Who are the central prophets/founders of Hinduism?

Answer 1

Hinduism was the name given by the moghul invaders from iran/iraq/afghanistan to india because they wanted to give a name to indians so they chose the word "indu" or after the name of the major river "Sindhu" from punjab as indians were living on the other side of river sindhu somewhat later it was changed to HINDU so when we use the word HINDU we are actually referring to Vaishnavism or worshippers of Lord Vishnu as Vaishnavism was founded by great devotees of Lord Vishnu earliest founders were Lord Brahmaji who founded the Brahma sampradaya(disciplic sucession),Lord Shiva who formed the Rudra Sampradaya, Godess Lakshmi who founded the Sri sampradaya and the Kumaras who founded the Kumara sampradaya,ofcourse now only 2 sampradayas ie. Brahma & Sri sampradayas are exsiting in this planet earth who are still preaching Vaishnavism the other 2 are lost their origin since they are not preaching Vaishnavism

Answer 2

Unknown. Some of its tenets may go back as far as the neolithic period (5500 BCE), or at least the Harappan culture that appeared shortly afterward. The beliefs are typically referred to as the Vedic religion. Hinduism grew out of the Vedic religion, with the oldest Hindu text, the Rigveda, believed to have been created circa 1200 BCE (on the basis of linguistic evidence).

During the early days of Hindu, worship focused on Indra, Agni, and Varuna, but temples and artwork were not created in their honor. The rituals employed were believed to be strongly related to Zoroastrianism, which had, by this time, been founded in the Persian lands to the northwest.

There's sort of a "dry" period after the Rigveda until the Upanishads, which gives us our first glimpses into the philosophical themes of other writings at the time, as well as the Rigveda. This was around the 700s BCE. After that, there's another dry period that was broken by the writings of the Mahabarata and the Ramayana, in which we find several mythical stories, wars, kinds, deities, and avatars of other gods, along with a further expansion of the philosophical themes that became part of the basis of what we now recognize as Hinduism (though most of the well-known elements, such as yoga, were absent until the iron age). Who wrote these texts, or what prompted their creation (~300 CE) is unknown.

Answer 3

There is nothing like Hinduism.This is a name given by some Muslim people who could not pronounce the name sindu Vally.In the entire scriptures there is no name called like this.
I can say founders are those Moguls who named like that.They are founders of that name.

Answer 4

No founder, or prophet; it's just the by-product of the mixing of cultures between the Aryan conquerors and the Indus river people.

Answer 5

No "founders", no "central prophets", simply a conglomeration of philosophy over many, many years.

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Answer 6

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Answer 7

There are no profits in Hinduism,we believe our religion to have always been there.Our scriptures were written down in books and ancient texts 5-7,000 years ago by various sages.The purpose of the texts and scriptures was because since our evil age of Kali Yuga was arriving (and already has),humans have lost the ability to remember vast quantities of information like that of the Hindu scriptures,which have hundreds of thousands of pages,so various sages wrote down the information in scriptures known as Upanishads,Vedas,Bhagavad Gita and such,in the beginning these various texts could easily be memorized by humans,but mankind was losing that capability since the age of evil (Kali Yuga) was aproaching.To learn more about the four ages in Hinduism go to the 5th section,of the long amounts of information written below,it might be hard to really get it unless you read everything however.Vyasa Muni is accredited with writing down the Mahabharata epic and the Vedas in written format,he also wrote down the Puranas (general information and conceptions of god).Without him the vast information and knowledge that Hinduism has would not exist,it would be forgotten.

Lord Krishna is not a profit but an incarnation of god himself.He appeared on Earth 5,000 years ago.
The Bagavad Gita is a cherrished Hindu scripture and is famous even in the Western countries.
The content of the text is a conversation between Krishna and Arjuna taking place on the battlefield of Kurukshetra just prior to the start of a climactic war. Responding to Arjuna's confusion and moral dilemma, Krishna explains to Arjuna his duties as a warrior and Prince and elaborates on a number of different Yogic and Vedantic philosophies, with examples and analogies. This has led to the Gita often being described as a concise guide to Hindu philosophy and also as a practical, self-contained guide to life. During the discourse, Krishna reveals his identity as the Supreme Being Himself (Bhagavan), blessing Arjuna with an awe-inspiring glimpse of His divine absolute form.
I believe in one eternal absolute source of all living and non living ,the supreme conciousness,the absolute truth ,the alpha and omega.The being is known as Brahman. The source of consciousness itself, God is seen as the shape of the Universe and has the cosmic form and that cosmic form is... everything pretty much. All that exists, God is the shape of the Universe.You can call this ultimate reality Jesus,Allah,Zeus etc.


Stating this we humans must think of a personified being that speaks out to us. But there has to be a personified being. This is known as param Brahman or in other words, god personified into consciousness. And this is the being we humans ponder for and want to serve eternally. God personified is what we call Vishnu-Krishna. Vishnu being the preserver of the material creation and Krishna being the maintainer of heaven, an eternal place of bliss where the happiest moment in our life multiplied by hundreds of billions would fail to equal a fraction of the happiness there. And for the enjoyment of all of us there is whatever form we would like to think of, in our belief that form is Krishna who is with the flute and the peacock feather who is as beautiful as a million cupids .In the form of however we choose to see him we are his eternal servant .The spiritual creation is infinite in size and always expanding, too much for us to comprehend lets talk about Vishnu. In the abode of Vaikuntha Vishnu is the preserve of all things in the material world. The absolute truth for us, in our belief he is seen as holding the mace, conch shell , lotus flower and the chakra. He has sky blue skin. Symbolizing radiance and the eternal being, the conch symbolizes the elements of the Universe,the chakra symbolizes the almighty strength ,the eternal energy, the mace symbolizes concious stregnth and physical stregnht in living beings while the lotus flower symbolizes life ,the power of how the Universe emerges. Maha Vishnu's eternal consort is Lakshmi.In his eternal abode of Vaikuntha, infinite Universes submerge and merge into his skin. Each Universe carries another form of Vishnu known as Garbodakshaya Vishnu, still should be considered equal to Krishna and Maha Vishnu as they are the same eternal soul. Garbodakshaya Vishnu is the maintainer of our Universe and the supreme source of it.Every Universe of the infinite amounts has a Garbodakshaya Vishnu, and every Universe has a Brahma, Shiva and of course Vishnu .Every Universe has Brahma who is the creator of all things in the Universe and the first material being in every Universe. Brahma was born from the lotus flower appearing from the naval of Garbodakshaya Vishnu. Brahma is depicted with 4 heads,4 arms and sits in a lotus flower. He is not worshipped much in India because he is the only trinity with a temporary life, since he is a living being unlike Vishnu and Shiva. Shiva's duty is to destroy the whole Universe in the end of Brahma's life which is 311 trillion human years. After that Vishnu reestablishes the Universe and Brahma is again born, the attributes being the same but a different soul or new person in his position after performing millions of years of penence. Though Shiva is the inhialator he still has taken part in many ancient Hindu stories.

