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FAQ on Hinduism

1. What is the meaning of the Om symbol ?

       OM is the single most ubiquitous symbol in all of Hinduism

The symbol Om, Ohm or Aum is believed to be the primordial sound that emanated during the creation of the Universe

• It is made up of three separate sounds, and saying these together makes Om the ultimate mantra.

• Saying the three sounds together in the right way helps to awaken the inner self, the atman, which is a spark from the divine Brahman. When said in this way, Om is called Pranava, the sacred sound (sacred humming).

• It is the representation of Brahman, who is unreachable and unknowable. By using the symbol (or saying the word), Hindus can approach Brahman in both the mystical and earth-bound planes.

• The symbol has enormous significance in Hindu life, appearing everywhere – on temples, on amulets worn by almost everyone and even painted onto the tongue of newborns using honey, to welcome them into life.

         The Mandukya Upanishad has an excellent discussion on the significance of the Om sound. See the section on the Upanishads for a overview of the main Upanishads.

2. What are the main scriptures (Shastra) of the Hindu ?

To those who are relatively unfamiliar with the Hindu Dharma, the vast panoply and canon of Hindu shastras is both bewildering and overwhelming. Just as there is order in the cosmos, an order that needs effort and diligence to discover and comprehend, so also it is the case with the discovery of the ontology and structure of the Dharma, an effort which I might add is more than rewarding. Shastra is a Sanskrit word used to denote education/knowledge in a general sense. The word is generally used as a suffix in the context of technical or specialized knowledge in a defined area of practice. For example, Astra shastra means, knowledge about "Handling of weapons", Astra means weapons, and Shastra is their knowledge

The scripture of the Hindu is broadly divided into Shruti   (Sanskrit ?????? , that which is heard) and Smriti  (??????????,that which is remembered)

Shruti , the main body of the Hindu canonical scripture, comprises the following

The Veda or Vedas  -  the Rig-Veda, the Sama-Veda, the Atharva-Veda, the Yajur-Veda. The four Vedas comprise the Samhitas - texts of prayers and hymns, charms, invocations and sacrificial formulae. The Rig Veda is the Book of Devotional Verse, the Yajur Veda is the Book of Sacrificial Formulae, the Sama Veda is the Book of Chants, and the Atharva Veda is the book of Mystico-therapeutic Priest craft. Their composition precedes their arrangement into the four Samhitas by a long period of oral transmission.

The word Veda is derived from the root word Vid or Knowledge and is cognate with the English words wisdom, wit

Then there are the 3 Vedic appendices

The Aranyakas

The Brahmanas

The Upanishads

The Bhagavad Gita (the Song Celestial) is actually a part of  the Mahabharata epic (The Great Bharata epic) but by  universal consent and acclaim has attained the status of Shruti over time because of the eternal verities that it espouses. The scene develops as a dialogue between Sri Krishna (the 7th Avatar of lord Vishnu) and Arjuna ,the Pandava prince and is set in the backdrop of the Mahabharata  War (The Great Bharata War) which takes place in the battlefield of Kurukshetra not too far from the environs of present day Delhi. The iconic significance of this historic dialogue between the Lord (the manifestation of Brahman) and his disciple (a metaphor for all of humanity) to the Indic throughout the ages till the present day is so immense and so timeless and relevant in its message, that hyperbole would not suffice to describe the same. It remains indeed a stirring call to the observance of Dharma in one's own life. The date for the Mahabharata war remains unsettled to this day but compelling arguments can be made for dating it to the end of Kaliyuga circa  3100 BCE. We will describe some of the methodologies and the results  of these attempts later in the FAQ

Smriti comprises the rest of the scriptures

There are eighteen main Smritis, each one named after its principal author;
 

The Darshanas

The Agamas

In Sanskrit 'agama' means acquisition of knowledge. In terms of religious significance, the Agamas are as important as the Vedas. They are also not derived from the Vedas. The Agamas are  manuals of divine worship. They deal with such topics as the codes of temple building, image making, and the modes of worship. Saivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism have their own respective Agamas. 

Saivism recognizes 28 principal Agamas and 150 sub agamas. Some of them date back to 2nd Century AD.  Various schools of Saivism such as the the Saiva Siddhantha school, Tamil Saivism, Kashmiri Saivism and Vira Saivism  follow these texts and base their religious activity upon them. The most prominent agama text in Saivism is the Kamika. These texts consider Siva as the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, the Highest Self, the Conscious Principle while Shakti is regarded as the unconscious or the natural principle who is the cause of bondage. The union of Shakti with Siva at the highest level leads to the freedom of the soul (pasu) from the Pasa or the attachment.

