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Ancient Roots of Hinduism

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WHAT IS HINDUISM? Hindu = from Persian Hind (India); originally ethnic, ... Since medieval period, 'Hinduism' denotes broad set of devotional, philosophical, ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Ancient Roots of Hinduism


1
Ancient Roots of Hinduism
  • Jeffrey L. Richey, Ph.D.
  • REL 231
  • Religions of India and Tibet
  • Berea College
  • Fall 2003

2
WHAT IS HINDUISM?
  • Hindu from Persian Hind (India) originally
    ethnic, not religious, label
  • Since medieval period, Hinduism denotes broad
    set of devotional, philosophical, and scriptural
    traditions rooted in ancient India

3
THE INDUS RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATION
  • Original inhabitants of northwestern
    India-Pakistan (c. 2500 BCE)
  • Indus society
  • Agricultural
  • Urban
  • Mercantile
  • Indus religion
  • Polytheistic (esp. goddesses)
  • Fertility-oriented
  • By 1500 BCE, on brink of collapse, perhaps due to
    combination of natural and human disasters

4
THE ARYAN INVASION
  • Around 1500 BCE, Aryan peoples from southern
    Russia enter Indus region
  • Aryan society
  • Pastoral
  • Nomadic
  • Equestrian
  • Aryan religion
  • Polytheistic
  • Patriarchal
  • Aryan language was ancestral to Sanskrit, oldest
    known in Indo-European family

5
INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGE MYTHOLOGY
  • Words in Indo-European languages share common
    ancestors
  • English -- father
  • German -- Vater
  • Latin -- pater
  • Greek -- pater
  • Sanskrit pitar
  • Other examples
  • English divinity / ritual
  • Latin divus / ritus
  • Sanskrit deva / rta
  • Deities in Indo-European traditions share common
    origins
  • Norse -- Alfodr (All Father, i.e., Odin)
  • Latin Diespiter (Day Father, i.e., Jupiter)
  • Greek Zeuspater (Father Zeus)
  • Sanskrit Dyauspitar (Sky Father)
  • Thus, Sanskrit reveals deep links between ancient
    Indian and Western cultures

6
INDO-ARYAN SOCIETY
  • Divided into 4 hereditary occupational divisions
    (varnas colors)
  • Brahman (priest)
  • Ksatriya/Rajanya (warrior)
  • Vaisya (merchant/artisan)
  • Sudra (peasant)
  • On margins of fourfold society are Dalits
    (so-called untouchables), who perform menial
    and polluting tasks
  • Corpse handlers
  • Executioners
  • Hunters and fishermen
  • Leatherworkers

7
THE VEDAS
  • Concerned with orthopraxy (proper action) in
    ritual
  • Brahman authors edit oral liturgical traditions,
    producing Vedas (knowledges), c. 1200-600 BCE
  • By 600 BCE, sutras (threads, commentaries), or
    summaries of Vedas, become popular
  • 4 collections (samhitas) of Vedas
  • Rigveda (ric praise stanzas sung by priests in
    ritual)
  • Samaveda (saman songs sung by priestly
    entourage)
  • Yajurveda (yajus short incantations uttered by
    priests assistants in ritual)
  • Atharvaveda (therapeutic spells and hymns used by
    atharvans healers)

8
KARMAMARGA THE WAY OF ACTION
  • Atman (breath)
  • Essential element of person
  • Coexistent with body
  • Separable at death, when it ideally rejoins
    ancestors
  • Rta (right, rite)
  • Correct pattern
  • Cosmic order
  • Accomplished by orthopraxy
  • Dharma (law)
  • Fixed principles
  • Social order
  • Accomplished by obedience to varna-specific
    obligations
  • Ashramas (stages of life) for males of of
    three upper varnas
  • Brahmaçarya (study with guru or master)
  • Grihastha (marriage, family, career)
  • Vanaprastha (partial withdrawal from social life)
  • Sannyasa (complete renunciation of society,
    devotion to spiritual life)
  • Women participate only in householder stage, with
    two likely fates
  • Marginalization as widow
  • Predeceasing husband
  • Gradually, goal of improved reincarnation through
    right action (karma) replaces reunion with
    ancestors

9
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