History: Hinduism Flashcards
Aryans
Civilization after harrappan, archeological evidence, important because they were described in the Rig Veda, culture that Hinduism developes from
Harrappan Civilization
Sophisticated due to sanitation, written language, straight streets, ect
Historians do not. Know why there was a decline in the civilization, they think it is because of an earthquake, economic, river. Changes, ect, lived in northern part of india
Dravidians
Became part of Indian society, conquered by Aryan’s, they lived in a central and southern part of India
Vedas
Written in Sanskrit, four books, Indian “bible”, psalms, poems, god stories, explanations for ritual, written down by 500 BCE
Bhagavad Gita
Teaches the last section Mahabharata about following dharma
Mahabharata
Civil war in north west India, main characters are Krishna and Rama, Vishnu, how good Hindus live,
Wheel of Life
Follow dharma, when body dies soul is reborn higher class and so on, if completely follow dharma cycle is broken and unites with brahma, if you do something wrong you must redo all of the classes
Sanskrit
Language in India, not spoken, but is readable
Brahman Atman
inner part of every living thing in everything in the universal world soul, goal is to break the cycle of incarnation so your Brahman Atman to brahma
Moksha
reuninion with divine, reuniting with your Brahman atman with Brahman, people search for moksha, ultimate goal
Maya
illusions, we cannot see the whole, only part, humans don’t have enlightened or complete understandment, if you can get past maya you can reach moksha
Samsara
Everyday world of pain and joy, work and success, birth and death
Karma
Can’t avoid it it follows you, dharma determines it, if you do good deeds it will be good, your fate based on past lives
Dharma
Carry out their student, family, and work responsibility
Brahma
Essense of life, creator god, wrote Vedas,purpose of being, god like spirit
Vishnu
Protector god, maintains law and order, blue skin represents infite like sky, discus is slices of evil, conch shell is universal concept, locust flower is rise up and above, golden baton is hits people if they are bad, comes to earth as human being
Shiva
Destroyer god, pure contiousness, stark reality, has a wife named Parvati
Saraswati
goddess, brahmas wife, divine muse(creatvitity) goddess of creativity, children pray to her for help on test, beloved
Lakshmi
goddess of wealth, incarnations with Vishnu, philosophy is that wealth is not just material possession, it’s happiness and peace, comes to earth in human form, Sita is Lakshmis avatar
Parvati
Shiva’s second wife, goddess,worshipped shiva
Ganesh
Parvati and Shivas son, elephant head, god of the luck
Avatar
a god coming. To earth in human form, for example Vishnu,
Krishna
Vishnua avatar
Rama
incarnation of Vishnu, another avatar of Vishnu, Ramas wife Sita is an avatar of wealth, Ramayana is a love story about Rama and sita
