HINDUISM

the beliefs, practices, and socioreligious institutions of the Hindus (originally, the inhabitants of the land of the Indus River). Introduced in about 1830 by British writers, the term properly denotes the Indian civilization of approximately the last 2,000 years, which evolved from Vedism, the religion of the Indo-European peoples who settled in India in the last centuries of the 2nd millennium BC. Because it integrates a variety of elements, Hinduism constitutes a complex but largely continuous whole and has religious, social, economic, literary, and artistic aspects. As a religion, Hinduism is a composite of diverse doctrines, cults, and ways of life. the beliefs, practices, and socioreligious institutions of the peoples known as Hindus (principally the peoples of India and parts of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, but also communities in other parts of the world) that have evolved from Vedism, the religion of the ancient Indo-European peoples who settled in India during the 2nd millennium BC. Because it integrates a variety of heterogeneous elements, Hinduism constitutes a complex but largely continuous whole; and, because it covers the whole of life, it has religious, social, economic, literary, and artistic aspects. Hinduism thus resists a precise definition, but a common core of characteristics most Hindus share can be identified. Additional reading Among the many overviews of Hinduism are Thomas J. Hopkins, The Hindu Religious Tradition (1971); David R. Kinsley, Hinduism: A Cultural Perspective (1982); R.C. Zaehner, Hinduism, (1962, reissued 1977); and Louis Renou, Religions of Ancient India (1953, reissued 1972). An excellent survey of all aspects of pre-Muslim ancient India is A.L. Basham, The Wonder That Was India, 3rd rev. ed. (1967, reprinted 1985). More detailed and technical accounts may be found in Jan Gonda, Die Religionen Indiens, 2 vol. (1960-63); and in R.C. Majumdar (ed.), The History and Culture of the Indian People, 11 vol. (1951-69). A basic resource for the study of Hinduism is the series "The History of Indian Literature," including the volumes by Jan Gonda, Vedic Literature (Samhitas and Brahmanas) (1975), and Medieval Religious Literature in Sanskrit (1977); and by Teun Goudriaan and Sanjukta Gupta, Hindu Tantric and Sakta Literature (1981). A detailed outline is also provided by J.N. Farquhar, An Outline of the Religious Literature of India (1920, reprinted 1967). For historical overviews, consult Vincent A. Smith, The Oxford History of India, 4th ed. (1981); Romila Thapar and Percival Spear, A History of India, 2 vol. (1965-66); and D.D. Kosambi, The Culture and Civilisation of Ancient India in Historical Outline (1965, reissued 1970; U.S. title, Ancient India: A History of Its Culture and Civilization, 1966, reissued 1969). For the original sources of the principal texts of Hinduism in English translation, convenient collections include Ainslie T. Embree (ed.), The Hindu Tradition (1966, reissued 1972); Wendy Doniger O'flaherty (ed. and trans.), Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism (1988); Ainslie T. Embree and Stephen N. Hay (eds.), Sources of Indian Tradition, 2nd ed., 2 vol. (1988); and R.C. Zaehner (ed. and trans.), Hindu Scriptures (1966). Compendiums of Hindu mythology in translation include Wendy Doniger O'flaherty (ed. and trans), Hindu Myths: A Sourcebook (1975); and Cornelia Dimmitt and J.A.B. Van Buitenen (eds. and trans.), Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskrit Puranas (1978). Some of the individual textual classics of Hinduism have been translated and published in the series "Sacred Books of the East": F. Max Mller and Hermann Oldenberg (trans.), Vedic Hymns, 2 vol. (1891-97, reprinted 1979), selections from the Rigveda; Maurice Bloomfield (trans.), Hymns of the Atharva-Veda: Together with Extracts from the Ritual Books and the Commentaries (1897, reissued 1973); Julius Eggeling (trans.), The Satapatha-Brahmana, According to the Text of the Mdhyandina School, 5 vol. (1882-1900, reprinted 1978); G. Bhler (trans.), The Laws of Manu (1886, reprinted 1971), with extracts from seven commentaries; Julius Jolly (trans.), The Institutes of Vishnu (1880, reprinted 1965), and The Minor Law-Books (1889, reprinted 1965); George Thibaut (trans.), The Vedanta-Sutras, with the Commentary by Ramanuja, 3 vol. (1890-1904, reprinted 1977); and Hermann Oldenberg (trans.), The Grihya-Sutras: Rules of Vedic Domestic Ceremonies, 2 vol. (1886-92, reissued 1973). See also Wendy Doniger O'flaherty (ed. and trans.), The Rig Veda: An Anthology (1981), a collection of 108 hymns. Robert Ernest Hume (trans.), The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, 2nd ed. rev. (1931, reissued 1983), remains the best translation. R.C. Zaehner, The Bhagavad-Gita: With a Commentary Based on the Original Sources (1969, reprinted 1973), is one of the best translations of this text. Translations of the epics include Pratap Chandra Roy (trans.), The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, 12 vol. (1883-96, reprinted 1981-82); J.A.B. Van Buitenen (ed. and trans.), The Mahabharata (1973- ); Hari Prasad Shastri (trans.), The Ramayana, 3rd ed., 3 vol. (1976); and Robert P. Goldman (trans.), The Ramayana of Valmiki: An Epic of Ancient India (1984- ), with 2 vol. published by 1988. Translations of several Puranas are available in J.L. Shastri, Ancient Indian Tradition & Mythology (1970- ), with 35 vol. published by 1987; and in the Puranas, ed. by Anand Swarup Gupta (1968- ). Although many of the vast sources for the vernacular literatures have not been translated, there are some, including: W. Douglas P. Hill (trans.), The Holy Lake of the Acts of Rama (1952), a translation of the Ramcaritmanas of Tulasi Das; Ch. Vaudeville (trans.), Kabir, vol. 1 (1974); Linda Hess and Shukdev Singh (trans.), The Bijak of Kabir (1983, reissued 1986); Kenneth E. Bryant, Poems to the Child-God: Structures and Strategies in the Poetry of Surdas (1978); John Stratton Hawley, Sur Das: Poet, Singer, Saint (1984); A.K. Ramanujan (trans.), Speaking of Siva (1973), Hymns for the Drowning: Poems for Visnu (1981), and Poems of Love and War: From the Eight Anthologies and the Ten Long Poems of Classical Tamil (1985); and David Dean Shulman, Tamil Temple Myths: Sacrifice and Divine Marriage in the South Indian Saiva Tradition (1980), and The King and the Clown in South Indian Myth and Poetry (1985). A good introduction to tribal and Hindu folklore is provided by Verrier Elwin (trans.), Tribal Myths of Orissa (1954, reprinted 1980), Myths of Middle India (1949, reprinted 1977), and Myths of the North-East Frontier of India (1958, reissued 1968). See also Brenda E.F. Beck et al. (eds.), Folktales of India (1987); and Stuart H. Blackburn and A.K. Ramanujan (eds.), Another Harmony: New Essays on the Folklore of India (1986). For the prehistoric period and the Indus Valley civilization, see Walter A. Fairservis, Jr., The Roots of Ancient India, 2nd ed. rev. (1975); Stuart Piggott, Prehistoric India to 1000 B.C. (1950, reissued 1962); Mortimer Wheeler, The Indus Civilization, 3rd ed. (1968); and John Marshall, Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization, 3 vol. (1931, reprinted 1973). The best works on the Vedic religion include the essays found in J.C. Heesterman, The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual (1985); see also Frits Staal, C.V. Somayajipad, and M. Itti Ravi Nambudiri, Agni: The Vedic Ritual of the Fire Alta, 2 vols. (1983). The classic work on the Vedic sacrifice is Sylvain Lvi, La Doctrine du sacrifice dans les Brhmanas (1898, reissued 1966). Still useful are Arthur Berriedale Keith, The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads, 2 vol. (1925, reprinted 1971); and Louis Renou, Vedic India, trans. from French (1957, reissued 1971). Works on the relations between Vedic religion and later Hinduism are Jan Gonda, Change and Continuity in Indian Religion (1965); Madeleine Biardeau and Charles Malamoud, Sacrifice dans l'Inde ancienne (1976); and Brian K. Smith, Reflections on Resemblance, Ritual, and Religion (1989). The literature and teachings on dharma are presented in Pandurang Vaman Kane, History of Dharmasastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religions and Civil Law in India), 2nd ed., 5 vol. in 8 (1968-77), an indispensible work. A summary of dharma is found in Robert Lingat, The Classical Law of India (1973; originally published in French, 1967). The best study on yoga is Mircea Eliade, Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, 2nd ed. (1969; originally published in French, 1954); also consult Jean Varenne, Yoga and the Hindu Tradition (1976; originally published in French, 1973). The doctrine of karma and rebirth as it is presented in the texts is examined in the essays collected in Wendy Doniger O'flaherty (ed.), Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions (1980). Charles F. Keyes and E. Valentine Daniel (eds.), Karma: An Anthropological Inquiry (1983), is also useful. Of the many works on the theoretical underpinnings of the caste system, the most influential of recent years has been the magnum opus by Louis Dumont, Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and Its Implications, rev. ed. (1980; originally published in French, 1966). Also