Other religions from the perspective of Hinduism

There have been an innumerable number of religions mankind has witnessed. Especially in the ancient Indian subcontinent regions, there existed a spectrum of religions all the way from completely ritualistic to purely philosophical. Although many of these have gone out of practice, some of them have been included as part of the present-day religions.

It can never be said that any religion is wrong, for a simple reason that there always have been a number of followers under each of them, where people found fulfillment.  A good religion should not be selfish and has to be focussed on the larger society.

During the time of Adi Sankaracharya, there have been references to 72 different religions that were followed in the regions of the Indian subcontinent. Based on their characteristics,  Adi Sankaracharya refined some of them, re-defined some, selectively accepted some, and rejected others.

There were religions with different primary deities, such as:

• Śiva, Vishnu, etc. 
• Brahma - Hiranyagarbha Religion
• Indra - Lord of all the divine beings (Devas) 
• Kubera - Lord of wealth
• Manmatha - God of love
• Yama - God of death
• Pitr - Ancestors
• Bhoota, Vedāla, etc. (Paranormal entities)
• Guna - Attributes
• Kāla - Time

There were another 20-25 with solid philosophies. Some of them are listed below. Most of these have been practiced since time immemorial. However, there have been proponents of these philosophies who are credited for reviving them. According to the Vedic religion, these are incomplete, yet some portions were redefined and accepted to some extent. 

Sānkhya:

The main proponent of this religion is attributed to Sage Kapila. In this religion, Prakṛti and Purusha are two parallel realities. Starting from Prakṛti, twenty-four tattvas (principles) are defined. These are considered the basis of the material world. In some sense, they can be considered as the natural elements that constitute the universe. The creation is the outcome of various combinations of three Gunas or qualities, viz., Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. However, all these are insentient. The only entity that is sentient is the Purusha. The goal of a Jīva (an individual) is to discard all the twenty-four tattvas, balance the three Gunas, and get liberated from Prakṛti to realize the Purusha within.

Although there are quite some similarities to the Vedic religion, there are many objections from the Vedantic standpoint. For instance, Vendanta claims all Ātma are one Parāmātma, which again is the same as the Brahman. In contrast, Sānkhya specifies multiple realities of Purusha. Also, Sānkhya does not accept a universal God, like Īśvara as the Vedic religion does. 

Yoga:

Yoga, popularly known as Ashtānga Yoga, is the religion that emphasizes the control of mind and the senses to attain the state of Samādhi - a state that unites one with the highest reality. As the name Ashtānga suggests, this specifies eight limbs streamlined by Patanjali in his work Yoga Sūtra.

Other than the fact that Yoga accepts a universal God, Īśvara, it resembles Sānkhya in most other aspects. Thus, it suffers the same criticism from the Vedic standpoint as that of Sānkhya.

In the present day, Yoga has become very popular where it has been accepted by modern science to some extent. Although modern Yoga schools teach this in a secular way, yet they do not consider it outside of the Hindu religion.

Nyāya:

Nyāya deals with logic and logical arguments. According to this, the world is real, and the Jīva (souls) are distinct. Its principal text is Nyāya sūtra by Gautama.

Vaiśeshika:

Vaiśeshika founded by Sage Kāshyapa is quite similar to Nyāya, where the special focus is on the distinction between the independent realities and the insentient world. Due to this special focus, known as viśesha, the religion was named thus. According to this, the world is made of undestroyable Anu (Atoms) and Paramānu (sub-atomic particles), whose combination results in the material world, and hence creation. By investigation and logic, one determines whatever is experienced is only due to the insentient Anu, and thus infers the only sentient entity is Ātma and gets liberated.

Mīmāmsa:

Mīmamsa, when mentioned as a religion on its own, refers to those who accept only the karma part of the Vedas and discard the jnāna part. The main distinction between Mīmamsa and the Vedic religion is that in the former, there is no role of Īśvara in this world, while in the latter every single aspect of the creation and the outcome of any action is due to Īśvara. However, Mīmamsa accepts the ritualistic portion of the Vedas stressing on the karma theory - for any action, there is a corresponding outcome. For instance, if one desires rainfall, by doing a specific ritual as mentioned in the Vedas, it gets fulfilled. Since any desired outcome can be obtained by religiously following rituals, it justifies the lack of any role Īśvara plays.

Mīmamsa accepts punya (merits) and pāpa (sins) incurred while doing (or not doing) certain Karmas (actions). The goal of one's life is to accrue as much puya as possible and avoid pāpa. By doing so, one goes to Svarga (Heaven), else doomed to Naraga (Hell). It strongly objects Bhakti (Devotion) or Jnāna (Enlightenment). Interestingly, according to Mīmamsa, ascetics are sinners as they have left their karmas (Vedic rituals). 

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Among other religions, a few were a mix of ritualistic and spiritual practices, such as: 

Pāsupata and Kālāmukha, which are variants of Śaivism. 

Bhāgavata and Pāncharatra, which are variants of Vaishnavism.

Some of the religions with different primary deities were misrepresented. These were refined or re-defined to be accepted by the Vedic schools (see here to learn more). They are:

Gānapatyam - Lord Ganapathy (or Vinayaka)

Kaumāram - Lord Kumara (Muruga, Kārtikeya, or Subrahmanya)

Śaivam - Lord Śiva

Śaktam - Goddess Śakṭi

Vaishnavam - Lord Vishnu

Souram - Lord Sūrya (Sun God)

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There were a few which were anti-Vedic:

Bouddha (Buddhism):

This is one of the most popular religions in the world. The main proponent is Gautama Buddha. Although it accepts the basic attributes of the Dharma Śastras (Righteous path) specified in the Vedas, it strongly condemns many. The main opposition of Buddhism towards the Vedas were its sacrifices, rituals, and the caste system. 

