Notes and Study material for Exams
The Bhakti Movement in Indian history represents a movement that popularized devotional surrender to a personally conceived supreme God. Its origins are traced to the Brahamanical and Buddhist traditions of ancient India. It was in south India that it grew from a religious tradition into a popular movement based on religious Equality and broad based … Read more
The literal meaning of Mahajanapadas is great kingdoms. They flourished in the north/north western parts of India before the rise of Megasthenes. Whereas Avantipura who was the king of Surasena was one of the first desciples of Buddha, and it gained prominence evr since then in Mathura. The geographical locattion of this kingdom among the sixteen … Read more
Moral thinkers Rabindranath Tagore The centre of Tagore’s philosophy was man of god. Even his concept of God was influenced by the humanism inherent in his outlook. The supreme reality thus according to Tagore, essentially human and could be realised only through love of man. Love of God was thus translated into love of human. … Read more
Philosophy of Advaita Vedanta Advaita Vedānta is one version of Vedānta. Vedānta is nominally a school of Indian philosophy, although in reality it is a label for any hermeneutics that attempts to provide a consistent interpretation of the philosophy of the Upaniṣads or, more formally, the canonical summary of the Upaniṣads, Bādarāyaņa’s Brahma Sūtra. Advaita … Read more
Philosophy of Mimamsa Dharma Mīmāṃsā, a Sanskrit word meaning “revered thought,” is the name of one of the six astika (“orthodox”) schools of Hindu philosophy, whose primary inquiry is into the nature of dharma (duty) based on close hermeneutics of the Vedas. Its core tenets are ritualism (orthopraxy), anti-asceticism and anti-mysticism. The central aim of … Read more
Hindu Dharma: General characteristics and some common beliefs – Purusharthas– rituals and ethics – festivals and sacred days – pilgrimage and fairs. Yoga Guided by a Satguru Hindus believe that a spiritually awakened master, or satguru, is essential to know the Transcendent Absolute, as are personal discipline, good conduct, purification, pilgrimage, self-inquiry and meditation. Compassion … Read more
Hindu Sects: Hinduism as a federation of various sects – Shaiva, Vaishnava and Shakta Hinduism is a complex religion. It is an artificial collection of several traditions that originated in India in the last few millenniums. Since, the Muslim and British rulers and scholars alike were ignorant of the native traditions, they grouped everything under … Read more
Hindu Dharma: General characteristics and some common beliefs – Purusharthas– rituals and ethics – festivals and sacred days – pilgrimage and fairs. Yoga Guided by a Satguru Hindus believe that a spiritually awakened master, or satguru, is essential to know the Transcendent Absolute, as are personal discipline, good conduct, purification, pilgrimage, self-inquiry and … Read more
Yoga-philosophy/”>Yoga Philosophy (Yog Darshan), Astang Yoga Yoga An AYUSH system of medicine includes Indian systems of medicine and Homeopathy. AYUSH is an acronym for Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha & Sowa Rigpa, and Homoeopathy. Yoga is essentially spiritual and it is an art and science of healthy living which focuses on bringing harmony between … Read more
Philosophy of the Upanishad and the Bhagavad Gita –Yoga-philosophy/”>Yoga Philosophy of Pathanjali Philosophy of the Upanishad What are Upanishads? The Upanishads are ancient texts, which record the foundation of Hindu thought. They are the final part of the Vedas, the part that is concerned with pure knowledge. The word ‘veda’ means ‘knowledge’; and the Upanishads … Read more