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Other faiths in India


Parsee

Zoroastrianism in India has significant history within the country. Parsee, member of a group of followers in India of the Persian prophet Zoroaster. The Parsis, whose name means "Persians", are descended from Persian Zoroastrians who emigrated to India.

For Zoroastrians, fire is a link between humans and the supernatural world, and a medium through which spiritual insight and wisdom can be gained. It's purifying, life-sustaining and a vital part of worship. Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism represents the eternal perfect rightness. The true ultimate authority lies with just one ultimate God, Ahura Mazda, and all the immortal supernaturals are just like immortal beings. Linguistically, Avestan terms daeva and ahura correspond to Sanskrit terms deva and asura, but the actual usage is notably different. The Zoroastrian category of daevas includes “demonised” divinities of old together with demons in general.

Sikh

The founding of the Sikh movement (15th century CE) came from the teachings of Baba Guru Nanak Dev. His message was a message of the oneness of every aspect of creation and of Karmic Law. He saw no benefit from rituals. Sikhism does not believe that lineage or wealth will make you a better Sikh. His own sons would not inherit the continuum of his movement. After Guru Nanak Baba Guru Angad Dev would become the second Guru of the Sikh Panth.

The holy Granth, popularly known as Adi Granth, contains the hymns of the first five Gurus in Gurumukhi. Later on, the hymns of the ninth Guru were incorporated in the Holy Granth by the tenth Guru. The Granth Sahib begins with the following: “There is but one God whose name is true-the Creator”. It contains a code of high morals. Purity of life, obedience to Guru, mercy, charity, temperance, justice, straightforwardness, truthfulness, sacrifice, service, love and abstinence from animal food are among the virtues on which great emphasis is laid; While lust, anger, pride, hatred, egoism, greed, selfishness, cruelty, back-biting and falsehood are vehemently condemned.

Judaism

Judaism was one of the first foreign religions to arrive in India. Judaism started off as a Canaanite religion with a number of gods and goddesses to become monotheism to the one God Yahweh also known as Elohim. Judaism was also influenced by Zoroastrianism during the Babylonian Exile.
Indian Jews are a religious minority of India, but, unlike many parts of the world, have historically lived in India without any instances of anti-Semitism from the local majority populace. The better-established ancient communities have assimilated many local traditions through cultural diffusion.
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