So as you no doubt remember, the Indus River Valley was one of the earliest cradles of civilization, But that original civilization basically disappeared sometime after 1750 BCE.
The Bhagavad Gita is a section of a much larger epic poem the Mahabharata which tells the complicated and long story of a war between two kingdoms. And we can really see how important dharma is in this passage because Krishna is basically telling Arjuna that because he is a warrior, a Kshatriya, he must fight.
John explores Hinduism and the origins of Buddhism. He also gets into the reign of Ashoka, the Buddhist emperor who, in spite of Buddhism's structural disapproval of violence, managed to win a bunch of battles. Follow us! A. I only have 10 minutes... Past John: Mr. Green, Mr. Green! Present John: I don’t have time for you today, Me from the Past!
Buddhism and Hinduism agree on karma, dharma, moksha and reincarnation. They are different in that Buddhism rejects the priests of Hinduism, the formal rituals, and the caste system. Buddha urged people to seek enlightenment through meditation.
Buddhism believes in attaining nirvana through the four noble truths and eightfold path whereas Hinduism believes there are several ways one can reach to God. 4. Hinduism believes in the existence of several gods whereas Buddhism reasons as to why one should seek a God which nobody is aware of.
Hinduism and Buddhism both accepted the law of Karma, Dharma, and Moksha and believed in a cycle of rebirth. Hinduism and Buddhism both believe in the existence of several hells and heavens or higher and lower worlds. The founders of Hinduism and Buddhism are both unlike most major religions.
Hinduism emphasizes the idea of dharma, or duty, while Buddhism emphasizes the elimination of human suffering and desire.
The Sri Lankan monk Aryadasa Ratnasinghe wrote: “Buddhism differs from other religions because: 1) it does not believe in a Creator or an Almighty God who is responsible for all our actions; 2) Buddhism, in actual sense, is not a religion, though people generally call it so, because there is no belief in, recognition ...
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In which John relates a condensed history of India, post- Indus Valley Civilization. John explores Hinduism and the origins of Buddhism.
Original video by CrashCourse. Embedded by Jan van der Crabben, published on 18 February 2015. Please check the original source (s) for copyright information. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.
CrashCourse, . (2015, February 18). Buddha and Ashoka: Crash Course World History #6 . World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/video/563/buddha-and-ashoka-crash-course-world-history-6/
Crash Course is produced and directed by Stan Muller, our script supervisor is Danica Johnson, the show is written by my high school history teacher Raoul Meyer and myself. And our graphics team is Thought Bubble. Last week’s phrase of the week was “Right Here in River City”.
Right now, we’re interested in one particular leader from the Mauryan Dynasty, Ashoka, because Ashoka attempted to rule through quasi-Buddhist principles.
Part 1, The Vedas . So as you no doubt remember, the Indus River Valley was one of the earliest cradles of civilization, But that original civilization basically disappeared sometime after 1750 BCE. Then there was a long period of Aryan migration, and by Aryans we do not mean like prehistoric Nazis, we mean people from the Caucasus who migrated down into the Indo-Gag gig gag gi... Stan, can you just spell it for me? Thank you.#N#We know about these Aryans primarily because they left behind religious texts, the earliest of which is called the Vedas . The Vedas are also the earliest texts of what will come to be known as Hinduism, although it wasn’t known as Hinduism then. And they’re responsible for tons of stuff, but we only have 10 minutes so let’s just cut to:
Part 2, The Caste System. The caste system is one of India’s most enduring and fascinating institutions. Let us read from one of the Vedas about Purusha, the universe-pervading spirit. When they divided Purusha, in how many different portions did they arrange him? What became of his mouth, what of his two arms? What were his two thighs and his two feet called? His mouth became the Brahmin, his two arms were made into the Kshatriya; his two thighs the vaisyas; from his two feet the shudra was born.#N#So this section gives a divine explanation for the caste system. Brahmins – who as Purusha’s mouth speak to the gods are at the top. Kshatriyas – from Purusha’s arms became the warriors, as you no doubt know if you’ve ever attended my gun show. Vaisyas – the merchants and artisans who provide money for the priests and the warriors came from Purusha’s thighs. Because everybody knows that the thighs are the money makers. And the Shudras – are at the bottom. They’re the feet, the laborers and farmers who are the foundation of the social order. Also, the rest of us stand on them.#N#The caste system becomes much more complicated than this, but that basic division into 4 classes remains throughout much of Indian history. In spite of the efforts of many reformers whom we’ll be meeting in future episodes of Crash Course. The Caste System is the foundation for another big concept in Hinduism,
Part 3, Dharma ( 2:40) Part 3, Dharma. Dharma is basically one’s role in life and society and it is defined primarily by birth and by caste. The whole idea is explained nicely by this passage from the Bhagavad Gita, where Krishna is talking to the warrior, Arjuna.
Vaisyas – the merchants and artisans who provide money for the priests and the warriors came from Purusha’s thighs. Because everybody knows that the thighs are the money makers. And the Shudras – are at the bottom. They’re the feet, the laborers and farmers who are the foundation of the social order.
Okay, Part 7, Ashoka. Remember that for most of Indian history, India it was not one unified place. It was tons of different principalities and city-states and everything else. But India did experience indigenous political unity twice, first under the Mauryan Dynasty in the 3rd century BCE.