| India is a land of varied
religions and cultures. Given below
is a brief look at the religions in
India. The word Hindu originally
signified or denoted people living
on the banks of the river Sindhu.
Now the word Hindu has come to have
many religious and philosophical
connotations. The Hindu Philosophy
has its roots in the ideas of the
Vedas. The Vedas are basically
revelations to sages that have been
passed down orally to disciples and
students. These are the ideas that
led to the Samkhya system of
philosophy in the Hindu religion.
This system is rational and
systematic in its approach.
Christianity is a religion which did
not originate in India and hence is
not native to the Indian soil.
However the Christian communities in
Kerala have lived there almost since
the founding of the religion by
Jesus Christ. The Christians
believe in a trinity. This trinity
consists of God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Ghost. The
Holy Scripture of the Christians is
the Bible, which is a collection of
73 books. The Bible is divided into
two sections: the Old Testament,
which corresponds to the Bible of
Judaism and the New Testament which
is entirely based on Christ's
messsages.
The Sikh philosophy is a young,
indigenous, and monotheistic
philosophy. Guru Nanak who was
trying to unite Hinduism and Islam,
founded the Sikh religious order.
The word Sikh has been derived from
the Sanskrit word shishya or
disciple. The Sikh philosophy is has
been developed by ten gurus or
teachers. It has been passed on to
their shishyas or disciples. This
philosophy conceives of God as
formless and also perceives God as
one. The Sikh philosophy retains
certain Hindu ideas, such as those
of the immortality of the soul, and
of transmigration and karma.
Islam, like Christianity has had
its genesis outside India. It was
founded in Saudi Arabia. The people
who follow this faith are called
Muslims. Islam was propagated by
prophet Mohammad. However the basic
belief of Islam is that Adam brought
Islam to the world. The belief also
claims that God sent a number of
messengers since then to preach this
lesson and Mohammad was the one who
came last in this list of
messengers. Islam is also a
monotheistic faith. It propagates
the acceptance of Allah as the one
God, and Mohammad as his prophet.
The Muslims worship at Masjids or
mosques.
Jainism is an ancient religion
that was born on the Indian soil. It
dates back to Vedic times. The
prescriptions or rules of Jainism
preach the ways to achieve
liberation. These rules apply to
both ascetics and householders.
Buddhism is a religion that
originated from the teachings of
Gautama Buddha. He was a prince from
the Nepalese terai until he
relinquished his life at the palace
for a life of meditation and
spiritual upliftment. The Buddhist
philosophy propagates the Middle
Path, which requires one to avoid
the extremes of getting addicted to
worldly pleasures and subjecting
oneself to unnecessary rigours.
The Zoroastrian religion had its
genesis in Iran. The Parsis hail
from a Pars in south-west Iran. Most
Zoroastrians were forcibly converted
to Islam. Some of the others fled
the country. Of the 1,30,000
Zoarstrians that are living in the
world today, about 1,00,000 live in
India. |
