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'''Hinduism''' is an [[Indian religion]] and ''[[dharma]]'', or a way of life,{{refn|group=note|name="definition"}} widely practised in the [[Indian subcontinent]] and [[Hinduism in Indonesia|parts of Southeast Asia]]. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world,{{refn|group=note|See:
* Fowler: "probably the oldest religion in the world" ({{harvnb|Fowler|1997|p=1}})
* Klostermaier: The "oldest living major religion" in the world ({{harvnb|Klostermaier|2007|p=1}})
* Kurien: "There are almost a billion Hindus living on Earth. They practice the world's oldest religion..." <ref>{{cite journal |last=Kurien |first=Prema |title= Multiculturalism and American Religion: The Case of Hindu Indian Americans |journal=Social Forces |publisher= Johns Hopkins University Press |volume=85 |issue=2 |year=2006 |pages= 723–741 |doi= 10.1353/sof.2007.0015 }}</ref>
* Bakker: "it [Hinduism] is the oldest religion".<ref>{{cite journal |first= F.L. |last= Bakker |title= Balinese Hinduism and the Indonesian State: Recent Developments |journal= Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde |year=1997 |volume=Deel 153, 1ste Afl. |pages= 15–41 |publisher= Brill|jstor= 27864809}}</ref>
* Noble: "Hinduism, the world's oldest surviving religion, continues to provide the framework for daily life in much of South Asia."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Noble |first= Allen |title= South Asian Sacred Places |journal= Journal of Cultural Geography |volume=17 |publisher=Routledge |issue=2 |year=1998 |pages=1–3 |doi= 10.1080/08873639809478317 }}</ref>}} and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as ''[[Sanātanī|Sanātana Dharma]]'', "the eternal tradition", or the "eternal way", beyond human history.{{sfn|Knott|1998|pp=5, Quote: "Many describe Hinduism as ''sanatana dharma'', the eternal tradition or religion. This refers to the idea that its origins lie beyond human history"}}<ref>{{harvnb|Bowker|2000}}; {{harvnb|Harvey|2001|p=xiii}};</ref> Scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion{{refn|group=note|name=Lockard}} or synthesis{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=193}}{{refn|group=note|name= "Hiltebeitel-synthesis"}} of various Indian cultures and traditions,<ref name="Hiltebeitel 2007 12">{{harvnb|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}; {{harvnb|Flood|1996|p=16}}; {{harvnb|Lockard|2007|p=50}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|name= fusion}} with diverse roots{{sfn|Narayanan|2009|p=11}}{{refn|group=note| Among its roots are the [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic religion]] of the late [[Vedic period]] ({{harvnb|Flood|1996|p=16}}) and its emphasis on the status of Brahmans ({{harvnb|Samuel|2010|pp=48–53}}), but also the religions of the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]] ({{harvnb|Narayanan| 2009|p=11}}; {{harvnb|Lockard|2007|p=52}}; {{harvnb|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=3}}; {{harvnb|Jones|Ryan|2006|p=xviii}}) the [[Sramana]] or renouncer traditions of [[Maurya Empire|north-east India]] ({{harvnb|Flood|1996|p=16}}; {{harvnb|Gomez|2013|p=42}}), with possible roots in a non-Vedic Indo-European culture ({{harvnb|Brokhorst|2007}}), and "popular or [[Adivasi|local traditions]]" ({{harvnb|Flood|1996|p=16}}).}} and no founder.{{sfn|Fowler|1997|pp=1, 7}} This "Hindu synthesis" started to develop between 500 BCE and 300 CE,{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}} after the end of the [[Vedic period]] (1500 BCE to 500 BCE),{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}{{sfn|Larson|2009}} and flourished in the [[Medieval India|medieval period]], with the [[Decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent|decline of Buddhism in India]].{{sfn|Larson|1995|p=109&ndash;111}} 
 
Although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, it is linked by shared concepts, recognisable rituals, [[Hindu cosmology|cosmology]], [[Hindu texts|shared textual resources]], and [[Hindu pilgrimage sites|pilgrimage to sacred sites]]. [[Hindu texts]] are classified into [[Śruti]] ("heard") and [[Smriti|Smṛti]] ("remembered"). These texts discuss theology, [[Hindu philosophy|philosophy]], [[Hindu mythology|mythology]], [[Vedas|Vedic]] [[yajna]], [[Yoga]], [[Āgama (Hinduism)|agamic]] [[ritual]]s, and [[Hindu temple|temple building]], among other topics.{{sfn|Michaels|2004}} Major scriptures include the [[Vedas]] and [[Upanishads]], the ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'', and the [[Āgama (Hinduism)|Āgamas]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Hindu Scriptures| last=Zaehner|first=R. C.|publisher= Penguin Random House|year=1992|isbn= 978-0679410782|location=|pages=1–7|quote=|via=}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book| title= A Survey of Hinduism|last= Klostermaier| first=Klaus|publisher=State University of New York Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0791470824|edition=3rd|location=|pages=46–52, 76–77|quote=|via=}}</ref> Sources of authority and eternal truths in its texts play an important role, but there is also a strong Hindu tradition of questioning authority in order to deepen the understanding of these truths and to further develop the tradition.<ref name=frazierintrop2>{{cite book|last1=Frazier|first1=Jessica|title=The Continuum companion to Hindu studies | date=2011|publisher= Continuum| location= London|isbn= 978-0-8264-9966-0|pages=1–15}}</ref>

Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the four [[Puruṣārtha]]s, the proper goals or aims of human life, namely [[Dharma]] (ethics/duties), [[Artha]] (prosperity/work), [[Kama]] (desires/passions) and [[Moksha]] (liberation/freedom from the cycle of death and [[reincarnation|rebirth]]/salvation);<ref name="Bilimoria 2007 p. 103">{{Cite book|title=Indian Ethics: Classical Traditions and Contemporary Challenges|last=|first=|publisher=|year=2007|isbn=|editor-last=Bilimoria et al.|location=|pages= 103|quote=|via=}} See also {{Cite journal|last=Koller|first=John|year=1968|title= Puruṣārtha as Human Aims|url=|journal= Philosophy East and West|volume=18|issue= 4|pages=315–319|via=|doi= 10.2307/1398408|jstor=1398408}}</ref><ref name="Gavin Flood 1997 pages 11">{{Cite book| title=The Bhagavadgītā for Our Times|last=Flood|first= Gavin|publisher=Oxford University Press| year= 1997 |isbn= 978-0195650396|editor-last= Lipner|editor-first=Julius J.|location=|pages= 11–27|chapter=The Meaning and Context of the Puruṣārthas|quote=|via=}}</ref> [[karma]] (action, intent and consequences), [[Saṃsāra]] (cycle of death and rebirth), and the various Yogas (paths or practices to attain moksha).<ref name=":0" />{{sfn|Brodd|2003}} Hindu practices include rituals such as [[Puja (Hinduism)|puja]] (worship) and recitations, [[japa]], meditation, family-oriented [[Sanskara (rite of passage)|rites of passage]], annual festivals, and occasional pilgrimages. Some Hindus leave their social world and material possessions, then engage in lifelong [[Sannyasa]] (monastic practices) to achieve Moksha.<ref name=ellinger70>{{cite book|author=Herbert Ellinger |title=Hinduism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pk3iAwAAQBAJ |year=1996|publisher= Bloomsbury Academic|isbn= 978-1-56338-161-4 |pages= 69–70 }}</ref> Hinduism prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings ([[ahimsa]]), patience, forbearance, self-restraint, and compassion, among others.<ref group=web name="EB-sanatana dharma" /><ref>{{Cite book|title=History of Dharmasastra| last=Dharma|first=Samanya|last2=Kane|first2=P. V.|publisher=|year=|isbn=|volume=2|location=|pages=4–5|quote=|via=}} See also {{Cite journal|last=Widgery|first= Alban|year=1930|title=The Priniciples of Hindu Ethics|url=|journal=International Journal of Ethics|volume=40|issue=2|pages=232–245|via=|doi=10.1086/intejethi.40.2.2377977}}</ref> The four largest [[Hindu denominations|denominations]] of Hinduism are the [[Vaishnavism]], [[Shaivism]], [[Shaktism]] and [[Smarta Tradition|Smartism]].<ref>[[Julius J. Lipner]] (2009), Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 2nd Edition, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0-415-45677-7}}, pages 377, 398</ref>

Hinduism is the [[Major religious groups|world's third largest religion]]; its followers, known as [[Hindu]]s, constitute about [[Hinduism by country|1.15 billion]], or 15–16% of the global population.<ref group= "web">{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/global-religious-landscape-hindu.aspx|title=The Global Religious Landscape – Hinduism|last=|first=|date=| publisher= Pew Research Foundation|work=A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Major Religious Groups as of 2010|accessdate=31 March 2013}}</ref><ref name ="gordonconwell.edu">{{cite web|url=http://www.gordonconwell.edu/resources/documents/1IBMR2015.pdf|title=Christianity 2015: Religious Diversity and Personal Contact|website= gordonconwell.edu|date= January 2015 |accessdate=2015-05-29}}</ref> Hindus form the majority of the population in [[India]], [[Nepal]] and [[Mauritius]]. Significant Hindu communities are also found in the [[Caribbean]], [[Africa]], [[North America]], and [[Hinduism by country|other countries]].<ref>{{cite book| first=Steven | last= Vertovec|title=The Hindu Diaspora: Comparative Patterns|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FRVTAQAAQBAJ |year= 2013|publisher= Routledge|isbn= 978-1-136-36705-2|pages=1–4, 7–8, 63–64, 87–88, 141–143}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-hindu/|title=Hindus|date=18 December 2012|work=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|accessdate=14 February 2015}};<br/>{{cite web|url=http://features.pewforum.org/grl/population-number.php?sort=numberHindu|title=Table: Religious Composition by Country, in Numbers (2010)|date=18 December 2012|work=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|accessdate=14 February 2015}}</ref>
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== Etymology ==
{{further|Hindu}}
[[Image:Valmiki Ramayana.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Valmiki]], a contemporary of [[Rama]], composes the [[Ramayana]].]]
[[File:Kailash Tibet.jpg|thumb|right|x216px|text|Sacred [[Mount Kailash]] in [[Tibet]] is regarded as the spiritual abode of [[Shiva|Lord Shiva]].]]
The word ''Hindū'' is derived from [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]{{sfn|Flood|2008|p=3}}/[[Sanskrit]]{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=6}} root ''Sindhu''.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=6}}{{sfnp|Parpola, The Roots of Hinduism|2015|loc=Chapter 1}} The [[Proto-Iranian language|Proto-Iranian]] sound change ''*s'' > ''h'' occurred between 850–600 BCE, according to [[Asko Parpola]].{{sfnp|Parpola, The Roots of Hinduism|2015|loc=Chapter 9}}

It is believed that ''Hindu'' was used as the name for the [[Indus River]] in the northwestern part of the [[Indian subcontinent]] (modern day Pakistan and [[Northern India]]).{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=6}}{{refn|group=note|The Indo-Aryan word ''Sindhu'' means "river", "ocean".{{sfn|Flood|2008|p=3}} It is frequently being used in the [[Rigveda]]. The Sindhu-area is part of [[Āryāvarta]], "the land of the Aryans".}} According to [[Gavin Flood]], "The actual term ''Hindu'' first occurs as a [[Persian language|Persian]] geographical term for the people who lived beyond the river Indus (Sanskrit: ''Sindhu'')",{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=6}} more specifically in the 6th-century BCE inscription of [[Darius I]] (550–486 BCE).<ref name=arvindsharmahhhh>Arvind Sharma (2002), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3270470 On Hindu, Hindustān, Hinduism and Hindutva] Numen, Vol. 49, Fasc. 1, pages 2–3</ref> The term ''Hindu'' in these ancient records is a geographical term and did not refer to a religion.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=6}} Among the earliest known records of 'Hindu' with connotations of religion may be in the 7th-century CE Chinese text ''Record of the Western Regions'' by [[Xuanzang]],<ref name=arvindsharmahhhh/> and 14th-century Persian text ''Futuhu's-salatin'' by 'Abd al-Malik [[Isami (historian)|Isami]].{{refn|group=note|There are several views on the earliest mention of 'Hindu' in the context of religion:

# Gavin Flood (1996) states: "In Arabic texts, Al-Hind is a term used for the people of modern-day India and 'Hindu', or 'Hindoo', was used towards the end of the eighteenth century by the British to refer to the people of 'Hindustan', the people of northwest India. Eventually 'Hindu' became virtually equivalent to an 'Indian' who was not a Muslim, Sikh, Jain or Christian, thereby encompassing a range of religious beliefs and practices. The '-ism' was added to Hindu in around 1830 to denote the culture and religion of the high-caste Brahmans in contrast to other religions, and the term was soon appropriated by Indians themselves in the context of building a national identity opposed to colonialism, though the term 'Hindu' was used in Sanskrit and Bengali hagiographic texts in contrast to 'Yavana' or Muslim as early as the sixteenth century".({{harvnb|Flood|1996|p=6}})
# [[Arvind Sharma]] (2002) and other scholars state that the 7th-century Chinese scholar [[Xuanzang]], whose 17 year travel to India and interactions with its people and religions were recorded and preserved in Chinese language, uses the transliterated term ''In-tu'' whose "connotation overflows in the religious".<ref name=arvindsharmahhhh/> Xuanzang describes [[Hindu temple|Hindu Deva-temple]]s of the early 7th century CE, worship of [[Surya|Sun]] deity and [[Shiva]], his debates with scholars of Samkhya and Vaisheshika schools of Hindu philosophies, monks and monasteries of Hindus, Jains and Buddhists (both Mahayana and Theravada), and the study of the Vedas along with Buddhist texts at [[Nalanda]].<ref>Stephen Gosch and Peter Stearns (2007), Premodern Travel in World History, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415229418}}, pages 88–99</ref><ref>Arvind Sharma (2011), Hinduism as a Missionary Religion, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-1438432113}}, pages 5–12</ref><ref>Bonnie Smith et al (2012), Crossroads and Cultures, Combined Volume: A History of the World's Peoples, Macmillan, {{ISBN|978-0312410179}}, pages 321–324</ref>
# Arvind Sharma (2002) also mentions the use of word ''Hindu'' in Islamic texts such those relating to 8th-century Arab invasion of Sindh by Muhammad ibn Qasim, Al Biruni's 11th-century text ''Tarikh Al-Hind'', and those of the Delhi Sultanate period, where the term ''Hindu'' retains the ambiguities of including all non-Islamic people such as Buddhists and of being "a region or a religion".<ref name=arvindsharmahhhh2>Arvind Sharma (2002), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3270470 On Hindu, Hindustān, Hinduism and Hindutva] Numen, Vol. 49, Fasc. 1, pages 5–9</ref>
# [[David Lorenzen]] (2006) states, citing Richard Eaton: "one of the earliest occurrences of the word 'Hindu' in Islamic literature appears in 'Abd al-Malik Isami's Persian work, ''Futuhu's-salatin'', composed in the Deccan in 1350. In this text, 'Isami uses the word 'hindi' to mean Indian in the ethno-geographical sense and the word 'hindu' to mean 'Hindu' in the sense of a follower of the Hindu religion".<ref>David Lorenzen (2006), Who Invented Hinduism: Essays on Religion in History, Yoda Press, {{ISBN|978-8190227261}}, page 33</ref>
# David Lorenzen (2006) also mentions other non-Persian texts such as ''Prithvíráj Ráso'' by ~12th century Canda Baradai, and epigraphical inscription evidence from Andhra Pradesh kingdoms who battled military expansion of Muslim dynasties in the 14th century, where the word 'Hindu' partly implies a religious identity in contrast to 'Turks' or Islamic religious identity.<ref>David Lorenzen (2006), Who Invented Hinduism: Essays on Religion in History, Yoda Press, {{ISBN|978-8190227261}}, pages 32–33</ref> One of the earliest uses of word 'Hindu' in religious context, in a European language (Spanish), was the publication in 1649 by Sebastiao Manrique.<ref>David Lorenzen (2006), Who Invented Hinduism: Essays on Religion in History, Yoda Press, {{ISBN|978-8190227261}}, page 15</ref>}}

Thapar states that the word ''Hindu'' is found as ''heptahindu'' in [[Avesta]] – equivalent to Rigvedic ''sapta sindhu'', while ''hndstn'' (pronounced ''Hindustan'') is found in a [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian]] inscription from the 3rd century CE, both of which refer to parts of northwestern South Asia.<ref>Romila Thapar (2004), Early India: From the Origins to A.D. 1300, University of California Press, {{ISBN|978-0520242258}}, page 38</ref> The Arabic term ''al-Hind'' referred to the people who live across the River Indus.{{sfn|Thapar|1993|p=77}} This Arabic term was itself taken from the pre-Islamic Persian term ''Hindū'', which refers to all Indians. By the 13th century, ''[[Hindustan]]'' emerged as a popular alternative [[Names of India|name of India]], meaning the "land of Hindus".{{sfn|Thompson Platts|1884}}{{refn|group=note|In ancient literature the name ''Bharata'' or ''Bharata Vrasa'' was being used.({{harvnb|Garg|1992|p=3}})}}

The term ''Hindu'' was later used occasionally in some Sanskrit texts such as the later ''[[Rajatarangini]]s'' of Kashmir (Hinduka, c. 1450) and some 16th- to 18th-century [[Bengali language|Bengali]] [[Gaudiya Vaishnavism|Gaudiya Vaishnava]] texts including ''[[Chaitanya Charitamrita]]'' and ''[[Chaitanya Bhagavata]]''. These texts used it to distinguish Hindus from Muslims who are called [[Yona#Later meanings|Yavanas]] (foreigners) or [[Mleccha]]s (barbarians), with the 16th-century ''Chaitanya Charitamrita'' text and the 17th-century ''Bhakta Mala'' text using the phrase "''Hindu dharma''".<ref>{{cite news|title=The Word 'Hindu' in Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Texts| author = O'Conell, Joseph T.| journal= Journal of the American Oriental Society| volume= 93| number =3 | year =1973| pages=340–344| doi=10.2307/599467}}</ref> It was only towards the end of the 18th century that European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as ''Hindus''.

The term ''Hinduism'', then spelled ''Hindooism'', was introduced into the English language in the 18th century to denote the religious, philosophical, and cultural traditions native to India.<ref name=Sweetman2003>Will Sweetman (2003), Mapping Hinduism: 'Hinduism' and the Study of Indian Religions, 1600–1776, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, {{ISBN|3-931479498}}, pages 163, 154–168</ref>

== Definitions ==

Hinduism includes a diversity of ideas on [[Spirituality#Hinduism|spirituality]] and traditions, but has no ecclesiastical order, no unquestionable religious authorities, no governing body, no prophet(s) nor any binding holy book; Hindus can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, monotheistic, monistic, agnostic, atheistic or humanist.<ref>[[Julius J. Lipner]] (2009), Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 2nd Edition, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0-415-45677-7}}, page 8; Quote: "(...) one need not be religious in the minimal sense described to be accepted as a Hindu by Hindus, or describe oneself perfectly validly as Hindu. One may be polytheistic or monotheistic, monistic or pantheistic, even an agnostic, humanist or atheist, and still be considered a Hindu."</ref><ref>Lester Kurtz (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict, {{ISBN|978-0123695031}}, Academic Press, 2008</ref><ref>MK Gandhi,  [http://www.mkgandhi.org/ebks/essence_of_hinduism.pdf The Essence of Hinduism], Editor: VB Kher, Navajivan Publishing, see page 3; According to Gandhi, "a man may not believe in God and still call himself a Hindu."</ref> Because of the wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=6}} The religion "defies our desire to define and categorize it".<ref>{{cite book |title= Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction|edition= |last= Knott|first= Kim|year= 1998|publisher= Oxford University press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-285387-5|page= 117}}</ref> Hinduism has been variously defined as a religion, a religious tradition, a set of religious beliefs, and "a way of life".{{sfn|Sharma|2003|p=12-13}}{{refn|group=note|name="definition"|Hinduism is variously defined as a "religion", "set of religious beliefs and practices", "religious tradition", "a way of life" ({{harvnb|Sharma|2003|pp=12–13}}) etc. For a discussion on the topic, see: "Establishing the boundaries" in {{harvnb|Flood|2008|pp=1–17}}}} From a Western lexical standpoint, Hinduism like other faiths is appropriately referred to as a religion. In India the term ''dharma'' is preferred, which is broader than the Western term ''religion''.

The study of India and its cultures and religions, and the definition of "Hinduism", has been shaped by the interests of colonialism and by Western notions of religion.<ref>{{harvnb|Sweetman|2004}}; {{harvnb|King|1999}}</ref> Since the 1990s, those influences and its outcomes have been the topic of debate among scholars of Hinduism,{{sfn|Sweetman|2004}}{{Refn|group=note|Sweetman mentions:

* Wilhelm Halbfass (1988), ''India and Europe''
* IXth European Conference on Modern Asian Studies in Heidelberg (1989), ''Hinduism Reconsidered''
* [[Ronald Inden]], ''Imagining India''
* [[Carol Breckenridge]] and [[Peter van der Veer]], ''Orientalism and the Postcolonial Predicament''
* Vasudha Dalmia and [[Heinrich von Stietencron]], ''Representing Hinduism''
* [[S.N. Balagangadhara]], ''The Heathen in his Blindness...''
* [[Thomas Trautmann]], ''Aryans and British India''
* Richard King (1989), ''Orientalism and religion''}} and have also been taken over by critics of the Western view on India.{{sfn|Nussbaum|2009}}{{refn|group=note|See [[Rajiv Malhotra]] and [[Being Different]] for a critic who gained widespread attention outside the academia, [[Invading the Sacred]], and [[Hindu studies]].}}

=== Typology ===
{{Main|Hindu denominations}}

[[File:Aum Om navy blue circle coral.svg|thumb|[[Om|AUM]], a stylised letter of [[Devanagari]] script, used as a religious symbol in Hinduism]]

Hinduism as it is commonly known can be subdivided into a number of major currents. Of the historical division into six [[darsanas]] (philosophies), two schools, [[Vedanta]] and [[Yoga (philosophy)|Yoga]], are currently the most prominent.<ref>{{cite book|title=Development and Religion: Theology and Practice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DIvHQc0-rwgC&pg=PA28|author=Matthew Clarke|publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing|year=2011|page=28|isbn=9780857930736}}</ref> Classified by primary deity or deities, four major Hinduism modern currents are [[Vaishnavism]] (Vishnu), [[Shaivism]] (Shiva), [[Shaktism]] (Devi) and [[Smarta Tradition|Smartism]] (five deities treated as same).{{sfn|Nath|2001|p=31}}{{sfn|Flood|1996|pp=113, 154}} Hinduism also accepts numerous divine beings, with many Hindus considering the deities to be aspects or manifestations of a single impersonal absolute or ultimate reality or God, while some Hindus maintain that a specific deity represents the supreme and various deities are lower manifestations of this supreme.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=14}} Other notable characteristics include a belief in existence of [[Ātman (Hinduism)|ātman]] (soul, self), [[reincarnation]] of one's ātman, and karma as well as a belief in dharma (duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and right way of living).

McDaniel (2007) classifies Hinduism into six major kinds and numerous minor kinds, in order to understand expression of emotions among the Hindus.<ref name=junemcdaniel6>June McDaniel ''Hinduism'', in John Corrigan, ''The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Emotion'', (2007) Oxford University Press, 544 pages, pp. 52–53 {{ISBN|0-19-517021-0}}</ref> The major kinds, according to McDaniel are, [[Folk Hinduism]], based on local traditions and cults of local [[deities]] and is the oldest, non-literate system; [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic Hinduism]] based on the earliest layers of the Vedas traceable to 2nd millennium BCE; Vedantic Hinduism based on the philosophy of the [[Upanishad]]s, including [[Advaita Vedanta]], emphasizing knowledge and wisdom; Yogic Hinduism, following the text of [[Yoga Sutras of Patanjali]] emphasizing introspective awareness; Dharmic Hinduism or "daily morality", which McDaniel states is stereotyped in some books as the "only form of Hindu religion with a belief in karma, cows and caste"; and [[Bhakti]] or devotional Hinduism, where intense emotions are elaborately incorporated in the pursuit of the spiritual.<ref name=junemcdaniel6/>

Michaels distinguishes three Hindu religions and four forms of Hindu religiosity.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=21}} The three Hindu religions are "Brahmanic-Sanskritic Hinduism", "folk religions and tribal religions", and "founded religions.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=22}} The four forms of Hindu religiosity are the classical "karma-marga",{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=23}} [[Jnana yoga|jnana-marga]],{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=24}} [[bhakti yoga|bhakti-marga]],{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=24}} and "heroism", which is rooted in [[Sannyasa#Warrior ascetics|militaristic traditions]], such as Ramaism and parts of political Hinduism.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=23}} This is also called [[Vīrya (Hinduism)|virya-marga]].{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=24}} According to Michaels, one out of nine Hindu belongs by birth to one or both of the Brahmanic-Sanskritic Hinduism and Folk religion typology, whether practicing or non-practicing. He classifies most Hindus as belonging by choice to one of the "founded religions" such as Vaishnavism and Shaivism that are salvation-focussed and often de-emphasize Brahman priestly authority yet incorporate ritual grammar of Brahmanic-Sanskritic Hinduism.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|pp=21–22}} He includes among "founded religions" Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism that are now distinct religions, syncretic movements such as [[Brahmo Samaj]] and the [[Theosophical Society]], as well as various "Guru-isms" and new religious movements such as [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]] and [[ISKCON]].{{sfn|Michaels|2004|pp=22–23}}

Inden states that the attempt to classify Hinduism by typology started in the imperial times, when proselytizing missionaries and colonial officials sought to understand and portray Hinduism from their interests.<ref name=ronaldinden127/> Hinduism was construed as emanating not from a reason of spirit but fantasy and creative imagination, not conceptual but symbolical, not ethical but emotive, not rational or spiritual but of cognitive mysticism. This stereotype followed and fit, states Inden, with the imperial imperatives of the era, providing the moral justification for the colonial project.<ref name=ronaldinden127/> From tribal Animism to Buddhism, everything was subsumed as part of Hinduism. The early reports set the tradition and scholarly premises for typology of Hinduism, as well as the major assumptions and flawed presuppositions that has been at the foundation of Indology. Hinduism, according to Inden, has been neither what imperial religionists stereotyped it to be, nor is it appropriate to equate Hinduism to be merely monist pantheism and philosophical idealism of Advaita Vedanta.<ref name=ronaldinden127>Ronald Inden (2001), Imagining India, Indiana University Press, {{ISBN|978-0253213587}}, pages 117–122, 127–130</ref>

=== Indigenous understanding ===

==== {{IAST|Sanātana Dharma}} ====
{{See also|Sanātanī}}
[[File:Evening prayers at Har-Ki-Pairi Ghat in Haridwar.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Hindus at the [[Kumbh Mela]] engaged in the Aarti ceremony]]
To its adherents, Hinduism is a traditional way of life.<ref>{{Citation | last = Insoll| first = Timothy| title = Archaeology and world religion| publisher = [[Routledge]]| year = 2001| url = https://books.google.com/?id=QNxnYjYRuOMC&pg=PA35| isbn = 978-0-415-22155-9}}</ref> Many practitioners refer to the "orthodox" form of Hinduism as ''[[Sanātanī|{{IAST|Sanātana Dharma}}]]'', "the eternal law" or the "eternal way".<ref>{{harvnb|Bowker|2000}}; {{harvnb|Harvey|2001|p=xiii}}</ref>{{sfn|Vivekjivandas|2010|p=1}} The [[Sanskrit]] word ''dharma'' has a much broader meaning than ''[[religion]]'' and is not its equivalent. All aspects of a Hindu life, namely acquiring wealth (artha), fulfillment of desires (kama), and attaining liberation (moksha) are part of dharma which encapsulates the "right way of living" and eternal harmonious principles in their fulfillment.<ref>{{harvnb|Knott| 2000| p=111}}</ref><ref>Paul Hacker, Dharma in Hinduism, Journal of Indian Philosophy, Vol. 34, No. 5, pages 479–496</ref>

According to the editors of the Encyclopædia Britannica, ''{{IAST|Sanātana Dharma}}'' historically referred to the "eternal" duties religiously ordained in Hinduism, duties such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings (''[[ahimsa]]''), purity, goodwill, mercy, patience, forbearance, self-restraint, generosity, and asceticism. These duties applied regardless of a Hindu's class, caste, or sect, and they contrasted with [[Bhagavad Gita#Svadharma and svabhava|svadharma]], one's "own duty", in accordance with one's class or caste ([[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]]) and stage in life ([[puruṣārtha]]).<ref group="web" name="EB-sanatana dharma">{{Cite book|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/665848/sanatana-dharma|title=sanatana dharma {{!}} Hinduism|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=2016-11-17}}</ref> In recent years, the term has been used by Hindu leaders, reformers, and nationalists to refer to Hinduism. Sanatana dharma has become a synonym for the "eternal" truth and teachings of Hinduism, that transcend history and are "unchanging, indivisible and ultimately nonsectarian".<ref group=web name="EB-sanatana dharma" />

