Hinduism Explained

Hinduism, the religion of over a billion people, is the world’s oldest religion and the most

confusing one to non-Hindus. Some say it isn’t even a religion, more a way of life. Hindus

themselves call it Sanātana Dharma, the eternal tradition. So what is Hinduism, does YOLO

apply to them, and who is this elephant guy? Well, Let’s Find Out.

Hinduism is the world's oldest active religion. It's the result of the merging of the ancient

Indus Valley civilsation and nomads that came into India around 1500BC. Some scholars say

it could even go back many more thousands of years....but we won't delve too deep into

dates. As dates in Hinduism are very controversial. But one thing is certain. Hinduism is old.

Like, at least, 36 Betty White's. Hinduism has been around so long that it and the concept

of India are inseparable. Hindu and India even come for the same word.

Sanskrit was the ancient language of the Hindus, and the Sanskrit name for the Indus River

is Sindhu. The Ancient Persians who sat across the Indus tended to switch S's to H's. So

Sindhu became Hindu. So people the living across the river became Hindus. The Persians

told the Greeks who dropped that not very Greek like H, stuck a very Greek like "ia"

to the end and boom, India.

Hinduism has a long long history. But today we'll be focusing just on the core beliefs

of Hindus because I don't have the willpower to animate a 3 hour video.

Hindus are a diverse group. Some are strict, dedicating their lives to prayer. While others

don't believe in any gods but follow Hindu philosophy.

To make things easier to understand let's break Hinduism down into 7 core beliefs. So

here's my rap about the 7 Hindu beliefs.......please don’t do the rap, you’re better than this

man......fine. Here's the regular version.

1. Belief in a One Universal Soul: Hindus believe in a Universal Soul know as Brahman.

A formless, genderless, source of all reality. Brahman is the universe and the material that

makes up the universe. It's a trippy concept. Think of Brahman as an ocean and everything

else as drops propelling out of that ocean. Seperate for a time, but still the same thing.

2. Belief in an immortal individual soul. In Hinduism souls are known as Atman. Actions

of the soul while in a body have effects on that soul's next life. When you die your soul

moves to another new body. This is called transmigration. The kind of body the soul

inhabits next is determined by karma.

3. Belief in karma: Karma is action, usually good or bad actions that affect society. For

Hindus karmic actions in the past affect us today and our actions today affect our soul's

future.

4. Belief in Moksha: The goal in Hindu life is to somehow get back to Brahman. If a Hindu

can do this they will be freed from cycle of life and death. This is called moksha.

You can achieve moksha by realising your oneness with Brahman. How you realise this is up to

you. For this reason, Hindus pray “Lead me from the unreal to the real.”

5. Belief in the Vedas: The Vedas are Hindu sacred books of knowledge. There are four

Vedas. Hindus believe that all four were divinely revealed to ancient Hindu sages. We'll take