Introduction: Depiction of the ‘divine’ in religion
The depiction of the divine in a religion often indicates the true belief and rationale that the religion wants to propagate to its followers and other believers. Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world and has a stringent affinity towards the preservation and conservation of ecological and environmental elements. This notion is also evident in the depiction of the divine in all the texts and visuals related to the Hinduism. The fundamental principle on which the depiction of divinity in Hinduism depends upon is that the divine prevails in all the aspects of nature and in all the living entities like plants and animals (Strong 1). On the other hand, the indigenous and tribal religions also have their own share of divinity being depicted as per their core philosophy behind the religion. Their segregation from the mainstream societies and simultaneous proximity to wildlife and nature gets them depicted in their texts and visuals for expressing the ‘divine’. This essay aims at comparing the depiction of the divine in Hinduism with that of the tribal religions and aims at exploring the perceptual difference regarding divinity in these religions.
The texts and pictorial representations of the divinity in Hinduism involve the gods and divine entities which are always represented in a human form and shown closely associated with nature via pet animals, background, and appearance. Gods like Krishna and Shiva represent the ideology that preserving the natural resources and defending the natural sceneries from being destructed is the most important function of the divine (Kapur 354). Hinduism involves the life-tale of Gods which illustrate them as the savior of innocents, wildlife, and the oppressed from the demonic powers who used their destructive abilities to destroy the natural harmony. The Hindu legends and their legacy stress protecting the rural and village communities who have direct involvement of wildlife. Even the gods are dressed using natural dress–forms which depict association of animals with the divine, giving them pious status in the religious beliefs. Thus, it can be said that Hinduism uses the natural elements and the theme of conserving the natural resources to depict the divinity (Kapur 353).
Similarly, in the religious texts and visuals related to the tribal religions, the notion of gratitude expressed towards the sole creator and abnegation of the ‘civilized’ traits like arrogance and hatred (Wright 33). They depict divinity as a mode of their thankfulness to the divine powers from giving them the religious traditions and cultural values which profess respect and love to the animals. These religious beliefs try to demonstrate the characteristics of generosity and humanity in their divinity and try to portray their social features like benevolence, care and unchallenged supremacy of the leaders (Wright 33). As already stated, their segregation from the mainstream societies and simultaneous proximity to wildlife and nature makes them being depicted in their texts and visuals for expressing the ‘divine’.
How the perspective towards each religion affects the acknowledgement of the divine?
How an individual perceives the divine is largely a matter of how he perceives the imagery and textual description of the divine depicted in a religion’s texts. Also, varying perceptions regarding the analyzed religion can lead to different levels of understanding to find the true nature of divine (Kapur 356). Therefore, the perspective towards the religion is a prime force which affects the consequent findings regarding the divine. For example, the Hinduism has its traditions which have a worship of natural elements like trees (Banyan tree), animals (cow, peacock, owl, lion, etc.), mountain (the ‘Gowardhan’ worship), and rivers (Ganges).
On the other hand, the tribal religions don’t comply with the human form of Gods because they believe that human tendencies can spoil the sanctity of the ‘divine’ towards the human traits like competition, hatred, envy, animosity, etc (Strong 1). Hence, a perspective developed towards the existence of divine via Hindu traditions should mandatorily lead to a naturally incline human form which supports the civilized society accepting natural elements and conserving their existence by worshipping them. On the other hand, tribal religions segregate the notion of civilization from their depiction of the divine and boost the naturalist approach to ensure harmonic life between the tribes and the wildlife.
Conclusion: How Polytheism in Hinduism and monotheism in tribal religions causes misunderstanding in perceiving the true nature of the divine?
The confused image of the divine due to an extremely intricate blend of polytheism and monotheism in Hinduism is obvious. However, the precise reason for the polytheistic representation of the divine is based on the monotheistic belief that God is one and all the other divines are his different forms (Strong 1). Similarly, the tribal religion uses a fusion of monotheism and animism to portray the naturally incline image of the supreme power which professes the humane practices of love, care, leadership, and harmonic living with nature and its various elements. Both the religions have a monotheistic rationale but different polytheistic modes of representing the supreme power.
Works Cited
Kapur, Kamlesh. "Hindu Dharma-A Teaching Guide". Ed. Classic edition: Xlibirs LLC, 2013. 354-356.Print.
Strong, Laura. "Immortal India: Mythic Hindu Death Rituals and Beliefs About the Afterlife".2000.Web. March 31. 2016.
Wright, R.M. "Indigenous religious traditions". Religions of the world, Vol.1(2013), 30-35.Web. March 31. 2016.
