What is Hinduism? Hinduism is one of the largest religions in not just our country but the entire world. It has been the moral code of instruction even prior to the Christian era. Most modern day religions are branches of Hinduism which began along the course of time.  More than 900 million people all across the globe follow Hinduism. Such a huge and diverse religion should have some basic principles that it is built on. Unlike Buddhism, Islam and Christianity ,Hinduism has no founder. The values and sacred texts we adhere to today were written by ancient rishis and there have been several influences from various ages that were incorporated in to the Hindu culture that we have today. Hinduism is also polytheistic , meaning there is more than one god worshiped in Hinduism . though some might argue that god as such is singular and we have just  specified different forms to him.

Every religion and god in the world gives a path for its devotees to attain salvation or moksha that is the freedom from the cycle of births. After a person dies, he enters another world before attaining another physical form. Those beings that have no debts from their previous life will not be born again. Karma plays a huge role in determining the kind of birth one will take in the next life. Hindus consider the physical world we perceive as Maya or illusion. Maya does not mean that the world does not exist. Rather, Maya refers to how the world is not the way we currently perceive it. Our perception of reality is flawed, and thus they live in illusion. To achieve moksha, one must seek inner peace and harmony by breaking the bonds of karma. All human efforts and deeds are subject to the law of karma, and thus this forms a dual-edged sword. In one way, one could sink into suffering as a result of ill-considered action. But one may also rise to an exalted state as a result of positive actions. But all karma, whether good or bad is a trap. Only breaking free from karma can one attain moksha.

This can be easily understood in a scientific manner. The basic law of nature that physics gives us is that

“energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only be transformed from one form to another”

This is what karma and re incarnation is based on. At the time of death only the body perishes, the atman(soul) which is the energy just changes from one body to another body. The soul has to go through numerous births before it becomes one with the supreme force(god).

Sometimes some gods take birth on earth for a purpose , usually to save the people of the earth from some distress. Then they are known as avatars.

Moksha talks about the being relieved of karma after death but karma is something that affects a human being in course of his life itself. Karma is the law of cause and effect. Familiar with Newton’s third law? Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. This is the basis behind how karma acts.

According to the ways of life chosen by a person, his karma can be classified into three kinds. The satvik karma, is sacrificing one’s desires for a greater cause; the rajasik karma, it is self centered action that benefits only the concerned person; and the tamasik karma, which is not just unbeneficial to others but also tries to savage other lives for a transitory happiness.  In Shakespeare’s famous poem titles the seven ages  he talks about how man is constantly seeking something or the other in all stages of life.it can be love, fame, money or  even a peaceful death but the quest never ends.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says:

 

“tasmad asaktah satatam karyam karma samacara asakto hy acaran karma param apnoti purushah”

 

Which means one must not worry about the results of any action performed, instead work without any attachment to worldly emotions and focus on getting closer to god. the goal of the Human being is to unite the Atman (soul) with the Paramaatma. This process happens from within and cannot be attained if you search for it out in the materialistic world. Bhagwan Shri Krishna prescribes a certain process of worship and meditation for unification of Aetna (soul) and Paramaatma (. This process is called as Yagya. Any action other than Yagya is the worldly compulsions and not the Ordained Action indicated by Bhagwan Shri Krishna in the Bhagwad Gita. The Karma is done to attain liberation (Moksha) from the cycle of the death and birth and free oneself from the great fear of being old and death. All our pujas and rituals that are said to have no meaning if we cling on to the attachments and commitments of life and refuse to let go. Lakhs of people believe that taking a dip in the holy ganga will give you moksha. But moksha is too simple to be understood by most of us. One can simply not attain salvation by external means. To the man thinking about the objects (of the senses)  develops attachment towards them; from attachment, increases longing; and  longing   results in anger. From anger comes delusion; and from delusion loss of memory; from loss of memory, the ruin of discrimination; and on the ruin of discrimination, he perishes”.

When king hiranya kashyap asked his little son prahalada where his god was. Prahalada replies god is in the pillar and even in the small dust. That is the nature of god. He is all pervasive. The Vedas state that ‘Ekam sat vipraha bahuda vadanti’  which means god is always singular, it Is us humans who give it various names. There is a small story that explains this well. Once lord ganesha while playing finds a stray kitten. He begins to manhandle it and the kitten gets hurt and scratched. He returns to their abode to find his mother parvati devi injured and scratched. On asking her as to what had happened. Goddess shakthi replied  “It was you who beat me up, a little while ago.” Little Ganesha was perplexed. He claimed to be playing out and hence was not responsible for His Mother’s affliction. The Divine Mother replied, “Do you recall the way you ill-treated the little cat? You thought you were hurting it, but you were actually hurting me!”

That is when the truth dawns on ganesha that all beings are a manifestation of the divine power.

Dharma is also related to karma and moksha.dharma is following the path of righteousness. It is more like a moral code of conduct than a religious text.  samrat Asoka was inspired by Buddhism and he formulated his own set of principles that were called as dhamma and propagated it across the country.

Dharma is different according to people of different sections. In Ramayana , when  lord rama hears that the people of his kingdom speak low of sita devi. According to the dharma of a king he has to put his welfare of the kingdom before anything else hence he sends away sita to the forests. Manusmriti written by the ancient sage Manu, prescribes 10 essential rules for the observance of dharma: Patience (dhriti), forgiveness (kshama), piety or self control (dama), honesty (asteya), sanctity (shauch), control of senses (indraiya-nigrah), reason (dhi), knowledge or learning (vidya), truthfulness (satya) and absence of anger (krodha). Manu further writes, “Non-violence, truth, non-coveting, purity of body and mind, control of senses are the essence of dharma”. Therefore dharmic laws govern not only the individual but all in society.

These are the pillars upon which Hinduism is built on. Most of us mistake Hinduism as another religion, but it is a way of life that brings together morality, spirituality and science under one roof. That is why the impact of Hinduism is seen across the globe. More and more western countries are moving towards ideals of Hinduism such as yoga, meditation and karma. It  is high time we realized how forward and modern our religion is adapting to the changing times of the world.

 

History of Hinduism

 

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