There are some key understandings of the Hindu tradition that are amazingly unfathomable. A prime example of this is the explanation of Hindu time and its sheer vastness compared to some other traditional understandings of time and space. Hindu time inherent nature of being cyclical is not a concept that many, including myself, are not too familiar with. The way most of us are raised to understand time is that it is solely linear, but Hindu views of time proclaim that there are four main yugas that move in cycles to show creation and progression: Krita/Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapar Yuga and Kali Yuga. A complete cycle of the four Yugas is equal to a Mahāyuga, which is around 4.32 million years on its own. Additionally, 1000 Mahāyuga is a kalpa, equivalent to only one day for the creator God, Brahma. The incredibly massive scope of this time frame juxtaposed with its insignificance compared to a day of Brahma led me to question our position in the Kali Yuga right now. The potential for such epic power to exist in our universe makes our time on this one planet in the middle of a 432,000 year long Yuga seem trivial, as most of us spend our time focusing on very unfulfilling activities and issues that, in the end of our own cycles of life, will not matter at all. Personally, this idea of Hindu time means that we should be prioritizing our quest to find answers to the important and significant questions about our universe and ourselves. Overall, this understanding was critical to setting up the scope and implications of other ideas in Hinduism.

The initial groundwork for Hindu ideas and values is laid out in the Vedas, which were originally orally passed down containing verses that, if recited properly, were considered to be directly from Gods. The Vedas heavily rely upon nature and general amazement at the world we live in and even the fact that we are living in it. This idea is further emphasized by Gods’ effects and presences within the natural universe. The four main sacred beings in the universe all have some part in the cyclical creation and destruction of the universe. Brahman serves as the omnipresent, absolute, ultimate representation of reality that really cannot be defined or singled out. Dharma serves to uphold the order and harmony in the universe. Vac is the goddess that symbolizes the power of sound and speech in the universe. And Tapas is the creative heat that drives the creation and destruction of the world. As a Hindu, I was raised to show a sort of respect to nature and natural cycles. Many of my friends, who were raised Christian, tell me that they respect nature as it is God’s creation and that it is their duty to protect it from harm. Before, I believed that Hindus had a similar belief about nature, but now it is evident from the Veda’s teaching that we should respect nature because these divine beings exist within nature as well as create them. For instance, one of the main Vedic gods, Agni, is the God of fire and serves as the mediator between humans and Gods. Agni’s presence and power can be visible through the natural formation of fire. This concept that there may be divine forces at work every day within nature that all serve to sustain life as well as create and destroy it definitely heightened my daily appreciation and gratefulness to the world around me. In addition, these teachings further underscore the need to respect life and nature like a God and recognize that divine forces exist within all foundations of our world.

The prominence of the sacrifice in the Vedas not only showed me the cyclical benefits of giving up something, but also the need for it. In the Vedic tradition, the fire sacrifice basically ensures that the world can continue to create and sustain itself by establishing order and harmony in the universe. This idea is similar to the Circle of Life, where life can sustain itself through death, the sacrifice of life. In trying to look at this idea and apply it to my own life, I realized that we do have to sacrifice some parts of our lives in order to be able to gain more from them. The concept of joining clubs on campus, for instance, is a sacrifice of time for the creation of new skills and growth in the long run. While this example is very feeble compared to the transfer of life and death, it still holds some merit in terms of understanding the act of sacrifice and applying it on a small scale. The knowledge of the sacrifice and how it serves as a reciprocal relationship between Gods and humans very much contributes to my personal experience with Hinduism, as it connects the divine significance of nature to humans interacting with these divine being through natural phenomena, as expressed in the Yajña. The sacrifice, Yajña, is fueled by Tapas, the creative heat that begins the cycle with the fire from the sacrifice creating rain, which is then sacrificed to the earth from the heat of the sun. This rainfall creates food, which is sacrificed to men whose bodies’ internal heat and functions results in semen. The semen is then sacrificed to women through the heat of sexual intercourse, resulting in children through the heat of pregnancy and birth, who will continue the fire sacrifice, restarting the cycle. From this cycle, I really began to understand the Vedas’ cyclical ideas of life and the universe’s yugas as well. Additionally, knowledge of this sacrifice added to my understanding of nature and the divine being connected, which I feel is making me even more appreciative, as a Hindu, of the world around me.

I feel that the Upanishads spoke to me on a deeper, more spiritual level, given their emphasis on the self. Whereas the Vedas were about ritual actions and dialogue, the Upanishads, especially the middle and later ones, were primarily focused on how the individual can attain moksha, or salvation and liberty from the endless cycle of life. This sequence of reincarnation into new lives and different world is known as samsara. When one attains moksha, one is liberated from the cycle and gains self-knowledge and access to one’s true self, soul, or Ātman. The laws and concept of samsara are tied directly with the idea of karma, which declares that every action a person makes has a reaction that effects them either positively or negatively depending on the action. Karma is tied together with the atman, so its reactions can be present in the next life as well. These Upanishadic teachings have truly resonated with me over the years. The idea of karma is one of the most iconic concepts of modern day Hinduism, and my family’s daily lives are governed by our belief in karma and how doing good actions in the world can result in good for yourself. I try to live my life considering the law of karma and its lasting, inescapable effects on my own existence. Additionally, the distinct focus on the individual self in the Upanishads presents some interesting thoughts about how to live life. In today’s society, we desire material goods and tiny bursts of satisfaction, but many of the verses in the Upanishads preach the need to give up those desires for the sake of personal fulfillment in one’s life. Just by looking into ourselves and our own souls, we have the ability to discover the truth about ourselves and our world. The concept of conditional living in samsara makes me desire to not live a materialistic content life, but rather seek out ways to better myself spiritually and seek out significant knowledge and truth in the universe.