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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
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▪ 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.