RELI 2732 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Folk Religion, Religious Text, Vedic Period
2 May 2018
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February 26th, 2018
Hinduism Views on Death and Afterlife
Time in Eastern traditions (Cyclical)
• Time goes through great times of creation and destruction
• A unit of time of 4,320,000,000 years – kalpa
o There have been many countless units of time where there have
been many creations and destructions
o All the great events occur again and again
• Our view of time is related to a view of the person
o Ex. In monotheism, a person has one life and one death
o Ex. In eastern traditions, the person has many births and deaths
• Cycle of birth and redeath, round and round with no ending = Samsara
Hinduism
• Hinduism is a word used by outsiders to refer to the religion of Indians
• The ancient indian name of the river
o Sindhu – ancient Indian (Sanskrit) name
o Indos – ancient Greek name
o Hindhu – ancient Persian name
• The river designated the names of the people in India
• In the twelve century, there were Persian speaking Muslims,
o They referred to some Indians as Hindu, ones who were not
Buddhist and did not revert to Islam
o All the alien religions were Hindu
o In the 16th century, European they came to know the word and
they took the last steps to separate the terms Indian and Hindu
o Indian = secular sphere
o Hindu = religios sphere
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2
• It would be more accurate to speak of Hindu relgiions (plural)
o Centered around the worship of Vishnu/Krishna
o Centred on the worship of Shiva
o Centred on the worship of Devi (the Mother-Goddess)
o The tradition of advita (non-dualism)
o Plus the numerous village and tribal traditions of what might be
alled Folk Hiduis
• The vedas – ancient scripture of the Hindus (between 1500BCE and
600BCE)
• Gods representing nature and elements
o Surya – sun god
o Candra – the moon god
o Agni – god of fire*
o Indra – god of storms
o Yama – lord of death*
Stratification of Vedic Aryan Society
• Priestly (Brahmin) class – memorized the Veda, conducted fire ritual
(main religious ritual)
• Warrior/ruler class – job was to protect people
• Merchant class – commercial sector of society
• Servant class – landless laborers
• Indigenous tribal mountain people – social outcasts (dalite =
oppressed)
Death and Continuation in Hinduism
• Dharma = Law or Duty
o Two aspects:
▪ The guiding principle: religious, social, and family duty
(ethics)
▪ Eternal cosmic Law or Truth
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3
o The universe has an order and a law about it
o Enables the person to live in harmony with the cosmic law
• Karma = action
o Good or bad actions, the soul (atman) takes rebirth in good or
bad conditions
o Samsara – the eternal cycle of rebirth and re-death
o Moksha – liberation from samsara by realizing the true nature of
the atman (soul)
o The aspect of the person that is undying and eternal
o It takes the forms that can be taken in life (female, male, animal)
o It is the ignorance of the soul that keeps the person in the cycle
of re-birth and re-death
o The soul (atman) is the aspect of the person that continues
• Karma (Early Vedic Period 1500-800 BCE)
o Karma = the ritual action of the first sacrifice
• Karma (Upanishads) (800-600BCE)
o Karma = all intentional action and results of action (common
understanding)
Three Paths (marga) to liberation (moksha) from samsara
• Karma marga (path of action) = ancient sacrificial religion of the Vedas
(1500-800 BCE)
o Closely associated with the gods of nature
o The purpose of religion was to ensure the blessing of the gods,
they wanted health, wealth, children, cattle, and long life
o When you died, you went to the world of the dead
▪ Celestial relm = sky gods
▪ Atmospheric realm = gods of the atmosphere
▪ Earth = humans and gods of earth
▪ Underworld/World of the Fathers = dead ancestors
o Vedic Fire Sacrifice
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Document Summary
In monotheism, a person has one life and one death: ex. In eastern traditions, the person has many births and deaths: cycle of birth and redeath, round and round with no ending = samsara. 600bce: gods representing nature and elements, surya sun god, candra the moon god, agni god of fire, indra god of storms, yama lord of death* Death and continuation in hinduism: dharma = law or duty, two aspects, the guiding principle: religious, social, and family duty (ethics, eternal cosmic law or truth. Krishna or shiva, or the great mother (devi), the devotee aims to be in union with the universal beolved lord, not to become the universal. God and not to yourself: the path of action in vedic is different because it means ritual action vs the path of action in bhakti which means orientation to god. His father will be appeased (household relations: 2.
