WOMS210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Indus River, Vedas, Indo-European Languages

• School: University of Delaware
• Department: Women's Studies
• Course: WOMS210
• Professor: Laberge Marie

Document Summary

Hard to study without imposing western ideas and perceptions. Hinduism is probably one of the most diverse religions. It worships more gods and goddesses than any other and also rejects the notion that there is only one path to the divine and it honors all seekers after the truth. Hinduism - world"s third largest religion, after christianity and islam. About 900 million followers - about 13% of world"s population. Sindhu is a sanskrit word used by the aryan inhabitants of the region in second millennium bce. Migrant invaders used name from own language for the land & people. Term "hindu" probably didn"t exist before the 15th & 16th centuries when it was used by people to differentiate themselves from followers of other traditions, especially muslims. Unlike most other religions, hinduism has no single founder, no single scripture, & no commonly agreed set of teachings.