There is one last form of Vishnu and that is the Kshirodaksaya Vishnu.The supreme friend of all beings in the material world.The eternal soul within our soul,the super soul,the cause of our conciousness,our living force.

There are considered to be 3.5 million gods in Hinduism.They are not all gods but are demi gods,something that is misinterperted.These Demi gods manage the Universe.The current being who is the king of the Demi gods,the lord of the angels is lord Indra.At Indra Loka.The heavenly planets in our solar system.

In Hinduism our Universe is seen as having 4 ages which go through the cycle again and again until Brahma has reached the end of his life.The 4 ages are Satyayuga,Treta yuga,Dwapar yuga and Kali Yuga.Satya yuga and Treta yuga last over a million years.Dwapar yuga is 800,000 years and Kali yuga is 432,000 years.According to the Hindu scriptures known as the Vedas (Sanksrit text) which was written 5,000 years ago by Vyasudev because man had lost the capability to remember so many millions of scriptures,prayers and information,Kali Yuga is what we are in right now,the worst yuga.In this age there is murder,violence,sexuality,gamb... pregnancy and other abnormal things.And Kali Yuga is when we need god the most.In Satyayuga,the world is Utopia,people live to be 100,000 but spent most of their lives meditating on the supersoul,the eternal god.

The laws of Hinduism involve no meat eating,gambling,illicit sex or self intoxication.We tend to be vegetarian because we believe in reincarnation.The sense that we will continuously become other living entities after death based on good karma and bad karma.This determines what happens in life the future and the present.Killing an animal is bad karma according to our beliefs.There are many forms of life in the Universe,some lower,some higher then humans.Humans are one of the highest forms of life.Higher forms are demi gods and those in the abode of Brahma,Indra,Shiva etc.Other Universes have larger variaties.We do believe in hell but not in eternal suffering there.We believe in hellish planets and the demi god who determines what happens in your next life is Yamaraj,the lord of Death,who is a great servent of Vishnu.He maintains hell.Animal killing is considered bad karma.But we may ask about plants and vegetables being living things.This is true,but plants and vegetables do not have nerves nor conciousness,although they are living,they cannot feel pain because of their lack of nerves.So eating them is crime but not as punishable as animal killing.This is why we purify our vegetarian food in a proccess called prasadam.Offered food.We recite prayers before eating it,so its free of sins from killing the plant or vegetable.The caste system is one reason Hinduism is critisized.Originally it was not supposed to determine the importance of people.There was Brahmana (preists and sages),Kshytrias (warriors,kings and generals),Vishyas(bussiness owners) and Sudras (workers).It was not meant to determine our value.The Hindu epic Ramayana clearly tells that when lord Rama liberated tribals and poor people in the wilderness.Another western misinterpetation is that we worship cows,we believe the cow is sacred among animals and that god respects it because it gave things like fertalization of plants,milk,cheese,butter etc to humans and layed our foundation.


In our Universe Vishnu has 10 Avatrars for every round of 4 yugas,it is unknown whether the Avatars are only the ones on Earth or on other solar systems,it is generally believed that there or more avatars as there are waves in the sea meaning othr avatars exist in other planets.The first one being Matsya,the giant fish who was once a small 1 inch fish found by a kind.The fish got older and grew finally to be 100 times larger then a whale.The fish was raised by a king.At the peak of its size,Vishnu reveals himself and warns the king of a flood that will drain the Earth.The king gathers the low population at the time and saves the seeds of life to reestablish Earth.This event is actually Noah's ark.There are other Avatars who come along and save mankind in critical points.Two famous epics.Ramayana involoving Rama avatar and Mahabharata involving Krishna (not to be confused with the eternal being,but should not be diffrenciated).

Rāma's youth

Brahma, creator of the universe, could not revoke a boon he gave the demon king Ravana, as a reward for his severe penances, that he should not be slain by gods, demons, or spirits. Having been then rewarded, Ravana began with the help of his evil supporters, the Rakshasas, to lay waste the earth and to do violence to the good, especially the Brahmin priests, disturbing their sacrifices. All the gods, watching this devastation, went to Brahma to find a way to deliver themselves and the earth of this evil. Brahma went to Vishnu and conveyed the anguish of the gods and requested that Vishnu incarnate on earth as a human to destroy Ravana, as Ravana had not asked for protection against humans or beasts in his wishes to Brahma.

Meanwhile, the good king Dasharatha of Ayodhya, who had ruled over his kingdom of Kosala for a long time, was beginning to become anxious about his successor, for he had no sons to take over the kingdom after him. Taking advice from his ministers and priests Dasharatha organised a Putrakameshti Yagna, a sacrifice for progeny. Vishnu decided to be born as the eldest to Dasharatha and caused a divine being to emerge from the sacrificial fire. The divine being gave Dashratha a golden vessel filled with nectar and asked him to give it to his queens. Dasharatha divided it amongst his three queens, Kausalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi. In due course they became pregnant and gave birth to four sons: Queen Kausalya gives birth to the eldest son, Rama. Bharata is born to Queen Kaikeyi, and twins, Lakshmana and Shatrughna, are born to Queen Sumitra.

