Contents
The
Symbols in Indian Religions and its Phenomenology
The Symbols in Indian
Religions and its Phenomenology
Introduction
A symbol is a sign
or an identification mark of a thing. The original Greek word
symbolon
means a sign by which one knows or infers a thing. Symbols are signs
for expressing the invisible phenomenological meaning by the means of
visible or sensuous representation. All our contact with the world
outside is based on symbols. Our language is nothing but symbols. The
written scripts are still full of symbol form. Our art, our poetry,
in fact every aspects of our life is based on symbols. We think in
symbols, we act in symbols, we live in symbols, we learn in symbols.
For example, here I am writing few symbols, which are called
alphabets. One, who reads, knows very well that a particular alphabet
has a particular phonetics and reads together and finds meaning. This
is the phenomenology of symbols. Through the visible symbol, we give
the invisible meaning to it.
Today the modern
society has become very fast in its movement of day to day
activities. It has no time to read into lines or listen to others. It
wants to understand many things in symbolic ways. It finds difficult
to move further in certain field without this symbols. For example,
the transport cannot function without the traffic signals or symbols.
Likewise, there are many things in the world, particularly that of
the sacred symbols. Nobody have seen God in visible form, because He
is impersonal God (Nirguna
Brahman),
but everybody wants to see him at least in a visible form of anything
as personal God (Sarguna
Brahman).
Therefore, today the symbol has become a part and parcel of human
life in all the levels of his day today life.
The same symbol
plays a vital role in the religious aspects of man. The symbols
express to man the invisible God’s experience to man in the visible
symbols. For example, when a Christian sees the Cross on a building,
he may recognize it as a Church, whereas a non Christian may not
identify it as a Church, but only as a building. This is the
phenomenological understanding of the Sacred Symbols of the Christian
religion. Here, in this assignment I am going to deal in detail with
the Symbols and its phenomenology in Indian Religions.
1.
Sacred Symbols in Indian Religions
1.
1. Impersonal God (Nirguna
Brahman)
There are various
concepts of God. One among them is this impersonal God. Here God is
not seen as a person. God is not personified rather God is
phenomenologically symbolized. Impersonal God is expressed only
through the symbols.
To realize the
impersonal absolute, mediation is enjoined considering the soul as a
spark, or a river flowing into the sea, or a fish or pot in the ocean
of the absolute, or the bird in the infinite space or a ray of light
reflected in the body. Meditation on God of the microcosm leads to
the realization of God in the macrocosm.
All the religions
give important to this impersonal God. They use many symbols to
express this impersonal God to the followers of the particular
religion. This we call the religious symbols or the sacred symbols.
People honour and even worship and pay homage to these symbols,
thinking that as their God. Sometime people become so violent,
when the brothers of the other religions dishonour the symbol of
their religions. Therefore, it is not a mere symbol, but the
phenomenological expression of their invisible God in the visible
symbol.
1.
2. Personal God (Sarguna
Brahman)
The personal God
takes innumerable forms in all the religions. Here God is seen as a
person or a deity. The absolute power of God is personified in the
form of persons or deities. “God as the indwelling spirit is also a
thought symbol. The idea of visualizing the chosen deity in the heart
has developed from this conception. The worship of the incarnations
or Avatharas
of God again is also a very common and they are regarded as the
veritable representation of God on earth”.
Some personified Gods of Hinduism are: Siva,
Natraja, Vishnu, Iyyappa, Subrahmaniya, Ganesha,
Goddesses are Kali,
Devi, Lakshimi, Durga,
etc. Mostly, all the world religions have used both impersonal God
(Nirguna
Brahman),
and personal God (Sarguna
Brahman),
therefore, we find many sacred symbols to express their faith and
their belief in their God.
1.
3. Hinduism
Among all the Indian
religions, Hinduism has consciously and boldly accepted so many
sacred symbols in their religious practice, and all other religions
of Indian origin have done the same. According to Hindu Philosophy,
“the Divine has both the personal and impersonal aspects. Symbols
of the personal aspects satisfy the sense of the devotee, yet make
easy the understanding of the absolute. Hinduism recognizes that all
finite things are symbols of the infinite”.
For
Hinduism the Aum
is the sacred symbol. Aum
is the symbol of sacred sound. The most important mantra Aum
represents the three fold operations of God. The final letter of the
three great powers made the Aum;
they
are BhramA,
VishnU
and
ShivaM.
Their works are creation, preservation and consummation (Srishti,
Sthiti, and Laya).
The Baghavad
Gita,
the Sacred Scripture of Hinduism speaks about the Aum
as follows: “Uttering the monosyllable Aum
(the sound), Bhraman,
and meditating on me, he who departs, leaving his body, he attains
the supreme goal” (Gita 8:13).
