Page 184 - รวมเล่มศาสนาในประเทศไทย ภาคภาษาอังกฤษ
P. 184

The Vedic texts of three periods, the Vedas, the Itihasa
               and the Puranas, are all written in the Sanskrit language, so therefore,
               only the Brahmins could perform the religious ceremonies, due to
               their language capability. However, in later periods, that problem
               was solved by having the Vedas and the hymns written in the
               indigeneous languages allowing for more local understanding.One
               of the written vedic texts is the story of Ramayana because it was
               about Vishnu, the God of the Vaisanapa denomination. The text was
               written in Awadhi. In southern India, people who worship Brahmin-
               Hinduism belong to one of two Sects, one that worships Vishnu as
               the supreme God and another one that believes the Lord Shiva is
               the most powerful Deity. Both have their hymns recited and written
               in the Tamil local language.
                           In  principle,  the  religion  of  Brahmin-Hinduism
               cites the Sanatana Dharma and enumerates the vedic texts as:4
               Vedas,  4  Upavedas,  6  Shastras,  38  Upanishads,  18  Puranas,
               18  Upapuranas  and  many  thousands  of  various  intertwoven
               Vedic texts. Two very influential epic stories are narrated in Vedic
               literature. They are the epic stories of the Mahabharata in which
               the part of the Bhagavad Gita is the most important, and the popular
                                                       th
               Ramayana which recounts the story of the 7  reincarnation in the
               life of the god Vishnu when he comes to earth as the good King
               Rama. Today, it is fair to say that every Indian family in Thailand
               and worldwide is in possesion of these Vedic Texts. TheVedas are
               not only praised as important literature in and of itself, but also     While Brahmin-Hinduism places emphasis on ritual
               because the manuscript contains much wise knowledge on philosophy,   ceremonies to pray to the Brahman, the Supreme Entity, and also
               religion and ethics. It is a great work of humanity, and therefore has  focuses on the practice for liberation, called moksha, or God-
               been translated into many languages. The essence of the doctrine  Realization. There are 3 main elements of the practice to reach
               is that: ‘Every living being is a spiritual being, it is immortal and  moksha whose aim is to release humankind from the cycle of birth
               everlasting. Spiritual development occurs through the closely related  and death. The pathway is through Yoga which means “to be in union
               processes of karma and the cycle of repeated birth and death.   with the Brahman.” These three stages of ‘Yoga’ are: the Karma
                                                                            Yoga,the path of right action, the Jnana Yoga, the path of wisdom
                           As mentioned before, the Brahmin caste are the mediators
                                                                            and the Bhakti Yoga, the path of love and devotion.
               between man and God. The Brahmins are believed to be created
               from the mouth of Brahman. Brahmins are educated by studying            The practice of this doctrine through yoga will lead one
               the Vedas about the truth of life, which is the core doctrine of the  to the attainment of liberation from suffering and desire and to be
               religion. Therefore, the Brahmins are the deserving ones to perform  united with Paramatman (the Supreme Soul or Spirit) and so to be
               ritual ceremonies in Brahmin-Hinduism. By their role, they transfer  released from samsara, the cycle of life and death. In order to attain
               the messages of prayer from humans to God, and likewise, through  this stage, one needs to achieve an understanding of the Vedas, of
               their success, God returns blessings to his worshippers.     which can be taught and guided by the Brahmins.








          182




                                                                          182
   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   187   188   189