Hinduism

The Sraddha: The Hindu Book of the Dead (A Treatise on the Sraddha Ceremonies)

Of the sixteen samskaras which encompass a Hindu life the last one is performed for the dead by their sons or grandsons or relatives. Many passages in the Puranas and Dharmasastras extol the role of the son in the life of devout Hindu. The present book deals with the rite of Sraddha and vindicates the popular belief that Sraddha, being an important topic, forms an integral part of Hindu Dharmasastra. The belief in the after-death survival of deceased ancestors and their separate world belongs to the Indo-Iranian period and as such is pre-Vedic. Ancestor-worship for one’s prosperity, continuation of one’s race, is as old as the Rgveda. Preface, Introduction, The Antyesti Samskara, Appendices, Glossary.

Arya Samaj Movement in South Africa

Even though it is primarily a religious organisation, the Arya Samaj movement emerged as a significant player in India’s fight for social and cultural autonomy, which involved both religious and secular groups. It was established in 1875, foreshadowing the establishment of an independent India in 1947. This work makes no attempt to provide a detailed

investigation of the movement, but also presents a summary of its development and philosophy in the context of the contributions made by its founder, Swami Dayanand Sarasvati. There is a lot of reason to be proud of the Samaj’s complex of institutions and upliftment programmes that they started, as well as the major historical forces that played a role in shaping the movement.

The nineteenth century saw the beginning of a number of different socio-religious groups, one of which was the Arya Samaj. Despite this, it was responsible for the construction of many of the most prestigious educational institutions in northern India. Indian groups who had immigrated to other countries, such as Mauritius, South Africa, and Guyana, were among the first to feel the impact of these events. What was once a little religious group has now grown into a religious denomination that has significant weight in the world today. One of the Arya Pratinidhi Sabhas may be found in South Africa.

the most well-known Hindu organisations that have a significant amount of sway over the north Indian subset of the Hindu people.

Author

T. Naidoo

About the Author

Originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, Dr. Thillayvel Naidoo went to school and graduated as a teacher. A graduate of the University of South Africa, he moved to India to pursue his M.A. in Indian Philosophy at the University of Madras. Research Officer at the University of Durban-Department Westville’s of Science of Religion. He is presently a professor of Philosophy of Religion at the university where he earned his doctorate. On Hinduism, he is the author of many publications on the subject: The Hindu Way, Sai Baba: An Analysis of Manifestations, The Parsee Community in South Africa, and Tamil People in South Africa.

The Upanayana: The Hindu Ceremonies of the Sacred Thread

It appears from ManuÍs institutes that they are meant as much for the householder in the

second order of life_garhasthya_as for the student. The laws for the brahmanas are severer and they are expected to subject themselves to harder physical and mental disciplines, forsaking all attachment of their organs to sensual pleasures. A brahmana student must keep them under complete

control and bear in mind that desire is never extinguished by the enjoyment of desired objects; it only grows stronger like a fire fed with clarified butter.

But all this appears to have vanished. It is unfortunate that many brahmanas, starkly ignorant

of the Vedic rcas and scriptural teachings, are often called upon to perform the ceremonies. There is substance in their contention that since the times have changed, the ceremonial laws too must be thoroughly revised and modified to bring them in conformity with the present-day ethos. They also argue that, as the mantras are in Sanskrit, very few people are able to chant them with complete understanding of their inherent meaning and importance. It is to meet their demand for a simple text with explanatory instructions that this book has been written. Its readers can be scholarly priests or non-scholarly householders or both. To some this may sound a profanation of the ceremonial laws, but the intention is pious and therefore this attempt to democratize and

expound the esoteric is forgivable.

Upanayana is one of the sixteen samskaras or purificatory rites in which a boy is invested with the sacred thread and thus endowedwith second or spiritual birth and qualified to learn the Veda by heart. In this ceremony the boy goes to an Acarya well-versed in the Vedas with a view to be initiated into Vedic studies or a Guru draws a boy towards himself and initiates him into one of the three twice-born classes. From the day the initiation ceremony takes place the young celibate commits himself to a life of austerity and abstinence; he chooses to lead a life rigorously disciplined by vows and disciplinary rules.