The six Āstika schools of Hindu philosophy, which recognise the authority of the Vedas, are: Sānkhya, Yoga, Nyāya, Vaisheshika, Mimāmsā, and Vedānta. The major Hindu denominations are Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, and the Smarta tradition. Hinduism entails diverse systems of thought, marked by a range of shared concepts that discuss theology, mythology, among other topics, in textual sources. Another endonym for Hinduism is Vaidika dharma. The word Hindu is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, it has also been described as sanātana dharma ( Sanskrit: सनातन धर्म, lit.''the eternal dharma''), a modern usage, based on the belief that its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in the Hindu texts. Hinduism ( / ˈ h ɪ n d u ɪ z əm/) is an Indian religion or dharma, a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide.
