Hinduism Quiz #2

Durga

"Awe-inspiring," "distant"; a mother-goddess, a form of Devi; fierce great battle queen who combat demons who threatened the cosmos, slayer of the buffalo demon

Advaita Vedanta

One of Hinduism's philosophical schools; the emphasis is on the oneness of reality; Literally means, "non-dualism," or monism; The belief that All is One, that individual gods & goddesses, individual souls (atmans), and all of creation are deep down part of the same unified Absolute Reality: Brahman. NON DUAL, GROUNDED IN THE UPANISADES

Sankara

The greatest systematizer/philosopher (who becomes renunciate) of radical Hindu nondualism. He begins his teaching with the assertion of the Ultimate or real is "unthinkable" and "cannot be designated"; that is has no attributes. 8th century BC. Compiler of Advaita vedanta darsana and gives first expression to vedanta school of thought

Bhagavad Gita

The most important work of Indian sacred literature, a dialogue between the great warrior Arjuna and the god Krishna on duty and the fate of the spirit. The Gita is set in a narrative framework of a dialogue between Pandava prince Arjuna and his guide and charioteer Krishna. At the start of the Dharma Yudhha (righteous war) between Pandavas and Kauravas, Arjuna is filled with moral dilemma and despair about the violence and death the war will cause. He wonders if he should renounce and seeks Krishna's counsel, whose answers and discourse constitute the Bhagadvad Gita.

Siva

Hindu God - The Destroyer; - God of destruction and reproduction - Lord of dance - Ultimate ascetic, yogi - Also ultimate homeowner - God of contractions also, masculine unmanifest immovable eternal potential

Bhakti

Hindu devotional movement that flourished in the early modern era, emphasizing music, dance, poetry, and rituals as means by which to achieve direct union with the divine. bhakti is relational--> devote self to something else (a god) bhuj=to share

Lingam

a symbol of divine generative energy, especially a phallus or phallic object worshiped as a symbol of Shiva; It is associated with Shiva, supreme god in main gods of the Hindus. The Hindu scriptures say that a linga represents energy and strength. In almost all the temples of Shiva, Shiva is shown in the form of a linga. it is a tunnel or light of energy and the super-enthronement myth for siva. in linga, siva is formless absolute and takes form simaltaneously (nirguna/saguna)

Mahayogin

A great yogi or ascetic; an especial title of Siva, although given to other Hindu divinities.

Brahman

A single spiritual power that Hindus believe lives in everything

Krsna

An avatar of Visnu. A cow-herder, often naughty, playing practical jokes. Also very beautiful and kind. Loved by all(especially the girls/Gopis). Often shown by playing the flute, a symbol of heavenly music.His blue skin is a symbol of cosmic power. The spiritual stories about his life each have a moral about how to behave towards each other and to God.

Ramanuja

Bhramin philosopher, worshipped Vishnu, used Bhagavad Gita as base, focus on emotional devotion; Sri Vaishnava tradition holds that Ramanuja disagreed with his guru and the non-dualistic Advaita Vedānta, and instead followed the footsteps of Indian Alvārs tradition, the scholars Nāthamuni and Yamunāchārya.[2] Ramanuja is famous as the chief proponent of Vishishtadvaita subschool of Vedānta, follower of advaita vedanta

Gopis

milkmaids and young wives; their love trysts with Krishna in the Bhagavata Purana are paradigms of a believer's bhakti relationship to God

Sri

vedic concept and part of the vedic pantheon, associated with kingship and royal authority with no body or form. she is that authority. sri is royal authority and adheres self to king and that's what gives them royal authority

Darsan

visual contact with the divine through encounters with Hindu images or gurus; seen or being seen

Sakti

feminine power, being that which becomes

elephants

fertilizing rain royal authority; Below, behind or on the sides, Lakshmi is sometimes shown with one or two elephants and occasionally with an owl; The two elephants standing next to the Goddess symbolize the name and fame associated with worldly wealth. The idea conveyed here is that a true devotee should not earn wealth merely to acquire name and fame or only to satisfy his own material desires, but should share it with others in order to bring happiness to others in addition to himself. Some pictures show four elephants spraying water from golden vessels onto Goddess Lakshmi. The four elephants represent the four ends of human life as discussed above. The spraying of water denotes activity. The golden vessels denote wisdom and purity. The four elephants spraying water from the golden vessels on the Goddess illustrate the theme that continuous self-effort, in accordance with one's dharma and govemed by wisdom and purity, leads to both material and spiritual prosperity.

