Hinduism — a Way of Life

एकं सद्विप्रा बहुधा वदन्ति
Truth is one; the wise speak of it in many ways.Rigveda 1.164.46

Long before sunrise a lamp is lit in a lakh of homes, a bucket of water is poured, and someone murmurs the Gayatri facing east. Sanatan Dharma has no single founder and no single book. It lives in the day, the calendar, the sixteen rites of a life and the roads to the tirthas.

A Sanatani day

The Dharma Shastras lay out the day hour by hour, from waking in Brahma Muhurta to the last prayer at night. Each household keeps its own version of it.

4:00Brahma Muhurtaब्रह्म मुहूर्त
The hour and a half before sunrise. The house is silent, the mind is clear, and the Shastras call it the best time for japa and study. Rise before the birds.
4:15Seeing the palmsकरदर्शन
Before the feet touch the floor, look at your open palms and say “Karagre vasate Lakshmih”: Lakshmi at the fingertips, Saraswati in the middle, Govinda at the base. Then touch the earth and ask Bhudevi's pardon for stepping on her.
5:00Snana, the bathस्नान
Bathing comes before any worship or food. Pouring the water, many recite the names of the seven rivers, Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri, so that a bucket in a city flat becomes a dip in all of them.
5:45Sandhya Vandanaसन्ध्यावन्दन
At the meeting of night and day, the twice-born sip water three times (achamana), control the breath and chant the Gayatri, traditionally 108 times. The same rite is kept again at noon and at dusk.
6:00Water to the rising sunसूर्य अर्घ्य
Facing east, water is poured from a copper lota so that the stream catches the first sun. Many add red flowers and a pinch of kumkum, and say “Om Suryaya namah”.
6:30Puja at the home shrineपूजा
The deity is woken, bathed, dressed and offered sandal paste, flowers, incense, a lamp and food, the five offerings of panchopachara puja. Then the bell, the aarti and the first tulsi leaf of the day.
7:15Swadhyaya, daily readingस्वाध्याय
A chapter of the Gita, a few dohas of the Ramcharitmanas, the Vishnu Sahasranama or the Hanuman Chalisa. The Taittiriya Upanishad tells the student never to neglect it.
9:00Work as dharmaस्वधर्म
The shop, the field, the office and the kitchen are all places of sadhana. The Gita asks you to do your own duty well and offer the result to Bhagwan.
12:30Feeding the guestअतिथि सेवा
“Atithi devo bhava”, says the Taittiriya Upanishad: let the guest be a god to you. Before the family eats, a portion goes to the cow, to the birds and dogs, and to whoever is at the door. Food is first offered to Bhagwan and taken as prasad.
18:30Lamp at dusk, then aartiसन्ध्या दीप
As the light goes, a ghee lamp is lit before the deity and by the tulsi, and the family says “Shubham karoti kalyanam”. The conch is blown, the aarti is sung, and children learn the shlokas sitting in its glow.
21:30Prayer before sleepशयन
The day's actions are handed back to Bhagwan, known and unknown faults asked pardon for, and the name of Rama, Shiva or Hari is the last word before sleep.

The four aims of life

Dharma, artha, kama and moksha: right living, honest wealth, fulfilled desire and final freedom. Dharma holds the other three in place.

धर्म

Dharma

Dharma is what holds things together: the duty of a son, a king, a teacher, a farmer, and the larger order of truth behind them. It comes first because it shapes the other three. Wealth earned against it is a debt; pleasure taken against it becomes bondage. The Mahabharata spends a hundred thousand shlokas asking what dharma is in hard cases, and Yudhishthira's answer to the Yaksha is that its truth is hidden in a cave, so follow the path the great have walked.

धर्म एव हतो हन्ति धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः
Dharma destroyed destroys; dharma protected protects.Manusmriti 8.15

अर्थ

Artha

Artha is wealth, livelihood and the means to keep a household, a temple and a kingdom running. The Shastras never treat it as shameful. A grihastha is told to earn, to save, to give and to feed the sannyasi and the student, who earn nothing. Chanakya's Arthashastra runs to fifteen books on governing a state well. The limit is the means: wealth won by deceit or cruelty is not artha.

सुखस्य मूलं धर्मः। धर्मस्य मूलमर्थः।
The root of happiness is dharma. The root of dharma is artha.Chanakya Sutras, opening sutras

काम

Kama

Kama is desire and its fulfilment: love in a marriage, the joy of music and poetry, a good meal, a festival, children in the house. The Shastras hold it as a rightful aim, provided dharma keeps the reins. Shri Krishna names himself as desire that does not go against dharma. So Holi has its colours and Diwali its sweets, and a householder's joy is counted as worship.

धर्माविरुद्धो भूतेषु कामोऽस्मि भरतर्षभ
In all beings I am desire that is not opposed to dharma, O best of the Bharatas.Bhagavad Gita 7.11

मोक्ष

Moksha

Moksha is release from the round of birth and death. The other three aims belong to this life; moksha is what all lives are for. Advaitins call it knowing the Self as Brahman, Vaishnavas call it eternal service at the feet of Narayana, Shaivas call it union with Shiva. The road there runs through the other three, lived well, and then beyond them.

