Hinduism

religio - “reverence for the gods”

  • religion is belief in a divine or superhuman power or powers to be obeyed and worshipped as the creator(s) and ruler(s) of the universe

  • religion is any specific system of belief and worship often involving a code of ethics and philosophy

brahman - ultimate/ absolute reality


E.B. Tylor (1832-1917)

  • defined religion as belief in supernatural beings

  • primitive religion (origin on religion) - savage philosophers (religion is a way to explain the world before scientific causes)

K. Marx (1818-1883)

  • opium of the people (to bring relief to suffering (social injustices), to make a world where people can feel better)

E. Durkheim (1858-1917)

  • a collective tradition, not just believing but doing rituals in a group setting - a sense of the place in the world, a belonging

  • not just orthodoxy (belief), its about orthopraxy (practice, what you’re supposed to do)


emic: “insider’s perspective”

  • sruti: revealed text

  • smruti: traditional text (human author)

etic: “outsider’s perspective”


  • Indus Valley Civilization - also known as Meluhhan civilization

  • Harappa and Mohenjo Daro: evidence of Indus VC

    • evidence with seals, mostly domestic animals with symbols

    • Pasupati (lord of creatures): Proto-Siva


Introduction to Hinduism (Gavin Flood)

  1. Points of Departure

  • hindu - first a persian geographical term for the people who lived beyond the river Indus

    • often characterized as belief in reincarnation (samsara) determined by the law that all actions have effects (karma), and that salvation is freedom from this cycle

    • not a category in the classical sense but more in the sense of prototype theory (maintains that categories do not have rigid boundaries, but degrees of category membership)

    • a development of hindu self-understanding - a transformation in the modern world of themes already present

  • Vedas - large body of literature composed in Sanskrit revered as revelation (sruti) and as the source of dharma

    • means knowledge

    • puranas - stories about people and gods, the Epics and mythological texts

  • Dharma

    • what a hindu does is more important than what a hindu believes

    • the practice or performance of certain duties

    • implies a fundamental distinction between the affirmation of worldly life and social values and rejection of reincarnation in order to achieve salvation or liberation

  • sociological characterization: a hindu is someone born within an Indian social group, a caste, who adheres to its rules with regard to purity and marriage, and who performs its prescribed rituals

  • high caste householder if born with three debts (rna) to be paid (to seek liberation)

    • vedic study to the sages (rsi) as a celibate student (brahmacarin)

    • ritual to the gods (deva) as a householder

    • begetting a son to make funeral offerings to the ancestors (putr)

  • offering incense to the icon of a deity - thought to open a channel of communication

  • tirtha - places of pilgrimage (crossings)

    • Ex. Varanasi (so sacred that people who die there receive liberation at death)

  • Hindu Traditions

    a. arboreal model

        claims that various sub-traditions branch off from a central, original tradition

    b. river model

        claims that a tradition comprises multiple streams which merge into a single mainstream

  • Brahmanical traditions

    • Vaisnava traditions - Vishnu

    • Saiva traditions - Siva

    • Sakta traditions - Devi

  • Vedanta - theological articulation of the vedic traditions (philosophical basis of the Hindu renaissance during 19th cent)

  • Renouncer Traditions

    • espouse the values of asceticism and world transcendence in contrast to the brahmanical householder values of affirming the goals of dharma, artha, and kaama

  • Popular Traditions

    • low-caste traditions to appease goddesses who demand offerings of blood and alcohol

-Chronology of South Asia

  • Indus Valley Civilization (c. 2500 to 1500 BCE)

  • Vedic Period (c. 1500 to 500 BCE)

  • Epic Period (c. 500 BCE to 500 CE)

  • Medieval Period (c. 500 CE to 1500 CE)

  • Modern Period (c. 1500 CE to present)



