Hinduism is a an unfathomable school of thought with countless interconnections between the various streams. It differs from Christianity, Islam and other religions in a way that it does not have a single founder, a specific theological system, a single system of morality, or a central religious organization. It consists of "a confluence of thousands of different ideologies that have evolved in Bharat Varsh, since time immemorial." Hinduism is the only religion where in, every individual exercises his right of expression in the most elegant way.Thinking of Islam even for a while, we get number of incidents like the kind of one in which we have Salman Rushdie , writing something against islam and a fatwa getting issued against him, (for further information , read BBC report : http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/26/newsid_2542000/2542873.stm). Hinduism essentially encourage all kinds of discussions.Hinduism is the world's oldest major religion that is still practiced by billion people now. Its earliest origins can be traced to the ancient Vedic civilization.The earliest evidence for elements of Hinduism date back to the late Neolithic to the early Harappan period (5500–2600BCE), beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era (1500–500BCE) are called the "historical Vedic religion". Classical Hinduism grew out of the Vedas, the oldest of which is the Rigveda, dated older than 3200 BCE The Vedas center on worship of deities such as Indra, Varuna, Rudra ( the premordial god) and Agni, and on the Soma ritual.
Who we are??
A). Let me start from Vedas:
The Vedas
There are four Vedas, the Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. The Vedas are the primary texts of Hinduism. They also had a vast influence on Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Traditionally the text of the Vedas was coeval with the universe. Scholars have determined that the Rig Veda, the oldest of the four Vedas, was compiled about 2000 B.C
The Vedas contain hymns, incantations, and rituals from ancient India. Along with the Book of the Dead, the Enuma Elish, the I Ching, and the Avesta, they are among the most ancient religious texts still in existence. Besides their spiritual value, they also give a unique view of everyday life in India four thousand years ago. The Vedas are also the most ancient extensive texts in an Indo-European language, and as such are invaluable in the study of comparative linguistics.
Today more and more foreigner are doing their research on vedas,and its revealing mysteries that even today's modern science is not able to solves and proving a vast source of knowledge in those manuscripts of Vedas.
Vedic Mathematics is the name given to the ancient system of Mathematics which was rediscovered from the Vedas between 1911 and 1918 by Sri Bharati Krsna Tirthaji (1884-1960). According to his research all of mathematics is based on sixteen Sutras or word-formulae. Today we have more institutes .
Today we have lot of institutes teaching vedic mathematics in India and abroad.It has created a simplex revolution in the complex world of mathematics. (for learning more on vedic mathematics : download this pdf , http://www.esnips.com/doc/36fa7733-56c8-4318-b520-fb57b49418c4/Vedic-Maths)
C). Gave Birth to new religions to make ourselves broader in thinking :
Jainism.
Buddhism.
Sikhism.
No other religion in today's world has done this.No other religions permits ,creating a separate sect else other religions suppress such activities but Hinduism encourages it and broaden its views .
D).Gave this world lot of scholars, mathematicians and lot more.Few are worthy specifying :
Swami Vivekananda :Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), the first Hindu monk from India to teach Vedanta in America, addressed the World’s Parliament of Religions, held in conjunction with the World’s Columbian Exposition. His unprecedented success opened the way for the dialogue between eastern and western religions.
For more information,read wiki pages.
Srinivas Ramanujan : The teacher was asking some simple questions in arithmetic. The class was learning the simple operation of division. When the teacher asked how many bananas would each boy get if three bananas were divided equally among three boys, someone had an answer. One each. Thousand bananas divided equally among thousand boys? The answer was still the same. One. The class was progressing thus, questions being asked by the teacher and answers being provided by the student. But there was a boy who had a question. If none of the bananas was divided among no boys, how much would each boy get? The whole class burst into laughter at what the students thought was a fast one or a silly question. But the teacher seemed to have been impressed. He took it upon himself to explain to the boys that what the student had asked was not a silly question but rather a profound one. He was questioning the teacher about the concept of infinity. A concept that had baffled mathematicians for centuries, until the Indian scientist Bhaskara had provided some light. He had proved that zero divided by zero was neither zero nor one, but infinity.The student was Srinivas Ramanujam, a great mathematician.
Bhagat Singh : Today ,after more than 75 years of his sacrifice,"Inquilab Zindabad!" is a slogan best regraded as slogan of repression .Bhagat Singh (September 27, 1907– March 23, 1931) was an Indian freedom fighter, considered to be one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement. For this reason, he is often referred to as Shaheed Bhagat Singh (the word shaheed means "martyr").According to TIME magazine ,Bhagat Singh is regarded as the influential revolutionary,after Che guevara,in the world.
Rabindranath Tagore known by the sobriquet Gurudev, a Bengali poet, Brahmo religionist , visual artist, playwright, novelist, and composer whose works reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He became Asia's first Nobel laureate when he won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature.
The list has almost numerous names from economist,Amartya Sen to Astronaut Kalpana Chawla, from Nobel Laureate C.V.Raman to Author V.S.Naipaul,from Lakshmi Mittal to Aurobindo Ghosh and lot more.
I am not writing all this because you don't know what is Hinduism? But i think we are forgetting what this religion has given to us,what are the names associated with Hinduism,what is our origin.Today i read an article which prompted my inner self to read and write for Hinduism.Today Hinduism is in threat.
1. Mass Conversions
2. Destruction of Hindu Institutions
3. Vote Bank Politics
These are the basic threats to Hinduism
If you can get sometime from your busy schedules ,time for your religion,time for been an Hindu,just read this pdf.I know its bit longer but i hope once you start reading it ,you will come know the reality that how others are trying to kill our entity,our ethics,our beliefs, and most important our HINDUISM, our religion!!!!!!!.
Here is the link for the PDF i was talking off
http://www.absolute-truth.net/IndiaToday.pdf
Regards,
Aditya Dogra
