Download Hinduism Notes

Hinduism and India
Aryans invade India
• Over Hindu Kush 1500 BCE
• Khyber Pass
• Tribes with chiefs – “rajahs”
• Spoken language = Sanskrit means knowledge
• Oral tradition
• myths
• stories
• poems
Writing develops  the Vedas
• Vedas = “books of knowledge” – holy texts
• Upanishads
The Gods
A hierarchy
(different levels)
Universal Spirit =
Brahma Nerguna
• created all things –
even the other gods
• present in all things
Vishnu
• Preserver of Life
• Krishna – Vishnu in
Human form
Siva
• The Destroyer
- a positive force
Cycle of Life
All souls reincarnated (given new flesh).
Lesser gods
There are almost
10,000 lesser gods
Example: Ganga –
goddess of renewal
For which the Ganges
river is named
All these deities are but
Manifest forms (attributes
and functions) of the
impersonal Brahman
The Varnas
Varna = Social class
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Brahmins – priests
Kshatriyas – warriors / rulers
Vaisyas – craftspeople / farmers
Sudras – servants
Pariahs or Untouchables – do unclean work
Social Status
• Birth into a class determines status for life
• Only on reincarnation can you rise to the
next level
• Within each Varna there are 100’s of
Castes
• You grow up to do the job of the caste you
were born into
The Bhagavad-Gita
• Part of the Vedas
• “Song of the Lord”
• Relates the
importance of
dharma
Merited Incarnation
• Means you earned the life you were given
by actions in a past life
• Karma = idea that if you do good you will
be blessed with good, if you do evil, you
will be cursed
• Dharma = “righteous conduct” your
dharma is the duty of your caste
• “Follow your Dharma, get good Karma,
raise your Varna”
The Goal
• Attain perfection
or “Moksha” or
Enlightenment
• part of the
Universal Spirit
(Brahma) - in all
things and
released from
the cycle of
reincarnation
Moksha
Brahmins
Kshatriyas
Vaisyas
Sudrahs
Pariahs
Offshoot of Hinduism- Jainism
• Principle of Ahimsa is most important
• Ahimsa = all life is sacred and worthy of
respect
• No Rigid Social Structure
Another offshoot is Sikkism
• Universal God
• Truth, Self- Control, Remembrance