Lecture 3: Upaniṣads & Hindu Cosmology Flashcards
(50 cards)
1
Q
What were the Upanisads said to derive from?
A
- The Upaniṣads (800-400 BCE)
- Upaniṣad said to derive from classic image of student sitting (ṣad) down (ni) beside (upa) a guru (teacher).
2
Q
How many upanisads are there and who were their authors?
A
108 Upaniṣads – 13 principle
No concrete information about their authors.
3
Q
What are the Upanisads also known as?
A
Referred to as Vedānta - forms the end (anta) of the Vedas.
- Chronological end
- Culmination of Vedas
4
Q
What are the Upanisads?
A
- Composed during a time of great social, economic and religious change.
- Speculative philosophical texts.
- Notice for the first time emergence of central religious concepts of Hinduism (karma, samsara)
5
Q
What was the format of the Upanisads?
A
Format of many Upaniṣads – conversations between a teacher (guru) and disciple (śiṣya)
6
Q
What were the primary concerns of Vedic religion? How was this upheld?
A
- Worldly goals for the practitioners as well as the order of whole cosmos
- Proper performance of rituals and sacrifices.
- Some teachers quested after: The inner truth of all reality
- Upaniṣads are result of this line of inquiry.
7
Q
What are the Upanisads concerned with?
A
Primarily concerned with:
- nature of Absolute Reality (Brahman)
- True nature of individual self (ātman)
- Relationship between Brahman and ātman
8
Q
What was the Upanishadic view on ritual and sacrifice?
A
- Some Upaniṣads critical of ritual and sacrifice (empty actions, formal actions, lower knowledge)
- Some Upaniṣads still concerned with it but at a new level.
- Do not entirely reject the early hymns and sacrificial rituals. Rethink and reformulate them – interpreted symbolically.
- Some Upaniṣads held that knowledge was needed for ritual to be effective
- Ritual acts internalized as acts of meditation
9
Q
What did the early Vedic optimistic view on life give way to?
A
- Early Vedic optimistic view on life in this world giving way to concern about “repeated death”
- Death ending not just this life but also the next.
- Means to escape this was needed
- Beyond the power of rituals and sacrifices to gods
- Upaniṣads broadened this idea into a cyclical view of human existence.
- Understand the human problem by seeing that it is samsara.
10
Q
What does Karma mean?
A
- literally means ‘action’ – came to be understood as a system of cause and effect
- Rewards and punishments attached to various actions.
- All deeds, good and bad, have consequences. Good, meritorious (puṇya) – reborn in good situations - gandharva (celestial muscian), or a god (deva). Evil or sinful (pāp), painful effects– reborn in bad situations – non-human birth.
- Sages already knew that karma had religious implications. Actions of sacrifice causes results for gods and for humans.
11
Q
What does punya mean?
A
Good, meritorious
12
Q
What does gandharva mean?
A
celestial muscian
13
Q
What is the Hindu word for god?
A
Deva
14
Q
The ____________ reached its present state because of __________ performed in previous lifetimes.
A
the individual soul (jīva); actions (karma)
15
Q
How does Karma work?
A
- The individual soul (jīva) reached its present state because of actions (karma) performed in previous lifetimes.
- Karmic residue attaches itself to the jīva - causes it to reincarnate.
- Actions are spoken of as seeds that will germinate and eventually bear fruit (phala).
- Fruits of karma may be produced in this lifetime or in any future incarnation.
- Actions in this lifetime will bear fruit in the next lifetime. Lead jīva to be born in another body.
16
Q
What are all acts regarded as?
A
All acts are regarded as either karma-producing seeds, or the fruit of previous karma – beings are in the thrall of karma.
17
Q
What does the concept of karma imply?
A
Implies a continuing cycle of death and rebirth or reincarnation (saṃsāra).
18
Q
What is samsara?
A
- a continuing cycle of death and rebirth or reincarnation
- All of the world (including gods) caught up in saṃsāra.
