Hinduism is a unique religion. It has no founding figure, central text, or doctrines that are universally agreed upon. It is actually argued if it is even a religion. It has diverse practices and beliefs. Two of these are Vedic sacrifice and yoga. They both are classified as Hinduism, but one is concerned with preparing an estate in heaven through sacrifices and the chanting of hymns while the other is primarily concerned with liberation from reincarnation through different forms of yoga.
As the earliest form of Hinduism, Vedas are very influential to the foundation of this religion, because there is a “dual emphasis on seeing and hearing the sacred” which is a “characteristic of all Hindu traditions” (CIWR, 281). This tradition is characterized by the singing of hymns, which are sacred words meditated on to live out one’s tradition as a Vedic Aryan, which were revealed through visionaries called rishis. “The Vedic rishis ‘saw’ the mantras and transmitted them to their disciples, starting an oral tradition that has continued to the present” (CIWR, 285). Unlike religions who believe in a creator god, they believe it’s their obligation to make fire sacrifices in order to repay the debt. “The origins of the four classes (varnas) of Hindu society are traced to the initial cosmic sacrifice” (CIWR, 288). They could be thought of as the blueprints of the cosmos which were created because of their gods’ earliest sacrifices. Before these hymns were written down, they were
Over time traditions came together to develop recognizable religious traditions which was eventually known as Hinduism. Hindu’s have many different practices such as Sanatana Dharma, Vedic worship, yoga and many other different rituals. Hindu’s also have many other beliefs and celebrations such as reincarnation, karma, prana, puja, samsara and many more. Hinduism is known for its beliefs, practices and gods and as the years pass by the religion still stands strong to what they believe.
“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.
The Supreme Court, in its judgement delivered in 1995, maintained that Hinduism is a way of life rather than just a religion. Many political pundits opine that the verdict has empowered Hindu religious parties such as the BJP to exploit Hindutva to garner votes. Social activist Teesta Setalwad, who is the most vocal proponent of anti-Hindutva, urged the Supreme Court to step in to ensure that politicians don’t misuse religion in political speeches to garner votes in the name of faith.
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.
Hinduism is based in Henotheistic. They believe in one god Brahmin that manifests himself in many different Gods and Goddesses. They worship their Gods and Goddess in the form of idols and also utilize large ornate temples.
Hinduism is one of the largest religions in the world following Christianity and Islam. Hinduism is a faith and way of life for most people in India. It is unknown where Hinduism started and by whom. Hinduism is based on a set of believes that thing such as reincarnation, dharma, and three gods.
Hinduism is a religion that is difficult to define. No one can say who the founder is, or connect it to a certain place or time. So in order to understand Hinduism, we follow a coherent set of assumptions upon which people base their lives; otherwise defined as the Indian Worldview.
Hinduism is an incredibly complex polytheistic religion, with its roots in the Indus River Valley Civilization over 8000 years ago and is still practiced today. Hinduism is typically practiced by the citizens of places such as India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. As indicated by its wide reaching influences, Hinduism does not have one single founder, but started a shift into its more modern form when Aryan invaders brought the Vedas into India around 1500 B.C.E. At its core Hinduism believes in entities called the Brahman, the source of everything in the universe, from these Brahman emerged over 330 million gods, all of which are different manifestations of the Brahman. The most important gods in Hinduism are Vishnu,
One could not give a definite definition to Hinduism. Hinduism is not an organized religion but a set of belief systems and traditions that is in turn a way of life in Indian Society. Hinduism contains several sects, subsects, sub-subsects, various traditions and ascetic movements. I think this is important for defining Hinduism, but it also proves difficult to place an accurate pinpoint definition of Hinduism. Hinduism is different for each person and
Unlike other religions across the world, Hinduism does not have a specific way of worship, or a god and scriptures to be used. The religion that is considered to be the oldest has an array of beliefs and practices within it, and therefore many have always referred to it as a family religion or a way of life. In the recent years, it has been established that there is a way in conformation to an almost similarity among the Hindus, and a larger population now consider a sacred text known as Veda and have a shared system of values known as dharma.
Both of the religions Hinduism and Judaism are similar but different in their own ways. Hinduism worships many gods and goddesses, whereas Judaism is a confirmedly monotheistic religion. In the Hinduism religion the bedrock is the belief that the Vedas is sacred and the caste system decribed in it. “Hinduism is a guide to life, and the goal of which is to reach union with Brahman, the unchanging ultimate reality”(75). The dharma or moral law that need to be followed. There are many gods that were worshiped and each person may worship a different god. Images of the gods in homes or temples were presented where each person can show devotion to their personal gods by singing hymns or offering flowers before the images. The Hindus believe in many things such as that the universe undergoes and endless cycle of creation, believe in karma, that the soul reincarnates, the belief that all life is sacred.
Hinduism is a religion that can be difficult to understand in a Western world. In the Western world where the majority of people are monotheistic the Hindu beliefs can be difficult to grasp. Hindus worship a number of gods and spirits, but these numerous spirits are all parts of
Hinduism is the oldest religions. The most interesting thing about Hinduism is that they have no specific founder or date of origin. Based on their beliefs Hindu’s are divided in to two casts. In the current world, there is still a big conflict about whether Hinduism is a monotheistic religion or a polytheistic religion. Because according to Hindus believe it’s one God with many different faces. This concept regarding Gods is accepted by some scholars, but not all of them. Hinduism has four sacred text Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Epics. The two most common sacred texts are the Vedas and Bhagavad Gita. The authors of all sacred texts are still unknown.
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