Hinduism

Hinduism is the dominant religion, or way of life,[note 1] in South Asia, most notably India. It includes Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism[1] among numerous other traditions, and a wide spectrum of laws and prescriptions of "daily morality" based on karma, dharma, and societal norms. Hinduism is a categorisation of distinct intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid, common set of beliefs.[2] Hinduism, with about one billion followers[web 1] is the world's third largest religion, after Christianity and Islam.

Hinduism has been called the "oldest religion" in the world,[note 2] and some practitioners refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, "the eternal law" or the "eternal way"[3] beyond human origins.[4] Western scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion[note 3] or synthesis[5][note 4] of various Indian cultures and traditions,[6][note 5] with diverse roots[7][note 6] and no single founder.[8] It prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings (ahimsa), patience, forbearance, self-restraint, compassion, among others.[web 2][9]

Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include (but are not restricted to), the four Puruṣārthas, the proper goals or aims of human life, namely Dharma (ethics/duties), Artha, Kama and Moksha (liberation from samsara, the repeated cycle of rebirth);[10][11] karma (action, intent and consequences); Samsāra (the continuing cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth); Moksha (liberation from samsara or liberation in this life); and the various Yogas (paths or practices to attain moksha).[12] Hindu practices include daily rituals such as puja (worship) and recitations, annual festivals, and occasional pilgrimages. Select group of ascetics leave the common world and engage in lifelong ascetic practices to achieve moksha.

Hindu texts are classified into Shruti ("heard") and Smriti ("remembered"). These texts discuss theology, philosophy, mythology, Vedic yajna and agamic rituals and temple building, among other topics.[13] Major scriptures include the Vedas, Upanishads (both Śruti), Mahabharata, Ramayana, Bhagavad Gita, Puranas, Manusmṛti, and Agamas (all smriti).[13]

Etymology

Main article: Hindustan

The word Hindu is derived (through Persian) from the Indo-Aryan[14]/Sanskrit[15] word Sindhu, the Indo-Aryan name for the Indus River in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent (modern day Pakistan and Northern India).[15][note 7] According to Gavin Flood, "The actual term 'hindu' first occurs as a Persian geographical term for the people who lived beyond the river Indus (Sanskrit: Sindhu)".[15] The term 'Hindu' then was a geographical term and did not refer to a religion.[note 8]

The word Hindu was taken by European languages from the Arabic term al-Hind, which referred to the people who live across the River Indus.[16] This Arabic term was itself taken from the Persian term Hindū, which refers to all Indians. By the 13th century, Hindustan emerged as a popular alternative name of India, meaning the "land of Hindus".[17][note 9]

The term Hinduism was later used occasionally in some Sanskrit texts such as the later Rajataranginis of Kashmir (Hinduka, c. 1450) and some 16th- to 18th-century Bengali Gaudiya Vaishnava texts including Chaitanya Charitamrita and Chaitanya Bhagavata. It was usually used to contrast Hindus with Yavanas or Mlecchas.[18] It was only towards the end of the 18th century that European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus. The term Hinduism was introduced into the English language in the 19th century to denote the religious, philosophical, and cultural traditions native to India.

Definitions

The study of India and its cultures and religions, and the definition of "Hinduism", has been shaped by the interests of colonialism and by Western notions of religion.[19] Since the 1990s, those influences and its outcomes have been the topic of debate among scholars of Hinduism,[20][note 10] and have also been taken over by critics of the Western view on India.[21][note 11]

Because of the wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult.[15] The religion "defies our desire to define and categorize it".[22] Hinduism has been variously defined as a religion, a religious tradition, a set of religious beliefs, and "a way of life."[23][note 1] From a Western lexical standpoint, Hinduism like other faiths is appropriately referred as a religion. In India the term dharma is preferred, which is broader than the western term "religion". Hindu traditionalists prefer to call it Sanatana Dharma (the eternal or ancient dharma).[24]

Colonial influences

See also: Orientalism

The notion of common denominators for several religions and traditions of India was already noted from the 12th century CE on.[25] The notion of "Hinduism" as a "single world religious tradition"[26] was popularised by 19th-century European Indologists who depended on the "brahmana castes"[26] for their information of Indian religions.[26] This led to a "tendency to emphasise Vedic and Brahmanical texts and beliefs as the "essence" of Hindu religiosity in general, and in the modern association of 'Hindu doctrine' with the various Brahmanical schools of the Vedanta (in particular Advaita Vedanta)."[27][note 12]

Indigenous understanding

Sanātana Dharma

See also: Sanātanī

To its adherents, Hinduism is a traditional way of life.[34] Many practitioners refer to Hinduism as Sanātana Dharma, "the eternal law" or the "eternal way".[35] It refers to the "eternal" duties all Hindus have to follow, regardless of class, caste, or sect, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings, purity, goodwill, mercy, patience, forbearance, self-restraint, generosity, and asceticism. This is contrasted with svadharma, one's "own duty", the duties to be followed by members of a specific caste and stage of life.[web 2] According to Knott, this also

... refers to the idea that its origins lie beyond human history, and its truths have been divinely revealed (shruti) and passed down through the ages to the present day in the most ancient of the world's scriptures, the Veda. (Knott 1998, p. 5)

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica;-

The term has also more recently been used by Hindu leaders, reformers, and nationalists to refer to Hinduism as a unified world religion. Sanatana dharma has thus become a synonym for the "eternal" truth and teachings of Hinduism, the latter conceived of as not only transcendent of history and unchanging but also as indivisible and ultimately nonsectarian.[web 2]

The Sanskrit word dharma has a much more deeper meaning than religion and is not its equivalent. All aspects of a Hindu life, namely acquiring wealth (Artha), fulfillment of desires (kama), and attaining liberation (moksha) are part of dharma which encapsulates the "right way of living" and eternal harmonious principles in their fulfillment.[36][37]

Growing Hindu identity

This sense of unity and ancientness has been developed over a longer period. According to Nicholson, already between the 12th and the 16th centuries "certain thinkers began to treat as a single whole the diverse philosophical teachings of the Upanishads, epics, Puranas, and the schools known retrospectively as the "six systems" (saddarsana) of mainstream Hindu philosophy."[38] The tendency of "a blurring of philosophical distinctions" has also been noted by Burley.[39] Hacker called this "inclusivism"[40] and Michaels speaks of "the identificatory habit".[13] Lorenzen locates the origins of a distinct Hindu identity in the interaction between Muslims and Hindus,[41] and a process of "mutual self-definition with a contrasting Muslim other",[42][note 17] which started well before 1800.[43] Michaels notes:

As a counteraction to Islamic supremacy and as part of the continuing process of regionalization, two religious innovations developed in the Hindu religions: the formation of sects and a historicization which preceded later nationalism [...] [S]aints and sometimes militant sect leaders, such as the Marathi poet Tukaram (1609-1649) and Ramdas (1608-1681), articulated ideas in which they glorified Hinduism and the past. The Brahmins also produced increasingly historical texts, especially eulogies and chronicles of sacred sites (Mahatmyas), or developed a reflexive passion for collecting and compiling extensive collections of quotations on various subjects.[44]

This inclusivism[45] was further developed in the 19th and 20th centuries by Hindu reform movements and Neo-Vedanta,[46] and has become characteristic of modern Hinduism.[40]

Hindu modernism

Swami Vivekananda was a key figure in introducing Vedanta and Yoga in Europe and USA, raising interfaith awareness and making Hinduism a world religion.

Beginning in the 19th century, Indian modernists re-asserted Hinduism as a major asset of Indian civilisation.[47] Western stereotypes were reversed, emphasizing the universal aspects, and introducing modern approaches of social problems.[47] This approach had a great appeal, not only in India, but also in the west.[47] Major representatives of "Hindu modernism"[48] are Raja Rammohan Roy, Vivekananda, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Mahatma Gandhi.[49]

Raja Rammohan Roy is known as the father of the Hindu Renaissance.[50] He was a major influence on Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), who, according to Flood, was "a figure of great importance in the development of a modern Hindu self-understanding and in formulating the West's view of Hinduism."[51] Central to his philosophy is the idea that the divine exists in all beings, that all human beings can achieve union with this "innate divinity",[48] and that seeing this divine as the essence of others will further love and social harmony.[48] According to Vivekananda, there is an essential unity to Hinduism, which underlies the diversity of its many forms.[48] According to Flood, Vivekananda's vision of Hinduism "is one generally accepted by most English-speaking middle-class Hindus today."[52]

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was "one of India's most erudite scholars to engage with western and Indian philosophy".[53] He sought to reconcile western rationalism with Hinduism, "presenting Hinduism as an essentially rationalistic and humanistic religious experience."[54] This "Global Hinduism"[55] has a worldwide appeal, transcending national boundaries[55] and, according to Flood, "becoming a world religion alongside Christianity, Islam and Buddhism",[55] both for the Hindu diaspora communities and for westerners who are attracted to non-western cultures and religions.[55] It emphasizes universal spiritual values such as social justice, peace and "the spiritual transformation of humanity."[55] It has developed partly due to "re-enculturation",[56] or the Pizza effect,[56] in which elements of Hindu culture have been exported to the West, gaining popularity there, and as a consequence also gained greater popularity in India.[56] This globalization of Hindu culture was initiated by Swami Vivekanandaand and his founding of the Ramakrishna Mission, an effort continued by other teachers, "bringing to the West teachings which have become an important cultural force in western societies, and which in turn have become an important cultural force in India, their place of origin."[57]

Western understanding

Western scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion[note 3] or synthesis[note 4][5] of various Indian cultures and traditions.[6][note 5]

Hinduism's tolerance to variations in belief and its broad range of traditions make it difficult to define as a religion according to traditional Western conceptions.[58]

Some academics suggest that Hinduism can be seen as a category with "fuzzy edges" rather than as a well-defined and rigid entity. Some forms of religious expression are central to Hinduism and others, while not as central, still remain within the category. Based on this idea Ferro-Luzzi has developed a 'Prototype Theory approach' to the definition of Hinduism.[59]

Diversity and inclusivism

Diversity

Hinduism has been described as a tradition having a "complex, organic, multileveled and sometimes internally inconsistent nature."[60] Hinduism does not have a "unified system of belief encoded in a declaration of faith or a creed",[15] but is rather an umbrella term comprising the plurality of religious phenomena of India.[61] According to the Supreme Court of India,

Unlike other religions in the World, the Hindu religion does not claim any one Prophet, it does not worship any one God, it does not believe in any one philosophic concept, it does not follow any one act of religious rites or performances; in fact, it does not satisfy the traditional features of a religion or creed. It is a way of life and nothing more".[62]

Part of the problem with a single definition of the term "Hinduism" is the fact that Hinduism does not have a single historical founder.[63] It is a synthesis of various traditions,[64] the "Brahmanical orthopraxy, the renouncer traditions and popular or local traditions."[65]

Some Hindu philosophies postulate a theistic ontology of creation, of sustenance, and of the destruction of the universe, yet some Hindus are atheists, they view Hinduism more as philosophy than religion.

Inclusivism

Despite the differences, there is also a sense of unity.[66] Most Hindu traditions revere a body of religious or sacred literature, the Vedas,[40] although there are exceptions.[67] Halbfass cites Renou, according to whom this reverence is a mere

"tipping of the hat", a traditional gesture of saluting an "idol" without any further commitment."[68]

Halbfass does not agree with this characterization[68] and states that, although Shaivism and Vaishaism may be regarded as "self-contained religious constellations",[66] there is a degree of interaction and reference between the "theoreticians and literary representatives"[66] of each tradition which indicates the presence of "a wider sense of identity, a sense of coherence in a shared context and of inclusion in a common framework and horizon".[66]

Typology

Main article: Hindu denominations

Hinduism as it is commonly known can be subdivided into a number of major currents. Of the historical division into six darsanas, two prominent schools, Vedanta and Yoga.[69] The main divisions of Hinduism today are Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism and Smartism.[web 3] Hinduism also recognises numerous divine beings subordinate to the Supreme Being or regards them as lower manifestations of it.[70] Other notable characteristics include a belief in existence of ātman (soul, self), reincarnation of one's ātman, and karma as well as a belief in personal duty, or dharma.

McDaniel (2007) distinguishes six generic "types" of Hinduism, in an attempt to accommodate a variety of views on a rather complex subject:[71]

Michaels distinguishes three Hindu religions and four forms of Hindu religiosity.[72] The three Hindu religions are "Brahmanic-Sanskritic Hinduism,", "folk religions and tribal religions," and "founded religions," such as Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Sikhism,[73] but also new religious movements such as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Transcendental Meditation.[73] The four forms of Hindu religiosity are the classical "karma-marga",[74] jnana-marga,[75] bhakti-marga,[75] and "heroism," which is "rooted in militaristic traditions," such as Ramaism and parts of political Hinduism.[74] This is also called virya-marga.[75]

Beliefs

Temple wall panel relief sculpture at the Hoysaleswara temple in Halebidu, representing the Trimurti: Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu.

Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include (but are not restricted to), Dharma (ethics/duties), Samsāra (the continuing cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth), Karma (action, intent and consequences), Moksha (liberation from samsara or liberation in this life), and the various Yogas (paths or practices).[12]

Purusharthas (objectives of human life)

See also: Initiation, Dharma, Artha, Kāma and Mokṣa

Classical Hindu thought accepts four proper goals or aims of human life: Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. These are known as the Puruṣārthas:[10][11]

Dharma (righteousness, ethics)

Main articles: Ethics of Hinduism and Dharma

Dharma is considered the foremost goal of a human being in Hinduism.[76] The concept Dharma includes behaviors that are considered to be in accord with rta, the order that makes life and universe possible,[77] and includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and ‘‘right way of living’’.[78] Hindu dharma includes the religious duties, moral rights and duties of each individual, as well as behaviors that enable social order, right conduct, and those that are virtuous.[78] Dharma, according to Van Buitenen,[79] is that which all existing beings must accept and respect to sustain harmony and order in the world. It is, states Van Buitenen, the pursuit and execution of one’s nature and true calling, thus playing one’s role in cosmic concert.[79] The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad states it as:

Nothing is higher than Dharma. The weak overcomes the stronger by Dharma, as over a king. Truly that Dharma is the Truth (Satya); Therefore, when a man speaks the Truth, they say, "He speaks the Dharma"; and if he speaks Dharma, they say, "He speaks the Truth!" For both are one.

