ABSTRACT
HINDUS Numbering more than one billion worldwide, are practitioners of Hinduism, one of the oldest and most complex of the world’s religions. Unlike Christianity and Islam, Hinduism is not traced to a founding figure, nor are its beliefs and practices prescribed by a single text. Rather, Hinduism features multiple doctrines of authority, a rich pantheon of deities, and a corpus of social institutions, sciences, and philosophies that have greatly influenced the cultures of the Indian subcontinent, the religion’s place of origin. The development of Hinduism over three millennia has led to a wide variety of beliefs and practices. While the worship of multiple deities is common, most practitioners are devoted to a primary deity, who may be a manifestation of, or related to, Vishnu (the preserver), Shiva (the destroyer), or the Devi (the female deity). Hindus believe in reincarnation, in which the soul returns to earth in a new body after death. Release from this cycle can be achieved only through the fulfillment of religious duty (dharma), righteous actions (karma), the attainment of perfect knowledge (jnana), or devotion to a particular deity (bhakti).
