Hinduism is not a religion. Rather it is a group of religions found within India that share common beliefs while still remaining very different.+*****

Supreme Court of India: ~ Hinduism, as a religion, incorporates all forms of belief without mandating the selection or elimination of any one single belief,“ It is a religion that has no single founder, no single scripture and no single set of teachings. It has been described as Santana Dharma, namely, eternal faith, as it is the collective wisdom and inspiration of the centuries that Hinduism seeks to preach and propagate,” ---Hinduism has no single founder or scripture: SC, The Times of India (Delhi) Dec 17, 2015

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The Vedic system did not have castes system.  The caste system was a fake created in the name of Hinduism. This non~Vedic belief system called Hinduism has created hatred in the low caste Hindu for the higher caste. 

Sage Sri Sankara endeavored towards establishing Vedic religion overthrowing Buddhism. But even he was not able to avoid the influence of Buddhism. The influence of the revolutionary atmosphere of Buddhism has reappeared in the Advaita of Sage Sri, Sankara. His inability to revive Vedic religion that flourished before the Buddhist revolution in its pure form is discernible.

Many thinkers since his time have said about Sage Sri Sankara that he made use of many important tenets of Buddhism and presented to the people the very Buddhism in the guise of Vedic religion. Though the Vedic religion represented by Sri Sage Sankara is like a conglomeration of many things he deserves the credit of having turned the Indian populace which was once averse to Vedas -the root of Hinduism, towards the Vedas once again. For this Indian populace should be grateful to Sage Sri Sankara.

Remember:~

Hinduism is not a religion. Rather it is a group of religions found within India that share common beliefs while still remaining very different. Many may even argue that it is not a religion but more a way of life. The term "Hinduism" was not developed by the practitioners, but by groups outside of the religions as a means for labeling the entire Indian people.

There are many groups within Hinduism that claim a sort of "going back to the Vedas". While these groups are attempting to create a bond with the Vedas, they will never be followers of Vedic religion or Santana Dharma while they still hold their core ideals.

These core beliefs are at odds with those of the Vedas. Many followers of Hinduism do translate the Vedas to fit into Hindu thought by changing the translation to reflect the beliefs of monism, reincarnation, the caste system and absence of animal and human sacrifice. However, this poor translator.

A well-known movement to go "back to the Vedas" is the Arva Samaj movement. This movement was started in 1875 by Dayananda Sarasvati. It was a movement within Hinduism that was meant to turn back to the Vedas. It was their belief that the Vedas alone were sacred and the only revelation of God. They also believed that all of the sciences of the modern world could be found within the Vedas.

As has been already stated, the Arya Samaj are followers of Hinduism. While they are attempting to go back to the Vedas they are not Vedic. While they do not except the texts past the Vedas, they are still monists and uphold other Hindu views. In their reformations, they rejected Brahminic control and they are open to all castes and women.

Vedic culture and religion eventually came to dominate and define India. Towards the end of the Vedic period,  the many scholars within Vedic religion or Santana Dharma began to start a process of thinking differently about how they were connected to the Gods, to Heaven, and to Yajna. It was this questioning mixed with the ramped corruption of the Brahmins that helped lead the way to Vedic religion or Santana Dharma’s fall.

The people who had once practiced Vedic religion or Santana Dharma were now on their way to adopting new philosophies and ways of communing with the divine(s). The religions that splintered off from Vedic religion or Santana Dharma took ideas, thoughts, and beliefs from Vedic religion or Santana Dharma and brought them into new ways of thinking that were meant to rebel against the Vedic religion, thus negating them as a different sect of Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.

Vedic religion or Santana Dharma was not allowed to evolve further as a religion, but instead,  it lay stagnant while other religions splintered off from it. These religions took specific beliefs within and followed them to their own ends, thus ending the Vedic period and the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma. Some of the offshoots of Vedic religion or Santana Dharma is Buddhism and Jainism and Hinduism.

The Vedic Culture and Vedas are complete in themselves but Hinduism is a group of sects with different ideologies which are non-Vedic belief system with all its ritual and conduct oriented practices have been contributed largely by the priests to suit their convenience!

