AskEssays.com - Discover essay samples

Hinduism

4.9 of 5.0 (193 reviews)

Contains
728 words
Category
History

Hinduism Page 1
Hinduism Page 2
Hinduism Page 3
Hinduism Page 4
The above thumbnails are of reduced quality. To view the work in full quality, click download.

Hinduism


Hinduism



Introduction

Hinduism was born in India around the year 1500 b.c. It is world wide spread and has millions of followers. The word Hindu is derived from the word sindhu, means Indu river in Sanskrit; but their own definition of their religion is "those who believe in the Vedas" or those who follow the teaching(dharma) of the four classes(varnas) and stages of life (ashrams). Hinduism is a religion that is clearly concerned with many aspects of life.



Hinduism basically pays attention to what people do rather than what they think, this is reflected in the way there is more uniformity of behavior than of belief in the religion. There are more than 700 millions of Hindus around the world, and the religion is still practiced by those whose families have migrated from India to other parts of the world, such as East Africa, South Africa, Southeast Asia, the East Indies, and England.

A few usage's are observed by almost all Hindus: reverence for Brahmans (priests), and cows; no eating meat specially beef; the wide variety of beliefs and practices; and marriage between the caste.

Most Indus worship Shiva, Vishnu, or Devi, but they also worship hundreds of additional minor gods, such as Sarsuati and Ganesha depending on a particular place or to a particular family.

The ultimate authority for all Hindus are the Vedas. The oldest of the four Vedas is the Rig-Veda, which was composed in and ancient form of the Sanskrit language in northwest India. This text, consisting of 1028 hymns to a pantheon of gods, has been memorized syllable by syllable and preserved orally to the present day. The Vedas, including the Brahmans and the Upanishads, are regarded as revealed (shruti) that means " What has been heard from the gods", and no syllable can be changed.









Philosophy



Hindus believe that the universe is like a great cosmic egg. Inside of it are numerous "concentric" heavens, hells, oceans, and continents. They believe that time is both degenerative, which means destructive and cyclic.

It starts in the golden age, or Krita Yuga. In this time two intermediate periods of decreasing goodness occur, which lead us to the present age. The destructive phase, in which we are apparently entering is known as the Kali Yuga.

At the end of each Kali Yuga, the universe is destroyed by fire and flood, and a new golden age begins. This explains more or less, the "Big Bang" phenomenom. Which means hindus unlike "apocalyptic" religions think that the universe will be destroyed one morning, but instead that nature will renew itself with destruction.

Human life, too, is cyclic: After death, the soul leaves the body and is reborn in the body of another person. This condition of endless entanglement in activity and rebirth is called sam-sara.



Hindu believes may be divided into two groups: Those who seek the sacred and profane rewards of this world (health, wealth, children, and good rebirth), and those who seek release from the world. The principles of life were taken from the Vedas and the Upanishads. This are represented not only in the different cults of renunciation (sannyasa) but also in the ideological ideals of most individual Hindus.



The wordly aspect of Hinduism originally had three Vedas, three classes of society (varnas), three stages of life (ashrasmas), and three "goals of a man " (purushartthas), the goals or needs of women being seldom discussed in the ancient text. To the first three Vedas was added the Atharva-Veda. The first three classes (Brahman, or priestly; Kshatriya, or warrior; and Vaisya, or general populace) were derived from the tripartite division of ancient Indo-European society, traces of which can be detected in certain social and religious institutions of ancient Greece and Rome. To the three classes were added the Shudras, or servants, after the Indo-Aryans settled into the Punjab and began to move down into the Ganges Valley: The three original ashramas were the chaste student (brahmachari), the householder (grihastha) and the forest-dweller (vanaprastha) They were said to owe three debts: study of the Vedas(owed to the sages); a son (to ...

You are currently seeing 50% of this paper.

You're seeing 728 words of 1456.

Keywords: hinduism gods, hinduism vs buddhism, hinduismus, hinduism symbol, hinduism beliefs, hinduism founder, hinduism holy book, hinduism definition

Similar essays


Race In America

Throughout the history of the United States, the relationship between white and black people has been an issue that has greatly divided the nation. Race is an important issue to many people in America. The race issue is very influential because of the fact that our country has had so many problems throughout its history. In the chapter, "Gone Wi...

79 reviews
Download
The Twenties And Thirties

The twenties and the thirties were very unusual time periods some ways they are alike, but in most ways they are very different. The twenties were a time of fun and partying. This is probably the reason it is called the Roaring Twenties. All of the thirties were known as The Great Depression. It was probably called that because of the stock mark...

120 reviews
Download
Definition Of American Democra

Slavery in America stems well back to when the new world was first discovered and was led by the country to start the African Slave Trade- Portugal. The African Slave Trade was first exploited for plantations in that is now called the Caribbean, and eventually reached the southern coasts of America (Slavery Two; Milton Meltzer). The African natives...

135 reviews
Download
Diad Germany Cause WW1

? Did Germany cause World War 1? Although in the Treaty of Versailles Germany was to accept full responsibility for World War 1 this in not necessarily the case. Many factors have to be taken into account when considering the cause of World War 1. Germany may have been primarily responsible for the war but the other major powers must accept...

63 reviews
Download
Elizabeth 1

Who's Who Henri IV Henri IV (Henri de Navarre, Henri de Bourbon), 1553-1610, first Bourbon king of France, was the son of Antoine de Bourbon and Jeanne d'Albret. On her death he succeeded to the kingdom of Navarre (1572). He took leadership of the Huguenot (Protestant) party in 1569. His marriage in 1572 with Marguerite de Valois was the oc...

146 reviews
Download
Atsisiųsti šį darbą