Scriptural Authority in Hinduism - Case Study Example

The Philosophy of The Upanishads Represents A Continuation Of The Vedic Tradition. The traditional Hinduism has many levels of thinking. Vedas are the primordial scriptures and even more perfected spiritual writings ultimately derive their essence from the Vedas. Do Vedas have any origin? No, they were all the time with the Absolute. The transmission of the Vedas from one generation to another is done in a unique way. The Vedas are esoteric and hence it is for the initiated. Others also need scriptures for their spiritual nourishment. So other forms of writings like the Upanishads, Epics, Puranas etc evolved. But their ultimate source is the Vedas. The idea of sacrifice in the Vedas has more an inward orientation. Sometimes this has resulted in even atheist thinking with in Hinduism. Later compositions often cite the authority of the Vedas as the more orthodox of Hindu scriptures. Many of the ideas in Hinduism like Dharma, Moksha and Karma are a matter of confusion even for the best of minds. Some times even the Vedas and Upanishads may not give the faithful clarity of mind. However, the search for truth by itself is a spiritual experience even when one has unsolved question in the mind. The essay concludes by the assertion that the Vedas are the ultimate spring from which other scriptures took their origin. Scriptural authority in Hinduism has many levels. (Lipner, 1988, P.26) In other religious texts the idea of inspiration, which is very sacrosanct and rigidly defined, is left somewhat vague in Hinduism. It is not even expected that all believers should fall in line with a canonical adherence to any doctrine as in other religions. “In an attempt to set monotheism firmly within the framework of classical Hinduism, Debendranath tried to find authority in the Vedas but became disillusioned with further study and decided that reason and conscience should be the test of the authority of any scriptural text.”(Brockington 176) In traditional Hinduism the Vedas have been given the status of the ultimate canonical text of divine knowledge. The word Veda means knowledge and it is applied in the sense of saving knowledge. It is interesting to note that many Hindus do not have any access to the Vedas .For all the real-time use many Hindus use other forms of scriptures. By about 400-300 BC the idea of “ the four-Vedas” known as Chatur Vedas became an accepted canon. The four Vedas are The Rig, the Sama, Yajur and Atharava Veda .The Vedas contain a huge and diverse body of sacred language, which is directly or indirectly concerned with sacrificial ritual. The composition of the Vedas was a prolonged affair and its scriptural tradition is very complex. Many consider the Upanishads as the culmination of the Vedas; therefore called ‘Vedanta’. The etymology of the word (veda+anta=end of the Vedas) suggests this speedy conclusion both in a chronological and ideological sense. The central argument of this paper is thus vindicated from the etymology of the word Vedanta itself as it represents the latest genre of the scriptural language. However, having said that one should not conclude that Upanishads represent the quintessence of Vedic knowledge (Lipner, 1988, P.38). There is a theological tradition of Hinduism called Vedanta who argue that it is not the performance of the sacrificial ritual that is the be-all and end-all of the Vedas but the inward enactment of sacrifice in one’s personal life through a process of contemplation. The Vedanta school is actually an ongoing refining school of Hinduism. Even they argue that Upanishads is the Siras or the head of the body of the Vedas. How did the Vedas originate? Who composed it? The Vedas were neither composed by the Sages, nor by Brahma, nor by Brahman (The Lord). They were before the existence of everything, their verbal order, and accents and sounds existed before the existence of everything. As Lipner puts it: “Ultimately the Vedas reside in the bosom of the Absolute, but they are only promulgated, not authored by Brahman, Brahma and the Sages in succession. (1988, 48). Vedas are the result of the supreme beings search for truth. The sages through intuiting skill brought them into existence. Hence they are non-personal, eternal and self-authenticated. There is no need to further validate them. However, their meaning has to be deciphered by painstaking scholarship, as they are ancient and obscure. This briefly is the Hindu concept of “revelation” of the Vedas as sacred scriptures. It is argued that there are levels in Hinduism. The Vedas represent the primordial thought content of Hinduism. Of equal importance are the Upanishads. While the Vedas are the earliest of Hindu scriptures par excellence, the Upanishads are a series of mystical and philosophic prose works. The title means sitting at the feet of the master and therefore esoteric and meant only for the initiated. The Upanishads guide the follower to a union with the Brahman. These are called Shruti (what is heard) This thought content is the study of learned Brahmins called the Pundits (learned men). A true pundit devotes his life entirely for the mastery of this body of knowledge. The Pandit (as he is called) is a very ancient man, continuing in his habits and deportment the traditions of a thousand years ... He has unquestioned faith in the validity of the Vedas, which he commenced learning when he was seven years old. It took him twelve years to master the intonation of the Vedas. (Knott, 2000, p. 11) However, it is impossible to convey the subtle and metaphysical knowledge of the Vedas to a medley of mundane crowd engaged in their daily business of living. So popular versions of the Vedas which are meant for the instruction of the people appeared. They are called Smrithi (What is remembered). The Epics, Sutras and Puranas belong to this category. Though they are revered in Hindu thinking, the sacrosanct status of the Vedas and the Upanishads are not given to them. However, popular Hinduism and the morality of Hindu living are derived from the spirituality of the popular versions Vedic knowledge. But the former and the latter are the same as the as they