Majority of Nepali follow Hinduism religion . But how many of us know about the origin of the religion and everything else about it. This article is solely dedicated to all those followers of Hinduism and those who want to know more about the religion.

sarsoti mata

Hinduism                                                              

Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world.  It is called Sanatan Dharma which translates for Righteousness forever. There are many books and legends that can tell you about the hindu religion. But this article covers a lot of things you may not have heard before. We are listing the origin and major characteristic of hindu religion.

Origin

Hinduism is very old religion and in act it is believed to be existing since forever so there is not particular theory about origin of Hinduism . However there are some beliefs regarding hindu religion. The religion started from Shruti which means hearing. Long time back when Rishis were meditating, they heard the words of god. They heard eternal truths from their heart and they transmitted it to followers telepathically. There for the principle of Hinduism were just heard from generation to generation.

Only after long time, vedas and other books were written. Later on books were written in Sanskrit language. So we can say that unlike other religion hinduism didn’t evolve from a particular person but from long experience, philosophies and principles. There are also argument that Hinduism started from the indus valley about three thousand years ago .

Major traits of Hinduism

Hinduism, the oldest religion in the world has amazing traits .There are principle and life practices in this religion that it stands out from the rest.  Following the religion doesn’t force the followers to follow it but it is more like way of life. The follower is free to live life of his/her own choice. The religion doesn’t bind the person in strict bars. There are definitely boundaries that must not be cross but Hinduism is a very liberal religion . There are few features that makes hindu religion most unique.

Trinity Principle

The major gods in Hindu religion are Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshowr. These gods combined together are called trinity. Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the protector and Shiva is the destroyer. These three gods look after the world and control all the activities in the world.

Belief in reincarnation

Hindu religion believes in the concept of reincarnation. It believes that human take birth in the world in different forms. When they are free of all sins then only they can reach to the ultimate home ; home of gods. They keep coming to the earth in different form until their sins are cleared and they pay for all their bad deeds.

Four stages of life

Religion is always very practical and gives very factual information. Hinduism beautifully describes four stages of life as Brahmacharya ; the stage from birth to twenty five years old . This the stage where person should study and gain knowledge, the time to prepare oneself for coming future. The other stage is Grihastha ; the time to get married and start life . It is time from 25 years to 50 years. Person should get married, take care of their beloveds, have kids, earn money  and do all stuffs in these period. This is the time to utilize what you learnt in the Brahmacharya  period.

Phases of life as per hinduism

The other stage is Van Prastha . This stage starts from 5o years to 75 years. One should be away of all responsibilities in this time and devote themselves to God. It is time to go pilgrimage, visit different temples and spend your time in thanking god for the beautiful life. The final stage of life is Sanyashram.

This phase starts after seventy five. This is the time to be free from all social bondage and responsibilities. One should forget all the responsibilities relations in this stage and devote oneself to god. One should try to be free from Kama meaning desire, Krodh meaning anger, Lobha meaning greed and Moha meaning comfort. Once someone get rid of all these, he receives the real meaning of life . Then only he can find god. In this latter stage of life one should totally let go of all these emotions and only walk in the path shown by god.

Three paths towards finding god

It is very tough for human kind to find god. It is tough to walk in the path of divinity but Hindu religion also describes about the path of divinity. There are three paths to reach god naming Gyan Marga, Karma Marga and Bhakti Marga. As per gyan marga , person who has enough knowledge can only get spiritual realization. Knowledge of life or Gyan is the most important concept. The other concept Karma Marga says that through good deeds only one can find god. With their good deeds , person becomes worthy of spiritual realization. Then there is Bhakti Marga , Devotion towards god is the only way to divinity.  Bhakti has broader meaning as discipline and devotion towards work and god.

Other world

Hinduism strongly believes in existence of other world. And it is said that we visit the other world in our after life. It is sour action in earth that determines how our after life will be. For good deed we get easy after life while for bad deeds we get hard after life full of punishments. That’s why Hinduism teaches followers to do good deeds not just for the sake of life here in earth but for life in other world.

As per hindu philosophy,  there are three worlds; Narka ,  the hell; Baikuntha, the heaven and Kailash, home to the ultimate god Mahadeva. People with bad deeds go to hell to pay for their sins while people with god deeds go to heaven . Only few are worthy of reaching Kailash.

Belief in many gods

 One of the definite uniqueness about hindu religion is that there is belief of existence of tettis koti deuta. Many gods and goddesses are worshipped in this religion naming Vishnu, Brahma, Laxmi, Saraswoti . While many gods are worshipped Shiva  is believed to be the supreme god.