Now arriving at Hindu beliefs. Remember to take all your personal belongings when leaving the train. Thank you.

Hinduism has 3 notable beliefs that are worth mentioning. They are the Samsara cycle, the caste system and the fact that Ashrams are used to contain widows whom are deemed "polluted". It may seems intimidating but it is actually pretty simple. Well at least for me.

Cycle of Samsara

This cycle is the cycle of life that is repeated until Nirvana is attained. It begins with birth, continues with life and ends with death. The person is reborn in a different life depending on their karma (action) and how well they performed their dharma (duty). A positive outcome means they go up a step and live in a better life. A negative outcome means they go down a step and is reborn in a lower life form. In order to break the cycle (called moksha which means liberation) you must have good karma and dharma at the highest form of life.

A picture showing the possible stages of life before reaching Nirvana.

Caste System

This system divides people based on their rank and importance. The greater your varna (group) the more important you are and you also get a wider selection of possibilities and rights. The higest group are the Brahmins. They make good priests and offer advice. They are also only allowed to eat food made by other Brahmins. The second group are Kshatriyas are they are soliders. The third group is known as Vaishyas of which many are farmers and traders. The forth group goes by the name of Shudras and these were people that served other groups. Finally the lowest of all group are the Untouchables. These people are given jobs that nobody else wants to do such as working with leather. A woman may be bumped up if her husband is in a higher caste.

This is a diagram illustrating the power level of each group. The higher up the pyramid the better.

Ashrams

An Ashram is a camp where women go for the rest of their lives if the husband passes on. Here their hair is shaved off and are forced to live a life of begging for donations from other people. Anybody that touches these women is polluted and must go through a cleaning ritual to cleanse themselves. This kind of practice ties back into dharma as the women must accept their fate for the rest of their lives and deal with it. Oddly enough, there isn't a camp for men. If their wife passes on, they may choose to marry again.

That was interesting. Who knew they had these kinds of beliefs? Proceed to how they worship if you're feeling brave.

Or look at another topic.