Words: 4368
The Rig Veda is a collection of hymns counted among the four Hindu religious scriptures known as the Veda, and contains the oldest texts preserved in any Indo- Iranian language & the world. It was first orally passed down in India & then later on finally was documented. It consists of 1,017 hymns (1,028 including the apocryphal Valhalla hymns 8. 49-8. 59) composed in Vided Sanskrit, many of which are intended for various sacrificial rituals. These are contained in 10 books, known as Mandalay.
This long collection of short hymns is mostly devoted to the praise of the gods. However, it also contains fragmentary references to historical events, notably the struggle between the early Vided people (known as Vided Aryans, a subgroup of the Indo-Aryans) and their enemies, the Dash. The chief gods of the Rig-Veda are Again, he sacrificial fire, Indri, a heroic god that is praised for having slain his enemy Avert, and Soma, the sacred potion, or the plant it is made from. Other prominent gods are Miter, Varian and Squash (the dawn).
Also invoked are Savior, Vishnu, Radar, Pushup, Brattiest, Bipartisanship, Dyads Pita (the sky), Primitive (the earth), Usury (the sun), Vic (the word), Pay (the wind), the Marts, the Savings, the Addicts, the Rebus, the Evasiveness (the all-gods) as well as various further minor gods, persons, concepts, phenomena and items. Some of the names of gods and goddesses found in the Rig- Veda are found amongst other Indo-European peoples as well: Dyads is cognate with Greek Zeus, Latin Jupiter, and Germanic Try, while Miter is cognate with Persian Mantra and Squash with Greek Goes, Latin Aurora and, less certainly, Varian with Greek Uranus.
Finally, Again is cognate with Latin signs and Russian goon’, both meaning “fire”. L Document 1 – Old Order (Hinduism (The Vided Age) Thousand-headed Pursues, thousand-eyed, thousand-footed he, having pervaded the earth on all sides, still extends ten fingers beyond it. Pursues alone is all this?? whatever has been and whatever is going to be. Further, he is the lord of immortality and also of what grows on account of food. Such is his greatness; greater, indeed, than this is Pursues.
All creatures constitute but one quarter of him, his three- Primary Sources Hinduism Jansenism And Buddhism By simultaneously up; one quarter of him again remains here. With it did he variously spread out on all sides over what eats and what eats not. From him was Viral born, from Viral evolved Pursues. He, being born, projected himself behind the earth as also before it. When the gods performed the sacrifice with Pursues as the oblation, then the spring was TTS clarified butter, the summer the sacrificial fuel, and the autumn the oblation.
The sacrificial victim, namely, Pursues, born at the very beginning, they sprinkled with sacred water upon the sacrificial grass. With him as oblation the gods performed the sacrifice, and also the Shady [a class of semidrying beings] and the risks [ancient seers]. From that wholly offered sacrificial oblation were born the verses and the sacred chants; from it were born the meters; the sacrificial formula was born from it. From it horses were born and also those animals who have double rows [I. E. , upper ND lower] of teeth; cows were born from it, from it were born goats and sheep.
When they divided Pursues, in how many different portions did they arrange him? What became of his mouth, what of his two arms? What were his two thighs and his two feet called? His mouth became the brahmas; his two arms were made into the raja; his two thighs the visas; from his two feet the shudder was born. The moon was born from the mind, from the eye the sun was born; from the mouth Indri and Again, from the breath the wind was born. From the navel was the atmosphere created, from the head the heaven issued forth; from the two feet was born the earth ND the quarters [the cardinal directions] from the ear.
Thus did they fashion the worlds. Seven were the enclosing sticks in this sacrifice, thrice seven were the fire- sticks made, when the gods, performing the sacrifice, bound down Pursues, the sacrificial victim. With this sacrificial oblation did the gods offer the sacrifice. These were the first norms [dharma] of sacrifice. These greatness reached to the sky wherein live the ancient Shady and gods. Source: The Rig-Veda, 10. 90, in Sources of Indian Tradition by Theodore De Barry (New York: Columbia University Press, 1958), up. 16-17.
