hinduism

1. a religious and universal order or way of life
2. the concept of god varies across different schools of thought and tradition
3. there are 4 broad categories - vaishnavism, shaivism, shaktism, smartism
4. the first 3 worship vishnu, shiva, and devi as the supreme god respectively, considering them to be the “monad” or the “metaphysical absolute”
5. the smarta tradition rejects theistic sectarianism and is notable for the domestic worship of five shrines with five deities, all treated as equal – ganesha, shiva, shakti, vishnu and surya.
6. major hindu scriptures - vedas, upanishads, puranas, mahabharata, ramayana, agamas
7. prominent themes in hindu beliefs - karma, dharma, artha, kama, moksha (last 4 being clubbed as “purushartha” - objective of men)
8. prominent practices - devotion (bhakti), worship (puja), sacrificial rites (yagna), meditation (dhyana), yoga
9. varna - categorisation of humans into 4 segments - brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya, shudra
10. linear timeline
    1. pre-vedic period (until 1750BCE)
    2. vedic period (1750 - 500BCE)
    3. second urbanisation (600 - 200 BCE)
    4. classical period (200 BCE - 1200 CE)
    5. medieval period (1200 - 1500 CE)
    6. early modern period (1500 - 1850)
    7. modern period (post 1850)
11. puranas are oriented at a cyclical understanding of time. there are 4 yugs in once cycle. every cycle has its creation and destruction.
    1. satya yuga
    2. treta yuga
    3. dvapara yuga
    4. kali yuga
12. learn about mainstream topics like mahabharata, and ramayana for breadth, pick your depth - it is personal. i pick shaivism.