Hinduism’s varied history overlaps or coincides with the development of religion in the Indian subcontinent since the Iron Age, with some of its traditions tracing back to prehistoric religions such as those of the Bronze Age Indus Valley civilization. It is thus the “oldest religion” in the world. Hinduism is regarded as a fusion of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no single founder.
Hinduism is the world’s third-largest religion, with over 1.2 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global population. Hinduism has been the oldest religion in the world, many refer to the religion as Sanatan Dharm ( ”the Eternal Dharm”), its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in the Hindu scriptures.
Hinduism is a diverse system of thought marked by a range of philosophies and shared concepts, rituals, cosmological systems, pilgrimage sites, and shared textual sources that discuss theology, mythology, Vedic yajna, yoga, rituals, and temple building, among others. Thus, Hinduism is often referred to as a family of religions rather than a single religion. Hinduism does not have a unified system of belief but is rather an umbrella term comprising the plurality of religious phenomena of India. Unlike other religions, the Hindu religion does not claim any one Prophet, it does not worship anyone, God, it does not believe in anyone philosophic concept, it does not follow any one act of religious rites or performances; in fact, it is a way of life and nothing more which is referred to as Sanatan Dharm.
Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the four Puruṣarths, the aims of human life; namely, dharm (ethics/duties), arth (prosperity/work), kam (desires/passions) and moksh (liberation/freedom from the passions and the cycle of death and rebirth), as well as karm (action, intent and consequences) and sansar (cycle of death and rebirth). Hinduism prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings (Ahinsa), patience, forbearance, self-restraint, virtue, and compassion, among others.
Hindu practices include rituals such as puja (worship) and recitations, jap, meditation (dhyan), family-oriented rites of passage after death, annual festivals, and occasional pilgrimages. Along with the practice of various yogas, some Hindus leave their social world and material possessions and engage in lifelong Sanyas in order to achieve moksh.
Hindu thought accepts four proper goals or aims of human life, known as Puruṣharth, these Purusharth refers to the objectives of human life:
- Dharm
- Arth
- Kam
- Moksh
Dharm (righteousness, ethics)
Dharm is considered the foremost goal of a human being in Hinduism. The concept of dharm includes behaviours that make life and universe possible, and include duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and right way of living. Hindu dharm includes the religious duties, moral rights and duties of each individual, as well as behaviours that enable social order, right conduct, and those that are virtuous.
Arth (livelihood, wealth)
Arth is the objective and virtuous pursuit of wealth for livelihood, obligations, and economic prosperity. It is inclusive of political life, diplomacy, and material well-being. The earth includes all “means of life”, activities, and resources that enables one to be in a state one wants to be in, wealth, career and financial security. The proper pursuit of arth is considered an important aim of human life in Hinduism.
Kam (sensual pleasure)
Kam (काम) means desire, wish, passion, longing, the pleasure of the senses, the aesthetic enjoyment of life, affection, or love, with or without sexual connotations. In Hinduism, kam is considered an essential and healthy goal of human life when pursued without sacrificing dharm, arth and moksh.
Sanatan Dharm
Lord Narayan created Brahma and taught him the Vedas. With the help of the Vedas, Brahma began to create the being. The Upanishads say that the Lord revealed Himself to Brahma and also reveals Himself to those who study the Vedas. Those who desire moksh
worship Him.
The term ‘Sanatan-dharm’ finds reference in Vedas the oldest literature in the world. Sanatan dharm is a term that refers to the eternal Truth of Hinduism. The roots of this
phrase can be traced back to ancient Sanskrit literature. Sanatan denotes “that which is without beginning or end” or “everlasting.” Dharm, no direct translation into English, but comes from dhri, meaning “to hold together or sustain.” Dharm is often interpreted as
meaning “natural law.” As such, the whole term, sanatan dharm, can translate as “the natural and eternal way to live.” In fact, sanatan dharm is widely considered to be the original term used to describe what we now know as Hinduism.
Sanatan dharm encompasses the list of duties and practices that all Hindus must comply with. This list of practices includes virtues like honesty, goodwill, patience and generosity. Following this allows one to reach moksh, a state of spiritual liberation, Self-knowledge and
enlightenment.
There are certain beliefs which are basic to Sanatan Dharm. The belief that the atma is superior to the body, the conviction that the atma must strive for moksh, the belief in repeated births until the atma is finally liberated, the belief that God alone can liberate us, the belief that the liberated soul is never reborn.
All jivatmas are born due to their karm, and what they face in life is a result of their karm. Every atma must resort to a way to reach God. God Himself has given us many choices in this respect. We can resort to karm yoga, bhakti yoga or yagna yoga, or sarangati, to reach Him. This should be our aim in life. Moksh is the goal we should work towards.
We often say that we have studied the Itihas and the Puran and we think this is sufficient to get us across the ocean of sansar. But how have we studied these works?
Sanatan Dharm shows us that the Lord can be reached, if we try to reach Him.
Rituals
Most Hindus observe religious rituals at home. The rituals vary greatly among regions, villages, and individuals. They are not mandatory in Hinduism. The nature and place of rituals is an individual’s choice. Some devout Hindus perform daily rituals such as worshiping at dawn after bathing (usually at a family shrine (mandir), and typically includes lighting a lamp and offering foodstuffs before the deities), recitation from religious scripts,
singing bhajans (devotional hymns), chanting mantras and others.
