What are the basic beliefs of Hindus?

Question

I would like to know what God/s they believe in and how they worship.

Answer 1

This might be a little long but contains most of the information on Hinduism. Here it is below.

HINDUISM, religion that originated in India and is still practiced by most of its inhabitants, as well as by those whose families have migrated from India to other parts of the world (chiefly East Africa, South Africa, Southeast Asia, the East Indies, and England). The word Hindu is derived from the Sanskrit word sindhu (“river,” more specifically, the Indus); the Persians in the 5th century bc called the Hindus by that name, identifying them as the people of the land of the Indus. The Hindus’ own definitions of their community are “those who believe in the Vedas” or “those who follow the way (dharma) of the four classes (varnas) and stages of life (ashramas).”

Hinduism is a major world religion, not merely by virtue of its many followers (estimated at more than 760 million) but also because of its profound influence on many other religions during its long, unbroken history, beginning about 1500 bc. The corresponding influence of these various religions on Hinduism (it has an extraordinary tendency to absorb foreign elements) has greatly contributed to the religion’s syncretism—the wide variety of beliefs and practices that it encompasses. Moreover, the geographic, rather than ideological, basis of the religion (the fact that it consists of whatever all the people of India have believed and done) has given Hinduism the character of a social and doctrinal system that extends to every aspect of human life.


FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES Select a section FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES Texts. Philosophy. Gods. Worship and Ritual.HISTORY Vedic Civilization. Classicial Hindu Civilization. Rise of Devotional Movements. Medieval Hinduism. 19th and 20th Centuries.


The canon of Hinduism is basically defined with regard to what people do rather than what they think. Consequently, far more uniformity in behavior than in belief is found among Hindus, although very few practices or beliefs are shared by all. Most Hindus chant the gayatri hymn to the sun at dawn, but little agreement exists as to what other prayers should be chanted. Most Hindus worship SHIVA, VISHNU, or the Goddess (Devi), but they also worship hundreds of additional minor deities peculiar to a particular village or even to a particular family. A few practices are honored by almost all Hindus: reverence for Brahmans and cows; a prohibition on the eating of meat (especially beef); and marriage within the caste (jati), in the hope of producing male heirs. Although Hindus believe and do many apparently contradictory things—contradictory not merely from one Hindu to the next, but also within the daily religious life of a single Hindu—each individual perceives an orderly pattern that gives form and meaning to his or her own life. No doctrinal or ecclesiastical hierarchy exists in Hinduism, but the intricate hierarchy of the social system (which is inseparable from the religion) gives each person a sense of place within the whole.


Texts.

The ultimate canonical authority for all Hindus is the Vedas. The oldest of the four Vedas is the Rig-Veda, which was composed in an ancient form of the SANSKRIT LANGUAGE in northwest India. This text, probably composed between 1300 and 1000 bc and consisting of 1028 hymns to a pantheon of gods, has been memorized syllable by syllable and preserved orally to the present day. The Rig-Veda was supplemented by two other Vedas, the Yajur-Veda (the textbook for sacrifice) and the Sama-Veda (the hymnal). A fourth book, the Atharva-Veda (a collection of magic spells), was probably added about 900 bc. At this time, too, the Brahmanas, lengthy Sanskrit texts expounding the priests’ ritual and the myths behind it, were composed. Beginning about 600 bc, the UPANISHADS were composed; these are mystical-philosophical meditations on the meaning of existence and the nature of the universe.

The Vedas (including the Brahmanas and the Upanishads) are regarded as revealed canon (shruti, “what has been heard [from the gods]”), and no syllable can be changed. The actual content of this canon, however, is unknown to most Hindus. The practical compendium of Hinduism is contained in the Smriti, or “what is remembered,” which is also orally preserved. No prohibition is made, however, against improvising variations on, rewording, or challenging the Smriti. The Smriti includes the two great Sanskrit epics, the MAHABHARATA and the RAMAYANA; the many Sanskrit PURANAS, including 18 great Puranas and several dozen more subordinate Puranas; and the many Dharmashastras and Dharmasutras (textbooks on sacred law), of which the one attributed to the sage Manu is the most frequently cited.

