RELS 131 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Atharvaveda, Yajurveda, Rigveda
13 Sep 2013
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Hindus and hinduism: 1400 b. c. is when hinduism is recorded. Still did not refer to themselves as hindus by 1200 b. c: british and muslim invasions. Muslims rule but don"t try to group these people. Vast group of different religions were then grouped together as hindus: hindu books focus on duty and not on religion . British helped them forge an identity they were searching for. Social stratification found within books and culture. Extreme hinduism: language of the vedas and the upanishads. Dead languages as they were passed orally and not written down. Word vedic is misused: the four vedas (the holiest book) Man"s raw contact with nature: most of content deals with this. Read as group together as they are verses with musical notes. Black sheep of the veda"s: rig veda. Agni (fire: fire is seen as essential, fire takes sacrifices/messages to the sky/gods, messages carried by agni. Soma (unknown plant: god of a people, soma is a hallucinogenic mixture.
