World Religions: Hinduism

Trimurti

"Three forms" of the divine; the three gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.

Harijan

"child of god" Gandhi's term for an untouchable in the caste system, wanted to bring them back into the system of Hinduism, believe that they can still work toward God, give them hope

Jatis

"sub-castes"; the castes were divided into hundreds of these; usually linked with a certain occupation; unchangeable, you had to be in that group for the rest of your life.

Panchamas

"untouchables", outcastes, Gandhi renames them "children of god" to bring the untouchables back into the system, attempt to reclaim.

Pakistan

Country for Muslims during the Partition.

Narendra Modi

Current prime minister of India. The guy in charge right now, pursued policies such as cutting off power from minority groups in the country. Put in the anti-Muslim citizenship law. Creating an easier path to citizenship for all non-Hindu groups except for Muslims.

Indira Gandhi

Daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister. She was also prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977.

Shiva

Destroyer and renewer (makes possible rebirth by death). "Death" part of the cycle.

Dharma

Duty, one of the four Hindu life goals.

Vedas

Early Indian sacred 'knowledge'-the literal meaning of the term-long preserved and communicated orally by Brahmin priests and eventually written down. These are the oldest and most sacred of the Hindu scriptures, the "breath of the eternal." They were long known only in oral form, and they deal predominantly with ritual. Come to be monopolized by the Brahmins.

Aryans

immigrants who arrived at the Ganges river valley by the year 1000 BC: nomads from Europe and Asia who migrated to India and finally settled; vedas from this time suggest beginning of caste system. Migrated to the region of India and developed castes based on skin color.

Atman

in Hindu belief, a person's essential self. The individual soul. Transfers from body to body, can only see and experience what the body can see and experience, and cannot perish.

Bhakti Yoga

the spiritual discipline of devotion to a deity or guru. The practice of devotion and love, and directing the innate love in the heart toward God. The most popular of the four yoga. Insist that God is not the self. Don't want to identify with God, simply want to love God.

White Clad

• Another group that split from Jainism • Wear white robes • Accept women as members • Women seen as equals; maybe not treated like equals

Dharma

In Hindu belief, an individual person's religious and moral duties and obligations. The different roles you have to fulfill in life, from husband to brother to father to teacher and etc.

Reincarnation

In Hinduism and Buddhism, the process by which a soul is reborn continuously until it achieves perfect understanding. Often happens in a new body.

BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party)

Indian People's Party; a political party that has roots in past Hindu fundamentalist organizations; gradually became a major political force during the '90s on the strength of its glorification of Hinduttva. Agenda: Hindu nationalism and cutting red tape to create pride and jobs for India. Party of Modi

Guru Nanak

Indian religious leader who founded Sikhism in dissent from the caste system of Hinduism. Guy who goes to the river at 1500 CE, falls into river and disappears for 3 days, says he went to God's court, says God is neither Hindu or Muslim, says his path will be to be a disciple of God, considered founder of Sikhism.

Jawaharlal Nehru

Indian statesman. He succeeded Mohandas K. Gandhi as leader of the Indian National Congress. He negotiated the end of British colonial rule in India and became India's first prime minister (1947-1964). Presides over newly independent India.

Rajiv Gandhi

Indira's son (Nehru's grandson) and was prime minister of India 1985-1989. Had some reform of economy and gov't but also faced rebellion and was assassinated by Tamil Tigers.

Brahmins

Intellectual-priest class, "mouth". Highest of the 4 varna.

Hinduvta

It was a fundamentalist movement that took shape during the 1980's. To its advocates, India was, and always had been, an essentially Hindu land, though it has been overwhelmed by Muslim invaders, then by Christian British. (Strayer, pp. 1152-1153). a modern term that encompasses the ideology of Hindu nationalism SIGNIFICANCE: It represented a politicized of religion within a democratic context. The Hindutva movement took political shape in an increasingly popular party called the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Artha

Material success and social prestige, one of the four goals of life. Participation. Meaning, sense, purpose, goal, or essence.

Dalits

Members of India's "lowest" caste; literally, "broken people." Also called "Untouchables."

Amritsar

Northern Indian city and location of the Golden Temple, Sikhism's holiest shrine.

Dravidians

One of the main groups of people in India; probably descended from the Indus River culture that flourished at the dawn of Indian civilization over 4,000 yrs. ago. Peaceful farming people. The babies of these people and the Aryans were the first Hindus.

Kama

Pleasure, especially of sensual love; one of the four goals of life

Mahadevi

The Great Goddess who takes many forms: Shakti, Durga, Parvati, Sati, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kali. All-encompassing female deity.

