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Hinduism
What is known today as Hinduism is really a family of religious traditions which are the product
of some 4000 years of development.
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There is no single founder of Hinduism; it has no prescribed ecclesiastical structure;
nor does it put forward a carefully defined creed.
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Hindus might believe in a Supreme Being or Absolute, many gods, or no deity or
Supreme Being of any kind.
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Some Hindus conceive of the religious ultimate in personal, theistic categories; others
conceive of the religious ultimate in non-personal, monistic categories.
Scholars today acknowledge that the notion of Hinduism as “a religion” is a modern notion,
which developed especially in the context of 18th and 19th century British colonialism. The word
“Hindu” was the Persian variant of the Sanskrit term sindhu, referring to the Indus river. The
term referred to both the river itself and the country around which the Indus river flows. With
the British in the 17th and 18th centuries, the term “Hindu” was initially used to denote all
inhabitants of India – so it was not unusual to speak of “Hindu Christians”.
Two factors led to the increasingly religious meaning of “Hindu”:
1. Under colonialism, “Hindu” became a marker of distinction between being “native Indian”
and “Western / British”. Indian identity became linked more closely with indigenous nonChristian religious practices / beliefs.
2. Both British colonial administrators and missionaries came to use “Hindu” as a category for
unifying and systematizing the enormous variety of religious / social traditions they encountered
in India.
I. Is there any unity in the great variety of Hindu traditions?
The unity in the great diversity of beliefs and practices within Hinduism is generally said to lie
in:
(1) The prominent role played by reincarnation and karma in the understanding of the
human predicament,
By the 6th century B.C. the concepts of reincarnation and the law of karma were generally
accepted as basic facts of existence. Literally karma means "deeds" or "action", but it came to
be used to denote:
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“the impersonal and transethical system under which one's current situation in the
world is regarded as the fruit of seeds planted by one's behaviour and dispositions in the
past, and the view that in all of one's present actions lie similar seeds that will have
continuing and determinative effect on one's life as they bear fruit in the future.”
[William Mahoney]
Although the physical body may die, there is an indestructible element to the living
organism -- the soul -- which passes on from one life to another.
Samsara. Literally, "to wander or pass through a series of states or conditions". The entire
repetitive process of birth, death, and rebirth, impersonally regulated by karma.
(2) The recognition of the Vedas as sacred scripture,
Sometime between roughly 1500 and 800 B.C. the Vedas appeared. The term 'Vedas' is often
used in a strict sense to refer to the four Samhita Vedas -- the Rigveda Samhita , the
Artharvaveda Samhita , the Samaveda Samhita , and the Yajurveda Samhita. But it can also be
used in a more general sense to refer also to the Upanishads (philosophical writings; roughly
800 - 500 BC). The Vedas can be said to form the essential canon of sacred scriptures for
orthodox Hindus.
(3) The central place of caste in society.
There are four major divisions, with hundreds of smaller subdivisions: Brahmins (traditionally
teachers or priests); Kshatriyas (rulers, warrior, government leaders); Vaishyas (merchants,
traders, craftsmen); and Sudras (laborers, servants). (Although discrimination based upon caste
was officially outlawed in the 1948 Constitution, caste distinctions and discrimination based
upon caste -- jati -- continue.)
II.
Development of Hinduism
Prior to 1500 C
Pre-Aryan Period
1500 BC – 500 BC
Brahmanism / Vedic Religion
Composition of Vedas (1500 – 800 BC)
Composition of the Upanishads (800 BC – 500)
500 BC – 600 AD
Classical period
Composition of the Bhagavad Gita (50 – 300 AD)
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Composition of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (50 – 300 AD)
600 – 1600
Medieval period
Six classical schools of philosophical Hinduism
established (800 – 1200)
1600 – present
Modern period
Hindu Renaissance (1830s – mid-20th century)
III.
The nature of the religious ultimate, Brahman
The Rigveda declares, "He is one, (though) wise men call Him by many names".
Brahman. Most schools of Hinduism accept the notion of an all pervading ultimate reality,
Brahman, which is said to be the ultimate reality, the Supreme Being, the ground underlying all
that is, that upon which all else depends. The central teaching of the Upanishads revolves around
the notion that behind the changing phenomenal world of our experience is a timeless,
unchanging, unifying Reality, which is ultimately to be identified with the eternal essence of the
human person. Thus, a recurring theme in the Upanishads is the question of the relation between
Brahman (ultimate Reality) and atman (the self).
Nirguna Brahman: Brahman without qualities or attributes.
Saguna Brahman: Brahman with qualities or attributes; Brahman as a personal Being
(Just a Few) Hindu Deities
Vedic Period
Agni
(fire god)
Indra
(sky god, war god)
Varuna
(upholder of cosmic order)
Later gods
Brahma
(creator)
Vishnu
(preserver)
Shiva (Rudra)
(destroyer, creator)
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Sarasvati
(consort of Brahma)
Lakshmi
(wife of Vishnu)
Kali/Durga
(consort of Shiva; symbol of death)
Rama and Krishna are later avatars of Vishnu
IV. Three major paths to moksha (liberation) from samsara (rebirth).
1. Karma marga -- the way of right action, or performing one's dharma (duty) according to one's place
in life.
a.) Caste.
 Brahmins (traditionally teachers or priests)
 Kshatriyas (rulers, warriors)
 Vaishyas (merchants, traders, craftsmen) and
 Sudras (laborers, servants).
(with many, many other sub-castes and groups)
b.) Stages of life (ashramas).
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Student
Householder
Forest dweller
Renunciant / Sannyasin
2. Jnana marga -- the way of knowledge / liberating insight.
It is given classic expression in the sophisticated system of Advaita Vedanta. The central question of the
Upanishads was the relation between this ultimate reality (Brahman ) and the human self (atman ), and in
what is perhaps the most famous passage in the Upanishads, the atman is identified with Brahman -"That thou art" (tat tvam asi). [Chandogya Upanishad 6.9-13] What breaks the cycle of rebirths and the
bondage of samsara, then, is the knowledge of the unchanging Brahman and of one's essential identity
with Brahman.
3. Bhakti marga -- the way of devotion. "Bhakti " means love, reverence, or adoration of a particular
deity. Bhakti religiosity is reflected in puja -- the regular offerings of prayers and other offerings to a
deity. It is open to members of any caste and is most often associated with Vishnu, Shiva, or Krishna. In
the Bhagavad Gita bhakti marga is elevated over the other ways and is focused upon Krishna.
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