noteworthy is Veena Das, Structure and Cognition: Aspects of Hindu Caste and Ritual, 2nd ed. (1982). For a convenient summary of the Hindu practice and ideology of image worship, consult Diana L. Eck, Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India, 2nd rev. and enl. ed. (1985); and the essays in Joanne Punzo Waghorne, Norman Cutler, and Vasudha Narayanan (eds.), Gods of Flesh/Gods of Stone: The Embodiment of Divinity in India (1985). The best work on Hindu temples is Stella Kramrisch, The Hindu Temple, 2 vol. (1946, reprinted 1976); see also George Michell, The Hindu Temple: An Introduction to Its Meaning and Forms (1977). The practice of pilgrimage in general, and specifically pilgrimage to the holy city of Varanasi, is treated in Diana L. Eck, Banaras: City of Light (1982). For an overview of the sects worshiping Vishnu or one of his forms, see Jan Gonda, Aspects of Early Visnuism (1954, reissued 1969); Suvira Jaiswal, The Origin and Development of Vaisnavism: Vaisnavism from 200 B.C. to A.D. 500, 2nd rev. and enl. ed. (1981); and Milton Singer (ed.), Krishna: Myths, Rites, and Attitudes (1966, reprinted 1981). For an excellent study on Krishna, see Alf Hiltebeitel, The Ritual of Battle: Krishna in the Mahabharata (1976). Other important works include John Stratton Hawley, Krishna, the Butter Thief (1983); and David R. Kinsley, The Divine Player: A Study of Krsna lila (1979). Sushil Kumar De, Early History of the Vaisnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources, 2nd ed. (1961), is a historical approach. For the history of Saivism, see C.V. Narayana Ayyar ( sadananda), Origin and Early History of Saivism in South India (1936, reprinted 1974); and V.S. Pathak, History of Saiva Cults in Northern India, from Inscriptions 700 A.D. to 1200 A.D. (1960, reissued 1980). The mythology of Siva is discussed in Wendy Doniger O'flaherty, Asceticism and Eroticism in the Mythology of Siva (1973, reprinted as Siva, the Erotic Ascetic, 1981); and in Stella Kramrisch, The Presence of Siva (1981). The best overviews of Tantrism are Agehananda Bharati, The Tantric Tradition (1965, reprinted 1977); and Edward C. Dimock, Jr., The Place of the Hidden Moon: Erotic Mysticism in the Vaisnavasahajiya Cult of Bengal (1966). For the worship of the goddess in her many forms, consult the essays in John Stratton Hawley and Donna Marie Wulff (eds.), The Divine Consort: Radha and the Goddesses of India (1982, reprinted 1986). See also Thomas B. Coburn, Devi Mahatmya: The Crystalization of the Goddess Tradition (1984); Cheever Mackenzie Brown, God as Mother: A Feminine Theology in India: An Historical and Theological Study of the Brahmavaivarta Purana (1974); David Kinsley, Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition (1986); and Wendy Doniger O'flaherty, Women, Androgynes, and Other Mythical Beasts (1980, reprinted 1982). An interesting and accessible comparison of certain themes in the worship of Krishna and the goddess is David Kinsley, The Sword and the Flute: Kali and Krsna, Dark Visions of the Terrible and the Sublime in Hindu Mythology (1975, reprinted 1977). Emphasizing the anthropology of "popular" Hinduism are the works by Lawrence A. Babb, The Divine Hierarchy: Popular Hinduism in Central India (1975); McKim Marriott (ed.), Village India: Studies in the Little Community (1955, reprinted 1986); Milton Singer (ed.), Traditional India: Structure and Change (1958, reissued 1976), and When a Great Tradition Modernizes: An Anthropological Approach to Indian Civilization (1972, reprinted 1980); and C.G. Diehl, Instrument and Purpose (1956). A classic case history of the process known as Sanskritization is M.N. Srinivas, Religion and Society Among the Coorgs of South India (1952, reissued 1978). For a psychoanalytic approach to Hinduism, consult G. Morris Carstairs, The Twice-Born: A Study of a Community of High-Caste Hindus (1957, reissued 1967); and Sudhir Kakar, The Inner World: A Psycho-Analytic Study of Childhood and Society in India, 2nd ed. rev. and enl. (1981, reprinted 1982), and Shamans, Mystics and Doctors: A Psychological Inquiry into India and Its Healing Traditions (1982, reissued 1984). The standard work on the philosophical and theological aspects of various Hindu traditions is Surendranath Dasgupta, A History of Indian Philosophy, 5 vol. (1922-55, reprinted 1975). A fine series of volumes on Indian philosophy is Karl H. Potter (comp.), Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies (1977- ), with 4 vol. published by 1987. For an analysis of one of these traditions, see John Braisted Carman, The Theology of Ramanuja: An Essay in Interreligious Understanding (1974). Developments