Humanities

Question 1

Karma

Answer 1

Karma is the universal principle of cause and effect. Hindus believe that actions, both good and bad, come back to us in the future, helping to learn from life’s lessons and become better people. (Hinduism Today)

Question 2

Dharma

Answer 2

Dharma is the role you should play based on the given reality and the life you are in. In Hinduism, dharma means “duty,” “morality,” and “virtue.” This refers to the power that upholds the universe. Your obligations to dharma depend on your age, social position, and gender, Therefore, each person has their own dharma called “sva-dharma”. Once you achieve your dharma, you achieve the ultimate goal in Hinduism: Moksha.

Question 3

Moksha

Answer 3

Moksha is the liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth known as samara. It is the ultimate goal of Hindu religious practice. (Georgetown University, Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs)

Question 4

Brahman

Answer 4

Brahman is a power that supports everything in life and is the supreme truth and being. According to the BBC, “Brahman is a Sanskrit word which refers to a transcendent power beyond the universe.” (BBC) Some translate Brahman to ‘god,’ but there is a difference between the two. Nobody worships Brahman, but some worship deities that are manifestations of him.

Question 5

Atman

Answer 5

Atman means ‘internal self’. You have a core part of yourself called Atman, and it doesn’t disappear when you die. It goes into a different reality and another life/identity. There are many different views and ideas of Atman. Still, the main theme is that it is the spiritual part of someone’s self and core and after moksha your atman’s will all fuse, your atman may be one lake flowing into the oceans so even you are the south lake and someone elses atman is the east you will all be in the same ocean and won’t be able tot ell where you came from. .

Question 6

Samsara Reincarnation

Answer 6

Hindus believe that the soul is immoral and takes birth time and time again. Through this process, the soul has experiences, it learns lessons, and evolves spiritually. Finally, the soul graduates from physical birth. (Hinduism Today)

Question 7

Henotheism vs. Polytheism vs. Monotheism- what is the best description of Hinduism? Why?

Answer 7

Monotheistic - belief in one god
Henotheistic - Believes in one god but acknowledges other gods as well.
Polytheistic - Belief in many different gods

The best description of Hinduism is Henotheistic. Brahman is the supreme truth, but hindus acknowledge the deities and gods in other religions that have attributes of Brahman.

Question 8

How do Gods/Goddess connect to the concept of Brahman?

Answer 8

Brahman is known as the one supreme being and is the universal and supreme truth. The connection between the two is that Brahman created everything, and the gods are more of a form of Brahaman. For example, if Brahman is everything and is the supreme truth, Ganesh is more of one of its attributes of Brahman.

Question 9

Why are there three gods highlighted below? What do they represent?

Answer 9

The three gods represent the cycle of life; this is called Trimurti. For example, life starts with creation (Brahma), then when you live your life, it is preserved for a certain amount of time (Vishnu), and lastly, When you die, your life is destroyed because it no longer exists (Shiva).

Question 10

Brahma

Answer 10

Brahma created the world and everything in it. In statues, Brahma has 4 heads and arms.

Question 11

Vishnu

Answer 11

Vishnu protects and preserves the earth, and many think he comes to Earth at the most troubling times. Vishnu is often shown as a human body with blue skin and four arms; some branches of Hinduism worship Vishnu as the supreme god or the only god.

Question 12

Rama (an Avatar of Vishnu)

Answer 12

An avatar of Vishnu and the protagonist of the Hindu poem Ramayana. Rama is revered as a paragon of virtue and morality.

Question 13

Krishna (an Avatar of Vishnu)

Answer 13

An incarnation of Vishnu one of the most popular Hindu deities and the main character of the Bhagavad Gita, and is the god of love. He is usually portrayed as a child and is known as a prankster.

Question 14

Shiva

Answer 14

Shiva’s role is to destroy the universe so Brahma can recreate it, this is to get rid of the imperfections in this world.

Question 15

Ganesh

Answer 15

Elephant-headed god, who is known as the remover of obstacles. There is a holiday celebrating his birthday.

