Having discussed the divine trinity in my previous post, I also wanted to share my interpretation of Hinduism in this post.
Disclaimer - Before reading the contents below, understand that this is only my interpretation and feel free to disagree with me (I would be happy to have healthy debates).
Devas (Demi-gods)
Disclaimer - Before reading the contents below, understand that this is only my interpretation and feel free to disagree with me (I would be happy to have healthy debates).
Devas (Demi-gods)
While the trinity signified the acts of creation, preservation and destruction, Nature played a major role (as in many religions) in finding divine existence in the world around us.
The elements of nature: Wind (Vayu), rain (Varun), Fire (Agni), etc., were considered to be devas (Demi-gods). The head of Devas, Indra is the god of lighting. This is an interesting similarity with a lot of pagan religions, Zeus (the most powerful Greek god) and Thor (God of lightning, Norse mythology), where the god who created lightning was considered to be the most powerful. This could be attributed to the fact that lightning was (and still continues to be) one of the most feared natural phenomenon. Till date a phenomenon called as ball lightning still remains unexplained. No wonder, these gods were treated with a great respect and fear.
Navagrahas (The Planets)
It is interesting to note that, the seven celestial bodies close to the Earth, namely the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were identified to be 7 celestial bodies which influenced the events on earth. Along with two imaginary planets (Rahu and Kethu) that caused the lunar and the solar eclipse. These planets formed the basis of Indian astrology system.
I once asked my granny, why should one believe in astrology? I really liked her answer (though I still do not truly believe in astrology). She replied "Each of these planets are made up of different composition of elements. And as per the law of gravity, each of these bodies exert a certain amount of force on earth. The nature of the influence of this force is determined by the composition of these planets and their relative position with respect to the Earth. For example, the Moon causes tides, during full moon periods, there is definitely a fluctuation in the pattern of our minds (crazy people become crazier) and this is the reason why moon in Hindu astrology is associated with mood swings and things related to mind." She went on to say "So knowing that these planets do have influence on us, Astrology is nothing but mathematics based on the planets relative position and their influence on us."
(End of Part 2)
