Vedism refers to the schools of Indian thought and belief that base their beliefs on śruti (see Śruti), the sacred texts and rituals of the ancient Vedic tradition that is the Veda, that is the particular Vedas (see Vedas) and their offspring: the Brāhmaṇas (see Brāhmaṇas), āraṇyakas (see Āraṇayakas), and aniṣads (see Upaniṣads). This pre-Hinduism grows directly out of the religion brought by the Aryan (see Aryans) Indo-Europeans who invaded India in the second millennium BCE. As the invaders moved further south into India, Brahmanism (see Brahmanism) developed as an outgrowth of Vedism and became what we think of as classical Hinduism.
