
symbols, but in the first century A.D., under the Kushan rulers, the Buddha
began to be depicted in human form. At about this time, a new form of
Buddhism emerged called the Mahayana (the Great Way), which held that
the Buddha was more than a great spiritual teacher but also a savior god. It
was believed that he had appeared in perfect human form to relieve suffering
with the message that, by performing good deeds and maintaining sincere
faith, everyone could reach nirvana through means less strict and arduous
than in Theravada (which Mahayana Buddhists called the Hinayana, or
Lesser Way).
A whole pantheon of Mahayana Buddhist deities began to appear to aide the
devotee—Buddhas of the past, bodhisattvas such as Maitreya (Buddha of the
Future), and Vajrapani (“thunderbolt bearer”), who had evolved from the
chief Vedic god Indra. Most appealing and approachable of all is the gentle
Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of infinite compassion, who can be called
upon to help people in all kinds of trouble. A bodhisattva is a being who has
reached the moment of spiritual transcendence but foregoes nirvana in order
to guide all beings in their quest to attain enlightenment. The Mahayana
faith became the more popular form of Buddhism and was carried by mer-
chants and monks across Central Asia along the trade routes to China, and
from there to Korea and Japan.
Another form of Buddhism, called Esoteric and also known as Tantric or
Vajrayana Buddhism, grew out of Mahayana Buddhism beginning in the late
sixth or early seventh century. Esoteric Buddhists accepted the tenets of the
Mahayana but also used forms of meditation subtly directed by master
teachers (gurus) involving magical words, symbols, and practices to speed
the devotee toward enlightenment. They believed that those who practiced
compassion and meditation with unwavering effort and acquired the wis-
dom to become detached from human passions could achieve in one lifetime
a state of perfect bliss or “clear light,” their term for ultimate realization
and release. Their practices paralleled concurrent developments in
Hinduism.
Many new deities appeared in the Esoteric Buddhist pantheon who, in their
image 12
poses, gestures, and expressions, visualize philosophical ideas (image 12). For
instance, male and female deities shown in embrace express the union of
wisdom and compassion. Wrathful deities symbolize protection, and their
violent and horrific appearance helps devotees to overcome the passions that
hinder salvation. Also central to Esoteric thinking were the five celestial
Buddhas (the four directions and the zenith), who represent both the energy
of the universe and the potential for wisdom within the psychological make-
image 8, 10, 43
up of the individual (image 8, 10, and 43).
By the twelfth century, Buddhism was concentrated mainly in northeastern
India, where the Buddha lived and preached. Its near extinction seems to
have been caused by Muslim invaders who destroyed the Buddhist monastic
universities. Teachers and monks fled to Nepal, Tibet, and Burma. Today
only a small percentage of India’s population is Buddhist.
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Buddhism and Hinduism in Southeast Asia
Hinduism and Theravada, Mahayana, and Esoteric Buddhism had spread
throughout Southeast Asia by the seventh century, and important monu-
ments and sculptures of both faiths survive from that period onward.
Throughout the region, ancient indigenous animistic and pantheistic beliefs
survived and complemented the tenets and practices of the Indic faiths.
Theravada Buddhism spread to Sri Lanka at an early date and is still the
dominant religion there. It was also carried along sea routes to Thailand
and Burma (Myanmar). It is the form of Buddhism still practiced in those
countries today, as well as in Cambodia and Laos. In neighboring Vietnam,
the population is largely Mahayana, perhaps due to the proximity to China,
where the Buddhism that still exists is largely Mahayana. In Indonesia,
Hinduism and Esoteric Buddhism, which had coexisted peacefully for cen-
turies, were gradually displaced by the spread of Islam through not only
Indonesia but also Malaysia in the fifteenth century. Indonesia now has the
largest Muslim population in the world. Bali, however, remains largely Hindu.
Jainism
Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, and Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of
Buddhism, both lived in the sixth century B.C., and both were princes who
left their fathers’ kingdoms for the life of an ascetic. They shared the belief
in karma and samsara, and sought release (moksha) through meditation and
control of one’s desires. Unlike Buddhism, however, Jainism never spread
beyond India. Today there are some two million Jains in western India,
where Mahavira taught.
As a prince, Mahavira’s name was Vardhamana. The ideal Aryan prince was
a vira, meaning “brave warrior.” Vardhamana also wished to be known as a
brave warrior, not in a battle against human foes but in his battle against
his own desires. So he took the name Mahavira (maha = great). A person who
has absolute control over his senses and has become a great teacher is known
as a jina or tirthankara. Mahavira’s followers believed that he was the last of
image 27
twenty-four tirthankaras (image 27).
