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FOUNDER OF HINDUISM:-
The founder of Hinduism was GOD Himself.
Let me explain.
In the very beginning God revealed unto the Rishis (seers or Yogis) the knowledge of the Vedas. Lord Brahma, the Creator, imparted the Divine Knowledge to the Rishis
The Vedas are thus said to be Divine knowledge.
The Rishis disseminated the knowledge.
http://veda.harekrsna.cz/encyclopedia/vedas-purpose-origin.htm
http://www.indiadivine.org/hinduism/articles/38/1/The-Origin-of-the-Vedas/
The Bhagvad Gita (sometimes referred to as the Bible of Hindus) is also taught by God Krishna Himself. http://advaitavedanta.co.uk/content/view/268/
Ramayana is based on the life of Lord Rama. Therefore whatever teachings was passed on was and comes from God. http://www.valmikiramayan.net/
[Meaning of Rishi--The Vedic Rishis were great realised persons (souls) who had direct intuitive perception of Brahman or the Truth.
The word Rishi means a seer, from DRIS, to see. The Rishi is the ‘Mantra-Drashta’, a seer of thought. The thought was not his own. The Rishis saw the truths or heard them. Therefore, the Vedas are what are heard (Sruti). The Rishi did not write. He did not create it out of his mind. He was the seer of thought which existed already.
He was only the spiritual discoverer of the thought. He is not the inventor of the Veda.
http://www.hinduism.co.za/vedas-.htm ]
ORIGIN: -
India since time began as explained above
The Vedas are the eternal truths revealed by God to the great Yogis of India.
FOLLOWERS:-
All LIVING beings—plants, animals, humans, aliens and others ie spiritual kind beyond the realms of this world.
Hinduism is referred to as Sanatan Dharma, the eternal faith.
Hinduism is based on the practice of Dharma, the code of life.
Anyone who practices Dharma can call himself a Hindu.
SCRIPTURES:-
Hindu Scriptures are broadly classified based on its origin into -
Shruti meaning 'heard from God'
Smriti meaning 'remembered'
Nyaya meaning 'logic'
Scriptures or Shastras are religious books.
They contain knowledge that tell about Hindu religion.
By reading these books we widen our knowledge and purify our mind,
and we are able to differentiate right from wrong.
Some of our important Shastras are
VEDAS
UPANISHADS (Books of Vedanta)
MANUSMRITI
RAMAYANA
MAHABHARATA
BHAGAVAD GITA (The Gita is a part of the great epic, Mahabharata)
TIRUKKURA (The literary masterpiece of the Tamil language)
THE SIX DARSHANAS
SATYARTH PRAKASH
(Please use Search Engine to learn about each.)
Comments on the VEDAS One of the HOLY SCRIPTURE
William Blake put it, "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is, infinite."
"The Vedas hold within them enough information to rebuild human civilization from scratch, if necessary. I think someone did believe that might be necessary one day."
"The Vedas still represent eternal truth in the purest form ever written."
"The level of understanding, knowledge, and wisdom contained in the Vedic hymns does not just spring out of nowhere. Nor does the language containing these, mankind's loftiest thoughts. The great Rig Veda, in ten thousand verses, contains an astounding stock of some thirty-five thousand words, all of them imbued with great elasticity and enormous potentiality for the coming of new terms."
"For the Vedic sages, the three great Realities were Creator, Creation and Language - all sacred, all interlinked."
Excerpted from: "Empire of the Soul: Some journeys in India"
by Paul William Roberts.
http://www.1stholistic.com/Prayer/Hindu/hol_Hindu-scriptures.htm
‘The truths contained in all religions are derived from the Vedas and are ultimately traceable to the Vedas.’
‘The Vedas have guided our religious direction for ages and will continue to do so for generations to come. And they will forever remain the most comprehensive and universal of all ancient scriptures.’
‘Despite being the oldest religion, the truth realized by the seers prove that
the Truth and path provided by Hinduism is beyond time.’
‘The Hindu scriptures instead of defining the way, in which the Hindus should live, in a better way, act as supporting material for the individual to decide the course of life and stand by that.’
‘Hinduism is the place which suits both the adventurous intellectual who wants to explore the essence and the real truth and the simple person who would be happy to follow a simplified procedure set that would easily uplift him/her without having to break the head with philosophies.’
‘It is a roaring gigantic waterfall that runs into streams and substreams that joins and finally into the ocean.’
THE FOUR VEDAS ARE
RIGVEDA : given by Agni Rishi (devoted to devotion.) contains hymns (mantras) that formulate the tradition of ancient Vedic practice.