स यो ह वै तत् परमं ब्रह्म वेद ब्रह्मैव भवति
Whoever knows that supreme Brahman becomes Brahman itself.Mundaka Upanishad 3.2.9

Four stages, one life

The Shastras divide a life of a hundred years into four ashramas of about twenty-five years each, from the student to the renunciate.

1
ब्रह्मचर्य
Brahmacharya, the student
From upanayana to about 25
After the sacred thread the child goes to learn. In the old gurukula the student lived in the teacher's house, fetched firewood, begged food for the household and learnt the Veda by heart, syllable by syllable. Discipline, celibacy and service are the rules. The stage ends with samavartana, the ritual bath, and the guru's last instruction: speak the truth, follow dharma.
2
गृहस्थ
Grihastha, the householder
About 25 to 50
Manu calls the householder the support of the other three ashramas, as all creatures live by the air. Here a person marries, earns, raises children and keeps the five daily yajnas: to the Devas, the rishis, the ancestors, all creatures and guests. Artha and kama belong chiefly to this stage, always under dharma.
3
वानप्रस्थ
Vanaprastha, the forest-dweller
About 50 to 75
When the grandchild is born and the hair turns grey, the Shastras say, the householder hands the business to the children and turns inward. In the old days this meant a hut in the forest, often with one's wife. Today it means pilgrimage, more japa, guiding the young and letting go of the reins of the house.
4
संन्यास
Sannyasa, the renunciate
About 75 onward, or whenever renunciation ripens
The sannyasi performs his own funeral rites, puts on ochre, gives up name, home and fire, and lives on alms with only Bhagwan for shelter. The Jabala Upanishad allows that one may renounce straight from any stage the day dispassion comes. Adi Shankaracharya took sannyasa as a boy, with his mother's blessing, at Kalady.

Sixteen samskaras

Samskaras are the rites that mark and sanctify a life from before birth to the funeral fire. Sixteen is the count most families know; the Grihya Sutras differ, and Gautama's Dharma Sutra counts forty.

गर्भाधान

Garbhadhana

Before conception

Husband and wife pray together for a child of good nature, choosing an auspicious time. The family begins its duty to the next life with a prayer.

1
Garbhadhana गर्भाधान
Before conception
Husband and wife pray together for a child of good nature, choosing an auspicious time. The family begins its duty to the next life with a prayer.
2
Pumsavana पुंसवन
Third month of pregnancy
Mantras are chanted for the healthy growth of the child in the womb, and the mother is given special care. Families today keep it as a prayer for a strong, healthy baby.
3
Simantonnayana सीमन्तोन्नयन
Sixth to eighth month
The husband parts his wife's hair with a porcupine quill and sacred grass, and women sing for her. In the south it lives on as Seemantham, in the north as godh bharai.
4
Jatakarma जातकर्म
At birth
The father welcomes the newborn, touches its lips with honey and ghee from a gold ring, and whispers a blessing for long life and a sharp mind in its ear.
5
Namakarana नामकरण
11th or 12th day
The child is named, often by the nakshatra of birth or after a deity. The father says the name into the baby's right ear, and the family repeats it for the first time.
6
Nishkramana निष्क्रमण
Fourth month
The baby's first outing. It is carried out of the house to see the sun, and later the moon, and often taken to the temple for its first darshan.
7
Annaprashana अन्नप्राशन
Sixth month
The first solid food, usually rice kheer offered first to the deity. In Bengal it is called mukhe bhaat, in Kerala choroonu, often fed in the temple at Guruvayur.
8
Chudakarana (Mundan) चूडाकरण
First or third year
The child's first haircut, leaving a tuft, the shikha. Many families take the child to a tirtha for it; at Tirumala the hair is offered to Bhagwan Venkateswara.
9
Karnavedha कर्णवेध
Third or fifth year
The ears are pierced, the right first for a boy and the left first for a girl, on an auspicious day. Sushruta describes the method in his Samhita.
10
Vidyarambha विद्यारम्भ
About the fifth year
The child writes its first letters, often “Om” or “Hari Shri” traced in rice grains with a finger. In Kerala thousands of children do it on Vijayadashami.
11
Upanayana उपनयन
Traditionally the eighth year
The sacred thread ceremony and the second birth. The boy receives the yajnopavita and the Gayatri mantra from his father or guru, and becomes a student of the Veda.
12
Vedarambha वेदारम्भ
Soon after upanayana
Formal study of the family's own Veda shakha begins under the guru, starting with the first mantra of that Veda. Many lists fold this into upanayana; others count it separately.
13
Keshanta (Godana) केशान्त
About the sixteenth year
The young man's first shave of the beard, marking adulthood while he is still in the gurukula. The student gives a cow to the guru, which is why the rite is also called godana.
14
Samavartana समावर्तन
End of studies
The graduate takes a ritual bath and is called a snataka. The Taittiriya Upanishad preserves the guru's parting words: speak the truth, follow dharma, do not neglect study.
15
Vivaha विवाह
Entering grihastha
Before Agni as witness, the couple takes seven steps together, the saptapadi, each step a vow. After the seventh they are friends for life, and the bond is spoken of as lasting seven births.
16
Antyeshti अन्त्येष्टि
At death
The last sacrifice: the body is given to Agni, usually by the eldest son. Ashes go to the Ganga or another holy river, and shraddha on the following days feeds the departed on the way to the pitrs.

