Hinduism What is it?
The Basics Hinduism differs from Christianity and other Western religions in that it does not have a single founder, a specific theological system, a single system of morality, or a central religious organization. It consists of thousands of different religious groups that have evolved in India since 1500 BCE. Hinduism has grown to become the world's third largest religion, after Christianity and Islam.
Statistics •It claims about 837 million followers - 13% of the world's population. • It is the dominant religion in India, Nepal, and among the Tamils in Sri Lanka. According to the “Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches*," there are about 1.1 million Hindus in the U.S. • The "American Religious Identification Survey" is believed to be more accurate. They estimated smaller number: 766,000 Hindus in 2001.Still, this is a very significant increase from 227,000 in 1990. Statistics Canada estimates that there are about 157,015 Hindus in Canada
• Hinduism is generally regarded as the world's oldest organized religion. •Most forms of Hinduism are henotheistic religions. They recognize a single deity, and view other Gods and Goddesses as manifestations or aspects of that supreme God. •Henotheistic and polytheistic religions have traditionally been among the world's most religiously tolerant faiths. However, until recently, a Hindu nationalistic political party controlled the government of India. •The linkage of religion, the national government, and nationalism led to a degeneration of the separation of church and state in India. This, in turn, has decreased the level of religious tolerance in that country. The escalation of antiChristian violence was one manifestation of this linkage. With the recent change in government, the level of violence will diminish.
Name of the religion: Sanatana Dharma - "eternal religion," and Vaidika Dharma - “religion of the Vedas”, and Hinduism - the most commonly used name in North America. Various origins for the word "*Hinduism*" have been suggested: •It may be derived from an ancient inscription translated as: "The country lying between the Himalayan mountain and Bindu Sarovara is known as Hindusthan by combination of the first letter 'hi' of 'Himalaya' and the last compound letter 'ndu' of the word `Bindu.'" Bindu Sarovara is called the Cape Comorin sea in modern times. • It may be derived from the Persian word for Indian. • It may be a Persian corruption of the word Sindhu (the river Indus) • It was a name invented by the British administration in India during colonial times.
Early history of Hinduism: The classical theory of the origins of Hinduism traces the religion's roots to the Indus valley civilization circa 4000 to 2200 BCE. The development of Hinduism was influenced by many invasions over thousands of years. The major influences occurred when lightskinned, nomadic "Aryan" Indo-European tribes invaded Northern India (circa 1500 BCE) from the steppes of Russia and Central Asia. They brought with them their religion of Vedism. Emerging theory: The Aryan Invasion view of ancient Indian history has been challenged in recent years by new conclusions based on more recent findings in archaeology, cultural analysis, astronomical references, and literary analysis.
Early history of Hinduism: A series of cities in India have been studied by archaeologists and shown to have a level of civilization between that of the Indus culture and later more highly developed Indian culture, as visited by the Greeks. Finally, Indus Valley excavations have uncovered many remains of fire altars, animal bones, potsherds, shell jewelry and other evidences of Vedic rituals. "In other words there is no racial evidence of any such Indo-Aryan invasion of India but only of a continuity of the same group of people who traditionally considered themselves to be Aryans...
"There was no invasion by anyone."
Hindu Sects & Denominations About 80% of Hindus are Vaishnavites, who worship Lord Vishnu. Others follow various reform movements or neo-Hindu sects. Contemporary Hinduism traditionally has four major divisions, Saivism Shaktism Vaishnavism & Smarthism
Hinduism is a Rich & Complex Religion Each of its four denominations shares rituals beliefs, traditions and personal Gods with one another, but each sect have a same and different philosophy on how to achieve life's ultimate goal (moksa liberation). But each denomination fundamentally believes in different methods of self-realization and in different aspects of the One Supreme God. However, each denomination respects and accepts all others, and conflict of any kind is rare.
The Pantheon The Hindu gods are a colorful and variegated community and their number is enormous. The average non-Indian is not a little baffled by this variety and enormity of number. First of all the Divine Trinity: Brahma: the god of Creation: He is usually depicted as a four faced, hoary, old man with a flowing white beard seated on a lotus flower. He is one deity you won't find anybody worshipping or any temples built for.
The Pantheon
Second of all the Divine Trinity Vishnu: the god of Sustenance: He is perhaps the most colorful of all the gods with very many incarnations. He is also known by many different names He is usually depicted as reclining on a huge coiled serpent with his consort serving him at his feet. He is also a four handed deity with a mace in one hand a conch in another and a spinning disc on a finger of yet another.
The Pantheon Third of all the Divine Trinity Maheshwara (Siva): the god of Destruction: He is usually depicted sitting in meditation, his locks matted atop his head with a crescent moon decorating it, an eye in the middle of his forehead, a serpent coiled around his neck, a trident beside him.
