The essence of Hinduism
Vedas
Consist of knowledge that was revealed to the ancestors, either through thought or through hearing. Vedas are vast. Understanding and memorising the Vedas is difficult, few are capable of the pursuit. And few achieve mastery. Those who do are normally called gurus.
The Gita
To help those who are unable to memorise and understand the Vedas, the Gita was revealed at a certain time to a certain person. The Gita is designed to help anyone understand the essence of the Vedas, if they chose to.
The essence of the Vedas
Time + Work = Result
Time is infinite. It doesn’t have a beginning, it doesn’t have an end. God is infinite. He doesn’t have a beginning, he doesn’t have an end. God only knows how to make things that are like him. God has made you in his form. Ergo, you are infinite. You don’t have a beginning and you don’t have an end.
So what should you do? – Work. Your purpose here in the world is to work. Work is defined as that which gives pleasure over the long term and not the short term.
The purpose of work is to sacrifice the result of work. The challenge of work is always to do the task that is beneficial over the long term and not the short term. Those who succumb to the short-term beneficial things, keep getting bound to this world.
Those who are able to keep sacrificing the short term benefit and do work for the sake of long term benefits keep getting unbound from this world. Therefore, the key tenet of Hinduism is to sacrifice the result of work. Work is any activity you are capable of doing.
Fact: you cannot be even for one second without doing an activity. Ergo, you cannot be even for a moment without doing work.
If A = {Set of all things you can do}
Example, A = {thinking, ruminating, running, speaking, studying, competing, etc}
Example, B = {rising and setting of the Sun}, Sun helps keep life moving on Earth, Sun shows a leading path to the creatures on Earth. If Sun gets bored by its duty, then life ends on Earth. Be like the Sun, keep doing your duty, not for the short term benefits, but for the long term benefits.
End result:
Fact: concept of pleasure or nectar. If the result of a short term activity gives x amount of pleasure. Then the posit is that, the result of a long term activity provides infinite amount of pleasure or nectar.
Therefore, the essence of Hinduism is that:
You are time, infinite. You have to do work, your duty. And you will be receiving the ultimate reward of nectar when you merge with the infinite.