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The world’s third largest religion after Christianity and Islam, claims over 762 million followers {13% of world’s population}. It is dominant in Nepal, India and among the Tamil people of Sri Lanka. According to the American Religious Identification Survey, there are about 776,000 Hindus in the U.S.A; Statistics Canada reveals that there are about 157,015 Hindus in Canada. Hinduism is generally regarded as the world’s oldest organized religion.
This religion is also known as Sanatana Dharma “Eternal Religion” and Vaidika Dharma “Religion of the Vedas.” The commonly used name for this religion is Hinduism and so many origins of the word ‘Hinduism’ have been suggested. Some say it was the name invented by the British administration in India during the colonial times; others also say it might have resulted from the corruption of the word Sindhu {the river Indus}; but others insist that it may have been derived from an ancient inscription translated thus: the country lying between the Himalayan mountains and Bindu Sarovara is known as Hindusthan by combination of the first ‘hi’ of ‘Himalayan’ and the last compound letter ‘ndu’ of the word ‘Bindu’. Bindu Sarovara is now the Cape Comorin Sea.
Talking about the early history of Hinduism, there are two theories, but we have to look into one; and that is the theory that is now being rejected by increasing numbers of archeologists and religious historians. We are talking about the classical theory. This theory traces the religion’s roots to Indus Valley civilization about 4000 to 2200 BCE. Invasions over thousands of years really influenced the development of Hinduism, but the major influences occurred when light-skinned, wandering ‘Aryan’ Indo-European tribes invaded northern India {about 1500 BCE}from the plains of Russia and central Asia bringing with them their religion of Vedism. These beliefs mingled with more advanced, indigenous Indian beliefs, is often called the ‘Indus valley culture’.
The reason why this theory is not generally accepted is not far-fetched. The theory was initially proposed by Christian academics some 200years ago – so it was believed that their conclusion was biased because of their pre-existing belief in the Old Testament.
Hinduism has about seven groups of sacred texts: Sama Veda, Rig Veda, Artharva Veda, and Yajur Veda, are all under the group Vedas. They contain hymns, incantations, and rituals from ancient India. Rig Veda is said to be the oldest book in Hinduism, it was written down about 600BCE.
Another group of primary texts is the Upanishadas. They are more like the continuation of the Vedic philosophy and were written between 800BCE and 400 BCE. This book elaborates on how the Atman {soul} can be reunited with the Brahman {the ultimate truth} through contemplation and mediation, as well as the doctrine of Karma.
The Mahabharata, which records the legend of Bharatas, one of the Aryan tribal groups, was written between 540 to 300 BCE and has been attributed to the wise Vyasa.
Another text is the Ramayana which is a love story with moral and spiritual themes {did I hear you say Songs of Solomon?}. It has been dated to 1 CE and attributed to the poet Valmiki. The other texts are the Sutras, Aranyakas and the Brahmanas.
There are, just like Christianity and Islam, troubles associated with this religion. First is the caste system. Though this system was abolished by law in 1949, it remains a significant force throughout India. Each Hindu belongs to one of the thousands of Jats {communities} that existed in India. The Jats were grouped into four Varna {social castes}. They are -
• Brahmins {for Priests and Academics}
• Kshatriyas {for Rulers and Military}
• Vaishyas {for Farmers, Landlords and Merchants}
• Sudras {for Peasants, Servants and workers in non-polluting jobs}.
And a fifth one is called the “Untouchables.”
Marriages must take place in the same Jats. Your Jat dictates the range of jobs or professions from which you choose. There are rules that states that one should not eat, drink or even smoke with someone from other group. It is possible for people to move from one Varna to another, but sometime ago {between 500BCE to 500CE}; the system became so rigid that a person generally was born in the same Jat and Varna of his parents, and dies therein.
There was another group, Dalit, who were outcasts and did not belong to one of the castes till the late 1980s when they were called Harijan {children of God}. They worked in what was considered as polluting jobs. They were untouchable by the four castes; even contact with their shadow was regarded as polluting!
This has really caused most members of Harijan to convert to other religions like Buddhism and Christianity. They feel that: “The only way for our people to find freedom from 3,000 years of slavery is to quit Hinduism and Castism and embrace another faith.”
Another issue associated with Hinduism is the denominations and sects it has. About 80% of Hindus are Vaishnavites who worship Lord Vishnu. Others follow other neo-Hindu sects or reform movements. “Various sects of Hinduism have evolved into separate religious movements including Hare Krishna, Sikhism, and Theosophy.”
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Comments
AK | May 30th, 2005
It is very well written. The concept of Caste was corrupted in India from the year 1400 AD onwards. Till that point, a person was alloted a caste strictly on the way he lived his life. Children went to study in residential schools and based on how they lived, they would be put in castes on attaining adulthood.
This was perverted by a set of Brahmins who claimed that a man was a Brahmin only by birth.
Another fact worth looking into is that Hindu practises are used in Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia as well as Indoensia. These countries merged Hindu concepts with Buddhism and in Indonesia's case with Islam.
The island of Bali is still Hindu.
Thanks for the article.
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