The two epics are built on central stories. The Mahabharata tells of the war between the Pandava brothers, led by their cousin KRISHNA, and their cousins the Kauravas. The Ramayana tells of the journey of RAMA to recapture his wife Sita after she is stolen by the demon Ravana. But these stories are embedded in a rich corpus of other tales and discourses on philosophy, law, geography, political science, and astronomy, so that the Mahabharata (about 200,000 lines long) is a kind of encyclopedia or even a literature, and the Ramayana (over 50,000 lines long) is hardly less. Although it is therefore impossible to fix their dates, the main bodies of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana were probably composed between 300 bc and ad 300. Both, however, continued to grow even after they were translated into the vernacular languages of India (such as Tamil and Hindi) in the medieval period.

The Puranas were composed after the epics, and several of them expand on themes found in the epics (for instance, the Bhagavata-Purana describes the childhood of Krishna, a topic not elaborated in the Mahabharata). The Puranas also include subsidiary myths, hymns of praise, philosophies, iconography, and rituals. Most of the Puranas are predominantly sectarian in nature; the great Puranas (and some subordinate Puranas) are dedicated to the worship of Shiva or Vishnu or the Goddess, and several subordinate Puranas are devoted to Ganesha or Skanda or the sun. In addition, they all contain much nonsectarian material, probably of earlier origin, such as the “five marks,” or topics (panchalakshana), of the Puranas: the creation of the universe, the destruction and re-creation of the universe, the dynasties of the solar and lunar gods, the genealogy of the gods and holy sages, and the ages of the founding fathers of humankind (the Manus).


Philosophy.

Incorporated in this rich literature is a complex cosmology. Hindus believe that the universe is a great, enclosed sphere, a cosmic egg, within which are numerous concentric heavens, hells, oceans, and continents, with India at the center. They believe that time is both degenerative—going from the golden age, or Krita Yuga, through two intermediate periods of decreasing goodness, to the present age, or Kali Yuga—and cyclic: at the end of each Kali Yuga, the universe is destroyed by fire and flood, and a new golden age begins. Human life, too, is cyclic: After death, the soul leaves the body and is reborn in the body of another person, animal, vegetable, or mineral. This process of endless entanglement in activity and rebirth is called samsara. The precise quality of the new birth is determined by the accumulated merit and demerit that result from all the actions, or KARMA, that the soul has committed in its past life or lives. All Hindus believe that karma accrues in this way; they also believe, however, that it can be counteracted by expiations and rituals, by “working out” through punishment or reward, and by achieving release (moksha) from the entire process of samsara through the renunciation of all worldly desires.

Hindus may thus be divided into two groups: those who seek the sacred and profane rewards of this world (health, wealth, children, and a good rebirth), and those who seek release from the world. The principles of the first way of life were drawn from the Vedas and are represented today in temple Hinduism and in the religion of Brahmans and the caste system. The second way, which is prescribed in the Upanishads, is represented not only in the cults of renunciation (sannyasa) but also in the ideological ideals of most Hindu.

The worldly aspect of Hinduism originally had three Vedas, three classes of society (varnas), three stages of life (ashramas), and three “goals of a man” (purusharthas), the goals or needs of women being seldom discussed in the ancient texts. To the first three Vedas was added the Atharva-Veda. The first three classes (Brahman, or priestly; Kshatriya, or warrior; and Vaishya, or general populace) were derived from the tripartite division of ancient Indo-European society, as evidenced in Greece and Rome. To the three classes were added the Shudras, or servants, after the Indo-Aryans settled into the Punjab and began to move down into the Ganges Valley. The three original ashramas were the chaste student (brahmachari), the householder (grihastha), and the forest-dweller (vanaprastha). They were said to owe three debts: study of the Vedas (owed to the sages); a son (to the ancestors); and sacrifice (to the gods). The three goals were artha (material success), dharma (righteous social behavior), and kama (sensual pleasures). Shortly after the composition of the first Upanishads, during the rise of Buddhism (6th cent. bc), a fourth ashrama and a corresponding fourth goal were added: the renouncer (sannyasi), whose goal is release (moksha) from the other stages, goals, and debts.

