Shaivism Shaktism Vaishnavism
The Hinduism of the masses is chiefly characterized by polytheism, of which the most outwards and visible sign is anthropomorphic image-worship. Each cult and sect has its on special gods or goddesses, but all combine to revere other deities of the Hindu pantheon and join in their worship. The terrors of pox have led to the apotheosisation of the spirit of this pestilence and have made people give it a place in the village shrines. At the same time, there is a vague notion, even among the polytheists, of a supreme deity, who reigns and is eternal and omnipresent.
The working religion of the peoples' everyday life consists of the propitiation of his Ishta Devata or chosen deity and malevolent gods, ghosts and spirits, in order that they may not afflict their worshippers or may grant them material blessings.
The primitive propitiation of evil spirits and Divine power and the worship of the Hindu gods go on side by side and quite often some men make offerings to both.
Worship in the temples is not congregational but individual. It is also vicarious, for the sole celebrant sometimes is the Brahmin priest. He recites the mantras and makes the offerings; the worshipper stands apart. In family life, as apart from temple worship, the most important functionary is the guru, the spiritual preceptor who advises his disciples on sacred matters and receives deep veneration.
Like many educated townsmen, they believe in karma, image worship, rebirth and fatalism, for life is fairly hard for most of them and they know very well that they cannot expect any dramatic improvement in their lot. Still Hinduism offers them the hope of salvation, the hope that by their own efforts they can obtain for themselves deliverance from suffering - not in this world or in this life, but in the future.
Though it is difficult to make generalizations that are true about the religious beliefs of all or even many Biharis (natives of Bihar), especially nowadays, popular Hinduism is not so much a sect as a central cluster, a group of beliefs and practices which have been regarded India as orthodox and which go hand in hand with law, caste science and other features in Indian life. And every sensible Bihari knows this. He knows too that Hinduism has for him no clear-cut definite creed; it knows no Ten Commandments. He, however, believes in a divine impersonality and a final absorption, which have no concern with morals.
The monotheist looks up to him as the means of saving him from the cycle of rebirth. The polytheist regards the gods not as directors of morals, but chiefly as dispensers of material good and evil in this temporal world.
Hinduism in Bihar is a religion of caste rules and usages; its sanctions are ultimately social; its laws immemorial group customs; and its tribunal the committee of the fraternity. Thus although it enshrines for the student and thinker a profound and impressive philosophy, it presents itself to the ordinary man, not as a statement of the eternal principles of morality, but as a formidable code of etiquette ruling the details of his personal life. He finds himself greatly concerned that he should not marry a woman not belonging to his caste or dine with a man not of his own community, hardly at all concerned that he should not help the wrong man or entertain vague caste prejudices against the right one. In matters of faith, it is today a go-as-you-please religion in which a man can believe much what he likes, provided he conforms to established usage. Acceptance of caste authority of the fraternity and of the well-established rites and rituals make up the orthodox Bihari Hindu today.
Not surprisingly, Bihar is known for its factionalism. Intelligent Biharis, in their more introspective moments, bemoan the fact that while other think of themselves as Bengalis or Punjabis, Parsis or Muslims, in Bihar their compatriots think of themselves only as Bhumihars, Rajputs, Kayasthas or Maithil Brahmins, etc.
Shaktism
Many Hindu cults of very ancient provenance in Bihar have been devoted to the worship of Shakti (Goddess of Energy). These cults, collectively called the Shakti cult, conceive of the paramount deity as female, and render devotion to all that appertains to the female sex. The worshippers of Shakti, who are most numerous in Mithila, regard the Tantras as their scriptures and address the goddess as Durga. A few of the Maithil Brahmins are, however, Shaivites, who believe in the unity and immanence of God, and have a deep consciousness of personal sin. In olden times, offering sacrifices at Shakti temples was regarded as essential and all persons here offered sacrifices to the deity when in distress. The Kali Asthans, and the places dedicated to Chandi, Bishhari and Shitala or Mahamaya had Brahmin priests, while the others had either persons of low tribes, to whom the heroes of old perhaps belonged ,or more usually altogether lacked a priest. Even today, whether there is a Pujari (priest) or not, any man may take with him his own priest to perform the ceremony, but wherever there is a Pujari, he takes the offering and returns to the votary a small portion called Prasad. Where the priest of the village god is a Brahmin, and has an endowment , he daily performs worship. Among the country priests are to be found men who often combine great piety with learning, and who devote themselves to the improvement of the spiritual condition of the people, and to raising their moral standard. Very few of them, however, are found doing useful work by organizing schools, co-operative societies, village hospitals, etc., as, for instance, Christian clergy are found doing. Their conduct forms a contrast indeed with that of the members of the Brahmo Samaj too, who have devoted themselves to the education of orphans and children whose parents are poor and of humble origin.
