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Hinduism
is a complex religion with a vast literature and an enormous range of
gods and devotional practises. Annapurna Circuit trekkers are most likely
to come into contact with Hindu people in the Kali Gandaki valley and
also at Muktinath. Muktinath is a site for pilgrimage for Hindus and Buddhists.
Because of the extensive nature of Hinduism even a simple summary would
be beyond the scope of this work. Instead, I have simply described the
Hindu Gods who are worshipped by pilgrims at Muktinath.
Ganesh
Ganesh shrine in Kathmandu
Ganesh
is the son of the god Shiva and the goddess Parvati. Parvati is a representation
of Devi the great goddess. Shiva is the god of destruction and the lord
of cattle. Shiva is also the lord of yogis and of asceticism. This created
a problem for Shiva when his wife Parvati decided that she wanted a baby,
because Shiva had given up sex in order to be a yogi. Parvati was very
sad, and when Shiva saw this he decided to grant her wish for a son. However
Shiva, being a god, did not go about this in the way one would expect.
Shiva made a baby son for Parvati from part of her dress. Despite Parvati's
scepticism, when she put the baby to her breast it came to life. Parvati
gave Shiva the child to hold but to their horror, the child's head fell
off. This was not due to paternal clumsiness but due to the child's flimsy
textile origins. Shiva was told by a voice from the sky to find another
head for his son. Shiva sent his servant Nandin to look for a suitable
replacement head. The only requirement being that the chosen head should
be facing north. Nandin happened upon Airavata, an elephant belonging
to the god Indra. Unlucky Airavata is facing north, so Nandin saws his
head off. There's a bit of a fight between Indra and Nanadin over this.
Nandin prevails and returns to Shiva with the elephant's head. The head
is placed on the child's body where remarkably it proves a perfect fit.
The baby is a fat chubby child and is named Ganesh by the god Bhrama.
Ganesh has 4 arms, a bright red face, three eyes, and of course, a trunk.
He is always shown in pictures surrounded by bees.
Rama
Rama is
a human incarnation of Vishnu, or avatar as this is known in the Hindu
world. Rama had three mortal brothers, Laksmana, Satrughna and Bharata.
Now Rama had an enemy called Ravana who was the grandson of a god. This
made him a little unusual. One of his distinguishing characteristics was
that he had 10 heads. Ravana was the kind of person who for ascetic reasons
could stand on one foot for a thousand years and not think it a waste
of time. Bhrama, the king of the gods was pleased by Ravana's asceticism
and offered him a gift. Ravana asked for protection against defeat by
gods animals and demons. He excluded man from this list for he despised
the whole human race. But after receiving his gift he began to oppress
all he came across. Eventually Bhrama asked the god Vishnu to descend
to earth as an avatar to sort out Ravana. Other gods descended as bears
and monkeys to help him.
Meanwhile,
Rama's father, King Dasarattra had granted a wish to his beautiful second
wife Kaikeyi. Kaikeyi asked for her son Bharata to be made crown prince
in place of Rama. So Rama had no alternative but to go into exile in the
forest. Here he quarrelled with a sister of Ravena. Ravena kidnapped Rama's
wife Sita in revenge. The monkey Hanuman searched for and found Sita in
Sri Lanka. Rama then went south with an army of monkeys and gods. Nala,
the carpenter god, made a hundred league cause way to enable the army
to reach the island of Sri Lanka.
After
an interminably long battle Rama kills Ravana with a 'boundlessly powerful
and dread arrow. Rama then finds his wife Sita. She is caked in dirt,
her hair is matted and she is wearing a black robe. Rama sets Sita free.
However, although Rama has restored his honour by defeating Ravana, Rama
does not want his wife back. Rama says he can no longer enjoy his wife
any more than an oblation which has been licked by a dog. Sati is upset
and swears that she has done nothing wrong. Bhrama and the other gods
arrive to defend her. Bhrama reveals to Rama that he is really the god
Vishnu and that he was sent to earth as an avatar to kill Ravana. At this
Sita and Rama are reunited. Bhrama restores to life all the monkeys who
died in the battle. Sita and Rama return home, where Rama's brother Bharata
transfers his Kingdom to Rama. And so they all lived happily ever after.
Krishna
Krishna,
lord of the world of cows, is a god without qualities because he is beyond
nature. He is so powerful that merely by thinking of Krishna sinners may
obtain release. He is an avatar of the god Vishnu. Krishna is a god disguised
as a man. As a man he is a king disguised as a commoner. This makes for
good story telling.
This
is the story of the birth of Krishna. The wicked King Kamsa had heard
a prophecy that the eighth born child of his cousin Devaki would kill
him. King Kamsa decided to kill Devaki, but her husband persuaded the
king to let her give all her children to the king instead. King Kamsa
thought that this would enable him to avoid his fate.