1.
4. Christianity
Like all other
religion, the Christianity has also accepted the symbolism, but later
on it denounced the use of personal images as idolatry. But still
there are symbols and images even in Christianity, which has become
the part and parcel of Christian faith. Though these symbols and
images are the manifestation of the divine presence, they are not
worshiped or adored in Christianity as they do in Hinduism. Each
symbol is a representation of Christian faith; it reveals a wealth of
meaning. In course of time each character of Christian faith gathered
round itself in different symbols. Thus, Christ was symbolized in a
fish, a candle, a crown, a lamb, etc. The Holy Spirit is represented
by a dove, fire and by various forms of the candle’s stick. The
greatest sacred symbol of the Christianity is the Cross.
It stands for Christ’s suffering, death, resurrection and the
redemptive love of Christ for his people.
1.
5. Islam
Among all religions
Islam had strong objection to use the symbols. it is said that there
is no exact equivalent word for ‘symbol’ in Arabic language. The
Muslim rulers have used different colours of flags to indicate their
sovereignty and power. In course of time the Byzantine
Cresent
and the Star
became the Islamic symbol. However, the Sufis (one of the sects in
Islam) have specialized in the symbolic language. They even explain
much of the Koran,
the Sacred Scripture of Islam as elaborate symbolism.
These
are the most important Indian religions in India today. The minor
religions too have their own signs and symbols to uphold their
religious faith. Some minor religions in India and their important
Sacred Symbols are as follows: Buddhism – Dharmachakra,
Jainism – Swastika,
Sikhism – Sword,
Dagger and Shield,
Judaism – The
Menorah,
Zoroastrianism – The
Cauldron of Fire,
Taoism – The
Tai-Chi.
Buddhism–Dharmachakra
Jainism–Swastika
Sikhism–Sword,
Dagger and Shield
Judaism–The
Menorah Zoroastrianism–The
Cauldron of Fire Taoism–The
Tai-Chi
2.
Natural Symbols in Indian Religions
The nature in itself
has got many symbols to give us the phenomenological meaning of the
religious understanding. All the living beings or non living beings
of the universe have something to tell us in symbolic form. The
phenomenological meaning of the nature is not that much easy to
comprehend by man, but in symbolic form it seems easier. Here, let us
see a few symbolic expression of the nature, which also has the
phenomenological religious aspects in Indian religions.
2.
1. Trees
The trees are
universal symbols representing the axis of the world. They can also
symbolize the cosmos. The trees are also the manifestation of God
himself, because the Hindus worship the trees personifying it as
their deities:
O king of trees! I
bow before you. Brahman
is
your roots. Vishnu
is in your body, and Shiva
is in your branches. In every one of your leaves there is a heavenly
being.
Claiming up in the
tree is always symbolic of the aspiration to reach higher realms of
life, God, heaven and reality. The tree also re-enacts the whole
cosmic order in that it dies and comes to life again; it is a symbol
of regeneration and resurrection. Jesus also tells Zaccheus, the tax
collector to climb down quickly from the tree to symbolize to come
out of his sinful status (Lk 19: 1-10). Therefore, the tree has a
phenomenological religious sense in all the religions.
2.
2. Flowers
The
flowers are symbolized as the dwelling place of the Lord. The
personal God is viewed as the indwelling sitting in the lotus of the
heart of man. For this reason the physical heart of man is symbolized
as lotus. The devotees are asked to meditate on the chosen deity, who
is seated on the lotus of heart, which is the center of life.
Externally, it is also expressed that the deities are seated on the
lotus. It expresses the phenomenological religious experience of
Adhyamiham-the
internal beauty and the Adhibhutikam-
the external beauty.
2.
3. Animals
Animals have got its
own symbolic expression in our human life. Animals are little less
than man, because most of the animals have got all the qualities of
men except that of rationality, which is particular to men alone. So
animals have got many things to express us in a symbolic and
phenomenological manner.
God’s
nature is also expressed through the animals in Hinduism. Most of the
Avataras
in Hinduism have been expressed through the symbolic expressions of
animals. They are: Matsya
-
the Fish; Kurma
-
the Tortoise; Varaha
-
the Boar; Narasimha
-
the Man-Lion. Here, God has expressed or manifested himself in the
symbolic expression of animals.
In Christianity, the sheep and the lamb represent the Christ.
Whenever we see a sheep or a lamb, we remember Christ and his words
‘I am the good Shepherd’ (Jn 10: 14), and ‘I lay down my life
for my sheep’ (Jn 10: 15). Here, the nature of Christ expressed
through the symbols of animals which is spotless.
