Some say it isn't even a religion, more a way of life.

Hindus themselves call it the "Sanātana Dharma," the eternal tradition.

So what is Hinduism, does YOLO apply to them, and who is this elephant guy?

Well, let's find out.

Hinduism is the world's oldest active religion.

It's the result of the merging of the ancient Indus Valley civilsation and the nomads that came into India around 1500 BC.

Some scholars say it could even go back many more thousands of years.

But we won't delve too deep into dates, because dates in Hinduism are very controversial.

But one thing is certain—Hinduism is old, like, at least, 36 Betty White's.

Hinduism has been around so long that it and the concept of India itself are inseparable.

Hindu and India even come from the same word.

Sanskrit was the ancient language of the Hindus, and the Sanskrit name for the Indus River is Sindhu.

The Ancient Persians who sat across the Indus tended to switch S's to H's.

So, Sindhu became Hindu.

So the people the living across the river became Hindus.

The Persians told the Greeks who dropped that not-very-Greek-like H, stuck a very Greek-like "ia" to the end and boom, India.

Hinduism has a long long history.

But today, we'll be focusing just on the core beliefs of Hindus, because I don't have the willpower to animate a 3-hour long video.

Hindus are a diverse group.

Some are strict, dedicating their lives to prayer, while others don't believe in any gods but still follow Hindu philosophy.

To make things easier to understand, let's break Hinduism down into 7 core beliefs.

So here's my rap about the 7 Hindu beliefs.

You promised you weren't gonna do the rap, come on, you're better than this man.

Fine, here's the regular version, then.

1. Belief in one universal soul: Hindus believe in a Universal Soul known as "Brahman."

A formless, genderless source of all reality.

"Brahman" is the universe and the material that makes up the universe.

It's a trippy concept.

But, think of Brahman as an ocean and everything else as drops propelling out of that ocean.

Separate for a time, but still the same thing, that makes sense.

2. Belief in an immortal individual soul.

In Hinduism souls are known as "atman."

Actions of the soul, while in a body, have effects on that soul's next life.

When you die, your soul moves to another new body.

This is called transmigration.

The kind of body the soul inhabits next is determined by karma.

3. Belief in karma.

Karma is action, usually good or bad actions that affect society.

For Hindus karmic actions in the past affect us today, and our actions today affect our soul's future.

4. Belief in 'Moksha.

The goal in Hindu life is to somehow get back to Brahman.

If a Hindu can do this, they'll be freed from the cycle of life and death.

This is called "moksha."

You can achieve moksha by realising your oneness with Brahman.

How you realise this is up to you.

For this reason, Hindus pray, "Lead me from the unreal to the real."

5. Belief in the "Vedas."

The "Vedas" are Hindu sacred books of knowledge.

There are four "Vedas."

Hindus believe that all four were divinely revealed to ancient Hindu sages.

We'll take a closer look at the "Vedas" in a while.

6. Belief in cyclical time.

For Hindus, there are no beginnings or endings.

Time is a series of cycles.

Each cycle containing 4 ages or "yugas."

There's the "Krita, Treta, Dwapara," and the "Kali."

Added together, the 4 yugas total about 4.32 million years.

At the end of each cycle, declining human morality leads to the total destruction of reality.

Hindus believe that we are in the fourth and final yuga, "Kali."

7. Belief in "dharma."

Dharma is a difficult word to translate to English.

"Proper behavior," is the best I could come up with.

Dharma maintains balance in the universe.

As long as everything in the universe, like animals, plants, and humans, follow their dharma, then everything will be fine.

If they break from the dharma though, things will be super not fine.

Each being has its own dharma.

A lion's dharma is to kill and eat antelope.

A king's dharma is to rule well.

A subscriber's dharma is to smash the like button and ring the notification bell.

For humans, their specific dharma is usually based on their age and their caste.

An old priest will have a very different dharma than a young merchant, for example.

So those are the 7 core beliefs of Hinduism.

With them, you can understand the Hindu mindset.

Unlike Christianity or Islam, Hinduism is a non-prophet organisation. There is no Jesus

or Mohammed for Hindus. There is no Bible, Koran, or Torah. Instead, they have a bunch

and I mean a bunch of different sacred texts.

