Hinduism: A Short History

Klaus K. Klostermaier

HINDUISM: A SHORT HISTORY

This ebook edition published by Oneworld Publications, 2014

First published by Oneworld Publicatios, 2001

Oneworld Publications

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© Klaus K. Klostermaier 2000

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from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-85168-213-3

eISBN: 978-1-78074-680-7

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CONTENTS

What is Hinduism?

The Meaning of “History”

A History of Hinduism?

Problems in Constructing a Historic Schema of Hinduism

Attempting a Periodization of Indian History

Basic Hindu Source Literature

Mathurā

Vārāṇasī

The Āryan Invasion Theory

Debunking the Āryan Invasion Theory

New Chronologies

Old vs. New, or Scientists vs. Philologists?

The

– a Code?

India, the Cradle of Civilization?

A Crown Witness for the New Chronology?

The

and its Interpreters

The Vedic Indra Religion

Purva Mīmāṃsā: Orthodox Vedic Exegesis

The Continuity of Vedic Religion

The Development of Viṣṇu Mythology

The Development of Vaiṣṇava Philosophy

Vaiṣṇava Worship and Devotion

Vaiṣṇavism Today

The Development of Śiva Mythology

Śaiva Schools of Thought

Śiva Images and Worship

Contemporary Developments in Śaivism

The Development of Devī Mythology

Devī Worship and Iconography

Śākta Philosophy

Śāktism Today

Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika

Sāṁkhya-Yoga

Pūrvā and Uttara Mīmāṃsā

Hindu Philosophy Today

Beginnings of Modernity in India

Hindu Reactions to Christian Missions

Hinduism after Independence

Hindu Teachers Going West

Hinduism Present and Future

PREFACE

H
induism: A Short History
is the second in a series that comprises
Hinduism: A Short Introduction
(Oneworld, 1998) and
Hindu Writings: A Short Introduction to the Major Sources
(Oneworld, 2000).

A History of Hinduism, with all the controversy that surrounds the very term “Hinduism,” and in the absence of a commonly agreed upon periodization of the intellectual development of India, is necessarily an interpretative construct, built on many assumptions. Chapter 1, The Introduction, lays out alternative schemata underlying such an undertaking and also gives a short survey of the sources upon which it rests. Chapter 2, a short history of two prominent Hindu centers – Mathurā and Vārānasī – mirrors like a microcosm the vicissitudes of Hinduism over several thousands of years. Chapter 3 tells the controversial story of the beginnings of Hinduism. This is followed by a short history of the Vedic Indra religion. One chapter each is then devoted to the parallel histories of Vaisnavism, Śaivism and Śāktism, the three major branches of “mainstream Hinduism,” followed by a chapter on the Smārtas, the non-sectarian orthodox Hindus. Chapter 9 deals with the history of Hindu philosophy, which was always intimately connected with Hindu religion. The last chapter is devoted to Modern Hinduism, covering the new movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; it also discusses the present situation and future prospects of Hinduism. A fairly extensive Glossary offers translations and explanations of Sanskrit terms used. The Select Bibliography documents the literature referred to, and offers suggestions for further reading in the history of Hinduism.

The book is intended for the non-specialist reader. However, ample documentation has been provided with numerous references both to original sources and to scholarly literature, which will enable the serious student to follow up the issues mentioned. Hindu source literature available in original languages and in translations, as well as secondary literature on Hinduism, in a great number of modern languages, has become extremely vast. Rich resources for the study of each and every aspect of the history of Hinduism mentioned in this book are available today to continue reading for an entire lifetime.

Gratitude is due to all the scholars whose work has been made use of, as acknowleged. Special thanks to Harold Coward (University of Victoria) for numerous detailed suggestions for improvement of the typescript. My thanks also extend to the friendly and efficient staff of Oneworld Publications, Oxford, for their unfailing courtesy and cooperation.

Klaus K. Klostermaier

Winnipeg, August 1, 1999

1

INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS HINDUISM?

Hinduism is unlike any of the other major historic religions. It does not claim an identifiable human founder or a specific origin in history – some Hindus derive their tradition from a primeval revelation of the Supreme, others consider it the beginningless
sanātana dharma
, the eternal law that governs everything, independently of any divine or human agent – nor has it ever rejected a parent tradition from which it separated as a rebel child, as all others have done. Hindus had not found it necessary to define “the essentials of Hinduism” or prove it different from other religions until challenged by break-away spiritual movements like Buddhism or invaders from outside, who wanted to impose their own religions, such as Islām and Christianity.

Traditional Hinduism has preserved surprisingly much of the character of autochthonous native traditions, maintaining the holistic, all-embracing approach typical of these: there is no hard and fast distinction between the sacred and the secular, no strict separation of religious ritual from essential daily activities, no real difference or tension between religion and culture.

