Midterm/Final

Darshan

worship through simultaneously seeing and being seen by a deity in the presence of its image, visual exchange with the divine

Pir/Shaykh

master, teacher

Parvati

wife of Shiva

Karma

(Hinduism and Buddhism) the effects of a person's actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation

Saguna

"With qualities." Referring to God as having specific identifiable traits or characteristics.

Nirguna

"Without qualities." Referring to God as being beyond description.

Samsara

(Hinduism and Buddhism) the endless cycle of birth and suffering and death and rebirth

Shirk

(v.) to avoid or get out of doing work, neglect a duty; to sneak, slink

Ahimsa

Jain practice of non-violence, later adopted by Gandhi

Why and how is the death of pir (and the anniversary of that death) viewed and celebrated as a marriage?

-A pir has a special connection with Allah, and on his death he is married to the divine and symbolically joins as one with Allah, leaving the world behind, special privilege of devotion in life -The tomb of the pir is uncovered and treated like the wedding bed, and those with the authority to do so simulate consummation of the marriage between pir and Allah out of sight of others

Why is it problematic to assume that the Vedas are authoritative in Hinduism, or the Qur'an in South Asian Islam, and the Guru Granth Sahib in Sikhism? What is marginalized and ignored by this assumption about the centrality of text?

-Assuming that all people believe the exact same things -people in power made those the big texts, may not represent what you believe (especially for the Vedas)

Devi

-Central goddess of the universe -Associated with power and energy

Guru Granth Sahib

-Final guru of of sikhism, sacred text, serves as a guide for Sikhs -Book of hymns that are performed -Sikh's main text and their permanent teacher -Instructs through ritual performance and understanding of the text

If Jain and Hindu puja look similar, how do they differ?

-Hindu puja is worship of a deity with multi as visual aid, the worshipper is seeking a personal connection with the deity -Jain puja is remembrance designed to focus Jains on ideals of Jain life, Murtis are images of past human gurus that achieved Moksha by hiring out Jain ideals

Sufism

-Islamic set, focused on personal connection with Allah -Significant-Sufis are primarily responsible for spreading Islam into South Asia (in terms of conversion) -Emphasis on spirituality integrated easily into existing belief systems

Hadith

-Next to the Quran, the most important basis for Islamic law -Describes the normative views of the Prophet Muhammad

Textualization

-Process which determines what is or isn't important enough in a tradition to be put in text format -Typically based/influenced by whoever has authority to make these decisions -As a result, there is often bias and lots of material left out that would be considered very important by others -Particularly important in Hinduism b/c process was taken over by the Brahmins, text represents their perspective almost exclusively

Mother Ten's Stories

-Stories passed down (oral tradition) by Hindu women -describe blessings that befall women whose older female relatives or they themselves observe devotion to mother ten (Ex. Golden Calf)

What do Hirst and Zavos intend to convey by differentiating between Veda and "Veda"?

-Veda represents the texts/Vedas considered to have the most authority and are the 4 original vedas -"Veda"-texts added through time in the style of the vedas-the distinction shows that the Vedas are not a closed canon like is found in other religions, but has been added to over time-yet its original texts are the most authoritative

Kabir

-Weaver that composed hymns about his experience with an attribute-less that has to be sought through the inner self, not in institutional settings -Associated with Sant traditions and Nirguna Bhakti -played down differences b/t Hindus and Muslims

Svetambara

Means "white clad" and refers to those Jain monks who wear a white robe or loincloth

How did the bhakti movement challenge the authority of Brahmins?

-challenged their role as intermediary between the divine and worshipper by saying that anyone could worship without the facilitation of Brahmins -focused on love of God over caste and as a result challenged the social hierarchy where Brahmins were dominate

Rammohun Roy

-commentator and publicist that responded to missionary criticism of indigenous south asian traditions as lesser due to polytheism and rooted in idolatry and superstition -Hindu according to British classification -advaita school, reformed it and used it against criticism from the British -significant role in helping the revival movement against British

If Hinduism is/was constructed by British colonialism as based in a textual tradition, how does this affect women or low castes? Think about the brahminical Sanskrit texts, Mother Ten's Stories, oral traditions, and literacy.

