Vishnu / Puranas / Bhakti Flashcards
(22 cards)
Vishnu
Preserver and protector
Avatara (avatars) - incarnate forms
Major avatars of Vishnu
10 avatars, including Matsya, Narasimha, Rama, Krishna
Matsya
warns Manu of flood, saving humanity
Rama
7th avatar - in the Ramayana
Model dharma king with model kingdom
What are the major themes of the Ramayana?
model brotherhood and wife, good vs evil, light over dark, and popular in asian Theater
Krishna
8th avatar - in the Mahabharata
Very popular and reachable
Valmiki
A version of the Ramayana from 4th-7th BCE
Focuses on duty and kingship
Tulsidas
A version of the Ramayana from 16th century
Focuses on bhakti
Gita as a bridge between renouncers and householders
The BG acts as a bridge between the householders and renouncers by essentially saying both paths are right
Key characters in the Ramayana
Rama, Sita, Ravana, and Hanuman
Key characters in the Mahabharata
Pandavas, Kauravas, Arjuna, and Krishna
Two brothers: Dhritarashtra (elder), Pandu (younger)
Pandavas
Protagonists
Pandu has five (acknowledged) sons
Pandu’s curse and exile
Kauravas
Antagonists
Dhritarashtra has 100 sons
Draupadi
wife of the Pandavas
Forced to strip by the Kauravas
Saved by Krishna, who makes her sari infinitely long
Host-guest relations in puja
The gods are treated as royal guests during puja
Smarta brahmins
specialize in puranas (smirti), expanding imperial gods
Imperial gods/goddesses
Puranicization, local gods being composited into imperial gods
Puranicization
Composite deity made up of many different gods unified through puranicization
Hanuman
The half monkey half man in the Ramayana, aids Rama in freeing Sita
Darshan
Seeing and being seen
Ravana
The antagonist of the Ramayana
Wayang
shadow puppet theater