The Followers of Shaktism follow 27 Agamas also called Tantras. Shaktism considers the Mother Goddess as the Supreme Self and relegates Iswara, the Divine Father, to a secondary position. In Shaktism the Divine Mother is both the cause of delusion (maya) and the source of liberation. Shaktism gave birth to the practice of Tantric forms of worship which were not generally acceptable to the followers of Vedic methods of worship. The Agamas of Shaktism deal with magical and occult knowledge, besides mechanical, ritualistic,  devotional and spiritual aspects of Tantric forms of worship

The Vaishnava Agamas are grouped into four categories namely the Vaikhanasa, Pancharatra, Pratishthasara and Vijnanalalita. Of these, the Vaishanavites consider the Pancharatra Agama as the most important (Swami Sivananda). These Agamas are believed to have been revealed by Narayana Himself. The Pancharatra Agama is again subdivided into seven sub agamas namely, the Brahma, Saiva, Kaumara, Vasishtha, Kapila, Gautamiya and the Naradiya. The Pancharatra  Agamas consider Vishnu as the Supreme Lord of the Universe and  devotion to Vishnu as the sure path to liberation. According to another opinion, the Vaikhanasagama is the most ancient and most important Agama and all the Agamas practically and literally copied all their  information from this sacred Agama. It is believed that the Vaikhanasa Agama was originally compiled under the guidance of sage Vaikhanasa during the early Vedic period. Sri Madhavacharya held Pancharatra texts in high esteem and equated them with the Vedas and the epics, while Sri Shankaracharya had a different opinion. 

According to another classification the Agamas are five types namely:Sakta Agamas, Soura Agamas, Ganapatya Agamas,  Saiva Agamas and Vaikhanasa Agamas
 

The Puranas

Bhashyam (commentaries) such as Sankara's BhAshya of the Bhagavad Gita

To quote Swami Sivananda

"The Friendly Treatises

The Puranas are of the same class as the Itihasas (the Ramayana, Mahabharata, etc.).They have five characteristics (Pancha Lakshana), namely, history, cosmology (with various symbolical illustrations of philosophical principles), secondary creation, genealogy of kings, and of Manvantaras . All the Puranas belong to the class of Suhrit-Sammitas, or the Friendly Treatises, while the Vedas are called the Prabhu-Sammitas or the Commanding Treatises with great authority.

Vyasa is the compiler of the Puranas from age to age; and for this age, he is Krishna-Dvaipayana, the son of Parasara.

The Puranas were written to popularize the religion of the Vedas. They contain the essence of the Vedas. The aim of the Puranas is to impress on the minds of the masses the teachings of the Vedas and to generate in them devotion to God, through concrete examples, myths, stories, legends, lives of saints, kings and great men, allegories and chronicles of great historical events. The sages made use of these parables to illustrate the eternal principles of religion. The Puranas were meant, not only for the scholars, but for the vast majority of the populace who found the Darshanas too abstract and who could not, for whatever reason, study the Vedas.

The Darsanas or schools of philosophy are very abstract. They are meant mainly for those with an introspective temperament. The Puranas can be read and appreciated by everybody Religion is taught in a very easy and interesting way through the Puranas. Even to this day, the Puranas are popular. The Puranas contain the history of remote times. They also give a description of the regions of the universe not visible to the ordinary physical eye. They are very interesting to read and are full of information of all kinds. Children hear the stories from their grandmothers. Pundits and Purohits hold Kathas or religious discourses in temples, on banks of rivers and in other important places. It is the tradition for bards to recite these stories in song and poetry.

Eighteen Puranas

There are eighteen main Puranas and an equal number of subsidiary Puranas or Upa-Puranas. The main Puranas are:

