The Hinduism PortalHinduism (Sanskrit Hindū Dharma—हिन्दू धर्म, also known as Sanātana Dharma सनातन धर्म, and Vaidika Dharma वैदिक धर्म) is a dharma (the word “Dharma” does not match any other word in English) originating in the India around the start of the Common Era as a synthesis of various religious traditions. The term “Hinduism” is heterogeneous, as Hinduism consists of several schools of thought. It encompasses many religious rituals that widely vary in practice, as well as many diverse philosophies. Most Hindus believe in a supreme cosmic Spirit, which may be understood in abstract terms as Brahma or which may be worshipped in personal forms such as Vishnu, Shiva or Shakti. Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world with approximately 1.5 billion adherents, (2010), approximately 1.25 billion of whom are in India. Selected article
Dharma is a key concept with multiple meanings in Hinduism and other Indian religions such as Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. In Hinduism, dharma signifies behaviors that are considered to be in accord with rta, the order that makes life and universe possible. The concept includes duties, rights, laws, sanskara (rites of passage rituals), conduct, morals, ethics, virtues and the ‘‘right way of living’’ for an individual in solitude, in interaction with family, with other human beings, with other living beings, as well as with nature and inanimate objects. Dharma concept incorporates principles such as Yamas, Niyama, Yoga, stages of life, goals of life and others.
Dharma is an ancient concept, that evolved over time in India. The word Dharma appears over fifty times in the Rigveda, dated to be from the 2nd millennium BCE. The concept takes a central place in later Vedic era texts and post-Vedic era Sanskrit literature. Dharma includes the pursuit and execution of one’s nature and true calling, thus playing one’s role in cosmic concert. In Hinduism, it is the dharma of the bee to make honey, of cow to give milk, of sun to radiate sunshine, of river to flow. In terms of humanity, Dharma in Hinduism is the need for, the effect of and essence of service and interconnectedness of all life. Selected pictureCategoriesSelect [►] to view subcategories
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Selected Hindus listPortal:Hinduism/Selected Hindu/1 Rama (sometimes referred to as Ramachandra and also as Shri Rama) was a king of Ancient India whose grand story is portrayed in the epic Ramayana, one of the two great epics of India. In Hinduism, he is also considered to be the Seventh Avatara of Vishnu and one of the most important manifestations of God. He is one of the most popular heroes of Hindu mythology and folktales in South and Southeast Asia. Born as the eldest son of Kaushalya and Dasharatha, king of Kosala, he is the embodiment of Dharma. He is the hero of the ancient Hindu epic poem, The Ramayana (The Journey of Rama). Rama is the husband of Sita, who is also considered the Avatara of Lakshmi and the embodiment of perfect womanhood.Portal:Hinduism/Selected Hindu/2 Swami Vivekananda (Bengali: স্বামী বিবেকানন্দ, Hindi: स्वामी विवेकानन्द) (whose pre-monastic name was Narendranath Dutta (Bengali: নরেন্দ্রনাথ দত্ত, Hindi: नरेन्द्रनाथ दत्त; January 12, 1863 – July 4, 1902) is considered one of the most famous and influential spiritual leaders of the Hindu religion. He was the chief disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and was the founder of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. He is considered by many as an icon for his fearless courage, his positive exhortations to the youth, his broad outlook to social problems, and countless lectures and discourses on Vedanta philosophy.Portal:Hinduism/Selected Hindu/3 Sri Aurobindo (Bengali: শ্রী অরবিন্দ; August 15, 1872–December 5, 1950) was an Indian nationalist, scholar, poet, Hindu mystic, evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru. His followers further believe that he was an avatar, an incarnation of the supreme being.Sri Aurobindo spent his life—through his vast writings and through his own development—working for the freedom of India, the path to the further evolution of life on earth, and to bring down what he called the Supramental Truth Consciousness Force to enable such progress. Aurobindo rejected the materialistic tendencies of both Darwinism and Samkhya, and proposed an evolution of spirit rather than matter. Portal:Hinduism/Selected Hindu/4 A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (September 1, 1896–November 14, 1977) was born Abhay Charan De, in Kolkata, West Bengal. He studied at the Scottish Church College, Calcutta, which was then administered by the British. In his later years, as a Vaishnava sadhu, he became an influential communicator of Gaudiya Vaishnava Theology to India and specifically to the West. He took sannyasa vows in 1959 from his Godbrother Sri Bhakti Prajnana Keshava Maharaja at Mathura, following which he singlehandedly published the first three volumes of his thirty volume translation of the 18,000 verse Bhagavata Purana and the commentary on it. He then left India to fulfill his master's spiritual mission. In his possession were a