India's Sanathana Dharma

India

Early Indus River Civilizations – Harappan Civilization

Harappa—An Artist’s Reconstruction of the Gateway & Drain

Harappa--Granary

Harappa

Mohenjo-Daro—Entrance to City

The Aryans – “The Noble People”

Sanskrit

The Vedas

The Vedas

• A collection of poems and sacred hymns (c. 1,500 B.C.) describing Aryan beliefs and daily life

• “Veda” means knowledge• 1,500 – 1,000 B.C. – Vedic Period

Government

• Raja (“Prince”)

•Maharajas (“Major Princes”)

Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta’s Conquests

The Caste System

• Brahmins (Upper class—scholars & priests)• Kshatriyas (Aristocratic warriors)• Vaishyas (Merchant class)• Shudras (Mass of common peasants,

laborers & servants)

• Untouchables

The Caste System

The Upanishads (6th century B.C.)

• Commentaries on the Vedas• Rejected Brahmin rituals &

inspired people to reach spiritual truth and peace through meditation & an ascetic lifestyle

Hinduism

• Emerged from the ideas in the Upanishads• Karma & Reincarnation (the rebirth of

the soul in a different form after death, determined by actions in the previous life according to the dharma, a law regulating human behavior)

Three Major Hindu Gods

• Brahman the Creator

• Vishnu the Preserver

• Shiva the Destroyer

• Plus thousands of lesser deities

Another Name for Hinduism

• Sanatana dharma

• Sanatana—”that which has no beginning or end and that which is there always”

• Dharma—refers to the right way or living or proper conduct