The boys grew up learning the scriptures and the art of bowmanship from the sage Vasishta. One day, the sage Vishwamitra visited the kingdom and asked King Dasaratha to send Rama to protect him from demons who had been disturbing his sacrifices. Although very reluctant, Dasharatha agreed to send Rama and Lakshmana with Vishwamitra. As the brothers fulfilled their duties, Vishwamitra was pleased with them and bestowed upon them various celestial weapons.

Towards the end of their stay with Vishwamitra, Rama chanced to pass near the kingdom of Mithila and heard that its king, Janaka, had offered his peerless daughter, Sita, in marriage to the man who could bend the mighty bow of god Siva, which had been kept at Janaka's court. Rama at once was determined to accomplish the feat, which had been tried in vain by so many suitors. When he presented himself at court, Janaka was at once won over by his youth and beauty. Five thousand men drew in the mighty bow, resting upon an eight-wheeled chariot. Rama, without any apparent effort, bent it until it broke and Janaka gladly gave him his beautiful daughter. After the splendid wedding ceremonies were over, the happy pair travelled back to Ayodhya.


Rāma's exile
King Dasharatha began to feel weary of reigning and decided to make Rama, his eldest son and heir-apparent, the co-regent (Yuvaraja). His happy people received the announcement of his intention with delight and the whole city was in the midst of the most splendid preparations for the ceremony. Dasharatha went to discuss the celebrations with his favourite wife Kaikeyi. However, Kaikeyi's jealousy was aroused by her evil maid Manthara, because the son of Kausalya and not her own son Bharata, at that time absent from the city, was to be made king. She fled to an ante-chamber where Dasharatha found her in tears.

To Dasharatha's concerned queries, Kaikeyi recalled that, ages ago, the old king had granted her two boons. This was as a result of a war that the king was in before his children were born. He was riding in a chariot when the wheel was about to fall off. Queen Kaikeyi was with him, and sacrificed her finger by putting into the wheel to hold it into place, thus saving her husband's life. To show his gratitude, he offered her 2 wishes/boons. She gratefully accepted them, and told him that she had no use for them at present, and would use them when the need arose.

She now demanded the fulfillment of these before she would consent to smile upon him. Dasharatha agreed and Kaikeyi revealed her demands. She required him, first, to appoint her son Bharata as co-regent and, second, to exile Rama for fourteen years to the terrible forest of Dandaka. Dasharatha was heart-broken, but had to abide by his promise. Rama, the obedient son, immediately agreed to relinquish his claim to the throne and started to leave for his exile. His faithful wife Sita and his loving brother Lakshmana also decided to go along with Rama. With Dasharatha lying grief-stricken, Rama left for the forest, followed by the lamenting people of Ayodhya. Soon after, king Dasharatha died, overcome by grief.


Sita's abduction
Rama, Sita and Lakshmana left behind Ayodhya and its people, crossed the river Ganges and went into the forest. They found an idyllic place called Chitrakuta to establish their hermitage. No more beautiful place could be imagined. Flowers of every kind, delicious fruits, and on every side the most pleasing prospects, together with perfect love, is stated to have made their hermitage a paradise on earth. In the forest, Rama befriended the old eagle-king, Jatayu.

Meanwhile, Bharata returned to Ayodhya and, being also devoted to Rama, became furious with Kaikeyi for her role in exiling Rama and for the death of his father. Determined to bring back Rama, he headed for the forest. When he found Rama and pleaded with him to return and assume the throne, Rama politely refused, saying that he was duty-bound to see that his father's promise was fulfilled. Reluctantly Bharata agreed to return to the kingdom, requesting that Rama give to him his sandals. Back in Ayodhya, Bharata placed Rama's sandals on the throne of Ayodhya, and ruled as Rama's proxy from a village called Nandigrama near Ayodhya, awaiting his return. He also vowed to end his own life if Rama failed to return after fourteen years.

One day, the rakshasi Surpanakha, a sister of the demon king Ravana, chanced upon Rama's hermitage and saw the handsome Rama and became enamored. Taking the form of a beautiful young girl, she tried to seduce Rama. Rama, ever faithful to his wife Sita, did not respond and asked her to approach Lakshmana. Lakshmana too refused, stating his duty towards his brother and his sister-in-law while in exile. An infuriated Surpanakha blamed Sita for the men scorning her and charged at her in her original demonic form. However, Lakshmana saved Sita by severing Surpanakha's nose and ears. Surpanakha flew back to Ravana complaining about the young exiles. Ravana, after hearing of the beautiful Sita from Surpanakha, resolved to kill Rama in revenge and take Sita for himself. He enlisted the aid of the demon Maricha. Maricha turned himself into a golden deer that Sita wanted for herself. She asked Rama to get it for her, but after Rama left to find it, Maricha began screaming to trick Lakshmana. Lakshmana, convinced Rama was in danger, resolved to go out and find his brother. Before leaving Sita alone in the hut, Lakshmana drew a circle in the dirt saying that Sita would be safe as long as she stayed in the circle. Ravana approached the hermitage in the guise of an old man and asked Sita to give him some food. Initially hesitant to step out of Lakshmana's circle, Sita finally stepped out to give the old man some food. At this moment Ravana grabbed Sita and fled in his airborne vehicle, (Pushpaka Vimana). Jatayu, seeing them fly, attempted to save Sita, but Ravana engaged Jatayu in combat and chopped off the eagle's wings. On returning to the hermitage, Rama and Lakshmana found it empty and anxiously began a search. Through Jatayu, whom they found lying mortally wounded, Rama and Lakshmana learnt of Sita's fate.


