The highly educated religious Yogis and Jñaanis could follow the path of knowledge and observe the way of life as in the Scriptures with meditation and prayers to the Absolute -the One Supreme Reality- Formless God, in what is known as Nirguna-upasana. The common people could not comprehend all the teachings of the Vedic philosophy. They followed the rituals, recitations of the Vedas and the path of Devotion. They performed the prayers and sang songs to the manifestations of God in various forms, called the Saguna-upasana, and followed the Agamas and Puranas with Vedic rituals to fire and water. In the later age, the concept of devotion developed with various levels of intense Bhakthi to God in many forms. Many rituals evolved over the years for daily activities and family events like birth, marriage and death. These changed from time to time with the arrival of alien cultures. Many changes occurred in the way of life in large section of the population with the pressure of material benefits, greed, lust and ignorance along with alien culture and education. Religious study got the least preference as it was least understood and least beneficial. Several wars and occupation by Turks, Persians, Moghuls, French and British rulers with alien culture, religious faith and proselytizing people with force also slowly changed the ethics and culture as well as the way of worship and religious practice.

When Temples were destroyed and prayer gatherings were attacked, people started assembling in small houses for devotional prayers instead of elaborate Temple rituals. Some of the alien culture and habits were accommodated for acceptance in the high society. There were separate Dharmasasthras for different age groups and various segments of society according to their work, ability and education. Strict caste systems were established according to the family of birth and some sections who were not following the religious rituals, were pushed down the social ladder as untouchables to perform low level jobs. Inter-dining and inter marriages were denied amongst the various castes, thus dividing the community for ever. This was advantageous to the aliens who could spread their faith easily. However, the strength and viability of the Hindu faith were proved very well by the very small dent all these events of history could make in the strong Hindu Indian culture.

Every culture and every society had their ups and downs. It is the ability of the community to withstand those pressures of natural social evolution that determines the strength of the faith and culture. Like all other religious faiths and cultural and social movements, Hindu community also had problems. We should analyze these problems in the perspective of a world community and an understanding of the strength and weakness of the society at large. When every one is living in a glass house, we should not try to throw stones at each other but learn to respect everyone's faith and understand the rights of others to their beliefs and improve our own faith to live with them.