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Indian religions are religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. They are Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. It forms a subgroup of the larger class of "Eastern religions". These religions have similarities in core beliefs, modes of worship, and associated practices, mainly due to their common history of origin and mutual influence. Owing to the concentration of much of their followers (except Buddhism) in modern India and in its neighboring countries, they have acquired a near total geographic identification with India. "Indian religions" is thus an umbrella term in the classification of the world's major religious groups, besides the Abrahamic religions and the Far Eastern religions.^[1]

The earliest documented history of Indian religions begins with historical Vedic religion - the religious practices of the early Indo-Aryans - which were later redacted into the Vedas, the four canonical collections of hyms or mantras. The associated language used for the same, Sanskrit, also took root in the same period. The period of the advent, spread, and eventual establishment of this religion lasted from 1,500 BCE to about 800 BCE. The period from 800 BCE onwards, marked the beginning of the Vedantic period, meaning the end of the Vedas. This period heralded beginning of much of the Classical Hinduism: the writing down of the Upanishads, later the Sanskrit epics and still later the Puranas. About 90% of Hindus reside in the Republic of India, accounting for 83% of its population.^[2]

Jainism, in its present form, is based on the teachings of Lord Mahavira, who was born in the modern state of Bihar, India. However, the Jains believe it to be a very ancient religion of prehistoric non-Aryan origins - rivaling Vedic tradition in its antiquity - and established in the subcontinent by a lineage of 24 enlightened beings (Tirthankaras), starting from Lord Rishabhadev and culminating with Lord Mahavira.^[3]. They believe the Indus Valley Civilisation's seals - showing ascetics in yogic postures - to be repesentative of their pacifist faith, rather than of a more war-like Lord Shiva; (Ref. Rishabha). Jains form a small but influential community today. They are divided in Svetambar and Digambar sects.

Buddhism was historically founded and propagated in India by Gautama Siddhartha - a prince-turned-ascetic, who was a contemporary of Lord Mahavira and who was born in Lumbini of present day Nepal - and it spread out from India through missionaries. But, its followers ascribe a haory past to their faith, claiming Siddhartha to be the last of a long chain of reincarnations of an earliest Buddha and believing that Lord Rama was one of them. Although Buddhism suffered a decline later in the Indian Subcontinent, it remains widespread in East Asia under various denominations like Mahayana, Vajrayana, Theravada etc.

Jainism and Buddhism arose from the ancient Sramana (Ascetism) stream of thought. Classical Hinduism - which arose in the course of the Middle Ages as a result of a syncretism or cross-pollination of the Sramana and the Vedic/Vedantic traditions - divided into numerous denominations, primarily Shaivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism, Smartha - besides much smaller groups like Shrauta and more recent Hindu reform movements and Ayyavazhi.

Sikhism was foundationed in the 15th century, initially as a syncretic faith of Hindu and Muslim traditions; its founder, Guru Nanak Dev, was born in the present day Nankana Sahib of modern Pakistan. It evolved, and got established as an independent religion in its own right, through the efforts its first ten religious heads, who are revered by Sikhs as the "Ten Gurus" of the faith.

Contents 1 Common traits 2 History 2.1 Prehistory 2.2 Vedic religion 2.3 Vedanta 2.4 The Shramana tradition 2.5 Rise, spread and decline of Jainism and Buddhism 2.6 Period after 200 BCE 2.7 Modern period 3 Astika and Nastika categorization 4 Sikhism 5 Religion and secularism in Republic of India 6 Notes 7 References 8 See also 9 External links

[edit] Common traits

Sometimes summarised as "Dharmic" religions or dharmic traditions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism share certain key concepts which are interpreted differently by different groups and individuals. ^[4][5][6]Likewise, common traits can be observed in both the ritual and the literary sphere. Thus, the head-anointing ritual of abhiseka is of importance in all three traditions. Other noteworthy rituals are, the cremation of the dead, the wearing of vermillion on the head by married women, and rituals during marriage. In literature, many classical Hindu narratives have Buddhist or Jain versions.^[7]All three traditions have notions of karma, dharma, samsara, moksha, and various yogas. Of course, these terms may be perceived differently by different religions. For instance, for a Hindu, dharma is his duty. For a Jain, dharma is his conduct. For a Buddhist, dharma is piety. For a Jain, dharma is righteousness. Similarly, for a Hindu, yoga is the cessation of all thought activities of the mind. ^[8] Whereas, Jain epistemology sees yoga as the sum total of all the activities of mind, speech and body.

