Hinduism

Being in India for a week has opened my eyes to many things that I never knew existed. This entry comprises just a few of these.

Swastika is a symbol most people think is created by the Nazis. This could not be further from the truth. It is Hindu symbol dating back to too long ago. It is a symbol that is quite like the ying-yang. It represents opposites, both sides of one thing: A and Z, life and death, happiness and sadness. It also represents purity. Hitler was trying to achieve purity in the world, he was trying to rid the world of Jewish people in order to achieve this. Therefore it is obvious why he chose this symbol rotated it 90 degrees and brought something so beautiful and meaningful to be the symbol of evil itself in the world. Another reason is that he needed propaganda and that this symbol was quite strong when contrasted with the red and white on the Nazi flag.

Many associate the Star of David with Jews. It may have gotten the name from the David, yes, but the symbol has been in existence for quite some time before David himself. It is another symbol of Hinduism that people actually really value. Like the swastika, it represents the opposites. The good and the bad, life and death. It has two triangles merged together which gives us our opposing entities in the world.

Most people laugh at the idea of the cows being sacred in Hinduism. But do they really know the story behind it? No. It is quite interesting when you know why people value cows so much. It is because in Hinduism, everyone has four mothers: the River Ganges, Bharat Mama, our own Mother and the Cow Mother. Cows are considered real mothers because they are really like our mothers. They give milk, they care for us and they are loving creatures. This was one thing that affected my understanding of Hinduism the most.

Cremation is the most common method of dealing with dead bodies in Hinduism. This is so because people believe only once the body is burnt, then the soul can be released into the world. This is why Hindus that die in the night are kept until morning to be burnt, because the soul can not find its way in the dark of the night, it can only find its way in the morning. So the ones who die at night are cremated in the morning. It is also believed that being burnt near the River Ganges is a very lucky thing. Hindus are so at peace with the idea of death that they do not even cry during the cremation. They do not sing dirges. They simply do what must be done to release the soul in the world and then go on  living their lives. It is truly something to see.

Finally, Hinduism has its many myths and it has its 3 gods. The most important one of these is Shiva the one created this world. There is a myth about him and his wife Parvati that I enjoyed. One day Shiva went to the Himalayas to meditate and left his pregnant wife Parvati at home. Shiva is a God so his meditation take years to perform. So many years later, Shiva comes back home and sees Parvati with this young man in shower with her. He suddenly thinks he is being cheated and chops off the head of the young man asking Parvati how she could do this. Parvati screams "What have you done? That was your son!" So Shiva runs out immediately and cuts the head of the passing elephant and places it on Ganesh, his son's, shoulders. The elephant-headed son of Shiva, Ganesh is believed to be the god of luck and good charm. That is why people pray to Ganesh for good luck.