Mahavira led an austere life, teaching, meditating, begging for food, and
denying his body any comforts. When his clothes fell into tatters, he went
without them, “sky-clad” for the rest of his life. Jain monks disagreed about
how far their austerities should go. One group held that, like Mahavira, they
should teach “sky-clad,” or naked. Those opposed wore white robes. Most
present-day Jain monks are “white-clad.”
Mahavira taught his followers to detach themselves from worldly desires and
also from their own viewpoints. He suggested that it is often easier to give
up material possessions than it is to part with one’s opinions. According to
Mahavira, a person can see only a very small part of the truth, and what one
believes to be true depends on many factors like social status, education, and
context. An ancient Jain parable interpreted by a nineteenth-century poet
clarifies this point.
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It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind)
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
The first approached the Elephant
And happened to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side
At once began to bawl:
“Bless me! But the elephant
Is very like a wall.”
The second, feeling of the tusk
Cried, “Ho! What have we here,
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear.”
The third approached the animal,
And happened to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
“I see,” quoth he;
“the Elephant
Is very like a snake.”
The fourth reached out his eager hand
And felt about the knee.
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” quoth he;
“’Tis clear enough the elephant is very like a tree.”
The fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan.”
The sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope
Than seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” quoth he, “the elephant
Is very like a rope.”
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong.
—John Godfrey Saxe (American, 1816–1887)
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Mahavira taught that to avoid accumulating bad karma, one should not
harm any living things. This is the doctrine ahimsa, the most important
concept in Jain teaching. Because of their reverence for all life, Jain monks
preached against brahminical animal sacrifices and introduced strict
vegetarianism. Since a human soul can be reborn as an animal or insect, and
since all forms of life have souls, even the smallest creature should not be
harmed. To prevent this, devout Jains wear face masks when they are out-
side to avoid inhaling insects, and gently sweep the path in front of them
before taking a step. Jains avoid farming because their ploughs might injure
burrowing animals. The Jain emphasis on nonviolence influenced both
Buddhism and Hinduism and established a tradition which many prominent
Indians such as Gandhi have followed.
Islam
The faith of Islam arrived in India gradually from western Asia beginning as
early as the seventh century A.D. Islam, an Arabic word meaning “submis-
sion to God,” was founded by the Prophet Muhammad (ca. A.D. 570–632)
after God (Allah) had appeared to him as the archangel Gabriel in the desert
outside of Mecca. In those times, South Arabia was a crossroads of inter-
regional trade and a place where the traditional beliefs of idol worshippers
who gathered around the Ka’ba, the sacred center of Mecca, clashed with the
religious ideas and practices of Christianity and Zoroastrianism, an ancient
Iranian religion.
“Recite in the name of the Lord,” commanded Allah as he gave to
Muhammad the final and complete instructions about the relationships
between humankind and God. These relationships had been only partially
revealed to the Old Testament prophets and to the New Testament prophet
Jesus. Muhammad immediately began to teach God’s divine message,
converting many in Mecca. He experienced a temporary setback, however,
when he and the newly faithful were driven from Mecca by local merchants
who feared his preaching against idol worship would divert the lucrative
trade routes elsewhere. This forced migration in 622, called the Hijra in
Arabic, marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar, the years of which are
referred to as A.H. (Anno Hijra).
By the end of his life, Muhammad and the faithful had returned triumphantly
to Mecca, cleansed the Ka’ba of idols, and declared it sacred to Allah. Within
a century of his death, Muhammad’s followers had spread Islam through the
Middle East to the borders of India and westward across Africa to Spain.
Islam is a strictly monotheistic religion. Although Muslims revere
Muhammad as God’s greatest prophet, they worship only one god, Allah,
who controls the fate of all beings. Allah’s words which he ordered
Muhammad to recite were written down after the Prophet’s death in the
Qur’an, the Muslim holy book. Qur’an means “recitation” in Arabic.
Because God spoke in Arabic, the Qur’an must be written and read in
Arabic. As a consequence, within Islamic cultures Arabic calligraphy
(the art of writing beautifully) has traditionally been deemed the highest
form of art. Described in the Qur’an are the five obligations of all Muslims,
often called the Five Pillars of Islam: the profession of faith (“There is no
god but God; Muhammad is the messenger of God”); prayer five times a
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day at dawn, noon, afternoon, evening, and night; the giving of alms; fasting
from sunrise to sundown during the month of Ramadan; and making a pil-
grimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime if physically possible.
Nearly a quarter of the world’s population is Muslim. The nation with the
largest Muslim population is Indonesia. Although Muslims come from
diverse cultures and speak many different languages, they are united by their
faith and, historically, by a busy network of East-West trade. At the same
time, there was and continues to be diverse political, cultural, and artistic
expressions in regions of the Islamic world that were not part of the Arabic-
speaking heartland of Islam and where there existed strong pre-Islamic
indigenous traditions.
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