Hinduism is the most ancient religion in the world that has survived an onslaught of colonial subjugation, bigoted misinterpretation, and evangelical conversion attempts.
Recently, I have encountered quite a few social media posts about Hinduism, mocking the gods/goddesses, and its religious practices. Here is a couple from X:
Typically, the people who post these messages have a rudimentary understanding of the religion, and often have ulterior motives of the religio-political kind and the western anti-immigration rant (as above) that compels them to dig up random images or one-sided articles to support their theory of how bad the religion is.
While Hinduism itself is not dependent on validation from any quarters as it is a self-evident, self-sufficient, and self-sustaining code of life, I still thought I should address the mind-numbing ignorance evident in such posts.
I shall attempt to present fact-based findings from my own study of Hinduism with the hope that the first kind would find it informative and helpful in broadening their horizons, and the second would at least tone down the rhetoric, although, I suspect it is a tall order.
I am not doing this just because I need to rise to the defence of the religion I was born into. On the contrary, I had been ignorant myself of the deeper aspects of Hindu customs and culture, thanks to the Macaulayian education system that I studied in. I realised I needed to find out more about all religions, and undertook a comparative study of the major faiths of the world. Through this, I have come to appreciate the beauty inherent in Hinduism vis-a-vis other religions.
Here's a list of accusations against Hinduism that I have encountered in the social media messages. I shall attempt to address each of them based on the observations and inferences from my own deep-dive into the tenets of Hinduism.
Hinduism is caste-based:
Since every bigot worth his salt will rake up this issue in his rant against Hinduism, I thought I should address this first. The caste identity was originally based on the individual vocation rather than the accident of birth. None of the Hindu scriptures advocates discrimination based on caste; both of these - postnatal caste determination and caste-based discrimination - are later, unfortunate developments.
The hierarchy was never meant to be rigid and the identity was always meant to be fluid, with members moving from one level to another, depending on their natural disposition and vocation. In modern-day India, caste-based discrimination is largely confined to the smaller towns and villages. It does not help matters that the caste-based reservation system has been institutionalized by the country's Constitution, which only serves to strengthen these divisions.
Besides, people who throw the caste brick at us should realise that divisions are part of their own religions. Consider these:
You get the picture? Adherents of these sects are often at loggerheads with each other; if God is one why do their religions have so many sects? Not to justify divisions in society, but know it to be the nature of man to divide himself into smaller and smaller groups based on characters such as race, nationality, culture and religion - this is a universal problem, not confined to Hinduism alone.
- Rajiv Malhotra's excellent exposition on caste: Varna, Jati, Caste: A primer on Indian Social Structures (also read Dr B R Ambedkar's views on Islam while you are at it).
There are so many Hindu gods!
Yes there are; said to be about 33 crore in all (i.e., 330 million!). But the primary underlying god is one: Brahman (or the Universal Consciousness, or the Unifying Energy). Hinduism believes in the concept of ishtadevata (one's chosen god), which is one aspect of this unifying energy that appeals to the disposition of the worshipper. Many families have kuladevatas (clan gods) and many villages have gramadevatas (village gods). Even natural phenomena such as weather-related events or diseases have personified god elements.
This might sound confusing to an uninitiated mind, but the basic principle is this: Brahman is one, but its manifestations are many. Just look around you; the world is teeming with lifeforms of all kinds. There are hundreds of varieties of any given species of flora or fauna. Even among humans there are multiple races and ethnicities. When there is so much diversity in our tiny little world, which is but a speck in the infinite cosmos, why not among gods? Why can't the infinite energy multiply itself into smaller energies with specific attributes or functions?
Hindus may worship many gods in many temples, but the basic underlying principle is the same. It is this principle (the higher Self) that the atma (soul or the lower self) of a Hindu aims to merge into eventually, thus escaping the karmic cycle of life and birth. This merger is called moksha (also called nirvana, kaivalya, nirvikalpa samadhi, the turiya state, or god-realisation). This is possible only when one gives up attachment to the phenomenal world, and negates the ego or the lower self through sustained spiritual practices such as meditation.
Since this is a difficult standard for an average person to aspire to, one can focus on the ishtadevata while one purifies the mind. Therefore, the gods function as markers for seekers to focus on, or signposts while traversing the difficult path towards self-annihilation leading to moksha. This is the path of bhakti (intense emotional devotion): the idea is to move from the formed manifestation of god to the formless Brahman.