2.
4. Birds
“Birds in general
if a symbol of the Soul; Spirits of the air; the Spirit freed from
the body; or they can be a manifestation of the Divinity”.
The most widely used symbol of the Holy Spirit in Christianity is
Dove. All the four Evangelists record the appearance of the Holy
Spirit in the form of the dove at the baptism of Christ. “When
Jesus had come been baptized he at once came up from the water, and
suddenly the heavens opened and saw the Spirit of God descending like
a dove and coming down on him” (Mt 3: 16; Mr 1: 10; Lk 3: 22 and Jn
1: 32). It proves that the birds are used as the symbols for the
Sprit, which is free from the body.
2.
5. Fish
Fish
are used as the symbols of religion. In the image of fish most of the
religious meanings are expressed. “In Hinduism the fish is a
vehicle of the Lord Vishnu
as savior, in his first incarnation or Avataras,
through the form fish - Matsya
he saved the mankind from the flood. In Buddhism it appears on the
‘foot print of the Buddha’ and indicates freedom from the desires
and attachments of the world. The Buddha is also called a fisher of
men. Christianity used fish symbols extensively. Christ was depicted
by rebus ICHTHUS-a fish, as Isous
Christos Theos Huios Soter
(Jesus Christ is Son of God and Saviour). The three fishes interwined
or three fish with one head, was adopted from earlier religions as
denoting baptism under the Trinity”.
It
shows that most of the natural symbols have been used as religious
symbols. God created the nature and all the symbols, but it is man
who gave the phenomenological spiritual meaning to all the natural
elements. The creator expresses himself to the creation in different
natural forms, and through which we are trying to comprehend the
presence of God in all the natural symbols, which are available in
the nature.
3.
Mathematical Symbols in Indian Religions
The symbols, which I
am going to deal here are not mathematical in its streaked sense.
Only the numerical symbols may fall into the category, but the rest
may be called as symbols of forms or figures. Since, these figures
and forms are more related to geometry I call these symbols as
mathematical symbols.
3.
1. Circle
Roundness is most
natural and perfect shape in the nature. The circle has always and
universally held as a sacred symbol by all the religions. It
expresses archetypal wholeness and totality and thus the divinity.
The circle has no beginning and end. It obviosly stands for eternity
and shapelessness. It represents the space and time. And as the
round, the wheel, it also signifies perpatual re-occurrences and
cyclic movement of the reality. The discovery of the circle or wheel
paved the way for the great civilization of the world. For Indian
philosophy most of thoughts are cyclic such as Kalas-seasons;
Avataras-Incarnation
of God, birth and re-birth of man. It Indian who introduced zero to
the whole world, without which the mathematic cannot exist today,
which also has the circle shape.
3.
2. Triangle
This form has three
edges, the number three has a lot of sacred meaning in all the
religions of the world. For Hindus, they are Brahma,
Vishnu and
Shiva.
Their works are creation, preservation and consummation (Srishti,
Sthiti, and Laya).
For Christians, they are Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, the
Trinity. The triangle also has many other meanings; one among them is
male and female unity. The gender discrimination is one of the big
issues in all the religions but the male and female unity symbol that
is the double triangle shows how they are united as one body, mind
and soul. In Indian Philosophy the downward triangle ▼
which symbolizes the Yoni
(female organ-vagina) and the upward triangle ▲
symbolizes the Linga
(male organ-penis), therefore the perfect union of this two triangle
is double triangle, which is important for the procreation, which is
the first commandment of God in the Bible, “Be fruitful and
increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen 1:28).
3.
3. Cross
The
cross is inseparably connected with the circle and the squire. It is
an ancient and widespread symbol that no country, age, culture is
without it. It appears in innumerable forms. Most obviously the cross
represents the four cardinal points of the North, South, East and
West and the four seasons of the year namely Spring, Summer, Winter
and Autumn. It also represents all human potentiality and possibility
of endless sxpansion in every direction. Later Christianity adopts it
and thus it became very famous and sacred, since Christ has died on
the Cross. And now it represents the Christ and Christianity.
3.
4. Swastika
Possibly the oldest
form of the cross is the swastika; indeed, it is so old that its
exact origins are unknown. The origin of the word we use is taken
from the Sanskrit Sv-Asti,
“it is well” or “thou well”. Therefore, it is always a symbol
of good fortune and good luck.
It has been
suggested that it arose from two sticks being rubbed together to
produce fire in early days. To support this theory, there are
representations of the vedic fire queen Arani,
whose name means the two sticks, holding them, with four nails and a
cup or fosette in the center, into which a pice of wood was placed
upright and twirled violently, by wipping to produce fire.