Buddhism does not accept a universal God. The purpose of life is for everyone to attain nirvāna, the enlightenment of the Buddha within, and escape the cycle of birth and death. 

The philosophical view of Buddhism comes very close to that of Advaita, however, the former concludes with voidness, that is there is nothing that is eternally real, while the latter concludes the answer is Brahman/Atman, which is eternal bliss.

Jaina (Jainism):

Although Jainism is believed to have been followed since time immemorial, the main proponent of this religion is attributed to Varthamāna Mahāvīra. Jainism specifies dharma through their religious texts called Āgamas. Similar to Buddhism, Jainism also objects many of the Vedic practices. Non-violence and service are very much emphasized. Unlike Buddhism which is atheistic, Jainism is closer to being transtheistic. According to this, the universe was never created, nor will it cease to exist. The ultimate goal of one's life is the liberation from the birth and death cycle, called Siddha, where the soul reaches the summit of the universe and stays in eternal bliss. 

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Apart from the above, there were also non-spiritual religions. One of them is Chārvaka.

Chārvaka:

Also known as Lokāyata, this religion is purely materialistic. The root word Chāru means sweetness, and vākam means words. Thus Chārvaka means the one that is sweet to hear. There are no rituals, no prayers, no philosophies, and it emphasizes that there is only this one life, enjoy while it lasts. There is no God, no Ātma (soul), nothing metaphysical. It goes by the logic, if you can't observe it, it doesn't exist.  Sounds familiar, isn't it?

This religion was founded by Lord Brihaspati, the Guru (teacher) of all the Devas - the divine beings. For this reason, this is also referred to as Bārhaspatyam. It is said that it was founded to purposefully distract the Asuras, the arch-nemesis of Devas, away from spiritualism.

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Apart from the religions that flourished in the Indian subcontinent, it is worthwhile to briefly mention some religions in the other parts of the world that bears similarities with the Vedic religion. 

They include: 

(only a selected few are listed)

Zoroastrianism:

This is one of the oldest living religions in the world which was dominant in ancient Persia. Founded by Zoroaster (a.k.a. Zarathustra), from whom it is named after, Zoroastrianism reveres Ahura Mazda, Lord of wisdom, as the supreme being. The primary collection of their texts are called Zend Avesta. Interestingly, many similarities are found with the Fire sacrificial rituals specified in Chandogya Avasta. In fact, the word Zoroaster bears similarity with the name Sourastra - A Fire worshipping clan near Gujarat (India), which in turn originated from the root word Souram - the Sun God referred in the Vedas. 

Mitra (or Mithraism):

This religion was followed in Greece and Rome, where the angelic deity Mitra is the primary God of worship. Interestingly, Mitra is also referred to in Zoroastrianism and Vedic texts. 

Ancient Egyptian Religion:

Ancient Egyptians followed a polytheistic religion with many ritualistic practices. The importance of the deities changed over at different times. The historical record, the Treaty of Rameses II with the Hittites bears the phrase "Mitra and Varuna being the witness of this treaty...". Again, Mitra and Varuna are prominent deities mentioned in the Vedas.

Māyan and Aztec Religions:

Both these are referred to as mesoamerican religions, which involved multiple deities, rituals, and sacrifices. Time is one of the most important factors, where cycles of life, death, and regeneration, are emphasized.  The cosmology of Māyan and Aztec religions divide the world into multiple heavens and netherworlds, with the earth in between. This bears similarities to the fourteen worlds mentioned in the Vedas, six heavenly worlds, the earth, and seven netherworlds.

The word Māya is derived from the word by the same name in the Vedas, which means magic. The word Aztec is derived from the morphed form of the word Āstika, which means 'of Gods'.  Evidently, the Aztecs were quite open to including deities borrowed from other religions.

Greek and Roman religions:

It is widely known that the Roman religion borrowed much from the Greek religion. Both these were polytheistic religions involving divinely beings, and a collection of beliefs, rituals, and mythology. There were Gods of the sky, of the water/ocean, the sun, and even the God of love similar to the Vedic deities. Many of the mythological stories bear similarities to that of the Ithihāsas and purānas of Hinduism. It is to be noted that many of the Purānas, including the great epic Mahābhārata, do refer to the Greeks as the people/kingdom of Yavana.

Abrahamic religions:

The major Abrahamic religions include Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Although the Abrahamic religions are known to have independent origins, there are some pieces of evidence to show a connection to the Vedic religion. One such instance is described.

In the Genesis of the Old Testament, there is the story of Adam and Eve, which is widely known. The story involves a 'Tree of Knowledge', a fig tree, whose fruit is forbidden by God to be consumed by Adam or Eve. Adam doesn't eat the fruit while Eve does. 

Mundaka Upanishad of the Vedas describes a symbolic story of two birds sitting on a fig tree, also known as Peepal tree, or Bodhi tree. Bodhi literally translates to knowledge. The story goes on to explain how one bird consumed the fruit, and the other did not, rather it just witnessed. The story concludes by saying, the tree is the body, the bird that ate the fruit is Jīva (a human soul with individuality), and the bird that witnessed is Ātma (The Supreme Soul). It is interesting to note the similarity of characters, Adam with Atma, Eve (pronounced 'Eeva' in Hebrew) with Jīva, and of course the tree of knowledge itself.

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The following table summarizes the views of some of the religions contrasting them through various attributes.

Note: This article is not intended to demean or misrepresent any religion. The sole intention is to bring out the similarities and differences of various religions with respect to Hinduism. 

References:

Deivathin Kural (Voice of God) Volume 4, Compiled by R.Ganapathy, Vanathi Pathippakam
Deivathin Kural (Voice of God) Volume 1, Compiled by R.Ganapathy, Vanathi Pathippakam