January 7 – 9:

Introduction to Hinduism

Core Scriptural Texts (Sruti Tradition)

Religious and Social Worldview

Philosophical Difficulties
Four Cosmogonical Possibilities:
1) Creation out of nothing
 Zoroastrianism / Judaism / Christianity / Islam

2) Generation / Emanation from out of the Divine

 Hinduism / Sikhism / Confucianism / Daoism

3) Imposition of form on pre-existent chaos

 some indigenous traditions

4) Eternally existent universe

 Jainism / Buddhism
Four Main Types of “Sacred Story”:
1) Stories of History (Middle East)
 Zoroastrianism / Judaism / Christianity / Islam

2) Stories of Liberation (India)

 Hinduism / Jainism / Buddhism / Sikhism

3) Stories of Cosmic Balance / Harmony (China)

 Confucianism / Daoism

4) Stories of Community with Nature / Spirits

 indigenous religions / nature religions / Shinto (Japan)
Cradles of Agricultural Civilization:
South Asia: Indus River Valley civilizations
 Zenith of I.R.V.C.
c. 2500 BCE

• Harappa Decline of I.R.V.C.

c. 1900 BCE

Supposed
Indo-European /
• Mohenjo-Daro Aryan Migrations
c. 1500 BCE

Development of
Sanskrit Language
Core Scriptural Texts (Sruti = heard revelations ):
Sanskrit = sum script / writing of the sum / writing of everything

The Four Parts of the Vedas (veda = knowledge):

1) Samhitas ( collections )  1500 – 800 BCE
Rig Veda  hymns in praise of (largely nature) deities
Sama Veda  musical arrangements of the Rig Veda hymns
Yajur Veda  general sacrificial formulas (for upholding rta = cosmic law )
Atharva Veda  specific spells / incantations (for individual requests)

2) Brahmanas ( brahmin books  brh = breath )  900 – 700 BCE

 intricate elaborations on / ritualizations of the Samhitas

3) Aranyakas ( forest treatises )  c. 700 BCE

 philosophical / symbolic speculations on the Samhitas and Brahmanas

4) Upanisads (upa-ni-shad = near-down-sit )  800 – 200 BCE

 mature philosophical orientation  Vedanta ( end of the Veda )
 123 total; 13 principal Upanisads
The Fire Sacrifice:
brahmins = priestly caste
brh = breath (listen to chant)

3 Main Purposes of Sacrifice:

1) general  uphold rta (cosmic law);
2) specific charms / spells / incantations
3) the dharma of the brahmin caste

Important Vedic Deities:

Indra  sky-god / king of gods
Agni  fire-god / eater of food
/ god of sacrifice
Soma  god of ritual intoxication
/ god of immortality
Varuna  protector of rta / ruler
of dharma and karma
The 4 Castes of the Traditional Social System:
1) Brahmins (priests / teachers)
2) Kshatriyas (warriors / administrators)
3) Vaishyas (farmers / merchants)
4) Shudras (servants / labourers / crafts-people)
Later: Dalits ( downtrodden / outcastes)

The 4 Stages of Life* and the 3 Debts:

1) Brahmachari (student)  pays off one’s debt to the seers / one’s guru
2) Grihasta (householder)  pays off one’s debt to one’s ancestors
3) Vanaprasta (retiree)  pays off one’s debt to the gods
4) Sannyasin (wandering ascetic)  freedom from all debt

*Traditionally followed only by males of the top three castes (and generally as an ideal).
The 4 Goals of Life:
1) Artha (satisfaction of material needs / desires)
2) Kama (sensual pleasures)
3) Dharma (fulfilling one’s duty)
4) Moksha (spiritual liberation / realization)

The 4 Categories of Dharma*: Mahatma Gandhi

1) according to caste  fulfilling one’s caste duty

2) according to stage of life  paying off the 3 debts; seeking moksha
3) according to gender  different duties for men and women
4) pertaining universally  truthfulness, respect for elders, non-violence, etc.

*Many today who challenge caste and gender dharmas stress instead universal dharmas.
Cosmogonical Speculation in the Vedas:
Rig-Veda 10.129
There was neither non-existence nor existence then; there was neither
the realm of space nor the sky which is beyond. What stirred? Where?
In whose protection? Was there water, bottomlessly deep? There was
neither death nor immortality then. There was no distinguishing sign
of day or night. That One breathed, windless, by its own impulse.
Other than that there was nothing beyond. . . . Desire came upon that
One in the beginning; that was the first seed of mind. . . . Was there
below? Was there above? Were there seed-placers; were there powers?
Was there impulse beneath; was there giving-forth above? Who really
knows? Who here will proclaim it? Where was it produced? Where
did this creation come from? The gods came afterwards, with the
creation of this universe. Who then knows where it has arisen? Where
this creation has arisen---perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did
not---the one who looks down on it, in the highest heaven, only he
knows---or perhaps he does not.
Cosmogonical Speculation in the Vedas:
Rig-Veda 10.90  Creation from the primal Purusha (“person”)

