Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism
Daleen Daigdigan
Josephine Lozada
Keint Gerrian Mahumas
Historical
Background
Hinduism is
oftentimes considered
as the oldest and most
complex of all world
religions.
Hindu belief may have
begun around third
millennium B.C.E
Hinduism had no
identifiable founder
The term Hindu originated from
the Persian word hindu (Sanskrit
sindhu) Which means “river”.
Bhakti Yoga (The way of Love) The path of devotion, love, emotion,
compassion, and service to God and
others.
Karma Yoga ( The way of work) The path of actions, service to others,
mindfulness and remembering the
levels of our being while fulfilling our
actions of karma in the world
Raja Yoga ( The way of Meditation) The path of meditation that directly
deals with the encountering the
transcending thoughts of mind.
For all Hindus,
there are four
desirable goals of
life.
These are:
Dharma ( Appropriate
behavior)
Artha ( The pursuit of
legitimate worldly
success).
Kama (the pursuit of
legitimate pleasure)
Moksha ( release from
rebirth)
Worship
and
Observances
Hindu scriptures states that
there are 330 million gods.
Integral to Hindu worship
are the sacred images and
temples believed to house
and represent the deities.
As a form of worship,
Hindus do Prasad or gift
offerings.
1. Shaivism
Lord Shiva, the compassionate one, is God for
the Saivites. Followers of Shaivism value self-
discipline and philosophy. They worship in temples
and practice yoga.
2. Shaktism
The goddess Shakti is supreme for Shaktas.
She is the divine mother and assumes many
forms, be it gentle one or a fierce deity.
Believers use chants, magic, and yoga to
summon cosmic forces.
3. Vaishnavism
Lord Vishnu is God for the Vaishnavites,
especially in his incarnations Krishna and
Rama. Adherents have multitides of saints,
temples and sacred texts.
4. Smartism
For the Smartas, devotees are left to
choose their own deity in one of six
manifestations namely, Ganesha, Siva,
Shakti, Vishnu, Surya and Skanda.
Smartas are known as liberals as they
embrace all major Hindu gods.
Selected
Issues
Hinduism
and
Women
Even though the Manusmriti or
the “Laws of Manu” states that
women should be honored in
Hindu society, women have always
been considered inferior to men in
all aspects of life.
A woman’s life revolve around the men
in her life, to be taken care of her father
in childhood, by her husband in her
married life, and by her sons in old age.
Untouchables
The Brahmins are the caste from
which Hindu priests are drawn,
and are responsible for teaching
and maintaining sacred
knowledge. The caste system has
evidently been more flexible, in
terms of appropriate work
for Brahmins, than one might
expect.
Traditionally,
the kshatriya constituted the
ruling and military class.
Their role was to protect their
interests by fighting in
wartime and governing in
peacetime.
Hindu religious texts
assigned Vaishyas to traditional
roles in agriculture and cattle-
rearing, but over time they came to
be landowners, traders and money-
lenders. Therefore making it their
responsibility to provide sustenance
for those of higher class, since
they were of lower class.
The Sudras are the lowest rank
of the Caste System. They are
normally artisans and laborers.
That of a Sudra is the serving of
twice-born, agriculture and
cattle-breeding and trade,
profession of artisans and court-
bards”