Hinduism and Rituals

Recently my father-in-law sent a document explaining about Hindu rituals (Aachaaraas) and why people follow them. It has good information. However, it would have been outstanding had it listed scientific reasons for things people do as part of their daily routine. All the Aachaaraas have scientific significance. Our elders are not only spiritual; but they are also scientifically well advanced. A couple of indicators of this are:

1. Pushpaka vimaanaa – forget about the fact that it can accommodate infinite number of people (I am sure modern scientists will eventually figure this out); the mere fact that people can be carried in air for long distances is a phenomenal scientific achievement (given this was documented thousands of years ago)
2. Nuclear/Atomic Bombs: Recently scientists found evidence of using nuclear/atomic bombs near Kurukshetra, a few thousand years ago
3. Vaaradhi: Bridge was built few thousands of years ago by Raama dandu (Raamaa’s gang) to cross the ocean

Some may argue that these things actually may not have happened/existed. So be it. The fact that people thousands of years ago could think of these (hence, write them down), in itself is a testimony to their advanced scientific knowledge.

Some of the aachaaraas have clear scientific backing - like applying turmeric, vibhoothi (ash from burning a particular wood with ghee) - the burning of the wood with ghee has a special medicinal power, etc.

There are some which have hidden scientific reasons that can not be seen so easily. For instance, the Pooja Room (prayer room). If God is everywhere, why do we need a special room to keep Him/Her in the house? The reason is to train our minds. When we go to a separate dedicated room to pray daily, we are actually conditioning our mind to concentrate (remember Tenali Ramakrishna and his cat?). Our thought process is single track, i.e., we can think of only one thing at a time. So, when we concentrate on one object (God, in this case) we forget about other things (like worries, etc). There is an old saying in telugu – “Mantraalaki chintakaayalu raalthayaa?” (it means, can the fruits fall out of the tree just by chanting Mantras?). Actually they do. There may or may not be a God. But the Mantras, pronounced correctly and chanted out loud, do have effect. When we make certain sounds, we produce certain frequency vibrations. Different frequencies have different effect - some positive, some negative. One classic example is “Om”. Pronounced correctly and chanted out loud, the frequency has a soothing effect on humans.

There is another category of aachaaras. These are context sensitive. For instance, Parisham (sprinkling of water around the food plate while chanting a specific mantra). Some Indian’s perform this before eating. The belief is that it purifies whatever we are eating and provides us “good” energy. It may or may not be true, but I know for sure why our elders practiced it. In the good olden days, people used to sit on the floor and eat from a leaf. The sprinkling of water around the leaf is to prevent ants and other insects from getting into their food. Same is the case with applying cow dung to the main entrance (to prevent creepy crawly things from entering the house). Now, try practicing this in New York!!!

The bottom line is, while the aachaaraas are there for a common good, all of them are not applicable to every one, every time, every where. We need to choose the ones that are most applicable for the current time and place. Understanding the reason behind the ritual is more important than the ritual itself.