Hinduism

Hinduism refers to several Indian religions widely practiced in South Asia. It is characterized by being made up of different Hindu religious denominations. If considered a single religion, Hinduism would then be the third largest religion in the world, with between 1.2 and 1.35 billion followers, that is, between 15 and 16% of the world's population, known by the generic name of " Hinduists".

The word "Hindu" is based on the exonym (i.e., the foreign name of a place name) Sindhu, which is the Persian name for the Indus River, the border between Persia and Hindustan.

According to believers in these doctrines, it is the oldest religion in the world: sanātana dharma (सनातन धर्म), literally 'eternal religion').

An incorrect endonym is vaidika dharma, ('Vedic religion'), but Vedism was an earlier religion, with little in common with Hindu doctrines.

Scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no founder. Hinduism is a diverse system of thought marked by a number of shared doctrines and concepts, rituals, cosmological systems, pilgrimage sites, and shared textual sources dealing with theology, metaphysics, mythology, Vedic iagña, yoga, agamic rituals, and temple building., among other topics. Among the prominent themes of Hindu belief are the four Puruṣārthas, the proper goals or objectives of human life; namely, dharma (ethics/duties), artha (prosperity/work), kāma (desires/passions) and moksha (liberation/freedom from passions and the cycle of death and rebirth), as well as karma (action, intention and consequences) and saṃsāra (cycle of death and rebirth). Hinduism prescribes eternal duties such as honesty, refraining from hurting living beings (ajimsa), patience, self-control, virtue, and compassion, among others.

Hindu practices include worship (puja), fire rituals (joma/javan), recitations (pravachan), devotion (bhakti), chanting (yapa), meditation (dhiana), sacrifice (iagña), charity (dāna), selfless service (sevā), homage to ancestors (śrāddha), family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals and occasional pilgrimages (yatra). Along with practicing various yogas, some Hindus abandon their social world and material possessions and engage in sannyasa (monasticism) for life in order to attain moksha.

Early Hinduism began to develop between 500 and 300 BC, following the guidelines of the Vedic religion (which existed between 1500 and 700 BC).

Hindu texts are classified into Śruti ('what was heard' directly from the gods) and Smṛti ('what was remembered', tradition), whose main scriptures are the Vedas, the Upanisades, the Puranas, the Majabhárata, the Ramaiana and the Āgamas.

In Hinduism there are six āstika doctrines (recognizing the authority of the Vedas):

• mimansa
• Niaia
• Sankhia
• vaisesika
• vedānta and
• Yoga.

While the Puranic chronology (a chronology of Indian history based on the Majabharata, the Ramaiana and the Puranas) presents a genealogy Thousands of years old, beginning with the Vedic rishis, Hinduism is regarded by scholars as a fusion or synthesis of Brahmanical orthopraxis with various Indian cultures, having diverse roots and no specific founder. This Hindu synthesis arose after the Vedic period, between 500 B.C. C. and 300 AD. C., in the period of the second urbanization and the first classical period of Hinduism, when the epics and the first Purānas were composed. It flourished in the medieval period, with the decline of Buddhism in India.

Today, the four main denominations of Hinduism are

• Visnuism or Vaishnavism,
• shivaism,
• shaktism and
• Smarta tradition.

Authoritative sources (Hindu texts) play an important role, but there is also a strong Hindu tradition of questioning authority in order to deepen understanding of these truths and further develop the tradition.

Hinduism is the most professed faith in India, Nepal, Mauritius and Bali (Indonesia). There are significant numbers of Hindu communities in other South Asian countries, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, the Gulf countries, North America, Europe, Oceania, Africa, and other regions.

Etymology

The word Hindu originally derives from sindhu, the Persian term for those who lived beyond the Sindhu River (the Indus River). That word probably evolved under Arabic influence into Hindu or khindu (pronounced [jindu]). The term Hinduism appears for the first time between 1816 and 1817 coined by Ram Mohan Roy to refer to the different religious and spiritual practices of India other than Buddhism and Jainism and was quickly acquired by Indian nationalists. who opposed British colonialism and sought to differentiate themselves. Before the British began to categorize their subjects according to religion there was usually no clear distinction, however the term Hinduism was used to refer to anyone who did not follow an Abrahamic religion (particularly Islam)., the first religious minority in India and Christianity professed by the British) and Buddhism which, although originating in India, had spread throughout the world. Thus, some consider that the term Hinduism is really an umbrella term that encompasses multiple traditions and even different religions together, as long as they are Indic. However, it is undeniable that there is a self-identification of millions of people who define themselves and identify themselves as Hindus.

