The Rig-Veda

The Rigveda is the earliest literary source for the history of Hinduism. The Rigveda consists of 1,025 hymns throughout ten books that were composed during the last two or three centuries of the 2nd millennium BCE. It is said that the early gods of the early Hinduism religion actually stemmed from the Indian subcontinent which has a connection with the Indo-European peoples. The major devas consisted of Indra, Agni, Soma and Ushas. There are now three major groups of deitites; Shaktas (Mother Goddess), Shaivites (Shiva) and Vaishnavites

Scholars stressed that the role of Indian colonizers brought Hinduism to reflect the ideology that emphasizes on Southeast Asia. Hinduism spread throughout India by certain people and territory (Strayer, 183). Hinduism became part of the Indian civilization for the different people that migrated or invaded into Southeastern Asia (Strayer, 133).

Hinduism is a major religion that started in India and now has about 900 million followers throughout the world. Hindus main belief is that one must live a good life to have a good reincarnated life. They believe this whole process is controlled by Karma. Hinduism is founded on the ‘Vedas’ this word means knowledge. The Vedas are a collection of hymns. The “Vedas” are four sacred texts which include Rig Veda: the Book of Mantra, Sama Veda: the Book of Song, Yajur Veda: the book of Ritual, Atharva Veda: the Book of Spell. Each Veda contains other parts called Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads. Many of these scriptures mention dharma which the Hindus use as their code of conduct. The Vedas are the oldest texts in Hinduism.

Our text book tells us that Aryans became dominant in north India. In Sanskrit text the Indo-Aryan developed the caste and the Brahman religion. The Brahman religion developed into Hinduism. (Beck et al.) India’s caste system there is 4 caste or social levels of people. At the top there is the Bhramin which are the priests and teachers. Second is the Kshatryia which are the leaders and warriors. Third is the Vaishya which are the merchants and landowners. Fourth is the Sundra which are commoners, peasants, and servants. Not considered in the caste system is the untouchables which are the outcasts. They held the lowest valued jobs such as street sweepers, latrine cleaners, and slaughter house workers. The caste system in India forbids people from mingling with other levels of castes. What caste level you were born into you were required to stay at that level. There was no

Hinduism, Buddhism and Shinto, while vast in differences there is much to learn about these three religions similarities as well. Some facts and history of Hinduism include, Hinduism (being the oldest of the three) is dated back in pre-history before 10000 BC even believed to predate the Indus River Valley Civilization! The Vedas (the holy text of Hinduism) is the foundation for Indian culture and also the basic belief system of Hinduism. The basic belief structure of Hinduism is as follows, the three doctrines; Samsara (1) which means “successive rebirths” indicating the belief in reincarnation started by ATMA or the spark of life given by the god Brahma. This cycle continues until the soul collects enough good Karma (2) to break from the

“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 very broad term that encompasses a multitude of different backgrounds, traditions, beliefs, and practices. Hinduism, as we know it today, has gone through many changes. To fully understand how Hinduism became as it is currently, knowledge of its development over the course of history is essential. This paper will demonstrate the primary shifts of its central beliefs, practices, and goals between periods of Early Vedic, Late Vedic, and Classical Hinduism.

The second trace of Hinduism is the Aryan or Indo-Europeans, who, was said, to enter the Indic subcontinent from the North-West in migratory waves. The Indo-European is associated with the Vedic period of Indian history, which were named after a series of book or text collectively known as the Vedas; written in Sanskrit, the ancient language used back then. The performance of ritual and the

Hinduism also has many texts but the most important of all is the Vedas. The oldest is the Rig-Veda, which was developed in an ancient form of the Sanskrit language in northeast India. It consists of 1028 hymns to many gods. Two other Vedas were added to the Rig-Veda, the Yajur-Veda which is a book for sacrifice, and the Sama-Veda which I the hymnal. A fourth book added around 900 BC, which is a collection of magic spells, is called the Atharva-Veda. The Brahmans, long Sanskrit texts, were also composed around this time and the Upanishads were composed around 600 BC. These Vedas and writings are considered revealed canon or

in the Indus Valley which is present day Pakistan, before written records were kept. There are some theories as to why Hinduism began, one is it began because of varna which is color associated with caste, but some Hindus believe it was result of stratification through psychological preferences. Hinduism shruti (Hinduism sacred writings) include the Vedas with four collections of scripture the Rig-Veda, the Sama-Veda, the Yajur-Veda, and the Atharva-Veda, it also includes the Brahmanas (explanations of sacrifices), the Aranyakas (explanation of rituals), and the Upanishads (the end of the Vedas). The Bhagavad Gita is 700 versus for hindus to use to have release from rebirth. The Laws of Manu (code of conduct) appear later in the religion between 200 B.C.E. and 200

The Gupta Empire in India followed Hinduism, which greatly impacted their social system. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion. Hinduism was transformed from the caste system. The caste system was Brahmins(priests), Kshatriyas (warriors and

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

Throughout India's long and colorful history, there have been a considerable variety of groups who have left their mark on the land and its people. One of the most influential, however, were the Aryans. In fact, some of the Aryan customs still remain in modern-day India, such as cattle demanding great respect, which stems from the Aryan tradition of using such animals as currency (Chamberlain). The Aryans were mainly pastoral, relying on agriculture to survive (Bentley and Ziegler 94). They did not have any sort of writing system; instead, what is known about them is rooted in oral traditions.. This raises the question of religion. The Aryans believed in various gods and, accordingly, had songs, praises, hymns, and

Hinduism is very similar to many religions. Hindus have gods whom they worship and have relationships with. They have Brahmins, who are priests, who conduct all of the necessary public rites and sacrifices. Also like many religions, Hinduism has sacred writings from which they look to for to guidance and for the knowledge of their practices and beliefs. They have the Vedas, there are four in the collection of the Vedas, with the most important being the Rig-Veda. It is the main and the oldest, it contains over one thousand hymns and reflecting the religious devotion of long-established family and other groups. There is one thing that makes Hinduism different than many religions though, Hinduism is an orthopraxy religion where others are orthodoxy in practice.

Hinduism is the name given to a family of religions and cultures that began and still flourish in India. The word “Hindu,” comes from the name of the river Indus, which flows from Tibet through Kashmir and Pakistan to the sea. It originally referred to the people living in that particular region of the world, regardless of their faith. Hinduism has no original founder and is one of the world’s largest religions following Christianity and Islam, with approximately a billion adherents. Hinduism is henotheistic, which is the devotion to a single god while accepting the existence of other gods. Their god is present in everything, and they believe that their soul repeatedly goes through a cycle of being born into a body, dying, and then becoming reborn into another body, whether it is human, animal or spirit. Hindu’s also strongly believe in karma, which is a force that determines the quality of each life, depending on how well one behaved in a past life. Hindu’s do not separate religion from other aspects of their life. Hinduism in India dictates Hindu’s lives in that it involves a caste system which controls their position in society, assists them in earning a living, helps manage how they raise their a family and controls their diets. Hindu’s believe that freedom or liberation is the true goal in life. True freedom is the freedom from all external conditioning influences, whether of body or mind. This is the freedom of Self-realization,