Hinduism is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as Sanātana Dharma (a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law") by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as in Vaishnavism. Hinduism also includes yogic traditions and a wide spectrum of "daily morality" based on the notion of karma and societal norms such as Hindu marriage customs.
Among its roots is the historical Vedic religion of Iron Age India, and as such Hinduism is often called the "oldest living religion" or the "oldest living major tradition". Hinduism is formed of diverse traditions and has no single founder. Hinduism is the world's third largest religion after Christianity and Islam, with approximately one billion adherents, of whom approximately 905 million live in India. Other countries with large Hindu populations can be found across southern Asia.
Hinduism's vast body of scriptures are divided into Śruti ("revealed") and Smriti ("remembered") texts. These scriptures discuss theology, philosophy and mythology, and provide information on the practice of dharma (religious living). Among these texts, the Vedas and the Upanishads are the foremost in authority, importance and antiquity. Other major scriptures include the Purāṇas and the epics Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa . The Bhagavad Gītā , a treatise from the Mahābhārata , spoken by Krishna, is sometimes called a summary of the spiritual teachings of the Vedas .
Etymology
Further information: Names of IndiaHindū is the Persian name for the Indus River, first encountered in the Old Persian word Hindu (həndu), corresponding to Vedic Sanskrit Sindhu , the Indus River. The Rig Veda mentions the land of the Indo-Aryans as Sapta Sindhu (the land of the seven rivers in northwestern South Asia, one of them being the Indus). This corresponds to Hapta Həndu in the Avesta ( Vendidad or Videvdad 1.18)—the sacred scripture of Zoroastrianism. The term was used for those who lived in the Indian subcontinent on or beyond the "Sindhu". In Arabic, the term al-Hind (the Hind) also refers to 'the land of the people of modern day India'.
The Persian term (Middle Persian Hindūk , New Persian Hindū ) entered India with the Delhi Sultanate and appears in South Indian and Kashmiri texts from at least 1323 CE, and increasingly so during British rule. Since the end of the 18th century the word has been used as an umbrella term for most of the religious, spiritual, and philosophical traditions of the sub-continent, usually excluding the religions of Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism as distinct.
The term Hinduism was introduced by the English people to denote the religious, philosophical, and cultural traditions native to India.
Early European travelers and Christian missionaries coined the word "Brahmanism" to refer to Hinduism because the brahmin caste's domination of Hindu society and religion. Hindus prefer to call their religion either the Sanatana Dharma, the Eternal Religion, because it is based upon the eternal principles, or the Vaidika Dharma, the religion based upon the teachings of the Vedas. The country of the Hindus is traditionally known to them as Bharata or Bharatavarsa, derived from Bharata, an ancient king of India.
Typology
Main article: Hindu denominationsHinduism as we know it can be subdivided into a number of major currents. Of the historical division into six darshanas, only two schools, Vedanta and Yoga survive. The main divisions of Hinduism today are Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Smartism and Shaktism.
Contemporary Hinduism is predominantly monotheistic, but Hindu tradition includes aspects that can be interpreted as panentheistic, pantheistic, polytheistic and even atheistic. Other notable characteristics include a belief in reincarnation and karma, as well as in personal duty, or dharma.
McDaniel (2007) distinguishes six generic "types" of Hinduism, in an attempt to accommodate a variety of views on a rather complex subject:
- Folk Hinduism, as based on local traditions and cults of local deities at a communal level and spanning back to prehistoric times or at least prior to written Vedas.
- Vedic Hinduism as still being practiced by traditionalist brahmins (for example shrautins).
- Vedantic Hinduism, for example Advaita (Smartism), as based on the philosophical approach of the Upanishads.
- Yogic Hinduism, especially that based on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
- "Dharmic" Hinduism or "daily morality", based on the notion of Karma, and upon societal norms such as Hindu marriage customs.
- Bhakti or devotionalism, especially as in Vaishnavism.
Definitions
Hinduism does not have a "unified system of belief encoded in declaration of faith or a creed", but is rather an umbrella term comprising the plurality of religious phenomena originating and based on the Vedic traditions.
The term Hindu in origin is a Persian word in use from the time of the Delhi Sultanate, referring to any tradition that is native to India as opposed to Islam. Hindu is used in the sense of "Indian pagan" in English from the 17th century, but the notion of Hinduism as an identifiable religious tradition qualifying as one of the world religions emerged only during the 19th century.
The characteristic of comprehensive tolerance to differences in belief, and Hinduism's dogmatic openness, makes it difficult to define as a religion according to traditional Western conceptions. Although Hinduism is a clear practical concept to the majority of its adherents, many express a problem arriving at a definition of the term, mainly because of the wide range of traditions and ideas incorporated within it or covered by it. While sometimes referred to as a religion, Hinduism is more often defined as a religious tradition. It is therefore described as both the oldest of the world's religions, and the most diverse. Most Hindu traditions revere a body of religious or sacred literature, the Vedas, although there are exceptions. Some Hindu religious traditions regard particular rituals as essential for salvation, but a variety of views on this co-exist. Some Hindu philosophies postulate a theistic ontology of creation, of sustenance, and of destruction of the universe, yet some Hindus are atheists. Hinduism is sometimes characterized by the belief in reincarnation ( samsara ), determined by the law of karma, and the idea that salvation is freedom from this cycle of repeated birth and death. However, other religions of the region, such as Buddhism and Jainism, also believe in karma, outside the scope of Hinduism. Hinduism is therefore viewed as the most complex of all of the living, historical world religions. Despite its complexity, Hinduism is not only one of the numerically largest faiths, but is also the oldest living major tradition on earth, with roots reaching back into prehistory.
A definition of Hinduism, given by the first Vice President of India, who was also a prominent theologian, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, states that Hinduism is not "just a faith", but in itself is related to the union of reason and intuition. Radhakrishnan explicitly states that Hinduism cannot be defined, but is only to be experienced. Similarly some academics suggest that Hinduism can be seen as a category with "fuzzy edges", rather than as a well-defined and rigid entity. Some forms of religious expression are central to Hinduism, while others are not as central but still remain within the category. Based on this, Ferro-Luzzi has developed a 'Prototype Theory approach' to the definition of Hinduism.
Problems with the single definition of what is actually meant by the term 'Hinduism' are often attributed to the fact that Hinduism does not have a single or common historical founder. Hinduism, or as some say 'Hinduisms,' does not have a single system of salvation and has different goals according to each sect or denomination. The forms of Vedic religion are seen not as an alternative to Hinduism, but as its earliest form, and there is little justification for the divisions found in much western scholarly writing between Vedism, Brahmanism, and Hinduism.
A definition of Hinduism is further complicated by the frequent use of the term "faith" as a synonym for "religion". Some academics and many practitioners refer to Hinduism using a native definition, as Sanātana Dharma , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law", or the "eternal way".
Beliefs
Hinduism refers to a religious mainstream which evolved organically and spread over a large territory
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