HINDUISM

Origins of Hinduism
Foundations of Hindu philosophy and
theology emerged from the synthesis
of the cultures of Indus Valley
civilization and the Aryans.
The term Hinduism is inappropriate
because it is an attempt by the West
to create one tradition where in fact
there are many.
The schools that emerged from the
creative strand of Hindu thinking are
the Vedas, the Aranyakas and the
Upanishads.

The Hindu Mind

The first series of Vedas is
the Samahitas and the
oldest collection of hymns
is the Rig Veda
The Hindu temples create
the impression that there
are many gods, however a
monotheism starts to
appear in the Rig Veda.
Numerous gods and
goddesses ar responsible
for different areas of
human life.

TO ALL THE GODS

1. Not one of you, gods, is small,
not one a little child; all of
you are truly great.
2. Therefore you are worthy of
praise and of sacrifice; you
thirty three gods of Manu,
arrogant and powerful.
3. Protect us, help us and speak
for us; do not lead us into the
distance far away from the
path of our father Manu.
4. You gods who are all here
and who belong to all men,
give far reaching shelter to us
and our cows and horses.

- Excerpt From The Rig

Veda

The Six Schools of Thought

Central to the Hindu tradition is the notion
of sacrifice
Hindus had an interest in controlling nature
and the world through the use of rituals
Rig Veda celebrates speech and the notion
is that the very words of the ritual describe
sounds of reality
The 3 Das are the foundation
of all ethical thought
Damyata Self Control
Datta Giving
Dayadhavam
Compassion

Hindu
Hindu theology
theology was
was an
an
important
component
important component in
in
the
the Independence
Independence
movement.
movement.
Mahatma
Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhi was
was
inspired
inspired by
by Ahimsa
Ahimsa and
and
used
it
as
a
tool
against
used it as a tool against
the
the British
British
He
He affirms
affirms the
the good
good in
in
other
other religions
religions and
and resist
resist
all
all that
that is
is mistaken
mistaken

Ethical
Expressi
on2
Modern
Expressi
on
6

Second
Brahman
Institutio
a3
n and
Ritual
Caste
System
Role of
4
Women
5

Laws of Manu insist that a

women must never be
independent

The
The thirteen
thirteen principles
principles
of
of Upanishads
Upanishads from
from
the
the Brahadranyaka
Brahadranyaka
Upanishad
Upanishad contain
contain the
the
three
cardinal
virtues
three cardinal virtues
also
also known
known as
as the
the
three
three Das
Das

According
According to
to Hinduism
Hinduism
the
the caste
caste system
system
provides
provides aa sense
sense of
of
order
order to
to the
the universe
universe
There
is
no
agreed
There is no agreed
theory
theory of
of creation
creation of
of the
the
world
world

An Interesting
Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ZpJ9CqhOvXQ

Thank You