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History and development of Hinduism
Indian traditions vs western
9th grade history hinduism
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The Hindu religious tradition is a tradition unlike any other. As a conglomeration of varying beliefs and practices, Hinduism defies the western ideology of a compact religion, and through its historical significance has incorporated itself into all aspects of Hindu society. This assumed spirituality within Hindu culture serves as a platform for the ideas of dharma and moksa to be intertwined not only within Hindu social and religious practices, but in the very identity of Hinduism as well (Heehs 19). There is an inherent tension between dharma and moksa, but rather than opposing each other, they make the other stronger, as one must live a satisfactory lifestyle within each to live a complete life through the eyes of Hinduism.
In its simplest form, dharma means to uphold, or to sustain (Heehs 58), but within Hindu culture it means much more. Dharma helps to explain changes, frictions, and the diversity within Hindu society and acts as a source of coherence for the distinctive and defining differences within the society (Heehs 18). More specifically, one’s dharma is their duty in life; what is required for the greater good of society and for future personal liberation or complete freedom from the material world. As Krishna said in the Bhagavad Gītā, “A warrior serves his king and country, but he fights in a just cause for the sake of dharma itself (Mittal & Thursby 149)” – that is, even if the warrior does not want to fight for his country, it is still his duty to maintain peace and balance through dharma by fighting.
The idea of complete liberation from the physical and material world that one can achieve through dharma is called moksa. Moksa is comparably as important as dharma in Hindu tradition and is a religious idea that ...
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...arma- yoga is the path of action and focuses on” disinterested, selfless action. Both dharma and moksa play a large role in Karma- yoga, as directed action turned into worship is the direct path to moksa- yet again showing the tension between the two (Heehs 63-4).
Dharma and moksa have an intertwining relationship that weaves throughout all parts of both social and religious practices and traditions in Hinduism. The two are neither in harmony, nor irreconcilable, but act as balancing agents toward each other. The Hindu social systems, as well as religious traditions have been influenced greatly by dharma and moksa, and the three main yogas all reflect the goals and effects of the ideas. Dharma’s many forms reflect the intricate variability within Hindu society and identity and both dharma and moksa still serve as a guide for the way of life and culture of India.
According to Socrates, “True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.” To include, Proverbs, 3:5-6 states, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Bible). In like manner, throughout the sacred text of Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna, has a difficult time understanding life and does not want to partake in his natural-born duty as a warrior. On the other hand, Bhagavad Gita, means, “Song of the Blessed One”, and it is based on Hinduism. Hinduism is a well-known religion and The Bhagavad Gita is based on its ancient principles. However, although the sacred text of Bhadgavad
...onsibility in life which is decided by the caste they are born into. However, living amongst other people, one’s soul might become “forgetful of the Lord” which leads to “[attaching] itself to pleasure” which would make it “bound” to the wheel of the universe. For a soul to escape this cycle birth, death, and rebirth, it is necessary to connect with this god. The Hindu people believed that “by uniting oneself with him…one ceases to be ignorant” and this means “Birth, death, and rebirth will be no more.” This credence of rebirth and karma highly influenced the way the Hindu society developed.
“Religion as defined by the great sages of India…it did not require belief in a set of doctrines, but rather hard, disciplined work, without which, any religious teaching remained opaque and incredible” (Armstrong 51). The profound history of Hinduism contains important fundamental elements that play a major role in the daily life of its followers. Hinduism is famously known as one of the oldest religions in the world, which is widely embraced and composed of three prominent attributes: spiritual, tradition, and the caste system. The combinations of these three attributes in the Hindu belief system add rich tradition and deepen cultural meaningfulness and experience that uniquely defines the Hindu system of beliefs
The Bhagavad-Gita, a portion of the great epic the Mahabharata, is the “most typical expression of Hinduism.” It is eighteen chapters long and was composed around the first century BCE. The sage Samjaya recites the story to the blind king Dhrtarastra, the father of the Kaurava princes. While presenting ideas of wisdom, duty, and liberation in the midst of the rivalry between the Kauravas, the Bhagavad-Gita epitomizes the teachings of Krishna. Focusing specifically on the moral struggle of the Pandava prince Arjuna, the Bhagavad-Gita’s major themes include yoga, karma, dharma, and moksa. Yoga, being discipline or the strict and “attentive cultivation of mental character and meaningful action” , is crucial to the text because it is dharma yoga, acting properly according to one’s dharma, and bhakti yoga, a disciplined life of devotion that allows one to achieve moksa, or liberation, one of the four aims of li...
Rādhakrishnan declares that next to the conception of reality, dharma is the most significant concept in Hinduism (qtd. in Creel 161) , while Badrinath notes that dharma is the fountainhead from which all Indian thought proceeds (Essays, 29). Dharma like many concepts in Hinduism is difficult, if not impossible, to define adequately, though many attempts have been made to do so (Larson 146). The Grand Sire Bhishma in the Mahābhārata make this point while conversing with Yudhishthira, “It is difficult to say what righteousness [dharma] is. It is not easy to indicate it. No one in discoursing upon righteousness can indicate it accurately” (Ganguli, Santi Parva CIX 237-38). Koller delineates the problem of defining dharma: Dharma is “one of the most basic and pervasive concepts in Indian thought … [and] is an extremely complicated concept, embracing many differing, though related, meanings, and extending to a wide range of referents” (131). The importance and ubiquity of this idea makes the task of proper definition vital for understanding Hinduism. One of the best sources for understanding the concept is found in the Bhagavadgita, which serves as a veritable handbook for dharma.
