The Chāndogya Upaniṣad, dated to the 8th or 7th century BCE, one of the oldest Upanishads, has the earliest evidence for the use of the word ahimsa in the sense familiar in Hinduism ( a code of conduct ).

In Hinduism, the principle of ahimsa was prescribed as early as in the Maurya period Manu Smrti.

In Jainism and Hinduism, this is closely related to the concept of ahimsa, nonviolence toward other beings.

Classical ( Puranic, Vedantic ) Hinduism as it emerged in the medieval period de-emphasizes animal sacrifice, and indeed any meat processing, based on the doctrine of ahimsa.

Abstinence from causing pain or harm to other beings ( ahimsa ) is a central tenet of Hinduism.

Hinduism has evolved over several centuries with vedic times when there was no restriction on animal worship and also animal consumption for food, to later Buddhist and Jain influence that led to the concept of non violence and animal respect and consideration, ahimsa ( non-violence ) is a major concept in Hindu belief ( Regenstein 1991, p. 223 ).

There are some exceptions to ahimsa in Hinduism.

Hinduism has no specific proscriptions against eating meat ( however, they can not eat cows, as they are considered as sacred beings in their religion ), but some Hindus apply the concept of ahimsa ( non-violence ) to their diet and consider vegetarianism as ideal, and practice forms of vegetarianism.

Over several thousand years, Jain influence on Hindu rituals has been observed and similarly the concept of non-violence has been incorporated into Hinduism.

Breatharianism is a related concept, in which believers claim food and possibly water are not necessary, and that humans can be sustained solely by prana ( the vital life force in Hinduism ), or, according to some, by the energy in sunlight ( according to Ayurveda, sunlight is one of the main sources of prana ).

The pancha mahabhuta, or " five great elements ", of Hinduism are kshiti or bhūmi ( earth ), ap or jala ( water ), tejas or agni ( fire ), marut or pavan ( air or wind ), vyom ; or shunya or akash ( aether or void ).

In Hinduism, Vayu ( Sanskrit व ा य ु ), also known as Vāta व ा त, Pavana पवन ( meaning the Purifier ), or Prāna, is a primary deity, who is the father of Bhima and the spiritual father of Lord Hanuman.

It is sat ( truth ), a major tenet of Hinduism.

In Hinduism, certain dynasties adopted a title expressing their positions as " servant " of a patron deity of the state, but in the sense of a ( prime ) minister under a figure head of state, ruling " in the name of " the patron god ( ess ), such as Patmanabha Dasa ( servant of Vishnu ) in the case of the Maharaja of Travancore.

While the general concept of a " Spirit " that permeates the cosmos is a general feature of most religions ( e. g. Brahman in Hinduism and Tao in Taoism and Great Spirit among Indigenous peoples of the Americas ), the term Holy Spirit specifically refers to the beliefs held in the Abrahamic religions.

In the Bhakti tradition within Hinduism, it is believed that execution of devotional service to God leads to the development of Love for God ( taiche bhakti-phale krsne prema upajaya ), and as love for God increases in the heart, the more one becomes free from material contamination ( krishna-prema asvada haile, bhava nasa paya ).

There are monist pantheists and panentheists in Zoroastrianism, Hinduism ( particularly in Advaita and Vishistadvaita ), Judaism ( monistic panentheism is especially found in Kabbalah and Hasidic philosophy ), and in Islam ( among the Sufis, especially the Bektashi ).

* Manu ( Hinduism ), Hindu progenitor of mankind

The Chola navy played a vital role in the expansion of the Chola Tamil kingdom, including the conquest of the Sri Lanka islands, Kadaaram ( Present day Burma ), Sri Vijaya ( present day Southeast Asia ), the spread of Hinduism, Tamil architecture and Tamil culture to Southeast Asia and in curbing the piracy in Southeast Asia in 900 CE.

New Age practices and philosophies sometimes draw inspiration from major world religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Chinese folk religion, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam ( especially Sufism ), Judaism ( especially Kabbalah ), Sikhism ; with strong influences from East Asian religions, Gnosticism, Neopaganism, New Thought, Spiritualism, Theosophy, Universalism and Western esotericism.

The third figure was the Russian Helena Blavatsky ( 1831 – 1891 ), one of the founders of the Theosophical Society, through which she propagated her religious movement of Theosophy, which itself combined a number of elements from Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism with Western elements.

