What is Hinduism?

Hinduism is modern term, but it represents the ancient most living religion and culture of the world. In ancient times, Hinduism was called as Brahmanism and also Sanatana Dharma.

Hinduism is the popular name for Sanatana Dharma, which means ‘the eternal principles that govern and protect us’. Hinduism focuses not only on individual growth but also at the growth of society because society is a collection of individuals connected through the world.  

Most of the basic literature of Hinduism is in Sanskrit language. The source literature for Sanatana Dharma is Vedas, which are very large collection of mantras. The word Veda in Sanskrit means ‘knowledge’. Vedas deal with various aspects of life, nature and cosmos. There are large number of scriptures that are written based on the source literature namely Vedas. The emphasis of the Vedic literature of Hinduism is growth of an individual in a society that provides an environment that fosters the growth of individuals. This in turn results in the societal growth. 

The realization of Self , leading to final liberation, is one of the fundamentals of Hinduism. Hinduism, a non-semitic religion, shares a feature with the semitic religions. Hindus can choose to be polytheistic, monotheistic, monistic, agnostic, atheistic, pantheistic, humanistic, conservatism, or liberalism. Hinduism is one of the world’s oldest religions. It has complex roots, and involves a vast array of practices and a host of deities. Its plethora of forms and beliefs reflects the tremendous diversity of India, where most of its one billion followers reside. Hinduism is more than a religion. It is a culture, a way of life, and a code of behavior. This is reflected in a term Indians use to describe the Hindu religion: Sanatana Dharma, which means eternal faith, or the eternal way things are (truth).

Unlike Buddhism, Jainism, or Sikhism, Hinduism has no historical founder. Its authority rests instead upon a large body of sacred texts that provide Hindus with rules governing rituals, worship, pilgrimage, and daily activities, among many other things. Although the oldest of these texts may date back four thousand years, the earliest surviving Hindu images and temples were created some two thousand years later.

Hindu philosophy and science—is buried in the numerous scriptures. These ancient scriptures are classified into two major texts: Shruti and Smriti. Shruti (“that which is heard”) primarily refers to the Vedas, which form the earliest record of the Hindu scriptures’ and are regarded as eternal truths revealed to ancient sages.

The most notable of the Smritis (“memory”) are the epics and the Puranas. The epics consist of the Mahabharata (the Bhagavad Gita is an important part of this epic) and the Ramayana. Hinduism includes a diversity of ideas on spirituality and traditions, but has no ecclesiastical order, no unquestionable religious authorities, no governing body nor any obligatory holy book.

The Hindus have received their religion through revelation, the Vedas. They hold that the Vedas are without beginning and without end. It may sound ludicrous to this audience, how a book can be without beginning or end. But by the Vedas no books are meant. They mean the accumulated treasury of spiritual laws discovered by different persons in different times. Just as the law of gravitation existed before its discovery, and would exist if all humanity forgot it, so is it with the laws that govern the spiritual world. The moral, ethical, and spiritual relations between soul and soul and between individual spirits and the Father of all spirits, were there before their discovery, and would remain even if we forgot them. The discoverers of these laws are called Rishis, and we honour them as perfected beings. The Vedas teach us that creation is without beginning or end.

Swami Vivekananda was an Indian Philosopher of Modern Times. He introduced Indian Philosophy of Vedanta and Yoga in the Western world. He was a major force in the reformation of Hindu religion in India. He began his search for God by following scientific approach, in the process of his quest, he met mystic Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and became a great spiritualist of NeoVedanta.

He laid philosophical foundations for Hindu cultural reformation and Indian society utilizing Advaita logic. His success lies in drawing social philosophy from the thoughts of Advaita Vedanta which paved the way for the social reforms in India. He represented Neo-Vedanta linked with transcendentalism new thought, theosophy. He introduced four yoga’s model, which made him practical Vedantin to realize the divine force within every human being.

He successfully amalgamated Western materialism with Indian spiritualism. He encouraged the practice of Advaita Vedanta in people's daily life linked with society, he preached spiritual stage through humanistic stage, and in this process he denied the evil practices by Indian priest class, Prince Class and trade class and sensitively responded towards the poverty and wretched conditions of working class (the Shudras).

He hated the practice of untouchability and laid solid foundation for nationalism. He explored Indian philosophy and drew ethical Systems on the basis of Advaita Vedanta, offering solution for the salvation of humankind. He recognized the energy of individual human as a form of divinity and built a tremendous positive psychology for humankind. He applied philosophy of Advaita Vedanta to build humanity and spirituality. It all reflected his practical Vedanta idealism. Thus Vivekananda acted as a great philosopher of Advaita Vedanta and social reformer in colonial India. 

Swami Vivekananda's philosophy is vedantic based on the beliefs that God alone is real, that man is God his self, and that this realization of divinity in oneself and others is the goal of life. Vivekananda, however, modifies what he considered to be classical Vedanta. He refused to believe that Vedanta is theoretical and held that it is practical. He did not agree with the view that Vedanta teaches quietism and renunciation. He did not also reconcile himself the view of individual salvation where the rest of humanity groaned and sighed in misery and held that Vedanta could be practiced in this very world.