Budhism And Christianity

Hinduism (Sanskrit/Hindi Hind Dharma, also known as Santana Dharma , and Vaidika Dharma ) is a religion originating in the Indian subcontinent, based on the Vedas and the beliefs of other people of India. It is one of the oldest religious traditions still practiced today. The term Hinduism is heterogenous, as Hinduism consists of several schools of thought. It encompasses many religious rituals that widely vary in practice, as well as many diverse sects and philosophies. Hindus venerate an array of deities, or consider them as manifestations of the one Supreme monistic Cosmic Spirit Brahman, while others focus on a singular concept of God, such as in Vaishnavism, Saivism and Shaktism. Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world with approximately 970 million adherents (2005 figure), approximately 900 million of whom live in India . The Himalayan kingdom of Nepal is the only nation in the world with Hinduism as its state religion. The term Hindu is derived from the name of the Sindhu (Ð" Ð'¤Ð" Ð'¤Ð" Ð'¤Ð" Ð'ҐÐ'ÐŒÐ" Ð'¤Ð" Ð'Ґ, i. e. , the Indus river). The term was used for people that lived around or beyond the Sindhu. According to Historical linguistics, Proto-Indo-Iranian / *s / is preserved in the Indo-Aryan languages (including Sanskrit as / s /) but was changed to / h / in prevocalic position in the Iranian branch (including Avestan and Old Persian); see also Indo-European sound laws. The Persian term was borrowed by the Ancient Greeks as Indos, Indikos "Indian", from which in Latin was derived the name India, Indianus. The term hindu was also loaned into Sanskrit, as hindu (Ð" Ð'¤Ð" Ð'¤Ð" Ð'¤Ð" Ð'ҐÐ'ÐŒÐ" Ð'¤Ð'¦Ð" Ð'Ґ), appearing in some early-medieval texts (e. g. BhaviÐ'Јya Pura, Klik Pura, Rmakoa, Hemantakavikoa and Adbhutarpakoa).