Module 3.1: DETERMINING THE ELEMENTS OF RELIGION: HINDUISM Flashcards
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a religious tradition of Indian origin,
encompassing the beliefs and practices of Hindus.
Hinduism
Where is the word Hindu taken from?
Taken from the name of the river Sindhu/Indus
When did the English word Hinduism enter the English language?
In the early 19th century
What was the word Hinduism used for in the English language?
It was used to label
the beliefs and practices of those populations of India who had
nat converted to Islam or Christianity and did not practice
Judaism or Zoroastrianism.
What is the favoured Sanskrit term that Hindus use for their religious tradition?
Sanatana dharma
What is the English translation for Sanatana dharma?
“eternal tradition” or “ eternal
religion”
Where are the followers of Hinduism primarily found?
- India
- Nepal
- Bali (Indonesia)
What are the three other religions that originated in India are closely linked to Hinduism?
- Buddhism
- Jainism
- Sikhism
Who were the founders of Hinduism?
Aryans (1500 B.C.)
Where was Indo-Aryan culture based?
Aryavarta
It is the earliest sacred literature of Hinduism.
The Vedas (Books of Knowledge)
Refers to the most ancient sacred literature of Hinduism
Veda
What does Veda symbolize for Hindus?
It is a symbol of unchallenged
authority and tradition.
Who mainly compiled the vedas?
Vyasa Krishna Dwaipayana
When were the vedas mainly compiled?
Around the time of Lord Krishna (1500 BC)
Four Collection of Mantras/Samhitas
- Rig-Veda (Wisdom of the Verses)
- Sama-Veda (Wisdom of the Chants)
- The Yahur-Veda (Wisdom of Sacrificial Formulas)
contains more than 1000 hymns written
in various poetic meters and collected into 10 books. Written as early as 1500 BC and is the oldest of the four Vedic collection. Its hyms center on pleasing the major gods through ritual sacrifices.
Rig-Veda (Wisdom of the Verses)
Who are the four major gods?
- Indra (war, wind, and rain)
- Agni (the sacrificial
fire) - Sugra (the sun)
- Varuna (the cosmic order)
God of war, wind, rain
Indra
God of the sacrificial
fire
Agni
God of the sun
Sugra
includes verse portions taken largely from the Rig-Veda. It was used by the ugdarti priests, or chanters, who sang its hymns, or melodies [Sanskrit sama]. Was also chanted in fixed melodies by the adhvaryu priests. Each contains about 2,000 verses.
Sama-Veda (Wisdom of the Chants)
currently consists of two recensions, both containing roughly the same material (though
differently arranged), encompasses sacrificial formulas (Sanskrit yaja, ‘sacrifices’). It was used by udgatri priests and comprises short prose to go with ritual acts, many of which are addressed to the ritual instruments and offerings.
The Yahur-Veda (Wisdom of Sacrificial Formulas)
Collections of writings where all the essential teachings that are fundamental to Hinduism – the concepts of karma (action), samsara (reincarnation), and moksha (nirvana), the atman (soul), and the Brahman (Absolute Almighty) are found.
Bhagavad-Gita Upanishads (philosophical writings)
They also lay down the key Vedic doctrines of self-realization,
yoga, and meditation.
Bhagavad-Gita Upanishads (philosophical writings)
What are the 5 essential teachings/concepts that are fundamental to Hinduism?
- Karma (action)
- Samsara (reincarnation)
- moksha (nirvana)
- the atman (soul)
- Brahman (Absolute Almighty)
What is the literal meaning of Upanishad?
‘sitting down near’ or ‘sitting close to’
What is the goal of Upanishad?
To guide a few chosen pupils to
the point of liberation, which they themselves had attained”
refers to a Hindu scripture written about 2000 years ago. It is a 700-verse Hindu scripture in Sanskrit that is part of the Hindu epic Mahabharata (chapters 25-42 of its 6th book).
Bhagavad Gita
Meaning of bhagavad and Gita?
The word bhagavad means God while the word Gita means
song.
Meaning of Bhagavad-Gita
“song of God”.
All the things we seek in the world, the so-called goals in human life
purusharthas
involves the pleasure of the senses, both aesthetic (refined artistic) pleasures and sensual or sexual pleasure.
Kama – (pleasure)
encompasses the search for material well-being, prosperity and power.
Artha – (wealth)
includes man’s endeavoring righteousness and virtue.
Dharma – (duty)
depicts man’s desire for liberation from the chain of lives.
Moksha – (liberation)
refers to the supreme existence or absolute reality.
Brahman (divine power)
includes being the eternal, conscious,
irreducible, infinite, omnipresent, and the spiritual core of the universe
of finiteness and change.
Brahman
- Pertains to the impersonal principle and first cause of the
universe. - Beyond all physical forms and consists of knowledge a bliss.
Brahman
Term used for the breath or the soul and principle of life.
Atman
Refers to the true essesnce of everything, including the universe.
Atman
Believed to be the only thing that truly exits, an immortal substance that transmigrates from body to body.
Atman
Brahman with attributes, normally
takes the form of one of three main Hindi deities.
Saguna Brahman
relates to the creative spirit from which the
universe originated.
Brahma
What does Brahma embody?
- the ultimate reality (sat)
- ultimate consciousness (sit)
- ultimate bliss (Ananda)
A knowable form that Brahman may opt to take birth in
Avatar (incarnation)
has ten foremost avatars, which are described in Hindu texts called the Puranas.
