Hinduism Flashcards
Aryans
An Indo-European-speaking warrior community equipped with horses, chariots, armor, and
metal weapons that invaded India from the NW c. 1500 BC
Bhakti
Personal deities of the Vedic tradition were combined with ideas found in Upanishads to
create devotional movements known as Bhakti
Brahman
Original being or essence
Hinduism
The term used by most Indians to refer to their religious beliefs and practices
Indian subcontinent
The entire region of South Asia that consists of India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan
Indus Valley
Large geographical region in NW India and SE Pakistan where evidence was found in the
1920s of a previously unknown civilization
Indus Valley Civilization
Large geographical region in NW India and SE Pakistan where evidence was found in the
1920s of a previously unknown civilization
Ramayana
A popular epic which predated the emergence of full-blown Bhakti
Rig Veda
A popular epic which predated the emergence of full-blown Bhakti
Suttee
The Hindu practice of expecting widows to accompany their husbands to
the grave, often by cremating them on the husband’s funeral pyre
Bhagavad Gita
Regarded by many, including Gandhi, as the most important of all Hindu religious
books. [[This book is but a part of the Mahabharata.]]
Brahma
A Hindu god who is the sustaining force behind all things
Brahmins
A class of Hindu holy men who are priests
Diwali
The most popular Hindu feast; a festival of lights which is celebrated around the fall with
lanterns and fireworks
Hanuman
The divine monkey king in Ramayana
Hare Krishna
The most famous Hindu religious organization in the Western world
Karma
The belief that all things are embraced by a universal law of cause and effect that stretches
through time
Krishna
A Hindu god who is central in the story of the Mahabharata
Mahabarata
An enormously long epic depicting the trials of descendants of Bharata and of the
Great War between the Kauravas and Pandavas clans
Puja
The offering of food, drink, and devotion to images of deities found in Hindu homes
Puranaa
Represent the popular expression of Hindu piety; written works that glorify gods, provide
lineages, and develop rich mythology supplementing epics
Ramayana
Shortest of Hindu epics, it forms the basis of plays, dances, and numerous artistic
expressions
Rsis
Seers who transmitted the content of the Vedas without human intervention, simply reciting
the divine revelation
Sacred Books of the East
Max Müller’s fifty-volume work published between 1879 and 1894
established the study of Indian religions in universities of Europe/North America
Sakti
Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and their female consorts—pairs of leading gods who
represent the vital forces of creation in Indian thought. [[KR: This definition is poor. Think of
“Shakti” as the feminine divine energy and, then, as the goddess associated with a god.]]
Samsara
The ever-turning wheel of time in Hinduism to which all living things are bound
Shiva
Along with Brahma and Vishnu at the top of the Hindu hierarchy of gods as a trinity of beings
Smri
What is remembered and taught in Hindu religion
Upanishads
The interpretive texts that explain the meaning of all other Hindu literature; interprets
and reinterprets Vedic and epic themes; written as conversations
Varanas
Social divisions, castes, in Hindu society, believed to originally be based on
racial differences expressed in terms of skin color
Veda
Veda means “knowledge”; a written document or collection thereof; four main
collections of Vedas constitute the Vedic corpus; and are authoritative
Vedanta
The dominant school of Indian philosophy and by far the best known in the West
Vishnu
A Hindu god whose existence takes many forms
Yoga Sutras
A systematic interpretation of the practice of Yoga making clear the significance of Yoga
that develops out of the Upanishads
Prabhupada
(1896-1977) one of Hindu’s greatest missionaries in the twentieth century; established
Hare Krishna in America in 1966
Ram Mohan Roy
One of the first and most influential Hindu reformers (1772-1833) who founded the
Divine Society in 1828 and sought to remove suttee from Hinduism
Ramakrishna
(1836-1886) provided modern Hindus with a contemporary creed to live by in the
modern world
Sankara
Hindu philosopher (788-838) who helped develop Vedanta
Sanskrit
Most classical Hindu texts are written in this artificial language created for a literary task;
this gives us a clue to their dating, but nothing more
Sutras
The writings of the six orthodox Hindu schools of philosophy
Vivekanada
Disciple of Ramakrishna who advanced the notion that behind the illusory nature of our
world lies its true reality.
Ashram
community of mystics following one teacher
Ascetic
characterized by or suggesting the practice of severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons.
Atman
the soul of all beings
Avatars
Incarnations
Avidya
Ignorance
Dharma
Social responsibility depending on caste
Maya
the illusion that reality consists of many particular things
Moksha
escape from the Karma-enforced cycle of death and rebirth
Yoga
means for uniting with the divine
