India’s Ancient Epics and Tales (Volume A)
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Transcript of India’s Ancient Epics and Tales (Volume A)
• before the time of historical records• Indus-Harappan, trade culture• Indo-Aryan, agrarian culture• Sanskrit• the Vedas
History
Vedas and Upanisads
• sacred texts• visionaries (rsis)• poets (kavis)• ritual formulas
(mantras)• commentary (śāstras)• rule books (sūtras)
Hinduism• self-generation• primordial substance• godhead• Purusa (spirit)• Brahman (Upanisads)• moksa• atman
Jataka Tales• Buddhism, Jainism• mosksa versus
nirvāna• karma• reincarnation• Great Vows
(mahavrata)• Siddhartha
• internal religious division• religious dissent• arrival of new faiths• diversity and pluralism
Changes
Indo-Aryan culture, which displaced Indus-Harappan culture starting about 2000 B.C.E., focused primarily on which of the following?
a. military conquestb. large-scale monoculturec. trade and industryd. family farming
Test Your Knowledge
What was the primary language used to produce Indian literature even into the nineteenth century?
a. Englishb. Indianc. Latind. Sanskrit
Test Your Knowledge
Test Your Knowledge
The earliest works composed in South Asia were hymns. These were organized into four groups called: ___________ .
a. Vedasb. Upaniṣadsc. kāvyad. mantras
Hinduism, the primary religion in ancient India, is characterized by which of the following?
a. monotheismb. polyandryc. polytheismd. brahmanism
Test Your Knowledge
Alternative religious beliefs to Hinduism found expression in which of the following?
a. the Rāmāyanab. the Mahābhāratac. the Bhagavad-gītād. the Jātaka tales
Test Your Knowledge
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