A fifth individual whom Drury identified as an important influence upon the New Age movement was the Indian Swami Vivekananda ( 1863 – 1902 ), an adherent of the philosophy of Vedanta who first brought Hinduism to the West in the late 19th century.

These rituals include bathing the murtis ( the statues of the gods / goddesses ), performing puja, a ritualistic offering of various items to the Gods, the waving of a ghee or oil lamp also called an offering in light, known in Hinduism as aarti, before the murtis.

The actual process of change from one life to the next is called punarbhava ( Sanskrit ) or punabbhava ( Pāli ), literally " becoming again ", or more briefly bhava, " becoming ", and some English-speaking Buddhists prefer the term " rebirth " or " re-becoming " to render this term as they take " reincarnation " to imply a fixed entity that is reborn .< ref >" Reincarnation in Buddhism: What the Buddha Didn't Teach " By Barbara O ' Brien, About. com < sup > Popular Jain cosmology and Buddhist cosmology as well as a number of schools of Hinduism posit rebirth in many worlds and in varied forms.

Max Weber published four major texts on religion in a context of economic sociology and his rationalization thesis: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism ( 1905 ), The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism ( 1915 ), The Religion of India: The Sociology of Hinduism and Buddhism ( 1915 ), and Ancient Judaism ( 1920 ).

Soul is believed to be indestructible. None of the five elements can harm or influence it. Hinduism through Garuda Purana also describes in detail various types of " Narkas " or Hells where a person after death is punished for his bad Karmas and dealt with accordingly.

The coastal Karnataka has a different tradition of praying to spirits ( see also Folk Hinduism ).

Indian Hindu artisans from the period of the Chola empire in Tamil Nadu, used bronze to create intricate statues via the lost wax casting method with ornate detailing depicting the Gods of Hinduism mostly, but also the lifestyle of the period.

This draws parallels with some sects of Hinduism who also do not consume pungent tasting foods.

In Hinduism, it is also the name of the deva, a personification of water, ( one of the Vasus in most later Puranic lists ).

The Chicago Metropolitan Area also includes adherents of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and the Bahá ' í, among others.

Some also denounce non-Christian religions such as Islam, Wicca, Paganism, New Age groups, Buddhism, Hinduism, and other polytheistic religions.

Britannica's presentation of Hinduism has also been criticised.

Indian religions, also known as dharmic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent ; namely Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

Islamism can also be described as part of identity politics, specifically the religiously-oriented nationalism that emerged in the Third World in the 1970s: " resurgent Hinduism in India, ultra-Orthodox Judaism in Israel, militant Buddhism in Sri Lanka, resurgent Sikh nationalism in the Punjab, ' Liberation Theology ' of Catholicism in Latin America, and of course, Islamism in the Muslim world.

Theistic schools of Hinduism such as Vedanta thus disagree with the Buddhist and Jain views and other Hindu views that karma is merely a law of cause and effect but rather is also dependent on the will of a personal supreme God.

Some other religions also include monastic elements, most notably Buddhism, but also Hinduism and Jainism, though the expressions differ considerably.

Hinduism uses the terms Aikantya, Apamarga, Brahma-upalabdhi, Sahaj, Sakshatkara, Sayujya, Videhalcivalyam and Yogakshemma, while Buddhism also uses the term Bodhi.

It is also fewer than the adherents Jediism, whose campaign made them the fourth largest religion after Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.

Balinese Hinduism also includes the religious belief of Tabuh Rah, a religious cockfight where a rooster is used in religious custom by allowing him to fight against another rooster in the religious and spiritual cockfight of the Balinese Hinduism spiritual appeasement exercise of Tabuh Rah.

Weber also did considerable work in world religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism.

Both of these predecessor organizations began as Christian Unitarian and Christian Universalist denominations ; but modern Unitarian Universalists define themselves as non-creedal, and therefore they are not limited to Christian beliefs or affinities, but may also draw wisdom from other religions and philosophies as well, such as Humanism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Earth-centered spirituality, among others, or different combinations of them.

" His mystical interests — also inspired by a study of Hinduism, under the Theosophist Mohini Chatterjee, and the occult — formed much of the basis of his late poetry.

In Hinduism, the Himalaya have also been personified as the god Himavat, the God of snow, who is mentioned in the Mahabharata.

In Hinduism, it is also frowned upon to go to a temple and do pooja ( prayer ) or do pooja at religious events if you are a woman who is menstruating.