The 4 "Vedas" form the basis of the Hindu faith. So let's take a look at them.

1. The "Rig Veda"

The "Rig Veda" is a collection of songs that praise and discuss ideas like truth,

reality, and the universe. Along with discussion on war, weddings, and rituals.

2. The "Yajur Veda"

The "Yajur Veda" covers stuff such sacrificial rites and rituals.

3. The "Sama Veda"

'Sama' literally means “sweet song that destroys sorrow.” It is mostly songs dedicated to

praising gods. It's different than the rest of the "Vedas" because it is set to music.

4. The "Atharva Veda"

The "Atharva Veda" is my favourite one! Do you wanna curse your enemies or charm that

special someone? Maybe learn to invoke rain or discover herbal medicine along with tips

on warfare? Like how to make poison arrows! Well, this "Veda" has you covered.

Along with a bunch of other charms and curses. It even has a curse against cursers: "Avoid us,

oh curse, as a burning fire avoids a lake! Strike him here that curses us, as the lightning

of heaven the tree!"

A link to the "Atharva Veda" is in the description, just in case you need a spell get a wife or

another to banish pigeons from your presence. It's great.

After the "Vedas" come the "Upanishads," which are like a sequel that makes the original

make much more sense. They were probably written down between 800 BC and 500 BC. During a time

when some Hindus started to question the "Vedas." Their ideas became the "Upanishads."

The "Upanishads" are books on philosophy. Like we would expect from Plato or Aristotle.

They're all about questioning, doubt, debate, and finding the answers to life's difficult

questions.

A theme in the "Uphanishads" is that people are not their minds or bodies or egos, but

their 'atman.' Your soul is you. Everything else is unreal and temporary.

After the holy texts, like the "Vedas" and the "Upanishads" are other less divine but still important

texts. These include the stuff like the "Puranas," the "Bhagavad Gita," and the "Ramayana and Mahabharata."

The "Puranas" are like encyclopedias of Hindu beliefs.

There are 18 well-known "Puranas." The "Puranas" cover things from yoga, to army organisation,

to taxation, to the caste system, to hell, gods, and everything in between.

The "Bhagavad Gita," Gita for short, is one of Hinduism most important texts.

The Gita takes place on a battlefield where Arjuna, a great warrior, refuses to fight. Lord

Krishna steps in to urge Arjuna to fight and their discussion covers things such as 'dharma'

and how to live your best life.

Arjuna eventually fought after Lord Krishna taught him the truth about 'dharma.' As a member

of the warrior caste, Arjuna's 'dharma' was to fight against evil. The lesson of the Gita

is that everyone faces difficult choices ,but they must act on them according to their 'dharma.'

No matter how unpleasant.

Along with all these philosophical texts, Hinduism also has two action-packed epics.

The "Ramayana" and the "Mahabharata"

The "Ramayana," the earlier of the two texts, tells the story of Prince Rama. In the epic, you

find out about his 14-year-long exile, the abduction his wife Sita, his battle with the evil demon Ravana,

and his awesome monkey sidekick Hanuman.

The second epic, the "Mahabharata" is the longest poem in the world. Five times the length of the

Bible and 8 times the length of the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" combined. It rivals any soap opera

you've ever seen when it comes to drama. Murder, betrayal, love, love-murder, and giant battles.

The "Mahabharata" has it all.

The theme running throughout the "Ramayana" and the "Mahabharata" is that 'dharma' must be followed

for society to function.

In Hinduism, there 4 goals a person should aim for to have a good life. The first of

these is 'dharma.' Followed by 'artha,' the pursuit of prosperity and good reputation. 'Kama,' pleasure

both in body and in mind. And 'moksha' the release from the cycles of rebirth. Hindus should practice

'artha' and 'kama' with 'dharma' in order to attain 'moksha.'

There are also 6 temptations Hindus should try and avoid.

'Kama:' Lust and materialism. This kama is different from the good 'kama' mentioned above.