[edit] History

See also: Religious thinkers of India, History of Hinduism, History of Buddhism, Jainism, and History of Yoga

[edit] Prehistory

Evidence attesting to practice of a prehistoric religion in the Indian subcontinent derives from scattered Mesolithic rock paintings depicting dances and rituals. Neolithic pastoralists inhabiting the Indus River Valley buried their dead in a manner suggestive of spiritual practices that incorporated notions of an afterlife and belief in magic.^[9] Other South Asian Stone Age sites, such as the Bhimbetka rock shelters in central Madhya Pradesh and the Kupgal petroglyphs of eastern Karnataka, contain rock art portraying religious rites and evidence of possible ritualised music.^[10] The Harappan people of the Indus Valley Civilization, which lasted from 3300–1700 BCE and was centered around the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra river valleys, may have worshiped an important mother goddess symbolising fertility.^[11] Excavations of Indus Valley Civilization sites show seals, with animals and "fire‑altars", suggesting rituals associated with fire, and others suggestive of ascetics in yogic postures, some of them with phallic depiction as well (Ref. "Pashupati" seal alongside). A linga-yoni of a type similar to that which is now worshiped by Hindus has also been found.

[edit] Vedic religion

Main article: historical Vedic religion

Elements of Vedic religion reach back into Proto-Indo-Iranian times. Religious practices of Vedic period centered on a clergy administering rituals/rites and sacrifices. Specific rituals and sacrifices of the Vedic religion include:

• The Soma cult described in the Rigveda, descended from a common Indo-Iranian practice
• Fire rituals, also a common Indo-Iranian practice, cf. Zoroastrianism:
  • The Agnihotra or oblation to Agni, a sun charm
  • The Agnicayana, the sophisticated ritual of piling the fire altar
  • The Agnistoma or Soma sacrifice
• The Ashvamedha or horse sacrifice
• The Purushamedha, or sacrifice of a man, imitating that of the cosmic Purusha, cf. Purusha Sukta
• The rituals described in the Atharvaveda concerned with medicine and healing practises, as well as some charms.

The Vedas reflect the liturgy of Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age (Vedic period) Indo-Aryan ritualism in the Indian subcontinent. The period of Vedic times is most significant for the composition of the four Vedas - which are the root of Hinduism as well as its canonical texts - and some Upanishads (essentially commentaries on the Vedas), which lay the foundation of the religious practices that are followed nearly verbatim today by most Hindus and which are the source for much of the belief matrix of today's other Dharmic religions. The Brahmanas, and some of the older Upanishads (BAU, ChU, JUB) are also considered Vedic.

[edit] Vedanta

Main articles: Vedanta, Hinduism, and History of Hinduism

The period of Vedanta (Sanskrit : end of Vedas), typically thought to have begun around 900 to 800 BCE, marked the end of the evolution of the Vedas, much as it also marked the end of the nomadic nature of the Indo-Aryan tribes as they formed permanent settlements in the Indo-Gangetic plain and other parts of Northern India. This period began in earnest, the commentary of the four canonical Vedas that led to, besides the Upanishads, the Brahmanas. While the primordial, ritualistic status of the four Vedas remained undiminished, the early Upanishads sought to offer a more spiritual and holistic insight into the contents of the Vedas. This evolved the ideas of reincarnation, karma, and moksha amongst many others. These were to form the core philosophies of the later epics and Hinduism itself. In fact, much of Hinduism today is approached with the philosophies expounded in the Upanishads as a primer. The Vedic period is held to have ended around 500 BC, when Jainism and Buddhism began to flourish.

[edit] The Shramana tradition

Main article: Shramana

The Shramanas were wandering monks. Buddhism and Jainism are considered by their followers to be continuation of a non-Aryan Sramana tradition of ancient past. ^[12]24th Jain Tirthankar, Mahavira (599–527 BCE), stressed five vows, including ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truthfulness), asteya(non-stealing) and aparigraha (non-attachment). The historical Gautama Buddha, who founded Buddhism, was born to the Shakya clan just before Magadha (which lasted from 546–324 BCE) rose to power. His family was native to the plains of Lumbini, in what is modern southern Nepal. Ajivikas belonged to another Shramana tradtion which is now extinct.

[edit] Rise, spread and decline of Jainism and Buddhism

Main articles: Buddhism in India, Silk Road transmission of Buddhism, and Greco-Buddhism

Main article: Jain community

Further information: Mauryan period and Gupta period

Both Jainism and Buddhism, in their present form, spread throughout India during the period of the Magadha empire. According to Mahavamsa, Jainism was present in Srilanka in before the arrival of Thera Mahinda^[13]. Early Tamil Brahmi Jain inscriptions in present day Tamilnadu are dated back to 2nd C BCE^[14]. Mathura became a major center of Jainism in the Kushana period^[15]. Jainism - as also Buddhism - declined, when Hinduism saw a resurgence during the Gupta dynasty; the successful Advaita Vedanta-proselytisation of Adi Shankaracharya also played a decisive role.

