Hinduism : My religion

Holi, Hindu festival of colours is in next week i.e. on 27th March 2013. So thought of sharing some facts and beauty of Hinduism. Hinduism is the religion which I belong to. I believe all religion has its own enlightening power and beauty. But I can narrate about Hinduism and its way of life as I experience it and would continue till end. Although it is the third largest religion in the world, Hinduism exists primarily in India and Nepal. The facts and teaching presented below has been sourced from various holy book as well as various articles which have been published by our religious teachers and great scholars. I will also quote some experience which a person from other community has observed. In true sense religion is man’s association with the divine and the ultimate objective of religion is realization of truth. Hinduism is unique among the world religions. The Hindu truly believes that there is single Eternal path, and beauty is that we also do not believe that any one religion is the only valid religion or the only religion that will lead the soul to salvation. Rather the Eternal path is reflected in all religion. So as per Shrimad Bhagavad Gita (a holy book of Hinduism) “Truth is one but path are many”. We believe in several Gods and Goddesses but primary supreme Gods are Brahma—Creator; Vishnu—Preserver; and Shiva—Destroyer. God can also manifest as an extraordinary being in human form, who is then known as an incarnation of God, such as Krishna, Rama, etc.

Three Supreme Gods

 Hindu sacred texts are as follows:-

•  The Vedas are the oldest - about 3000 years old. They are a collection of hymns, prayers, and magic spells.

• The Upanishads are stories and parables told by gurus (teachers) to their students

•  The Mahabharata is a story of a war between two royal families. The Bhagavad Gita is a very popular part of this text.

•  The Ramayana is a story of the god Rama and the rescue of his wife Sita from Ravana, the evil demon king

 One can be a Hindu by his actions (karma) or birth (Janma) 

•  Karma Hindu : is a Hindu by his deeds and qualities or spiritual components
• Janma Hindu : is a Hindu by birth.

Since to be a Hindu is an attitude, a Karma Hindu is a true Hindu. He is Hindu by action and thought, a follower of Dharma and spreads Dharma, which is a sattvik or spiritually pure way of life.

We have various festivals such as Diwali Lakshmi Puja, Makar SanKranti, Dhan Teras, Bhaiya Dooj, Sree Ganesh Chaturthi, Akshay Tritiya, Rakshabandhan, Gurupaurnima, Maha Shivaratri, Holi, Sree Ram Navami and Nagpanchami to name few. If you are interested to know more about these festivals then you can look for them in internet to understand its reason behind celebration as well as their amazing beauty.

Mahatma Gandhi (Father of Nation : India ) writes, "The object of the Gita appears to me to be that of showing the most excellent way to attain self-realization" and this can be achieved by selfless action, "By desire less action; by renouncing fruits of action; by dedicating all activities to God, i.e., by surrendering oneself to Him body and soul." Gandhi called Gita, The Gospel of Selfless Action. In order to achieve true liberation, it is important to control all mental desires and tendencies to enjoy sense pleasures.

The following verses illustrate this:

    When a man dwells in his mind on the object of sense, attachment to them is produced. From attachment a spring desire and from desire comes anger. From anger arises bewilderment, from bewilderment loss of memory; and from loss of memory, the destruction of intelligence and from the destruction of intelligence he perishes"(2.62-3)

Hope it was beneficial in terms spreading awareness about a beautiful religion Hinduism.

Thank You!

Satender Kumar Mall

Twitter: Satenderiiit