convey the same spiritual truth. The Vedas and Upanishads convey the truth in its ancient form; the same distilled essence is given for popular consumption in the Smrithi literature. It is desirable to grasp the fundamental teaching that pervades all the principal Upanishads so that we can appreciate the fact that it springs from the Vedas only and related inseparably with the crux of Vedic teaching. The entire Upanishads could be summed up in a sentence: “ The universe is the Brahman but the Brahman is Atman.” The two terms: Brahman and Atman form the subject matter of the central thought of the Upanishads. The Brahman is regarded as the ultimate source of the outer world, the power that presents itself to us, in all living things. The Atman on the other hand is the inner self of man, after stripping off everything external. In other words it is the essence of our being. There is no plurality there in the Upanishads both Brahman and Atman are treated as synonyms. The idea of Brahman as the macrocosmic principle needs no supporting evidence. In the Chandogya Upanishad there is the assertion that the whole world is Brahman. While Brahman is finite Atman cannot represent the whole of reality. However, they are in perfect blend. Such a concept of reality takes away the scope for sacrifice and religious piety in true Hinduism. Sacrifice involves dualism, the one who offers and the one who receives. Therefore, sacrifice and religious piety are renounced as unnecessary in Vedic Hinduism. However there are sacrifices in Hinduism but the external aspects of the sacrifice are immaterial what is important is the inner spirit of the sacrifice. Manu’s verses are quoted by Smith to illustrate this point: "The controlled world of the sacrifice is expanded to encompass life as it is lived and as a whole; ritual rules (vidhis) are blown up and out into dharma." (Smith, 1994, p. 27). Brockington observes that pure speculation of the central ideas of the Vedas sometime tilted the balance of some towards atheism: “…the transfer of possession from oneself to another; there is a limited role here for deities as notional recipients of the sacrifice. However, effectively Mīmāṃsā has become atheistic through a fundamentalist concentration on the scriptures themselves” (Brockington, 1981, p. 105) There is the idea of sacrifice both in the Vedas and in the Upanishads. However, purest and philosophical aspects of Hinduism tolerated sacrifice but looked on it as something secondary. "So the Upanishads ask, why sacrifice to this god or that? One should meditate on the soul alone as dear. Indeed the true sacrifice is the disciplined life of the student of sacred knowledge." (Parrinder, 1962, p. 37). The Upanishads in general show clearly the distinction between the higher knowledge of the Supreme Brahman, and the lower knowledge of the empirical world. It is the higher knowledge, not sacrifices or worship that liberates a man. However, in spite of this critical appraisal of the idea of sacrifice and ritual aspects of religious practice there is no injunction that ordains that vedict ritual should be abandoned. On the contrary it was to be accomplished in the light of Upanishads, which has given new insight into the true nature of religion. Thus Upanishads are the ultimate culmination of sruti. In Hindu scholarly tradition Vedas serves as a touchstone of final authorization of any new theory of concept that is spiritual in nature. This is because of the general standing of the Vedas as texts of more orthodox standing. The great Indian epic the Mahabharata is strewn with examples of the author going back the Vedas to establish the authenticity of the doctrine and legitimacy of it’s teaching: “Non-canonical sacred texts from earliest times abound in formal acknowledgements of the authority of the Vedas. The Mahabharata (c. 400 BCE-c. 400), one of Hinduisms two great epic compositions in Sanskrit, typifies this tendency.” (Lipner, 1998, p. 58). The Vedas in its purest form is not for general consumption but other scriptures that have come from the Vedas and that help the ordinary faithful help to get the grasp of the spirit of the Vedas are for all. Often a key is needed to unlock the meaning of the Vedas and later writing often does this function. Upanishads are the offshoots of painstaking meditation of the Vedas and many call them the culmination of the Vedas themselves. The notions of dharma, karma and moksha are cardinal to Hinduism. The insight given in the Vedas are further carried to greater heights in the Upanishads. Much of these notions remain even today in a state of fluidity. However, the final resort for the Hindu mind is to go to the Vedas and the Upanishad in their search for answers to these cardinal issues. Dharma is the right action and the knowledge of that is gained only from the Vedas. But there are cases in which even the best Indian minds fail to gain the meaning of dharma from the Vedas and the Upanishads. Ram Mohan Roy expresses this helplessness: “First I went back to the Vedas, but could not lay the foundation of the Brahma Dharma there, then I came back to the eleven authentic Upanishads, but how unfortunate, even there I could not lay the foundation. (Rambachan,” 1994, p. 21). For the typical Indian mind these incongruities in themselves are not very important. It is the search for truth that makes us nearer to the truth and the final source of the search are the Vedas and the Upanishads. ======== Works cited Knott Kim. Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. 2000. Lipner Jullius. Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. Routledge. London. 1998. Brockington J.L.The Sacred Thread: Hinduism in Its Continuity and Diversity. Edinburgh University Press. 1981. Parrinder Geoffrey. Upanishads, Gita, and Bible: A Comparative Study of Hindu and Christian Scriptures. Faber and Faber. London. 1962. Smith K Brian.Classifying the Universe: The Ancient Indian Varna System and The Origins of Caste.Oxford University Press. New York. Publication Year: 1994. Rambachan Anantanand.The Limits of Scripture: Vivekanandas Reinterpretation of the Vedas. University of Hawaii Press. Honolulu. 1994. Read More