Hindu Concepts

Trying to understand the Hindu concepts of life is a harder task then what we are used to believing. In the Rig Veda and the Ramayana there are “illusions of opposites” and “personification of nature” that can help us understand their way of thinking. These two concepts are used to try to understand Brahman. Hindus believe that there is more to life than we can fully comprehend. As humans we are focused on to trying to use our physical senses to understand something that is not physical such as creation.

“There was neither no existence nor existence then; there was neither…” (181). In the Rig Veda this abstract concept is used to explain what was before creation. In order to comprehend what was, one must understand what was not before creation. The extra things that it is not sidetrack us from what the world is. The physical senses such as touch, taste, sound and smell are the only things that we can use to try to understand an abstract idea. The opposites that we use such as good, evil, black and white only allows us to only understand the world that we live in.

The Ramayana shows opposites of illusions throughout the whole story. “QUOTE”. Rama is in battle with Rama when he has to counteract the obstacles that are thrown at him. A significant opposite shown in the story is when Ravana dies and becomes pure in death. This goes to show that his ataman is unchanging. They believe that when someone dies, only the physical body is dead, but the soul is still there. The soul will come back but in different form. Ramayana is shown that the ataman is unchanging and this could help him better understand Brahman.

Works Cited

“Rig Veda.” Trans. Wendy Doniger. Prentice Hall Literature Wall Masterpieces Penguin Edition. Upper Saddle River New Jersey: Pierce and Pearson Hall, 2007. 180-182. Print.