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Understanding Hinduism | Frank Whaling U Frank Whaling
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The Hindu tradition can claim to be the world’s oldest religion. It has evolved in India over e
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the past three thousand years. It differs from monotheistic beliefs, such as Christianity, in s
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that there is no identifiable founder, specific theological system, or single system of morality. a
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Frank Whaling provides an overview of the history and development of the Hindu
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tradition. He takes account of recent scholarship and regards Hinduism as a world-view as well i
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as a religious tradition. The book covers the core areas of Hindu religious organisation, rituals, g
ethics, social involvement and sacred texts as well as key concepts, aesthetics and spiritu- H Understanding Hinduism
ality. It illustrates these topics by personal example as well as by informed analysis. i
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While more stress is placed upon the modern situation including the neo-Hindu and d
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Hindutva movements, the Hindu past is not ignored. Village Hinduism as well as
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sophisticated and ‘high’ Hinduism is addressed as well as the Hindu presence in s
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Britain and the wider world.
Frank Whalingis emeritus professor of the study of religion, University of Edinburgh.
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He has taught and researched in many countries including India, the USA a
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and South Africa. k
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About the Series
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Titles in Understanding Faithare intended as first readers for i
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students of comparative religion and as basic source books g
of essential information about the major world faiths in
the 21st century for those who seek to understand
this aspect of influence on our lives today.
Other titles in the Series
Understanding the Baha’i Faith
Wendi Momen
Understanding Buddhism
Perry Schmidt-Leukel
Understanding Christianity
Gilleasbuig Macmillan
Understanding Islam
Cafer Yaran
Understanding Judaism
Jeremy Rosen
Understanding Sikhism
W. Owen Cole IISSBBNN 99778-81--910-3970635-73665-4-36-4
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DUNEDIN IN DUNEDIN
UNDERSTANDING FAITH
Understanding Hinduism
UNDERSTANDING FAITH
SERIES EDITOR: PROFESSOR FRANK WHALING
Also Available
Understanding the Baha’i Faith, Wendi Momen with Moojan Momen
Understanding Buddism, Perry Schmidt-Leukel
Understanding Christianity, Gilleasbuig Macmillan
Understanding Islam, Cafer Yaran
Understanding Judaism, Jeremy Rosen
Understanding Sikhism, Owen Cole
Forthcoming
Understanding Chinese Religions, Joachim Gentz
UNDERSTANDING FAITH
SERIES EDITOR: PROFESSOR FRANK WHALING
Understanding Hinduism
Frank Whaling
Professor Emeritus, The Study of Religion
University of Edinburgh
DUNEDIN
EDINBURGH LONDON
Decon-3507-Prelims.qxd 2/23/2007 11:27 AM Page iv
© Bob Deacon 2007
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PrintePdr ionnt epda paenrd fr bomou snudst ainin Gabrlee arte sBoruirtcaeisn by Cpod, Trowbridge, Wiltshire
For my wife Margaret,
my children John and Ruth,
and my sisters Joan and Sheila.
Contents
Contents
Preface ix
Timeline of Important Events xi
Map of principal Hindu holy sites of India xiv
1. INTRODUCTION 1
The Meaning of Hinduism – What is a Hindu? – A Model of the
Hindu Tradition – Hindu History – Phenomenology – Personal Stories
2. THE HISTORY OF THE HINDU TRADITION 14
Early Hindu History: Prehistory to 1500 BCE – The Veda Tradition
– A New World-view: the Upanishads – Social Developments and
Archaeology – The Wider Religious Context – A Period of Definition:
500–200 BCE – The Clasical Hindu Tradition: 200 BCE –1100 CE
– The Gupta Empire (320–650 CE) – The Caste System – Further
Development and Expansion – Shankara – The Advent of Islam (c.1100–
1800) – British Overlordship (c.1770–1947) – Reform and Nationalism
– Secular Hinduism – Revival of the Veda and the Bhagavad Gītā – Post-
Independence and the Rise of Hindu Militancy – Diaspora – Post-war
Hindu Leaders – Popular Hindu Religion – Capitalism and Modernity
3. TRANSCENDENCE AND THE GODS 37
Brahman, Humanity and the World – Hindu Deities – The Major
Deities – Shiva – Vishnu – The Goddess – Rāma and Krishna – Other
Gods
4. HINDU RITUALS 47
Rites of Passage – Worship – Festivals and Pilgrimage – Personal Stories
5. HINDU RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS 57
Smārta Brahmins – Bauls of Bengal – Lingāyats – The Five Major
Traditions – Shaivism – Vaishnavism – Krishna Tradition – Rāma
Tradition – Religious Traditions, Authority and Caste
6. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE 73
The Caste System – The Householder System – The Renouncer
System – The Role of Women – The Role of Outcastes – The Political
Background, the Monarchy and Hindu Nationalism
7. DHARMA AND ETHICS 94
Universal Dharma – Buddhist and Hindu Notions of Dharma –
Dharma in Hindu Life – Dharma and Karma
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viii Contents
18. SCRIPTURE AND SACRED TEXTS 100
The Veda – Later Sacred Texts – The Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyana
– The Bhagavad Gītā and the Harivamsha – The Purānas – Tantric
Agamas – Regional Sacred Texts – Further Reading – Modern
Interpretations of Sacred Texts: Great Thinkers
19. HINDU AESTHETICS 117
Tribal and Village Art – The Sacred Architecture of Temples – Images
of Hindu Deities – Political Patronage
10. HINDU SPIRITUALITY 135
Classical Hindu Yoga – The Outward Self – The Main ‘Ways’ of
Spirituality – Hindu Spirituality and Nature – Sri Aurobindo
11. HINDU CONCEPTS, PHILOSOPHY
AND THE MODERN WORLD 145
The Great Vedanta Philosophers – Radhakrishnan and
Twentieth-Century Advaita Vedanta – Diaspora
Bibliography 153
Glossary 160
Further Reading 166
Index 168
Preface
My thanks go out to a number of people who have been of help in the
writing of this book. I am grateful to Hindu friends around the world, in
India and elsewhere, for their wisdom and guidance over the years. To my
Harvard Professors, Daniel Ingalls and John Carman, I am deeply indebted.
My students at Edinburgh University and other places of learning, through
their questions and discussions, have been of more help to me than they
probably realise. Special thanks are due to my close family and friends,
especially to my wife Margaret, who has sustained me through an extended
period of illness during the genesis of this book.
We live in a global age with its promise and despair, its hope and fear, its
capacity for renewal and destruction, its rapid change and ecological threat.
How can we understand it better and live in it more fully? I hope that this
book on Hinduism, and the other books in this series on Understanding
Faith, will be of help in living creatively in this bewildering, challenging and
yet beautiful world.
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