On the other hand, ‘atman’ is a term used for the breath or the soul and principle of life. The definition of brahman includes being the eternal, conscious, irreducible, infinite, omnipresent, and the spiritual core of the universe of finiteness and change.ġ3. In the Upanishads, ‘ brahman’ (divine power) refers to the supreme existence or absolute reality. Its verses have rhyming lines which is why many view it as a poem or a song.ġ2. It is a 700-verse Hindu scripture in Sanskrit that is part of the Hindu epic Mahabharata (chapters 25 – 42 of its 6th book). The Bhagavad Gita, often referred to as simply the Gita, refers to a Hindu scripture written about 2000 years ago. They also lay down the key Vedic doctrines of self-realization, yoga, and meditation.ġ1. They are collections of writings where all the essential teachings that are fundamental to Hinduism - the concepts of ‘karma’ (action), ‘samsara’ (reincarnation), ‘moksha’ (nirvana), the ‘atman’ (soul), and the ‘Brahman’ (Absolute Almighty) are found. The ‘ Upanishads’ constitute the core of Indian philosophy. The triumvirate consists of three gods who are accountable for the creation, upkeep, and destruction of the world.ġ0. In Hinduism, theology is commonly characterized by the Hindu triumvirate, or trimurti. Supplemental to the Brahmanas are later esoteric works known as forest treatises, the Aranyakas from Sanskrit ‘aranya,’ which means ‘forest.’ĩ. Brahmanas are prose commentaries and are concerned primarily with the details and the interpretation of the sacrificial liturgy. Basically for personal, domestic use, it was not originally accepted as authoritative because of its deviant nature.Ĩ. The Atharva-Veda, which is partly attributed by tradition to a rishi named Atharvan, comprises almost exclusively of a wide variety of hymns, magical incantations, and magical spells. The Yajur Veda was used by udgatri priests and comprises short prose to go with ritual acts, many of which are addressed to the ritual instruments and offerings.ħ. The Yajur-Veda, which currently consists of two recensions, both of them partly in prose and partly in verse and both containing roughly the same material (though differently arranged), encompasses sacrificial formulas (Sanskrit ‘yaja,’ ‘sacrifices’). The Sama Veda was also chanted in fixed melodies by the adhvaryu priests. It was used by the ‘udgatri’ priests, or chanters, who sang its hymns, or melodies (Sanskrit ‘sama’). The Sama-Veda includes verse portions taken largely from the Rig-Veda. Written as early as 1500 BC, the Rig Veda is the oldest of the four Vedic collections and one of the oldest enduring sacred texts in the world.ĥ. It was used by the ‘hotri’ priests, or reciters, who entreated the gods by reading its hymns aloud. The Rig-Veda contains more than 1000 hymns (Sanskrit ‘rig’), written in various poetic meters, and collected into ten books. ‘Vedas’ designates a collection of texts written in Sanskrit from about 1200 BCE to 100 CE, considered the absolute authority for religious knowledge and a test of Hindu orthodoxy.Ĥ. Veda (Sanskrit, “knowledge”) refers to the most ancient sacred literature of Hinduism, or individual books belonging to that literature. Hinduism’s most sacred scriptures are the Vedas (‘Books of Knowledge’). The term was employed by the Indic people of the Vedic period in India as an ethnic label for themselves, as well as to designate the noble class and geographic location known as ‘Āryāvarta’ where Indo-Aryan culture was based (“Aryan,” n.d.).ģ.
‘ Aryan’ is a word which means ‘noble’ was used as a self-designation by Indo-Iranian people. The word ‘Hindu’ is taken from the name of the river ‘Sindhu,’ or ‘Indus.’Ģ. Hinduism is a religious tradition of Indian origin, encompassing the beliefs and practices of Hindus. Hinduism 101: An Indian Religion of the VedasĬopyright by Jens Micah De Guzman Hinduism pertains to the major world religion arising from the Indian subcontinent and consisting of numerousl and varied systems of philosophy, belief, and ritual.ġ.