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| Religion: Its meaning encompasses matters of duty, natural law, social welfare, ethics, health, and transcendental realization; it is a holistic approach to social coherence and the good of all, corresponding to the order in the universe. |
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| Knowledge: the Vedas are religious texts referred to as the foundations of Hinduism and Sanatana Dharma. Not the work of humans, these are said to be the breath of the eternal as heard by sages. |
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| This is the ancient language in which the Vedas were written and is believed to be the language of Brahman. |
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| Includes Samhitas. Earliest of the Vedas, is a collection of hymns of praise in worship of the deities. |
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| Second of the Vedas, gives directions about performances of ritual sacrifices to the deities. Explains the symbolic correspondence between the microcosm of the ritual process and the real world in which rituals are performed. |
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| Forest Treatises: Collection of teachings from the sages used by recluses for meditation in the forests. |
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| Last of the Vedas consisting of teachings from highly realized spiritual masters. Explains the personal transitions that result from psychic participation in the ritual process. |
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| Epics which tell the stories of the gods and heroes of old who provide models for the Hindu way of life. |
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| Collectors/writers who composed Sanskrit version of the teachings. |
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| Center piece of vedic worship, accompanied by hymns and offerings to the gods to be conveyed by Agni, the god of fire. |
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| Universal breath; the absolute, the supreme reality. |
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| legendary oil drawn from a particular mountain plant which served as an especially meaningful offering to the gods. |
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| Spark of the divine that is reflected in all living things. |
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| Notion of continual existences from life to life. It's always better to come back as a human to enhance spiritual enhancement. Coming back as a beetle would slow you a bit. |
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| Action and its consequence. Every act we make and every thought/desire shape our future experiences. Karma is a strong ethical teaching, emphasizing the importance of purity with focus on far-reaching consequences of wrongful actions. |
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| Karma-regulated wheel of birth, death, re-birth, death, re-birth, death, etc... |
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| liberation from the limitations of space, time and matter through the realization of the immortal absolute. Requires mane lifetimes of upward striving to reach this transition from earthly miseries. |
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Clear division of social classes/labor among four major occupational groups.
BRAHMINS - The priestly order and highest of the castes.
KSHATRIYAS - The nobility, including kinds, warriors, and vassals. Duty was to guard and preserve society.
VAISHYAS - Economic class including merchants and farmers.
SHUDRA - Manual laborers and artisans.
UNTOUCHABLES - Not seen as one of the caste orders, but considered outcasts. Responsible for removing wastes and bodies. |
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| Titles given to venerable religious guides. Not self-declared teachers, but they have a charismatic draw. They are sought out by followers. |
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| The power conveyed in a guru by a glance, word, or thought. Said to be blissful or ecstatic. |
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| To be yoked in a spiritual discipline on a path to ultimate reality. |
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| Is the word for the gods; means shining or auspicious. |
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| Incarnations or appearances of the divine in material form. |
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| Is the Song of God known in India as Gita. |
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| Refers to particularly important spiritual centers within the human body. |
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| The process, through meditation and other means, of moving spiritual energy from the lower chakras at the base of the spine upward toward the highest "crown" chakra atop the head. |
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| Is a system of channel connecting the various chakras through which the kundalini is to travel. |
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| Sacred sounds recited in worship and meditation, the most famous of which is "OM" |
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| A form of ritual worship focused on a god or goddess. |
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