system
A chat on 4chan
human
What do you know about Hinduism? What do you think about it compared to other major religions? I'm asking because I don't know very much about Hinduism myself.
gpt
The Upanishads are the most sacred text in Hinduism.

As per their instruction, an understanding of the true meaning behind the Mundakya Upanishad amounts to the pinnacle of their teaching. 

The atman and brahman are one: the true nature of reality is one of non-dualism
human
What we refer to as 'Hinduism' is actually an umbrella term for the almost infinitely numerous different religious traditions, cults, and schools of philosophy that exist in the Indian subcontinent. Indians refer to their belief system as 'Sanatana Dharma' - loosely translated to 'Eternal Religious Duty'

The earliest Hindu cults were those practiced by the Indo-Aryan Vedic peoples who conquered Northern India from the Indus Valley Civilization and other Dravidian Tribal Confederacies towards the beginning of the Bronze Age. These Vedic tribes practiced an evolved form of Indo-European Paganism primarily centered around Indra (The Lightning God and King of the Heavens) and Agni (The God of Fire). They brought along with them the Indo-European tri-partite caste system (Priest, Warrior, Craftsman) and established a fourth lower caste (Shudra - Peasants) for their newly conquered subjects to belong to.

Their beliefs were captured in the holy Vedas - a series of four texts from this era. The blending of Vedic tradition and more Indigenous cults shaped the development of modern Hinduism. The Vedic Gods remain to this day, though have lost their influence and status to the Trimuti (Hindu Trinity) of Brahma (the Creator), Vishnu (the Preserver) and Shiva (the Destroyer). Of these three, the latter two are the most worshipped.


There is no single most sacred text, though if one were to ask Hindus they would likely say the Vedas (specifically the oldest, the Rig Veda) or the Bhagavad Gita - a theosophical treatise found in the midst of the Mahabharata (War for Bharat [the Sanskrit name for India]) epic.

Interestingly, the two most important Hindu epic poems - the Ramayana and the Mahabharata - are focused around Vedic princes