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HinduismBy Akarsh Ellore, Ian Mallari, Jenna Bearden, Tyler Basham and Jeremiah Siyanda

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What is Hinduism?

▪ Is the main religion and faith of

the Indian people

▪ One of the oldest religions in

the world and first to appear

▪ People in the religion call

themselves Hindus

▪ Polytheistic, monotheistic and

monistic forms of Hinduism

▪ Over millions of gods

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Some Main Gods

▪ Brahma: the god of

creation

▪ Vishnu: the protector of

the universe

▪ Shiva: the god that

recreates a destroyed

universe

▪ Lakshmi: goddess of

wealth

▪ Saraswathi: goddess of

knowledgeLakshmi Brahma

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Lord Vishnu Painting

"This miniature painting

depicts Vishnu, the

preserver god, riding on the

back of his vehicle, Gardua,

the swift flying bird,

according to legend, helps

Lord Vishnu spread

knowledge of the Vedas

and feelings of courage

among the faithful..."

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Ancient Beliefs

▪ Believe in Dharma, Karma and

Reincarnation

▪ Dharma is the proper place of every

single person

▪ Karma is the consequences of all the

actions that happened while you were

alive, effects a person's next life

▪ Reincarnation is a new life after

death, reincarnated into another

person

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Ancient Practices

▪ Read and learned from The

Bhagavad Gita, Mahabharata

and the Ramayana

▪ Perform pujas, sacred rituals, in

order to please the gods

▪ They practiced purification,

which is the cleaning of impure

acts like taking animal life,

eating flesh, associating with

dead things, or body fluids. It is

usually performed with water.

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Important Texts

▪ Mahabharata: the story of the Pandu

brothers and Kuru brothers for the throne

of the Kurukshetra

▪ Bhagavad Gita: the final battle between the

Pandu brothers and Kuru brothers, a part

of the Mahabharata epic that is the most

important

▪ Ramayana: the story of a brave warrior,

Rama, who overcomes Ravana, the

demon, to rescue Sita, his wife

▪ All show the battle between good and evil,

often showing the heroes as brave and

heroic warriors who will do anything to

maintain peace and restore Dharma

Mahabharata Picture

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Key Changes

▪ In the Medieval times, the

rules that were enforced

and made to be followed

are no longer as important

or as closely followed.

▪ During the time in which

English colonizers had

control over India, the idea

of Hinduism had yet to fully

come together.

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Key Changes

▪ The English decide that

everyone who wasn't

Christian, Jewish, or a

Muslim was to be called a

Hindu

▪ After the Liberation of

India, Hinduism became

the main religion of India

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Key Changes

▪ Thanks to the writing of two

epics Mahabharataand

the Ramayana the spread of

Hinduism reached the lower cast

saying to them that if they did their

duties, they would archive salvation

▪ This was necessary as Hinduism

was a belief only accessed by the

richer higher class

▪ The caste system is which was

originally enforced by the religion is

now dismissed and enforced very

loosely or not at all in some cases

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Consequences of the Spread of Hinduism in India

▪ Due to the spread of Hinduism

in India, there was strict social

changes making your wealth be

determined by your parents'

social rank.

▪ For Example: If your parents

were Sudra you would have to

live your life always poor, if your

parents were Kshatriyas you

would always stay rich. This

system of government is known

as the caste system.

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Problems With Caste Systems

▪ This would result in the spread of the wage gap and the inequal

opportunity for different citizens in India such as a genius could be

a Sudra and are looked down upon and can't influence the

country at all, where a unintelligent Kshatriyas is looked up to

because of his social status and can create a heavier impact on

society, which can result in negative changes in society.

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND.

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Consequences of Hinduism(Continued)

▪ Samsara is the belief of reincarnation and the belief

of karma carries into your different lives. This can

lead to positive and negative changes in society.

▪ Negative changes include blaming spiritual beliefs

for your current life leading to negative behavior

and actions that should be fought against

▪ This can also result in the people not focusing on

reality and instead focus on their spiritual beliefs

not leading to a happy life due to the constant need

of living in the way of the gods to pursue a good

next life, which might not be real.

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Problems with Marriage in Hindu Societies

Marriage in the Hindu religion is usually based off the family's

decision, not the individual because of circumstances such as

parental relationships and wealth.

This results in a higher divorce rate over non-Hindu religions due to

unhappiness in marriage.

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Different Groups of Hinduism

There are four major groups

that revolved around the

religion of Hinduism and four of

the Caste System. The four

groups that were part of the

Hindu Caste system were the

Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas,

and Harijahns. The other four

sects consisted of Shaivism,

Vaishnava, Shaktism, and

Smarta.

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The Hindu Caste System

▪ The Caste System was a social

hierarchy in India that divides

Hindus based on their karma and

dharma.

▪ The Brahmin were the intellectual

and spiritual leaders who were the

top class

▪ The Kshatriyas were the

protectors and public servants of

society, they were also higher

class

▪ The Vaisyas were the middle

class who were skillful producers

▪ The Shudras were at the lower

class of people as they were

unskilled laborers

▪ There was also a group called the

untouchables who were not a part

of the Caste system who were at

the lowest level of Social

Hierarchy

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Bhagavad Gita Excerpts

▪ The Bhagavad Gita states in Chapter Four, Verse Thirteen,

"The Lord says: The fourfold caste has been created by Me

according to the differentiation of Guna and Karma."

