Vedas Essay

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).

Around 1500 BCE, the Vedas, written in Sanskrit, were compiled. Vedas are known as the revered collection of ancient sacred hymns. Veda is the most ancient body of Indian religious literature and is also regarded as the basis of all the later Shastra texts (Britannica.com). Vedas were written by the middle of the 1st millennium but are much older than the earliest written forms. Around the years of 600 to 100 BCE, the Upanishads were developed. Upanishads are known as the Vedantic or the end of the Vedas and is what Hinduism is molded around. It is said that the Vedas and Upanishads were “breathed out” by the Gods and represent knowledge and are revealed rather than written by mortals

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.

it as an unidentifiable entity and defines ātman by what it is not, as the Katha Upaniṣad states, “he

The Vedas and the Upanisads are one of the earliest and most important sources for Indian philosophy they our office and as soon as the voice of reality itself and is said to present their wisdom to those prepared to hear it.According to Koller the texts are difficult to date precisely but the oldest the Rig Veda is archived from around 1200 BC.Majority of the Vita consist of 1,028 hymns they focus on the celebrative rituals and constitute the core of the religion.(M & Koller pp 5)

Hindus use a large number of ancient scriptures and holy books, like the Vedas, to refer to their beliefs. They believe in a single

Within Hinduism, the caste system is another aspect that lays foundational ground for taboos. The caste system is a segregation system that separates the people of Hinduism into five types of social groups. At the top of the pyramid-like social latter are Brahmins, or the priests. Next, there are Khsatriyas, the warriors. This class is followed by the Vaishyas (landowners, merchants) then the Shudras (servants).

things differ among these two religions. For example, in Hinduism there is an aspect of

3 control the cosmos and insure well-being in the world of ancestors, it did not provide the means of liberation from the realm of maya: reality which Hindus lived in but thought of it as an illusion. Following the age of Vedas people of Hinduism looked for happiness through the way of action. The way of action could be very well considered an example of cultural transcendence. The main doctrine of such philosophy told that one must do all the tasks presented to him/her by the place in society and social status; and the result of such rightful life would be the rebirth into a better social position.

It is widely known that the Vedic Era was one of the most influential time periods in ancient history. This is largely due to how the composition of the Vedas was made during this time, which was an essential set of texts that greatly shaped Hinduism. This impact on Hinduism however would not been a success without Sanskrit. During this time Sanskrit was able to completely change the method of communication and along with having influence on the Vedas and Hinduism, Sanskrit, most likely arriving from outside of India encountered Ancient Asia, specifically during the beginning of the Vedic Era, became central to South Asian culture, language and religion by 500 BCE. Other influences of Sanskrit can be observed through culture, language, and belief systems.

Next Death speaks of being “taught by a teacher who knows the Self and Brahman as one, a man leaves vain theory behind and attains to truth.” This I find very interesting because, I to believe that all forms of life are different facets of the large diamond that Hindu’s would call Brahman. Knowing this is one of the first things that you must realize, as you begin your path to enlightenment. The Hindu idea of the Self, being separate from the body, doesn’t seem to be that hard of an idea to grasp. The human body is simply the form that the Self has been given to take in this little bleep of time. The mind though has a tendency to be overtaken by the senses and forgets the true Self. To find ones true Self again one must follow the path of meditation.

Although their belief in a supreme god aligns in both Islam and Hinduism, the traditions differ on the texts used centrally in each practice. The Veda, written between 1750 BCE and 600 BCE are ancient scriptures, which are the sacred texts of Hinduism. One of the forms the Veda is the Shruti, which is “that which was heard” and the other form is the Vedir seers or Rishis which means “saw”. The Veda is split into four

1. It is only a scripture of Hindu Religion but not a Universal Scripture that is applicable to all.

The Vedas are composed of a collection of four writings; these collections make up Hinduism earliest and most scared writings. The Rig-Veda