-makes it more accessible to some but may leave out women and lower castes that may not be able to read -still aren't to participate in most of the rituals

Dalit

-member of the lowest Indian caste grouping made up of people who did dirty or unpleasant jobs -translated as "the oppressed"

Fourfold Basis for Islamic Law

1)Shahadah 2)Salat 3)Zakat 4)Haji

Brahma

A Hindu god considered the creator of the world.

Shiva

A Hindu god considered the destroyer of the world.

Vishnu

A Hindu god considered the preserver of the world, deity viewed as maintainer of order and associated with avatars

Digambara

A highly ascetic order of Jain monks who wear no clothes

Sampradaya

A tradition handed down from a founder through successive religious teachers which shapes the followers into a distinct fellowship with institutional forms; a religious fellowship; a sectarian group

Explain key differences between advaita vedanta and saguna bhakti in terms of their understanding of the Divine.

Advainta Vedanta-philosophy based on the Upanishads, 'non-dualist' because it identifies principle of conscious-ness within the person (atman) with ultimate reality which ground the universe (brahman) Saguna Bhakti-Devotion to the one who takes characteristics or form

How does the idea of barakat help explain why members of different religions may worship the same religious site or person?

Barakat is the blessing and power of a God. This concept is not attached to a religion but to the power alone. This is why the religion doesn't matter. It is to make a connection with the deity in order to help ones self.

Vivekananda

Bengali devotee, seat in Parliament demonstrated an independent agency, arrived at Parliament uninvited and represented Hinduism in a public manner, approach to Hinduism was based on Advaita Vedanta philosophy

What were some British colonialist and missionary critiques of India? Describe key aspects of the revival and reform movement (Rammohun Roy or Swami Dayanand Saraswati) and how it responded to the colonial critique of Hinduism.

British thought that they were so religious that they couldn't progress, missionaries wanted to put all of the salvation religions into a world religions,

Harijans

Children of God; Gandhi's term to replace 'Untouchable,' rejected by Dalit followers of Ambedkar

Why do Jain laypeople give dana to monks, nuns, and others in need?

Dana means charity-founded on principles of if I give to you, I don't need anything back, but does contribute to spiritual wellbeing

Swami Dayanand Saraswati

Dayanand Saraswati was an Indian social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a reform movement of the Vedic dharma

On p.58 in RT, Hirst and Zavos recap by stating that they have argued that "a process of textualization focusing on Veda as the 'scripture' for the religion 'Hinduism' emerged in the work of Dayanand and others in the nineteenth century." Be able to explain the role of Dayanand in this textualization as well as why the words scripture and Hinduism have quotation marks in this sentence.

Dayanand focused on the Vedic hymns, ordered books from Germany and had a brahmin teach him english -focus on understanding of original literary text raised status with brahmins

urs

Death anniversary of a muslim saint or pie

Shahadah

Declaration of faith

Anandamayi Ma

Famous female guru

Amma

Female spiritual guide, healer

Mahavira

Founder of Jainism, renouncer, gained enlightenment and then taught

Mother Ten

Goddess that provides for women in need

Lakshmi

Hindu goddess of fortune and prosperity

Rama

Incarnation of Hindu god Vishnu made famous in the Ramayana, model of fulfillment of dharma for warrior and husband

Guru Nanak

Indian religious leader who founded Sikhism in dissent from the caste system of Hinduism

Using the epic Ramayana as an example, highlight two ways in which interpretations of the story differ by who's telling it, and why we should care that there are multiple versions.

Jainism-emphasizes Ravana as the primary character, not portrayed as a villain but as an accomplished renouncer who represents ideal Jain life: the women's songs are tellings of the Ramayana focused on Sita, her experiences, and how she reacts to situations (focus is on Sita rather than Ram) -Each of these deviates from Brahminical telling that emphasize's Ram's example of hiring out the dharma of a warrior and Sita's ex. of living out dharma as a wife -Differences in tellings matter because they reveal ideologies, experiences, and history -Each telling provides insight to what the group values, as well as diversity of ideologies found in the South Asian region

Dr. Ambedkar

Leader from western India, profound impact on on national politics in the lead up to and aftermath of Independence in 1947, untouchable from Mahar caste, was able to work his way up to go to college, fierce critic of caste privilege, drew heavily on republican ideals and equality, associated Hinduism with discrimination, and performed public burning of text responsible for many oppressive caste regulations

What are the roots of the "textualization" of the Hindu tradition?

