Historical Context: Arrival of the Aryans
About 1500 BCE, as the Indus Valley Civilization was entering a period of decline, Indo-Aryan speaking pastoral peoples migrated from Inner Eurasia into India and established dominance over the native Indian populations. Eventually, they settled on the plains of the Indus and Ganges River basins and developed an agrarian civilization with a distinctive social structure. Much intermarriage with native Indians probably occurred, and the Aryans likely gradually merged their beliefs with those of indigenous Indians.
The Aryans brought a new religion with them, Vedic, named for the body of sacred works, epics, hymns, philosophical treatises, and ritual texts called the Vedas. According to the Vedas, the Aryans came into India from the north using the superior military technology of chariots and bronze weaponry, and conquered the indigenous tribal population. The story in the Vedas portrays their leaders as heroic figures, aided by priests and warriors. It was during this Vedic Age that Hindu traditions became more influential, widespread, and transcribed. Over time, small states and chiefdoms gradually consolidated into kingdoms called mahajanapadas that were dominated by kings and princes who sometimes waged war on one another. It was during the period of mahajanapadas that Buddhism and Jainism took shape, largely in response to Hinduism.
Hinduism has no specific founder. Rather, it emerged from the Vedic traditions of the Aryans. While there is no single Hindu text, the Vedas are the oldest and most authoritative sacred texts (written anywhere from 1800 to 1200 BCE), and the Upanishads describe a more philosophical and theoretical approach to the practice of Hinduism (written roughly between 800 and 400 BCE). Because Hinduism is more of a way of life than a strict set of beliefs or practices, it is more inclusive, diverse, and adaptable. Most Hindus believe in one God who in the highest form is known as Brahman, the universal soul. However, individuals are free to choose the kind of god that they want to worship (such as Shiva or Vishnu) in the spiritual method that they find appropriate. Thus, Hinduism is not really monotheistic or polytheistic, but henotheistic (worship of a supreme god, Brahman, while recognizing the existence of other gods).
The ultimate goal for Hindus is moksha, enlightenment, which frees a person from suffering and unites the individual soul (atman) with Brahman. Enlightenment allows one to transcend individuality and to realize one's own true nature, which is divine and pure. Most Hindus believe that every living thing has a soul and that all souls are eternal. They also believe that every living thing is reborn repeatedly in the cycle of death and rebirth (samsara), which is based on deeds that a person performed in life (karma). A person’s karma determines whether the next life will be better or worse. Working hard, being compassionate, and doing one’s duty (dharma) are actions that produce good karma, which ensures a better life than this one. Being lazy, selfish, and wicked are actions that produce bad karma, which results in poorer circumstances. One's soul will be repeatedly reincarnated to work toward moksha, so Hindus strive to live a life of proper conduct that will cause each of their lives to be better than the life before. Animals are also revered (especially cows, which are sacred) and many Hindus are vegetarians. Over time, the caste system also emerged (based on one's occupation and birth) and reflected the idea of karma. If you followed your proper dharma (duty or role) in life, you would have good karma and be born into a higher caste in the next life.
Buddhism, the world’s fourth-largest religion, originated in ancient India sometime between 563 and 483 BCE and was based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. Born into a wealthy, high caste family in one of the competing mahajanapadas, Siddhartha Gautama renounced his privileged condition and committed to an ascetic life around the age of 29. While the kings of the mahajanapadas continued fighting for territory the Buddha drew followers from all castes and preached the relinquishment of material possessions and worldly concerns. Buddha believed in four fundamental truths (the Four Noble Truths): that life is full of suffering, that all suffering is caused by desire, that one must renounce desire to rise above suffering, and that the only way to get rid of desire is to follow the practices of the Eightfold Path and live a life of moderation. The elements of this path are right views, right intentions, right speech, right actions, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Reincarnation is also central in Buddhism, and true salvation can be attained when rebirths stop and the individual reaches nirvana, or the state of enlightenment.
Both Buddhism and Hinduism shared common notions such as dharma, karma, moksha (nirvana), and samsara; however, the two religions took on different beliefs and practices regarding these concepts. For example, Buddhism rejected the caste system and the sacredness of the Vedas. For Hindus, salvation comes in realizing that everything is one, everything is in union with Brahman and one’s soul is the same as the universal soul. But when the Buddha taught that there was no self, there was no need to attach the self to Brahman. The Brahmin caste who had direct access to the gods through rituals were no longer a privileged and necessary class in Buddhism because anyone who understood the teachings of the Buddha could achieve salvation. For Buddhists, salvation is gained through the understanding of the ways things really are according to the Buddha’s Dharma (teachings), so an individual’s ability to reach enlightenment and nirvana is dependent on their understanding of the Dharma. Buddhism attracted many followers for its simple and clear teachings, which promote pluralism, peace, and tolerance, and because it offered an alternative to the caste system that divided society into castes.
Jainism also originated in India, and its spiritual ideas and history are traced through a succession of twenty-four saviors and teachers known as tirthankaras, who were spiritual leaders who achieved enlightenment and had been liberated from the cycle of rebirth. The last tirthankara, called Mahavira, was a contemporary of the Buddha and also came from a privileged family. He too renounced all his wealth and envisioned a world without brahmins and castes. According to Mahavira, life was not about pleasing gods by carrying out one's assigned duties. Instead, man should free himself from the constraints of the material world by rejecting things like greed, lust, and appetite.
The fundamental principle of Jainism is ahimsa, or the belief that one must abandon all violent activity and commit to a strict code of non-violence because otherwise, all religious behavior is worthless. According to Jainism, the path to enlightenment is through nonviolence and reducing harm to living things (including plants and animals) as much as possible because Jainism holds that all living things have a soul and that all souls have the potential for the divine. To avoid bad karma, Jains must practice ahimsa, a strict code of nonviolence that includes doing no harm to humans, plants, animals, and nature. In addition to nonviolence, Jainism has four additional vows of austerity (discipline) that guide believers: always speak the truth, do not steal, show sexual restraint (with celibacy as an ideal), and do not become attached to worldly things. In practice, these austerities can include complete fasting, eating limited amounts, abstaining from tasty foods, avoiding anything that is a source of temptation, studying, meditation, and ignoring bodily wants in order to abandon the body. Asceticism (self-discipline) is viewed as a way to control desires and purify the soul.