... widely known of Hindu scriptures. They are rich in symbolism and contain a wide variety of divergent traditions; they describe the gods and explain how they should be worshipped. There are two great epics of Hinduism, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The Ramayana-describes the story of Rama-an incarnation of Vishnu-who takes birth among humans in order to fight against evil forces and establish dharma(peace ... . His slays Ravana a demon, who captures his wife Sita, and brings peace in the demon's realm. The Mahabharata-which contains the Bhagvad-gita, one of the most religious texts in...

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• Grade Level: High School

... for evil when it was adopted by the Nazi party. The sacred text of Hinduism is the oldest religious text- the Rg Veda. Hindus however believe in many other texts. The first is the Vedas-4, which are the four holiest books of Hinduism, which includes the earlier mentioned Rg Veda. The other three are the Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, and Atharva Veda. The second is the Ramayana on of India's best known tales ... . It tells the story of Prince Rama who was sent into exile in the forest with his wife, Sita, and his brother, Lakshamana. The third is the Bhagavad Gita, or "Song of the Lord" is part ...

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... , it has many other stories that are included to teach important lessons. The Ramayana has 24,000 verses. It is thought to be the work of a man called Val-miki, and was written down around 100 BC. It tells the story of Prince Ramah and his wife Sita. The stories in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana can be understood on many different levels. For children, they are exciting ... stories. For adults, they teach important lessons about the gods and the way to worship. Many Hindu ... actors and dancers use parts of the stories in their performances. "The basic concepts put forth in the Vedas ...

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... out one of them and put it against thousands of times here and there pierced by the stone floor, the holes were making some sort of a relief pattern like figures. The housekeeper got the idea to use this discovery. He cut figures of the Reamaker (Khmer version of the Ramayana) out of the skins. The shadow theatre was born. "Nang Talung" Thailand puppets are known to have magical powers ... . The relationship between shadow player and the puppeteer's comic characters is particularly strong. The puppets in Thailand are honored by the village people. Villagers cover the puppets with gold le...

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• Grade Level: High School

... The most important books are; "the Vedas, which are the oldest writings about life and duty, the Upanishads which are hymns and poems and the Ramayana which contain poems." (www.stjames-hamptonhill.org.uk) Judaism: Abraham was the first Jew, he lived in the Middle East more than 4,000 years ago. He is the father of the Jewish ... and obey him. Because of this God promised to make Abraham's family His chosen people. Jews believe in one God, who created the universe. They believe that because of the covenant, God has a special relationship with them. If they live by Gods rules and are fai...

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... have one "Holy Book" like many other religions, but many texts including the four Vedas along with their Upanishads, called the "Sruti", several Dharma Sasthras or Smrutis, Ithihasas and Puranas including the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. The Bhagavad Gita, or "Song of God", comes as part of Mahabaratha, is an essence of the message of the Upanishads and Hindu Philosophy and is considered to be a guide on how ... we should live as told by Lord Krishna to Arjuna. 5. Hindus believe that as all streams and rivers lead to the same ocean, all genuine ... religious (spiritual) paths lead to ...

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... to grant their respective wishes, and the most controlled and successful sacarifice enable men to gain control over body and actions and ultimately the entire universe. Fire also enable the dispelling of evil spirits and hostile magic as seen in the epic Ramayana. Hence, due to the immense power of fire, the common people idiolize fire and treat it as the lord of the house. All sacred vows and ... bonds are taken with God as the witness in the form of fire. Thus, men attain happiness ... by appeasing Agni and completing proper fire rituals. As time passed, the Upanishads formed the end...

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... . These are then divided into smaller sections within the parts. The Vedas contain history, "rules," and rituals that the Hindus know and live by. Along with the Vedas there are other books containing scripture that they hold very highly, ex. The Ramayana, Tirukural, Tirmuantiram, The Upanishads (a philosophical treatise portion of the Vedas.) There is also the Agamas, which is considered equal to the Vedas. Most people tend to think that ... the Hindus believe that your soul is reincarnated into another human body forever. This is not true. The reincarnation involves karma. Karma, often...

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• Grade Level: High School