God personal nature of God, with early references to his name as Krishna-Vasudeva in Bhagavata or later Vishnu and Hari. Ahura Mazda is the name for God used in Zoroastrianism. "Mazda", or rather the Avestan stem-form "Mazdā-", nominative "Mazdå", reflects Proto-Iranian "*Mazdāh (female)". It is generally taken to be the proper name of the spirit, and like its Sanskrit cognate "medhā", means "intelligence" or "wisdom". Both the Avestan and Sanskrit words reflect Proto-Indo-Iranian "*mazdhā-", from Proto-Indo-European mn̩sdʰeh, literally meaning "placing ("dʰeh") one's mind ("*mn̩-s")", hence "wise". Waheguru (') is a term most often used in Sikhism to refer to God. It
Religion in India agnosticism, and gnosticism being represented), and Hinduism is also the largest religious grouping in India; around 966 million adherents as of 2011; compose 79.8% of the population. The term "Hindu", originally a geographical description, derives from the Sanskrit, "Sindhu", (the historical appellation for the Indus River), and refers to a person from the "land of the river Sindhu". Buddhism is an Indian, transtheistic religion and philosophy. Around 8.5 million Buddhists live in India, about 0.7% of the total population, although unofficial estimates suggest up to 12 million. Buddhism as a religion is practised mainly in the foothills of the Himalayas