REL 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Vyasa, Demon Lord, Indus River
Hinduism
I. Course Essentials
II. Prothero’s theory of religio
A. Many different theories of religion
1. Some are extremely pessimistic ex. Karl Marx- religio is
the opiate of the people.
2. Optiisti, Jeff Kripal, religio is a eouter ith the
More, oe that fudaetally hages hua eigs.
B. Prothero’s approah – 4 function theory
1. Problem of human nature
2. Solution
3. Path
4. Exemplars
i. Every religion has a similar outline but different
contents
III. Prothero’s tale of otets
A. Rates the religios y greatest
B. NOT a theological category
C. He rates the major 8 world religions by Geo-political influence
IV. Hinduisms
A. Historical origins
1. Emic account: Emic=Insider
i. Rishis
ii. Samadhi- state of peace
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iii. Sanatana Dharma- internal religion
iv. Kal. Yuga- Yuga=stage, time is a circle, stage in this cycle
v. Vyasa (avatar of Vishnu)
• He comes down to solve problems
• Writes down the Vedas
vi. Vedas- 4 collections of text
vii. Vedic Hinduism
• Earliest form of Hinduism
2. Etic/Scholarly account: Etic= outsider
i. Indus River Civilization
• 2500 BCE
• Goddess oriented
ii. Aryan Migrations
• 2000 – 1000 BCE
• brought Sanskrit language
• God oriented
iii. Vedic Hinduism
• Vedas
• God and Goddess oriented
• Fusion of the two above
V. Cosmology
A. X
1. Infinite consciousness
2. Different Deva for everyone soe eliee it’s a aatar of a
Deva thought
i. Ex. Brahman
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3. Everything made up of god, not by god
B. Devas
1. Shining god/goddess
2. Divine beings
3. Brahma
i. Creator
ii. Cosmic job is to create a universe
iii. Hindu god of creation
4. Vishnu
i. Job is to keep the world in balance
ii. Will come down as anything to help
iii. His avatars are the most important
• Ram- Vishnu came down as a warrior to kill the
demon lord Ravana
• Vyasa- Vishnu came down as a scribe and wrote
down the Vedas
• Krishna- Vishnu came down as a spiritual teacher
and gave new teachings
• Kalki- Will arrive at the end of the Kaliuga; will
revive and kill world
5. Shiva
i. Cosmic duty is to destroy the universe
ii. Not considered evil it needs to be done
iii. Nobody on earth and the world has fulfilled its purpose
6. Lakshmi
i. Cosmic job is wealth/Prosperity
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Document Summary
Prothero"s theory of (cid:862)religio(cid:374: many different theories of religion, some are extremely pessimistic ex. Karl marx- (cid:862)religio(cid:374) is the opiate of the people. (cid:863: opti(cid:373)isti(cid:272), jeff kripal, (cid:862)religio(cid:374) is a(cid:374) e(cid:374)(cid:272)ou(cid:374)ter (cid:449)ith the. More, o(cid:374)e that fu(cid:374)da(cid:373)e(cid:374)tally (cid:272)ha(cid:374)ges hu(cid:373)a(cid:374) (cid:271)ei(cid:374)gs. (cid:863: prothero"s approa(cid:272)h 4 function theory, problem of human nature, solution, path, exemplars, every religion has a similar outline but different contents. Prothero"s ta(cid:271)le of (cid:272)o(cid:374)te(cid:374)ts: rates the religio(cid:374)s (cid:271)y (cid:862)greatest(cid:863, not a theological category, he rates the major 8 world religions by geo-political influence. Hinduisms: historical origins, emic account: emic=insider, rishis. 2: everything made up of god, not by god, devas, shining god/goddess, divine beings, brahma, creator, cosmic job is to create a universe, hindu god of creation, vishnu. 3: goddess, 4 arms, durga, warrior, many arms, protects from demons, goddess, sarasvati, goddess of knowledge, kali, goddess. 5: have to give up clothes, family, everything, moksha, end of samsara, religious goal.
