Hinduism Essay examples

“Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma ("eternal spiritual path") began about 4000 years ago in India. It was the religion of an ancient people known as the Aryans ("noble people") whose philosophy, religion, and customs are recorded in their sacred texts known as the Vedas” (United Religions). Vedas are written in the ancient language of India, called Sanskrit. Vedas means “knowledge” or “sacred lore.” The Vedas gives great intelligence about the variety of Gods from the Vedic period, 2000 to 500 BCE (Molloy,78).

Hinduism is a religion practiced all over the world and has gained a large following. Hinduism got its start in the Indus Valley civilization and since then has evolved into a open and tolerant religion upon which every and anybody from all walks of life are welcome. In Hinduism there is a divine reality which can best be described as all reality is ultimately one for monistic Hindus or that there is no distinction between the divine reality and the rest of reality for dualistic Hindus. Either way it is put Hindus try to understand divine reality through their different gods, images, nature, and avatars.

It is believed that Hindu traditions appeared around 1500 B.C.E. and can be traced to the ancient Aryans as they migrated into southeastern Asia. It was during this time that the Vedic hymns were composed. These hymns, called Vedas, were composed by different Brahman priests and

Just like any other civilization, the Israelites had multiple social classes. At the foundation of the civilization was the working class. This was made up of the farmers and artisans who labored all day and produced the items that were often traded throughout the kingdom. The next tier was the military and royal court. Anyone that served in the military was well respected by people of all classes. The royal court consisted of any government officials, scribes, and the king’s royal cupbearer. Scribes were the secretaries and typically involved in judicial and financial affairs. The royal cupbearer was tasked with filling the king’s goblet with wine and serving it to him. Second to the top of the social classes were the priests. Similar to Ancient Egypt with the gods, priests were believed to have direct contact with the god the Israelites worshiped: Yahweh. Because of this connection, priests were considered to be very sacred to the Israelites. At the top of the social pyramid was the king. The king of the Israelites ruled over the kingdom, defended it, but also “rules on behalf of Yahweh, the Israelite god” .

Hinduism is a major religious and cultural tradition of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a diverse family of devotional and ascetic cults and philosophical schools, all sharing a belief in reincarnation and involving the worship of a large pantheon of deities.

Both traditions have almost similar backgrounds. However, Hinduism began earlier as compared to Buddhism. They were both traditions of native Indians. The traditions were therefore influenced and developed by the nature, culture, and surroundings of the Indian people. Hinduism began with the Vedic civilization about 3000 years ago. Scholars believe that the beginning of Hinduism was influenced by fusion of tradition and cultures from all Indian subtribes. The tradition encouraged running life through the gods’ specifications, devotion to different gods and goddesses and finding one’s souls. However, Buddhism was influenced by the life of

First, I would like to introduce the religion of Hinduism. The term Hinduism was derived a river of South Asia, the Indus. This term was used by the ancient Persians to classify the people of that region of the North-West territory of the subcontinent. Indian religion, Hinduism, was the term given by the British in the nineteenth century to the population of India that were neither Muslim or Christian.

The priests and priestesses performed religious ceremonies to please their gods. Offerings were also made to the god in places called temples. I don’t need to give a definition on this one because most people know what a temple is. Now it is time to go to social rankings. Priests held a high social ranking(they were right under a king in the social hierarchy).

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

What elements of earlier belief systems do you see integrated into Hinduism? What were the external conditions (environmental/societal/political/economic etc.) which gave rise to the origination of Hinduism? What was it about this time period? Location? Population?

Hinduism is the religion based on individual devotion to identify basic spiritual personality through truthfulness, self-control and happiness. Hinduism is rich in scripture and historic religious writings, some of the Scriptures in Hindu’s practices are, “Creation of the Universe”, “Yama’s instruction to Nickiketas”, “Self-Effort and Libration”, “That is You” and “The Bhagavad Gita: Arjuna’s refusal fight”.

Although we do not know the exact time that Hinduism began, it is believed to be over 4,000 years old. There have been overlapping civilizations in India that may have molded the religion into what it is now (Kinnard 1). Around 2,000 B.C.E., located near the great Indus River, the Indus Valley Civilization, who worshipped many goddesses, may have been the very beginning of the shaping of Hinduism. Near the end of the Indus Valley Civilization around 1,500 B.C.E., a new society surfaced in India. Believed to be brought by the central Asian Aryans, the Vedic religion began (Kinnard). The Aryans’ practices included the sacrifice of animals and other offerings to their gods into a sacred fire. The gods they worshipped were mainly gods of nature such as the fire god and the plant god (flood). This era was the time of the Vedas, which are scriptures describing rituals to please the gods (Kinnard). Later, around 1,000 B.C.E., priests called Brahmins began to reject the materialistic ways of the Vedic tradition and began to adopt practices

Hinduism originated in India over four thousand years ago. The India-based religion lacks an individual founder. In the beginning, the term “Sanatana Dharma” erupted; but Sanatana Dharma soon transformed to “Hindu” after Islamic invasions occurred: “the Muslim invaders pronounced H for I” (Patheos), thus, the inhabitants along the Indus River were called “Hindus” as a result. The primary goal Hindus hope to achieve is to become reincarnated – thus reaching closer and closer to the state of nirvana every Hindu is called to with each transformation after death.

The Vedic age in India started around 1500 BC with the arrival of Aryans, an Indo-European tribe from central Asia near the Caspian Sea. Aryans settled along the banks of the Indus and its tributaries in the northern part of the subcontinent. Initially, it was a tribal society centred in northwest India and by 1000 BC, it spread along the Gangetic plain with the development of modern agriculture. Aryans dominated the local indigenous population and often ruled over them. Over time, the interbreeding with the local residents led to the emergence of mixed culture. The Vedic age lasted from 1500 BC to 500 BC. Agriculture and cattle rearing were the main occupations of the people. The Vedas and Upanishads were written during this period. The early Vedic beliefs formed the foundation of Hinduism. People worshipped Gods such as Indra, Agni, Varuna, Vayu, Prajapati, Vishnu, Rudra, etc. The society was divided into four castes based on the profession of the people; Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras. Women had a respectable position in the society and they

The acknowledged hypothesis is that Hinduism was advanced after the chronicled meeting between the Aryans and Dravidians. Some claim that Hinduism is for the most part an Aryan culture while the others assert that it is basically a Dravidian culture. Religiously the Vedas were given by