Principles and Practice of Hindu Religion
A Comprehensive Study of the Ancient Tradition and the Perennial Philosophy

Chapter - II : The Essentials of the Hindu Traditions
A Short Note on the Basic Aspects of Hindu Religious Beliefs
and Practice in the Evolution of the Spirit and the Culture
Lesson - 31 : The Spiritual Discipline and Cultural Practice
The Dharma Sasthras, Rituals and Prayers
The Ancient Scriptures of the Hindu faith has been followed closely by the community as a way of life, even though it allowed questioning and analysis with reasoning. The Vedas gave the philosophy, the rituals and the Manthras to God in a Formless State through Knowledge. However, most people understood less and less of the teachings as years passed by, as these teachings were kept as "Sacred" and secret by few knowledgeable families. They were understood by a small fragment of the community who were the priests and others started to follow it blindly without studying them. Often they thought that mere recitation will give them Divine Powers. The Agamas established the rules for construction of Temples and worship of God in various forms of Deities. The Dharma Sasthras established the rules of conduct for daily living and for regular prayer rituals. The Dharsanas explained the Philosophy of the Vedas. The Ithihasas and Puranas told the stories of Divine Incarnations as examples of the Spiritual message.

In the medieval period many leaders gave us these teachings as simple theories of Spiritual Discipline for daily practice. The Vedantha Philosophy and Dharma Sasthra of Sage Vyasa and explanations by Acharyas are the basis of Our Faith and Practice. Sri Sankara gave us the Advaitha theory of "Unity of the Human and Divine Soul" and the Path of Knowledge [Jñana Yoga]. At the same time, he also gave us the rules of worship of God in six forms as in Agamas for daily practice. Sri Ramanuja gave us a theory that separates the Divine Soul to be reached by prayers through the Path of Devotion [Bhakthi Yoga]. Many other theories were given by other Acharyas. We also had a Path of pious living Meditation and concentration [Raja Yoga] with the standards for the Hindu ethics and the Spiritual Discipline. The Path of Action [Karma Yoga] was given as the first and early step of the Spiritual Discipline for the uninitiated. They taught us the rules of doing the duties without greed, lust or attachment to the fruits of our action. These four paths of spiritual disciplines and the rituals and prayers as in the Vedas and Agamas were the basis of the practice of culture by the Hindu community as a way of life.

 

When we perform our actions, we should perform them as an offering to the Divine and keep our expectations to that of an offering of Divine gift and accept them as it is. We have to live with the nature and keep our desires and attachment within the proper Dharma of the Universe. The expectations, desire, lust, attachment and greed with longing for material prosperity and bodily pleasures which are Artha and Kama without the proper Dharma leads to pain and suffering. The path of Dharma with proper karma and bhakthi will lead to a life of happiness and eternal bliss. So, we should perform our work only as a service with devotion and offering to God.

 
Sanãthana Dharma Šãsthra
Lessons: - 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 .