Srimad Bhagavata Purana, The Srimad Bhagavata Purana is a chronicle of the various Avataras of Lord Vishnu. There are ten Avataras of Vishnu. The aim of every Avatara is to save the world from some great danger, to destroy the wicked and protect the virtuous. The ten Avataras are: Matsya (The Fish), Kurma (The Tortoise), Varaha (The Boar), Narasimha (The Man-Lion), Vamana (The Dwarf), Parasurama (Rama with the axe, the destroyer of the Kshatriya race), Ramachandra (the hero of the Ramayana—the son of Dasaratha, who destroyed Ravana), Sri Krishna, the teacher of the Gita, Buddha (the prince-ascetic, founder of Buddhism), and Kalki (the hero riding on a white horse, who is to come at the end of the Kali-Yuga). The object of the Matsya Avatara was to save Vaivasvata Manu from destruction by a deluge. The object of Kurma Avatara was to enable the world to recover some precious things which were lost in the deluge. The Kurma gave its back for keeping the churning rod when the Gods and the Asuras churned the ocean of milk. The purpose of Varaha Avatara was to rescue, from the waters, the earth which had been dragged down by a demon named Hiranyaksha. The purpose of Narasimha Avatara, half-lion and half-man, was to free the world from the oppression of Hiranyakasipu, a demon, the father of Bhakta Prahlada. The object of Vamana Avatara was to restore the power of the gods which had been eclipsed by the penance and devotion of King Bali. The object of Parasurama Avatara was to deliver the country from the oppression of the Kshatriya rulers. Parasurama destroyed the Kshatriya race twenty-one times. The object of Rama Avatara was to destroy the wicked Ravana. The object of Sri Krishna Avatara was to destroy Kamsa and other demons, to deliver His wonderful message of the Gita in the Mahabharata war, and to become the centre of the Bhakti schools of India. The object of Buddha Avatara was to prohibit animal sacrifices and teach piety. The object of the Kalki Avatara is the destruction of the wicked and the re-establishment of virtue.

Vishnu Purana, Naradiya Purana, Garuda (Suparna) Purana, Padma Purana, Varaha Purana, Brahma Purana, Brahmanda Purana, Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Markandeya Purana, Bhavishya Purana, Vamana Purana, Matsya Purana, Kurma Purana, Linga Purana, Siva Purana, Skanda Purana and Agni Purana.

 

Itihaasa (epic history) or Mahakavya

Ramayana

Mahabharata (the Bhagavad Gita is a part of this monumental epic)

When one adds up all of the above, it constitutes a substantial corpus of the record of the Indic civilization ever since the mists of time and it can be safely asserted with a great deal of certitude that this  is probably the largest body of extant work, assembled by man in the ancient era

Fables and allegories

Panchatantra

3. What do Hindus understand by religion and what do they call their religion?

The word religion as it is understood in the west and in the Judeo Christian Islamic world does not translate very easily into  any Indian language because of the baggage of dogma and unquestioning belief that the word religion invokes in the  west. The closest word to Religion is Dharma which roughly translates into responsibilities and duties of an individual to the society at large. These duties are accompanied by a set of ethical values, but the emphasis in Hinduism is on introspection to determine the path most suitable for each individual . Hindus call  their Dharma the Sanatana Dharma, the Eternal Dharma to distinguish it from other Dharmas such as Buddhism and Jainism and Sikhism

In the words of  Sir John Woodruffe

4. Can you elaborate on   the meaning of Dharma

Surely, here is an excellent essay  by Dr S .Kalyanaraman

5.  Do Hindus pray to God and how do Hindus pray

There is  a lot of latitude in the manner in which one prays to ones God   but this is one way

6. What does a Hindu hope to attain when he prays ?What  is meant by Purushartha ?

PurushArtha or ManushyArtheha is the  pursuit of  the four kinds of human aspirations, which are dharma, artha, kAma and moksha. The four pursuits in which humans may legitimately engage, also called chaturvarga, "four-fold good" , is a basic principle of Hindu ethics.

- dharma: "Righteous living." The fulfillment of virtue, good works, duties and responsibilities, restraints and observances - performing one's part in the service of society. This includes pursuit of truth under a guru of a particular Parampara and sAmpradaya. Dharma is of four primary forms. It is the steady guide for artha and kama.

- artha: "Wealth." Material welfare and abundance, money, property, possessions. Artha is the pursuit of wealth, guided by dharma. It includes the basic needs - food, money, clothing and shelter - and extends to the wealth required to maintain a comfortable home, raise a family, fulfill a successful career and perform religious duties. The broadest concept of wealth embraces financial independence, freedom from debt, worthy children, good friends, leisure time, faithful servants, trustworthy employees, and the joys of giving, including tithing (dashamamsha), feeding the poor, supporting religious mendicants, worshiping devoutly, protecting all creatures, upholding the family and offering hospitality to guests. Artha measures not only riches but quality of life, providing the personal and social security needed to pursue kama, dharma and moksha. It allows for the fulfillment of the householder's five daily sacrifices, pancha mahayajna: to God, ancestors, devas, creatures and men.

