Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction combines an overview of a major religion with analysis of the challenges facing it in the twentieth century. Key preoccupations of Hinduism today include the centrality of the Veda as religious texts; the role of brahmins, gurus, and storytellers in the transmission of divine truths; and the importance of epics such as the Ramayana. Hinduism is practised by eighty per cent of India's population, and by thirty million people outside India. It is extraordinarily diverse, complex, and dynamic. Is it appropriate to define Hinduism as a ‘religion’? Does it challenge our notions of what a religion is? Does it make us think about the subject of religion in new ways?