In the Mahabharata, Krishna defines dharma as upholding both this-worldly and other-worldly affairs. (Mbh 12.110.11). The word Sanātana means 'eternal', 'perennial', or 'forever'; thus, 'Sanātana Dharma' signifies that it is the dharma that has neither beginning nor end.[82]

Artha (livelihood, wealth)

Main article: Artha

Artha is objective and virtuous pursuit of wealth for livelihood, obligations and economic prosperity. It is inclusive of political life, diplomacy and material well-being. The Artha concept 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.[83] The proper pursuit of artha is considered an important aim of human life in Hinduism.[84][85]

Kāma (sensual pleasure)

Main article: Kama

Kāma (Sanskrit, Pali; Devanagari: काम) means desire, wish, passion, longing, pleasure of the senses, the aesthetic enjoyment of life, affection, or love, with or without sexual connotations.[86][87] In Hinduism, Kama is considered an essential and healthy goal of human life when pursued without sacrificing Dharma, Artha and Moksha.[88]

Mokṣa (liberation, freedom from samsara)

Main article: Moksha

Moksha (Sanskrit: मोक्ष mokṣa) or mukti (Sanskrit: मुक्ति) is the ultimate, most important goal in Hinduism. In one sense, Moksha is a concept associated with liberation from sorrow, suffering and saṃsāra (birth-rebirth cycle). A release from this eschatological cycle, in after life, particularly in theistic schools of Hinduism is called moksha.[89][90] In other schools of Hinduism, such as monistic, moksha is a goal achievable in current life, as a state of bliss through self-realization, of comprehending the nature of one's soul, of freedom and of "realizing the whole universe as the Self".[91][92]

Karma and samsara

Main article: Karma

Karma translates literally as action, work, or deed,[93] and also refers to a Vedic theory of "moral law of cause and effect".[94][95] The theory is a combination of (1) causality that may be ethical or non-ethical; (2) ethicization, that is good or bad actions have consequences; and (3) rebirth.[96] Karma theory is interpreted as explaining the present circumstances of an individual with reference to his or her actions in past. These actions may be those in a person's current life, or, in some schools of Hinduism, possibly actions in their past lives; furthermore, the consequences may result in current life, or a person's future lives.[96][97] This cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth is called samsara. Libration from samsara through moksha is believed to ensure lasting happiness and peace.[98][99] Hindu scriptures teach that the future is both a function of current human effort derived from free will and past human actions that set the circumstances.[100]

Moksha

The ultimate goal of life, referred to as moksha, nirvana or samadhi, is understood in several different ways: as the realization of one's union with God; as the realization of one's eternal relationship with God; realization of the unity of all existence; perfect unselfishness and knowledge of the Self; as the attainment of perfect mental peace; and as detachment from worldly desires. Such realization liberates one from samsara, thereby ending the cycle of rebirth, sorrow and suffering.[101][102] Due to belief in the indestructibility of the soul,[103] death is deemed insignificant with respect to the cosmic self.[104]

The meaning of moksha differs among the various Hindu schools of thought. For example, Advaita Vedanta holds that after attaining moksha a person knows their "soul, self" and identifies it as one with Brahman and everyone in all respects.[105][106] The followers of Dvaita (dualistic) schools, in moksha state, identify individual "soul, self" as distinct from Brahman but infinitesimally close, and after attaining moksha expect to spend eternity in a loka (heaven). To theistic schools of Hinduism, moksha is liberation from samsara, while for other schools such as the monistic school, moksha is possible in current life and is a psychological concept. According to Deutsche, moksha is transcendental consciousness to the latter, the perfect state of being, of self-realization, of freedom and of "realizing the whole universe as the Self".[91][105] Moksha in these schools of Hinduism, suggests Klaus Klostermaier,[106] implies a setting free of hitherto fettered faculties, a removing of obstacles to an unrestricted life, permitting a person to be more truly a person in the full sense; the concept presumes an unused human potential of creativity, compassion and understanding which had been blocked and shut out. Moksha is more than liberation from life-rebirth cycle of suffering (samsara); Vedantic school separates this into two: jivanmukti (liberation in this life) and videhamukti (liberation after death).[107][108]

Concept of God

Main articles: Ishvara and God in Hinduism

Hinduism is a diverse system of thought with beliefs spanning monotheism, polytheism, panentheism, pantheism, pandeism, monism, and atheism among others;[109][110][web 4] and its concept of God is complex and depends upon each individual and the tradition and philosophy followed. It is sometimes referred to as henotheistic (i.e., involving devotion to a single god while accepting the existence of others), but any such term is an overgeneralization.[111]

The Nasadiya Sukta (Creation Hymn) of the Rig Veda is one of the earliest texts[112] which "demonstrates a sense of metaphysical speculation" about what created the universe, the concept of god(s) and The One, and whether even The One knows how the universe came into being.[113][114] The Raigveda praises various deities, none superior nor inferior, in a henotheistic manner.[115] The hymns repeatedly refer to One Truth and Reality. The "One Truth" of Vedic literature, in modern era scholarship, has been interpreted as monotheism, monism, as well as a deified Hidden Principles behind the great happenings and processes of nature.[116]

Hindus believe that all living creatures have a soul. This soul – the spirit or true "self" of every person, is called the ātman. The soul is believed to be eternal.[117] According to the monistic/pantheistic (non-dualist) theologies of Hinduism (such as Advaita Vedanta school), this Atman is indistinct from Brahman, the supreme spirit.[118] The goal of life, according to the Advaita school, is to realise that one's soul is identical to supreme soul, that the supreme soul is present in everything and everyone, all life is interconnected and there is oneness in all life.[119][120][121] Dualistic schools (see Dvaita and Bhakti) understand Brahman as a Supreme Being separate from individual souls.[122] They worship the Supreme Being variously as Vishnu, Brahma, Shiva, or Shakti, depending upon the sect. God is called Ishvara, Bhagavan, Parameshwara, Deva or Devi, and these terms have different meanings in different schools of Hinduism.[123][124][125]

Krishna is worshipped as the avatar of the god Vishnu or Bhagavan, Supreme Being, in various traditions.

The Hindu scriptures refer to celestial entities called Devas (or devī in feminine form; devatā used synonymously for Deva in Hindi), which may be translated into English as "gods" or "heavenly beings".[note 21] The devas are an integral part of Hindu culture and are depicted in art, architecture and through icons, and mythological stories about them are related in the scriptures, particularly in Indian epic poetry and the Puranas. They are, however, often distinguished from Ishvara, a personal god, with many Hindus worshipping Ishvara in one of its particular manifestations as their iṣṭa devatā, or chosen ideal.[126][127] The choice is a matter of individual preference,[128] and of regional and family traditions.[128] The multitude of devas are considered as manifestations of Brahman.[note 22]

While ancient Vedic literature including Upanishads make no mention of reincarnation of God, the Puranas and the Epics relate several episodes of the descent of God to Earth in corporeal form to restore dharma to society. Such an incarnation is called an avatar. The most prominent avatars are of Vishnu and include Rama (the protagonist of the Ramayana) and Krishna (a central figure in the epic Mahabharata).

Both theistic and atheistic ideas, for epistemological and metaphysical reasons, are profuse in different schools of Hinduism. The early Nyaya school of Hinduism, for example, was non-theist/atheist,[129] but later Nyaya school scholars argued that God exists and offered proofs using its theory of logic.[130][131] Other schools disagreed with Nyaya scholars. Samkhya,[132] Mimamsa[133] and Carvaka schools of Hinduism, were non-theist/atheist, arguing that "God was an unnecessary metaphysical assumption".[134][web 5][135] Its Vaisheshika school started as another non-theistic tradition relying on naturalism and that all matter is eternal, but it later introduced the concept of a non-creator God.[136][137][136] The Yoga school of Hinduism accepted the concept of a "personal god" and left it to the Hindu to define his or her god.[138] Advaita Vedanta taught a monistic, abstract Self and Oneness in everything, with no room for gods or deity, a perspective that Mohanty calls, "spiritual, not religious".[139] Bhakti sub-schools of Vedanta taught a creator God that is distinct from each human being.[122]

Ahimsa, vegetarianism and other food customs

Main articles: Ahimsa, Vegetarianism and religion, Cattle in Religion, Sattvic diet and Mitahara

Hindus advocate the practice of ahiṃsā (non-violence) and respect for all life because divinity is believed to permeate all beings, including plants and non-human animals.[140] The term ahiṃsā appears in the Upanishads,[141] the epic Mahabharata[142] and ahiṃsā is the first of the five Yamas (vows of self-restraint) in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.[143] and the first principle for all member of Varnashrama Dharma (brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra) in Law of Manu (book 10, sutra 63 : Ahimsa, satya, asteya, shaucam and indrayanigraha, almost similar to main principles of jainism).[web 6][web 7]

A goshala or cow shelter at Guntur

In accordance with ahiṃsā, many Hindus embrace vegetarianism to respect higher forms of life. Estimates of the number of lacto vegetarians in India (includes adherents of all religions) vary between 20% and 42%.[144] The food habits vary with the community and region: for example, some castes having fewer vegetarians and coastal populations relying on seafood.[145][web 8] Some avoid meat only on specific holy days. Observant Hindus who do eat meat almost always abstain from beef. The cow in Hindu society is traditionally identified as a caretaker and a maternal figure,[146] and Hindu society honours the cow as a symbol of unselfish giving.[147]

There are many Hindu groups that have continued to abide by a strict vegetarian diet in modern times. Some adhere to a diet that is devoid of meat, eggs, and seafood.[148] Food affects body, mind and spirit in Hindu beliefs.[149][150] Hindu texts such as Śāṇḍilya Upanishad[151] and Svātmārāma[152][153] recommend Mitahara (eating in moderation) as one of the Yamas (virtuous self restraints). The Bhagavad Gita links body and mind to food one consumes in verses 17.8 through 17.10.[154]

Some Hindus from certain sects - generally Shakta,[155] and Hindus in regions such as Bali and Nepal[156][157] practise animal sacrifice.[158] In contrast, most Hindus, including the majority of Vaishnava and Shaivite Hindus abhor it.[web 9]

Scriptures

The Rigveda is the first and most important Veda[159] and is one of the oldest religious texts. This Rigveda manuscript is in Devanagari.
Main articles: Shruti, Smriti and List of Hindu scriptures

The ancient scriptures of Hinduism are in Sanskrit. These texts are classified into two: Shruti and Smriti. Hindu scriptures were composed, memorized and transmitted verbally, across generations, for many centuries before they were written down.[160][161] Over many centuries, sages refined the teachings and expanded the Shruti and Smriti, as well as developed Shastras with epistemological and metaphysical theories of six classical schools of Hinduism.

Shruti (lit. that which is heard)[162] primarily refers to the Vedas, which form the earliest record of the Hindu scriptures. While many Hindus revere the Vedas as eternal truths revealed to the ancient sages (rishis),[163][164] others do not associate the creation of the Vedas with a god or person. They are thought of as the laws of the spiritual world, which would still exist even if they were not revealed to the sages.[165][166] Hindus believe that because the spiritual truths of the Vedas are eternal, they continue to be expressed in new ways.[167] There are four Vedas - Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda. Each Veda has been subclassified into four major text types – the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), 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).[168][169][170] The first two parts of the Vedas were subsequently called the Karmakāṇḍa (ritualistic portion), while the last two form the Jñānakāṇḍa (knowledge portion, discussing spiritual insight and philosophical teachings).[171][web 10][172][173][174]

The Upanishads are the foundation of Hindu philosophical thought and have profoundly influenced its diverse traditions.[175][176] Of the shrutis (Vedic corpus), they alone are widely known, and the central ideas of the Upanishads are at the spiritual core of Hindus.[175][177] Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan states that the Upanishads have played a dominating role ever since their appearance.[178] There are 108 Muktikā Upanishads in Hinduism, of which between 10 to 13 are variously counted by scholars as Principal Upanishads.[179][180]

The most notable of the smritis ("memory") are the epics, which consist of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. The Bhagavad Gita is an integral part of the Mahabharata and one of the most popular sacred texts of Hinduism.[181] It is sometimes called Gitopanishad, then placed in the Shruti category, being Upanishadic in content.[182] Puranas, which illustrate Hindu ideas through vivid narratives come under smritis. Other texts include Devi Mahatmya, the Tantras, the Yoga Sutras, Tirumantiram, Shiva Sutras and the Hindu Agamas.

Practices

Main articles: Puja (Hinduism), Yajna, Murti, Mandir, Hindu iconography, Japa and Mantra

Rituals

Offerings to Agni during Vivah-homa in a Hindu wedding

Most Hindus observe religious rituals at home.[183] 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. Devout Hindus perform daily rituals such as worshiping at dawn after bathing (usually at a family shrine, and typically includes lighting a lamp and offering foodstuffs before the images of deities), recitation from religious scripts, singing devotional hymns, yoga, meditation, chanting mantras and others.[184]

Vedic rituals of fire-oblation (yajna) and chanting of Vedic hymns are observed on special occasions, such as a Hindu wedding.[185][186] Other major life-stage events, such as rituals after death, include the yajña and chanting of Vedic mantras.[web 11]

Life-cycle rites of passage

Major life stage milestones are celebrated as sanskara (saṃskāra, rites of passage) in Hinduism.[187][188] The rites of passage are not mandatory, and vary in details by gender, community and regionally.[189] Gautama Dharmasutras composed in about the middle of 1st millennium BCE lists 48 sanskaras,[190] while Gryhasutra and other texts composed centuries later list between 12 to 16 sanskaras.[187][191] The list of sanskaras in Hinduism include both external rituals such as those marking a baby's birth and a baby's name giving ceremony, as well as inner rites of resolutions and ethics such as compassion towards all living beings and positive attitude.[190] The major traditional rites of passage in Hinduism include[189] Garbhadhana (pregnancy), Pumsavana (rite before the fetus begins moving and kicking in womb), Simantonnayana (parting of pregnant woman's hair, baby shower), Jatakarman (rite celebrating the new born baby), Namakarana (naming the child), Nishkramana (baby's first outing from home into the world), Annaprashana (baby's first feeding of solid food), Chudakarana (baby's first haircut, tonsure), Karnavedha (ear piercing), Vidyarambha (baby's start with knowledge), Upanayana (entry into a school rite),[192][193] Keshanta and Ritusuddhi (first shave for boys, menarche for girls), Samavartana (graduation ceremony), Vivaha (wedding), Vratas (fasting, spiritual studies) and Antyeshti (cremation for an adult, burial for a child).[194] In contemporary times, there is regional variation among Hindus as to which of these sanskaras are observed; in some cases, additional regional rites of passage such as Śrāddha (ritual of feeding people after cremation) are practiced.[189][web 12]

Bhakti (worship)

Priest attending a murthi

Hindu practices generally involve seeking awareness of God and sometimes also seeking blessings from Devas. Therefore, Hinduism has developed numerous practices meant to help one think of divinity in the midst of everyday life.

Mantra

Mantras are invocations, praise and prayers that through their meaning, sound, and chanting style help a devotee focus the mind on holy thoughts or express devotion to God/the deities. Many devotees perform morning ablutions at the bank of a sacred river while chanting the Gayatri Mantra or Mahamrityunjaya mantras.[195] The epic Mahabharata extols Japa (ritualistic chanting) as the greatest duty in the Kali Yuga (current age, 3102 BCE- present).[196] Many adopt Japa as their primary spiritual practice.[196]

Devotional songs (Bhajans)

Main article: Bhajan

A Bhajan is any type of devotional song. It has no fixed form: it may be as simple as a mantra or kirtan or as sophisticated as the dhrupad or kriti with music based on classical ragas and talas.[197] It is normally lyrical, expressing love for the Divine. The name, a cognate of bhakti, meaning religious devotion, suggests its importance to the bhakti movement that spread from the south of India throughout the entire subcontinent in the Moghul era. Anecdotes and episodes from scriptures, the teachings of saints and descriptions of gods have all been the subject of bhajans.

Festivals

The festival of lights- Diwali, is celebrated by Hindus all over the world.

