How did the Oldest Religion in the World Survive
Founded around the 15th — 5th century BCE, Hinduism, the oldest living religion in the world has survived centuries of abuse, massacres, and invasions. Northern India, where the religion originated, had been no stranger to foreign influx over the centuries. From the Aryan invasion to that of the Turks and the Mughals, invaders repeatedly made India their target. The rich economy of the subcontinent was the primary reason. But another equally important reason was the presence of fertile soil to sow the seeds of their own religious and cultural beliefs. India was an attractive prey for foreign predators of all races and colours.
The invaders were sometimes tolerant. History has those rare examples of people who accepted the culture of India and made it their home. But they were a minority. A major chunk of these invaders had tyrannical views and their rule was synonymous with mass religious conversions. This posed a serious and compounding threat to the indigenous religion and culture of the subcontinent.
The term Hinduism, ironically, was coined not by the native followers of the ideology but by “outsiders”. Early migrants to the Indus valley ( the northern part of the Indian subcontinent) beginning with the Greeks and Persians, spoke of its inhabitants as “Hindu” (Greek: ‘indoi’). By the 16th century, residents of India themselves began to employ the term “Hindu” to distinguish themselves from the invading Turks.
The question though is — These people have seen enormous bloodshed and faced immense pressure to convert their faith by coercion, greed, and even the promise of better prospects — How then is this religion still alive?
The answer is twofold :
1. The Love of chaos.
2. Tolerance and Flexibility.
The love of chaos
Hinduism is a diverse and flexible tradition, notable for its ability to:‘Absorb potentially disharmonious developments.’
More than any other major religion in the world, Hindus accept, in fact, celebrate the chaotic, multileveled, and sometimes pluralistic nature of their traditions. Hinduism is fuelled by the belief that God has many faces and cannot be confined to one practice or belief. Hindus celebrate God in numerous relatable forms.
Lord Krishna is celebrated with his lover Radha — which caters to the romantic in each individual. Lord Krishna is also the deity that shared profound truths with humankind by giving Arjuna (one of the protagonists of the great Indian battle — the Mahabharata ) eternal wisdom, known commonly as the “Bhagwad Geeta”.
Lord Rama is celebrated with his wife Sita, his brother Lakshmana and his devotee, Lord Hanuman — venerated as the family man, the son, and the brother. The story of Lord Rama is the story of the Indian epic “Ramayana”. But Ramayana is also the story of the struggles of Sita.
Both Lord Krishna and Lord Rama are incarnations of Lorn Vishnu, as depicted under, one of the three principal Gods of Hinduism.
Lord Shiva is worshipped with his counterpart Sati or Goddess Parvati — the ubiquitously loved and admired pair. In the Shaivite tradition, Shiva is the Supreme Lord who creates, protects, and transforms the universe. There are both benevolent and fearsome depictions of Shiva. In the benevolent aspects, he is depicted as the first-ever Yogi. He lives as an ascetic on Mount Kailash, having renounced this world. He is a householder with his wife Parvati and his two children, Ganesha and Kartikeya.
In his fierce aspects, he is the destroyer of the universe. Shiva is regarded as the patron god of Yoga, Meditation, and arts. He is commonly known as the “Mahadeva” or the most powerful God. His dance or “Tandava” is believed to cause the apocalypse. He is also the God who is easily pleased, is approachable by all, and holds a special place in the hearts of young girls who wish to find a worthy husband. Praying to him with love and devotion is believed to help an individual find the best life partner.
The goddess Parvati, his wife is believed to be the energy and creative power (Shakti) of each individual, she is the equal complementary partner of Shiva. She is the Goddess of power, nourishment, harmony, devotion, and motherhood. She is the Mother Goddess in her complete form.
Shiva and Shakti are the two halves of a soul — the divine masculine and the divine feminine.
Then there is the Great Goddess Durga whose nine different forms are worshipped on the festival of “Navaratri”. She is the powerful female deity and the slayer of the buffalo demon Mahishasura. Her legend centers around her power to combat evil and demonic forces that threaten peace and prosperity — she symbolizes the inherent power in all females.
Durga is believed to unleash her wrath against the wicked for the liberation of the oppressed. Durga is seen as a motherly figure and often depicted as a beautiful woman, riding a lion or tiger, with many arms, each carrying a weapon and defeating the demons.
Lord Ganapathi, the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati is one of the most loved Gods across the country. Ganesha is “Vighneshvara”— the Lord of clearing obstacles, both of a material and spiritual nature. Ganesha, also spelled Ganesh is an elephant-headed God of beginnings. He is traditionally worshipped before any major enterprise and is the adorable patron of intellectuals, bankers, and authors.
There are numerous such narratives of other Gods and Goddesses. What is astounding is that Durga is celebrated with as much love as Ganesha, even in areas where the population majorly worships Krishna and Rama.
Such an acceptance gives room for the interpenetration of the divine and human spheres and leads to tolerance and respect for each other’s beliefs. It also provides room for the religion to evolve, a quality that has helped Hinduism resist the threats to its existence so far.
Tolerance and Flexibility
Hindus believe that religious truth is found through multiple sources, not dogmatically proclaimed.
This perspective enhances a broad view of religious truth; hence, there is a strong tendency for contemporary Hindus to affirm that :
Tolerance is the foremost religious virtue.
Hinduism has stood the test of time because its core belief is that the supreme God is the only reality; that the “Paramatma” or the supreme soul is one; the rest is all illusion ( called ‘mithya’ ). The paths to God may be many and one path is not necessarily better than the other.
All Hindus, regardless of the deity they personally love and worship, believe in the doctrines of samsara (the continuous cycle of life, death, and reincarnation) and karma (the universal law of cause and effect).
One of the key thoughts of Hinduism is “atman,” or the belief in the soul. This philosophy holds that living creatures have a soul, and they’re all part of the supreme soul. The endgame then is the same for all of us — Union with the supreme consciousness . This doctrine is now finding tremendous support in the west, where people are “awakening” to the presence of the Divine consciousness.
Nevertheless, the central affirmation that the soul’s journey is more fundamental than rigidities of practice made the inhabitants of the subcontinent tolerant to each other's beliefs and those of the “outsiders”. People of India show reverence to their neighbour's belief, attend different prayer meets, love the food from a gurudwara as much as that from the mandir and unless politics comes and tries to tear them apart, are welcoming to each and everyone. “ Atithi devo bhavah” or “Guest is God” is a well known saying in the country. Hindus have the traditional greeting of “namaskar” as they believe that God resides inside each of us and we bow to the God in the person in front of us. Tolerance comes from a beautiful ideology -
“Me and you — we are different. We have our personal favourite Gurus, we worship different deities. But we respect each other and we believe It does not make either of us right or wrong! God is one. ”
Some people might call tolerance a weakness that made it easy for different invaders to enter India. Most people do. Many even ridicule this historically chaotic religion and land, but that is Ok.
Strength lies in humility and acceptance rather than force and coercion.
Inherent tolerance and love of all cultures and people can never be a weakness. It will always be a strength. Hinduism and the allied religions of the subcontinent that subsequently tried to do away with those practices of Hinduism that made it corrupt over time — Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism have survived despite the pressures of time. History is full of examples where extremist views have eventually been defeated.
History is a wonderful teacher. In the survival of Hinduism, the lesson is one of flexibility, acceptance, and tolerance.