in the Hindu tradition as it confronted Western religions and modernity are covered in D.S. Sarma, Studies in the Renaissance of Hinduism in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (1944). Of special interest are the texts collected and translated by Richard Fox Young, Resistant Hinduism: Sanskrit Sources on Anti-Christian Apologetics in Early Nineteenth-Century India (1981). Wendy Doniger Brian K. Smith Rituals, social practices, and institutions Sacrifice and worship Although the Vedic fire rituals were largely replaced in Puranic and modern Hinduism by image worship and other forms of devotionalism, many Hindu rites can still be traced back to Vedism. Certain royal sacrifices-such as the rajasuya, or consecration ritual, and the horse sacrifice (asvamedha)-remained popular with Hindu kings until very recently. Other large-scale Vedic sacrifices (srauta) have been regularly maintained from ancient times to the present by certain families and groups of Brahmans. By and large, however, the surviving rituals from the Vedic period tend to be most clearly observed at the level of the domestic (grhya) ritual. Domestic rites The Vedic householder was expected to maintain a domestic fire into which he made his offerings. Normally he did this himself, but in many cases he employed a Brahman officiant. In the course of time, the family priest was given a large part in these ceremonies, so that most Hindus have employed Brahmans for the administration of the "sacraments" (samskara). The samskaras include all important life-cycle events, from conception to cremation, and are the main constituents of the domestic ritual. The sacraments are transitional rites intended to make a person fit for a certain purpose or for the next stage in life, by removing taints (sins) or by generating fresh qualities. If the blemishes incurred in this or a previous life are not removed, the person is impure and will acquire no reward for any ritual acts. The sacraments, while sanctifying critical moments, are therefore deemed necessary for unfolding a person's latent capacities for development. Sudras are allowed to perform some samskaras if they do not require the use of Vedic mantras. Rituals, social practices, and institutions The place of Hinduism in world religions Hinduism and other religions of Indian origin Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism originated out of the same milieu: the circles of world-renouncers of the 6th century BC. Although all share certain non-Vedic practices (such as renunciation itself and various yogic meditational techniques) and doctrines (such as the belief in rebirth and the goal of liberation from perpetual transmigration), they differ in the respect they accord to the Vedic tradition. Virtually all Hindus affirm the sacredness and authority of the Veda; Buddhists and Jains do not and therefore are regarded as less than orthodox by Hindus. Buddhism Although Buddhism did not interfere with Hindu customs and usages, allowing its adherents to approach Hindu or local supernatural powers for immediate favours, Hindu criticism of Buddhism came mainly from Brahman philosophers who opposed its adherents because they rejected the authority of the Veda and the Brahmans and the doctrine of the atman (soul) and because they admitted persons of any age and caste to monastic life. The spread of Buddhism was often regarded as an indication of degeneration. In the course of time, the Buddha was recognized as an incarnation of Vishnu, but this was often qualified by the addition that Vishnu assumed this form to mislead and destroy the enemies of the Veda, and this avatar is rarely worshiped. Buddhist emblems also were often ascribed to Vishnu or Siva. Some Buddhist shrines have remained partly under the supervision of Hindu ascetics and are visited by pilgrims notwithstanding their much neglected condition. After the rise of Buddhological studies in the West and the archaeological discoveries and restorations beginning at the end of the 19th century had made Indians more aware of the Indian origin of Buddhism, the Republic of India adopted the Buddhist emperor Asoka's lion capital, marking the place of Buddha's first teaching, as its national emblem. The Buddha jubilee in 1956 was an occasion for enthusiastic celebrations. The number of Indian Buddhists has again increased, due mainly to the conversion of persons of low social rank who hope for higher social status as Buddhists than they were afforded as Hindus. Sacred texts Vedas Importance of the Vedas The Veda, meaning "Knowledge," is a collective term for the sacred scriptures of the Hindus. Since about the 5th century BC, the Veda has