Hindu Dharma Flashcards
what does karma marga mean?
means the way of action
what is samsara?
- cyclical existence of the jiva/atman which is eternal
- reborn after death until liberation
why must samsara be escaped?
because the atman is in a state of suffering
what are the four aims in life?
- arta
- kama
- dharma
- moksha
what is arta?
arta is the honest earning of money, to support one’s family and Brahmin priests, to be able to give back to the community
what is kama?
kama is the enjoyment of pleasure and beauty of life
what is dharma?
dharma is knowing you religious and social duty and performing it correctly
what is moksha?
mosha is the individual escape from the suffering of samsara
what is karma?
- karma can be explained as actions and the fruits of action
- anything you do will be ‘paid back’
how are karma and samsara related?
- there is more karma than can be paid back in a lifetime
- so karma binds the atman to the wheel of samsara
western translation of dharma:
- no western equivalent
- perhaps ‘duty’
what vedic concept is dharma derived from?
rta (right order)
what does varnasrama dharma determine?
determines an individual’s dharma according to their stage in life and place in society
what does sanatana dharma mean?
eternal law
what does ahimsa mean?
non-violence
what does satya mean?
pursuit of truth
what is the difference between humans and everything else in the universe to do with dharma?
- everything in the universe follows dharma without choice
- whereas humans have a choice to do the right thing and to follow their dharma or not
what do gods have to do with dharma?
- dharma is not decided by gods, they don’t sit and judge, it is an eternal law like gravity
- gods are in in fact affected by dharma
how is dharma similar to gravity?
- both an eternal law
- we can say we don’t believe in gravity but we still can’t levitate, similarly dharma will apply to everyone even if they don’t believe in it
meaning of varna:
- position in society
- to do with spiritual purity
meaning of ashrama:
stage in life
meaning of jati:
means continuing one’s father’s employment
if sanatana dharma with the social hierarchies is Hinduism as we in west know it, is it a religion or a way of life?
a way of life
what are the four varnas?
Brahmins - priests
Kshatriyas - warriors and rulers
Vaishyas - merchants
Sudras - labourers
what do some people think makes you a Hindu, which also means you can’t convert?
- if you are born into a varna you are a Hindu
- only way to change is to die and be reborn something else
what is the varna dharma of each of the varnas?
Brahmins - to perform rituals
Kshatriyas - fighting righteous wars
Vaishyas - to accumulate wealth to support society
Sudras - to do physical and manual work
what are the people called outside these casts?
- outcastes or untouchables
- dalits meaning the oppressed
how is the varna system traditionally meant to work with karma?
pay of negative karma through suffering and hard work in the lower varnas, to gain enough good karma to move up through rebirths until eventually achieving moksha
what hymn in what text created the varnas?
the Purusha Sukta in the Rig Veda
how did the cosmic man create the varnas? (body parts)
- mouth - brahmins
- arms - kshatriyas
- thighs - vaishyas
- feet - sudras
why do people believe in the varna system?
- because it is divinely ordained
- the vedas are shruti which means they were revealed by God
- so the gods created society in this manner
how is the varna system linked to spiritual purity?
- the higher up you are the more spiritually pure you are
- it is also fundamentally spiritual because it came from the gods
what is special about the upper three varnas?
they are known as twice born or dvijas because they go through the sacred thread ceremony
what does your varna determine?
- traditionally affected everything
- who you can marry
- education
- where you lived
- your friends
- where you worshipped
- your job
what kind of marriage do most hindus practise
arranged marriage
what is the most important thing in deciding a partner?
their social class - has to be the same
the varnas and food:
- because it is based on purity
- a person can only eat food made by a person as pure as or more pure than themselves
problems for dalits:
- sometimes forbidden to draw water from the same well as the rest of the village
- can’t eat wherever they want
- can’t always go to the village shrine
- difficult to find
- suffer from poverty, lack of education
- social rejection
- spiritual stigma
what did Gandhi believe about the varnashrama system?
- believed in the varnashrama system
- didn’t believe in untouchability
social justice in the varna system:
- the concept of social justice is a western concept
- the west believe in social equality and so see the varna system as unfair
- however Hindus would argue that a person is in a certain varna according to their karma
- social justice is decided by universal law, not human judgement
meaning of stridharma:
women’s duty
meaning of svadharma:
one’s own duty
what is punya?
good karma
what is pap?
bad karma
marriage dharma role models in the Ramayana:
Rama and Sita
smriti texts:
- the epics the Mahabharata and the Ramayana
- the 6 vedangas - to do with phonology, teach how to perform things in the vedas
- the puranas - myths, astronomy
shruti texts:
- the vedas
- the upanishads