According to other scholars such as Kim Knott and Brian Hatcher, Sanātana Dharma refers to "timeless, eternal set of truths" and this is how Hindus view the origins of their religion. It is viewed as thosee eternal truths and tradition with origins beyond human history, truths divinely revealed ([[Shruti]]) in the [[Vedas]] – the most ancient of the world's scriptures.<ref>{{harvnb|Knott|1998|p=3}}</ref><ref name="Hatcher2015p4"/> To many Hindus, the Western term "religion" to the extent it means "dogma and an institution traceable to a single founder" is inappropriate for their tradition, states Hatcher. Hinduism, to them, is a tradition that can be traced at least to the ancient Vedic era.<ref name="Hatcher2015p4">{{cite book|author=Brian A. Hatcher|title=Hinduism in the Modern World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IdeoCgAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-04631-6|pages=4–5, 69–71, 150–152}}</ref><ref name="Lipner2012p15"/>{{refn|group=note|The term ''sanatana dharma'' and its Vedic roots had another context in the colonial era, particularly the early 19th-century through movements such as the [[Brahmo Samaj]] and the [[Arya Samaj]]. These movements, particularly active in British and French colonies outside India, such as in Africa and the Caribbean, interpreted Hinduism to be a monotheistic religion and attempted to demonstrate that it to be similar to Christianity and Islam. Their views were opposed by other Hindus such as the Sanatan Dharma Sabha of 1895.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Patrick Taylor|author2=Frederick I. Case|title=The Encyclopedia of Caribbean Religions: Volume 1: A - L; Volume 2: M - Z|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XOyYCgAAQBAJ |year= 2013|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-09433-0|pages=902–903}}</ref>}}

====''Vaidika dharma''====
Some have referred to Hinduism as the ''Vaidika dharma''.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Suresh K. Sharma|author2=Usha Sharma|title=Cultural and Religious Heritage of India: Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XFKi3Uak8ssC&pg=PA1|year=2004|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-7099-956-0|pages=1–2}}</ref> The word 'Vaidika' in Sanskrit means 'derived from or conformable to the Veda' or 'relating to the Veda'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sanskritdictionary.com/scans/?col=1&img=mw1022.jpg|title=Sanskrit English Dictionary|last=Monier-Williams|first=Monier |year=1988|website=sanskritdictionary.com|access-date=2018-07-24}}</ref> Traditional scholars employed the terms Vaidika and Avaidika, those who accept the Vedas as a source of authoritative knowledge and those who don't, to differentiate various Indian schools from Jainism, Buddhism and Charvaka. According to Klaus Klostermaier, the term Vaidika dharma is the earliest self-designation of Hinduism.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v1UQBwAAQBAJ|title=A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism|last=Klostermaier|first=Klaus K. |year=2014 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |isbn=978-1-7807-4672-2 |location= |pages=2 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P0VCO1900dMC|title=Hinduism: A Beginner's Guide|last=Klostermaier|first=Klaus K.|date=2007-11-01|publisher=Oneworld Publications|year=|isbn=9781780740263|location=|pages=7|language=en}}</ref> According to [[Arvind Sharma]], the historical evidence suggests that "the Hindus were referring to their religion by the term ''vaidika dharma'' or a variant thereof" by the 4th-century CE.<ref>{{cite journal| author=Arvind Sharma | year=1985| title= Did the Hindus have a name for their own religion|journal= The Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia|volume= 17| issue= 1| page= 95, context: 94–98}}</ref> According to Brian K. Smith "[i]t is 'debatable at the very least' as to whether the term ''Vaidika Dharma'' cannot, with the proper concessions to historical, cultural and ideological specificity, be comparable to and translated as 'Hinduism' or 'Hindu religion'."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Smith|first=Brian K.|date=1998|title=Questioning Authority: Constructions and Deconstructions of Hinduism|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/20106612|journal=International Journal of Hindu Studies|volume=2|issue=3|pages=335}}</ref>

According to Alexis Sanderson, the early Sanskrit texts differentiate between Vaidika, Vaishnava, Shaiva, Shakta, Saura, Buddhist and Jaina traditions. However, the late 1st-millennium CE Indic consensus had "indeed come to conceptualize a complex entity corresponding to Hinduism as opposed to Buddhism and Jainism excluding only certain forms of antinomian Shakta-Shaiva" from its fold.<ref name=sandersonpart1/> Some in the [[Mimamsa]] school of Hindu philosophy considered the ''[[Āgama (Hinduism)|Agamas]]'' such as the Pancaratrika to be invalid because it did not conform to the Vedas. Some Kashmiri scholars rejected the esoteric tantric traditions to be a part of Vaidika dharma.<ref name=sandersonpart1>Alexis Sanderson, [http://www.sutrajournal.com/tolerance-exclusivity-inclusivity-and-persecution-by-alexis-sanderson ''Tolerance, Exclusivity, Inclusivity, and Persecution in Indian Religion During the Early Mediaeval Period – Part One'']</ref><ref>Alexis Sanderson, [http://www.sutrajournal.com/tolerance-exclusivity-inclusivity-and-persecution-part-two-by-alexis-sanderson ''Tolerance, Exclusivity, Inclusivity, and Persecution in Indian Religion During the Early Mediaeval Period – Part Two'']</ref> The Atimarga Shaivism ascetic tradition, datable to about 500 CE, challenged the Vaidika frame and insisted that their Agamas and practices were not only valid, they were superior than those of the Vaidikas.<ref name=sandersonpart3>Alexis Sanderson, [http://www.sutrajournal.com/tolerance-exclusivity-inclusivity-and-persecution-part-three-by-alexis-sanderson ''Tolerance, Exclusivity, Inclusivity, and Persecution in Indian Religion During the Early Mediaeval Period – Part Three'']</ref> However, adds Sanderson, this Shaiva ascetic tradition viewed themselves as being genuinely true to the Vedic tradition and "held unanimously that the Śruti and Smṛti of Brahmanism are universally and uniquely valid in their own sphere, (...) and that as such they [Vedas] are man’s sole means of valid knowledge (...)".<ref name=sandersonpart3/>

The term Vaidika dharma means a code of practice that is "based on the Vedas", but it is unclear what "based on the Vedas" really implies, states Julius Lipner.<ref name="Lipner2012p15"/> The Vaidika dharma or "Vedic way of life", states Lipner, does not mean "Hinduism is necessarily religious" or that Hindus have a universally accepted "conventional or institutional meaning" for that term.<ref name="Lipner2012p15"/> To many, it is as much a cultural term. Many Hindus do not have a copy of the Vedas nor have they ever seen or personally read parts of a Veda, like a Christian might relate to the Bible or a Muslim might to the Quran. Yet, states Lipner, "this does not mean that their [Hindus] whole life's orientation cannot be traced to the Vedas or that it does not in some way derive from it".<ref name="Lipner2012p15"/>

Many religious Hindus implicitly acknowledge the authority of the Vedas, this acknowledgment is often "no more than a declaration that someone considers himself [or herself] a Hindu." Some Hindus challenge the authority of the Vedas, thereby implicitly acknowledging its importance to the history of Hinduism, states Lipner.<ref name="Lipner2012p15">{{cite book|author=Julius Lipner|title=Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oH1FIareczEC |year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-24060-8|pages=15–17}}</ref>

==== Hindu modernism ====

[[File:Swami Vivekananda-1893-09-signed.jpg|thumb|[[Swami Vivekananda]] was a key figure in introducing Vedanta and Yoga in Europe and the United States,{{sfn|Feuerstein|2002|p=600}} raising interfaith awareness and making Hinduism a world religion.{{sfn|Clarke|2006|p=209}}]]

{{See also|Hindu reform movements}}

Beginning in the 19th century, Indian modernists re-asserted Hinduism as a major asset of Indian civilisation,{{sfn|King|1999}} meanwhile "purifying" Hinduism from its Tantric elements{{sfn|Lorenzen|2002|p=33}} and elevating the Vedic elements. Western stereotypes were reversed, emphasizing the universal aspects, and introducing modern approaches of social problems.{{sfn|King|1999}} This approach had a great appeal, not only in India, but also in the west.{{sfn|King|1999}} Major representatives of [[Neo-Vedanta|"Hindu modernism"]]{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=258}} are [[Raja Rammohan Roy]], [[Vivekananda]], [[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan]] and [[Mahatma Gandhi]].{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=256-261}}

[[Raja Rammohan Roy]] is known as the father of the [[Hindu Renaissance]].<ref name=hindu1>{{cite book|last1=Young|first1=Serinity|title=Hinduism|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|page=87|url=https://books.google.com/?id=NIxG6DWVY9AC&pg=PA87&q=Rammohun%20Roy%20Father%20of%20Hindu%20Renaissance|accessdate=19 February 2015|isbn=9780761421160|year=2007}}</ref> He was a major influence on Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902), who, according to Flood, was "a figure of great importance in the development of a modern Hindu self-understanding and in formulating the West's view of Hinduism".{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=257}} Central to his philosophy is the idea that the divine exists in all beings, that all human beings can achieve union with this "innate divinity",{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=258}} and that seeing this divine as the essence of others will further love and social harmony.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=258}} According to Vivekananda, there is an essential unity to Hinduism, which underlies the diversity of its many forms.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=258}} According to Flood, Vivekananda's vision of Hinduism "is one generally accepted by most English-speaking middle-class Hindus today".{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=259}} Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan sought to reconcile western rationalism with Hinduism, "presenting Hinduism as an essentially rationalistic and humanistic religious experience".{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=249}}

This "Global Hinduism"{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=265}} has a worldwide appeal, transcending national boundaries{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=265}} and, according to Flood, "becoming a world religion alongside Christianity, Islam and Buddhism",{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=265}} both for the Hindu diaspora communities and for westerners who are attracted to non-western cultures and religions.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=265}} It emphasizes universal spiritual values such as social justice, peace and "the spiritual transformation of humanity".{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=265}} It has developed partly due to "re-enculturation",{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=267}} or the [[Pizza effect]],{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=267}} in which elements of Hindu culture have been exported to the West, gaining popularity there, and as a consequence also gained greater popularity in India.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=267}} This globalization of Hindu culture brought "to the West teachings which have become an important cultural force in western societies, and which in turn have become an important cultural force in India, their place of origin".{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=267-268}}

=== Western understanding ===
The term ''Hinduism'' is coined in Western ethnography in the 18th century,<ref name=Sweetman2003/><ref>''Hinduism'' is derived from Perian ''hindu-'' and the ''[[:wikt:-ism|-ism]]'' suffix. It is first recorded in 1786, in the generic sense of  "polytheism of India". {{etymonline|Hinduism}}</ref> and refers to the fusion{{refn|group=note|name=Lockard|{{harvnb|Lockard|2007|p=50}}: "The encounters that resulted from Aryan migration brought together several very different peoples and cultures, reconfiguring Indian society. Over many centuries a fusion of [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Aryan]] and [[Dravidian peoples|Dravidian]] occurred, a complex process that historians have labeled the Indo-Aryan synthesis." {{harvnb|Lockard|2007|p=52}}: "Hinduism can be seen historically as a synthesis of Aryan beliefs with Harappan and other Dravidian traditions that developed over many centuries."}} or synthesis{{refn|group=note|name="Hiltebeitel-synthesis"|{{harvnb|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}: "A period of consolidation, sometimes identified as one of 'Hindu synthesis', 'Brahmanic synthesis', or 'orthodox synthesis', takes place between the time of the late Vedic Upanishads (c. 500 BCE) and the period of Gupta imperial ascendency (c. 320–467 CE)."}}{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=193}} of various Indian cultures and traditions.<ref name="Hiltebeitel 2007 12"/><!-- -START OF EXTENSIVE NOTE "name=fusion"- -->{{refn|group=note|name=fusion|See also:

* J.H. Hutton (1931), in {{Citation | last=Ghurye | first=Govind Sadashiv | year=1980| title=The Scheduled Tribes of India | publisher=Transaction Publishers | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pTNmCIc9hCUC |pp=3–4}}{{refn|group=subnote|Ghurye: He [Hutton] considers modern Hinduism to be the result of an amalgam between pre-Aryan Indian beliefs of Mediterranean inspiration and the religion of the Rigveda. "The Tribal religions present, as it were, surplus material not yet built into the temple of Hinduism".({{harvnb|Ghurye|1980|p=4}})}}
* {{Citation | last=Zimmer | first=Heinrich | year=1951 | title=Philosophies of India | publisher=Princeton University Press|pp=218–219}}
* Tyler (1973), ''India: An Anthropological Perspective'', Goodyear Publishing Company. In: {{harvnb|Sjoberg|1990|p=43}}{{refn|group=subnote|Tyler, in ''India: An Anthropological Perspective''(1973), page 68, as quoted by Sjoberg, calls Hinduism a "synthesis" in which the Dravidian elements prevail: "The Hindu synthesis was less the dialectical reduction of orthodoxy and heterodoxy than the resurgence of the ancient, aboriginal Indus civilization. In this process the rude, barbaric Aryan tribes were gradually civilised and eventually merged with the autochthonous Dravidians. Although elements of their domestic cult and ritualism were jealously preserved by Brahman priests, the body of their culture survived only in fragmentary tales and allegories embedded in vast, syncretistic compendia. On the whole, the Aryan contribution to Indian culture is insignificant. The essential pattern of Indian culture was already established in the third millennium B.C., and ... the form of Indian civilization perdured and eventually reasserted itself. ({{harvnb|Sjoberg|1990|p=43}})}}
* {{Citation | last=Sjoberg | first=Andree F. | year=1990 | title=The Dravidian Contribution To The Development Of Indian Civilization: A Call For A Reassesment | journal=Comparative Civilizations Review |volume=23 |pages=40–74 | url=https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/CCR/article/download/13469/13403}}
* {{Sfn|Flood | 1996 | p=16}}
* {{Citation | last=Nath | first=Vijay | year=2001 | title=From 'Brahmanism' to 'Hinduism': Negotiating the Myth of the Great Tradition | journal=Social Scientist |pages=19–50}}
* {{Citation | title=Yoga And Indian Philosophy (1977, Reprinted in 1998) | last=Werner|first= Karel | publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ | year=1998 | isbn=81-208-1609-9 }}
* {{Citation | last=Werner | first=karel | year=2005 | title=A Popular Dictionary of Hinduism | publisher=Routledge | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HvuQAgAAQBAJ |pp=8–9}}
* {{Citation | last=Lockard | first=Craig A. | year=2007 | title=Societies, Networks, and Transitions. Volume I: to 1500 | publisher=Cengage Learning | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yJPlCpzOY_QC&pg=PA50 |p=50}}
* {{Sfn|Hiltebeitel | 2007 | p=frontcover}}
* {{Citation | last1=Hopfe | first1=Lewis M. | last2=Woodward | first2=Mark R. | year=2008 | title=Religions of the World | publisher=Pearson Education | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BVbiMBDVrdEC&pg=PA79 |p=79}}{{refn|group=subnote|name=Hopfe|{{harvnb|Hopfe|Woodward|2008|p=79}}: "The religion that the Aryans brought with them mingled with the religion of the native people, and the culture that developed between them became classical Hinduism." }}
* {{Citation | last=Samuel | first=Geoffrey | year=2010 | title=The Origins of Yoga and Tantra. Indic Religions to the Thirteenth Century | publisher=Cambridge University Press}}}}<!-- -END OF EXTENSIVE NOTE "name=fusion"- --> which emerged after the Vedic period, between 500{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}-200{{sfn|Larson|2009}} BCE and c. 300 CE,{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}} the beginning of the "Epic and Puranic" c.q. "Preclassical" period.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}{{sfn|Larson|2009}}

Hinduism's tolerance to variations in belief and its broad range of traditions make it difficult to define as a religion according to traditional Western conceptions.{{sfn|Turner|1996-A|p=275}}

Some academics suggest that Hinduism can be seen as a category with "fuzzy edges" rather than as a well-defined and rigid entity. Some forms of religious expression are central to Hinduism and others, while not as central, still remain within the category. Based on this idea Ferro-Luzzi has developed a 'Prototype Theory approach' to the definition of Hinduism.<ref>Ferro-Luzzi, (1991)''The Polythetic-Prototype Approach to Hinduism'' in G.D. Sontheimer and H. Kulke (ed.) ''Hinduism Reconsidered''. Delhi: Manohar. pp. 187–95</ref>

== Diversity and unity ==

=== Diversity ===
{{See also|Hindu denominations}}
[[File:Ganapati.1..JPG|thumb|[[Ganesha]] is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the [[Hindu deities|Hindu pantheon]]]]
[[File:Ambubachi Mela at Kamakhya Temple by Vikramjit Kakati.jpg|thumb|[[Sadhu]]s gathered at [[Assam]]'s Kamakhya Temple for the [[Ambubachi Mela]]]]
[[File:Farewell Ritual - Durga Idol Immersion Ceremony - Baja Kadamtala Ghat - Kolkata 2012-10-24 1458.JPG|thumb|The [[Durga Puja]] celebrated in [[Kolkata]]]] 
Hinduism has been described as a tradition having a "complex, organic, multileveled and sometimes internally inconsistent nature".{{sfn|Doniger|2000|p=434}} Hinduism does not have a "unified system of belief encoded in a declaration of faith or a [[creed]]",{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=6}} but is rather an umbrella term comprising the plurality of religious phenomena of India.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1962|p=65}}; {{harvnb|Halbfass|1991|pp=1–22}}</ref> According to the Supreme Court of India,

{{quote|Unlike other religions in the World, the Hindu religion does not claim any one Prophet, it does not worship any one God, it does not believe in any one philosophic concept, it does not follow any one act of religious rites or performances; in fact, it does not satisfy the traditional features of a religion or creed. It is a way of life and nothing more".<ref>{{harvnb|Klostermaier|1994|p=1}}</ref>}}

Part of the problem with a single definition of the term ''Hinduism'' is the fact that Hinduism does not have a founder.<ref>{{harvnb|Flood|1996|pp=1, 7}}</ref> It is a synthesis of various traditions,<ref>{{harvnb|Lockard|2007|p=50}}; {{harvnb|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}</ref> the "Brahmanical orthopraxy, the renouncer traditions and popular or local traditions".{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=16}}

[[Theism]] is also difficult to use as a unifying doctrine for Hinduism, because while some Hindu philosophies postulate a [[theism|theistic]] [[ontology]] of creation, other [[Atheism in Hinduism|Hindus are or have been atheists]].{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

=== Sense of unity ===

Despite the differences, there is also a sense of unity.{{sfn|Halbfass|1991|p=15}} Most Hindu traditions revere a body of religious or [[sastra|sacred literature]], the Vedas,{{sfn|Nicholson|2010}} although there are exceptions.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=35}} These texts are a reminder of the ancient cultural heritage and point of pride for Hindus,<ref name=andreapinkney/><ref>Jeffrey Haines (2008), Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415600293}}, page 80</ref> with [[Louis Renou]] stating that "even in the most orthodox domains, the reverence to the Vedas has come to be a simple raising of the hat".<ref name=andreapinkney>Andrea Pinkney (2014), Routledge Handbook of Religions in Asia (Editors: Bryan Turner and Oscar Salemink), Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415635035}}, pages 31–32</ref>{{sfn|Halbfass|1991|p=1}}

Halbfass states that, although Shaivism and Vaishaism may be regarded as "self-contained religious constellations",{{sfn|Halbfass|1991|p=15}} there is a degree of interaction and reference between the "theoreticians and literary representatives"{{sfn|Halbfass|1991|p=15}} of each tradition which indicates the presence of "a wider sense of identity, a sense of coherence in a shared context and of inclusion in a common framework and horizon".{{sfn|Halbfass|1991|p=15}}

==== Indigenous developments ====

The notion of common denominators for several religions and traditions of India further developed from the 12th century CE on.<ref>{{harvnb|Nicholson|2010|p=2}}; {{harvnb|Lorenzen|2006|pp=1–36}}</ref> Lorenzen traces the emergence of a "family resemblance", and what he calls as "beginnings of medieval and modern Hinduism" taking shape, at c. 300–600 CE, with the development of the early Puranas, and continuities with the earlier Vedic religion.{{sfn|Lorenzen|2006|p=36}} Lorenzen states that the establishment of a Hindu self-identity took place "through a process of mutual self-definition with a contrasting Muslim Other".{{sfn|Lorenzen|1999|p=648}} According to Lorenzen, this "presence of the Other"{{sfn|Lorenzen|1999|p=648}} is necessary to recognise the "loose family resemblance" among the various traditions and schools,{{sfn|Lorenzen|1999|p=648,655}}

According to the Indologist [[Alexis Sanderson]], before Islam arrived in India, the "Sanskrit sources differentiated Vaidika, Vaiṣṇava, Śaiva, Śākta, Saura, Buddhist, and Jaina traditions, but they had no name that denotes the first five of these as a collective entity over and against Buddhism and Jainism." This absence of a formal name, states Sanderson, does not mean that the corresponding concept of Hinduism did not exist. By late 1st-millennium CE, the concept of a belief and tradition distinct from Buddhism and Jainism had emerged.{{sfn|Sanderson|2015}} This complex tradition accepted in its identity almost all of what is currently Hinduism, except certain antinomian tantric movements.{{sfn|Sanderson|2015}} Some conservative thinkers of those times questioned whether certain Shaiva, Vaishnava and Shakta texts or practices were consistent with the Vedas, or were invalid in their entirety. Moderates then, and most orthoprax scholars later, agreed that though there are some variations, the foundation of their beliefs, the ritual grammar, the spiritual premises and the soteriologies were same. "This sense of greater unity", states Sanderson, "came to be called Hinduism".{{sfn|Sanderson|2015}}

According to Nicholson, already between the 12th and the 16th centuries "certain thinkers began to treat as a single whole the diverse philosophical teachings of the Upanishads, epics, Puranas, and the schools known retrospectively as the 'six systems' (''saddarsana'') of mainstream Hindu philosophy."{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|p=2}} The tendency of "a blurring of philosophical distinctions" has also been noted by Burley.{{sfn|Burley|2007|p=34}} Hacker called this "inclusivism"{{sfn|Nicholson|2010}} and Michaels speaks of "the identificatory habit".{{sfn|Michaels|2004}} Lorenzen locates the origins of a distinct Hindu identity in the interaction between Muslims and Hindus,{{sfn|Lorenzen|2006|p=24-33}} and a process of "mutual self-definition with a contrasting Muslim other",{{sfn|Lorenzen|2006|p=27}}{{refn|group=note|See also Arvind Sharma (2002), ''On Hindu, Hindustān, Hinduism and Hindutva''. Numen Vol. 49, Fasc. 1 (2002), pp. 1–36.}} which started well before 1800.{{sfn|Lorenzen|2006|p=26-27}} Michaels notes:

{{quote|As a counteraction to Islamic supremacy and as part of the continuing process of regionalization, two religious innovations developed in the Hindu religions: the formation of sects and a historicization which preceded later nationalism [...] [S]aints and sometimes militant sect leaders, such as the Marathi poet Tukaram (1609–1649) and Ramdas (1608–1681), articulated ideas in which they glorified Hinduism and the past. The Brahmins also produced increasingly historical texts, especially eulogies and chronicles of sacred sites (Mahatmyas), or developed a reflexive passion for collecting and compiling extensive collections of quotations on various subjects.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=44}}}}

This inclusivism<ref>Hackel in {{harvnb|Nicholson|2010}}</ref> was further developed in the 19th and 20th centuries by [[Hindu reform movements]] and [[Neo-Vedanta]],{{sfn|King|2001}} and has become characteristic of modern Hinduism.{{sfn|Nicholson|2010}}

==== Colonial influences ====
{{See also|Orientalism}}

The notion and reports on "Hinduism" as a "single world religious tradition"{{sfn|King|1999|pp=100–102}} was popularised by 19th-century proselytizing missionaries and European Indologists, roles sometimes served by the same person, who relied on texts preserved by Brahmins (priests) for their information of Indian religions, and animist observations which the missionary Orientalists presumed was Hinduism.{{sfn|King|1999|pp=100–102}}<ref name=ronaldinden127/>{{sfn|Sweetman|2004|pp=14–15}} These reports influenced perceptions about Hinduism. Some scholars{{Weasel inline|date=April 2017}} state that the colonial polemical reports led to fabricated stereotypes where Hinduism was mere mystic paganism devoted to the service of devils,{{refn|group=note|Pennington<ref>Brian K. Pennington (2005), Was Hinduism Invented?: Britons, Indians, and the Colonial Construction, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195166552}}, pages 76–77</ref> describes the circumstances in which early impressions of Hinduism were reported by colonial era missionaries: "Missionary reports from India also reflected the experience of foreigners in a land whose native inhabitants and British rulers often resented their presence. Their accounts of Hinduism were forged in physically, politically and spiritually hostile surroundings [impoverished, famine prone Bengal – now West Bengal and Bangladesh]. Plagued with anxieties and fears about their own health, regularly reminded of colleagues who had lost their lives or reason, uncertain of their own social location, and preaching to crowds whose reactions ranged from indifference to amusement to hostility, missionaries found expression for their darker misgivings in their production of what is surely part of their speckled legacy: a fabricated Hinduism crazed by blood-lust and devoted to the service of devils."}} while other scholars state that the colonial constructions influenced the belief that the ''Vedas'', ''Bhagavad Gita'', ''Manusmriti'' and such texts were the essence of Hindu religiosity, and in the modern association of 'Hindu doctrine' with the schools of Vedanta (in particular Advaita Vedanta) as paradigmatic example of Hinduism's mystical nature".{{sfn|King|1999|p=169}}{{refn|group=note|Sweetman identifies several areas in which "there is substantial, if not universal, agreement that colonialism influenced the study of Hinduism, even if the degree of this influence is debated":{{sfn|Sweetman|2004|p=13}}

# The wish of European Orientalists "to establish a textual basis for Hinduism", akin to the Protestant culture,{{sfn|Sweetman|2004|p=13}} which was also driven by a preference among the colonial powers for "written authority" rather than "oral authority".{{sfn|Sweetman|2004|p=13}}
# The influence of [[Brahmin]]s on European conceptions of Hinduism.{{sfn|Sweetman|2004|p=13}}
# [T]he identification of Vedanta, more specifically [[Advaita Vedanta]], as 'the paradigmatic example of the mystical nature of the Hindu religion'.{{sfn|Sweetman|2004|p=13}}{{refn|group=subnote|Sweetman cites Richard King (1999) p.128.({{harvnb|King|1999}})}}{{sfn|Sweetman|2004|p=13}} Several factors led to the favouring of Vedanta as the "central philosophy of the Hindus":{{sfn|Sweetman|2004|p=13-14}}
## According to Niranjan Dhar's theory that Vedanta was favored because British feared French influence, especially the impact of the [[French Revolution]]; and Ronald Inden's theory that Advaita Vedanta was portrayed as 'illusionist pantheism' reinforcing the colonial stereotypical construction of Hinduism as indifferent to ethics and life-negating.{{sfn|Sweetman|2004|p=13-14}}
## "The amenability of Vedantic thought to both Christian and Hindu critics of 'idolatry' in other forms of Hinduism".{{sfn|Sweetman|2004|p=14}}
# The colonial constructions of caste as being part of Hinduism.{{sfn|Sweetman|2004|pp=14–16}} According to Nicholas Dirks' theory that, "Caste was refigured as a religious system, organising society in a context where politics and religion had never before been distinct domains of social action.{{refn|group=subnote|Sweetman cites Dirks (2001), ''Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India'', Princeton University Press, p. xxvii}}
# "[T]he construction of Hinduism in the image of Christianity"{{sfn|Sweetman|2004|p=15}}
# Anti-colonial Hindus{{sfn|Sweetman|2004|pp=15–16}} "looking toward the systematisation of disparate practices as a means of recovering a precolonial, national identity".{{sfn|Sweetman|2004|p=15}}{{refn|group=subnote|Sweetman cites Viswanathan (2003), ''Colonialism and the Construction of Hinduism'', p.26}}}} Pennington, while concurring that the study of Hinduism as a world religion began in the colonial era, disagrees that Hinduism is a colonial European era invention.<ref name=brianpennington5>Brian K. Pennington (2005), Was Hinduism Invented?: Britons, Indians, and the Colonial Construction, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195166552}}, pages 4–5 and Chapter 6</ref> He states that the shared theology, common ritual grammar and way of life of those who identify themselves as Hindus is traceable to ancient times.<ref name=brianpennington5/>{{refn|group=note|Many scholars have presented pre-colonial common denominators and asserted the importance of ancient Hindu textual sources in medieval and pre-colonial times:
# Klaus Witz<ref>Klaus G Witz (1998), The Supreme Wisdom of the Upaniṣads: An Introduction, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120815735}}, pages 10–11</ref> states that Hindu [[Bhakti movement]] ideas in the medieval era grew on the foundation of Upanishadic knowledge and Vedanta philosophies.
# John Henderson<ref>John Henderson (2014), Scripture, Canon and Commentary, Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|978-0691601724}}, page 120</ref> states that "Hindus, both in medieval and in modern times, have been particularly drawn to those canonical texts and philosophical schools such as the Bhagavad Gita and Vedanta, which seem to synthesize or reconcile most successfully diverse philosophical teachings and sectarian points of view. Thus, this widely recognized attribute of Indian culture may be traced to the exegetical orientation of medieval Hindu commentarial traditions, especially Vedanta.
# Patrick Olivelle<ref>Patrick Olivelle (2014), The Early Upanisads, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195352429}}, page 3; '''Quote''': "Even though theoretically the whole of Vedic corpus is accepted as revealed truth [shruti], in reality it is the [[Upanishad]]s that have continued to influence the life and thought of the various religious traditions that we have come to call Hindu. Upanishads are the scriptures par excellence of Hinduism".</ref> and others<ref>Wendy Doniger (1990), Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism, 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press, {{ISBN|978-0226618470}}, pages 2–3; '''Quote:''' "The Upanishads supply the basis of later Hindu philosophy; they alone of the Vedic corpus are widely known and quoted by most well-educated Hindus, and their central ideas have also become a part of the spiritual arsenal of rank-and-file Hindus."</ref><ref>Michael McDowell and Nathan Brown (2009), World Religions, Penguin, {{ISBN|978-1592578467}}, pages 208–210</ref><ref>Wiman Dissanayake (1993), Self as Body in Asian Theory and Practice (Editors: Thomas P. Kasulis et al), State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791410806}}, page 39</ref> state that the central ideas of the Upanishads in the Vedic corpus are at the spiritual core of Hindus.}}