10 Avatars of Vishnu

fish, tortoise, boar, half-lion half-human, dwarf, axe wielder, rama, krsna, buddha, kalki

Laksmi

goddess of good fortune/ prosperity/ fertility; consort of Visnu; worshipped by all Hindus (esp. merchants) on Divali. wife of visnu associated with prosperity, well being, royal authority and illustriousness; Lakshmi is also called Sri or Thirumagal because she is endowed with six auspicious and divine qualities, or gunas, and is the divine strength of Vishnu. In Hindu religion, she was born from the churning of the primordial ocean (Samudra manthan) and she chose Vishnu as her eternal consort. When Vishnu descended on the Earth as the avatars Rama and Krishna, Lakshmi descended as his respective consort as Sita and Rukmini. In the ancient scriptures of India, all women are declared to be embodiments of Lakshmi. The marriage and relationship between Lakshmi and Vishnu as wife and husband is the paradigm for rituals and ceremonies for the bride and groom in Hindu weddings. Lakshmi is considered another aspect of the same supreme goddess principle in the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism.

Mount

the lion is the mount that durga rides into battle

Maya

"illusion" or super imposition; what keeps us from seeing reality correctly; the world, viewed inadequately. a fundamental concept in Hindu philosophy, notably in the Advaita (Nondualist) school of Vedanta. Maya originally denoted the magic power with which a god can make human beings believe in what turns out to be an illusion. By extension, it later came to mean the powerful force that creates the cosmic illusion that the phenomenal world is real. For the Nondualists, maya is thus that cosmic force that presents the infinite brahman (the supreme being) as the finite phenomenal world. Maya is reflected on the individual level by human ignorance (ajnana) of the real nature of the self, which is mistaken for the empirical ego but which is in reality identical with brahman.

Radha

Consort of Krishna. Avatar of Lakshmi.

Kali's relation to siva's corpse

Kali is intoxicated by blood and killing and she goes crazy and power hungry and humanity is on the verge of destruction. Siva pretends to be dead and lies on the ground and Kali steps on his corpse and his presence/ their union calms Kali down. male presence controls the unbridled female power. this is a story of balance. she wears a necklace of skulls and a skirt of arms. she also has her hair down and wears a crown.

mahisashara

Mahishasura is a Sanskrit word composed of mahisha meaning buffalo and asura meaning demon, or "buffalo demon". As an Asura, Mahishasura waged war against the Devas, as the Devas and Asuras' were perpetually in conflict. Mahishasura had gained the boon that no man could kill him. In the battles between the gods and the demons, the Devas led by Indra were defeated by Mahishasura. Dejected by their defeat, the Devas assemble in the mountains where their combined divine energies coalesce into goddess Durga. The new born Durga led a battle against Mahishasura, riding a lion, and killed him. Thereafter she is named Mahishasuramardini, meaning "the killer of Mahishasura". Mahishasura's legend is told in a major text of the Shaktism tradition known as the Devi Mahatmya. He is described as an evil being who can change his outer form, but never his demonic goals. According to Christopher Fuller, Mahishasura symbolically represents forces of ignorance and chaos hidden by outer appearances. The symbolism is carried in Hindu arts found in South Asia and southeast Asia (Javanese artwork, for example), where Durga is shown as serene, calm, collected and graceful symbol of good as she pierces the heart and kills the scared, overwhelmed and outwitted Mahishasura.

Viveka Cudamani

Means crest jewel of discrimination. is an introductory treatise within the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism. It is in the form of a poem in the Shardula Vikridita metre, and for many centuries has been celebrated as a prakaraṇa grantha (teaching manual) of Advaita. It expounds the Advaita Vedanta philosophy in the form of a self-teaching manual, with many verses in the form of a dialogue between a student and a spiritual teacher. The text discusses key concepts and the viveka or discrimination or discernment between real (unchanging, eternal) and unreal (changing, temporal), Prakriti and Atman, the oneness of Atman and Brahman, and self-knowledge as the central task of the spiritual life and for Moksha.