The Divine Consorts Saraswati: the consort of Brahma: Goddess of Knowledge. She is usually depicted sitting on a swan, playing a veena (an Indian stringed instrument).
The Divine Consorts Lakshmi: the consort of Vishnu: Goddess of Wealth. She is depicted sitting on a lotus gold coins showering out of her blessing hands.
The Divine Consorts Parvati (Devi): the consort of Maheshwara: Goddess of Valor. Parvati thus symbolizes many different virtues esteemed by Hindu tradition: fertility, marital felicity, devotion to the spouse, asceticism and power. It is said in the Saundarya Lahiri, a famous literary work on the goddess, that she is the source of all power in this universe and that because of her, Lord Shiva gets all his powers. She is occasionally depicted as half of Lord Shiva.
Other Distinguished Divinities Ganesha : the lord of Prosperity. He is also the lord of "Vighna"s i.e "unexpected problems". So he has to worshipped first before any auspicious ceremony/event can begin. He is a well feared and widely worshipped god. He has the face of an elephant and how it happened to be is a very interesting story but some other time may be.! He is the son of Maheshwara and Parvati. His birthday is celebrated with much pomp and gaiety all over India. Huge colourful idols are made and worshipped in a public place in every locality for 12 days after which the idols are taken out in a procession and immersed in a nearby pond or lake.
Other Distinguished Divinities Kali: She who is time: The fierce form of goddess Parvati. She assumes this fearsome form to kill some wicked demon. She is a many handed deity with various weapons adorning each hand. She is depicted as red eyed with her dark red tongue put out as if to devour the demon's blood. Occasionally she is shown piercing this demon with a trident holding him down with a leg.
Other Distinguished Divinities Rama: Epic Hero One of the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu. His life story forms the epic Ramayana, written by Sage Valmiki. He is the embodiment of virtue : the Perfect Man, the Perfect husband, the Perfect brother, the Perfect king, the obedient son. He is believed to have taken birth to kill the demon king Ravana. Any further description of him would entail the telling of the Ramayana. This Perfect One is depicted usually with his wife Sita and his obedient brother Lakshmana and his great devotee, the monkey Hanuman at his feet
Other Distinguished Divinities Hanuman: This great devotee of Rama is himself a deity. He is a very mighty, intelligent, knowledgeable monkey minister to a monkey king Sugriva. He is said to have been born with the divine influence of Lord Maheshwara. His childhood pranks make a very interesting story. He is purported to be the deathless one and a bachelor. Worshipping him is said to give one the strength to fight off evil. There are many traditional style gymnasiums in India which are named after him, where the practitioners also worship him.
Other Distinguished Divinities Krishna: This deity is another incarnation of Lord Vishnu and is the key figure in yet another epic of India namely the Maha Bharata. He is much more colorful and mystical than Rama. He performed many miracles all through his lifetime and his childhood episodes are very interesting. Among other things he was a known lurer of women, prankster etc. He is also regarded as the person who gave the Bhagavad Gita (the Divine Song) that magnificent philosophical guide to the world.
Krishna The Incarnations Matsya, the fish incarnation, is saving the Vedas. Kurma, the tortoise incarnation, is holding the mountain on His back. Varaha, the boar incarnation, is fighting with the demon Hiranyaksa. Nrsimhadeva, the lion incarnation, is killing the demon Hiranyakasipu. Vamanadeva, the dwarf incarnation, is begging some land from King Bali. Parasurama is killing the demoniac ksatriyas. Lord Ramacandra is going off into exile with His wife, Sita, and brother, Laksmana. Krsna is lifting Govardhana Hill, and beside Him is His brother Balarama. Lord Buddha. Lord Kalki is riding on His horse, killing all the demons and thus liberating them.
The Caste System: Although the caste system was abolished by law in 1949, it remains a significant force throughout India. Each follower of Hinduism belonged to one of the thousands of Jats (communities) that existed in India. The Jats were grouped into four Varna(social castes), plus a fifth group called the "untouchables."
The Caste System: There were rules that prohibited persons of different groups from eating, drinking or even smoking with each other. People were once able to move from one Varna to another. However, at some time in the past (estimates range from about 500 BCE to 500 CE), the system became rigid, so that a person was generally born into the Jat and Varna of their parents, and died in the same group.
The Caste System The Rigveda defined four castes. In decreasing status, they are normally:\ Brahmins (the priests and academics) Hatriyas (rulers, military) Vaishyas (farmers, landlords, and merchants) \ Sudras (peasants, servants, and workers in non-polluting jobs).
Untouchables The Dalit were outcasts who did not belong to one of the castes. Until the late 1980's they were called Harijan (children of God). They worked in what are considered polluting jobs. They were untouchable by the four castes; in some areas of the country, even a contact with their shadow by a member of the Varnas was considered polluting.