Hinduism Vs Upanishads

Hinduism has no clear definition, but is best described as a series of religious traditions brought approximately every five centuries or so that reform the majority of Hindus, but still holds on to important parts of the preceding traditions. Hinduism has phased through Vedic traditions, those of the Upanishads, renouncer traditions, and traditions under Bhakti, combining elements from each to create the huge concept of Hinduism. This paper will compare and contrast the early Vedic religion and the religion of the Upanishads through analyzing their primary scriptures, their spiritual goals and how they achieved them, and how the traditions served those in India at the time. From the time of Vedic religion around1500 to 500 BCE, to that of …show more content…
In order to establish their relationship with the gods, the Vedas conducted ritual sacrifices which focused on the physical reality of their gods; the Upanishads, however, focused on the internal behaviors that would connect them to god, such as renouncing and meditating. In order to perform the various sacrifices done by the Vedas, an elaborate space must be made up. Vedas do not worship at any temple; they worship and perform sacrifices under the open sky. Vedas do however prepare the sacrificial space by selecting an adequate piece of land, scooping earth to create three fires, sometimes constructing raised platforms and elaborate altars, and laying a bed of grass for the attending god or goddess to comfortably sit. Vedas believe that if you amply provide for a god, that the god will bless them in return, which is why during a sacrifice the Vedas may offer a variety of goods including ghee, grains, soma, and livestock. During a sacrificial ritual, the many priests in attendance would each have a role as well as the patron whom the ritual is for as well as his wife. These roles may include performing mantras, singing hymns, and pouring a sacrifice. All of these elements, the fires, offerings, priests, and ritual patrons are key elements of the Vedic sacrifice, if a piece of the sacrifice were to be missing it would be unsatisfactory to the god for which the ritual is being performed for. Like the Vedas, the Upanishads continued to worship without temples, however, the Upanishads connected to god internally. The three Vedic sacrificial fires are comparable to tapas – the inner fire of the Upanishads. The Upanishads also focused on the ideas of atman,