... to the scrupulous observance of such customs that the Brahmins owe the predominance of their illustrious caste" (58). The oldest religious justification for the division of society into the four varnas is found in the tenth mandala (circle) of the Rig-Veda, the oldest and holiest Hindu scripture. This passage ... and menstruation (Dumont 53). The Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Fa-hsien, who traveled to India during the reign of Candra Gupta II (ruled 376-415 AD), refers to "pollution on approach"; that is, pollution from coming close to an Untouchable or outcast (Basham 66). During these early...

• Word Count: 3629
• Approx Pages: 15
• Grade Level: High School

... agony in stony places The shouting and the crying Prison and palace and reverberation Of thunder of spring over distant mountains. 322-27 The passage starts out with an allusion to John 18:3, which describes the soldiers who came to arrest Jesus. The soldiers who were, of course, led by Judas Iscariot were carrying "torches" (John 18:3). This allusion is significant because it ... people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water."" Eliot purposely alludes to this passage in which Go...

• Word Count: 2650
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... necessitating the selection or elimination of any. It is axiomatic that no religious idea in India ever dies or is superseded-it is merely combined with the new ideas that arise in response to it. Hindus are inclined to revere the divine in every manifestation, whatever it may be, and are doctrinally tolerant ... ultimate reality - that is, the One is the All - have continued almost unaltered for more than 30 centuries and has been the central focus of India's spiritual life. In some perceptions, Hinduism has been called 'atheistic'. In other perceptions, and this is perhaps the more com...

• Word Count: 3600
• Approx Pages: 14
• Grade Level: High School

... (Earhart, p. 723). Hinduism "remembers the cumulative experience of ages" rather than specific events or people throughout the centuries (Earhart, p. 727). That is not to say no events and people (Gods, Goddesses, rishis (the ancient sages), and ghosts) are important in Hinduism. The texts in Hinduism are regarded as "inspired ... allow " people in every class, caste, and stratum of Hindu society, literate or illiterate [illiteracy is very high in India] [to be] at home in the same universe- (Earhart, p. 780). Needless to say, this process of thoroughly mythologizing the universe and cont...

• Word Count: 2794
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School