The Man (Purusha) has a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand

feet. He pervaded the earth on all sides and extended beyond it as far as
ten fingers. It is the Man who is all this, whatever has been and whatever
is to be. He is the ruler of immortality. This is his greatness, and the Man
is yet more than this. All creatures are only a quarter of him; three
quarters are what is immortal in heaven. From this he spread out in all
directions. . . . When they divided the Man, into how many parts did they
apportion him? What do they call his mouth, his two arms and thighs and
feet? His mouth became the priests, his arms were made into the
warriors, his thighs the people, and from his feet the servants were born.
The moon was born from his mind; from his eye the sun was born. Indra
and Agni came from his mouth, and from his vital breath the wind was
born. From his navel the middle realm of space arose; from his head the
sky evolved. From his two feet came the earth, and the quarters of the
sky from his ear. Thus the worlds were set in order.
Cosmogonical Speculation in the Upanisads:
Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad 1.4  Creation from the Purusha
In the beginning this world was Soul (atman) alone, in the shape of a Person
(purusha). He looked around and saw nothing but himself. He first said, “This is
I.” Therefore, he became “I” by name. Therefore, even now, if a man is asked, he
first says, “This is I”, and then pronounces his other name. . . . He feared, and
therefore, anyone who is lonely fears. He thought, “As there is nothing but
myself, why should I fear?” Then his fear passed away. For what should he have
feared? But he felt no delight. He longed for a second person. As he was as large
as a man and woman together, he made his Self to fall in two, and there came
husband and wife. He had sexual intercourse with her, and humans were born.
She thought, “How can he have sexual intercourse with me, after having
produced me from himself? I shall hide myself.” Then she became a cow. But he
became a bull and had sex with her, and therefore cows were born. Then she
became a mare, and he a stallion. . . . In this way he created everything that
exists in pairs, down to the ants. He knew this: “I am indeed this creation, for I
created all this.” Therefore, he became the creation. . . . But all these are only
the names of his acts. He who worships him as the one or the other does not
know him. Let men worship him as Soul, for in the Soul all these are one.
Mature Philosophical Worldview in the Upanisads:
Chandogya Upanishad 6.11  “That You Are”

Uddalaka to his son, Svetaketu: “If someone were to strike at the

root of this large tree, it would bleed, but live. If he were to strike
at its stem, it would bleed, but live. If he were to strike at its top, it
would bleed, but live. Pervaded by the living Self, that tree stands
firm, drinking in its nourishment and rejoicing; but if the living
Self leaves ones of its branches, that branch withers; if it leaves a
second, that branch withers; if it leaves a third, that branch withers.
If it leaves the whole tree, the whole tree withers. In exactly the
same manner, my son, know this. This body withers and dies when
the living Self has left it; the living Self dies not. That subtle
essence is the self of all that exits. It is the True. It is the Self, and
that, Svetaketu, you are.”
Namaste
Core Concepts of the Sruti Tradition:

brahman  impersonal ultimate reality / subtle essence within everything

purusha  primal man / primal person (i.e. brahman personified)

atman  Self / soul / subtle essence as self-consciousness in everything

samsara  cycle of deaths / rebirths

moksha  liberation from samsara / realization of oneness of atman-brahman

dharma  duty (according to caste, stage of life, gender, and universal)

karma  action / fruit of one’s actions (determines the nature of one’s rebirth)
Summary of the Sruti Tradition:
Development of the Sruti Tradition (in the Sanskrit language)

Most important Sruti texts: Samhitas (Vedas) and Upanisads

The Basic Worldview:

1) involving a religious worldview:
•  the concept of rta (cosmic law)
•  the concept of dharma, karma and samsara
•  the concept of brahman, purusha, atman and moksha
2) involving a social order (elaborated in the Dharmashastras):
•  the caste system
•  the stages of life
•  the four goals of life
•  the four categories of dharma (duty)
Philosophical Problems for the Sruti Tradition:
v  the problem of the purpose and reality of this world (2 views):

strong monism: qualified monism:

nirguna brahman saguna brahman
(without qualities) vs. (with qualities)

maya (illusion) lila (play)

v  the problem of individual liberation:

 the spark and the fire / the drop and the ocean
v  impersonal, formless consciousness?
v  impersonal, infinite consciousness (of infinite form)?
v  personal, individual consciousness?