This swastika
symbols are depicted on door or wall of the houses, because they
believe that it will protect them from the evil spirits. And thus it
is also used as a symbol of the protection and good fortune and luck.
3.
5. Numbers
In many ancient
traditions number was considered to be a fundamental principle. All
things originated from number and it was responsible for the harmony
of the universe. Numbers were not merely a question of quantity but
also it was an important symbol of quality, i.e. they are both of
quantitative and qualitative. According to Pythagoras, whose system
of philosophy and cosmology was based on mumbers, ‘everything is
disposed according to numbers’. This number has been symbolized in
all ages, starting with zero, which is the symbol of nothingness, the
non existance. It takes the full symbolism of the circle, most of the
numbers have got its own symbolic expressions. Therefore, mathematics
also plays a vital role in the symbolic expression of symbols.
4.
Phenomenology of Symbols
Symbols are the
expression of our experience. What we have experienced in our life,
we express through the symbols in order that the other may understand
it, for the phenomenological expression, the symbols must have the
following aspects.
4.
1. Perceivable
The symbol, which is
expresses before us must be perceivable through any one of the five
senses. If not it is wrong to call it as a symbol, because a symbol
should have a quality of being perceivable to others.
4.
2. Beyond the Symbol
The symbol, which we
percieve through our empirical senses, is not thing in itself. But it
is only a representation of a thing. So we have to perceive the
symbol beyand its nature, because it is not the thing, which we see
but it is beyond that.
For example, we see a
Cross and bow down before it. It does not mean that we worship the
wooden cross, but we worship the Lord, who hanged on it for our
salvation. This we call beyand the symbol or in other word
phenomenology.
4.
3. Understandable
All the symbols
should be understood by all people, but in contrary may of the
symbols are not understood properly by all due to its nature. They
are not thing in itself, if so it is easy to understand. It is only a
representation and thus we should be aware of the phenomenology which
is beyond every symbols. Therefore, sometime the same symbols express
different meaning to different people in different time. Each one
understands the symbol in his own way, therefore a right and correct
understanding is needed.
For example, two
persons see a Croos. One sees as a holy thing to be venerated. The
other sees as a symbol of Christianity, and burns it. Here, meaning
is in the thing or in the person who gives meaning to it. Therefore,
a right understanding is must to understand the phenomenology of the
symbols in our day to day life.
4.
4. Unforgettable
The symbols are
expressed in an aesthetical manner, which is very beautiful and
attracts the mind and heart of the people. So it remains in the
memory and mind of the people for long time. Today many of the
students study their subjects in a figurative form or symbolic for to
keep in the menory for long time, because it is very easy for the
students to remember and recall. Therfore, the symbols gives long
life to the idea or the phenomenology of a particular aspects.
Conclusion
Today man
experiences the symbols in different ways. To understand them
properly he needs the right perception of the phenomenology of the
thing. The symbol can not live by itself with out the
phenomenological understanding. The symbols are only the skeleton, it
is our phenomenological understanding and experience gives flesh and
blood to the skeleton and makes a wonderful being of symbols.
Today most of the
things are expressed in the symbolic ways. In this symbolic world,
the phenomenology have played a vital role in order to keem the
symbols alive and active. All the symbols, wether it is sacred or
profane, there is some beyaond meaning or phenomenology of the
particular symbol. It is very important to identify that phenomenon
of the particular symbol, otherwise, we lose the sense of the symbol.
This small work that
I have done to understand the real phenomenological meaning of few
symbols used in Indian religion have helped me a lot to understand
the religious understanding of each symbol in different religons in
India. The course also helped me a lot to understand the history and
the phenomenology of all the religions. It is not the religons make
the different but the understanding of the persons makes the
difference in the religon. Therfore, I wish to conclude this work
with the prayer to the Holy Spirit, who can inspire all to understand
the exact phenomenological understanding of each religon and the
symbols in the religon and in the world. “May all be one as you
Father are in me an I am in you. May they be one in us” (Jn 17:21),
for the good correct phenomenological understanding of symbols of the
Indian religions.
Bibliography
Appleton
and
bridges,
Symbolism
in Liturgical Art,
New York, Charles Scribner’s Son, 1959.
Cooper
J. C., Symbolism:
The Universal Language,
Wellingborough, The Aquarian Press, 1982.
Ranchor
Prime,
Hinduism
and Ecology: Seeds of Truth,
London, Cassell, 1992.
Swahananda
Swami,
Hindu
Symbology and other Essays,
Madras, Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1992.
Internet
Sources: (only for clips)
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