Author: Dr. Fazl Ahmad Ahmadi
An Overview of Hinduism (Part 2)
1- literature Research
Hinduism is not considered a religion in the sense that Judaism, Christianity, or Islam are known as religions. This ritual has not been established by any person or group of people as a unit of belief and practice. This religion does not have a central belief or religious teaching and lacks any religious authority. Hinduism does not have a central sacred text or a group of main sacred texts similar and comparable to the holy books of other celestial religions or the Holy Quran. Hinduism, as a comprehensive word and term that has been introduced relatively recently, encompasses diverse beliefs, text-based traditions, authoritative religious figures, and religious groups and organizations; therefore, it is challenging to use this term in a clear and decisive sense.
Also, the reason why the word “Hindu” is used instead of the word “Hindi” is that Hindu is the name of people who collectively follow the Hindu religion and belong to one of the four classes of the class and religious system of India, while Indian is all the people of the land of India. Some of them are Muslims, Buddhists, Jains, etc., who are not followers of the Hindu religion and do not belong to any of the four classes of India.
The word “Veda” refers to the basic books of Hinduism. These books, whose compilation is attributed to Vyasa, are divided into four groups, which include: Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, Atharva Veda. The origin of the Vedas is based on our superhuman Hindu traditions and issued by Brahman himself, the great mystics of the past understood the Vedic truth through revelation and arranged it in the form of code.
2- Indian people
The people of India are of the Aryan race, that is, the people who share the common roots of the European nations and most of the Asian countries. The meaning of Arya is noble, and they gave themselves this nickname in front of the tribes that they defeated and subdued in different countries. Scholars disagree about the original location of the Aryan people from where they migrated by train; But some people have said that Turkestan, some Khwarazm and other groups of Northern Europe are the origin of this tribe.
The group that they call Indo-Europeans, from the Baltic regions or South Russia, first occupied Iran, and then in the 16th century BC, a part of this group gained Northwest India, then Punjab, and then the Ganges Valley, and finally almost the entire land. They captured the region and conquered and subjugated the people of these regions, who were more or less dark and black and called “Dravidians”.
For a long time, historians considered the “Dravids” to be barbaric people, until a scientist called “Banerji and Sarjan Marshall of England” found out that around a thousand years before Christ, in the Indian period, there was a brilliant civilization related to the pre-Vedic religion and the vanquished of the dominant ones, i.e. the followers. Tetem and Anima were more progressive. The works of “Tetem and Anima” religions are not only still prevalent as superstitions among the backward people of South India; It is also present in the Hindu religion. In the beliefs of those people, in addition to sacred animals such as “cow” and monkeys and snakes, there are gods whose heads are like animals, such as “Ganesh” who has a head similar to an elephant. The sacred plants form the female deities who are inferior to the male deities, an example of which can be found in the Deccan. The position of the sacred objects of the kingdom such as Shat Gang, respect for the dead, magic practices, the important value of “linga” which is the image of the male penis in decline and the magic act that is specific to the fertility of the world, all these remind the works of “tetem”. The concept of sacrifice, which is the result of Tatem, has a great place in the Ghalib people.
Belief in the world of spirits that live in nature and have been transformed into shirk and some of those spirits have attained divine status is an example of the “anima” way of thinking.
René Grosse writes in the book “History of Eastern Philosophy”: (In Baghaz Koi in Capades, a peace treaty related to the history of the fourteenth century BC was obtained between the “Hiite” and “Arya” peoples. They went from Persia to Punjab. This treaty mentions Indra, Mitra and Aruna as the gods of the Vedas.)
In the religions of India, like the religion of the ancient Egyptians, traces of many primitive religions can be seen, and no part of the world has preserved and completed metaphysical thoughts, mysticism and spiritual life as much as India. There are many gods in Indian religions, which gradually evolves towards monotheism. In terms of historical developments, Indian religions, like Egypt, should be placed between primitive religions like Australia and Polynesia and progressive religions like Semitic religions.
Continues…
