Table of Contents
Foreword ix
Introduction 1
Basic Hindu Source Literature 3
The Gods and Goddesses of Hinduism 8
The Four World-Ages 10
1 The Vedic Indra religion 12
Indra in the Rgveda 12
Indra in the Brhaddevata 13
Indra in the Brahmanas 14
Indra in the Upanisads 15
Indra in Epics and Puranas 17
The Vedic Yajn�a 19
Other Features of Vedic Religion 21
2 Vaisnavism 23
Visnu in the Vedas 23
Visnu in Epics and Puranas 25
Vaisnava Philosophy and Theology 35
Bhakti Poets and Mystics 52
3 Saivism 58
Siva in the Vedas 58
Siva in the Brahmanas 61
Siva in the Upanisads 62
Siva in Epics and Puranas 63
Saivite Philosophies 69
Saiva Poets and Saints 75
4 Saktism 83
Devi in the Vedas 83
Devi in the Epics 85
Devi in the Puranas 89
Devi in the Tantras 94
Sakta Philosophy 96
Devi in Other Hindu Systems 97
Devi in Modern Hinduism 99
5 The Smartas 102
6 Hindu Philosophies 104
The Antecedents 104
The Six Accepted Systems (Saddarsana) 106
7 Modern Hinduism 120
Raja Ram Mohan Roy and the Brahmo-Samaj 120
Dayananda Sarasvati and the Arya-Samaj 123
The Ramakrishna Movement 124
8 Hindu nationalism Hindu Jagaran 131
Balgangadhar Tilak 131
Caste Conferences 132
The Servants of India Society 132
Rabindranath Tagore (Thakur) 133
Aurobindo Ghose 135
Mahatma Gandhi 136
Vinoba Bhave 139
Hindu Mahasabha 142
The Rastriya Svayamsevak Sangh (R.S.S.) 144
The Bharatiya Janata Party (B.J.P.) 145
9 Opposition to Hindu nationalism 147
The Dalits (Oppressed) 147
Hindu Secularism 148
10 The new universal Hindu gurus 150
Swami Rama Tirtha 150
Ramana Maharsi 151
Sathya Sai Baba 152
Ananadamayi Ma 153
Conclusion 156
Notes 157
Glossary 168
Index 187
Foreword
Hindu Writings: A Short Introduction to the Major Sources has been conceived as companion to Hinduism: A Short History (Oneworld, 2000) and Hinduism: A Short Introduction (Oneworld, 1998) providing fairly extensive textual documentation for the narrative. The brief introductions and the comments accompanying the texts are meant to contextualize the quotes and to explain names and words that are essential for an understanding of the issues.
Full references have been given for those quotes that are translations from Indic languages. The endnotes identify existing translations (in English) of the complete sources referred to. While these translations (and others in other languages) were consulted, they were modified on the basis of the original texts. An attempt was made to avoid all archaisms and complicated sentence constructions, in order to make the texts as accessible as possible for the interested non-specialist today. Where an existing translation was adopted as found in the original referred to, this has been explicitly acknowledged. Texts originally written in English have been reproduced without any changes in style or the transliteration of Indic words.
As the readers of Hinduism: A Short History will know, the essentials of Hinduism are not fully circumscribed by ancient Hindu scriptures (large as these may be) but include also Hindu customs and practices as well as historical developments through the ages. Hinduism has always been, and still is, in the making. Sources from our own time have been included to demonstrate this continuing growth of Hinduism and the changes that are taking place as a consequence of constant reinterpretations of the ancient sources, and in response to challenges and stimuli from outside.
Klaus K. Klostermaier
Winnipeg