1. Hinduism sanatana dharma “eternal truth”

2. DEMOGRAPHICS  3 rd Largest religion in the world  ~850,000,000 followers  Mostly in India

3. Origin/History  May be the oldest religion in the world  Its oral history pre- dates its written history  2000 BCE  Aryans brought their Vedic teachings  Written in Sanskrit

4. Diety/Dieties  One Supreme Being  Has unlimited forms  Enters the world as an avatar, a deity who manifests in bodily form

5. Major Deities  Vishnu  A full manifestation of God  Creates each universe  Known as the Preserver of the Universe  Has 10 avatars

6. Major Deities  Brahma  Created by Vishnu  Runs the universe  Creates demigods to help him

7. Major Deities  Shiva  The Destroyer  Destroys each universe so a new one can arise

8. Sacred/Holy Text(s)  The Vedas  2000 BCE  The Upanishads  Introduced reincarnation  The Puranas  Mythological stories of the gods  The Ramayana  The Mahabharata

9. Holy Figures  Pundit: priest  Guru: teacher

10. Main Tenets  Karma  All actions produce effects in the future  Brahman  The “world soul”  The Atman (or the individual soul)  Reincarnation  Good karma leads to a favorable reincarnation  Cyclical  Can be ended when moksha is attained  When atman equals brahman

11. Creation  Vishnu breathed Brahma into existence  Brahma then created deities to help him run the universe  There have been and will be more universes—Shiva continually destroys them while Vishnu creates them anew.

12. Death/Afterlife  After death, the atman may be reincarnated (depending on karma)  If moksha has been attained, a nirvana-like state will exist

13. Holidays/Rituals (samskaras)  Birth  16 different samskaras  Death  Cremation  Ashes scattered over water (ideally the Ganges River)  For holidays, see pages 100-101

14. Lifestyle Practices  The Caste System  Ascribed status, based on karma  Made illegal in the 1950s  Pilgrimages  The Ganges River (in the city of Varanasi)  The Himalayas  Taboos  Eating or killing cows

15. Subdivisions/Sects  Vary depending on which incarnation of Vishnu is worshipped