Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya established the following four Peethams so that each Peetham is the authority for one of the 4 Vedas:
There are 4 vedas considered to be the authoritative source of way of life for Hindus. The interesting thing here is that Vedas are not 'authored' by Maharishi Vyasa. It can be said that during his transcendental meditative state, he could interpret the universal vibrations directly from the all pervasive truth. He interpreted it using Sanskrit Verses and penned it.
These four vedic texts are
The main reason why Hinduism is significant is that the religion does not enforce a God, guru or compliance with Vedas. Diversity is allowed.
Each person is allowed to take his path and try to reach his goal. Even the goal itself can be set by the person.
What the vedas say is that eventually every person will realize the truth thats written in the Vedas. The summary as I naively understand is that God is everywhere (Brahman/Paramatma), a projection of it is Jeevatma (soul), from which arise the temporal attibutes like mind and body. Hence this world is Maya or illusion as its all temporary. Jeevatma is permanent and will eventually merge into the Paramtma which is not limited by time or space.
Since each of our bodies can be influenced by the mind or the soul, we are in different stages of understanding. Hence we are allowed by trial and error to understand the purpose of life, who we are, what powers us and what we want to achieve.
If you are dominated by your mind, you will think that YOU are your name (for example Shiva), your body, your title (software engineer etc), your certificates (10th standard pass etc), your role (husband, father, son etc). On the other hand, if you are influenced by your soul, you will think of yourself as some unknown guiding force trying to act in a positive manner for the betterment of the world so that you can attain Moksha (or merging into Brahman). Of course, these are some of the possibilities and depending on your creativity you can imagine a trillion more interpretations.
What will stand out though is that the world is ever changing and this change can be noticed by a external permanent force/energy/God who the scriptures call Brahman. References: Hindu history
- East - Puri in Orissa
- West - Dwaraka in Gujarath
- South - Shringeri in Karnataka
- North - Badrinath in UP
- Kancheepuram is the fifth where Adi Shankaracharya is said to have established for himself.
- Rig Veda
- Yajur Veda
- Sama Veda
- Atharva Veda
The main reason why Hinduism is significant is that the religion does not enforce a God, guru or compliance with Vedas. Diversity is allowed.
Each person is allowed to take his path and try to reach his goal. Even the goal itself can be set by the person.
What the vedas say is that eventually every person will realize the truth thats written in the Vedas. The summary as I naively understand is that God is everywhere (Brahman/Paramatma), a projection of it is Jeevatma (soul), from which arise the temporal attibutes like mind and body. Hence this world is Maya or illusion as its all temporary. Jeevatma is permanent and will eventually merge into the Paramtma which is not limited by time or space.
Since each of our bodies can be influenced by the mind or the soul, we are in different stages of understanding. Hence we are allowed by trial and error to understand the purpose of life, who we are, what powers us and what we want to achieve.
If you are dominated by your mind, you will think that YOU are your name (for example Shiva), your body, your title (software engineer etc), your certificates (10th standard pass etc), your role (husband, father, son etc). On the other hand, if you are influenced by your soul, you will think of yourself as some unknown guiding force trying to act in a positive manner for the betterment of the world so that you can attain Moksha (or merging into Brahman). Of course, these are some of the possibilities and depending on your creativity you can imagine a trillion more interpretations.
What will stand out though is that the world is ever changing and this change can be noticed by a external permanent force/energy/God who the scriptures call Brahman. References: Hindu history
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