ABSTRACT
Hinduism, the primary indigenous religion of South Asia, claims to be the oldest living religion, and calls itself ‘the eternal religion’ (sanatana dharma). Its earliest scripture, the Veda, dates to approximately 1500 BCE; some features, such as goddess worship, and perhaps yoga, might go back to the Indus Valley civilization, around 2500 BCE. Traditionally it is held that the Veda is eternal and reappears at each new creation of the universe. At the beginning of the twenty-first century Hinduism has 800 million adherents worldwide, making it the third largest world religion.
