Theism is the Basis of High-end Hinduism

Jun 5, 2004, 12.00am IST

Sri Jayendra Saraswathi.

Since we believe in the Paramatma or Supreme energy that is beginningless and endless, it is clear that Hinduism in its purest form is theistic. Theism is its basic premise.


Some people ask: “What came before the Parama-tma? Who created the Supreme energy?” The answer is that it is something that is ever-present and everlasting; it has neither beginning nor end; it is infinite. When something is born, it has to die. This applies to planets, stars, humans, animals and all other things which have a beginning. But the Supreme energy is all-pervasive.

How does one access or experience this divine energy? The Vedas show the way. The Vedas are like spiritual primers — they introduce you to the wonderful world of spirituality. Like all primers, the Vedas, too, only help you infer the divinity aspect, for the experience itself can only be yours. So the verses, the rituals are all designed to help you understand their import and then move on to a higher plane of consciousness. Here, you draw from the wisdom of Vedanta. Lite- rally, the term ‘Vedanta’ means “ved ka anth” or “end of the vedas”. You can call Vedas the Part One of the “Do-it-yourself” spirituality and Vedanta, the Part Two.

Every religion has three components: rituals, cultu- ral and spiritual. There is scope for differences only in the first two. But the third, the spiritual element, helps us overcome conflicts arising from differences in the first two. Rituals including ceremonies relating to birth, marriage and death are an important constituent of all faiths. Culture springs from the way of life, and its nature hinges a great deal on heritage and environment. The spiritual aspect is free of all differences and so is able to help us direct our mind towards the Paramatma.

Dharma, artha, kama refer to good deeds, material well-being and desire respectively. But the fourth, moksha, cannot be accu- rately described because it is an atma-anubhav — an intensely personal experience. So only the one who experiences moksha will know what it is like. Adi Sankara said that one should rise above the first three and get liberated from them via moksha. The moksha experience cannot be described. Try describing the sweet taste of misri (sugar crystals) to someone who has never tasted it — and you’ll find that the best way to make him understand its taste is to let him eat it. Moksha can be understood only with direct experience. An enlightened person who has experienced moksha can try and guide a seeker to the path that leads to moksha.

Can one transcend even the desire for moksha? Once moksha has been achieved, can we seek “moksha from moksha”? No, because that would be a contradiction. For it signals not merely the end of suffering. In Hinduism moksha refers to the simultaneous end of suffering and the experience of anand or bliss — what we call sat-chit-anand. It is the experience of the eternal and unchanging truth, revealing the universal limitlessness and our nature as the source of infinite peace and joy. So there is nothing beyond this state. This is the ultimate, when the atma unites with the Paramatma, when the individual energy merges with the Supreme energy. Why should one seek release from such a state? Moksha is not something to be attained but that it is a state to be experienced, a natural state. Moksha is not a ritual like bathing or offering flowers. That is why the Bhaja Govindam says don’t look for moksha outside but search within.

(The 69th Sankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham spoke to Narayani Ganesh.)