Hindu festivals (Sanskrit: Utsava; literally: "to lift higher") are considered as symbolic rituals that beautifully weave individual and social life to dharma.[198] Hinduism has many festivals throughout the year. The Hindu calendar usually prescribe their dates.

The festivals typically celebrate events from Hindu mythology, often coinciding with seasonal changes. There are festivals which are primarily celebrated by specific sects or in certain regions of the Indian subcontinent.

Some widely observed Hindu festivals include:

Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage to Kedarnath

Pilgrimage is not mandatory in Hinduism, though many adherents undertake them.[199] While there are different yet similar pilgrimage routes in different parts of India, all are respected equally well, according to the universality of Hinduism. The following pilgrimage sites are most famous amongst Hindu devotees:

Person and society

Varnas

Main article: Varna (Hinduism)

Hindu society has been categorised into four classes, called varnas. They are the Brahmins: Vedic teachers and priests; the Kshatriyas: warriors, nobles, and kings; the Vaishyas: farmers, merchants, and businessmen; and the Shudras: servants and labourers.

The Bhagavad Gītā links the varna to an individual's duty (svadharma), inborn nature (svabhāva), and natural tendencies (guṇa).[200] The Manusmṛiti categorises the different castes.[web 13]

Some mobility and flexibility within the varnas challenge allegations of social discrimination in the caste system, as has been pointed out by several sociologists,[201][202] although some other scholars disagree.[203] Scholars debate whether the so-called caste system is part of Hinduism sanctioned by the scriptures or social custom.[204][web 14][note 23] And various contemporary scholars have argued that the caste system was constructed by the British colonial regime.[205]

A renunciant man of knowledge is usually called Varnatita or "beyond all varnas" in Vedantic works. The bhiksu is advised to not bother about the caste of the family from which he begs his food. Scholars like Adi Sankara affirm that not only is Brahman beyond all varnas, the man who is identified with Him also transcends the distinctions and limitations of caste.[206]

Yoga

A statue of Shiva in yogic meditation.
Main article: Yoga

In whatever way a Hindu defines the goal of life, there are several methods (yogas) that sages have taught for reaching that goal. Yoga is a Hindu discipline which trains the body, mind and consciousness for health, tranquility and spiritual insight. This is done through a system of postures and exercises to practise control of the body and mind.[207] Texts dedicated to Yoga include the Yoga Sutras, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Bhagavad Gita and, as their philosophical and historical basis, the Upanishads. Yoga is means, and the four major marga (paths) discussed in Hinduism are: Bhakti Yoga (the path of love and devotion), Karma Yoga (the path of right action), Rāja Yoga (the path of meditation), Jñāna Yoga (the path of wisdom)[208] An individual may prefer one or some yogas over others, according to his or her inclination and understanding. Practice of one yoga does not exclude others.

Symbolism

Hinduism has a developed system of symbolism and iconography to represent the sacred in art, architecture, literature and worship. These symbols gain their meaning from the scriptures, mythology, or cultural traditions. The syllable om (which represents the Para Brahman) and the swastika sign (which symbolises auspiciousness) have grown to represent Hinduism itself, while other markings such as tilaka identify a follower of the faith. Hinduism associates many symbols, which include the lotus (padma), chakra and veena, with particular deities.

Denominations

Main article: Hindu denominations
A Ganesha-centric Panchayatana ("five deities", from the Smarta school): Ganesha (centre) with Shiva (top left), Devi (top right), Vishnu (bottom left) and Surya (bottom right). All these deities also have separate sects dedicated to them.

Hinduism has no central doctrinal authority and many practising Hindus do not claim to belong to any particular denomination.[209] However four major denominations are recognised: Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism and Smartism.[web 16] The denominations differ primarily in the god worshipped as the Supreme One and in the traditions that accompany worship of that deity.

Vaishnavism is the sect that worships Vishnu and his avatars. It is a devotional sect, and followers worship many deities, including the avatars Rama and Krishna. The adherents of this sect are generally non-ascetic, monastic and devoted to meditative practice and ecstatic chanting.[210][211][212] Vaishnavas are mainly dualistic. They are deeply devotional. Their religion is rich in saints, temples and scriptures.[213]

Shaivism venerates Shiva as the Supreme Being. Shaivas are more attracted to asceticism than adherents of other Hindu sects, and may be found wandering India with ashen faces performing self-purification rituals.[210][211][212] They worship in the temple and practice yoga, striving to be one with Shiva within.[213]

Cults of goddess worship are ancient in India. The branch of Hinduism that worships the goddess, known as Devi, is called Shaktism. Followers of Shaktism recognize Shakti as the power that underlies the male principle. Devi is depicted as in gentler forms like Parvati, the consort of Shiva and Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu or as fierce warrior goddesses like Kali and Durga. Shaktism is closely related with Tantric Hinduism, which teaches rituals and practices for purification of the mind and body.[210][211][212] Shaktas use chants, magic, holy diagrams, yoga and rituals to call forth cosmic forces.[213]

Smartism, a relatively modern Hindu tradition (compared to the three older traditions) accepts all the major Hindu deities, however prefers to worship Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti, Ganesha (the elephant-headed god), Surya (the sun god) or Skanda (the war god) as the Supreme God. It is thus considered liberal or nonsectarian and is based on the recognition that Brahman is the highest principle in the universe and pervades all of existence.[210][211][212] They follow a philosophical, meditative path, emphasizing man's oneness with God through understanding.[213]

Other denominations like Ganapatya (dedicated to Ganesha) and Saura (Surya's worship) are not as widespread. Other movements like Dayananda Saraswati's Arya Samaj, which rejects image worship and veneration of multiple deities; exist. The Tantric sects may be classified as Vaishnava, Shaivism, Shakta, Ganapatya, Saura etc.[214]

Institutions

Temple

The Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple in Delhi, according the Guinness World Records is the World's Largest Comprehensive Hindu Temple[web 17]
Main article: Hindu temple

The worship place is commonly known as Temple. Usually regarded as Devasthana (God's place) or Mandir by the followers, construction of temple and mode of worship is governed by several agama scriptures, which deal with individual deities. There are substantial differences in architecture, customs, rituals and traditions in temples in different parts of India.[215]

Hindus can engage in puja (worship or veneration),[125] either at home or at a temple. At home, Hindus often create a shrine with icons dedicated to their chosen form(s) of God. Temples are usually dedicated to a primary deity along with associated subordinate deities though some commemorate multiple deities. Visiting temples is not obligatory,[216] and many visit temples only during religious festivals. Hindus perform their worship through icons (murtis). The icon serves as a tangible link between the worshiper and God.[217] The image is often considered a manifestation of God, since God is immanent. The Padma Purana states that the murti is not to be thought of as mere stone or wood but as a manifest form of the Divinity.[218] While there are Hindus who, do not believe in worshipping God through icons, most notably those of Arya Samaj.

Ashrama

Traditionally the life of a Hindu is divided into four Āshramas (phases or life stages; unrelated meanings include monastery).[190] The four asramas are: Brahmacharya (student), Grihastha (householder), Vanaprastha (retired) and Sannyasa (renunciation).[219]

Brahmacharya represents the bachelor student stage of life. Grihastha refers to the individual's married life, with the duties of maintaining a household, raising a family, educating one's children, and leading a family-centred and a dharmic social life.[219] Grihastha stage starts with Hindu wedding, and has been considered as the most important of all stages in sociological context, as Hindus in this stage not only pursued a virtuous life, they produced food and wealth that sustained people in other stages of life, as well as the offsprings that continued mankind.[220] Vanaprastha is the retirement stage, where a person hands over household responsibilities to the next generation, took an advisory role, and gradually withdrew from the world.[221][222] The Sannyasa stage marks renunciation and a state of disinterest and detachment from material life, generally without any meaningful property or home (Ascetic), and focussed on Moksha, peace and simple spiritual life.[223][224]

The Ashramas system has been one facet of the Dharma concept in Hinduism.[225] Combined with four proper goals of human life (Purusartha), the Ashramas system traditionally aimed at providing a Hindu with fulfilling life and spiritual liberation.[220] While these stages are typically sequential, any person can enter Sannyasa (ascetic) stage and become an Ascetic at any time after the Brahmacharya stage.[226] Sannyasa is not religiously mandatory in Hinduism, and elderly people are free to live with their families.[227]

Monasticism

Main article: Sannyasa
A sadhu in Madurai, India.

Some Hindus choose to live a monastic life (Sannyāsa) in pursuit of liberation or another form of spiritual perfection. Monastics commit themselves to a life of simplicity, celibacy, detachment from worldly pursuits, and the contemplation of God.[228] A Hindu monk is called a sanyāsī, sādhu, or swāmi. A female renunciate is called a sanyāsini. Renunciates receive high respect in Hindu society because their outward renunciation of selfishness and worldliness serves as an inspiration to householders who strive for mental renunciation. Some monastics live in monasteries, while others wander from place to place, trusting in God alone to provide for their needs.[229] It is considered a highly meritorious act for a householder to provide sādhus with food or other necessaries. Sādhus strive to treat all with respect and compassion, whether a person may be poor or rich, good or wicked, and to be indifferent to praise, blame, pleasure, and pain.[228]

History

Main article: History of Hinduism

Periodisation

James Mill (1773–1836), in his The History of British India (1817),[230] distinguished three phases in the history of India, namely Hindu, Muslim and British civilisations.[230][231] This periodisation has been criticised, for the misconceptions it has given rise to.[232] Another periodisation is the division into "ancient, classical, mediaeval and modern periods".[233] An elaborate periodisation may be as follows:[13]

  • Pre-classical Hinduism (c. 200 BCE-300 CE);
  • "Golden Age" (Gupta Empire) (c. 320-650 CE);
  • Late-Classical Hinduism - Puranic Hinduism (c. 650-1100 CE);

Origins

Among the roots of Hinduism are the historical Vedic religion of Iron Age India,[238] itself already the product of "a composite of the indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures and civilizations",[239][note 26] but also the Sramana[241] or renouncer traditions[65] of northeast India,[241] and mesolithic[242] and neolithic[243] cultures of India, such as the religions of the Indus Valley Civilisation,[244] Dravidian traditions,[245] and the local traditions[65] and tribal religions.[246][note 27]

Prevedic religions (until c. 1750 BCE)

The so-called Shiva Pashupati seal, Indus Valley civilization.

The earliest prehistoric religion in India that may have left its traces in Hinduism comes from mesolithic as observed in the sites such as the rock paintings of Bhimbetka rock shelters dating to a period of 30,000 BCE or older,[note 28] as well as neolithic times.[note 29] Some of the religious practices can be considered to have originated in 4,000 BCE. Several tribal religions still exist, though their practices may not resemble those of prehistoric religions.[web 18]

According to anthropologist Possehl, the Indus Valley Civilization "provides a logical, if somewhat arbitrary, starting point for some aspects of the later Hindu tradition".[247] The religion of this period included worship of a Great male god, which is compared to a proto-Shiva, and probably a Mother Goddess, that may prefigure Shakti. However these links of deities and practices of the Indus religion to later-day Hinduism are subject to both political contention and scholarly dispute.[248]

Vedic period (c. 1750-500 BCE)

Main article: Vedic period

Origins

The Vedic period, named after the Vedic religion of the Indo-Aryans,[249][note 30] lasted from c. 1750 to 500 BCE.[251][note 31] The Indo-Aryans were pastoralists[253] who migrated into north-western India after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization,[250][254][255][note 32]

During the early Vedic period (c. 1500 - 1100 BCE[253]) Vedic tribes were pastoralists, wandering around in north-west India.[258] After 1100 BCE the Vedic tribes moved into the western Ganges Plain, adapting an agrarical lifestyle.[253][259][260] Rudimentary state-forms appeared, of which the Kuru-tribe and realm was the most influential.[253][261] It was a tribal union, which developed into the first recorded state-level society in South Asia around 1000 BCE.[253] It decisively changed the Vedic heritage of the early Vedic period, collecting the Vedic hymns into collections, and developing new rituals which gained their position in Indian civilization as the orthodox srauta rituals,[253] which contributed to the so-called "classical synthesis"[262] or "Hindu synthesis".[263]

Vedic religion

The Indo-Aryans brought with them their language[264] and religion.[265][266] The Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesised Proto-Indo-European religion,[267][268] and the Indo-Iranian religion.[269][note 33]

The Vedic religion of the later Vedic period co-existed with local religions, such as the Yaksha cults,[262][276][web 19] and was itself the product of "a composite of the indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures and civilizations".[239] David Gordon White cites three other mainstream scholars who "have emphatically demonstrated" that Vedic religion is partially derived from the Indus Valley Civilizations.[277] [note 26] Their religion was further developed when they migrated into the Ganges Plain after c. 1100 BCE and became settled farmers,[253][278][279] further syncretising with the native cultures of northern India.[262]

This is the period when the Vedas and early Upanishads were composed. The oldest of these Vedic texts is the Rigveda, composed between c.1500-1200 BCE,[280][281][282] though a wider approximation of c.1700-1100 BCE has also been given.[283][284] The 9th and 8th centuries BCE witnessed the composition of the earliest Upanishads.[285]:183 Upanishads form the theoretical basis of classical Hinduism and constitute the Vedanta (conclusion of the Veda) literature.[286]

"Second Urbanisation" (c. 500-200 BCE)

Main article: Sramana

Increasing urbanisation of India in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE led to the rise of ascetic circles and of new ideas which challenged the orthodoxy of rituals.[287] These ideas led to Sramana movements, of which Mahavira (c. 549–477 BCE), proponent of Jainism, and Buddha (c. 563-483), founder of Buddhism, were the most prominent icons.[285]:184

The ascetic tradition of Vedic period in part created the concept of samsara and suffering, and the concept of liberation, which became characteristic for Hinduism, along with Buddhism and Jainism.[note 34]

These ascetic concepts were adopted by schools of Hinduism as well as other major Indian religions, but key differences between their premises defined their further development. Hinduism, for example, developed its ideas with the premise that every human being has a soul (atman, self), while Buddhism developed with the premise that there is no soul or self.[288][289][290]

The chronology of these religious concepts is unclear, and scholars contest which religion affected the other as well as the chronological sequence of the ancient texts.[291][292] Pratt notes that Oldenberg (1854-1920), Neumann (1865-1915) and Radhakrishnan (1888-1975) believed that the Buddhist canon had been influenced by Upanishads, while la Vallee Poussin thinks the influence was nihil, and "Eliot and several others insist that on some points the Buddha was directly antithetical to the Upanishads".[293][note 35]

Classical Hinduism (c. 200 BCE-1100 CE)

After the Vedic period, between 500[263]-200[294] BCE and c. 300 CE,[263] the Vedic-Brahmanic culture spread to southern India and parts of Southeast Asia.[note 36]

Pre-classical Hinduism (c. 200 BCE-300 CE)

The "Hindu synthesis" or "Brahmanical synthesis"[263][294] incorporated Sramanic and Buddhist influences[294][295] and the emerging bhakti tradition into the "Brahmanical fold" via the smriti literature.[296][294] This synthesis emerged under the pressure of the success of Buddhism and Jainism.[297]

According to Embree, several other religious traditions had existed side by side with the Vedic religion. These indigenous religions "eventually found a place under the broad mantle of the Vedic religion".[298] The smriti texts of the period between 200 BCE-100 CE proclaimed the authority of the Vedas, and acceptance of the Vedas became a central criterium for defining Hinduism over and against the heterodoxies, which rejected the Vedas and relied on their own Sutras (texts).[299]

The major Sanskrit epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, which belong to the smriti, were compiled over a protracted period during the late centuries BCE and the early centuries CE.[web 20] They contain mythological stories about the rulers and wars of ancient India, and are interspersed with religious and philosophical treatises. The later Puranas recount tales about devas and devis, their interactions with humans and their battles against rakshasa. The Bhagavad Gita was composed in this period and consolidated diverse ideas.[300]

In early centuries CE several schools of Hindu philosophy were formally written down, including Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Purva-Mimamsa and Vedanta.[301]

"Golden Age" (Gupta Empire) (c. 320-650 CE)

During the Gupta period, the first Hindu temples dedicated to the gods of the Hindu deities, emerged.[302][note 37] During the Gupta reign the first Puranas were written.[304] According to P.S. Sharma, "the Gupta and Harsha periods form really, from the strictly intellectual standpoint, the most brilliant epocha in the development of Indian philosophy", as Hindu and Buddhist philosophies flourished side by side.[305]

Late-Classical Hinduism - Puranic Hinduism (c. 650-1100 CE)

After the end of the Gupta Empire, power became decentralised in India. The disintegration of central power also lead to regionalisation of religiosity, and religious rivalry.[306] Rural and devotional movements arose within Hinduism, along with Shaivism, Vaisnavism, Bhakti and Tantra,[306] that competed with each other, as well as with numerous sects of Buddhism and Jainism.[306][307][308] During this period, the non-dualistic Advaita Vedanta was reformulated by Adi Shankara who systematised the works of preceding philosophers.[309]

Islam and sects of Hinduism (c. 1200-1700 CE)

Main article: Islam in India
Babur visits a Hindu temple.

