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NAME: _____________________________________ DATE: ________________ PER: ______ #: ______
THE ROOTS OF HINDUISM ACTIVITY SHEET
***Remember the following essential question as you complete the different activities (hint hint)***
EQ- How does religion shape our beliefs and attitudes?
Each reading will help complete certain tasks and questions. The tasks are contained in your packet
and the same title that appears below will also appear on the worksheet you will fill in.
VOCABULARY – Complete Vocabulary Sheet (In Your Vocabulary Section)
BENCHMARK LESSON – How do we use religion? Why does it exist?
 Lesson will be given Thursday – Readings will be Available to Complete Activity
BACKGROUND HISTORY
Read EITHER reading NOT BOTH:
 Aryan Civilization - has a sun in the top right corner means the reading is above grade-level and a little more challenging.
 Conquest by the Aryans - has a star in the top right corner means that the reading it is at your grade-level.
SOCIAL HIERARCHY & RELGION - Reincarnation and Treatment of Others
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Hinduism 101
“Dharma, Karma, and Moksha: This Life and the Next”
The Complex Caste System
India’s Untouchables
CULTURE & RELIGION - Practices
 “The Hindu Home”
 “Shedding some Light on Diwali”
RELIGION - Gods & Goddesses
 Hinduism 101
HINDUISM- VOCABULARY
DIRECTIONS: Complete this vocabulary sheet. All of the words can be found in the readings as you
complete activities.
Vedas
A collection of Aryan prayers, hymns, and other religious readings composed in
Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Ancient written language of India
Aryan
Means “noble” or “highborn”
Also- Indo-European nomadic herders
caste
Social class in India
polytheistic
Believing in or worshiping MORE THAN ONE god or goddess
monotheistic
Believing in or worshiping only ONE god or goddess
avatar
The representation of a Hindu god or goddess in human or animal form
Upanishads
Means “sitting near a teacher” – (to be educated)
The Upanishads are a Hindu religious sacred text and related to the Vedas
reincarnation
Rebirth of the soul
Dying and being born again in a different life-form
dharma
The religious and moral duties of each person according to their caste, age or
gender
ahimsa
To practice nonviolence, because to Hindus, all things are part of brahman and
therefore should be treated with respect
karma
A collection of good and bad deeds a person performs in a lifetime
moksha
When the soul is free from the cycle of death and rebirth and is then one with
the brahman
brahman
A single, all-powerful force, one Supreme God, and is present in all things and
comes down to earth in the human form of an avatar
Benchmark Lesson:
RELIGION AND CREATION MYTHS
In the absence of modern science, religion helped ancient people to
explain the unexplainable things in life and in the world.
List some things that these creation myths (or stories) have in common:
 Water is mentioned
 Land is created after water
 The phrase “in the beginning” is used in several of the myths
 The things in the universe all come from a god and are part of him
 The god/creator is perfect
 “nothingness” or “emptiness” was mentioned in all
Civilization Wheel Part:
SOCIAL HIERARCHY & RELIGION – Reincarnation and the Treatment of Others
DIRECTIONS: In the space below, create a social pyramid with the 5 castes with their Sanskrit names
and some examples of the jobs performed by each group.
HELPFUL READINGS:
 Hinduism 101
 “Dharma, Karma, and Moksha: This Life and the Next”
 The Complex Caste System
 India’s Untouchables
BRAHMINPriests & Teachers
of religious traditions
KSHATRIYAWarriors
Defenders of the kingdom
VAISHYAHerders, farmers, artisans, merchants
SUDRAManual laborers & servants
UNTOUCHABLES“impure” jobs- digging graves, cleaning streets, tanning hides into leather
Civilization Wheel Part:
SOCIAL HIERARCHY & RELIGION – Reincarnation and the Treatment of Others
DIRECTIONS: Answer the following questions in Complete Sentences.
HELPFUL READINGS:
 Hinduism 101
 “Dharma, Karma, and Moksha: This Life and the Next”
 The Complex Caste System
 India’s Untouchables
1. How does having such a strict class system affect the relationships people have with one another?
Strict class systems affect relationships because they tell people who they are allowed to talk to or
associate with and who they are NOT allowed to talk to or associate with. They also tell you who you
are allowed to marry and what job you are allowed to do.
