An excellent overview of hindu religion, this book is a great read. You know that the holy book rigveda is the oldest in the library of the world. They also help to preserve the religious dimensions of family and society. It is often described as a way of life and is widely practiced in india and other parts of the indian subcontinent as well as parts of southeast asia. The vedas are separated into four different sections, the rig veda, sama veda, yajur veda and atharva veda. Hinduism is an indian religion, or way of life, widely practiced in the indian subcontinent and parts of southeast asia.
It is believed by followers of this religion that the universe goes through many phases of preservation, creation, and dissolution. For example, the story of creating the world in seven days is told in avesta one of the texts that predate the bible. Hinduism does not just have one sacred book but several. In simple words, hinduism is a way of life, which helps you to liberate from the cycle of birth and rebirth. Actually the religion based on the vedas is the oldest one, in which there was not idol worshipping was termed as a holy ritual, rather, internal meditation was the one explained in the.
This is the knowledge that the sun god gave to an asura called maya in treta yuga. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world. A comprehensive survey of the hindu tradition, the book deals with the history of hinduism, the sacred writings, the hindu worldview, and the specifics of the major branches of hinduismvaisnavism, saivism, and saktism. Discover the 10 oldest religious texts in the world here. The shruti refers to the body of most authoritative, ancient religious texts. Hinduism is one of the oldest known organized religionsits sacred writings date as far back as 1400 to 1500 b. The vedas are a large body of hindu texts originating in ancient india, with its samhita and brahmanas complete before about 800 bce. The book, which was first published in 1947, has now been rearranged in a more convenient form, with useful additions here and there, and is now released in its fifth edition. The books which hindu regard as their which is definite is that its followers are religious literature, are, no doubt, more in millions. The religion is believed to have influenced many of other world religions, including christianity. Its the oldest book known in the world, and therefore, hinduism is also sometimes referred to as the oldest religion. Most research points to hinduism as the oldest form of religion. Hindu religion, philosophy and concepts kindle edition by sharma, shalu. Scholars regard hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various indian.
Hinduism is practised by more than 80% of indias population. Hinduism is the worlds oldest extant religion, and with more than a billion followers, it is also the worlds third largest religion. Hinduism is the primary religion of south asia, believed to be the result of a gradual combination of various ancient indian cultures. In other words, hinduism is a conglomeration of different doctrines and traditions mainly based on vedas and modified from. The religion of hinduism originated in northern india, near the river indus, about 4000 years ago and is the worlds oldest existing religion. Hinduism, major world religion originating on the indian subcontinent and comprising several and varied systems of philosophy, belief, and ritual. The history of hinduism in india can be traced to about 1500 bce. The oldest religion is hinduism the only uncreated. Scholars regard hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various indian cultures. Hinduism is an ancient religion with diverse traditions such as vaishnavism, shaivism. There are four vedas, and these constitute the hindu canon. Hinduism does not just have one sacred book but several scriptures.
The vedas are a collection of hymns and other ancient religious texts written in india between about 1500 and bce. The book contains 270 pages and is divided in 57 small easytoread chapters, containing authentic information about all the important aspects of hindu religion, culture, and philosophy. Significant numbers of hindu communities are also present worldwide. Religion has been around for as long as man has existed. The vedas are indeed the worlds oldest scripture, but not as old as this. Zoroastrianism or mazdayasna is one of the oldest religions in the world. The shruti refers to the body of most authoritative, ancient religious texts, believed. We do hope that all serious students of hindu religion and philosophy will find the book useful and.
The oldest forms of worship in the world are ancestor worship, shamanism, and animism, which are thought to date back to at least around 300,000 bce. Hindu texts are manuscripts and historical literature related to any of the diverse traditions. This maya is fatherinlaw of ravana, the villain of. It is a monotheistic religion that is believed to have begun between 2,000 and 1,000 b. Hinduism is believed to have the oldest roots among all religions. The only religion which hugs all other religions and people as they are. Hinduism is an indian religion and dharma, or way of life, widely practiced in the indian subcontinent and parts of southeast asia. Hindu religious texts are the oldest known written works on earth, as well. The earliest literary source for the history of hinduism is the rigveda, consisting of hymns that were composed chiefly during the last two or three centuries of. In hindu religion the oldest and most sacred text is the vedas. The vedas scriptures guide hindus in their daily life. Hindu scriptures can be broadly grouped under two principal. If you want to be able to organize some good ways of framing an inquiry into this religion i would say this book is the best place to start.