Four paths to Bhagwan

In the Bhagavad Gita Shri Krishna teaches the yoga of action, of devotion, of knowledge and of meditation. Most seekers walk more than one.

कर्मयोग

Karma Yoga

The path of action. Arjuna wanted to put down his bow at Kurukshetra; Shri Krishna told him to fight, as his dharma required, without craving the fruit. Work done as an offering stops binding. A mother cooking, a soldier at the border and a clerk filing honestly can all walk this path without leaving their posts.

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन
Your right is to the work alone, never to its fruits.Bhagavad Gita 2.47

भक्तियोग

Bhakti Yoga

The path of love for Bhagwan. It asks for no learning and no wealth, only the heart. Shabari offered Shri Rama berries she had tasted first; Mirabai sang for Giridhar Gopal; the Nayanars and Alvars filled Tamil Nadu with song. Kirtan, japa, seva in the temple and the long walk of the Pandharpur wari are all bhakti.

पत्रं पुष्पं फलं तोयं यो मे भक्त्या प्रयच्छति
Whoever offers me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I accept it.Bhagavad Gita 9.26

ज्ञानयोग

Jnana Yoga

The path of knowledge. The seeker hears the Upanishads from a guru, reflects on them and meditates until the teaching becomes direct experience: shravana, manana, nididhyasana. Its question is “Who am I?”, the question Ramana Maharshi asked at Tiruvannamalai. Adi Shankaracharya's commentaries on the Upanishads, the Gita and the Brahma Sutras are its great guides.

न हि ज्ञानेन सदृशं पवित्रमिह विद्यते
There is nothing in this world as purifying as knowledge.Bhagavad Gita 4.38

राजयोग

Raja Yoga (Dhyana)

The path of meditation. The sixth chapter of the Gita describes it: a clean, quiet place, a seat neither too high nor too low, the body straight, the gaze resting, the mind brought back each time it wanders. Maharshi Patanjali lays out its eight limbs, from yama and niyama through posture, breath and withdrawal of the senses to dhyana and samadhi.

यथा दीपो निवातस्थो नेङ्गते सोपमा स्मृता
As a lamp in a windless place does not flicker: that is the image of the yogi's controlled mind.Bhagavad Gita 6.19

Yamas and niyamas

Maharshi Patanjali puts ten disciplines before any posture or breath: five restraints towards others and five observances for oneself.

Yama

अहिंसाAhimsa
Not harming any being in thought, word or deed. Patanjali puts it first; the other four rest on it.
सत्यSatya
Truthfulness, spoken kindly. When it is firm, says the Yoga Sutra, one's words come true.
अस्तेयAsteya
Not stealing, and not wanting what belongs to another. That includes time and credit.
ब्रह्मचर्यBrahmacharya
Mastery of the senses: celibacy for the student and the monk, faithfulness for the householder.
अपरिग्रहAparigraha
Not hoarding. Keep what you need and let the rest go to those who need it.

Niyama

शौचShaucha
Cleanliness of body, home, food and mind. The bath before puja is its daily form.
सन्तोषSantosha
Contentment with what has come. The Yoga Sutra calls the happiness it brings unsurpassed.
तपस्Tapas
Willing hardship for a higher aim: the Ekadashi fast, the cold dawn bath, the bare-foot parikrama.
स्वाध्यायSvadhyaya
Study of scripture and repetition of mantra, which, says Patanjali, brings one face to face with one's chosen deity.
ईश्वरप्रणिधानIshvara Pranidhana
Surrender to Bhagwan. Patanjali says samadhi itself is reached through it.

Yoga Sutra 2.30, 2.32

The sacred year

The Hindu year runs by the moon, with twelve lunar months and an extra month every two or three years to keep step with the sun. Months are named here as in the northern purnimanta reckoning; in the amanta reckoning of the south and west, dark-fortnight festivals fall in the previous month's name.

Chaitra · Mar–Apr

Ugadi and Gudi Padwa
New Year on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, the day Brahma began creation by tradition. Maharashtra raises a gudi on a pole; Andhra and Karnataka eat pachadi of neem and jaggery, bitter and sweet together.
Chaitra Navratri
Nine nights of Devi in spring, from Pratipada to Navami. Families sow barley in an earthen pot on the first day and feed young girls as Devi on the eighth or ninth.
Ram Navami
Shri Rama's birth at noon on Chaitra Shukla Navami. Ayodhya fills with pilgrims, the Ramcharitmanas is read through, and a cradle is rocked in every Ram temple.
Hanuman Jayanti
Kept on Chaitra Purnima in most of the north, with the Hanuman Chalisa, sindoor and laddoos. Tamil Nadu and some other regions keep it in other months.

