Terms Flashcards
Ganesha
lord of beginnings, remover of obstacles, invoked through visual representation or orally, son of Shiva and Parvati, moves around on mouse and has elephant head
Sarasvati
Vedic river goddess of knowledge, learning and music, invoked to repel ignorance, often done before exams and concerts
Hinduism
Wide range of beliefs and practices of the majority of people of South Asia that are constantly reinterpreted, developed with the spread of Islam to differentiate between Muslims and non-Muslims, first used in 1816 by Rammohun Roy, based off “Sindhu” in Sanskrit to mean ocean, used to name the great river Indus in Tibet (connections to place and geography)
Orientalism
coined by Edward Said in 1978 to diminish the East as being less than the superior and rational West of colonial populations, sees the East as exotic, irrational, feminine, and demonizes and exoticizes it
Indus Valley Civilization
2200-1900 BCE, main city is Harappa, very modern: uniform material culture (streets/buildings), domesticated animals, metals (no iron), grain storage, wheeled transport, writing as IVC seals, “great river civilization”, Greeks later named it India
Vedas
early sacred texts, oldest scriptures of Hinduism, four kinds: Rgveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, Atharvaveda
Upanishads
secret philosophical texts learned sitting at the feet of the teacher, Central themes of Upanishads: emphasis on knowledge in addition to ritual (breathing, renunciation) and mythology, relationships of Brahman and Atman
Agni
God of Fire, receives/transports offerings to gods
Dharma
to uphold, proper ritual activity and duties following injunctions revealed in Vedic scriptures
Atman
individual self/soul living in every being, what is unchanging, connected to Brahman in understanding self will help understand the world
Brahman
underlying truth connecting all things, Idea that Atman and Brahman are connected as to understand yourself is to understand the world, called Ultimate Reality
Samskara
rite of passage, life-cycle ritual, “construction/refinement”, karmic dispositions
Krishna
friend, ally, counselor to Pandavas in Bhagavad-Gita, Arjuna’s charioteer during war, incarnation of supreme god Vishnu protecting dharma, portion of Mahabharata stating one kills the body but the soul is immortal
Karma-Yoga
discipline or path of action, one of the paths of the Bhagavad-Gita e.g. Bal Gangadhar Tilak: 1856-1920, writes commentary with emphasis on action, Mahatma Ghandi: 1869-1948, wrote commentary on Gita in Gujarati, emphasized action and teaching of non-violence, Nathuram Godse: 1910-1949, assassinated Gandhi, Hindu nationalist who believed Gandhi’s influence was helping Pakistan and hurting India, so his action was justified
Jnana-Yoga
discipline or path of knowledge, one of the paths of the Bhagavad-Gita e.g. Shankara: C 600-750 CE, non-dualism: Advaita Vedanta, stressed liberating power of knowledge,
Ramana Maharshi: 1879-1950, offers technique of vicara (inquiry) for self-realization to recognize what one is not
Bhakti Yoga
discipline or path of devotion through action, one of the paths of the Bhagavad-Gita,
e.g. Jnaneshvar: 13th century, proposed first vernacular translation (Marathi), A.C. Prabhupada: 1896-1977, founder of International Society for Krishna Consciousness, emphasized power of personal devotion to Krishna
Vishnu
carries lotus, discus, conch, club, Ten incarnations: fish, turtle, boar, Narasimha, young boy, Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Kalki, associated with sky/space, took three steps that covered whole universe
Shiva
lives in mountain of Kalasia in Tibet, Lord of the yogis/Ultimate Reality, third eye, married to Parvati with family and also ascetic, wears snakes and crescent moon as crest, dreads create river (connections to nature), represented in form of Lingam, Nataraja, Bhairava, Ardanarishvara
Shakti
divinitive female power, can be defined as Devi or Lakshmi/Shri, has Durga: power of all male gods, holds trident, consort of Shiva, associated with universe’s creation and destruction
Jati
birth group, localized genus or kind, “subcastes” Hundreds, Associated with particular profession, but not necessarily everyone does same job, Do not fit neatly into varnas
Dr. Ambedkar
(1891-1956):
Indian jurist, social reformer, architect of Indian Constitution, Mahar caste, Dalit, Criticized Gandhi for helping marginalized communities, Against Dalit dehumanization imposed by Brahminical hegemony,
1936 publication of Annihilation of Caste, Shortly before his death, he led a mass Dalit conversion from Hinduism to Buddhism
Dalit
oppressed, self-designation of communities outside varna hierarchy, official terms: Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, candla, pancama, Dalit political organizing Post-Independence: Dalit Panthers, Bahujan Samaj Party, called Untouchables (contrast Aryans)
Varna
four major social divisions in caste system: Brahmin (priest), Kshatriya (warrior/ruler), Vaishya (merchant/farmer), and Shudra (laborer), framework for exclusion, can be associated with skin colour and racist undertones
Avantara
incarnations of supreme god Vishnu protecting dharma and righteousness from injustice e.g. Krishna
purushartas
four goals of life that create balance and success in social engagement, area or orientations of human activity, Dharma: right action, Artha: power and wealth, Kama: enjoyment of sense pleasures and the arts
As longs the three goals are pursued,
Moksa: liberation, release from samsara
Advaita Vedanta
radical non-dualism, teachings of Upanishads, stressed liberating power of knowledge (rope vs snake), taught by Shankara
Varnashrama-dharma
dharma according to one’s social position and stage of life, what is the right thing to do given specific circumstances and context
