Hinduism Questionnaire and Answers

The Aryans of the Vedic Age and the people of the Shang and Zhou dynasties

At first Native Americans, Europeans and Africans were separated by the vast oceans in between their continents, but as technologies and trade in Europe advanced the three region’s worlds collided. There were various similarities and differences in policy, economy and religion amongst the three regions but alas, contact between these empires reaped inevitable change among all these for the better or worse.

“The Inconvenient Indian” speaks to a general audience and particularly to US and Canada. The book is organized into chapters and each chapter refers to a variety of themes. Some of these themes are history, culture, politics, and laws. By incorporating all these themes,

Beginning in the sixteenth century, Europeans made the voyage to a “new world” in order to achieve dreams of opportunity and riches. In this other world the Europeans came upon another people, which naturally led to a cultural exchange between different groups of people. Although we commonly refer to European and Indian relations as being between just two very different groups of people, it is important to recognize this is not entirely true. Although the settlers of the new world are singularly referred to as Europeans, each group of people came from a different nation and with different motives and expectations of the new world. Similarly, the Indians were neither a united group nor necessarily friendly with each other. Due to the

In India there are six orthodox schools of philosophy which recognize the authority of the Vedas as divine revelation, and they generally function as pairs - Nyaya and Vaishesika, Mimamsa and Vedanta, and Samkhya and Yoga. Those who did not recognize this authority were the Jains, Buddhists, and materialists. Even in India where spiritual ideas dominate the culture there were some who were skeptical of those ideals and held to a materialist view of the world; they were called Carvaka, and their doctrine that this world is all that exists is called Lokayata.

It is believed that Hindu traditions appeared around 1500 B.C.E. and can be traced to the ancient Aryans as they migrated into southeastern Asia. It was during this time that the Vedic hymns were composed. These hymns, called Vedas, were composed by different Brahman priests and

“One of the most striking features of Indian societies at the time of the encounter with Europeans was their diversity.” Support this assertion with two clear examples.

King Harsha (606-648 C.E) temporarily restored unified rule in most of Northern India and sought to revive imperial authority

This chapter focuses on the meeting of the two societies and discusses the causes of one having a greater dominance over the other. The Europeans led to dominance and beat with factors such as horses, guns, steel weapons, ships, diseases, and politics. Referring to the title, these guns, germs, and steels that the Europeans possessed helped them overcome and defeat the Incas, however it is because of the ultimate factors they had. The Europeans unlike the Incas had a lot of domesticated plants and animals, and it could be considered an agricultural revolution. They also lived in a better area, which helped them develop the proximate factors. Raising plants and animals were the \ most important factors of the civilizational differences of the past and present. Food production, industries, and cities arose. Food production had led to the industrialization and the “cargoes”

The early Vedas are very concerned with rituals and goes into great detail of sacrifices; the later Vedas are specifically concerned with knowledge. It is written in complex language and it strives for answers. The writings are direct and searching for connections between interrelationships and the cosmos. They believe that if you can really know and understand the microcosm (your personal world), you can achieve and know more about the macrocosm (the entire universe).

Moreover, the Vedas illustrate how much geography, culture, language, and politics were shaped by religion and how much Hinduism was shaped by it (BBC Religion Profile, Hinduism)

According to the text, the author believes that the enmities between European settlers and Indians are unavoidable even if they seem to be friendly to each other at first. In my opinion, I agree with the author’s argument because from the historical events and trends, we can tell the excessive conflicts, especially beliefs on certain issues, lands and religion especially, and the external diseases, which reveal a radical age.

            During the Vedic Age of Indian civilization, it is believed that after the collapse of the Indus Valley civilization some of the kinship groups and patriarchal families migrated into India.  As some within the Aryas tribe (light-skinned) entered into the Ganges Valley, they encountered a struggle with the Dasas tribe (dark-skinned) but managed to force the tribe into southern India.   The struggle between the tribes led to the development of the Varna class system.  Under this system, people were born

Although their belief in a supreme god aligns in both Islam and Hinduism, the traditions differ on the texts used centrally in each practice. The Veda, written between 1750 BCE and 600 BCE are ancient scriptures, which are the sacred texts of Hinduism. One of the forms the Veda is the Shruti, which is “that which was heard” and the other form is the Vedir seers or Rishis which means “saw”. The Veda is split into four

of strongly fortified cities. The reason Indra is the destroyer because he is the most powerful deity and he rides a white elephant named Airavata. The decline of the Indus valley civilization and immediate evacuation of its settlements could be responsible for the Aryan invasion. The Ayans attackers attacked these cities and drove out the natives forcing them to migrate southeast.