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Hindu cultural impact
How has hinduism influenced indian culture
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THE RIG VEDA
I will mention about the Indian’s Rig Vedas.Before giving the details of Rig Veda,it would be better giving information about eastern philosophy and also Hinduizm. Firstly I want to explain some basic characteristics of eastern philosophy and the place of Hinduism as a religion entering the side of the philosophy.
Actually if we want to understand the eastern philosophy completely, there is need to know that these philosophies depend on a religious area, like Indian philosophy. The system of eastern philosophy aims to experience the truth in a directly but also in a mystical way, and this experience take the character of religion with it, so why it is inevitable that the eastern philosophy depend on the religious area.
Then we can put Hinduism in eastern tradition entering the side of philosophy. There is a strict relationship between philosophy and religion in Hinduism so that it effects the intellectual life of Indian deeply for hundred years and it formed the cultural and social tradition of this country.
Essentially it is hard to define Hinduism as a religion or a philosophy. It contains so many cultures, philosophical systems that make itself complicated. Besides it has so many Gods and Goddess. We can convey that this state is the reflection of complex society in Indian, people from different races, geographic areas. Whereas it would be seen as a complication, there is a constant ritual with the spiritual of Hinduism.
‘ The oldest Scriptures in all of India and the most important are called the Vedas. All Hindus recognize the Vedas as the true origin of their faith because of the spiritual meaning behind them.’2 It is obvious that the Vedas are the main resources of the spiritual of Hinduism. Then we can give some information about Vedas, world’s oldest spiritual teachings.
‘The Vedas are probably the earliest documents of the human mind, they are the original scriptures of Hindu teachings. Veda means wisdom, knowledge or vision, and it manifests the language of the gods in human speech. The laws of the Vedas regulate the social, legal, domestic and religious customs of the Hindus to the present day.’3
So what gives Vedas this power to regulate these customs of Hindus to the present day. The answer of this question is hidden in the question ‘Who wrote the Vedas?’. ‘It is believed that humans did not compose the revered compositions of the Vedas, which were handed down through generations by the word of mouth from time immemorial.
Unlike most religions, Hinduism has no specific founder, scripture or set of teachings. Hinduism has over nine hundred million followers today. The history of Hinduism is that it was found in the Indus Valley and it is an oral religion. Hindu’s believe in the three gods named Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Brahma is believed to be the creator of the world and creatures.
...ely resembles the dharmic action of the Bhagavad-Gita. The fundamental concept of dharma, or proper conduct, is paralleled in the Analects when Confucius provides many examples of how one can remain morally sound. The reason for moral or proper conduct differs in the two texts; while the Bhagavad-Gita presents proper conduct as a step towards liberation from samsara, serving the individual’s needs, the Analects present moral conduct in order to maintain a properly functioning society, serving the society’s needs as a whole. In Western society the goal of Eastern religions are often compared to Heaven; however, Heaven in Hinduism and Confucianism is not a place one goes to at the end of his or her life. Instead, Heaven in Hinduism is a heavenly realm in which the gods reside, and Heaven in Confucianism is a ruling force that instills and enforces values and morals.
The Question of Origin: Hinduism believes everything has been in existence and is a part of numerous gods. In (Foundation of Indian Psychology Vol.2 Pg.116) the text Hinduism is a treasury of spiritual laws discovered by different people in different times of life. Over the centuries the Hindus beliefs are not literally interpreted by the scriptures and there ethics are derived from them.
Hinduism, which branched off from Buddhism, an intricate religion with one idea on what to do to achieve happiness. It also has the concept of Karma, which is the sum of a person’s good and bad deeds in life (Doc 1). Religions in East Asia are very different than religions from other parts of Asia. Confucianism is a philosophy rather than a religion. The focus of Confucianism was based on the way a person should behave rather than their reason for existence.
Although the Vedas and the Upanishads express common themes of the Aryan world view, they differ greatly in genre and emphasis. Underlying both texts are the core ideas of the religion: the ubiquitousness of atman, Brahman’s origins of non-being, the non-existence of physical reality, and the subtle, intangible existence of ultimate reality. But while the Vedas is mythical and ritualistic, the Upanishads is theological and devalues ritual.
Other than a religion, Hinduism is a way of life through philosophy that is mostly concerned with spirituality and enlightenment. The impracticality of the Hindu religion comes from the Vedas. Vedas are the oldest scriptures in the Hindu religion that are considered to be a straight ...
Hinduism is made of many different religions and does not have one origin or single founder. The religion of Hinduism is very old, “300-100 B.C.E.--- The first trace of temple worship. Hindu people worship at the shrine, where Hindus make offerings to a murti. A murti is a statue of a god or goddess” (McMillan). In addition, other religions are based off Hinduism, “5000-10000 B.C.---Hinduism can be traced back to 5000-10000 B.C. Hinduism is a very old religion, many religions are based off of Hinduism, like Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism” (McMillan).
