RELIGIOUS CONCEPTS AND HINDU SOCIAL ORGANISATION

 

RELIGIOUS CONCEPTS AND HINDU SOCIAL ORGANISATION

Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world. It is a religion followed by several racial and ethnic groups. The Hindu sacred texts deal with the ethical behaviour of an individual of a family and of society in general. They also discuss and prescribe rules of administration, politics, statesmanship, legal principles and statecraft. The rules of conduct apply to personal and social life. 

Here, we will discuss only some religious concepts, which provide an understanding of the ways in which Hindu society is organised.

Concepts of Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha :-

A life of righteousness for a Hindu is possible through the fourfold scheme of practical endeavour. It comprises the concepts of dharma, artha, kama and

moksha.

i) Dharma is honest and upright conduct or righteous action.

ii) Artha means a righteous and honest pursuit of economic activities.

iii) Kama is the fulfillment of one’s normal desires.

iv) Moksha is liberation, that is absorption of the self into eternal bliss.

Related to these four concepts are the concepts of karma and samsara. Depending upon one’s deeds (karma) one is able to reach the stage of moksha or liberation. The stage of moksha or liberation is a term for describing the end of the cycle of birth and rebirth. The cycle of birth and rebirth is known as samsara. 

The Hindus believe that each human being has a soul and that this soul is immortal. It does not perish at the time of death. The process of birth and rebirth goes on until moksha is attained. This cycle of transmigration is also known as samsara, which is the arena where the cycle of birth and rebirth operates. One’s birth and rebirth in a particular state of existence is believed by the Hindus to be dependent on the quality of one’s deeds (karma).

For a Hindu, the issue of liberation is of paramount significance (Prabhu 1979: 43-48). Let us discuss a little more about these two concepts, i.e., Karma and Samsara.

Karma and Samsara :-

The concepts of dharma, artha, kama and moksha are related to tenets of karma and samsara. Karma is a word used for all activity or work. Samsara is the term used for the arena where the cycle of birth and rebirth continues to operate until one attains liberation. This is also called the theory of reincarnation or punarjanma. Actions are divided into good or bad on the basis of their intrinsic worth. Good deeds bring fame, merit and are the path to heaven. Bad deeds bring notoriety and lead to punishment and life in hell. It is recognised that an individual’s overall position in a future life depends on the way he or she lives the present one. This belief, which gave a positive or negative value to certain actions, developed into a general theory of actions and is called the karma theory. 

The concept of karma is fully developed and woven into the belief in re-birth, which in turn is related to the belief concerning heaven, hell, and moksha. An individual’s fate after death is determined by the sum total of grades and attributes of his or her actions or deeds (karma) during his or her life. Better birth and status is obtained if there is a surplus of many good deeds in a person’s life. Otherwise one’s status falls in the next life. 

Another related belief-is that the world moves in a cyclical process (birth and death follow one another). By following one’s karma prescribed within the fourfold scheme of dharma, artha, kama, moksha an individual strives to get out of this otherwise infinite cyclical process of birth and death. Depending on one’s previous and present karma, one prospers or suffers in this world. Later after death he either gains heaven or is punished with life in hell. Thus a human being after death may become a denizen or inhabitant of heaven or hell, may be reborn as an animal, or even be reborn as a tree. All this depends on one’s karma. An individual usually wanders through many births till he or she finds final release or moksha.

Relevance to Hindu Social Structure :-

The belief in karma and dharma has direct relevance to Hindu social organisation, which is based on an arrangement of castes into a graded order. This hierarchy, in turn, is linked with the quality of one’s karma. One can say that if one’s actions are good, one will be born in a higher caste in the next birth.

Hindu society is supposed to be governed by rather strict rules of caste behaviour. There are, on the other hand, some general rules governing the behaviour of all members irrespective of caste. Castes coexist with different norms of behaviour and a continuity with the past in terms of one’s actions in the previous birth. Whatever position one may be born into, one must fulfil the functions, without attachment, without hatred and resentment. Whatever may be one’s dharma, its performance through one’s karma brings blessings.

Each person has a duty (dharma) appropriate to one’s caste and one’s station in life. As mentioned before, the term dharma refers to honest and upright conduct or righteous action. Dharma has two aspects; one normative and the other naturalistic. The normative aspect refers to duty or path to be followed.

The naturalistic meaning implies the essential attributes or nature, for example, the dharma or nature of water is to flow. The Hindus believe that one must follow one’s dharma to achieve ultimate liberation from the cycle of births and deaths in this world. An individual belongs to a family and a caste group and has to perform his or her dharma (in the sense of its naturalistic aspect) accordingly. The main aim of following one’s dharma is to eventually achieve moksha or liberation. Dharma relates not only to the caste but also to the different stages in one’s life. As part of following one’s dharma a Hindu goes through the life cycle rituals which are carried out in the context of marriage, family and caste. Let us now look at the size and spread of the Hindu community in India.