Each of these two ways of being Hindu developed its own interacting metaphysical and social systems. The caste system and its supporting philosophy of svadharma (“one’s own dharma”) developed within the worldly way. Svadharma comprises the beliefs that each person is born to perform a specific job, marry a specific person, eat certain food, and beget children to do likewise and that it is better to fulfill one’s own dharma than that of anyone else (even if one’s own is low or reprehensible, such as that of the Harijan caste, the Untouchables, whose mere presence was once considered polluting to other castes). The primary goal of the worldly Hindu is to produce and raise a son who will make offerings to the ancestors (the shraddha ceremony). The second, renunciatory way of Hinduism, on the other hand, is based on the Upanishadic philosophy of the unity of the individual soul, or ATMAN, with Brahman, the universal world soul, or godhead. The full realization of this is believed to be sufficient to release the worshiper from rebirth; in this view, nothing could be more detrimental to salvation than the birth of a child. Many of the goals and ideals of renunciatory Hinduism have been incorporated into worldly Hinduism, particularly the eternal dharma (sanatana dharma), an absolute and general ethical code that purports to transcend and embrace all subsidiary, relativistic, specific dharmas. The most important tenet of sanatana dharma for all Hindus is ahimsa, the absence of a desire to injure, which is used to justify vegetarianism (although it does not prevent physical violence toward animals or humans, or blood sacrifices in temples).

In addition to sanatana dharma, numerous attempts have been made to reconcile the two Hinduisms. The BHAGAVAD-GITA describes three paths to religious realization. To the path of works, or karma (here designating sacrificial and ritual acts), and the path of knowledge, or jnana (the Upanishadic meditation on the godhead), was added a mediating third path, the passionate devotion to God, or BHAKTI, a religious ideal that came to combine and transcend the other two paths. Bhakti in a general form can be traced in the epics and even in some of the Upanishads, but its fullest statement appears only after the Bhagavad-Gita, gaining momentum from the vernacular poems and songs to local deities, particularly those of the Alvars, Nayanars, and Virashaivas of southern India and the Bengali worshipers of Krishna (see below).

In this way Hindus have been able to reconcile their Vedantic monism with their Vedic polytheism: All the individual Hindu gods (who are said to be saguna, “with attributes”) are subsumed under the godhead (nirguna, “without attributes”), from which they all emanate. Therefore, most Hindus are devoted (through bhakti) to gods whom they worship in rituals (through karma) and whom they understand (through jnana) as aspects of ultimate reality, the material reflection of which is all an illusion (maya) wrought by God in a spirit of play (lila).


Gods.

Although all Hindus acknowledge the existence and importance of a number of gods and demigods, most individual worshipers are primarily devoted to a single god or goddess, of whom Shiva, Vishnu, and the Goddess are the most popular.

Shiva embodies the apparently contradictory aspects of a god of ascetics and a god of the phallus. He is the deity of renouncers, particularly of the many Shaiva sects that imitate him: Kapalikas, who carry skulls to reenact the myth in which Shiva beheaded his father, the incestuous Brahma, and was condemned to carry the skull until he found release in Benares (now Varanasi); Pashupatas, worshipers of Shiva Pashupati, “Lord of Beasts”; and Aghoris, “to whom nothing is horrible,” yogis who eat ordure or flesh in order to demonstrate their complete indifference to pleasure or pain. Shiva is also the deity whose phallus (linga) is the central shrine of all Shaiva temples and the personal shrine of all Shaiva householders; his priapism is said to have resulted in his castration and the subsequent worship of his disembodied phallus. In addition, Shiva is said to have appeared on earth in various human, animal, and vegetable forms, establishing his many local shrines.

Vishnu is worshiped as a pervading god (supreme to his worshipers), the god from whose navel a lotus sprang, giving birth to the creator (Brahma). Vishnu created the universe by separating heaven and earth and rescued it on numerous subsequent occasions. He is also worshiped in the form of a number of “descents”—avatars, or, roughly, incarnations. Several of these are animals that recur in iconography: the fish, the tortoise, and the boar. Others are the dwarf (Vamana, who became a giant in order to trick the demon Bali out of the entire universe); the man-lion (Narasimha, who disemboweled the demon Hiranyakashipu); the Buddha (who became incarnate in order to teach a false doctrine to the pious demons); Rama-with-an-Axe (Parashurama, who beheaded his unchaste mother and destroyed the entire class of Kshatriyas to avenge his father); and Kalki (the rider on the white horse, who will come to destroy the universe at the end of the age of Kali). Most popular by far are Rama (hero of the Ramayana) and Krishna (hero of the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata-Purana), both of whom are said to be avatars of Vishnu, although they were originally human heroes.