Document 2: From The Law of Mann But in the beginning he assigned their several names, actions, and conditions (created beings), even according to the words of the Veda. He, the Lord, also created the class of the gods, who are endowed with life, and whose nature is action; and the subtitle class of the Shady, and the eternal sacrifice. But from fire, wind, and the sun he drew forth the threefold eternal Veda, called Risk, Yogis, and Assam, for the due performance of the sacrifice. Time and the divisions of time, the lunar mansions and the planets, the rivers, the oceans, the mountains, plains, and uneven ground,
Austerity, speech, pleasure, desire, and anger, this whole creation he likewise produced, as he desired to call these beings into existence…. Whatever he assigned to each at the (first) creation, noxiousness or harmlessness, gentleness or ferocity, virtue or sin, truth or falsehood, that clung (afterwards) spontaneously to it. As at the change of the seasons each season of its own accord assumes its distinctive marks, even so corporeal beings (resume in new births) their (appointed) course of action. But for the sake of the prosperity of the worlds, he created the Brahmas, the
Ashtray, the Vastly, and the Shudder to proceed from his mouth, his arms, his thighs, and his feet…. To Brahmins he assigned teaching and studying (the Veda), sacrificing for their own benefit and for others, giving and accepting (of alms). The study (the Veda), and to abstain from attaching himself to sensual pleasures…. The Vastly to tend cattle, to bestow gifts, to offer sacrifices, to study (the Veda), to trade, to lend money, and to cultivate land. One occupation only the lord prescribed to the Shudder, to serve meekly even these (other) three castes. Source: Mann, The Law of
Mann, in The Sacred Books of the East, Volvo. XV, deed. F. Max Mјleer (Oxford, I-J: Collarbone Press, 1886), up. 12-14, 24. Document 3 – The Song of God (Baghdad – Gait) A core sacred text of Hindu (Vided) religion and philosophy, the Baghdad Gait, often referred to as the Gait, is a summation of the Vided, Yogic, Pedantic and Titanic philosophies. The Baghdad Gait, meaning “song of the Lord”, refers to itself as a ‘Yoga Punished’ and is sometimes called Cogitation. During the message of Gait, Lord Krishna proclaims that he is God Himself (a Backchat, or all-embracing personal god).
In order to make Aragua believe this, he shows Aragua his divine form which is described as timeless and leaves Aragua shaking with awe and fear. It is not exactly clear when the Baghdad Gait was written. Astronomical evidence cited in the Inhabitant itself put the date at 3137 BCC, ancient Indian historical texts (Purina’s) suggest a date of about 1924 BCC and the bulk of modern scholars hold widely differing dates that occur after 1000 BCC. 2 All is one and one is all. Himself as in all beings, And all beings in himself, Sees he whose self is disciplined in discipline, Who sees the same in all things.
Who sees Me in all, And sees all in Me, For him I am not lost, And he is not lost for me. Whoso reveres me as abiding in all things, adopting the belief in oneness, though abiding in any possible condition, that disciplined man abides in Me. [vi. 29-31] Document 4: A memorable passage of the Gait is in the Eleventh Chapter in which Krishna reveals himself to Aragua in all his splendid forms, all the plenary permutations of beings, the many gods and planes of existences all subsumed into the one essential Super- consciousness. Column 1: (continues on the next page) Column 2 (should be read after column 1) Krishna: Thou cants not! ??nor, with human eyes, Aragua! Ever masses! Therefore I give thee sense divine. Have other eyes, new light! And, look! This is My glory, unveiled to mortal sight! Stood, to Pariah’s Son displaying All the splendor, wonder, dread Of His vast Almighty-head. Out of countless eyes beholding, Out of countless mouths commanding, Countless mystic forms enfolding In one Form: supremely standing Countless radiant glories wearing, Countless heavenly weapons bearing, Crowned with garlands of star-clusters, Robed in garb of woven lectures, Breathing from His perfect Presence
Breaths of every subtle essence Of all heavenly doors; shedding Blinding brilliance; overspreading?? Boundless, beautiful??all spaces With His all-regarding faces; So He showed! If there should rise Suddenly within the skies Sunburst of a thousand suns Flooding earth with beams unneeded-of, Then might be that Holy One’s Majesty and radiance dreamed of! So did Panda’s Son behold All this universe enfold All its huge diversity Into one vast shape, and be Visible, and viewed, and blended In one Body??subtle, splendid, Nameless??the’ All-comprehending God of Gods, the Never-Ending Deity:
But, sore amazed, Thrilled, overfilled, dazzled, and dazed, Aragua knelt; and bowed his head, And clasped his palms; and cried, and said Aragua: Yea! I have seen! I see! Lord! All is wrapped in Thee! The gods are in Thy glorious frame! The creatures Of earth, and heaven, and hell In Thy Divine form dwell, Of Brahmas, sitting lone Upon His lotus-throne; Of saints and sages, and the serpent races Anta, Visual; Yea! Mightiest Lord! I see Thy thousand thousand arms, and breasts, and faces, And eyes,??on every side Perfect, diversified; And nowhere end of Thee, nowhere beginning, Nowhere a centre!
