Help with school assignment

[3392sb]

I am taking a religions of the world class and I need to find out what cultural and societal influances are vital to Hiduism in the region where it originated.Can anyone help me, I need this rather fast. Thanks.

[Avinash]

Let me first say something on the word 'Hinduism'. Earlier there was no religion called Hinduism. Rather the people who loved on this side of Sindhu river were called as Hindus. By "this side" I mean side on which India is. So, Hinduism is a rather new term. The original word was Sanatan Dharma, meaning eternal way of righteousness.

 

However, at present, the word Hinduism has a different meaning. Now we do not call all people in India as Hindus. Rather those who believe in the scriptures of Hinduism are often called Hindus. The scriptures are various puranas, vedas, Mahabharat, Ramayan and some others. These books contain various spriritual beliefs i.e. about soul, life and death, heaven and hell, various gods and goddesses etc. These also contain various rituals to be performed. So, those who believe in these spiritual philosophies and believe in practicing these rituals are called as Hindus.

 

So, your question can rephrased as:-

"What cultural and societal influances made the beliefs and the rituals of Hinduism vital to the region where it originated?"

 

Let me try to answer.

If you study the religious practices and beliefs of Hinduism, you will find that these are very diverse. There are various subdivisions in Hinduism. Some people believe in some parts of what we call as Hinduism and some others believe in some other parts.

So, how is it that a single religion came to contain so many diverse believes and practices?

The answer is that India has been the region where various diverse cultures have mingled. In earlier days Nalanda, Taxshila and some other universities in India were considered great universities and students from far and wide came here to study. When they came, they took something from the culture of India and gave something to the culture of India. Because of intermixing with them, the religious practices of Hindus here changed somewhat.

There were many invaders who came to India to loot India. There was intermixing with them also. These invaders came looted India and went back. They again came, looted India and again went back.

However, when Muslim king Babar came, he did not go back. He stayed in India and ruled here. His generations also ruled here. Since they ruled here for such a long time, so their culture somewhat influenced the culture of Hinduism.

Because of the intermixing of various cultures, it was important for Hinduism that it should not reject new things but should be able to absorb diverse cultures.

So, this is one part (the ability of Hinduism to assimilate diverse cultures) of the answer to your question.

As you can notice, I have not mentioned any specific beliefs of Hinduism. In my next post, I will write about some specific beliefs and practices and also write while these were vital to the region where these were practiced.

[theist]

That is a HUGE question. If you narrowed your question making it more specific I am sure the Hindus here would be glad to help you.

[theist]

Beat me by a minute Avinash. I am glad it was you who responded to help 3392sb.

[Kanaka]

Hinduism is a very pluralistic religion. Ask specific questions.

[Guest guest]

Avinash says

 

However, when Muslim king Babar came, he did not go back. He stayed in India and ruled here. His generations also ruled here. Since they ruled here for such a long time, so their culture somewhat influenced the culture of Hinduism.

 

Can you explain this? How has Islam influenced Hinduism? Please be specific.

 

Thanks

[Guest guest]

 

The original word was Sanatan Dharma, meaning eternal way of righteousness

 

This is not correct. There is no record of the religion named as Sanatana Dharma until the 19th century when some people took offense at the foreign origin of the word Hinduism and created this "new" name. Although esha dharma sanaatanah appears in some places, it is never used as a noun. It is a reference to the eternal law. Check Manu Smriti 4.138 for an example.

[Avinash]

When I am talking about influence of Hinduism, then I mean Hinduism as it is practiced now. If you compare the religious practices of Hindus with those of several centuries earlier, you will find various differences.

Your question is how Islam has influenced Hinduism. Please note that when I talked of invaders, then I was not thinking of their religions. I was just thinking of a new culture - that culture could be Islam or anything else. When foreigners came to India and mixed with natives of India here, then it is obvious that their culture affected the original culture of India and their culture was, in turn, affected by the culture of India.

 

When various diverse cultures affected Hinduism, then we can only know about their collective effect and not the effect of any individual culture. However, we can definitely look at the practices of Islam and also those of earlier and newer Hinduism and estimate which of the changes happened because of Islam. I will post some of these in the next post.

[Avinash]

 

This is not correct. There is no record of the religion named as Sanatana Dharma until the 19th century when some people took offense at the foreign origin of the word Hinduism and created this "new" name. Although esha dharma sanaatanah appears in some places, it is never used as a noun. It is a reference to the eternal law. Check Manu Smriti 4.138 for an example.

 

Yes, I have read Manu Smriti 4.138. In fact, I have read entire Manu Smriti. Before talking on the name 'Sanatana Dharma', let me talk on what exactly we mean by religion.

 

Humans have been asking various questions whose answers they are not able to get simply by using their senses with or without the aid of any machines. At least, majority of them do not. There are some who claim to know the answers from their direct experience and I will not doubt their claims; it is just that I do not have such an experience and majority do not have such a direct experience. These questions are:-

How did this universe come out to be? Is there any intelligence behind it?

