Hinduism

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Hinduism and India

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Concept of “Hinduism”

12th Century by the Persians

Originally intended to designate “Indians”

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• Recall that when Columbus discovered America they were

looking for India

• And called the Native Americans

• Indians

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Mistaken Impression

• That Hinduism is a Monolithic Religion

• Similar to the Roman Catholic Church

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Sanatana Dharma

• Sanattana = “Eternal”

• Dharma = “Religion” = “Teaching”

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• What we think of as “Hinduism”

encompasses many different sometimes conflicting beliefs and practices

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Concept of “India”

• Suggests greater unity and cohesiveness than

there really is

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Great Diversity

• Socially • Religiously

• Economically • Geographically

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• + 1 Billion People • Host of racial and ethnic

stocks • 16 major languages • Hundreds of dialects • 850 languages daily

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Religious Pluralism

80% Hindu 12% Islam

2.5% Christian 2% Sikhism

1% Buddhism 11

The Early Cultures of India

• What we call Hinduism is an amalgamation

of elements from several cultural sources

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2 Major Contributors

• The Indus Valley Civilization

• The Aryans

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The Indus Valley Civilization

• Highly sophisticated ancient society

• Rediscovered by the British in the 19th Century, while

building railroads 14

• Most evidence is based upon archaeological findings

• Civilization flourished between 3000-1500 B.C.

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Bronze Age

• 3000 B.C. – 1200 B.C.

• Ancient Near East • Egyptian Culture • Early Dynastic Period • Age of the Pyramids

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• 70 cities have been unearthed

• High degree of organization and central planning

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• Civilization spanned about 1 million square miles

• Some cities had populations of 40,000

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Flood Control Culture • Like Egypt with Nile River • Agriculture • Significant industry and trade - Roughly contemporary with

Egypt and Mesopotamia

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Sources

• Literate Culture we cannot fully understand

their writing

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writing on bricks and seals

did not use paper or clay tablets

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“Unicorn” seal + writing 23

More seals 24

…and more seals... 25

Seated “yogi” : early Shiva? 26

Major Cities

• Harappa and Mohenjo-daro

surrounded by smaller cities, towns, and villages

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Major Cities

• 1 situated in the north • 1 situated in the south

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Harappan society and its neighbors, ca. 2000 B.C.E.

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Harappan Culture • Indus valley

–well-watered and heavily forested

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Harappan Culture

• 500 miles along the river valley

–10-20 times larger than Mesopotamia or Egypt

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Foundations of Harappan Society

• The Indus River

– Silt-enriched water from mountain ranges

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Foundations of Harappan Society

• Major society built by Dravidian peoples, 3000-2500 BC

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Foundations of Harappan Society

– Cultivation of cotton before 5000 BC,

- Early cultivation of poultry

– Decline after 1900 BC

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Mohenjo-Daro Ruins

• Population c. 40,000 • Regional center

–Layout, architecture suggests public purpose

–Broad streets, citadel, pool, sewage

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• Standardized weights evident throughout region

• Specialized labor

• Trade

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Grid map of Mohenjo-daro

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Mohenjo-daro : aerial view 42

Mohenjo-daro: View of the “Citadel” 43

The “Great Bath” 44

another view of the “Great Bath” 45

view of a small, side street 46

looks like a small tower, but actually it is a neighborhood well

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A bathroom on a private residence 48

A public well in Harappa, or perhaps an ancient laundromat...

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A large drain or sewer 50

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Granary 54

Monumental architecture

• very-large scale building • walled cites, with fortified

citadels • planned economy

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Cities

• very densely populated

• houses: two to three stories

• every house is laid out the same

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Culture and Society

• advanced agriculture

• surplus production

• textiles: wool and cotton

• domesticated animals and fish

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Religion

• dominated by priests ?

• power base: fertility ?

• deities: male and female, both nude

• bull worship and phallic symbols

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A priest? A bull

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Decline

Combination of Changes

• climate shift: the monsoon patterns

• flooding

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Decline

• destruction of the forests

• migrations of new peoples: The Aryans

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The Aryan Invasion

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• Most scholars believe that the Indus Civilization came to an end around 1500 B.C.

