Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and PracticesHinduism is a vastly complex phenomenon, a world religion with a history of over three thousand years. It has produced men and women who have made outstanding contributions across the range of civilised human behaviour, and played a crucial part in the rise of two other great religions - Buddhism and Sikhism. Julius Lipner was born and raised in India and is able to draw on his own experience of Hindu beliefs and practices to explain what it means to be Hindu in a changing world. Hindus examines the religion as a plural phenomenon - that is, as a family of religions rather than a monolithic entity. The approach is thematic, and the author considers various topicssuch as the status of women - in more than one place and from more than one angle. He also tells and sometimes analyses Hindu stories, stressing the narrative quality of Hindu religion and giving us an insight into the nature of the Hindu phenomenon itself. |
Contents
About Hindu Hinduism and this book | 1 |
The voice of scripture as Veda | 25 |
The voice of scripture as Veda and Veda | 55 |
Varṇāśrama dharma | 74 |
Caste and narrative | 108 |
Folklore and the intellectual | 146 |
The voice of experience | 165 |
A story with a tail | 197 |
Morality and the person | 223 |
Modes of reckoning time and progress | 251 |
The sacred and its forms | 275 |
Means ways and ends | 295 |
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Common terms and phrases
Advaita ancient artha Aryans ascetic authority avatāra belief Bengali Bhagavadgītā bhakti Brāhmaṇa Brahmin Buddhists called caste century Chapter concept context darśanas deity devas devotion dharma Dharma Sūtras dharmic Dhṛtarāṣṭra dicing divine Draupadi Duryodhana epic example Gandhi Gītā Goddess guru Hindu Hindu tradition human icon India interpretation jāti kāma karma karma and rebirth kind Kṛṣṇa Kṣatriya live Lord Mahābhārata mantra Manu marriage means Mīmāmsā modern mokṣa moral myth namely one's Pāṇḍavas particular performance practice prakṛti prasthāna-vākyas priests Purāṇa Purāņas Ram Mohan Rāma Rāmānuja Rāmāyaṇa reference regarded relationship religious Hinduism rites role sacred sacrifice sacrificial ritual Sage Śakuni Samhita Śamkara samskāras Sanskrit Śāstras scripture sense Sītā Śiva smṛti social sometimes spiritual Śrauta śruti story Śūdra symbolises Tantric teaching temple term texts theological traditionally truth twice-born untouchables Upanisads Vaiṣṇava various varṇa Vedantic Vedas Vedic religion Viṣṇu wife women word worship yajña yoga Yudhisthira