4. India and Religion Flashcards

1
Q

TWhat were the 4 indian social groups called? (not individual)

A

Varnas

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What was the name of the top varna? What were they known for?

A

Brahmins - they were priests and teachers

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

2nd highest varna

A

Kshatriyas - warriors, kings, etc

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Third highest varna

A

Vaisyas - most of the people - artisans, farmers, herdsmen

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

4th highest varna name

A

Sudras - serve the other classes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

T or F: The caste system was meritocratic

A

Not even slightly. Birth = everything

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

T or F: Caste system has a lot of effects to this day

A

True (I feel like i’ve made this exact card before???)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

T or F: It was ok for ppl of different castes to be friends but not marry

A

False - no socializing out of caste

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What was the purest caste?

A

Brahmins

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What was the least pure caste? (in or out of the system)

A

Untouchables/dalit - they had to walk with brooms behind them to erase their steps, do nasty jobs, and lived outside the cities

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Hindu religious text

A

Vedas, used by aryas (noble ppl)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Where did the term Caste system come from?

A

Portuguese Casta

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

T or F The Vedas originated as a written text

A

False - it started out as orally passed down stuff and was then written down (indian scholars think it originated within indian subcontinent and Aryas are somewhat fraud-y)(DO NOT PUT THAT ON A TEST)(the oral transmission to written text is not disputed)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What was the single force of the universe/ultimate reality in Hinduism?

A

Brahman - individual self (atman) seeks to know this and merges with it after death

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

How would someone achieve oneness with Brahman?

A

Yoga - 4 types - Path of knowledge, path of love, path of work, path of meditation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What does yoga mean?

A

Union

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

T or F: Activating the mind, opening up your senses, and feeling alive will let you merge with Brahman

A

False, you gotta still the mind

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

T or F: Hinduism was monotheistic with Brahman as the only god

A

Trick question - there were a lot of anthropomorphic gods and goddesses (Brahma creator, Vishnu preserver, Shiva destroyer) but many regard these as representations of Brahman

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

T or F Hindus had temples but not really anymore

A

False, they did and still do

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

T or F: Reincarnation wasn’t always part of hinduism

A

True, introduced by 6th century (this seems like a control mechanism to me)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What was the Bhagavad Gita?

A

India’s great religious poem

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What is Karma?

A

Force of a person’s actions in this life determining how the person will be reborn into the next life (this is deffo a control mechanism)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

T or F A sudra could escape reincarnation

A

False, you gotta climb the ladder and become a more advanced soul (where do the new souls come from? I have not a clue)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

T or F: Cow is a sacred hindu animal

A

True

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

What is Dharma?

A

Divine law requiring all ppl to do their duty in their caste

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

T or F All brahmins gotta be vegetarian

A

True so they don’t interrupt another animal’s karma

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

T or F: Dharma comes above family and friendship

A

True, look at Bhagavad Gita text abt Arjuna fighting his besties

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

T or F: Dharma was looked upon as making everything that’s good possible on earth

A

True

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

T or F: No reincarnation is chance, you deserve whatever your situation is

A

True (if that’s not a control mechanism I don’t know what is)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

When was Siddhartha Gautama born? What kind of family did he have?

A

563 BC (overlapped hinduism), he had a princely family that sheltered him

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

What made Siddhartha’s world turn upside down as a young person?

A

He wanted to see the outside world, ran out to take a look, and saw that there was sickess, age, and death among them (he had been sheltered and didn’t know about this)

32
Q

T or F Siddhartha gave up EVERYTHING when he tried ascetics

A

True, he even abandoned his wife and kid

33
Q

What is ascetics?

A

Self denial to understand reality

34
Q

Did ascetics work for Siddharta?

A

No, he almost died and then realized balance was better

35
Q

What did siddhartha do after he tried ascetics?

A

INTENSE meditation - he sat under a tree for a good long time, gods were trying to stop him but failed, and he reached enlightenment

36
Q

Who is Buddha?

A

Enlightened Siddhartha gautama

37
Q

T or F Siddhartha definitely tried to make Buddhism a new religion bc Hinduism wasn’t working

A

False, he may have been trying to reform hinduism

38
Q

T or F: Siddhartha didn’t see himself as a holy person

A

True, he said he was awake rather than a holy man or a god

39
Q

How did Siddhartha see human afflictions?

A

He saw them as illusions that could be let go of once people detached themselves from the world

40
Q

What is Bodhi?

A

Wisdom

41
Q

What is nirvana?

A

Ultimate reality - end of self and reunion with Great World Soul

42
Q

What are the 4 noble truths?

