Let's now discuss some of the points he made in his presentation...
Question 1: Who is Indra & why is he important?
Question 2: What are the Vedas?
Question 3: What are the levels of the caste system AND why do you feel that it was developed that way?
1) Indra was the chief Aryan god of weather and war. He was central to the Soma sacrifice, and it was told that he was especially fond of the special beverage. Indra used his chief tool, the thunderbolt, to destroy demons and announce the arrival of rain.
ReplyDelete2) The Vedas are a collection of Aryan hymns, chants, ritual instructions, and other religious teachings. Aryan priests passed down the contents of the Vedas orally for thousands of years before they were written down.
corect
DeletePayton-
ReplyDeleteGood answers. Now what about the third question???
Number 2.
ReplyDeleteThe vedas are a collection of hymns, ritual instructions and other religious teachings. Since Aryans were illiterate (could not read or write) the Aryan priests had to memorize the Vedas. The period 1,500 B.C. to 500 B.C. was know as the Vedic age.
Kayla Bristol
ReplyDelete3. The levels of the caste system are like levels of class. Brahmin is the highest and the untouchables are the lowest. It might have been developed this way because the people in the brahmin caste had more money and could give more to charity, and the untouchables were poor and couldn't give any.
Kayla-
ReplyDeletewhy would giving to charity be important?
Kayla
ReplyDeleteNevermind I messed up! I was thinking of the five pillars of faith, but I guess not
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1. Indra is the chief of Aryan deity. The Aryans were polytheistic and worshipped gods with powers of nature. Indra's weapon was the thunderbolt. He used this weapon to destroy demons and call storms and rain which were essential to indian life. He was also called the God of War.
ReplyDelete2. The Aryans left behind limited amounts of evidence so we do not know much about them. Most of what archaeologists know of them were found in the Vedas. The Vedas are a collection of hymns, chants, and ritual instructions. These were always told orally by the priests before they were written down. 1500 B.C to 500 B.C is called the Vedic Age due to the teachings from the Vedas.
3. Castes are social groups that people are born into but can also be changed on rare occasions. The high caste was known as Brahmin, which was the closest to Moksha. They were the most purer. The lower caste had all the dirty work to do such as digging graves for bodies or turing animal hide into leather. They were known as the "untouchables" and were to avoid all contact with the upperclass. The high caste was always, of course, favored over the lower caste. Because of the jobs that flowed in the "untouchables", they were not able to have any contact with the upperclass in order to protect the purity of them.
Number 3.
ReplyDeleteThe levels of the caste system:
Brahmin (priests)
Kshaytriya (warrior)
Vaishya (herdsman)
Sudra (sevants)
Inferior and seem unfit for Aryan society
Untouchables
So filthy and unwanted, that they were considered untouchable.
These were non-aryans.
The caste system developed in this way to establish social order within the community. Each caste had their own rules to which they had to live their lives by. Castes were not allowed to mingle with each other and, due to this, the Aryan society maintained peace within the community.
Which caste was the highest caste was determined by the religion. The brahmins, were the closest caste to Brahman, because they had atmans that were almost fully cleansed. This means that they properly fulfilled all their duties throughout their lives. Because they were the closest to Brahman, and the closets to achieving the goal of life, moksha, or union with brahman, they were the most respected individuals in the community and had the higher statuses. Next came the Kshaytriyas. These were the warriors of the community. They too had atmans that were almost fully cleansed, but they were farther from moksha than the brahmins. Their duties were to fight for the community and maintain safety. They were not as spiritually attached to brahman, but they were close, and they were necessary for the community. The classification for the other castes follow the same principle. The ones that had better lives, were closer to brahman, while the people in the lower castes were there because they deserved it, as they had not properly taken care of their atman in previous lives. Each one of the castes was crucial to the community, and due to the caste system, the community was able to maintain peace.