ABSTRACT

Religion, or the sense of a greater spiritual force, seems to have been part of the human experience for longer than humans have kept records. The earliest religions in the world were either animistic, with followers believing in spirits that inhabited everyday phenomena, or polytheistic, with followers believing in many gods. Hinduism has no human founder, unlike Buddhism, which sprang from the life of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, who probably lived from 563–483 BCE. The earliest covenant, believed by both Christians and Jews, was formed between God and Noah, whereby God promised not to destroy humanity by a flood. In the Vedas, Purusa is a cosmic being responsible for creating all life after having been sacrificed by other gods. In time, Hindu understanding of Purus.a evolved into more abstract terms— as the root of the universe, both indestructible and ever present.