Review: Hinduism- A Way of Life

As a teacher and scholar of religion and media (and a scholar of ‘World Religions’ pedagogy) I’m always interested in new films, music, or other cultural products that I can use to help teach about religion in the classroom. I recently interlibrary loaned a copy of ‘Hinduism: A Way of Life’ from a nearby library and watched it. Its produced by Shethia Films in India and Gypsy DVD. 

Before it opens, the DVD has two important scenes apart from the copyright notice: 1) a disclaimer suggesting that the facts in the film “have been taken from various sources and the producer does not take responsibility for the authenticity of the narrated facts. The presentation made in this programme is for the pure purpose of creating awareness…[it] is not meant to hurt the sentiments of any religion or society either intentionally or unintentionally.” 2) a certification notice from India’s Central Board of Film Certification that the film has been approved for public display/sale in India with a V/U rating—that is, unrestricted viewing. It is quite likely that the presence of 1) probably assists the film in obtaining 2), since one of the reasons films can be censored in India is for promoting “communal disharmony.”

The film has nine chapters: all with a single narration set against ambient interpretations of Indian classical music: flute, sitar, sarod, tamboura and such. No scholars or attributions of facts are made except for a few obvious sources in the smrti, or inspired epic literature. The chapters are: “Hinduism a philosophy,” “Varnas,” “Four Stages of Life,” “Hindu God,” “Jyotirlinga,” “Vishnu Avatars,” “Temples,” “Jain Religion” and “Kumbh Mela.”

The first chapter makes the case for “2 million gods” being worshipped in India, and a conception of Hinduism (or as the video also calls it: ‘Sanatana Dharma’) as centered around the “three” aims of life: Kama, Dharma, Moksha. The traditional aim of Wealth/Social Power, or “Artha” is not mentioned. Then the 4 varnas, or castes are discussed in a general context of the physico-moral hierarchy of all existence created by karmic cause and effect. There is some discussion of diversification of caste into the myriad of “subcastes” or “jati” and its relationship to the division of labor. There is no discussion of the Dalits. From there the video briefly discusses animal reverence, especially the sacredness of cows. It attributes cow veneration to the 5 gifts of cows to human life: milk, ghee, leather, urine and dung.  The next chapter appears to make the case for universal application of the famous four stages of life, even suggesting the sanyassi as an ideal. It does suggest that older Hindus are among the most participating in sacred pilgrimages.

While suggesting that folk Hinduism is polytheistic early on, a very brief mention of puja as reverence “to God in one of his many manifestations”—a diffused monotheism that the literature seems to suggest is more common among socio-economic elites. Overall, the video suggests a subtle class-based nod to both polytheism and monotheism, but does not attempt to summarize it as “henotheism,” an approach popularized among some scholars.

The next chapter, along with the attention to the 4 Stages, is problematic for me: it adheres to an older textual tradition of defining God as the Trimurti: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Quickly the video though breaks this down by saying that most Hindus in practice tend to focus on Vishnu or Shiva—with Shiva’s functions largely encasing Brahma’s. This latter part is where Introductory Hindu pedagogy has been going, as far as I know, with the Trimurti fading in importance—since there is comparatively little ritual devotion to Brahma and that in Hindu devotionalism one of the gods is pretty much always predominant. I was frustrated by the lack of attention to Mahadevi, and the appearance of Goddess almost exclusively in terms of the wife/shakti of Shiva or Vishnu. The film does not cover Goddess devotion per se, even though the literature suggests it's a major part of the lived practice, especially in north/northwestern India. The brief nod to Durga describes her as the collective wrath of the male deities, but also points to her guardian role for the righteous. No mention of the massive Durga festival is made. Nevertheless, it seems reductionist when Vedic/Devi-Mahatmya material also suggests a competing theme of Goddess as the originator and there is a long tradition of literature/commentary on Goddess texts.

 It does offer a nod to the views in their respective major Puranas that Vishnu and Shiva are each understood as the Supreme Deity. The film offers a brief look at Ganesha/Ganapati repeating the common account of his beheading and subsequent elephant head. Perhaps the most helpful distinction in Vishnu/Shiva devotion is made in the subsequent chapters: Shiva’s ‘incarnationality’ is discussed in terms of the 12 sacred Jyotirlinga in temples of the Indian landscape, while Vishnu is discussed in terms of his avatars and their direct personal role in Hindu heilsgeschichte,  of course emphasizing Rama and Krishna. I tend to make a distinction in class between Shiva as the protean power of opposites or categories in tension (celibacy/sexuality, creation/destruction, lingam/yoni) with a translated selection (‘Pillar of Fire”) from the Shiva Purana. Vishnu I tend to discuss as a salvational figure who enters universal history in times of great danger or stress, coupled with the transmittal of grace through darshan/puja. Of course I talk about Puja in more terms than just Vishnu, and I tend to emphasize the theme of yoga as one form of imitatio dei when it comes to Shiva.

One of Vishnu’s avatars discussed is Shakyamuni Buddha. This could provide an opportunity to discuss incorporation other holy persons as ‘cultural defense’ for Hinduism. It could also serve to introduce criticism of Buddhism by Hindus who see Vishnu’s incarnation as a way of leading people astray with false teachings.

 

The video’s concluding chapters are a study in contrast. The video tries to include Jainism as a Hindu sub-tradition—a process that admittedly still exists in World Religions textbooks but that I find exceptionally problematic.  

While there are of course many intertwining symbolic, linguistic and phenomenological threads between the traditions, the video reduces Jainism to a single expression devoid of its own diversity (at least between the Svetambharas and the Digambaras) and instead hold the exotic tradition of Digambara nakedness and the famous ‘fasting unto death’ (Sallekhana/Santhara) ritual as the apotheosis of the tradition, with the more basic cosmology and ritual devotion ignored. I found this the least useful part. Thankfully there is no attempt to do this with Sikhism.

The video concludes with a rather long chapter on Mela pilgrimages, and especially the Kumbh Mela. This is quite useful in showcasing the immense diversity of audiences and approaches. Although the narration becomes a bit devotional and supplicative of the sadhus there. There are various displays here and throughout the video of yogic feats and demonstrations of material power, especially the three-day Samadhi seclusion of Yogamata Keiko Aikawa. The festival is discussed in terms of the famous ‘mythological’ (that’s the video’s words) competition of the gods and demons over the recovery of the sacred nectar of immortality.

On the whole it's a difficult product to judge, although I don’t think focusing on the four stages of life is very helpful and the failure to adequately address Goddess worship is really discouraging. So is the perfunctory nature of the Jain chapter. The benefit of the DVD is that you can play individual chapters from the chapter menu—after the chapter finishes, it returns to the chapter menu. So segments of the video, like the Mela pilgrimage or the Jyotilingam can be used as short segments within a broader presentation. If I recommend that the library get this, that’s how I’ll use it—not as an integrated product in itself.