Indian Philosophy Midterm

Front 1

metaphysics

Back 1

study of the fundamental nature of being and the world that encompasses it

Front 2

ontology

Back 2

study of existence/reality and the categories of reality/being

Front 3

cosmology

Back 3

study of the origins and ultimate fate of the universe

Front 4

darshana

Back 4

"perspective"
philosophical systems / world views
- Vedic darshanas: Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Yoga, Sankya, Mimamsa, Vedanta

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vada

Back 5

"doctrine"
formulated opinion

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yajna

Back 6

[Vedic]
- sacrificial ritual (part of dharma); sacrifice is carried up by Agni (priest/fire) to Indra
- contract / exchange between gods and humans
- karma - action of ritual (as part of dharma)

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Indra

Back 7

[Vedic]
- Vedic warrior god who receives sacrifice and splits open the clouds to release rain

Front 8

Purusha

Back 8

[Vedic]
- in the Rigveda, he's the giant who was sacrificed by the gods to form the universe and classes

Front 9

bandha

Back 9

[Vedic]
Connection between the 3 realms of the tripartite universe (terrestrial, atmospheric, heavenly)

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atman

Back 10

self / perception (Brahman is the universe's atman)

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pramana

Back 11

"means to prama (knowledge"
epistemology, sources of knowledge

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pratyaksa

Back 12

perception as a means to knowledge

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anumana

Back 13

inference as a means to knowledge

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upamana

Back 14

comparison as a means to knowledge

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shabda

Back 15

authority / testimony as a source of knowledge

Front 16

purusartha

Back 16

[Vedic]
"human goals"
4 goals of life: dharma, artha, kama, and moksha

Front 17

dharma

Back 17

[Vedic]
- eternal and universal moral law
- duties of one's social station (i.e. rituals)

Front 18

artha

Back 18

[Vedic]
- practical, material wealth so a dharmic life can be led / family can be provided for

Front 19

kama

Back 19

sensual desire

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moksha

Back 20

"to liberate"
- freedom from Samsara

Front 21

nirvana

Back 21

[Buddhism]
- "to blow out the flame"
- end samsara by getting rid of desire

Front 22

jnana

Back 22

"gnosis / knowledge"
- internalization of ritual (karma); mapping of ritual to body that comes about with Upanishads/Vedanta
- knowledge of truth => key to ending Samsara

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karma

Back 23

- action: ritual or meditative
- moral causation and consequences

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Carvaka

Back 24

- anti-metaphysical (materialist), concerned with epistemology => only valid pramana is pratyaksa
- no soul (consciousness is a product of the material body) ; freedom from suffering is death

Front 25

Syadvada

Back 25

[Jain]
- "in some ways...", conditional predication because your perception is limited by karma (unless you are liberated and become omniscient)
- result of theory of many-sidedness (anekantavada)

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Ahimsa

Back 26

[Jain]
nonviolence based on the potential to attain liberation that all jiva's have

Front 27

Four Noble Truths

Back 27

[Buddhist]
- dukha
- cause of dukha
- there is a way out of dukha
- path out of dukha

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8-Fold Path

Back 28

[Buddhist]
- right view, thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, concentration
- path to nirvana

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Chain of Dependent Origination

Back 29

[Buddhist]
- everything is dependent on everything else, nothing exists independently (used to explain Samsara without a continuous "self" or atman)

Front 30

5 Aggregates

Back 30

[Buddhist]
- body, sensation, perception, volitional formations, consciousness
- a person can be any of these, but not necessarily nor eternally (nothing is "I" or "mine")

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Mahavira

Back 31

main teacher (jina) of Jainism; taught that all jiva are capable of omniscience by removing karmic obstacles through asceticism

Front 32

Upanisads / Vedanta

Back 32

"what destroys ignorance and gets man near to God" / "End of the Vedas"
- focus on mapping ritual to being (internalization of karma [action / ritual]) ; jnana as a means to liberation
- heaven isn't permanent and jnana is the key to immortality/ending samsara

Front 33

Veda

Back 33

"revealed knowledge", smriti
- consists of 4 samhitas (each with schools of priests with their own brahmana, which )
- Rigveda - origin stories, hymns about Indra, Agni, Soma, Parajapati, and Purusha
- Yajurveda - instructions on performing ritual sacrifices
- Samaveda - hymns/songs to be sung in rituals
- Atharveda - misc. hymns / incantations

Front 34

Mimamsa

Back 34

[Vedic], darshana
- focus on rituals as a means of reaching heaven
- later, goal became liberation through getting rid of karmic ties (still through ritual)

Front 35

Three Marks of Existence

Back 35

[Buddhist]
- unsatisfactoriness, dukha
- impermanence, anitya
- no abiding self, anatman

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Three Foundations

Back 36

- Sila - "ethics", morality of thought and action
- Samadhi - meditation (concentration and mindfulness)
- Prajna - wisdom/understanding of Three Marks, Four Noble Truths, and dependent origination

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Three Jewels

Back 37

- Buddha - awakened mind
- Dhamma - Buddha's teachings
- Sangha - Buddhist practitioners / community

Front 38

Three Baskets

Back 38

- vinaya - monastic rules
- sutra - teachings
- abhidamma - higher teachings, specific and systematic analysis of anatma and other teachings

Front 39

jina

Back 39

[Jain]
"conqueror"
- one who has achieved liberation and omniscience, conquering their passions