India’s Ancient Epics and Tales (Volume A)

India, 1200 B.C.E.–100 C.E.

• before the time of historical records• Indus-Harappan, trade culture• Indo-Aryan, agrarian culture• Sanskrit• the Vedas

History

Vedas and Upanisads

• sacred texts• visionaries (rsis)• poets (kavis)• ritual formulas

(mantras)• commentary (śāstras)• rule books (sūtras)

Hinduism• self-generation• primordial substance• godhead• Purusa (spirit)• Brahman (Upanisads)• moksa• atman

Brahmana Caste

Rg-Veda

• Vedic hymns• Punjab• small republic• hereditary monarchs

Ramayana• caste• brahmanas, ksatrivas,

vaisyas, sudras• endogamy• political leadership

Mahābhārata• end of republican

ideal• Hinduism• “untouchables”• polygamy

Bhagavad-gitā

Jataka Tales• Buddhism, Jainism• mosksa versus

nirvāna• karma• reincarnation• Great Vows

(mahavrata)• Siddhartha

• internal religious division• religious dissent• arrival of new faiths• diversity and pluralism

Changes

India

Indo-Aryan culture, which displaced Indus-Harappan culture starting about 2000 B.C.E., focused primarily on which of the following?

a. military conquestb. large-scale monoculturec. trade and industryd. family farming

Test Your Knowledge

What was the primary language used to produce Indian literature even into the nineteenth century?

a. Englishb. Indianc. Latind. Sanskrit

Test Your Knowledge

Test Your Knowledge

The earliest works composed in South Asia were hymns. These were organized into four groups called: ___________ .

a. Vedasb. Upaniṣadsc. kāvyad. mantras

Hinduism, the primary religion in ancient India, is characterized by which of the following?

a. monotheismb. polyandryc. polytheismd. brahmanism

Test Your Knowledge

Alternative religious beliefs to Hinduism found expression in which of the following?

a. the Rāmāyanab. the Mahābhāratac. the Bhagavad-gītād. the Jātaka tales

Test Your Knowledge

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