suitcase, an umbrella, a supply of dry cereal, about seven dollars worth of Indian currency, and several boxes of books. Portal:Hinduism/Selected Hindu/5 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948) was a major political and spiritual leader of the Indian Independence Movement. He was the pioneer of satyagraha — resistance through mass civil disobedience strongly founded upon ahimsa (non-violence) becoming one of the strongest philosophies of freedom struggles worldwide. Gandhi is commonly known and spoken of worldwide as Mahatma Gandhi (Hindi: महात्मा, məhatma ; from Sanskrit, mahātmā: Great Soul) and is fondly called Bapu (in Gujarati, Father).Gandhi first employed his ideas of civil disobedience in the Indian struggle for civil rights in South Africa. Upon his return to India, Gandhi helped lead poor farmers and laborers to protest oppressive taxation and widespread discrimination. Portal:Hinduism/Selected Hindu/6 Vyāsa (Devanāgarī: व्यास) is a central and much revered figure in the majority of Hindu traditions. He is also sometimes called Krishna Dwaipayana, (the island-born) or Veda Vyasa '(वेद व्यास, veda vyāsa), meaning - 'the one who classified the Vedas'. He is accredited as the scribe of both the Vedas, and the supplementary texts such as the Puranas. A number of Vaishnava traditions regard him as an avatar of Vishnu. Vyasa is also considered to be one of the seven Chiranjeevin (immortals), who are still in existence according to general Hindu belief. Vyasa appears for the first time as the author of and an important character in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. It is traditionally held by Hindus that Vyasa categorised the primordial single Veda into four. Hence he was called Veda Vyasa, or "Splitter of the Vedas," the splitting being a feat that allowed the populace of the Kali yuga to understand the divine knowledge of the Veda. Portal:Hinduism/Selected Hindu/7 Adi Shankara was a Hindu philosopher and theologian from India. He is the most renowned exponent of the Advaita Vedanta school of philosophy, from whose doctrines some of the main currents of modern Indian thought are derived. His works in Sanskrit discuss the unity of the Ātman and Brahman, the idea that there is interconnected oneness in all of existence, that eternal Truth is Ātman that is within every human being and all living beings. He wrote copious commentaries on the Vedic canon (Brahma Sutras, Principal Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita) in support of his thesis. Shankara also authored Upadesasahasri, his most important original philosophical work. His works elaborate on ideas found in the Upanishads. He also explained the key difference between Hinduism and Buddhism, stating that Hinduism asserts "Atman (Soul, Self) exists", while Buddhism asserts that there is "no Soul, no Self".Adi Shankara died in the thirty third year of his life, and reliable information on his actual life is scanty. Various texts state that Shankara travelled extensively across the Indian subcontinent to propagate his philosophy through discourses and debates with other thinkers of competing Indian philosophies. He established the importance of monastic life as sanctioned in the Upanishads and Brahma Sutra, in a time when the Mīmāṃsā school established ritualism and ridiculed monasticism. He is reputed to have founded four mathas ("monasteries"), which helped in the historical development, revival and the spread of Advaita Vedanta school of Hinduism. He is also credited with initiating the Kumbh Mela – one of the world's largest periodic religious pilgrimages. Adi Shankara is believed to be the organiser of the Dashanami monastic order and the founder of the Shanmata tradition of worship. He is also known as Adi Shankaracharya. Portal:Hinduism/Selected Hindu/8 Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927 - 2001), affectionately known as Gurudeva by his followers, was born in Oakland, California on January 5, 1927. He established a Hindu monastery in Kauai, Hawaii and founded the magazine Hinduism Today. The author of many books on Hinduism and metaphysics, Subramuniyaswami was one of the most prominent faces of Hinduism during the last two decades of the 20th century. He was one of Shaivism's most orthodox and revered Gurus, the founder and leader of the Saiva Siddhanta Church, world's first Hindu church. Born with the name Robert Hansen in California in 1927, as a young man of 20, in 1947, he journeyed to India and Sri Lanka in search of his guru. Two years later was initiated into sannyasa by the renowned siddha yogi and worshiper of Shiva, Jnanaguru Yogaswami of Sri Lanka.Portal:Hinduism/Selected Hindu/9 Madhvacharya (1238-1317) was the chief proponent of Tattvavāda (True Philosophy), popularly known as Dvaita or dualistic school of Hindu philosophy. It is one of the three most influential Vedanta philosophies. Madhva was one of the important philosophers during the Bhakti movement. He was a pioneer in many ways, going against standard conventions and norms. Madhvacharya is believed by his followers to be the third incarnation of Vayu, aka Mukhyaprana, after Hanuman and Bhima. Madhva's Dualistic view, along with Shankara's