Devi

Mother goddess within Hinduism; widely spread following collapse of Guptas; encouraged new emotionalism in religious ritual; goddess as the supreme absolute

Avidya (Buddhism)

State of ignorance of ones self-identity. Largest Hindu sin, anything that deters one away from brahmin

Devimahatmya

The Devi Mahatmyam describes a storied battle between good and evil, where the Devi manifesting as goddess Durga leads the forces of good against the demon Mahishasura—the goddess is very angry and ruthless, and the forces of good win.[9][10][11] In peaceful prosperous times, states the text, the Devi manifests as Lakshmi, empowering wealth creation and happiness.

Visnu Purana

The Vishnu Purana is among the shorter Purana texts, with about 7,000 verses in extant versions.[13][14] It primarily centers around the Hindu god Vishnu and his avatars such as Krishna, but it praises Brahma and Shiva and asserts that they are one with Vishnu.[14] The Purana, states Wilson, is pantheistic and the ideas in it, like other Puranas, are premised on the Vedic beliefs and ideas.[15]

Paramatman

The world soul, and a dimension of Brahman.

Visistadvaita Vedanta

VishishtAdvaita (literally "Advaita with uniqueness; qualifications") is a non-dualistic school of Vedanta philosophy. It is non-dualism of the qualified whole, in which Brahman alone exists, but is characterized by multiplicity. It can be described as qualified monism or qualified non-dualism or attributive monism. It is a school of Vedanta philosophy which believes in all diversity subsuming to an underlying unity. posits that each living being is a quality of the totality of Brahman; so atman is part of brahman and you are never separated from being brahman so in this tradition the absolute brahmin is visnu. This school grew out of the Vaishnava (worship of the god Vishnu) movement prominent in South India from the 7th CE century on. Ramanuja was the first of the Vedanta thinkers to make the cornerstone of his system the identification of a personal God with the brahman, or Absolute Reality, of the Upanishads and the Vedanta-sutras. As a personal God, brahman possesses all the good qualities in a perfect degree, and Ramanuja does not tire of mentioning them. For him the relation between the infinite and the finite is like that between the soul and the body. Hence, non-duality is maintained, while differences can still be stated. Soul and matter are totally dependent on God for their existence, as is the body on the soul. For Ramanuja, release (moksha) is not a negative separation from transmigration, or a series of rebirths, but rather the joy of the contemplation of God. This joy is attained by a life of exclusive devotion (bhakti) to God, singing his praise, performing adulatory acts in temple and private worship, and constantly dwelling on his perfections. In return, God will offer his grace, which will assist the devotee in gaining release.

Visnu

a Hindu deity which represents the aspect of the supreme reality that preserves and sustains the universe. vis=the pervader. absolute deities with major followings; remainder gives rise, visnu sleeps on never ending snake while a lotus from his bellybutton opens to reveal brahma who opens his eyes on the world, thus creating it; In Vaishnavism, Vishnu is identical to the formless metaphysical concept called Brahman, the supreme, the Svayam Bhagavan, who takes various avatars as "the preserver, protector" whenever the world is threatened with evil, chaos, and destructive forces.[8] His avatars most notably include Rama in the Ramayana and Krishna in the Mahabharata; Vishnu is usually depicted as having a pale or dark blue complexion and having four arms. He holds a padma (lotus flower-->ROYAL authority) in his lower left hand, Kaumodaki gada (mace) in his lower right hand, Panchajanya shankha (conch-->visnu is ksatriya so uses to communicate in battle) in his upper left hand and the Sudarshana Chakra (discus-->weapon) in his upper right hand. A traditional depiction is Vishnu reclining on the coils of the serpent Shesha, accompanied by his consort Lakshmi, as he "dreams the universe into reality".