== Beliefs ==

[[File:Halebid3.JPG|thumb|right|upright=0.9| Temple wall panel relief sculpture at the [[Hoysaleswara temple]] in [[Halebidu]], representing the [[Trimurti]]: [[Brahma]], [[Shiva]] and [[Vishnu]]]]

Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include (but are not restricted to) Dharma (ethics/duties), [[Samsara|{{IAST|Samsāra}}]] (the continuing cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth), Karma (action, intent and consequences), Moksha (liberation from samsara or liberation in this life), and the various Yogas (paths or practices).{{sfn|Brodd|2003}}
[[File:Krishna holding flute.jpg|thumb|[[Krishna]], the eighth incarnation ([[Avatar]]) of Vishnu or [[svayam bhagavan]], worshiped across a number of traditions]]
[[File:Ravi Varma Press Kali.jpg|x226px|thumb|[[Kali]], the head of the Mahavidyas]]
[[File:Ravivarmapress Rama family.jpg|right|thumb|x226px| text|From Ramayana]]

=== Purusharthas (objectives of human life) ===
{{Main|Purusharthas}}

{{see also|Initiation_in_Hinduism|l1=Initiation|Dharma|l2=Dharma|Artha|l3=Artha|Kama|l4=Kāma|Moksha#Hinduism|l5=Mokṣa}}

Classical Hindu thought accepts four proper goals or aims of human life: [[Dharma]], [[Artha]], [[Kama]] and [[Moksha]]. These are known as the [[Puruṣārtha]]s:<ref name="Bilimoria 2007 p. 103"/><ref name="Gavin Flood 1997 pages 11"/>

==== Dharma (righteousness, ethics) ====

Dharma is considered the foremost goal of a human being in Hinduism.<ref>[[Gavin Flood]] (1996), The meaning and context of the Purusarthas, in Julius Lipner (Editor) – The Fruits of Our Desiring, {{ISBN|978-1896209302}}, pp 16–21</ref> The concept Dharma includes behaviors that are considered to be in accord with [[rta]], the order that makes life and universe possible,<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/dharma.aspx#1 The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, ''Dharma''], The [[Oxford Dictionary of World Religions]]: "In Hinduism, dharma is a fundamental concept, referring to the order and custom which make life and a universe possible, and thus to the behaviours appropriate to the maintenance of that order."</ref> and includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and "right way of living".<ref name=tce>Dharma, The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Ed. (2013), Columbia University Press, Gale, {{ISBN|978-0787650155}}</ref> Hindu Dharma includes the religious duties, moral rights and duties of each individual, as well as behaviors that enable social order, right conduct, and those that are virtuous.<ref name=tce/> Dharma, according to [[J. A. B. van Buitenen|Van Buitenen]],<ref name=vanbuitenen>J. A. B. Van Buitenen, Dharma and Moksa, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 7, No. 1/2 (Apr. – Jul., 1957), pp 33–40</ref> is that which all existing beings must accept and respect to sustain harmony and order in the world. It is, states Van Buitenen, the pursuit and execution of one's nature and true calling, thus playing one's role in cosmic concert.<ref name=vanbuitenen/> The [[Brihadaranyaka|Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]] states it as:

{{quote|Nothing is higher than Dharma. The weak overcomes the stronger by Dharma, as over a king. Truly that Dharma is the Truth (''Satya''); Therefore, when a man speaks the Truth, they say, "He speaks the Dharma"; and if he speaks Dharma, they say, "He speaks the Truth!" For both are one.|[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]|1.4.xiv <ref>[[Charles Johnston (Theosophist)|Charles Johnston]], The Mukhya Upanishads: Books of Hidden Wisdom, Kshetra, {{ISBN|978-1495946530}}, page 481, for discussion: pages 478–505</ref><ref>Paul Horsch (Translated by Jarrod Whitaker), ''From Creation Myth to World Law: The early history of Dharma'', Journal of Indian Philosophy, Vol 32, pages 423–448, (2004)</ref>}}

In the [[Mahabharata]], [[Krishna]] defines dharma as upholding both this-worldly and other-worldly affairs. (Mbh 12.110.11). The word ''Sanātana'' means ''eternal'', ''perennial'', or ''forever''; thus, ''Sanātana Dharma'' signifies that it is the dharma that has neither beginning nor end.<ref>{{Citation|last=Swami Prabhupādā|first=A. C. Bhaktivedanta|title=Bhagavad-gītā as it is|year=1986|publisher=The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust|isbn=9780892132683|page=16|url=https://books.google.com/?id=dSA3hsIq5dsC&pg=PA16&q=%22neither%20beginning%20nor%20end%22}}</ref>

==== Artha (livelihood, wealth) ====
{{Main|Artha}}

Artha is objective and virtuous pursuit of wealth for livelihood, obligations and economic prosperity. It is inclusive of political life, diplomacy and material well-being. The Artha concept includes all "means of life", activities and resources that enables one to be in a state one wants to be in, wealth, career and financial security.<ref name=johnk>John Koller, Puruṣārtha as Human Aims, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Oct., 1968), pp. 315–319</ref> The proper pursuit of artha is considered an important aim of human life in Hinduism.<ref>James Lochtefeld (2002), The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Rosen Publishing, New York, {{ISBN|0-8239-2287-1}}, pp 55–56</ref><ref name=bruces>Bruce Sullivan (1997), Historical Dictionary of Hinduism, {{ISBN|978-0810833272}}, pp 29–30</ref>

==== Kāma (sensual pleasure) ====
{{Main|Kama}}

Kāma ([[Sanskrit]], [[Pali]]; [[Devanagari]]: काम) means desire, wish, passion, longing, pleasure of the [[senses]], the aesthetic enjoyment of life, affection, or love, with or without sexual connotations.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Macy |first1=Joanna |year=1975 |title=The Dialectics of Desire |journal=Numen |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=145–60 |publisher=BRILL |jstor=3269765 |doi=10.2307/3269765}}</ref><ref name=mmwse>Monier Williams, [http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/0300/mw__0304.html काम, kāma] Monier-Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary, pp 271, see 3rd column</ref> In Hinduism, Kama is considered an essential and healthy goal of human life when pursued without sacrificing Dharma, Artha and Moksha.<ref>See:

* The Hindu Kama Shastra Society (1925), [https://archive.org/stream/kamasutraofvatsy00vatsuoft#page/8/mode/2up The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana], University of Toronto Archives, pp. 8;
* A. Sharma (1982), The Puruṣārthas: a study in Hindu axiology, Michigan State University, {{ISBN|9789993624318}}, pp 9–12; See review by Frank Whaling in Numen, Vol. 31, 1 (Jul., 1984), pp. 140–142;
* A. Sharma (1999), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40018229 The Puruṣārthas: An Axiological Exploration of Hinduism], The Journal of Religious Ethics, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Summer, 1999), pp. 223–256;
* Chris Bartley (2001), Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy, Editor: Oliver Learman, {{ISBN|0-415-17281-0}}, Routledge, Article on Purushartha, pp 443</ref>

==== Mokṣa (liberation, freedom from samsara) ====
{{Main|Moksha}}

Moksha ([[Sanskrit]]: {{lang|sa|मोक्ष}} ''{{IAST|mokṣa}}'') or '''mukti''' ([[Sanskrit]]: {{lang|sa|मुक्ति}}) is the ultimate, most important goal in Hinduism. In one sense, Moksha is a concept associated with liberation from sorrow, suffering and saṃsāra (birth-rebirth cycle). A release from this eschatological cycle, in after life, particularly in theistic schools of Hinduism is called moksha.<ref>R.C. Mishra, Moksha and the Hindu Worldview, Psychology & Developing Societies, Vol. 25, Issue 1, pp 23, 27</ref><ref>J. A. B. Van Buitenen, Dharma and Moksa, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 7, No. 1/2 (Apr. – Jul., 1957), pp. 33–40</ref> In other schools of Hinduism, such as monistic, moksha is a goal achievable in current life, as a state of bliss through self-realization, of comprehending the nature of one's soul, of freedom and of "realizing the whole universe as the Self".<ref name="E. Deutsch pp 343-360"/><ref>see:

* Karl Potter, Dharma and Mokṣa from a Conversational Point of View, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 8, No. 1/2 (Apr. – Jul., 1958), pp. 49–63
* Daniel H. H. Ingalls, Dharma and Moksha, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 7, No. 1/2 (Apr. – Jul., 1957), pp. 41–48;
* Klaus Klostermaier, Mokṣa and Critical Theory, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan., 1985), pp. 61–71</ref>

=== Karma and samsara ===
{{Main|Karma}}

''Karma'' translates literally as ''action'', ''work'', or ''deed'',<ref>* {{Citation|last=Apte|given1=Vaman S|year=1997|title=The Student's English-Sanskrit Dictionary|place= Delhi|edition=New
| publisher=Motilal Banarsidas|isbn=81-208-0300-0}}</ref> and also refers to a Vedic theory of "moral law of cause and effect".<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|1991|p=64}}</ref><ref>Karl Potter (1964), The Naturalistic Principle of Karma, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Apr., 1964), pp. 39-49</ref> The theory is a combination of (1) causality that may be ethical or non-ethical; (2) ethicization, that is good or bad actions have consequences; and (3) rebirth.<ref name=wdointro>Wendy D. O'Flaherty (1980), Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions, University of California Press, {{ISBN|978-0520039230}}, pp xi–xxv (Introduction) and 3–37</ref> Karma theory is interpreted as explaining the present circumstances of an individual with reference to his or her actions in past. These actions may be those in a person's current life, or, in some schools of Hinduism, possibly actions in their past lives; furthermore, the consequences may result in current life, or a person's future lives.<ref name=wdointro/><ref>Karl Potter (1980), in Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions (O'Flaherty, Editor), University of California Press, {{ISBN|978-0520039230}}, pp 241–267</ref> This cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth is called ''samsara''. Liberation from samsara through moksha is believed to ensure lasting happiness and peace.<ref>{{Harvnb|Radhakrishnan|1996|p=254}}</ref><ref>See {{Citation|last= Vivekananda|first=Swami|authorlink=Swami Vivekananda|year=2005|title=Jnana Yoga|publisher= Kessinger Publishing|isbn=1-4254-8288-0}} pages 301-302 (8th Printing 1993)</ref> Hindu scriptures teach that the future is both a function of current human effort derived from free will and past human actions that set the circumstances.<ref>Christopher Chapple (1986), Karma and creativity, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|0-88706-251-2}}; pp 60–64</ref>

=== Moksha ===

The ultimate goal of life, referred to as ''moksha'', ''[[nirvana]]'' or ''[[Samādhi|samadhi]]'', is understood in several different ways: as the realization of one's union with God; as the realization of one's eternal relationship with God; realization of the unity of all existence; perfect unselfishness and knowledge of the Self; as the attainment of perfect mental peace; and as detachment from worldly desires. Such realization liberates one from samsara, thereby ending the cycle of rebirth, sorrow and suffering.<ref>{{Harvnb|Rinehart|2004|pp=19–21}}</ref><ref>J. Bruce Long (1980), The concepts of human action and rebirth in the Mahabharata, in Wendy D. O'Flaherty, Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions, University of California Press, {{ISBN|978-0520039230}}, Chapter 2</ref> Due to belief in the indestructibility of the soul,<ref>{{Citation | author = Europa Publications Staff | title = The Far East and Australasia, 2003 – Regional surveys of the world| publisher = [[Routledge]]| year = 2003| page = 39| url = https://books.google.com/?id=e5Az1lGCJwQC&pg=PA39| isbn = 978-1-85743-133-9}}</ref> death is deemed insignificant with respect to the cosmic self.<ref>{{Citation | title = Hindu spirituality - Volume 25 of Documenta missionalia| publisher = Editrice Pontificia Università Gregoriana| year = 1999| page = 1| url = https://books.google.com/?id=58UZWWzqglMC| isbn = 978-88-7652-818-7}}</ref>

The meaning of ''moksha'' differs among the various Hindu schools of thought. For example, Advaita Vedanta holds that after attaining moksha a person knows their "soul, self" and identifies it as one with Brahman and everyone in all respects.<ref name=karlpotter/><ref name=klausklost/> The followers of [[Dvaita]] (dualistic) schools, in moksha state, identify individual "soul, self" as distinct from Brahman but infinitesimally close, and after attaining moksha expect to spend eternity in a [[loka]] (heaven). To theistic schools of Hinduism, moksha is liberation from samsara, while for other schools such as the monistic school, moksha is possible in current life and is a psychological concept. According to Deutsche, moksha is transcendental consciousness to the latter, the perfect state of being, of self-realization, of freedom and of "realizing the whole universe as the Self".<ref name="E. Deutsch pp 343-360">E. Deutsch, The self in Advaita Vedanta, in Roy Perrett (Editor), Indian philosophy: metaphysics, Volume 3, {{ISBN|0-8153-3608-X}}, Taylor and Francis, pp 343–360</ref><ref name=karlpotter>see:

* Karl Potter, Dharma and Mokṣa from a Conversational Point of View, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 8, No. 1/2 (Apr. – Jul., 1958), pp. 49–63
* Daniel H. H. Ingalls, Dharma and Moksha, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 7, No. 1/2 (Apr. – Jul., 1957), pp. 41–48</ref> ''Moksha'' in these schools of Hinduism, suggests [[Klaus Klostermaier]],<ref name=klausklost>Klaus Klostermaier, Mokṣa and Critical Theory, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan., 1985), pp. 61–71</ref> implies a setting free of hitherto fettered faculties, a removing of obstacles to an unrestricted life, permitting a person to be more truly a person in the full sense; the concept presumes an unused human potential of creativity, compassion and understanding which had been blocked and shut out. Moksha is more than liberation from life-rebirth cycle of suffering (samsara); Vedantic school separates this into two: jivanmukti (liberation in this life) and videhamukti (liberation after death).<ref>see:
* M. von Brück (1986), Imitation or Identification?, Indian Theological Studies, Vol. 23, Issue 2, pp 95–105
* Klaus Klostermaier, Mokṣa and Critical Theory, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan., 1985), pp. 61–71</ref><ref>Andrew Fort (1998), Jivanmukti in Transformation, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|0-7914-3904-6}}</ref>

=== Concept of God ===
{{Main|Ishvara|God in Hinduism}}
Hinduism is a diverse system of thought with beliefs spanning [[monotheism]], [[polytheism]], [[panentheism]], [[Hindu views on Pantheism|pantheism]], [[pandeism]], [[monism]], and [[Atheism in Hinduism|atheism]] among others;<ref>[[Julius J. Lipner]] (2010), Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 2nd Edition, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0-415-45677-7}}, page 8; Quote: "(...) one need not be religious in the minimal sense described to be accepted as a Hindu by Hindus, or describe oneself perfectly validly as Hindu. One may be polytheistic or monotheistic, monistic or pantheistic, even an agnostic, humanist or atheist, and still be considered a Hindu."</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Chakravarti| first = Sitansu| title = Hinduism, a way of life| publisher = Motilal Banarsidass Publ.| year = 1991| page = 71| url = https://books.google.com/?id=J_-rASTgw8wC&pg=PA71| isbn = 978-81-208-0899-7}}</ref><ref group=web name="EBpolytheism">{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-38143/polytheism |title=Polytheism|accessdate= 5 July 2007 |year=2007 |author =Ninian Smart | work= Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher= Encyclopædia Britannica Online}}</ref> and its concept of God is complex and depends upon each individual and the tradition and philosophy followed. It is sometimes referred to as [[henotheistic]] (i.e., involving devotion to a single god while accepting the existence of others), but any such term is an overgeneralization.<ref name=heno>See {{harvnb|Michaels|2004|p=xiv}} and {{cite web |url=http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/egyptmyth/g/henotheism.htm |title=Henotheism |accessdate=5 July 2007 |last=Gill |first=N.S |publisher=[[About.com|About, Inc]] |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070317151629/http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/egyptmyth/g/henotheism.htm |archivedate=17 March 2007 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

{{Rquote|left|"Who really knows? <br/>Who will here proclaim it? <br/>Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation? <br/>The gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe. <br/>Who then knows whence it has arisen?"|[[Nasadiya Sukta]], concerns the [[origin of the universe]], [[Rig Veda]], ''10:129-6'' <ref name="Kramer1986">{{cite book|author=Kenneth Kramer|title=World Scriptures: An Introduction to Comparative Religions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RzUAu-43W5oC&pg=PA34|date=January 1986|publisher=Paulist Press|isbn=978-0-8091-2781-8|pages=34–}}</ref><ref name="Christian2011">{{cite book|author=David Christian|title=Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7RdVmDjwTtQC&pg=PA18|date=1 September 2011|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-95067-2|pages=18–}}</ref><ref name="Singh2008">{{cite book|author=Upinder Singh|title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&pg=PA206|year=2008|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=978-81-317-1120-0|pages=206–}}</ref>}}
The ''[[Nasadiya Sukta]]'' (''Creation Hymn'') of the ''[[Rig Veda]]'' is one of the earliest texts{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=226}} which "demonstrates a sense of metaphysical speculation" about what created the universe, the concept of god(s) and The One, and whether even The One knows how the universe came into being.<ref>{{harvnb|Flood|1996|p=226}}; {{harvnb|Kramer|1986|pp=20–21}}</ref><ref name=3translations>

* Original Sanskrit: [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/ऋग्वेद:_सूक्तं_१०.१२९ Rigveda 10.129] Wikisource;
* '''Translation 1''': {{cite book|author=[[Max Muller]]|title=A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature|date=1859|publisher=Williams and Norgate, London|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/564/mode/2up|pages=559–565}}
* '''Translation 2''': {{cite book|author=Kenneth Kramer|title=World Scriptures: An Introduction to Comparative Religions|date=1986|publisher=Paulist Press|isbn=0-8091-2781-4|page=21}}
* '''Translation 3''': {{cite book|author=David Christian|title=Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History|date=2011|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-95067-2|pages=17–18}}</ref> The ''Rig Veda'' praises various deities, none superior nor inferior, in a henotheistic manner.<ref>[[Max Muller]] (1878), Lectures on the Origins and Growth of Religions: As Illustrated by the Religions of India, Longmans Green & Co, pages 260–271;<br />'''William Joseph Wilkins''', {{Google books|ZBUHAAAAQAAJ|Hindu Mythology: Vedic and Purānic|page=8}}, London Missionary Society, Calcutta</ref> The hymns repeatedly refer to One Truth and Reality. The "One Truth" of Vedic literature, in modern era scholarship, has been interpreted as monotheism, monism, as well as a deified Hidden Principles behind the great happenings and processes of nature.<ref>'''HN Raghavendrachar''' (1944), [http://eprints.uni-mysore.ac.in/15675/1/12MONISMINTHEVEDAS.pdf Monism in the Vedas], The half-yearly journal of the Mysore University: Section A – Arts, Volume 4, Issue 2, pages 137–152;<br />'''K Werner''' (1982), Men, gods and powers in the Vedic outlook, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland, Volume 114, Issue 01, pages 14–24;<br />'''H Coward''' (1995), Book Review:" The Limits of Scripture: Vivekananda's Reinterpretation of the Vedas", Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies, Volume 8, Issue 1, pages 45–47, '''Quote''': "There is little doubt that the theo-monistic category is an appropriate one for viewing a wide variety of experiences in the Hindu tradition".</ref>

{{multiple image|caption_align=center|total_width=250|perrow=2
| title = [[Deva (Hinduism)|Gods and Goddesses]] in Hinduism
| image1 = MurudeshwarStatue.JPG | alt1=Shiva | caption1 = Shiva
| image2 = Durga Mahisasuramardini.JPG | alt2=Durga | caption2 = Durga
| image3 = A powerful deity in her own right, Shri Lakshmi herself.jpg | alt3=Lakshmi | caption3=Lakshmi
| image4 = God_Vishnu.jpg | alt4=Vishnu | caption4=Vishnu
}}
Hindus believe that all living creatures have a soul. This soul – the spirit or true "self" of every person, is called the ''[[Atman (Hinduism)|ātman]]''. The soul is believed to be eternal.<ref name="monierwilliams2037">{{Harvnb|Monier-Williams|1974|pp=20–37}}</ref> According to the monistic/pantheistic ([[Nondualism|non-dualist]]) theologies of Hinduism (such as [[Advaita Vedanta]] school), this Atman is indistinct from [[Brahman]], the supreme spirit.<ref name=bhaskaranandaessential>{{Harvnb | Bhaskarananda|1994}}</ref> The goal of life, according to the Advaita school, is to realise that one's soul is identical to supreme soul, that the supreme soul is present in everything and everyone, all life is interconnected and there is oneness in all life.<ref>{{Harvnb|Vivekananda|1987}}</ref><ref>John Koller (2012), Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Religion (Editors: Chad Meister, Paul Copan), Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415782944}}, pages 99–107</ref><ref>Lance Nelson (1996), Living liberation in Shankara and classical Advaita, in Living Liberation in Hindu Thought (Editors: Andrew O. Fort, Patricia Y. Mumme), State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791427064}}, pages 38–39, 59 (footnote 105)</ref> [[Dualism (Indian philosophy)|Dualistic]] schools (see [[Dvaita]] and [[Bhakti]]) understand Brahman as a Supreme Being separate from individual souls.<ref name="R Prasad 2009 pages 345-347">R Prasad (2009), A Historical-developmental Study of Classical Indian Philosophy of Morals, Concept Publishing, {{ISBN|978-8180695957}}, pages 345–347</ref> They worship the Supreme Being variously as [[Vishnu]], [[Brahma]], [[Shiva]], or [[Shakti]], depending upon the sect. God is called ''[[Ishvara]]'', ''[[Bhagavan]]'', ''[[Parameshwara (God)|Parameshwara]]'', ''[[Deva (Hinduism)|Deva]]'' or ''[[Devi]]'', and these terms have different meanings in different schools of Hinduism.<ref>Mircea Eliade (2009), Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|978-0691142036}}, pages 73–76</ref><ref>Radhakrishnan and Moore (1967, Reprinted 1989), A Source Book in Indian Philosophy, Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|978-0691019581}}, pages 37–39, 401–403, 498–503</ref><ref name="MW Sanskrit dict.">{{Harvnb|Monier-Williams|2001}}</ref>

Hindu texts accept a polytheistic framework, but this is generally conceptualized as the divine essence or luminosity that gives vitality and animation to the inanimate natural substances.<ref name="Wallin1999p64"/> There is a divine in everything, human beings, animals, trees and rivers. It is observable in offerings to rivers, trees, tools of one's work, animals and birds, rising sun, friends and guests, teachers and parents.<ref name="Wallin1999p64"/><ref>{{cite book|author=Maxine Berntsen|title=The Experience of Hinduism: Essays on Religion in Maharashtra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7PDr-QF4YmYC&pg=PA18|year=1988|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-88706-662-7|pages=18–19}}</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n301/mode/2up Taittiriya Upanishad] Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Robert Hume (Translator), pages 281-282;<br>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120814684}}, pages 229–231</ref> It is the divine in these that makes each sacred and worthy of reverence. This seeing divinity in everything, state Buttimer and Wallin, makes the Vedic foundations of Hinduism quite distinct from [[Animism]].<ref name="Wallin1999p64"/> The animistic premise sees multiplicity, power differences and competition between man and man, man and animal, as well as man and nature. The Vedic view does not see this competition, rather sees a unifying divinity that connects everyone and everything.<ref name="Wallin1999p64">{{cite book|author1=Anne Buttimer|author2=L. Wallin|title=Nature and Identity in Cross-Cultural Perspective|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=zUHFyGQcJxgC |year=1999|publisher= Springer |isbn=978-0-7923-5651-6|pages=64–68}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=John R. Mabry|title=Noticing the Divine: An Introduction to Interfaith Spiritual Guidance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qWVsNYQ5Gh4C |year=2006|publisher=New York: Morehouse|isbn=978-0-8192-2238-1|pages=32–33}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Larry A. Samovar|author2=Richard E. Porter|author3=Edwin R. McDaniel et al|title=Communication Between Cultures|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lsYaCgAAQBAJ |year=2016|publisher=Cengage|isbn=978-1-305-88806-7|pages=140–144}}</ref>

The Hindu scriptures refer to celestial entities called ''[[Deva (Hinduism)|Devas]]'' (or ''[[Devi|{{IAST|devī}}]]'' in feminine form; ''{{IAST|devatā}}'' used synonymously for ''Deva'' in Hindi), which may be translated into English as ''gods'' or ''heavenly beings''.{{refn|group=note|For translation of ''deva'' in singular noun form as "a deity, god", and in plural form as "the gods" or "the heavenly or shining ones", see: {{Harvnb|Monier-Williams|2001|p=492}}. For translation of ''{{IAST|devatā}}'' as "godhead, divinity", see: {{Harvnb|Monier-Williams|2001|p=495}}.}} The devas are an integral part of Hindu culture and are depicted in art, architecture and through [[icon]]s, and stories about them are related in the scriptures, particularly in [[Indian epic poetry]] and the [[Puranas]]. They are, however, often distinguished from [[Ishvara]], a personal god, with many Hindus worshipping Ishvara in one of its particular manifestations as their ''{{IAST|[[iṣṭa devatā]]}}'', or chosen ideal.{{Sfn|Werner|2005|pp=9, 15, 49, 54, 86}}<ref>{{Harvnb|Renou|1964|p= 55}}</ref> The choice is a matter of individual preference,<ref name=harman1>{{Harvnb |Harman |2004|pp=104–106}}</ref> and of regional and family traditions.<ref name=harman1/>{{refn|group=note|Among some regional Hindus, such as Rajputs, these are called ''Kuldevis'' or ''Kuldevata''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Lindsey Harlan|title=Religion and Rajput Women: The Ethic of Protection in Contemporary Narratives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7HLrPYOe38gC |year=1992|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-07339-5|pages=19–20, 48 with footnotes}}</ref>}} The multitude of Devas are considered as manifestations of Brahman.{{refn|group=note|name=avatars|

* {{cite book|title=Achieving Cultural Competency|author=Lisa Hark, Lisa Hark, R.D., Horace DeLisser, MD|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|date=7 September 2011|quote=Three gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, and other deities are considered manifestations of and are worshipped as incarnations of Brahman.}}
* {{harvnb|Toropov|Buckles|2011}}: The members of various Hindu sects worship a dizzying number of specific deities and follow innumerable rituals in honor of specific gods. Because this is Hinduism, however, its practitioners see the profusion of forms and practices as expressions of the same unchanging reality. The panoply of deities are understood by believers as symbols for a single transcendent reality.
* {{cite book|year=2007|title=An Introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious Studies|author1=Orlando O. Espín |author2=James B. Nickoloff |publisher=Liturgical Press|quote=The devas are powerful spiritual beings, somewhat like angels in the West, who have certain functions in the cosmos and live immensely long lives. Certain devas, such as Ganesha, are regularly worshiped by the Hindu faithful. Note that, while Hindus believe in many devas, many are monotheistic to the extent that they will recognise only one Supreme Being, a God or Goddess who is the source and ruler of the devas.}}}}

