Hinduism is one of the world’s oldest and largest religions. Although Hindus primarily live in India and Nepal, the only officially Hindu nation in the world, the religion has over 900 million adherents worldwide. Hinduism is very hard to define concretely as it lacks many of the key features of other religions. There is no definite founder, no singular text, and no central organization. Practice varies wildly across groups, allowing for Hindus to consider themselves atheists, polytheists, and monotheists. However, there are certain core values that Hindus do share such as transmigration, the passing of a soul into another body after death; reincarnation, the rebirth of a soul in a new body; and reverence for the Vedas, the most ancient Hindu scriptures containing hymns, philosophy, and guidance on ritual for the priests of Vedic religion, and the Bhagavad-Gita, the sacred text written as a dialogue between the warrior prince Arjuna and his divine charioteer Krishna stressing the importance of doing one's duty and of faith. Most Hindus avoid eating beef and still subscribe in one form or another to the caste system, the complex, delineated structure defining one’s place in society and with whom one can interact. But other religious groups in the Indian Subcontinent share these aspects of the faith and these beliefs are not definitive as any Hindu can reject one or more in favor of another. The word Hindu can be used to describe any one of the many sects that comprise the religion, and, in fact, the names of the sects are more often used than the term “Hindu”. Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism are sometimes grouped with Hinduism despite the fact that their adherents regard them as separate religions. It is this diversity of belief that makes Hinduism so tolerant of other belief structures; one of the key tenets of the faith is the recognition of other beliefs coupled with the idea that all religions are essentially one.
It is this widespread confusion that makes the person practicing Hinduism as equally difficult to define as the religion he or she practices. A Hindu from the Punjab, who is Khatri by caste and a follower of the Arya Samaj, might say she is “Hindu”, “Arya Samaji”, “Hindu Khatri”, or “Hindu Punjab” depending on the situation and the context of the conversation. By the Indian Government, one is defined as a Hindu by birth. Caste too is ascribed at birth and acknowledged by other caste members and the government. One cannot simply stop being a Hindu and one cannot repudiate the faith without conversion. Outsiders cannot convert to Hinduism but can begin following certain groups that practice key Hindu Beliefs such as the Hare Krishnas, who are mostly western converts who have orthodox practices and beliefs but no caste system and are not recognized by Hindus for certain ritual functions for which a caste definition would be required. The fluidity of the definition of Hinduism has proved very popular for Hindu youths who take an active role in temple worship and youth organizations while observing their own blend of Hindu beliefs and practices. In a 2001 survey of Hindus living in Britain found that 93% said they were happy to be Hindu, 81% said that they visited a temple regularly, and 78% said they prayed regularly at home. One of the traditions that many youths choose to take less seriously is the caste system; traditionally, Hindu society was divided into Brahmins (priests), Ksatryas (nobles), Vaisyas (farmers and merchants), and Sudras (workers), but modern campaigns that regard the caste system as unfair have moved to reduce the importance of one’s caste in everyday life. Caste is still taken into account regarding marriage, but it is of increasingly less importance for young Hindus, especially those who have moved out of India.
The Hindu belief structure is fascinating and complex. There is no declaration of faith required or set principles to follow, and much of Hindu thought is based on other forms of understanding such as logic and analytical assessment. Primarily, the Hindu belief structure is based on key beliefs regarding how the world is and how it should be including the dharma, world order; karma, the idea of actions and their consequences; samsara, transmigration; and moksha or mukti, the release of the soul from the body. The soul, called atman is at the heart of all discussions on Hindu belief. Most Hindus believe in the existence of the atman (soul), which migrates and is reborn in different bodies; they aim at the moksha (liberation) of the atman from samsara (transmigration) by freeing oneself from one’s actions. The concept of personal duty, too is central to Hinduism:
It is far better to discharge one’s prescribed duties, even thought faulty, than another’s perfectly. Destruction in the course of performing one’s own duty is better than engaging in another’s duties, for to follow another’s path is dangerous. (Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, 3.35)
Fate and destiny are also central to the Hindu faith. Most Hindus believe in predestination based on karma from previous incarnations and a synthesis of natural justice and god’s will; your destiny can be overwritten by divine intervention or by one’s deeds in life. Nonviolence (ahimsa) continues to gain centrality in the Hindu belief structure as it was much discussed by Gandhi in the political sense regarding his program of passive resistance; the concept of ahimsa is often interpreted as a nonviolent way of living that includes vegetarianism, a part of Hinduism often wrongly assumed to be central when it is confined mostly to the Brahmins and merchant classes. The Hindu concept of time and the universe is a cyclical one. Hindus see time in mahayugas (great eon), which last 4.32 million human years and begins with the creation and ends with the destruction of a given world, that are divided into four yugas (eons). Finally, the ancient Hindu concept of geography and the universe remains significant even in modern times. The ancient Hindu view of the universe is that the earth is made of seven concentric islands, each surrounded by one of the seven seas made of different liquids. Humans live on the innermost island, in the middle of which is Mount Meru on which is the city of Brahma surrounded by the cities of the other gods; the Ganges flows from there to the land of India which is located at the center of the world. India is also marked as a holy space by the sacred pilgrimage sites known as tirthas which help one cross from the material to the spiritual world; of these the most important are the four dhamas (temples) in the four cardinal directions, the seven sacred cities, and the sacred rivers. So sacred and pure is India that even today some Hindus will not leave India for fear of crossing the “black water” leading to impurity. These beliefs are central to many Hindus but by no means absolute nor requisite for worshiping; many Hindus pick and choose.