Vishnu
Name of Fish incarnation
matsya
Name of Tortoise incarnation
Kurma
Name of boar incarnation
Varaha
Name of lion incarnation
narasimha
Name of Dwarf incarnation
Vamana
Name of Axewielding human incarnation
Parashurama
Name of Ideal person incarnation
Rama of the Ramayana
Name of Attractive perfect person incarnation
Krishna
Name of Enlightened incarnation
Buddha
Name of future incarnation
Kalki
one of the classic systems of Hindu philosophy, distinct form the others by the marvels of bodily control and the supposed magical powers attributed to its advance devotees.
Yoga
Sanskrit of yoga?
Yuga, means ‘yoke’
upholds that through the practice of specific
disciplines, a person may achieve liberation from the limitations of flesh, the delusions of sense, and the hazards of thought and thus attain union with the object of knowledge.
Yoga
those who practice Yoga
Yogi
claims that the root cause of all our worries and miseries is loss of contact with our true Self or Atman.
The philosophy of yoga
Our loss of contact with Atman is due to what?
Ignorance of its sole reality
What is the message of yoga?
That there is no escape from the Self, regardless of our consciousness of unconsciousness of it, and that knowledge of the Self is our only savior.
What are the four spiritual paths to realize knowledge of the self that yoga philosophy proposes?
- Karma-yoga
- Bhakti-yoga
- Raja-yoga
- Jnana-yoga-
the yoga of selfless action or work, aims to face the problem of ignorance by doing away with the ego. It is said that the egp, born of ignorance, binds us to this world through attachment. The ego generates a dreamland of divisive existence that disclaims the right of
others.
Karma-yoga
the yoga of devotion or love. It is the process of
internal cleansing. It preaches that live is the most basic human emotion and is cosmocentric and divinely inspired in its purest form.
Bhakti-yoga
admonishes us to decontaminate and
renovate our egotistic self-love by pouring holy thoughts into our mind and relocating all our love and emotions to God, knowing that
God is the only one who truly loves us.
Bhakti-yoga
the yoga of psychological exercises, intends to attain the Divine by kindling the flame of knowledge to the Self within. Since it is lack of knowledge that binds the human soul to the world of dreams and desires, only Self-realization can dismiss this ignorance.
Raja-yoga
counsels the seeker to develop strong will power by unyielding practices of psychological exercise, specifically concentration and meditation on the Self, with the support of
pranayama (control of breath), asana (control of posture), and an unbending adherence to austerity and self-control.
Raja-yoga
the yoga of knowledge, is the path of knowledge. The darkness of ignorance can only be dismissed by the light of knowledge.
Jnana-yoga
teaches that knowledge has two aspects: fire
and light.
Jnana-yoga
The fire of knowledge burns all the impurities of our mind, and concurrently, knowledge enlightens our inner consciousness. However, self-knowledge does not come by itself.
Jnana-yoga
calls for the practice of discrimination between the real and the unreal, renunciation of all desires – both earthly and heavenly – mastery over the mind and senses, and an intense longing for Self-knowledge.
Jnana-yoga
What do the 330 million Gods and Goddesses symbolize?
Represents the Brahman
What are the issues in Hinduism?
- Gender Inequality
- Caste System
- Poverty
Women as being utterly subservient and hierarchically inferior to men: a girl is governed by her father, a married woman by her husband, and a widow by her sons.
Gender Inequality
Refers to a social class within a hierarchical caste system.
varnas
The set of rules and duties that each social class has to live
dharma
What is the hierarchy of the Caste System?
- Bhramin - Priests, academics
- Kshatriya - warriors, kings
- Vaishya - merchants
- Sudra - commoners, peasants, servants
- Untouchables - outcasts/out of caste, street sweepers, latrine cleaners
In countries dominated by Hinduism, the issues of wealth and poverty have been influenced by the predominant social
values of the caste system.
Poverty
In Hinduism, theology is commonly characterized by the
Hindu triumvirate, or trimutri. The triumvirate consists of three
gods who are accountable for the creation, upkeep, and
destruction of the world.
Major Hindu Deities
- The first god in the Hindu triumvirate
- should not be confused with Brahman, the
Supreme God force present within all things. - Job was the creation of the world and all creatures.
Brahma
He is the least worshipped god in Hinduism today, as there are just two temples in the whole India devoted to him, compared to Shiva and Vishnu.
Brahma
- The pervade is the preserver and protector of the universe.
- His role is to return to the earth in troubled times and reinstate
the balance of good and evil. - He has been reincarnated nine times so far, but Hindus believe
that he will be reincarnated one last time close to the end of
this world.
Vishnu
What are Vishnu’s worshippers commonly called?
Vaishanava
Vishnu monotheism
Vaishnavism
These worshippers consider Vishnu the greatest God. They view the other gods as
lesser or demi-gods.
Vaishanava
- Auspicious One, has the role of destroying the universe in order
to re-create it. - It is believed that his powers of destruction and recreation are
employed even now to terminate the illusions and imperfections
of this world, paving the way for useful change.
Shiva
- is thus viewed as the source of both good and evil and is
seen as the one who combines many contradictory elements. - Sometimes he is an ascetic, abstaining from all worldly pleasures; at others he is a hedonist.
- He is the master of both poison and medicine, through the
ambivalent power over snakes.
Shiva
- It is his relationship with his wife which brings him balance. Their union permits him to be an ascetic and lover, but within the
bounds of marriage.
Shiva
Hindus who worship Shiva as their chief god are members of what sect?
Shaivism
They worship Shiva as the supreme god.
Shaivites
a concept which explains causality
through a system where beneficial effects derived from past beneficial actions and harmful effects from past harmful actions,
generating a system of actions and reactions throughout a soul’s (Atman) reincarnated lives forming a cycle of rebirth.
karma
What is the core teaching of Hinduism?
the attainment of liberation in
the identification of Atman and Brahman through the Four
Yogas.
