Hindu History

Now arriving at: Hindu History. Please remain seated until the train has come to a complete stop. Thank you.

This is where it all began. Without a clear understanding of history, you will not be able to compare and form a basis of thought since you do not understand how it came to be. At least that is how it is in MOST cases.

I'm going to explain the events like a timeline so it is easier to tell which event happened at what time.

Hinduism: The Origin and its Mysteries 2500 B.C.E.

Hinduism is one of the most ancient religions throughout the history of our world. In truth, there have been so many additions and modifications that we are unsure of the exact place and time the religion. The term Hinduism originates from the name of a river in western India. This river is referred to as the Indus River. 2500 years ago, a civilization that we have dubbed the Harappa made a living near this river. The Harappa carved images of gods, which distinctively resemble two Hindu gods Shiva and Vishnu. The other gods however, may have been introduced in the event that is to take place in northern India 1000 years later?

The Aryan Invasion: The Distinct Similarities

1000 years after the Harappa civilization, the Aryans invaded northern India and brought their Indonesian European gods beliefs with them. As years went by, the two opposing sides gradually realized that the gods they worshipped bore similarities and characteristics. The main difference was the method of worshipping, so both sides began worshipping other gods as well. From this statement, we can imply the current Hindu gods we know of today may have once originally been Indonesian gods. We do not know this for certain because the first recognizable written words were dated about 500 years after this time period.

The Ancient Words of Rig Veda: The Foundation of Beliefs

The Rig Veda is the oldest Hindu record of recognizable text. It is a collection of poems and hymns of rituals from India. Veda itself means knowledge or wisdom while Rig means praise in Sanskrit. This collecton of text supposedly arose from Indo-Aryans 2000 years B.C.E. However the writings were recorded around 900 B.C.E. Today the Rig Veda does not influence modern Hinduism by a significant amount since many ideas have changed. For example the God Indra was displayed as very important but he is one of the minor Gods today. Nevertheless, the Rig Veda sparked a way to categorize its Gods and it is interesting to compare to what we have developed today.

This is a part of the Rig Veda.

A Hero is born? The rise of Siddhartha Gautama

Around 563 B.C.E, Siddhartha Gautama A.K.A "Buddha" was born. Kaundinya, a brahmin scholar predicted that Siddhartha would grow up to be a Buddha. Since Siddhartha lived his life as a prince, he never witnessed suffering or death. One day however he went to the streets and saw a sick man, and dead man and a holy man. Intrigued by these sights, he vowed to live his life as a holy man to aviod these things. While enroute on his quest, he practiced under 2 hermit teachers by starving himself in order to achieve enlightenment. After realizing he needed food to concentrate, he was enlightened under the Bodhi tree. At this point he could have gone to Nirvana (similar to heaven but not quite)but decided to stay behind and teach others. His teaching is based around dharma which means "do your duty".

Now that you have some understanding of Hindu history, we can move on to their beliefs . Some words will appear again so you will have a better understanding of this section.

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