- kAma: "Pleasure, love; enjoyment." Earthly love, aesthetic and cultural fulfillment, pleasures of the world (including sexual), the joys of family, intellectual satisfaction. Enjoyment of happiness, security, creativity, usefulness and inspiration.

- moksha: "Liberation." Freedom from rebirth through the ultimate attainment, realization of the Self God, PArasiva. The spiritual attainments and superconscious joys, attending renunciation and yoga leading to Self Realization. Moksha comes through the fulfillment of dharma, artha and kAma (known in Tamil as aram, porul and inbam, and explained by Tiruvalluvar in Tirukural) in the current or past lives, so that one is no longer attached to worldly joys or sorrows. It is the supreme goal of life, called paramartha.

 

Among these, dharma and the attainment of a dhaarmik life style takes precedence  and is the gateway to moksha or immortality and eternal bliss. Practice of proper Dharma gives an experience of peace, joy, strength and tranquility within ones-self and life becomes thoroughly disciplined. It is classified as [ i ] Samanya dharma or the general and Universal Dharma and [ ii ] Visesha dharma or specific personal dharma. Samanya dharma includes contentment, forgiveness, self-restraint, spiritual knowledge, absence of anger, non-greediness, non-stealing, truthfulness, purity, non-violence, control of senses and desire, discrimination between right and wrong and between real and unreal. Visesha or specific dharma includes duties due to one's birth, age and family and duties to society and family, due to one's career and job and spiritual life. They also include the specific dharmas for the four ashramas and four varnas. These are the regular duties including the rituals and services to the family, community, ancestors and God that every one is expected to perform. .
 

7. Who composed the Hindu scriptures and when were they composed

There were many composers of the Veda. It was not unusual for the brother of the King to become the Rishi Chronicler of that reign and compose the relevant Mandala of the Veda. We will compile the names of these composers and make these available in  Tabular form.

 It is difficult to ascribe an  individual to each and everyone of the texts, but if there is any one individual that had a major part in writing the later texts it must  have been VedaVyaasa or Krishna Dvaipayana. Veda Vyasa (or Baadaarayana) which was also one of his names composed the Mahabharata and the Brahma Sutras. Veda Vyasa was born of the union of a fisherwoman and the  sage Parasara. There is as yet no consensus on an  accepted date for the composition of the scriptures. If one accepts the end of Kaliyuga as a marker for the Great Bharata War, then the logical date for the chronicling of the Mahabharata war is around 3139 BCE. The Vedas predate the Epics by about 2 millennia.

8. What was the language  in which the  vast Vedic scriptures (sruti and smriti ) were composed ?

The language in which they were written was Sanskrit. More specifically the Vedas and many of the earlier texts were written in Vedic Sanskrit before it was codified by Panini. At  that time the scripts were not fully developed and the transmission of knowledge was primarily oral. The transition to a likhita Parampara (scriptural tradition)  was of course not instantaneous but took several centuries. It took several more centuries for standardized script to evolve from the proto scripts (Brahmi and Kharoshti)

9. What are the ethical values  of the Hindu

10. Why are there so many Gods and Goddesses in the Sanataana Dharma

This is a question that frankly had never occurred to me till I left India and lived in the West and to this day I remain  somewhat puzzled as to the reasons why somebody should ask this question in the first place. What difference should it make, i would respond with a touch of asperity. Here is how the sage Yajnavalkya responded to a query in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. We will meet Yajnavalkya later in this Chapter

11. How did the name Hindu originate ?

This is a very pertinent question. In the very distant past (about 7 to 8000 years ago) when there were major cities and towns along the river valleys of the  Saraswathi and Sindhu  Rivers and the Doab surrounded by their tributaries , the people were known either by the regional appellations or by their lineage of the royal house that was ruling the land at that period in history. I have been referring to the people in the aggregate as the Vedics. There were many tribes or clans among the Vedics who went by names such as Bharatas, Panchalas, Yadus, Druhyus, Anus, etc... These tribes or clans were very much like the Scottish clans of much more recent vintage. Many of these clans inhabited an area that came to be known as the Sapta Sindhu area, the Sapta standing for the 7 tributaries of the Indus river at that period in history. Eventually some of these clans moved westward towards the area we know now as Iran. Their dialect was slightly different from those that were left behind. They got into the habit of pronouncing an 's' as a 'h'. Thus Sapta Sindhu eventually came to be known as Hepta Hendu or Hindu for short and the people who  inhabited the area came to be known as Hindus. During that era there was no religious connotation for the word Hindu. It was simply a geographic connotation. As the millennia rolled on, the word Hindu took on a life of its own. The Arabs began referring to the whole peninsula as al-Hind. The Latinized version of this was used by the Greeks (Indikos) and Romans in its present form as India. So also did the Chinese refer to India and its inhabitants  as Yindu.