been considered to be the creation of neither human nor god; rather, it is regarded as the eternal Truth that was in ancient times directly revealed to or "heard" by gifted and inspired seers (rishis) who transcribed it into the most perfect human language, Sanskrit. Although most of the religion of the Vedic texts, which revolves around rituals of fire sacrifice, has been eclipsed by Hindu doctrines and practices, the absolute authority and sacredness of the Veda remains a central tenet of virtually all Hindu sects and traditions. Even today, as it has been for several millennia, parts of the Veda are memorized and recited as a religious act of great merit. The components of the Veda The Veda is the product of the Aryan invaders of the Indian subcontinent and their descendants, although the original inhabitants (disdainfully called dsyus, or "slaves," in the Veda) may very well have exerted an influence on the final product. The Veda represents the particular interests of two classes of Aryan society, the priests (Brahmans) and the warrior-kings (Ksatriyas), who together ruled over the far more numerous peasants (Vaisyas). Vedic literature ranges from the Rigveda (Rgveda; c. 1400 BC) to the Upanishads (Upanisads; c. 1000-500 BC). This literature provides the sole documentation for all Indian religion before Buddhism and the early texts of classical Hinduism. Because it is the literature of a ruling class, it probably does not represent all the myths and cults of the early Indo-Aryans, let alone those of the non-Aryans. The most important texts are the four collections (Samhitas) known as the Veda or Vedas (i.e., "Book of Knowledge"): the Rigveda ("Wisdom of the Verses"), the Yajurveda ("Wisdom of the Sacrificial Formulas"), the Samaveda ("Wisdom of the Chants"), and the Atharvaveda ("Wisdom of the Atharvan Priests"). Of these, the Rigveda is the oldest. In the Vedic texts following these earliest compilations, the Brahmanas (discussions of the ritual), Aranyakas (books studied in the forest), and Upanishads (secret teachings concerning cosmic equations), the interest in the early Rigvedic gods wanes, and they become little more than accessories to the Vedic rite. Polytheism begins to be replaced by a sacrificial pantheism of Prajapati ("Lord of Creatures"), who is the All. In the Upanishads Prajapati merges with the concept of brahman, the supreme reality and substance of the universe (not to be confused with the Hindu god Brahma), replacing any specific personification, thus transforming the mythology into abstract philosophy. Together, the components of each of the four Vedas-the Samhitas, Brahmanas, AIanyakas, and Upanishads-constitute the revealed scripture of Hinduism, or the Sruti (Sruti; "Heard"). All other works-in which the actual doctrines and practices of Hindus are encoded-are recognized as having been composed by human authors and are thus classed as Smriti (Smrti; "Remembered"). The categorization of Veda, however, is capable of elasticity. First, the Sruti is not exactly closed; Upanishads, for example, have been composed until recent times. Second, the texts categorized as Smriti inevitably claim to be in accord with the authoritative Sruti, and thus worthy of the same respect and sacredness. For Hindus, the Veda is a symbol of unchallenged authority and tradition. Sacred texts Vaishnavism Vaishnavism is the worship of Vishnu and his various incarnations. During a long and complex development from Vedic times, there arose many Vaishnava groups with differing beliefs and aims. Some of the major Vaishnava groups include the Srivaisnavas and Dvaitins ("philosophical or religious dualists") of South India, the followers of the teachings of Vallabha in western India, and several Vaishnava groups in Bengal in eastern India, who follow teachings derived from those of the saint Caitanya. The majority of Vaishnava believers, however, take what they like from the various traditions and blend it with various local practices. In the Veda, Vishnu is the god of far-extending motion and pervasiveness who, for humans in distress, particularly through constrictions, penetrates and traverses the triple spaces to make their existence possible. All beings are said to dwell in his three strides or footsteps (tri-vikrama): his highest step, or abode, is beyond mortal ken in his dear and highest resort, the realm of heaven. So Vishnu is also the god of the pillar of the universe and is identified with the sacrifice. He imparts his all-pervading power to the sacrificer who imitates his strides and so identifies himself with the god, thus conquering the universe and attaining "the goal, the safe foundation, the highest