Da’wah To Hindus

Hinduism is a religion that originated in India and is still practiced there, as well as in those countries within the Indian cultural sphere (chiefly South East Asia) and those with resident communities of Indian stock (chiefly South East Asia, East Africa, South Africa, and Britain).

The Hindus’ own definitions of their community are Sanatana Dharam “old tradition” or Vedantic Dharam “those who believe in the Vedas” or “those who follow the way (dharma) of the four classes or castes (varnas) and stages of life (ashramas)”.

Fundamental Principles

Among Hindus, there is far more uniformity in ritual than in belief is found, although all share very few practices or beliefs. Many Hindus worship Shiva, Vishnu, or the Goddess (Devi), but they also worship hundreds of additional minor deities peculiar to a particular village or even to a particular family.

No doctrinal or ecclesiastical hierarchy exists in Hinduism, but the intricate hierarchy of the social system which is inseparable from the religion gives each person a sense of place within the whole.

The Scriptures

There are several sacred scriptures of the Hindus. Among these are the four Vedas (Rig, Sam, Yajar, Atharva) and ten principal Upanishads and eighteen Puranas and two epics called Ramayana and Mahabarata.

And the most widely read book among Hindus is Bhagavad-Gita.

Bhagavad-Gita is a part of the Mahabarata.

Philosophy

Incorporated in this rich literature is a complex cosmology. Hindus believe that the universe is a great, sphere; a cosmic egg, within which are numerous concentric heavens, hells, oceans, and continents, with India at the center. They believe that time is both degenerative going from the golden age, or Krita Yuga, through two intermediate periods of decreasing goodness, to the present age, or Kali Yuga – and cyclic.

At the end of each kali Yuga, the Universe is destroyed by fire and flood, and a new golden age begins, Human life, too, is cyclic, involving transmigration. After death, the soul leaves the body and is reborn in the body of another person, an animal, vegetables, or minerals. This process of endless entanglement in activity and rebirth is called Samsara.