(1) Hinduism
Oldest of the world's major religions.
It evolved from the
Vedic religion of ancient India. The major branches of Hinduism are Vaishnavism
and Shaivism, each of which includes many different sects. Though the various
sects each rely on their own set of scriptures, they all revere the ancient Vedas,
which were likely composed about the mid-2nd millennium BCE. The philosophical
Vedic texts called the Upanishads explored the search for knowledge that would
allow humankind to escape the cycle of reincarnation. Fundamental to Hinduism
is the belief in a cosmic principle of ultimate reality called brahman and its
identity with the individual soul, or atman. All creatures go through a cycle
of rebirth, or samsara, which can be broken only by spiritual self-realization,
after which liberation, or moksha, is attained. The principle of karma
determines a being's status within the cycle of rebirth. The Hindu deities
having the widest following are Vishnu and Shiva, who are worshipped in various
avatars, or incarnations. The goddess Durga also has a wide following. The
major sources of classical stories about the gods are the Mahabharata (which
includes the Bhagavadgita, one of the most important religious texts of
Hinduism), the Ramayana, and the Puranas. Historically, the hierarchical social
structure of the caste system was also important in Hinduism. In the 20th
century Hinduism blended with Indian nationalism to become a powerful political
force in Indian politics. In the early 21st century there were more than 850
million Hindus worldwide.
(2) Vedism
Ancient religion of
India that was contemporary with the composition of the Vedas and was the
precursor of Hinduism.
The religion of the
Indo-European-speaking peoples who entered India c. 1500 BCE from the region of
present-day Iran, it was a polytheistic system in which Indra was the
highest-ranked god. It involved the worship of numerous male divinities
connected with the sky and natural phenomena. Ceremonies centred on ritual
sacrifice of animals and on the use of soma to achieve trancelike states. These
ceremonies, simple in the beginning, grew to be so complex that only trained
Brahmans could carry them out correctly. Out of Vedism developed the
philosophical concepts of atman and Brahman. The spread (8th–5th century BCE)
of the related concepts of reincarnation, karma, and release from the cycle of
rebirth through meditation rather than sacrifice marked the end of the Vedic
period and the rise of Hinduism. The Hindu initiation ceremony, upanayana, is a
direct survivor of Vedic tradition.
(3)Vaishnavism
Worship of Vishnu as the supreme deity,
as well as of his incarnations, mainly Rama and Krishna.
Vaishnavism is one of
the major forms of modern Hinduism, along with Shaivism and Shaktism, and is
probably the most popular and most widely practiced. Characterized by an
emphasis on bhakti, its goal is to escape from the cycle of birth and death in
order to enjoy the presence of Vishnu. The philosophical schools into which
Vaishnavism is divided are distinguished by their varying interpretations of
the relationship between individual souls and God, and include aspects of
monism and dualism.
(4) shaivism
One of three main
forms of modern Hinduism, centred on the worship of Shiva.
The earliest of the
cults devoted to Shiva date from the 4th century BC. Texts written by devotees
of Shiva in the 3rd century AD are the basis of Tantra in Hinduism and other
Indian religions. Today Shaivism includes diverse movements, both religious and
secular, all of which take Shiva as the supreme and all-powerful deity and
teacher and view gaining the nature of Shiva as the ultimate goal of existence.
This is believed to be brought about by the performance of complex rituals. See
also Shaktism; Vaishnavism.
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