Vishnu
heard of this and decided to place himself in the eighth embryo as an
avatar. At birth, Devaki's husband swapped baby Krishna with the new born
daughter of King Kamsa's cowherd. Krishna was brought up by Yasoda. King
Kamsa killed the little girl by smashing her on the floor. (Sorry about
this gory bit). But unbeknown to King Kamsa, the little girl was also
a goddess. Her spirit travelled to heaven, from where she appeared to
King Kamsa in a vision. She told Kamsa that when he was eventually overcome
by an enemy she would smash him, just as he had smashed her.
Meanwhile
Krishna grew up as the son of a cowherd. During this time he had many
adventures.
The
ogress Putana used her magic to disguise herself as a beautiful woman.
The villagers thought that she was the goddess of wealth, Laxmi. But Putana
was a child killer who murdered babies by letting them suckle her poisonous
breasts. She tried to do this to Krishna, but he turned the tables by
sucking out her life force with her milk.
On
another occasion Krishna's playmates told his mother that he had eaten
dirt. When his mother looked into his mouth, rather than dirt, she saw
the whole universe, stars, galaxies, quasars, black holes, everything.
She was flabbergasted but afraid. Krishna restores the balance of the
relationship by using his godly power to enable her to forget this incident.
In
the summer, the girls of Krishna's village would go and bathe in the river
and make offerings to the local river goddess Katyani. Deep in their hearts
all the girls wanted to be Krishna's wife. Secretly they each prayed to
the goddess for this. Rather craftily, for he was a naughty little god,
Krishna one day stole their clothes as they bathed. The girls shivered
in the water for a while, but eventually they emerged. Krishna pointed
out that bathing naked was a sin against Varuna, the god of all waters.
To gain forgiveness for the sin he pointed out that they should place
their hands on their heads and bow. After embarrassing them so, a satisfied
Krishna gave them their clothes back. There are many Hindu gods. Has the
post of god of perverts been taken?
The
mature lord Krishna reveals his religious philosophy in the beautiful
poem the Bhagavad
Gita. This is the sixth book of the Mahabharata. The poem takes the
form of a question and answer session between the warrior Arjuna, and
Krishna who is acting as his charioteer and advisor. Arjuna discovers
that he is about to go into battle against an enemy that includes his
brothers and teachers. At this thought Arjuna is totally despondent. Krishna
strengthens him with the knowledge that wise men never mourn the living
or the dead. The souls of men (and women of course) have always existed
and will continue to do so for all eternity. Our bodies have an end but
not our souls. A soul is not cut by weapons or burned by fire.
The
Bhagavad Gita poem is long, beautiful and full of wisdom. There is no
room here to do it justice. I recommend that you obtain a copy of the
translation by Professor Geoffrey Parrinder.
Vishnu
The god
Vishnu
supports the three-fold world - heaven, sky and earth. Vishnu has been
incarnated as a sentient being 10 times. His incarnations include Rama,
Krishna, Buddha and a even a fish. He appears to be the unofficial god
of multiculturalism.
Vishnu in the form of
Trivikrama
Vishnu's
incarnation as a fish warned King Manu that a giant flood was coming.
Recognising the wisdom of the fish, King Manu cared for the fish as it
grew from a tiny minnow to the size of the Pisces constellation of stars
in the night sky. The fish advised good King Manu to build a ship to save
himself from the coming flood. Heard this story somewhere before?
Vishnu's
dwarf avatar tricked the demon king Bali into turning over the whole universe
to Vishnu's keeping. Bali granted the dwarf one wish. The dwarf asked
for everything he could walk around in three steps. To Bali's amazement
he strode around the Universe in three giant steps and sent Bali down
to hell.
Vishnu's
boar avatar supports the whole earth.
The
final Vishnu avatar Kalkin is a messiah figure who will arrive on a horse
at the end of this evil age. Kalkin will destroy evil and peoples' minds
will become as pure as crystal.
Shiva
Shiva is
the god of destruction, by contrast with Vishnu who forgives sinners.
Shiva was asked by his father Brahma to create the universe for him. Simple
enough you might think. Shiva descends into the formless waters to begin
the task. However, when he eventually emerged the job had already been
done by his brother Daksa. In revenge Shiva reduced the other gods to
the condition of beasts until Bhrama placated him.
Shiva
Shiva
the destroyer helped to save the world from the excesses of the demons
of the three cities. After the gods finally conquered the demons, the
three sons of the vanquished demon king asked Bhrama for a gift. After
first being refused immortality they asked to create 3 cities of gold
silver and bronze , one in each of the three worlds of heaven, sky and
earth. The king of the gold city then asked for another gift. He asked
for, and was given a bathing lake which healed the wounded and made them
more powerful. It even brought the dead back from life. Inevitably the
demons got completely out of control and had to be stopped. Shiva the
destroyer, with Bhrama as his charioteer destroyed the three demon cities
with a burning arrow.
On
another occasion the gods hold a sacrifice on Mount Kailas, the home of
Shiva. Shiva is not invited. Parvati, Shiva's wife is upset by this snub
and causes Shiva to destroy the offering.
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