Lecture 6 Flashcards
define theism
idea that there is a supreme god/goddess who generates the cosmos, maintains and finally destroys it and who has the power to save beings through their grace
what is vedic worship
oral/aural religious culture
- yajna, agni (home, fire respectively)
- no temples
what are the notable vein gods
indra agni soma veic visnu rudra
lates of the early upanishads begin to show what
theistic trends; e.g. Shvetashvatara Upanishad
‘the god who covers himself with things issuing from primal source, from his own inherent nature…’
basically arguing for a single deity
what is Itihusa
‘thus it was’ literature, the ‘epics’ c. 400 BCE - 400CE
- Krishna and other deities int he Gita
- Rama and other deities in the Ramayan
what is visvarupa
Krishna’s ‘universal form’, form of all, revealed to Arjuna in t chapter 11 of Gita
what is Avatarna
‘decent’ or incarnation of a deity (usually vishnu) in the world
what is puranas
c 300CE onwards
- stories of the ancient past, narrative and prescriptive texts (especially a god’s)
- guptas (c 320-550CE) rulers of the tim, dictated what temples should look like and how practices should be done etc
- Hindu temples; different from vedic fires as they aren’t transferable, they are the body form of the deity
- from Yajna/homa to puja (worship, specifically post veda) and darsana (seeing, shift from primarily oral to oral AND visual)
- emphasis in visual elements
what is Trimurti
‘3 forms’; trinity
-Brits loved this idea but it isnt exact
-Brahma (creation), Vishnu (maintaining) and Rudra/Shiva (destruction) were the main three originally
but it didnt really encompass goddesses… so it shifted to Vishnu, Shiva, Devi/Shakti
what is brahman
impersonal, ultimate reality; descried in the Upanishads
what is Brahma
personal; male god; population in purina narratives
what is Brahmana
class of vedic texts
what is Brahmin
Brahmana/Brahman; specific social class associated with vedic study
what are the three main currents within Hinduism
Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti
explain the three variations of the Vishnu
Vishnu, Vaishnava, Vaishnauism
what is Vaishnava
something/someone related to vishnu
what is Vaishnauism
19c way of describing system/traditions that are associated with Vishnu
where is Vishnu most popular
popular deity in E. asia
what are the 10 incarnations of Vishnu
comes into our realm and takes on an embodied form to save us when dharma gets bad
- Fish
- turtle
- boar
- narasimha (1/2 man and lion)
- young boy/dwarf
- Parashurama (rama with an axe)
- Rama (of the Ramayana)
- Krishna
- the Buddha
- Kalki (future incarnation)
explain the most popular story of Vishnu; narasimha (1/2 man and lion)
demon oppressing the world, prayed to the Brahma to get a brook that makes it so demon cant be killed by anything (all these different conditions, not at nigh, not at day, not by man, etc)
then was killed by this version
who is Rama
beloved servant/allie of Rama… the ideal devotee
which of the 10 forms of Vishnu is the most prioritized
Krishna
What is the difference between Shiva, Shaiva, Shaivism
deity, someone connected, set of tradition etc for Shiva
what does Shiva look like
rather than a golden crown on head, Shiva has a river, snakes as jewelry, dressed in animal coat
associated with asepticism, colour of skin is typically white to show ash covering his body
How is Shiva a paradox
married to Parvati, has kids but is celibate
what is Shiva Linga
(with yoni)
- oval shaped structure (often) represents male energy and is placed in a box/basement thing to represent female energy
- often seen in the form instead of human form
- offerings made on the shiva linga
- pilgrims travel lots to see naturally occurring shiva linga
what is another popular form of Shiva
As Nataraja; the lord of dance
- movement sometimes represents different things
- one hand holds a drum associated with creation
- fire in one hand associated with destruction
- another thing represents stability
- arm across chest blocks heart and represents concealing
