Basic Elements of Hinduism

Basic Elements of Hinduism is, perhaps, designed to meet the needs of students based on Senate of Serampore College (University) syllabus, which is, indeed, a systematic attempt to provide basic information on Hindu religious traditions. It provides a general view on derivation, definitions and characteristics of Hindu religious tradition. It deals with issues related to pre-Vedic and Vedic religion and culture, chronological historical development of Hinduism from pre-Vedic period to modern period. There is a detailed discussion on Sruti and Smriti literature covering major concerns, issues and teachings of Hindu scriptures from Samhitas to Agamas.

It attempts analytically basic philosophical foundations of Hinduism such as Nyaya, Vaishesika, Sankhya, Yoga, Purva Mimamsa and Uttara Mimamsa. Also it provides basic information on different Vedantic schools developed in Hinduism such as Sankara's Advaita, Ramanuja's Vishistadvaita and Madhva's Dvaita. Indeed, it gives a critical review on the origin and development of Hindu Bhakti movements; and provides needed information on Hindu samskaras, rituals and festivals.

This book discusses critically and unearths the basic ethical issues of Hinduism reviewing various scriptures of Hinduism. It provides a detailed discussion on popular/folk/village Hinduism and highlights some of the regional popular cults such as Chennakesava-Cult, Vira-Cult, Muttukutti Ayyakhuzil, Sangam and Teyyam. A critical and analytical attempt is focused on the issues of our contemporary Hinduism, such as Hindutva-Fundamentalism, Adivasi/Tribal and Patriarchal/Women issues. This book, indeed, helps as a text book to students of Hinduism.

Prof. Rev. Dr. T. Swami Raju hails from a small village called Tadivakavari Palem of Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh and has earned B.Sc., M.A (Eng), B.D., M.A (Phil)., M.Th. & D.Th (Hinduism as specialization). He is ordained in 1987 from AELC and worked as pastor from 1986-1991 and joined ACTC in June 1993 for teaching in the Department of Religion, Culture & Philosophy. He has been serving as Registrar, Advanced Institute for Research on Religion and Culture, Hyderabad since June 2019. He is elected as Principal Designate by the ACTC Board of Governors to serve ACTC as Principal for Lutheran term from June 2022. He has authored many books and articles, the list is provided inside for reference.

Writing a book on Hinduism is, perhaps, a difficult task due to it's complexity, comprehensiveness, flexibility, adoptability and multi-dimensional nature. In strict sense we cannot treat Hinduism as a single religion. Jawaharlal Nehru rightly opined "Hinduism, as a faith, is vague, amorphous, many-sided: all things to all men. It is hardly possible to define it, or indeed to say definitely whether it is a religion or not, in the usual sense of the word. In its present form, and even in the past, it embraces many beliefs and practices, from the highest to the lowest, often opposed to or contradicting each other. It's essential spirit seems to be 'to live and let live.""" Hinduism is, indeed, a "family of religions."

I have been teaching Hinduism since 1993 in ACTC, Hyderabad after I completed my specialization in Hinduism at M.Th studies. I am indebted much to my teachers of Hinduism Dr. R. R. Sundera Rao; Dr. Eric J. Lott and Dr. David C. Scott, who pushed me in to the ocean of Hindu religious learning. I learned many things about Hindu religious tradition during my research and by teaching courses like "Introduction to Major Religious Traditions of India," "Special Study of Hinduism" and "Detailed Study of Hindu Religious Tradition" and so on, which, indeed, enabled me to take up this tough task to put it to my teaching topics in written form in order to help the students of Hindu religious studies. Also I have been close contacts with Hindu friends since my birth and having direct observation of their religious beliefs and practices, in fact, enhanced my theoretical knowledge with more clarity of practical observation.

I am particularly indebted much to my M.Th and D.Th students who joined for their specialization of Hinduism in Advanced Institute for Research on Religion and Culture since 2016. I got enough input to this book not only through my research and teaching, but also via my students' research projects, paper presentations assignments and with their interaction, indeed, helped me to make this publication possible; therefore, I have been grateful to the contributions of my students. The present book, Basic Elements of Hinduism is indeed a collective product of me and my students. Their researches helped me to get more information to make my vision of writing text book on Hinduism a reality.

Basic Elements of Hinduism is designed primarily to help the students of Hinduism by providing basic information required for their course study. This book is based on the syllabus of Senate of Serampore College (University) courses for BD, BCS, M.Th and so on. The main aim of writing this text book is to provide basic information on the subject and enable students to do further researches based on the references cited. I observed that students are facing much difficulty to get needed information on the contents of their syllabus. For Telugu students Manamatamulu Mukhyalakshnamulu (Our Religions and their features) written by Eric J. Lott long back which was translated into Telugu by R. R. Sundera Rao, I added three chapters as appendices recently. P. David's book Hinduism in Telugu is perhaps a good book on Hinduism, but there was no one comprehensive book available in English covering the syllabuses of Serampore College. Therefore Basic Elements of Hinduism, perhaps, meets the dire need of Hinduism students.

**Contents and Sample Pages**