The DaVita, Vedanta borrows the concept from Abrahamic religions, such as Eternal Damanation (of certain souls destined to hell forever) which goes against the belief of most Vedanta schools, which state that Soul attains liberation. 

 It looks like the creator & creation theory is also borrowed from Abrahamic religion and on the base, new belief system has been introduced giving it Vedic outlook and propagated all non-Vedic rituals and worships by someone in the past.  

Remember:~

St. Thomas is said to have come to India to spread Christianity in the first century AD. It first spread among the people of the Malabar coast and in areas near present-day Madras.

There is a total discontinuity in the concept of God before and after the entry of St, Thomas.  As one goes in deeper into annals of religious history then we become aware of the fact that the Vedic gods were personifications of Nature and their worship essentially sacrifices to these Natural Forces to appease them.  All of a sudden by the first century, we encounter Vedanta.  Vedanta literally means “End of the Vedas,” though it is today interpreted as "the essence of Vedas."

Vedanta, which appeared as theological discourses, presents a supreme Godhead, “Para Brahman’.  Such an idea was not even remotely conceivable in the Vedic context. 

New Gods like Maheshwara and Vishnu appeared.  The concept of Maheshwara.  Vishnu means Sky or Heavens.   Vishnu simply means God of the Heaven lies or one who pervades everything.   Then we have the concept of incarnation – God taking flesh in human form to save humanity.  All these suddenly appeared after the entry of St, Thomas.

This was also the time when most of the Vedic Gods passed into oblivion. Their place was taken by the trinity of gods, with Brahma as the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. It is believed that when evil is rampant, various incarnations of Vishnu enter the world of men to save them. Krishna is one such 'avatar'.

There are many contradictions, Brahma Vishnu and Maheshwar are the three main GODs but they are one. Brahma is the creator of this universe (Generator), Vishnu is responsible for the smooth conduct of the same (sustainer), & Maheshwar is Destroyer! But if you go and read Vishnu Purana, he is characterized as the supreme power.

Further, due to many castes and sub-caste prevailing in the society, some more rules and principles were added for the benefit of these priests. Can you imagine how would you get rid of the sin you committed by killing a cat? You will have to make a golden cat weighing equal to the dead cat and hand over this golden cat to the priest chanting for the purification of the individual soul! Hinduism is different from the Vedic religion.

Vedic religion was modified and reintroduced with new add-ons by Sri, Sankara a great Advaita Master to uplift the Vedic culture and Santana Dharma [Hinduism], which were in ruins in the clutches of Buddhism. 18 Puranas are introduced in the name of Veda Vyasa.

As one goes deeper in the annals of the history, it indicates the fact that somewhere someone has added the Puranas in the name of Veda Vyasa the grandmaster of Vedas. It is impossible to accept and believe that Veda Vyasa authored and introduced Puranas which have all conceptual gods because:-

Hindus are idol worshipers of the large numbers of Gods and Goddesses whereas Vedas declares God is ‘ONE’ and that God is Atman.

In Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~   It has been said that God Supreme or Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. Thus,   Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman the innermost ‘‘Self’’. May ye never accept another God  in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

Rig-Veda 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”.

Rig Veda declares God is ‘ONE’ and that God is Atman, then why believes and worship anything else in place of real God.

Thus, Atman the innermost ‘‘Self’’, is God. Thus, ‘‘Self’’-realization is real worship.    ‘‘Self’’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is necessary to get realization.

Chandogya Upanishad Chapter: ~ ekam evaditiyam- God is only one without a second. (6- Section- 2- Verse- 1)

Swethaswethara Upanishad:~  Na casya kasuj janita na cadhipah, which means of him of Almighty God, there are no parents they have got no lord. Almighty God has no true father, he has no true mother, he has no true superior. (Chapter-6- Verse -9)

Swethaswethara Upanishad:~   Na Tasya Pratima Asti of that God there is no Pratima, there is no likeness, there is no image, there is no picture, there is no photograph, there is no sculpture, there is no statue. (Chapter -4- Verse- 19)

Swethaswethara Upanishad:-  no one can see the Almighty God   (Chapter -4, Verse -20)

Bhagavad Gita Chapter: - all those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they worship many God s. (7- Verse -20)

That is the reason today when we peep into the religious history of India we find that the word Hinduism is a misnomer.

