Hinduism Flashcards
acharya
The leading teacher of a sect
or the head of a monastery
advaita
Shankara’s school of philosophy, which holds that there is only
one ultimate reality, the indescribable
Brahman, with which the Atman, or
self, is identical.
Alvars
Twelve devotional poets
whose works are central to the South
Indian bhakti tradition.
artha
Prosperity; one of the three
classical aims in life.
ashramas
The four stages in the life of
an upper-class male: student, householder, forest-dweller, and ascetic.
Atman
The individual self, held by
Upanishadic and Vedantic thought to be
identical with Brahman, the world-soul.
avatara
A “descent” or incarnation of
a deity in earthly form
Ayurveda
A system of traditional
medicine, understood as a teaching
transmitted from the sages
Bhagavad Gita
A section of the Mahabharata epic recounting a conversation between Krishna and the warrior
Arjuna in which Krishna explains the
nature of God and the human soul.
bhakti
Loving devotion to a deity,
seen as a gracious being who enters
the world for the benefit of humans.
Brahmanas
Texts regarding ritual.
Brahma
The creator god; not to be
confused with Brahman.
Brahman
The world-soul, sometimes
understood in impersonal terms; not
to be confused with Brahma.
brahmin
A member of the priestly
class
darshana
Seeing and being seen by the
deity (in the temple) or by a holy teacher;
the experience of beholding with faith.
Deepavali (Diwali)
Festival of light
held in October–November, when
lamps are lit.
dharma
Religious and social duty, including both righteousness and faith.
Holi
Spring festival celebrated by
throwing brightly colored water or
powder.
jnana
Knowledge; along with action
and devotion, one of the three avenues
to liberation explained in the Bhagavad
Gita.
kama
Sensual (not merely sexual)
pleasure; one of the three classical
aims of life.
karma
Action, good and bad, believed to determine the quality of rebirth in future lives.
kshatriya
A member of the warrior
class in ancient Hindu society
linga
A conical or cylindrical stone
column symbolizing the creative energies of the god Shiva.
Mahabharata
A very long epic poem,
one section of which is the Bhagavad
Gita
mantra
An expression of one or
more syllables that is chanted repeatedly as a focus of concentration in
devotion
moksha
Liberation from the cycle of
birth and death; one of the three classical aims in life.
murti
A form or personification in
which divinity is manifested.
Navaratri
(“Nine nights”) An autumn
festival honoring the Goddess.
om
A syllable chanted in meditation,
interpreted as representing ultimate
reality, the universe, or the relationship of the devotee to the deity.
prasada
A gift from the deity, especially food that has been presented to
the god’s temple image, blessed, and
returned to the devotee.
puja
Ritual household worship of the
deity, commonly involving oil lamps,
incense, prayers, and food offerings.
Puranas
(“Old tales”) Stories about
deities that became important after the
Vedic period.
Ramayana
An epic recounting the life
of Lord Rama, an incarnation of the
god Vishnu.
rishi
A seer; the composers of the ancient Vedic hymns are considered rishis.
sadhu
A holy man.
samnyasin
A religious ascetic; one who
has reached the last of the four stages of
life for a Hindu male; see ashramas
sati
The self-sacrifice of a widow who
throws herself onto her deceased husband’s funeral pyre.
samsara
The continuing cycle of
rebirths.
shudra
A member of the lowest of
the four major classes, usually translated as “servant,” though some groups
within the shudra class could be quite
prosperous
shruti
(“What is heard”) The sacred
literature of the Vedic and Upanishadic periods, recited orally by the
brahmin priests for many centuries
before it was written down.
smrtri
(“What is remembered”) A body
of ancient Hindu literature, including
the epics, Puranas, and law codes,
formed after the shruti and passed
down in written form
tantra
An esoteric school outside the
Vedic and brahminical tradition that
emerged around the fifth century and
centered on a number of controversial
ritual practices, some of them sexual.
tilaka
A dot or mark on the forehead
made with colored powder.
upanayana
The initiation of a young
brahmin boy into ritual responsibility
in which he is given a cord to wear over
his left shoulder and a mantra to recite
and is sent to beg for food for the day
Upanishads
Philosophical texts in
the form of reported conversations
on the theory of the Vedic ritual and
the nature of knowledge, composed
around the sixth century BCE.
vaishya
A member of the third or
mercantile class in the ancient fourfold
class structure
Vedas
The four collections of hymns
and ritual texts that constitute the
oldest and most highly respected
Hindu sacred literature.
- Samkita’s
- Brahmanas
- Upanishads
- Aranyaka’s
yoga
A practice and discipline that
may involve a philosophical system
and mental concentration as well as
physical postures and exercises.
