What is Hinduism actually?Is it nationality or religion?

Question

In Many books it is said that Hinduism is nationality but people follow it as a religion.Even there had been wars on this issue.So what Hinduism is actualy?Ancient religion or nationality?

Answer 1

HINDUSTAN WAS BIG COUNTRY EARLIER, AT THAT TIME IT WAS NATIONALITY. BUT RULES OF SOME EGO BASED PEOPLE MADE IT WEAK AND IT WAS DIVIDED IN RIASAT. WITH PASSING OF TIME OUR DIVISION MADE US ONLY RELIGION.

Answer 2

Unlike Christianity (Jesus Christ is the founder) and Islam(Prophet Mohammed is the founder),Hinduism does not have a single founder to name.

The word 'Hinduism' is not found in the so called sacred Hindu scriptures including the Ramayana, the Mahabharatha,Upanishads orin anyof the Puranic scripures.

In order to distinguish and unify the different and numerous sects of Indian people under one group similar to that of Christianity or Islam, Sir William Jones gave the name 'Hinduism' in the year 1799. Only after that 'Hinduism' came into existence as a religion in India with millions of people .The word 'Hinduism' was coined from the word 'Sindu' the famous river running across Punjab ,Haryana and part of Pakistan.
The word'Hindu' did not exist before Britishers used it to unify the indian people for their administrative convenience.
The word 'Hinduism' is neither ancient nor does it represent nationality.

Answer 3

hinduism is a way of life and not per se a religion. deep in meditation, sages and spiritually inclined ones have contemplated on the truth and documented their experiences. finding this to fit the overll purpose of their existence others have followed. So there are many doctrines under the hindu banner they are each a dharma, ideal for some one to pick and choose. Yes, Hinduism's majority live in India and nepal since propagating hindu doctrines beyond the shores of india was not considered sacrosanct. There may be even some thoughts expressed in hinduism that are common to even judaism, christianity and Islam. Hinduism beleives in prayer, contemplation of the divine, and worship.

Answer 4

What is known as Hinduism is The Eternal Religion. It is based on fundamental principles of good behaviour and peace full co-existence. These principles are not affected by the time and place. There was no time when this religion was not existing and there will be no time when this religion will not exist.

There had been no war involving Hinduism as it teaches that all religions are good and guide their followers to reach the God.

Answer 5

Religion

Answer 6

Krishna Consciousness:
Hindu Cult or Divine Culture?
There is a misconception that the Krishna consciousness movement represents the Hindu religion. In fact, however, Krishna consciousness is in no way a faith or religion that seeks to defeat other faiths or religions. Rather, it is an essential cultural movement for the entire human society and does not consider any particular sectarian faith. This cultural movement is especially meant to educate people in how they can love God.

Sometimes Indians both inside and outside of India think that we are preaching the Hindu religion, but actually we are not. One will not find the word Hindu in the Bhagavad-gita. Indeed, there is no such word as Hindu in the entire Vedic literature. This word has been introduced by the Muslims from provinces next to India, such as Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and Persia. There is a river called Sindhu bordering the north western provinces of India, and since the Muslims there could not pronounce Sindhu properly, they instead called the river Hindu, and the inhabitants of this tract of land they called Hindus. In India, according to the Vedic language, the Europeans are called mlecchas or yavanas. Similarly, Hindu is a name given by the Muslims.

The Universal Sanatana Dharma based on the Veda, Upanishads Vedanta, etc... is the eternal religion practiced by the inhabitants.
of Bharata presently known as India. It is not sectarian related to any sect, viz., Hindu, Christian, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism etc..., but it is the knowledge of Atma(Atma Jnana) which is the common for all living beings.

Answer 7

Actually our India is called as BHARATHAM.Here six types of religions only exists initially.i.e.
1.Ghanabathyam - those who worship the God Ganesh
2.Saivam - those who worship the God Shiva
3.Vaishnavam - those who worship the God Vishnu
4.Saaktham - those who worship the Goddess Sakthi
5.Koumaram - those who worship the God Murugan
6.Souram - those who worship the God Sun
These six religions are formed by different Rishis & Saints. They made the rules and regulations for the people to follow.All these six religions has interlinks with each other.In our ancient scriptures there is no word like 'Hinduism'.Later the british people only used the word Hindus to refer the people who lived in Sindu region.
" If you remove the religion from a man he is nothing but an animal".
But nowadays there are so many animals in the religion!

Answer 8

Hinduism is culture. For a religion a starter is necessary & a fixed date or time or year hinduism lacks both so i will say it is a culture.Dr. Radha Krishnan always said Hinduism is a culture.

Answer 9

Hinduism is a creation of Hindus. It is a religion not Nationality.

Answer 10

Hinduism is generally regarded as the world's oldest organized religion.Hinduism has grown to become the world's third largest religion, after Christianity and Islam.

Answer 11

[edit] Origins
The earliest evidence for elements of the Hindu faith is dated back as far as the late neolithic, to the early Harappan period (ca. 5500–3300 BCE).[52] In recognition of these ancient sources, it is claimed that Hinduism is the oldest surviving religion in the world.[53]

The beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era (ca. 1500-500 BCE) are called the "Vedic religion". The oldest surviving text of Hinduism is the Rigveda and is dated to between 1700–1100 BCE, based on linguistic and philological evidence.[54]


[edit] The Vedic period
Main article: historical Vedic religion

Sacred Mount Kailash in Tibet is regarded as the spiritual abode of Shiva.Modern Hinduism grew out of the knowledge described in the Vedas. The earliest of these, the Rigveda, centers on worship of deities such as Indra, Varuna and Agni, and on the Soma ritual. The early Indo-Aryans performed fire-sacrifices, called yajña and chanted Vedic mantras. However, they built no temples or icons. Animals were sacrificed in larger yajñas as claimed by Buddhist and Jain texts. The most ancient Vedic traditions exhibit strong similarities to Zoroastrianism, as well as to other Indo-European religions
Thus, Hinduism accepts many scriptures and is open to any new revelations. Because the same eternal spiritual truths can be viewed from innumerable perspectives, there is relatively little theological quarrel among Hindu denominations.[83] Some denominations may be more inclined toward this all-inclusive attitude than others. For instance, although the followers of Smartism emphasise that God can be worshipped in any form, many members of the Vaishnava sect believe that spiritual liberation can be attained more readily through submission to God in the form of Vishnu.[84]


[edit] Practices
All Hindu practices seek to accomplish a single purpose: increasing a person's awareness of the divinity that is present everywhere and in everything.[citation needed] Therefore, Hinduism has developed numerous practices meant to help one think of divinity even in the midst of everyday life. According to Swami Vivekananda:

"The ideal of man is to see God in everything. But if you cannot see Him in everything, see Him in one thing, in that thing you like best, and then see Him in another. So on you go. . . . Take your time and you will achieve your end." [85]