Modern Day Hinduism

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The earliest manifestations of modern day Hinduism started during the post-Mauryan centuries, the principal religion of India called Vedic Brahmanism. The main elements of this religion include the supreme scripture Vedas, the caste system, sacrifices for powerful deities, and role of brahman priests. Two traditions stemmed from Brahmanism: Vaishnava and Shaiva, both of which were essentially the same as their parent religion with some changes. Vishnu and Shiva are supreme deities for the respective traditions; salvation was found my utmost love and devotion to respective deities; and a differing factor from Brahmanism is that animal sacrifice was rejected. Between the seventh and fifth centuries B.C. in India, there was a turning point in