- Swami Chinmayananda's book, Glory of Krishna
- The Bhakta Meera book
- My Sky-clad book review & interview
Hindu gods look grotesque:
Yes, the anthropomorphised forms of our gods do appear distinct from you and I. Some have many hands, many faces, blue/dark complexion, elephant/monkey face, etc. They are usually accompanied by a variety of natural elements and beings: lotuses, trees, banana leaves, fruits, elephants, bulls, tigers, lions, mice, and even dogs. Like I said, Hinduism does not discriminate against any life form for 'being dirty;' everything fits into the larger scheme of things.
Some chief examples of our gods are:
Each deity may have several avataras (yes, the term existed long before the eponymous sci-fi film came along). Narayana Himself manifests as Dashavatara (10 avataras): fish, tortoise, boar, man-lion, dwarf, axe-warrior, Rama, Krishna, Buddha & Kalki (yet to manifest), depending on the yugas (epochs) and their dharmic requirements.
Again, it is to do with how the gods have been conceptualised by various seekers over the millennia. Scriptural descriptions of the physical aspects of these deities also exist, based on which, artists have imagined how the gods might have appeared to their bhaktas. The foremost among these artists is Raja Ravi Varma, a 19th century painter of royal lineage whose lithographs of gods/goddesses adorn our pooja rooms (shrines) to this day. Ultimately, they are the saguna (formed with physical features) manifestations of the nirguna (formless Brahman) entity.
The contentious image in the tweets above, that of Kali - the fierce avatara of Goddess Parvathi - carries its own significance of victory of good over evil. She manifested to kill the demons (hence the garland of skulls) and Her fervour had to be assuaged by a sleeping Shiva who She stepped on, realised Her error, and calmed down. It is through Her divine grace that the 5th century Sanskrit poet, Kalidasa achieved a state of wisdom (hence his name; 'servant of Kali'), and more recently, the 19th century Saint of Dakshineshwar, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, was blessed with the divine vision of his beloved Ma Kali.
Indeed, every feature of the physical representation of all the deities has its own relevance. Just because they appear kitsch does not mean that they are creations of a fanciful imagination, as the tweet above suggests. It is a bit rich coming from a culture that peddles to its children the notion that a bearded, potbellied, old man in a red suit slides down the chimney in the night to leave them presents!
Further reading:
- For a quick lowdown, read Devdutt Pattanaik's 7 Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art
Hindus are idolators and object-worshippers:
What is your problem exactly with idols? Just because it is mentioned in your scriptures that the believers should not worship Egyptian statues, you seem to have developed a deep aversion to them. When you put up your religious symbols and sculptures of messiahs and saints, aren't they idols? Then why single out Hinduism?
Pictures, statues and idols are the saguna (formed) representation of the one nirguna (formless) Brahman. They are focal points for seekers to look at and concentrate their positive thoughts and prayers on. In certain places, the origin of these images is considered to be esoteric or swayambhu (self-generated). In such and other significant tirthsthalas (places of pilgrimage), the spiritual energy level is significantly elevated. Combine this with certain auspicious moments, and you have a potent combination of place and time that is seeped in spiritual energy for all to benefit from - the Kumbh Mela (that's happening now, as I write this) is one such occasion.
Temple garbhagudis (sancta sanctorum) and even pooja rooms (shrines) in homes are so repeatedly consecrated with the sound of mantras and bells, the aura of incense and aarti (fire of veneration), and the offering of fruits and naivedya (consecrated food), that they emanate divine energy that the worshippers can absorb by doing pradakshine (circumambulating the deity). Hence the need for images and idols kept in temples and shrines.
Since scientific studies are now confirming that everything in the universe is some form of energy, we believe this to be true about objects as well. The equipment of war, the tools of building, the books of learning, and the gadgets of communication are all worthy of veneration. In fact, they have special days of their own every year: Ayudha Pooja (for weapons & instruments) and Saraswati Pooja (for books and learning materials) during the Navaratri period.
Sceptics among you should understand that the human body is made of the same materials and energies found in the universe; the panchamahabhutas (the 5 natural elements - air, water, fire, earth and ether). The only difference between living and nonliving entities is the presence of sentience and consciousness in the former, but at the atomic level, they are all the same.
- Travel-blog on a visit to the Dharmaraya Temple in Bengaluru
- Travel-vlog on a visit to the birth place of Adi Shankara - Kalady in Kerala
Hindu religious practices are based in superstitions:
What appears to be a superstition for an external person is actually rooted in some kind of logic or scientific basis. This is often the case with most Hindu rituals. It is just that we have been following these rituals for such a long time without questioning that we do not know their deeper significance. Had we bothered to ask our grandparents and elders about these practices, we perhaps would have better understood them.