Vanara kingdom
Continuing their search, they encountered the vanara king of Kishkindha, Sugriva, and Hanuman, one of his generals, among whom Sita had dropped from the chariot her scarf and some ornaments. Sugriva had been deposed from his kingdom by his brother, Vali, who had also taken his wife Roma from him. Rama agreed to defeat Vali if Sugriva would assist in the search for Sita. The agreement made, Sugriva challenged Vali to a duel. While the duel was progressing, Rama shot from his bow and killed Vali. Sugriva regained his kingdom and his wife.

Sugriva and Rama sent the vanara soldiers in various directions in search of Sita. However, their efforts didn't bear fruit until they met another ancient vulture, Sampati, who was the brother of the slain Jatayu. Sampati was earthbound and deformed - his wings were burnt when he flew too close to the Sun (a story that can be considered to be similar to that of Icarus's). His brother, being hardier, had saved him from falling to his death. While Jatayu was the physically stronger of the two, Sampati possessed a compensating gift of vision. Sampati's vision was incredibly powerful, spanning several hundred yojanas and enabling him to see farther than anyone else. On hearing of Ravana's killing his brother, he readily agreed to help the vanaras. He was soon able to spot Sita in the southern direction. He could see her imprisoned in a garden of Ashoka trees on the island of Lanka, beyond the southern ocean.


Hanuman in Lanka
Sugriva dispatched his army to the south with his nephew Angada at the head. Hanuman went with Angada as his general. When they reached deep south, they found a great ocean stretching between them and land of Lanka. They could find no means by which to cross the ocean. Commanding his soldiers to remain where they were, Hanuman expanded his body to enormous proportions, leaped the vast expanse of water, and alighted upon a mountain Trikuta from which he could look down upon Lanka. Perceiving the city to be closely guarded, he assumed the form of a cat, and thus, unsuspected, crept through the barriers and examined the city. He found Ravana in his apartments, surrounded by beautiful women, but Sita was not among them. Continuing his search, he at last discovered her, her beauty dimmed by grief, seated under a tree in a beautiful asoka grove, guarded by hideous rakshasas with the faces of buffaloes, dogs, and swine.

Assuming the form of a tiny monkey, Hanuman crept down the tree, and giving her the ring of Rama, took one from her. He offered to carry her away with him, but Sita declared that Rama must himself come to her rescue, and as proof of finding her Sita gave Hanuman a priceless jewel to take back to Rama. While they were talking together, Ravana appeared, and, after fruitless wooing, announced that if Sita did not yield herself to him in two months he would have her guards "mince her limbs with steel" for his morning repast.

In his rage, Hanuman destroyed a mango grove and was captured by the rakshasa guards, and brought before Ravana. Hanuman proclaimed that he was a messenger of Rama, and demanded that Ravana restore Sita to Rama or fall victim to Rama's wrath. Furious at hearing Hanuman's words, Ravana ordered Hanuman's death.

Vibhishana, Ravana's righteous brother, intervened and counseled Ravana to follow the scriptures, reminding that it was improper to execute a messenger, and instead told him to exact the appropriate punishment for Hanuman's crime. Ravana accepted and ordered his rakshasas to set fire to Hanuman's tail. As soon as this was done, Hanuman made himself very small, slipped from his bonds, and, jumping upon the roofs, spread a conflagration through the city of Lanka. He leaped back to the mainland, conveyed the news of Sita's captivity to Rama and Sugriva, and was soon engaged in active preparations for the campaign.


Battle of Lanka
Rama decided that as long as the ocean was not bridged, it was impossible for any one but Hanuman to cross it. Rama meditated for three days without food or water, until from the terrified waves arose Varuna, the god of the ocean. Varuna was perplexed that Rama was meditating on him since he (Rama) was an avatar of Vishnu, one of the highest ranked Gods of Hinduism. Rama explained that because he is a human, he must perform the duties (dharma) of a human to call on Varuna. Hence, Varuna promised him that if the architects Nila and Nala (from Rama's army) were to build a bridge of any kind, by throwing any material into the ocean, the ocean would support the bridge as though it were built on land.

Terror reigned in Lanka at the news of the approach of Rama. Vibishana, Ravana's brother, deserted to Rama, because of the demon's rage when he advised him to make peace with Rama. Fiercely fought battles ensued, in which even the gods took part--Vishnu and Indra taking sides with Rama, and the evil spirits fighting with Ravana.

After the war had been fought for some time, with varying results, and a great number of troops on both sides were killed, it was decided to determine the victor by single combat between Ravana and Rama. Even the gods were terrified at the fierceness of the conflict. At each shot Rama's mighty bow cut off a head of Ravana, which at once grew back, and the hero was in despair until Vibhishana told him to aim at Ravana's belly-button. Rama took careful aim as the source of "amrit" or divine nectar that allowed the regeneration of Ravan's head was stored in his belly button. Subsequently, Rama killed Ravana using Bramha's divine weapon, the Bramhastra.

As Ravana fell by this weapon, flowers rained from heaven upon the happy victor, and his ears were ravished with celestial music. Touched by the grief of Ravana's widow, Mandodari, Rama told Vibhishan to conduct the funeral in the manner deserved by kings.

Sita was led forth, beaming with happiness at finding herself re-united to her husband; but her happiness was destined to be of short duration. Rama received her with coldness and with downcast eyes, saying that she could no longer be his wife, after having dwelt in the house of Ravana. Sita assured him of her innocence; but on his continuing to revile her, she ordered her funeral pyre to be built, since she would rather die by fire than live despised by Rama. The sympathy of all the bystanders was with Sita, but Rama saw her enter the flames without a tremor. Soon Agni, the god of fire, appeared, bearing the uninjured Sita in his arms. Her innocence thus publicly proved by the trial by fire, she was welcomed by Rama, whose treatment she tenderly forgave. Rama reveals to Lakshmana why the pyre was necessary. Earlier during the exile, Rama already knew Ravana would be kidnapping Sita. If Ravana had attempted to touch Sita, her devotion to her husband, her purity and chasity would have burned Ravana's hands. Hence, the only way to let Sita be kidnapped was for her soul to be sent with Agni, the fire god, whereas a physical form of Sita remained. Hence, when Rama told Sita to prove herself with fire, he was really asking Agni, the fire god, to give him back his Sita.

