NEW UNIT - INDIAN FAITHS 

1. The Axial revolution was a period of spiritual development in the world, 900 to 

200 bce (confucianism/daoism in china, hinduism/buddhism in china, 

monotheism in israel, and philosophical rationalism in greece) 

2. He means that your religion was not what mattered, it was how you behaved or 

how your religion affected your behaviors 

3. Perennial philosophy is the idea that everything in “our world” is an imitation of 

the divine world so it urges humans to model their behavior with that of the 

people of the divine world. 

4. Her criticism was that women had much less power in the axial age versus a 

more rural period in time. 

5. One of the major criticisms is that the assertion made by jasper that all the 

sages of the axial revolution lived at the same time, is not true. No historians 

have proved jasper’s theory incorrect 

6. The Avestan and Sanskrit speakers were known as the aryans. 

7. Every word that was spoken was always critical and was taken very seriously. 

So seriously, that there was a god representing speech. I’m not sure, that is very 

vague. 

8. The principal ritual was sacrificing. This nourished the gods. 

 9. Zoroastrian: In churches they have a ritualistic fire which was tended by priests 

Pastoralists are basically nomads. They are wandering looking for places to settle. 

Avestians stopped in persia and become persians and meet the Zoroastrians   

God = deva 

Fire god = Agni 

Ahura Mazda= good purpose 

Agon = struggle/battle/spiritual/on a cosmic level 

Saoshyant = warrior 

10. The aryans were a pastoralist society who spoke an indo-european language. As 

they migrated in large numbers after 1500 bce and they came into conflict with the 

Dravidian people, already living in India, they spoke dravidian they made great 

advancements in agriculture. Eventually the Aryans became agriculturists 

 
11. We know so little of Harappan society because for one, most of the remains are 

inaccessible and buried underwater and there are very little written record of the 

society. 

12. The two societies both established patterns that shaped the larger society such 

as a standardized measurements and a complex political system. (they expanded 

into mesopotamia, merchants) 

13. The Harapan societies entered a period of decline in 1900 BCE as a result of an 

ecological crisis. For example, massive unpredicted floods, deforestation and other 

causes similar to those listed. That led to reduced amounts of topsoil.  

14. Though the Aryans were much more skilled and advanced militarily (better tools, 

they worked better with horses) they did not thrive agriculturally or have a form of 

organized government. Whereas the dravidians had complex irrigation systems and 

an organized social hierarchy. For example the culture was largely illiterate and did 

not have a law system. 

15. The term caste stems for the portuguese word casta meaning color which refers 

to a social class of “unchangeable status”. It also refers to the indian social order. 
Varna is a sanskrit word used by the portuguese settlers to differentiate social 

classes. 

16. The four main castes were Brahmins(priests), kshatriyas(warriors/aristocrats), 

vaishyas (cultivators/artisans/merchants) and shudras(peasants/serfs). Jati is 

basically a classification method of someone’s job/social status based on their 

hereditary class. This enforced the “caste notion” by providing more ways of 

classifying, and based upon that classification rating someone's social class. 

17. It showed the importance of men. 

There is evidence of trading between the indus valley river and mesopotamia 

18. Varuna was replaced by Indra because people simply were not inspired by him, 

because of his “cowardice”. Whereas Indra was passionate about war and 

supposedly led people into battle. 

19. The Rig veda was a large compilation of ancient Aryan hymns and prayers. The 

Rig Veda was transferred with great accuracy. 

 
20. As the cattle and resources were drained as a result of sacrificial rituals, the 

warriors and raiders had to replenish these necessities by going on more raids. And 

the cycle continued as long as there were things to sacrifice.  

21. The warrior's ritually represented the expansion of the aryans eastward because 

the whole embodiment of the warrior was to fight alongside and for the gods, this 

encouraged them to fight and expand. 

22. According to Armstrong ‘Brahman’ is the highest order in the hindu church. 

23. ?????? 

24. Some of the early tenets of early vedic aryanism were, ritualistic sacrificing, they 

did this in a hope to please the gods and to grant them victory in battle, a long life 

and numerous other things as well. That brings us to another of the tenets, which was 

war, and glorious victory (sort of like the klingons). However some time later people 

became dissatisfied with these rituals because the people though that their tenets 

were not rewarding them both literally and spiritually  

 
25. The Upanishads were groups of people that sat together in front of a sage in 

order to discuss religious issues. They taught that appearances are deceiving and 

that we are reflections of the spiritual world and that all life is connected and that 

everyone is part of a universal soul called a Brahman. The brahman is: omniscient 

omnipotent and is everywhere.  

Samsara- the river of existence 

26. Ascetic- Someone who practices harsh self discipline 

Yoga- A Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline, a part of which, including breath 

control, simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures, is widely 

practiced for health and relaxation. 

Moksha- Literally means liberty; to escape the endless wheel of life. 

Yogi- someone who practices yoga (self discipline) 

You can get mkosha by accumulating or shedding karma. (you must shed karma to 

achieve karma) 

****in Hinduism the thought is just as bad as the action**** 

 
Karma- the amount of good and bad you do.  

27. Atman- it cannot be described nor measured, however they know it’s there 

because of how it affects things around it.  

28. ??? 

29. Because so many different people had conquered the subcontinent, there was 

chaos and unrest amongst the sub civilizations, so then the Aryans swept in 

conquering them all and in turn united them all. 

30. Kautilya was a political advisor who devised procedures for organized 

government. The Mauryans used these rules to govern India. 

31. After the death of Ashoka, the former emperor, the decline of the empire was 

evident almost immediately. They also suffered a financial and economic failure. This 

meant they could not afford to maintain their military which eventually doomed them. 