All that is free from doing harm to any created being is certainly Dharma, for indeed Dharma is created to keep all creation free from harm.” Therefore, Khan is saying that Dharma is created so that all beings have a correct path to follow in their lives. He implies that anyone who follows the Dharmic way of life will not cause harm to anyone and will lead a moral and rational way of life. Khan further expands on the purpose of Dharma by saying, “To order life in human society, we are always confronted with certain problems, and we have to settle these within the framework of society; otherwise, life becomes impossible.” Khan views Dharma as a means to create a framework within a society to deal with the chaos and conflict that humans arise due to different reasons.
Moksha is a common belief in the Hindu religion and it describes a state where one’s soul connects with God’s soul. In the Hindu religion, achieving moksha removes one from the cycle of life and death, which is the state of reincarnation as one moves from one life to the next. In essence, moksha is a state of unification of one’s soul with that of the creator, therefore achieving oneness of atman and Brahman. This essay discusses the various similarities and differences that exist between Buddhist Nirvana and Hindu Moksha. It can be noted that Buddha was raised in a rich family and he lived through the riches up to some point in his life when he realized that he wanted to discover something different.
The Dharma is the “guiding principle of a proper human conduct, for a man” in Hindu culture. “Forgo the consecration and withdraw into Dandaka wilderness, live there seven years and seven wearing matted hair and bark cloth garments,” Kaikeyi said. “So be it, I shall go to live in the forest, wearing matted hair and bark cloth garments, to safeguard the promise of the king,” Ramayana said, (The Ramayana
Any deed, good or bad, that is done will come back to the individual in the future as a result. Someone that is more energetic tends to have Karma Yoga as a dominant path thus seeking moksha through work and action. As the non-dominant path, the basic principles will be worked into the everyday lives of the individual and will still be followed. To understand Karma Yoga, Dharma must be addressed and many Hindus turn to scripture for guidance. Dharma is the duty that one must pursue in regards to their responsibilities and roles within society.
In fact, a separation of religion and law within Dharmauastra is artificial and has been repeatedly questioned. Dharma is the basic essence of vedic hindu version of law. Dharma is a very elaborate concept of Hinduism. Its principal aim is to preserve the world order (Rta), by maintaining its overall structure, basic values and innate harmony. According to Hinduism, one of the main functions of the Divinities is to protect the creation by maintaining the Dharma in all the worlds.
The idea of samsara is roughly that of reincarnation. All souls are trapped in a cycle of life, death, and rebirth. The goal of each of these souls is to escape the cycle of samsara and obtain moksha. Moksha is a reincarnation with a god. In recent Hinduism the moksha that you obtain is with the god of your choice, or whomever you worshipped as your patron deity. The terms of dharma and karma are the tools that we must use in order to obtain moksha and escape samsara.
Upon reading about the historical and religious background of Ancient India, one can clearly assume that the country was strongly influenced by three main religious teachings: Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. These three sects in religious thinking have many similarities as all recognize the life-cycle and the need of liberation, they worship one central deity that used to be a human who gained enlightenment and they all recognize the existence of the eternal soul and after-death re-incarnation. However, they also share a lot of differences that mark the underlying principles of practicing them. I will identify the scope of differences and similarities in these ancient religions in an attempt to understand why each attracted followers, why each was shaped a certain way and how they preserved the interest of followers on into the modern times as well.
Dharma, in concept deals with duty, religion and inseparable quality of a thing or orders i.e. virtuous conduct of righteous man and dharma in literal sense means ‘something which sustains or upholds’ and is a Sanskrit noun derived from root ‘dhr’. Dharma is semantic equivalent to the Greek word ‘ethos’ .
Hinduism has been a religion for a long time, the Buddha was a Hindu before seeing how terrible the world was, he then found the religion Buddhism. Since the creator of Buddhism was Hinduism as a child, it is only expected for the two religions to be similar. While the two religions are similar they are also quite different as seen by their creation stories. The creation stories are these religions way of explaining how the world started. With most religions the creation story gives the most basic beliefs of the religion as this is where their religion supposedly starts its life. The two stories this paper focuses on is no different, and since they technically have the same origin, it can be obvious as to how they would be similar. However, in the case of the idea of social order and moral decline, they can be different too.
Today, Hinduism stands as India’s primary religion. In fact, India houses 90% of the world’s Hindi population and 79.8% of India’s population follows the Hindu religion, according to the 2011 census. It is thought by some to be the oldest religion in the world and the “eternal law” (Fowler). This culture is truly one as defined by Edward Taylor: “A complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs, and any other capability and habit acquired by man as a member of society.” In order to have somewhat of an understanding about what the Hindu religion entails, one must study the Hindu conception of God, its basic concepts and key beliefs, as well as symbolism.