Question 16

Durga

Answer 16

Durga is the god of victory. She has ten arms to allow her to hold many weapons and she rides on a tiger.

Question 17

Hanuman

Answer 17

A monkey-type god known for assisting Rama in the book Ramayana.

Question 18

Agni

Answer 18

The name Angi means fire, and Lord Angi is the Vedic fire deity of Hinduism.

Question 19

Surya

Answer 19

The god of the sun and is pulled on a chariot by horses.

Question 20

Holi

Answer 20

Holi is the festival of colors and love and is celebrated with colorful powder often thrown on clothes. It celebrates a good harvest and happens in spring. Gujiya and Bhang are two foods often eaten at the celebration.

Question 21

Ugadi

Answer 21

Celebration of the Hindu lunar new year and lord Brahma created the universe on this day. It is celebrated in the month of Chaitra which is around March or April. It is believed that if you are happy on Ugadi, the rest of your year will be happy.

Question 22

Onam

Answer 22

Onam is a harvest festival that is celebrated between early August and late September, but many celebrate the return of King Mahabali, the demon king. This celebration is very rich in culture and is a big holiday for the state of Kerala. It is a ten-day long holiday with many different games, like a boat race, and many different decorations like a pookalam which is made out of flowers and has many designs.

Question 23

Pitru Paksha

Answer 23

Pitru Paksha is a holiday about your ancestors. Pitru Paksha is celebrated according to the lunar calendar, so the length of Pitru Paksha and how long it lasts changes. There are stories about this place called Pitru Lok. A place where ancestors and whispers of the ones that have passed lay troubled. On Pitru Paksha, it is the people’s responsibility to release the ancestors from despair by offering various things. There are rules on Pitru Paksha such as, you can’t use iron, you shouldn’t try new things -marriage, a new house or a new car, you should help and feed other animals, you should follow the satvik diet- (similar to veganism), certain food that is in the diet should still be avoided.

Question 24

Makar Sankranti

Answer 24

Makar Sankranti is a four-day-long celebration commemorating the sun god Surya and is known as the celebration of the harvest. This holiday honors the end of winter and the beginning of spring. A lot of Hindu people like to bathe themselves in what’s considered holy water to wash away all their bad deeds.

Question 25

Durga Puja

Answer 25

Durga Puja is a Hindu Festival created in 1757 that celebrates the Hindu goddess Durga (and her other forms and reincarnations), and her victory of the demon, Mahishasura. The conflicts between Maa Durga and Mahishasura continued for ten days. Goddess Durga killed the demon king on the tenth day, resulting in the day being celebrated as Vijaya Dashami, representing the victory of good over evil.

Question 26

Diwali

Answer 26

Diwali is the festival of lights. It celebrates good over evil. It is usually celebrated between October and November. In the festival there are tiny traditional clay lamps called Diyas that most people use.

Question 27

Lohri

Answer 27

Lohri is a Hindu holiday celebrated throughout regions of India and Sri Lanka. Lohri is acknowledged every year, almost always on January 13 to worship Lohri and symbolize the end of winter and a new harvest. A bonfire is a big sign in this holiday and it is to celebrate Lord Agni, the god of fire.

Question 28

Ganesh Chaturthi

Answer 28

It is the celebration of lord Ganesh’s birth and is a celebration that lasts 10 days and either takes place in August or September. On the last days of the festival, people with representations of Ganesha march to a local river, sing and dance to celebrate Lord Ganesha. Foods that are usually eaten on Ganesh Chaturthi are Jaggery (Brown Sugar) and Modaks (Sweet dumplings), which are considered Ganesha’s favorite food.

Question 29

What is the difference between Atman and Brahman?

Answer 29

They are both the same; Brahman is the ultimate reality, the universal soul and supreme truth of everything, and Atman is the supreme truth of your inner self and soul. After Moksha, your atman is joined with Brahman to realize that every indivuals atman is part of the universal brahman and once you reach this state of Moksha your inner soul is fused with the universal truth (Brahman).

