Lecture 8, 9, 10: Desireless Action, Bhakti, Deities, Visnu

Question 1

Good desires are characterized as

Answer 1

1. Unselfish
2. Calm
3. God

Question 2

Bad Desires are characterized as

Answer 2

1. Burning Desires
2. Selfish
3. Worldly Pleasures

Question 3

Bhakti means

Answer 3

Devotion/Attachment

Question 4

One of the solutions of desireless action is

Answer 4

to only desire god

Question 5

An alternate path to liberation that is one of the most pervasive practices in hinduism is

Answer 5

Bhakti

Question 6

Is Bhakti desireless?

Answer 6

No, it is a deep love for god, an attachment to god

Question 7

4 forms of Bhakti

Answer 7

1. Attachment of divine companionship
2. Attachment of parental affection
3. Attachment of the beloved
4. Attachment of the deepest separation

Question 8

Attachment of divine companionship is

Answer 8

relating to god as intimate friend (arjuna/krsna)

Question 9

Attachment of parental affection is

Answer 9

treat deity as one’s own child (Krsna’s mother or father)

Question 10

Attachment of the beloved is modeled on

Answer 10

modeled on Krsna, who has multiple partners

Question 11

Who is Krsna’s prime mistress?

Answer 11

Radha

Question 12

3 types of beloved Bhakti love

Answer 12

1. New love
2. Forbidden Love
3. Marital Love

Question 13

What is attachment of the deepest separation?

Answer 13

Love of estranged lovers, longing for union but perhaps won’t

Question 14

The traditional role of Brahma is

Answer 14

creation

Question 15

The traditional role of Visnu is

Answer 15

Maintenance

Question 16

The traditional role of siva is

Answer 16

destruction

Question 17

How are the gods distinguished in worship?

Answer 17

People worship them separately in different eras where each god and goddess takes on the jobs of all three

Question 18

Personal Gods mean

Answer 18

they take on a persona, not your own personal god. They are anthropomorphic.

Question 19

The name for God that has no human form and does not intervene in human affairs…often seen as union with everything

Answer 19

Brahman

Question 20

To hindu traditions, time works in what pattern?

Answer 20

cyclic

Question 21

What is pralaya?

Answer 21

Destruction/Dissolution

Question 22

The golden age of time is when…

Answer 22

people are acting within their dharma, faithful to social and religious requirements

Question 23

What is the Kali age?

Answer 23

Where people are judged on their death, rather than their moral character

Question 24

The Markandeya episode is found within the…

Answer 24

Marhabarata

Question 25

The Markandeya Episode describes

Answer 25

an actual pralaya

Question 26

Who is Markandeya

Answer 26

the only human being who has seen the cyclical dissolution and recreation of the universe first hand

Question 27

3 aspects of the Kali Yuga in the Markandeya Episode

Answer 27

1. Population increase
2. Sexual immortality
3. Cessation of vedas study and rituals

Question 28

Markandeya finds Krsna on a tree after the pralaya…and then what?

Answer 28

Krsna opens his mouth and Markandeya plunges into his belly, seeing visions of the whole universe

Question 29

Why does Krsna fufill Markandeya’s request to explain his visions?

Answer 29

Out of his Bhakti as he bows to the child

Question 30

To Markandeya, Krsna identifies himself with…

Answer 30

time

Question 31

In the Marabharta, the pralaya is described as

Answer 31

Krsna destroying the whole entire universe, consuming it, holding it, then remissioning into the golden age

Question 32

The demon in The Dwarf is called

Answer 32

Bali

Question 33

In the Dwarf, Bali rules:

Answer 33

three words, heaven, earth and sky

Question 34

In the Dwarf, Visnu reaquires the rule of the world by

Answer 34

disguising as a dwarf, asking for boon of 3 strides from Bali and expanding