Shaivism
Shaivism enjoyed a considerable following during the reign of the Guptas as is evident from several inscriptions of this period as well as from the image of Chaumukhi (four-faced) Mahadev, discovered at Vaishali. The image, similar to the famous Pashupatinath Mahadev in Nepal, is assigned to the Gupta period. Judging by the number of ancient temples, one is inclined to infer that Bihar has been more Shaivite than Vaishnavite. The old temple at Baikatpur in the Patna district, the Muth at Gaya, the temple at Bazidpur in the Darbhanga district, the Kusheshwar (Darbhanga) and Singheshwar (Madhepura) temples- all testify to the popularity of Shaivism in Bihar. It would, however, be more correct to say that the great mass of Hindus in medieval Bihar were not dogmatic about their religion or denomination. Though there were distinct systems such as Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Shaktism, they were interchangeable and often complementary. The very name Hari-Har Kshetra given to the great Sonepur temple involves joint worship of Vishnu and Shiva. Although Shiva worship is still widely spread in Bihar, it does not suggest any erotic or offensive ideas. People worship the symbol of reproduction, the lingam, but their worship is unattended by any indecent or indelicate ceremonies. Certain licentious customs generally attributed to the worshippers of Shakti are also seldom practiced. In modern Hinduism, as the Biharis interpret and know it, the symbol of Shiva is the lingam, or phallus, and he is a god of reproduction. In the Vedas, he, as Pashupati, lord of beasts, a title of Rudra, is the agent promoting fertility in cattle. As in other parts of India, the bull is here regarded as the appropriate emblem of Shiva. The cult of Shiva has also involved a process of syncretism, the adoption of various local deities as his manifestation. In Bihar, the most important of these is probably the elephant-headed god, Ganesh (also known as Ganapati), lord or the troop of demons attending the god. Though his symbols of the elephant and the rat connect him with some local theriolatry , he is now independent and non-sectarian, for all sects do him honour as the god of luck. The popularization of the cult in India in general and in Bihar in particular was the work of a series of missionary preachers, the most important of whom was Kumarila Bhatta, a learned Brahmin of Bihar, who in the 8 th century A.D. restored the ancient Vedic rites, and encouraged the persecution of Buddhists and Jains- a tradition which has magnified into the extermination of Buddhism from the Himalayas to Kanya Kumari. Kumarila Bhatta also laid the foundation of the Smarta sect among the Brahmins, who derive their name from their allegiance to authoritative tradition called Smriti, and not to the Vedic scriptures collectively known as shruti. Many people in Bihar worship the Triad- Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh (Shiva)- under the symbol of the mystic syllable 'OM'. Besides even while admitting these deities of the Triad, they exalt Mahesh to the highest place and hold the pantheistic Vedanta doctrine of non-dualism (advaita), considering God and matter to be identical and everything only an infinitesimal atom of the Divine or parts of the Supreme Being. In the early hours of Kartik Purnima (the full moon day of Kartik month according to the Hindu calendar), millions of people in north Bihar bathe at the confluence of the Ganga and the Gandak and offer the holy Ganga water to Mahadev or the Great God Shiva. It is then that the famous Sonepur Fair is held. Shivaratri- the Falgun Chaturdashi (fourteenth lunar night of the Falgun month according to Hindu calendar ) is also celebrated with considerable pomp and show and prayers and Puja are offered in Shiva temples to Mahadev and his goddess wife Parvati. The images of Shiva and Parvati in the Sukhasana pose can be seen even today at Jaimangalgarh (Begusarai). In fact, such images are found at many places in Bihar.
Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism has been one of the most important Brahmincal cults in Bihar where even semi-literate and illiterate village folk are still heard reciting the Vaishnavite creed formula, Om Namo Bhagwate Vasudevaya. Vaishnavism made great headway during the Gupta period. The Gupta monarchs themselves were devotees of Vasudev Vishnu, some of whom bore the title 'Parambhagavat'. It was during their reign and due to their patronage that Bhagavatism, which is almost synonymous now with Vaishnavism, came to the foreground and spread to the remotest corners of Bihar. The growing prevalence of this cult here seems to be due to the popularity of the Puranas also. To a considerable number of these Puranas, Vishnu is the highest God. Quite a large number of the epigraphic records of the Gupta period refer to the temples of Vishnu in his various forms or incarnations, such as Varah, Vaman, Narasimh, Dasharthi Ram, Balram and Krishna. Some medieval images of the Pala period have been discovered at Eksara, near Ekma in Saran district. Two of these are Vishnu and another of Nritya Ganapati. In Magadh, the Gaywalis, who were Shiva worshippers, were converted to Vaishnavism in the fourteenth century A.D. Actually, Vishnu worship had established itself in Gaya three centuries earlier, for the Gadadhar temple was built in the 15th year of Nayapala's reign. There is an inscription inside the sanctum of the temple of Surya at a short distance from the Vishnupad group of temples in Gaya. It was built during the Tughluq period and is dated A.D.1372. Most of the Hindus in Bihar today who care for their religion are familiar with the incarnatory names of Vishnu. So are most of them, though perhaps only vaguely familiar with the cult of Shri or Lakshmi. They know that one should do one's duty without expecting any reward. This, by the way, is an important teaching of Vaishnavism. The Bihari Vaishnavite, like other Vaishnavites elsewhere, knows that Vishnu had on innumerable occasions incarnated himself in the world of men and animals. As Ram he represents Indian manhood at its noblest, his exploits in the service of justice embodied in epic form in the Ramayan, and this expression of Vishnu is worshipped exclusively by a large number of Bihari Hindus. So devoted are most of these Vaishnavites and their number in Bihar is legion that they worship Sita, model of self-sacrificing womanhood, and even the monkey-devotee, Hanuman. Krishna is another popular incarnation of Vishnu. Although an ordinary villager in Bihar would largely lack any clear understanding of the formal aspects of Vaishnavism, he is familiar with the cult of Krishna and his activities as described in the Mahabharat and the Bhagavat Puran. His popular devotional songs represent him as a sweet infant dancing in glee as the divine youth playing on a flute, or as a charioteer in war. The worship of Vishnu is supported by several festivals, such as Janmastami, Ramnavami, Vivahapanchami, etc., and thousands of shrines are scattered throughout the state. For most orthodox Hindus, however, divinity pervades all things. For Bihari Hindus, too, mountains , rivers, trees, flowers, stones, plants, animals are worthy of veneration. At Mauni Amavasya (the fifteenth Dark night), for instance, women sit under a Pippal tree, keeping silent ( mauna) on the day of a new moon provided it is a Monday. This is supposed to cure those of their constitutional infirmities which prevent conception. Little girls propitiate the serpent god on the Shukla Panchami of Shravan (August) when milk and fried paddy are offered. To most devout Hindus, again, Mandargiri, a hill in the Banka district is a sacred spot. It is regarded as the mythological mountain Mandar, which was used in churning the ocean. At certain religious centers in Bihar people still deem monkeys worthy of special veneration and privilege, though less exalted than the cow in the hierarchy of worship, and a fairly large number of them worship in their home shrines what they call Shaligrams which are but stone idols lovingly gathered from certain streams to serve as Vishnu's living presence in the household. While some of them honour these idols sacred to Vishnu, others worship those of different shapes sacred to Shiva, or circular ones representing Shakti, the Divine Mother of the Universe. Ritualistic greeting of the rising sun and the ceremonial morning and evening ablutions are widely observed by all devout Brahmins, who are generally strict about personal cleanliness and begin their private devotions well before sun-rise, repeat them at noon and again just before sunset. With the exception of a very few religious enthusiasts, none objects to being on friendly terms with non-Hindus in daily life. Hindu piety runs in the direction of rituals and ceremonies celebrating festivals, making pilgrimages, building temples, reading the Ramayan and chanting "Gayatri Mantra". The hermitages of ancient monastic orders cluster in the plains and hillsides; immense temples raise their spires toads heaven; the teaching of the Buddha and Mahavir, deeply graven in the enduring ruins and relics, ring down the corridors of time, arresting the attention of the passerby today. |
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