ASIAN 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Ramlila, Trimurti, Other Backward Class
ASIAN 101 – HINDUISM
• Hinduism: The Vedas
o Vedic Age (1500-450 BCE)
▪ Beginning of Hinduism
• Polytheistic religion
• Sanskrit language
• Cows are sacred (illegal to kill in India)
▪ Vedas (text)
• Composed around 1200 BCE
• Divine revelations, sacred text
• 4 main texts
• In each text:
o Hymns and Songs (to be used in rituals)
o Instructions for ritual
o Philosophy (interpretation)
▪ Importance of rituals
• Fire is extremely important
• Sacrifice
• Why rituals are not performed anymore
o Only performed by men, no role for me
o No role for anyone except priests
• Puja: small everyday anywhere rituals; relationship
between worshiper and deity/deities
• Aarti: happens within a puja ritual; involves fire
(candles); worship the gods image with it by moving the
candles and flowers and rice around it
• Lakshmi: (goddess of wealth and prosperity)
o Lakshmi Puja: during Diwali (darkest night of the
year); blessing food/objects for people to consume
thereby consuming the blessings as well
▪ Vedic Gods (not important in modern era)
• Indra: the King of the Gods, god of thunder and rain
(monsoon dependency)
• Soma: god and substance
• Agni: God of Fire / fire itself
o Takes offerings up to the realm of the gods
▪ Upanishads: Philosophy of the Vedic Texts
• 600 BCE
• Action leads to rebirth and suffering
• Detachment from action leads to spiritual liberation
(when a sahdu decides to forego normal human action)
ASIAN 101 – HINDUISM
• Asceticism, meditation, and knowledge
• What does the ritual mean to me personally with regards
to achieving spiritual liberation?
▪ Terms: Brahman
• Polytheism vs. Monotheism
Review
Vedas - texts
Upanishads - latest section of the vedas, philosophical
Brahman - cannot see God that encompasses all else
Atma - the soul, resides inside every living being, reincarnation
Karma - the fruits of our actions, travels with atma
Samsara - circle of life and death that the atma travels through
• Terms
o Moksha: escape from samsara
▪ Escape from cycle of birth and death
▪ Bathing in the Ganges river during Kumbh Mela
▪ Through other methods as well…
o Maya: illusion
▪ Encompasses everything that is not braham
▪ Worldly things, wealth, status, education, food, love, family
relationships, sex
▪ Sadhus attempt to get rid of maya
o Hindu asceticism
▪ Reduce maya
▪ Reduce karma
• Sit a lot
• Trying not to do anything in order to not accumulate any
karm
▪ In order to achieve moksha
o Tapas: inner heat
▪ Sadhus who go through pain (lifting arm for 40 years) build up
tapas
▪ Meditation, walking over hot coals, renouncing sex
▪ Training the body to let go of earthly desires
▪ Sadhus gain too much tapas, threaten world, god grants them
some great power (flight)
o Dharma
