HINDUISM AND CHRISTIANITY

Hinduism is not a single religion, a uniform doctrine, or a unified organization, but a variety of religions grouped together under one name, "Hinduism," which was attached to it by outsiders who pointed to the people and customs in the region of the Sindhu (= Hindu) River. Not in the beginning of its history, but much later in more philosophical reflections, Indian intellectuals occasionally came to refer to their own tradition as "sanatanadharma", "the everlasting tradition." This name seems appropriate because historically "Hinduism" grew in the manner of an organism rather than that of a system of thought and practice. There are many local gods and even pantheons, yet mutual exclusiveness in religious matters is rare.

The oldest text, the Rgveda, begins with a collection of more than a thousand hymns to deities, composed in "Vedic," an ancient form of Sanskrit, related to Latin, Greek, and other Indo-European languages not only linguistically but also in religious imageries. The hymns appear to have been collected and given their final shape between 1400 and 1200 B.C. Other Vedic collections were formed, largely with the same hymns, for the sake ofliturgical purposes, particularly chanting and sacrificing. Added texts (Brahamanas, Araryakas, Upanishads) became part of "the Vedas." They comment on the Vedic verses and the sacrificial procedures. They also reflect historical transformation, especially in the direction of more meditative, "interiorized" conceptions of the tradition. Typically, in spite of visible changes, they do not reject what preceded. Philosophically, the entire heritage is heterogeneous. Monistic and dualistic teachings occur in it. Strict, almost mechanical ritualism and "bhakti", "devotion," appear side by side. In the course of time, more and more texts were produced; they were not "sruti", "revelation," as is only the Veda, but "smrti", "memory." Yet these texts also acquired great authority. They include the Puranas, "tales of old," and the Mahabharata and Ramayana, the epics.

By the time Christianity reached India, whether in the first century A.D. (when, as South Indian legend has it, the apostle Thomas brought it there) or later, religion in India was no longer characterized by Vedic ritual sacrifices (although during the Gupta dynasty in the fourth and sixth centuries some revival of the great early sacrifices took place). Vedic religion did not know temples but, rather, large open-air rituals, in addition to the domestic cult at the home fireplace. Now, however, a temple cult had developed. Many of the local deities residing in those temples were identified with divinities of the Vedic tradition. Both "Visnu" and "Sive", as well as Devi(the great goddess), have their forms and manifestations in a world full of great temple art, sculpture, and architecture. Of "Visnu's avatars" (literally "down-comings"), "Krsna" and "Rama" are best known.

Although details of the early history. of the caste system are obscure, in this period of "later Hinduism" it is firmly established. The caste system is known to the west almost exclusively as a system of social inequality. Of course, it is social, but it is characterized primarily by degrees and divisions of ritual purity and impurity, and thus it is religiously embedded. It is as if the subtle symbolism of the ancient cultic tradition were made concretely, literally applicable to the relations among people. The Brahmans, in principle "spiritual leaders" in the Vedic tradition, became socially important even though the majority of rulers in Indian history were not even "aryas", hence not of the ancient Vedic stock. Moreover, the Brahmans, like all other groups in society, were themselves subdivided in castes and rankings. The ancient idea of rebirth can be said to have cut through the hierarchy of society, for it created the possibility of higher (or lower) births after the present one. At the same time, however, among most of the tribal peoples and many of the "lower castes" the notion of rebirth played hardly any role at all.

In this later Hinduism, distinct from the earlier periods of Vedism and Brahmanism, the experience of "bhakti", "devotion," is significant. The glorified deity in most cases was not merely one of the great and well-known gods and goddesses but literally the deity of a particular temple; the temple was conceived of as the palace where the deity resided and was served by attendants. The God-who for Christians and Muslims is primarily divine will (which demands obedience)-from the Hindu point of view is primarily divine presence (which is recognized and experienced in "bhakit").

The Sanskrit term "dharma" was used throughout India. It is "religion," sometimes "law." Its most basic connotations, however, are more concrete and practical: "tradition,"or "duty" to be performed. "Dharmani", the plural, also occurs in the sense of "customs." A religion of acts to be performed rather than a matter of "beliefs," Hinduism is structurally comparable to Judaism.

Beginning approximately in the fourth century (with some possible antecedents in Buddhism), an important new movement arose, Tantrism (or, in Buddhism, "Vajrayana"). It used to be considered as entirely a symptom of decay and moral depravity, at the very least as a reversion to primitive magic. More recent scholarship, less hampered by Victorian platitudes, has come to assess Tantrism rather differently. In anthropological terms, it can be seen as an "acculturation process," taking place while Sanskrit culture penetrated into outlying regions. The texts that were produced, the Tantras, are characterized by less sophisticated usage of Sanskrit, yet the prestige of Sanskrit in no way is diminished. The Tantras exhibit as great a variety as the earlier writings. They are immersed in yoga ideas. Of the great philosophical systems developed in classical India, yoga was the most widespread. Yoga made use of earlier Upanishadic teachings. It employed precise techniques to guide experience and aimed for attainment of "moksa", "liberation" from the conditions of "samsara" in which all beings are born. "Samsara" is the world as it appears, with its endless unpleasantnesses, of which the most striking feature is that it seems endless, for everything is subject to rebirth-except for the successful practitioner of yoga. Whereas this classical yoga warned against the temptation to accept the sensation of power that the "yogin" experienced, in Tantric teachings the sensation of freedom was fully embraced also as power. In Tantric ritual, the togetherness of absolute freedom and power is expressed in ways that are the opposite of the generally endorsed moral rules in Hinduism: use of intoxicants; sexual union of a Brahman with a low-caste girl; partaking of meat and fish; and use of "mudras", ritual hand gestures akin to gestures known in other Hindu cultic tradition as well as in Indian dance. Rather than being a matter of total degeneration, the religious significance of these matters points to a continuation of ancient symbolism in "yoga": sitting still, regulating the breath, controlling the fluctuations of thought-all actions that go against the ordinary course of things in order to attain "moksa". Within the multiplicity that characterizes Hinduism, Tantrism is certainly not to be understood as a rebellion. Its reputed "magic," that is to say its exertion of powers, was essential, for instance, in the preparations and dedication of any temple; an expert in Tantra must be employed on such occasions.

Buddhism, which had dominated the intellectual scene of India for a millennium, did not fade from the subcontinent without leaving pronounced influences. The extraordinary articulateness of the "Vedanta" philosophies of "Sarkara", "Ramanuja", and "Madhva" are difficult to explain without the stimulus of Buddhism. As to the earliest arrival of Christianity in India and possible discussions surrounding it, we have little reliable historical information. No doubt the church claiming connection with the apostle Thomas is ancient, but how ancient is unclear. The tradition does not show anything as to disputations with Hindus. What it does show in later times is attendance of its adherents at festivals in Hindu communities, and vice versa. The caste system did not seem to aggravate but to facilitate such contacts, as it stimulated the self-consciousness of different groups.

By Kees W. Bolle and Frederick W. Norris in "Encyclopedia of Early Christianity", second edition, Editor Everett Ferguson, Routledge, New York & London,1999, excerpts pp.562-563.Adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.