While it is true that there are many recognized gods in Hinduism, most Hindus do not consider themselves polytheistic nor by any means do they worship all of the gods. Most Hindus worship one god, an ishtadevata (chosen deity), a couple (such as Lakshmi-Narayana), a trinity (Shiva-Vishnu-Brahma), or a group of gods (such as the five canonical gods Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha, Surya, and Devi). In a similar way that Christians argue that The Holy Trinity is one God in three forms, some Hindus argue that the pantheon of Hinduism is really the many forms of one god, making them monotheistic. Some consider themselves theists and worship a non-specific god, or a god at a certain festival without performing daily devotion. For the most part, gods have fixed iconographic representations and are usually associated with particular features and symbols, though features such as the number of arms or styles may vary. The oldest of the sacred texts of Hinduism can date as far back as the second millennium BCE, but they are not usually regarded as containing greater truth than newer interpretations. Indeed, television interpretations, such as the 1980s version of the story of the live of the incarnation of Vishnu as Rama, are completely accepted as valid interpretations of the myths. The major texts of Hinduism are the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Bhagavad-Gita, Vedanta, The Satapatha Brahmana, and Sutras. These are written originally in the Sanskrit, the sacred language of Hindusim.
In terms of the actual practice of their religion, Hindus are more concerned with orthopraxy than orthodoxy. In all aspects of Hindu practice, ritual is given significant importance. Caste is also given significance in ritual. Dalits (previously “Untouchables”, casteless Hindus) are often forbidden from participating in ritual. The caste distinctions are tied up in purity, with Brahmins at the top as the most pure. Women too used to be excluded from some rituals as menstruation and childbirth make the body impure; for that reason, women were also often denied access to the sacred texts and knowledge of Sanskrit. Purity is determined based on what you do with your body and, for that reason, Hindus adhere to the caste rules regarding occupation, commensality, and endogamy. In Hinduism, worship does not just entail praise but entering into a relationship with the god. Daily worship consists of puja (paying respects) which involves leaving offerings in the form of sweets or flowers for the gods. Another term used is seva, or service to a god. Arti the term used for worship with lamps; the devotee honors the god by placing their hands over the light of the lamp and bringing their hands to their eyes in order to symbolically bring the light and warmth of the god to their eyes. The give-and-take element of this ritual is also visible in the ritual of darshana in which the devotee looks at the image of a god through which the god is understood to look back. Worship is usually concluded with prayer sometimes involving Sanskrit mantras and Vedic verses, and songs which invoke the god’s deeds and sing his praises. Festivals are a time of celebration and worship involving feasting and celebration. The Hindu calendar marks many festivals throughout the year, many of which are tied to the agrarian cycle. Not all festivals are celebrated throughout all of India and some festivals are celebrated under different names and different gods but the same ideological motive depending on geographic region. Diwali is one of the most important festivals; marking the New Year in some parts of India, Diwali celebrates the visit of Lakshmi and the return of Rama to Ayodhya after his exile. Another way in which Hindu’s practice is through pilgrimage. A pilgrim may visit a sacred river or tirtha in order to purify himself and rid himself of sin. Pilgrimages are often undertaken during auspicious times or when planetary alignments are significant. Certain pilgrimage routes have seen an increase in traffic in recent years due to improved transit across India, whereas other remain austere, acetic experiences.
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