Vaishakha · Apr–May

Solar New Year: Vaisakhi, Bohag Bihu, Vishu, Puthandu
When the sun enters Mesha, about 14 April, harvest and New Year come together. Punjab dances for Vaisakhi, Assam begins Rongali Bihu, Kerala wakes to the Vishukkani, Tamil Nadu keeps Puthandu.
Akshaya Tritiya
Vaishakha Shukla Tritiya, a day whose merit never wanes. It is kept as the birth of Bhagwan Parashurama, and the Badrinath doors open around this season.
Narasimha Jayanti
Vaishakha Shukla Chaturdashi at dusk, when Bhagwan Narasimha came out of the pillar to protect Prahlada. Ahobilam and every Narasimha temple hold their great festival.

Jyeshtha · May–Jun

Vat Savitri
Married women fast and wind thread around the banyan for their husbands' long life, remembering Savitri who won Satyavan back from Yama.
Ganga Dussehra
Jyeshtha Shukla Dashami, the day Ganga descended to earth at Bhagiratha's prayer. Haridwar and Varanasi bathe in crowds; a dip is said to wash away ten kinds of sin.
Nirjala Ekadashi
The hardest of the twenty-four Ekadashis: no food and not even water, in the heat of Jyeshtha. Bhima is said to have kept it, earning the merit of all the rest.

Ashadha · Jun–Jul

Rath Yatra
On Ashadha Shukla Dwitiya at Puri, Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra ride out in three new wooden chariots to the Gundicha temple, pulled by lakhs of hands.
Devshayani Ekadashi and the Wari
Bhagwan Vishnu goes to sleep for the four months of Chaturmas. Varkaris who have walked for weeks from Alandi and Dehu reach Pandharpur for Vitthala's darshan.
Guru Purnima
Ashadha Purnima, also called Vyasa Purnima for Maharshi Vyasa. Disciples worship their guru, and sannyasis begin the Chaturmas vow of staying in one place.

Shravana · Jul–Aug

Shravan and the Kanwar Yatra
The month of Bhagwan Shiva. Mondays are kept as fasts, and saffron-clad kanwariyas carry Ganga water on their shoulders, often for hundreds of kilometres, to pour on the Shivling.
Nag Panchami
Shravana Shukla Panchami. Milk is offered to the nagas at anthills and to images of the serpent, and in many homes the earth is not dug that day.
Raksha Bandhan
Shravana Purnima. A sister ties a rakhi on her brother's wrist and he promises to protect her. The same day the twice-born change their sacred thread at Upakarma.

Bhadrapada · Aug–Sep

Krishna Janmashtami
Shri Krishna's birth at midnight on the dark eighth, in the prison at Mathura. Devotees fast until midnight; in Maharashtra young men build human pyramids for the dahi handi.
Ganesh Chaturthi
Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi. Clay Ganeshas are brought home and to street pandals, worshipped with modaks for one to ten days, and immersed on Anant Chaturdashi.
Onam
Kerala's harvest festival in Chingam, on the Thiruvonam star, when King Mahabali visits his people. Floral pookalam carpets, the vallam kali boat races and a sadya feast on a banana leaf.

Ashvina · Sep–Oct

Pitru Paksha
The dark fortnight given to the ancestors, ending on Mahalaya Amavasya. Families offer tarpana and pinda; Gaya is the great tirtha for it.
Sharad Navratri and Durga Puja
Nine nights of Devi. Gujarat dances garba, Bengal worships Durga in pandals from Shashthi to Dashami, and the Devi Mahatmya is recited in thousands of homes.
Vijayadashami (Dussehra)
Shri Rama's victory over Ravana and Durga's over Mahishasura. Effigies of Ravana burn after the Ramlila, and Mysuru takes Chamundeshwari out on an elephant.
Sharad Purnima
The brightest full moon of the year. Kheer is left out in the moonlight overnight, and Bengal worships Lakshmi as Kojagari, she who asks “who is awake?”

Kartika · Oct–Nov

Diwali
Five days from Dhanteras to Bhai Dooj. On Kartika Amavasya, the night Shri Rama returned to Ayodhya, every house is lit with diyas and Lakshmi and Ganesha are worshipped.
Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj
The day after Diwali a hill of food, the Annakut, is offered for the Govardhan that Shri Krishna lifted. Two days after, sisters feed their brothers and pray for them.
Chhath Puja
Bihar and Purvanchal's four-day worship of Surya and Chhathi Maiya. Women stand waist-deep in the river to offer arghya to the setting sun on Shashthi and to the rising sun the next dawn.
Dev Uthani Ekadashi and Kartik Purnima
Vishnu wakes, Tulsi is married to Shaligram, and the wedding season opens. On the full moon Varanasi lights its ghats for Dev Deepawali and Pushkar holds its fair.

Margashirsha · Nov–Dec

Vivah Panchami
Margashirsha Shukla Panchami, the wedding day of Shri Rama and Sita. Janakpur and Ayodhya re-enact the marriage with processions and song.
Gita Jayanti
Mokshada Ekadashi of Margashirsha, the day Shri Krishna spoke the Gita to Arjuna at Kurukshetra. The whole Gita is recited, and Kurukshetra holds a festival on the Brahma Sarovar.
Datta Jayanti
Margashirsha Purnima, the appearance of Bhagwan Dattatreya, son of Atri and Anasuya. It is kept with special devotion in Maharashtra and Karnataka, at Ganagapur and Audumbar.

