Religions of India
79.8% of the population of India practices Hinduism
Love in its various forms—spiritual, erotic,
mystic, brotherly, familial, filial, and universal —is explored in Hindu
religious texts such as Ramayana and Mahabharata and also in philosophical and
social treatises such as Manu’s Ordinances as stories, fables, songs, and brief
moral lessons. Love of one’s neighbor is integral to the core belief system of
Hinduism, because Hindu theology is anchored in the belief that the universal
soul (Paramatma) permeates all living beings, and union with the Paramatma is
the goal of every individual soul’s Jeevatma, goal. The individual soul seeks
liberation from the cycle of birth and death, an inevitable phenomenon in which
every soul is trapped, and aspires release (moksha) wherein it finally attains
union with the universal soul and is released from the mire of human existence.
The individual soul is part of the universal soul but is only embodied in a
temporal frame, and all individual souls are seen as variations or embodiments
or manifestations of the universal soul, thereby linking them all in one
unified existence with the universal soul.
Love of the neighbor or the “other soul” is
a fundamental requirement for a functioning Hindu who aspires for final
liberation from this world. Any injury or insult inflicted upon the other soul
is ultimately injury inflicted on oneself—or worse still, the higher being.
Neighborly love is integral for one’s social existence in this world. The
Anusana Parva (113:8) in Mahabharata encapsulates this wisdom and dictates that
one should be unselfish and not behave toward others in a way that is
disagreeable to oneself.
Another verse in Mahabharata summarizes the essence of
the individual’s social obligation (dharma) and theorizes that one should not
do unto others that which would cause pain if inflicted on oneself (Mahabharata
5:15; 17). The Ordinances of Manu also instruct a Hindu never to wound or
inflict on anyone any type of injury or pain by thought, word, or deed.
Hospitality to strangers is a highly celebrated virtue and is expected of all
Hindus, especially people in positions of power.
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