HUM 130 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7-11: Bhakti Yoga, Yajurveda, Samaveda

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Humanities
• Course: HUM 130
• Professor: Sheri Fabian

Document Summary

Impossible to understand community without understanding religion. Ignorance of religion can cause nasty consequences. Substantive definition: having a firm basis in reality (such as rituals, laws, gods) Functional definition: what does the religion provide for us? (feeling of connectedness, purpose, comfort) No single definition that works across the board. Reductionist approach: define one phenomena by using concepts from an entirely different discipline. Family resemblance approach: elements of common characteristics which are shared amongst a system we call religion. Defective persian pronunciation of sindhu = river hindus. Aryans did not leave must evidence besides their texts. The vedas are considered the earliest literary record of indo-aryan civilization, and the most sacred books of india. Collection of hymns (religious songs or poems) that remained oral for a millennium, memorized carefully by the brahmins (priests). Oldest, largest and most sacred of the vedas. To each samhita"s are attached specific interpretative literature. Vedas contained aryans lifestyle, clothing, food and social structure.