Moksha

The Hindu concept of the spirit's 'liberation' from the endless cycle of rebirths. The ultimate goal of Hinduism. Release. You are liberated from samsara as your atman becomes one with the world soul. You can do more than experience beauty, you can be beauty.

Sati

The Indian custom of a widow voluntarily throwing herself on the funeral pyre of her husband.

Henotheism

The belief that acknowledges a plurality of gods but elevates one of them to special status. Adherence to one particular god out of several, especially by a family, tribe, or other group. This is the case in Hinduism, both in the sense of the Trimurti, and in the idea of devotional hinduism that one god in particular is the god to which one will devote themselves.

Caste

The class or distinct hereditary order into which a Hindu is assigned according to religious law. Social mobility over time with the idea of rebirth/cycle of samsara, do job as well as you can in one life to move up a caste in the next life.

"Living Guru"

The elevated form of the sacred text after it was decided that there would be no more gurus to replace the previous one.

5 K's of Sikhism

The five things that Sikh men wear to signify their faith: Kesh (uncut hair), Kara (a steel bracelet), Kanga (a wooden comb), Kachera (cotton underwear), & Kirpan (steel sword)

Varna

The four major social divisions in India's caste system: the Brahmin priest class, the Kshatriya warrior/administrator class, the Vaishya merchant/farmer class, and the Shudra laborer class.

Maya

The illusion of the world and time, the idea that we can only know our one life. This is overcome by striving to achieve the four Hindu goals of life

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. perhaps the most widely read of the Hindu sacred literature. Book most likely to be owned by Hindus. It tells the story of the warrior Arjuna and his interaction with Krishna, one of the avatars of Vishnu.

Jnana Yoga

The spiritual discipline of knowledge and insight. The path to God through thought and thinking of the self. Reflect on the self until they find a sense of the infinite self, and spend time thinking about how the atman relates to the body, and separating the body and the atman.

Karma Yoga

The spiritual discipline of selfless action. The path to God through work. Can be done to work toward knowledge or through devotional service.

Golden Temple

the holiest shrine of Sikhism. It is located in Amritsar, and was founded by the fourth Guru, Guru Ram Das. Like the Vatican/Mecca for Sikhs, where they go for their pilgrimage.

Raja Yoga

the path of meditation and concentration. Laid out in specific directions that must be followed, almost as if it is an empirical science experiment.

Untouchables

An Indian social class that emerged below the Sudras and whose members performed the most unclean and polluting work.

Mahavira

An extreme aesthetic who founded the religion Jainism and thought of several Hindu concepts, such as karma, in a very concrete way. The first Tirthankara, walked around naked, starved to death. "The exalted one," was frustrated with the Brahmin caste in Hinduism,

Puja

Act of worship (or an act of worship) that shows reverence for a deity or the divine through song, ritual, prayer, offering, etc. This form of daily practice might be performed in the home, at a mandir, and/or outdoor spaces.

Shruti

A canon of Hindu scripture, it is from a word that means "what is heard," term denoting the category of Vedic literature accepted by orthodox Hindus as revealed truth. Remembered by those in the priest class, so not exactly accessible to all Hindus, especially in lower castes.

Indus Valley

A civilization extending from what today is now Pakistan to northwest India and northeast Afghanistan. It flourished in the basins of the Indus River. At its peak it had a population of over five million. The Indus cities are noted for their urban planning, baked brick houses, elaborate drainage systems, water supply systems, and clusters of large non-residential buildings. Ganges river.

Purusha

A god from which all humans were born, Brahmins came from his mouth, etc

Upanishads

A major book in Hinduism that is often in the form of dialogues that explored the Vedas and the religious issues that they raised. A group of writings sacred in Hinduism concerning the relations of humans, God, and the universe. "sitting down beside" - composed orally between 800 - 400 BCE, written down much later. Brahmins sit down with lower castes to share knowledge. They focus on two broad types of thought: What is the essence of the human self? What is the essence of the ultimate reality?

Hindu

A religion and philosophy developed in ancient India, characterized by a belief in reincarnation and a supreme being who takes many forms. Not an indigenous name, but rather given by Europeans to those who lived along the Indus river.

Yoga

A system of exercises practiced as part of the Hindu discipline to promote control of the body and mind. A method of training developed by the Hindus that is supposed to lead to oneness with God. Many paths to the divine means many paths of this.

Mahabharata

A vast epic chronicling the events leading up to a cataclysmic battle between related kinship groups in early India. It includes the Bhagavad-Gita, the most important work of Indian sacred literature. Longest epic in the world.

Brahma

God of creation (ensures your creation/birth), four heads to see all, not worshipped a lot in contemporary Hinduism. "Re/Birth" part of the cycle.