• when the Aryans migrated into the Indian subcontinent

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• There is no archaeological evidence of a conquest

• There is evidence of a co-existence for some time

• But eventually the Aryan Culture became dominant

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• Aryans, lighter-skinned invaders from the north

• Dravidians, darker-skinned sedentary inhabitants of India

• Color / Racial Bias

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Possible route of the Aryan invasions 66

The Aryans

• not to be confused with Hitler’s “Aryans”

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The Aryans, cont.

• these Aryans speak an Indo-European dialect

• related to other languages like Greek and Latin

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The Aryans, con’t

• they called themselves “Aryans”

• their land: “Aryavarta” –land of the Aryans

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The Early Aryans • Religious and Literary works: • The Vedas

–Sanskrit: sacred tongue

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The Vedas

• Represent the perspective of the priestly class

• We cannot be certain how widespread these views were

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The Vedas

• Divided into 4 Collections • “Samhitas”

• Each dealing with a different aspect of ritual

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Veda = Teaching / Wisdom

• Rig-veda • Yajur-veda • Sama-veda

• Atharva-veda

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Rig Veda

• Oldest and most important • 1,000 songs to various gods and

goddesses • “Rig” = Praise

• Written between 2300-1200 B.C.

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Yajur Veda

• Instruction for Sacrifices

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Sama Veda

• Contains melodies

• Sacrificial songs had to be sung at just the right pitch to

be effective

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Atharva Veda

• Spells and incantations for healing rituals

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The Vedic Worldview:

• The Physical World • The Divine World • The Human World

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“Triloka” (3 Places)

• Reality is divided into 3 levels

• Earth • Mid-Space

• Svarga (home of the gods and ancestors)

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“Rita”

• The abstract, impersonal principle of harmony and

order which kept the universe intact and preserved unity

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“Rita”

• Also regulated moral order and the order of ritual

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• Even the gods were subject to Rita

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“Rita”

• Also regulated

• The Moral Order

• Order of Ritual

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Rita

Right Right / Wrong Human Rights

Rite Ritual

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Rita

• Provides the relationship between the

Cosmic order and the

Moral order

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Creation Stories

• Several different accounts • Sometimes at odds with each

other • Does not seem to be a

problem

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Sanskrit words for God

20 different words

Most common is

“Deva”

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Deva

• Means

• Shiny

• Exalted

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Deva

• Divine being • Supernatural power

• But not necessarily an omniscient or omnipotent

being 89

Devas

• Not moral exemplars or lawgivers

• They were created after the world and are subject to its laws

• Including the Law of Rita 90

Vedic Gods

• Indra = God of War

• 25% of the hymns of the Rig Veda are devoted Indra

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Agni

• The Fire God

• 20% of the hymns of the Rig Veda devoted to Agni

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Varuna

• Custodian of Rita

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Soma

• Manifested in particular plants used in rituals

• Induces ecstatic experiences

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Other Gods and Goddesses

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The Hindu Trinity • Brahma = Creator God married to

Sarasvati

• Vishnu = Preserver and protector of creation married to Laxsmi

• Shiva = Destroyer and is married to Shakti / Parvati

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Kali

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Kali

• The Dark Mother Goddess

• Consort of Shiva

• Goddess of time and change 98

Vedic Tradition

• Aryan had strong emphasis on ritual over doctrine and belief

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Axial Age

• Jarl Jaspers

• Transformation in world thought

• 800 B.C. – 200 B.C.

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Axial Age • Jewish Prophets (800-500 B.C.) • Taoism (Lao-Tzo) 575 B.C. • Confucianism (Confucius) 551 B.C. • Buddhism (Buddha (560-480 B.C.) • Greek Philosophy • Socrates (470-399 B.C.) • Plato (427-348 B.C.) • Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

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The Upanishads

• (End of the Vedas)

• (800-300 BC)

• Most Philosophical Writings

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Major Philosophical Tradition:

• “Advaita Vedanta”

• Shankara (750 AD)

• “Advaita” = Non-Dualism

• “Vedanta” = Summation of the Vedas

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Summary: • 1. Everything that exists is Brahman

• 2. Brahman can be interpreted as

• (God): Impersonal Force Supreme Principle

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3. Creation is the Dance of Brahman

“Lila”

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4. Atman is the Soul of the Individual

5. Atman and Brahman are One and the Same

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6. Brahman is not to be confused with

• Brahma = a Hindu god

• Brahmin = Hindu Priest or Caste

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• 7. Why do we not understand that Brahman = Atman?