light" (Satapatha Brahmana). In the centuries preceding the beginning of the Christian era, Vishnu became the Isvara (immanent deity) of his special worshipers, fusing with the Purusa-Prajapati figure; with Narayana, whose cult discloses a prominent influence of ascetics; with Krishna, who in the Bhagavadgita revealed a popular and universal religion, open to everybody desiring to lead a socially normal life while having a prospect of final liberation; and with Vasudeva, adored by a group known as the Pacaratras. Vishnu with his 10 avatars (incarnations): Fish, Tortoise, Boar, Man-Lion, Dwarf, Rama with 1/4 The extensive mythology attached to Vishnu consists largely of the mythology of his incarnations (avatars). Although the notion of "incarnation" is found elsewhere in Hinduism, it is basic to Vaishnavism. The concept is particularly geared to the social role of Vishnu; whenever dharma (universal law and order) is in danger, Vishnu departs from his heaven, Vaikuntha, and incarnates himself in an earthly form to restore the good order. Each of his incarnations has a particular mythology. The classical number of these incarnations is 10, ascending from theriomorphic (animal form) to fully anthropomorphic manifestations. These are: Fish (Matsya), Tortoise (Kurma), Boar (Varaha), Man-Lion (Narasimha), Dwarf (Vamana), Rama-with-the-Ax (Parasurama), King Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and the future incarnation, Kalkin. A god thus active for the good of society and the individual inspires love. Vishnu has indeed been the object of devotional religion (bhakti) to a marked degree, but mainly in his incarnations, and among them specially as Krishna and Rama. The god rewards devotion with his grace, through which the votary may be lifted from transmigration to release. Like most other gods, Vishnu has his especial entourage: his wife is Laksmi or Sri, the lotus goddess, granter of beauty, wealth, and good luck. She came forth from the ocean when gods and demons churned it in order to recover from its depths the ambrosia or elixir of immortality, amrta. At the beginning of the commercial year special worship is paid to her for success in personal affairs. Vishnu's mount is the bird Garuda, archenemy of snakes, and his emblems are the lotus, club, discus (as a weapon), and a conch shell, which he carries in his four hands. Whatever justification the different Vaishnava groups (e.g., the Srivaisnavas of South India or the worshipers of Vishnu Vithoba in Maharashtra) offer for their philosophical position, all Vaishnavas believe in God as a person with distinctively high qualities and worship him through his manifestations and representations. Vaishnava faith is essentially monotheistic, whether the object of adoration be Vishnu Narayana or one of his avatars such as Rama or Krishna. Preference for any one of these manifestations is largely a matter of tradition. Thus, most South Indian Srivaisnavas prefer Vishnu, Rama, or Sri (Vishnu's consort); the North Indian groups prefer Krishna. The avatar doctrine, by accommodating the cults of various divine or heroic figures within a monotheistic framework, proved to be a powerful integrating force. Whenever the dharma declines and evil and general disaster threaten, God, the protector and preserver of the world, emanates himself and assumes an earthly form to guard the good, to destroy the wicked, and to confirm the dharma. The benevolence and beneficial activity of these figures (Rama, Krishna, et al.) is, however, occasionally in doubt. In many mythical tales, Vishnu is depicted as a versatile figure of great adaptability, able, for instance, to disguise himself as a fascinating young woman in order to trick the asuras (antigods) out of the possession of the newly produced amrta. His absorbing, many-sided character was a source of inspiration for various stories in which he often acts deceitfully, selfishly, or helplessly. The scene of his great deeds is usually laid in this world, especially India, in places often mentioned by name. The narratives are full of the miraculous, but their central figures give the impression of human, sometimes all too human, characters whose actions and reactions are within the limits of ordinary understanding. A pronounced feature of Vaishnavism is the strong tendency to devotion (bhakti), which is generally considered to be "the heart of worship," the sole true religious attitude toward a personal God, and the very foundation of the realization of man's relationship with him. Characterized by a continual consciousness of participating in God's essence, bhakti is the disinterested performance of all deeds for him, a