Hindu
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religion with 648 million followers, Hinduism developed from
indigenous religions of India in combination with Aryan religions
brought to India around 1500 BCE, and codified in the Veda and the
Upanishads, the sacred scriptures of Hinduism. Hinduism is a term used
to broadly describe a vast array of sects to which most Indians
belong. Although many Hindus reject the caste system-in which people
are born into a particular subgroup that determines their religious,
social, and work-related duties-it is widely accepted and classifies
society at large into four groups: the Brahmins or priests, the rulers
and warriors, the farmers and merchants, and the peasants and
laborers. The goals of Hinduism are release from repeated
reincarnation through the practice of yoga, adherence to Vedic
scriptures, and devotion to a personal guru. Various deities are
worshipped at shrines; the divine trinity, representing the cyclical
nature of the universe, are Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver,
and Shiva the destroyer. |
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