The Divine Knowledge they received from their inner spiritual experience was said to come directly from Brahama (God).
[meaning of the word RishiRishi means he who pursues and understands the truth about Universe. A vague equivalent is True Scientist who pursues only Truth not biased by ANY interests.]
Since the technique of writing had not evolved that Knowledge was learnt by heart and handed over generation to generation by oral tradition and hence the name “shruti” or “that which is heard”.
This Knowledge which was un-authored (apaurusheya) and eternal were finally compiled by Vyasa Krishna Dwaipayana around the time of Lord Krishna.
The term applied to this Knowledge was ‘Veda’ which comes from the root Vid, to know. So the word Veda means knowledge. When it is applied to scripture, it signifies a book of knowledge:- also termed as The Vedas.
The Vedas have been accorded the position of revealed scriptures and are revered in Hindu religious tradition. Not only the contents of these texts but also the sounds of the words themselves are considered sacred.
Over the years a second category of authoritative sacred scriptures were also written and were authored by humans under divine inspiration.These are known as “smriti” (remembering).
The smriti texts are more popular and easy to understand.Many of them are popularly remembered and passed from generation to generation. They include the law (books of laws), puranas (myths, stories, legends) and historical epics (set against a background of legends and traditions) such as Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Hindu Scriptures are thus broadly classified based on its origin into -
Shruti meaning 'heard from God'
Smriti meaning 'remembered'
Nyaya meaning 'logic'
Historically this great knowledge was passed from Guru to his disciple.“Its an amazing feat preformed by those Rishis who against all hazards of human history preserved these texts with the right phonetic accents and accuracy.”
So the great philosophy was recited from village to village, town to town, county to county right across India by the wandering Saddhus and priest and Sages.
The philosophy became instantly popular with the masses. These Gurus did not identify themselves as belonging to a religious sect but by who their Guru was and their Gurus Guru. Their job was to preach but only to those who requested their services otherwise they would wonder from city to city. The term Hindu was later applied by outsiders who wanted to identify the people of India.
Various scholars have advanced the following theories:
Hindu religion pre-dated 3000BCE
'Aryan', a Sanskrit word meaning 'noble', does not refer to an invading race at all
The Aryans were native to the area, or found there long before the alleged invasion
Hinduism originated solely in India
The creation theory
One of the most sublime accounts of creation occurs in the Rig Veda 10:129.
It ponders the mystery of origins and offers more questions than answers.
Who really knows, and who can swear,
How creation came, when or where!
Even gods came after creation’s day,
Who really knows, who can truly say
When and how did creation start?
Did He do it? Or did He not?
Only He, up there, knows, maybe;
Or perhaps, not even He.
How creation came, when or where!
Even gods came after creation’s day,
Who really knows, who can truly say
When and how did creation start?
Did He do it? Or did He not?
Only He, up there, knows, maybe;
Or perhaps, not even He.
Rig Veda, Book 10, 129:6-7, translation by V. V. Raman, University of Rochester.
This well-known hymn has set a precedent for open-mindedness toward theories of the universe’s origins, whether they are set forth by other religions or by scientists. The many other creation stories in the Hindu tradition may be seen as metaphors which convey, not absolute truth, but practical paradigms for conceiving of one’s purpose in life and one’s connection to the universe and other life forms within it.
In all of these creation stories, a literal interpretation would entirely miss the intended point. The value of the stories should not be judged by determining how much they are in agreement or conflict with modern scientific theories, but on how well they depict a vision for living a productive, spiritual, and satisfactory life.
What is most important is to keep an open mind, and to search for the spiritual meaning of the scriptural teachings.
A very brief history
Since ancient times, Hindu thought has transcended geographical boundaries and influenced religious and philosophical ideas throughout the world. Persian, ancient Greek, and ancient Roman thought may well have been influenced by Hinduism. Three other religions that originated in India are closely related to Hinduism: Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. In the 19th century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer read both Hindu and Buddhist scriptures and based much of his thinking on them. In the United States, 19th-century writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau drew on Hinduism and its scriptures in developing their philosophy of transcendentalism. More recently, civil-rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., studied the teachings of Hindu leader Mohandas Gandhi on nonviolent protest. In the sphere of popular culture, rock musician George Harrison embraced Hinduism during the 1960s, and some members of the United States counterculture explored Hinduism and Buddhism, as did the Beat poets (Beat Generation). Millions of Westerners today practice meditation or yoga to achieve relief from stress or physical fitness, indicating Western receptiveness to Hindu practices.
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761555715_1____3/hinduism.html#s3
SOME QUOTES
‘The truths contained in all religions are derived from the Vedas and are ultimately traceable to the Vedas.’‘
The Vedas have guided our religious direction for ages and will continue to do so for generations to come. And they will forever remain the most comprehensive and universal of all ancient scriptures.’
‘Despite being the oldest religion, the truth realized by the seers prove that the Truth and path provided by Hinduism is beyond time.’
‘The Hindu scriptures instead of defining the way, in which the Hindus should live, in a better way, act as supporting material for the individual to decide the course of life and stand by that.’
‘Hinduism is the place which suits both the adventurous intellectual who wants to explore the essence and the real truth and the simple person who would be happy to follow a simplified procedure set that would easily uplift him/her without having to break the head with philosophies.’
‘It is a roaring gigantic waterfall that runs into streams and substreams that joins and finally into the ocean.’