The Aryans began to write down their ideas and methods of worship that were originally orally passed. In order to pass these lengthy stories orally, they had been put into rhymes and hymns. The first book of the Vedas, the Rig Veda, consists of 1028 hymns to various deities.
More than a religion, Hinduism is a way of life and a philosophy that is most concerned with spirituality and enlightenment. The idealism of the Hindu religion comes from the Vedas, which are the Hindu religion's oldest scriptures and are considered to be a direct revelation of God. The Upanishads are writings that take their themes from the Vedas. The Upanishads, however, seem to be more along the lines of allegories that give a fleshy quality to the religion rather than a very dry and out of touch feel that can be found in other religious texts. Lastly, the Bhagavad-Gita is a collection of teachings that are based on the conversation between Arjuna, a soldier for one of two warring families, and Lord Krishna, who appears as Arjuna's charioteer. In these conversations the two discuss everything from the purpose of life to the basis of reality. Much like Christian proverbs, the teachings of Lord Krishna give advice and general good sense and...
Hinduism is unlike many other religions in that it does not have a single founder or text, but is more like an umbrella in ways of life. In death and life for the Hindu, “The ultimate goal of the soul is liberation from the wheel of rebirth, through reabsorption into our identity with the Oversoul (Brahma)-- the essence of the universe, immaterial, uncreated, limitless, and timeless” (Leming & Dickinson, 2011, p. 134).
Hindus follow many sacred texts of literature, one of them being the Vedas which originated in ancient India and is known as the oldest scriptures of Hinduism. The Vedas were followed during the Vedic age of Hinduism which was centered in the Indian subcontinent. In the Vedas, it is estimated that the average life-span of an individual is around a hundred years .The ashram system divides these hundred years into four stages with each stage consisting twenty-five years. The four stages are focused around celibacy, family life, forestation, and renunciation. # The system focused on showing man the “paths of ethics, self-restraint, intelligence, pragmatism, love compassion and discipline”,
However, Vedas are ritual texts which means these knowledge were passed down ritually or orally to the next generation. In fact, after thousands of years, Oxtoby mentions that there was no mistakes while the Hindu passed down the vedas because these texts had been understood by the Hindus eternally. Therefore, this brought interests to me because comparing to other religious text, information will be twisted while passing down orally or ritually as time went
The first appearances of Hinduism appeared with the introduction of Sanskrit. Sanskrit is a sacred language and the first recorded writings of this language appeared in the ancient Vedas (scriptures). These ancient scripture appeared between 1500-1200 B.C.(Pandian 62). These writings were the beginnings of the Hindu religion and had great influence on Valmiki when he was writing the Ramayana. Pre-Hindu religion before the writing of the Ramayana involved several similarities to the Hindu religion. The most influential similarity that Valmiki kept in his text was the focus on the individual. David R. Kinsley in his book Hinduism says this about the Vedic (pre-Hindu) beliefs "The realization of…truth wins the adept liberation…from the shifting world of constant flux and the endless cycle of rebirth, which is…determined by all one's action."(13) The Ramayana kept this central idea, but also focused on political aspects
And also the appendix to the Vedic hymn. Vedanta can also be secondhand as a noun to explain one who has learned all four of the earliest Vedas. The four Vedas are Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda. In the former writings Sanskrit Vedanta clearly mentioned the Upanishads which is the most theoretical and philosophical of the Vedic texts. Still in the medieval age of Hindusim, the word Vedanta came to close to the school of philosophy that explained the Upanishads.
Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion and was originated in the Indian subcontinent. Is rare that a big religion like Hinduism don’t have a single founder, religious organization, specific theological system and don’t even a system of morality, but it is a religion that has evolved over thousands of years. Hinduism has a diverse body of cultural and philosophical practices. Hinduism consists of belief and tradition. The most recognized belief and traditions of the Hinduism are Karma, Dharma, Samsara and Moshka. Hindu people don’t believe in violence, but they do believe in prayers, honesty, truth, austerity, celibacy and penance. The Hindu scriptures are collectively referred to as the Shashtras. The Hindu scriptures were initially passed on orally from generation to generation until finally ancient scholars wrote them down; mainly in the Sanskrit language that was the prevailing language of the time. Some of the Hindu scriptures are the Shruti and Smritis. The Shruti primarily refers to the Vedas which represent eternal truths revealed to ancient sages but some other Hindu individuals associated the Vedas with a God or a powerful person. The Smritis are all of the other text different than the Shruti. The most know of the Smritis are the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Although the Hindus worship a large pantheon of Gods and Goddesses, they believe in the one Supreme Power that manifests itself in various forms.