Hinduism is one of the oldest organized religions of the human beings with more than 4500 years of history and it is the third biggest religion with approximately one billion followers. The notion of Hinduism as religion refers to the philosophical beliefs of people living in modern day India and Indian subcontinent. Unlike other religions, Hinduism (also known as ‘Sanatana Dharma’ or ‘Eternal Religion’) had not been set up from one philosophy, tradition or had not originated from one holy book, one creator. Alongside with its good contributions to Indian society, it also had negative impacts. Therefore, I am going to analyze the negative impacts of Hinduism on Indian society, economy, environment and politics based on the information provided by Julius Lipner on his book “Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices”. The first negative impact of Hinduism is hierarchical order within Indian society. According to Julius Lipner, the concept of hierarchical relationships in India mainly was result of
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This might be not direct negative impact, Hinduism might be much more tolerant about religious choices and might not force people for accepting Hinduism or any of its branches, but it is religious controversies that create the biggest divisions among people. It is written in the book that Hinduism has four major branches: Vaishnavism Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. Vaishnavism is the brach of Hinduism that worships Vishnu as supreme god; Shaivas/Shaivities are people who accept Shiva as supreme god; Shaktas worship goddess Shakti in different forms and Smartas leave the choice of worshipping supreme god to individuals. Similar to caste system, religious division among one nation with each branch requiring different way of practice, imposing different political, economic and social initiatives or incentives harms identity of Indian
This might be not direct negative impact, Hinduism might be much more tolerant about religious choices and might not force people for accepting Hinduism or any of its branches, but it is religious controversies that create the biggest divisions among people. It is written in the book that Hinduism has four major branches: Vaishnavism Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. Vaishnavism is the brach of Hinduism that worships Vishnu as supreme god; Shaivas/Shaivities are people who accept Shiva as supreme god; Shaktas worship goddess Shakti in different forms and Smartas leave the choice of worshipping supreme god to individuals. Similar to caste system, religious division among one nation with each branch requiring different way of practice, imposing different political, economic and social initiatives or incentives harms identity of Indian