Along with these two great male gods, several goddesses are the object of primary devotion. They are sometimes said to be various aspects of the Goddess, Devi. In some myths Devi is the prime mover, who commands the male gods to do the work of creation and destruction. As Durga, the Unapproachable, she kills the buffalo demon Mahisha in a great battle; as Kali, the Black, she dances in a mad frenzy on the corpses of those she has slain and eaten, adorned with the still-dripping skulls and severed hands of her victims. The Goddess is also worshiped by the Shaktas, devotees of Shakti, the female power. This sect arose in the medieval period along with the Tantrists, whose esoteric ceremonies involved a black mass in which such forbidden substances as meat, fish, and wine were eaten and forbidden sexual acts were performed ritually. In many Tantric cults the Goddess is identified as Krishna’s consort Radha.

More peaceful aspects of the Goddess appear as wives of the great gods: Lakshmi, the meek, docile wife of Vishnu and a fertility goddess in her own right; and Parvati, the wife of Shiva and the daughter of the mountain Himalaya. The great river goddess Ganga (the Ganges), also worshiped alone, is said to be a wife of Shiva, and a goddess of music and literature, Sarasvati, associated with the Saraswati River, is the wife of Brahma. Many of the local goddesses of India—Manasha, the goddess of snakes, in Bengal, and Minakshi in Madurai—are married to Hindu gods, while others, such as Shitala, goddess of smallpox, are worshiped alone. These unmarried goddesses are feared for their untamed powers and angry, unpredictable outbursts.

Many minor gods are assimilated into the central pantheon by being identified with the great gods or with their children and friends. Hanuman, the monkey god, appears in the Ramayana as the cunning assistant of Rama in the siege of Lanka. Skanda, the general of the army of the gods, is the son of Shiva and Parvati, as is Ganesha, the elephant-headed god of scribes and merchants, the remover of obstacles, and the object of worship at the beginning of any important enterprise.


Worship and Ritual.

The great and lesser Hindu gods are worshiped in a number of concentric circles of public and private devotion. Because of the social basis of Hinduism, the most fundamental ceremonies for every Hindu are those that involve the rites of passage (samskaras). These begin with birth and the first time the child eats solid food (rice). Later rites include the first haircutting (for a young boy) and the purification after the first menstruation (for a girl); marriage; and the blessings upon a pregnancy, to produce a male child and to ensure a successful delivery and the child’s survival of the first six dangerous days after birth (the concern of Shashti, goddess of Six). Last are the funeral ceremonies (cremation and, if possible, the sprinkling of ashes in a holy river such as the Ganges) and the yearly offerings to dead ancestors. The most notable of the latter is the pinda, a ball of rice and sesame seeds given by the eldest male child so that the ghost of his father may pass from limbo into rebirth.

In daily ritual, a Hindu (generally the wife, who is thought to have more power to intercede with the gods) makes offerings (puja) of fruit or flowers before a small shrine in the house. She also makes offerings to local snakes or trees or obscure spirits (benevolent and malevolent) dwelling in her own garden or at crossroads or other magical places in the village. Many villages, and all sizable towns, have temples, where priests perform ceremonies throughout the day: sunrise prayers and noises to awaken the god within the holy of holies (the garbagriha, or “womb-house”); bathing, clothing, and fanning the god; feeding the god and distributing the remains of the food (prasada) to worshipers. The temple is also a cultural center where songs are sung, holy texts read aloud (in Sanskrit and vernaculars), and sunset rituals performed; devout laity may be present at most of these ceremonies. In many temples, particularly those sacred to goddesses (such as the Kalighat temple to Kali, in Calcutta), goats are sacrificed on special occasions. The sacrifice is often carried out by a special low-caste priest outside the bounds of the temple itself. Thousands of simple local temples exist; each may be nothing more than a small stone box enclosing a formless effigy swathed in cloth, or a slightly more imposing edifice with a small tank in which to bathe. In addition, India has many temples of great size as well as complex temple cities, some hewn out of caves (such as Elephanta and Ellora), some formed of great monolithic slabs (such as those at Mahabalipuram), some built of imported and elaborately carved stone slabs (such as the temples at Khajuraho, Bhubaneswar, Madurai, and Kanjeevaram). On special days, usually once a year, the image of the god is taken from its central shrine and paraded around the temple complex on a magnificently carved wooden chariot (ratha).