Though Islam came to Indian subcontinent in the early 7th century with the advent of Arab traders, it started impacting Indian religions after the 10th century, and particularly after the 12th century with the establishment and then expansion of Islamic rule.[310][311] Will Durant calls the Muslim conquest of India "probably the bloodiest story in history".[312] During this period, Buddhism declined rapidly while Hinduism faced military-led and Sultanates-sponsored religious violence.[312][313] There was a widespread practice of raids, seizure and enslavement of families of Hindus, who were then sold in Sultanate cities or exported to Central Asia.[314][315] Some texts suggest a number of Hindus were forcibly converted to Islam.[316][317] Starting with 13th century, for a period of some 500 years, very few texts, from the numerous written by Muslim court historians, mention any "voluntary conversions of Hindus to Islam", suggesting its insignificance and perhaps rarity of such conversions.[317] Typically enslaved Hindus converted to Islam to gain their freedom.[318] There were occasional exceptions to religious violence against Hinduism. Akbar, for example, recognized Hinduism, banned enslavement of the families of Hindu war captives, protected Hindu temples, and abolished discriminatory Jizya (head taxes) against Hindus.[314][319] However, many Muslim rulers of Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire, before and after Akbar, from 12th century to 18th century, destroyed Hindu temples[web 21][320][web 22][note 38] and persecuted non-Muslims.

Hinduism underwent profound changes, aided in part by teachers such as Ramanuja, Madhva, and Chaitanya.[310] Followers of the Bhakti movement moved away from the abstract concept of Brahman, which Adi Shankara consolidated a few centuries before, with emotional, passionate devotion towards the more accessible avatars, especially Krishna and Rama.[321] According to Nicholson, already between the 12th and the 16th century, "certain thinkers began to treat as a single whole the diverse philosophical teachings of the Upanishads, epics, Puranas, and the schools known retrospectively as the "six systems" (saddarsana) of mainstream Hindu philosophy."[38][note 39] Michaels notes that a historicization emerged which preceded later nationalism, articulating ideas which glorified Hinduism and the past.[44]

Modern Hinduism (from c.1800)

Russian Krishnaites celebrating Ratha Yatra. In the late 20th century forms of Hinduism have grown indigenous roots in parts of Russia, significantly in Altay where Hinduism is now the religion of 2% of the population.

Hindu revivalism

With the onset of the British Raj, the colonization of India by the British, there also started a Hindu renaissance in the 19th century, which profoundly changed the understanding of Hinduism in both India and the west.[322] Indology as an academic discipline of studying Indian culture from a European perspective was established in the 19th century, led by scholars such as Max Müller and John Woodroffe. They brought Vedic, Puranic and Tantric literature and philosophy to Europe and the United States. Western orientalist searched for the "essence" of the Indian religions, discerning this in the Vedas,[323] and meanwhile creating the notion of "Hinduism" as a unified body of religious praxis[324] and the popular picture of 'mystical India'.[324][322] This idea of a Vedic essence was taken over by Hindu reform movements as the Brahmo Samaj, which was supported for a while by the Unitarian Church,[325] together with the ideas of Universalism and Perennialism, the idea that all religions share a common mystic ground.[326] This "Hindu modernism", with proponents like Vivekananda, Aurobindo and Radhakrishnan, became central in the popular understanding of Hinduism.[327][328][329][330][47]

Popularity in the west

Influential 20th-century Hindus were Ramana Maharshi, B.K.S. Iyengar, Paramahansa Yogananda, Prabhupada (founder of ISKCON), Sri Chinmoy, Swami Rama and others who translated, reformulated and presented Hinduism's foundational texts for contemporary audiences in new iterations, raising the profiles of Yoga and Vedanta in the West and attracting followers and attention in India and abroad.

Hindu practices such as Yoga, Ayurvedic health, divination (astrology, palmistry, numerology), Tantric sexuality through Neotantra and the Kama Sutra have spread beyond Hindu communities and have been accepted by several non-Hindus:

"Hinduism is attracting Western adherents through the affiliated practice of yoga. Yoga centers in the West—which generally advocate vegetarianism—attract young, well-educated Westerners who are drawn by yoga's benefits for the physical and emotional health; there they are introduced to the Hindu philosophical system taught by most yoga teachers, known as Vedanta."[331]

It is estimated that around 30 million Americans and 5 million Europeans regularly practice some form of Hatha Yoga.[332] In Australia, the number of practitioners is about 300,000.[web 23] In New Zealand the number is also around 300,000.[web 24]

Hindutva

In the 20th century, Hinduism also gained prominence as a political force and a source for national identity in India. With origins traced back to the establishment of the Hindu Mahasabha in the 1910s, the movement grew with the formulation and development of the Hindutva ideology in the following decades; the establishment of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1925; and the entry, and later success, of RSS offshoots Jana Sangha and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in electoral politics in post-independence India.[333] Hindu religiosity plays an important role in the nationalist movement.[334][note 40][note 41]

Demographics

Main article: Hinduism by country
Hinduism - Percentage by country

Part of a series on
Hinduism by country

Hinduism is a major religion in India. Hinduism was followed by around 80.5% of the country's population of 1.21 billion (2012 estimate) (960 million adherents).[web 25] Other significant populations are found in Nepal (23 million), Bangladesh (15 million) and the Indonesian island of Bali (3.9 million).[339] The majority of the Vietnamese Cham people also follow Hinduism.[340]

Countries with the greatest proportion of Hindus from Hinduism by country (as of 2008):

  1.    Nepal 81.3%[web 26]
  2.  India 80.5%
  3.  Mauritius 48.5%[341]
  4.  Guyana 28%[web 27]
  5.  Fiji 27.9%[web 28]
  6.  Bhutan 25%[web 29]
  7.  Trinidad and Tobago 22.5%
  8.  Suriname 20%[web 30]
  9.  Sri Lanka 12.6%[web 31]
  10.  Bangladesh 9.6%[web 32]
  11.  Qatar 7.2%
  12.  Réunion 6.7%
  13.  Malaysia 6.3%[web 33]
  14.  Bahrain 6.25%
  15.  Kuwait 6%
  16.  Singapore 5.1%[web 34]
  17.  United Arab Emirates 5%
  18.  Oman 3%
  19.  Belize 2.3%
  20.  Seychelles 2.1%[web 35]

Demographically, Hinduism is the world's third largest religion, after Christianity and Islam.