A

Ordinary life has a lot of suffering, satisfying ourselves causes suffering, ending desire for selfish goals and seeing other ppl as extensions of self ends suffering, ending desire happens by following the middle path

43
Q

Other names for Middle path + what it entails

A

8-fold path - contains right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration

44
Q

What did siddhartha think of reincarnation?

A

He believed that it was a thing, he believed that Karma affected ppl, but he also taught that anyone could reach Nirvana in this life by behaving well - this appealed to ppl in lower castes

45
Q

T or F: Buddhism was monotheistic

A

False - no gods. At all.

46
Q

T or F: Buddhism did not accept women as equal to men and saw them as distractions

A

True
However, he did eventually let them in
However, their inferior position was already established
However, they were still better off in buddhist societies than the rest of ancient India

47
Q

T or F: Buddhism and Hinduism had to compete for followers

A

True

48
Q

What was the first pan-india empire?

A

Mauryas - they came and won after Alexander the Great weakened small kingdoms and resistance and totally destroyed Seleucus (his kid) with elephants

49
Q

Who was the founder of the Mauryan Empire?

A

Chandragupta Maurya

50
Q

Where was the capital of the Mauryan empire?

A

Pataliputra (modern day Patna)

51
Q

T or F Mauryan empire was very centralized

A

True - had provinces ruled by governors

52
Q

T or F Chandragupta Maurya was paranoid

A

T - He had a terror book written by his advisor, he never slept 2 nights in a row in the same bed, and he didn’t eat food unless someone else tried it first

53
Q

Who was asoka?

A

He was C.G.M.’s grandson and he was considered the greatest ruler in the history of India

54
Q

What did Asoka think of violence and what did he do as a result of it?

A

He didn’t like it and converted to buddhism and set up hospitals and made good roads and had trees and shelters set up by roads and sponsored buddhist missionaries and was still tough, so he expanded trade from pacific to medeterranian

55
Q

What happened after Asoka died?

A

His successors were weak and got conquered

56
Q

Which empire came after the Mauryans?

A

Kushans - they spread a lot (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and northern India), traded a lot, used the silk road and ocean trade, had a sun and moon calendar, and practiced several religions

57
Q

Who came after the Kushans, and who founded that empire?

A

Chandra Gupta founded the Gupta empire (he wasn’t related to Chandragupta Maurya) - he became buddies with the other powerful families and just came in

58
Q

Where was the Gupta empire placed?

A

Pataliputra - site of decaying Maurya palace

59
Q

T or F: Gupta empire controlled all of India

A

F - Only Northern and somewhat central (NOT southern)

60
Q

T or F: Gupta empire was a golden age for India

A

True - there was good trade (with China, SE Asia, and Medeterranian and they traded cloth, salt, and Iron domestically), lots of new discoveries, and living conditions were pretty good

61
Q

What was the main religion for the Mauryas?

A

Buddhism

62
Q

What was the main religion for the Guptas?

A

Hinduism (but there was also some Buddhism)

63
Q

T or F: Gupta rulers lived in LUXURY

A

True (really REALLY luxuriously)

64
Q

T or F: Not many shrines and temples were built during the gupta empire

A

False

65
Q

Who ended the Gupta empire and what happened after?

A

Hunas invaded (similar to huns, same ppl group?) and they took over and then there was a big split

66
Q

What was the Mahabharata?

A

One of India’s 2 great epics - 5-6 century bc - longest written poem in any language - war between cousins for control but it’s also quite didactic - CONTAINS BHAGAVAD GITA

67
Q

What is the Ramayana?

A

One of India’s 2 great epics - account of Rama (fictional ruler) - also very didactic

68
Q

Who was Kalidasa?

A

Famous indian author that wrote the Cloud Messenger (in sanskrit)

69
Q

3 main Indian architecture structures (hint - all relate to buddhism)

A

Pillar (talk about buddha’s life with big lion) , Stupa (housed relic from Buddha, familiar form of Buddhist architecture, tall lump with spire on top), rock chamber (rooms for Monks and religious ceremonies)

70
Q

Big Indian contributions to science

A

astronomy - earth is round and goes around the sun

71
Q

Big Indian contributions to math

A

Algebra used by Aryabhata, 0 and 0.5 became numbers, 1234567890 was used by Arab scholars and now it’s the Indian Arabic numerical system

72
Q

T or F: Guptas made bank loans and interest

A

True

73
Q

T or F: Guilds would do metallurgy, stonecutting, ivory carving, and more in Ancient India

A

True

74
Q

T or F: There was not much art and stuff like that in the Gupta empire

A

False

75
Q

T or F: Control wasn’t as centralized in the Gupta empire

A

True