The word ''[[avatar]]'' does not appear in the Vedic literature,<ref>{{cite book|author=Daniel E Bassuk |title=Incarnation in Hinduism and Christianity: The Myth of the God-Man |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k3iwCwAAQBAJ |year=1987|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-349-08642-9 |pages=2–4}}</ref> but appears in verb forms in post-Vedic literature, and as a noun particularly in the [[Purana|Puranic]] literature after the 6th century CE.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Zur Entwicklung der Avataralehre | last= Hacker| first =Paul| language=German| editor-last= Schmithausen|editor-first=Lambert| publisher=Otto Harrassowitz |year=1978| isbn=978-3447048606|pages=424, also 405–409, 414–417}}</ref> Theologically, the reincarnation idea is most often associated with the ''avatars'' of Hindu god [[Vishnu]], though the idea has been applied to other deities.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kinsley|first=David|title=Gale's Encyclopedia of Religion|editor=Lindsay Jones|publisher=Thomson Gale|year=2005|edition=Second|volume=2|pages=707–708|isbn=0-02-865735-7}}</ref> Varying lists of avatars of Vishnu appear in Hindu scriptures, including the ten [[Dashavatara]] of the ''[[Garuda Purana]]'' and the twenty-two avatars in the ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'', though the latter adds that the incarnations of Vishnu are innumerable.<ref>{{cite book| last=Bryant| first=Edwin Francis|title=Krishna: A Sourcebook| publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2007| page=18 | isbn=978-0-19-514891-6| url=https://books.google.com/?id=0z02cZe8PU8C }}</ref> The avatars of Vishnu are important in [[Vaishnavism]] theology. In the goddess-based [[Shaktism]] tradition of Hinduism, avatars of the [[Devi]] are found and all goddesses are considered to be different aspects of the same metaphysical Brahman<ref>{{cite book|last= McDaniel |first=June |title=Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls : Popular Goddess Worship in West Bengal: Popular Goddess Worship in West Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=caeJpIj9SdkC&pg=PA90|year = 2004|publisher =Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=978-0-19-534713-5|pages= 90–91}}</ref> and Shakti (energy).<ref>{{cite book|last=Hawley|first=John Stratton|author2=Vasudha Narayanan|title=The life of Hinduism|publisher= University of California Press|year=2006|page=174|isbn=978-0-520-24914-1|url=https://books.google.com/?id=7DLj1tYmoTQC&pg=PA174}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=David R. Kinsley |title=Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten Mahāvidyās |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gkCsrfghkZ4C |year=1998|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1522-3 |pages=115–119}}</ref> While avatars of other deities such as [[Ganesha]] and [[Shiva]] are also mentioned in medieval Hindu texts, this is minor and occasional.<ref>James Lochtefeld (2002), "Shiva" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 2: N-Z, Rosen Publishing, {{ISBN|0-8239-2287-1}}, page 635</ref>

Both theistic and atheistic ideas, for epistemological and metaphysical reasons, are profuse in different schools of Hinduism. The early [[Nyaya]] school of Hinduism, for example, was non-theist/atheist,<ref>John Clayton (2010), Religions, Reasons and Gods: Essays in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Religion, Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0521126274}}, page 150</ref> but later Nyaya school scholars argued that God exists and offered proofs using its theory of logic.<ref>Sharma, C. (1997). A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|81-208-0365-5}}, pages 209–10</ref><ref name="ccbs.ntu.edu.tw">{{Citation | last =Reichenbach | first =Bruce R. | title =Karma, causation, and divine intervention | journal =Philosophy East and West | volume =39 | issue =2 | pages =135–149 [145] | publisher =University of Hawaii Press | location =Hawaii | date = April 1989 | url =http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-PHIL/reiche2.htm | accessdate = 29 December 2009 | doi=10.2307/1399374 | postscript =.}}</ref> Other schools disagreed with Nyaya scholars. [[Samkhya]],<ref>{{Citation|last=Rajadhyaksha|title=The six systems of Indian philosophy|year=1959|page=95|quote=Under the circumstances God becomes an unnecessary metaphysical assumption. Naturally the Sankhyakarikas do not mention God, Vachaspati interprets this as rank atheism.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ihkRAQAAIAAJ}}</ref> [[Mimamsa]]<ref>{{cite book |title=The perfectibility of human nature in eastern and western thought |author-first=Harold |author-last=Coward |authorlink=Harold Coward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LkE_8uch5P0C |page=114 |quote=For the Mimamsa the ultimate reality is nothing other than the eternal words of the Vedas. They did not accept the existence of a single supreme creator god, who might have composed the Veda. According to the Mimamsa, gods named in the Vedas have no existence apart from the mantras that speak their names. The power of the gods, then, is nothing other than the power of the mantras that name them.|isbn=978-0-7914-7336-8|date=February 2008}}</ref> and [[Carvaka]] schools of Hinduism, were non-theist/atheist, arguing that "God was an unnecessary metaphysical assumption".<ref name=samkhyaatheism>{{Harvnb|Sen Gupta|1986|p= viii }}</ref><ref group=web>[https://archive.org/stream/thesamkhyaphilos00sinhuoft/thesamkhyaphilos00sinhuoft_djvu.txt Sāṁkhyapravacana Sūtra] I.92.</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Religious truth|first=Robert|last=Neville|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ThLR13JpCWsC|page=51|quote=Mimamsa theorists (theistic and atheistic) decided that the evidence allegedly proving the existence of God was insufficient. They also thought there was no need to postulate a maker for the world, just as there was no need for an author to compose the Veda or an independent God to validate the Vedic rituals.|isbn=978-0-7914-4778-9|year=2001}}</ref> Its [[Vaisheshika]] school started as another non-theistic tradition relying on naturalism and that all matter is eternal, but it later introduced the concept of a non-creator God.<ref>A Goel (1984), Indian philosophy: Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika and modern science, Sterling, {{ISBN|978-0865902787}}, pages 149–151;<br />R Collins (2000), The sociology of philosophies, Harvard University Press, {{ISBN|978-0674001879}}, page 836</ref><ref name=klausk>Klaus Klostermaier (2007), A Survey of Hinduism, Third Edition, State University of New York, {{ISBN|978-0791470824}}, pages 337–338</ref> The [[Raja yoga|Yoga]] school of Hinduism accepted the concept of a "personal god" and left it to the Hindu to define his or her god.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mike Burley|year=2012|title=Classical Samkhya and Yoga – An Indian Metaphysics of Experience|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415648875|pages=39–41}};<br />{{cite book|author=Lloyd Pflueger|title=Person Purity and Power in Yogasutra, in Theory and Practice of Yoga|editor= Knut Jacobsen|publisher= Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-8120832329|pages= 38–39}};<br />{{cite book|author=Kovoor T. Behanan|year=2002|title=Yoga: Its Scientific Basis|publisher=Dover|isbn=978-0486417929|pages=56–58}}</ref> Advaita Vedanta taught a monistic, abstract Self and Oneness in everything, with no room for gods or deity, a perspective that Mohanty calls, "spiritual, not religious".<ref>Knut Jacobsen (2008), Theory and Practice of Yoga : 'Essays in Honour of Gerald James Larson, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120832329}}, pages 77–78</ref> Bhakti sub-schools of Vedanta taught a creator God that is distinct from each human being.<ref name="R Prasad 2009 pages 345-347"/>

According to [[Graham Schweig]], Hinduism has the strongest presence of the divine feminine in world religion from ancient times to the present.{{sfn|Bryant|2007|p=441}} The goddess is viewed as the heart of the most esoteric Saiva traditions.<ref>Flood, Gavin, ed. (2003), The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., {{ISBN|1-4051-3251-5}}, pages 200–203</ref>

=== Authority ===

Authority and eternal truths play an important role in Hinduism.<ref name=frazier1415>{{cite book|last1=Frazier|first1=Jessica|title=The Continuum companion to Hindu studies | date=2011|publisher=Continuum|location=London|isbn=978-0-8264-9966-0|pages=14–15, 321–325}}</ref> Religious traditions and truths are believed to be contained in its sacred texts, which are accessed and taught by sages, [[guru]]s, saints or [[avatar]]s.<ref name=frazier1415/> But there is also a strong tradition of the questioning of authority, internal debate and challenging of religious texts in Hinduism. The Hindus believe that this deepens the understanding of the eternal truths and further develops the tradition. Authority "was mediated through [...] an intellectual culture that tended to develop ideas collaboratively, and according to the shared logic of natural reason."<ref name=frazier1415/> Narratives in the [[Upanishads]] present characters questioning persons of authority.<ref name=frazier1415/> The [[Kena Upanishad]] repeatedly asks ''kena'', 'by what' power something is the case.<ref name=frazier1415/> The [[Katha Upanishad]] and [[Bhagavad Gita]] present narratives where the student criticizes the teacher's inferior answers.<ref name=frazier1415/> In the [[Shiva Purana]], Shiva questions Vishnu and Brahma.<ref name=frazier1415/> Doubt plays a repeated role in the [[Mahabharata]].<ref name=frazier1415/> [[Jayadeva|Jayadeva's]] [[Gita Govinda]] presents criticism via the character of [[Radha]].<ref name=frazier1415/>

== Main traditions ==
{{Main|Hindu denominations}}
[[File:Ganesha pachayatana.jpg|thumb|A Ganesha-centric [[Panchayatana puja|Panchayatana]] ("five deities", from the Smarta tradition): [[Ganesha]] (centre) with [[Shiva]] (top left), [[Devi]] (top right), [[Vishnu]] (bottom left) and Surya (bottom right). All these deities also have separate sects dedicated to them.]]

Hinduism has no central doctrinal authority and many practising Hindus do not claim to belong to any particular denomination or tradition.<ref>{{Harvnb|Werner|2005|pp=13, 45}}</ref> Four major denominations are, however, used in scholarly studies: ''Vaishnavism'', ''Shaivism'', ''Shaktism'' and ''Smartism''.<ref name=lancenelson>Lance Nelson (2007), An Introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious Studies (Editors: Orlando O. Espín, James B. Nickoloff), Liturgical Press, {{ISBN|978-0814658567}}, pages 562–563</ref>{{Sfn|Flood|1996|p=113, 134, 155–161, 167–168}} These denominations differ primarily in the central deity worshipped, the traditions and the [[soteriology|soteriological]] outlook.<ref name=sskumar>SS Kumar (2010), Bhakti – the Yoga of Love, LIT Verlag Münster, {{ISBN|978-3643501301}}, pages 35–36</ref> The denominations of Hinduism, states Lipner, are unlike those found in major religions of the world, because Hindu denominations are fuzzy with individuals practicing more than one, and he suggests the term "Hindu polycentrism".<ref>[[Julius J. Lipner]] (2009), Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 2nd Edition, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0-415-45677-7}}, pages 371–375</ref>

[[Vaishnavism]] is the devotional religious tradition that worships [[Vishnu]]<ref>sometimes with [[Lakshmi]], the spouse of Vishnu; or, as Narayana and Sri; see: Guy Beck (2006), Alternative Krishnas: Regional and Vernacular Variations on a Hindu Deity, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791464168}}, page 65 and Chapter 5</ref> and his avatars, particularly [[Krishna]] and [[Rama]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Edwin Francis Bryant|author2=Maria Ekstrand|title=The Hare Krishna Movement: The Postcharismatic Fate of a Religious Transplant|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mBMxPdgrBhoC |year= 2013|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0231508438|pages=15–17}}</ref> The adherents of this sect are generally non-ascetic, monastic, oriented towards community events and devotionalism practices inspired by "intimate loving, joyous, playful" ''Krishna'' and other Vishnu avatars.<ref name=sskumar/> These practices sometimes include community dancing, singing of [[Kirtan]]s and [[Bhajan]]s, with sound and music believed by some to have meditative and spiritual powers.<ref name=edwinb>Edwin Bryant and Maria Ekstrand (2004), The Hare Krishna Movement, Columbia University Press, {{ISBN|978-0231122566}}, pages 38–43</ref> Temple worship and festivals are typically elaborate in Vaishnavism.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Bruno Nettl|author2=Ruth M. Stone|author3=James Porter |author4=Timothy Rice |title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia : the Indian subcontinent|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOlNv8MAXIEC |year=1998|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0824049461 |pages=246–247}}</ref> The Bhagavad Gita and the Ramayana, along with Vishnu-oriented Puranas provide its theistic foundations.<ref>Lance Nelson (2007), An Introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious Studies (Editors: Orlando O. Espín, James B. Nickoloff), Liturgical Press, {{ISBN|978-0814658567}}, pages 1441, 376</ref> Philosophically, their beliefs are rooted in the dualism sub-schools of Vedantic Hinduism.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Edwin Francis Bryant|author2=Maria Ekstrand|title=The Hare Krishna Movement: The Postcharismatic Fate of a Religious Transplant|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mBMxPdgrBhoC |year= 2013|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0231508438|pages=40–43}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Deepak Sarma |title=Krishna: A Sourcebook (Editor: Edwin Francis Bryant)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0z02cZe8PU8C |year=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-803400-1|pages=357–358}}</ref>

[[Shaivism]] is the tradition that focuses on [[Shiva]]. Shaivas are more attracted to ascetic individualism, and it has several sub-schools.<ref name=sskumar/> Their practices include Bhakti-style devotionalism, yet their beliefs lean towards nondual, monistic schools of Hinduism such as Advaita and [[Raja yoga|Yoga]].<ref name=lancenelson/><ref name=edwinb/> Some Shaivas worship in temples, while others emphasize yoga, striving to be one with Shiva within.<ref>{{cite book|author=Roshen Dalal|title=The Religions of India: A Concise Guide to Nine Major Faiths|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pNmfdAKFpkQC |year=2010|publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-341517-6|page=209}}</ref> Avatars are uncommon, and some Shaivas visualize god as half male, half female, as a fusion of the male and female principles ([[Ardhanarishvara]]). Shaivism is related to Shaktism, wherein Shakti is seen as spouse of Shiva.<ref name=lancenelson/> Community celebrations include festivals, and participation, with Vaishnavas, in pilgrimages such as the [[Kumbh Mela]].<ref>James Lochtefeld (2010), God's Gateway: Identity and Meaning in a Hindu Pilgrimage Place, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195386141}}</ref> Shaivism has been more commonly practiced in the Himalayan north from Kashmir to Nepal, and in south India.<ref>Natalia Isaeva (1995), From Early Vedanta to Kashmir Shaivism, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791424490}}, pages 141–145</ref>

[[Shaktism]] focuses on goddess worship of [[Shakti]] or Devi as cosmic mother,<ref name=sskumar/> and it is particularly common in northeastern and eastern states of India such as [[Assam]] and [[West Bengal|Bengal]]. Devi is depicted as in gentler forms like [[Parvati]], the consort of Shiva; or, as fierce warrior goddesses like [[Kali]] and [[Durga]]. Followers of Shaktism recognize [[Shakti]] as the power that underlies the male principle. Shaktism is also associated with [[Tantra]] practices.<ref>Massimo Scaligero (1955), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/29753633 The Tantra and the Spirit of the West], East and West, Vol. 5, No. 4, pages 291–296</ref> Community celebrations include festivals, some of which include processions and idol immersion into sea or other water bodies.<ref>'''History:''' Hans Koester (1929), The Indian Religion of the Goddess Shakti, Journal of the Siam Society, Vol 23, Part 1, pages 1–18;<br />'''Modern practices:''' June McDaniel (2010), Goddesses in World Culture, Volume 1 (Editor: Patricia Monaghan), {{ISBN|978-0313354656}}, Chapter 2</ref>

[[Smartism]] centers its worship simultaneously on all the major Hindu deities: Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti, [[Ganesha]], [[Surya]] and [[Kartikeya|Skanda]].{{Sfn|Flood|1996|p=113}} The Smarta tradition developed during the (early) Classical Period of Hinduism around the beginning of the Common Era, when Hinduism emerged from the interaction between Brahmanism and local traditions.<ref>{{Citation |last=Hiltebeitel |first=Alf |authorlink=Alf Hiltebeitel |year=2013 |chapter=Hinduism|editor-last=Kitagawa|editor-first=Joseph|title=The Religious Traditions of Asia: Religion, History, and Culture|publisher=Routledge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kfyzAAAAQBAJ}}</ref>{{sfn|Flood|1996}} The Smarta tradition is aligned with [[Advaita Vedanta]], and regards [[Adi Shankara]] as its founder or reformer, who considered worship of God-with-attributes ([[Saguna Brahman]]) as a journey towards ultimately realizing God-without-attributes (nirguna Brahman, Atman, Self-knowledge).<ref name=williamw>William Wainwright (2012), [http://stanford.library.usyd.edu.au/entries/concepts-god/ Concepts of God], Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, (Accessed on: June 17, 2015)</ref><ref>U Murthy (1979), Samskara, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195610796}}, page 150</ref> The term ''Smartism'' is derived from Smriti texts of Hinduism, meaning those who remember the traditions in the texts.<ref name=lancenelson/><ref name=williamsonp89>L Williamson (2010), Transcendent in America: Hindu-inspired Meditation Movements as New Religion, New York University Press, {{ISBN|978-0814794500}}, page 89</ref> This Hindu sect practices a philosophical [[Jnana yoga]], scriptural studies, reflection, meditative path seeking an understanding of Self's oneness with God.<ref name=lancenelson/><ref>Murray Milner (1994), Status and Sacredness, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195084894}}, pages 194–197</ref>

== Scriptures ==

[[File:Rigveda MS2097.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Rigveda]]'' is the first and most important Veda<ref>Rigveda is not only the oldest among the vedas, but is one of the earliest [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] texts.</ref> and is one of the oldest [[religious texts]]. This Rigveda [[manuscript]] is in [[Devanagari]].]]
{{Main|Shruti|Smriti|List of Hindu scriptures}}
The ancient scriptures of Hinduism are in Sanskrit. These texts are classified into two: Shruti and Smriti. Hindu scriptures were composed, memorized and transmitted verbally, across generations, for many centuries before they were written down.<ref>Flood, Gavin, ed. (2003), The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., {{ISBN|1-4051-3251-5}}, see [[Michael Witzel]] quote on pages 68–69</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Sargeant|Chapple|1984|p=3}}</ref> Over many centuries, sages refined the teachings and expanded the Shruti and Smriti, as well as developed Shastras with epistemological and metaphysical theories of six classical schools of Hinduism.

''Shruti'' (lit. that which is heard){{sfn|Rinehart|2004|p=68}} primarily refers to the ''Vedas'', which form the earliest record of the Hindu scriptures, and are regarded as eternal truths revealed to the ancient sages (''[[rishi]]s'').{{sfn|Flood|2008|p=4}} There are four ''Vedas'' – ''[[Rigveda]]'', ''[[Samaveda]]'', ''[[Yajurveda]]'' and ''[[Atharvaveda]]''. Each Veda has been subclassified into four major text types – the [[Samhita]]s (mantras and benedictions), the [[Aranyakas]] (text on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices and symbolic-sacrifices), the [[Brahmanas]] (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices), and the [[Upanishads]] (text discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge).<ref name=gflood>Gavin Flood (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0521438780}}, pages 35–39</ref><ref>A Bhattacharya (2006), Hindu Dharma: Introduction to Scriptures and Theology, {{ISBN|978-0595384556}}, pages 8–14; George M. Williams (2003), Handbook of Hindu Mythology, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195332612}}, page 285</ref><ref>Jan Gonda (1975), Vedic Literature: (Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas), Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, {{ISBN|978-3447016032}}</ref> The first two parts of the Vedas were subsequently called the ''{{IAST|Karmakāṇḍa}}'' (ritualistic portion), while the last two form the ''{{IAST|Jñānakāṇḍa}}'' (knowledge portion, discussing spiritual insight and philosophical teachings).<ref>Edward Roer (Translator), {{Google books|3uwDAAAAMAAJ|Shankara's Introduction}} to ''Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad'' at pages 1–5; '''Quote''' – "The Vedas are divided in two parts, the first is the karma-kanda, the ceremonial part, also (called) purva-kanda, and treats on ceremonies; the second part is the jnana kanda, the part which contains knowledge, also named uttara-kanda or posterior part, and unfolds the knowledge of Brahma or the universal soul."</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Werner|2005|pp=10, 58, 66}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Monier-Williams|1974|pp=25–41}}</ref><ref>Olivelle, Patrick (1998), Upaniṣads, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|0-19-282292-6}}, Introduction chapter</ref>

The Upanishads are the foundation of Hindu philosophical thought, and have profoundly influenced diverse traditions.<ref name=wendydoniger/><ref>Wiman Dissanayake (1993), Self as Body in Asian Theory and Practice (Editors: Thomas P. Kasulis et al), State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791410806}}, page 39; '''Quote''': "The Upanishads form the '''foundations of Hindu philosophical thought''' and the central theme of the Upanishads is the identity of Atman and Brahman, or the inner self and the cosmic self.";<br />Michael McDowell and Nathan Brown (2009), World Religions, Penguin, {{ISBN|978-1592578467}}, pages 208–210</ref> Of the Shrutis (Vedic corpus), they alone are widely influential among Hindus, considered scriptures par excellence of Hinduism, and their central ideas have continued to influence its thoughts and traditions.<ref name=wendydoniger>Wendy Doniger (1990), Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism, 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press, {{ISBN|978-0226618470}}, pages 2–3; '''Quote:''' "The Upanishads supply the '''basis of later Hindu philosophy'''; they alone of the Vedic corpus are widely known and quoted by most well-educated Hindus, and their central ideas have also become a part of the spiritual arsenal of rank-and-file Hindus."</ref><ref>[[Patrick Olivelle]] (2014), The Early Upanisads, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195352429}}, page 3; '''Quote''': "Even though theoretically the whole of vedic corpus is accepted as revealed truth [shruti], in reality it is the Upanishads that have continued to influence the life and thought of the various religious traditions that we have come to call Hindu. Upanishads are the scriptures par excellence of Hinduism".</ref> [[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan]] states that the Upanishads have played a dominating role ever since their appearance.<ref>S Radhakrishnan, [https://archive.org/stream/PrincipalUpanishads/129481965-The-Principal-Upanishads-by-S-Radhakrishnan#page/n19/mode/2up The Principal Upanishads] George Allen & Co., 1951, pages 17–19, Reprinted as {{ISBN|978-8172231248}}</ref> There are 108 [[Muktikā]] Upanishads in Hinduism, of which between 10 and 13 are variously counted by scholars as [[Mukhya Upanishads|Principal Upanishads]].<ref>Patrick Olivelle (1998), Upaniṣhads. Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199540259}}, see Introduction</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n1/mode/2up Thirteen Principal Upanishads], Robert Hume (Translator)</ref>

The most notable of the Smritis ("remembered") are the Hindu epics and the ''Puranas''. The epics consist of the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' and the ''[[Ramayana]]''. The ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'' is an integral part of the ''Mahabharata'' and one of the most popular sacred texts of Hinduism.<ref>''Sarvopaniṣado gāvo'', etc. (''Gītā Māhātmya'' 6). ''Gītā Dhyānam'', ''cited in'' Introduction to [http://www.bhagavadgitaasitis.com/introduction/en Bhagavad-gītā As It Is]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301204524/http://www.bhagavadgitaasitis.com/introduction/en |date=1 March 2014 }}</ref> It is sometimes called ''Gitopanishad'', then placed in the Shruti ("heard") category, being Upanishadic in content.<ref>Thomas B. Coburn, ''Scripture" in India: Towards a Typology of the Word in Hindu Life'', [[Journal of the American Academy of Religion]], Vol. 52, No. '''3''' (September, 1984), pp. 435–459</ref> The ''Puranas'', which started to be composed from c. 300 CE onward,{{sfn|Lorenzen|1999|p=655}} contain extensive mythologies, and are central in the distribution of common themes of Hinduism through vivid narratives. The ''[[Yoga Sutras]]'' is a classical text for the Hindu Yoga tradition, which gained a renewed popularity in the 20th century.<ref>{{citation | last=Michelis|first=Elizabeth De|title=A History of Modern Yoga: Patanjali and Western Esotericism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sHBBDq_Ul3sC|date=2005|publisher=Continuum|isbn=978-0-8264-8772-8}}</ref>

Since the 19th-century Indian modernists have re-asserted the 'Aryan origins' of Hinduism, "purifying" Hinduism from its Tantric elements{{sfn|Lorenzen|2002|p=33}} and elevating the Vedic elements. Hindu modernists like Vivekananda see the Vedas as the laws of the spiritual world, which would still exist even if they were not revealed to the sages.<ref>{{Harvnb|Vivekananda|1987|loc=Vol I, pp. 6–7}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Harshananda|1989}}</ref> In Tantric tradition, the ''[[Āgama (Hinduism)|Agamas]]'' refer to authoritative scriptures or the teachings of Shiva to Shakti,{{sfn|Jones|Ryan|2006|p=13}} while ''Nigamas'' refers to the Vedas and the teachings of Shakti to Shiva.{{sfn|Jones|Ryan|2006|p=13}} In Agamic schools of Hinduism, the Vedic literature and the Agamas are equally authoritative.<ref>Mariasusai Dhavamony (1999), Hindu Spirituality, Gregorian University and Biblical Press, {{ISBN|978-8876528187}}, pages 31–34 with footnotes</ref><ref>David Smith (1996), The Dance of Siva: Religion, Art and Poetry in South India, Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0521482349}}, page 116</ref>

== Practices ==

=== Rituals ===
{{Main|Yajna|Hindu wedding}}
[[File:(A) Hindu wedding, Saptapadi ritual before Agni Yajna.jpg|right|thumb|upright=0.9|A wedding is the most extensive personal ritual an adult Hindu undertakes in his or her life. A typical [[Hindu wedding]] is solemnized before Vedic [[Yajna|fire]] ritual (shown).<ref>James G. Lochtefeld (2001), The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M, {{ISBN|978-0-8239-3179-8}}, Page 427</ref>]]
Most Hindus observe religious rituals at home.<ref>{{cite book|last=Muesse|first=Mark W.|title=The Hindu Traditions: A Concise Introduction|year=2011|publisher=Fortress Press | isbn=9780800697907 |page=216| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VlQBfbwk7CwC&pg=PA102#v=onepage&q=rituals%20daily%20prescribe%20routine}}</ref> The rituals vary greatly among regions, villages, and individuals. They are not mandatory in Hinduism. The nature and place of rituals is an individual's choice. Some devout Hindus perform daily rituals such as worshiping at dawn after bathing (usually at a family shrine, and typically includes lighting a lamp and offering foodstuffs before the images of deities), recitation from religious scripts, singing [[bhajan|devotional hymns]], yoga, [[meditation]], chanting mantras and others.<ref name=locceremonies>{{cite web |url = http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+in0055) |title = Domestic Worship |accessdate = 19 April 2007 |date=September 1995 |work = Country Studies |publisher = The Library of Congress}}</ref>

Vedic rituals of fire-oblation (''[[yajna]]'') and chanting of Vedic hymns are observed on special occasions, such as a Hindu wedding.<ref>A Sharma (1985), Marriage in the Hindu religious tradition. Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 22(1), pages 69–80</ref> Other major life-stage events, such as rituals after death, include the ''yajña'' and chanting of Vedic [[mantra]]s.<ref group=web>{{cite web|url=http://www.sudhirlaw.com/HMA55.htm |title=Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 |accessdate=25 June 2007 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070605133731/http://www.sudhirlaw.com/HMA55.htm |archivedate=5 June 2007 }}</ref>

=== Life-cycle rites of passage ===
{{main|Saṃskāra}}
Major life stage milestones are celebrated as ''sanskara'' (''saṃskāra'', [[rites of passage]]) in Hinduism.<ref name=pandey>R Pandey (1969), Hindu Saṁskāras: Socio-Religious Study of the Hindu Sacraments (2nd Ed.), Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|81-208-0434-1}}</ref><ref name=knipe>David Knipe (2015), Vedic Voices: Intimate Narratives of a Living Andhra Tradition, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199397693}}, page 52</ref> The rites of passage are not mandatory, and vary in details by gender, community and regionally.<ref name=pvkanesamsk/> Gautama [[Dharmasutra]]s composed in about the middle of 1st millennium BCE lists 48 sanskaras,<ref name=patrick/> while [[Kalpa (Vedanga)|Gryhasutra]] and other texts composed centuries later list between 12 and 16 sanskaras.<ref name=pandey/><ref name=carlolson>Carl Olson (2007), The Many Colors of Hinduism: A Thematic-historical Introduction, Rutgers University Press, {{ISBN|978-0813540689}}, pages 93–94</ref> The list of sanskaras in Hinduism include both external rituals such as those marking a baby's birth and a baby's name giving ceremony, as well as inner rites of resolutions and ethics such as [[Compassion#Hinduism|compassion]] towards all living beings and positive attitude.<ref name=patrick>Patrick Olivelle (2009), Dharmasutras – The Law Codes of Ancient India, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199555376}}, pages 90–91</ref>

The major traditional rites of passage in Hinduism include<ref name=pvkanesamsk>PV Kane, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofdharmas029210mbp#page/n279/mode/2up Samskara, Chapter VI], History of Dharmasastras, Vol II, Part I, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, pages 190–417</ref> [[Garbhadhana]] (pregnancy), [[Pumsavana]] (rite before the fetus begins moving and kicking in womb), [[Simantonnayana]] (parting of pregnant woman's hair, baby shower), ''Jatakarman'' (rite celebrating the new born baby), ''Namakarana'' (naming the child), ''Nishkramana'' (baby's first outing from home into the world), ''Annaprashana'' (baby's first feeding of solid food), ''Chudakarana'' (baby's first haircut, tonsure), ''Karnavedha'' (ear piercing), ''Vidyarambha'' (baby's start with knowledge), [[Upanayana]] (entry into a school rite),<ref>For Vedic school, see: Brian Smith (1986), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3270127 Ritual, Knowledge, and Being: Initiation and Veda Study in Ancient India], Numen, Vol. 33, Fasc. 1, pages 65–89</ref><ref>For music school, see: Alison Arnold et al (1999), The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia, Vol 5, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0824049461}}, page 459; For sculpture, crafts and other professions, see: Heather Elgood (2000), Hinduism and the religious arts, {{ISBN|978-0304707393}}, Bloomsbury Academic, pages 32–134</ref> ''Keshanta'' and ''Ritusuddhi'' (first shave for boys, menarche for girls), [[Samavartana]] (graduation ceremony), Vivaha (wedding), ''Vratas'' (fasting, spiritual studies) and [[Antyeshti]] (cremation for an adult, burial for a child).<ref>Thomas N. Siqueira, ''The Vedic Sacraments'', Thought, Volume 9, Issue 4, March 1935, pages 598–609, {{doi|10.5840/thought1935945}}</ref> In contemporary times, there is regional variation among Hindus as to which of these [[Saṃskāra|sanskaras]] are observed; in some cases, additional regional rites of passage such as ''[[Śrāddha]]'' (ritual of feeding people after cremation) are practiced.<ref name=pvkanesamsk/><ref group=web name=loclifecycle>{{cite web |url = http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+in0056) |title = Life-Cycle Rituals |accessdate = 19 April 2007 |date=September 1995 |work = Country Studies: India |publisher = The Library of Congress }}</ref>

