As the Upanishad
says, 'A man becomes what he thinks! When he constantly thinks of a certain Devata, his
mind takes the form of that Devata. The worshipper is slowly transformed into the likeness
of the worshipped and all the good qualities associated with the latter appear in
the former. The transformation, which is thus commenced in ritual, is completed in
yogic sadhana, as will be explained below in the chapter on Hindu Sadhanas.
In this section a brief mention will be made of the most important rites and ceremonies of
Hinduism. It is not necessary to describe them in detail as they differ from community to
community and from locality to locality. Moreover some of them are of pre-historic origin
and are now overlaid with different kinds of spiritual significance in different places
like the Easter and the Christmas ceremonies in Christian countries. All Hindu rites may be divided into four classes:-
(1) Those pertaining to the stages of life,
(2) Those pertaining to times and seasons,
(3) Those pertaining to public worship, and
(4) Those pertaining to special occasions. |