- Existence in saṃsāra viewed as painful.
19
Q
What is moksa?
A
liberation, release from the cycle of Samsara
20
Q
How is Liberation (Moksa) achieved?
A
- Achieve liberation (mokṣa) required transforming experiential wisdom.
- Those with this knowledge become immortal (a-mrta, ‘without death).
21
Q
What knowledge is required to reach Moksa?
A
- Upaniṣads speculate about the One, that which is truly real and source of all.
- The One, the Real = Brahman
- Experiential knowledge of relationship between Brahman and (ātman) is required.
22
Q
Who is Brahman?
A
- Brahman pervades and transcends human thought and the whole of the universe.
- Brahman = one power, source of all, that which is absolute and eternal.
- Hidden inner controller of the human soul, the foundation for all of the universe.
- Can represent the underlying essence of the material world.
- Brahman cannot be described adequately, can be known directly.
23
Q
What are the two levels of the knowing brahman?
A
1) Nirguṇa Brahman – Brahman beyond attributes.
- Formless
- No limiting qualities
- Impersonal
- Described only by neti neti
2) Saguṇa Brahman – Brahman with attributes / characteristics.
- Has form.
- Personal.
- Worthy of worship.
- Creative power of the universe.
- Experienced as deity.
24
Q
How does one acquire knowledge of the relationship between Brahman and atman?
A
- Knowledge of Brahman liberates (mokṣa) the self (ātman) from the cycle of rebirth (samsara).
- How? Meditation on relationship between ātman and Brahman.
- Experiential knowledge of relationship between Brahman and (ātman) is required.
25
Is escape from the cycle of rebirth the ultimate goal for all?
- No, the text does not say this.
- Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upanisad (6.2) tells us there are two ways that people within the Vedic fold can be religious
- - People who live in the forest/jungle – reach Brahman
- - Sacrificers – Vedic path – go to heaven but this is temporary
- Two paths develop, one for those who want out of the cycle of rebirth and one for those who focus on doing good actions for a good rebirth.
- Movement of world renunciation: Nonviolence, non-action, yoga and meditation.
26
What does the word yoga signify?
word signifies union between atman (soul) and Brahman (god)
27
What is a renouncers view on karma?
- For renouncers good karma is an oxy moron: any karma is bad because it keeps you trapped in samsara.
- Have to renounce the world, give up home, family, all attachments and desire in order to fully rid yourself of karma.
- This renouncer worldview integrated into the 4 stages of life within classical Hinduism.
28
What does Tat vtam asi mean?
TAT VTAM ASI - you are that (you is atman, that is brahman)
29
What were the religious goals of the Vedic period? and how did this change with the Upanisads?
- Centered on ritual performance and karmic action to secure worldly gains.
- At the highest level they were concerned with upholding cosmic order.
- This changed with the Upaniṣads – encourage shedding one’s pursuit of worldly goals.
- The goal becomes freedom from the bondage of ignorance into the liberation that comes with knowledge of the Self (ātman) or Absolute Reality (Brahman)
- Liberation = Mokṣa
30
Will pursuit of good karma one moksa?
- NO – must transcend karma completely!
| - Moksa requires attainment of liberating wisdom, a penetrating insight into truth, into the self, or absolute reality.
31
When must one attain moksa?
- It is possible and necessary to achieve this realization while one is alive.
- not a state that is achieved in the afterlife
- Such a self realized being is known as a jīvanmukti (liberated while alive).
32
Is Hinduism monotheistic?
- World of Brahman is a world of monism
- Central teaching of the Upaniṣads is also a doctrine of pantheism.
- Hence Hinduism has room for Monism, Pantheism, Polytheism, & Monotheism.
- The Upaniṣads are the basis for the path of knowledge and had, and have, a tremendous impact on Hinduism.
33
Is there a single authoritative cosmology in Hinduism?
No single authoritative cosmology.
| Assortment of descriptions about the origin and nature of the universe.
34
What are the vedic creation myths?
