Hindu literature developed within Indian civilization starting around 4000 BC. The Vedas and Upanishads are among the most important early Hindu religious texts containing hymns and mystical teachings. Two major Hindu epics are the Mahabharata, which includes the Bhagavad Gita, and the Ramayana about the god Rama. Hindu scriptures also explain key beliefs like karma and samsara (reincarnation), the goals of dharma, artha, kama and moksha, and Hindu duties of worship, respect and nonviolence. India has a long tradition of Sanskrit literature encompassing both religious works and secular genres like poetry, drama and fables over many centuries.

1. Hindu Literature

2. India
 World’s 7th largest country located in
South Asia
 Second most populous country.
[1,336,286,256 (July 2016 est.)] (17.50%)
 About 3,000 km(1,865 mi) wide,
shoreline about 7000 km (4,350 mi)
along Bay of Bengal
 India and Bharat are both official names.
 Derives from Indus river used by Greek
 India civilization grew up in the Indus
Valley 4000 to 2500 BC.

3. People
 It is impossible to find out the exact origin
of Indian People.
 The 6 main ethnic groups are as follows.
Negrito
Proto - Australoids or Austrics
Mongoloids
Mediterranean or Dravidian
Western Brachycephals
Nordic Aryans

4. Language
 More than 200 languages are spoken in
India
 2 official languages at the national level
[English and Hindi (spoken by 40% of
Indians)]
 Regional Level
South India - Tamil, Telugu, Kannada,
Malayalam
West India - Marathi, Gujarati, Konkani, Sindhi
East India - Oriya, Bengali, Maithili, Assamese,
Bodo, Manipuri, Santhali
North India - Dogri (in Jammu & Kashmir),
Kashmiri, Nepali, Punjabi

5. Religion
 As per the religious census data released by
the Registrar General and Census
Commissioner of India:
 Hindu (79.8%)
 Islam (14.2%)
 Christian (2.3%)
 Sikh (1.7%)
 Buddhist (0.7%)
 Jain (0.4%)
 Other religions and persuasions (ORP)
(0.7%)
 religion not stated (0.2%)

6. Caste system
Indian Caste system – major
social system that groups people
according to birth
◦ Brahmins: priests, the highest caste
◦ Kshatriyas: warriors and kings
◦ Vaishyas: merchants
◦ Shudras: manual labourers
 Some people do not fall into any
caste; these are called dalits, or
untouchables

7. Caste system
 Untouchables also known as Harijans
◦ Dalits have traditionally been tasked with
work such as cleaning streets and working
with human and animal corpses and waste
 Caste-based discrimination is now
illegal in India, and affirmative-action
policies aim to improve standards of
living in lower castes

8. Education
 Literacy is higher on man than woman
 Male literacy rate is 82.14% and Female
literacy rate is 65.46%
 Literacy rate of India is 74.04%
 Has four levels:
 lower primary (age 6 to 10)
 upper primary (11 and 12)
 high (13 to 15)
 higher secondary (17 and 18)

9. Government
 Federal system with parliamentary
form of government
 Parliament consist of two houses
◦ The Raiya Sabha (Council of states)
◦ The Lok Sabha (House of the People)
Elected directly by eligible voters and sit 5
years unless Parliament is dissolved
Indian National Congress- party most
identified remained control of the
central government

10.  November 1989 election -
Discontent with India’s leadership
caused Congress to lose its
parliamentary
 1991 election- P.V Narasimha Rao
succeeded Ravid Gadhi as party
leader became prime minister in
June 1991

11. Literature
 Sanskrit Literature – Oral Tradition produced the
Vedic holy text.
 Mahabharata and Ramayana – two great books
of Hindu Literature
 400 B.C. – PANINI produced his Sanskrit
grammar
 Middle Ages Sanskrit – used in religious context
by priesthood
 History of Indian literature falls into 2 periods;
1. The Vedic Period
2. Sanskrit Period

12. Religious works
 Poetry
◦ The Rig Veda: a book of sacred hymns
◦ The Yajur Veda: a book of knowledge and
melodies for the hymns
◦ The Sama Veda: descriptions of the
materials for sacrifice
◦ The Atharva Veda: contains magic spells
and other folk knowledge
 The Brahmanas
 The Upanishads
 Maya
 The Sutras

13. Secular works
 Epics
◦ The Mahabharata
◦ Bhagavad gita
◦ Nala and Damayanti
◦ The Ramayana
 Dramas
 The toy clay cart
 Sakuntala or the
fatal ring
 The Jatakas
 The Panchatantra
 Romanorum
 The Hitopdesa
 The Sukasaptati

14. Ganesh
Brahma
Shiva Vishnu

15. Karma and Reincarnation
 Reincarnation is the belief that the soul
repeatedly goes through a cycle of
being born into a body, dying, and
being reborn again in a new body.
 Karma, a force that determines the
quality of each life, depending on how
well one behaved in a past life.
 Hinduism says we create karma by our
actions on earth. If you live a good life,
you create good karma. If you live a
bad life, you create bad karma.

16. Moksha
 Each time a Hindu soul is born into a
better life, it has the opportunity to
improve itself further, and get closer to
ultimate liberation.
 This liberation is called Moksha.
 One attains Moksha when one has
"overcome ignorance", and no longer
desires anything at all.
 The ones who reach this state no longer
struggle with the cycle of life and
death.

17. Sacred Writings
 The Vedas collections of Sanskrit
hymns (written down 1200-900BCE,
but based on older oral versions).
 The Upanishads which means the
inner or mystic teaching that were
passed down from guru (teacher) to
disciple (student).

18. Mahabharata
 Mahabharata, Sanskrit for Great Story, is
one of the great epic poems of ancient
India.
 It was written between 300 BC and 300
AD.
 The story is about the battle of one family
over a kingdom in northern India.
 The Bhagavad Gita (Song of God) is
contained in the Mahabharata. It is dialogue
between Krishna and the hero Arjuna on
the meaning of life.

19. Ramayana
 Ramayana was written in 3rd century BC,
and tells story of Rama, and his wife, Sita.
 Rama and Sita are generally seen as ideal
examples of great manly heroism and wifely
devotion.
 Reciting the Ramayana is considered a
religious act, and scenes from the epic are
portrayed throughout India and Southeast
Asia.

20. Hindu Life Goals
 Hinduism is about the sort of life one should
lead in order to be born into a better life
next time and ultimately achieve liberation.
There are 4 legitimate goals in life:
 dharma (appropriate living)
 artha (the pursuit of material gain by lawful
means)
 kama (delight of the senses)
 moksha (release from rebirth).

21. Hindu Duties
 Each Hindu has 4 daily duties:
 Revere the deities
 Respect ancestors
 Respect all beings
 Honor all humankind

22. Thank You!
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