Hinduism and Buddhism: Origins, Development, and Impact on Society

This essay provides a comparative analysis of Hinduism and Buddhism, two prominent religions originating in India. It delves into their respective origins and development, highlighting key differences in beliefs, practices, and societal impact. Hinduism, characterized by its belief in reincarnation, dharma, and a pantheon of gods, contrasts with Buddhism, which emphasizes skillful means to teach root meanings and focuses on overcoming suffering. The essay explores differences in their views on the Vedas, the existence of the soul, and the ultimate goals of life (moksha vs. nirvana). While Hinduism significantly influenced Indian society through the caste system, Buddhism, with its simplicity and ethical code, appealed to many with its emphasis on nonviolence and character building. Desklib offers a wealth of similar solved assignments and study resources for students.

Sociology

Compare and Contrast the Indian religions of Hinduism and Buddhism. Describe the
origins and development of each and analyse their impact on Indian society.
Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world which depicts the faith in people. It
is based on the belief of reincarnation and dharma in three gods. The concept of Hinduism
teaches that very living being has an external soul (Miller & Williams, 2017). On the other
hand, Buddhism works on the concept of teaching the root meanings through skilful means.
Both the religions originated in Indian society, but there exists a strong rivalry
between traditions. The Buddhist culture created hope and aspiration in the society whereas
Hindu rules were followed towards the policy of toleration. Hinduism was not found by any
prophet but Buddhism was founded by Buddha (Miller & Williams, 2017). For example,
Hindus believed in the efficacy and supremacy of Vedas whereas Buddhist didn’t believe in
it.
The cultures and beliefs were entirely different as Hinduism believed in the existence
of soul and ataman whereas Buddhism didn’t believe in it. For example, Buddhists believed
the world is full of sorrows and it affects the life of humans wherein Hindus considered four
aims in life that is dharma, artha, karma and moksha. Both the religions believed that there
exist a concept of birth and rebirth but they differ in the manner of operation.
If talking in technical term, it can be said that Hinduism is not a religion but it is a
group of religions and their beliefs (Vail & Soenke, 2018). On the other hand, Buddhism is a
well organised religion that has pre-defined set of beliefs and practices that is known as
dhamma.
Hindu followers believed in karma and there was no caste system in Hinduism but
there exists case system in Buddhism. The final destination of life in Hinduism was called

moksha whereas in Buddhism it was called as nirvana. The origin of Hindu culture was from
the lifestyle of Southeast Asia (Garfield, Nichols, Rai & Strohminger, 2015). The origin of
Buddhism was in late 6th century and it is considered as an important religion of Asian
countries.
Hinduism effected Indian culture by dividing the society completely by bringing up
caste system. For example, Hindus believed that only people of same caste can get married to
each other. From the research, it was found that Buddhism didn’t have huge impact on
society as they just accepted all the religions (Chuvieco, Burgui & Gallego-Álvarez, 2016).
Thus, it can be concluded that Buddhism and Hinduism both follow different concepts
but Buddhism has appealed to people as they account to simplicity and ethical code.
Buddhism has various qualities as they practised in nonviolence and truth in order to shape
human personality and character building.

References
Chuvieco, E., Burgui, M., & Gallego-Álvarez, I. (2016). Impacts of Religious Beliefs on
Environmental Indicators. Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and
Ecology, 20(3), 251-271.
Garfield, J. L., Nichols, S., Rai, A. K., & Strohminger, N. (2015). Ego, egoism and the
impact of religion on ethical experience: What a paradoxical consequence of buddhist
culture tells us about moral psychology. The Journal of Ethics, 19(3-4), 293-304.
Miller, T. E., & Williams, S. (2017). The impact of modernization on traditional musics. The
Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: Southeast Asia.
Vail III, K. E., & Soenke, M. (2018). The impact of mortality awareness on meaning in life
among Christians and atheists. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 8(1), 44-56.