- Puruṣa Sūkta - describes the creation of the cosmos – including the gods – from the sacrifice of the cosmic being.
- The moon arose from his mind, the sun from his eye, the sky from his head, Indra and Agni from his mouth, and the Wind from his vital breath.
35
What are the upanisadic creation myths?
- In the Upaniṣads we also see a great variety of theories explaining the beginning of the universe and its structure.
- According to one Upaniṣad the the universe was created by the Self, who, after finding himself feeling lonely and afraid, split into two (husband and wife), creating humans. She turned into a variety of animals and he became the male counterparts of them and thus animals were created.
- Creation as a result of interactions between purusa (man; person; supreme bring; spirit) and prakrti (matter; nature).
36
What do other creation myths include?
A golden egg, containing everything needed for creation within its shell, floating on the primordial waters. In some accounts this egg is broken open by Brahmā at the start of each new creative cycle.
37
What is the Puranic creation account?
- In other myths Viṣṇu is viewed as the one who sparks all of creation after he awakens from his slumber.
- Another has Viṣṇu, in his incarnation as Matsya (the fish), being the spark of a new creation after ensuring that everything needed (the seeds for new creation, the gods, the Vedas, the Purāṇas, a great sage, the sciences) were saved after a cataclysmic flood.
38
What is the hindu conception of time?
- Time is cyclical
- Four main yugas (ages).
- Each yuga diminishes in length because each represents an increasing decline in virtue/righteousness (dharma).
39
What is dharma?
Dharma = Righteousness; duty; morality; law; social obligations; particular religious teachings
40
What are the four main ages (yugas)?
Kṛta/ Satya Yuga – 1,728,000 years
Tretā Yuga – 1,296,000 years
Dvāpara Yuga – 864,000 years
Kali Yuga – 432,000 years
41
What is the total/sum of all four ages called?
Total is called a mahāyuga (great age) – 4,320,000 years.
| After each mahāyuga there is minor dissolution.
42
What is dharma likened to in order to illustrate the four yugas?
- Dharma is likened to a mythical bull – first stands on four legs in the Kṛta Yuga, then three, then two, and finally, in the Kali Yuga, on one.
- Life spans diminish by one quarter
- Dharma decays
43
What is the current age (yuga) that we live in?
- The current age that we live in is Kali Yuga
| - -Most degenerate and ultimately heading for destruction
44
What are 1000 Mahayugas equivalent to?
- 1000 mahāyugas = one day in life of Brahmā which is called a kalpa.
- At the end of each kalpa there is a major dissolution.
- This is an IMMENSE cycle – world is created and dissolved a thousand times over.
- Insignificant when realizing that this is part of a greater cycle.
- Revolves around the lifetime of Brahmā
45
How long do Brahma's live for?
- Brahmā lives for 100 Brahmā years = 311 trillion human years.
- Every day has 14 secondary cycles of creation and destruction – manavantaras.
- At the end of which all things dissolve, including Brahmā himself.
- - The pralaya.
46
How is the life of Brahma symbolically represented?
- Symbolically represented by the deity Viṣṇu asleep on the cosmic serpant, Ananta (“whitout end”).
- Creation symbolized by the lotus growing from Viṣṇu’s navel.
- Then the great cycle begins again and continues endlessly.
47
Each age is characterized by a progressive decline in what?
Dharma.
48
What is the Hindu conception of time in full?
- 100 Brahma years = 311 Trillion human years
- Each Brahma Year = 360 days
- Each day (i.e., a Kalpa) = 14 manavantaras (or 1000 mahayugas)
- Each manavantara = 71 maha yugas
- Each maha yuga = 4 yugas
49
Who is believed to be trapped in this cycle of the time?
Many of the gods, even Brahma himself, are trapped in these cycles.
50
When do heaven and hell exist within this cycle?
- Heaven and hells exist during periods when the world exists
- - Viewed as way stations where excesses of very good and very bad karma are worn off.
- - Do not represent the final spiritual goal.
