Fall 2011
Hinduism RELI 2510
Creation
• Less worried about narrowing to one story, instead, “It can be any of these things, and
possibly more”
• Creation hymns provide fundamental being and duty, social orders are postulated.
• The world is not chaotic, but ordered and predictable.
• Told by Rishis and Covvis: “Seers & Poets” (interchangeable)
Rigveda 10.129
• Language isn’t capable or expressing the idea of singularity
• Opens with the notion that it can’t really tell you what it is
• Prana: “Breathed”, that which gives you the ability to be and do
• Water is introduced because it is fundamental to life, i.e. birth
• Tapas: “Inner Heat”, Religious energy
• Bandhu: “Hidden Connection”, the bond of existence in non-existence
• Cosmic reproduction, there is duality
• The gods come afterwards, and are therefore a product of creation
• We don’t know everything. We have language to express duality, senses to differentiate,
These are not capable of understanding singularity
Speculative/knowledge
From the ineffable (neither this nor that) to the many
An answer beyond words/order/structure
No duty, order or structure provided
Rigveda 10.90
• Purusha: “Man”, thousand heads – bigger than you can imagine
• The cosmos functions on food, that is sacrifices and rituals
• Creatures are lesser than the immortal, we can understand a quarter of the universe
• The gods sacrifice “The Man” to commence creation, everything was sacrificed and
everything was provided, including the tools to redo the sacrifice, also, time begins
(seasons)
• Sacrifices must be precise
Ritual/action
A sacrifice based model
Order, duty, roles (there are no questions to ask) Fall 2011
Other Creation Hymns
RV 10.190 – Cosmic Heat
• Tapas, “Inner Heat”, yields order, truth
• “The Arranger”
RV 10.121 – The Unknown God, The Golden Embryo
• Creation is conceived of as an egg: the sun, the sky, the earth are held inside
Varna
Dvija: “Twice-Born”, Can do Vedic sacrifices if married, or hire other Dvija to do them on their
behalf
Brahmins: “Priests”, born from the mouth.
Kshatriyas: “Warriors”, born from the arms
Vaishya: “Merchants”, no manual work
Shudra: “The not Twice-Born”, born from the feet, unclean, working class, outcast from religious
practice
Jati: Context sensitive ranking system, works in villages moreso than cities
The Vedic Sacrifice
Age of Karman:
• Karman: “The one who does rites”
• All of the rites involve Ugni: “Sacred Fire”
• Samskara: “Lifecycle rites” or Grhya rites (15 of them)
• Srauta rites: large scale events i.e. new king
• Expectations from rites:
o Materialism (money, male offspring)
o Performance (not treating the rites as routine)
o Death (something must die for the rite to work)
Upanisads:
• Karma: Hidden law of cause & effect
• Samsara: never ending cycle of reincarnation (not in earliest vedas
o Not positive, rules by death, you are “trapped in samsara”
o Pushed into the next life to pay for a debt in the last one
• Dharma: Duty dependant on your place in life (i.e. gender, varna)
o Ethically and morally, how do I know what is right?
o Generates karma
• Moksa/Mukti: Release from samsara, permanent existence of oneness
Key Issues: Fall 2011
• Shift of Karman to Jnana/Vidya
o The experience of oneness, as opposed to the knowledge of it
o Atman Brahman
• Monism
o The mind distracts you from oneness due to desires
o What is the hidden component in nectar, its sweet essence, that is brought forth
to produce honey
o Against difference, Varna, gender, in the end it doesn’t recognize which “flower”
you come from
• Atman & Brahman
o Atman can mean body, mind, true self, or Brahman (cosmos)
o Brahman is the core of the universe
o You don’t really love something else, because ultimately there is only one thing
o The mind is just one of your senses, not your true self
o Atman is permanent and unchanging
o Words rely on difference to communicate meaning and therefore can’t describe
Brahman
• Desires
o Shift away from the age of Karman (sacrifices -> wealth)
o Desire leads to duality, further away from Brahman
• Nama Rupa: “Name & Form”
o Shape makes you see a plate, bowl, or cup, but really it is just clay
o Name and shape define reality (i.e. ourselves)
*BU: Brihadaranyaka Upanisad
*CU: Chandagya Upanisad
Dharma
Chronology
Vedas 1500-600 BCE
Upanisads 600 BCE
Dharma Sutra 200 BCE – 200 CE
Saamkhya 200 CE
Dharma Shastras 200 CE and on
Advaita Vedanta 700 CE
Dharma: “Law”, “duty”, “correct action”, “virtue”
Dharma Sutras & Dharma Shastras are Smrti, that which is remembered.
Asrama
The Asrama is written by priests for other male priests, it is based on the principle that one
would complete all of his worldly duties before attempting to achieve Moksa. Fall 2011
Sisya/brahmacarya: “Student”, the learning phase of the Asrama, where the student learns the
Vedas, spends all their time studying it, and is dependent on their Guru for lodging and food.
Grhastha: “Householder”, disciple must focus on marriage, hospitability
Purusartha (things you want): Dharma, Artha (wealth), Kama (pleasure), Moksa
Vanaprastha: “Forest-Dweller”
Samnyasa: Renunciation and strive for Moksa
Suddhi & Sauca: “Purity”
• Most people are born with inherent purity
• If you follow the rules of dharma you gain purity
o Acquire purity through ritual, knowledge
o Lose purity through failing to perform rites, contact with death
Sadhu: “Renunciate”, usually part of a group with a chief, and a home base, they must beg for
food and do not have any possessions.
Darsana: “Vision, Sight”, insight into religion
Sutras: Codified teachings, like lecture notes – need to be taught
Bhasya: Commentaries, dependant on the specific school
• Orthodox schools recognize the authority of the Vedas
o Goal is moksa, release from samsara
o A transcendant reality beyond what we see
o Systematic (unlike upanisads) with logic, argum
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