2. How does having such a strict class system affect the daily life of the people in Ancient India?
The people of India have interaction with the same class of people everyday. They are trained from
childhood to perform the job that is assigned to their caste and to perform their dharma. They learn not
to talk to people “below” them and to be happy with the life that they were born into because they are
there for a reason.
3. How does “dharma” justify, or make the caste system fair?
Dharma is the religious and moral duties one is supposed to perform while they are alive and it depends
on the social class that they are in. Dharma tells people in a particular caste how to treat others in other
castes which makes people accept how they, themselves, are treated so it seems fair.
4. Describe the Hindu belief of reincarnation. How might this belief justify treatment of the lower castes?
Reincarnation is the rebirth of the soul; a cycle of death followed by rebirth. Hindus believe that every living thing
has a soul and when a person dies, the soul is reborn in the body of another living thing. The caste you are born
into is the result of how good or bad you were in your previous life. Therefore, it justifies the treatment of lower
castes because Hindus believe that you must deserve to be in that lower caste because of something wrong you
did in your past life and you deserve to be treated poorly now.
5. Do we have an “unofficial” caste system in the US? How?
We do have an “unofficial” caste system in the United States because using the word “caste” implies that there is
no movement between social classes, either up or down. In the US we like to think that people have the ability to
move up in social class (to go from a poor family to grow up to be the President or to be someone like Bill Gates)
however, most people stay in the same social class that they are born in and rarely have a better life than the one
provided for them by their parents. There are exceptions, certainly some people are able to do much better than
their parents, but it is unusual.
Civilization Wheel Part:
RELIGION - Gods and Goddesses
DIRECTIONS: Fill in the graphic organizer below with the names of the 3 most important Hindu gods
and some information about what each one does/is. Also Answer the question below?
HELPFUL READINGS:
 Hinduism 101
brahman--
Brahma:
The creator-
the all powerful
force
He created earth
and everything on
it.
ShivaThe destroyer
(sometimes also
creates after
destroying)
Vishnu:
The preserverkindly and
concernedprotects humans
from disaster
Is Hinduism monotheistic, polytheistic or both? Explain your answer.
Many people think that Hinduism is polytheistic because there are many gods, but it is NOT. Hinduism is
monotheistic because there is only one god, “brahman”, which is the all powerful spirit which lives in
everything, including the gods that come down to earth in human form (avatars). Those millions of gods
that exist in Hinduism are really all brahman.
(This is similar to the monotheistic Christian believe that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are not separate, but are all just
“God.”)
Civilization Wheel Part:
CULTURE & RELIGION- Practices
DIRECTIONS: The Hindu religion shapes the daily lives of its followers. Using “The Hindu Home”
describe three daily activities that are affected by being Hindu and explain how each activity is related
to the beliefs of the religion. Then use “Shedding Some Light on Diwali” to answer the questions below.
HELPFUL READINGS:
 “The Hindu Home”
 “Shedding some Light on Diwali”
ACTIVITY #1- Each Hindu home has an altar where family worship called puja is performed in which the
family worships the god of their choice who is represented on the altar by a small idol, a picture, or an
object such as a stone taken from a sacred river.
ACTIVITY #2- A mother and father wake up early and wash themselves. This is related to the belief that
water purifies a person and readies them to prepare the sacred altar and the food, flowers, incense, and
fire to be offered to the god during the day.
ACTIVITY #3- A father’s puja worship takes different forms depending on his caste, his wealth, his special
god, or the region where his lives. He has five daily obligations: to make offerings to the gods, saints,
ancestors, spirits, and guests.
1. What can the festival of Diwali tell us about Hinduism (even if you didn’t know anything about this
religion at all)?
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2. What is the purpose of Diwali?
Diwali is celebrated for a new beginning and Hindus worship the goddess Lakshmi to bring them
prosperity (good fortune and wealth) in the new year. The main religious significance of Diwali is to
forgive and forget, to clear the mind of evil and reflect over the past year's events.
3. If you are Hindu, explain how your family celebrates Diwali. If you are not Hindu, do you celebrate
any holidays like this one? EXPLAIN.
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