Hinduism Introduction: Core ideas of Brahman, Atman, Samsara and Moksha | History | Khan Academy

We're now going to talk about Hinduism, which is one of the largest religions on Earth, practiced by over a billion people. It's interesting for several reasons. First, it is considered to be one of the oldest religions that is still practiced. Some historians would place the origins of Hinduism at 5,000 years into the past. It has elements that may have been practiced in the Indus Valley civilization.

You also have significant elements that come from the Vedic period. In fact, the Vedas, for which the Vedic period is named, really form the root of Hinduism as it is practiced today. It is believed that the Vedas come from an Indo-Aryan people that many historians believe came from Central Asia and were related to many of the people who colonized Europe.

Now, the other thing that is fascinating about Hinduism, and I really just referred to some of it, is that it is a combination of many cultures that really merged over thousands of years. They merged around the Indian subcontinent. As you will see, there are many traditions, many cultures, and many different ways that one can—and many different ways that people do—practice Hinduism.

But there are also four beliefs that we want to get to the heart of in this video, and we'll discuss more in future videos. Now, what's also interesting is where the name Hinduism, or Hindu, comes from. A Hindu being someone who practices Hinduism. The name for what we now call the Indus River in Sanskrit was "Sindhu," and "Sind" is still a region in the Indian subcontinent. The version that the Persians said was "Hindus," and this got converted to "Indus" in Latin.

So, really, Hinduism is the term for the cultural and religious practices of people beyond the Indus River. The word "India" really comes from this same root. "Indus" is where India comes from, but "Indus" comes from "Hindus," which comes from "Sindhu," and these are all related to the word "Hindu." You can see that very clearly in the Persian version.

Now, as I mentioned, there are many different practices in Hinduism, many different traditions, and many different rituals in Hinduism. But I'm going to try to focus in on what could be considered the spiritual core, and a lot of this comes out of the Vedas. They are a collection of hymns, rituals, but also philosophy. The subset of the Vedas that are very concerned with the spiritual and the philosophical are known as the Upanishads, which means sitting down or coming near. Some people say coming near to God; some people say coming near to the actual reality, or coming near to a teacher, as in sitting down to get a lesson or to have a dialogue.

Now, the central idea in Hinduism is the idea of Brahman. Brahman should not be confused with the god Brahma. Brahma is sometimes you could view as an aspect of Brahman, but Brahman is viewed as the true reality of things. It is shapeless, genderless, bodiless; it cannot be described. It can only be experienced.

Now, according to Hindu belief, we are all part of Brahman, and what we perceive as our individuality is really considered to be a quasi-illusion. So this might be one individual right over here, and then we might have another individual right over here. This separateness, the illusion of the reality that we see around us, is referred to as Maya.

Maya is not just the illusion or the quasi-illusion created by our senses; it is even notions like our ego, our identity. And within that context, that inner self, that thing that is even within us, that is even deeper than our sense of identity, is referred to as Atman. As you can see the way it's been diagrammed here, the way we've drawn it out, Atman is essentially the same thing as Brahman.

Often times, you will see it referred to as Atman-Brahman. They're really the same thing, but it's really an illusion that there is this separateness of our reality. Now, according to Hindu belief, in each life, you have this core part of yourself, which is Atman, which is part of Brahman. When you die, it doesn't disappear, but it will take on—or it will subjugate itself to—another reality. So after death, this individual, or this perceived individual, might take on another identity and another reality. They would perceive it as another life.

This notion of one life after another, one reality after another, is sometimes referred to as the transmigration of the soul, sometimes referred to as reincarnation, or this notion of samsara, which is this endless cycle of birth and rebirth. It really comes from this notion of same flowing, this thing, this pattern that goes on and on and on.

According to Hindu belief, what that next life is, what that next reality is, is based on your actions in this life. Karma literally is referring to actions, but it's really actions driving consequences—not only in this reality but in the next reality. Now, there's another notion of Dharma. Dharma is based on what is the role you should play, given the reality, given the life that you are in.

So in a very simplified way, you could say, well, Dharma is the rightful role, the rightful actions, your duty depending on your role, depending on your reality. Karma is how that action translates into consequences, which is going to drive what happens in this endless cycle.

Now, a core idea of Hinduism is to try to escape from this cycle, to awaken to the true reality, to awaken from this quasi-reality. This is really one of the central ideas of the Upanishads—that eventually, if you can awaken...

So let's say that this is an awakening. This entity, this Atman, this self right over here, this perceived individual, has now awoken and can see through, pierce the veil of that Maya. Now, they have rejoined Brahman, and they've recognized that Atman and Brahman are the same.

This freeing from samsara, from this birth-death cycle, this is referred to as Moksha. Now, to make this idea a little bit clearer, let's look at some quotes from the actual Upanishads. So this is two versions from the Isha Upanishad, and the reason why I like to show it is because it shows that if you're translating from Sanskrit into English, or really from any one language into another, there's going to be some room for interpretation.

But we can see it here. So this is from the Isha Upanishad, which is considered one of the most important ones. It's a subset; it's a section of the Yajur Veda, one of the four early Vedas. They write—and this is an English translation—the wise man beholds all beings in the self, or the Atman, and the self in all beings. For that reason, he does not hate anyone.

To the seer, all things have verily become the self. What delusion, what sorrow can there be for him who beholds that Oneness? This is another version of the same verses from the Isha Upanishad: He who sees all beings in the self and the self in all beings, he never turns away from it—the self. For he who perceives all beings as the self, how can there be delusion or grief when he sees this Oneness everywhere?

So I might be getting into an argument with someone, but deep down, if I recognize that both myself and that individual—that we are part of this same Brahman, that he is me and I am he—well then, that anger seems a little bit misguided.

Now, to get a little bit more context on this notion of Oneness, here's another verse from the Chandogya Upanishad, which is also considered one of the significant Upanishads, and it's part of the Samaveda: As the rivers flowing east and west merge in the sea and become one with it, forgetting they were separate rivers, so do all creatures lose their separateness when they merge at last into pure being, into Brahman.

There is nothing that does not come from him, and the use of the word "him" is really an anthropomorphism of this notion that has really no gender or body or form. Of everything, he is the inmost self. He is the truth; he is the self supreme.

You are that! "Shetu," you are that! This last verse is referring—in this Chandogya Upanishad—it's a conversation between the teacher and his son, and the son is "Shetu-ketu," my apologies for pronunciation. So once he's saying that these rivers is an analogy for you and I, and we might see ourselves as different, but at some point we will flow and become one with the ocean.

He's pointing out to his son, you are not different from that; you, yourself, your Atman, it is Brahman. It is one and the same.