Hindu Perspectives Flashcards
What is Karma?
literally means action (simple). In early Hinduism, this refers specifically to ritual action and sacrifice. The definition got broader as time went on.
What is Dharma?
It has 2 primary meanings: 1) moral duty- what is expected of you as a member of society (vary depending on age, class and gender) 2) cosmic or proper world functioning according to natural law. In the Egyptian context, Maat is the same concept (it encompasses moral understanding, moral truths and natural law)
Who was Agni?
God of fire, God of Brahmins and Brahmin of the Gods.
Who is Yama?
The lord of death and “first to die”
What is pitra /preta?
- Pitra means ancestor an individual for whom all the necessary mortuary traditions are carried out.
- Preta is a hungry ghost and they are hungry because the living are no longer sharing food
What is sannyasa?
Beginnings of renunciant religion–> Sannyasa (purification of everything, at a certain point in an individuals life they can renounce their obligations to other and follow a path of sannyasa)
What is Brahman?
The divine is Brahman (“the undivided, uncreated absolute”). One all-encompassing God, they use a language of denial (he’s not this, not this) because there is no way to describe the divine in words
What is atman?
Soul, Individual soul, inner self.
What is moksha?
Moksha is liberation from the cycle of liberation
What is Bhakti?
Path of Bhakti–> personal connection with and worship of the chosen deity. Worship of Vishnu, Shiva and Devi (all of these diverse devotional traditions are unified by one primary factor which is bhakti, they are al focused on bhakti-devotional love of the divine.
What is naraka?
The hindu equivalent of hell. A posthumous punishment in naraka. Being separated from friends and loved ones, the pangs of disease etc. The end of passage is a call to morality
What is shraddha?
The death rituals and annual postcremation rituals called shraddha (ancestral rites) are traditionally performed by the eldest son and relatives of the deceased. These rituals consist of offerings intended to establish a new body for the deceased in the world of the fathers, thereby transforming the deceased from a ghost (preta) into an ancestor, and subsequently are intended to sustain the deceased and all the past ancestors.
The ceremonies that take place in the 10 or 11 days following death are called shraddha; they consist of three sets of rituals: (1) those that take place over the first ten days intended to create for the deceased a temporary body; (2) those that take place on the eleventh day intended to give the soul strength for its journey to the
world of the fathers and assist the soul to negotiate the passage from disembodied spirit to ancestor; and (3) the sapindikarana ritual on the twelfth day that marks the final transformation of the deceased from a potentially wandering and dangerous spirit (preta) into a divine
and benevolent ancestor spirit (pitr)
What are the differences between the Vedic, Upanishadic, and (later) devotional understandings of death and the afterlife?
Hindu funeral practices reflect an amalgam of beliefs that embrace: the world of the fathers as the ancient Vedic dwelling place of the ancestors; the Upanishadic vision of ultimate liberation from an endless cycle of rebirth; and the hope of attaining to the heaven of a beloved deity enshrined in devotional Hinduism.
What are the three “paths” to liberation in the Bhagavad Gita?
- Path of action [karma yoga]: Central idea: unattached action, action that is not tied to a desire for the fruits of action. Arjuna as warrior to Krishna –> Think about your [Arjuna] actions as a gift to me [krishna], as a sacrifice.
- Path of knowledge [Jnana yoga]: Knowledge from direct personal experience of the divine. Image of Krishna as the charioteer comes to the fore, one with the divine. In the same way that Krishna drives Arjuna’s chariot, that is the relationship between all human beings and the divine.
- Path of devotional love [bhakti yoga]: This path of devotional love is Open to women (allows women to achieve liberation as well)
