The beginning of the chapter initiates the conversation about Hinduism by describing the story and significance of the god Ganesha, an elephant-headed, jovial god. He is often referenced by Hindus for “good luck” whenever starting something new, as he is the “god of thresholds”.

Next, the chapter continues the discussion by referencing how diverse the beliefs in Hinduism are. Hindu’s tend to argue about the source of divinity with god, whether just an image may be divine or that it is just referencing divinity.

Further on, at the heart of the Hindu faith, is the experience of samsara and moksha. These words refer to “worldly suffering” and a “release from suffering”, respectively. It is even described that there is not a heaven that believer strive to go to one day when they die, but that their main goal is to be disappear altogether from existence, no longer experiencing suffering. Since not everybody will be able to attain moksha, there are other aims to strive for in life: kama (sensual pleasure), artha (wealth or power), and dharma (roughly translating into “duty”). There are also different yogas, or disciplines that one kan follow, the most popular of these being bhakti yoga, which involves devotion to a single deity will produce a kind of “salvation” leading to moksha.

The common grouping of holy books among believers is called the Vedas. This includes the Rig, Sama, Yahur, and Arharva Vedas. However, an expansive view of the Vedas also would have the Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads. There is also the Mahabharata, which has epic tales regarding the gods of the Hindu faith. One such book is the Baghavad Gita.

One way to sum up the discussion on the Hindu faith is that believers may fall into one extreme or the other. More ancient practices involved sacrifice and extreme devotion. Later sects used a more philosophical approach, seeking to understand Karmic law and its effect on all life. Modern Hinduism has denounced several old practices, especially the ones surrounded by eroticism, and has been repositioned as a wide-stretching religion, on the same level as Christianity or Islam. Hinduism, as a whole, has always been a more absorbing religion, influenced by outside sources and ideas rather than just shutting out everything that it may have been against.