Key Quotes

Question 1

“Neti Neti”

Answer 1

Kena Upanishads

Question 2

“aathato brahman jijnasa”

Answer 2

And thus begins the enqiury into the Absolute Truth

Question 3

“Brahman satyam, jagat mityam, jīvo Brahmaiva nāparah” - Śaṅkarācārya

Answer 3

Brahman is true, World and Atman is false. No difference, only truth is Brahman (Nirguna)

Question 4

“Aham Brahmasmi”

Answer 4

I am Brahman

Question 5

“Mama māyā duratyayā”

Answer 5

My maya is difficult to overcome - BG

Question 6

“Jévera Svarüpa Haya Kṛṣṇera Nitya Däsa”

Answer 6

The constitutional position of the living entity is an eternal servant towards the Lord.

Question 7

“Prajnana Brahman”

Answer 7

The highest and purest knowledge is Brahman.

Question 8

“Tattvam-asi”

Answer 8

That art thou. You are that (Brahman)

Question 9

“Sat, chit, anandam atmanam”

Answer 9

Existence, consciousness, bliss - that is the Supreme Self

Question 10

Adiheyn ulhan, udhal ulhan

Answer 10

Lord resides within body of servant, and both enjoy there

Question 11

“Suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ”

Answer 11

The Lord is the well wisher of all beings

Question 12

“ahiṁsā paramaḥ dharma”

Answer 12

Ahiṁsā is the highest dharma

Question 13

“Dharma hiṁsā tathaiva ca”

Answer 13

• Vyāsa: But never refrain from violence in the protection of dharma

Question 14

Atharva-Veda on Karma (applied to all ahiṁsā)

Answer 14

“There is no exception to the law of Karma… man reaps what he sows.”

Question 15

Śaṅkarācārya’s sūkta origins?

Answer 15

Nāsadīya-sūkta (Ṛg-veda)

Question 16

Rāmānujācārya’s sūkta origins?

Answer 16

Puruṣa-sūkta (Ṛg-veda)

Question 16

Prof Schweig on intimacy.

Answer 16

“Intimacy with this divine is the one underlying motive across Hindū traditions”.

Question 17

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’s standing on Śaktism

Answer 17

Embodying both right and left.
Followed Goddess Kali at Dakshineshvara.

“It does not really matter by which door one enters; once inside the house, all reach the same place.”

Question 18

Śivānanda’s Yoga Āśrama and purpose

Answer 18

Vedānta Dhanwantari Āśrama
Founding (Risikesa āsrama) = very strict.
Modern = user friendly health spa.

“Serve, love, meditate, realise.”

Question 19

Skanda Vale founder and purpose

Answer 19

Guru Subramaniam
“Community of the Many Names of God” - one religion of love.

Question 20

Examples of divine feminine in Vedas

Answer 20

Hymn to Mother Earth (Pṛthvī-sūkta).
Worship of generous Mother Earth in form of cow (Gau-sūkta).
Hymn to Goddess of Wisdom, Devī-Gāyatri.
Hymn to Lakṣmī (Śrī Sūkta accompanying puruṣa-sūkta).
Invariable association of every male divinity with equal female counterpart.

Question 21

Examples of divine feminine in Upaniṣands

Answer 21

Goddess Usha in Kena-upaniṣad.
Gargi defeating male counterparts in intellectual debates.

Question 22

Ashish Nandi

Answer 22

‘Intimate Enemy’

Question 23

Ram Mohan Roy

Answer 23

To return to ‘Golden Age’, must take it on the chin and reform from within

Question 24

Professor Kiswar of Manushi

Answer 24

Agrees w Ram Mohan Roy.
Ahiṁsā over Marxist confrontation.
Matriarchal tradition: life is individual fulfilment, not societal battle for equality.
Ātmā, paramātma, sanātana dharma, yogic virtues.
Neither left or right, but “Truth Winger”.

Question 25

Atharva-veda’s Brahmacārya-sūkta

Answer 25

A guru wombs and builds the brahmacārī disciple, emerging ‘twice born’.

Question 26

Gautama-Smriti and Manu on possibilities of divorce

Answer 26

Gautama-smriti: allows wife to divorce if husband is violent and disgraceful.
Manu: allows wife to divorce if husband is unfaithful or violent. But, does not allow any man to divorce his wife on any grounds.

Question 27

Spider and web analogy

Answer 27

Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad

Question 28

Cow and bull, mare and stallion…

Answer 28

Bṛhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad

Question 29

Hindū epistemology

Answer 29

R: Trust Pratyakṣa and Anumāna. Insists that if Śabda goes against these, then scripture should be rejected.
Ś: Only Śabda. “Brahman satyam, jagat mityam” so senses are adhyāsa.

Question 30

Ram Mohan Roy (Brahmo Samaj) and Dayānanda Saraswati (Arya Samaj) on the challenge of secularism.

Answer 30

RMR: Reason > Scripture. Cooporation and reformist, open education, and clarifying/merging theology. Individual autonomy.
DS: Vedā Saṃhitā (Arsa) > Upaniṣads, smritis, and reason (an-arsa). Confrontationalist, revivalist.

Question 31

Professor David Bentley Hart

Answer 31

Rise of secularism is something to despair. Its bedfellow, atheism, invites the demise of morals and social cohesion.

Question 32

Sam Harris

Answer 32

According to UN’s Human Development Report (2005), the least religious societies on earth are also the healthiest (life expectancy), higher in adult literacy, per capita income, educational attainment, gender equality…
Whereas the fifty nations ranked lowest by UNHD index are unwaveringly religious.

Question 33

John Rawls

Answer 33

Veil of Ignorance: lose identity, just and fair for all (the Original Position).
But, ignorance wears off…
Overlapping Consensus: Not imposing or rejecting religion, but taking guidance to make own choices (religion as half-way).

Question 34

Acintya-bhedābheda

Answer 34

Tattva = One and distinct/many.
To people (secularism) = acceptance of similarities and differences.

Question 35

“Yadā yadā hi dharmasya”

Answer 35

Whenever and wherever there is a decline in dharma, I descend Myself. - Krishna, BG

Question 36

“Karmaṇy evādhikāras te
mā phaleṣu kadācana”

Answer 36

You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty. - Krishna, BG

Question 37

Krishna on sex (BG)

Answer 37

I am sex life which is not contrary to religious principles (for children, Grhastha).