The literature of the Aryans is full of religious importance. In fact, religion was a central fact of the ancient Indians' lives. The faith that the Aryans brought with them to the Indian subcontinent is called Vedism (VAY-dizm) to distinguish it from Hinduism (HIN-doo-izm), which developed from it in about 300 b. c. In fact, however, the two religions are closely linked. Likewise Buddhism (BU-dizm) developed out of Hinduism, and today the faiths stand side by side, much like Judaism and Christianity.
Vedic gods included Agni (AG-nee), the god of fire; Soma, who ruled over the intoxicating drink of the same
Name; and Indra (IN-drah), a king of the gods. The Rig-Veda refers to three families of gods, with eleven deities in each family. Some of these gods survived in the later Hindu religion, whereas others were transformed. The Hindus developed many other gods as well.
Though the Vedic and Hindu religions worshiped many gods, they retained a belief in a single, supreme figure: not so much a deity as a spirit or an idea that they called Brahman. All the other gods are part of Brahman, but separate as well. At the center of the Hindu pantheon (PAN-thee-ahn), or group of gods, is the trinity, an inner circle of three gods: Brahma, the creator of life; Vishnu (VEEZH-noo), the preserver of life; and Shiva (SHEE-vah), the destroyer of life. Many other gods are related to these in some way: thus Krishna is considered to be Vishnu in another form, and Kali (KAH-lee), the goddess of destruction, is a wife to Shiva.
The system of gods in the Hindu religion is exceedingly complicated. Although one can learn much about Hinduism from studying about them, to do so is a bit like trying to understand a tree simply by looking at its flowers. At the heart of Hinduism and other Eastern religions are certain core ideas that are at least as important as the gods themselves if one is to understand the religion embraced by the ancient Indians—and by the Indians of today.
World History
