Theme 1 (Religious Figures & Sacred Texts) Flashcards

Question

What were the Indus Valley cities like? + how may these link to Hinduism?

Answer 1

- highly developed - carefully planned and organised - excellent sewage system - surrounded by walls & houses on platforms - courtyards & bathing areas - all houses surrounding temple, bath or large tank + bathing before puja + focused in temple (convenient for puja) + organised= dharma & castes

Answer 2

- In Mohenjo-dharo - not a public bath but surrounded by larger buildings & smaller rooms - may have been a site of prostitution or bathing before worship + may have been site of ritual purification before worship + kama

Answer 3

- abundance of male, female & animal figurines found - many heads w horns - fewer male than female - males uprightly rigid w same stance, beard & coloured hair + indication for belief in a single deity + early murtis + horns suggest worship + puja

Answer 4

- found at Harappa - figurines of women, naked or half-naked - often nursing a child or making a sacrifice + worship of mother goddess for crop fertility + prashad + link to shakti + darshan=huge eyes of figures + women leading puja

Answer 5

- from around 1750BCE, the Indus Valley Civilisation began to go into decline - causes of its end is unclear - scholars have suggested in the Vedas it gives a picture of a group of warriors, Aryans, invading from the North & destroying it

Answer 6

+ sites show evidence of abandonment + Aryans described as tall & light skinned which is general of those from Northern India + Aryans worshipped war-like gods + large numbers of unburied bodies found + Varna System & purity ideas + absence of weapons & horses in the valley + Sanskrit as Aryan language + similarities between early Indian and European cultures ('Eurocentric Discourse': Europeans as source of civilisation & sophisticated culture)

Answer 7

- IVC was very large & would have been tricky to deal with - lack of archaeological evidence (e.g no signs of warfare or mass graves) - unburied bodies may have been due to plague as they were found randomly - number of references to invasion in the Vedas is very small - may have been abandoned due to drying up of Saraswati river (supported by satellite imagery) - Aryans may have been from India themselves & just the most noble in society ('Indocentric Discourse': India as primary source of civilisation & Hinduism as unbroken)

Answer 8

- large & hostile enough to take over IVC - settled in region between Indus & Ganges - had horses & chariots providing speed and mobility - built no cities & pottery was mundane - built houses of wood & reeds - patriarchal & tribal social structure (led by male rajas) - domesticated horse & cow (important to economy) - cattle rearers very common & some were metal workers, carpenters & potters

Answer 9

+ not very civilized & illiterate + nomadic & pastoral + Arya=noble + came into conflict with Dasas: hostile non-aryans who may represent survivors of IV + destroyed Dasas or made them slaves + Aryans seen as tall-fair-skinned w more acquiline features + Dasas describe as dark-skinned, flat-nosed & curly haired

Answer 10

- created Vedas - scripture preserved carefully by priests of each tribe via memorisation (Shurti) - Rig-Veda is the oldest surviving Indo-European oral literature - Dismissed Dasas a being without religious rites + "They have their own rites and are not entitled to be called men"

Answer 11

- In the early hymns there are mentions of Kshatriyas & Vaishyas - Aryans placed emphasis on purity of blood - Brahmin priests became important - class divisions formed between Aryans, Dasas & Aryans and Dasas who intermarried - Rig Veda tells the story of Purusa + Purusa story is still used by Hindus + Dalits & idea of 'untouchability' + Varna System & purity

Answer 12

- Aryans were war-like and their culture was similar to Vikings - tribes were ruled by warrior chiefs (Rajas) - government was responsibility of a council who checked on the authority of a raja - tribal assembly was centre of men's social life - family was patriarchal & sons were important - wife & mother enjoyed position of respect in the home + shakti + male sons importance + men sit in front of women in temple + usually boys who take part in Brahmacharya stage

Answer 13

- central religious practice of the Aryans alongside sharing of a sacrificial meal with each other & devas - offerings of milk and ghee more common than animal sacrifices - ritual substances transported through the fire to the deva (link between earth & divine) + Prashad + Sacred cows + connection with deities during puja

Answer 14

- Aryan term for God - Gods covered 3 main spheres: sky, heavens and earth - deities not strictly supernatural as they were linked to nature - Gods were symbols with fundamental powers that controlled existence - didn't have in depth personalities but powers & symbolism were important + role & power of the tri-murti being highlighted over what they look like + different forms of Brahman + deities control existence + 3 realms of universe the same

Answer 15

- regulating force of the cosmos - represented order in all aspects of the universe including social & moral order - punished by the God Varuna if you overstep the correct path (even deities had to conform) - core of universe + Karma + Dharmic path

Answer 16

- crucial to sacrifices & had knowledge of all aspects - reciter priests, chanter priests & officiator priests - had to make sure everything was done correctly or Aryan society would be destroyed e.g sun wouldn't rise - power feared as much as the gods + Varna system + Jnana yoga + priests teaching others about the Vedas + puja & carrying on of tradition

Answer 17

- point of sacrifice was to please the gods so they would grant worshippers with what they needed most- cow's milk - cows seen as the 'goods of life' and were a symbol of wealth - God's seen as providers of material goods & fortune ("The Vedic devas are givers... source of goods of life") + artha + sacredness of cows + consecration during prashad + praying to Lakshmi for wealth

Answer 18

- Agni, Vedic God of fire, addressed in the Rig Veda many times - fire seen as important & having a destructive nature - Agni central to sacrificial rituals as fire turns the offering into a form the gods can accept + fire forms part of aarti and havan + Agni still worshipped today especially during Holi + Prashad