PRE - Hinduism Words Flashcards
Indus civilisation
People living to the west of the Indus river
River Ganges
The river the Hindus moved to
Shruti texts
The most important texts eg. The Vedas, The Upanishads. These texts are seen to have come straight from God (the unquestionable truth)
Smriti texts
Still important texts but those with slightly less authority, could have been updated/adapted over the years. Eg. The Bhagavad-Gita, The Ramayana
Brahman
God
Aum symbol
The symbol that is used to represent Brahman. Represents the reverberating noise when god created the universe.
Monotheism
When you worship one God who created everything
Nirguna- Brahman
God with no form or shape. Transcendent, can be inside and outside the universe
Saguna- Brahman
God in individual physical form
Deities
The many manifestations of Brahmans different personalities
Bhagavan
God in the spiritual world
Antaryami
Brahman within each human being. Direct translation- “the god within”
Parvati
Shiva’s wife. Parvati is the deity of motherhood and is often depicted in a domestic situation with her two children, Ganesha and Skandi
Ganesha
The elephant headed Deity, his head was chopped off by his father Shiva. The god of good luck, often worshipped at rituals such as weddings.
Saraswati
The Deity of Learning, material possessions don’t interest her- knowledge is the most important thing to her. Worshiped by musicians before concerts and students before exams.
Hanuman
The monkey warrior. His symbol is mace, meaning authority. He is a patron of soldiers, wrestlers and sportsmen
Lakshmi
The deity of prosperity. She is worshipped during the festival of Diwali in order to hope for a prosperous year.
The Trimurti
Three main deities- Shiva , Vishnu and Brahma
Brahma
The creator
Shiva
The destroyer
Ascetic
Asceticism is living a very simple life with no interest in material things, lots of Hindus live by this.
Shaivites
Shaivism is focusing your worship on shiva especially
Vishnu
One of the Tri-Murti Deities, the preserver. Worshipped especially Vaishnavas.
Vaishnavism
People who especially focus their worship on Vishnu. Vaishnavas
Avatar
One of the manifestations on Vishnu in Human form, coming to the world to restore balance
Dharma
Virtue. Also your Dharma is What you have to do to be good and virtuous.
Adharma
Evil
Rama
One of the avatars of Vishnu, a brave man who battled to save his wife ‘Sita’
The Ramayana
One of the Smriti texts
Ravana
The demon king who stole Sita from Rama
Sita
Rama’s wife who was captured by Ravana
Krishna
Another Avatar of Vishnu. Teaches the world about Ahimsa (non-violence) and Moksha
The Kurukshetra war
A war between two nations that was stopped by Krishna when she taught all the soldiers from both armies about living honourable lives.
The 4 aims of life
You need to do good deeds and follow Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha
Artha
Earning a lawful living through honest means
Kama
Enjoying life responsibility and having a positive outlook.
Moksha
The atman joining with Brahman, The end of the Rebirth cycle
Sanatana dharma
Hindus believe that there are some responsibilities and duties that apply to all Hindus. The 6 personal virtues are ‘Sanatana Dharma’
Varnashrama Dharma
The different responsibilities that apply to people of different classes ‘Varnas’
Varna
Your class in society. Eg. Brahmins and Kshatriyas
Free will
The fact that you make all the choices yourselves, what you are going to decide is not pre-determined by God.
The 6 personal Virtues
What the key things that everybody should practice:
Ahimsa, Love, Humility, Control, Empathy, Respect
Ahimsa
Non-violence to all living things
Atman
The soul
Transmigration
The atman going to a new body
Samsara cycle
The life cycle of the atman
Karma
Everything that you do will build good or bad Karma that will affect the next life of your atman
Reincarnation / rebirth
The idea that after your life, your atman (soul) moves onto another body
