Introduction 1 Part 1: Introducing Hinduism 5 Chapter 1: Overviewing Hinduism 7 Chapter 2: From Past to Present: A Condensed History of Hinduism 19 Chapter 3: Exploring the Core Beliefs and Values. 37 Chapter 4: Reviewing Major Hindu Denominations 51 Chapter 5: Exploring Hindu Society Structure 67 Part 2: The Hindu Pantheon and Its Religious Leaders 83 Chapter 6: Pantheism to Polytheism: From the One to the Very Many 85 Chapter 7: Identifying Hindu Gods and Goddesses 95 Chapter 8: The Avatars of Vishnu: The Divine Descent 119 Chapter 9: Revering the Role of Religious Leadership 133 Part 3: Studying the Sacred Texts 151 Chapter 10: The Vedas: Centuries of Accumulated Treasures 153 Chapter 11: Gaining Higher Knowledge with the Upanishads 167 Chapter 12: Living with the Epics and Puranas 183 Chapter 13: The Song of the Lord: The Bhagavad Gita 209 Part 4: Practicing Hinduism 223 Chapter 14: Worshipping at Home 225 Chapter 15: Worshipping at Temples 241 Chapter 16: Observing Holydays and Festivals 257 Chapter 17: Cradle to Cremation: The Life-Cycle Rites 277 Chapter 18: Taking a Pilgrimage 293 Part 5: Delving Deeper into the Hindu Concept of Reality 311 Chapter 19: The Six Schools of Thought: The Darshanas 313 Chapter 20: Vedanta: The End of Knowledge 327 Chapter 21: Following the Yogic Path to Salvation 343 Part 6: The Part of Tens 357 Chapter 22: Ten Common Prayers 359 Chapter 23: Ten (or So) Traditional Mandates 365 Index 371.