A Brief Look at Hinduism

In his Divine Comedy, Dante wrote “Abandon all hope, ye who enter.” Sadly, the Hindu religion offers little hope for those who follow its teachings. We invite you to investigate what Hinduism teaches as outlined in this article, then compare their beliefs with biblical Christianity in the Side-by-Side article. As you see the contrast, pray for anyone you know who follows Hinduism, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and open opportunities for you to share the eternal hope to be found in Jesus Christ!

“If a man reaches the heart of his own religion, he has reached the heart of the others too. There is only one God, and there are many paths to him.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion, with a current estimate of 1 billion adherents.[1] The problem with trying to describe what Hindus believe is that, as John Ankerberg and Dillon Burroughs tell us in their book, What’s the Big Deal about Other Religions?, Hinduism “allow[s] each person to develop his or her own personal religion around a few common concepts held by all the adherents of that group.”[2]

Hindu Holy Books include:

• The Vedas (Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajuraveda and Artharvaveda). The “knowledge” portion of these words is what is called the Upanishads, or Vedant.
• The Upanishads. “These writings marked a definite change from the sacrifice of humans and magic formulas in the preceding Vedas, to the mystical ideas about man and the universe, particularly noticeable in the idea of the Brahman and the atman (the self or soul.)”[3]
• The Ramayana, one of the major “epic tales” of India, written by a sage-poet named Valmiki.
• The Mahabharata, the second “epic tale.”
• The Bhagavad Gita. Contained within the Mahabharata, the Bhagavad Gita is the most sacred of all Hindu books. Ankerberg and Dillon explain:

“The story in the Bhagavad Gita describes man’s duty, which, if carried out, will bring nothing but sorrow. This story has had great impact on Hindu belief in its endorsement of bhakti, or devotion to a particular god, as a means of salvation. This concept is taught by Arjuna, the story’s main character, when he decides to put his devotion to Vishnu above his own personal desires. The Gita ends with Arjuna devoted to Vishnu and willing to kill his relatives in battle.”[4]

Next, we will take a brief look at the Hindu idea about God. It is commonly reported that Hindus worship more than 330 million gods. And while that may be true in one sense, in another that number may be a gross underestimate since they are polytheistic—believing in multiple gods, and pantheistic—believing that rocks, trees, cows, and even people are “gods,” allowing there to be an infinite number of gods when you get to the heart of it.

However, Hinduism may also be considered henotheistic in that many Hindus worship three “primary” gods, sometimes referred to as the Hindu “trinity”: Brahma the creator of the universe, Vishnu the preserver of the universe, and Shiva the destroyer of the universe. These three, and all the other millions of gods, are considered to be manifestations of the one supreme transcendent power, Brahman.

According to the website Mythology.Quest, “Brahman is not a god, but rather the ultimate reality of the universe. This is the divine force that is formless, yet contains the energies of creation, maintenance, and destruction…. This force can only be experienced by recognizing and embracing its presence, allowing for a unification with reality and true understanding.”[5]

For Hindus, there is no concept of sin. Instead, they hold to the idea of karma, that every good thought, wor,d or deed positively impacts the next life, while every bad thought, word, or deed negatively impacts the next life.

Karma is an incredibly tragic belief. The idea is that the suffering you experience in this life is punishment for the bad you did in a previous life. You must suffer this punishment if you have any hope of a better life in your next (or some future) reincarnation. The implication is obvious: one should not attempt to relieve the suffering you see around you. They are suffering for a reason (the evil of their previous life). They deserve it. Leave them to it.

While Hindus have no clear idea of salvation, they do have the hope that eventually they will be able to escape the cycle of reincarnation and become one with Brahman. This is Moksha. Ankerberg and Dillon explain three possible paths to Moksha:

1. The way of activity, also called karma yoga. “This is a very popular means of salvation and places emphasis on the idea that liberation may be obtained by fulfilling a person’s family and social duties to overcome the weight of the bad karma one has developed.”
2. The way of knowledge, also called jnana yoga. “The basic premise of the way of knowledge is that the cause of our bondage to the cycle of rebirths is ignorance. According to Hindu teachings, human ignorance consists of the false belief that we are individual selves. This ignorance gives rise to our bad actions, which result in bad karma.” 
3. The way of devotion, also known as bhakti yoga. “This is the most popular way practiced by the common people of India. It satisfies the desire for a more emotional and personal approach to religion. This devotion involves a person surrendering to one of the many personal gods and goddesses of Hinduism. This lifetime commitment is expressed through acts of worship, temple rituals, and pilgrimages.”[6]

While much more could be said about Hinduism, we invite you to refer to “Hinduism and Christianity – Side by Side” to compare Hindu beliefs with biblical teaching.

[1] https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-hindu/

[2] John Ankerberg and Dillon Burroughs, What’s the Big Deal about Other Religions? (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2008), p. 143.

[3] Ibid. p. 146.

[4] Ibid., p. 147.

[5] https://mythology.quest/brahma-vs-brahman-exploring-the-difference/.

[6] Ankerberg and Burroughs, Big Deal, pp. 151-154.