If yes, then who is that intelligent person?

What are his qualities?

Why did he create the universe?

What happens when a person dies?

There are many other such questions. The answers to these questions have given rise to further questions and answers. For example, in answer to what happens after death, some people (though not all) talk of heaven and hell. Then the questions arise on the details of heaven and hell.

 

There are different schools of thought so far these questions are concerned. So, there are different kinds of belief-system. Based on these belief-systems, there are different kinds of practices, which we call as religious practices or rituals.

 

A collection of similar and compatible religious beliefs and rituals is called a religion. So, Hinduism has its own beliefs and rituals; Islam has its own and so forth.

 

I know some people (may be you included) may object to this definition of religion. Some may like to give some other definition. For example, some may say that religion is what teaches man come closer to God. I accept that this is also a valid definition. But when answering a question, rather than simply typing my beliefs, I see what the questioner is really trying to know.

 

The question is what were the cultural and societal influences because of which Hinduism originated in the area in which it did. The words 'cultural and societal' indicate that we are talking about the cultural practices in a society. That is why I chose the above definition. In some other context some other definition may be more appropriate.

 

So, the question becomes - "What were the cultural and societal influences because of which the religious beliefs and rituals known as Hinduism became vital in the region where it originated."

 

But there was not a sharp point in time when these beliefs and rituals originated. There was gradual change. So, what do we call as origin? Therefore, I wrote that we should see how the current form of Hinduism came out to be and how this was suitable in the region where this was accepted.

 

The word Hinduism is just a term for a set of beliefs and practices. The word could be Hinduism, Sanatana Dharma, xyz or whatever. Let us see what the word signifies in the context of our discussion.

 

When I wrote Hinduism is a new term, all I wanted to say (as I even mentioned) was that Hinudims as it is practiced now is very much different from as it was earlier.

 

Now, come to the word 'Sanatana Dharma'. The Manu smriti verse you have mentioned uses only dharma and not sanatana dharma as noun and it uses sanatana as adjective. This is what you wanted to point out. Right? But if the name was not Sanatana Dharma, then what was it? I am not asking this because I am claiming that the name was definitely Sanatana dharma. Rather I want to say something interesting about the name. I want to say something not only about the name of a religion but about name in general. If you come up with the answer to my question, then it will be easier for me to explain what I am talking about.

[Avinash]

 

How has Islam influenced Hinduism? Please be specific.

 

Stress on monotheism is one influence of Islam on Hinduism. You may argue that Hinduism was already monotheistic and it talked of one supreme. I agree.

 

However, I am not talking about whether monotheism and casteim were already present or not present in the scriptures of Hinduism. I am talking about Hinduism as it came to be practiced. Often there is difference between what scriptures say and what people do.

 

Irrespective of whether hinduism was monotheistic or not, it is a fact that various gods were worshipped in Hinduism. In vedic rituals various gods were invoked by chanting hymns in their praises. Monotheism was not stressed before the mixing of Islam with Hinduism. So, monotheism, even if present, was dormant. Because of the influence of Islam, this was stressed.

[Guest guest]

What was the religion called before it was called Hinduism?

There was no common name before Hinduism. Vaishnava, Pashupatha, Bauddha, Jaina, etc., were the terms used to label groups and there was no grouping beyond this. Similar to Judaism. It was not called that until much later.

 

Monotheism: The strongest proponent of monotheism was Shankara and he centuries before Babur.

 

What are the common aspects of Hindusim as observed today?

 

1. Temple/Idol worship (at least 1500 years old)

2. Chanting/Bhajans (at least 1000 years old)

3. Pilgrimages (at least 2000 yrs old)

4. Festivals (at least 1500 yrs old)

5. Rituals at home like naming ceremonies, house warming, death ceremonies, Ganapathi homa, Chandi homa and others (very old)

 

If you can add to this list, please do.

 

Hindus have been surprisingly unaffected by Islam over the centuries. The impact of Islam and persians like Babur is seen in language and food (samosa, biriyani...). But when it comes to religion, it is impossible to see any dent caused by other religions except maybe by Buddhism and Jainism. This is why I am curious to know specifics of how Hindu religion as practised today may be influenced by Babur and his Persian origin.

 

Thanks

[Guest guest]

 

Irrespective of whether hinduism was monotheistic or not, it is a fact that various gods were worshipped in Hinduism. In vedic rituals various gods were invoked by chanting hymns in their praises. Monotheism was not stressed before the mixing of Islam with Hinduism. So, monotheism, even if present, was dormant. Because of the influence of Islam, this was stressed.

 

Hindus still worship many Gods although the underlying divinity behind these various gods is considered one by many people. Hence, the usage of monotheistic and polytheistic should be clear in the context of hinduism vs. semitic religions.