32. This period is full of both, though there are only very few instances pf indian unity, 

most of the time was a period of civil unrest, constant war and the mistreatment of 

individuals. 
 

33. ??? 

34. As india continued to expand and grow, the trade routes of indian merchants 

became more widespread, therefore allowing the traders to interact with their 

counterparts in different regions, as well as gain military or political influence in 

different regions. 

35. As a result of the economic boom in Indian society, new types of jobs were in 

demand, some of which did not fit into the already popular ‘caste system’ to mitigate 

this, more ‘subcastes’ other wise knowns as ‘jati’ were made. This allowed for there 

to be more ways of classifying people , no matter how minute the trait was. 

36. Outcastes were unable to make a good living because they were expelled from 

the community, subjecting them to the most horrendous and grotesque of jobs, 

making it impossible to move up in the Caste system. 

37. This required an adjustment in the theology because of the growing needs of the 

new time. 

 
38. The heart of the upanishad vision was focused on not the external significance of 

a ritual, but rather how it affected someone on the inside. Meaning when a rite/ritual 

was performed, the patron must know why it is performed. 

39. During a debate over Brahman one or two of the contestants would most of the 

time, just fall silent unable to proceed. This was because of the inability to express 

Brahman through words. Meaning that it was beyond the comprehension of anyone 

and inexpressible through any of the popular forms of communication. 

40. Yajnavalkya made the discovery that every human being had an ‘immortal spark’ 

that contributed and sustained the universe. This was so important because of the 

fact that this was an inspiration to virtually all of the future religions. 

41. He recognized that everyone, even the lowest of the low, was part of the ‘immortal 

spark’ that contributed and sustained the universe. 

42. Uddalaka agreed with him on the fundamentals of the brahmin. Meaning that he 

believed in a force behind the universe and he also believed in the notion that you can 

shed Karma in order to leave this existence and become part of the brahmin (this is 

called moksha). They also believed in the relationship between atman and brahman.   

 
43. A few things had to be abandoned. For one, karma had to be shed as well as the 

notion that we are all unique. Where in ‘reality’ everyone is part of one big entity that is 

the universe 

Dharma- Your duty based on the caste 

Karma-(in Hinduism and Buddhism) the sum of a person's actions in this and 

previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences. 

Vedanta- the end of the vedas: Synonymous to upanishad because they upanishads 

ended the era of the vedas 

The Hindu’s believe that their is more than ‘one truth’ 

44. Jainism (Jainism did not recognize the caste system)only appealed to some 

because of the fact that it was not practical. Jainism was based on the idea not to 

harm anything not even the smallest insect. Monks as well \as worshipers went 

through such extremes to prevent inflicting harm on other living beings, such as 

vegetarianism and even straining out their water in order to avoid harming living 

things. 

 
45. Mahavira was an ascetic who is believed to be the founder of jainism. And both 

Mahavira, Jesus and Gautama were around the same age when the climactic events 

of their life occurred. 

46. In his early years, Gautama (SIDDHARTHA) lived lived with his father and was put 

in total seclusion by that same father in order to prevent him from experiencing the 

pains and sufferings of the world. Soon however he would venture past the palace 

walls with his chariot driver. He would soon discover the reality of life. While on his 

journey he sees an old man, a sick man and a corpse. He finally saw a monk (most 

likely a Jain monk). After that he lived an ascetic life meditating often. Then he tries 

life of extreme pleasure. He finally comes to a happy median of the two, meditating 

under a tree for 7 weeks This led him to enlightened state known as Buddha.   

47. The truth of suffering (Dukkha) (All life is suffering) 

● The truth of the origin of suffering (Samudāya)(Desire, or the want of things 

leads to this suffering) 

● The truth of the cessation of suffering (Taha)(If you end that desire then the 

suffering will cease) 

● The truth of the path to the cessation of suffering (The Eightfold Path) 

THE EIGHTFOLD PATH: 

1. Having the right belief 

 2. Right resolve 

3. Right speech 

4. Right behavior 

5. Right occupation (Finding a place where you do the most good) 

6. Right effort  

7. Right contemplation (Looking into yourself) 

8. Right Meditation 

48. the path to nirvana, comprising eight aspects in which an aspirant must become 

practiced: right views, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and 

concentration. 

49. Nirvana is a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor 

sense of self, and the subject is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of 

death and rebirth. It represents the final goal of Buddhism. Nirvana is not a place 

compared to christianity where heaven is a place. 

50. Buddhism initially became popular because of people’s dissatisfaction in the 

present system known as the cast system. It is not as strict as jainism. Ashoka, the 
mauryan emperor brought buddhism into popularity. Also, people translated the 

Buddhist texts into more popular languages.  

51. a person who is able to reach nirvana but delays doing so out of compassion in 

order to save suffering beings. 

52. The Bhagavad Gita was a tale describing the different Castes and how their duties 

must be executed with perfection in order to achieve brahman. Krisha (A hindu god 

disguised as a chariot driver) was urging Arjuna(a warrior) to enter battle and to 

fulfill his caste duties. Also he informs him that it is impossible to harm their eternal 

souls, and that he should not grieve their deaths. 

53.  

  Early  Late 
Hinduism   -you can get to brahman  -Personal God (People 
by following your dharma  have personal relationship 
(caste duties)  with a god 
 
-The Caste system 
 
-They also reach 
enlightenment by 
becoming 
ascetics(renouncing 
oneself, or renouncing 
desires) 
Buddhism  -Moksha (Follow the  -You can get to moksha by 
eightfold path to achieve  shedding karma. However, 
 moksha, Meaning you  as opposed to early 
must not have desire)  buddhism, the bodhisattva 
meditates and prays for 
you.