1. Q: From the joining of what two cultures did Hinduism emerge?
A:
India descended, as it were, from the very ancient Indus Valley culture and the
religious culture of the Aryans.
2. What two artifacts of the ancient Indus Valley give clues as to the religious culture of
the Indus Valley people?
A:
(1) Seals depicting females with exaggerated sexual dimensions may suggest the
prevalence of goddess worship.
(2) A figure in a meditative yoga position and bearing
traits of a god later termed “Shiva”, suggests that both a yoga spirituality was a part of
Indus Valley religion.
3. Did the Vedas from the Indus Valley people or from the Aryans?A: The Aryans
4. Who is the author of the Vedas?
How did they come into existence.
A: Anonymous authorship.
It is said that the earliest sages of Hinduism meditatively
“heard” (or intuited) the mantras which formed the Vedas-- and hearing them, passed
them onto the next generation.
5.
What is the purpose of the Vedas?
A: The Vedas are essential ritual scriptures: they give specific rituals to do and mantras
to chant, which are intended to harmonize heaven and earth, and to invite the blessings
of the gods to satisfy various earthly or material needs (e.g., good crops, good weather,
good health, good relationships.)
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- Fall '19
- Hinduism, Indus Valley Civilization, Shiva, Vedas