According to the Royal Spanish Academy, the word “hindú” (in Spanish) comes from the French “hindou” (/indú/). Originally, it comes from the Persian language "Hindu", which was the way the Persians pronounced the name of the Sindhu River (called the Indus River in Spanish), which was once the border between Persia and Hindustan.

A person who practices one of the religions of Hinduism is called a "Hinduist", but it also refers to someone who is part of that same culture.

The fact that the majority of the population of India professes Hinduism, together with the desire to avoid the ambiguity of the adjective «Indian» (incorrectly used also to designate the indigenous people of the American continent) explains that practically since its introduction to the Spanish language ―in the last third of the 19th century― the word “Hindu” was also used to designate the natives of India.

This extensive use of "Hindu" is allowed in contexts where there is no risk of confusion with its strictly religious meaning. Generally, the term "Hindu" and "Hinduist" tend to be used in the sense of a believer in the Hindu religion, and "Indian" as a citizen of the Republic of India (although this creates confusion with the original peoples of America, also called Indians).

Location

Thaipusam (Singapore).

Procession of ascetics (sadhus) in the temple of Kamakhia, India.

Hindus are in the majority in:

• Bali, Indonesia: 93.1 per cent.
• Nepal: 81.3 %.
• India: 80.5 %.
• Mauritius: 54.0 %.

After the independence of India and the division of the Indian subcontinent into territories of Hindu and Muslim majority, the State of Pakistan was formed for the Islamic population, but significant Hindu minorities remained. After the secession of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), the former British colony was divided into three states. In Bangladesh, the Hindu minority is much larger than in Pakistan and since the country's independence (in 1971) there have been violent acts against them ―like against Buddhists, Christians and animists―, to the point of having virtually disappeared from statistics 3 millions of Bangladeshis (the vast majority Hindus).

There are also significant numbers of Hindu adherents in Afghanistan (where during the Taliban regime they were forced to wear a badge), Bhutan, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Fiji, and Thailand. In the West, there are Hindus in almost all of Western Europe, the majority in Great Britain, and also in the United States. Hindu minorities exist in many Latin American countries, most notably in Panama and Trinidad and Tobago.

Mixture of cultures

Hinduism includes a diversity of ideas about spirituality and traditions, but it has no church order, no religious authority, no type of government, no prophet, and is not bound by a holy book. Hinduists can be polytheists, pantheists, monotheists, agnostics, atheists, or humanists. Due to the wide range of traditions and ideas that Hinduism covers, arriving at a fully understandable definition is difficult. Hinduism can be categorized as a religion, a religious tradition, a set of religious beliefs, or a way of life. In the West it is referred to as religion, but in India the term dharma is preferred as it is a broader term than religion.

Hinduism has no founder, being several interrelated religions to which the same name is applied. Specifically, it is a set of metaphysical and religious beliefs, cults, customs and rituals that make up a tradition, in which there are neither priestly orders that establish a single dogma, nor a central organization.

It is rather a conglomeration of beliefs from peoples from different regions, along with those brought by the Aryans who settled in the Ganges river basin, and which were written as revelations in the various Vedic and other Hindu holy books.

Hindus call this religious tradition "sanātana dharma" ("eternal religion," in Sanskrit), because they believe it has no beginning and no end. According to them, it has existed for more than 5,000 years. They consider Hinduism as the oldest religious tradition in the world.

Despite the historical evidence, Hindus claim that they have not persecuted anyone of another religion, and – on the contrary – have been immensely persecuted by others. Historical evidence states that Muslims did not persecute people for their ideas or religions. However, Hindus claim - without providing historiographical evidence - that Muslims killed up to 400 million Hindus and forcibly converted them to Islam or enslaved them.

Colonial biases in descriptions of Indian history are still present today. This discriminatory and Eurocentric history of Hinduism is still present today due to the lack of Hindu representation among Western scholars who study Hinduism.

