History of Hinduism: Prevedic and Vedic Age
4.5/5
()
About this ebook
History of Hinduism: Pre-vedic and Vedic Age. This book gives latest research updates on ancient Hinduism. It surveys the Pre-vedic religion of ancient India as found in the Indus Valley or Harappan civilization, then takes a dip into the world of Vedas to discover the religion of that age.
Domenic Marbaniang
Domenic Marbaniang is Christian writer, musician, and minister.
Read more from Domenic Marbaniang
Child Development Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMission and Ministry of the Church Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIntroduction to Philosophical Ethics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsModern Theologies of Revelation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHermeneutics of Religion Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Essays on World Religions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhilosophy of Science: A Short Introduction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hamartiology: Notes on Philosophical Theology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPsalm 50: A Call to Worship in Spirit and Truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Explorations of Faith: Studies in Hebrews 11 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGod and Politics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSecularism in India Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Philosophy of Time: Thoughts and Deliberations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGoosebumps Ii and Other New Poetry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKarmic and Abrahamic Faiths: Comparative Themes for Interreligious Dialogue Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSon of God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCorruption: Roots, Challenges, Solutions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Chronicles of Sin: The City of Magic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEpistemics of Divine Reality Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe World in Our Hands Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Logic of Faith Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to History of Hinduism
Related ebooks
Indian Mythology: Tales, Symbols, and Rituals from the Heart of the Subcontinent Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Brief History of India Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Understanding Ancient India Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShiva to Shankara: Giving Form to the Formless Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Hinduism: A Beginner's Guide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hindu Mythology and the Origins of Gods Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vedic World and Ancient Science Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReligions of the World: The History and Beliefs of Hinduism Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5From Bharata to India: Volume 1: Chrysee the Golden Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHinduism: What You Need to Know about the Hindu Religion, Gods, Goddesses, Beliefs, History, and Rituals Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Indus to Independence: A Trek Through Indian History (Vol III The Disintegration of Empires) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhy I am Not a Hindu Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Unspoken History of India of Six-Thousand Years Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5History of India from the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century B.C. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPrinciples of Hinduism Explained to Non-Hindus Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIndia An Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Essence of Indian Culture Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hinduism: A Short History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDid Indians Build Egyptian Pyramids? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAncient India, Rise and Fall: Ancient Worlds and Civilizations, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of Hinduism and Buddhism: All 3 Volumes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll About Dravidas, Tamil Sangams, Kumari Kandam And Tolkappiyam Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA History of Indian Philosophy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5From Indus to Independence: A Trek Through Indian History (Vol I Prehistory to the Fall of the Mauryas) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Critical Hindu: An Essential Guide to Understanding Hindu Beliefs, Rituals & Practices Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShiva: Stories and Teachings from the Shiva Mahapurana Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hindu Dharma: Introduction to Scriptures and Theology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFaith: 40 Insights into Hinduism Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5
Hinduism For You
Bhagavad Gita - The Song of God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Be Here Now Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana (Illustrated) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Bhagavad Gita Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wheels of Life: A User's Guide to the Chakra System Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World--and Why Their Differences Matter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bhagavad Gita (in English): The Authentic English Translation for Accurate and Unbiased Understanding Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Complete Chakra Healing Library: Chakra Healing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Bhagavad Gita Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Satanic Bible 2012 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bhagavad Gita (Translated into English prose with an Introduction by Kashinath Trimbak Telang) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Upanishads Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bhagavad Gita: Song of the Lord Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga: A Practical Guide to Healing Body, Mind, and Spirit Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bhagavad Gita for Dummies Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Embrace Yoga's Roots Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hinduism For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rig Veda Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Introducing Hinduism: A Graphic Guide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chakras: Energy Centers of Transformation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yoga Nidra Meditations: 24 Scripts for True Relaxation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhy I Am a Hindu Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Legend of Bagger Vance: A Novel of Golf and the Game of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation and Study Guide Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ramayana: A Modern Retelling of the Great Indian Epic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bhagavad-gita: As It Is Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMahabharata: The Greatest Spiritual Epic of All Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for History of Hinduism
3 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good reading, the author speaks in an easy language about the matter
1 person found this helpful
Book preview
History of Hinduism - Domenic Marbaniang
INTRODUCTION
It is generally understood that the term ‘Hindu’ was not historically associated with what is now regarded as the Hindu religion. According to Nehru, Arya dharma was the term generally used to inclusively identify all religious systems that originated in India (then known as Aryadesha, meaning ‘the land of the Aryans or the Noble Land’). Buddha is said to have always called his way to salvation ‘the Aryan Path’. The term Vedic dharma was used for religious systems that claimed to be derived from the Vedas. The term Sanatana dharma, Nehru held, could be used of any ancient religion in India, though it has been monopolized in recent times by some who claim Hinduism to be the Sanatana or ancient religion.[1] The term dharma itself didn’t mean ‘religion’ in the sense that it is used today; it meant more ‘duty’, ‘way of righteousness’, or ‘the right way of living’.
In his A History of India, Burton Stein notes that it is important to ‘distinguish between Aryan Brahminism and the Hinduism that took its form during the early centuries of the present era.’[2] ‘Brahminism’ more relates the the caste-oriented system of religion the Brahmins to be the superior priestly class. In recent times, ‘Brahminism’ has been strongly criticized and opposed by the majority Dalits (lower class social groups considered as outcastes by the caste Hindus).
To historians, the term ‘Hindu’ was more a geographical term denoting the land or people who lived beyond the river Sindhu or Indus. Thus, Hindu (derived from Sindhu) was the same as India (derived from Indus). The use of the word ‘Hindu’ in connection with a particular religion only occurred in recent times. John Keay in India: A History, notes that the very term sindhu means ‘river’ in Sanskrit; hence, ‘‘sapta-sindhu’ meant ‘[the land of] the seven rivers’, which was what the Vedic arya called the Panjab.’[3] He goes on to observe:
The Indus, to which most of these seven rivers were tributary, was the sindhu par excellence, and in the language of ancient Persian, a near relative of Sanskrit, the initial ‘s’ of a Sanskrit word was invariably rendered as an aspirate – ‘h’. Soma, the mysterious hallucinogen distilled, deified and drunk to excess by the Vedic arya, is thus homa or haoma in old Persian; and sindhu is thus Hind[h]u. When, from Persian, the word found its way into Greek, the initial aspirate was dropped, and it started to appear as the route ‘Ind’ (as in ‘India’, ‘Indus’, etc.). In this form it reached Latin and most other European languages. However, in Arabic and related languages it retained the initial ‘h’, giving ‘Hindustan’ as the name by which Turks and Mughals would know India. That word also passed to Europe to give ‘Hindu’ as the name of the country’s indigenous people and of what, by Muslims and Christians alike, was regarded as their infidel religion.[4]
The land is twice referred to as Hoduw in the Bible, noting that the Persian King Xerxes’ kingdom, in the 5th century BC, extended to India.[5]
Map 1: Vedic India
Thus, the very term Hindu as referring to a religion originated through a process of geographical identification by those outside of India. However, though it may succumb to over-generalization (for instance, erroneously clumping the outcastes and tribals under Hinduism as well), the use of the term Hindu for the more popular and dominant form of faith and practice of the people beyond the river should not be considered irrational at all. For instance, we would consider the motley of polytheistic beliefs and practices in ancient Greece as Greek (for instance, when we talk about ‘Greek mythology’), but ‘Greek’ was not the name of a religion in its established form. The same holds for also Egyptian and African religions. They received their general names from their general territories. But, then in the same manner that not every Greek was a follower of the "Greek