passionate love and adoration of God, and a complete surrender to him. The widespread bhakti movement is a corollary of the Vaishnava ideal of a loving personal God and aversion to a conception of salvation that puts an end to all consciousness or individuality. Attesting to the superiority of a mystic and emotional attitude to the meditative or preponderantly ritualistic means to the highest goal, the practical and theoretical development of the bhakti idea constitutes one of the main points of difference among the several Vaishnava schools. The belief expressed in the Bhagavadgita-that those who seek refuge in God with all their being will, by his benevolence and grace (prasada), win peace supreme, the eternal abode-was generally accepted: bhakti will result in divine intercession with regard to the consequences of one's deeds. Among many followers of Ramanuja, however, complete self-surrender (prapatti) came to be distinguished from bhakti as a superior means of spiritual realization. Saivism The character and position of the Vedic god Rudra-called Siva, "the Mild or Auspicious One," when this aspect of his ambivalent nature is emphasized-remain clearly perceptible in some of the important features of the great god Siva, who together with Vishnu came to dominate Hinduism. During a complex development from ancient, possibly in part from pre-Vedic, times, many different Saiva groups arose. Major groups such as the Lingayats of southern India and the Kashmir Saivas contributed the theological principles of Saivism, and Saiva worship became a complex amalgam of pan-Indian Saiva philosophy and local or folk worship. In the minds of the ancient Indians Siva must have been primarily the divine representative of the uncultivated, dangerous, unreliable, and much-to-be-feared aspects of nature. Siva's character lent itself to being split into partial manifestations-each said to represent only an aspect of him-as well as to assimilating divine or demoniac powers of a similar nature from other deities. Already in the Rigveda, appeals to him for help in case of disaster-of which he might be the originator-were combined with the confirmation of his great power. In the course of the Vedic period, Siva-originally a ritual and conceptual outsider, yet a mighty god whose benevolent aspects were readily emphasized-gradually gained access to the circle of respectable gods who preside over various spheres of human interest. Many characteristics of the Vedic Prajapati, the creator, of Indra, the god of the phallus, and of the great Vedic god of fire, Agni, have been integrated into the figure of Siva. In those circles that produced the Svetasvatara Upanishad (c. 400 BC), Siva rose to the highest rank. Its author uses grandiose terms to show a way of escape from samsara, to proclaim Siva the sole eternal Lord, and to establish Siva's existence. In this description of Siva's nature, some of the most salient features of the later Siva, the Isvara (immanent deity), are clearly discernible: he is the ultimate foundation of all existence and the source and ruler of all life, who, while emanating and withdrawing the universe, is the goal of that identificatory meditation that leads to complete cessation from phenomenal existence. While Vishnu became a friend nearer to man, Rudra-Siva developed into an ambivalent and many-sided lord and master. His "doubles" or partial manifestations, however, were active among mankind: as Pasupati ("Lord of Cattle"), he took over the fetters of the Vedic Varuna; as Aghora ("To Whom Nothing Is Horrible"), he showed the uncanny traits of his nature (evil, death, punishment) and also their opposites. It is not always clear in particular cases whether Siva is invoked as a great deva (god) of frightful aspect, capable of conquering demoniac power, or as the boon-giving Lord and protector. The Isvara idea of a Highest Being demonstrably beyond contingency is rather abstract; hence its propagators needed to use imagery, popular belief, and mythical thought. Siva might be the sole Principle above change and variation, yet he did not sever his connections with innumerable local deities and much-feared powers worshiped by most Hindus, who still continue to invoke him in magical rites. Whereas Vishnu champions the cause of the gods, Siva sometimes sides with the demons. Siva is a typical example of polarity within the Highest Being because he reconciles in his person semantically opposite though complementary aspects: he is both terrible and mild, creator and agent of reabsorption, eternal rest and ceaseless activity. These seeming contradictions make him a paradoxical figure, transcending humanity and assuming a