Deck 3: Hinduism

Question 1

According to karma yoga, the motivation for work should be

A) reward.
B) to please others.
C) duty.
D) to please yourself.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Of the one billion people in India, approximately what percent are Hindu?

A) 92%
B) 81%
C) 64%
D) less than 50%

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The Sama-Veda would be referred to when a priest

A) is looking for a prayer or litany.
B) requires chants for the soma sacrifices.
C) is praying silently.
D) conducts a funeral.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which is considered the most drastic stage in the Hindu belief of the four stages of a man's life?

A) one
B) two
C) three
D) four

Question 5

What do Hindu priests use when they are seeking an explanation of sacrifices?

A) Aranyakas
B) Vedanta
C) Upanishads
D) Brahmanas

Question 6

Who is the god in human disguise that drives the chariot for Arjuna?

A) Jnana
B) Krishna
C) Manu
D) Rama

Question 7

Which of these would be considered a part of the shradda rites?

A) preparing offerings for the gods
B) alienation from the family
C) commitment to multiple gods
D) keeping the rites of the funeral pyre

Question 8

The way of knowledge as salvation is the basis of which yoga form?

A) jnana
B) karma
C) bhakti
D) raja

Question 9

How did Mohandas K. Ghandi respond to Western culture as it applied to India?

A) He rejected it as it was the polar opposite of India's beliefs.
B) He used its resources to help India.
C) He embraced it with no questions.
D) He saw it as violent.

Question 10

The god in the Rig-Veda who is named as creator and ruler of the universe is

A) Mitra.
B) Soma.
C) Indra.
D) Varuna.

Question 11

What did the Laws of Manu represent?

A) an ideal code of behavior
B) the eight steps of women's role in society
C) the forms of yoga
D) the beliefs of all the gods

Question 12

During the earliest times (1000 B.C.E.) why did varna play a part in making the Aryans superior to the natives of India?

A) They had a larger army.
B) The gods said it was to be.
C) They brought food and knowledge to the land.
D) The light-skinned Aryans were the conquerors.

Question 13

Restraint of all physical and mental activity is required as a part of which yoga?

A) bhakti
B) raja
C) karma
D) jnana

Question 14

A Hindu who chooses a life goal of Kama is in seek of

A) the literary arts.
B) political stature.
C) material goods.
D) pleasure.

Question 15

A person who teaches their insights and reasoning and is seen as having a divine light is known as a

A) guru.
B) brahmin.
C) ascetic.
D) veda.

Question 16

What is the name given to Hindu sacred writings?

A) shruti
B) caste
C) guru
D) smriti

Question 17

At which stage of life is a Hindu expected to experience vivaha?

A) Student
B) Householder
C) Forest Dweller
D) Sannyasin

Question 18

The principle force of the universe which orders all things is known as

A) Varuna.
B) Rita.
C) Mitra.
D) Agni.

Question 19

The phrase, "You reap what you sow," can summarize

A) nirguna Brahman.
B) samadhi.
C) sannyasin.
D) the law of karma.

Question 20

The Hindu concept of samsara refers to

A) matter, as opposed to purusha, spirit.
B) Brahman, as he is in himself.
C) the wheel of rebirth which turns forever.
D) Brahman as known through his creation.

Question 21

Which term is the most accurate in describing Hinduism?

A) monotheism
B) henotheism
C) atheism
D) polytheism

Question 22

According to the Upanishads, there is an absolute end for humankind and the universe.

Question 23

Which dualistic philosophical system explains the universe without employing gods?

A) Advaita
B) Nyaya
C) Sankhya
D) Vaisheshika

Question 24

The Sankhya system is strictly monistic.

Question 25

The word Upanishads means "sitting near teachers."

Question 26

The student sees the guru as the very presence of the divine.

Question 27

The yoke of work in Hinduism is bhakti.

Question 28

In the Upanishads, the individual soul of humans is Atman.

Question 29

In Hinduism, jnana means "ignorance."

Question 30

In what year did India gain its independence from Britain?

A) 1914
B) 1947
C) 1938
D) 1959

Question 31

The goal of Raja Yoga is to train the body to free the soul.

Question 32

Soma, an intoxicating drink, was used recreationally, but not in Hindu worship.

Question 33

The theory of rebirth, or reincarnation, does not appear in the Vedas.

Question 34

Spiritual leaders composed Vedas in oral form because they feared giving too many personalities to individual gods.

Question 35

For Hindus, the law of karma is more central than belief in reincarnation.

Question 36

Sannyasin is the same is rajah, a ruler of the people of India.

Question 37

Puja is the worship of household deities.

Question 38

Gandhi helped India gain independence from Great Britain.

Question 39

Gurus officiate at rituals, bringing together gods and humans.

Question 40

Samsara is the Hindu term for

A) reincarnation.
B) existence.
C) marriage.
D) death.

Question 43

Some Hindu scriptures describe the universe in ways consistent with the big bang theory.

Question 45

Since India welcomes all faiths, there are no conflicts among the many different religious groups living there.

Question 46

Identify and briefly describe each of the four goals of Hindu life.

Question 47

Sri Aurobindo searched for the spiritual power that would defeat India's enemies.

Question 48

Describe each of the eight steps to samadhi as identified by Patanjali.

Question 49

Identify and briefly describe each of the four yogas or "paths to liberation" in Hinduism.

Question 50

Describe the symbolism of Nataraja, or Shiva as "Lord of the Dance."

Question 51

The goal of karma yoga is to train the physical body so that the soul can be free.

Question 52

"Whatever being he remembers when he abandons the body at death, he enters, Arjuna, always existing in that being." Reflect on the above quote from the Bhagavad Gita and explain what Hindu concept Lord Krishna is referring to.

Question 53

Identify and describe the two doctrines from the Upanishads that shaped Mohandas Ghandi's personal commitment and public actions.

Question 54

Briefly describe Advaita Vedanta.

Question 55

Who are the "twice born" in India, and what does it mean to be "twice born?"

Question 56

Hindus believe one must die before he/she can attain moksha.

Question 57

What is Lord Krishna telling Arjuna when he says, "...when a man knows the self to be indestructible, enduring, unborn, unchanging, how does he kill or cause anyone to kill?"

Question 58

Identify and briefly describe each of the five main gods of the Rig-Veda.