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Hinduism
Hinduism, one of the great religions of the world, is the major religion of
India, where nearly 85 percent of the population is classified as Hindu. Hinduism has developed over about 4000 years and has no single founder of creed; rather, it consists of a vast variety hierarchy nonexistent. In its diversity, Hinduism hardly fits most Western definitions of religion; rather, it suggests commitment to or respect for an ideal wqy of life, known as Dharma.
In Hinduism, dharma refers to the moral law, the religious and ethical duties of an individual. Following one's dharma entails conduct appropriate to one's caste and fufillment of Hindu precepts. The carrying out of dharma is said to govern one's rebirths. Hinuism itself is called sanatana dharma (eternal dharma), or everlasting law.
Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna is a popular name for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, a Hindu movement founded in the United States by A.C. Bhaktivedanta. the popular name derives from the mantra Hare Krishna("O Lord Krishna") chanted by merabers of the group.
Devotees of the Hindu god Krishna, the merabers are divided into two classes: brahmacatin ("students"), who live in temples and vow to abstain from sex, meat, intoxicants, and gabling, and grihasta, or lay merabers who marry and have families. They are proselytizers who actively seek converts. In the mid-1980s the Hare Krishna movement had more than 200 centers in the United States, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. In the United States it was troubled by internal disputes that reportedly led to several killings, and was accused by critics of other illegal activities as well.
Varanasi
Varanasi (or Benares) is a sacred city for Hindus in Uttar Pradesh state, northern India, situated on the north bank of the Ganges River. Its population is 582,856 and rising. Jewelry, brasswork, lacquered toys, and gold-erabroidered saris are important handcraft products. The city's tourist industry caters tothe many pilgrims who visit the holy city each year. Varanasi contains maore than 1500 temples and mosques. Almost all of the city's 3 mile of river banks have been converted into ghats (brick steps), where worshipers bathe in the sacred Ganges. Benares Hindu University is one of India's most prominent seats of learning.
Originally known as Kasi, Varanasi is mentioned in late Vedic literature and in the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. The city encompasses Sarnath, where Buddha preached his first sermon in about 530 BC. From the fourth to the sixth century AD, Varanasi was a great cultural center, but the onset of Muslim occupation in 1193 resulted in the city's decline and the desruction of its temples. Varanasi was made part of Uttar Pradesh in 1949.
The Caste System
The term caste refers to an extreme form of social differentiation in which the groups that constitute society are ranked in a rigid hierarchical scale. In all true caste systems, society as a whole is divided into a series of groups recruited by birth: marriage is generally restricted to merabers of the same caste, castes are in some way associated with occupational specializations, and the order of castes is linked to a moral order that dictates codes of appropriate behavior for each caste. The most elaborate form of caste is found in Hindu India. Less elaborate caste systems exist in other parts of South Asia, including Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
The Indian Caste system appears to have evolved out of the varna system, which developed about 1000-800 BC. Some authorities associate the hypothetical Aryan invasions of North India with the origins of the varnas, which are mentioned in the Indian classic the Rig Veda. Four varnas-Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra-are recognized , each associated with specific societal functions: the Brahmins served as preists, the Kshatriya were warriors or political rulers, the Vaishya were traders and cultivators, and the Shudra were artisans.
Hinduism, one of the great religions of the world, is the major religion of
India, where nearly 85 percent of the population is classified as Hindu. Hinduism has developed over about 4000 years and has no single founder of creed; rather, it consists of a vast variety hierarchy nonexistent. In its diversity, Hinduism hardly fits most Western definitions of religion; rather, it suggests commitment to or respect for an ideal wqy of life, known as Dharma.
In Hinduism, dharma refers to the moral law, the religious and ethical duties of an individual. Following one's dharma entails conduct appropriate to one's caste and fufillment of Hindu precepts. The carrying out of dharma is said to govern one's rebirths. Hinuism itself is called sanatana dharma (eternal dharma), or everlasting law.
Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna is a popular name for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, a Hindu movement founded in the United States by A.C. Bhaktivedanta. the popular name derives from the mantra Hare Krishna("O Lord Krishna") chanted by merabers of the group.
Devotees of the Hindu god Krishna, the merabers are divided into two classes: brahmacatin ("students"), who live in temples and vow to abstain from sex, meat, intoxicants, and gabling, and grihasta, or lay merabers who marry and have families. They are proselytizers who actively seek converts. In the mid-1980s the Hare Krishna movement had more than 200 centers in the United States, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. In the United States it was troubled by internal disputes that reportedly led to several killings, and was accused by critics of other illegal activities as well.
Varanasi
Varanasi (or Benares) is a sacred city for Hindus in Uttar Pradesh state, northern India, situated on the north bank of the Ganges River. Its population is 582,856 and rising. Jewelry, brasswork, lacquered toys, and gold-erabroidered saris are important handcraft products. The city's tourist industry caters tothe many pilgrims who visit the holy city each year. Varanasi contains maore than 1500 temples and mosques. Almost all of the city's 3 mile of river banks have been converted into ghats (brick steps), where worshipers bathe in the sacred Ganges. Benares Hindu University is one of India's most prominent seats of learning.
Originally known as Kasi, Varanasi is mentioned in late Vedic literature and in the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. The city encompasses Sarnath, where Buddha preached his first sermon in about 530 BC. From the fourth to the sixth century AD, Varanasi was a great cultural center, but the onset of Muslim occupation in 1193 resulted in the city's decline and the desruction of its temples. Varanasi was made part of Uttar Pradesh in 1949.
The Caste System
The term caste refers to an extreme form of social differentiation in which the groups that constitute society are ranked in a rigid hierarchical scale. In all true caste systems, society as a whole is divided into a series of groups recruited by birth: marriage is generally restricted to merabers of the same caste, castes are in some way associated with occupational specializations, and the order of castes is linked to a moral order that dictates codes of appropriate behavior for each caste. The most elaborate form of caste is found in Hindu India. Less elaborate caste systems exist in other parts of South Asia, including Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
The Indian Caste system appears to have evolved out of the varna system, which developed about 1000-800 BC. Some authorities associate the hypothetical Aryan invasions of North India with the origins of the varnas, which are mentioned in the Indian classic the Rig Veda. Four varnas-Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra-are recognized , each associated with specific societal functions: the Brahmins served as preists, the Kshatriya were warriors or political rulers, the Vaishya were traders and cultivators, and the Shudra were artisans.