See also

Hinduism
Related systems and religions

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hinduism is variously defined as a "religion", "set of religious beliefs and practices", "religious tradition", "a way of life" (Sharma 2003, pp. 12–13) etc. For a discussion on the topic, see: "Establishing the boundaries" in Flood 2008, pp. 1–17
  2. ↑ See:
    • "Oldest religion":
      • Fowler: "probably the oldest religion in the world" (Fowler 1997, p. 1)
      • Gellman & Hartman: "Hinduism, the world's oldest religion" (Gellman & Hartman 2011)
      • Stevens: "Hinduism, the oldest religion in the world" (Stevens 2001, p. 191)
    • The "oldest living religion" (Sarma 1987, p. 3)
    • The "oldest living major religion" in the world (Merriam-Webster 2000, p. 751; Klostermaier 2007, p. 1)
      • Laderman: "world's oldest living civilisation and religion" (Laderman 2003, p. 119)
      • Turner: "It is also recognized as the oldest major religion in the world" (Turner 1996-B, p. 359)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lockard 2007, p. 50: "The encounters that resulted from Aryan migration brought together several very different peoples and cultures, reconfiguring Indian society. Over many centuries a fusion of Aryan and Dravidian occurred, a complex process that historians have labeled the Indo-Aryan synthesis." Lockard 2007, p. 52: "Hinduism can be seen historically as a synthesis of Aryan beliefs with Harappan and other Dravidian traditions that developed over many centuries."
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Hiltebeitel 2007, p. 12: "A period of consolidation, sometimes identified as one of "Hindu synthesis," Brahmanic synthesis," or "orthodox synthesis," takes place between the time of the late Vedic Upanishads (c. 500 BCE) and the period of Gupta imperial ascendency" (c. 320-467 CE)."
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 See also:
  6. ↑ Among its roots are the Vedic religion of the late Vedic period (Flood 1996, p. 16) and its emphasis on the status of Brahmans (Samuel 2010, pp. 48–53), but also the religions of the Indus Valley Civilisation (Narayanan 2009, p. 11; Lockard 2007, p. 52; Hiltebeitel 2007, p. 3; Jones & Ryan 2006, p. xviii) the Sramana or renouncer traditions of north-east India (Flood 1996, p. 16; Gomez 2013, p. 42) and "popular or local traditions" (Flood 1996, p. 16).
  7. ↑ The Indo-Aryan word Sindhu means "river", "ocean".[14] It is frequently being used in the Rigveda. The Sindhu-area is part of Āryāvarta, "the land of the Aryans".
  8. ↑ Gavin Flood adds: "In Arabic texts, Al-Hind is a term used for the people of modern-day India and 'Hindu', or 'Hindoo', was used towards the end of the eighteenth century by the British to refer to the people of 'Hindustan', the people of northwest India. Eventually 'Hindu' became virtually equivalent to an 'Indian' who was not a Muslim, Sikh, Jain or Christian, thereby encompassing a range of religious beliefs and practices. The '-ism' was added to Hindu in around 1830 to denote the culture and religion of the high-caste Brahmans in contrast to other religions, and the term was soon appropriated by Indians themselves in the context of building a national identity opposed to colonialism, though the term 'Hindu' was used in Sanskrit and Bengali hagiographic texts in contrast to 'Yavana' or Muslim as early as the sixteenth century".(Flood 1996, p. 6)
  9. ↑ In ancient literature the name Bharata or Bharata VRasa was being used.(Garg 1992, p. 3)
  10. ↑ Sweetman mentions:
    • Wilhelm Halbfass (1988), India and Europe
    • IXth European Conference on Modern Asian Studies in Heidelberg (1989), Hinduism Reconsidered
    • Ronald Inden, Imagining India
    • Carol Breckenridge and Peter van der Veer, Orientalism and the Postcolonial Predicament
    • Vasudha Dalmia and Heinrich von Stietencron, Representing Hinduism
    • S.N. Balagangadhara, The Heathen in his Blindness...
    • Thomas Trautmann, Aryans and British India
    • Richard King (1989), Orientalism and religion
  11. ↑ See Rajiv Malhotra and Being Different for a critic who gained widespread attention outside the academia, Invading the Sacred, and Hindu studies.
  12. ↑ Sweetman identifies several areas in which "there is substantial, if not universal, agreement that colonialism influenced the study of Hinduism":[28]
    1. The wish of European Orientalists "to establish a textual basis for Hinduism," akin to the Protestant culture,[28] which was also driven by a preference among the colonial powers for "written authority" rather than "oral authority."[28]
    2. The influence of Brahmins on European conceptions of Hinduism.[28] According to Sweetman, colonialism has been "a significant factor in the reinforcement of their position and the acceleration of the 'brahmanization' of Hindu society."[28] The Brahmana castes preserved the texts which were studied by Europeans, and provided access to them. The authority of those texts was expanded by being the focus of study by Europeans.[28] Brahmins and Europeans scholars shared a perception of "a general decline from an originally pure religion".[28]
    3. "[T]he identification of Vedanta, more specifically Advaita Vedanta, as 'the paradigmatic example of the mystical nature of the Hindu religion'"[28][note 13] and the "central philosophy of the Hindus".[28] Several factors led to the favouring of Advaita Vedanta:[29]
      1. Fear of French influence, especially the impact of the French Revolution; the hope was that "the supposed quietist and conservative nature of Vedantic thought would prevent the development of revolutionary sentiment";[29]
      2. "The predominance of Idealism in nineteenth century European philosophy";[30]
      3. "The amenability of Vedantic thought to both Christian and Hindu critics of 'idolatry' in other forms of Hinduism".[30]
    4. The European conception of caste which dismissed former political configurations and insisted upon an "essentially religious character" of India.[31] During the colonial period, caste was defined as a religious system and was divorced from political powers.[30] This made it possible for the colonial rulers to portray India as a society characterised by spiritual harmony in contrast to the former Indian states which they criticised as "despotic and epiphenomenal",[30][note 14] with the colonial powers providing the necessary "benevolent, paternalistic rule by a more 'advanced' nation".[30]
    5. "[T]he construction of Hinduism in the image of Christianity"[32] as "a systematic, confessional, all-embracing religious entity".[32][note 15] Several forces played a role in this construction:
      1. The European scholarship which studied India,[32]
      2. The "acts of policy of the colonial state",[32]
      3. Anti-colonial Hindus[33] "looking toward the systematisation of disparate practices as a means of recovering a precolonial, national identity".[32][note 16]
  13. ↑ Sweetman cites Richard King (1999) p.128.(King 1999)
  14. ↑ Sweetman cites Dirks (1993), The Hollow Crown, University of Michigan Press, p.xxvii
  15. ↑ Sweetman cites Dirks (2001), Castes ofMind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India, Princeton University Press, p.7
  16. ↑ Sweetman cites Viswanathan (2003), Colonialism and the Construction of Hinduism, p.26
  17. ↑ See also Arvind Sharma (2002), On Hindu, Hindustān, Hinduism and Hindutva. Numen Vol. 49, Fasc. 1 (2002), pp. 1-36.
  18. ↑ Ghurye: He [Hutton] considers modern Hinduism to be the result of an amalgam between pre-Aryan Indian beliefs of Mediterranean inspiration and the religion of the Rigveda. "The Tribal religions present, as it were, surplus material not yet built into the temple of Hinduism".(Ghurye 1980, p. 4)
  19. ↑ Tyler, in India: An Anthropological Perspective(1973), page 68, as quoted by Sjoberg, calls Hinduism a "synthesis" in which the Dravidian elements prevail: "The Hindu synthesis was less the dialectical reduction of orthodoxy and heterodoxy than the resurgence of the ancient, aboriginal Indus civilization. In this process the rude, barbaric Aryan tribes were gradually civilised and eventually merged with the autochthonous Dravidians. Although elements of their domestic cult and ritualism were jealously preserved by Brahman priests, the body of their culture survived only in fragmentary tales and allegories embedded in vast, syncretistic compendia. On the whole, the Aryan contribution to Indian culture is insignificant. The essential pattern of Indian culture was already established in the third millennium B.C., and ... the form of Indian civilization perdured and eventually reasserted itself.(Sjoberg 1990, p. 43)
  20. ↑ Hopfe & Woodward 2008, p. 79: "The religion that the Aryans brought with them mingled with the religion of the native people, and the culture that developed between them became classical Hinduism."
  21. ↑ For translation of deva in singular noun form as "a deity, god", and in plural form as "the gods" or "the heavenly or shining ones", see: Monier-Williams 2001, p. 492. For translation of devatā as "godhead, divinity", see: Monier-Williams 2001, p. 495.
  22. ↑
    • Lisa Hark, Lisa Hark, PH.D., R.D., Horace DeLisser, MD (7 September 2011). Achieving Cultural Competency. John Wiley & Sons. Three gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, and other deities are considered manifestations of and are worshipped as incarnations of Brahman.
    • John McCannon (1 January 2006). World History Examination. Barron's Educational Series. In addition to the Brahman, Hinduism recognises literally hundreds of gods and goddesses. Thus, Hinduism is a polytheistic religion. However, Hindus consider all deities to be avatars, or incarnations of the Brahman.
    • Toropov & Buckles 2011: The members of various Hindu sects worship a dizzying number of specific deities and follow innumerable rituals in honor of specific gods. Because this is Hinduism, however, its practitioners see the profusion of forms and practices as expressions of the same unchanging reality. The panoply of deities are understood by believers as symbols for a single transcendent reality.
    • Orlando O. Espín, James B. Nickoloff (2007). An Introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious Studies. Liturgical Press. The devas are powerful spiritual beings, somewhat like angels in the West, who have certain functions in the cosmos and live immensely long lives. Certain devas, such as Ganesha, are regularly worshiped by the Hindu faithful. Note that, while Hindus believe in many devas, many are monotheistic to the extent that they will recognise only one Supreme Being, a God or Goddess who is the source and ruler of the devas.
  23. ↑ Venkataraman and Deshpande: "Caste-based discrimination does exist in many parts of India today.... Caste-based discrimination fundamentally contradicts the essential teaching of Hindu sacred texts that divinity is inherent in all beings."[web 15]
  24. ↑ Different periods are designated as "classical Hinduism":
    • Smart calls the period between 1000 BCE and 100 CE "pre-classical". It's the formative period for the Upanishads and Brahmanism[note 25]
  25. ↑ Smart distinguishes "Brahmanism" from the Vedic religion, connecting "Brahmanism" with the Upanishads. numerous [[Hindu denominations|other tSmart 2003, p. 52, 83-86.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 See:
    • David Gordo White: "[T]he religion of the Vedas was already a composite of the indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures and civilizations."[239]
    • Richard Gombrich: "It is important to bear in mind that the Indo-Aryans did not enter an unhabitated land. For nearly two millennia they and their culture gradually penetrated India, moving east and south from their original seat in the Punjab. They mixed with people who spoke Munda or Dravidian languages, who have left no traces of their culture beyond some archaeological remains; we know as little about them as we would about the Indo-Aryans if they had left no texts. In fact we cannot even be sure whether some of the aerchaeological finds belong to Indo-Aryans, autochthonous populations, or a mixture.
      It is to be assumed - though this is not fashionable in Indian historiography - that the clash of cultures between Indo-Aryans and autochtones was responsible for many of the changes in Indo-Aryan society. We can also assume that many - perhaps most - of the indigenous population came to be assimilated into Indo-Aryan culture.[240]
  27. ↑ Tiwari mentions the Austric and Mongoloid people.[246] See also Peopling of India for the variety of Indian people.
  28. ↑ Doniger 2010, p. 66: "Much of what we now call Hinduism may have had roots in cultures that thrived in South Asia long before the creation of textual evidence that we can decipher with any confidence. Remarkable cave paintings have been preserved from Mesolithic sites dating from c. 30,000 BCE in Bhimbetka, near present-day Bhopal, in the Vindhya Mountains in the province of Madhya Pradesh."
  29. ↑ Jones & Ryan 2006, p. xvii: "Some practices of Hinduism must have originated in Neolithic times (c. 4,000 BCE). The worship of certain plants and animals as sacred, for instance, could very likely have very great antiquity. The worship of goddesses, too, a part of Hinduism today, may be a feature that originated in the Neolithic."
  30. ↑ Michaels: "They called themselves arya ("Aryans," literally "the hospitable," from the Vedic arya, "homey, the hospitable") but even in the Rgveda, arya denotes a cultural and linguistic boundary and not only a racial one."[250]
  31. ↑ There is no exact dating possible for the beginning of the Vedic period. Witzel mentions a range between 1900 and 1400 BCE.[252] Flood mentions 1500 BCE.[233]
  32. ↑ The Aryan migration theory has been challenged by some researchers,[250][256] due to a lack of archaeological evidence and signs of cultural continuity,[250] hypothesizing instead a slow process of acculturation[250] or transformation.[254] Nevertheless, linguistic and archaeological data clearly show a cultural change after 1750 BCE,[250] with the linguistic and religious data clearly showing links with Indo-European languages and religion.[257] According to Singh, "The dominant view is that the Indo-Aryans came to the subcontinent as immigrants."[256]
  33. ↑ According to Anthony, the Old Indic religion probably emerged among Indo-European immigrants in the contact zone between the Zeravshan River (present-day Uzbekistan) and (present-day) Iran.[270] It was "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements",[270] which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices"[269] from the Bactria–Margiana Culture.[269] At least 383 non-Indo-European words were borrowed from this culture, including the god Indra and the ritual drink Soma.[271] The oldest inscriptions in Old Indic, the language of the Rig Veda, are found not in northwestern India and Pakistan, but in northern Syria, the location of the Mitanni kingdom.[272] The Mitanni kings took Old Indic throne names, and used Old Indic technical terms were used for horse-riding and chariot-driving.[272] The Old Indic term r'ta, meaning "cosmic order and truth", the central concept of the Rig Veda, was also employed in the mitanni kingdom.[272] And Old Indic gods, including Indra, were also known in the Mitanni kingdom.[273][274][275]
  34. ↑ Flood 2008, pp. 273–274: "The second half of the first millennium BCE was the period that created many of the ideological and institutional elements that characterise later Indian religions. The renouncer tradition played a central role during this formative period of Indian religious history [...] Some of the fundamental values and beliefs that we generally associate with Indian religions in general and Hinduism in particular were in part the creation of the renouncer tradition. These include the two pillars of Indian theologies: samsara - the belief that life in this world is one of suffering and subject to repeated deaths and births (rebirth); moksa/nirvana - the goal of human existence."
  35. ↑ Richard King notes that Radhakrishnan was a representative of Neo-Vedanta,[47] which had a specific understanding of Indian religions: "The inclusivist appropriation of other traditions, so characteristic of neo-Vedanta ideology, appears on three basic levels. First, it is apparent in the suggestion that the (Advaita) Vedanta philosophy of Sankara (c. eighth century CE) constitutes the central philosophy of Hinduism. Second, in an Indian context, neo-Vedanta philosophy subsumes Buddhist philosophies in terms of its own Vedantic ideology. The Buddha becomes a member of the Vedanta tradition, merely attempting to reform it from within. Finally, at a global level, neo-Vedanta colonises the religious traditions of the world by arguing for the centrality of a non-dualistic position as the philosophia perennis underlying all cultural differences."[47]
  36. ↑ Samuel 2010, pp. 193–228, 339–353, specifically pp. 76–79 and p. 199
  37. ↑ Axel Michaels mentions the Durga temple in Aihole and the Visnu Temple in Deogarh.[302] George Michell notes that earlier temples were build of timber, brick and plaster, while the first stone temples appeared during the period of Gupta rule.[303]
  38. ↑ See also "Aurangzeb, as he was according to Mughal Records"; more links at the bottom of that page; for Muslim historian's record on major Hindu temple destruction campaigns, from 1193 to 1729 AD, see Richard Eaton (2000), Temple Desecration and Indo-Muslim States, Journal of Islamic Studies, Vol. 11, Issue 3, pages 283-319
  39. ↑ The tendency of "a blurring of philosophical distinctions" has also been noted by Burley.[39] Lorenzen locates the origins of a distinct Hindu identity in the interaction between Muslims and Hindus,[41] and a process of "mutual self-definition with a contrasting Muslim other",[42] which started well before 1800.[43] Both the Indian and the European thinkers who developed the term "Hinduism" in the 19th century were influenced by these philosophers.[38]
  40. ↑ This conjunction of nationalism and religion is not unique to India. The complexities of Asian nationalism are to be seen and understood in the context of colonialism, modernization and nation-building. See, for example, Anagarika Dharmapala, for the role of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lankese struggle for independence,[335] and D.T. Suzuki, who conjuncted Zen to Japanese nationalism and militarism, in defense against both western hegemony and the pressure on Japanese Zen during the Meiji Restoration to conform to Shinbutsu Bunri.[336][337]
  41. ↑ Neo-Vedanta also contributed to Hindutva ideology, Hindu politics and communalism. Yet, Rinehart emphasises that it is "clear that there isn't a neat line of causation that leads from the philosophies of Rammohan Roy, Vivekananda and Radhakrishnan to the agenda of [...] militant Hindus."[338]