Let's consider a small example. During Sankranti, on 14th of January (that's today, when I post this), there exists the practice of consuming a high-energy mixture of groundnuts, jaggery, lentils and sesame seeds, which on the face of it, appears to be just another cultural fad. However, the mixture provides energy to ward off the effects of seasonal change. Sankranti is the period when the sun makes it annual northern ascent, and marks the onset of spring and the harvest season with longer days; hence the need for additional energy during this period.
Pseudosecular rationalists who decry every Hindu ritual, conveniently overlook the ignominious fake-healing sessions organised by pastors, ritual blood-letting of animals during 'holy days,' and female genital mutilation to control the 'hypersexuality of women,' to name just a few disdainful Abrahamic practices.
Hinduism is the most scientific religion; you only need to look at the deeper significance of the ritual to understand this. The mental and physical health significance of yoga and other spiritual practices of Hinduism are being validated through more and more western scientific studies.
In addition, the spiritual experience of people who have had near-death experiences and those who have undergone regression therapy are in concordance with what's already written in the Vedas and the descriptions of exalted states by rishis.
- How a largely Abrahamic society targeted Osho
- My response to an Abrahamic doctor in a missionary hospital who asked if yoga is validated
- Review of the psychiatrist, Brian L Weiss's book Many Lives, Many Masters
Hindu festivals are polluting:
It is extraordinary how environmental consciousness emerges in the pseudosecular mind just before Diwali every year! Fireworks set off during Guy Fawkes Day in the UK, Olympics opening ceremonies, and new year celebrations across the world are apparently not as polluting.
Many Hindu festivals are nature-based; they celebrate natural events such as harvests and solstices. Hindu festival dates are arrived at as per the lunisolar Vikram Samvat and the panchanga calendars. They are marked by lighting of lamps, decorations with fruits and flowers, wearing new clothes, and eating a vegetarian feast. Most Hindu festivals do not involve animal killing, which is a routine practice in Abrahamic religions so much so that during certain festivals, streets are said to be coloured in red due to the mass killing of animals.
More recently, environment-friendly options such as green crackers and clay Ganeshas for immersion are trends that are catching on. There is also the flexibility of focusing only on the bhakti aspect of the festival without bursting crackers or immersing idols.
- The yearly fashionable trend of pseudosecular Diwali bashing
- The same old nonsense about the 'new year'
Hindu artforms are sexually disinhibited:
They are sexually expressive, is what they are. From the greatest treatise on sex, Vatsyayana's Kamasutra, to the erotic friezes and sculptures of the Khajuraho temple complex, to the symbolic union of the male and female sexual organs in the form of the Shivalinga, Hinduism is the most sexually expressive religion in the world.
Before you raise your questioning brows with a self-righteous smirk on your face, ask yourself this: how did you emerge into this world? Not through 'immaculate conception,' I take it! There is no delicate way of saying this: you are here in your physical body because your parents had sex with each other. Abrahamic religions are preoccupied with the notion of sin, and consider sex and eroticism condemnable, and brush them under the carpet. Denial and repression of sex is rampant in puritanical societies, where women are treated as sexual objects to be safeguarded by covering them up like bank vaults.
Harnessing the sexual energy is one of the requirements of the spiritual practice of kundalini yoga, the exact technique of which is a secret known only to genuine practitioners as it is likely to be misunderstood by the ignorant.
Hinduism is the only religion that has included sex in the 4 purusharthas (the primary goals of human existence): dharma (right action), artha (wealth & prosperity), kama (sexual and other desires), and moksha (emancipation).
Unfortunately, Hinduism's sexual expression in the form of literature, artworks and sculptures was severely subjugated first by the radical Islamist proscription, and then by the laws based on Victorian prudery of British colonialists.
Oh, and by the way, Hinduism is the most LGBTQ-friendly religion in the world.
Further reading:
- My advice to parents and teachers who wonder if children should be educated about sex
- The social & religious implications of being gay
Hindu spiritual practices are demonic:
You specifically mean yoga, right? For a bigoted mind, every Hindu spiritual practice appears to be blasphemous. Far from being an exercise in contortion, yoga is a means to harness the inner energy. It proceeds from strengthening the body through postures, to controlling the mind through breathing exercises, to reaching the inner spiritual core through meditative practices. Even though the yogic practice is Hindu in origin, its practice is secular, which is why it is so popular across the world. It's only evangelical missionaries that find it to be 'demonic,' since it poses a challenge to their agenda of brainwashing and mind control.
