World Religions Project
This reports explores one of the major Religions of the world, that is Hinduism, and comprises various facts and features of one of the most prominent Hindu temple- the ISKCON temple. This report also ellucidates the similarities and dissimilarities between Hinduism and Christianity, the various links that hold both the religions together, the various factors that have made both the religions two of the major religions of the world, the faiths, the practices and various other aspects of the same. Introduction to Hinduism Hinduism is regarded to be one of the oldest religions in the history. It is considered as the third largest religion after Christianity and Islam. It constitutes about 13% of theworld’s population. India, Nepal, Sri Lanka have their maximum population as Hindus. Hinduism worships a single deity, “OM”, and views various other Gods and Godesses as incarnations of that Supreme Power. Like The Bible, the primary sacred texts of Hinduism are The Vedas. There are four Vedas- Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. The term “_Veda_” means “knowledge” in sanskrit. “_Rig_”, in sanskrit, means “praises or verses”. “_Sama_” means “holy songs or melodies. So, the Sama Veda is a “knowledge of melodies”. The Yajur Vedacomprises the verrses to be recited by the officiating priest. The Atharva Veda comprises classic poetries, curative powers of herbs and waters, hymns to Mother Earth, etc. The other sacred texts include Upanishads, which deal with the Vedic philosophy, The Ramayana, which glorifies the victory of Good over Evil. The Mahabharata, which also glorifies the same and also deals with various political issues. The Bhagavat Gita, a part of The Mahabharata, is a poem ellucidating between warrior Arjuna and his mentor Shri Krishna. The Bhagwat Gitahas beenworshipped by the Hindus as a message from God . carries his Karma to his next life, which will be decided on the basis of one’s good and bad deeds. The four goals of Hinduism are: Dharma:...
View Full Essay