References

  1. ↑ Nath 2001, p. 31.
  2. ↑ Georgis 2010, p. 62.
  3. ↑ Bowker 2000; Harvey 2001, p. xiii; Knott 1998, p. 5
  4. ↑ Knott 1998, p. 5.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Samuel 2010, p. 193.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Hiltebeitel 2007, p. 12; Flood 1996, p. 16; Lockard 2007, p. 50
  7. ↑ Narayanan 2009, p. 11.
  8. ↑ Osborne 2005, p. 9.
  9. ↑ PV Kane, Samanya Dharma, History of Dharmasastra, Vol. 2, Part 1, pages 4-5;
    Alban Widgery, The Principles of Hindu Ethics, International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 40, No. 2, pages 232-245
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Bilimoria et al. (eds.), Indian Ethics: Classical Traditions and Contemporary Challenges (2007), p. 103; see also John Koller, Puruṣārtha as Human Aims, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Oct., 1968), pp. 315-319
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Gavin Flood (1997), “The Meaning and Context of the Puruṣārthas”, In The Bhagavadgītā for Our Times (Editor: Julius J. Lipner), Oxford University Press, pages 11–27, ISBN 978-0195650396
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Brodd 2003.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Michaels 2004.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Flood 2008, p. 3.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 Flood 1996, p. 6.
  16. ↑ Thapar 1993, p. 77.
  17. ↑ Thompson Platts 1884.
  18. ↑ O'Conell, Joseph T. (1973). "The Word 'Hindu' in Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Texts". Journal of the American Oriental Society 93 (3). pp. 340–344. doi:10.2307/599467.
  19. ↑ Sweetman 2004; King 1999
  20. ↑ Sweetman 2004.
  21. ↑ Nussbaum 2009.
  22. ↑ Knott, Kim (1998). Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University press. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-19-285387-5.
  23. ↑ Sharma 2003, p. 12-13.
  24. ↑ Vivekjivandas 2010, p. 1.
  25. ↑ Nicholson 2010, p. 2; Lorenzen 2006, pp. 1–36
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 King 1999, p. 171.
  27. ↑ King 1999, p. 169.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4 28.5 28.6 28.7 28.8 Sweetman 2004, p. 13.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Sweetman 2004, p. 13-14.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 Sweetman 2004, p. 14.
  31. ↑ Sweetman 2004, p. 14-15.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 32.4 Sweetman 2004, p. 15.
  33. ↑ Sweetman 2004, p. 15, 16.
  34. ↑ Insoll, Timothy (2001), Archaeology and world religion, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-22155-9
  35. ↑ Bowker 2000; Harvey 2001, p. xiii
  36. ↑ Knott, Kim (2000). Hinduism, A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press (OUP). p. 111.
  37. ↑ Paul Hacker, Dharma in Hinduism, Journal of Indian Philosophy, Vol. 34, No. 5, pages 479–496
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 Nicholson 2010, p. 2.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Burley 2007, p. 34.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 Nicholson 2010.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Lorenzen 2006, p. 24-33.
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Lorenzen 2006, p. 27.
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 Lorenzen 2006, p. 26-27.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 Michaels 2004, p. 44.
  45. ↑ Hackel in Nicholson 2010
  46. ↑ King 2001.
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 47.2 47.3 47.4 47.5 King 1999.
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 48.2 48.3 Flood 1996, p. 258.
  49. ↑ Flood 1996, p. 256-261.
  50. ↑ Young, Serinity. Hinduism. Marshall Cavendish. p. 87. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  51. ↑ Flood 1996, p. 257.
  52. ↑ Flood 1996, p. 259.
  53. ↑ Flood 1996, p. 248.
  54. ↑ Flood 1996, p. 249.
  55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 55.2 55.3 55.4 Flood 1996, p. 265.
  56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 56.2 Flood 1996, p. 267.
  57. ↑ Flood 1996, p. 267-268.
  58. ↑ Turner 1996-A, p. 275.
  59. ↑ Ferro-Luzzi, (1991)The Polythetic-Prototype Approach to Hinduism in G.D. Sontheimer and H. Kulke (ed.) Hinduism Reconsidered. Delhi: Manohar. pp. 187-95
  60. ↑ Doniger 1999, p. 434.
  61. ↑ Smith 1962, p. 65; Halbfass 1991, pp. 1–22
  62. ↑ Klostermaier 1994, p. 1
  63. ↑ Flood 1996, p. 6; Osborne 2005, p. 9
  64. ↑ Lockard 2007, p. 50; Hiltebeitel 2007, p. 12
  65. ↑ 65.0 65.1 65.2 Flood 1996, p. 16.
  66. ↑ 66.0 66.1 66.2 66.3 Halbfass 1991, p. 15.
  67. ↑ Flood 1996, p. 35.
  68. ↑ 68.0 68.1 Halbfass 1991, p. 1.
  69. ↑ Matthew Clarke (2011). Development and Religion: Theology and Practice. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 28.
  70. ↑ Flood 1996, p. 14.
  71. ↑ J. McDaniel Hinduism, in John Corrigan, The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Emotion, (2007) Oxford University Press, 544 pages, pp. 52-53 ISBN 0-19-517021-0
  72. ↑ Michaels 2004, p. 21.
  73. ↑ 73.0 73.1 Michaels 2004, p. 22.
  74. ↑ 74.0 74.1 Michaels 2004, p. 23.
  75. ↑ 75.0 75.1 75.2 Michaels 2004, p. 24.
  76. ↑ Gavin Flood (1996), The meaning and context of the Purusarthas, in Julius Lipner (Editor) - The Fruits of Our Desiring, ISBN 978-1896209302, pp 16-21
  77. ↑ The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, Dharma, The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions: "In Hinduism, dharma is a fundamental concept, referring to the order and custom which make life and a universe possible, and thus to the behaviours appropriate to the maintenance of that order."
  78. ↑ 78.0 78.1 Dharma, The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Ed. (2013), Columbia University Press, Gale, ISBN 978-0787650155
  79. ↑ 79.0 79.1 J. A. B. Van Buitenen, Dharma and Moksa, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 7, No. 1/2 (Apr. - Jul., 1957), pp 33-40
  80. ↑ Charles Johnston, The Mukhya Upanishads: Books of Hidden Wisdom, Kshetra, ISBN 978-1495946530, page 481, for discussion: pages 478-505
  81. ↑ Paul Horsch (Translated by Jarrod Whitaker), From Creation Myth to World Law: The early history of Dharma, Journal of Indian Philosophy, Vol 32, pages 423–448, (2004)
  82. ↑ Swami Prabhupādā, A. C. Bhaktivedanta (1986), Bhagavad-gītā as it is, The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, p. 16, ISBN 9780892132683
  83. ↑ John Koller, Puruṣārtha as Human Aims, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Oct., 1968), pp. 315-319
  84. ↑ James Lochtefeld (2002), The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Rosen Publishing, New York, ISBN 0-8239-2287-1, pp 55-56
  85. ↑ Bruce Sullivan (1997), Historical Dictionary of Hinduism, ISBN 978-0810833272, pp 29-30
  86. ↑ Macy, Joanna (1975). "The Dialectics of Desire". Numen (BRILL) 22 (2): 145–60. JSTOR 3269765.
  87. ↑ Monier Williams, काम, kāma Monier-Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary, pp 271, see 3rd column
  88. ↑ See:
    • The Hindu Kama Shastra Society (1925), The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana, University of Toronto Archives, pp. 8;
    • A. Sharma (1982), The Puruṣārthas: a study in Hindu axiology, Michigan State University, ISBN 9789993624318, pp 9-12; See review by Frank Whaling in Numen, Vol. 31, 1 (Jul., 1984), pp. 140-142;
    • A. Sharma (1999), The Puruṣārthas: An Axiological Exploration of Hinduism, The Journal of Religious Ethics, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Summer, 1999), pp. 223-256;
    • Chris Bartley (2001), Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy, Editor: Oliver Learman, ISBN 0-415-17281-0, Routledge, Article on Purushartha, pp 443
  89. ↑ R.C. Mishra, Moksha and the Hindu Worldview, Psychology & Developing Societies, Vol. 25, Issue 1, pp 23, 27
  90. ↑ J. A. B. Van Buitenen, Dharma and Moksa, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 7, No. 1/2 (Apr. - Jul., 1957), pp. 33-40
  91. ↑ 91.0 91.1 E. Deutsch, The self in Advaita Vedanta, in Roy Perrett (Editor), Indian philosophy: metaphysics, Volume 3, ISBN 0-8153-3608-X, Taylor and Francis, pp 343-360
  92. ↑ see:
    • Karl Potter, Dharma and Mokṣa from a Conversational Point of View, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 8, No. 1/2 (Apr. - Jul., 1958), pp. 49-63
    • Daniel H. H. Ingalls, Dharma and Moksha, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 7, No. 1/2 (Apr. - Jul., 1957), pp. 41-48;
    • Klaus Klostermaier, Mokṣa and Critical Theory, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan., 1985), pp. 61-71
  93. ↑
    • Apte, Vaman S (1997), The Student's English-Sanskrit Dictionary (New ed.), Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, ISBN 81-208-0300-0
  94. ↑ Smith 1991, p. 64
  95. ↑ Karl Potter (1964), The Naturalistic Principle of Karma, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Apr., 1964), pp. 39-49
  96. ↑ 96.0 96.1 Wendy D. O'Flaherty (1980), Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0520039230, pp xi-xxv (Introduction) and 3-37
  97. ↑ Karl Potter (1980), in Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions (O'Flaherty, Editor), University of California Press, ISBN 978-0520039230, pp 241-267
  98. ↑ Radhakrishnan 1996, p. 254
  99. ↑ See Vivekananda, Swami (2005), Jnana Yoga, Kessinger Publishing, ISBN 1-4254-8288-0 pages 301-302 (8th Printing 1993)
  100. ↑ Christopher Chapple (1986), Karma and creativity, State University of New York Press, ISBN 0-88706-251-2; pp 60-64
  101. ↑ Rinehart 2004, pp. 19–21
  102. ↑ J. Bruce Long (1980), The concepts of human action and rebirth in the Mahabharata, in Wendy D. O'Flaherty, Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0520039230, Chapter 2
  103. ↑ Europa Publications Staff (2003), The Far East and Australasia, 2003 - Regional surveys of the world, Routledge, p. 39, ISBN 978-1-85743-133-9
  104. ↑ Hindu spirituality - Volume 25 of Documenta missionalia, Editrice Pontificia Università Gregoriana, 1999, p. 1, ISBN 978-88-7652-818-7
  105. ↑ 105.0 105.1 see:
    • Karl Potter, Dharma and Mokṣa from a Conversational Point of View, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 8, No. 1/2 (Apr. - Jul., 1958), pp. 49-63
    • Daniel H. H. Ingalls, Dharma and Moksha, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 7, No. 1/2 (Apr. - Jul., 1957), pp. 41-48
  106. ↑ 106.0 106.1 Klaus Klostermaier, Mokṣa and Critical Theory, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan., 1985), pp. 61-71
  107. ↑ see:
    • M. von Brück (1986), Imitation or Identification?, Indian Theological Studies, Vol. 23, Issue 2, pp 95-105
    • Klaus Klostermaier, Mokṣa and Critical Theory, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan., 1985), pp. 61-71
  108. ↑ Andrew Fort (1998), Jivanmukti in Transformation, State University of New York Press, ISBN 0-7914-3904-6
  109. ↑ Julius J. Lipner (2010), Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 2nd Edition, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-45677-7, page 8; Quote: "(...) one need not be religious in the minimal sense described to be accepted as a Hindu by Hindus, or describe oneself perfectly validly as Hindu. One may be polytheistic or monotheistic, monistic or pantheistic, even an agnostic, humanist or atheist, and still be considered a Hindu."
  110. ↑ Chakravarti, Sitansu (1991), Hinduism, a way of life, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., p. 71, ISBN 978-81-208-0899-7
  111. ↑ See Michaels 2004, p. xiv and Gill, N.S. "Henotheism". About, Inc. Retrieved 5 July 2007.
  112. ↑ Flood 1996, p. 226.
  113. ↑ Flood 1996, p. 226; Kramer 1986, pp. 20–21
  114. ↑
    • Original Sanskrit: Rigveda 10.129 Wikisource;
    • Translation 1: Max Muller (1859). A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature. Williams and Norgate, London. pp. 559–565.
    • Translation 2: Kenneth Kramer (1986). World Scriptures: An Introduction to Comparative Religions. Paulist Press. p. 21. ISBN 0-8091-2781-4.
    • Translation 3: David Christian (2011). Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History. University of California Press. pp. 17–18. ISBN 978-0-520-95067-2.
  115. ↑ Max Muller (1878), Lectures on the Origins and Growth of Religions: As Illustrated by the Religions of India, Longmans Green & Co, pages 260-271;
    William Joseph Wilkins, Hindu Mythology: Vedic and Purānic, p. 8, at Google Books, London Missionary Society, Calcutta
  116. ↑ HN Raghavendrachar (1944), Monism in the Vedas, The half-yearly journal of the Mysore University: Section A - Arts, Volume 4, Issue 2, pages 137-152;
    K Werner (1982), Men, gods and powers in the Vedic outlook, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland, Volume 114, Issue 01, pages 14-24;
    H Coward (1995), Book Review:" The Limits of Scripture: Vivekananda's Reinterpretation of the Vedas", Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies, Volume 8, Issue 1, pages 45-47, Quote: "There is little doubt that the theo-monistic category is an appropriate one for viewing a wide variety of experiences in the Hindu tradition".
  117. ↑ Monier-Williams 1974, pp. 20–37
  118. ↑ & Bhaskarananda 1994
  119. ↑ Vivekananda 1987
  120. ↑ John Koller (2012), Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Religion (Editors: Chad Meister, Paul Copan), Routledge, ISBN 978-0415782944, pages 99-107
  121. ↑ Lance Nelson (1996), Living liberation in Shankara and classical Advaita, in Living Liberation in Hindu Thought (Editors: Andrew O. Fort, Patricia Y. Mumme), State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791427064, pages 38-39, 59 (footnote 105)
  122. ↑ 122.0 122.1 R Prasad (2009), A Historical-developmental Study of Classical Indian Philosophy of Morals, Concept Publishing, ISBN 978-8180695957, pages 345-347
  123. ↑ Mircea Eliade (2009), Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0691142036, pages 73-76
  124. ↑ Radhakrishnan and Moore (1967, Reprinted 1989), A Source Book in Indian Philosophy, Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0691019581, pages 37-39, 401-403, 498-503
  125. ↑ 125.0 125.1 Monier-Williams 2001
  126. ↑ Werner 1994, p. 80
  127. ↑ Renou 1964, p. 55
  128. ↑ 128.0 128.1 Harman 2004, pp. 104–106
  129. ↑ John Clayton (2010), Religions, Reasons and Gods: Essays in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Religion, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521126274, page 150
  130. ↑ Sharma, C. (1997). A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-0365-5, pages 209-10
  131. ↑ Reichenbach, Bruce R. (April 1989), "Karma, causation, and divine intervention", Philosophy East and West (Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press) 39 (2): 135–149 [145], doi:10.2307/1399374, retrieved 29 December 2009.
  132. ↑ Rajadhyaksha (1959), The six systems of Indian philosophy, p. 95, Under the circumstances God becomes an unnecessary metaphysical assumption. Naturally the Sankhyakarikas do not mention God, Vachaspati interprets this as rank atheism.
  133. ↑ Coward, Harold (February 2008). The perfectibility of human nature in eastern and western thought. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-7914-7336-8. For the Mimamsa the ultimate reality is nothing other than the eternal words of the Vedas. They did not accept the existence of a single supreme creator god, who might have composed the Veda. According to the Mimamsa, gods named in the Vedas have no existence apart from the mantras that speak their names. The power of the gods, then, is nothing other than the power of the mantras that name them.
  134. ↑ Sen Gupta 1986, p. viii
  135. ↑ Neville, Robert (2001), Religious truth, p. 51, ISBN 978-0-7914-4778-9, Mimamsa theorists (theistic and atheistic) decided that the evidence allegedly proving the existence of God was insufficient. They also thought there was no need to postulate a maker for the world, just as there was no need for an author to compose the Veda or an independent God to validate the Vedic rituals.
  136. ↑ 136.0 136.1 Klaus Klostermaier (2007), A Survey of Hinduism, Third Edition, State University of New York, ISBN 978-0791470824, pages 337-338
  137. ↑ A Goel (1984), Indian philosophy: Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika and modern science, Sterling, ISBN 978-0865902787, pages 149-151;
    R Collins (2000), The sociology of philosophies, Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0674001879, page 836
  138. ↑ Mike Burley (2012), Classical Samkhya and Yoga - An Indian Metaphysics of Experience, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415648875, page 39-41;
    Lloyd Pflueger, Person Purity and Power in Yogasutra, in Theory and Practice of Yoga (Editor: Knut Jacobsen), Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120832329, pages 38-39;
    Kovoor T. Behanan (2002), Yoga: Its Scientific Basis, Dover, ISBN 978-0486417929, pages 56-58
  139. ↑ Knut Jacobsen (2008), Theory and Practice of Yoga : 'Essays in Honour of Gerald James Larson, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120832329, pages 77-78
  140. ↑ Monier-Williams, Religious Thought and Life in India (New Delhi, 1974 edition)
  141. ↑ Radhakrishnan, S (1929), Indian Philosophy, Volume 1, Muirhead library of philosophy (2nd ed.), London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd., p. 148
  142. ↑ For ahiṃsā as one of the "emerging ethical and religious issues" in the Mahābhārata see: Brockington, John, "The Sanskrit Epics", in Flood (2003), p. 125.
  143. ↑ For text of Y.S. 2.29 and translation of yama as "vow of self-restraint", see: Taimni, I. K. (1961), The Science of Yoga, Adyar, India: The Theosophical Publishing House, p. 206, ISBN 81-7059-212-7
  144. ↑ Surveys studying food habits of Indians include: "Diary and poultry sector growth in India", "Indian consumer patterns" and "Agri reform in India". Results indicate that Indians who eat meat do so infrequently with less than 30% consuming non-vegetarian foods regularly, although the reasons may be economical.
  145. ↑ Fox, Michael Allen (1999), Deep Vegetarianism, Temple University Press, ISBN 1-56639-705-7
  146. ↑ Walker 1968:257
  147. ↑ Richman 1988:272
  148. ↑ Williams, Raymond. An Introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism. 1st. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. 159
  149. ↑ Narayanan, Vasudha. "The Hindu Tradition". In A Concise Introduction to World Religions, ed. Willard G. Oxtoby and Alan F. Segal. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007
  150. ↑ Rosen, Steven. Essential Hinduism. 1st. Westport: Praeger Publishers, 2006. Page 188
  151. ↑ KN Aiyar (1914), Thirty Minor Upanishads, Kessinger Publishing, ISBN 978-1164026419, Chapter 22, pages 173-176
  152. ↑ Hatha Yoga Pradipika verse 1.58-63, pages 19-21
  153. ↑ Lorenzen, David (1972). The Kāpālikas and Kālāmukhas. University of California Press. pp. 186–190. ISBN 978-0520018426.
  154. ↑ Christopher Key Chapple (2009), The Bhagavad Gita: Twenty-fifth–Anniversary Edition, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-1438428420, pages 641-643
  155. ↑ Harold F., Smith (1 January 2007), "12", Outline of Hinduism, Read Books, ISBN 1-4067-8944-5
  156. ↑ Fuller Christopher John (2004), "4", The camphor flame: popular Hinduism and society in India (Revised and Expanded ed.), Princeton University Press, p. 83, ISBN 978-0-691-12048-5