Swami Vivekananda was the main figure for introducing vedanta and yoga in Europe and the United States.

Hinduists describe Hinduism as a single tradition containing a complex, organic and incoherent nature. Hinduism does not have a unified belief system listed in a statement of faith or creed. It is rather a term that encompasses a plurality of religious phenomena in India.

In 2020, the Supreme Court of India gave a kind of definition of Hinduism, detaching it from any religious or philosophical intent:

Unlike other religions in the world, Hindu religion has no prophet, nor worships any god. It is neither a philosophical concept nor a single act of religious rites or actions. In fact it does not conform the traditional characteristics of a religion or creed. It's a way of life and nothing else.

Supreme Court of India

Part of the problem in defining Hinduism is that it does not have a founder, but rather is the synthesis of various traditions, Brahmanical orthopraxis and popular or local traditions.

Theism also does not apply as a unifying doctrine that defines Hinduism, because if some Hindu doctrines postulate a theistic belief in the creation of the universe, others, however, are atheistic.

Yet despite the many differences in Hinduism, there is a sense of unity. Most of the Hindu traditions venerate the sacred literature of the Vedas by word of mouth - although they do not follow their ordinances of life or their beliefs - although there are some exceptions. These texts are a reminder of cultural heritage and are a source of pride among Hindus.

Context

The goddess Kali (Durga) and the god Bhairava (Shiva) copuling.

The number of Hindus, inside and outside India, is about 1.15 billion people (more than 16% of humanity). In India, Hindus are 80.5% of the total population.

Within Hinduism as a culture there are theism, deism, polytheism, pantheism, agnosticism and atheism. Just as a Jew of any nationality feels culturally Jewish (even if he is an atheist), the Hindu feels culturally Hindu. A Hindu Buddhist differs from any other Buddhist because of his culture.

Hinduism is structured by several religions, as diverse as they are contrary in their forms. Within Hinduism there are polytheistic, monotheistic, pantheistic, atheistic religious ideologies, etc. Similarly, there is a set of doctrines that opens up a range of possibilities. But despite appearing to be a polytheistic ideology, it is clearly a monotheistic religion, where each demigod of the Hindu pantheon is the personification of one of the powers of a single god.

Hinduism lacks a single doctrine. Each branch of said religion follows its own: the Vishnuists worship the god Vishnu (and believe that Krisná is his avatar); on the other hand, the Krisnaists exclusively worship the god Krisná, and consider that Vishnu is his avatar.

In the Vedanta doctrine that supreme reality is called Brahman, and is considered to be the original aspect of God. All the other gods and beings in the universe are his expression, which is why he is considered the "beginning of the universe". This vision can be considered pantheism or monotheism depending on the point of view.

Shivaists believe in one god, Shiva, and deny the importance of Brahma and Vishnu. His monistic vision of the universe is reflected in the Shiva-sutras.

On the other hand, the samkhia doctrine of Kapilá is a deeply atheistic philosophy and currently considered orthodox.

Although there are no exact percentages of adherence by subbranch, it is estimated that Vaishnavism is the majority: 67% of Hindus would be of this religion, followed by Shaivism with 26%, Shaktism with 3% and other traditions such as neo-Hinduism and Hindu modernism with 2%.

Religions within Hinduism

The Durgá puya festival (‘worship of the goddess Durga’), which takes place every year in the month of ashwin (between September and October).

Hinduism, as it is commonly known, can be subdivided into several main streams. Of the historical division into six darśanas ('doctrines'), two of these - Vedanta and Yoga - are currently the most prominent.

Classified by primary deity or deities, the four major religions within Hinduism are Shaivism (which only worships the god Shiva), Vishnuism (which only worships the god Vishnu), Shaktism (which only worships the goddess Devi) and Smartism (which worships one of six gods: Ganesh, Sūria, Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti and Kumara as representatives of the unnameable God). Hinduism also accepts numerous divine beings, and many Hindus consider deities to be aspects or manifestations of a single impersonal absolute or ultimate reality or God, while other Hindus hold that a specific deity represents the ultimate or the supreme and various deities are manifestations. inferiors of this supreme. Other notable characteristics are the belief in the existence of the atman ('soul'), the reincarnation of one's own ātman and karma, as well as the belief in dharma (duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and correct way of living)., although there are variations, since some do not follow these beliefs.

