Introducing Hinduism

The Kshatriyas, or warriors, were charged with the defence of the land, and the duties of kingship and governance.

Brahmins, the priestly caste, became the custodians and transmitters of sacred knowledge. They also conducted the rituals to mark the important milestones in a person’s life – birth, puberty, marriage and death.

Brahmins, the priestly caste, became the custodians and transmitters of sacred knowledge. They also conducted the rituals to mark the important milestones in a person’s life – birth, puberty, marriage and death.

The indigenous people are seen as possibly matriarchal and “softer” in their approach to life. The Aryans are viewed instead as patriarchal and more inclined to prize masculinity.

Cyberspace and Hinduism appear to have been made for each other. Both are decentred, polyphonic and polymorphous. The web is just as hard to regulate as Hinduism, which has no founder, no supreme doctrinal authority, no precise place of origin

At his prayer meetings, Gandhi read passages from the Gita, the Quran and the Bible. Syncretism, multiculturalism and pluralism are among the many words used to describe his religious outlook

An elaborate set of rules, which has considerably loosened in the urban areas of modern India, has governed the relations between the four varnas. These rules are set out in the dharmashastras, or law books, the best-known of which is Manusmriti, “The Laws of Manu”

the Rig Veda, which can be dated as far back as 1400-1000 BC, has a famous hymn, Purusha Sukta, the “Hymn to Man” (X.90) which describes the origins of the four castes from the Primeval Man

The Gayatri mantra is the first thing that even little children are taught

The law books (dharmashastras), the epic literature of the Hindus, the mythological texts (Puranas), and even the Bhagavad Gita, the most widely known work of Hindu literature in the West, all number among the smritis