Hinduism

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=note|30em|refs=
<!-- B -->
<!-- "Brahmanism" -->
{{refn|group=note|name="Brahmanism"|See:
* {{harvnb|Samuel|2008|p=194}}: "The Brahmanical pattern"
* {{harvnb|Flood|1996|p=16}}: "The tradition of brahmanical orthopraxy has played the role of 'master narrative{{'"}}
* {{harvnb|Hiltebeitel|2002|p=12}}: "Brahmanical synthesis"
According to {{harvnb|Heesterman|2005}}, Brahmanism developed out of the [[Historical Vedic religion]]; "It is loosely known as Brahmanism because of the religious and legal importance it places on the brāhmaṇa (priestly) class of society." According to {{harvnb|Witzel|1995}}, this development started around 1000 BCE in the [[Kuru Kingdom]], with the Brahmins providing elaborate rituals to enhance the status of the Kuru kings.}}
<!-- D -->
<!-- "definition" -->
{{refn|group=note|name="definition"|Hinduism is variously defined as a "religion", "set of religious beliefs and practices", "religious tradition", "a way of life" {{harv|Sharma|2003|pp=12–13}} etc. For a discussion on the topic, see: "Establishing the boundaries" in {{harvnb|Flood|2003|pp=1–17}}}}
<!-- "dharma" -->
{{refn|group=note|name="dharma"|There is [[Untranslatability|no single-word translation]] for ''dharma'' in Western languages.{{harv|Widgery|1930}}{{harv|Rocher|2003}}<br />
The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, [http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/dharma.aspx#1 ''Dharma''], defines dharma as follows: "the order and custom which make life and a universe possible, and thus to the behaviours appropriate to the maintenance of that order." See [[#Dharma (moral duties, righteousness, ethics)|Dharma (righteousness, ethics)]].}}
<!-- F -->
<!-- "fusion" -->
{{refn|group=note|name="fusion"|See also:
* {{harvnb|Ghurye|1980|pp=3–4}}: "He [J. H. Hutton, the Commissioner of the Census of 1931] considers modern Hinduism to be the result of an amalgam between pre-Aryan Indian beliefs of Mediterranean inspiration and the religion of the Rigveda. 'The Tribal religions present, as it were, surplus material not yet built into the temple of Hinduism'."
* {{harvnb|Zimmer|1951|pp=218–219}}.
* {{harvnb|Sjoberg|1990|p=43}}. Quote: [{{cite book|ref=none |last=Tyler |year=1973 |title=India: An Anthropological Perspective |page=68 }}]; "The Hindu synthesis was less the dialectical reduction of orthodoxy and heterodoxy than the resurgence of the ancient, aboriginal Indus civilization. In this process the rude, barbaric Aryan tribes were gradually civilised and eventually merged with the autochthonous Dravidians. Although elements of their domestic cult and ritualism were jealously preserved by Brahman priests, the body of their culture survived only in fragmentary tales and allegories embedded in vast, syncretistic compendia. On the whole, the Aryan contribution to Indian culture is insignificant. The essential pattern of Indian culture was already established in the third millennium B.C., and ... the form of Indian civilization perdured and eventually reasserted itself."
* {{harvnb|Sjoberg|1990}}.
* {{harvnb|Flood|1996|p=16}}: "Contemporary Hinduism cannot be traced to a common origin [...] The many traditions which feed into contemporary Hinduism can be subsumed under three broad headings: the tradition of Brahmanical orthopraxy, the renouncer traditions and popular or local traditions. The tradition of Brahmanical orthopraxy has played the role of 'master narrative', transmitting a body of knowledge and behaviour through time, and defining the conditions of orthopraxy, such as adherence to ''varnasramadharma''."
* {{harvnb|Nath|2001}}.
* {{harvnb|Werner|1998}}.
* {{harvnb|Werner|2005|pp=8–9}}.
* {{harvnb|Lockard|2007|p=50}}.
* {{harvnb|Hiltebeitel|2002}}.
* {{harvnb|Hopfe|Woodward|2008|p=79}}: "The religion that the Aryans brought with them mingled with the religion of the native people, and the culture that developed between them became classical Hinduism."
* {{harvnb|Samuel|2010}}.}}
<!-- H -->
<!-- "Hindu_term" -->
{{refn|group=note|name="Hindu_term"|There are several views on the earliest mention of 'Hindu' in the context of religion:
* {{harvnb|Flood|1996|p=6}} states: "In Arabic texts, Al-Hind is a term used for the people of modern-day India and 'Hindu', or 'Hindoo', was used towards the end of the eighteenth century by the British to refer to the people of 'Hindustan', the people of northwest India. Eventually 'Hindu' became virtually equivalent to an 'Indian' who was not a Muslim, Sikh, Jain, or Christian, thereby encompassing a range of religious beliefs and practices. The '-ism' was added to Hindu in around 1830 to denote the culture and religion of the high-caste Brahmans in contrast to other religions, and the term was soon appropriated by Indians themselves in the context of building a national identity opposed to colonialism, though the term 'Hindu' was used in Sanskrit and Bengali hagiographic texts in contrast to 'Yavana' or Muslim as early as the sixteenth century."
