Hinduism: The Passage From Ritual Sacrifice To Mystical Union
Janet Borges
Reading Assignment of Chapter 3
Early Hinduism: The Passage from Ritual Sacrifice to Mystical Union
Carlos Albizu University
Hinduism is not a religion but rather an umbrella of religions of an unlimited diversity. There is a wide selection of beliefs and practices within the Hindu religious community. Hindus believe in reincarnation. After death, the soul leaves the body and is reborn in the body of another person, animal, vegetable, or mineral. This condition of endless entanglement and rebirth is called samsara. The basic belief is that a person 's fate or destiny is determined according to his deeds. These deeds in Hinduism are called karma. Hindus direct their lives based on rules …show more content…
Some claim that Hinduism is mainly an Aryan culture whereas the others claim that it is mainly a Dravidian culture. Hinduism is complex and it involves many scriptures and books. The most sacred Hindu books are the four Vedas. Vedas means “sacred knowledge”. These books are the Rig Veda, The Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda, which contain thousands of stories, anecdotes, poetry, prayers, hymns and rituals. The concluding portions of the Vedas are called Upanishads meaning “sittings near a teacher”. These are observations and individual comprehension and explanations of the four Vedas. The Vedas, including the Brahmanas and the Upanishads, are regarded as shruti,”what has been heard’. The practical compendium of Hinduism is contained in the Smriti, or “what is remembered,” the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. (Noss, D., & Grangaard, B. …show more content…
According to Hinduism, three Gods rule the world. They are Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and, Shiva the destroyer. The three Lords that rule the world have wives and they are goddesses too. The wife of Brahma is Sarasvati, goddess of learning. Vishnu 's wife is Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and prosperity. Shiva 's wife is Parvati who is worshipped as Kali or Durga. Besides these, there are a number of other Gods and Goddesses. To name a few of them, there is Ganesh, who has an elephant 's head and he is the son of Shiva and Parvati. Hanuman who is an ape, and Surya the Lord of the sun. Some gods have more than one name. Shiva is also known as Shankar, Mahadev, Natraj, and many other names. God Vishnu incarnated many times to do his job and in his every appearance, he had a different form, which are also worshipped as Gods. Among his appearances, he appeared as Rama, Krishna, and Buddha. Not all of these Gods are worshiped by all Hindus. Some Hindus worship only Vishnu. Others worship only Shiva. Others worship only the Goddesses and call these Goddesses collectively as “Shakti” meaning strength. Though these Hindus worship different idols, many Hindus believe in one God and perceive these different Gods and Goddesses as different images of the same one God. According to their beliefs, idolatry is the wrong interpretation of Hinduism. (Noss, D., & Grangaard, B.
Reading Assignment of Chapter 3
Early Hinduism: The Passage from Ritual Sacrifice to Mystical Union
Carlos Albizu University
Hinduism is not a religion but rather an umbrella of religions of an unlimited diversity. There is a wide selection of beliefs and practices within the Hindu religious community. Hindus believe in reincarnation. After death, the soul leaves the body and is reborn in the body of another person, animal, vegetable, or mineral. This condition of endless entanglement and rebirth is called samsara. The basic belief is that a person 's fate or destiny is determined according to his deeds. These deeds in Hinduism are called karma. Hindus direct their lives based on rules …show more content…
Some claim that Hinduism is mainly an Aryan culture whereas the others claim that it is mainly a Dravidian culture. Hinduism is complex and it involves many scriptures and books. The most sacred Hindu books are the four Vedas. Vedas means “sacred knowledge”. These books are the Rig Veda, The Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda, which contain thousands of stories, anecdotes, poetry, prayers, hymns and rituals. The concluding portions of the Vedas are called Upanishads meaning “sittings near a teacher”. These are observations and individual comprehension and explanations of the four Vedas. The Vedas, including the Brahmanas and the Upanishads, are regarded as shruti,”what has been heard’. The practical compendium of Hinduism is contained in the Smriti, or “what is remembered,” the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. (Noss, D., & Grangaard, B. …show more content…
According to Hinduism, three Gods rule the world. They are Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and, Shiva the destroyer. The three Lords that rule the world have wives and they are goddesses too. The wife of Brahma is Sarasvati, goddess of learning. Vishnu 's wife is Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and prosperity. Shiva 's wife is Parvati who is worshipped as Kali or Durga. Besides these, there are a number of other Gods and Goddesses. To name a few of them, there is Ganesh, who has an elephant 's head and he is the son of Shiva and Parvati. Hanuman who is an ape, and Surya the Lord of the sun. Some gods have more than one name. Shiva is also known as Shankar, Mahadev, Natraj, and many other names. God Vishnu incarnated many times to do his job and in his every appearance, he had a different form, which are also worshipped as Gods. Among his appearances, he appeared as Rama, Krishna, and Buddha. Not all of these Gods are worshiped by all Hindus. Some Hindus worship only Vishnu. Others worship only Shiva. Others worship only the Goddesses and call these Goddesses collectively as “Shakti” meaning strength. Though these Hindus worship different idols, many Hindus believe in one God and perceive these different Gods and Goddesses as different images of the same one God. According to their beliefs, idolatry is the wrong interpretation of Hinduism. (Noss, D., & Grangaard, B.