Buddhism spread in India during the reign of Asoka the Great of the Mauryan Empire, who patronised Buddhist teachings. He unified India in the 3rd century BCE and sent out missionaries far and wide, allowing Buddhism to spread across the Indian subcontinent as well as abroad, in Central- and East-Asia.^[16] Indian Buddhism started declining following the rise of Puranic Hinduism under imperial patronage of Gupta dynasty and effective proselytisation by Shankaracharya's Advaita Vedanta movement, but continued to have a significant presence in some northern regions of the Indian subcontinent until the 12th century.

[edit] Period after 200 BCE

Main articles: decline of Buddhism in India, Hindu philosophy, and Pala Empire

Further information: Puranas

After 200 CE, several schools of thought were formally codified in Indian philosophy, including Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Purva-Mimamsa and Vedanta.^[17] Hinduism, otherwise a highly theistic religion, hosted atheistic schools; the thoroughly materialistic and anti-religious philosophical Cārvāka school that originated in India around the 6th century BCE is probably the most explicitly atheistic school of Indian philosophy. Cārvāka is classified as a nastika ("heterodox") system; it is not included among the six schools of Hinduism generally regarded as orthodox. It is noteworthy as evidence of a materialistic movement within Hinduism.^[18] Our understanding of Cārvāka philosophy is fragmentary, based largely on criticism of the ideas by other schools, and it is no longer a living tradition.^[19] Other Indian philosophies generally regarded as atheistic include Classical Samkhya and Purva Mimamsa.

Between 400 CE and 1000 AD, Hinduism expanded as the decline of Buddhism in India continued^[20] and it became effectively extinct in India after 12th century.

Since 12th century, Jainism also declined further in many regions, but continues to be an influential religion in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka, in spite of the small number of its followers. Buddhism has seen a revival in India since the middle of 20th century, which started from the present state of Maharashtra, under the leadeship of B.R. Ambedkar.

[edit] Modern period

Main articles: Religion in India, Hindu reform movements, Hindutva, and Communalism (South Asia)

Reform movements: Several reformist movements of Hinduism arose in India during the nineteenth century, e.g. the Brahmo Samaj in Bengal. The Arya Samaj movement, founded by Swami Dayanand in that period, has become popular especially in and around Punjab, .

Revival of Buddhism: Around the middle of 20th century CE - due to the efforts of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar, a scholar and statesman of Mahar caste of untouchables - Buddhism saw a rebirth in India. It is being embraced as of now mainly by the people of lower castes, although the pace of its revival is slow.

Religion in politics: Religious divide (Communalism) has played a key role in shaping the political history of modern India as well as the rest of the subcontinent. British India was partitioned in 1947, along religious lines, into two states: the Muslim-majority Dominion of Pakistan (comprising what is now the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People's Republic of Bangladesh) and the Hindu-majority Union of India (later the Republic of India). The 1947 Partition of British India initiated rioting among Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs in Punjab and Bengal, which spread to Delhi and other parts; 500,000 died as a result of the violence. The twelve million refugees that moved between the newly founded nations of India and Pakistan constituted one of the largest mass migrations, and religion based demographic change, in modern history.^Δ[›][21] Since its independence, India has periodically witnessed large-scale violence sparked by underlying tensions between sections of its majority Hindu and minority Muslim communities. Although, the Republic of India is secular as per its Constitution - and its government recognises no official religion - the country is often considered a Hindu-holy-land (punyabhumi) by Hindus; a belief that has had inter-religious antagonistic ramifications, especially in pro-Hindutva politics. Neo-Budhists have also become one more factor in national politics.

In recent decades, communal tensions and religion-based politics have become more prominent, fanned by extreme right ideologies.^[22]

[edit] Astika and Nastika categorization

Further information: Astika, Hindu philosophy, and Buddhism and Hinduism

Astika and nastika are sometimes used to categorise Indian religions. Those religions that believe that God is the central doer in this world, are termed as astika. Those religions that do not believe that God is the prime mover and doer in this world, are classified as nastika religions. From this point of view, the Vedic religion (aka Hinduism) is an astika religion, whereas Buddhism and Jainism are nastika religions.

Yet another definition of the terms astika and nastika, followed by Adi Shankara, classifies religions and persons as astika and nastika, according to whether they accept the authority of the main Hindu texts, the Vedas as supreme revealed scriptures, or not. By this definition, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Raja Yoga, Purva Mimamsa and Vedanta are classified as astika schools; while Charvaka is classified as a nastika schools. By this definition, both Buddhism and Jainism are classified as nastika religions since they do not accept the authority of the Vedas.

