Ancient India's Religion

Brahmanism originates from early Aryan religious beliefs found in the Vedas. This religion is polytheistic in nature and has a plethora of Gods and Goddesses that represent forces in nature that are worshipped according to the timely needs of the people whether that be for fertility, land, or wealth. The first worship shift came from the parent God, Dyaus, to that of the warrior God, Indra. The Aryan people were said to have excellence in battle tactics, resultantly, calling upon Indra was a ritual to bring the people to war. From then on, the justice God, Varuna took precedence because the people had already ceased their migration patterns and arrived at the Indian Civilization. At first the concept of sacrifice, filtered then to asceticism, and

Both Hinduism and Buddhism originated in India. Hinduism originated first when around 1500 B.C the Indian civilization was overtaken by an invasion of pastoral nomads from around the Caspian Sea, north of Persia. These nomads continued to invade the region over several hundred years, conquering and settling among the native people. As a result of the clashes between these two cultures Hinduism emerged as a result of the fusion of the beliefs that the native people of India and the new arrivals had. Hindu priests created a caste system to deal with the problems caused by racial tensions between the new arrivals and the native Indians. The caste system divided the population into groups in which highest caste were the Hindu priests, who were followed by the warriors, the farmers and merchants, the servants and laborers, and ultimately the lowest caste were the war captives and slaves.

The first religion in Ancient India was Brahmanism, it was very important to Ancient India. Brahmanism was the base for Hinduism, but had no influence on Buddhism. Brahmanism was a polytheistic religion. That means that it is a religion that believes in many gods. These gods were nature deities.

1.Hinduism is an ancient religion which derives its teachings from scrolls, known as the Vedas. These are held as Eternal truth. In Hindu beliefs, a person progresses through many lives until they reach a state called Moksha, which constitutes a release from the cycle of life, death, and birth. Karma determines whether a person is reborn in a lower station, or a higher station. A prevalent part of hindu beliefs is a caste system, which teaches that those who are born into a particular caste are born with such privileges or disadvantages because of their merits in the previous life.

In the Hindu religion, the founder was not one person alone. It is believed by historians that the Aryans developed Hinduism over 3500 years ago. The Hindu religion was developed around the caste system. The caste system was the social class of India. At the top to the caste system were the Brahmins or the

Hinduism believes that there is only one absolute called Brahman. Nevertheless, it does not advocate the worship of one God. Reincarnation and karma are the primary mechanisms of Hinduism. Equally important, Hindus do not follow a single set of rules, but a collaboration of ideas and thoughts which are passed down by groups of unique individuals such as lay people, scholars, and philosophers who created an understanding of moral beliefs. In short, Hindus are open minded and tolerant when it comes down to demonstrating respect towards other religions. For instance, we can see this in Hinduism because it is the only religion that worships both male and female

Although Hinduism is the oldest surviving religion, it has no founder. Rather, it evolved over a long period of time, becoming a collection of beliefs. This collection includes a multitude of gods, allowing for there to be hundreds of variations of Hinduism. Centering this chaotic organization is one unifying principle: brahman. In Hinduism, brahman is the ultimate reality behind all phenomena. The brahmins, or priests, of Hinduism use their holy book, the Vedas, as a guide. While this may sound like it instills brahmins with complete power, it only allows for them to suggest and advise fellow Hindus. Hinduism is a relatively free religion that while having guidelines, allows for devotion to be placed in a multitude of places.

Early Hinduism arose during what was called the Vedic Age. A group of ancient, nomadic Indo-Europeans called Aryans settled into the Indus Valley around 1500 B.C.E. Their oral tradition, The Vedas, formed the basis of Hindu beliefs and was written in Sanskrit between 800 B.C.E. and 300 B.C.E. The Aryan social structure shows the beginning of a caste system with three distinct social classes. The Brahmins were priests, the rajanyas or kshatriyas were rulers and warriors, and the vaisyas were the common people (Resource on the Vedic Age, pg. 1).