Question 30

Yoga

Answer 30

Yoga means “yoke” or “union,” and it unites the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual state of a person. So that you can get into a mental state of achieving Moksha.

Question 31

Bhakti yoga

Answer 31

This type of yoga is about worship and showing God love and devotion. This might be done through prayer to an image of a deity in the shrine at home. This worship can also be expressed through song and dance. Hindus want to make it clear to Brahman that the most important being is Brahman. Bhakti yoga is about showing this through worship.

Question 32

Jnana Yoga

Answer 32

Jnana yoga is a disciplined and intellectual type of yoga done by Gindus, who has given up worldly possessions and wants to focus on trying to unite with God. They try to connect themselves and the world with Brahman. They study Hindu holy books to understand Brahman in more depth.

Question 33

Karma yoga

Answer 33

Karma yoga is a type of yoga focusing on doing good things around you and helping others. The idea is to try not to focus on the material objects in life and instead focus on the spiritual. Doing good things will gain a person good karma and therefore help towards achieving moksha. It helps go from selfish to selfless motivations.

Question 34

Raja yoga

Answer 34

Raja yoga is focused on Antarayami. It is a meditation yoga that is mainly used by Hindu holy men, who complete mantras to focus on Brahman.

Question 35

What is the difference between “Shruti” and “Smriti”?

Answer 35

In Hinduism, they divide their sacred text into two different categories. One is called “Shruti,” which means “that which is heard” and refers to revealed or eternally existing truth. And “Smriti” means “that which is remembered” or realized truth. The main difference between these two categories is that “Shruti” is written down, and “Smriti” is oral, so rather than writing it down on paper, you are supposed to memorize it. There are two of the most famous hindu texts, one being the epics, which is Smriti, and the other, the vedas, which is the Shruti.

Question 36

Shruti

Answer 36

“Shruti,” means “that which is heard” and refers to revealed or eternally existing truth. The Vedas are a shruti text which is oral.

Question 37

Smriti

Answer 37

“Smriti” means “that which is remembered” or realized truth. The epics are an example of Smriti text and are supposed to be remembered.

Question 38

The Vedas

Answer 38

The Vedas are believed to come from Indo-Varya and were made in the Vedic century. They are five thousand years old and the four sacred books of Hinduism. They are practiced by over a billion people. The Vedas include hymns, rituals, and also philosophy.

Question 39

Ramayana

Answer 39

Ramayana is a famous Hindu story about a boy and his brothers born as avatars of lord Vishnu. He gets banished to the forest by his own mother, but his faithful brother and wife (sita) come with him after years in the forest, Sita gets taken by the demon king, Ravana. Ramayana ends up saving Sita with help from his brother and the monkey god Hanuman. Sita is so virtuous that, in the end, she jumps into a pile of fire and is saved by the god of fire himself. The three of them end up living a very happy life in the end. It is a big story about Dharma and anyones purpose; for example, Sita does not take Hanuman’s assistance to escape Ravana’s grasp because she is faithful to Rama and wants him to complete his Dharma.

Question 40

Mahabarata (Bhagavad Gita)

Answer 40

The soldier Arjuna was going to war with his cousins but then second-guessed himself and realized that he shouldn’t kill his blood and his family, and it was wrong. Krishna shows up and tells him it is his Dharma to kill them and that they won’t actually die they will reincarnate. In this story, it talks a lot about someone’s Dharma and karma.

Question 41

Hanuman Jayanti

Answer 41

Hanuman is a well-known monkey and is a very popular and praised deity. This holiday is dedicated to him. The holiday is celebrated in honor of his birth, and he was sent to help Rama in the book Ramayana. Hanuman is considered one of the strongest deities. This holiday has two names, one being Hanuman Jayanti and the other being Hanuman Janmostav.

Question 42

What are all the harvest festivals?

Answer 42

Lohri, Makar Sankranti, Onam, and Holi