Shifts?? Wherever soul’s gaze lifts?? Thy central Self, all-wielding, and all-winning! ” Questions on Hinduism: Directions: (for every question provide a quote or quotes from the documents above supporting your answer. 1 . Is HINDUISM a monotheistic or a polytheistic religion? 2. What is the meaning of term “Dharma”? (see first document’s last paragraph) 3. “As at the change of the seasons each season of its own accord assumes its distinctive marks, even so corporeal beings [resume in new births] their appointed course of action. ” (Document 2). What process is described in this quote?
Explain your understanding of the process. 4. What occupations did Brahmins, Ashtrays, Visas, and Shudder perform in the society? How did the religious teachings of Hinduism Justify/influence social stratification of the Indian civilization? 5. After reading primary sources and Chapter 6, define and explain the following terms: a). Reincarnation – b). Dharma – c). Karma – e). Sati (Castes) – 3 Satanism – GAIN DOCTRINES AND PRACTICES OF NONVIOLENCE THE EXAMPLE OF MAYFAIR (garaging-sutra, l, 8, 1-3-V-8) Translation from Prairie by Herman Jacobin, Gain Sutra, part 1, in Sacred Books of the East, (Oxford, 1884), UP. -7 Farmhand Mayfair (the Great Hero’) was a contemporary of the Buddha. He is said to have left his home at the age of thirty and wandered for twelve years in search of salvation. At the age of forty two he obtained enlightenment and became a ‘conqueror’ Nina, term from which the Gain took their name). Mayfair founded an order of naked monks and taught his doctrine of salvation for some thirty years. He died in 468 B. C. , at the age of seventy-two, in a village near Patina. 1. 3. For a year and a month he did not leave off his robe.
Since that time the Venerable One, giving up his robe, was a naked, world relinquishing, useless (sage). 4. Then he meditated (walking) with his eye fixed on a square space before him of the length of a man. Many people assembled, shocked at the sight; they struck him and cried. 5. Knowing (and renouncing) the female sex in mixed gathering places, he meditated, finding his way himself: I do not lead a worldly life. 6. Giving up the company of all householders whomsoever, he meditated. Asked, he gave no answer; he went and did not transgress the right path. 7.
For some it is not easy (to do what he did), not to answer those who salute; he was beaten with sticks, and struck by sinful people.. 1 . Thoroughly knowing the earth-bodies and water- bodies and fire-bodies and wind-bodies, the lichens, seeds, and sprouts, 12. He comprehended that they are, if narrowly inspected, imbued with life, and avoided to injure them; he, the Great Hero. 13. The immovable (beings) are changed to movable ones, and the movable beings to immovable ones; beings which are born in all states become individually sinners by their actions. 14.
The Venerable One understands thus: he who is under the conditions (of existence), that fool suffers pain. Thoroughly knowing (karma), the Venerable One avoids sin. 15. The sage, perceiving the double (karma), proclaims the incomparable activity, he, knowing one; knowing the current of worldliness, the current of sinfulness, and the impulse. 16. Practicing the sinless abstinence from killing, be did no acts, neither himself nor with the assistance of others; be to whom women were known as the causes of all sinful acts, he saw (the true sate of the world)…. Ill. 7. Ceasing to use the stick (I. E. Realty) against living beings, abandoning the care of the body, the housefuls (Mayfair), the Venerable One, endures the thorns of the villages (I. E. The abusive language of the peasants), being) perfectly enlightened. 9. When he who is free from desires approached the village, the inhabitants met him on the outside, and attacked him, saying, ‘Get away from here. ‘ 10. He was struck with a stick, the fist, a lance, hit with a fruit, a clod, a potsherd. Beating him again and again, many cried. 11. When he once (sat) without moving his body, they cut his flesh, tore his hair under pains, or covered him with dust. 12.
Throwing him up, they let him fall, or disturbed him in his religious bore pain, free from desire. 13. As a hero at the head of the battle is surrounded on all sides, so was there Mayfair. Bearing all hardships, the Venerable One, undisturbed, proceeded (on the road to Nirvana)…. VI 1. The Venerable One was able to abstain from indulgence of the flesh, though never attacked by diseases. Whether wounded or not wounded, he desired not medical treatment. 2. Purgatives and emetics, anointing of the body and bathing, shampooing and cleaning of the teeth do not behoove him, after he learned (that the body is something unclean). . Being averse from the impressions of the senses, the Brahmas wandered about, speaking but little. Sometimes in the cold season the Venerable One was meditating in the shade. 4. In summer he exposes himself to the heat, he sits squatting in the sun; he lives on rough (food); rice, pounded Jujube, and beans. 5. Using these three, the Venerable One sustained himself eight months. Sometimes the Venerable One did not drink for half a month or even for a month. 6. Or he did not drink for more than two months, or even six months, day and night, without desire (for drink).
