Vedas are the earliest available scriptures for mankind. It is dated as back as 90000/10000 BC. Vedas come from the root ‘Vid’ which means to know. So, Vedas are known as knowledge per se. Vedas is considered as aparursheya i.e. non-human in origin. Vedas are called as Shruti-That which is heard. Because it is auditory it is called Shruti. That which is remembered is Smriti. Puranas, Bhagavad Gita, Darshanas are all Smriti. Samhitha part in Vedas is only Shruti. There are four types of Vedas, Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. Originally only first three were recognized. These were called as Vidyatri. Atharva Veda was a latest edition. Atharva comes from the sons of Brahma called Atharvans.. Vedas are attributed to Vedvyasa, though he is not the author of it. Jist or essence of vedas are heard by Rishis in deep meditation state. Rigveda is the earliest veda in which yoga is mentioned. Each of the 4 vedas has four parts 1)Samhita part which contains mantras, chanting ,hymns …show more content…
Here importance is given to Jnana. Upanishads talk about Monism. All Vedas have Upanishads. Upa means close by. Ni means devotedly and shad means sitting. Thus, knowledge passed from Guru to Shisya when the latter sits close to Guru is Upanishad. It is also referred as Rahasya-secret knowledge. Upanishads figuring in Vedas are five types 1.Mukya Upanishad-Principle Upanishad. Shankaracharya has given commentary on this. These are 1126 in numbers. These Upanishads are created over 100’s of years. Of all these Upanishads popular is 108. Out of 108, 12 are chief Upanishads-Aitareya, Brihadaranyaka, Chandogya, Katha, Kena, Kaivalya, Mundaka, Mandukya, Ishavasya, Prashna, Shvetavatara, Taittiriya Upanishad 2.Shaiva Upanishad-Lord Shiva is the supreme Lord. 3.Vaishnava Upanishad-Vishnu is considered as the Suprema Lord. 4. Sanyasa Upanishad- What is the life of a renunciate or a sanyasi is said 5. Yoga Upanishad-There are twenty in
"On the great journey of life, if a man cannot find one who is better or at least as good as himself, let him journey joyfully alone." The story of Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse makes this point true. The main character Siddhartha dealt with the Samanas and Gotama Buddha, the second with Kamala and then the ferryman. The three parts correspond to the three stages though which Siddhartha passes on his journey to enlightenment: The stage of the mind; the stage of the flesh; the stage of transcendence.
	The second concept in Siddhartha is the idea that knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. Siddhartha believes this very strongly, and feels it is only right that one must gain wisdom for himself. When he and Govinda come to the garden of the Buddha and listen to Gotoma’s words, Govinda is immediately converted and stays. Siddhartha, however, does not. He respects Gotoma and believes that he has actually reached Nirvana, but Siddhartha does not believe that Gotoma can teach him to reach it. Later Siddhartha finds himself at a river, having run away from his riches. Here he sees another wise man, Vasudeva, the ferryman. He stays at the river and learns wisdom for himself. Siddhartha learns of the wonders of life, and that what he had always held to be true was true; that wisdom is not teachable.
The first teacher that Siddhartha had was the Samanas. Siddhartha followed their path for a few years, and learned much from them. He had accomplished the eightfold path and the four noble truths in a short time. Although he had learned much he came to a decision to leave the Samanas. Siddhartha was grateful for they’re teachings, but in the end he believed he could have learned everything that they had taught him on his own.
Seeking nirvana, Siddhartha assessed his situation and came to the conclusion that he had learned all there was to learn from his home and his teachers there. So he found new teachers, the Samanas. Through their teachings, he could only find the higher self by killin...
Hinduism first started in India around 1500 BC. The word Hindu comes from the Sanskrit word sindhu, or river. The Hindu community define themselves as "those who believe in the Vedas", or also "those who follow the way, or dharma, of the four classes and the stages of life. The four classes being the varnas and the stages of life being the ashramas.
Although the Vedas and the Upanishads express common themes of the Aryan world view, they differ greatly in genre and emphasis. Underlying both texts are the core ideas of the religion: the ubiquitousness of atman, Brahman’s origins of non-being, the non-existence of physical reality, and the subtle, intangible existence of ultimate reality. But while the Vedas is mythical and ritualistic, the Upanishads is theological and devalues ritual.