=== Bhakti (worship) ===
{{Main|Bhakti|Puja (Hinduism)|Japa|Mantra|Bhajan}}
{{double image|right|Vishu-kani 1.JPG|200|Kumuthavalli AvatharaAthalam.jpg|112|A home shrine with offerings at a regional [[Vishu]] festival (left); a priest in a temple (right).}}
''Bhakti'' refers to devotion, participation in and the love of a personal god or a representational god by a devotee.<ref name=encyclopediabrit>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/63933/bhakti Bhakti], Encyclopædia Britannica (2009)</ref><ref name=karen>Karen Pechelis (2011), Bhakti Traditions, in The Continuum Companion to Hindu Studies (Editors: Jessica Frazier, Gavin Flood), Bloomsbury, {{ISBN|978-0826499660}}, pages 107–121</ref> ''Bhakti marga'' is considered in Hinduism as one of many possible paths of spirituality and alternative means to moksha.<ref>John Lochtefeld (2014), The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Rosen Publishing New York, {{ISBN|978-0823922871}}, pages 98–100, also see articles on karmamārga and jnanamārga</ref> The other paths, left to the choice of a Hindu, are ''Jnana marga'' (path of knowledge), ''Karma marga'' (path of works), ''Rāja marga'' (path of contemplation and meditation).<ref name=johnmartin>John Martin Sahajananda (2014), Fully Human Fully Divine, Partridge India, {{ISBN|978-1482819557}}, page 60</ref><ref>KN Tiwari (2009), Comparative Religion, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120802933}}, page 31</ref>

Bhakti is practiced in a number of ways, ranging from reciting [[mantra]]s, [[japa]]s (incantations), to individual private prayers within one's home shrine,<ref>{{cite book|author=Stephen Huyler|title=Meeting God: Elements of Hindu Devotion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cnNcDn36VHcC |year=2002|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-08905-9|pages=10–11, 71}}</ref> or in a temple or near a river bank, sometimes in the presence of an idol or image of a deity.<ref>Jan Gonda (1963), The Indian Mantra, Oriens, Vol. 16, pages 244-297</ref>{{Sfn|Fowler|1997|pp= 41-50}} [[Hindu temple]]s and domestic altars, states Lynn Foulston, are important elements of worship in contemporary theistic Hinduism.<ref name="Foulston2012p20"/> While many visit a temple on a special occasion, most offer a brief prayer on an everyday basis at the domestic altar.<ref name="Foulston2012p20"/> This bhakti is expressed in a domestic shrine which typically is a dedicated part of the home and includes the images of deities or the gurus the Hindu chooses.<ref name="Foulston2012p20">{{cite book|author=Lynn Foulston|editor=Denise Cush et al|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3N4mGlbutbgC |year=2012| publisher=Routledge| isbn=978-1-135-18978-5|pages= 21–22, 868}}</ref> Among Vaishnavism sub-traditions such as Swaminarayan, the home shrines can be elaborate with either a room dedicated to it or a dedicated part of the kitchen. The devotee uses this space for daily prayers or meditation, either before breakfast or after day's work.<ref>{{cite book|author=Raymond Brady Williams|title=An Introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=tPkexi2EhAIC |year=2001| publisher= Cambridge University Press |isbn= 978-0-521-65422-7|pages =136–138}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Paul Bowen|title=Themes and Issues in Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pk4qAAAAYAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-0-304-33851-1|pages=220–221}}</ref>

Bhakti is sometimes private inside household shrines and sometimes practiced as a community. It may include [[Puja (Hinduism)|Puja]], [[Aarti]],<ref>{{cite book|author=James G. Lochtefeld|title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5kl0DYIjUPgC|year=2002|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-8239-3179-8|page=51}}</ref> musical [[Kirtan]] or singing [[Bhajan]], where devotional verses and hymns are read or poems are sung by a group of devotees.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/topic/puja Puja] Encyclopædia Britannica (2015)</ref><ref>Antoinette DeNapoli (2014), Real Sadhus Sing to God, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199940035}}, pages 19–24</ref> While the choice of the deity is at the discretion of the Hindu, the most observed traditions of Hindu devotionalism include [[Vaishnavism]] (Vishnu), [[Shaivism]] (Shiva) and [[Shaktism]] (Shakti).<ref>Robin Reinhart, Contemporary Hinduism: ritual, culture, and practice, {{ISBN|978-1-57607-905-8}}, pages 35–47</ref> A Hindu may worship multiple deities, all as henotheistic manifestations of the same ultimate reality, cosmic spirit and absolute spiritual concept called [[Brahman]] in Hinduism.<ref>Karen Pechilis Prentiss (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195351903}}</ref><ref>Arvind Sharma (2000), Classical Hindu Thought: An Introduction, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195644418}}, pages 72–75</ref>{{refn|group=note|name=avatars}}

Bhakti marga, states Pechelis, is more than ritual devotionalism, it includes practices and spiritual activities aimed at refining one's state of mind, knowing god, participating in god, and internalizing god.<ref>Karen Pechilis Prentiss (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195351903}}, pages 22–29</ref><ref name="Gale">{{cite book|title=Gale Encyclopedia of Religion|pages=856–857|editor=Lindsay Jones|publisher=Thompson Gale|year=2005|volume=Volume 2|isbn=0-02-865735-7}}</ref> While Bhakti practices are popular and easily observable aspect of Hinduism, not all Hindus practice Bhakti, or believe in god-with-attributes (''saguna Brahman'').<ref>Bob Robinson (2011), Hindus meeting Christians, OCMS, {{ISBN|978-1870345392}}, pages 288–295;<br />Hendrick Vroom (1996), No Other Gods, Cambridge: Eerdmans Publishing, {{ISBN|978-0802840974}}, pages 68–69</ref><ref>Ninian Smart (2012), The Yogi and the Devotee, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415684996}}, pages 52–80</ref> Concurrent Hindu practices include a belief in god-without-attributes, and god within oneself.<ref>Jane Ardley (2015), Spirituality and Politics: Gandhian and Tibetan cases, in The Tibetan Independence Movement, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-1138862647}}, pages 98–99, also ix, 112–113;<br />Helen Mitchell (2014), Roots of Wisdom: A Tapestry of Philosophical Traditions, {{ISBN|978-1285197128}}, pages 188–189</ref><ref>SN Bhavasar (2004), in Hindu Spirituality: Postclassical and Modern (Editors: K. R. Sundararajan and Bithika Mukerji), Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120819375}}, pages 28–29</ref>

=== Festivals ===
{{Main|Hindu festivals}}
[[File:Deepawali-festival.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|right|The festival of lights, [[Diwali]], is celebrated by Hindus all over the world.]]
Hindu festivals ([[Sanskrit]]: ''Utsava''; literally: "to lift higher") are ceremonies that weave individual and social life to dharma.<ref name=sandrarobinson/><ref name=yustf>Karen-Marie Yust (2005), Sacred Celebrations, in Nurturing Child and Adolescent Spirituality (Editor: Karen-Marie Yust), Rowman & Littlefield, {{ISBN|978-0742544635}}, page 234, see also Chapter 18</ref> Hinduism has many festivals throughout the year, where the dates are set by the lunisolar [[Hindu calendar]], many coinciding with either the full moon (''Holi'') or the new moon (''Diwali''), often with seasonal changes.<ref name=denisecushf>Sandra Robinson (2007), Encyclopedia of Hinduism (Editors: Denise Cush et al), Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0700712670}}, page 907</ref> Some festivals are found only regionally and they celebrate local traditions, while a few such as ''Holi'' and ''Diwali'' are pan-Hindu.<ref name=denisecushf/><ref>Lynn Foulston and Stuart Abbott (2009), Hindu Goddesses: Beliefs and Practices, Sussex Academic Press, {{ISBN|978-1902210438}}, page 155</ref>

The festivals typically celebrate events from Hinduism, connoting spiritual themes and celebrating aspects of human relationships such as the Sister-Brother bond over the ''Raksha Bandhan'' (or [[Bhau-beej|Bhai Dooj]]) festival.<ref name=yustf/><ref>Dale Holberg et al (2000), Festival calendar of India, in Students' Britannica India, Volume 2, Encyclopædia Britannica (India), {{ISBN|978-0-85229-760-5}}, page 120, '''Quote:''' "Raksha Bandhan (also called Rakhi), when girls and women tie a rakhi (a symbolic thread) on their brothers' wrists and pray for their prosperity, happiness and goodwill. The brothers, in turn, give their sisters a token gift and promise protection."</ref> The same festival sometimes marks different stories depending on the Hindu denomination, and the celebrations incorporate regional themes, traditional agriculture, local arts, family get togethers, [[Puja (Hinduism)|Puja]] rituals and feasts.<ref name=sandrarobinson>Sandra Robinson (2007), Encyclopedia of Hinduism (Editors: Denise Cush et al), Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0700712670}}, pages 908–912</ref><ref>Jessica Frazier (2015), The Bloomsbury Companion to Hindu Studies, Bloomsbury Academic, {{ISBN|978-1472511515}}, pages 255, 271–273</ref>

Some major regional or pan-Hindu festivals include:
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}

* [[Makar Sankranti]]
* [[Pongal]]
* [[Thaipusam]]
* [[Vasant Panchami]]
* [[Maha Shivaratri]]
* [[Shigmo]]
* [[Holi]]
* [[Gudi Padwa]]
* [[Ugadi]]
* [[Bihu]]
* [[Vishu]]
* [[Ram Navami]]
* [[Guru Purnima]]
* [[Raksha Bandhan]]
* [[Krishna Janmastami]]
* [[Gowri Habba]]
* [[Ganesh Chaturthi]]
* [[Onam]]
* [[Navaratri]]
* [[Dussera]]
* [[Durga Puja]] or [[Durga Ashtami]]
* [[Diwali]]
* [[Chhath]]
* [[Bonalu]]
* [[Rath Yatra]]

{{div col end}}

=== Pilgrimage ===
{{See also|Tirtha (Hinduism)|Hindu_pilgrimage_sites_in_India|l2=Tirtha locations|Yatra}}
[[File:Cave Temple of Lord Amarnath.jpg|upright=0.9|thumb|right|Pilgrimage to [[Amarnath Temple]].]]
Many adherents undertake [[pilgrimage]]s, which have historically been an important part of Hinduism and remain so today.{{Sfn|Fuller|2004|pp=204–05}} Pilgrimage sites are called ''[[Tirtha (Hinduism)|Tirtha]]'', ''Kshetra'', ''Gopitha'' or ''Mahalaya''.{{Sfn|James G. Lochtefeld|2002|pp=698–699}}{{Sfn|Knut A. Jacobsen|2013|pp=4, 22, 27, 140–148, 157–158}} The process or journey associated with ''Tirtha'' is called ''Tirtha-yatra''.{{Sfn|Bhardwaj|1983|p=2}} According to the Hindu text ''[[Skanda Purana]]'', Tirtha are of three kinds: Jangam Tirtha is to a place movable of a [[sadhu]], a [[rishi]], a [[guru]]; Sthawar Tirtha is to a place immovable, like Benaras, Hardwar, Mount Kailash, holy rivers; while Manas Tirtha is to a place of mind of truth, charity, patience, compassion, soft speech, soul.<ref name=sharmasinha>{{cite book| author1=Krishan Sharma| author2=Anil Kishore Sinha| author3=Bijon Gopal Banerjee| title=Anthropological Dimensions of Pilgrimage| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RrkUMlsu_YIC |year= 2009|publisher=Northern Book Centre|isbn=978-81-89091-09-5|pages=3–5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|ref=harv|author=Geoffrey Waring Maw|title=Pilgrims in Hindu Holy Land: Sacred Shrines of the Indian Himalayas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IarXAAAAMAAJ|year=1997|publisher=Sessions Book Trust|isbn=978-1-85072-190-1|page=7}}</ref> ''Tīrtha-yatra'' is, states Knut A. Jacobsen, anything that has a salvific value to a Hindu, and includes pilgrimage sites such as mountains or forests or seashore or rivers or ponds, as well as virtues, actions, studies or state of mind.{{Sfn|Knut A. Jacobsen|2013|pp=157–158}}{{Sfn|Axel Michaels | Barbara Harshav (Transl)|2004|pp=288–289}}

Pilgrimage sites of Hinduism are mentioned in the epic Mahabharata and the [[Puranas]].{{Sfn|Kane|1953|p=561}}{{Sfn|Diana L. Eck|2012|pp=7–9}} Most Puranas include large sections on ''Tirtha Mahatmya'' along with tourist guides,<ref>{{cite book|author=Ariel Glucklich|title=The Strides of Vishnu : Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective: Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KtLScrjrWiAC| year=2008| publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-971825-2 |page=146|quote='''Quote:''' The earliest promotional works aimed at tourists from that era were called ''mahatmyas'' [in Puranas].}}</ref> which describe sacred sites and places to visit.{{Sfn|Kane|1953|pp=559-560}}<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jean Holm|author2=John Bowker |title=Sacred Place |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZVdUpfmISwwC|year= 1998|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-0-8264-5303-7|page=68}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first=Ludo |last=Rocher| year= 1986| authorlink= Ludo Rocher| title= The Puranas| publisher= Otto Harrassowitz Verlag| isbn= 978-3447025225}}</ref> In these texts, [[Varanasi]] (Benares, Kashi), [[Rameshwaram]], [[Kanchipuram]], [[Dwarka]], [[Puri]], [[Haridwar]], [[Sri Rangam]], [[Vrindavan]], [[Ayodhya]], [[Tirupati]], [[Mayapur]], [[Nathdwara]], twelve [[Jyotirlinga]] and [[Shakti Peetha]] have been mentioned as particularly holy sites, along with geographies where major rivers meet (''sangam'') or join the sea.{{Sfn|Kane|1953|pp=553–556, 560–561}}{{Sfn|Diana L. Eck|2012|pp=7–9}} [[Kumbhamela]] is another major pilgrimage on the eve of the solar festival [[Makar Sankranti]]. This pilgrimage rotates at a gap of three years among four sites: [[Prayaga|Allahabad]] at the confluence of the Ganges and [[Yamuna]] rivers, [[Haridwar|Hardwar]] near source of the [[Ganges]], [[Ujjain]] on the [[Shipra]] river and [[Nasik]] on the bank of the [[Godavari]] river.<ref name=eck153>{{cite book|author=Diana L. Eck|title=India: A Sacred Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PyC4o7i9tnEC&pg=PA153| year=2013|publisher=Random House| authorlink=Diana L. Eck | isbn=978-0-385-53192-4|pages=152–154}}</ref> This is one of world's largest mass pilgrimage, with an estimated 40 to 100 million people attending the event.<ref name=eck153/>{{Sfn|Klaus K. Klostermaier|2010|p=553 note 55}}<ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2013/01/kumbh-mela-the-largest-gathering-on-earth/100438/ Kumbh Mela: The Largest Gathering on Earth], Alan Taylor, The Atlantic (January 14, 2013);<br>[https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/01/14/169313222/biggest-gathering-on-earth-begins-in-india-kumbh-mela-may-draw-100-million Biggest Gathering On Earth' Begins In India; Kumbh Mela May Draw 100 Million], Mark Memmott, NPR, Washington DC (January 14, 2013)</ref> At this event, they say a prayer to the sun and bathe in the river,<ref name=eck153/> a tradition attributed to [[Adi Shankara]].<ref>Roshan Dalal (2011), The Religions of India: A Concise Guide to Nine Major Faiths, Penguin, {{ISBN|978-0-14-341517-6}}, see Kumbh Mela entry</ref>

Some pilgrimages are part of a ''Vrata'' (vow), which a Hindu may make for a number of reasons.{{Sfn|Diana L. Eck|2012|pp=9–11}}{{Sfn|Bhardwaj|1983|p=6}} It may mark a special occasion, such as the birth of a baby, or as part of a [[sanskara (rite of passage)|rite of passage]] such as a baby's first haircut, or after healing from a sickness.{{Sfn|Diana L. Eck|2012|p=9}}<ref>Agehananda Bharati (1963), Pilgrimage in the Indian Tradition, History of Religions, Vol. 3, No. 1, pages 135–167</ref> It may, states Eck, also be the result of prayers answered.{{Sfn|Diana L. Eck|2012|p=9}} An alternative reason for Tirtha, for some Hindus, is to respect wishes or in memory of a beloved person after his or her death.{{Sfn|Diana L. Eck|2012|p=9}} This may include dispersing their cremation ashes in a Tirtha region in a stream, river or sea to honor the wishes of the dead. The journey to a Tirtha, assert some Hindu texts, helps one overcome the sorrow of the loss.{{Sfn|Diana L. Eck|2012|p=9}}{{refn|group=note|The cremation ashes are called ''phool'' (flowers). These are collected from the pyre in a rite-of-passage called ''asthi sanchayana'', then dispersed during ''asthi visarjana''. This signifies redemption of the dead in waters considered to be sacred and a closure for the living. Tirtha locations offer these services.<ref>{{cite book|author=Kama Maclean|title=Pilgrimage and Power: The Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, 1765–1954|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HznRCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA228|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-971335-6|pages=228–229}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=James G. Lochtefeld|title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5kl0DYIjUPgC&pg=PA68|year=2002|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-8239-3179-8|page=68}}</ref>}}

Other reasons for a Tirtha in Hinduism is to rejuvenate or gain spiritual merit by traveling to famed temples or bathe in rivers such as the Ganges.{{Sfn|Bhardwaj|1983|pp=3-5}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Laura Amazzone |title=Goddess Durga and Sacred Female Power |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=PM_TNDu8NHUC |year=2012|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn= 978-0-7618-5314-5 |pages=43–45 }}</ref><ref name="holmbowker69">{{cite book|author1= Jean Holm|author2= John Bowker|title= Sacred Place |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5xlfCgAAQBAJ |year=2001|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-62356-623-4 |pages=69–77 }}</ref> Tirtha has been one of the recommended means of addressing remorse and to perform penance, for unintentional errors and intentional sins, in the Hindu tradition.{{Sfn|Robert Lingat|1973|pp=98-99}}{{Sfn|Bhardwaj|1983|p=4}} The proper procedure for a pilgrimage is widely discussed in Hindu texts.{{Sfn|Kane|1953|p=573}} The most accepted view is that the greatest austerity comes from traveling on foot, or part of the journey is on foot, and that the use of a conveyance is only acceptable if the pilgrimage is otherwise impossible.{{Sfn|Kane|1953|pp=576–577}}

== Person and society ==

=== Varnas ===
{{Main|Varna (Hinduism)}}
[[File:12BCM11.jpg|right|thumb|Brahmins at [[Bhadrachalam Temple]], in [[Telangana]]]]
Hindu society has been categorised into four classes, called ''varnas''. They are the ''[[Brahmin]]s'': Vedic teachers and priests; the ''[[Kshatriya]]s'': warriors and kings; the ''[[Vaishya]]s'': farmers and merchants; and the ''[[Shudra]]s'': servants and labourers.<ref>Arvind Sharma (2000), Classical Hindu Thought: An Introduction, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195644418}}, pages 132–180</ref>

The ''[[Bhagavad Gita|Bhagavad Gītā]]'' links the ''varna'' to an individual's duty (''svadharma''), inborn nature (''svabhāva''), and natural tendencies (''[[guṇa]]'').{{Sfn|Halbfass|1995|p=264}} The ''[[Manusmriti|Manusmṛiti]]'' categorises the different castes.<ref group=web>[https://www.webcitation.org/5noFbaeZw?url=http://www.bergen.edu/phr/121/ManuGC.pdf Manu Smriti Laws of Manu] 1.87–1.91</ref>

Some mobility and flexibility within the varnas challenge allegations of social discrimination in the caste system, as has been pointed out by several sociologists,<ref name="Silverberg Paper">{{Harvnb|Silverberg|1969|pp=442–443}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Smelser|Lipset|2005}}</ref> although some other scholars disagree.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Illustrated World's Religions|first=Huston|last=Smith|year=1994|authorlink=Huston Smith|publisher=HarperCollins|location=New York City, USA|chapter=Hinduism: The Stations of Life|isbn=0-06-067440-7}}</ref> Scholars debate whether the so-called ''[[Caste system in India|caste system]]'' is part of Hinduism sanctioned by the scriptures or social custom.<ref>{{Harvnb|Michaels|2004|pp=188–197}}</ref><ref group=web>{{cite web|last=V|first=Jayaram|title=The Hindu Caste System|url=http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_caste.asp|work=Hinduwebsite|accessdate=28 November 2012}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|Venkataraman and Deshpande: "Caste-based discrimination does exist in many parts of India today.... Caste-based discrimination fundamentally contradicts the essential teaching of Hindu sacred texts that divinity is inherent in all beings."<ref group=web>{{cite web|last1=Venkataraman|first1=Swaminathan|last2=Deshpande|first2=Pawan|title=Hinduism: Not Cast In Caste|url=http://www.hafsite.org/media/pr/hinduism-not-cast-caste-full-report|publisher=Hindu American Foundation|accessdate=28 November 2012}}</ref>}} And various contemporary scholars have argued that the caste system was constructed by the [[British Raj|British colonial regime]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Logic of Affirmative Action: Caste, Class and Quotas in India|first=Frank |last=de Zwart |doi=10.1177/000169930004300304 |journal=Acta Sociologica |date=July 2000 |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=235–249 |jstor=4201209}}</ref>

A [[sannyasa|renunciant]] man of knowledge is usually called ''Varnatita'' or "beyond all varnas" in Vedantic works. The bhiksu is advised to not bother about the caste of the family from which he begs his food. Scholars like Adi Sankara affirm that not only is Brahman beyond all varnas, the man who is identified with Him also transcends the distinctions and limitations of caste.<ref>P. 143 ''Aspects of Hindu Morality'' By Saral Jhingran</ref>

=== Yoga ===

[[File:Shiva Bangalore .jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9| text|A statue of [[Shiva]] in yogic meditation]]
{{Main|Yoga}}

In whatever way a Hindu defines the goal of life, there are several methods (yogas) that sages have taught for reaching that goal. Yoga is a Hindu discipline which trains the body, mind and consciousness for health, tranquility and spiritual insight. This is done through a system of postures and exercises to practise control of the body and mind.<ref>Encyclopaedia of Hindu Gods and Goddesses – Page 178, Suresh Chandra – 1998</ref> Texts dedicated to Yoga include the [[Yoga Sutras]], the [[Hatha Yoga Pradipika]], the [[Bhagavad Gita]] and, as their philosophical and historical basis, the Upanishads. Yoga is means, and the four major ''marga'' (paths) discussed in Hinduism are: [[Bhakti Yoga]] (the path of love and devotion), [[Karma Yoga]] (the path of right action), [[Rāja Yoga]] (the path of meditation), [[Jñāna Yoga]] (the path of wisdom)<ref name=bhaskaressentgeneral>{{Harvnb|Bhaskarananda|1994}}</ref> An individual may prefer one or some yogas over others, according to his or her inclination and understanding. Practice of one yoga does not exclude others.

=== Symbolism ===

[[File:Ganesha-aum.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|The Hindu deity [[Ganesha]] is sometimes linked to the symbol ''[[Om]]''.<ref>Stephen Alter (2004), Elephas Maximus, Penguin, {{ISBN|978-0143031741}}, page 95</ref>]]
Hinduism has a developed system of symbolism and iconography to represent the sacred in art, architecture, literature and worship. These symbols gain their meaning from the scriptures or cultural traditions. The syllable ''[[Om]]'' (which represents the ''[[Brahman]]'' and [[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]]) has grown to represent Hinduism itself, while other markings such as the [[Swastika#Hinduism|Swastika]] sign represent auspiciousness,{{Sfn| Doniger|2000|p= 1041}} and ''[[Tilaka]]'' (literally, seed) on forehead – considered to be the location of spiritual third eye,<ref>A David Napier (1987), Masks, Transformation, and Paradox, University of California Press, {{ISBN|978-0520045330}}, page 186-187</ref> marks ceremonious welcome, blessing or one's participation in a ritual or rite of passage.<ref>SD Sharma (2010), Rice: Origin, Antiquity and History, CRC Press, {{ISBN|978-1578086801}}, pages 68–70</ref> Elaborate ''Tilaka'' with lines may also identify a devotee of a particular denomination. Flowers, birds, animals, instruments, symmetric [[mandala]] drawings, objects, idols are all part of symbolic iconography in Hinduism.<ref>TA Gopinath Rao (1998), Elements of Hindu iconography, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120808782}}, pages 1–8</ref><ref>JN Banerjea, The Development Of Hindu Iconography, Kessinger, {{ISBN|978-1417950089}}, pages 247–248, 472–508</ref>

=== Ahimsa, vegetarianism and other food customs ===
{{Main|Ahimsa|Diet in Hinduism|Sattvic diet|Mitahara}}

Hindus advocate the practice of {{IAST|ahiṃsā}} (non-violence) and respect for all life because divinity is believed to permeate all beings, including plants and non-human animals.<ref>Monier-Williams, ''Religious Thought and Life in India'' (New Delhi, 1974 edition)</ref> The term ''{{IAST|ahiṃsā}}'' appears in the [[Upanishad]]s,<ref name="Radhakrishnan">{{Citation |last=Radhakrishnan |first=S |authorlink=Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |title=Indian Philosophy, Volume 1|edition=2nd |series=Muirhead library of philosophy |year=1929 |publisher= George Allen and Unwin Ltd. |location=London|page=148}}</ref> the epic [[Mahabharata]]<ref>For ''{{IAST|ahiṃsā}}'' as one of the "emerging ethical and religious issues" in the {{IAST|Mahābhārata}} see: Brockington, John, "The Sanskrit Epics", in Flood (2003), p. 125.</ref> and {{IAST|ahiṃsā}} is the first of the five [[Yamas]] (vows of self-restraint) in [[Yoga Sutras of Patanjali|Patanjali's Yoga Sutras]].<ref>For text of Y.S. 2.29 and translation of ''{{IAST|yama}}'' as "vow of self-restraint", see: {{Citation |last=Taimni |first=I. K. |authorlink=I. K. Taimni |title=The Science of Yoga |year=1961 |publisher=The Theosophical Publishing House |location=Adyar, India |isbn=81-7059-212-7 |page= 206}}</ref>

[[File:Gosala in Guntur, India.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.9|A ''goshala'' or cow shelter at [[Guntur]]]]
In accordance with {{IAST|ahiṃsā}}, many Hindus embrace vegetarianism to respect higher forms of life. Estimates of strict [[lacto vegetarian]]s in India (includes adherents of all religions) who never eat any meat, fish or eggs vary between 20% and 42%, while others are either less strict vegetarians or non-vegetarians.<ref name="veg">Surveys studying food habits of Indians include: [http://www.fao.org/WAIRDOCS/LEAD/X6170E/x6170e09.htm#TopOfPage "Diary and poultry sector growth in India"], '''Quote''': "An analysis of consumption data originating from National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that 42 percent of households are vegetarian, in that they never eat fish, meat or eggs. The remaining 58 percent of households are less strict vegetarians or non-vegetarians." [https://www.webcitation.org/5hhnKqQ44?url=http://www.fas.usda.gov/htp/highlights/2001/india.pdf "Indian consumer patterns"] and [http://www.ers.usda.gov/amberwaves/February04/Features/ElephantJogs.htm "Agri reform in India"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061228214808/http://www.ers.usda.gov/amberwaves/february04/features/elephantjogs.htm |date=28 December 2006 }}. Results indicate that Indians who eat meat do so infrequently with less than 30% consuming non-vegetarian foods regularly, although the reasons may be economical. {{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/WAIRDOCS/LEAD/X6170E/x6170e09.htm |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2006-12-28 |deadurl=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626135438/http://www.fao.org/WAIRDOCS/LEAD/X6170E/x6170e09.htm#TopOfPage |archivedate=26 June 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Those who eat meat seek [[Jhatka]] (quick death) method of meat production, and dislike [[Halal]] (slow bled death) method, believing that quick death method reduces suffering to the animal.<ref>Neville Gregory and Temple Grandin (2007), Animal Welfare and Meat Production, CABI, {{ISBN|978-1845932152}}, pages 206–208</ref><ref>Veena Das (2003), The Oxford India companion to sociology and social anthropology, Volume 1, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|0-195645820}}, pages 151–152</ref> The food habits vary with region, with Bengali Hindus and Hindus living in Himalayan regions, or river delta regions, regularly eating meat and fish.<ref>Neelam Grover and Kashi N. Singh, Cultural Geography, Form and Process, Concept, {{ISBN|978-8180690747}}, page 366</ref> Some avoid meat on specific festivals or occasions.<ref>Maithily Jagannathan (2005), South Indian Hindu Festivals and Traditions, Abhinav, {{ISBN|978-8170174158}}, pages 53, 69; Pyong Gap Min (2010), Preserving Ethnicity through Religion in America, New York University Press, {{ISBN|978-0814795866}}, page 1</ref> Observant Hindus who do eat meat almost always abstain from beef. The [[cow]] in Hindu society is traditionally identified as a caretaker and a maternal figure,<ref>Walker 1968:257</ref> and Hindu society honours the cow as a symbol of unselfish giving.<ref>Richman 1988:272</ref>

