How did the world come into being according to Hinduism
How did the world come into being according to Hinduism? Because Hinduism is plural, with a vast collection of customs and beliefs of numerous communities, over many periods of history, there is no single story of creation. There are many stories, some from the Vedas, some from the Brahmanas, some from the Puranas; some are philosophical, based on concepts, and others are narratives based on characters. One can sense something common in all, but there is a great deal of variations. The fundamental difference between the story of creation in Hinduism and Abrahamic religions is that Hinduism - like Buddhism and Jainism - views the world as eternal, going through phases of creation and destruction. So, beginning refers to the beginning of a phase, not beginning of the world itself. In Abrahamic mythology, the world comes into being from nothingness by the will of God; and it will end in nothingness. There is a starting and an end point. A segment, essentially. In Hinduism,...