World Religions 2300-001 Salt Lake Community College Dr. Wijitha Bandara Is Hinduism a religion? Religion has various definitions. Religion is often (in the modern doctrine) characterized by existence of a divine god, a joint community that worships same beliefs and particular set of texts that instructs and informs the common practices. According to According to the famous sociologist Harriet Martineau, Religion is the belief in an ever- living God, that is, in a Divine Mind and Will ruling the Universe and holding moral relations with mankind." Unlike other religions, Hinduism is more than a religion; it is often considered just dharma (way of life) rather than just religion. In my opinion, Hinduism may not be rigidly one or the other but it definitely has aspects of both life- style and a religion. There is no particular divine god in Hinduism. They believe in creation of the universe rather than creator of the religion. Unlike other religions, Hindus do not follow a particular book or text. They have multiple texts with the vast content about the universe. The books does not only consist the content about spirituality and god but also the information relating to the pursuit of science, medicine, mathematics and other disciplines. They do not require the devotees to follow any particular idea. Therefore, Hinduism or Hindu dharma is on the edge of calling itself a religion. Hinduism has come along different periods: Pre-Vedic, Vedic, Upanishad, Classical and Modern. In each period, there have been significant variances in what Hindus believed, and in how they lived. For example, in Vedic period, the caste system was introduced to categorize the professions that people would like to pursue. There was no concept of high or low caste. But, in current period, caste system has come along to become a representation of ones birth in particular family. These days, it has barely anything to do with the profession. Caste can only be inherited from your father even if you pursue different profession than him. My point here is, Hinduism is a civilization that has been flourishing over these periods, and even now. Even the term Hinduism doesnt necessarily has any roots in the subcontinent of India. British gave the term to identify the lifestyle for their convenience. There is no evidence of the word in the Hindu scriptures (BBC 2009). Similarly, another evidence as to why Hinduism is more a culture than religion can be drawn from the festivals and rituals. The same festivals are called different names, and celebrated in different ways at different places in the Indian Subcontinent. For example, the festival of Durga Puja in India is known better as Dashain in Nepal, and the celebrations are done very differently in both religions. I believe it would be quite correct to say that this accounts to the different cultural aspects of different places. Although Hinduism can be perceived as a dharma (a way of life), there are several reasons as to why we can call the modern day Hinduism a religion. Modern day Hinduism has been categorized and manipulated in multiple ways by different people. There are multiple devotional sects like Vaishnavism (Vishnu as a primary god) and Shivaism (Shiva as a primary god). They worship and regard their primary god as the sole creator, destroyer and protector. They believe in creator in the modern time just like other religons. These sects have their communal temple to worship their particular god. Moreover, in general, Hinduism can be considered polytheistic with gods with their particular functions and powers. People worship these gods accordingly; for instance, when times of economic difficulty, the worship goddess Lakshmi, god of wealth. Hinduism has changed significantly over the course of its history that can be explained with the development of culture and civilization. While there are reasons as to why Hinduism is a religion, these reasons are not rigid and consistent enough make claims. Hinduism as dharma imposes the natural law, and the spiritual and social obligations. It has to do more about people recognizing the creation and being grateful to the divine absolute who sacrificed for our existence rather than who created the universe or who engineers it. Hence, Hinduism is more than just a religion.