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HINDUISM:
A FAMILY
OF BELIEFS
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HUMAN?
Google Earth
2 theories on
the “Aryan Synthesis”
1.Aryans migrated into
the Indus Valley as the
dominant cultural
force. “Vedic Religion”
= Aryan religion +
Indigenous religions
of India
2.Aryan culture is a
development of Indus
Valley Culture, so the
Indus Valley culture
was already Aryan or
Vedic
3.Complex – not simple
“invasion”
ORIGINALLY, THERE WAS NO TERM “HINDUISM.”
There is no reference of the word "hindu"
in the Ancient Vedic Scriptures
The proper word for those people who follow the Scriptures of The Vedas is
"Sanatana Dharma", not "Hinduism".
Vedic Religions
Local Religions
BEFORE 2000 BCE: INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION
Religious practices:
Ritual bathing/purity,
sacrifice, fertility rites
(Much like the rest of
ancient world)
Beliefs: ??????
The Great Bath at Mohenjo Daro Harapa.com
VEDAS: ṢRUTI “THAT WHICH IS HEARD”
• sacred wisdom
revealed to rishis
~ 3500 BCE
• Rig veda
• Sama veda
• Yajur veda
• Atharva veda
The Upanishads are commentaries
on the esoteric Vedas and
are also Shruti texts.
Brahman: Brahman performing a Hindu ritual in Kerala, India.
Photograph.
<http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/art-178329>.
1500-500 BCE: Vedic Period
• “Vedic Religion” – based on sacrificial meals shared with many gods of
cosmological realms: earth, atmosphere, sky.
• God is infinite: Cannot be grasped
• Communicate with Gods through fire sacrifices.
Sacred Space: Outdoor fire altar
• Sacred Literature: The Vedas
• Reciprocal relationship of duties
between humans & gods.
500 BCE -500 CE: THE PURANIC / UPANISHADIC/ “AXIAL” AGE
(BUDDHA DIES C. 400 BCE)
• Idea of dharma becomes well-articulated in the Sutras and Shastras: this
is the minimization of Vedic fire sacrifice . . . development of more
individual devotional worship (puja) to images in temples.
• 3 main traditions develop:
• Vaishnavism (Vishnu)
• Shaivism (Shiva)
• Shaktism (Prakriti – Nature aspect of Brahman)
DHARMIC TEXTS
• Epics and Puranas
• Mahabharata (c. 500 – 100 BCE)
• Ramayana
• AND Bhagavad Gita
http://www.bhagavad-gita.us/the-bhagavad-gita-in-pictures/gita-104/
MAJOR TEXTS: THE UPANISHADS (12 TOTAL)
• Primarily philosophical texts intended to communicate the
true nature of reality to anyone willing to become a student
• Written in poetic & dialogue format . . . For example:
“These rivers, my son, run, the eastern toward the east, the western toward the
west. They go from sea to sea. They become indeed sea. And as those rivers,
when they are in the sea, do not know, I am this or that river,
2. “In the same manner, my son, all these creatures, when they have come back
from the True, know not that they have come back from the True. Whatever
these creatures are here, whether a lion, or a wolf, or a boar, or a worm, or a
midge, or a gnat, or a mosquito, that they become again and again.
3. “That which is that subtle essence, in it all that exists has its self. It is the True. It
is the Self, and you, O Svetaketu, are that.”
1.
Chandogya Upanishad, “Section X,” Sophia Project, www.sophiaomni.org
REALITY AND THE DIVINE
• Brahman (transcendent, ultimate, immanent reality)
• Advaita/Dvaita (non-duality; duality)
• Karma (actions deciding fate)
• Maya (illusion)
• Samsara (cycle of birth and death)
• Saguna (manifestation of God in form)
• Nirguna (eternal all-pervading & omnipresent divine consciousness.)
• Atman (the spiritual principle of the universe)
• Ashram (monastic community)
• Dharma
(one’s nature, path, destiny)
• Reincarnation
• Moksha (release from cycle)
Baby Krishna Eating Butter
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HUMAN IN HINDUISM?
“O SVETAKETU, THOU ART THAT.” CHANDOGYA UPANISHAD 6.8.7
- TO COMPLETE ONE'S DUTIES
(DHARMA, ARTHA, KAMA, MOKSHA)
AND CULTIVATE SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE.
IT IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO ELEVATE ONE’S
CONSCIOUSNESS AS ONLY
HUMAN BEINGS CAN UNDERSTAND
- SAT CHIT ANANDA: BEING
AWARENESS
BLISS
https://www.flickr.com/photos/maheash-nelanka/3647001883/
Cosmology/ “Essence”
Theories of Universe & Reality
Social Organization:
Politics, Community, Family, Status, Caste, access
to power & authority
Views of Self & Human Life:
Virtue, Vice, Gender, Destiny, Purpose
500 CE – 1500 CE: THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD
• Rise of Bhakti
• Regional kingdoms with their own
state-sponsored religious traditions
(e.g. Shaivism or Vaishnavism)
• Building of the great temples
• Vernacular poetry
• New theology preached by important gurus
Dravida Style Thanjavur Temple
Tamil Nadu, India
THE STATIONS OF LIFE: CASTE SYSTEM (INHERITED)
1. Brahmins (note how close to Brahman)
2. Kshatriyas: Administrators
3. Vaishayas: Producers
4. Shudras: followers, servants, the unskilled
• Untouchables
Dates
Period
Major Developments
Before 2000 BCE
Indus Valley
Civilization
- Fragmentary evidence -
1500-500 BCE
Vedic Period
Composition of the Vedas – Priestly Religion
500 BCE–500 CE
Classical/Axial Age
Philosophical Thought Develops;
Epics and Upanishads composed
500-1500 CE
Medieval Period
Devotional Movements; Bhakti literature
1500-1757
Pre-Modern Period
Further devotional movements
1757—1947
British Period
British Indology Begins
1947–present
Independent India
Critical India Studies
1947 – PRESENT:
INDEPENDENT INDIA
• Partition between India & Pakistan in 1947
• Issues: lack of Muslim representation in
government; “Hindutva” Ideology
• Hindu Diaspora; practicing Hindus migrate all
around the world
• Hindu Gurus go to the West
• Transcendental Meditation (TM)
• The Beatles!
Mahesh Prasad Varma
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi 1918-2008
1757 – 1947: BRITISH PERIOD
• Mughal empire falls to the British
• Christian missionaries arrive for a
Cultural westernization
• Lowest class is renamed “Untouchables”
Mohandas Ghandi
NEXT WEEK BUDDHISM
REJECTIONS OF VEDIC RELIGION:
TWO OTHER DHARMIC RELIGIONS
Buddhism
• 5th c. BCE
• Siddhartha Gautama
“The Buddha”
• “Middle Way”
between Excess and
Asceticism
• Lay people and
Monks
Jainism
• 7th-5th c. BCE
• Primarily ascetic
• Principle of ahimsa
• Earliest known
teacher:
Parshvanatha
• Emphasis on monks
Jainism: statue of Mahavira. Photograph. Encyclopædia
Britannica Online. Web. 2 Feb. 2015
1500 – 1757: PRE-MODERN PERIOD
• Rise of Islam in the north
• Turks and Mughals
• Emergence of two different
strands of bhakti: nirguna
and saguna
• “Sant” tradition in the north
emerges; influence of Islam
on Hindu poets
Gita Govinda Manuscript c. 1550