A brief history of Hinduism

By admin · Monday, March 29th, 2010

Hinduism is a term derived from the nineteenth century when colonized British foreigners named the people living in the region of the Indus River, India subcontinent for the purpose of census taking. This particular term may be considered or known to Westerners as the name of a religion; however, it actually portrays various religious traditions into one. A more contemporary and preferred label is Sanatana Dharma as stated in Fisher (2005). “Sanatana, “eternal” or “ageless,” reflects the belief that these ways have always existed. Dharma, often translated as “religion,” encompasses duty, natural law, social welfare, ethics, health, and transcendental realization. Dharma is thus a holistic approach to social coherence and the good of all, corresponding to order in the cosmos,” (Fisher, 2005). In the following paragraphs we will look into what makes up the Hinduism religion, cultural and societal influences that have made Hinduism vital to the region in which it originated and the desire for liberation from earthly existence in Hinduism.

In Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma, “the spiritual expressions range from extreme asceticism to extreme sensuality, from the heights of personal devotion to a deity to the heights of abstract philosophy, from metaphysical proclamations of the oneness behind the material world to worship of images representing a multiplicity of deities,” (Fisher, 2005). Moreover, according to tradition there are 330 million deities in India and they consider the divine to have countless faces. Additionally, the worship of deities is diverse and does not follow a central tradition since there are various religious ways to worship the divine that has countless faces. Therefore, we could assume that there may be 330 million ways to worship each deity or the divine’s countless faces.

Cultural and societal influences made Hinduism vital to the region in which it originated by numerous traditions and social systems that were adhered by the people of India or fellow adepts of Hinduism. Culturally, Hinduism contains various myths that implied the countless faces of the divine to interact in various forms with people. In cultural traditions the divine or deities would bless, punish and protect the people depending on how well they were venerated. Therefore, myths and traditions were passed on describing ways to worship and the importance of venerating the deities. Moreover, various forms of discipline were formed to express veneration and devotion

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