Ancient India

India: Modern Map

Monsoon Map

Harappan Civilization (2500 BCE)

Aryan Migration

The Aryans

• Light Skinned nomads who entered India from the North in 1500 BCE.

• The Aryans spoke a language called Sanskrit and counted their worth in cows.

• The Aryans conquered dark skinned, town-dwelling Dasas when they entered India

• The Aryans had a rigid class (or caste) system, which determined how people lived their lives (jobs, socializing….).

The Caste System

Ganges River, Varanasi

Bodhgaya, India

Origins of Hinduism

•No founder•No single sacred text•Collection of practices and

beliefs•Evolved over time

Sacred Texts of Hinduism

The Vedas: Brought to the Indian subcontinent by the Aryans. The Vedas are four collections of prayers and instructions for performing rituals. The Rig Veda is the most important, which includes Purusa.

Mahabharata: A great epic Indian story that explains the struggles that took place in India as the Aryans moved South. One part is the Bhagavad Gita, about a warrior prince about to go to war; chariot driver is Krishna, god in human form.

Ramayana: The great epic story of Rama and Sita, which

stresses the importance of dharma.

Vedas

• Prayers

• Rituals

• Existed orally

• Written in Sanskrit

around 300 BCE

The Vedas

Rama and Sita, with Hanuman,from the Ramayana

Krishna and Arjuna, from the Bhagavad Gita

Sources of Authority:

• Philosophical commentary on Vedas begun around 8th C. BCE

• Means “sitting near;” told in dialogues• Explore the relationship between humans and

gods• Conclusion: Atman the same as Brahman

Upanishads

Major Beliefs of Hinduism• Reincarnation:

• Karma:

• Dharma:

• Samsara:

• Moksha:

The process in which people are reborn into new bodies when they die.

System that determines whether someone reincarnates into a higher or lower caste.

One’s obligations in life—helps to determine karma—depends on caste

Cycle of birth, death, and re-birth

Goal of Hinduism—end of samsara—when the soul (atman) becomes one with the one true reality

Goal of Life:

• Understand Ultimate Reality, pierce through maya (illusion)

• Free oneself from samsara (cycle of rebirth)

Moksha

Paths to Moksha• Bhakti-yoga: path of devoting oneself to

God

• Raja-yoga: path of meditation and proper knowledge

• Karma-yoga: path of acting correctly not for the result of action

• Thousands of Gods/Goddesses—flexibility of worship

• All part of the Ultimate Reality, Brahman

• Individual human soul, Atman, also part of this Ultimate Reality

• Main Gods: Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva

Hindu Pantheon

Brahma, the Creator

Vishnu, the Preserver

Siva/Shiva, the Destroyer

Siva/Shiva, as ascetic

Ganesh

Mother Goddesses: Shakti

Durga slaying a demon

Kali

Hindu Temple,Madras

Puja: Worship

Sadhus

White Temple, Jaipur

Hindu Temple, Trimbukeshwar

Bathers, Ganges River