HINDUISM -The Gist of Hinduism

The Books of Hinduism

The Vedas, Upanishth or the gist of Veda, The Ahama , sthothras, Shatras, Epics and Puranas constitute the books of Hinduism.Of these The Vedas, Upanishth, The Ahama, Epics and Puranas are in Sanskrit and common to all regional languages. And we get translation of these in every regional language of India. The sthosthras and shastras mentioned here are those found in the Tamil language composed by saints who occurred in Tamil nadu. There are sthothras and shastras in other regional languages composed by saints in those regions. These together is called the book of knowledge. It is also called Suruthi (Vedic accent) and Marai (secret scripture). It is a hidden mine of divine concepts. The great Viyasa Rishi has composed it and classified it into four parts called Ric, Yasur, Sama and Atharva. In addition a special book regarded as the gist of Veda called Upanishth is also found here.

  • The Ric: This is composed of songs and divided into ten zones. Zone 1-7 refer to God as Agni, meaning fire. The rest refer God as Bramma (creater) and Indira.
  • The Yasur: This deals with performance of special poojas, sacrificial tokens, offerings and methods of religious rituals. It also deals with rituals to be done on full moon and new moon days, carry out late parents’ annual and monthly rites and pacifying of violent actions of anger.
  • Sama: This consists of sweet songs. In this the supreme lord is praised and sung as Agni and Indra. These songs can dispel sins and relieve it’s effects.
  • Athrvana: This tells about how Vedic sacred formulas should be recited. Rites to be done to get rid of enemies, Vedic rites and eulogies of prophesies are covered in this.
  • Upanisth: This is learnt from the guru by sitting in close proximity to him. This signifies wisdom. This may rightly be called the seat of Hindu philosophies. This is also regarded as foregone conclusion. The essence of the four divisions of Veda called, samhithai, piraammanam, araniyasam constitute the upanishth.

Altogether there are 108 upanisth. Of these 10 are central. They are: Ayithraya upanisth, Thaithiraya upanisth, Kapopanisth, Suvethasuvara upanisth, Piruhathaaranyashenisth, Kenopanisth, Pirachnopanisth, Eesopanisth, Mundakopanisth, Santhokiya upanisth. Upanish was first brought out by the saint Sri Sankarachchariya. Then Ramanujar, Vithyaranayar and Ananthatheerthar added to it. 2) Aahama : This serves to overcome the sins of the souls and bless them to attain bliss. Firstly there are 28 Siva Aahamas. From the rationalistic part of Aahama it comes to be known that they were formed from the five faces of Shiva.

Face of Shiva Number of aahamas Details of Aahams
Sathyoyatha face 5 Kaamika, Yokjam, Sithiyam, Kaaranam & Ajitham
Vaamatheva face 5 Theeptham, Kushmam, Shahasram, AmsumaanSham & surapetham
Akora face 5 Vijayam, Nichvaasam, Suyaayampuvam, Analam & Veeram
Thathpurusha face 5 Rauram, Makudam, Vimalam, Snththiragnanam & Pimpam
Eesaana face 8 Pprothjeetham, Lalitham, Siththam, Santhaanam, Sarvoktham, Ppramechvaram, Kiranam & Vaathulam

Of these 28 Aahamas, 10 are Siva Petha (petham means differing) the rest 18 Aahamas are Ruthra Petha. There are four divisions in the Aahamas. In Sariyapaatha (Sariyai means physical activities) the collection of materials for rituals and the way in which they are carried out are mentioned. In the Kiriyaapaatha ( Kiriya mean – rules for doing) the rituals from Karshnam (plough into) to Pirathisda (installation), the Nithya (done daily) and Naimithya(done specially) poojas and ways to carry out temple festivals and special stripping (of anti penance activities) baptism are dealt with. In the Yogapathaa (yoga sect-concentration on god) Aanmasuththi(purity of soul) and Antharyaga are told about. In the Gnanapaathaa (gnanam means wisdom – enlightenment) the characteristics of Pathy, Pasu and Paasam (6these are already described) and the characteristics of the ten entities Ahama Thathvarupa, Thathuvatharsanam, Thathuvasuththi, Aanmarupa, Aanmatharsan, Aanmasuththi, Sivarupa, Sivatharsan, Sivayogam, Sivapogam are dealt with. Secondly there are two Vaishnava Aahamas. They are:

  1. Paanjcharathrakamam – Revealed by some holy saints.
  2. Vaikaanas Aahama – revealed by the great saint Vikanasar.Paanjcharathraakama Aahama pooja is done at Thirunarayanapura called Melakoddai, Shri Rangam and Kaanchipuram. In Thiruppathy temple pooja is done by the Vaikaanas Aahama method.
    The reason for the name Paanchraathiram

    (Paanch means five) As this was taught by divinity in 5 nights it got this name. In this the five elements of nature, the five senses from five organs, self pride, intellect, and thoughts are explained. In the Paanchraathira holy places for temples, Dimensions of a Temple, installation of deities (idols), pooja timings, pooja subtances, festivals, renovations of temples, the characteristics of the person doing the pooja, religious code of the priest are described.

Traditional Vaisnava doctrin mentions about two ways of attaining divinity. The first one is the ‘cat’ theory. Like the cat carrying its kittens safely, the supreme ‘takes’ the soul safely to divinity. The second one is the ‘monkey’ theory. Like the baby monkey the soul clings stead fast to the supreme to its destination. The important things in Aahamas are Vedic sacred formulae and hand signals in worships.

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