2.  Religious tradition of India.
 Name given by Europeans to the Hindu way of life !!!!
 World’s oldest religion
 The religion dates back to 1500 B.C.
 Hindus call it ’the eternal law’ (Sanatana Dharma)
 Earliest proofs of Hinduism from about 5000 B.C.
 First sacred texts, the Vedas, were composed at about 2000 B.C.
 Give birth to Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism , influenced by
Buddhism, Jainism

3.  3rd largest religion, after Christianity and Islam
 Makes up 15-16%* of the world
 900 million to 1 billion* Hindus in the world till date
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism_in_Europe#By_region
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_religious_populations

4.  Aggregation of innumerable religious beliefs, cults, customs and
rituals.
 It has no founder & no central organization.
 About 3 million different gods.
 Hindu Priests in a private and domestic capacity.
 Caste system
 Reincarnation
 Karma
 Dharma
 Moksha

5.  The term GOD
 Generator
 Organizer
 Destroyer

6.  Derives from Latin, which means,
“entering the flesh again”
 Concept of rebirth
 Belief
http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/mws/mws_ch-5
0.html

7.  Means our actions on earth:
 If you live a good life, you create good karma.
 If you live a bad life, you create bad karma.
 Quality of each life is determined by one’s Karma i.e. how well
one behaved in a past life
 Believing “As you sow, so shall you reap”….
 Rabindranath Tagore explained human emotions:
“Nirvana is not the blowing out of the candle. It is the
extinguishing of the flame because day is come.”

8.  Freedom from samsara and the sufferings involved in
reincarnation
 Improve itself further, and get closer to ultimate liberation
i.e.…
 overcome ignorance
 no longer desire anything at all
 Process of “Moksha” depends on “Karma”

9.  Ideas such as duty, vocation, religion and everything that is
considered correct, proper or decent behavior
 Living in accordance with dharma leads to moksha
 Differs with stage of life, caste, class, occupation, and gender
st

10.  Pattern of social classes.

12. The Hindu sacred texts were originally predominantly composed
in Sanskrit.
 Vedas
 Upanishads
 Puranas
 Mahabharata
 Ramayana
 Bhagavad Gita …

13.  Vedas
 Primary texts of Hinduism
 Types:
 Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda
 Upanishads
 The inner or mystic teaching that were passed down from
guru (teacher) to student.
 Puranas
 Literature of stories and allegory
 37 Puranas
 Mahabharata & Ramayana
 National epics of India. Longest poems in any language.

14.  Revere the deities
 Respect ancestors
 Respect all beings
 Honor all humankind
 Some rites are forbidden for women
 Ideal woman: loving and caring mother and wife
 Rate of love marriages (instead of arranged Marriages) is
rising.
 Uncertainty of the role of women in India

15.  Ability to accept God in multiple ways and forms
 Tolerance towards all alternative paths
 Integrated growth of Body, Mind and Soul ( Eg: Yoga)
 Use of chants, mantras, meditation, extensively (food for soul)
 Seeing God in everything - Plants, Animals and thereby promoting environmental
preservation
 Scriptures for everyone depending on their level of understanding - Puranas, Tantras,
Upanishads…
 Scientifically designed temples
 Promoting the growth of art forms - Music, Painting, Dance through the religion
The list is endless......

16.  Rigid Caste system
 Blind Beliefs
 Superstitions
 Idol worship
 Gender discrimination
contd…

17. Factors under consideration:
 Regionalism
 Religion
 Language
 Caste
Behaviour
Etiquette
Approach

18.  Caste system
 Influence on occupation
 Biased economic prosperity
 Religious functions
 Festivals
 Pilgrimage

19.  Improve people’s living conditions
 Strengthen women’s rights
 Removal of inhuman practices existing in diverse
beliefs and rituals
 Propagate and promote literacy in poor localities to uplift
their living standards
 Inculcate the idea of social and financial security

21. References:

 http://www.religioustolerance.org/hinduism.htm
 http://www.amiahindu.com/
 http://www.dlshq.org/religions/hinduism.htm
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Hinduism
 http://www.godmandir.com/his.htm
 http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/devdutt_pattanaik.html
 http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-01.html

22. Discussion in Class

 Hinduism comes by Birth. You con not adopt the religion but
follow.
 Hinduism does not force any human kind to Preach and
Follow.
 Hindu believe that the next birth and lifestyle decided by
whatever they did in last birth.
 Hinduism gives you a freedom to follow the religion by their
own way.
 Caste system distributed by occupation and not by the colour.
(In the past all caste had their respective work to do. For
example: Brahmins only served as a teacher and Kshatriyas
served as a fighter or king and shards belonged to service class)