The various branches of what became known as “Hinduism” do not have a common creed and they do not demand from their followers any declaration of a “Hindu” faith. Until recently one could not become a Hindu unless one was born into a Hindu family; and one could not cease to be a Hindu if one was born a Hindu. As far as one’s membership in the Hindu community was concerned, it did not matter what one thought or believed as long as one participated in the traditional rituals, which were also part and parcel of traditional Indian culture. On the other hand, many of the
saṃpradāyas
, specific worship traditions within Hinduism, draw very close and narrow boundaries: those who wish to be members must obey a very strict regimen with regard to diet, life-style, reading, and worship; they must not accept the teachings of any other
saṃpradāya
, or read books or listen to sermons from them.

Left to itself the large and old Hindu civilization quietly appropriated whatever was brought into it from the outside, absorbed it, transformed it, and made it part of its own. That process of assimilation was disturbed in a major way first by the massive onslaught of Islamic conquerors from the tenth century C.E. onwards. The Muslims came to conquer India and to covert the native “idolaters” to their own religion. The rigid monotheism of Islam, the exclusivity claim of Mohammed’s revelation, the rejection of the caste system proved irreconcilable with the native religio-cultural traditions of India.

While Islām could claim partial successes – for over half a millennium most of India was under Muslim rule and a third of the population accepted Islām
¹
– it generated a resistance among Hindus who began to realize an identity of their own based on their native “Hindu” traditions. Not by accident was it that from the eleventh century onwards
nibandhas
were composed – encyclopedic works that collected Hindu legal traditions, information about Hindu holy places, Hindu rituals, and customs of all
saṃpradāyas
. Hindus became aware of Hinduism as distinct from Islām. Islamic hostility toward “idolatry” further served to underscore the differences between Hindu traditions and other religions.

The second major disturbance was created by Western European powers from the sixteenth century C.E. onwards. While the main interest of the Portuguese, the Dutch, the Danish, the French and the English – all of whom established colonies in India – was trade, they were soon persuaded by the ecclesiastical powers of their homebases that they also had a duty to spread their Christian faith among the heathen.

Notwithstanding the presence of significant groups of indigenous Christians, who had lived for centuries peacefully side by side with their Hindu neighbors,
²
the European Churchmen of various denominations considered India a mission field to be harvested for their sectarian Western Christian Churches. By demanding from the citizens of Goa, the first European colony on Indian soil, either to convert to the Catholic Church or to emigrate, the Portuguese established a hard and fast line between Christianity and Hinduism, and also made sure that future relations between the two religions were based on hostility and exclusivity. Like Islām, Christianity became a foreign invader and remained a foreign religio-cultural presence in India. It also provoked a reaction and a resistance among Hindus that became quite articulate from the end of the nineteenth century onwards.
³

The term “Hinduism” has recently been problematized in western scholarly literature. “Hindutva,” the Indian-languages equivalent,
⁴
identified with a cultural political program promoted by right-wing Hindu political parties and extremist Hindu organizations, is viewed with suspicion and apprehension by many non-Hindus. Some question the appropriateness of the very word “Hinduism,” which, they say, is an “orientalist construct” invented by western colonial interest. All agree that the term “Hindu” was imposed on the Indians by outsiders. However, the designation “Hindú” has meanwhile been adopted by Indians themselves, who identify their religion as “Hinduism” over against Islām or Christianity.
⁵
Others deny historic validity to the very notion of “Hinduism” prior to nineteenth century “Neo-Hinduism,” which arose as a reaction to Christianity, the religion of the foreign colonizers.

The global designation “Hinduism” is apt to disguise the great diversity of Indian religious traditions. Till very recently “Hindus” defined their religious identities by using specific appellations like Vaisnava, Śaiva, Śākta, Smārta etc., and several modern movements like the Rāmakrishna Mission and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness emphatically denied being “Hindu,” so as not to be identified with other branches of Hinduism that hold beliefs contrary to their own.

THE MEANING OF “HISTORY”

There is an uncanny resemblance between the original Greek word
historia
and the Sanskrit term for history,
itihāsa
, meaning both story and history (in the modern sense), tale, narrative, as well as the event narrated and told. Herodotus, commonly called the “Father of History” in the West, offers in his
Historiae
a great variety of reports about events observed by himself, about customs of other peoples, about tales and traditions whose authority he was not able to vouchsafe. By comparison Indian
itihāsa
, as reflected in the Epics and the Purāṇas, also consists of a rich store of historical events and legends, of myths and of moral lessons inextricably interwoven in order to tell a story, not to document “facts.”