Hinduism

Question 1

Vedic god of fire and sacrifice

Answer 1

Agni

Question 2

Fire offering during Hindu worship

Answer 2

Aarti

Question 3

The individual self-soul, said to migrate from life to death to rebirth to redeath

Answer 3

Atman

Question 4

Deity who comes to earth in human or animal form to combat evil and restore order

Answer 4

Avatar (“descent”)

Question 5

Iconic portion of the Mahabharata epic in which the warrior Arjuna and the god Krishna discuss karma and dharma and present the Bhakti path as an alternative to the paths of action and wisdom

Answer 5

Bhagavad Gita

Question 6

The way of devotion, one of the three main Hindu paths to spiritual liberation and the dominant form of Hinduism today

Answer 6

Bhakti (“devotion”)

Question 7

Creator God, rarely worshiped but sometimes included alongside Shiva and Vishnu in a Hindu triad of divinities.

Answer 7

Brahma

Question 8

The divine principle, understood either “with attributes” (saguna) or “without attributes”(nirguna)

Answer 8

Brahman

Question 9

Priestly social class

Answer 9

Brahmin

Question 10

A signifier of social status and a definer of social boundaries that determines whom one an marry and whom one can eat

Answer 10

Caste (jati, or “birth group”)

Question 11

Contemporary term for a social group previously known as “outcastes” or “untouchables”

Answer 11

Dalit (“oppressed”)

Question 12

Sacred seeing; eye to eye moment in Hindu worship when a god and a devotee take in one another in a visual embrace

Answer 12

Darshan

Question 13

The great goddess, one of the three most important Hindu deities (alongside Vishnu and Shiva), and an umbrella term for all Hindu goddesses

Answer 13

Devi

Question 14

Duty; one of the four aims of life

Answer 14

Dharma

Question 15

Fierce goddess, wife of Shiva, ten-armed warrior, slayer of demons

Answer 15

Durga (“The Inaccessible”)

Question 16

Elephant-headed and potbellied god of thresholds and remover of obstacles. One of the most popular Hindu deities, he is invoked at the beginning of any new venture

Answer 16

Ganesha

Question 17

Personal spiritual teacher

Answer 17

Guru

Question 18

Vedic warrior deity

Answer 18

Indra

Question 19

The way of wisdom, one of the three paths to spiritual liberation, emphasized in the Upanishads and among renouncers

Answer 19

Jnana (“wisdom”)

Question 20

Fierce goddess and wife of Shiva, associated with death and destruction, often depicted wearing a garland of skulls and with blood dripping from her tongue

Answer 20

Kali (“The Black One”)

Question 21

Action and it’s consequences; ethical law of cause and effect that fuels the samsaric cycle; one of the three main Hindu paths to spiritual liberation

Answer 21

Karma

Question 22

One of the avatars of Vishnu and one of the most celebrated gods in Hindu mythology, popularly associated with youthful play and flirtation

Answer 22

Krishna (“Dark One”)

Question 23

Impersonal symbol of Shiva and a representation of creativity and regeneration, often understood to represent the male and female sex organs, though many Hindus today take offense at that understanding

Answer 23

Lingam (“mark”)

Question 24

One of the two major Sanskrit epics (alongside the Ramayana); a far-reaching story of duty and war that includes the popular Bhagavad Gita

Answer 24

Mahabharata

Question 25

Sacred sound, such as Om, used to concentrate the mind in meditation and believed to unleash supernatural power win spiritual liberation

Answer 25

Mantra

Question 26

Spiritual liberation; release from the cycle of birth, death, rebirth, and redeath

Answer 26

Moksha (“freedom”)

Question 27

The most powerful mantra, employed at the beginning and end of many Hindu prayers and rituals, and said to be able to create union with the divine simply through its utterance

Answer 27

Om (or Aum)

Question 28

Worship, conducted in the temple and at home

Answer 28

Puja

Question 29

Avatar of Vishnu, husband of Sita, and the righteous kind and hero of the Ramayana epic

Answer 29

Rama

Question 30

One of the two major Sanskrit epics (alongside the Mahabharata); a story of love and wandering in which Rama rescues his wife from the demon king Ravana

Answer 30

Ramayana (“Journey of Rama”)

Question 31

Unsatisfactory cycle of life, death, rebirth, and redeath and the core human problem according to the Hindu tradition

Answer 31

Samsara (“wandering through”)

Question 32

Renouncer who has left behind work and family for a life of homelessness and celibacy in search of liberating wisdom

Answer 32

Sannyasin

Question 33

One of the three most popular Hindu deities (alongside Vishnu and Devi), often associated with destruction, who is worshiped in the form of the lingam and as an “erotic ascetic”

Answer 33

Shiva (“The Auspicious”)

Question 34

Esoteric movement in Hinduism and Buddhism focused on mantras, mandalas, and transgressive behaviors designed to cultivate union with the divine (or Buddhahood)

Answer 34

Tantra

Question 35

Philosophical dialogues between teachers and pupils that elaborates on the Vedas and teach wisdom as a path to spiritual liberation

Answer 35

Upanishads

Question 36

The oldest and most sacred Sanskrit scriptures; unauthored revelations that offer one common source of a shared Hindu identity

Answer 36

Vedas (“knowledge”)

Question 37

One of the three most popular Hindu deities (alongside Shiva and Devi), worshiped in ten avatars, including Rama and Krishna, and widely viewed as a sustainer of life

Answer 37

Vishnu (“The Pervader”)

Question 38

Popular embodied posture practice loosely rooted in earlier Hindu metal and bodily disciplines designed to unite a human soul to the divine

Answer 38

Yoga (“union”)