Ancient India

India
Land of Diversity

- Major Religions
1. Hinduism and Buddhism

- Diverse Languages
2. 18 Different Languages
a. Hundreds of Dialects
 Indian Geography
Geography (much diversity)
1. subcontinent
2. shaped like a diamond
3. a number of core regions
a. Himalayas and Karakoram Mountains (far
north)
b. Ganges Valley (just south of Himalayas)
c. Indus River Valley (west of the Ganges)
 The Aryans
The Aryans
1. 2000 B.C.
2. Indo-European speaking
3. nomadic people
a. Siberia
- moved west (Europe)
b. moved south (India)
4. eventually controlled all of India
5. ancient culture of the Aryans
a. strong warrior people
b. organized into tribes
c. earlier Aryans had no written language
d. start farming (1500 – 1000 BC)
 The Aryans
6. Sandskrit (1,000 BC)
a. written language
* Vedas:
Sacred
text of
the Hindu
religion
 Organization of Society
The Caste System
1. invading peoples rule over conquered subjects
2. system based on:
* skin color
* economic advantages
* position in society
Top Caste Brahmins
* ruling elites in Aryan society
* priests

Second Caste Kshatriyas

* warriors

Third Caste Vaisyas

* commoners
* usually engaged in commerce

Forth Caste Sudras

* not Aryan
* great part of the Indian
population
* peasants, artisans, manual laborers

The Untouchables
 Family in Ancient India
Primary Unit of Society
- extended family
- Patriarchal
- Superiority of men
1. no women priests
2. men only ones educated

Education
1. Guru
 Family in Ancient India
Marriage
- marriages arranged
- women considered less
important
- divorce
1. women almost never
2. men allowed to take second
wife (if first wife could not
have children)
- children important
Sati (STOPPED IN 1800s)
 Ancient Indian Economy
Subsistence Farming
- Indian civilization moves to around
Ganges River
1. Sharecroppers
2. Environmental Dangers
a. flooding
b. food shortages
Originated
Hinduism
- Aryan Religious Beliefs
- Vedas
1. hymns and ceremonies
2. oral tradition
Beliefs
- single force of the universe
1. Brahman
- Atman (individual self) to seek
ultimate reality
1. reunite with Brahman after Death
Reincarnation
Hinduism
- the individuals soul is reborn in a different
form after death
1. unite with Brahman

Karma (law of moral cause and effect)

- force of a person’s actions determining his
rebirth in a next life
a. consequences
b. Caste System

Dharma
1. divine law
2. demands different actions by
different members of society
 Hinduism
Yoga
1. a method to develop a oneness with god
2. four types of Yoga for different needs
of different people
a. path of knowledge
b. path of love
c. path of work
d. path of meditation
* still the mind to create oneness
with
God
Hinduism Polytheistic ?
Hinduism
- Concrete Symbols
1. 33,000 Deities
a. Brahma the creator
b. Vishnu the preserver
c. Shiva the destroyer

2. Gods
a. different expressions
of
the one ultimate reality
 Buddhism
Siddhartha Guatama (6th century BC)
1. Born 563 BC
a. ruling princely family
b. Southern Nepal (today)
2. Raised in the lap of luxury
a. trained to be a warrior
3. Married at 16
a. had everything
4. Dismayed by the troubles of the
world
a. spend his life trying to find a
cure for human suffering
 Buddhism
5. Followed Ascetics
a. did not help and almost killed him

6. Followed Deep Meditation

a. one day sitting under a tree
* Bodhi Tree (wisdom)
* Nirvana (annihilation of the ego)
* finds the meaning of life and
enlightenment
b. Spent the rest of his life
preaching what he had learned
Four Noble Truths
1. Ordinary life is full of suffering
2. Suffering is caused by
desire to satisfy ourselves
3. The way to end suffering is to end
desire for selfish goals
4. The way to end desire is to follow the
Middle Path

Middle Path (Eightfold Path)

1. Right View
2. Right Intention
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration
 The Four Noble Truths
No one can deny that suffering in the condition
of all existence

Suffering and general dissatisfaction come to

human beings because they are greedy,
possessive, and, above all, self-centered.

Egoism, possessives, and greed can,, however,

be understood, overcome and rooted out.

This rooting out can be attained by following a

simple plan (Eight fold Path)
 Eightfold Path
First you must see clearly something is wrong

Next you must decide that you want to be cured

You must act and speak so as to aim at being cured.

Your livelihood must not conflict with your therapy.

That therapy must go forward at the “staying speed,”

that is, the critical velocity that can be sustained.

You must think about it incessantly

Learn how to contemplate with the deep mind.

 Buddhism
Similarities with Hinduism
* Self Denial
* Concept of Nirvana close to Hindu Brahman
Buddhism v. Hinduism
* denied the ultimate reality of the
material world
* physical surroundings of humans were
really just an illusion
* pain, poverty, and sorrow caused by
attachment to things in this world
* people let go of worldly cares so pain
and sorrow can be forgotten
Death of Sidhartha
480 BC

Spread of Buddhism
Spread through India and East
Stupas