Sometimes he ate stale food. 7. Sometimes he ate only the sixth meal, or the eighth, the tenth, the twelfth; without desires, persevering in meditation. 8. Having wisdom, Mayfair committed no sin himself, nor did he induce other to do so, nor did he onset to the sins of others. Questions on Jansenism: (use quotes to support your answers) 1 . What are some of the central values of the Saints faith? 2. “… Beings which are born in all states become individually sinners by their actions. The Venerable One understands thus: he who is under the conditions [of existence], that fool suffers pain.
Thoroughly knowing [karma], the Venerable One avoids sin. ” Paraphrase and/or explain your understanding of this quote. 3. What Saints beliefs can be seen as a challenge to Hindu religion? Explain. 4 From: Epiphanies Wilson, Sacred Books of the East, rev. deed. London: The Colonial Press, 1900), up. 158, 160-61, 171-72, rep. In Mark A. Skylarks, deed. , Sources of World History, Volume l, (New York: Hairlessness Calligrapher’s, 1995), up. 67-71 [Skylarks Introduction] Shattered Augusta (ca. 563-483 BCC. ) was the son of the king of a small Indian state.
Legend holds that it was foretold at his birth that he would either be a great monarch or a great Buddha (literally, “an enlightened one”) His father, hoping for the former, raised Shattered in luxury. But at the age of 29 Shattered experienced a vision of human suffering that led him to renounce his orally status and goods and take to the road as a wandering ascetic. He Joined at least two ascetic sects, whose philosophies he quickly mastered but neither allowed him to achieve the highest truth. He finally attained this goal when one night while he was meditating he was able to comprehend his past and future lives.
Shattered determined to teach the truths he had realized; he gathered disciples and preached a middle way between worldliness and asceticism. His teachings swept throughout East Asia, becoming the foundation for one of the world’s great religions. Buddhist radiation flourished in both India and China, although they developed separately. The teachings of the Buddha were recorded by his students and then codified over the next 500 years. The Buddha sermons are regarded by scholars as largely authentic, and part of his first sermon, the Sermon at Binaries, is reproduced here.
The selection that follows is a disquisition on the concept of Nirvana. Document 1: THE SERMON AT BINARIES On seeing their old teacher approach, the five buckish (disciples or monks) agreed among themselves not to salute him, nor to address him as a master, but by his name only. “For,” so they said, “he has broken his vow and has abandoned holiness. He is no buckish but Augusta, and Augusta has become a man who lives in abundance and indulges in the pleasures of worldliness. ” But when the Blessed One approached in a dignified manner, they involuntarily rose from their seats and greeted him in spite of their resolution.
Still they called him by his name and addressed him as “friend Augusta. ” When they had thus received the Blessed One, he said: “Do not call the Attaching by his name nor address him as ‘friend,’ for he is the Buddha, the Holy One. The Buddha looks with a kind heart equally on all living beings, and they therefore call him ‘Father. ‘ To disrespect a father is wrong; to despise him, is wicked. “The Taught,” the Buddha continued, “does not seek salvation in austerities, but neither does he for that reason indulge in worldly pleasures, nor live in abundance. The Taught has found the middle path. There are two extremes, O buckish, which the man who has given up the world ought not to follow-the habitual practice, on the one hand, of self-indulgence which is unworthy, vain and fit only for the worldly-minded and the habitual practice, on the there hand, of self-mortification, which is painful, useless and unprofitable. “Neither abstinence from fish or flesh, nor going naked, nor shaving the head, nor wearing matted hair, nor dressing in a rough garment, nor covering oneself with dirt, nor sacrificing to Again, will cleanse a man who is not free from delusions. Reading the Veda, making offerings to priests, or sacrifices to the gods, self-mortification by heat or cold, and many such penances performed for the sake of immortality, these do not bigotry, deception, envy, self-praise, disparaging others, superciliousness and evil intentions constitute uncleanness; not verily the eating of flesh. A middle path, O buckish, avoiding the two extremes, has been discovered by the Taught-a path which opens the eyes, and bestows understanding, which leads to peace of mind, to the higher wisdom, to full enlightenment, to Nirvana! What is that middle path, O buckish, avoiding these two extremes, discovered by the Taught – that path which opens the eyes, and bestows understanding, which leads to peace of mind, to the higher wisdom, to full enlightenment, to Nirvana? “Let me teach you, O buckish, the middle path, which keeps aloof from both extremes. By suffering, the emaciated devotee produces confusion and sickly thoughts in his mind. Mortification is not conducive even to worldly knowledge; how much less to a triumph over the senses! “He who fills his lamp with water will not dispel the darkness, and he who tries to light a fire with rotten wood will fail.
