Hinduism

Question 1

acharya

Answer 1

The leading teacher of a sect
or the head of a monastery

Question 2

advaita

Answer 2

Shankara’s school of philosophy, which holds that there is only
one ultimate reality, the indescribable
Brahman, with which the Atman, or
self, is identical.

Question 3

Alvars

Answer 3

Twelve devotional poets
whose works are central to the South
Indian bhakti tradition.

Question 4

artha

Answer 4

Prosperity; one of the three
classical aims in life.

Question 5

ashramas

Answer 5

The four stages in the life of
an upper-class male: student, householder, forest-dweller, and ascetic.

Question 6

Atman

Answer 6

The individual self, held by
Upanishadic and Vedantic thought to be
identical with Brahman, the world-soul.

Question 7

avatara

Answer 7

A “descent” or incarnation of
a deity in earthly form

Question 8

Ayurveda

Answer 8

A system of traditional
medicine, understood as a teaching
transmitted from the sages

Question 9

Bhagavad Gita

Answer 9

A section of the Mahabharata epic recounting a conversation between Krishna and the warrior
Arjuna in which Krishna explains the
nature of God and the human soul.

Question 10

bhakti

Answer 10

Loving devotion to a deity,
seen as a gracious being who enters
the world for the benefit of humans.

Question 11

Brahmanas

Answer 11

Texts regarding ritual.

Question 12

Brahma

Answer 12

The creator god; not to be
confused with Brahman.

Question 13

Brahman

Answer 13

The world-soul, sometimes
understood in impersonal terms; not
to be confused with Brahma.

Question 14

brahmin

Answer 14

A member of the priestly
class

Question 15

darshana

Answer 15

Seeing and being seen by the
deity (in the temple) or by a holy teacher;
the experience of beholding with faith.

Question 16

Deepavali (Diwali)

Answer 16

Festival of light
held in October–November, when
lamps are lit.

Question 16

dharma

Answer 16

Religious and social duty, including both righteousness and faith.

Question 17

Holi

Answer 17

Spring festival celebrated by
throwing brightly colored water or
powder.

Question 18

jnana

Answer 18

Knowledge; along with action
and devotion, one of the three avenues
to liberation explained in the Bhagavad
Gita.

Question 19

kama

Answer 19

Sensual (not merely sexual)
pleasure; one of the three classical
aims of life.

Question 20

karma

Answer 20

Action, good and bad, believed to determine the quality of rebirth in future lives.

Question 21

kshatriya

Answer 21

A member of the warrior
class in ancient Hindu society

Question 22

linga

Answer 22

A conical or cylindrical stone
column symbolizing the creative energies of the god Shiva.

Question 23

Mahabharata

Answer 23

A very long epic poem,
one section of which is the Bhagavad
Gita

Question 24

mantra

Answer 24

An expression of one or more syllables that is chanted repeatedly as a focus of concentration in devotion

Question 25

moksha

Answer 25

Liberation from the cycle of birth and death; one of the three classical aims in life.

Question 26

murti

Answer 26

A form or personification in which divinity is manifested.

Question 27

Navaratri

Answer 27

(“Nine nights”) An autumn festival honoring the Goddess.

Question 28

om

Answer 28

A syllable chanted in meditation, interpreted as representing ultimate reality, the universe, or the relationship of the devotee to the deity.

Question 29

prasada

Answer 29

A gift from the deity, especially food that has been presented to the god’s temple image, blessed, and returned to the devotee.

Question 30

puja

Answer 30

Ritual household worship of the deity, commonly involving oil lamps, incense, prayers, and food offerings.

Question 31

Puranas

Answer 31

(“Old tales”) Stories about deities that became important after the Vedic period.

Question 32

Ramayana

Answer 32

An epic recounting the life of Lord Rama, an incarnation of the god Vishnu.

Question 33

rishi

Answer 33

A seer; the composers of the ancient Vedic hymns are considered rishis.

Question 34

sadhu

Answer 34

A holy man.

Question 35

samnyasin

Answer 35

A religious ascetic; one who has reached the last of the four stages of life for a Hindu male; see ashramas

Question 36

sati

Answer 36

The self-sacrifice of a widow who throws herself onto her deceased husband’s funeral pyre.

Question 36

samsara

Answer 36

The continuing cycle of rebirths.

Question 37

shudra

Answer 37

A member of the lowest of the four major classes, usually translated as “servant,” though some groups within the shudra class could be quite prosperous

Question 37

shruti

Answer 37

(“What is heard”) The sacred literature of the Vedic and Upanishadic periods, recited orally by the brahmin priests for many centuries before it was written down.

Question 38

smrtri

Answer 38

(“What is remembered”) A body of ancient Hindu literature, including the epics, Puranas, and law codes, formed after the shruti and passed down in written form

Question 39

tantra

Answer 39

An esoteric school outside the Vedic and brahminical tradition that emerged around the fifth century and centered on a number of controversial ritual practices, some of them sexual.

Question 40

tilaka

Answer 40

A dot or mark on the forehead made with colored powder.

Question 41

upanayana

Answer 41

The initiation of a young brahmin boy into ritual responsibility in which he is given a cord to wear over his left shoulder and a mantra to recite and is sent to beg for food for the day

Question 42

Upanishads

Answer 42

Philosophical texts in the form of reported conversations on the theory of the Vedic ritual and the nature of knowledge, composed around the sixth century BCE.

Question 43

vaishya

Answer 43

A member of the third or mercantile class in the ancient fourfold class structure

Question 44

Vedas

Answer 44

The four collections of hymns and ritual texts that constitute the oldest and most highly respected Hindu sacred literature. - Samkita's - Brahmanas - Upanishads - Aranyaka's

Question 45

yoga

Answer 45

A practice and discipline that may involve a philosophical system and mental concentration as well as physical postures and exercises.