Classical India Vocabulary

Question 1

Caste System

Answer 1

A Hindu social class system that controlled every aspect of daily life, a set of rigid social categories that determined not only a person’s occupation and economic potential, but also his or her position in society.

Question 2

Brahmin

Answer 2

A member of the highest of the four Hindu varnas. (Priests)

Question 3

Kshatriyas

Answer 3

The warrior caste in Hinduism

Question 4

Vaisyas

Answer 4

Hindu caste consisting of farmers, craftspeople, and traders.

Question 5

Sudras

Answer 5

Caste that made up most of the Indian population; most were peasants and manual laborers; they had limited rights in society.

Question 6

Karma

Answer 6

Hinduism and Buddhism) the effects of a person’s actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation.

Question 7

Dharma

Answer 7

A Hindu/Buddhist concept that was a guide to living in this world and at the same time pursuing spiritual goals. According to dharma a person should accept and live within ones caste. Although the Buddhist notion of dharma is that one should seek to decrease suffering.

Question 8

Samsara

Answer 8

(Hinduism and Buddhism) the endless cycle of birth and suffering and death and rebirth.

Question 9

Moksha

Answer 9

The Hindu concept of the spirit’s ‘liberation’ from the end-less cycle of rebirths.

Question 10

Vedas

Answer 10

Aryan hymns originally transmitted orally but written down in sacred books from the 6th century B.C.E.

Question 11

Pariahs

Answer 11

At the lowest level of Indian society known as the untouchables.

Question 12

Upanishads

Answer 12

A group of writings sacred in Hinduism concerning the relations of humans, God, and the universe.

Question 13

Bhagavad-Gita

Answer 13

A portion of the Hindu epic Mahabharata in which Lord Krishna specifies ways of spiritual progress.

Question 14

Brahman

Answer 14

A single, spiritual power that Hindus believe lives in everything.

Question 15

Ganges River

Answer 15

Located in India, this river is considered sacred to Hindus and is used for spiritual cleansing, funeral rites, and other Hindu rituals.

Question 16

Buddhism

Answer 16

A belief system based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, which stress freeing oneself from worldly desires.

Question 17

Atman

Answer 17

In Hindu belief, a person’s essential self.

Question 18

Code of Manu

Answer 18

The codification of Indian law from the second or third century C.E.; it lays down family, caste, and commercial law.

Question 19

Aryans

Answer 19

An Indo-European people who, about 1500 BC, began to migrate into Indian subcontinent.

Question 20

Mahabharata

Answer 20

One of the great epics of India, reflects the struggles that took place in India as the Aryan Kings worked to control Indian Kings.

Question 21

Four Noble Truths

Answer 21

As taught by the Buddha, the four basic beliefs that form the foundation of Buddhism; 1) All life is full of suffering, pain, and sorrow. 2) suffering is cause by desire 3) desire can be distinguished by nirvana. 4) The way to achieve nirvana is by following Eightfold Path.

Question 22

Nirvana

Answer 22

Buddhist belief that everyone could be in union with the universal spirit; which offers release from human suffering.

Question 23

Mahayana

Answer 23

“Great Vehicle”, the popular development of Buddhism in the early centuries of the Common Era, which gives a much greater role to supernatural beings and looks at Buddha as a god.

Question 24

Theravada

Answer 24

A sect of Buddhism focusing on the strict spiritual discipline originally advocated by the Buddha.

Question 25

The Eightfold Path

Answer 25

Buddhists follow Buddha’s guidelines for behavior in order to reach nirvana.