Throughout the tale, Siddhartha strives to be one with Atman, or internal harmony/eternal self, but by his own attainment. Even when he is offered the insight of Gotama, the divine and perfect one, who is the embodiment of peace, truth, and happiness, he refuses following him and decides to attain Nirvana in his own way. In this, Siddhartha shows his prideful nature but also reveals a positive aspect: self-direction. He realizes that others' ways of teaching can only be applied to their past experiences, but is still reluctant to ac...
The Vedas, which are the oldest written tradition in India, (2,000 - 600 B.C.) were written largely by the Indo-European invaders of India, known as the Aryans. The Aryans were said to have entered India on chariots, and the original meaning of the word chakra as "wheel" refers to the chariot wheels of the invading Aryans. (The correct spelling is cakra, though pronounced with a ch as in church.) The word was also a metaphor for the sun, which "traverses the world like the triumphant chariot of a cakravartin." (ruler) and denotes the eternal cycle of time called the kalacakra, or wheel of time. In this way, it represents celestial order and balance.
and Aquinas), but also draws on the wisdom of the East, including Confucius and the sages of Hinduism.
Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion and was originated in the Indian subcontinent. Is rare that a big religion like Hinduism don’t have a single founder, religious organization, specific theological system and don’t even a system of morality, but it is a religion that has evolved over thousands of years. Hinduism has a diverse body of cultural and philosophical practices. Hinduism consists of belief and tradition. The most recognized belief and traditions of the Hinduism are Karma, Dharma, Samsara and Moshka. Hindu people don’t believe in violence, but they do believe in prayers, honesty, truth, austerity, celibacy and penance. The Hindu scriptures are collectively referred to as the Shashtras. The Hindu scriptures were initially passed on orally from generation to generation until finally ancient scholars wrote them down; mainly in the Sanskrit language that was the prevailing language of the time. Some of the Hindu scriptures are the Shruti and Smritis. The Shruti primarily refers to the Vedas which represent eternal truths revealed to ancient sages but some other Hindu individuals associated the Vedas with a God or a powerful person. The Smritis are all of the other text different than the Shruti. The most know of the Smritis are the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Although the Hindus worship a large pantheon of Gods and Goddesses, they believe in the one Supreme Power that manifests itself in various forms.
The words of prophets and religious heroes are contained in these texts and they are often read out at religious gatherings, both formal and informal. In some monotheistic religions, the texts are written by many scribes and refer to the word of the deity. In others such as Buddhism, the canonical texts are called Sutras. They are the teaching of Buddha himself as the religion does not feature a deity. In Hinduism there is no agreed set of teachings or religious text, leaving a lot of it open to interpretation. Their worldview would be less dictated by The Vedas, the texts most widely accepted by the religion. Other types of sacred stories include parables and myths. A parable is a fictitious story told by a religious figure that has symbolism, often about ethics or religious principles (Webster,N.d). An example would be the many parables told by Jesus in the Bible. A myth is similar in the fact it is also a metaphoric narrative but it is usually of an unknown origin and involves things of a transcendent dimension or the supernatural (Britannica,
Yoga is a discipline both involving physical and mental control that originated in India. The word Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word, "yug", meaning union and it means the joining of the individual spirit with the universal spirit. The type of yoga known as Hatha Yoga, ("Ha"- sun, "tha"-moon) is what is most commonly practiced and this yoga involves the path of the mind and body and is the most physical. There are eight limbs or steps of Hatha Yoga, the first step being the five Yamas. There are five yamas and these concern your behavior to the world.
More than a religion, Hinduism is a way of life and a philosophy that is most concerned with spirituality and enlightenment. The idealism of the Hindu religion comes from the Vedas, which are the Hindu religion's oldest scriptures and are considered to be a direct revelation of God. The Upanishads are writings that take their themes from the Vedas. The Upanishads, however, seem to be more along the lines of allegories that give a fleshy quality to the religion rather than a very dry and out of touch feel that can be found in other religious texts. Lastly, the Bhagavad-Gita is a collection of teachings that are based on the conversation between Arjuna, a soldier for one of two warring families, and Lord Krishna, who appears as Arjuna's charioteer. In these conversations the two discuss everything from the purpose of life to the basis of reality. Much like Christian proverbs, the teachings of Lord Krishna give advice and general good sense and...
The Vedas are a large body of philosophical and religious texts originating from ancient India, writ in Sanskrit verse they are some of the oldest texts ever written.
In this paper I am looking on depiction of "self" in the Upanishads and the Baghavad Gita focusing on "self" and "devotion".