FINAL EXAM LECTURE OUTLINES Lecture Outline Rig Veda I Rig Veda a the oldest literary work of India b composed around 1 c 1700 1100 BCE 2 composed in early Sanskrit language 3 Sanskrit Indo European language c existed in oral form for many centuries THEN written down d 1028 hymns to gods in 10 books all praising gods somehow e rig praise veda knowledge f Vedic people composed the Rig Veda g but LATER Rig Veda became 1 sacred to the Hindus 2 earliest of four Vedas g cf Israelite scriptures sacred to Jews and Christians all poems all poetry several poems that tell different bits of the same myths so we combine pieces together to achieve the full effect and info we are handling the Rig Veda in concurrence with the originating culture Veda Culture NOT with HInduism just like we handled the Bible as Israelite culture NOT Jews or Christian Rig Veda is still a sacred text to people today II Vedic gods a Agni 1 agni means fire cf Latin ignis these two words are cognate which just means the words are related 2 binatural thing god binatural in a way that we haven t seen yet he is a tangible thing fire and a god 3 Agni is different types of fire heat light a natural fire lightning sun b domestic hearth the fire that you keep burn in your home hearth c ritual sacrifice cf 1 1 Agni can be described as god of sacrifice since he is fire which is related to sacrifice serves as a hymn to Agni himself d funereal cremation assoc with funereal purposes because need fire to cremate the dead assoc with a fire of inspiration poets of the Rig Veda call on Agni to spark them e poetry light b Soma 1 1 deified sacred drink 2 binatural thing god Soma actual drink you can drink AND a god 3 soma drink a hallucinogenic drink b made from an unknown plant mts only thing we know is it seems to grow in the mountains don t know what the plant is or if the plant still exists today c drank by gods and priests special drink d assoc with vitality and immortality gods seems that priests don t neccessarily become gods but partake in momentary god like rituals or momentarily connected with the gods when they drink it e poetry vision 4 EFFECTS 2 8 79 8 Do not enrage us do not terrify us soma is a frightening drink because it makes you do things you might not normally a associated with fear 1 8 79 7 Be kind and merciful to us do 10 119 12 I am huge huge Flying to the cloud we suspect that this could be a god talking that he is transformed possibly Ingra b associated with exultation could be that when gods consume soma it can make you even more powerful magical than you already for c Indra 3 rain fertility 4 avid drinker of soma 1 he is king of the gods 2 god of thunder AND war another storm god associated as king of the gods connected to rain and fertility since he is the god of thunder storm god drinks it often thats why we suspect it was him speaking the above quote likes to drink it and then beat up on monsters or humans 5 poet seer cf Agni Soma poets writing the Rig Veda compare themselves to Ingra who seems to be a poet III Birth Childhood of Indra 4 18 a dialogue Indra and mother b mother Aditi father Tvashtr c common motif in Indo European mythology 1 child that is somehow kept unborn 2 child is somehow going to kill his father 3 compare to Kronos in greek Hesiod s Theogony COULD BE ON FINAL 2 similar to Kronos because Kronos overthrows his father Ouranos Kronos was also kept unborn because Ouranos will not let Gaia give birth to her children Kronos castrated and overthrew his father difference is Indra s mother won t let Indra be born d Indra kept in womb cf Gaia mother keeps him in there perhaps because she s trying to protect him from e bursts out mother s side Indra doesn t want to be stuck in there so he bursts out shows that he s special father hero f kills father kills his father after he is out IV Killing of Vritra 1 32 a Vritra dragon serpent could be demon also demonic b holds back all the waters in the world c Indra uses his thunderbolts to kill Vritra d when Indra kills Vritra all the rivers in the world are created COULD BE ON FINAL compare to Tiamat when Tiamat is killed by Marduk Tigris and Euphrates rivers are made from her another example of storm god defeating a dragon like monster V Sarama and the Panis 10 108 a Sarama Indra s dog b Panis demons c Panis live beyond the river Rasa 1 Rasa encircles heaven AND earth gods humans 2 demons live beyond the river which encircles heaven earth 3 cf Okeanos Okeanos circles the earth too not heaven though d the Panis stole cattle of the Angirases family of sages priests Sarama is trying to get the cattle back e Sarama tracks down cattle f resists bribes of Panis Panis demons try to bribe Sarama into betraying her master Indra but she resists VI Creation Myths a Creation 10 129 1 enigmatic 2 primordial waters waters seem to already exist seen in Enuma Elish and Genesis 3 creation somehow inititated a What stirred 10 129 1 question asked what stirred that started creation b That one breathed 10 129 2 3 we are not told who what stirred or breathed ultimate question of how did everything start 4 gods are not even born yet significance of golden embryo egg like metaphorical creator god golden egg that b Golden Embryo 10 121 starts begins creation 1 unknown creator god 2 referred to as Hiranyagarbha 2 Sanskrit words a gold hirany b womb seed embryo egg garbha 3 10 121 10 a god named as Prajapati creator god in the last line b some scholars think this is later addition that didn t exist before 4 Golden Embryo a arises FROM the primordial waters 7 b yet he creates waters 9 c separates earth sky 1 5 d creates earth sky 9 we see all these contradictions he arises from the waters yet creates them and he separates the earth and sky yet he also creates them these c Purusha 10 90 1 Purusha a cosmic giant primeval male he is called man in our reading but he isn t necessarily a man 2 dismembered by a creator god Tiamat and Apsu s bodies were both used to create part of the universe 3 used to create universe cf Ymir 4 earth sky gods humans animals 5 he becomes the first sacrifice a Purusha as object of sacrifice b yet at same time Purusha as recipient of the sacrifice this poem is dedicated to Purusha d Aditi and Birth of Gods 10 …
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