hindu

• Dharma


  No exact and concrete meaning, matter of practice is prioritized rather than beliefs
• Dharmic Religions are considered the 3rd largest world religion and is the oldest, started in 3000 BCE
• Dharmic Religions are the most complex, with diverse, varied deities, practices and customs
• Origins of Dharmic Religions cannot be described to a single founder
• Sanathana Dharma


  Traditional name, Sanathana/Sanatana means ancient, Dharma means right conduct
• Hinduism


  A 19th century word, may be derived from the Persian word 'hindu' or Sanskrit 'sindhu' meaning river, used to describe the people of the Indus Valley
• Arya Dharma


  Original name, meaning Aryan Way of living or worship
• Hinduism is not just a set of religious beliefs and practices, it refers to a family of religions that are all native to India, based on Vedas and share certain doctrines
• Periods of Hinduism


  • Pre-Vedic
  • Vedic
  • Upanishadic
• Pre-Vedic era


  • Civilization thrived in the Indus River Valley from about 2500 to 1500 BCE, matriarchal society, people worshiped a mother goddess
• Vedic era


  • Period named for the first sacred writings of Hinduism, dated from 1500 to 600 BCE, rituals focused on prayer, elements of nature, and animal sacrifices
• Upanishadic era


  • Ancient India's culture was unified, began around 600 BCE, Hinduism accepted the Vedas and added the Upanishads, worship began in temples, moved Hinduism's focus from sacrificial practices to the inner self
• Mohenjo-Daro and Harrapa were a thriving civilization along the Indus River in the early 3000 BCE
• Dravidians


  Early people of the subcontinent
• Aryans


  Invaded northwest India, lighter in skin tone compared to Dravidians
• Practices and customs were derived from the Dravidians and flourished by the Aryans
• During this time, the Vedas in Sanskrit were being written
• Sanskrit


  The language used in Hinduism
• Sacred texts


  • Shruti
  • Smriti
• Shruti


  "That which is heard", eternal truths that were passed orally and sooner written down
• Vedas


  Main texts in Shruti, refers to sacrificial compiled hymns from an earlier oral tradition, means "knowledge" or "sacred lore"
• Parts of Vedas


  • Rig Veda
  • Yajur Veda
  • Sama Veda
  • Atharva Veda
• Rig Veda


  • Praise of Gods, oldest living religious scripture and literature in the world
• Yajur Veda


  • Vedas of Worship, the knowledge of rites
• Sama Veda


  • Knowledge of chants, origin of Music–Sabda, Brahma Nad Brahma, verses, hymns and musical expressions
• Atharva Veda


  • Various branches of science, Ayurved, economics including Vedic math
• Parts of each Veda

  • Ceremonial rites – Samhitas and Brahmanas
  • Philosophy and Spirituality – Aranyakas and Upanishads
• Samhitas


  Collections of mantras or hymns used in sacrificial and mystic rituals addressed to different Vedic deities
• Brahmanas


  Elaborate explanations, often through myths and legends, and of instruction of how to properly perform a ritual associated with the mantras
• Aranyakas


  Discussion about the practices developed by the hermits or ascetics living in the forests, facilitates the transition of the traditions to philosophical and spiritual interpretations
• Upanishads or Vedenta


  Concluding and philosophical part of the Vedas, deeply discusses the major Hindu doctrines
• Smriti


  "What is remembered", refers to remembered knowledge based on recollection of experiences, secondary sources that truths may change over time and are made by human origin
• Smriti texts


  • Itihasas
  • Puranas
  • Dharma Shastra
• Itihasas


  The epic poems
• Puranas


  Comprehensive discussion of history of the universe, genealogies of the kings, heroes and demigods, and Hindu cosmology and geography
• Dharma Shastra


  Books about laws and rules of behavior
• Ramayana


  • The story of Rama or Rama's journey, written by Valmiki, 7 books, 500 cantos and 24,000 verses, Rama was exiled by his father on the eve of his coronation, his consort Sita was abducted by the demon-king Ravana, Rama struggles to win Sita back, afterwards they come back to Ayodhya and are crowned as king and queen
• Mahabharata


  • World's longest poem, equal to four Ramayanas, eight Iliads and Odyssey and even fifteen longer than the bible, 100,000 couplets and 1.8 million words, the great struggle among the descendants of the king Bharata, two families at war, Pandavas (good) and Kauravas (evil)
• Bhagavad Gita


  The Lord's song, a seven hundred verse dialogue between Pandava Prince Arjuna and Krishna
• Brahman


  The general name for God in Hinduism, just the holy and has no form and no gender, just spirit, can be seen in different forms with different names and unique traits