Hindu: Encyclopedia II - Hindu - Religion for the common Hindu

Hindu - Religion for the common Hindu

To all Hindus, the Vedas are not the source of religious guidance. The Vedas and the Upanishads live on in the Hindu ethos as the inspiration of the ancient traditions, social practices and religious institutions of Hindu peoples. They were the basis of most commonly accepted social and religious practices in Hindu, and indeed Indian society.

The Puranas are a wide collection of religious treatises, biographies and stories on the historical, mythological and religious characters in Hindu folklore, classic literature and sacred scriptures. There are often the source of popular Hindu folk tales and religious lessons.

Yoga is an important connection to a Hindu to his religious and historical heritage. The art of spiritual and physical exercises are a distinguished native tradition pursued by millions of Hindus worldwide.

Indian Vedic astrology is important to the conduct of any of life's important events such as marriage, applying for a post or admission, buying a house or starting a new business. To millions of Hindus, the kundali is an invaluable possession that charts the course of life for a man or a woman from the time of his birth, all ascertained by Vedic mathematics and astrology.

The most popular Hindu scriptures are the Mahabharata, the holy war between good and evil. Lord Krishna's discourse to the warrior prince Arjuna, the Bhagavad Gita is the guide book on life for the common Hindu. It is the source of divine guidance and inspiration, where the reader learns to interpret Krishna's teachings in the personal and worldly contexts of life. Most Hindus consider this book as the main source of religious teaching.

To hundreds of millions of Hindus, Lord Rama is more than just an incarnation of the Supreme, or simply a just king. He is the still living, thriving soul and identity of real Hinduism. Rama is the image of Hinduism, the Perfect Man, its conscience and undying hope of deliverance.

The doctrines of moksha by the discharge of personal, social and religious duty has developed into a strong characteristic of fatalism, or acceptance of vagaries in life as the will of God, and not seeking to apply oneself to change institutions. Many dalit Hindus have been criticized for not aggressively combating this evil against them, and the factors influencing the submissiveness of society to brahmin authority, epidemics, natural disasters and authoritarian government through the history of India has been attributed to fatalistic thinking.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Religion for the common Hindu", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki