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Part V - Uniqueness of Hindu Dharma, Chapter 2/6 - How Hinduism covers people of all types of temperament?

This is Part V - Uniqueness of Hindu Dharma, Chapter 2/ 6

Table of Contents

26. How is Hinduism the most systematically organized Religion?

As said earlier, Hinduism covers all walks of life.

There are different types of collections of Hindu Scriptures that are written in a different way or different purposes. Accordingly they are called as a SAstra, sUtra, siddhAnta or samhitA.

SAstra is that covers all aspect of life, it is the word of God.

sUtra or aphorism is that which means to explain anything in the most precise and shortest way.

siddhAnta is generally a rule or a principle or an established theory.

samhitA is any methodically arranged collection of established texts or verses

We will try to briefly understand in what way Hinduism covers all aspects of life.

• veda-s – Topmost Authority covering mantras and where to chant a particular mantra or personal and universal well being.

• vedAnta (upanishads) – Philosophical Part of veda-s unfolding the highest truth.

• bhagavad gItA and other gItA-s independent and from purANas- and itihAsa

• brahma sUtra – Topmost canonical text clearing contradictions, refuting multiple views and establishing truth (This texts is to be studied last after studing Gita and Upanishads)

• itihAsa (history) – rAmAyaNa and mahAbhArata

• purANa-s – Speaking of God in a friendly way through stories

• yoga – control of mind, body and breath. Texts like patangali yoga sUtra, thirumandiram, etc – for meditatative purposes

• dharma smriti-s – civil codes

• nATya SAstra – Doctrine of Drama and Acting

• nritya SAstra like bhArata NATyam, and other dance forms

• niti SAstra-s – vidur niti, chANakya niti

• haTha yoga – haTha pradipikA, gerANDa samhitA

• yaska's nirukta – splitting of sanskrits words and giving multiple meaning

• amarkoSa – sanskrit dictionary

• pANiNi's aShTAdhyAyi – sanskrit grammar

• patanjali mahAbhASya – commentary on pAnini's aShTAdhyAyi further explaining sanskrit grammar

• grihya sUtra-s – describing day-2-day activities of house holders

• vAstu SAstra – Art of house and temple building, city planning

• Silpa SAstra for idol making and temple construction.

• jyotiSa SAstra-s – Texts on Astrology like brighu samhitA and rAvaNa samhitA

• paulisa siddhAnta, surya siddhanta, arya siddhAnta of Arya bhaTTa and others for Astronomy

• ank SAstra – Science of Mathematics, mystery of numbers

• nyAya and tarka SAstra – School of Logic

• chAyA SiddhAnta – Problem solving through the science of shadow

• tantra – external, internal and mixed for of worship of God, related to awakening of kuNDalini and activation of chakra-s and other subtle bodies.

• vimAnika SAstra – science of aeronautics.

The Taboo

• kAmaSAstra - vAtsyAyana's kAmasUtra and nandi's kAmaSAstra – study of sexual behaviour. Contrary to popular belief, it's not 'sex manual' and has spiritual elements.

• VamachAri mArg - Left Hand Paths which are generally considered as taboo by common man crossing the human and civil limits, moral and ethical codes and do what is prohibited and still get enlightenment. KamasUtra is not a manual of tAntrika sex.

An e.g. is aghori sAdhu-s. They are masters of energies and subtle bodies and do not consider anything as unholy as Siva is present in everything and is everywhere. Nothing exists that is not Siva.

Other paths which are corrupted from pure paths are secret techniques invoking ghosts, and Gods invisible power either for personal gain or for destructive purpose.

latA sAdhanA-s found in 64 bhairava tantra-s are connected with spiritual gains via sexual pleasures. They are rejected even by Saiva-s, sects worshipping Lord Siva as supreme, probably due to being born as a result of corrupted understanding of tantra.

• tantra-s were designed so that men and women of all varNa and jAti can practise them. There is no restriction to anyone as far as practising them it concerned. Only advice is to learn them under the guidance and care of an enlightenmed Guru or a well veresed AcArya.

• Lokayata / brihaspatya / cArvAka of prajApati daksha – An athiest docrtine supposedly founded by prajApati daksha of athiest nature which emphasizes on materialism. CarvAka-s consider lust as the cause of creation. According to pancAdaSi and sarvadarSana samgrah of SrI vidyAraNya svAmI, there were two types of cArvAka-s – (1) those who thinks Atman (Self or 'I') is physical gross body and (2), those believing that jIva is 'I' or Self or Atman.

