hum - indian midterm

yooooo

vedas

sacred texts of Vedic people - hymns of praising various deity used in ritual contexts

• collection of 1028 hymns

• written by aryans “noble ones”

4 vedas

1. rg (hymns)

2. yajur (formulas)

3. sama (chants)

4. atharva (spells)

“veda” = knowledge

rig veda

• places humans/gods in reciprocal relationship

• to be heard, precisely memorized

• reveals homologies

• praises appearance/qualities and mythic deeds of deities

• kavi (poet) recites hymns

• power of “vac” - speech

hymn’s purpose

praise gods and receive blessings

1. praise - deities

2. request - gods to mobilize their power for worship

3. epiphany - successful arrival of god on sacrificial ground

ritual

• guest model

  • modeled on hospitality

  • gods are guests that are invited to sacrificial fire

  • offerings like ghee, soma - sacred drink made from plant & offered to Indra

• ascent model 

  • offerings ascend to gods in heaven on the smoke of fire offering 

homology as a central principle

underlying connections that unify elements in the cosmos (not just poetry)

• ex. rays of light at down are homologous to cows

• soma juice = bull/horse

• ritual itself = chariot & chariot-making

key deities of rig veda

1. indra: king of gods, storms

2. agni: fire

3. soma: intoxicating drink of gods 

sacrifice

to maintain cosmic/social order

asvamedha (horse sacrifice)

highest form

• horse wanders for a year, is followed by king’s men, then dismembered

• performed to assert king’s sovereignty

• out of the house, we have the creation the universe and time

  • back = sky, underbelly = earth, feet = days/nights

“purusha” - primordial man

• through his self-sacrifice, the world is created

• origin of VARNA (the four classes)

  • mouth - brahmins (priests)

  • arms - ksatriyas (warriors/kings)

  • legs - vaisyas (commoners)

  • feet - sudras (servants)

• sacrifice takes apart & reassembles

• “He being One, becomes or is made Many, becomes or is put together as One”

  • essential to divide then reunite

upanishads

REINTERPRETS vedas and INTERPRETS sacrifice

• literal translation = “homology”

• shifts from external ritual to internal realization

• core of Indian spiritual thought

• analogic thinking and dialogue that show true nature of reality

basic philosophy: prove the ultimate identity of atman/brahman

upanishad vs. Vedic

vedic

• ritual, action-based

• rta - cosmic order

• gods are external beings who must be pleased

upanishadic

• introspective, knowledge-based

• moksa - liberate yourself through your actions

• “to know oneself is to know the universe”

upanishad key concepts

1. karma

2. atman

3. brahman

literary metaphors to explain phenomenon

• like a spider spins its web, the universe materialized

karma

“action” and moral consequence

• links deed to rebirth

• basis for how samsara and the world of transmigration operates

• ritual action + desired result = karma

atman

“the self”

• pronoun “oneself”

• the idea that action goes back unto oneself

• the stable self that persists through time

  • we have atman because blessings must come back to your self/soul

brahman

ultimate reality

• initially “sacrificial efficacy”

buddhism 

founded by Buddha that seeks to alleviate suffering by getting rid of its cause (desire)

• context = sramana movement

  • political world of late Vedic India, rise of urbanization and states → merchants, doctors, courtesans on outskirts of society

  • “sram” people who put effort/strive - reformers

• buddha saw the Four Sights (sick, elderly, dead, wandering)

  • how do we get out of this cycle of suffering?

4 noble truths

1. suffering (problem is there is suffering)

2. desire (the cause of suffering is desire)

3. end to suffering = nirvana

4. the noble eightfold path

buddhism key concepts

• impermanence, NOTHING LASTS

  • there is no permanent self (chariot analogy - parts that just exist as a chariot at one time)

• skandhas (aggregates)

• action = intention

karma in buddhism 

1. desire causes all action

2. desire toward action is intention

3. effect binds us to cycle of samsara

samsara wheel: three poisons (greed, ignorance, hate)

extinguish desire = karma starved of its energy

skandhas (Aggregates) - in the anattalakkhasutta

• form - physical body

• feeling - sensation of pain/pleasure

• judgement - recognition of experience

• habit - thoughts/emotions

• consciousness - awareness

We put all of these together to tell a story - we MAKE up stories to create a self, when there really is no self

lack of self

we THINK we have identity, but it comes from desire, we THINK we are special but once we stop deluding ourselves, we can focus on the cessation of suffering

there is no stable, essential self.

suffering “duhka”

1. actual suffering

2. happiness is tainted by the fact it will end

upanishads vs. buddhism

upanishads

• seeks to realize atman

• liberation through knowledge

• karma = ritual efficacy

• goal = union w/ brahman

buddhism

• denies atman (NO SELF)