All three religions, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism agree that Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism ( as well as Lingayats) do not accept the authority of the Vedas. Despite a general doctrinal tolerance in the Hindu tradition, history shows instances of hostility against Jains, such as in Tamil Nadu in the 7th century, when Hindu Shaiva poets and teachers popularized the notion of Jains (or Samanars in Tamil) as villains opposed to the Shaiva creed. In modern India, Jains share a variety of cultural and linguistic affinities with other religious communities.

[edit] Sikhism

Main article: Sikhism

Further information: Sikhism and Jainism and Sikhism and Hinduism

Sikhism originated in fifteenth century Northern India with the teachings of Nanak and nine successive gurus. The principal belief in Sikhism is faith in Vāhigurū— represented by the sacred symbol of ēk ōaṅkār[meaning one god]. Sikhism's traditions and teachings are distinctly associated with the history, society and culture of the Punjab. Adherents of Sikhism are known as Sikhs (students or disciples) and number over 23 million across the world.

Although it began as a relatively neutral faith system that proposed to inculcate the best practices of Hinduism and Islam, over time, its Gurus led followers in various rebellions and battles against the Islamic Mughal rulers of the time, most notably against Aurangzeb. This experience, of fighting against imperial interests and suffering consequent penalties, influenced the perspective of Sikhs and led to the formation of martial Khalsa tradition, which has played an important role, subsequently, in the Sikh history. Occasionally, it has been exploited for political advantage in the past .

[edit] Religion and secularism in Republic of India

Societally, there is little distinction or separation of class between Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists, owing to near congruence in beliefs and practices.^[23][24] Cross-worship and intermarriages are common.^{[citation needed]}

Legally the Constitution of India, in various decrees, declares or implies that the Union status of Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists stands as being sub-sects of Hinduism, and are governed under the ambit of Hindu laws. It has regarded Sikhism and Jainism to be sub-sects, or 'special' faiths, within the larger Hindu fold itself^[25], and that Jainism is a denomination within the Hindu fold.^[26] Although Government of British India counted Jains in India as a major religious community right from the first Census conducted in 1873, after independence in 1947, Sikhs and Jains were not treated as national minorities.^[27] In 2005, the Supreme Court of India declined to issue a writ of Mandamus towards granting Jains the status of a religious minority throughout India. The Court, however, left it to the respective states to decide on the minority status of Jain religion.^{[28] [29]}

Some individual states have, over the past few decades, differed on whether Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs are religious minorities or not, by either pronouncing judgments or passing legislation. One example is the judgment passed by the Supreme Court in 2006, in a case pertaining to the state of Uttar Pradesh, which declared Jainism to be undisputably distinct from Hinduism, but mentioned that, "The question as to whether the Jains are part of the Hindu religion is open to debate.^[30].

Another example is the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Bill, that is an amendment to a legislation that sought to define Jains and Buddhists as denominations within Hinduism. ^[31] Ultimately, on 31st July 2007, finding it not in conformity with the concept of freedom of religion, as embodied in Article 25 (1) of the Constitution, Governor Nawal Kishore Sharma returned back the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2006, citing the widespread protests by the Jains as well as the Supreme Court's extra-judicial observation earlier, that Jainism is a "special religion formed on the basis of quintessence of Hindu religion". ^[32]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Chatterjee, S & D Datta (1984), An Introduction to Indian Philosophy (8th ed.), University of Calcutta, ASIN: B0007BFXK4
• Fowler, JD (1997), Hinduism: Beliefs and Practices, Sussex Academic Press, ISBN 1-898-72360-5, <http://books.google.com/books?id=RmGKHu20hA0C>
• Heehs, P (2002), Indian Religions: A Historical Reader of Spiritual Expression and Experience, New York University Press, ISBN 0-814-73650-5
• Oberlies, T (1998), Die Religion des Rgveda, Wien

• Radhakrishnan, S & CA Moore (1967), A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-01958-4
• Rinehart, R (2004), Contemporary Hinduism: Ritual, Culture, and Practice, ABC-Clio, ISBN 1-57607-905-8

[edit] See also

• Indian philosophy
• Indology
• Ayyavazhi and Hinduism
• Buddhism and Hinduism
• Buddhism and Jainism
• Sikhism and Jainism
• Sikhism and Hinduism
• Eastern religion

[edit] External links

Statistics

• Census of India 2001: Data on religion. Government of India (Office of the Registrar General). Retrieved on 2007-05-28.

Constitution and law

• Constitution of India. Government of India (Ministry of Law and Justice). Retrieved on 2007-05-28.

Reports

• International Religious Freedom Report 2006: India. United States Department of State. Retrieved on 2007-05-28.

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