Ancient India: The Setting
The Monsoons
Indus Civilization• First major civilization in South Asia was
along the Indus River (~2600 BCE)• Cities rivaled Sumer in Mesopotamia• Largest empire until rise of Persians
1,000 yrs. later• By 1900 BCE – Indus Civilization in
decline• Dravidians mostly
dispersed by time of Aryan migration into the sub-continent
Aryan Migration• People from Central Asia (Aryans) enter
subcontinent by 1500 BCE–Nomadic cattle and horse herders– Eventually mingled with native
populations, settled to farm
Aryan-Indian Religion & Society• what is known of Aryan religion comes
from books called the Vedas– Vedas recorded sacred chants passed
down from ~1500 to 500 B.C.E.
• Polytheistic – gods embodied natural forces
• Ranked social groups based on occupation– The caste system
The Caste System• Extremely rigid social
hierarchy• Determined all aspects
of a person’s life:– job– spouse– neighborhood– diet– who you could interact
with in public– expected behavior
• Cannot move up in a lifetime (only down if marrying down)
UNTOUCHABLESbutchers, waste collectors, leather tanners, cremation
rites
Hinduism– Henotheistic: • the worship of a particular god without
disbelieving in the existence of others• Supreme Divinity (Brahma) represented by
hundreds of gods and goddesses– Ultimate goal in life is to be released from
reincarnation (samsara); the release is called moksha
– Karma is the actions a person does that affect your fate• affects your path to moksha and how you
will be reincarnated in the next life– All Hindus have religious and moral duties
(dharma)
The Trimurti
Brahma – the Creator, Vishnu – the Preserver , Shiva – the Destroyer
Hinduism: Conclusion• Hinduism inspired other, related, religions
(Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism)
• Hinduism is inherently religiously tolerant; other religions are simply viewed as alternative personal paths to God– “To claim salvation as the monopoly of any one
religion is like claiming that God can be found in this room but not in the next, in this attire but not another.”
– “How artistic, that there should be room for such variety—how rich the texture is, and how much more interesting that if the Almighty had decreed one antiseptically safe, exclusive, orthodox way. Although he is Unity, God finds, it seems his recreation in variety.”
• With 950 million adherents, Hinduism is the 3rd largest religion in the world; most all Hindus live in India