• liberation through NO desire

• karma = intention

• goal = nirvana

sermons of buddha

1. anattalakkhasutta

2. chain of impermanence & suffering

3. path to freedom (nirvana)

4. lakkhanasutta

anattalakkhasutta

• characteristics of not-self

• five aggregates: form, feeling, judgement, habit, consciousness

  • they are impermanent and subject to suffering, so they cannot be “self” bc they cannot be controlled

chain of impermanence & suffering

• aggregates are impermanent

• if something is impermanent it is suffering

• since they are impermanent, it cannot be self

path to freedom

approach aggregate with “This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self”

• then desire fades and one is freed

impermanence → non-attachment → nirvana

lakkhanasutta

32 marks of a great man (mahapurusa)

• 2 destinies: wheel-turning monarch or buddha

• each mark is a past-life karmic deed

  • well-planted feet = firm moral conduct

  • stretched limbs = did not kill

past virtue manifests in the future physically

eightfold path

“the way out”

1. the right views

2. the right resolution

3. the right speech

4. the right conduct

5. the right means of livelihood

6. the right extertion

7. the right mindfulness

8. the right concentration

Mahabharata

“the great tale about the descendants of bharata”

• longest poem/epic in history

• war of succession between 5 pandas brothers and 101 kauravas

• the nature of dharma, succession, righteousness, authority, religion

• internal moral conflict

• “apad dharma” acting righteously in time of conflict

core plot of mahabharata

• pandas lose kingdom in dice game, exiled for 13 years

• return → devastating battle

• yudhisthira (eldest) must rule amid moral ruin

2 dimensions (exoteric & esoteric)

exoteric

• the problem of succession

• claim is ambiguous

esoteric

• the removal of earth’s burden

• “avatar” to remove and descend

structurally framed…

by almost-genocides

• snakes of janamejaya

• burning of khandava fires

• battle itself

post-vedic 4 ends of a man

1. Artha (wealth)

2. kama (sensual pleasure)

3. dharma (righteousness)

4. moksa (liberation)

Bhagavad Gita

“song of the lord”

• Arjuna faced moral collapse on battlefield

• dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna where Krishna reveals himself to be god, teaches karma yoga (action without desire)

Bhagavad Gita teachings

• do one’s svadharma (one’s duty that is socially determined) without attachment to results

• surrender action to god through devotion (Bhakti)

svadharma + asrama

svadharma: doing ones duty without desire for reward + is socially determined

asrama: life cycle of brahmin

1. student

2. householder

3. forest mendicant

4. renouncer

kids don’t have dharma bc of ant story

ramayana

life story of Rama

• the ideal man

• exiled but brother saves throne for him

• sita is abducted and he fights a war with monkey allies to gain her back

• returns to ramarajya (ideal city)

ramayana characters

1. rama: ideal man

2. sita: ideal woman, purity tested by fire

3. ravana: mirror of Rama and adharmic - boon from shiva (indestructible except to humans)

4. hanuman: symbol of devotion (Bhakti) and service

5. surpanakha: demon woman who was mutilated (patriarchal standards)

ramayana teachings

1. dharma is embodied in an ordered society

2. order demands hierarchy

3. kingship and divinity have a close relationship

jattakas

tales of buddha’s former lives

• moral lessons or entertaining stories

• heart of buddhism - earliest sites are covered in these images

• hierarchizes the universe

• ART corroborates the text, everything happens in one scene

• visual sermons

ex of jattakas

1. sibi and the hawk - price of righteousness is high, all lives are equal

2. monkey & crocodile - celebrates cleverness

why animals?

emphasize what is “human” about being human

• shows order of samsara

ayurveda

“veda” knowledge of “ayus” life

• holistic medical system

• health = balance of body, mind, and spirit

3 humors

1. vata (wind)

• motion, imbalance → anxiety

2. pitta (choler/fire)

• digestion, metabolism → heat

3. kapha (phlegm)

• structure → congestion

texts for ayurveda

caraka-samhita - 8 questions

• doctors are liminal - noble training but gross reality of body

bower manuscript

• garlic festival and drinking cows milk - recognizing people have different needs

a.k. Ramanujan: “is there an Indian way of thinking?”

• we are embedded in this world through

  • varna (social postion)

  • asrama (stage of life)

humans are special bc…

we have CHOICE

• our actions now determine our future

• we can move up and down

context-sensitive vs. context-free

context-sensitive (Indian-thinking)

• categorizes how specific people act

• are determined by where we come from

context-free

• moksa

indian vs. western thinking that is universal, identity is individual 

conclusion

no Indian thinking but a family of patterns united by CULTURAL SENSITIVITY

• contradictions exist

• “indian genius for accommodation”

• shows how pleasure (kamasutra), wealth, and liberation can coexist