Me: Hi Krishan, I’m just going to go on and ask you a couple of questions on your religion and how you live your life…including your beliefs and traditions etc!!

Krishan: Yeah sure, no problem.

Me: So, most of us have heard of Hinduism and probably know a thing or two about it-for example, we all know that they have many Gods and they believe in re-incarnation. Do you believe in re-incarnation?

Krishan: Yes, I do. I think that when you die, your soul leaves you and you pass on to your next life. Your next life will be a reflection on how you lived your previous life. And what you said about Gods, yes you’re right. There are many Gods, but we do believe there is a main God called Brahman. He is the eternal origin and is the cause and foundation of all existence. There are also two other Gods which make up the principal three: Vishnu- who preserves the universe and Shiva- who destroys the universe.

Me: So what is the Hindu’s equivalent to a church or a mosque and how do you preach.

Krishan: We pray in what we call a temple and we read from THE VEDAS which is separated into 4 parts:
The Brahmanas- are rituals and prayers to guide the priests in their duties.
The Aranyakas- concern worship and meditation.
The Upanishads- consist of the mystical and philosophical teachings of Hinduism
The Samhitas- are the most ancient part of the Vedas, consisting of hymns of praise to God.

Me: Right- just coming back to what you mentioned earlier about re-incarnation, could you please explain it to me in a little more detail.

Krishan: Ok, I believe that once you die, your soul leaves the body and is re-incarnated in another form (samsara). As I said earlier, your new life will be based on how well you lived your last life (karma).
All this ‘karma’, either good or bad, builds up till the end of your life.

Me: Oh, I get it now, I’ve heard of a lot of celebrations and holy days recently, for Hinduism. By any chane, would you happen to know some?

Krishnan, I do actually, things like Thaipusam and Deepavali, are very important in Hinduism. They are for the new year (in Hinduism) and for the festival of lights, respectively.

Me: So, how do you worship and pray in Hinduism.

Krishnan: Well, we can either do it in our homes or in a local temple. All you really need are shrines or images of God to pray to, and a small location or room surrounding it to pray. Praying is called Puja in Hindi. Hindu worship is very much individual because everyone has their favourite God whom they worship. It is very much individual because people make personal offerings to the deities.

Me: I’ve also heard of something called the Caste System…what is it?

Krishnan: Well one feature of Indian society, despite attempts by some Hindu reformers to outlaw it, is the caste system (jati) which ranks society according to occupation.

Varnas are the historical division of society into 4 broad classes. Traditionally, there were four main varnas, plus one group of outsiders:

The Brahmins or priests: The highest varna, believed to have emerged from Brahma’s mouth.
The Kshatriyas: The warrior or ruling class who were made from Brahma’s arms
The Vaishyas: Merchants or artisans who came from Brahma’s thighs.
The Shudras: The unskilled labourers and servants who emerged from Brahma’s feet. There were the lowest class, or varna.
The Untouchables: Those too lowly to be within the varna system.

Me: I understand that Hindu’s can’t eat beef, is that right?

Krishnan: Yeah it is, this is because the cow is regarded as a holy animal as you can see in some paintings/ images of Gods. Sometimes they have cow next to them.

Me: Thanks a lot for this interview, Krishnan, it’s really helped me understand a lot of things about Hinduism.