Hinduism before the Emergence of Buddhism (part 1)

Hinduism before the Emergence of Buddhism (part 1)

originated and developed in India
no known founder and beginnings

its sacred earliest religious texts are called Vedas,
composed by seers between 1500 and 600 B.C.E according to Indian scholars

revealed to the seers by God,
Vedas not composed at once

( more philosophical Upanishads latest material added and believed to be composed between 600 and 300 B.C.E including various explanations of the nature of God, man and the universe

had developed so that its later phase was more philosophically sophisticated)

Hinduism in two periods

Hinduism before the emergence of the Upanishads and the Upanishadic period

Hinduism before the emergence of the Upanishads

Many views of the development of Hinduism but a view accepted by many philosophers developed from polytheism (the view that there are many gods in the universe) through henotheism to monotheism.

Many deities or many Gods

1. The warrior god associated with thunderstorm

2. The god of night and also the lord of social contract

3. The god of fire and also fire itself

4. The highly respected lord of order who maintains righteousness and prevents this world from dissolving in chaos.

no clear idea among Hindus of which god is most powerful

Offering sacrifice to the god of rain, this god praised to be the greatest. Fire, the greatest
this view called henotheism

At the end of this period of pre-Upanishadic Hinduism, monotheism view was developed that is
only one greatest god exists, the creator of the universe, other gods and everything , however sages seemed not know the creator god

The process of creation

The sacrifice of the cosmic person,

Moon comes from the mind of this person, the sun from his eye, the wind from his breath, etc

Human society from sacrifice too, divided into four classes from different parts

1. brahmin priests from his mouth to learn the Vedas and perform rite
2. ruling class from his arms
3. artisans, merchants, farmers from his thighs
4. servant class from his feet

(PS This is Hinduism before the emergence of the Upanishads. The Upanishadic Period in which Buddhism and Jainism emerged will be Part 2 which is coming soon.) There are big differences between Buddhism and Hinduism. There are also similarities. :)