“The individual is eternally a soul that is caged within a body,” said Rahul Waikar, a doctoral student studying mechanical engineering and a practicing Hindu.

There is the body. There is the soul. Two separate entities.

This is the key element of Hinduism, according to Waikar and Dr. Ajay Agrawal, a professor of mechanical engineering and the faculty advisor for the University of Alabama Vedic Society.

The UA Vedic Society is a Hindu student group on campus and was formed just months ago.

According to Agrawal, the association takes its name from the Vedas, the most ancient scriptures of Hinduism.

“The goal of the UA Vedic Society is to increase awareness of the religion,” Agrawal said. “We hope to bring speakers and have some open discussions. We would love to have people who are not familiar with Hinduism come and observe.”

The UA Vedic Society has a program every Saturday, in which students can learn more about Hinduism, Waikar said. Interested students can contact the society and be a part of the program.

Agrawal said Hinduism is one of the oldest religions still being practiced, dating back 5,000 years.

Hinduism started with, and is based upon, the Vedas, which are not attributed to an individual but to a collective group.

“It was a combination of people that wrote it together,” Agrawal said. “The religion started not with an individual but by collective experience and collective wisdom.”

Agrawal and Waikar both said the religion is complex but can be simplified if need be.

“This is my perspective: every religion has two branches,” Agrawal said. “One part is religious philosophy and the other part is religious practice. The key philosophy of Hinduism is the idea that the body and soul are two different entities. One is perishable and one is not. We consider that the universal truth.”

“Hinduism’s main aim is to make the individual realize his highest spiritual aim,” Waikar said. “The individual is eternally a soul that is caged within a body. There is the concept of the soul, all religions have that. It is how to unite the soul with the super-soul or God.”

Agrawal and Waikar also spoke of the concept of God in Hinduism.

“We believe that there is only one God, but God can be represented in different forms,” Agrawal said. “These forms represent the different tastes of different people.”

This concept of different forms is where the multitude of Hindu gods comes from, although Hinduism is a monotheistic religion, Agrawal said.

“The aspect of God is in all religions,” Waikar said. “In Hinduism, God is not impersonal; he has a personality; he is an individual. However, the difference is, he is a supreme person; he is completely spiritual. Every religion speaks of loving and serving God. Our soul seeks to love and serve God.”

Agrawal also explained other aspects of Hinduism, such as Karma.

“Karma is the sum of all your actions,” Agrawal said. “Good Karma in essence is being ethical. You can accumulate good Karma through good deeds, which make you a better person. You can carry that [good Karma] with you as a soul.”

As a Hindu student on campus, Waikar said he has never felt out of place.

“I really don’t find any problem because the environment here is very liberal,” Waikar said. “To practice Hinduism is fine.”

Agrawal said students interested in going to a Hindu temple could go to the Hindu Temple of Tuscaloosa, which meets every Sunday.

“It is open to anybody that wants to come,” Agrawal said. “It meets only on Sundays and students can come any time between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Students can come and observe.”

“We want to promote understanding and spread the message,” Waikar said.