Pausha · Dec–Jan

Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Lohri, Magh Bihu
About 14 January the sun turns north into Makara, the start of Uttarayana. Sesame and jaggery are shared, kites fill the sky in Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu boils new rice until the pot spills over.
Gangasagar Mela
At Sankranti pilgrims bathe where the Ganga meets the sea and worship at the Kapil Muni temple. “Sab tirth baar baar, Gangasagar ek baar,” as the saying goes.

Magha · Jan–Feb

Magh Mela and Mauni Amavasya
Kalpavasis camp by the Sangam at Prayagraj for the whole month. On Mauni Amavasya, the greatest bathing day, many keep silence until after the dip.
Vasant Panchami
Magha Shukla Panchami, the coming of spring. Saraswati is worshipped in yellow, books and instruments are placed before her, and children begin their letters.
Ratha Saptami
Magha Shukla Saptami, the birthday of Surya, when his chariot of seven horses turns north. Devotees bathe with arka leaves on the head and offer arghya.

Phalguna · Feb–Mar

Maha Shivaratri
The great night of Bhagwan Shiva on the dark fourteenth. Devotees fast, stay awake through four praharas of worship, and bathe the Shivling with water, milk and bilva.
Holika Dahan and Holi
On Phalguna Purnima the bonfire recalls Prahlada walking out of the fire unharmed while Holika burned. Next morning the colours fly; in Braj the festival runs for weeks.

Signs of the sacred

Om on the doorway, a swastika drawn in kumkum, a tulsi in the courtyard. Each sign is used in worship every day, and each has its reason in the Shastras.

Om ॐ

Every mantra begins with it and most end with it. The Mandukya Upanishad reads its three sounds, A, U and M, as waking, dreaming and deep sleep, and the silence after them as Turiya, the Self. In the Gita Shri Krishna calls it the one syllable that is Brahman. It is written over doorways, on the first page of account books and on the tongue of a newborn.

Swastika स्वस्तिक

From su-asti, “may it be well”. Its four arms turn clockwise, the way the sun moves and the way a devotee walks around a shrine. It is drawn in kumkum on the threshold, on the kalash, on new account books at Diwali and on the first page of a wedding card, and it stands for Shri Ganesha, who is worshipped before every beginning.

Tilak तिलक

The mark on the forehead tells you whom a devotee worships. Vaishnavas draw the upright urdhva pundra in white clay, often gopi chandan, with a red line in the middle. Shaivas wear the tripundra, three horizontal lines of vibhuti. Devi's devotees wear a red dot of kumkum. It is applied after the bath, at the point between the brows.

Tulsi तुलसी

Holy basil, worshipped as Tulsi Devi, beloved of Bhagwan Vishnu. A Hindu courtyard keeps her in a raised altar, the tulsi chaura, watered each morning and given a lamp each evening. No offering to Vishnu or Krishna is complete without a tulsi leaf. Her wedding to Shaligram on Dev Uthani Ekadashi opens the marriage season. She is not offered on the Shivling.

Rudraksha रुद्राक्ष

“The eye of Rudra.” The Shiva Purana tells that after long meditation Bhagwan Shiva opened his eyes and tears fell to earth, growing into the rudraksha tree. The seeds are counted by their faces, or mukhis, from one to many. A mala has 108 beads and one more, the meru, which is never crossed while counting japa.

Diya दीप

A clay lamp with a cotton wick in ghee or sesame oil. Every puja has one, and aarti is the lamp waved before Bhagwan. At dusk the household says “Deepa jyotih Parabrahma”: the flame of the lamp is the Supreme. At Diwali a single house may light a hundred.

Kalash कलश

A pot of water crowned with mango leaves and a coconut, tied with red thread. The priest invokes the Devas into it before any puja: “Vishnu in its mouth, Rudra in its neck, Brahma at its base, the Mothers in its middle.” At Navratri it is set up on the first day and stays until the last.

Shankh शङ्ख

The conch rose from the churning of the ocean with Lakshmi, and Bhagwan Vishnu holds it in one hand. At Kurukshetra Shri Krishna blew Panchajanya and Arjuna Devadatta before the battle began. It is blown at the start of aarti, and a right-turning dakshinavarti shankh is kept in the shrine as a treasure.

Lotus पद्म

From the lotus that grows out of Bhagwan Vishnu's navel, Brahma is born. Lakshmi and Saraswati sit on lotuses, and the feet of Bhagwan are called lotus feet. The Gita gives its lesson: one who acts without attachment is untouched by sin, as a lotus leaf is by water. It rises clean out of mud.

Shivalinga शिवलिङ्ग

Linga means sign: the sign of the formless Shiva. The Lingodbhava katha tells how a pillar of fire without end appeared before Brahma and Vishnu, and the Linga recalls it. The pitha around it is Shakti. Devotees bathe it with water and milk, offer bilva with the smooth side down, and walk only half way round, never crossing the channel where the water flows.

