A report on Hinduism, Vedas and Jainism

A Balinese Hindu family after puja at Bratan temple in Bali, Indonesia

The hand symbolizes Ahiṃsā, the wheel dharmachakra, the resolve to halt saṃsāra (transmigration).

Om, a stylized letter of Devanagari script, used as a religious symbol in Hinduism

The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the Atharvaveda.

Classification of Saṃsāri Jīvas (transmigrating souls) in Jainism

Swami Vivekananda was a key figure in introducing Vedanta and Yoga in Europe and the United States, raising interfaith awareness and making Hinduism a world religion.

Lord Neminatha, Akota Bronzes (7th century)

Ganesha is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon.

A page from the Taittiriya Samhita, a layer of text within the Yajurveda

Jain miniature painting of 24 tirthankaras, Jaipur, c. 1850

The Hare Krishna group at the Esplanadi Park in Helsinki, Finland

Jain temple painting explaining Anekantavada with Blind men and an elephant

The festival of lights, Diwali, is celebrated by Hindus all over the world.

A Jain monk in meditation, wearing the characteristic white robe and face covering

Hindus in Ghana celebrating Ganesh Chaturti

Nishidhi stone, depicting the vow of sallekhana, 14th century, Karnataka

Holi celebrated at the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Utah, United States.

Praying at the feet of a statue of Bahubali

Kedar Ghat, a bathing place for pilgrims on the Ganges at Varanasi

Jain worship may include ritual offerings and recitals.

Priests performing Kalyanam (marriage) of the holy deities at Bhadrachalam Temple, in Telangana. It is one of the temples in India, where Kalyanam is done everyday throughout the year.

Celebrating Das Lakshana (Paryushana), Jain Center of America, New York City

The birth of Mahavira, from the Kalpa Sūtra (c.1375–1400 CE)

Basic Hindu symbols: Shatkona, Padma, and Swastika.

Kauai Hindu monastery in Kauai Island in Hawaii is the only Hindu Monastery in the North American continent.

A symbol to represent the Jain community was chosen in 1975 as part of the commemoration of the 2,500th anniversary of Mahavira’s nirvana.

The Hindu Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram was built by Narasimhavarman II.

Rishabhdev, believed to have lived over 592.704×1018 years ago, is considered the traditional founder of Jainism.

The ruins of Gori Jain temples in Nagarparkar, Pakistan, a pilgrimage site before 1947.

Saavira Kambada Basadi, Moodbidri, Karnataka

Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism.

- Vedas

Another endonym is Vaidika dharma, the 'dharma related to the Vedas.'

- Hinduism

Other śramaṇa traditions, such as Charvaka, Ajivika, Buddhism and Jainism, which did not regard the Vedas as authorities, are referred to as "heterodox" or "non-orthodox" (nāstika) schools.

- Vedas

In this, it is unlike the Abrahamic religions and Hinduism, but similar to Buddhism.

- Jainism

He includes among "founded religions" Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism that are now distinct religions, syncretic movements such as Brahmo Samaj and the Theosophical Society, as well as various "Guru-isms" and new religious movements such as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and ISKCON.

- Hinduism

It is one of the Śramaṇa traditions of ancient India, those that rejected the Vedas, and according to the twentieth-century scholar of comparative religion Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Jainism was in existence before the Vedas were composed.

- Jainism

3 related topics with Alpha

Indian Cultural Influence (Greater India)

History of India

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According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago.

Dholavira, a city of Indus Valley Civilisation, with stepwell steps to reach the water level in artificially constructed reservoirs.

Archaeological remains of washroom drainage system at Lothal.

Sinauli "chariot", photograph of the Archaeological Survey of India.

An early 19th century manuscript in the Devanagari script of the Rigveda, originally transmitted orally with fidelity

Late Vedic era map showing the boundaries of Āryāvarta with Janapadas in northern India, beginning of Iron Age kingdoms in India – Kuru, Panchala, Kosala, Videha.

City of Kushinagar in the 5th century BCE according to a 1st-century BCE frieze in Sanchi Stupa 1 Southern Gate.

Manuscript illustration of the Battle of Kurukshetra.

The Mahajanapadas were the sixteen most powerful and vast kingdoms and republics of the era, located mainly across the Indo-Gangetic plains.

The Mauryan carved door of Lomas Rishi, one of the Barabar Caves, c. 250 BCE.

Silk Road and Spice trade, ancient trade routes that linked India with the Old World; carried goods and ideas between the ancient civilisations of the Old World and India. The land routes are red, and the water routes are blue.

Copper Plate Seal of Kamarupa Kings at Madan Kamdev ruins.

Kadamba shikara (tower) with Kalasa (pinnacle) on top, Doddagaddavalli.

Excavated ruins of Nalanda, a centre of Buddhist learning from 450 to 1193 CE.

Chola Empire under Rajendra Chola, c. 1030 CE.

The Delhi Sultanate reached its zenith under the Turko-Indian Tughlaq dynasty.

The Dasam Granth (above) was composed by Sikh Guru Gobind Singh.

18th century political formation in India.

The route followed in Vasco da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499).

Literacy in India grew very slowly until independence in 1947. An acceleration in the rate of literacy growth occurred in the 1991–2001 period.

Mature Harappan Period, c. 2600 - 1900 BCE

Mohenjo-daro, one of the largest Indus cities. View of the site's Great Bath, showing the surrounding urban layout.

Three stamp seals and their impressions bearing Indus script characters alongside animals: "unicorn" (left), bull (center), and elephant (right); Guimet Museum

Their Vedic Period (1500–500 BCE) was marked by the composition of the Vedas, large collections of hymns of these tribes.

This urbanisation was accompanied by the rise of new ascetic movements in Greater Magadha, including Jainism and Buddhism, which opposed the growing influence of Brahmanism and the primacy of rituals, presided by Brahmin priests, that had come to be associated with Vedic religion, and gave rise to new religious concepts.

In response to the success of these movements, Vedic Brahmanism was synthesised with the preexisting religious cultures of the subcontinent, giving rise to Hinduism.

Dharma

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The Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription is from Indian Emperor Asoka in 258 BC, and found in Afghanistan. The inscription renders the word dharma in Sanskrit as eusebeia in Greek, suggesting dharma in ancient India meant spiritual maturity, devotion, piety, duty towards and reverence for human community.

The wheel in the centre of India's flag symbolises dharma.

Dharma (dharma, ; dhamma) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others.

In the earliest texts and ancient myths of Hinduism, dharma meant cosmic law, the rules that created the universe from chaos, as well as rituals; in later Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas and the Epics, the meaning became refined, richer, and more complex, and the word was applied to diverse contexts.

Brahman

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In Hinduism, Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.

A drop in the ocean: an analogy for Ātman merging into Brahman.

Swan (Hansa, हंस) is the symbol for Brahman-Atman in Hindu iconography.

Brahman is a key concept found in the Vedas, and it is extensively discussed in the early Upanishads.

Buddhism and Carvaka school of Hinduism deny that there exists anything called "a Self" (individual Atman or Brahman in the cosmic sense), while the orthodox schools of Hinduism, Jainism and Ajivikas hold that there exists "a Self".

Brahmin is a varna in Hinduism specialising in theory as priests, preservers and transmitters of sacred literature across generations.