McDaniel (2007) classifies Hinduism into six main types and numerous secondary types, in order to understand the expression of emotions among Hindus.

According to McDaniel, the main types are:

• the popular Hinduism, based on local traditions and worships of local gods, and that would be the oldest unwritten religious system;
• Vedic Hinduism, based on the Vedic religion (disappeared at 700 BC and did not believe in reincarnation;
• Vedantic Hinduism, based on interpretation Advaita vedanta of Upanishad, which emphasizes knowledge and wisdom;
• the yogic Hinduism, which follows the text of the Yoga sutras of Patañyali and emphasizes meditation;
• dharmic Hinduism (or daily morals), which, according to McDaniel, is stereotyped in some books as "the only form of Hindu religion that believes in karma, cows and castes"; and
• devotional Hinduism, in which intense emotions are incorporated in an elaborate way to the search for the spiritual.

Michaels distinguishes between three Hindu religions and four forms of Hindu religiosity. The three Hindu religions are "Brahmanical-Sanskrit Hinduism", "folk and tribal religions" and "founded religions". The four forms of Hindu religiosity are the classic "karma-marga", the jnana-marga, the bhakti-marga and "heroism", which has its roots in militaristic traditions. These militaristic traditions include Ramaism (the worship of an epic literary hero, Rama, believing that he is an incarnation of Vishnu). and parts of political Hinduism. "Heroism" is also called virya-marga. According to Michaels, one in nine Hindus belongs by birth to one of the two types of Brahmanical-Sanskrit Hinduism and folk religion, whether or not they practice it. Classifies most Hindus as belonging by choice to one of the "founded religions" such as Vaishnavism or Shaivism, which focus on moksha and often downplay Brahmanical priestly authority, while incorporating Hindu ritual grammar Brahmanical-Sanskrit. It includes among the "founded religions" Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, which are now separate religions, syncretic movements such as Brahmo Samaj and the Theosophical Society, as well as various "guru-isms" and new religious movements such as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and ISKCON..

Inden states that the attempt to classify Hinduism by typologies began in imperial times, when proselytizing missionaries and colonial officials tried to understand and portray Hinduism from their interests. It was interpreted that Hinduism did not emanate from a spiritual reason but from fantasy and creative imagination, it was not conceptual but symbolic, it was not ethical but emotional, it was not rational or spiritual but from cognitive mysticism. This stereotype followed and fit, Inden claims, with the imperial imperatives of the time, providing the moral justification for the colonial project. From tribal animism to Buddhism, everything was subsumed as part of Hinduism. The first reports established the tradition and the academic premises for the typology of Hinduism, as well as the main assumptions and erroneous assumptions that have been at the base of Indology. Hinduism, according to Inden, has neither been what the religious imperialists stereotyped it to be, nor is it appropriate to equate Hinduism with being merely the monistic pantheism and philosophical idealism of Advaita Vedanta.

• Monotheism. Many Hindus believe in one god.
• Polytheism (belief in several gods). Like several religions in India, they profess syncretism.
• Advaita. Absolute Monism. It defends the existence of one God (the absolute Brahman), which seems many gods because of illusion (the veil of Maya).
• I blame with images. For the Hindus, God can enter a statue (murti) to allow his worship (bath, food offering, etc.) as mercy to facilitate the initiation of the practitioner on his spiritual path, adopting a material form that facilitates his understanding and love of God. As it progresses, it begins to perceive God in all that exists, so that no need is finally needed murti, reaching even to feel or see God within all being created. That form is Paramatma, the form that compels all that exists and makes God his omnipresent and omniscient quality. Therefore, in the end, everything that exists is sacred and looks at it with reverence and love.

Within monotheism, one can include Vishnuism (which worships the god Vishnu), Krisnaism (the god Krisná), Shaivism (the god Shiva) and Shaktism (the goddess Kali), opposed to the advaita doctrine (where the jnanis study the impersonal Brahman).