Shri Yantra श्रीयन्त्र

The yantra of Lalita Tripurasundari. Nine triangles interlock around a central point, the bindu: four pointing up for Shiva, five pointing down for Shakti, forming forty-three smaller triangles inside lotus petals and a square gate. Shri Vidya upasakas worship it as the Devi herself, and Kanchi tradition holds that Adi Shankaracharya installed the Shri Chakra before Kamakshi.

Bilva बिल्व

The three-lobed leaf of the bael tree, dearest of all offerings to Bhagwan Shiva. The Bilvashtakam sings it as “tridalam trigunakaram trinetram cha triyayudham”: three leaves, like the three gunas, the three eyes and the trident. It is offered smooth side down, and a leaf already offered may be washed and offered again.

Kumkum and Sindoor कुङ्कुम

Kumkum is turmeric turned red with lime, offered to Devi and worn as the bindi. Sindoor in the parting of the hair marks a married woman, first placed there by the groom at the wedding. Hanuman is covered in sindoor because, the katha says, he saw Sita wear it for Shri Rama's long life and decided to wear it all over.

The sacred library

Shruti is what was heard by the rishis: the Vedas and Upanishads. Smriti is what is remembered and taught from them: the Itihasas, Puranas, Dharma Shastras and the songs of the saints.

ShrutiRigveda

The first of the four Vedas: 10 mandalas, 1,028 suktas of praise to Agni, Indra, Varuna and the other Devas. It holds the Gayatri mantra (3.62.10) and the Nasadiya hymn of creation.

ShrutiYajurveda

The Veda of the yajna, in prose formulas for the priest at the altar. Its two branches are Shukla and Krishna; the Shri Rudram sits in the Taittiriya Samhita of the Krishna Yajurveda.

ShrutiSamaveda

The Veda of song. Most of its verses come from the Rigveda, set to melody for the udgatri priest. In the Gita Shri Krishna says, “Among the Vedas I am the Samaveda.”

ShrutiAtharvaveda

Twenty kandas of prayers for health, home, harvest and kingship, along with high philosophy. Its Prithvi Sukta (12.1) says, “The earth is my mother, I am her son.”

ShrutiUpanishads

The Vedanta, the end of the Veda. The Muktika Upanishad lists 108; Adi Shankaracharya wrote commentaries on the principal ones, Isha, Kena, Katha, Mundaka, Mandukya, Chandogya, Brihadaranyaka and others.

SmritiBhagavad Gita

Seven hundred shlokas in eighteen chapters, spoken by Shri Krishna to Arjuna between the armies, within the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata. With the Upanishads and Brahma Sutras it forms the prasthana traya.

SmritiDharma Shastras

The law books of conduct, rites and duty: Manu, Yajnavalkya, Parashara and others. The Parashara Smriti says its own rules are the ones meant for Kali Yuga.

ItihasaRamayana

Maharshi Valmiki's adikavya, the first poem: 24,000 shlokas in seven kandas telling of Shri Rama, maryada purushottama, from Ayodhya to the forest, to Lanka and home again. Narada told the katha to Valmiki first.

ItihasaMahabharata

Maharshi Vyasa's Itihasa of the Kurus in eighteen parvas and about a lakh shlokas. It says of itself that what is here is found elsewhere, and what is not here is found nowhere.

PuranaThe 18 Mahapuranas

Maharshi Vyasa's Puranas, from Brahma to Brahmanda, tell of creation, the dissolutions, the Manvantaras and the royal lines. They carry the kathas recited at every saptah and temple festival.

PuranaShrimad Bhagavata Purana

Twelve skandhas and 18,000 shlokas, spoken by Shukadeva to King Parikshit in his last seven days. The tenth skandha, the life of Shri Krishna, is the heart of the Bhagavata saptah.

DarshanaThe six Darshanas

Six schools of philosophy that accept the Veda: Nyaya of Gautama, Vaisheshika of Kanada, Sankhya of Kapila, Yoga of Patanjali, Purva Mimamsa of Jaimini and Vedanta of Badarayana.

DarshanaBrahma Sutras

Badarayana's 555 sutras in four chapters gather the teaching of the Upanishads. Shankara, Ramanuja, Madhva, Nimbarka and Vallabha each wrote a commentary, and each school stands on it.

AgamaAgamas and Tantras

The manuals of temple and worship: how to build the shrine, consecrate the murti and conduct the daily puja. Shaiva temples follow the 28 Shaiva Agamas, Vaishnava ones the Pancharatra or Vaikhanasa, Devi temples the Shakta Tantras.

BhaktiRamcharitmanas

Goswami Tulsidas began it in Ayodhya on Ram Navami of Samvat 1631 (1574 CE): the Ramayana in Awadhi chaupais and dohas, in seven kandas. North India learns its Rama from it.

BhaktiTirumurai

Twelve books of Tamil Shaiva hymns. The first seven are the Tevaram of Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar; the eighth holds Manikkavasagar's Tiruvasagam; the twelfth is Sekkizhar's Periya Puranam of the 63 Nayanars.

BhaktiNalayira Divya Prabandham

Four thousand Tamil pasurams of the twelve Alvars, gathered by Nathamuni. Sung daily at Srirangam and Tirumala, it is honoured by Shri Vaishnavas as the Tamil Veda.

