Midterm 1 Terms Flashcards
Aditi
- mother of the Gods and all beings
- mother of Adityas (generic name for gods/sons of Aditi), including Surya (sun), Vamana, Indra
- wife of Kashyapa
- feminized form of Brahma
Agni
- God of fire, fire incarnate
- acceptor of sacrifices for other deities : messenger bw humans and deities via ritual sacrifice
- 2 heads: life and immortality : present at altar and immortal bc fires are relit every day
- priestly figure
- 3 forms:fire, lightning, and the Sun
Aśvins
- divine twin horsemen
- doctors of the Gods, deities of Ayurvedic medicine
- revived rishi Chyavana (he specialized in herbal rejuvenation and was feeble before these two helped)
- known as Nasatya and Dasra
- sons of Saranyu (God of clouds)
Asat
- asat/sat binary:
1) asat= nonbeing/not real, dishonst, negation of all existence
2) sat=being/real/existing, honest - asatoma satgamaya (shanti mantra [also upanishad verse] lead me from unreal to real, from darkness to light)
Asura
-demons, half brothers to Gods, negative connotation, sons of Diti
-opposite is Sura (aka God aka Deva)
-good Asuras are called Adityas and are led by Varuna, while the malevolent ones are called Danavas and are led by Vritra
-cognate with old Iranian Asura (the great beneficent deity)
-without booze (sura=alc, asura=w/o alc)
asura - demons, sons of diti, half brothers to gods,
- in earliest usage, characterizes older Gods like Varuna, Agni, lords of breath/life/potential force
Atharva Veda
-4th veda
-Earthly type spells to make people do things (sinister)
For ex. make people kill other people, make people fall in love, black magic, etc.
Ātman
- the true self/soul;not just of an individual but of the universe, unchanging, self-knowledge
- only thing truly sat is atman (acc to upanishads[it’s central here] and vedantas)
- Liberation of cycle of rebirth and death revolves around idea of true self-atman
Ṛg Veda
- oldest of 4 Vedas
- Rg=stanzas, Veda of stanzas/verses
- lots of hymns praising gods
- other ancient prayers for life, prosperity, etc
ṛta
- vedic term meaning ‘order of the universe’
- holistic: cosmological & human component that people must adhere to, rules of righteousness
- displaced later by the concept of dharma
- Gods supervise this but Varuna (had all seeing power over who/what adheres/violates) thought to have originally, making sure that the world adheres to it
Brahman
-supreme being identified by self of universe
-‘Brah’: powerful, big, expansive
- principle devoid of anything but purity, bliss, and consciousness
-similar to atman
Elaboration and Difference: Atman is immortal and eternal. Brahman is “world soul” or “cosmic soul.” It is the eternal essence of the universe and the ultimate divine reality.
Brahmā
- personified deity of Brahman (originally vishakarman, then to prajapati, then to brahma the classical creator)
- part of big 3
- 4 heads: each created a Veda
Bṛhaspati
- advisor to the Gods, lord of sacred speech
- assists Indra through prayers & weapons (both counsels and fights battles on a spiritual plane)
Brāhmaṇa
2 meanings
- Brahmin- traditionally the highest, priestly class of people
- text about the sacrifice in Vedic religion; culmination of sacrificial ritual in mythology
Cyavana
- rishi AKA sage
- aged and feeble person whose youth and strength was restored by the twin Ashvini Kumar brothers
- known for his rejuvenation through a special herbal paste known as Chyawanprash
deva
-standard term for Gods, sons of Aditi
-also known as sura (opposite of asura)
Additional: have control of liquor-gods of booze
Dyaus
- “Sky Father”
- masculine, deity of the sky, counterpart to Pritvi (mother earth)
- loses power, no longer see many of his hymns in literature, less prominent figure
- Indra replaces him
- cursed and born as Bhishma in Mahabarata to live a full life on earth (born to Ganga and Shantanu)
Harappa
- one of the first sites excavated in the 20th century
- part of the Indus Valley Civilization, big urban site
Hiraṇyagarbha
- golden womb/embryo/egg of creation
- preceded creation
- mystic creative principle in Rg Veda
- epithet applied to brahma (God of creation)
Indo-Aryan
-ancient linguistic family that is Indian in origin but connected to Indo-European tradition, usually North India & neighbors
Examples: Punjabi, gujrati, Nepalese, bengali, Orissa
Indo-European
- Great complex linguistic family
- spread across Eurasian landmass, languages have closely affiliated sets of origins
- large group