The conquest won, Ravana defeated, and Sita restored, Rama returned in triumph to Ayodhya, and assumed the governance to the great delight of Bharata and the people of Ayodhya.

We may ask,why did god come to Earth and ask for help from monkeys and let his wife be kidnapped?This is because he simply wanted mankind to benifit by serving him.Anyone who serves god in anyway is benifited.All the monkeys who served lord Rama served in honor and all went to Vaikuntha-Goloka Vrindaban.The ultimate heaven

The other epic as I stated is the Mahabharata.

It is much longer then the Ramayana and has more twists.
The epic employs the story within a story structure, otherwise known as frametales, popular in many Indian religious and secular works. It is recited to the King Janamejaya by Vaisampayana, a disciple of Vyasa.

The core story of the work is that of a dynastic struggle for the throne of Hastinapura, the kingdom ruled by the Kuru clan. The two collateral branches of the family that participate in the struggle are the Kauravas, the elder branch of the family, and the Pandavas, the younger branch.

The struggle culminates in the Great battle of Kurukshetra, in which the Pandavas are ultimately victorious. The Mahabharata itself ends with the disappearance of Krishna, and the subsequent end of his dynasty, and ascent of the Pandava brothers to Heaven. It also marks the beginning of the Hindu age of Kali (Kali Yuga), the fourth and final age of mankind, where the great values and noble ideas have crumbled, and man is speedily heading toward the complete dissolution of right action, morality and virtue. Some of the most noble and revered figures in the Mahabharata end up fighting on the side of the Kauravas, due to conflicts of their dharma, or duty. For example, Bhishma had vowed to always protect the king of Hastinapura, whoever he may be. Thus, he was required to fight on the side of evil knowing that his Pandavas would end up victorious only with his death.


Authorship
The epic is traditionally ascribed to Maha Rishi Veda Vyasa, who is one of the major dynastic characters within the epic. The first section of the Mahabharata states that it was Ganesha who, at the behest of Vyasa, fixed the text in manuscript form. Lord Ganesha is said to have agreed, but only on condition that Vyasa never pause in his recitation. Vyasa then put a counter-condition that Ganesha understand whatever he recited, before writing it down. In this way Vyasa could get some respite from continuously speaking by saying a verse which was difficult to understand. This situation also serves as a popular variation on the stories of how Ganesha's right tusk was broken (a traditional part of Ganesha imagery). This version attributes it to the fact that, in the rush of writing, the great elephant-headed divinity's pen failed, and he snapped off his tusk as a replacement in order that the transcription not be interrupted.


Bhishma
Janamejaya's ancestor Shantanu, the king of Hastinapura has a short-lived marriage with the goddess Ganga and has a heroic son, Devavrata (later to be called Bhishma).He was trained by Parashurama. Devavrata, a young man already with a reputation as a fearsome warrior, is the heir apparent to the throne.

Many years later, when the king goes hunting, he spots Satyavati, the daughter of a fisherman, and wants to marry her. Eager to secure his daughter's and her children's future happiness, the fisherman refuses to consent to the marriage unless Shantanu promises to make the future son of Satyavati the king upon his death, instead of Devavrata. To solve the king's dilemma, Devavrata agrees to that. Finding that the fisherman, though convinced of Devavrata's commitment, is not sure about the prince's children honouring the promise, Devavrata makes a severe vow of lifelong celibacy to guarantee his father's promise. Hearing such a vow, unheard of amongst warriors, the heavens bestow Devavrata with the name Bhishma, 'the person of the terrible oath'.

Shantanu has two sons by Satyavati, Chitrangad and Vichitravirya(Vichitraveer). Upon Shantanu's death, the young Chitrangad becomes king with his elder brother Bhishma at his side, serving as a guardian and regent of sorts to the young king. After his death Vichitravirya rules Hastinapura, again with Bhishma his elder brother at his side. To have his younger brother married, Bhishma goes to Kashi for Swayamwara to get the three beautiful daughters of Kashiraj. Their names are Amba, Ambika and Ambalika. Amba is in love with Salvaraj. Bhishma, on the way to Hastinapur; with the girls, had a combat with Salvaraj and other princes. He wins and goes to Hastinapura. Amba, tells about her love to Satyavati, Bhishma's step-mother. She allows her to go back to Salvaraj, who does not accept her; as it was against Kshatriya Dharma. Insulted Amba comes back to Hastinapura and asks Bhishma to marry her. Being vouched for celibacy, Bhishma rejects her, on which she curses him that she would be the cause of his Death.

When King Shantanu is on his deathbed, his concern for his children and the stability of the kingdom delays his death. To ease the king's pains Bhishma promises to stay alive until the kingdom is safe and secure. Again, an awesome promise as all kingdoms are under constant threat. This promise was to cost him dearly, giving him a long life with constant tribulations and battles. Later, though seriously wounded, Bhishma could not give up his soul until the final battle resulted in the rule of the righteous Pandavas.


The Pandavas
Unfortunately Satyavati's sons die young without any heirs. Satyavati then called her son Vyasa and through Niyoga her daughter-in-laws gave birth to Dhritrashtra and Pandu. A maid was also gifted by Vyasa with a son named Vidur. Later her grandson Pandu ascends the throne as his elder brother Dhritarashtra is blind. Pandu whilst out hunting deer, is however cursed by a sage (whom he accidentally kills while he is having sex with his wife, mistaking their moans of pleasure to be the sounds of a deer) that he can never engage in sexual act with any woman. He retires to the forest along with his two wives. His elder queen Kunti summons the gods Dharma, Vayu, and Indra by using a boon granted by another sage, Durvasa (a very short tempered sage), whom Kunti tended and cared for with great diligence), and gives birth to three sons Yudhishthira, Bhima, and Arjuna through their respective "fathers". The sons of course inherit the primary character of their respective father. Kunti shares her boon with her "sister" queen Madri, who bears the twins Nakula and Sahadeva through the Ashwini twins. However Pandu and Madri, unable to resist temptation, indulge in sex and die in the forest, and Kunti returns to Hastinapura with her sons, Pandavas.