• MAYA = Illusion

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8. Our goal in life is Liberation from the cycle of Samsara

• Samsara = Reincarnation

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9. And reach “Moksha”

• Moksha = Nirvana (Buddhism)

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10. This is when the individual soul (Atman) in absorbed into

Brahman

• “Like a drop of rain being absorbed into a lake”

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11.The Law of Karma

• Governs the cycle of samara

Karma • The good and bad deeds that

we do

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• Good deeds

• better rebirth into this world • a god

• a human • an animal • an insect

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• Bad deeds

• worse rebirth into this world

Dharma

• During the transition from the Vedic tradition to Classical Hinduism

• The concept of dharma evolves

• The caste system becomes more deeply established in Hindu life

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• Distinctions between good and bad karma are determined by dharma

• Dharma has both moral and cosmological dimensions

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• Dharma as a moral principle was rather abstract and required practical application to people’s daily lives

• Accordingly, the genre of literature known as dharma-sastras emerged to specify and codify the dharma

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• The cosmological element implies that • the moral order is rooted in the nature of

reality, not on human whim

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The Laws of Manu

• The most important and influential dharma – sastras

• Written around the time of Christ

• Reflect an earlier oral tradition

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• These laws assign different dharmas to each stratum of Hindu society

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The Hindu Caste System

• Social • Economic • Political • Religious

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• The caste system was founded on the Vedic stratification of society

• Acquired its characteristic features during the classical period of Hinduism

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Caste Assumptions

• All people are not created equal

• We are all born with innate differences derived from actions in previous lives

• This is the Law of Karma

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• Caste entails both a

• Division of labor

• Hierarchy of spiritual purity

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“Caste”

• Word is of Portuguese origin

• Imprecisely refers to what Hindus call

• Varna • Jati

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Varna

Color

Jati

Birth Birth group

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Varna

• The varna system is the division of labor composed of the four categories of Aryan society

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Brahmins

• Priests

• Top of the purity hierarchy

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Ksatriyas

• The Warriors • Administrators

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Vaisyas

• Merchants • Farmers • Artisans

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Sudras

• Peasants • Common folks

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“Outcastes”

• Outside the varna system

• “Untouchables”

• “Hari-jans” (Children of God)

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Untouchables

• Handlers of leather • Morticians

• Toilet cleaners • Scavengers

• Their ritual impurity cannot be removed by

standard procedures of purification

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• Live outside villages

• Cannot use the same public facilities as caste members

• Technically outlawed by the constitution, the practice remains a part of daily Hindu life

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Jati

• Birth Group existing within the larger varna groupings

• One’s subcaste is determined by birth and it cannot be left except under rare circumstances

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• Unlike the varnas which are pan-Hindu

• Jatis are local groups

• Total number has not been determined

• + 3000

• There are hundreds if jatis ranked within each varna

• Local ranking is not always the same

• Although little or no individual social mobility exists in the caste system

• There is some mobility for sub-castes

• There is much scholarly speculation on the relationship between varna and jatis

• Many believe that jatis were indigenous to the Indus Valley Civilization

• Varna were superimposed by the Aryans

Caste Dynamics

• Marital restrictions

• Food one can eat

• People you associate with

Enforcement

• Caste strictures are ordinarily enforced by family and intra-caste pressure

• Not by the upper castes enforcing rules on the lower castes

• There are caste councils which discuss caste interests

Caste Dharma

• Dharma of each caste carries specific duties and responsibilities

Karma and Dharma

• Karma is determined by one’s adherence to one’s caste duties

Laws of Manu

• Specify cast duties

Brahmin Caste

• Teaching • Studying

• Sacrificing • Receiving gifts

Ksatriyas

• Warriors / Administrators

• Protection of country • From foreign enemies

• Maintaining caste system • Social and cosmic order

Vaisyas

• Merchants / Farmers / Artisans

• Taking a wife • Keeping cattle

• Knowing the worth of valuable materials • Farm duties

Sudras

• Peasants / Common folks

• Serving the Brahmins and the other upper castes with humility

Outcastes

• No dharma according to the Laws of Manu

Stages of Life

• Laws of Manu

• Outline particular regulations for the livies of men and women and their relationship

