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6. Unlike most other religions, Hinduism is not defined by a specific set of philosophical concepts.  

6. Unlike most other religions, Hinduism is not defined by a specific set of philosophical concepts.  

7. Belief in one god. Contrary to popular belief, Hinduism is not a polytheistic religion.  The Vedas, the primary Hindu holy scriptures states that there is only one God but can manifest in many forms.  This is the reason why there are many deities.  A common example used to explain this is that an individual can be called different names depending on the relationship has with another.  A man can be a son to his parents, a nephew to his uncle, a father to his son, and a husband to his wife all at the same time.  None of these different relationships suggest mutiple people but rather different aspects of one person.  The same is applied to God in Hinduism, which has no form and is infinite.  Hindus may call God, Paratman(Supreme Soul), Brahmana(Eternal Spirit), or Ishvara(Supreme Lord).  Deities have various names but represent aspects of God that manifest in the world.  For example Agni(fire, Divine spark), Vayu(wind, or breath which could mean life force, Indra(in mythology king of gods but also refers to the senses such as vision, hearing, touch, taste), Lakshmi(fortune).

7. Belief in one god. Contrary to popular belief, Hinduism is not a polytheistic religion.  The Vedas, the primary Hindu holy scriptures states that there is only one God but can manifest in many forms.  This is the reason why there are many deities.  A common example used to explain this is that an individual can be called different names depending on the relationship has with another.  A man can be a son to his parents, a nephew to his uncle, a father to his son, and a husband to his wife all at the same time.  None of these different relationships suggest multiple people but rather different aspects of one person.  The same is applied to God in Hinduism, which has no form and is infinite.  Hindus may call God, Paratman(Supreme Soul), Brahmana(Eternal Spirit), or Ishvara(Supreme Lord).  Deities have various names but represent aspects of God that manifest in the world.  For example Agni(fire, Divine spark), Vayu(wind, or breath which could mean life force, Indra(in mythology king of gods but also refers to the senses such as vision, hearing, touch, taste), Lakshmi(fortune).

 

For more on Hinduism, see [[World History Lecture Three]].

For more on Hinduism, see [[World History Lecture Three]].