INDIA+TERM+LIST

__**UNIT 3: TERMS TO KNOW**__ Provide brief definitions for the terms listed below. Keep the information you contribute short and accurate. Add new numbers under each item as needed. Skip a line between each term.

1. South Asia includes the countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan. (kpa) 2. More than 40% of the population of South Asia lives below the poverty line. (cpr)
 * 1.South Asia**

1. It is a mountain range in South Asia which divides the modern nations of Afghanistan and Pakistan. (jbo) 2. It is a mountain range in Northwest India. (jho) 3. The Hindu Kush located on the west coast of India is home to the Khyber Pass.(KSKR)
 * 2. Hindu Kush**

1. It is a mountain pass in the Hindu Kush that connected ancient India to the other parts of the Ancient World. (jbo) 2. The mountain pass that connects Pakistan to Afganistan. (kmu)
 * 3. Khyber Pass**

1. It is a sacred river to Hindus and flows from the Himalayas through northern India and Bangladesh to end at the Bay of Bengal. (jbo) 2. Empties into the Indian Ocean as it flows east. (sma) 3. Stretches about 1560 miles across India. (cpr)
 * 4. Ganges**

1. It is a river in modern Pakistan on which the Harappan Civilization arose in ancient times. (jbo) 2. Empties into the Arabian Sea as it flows south. (sma) 3. The largest river in Pakistan. (cpr)
 * 5. Indus**

1. Mohenjo-Daro is one of the earliest cities in India, located on the lower Indus, founded 2500B.C. (ljo) 2. This city lasted to about 1500 BC
 * 6. Mohenjo-Daro**

1. Harappa is one of the earliest cities in India, located a few hundred miles north of Mohenjo-Daro on the Indus but apparently 500 years older. (ljo) 2. Harappa has also lent its name to the civilization of the ancient Indus River Valley, which is often known as the Harappan Civilization. (jbo)
 * 7. Harappa**

1. The Aryans are a migrating people that arrived in India about 1500B.C. They were also know as the Indo-Aryans. (ljo) 2. The Aryans came from the northwest and were considered invaders. (sma) 3. Members of the Indo-European language group. They spoke Sanskirt
 * 8. Aryans**

1. A caste is a system of social classes in India. (ljo) 2. The caste system of India consists of kshatriyas, vaishyas, shudras, and the untouchables.(mwi) 3. The caste system was brought in by the Aryans, who put themselves on top. (Thu)
 * 9. caste**

1. Dharma is duty, more specifically religious duty. It also pertains to a particular religious orientation or practice. (ljo) 2. Dharma is either one persons duty to live a particular way, or a religion/religious practice. (kmu) 3. Dharma also describes the teachings of either Mahavira or the Buddha. (jbo)
 * 10. dharma**

1. Siddhartha Gautama is the founder of Buddhism, also known as the Buddha. (ljo) 2. "The Enlightened One"(dmc) 3. Born in India, around 500 B.C. (acl)
 * 11. Siddhartha Gautama**

1. The Buddha is a religious title meaning "the Enlightened One" or "the Awakened One," refers to the founder of Buddhism, Siddartha Gautama. (ljo)
 * 12. the Buddha**

1. "Great Hero" Mahavira is the founder of Janism during the 500's B.C. (kpa) 2. Mahavira understood that it was desire that was at a root of a problem. (mwi)
 * 13. Mahavira**

1. Incarnation literally means to turn into flesh. It is when a spiritual figure takes the form of a human being. It is a western term for an idea that originated in India. (ljo)
 * 14. incarnation**

1. Avatar is the Indian term for incarnation. It is the human form of a god/goddess. (ljo) 2. One god can have many avatars.(spa)
 * 15. avatar**

1. Reincarnation is an Indian idea that human souls are liberated from the body at death but reenter another body soon afterward. (ljo) 2. A western term for the Indian idea of samsara (aco)
 * 16. reincarnation**

1. Karma is a deed or action, either spiritual or social duties, you have to attain which determines the person's next life after reincarnation. (kpa)
 * 17. karma**

1. Samsara is the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. It is the Indian term for reincarnation. (ljo)
 * 18. samsara**