Ideal life stages

• These principles express the “ideal” life patterns for upper caste men and women

• Do not necessarily describe the life cycle of each and every member of Hindu society

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4 Stage for Men

• 1. Student • 2. Householder • 3. Forest-dweller • 4. Sannyasa (Renunciation)

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Student Stage

• Leaves home to: • Study the Vedas • Religious Rituals

• A Trade • How to be productive member of Cast

• With a Guru, Teacher, at School

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Householder Stage

• Expected to marry • Raise a family • Pursue an occupation appropriate to his caste • Establish himself as a financially independent

responsible contributor to society

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• Marriage was regarded as the natural state for adult men and women

• Shameful to deviate from it

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Forest-Dweller Stage

• A men and possibly his wife moved to a more modest dwelling

• Usually at the edge of the village near the forest

• Must become more devoted to the life of the spirit

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• This could occur only after a man had • raised a family • Earned an income • Discharged his obligations to society

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Sannyasa (Renunciation) Stage

• Great rigor and austerity

• Not all men would embark upon it

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• Must renounce their former identity and everything with it:

• Name • Wife

• Family • All Material Goods

• Live out remaining days as a wondering, solitary ascetic

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3 Stages for Women

• 1. Girlhood • 2. Householder • 3. Widowhood

• Each stage defined by the protecting male

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Girlhood Stage

• Not allowed the same freedom as boys because they could not leave their father’s protection

• What education from their parents

• Domestic skills and religious rituals

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Householder Stage

• Marriage marked the female’s entrance into the householder stage

• Marriages in India have historically been alliances between families

• reproduction and economic stability

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• Because marriages were arranged,

• bride and groom often did not meet until the actual wedding

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• Girls married early in life

• Frequently because of the great concern for their virginity

• They often married much older men

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• Bride lives with her husband’s family

• Extended families

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• The new bride was expected to obey her mother-in-law

• She was expected to live up to the ideals of the “good wife”

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• If a women gave birth to a son,

• her status was greatly increased

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Death of Husband

• Crisis for every Hindu wife

• Marked entrance into the 3rd stage of life

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Sati

• Means “going with”

• The wife was expected to jump on her husband’s funeral pyre

• Many women were thrown on the burning pyre against their wills

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• Practice outlawed by British in 19th Century

• Reports as recently as 1987 and 2002

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Widows

• Very difficult situation

• Viewed as dangerous and the embodiment of all negative qualities in women

• Generally not permitted to marry even though many in their 20’s and 30’s

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• They were expected to wear the white sari for the rest of their lives

• because white is the color of morning in India

• Sometimes expected to shave their heads to be unattractive to men

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• Usually given the hardest household tasks

• Forbidden to eat with the rest of the family

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Today

• The roles of Hindu men and women are changing, perhaps more today than ever before in India’s history.

• But social change in India evolve slowly, because patterns of behavior are etched deeply into the soul of Hindu India

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The Ethics of Hinduism

• 4 Ways or Paths to Good Karma

4 “Goods” of Life

• First = Dharma or duty

• Second = Atha = wealth and material acquisition

• Third = Kama = pleasure and enjoyment of the senses

• Fourth = Moksha = Highest good / release from

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Moksha

• To achieve moksha, one must be willing to give up the other three goods

• because even though doing one’s duty and pursuing wealth and enjoyment are viewed positively within one’s caste

• they also keep one bound to the samsara

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Religious Life

• For those who are not yet prepared to abandon a life of

• duty, material acquisition, and enjoyments,

• The religious life means doing one’s best to improve this life and future lives

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The Way of Meditation

• “Raja Marga”