Infact, it is the oldest ever book in world which describes earth as sphere but not flat, gravity being reason for objects falling on earth etc. Composed in vedic sanskrit hymns, the texts constitute the oldest layer of sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of hinduism. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as sanatana dharma, the eternal tradition, or the eternal way, beyond human history. Hindus have a wide variety of core beliefs and exist in many different sects. Where the vedas gave a foundation for the direction of hinduism, the upanishads filled in the gaps. While it certainly has evolved over the years, the belief in gods and deities is an ancient tradition and dates back thousands of years. Surya siddhanta is the first among the traditions or doctrines siddhanta in archaeoastronomy of the vedic era. Hinduism is the worlds oldest religion, according to many scholars, with roots and customs dating back more than 4,000 years. For the purpose of this list, we consider all books written in india up to and including the mughal era as being ancient books.
Hinduism is the religion of the majority in india, nepal, and mauritius. Its a little hilarious to see the answers here about this question almost every person is trying to prove their scriptures are the best just like any other religious question. Yet hinduism resists easy definition partly because of the. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. It includes elements such as liturgical material as well as mythological accounts, poems, prayers, and formulas considered to b. One of the most important books out of this collection of texts is the book of. Not being very preachy, he has covered all the important aspects with a very clear stance and has given readers just enough, that should be known.
Hinduism is a conglomeration of religious, philosophical, and cultural ideals and practices that originated in india thousands of years before the birth of christ. Hinduism is the oldest of the major world religions. The proof of many of these religions are seen in religious texts discovered by experts and specialists. Yajur veda mantras and benedictions to be used during ceremonies. Hinduism is the worlds oldest religion, according to many scholars, with. This is an attempt to capture in one place the names of books and other. Followers believe the concepts of dharma and karma, and the religion breaks into various denominations, including shaivism, vaishnavism, and. The dharmashastras law books, derivatives of the dharmasutras. The holy books of world religions sacred texts in world. Hindu sacred literature is the most ancient of the living literatures of the world. The christian bible and jewish scriptures also reveal that not only did god create the world and everything within it, but god did so because he wanted to.
Hindus value many sacred writings as opposed to one holy book. This is an attempt to capture in one place the names of books and other works written in ancient india. Early hinduism was founded over 5,000 years ago in the indus river valley in india. In some ways hinduism is the oldest living religion in the world, or at least elements within it stretch back many thousands of years. I was inclined to believe that the rig veda was the oldest. Good book to begin with, but i suspect that the religion of hinduism has more lessons, more layers than meets our jaded western eyes.
However, it is the oldest of the monotheistic religions. The oldest religious book in the world hasnt yet been discovered by archaeologists. Evidence of hinduisms early antecedents is derived from archaeology, comparative philology, and comparative religion. The main hindu texts are the vedas and their supplements books based on the vedas. The worlds oldest religion still being practiced today is hinduism know to adherents as sanatan dharma, eternal order. Hinduism is the worlds third most popular religion, with around 750 million followers. Today, with about 900 million followers, hinduism is the third.
No doubt swami bhaskarananda has come up with a gem of work to tell the complex historyevolution of worlds oldest religion. They consider this the word of god and the basis of the eternal religion, sanatana dharma. Now i am eager to think that the beautiful text the epic of gilgamesh 3rd. The oldest sacred book of hinduism gomal university. The vedas are a collection of hymns and other ancient religious texts written in.
It is also one of the most diverse and complex, having millions of gods. The history of hindu india, from ancient times duration. Hinduism originated in india, jainism and buddhism in nepal, judaism in israel and taoism in china. Zoroastrian texts depict one of the worlds oldest monotheistic religions practiced in iran around 600bc650ce. Historically, it is a religion in numbers than other religions of the 3500 years old. The hindu religion follows the divinity of the four vedas which is considered the oldest scripture in the world. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading hinduism made easy.