Is hinduism a culture or a religion?Who is a hindu?

Question

Reference to history text of D.D kosambi

Answer 1

Hinduism was never a religion in India.Our ancient religion is Sanatana Dharma.
Hindu word is given by foreign invaders who crossed the river Sindhu.
D.D.kosambi said that culture is a name of agriculture practise's and production methods of our past.
So Hinduism is not a culture also.
Hinduism is a life style of Indians who obey the rules of Veda.
"Hinasti dushtana asati Hindu" (Sanskrit)
The who kills bad elements is Hindu.

Answer 2

Hinduism is a way of life and not a religion. The actual religion followed is Sanatana Dharma (Eternal Religion). The word Hindu came in to use when they could not pronounce Sindhu (a river in the north west of India). They started saying Hindu for the people who lived on the other side (East) of the river. So everybody living East of Sindhu was termed as Hindu.
The ancient Vedic Scriptures do not use the word Hindu. Even Bhagavad Gita does not say Hindu.
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Answer 3

Obviously hinduism is a culture not a religion, beacuase there no one knows who started it. There is not a single god to whom Hindus worship. When it was started that is unknown. The Hindu name wa just created when outsider muslims invaded the country and they name the people of area as Hinud. Since every person who reside in India is hindu as per that theory. Because if he is from Indian origin his encest were Hindu at some time. If we take theme of the Vadic Kal everyone living in this world is Hindu because real Hinduism believes in Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam(All world is the same family) theory.

Answer 4

Hinduism is neither a religion nor a culture. It is only a DHARMA. This is called SANATANA DHARMA which means the Dharma that was practised from time immemorial. The word Hindu was coined with the foreign invaders entering and settling here. The word was derived from the river SINDHU which they have to cross to enter the Continent. No one can claim to be the founder of this Dharma. The righteous conduct that we practise is called Dharma. The cumulative sum of the Dharma practised over centuries by several noble souls/personalities is still continued which the historians started calling it as religion.

Answer 5

A Hindu is a follower of Hinduism. Hinduism is a major religious and cultural tradition of the Indian subcontinent, from the Vedic religion . Practiced primarily in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. It is a diverse family of devotional and ascetic cults and philosophical schools, all sharing a belief in reincarnation and involving the worship of one or more of a large pantheon of gods and goddesses.
Hope I helped

Answer 6

hinduism is not a religion, it is a culture-- a culture which has evolved over centuries in the indian subcontinent. A 'hindu is an inhabitant of the great ancient land of 'Hindusthan'. Hindus are basically people belonging to 'Hindusthan'

Answer 7

Leaving aside all those descriptions and discourses on Hinduism, I will attempt to give you a simple answer. First of all, a Hindu is one who worships the trinity of Gods, Brahma (creator), Vishnu (protector), Shiva (giver of salvation and destroyer), one who worships Durga and Kali (destroyer of demons), Saraswati (Goddess of learning), Laxmi (Goddess of wealth) and Ganesha (Lord of wisdom) is a Hindu. One who believes in karma, salvation, rebirth, and one who reads Geeta, Ramayana, and Veda, Upanishad is a Hindu.
Hinduism embraces all that is good and propitious for mankind and gives a real meaning of love, life and light. The rituals prescribed are the mechanism to achieve these goals in life.
Hinduism encompasses love for all living beings, understanding for atmosphere and planets. Therefore it has a big cultural dimension.

Answer 8

Since Hinduism is a way of life more than a religion it would be difficult to precisely describe who is a Hindu. There could be many ways in which one could describe a Hindu. One of those ways is in accordance with the traditional schools of Hindu philosophical thought.

The Sanskrit term Nastika means a non-believer, non-Hindu. The six traditional schools of Hindu philosophy (Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Purva Mimamsa, Vedanta) define Astika [6] (believer, Hindu) as one who accepts the authority of the Vedas as supreme. These six schools are known as Shat Astik Darshana. Even though these philosophies are studied only formally by the scholars their influence is found in many religious beliefs of the average Hindu.

Hence a Hindu could be defined as a person who accepts the authority of the Vedic scriptures as supreme and leads his/her life in accordance with Dharma. (righteousness, good moral and ethical practices in accordance with the scriptures.)

The Nastika (non-believer) schools are the ones which deny / reject the authority of the Vedas as supreme. They are Buddhism, Jainism and Lokayata.

Thus if you accept the Vedas (by extension Bhagavad Gita, Puranas, etc.) as your scriptural authority, and lived your life in accordance with the Dharmic principles as mentioned in them, you are then a Hindu.

Truly out of Hindu practices and beliefs a Hindu is one who practices Bhakti (devotion) on any form of God (see Brahman & Paramatma) or who practices one of the yoga systems for the purpose of Moksha.

Answer 9

Hinduism is not a religion., There was no mention of it during Lord krishna's period, Its a way of life., Basically any person is classed based on his work which was called as castes , So any person can be changed to any caste based on his Work., which was later misused by several sections of people

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu

Hinduism gave several good things to the people as well:
Some are:
Yoga, Ayurveda

Also read:
http://http://maniratnam.in/hinduism.gif

Answer 10

It's a religion, with a fairly wide pantheon on deities. But it is a major component of traditional Indian culture.