Search

[German Version] ("Society of the Noble"), religious and socially oriented reform movements of India that arose in the 19th century in the process of the interaction of young Indian intellectuals with the West and that through rational critique of its own culture (caste system, untouchables, idolatry, child marriage, etc.) and appeal to an ideal past, sought o…

[German Version] (Sanskrit “wheel”), in Indian religions, describes dynamic movement and energy in many different forms as well as the self-containment of a system or circle. Thus in Buddhism and Jainism the dharma cakra (Dharma) symbolizes the spread of teachings. In Hinduism cakra is one of the attributes of Viṣṇu as world ruler. Kuṇḍalinī-yoga defines the seven overlapping energy centers in the human body as cakras which have to be set in motion by means of yoga exercises, in order to activate the functions of life and, as energy rises from the lowest to the uppermost cakra, to bring ab…

[German Version] (Sanskrit “treatise on the dharma”), also known as smṛti (“recollection”; Sruti), designates a genre of ancient Indian texts preserving what is held to be the “remembered” knowledge of mythical sages that was proclaimed in order to place society on a stable foundation. This purpose is accomplished through the allocation of human beings to one of four estates ( Brahmin , Kṣatriya, Vaiśya and Śūdra) and through their demarcation from all those who stand outside the system by means of binding and d…

[German Version] (Sanskrit “wheel-mover”), in all Indian religions a term for the world-conqueror. A cakravartin is marked out as an extraordinary person by marks on his body. His attributes are a wheel and insignia of dominion. He is victorious by virtue of his behavior or his just teaching. The difference between the cakravartin concept in Hinduism and Buddhism/ Jainism lies in the goal of world dominion. In Hinduism the cakravartin removes the disruption of the world by demons and antigods; his central power base is formed by dharma and truth. The embodiment of cakravartin here is …

[German Version] The term “Aryan” derives from ārya (“good, noble, member of one's own tribe”), the Indo-Iranians' name for themselves. These seminomadic people entered Iran and India (II) from the Eurasian steppes c. 1200 bce. In India their language and religion became the basis of several high civilizations. At the beginning of the 19th century, the discovery that the languages, mythology, deities, and cult of the Aryans were related …

[German Version] (from Sanskrit “support, foothold, sustainer”), with the general meaning “rule, order,” is a fun-¶ damental concept of Hinduism and is based on the notion that the balance of the world can be maintained by establishing fixed rules. Accordingly, the Indian tradition defines dharma as a system of religious duties and of norms governing law as well as the behavior and actions of the individual as a member of an estate ( varṇa) and of his caste ( jāti). The observance or transgression of these duties and norms determines whether the for…