Origins & Caste System
These sacred writings were composed in Sanskrit and first taught orally.
What are the Vedas?
Hindus call the human soul by this name.
What is atman?
Ancient thunder god who used lightning bolts as weapons.
What is Indra?
People followed their social duties so that society would be in this state of balance.
What is harmony?
Many Hindus still bathe in this river as an act of purification.
What is the Ganges River?
Early Aryan religion named after sacred knowledge writings.
What is Vedism?
Temple doors face this direction toward the rising sun.
What is east?
These three gods create, preserve, and destroy the universe.
Who are Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva?
This sacred animal became a symbol of reverence for life and avoiding harm.
What is cow?
Belief that a soul is reborn into a new body.
What is reincarnation?
Europeans later used this term for Hindu social classes.
What is caste system?
Brahman is described as this supreme divine force.
What is supreme power?
Festival meaning “row of lamps.”
What is Divali?
Brahmins memorized more than this many verses.
What is 100,000 verses?
Holy journeys taken to sacred rivers like the Ganges.
What are pilgrimages?
This lowest group handled jobs considered “dirty.”
What are untouchables?
Time moves in a repeating pattern like this object.
What is a great wheel?
Epic story telling Rama’s battle with Ravana.
What is the Ramayana?
The Vedas were not written down for over this many years, requiring oral memorization.
What is 1,000 years?
Ancient pilgrims believed traveling through mountains and difficult land could cleanse them of these.
What are sins?
Members of this class had duty to teach Vedas.
What are Brahmins?
According to the text, Brahman constantly performs these actions.
What are creating, destroying, re-creating?
This goddess embodies the female powers of the universe in Hindu belief.
What is Devi?
According to the passage, harmony depended on people performing duties linked to this social class structure.
What is varna?
A person’s social status was a reflection of actions taken during when?
What are past lives?