• The Path of Mental Concentration

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Raja Marga • Intense meditation focusing upon

the truth of Brahman

• Overcoming Maya

• Achieving inner peace and tranquility

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“Asanas”

• Physical Postures used to develop the mind’s ability to concentrate

• Breathing exercises

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Mantras • Chants

• Repetitive words, sound, etc

• Expresses the Divine in the form of sounds

• “OM”

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The Way of Activity “Karma Marga”

• Emphasis upon “good works”

• Offerings and sacrifices to gods

• Helping the poor

Karma Marga

• Service is given without any interest in the personal benefits of one’s labor

• This consciousness leads to liberation from self in the midst of work

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Karma Marga • The steadily devoted soul attains

unadulterated peace because he offers the results of all activity to Me; whereas a person who is not in harmony with the divine, who is greedy for the fruits of his labor, becomes entangled

• - p. 83 185

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The Way of Knowledge

• “Jnana Marga”

• The Path of Rational Inquiry • Study

Jnana Marga • Employs the rational mind instead

of trying to transcend it by concentration practices

• Ignorance is the root of all problems

• Being separate from the Absolute

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Jnana Marga • Seeks to develop spiritual values

• Calmness • Restraint

• Renunciation • Resignation

• Concentration • Faith

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Jana Marga

• Spiritual knowledge is the only thing that can destroy our miseries for ever; any other knowledge removes wants only for a time

• - 83 189

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The Way of Devotion

• “Bhakti Marga”

• Personal devotion to a particular god

• (Avatar)

“Bhakti” • Means = “To share” = “To share a relationship with a personal deity”

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Post-Classical Period

• New texts added to the canon of Hindu writings

• very important in shaping Hindu piety in the bhakti movement

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2 Great Epics

• Mahabharata

• Ramayana

• 400 B.C. – 200 A.D.

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Puranas • Collection of poems about the

major Gods

• 6 – Vishnu • 6 – Brahma • 6 – Shiva

• (500-1500 A.D.) 194

Bhagavad-Gita

• “The Song of God”

• Part of the Mahabharata

• 400 B.C. – 100 A.D. • Authors unknown

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• Dialogue between Krishna (avatara of Vishnu) and warrior named Arjuna

• Takes place on the battlefield

• Between the Pandavas and the Kauravas (Both Royal Families)

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• Through a crooked dice game

• The Kauravas get the rights to the kingdom for 13 years

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• The Pandavas are exiled to the forest

• The Kauravas refuse to return the kingdom to the Pandavas

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• War is inevitable

• Arjuna does not want to fight is relatives

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• Krishna is disguised as Arjuna’s chariot driver

• Krishna counsels Arjuna on the greater idea of dharma or universal harmony and duty.

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• He explains that the soul (Atman) is eternal and immortal.

• Any 'death' on the battlefield would involve only the shedding of the body

• but the soul is permanent.

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• Arjuna receives several lessons from the Upanishads

• Including the ultimate meaninglessness of birth and death

• and action without attachment or aversion to keep from creating bad karma

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• As the dialogue proceeds, Krishna’s lessons begin gradually to focus upon himself

• Becoming increasingly characteristic of the path of bhakti

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• Krishna encourages Arjuna to focus his mind, will, and heart on god and let all else go

• For bhakti practice, what is done is not as important as how it is done

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• All that matters is to do things with faith and devotion to the god

• And to follow one’s dharma

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• On a climactic moment

• Arjuna asks Krishna to grant him an extremely rare blessing

• the ability to see Krishna in his full glory as god

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• Krishna grants Arjuna a divine eye with which to gaze on the god’s form

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• After his vision

• Arjuna arises and goes into battle

• claiming that his doubts have been dispelled

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• The Gita ends before we come to know about the battle itself

• But the war was not the real issue

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• The war is a metaphor for:

• Our soul • Our self • Our mind • Our Struggle with dharma (duty)

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Popular Bhakti Gods • Krishna

• Brahma = Creator • Vishnu = Preserver • Shiva = Destroyer

• Etc

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• Also other world religious leaders are viewed as Hindu Avatars

• Christ • Allah • Tao • Etc.