Remember 

The Hinduism today is the group of caste and creed with a diverse ideology with diverse beliefs and code of conducts in different parts of India. The Hinduism is not the ancient Santana Dharma, the eternal religion or the Vedic Dharma, the religion of the Vedas.

Whereas Vedas reveals ONE GOD but Hinduism filled with 33crores of gods Vedas reveals God as Spirit (Atman or Brahman ) and no form whereas Hindus worship God in the form of various non-Vedic idols of god against Vedas.

 Vedas say that God does not have any form and exist as light, but in Hinduism people, idol worship with their inherited personal God.

It indicates clearly all the gods with form and attributes are mere imagination based on the false self.  The ideas of conceptual gods are a reality on the base of false self within the false experience.  Thus all the belief systems are based on the false self. Thus their idea of Gods is merely a belief based on their religious doctrine. In Advaita lord means Atman and
Atman means  Brahman. 

If people who indulge god or guru glorification are not Advaitins because they have accepted the belief of God as true god and they forget the true God is Atman their true identity, which exists without the body and the experience of the world.

 The caste system as it exists in Indian society is definitely not Vedic idea. It is wrong to label a person as inferior or superior based on his birth. No caste is superior or inferior.

The present Hinduism is nothing to do with the ancient Vedas. The Vedas have definitely said that ‘Brahmin’ refers to who has realized the ultimate truth or Brahman, but have never said that a person is ‘Brahmin (superior) by birth’.

It has been clearly said that ‘Janma Jaat Shudra Sarve, Karmenu Brahman Bhavati. ~  In other words, ‘every person is Shudra (inferior) by Janma (birth) and becomes superior (Brahman) only who has realized the ultimate truth or Brahman.

A smritis, or code of conduct composed by sage Sri, Atri defines Brahminhood very clearly.

"By birth, every man is a Shudra (an ignorant person). Through various types of disciplines (samskaras), he becomes a dwija (twice-born). Through the studies of scriptures, he becomes a vipra (or a scholar). Through the realization of supreme spirit (Brahma jnana), he becomes a Brahmin."   

The belief that people born in the Brahmin caste, automatically become Brahmins, is a much later concept in the very ancient India.  Thus, Brahmin means not caste but one who has attained Atma Gnana or Brahma Gnana.  

A Brahmin is a person who has realized the ultimate truth or Brahman in other words a person is a Brahmin only if he is a Gnani. Self- knowledge is not gained by birth but realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman. 

Sage Sri Valmiki who wrote Ramayana was not a Brahmin by birth. Sage Sri Vyasa who wrote Mahabharata was not a Brahmin by birth. Sage Vishwamitra was not a Brahmin by birth and yet he became a maharishi. Krishna himself was not a Brahmin by birth either! The evil character Ravana in Ramayana was a Brahmin by birth i.e he was born to a knowledgeable Brahmin father, yet he is said to have been evil and bad.

If ancient Vedic religion had been discriminating people based on their birth, then would this have been allowed?

Note that a Brahmin is also called a Dvija in the Vedas. Dvija means twice-born. The first birth is his natural birth and the second birth is the new birth he gains after acquiring the Self- knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. To become a Brahmin one has to become a Dvija. To become a Dvija one has to acquire Self- knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. If Vedas had said that a person is Brahmin by his birth, then they would have never called him a Dvija. Even if a person is born to a Brahmin, if he doesn’t get the second birth by gaining self- knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma then he is not a Brahmin.

Bhagavata clearly says in 7.11.35 that:~

yasya yal laks?an?am? proktam? 
um?so varn??bhivya�jakam 

ad anyatr?pi dr??yeta

at tenaiva vinirdi?et

~ means:-  “Just because one is born to a Brahmin doesn’t automatically make him a Brahmin. But he has more chances of becoming a Brahmin by acquiring Self- knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Self- knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is the only qualifications of Brahmin to become a Brahmin. if a person born to a non-Brahmin  who acquires Self- knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana possesses he/she should be immediately accepted as a Brahmin.”