There are many Hindu groups that have continued to abide by a strict [[vegetarian]] diet in modern times. Some adhere to a diet that is devoid of meat, eggs, and seafood.<ref>Williams, Raymond. An Introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism. 1st. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. 159</ref> Food affects body, mind and spirit in Hindu beliefs.<ref name=Vasudha>Narayanan, Vasudha. "The Hindu Tradition". In A Concise Introduction to World Religions, ed. Willard G. Oxtoby and Alan F. Segal. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007</ref><ref name=Rosen>Rosen, Steven. Essential Hinduism. 1st. Westport: Praeger Publishers, 2006. Page 188</ref> Hindu texts such as Śāṇḍilya Upanishad<ref name="KN Aiyar 1914 pages 173-176">KN Aiyar (1914), Thirty Minor Upanishads, Kessinger Publishing, {{ISBN|978-1164026419}}, Chapter 22, pages 173–176</ref> and Svātmārāma<ref name=svatmaram>[https://archive.org/stream/hathayogapradipika/hatha_yoga_pradipika#page/n219/mode/2up/search/food Hatha Yoga Pradipika] verse 1.58–63, pages 19–21</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Lorenzen|first1=David|title=The Kāpālikas and Kālāmukhas|date=1972|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0520018426|pages=186–190}}</ref> recommend [[Mitahara]] (eating in moderation) as one of the [[Yamas]] (virtuous self restraints). The Bhagavad Gita links body and mind to food one consumes in verses 17.8 through 17.10.<ref name=ckc>Christopher Key Chapple (2009), The Bhagavad Gita: Twenty-fifth–Anniversary Edition, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-1438428420}}, pages 641–643</ref>

Some Hindus such as those belonging to the Shaktism tradition,<ref>{{Citation|last=Harold F., Smith |title=Outline of Hinduism|date=1 January 2007|publisher=Read Books|isbn=1-4067-8944-5 |chapter=12}}</ref> and Hindus in regions such as Bali and Nepal{{Sfn|Fuller|2004|p=83, Chapter 4}}<ref>{{Citation|last1=Gouyon Anne|last2=Bumi Kita Yayasan|title=The natural guide to Bali: enjoy nature, meet the people, make a difference |url=http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/welcome.jsp?action=search&type=isbn&term=9793780002|accessdate=12 August 2010|date=30 September 2005|publisher=Equinox Publishing (Asia) Pte Ltd|isbn=979-3780-00-2 |page=51|chapter=The Hidden Life of Bali}}</ref> practise [[Animal sacrifice in Hinduism|animal sacrifice]].{{Sfn|Fuller|2004|p=83, Chapter 4}} The sacrificed animal is eaten as ritual food.<ref>{{cite book|author=Paul Gwynne|title=World Religions in Practice: A Comparative Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tdsRKc_knZoC&pg=RA5-PT75|year=2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-6005-9|pages=5 footnote 16}}</ref> In contrast, the Vaishnava Hindus abhor and vigorously oppose animal sacrifice.<ref>{{cite book|author=HS Olcott|title=The Theosophist|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jKBVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA146 |volume=XXVII|year=1906|publisher=Theosophical Publishing House |pages=146 with footnote }}, Quote: "It is well known that Vaishnavas abhor animal sacrifice. In this province, like nearly all Bengalis, they celebrate Durga Puja, but their ceremonies are bloodless".</ref>{{Sfn|Fuller|2004|pp=101–102, Quote: "Blood sacrifice was a clear case in point, (,,,) sacrifice was a barbarity inconsistent with Hinduism's central tenet of non-violence. (...) Contemporary opposition to animal sacrifice rests on an old foundation, although it also stems from the very widespread influence of reformism, whose antipathy to ritual killing has spread well beyond the self-consciously nationalist political classes".}} The principle of non-violence to animals has been so thoroughly adopted in Hinduism that animal sacrifice is uncommon<ref>{{cite book|author=Andrew J. Nicholson|title=Unifying Hinduism: Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fv4rtMlLv3kC |year=2010|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-14986-0|page=169}}, Quote: "The acceptance of the principle of nonviolence has been so through that animal sacrifice among Hindus today is uncommon, and many Indians are of the opinion that such things as cow slaughter were never practiced in ancient India".</ref> and historically reduced to a vestigial marginal practice.<ref>{{cite book|author=Marc Bekoff|title=Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare, 2nd Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AmgYIBQ-XKkC&pg=PA482|year=2009|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-35256-0|page=482}}</ref>

== Institutions ==
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=300
| title = Illustration of [[Hindu temple]]s in India
| image1 = Khajuraho - Kandariya Mahadeo Temple.jpg
| image2 = Somanathapura Keshava temple altered.JPG
| image3 = Kolkatatemple.jpg
| image4 = Le temple de Brihadishwara (Tanjore, Inde) (14354574611).jpg
| image5 = New Delhi Temple.jpg
| image6 = Murudeshwara raja gopura HDR, Jul 2012.jpg
}}

=== Temple ===
{{Main|Hindu temple|Murti|Hindu iconography}}
A [[Hindu temple]] is a house of god(s).<ref>George Michell (1988), The Hindu Temple: An Introduction to Its Meaning and Forms, University of Chicago Press, {{ISBN|978-0226532301}}, Chapter 4, pages 61–65</ref> It is a space and structure designed to bring human beings and gods together, infused with symbolism to express the ideas and beliefs of Hinduism.<ref name=stellakvol1>[[Stella Kramrisch]], The Hindu Temple, Vol 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-81-208-0222-3}}, pages 1–16</ref> A temple incorporates all elements of Hindu cosmology, the highest spire or dome representing [[Mount Meru]] – reminder of the abode of Brahma and the center of spiritual universe,<ref>[[Stella Kramrisch]] (1976), ''The Hindu Temple'', Vol 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-81-208-0222-3}}, pages 161–169</ref> the carvings and iconography symbolically presenting [[dharma]], [[kama]], [[artha]], [[moksha]] and [[karma]].<ref>Stella Kramrisch, ''The Hindu Temple'', Vol 2, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-81-208-0222-3}}, pp. 346–357 and 423–424</ref><ref>[[Klaus Klostermaier]], The Divine Presence in Space and Time – Murti, Tirtha, Kala; in A Survey of Hinduism, {{ISBN|978-0-7914-7082-4}}, State University of New York Press, pp. 268–277.</ref> The layout, the motifs, the plan and the building process recite ancient rituals, geometric symbolisms, and reflect beliefs and values innate within various schools of Hinduism.<ref name=stellakvol1/> Hindu temples are spiritual destinations for many Hindus (not all), as well as landmarks for arts, annual festivals, [[sanskara (rite of passage)|rite of passage]] rituals, and community celebrations.<ref>Burton Stein, "The Economic Function of a Medieval South Indian Temple", ''The Journal of Asian Studies'', Vol. 19 (February 1960), pages 163–176</ref><ref>George Michell (1988), ''The Hindu Temple: An Introduction to Its Meaning and Forms'', University of Chicago Press, {{ISBN|978-0226532301}}, pages 58–65</ref>

{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=300
| title = Illustration of [[Hindu temple]]s in South East Asia
| image1 = Besakih Bali Indonesia Pura-Besakih-02.jpg
| image2 = Angkor_Wat.jpg
| image3 = Prambanan_Java245.jpg
| image4 = My_Son.jpg
| image5 = Nanpaya-Bagan-Myanmar-01-gje.jpg
| image6 = Phanom Rung Wikimedia Commons.jpg
}}

Hindu temples come in many styles, diverse locations, deploy different construction methods and are adapted to different deities and regional beliefs.<ref>Alice Boner (1990), ''Principles of Composition in Hindu Sculpture: Cave Temple Period'', {{ISBN|978-8120807051}}, see Introduction and pp. 36–37.</ref> Two major styles of Hindu temples include the [[Gopuram]] style found in south India, and [[Nagara]] style found in north India.<ref>{{cite web|year=|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9037402/gopura|title=Gopura|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|accessdate=2015-06-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|year=|url=http://www.britannica.com/topic/North-Indian-temple-architecture|title=Nagara|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|accessdate=2015-06-16}}</ref> Other styles include cave, forest and mountain temples.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Meister | first1 = Michael W. | year = 1981 | title = Forest and Cave: Temples at Candrabhāgā and Kansuān | journal = Archives of Asian Art | volume = 34 | issue = | pages = 56–73 | jstor=20111117}}</ref> Yet, despite their differences, almost all Hindu temples share certain common architectural principles, core ideas, symbolism and themes.<ref name=stellakvol1/>

Many temples feature one or more idols ([[murti]]s). The idol and Grabhgriya in the Brahma-pada (the center of the temple), under the main spire, serves as a focal point (''darsana'', a sight) in a Hindu temple.<ref>Stella Kramrisch (1976), ''The Hindu Temple'', Vol. 1, {{ISBN|81-208-0223-3}}, pages 8–9</ref> In larger temples, the central space typically is surrounded by an ambulatory for the devotee to walk around and ritually circumambulate the [[Purusha|Purusa]] ([[Brahman]]), the universal essence.<ref name=stellakvol1/>

=== Ashrama ===
{{Main|Ashrama (stage)}}
Traditionally the life of a Hindu is divided into four Āśramas (phases or life stages; another meaning includes monastery).<ref>Patrick Olivelle (1993), The Āśrama System: The History and Hermeneutics of a Religious Institution, Oxford University Press, {{oclc|466428084}}, pages 1–29, 84–111</ref> The four ashramas are: [[Brahmacharya]] (student), [[Grihastha]] (householder), [[Vanaprastha]] (retired) and [[Sannyasa]] (renunciation).<ref name=rks>RK Sharma (1999), Indian Society, Institutions and Change, {{ISBN|978-8171566655}}, page 28</ref>

Brahmacharya represents the bachelor student stage of life. Grihastha refers to the individual's married life, with the duties of maintaining a household, raising a family, educating one's children, and leading a family-centred and a dharmic social life.<ref name=rks/> Grihastha stage starts with Hindu wedding, and has been considered as the most important of all stages in sociological context, as Hindus in this stage not only pursued a virtuous life, they produced food and wealth that sustained people in other stages of life, as well as the offsprings that continued mankind.<ref name=aw0>Alban Widgery (1930), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2377977 The Principles of Hindu Ethics], International Journal of Ethics, 40(2): 232–245</ref> Vanaprastha is the retirement stage, where a person hands over household responsibilities to the next generation, took an advisory role, and gradually withdrew from the world.<ref name=alnu>Albertina Nugteren (2005), Belief, Bounty, And Beauty: Rituals Around Sacred Trees in India, Brill Academic, {{ISBN|978-9004146013}}, pages 13–21</ref><ref>Saraswathi et al (2010), Reconceptualizing Lifespan Development through a Hindu Perspective, in Bridging Cultural and Developmental Approaches to Psychology (Editor: Lene Arnett Jensen), Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195383430}}, page 280-286</ref> The Sannyasa stage marks renunciation and a state of disinterest and detachment from material life, generally without any meaningful property or home (ascetic state), and focused on Moksha, peace and simple spiritual life.<ref>S. Radhakrishnan (1922), The Hindu Dharma, International Journal of Ethics, 33(1): 1–22</ref><ref name="DP Bhawuk 2011 pages 93-110">DP Bhawuk (2011), The Paths of Bondage and Liberation, in Spirituality and Indian Psychology, Springer, {{ISBN|978-1-4419-8109-7}}, pages 93–110</ref>

The Ashramas system has been one facet of the Dharma concept in Hinduism.<ref name=aw2>Alban Widgery (1930), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2377977 The Principles of Hindu Ethics], International Journal of Ethics, 40(2): 237–239</ref> Combined with four proper goals of human life ([[Purusartha]]), the Ashramas system traditionally aimed at providing a Hindu with fulfilling life and spiritual liberation.<ref name=aw0/> While these stages are typically sequential, any person can enter Sannyasa (ascetic) stage and become an Ascetic at any time after the Brahmacharya stage.<ref>Barbara Holdrege (2004), Dharma, in The Hindu World (Editors: Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby), Routledge, {{ISBN|0-415-21527-7}}, page 231</ref> Sannyasa is not religiously mandatory in Hinduism, and elderly people are free to live with their families.<ref>Patrick Olivelle (1993), The Ashrama System: The History and Hermeneutics of a Religious Institution, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195344783}}</ref>

=== Monasticism ===
[[File:Indian sadhu performing namaste.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|left|A sadhu in [[Madurai]], India]]
{{Main|Sannyasa}}
Some Hindus choose to live a [[monastic]] life (Sannyāsa) in pursuit of liberation (moksha) or another form of spiritual perfection.<ref name=ellinger70/> Monastics commit themselves to a simple and celibate life, detached from material pursuits, of meditation and spiritual contemplation.<ref name=bhaskaranandaessential112>{{Harvnb|Bhaskarananda|1994|p=112}}</ref> A Hindu monk is called a ''[[Sannyasa|Sanyāsī]]'', ''Sādhu'', or ''Swāmi''. A female renunciate is called a ''Sanyāsini''. Renunciates receive high respect in Hindu society because of their simple [[ahimsa]]-driven lifestyle and dedication to spiritual liberation (moksha) – believed to be the ultimate goal of life in Hinduism.<ref name="DP Bhawuk 2011 pages 93-110"/> Some monastics live in monasteries, while others wander from place to place, depending on donated food and charity for their needs.<ref>{{Harvnb|Michaels|2004|p=316}}</ref>

== History ==
{{Main|History of Hinduism}}

=== Periodisation ===
{{History of South Asia}}

[[James Mill]] (1773–1836), in his ''[[The History of British India]]'' (1817),{{sfn|Khanna|2007|p=xvii}} distinguished three phases in the history of India, namely Hindu, Muslim and British civilisations.{{sfn|Khanna|2007|p=xvii}}{{sfn|Misra|2004|p=194}} This periodisation has been criticised for the misconceptions it has given rise to.<ref>{{citation |last=Kulke |first=Hermann |last2=Rothermund |first2=Dietmar |title=A History of India |edition=4th |year=2004 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=[[London]] |isbn=0-415-15481-2|page=7}}</ref> Another periodisation is the division into "ancient, classical, medieval and modern periods".{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=21}} An elaborate periodisation may be as follows:{{sfn|Michaels|2004}}

* Prevedic religions (pre-history and Indus Valley Civilisation; until c. 1500 BCE);
* Vedic period (c. 1500–500 BCE);
* "Second Urbanisation" (c. 500–200 BCE);
* Classical Hinduism (c. 200 BCE-1100 CE);{{refn|group=note|Different periods are designated as "classical Hinduism":
* Smart calls the period between 1000 BCE and 100 CE "pre-classical". It is the formative period for the Upanishads and Brahmanism{{refn|group=subnote|Smart distinguishes "Brahmanism" from the Vedic religion, connecting  "Brahmanism" with the Upanishads.{{sfn|Smart|2003|p=52, 83–86}}}} Jainism and Buddhism. For Smart, the "classical period" lasts from 100 to 1000 CE, and coincides with the flowering of "classical Hinduism" and the flowering and deterioration of Mahayana-buddhism in India.{{sfn|Smart|2003|p=52}}
* For Michaels, the period between 500 BCE and 200 BCE is a time of "Ascetic reformism",{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=36}} whereas the period between 200 BCE and 1100 CE is the time of "classical Hinduism", since there is "a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions".{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=38}}
* Muesse discerns a longer period of change, namely between 800 BCE and 200 BCE, which he calls the "Classical Period". According to Muesse, some of the fundamental concepts of Hinduism, namely karma, reincarnation and "personal enlightenment and transformation", which did not exist in the Vedic religion, developed in this time.{{sfn|Muesse|2003|p=14}}}}
:* Pre-classical Hinduism (c. 200 BCE-300 CE);
:* "Golden Age" (Gupta Empire) (c. 320–650 CE);
:* Late-Classical Hinduism – Puranic Hinduism (c. 650–1100 CE);
* Islam and sects of Hinduism (c. 1200–1700 CE);
* Modern Hinduism (from c. 1800).

=== Origins ===

Hinduism is a fusion{{sfn|Lockard|2007|p=50}}{{refn|group=note|name=Lockard}} or synthesis{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}{{refn|group=note|name="Hiltebeitel-synthesis"}} of various Indian cultures and traditions.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}{{refn|group=note|name=fusion}} Among the roots of Hinduism are the [[historical Vedic religion]] of [[Iron Age India]],<ref>{{harvnb|Samuel|2010|pp=41–42}}; {{harvnb|Flood|1996|p=16}}</ref> itself already the product of "a composite of the Indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures and civilizations",{{sfn|White|2006|p=28}}{{refn|group=note|name="Vedic composite"}} but also the [[Sramana]]{{sfn|Gomez|2013|p=42}} or renouncer traditions{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=16}} of [[Maurya Empire|northeast India]],{{sfn|Gomez|2013|p=42}} and mesolithic{{sfn|Doniger|2010|p=66}} and neolithic{{sfn|Jones|Ryan|2006|p=xvii}} cultures of India, such as the religions of the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]],<ref>{{harvnb|Narayanan|2009|p=11}}; {{harvnb|Lockard|2007|p=52}}; {{harvnb|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=3}}; {{harvnb|Jones|Ryan|2006|p=xviii}}</ref> [[Dravidian peoples|Dravidian]] traditions,<ref>{{harvnb|Tiwari|2002|p=v}}; {{harvnb|Lockard|2007|p=52}}; {{harvnb|Zimmer|1951|pp=218–219}}; {{harvnb|Larson|1995|p=81}}</ref> and the [[Adivasi|local traditions]]{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=16}} and [[Tribal religions in India|tribal religions]].{{sfn|Tiwari|2002|p=v}}{{refn|group=note|Tiwari mentions the [[Australoid race|Austric]] and [[Mongoloid]] people.{{sfn|Tiwari|2002|p=v}} See also [[Peopling of India]] for the variety of Indian people.}}

This "Hindu synthesis" emerged after the Vedic period, between 500{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}-200{{sfn|Larson|2009}} BCE and c. 300 CE,{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}} the beginning of the "Epic and Puranic" c.q. "Preclassical" period,{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}{{sfn|Larson|2009}} and incorporated śramaṇic{{sfn|Larson|2009}}{{sfn|Fuller|2004|p=88}} and Buddhist influences{{sfn|Larson|2009}}{{sfn|Cousins|2010}} and the emerging bhakti tradition into the Brahmanical fold via the Smriti literature.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=13}}{{sfn|Larson|2009}} From northern India this "Hindu synthesis", and its societal divisions, spread to southern India and parts of [[Southeast Asia]].{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=193-228, 339–353, specifically p.76-79 and p.199}}

=== Prevedic religions (until c. 1500 BCE) ===
{{See also|History of Hinduism}}
[[File:Shiva Pashupati.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Pashupati]]'' seal, [[Indus Valley civilization]]]]
The earliest [[prehistoric religion]] in India that may have left its traces in Hinduism comes from mesolithic as observed in the sites such as the rock paintings of [[Bhimbetka rock shelters]] dating to a period of 30,000 BCE or older,{{refn|group=note|{{harvnb|Doniger|2010|p=66}}: "Much of what we now call Hinduism may have had roots in cultures that thrived in South Asia long before the creation of textual evidence that we can decipher with any confidence. Remarkable cave paintings have been preserved from Mesolithic sites dating from c. 30,000 BCE in [[Bhimbetka rock shelters|Bhimbetka]], near present-day Bhopal, in the Vindhya Mountains in the province of Madhya Pradesh."}} as well as neolithic times.{{refn|group=note|{{harvnb|Jones|Ryan|2006|p=xvii}}: "Some practices of Hinduism must have originated in Neolithic times (c.&nbsp;4000 BCE). The worship of certain plants and animals as sacred, for instance, could very likely have very great antiquity. The worship of goddesses, too, a part of Hinduism today, may be a feature that originated in the Neolithic."}} Some of the religious practices can be considered to have originated in 4000 BCE. Several [[Tribal religions in India|tribal religions]] still exist, though their practices may not resemble those of prehistoric religions.<ref group=web>[http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/india/tribal.html PHILTAR, Division of Religion and Philosophy, University of Cumbria, ''Tribal Religions of India'']</ref>

According to anthropologist [[Gregory Possehl|Possehl]], the [[Indus Valley Civilization]] "provides a logical, if somewhat arbitrary, starting point for some aspects of the later Hindu tradition".{{sfn|Possehl|2002|p=154}} The religion of this period included worship of a Great male god, which is compared to a proto-Shiva, and probably a Mother Goddess, that may prefigure [[Shakti]]. <!-- -Other practices from the Indus religion that may have continued in the Vedic period include [and then the sentence is broken...].- --> However these links of deities and practices of the Indus religion to later-day Hinduism are subject to both political contention and scholarly dispute.{{sfn|Possehl|2002|p=141–156}}

=== Vedic period (c. 1500–500 BCE) ===
{{Main|Vedic period}}

==== Origins and development ====

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="float:right;margin:0 auto;"
|-
! class="navbox-title"| Indo-Aryan migration and Vedic period
|-
|
[[File:IE expansion.png|upright=1.8|thumb|center|Scheme of [[Indo-European migrations]] from ca. 4000 to 1000 BCE according to the [[Kurgan hypothesis]]. The magenta area corresponds to the assumed ''[[Proto-Indo-European Urheimat hypotheses|Urheimat]]'' ([[Samara culture]], [[Sredny Stog culture]]). The red area corresponds to the area which may have been settled by Indo-European-speaking peoples up to c. 2500 BCE; the orange area to 1000 BCE. (Christopher I. Beckwith (2009), ''Empires of the Silk Road'', Oxford University Press, p.30)]]
[[File:Andronovo culture.png|thumb|center|upright=1.8|Map of the approximate maximal extent of the Andronovo culture. The formative [[Sintashta culture|Sintashta-Petrovka]] culture is shown in darker red. The location of the earliest [[spoke]]-wheeled [[chariot]] finds is indicated in purple. Adjacent and overlapping cultures ([[Afanasevo culture]], [[Srubna culture]], [[BMAC]]) are shown in green.]]
[[File:Indo-Iranian origins.png|thumb|center|upright=1.8|Archaeological cultures associated with [[Indo-Iranian migration]]s (after [[Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture|EIEC]]). The [[Andronovo culture|Andronovo]], [[BMAC]] and [[Yaz culture|Yaz]] cultures have often been associated with Indo-Iranian migrations. The [[Gandhara grave culture|GGC]], [[Cemetery H culture|Cemetery H]], [[Copper Hoard Culture|Copper Hoard]] and [[Painted Grey Ware culture|PGW]] cultures are candidates for cultures associated with Indo-Aryan movements.]]
[[File:Early Vedic Culture (1700-1100 BCE).png|thumb|center|upright=1.8|Early Vedic Period]]
[[File:Late Vedic Culture (1100-500 BCE).png|thumb|center|upright=1.8|Late Vedic Period]]
|}

{{Main|Indo-Aryans|Indo-Aryan migration}}

The Vedic period, named after the Vedic religion of the [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryans]],{{sfn|Singh|2008|p=185}}{{refn|group=note|Michaels: "They called themselves ''arya'' ("Aryans", literally 'the hospitable', from the Vedic ''arya'', 'homey, the hospitable') but even in the Rgveda, ''arya'' denotes a cultural and linguistic boundary and not only a racial one."{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}}}} lasted from c. 1500 to 500 BCE.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=32}}{{refn|group=note|There is no exact dating possible for the beginning of the Vedic period. Witzel mentions a range between 1900 and 1400 BCE.{{sfn|Witzel|1995|p=3-4}} Flood mentions 1500 BCE.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=21}}}} The Indo-Aryans were pastoralists{{sfn|Witzel|1995}} who migrated into north-western India after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}}{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=30-35}}{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=5}}{{refn|group=note|The [[Aryan migration theory]] has been challenged by some researchers,{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}}{{sfn|Singh|2008|p=186}} due to a lack of archaeological evidence and signs of cultural continuity,{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}} hypothesizing instead a slow process of acculturation{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}} or transformation.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=30-35}} Nevertheless, linguistic and archaeological data clearly show a cultural change after 1500 BCE,{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}} with the linguistic and religious data clearly showing links with Indo-European languages and religion.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=33}} According to Singh, "The dominant view is that the Indo-Aryans came to the subcontinent as immigrants."{{sfn|Singh|2008|p=186}}}}

During the early Vedic period (c. 1500–1100 BCE{{sfn|Witzel|1995}}) Vedic tribes were pastoralists, wandering around in north-west India.{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=41-48}} After 1100 BCE the Vedic tribes moved into the western Ganges Plain, adapting an agrarical lifestyle.{{sfn|Witzel|1995}}{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=41-93}}{{sfn|Stein|2010|p=48-49}} Rudimentary state-forms appeared, of which the [[Kuru Kingdom|Kuru]]-Pañcāla union was the most influential.{{sfn|Witzel|1995|p=6}}{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=51-53}} It was a tribal union, which developed into the first recorded [[State (polity)|state-level society]] in [[South Asia]] around 1000 BCE.{{sfn|Witzel|1995}} This, according to Witzel, decisively changed the Vedic heritage of the early Vedic period, collecting the Vedic hymns into collections, and shifting ritual exchange within a tribe to social exchange within the larger Kuru realm through complicated Srauta rituals.{{sfn|Witzel|1995|p=11}} In this period, states Samuel, emerged the Brahmana and Aranyaka layers of Vedic texts, which merged into the earliest Upanishads.{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=25}} These texts began to ask the meaning of a ritual, adding increasing levels of philosophical and metaphysical speculation,{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=25}} or [[Hinduism#Roots of Hinduism|"Hindu synthesis"]].{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}

==== Vedic religion ====
{{Main|Historical Vedic religion}}
The Indo-Aryans brought with them their language{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=53-56}} and religion.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=30}}{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=5-7}} The Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesised [[Proto-Indo-European religion]],<ref name="Woodard2006">{{cite book|author=Roger D. Woodard|title=Indo-European Sacred Space: Vedic and Roman Cult|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EB4fB0inNYEC&pg=FA242|date=18 August 2006|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-09295-4|pages=242–}}</ref> and the [[Proto-Indo-Iranian religion|Indo-Iranian religion]].<ref name=Beckwith2009p32>{{cite book |last=Beckwith |first=Christopher I. |authorlink=Christopher I. Beckwith |title=Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present |year=2009 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=1-4008-2994-1 |page=32}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|According to Anthony, the Old Indic religion probably emerged among Indo-European immigrants in the contact zone between the [[Zeravshan River]] (present-day Uzbekistan) and (present-day) Iran.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=462}} It was "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements",{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=462}} which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices"<ref name=Beckwith2009p32/> from the [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex|Bactria–Margiana Culture]].<ref name=Beckwith2009p32/> At least 383 non-Indo-European words were borrowed from this culture, including the god [[Indra]] and the ritual drink [[Soma (drink)|Soma]].{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=454-455}} The oldest inscriptions in Old Indic, the language of the ''Rig Veda'', are found not in northwestern India and Pakistan, but in northern Syria, the location of the Mitanni kingdom.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=49}} (...) The Old Indic term [[Ṛta|r'ta]], meaning "cosmic order and truth", the central concept of the ''Rig Veda'', was also employed in the mitanni kingdom.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=49}} And Old Indic gods, including [[Indra]], were also known in the Mitanni kingdom.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=50}}{{sfn|Flood|2008|p=68}}{{sfn|Melton|Baumann|2010|p=1412}}}}

The Vedic religion history is unclear and "heavily contested", states Samuel.{{sfn|Samuel|2010|pp=26–27, Quote: "In fact the whole question of the early history of the Indo-Aryan and Indo-Iranian speaking peoples is both heavily contested and, at least at this point in time, largely undecidable."}} In the later Vedic period, it co-existed with local religions, such as the mother goddess worshipping [[Yaksha]] cults.{{sfn|Basham|1989|p=74-75}}<ref group=web>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/651312/yaksha Encyclopædia Britannica, ''yaksha'']</ref> The Vedic was itself likely the product of "a composite of the indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures and civilizations".{{sfn|White|2006|p=28}} David Gordon White cites three other mainstream scholars who "have emphatically demonstrated" that Vedic religion is partially derived from the [[Indus Valley Civilization]]s.<ref>{{cite book|last=White|first=David Gordon|title=Kiss of the Yogini|year=2003|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=0-226-89483-5|page=28}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|name="Vedic composite"|See:
* David Gordon White: "[T]he religion of the Vedas was already a composite of the indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures and civilizations."{{sfn|White|2006|p=28}}
* Richard Gombrich: "It is important to bear in mind that the Indo-Aryans did not enter an unhabitated land. For nearly two millennia they and their culture gradually penetrated India, moving east and south from their original seat in the Punjab. They mixed with people who spoke Munda or Dravidian languages, who have left no traces of their culture beyond some archaeological remains; we know as little about them as we would about the Indo-Aryans if they had left no texts. (...) We can also assume that many – perhaps most – of the indigenous population came to be assimilated into Indo-Aryan culture.{{sfn|Gombrich|1996|p=35-36}}}} Their religion was further developed when they migrated into the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|Ganges Plain]] after c. 1100 BCE and became settled farmers,{{sfn|Witzel|1995}}{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=48-51, 61–93}}{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=8-10}} further syncretising with the native cultures of northern India.{{sfn|Samuel|2010}}

