1. Origins of Hinduism
Social Studies for 8th E.G.B. | Teacher: Mauricio Torres

2. Background
 As the Aryans moved into India, they developed a strict
system of social classes. As the Aryan’s influence spread
through India, so did their class system. Before long, this
class system was a key part of Indian society.

3. The Varnas
 According to the Vedas, there were
four main Varnas, or social divisions
in Aryan society:

4. Caste System
 Indian society became more and more divided into
many castes or groups. This caste system divided
Indian society into groups, based on a person’s birth,
wealth or occupation.
 The caste to which a person belonged determined
his or her place in society.
 On rare occasions, people could change castes.
 At first, both men and women had the same rights,
over time, women lost them with the passing of laws.
 Untouchables: A group that could only hold certain,
often unpleasant jobs. They did not belong to any
caste.

5. Caste Rules
 To keep their classes distinct the Aryans developed
sutras or guides, which listed all the rules for the caste
system.
 For example, no class intermarriage was allowed, and not
even sharing the same table for supper was possible!
 The punishment for breaking one of these rules could be
the expulsion from their homes and castes, deeming
them “untouchables”.

6. Brahmanism
 Because the Aryan priests were called
Brahmins, their religion was called
Brahmanism.
 The Vedas (“knowledges”)
 It was based on the Vedas. There are four of
them, and the oldest one, The Rigveda was
probably written before 1000 BC.
 The Brahmins would keep writing their
thoughts about the Vedas into collections
called the Vedic texts.
 The texts include descriptions of Aryan
religious rituals.
 The last of the texts, are the Upanishads.

7. Hinduism Develops
 The basis for Indian religion
were based on the Vedas,
Upanishads, etc. but influence
from other cultures brought their
ideas to India.
 This blending created
Hinduism, the largest religion in
India today.

8. Hindu Beliefs
 The Hindus believe in many gods. The
three most important of them all:
 Brahma, the creator.
 Siva, the destroyer.
 Vishnu, the preserver.
 Hindus believe that everything in the
universe is part of a single spirit called
Brahman. Therefore, even the gods
belong to it.

9. Life and Rebirth
 According to Hindu teachings, everyone
has a soul or atman, inside them.
 It holds its personality and qualities that
make them who they are.
 The goal is to reunite the atman with the
Brahman.
 To Hindus, the world is an illusion. So, it
is hard to see through an illusion,
therefore it can take several lifetimes to
finally fin reality with Brahman.
 Being born and reborn is part f their
beliefs, and it is called reincarnation.

10. Hinduism and the Caste System
 Hinduism helped maintain the
caste system. This was because:
 Through reincarnation, people
are reborn in a different
physical form. The type of form
depends on their karma (the
effects that good or bad actions
have on a person’s soul).
 A good karma will take you to a
better caste, while a bad karma
will take you to a lower one.
 A good karma will lead you to
moksha, or salvation.
 The dharma, or a person’s
duties in life are done in
accordance to each caste.

11. Ask Yourself
 Identify
 What is Karma?
 What is the Rigveda?
 What are the three major forms of Brahman?
 Evaluate
 Do you think a wealthy Brahmin will want his or her servants to believe in
dharma? Why or why not?
 Recall
 What were the four varnas?
 When was the Rigveda probably written?
 Describe
 What were some of the rules described in the sutras?
 Analyze
 What led to the development of Hinduism?

12. Bibliography
 Burstein, S. M., & Shek, R. (2012). World History
(Teacher´s Edition) (1st Edition ed.). (H. McDougal,
Ed.) Orlando, Florida, US.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publishing Company.
 Images taken from Google.com