Four upa-veda-s (sub veda-s or secondary veda-s)

• Artha Sastra – kauTilya's artha Sastra for Financial management

• dhanurveda – martial arts and art of war planning using different forms like cronch vyuh, chakra vyuh

• Ayurveda – Science of medicine e.g. charaka samhitA, dhanvantari samhitA, Sushruta samhitA (plastic surgery). It is said that there was also blood transmutation in Ancient Indian technique.

• gandharva veda – Science and art of singing and music. Music originated from sAma veda (sargam – sA, re, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni)

• Oral traditions – many things not covered for changed according to the demographics and local culture

• Independent compositions – poetic, prakaraNa grantha-s and related to and complimenting upanishads, bhakti sUtra-s like nArada and SanDilya bhakti sUtra-s are highly revered.

• Advances in Engineering – non-rusting Iron pillar in Delhi calle viShNu stambha (Qutub Minar) was an astronomical observatory. Zinc distillation was carried out in India in Ancient days which no other country could replicate it at that time.

From the above we can conclude that Hinduism is a religion which covers all major walks of life and is the most organized religion.

Added on 18-08-2021

24.1. How does Hinduism covers people of all Temperaments?

According to Sanatan Dharma, the world was created with the help of mAyA, the creative power of Ishvara. mAyA has three guNa-s - satva, rajas and tamas. Hence everything that is created by mAyA is also said to have these guNa-s. We, humans too have all three guNa-s. As per Bhagavad Gita, there are people with three types of basic nature. Either they are inclined towards karma, or they are inclined towards bhakti (devotion) or towards Jnana (the path of renunciation). Anyone walking on spiritual path knowingly or unknowingly follows any one of three paths. For those who have zeal and spirit of doing something for themselves and for the society, for the world follow the path of karma, those with emotional temperament prefer the path of devotion as they can easily bond with and personal form of Ishvara. Those who have power of discrimination, deep longing for moksha and dispassion in worldly affairs follow the path of Jnana. There are others who follow the path of Yoga. Those following Yoga integrate all three paths in their practice.

As per Sanatan Dharma, a person is born with a particular set of basic qualities which are his or her core qualities. Sanatan Dharma does not ask on the renounce these qualities, rather it encourages a person to walk on the path that is naturally suitable to their mental makeup. Only the samskara-s are embedded in them so that they do have a choice, an alternative when they choose a path. For example, a person who is fearless and has some violence in himself is likely to pickup a gun when he grows up. However depending upon samskaras (his inherent nature), he either will either become an underworld don or an encounter specialist. So becoming a criminal (terrorist) or protecting the society (soldier) is the choice that one makes. What matters is the intention behind the action than the action itself. Here the samskaras help one to choose a correct path which is not destructive. For a good human being, service to nation is equivalent to service to Ishvara. Such a person does selfless act without any selfish motive and so his actions are satvika in nature and not triggered by destructive mindset. Such a person can surrender his karma to his Ishvara and progress on spiritual path. In this way, with proper guidance and teaching, any person, depending upon his or her mental makeup can choose the path and progress on it.

As said earlier, each one of us has three guNa-s. Tamas guNa is associated with laziness, revengeful attitude, etc Rajas is associated with activity. A person with predominant Rajas guNa will work for the good of all but wants his recognition, name and fame. He likes glory and wants to be in seated on hot seat and take center stage. A person with Predominant guNa will have divine qualities like unselfish love, compassion, kindness, can let go, forget and forgive others and likes to stay unnoticed and quietly do the work. The spiritual path is to transform from a tamas to rajas to satva guNa. It teaches us to keep a check on negative animal qualities and cultivate and encourage positive divine qualities. This can be done by following any of the path, karma, bhakti, Jnana and Yoga.

In addition, Sanatan Dharma does not give concession to the person adhering to any philosophical school of thought. Having devotion and faith in Ishvara does not mean we do not have other qualities and emotions. We all have ego and other emotions. We need to work on other emotions and cultivate the divine qualities within us so that love for God constantly radiates through our heart. Taking initiation of any mantra or accepting any Guru does not mean one immediately gets rid of all negative qualities within oneself. Initiation definitely helps in the spiritual progress and so the struggle to calm down mind is greatly reduced, but still one must work on other emotions like anger, greed, irritation, ego, etc.

In this way, Sanatan Dharma, which shows many ways to progress spiritually covers people of all temperaments.