"Hinduism - A Way of LifeReligions are an integral part of society. It plays an important part in majority of humanbeings life. It helps to shape up the morals and beliefs as well as the right and wrongs of anindividual persons character. To define religion it can be described as a constitution or beliefsof a collection of people and that belief has been passed through generations to generations.An organised religion is based on formerly documented doctrine on the other hand a folkreligion or cult is based on established cultural practises. The people of the same religiousgroups form a community and shares the same convictions. Various communities live inharmony in modern society. This mutual harmony and respects between various communitiesacts as a thread which binds the society together. I myself on the other hand belong to the Muslim community myself as my parents haveraised me as Muslim. I have always followed the teachings of our prophet Mohammad andpractised his doctrine in my life. After my visit in USA I got opportunities to associate withvarious other religions. This country is generous and accepting towards all religions andrespects and encourages all as same. Among the various new religious doctrines to which Iwas exposed almost all of them appeared to me as a fascinating study in their own merit.Though I must admit among these all new exposures one particular religion caught myattention best as it is practised by my new best friend Pragya. She is a practising Hindu at thesame time she has in depth knowledge and understanding about her creed. Variousdiscussions with her about her religious beliefs made me curious about her belief. So for mypresent research paper I have decided to focus upon the Hindus as a community and theirreligious belief Hinduism.Hinduism is a religion which was founded in the soil of India. It is also described as aphilosophy or a way of living. Hinduism has often been described as the oldest religion in theworld. Some scholars also described it as Sanatana Dharma or the eternal way of life evenbeyond the boundaries of history. The very beginning of our conversation regarding religion appeared to me as unique. Whileshe introduced herself regarding her religious beliefs she responded by saying she follows aphilosophy named Hinduism which is not a religion but a way of life in itself. Later when Iasked her about this she explained by saying that unlike all other religion there is no religioustext in this creed. The four Vedas which are regarded as sacred texts by Hindus does notpreach about any particular religious beliefs, on the contrary it teaches us about the goals oflife. What should be the goal of human life and how it should be achieved? It introduces us tothe philosophy of Karma, which takes the deciding factor while shaping a p e rson’ s life. This very introduction fuelled my imagination and curiosity. I indulged myself in moreelaborate researches through browsing internet and visiting libraries. According to Hinduismthe purpose of life is fourfold; they are Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha. Hindu dharma allowsits practitioners to seek these four goals in life. Each goal is considered greater in worth thanthe previous one. The first permissible goal is Kama which means the desire of flesh andsoul. This religion accepts the basic desire of human beings. Maybe this is the only religionwhich allows a text book named Kamasutra which teaches the correct way or procedure tofollow the desire of ones flesh. Artha the second important pursuit preached by this doctrineincludes wealth and power, the hunger or achievement of these pursuits. It is okay to achieveworldly pleasures Dharma is the next important pursuit in this religion. Dharma means duty. Duty towards other human beings and towards a p e rson’ s own soul. Works in life should bebased upon Dharma, which simply teaches a man to always choose the righteous path. It alsosays that to follow the path of righteousness or Dharma one should not bother about thebarriers before him, even if it includes going against one ’s own family. Mahabharata ANEPIC TEXT IN Hindu dharma a prince named Yudhistira set an ideal example how peopleshould practise Dharma in their real life. He has never deviated from the path ofrighteousness that is why he was also known as Dharmaputra Yudhistira. or Yudhistir the sonof Dharma. Moksha or Vimoksha or Mukti or Vimukti is the fourth and ultimate goal ofhuman life, which means emanicipation. It refers to the liberation of the soul from the body,after the emanicipation the individual soul gets immersed into the eternal soul, the Atmameets the Paramatma. There are two major epics which follows the essence of this creed namely Ramayana andMahabharata. They are an example which gives details how common people can follow thegood teachings of this religion, they also teach about the ideals in life. These two books arestill considered sacred by Hindus and read simultaneously. The main teachings of thisreligion though are inscribed in a book named Veda or Vedas, as there are four books in Vedanamely Rik Veda, Sam Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharba Veda. The language in which thesebooks are written is called Sanskrit which is a very ancient language in itself. Though Hinduism does not refer to any particular gods or goddesses, but the local culture andbeliefs of common people are based upon the origin and power of various gods andgoddesses. Barun is the god of water, Agni is the god of fire, Narayana, and Shiva is amongthe major gods. The most interesting fact is there is no less than 330 million gods in thiscreed. There are also various divisions in this creed. This ancient creed has given birth toomany different sects such as Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism etc. These creeds follow theessence of this ancient religion. The most interesting fact is the followers of these creeds are spread among all over the world especially in various Asian countries namely Japan, China,Vietnam etc. Even in India the followers of ancient religion speaks various dialects namely Bengali, hindi,Punjabi etc. This very nature of this religion is based upon its multiplicity and diversity. Hindus beliefs that an eternal fate hangs over all humans and this guides their actions andtakes a deciding factor in shaping their lives. It also focuses on Karma which means goodwork brings good results in life and bad work only leads towards destruction. It also believesin the resurrection of souls. In death Hindus burns the body of the deceased in the belief that the Mother Nature whichhas created our bodies after death by burning the bodies they are sending it to its primevalstage. This avid research about Hinduism made me wonder about the diversity of human life. It alsoopened my horizon of mental space and made me think that there might also be foundhappiness and knowledge beyond the little boundaries of my learning and experience. It alsogave me a new perspective to wonder about the real objectives of human life. The Bhagawat Gita by Krishna Dwaipayana VyasaThe Gita Way- Secret Recipe to achieve the purpose of life (Paperback) by Shweta ChandraThe Autobiography of a yogiby Paramahansa Yogananda (Ramayana (Paperback) by V a lm iki "