The use of Hindu purely as a reference to those who practiced the Sanaatana Dharma is a relatively recent development fostered by the British in their zeal and obsession to invent distinctions even when the differences were of a secondary nature. Even as late as 1857 the Moghal emperor called himself the Emperor of Hindustan, referring to the Geographical area, rather than as a home for Hindus.

12. When did the Sanaatana Dharma originate and who was the founder of this faith.

The date when the Dharma was founded is lost in the mists of antiquity, but it can be assumed very safely that by the time the Vedas were written, there was already well established a system of beliefs, so the origin of the belief system predates the composition by at least a millennium ,so that we can say that the basic ideas of the Dharma began to coalesce around 6000 BCE.

There was no single founder of the faith, but there were a collection of Rishis and sages who composed the various mandalas of the Rg.

13. Were the people who developed the tenets of the Dharma  relatively prosperous in comparison to the poverty stricken conditions prevalent during much of the 20th century

If we invoke the notion of the hierarchy of needs most recently postulated by Abraham Maslow, we can infer that the Vedics must have satisfied most of their basic needs relating to physiological wellbeing and those relating to security before they could begin contemplating their needs for self realization or self actualization as Maslow terms these higher needs

Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

What are some of the characteristics of a self actualized person according to Maslow;

16. You say sutras are aphorisms and were used in the interest of brevity.can you elaborate

17. What is the situation regarding the Caste system in Hindu society ? Was such a system endorsed by the ancient Vedics in any of the scriptures. Did the  Hindu scriptures endorse Untouchability  ?

Because of the social stratifications resulting from 800 years of alien domination, this needs an answer along with its historical context . Pl. refer to the section on Caste for a complete discussion on Caste

18. What are the central core tenets of the Sanatana Dharma ? If you had to pick the most important 5 among them which ones would you pick

Central Core Beliefs of Sanatana Dharma

Belief in a Supreme Brahman and the relationship between the Atman and the Brahman (the essential divinity of the human spirit)

Freedom to choose an Ishta Devata( personal Deity) realizing such freedom could result in different choices of deities

Belief in Free Will and its relationship to Karma( personal responsibility and accountability)

Freedom to pursue Purushartha or Chaturvarga (the four goals of life dharma, artha, kama and moksha) on the path to Self Realization

Freeedom to choose the appropriate path  (Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga) or combination thereof toachieve Self Fulfillment depending on onesVasanas

Observe the ethical responsibilities enjoined by the Dharma (Ethics, integrity and building of character)

19. Do Hindus have a Chief among all Swamis, like a Pope, sort of a Parama Rishi if you will ?

No. The Dharma does not believe in interposing another entity between the Atman and the ParamAtman, another individual however learned though he may be. The Guru points the path, lights the way ,and may even suggest the  appropriate goals, but no other person can dictate these  to any individual. The Freedom to choose is the single most important characteristic of the Hindu faith. Hinduism does not believe in a one size fits all doctrine, and does not demand a uniformity in worship, a catechism. There are thousands of appropriate slokas to choose from or if one so desires one can write one's own sloka. It is recommended however that there be a disciplinary approach and that a certain time be set aside for meditation and prayer, preferably at the same time and place everyday,  and that the same prayer be chanted until it can be repeated by rote. This is where a Guru's guidance is highly recommended. One cannot become a  Doctor before writing the board exams. Remember ,the Dharma reminds us all we are potentially divine and it is our own Avidya that creates a veil and blurs the vision where we ought to go.

20. We have all  heard of the great philosopher statesman of India ,and in modern times we have had such statesmen as Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.. Can you name one such person from the ancient times.