BhaktiDnyaneshwari

Sant Dnyaneshwar's Marathi commentary on the Gita, completed at Nevasa in 1290 CE when he was about sixteen. Varkaris carry it on the walk to Pandharpur.

Many doors, one house

Shaiva, Vaishnava, Shakta and Smarta families worship at each other's temples and keep the same festivals. Each sampradaya is given here in its own voice.

शैव

Shaiva

Deity: Bhagwan Shiva, with Mata Parvati, Ganesha and Kartikeya
Acharyas: The 63 Nayanars, Meykandar (Shaiva Siddhanta), Abhinavagupta (Kashmir Shaivism), Shrikantha
Centres: Kashi, Kedarnath, the 12 Jyotirlingas, Chidambaram, the Tamil adheenams

For Shaivas, Bhagwan Shiva is Parameshvara, without beginning, who creates, preserves, dissolves, conceals and graces. The Shvetashvatara Upanishad and the Shri Rudram are their scripture, the Agamas their manual of worship, and “Om Namah Shivaya” their mantra. Vibhuti on the forehead in three lines and rudraksha at the throat mark a Shaiva. Their schools include Shaiva Siddhanta in Tamil Nadu and the Pratyabhijna of Kashmir.

वैष्णव

Vaishnava

Deity: Bhagwan Vishnu (Narayana) with Lakshmi, and his avatars Shri Rama and Shri Krishna
Acharyas: The 12 Alvars, Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, Nimbarkacharya, Vallabhacharya, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Ramanandacharya
Centres: Srirangam, Tirumala, Puri, Vrindavan, Ayodhya, Dwarka, Udupi, Pandharpur

For Vaishnavas, Shriman Narayana is the Supreme, who descends again and again to protect dharma, as the Gita promises. Four great sampradayas are counted: the Shri of Ramanuja, the Brahma of Madhva, the Rudra of Vishnuswami and Vallabha, and the Kumara of Nimbarka. The urdhva pundra on the forehead, tulsi beads and the names of Hari mark them, and the Bhagavata Purana is their beloved book.

शाक्त

Shakta

Deity: Adi Parashakti as Durga, Kali, Lalita Tripurasundari, Bhuvaneshwari and the Mahavidyas
Acharyas: Bhaskararaya, Ramprasad Sen, Kamalakanta, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
Centres: Kamakhya, Kalighat, Kanchi Kamakshi, Madurai Meenakshi, Vaishno Devi, the Shakti Peethas

For Shaktas, Adi Parashakti, the Divine Mother, is the Supreme; Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva act by her power. The Devi Mahatmya, thirteen chapters of the Markandeya Purana recited as the Durga Saptashati, is their central text, with the Lalita Sahasranama and the Devi Bhagavata. Worship ranges from the Navratri kalash in an ordinary home to the Shri Vidya of the Shri Yantra.

स्मार्त

Smarta

Deity: Five forms worshipped together: Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Ganesha and Surya
Acharyas: Adi Shankaracharya and the Shankaracharyas of the four amnaya mathas
Centres: Sringeri, Dwarka, Puri, Jyotirmath; Kanchi

Smartas follow the smritis and the Advaita of Adi Shankaracharya: all forms are one Brahman, and the devotee chooses an ishta devata. In panchayatana puja five murtis or stones sit together, the chosen one in the centre. Shankara is honoured as Shanmatasthapanacharya, who set in order six modes of worship, including the Ganapatya, devoted to Ganesha at Morgaon and the Ashtavinayaka, and the Saura, devoted to Surya, whose worship lives on in Chhath and the daily arghya.

Fords across samsara

Tirtha means a ford. The great circuits tie the four corners of Bharat together, and pilgrims have walked them for longer than anyone has counted.

Char Dham

Four abodes at the four edges of Bharat: Badrinath in the north, Dwarka in the west, Puri in the east, Rameswaram in the south. Adi Shankaracharya tied them to his mathas. In the Himalaya the Chhota Char Dham, Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath, opens each summer and closes after Diwali.

Badrinath Dwarkadhish Temple, Dwarka Shri Jagannath Temple, Puri Ramanathaswamy Temple, Rameswaram Yamunotri Gangotri Kedarnath

The 12 Jyotirlingas

Twelve shrines where Bhagwan Shiva appeared as a pillar of light, named in the Dwadasha Jyotirlinga Stotram that begins “Saurashtre Somanatham”. Reciting their names morning and evening, says the stotram, removes the sins of seven births. Shravan, and above all Maha Shivaratri, fills all twelve with pilgrims.

Somnath Jyotirlinga Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga, Srisailam Mahakaleshwar, Ujjain Omkareshwar Kedarnath Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga Kashi Vishwanath Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga Baidyanath Dham, Deoghar Nageshwar Jyotirlinga Ramanathaswamy Temple, Rameswaram Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga, Verul

Shakti Peethas

When Sati gave up her body at Daksha's yajna and Bhagwan Shiva carried it across the worlds, Bhagwan Vishnu's Sudarshana divided it, and wherever a part fell a Peetha arose, each guarded by a Bhairava. Lists count 51, 52 or 108; the Ashtadasha Shakti Peetha stotra, handed down in Adi Shankaracharya's name, names eighteen great ones.

