1. “Eternal righteousness”

2.  @ 1750 BCE  Deforestation – loss of topsoil  Agriculture – soil exhaustion  Tectonic activity – earthquakes, shifting river courses, Sarswati River

3.  @ 1500 BCE  Nomadic, warlike, bronze, Sanskrit  Brahminism – polytheistic, gods of nature  Warring kingdoms established

4.  Oral traditions written down – Vedas  Focus on internal being – atman (soul)  Liberation from desire/suffering  Justification of social order

5.  Blending of Aryan and local traditions – no founder  Upanishads – “sitting near”, dialogues to explain faith  Brahma

6.  Origin of atman (soul)--strives to join once again with Brahman  Mosksha—state of perfect understanding  Universal Spirit— different forms for different roles, different comfort  Choice of worship

7.  Brahma - creator  Vishnu - order  Shiva - destroyer, transformation

8.  Shakti - female aspect of divine  Ganesh - remover of obstacles  Avatar - human incarnation of divine come to assist humans on path to Moksha

9. Moksha: Freeing of the soul from earthly pain and suffering->Eternal Bliss/Nirvana (peace of mind). Union with the Supreme Being Brahman Reincarnation: Living multiple lives, improving each time until you reach the peak (also had a higher position in society) Karma: The actions of your current life determine how you will be reincarnated—better than before and closer to Moksha or worse and farther away Part of good Karma is following your Dharma: the proper path for your current life– done by humility, personal sacrifices, living a ‘pure’ life in all aspects

10.  “I believe in Reincarnation which explains about the human hope—hope to do better; and which makes a person responsible. If there is no reincarnation, if I have money and wealth I could do anything—I don’t have to obey, to be compassionate, to care for people. So reincarnation makes it clear, the way I am supposed to live.”

11.  This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you.  Just as he acts, just as he behaves, so he becomes.

12.  Live a ‘Pure’ life  The higher your (position in society) the more pure you should be  2 types of Purity  Moral Purity  Ritual Purity

13.  Practice Truthfulness  Don’t steal, covet, or enter into debt  Be sexually pure  Exercise patience  Show steadfastness—persevere, plan, don’t complain, have a purpose  Practice Compassion  Act honorably at all times—don’t cheat, follow the laws, don’t take shortcuts  Moderate diet—don’t over indulge, drink in moderation

14. Rituals: actions done on a regular basis Why?  Demonstrates Pure Spirit, Shows commitment  Earn forgiveness for Karmic Debts Examples:  Worship  Offerings  Meditation  Yoga  Pilgrimages to Holy Places  Avoid contact with ‘less’ pure people

15.  Ganges River = a divine goddess, made to cleanse the earth from impurity  Bathing in the Ganges can give peace of mind and cleanse karmic sins. Better karma  better reincarnation Therefore:  The Ganges: key pilgrimage spot for ritual bathing

16.  Banks of the Ganges  Oldest Aryan Settlement  Place to cleanse spirit in river  Death in Varanasi—possible to break cycle of rebirth  After death—human remains put into the Ganges can still lead to karmic cleansing

22.  Aryan supremacy over local population  Varnas – color  Myth of Purusha  Brahmin(priest)  Kshatriya(warrior)  Vaishya(merchant)  Shudra(laborers)

23.  4 main castes become 1000s (by profession)  Controls marriage, occupation, social company,  How do you know what caste someone is in? Occupation, family name, family location, manner of dress, manner of speech,

24.  Live outside the Caste System—too dirty/impure  Jobs related to death or dirt (leather workers, street sweepers)  If you are higher caste and have contact with untouchables you can become ‘unclean’ too  Extremes—no eating, drinking, touching, even shadows of the untouchables were unclean  Untouchables couldn’t enter into the city gates, couldn’t drink from the same wells

25.  Who benefitted the most from the caste structure?  Who benefitted the least?  Why would something like the caste system survive for so long?

26.  Mentioned in the sacred texts (Vedas)  Karma and reincarnation  Part of good Dharma is observing duties without question  Laws set up severe punishments for breaking Caste rules: Fines, outcast, lose family and social support, death  Human nature to stay with what’s familiar

27.  Was the caste system a good or bad thing for society?

28.  Castes were very united—tight knit social groups  People became experts at their jobs  Everyone knew their place in society—it was structured and organized  All Castes were seen as important in creating the whole society

29.  Castes fought and distrusted eachother  society was divided  Smart and talented people were held back— limited progress for everyone  Upper Castes could abuse their power and position in the name of religion with little complaint or resistance  Human rights abuses--Untouchables

30.  Roughly 16% of India’s Population—170 million people  “Untouchable” is not used anymore—now called Dalits  Also found in other Countries: Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, UK

31.  Technically illegal  Indian Constitution—bans negative public discrimination on the basis of caste (employment, education, etc)  Government has set up quotas in schools and government to help traditional lower castes  In reality—still exists. Many educated, upper class, urban Indians don’t follow it but more popular in rural settings. State of mind

32.  Intercaste marriages often not approved—in traditional families or areas  Caste based organizations still exist  Political Parties—often organized around Caste membership  Some workplace or school conflicts (some violent)  Lower castes still have lower quality of life