Hinduism is the dominant religion of India, ... about 85 percent of the over one billion persons living in India are known to the world as Hindus. Hinduism is, by any measure, one of the world’s great religions.
The discovery of the Indus Valley civilization in the 19th century revealed a sophisticated and long-forgotten ancient culture that appears to have contributed significantly to the development of Hinduism.
Although the idea of an Āryan conquest of India is now disputed, the influence of the Āryans on Indian religion is undeniable. Our guide to these investigations is the rich collection of Āryan texts known as the Veda, today regarded by Hindus as their most sacred and authoritative scripture.
The Āryans, like most religious people throughout the world even today, considered ritual much more important than doctrine and belief. The Veda itself was a manual of ritual, not of creedal statements or theology.
Dharma is one of those difficult-to-translate notions that have various meanings and associations, so I prefer to leave it untranslated. In the present context, dharma means the pattern for proper and appropriate living. It is, in other words, the moral law.
We observed how the development of classical Hinduism led to particular dharmas, or duties, for individuals according to their standing in society. At about the same time in Hindu history, specific expectations also arose concerning one’s sex, resulting in different patterns of life for men and women.
The ultimate goal of Hinduism is freedom from samsāra.
Karma, even good karma, keeps a person bound to the cycle of transmigration. One path the Hindu tradition offers for the attainment of mokśa, or ultimate release, is the path of wisdom.
Early Western interpreters generally regarded Hinduism as a crude and hopelessly idolatrous religion. This view still lingers in the Western imagination, due in no small measure, to basic misunderstandings about the nature of Hindu polytheism and iconography.
Hinduism affirms not only the multiplicity of the divine, but also the multiplicity of paths to divine reality. Different people require different spiritualities.
The worship of female deities has a long history in India, and today remains one of Hinduism’s prominent religious features.
Modern Hinduism has had to face challenges brought by the advent of Islam and Western culture. Both incursions into India have left profound and lasting imprints on Hinduism.