The composition of the Vedic literature began in the 2nd millennium BCE.{{sfn|Samuel|2010|pp=27–31}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Stephen Phillips |title=Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uLqrAgAAQBAJ |year=2009|publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-14485-8 |pages=28–30 }}</ref> The oldest of these Vedic texts is the [[Rigveda]], composed between c. 1500-1200 BCE,{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=37}}{{sfn|Witzel|1995|p=4}}{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=454}} though a wider approximation of c. 1700–1100 BCE has also been given.{{Sfn|Oberlies|1998| p=158}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Science and Religion: One Planet, Many Possibilities|author1=Lucas F. Johnston |author2=Whitney Bauman |page=179|year=2014|publisher=Routledge}}</ref>

The first half of the 1st millennium BCE was a period of great intellectual and social-cultural ferment in ancient India.<ref>{{cite book|author=Abraham Eraly |title=The First Spring: The Golden Age of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=te1sqTzTxD8C |year=2011|publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-670-08478-4 |pages=538, 571}}</ref>{{Sfn|Gombrich|1988|pp=26-41}}{{Refn|group=note|While some scholars suggest that Buddhism may have developed as a social reform to the Vedic religion, other scholars such as Gombrich suggest that Buddha "should not be seen as a social reformer", because his concern was "to reform individuals, help them to leave society forever, not to reform the world... he never preached against social inequality".<ref name="QueenKing1996p17">{{cite book|author1=Christopher S. Queen|author2=Sallie B. King|title=Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZsTgY1lNNsC&pg=PA17 |year=1996|publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-2844-3 |pages=17–18 }}</ref>}} New ideas developed both in the Vedic tradition in the form of the Upanishads, and outside of the Vedic tradition through the Śramaṇa movements.<ref>{{cite book|author=Hajime Nakamura |title=A History of Early Vedānta Philosophy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=asNLliQHDNQC |year=1983|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0651-1 |pages=102–104, 264–269, 294–295 }}; Quote: "But the Upanishadic ultimate meaning of the Vedas, was, from the viewpoint of the Vedic canon in general, clearly a new idea.."; p.95: The [oldest] Upanishads in particular were part of the Vedic corpus (...) When these various new ideas were brought together and edited, they were added on to the already existing Vedic..."; p.294: "When early Jainism came into existence, various ideas mentioned in the extant older Upanishads were current, ...".</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Klaus G. Witz |title=The Supreme Wisdom of the Upaniṣads: An Introduction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2jnPlEqwe_UC |year=1998|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass  |isbn=978-81-208-1573-5 |pages=23, 1–2}};'''Quote''': "In the [[Aranyaka]]s therefore, thought and inner spiritual awareness started to separate subtler, deeper aspects from the context of ritual performance and myth with which they had been united up to then. This process was then carried further and brought to completion in the Upanishads. (...) The knowledge and attainment of the Highest Goal had been there from the Vedic times. But in the Upanishads inner awareness, aided by major intellectual breakthroughs, arrived at a language in which Highest Goal could be dealt with directly, independent of ritual and sacred lore".</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Christoph Wulf |title=Exploring Alterity in a Globalized World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ZxeCwAAQBAJ |year=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-33113-1 |pages=125–126}}; Quote: "(...) the simultaneous emergence of a Vedic and a non-Vedic asceticism. (...) Thus, the challenge for old Vedic views consisted of a new theology, written down in the early Upanishads like the Brhadaranyaka and the Mundaka Upanishad. The new set of ideas contained the ..."</ref> For example, prior to the birth of the Buddha and the Mahavira, and related Sramana movements, the Brahmanical tradition had questioned the meaning and efficacy of Vedic rituals,<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jonathan H. X. Lee |author2=Fumitaka Matsuoka|author3=Edmond Yee, Ronald Y. Nakasone|title=Asian American Religious Cultures  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=taNZCgAAQBAJ |year=2015|publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-59884-331-6 |pages=433–434 }}</ref> then internalized and variously reinterpreted the [[Srauta|Vedic fire rituals]] as ethical concepts such as Truth, Rite, Tranquility or [[Temperance (virtue)|Restraint]].{{sfn|Shults|2014|p=125-129}} The 9th and 8th centuries BCE witnessed the composition of the earliest Upanishads with such ideas.{{sfn|Shults|2014|p=125-129}}<ref name="World Religions">{{citation|last=Neusner|first=Jacob|title=World Religions in America: An Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=34vGv_HDGG8C&pg=PA183|year=2009|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-664-23320-4}}</ref>{{rp|183}} Other ancient [[Principal Upanishads]] were composed in the centuries that followed, forming the foundation of classical Hinduism and the Vedanta (conclusion of the Veda) literature.<ref>{{citation|last1=Melton|first1=J. Gordon|last2=Baumann|first2=Martin|title=Religions of the World, Second Edition: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v2yiyLLOj88C&pg=PA1324|year=2010|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-204-3|page=1324}}</ref>

=== "Second Urbanisation" (c. 500–200 BCE) ===
{{Main|Sramana}}

Increasing urbanisation of India between 800 and 400 BCE, and possibly the spread of urban diseases, contributed to the rise of ascetic movements and of new ideas which challenged the orthodox [[Brahmanism]].{{Sfn|Flood|1996||pp=81–82}} These ideas led to [[Sramana]] movements, of which Mahavira (c. 549–477 BCE), proponent of [[Jainism]], and [[Buddha]] (c. 563-483), founder of [[Buddhism]], were the most prominent icons.<ref name="World Religions"/>{{rp|184}} According to Bronkhorst, the sramana culture arose in "greater Magadha," which was Indo-European, but not Vedic. In this culture, kashtriyas were placed higher than Brahmins, and it rejected Vedic authority and rituals.{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2007}}{{sfn|Long|2013|p=chapter II}} Geoffrey Samuel, following Tom Hopkins, also argues that the Gangetic plain, which gave rise to Jainism and Buddhism, incorporated a culture which was different form the Brahmanical orthodoxy practiced in the Kuru-Pancala region.{{sfn|Samuel|2008|p=ch.3; p.61}}

The [[sannyasa|ascetic]] tradition of Vedic period in part created the foundational theories of [[samsara]] and of moksha (liberation from samsara), which became characteristic for Hinduism, along with Buddhism and Jainism.{{refn|group=note|{{harvnb|Flood|2008|pp=273–274}}: "The second half of the first millennium BCE was the period that created many of the ideological and institutional elements that characterise later Indian religions. The renouncer tradition played a central role during this formative period of Indian religious history [...] Some of the fundamental values and beliefs that we generally associate with Indian religions in general and Hinduism in particular were in part the creation of the renouncer tradition. These include the two pillars of Indian theologies: samsara – the belief that life in this world is one of suffering and subject to repeated deaths and births (rebirth); moksa/nirvana – the goal of human existence."}}{{Sfn|Raju|1992|p=42}}

These ascetic concepts were adopted by schools of Hinduism as well as other major Indian religions, but key differences between their premises defined their further development. Hinduism, for example, developed its ideas with the premise that every human being has a soul (''atman'', self), while Buddhism developed with the premise that there is no soul or self.<ref>KN Jayatilleke (2010), Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge, {{ISBN|978-8120806191}}, pages 246–249, from note 385 onwards;<br />Steven Collins (1994), Religion and Practical Reason (Editors: Frank Reynolds, David Tracy), State Univ of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791422175}}, page 64; Quote: "Central to Buddhist soteriology is the doctrine of not-self (Pali: anattā, Sanskrit: anātman, the opposed doctrine of [[Ātman (Hinduism)|ātman]] is central to Brahmanical thought). Put very briefly, this is the [Buddhist] doctrine that human beings have no soul, no self, no unchanging essence.";<br />Edward Roer (Translator), {{Google books|3uwDAAAAMAAJ|Shankara's Introduction|page=2}}, pages 2–4<br />Katie Javanaud (2013), [https://philosophynow.org/issues/97/Is_The_Buddhist_No-Self_Doctrine_Compatible_With_Pursuing_Nirvana Is The Buddhist 'No-Self' Doctrine Compatible With Pursuing Nirvana?], Philosophy Now</ref><ref>John C. Plott et al (2000), Global History of Philosophy: The Axial Age, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120801585}}, page 63, Quote: "The Buddhist schools reject any Ātman concept. As we have already observed, this is the basic and ineradicable distinction between Hinduism and Buddhism".</ref><ref>For the impact of "soul exists" concept in later Hinduism, see Edward Roer (Translator), {{Google books|3uwDAAAAMAAJ|Shankara's Introduction|page=3}} to ''Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad'' at pages 3–4; Quote – "(...) Lokayatikas and Bauddhas who assert that the soul does not exist. There are four sects among the followers of Buddha: 1. Madhyamicas who maintain all is void; 2. Yogacharas, who assert except sensation and intelligence all else is void; 3. Sautranticas, who affirm actual existence of external objects no less than of internal sensations; 4. Vaibhashikas, who agree with later (Sautranticas) except that they contend for immediate apprehension of exterior objects through images or forms represented to the intellect."</ref>

The chronology of these religious concepts is unclear, and scholars contest which religion affected the other as well as the chronological sequence of the ancient texts.<ref>Richard King (1995), Ācārya, Gauḍapāda – Early Advaita Vedānta and Buddhism: the Mahāyāna context of the Gauḍapādīya-kārikā, SUNY Press, {{ISBN|978-0-7914-2513-8}}, pages 51–58</ref><ref>Stephen Phillips (2009), Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy, Columbia University Press, {{ISBN|978-0231144858}}, Chapter 1</ref> Pratt notes that [[Hermann Oldenberg|Oldenberg]] (1854–1920), [[Karl Eugen Neumann|Neumann]] (1865–1915) and [[Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan|Radhakrishnan]] (1888–1975) believed that the Buddhist canon had been influenced by Upanishads, while [[Louis de La Vallée-Poussin|la Vallee Poussin]] thinks the influence was nihil, and "Eliot and several others insist that on some points such as the existence of soul or self the Buddha was directly antithetical to the Upanishads".<ref>{{citation|last=Pratt|first=James Bissett|title=The Pilgrimage of Buddhism and a Buddhist Pilgrimage|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cLXwU9e6D4sC&pg=PA90|year=1996|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-1196-2|page=90}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|[a] According to Richard King, Radhakrishnan was a representative of [[Neo-Vedanta]],{{sfn|King|1999}} which had a specific understanding of Indian religions: "The inclusivist appropriation of other traditions, so characteristic of neo-Vedanta ideology, appears on three basic levels. First, it is apparent in the suggestion that the (Advaita) Vedanta philosophy of Sankara (c. eighth century CE) constitutes the central philosophy of Hinduism. Second, in an Indian context, neo-Vedanta philosophy subsumes Buddhist philosophies in terms of its own Vedantic ideology. The Buddha becomes a member of the Vedanta tradition, merely attempting to reform it from within. Finally, at a global level, neo-Vedanta colonises the religious traditions of the world by arguing for the centrality of a non-dualistic position as the ''philosophia perennis'' underlying all cultural differences.";{{sfn|King|1999}}<br />[b] see [[Anatta]] for further discussion on "no-self" doctrine of Buddhism and its disagreements with the Upanishads.{{Sfn|Eliot|2003|p= Chapter 11: Rebirth and the Nature of the Soul}}}}

=== Classical Hinduism (c. 200 BCE – 1100 CE) ===
[[File:Hanuman before Rama.jpg|thumb|Scene from the ''[[Ramayana]]''. [[Rama]] seated with [[Sita]], fanned by [[Lakshmana]], while [[Hanuman]] pays his respects.]]
From about 500 BCE through about 300 CE, the Vedic-Brahmanic synthesis or "Hindu synthesis" continued.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}} Classical Hindu and Sramanic (particularly Buddhist) ideas spread within Indian subcontinent, as well outside India such as in [[Central Asia]],<ref>{{cite book|author1=HJ Klimkeit|author2=R Meserve|author3=EE Karimov et al|title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9yTFnuWQKvkC |year=2000|publisher=UNESCO|isbn=978-92-3-103654-5|pages=79–80}}</ref> and the [[Greater India|parts of Southeast Asia]] (coasts of Indonesia and peninsular Thailand).{{refn|group=note|name="Samuel-northsouth"|{{harvnb|Samuel|2010|pp=193–228, 339–353, specifically pp.&nbsp;76–79 and 194–199}}}}<ref>{{cite book|author1=John Guy|author2=Pierre Baptiste|author3=Lawrence Becker, Bérénice Bellina, Robert L. Brown, Federico Carò|title=Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gCw_AwAAQBAJ |date=2014 |publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-20437-7 |pages=10–11 }}</ref>

; Pre-classical Hinduism (c. 200 BCE – 300 CE)

The "Hindu synthesis" or "Brahmanical synthesis"{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}{{sfn|Larson|2009}} incorporated [[Sramana|Sramanic]] and Buddhist influences{{sfn|Larson|2009}}{{sfn|Cousins|2010}}{{Which|date=March 2015}} into the "Brahmanical fold" via the Smriti ("remembered") literature.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=13}}{{sfn|Larson|2009}} According to Embree, several other religious traditions had existed side by side with the Vedic religion. These indigenous religions "eventually found a place under the broad mantle of the Vedic religion".{{sfn|Embree|1988|p=277}} The Smriti texts of the period between 200 BCE-100 CE affirmed the authority of the Vedas. The acceptance of the ideas in the Vedas and Upanishads became a central criterium for defining Hinduism, while the heterodox movements rejected those ideas.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=14}}

[[File:Ajay Kumar Kuchipudi by Varsha Bhargavi Kondapalli 06.jpg|thumb|[[Undavalli caves]]]]
The major Sanskrit epics, ''[[Ramayana]]'' and ''[[Mahabharata]]'', which belong to the Smriti, were compiled over a protracted period during the late centuries BCE and the early centuries CE.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=13}}<ref group=web>{{cite web|title=Itihasas|url=http://www.religionfacts.com/hinduism/texts/itihasas.htm|publisher=ReligionFacts|accessdate=1 October 2011}}</ref> These are legendary dialogues interspersed with philosophical treatises. The [[Bhagavad Gita]] was composed in this period and consolidated diverse philosophies and soteriological ideas.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=20}}

During this period, the foundational texts of several schools of Hindu philosophy were formally written down, including [[Samkhya]], Yoga, [[Nyaya]], [[Vaisheshika]], [[Purva-Mimamsa]] and Vedanta.<ref name="Radhaxviii-xxi">{{harvnb|Radhakrishnan|Moore|1967|p=xviii–xxi}}</ref> The Smriti literature of Hinduism, particularly the [[Sutra]]s, as well as other Hindu texts such as the [[Arthashastra]] and [[Sushruta Samhita]] were also written or expanded during this period.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=13}}<ref>{{Cite book|title = A History of Indian Medical Literature|last = Meulenbeld|first = Gerrit Jan| publisher = Brill (Volume 1A)| year = 1999|isbn = 978-9069801247|location = Groningen| pages=203–205}}</ref>

Many influential Yoga Upanishads, states Gavin Flood, were composed before the 3rd century CE.{{Sfn|Flood|1996|p=96}}<ref>Mircea Eliade (1970), Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|0-691017646}}, pages 128–129</ref> Seven Sannyasa Upanishads of Hinduism were composed between the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE and before the 3rd century CE.<ref>{{cite book|first=Patrick| last=Olivelle|year=1992|title= The Samnyasa Upanisads|publisher= Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0195070453| pages=x-xi, 8–18}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Joachim F|last=Sprockhoff|year=1976|title=Samnyasa: Quellenstudien zur Askese im Hinduismus|publisher=Wiesbaden: Kommissionsverlag Franz Steiner|language=German| isbn=978-3515019057|pages=277–294, 319–322}}</ref> All these texts describe Hindu renunciation and monastic values, and express strongly Advaita Vedanta tradition ideas. This, state Patrick Olivelle and other scholars, is likely because the monasteries of Advaita tradition of Hinduism had become well established in ancient times.<ref>{{cite book|first=Patrick| last=Olivelle|year=1992|title= The Samnyasa Upanisads|publisher= Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0195070453| pages=17–18}}</ref><ref>Antonio Rigopoulos (1998), Dattatreya: The Immortal Guru, Yogin, and Avatara, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791436967}}, page 81 note 27</ref><ref>Stephen H Phillips (1995), Classical Indian Metaphysics, Columbia University Press, {{ISBN|978-0812692983}}, page 332 with note 68</ref> The first version of [[Natyasastra]] – a Hindu text on performance arts that integrates Vedic ideology – was also completed before the 2nd century CE.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Natalia Lidova|publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |doi=10.1093/obo/9780195399318-0071 |title= Natyashastra}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| author=Tarla Mehta |title=Sanskrit Play Production in Ancient India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l7naMj1UxIkC |year=1995|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1057-0|pages=xxiv, 19–20 }}</ref>

; "Golden Age" (Gupta Empire) (c. 320–650 CE)

During the [[Gupta Empire|Gupta period]], the first stone and cave Hindu temples dedicated to [[Hindu deities]] were built, some of which have survived into the modern era.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=40}}{{refn|group=note|Axel Michaels mentions the [[Durga temple, Aihole|Durga temple in Aihole]] and the [[Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh|Visnu Temple in Deogarh]].{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=40}} George Michell notes that earlier temples were built of timber, brick and plaster, while the first stone temples appeared during the period of Gupta rule.{{sfn|Michell|1977|p=18}}}} Numerous monasteries and universities were also built during the Gupta dynasty era, which supported Vedic and non-Vedic studies, including the famed [[Nalanda]].<ref name=scharfe2002p144>{{cite book|author=Hartmut Scharfe|title=Handbook of Oriental Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7s19sZFRxCUC |year=2002|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=90-04-12556-6|pages=144–153}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Craig Lockard|title=Societies, Networks, and Transitions: Volume I: A Global History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yJPlCpzOY_QC |year=2007|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|isbn=978-0618386123 |page=188}}</ref>

The first version of early Puranas, likely composed between 250 and 500 CE, show continuities with the Vedic religion, but also an expanded mythology of Vishnu, Shiva and Devi (goddess).<ref>{{cite book|last=Collins|first=Charles Dillard|title=The Iconography and Ritual of Śiva at Elephanta|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQNi6kAGJQ4C |year=1988 |publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-88706-773-0| page=36}}</ref> The Puranas were living texts that were revised over time,<ref>Thomas Colburn (2002), Devī-māhātmya: The Crystallization of the Goddess Tradition, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120805576}}, page 27</ref> and Lorenzen suggests these texts may reflect the beginnings of "medieval Hinduism".{{sfn|Lorenzen|2006|p=36}}

; Late-Classical Hinduism – Puranic Hinduism (c. 650–1100 CE)

[[File:Khajuraho_Devi_Jagadambi_Temple_2010.jpg|thumb|240px|[[Devi Jagadambi temple]] at [[Khajuraho]]]]
After the end of the Gupta Empire, power became decentralised in India. The disintegration of central power also led to regionalisation of religiosity, and religious rivalry.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=42}} Rural and devotional movements arose within Hinduism, along with [[Shaivism]], [[Vaisnavism]], Bhakti and Tantra,{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=42}} that competed with each other, as well as with numerous sects of [[Buddhism]] and [[Jainism]].{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=42}}{{sfn|Inden|1978|p=67}} [[Decline of Buddhism in India|Buddhism declined]], though many of its ideas, and even the Buddha himself, were absorbed into certain Brahmanical traditions.<ref name="Lal_disappearance">[http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/Religions/paths/BuddhismDisappear.doc Vinay Lal, ''Buddhism's Disappearance from India'']</ref>

Srauta rituals declined in India and were replaced with Buddhist and Hindu initiatory rituals for royal courts.<ref>Sanderson, Alexis (2009), "The Śaiva Age: The Rise and Dominance of Śaivism during the Early Medieval Period". In: Genesis and Development of Tantrism, edited by Shingo Einoo, Tokyo: Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo, 2009. Institute of Oriental Culture Special Series, 23, pages 41–43.</ref> Over time, some Buddhist practices were integrated into Hinduism, monumental Hindu temples were built in South Asia and Southeast Asia,<ref name="Michell1977">{{cite book|author=George Michell |title=The Hindu Temple: An Introduction to Its Meaning and Forms |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ajgImLs62gwC |year=1977|publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-53230-1 |pages=100, 127, 143–144, 159–176 }}</ref> while Vajrayana Buddhism literature developed as a result of royal courts sponsoring both Buddhism and [[Shaivism|Saivism]].<ref>Sanderson, Alexis. "The Śaiva Age: The Rise and Dominance of Śaivism during the Early Medieval Period". In: Genesis and Development of Tantrism, edited by Shingo Einoo. Tokyo: Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo, 2009. Institute of Oriental Culture Special Series, 23, pp. 124.</ref>

The first edition of many Puranas were composed in this period. Examples include [[Bhagavata Purana]] and [[Vishnu Purana]] with legends of Krishna,{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|p=138-151}} while [[Padma Purana]] and [[Kurma Purana]] expressed reverence for Vishnu, Shiva and Shakti with equal enthusiasm;{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|p=185}} all of them included topics such as Yoga practice and pilgrimage tour guides to Hindu holy sites.{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|p=158-160}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Ariel Glucklich|title=The Strides of Vishnu : Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective: Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KtLScrjrWiAC| year=2008| publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-971825-2| pages=145–162}} Quote (p. 146): The earliest promotional works aimed at tourists from that era were called ''mahatmyas''.</ref> Early colonial era orientalists proposed that the Puranas were religious texts of medieval Hinduism.<ref name=ursapp331>Urs App (2010), The Birth of Orientalism, University of Pennsylvania Press, {{ISBN|978-0812242614}}, pages 331, 323–334</ref> However, modern era scholars, such as Urs App, Ronald Inden and Ludo Rocher state that this is highly misleading because these texts were continuously revised, exist in numerous very different versions and are too inconsistent to be religious texts.<ref name=ursapp331/>{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|p=104-106 with footnotes, Quote: "I want to stress the fact that it would be irresponsible and highly misleading to speak of or pretend to describe the religion of the Puranas."}}<ref>Ronald Inden (2000), Querying the Medieval : Texts and the History of Practices in South Asia, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195124309}}, pages 95–96</ref>

Bhakti ideas centered around loving devotion to Vishnu and Shiva with songs and music, were pioneered in this period by the Alvars and Nayanars of South India.<ref>{{cite book|last=Olson|first=Carl|title=The many colors of Hinduism: a thematic-historical introduction|publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]]|year=2007|pages=231|isbn=978-0-8135-4068-9}}</ref><ref>Karen Pechilis Prentiss (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195351903}}, pages 17-18</ref> Major Hinduism scholars of this period included [[Adi Shankara]], Maṇḍana-Miśra, Padmapada and Sureśvara of the Advaita schools;{{Sfn|Comans|2000}} Sabara, Vatsyayana and Samkarasvamin of [[Nyaya]]-Vaisesika schools; Mathara and ''Yuktidipika'' (author unknown) of [[Samkhya]]-[[Yoga (philosophy)|Yoga]]; Bhartrhari, Vasugupta and [[Abhinavagupta]] of Kashmir Shaivism, and [[Ramanuja]] of Vishishtadvaita school of Hinduism (Sri Vaishnavism).<ref>{{cite book |last=Isaeva |first=Natalia |title=Shankara and Indian Philosophy |year=1993 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-1281-7 |pages=79–80}};<br />{{cite book|author=Natalia Isaeva |title=From Early Vedanta to Kashmir Shaivism: Gaudapada, Bhartrhari, and Abhinavagupta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GR1h-_mBT_cC |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-1-4384-0761-6 |year= 1995 |pages=137, 163, 171–178 }};<br />{{cite book|author=C. J. Bartley |title=The Theology of Ramanuja: Realism and Religion|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9SpTAQAAQBAJ | year=2013| publisher=Routledge|isbn= 978-1-136-85306-7| pages=1–4, 52–53, 79}}</ref><ref>[http://faculty.washington.edu/kpotter/ckeyt/txt2.htm Texts & Manuscripts - 5th to 9th Century Indian philosophies] Karl Potter (2015), University of Washington</ref>{{sfn|Nakamura|2004|p=680}}

=== Islamic rule and Bhakti movement of Hinduism (c. 1200–1750 CE) ===
{{Main|Islam in India|Bhakti movement}}

[[File:Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur - Babur and His Warriors Visiting a Hindu Temple - Walters W59622B - Full Page.jpg|thumb|left|[[Babur]] visits a Hindu temple.]]

The Islamic rule period witnessed Hindu-Muslim confrontation and violence,{{sfn|Gaborieau|1985}}{{sfn|Novetzke|2013|p=138-140}} but "violence did not normally characterize the relations of [[Muslim]] and Hindu."{{sfn|Larson|1995|p=110|ps=, quoting Peter Hardy}}<!-- START OF NOTE -->{{sfn|Eaton|2000a|p=62 |ps=: "A dangerously plausible picture of fanaticism, vandalism and villainy on the part of the Indo-Muslim conquerors and rulers" has been built up in recent times. "This picture has been based largely on Persian material first translated by the British rulers, and used to create a favourable comparison of the British rule with their Islamic predecessors."}}<!-- END OF NOTE --> Enslavement of non-Muslims, especially Hindus in [[India]], was part of the Muslim raids and conquests.<!-- START OF NOTE -->{{sfn|Wink|1991|p=14-16, 61–62, 172–174 |ps= (p. 62) Their [slaves who were Sindians and Indians] number can only be guessed but was not large and definitely was dwarfed by the export of slaves from India during the Ghaznavid and Ghurid raids in northern India in the eleventh to thirteenth centuries." "From the Kanauj campaign of 1018 until the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate by Aybak in 1206 a vast stream of perhaps more than several hundred thousands of Indian slaves reached Ghazna, and hence were traced to other parts of the Islamic world. In the thirteenth century Delhi developed into a considerable slave market. (...) Timur's capture of Delhi in 1398-9 provided the last massive haul of Hindu slaves by an invader, and after the fourteenth century slavery in India generally declined in scale."}}<!-- END OF NOTE -->{{sfn|Eaton|2006|pp=11–12}} After the 14th century slavery become less common{{sfn|Wink|1991|p=62}} and in 1562 "Akbar abolished the practice of enslaving the families of war captives."{{sfn|Eaton|2006|p=11 |ps=: "In 1562 [[Akbar]] abolished the practice of enslaving the families of war captives; his son Jahangir banned sending of slaves from Bengal as tribute in lieu of cash, which had been the custom since the 14th century. These measures notwithstanding, the Mughals actively participated in slave trade with Central Asia, deporting rebels and subjects who had defaulted on revenue payments, following precedents inherited from Delhi Sultanate".}} [[Akbar]] recognized Hinduism, protected Hindu temples, and abolished [[Jizya]] (head taxes) against Hindus.{{sfn|Eaton|2006|pp=11–12}}{{sfn|Grapperhaus|2009|p=118}} Occasionally, Muslim rulers{{Who|date=October 2018}} of the [[Delhi Sultanate]] and the [[Mughal Empire]], before and after Akbar, from the 12th century to the 18th century, destroyed Hindu temples,{{Example needed|plural|date=October 2018}}{{sfn|Ayalon|1986|p=271}}{{sfn|Avari|2013|p=115 |ps=: citing a 2000 study, writes "Aurangzeb was perhaps no more culpable than most of the sultans before him; they desecrated the temples associated with Hindu power, not all temples. It is worth noting that, in contrast to the traditional claim of hundreds of Hindu temples having been destroyed by Aurangzeb, a recent study suggests a modest figure of just fifteen destructions."<br /><br />In contrast to Avari, the historian Abraham Eraly estimates Aurangzeb era destruction to be significantly higher; "in 1670, all temples around [[Ujjain]] were destroyed"; and later, "300 temples were destroyed in and around Chitor, [[Udaipur]] and [[Jaipur]]" among other Hindu temples destroyed elsewhere in campaigns through 1705.<ref>Abraham Eraly (2000), Emperors of the Peacock Throne: The Saga of the Great Mughals, Penguin Books, {{ISBN|978-0141001432}} pages 398–399</ref><br /><br />The persecution during the Islamic period targeted non-Hindus as well. Avari writes, "Aurangzeb's religious policy caused friction between him and the ninth [[Sikhism|Sikh]] guru, Tegh Bahadur. In both [[Punjab]] and Kashmir the [[Sikh]] leader was roused to action by Aurangzeb's excessively zealous Islamic policies. Seized and taken to Delhi, he was called upon by [[Aurangzeb]] to embrace [[Islam]] and, on refusal, was tortured for five days and then beheaded in November 1675. Two of the ten Sikh gurus thus died as martyrs at the hands of the [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]]. (Avari (2013), page 155)}}<!-- START OF NOTE -->{{refn |group=note |See also [http://www.aurangzeb.info/ "Aurangzeb, as he was according to Mughal Records"]; more links at the bottom of that page. For Muslim historian's record on major Hindu temple destruction campaigns, from 1193 to 1729 AD, see Richard Eaton (2000), Temple Desecration and Indo-Muslim States, Journal of Islamic Studies, Vol. 11, Issue 3, pages 283–319}}<!-- END OF NOTE --> and [[Persecution of Hindus|persecuted non-Muslims]].