* {{harvnb|Sharma|2002}} and other scholars state that the 7th-century Chinese scholar [[Xuanzang]], whose 17-year travel to India and interactions with its people and religions were recorded and preserved in the Chinese language, uses the transliterated term ''In-tu'' whose "connotation overflows in the religious".{{harv|Sharma|2002}} Xuanzang describes [[Hindu temple|Hindu Deva-temples]] of the early 7th century CE, worship of [[Surya|Sun]] deity and [[Shiva]], his debates with scholars of Samkhya and Vaisheshika schools of Hindu philosophies, monks and monasteries of Hindus, Jains and Buddhists (both Mahayana and Theravada), and the study of the Vedas along with Buddhist texts at [[Nalanda]]. See also {{harvnb|Gosch|Stearns|2007|pp=88–99}}, {{harvnb|Sharma|2011|pp=5–12}}, {{harvnb|Smith|Van De Mieroop|von Glahn|Lane|2012|pp=321–324}}.
* {{harvnb|Sharma|2002}} also mentions the use of the word ''Hindu'' in Islamic texts such as those relating to the 8th-century Arab invasion of Sindh by Muhammad ibn Qasim, Al Biruni's 11th-century text ''Tarikh Al-Hind'', and those of the Delhi Sultanate period, where the term ''Hindu'' retains the ambiguities of including all non-Islamic people such as Buddhists and of being "a region or a religion".
* {{harvnb|Lorenzen|2006}} states, citing Richard Eaton: "one of the earliest occurrences of the word 'Hindu' in Islamic literature appears in 'Abd al-Malik Isami's Persian work, ''Futuhu's-Salatin'', composed in the Deccan in 1350. In this text, 'Isami uses the word 'hindi' to mean Indian in the ethno-geographical sense and the word 'hindu' to mean 'Hindu' in the sense of a follower of the Hindu religion".{{harv|Lorenzen|2006|p=33}}
* {{harvnb|Lorenzen|2006|pp=32–33}} also mentions other non-Persian texts such as ''Prithvíráj Ráso'' by ~12th century Canda Baradai, and epigraphical inscription evidence from Andhra Pradesh kingdoms who battled military expansion of Muslim dynasties in the 14th century, where the word 'Hindu' partly implies a religious identity in contrast to 'Turks' or Islamic religious identity.
* {{harvnb|Lorenzen|2006|p=15}} states that one of the earliest uses of word 'Hindu' in religious context, in a European language (Spanish), was the publication in 1649 by Sebastiao Manrique.}}
<!-- K -->
<!-- "Knott_sanatana dharma" -->
{{refn|group=note|name="Knott_sanatana dharma"|Santana dharma:
* {{harvnb|Harvey|2001|p=xiii}}: "In modern Indian usage, sanātana dharma is often equated with 'Hinduism' as a name, stressing the eternal foundation of it."
* {{harvnb|Knott|1998|p=5}}: "Many describe Hinduism as ''sanatana dharma'', the eternal tradition or religion. This refers to the idea that its origins lie beyond human history."; 
* {{harvnb|Knott|1998|p=117}}: " The phrase sanatana dharma, eternal tradition, used often by Hindus to describe their religion, implies antiquity, but its usage is modern."
* {{harvnb|Parpola|2015|p=3}}: "Some Indians object to having a foreign term for their religion, preferring the Sanskrit expression ''sanātana dharma'', "eternal law or truth," despite the fact that this expression was not applied to any religious system in ancient texts."}}
<!-- L -->
<!-- "Lockard-fusion" -->
{{refn|group=note|name="Lockard-fusion"|{{harvnb|Lockard|2007|p=50}}: "The encounters that resulted from Aryan migration brought together several very different peoples and cultures, reconfiguring Indian society. Over many centuries a fusion of [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Aryan]] and [[Dravidian peoples|Dravidian]] occurred, a complex process that historians have labeled the Indo-Aryan synthesis."<br /> {{harvnb|Lockard|2007|p=52}}: "Hinduism can be seen historically as a synthesis of Aryan beliefs with Harappan and other Dravidian traditions that developed over many centuries."}}
<!-- O -->
<!-- "oldest religion" -->
{{refn|group=note|name="oldest religion"|See:
* {{harvnb|Fowler|1997|p=1}}: "probably the oldest religion in the world."
* {{harvnb|Klostermaier|2007|p=1}}: The "oldest living major religion" in the world.
* {{harvnb|Kurien|2006}}: "There are almost a billion Hindus living on Earth. They practice the world's oldest religion..."
