Dharma is a key concept in the Indian religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. The term dharma is considered untranslatable into English ; it is understood to refer to behaviours which are in harmony with the "order and custom" that sustains life; "virtue", righteousness or "religious and moral duties". The antonym of dharma is adharma.
Hinduism is an umbrella term for a range of Indian religious and spiritual traditions (sampradayas) that are unified by adherence to the concept of dharma, a cosmic order maintained by its followers through rituals and righteous living, as first expounded in the Vedas. The word Hindu is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, it has also been described by the modern term Sanātana Dharma emphasizing its eternal nature. Another endonym for Hinduism is Vaidika Dharma.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Hinduism:
Ātman is a Sanskrit word for the true or eternal Self or the self-existent essence or an impersonal (it) witness-consciousness within each individual. Atman is conceptually different from Jīvātman, which persists across multiple bodies and lifetimes. Some schools of Indian philosophy regard the Ātman as distinct from the material or mortal ego (Ahankara), the emotional aspect of the mind (Citta), and existence in an embodied form (Prakṛti). The term is often translated as soul, but is better translated as "Self", as it solely refers to pure consciousness or witness-consciousness, beyond identification with phenomena. In order to attain moksha (liberation), a human being must acquire self-knowledge.
Arya Samaj is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. The sannyasi (ascetic) Dayananda Saraswati founded the samaj in the 1870s.
Contemporary groups, collectively termed Hindu reform movements, reform Hinduism, neo-Hinduism, or Hindu revivalism, strive to introduce regeneration and reform to Hinduism, both in a religious or spiritual and in a societal sense. The movements started appearing during the Bengali Renaissance.
The Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, colloquially known as the Maha Sabha, is the largest and most influential Hindu organization in Trinidad and Tobago. It operates 150 mandirs, over 50 schools, and has its own radio station, Radio Jaagriti 102.7 FM, and TV channel, TV Jaagriti. They also operate the Indian Caribbean Museum of Trinidad and Tobago. It was formed in 1952 when Bhadase Sagan Maraj engineered the merger of the Sanatan Dharma Association and the Sanatan Dharma Board of Control. An affiliated group, the Pundits' Parishad, has 200 affiliated pundits. The organisation's headquarters are located in St. Augustine.
Hinduism in Trinidad and Tobago is the second largest religion. Hindu culture arrived to Trinidad and Tobago in 1845, with the arrival of the first Indian indentured laborers, the overwhelming majority of which were Hindu. According to the 2011 census there were 240,100 declared Hindus in Trinidad and Tobago.
Religion in Trinidad and Tobago, which is a multi-religious country, is classifiable as follows:
The following list consists of notable concepts that are derived from Hindu culture and associated cultures’ traditions, which are expressed as words in Sanskrit or other Indic languages and Dravidian languages. The main purpose of this list is to disambiguate multiple spellings, to make note of spellings no longer in use for these concepts, to define the concept in one or two lines, to make it easy for one to find and pin down specific concepts, and to provide a guide to unique concepts of Hinduism all in one place.
Swami Karpatri (1907–1980) born as Har Narayan Ojha was a Hindu saint and revivalist, who founded Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad. He was also a writer and lead many pro-Hindu movements such as cow protection movement. He was a sannyasi in the Hindu Dashanami monastic tradition and was of conservative branch of Hinduism.
Suriname has possibly the highest proportion of Hindus who are Arya Samajis, compared to any other country. In Suriname, the Hindu population had split, with roughly 20% following the teachings of Swami Dayanand Saraswati, founder of the Ārya Samāj, and 80% following the Sanatan Dharm. According to the census of 2012 the number of Ārya Samājĩs is 16,661. The arrival of Arya Samaj preachers in Suriname, in 1929, caused a rift in the Hindu community, between the followers of Sanātanī and the Ārya Samāj.
Arya Samaj is a Hindu reform movement in South Africa. Like other parts of the world where people of Indian origin are settled, the teachings of Swami Dayananda Saraswati, founder of the Arya Samaj, made their way to South Africa during the beginning of the twentieth century. The Arya Samaj encouraged Indian South Africans to take pride in their heritage and culture and promoted education and social reform.
Shraddhanand, born Munshi Ram, was an Indian independence activist and Arya Samaj sannyasi who propagated the teachings of Dayananda Saraswati. This included the establishment of educational institutions, like the Gurukul Kangri University, and played a key role on the Sangathan and the Shuddhi (purification), a Hindu reform movement in the 1920s.
The Singh Sabhā Movement, also known as the Singh Sabhā Lehar, was a Sikh movement that began in Punjab in the 1870s in reaction to the proselytising activities of Christians, Hindu reform movements and Muslims. The movement was founded in an era when the Sikh Empire had been dissolved and annexed by the British, the Khalsa had lost its prestige, and mainstream Sikhs were rapidly converting to other religions. The movement's aims were to "propagate the true Sikh religion and restore Sikhism to its pristine glory; to write and distribute historical and religious books of Sikhs; and to propagate Gurmukhi Punjabi through magazines and media." The movement sought to reform Sikhism and bring back into the Sikh fold the apostates who had converted to other religions; as well as to interest the influential British officials in furthering the Sikh community. At the time of its founding, the Singh Sabha policy was to avoid criticism of other religions and political matters.
Hinduism is regarded by modern Theosophy as one of the main sources of "esoteric wisdom" of the East. The Theosophical Society was created in a hope that Asian philosophical-religious ideas "could be integrated into a grand religious synthesis." Prof. Antoine Faivre wrote that "by its content and its inspiration" the Theosophical Society is greatly dependent on Eastern traditions, "especially Hindu; in this, it well reflects the cultural climate in which it was born." A Russian Indologist Alexander Senkevich noted that the concept of Helena Blavatsky's Theosophy was based on Hinduism. According to Encyclopedia of Hinduism, "Theosophy is basically a Western esoteric teaching, but it resonated with Hinduism at a variety of points."
Sanātanī is original term used to describe Hindu duties that incorporate teachings from the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, and other Hindu religious texts and scriptures such as the Ramayana and its many versions, as well as the Mahabharata, which itself is often described as a concise guide to Hindu philosophy and a practical, self-contained guide to life. The word Sanātanī is coined from Sanātana Dharma which refers to the idea that its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in the Hindu texts.
Ishwardatt Medharthi (1900-1971) was an Indian religious leader, anti-caste social reformer, and independence activist. Born in a low-caste Arya Samaji family, he attended the Gurukul Kangri school for 14 years. He served time in prison for participating in the Bardoli Satyagraha (1929) and the Salt March (1930). After being released from prison, he ran a school in Kanpur and wrote books criticizing the caste-based discrimination. He turned to Buddhism in the 1930s, and taught Pali language to the Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar in the 1940s. Later, he came under the influence of the Baháʼí Faith, and returned to the Arya Samaj during his last years.
Bharat Dharma Mahamandala was a Hindu organization founded in colonial India in 1887 by Pandit Din Dayalu Sharma in Haridwar. It had purpose to unify and support orthodox Hindu communities in colonial India during a period marked by religious and social reform. The Mahamandala emerged during a period of social and religious reform movements in India. It positioned itself as a defender of orthodox Hinduism against critiques and alternative interpretations from groups like the Arya Samaj, Theosophists, and Ramakrishna Mission.