Many holy places or shrines (tirthas, literally “fords”), such as Rishikesh in the Himalaya or Benares on the Ganges, are the objects of pilgrimages from all over India; others are essentially local shrines. Certain shrines are most frequently visited at special yearly festivals. For example, Prayaga, where the Ganges and Yamuna rivers join at Allahabad, is always sacred, but it is crowded with pilgrims during the Kumbha Mela festival each January and overwhelmed by the millions who come to the special ceremony held every 12 years. In Bengal, the goddess Durga’s visit to her family and return to her husband Shiva are celebrated every year at Durgapuja, when images of the goddess are created out of papier-mâché, worshiped for ten days, and then cast into the Ganges in a dramatic midnight ceremony ringing with drums and glowing with candles. Some festivals are celebrated throughout India: Dewali, the festival of lights in early winter; and Holi, the spring carnival, when members of all castes mingle and let down their hair, sprinkling one another with cascades of red powder and liquid, symbolic of the blood that was probably used in past centuries.

So that is Hinduism.

Answer 2

There's no easy answer. There is no single "Hinduism." "Hindu" is a word created by western society to define the religions that existed along the Indus River in India. Thus, Hindus do not call themselves Hindus. They call themselves by their sect. Hindus do not have a Bible. Some worship many gods, some worship one, and some don't worship gods at all. While most believe in karma and moving up the caste system, some don't even believe in this.

Many traditions think that Jesus and Buddha are just avitars of the god Visnu. People can also be both Christian and "Hindu."

I'm scared to see some of the uneducated answers on this topic.

Can the person below please cite the source. The info has obviously been copied. Its only fair to give credit, and that way the asker can check out the site, thanks.

Answer 3

there is not any common answer. there is not any unmarried "Hinduism." "Hindu" is a note created by using western society to outline the religions that existed alongside the Indus River in India. subsequently, Hindus do no longer call themselves Hindus. They call themselves by way of their sect. Hindus do no longer have a Bible. some worship many gods, some worship one, and some do not worship gods in any respect. at the same time as maximum have self belief in karma and shifting up the caste equipment, some do not actually have self belief in this. Many traditions imagine that Jesus and Buddha are only avitars of the god Visnu. human beings is often both Christian and "Hindu." i'm scared to work out distinct the uneducated solutions in this topic. Can the fellow lower than please cite the source. the documents has for sure been copied. Its actually honest to provide credit, and that way the asker can inspect the positioning, thanks.

Answer 4

Hinduism is based on the concept that human and animal spirits reincarnate, or come back to earth to live many times in different forms. The belief that souls move up and down an infinite hierarchy depending on the behaviors they practiced in their life is visible in many of the Hindu societal policies. The caste system survives and charity towards others is unheard of because each individual deserves to be in the social class they were born in. A person is born into the highest class because they behaved well in a past life, and a person is born into poverty and shame because of misbehaviors in a past life.

Today, a Hindu can be polytheistic (more than one god), monotheistic (one god), pantheistic (god and the universe are one), agnostic (unsure if god exists), or atheistic (no god) and still claim to be Hindu. This open theology makes it difficult to discuss basic beliefs since there are many ideas about what Hinduism means. However, these universal ideas must be mentioned.

Central to Hinduism are the concepts of reincarnation, the caste system, merging with brahman (or the ultimate reality), finding morality, and reaching Nirvana (the peaceful escape from the cycle of reincarnation).

Religious documents include Sruti, (what is heard) and Smriti, (what is remembered). The Sruti include deeply religious things communicated to a seer and recorded. The Vedas, the religious writings, include mantras (hymns of praise), brahmanas (sacrificial rituals) and upanishads (108 sacred teachings). The Smriti include the law (books of laws), puranas (myths, stories, legends) and epics (sets of holy myths including Ramayana and Mahabharata).

The Hindu paths to salvation include the way of works (rituals), the way of knowledge (realization of reality and self-reflection), and the way of devotion (devotion to the god that you choose to follow). If the practitioner follows the paths of these ways, salvation can be achieved..

Answer 5

Hinduism is the most evolved, yet confused; the most broadminded yet the most intolerant religion of this world.
Basically worshiping any form is acceptable; worship without any form is acceptable; meditation to transcend thoughts is acceptable; thinking of 'anything' and praying is acceptable, chanting and counting beads is acceptable. Not doing any of these things are also acceptable.
The origin of Hinduism was; that the formless god which is the 'Energy' evolved itself into every form of creation in the universe - from vacuum to matter from nothing to anything.
As this was too abstract and not suitable to all persons and societies different influential persons gave licenses for each time, age, period, society, community, race etc.
The Brahmin's of north India tried to bring some uniformity to Hinduism but it could never work at any time. So they make their living by performing pujas in the temples,purifying homes etc. in Sanskrit (the language god knows-according to them).
Off and on people/saints/ realized persons tried to get people back to the origin of Hinduism. At any year, age. time or part of the Hindu world trying to do this.
But it is too big and too open and has no accepted and uniform practices for any one to unify or standardize Hinduism.
They always took the easy way out by accepting that Hindus can achieve salvation by any of the practices. Even an atheist can attain salvation because he/she has belief/trust in him/herself!