Vedic rituals of yagya and chanting of Vedic hymns are observed on special occasions, such as a Hindu wedding. A wedding is the most extensive personal ritual an adult Hindu undertakes in his or her life. A typical Hindu wedding is solemnized with a Vedic fire ritual.
Other major life-stage events, such as rituals after death, include the yagya and chanting of
Vedic mantras.
Festivals
Hindu festivals (Utsav) are ceremonies that weave individual and social life to dharm. Hinduism has many festivals throughout the year, the dates of these festivals are set by the Hindu calendar, many coinciding with either the full moon or the new moon, often with seasonal changes. Some festivals are found only regionally and they celebrate local traditions, while a few such as Holi and Diwali are celebrated by all Hindus. The festivals typically celebrate events from Hinduism, bringing spiritual themes and celebrating aspects of human relationships such as the sister-brother bond over the Raksha Bandhan (or Bhai Dooj) festival.
Pilgrimage
Many believers undertake pilgrimages, which have historically been an important part of Hinduism and remain so today. Pilgrimage sites are called Tirth Kshetr. The process or journey associated with Tirth is called Tirth-yatra. According to the Hindu text Skand Puran, Tīrth-yatra is anything that has a significant value to a Hindu, and includes pilgrimage sites.
Pilgrimage sites of Hinduism are mentioned in the epic Mahabharat and the Purans. Most Purans include Tirth Mahatam, which describe sacred sites and places to visit. Varanasi (Kashi), Rameshwaram, Kanchipuram, Dwarka, Jagannath Puri, Haridwar, Vrindavan, Ayodhya, Tirupati, Mayapur, Nathdwara, twelve Jyotirlings and Shakti Peeth have been mentioned as particular holy sites, along with where major rivers meet (sangam) or join the sea.
Kumbh mela is another major pilgrimage on the eve of the solar festival Makar Sankranti. This pilgrimage rotates at a gap of three years among following four sites:
- Prayag Raj at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers,
- Haridwar near source of the Ganges,
- Ujjain on the Shipra river,
- Nasik on the bank of the Godavari river.
These Kumbh Melas are one of world’s largest mass pilgrimage with an estimated 40 to 100 million people attending the event. At this event, Hindus offer prayers to the sun and bathe in the river.
Temple
A Hindu temple is a house of god(s). It is a space and structure designed to bring human beings and gods together, infused with symbols that express the ideas and beliefs of Hinduism. A temple incorporates all elements of Hindu cosmology, the highest spire or dome representing Mount Meru, reminder of the abode of Brahma and the centre of spiritual universe, the carvings symbolically presenting dharm, kam, arth, moksh and karm.
Hindu temples are spiritual destinations for many Hindus, as well as landmarks for arts, annual festivals, after death rituals, and community celebrations.
Ved
Veds are a large body of Hindu texts originating in Vedic period in northern India, the Rig Ved being composed around 1500 BCE, and its Samhitas and Brahmana completed before about 800 BCE, it is unknown when it was finally committed to writing, but this probably was at some point after 300 B.C. Veds are the primary texts of Hinduism. They also had a vast influence on Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.
Composed in Vedic Sanskrit hymns, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism. The knowledge in the Vedas is believed in Hinduism to be eternal, uncreated, neither authored by human nor by divine source, but seen, heard and transmitted by sages. There are four Veds:
- Rigved,
- Yajurved,
- Samved
- Atharvaved.
Each Ved has been subclassified into four major text types – the Samhitas (mantras and blessings), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices and symbolic sacrifices), the Brahmanas (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices), and the Upanishads (text discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge).
Vedas are also called sruti (“what is heard”) literature, distinguishing them from other religious texts, which are called smṛti (“what is remembered”). In the Hindu Epic
Mahabharat, the creation of Vedas is credited to Brahma.
Upanishads
Upanishads are a collection of Hindu texts which contain some of the central philosophical concepts of Hinduism. The Upanishads are commonly referred to as Vedant, variously interpreted to mean either the “last chapters, parts of the Ved or the object the highest purpose of the Veda. The concepts of Brahman (Ultimate Reality) and Atma (Soul, Self) are central ideas in all the Upanishads, and “Know your Atma” their focus. The Upanishads are the foundation of Hindu philosophical thought and its diverse traditions.
Smriti
The texts that appeared afterwards were called smriti. Smriti is a literature which includesvarious Shastras and Itihas (like Ramayan, Mahabharat.
Samaskar or Sanskar
According to the Hindu religion and various schools of Hindu thought everyone in this world is born with a karmic inheritance9 Karm) of certain tendencies and behavioural patterns. This arises out of one’s samskaras or sanskars which are past life’s impressions and deedsdone by a person whether by thought, speech or action that leave an impact on the deep layers of person’s chitt. These imprints created by the karm of a person in the past birth orin current life remain stored in the chitt as samaskar. When the conditions become suitable for them to bear fruit these samaskars produce negative or positive results in person’s life based on person’s virtuous or vicious deeds. Maharishi Pitanjali implies in one of sutras that one can keep himself away from future pain by subduing the past samaskars by doing good deeds in the present life. Good deeds create positive samaskars and evil deeds create negative ones. When, one starts examining his past through self-reflection he becomes
aware of habits that he needs to change or qualities that he needs to cultivate further. One can thus live more freely and fully, his life becomes more meaningful and purposeful. These samaskars are one’s own creation, therefore he is the one who can overcome their effects. These samaskars are so embedded in one mind and matter that they become the determining factor of one’s personality, but can be controlled and altered by good deeds to enable one live a more fulling life.