Hello, I'm Soham Desai A wonderful welcome to all of you, tuning into this edition of
crash course history, key concepts 2.1, south Asia.
This video will focus on how the development of states and empires resulted in the foundation
and transformation of religion and culture.
This Provided social stability for the society.
However the development of religions also created some opposing views and beliefs.
This in turn affected the political and economical development of empires within south asia.
In the Indian subcontinent, in south asia, this relates to the religions of hinduism
and buddhism.
Hinduism in India originated from the indo european migrations of aryan populations from
central asia.
With the migration the vedas were introduced to the indian subcontinent.
The vedas were a collection of hymns and poems that portrayed religious activities and literature
described that formed the basis of primary religion in india.
Hinduism did not just influence religion, but it also served as a foundation for a social
system.
Hindu Hierarchical structure originated from social divisions between the native dravidians,
who were of darker skin tone and the Aryans who were lighter and had more capabilities
both politically due to their militaristic forces and economically.Patriarchy was also
established early on and became reinforced by laws and traditions which taught patricahal
standards and promoted the dominance of men in society.
Hinduism Then underwent a transformation that made it a more integral and a part of life
in south asia,.
This change was initiated by the philosophical teachings of the upanishads, which focused
on the meaning of life and the connections of individuals to the entire universe.
Their philosophies focused on individual personal reflections, this resulted in the development
of several important concepts.
The "Atman" which is the individual everlasting soul found in every single living being."Brahma",
the all powerful supreme being in which all atman are reunited too.
Acting as the one major god in hinduism, in which their are avatars and reincarnations
of, thus fuelling the debate on whether to classify hinduism as monotheistic religion
or polytheistic, "Samsarah", which was another major concept is the endless cycle
of birth and rebirth, "Dharma", defined as one's duty, and "karma", a belief that
those who do good, will achieve enlightenment or be reincarnated into a better life form.
The ultimate goal for all hindus was for the "atman" to be united with the "bhraman"
through continually doing good deeds and having good karma throughout multiple lives, and
eventually being reincarnated into higher and higher states of life and being.
This allowed for the formation of the caste system, which was built upon, social divisions
and described classes with strictly defined social roles, it determined one's place within
society.
The caste system precipitated many aspects of life during this time period and was a
basis for cultural, religious, and economical activity.
Hinduism had profound effects on indian culture, as epics such as "Ramayana", the tale
of prince rama, and "Mahabharata" the war between family and the hesitation to fight,
These epics developed hindu norms and morals.
Hinduism also had lasting influence on politics and economics.
The caste system had an influence on both politics and economics . The highest caste,
the "Brahmins", who were priests and teachers, held the greatest power and influence.
The "Kshatriyas", were second and acted as administrators and warriors thus holding
great political power as well.
The largest caste "vaishyas" were traders, merchants, and landowners, commoners who held
control of economic production.
The lowest caste, the "shudras" were labourers that held little to no political power and
influence.
Buddhism was the other major religion that impacted south asia, it was founded by a man
named Siddhartha Gautama, who lived as a prince, and was a kshatriya.
He observed suffering all around him and decided to abandon his caste and life as a prince
in search of a way to end suffering.
He lived and aesthetic life and gained enlightenment, observing both meditation and fasting.
He became the first buddha, known as the enlightened one.
Buddhist principles were established.
"Nirvana", was the buddhist state of enlightenment.
Another principle being "The four noble truths", which talked about the elimination
of suffering leading to nirvana.
ahh the eight-fold path hehe eight folds get it?
The eightfold-path was a process where buddhism changed their way of life, giving up materialistic
possessions and Undergoing a change in mentality which involved right understanding and right
thoughts.
Both hinduism and buddhism share some similar beliefs and principles such as karma and reincarnation.
However, there were also many significant differences between the two, one being, buddhists
did not believe in the caste system or social inequality.
Many buddhists believe in both monasticism, and asceticism, beliefs in which followers
gave up materialistic and worldly possessions in a search to end suffering and achieve nirvana.
Buddhism was embraced by emperor ashoka of the Mauryan empire, who promoted its practice
throughout the indian subcontinent during his rule.
Besides that period in history Hinduism has had a dominant control over a majority of
India.
Ladies and Gentleman, that just about wraps up key concepts 2.1
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