India’s Ancient Epics and Tales
(Volume A)
India, 1200 B.C.E.–100 C.E.
History
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before the time of historical records
Indus-Harappan, trade culture
Indo-Aryan, agrarian culture
Sanskrit
the Vedas
Vedas and Upanisads
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sacred texts
visionaries (rsis)
poets (kavis)
ritual formulas
(mantras)
• commentary (śāstras)
• rule books (sūtras)
Hinduism
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self-generation
primordial substance
godhead
Purusa (spirit)
Brahman (Upanisads)
moksa
atman
Brahmana Caste
Rg-Veda
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Vedic hymns
Punjab
small republic
hereditary monarchs
Ramayana
• caste
• brahmanas, ksatrivas,
vaisyas, sudras
• endogamy
• political leadership
Mahābhārata
• end of republican
ideal
• Hinduism
• “untouchables”
• polygamy
Bhagavad-gitā
Jataka Tales
• Buddhism, Jainism
• mosksa versus
nirvāna
• karma
• reincarnation
• Great Vows
(mahavrata)
• Siddhartha
Changes
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•
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internal religious division
religious dissent
arrival of new faiths
diversity and pluralism
India
Test Your Knowledge
Indo-Aryan culture, which displaced IndusHarappan culture starting about 2000
B.C.E., focused primarily on which of the
following?
a. military conquest
b. large-scale monoculture
c. trade and industry
d. family farming
Test Your Knowledge
What was the primary language used to
produce Indian literature even into the
nineteenth century?
a. English
b. Indian
c. Latin
d. Sanskrit
Test Your Knowledge
The earliest works composed in South Asia
were hymns. These were organized into
four groups called: ___________ .
a. Vedas
b. Upaniṣads
c. kāvya
d. mantras
Test Your Knowledge
Hinduism, the primary religion in ancient
India, is characterized by which of the
following?
a. monotheism
b. polyandry
c. polytheism
d. brahmanism
Test Your Knowledge
Alternative religious beliefs to Hinduism
found expression in which of the following?
a. the Rāmāyana
b. the Mahābhārata
c. the Bhagavad-gītā
d. the Jātaka tales
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