Missionaries, printing press, orientalist studying Sanskrit, and colonial legal system

Vajrayana

Named for the vajra, the Buddha's diamond scepter; prevalent form of Buddhism in Tibet; emphasizes the harnessing of sensual energies to attain nirvana

Advaita Vedanta

Non-dualistic Hindu philosophy, in which the goal is the realization that the self is Brahman

Advaita

Shankara's school of philosophy, which holds that there is only one ultimate reality, the indescribable Brahman, with which the Atman or self is identical, so specific attributes

Do similar practices and shared religious sites mean that South Asians are confused about their religious identities? Why or why not?

Plurality, non-exclusivism

Hinduism as a Polytheistic vs. Monotheistic religion

Polytheistic-considered polytheistic partly because the strong argument of Islam, Christianity, and Sikhism being monotheistic Monotheistic-idea that all gods are the same-one god with different forms, could argue the same with Christianity

Salat

Prayer 5 times a day

Orientalist

Primarily European academics of the nineteenth and twentieth century with knowledge of Middle Eastern languages and history and who generally contrasted European secularism with Eastern religiosity.

Dharma

Religious duty or obligations which differ according to caste, gender, and stage of life

Brahman

Roughly translated as Ultimate Essence of the universe and is sometimes equated with God or everything in the universe

Jati

Sanskrit term means birth, endogamous social groups, strong preference for marrying someone within the same Jati, identified as having shared occupation, typically only receive cooked food and water only from those of a higher or similar (ritual) status to themselves

Varna

Sanskrit term, in brahminical texts refers to four ideal social groups in which society is to be divided, cosmic order is achieved through are guaranteed by people fulfilling specific duties of their varna

Shramana

Sramana was an ancient Indian religious movement that began as an offshoot of the Vedic religion and gave rise to other similar but varying movements, including Buddhism and Jainism

Moksha

The Hindu concept of the spirit's 'liberation' from the endless cycle of rebirths.

Shiva-Shakti

The masculine-feminine force of the Universe, the fundamental creative principle of existence. Shiva without Shakti is unable to affect anything. Just as the moon does not shine without moonlight, so also Shiva does not shine without Shakti.

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.

Mahayana

The name of the more mystical and larger of the two main Buddhist sects. This one originated in India in the 400s CE and gradually found its way north to the Silk road and into Central and East Asia.

Mantra

The repetition of mystic incantations in Hinduism and Buddhism.

Nirvana

The state of englightenment for Buddhists.

Twice-born

The upper three castes whose males go through a "re-birth" ceremony when they come-of-age at around 12.

High ritual purity is linked with...

Vegetarian diet, no alcohol, and clean occupations such as shopkeeping

Parsi

Zoroastrian community that migrated to India

East India Company

a British trading company that set up large, profitable trading post colonies in India

Shakta

a devotee of the Great Goddess, Devi

Haji

a pilgrim who journeys to Mecca

Sant

charismatic individual held to have realized and/or embodied the truth

Bhakti

devotion to a deity or guru

Murti

image of a deity

Ramayana

one of two classical Hindu epics telling of the banishment of Rama from his kingdom and the abduction of his wife by a demon and Rama's restoration to the throne

Barakat

spiritual power, possessed by Sufi Shaikhs and (after their death) by their tombs.

Zoroastrianism

system of religion founded in Persia in the 6th century BC by Zoroaster noun

Puja

the act of worship

Shakti

the female principle of divine energy, especially when personified as the supreme deity.

Quran

the sacred writings of Islam revealed by God to the prophet Muhammad during his life at Mecca and Medina

Zakat

to give to charity