Gods in Hinduism
India's Sanatana Dharma, is a family of religions with four principal denominations
1. Saivism,
2. Shaktism,
3. Vaishnavism and
4. Smartism.
Contrary to prevailing misconceptions, Hindus all worship a One Supreme Being, though by different names.
For Vaishnavites, Lord Vishnu is God.
For Saivites, God is Shiva.
For Shaktas, Goddess Shakti is supreme.
For Smartas, liberal Hindus, the choice of Deity is left to the devotee. http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/20...
The beauty of Hindu Dharma lies in the fact that its existence is not dependent on any great personality nor is it confined to the biographies and teachings of one or two prophets as is the case with other religions. If the personality of any of the founders of these religions is removed the religion almost ceases to exist. Hindu Dharma on the other hand has no such founder. Even if the names of Rama and Krishna were obliterated Hindu Dharma will continue to live without any loss to its fundamentals because Hindu Dharma has existed even before Rama and Krishna were born. They too, believed in Hindu Dharma.
This is the religion that calls Let the good things come from all the directions of the world (aa no bhadrAH kratavo yantu vishvataH). Thus this religion nurtured the good concepts with a neutral mindset. Hinduism is a dharma (discipline) than a religion. Various religions stand over this dharma. In general this is not the religion of just postulations.
IMAGES OF GODS :-You cannot consider any god as a person, like a human being, but we cannot think anything except in terms of personality, due to the habit of the mind so, though Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, or Durga, Lakshmi and Sarasvati, cannot be regarded as having a body like ours, we can think them in no other way.
We consider Brahma as an old father of the universe; sometimes he is even considered to have a beard, as the supreme father. And, Vishnu is a grand, majestic, beautiful person. Siva is an austere, inwardly drawn, ascetic. They are with their consorts Durga, Lakshmi, and Sarasvati - Durga having so many hands, Lakshmi also is having so many hands, and Sarasvati has four. Everyone has four hands. They can have more, also.
‘But they all have an inward mystical meaning. They form an outward symbology of an inward spiritual connotation. All the powers of the psyche are concentrated in a single act of thought, or awareness, in these divinities.All these religious figures are symbols of a higher abstract principle, which ordinary people cannot comprehend.’
http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/ans/an...
To learn about the symbolic images and meanings please browse through these
http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Symbolism_in...
orhttp://www.hinduwebsite.com/symbolism.as...
Ekam sat viprā bahudhā vadanti.
Truth is One, but sages call it by many names.
(Rig Veda 1:164:46)
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761555715_2/Hinduism.html
On Ganesh
Please read this answer which I got from another Yahoo Question AnswerLord Ganesh is real. All the Deities in Hinduism have symbolisms, and especially what They carry in Their arms or who Their vehicles are. Please remember in Hinduism it is not as important to validate the authority of the Holy stories. It is much more important to be inspired and spiritually lifted from reading them. In its purest form, Hinduism is a very childlike, innocent religion.
http://au.answers.yahoo.com/answers2/frontend.php/question? qid=20080330183005AAB2d0z
read
http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/world/asia/as-rooke.htm
learn more
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesha_Purana
Question posted at
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080418033053AANkMAy&r=w&pa=FZptHWf.BGRX3OFPgTxQVfWm5BlXjX1q5tNojN1UAJaj0EqDKw--&paid=answered#RY0vWTX8DHewNsZcKvgu
Other thoughts on other similar questions
No one knows it's real origins, as it predates written history, and was passed down by oral traditions first. Some of it's stories seem to describe the draining of the Lake of Kashmir, by an earthquake moving one side of it, and that happened about 50,000 years ago. It's now the Vale of Kashmir. It also describes a river called the Sarasvati that was in Pakistan, that is now dry, and that was about 10,000 years ago. It also describes the building of Rama's Bridge, which is a causeway between Sri lanka and India, and that was probably done about 10,000 years ago too, as the sea levels started to rise..
Bhagavān is a word used to refer to the personal aspect of God in general; it is not specific to a particular deity. Bhagavān transcends gender, yet can be looked upon as both father and mother, child, or sweetheart. Most Hindus, in their daily devotional practices, worship some form of this personal aspect of God, although they believe in the more abstract concept of Brahman as well. This may mean worshipping God through an image or a picture, or simply thinking of God as a personal being. Hindu deties are immortal.Different names and, frequently, different images of God will be used, depending on which aspect of Bhagavān is being discussed. For instance, when God is talked about in the aspect as the creator, God is called Brahmā. When referred to in the capacity as preserver of the world, God is called Vishnu. When referred to in the capacity as destroyer of the world, God or immortal is called Shiva.
Many of these individual aspects of God also have other names and images. For example, Krishna and Rama are considered forms of Vishnu. All the various deities and images one finds in Hinduism are considered manifestations of the same God, called Bhagavān in the personal aspect and Brahman when referred to as an abstract concept.
In their personal religious practices, Hindus may worship primarily one or another of these deities, known as their "ishta devatā," or chosen deity. The particular form of God worshipped as one's chosen ideal is a matter of individual preference. Regional and family traditions can play a large part in influencing this choice. Hindus may also take guidance about this choice from scriptures.Although Hindus do worship deities other than their chosen deity from time to time, depending on the occasion and their personal inclinations, it is not expected that they will worship, or even know about, every form of God. Hindus generally choose one concept of God (popular choices include Krishna, Rama, Shiva, or Kali), and cultivate devotion to that chosen form, while at the same time respecting the chosen ideals of other peoplehttp://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080313013908AABaQC4