Answer 6

Would like to know more: The role of Parmatma/Parmishwar. If that is the SupremeDeity, is He worshipped anywhere,and in what form and whether the Creator of Visnu-Shiva-Brahma is the Parmatma? In Persian Dictionary, the word Hindu appears to be a name given by outsiders and some of its meanings are not pleasant, like the meaning of Jesuit in English(British) dictionary is not. What was the name of the Religion in Vedas? Instead of answer I seem to have raised questions. Sorry! Someone with deep knowledge may send me an email via this Forum, please.

Answer 7

there are 2 beliefs about the supreme god in hinduism..both groups believe in the three main gods :bhrama,vishnu, and maheshwara as the main gods. even then we say that all in all,we have 33crore gods. this is just to show that you can worship god in any way.in one group they believe that shiva is the supreme god and they respect to the shivapurana(the story of shiva) which gives importance to wisdom and knoledge, and the other group believes that vishnu is the uspreme god and respect the vishnupurana wich gives importance to dedication and ones duties. in both groups they believe that sacrifice is the most important worship. this does not mean the 'killing' kind of sacrifise but giving away something that is yours for a good need or giving up a bad practise.if you want to know be free to ask.

Answer 8

There is a branch in Hinduism that worships God as a female, as the Divine Mother: Shakitism. I worship Goddess Kali whom is the active principle of the Supreme Energy. I have a guru that I study under. She is a Mahatma (Great Soul), Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi "Amma". I study Her teachings thoroughly, every single word of it!

As part of my worship, I chant the "Sri Lalita Sahasranama", the Thousand Names of the Divine Mother which is one of the most powerful and exalted chants. It's very long and takes me an hour to do it. I also chant the 108 names of Mata Amritanandamayi. I have a pooja altar with images of Amma, Kali and Krishna. I spend time with Amma whenever She comes to USA every year.

In Hinduism, there are four paths towards God/Self Realization: raja yoga (path of meditation/breath), karma yoga (path of action), jnana yoga (path of knowledge) and bhakti yoga (path of devotion). I follow the path of devotion, "bhakti yoga." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhakti_yoga (this explains it in detail.)

To understand this a little bit more about these four different paths, Mother Teresa of Calcutta even though she was a nun, her life towards God was the path of action (karma yoga). She spent her entire life being of service to the poor, sick and dying. She served God by always being in action. So these paths can be applied to any religion with a better way of explaining the underlying principles of spirituality.

I also read and study the Bhagavad Gita and also love and worship Krishna. That is one of the best scripture books I have ever read! It is a gem! To me Krishna helps me connect with my inner Beloved. He is a lover. Kali is the mother figure to me. These are just different aspects of the one same God, just like how a woman is a wife/lover to her husband, a mother to her child, a sister, a friend, etc. and all of those different aspects all are different expressions of the same person. God is the same way.

Answer 9

(1) Brahmam is ONE and only one---Brahmam has no name -No form-no attributes-A Brahma GJnaani can comprehend this from 564 aphorisms(Brahma Sutram) of Veda Vyasa and 13 Gloss(Commentarieis) on it (2) People of Average intelligence can try to understand,worship,pray Brahmaam as GOD (3) Karma (one's own action) of the individual ALONE would decide if he/she can go to Heaven or Hell.--God's son or daughter-why Even God Himself can not modify this " CONSTITUTION"-"Doctrine of Karma"(See Meemaamsa and Sri Bhagavad Gita)-Prayers can miticate but can not completely absolve a person from "Eating" the fruits of his/her Karma--like a criminal approver.(4)asking pardon to GOD need to be done by the individual himself only-he/she can not engage a lawyer(confession)--Preists may help how one can Pray God directly to ask pardon--(5)the individual has the FREEDOM to worship GOD by any name,anyform -nameless,formless according ti his/her desire.

Answer 10

then you have to come to india and live in any hindu family to know about this. basicaly hindus are brodminded and they give same respect to all gods of any community. for more info u can mail me

Answer 11

Open your heart and go for service, the way you like best. They believe in all natural things and coin them as pieces of the same great soul what you call God.
Regards