  1. Ancient Origins

  • 2 ancient cultural complexes

    a. Indus valley civilization (2500 BCE - 1500 BCE)

        centered on a river and locates in the basin of the Indus (flows through present day Pakistan)

        developed urban culture - had sophisticated water technologies

        had trade contacts with the Middle East and with the hunter-gatherer tribes of Gujurat

        large number of female terracotta figurines unearthed during this period

        declined between 1800 and 1700 BCE - due to environmental causes

        rest of Indus civilization died by early Aryan invaders (claimed)

    b. Aryan culture (developed during second millennium BCE)

        northern plains of India from central Asia

        self-designation - Sanskrit aarya (noble or honorable)

                            three highest social classes

        knowledge of Aryans come from Rg Veda Samhita (earliest literature of hinduism)

        Aryan migration thesis: Aryans migrate when Indus valley civilization declines

                            a religion with Greek and Scandinavian equivalents became “corrupted by the emotional devotionalism of the Dravidians”

                            Rg Veda speaks of Aryans subduing cities of the Dasas - not specifically Indus but it can be implied

                            Arya - “noble” (sanskrit)

        Cultural transformation thesis: Aryan culture is development of Indus valley civilization - so aryan culture is a continuation of indus culture

                           modern archaeological evidence does not support the idea of Aryan migrations to India - only linguistic evidence of the connections between Sanskirt and European languages

  • The Veda

    • timeless revelation which is not of human authorship -in eternal and contains all knowledge

    • not written down until thousand years after its composition

      • the act of writing itself was regraded as a polluting activity

    • foundation for most later developments in hinduism

    • intimately connected with vedic ritual and its primary function is a ritual one

    • mantra: verses used in liturgy which make up the collection of texts called Samhita

    • brahmana: texts if ritual exegesis

      • rules for ritual and explanations about it concerning its meaning and purpose

      • contain aetological myths, posit elaborate correspondances between the rite and the cosmos

    • Aranyakas: form the concluding parts of several Brahmanas - form link between Brahmanas and Upanisads

    • four traditions: Rg, Yajur, Saama, and Atharva

    • three or four categories of texts: the Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanisads

    • Rg Veda (1200 BCE): samhita in ten mandala of 1028 hymns to various deities

      • composed in vedic Sanskrit

    • Saama Veda: book of saaman (songs) based on Rg Veda with instructions on their recitation (gana)

    • Yajur Veda: collection of short prose formulae used in ritual

    • Atharva Veda: collection of hymns and magical formulae - considered more inferior compared to the others


  • The Upanisads

    • a devolpment of the Aaranyakas

    • Oldest one: Brhadaranyaka

    • older ones in prose, newer in verse

  • Vedic Ritual

    • revolved around sacrifice and sharing of the sacrificial meal with others and with devas

    • sacrificer: yajamana

  • two kinds of ritual were developed:

    • srauta: solemn, public rites

      • older and require burning of three sacred fires

      • observances to Agni and Soma (plant god)

      • asvamedha: horse sacrifice

      • purusamedha: human sacrifice

      • three fires: householder’s fire (garhapatya) in the west, (ahavaniya) to the east, and (daksinagni) in the south

    • grhya: domestic and life-cycle rites

      • require one sacred fire

  • four priests

    • chief priest (hotr) recites Rg Veda

    • second priest (udgatr) chants stotra from Saama Veda

    • adhvaryu priest chants Yajur Veda

  • Soma

    • originally a hallucinogenic/ intoxicating substance prepared from the soma plant

  • heaven (svar): contains sky god Dyaus, lord of righteousness and of night Varuna, god of night Mrita, nourisher Pusan, and pervader Visnu

  • atmosphere (bhuvas): contains warrior Indra, wind Vaayu, storm gods Maruts, and the terrible Rudra

  • earth (bhur): contains plant god Soma, fire god Agni, and priestly god of creative power Brhaspati

  • Natural phenomena

    • Apa (water)

    • Dhruva (pole star)

    • Soma (moon)

    • Dhara (earth)

    • Anila (wind)

    • Anala (fire)

    • Prabhasa (dawn)

    • Pratyusa (light)

    • Surya (sun)

    • Savitr (sunset)

    • Vayu (wind)

    • Prthivi (goddess earth)