Bhagavata Purana

a popular epic about the exploits of Krishna as child wonder worker, lover, and king; Composed in Sanskrit and available in almost all major Indian languages,[3] it promotes bhakti (devotion) to Krishna[4][5][6] integrating themes from the Advaita (monism) philosophy and from the Dvaita (dualism) philosophy.[7][5][8][9] The Bhagavata Purana discusses a wide range of topics including Cosmology, Genealogy, Geography, Mythology, Legend, Music, Dance, Yoga and Culture.[5][10] As it begins, the forces of evil have won a war between the benevolent devas (deities) and evil asuras (demons) and now rule the universe. Truth re-emerges as Krishna, (called "Hari" and "Vasudeva (another name for Krishna)" in the text) - first makes peace with the demons, understands them and then creatively defeats them, bringing back hope, justice, freedom and happiness - a cyclic theme that appears in many legends.[11] The Bhagavata Purana is a revered text in Vaishnavism, a Hindu tradition that reveres Vishnu

Gopas

cowherd friends who visnu played with; Gopas are a tribe or caste of Bombay, India[1] (now Mumbai) who were kinsmen and fighters for Vasudeva Krishna. They were allied with Kauravas, due to a pact made between Vasudeva Krishna, Arjuna and Duryodhana. The pact of Vasudeva Krishna to Arjuna and Duryodhana:- There is a large body of cowherds known as the Narayanas, all of whom are able to fight in the thick of battle. These soldiers shall be sent to one of you and I alone, resolved not to fight on the field, and laying down my weapons, will go to the other. Arjuna selected Vasudeva Krishna and Duryodhana selected Krishna's army.

Kali

dark form a devi; goddess associated with destruction and rebirth, violent warrior goddess; Kali is associated with time and has a particular relationship with destruction. she is birthed from the forehead of durga when durga was enraged

Linga and yoni (aniconic unity of male and female principles)

in Hindu art, depiction of Shiva as a phallus or cosmic pillar; a ring, the vaginal emblem encircling the phallic lingam in Shiva/Shakti symbolism

God of Paradox (4 paradigms)

kiskala/sakala(with or without form) male/ female (siva/sakti-->simaltaneously male and female, sexual union) ascetic/erotic destroyer/creator (simaltanously destroying and creating universe--siva lord of the dance)

Harivamsa

krsna purana, recounts krsna history and upbringing; part of the mahabharata it recounts krna's early life. childhood krsna is called gopala krsna (cowherder)

Naṭarāja

lord of the dance, siva lord of the dance; An essential significance of Shiva's dance at Tillai, the traditional name of Chidambaram, can be explained as:[34] First, it is seen as the image of his rhythmic or musical play which is the source of all movement within the universe. This is represented by the circular or elliptical frame surrounding Shiva. Secondly, the purpose of his dance is to release the souls of all men from the snare of illusion. Lastly, the place of the dance, Chidambaram, which is portrayed as the center of the universe, is actually within the heart; siva as the king of dancing- the cosmic dancer who performs his divine dance to destroy a weary universe and make preparations for god Brahma to start the process of creation

Prakrti

matter itself that becomes the material world (feminine word)

Ardhanarinara

means half man half woman-->siva is both himself and his wife

Super-enthronement

one god is absolute, choose siva or krsna and one is your absolute

Isvara

personal god; brahmin seen through the lends of maya. helps ppl experience brahmin by looking outward through experience of world and then extreme absolute takes a form, isvara is a misconception of brahmin

Bhagavan

playful young spontaneous child this is Krishna, most important and most relatable

maya

power of illusion (feminine word)

Sakti

power, ability; female active energy of a deity; power of feminine divinity (feminine word)

Vidya

right knowledge or clarity

Sri Vaisnava

south india, rooted in upanisads, "corrects" advaita vedantas, rejects maya world as emanation of absolute, moksa as realization that you are part of god - qualified nondualism, followers of visnu; one is continually trying to revel in presence of visnu or part of visnu, want to be part of visnu to transcend, devote all to him.

lotus

symbol of fertility and life, and purity and spiritual power; It symbolises knowledge, self-realisation and liberation in Vedic context, and represents reality, consciousness and karma (work, deed) in the Tantra (Sahasrara) context.[34] The lotus, a flower that blossoms in clean or dirty water, also symbolises purity regardless of the good or bad circumstances in which its grows. It is a reminder that good and prosperity can bloom and not be affected by evil in one's surrounding.