  157. ↑ Gouyon Anne; Bumi Kita Yayasan (30 September 2005), "The Hiden Life of Bali", The natural guide to Bali: enjoy nature, meet the people, make a difference, Equinox Publishing (Asia) Pte Ltd, p. 51, ISBN 979-3780-00-2, retrieved 12 August 2010
  158. ↑ Fuller C. J. (26 July 2004), "4 Sacrifice", The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India [Paperback] (Revised ed.), Princeton University Press, p. 83, ISBN 0-691-12048-X
  159. ↑ Rigveda is not only the oldest among the vedas, but is one of the earliest Indo-European texts.
  160. ↑ Flood, Gavin, ed. (2003), The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., ISBN 1-4051-3251-5, see Michael Witzel quote on pages 68-69
  161. ↑ Sargeant & Chapple 1984, p. 3
  162. ↑ Rinehart 2004, p. 68.
  163. ↑ Vivekananda 1987, Vol III, pp. 118–120
  164. ↑ Flood 2008, p. 4.
  165. ↑ Vivekananda 1987, Vol I, pp. 6–7
  166. ↑ Harshananda 1989
  167. ↑ Vivekananda 1987, p. 374 Vol II
  168. ↑ Gavin Flood (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521438780, pages 35-39
  169. ↑ A Bhattacharya (2006), Hindu Dharma: Introduction to Scriptures and Theology, ISBN 978-0595384556, pages 8-14; George M. Williams (2003), Handbook of Hindu Mythology, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195332612, page 285
  170. ↑ Jan Gonda (1975), Vedic Literature: (Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas), Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-3447016032
  171. ↑ Edward Roer (Translator), Shankara's Introduction at Google Books to Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad at pages 1-5; Quote - "The Vedas are divided in two parts, the first is the karma-kanda, the ceremonial part, also (called) purva-kanda, and treats on ceremonies; the second part is the jnana kanda, the part which contains knowledge, also named uttara-kanda or posterior part, and unfolds the knowledge of Brahma or the universal soul."
  172. ↑ Werner 1994, p. 166
  173. ↑ Monier-Williams 1974, pp. 25–41
  174. ↑ Olivelle, Patrick (1998), Upaniṣads, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-282292-6, Introduction chapter
  175. ↑ 175.0 175.1 Wendy Doniger (1990), Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism, 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 978-0226618470, pages 2-3; Quote: "The Upanishads supply the basis of later Hindu philosophy; they alone of the Vedic corpus are widely known and quoted by most well-educated Hindus, and their central ideas have also become a part of the spiritual arsenal of rank-and-file Hindus."
  176. ↑ Wiman Dissanayake (1993), Self as Body in Asian Theory and Practice (Editors: Thomas P. Kasulis et al), State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791410806, page 39; Quote: "The Upanishads form the foundations of Hindu philosophical thought and the central theme of the Upanishads is the identity of Atman and Brahman, or the inner self and the cosmic self.";
    Michael McDowell and Nathan Brown (2009), World Religions, Penguin, ISBN 978-1592578467, pages 208-210
  177. ↑ Patrick Olivelle (2014), The Early Upanisads, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195352429, page 3; Quote: "Even though theoretically the whole of vedic corpus is accepted as revealed truth [shruti], in reality it is the Upanishads that have continued to influence the life and thought of the various religious traditions that we have come to call Hindu. Upanishads are the scriptures par excellence of Hinduism".
  178. ↑ S Radhakrishnan, The Principal Upanishads George Allen & Co., 1951, pages 17-19, Reprinted as ISBN 978-8172231248
  179. ↑ Patrick Olivelle (1998), Upaniṣhads. Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199540259, see Introduction
  180. ↑ Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Robert Hume (Translator)
  181. ↑ Sarvopaniṣado gāvo, etc. (Gītā Māhātmya 6). Gītā Dhyānam, cited in Introduction to Bhagavad-gītā As It Is.
  182. ↑ Thomas B. Coburn, Scripture" in India: Towards a Typology of the Word in Hindu Life, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Vol. 52, No. 3 (September, 1984), pp. 435-459
  183. ↑ Muesse, Mark W. (2011). The Hindu Traditions: A Concise Introduction. Fortress Press. p. 216. ISBN 9780800697907.
  184. ↑ "Domestic Worship". Country Studies. The Library of Congress. September 1995. Retrieved 19 April 2007.
  185. ↑ A Sharma (1985), Marriage in the Hindu religious tradition. Journal Of Ecumenical Studies, 22(1), pages 69-80
  186. ↑ Shiva Bajpai (2011), The History of India - From Ancient to Modern Times, Himalayan Academy Publications (Hawaii, USA), ISBN 978-1-934145-38-8; see pages 4, 73-74
  187. ↑ 187.0 187.1 R Pandey (1969), Hindu Saṁskāras: Socio-Religious Study of the Hindu Sacraments (2nd Ed.), Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-0434-1
  188. ↑ David Knipe (2015), Vedic Voices: Intimate Narratives of a Living Andhra Tradition, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199397693, page 52
  189. ↑ 189.0 189.1 189.2 PV Kane, Samskara, Chapter VI, History of Dharmasastras, Vol II, Part I, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, pages 190-417
  190. ↑ 190.0 190.1 190.2 Patrick Olivelle (2009), Dharmasutras - The Law Codes of Ancient India, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199555376, pages 90-91
  191. ↑ Carl Olson (2007), The Many Colors of Hinduism: A Thematic-historical Introduction, Rutgers University Press, ISBN 978-0813540689, pages 93-94
  192. ↑ For Vedic school, see: Brian Smith (1986), Ritual, Knowledge, and Being: Initiation and Veda Study in Ancient India, Numen, Vol. 33, Fasc. 1, pages 65-89
  193. ↑ For music school, see: Alison Arnold et al (1999), The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia, Vol 5, Routledge, ISBN 978-0824049461, page 459; For sculpture, crafts and other professions, see: Heather Elgood (2000), Hinduism and the religious arts, ISBN 978-0304707393, Bloomsbury Academic, pages 32-134
  194. ↑ Thomas N. Siqueira, The Vedic Sacraments, Thought, Volume 9, Issue 4, March 1935, pages 598-609, doi:10.5840/thought1935945
  195. ↑ Albertson, Todd (2009), The gods of business: the intersection of faith and the marketplace, p. 71, ISBN 978-0-615-13800-8
  196. ↑ 196.0 196.1 Narendranand (Swami) (2008), Hindu spirituality: a help to conduct prayer meetings for Hindus, Jyoti Ashram, p. 51
  197. ↑ David Courtney: http://www.chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/bhajan.html
  198. ↑ Hindu culture, custom, and ceremony, p195, Brojendra Nath Banerjee, Agam, 1978, 26 May 2009
  199. ↑ The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India [Paperback], Fuller 2004
  200. ↑ Hacker, Paul; Halbfass, Wilhelm (1995), Philology and Confrontation: Paul Hacker on Traditional and Modern Vedānta, SUNY Press, p. 264, ISBN 978-0-7914-2581-7
  201. ↑ Silverberg 1969, pp. 442–443
  202. ↑ Smelser & Lipset 2005
  203. ↑ Smith, Huston (1994). "Hinduism: The Stations of Life". The Illustrated World's Religions. New York City, USA: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-067440-7.
  204. ↑ Michaels 2004, pp. 188–197
  205. ↑ de Zwart, Frank (July 2000). "The Logic of Affirmative Action: Caste, Class and Quotas in India". Acta Sociologica 43 (3): 235–249. doi:10.1177/000169930004300304. JSTOR 4201209.
  206. ↑ P. 143 Aspects of Hindu Morality By Saral Jhingran
  207. ↑ Encyclopaedia of Hindu Gods and Goddesses - Page 178, Suresh Chandra - 1998
  208. ↑ Bhaskarananda 1994
  209. ↑ Werner 1994, p. 73
  210. ↑ 210.0 210.1 210.2 210.3 "Iskcon". Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  211. ↑ 211.0 211.1 211.2 211.3 "Hindus inSA". Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  212. ↑ 212.0 212.1 212.2 212.3 Dubois. Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies. Cosimo. p. 111.
  213. ↑ 213.0 213.1 213.2 213.3 "Himalayanacademy". Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  214. ↑ Banerji 1992, p. 2
  215. ↑ Stella Kramrisch, The Hindu Temple. University of Calcutta, Calcutta, 1946.
  216. ↑ Bhaskarananda 1994, p. 157
  217. ↑ Bhaskarananda 1994, p. 137
  218. ↑ arcye viṣṇau śīlā-dhīr. . . narakī saḥ.
  219. ↑ 219.0 219.1 RK Sharma (1999), Indian Society, Institutions and Change, ISBN 978-8171566655, page 28
  220. ↑ 220.0 220.1 Alban Widgery (1930), The Principles of Hindu Ethics, International Journal of Ethics, 40(2): 232-245
  221. ↑ Albertina Nugteren (2005), Belief, Bounty, And Beauty: Rituals Around Sacred Trees in India, Brill Academic, ISBN 978-9004146013, pages 13-21
  222. ↑ Saraswathi et al (2010), Reconceptualizing Lifespan Development through a Hindu Perspective, in Bridging Cultural and Developmental Approaches to Psychology (Editor: Lene Arnett Jensen), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195383430, page 280-286
  223. ↑ S. Radhakrishnan (1922), The Hindu Dharma, International Journal of Ethics, 33(1): 1-22
  224. ↑ DP Bhawuk (2011), The Paths of Bondage and Liberation, in Spirituality and Indian Psychology, Springer, ISBN 978-1-4419-8109-7, pages 93-110
  225. ↑ Alban Widgery (1930), The Principles of Hindu Ethics, International Journal of Ethics, 40(2): 237-239
  226. ↑ Barbara Holdrege (2004), Dharma, in The Hindu World (Editors: Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby), Routledge, ISBN 0–415–21527–7, page 231
  227. ↑ Patrick Olivelle (1993), The Ashrama System: The History and Hermeneutics of a Religious Institution, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195344783
  228. ↑ 228.0 228.1 Bhaskarananda 1994, p. 112
  229. ↑ Michaels 2004, p. 316
  230. ↑ 230.0 230.1 Khanna 2007, p. xvii.
  231. ↑ Misra 2004, p. 194.
  232. ↑ Kulke & Rothermund 2004, p. 7.
  233. ↑ 233.0 233.1 Flood 1996, p. 21.
  234. ↑ Smart 2003, p. 52.
  235. ↑ Michaels 2004, p. 36.
  236. ↑ Michaels 2004, p. 38.
  237. ↑ Muesse 2003, p. 14.
  238. ↑ Samuel 2010, pp. 41–42; Flood 1996, p. 16
  239. ↑ 239.0 239.1 239.2 White 2006, p. 28.
  240. ↑ Gombrich 1996, p. 35-36.
  241. ↑ 241.0 241.1 Gomez 2013, p. 42.
  242. ↑ Doniger 2010, p. 66.
  243. ↑ Jones & Ryan 2006, p. xvii.
  244. ↑ Narayanan 2009, p. 11; Lockard 2007, p. 52; Hiltebeitel 2007, p. 3; Jones & Ryan 2006, p. xviii
  245. ↑ Tiwari 2002, p. v; Lockard 2007, p. 52; Zimmer 1951, pp. 218–219; Larson 1995, p. 81
  246. ↑ 246.0 246.1 Tiwari 2002, p. v.
  247. ↑ Possehl 2002, p. 154.
  248. ↑ Possehl 2002, p. 141–156.
  249. ↑ Singh 2008, p. 185.
  250. ↑ 250.0 250.1 250.2 250.3 250.4 250.5 Michaels 2004, p. 33.
  251. ↑ Michaels 2004, p. 32.
  252. ↑ Witzel 1995, p. 3-4.
  253. ↑ 253.0 253.1 253.2 253.3 253.4 253.5 253.6 Witzel 1995.
  254. ↑ 254.0 254.1 Flood 1996, p. 30-35.
  255. ↑ Hiltebeitel 2007, p. 5.
  256. ↑ 256.0 256.1 Singh 2008, p. 186.
  257. ↑ Flood 1996, p. 33.
  258. ↑ Samuel 2010, p. 41-48.
  259. ↑ Samuel 2010, p. 41-93.
  260. ↑ Stein 2010, p. 48-49.
  261. ↑ Samuel 2010, p. 61-93.
  262. ↑ 262.0 262.1 262.2 Samuel 2010.
  263. ↑ 263.0 263.1 263.2 263.3 Hiltebeitel 2007, p. 12.
  264. ↑ Samuel 2010, p. 53-56.
  265. ↑ Flood 1996, p. 30.
  266. ↑ Hiltebeitel 2007, p. 5-7.
  267. ↑ B. S. Ahloowalia (2009). Invasion of the Genes Genetic Heritage of India. Strategic Book Publishing. ISBN 978-1-60860-691-7.
  268. ↑ Roger D. Woodard (18 August 2006). Indo-European Sacred Space: Vedic and Roman Cult. University of Illinois Press. pp. 242–. ISBN 978-0-252-09295-4.
  269. ↑ 269.0 269.1 269.2 Beckwith 2009, p. 32.
  270. ↑ 270.0 270.1 Anthony 2007, p. 462.
  271. ↑ Anthony 2007, p. 454-455.
  272. ↑ 272.0 272.1 272.2 Anthony 2007, p. 49.
  273. ↑ Anthony 2007, p. 50.
  274. ↑ Flood 2008, p. 68.
  275. ↑ Melton & Baumann 2010, p. 1412.
  276. ↑ Basham 1989, p. 74-75.
  277. ↑ White, David Gordon (2003). Kiss of the Yogini. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 28. ISBN 0-226-89483-5.
  278. ↑ Samuel 2010, p. 48-51, 61-93.
  279. ↑ Hiltebeitel 2007, p. 8-10.
  280. ↑ Flood 1996, p. 37.
  281. ↑ Witzel 1995, p. 4.
  282. ↑ Anthony 2007, p. 454.
  283. ↑ Oberlies 1998 p.158
  284. ↑ Lucas F. Johnston, Whitney Bauman (2014). Science and Religion: One Planet, Many Possibilities. Routledge. p. 179.
  285. ↑ 285.0 285.1 Neusner, Jacob (2009), World Religions in America: An Introduction, Westminster John Knox Press, ISBN 978-0-664-23320-4
  286. ↑ Melton, J. Gordon; Baumann, Martin (2010), Religions of the World, Second Edition: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, ABC-CLIO, p. 1324, ISBN 978-1-59884-204-3
  287. ↑ Flood, Gavin D. (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press, p. 82, ISBN 978-0-521-43878-0
  288. ↑ KN Jayatilleke (2010), Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge, ISBN 978-8120806191, pages 246-249, from note 385 onwards;
    Steven Collins (1994), Religion and Practical Reason (Editors: Frank Reynolds, David Tracy), State Univ of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791422175, page 64; Quote: "Central to Buddhist soteriology is the doctrine of not-self (Pali: anattā, Sanskrit: anātman, the opposed doctrine of ātman is central to Brahmanical thought). Put very briefly, this is the [Buddhist] doctrine that human beings have no soul, no self, no unchanging essence.";
    Edward Roer (Translator), Shankara's Introduction, p. 2, at Google Books, pages 2-4
    Katie Javanaud (2013), Is The Buddhist 'No-Self' Doctrine Compatible With Pursuing Nirvana?, Philosophy Now
  289. ↑ John C. Plott et al (2000), Global History of Philosophy: The Axial Age, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120801585, page 63, Quote: "The Buddhist schools reject any Ātman concept. As we have already observed, this is the basic and ineradicable distinction between Hinduism and Buddhism".
  290. ↑ For the impact of "soul exists" concept in later Hinduism, see Edward Roer (Translator), Shankara's Introduction, p. 3, at Google Books to Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad at pages 3-4; Quote - "(...) Lokayatikas and Bauddhas who assert that the soul does not exist. There are four sects among the followers of Buddha: 1. Madhyamicas who maintain all is void; 2. Yogacharas, who assert except sensation and intelligence all else is void; 3. Sautranticas, who affirm actual existence of external objects no less than of internal sensations; 4. Vaibhashikas, who agree with later (Sautranticas) except that they contend for immediate apprehension of exterior objects through images or forms represented to the intellect."
  291. ↑ Richard King (1995), Ācārya, Gauḍapāda - Early Advaita Vedānta and Buddhism: the Mahāyāna context of the Gauḍapādīya-kārikā, SUNY Press, ISBN 978-0-7914-2513-8, pages 51-58
  292. ↑ Stephen Phillips (2009), Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy, Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0231144858, Chapter 1
  293. ↑ Pratt, James Bissett (1996), The Pilgrimage of Buddhism and a Buddhist Pilgrimage, Asian Educational Services, p. 90, ISBN 978-81-206-1196-2
  294. ↑ 294.0 294.1 294.2 294.3 Larson 2009.
  295. ↑ Cousins 2010.
  296. ↑ Hiltebeitel 2007, p. 13.
  297. ↑ Nath 2001, p. 21.
  298. ↑ Embree 1988, p. 277.
  299. ↑ Hiltebeitel 2007, p. 14.
  300. ↑ Hiltebeitel 2007, p. 20.
  301. ↑ Radhakrishnan & Moore 1967, p. xviii–xxi
  302. ↑ 302.0 302.1 Michaels 2004, p. 40.
  303. ↑ Michell 1977, p. 18.
  304. ↑ Nath 2001, p. 19.
  305. ↑ Sharma, Peri Sarveswara (1980). Anthology of Kumārilabhaṭṭa's Works. Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass. p. 5.
  306. ↑ 306.0 306.1 306.2 Michaels 2004, p. 42.
  307. ↑ Inden 1998, p. 67.
  308. ↑ Holt, John. The Buddhist Visnu. Columbia University Press, 2004, p.12,15 "The replacement of the Buddha as the "cosmic person" within the mythic ideology of Indian kingship, as we shall see shortly, occurred at about the same time the Buddha was incorporated and subordinated within the Brahmanical cult of Visnu."
  309. ↑ Nakamura 2004, p. 680.
  310. ↑ 310.0 310.1 Basham 1999
  311. ↑ Vincent A. Smith, The early history of India, 3rd Edition, Oxford University Press, pages 381-384
  312. ↑ 312.0 312.1 Will Durant (1976), The Story of Civilization: Our Oriental Heritage, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 978-0671548001, page 458-472, Quote: "The Mohammedan Conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization is a precarious thing, whose delicate complex of order and liberty, culture and peace may at any time be overthrown by barbarians invading from without or multiplying within. The Hindus had allowed their strength to be wasted in internal division and war; they had adopted religions like Buddhism and Jainism, which unnerved them for the tasks of life; they had failed to organize their forces for the protection of their frontiers and their capitals."
  313. ↑ Marc Gaborieau (1985), "From Al-Beruni to Jinnah: Idiom, Ritual and Ideology of the Hindu-Muslim Confrontation in South Asia", Anthropology Today, 1(3), pages 7–14
  314. ↑ 314.0 314.1 Richard M. Eaton (2006), Slavery and South Asian History (Editors: Indrani Chatterjee, Richard M. Eaton), Indiana University Press, ISBN 0-253348102, page 11, Quote: "In 1562 Akbar abolished the practice of enslaving the families of war captives; his son Jahangir banned sending of slaves from Bengal as tribute in lieu of cash, which had been the custom since the 14th century. These measures notwithstanding, the Mughals actively participated in slave trade with Central Asia, deporting [Hindu] rebels and subjects who had defaulted on revenue payments, following precedents inherited from Delhi Sultanate".
  315. ↑ Andre Wink (1991), Al-Hind: the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Volume 1, Brill Academic, ISBN 978-9004095090, pages 14-16, 172-174, etc
  316. ↑ Sharma, Hari (1991), The real Tipu: a brief history of Tipu Sultan, Rishi publications, p. 112
  317. ↑ 317.0 317.1 P Hardy (1977), Modern European and Muslim explanations of conversion to Islam in South Asia: A preliminary survey of the literature, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland, Volume 109, Issue 02, pages 177-206
  318. ↑ Burjor Avari (2013), Islamic Civilization in South Asia, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415580618, pages 66-70; Quote: "Many Hindu slaves converted to Islam and gained their liberty".
  319. ↑ FHM Grapperhaus (2009), Taxes through the Ages, ISBN 978-9087220549, page 118
  320. ↑ Studies in Islamic History and Civilisation, David Ayalon, BRILL, 1986, p.271;ISBN 965-264-014-X
  321. ↑ J.T.F. Jordens, "Medieval Hindu Devotionalism" in & Basham 1999
  322. ↑ 322.0 322.1 King 2002.
  323. ↑ King 2002, p. 118.
  324. ↑ 324.0 324.1 King 1999-B.
  325. ↑ Jones & Ryan 2006, p. 114.
  326. ↑ King 2002, p. 119-120.
  327. ↑ King 2002, p. 123.
  328. ↑ Muesse 2011, p. 3-4.
  329. ↑ Doniger 2010, p. 18.
  330. ↑ Jouhki 2006, p. 10-11.
  331. ↑ Changing the Game: Why the Battle for Animal Liberation Is So Hard and How We Can Win It By Norm Phelps
  332. ↑ P. 250 Educational Opportunities in Integrative Medicine: The a to Z Healing Arts Guide and Professional Resource Directory By Douglas A. Wengell
  333. ↑ Ram-Prasad, C (2003). "Contemporary political Hinduism". In Flood, Gavin. The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism. Blackwell Publishing. pp. 526–550. ISBN 0-631-21535-2.
  334. ↑ Rinehart 2004, p. 196-197.
  335. ↑ McMahan 2008.
  336. ↑ Sharf 1993.
  337. ↑ Sharf 1995.
  338. ↑ Rinehart 2004, p. 198.
  339. ↑ "Peringatan". sp2010.bps.go.id. Retrieved 2014-05-27.
  340. ↑ "Vietnam". State.gov. 2002-10-22. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
  341. ↑ "Resident population by religion and sex" (PDF). Statistics Mauritius. p. 68. Retrieved 1 November 2012.