SAMAVEDA : given by Aditya Rishi (devoted to knowledge.) consists mostly of mantras from the Rig Veda, but arranged in an order specifically suited to the Soma sacrifice
YAJURVEDA : given by Vayu Rishi (devoted to work (action).) contains detailed prose instructions for the sacrifices
ATHARVAVEDA: given by Angira Rishi comprises semi-magical spells against enemies, sorcerers, diseases and mistakes made during the sacrificial ritual, as well as kingly duties and some deeper spiritual truths.
They were handed down through generations by the word of mouth from time immemorial until they were compiled by Vyasa Krishna Dwaipayana around the time of Lord Krishna (c. 1500 BC)
THE FOUR VEDAS
The four Vedas are collectively known as “Chathurveda, ” of which the first three Vedas viz., Rig Veda, Sama Veda and Yajur Veda agree in form, language and content.
Each Veda consists of four parts –
the Samhitas (hymns),
the Brahmanas (rituals),
the Aranyakas (theologies) and
the Upanishads (philosophies).
1]
Samhita ~ The Mantra portion containing the hymns to be used in Vedic sacrifices. Also consisting of hymns of praise to God.
2]
Brahmana Portion ~ (not to be confused with Brahman, or the brahmin caste) significance of the hymns (contains specific rules and regulations for the sacrifices as well as prose commentaries explaining the meaning of the mantras and rituals).
These are commentary to samhitas.
They are rich in narrative tales and technical discussions about sacrificial rites. They guide the priests in their duties. The yajnas, their methods and methodologies, procedures, are known from Brahmanas. Satha patha Brahmaniyam, Taittreya brhamana, Aiithereya Brahmanas, Govadha Brhamana, Shadwinsha Brahmana are some of the Brahmanas now available to Hindus with many of them lost to the mankind. Every Branch (`saka') of the samhitas has Brhamanas attached to it.
http://www.1stholistic.com/Prayer/Hindu/hol_Hindu-scriptures.htm
The Brahmanas, describing rules and purpose of SamhitÄs, are further divided
3] Aranyakas ~ (forest texts) intend to serve as objects of meditation for ascetics who live in forests and deal with mysticism and symbolis. Interpretations which conclude the Brahmanas.
Taittereya aranyaka, Aithereya aranyaka etc exist now. Dharma, ( correct path to follow) Achara, (tradition) vidhi, (procedure and duty) nishedha (prohibitions) are some of the aspects talked about in these aranyakas.
The Aranyakas constitute the Brahma kanda -the last section of Karma kanda ( the treatise on rituals). Brahma Kanda pertains to the right course of conduct and Yajna and yagas.
There are several more Brahamanas and Aranyanakas- Devatadhyaya, Samhthopanishad, Samavidhana, Panchavinsa(Tandya), Shadwinsha, Arsheya, Upanishad brahamana etc
http://www.1stholistic.com/Prayer/Hindu/hol_Hindu-scriptures.htm
4] Upanishads ~ Vedanta which contain highly philosophical and metaphysical writings about the nature of, and the relationship between, the soul (Ätman) and Brahman.)
(Upanishads are collectively called Vedanta, because they expound on the spiritual essence of Vedas and they are found at the end of the Vedas.)
MANTRAS
The verses of the Vedas are called Mantras.
A Mantra as a two-fold effect.
It imparts true knowledge and secondly it offers hope and security to a devotee who puts into practice the advice of the Mantra.
SANSKRIT LANGUAGE USED FOR THE VEDAS
Vedic Sanskrit is radically different from Classical and Epic Sanskrit, the result has been many misinterpretations by Western scholars. For example, "Ashva" means "horse" and "grain". Sacrifices which call for "Ashva" were assumed to be for horses but the correct Vedic interpretation is that of "grain".
The point being is that Vedic Sanskrit must be read in respect to the Vedic context.
http://www.vedicbooks.com/magazine.htm
What does the word Vedas mean?
The term Veda comes from the root Vid, to know.
The word Veda means knowledge.
When it is applied to scripture, it signifies a book of knowledge.
The Veda is the storehouse of Indian wisdom and is a memorable glory which man can never forget till eternity.
Veda is the glorious pride of the Hindus, nay, of the whole world!
http://www.hinduism.co.za/vedas-.htm
GOD and HINDUISM in general:-
Krishna shows Arjuna his True form
“If there be the effulgence of a thousand suns bursting forth all at once in the heavens, even that would hardly approach the splendour of the mighty Lord” Gita 11:12
Gods in Hinduism
India's Sanatana Dharma, is a family of religions with four principal denominations
1. Saivism,
2. Shaktism,
3. Vaishnavism and
4. Smartism.
Contrary to prevailing misconceptions, Hindus all worship a One Supreme Being, though by diffe