What about caste and untouchability?

A: Caste is the hereditary division of Indian society based on occu-pation. The lowest class, deemed untouchables, suffer from discrimination and mistreatment. It is illegal in India to discriminate against, abuse or insult anyone on the basis of caste .Longer answer: Caste, from the Portu guese casta, meaning "clan" or "lineage," refers to two systems within Hindu society.The first is varna, the division of society into four groups: workers, business people, lawmakers/law enforcers and priests. Read more [...]

Are the Gods of Hinduism really married?

pA: It is true that God is often depicted with a spouse in our traditional stories. However, on a deeper philosophical level, the Supreme Being and the Gods are neither male nor female and are therefore not married./p pLonger answer: In popular, village Hindu ism God is represented as male, and God's energy, or Shakti, is personified as His spouse-for example, Vishnu and Lakshmi. In Hindu temples,/p !--more-- part and mythology, God is everywhere seen as the beloved, divine couple. Philosophically, Read more [...]

Why do many Hindus wear a dot near the middle of their forehead?

The dot worn on the forehead is a religious symbol. It represents divine sight and shows that one is a Hindu. For women, it is also a beauty mark./p pLonger answer: The dot worn between the eyes or in the middle of the forehead is a sign that one is a Hindu. It is/p !--more-- pcalled the bindi in the Hindi language, bindu in Sanskrit and pottu in Tamil. In olden days, all Hindu men and women wore these marks, and they both also wore earrings. Today it is the women who are most faithful in wearing Read more [...]

Do Hindus have a Bible?

p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"A: Our "Bible" is called the Veda. The Veda, which means "wisdom," is comprised of four ancient and holy scriptures which all Hindus revere as the revealed word of God./p p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"Longer answer: Like the Taoist Tao te Ching, the Buddhist Dhammapada, the Sikh Adi Granth, the Jewish Torah, the Christian Bible and the Muslim Koran-the Veda is the Hindu holy book./p !--more-- p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"The four books of the Vedas-Rig, Yajur, Sama and Read more [...]

Are Hindus forbidden to eat meat?

p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"A: Hindus teach vegetarianism as a way to live with a minimum of hurt to other beings. But in today's world not all Hindus are vegetarians./p p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"Longer answer: ur religion does not lay down rigid "do's and don'ts." There are no commandments. Hinduism gives us the wisdom to make up our own mind on what we put in our body,/p !--more-- p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"for it is the only one we have-in this life, at least. Vegetarians are more numerous Read more [...]

Are Hindus idol worshipers?

p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"A: Hindus do not worship a stone or metal "idol" as God. We worship God through the image. We invoke the presence of God from the higher, unseen worlds, into the image so that we can commune with Him and receive His blessings./p p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"Longer answer: he stone or metal deity images in Hindu/p !--more-- p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"temples and shrines are not mere symbols of the Gods. They are the form through which their love, power and blessings Read more [...]

Why does Hinduism have so many Gods?

pA: Hindus all believe in one Supreme God who created the universe. He is all-pervasive. He created many Gods, highly advanced spiritual beings, to be His helpers./p p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"br/Longer answer: Contrary to prevailing misconceptions,/p !--more-- p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"Hindus all worship a one Supreme Being, though by different names. This is because the peoples of India with different languages and cultures have understood the one God in their own distinct way. Through history Read more [...]