Though Islam came to Indian subcontinent in the early 7th century with the advent of Arab traders, it started impacting Indian religions after the 10th century, and particularly after the 12th century with the establishment and then expansion of [[Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent|Islamic rule]].{{sfn|Basham|1999}}{{sfn|Smith|1999|p=381-384}} During this period [[Decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent|Buddhism declined rapidly]], and a distinct Indo-Islamic culture emerged.{{sfn|Larson|1995|p=109}} Under Akbar an "intriguing blend of Perso-Islamic and Rajput-Hindu traditions became manifest."{{sfn|Larson|1995|p=111}} Nevertheless, many orthodox ''ulamas'' ("learned Islamic jurists") opposed the rapprochement of Hinduism and Islam,{{sfn|Larson|1995|p=111}} and the two merely co-existed,{{sfn|Larson|1995|p=112}} although there was more accommodation at the peasantry level of Indian society.{{sfn|Larson|1995|p=112}}

According to Hardy, the Muslim rulers were not concerned with the number of converts, since the stability and continuity of their regime did not depend on the number of Muslims.{{sfn|Hardy|1977}} In general, religious conversion was a gradual process, with some converts attracted to pious Muslim saints, while others converted to Islam to gain tax relief, land grant, marriage partners, social and economic advancement,{{sfn|Malik|2008|p=183-187}} or freedom from slavery.{{sfn|Avari|2013|pp=66–70 |ps=: "Many Hindu slaves converted to Islam and gained their liberty."}} In border regions such as the Punjab and eastern Bengal, the share of Muslims grew as large as 70% to 90% of the population, whereas in the heartland of Muslim rule, the upper Gangetic Plain, the Muslims constituted only 10 to 15% of the population.<!-- START OF NOTE -->{{refn|group=note|According to {{harvtxt|Eaton|1993|loc=Chapter 5}}, "in the subcontinent as a whole there is an inverse relationship between the degree of Muslim political penetration and the degree of Islamization."  These numbers rule out the possibility of "conversion of the sword". It was the areas which had been least exposed to the Brahmanical fold which showed the largest numbers of Muslims.<br /><br />Forced conversion did happen, though. According to {{harvtxt|Malik|2008|p=186}} forced conversion of tribes occurred between the 10th and the 14th century, and "[f]orced conversions occurred on an even larger scale at the end of the eighteenth century in the context of increased communal conflicts as well as during the [[Malabar rebellion|Mappila Rebellion]] (1921/1922)", and according to {{harvtxt|Esposito|2003|p=303}} the orthodox Sufi Islam group [[Suhrawardiyya]] "supported the forced conversion of Hindus and Buddhists".}}<!-- END OF NOTE -->

Between the 14th and 18th century, Hinduism was revived in certain provinces of India under two powerful states, viz. ''[[Vijayanagara Empire|Vijayanagar]]'' and ''[[Maratha Empire|Maratha]]''. In the 14th and 15th centuries [[South India|Southern India]] saw the rise of the [[Vijayanagar Empire|Hindu Vijayanagar Empire]], which served as a barrier against invasion by the Muslim sultanates of the north, and it fostered the reconstruction of Hindu life and administration.<ref group=web>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/place/Vijayanagar|title=Vijayanagar|work=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> [[Vidyaranya]], also known as Madhava, who was the 12th Jagadguru of the Śringeri Śarada Pītham from 1380–6,<ref>Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mādhava Āchārya". Encyclopædia Britannica.</ref> and a minister in the Vijayanagara Empire,<ref name=talbot>Cynthia Talbot (2001), Precolonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195136616}}, pages 185–187, 199–201</ref> helped establish Shankara as a rallying symbol of values, and helped spread historical and cultural influence of Shankara's Vedanta philosophies.{{Sfn|Halbfass|1995|pp=29–30}}<ref name=blakemichael>R. Blake Michael (1992), The Origins of Vīraśaiva Sects, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120807761}}, pages 60–62 with notes 6, 7 and 8</ref> The [[Maratha Empire|Hindu Maratha Confederacy]] rose to power in the 18th century and ended up overthrowing Muslim power in India<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/biography/Bal-Gangadhar-Tilak|title=Bal Gangadhar Tilak|work=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref><ref>
http://www.britannica.com/place/India/Political-and-economic-decentralization-during-the-Mughal-decline#toc46985</ref>

Hinduism underwent profound changes, aided in part by teachers such as [[Ramanuja]], [[Madhvacharya|Madhva]], and [[Chaitanya Mahaprabhu|Chaitanya]].<ref name="{{ISBN|0-19-563921-9}}">{{Harvnb|Basham|1999}}</ref> Tantra disappeared in northern India, partly due to Muslim rule,{{sfn|Flood|2006|p=34}} while the [[Bhakti movement]] grew, with followers engaging in emotional, passionate and community-oriented devotional worship, participating in ''saguna'' or ''[[nirguna Brahman]]'' ideologies.<ref>Karen Pechelis (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195351903}}, pages 3–4, 15–28</ref><ref name="JordensISBN 0-19-563921-9">J.T.F. Jordens, "Medieval Hindu Devotionalism" in {{Harvnb||Basham|1999}}</ref><ref>Karine Schomer and WH McLeod, (1987), The Sants: Studies in a Devotional Tradition of India, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|9788120802773}}, pages 1–3</ref> According to Nicholson, already between the 12th and the 16th century, "certain thinkers began to treat as a single whole the diverse philosophical teachings of the Upanishads, epics, Puranas, and the schools known retrospectively as the 'six systems' (''saddarsana'') of mainstream Hindu philosophy."{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|p=2}}{{refn|group=note|{{harvtxt|Burley|2007|p=34}}: notes the tendency of "a blurring of philosophical distinctions".{{harvtxt|Lorenzen|2006|pp=24–33}} locates the origins of a distinct Hindu identity in the interaction between Muslims and Hindus, and a process of "mutual self-definition with a contrasting Muslim other" (p. 27), which started well before 1800 (pp. 26–27). {{harvtxt|Nicholson|2010|p=2}} states that both the Indian and the European thinkers who developed the term ''Hinduism'' in the 19th century were influenced by these philosophers.}} Michaels notes that a historicization emerged which preceded later nationalism, articulating ideas which glorified Hinduism and the past.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=44}}

=== Modern Hinduism (from circa 1800) ===
[[File:A day of devotion – Thaipusam in Singapore (4316108409).jpg|thumb|[[Thaipusam]] procession in [[Singapore]]]]
[[File:Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square..jpg|thumb|Celebrating the [[holi]] festival in [[Nepal]]]]

==== Hindu revivalism ====

With the onset of the [[British Raj]], the colonization of India by the British, there also started a [[Bengali renaissance|Hindu renaissance]] in the 19th century, which profoundly changed the understanding of Hinduism in both India and the west.{{sfn|King|2002}} [[Indology]] as an academic discipline of studying Indian culture from a European perspective was established in the 19th century, led by scholars such as [[Max Müller]] and [[John Woodroffe]]. They brought Vedic, Puranic and Tantric literature and philosophy to Europe and the United States. Western [[Orientalism|orientalist]] searched for the "essence" of the Indian religions, discerning this in the Vedas,{{sfn|King|2002|p=118}} and meanwhile creating the notion of "Hinduism" as a unified body of religious praxis{{sfn|King|1999-B}} and the popular picture of 'mystical India'.{{sfn|King|1999-B}}{{sfn|King|2002}} This idea of a Vedic essence was taken over by Hindu reform movements as the [[Brahmo Samaj]], which was supported for a while by the [[Unitarianism|Unitarian Church]],{{sfn|Jones|Ryan|2006|p=114}} together with the ideas of [[Universalism in religion|Universalism]] and [[Perennial philosophy|Perennialism]], the idea that all religions share a common [[Mysticism|mystic]] ground.{{sfn|King|2002|p=119-120}} This [[neo-Vedanta|"Hindu modernism"]], with proponents like [[Vivekananda]], [[Aurobindo]] and [[Radhakrishnan]], became central in the popular understanding of Hinduism.{{sfn|King|2002|p=123}}{{sfn|Muesse|2011|p=3-4}}{{sfn|Doniger|2010|p=18}}{{sfn|Jouhki|2006|p=10-11}}{{sfn|King|1999}}

==== Popularity in the west ====

Influential 20th-century Hindus were [[Ramana Maharshi]], [[B.K.S. Iyengar]], [[Paramahansa Yogananda]], [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]], [[A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada|Prabhupada]] (founder of [[ISKCON]]), [[Sri Chinmoy]], [[Swami Rama]] and others who translated, reformulated and presented Hinduism's foundational texts for contemporary audiences in new iterations, raising the profiles of Yoga and Vedanta in the West and attracting followers and attention in India and abroad.

Hindu practices such as Yoga, Ayurvedic health, Tantric sexuality through [[Neotantra]] and the ''[[Kama Sutra]]'' have spread beyond Hindu communities and have been accepted by several non-Hindus:

{{quote|Hinduism is attracting Western adherents through the affiliated practice of yoga. Yoga centers in the West—which generally advocate vegetarianism—attract young, well-educated Westerners who are drawn by yoga's benefits for the physical and emotional health; there they are introduced to the Hindu philosophical system taught by most yoga teachers, known as Vedanta.<ref>''Changing the Game: Why the Battle for Animal Liberation Is So Hard and How We Can Win It'' By [[Norm Phelps]]</ref>}}

It is estimated that around 30 million Americans and 5 million Europeans regularly practice some form of Hatha Yoga.<ref>P. 250 ''Educational Opportunities in Integrative Medicine: The a to Z Healing Arts Guide and Professional Resource Directory'' By Douglas A. Wengell</ref> In Australia, the number of practitioners is about 300,000.<ref group=web>[http://www.iayt.org/site_vx2/publications/articles/yogaaus.aspx "Yoga Therapy in Australia" by Leigh Blashki, M.H.Sc.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016154355/http://www.iayt.org/site_vx2/publications/articles/yogaaus.aspx |date=16 October 2013 }}</ref> In New Zealand the number is also around 300,000.<ref group=web>[http://www.wellpark.co.nz/blog/2012/4/the-growing-global-interest-in-yoga "The Growing Global Interest In Yoga"] Monday 16 April 2012 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130207214528/http://www.wellpark.co.nz/blog/2012/4/the-growing-global-interest-in-yoga |date=7 February 2013 }}</ref>

==== Hindutva ====

In the 20th century, Hinduism also gained prominence as a political force and a source for national identity in India. With origins traced back to the establishment of the [[Hindu Mahasabha]] in the 1910s, the movement grew with the formulation and development of the [[Hindutva]] ideology in the following decades; the establishment of [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS) in 1925; and the entry, and later success, of RSS offshoots [[Jana Sangha]] and [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP) in electoral politics in post-independence India.<ref name=Ram-Prasad>{{cite book|last=Ram-Prasad|first=C|title=The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism|year=2003|publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing]]|isbn=0-631-21535-2|pages=526–550|editor-link=Gavin Flood|editor=Flood, Gavin|chapter=Contemporary political Hinduism}}</ref> Hindu religiosity plays an important role in the nationalist movement.{{sfn|Rinehart|2004|p=196-197}}{{refn|group=note|This conjunction of nationalism and religion is not unique to India. The complexities of Asian nationalism are to be seen and understood in the context of colonialism, modernization and [[nation-building]]. See, for example, [[Anagarika Dharmapala]], for the role of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lankese struggle for independence,{{sfn|McMahan|2008}} and [[D.T. Suzuki]], who conjuncted [[Zen]] to [[Nihonjinron|Japanese nationalism]] and [[Bushido|militarism]], in defense against both western hegemony ''and'' the pressure on Japanese Zen during the [[Meiji Restoration]] to conform to [[Shinbutsu Bunri]].{{sfn|Sharf|1993}}{{sfn|Sharf|1995}}}}{{refn|group=note|name="neo"|Neo-Vedanta also contributed to Hindutva ideology, [[Hindu politics]] and [[Communalism (South Asia)|communalism]]. Yet, Rinehart emphasises that it is "clear that there isn't a neat line of causation that leads from the philosophies of Rammohan Roy, [[Vivekananda]] and Radhakrishnan to the agenda of [...] militant Hindus."{{sfn|Rinehart|2004|p=198}}}}

== Demographics ==
{{Main|Hinduism by country}}
[[File:Hinduism percent population in each nation World Map Hindu data by Pew Research.svg|right|upright=1.45|thumb|'''Hinduism – Percentage by country''']]
{{Hinduism by country}}

Hinduism is a major religion in India. Hinduism was followed by around 79.8% of the country's population of 1.21 billion (2011 census) (960 million adherents).<ref group=web>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html|title=The World Factbook|publisher=}}</ref> Other [[Hinduism by country|significant populations]] are found in Nepal (23 million), Bangladesh (15 million) and the [[Hinduism in Indonesia|Indonesia]]n island of [[Bali]] (3.9 million).<ref name="bps">{{cite web|url=http://sp2010.bps.go.id/index.php/site/tabel?tid=321&wid=0%7ctitle=Peringatan%7cpublisher=sp2010.bps.go.id%7caccessdate=2014-05-27|title=Peringatan|publisher=}}</ref> The majority of the Vietnamese [[Cham people]] also follow Hinduism, with the largest proportion in [[Ninh Thuận Province]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35433.htm |title=Vietnam |publisher=State.gov |date=2002-10-22 |accessdate=2014-06-17}}</ref>

Countries with the greatest proportion of Hindus:

# {{flag|Nepal}} 81.3%<ref group=web>[http://cbs.gov.np/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/National%20Report.pdf 2011 Nepal Census Report] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525062716/http://cbs.gov.np/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/National%20Report.pdf |date=25 May 2013 }}</ref>
# {{flag|India}} 79.8%<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livepopulation.com/country/india.html|title=Polulation of India Today|access-date=2018-08-05|website=livepopulation.com}}</ref>
# {{flag|Mauritius}} 48.5%<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gov.mu/portal/goc/cso/file/2011VolIIPC.pdf |publisher=[[Statistics Mauritius]] |page=68 |title=Resident population by religion and sex |accessdate=1 November 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016141533/http://www.gov.mu/portal/goc/cso/file/2011VolIIPC.pdf |archivedate=16 October 2013}}</ref>
# {{flag|Guyana}} 28.4%<ref group=web>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gy.html|title=The World Factbook|publisher=}}</ref>
# {{flag|Fiji}} 27.9%<ref group=web>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/fj.html|title=The World Factbook|publisher=}}</ref>
# {{flag|Bhutan}} 22.6%<ref group=web>{{cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2009/127364.htm|title=Bhutan|work=U.S. Department of State}}</ref>
# {{flag|Suriname}} 22.3%<ref group=web>{{cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2009/127405.htm|title=Suriname|work=U.S. Department of State}}</ref>
#{{flag|Trinidad and Tobago}} 18.2%<ref>[https://guardian.co.tt/sites/default/files/story/2011_DemographicReport.pdf 2011 Demographic Report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019211618/https://guardian.co.tt/sites/default/files/story/2011_DemographicReport.pdf|date=19 October 2017}} page 18</ref>
#{{flag|Qatar}} 13.8%
# {{flag|Sri Lanka}} 12.6%<ref group=web>Department of Census and Statistics,[http://www.statistics.gov.lk/PopHouSat/CPH2011/index.php?fileName=pop43&gp=Activities&tpl=3 The Census of Population and Housing of Sri Lanka-2011]</ref>
#{{flag|Bahrain}} 9.8%
# {{flag|Bangladesh}} 8.5%<ref group="web">{{cite web|url=http://www.bbs.gov.bd/WebTestApplication/userfiles/Image/SVRS/SVRS-10.pdf |title=SVRS 2010 |publisher=Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics |page=176 (Table P-14) |accessdate=2 September 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113153533/http://www.bbs.gov.bd/WebTestApplication/userfiles/Image/SVRS/SVRS-10.pdf |archivedate=13 November 2012 }}</ref>
# {{flag|Réunion}} 6.7%
#{{flag|United Arab Emirates}} 6.6%
# {{flag|Malaysia}} 6.3%<ref group=web name="cia.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/my.html|title=The World Factbook|publisher=}}</ref>
# {{flag|Kuwait}} 6%
#{{flag|Oman}} 5.5%
# {{flag|Singapore}} 5%<ref group="web" name="2010 census Full report">{{cite web|url=http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/popn/C2010sr1/cop2010sr1.pdf |title=Census of population 2010: Statistical Release 1 on Demographic Characteristics, Education, Language and Religion |author=Singapore Department of Statistics |date=12 January 2011 |accessdate=16 January 2011 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303155259/http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/popn/C2010sr1/cop2010sr1.pdf |archivedate=3 March 2011 }}</ref>
#{{flag|Seychelles}} 2.4%<ref group="web">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/se.html|title=The World Factbook|publisher=}}</ref>
# {{flag|Belize}} 2%

Demographically, Hinduism is the [[Major religious groups|world's third largest religion]], after [[Christianity]] and [[Islam]].<ref>Pew Research (2015), [http://www.pewforum.org/files/2015/03/PF_15.04.02_ProjectionsFullReport.pdf The Future of World Religions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150506113049/http://www.pewforum.org/files/2015/03/PF_15.04.02_ProjectionsFullReport.pdf |date=6 May 2015 }}, Washington DC;<br />John Schwarz (2015), What's Christianity All About?, Wipf and Stock Publishers, {{ISBN|978-1498225373}}, page 176</ref>

=== Conversion debate ===
[[File:Rath Yatra russia winter.jpg|thumb|right|[[Russian people|Russian]] [[Krishnaism|Krishnaites]] celebrating [[Ratha Yatra]]. In the late 20th century forms of Hinduism have grown indigenous roots in parts of Russia, significantly in [[Altai Republic|Altay]] where Hinduism is now the religion of 2% of the population.]]
In the modern era, religious conversion from and to Hinduism has been a controversial subject. Some state the concept of missionary conversion, either way, is anathema to the precepts of Hinduism.<ref name=arvindmr>Arvind Sharma (2011), Hinduism as a Missionary Religion, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-1438432113}}, pages 31–53</ref>

Religious conversion to Hinduism has a long history outside India. Merchants and traders of India, particularly from the Indian peninsula, carried their religious ideas, which led to religious conversions to Hinduism in southeast Asia.<ref>[[Jan Gonda]], The Indian Religions in Pre-Islamic Indonesia and their survival in Bali, in {{Google books|X7YfAAAAIAAJ|Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 3 Southeast Asia, Religions}}, pages 1–47</ref><ref>Richadiana Kartakusama (2006), Archaeology: Indonesian Perspective (Editors: Truman Simanjuntak et al.), Yayasan Obor Indonesia, {{ISBN|979-2624996}}, pp. 406–419</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= Java's Hinduism Revivial|first=Thomas |last=Reuter|publisher=Hinduism Today |date=September 2004|url=http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/2004/10-12/52-53_revivial.shtml}}</ref> Within India, archeological and textual evidence such as the 2nd-century BCE [[Heliodorus pillar]] suggest that Greeks and other foreigners converted to Hinduism.<ref>A Sharma (2012), Hinduism as a Missionary Religion, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-1438432120}}, page 84</ref><ref>Peter Wick and Volker Rabens (2013), Religions and Trade: Religious Formation, Transformation and Cross-Cultural Exchange Between East and West, Brill Academic, {{ISBN|978-9004255289}}, page 70 with footnotes 13 and 14</ref> The debate on proselytization and religious conversion between Christianity, Islam and Hinduism is more recent, and started in the 19th century.<ref name=rafiuddinahmed>Rafiuddin Ahmed (1992), Muslim-Christian Polemics, in ''Religious Controversy in British India: Dialogues in South Asian Languages'' (Editor: Kenneth Jones), State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791408278}}, pages 93–120</ref><ref name=ayeshajalal>Ayesha Jalal (2010), Partisans of Allah: Jihad in South Asia, Harvard University Press, {{ISBN|978-0674047365}}, pages 117–146</ref>{{refn|group=note|The controversy started as an intense polemic battle between Christian missionaries and Muslim organizations in the first half of the 19th century, where missionaries such as [[Karl Gottlieb Pfander]] tried to convert Muslims and Hindus, by criticizing Qur'an and Hindu scriptures.<ref name=ayeshajalal/><ref>Martin Parsons (2006), Unveiling God: Contextualising Christology for Islamic Culture, William Carey Press, {{ISBN|978-0878084548}}, pages 4–15, 19–27</ref><ref>Avril Powell (1976), [https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0035869X00133003 Maulānā Raḥmat Allāh Kairānawī and Muslim-Christian Controversy in India in the Mid-19th Century], Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland (New Series), Volume 108, Issue 01, pages 42–63; Avril Powell (1995), Contested gods and prophets: discourse among minorities in late nineteenth‐century Punjab, Renaissance and Modern Studies, Volume 38, Issue 1, pages 38–59</ref> Muslim leaders responded by publishing in Muslim-owned newspapers of Bengal, and through rural campaign, polemics against Christians and Hindus, and by launching "purification and reform movements" within Islam.<ref name=rafiuddinahmed/><ref name=ayeshajalal/> Hindu leaders joined the proselytization debate, criticized Christianity and Islam, and asserted Hinduism to be a universal, secular religion.<ref name=rafiuddinahmed/><ref name=csadcock/>}}

Religious leaders of some Hindu reform movements such as the [[Arya Samaj]] launched ''Shuddhi'' movement to proselytize and reconvert Muslims and Christians back to Hinduism,<ref name=csadcock>CS Adcock (2014), The Limits of Tolerance: Indian Secularism and the Politics of Religious Freedom, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199995448}}, pages 1–35, 115–168</ref><ref>Harold Coward (1987), Modern Indian Responses to Religious Pluralism, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0887065729}}, pages 49–60</ref> while those such as the [[Brahmo Samaj]] suggested Hinduism to be a non-missionary religion.<ref name=arvindmr/> All these sects of Hinduism have welcomed new members to their group, while other leaders of Hinduism's diverse schools have stated that given the intensive proselytization activities from missionary Islam and Christianity, this "there is no such thing as proselytism in Hinduism" view must be re-examined.<ref name=arvindmr/><ref name=csadcock/><ref>Gauri Viswanathan (1998), Outside the Fold: Conversion, Modernity, and Belief, Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|978-0691058993}}, pages 153–176</ref>

The appropriateness of conversion from major religions to Hinduism, and vice versa, has been and remains an actively debated topic in India,<ref>Sebastian Kim (2005), In Search of Identity: Debates on Religious Conversion in India, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195677126}}, pages 1–29</ref><ref>Muhammad Khalid Masud (2005), Islamic Legal Interpretation: Muftis and Their Fatwas, Harvard University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195979114}}, pages 193–203</ref><ref>Ankur Barua (2015), Debating 'Conversion' in Hinduism and Christianity, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-1138847019}}, Chapters 2 and 8</ref> and in Indonesia.{{Sfn|Ramstedt|2004| pp= 93–108 (Robert Hefner)}}

== See also ==

'''Hinduism'''

{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
*[[History of Hinduism]]
*[[List of Hindu Empires and Dynasties]]
* [[Hinduism in Southeast Asia]]
* [[Balinese Hinduism]]
* [[Atheism in Hinduism]]
* [[Criticism of Hinduism]]
* [[Hindu]]
* [[Hindu calendar]]
* [[Hindu deities]]
* [[Hindu denominations]]
* [[Hindu mythology]]
* [[Hindu reform movements]]
* [[Hinduism by country]]
* [[Jagran]]
* [[Puranic chronology]]
* [[List of Hindu temples]]
* [[Lists of Hindus]]
* [[List of converts to Hinduism]]
* [[Outline of Hinduism]]
* [[Persecution of Hindus]]
*[[Tulsi in Hinduism]]
{{div col end}}

'''Related systems and religions'''

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}

* [[Ayyavazhi]]
* [[Buddhism]]
* [[Christianity and Hinduism]]
* [[Eastern philosophy]]
* [[Hindu philosophy]]
* [[Indian religions]]
* [[Islam and Hinduism]]
* [[Jainism]]
* [[Hinduism and Judaism]]
* [[Proto-Indo-European religion]]
* [[Proto-Indo-Iranian religion]]
* [[Sikhism]]
* [[Zoroastrianism]]

{{div col end}}

{{Wikipedia books|1=Hinduism}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=note|30em}}

''Subnotes''

{{Reflist|group=subnote}}

== References ==

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{{reflist|20em}}

== Sources ==

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{{Refend}}

=== Web sources ===
{{Reflist|group=web|30em}}

== Further reading ==

<!-- only monographs dedicated to Hinduism in general should be listed here -->

'''Introductory'''
* {{Cite book |last =Fowler | first =Jeaneane D. | year =1997 |title =Hinduism: Beliefs and Practices | publisher =Sussex Academic Press | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RmGKHu20hA0C |isbn=978-1-898723-60-8}}
* {{Citation | last =Flood | first =Gavin D. | authorlink = Gavin Flood | year =1996 | title =An Introduction to Hinduism | publisher =Cambridge University Press}}

'''Origins'''
* {{Cite book | last =Parpola | first =Asko | year =2015 | title =The Roots of Hinduism. The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization | publisher =Oxford University Press |ref={{sfnref|Parpola, The Roots of Hinduism|2015}}}}
* {{Citation | last =Samuel | first =Geoffrey | year =2010 | title =The Origins of Yoga and Tantra. Indic Religions to the Thirteenth Century | publisher =Cambridge University Press |ref=harv}}

'''Texts'''
* {{Cite book | last =Klostermaier | first =Klaus K. | year =2007 | title =A Survey of Hinduism: Third Edition | publisher =State University of New York Press | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=E_6-JbUiHB4C |ref=harv| isbn =9780791470824 }}
* {{Cite book | last=Flood |first=Gavin (Ed) | authorlink=Gavin Flood | year =2003 |title=Blackwell companion to Hinduism |publisher= [[Blackwell Publishing]] |isbn=0-631-21535-2 }}
* Richards, Glyn, ed. (1985). ''A Sourcebook of Modern Hinduism''. London: Curzon Press. x, 212 p. {{ISBN|0-7007-0173-7}}

== External links ==
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{{Sister project links|Hinduism|d=Q9089|n=Category:Hinduism|s=Category:Hinduism|voy=Hinduism}}

* [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism "Hinduism"]. ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' Online.
* [http://www.iep.utm.edu/hindu-ph/ Hindu Philosophy and Hinduism], IEP, Shyam Ranganathan, York University
* [http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/vedica.pdf Vedic Hinduism] SW Jamison and M Witzel, Harvard University
* [[Wikisource:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 1/Lectures And Discourses/The Hindu Religion|The Hindu Religion]], Swami Vivekananda (1894), Wikisource
* [http://www.ramakrishna.org/catalog/archive/Spirit_of_Hinduism.htm Hinduism by Swami Nikhilananda], The Ramakrishna Mission (one of the Theistic Hindu Movements)
* [http://www.dlshq.org/download/hinduismbk.pdf All About Hinduism by Swami Sivananda (pdf)], The Divine Life Society (one of the Theistic Hindu Movements)
* [http://www.iep.utm.edu/adv-veda/ Advaita Vedanta Hinduism by Sangeetha Menon], IEP (one of the non-Theistic school of Hindu philosophy)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051103040233/http://hinduism.iskcon.com/ Heart of Hinduism: An overview of Hindu traditions], ISKCON (Hare Krishna Movement)
* [http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/wfchannel/index.php?wfc_cid=21 What is Hinduism?], Editors of Hinduism Today Magazine
* [http://www.pluralism.org/religion/hinduism/bibliography Hinduism outside India], A Bibliography, Harvard University (The Pluralism Project)
* [https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00196705/ What's in a Name? Agama Hindu Bali in the Making – Hinduism in Bali, Indonesia] Michel Picard, Le CNRS (Paris, France)

'''Research on Hinduism'''

* [http://www.ochs.org.uk/ The Oxford Center for Hindu Studies], University of Oxford
* [http://jhs.oxfordjournals.org/content/current Latest issue of The Journal of Hindu Studies], Oxford University Press
* [https://link.springer.com/journal/volumesAndIssues/11407 Latest issue of the International Journal of Hindu Studies], Springer
* [http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/jhcs/ Latest issue of The Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies], Butler University
* [http://jewishstudies.fiu.edu/about-us/initiative-for-global-jewish-communities/society-for-indo-judaic-studies/journal-archives/ Latest issue of The Journal of Indo-Judaic Studies], Florida International University
* [http://www.internationaljournaldharmastudies.com Latest issue of the International Journal of Dharma Studies], Springer (Topical publications on Hinduism, other Indic religions)

'''Audio on Hinduism'''

* [https://archive.org/details/SwamiVivekanandaSwamiVivekananda1893Speech Hinduism as a Religion, by Swami Vivekananda], ''World Parliament of Religion'', Chicago in 1893 (Audio Version, [http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/_includes/FCKcontent/file/Vivekananda.pdf Text]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }})
* [http://www.ochs.org.uk/lectures/previous Scholarly lectures on Hinduism], OCHS, University of Oxford

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