Hinduism
Hinduism, a word which creates an image of the land of gods, strong religious beliefs, diversity of culture and rich historical background. You must have heard many beautiful things about Hinduism but one thing which is most beautiful is our unity in diversity. Many people defined Hinduism in their own way, some people called it a way of living a better life and some people called it a great scientific based religious practice. In fact, who defined it as much as he understood, but the culture of Hinduism is much older than that and it is still influencing the world with their belief, rituals and culture. Actually, this is the beauty of Hinduism, it easily connects with everyone and also connects everyone with itself. if you ask me what is the biggest feature of Hinduism, then I will say first of all that Hinduism is so flexible and spacious that everyone can fit into it.
In Hinduism, we pray for the welfare of all. There is a much known verse of Sanskrit :-
सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः सर्वे संतु निरमाय | सर्वे भद्राणी पश्यन्तू मा कश्चित् दुःख भागभवेत।
it means in English:- May all be happy, may all be built, may all see the good, and may no one share in suffering.
Core Belief of Hinduism:-
There are many beliefs in Hinduism. Some important beliefs that you must know.
- God is everywhere:- People who believe in Hinduism believe that God is everywhere, he is in both the living and the non-living. From him this world has originated and in the end everything will be absorbed in him.
- The soul is immortal:- The soul is immortal, a belief that gives rise to a special consciousness among the people of every Hinduism follower that you are afraid of dying in vain, the soul is immortal. The soul neither takes birth nor dies, only the body takes birth and dies.
- Moksha – In Hinduism, salvation is said to be the biggest aim of life. Moksha is the state in which a person becomes void. We are taking birth again and again because we have not attained salvation. It is believed that if a person attains Moksha then he is out of the cycle of birth and death.
- cycle of life and death – the aim of the soul is to attain moksha and it takes birth and dies again and again to attain moksha, till then it does not attain moksha. It is believed that there are 84 lakh types of creatures in this world, in which the soul takes birth in different forms. How the body of the soul will be, it is decided on the basis of its past deeds.
- Karma:- Karma is given special priority in Hinduism, which is very well explained by Lord Krishna in the Gita. You can achieve everything in this world through karma even salvation. Karma is the cause of good and bad condition of any perosn. Therefore always do good deeds because according to the law of karma, according to your actions, the result is determined and you have to suffer from it. Note – The rule of Nishkam Karma has been told to attain salvation.
- Avatar – Avatar is another form of any deity of Hinduism. People who believe in Hinduism believe that whenever the rule of unrighteousness increases in the world, God will incarnate truth and establish truth and dharma. In Hinduism it is called Avatar.
Lord Krishna has said in the Gita:-
यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत।
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् ।
धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥
(Whenever there is a loss of religion, O Bharatha. The rise of irreligion I create in that Self . It is for the salvation of the righteous and the destruction of the wicked. I am manifested in every age for the establishment of righteousness)
These are some core belief in hinduism but this is not all.
How old is Hinduism:-
There is a lot of debate on how old Hinduism is, some scholars say that its history is 5000 years old, but people of Hinduism believe that its history is beyond time. But everyone believes that Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world. Even in today’s modern era, there are millions of people who follow Hinduism. According to statistics, today more than 90 crore people in the world have faith in Hinduism. Hinduism is still the world’s third largest religion followed by people. Most of the followers of Hinduism will meet you in India, but the followers of Hinduism are all over the world today.
Origin of Hinduism :-
It is difficult to give a precise answer to where Hinduism originated and from where. According to historians, it started about 5000 years ago at the site of the Indus River, today this area comes from Pakistan. But according to the people who believe in Hinduism, Hinduism begins with eternity.
Founder of Hinduism;-
This is a very common question that comes in everyone’s mind that who founded Hinduism, but no one has the answer to it. There is a story of the beginning of all religions in the present, in which you can learn about their founding fathers. Just as the Prophet Muhammad is called the founding father of Islam, the founding father of Christianity is called Christ (Isha Christ). In Hinduism you will not find any founding father and the absence of any founding father reinforces the fact that Hinduism is indeed beyond time. People who believe in Hinduism believe that the one who cannot be born, cannot even end, he is eternal.
Hinduism holy book:-
Hinduism does not have only one holy scripture like other religions. You will find many holy texts in Hinduism.
The Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads and epics are the greatest scriptures of Hinduism.
1. Vedas – Vedas are the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism. According to the belief of Hinduism, its creator is Lord Brahma.
Note – Lord Brahma has 4 faces and also 4 Vedas, which represent the 4 Vedas. These four Vedas have appeared from the mouth of the Lord.
The four Vedas are as follows.