The rivalry between the Pandavas and the Kauravas starts from childhood itself. Dhritarashtra’s sons, the Kauravas, led by the eldest Duryodhana, detest their cousins the Pandavas. However, they were the favorite of their teacher Drona and the Pandavas grow up to be exceptional. Each one of the Pandavas is said to have one exceptional strength or virtue - Yudhishthira is the most virtuous, Arjuna the bravest warrior, Bhima the strongest, Nakula the most handsome and Sahadeva wise and able to predict the future.

When the princes of Hastinapur come of age, a tournament is held to display their strength and skill. When Arjuna was hailed as a master of archery, a young man challenges him for a duel. He declares his name is Karna, and is the son of a charioteer. In reality, he was the eldest son of Kunti, to whom she gave birth before she married Pandu. Kunti had doubted the boon she received from Durvasa, and wanting to try it out, summoned the Sun God; Surya. Surya appeared before her and blessed her with a child, Karna, whom she left floating in a basket in the river Ganga in fear of him becoming an outcast for being born outside of marriage. When asked to prove that he is of royal birth, which is the criterion for joining the tournament, Duryodhana, spotting a potential ally, jumps over to his side and gives his kingdom of Anga. Karna is forever grateful for this act. Because of this, he becomes Duryodhana's closest friend and plays a crucial role in the war.


Laakshagriha (The House of Wax)
Meanwhile Duryodhana plots to get rid of the Pandavas and tries to kill the Pandavas secretly by burning their palace which is made of lac. However, the Pandavas are warned by their uncle, Vidura, who sends them a miner to dig a tunnel. Therefore, when Duryodhana's servants set the house on flames, they will be able to escape in safety. After escaping from the tragedy, the Pandavas arrive in a forest and rest. Bhima and Arjuna want to confront the Kauravas, but Kunti and Yudhishthira decide against it. Bhishma goes to the river Ganga to perform the last rites of the people found dead in the burned palace, misunderstood to be Pandavas. Vidura then informs him that the Pandavas are alive and to keep the secret to himself.

There are two places in India which claim to have been the site of Laakshagriha (The House of Wax). One is in Uttar Pradesh and is known as Lakshagriha. It is situated 45 Kms from Allahabad. Presently, there is a big mound, which is believed to be originally made of wax and housed the palace intended to burn the Pandava brothers.

The second is situated in Uttarkhand, and is known as Lakhamandal. It has various temples and a cave shrine dedicated to various gods, along with the Pandava Brothers.


Ekachakra
The Pandavas stay in the village of Ekachakra in the guise of Brahmins. Kunti and Bhima then learn of a cruel and terrible rakshasa named Bakasura who has made a deal with the villagers that if he receives one villager a month to eat, he will not harm the villagers. Bhima sets out to eliminate this rakshasa. A great fight arises and Bhima with his might kills him. In order to avoid being identified, the Pandavas leave Ekachakra and move on.


Draupadi
In course of this exile the Pandavas are informed of a "competition" called a swayamvar taking place with the prize being the hand of the Panchal princess and the daughter of King Drupad, Draupadi. The Pandavas enter the competition in disguise as Brahmans, the task being to string a mighty steel bow and shoot with a steel arrow the eye of a rotating fish on the ceiling while concentrating on the reflection underneath. No king manages to come close to do so, being unable to lift the heavy bow! Karna, the only one who is able to lift the bow, is about to try when he is halted by Draupadi with the excuse that he is the son of a charioteer and should not participate. Arjuna, however, succeeds. When he returns with his bride, Arjuna goes to his mother to show her his prize, exclaiming, "Mother, I have brought you a present!". Kunti, not noticing the princess, tells Arjuna that whatever he has won must be shared with his brothers. To ensure that their mother never utters a falsehood, even by mistake, the brothers take her as a common wife. In some interpretations, Draupadi alternates months or years with each brother. At this juncture they also meet Krishna, who would become their lifelong ally and guide.


Indraprastha
Shakuni (Dhritarashtra's brother-in-law) and Duryodhana are furious when they learn that the Pandava brothers are alive and that King Dhritrashtra has agreed to send Vidur to call them back to Hastinapura. Karna, as usual, is ready to fight them, but Shakuni realizes that with King Drupada and Krishna on the Pandava's side it would be difficult to defeat them. Dhritrashtra consoles Duryodhana and assures him that his rights as the Heir Apparent to the throne of Hastinapur will be fully protected. In Kampilya, King Drupada and Krishna advise Yudhishthira to fight for his right to the throne of Hastinapura. Vidura arrives and tells the Pandava brothers that they have been invited back to Hastinapura along with their bride. The Pandavas and Draupadi return to Hastinapura. Dhritrashtra conceals his disappointment and orders an illustrious welcome. Determined to establish peace between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, Bheeshma suggests giving half the kingdom to Yudhishthira Dhritrashtra agrees to this suggestion. Krishna and Balrama, also give their consent and it is decided that Yudhisthira's coronation as King of Indraprastha (the new land) be held in Hastinapura.

The land given to them however becomes another injustice committed against the Pandavas as it is neither popular nor agriculturally productive. Krishna consoles the Pandavas saying that Indraprastha is not a waste but instead an opportunity to create a Land of Action. Taking the advice of Krishna, the Pandavas make Indraprastha a beautiful and just kingdom.


The Rajsuya Yagna
Shortly after this, Arjuna and Subhadra (Krishna's sister) get married and return to Indraprastha to be welcomed by Draupadi. Here, Yudhishthira seeks Sri Krishna's advice on performing the Rajsuya Yagna (ceremony) which will make him the emperor of India. Krishna advises him that a certain King Jarasandha, who himself has imprisoned 86 kings, must be killed to prevent his interference in the ceremony. Yuddhisthira decides to send Krishna, Bheema and Arjuna to challenge Jarasandh in single combat. Jarasandha chooses to fight with Bheema. Bheema and Jarasandha - matched so equally in strength - fight for nearly fourteen days without rest. When Jarasandha finally showed signs of exhaustion, Krishna prompts, by tearing a blade of grass at the stalk, Bheema to make an end of him. After Jarasandha is destroyed, his son is crowned King of Magadh. The Rajsuya Yagna is successfully celebrated and Yudhishthira is recognized as an Emperor.


