HINDUISM: TIMELINE, SPRING 2008 NOTES India s population: 1 billion plus, as of 2000; Diversity of peoples, religions, languages, cultures; 80% Hindu, 13% Muslim, the rest Christian, Sikh, Jain, Parsi; tribal peoples Hinduism traced back to Indo-Aryan word for sea (sindhu), i.e. land of Indus river; Persians modified this to hind ; in Gk and Latin, this became india meant for uncharted land beyond Indus; Hindu was a Muslim term to ref to native peoples of South Asia, specifically those who didn t convert to Islam [so, first religious meaning]. In 19C British used term Hindu for Census to distinguish from other religions; In 19C Hindu became an identity, to challenge Christian colonizers and missionaries. Prior to 19C, Hindus didn t recognise themselves as such, used sectarian affiliations. So, a geographical term for a river evolved into the name for a religion FORMATIVE PERIOD: 2500-800 BCE The Indus Valley Civilization agriculturalists, with sophisticated irrigation systems, towns and roads, had writing: their religious motifs that continue into later Hinduism: reverence for water, mother goddesses, phallus, animals (bull), fire The coming of the Indo-Aryans to the subcontinent, around 1500 BCE: merged with indigenous population, divided into hierarchical occupational groups or varnas/castes with Priests, Kings, Farmers, Service; Outcastes The Vedas (earliest texts in Hinduism, 1500 BCE); the Rig Veda, collection of 1000 hymns; main gods and motifs (God of sky and seasons, Varuna; God of Rain, Indra;. Agni, god of sacrificial Fire, mouth of gods; Ritual and belief focused on human and cosmos in harmony). The concept of the atman/Atman or One Soul; Vedic hymns and rituals used today at weddings, funerals, worship of deities SPECULATIVE PERIOD: 800-400 BCE The SRUTI texts (like the Vedas, that which is revealed, or heard, transmitted orally) the Brahmanas (800-250 BCE, manuals/interpretation for rituals of sacrifice); the Upanishads (900 BCE-500 BCE, Commentaries on the Vedas). The questions of the Upanishads [ to sit at feet of teacher ]: about origins (Purusha, Primal Man, from whose sacrifice all space, time, creation, castes derive; Primacy of knowledge of Reality, what is valid knowledge ?; Nature of divinity as Brahman (ungendered divinity); samsara (cycle of rebirths); karma (fruits of action, resulting in rebirth); moksha (spiritual liberation from rebirth) Times of religious questioning, reaction to Brahmanical orthodoxy; growth of other religions like Buddhism and Jainism (mid-500 BCE), offering different paths to enlightenment, emphasizing meditation, self-discipline, awareness EPIC AND CLASSICAL PERIOD: 400 BCE-600 CE SMRITI texts: [that which is remembered, and codified/written down] Page 1 9/23/2008 Suchitra Samanta The Code of Manu ( 1 CE, one of the Dharmashashtras, 200 BCE 400 CE); Dharma as both religion, and ethics [of the four stages of men; caste; gender; a misogynistic text!] Yoga Sutras (Patanjali, 1 CE, focus on control of body and mind towards union) The Ramayana (Epic story of the god-hero Rama, 100 BCE 200 CE); Today on TV; in fundamentalist religion/politics The Mahabharata (Epic story of war, containing the Bhagavad Gita [Song of God], 400 BCE-400 CE); Gandhi s book, today the central book for many Hindus, in which a warrior is told about his duty to fight by the god Krishna, in a just war The Great Goddess (Devi/Kali enters the Hindu textual tradition (500-600 CE) MEDIEVAL PERIOD: 600 CE-1800 CE The Puranas (collections of stories of ancient times myths of gods and goddesses, 300 CE-1600 CE) [in light of threat from Buddhism and Jainism, Sikhism] making ideas of Hinduism accessible through story to a larger audience Advaita Vedanta ( nondual ) School of Philosophy (of six schools); Founder, Shankara, 8 CE; questions about sin as ignorance or bad knowledge ; the relationship between One and Many, of the Brahman as nondual; role of Maya ( illusion ); that Brahman and Atman as identical, Soul/soul; proposed many paths to Truth, corresponding to one s level of spritual development The Bhakti movement (in South India, 600 CE-1000 CE; in North and East India, 1200 CE-1550 CE); Chaitanya, 1486-1533, saint of the god Krishna, inspired ISCON (Krishna Consciousness movement); sectarian movements for deities such as Sakti, Siva, Visnu [Bhakti: devotion ; as a movement, it stated that one does not need to be upper caste or a man to love God; a radical response to caste-based orthodoxy and gender discrimination; devotion to God modeled on human relationships, eg. mother-child, lovers, masterservant] Hindu devotionalism inspired mystical Sufi Islam (born in Turkey), Sufi saints like Kabir; This brand of Islam influenced a new religion, Sikhism (16 CE) The Tantras (Tantrism, focus on esoteric ritual, 500 CE-1800 CE) MODERN PERIOD: 1800 CE TO THE PRESENT Two Religious movements in response to British colonial rule: the Brahmo Samaj; the Arya Samaj; The Brahmo Samaj, founded by Raja Ram Mohun Roy (1772-1833), stood against polytheism, image worship in Hinduism, had a monotheistic belief, and a social agenda involving stand against sati (widows burnt alive on dead husband s funeral pyre), widow remarriage, education of women, laws against child marriage and polygamy. The Arya Samaj, founded Dayanand Saraswati (1824-1883), reverted Page 2 9/23/2008 Suchitra Samanta to Vedas to restore purity of Hinduism, rejected the many gods of the Puranas; its social agenda: stood against caste, encouraged the education of women, encouraged widow remarriage, stood against child marriage; The AS also rejected modern secular Constitution of India, has an India for the Hindus agenda, influences present day fundamentalist religion/politics The Ramakrishna Mission (founded by the illiterate saint Ramakrishna, devotee of Kali; and his disciple, Vivekananda, mid-late 1800s): nondual position; inclusive of Islam and Christianity, the many paths to God; The order today has social agenda, works in disaster relief, education, has sizeable following and funds Mahatma Gandhi, and Hindu beliefs in the fight for Independence: Ahimsa (nonviolence), satyagraha (Truth is God); bhakti or devotion to nation s freedom from British colonial rule civil disobedience; influenced Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela of South Africa Hindu fundamentalism and politics today: the gods Siva, Rama have taken on exclusivist positions, against Muslims and Christians, and secular belief Suchitra Samanta Page 3 9/23/2008