Kabir lived in Kashi, a place abounding in scholars. They believed it was enough to read, to accumulate knowledge from books. They were well versed in the Vedas, in the Upanishads and the other scriptures, and they looked upon Kabir as ignorant, as an illiterate man. In one sense, you can say Kabir was illiterate. If you consider a scholar as literate, as a well-educated man, then Kabir was definitely illiterate. But of what value is the scholar’s knowledge? A scholar will go on and on about the immortality of the soul, but when death approaches you will find him trembling and weeping and wailing. All this talk of immortality will crumble into nothingness because he has not known it..  ~ Osho -The Great Secret, ch. 2

 Kabir knows. What he is talking about is not an explanation, what he is talking about is an experience – he is sharing his joy, he is sharing something that he has known, he is singing the song about the unsung.  Remember it, that whenever Kabir talks about God it is not a belief; he knows it, it is his experience. He is talking out of his experience; hence, he can be of immense help to you...   ~Osho --The Guest, ch. 1

According to Advaita Vedanta, the Veda addresses itself to two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of the ritual sacrifices, and the most advanced seeker who seeks to know Brahman. Thus, the Purva mimam.sa, with its emphasis on the karma kanda of the Vedas, is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, the Vedanta, with its emphasis on the jnana kanda, is meant for those who wish to go beyond such transient pleasures.

Sage Sri, Sankara varied his practical advice and doctrinal teaching according to the people he was amongst. He never advised them to give up their particular religion or beliefs or metaphysics completely; he only told them to give up the worst features of abuse: at the same time, he showed just one step forward towards the truth.  Sage Sri, Sankara was extremely precise and careful in his choice of words. 

Sage Sri, Sankara gave religious, ritual or dogmatic instruction to the mass but pure philosophy only to the few who could rise to it. Hence, the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus,  they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd. 

Sage  Sri, Sankara founded his Advaita Vedanta either on reason independent of Sruti or on Sruti confirmed by reason."   

Sage Sri, Sankara's commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad, II, 1:  This [the unreality of duality] is borne out by the Srutis ... But it is possible also to show the unreality of the objective world even from pure reasoning, and this second chapter is undertaken for that purpose. (commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad, II, 1)

Sage Sri, Sankara himself had often said that his philosophy was based on Sruti, or revealed scripture.  This may be because Sage Sri, Sankara addressed the ordinary man, who finds security in the idea of causality and thus in the idea of God—and Revelation is indispensable to prove the latter.  He believed that those of superior intelligence, have no need of this idea of divine causality, and can, therefore,  dispense with Sruti and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason. 

Sage Sri, Sankara's commentary to Brahma Sutras [Chap.3.4.50] shows that the Gnani "should pass through life", not run away from life and should take a middle course between seeking worldly honor and worldly abasement. 

Sage Sri, Sankara varied his practical advice and doctrinal teaching according to the people he was amongst. He never advised them to give up their particular religion or beliefs or metaphysics completely; he only told them to give up the worst features of abuse: at the same time, he showed just one step forward towards the truth.  Sage Sri, Sankara was extremely precise and careful in his choice of words.

Even the Advaita Sage, Sri, Sankara gave religious, ritual or dogmatic instruction to the mass but pure philosophy only to the few who could rise to it. Hence, the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus, they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd.

Varna  (called caste today even though they are totally different) system was used where the son of a carpenter was preferred to be a carpenter, son of a warrior was preferred to be a warrior, etc so that expertise gets collected over a period of generations. Knowledge gained in a particular field was passed on from generations to generations, and this kept adding up in every successive generation. But there were no restrictions for children to choose alternate professions.

Vedas have said:-  ‘Vasudaiva Kutumbakam’ which means:- ‘the whole earth is a family’ and ‘Sarve jana sukhino bhavantu’ which means ‘May all humans live happily’ 

Existing caste system in India is misinterpretations of the ancient Vedic system where powerful religious lobbies have misleading the society over a period of time for their own selfish gains. :~Santthosh Kumaar