Purusha Mruga
Another legend talks about Bhima's enounter with the great Purusha Mruga. Purusha Mruga was renowned as one of the biggest devotees of Lord Shiva. As the name suggests, he was half man and half animal. Yudhishthira suggested that his presence in the Rajasuya Yagna would be most auspicious and assigned Bhima to invite the revered guest. Bhima on his way, is said to have met an old monkey who is Hanuman in disguise. After inquiring about the purpose of Bhima's journey, Hanuman plucks three strands of hair from his tail and hands it to him, saying it would be of help later. Taking blessings of Hanuman, Bhima continues on the journey. On meeting Purusha Mruga, Bhima introduces himself and requests the kind devotee's presence in the Rajasuya Yagna. Purusha Mruga calmly states that he would attend the ceremony only on one condition. Bhima has to run towards Hastinapur and he would try to catch him. In an event that Bhima is caught outside the boundary of Hastinapur, Purusha Mruga would eat him. Since Yudhishthira was very keen on Purusha Mruga's attendance, Bhima accepts the challenge.

Bhima runs very fast and is confident that he cannot be caught. He turns back, though, only to find Purusha Mruga gaining on him and almost about to catch him. Bhima remembers about the three hair strands which Hanuman gave him. He drops one of them and finds that it is replaced by millions of Shiva Lingam. Purusha Mruga, being a Shiva Bhakta, stops to pay his respects to each of these. Bhima, pleased by the boon, continues running, nevertheless. But soon he finds Purusha Mruga trailing him closely, after worshipping all the Shiva Lingams. He drops the second hair. The same process ensues. Similarly, Bhima drops the third hair too. Finally, when nearing the door of Hastinapur and almost crossing it, Purusha Mruga gets hold of Bhima's leg. Purusha Mruga tells Bhima that he would eat him now. Bhima, though, claims to have entered Hastinapur. At that moment, Yushishthira and Krishna arrive at the scene. After narrating the entire incident to Yudhishthira, Purusha Mruga demands justice. Yudhishthira, after considering the situation carefully, points out that Bhima's leg is the only part outside the boundary of Hastinapur and thereby, legally Purusha Mruga could eat only his leg. Pleased by the impartial and thoughtful justice imparted by Yushishthira (Dharmaraja), Purusha Mruga showers lavish praise on him and lets Bhima go. He blesses the Rajasuya Yagna and the Pandavas by attending the ceremony.


"The House of Illusion"
Duryodhan is unhappy about the prosperity of the Pandavs, Shakuni consoles him and later loses in a game of dice to Yudishthir. Duryodhan walks around Yudhishthir's 'Maya Mahal" ("The House of Illusion" built by Mayasura on Krishna's instructions) and falls into one of the pools. Draupadi laughs and says that the son of a blind man can only be blind. Duryodhan, Karna and Shakuni plan to avenge Draupadi for her taunting remarks.


Duryodhana's game
Duryodhana, who now has a friend in the peerless warrior Karna, is informed of Yudhisthira's becoming the emperor. This proves too much for Duryodhana who feels death would be better than watching one's foes prosper. His maternal uncle Shakuni, convinced that however brave his nephew may be, he is no match for his cousins, decides to use a ruse to destroy the Pandavas. He forces Dhritarashtra to invite the Pandavas for a game of dice in which he wins everything from Yudhishthira, including himself, his brothers and Draupadi through the use of a loaded die. The jubilant Kauravas insult the Pandavas in their helpless state and even try to disrobe Draupadi in front of the entire court. Her honour is saved by the grace of Krishna who through divine intervention has granted her a sari that does not end. Hence, the Kauravas are unable to disrobe her. Dhritarashtra is forced to restore everything to the Pandavas, when draupadi is about to curse the kingdom and Duryodhan's mother Gandhari intervenes and reminds Dhritarashtra that Draupadi's curse can destroy the kingdom and all his sons immediately. Shakuni forces another game of dice which he again wins. As a condition of his victory, the Pandavas are required to go into exile for 13 years, and on the 13th year must return to the kingdom but remain hidden. If discovered by the Kauravas, they will be forced into exile for another 12 years.


The Years in Exile
The Pandavas having lost the game of dice go on exile for 12 years and a year of hiding. During the period of exile, they visit many religious places and are often visited by Krishna. Draupadi who has been insulted by Dushasana (Duryodhan's brother), takes a vow never to tie up her hair until she had blood from Dushasana's chest to wash her hair with. This constantly reminds her husbands of how war was inevitable. Krishna advises Arjuna that since war was inevitable, he should enter heaven to seek the divine weapons held by Gods and that he who is favored by Lord Indra would be able to do so. Through the prayer of Lord Indra, Arjuna gains access to heaven from where he obtains the divine weapons and also learns how to use them. Finally, Lord Indra advises Arjuna to learn the art of dance as it would come to his aid in the 13th year of hiding.


The battle at Kurukshetra
When the Pandavas return from their exile after many hardships, they request for a peace treaty with the Kauravas to gain Indraprastha back. However, Duryodhan disagrees and argues that since the Pandavas were "caught" in their year of hiding, they must go into another 13 years of exile before they can have Indraprastha. The Pandavas on Krishna's advice again ask for a peace treaty asking for at least five villages for the five brothers, from the Kauravas' vast kingdom. Duryodhana refuses to give in. Krishna intervenes to mediate peace but is unsuccessful. War becomes inevitable.