Next is 'krodha,' which is anger;

'Lobha,' which is greed;

'Moha,' which is unrealistic attachment to things, people, and power;

'mada,' which is pride and

'matsarya' which is jealousy.

By following their 'dharma' and avoiding these 6 temptations a Hindu can break the cycle

of rebirth and have their soul merge back into Brahman.

But even though everything comes from Brahman, who is the One real thing in Hinduism, Hindus

do have thousands of gods. So let's take a look at them.

First, there's Brahma, the creator. He created everything in the universe, but he is not the universe

itself. Because that's Brahman. They aren't the same thing. That last letter changes a

lot, apparently.

He has 4 heads. The heads face each of the four directions, to represent the four

"Vedas," which he created and the 4 'yugas.' He also holds a book, which represents knowledge.

Oh, and he rides a giant swan, because he's just fancy.

His consort is Saraswati, the goddess of learning.

Vishnu, the preserver, is the second member of the Hindu Trinity. He preserves the world

created by Brahma until it is eventually destroyed by Shiva. He holds a discus, which he uses to

cut down anyone that's tries to mess with his 'dharma.' Along with a conch, which symbolizes

victory and the 5 elements. Vishnu has many many avatars, such as Krishna or Rama, who

he uses to defend 'dharma' on Earth.

Oh, and he rides a giant eagle named Garuda.

Vishnu has 2 consorts: the goddesses Lakshmi and Bhu Devi. Bhu Devi is the earth goddess

and Lakshmi is the goddess of good fortune and wealth.

Next, is Shiva, the Destroyer, the third member of the Hindu Trinity. It's his job to destroy

the universe in order to prepare for its renewal at the end of each cycle of time.

The most identifiable of his features is his third eye, which he almost always keeps closed.

If de does open and you're in front of him, then you will have you face melted off.

When not unmaking existence, Shiva enjoys long walks with his bull named Nandi.

At the end of the Kali Yuga, the fourth age of the world, Shiva will perform a dance that

destroys the universe, which is odd because people have told me that my dance moves make them wish the world

would end, so me and Shiva have quite a lot in common.

Parvati and Sati are Shiva's consorts.

Shiva also has 2 sons: Ganesha and Murugan. Ganesha is worshipped as the remover of obstacles

and Murugan is the god of war.

Ganesha holds a special place in the hearts of Hindus, due to him being the remover of

obstacles. The elephant head is the most obvious clue to identifying him. He was actually born with

a human head, but after Shiva cut that one off, he kind of had to make due with an elephant one.

If you're Christian or Muslim you're aware that your religion has a bunch of different

denominations, like Catholics or Protestants, Sunni and Shia. Hinduism has these too.

Hindus developed 4 major denominations, some of which have their own subdivisions.

The Vaishnavas primarily worship Vishnu and Shaivas primarily worship Shiva and his sons.

Smartas follow sacred texts, like the "Puranas," the "Ramayana," and the "Mahabharata," rather than

the "Vedas." They worship 5 gods and goddesses: Ganesha, Durga, Surya, Shiva, and a preferred

avatar of Vishnu.

Finally, Shaktas worship the goddess, Devi.

Shaktas see Devi as the ultimate and eternal reality. Like a feminine Brahman.

Even though there are all these variations and more, the core beliefs of Hindus remain mostly the

same.

Hindus believe that 'dharma' keeps the balance in the universe. If the scales between good

and evil start tipping towards evil, then something needs to intervene to fix the universe's 'dharma.'

This divine intervention is known as an avatar.

The literal meaning of the word avatar is “descent.” Avatars are gods that descend

to Earth to intervene whenever help is needed to restore 'dharma.'

For example, when the Earth was dragged underneath the ocean, Vishnu descended to Earth as the

avatar Varaha, a boar, and dragged the Earth back out.

In other cases, Vishnu was born on Earth as an avatar, like Rama or Krishna, where he

spent his avatar's life fixing 'dharma.'

So⁠—the caste system. If you know only one thing about Hinduism, this is probably

it. People see it as an oppressive system that locks people in place based on their

birth and for a huge part of history that's what it's been, unfortunately.

Let's do a quick explanation of what the caste system is. In Hinduism there are 4 castes