Sarasvati

Goddess of Knowledge, daughter of Brahma

Lakshmi

Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity, wife of Vishnu

Mahatma Gandhi

Great revolutionary who led India to independence from Great Britain through passive resistance and civil disobedience based upon Henry David Thoreau's doctrines. Quit India campaign to get the British out of India, Salt March to protest taxes on salt. Assassinated by a Hindu nationalist who thought he was too accommodating to the Muslims.

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. Personifications of the Brahman, images of the divine. The separate deities to which one can devote themselves.

Ganesha

Hindu god of the removal of obstacles; represented as an elephant. One of the most worshipped deities in Hinduism, people pray to them before embarking on a new journey.

Hanuman

Hindu monkey god of courage and bravery. Central character in the Ramayana. Viewed as symbol of resistance, big part of the Bhakti movement.

Divali

Hindu new year; festival of lights to represent knowledge. 5 day period in autumn.

Mandir

Hindu place of worship

Vishnu

Protector of universal balance (Protects you during life). Has 10 incarnations, that he takes on at points in order to help the world, 9 have happened, one is yet to come. "Life" part of the cycle.

Moksha

Release, one of the four Hindu life goals

Three Jewels of Jainism

Right faith, right knowledge, right conduct

Shudras

Servant laborer class, "feet", unskilled workers

Gurdwara

Sikh place of worship. Term for a Sikh house of worship, as Synagogue is for Judaism. Can get a free meal there any time of day.

Harappa

Site of one of the great cities of the Indus Valley civilization of the third millennium B.C.E. It was located on the northwest frontier of the zone of cultivation, and may have been a center for the acquisition of raw materials. In present day Pakistan.

Partition of India

This led to the movement of millions of people in South Asia after India got its independence from Britian. Splitting up areas into predominately Muslim and predominately Hindu, with India as Hindu and Pakistan for Muslims. Much resettlement violence as this occurs.

Outcastes

Those considered to be outside of society, includes the Untouchables

Guru

a Hindu religious leader and spiritual teacher

Holi

a Hindu spring festival celebrated in February or March in honor of Krishna. Spring festival celebrated by throwing brightly colored water or powder. Time of license.

Rig-Veda

a collection of 1,017 Sanskrit hymns; Hinduism's oldest sacred text. composed from about 2300 to 1200 BCE - hymns of praise to the gods. Epically long poem that gives hymns of praise to the gods. Veda means breath of the gods.

Ganges

a river in India that flows into the Bay of Bengal; in Hinduism, it is known as a sacred river.

Sannyasin

a wandering ascetic who has advanced to the fourth and highest stage of life.

Kumbh Mela

mass Hindu pilgrimage in which Hindus gather at the Ganges river, Ganges River-- ritual bathing, life giving river, 4, 8, and 12 year celebration--- Gods were fighting over elixir of life with demons, Krishna took it back for gods and they dropped it in the Ganges river-- it has been touched by the gods. This mass gathering takes place once each 12 years at each of four sites along sacred rivers. The 55 days of pilgrimage can attract up to 100 million worshippers, and the estimated 30 million who gathered on a single day in 2013 is thought to be the biggest gathering in human history.

Avatars

material appearance or incarnation of a deity on Earth. Mostly refer to Vishnu, and he has ten of them.

Vaishyas

merchant-administrator class, "legs"

Kshatriyas

nobility-warrior class, "arms"

Aparigraha

non-possessiveness, as long as we cling to things we bleed, dog holding bone metaphor.

Ahimsa

nonviolence, extreme nonviolence, no war, no physical violence, all spirits have equal value

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. Each represents an ideal model for Hindu life, and it is later revealed that each is a manifestation of the divine (Vishnu and Lakshmi).

Punjab

state in northwestern India with a largely Sikh population. The region where Sikhism has its roots and biggest following today

Smriti

term denoting the vast category of Hindu sacred texts that is not shruti, that which is remembered, classic Hindu stories.

Sanatana Dharma

the "eternal religion" of Hinduism. The name for Hinduism within India. "The way things have always been" Set of duties and rules that apply to all hindus, regardless of class, caste, or sect. Gives the virtues of Hindusim.

Karma

the effects of a person's actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation. The ethical law of cause and effect. Send good out, get good back, and vice versa. If you do good, you get reborn higher up on the ladder to moksha, but if you do bad, you end up lower.

Samsara

the endless cycle of birth and suffering and death and rebirth. Recycling of the atman. Birth, life, death, rebirth.

Brahman

the eternal essence of reality and the source of the universe, beyond the reach of human perception and thought. The World Soul. The Everything.

Sky Clad

• One group that split from Jainism • Naked • Most "extreme" form • Only carry a gourd for drinking, and brush to move dirt (to avoid stepping on small animals)