And how can anyone be free from self by leading a wretched life, if he does not succeed in quenching the fires of lust, if he still hankers after either worldly or heavenly- pleasures. But he in whom self has become extinct is free from lust: he will desire neither worldly nor heavenly pleasures, and he satisfaction of his natural wants will not defile him. However, let him be moderate, let him eat and drink according to the needs of the body. “Sensuality is enervating: the “self-indulgent” man is a slave to pleasure to his passions, and pleasure-seeking is degrading and vulgar. But to satisfy the necessities of life is not evil. To keep the body in good health is a duty for otherwise we shall not be able to trim the lamp of wisdom, and keep our mind strong and clear. Water surrounds the lotus-flower, but does not wet its petals. “This is the middle path, O buckish. That keeps aloof from both extremes. And the Blessed One spoke kindly to his disciples, pitying them for their errors, and pointing out the uselessness of their endeavors, and the ice of ill-will that chilled their hearts melted away under the gentle warmth of the Master’s persuasion.
Now the Blessed One set the wheel of the most excellent law rolling, and he began to preach to the five buckish, opening to them the gate of immortality, and showing them the bliss of Nirvana. The Buddha said: “The spokes of the wheel are the rules of pure conduct: Justice is the uniformity of their length, wisdom is the tire; modesty and thoughtfulness are the hub in which he immovable axle of truth is fixed. “He who recognizes the existence of suffering, its cause, its remedy, and its cessation has fathomed the four noble truths. He will walk in the right path. Right views will be the torch to light his way. Right aspirations will be his guide. Right speech will be his dwelling-place on the road. His gait will be straight, for it is right behavior. His refreshments will be the right way of earning his livelihood. Right efforts will be his steps, right thoughts his breath; and right contemplation will give him the peace that follows in his footprints. “Now, this, O buckish, is the noble truth concerning suffering: “Birth is attended with pain, decay is painful, disease is painful, death is painful.
Union with the unpleasant is painful, painful is separation from the pleasant, and any craving that is unsatisfied, that too is painful. In brief, bodily conditions which spring from attachment are painful. “This, then, O pushbikes, is the noble truth concerning suffering. “Now this, O buckish, is the noble truth concerning the origin of suffering: ” it is that craving satisfaction now here, now there, the craving for the gratification of the passions, the raving for a future life, and the craving for happiness in this life. This, then, O buckish, is the noble truth concerning the origin of suffering- “Now this, O buckish, is the noble truth concerning the destruction of suffering: it is the destruction, in which no passion remains, of this very thirst; it is the laying aside of, the being free from, the dwelling no longer upon this thirst. “This then, O buckish, is the noble truth concerning the destruction of suffering- ‘Now this, O buckish, is the noble truth concerning the way which leads to the destruction of sorrow. Verily! T s this noble eightfold path: that is to say: “Right views; right aspirations; right speech; right behavior; right livelihood, right effort; right thoughts; and right contemplation. “This, then, O buckish, is the noble truth concerning the destruction of sorrow. “By the practice of loving kindness I have attained liberation of heart, and thus I am assured that I shall never return in renewed births. I have even now attained Nirvana. ” And when the Blessed One had thus set the royal chariot wheel of truth rolling onward, a rapture thrilled through all the universes.
The divas left their evenly abodes to listen to the sweetness of the truth; the saints that had parted from this life crowded around the great teacher to receive the glad tidings; even the animals of the earth felt the bliss that rested upon the words of the Attach: and all the creatures of the host of sentient beings, gods, men, and beasts, hearing the message of deliverance, received and understood it in their own language. And when the doctrine was propounded, the venerable Kananga, the oldest one among the five buckish, discerned the truth with his mental eye, and he said: “Truly, O
Buddha, our Lord, thou hast found the truth! ” Then the other buckish too, Joined him and exclaimed: “Truly, thou art the Buddha, thou has found the truth. ” And the divas and saints and all the good spirits of the departed generations that had listened to the sermon of the Taught, Joyfully received the doctrine and shouted: “Truly, the blessed One has founded the kingdom of righteousness. The Blessed One has moved the earth; he has set the wheel of Truth rolling, which by no one in the universe, be he god or man, can ever be turned back.