The two sides summon vast armies to their help and line up at Kurukshetra for a war. The Kingdoms of Panchala, Dwaraka, Kasi, Kekaya, Magadha, Matsya, Chedi, Pandya and the Yadus of Mathura and some other clans like the Parama Kambojas from Transoxiana were allied with the Pandavas; the allies of the Kauravas comprised the kings of Pragjyotisha, Anga, Kekaya (Kekaya brothers who were enemies of the Kekeya brothers on the Pandava side), Sindhudesa (including Sindhus, Sauviras and Sivis), Mahishmati, Avanti in Madhyadesa, Madras, Gandharas, Bahlikas, Kambojas (with Yavanas, Sakas, Tusharas etc) and many others. Prior to war being declared, Krishna's brother, Balarama, had left to go on pilgrimage, thus he does not take part in the battle itself.

Arjuna, seeing himself facing grandsire Bhishma and his teacher Drona on Duryodhana's side due to their vow to serve the state of Hastinapur is heartbroken and at the idea of killing them he fails to lift his Gandiva bow. Krishna who has chosen to drive Arjuna's chariot wakes him up to his call of duty in the famous Bhagavad Gita section of the epic

The Bhagavat Gita is a scripture in which lord Krishna describes the meaning of life.All of our modern day questions is answered in the epic.
The discourse on the Bhagavad Gita begins before the start of the climactic battle at Kurukshetra. It begins with the Pandava prince Arjuna, as he becomes filled with doubt on the battlefield. Realising that his enemies are his own relatives, beloved friends and revered teachers, he turns to his charioteer and guide, Krishna (Bhagavan, or the Lord), for advice.

In summary the main philosophical subject matter of the Bhagavad-gita is the explanation of five basic concepts or truths:

Ishvara (The Supreme Controller)
Jiva (The Soul)
Prakrti (Matter)
Karma (Action)
Kala (Time)
Krishna counsels Arjuna on the greater idea of dharma, or universal harmony and duty. He begins with the tenet that the soul is eternal and immortal. Any 'death' on the battlefield would involve only the shedding of the body, but the soul is permanent. Arjuna's hesitation stems from a lack of right understanding of the 'nature of things,' the privileging of the unreal over the real. His fear and reticence become impediments to the proper balancing of the universal dharmic order. Essentially, Arjuna wishes to abandon the battle, to abstain from action; Krishna warns, however, that without action, the cosmos would fall out of order and truth would be obscured.

In order to clarify his point, Krishna expounds the various Yoga processes, and understanding of the true nature of the universe. Krishna describes the yogic paths of devotional service, action, meditation and knowledge. Fundamentally, the Bhagavad Gita proposes that true enlightenment comes from growing beyond identification with the temporal ego, the 'False Self', the ephemeral world, so that one identifies with the truth of the immortal self, the soul or Atman. Through detachment from the material sense of ego, the Yogi, or follower of a particular path of Yoga, is able to transcend his/her illusory mortality and attachment to the material world and enter the realm of the Supreme.[16]

It should be noted, however, that Krishna does not propose that the physical world must be forgotten or neglected. Indeed, it is quite the opposite: one's life on earth must be lived in accordance with greater laws and truths, one must embrace one's temporal duties whilst remaining mindful of a more timeless reality, acting for the sake of action without consideration for the karmaphal (karmic fruits, whether bitter or sweet). Such a life would naturally lead towards stability, happiness and, ultimately, enlightenment.

To demonstrate his divine nature, Krishna grants Arjuna the boon of cosmic vision (albeit temporary) and allows the prince to see his 'Universal Form' (this occurs in the eleventh chapter). He reveals that he is fundamentally both the ultimate essence of Being in the universe, and also its material body, called the Vishvarupa ('World Form').

In the Bhagavad-Gita Krishna refers to the war about to take place as 'Dharma Yuddha', meaning a righteous war for the purpose of justice. In Chapter 4, Krishna states that he incarnates in each age (yuga) to establish righteousness in the world.



. Though initially sticking to chivalrous notions of warfare, the Kauravas and Pandavas soon descended into dishonourable warfare. At the end of the 18-day slaughter only the Pandavas, Satyaki and Krishna survive.Throughout the battle one billion are slaughtered.It is said that the battle is the main reason India declined.The pandava's sons nor anybody of the kuru dynasty is left with the exception of king Parikshith.Arjuna's son Ahbimanyu had impregnated Uttara before dieing in battle in unjustifyable circumstances as he was 16 and was surrounded by the top generals.Uttara gives birth to king Parikshith who rules the world perfectly and the world is still a Utopia.Krishna leaves to heaven so Parikshit is the only one to stop the effects of Kali Yuga.However on a trip to the forest he hunts wild animals that may threaten Brahmanas (holy men).When he sees a sage he was angered the sage is not giving him water or greeting him as he was extremely tierd.The sage is meditating and in deep concentration does not realize he is there.Parikshith maharaj finds a dead snake and hangs it on the sages neck.The sage did not feel it.Parikshit majaraj leaves.The sage's son Sringi is playing with his friends far off.He senses a disturbance and realizes what happened.He curses Parikshith maharaj to death after 10 days by being bittern by a snake-bird.During this time Parikshith maharaj realizes his time has come and goes off to pilgrimage.There he learns the srimad bhagavadam from Sukudev goswami.The prophecy does come true and he dies leaving no decendent.Thus India split up and the decline began,it is blamed because of Kurukshetra because all of the Pandava's decendents are killed as well as other nobel kings.The decline of the world also began.

The final Avatar (skipping a few) is Kalki.Who is to come in 427,000 years to reestablish the Universe,not just the Earth.


Knowing all this (assuming that you read it) you might ask,well how do you guys pray?

We pray by reciting ancient mantras meant to purify the soul.One has to make god the primary goal of life.So we have prayers from the bhagavat gita as well as other texts glorifying certain Hind demi gods or the supreme Brahman.We also have many prayers regarding ancient pastimes of the many Avatars and the a few philosphical ones.We have prayers regarding karma,reincarnation,good and evil.Mainly we chant mantras like

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna hare hare,hare rama hare rama,rama rama hare hare

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hinduism...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwygem19c...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsnjosqt6...