There are practices that everyone respects, such as revering Brahmins (priests) and cows and not eating their meat. It is worth mentioning that the cow is not worshiped, but revered as it is considered a mother, since milk is extracted from them, which is the basis of Indian cuisine.

Apart from this, there are no rigorous precepts about when prayers should be formulated and rites performed, nor exactly an ecclesiastical hierarchy.

Hinduism, as it is commonly known, can be subdivided into several main Hindu doctrinal streams. The historical division consists of six darśanas (doctrines) and the two most prominent schools, Vedanta and Yoga.

Classified by deity, the four main streams or Hindu denominations are Vaisnavism (dedicated to the god Vishnu), Shaivism (dedicated to the god Shiva), Shaktism (dedicated to the goddess Shakti or Devi) and Smartism (dedicated to five deities treated equally).

Hinduism also accepts various Hindu deities (male devas or female devis), as many Hindus consider these as manifestations or aspects of the existence of a single, absolute, impersonal god, while other currents maintain that a specific deity represents the supreme and that other deities are minor manifestations of that supreme deity.

Other notable characteristics include the belief in the existence of the ātmā (‘soul’), reincarnation and karma (reaction to sinful and pious activities), as well as obedience to dharma (religion, duties, laws).

Beliefs

Statue of the god Shiva in Rishikesh (India).

Hinduism contains many different doctrines but maintains common roots: recognized rituals, cosmology and pilgrimage to holy places. Hindu texts are classified into śruti ('heard' directly from the gods) and smriti ('remembered', fruit of tradition). These texts discuss topics such as theology, Hindu mythology, Indian philosophy, yoga, āgama rituals, and basic mathematics for the construction of temples and altars, among others. The main scriptures include the four Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-gītā, and the Āgama. The sources Some of these texts play an important role in this religion, but there is a strong Hindu tradition that questions their authority in order to deepen the understanding of these texts and also to further develop the traditions.

Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include karma (actions and consequences of actions), samsara (reincarnation or cycle of births and deaths), various types of yoga (practices to achieve moksha), and the four goals of man ("purusharthas", from purusha: 'male', and artha: 'goals'):

1. dharma (religion, ethics and obligations),
2. artha (prosperity and work),
3. kama (satisfaction of desires and passions),
4. moksha (spiritual salvation),

Hindu practices include rituals such as: the recitation of prayers, the meditation, ceremonies for different important moments in a person's life (such as the transition to puberty), annual festivals and occasional pilgrimages.

Some Hindus abandon their social life and material belongings to dedicate themselves to monastic practices (sanniasin).

Hinduism prescribes moral obligations, such as truthfulness (satya), refraining from harming living beings, patience, tolerance, self-control, and compassion, among others.

The four major denominations of Hinduism are Vaisnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism and Smartism.

One of the most important parts of Hinduism is vegetarianism, which is based on the belief of ahimsa.

In Hinduism there are diversity of beliefs, but basically Hindus believe that behind the visible universe (maya) ―to which they attribute successive cycles of creation and destruction― is the principle that sustains the universe: Brahman, that absolute that ―considered through the veil of māyā (illusion)―, is God (Īśvara). Leaving the cycle of reincarnations (samsara) and returning to the divine principle is the greatest of all achievements for Hindus.

This god can be considered personal or impersonal. Personal worship constitutes bhakti (devotion), and impersonal worship implies jnana (wisdom).

In the impersonal Hindu stream, God it is called Brahman. All other beings are the expression of him, for which reason he is considered the beginning of the universe. This vision can be called monism. It is necessary to differentiate that the impersonal Brahman is the non-personified aspect of God, and he is distinct from Brahma, who is the creator of this universe, but not the "one god." Brahma is a very high incarnated soul that temporarily occupies that position within the material world, but can fall from its place and be replaced by another soul. Depending on the complexity of each universe, the creator Brahmá can have a different number of heads, up to a thousand.

One of the main characteristics of Hinduism is the varied concept of ishta dévata ([any] worshipable deity). It recognizes that anyone can have a personal conception of Divinity, equally respectable, since God it can have all forms, and ultimately transcends them. Hence the infinity of representations of Divinity. But finally God it is one, although its manifestations are infinite.