* {{harvnb|Bakker|1997}}: "it [Hinduism] is the oldest religion".
* {{harvnb|Noble|1998}}: "Hinduism, the world's oldest surviving religion, continues to provide the framework for daily life in much of South Asia."
{{harvnb|Smart|1993|p=1}}, on the other hand, calls it also one of the youngest religions: "Hinduism could be seen to be much more recent, though with various ancient roots: in a sense it was formed in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century."<br />
Animism has also been called "the oldest religion."({{harvnb|Sponsel|2012}}: "Animism is by far the oldest religion in the world. Its antiquity seems to go back at least as far as the period of the Neanderthals some 60,000 to 80,000 years ago.")<br />
Australian [[Linguistics|linguist]], [[R. M. W. Dixon]] discovered that [[Australian Aboriginal mythology|Aboriginal myths]] regarding the origin of the Crater Lakes might be dated as accurate back to 10,000 years ago.{{harv|Dixon|1996}}<br />
See also:
* [[Urreligion]], [[Shamanism#Hypotheses on origins|Shamanism]], [[Animism]], [[Ancestor worship]] for some of the oldest forms of religion
* [[Sarnaism]] and [[Sanamahism]], Indian Tribal religions connected to the earliest migrations into India}}
<!-- R -->
<!-- "roots" -->
{{refn|group=note|name="roots"|Among its roots are the [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic religion]] of the late [[Vedic period]] ({{harvnb|Flood|1996|p=16}}) and its emphasis on the status of Brahmans ({{harvnb|Samuel|2008|pp=48–53}}), but also the religions of the [[Indus Valley civilisation]] ({{harvnb|Narayanan| 2009|p=11}}; {{harvnb|Lockard|2007|p=52}}; {{harvnb|Hiltebeitel|2002|p=3}}; {{harvnb|Jones|Ryan|2007|p=xviii}}) the [[śramaṇa]] or renouncer traditions of [[Maurya Empire|northeastern India]] ({{harvnb|Flood|1996|p=16}}; {{harvnb|Gomez|2013|p=42}}), with possible roots in a non-Vedic Indo-Aryan culture ({{harvnb|Bronkhorst|2007}}); and "popular or [[Adivasi|local traditions]]" ({{harvnb|Flood|1996|p=16}}) and prehistoric cultures "that thrived in South Asia long before the creation of textual evidence that we can decipher with any confidence."{{harvnb|Doniger|2010|p=66}})}}
<!-- S -->
{{refn|group=note|name="Sweetman"|{{harvtxt|Sweetman|2004|p=13}} identifies several areas in which "there is substantial, if not universal, an agreement that colonialism influenced the study of Hinduism, even if the degree of this influence is debated":
* The wish of European Orientalists "to establish a textual basis for Hinduism", akin to the Protestant culture,{{harv|Sweetman|2004|p=13}} which was also driven by preference among the colonial powers for "written authority" rather than "oral authority".{{harv|Sweetman|2004|p=13}}
* The influence of [[Brahmin]]s on European conceptions of Hinduism.{{harv|Sweetman|2004|p=13}}
* [T]he identification of Vedanta, more specifically [[Advaita Vedanta]], as 'the paradigmatic example of the mystical nature of the Hindu religion'.{{harv|Sweetman|2004|p=13}} (Sweetman cites {{harvnb|King|1999|p=128}}.) Several factors led to the favouring of Vedanta as the "central philosophy of the Hindus":{{harv|Sweetman|2004|pp=13–14}}
** According to Niranjan Dhar's theory that Vedanta was favoured because British feared French influence, especially the impact of the [[French Revolution]]; and Ronald Inden's theory that Advaita Vedanta was portrayed as 'illusionist pantheism' reinforcing the colonial stereotypical construction of Hinduism as indifferent to ethics and life-negating.{{harv|Sweetman|2004|pp=13–14}}
** "The amenability of Vedantic thought to both Christian and Hindu critics of 'idolatry' in other forms of Hinduism".{{harv|Sweetman|2004|p=14}}
* The colonial constructions of caste as being part of Hinduism.{{harv|Sweetman|2004|pp=14–16}} According to Nicholas Dirks' theory that, "Caste was refigured as a religious system, organising society in a context where politics and religion had never before been distinct domains of social action. (Sweetman cites {{harvnb|Dirks|2001|p=xxvii}}.)
* "[T]he construction of Hinduism in the image of Christianity"{{harv|Sweetman|2004|p=15}}
* Anti-colonial Hindus{{harv|Sweetman|2004|pp=15–16}} "looking toward the systematisation of disparate practices as a means of recovering a pre-colonial, national identity".{{harv|Sweetman|2004|p=15}} (Sweetman cites {{harvnb|Viswanathan|2003|p=26}}.)}}
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