1. Moksha is the end of the cycle of samsara. This only occures whe the person's soul has attained perfection. (kpa) 2. Moksha is the release from the cycle of if one does something wrong, they must try it again. (kmu)
 * 19. moksha**

1. This is an Indian term for an illusion, stating that the material world is an illusion. (kpa) 2. Maya is the Indian term for "illusion". idea that the material world is an elaborate illusion and that all senses percieve the merest fraction of reality. (moe)
 * 20. maya**

1. Yoga is a practice of disciplining the mind and the body. (ljo) 2. Yoga is defined as a practice of physical and mental discipline. Five branches of yoga: Karma, Bhakti, Hatha, Jnana, and Kurukshetra Raja Yoga. (mwi)
 * 21. yoga**

1. The ishta deva is the dominently worshipped god/goddess. (ljo) 2. a Hinduists favorite deva or devi to worship. (acl)
 * 22. ishta deva**

1. The atman is the spirit or soul, the true "self" of every person that is eternal. (ljo) 2. The Hindo word for soul. Hindu's believe that every person has an immortal soul, but this idea was prevalent in Ancient Egypt also and would become common in the west through the influence of the ancient Greeks. (mwi)
 * 23. atman**

1. Indra was an early Aryan god, imported into India by Aryans. (ljo) 2. Indra is the god of war and weather. Compared to other Indo-European gods he would match up to Thor, or Zeus. (Thu)
 * 24. Indra**

1. Vishnu is the supreme Hindu god. (ljo) 2. Vishnu figures in mostly Hindu creation stories, and he is said to have come to earth as different avatars. (kbe) 3. Vishnu had the vision of creating the world and then gave Brahma the order to create the world. (moe)
 * 25. Vishnu**

1. Brahma is the Hindu god of creation. (ljo) 2. Husband of Saraswati. (sma) 3. Brahma is the four-headed Hindu creator god, who was born from a lotus flower that grew out of Vishnu's navel. (jbo)
 * 26. Brahma**

1. Brahmins are the highest class in the social caste of India. (ljo) 2. Brahmanist priests.(aco)
 * 27. Brahmins**

1. an emperor of ancient India's Maruya Dynasty who conquered mcuh of what is now India and later converted to and actively supported Buddhism. (jbo) 2. Lived from 273 to 232 BCE and was Inida's greatest emperor during the Maurya Dynasty. (sma)
 * 28. Ashoka**

1. The Rig Veda is the earliest work of classical Indian literature, written in Sanskirt and consists mostly of hymns dedicated to the Aryan god Indra. (ljo) 2. Writen from about 1500-1000 BC and is the oldest religious text still in use. (sma) 3. The Rig Veda is the oldest Veda and contains thousands of song compositions used by the Brahmans to address the deities who oversaw the universe .(KSKR)
 * 29. Rig Veda**

1. The Upanishads is the source of core ideas within Hinduism about the nature of God and how human souls relate to God. (ljo) 2. Hindu scriptures that constitute the teachings of Vedanta. (mwi) 3. The Upanishads are the Indian philosophers's commentaries on the Vedas.(KSKR)
 * 30. Upanishads**

1. The Sangha is one of Buddhism's Three Jewels. It is the community of Buddhists. (ljo)
 * 31. Sangha**

1. Nirvana is emptiness, extinction, nothingness, cessation of strife, infinite bliss, peace, and happiness. It is the end to the cycle of samsara. (ljo) 2. Nirvana is the state of total enlightenment. In Nirvana, a Hindu merges with his god. (AGr) 1. A Bodhisattava was a Buddhist saint who has achieved enlightenment and has earned Nirvana but elects to return to earth to guide others to Nirvana. (ljo)
 * 32. Nirvana**
 * 33. Bodhisattava**

1. Zen is a form of Buddhism with great emphasis on meditation, commonly found in Japan and in some areas of China. It also contains elements of Daoism. (ljo)
 * 34. Zen**

1. A central concept of Buddhism that has many meanings that consist of pain, suffering, stress or frustration. (cca) 2. It is the one of the Four Noble Truths which means that Life is or leads to suffering.
 * 35. dukkha**