In Western texts, the Hindu triad became popular, called the Trimurti ('three forms [of God]': the male gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva), but generally no one worships this triad. Many Hindus worship the goddess Durga (known to some by one of her aspects as Kali), but also a large number of other gods, including local gods.

Sacred texts

Exemplar of the Rig-veda (the oldest text of Indian literature, from the middle of the second millennium to C.), written in Sanskrit.

Hindus accept various sacred scriptures, encompassing a large number of ancient texts.

Shruti

There is a group of texts that are considered “revealed” (in Sanskrit shruti: ‘heard[s]’), and that cannot be interpreted, but followed to the letter:

• All four. Vedas:
  • Rig-veda, the oldest text of Indian literature, written in an archaic form of the Sanskrit, possibly after the 15th century B. C.
  • Yajur-veda, the book of sacrifices. Most of their texts come from Rig-veda.
  • Sama-veda contains hymns. Most of their texts come from Rig-veda.
  • Atharva-veda, the book of rituals, an aggregate several centuries later, without any relation to the Rig-veda.
• The Upanishad, Mystical-philosophical meditations written over several centuries, from 600 to. C.

The Ramaiana

Smriti

Other sacred texts are the smriti ('what is remembered', the tradition):

• The epic text Majabharata (sixth century BC), including the religious text Bhagavad-guita.
• The Ramaiana (sixth century B.C.), the epic story of king-god Rama.
• 18 Puranas (‘history’) main (sixteenth century B.C. to the eleventh century AD), and dozens of small Up-puranas.
• Ancient texts on aiur-veda (herboristery and traditional Hindu medicine).

Current Hinduism dates back to the 3rd century B.C. C., combining Buddhist doctrines with Brahmanical (caste) and Dravidian beliefs.

Disputes

Ritual sati: a Hindu widow is thrown at the pyre with her husband's body, 1820 approx.

There are several controversies over the use of Hinduism for political purposes. The World Hindu Council is an example of syndicated Hinduism, whose purpose is to eliminate the laws of Muslims and other minorities in India. One of the goals of the World Hindu Council has been to unify all the faiths of Hinduism to create a constituency for Hindus. This task has been impossible for the party, since this religion does not have a single unifying sacred text (it has tried to use the Bhagavad-gītā), nor a single teacher, nor a single center. It has also been hampered by the fact that India gained its independence from England in 1947, a relatively short period for any sense of nationalist unity. Attempts have been made to run a secular government in India, but even choosing an official language has been chaotic. The most widely spoken derives from Sanskrit, and Spanish or English are seen as symbols of Christianity. Mahatma Gandhi was an activist who promoted Hinduism as the national religion, but supported the acceptance and tolerance of other religions in India. In 1948, a Hindu fundamentalist assassinated Mahatma Gandhi.

The proliferation of nuclear weapons in India is related to politicians, not Hinduism, even though they have used religious terms to refer to them.^{[citation needed]}

On May 18, 1974, the government detonated India's first atomic bomb, dubbed the "Laughing Buddha," in a 110-meter-deep well located at India's nuclear test site, some 25 km northwest of the city of Pokhrán (population 19,000), in the Thar desert. Already on that occasion, politicians used a religious word to refer to the bomb.

On May 11, 1998, the government exploded five more atomic bombs in Pokhran, India.

Although some politicians used Hindu symbolism to justify such an explosion, ajimsa (non-violence) is one of the basic tenets of Hinduism. This does not prevent there being gods like Shiva, who carries a trident with which he kills his enemies, and cyclically destroys the entire universe with all his living beings; or as Vishnu, who holds a throwing disc to decapitate the enemies of dharma (religion). The concept of karma makes it clear that the violence that the person exerts will be returned to him in the next reincarnation.

Another subject of controversy in Hinduism is the disadvantaged position of women. In Hinduism, women are ritually inferior. In the 2011 Indian census, it was found that for every 100 women there are 109 men. One of the reasons for this phenomenon is that women abort female fetuses. In Hindu families, daughters are unwanted, since the father must pay a dowry to marry them off, and many times this payment impoverishes the family. However, this is more of a cultural tradition in India than a religious sanction of Hinduism, just as genital cutting of women in Africa is not prescribed by either Islam or Christianity.