1. Turn in your paragraphs from yesterday! Be prepared to take notes.
Ancient India
Turn in your paragraphs from yesterday!
Be prepared to take notes.

2. The Caste System
Aryan society was organized into classes, which developed into the caste system
Born into class
Must marry within caste, can only have friends within caste.
Untouchables – did jobs that no one wanted (sweeping dead bodies)

3. Vaisya: bankers, merchants, farmers Sudra: artisans, laborers
Brahman:
priests,
teachers, scholars
Ksatriya: rulers,
nobles, warriors
Vaisya: bankers, merchants,
farmers
Sudra: artisans, laborers
Untouchables: outside the system and below it.
They did jobs no one else wanted,
such as being sweepers and disposers of dead bodies.

4. Many Gods
Hinduism is polytheism
Considered all gods to be part of one universal god
They had gods for the creator, protector, and destroyer

5. Who do Hindus worship? –
Brahma, the creator god

6. Vishnu, the protector god
Incarnates as ten avatars (descents) including:
Rama
Krishna
(Each shown with his consort, Sita and Radha, respectively)

7. Shiva, god of constructive destruction (the transformer)
Shown with his wife, Parvati, and son Ganesha (the elephant headed remover of obstacles)

8. What about the goddesses? Devi – the feminine divine
Saraswati, goddess of wisdom, consort of Brahma

9. Lakshmi, goddess of good fortune, consort of Vishnu

10. Parvati, divine mother, wife of Shiva

11. All these deities are but Manifest forms (attributes
and functions) of the
impersonal Brahma

12. Hinduism Continued… Many Lives
Karma: the belief that the deeds (actions) of a person affect what he or she will be in the next life.
Reincarnation: the belief that each person has many lives
Animals have a supreme life force
Many Hindus don’t eat meat
as a result.

13. Many Paths to God
Faithfully carry out duties in life
Some believe by following their own path they can connect with their supreme God
Meditation / yoga

14. Personal Activity
Draw a representation of the caste system of any social organization you’re familiar with (school, job, hometown, sports, etc.). You must have at least 4 levels. (5th level is extra credit)
Write descriptions of the types of people (their roles and characteristics) who belong in each level of your caste system.
You must have detailed descriptions and drawings for each level.