Deviating away greatly from the other religions, you will find large differences in the way Buddhism is practiced. One of the biggest distinctions probably being the lack of an almighty God. Instead of worshiping a person directly, Buddhists worship the teachings of the Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) who founded the religion in the late 6th century. Since then, millions of people have joined in as followers. The religion itself is broken down into two main branches, Theravada and the Mahayana. Both teachings of Buddha but just different expressions. Buddha preached what has become known as the core of Buddhism, the four noble truths: 1. there is suffering, 2. the cause of suffering is desire, and 3. there is a way to overcome desire and become free from suffering, and 4. the eightfold path leads to freedom from suffering. This eightfold path leads to nirvana, or release from suffering and from the nearly endless cycle of rebirths that keep people attached to lives of suffering. This path consists of: 1. Right understanding, 2. Right thoughts, 3. Right speech, 4. Right action, 5. Right livelihood, 6. Right effort, 7. Right mindfulness, and 8. Right concentration. (Pg.134) to sum it up, Buddha believed that all of our problems came from a negative state of mind, and happiness and peace could be achieved through

Hinduism is one of the oldest religion in the world, despite this, the group is not well organized and it has no single system and approach which can be used to teach its values. They do not have a set of rules which they can follow just like the Ten Commandments. On the other hand, the Hindus believe in a supreme being who is the guider of the human beings and oversee the adherence of concepts like dharma, karma, and truth. They also believe in the authority of the Vedas which is the sacred scriptures, its interpretation may vary greatly.

When the Harappan civilization began to decline, the Aryans filled the power vacuum. The Aryans were to become the new race of Indians, spreading throughout the entire Indian subcontinent. They witnessed the implementation of the caste system into Indian society and the development of the earliest Indian religion: Brahmanism. The caste system determined what people would do everyday and divided the population by social status, playing a huge role in the entire society. Brahmanism was widely accepted, and most people abided by its rules. By 6th and 5th century BCE, cities had reemerged in India. In fact, it was a time of intellectual growth for the entire region of Eurasia. In India, it led to the founding of religions that rejected aspects of the existing Brahmanic teachings. Namely, these religions were Jainism and Buddhism. In response to the opposing religions, Brahmanism evolved to please the people of India. The new form of Brahmanism was called Hinduism, and it kept the caste system. Although Hinduism did not ignore the caste system, all three religions collectively changed the lives of their adherents by altering the meaning of life: A follower was to live their life according to the rules of their respective religion to ensure a better life in their next reincarnation, the ultimate goal being the escape of being reborn again.

Hinduism was started in 1500 B.C in ancient India . Unlike most other religions, Hinduism does not have a known founder or a formal church. People who follow Hinduism believe there are thousands of gods, making them polytheistic. However They do believe that there is one supreme god who is above all the other gods, this god is called Brahman. Hindus also believed in rebirth or life after death, they believed that eventually you would achieve Moksha which is very similar to what we know as heaven. In order to achieve Moksha you would have to live through several different lives and gain knowledge and good morals. They believed that after you died, if you were a good person, you would be reborn as a higher member of the social caste. The social caste played a giant role in Hinduism. When you are born into a part of the social caste, you stay in that part or level for the rest of your life and you are required to marry somebody on the same level as you. The lowest level on the social caste was the untouchables and they

    Culturally diffused into India by the Aryans during the Aryan Invasion, Hinduism is a polytheistic faith that believes in reincarnation and the all encompassing Caste System. The history of Hinduism begins with Purusha; the thousand headed, eyed, and footed, primordial god who who was like an ocean who sacrificed himself to create the world, and the Caste System. From his mouth came the Brahmin, the ¨head¨ of the Caste System.  Then from his arms came Rajanya. His thighs the Vaishya and from his feet came the Shudra. Along with that, the moon, sun, wind, all animals, sacred texts and all of existence came from his body as well.

The Sanskrit language and the Vedic religion foundational to Hinduism are attributable to the Aryans and their descendants. The original inhabitants of the Indus Valley are thought to have had a Dravidian language and culture, which became subordinate to that of the invading peoples.

Throughout the world the universally known Indian religion is Hinduism. However, there are other religions, which no one has heard of such as, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism. Most people assume that just because your Indian you have to be Hindu but that’s not necessarily true. Although, these religions come from the same Indian culture they have different views and beliefs.