▪ The Bhagavad Gita states in Chapter Eighteen, Verse Forty-One,

"Of Brahmans, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas, as also the Sudras, O

Arjuna, the duties are distributed according to the qualities born of

their own nature."

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Differences between the different social classes

Lower Class

▪ The lower class consisted of

the Vaisyas and the Shudras.

▪ They were laborers who had to

work very hard.

▪ They usually were farmers,

merchants, and craftspeople.

▪ They were the poorer people of

the society.

Upper Class

▪ The upper class consisted of

the Brahmin and the Kshatriyas.

▪ They were the leaders of the

society.

▪ They were priests, religious

leaders and soldiers.

▪ They were wealthier than most

people in the society.

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Sects of Hinduism

▪ The different sects all believed

and followed the different

Gods and their teachings

▪ Shaivism is made up of

followers of Shiva

▪ Vaishnava is made up of

followers of Vishnu

▪ Shaktism is made up of

followers of Devi

▪ Smarta is made up of

followers of Brahman and all

other deities

Shiva Vishnu

DeviBrahman

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Differences in the Sects of Hinduism

Many Gods

▪ The Smartas were one of the

only groups to believe that

there was more than one God.

▪ They believed that each deity

had a different God for that.

▪ Some believed in the Hindu

Trinity which consisted of

Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva

One God

▪ Shaivism, Vaishnava and

Shaktism all had only one God.

▪ They believed that all the

deities are manifested as one

God

▪ They did not believe the Hindu

Trinity

z Hinduism Beliefs Today

▪ They still believe in the same

basic Hindu beliefs

▪ Hinduism is a " way of life."

▪ Hinduism is closely related to

other Indian religions.

▪ Food is important to the

Hindu. Most are vegetarians.

▪ Hindus consider the cow to be

a sacred animal.

z Hinduism Beliefs Today▪ Hindus strive to achieve

dharma.

▪ People's thoughts and

actions directly determine

their lives.

▪ One key thought is the

belief in the soul and

supreme soul.

▪ They believe in karma and

reincarnation.

▪ Most forms of Hinduism

are monotheistic, or they

believe in a single god,

but some are polytheistic.

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Hinduism Quick Facts ▪ 80 percent of the population in

India is Hinduism

▪ 13 percent of the world's

population follows Hinduism

▪ Hinduism is the third largest

religion

▪ 900 million people follow

Hinduism

▪ 95 percent of the Hinduism

population lives in India

▪ Hinduism is believed to be the

oldest religion

▪ Hinduism is not a single religion,

but many different traditions and

philosophies

z Hinduism Present vs Past▪ Present Hinduism is very

similar to past Hinduism.

▪ Hinduism still follows most of

the same beliefs within each

sect.

▪ Hinduism is still the most

popular religion in India.

▪ Hinduism has grown

tremendously since it was first

created.

▪ Techology has impacted the

way Hinduism is practiced.

▪ Hinduism would be

recognizable to past Hindus.

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Works Cited▪ "The History of Hinduism." Khan Academy. Khan Academy, n.d. Web. <https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-

history/ancient-medieval/early-indian-empires/a/hinduism-in-indian-culture >.

▪ Robinson, James B. Religions of the World Hinduism. Chelsea House Publishers, 2004. Print.

▪ Merryman, Leigh. “The Story and Spread of Hinduism.” International Mission Board, International Mission Board, 6 Aug. 2018,

www.imb.org/2018/08/10/the-story-and-spread-of-hinduism/.

▪ Elliot. “The 5 Major Problems with Hinduism (Esp. the Caste System).” Elliots World, 19 Aug. 2015, elliottelford.com/the-6-major-

problems-with-hinduism/.

▪ History.com Editors. “Hinduism.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 6 Oct. 2017, www.history.com/topics/religion/hinduism.

▪ b777. “Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry.” CARM.org, 26 Sept. 2017, carm.org/what-is-hinduism.

▪ “Hindu Lifestyle.” A Modern Guide to Hinduism - Intro to Hinduism, modernguidetohinduism.weebly.com/hindu-li festyle.html.

▪ “Hinduism.” ReligionFacts, 22 Mar. 2017, www.religionfacts.com/hinduism.

▪ History.com Editors. “Hinduism.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 6 Oct. 2017, www.history.com/topics/religion/hinduism.

▪ Swanton, David. “Welcome to Ethical Rights.” Impact of Technology and Its Implications on Religions - Ethical Rights,

www.ethicalrights.com/submissions/freedom-of-religion/72-impact-of-technology-and-its-implications-on-religions.html.

▪ Das, Subhamoy. “The 5 Principles and 10 Disciplines of Hinduism.” Learn Religions, Learn Religions, 13 May 2019,

www.learnreligions.com/principles-and-disciplines-of-hinduism-1770057.

▪ Congress. “The Most Important Hindu Rites and Rituals.” Learn Religions, Learn Religions, 8 Oct. 2018,

www.learnreligions.com/hindu-rites-and-rituals-1770058.