Kamakhya Temple Kalighat Kali Temple, Kolkata Hinglaj Mata Jwalamukhi Temple Ambaji (Arasuri Amba)Tripura Sundari Temple, Udaipur Kamakshi Amman Temple, Kanchipuram Mahalakshmi (Ambabai) Temple, Kolhapur Jogulamba and the Nava Brahma Temples, Alampur Maa Biraja Temple, Jajpur Chamundeshwari Temple, Chamundi Hill Harsiddhi Mata, Ujjain Sharada Peeth

Sapta Puri

“Ayodhya Mathura Maya Kashi Kanchi Avantika, Puri Dvaravati chaiva”: seven cities that grant moksha. Ayodhya of Shri Rama, Mathura of Shri Krishna, Maya that is Haridwar, Kashi of Vishwanath, Kanchi of Kamakshi and Varadaraja, Avantika that is Ujjain, and Dwarka. The Garuda Purana (2.38.5–6) names these seven as the givers of moksha.

Shri Ram Janmabhoomi, Ayodhya Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi, Mathura Haridwar The Ghats of Kashi Kanchipuram, city of learning Mahakaleshwar, Ujjain Dwarkadhish Temple, Dwarka

Kumbh Mela

At the churning of the ocean, drops of amrit fell at Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. Each holds a Kumbh in its turn as Jupiter and the sun reach their appointed signs, about every twelve years. The Maha Kumbh at Prayagraj in January–February 2025 drew over 66 crore pilgrims by the Uttar Pradesh government’s count, reported as the largest gathering of people on record.

Prayagraj, Triveni Sangam Haridwar Mahakaleshwar, Ujjain Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga Kalaram Temple, Panchavati, Nashik

Pancha Bhuta Sthalas

Five Shiva temples of the south, one for each element. Earth at Ekambareswarar in Kanchipuram, water at Jambukeswarar where a spring rises in the sanctum, fire at Arunachala, air at Srikalahasti where a lamp flickers in a windless shrine, and space at Chidambaram, where the sanctum holds the Chidambara Rahasyam.

Ekambareswarar Temple, Kanchipuram Jambukeswarar Temple, Thiruvanaikaval Arunachaleswara Temple, Tiruvannamalai Srikalahasteeswara Temple, Srikalahasti Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram

Vidyas of Bharat

Medicine, music, dance, building and mathematics grew as limbs of the Vedas and were taught as service to Bhagwan. Each still has living teachers.

आयुर्वेद

Ayurveda

The knowledge of life, an upaveda tied to the Atharvaveda and given to the world by Bhagwan Dhanvantari. Health is the balance of three doshas, vata, pitta and kapha. The Charaka Samhita covers medicine, the Sushruta Samhita surgery, including the rebuilding of a nose from a flap of cheek or forehead skin. A British magazine reported such an operation done at Pune in 1794.

योग

Yoga

Maharshi Patanjali defines it in the second sutra: yoga is the stilling of the movements of the mind. His Yoga Sutra, in four padas, sets out the eight limbs; the Hatha Yoga Pradipika of Svatmarama adds the postures and breath that most people now meet first. Since 2015 the world keeps 21 June as International Day of Yoga.

ज्योतिष

Jyotisha

The eye of the Veda, one of the six Vedangas, first needed to fix the times of yajna. Its daily form is the panchanga, with five limbs: tithi, vara, nakshatra, yoga and karana. Every festival, muhurta and samskara is set by it. Aryabhata, born in 476 CE, taught that the earth turns on its axis; the Surya Siddhanta is still used to prepare panchangas.

सङ्गीत

Sangeet

Indian music traces its notes to the chanting of the Samaveda. Saraswati holds the veena, Shiva plays the damaru, Krishna the flute. Sharngadeva's Sangita Ratnakara laid down the grammar of raga and tala in the 13th century; Hindustani and Carnatic music grew from it. Purandara Dasa, called the father of Carnatic music, and Tyagaraja composed almost entirely in praise of Bhagwan.

नाट्य

Natya

The Natya Shastra of Bharata Muni tells that Brahma made drama as a fifth Veda for all people, taking words from the Rigveda, song from the Samaveda, gesture from the Yajurveda and rasa from the Atharvaveda. Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Odissi, Kathakali and the other classical dances descend from it. The 108 karanas, the dance poses it names, are carved on the gopurams at Chidambaram.

वास्तु

Vastu

The science of building. Every site is laid over the Vastu Purusha Mandala, a grid with Brahma at the centre and Devas in each square. The temple sanctum sits on the central Brahma squares, the shrine room of a house in the north-east, the Ishana corner. Texts such as the Mayamata, the Manasara and Raja Bhoja's Samarangana Sutradhara guided the sthapatis who built Bharat's temples.

गणित

Ganita

Mathematics began at the altar. Baudhayana's Shulba Sutra gives the rule for the diagonal of a rectangle to build fire altars of exact size. Bharat gave the world the decimal place value system and zero as a number, with rules for it set down by Brahmagupta in 628 CE. Aryabhata gave pi as 3.1416, Bhaskaracharya wrote the Lilavati, and Madhava of Sangamagrama found infinite series for pi.