There are several types of yoga and spiritual practices, based on the tradition that they originated from. If you leave out certain dodgy rituals aimed at material gains, none of these spiritual practices involve anything remotely 'demonic.' If anything, yoga and meditative processes are the subjects of much recent research with positive findings of improved adjustment, mental calmness, and a resilient disposition in their practitioners.
- Sri M's book on finding a guru for his spiritual progress, Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master
- Book review of BKS Iyengar's book on yoga, Light on Life
Is Hinduism the most perfect religion?
Not really. There are several aspects of Hinduism that I wish would change for the better: over-emphasis on the showy external ritualism and materialism rather than the uplifting inner spirituality, the caste based reservation and discrimination, relying on the karmic law instead of taking timely action against perpetrators of anti-Hindu rhetoric, overcrowding and mismanagement of tirthasthalas, etc.
But is it the religion that affords the most freedom to its practitioners? Definitely yes!
Hinduism is a flexible faith with many additions, modifications and deletions to its tenets; it is not a monolithic, cast-in-stone kind of religion. It is nonprescriptive in nature; that is to say, there is no one central authority or textbook that prescribes the rules and regulations of what it is to be a 'good' Hindu. We are not compelled to go to a place of worship on an assigned day of the week, pray facing a certain direction several times a day, or compulsorily fast for a month from dawn to dusk.
The guidelines provided by the rishis of yore are not to be believed in blindly; indeed, the rishis themselves have advocated an openminded self-inquiry into the nature of the Higher Self. Each individual is free to interpret and apply all, some or none of these principles into his/her daily practice.
We believe in the concept of karma, which means both action and the merits/demerits of good/bad actions. Our emancipation lies in our own hands. Therefore, we are not preoccupied with misplaced notions of sin, judgement days and eternal hellfire.
Hinduism is open to criticism from all quarters; indeed, every philosophical variation known to mankind already exists within the realm of Hinduism making it the most diverse and organic faith. At its core, it is deeply spiritual by nature; the external images and rituals are only guideposts for adherents and seekers to delve deeper into their own being until they reach the inner core of oneness.
I said in the beginning that I have learnt all this through my deep-dive into Hinduism, but I still feel like I have only scratched the surface. I am mesmerised by the fathomless depth and beauty of Hinduism.
I am yet to fully experience the aesthetic and intellectual beauty of such works as Soundarya Lahiri by Adi Shankara, Abhijnana Shakuntalam by Kalidasa, Panini's Sanskrit grammar, Baudhayana's math genius, Sushruta's pioneering treatise on surgery, Charaka's treatise on Ayurvedic medicine, the architectural marvels of Jakanacharya, the bhakti-poetry of Surdas, the erotic rasalila descriptions by Joydeb, and the colloquial version of the Bhagavata, Jnaneshwari, by the child-saint, Jnaneshwar, to mention only a few examples.
I am yet to comprehend even a tiny aspect of the bhakti of Avvai towards Ganapati, of Meera towards Krishna, of Tulsidas towards Rama, of Akka Mahadevi towards Shiva, or of Tukaram towards Vitthala, to name only a few.
I do not know if I can; indeed, one lifetime would not be enough to fully appreciate and savour the grandeur and divine beauty of Hinduism.
Further reading:
- Even today, spirituality is the strength of India.
So what do Hindus want?
At the most basic level, to be left alone. As you can see, there is plenty on our plate already; we have to balance our karma with satya and dharma while we mitigate the effects of artha and kama to move towards moksha. The last thing we want is interference from rabblerousers who only aim to denigrate our faith and convert us to their own faith.
Consider this: how many countries are there in the world where Hindus form the majority of the population? Out of the 195 countries, 3! - finger-countable, on one hand! India is the last refuge of the Hindus.
What kind of almighty condemns people to such ignominy as eternal hell only because they do not follow his path? Why is the almighty as described in your scriptures 'zealous' and why should we be 'god-fearing'? We are a god-loving people.
Conversions through inducements and coercion aim to not only denigrate and change the adherent's faith, but also end up destroying their lifestyle, culture, artforms, and even feelings of gratitude and loyalty towards their nation/state. We don't seek to convert you because we don't believe in the notion of conversion. You are already good enough as you are; you only need to think, speak and act towards the common good of all without expecting anything in return. Conversions are a blot on humanity, the vilest abominations that one human can inflict on another.
So, you should understand our reticence when you come to us with your evangelising missions. Do you honestly believe we would give up the spiritually uplifting things listed above for some vague notion of 'saving souls' from eternal damnation? No thanks, you can keep it.
Leave us alone, we shall be just fine!
Further reading:
- Lessons learnt from a Sentinel event
- Why Hinduism is called Sanatana Dharma - the Eternal Religion