Sources

Published sources

  • Banerji, S. C. (1992), Tantra in Bengal (Second Revised and Enlarged ed.), Delhi: Manohar, ISBN 81-85425-63-9
  • Basham, Arthur Llewellyn (1989), The Origins and Development of Classical Hinduism, Oxford University Press
  • Basham, A.L (1999), A Cultural History of India, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-563921-9
  • Beckwith, Christopher I. (2009), Empires of the Silk Road, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0691135894
  • Beversluis, Joel (2000), Sourcebook of the World's Religions: An Interfaith Guide to Religion and Spirituality (Sourcebook of the World's Religions, 3rd ed), Novato, Calif: New World Library, ISBN 1-57731-121-3
  • Bhaktivedanta, A. C. (1997), Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, ISBN 0-89213-285-X, retrieved 14 July 2007
  • Bhaskarananda, Swami (1994), The Essentials of Hinduism: a comprehensive overview of the world's oldest religion, Seattle, WA: Viveka Press, ISBN 1-884852-02-5
  • Bhattacharya, Vidhushekhara (1943), Gauḍapādakārikā, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass
  • Bhattacharyya, N.N (1999), History of the Tantric Religion (Second Revised ed.), Delhi: Manohar publications, ISBN 81-7304-025-7
  • Bowker, John (2000), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, Oxford University Press
  • Brodd, Jefferey (2003), World Religions, Winona, MN: Saint Mary's Press, ISBN 978-0-88489-725-5
  • Burley, Mikel (2007), Classical Samkhya and Yoga: An Indian Metaphysics of Experience, Taylor & Francis
  • Embree, Ainslie T. (1988), Sources of Indian Tradition. Second Edition. volume One. From the beginning to 1800, Columbia University Press
  • Feuerstein, Georg (2002), The Yoga Tradition, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 3-935001-06-1
  • Flood, Gavin D. (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press
  • Flood, Gavin (2008), The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism, John Wiley & Sons
  • Fowler, Jeaneane D. (1997), Hinduism: Beliefs and Practices, Sussex Academic Press
  • Fuller, C. J. (2004), The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-12048-5
  • Inden, Ronald (1998), Ritual, Authority, And Cycle Time in Hindu Kingship. In: JF Richards, ed., "Kingship and Authority in South Asia", New Delhi: Oxford University Press
  • Inden, Ronald B. (2000), Imagining India, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers
  • Johnson, W.J. (2009), A Dictionary of Hinduism, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-861025-0
  • Jones, Constance; Ryan, James D. (2006), Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Infobase Publishing
  • Jouhki, Jukka (2006), "Orientalism and India" (PDF), J@RGONIA 8/2006
  • Nakamura, Hajime (2004), A History of Early Vedanta Philosophy. Part Two, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited
  • Narayanan, Vasudha (2009), Hinduism, The Rosen Publishing Group
  • Nath, Vijay (2001), "From 'Brahmanism' to 'Hinduism': Negotiating the Myth of the Great Tradition", Social Scientist 2001, pp. 19-50
  • Nicholson, Andrew J. (2010), Unifying Hinduism: Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History, Columbia University Press
  • Nikhilananda, Swami (1990), The Upanishads: Katha, Iśa, Kena, and Mundaka I (5th ed.), New York: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Centre, ISBN 0-911206-15-9
  • Nikhilananda, Swami (trans.) (1992), The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (8th ed.), New York: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Centre, ISBN 0-911206-01-9
  • Nussbaum, Martha C. (2009). The Clash Within: Democracy, Religious Violence, and India's Future. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03059-6. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  • Oberlies, T (1998), Die Religion des Rgveda, Vienna: Institut für Indologie der Universität Wien, ISBN 3-900271-32-1
  • Osborne, E (2005), Accessing R.E. Founders & Leaders, Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism Teacher's Book Mainstream, Folens Limited
  • Radhakrishnan, S; Moore, CA (1967), A sourcebook in Indian Philosophy, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-01958-4
  • Radhakrishnan, S (Trans.) (1995), Bhagvada Gita, Harper Collins, ISBN 1-85538-457-4
  • Radhakrishnan, S (1996), Indian Philosophy 1, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-563820-4
  • Raju, P.T. (1992), The Philosophical Traditions of India, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited
  • Ramaswamy, Sumathi (1997), Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970, University of California Press
  • Ramstedt, Martin (2004), Hinduism in Modern Indonesia: A Minority Religion Between Local, National, and Global Interests, New York: Routledge
  • Rawat, Ajay S. (1993), StudentMan and Forests: The Khatta and Gujjar Settlements of Sub-Himalayan Tarai, Indus Publishing
  • Renard, Philip (2010), Non-Dualisme. De directe bevrijdingsweg, Cothen: Uitgeverij Juwelenschip
  • Renou, Louis (1964), The Nature of Hinduism, Walker
  • Richman, Paula (1988), Women, branch stories, and religious rhetoric in a Tamil Buddhist text, Buffalo, NY: Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, ISBN 0-915984-90-3
  • Rinehart, Robin (2004), Contemporary Hinduism: Ritual, Culture, and Practice, ABC-CLIO
  • Rodrigues, Hillary (2006), Hinduism: the Ebook, JBE Online Books
  • Vasu, Srisa Chandra (1919), The Catechism Of Hindu Dharma, New York: Kessinger Publishing, LLC
  • Vivekananda, Swami (1987), Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, ISBN 81-85301-75-1
  • Vivekjivandas (2010), Hinduism: An Introduction - Part 1, Ahmedabad: Swaminarayan Aksharpith, ISBN 978-81-7526-433-5

Web-sources

  1. ↑ "The Global Religious Landscape - Hinduism". A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Major Religious Groups as of 2010. The pew foundation. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica", sanatana dharma, Encyclopedia Britannica
  3. ↑ Adherents.com, which itself references many sources; The World Almanac & Book of Facts 1998 being especially relevant.
  4. ↑ Ninian Smart (2007). "Polytheism". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 5 July 2007.
  5. ↑ Sāṁkhyapravacana Sūtra I.92.
  6. ↑ अहिंसा सत्यमस्तेयं शौचमिन्द्रियनिग्रहः। एतं सामासिकं धर्मं चातुर्वर्ण्येऽब्रवीन् मनु, ahimsâ satyamstenam shaucmindrayanigrahah, etam sâmâsikam dharmam câturvanaryabravîn manu
  7. ↑ The Laws of Manu X
  8. ↑ Yadav, Y.; Kumar, S (14 August 2006). "The food habits of a nation". The Hindu. Retrieved 17 November 2006.
  9. ↑ "Religious or Secular: Animal Slaughter a Shame". The Hindu American foundation. 2009. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  10. ↑ "Swami Shivananda's mission". Retrieved 25 June 2007.
  11. ↑ "Hindu Marriage Act, 1955". Retrieved 25 June 2007.
  12. ↑ "Life-Cycle Rituals". Country Studies: India. The Library of Congress. September 1995. Retrieved 19 April 2007.
  13. ↑ Manu Smriti Laws of Manu 1.87-1.91
  14. ↑ V, Jayaram. "The Hindu Caste System". Hinduwebsite. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  15. ↑ Venkataraman, Swaminathan; Deshpande, Pawan. "Hinduism: Not Cast In Caste". Hindu American Foundation. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  16. ↑ iskcon.org, The Heart of Hinduism: The Four Main Denominations
  17. ↑ Jha, Preeti (26 December 2007). "Guinness comes to east Delhi: Akshardham world's largest Hindu temple". ExpressIndia.com. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
  18. ↑ PHILTAR, Division of Religion and Philosophy, University of Cumbria, Tribal Religions of India
  19. ↑ Encyclopedia Britannica, yaksha
  20. ↑ "Itihasas". ReligionFacts. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  21. ↑ "Aurangzeb: Religious Policies". Manas Group, UCLA. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  22. ↑ "Halebidu - Temples of Karnataka". TempleNet.com. Retrieved 17 August 2006.
  23. ↑ "Yoga Therapy in Australia" by Leigh Blashki, M.H.Sc.
  24. ↑ "The Growing Global Interest In Yoga" Monday 16 April 2012
  25. ↑ CIA-The world factbook
  26. ↑ 2011 Nepal Census Report
  27. ↑ CIA - The World Factbook
  28. ↑ CIA - The World Factbook
  29. ↑ Bhutan
  30. ↑ Suriname
  31. ↑ Department of Census and Statistics,The Census of Population and Housing of Sri Lanka-2011
  32. ↑ "SVRS 2010" (PDF). Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  33. ↑ CIA - The World Factbook
  34. ↑ Singapore Department of Statistics (12 January 2011). "Census of population 2010: Statistical Release 1 on Demographic Characteristics, Education, Language and Religion" (PDF). Retrieved 16 January 2011.
  35. ↑ CIA - The World Factbook

Further reading

Scholarly
Origins
Texts
Native

External links

Audio