The Gods more often mentioned, each receiving more then 200 hymns are Agni (fire)
and Indra (God of storms and lightning) suggesting their high status among the Gods of
the Aryan pantheon. Several episodes in Hindu epics and the Purana relate of the
descent of God on Earth in a physical form to return dharma in society and guide
humans to mokhsa. This incarnation is named avatar and the prominent one is of
Vishnu, who has ten incarnations, of whom Kirshna and Rama are major deities in
their own right. The Puranas are texts that primarily attempt to convey a view of reality
that supports Vedic orthodoxy, while including the host of non-Vedic deities first
encountered in the Epics, as well as emerging gods and goddesses, demi-gods, and
legendary heroes that derive from folk and regional traditions. The worship of Gods is
very much related to imagery, its wide artistic diversity, pictorial depictions and their
sacredness render worship central in Hinduism. It is everywhere and at any time in the
form of a prayer, a ritual, a devotion or of offerings (bhakti). When you go to a house
depending on the wealth of the family you will find a small temple , a shrine room, a
picture, a shelf, a picture, a corner of a room set off as a shrine or a statue surrounded
by gifts, for the Baghavada Gita makes it clear that “whatever is offered with a pure
heart, be it a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, that act of devotion will be accepted”. This
is called Puja, the loving offering light, flowers, and water or food to the divine, is the
essential ritual of Hinduism.
Hindus believe that divinity is also to be present in special human beings whom they
call gurus and who are also worshipped as gods. Therefore we see the diversity of gods
and their “levels” of gods present in this religion and that unlike other predominant
world religions, goddesses have a key role in domestic religious life. They usually tend
the family shrine, and they maintain the well-being of their husbands and children by
undertaking vows, yet most deities are men and socially speaking men remain the
leadership roles in the family, in religion and in politics. We have seen how Hindu
practices generally involve seeking awareness of God and sometimes also seeking
blessings from Devas ,therefore Hinduism has developed numerous practices meant to
help one think of divinity in the midst of everyday life. This importance of gods and
worship is directly linked to Hindus main goals in life.
According to Hindu scriptures, one's ignorance of the true nature of the self (atman) as
one with Brahman is what traps one in the cycle of endless death and reincarnation
(samsara). Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include Dharma (ethics/duties) Samsara
(The continuing cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth), Karma (action and subsequent
reaction), Moksha (liberation from samsara), and the various Yogas (paths or
practices).
Thus, the highest goal of Hinduism is liberation moksha from the karmic
cycle of death and rebirth. For the millions of people who practice this religion, it is a
way of life that encompasses family, society, politics, business, art, and health
behaviors. Hinduism is sometimes characterized with the belief in reincarnation
determined by the law of karma, and that salvation is freedom from this cycle of
repeated birth and death, however other religions of the region, such as Buddhism and
Jainism, also believe in this, outside of the scope of Hinduism. The goal of life,
according to the Advaita School, is to realize that one's atman is identical to
Brahman, the supreme soul. The Upanishads state that whoever becomes fully aware of
the atman as the innermost core of one's own self realizes an identity with Brahman and
thereby reaches moksha (liberation or freedom). Hindu religious tradition consists in
two main concepts: the dharma and moksha. These concepts impose different demands
on human destiny. At the heart of Hindu tradition lies a twofold, and at some extent
paradoxical assertion: to fulfill one’s human destiny it is necessary to uphold, preserve,
and refine physical world generally, and human society specifically and it is necessary
to find ultimate release from the world, which is often accomplished by renouncing
society. Samsara is the idea that one’s present life is only the most recent in a long chain
of lives extending far into the past, the idea of rebirth. In the past, according to this idea,
each individual has lived countless lives extending far into the past. The life in which
you presently live is somehow the life you have “deserved” to live, here is where the
notion of karma is central. Karma is the moral law of accuse and effect and literarily
means “works” or “deeds”, moral actions have predictable effects and is attached to the
samsara, every action one performs in the present will influence the nature of who one
will be in the future (a man, a woman, a plant, an animal, demonic or divine). Therefore
in the context of Hindu religion karma and samsara are an account for inequalities in the
caste system. Yet not all streams agree on this, from within the moksha stream this
tradition is seen as negative. That is, from the point of view of one who seeks moksha,
karma and samsara bind one to a limited, ignorance-dominated, ego-centered existence.
Moksha, literally “release, means, in most contexts, release from karma and samsara.
Moksha involves the transcendence of embodied individual existence, the end of
rebirth. The dharma, emphasizes on the role of human beings towards each other,
society, nature, the world as a whole. Every person has a part to play, and each part is
held to be necessary in some way to the ultimate end, the preservation and perfection of
a habitable world for humanity. Of the various schools of Hindu philosophy, most of
which are sympathetic to moksha, the schools of Yoga and Advaita Vedanta most
clearly articulate the vision of humankind’s ultimate destiny as a liberation from rebirth.
Yoga Sutras (classical yoga) aims at stopping the constant, internal mental cackle and
the mind’s tendency to be perpetually distracted by the senses. Technically the purpose
is to become fully conscious of one’s real identity is to slough off previous false
identities and to rest content in actionless, desireless bliss and redemptive knowledge. It
is also the case that there are always some Hindus who strive to make this life their last,
who have renounced the world in hope of moksha, and who provide vivid living witness
to the Hindu teaching. The ability to encompass and cherish both points of view, the
temporal and eternal, without surrendering entirely to one or the other characterizing the
distinctive genius of the Hindu tradition.
To conclude, Hinduism encompasses so many doctrines that taking into account all the
streams you can find monotheistic, polytheistic and atheists. As for if they have a goal
in life, they do, different kinds but in the end all leading to the freedom from continuous
rebirth.
“Hinduism: a cultural perspective” David R. Kinsley
“ Introducing Hinduism” Hillary Rodrigues
