Yanja

Chapter 35:

Yanja:

Worship usually took the form of a sacrificial ritual (yanja)

Yana: addressed to nature gods such as the sun god

Rituals involed the sacrifice of animals  to please the gods through worship and to ensure the well being of the sacrifice and his family

Puja:

Much more common than Yanja

Puja: ritual of devotional worship regularly conducted at temples, usually brahman priests and often in private homes

Puja can be addressed to any of the manifold gods and goddesses in hindu such as Vishnu and Shiva and Shakti all of whom appear in myriad forms and aspects in Hindu mythology

Temples dedicated to the different gods and have a sanctified image

During puja, priests ritually purifies himself and invokes the diety in the image and then chants

Pilgrimage and the sacred:

Sacred is even contained in nature

Sacred manifests itself in the form of nature

Pilgrims flock to such places during auspicious months of the Hindu calendar and mythological stories grow about the miraculous nature of the pilgrimage site

Particularly important in hindu cosmology are sacred rivers and holy towns

The water of the ganges in north india is esp potent and single dip in the river is believed to earn for the worshipper untold spiritual merit

The sacred often manifests itself in living things too→ cow and monkeys etc

Festivals:

Look at the page

Chapter 36

Family and society

Caste system orders indu society hierarchically that different social gropuids are ranked in a relationship of either good orbad depending on their levels of “purity”

Every Indian is born into the caste of this parents

Brahmans: the purest and highest casts

        Did ritual, worship

Untouchables: outcast of society

Caste determined most aspects of one’s life

        Where he lived, hang out with, eat food,and marry

It is restricted to interact with thelowest rungs of society

The joint family

Status within the family determined one place in household

A lot of gerneations live together

Head of household: older male

Women have no property

Family property passed down the male line

Mahabharata and Ramayana: tell what a family role should look like (wife, husband etc)

Marriage:

Women derive her identity from male authority

Not romantic but arrangement between familes of same ranked

Bride is a “gift” from parents

Gifting their daughter to the groom family: parents get spirt merit

Women can sometimes marry up but never down

Family and society today

Caste is going under some changes in modern times

Women get more rights but still upheld popular women’s role in family

Caste does not determine one occupation, income,social status

Urbanization and industrialization grants new jobs opportunity; allows people to break away from cashe and be independent

Women becoming more education so less dependent on roles of family

Hinduism in the modern world (37)

Bhaki: devotional tradition

Sati: the self immolation of widows and no child marriage

As moved away from ancient thinking

Old religion can be superstitions

Astrologers and gurus

some believe in atrolgers and gurus

conversion into hindusim is impossible because of their karma and karma puts people in caste

Politicization

militancy has began

1947 india was independent

Want a united nation with some nationalism

The majority of people (poor) appeal to nationalistic ideology

Massacre of muslimes in Gujarat in 20002

Hindu nationalists seek the hinduization of indian polity, culture, and education

The hindu diaspora

the development of Hinduism has resulted in many coming to the west

festivals: kumh mela

The caste system

Untouchables converted to other religions

Gandhi influence allowed untouchables some education and employment

Forward communities: claim positive discrimination policies

Caste wars between

        Savarnas: belonging to warna vs. avarnas (untouchables)

Revisionist emphasizes the positive side of caste

More rights to untouchables

Women in Modern Hinduism:

Women trying to get more rights

Ishwar married a widow

Gandhi put women into the public area

Chapter 33

Religitions devotion: bhaki

Hindus divide their scriptures into 2 categories: revealed and remembered

The vedas= knowledge

1. Vedic samhitas : Ancient hinduism
2. Brahmans: explain the significance of rituals
3. Aranyaks: provide analysis of the fire ritual→ intrinsic power
4. Upanishads=

Dharma sutras

Law of manu: dutires laws and regulations binding hindus

Hindus seeking release from samara –the cycle of lives, deaths, and reincarnations – need to obey dharma sutras

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