- Ringveda
- Yajurveda:
- Samaveda:
- Arthaveda
2. Puranas – If you want to know Hinduism better then you should study Puranas. The total number of Puranas is 18, some of which are written with the deities at the center and some to understand the mysteries of the universe.
3. Upanishads – Spirituality is the most important part in Hinduism and you can understand the spirituality of Hinduism very well through Upanishads. The number of such Upanishads is over 200, but there are 14 major ones.
4. Epic:- It is the most known and heard epic in Hinduism. Ramayana, Mahabharata Gita are the most listened and sung epics.
God of Hinduism
Tridev (Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh) and Tridevi (Saraswati, Lakshmi, Shakti) are the main deities of Hinduism.
Brahma- Lord Brahma is said to be the creator of this universe.
Vishnu – Lord Vishnu is the maintainer of this universe. Lord Vishnu has protected this world by taking incarnation many times. One of his most popular incarnations are the stories of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna.
Mahesh – Lord Shiva who is also known as Lord Mahadev of the gods and he is the destroyer of this world.
Saraswati – Goddess Saraswati who is called the goddess of knowledge. In Hinduism, their worship on the day of Basant Panchami has special significance.
Lakshmi – Goddess Lakshmi is the goddess of prosperity. Their worship has special significance on the day of Diwali in Hinduism.
Note – Some people consider Goddess Lakshmi to be only the goddess of wealth, which is incomplete information, in fact she is the goddess of prosperity. (Prosperity actually refers to social, economic and ideological progress.)
Shakti – Parvati, she is said to be the goddess of power. His devotees remember him by many names. The worship of these 9 forms has special significance in Navratri.
The relation of a very beautiful Tridev and Tridevi has been explained by the saints of Hindu religion in this way.
Goddess Sarswati is the wife of Lord Brahma. Hindu sages have tried to explain here that for creation one has to connect with knowledge. Because Lord Brahma is the creator and Goddess Sarswati is the goddess of knowledge.
Similarly Goddess Lakshmi is the wife of Lord Vishnu. Here an attempt has been made to understand that if a society is to be protected then it has to take recourse to social, economic and ideological progress. Because Lord Vishnu is the sustainer and Goddess Lakshmi is the goddess of prosperity.
Goddess Parvati is the consort of Lord Shiva who is called Shakti.
Destruction is impossible without power. An attempt has been made to explain it with the relation of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. Lord Shiva is the destroyer and Goddess Parvati is the symbol of Shakti.
Apart from these, there are many other gods, but all those gods are related to Tridev.
Hinduism Symbol:-
Swastika is the second most sacred symbol of Hinduism. Pointing to the right, this symbol is considered a symbol of prosperity and good fortune.
Hinduism temple:-
The birth place of any deity is considered sacred in Hinduism, and the idol of God is also worshiped in Hinduism.
Some other religions consider idol worship to be wrong, according to them God’s form cannot be described, so how can one make his idol?
The sages of Hindu religion have given a very good argument that people who believe in Hindu religion can give form to their god according to their wish, and can also give name. Overall, the thing is that God can be worshiped in any form and God accepts everything. The sages of Hindu religion also say that placing the idol of God at any place generates a positive energy. People of Hindu religion also hang bell in their temple, behind it they argue that ringing the bell purifies the surrounding environment.
Some Famous Temples :-
Notes:-
The deity worshiped in Hinduism has many names and this name has been given to him by his devotee as a form of love.
We know Lord Shiva by many other names like Chandrashekhar, Shankar, Jatadhari, Trishuldhari, Kailasanivasi Ugna (“Ugna” is given by one of his very famous devotee Vidyasagar whose story is very sweet.) and many more names.
Similarly, you have many names of Lord Vishnu like Narayan, Hari, Palanhar and many more.
Goddess Durga is known by her devotees by 108 names. Similarly, all the gods or goddesses have many names.
Bhakti is a path in Hinduism by which one can attain God. These things are also common in other religions. All religions accept that God can be attained by the prayer of God.
Moksha:-
In order to attain salvation, Hinduism has shown the way for this. Lord Shri Krishna has told the path of salvation through the medium of Bhagavad Gita.
In the 18th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna has given three paths to salvation.
1. path of devotion (Bhakti)
2. Destiny (Karma)
3. Knowledge (Gyaan)
Of all these paths, the path of devotion is the easiest way to attain salvation. Lord Shri Krishna says that he promises salvation to those who are his true devotees. He says that his devotees are very dear to him, God promises him a salvation from this world, who worship him with constant and relentless meditation and unshakable faith.
Lord Krishna further explains that devotion means only love, the devotee who loves him without any selfishness, he is most dear to him. Bhagwan then referred to the gopis of Vrindavan and told that why they love the gopis so much because the love of the gopis was to attain only Lord Krishna with a sincere feeling and not the worldly things.