Advaita or Nondualism and Ramanuja's Qualified Nondualism,or Vishishtadvaita form some core Indian beliefs on the nature of reality. Portal:Hinduism/Selected Hindu/10 Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (Bengali: রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস Ramkrishno Pôromôhongsho), born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay (Bengali: গদাধর চট্টোপাধ্যায় Gôdadhor Chôţţopaddhae), (February 18, 1836–August 16, 1886) was a Hindu religious teacher and an influential figure in the Bengal Renaissance of the Nineteenth century. His teachings emphasized God-realization as the highest goal of life, love and devotion for God, the oneness[disambiguation needed] of existence, and the harmony of religions.Portal:Hinduism/Selected Hindu/11 Jagadguru Rambhadracharya (Sanskrit: जगद्गुरुरामभद्राचार्यः, Hindi: जगद्गुरु रामभद्राचार्य, IAST: Jagadguru Rāmabhadrācārya, Sanskrit pronunciation: [ɟəɡəd̪ɡuru rɑːməbʱəd̪rɑːcɑːrjə]) (1950–), born Giridhar Mishra (IAST: Giridhara Miśra), is an acclaimed scholar, educationist, polyglot, composer, orator, philosopher and Hindu religious leader based in Chitrakuta, Uttar Pradesh, India. He is one of the four incumbent Jagadguru Rāmānandācāryas (leaders of the Ramananda monastic order), and has held this title since 1988.Portal:Hinduism/Selected Hindu/12
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NominationsFeel free to add Featured, top or high importance Hindu mythology, Hindu philosophy, or Hinduism Hindus to the above list. Other Hindus may be nominated here. Current nominationsChoose the next "Selected Hindu": WikiProjectsSelected quoteUsageThe layout design for these subpages is at Portal:Hinduism/Selected quote/Layout.
Quotes listPortal:Hinduism/Selected quote/4 “If I were asked to define the Hindu creed, I should simply say: Search after truth through non-violent means. A man may not believe in God and still call himself a Hindu. Hinduism is a relentless pursuit after truth... Hinduism is the religion of truth. Truth is God. Denial of God we have known. Denial of truth we have not known.” — Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)
Portal:Hinduism/Selected quote/5 Land of religions, cradle of human race, birthplace of human speech, grandmother of legend, great grandmother of tradition. The land that all men desire to see and having seen once even by a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of the rest of the globe combined. — Mark Twain (1845-1910) American author
Portal:Hinduism/Selected quote/6 The Hindu religion is the only one of the world's great faiths dedicated to the idea that the Cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed an infinite, number of deaths and rebirths. It is the only religion in which the time scales correspond, to those of modern scientific cosmology. Its cycles run from our ordinary day and night to a day and night of Brahma, 8.64 billion years long. Longer than the age of the Earth or the Sun and about half the time since the Big Bang. And there are much longer time scales still. — Carl Sagan (1934-1996) famous astrophysicist.
Portal:Hinduism/Selected quote/7 In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial.Portal:Hinduism/Selected quote/8 The apparent multiplication of gods is bewildering at the first glance, but you soon discover that they are the same GOD. There is always one uttermost God who defies personification. This makes Hinduism the most tolerant religion in the world, because its one transcendent God includes all possible gods. In fact Hinduism is so elastic and so subtle that the most profound Methodist, and crudest idolater, are equally at home with it. — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Nobel Laureate in Literature
Portal:Hinduism/Selected quote/9 After gradual research; I have come to the conclusion that long before all heavenly books, God had revealed to the Hindus, through the Rishis of yore, of whom Brahma was the Chief, His four books of knowledge, the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda and the Atharva Veda. The Quran itself made veiled references to the Upanishads as the first heavenly book and the fountainhead of the ocean of monotheism.Portal:Hinduism/Selected quote/10 "It is true that even across the Himalayan barrier India has sent to us such questionable gifts as grammar and logic, philosophy and fables, hypnotism and chess, and above all our numerals and our decimal system. But these are not the essence of her spirit; they are trifles compared to what we may learn from her in the future." — Will Durant (1885-1981) American historian.
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NominationsFeel free to add Hinduism quotes to the above list. Other quotes may be nominated here. Current nominationsChoose the next "Selected quote": I put this on talk page, but nobody replied Comment: The Mark Twain quote refers to India, not Hinduism so I believe it should be removed. GizzaChat © 01:51, 18 January 2007 (UTC) Did you know...
Hinduism is the only religion the past and later evolved to many other religions that even Islamists pray Lord Shiva in Mecca which is hidden fact.
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