You South Africa – 29 August 2019

DuringthistimethemostimportantHindu

holyscriptures,theVedas(knowledge),were

composed.Moresacredtexts,calledtheUpan-

ishads(“sittingdownnear”tolistentogurus),

werecomposedin800-200BC.Theseformthe

basisformodernHindubeliefs.

MANYGODS

UnlikeChristians,MuslimsandJews,

whobelieveinonlyonegod(mono-

theism),mostHindusarehenotheistic, which

meanstheybelieveinonesupremepower,

Brahman,butworshipthisforcethroughvari-

oussymbolsandformsordeities(gods).They

believethesedeitiesareeachadifferentas-

pectofBrahman, who’spresentinallthings.

ThethreemostimportantgodsareBrahma

(theCreator),Vishnu(theProtectorandPre-

server)andShiva(theDestroyerorTransform-

er).Together,theyfromthetrimurti(threefold

deity),who’sresponsibleforthecreation,

upkeepandtransformationoftheuniverse.

OtherHindudeitiesincludeKrishna(thegod

ofcompassion,tendernessandlove),Ganesha

(theremoverofobstaclesandpatronofarts

andsciences),Hanuman(theApeGod,asym-

bolofstrengthdevotionandenergy)andLaksh-

mi(thegod

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Inourfinalarticle on

religionsweexplore

Hinduism,which can be

tracedbackto 1500 BC

I

T’Stheoldestreligionthat’sstill

practisedtoday.Hinduismisalso

thethird-largestintheworld,with

1,1billionfollowers,mostofwhom

liveinNepalandIndia.ThefirstHin-

dusarrivedinSouthAfricainthe19th

century.Todaythereareabout 560000

HindusinSA.

WHATISHINDUISM?

Itincludesavarietyofbeliefsand

practices. Hinduismdiffersfromother

majorreligionsbecauseitwasn’tfoundedby

onepersonanddoesn’thavea formalbeliefsys-

tem.Throughouthistorytherehavebeenmany

religiousleaderscalledgurusteachingdifferent

philosophiesandcomposingmanyholytexts.

Theword“Hindu”comesfromtheIndusRiver

ValleyinnorthernIndiaandwasoriginallyused

bythePersianstodescribea personfromthis

area.Theword“Hinduism”wascreatedinthe

19thcenturybytheBritishtodescribethebe-

liefsandtraditionsoftheHindupeople.Some

Hindusprefertocalltheirbeliefssanātana

dharma(“theeternalway”),acodeofconduct

thatprovidesa wayofunderstandingreality.

ORIGIN

Hinduismcanbetracedto 1500 BC,

althoughmostHindusbelievetimeis

a cyclewithnobeginningorendandthattheir

faithhasalwaysexisted.Around 1500 BC,peo-

plecalledAryansmigratedfromcentralAsia

totheIndusValley,bringingtheirgodswiththem.

A Hindu sadhu (monk or mystic) meditates at sunrise

onthebankoftheholyGangesRiverinVaranasi,which

isregardedasthespiritualcapitalofIndiaasithas

morethan2 000temples. Krishna, the Hindu god

of compassion, is often depicted playing a flute.

ThreereligionsdevelopedfromHinduism:Bud-
dhism,SikhismandJainism.Thereare 30 million
Sikhsworldwideand4,2millionJains.Sikhswor-
shiponlyonegod.Jainsdon’tworshipanygods.

Religions

Part 5

of 5

beings have a soul, and that all living things are

part of the supreme soul, Brahman.

SKarma (action) means every action has a

consequence (cause and effect). If you do good

things, good things will happen to you, but if you

do bad things, bad things will happen to you.

SSamsara (reincarnation) is a continuous

cycle in which the soul is reborn into different

bodies, either human or animal. The good or bad

karma you’ve built up over lifetimes determines

if you’ll be reborn into a better or worse life.

SPuruṣārtha (objects of human pursuit) are

the four goals necessary for a fulfilling life.

Dharma (that which holds) is the natural

order of things that upholds the universe and

society. Living according to your dharma is to

do the right and good thing. Artha (means of

life) is doing things to ensure financial security

and prosperity, and kama (desire) is doing

thingstofindemotionalfulfilment.Moksha

(liberation)isthereleasefromsamsara. This

isthefourthPuruṣārthaandissimilartothe

ThegodGanesha,who

removesobstacles,

isdepicted

withanel-

ephant

head.

ngth,devotionandenergy)andLaksh

ddessofwealthandprosperity).

omtheVedasandUpanishads,there

storiesabouttheHindugods.Chil-

oldthesestoriestoteachthemlife

hesestoriesarecollectedintheepic

BhagavadGita,theMahabharata

mayana.

ONCEPTS

Atman(eternalsoul)is

personalsoulorself.

ieveallliving

isthefourthPuruṣārthaandissimilartothe

74 | 29 AUGUST 2019 you.co.za^