It would be an understatement to believe that it is believed that in the earlier days, in the Indian context, a person’s occupation was determined by the status of birth. Thus, having been born in a cultured and upper class society would naturally confer a person higher religious status than one born in a lower culture. The Brahmanical caste, for instance, had special and exclusive religious rights and privileges which were not conferred to lower religious classes. Again, Hinduism has originated and evolved through the teachings of the Vedas and the Upanishads and handed down from generation to generation. The precepts of Sanatana Dharma has reinforced and underpinned these kinds of teachings and lent an aura of mysticism and holiness to this awe inspiring religion. The contribution of the Aryans is no less significant, as it has underpinned the evolution of Hinduism over its eventful and tumultuous journey through the annals of Indian civilization.
The presence of other religions presented through successive invasions by Muslim and other invaders could not perhaps make a sizeable dent in the essential vitality, or pervasiveness of the Hindu religion, thanks to its basic resilience and innate strengths. Perhaps, as mentioned earlier, Hinduism does not impose itself on its followers, and one if free to follow it as one chooses, rituals or otherwise. There are Hindus who spend millions on their religion, and there are yet others who do not even spend a rupee on religious practices. The societal influences of Hinduism is that it, given the liberal attitudes of the religion, people need to practice them in order to seek a greater moral order for themselves and also to lead a virtuous, pious and sin free life.