mysterious sublimity of his own. His character is so complicated and his interests are so widely divergent as to lead him in mythical narratives into conflicting situations. Yet, although Brahman philosophers like to emphasize his ascetic aspects and the ritualists of the Tantric tradition his sexuality, the seemingly opposite strands of his nature are generally accepted as two sides of one character. Siva interrupts his austerity and asceticism (tapas), which is sometimes described as continuous, to marry Parvati-he is even said to perform ascetic acts in order to win her love-and he combines the roles of lover and ascetic to such a degree that his wife must be an ascetic (yogi) when he devotes himself to austerities and a lustful mistress when he is in his erotic mode. This dual character finds its explanation in the ancient double conviction that unrestrained sexual intercourse is conducive to the fertility of nature and that the chastity and continence of the ascetic produce marvelous events and have an uncommon influence upon the unseen. By his very chastity, an ascetic accumulates (sexual) power that can be discharged suddenly and completely so as to produce marvelous results such as the fecundation of the soil. From various mythical tales it is seen that both chastity and the loss of chastity are necessary for fertility and the intermittent process of regeneration in nature. Ascetics engaging in erotic and creative experiences are a familiar feature in Hinduism, and the element of teeming sexuality in mythological thought counterbalances the Hindu bent for asceticism. Such sexuality, while rather idyllic in Krishna, assumes a mystical aspect in Siva, which is why the devotee can see in him the realization of the possibilities of both asceticism and the householder state. His marriage with Parvati is, then, a model of conjugal love, the divine prototype of human marriage, sanctifying the forces that carry on the human race. Siva's myths tend to depict him as the absolutely mighty unique One, who is not responsible to anybody or for anything. His many poses express aspects of his nature: as a dancer, he is the originator of the eternal rhythm of the universe; he also catches the waters of the heavenly Ganges River, which destroy all sin; and he wears in his headdress the crescent moon, which drips the nectar of everlasting life. Siva represents the unpredictability of divinity. In him the Vedic Rudra is partly continued, but his mythology has become exceedingly complex. He is the hunter who slays and skins his prey and dances a wild dance while covered with the bloody hide. Far from society and the ordered world, he sits on the inaccessible Himalayan plateau of Mount Kailasa, an austere ascetic, averse to love, who burns Kama, the god of love, to ashes with a glance from the third eye-the eye of insight beyond duality-in the middle of his forehead. Yet another epiphany is that of the lingam, an upright rounded post, usually of stone, a formalized phallic symbol, in which form he is worshiped throughout India. And at the end of the eon, he will dance the universe to destruction. He is, nevertheless, invoked as Siva, Sambhu, Sankara (meaning: "the Auspicious One" or "the Peaceful One"), for the god that can strike down can also spare. Snakes seek his company and twine themselves around his body. He wears a necklace of skulls. He sits in meditation, with his hair braided like a hermit's, his body smeared white with ashes. These ashes recall the burning pyres on which the sannyasis (renouncers) take leave of the social order of the world and set out on a lonely course toward release, carrying with them a human skull. Like so many ascetics-often irascible and dangerous-Siva demands to be seduced. His consort is Parvati ("Daughter of the Mountain"), a goddess most unlike the consorts of Vishnu in his various incarnations. She is also personified as the Goddess (Devi "goddess"), Mother (Amba), black and destructive (Kali), fierce (Candika), and well-nigh inaccessible (Durga). As Siva's female counterpart, she inherits some of Siva's more fearful aspects. She comes to be regarded as the power (shakti) of Siva, without which Siva is iithIaiiy pokhIihss. Sakti is in turn personified in the form of many different goddesses, often said to be aspects of her. Thus the spheres of the Vishnu complex and the Siva complex are very different ones. In important respects they represent the two different ethics of Hinduism: the dharma ethic, which aims at upholding the dharma and the cosmic and social order based on it, and the moksha (liberation) ethic, which searches for release from an order that perpetuates transmigration.