The most  famous of the philosopher statesman of India was by far Chanakya. But there is one who was less well known especially amongst western audiences and he is Bhartrihari. In an era when Indics with versatile interests were relatively abundant, Bhartrihari stands out as a genius of great versatility. Linguist, philosopher, king, this man did it all .we will put together a collage of Bhartrihari who was a contemporary of Varahamihira . in the meantime here is a snapshot of his life and times

21. What are the methods of  acquiring knowledge (pramAna) in the various Dhaarmik faiths

I. JAINISM:  3  pramANas

1.  pratyaksha  (perception)
2.  anumAna  (inference)
3.  JinashAsana  (Teachings  of  the  24  TIrthankaras)

II.  BUDDHISM:  3  pramANas

1.  pratyaksha
2.  anumAna
3.  Buddhavacana  (Teachings  of  the  Buddha) (shruti)

III.  NYAAYA-VAISHESHHIKA:  4  pramANas

1.  pratyaksha
2.  anumAna
3.  upamAna  (analogy)
4.  shabda  (testimony--sacred  [shruti  and  smRti]  &  secular)

 * Perception, called PratyakSha, occupies the foremost position in the Nyaya epistemology. Perception is defined by sense-object contact and is unerring. Perception can be of two types:
o Ordinary (Laukika or Sadharana), of six types, viz., visual-by eyes, olfactory-by nose, auditory-by ears, tactile-by skin, gustatory-by tongue and mental-by mind.
o Extra-ordinary (Alaukika or Asadharana), of three types, viz., Samanyalakshana (perceiving generality from a particular object), Jñanalakshana (when one sense organ can also perceive qualities not attributable to it, as when seeing a chili, one knows that it would be bitter or hot), and Yogaja (when certain human beings, from the power of Yoga, can perceive past, present and future and have supernatural abilities, either complete or some). Also, there are two modes or steps in perception, viz., Nirvikalpa, when one just perceives an object without being able to know its features, and Savikalpa, when one is able to clearly know an object. All laukika and alaukika pratyakshas are savikalpa. There is yet another stage called Pratyabhijña, when one is able to re-recognise something on the basis of memory.

* Inference, called AnumAna, is one of the most important contributions of Nyaya. It can be of two types - inference for oneself (Svarthanumana, where one does not need any formal procedure, and at the most the last three of their 5 steps), and inference for others (Parathanumana, which requires a systematic methodology of 5 steps). Inference can also be classified into 3 types: Purvavat (infering an unperceived effect from a perceived cause), Sheshavat (infering an unperceived cause from a perceived effect) and Samanyatodrishta (when inference is not based on causation but on uniformity of co-existence). A detailed anaysis of error is also given, explaining when anumAna could be false.

* Comparison or Analogy, which is the rough translation of Upamana. It is the knowledge of the relationship between a word and the object denoted by the word. It is produced by the knowledge of resemblance or similarity, given some pre-description of the new object beforehand.

* Word, or Shabda are also accepted as a pramana. It can be of two types, Vaidika (Vedic), which are the words of the four sacred Vedas, and are described as the Word of God, having been composed by God, and Laukika, or words and writings of trustworthy human beings.
 

IV.  SANKHYA-YOGA:  3  pramANas

1.  pratyaksha
2.  anumAna
3.  shabda (shruti)

V.  PRABHAKARA  MIIMAMSA:  5  pramANas

1.  pratyaksha
2.  anumAna
3.  upamAna
4.  arthApatti  (implication)
5.  shabda (shruti)

VI.  KUMARILA  MIIMAMSA:  6  pramANas

1.  pratyaksha
2.  anumAna
3.  upamAna
4.  arthApatti
5.  shabda (shruti)
6.  anupalabdhi  (non-apprehension)

VII.  SANKARA  (ADVAITA)  VEDANTA:  6  pramANas

(same  as  the  6  of  KumArila  MImAmsA).  "vyAvahAre  bhATTanayaH".

VIII.  RAMANUJAM  (VISHISHT ADVAITA)  VEDANTA:  3  pramANas

1.  pratyaksha
2.  anumAna
3.  shabda (shruti)

IX.  MADHAVA  (DVAITA)  VEDANTA:  3  pramANas

1.  pratyaksha
2.  anumAna
3.  shabda (shruti)

Thus there is an underlying congruence among all the Indic belief systems  at least as far as the acquisition of knowledge goes, which is why i use the term Indic ethos to indicate a homogeneity among all faiths originating in the Indian subcontinent. We will have more to say on the various approaches to knowledge acquisition a little later. This is not to say that there are not significant differences, but the fundamental postulates that they make about the universe are not dissimilar

22. What is Vairagya ? What role does it play in Hindu ethics

Are Brahmanas the Dalits of today ?    Read for yourself and make up your own mind

continued here FAQ on Hinduism (2)

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