Practice Flashcards
Flip to reveal answersWhat does it mean that Hinduism rests on orthopraxy?
Track your progress — Sign up free to save your progress and get smart review reminders based on spaced repetition.
All 10 Flashcards — Statements of belief
Sign up free to track progress and get spaced-repetition review schedules.
Question
What does it mean that Hinduism rests on orthopraxy?
Answer
That it is built on right practice and conformity to tradition and duty rather than on correct belief. Sanatana dharma has no creed.
Question
Distinguish saguna from nirguna.
Answer
Saguna conceives God as personal, with form and qualities; nirguna as non-personal and without form. Both are at home in the tradition, often in one person.
Question
Name the Trimurti and their roles.
Answer
Brahma, responsible for creation; Vishnu, for the preservation of creation; Shiva, for destruction.
Question
What is an avatar?
Answer
An incarnation of a god or God. The concept belongs chiefly to Vishnu, notably as Krishna and Rama.
Question
What is Shakti?
Answer
Divine feminine creative power, worshipped in its own right. All male gods also have female consorts who sustain the sanatana dharma.
Question
State the three classical positions on atman and Brahman.
Answer
Advaita Vedanta (Shankara): one, and separation is maya. Vishishtadvaita (Ramanuja): distinct but wholly dependent. Dvaita (Madhva): permanently distinct.
Question
How does the guide describe moksha?
Answer
As liberation, and as union or intimacy with God, or freedom from samsara — depending on schools of thought. It deliberately does not settle which.
Question
What are the gunas?
Answer
The qualities of the created world — the strands out of which what is experienced is woven.
Question
What is the jiva in Hindu teaching?
Answer
The ego or body, from which the atman is to be released in attaining moksha.
Question
Why is "polytheism" a risky label for Hinduism?
Answer
Because many Hindus describe the deities as forms of one reality, closer to monism, while others worship a personal deity as God. Say what is held and by whom.
Read the notes
Full study notes for Statements of belief
Topic 2.3 hub
Doctrines and beliefs
More from Topic 2.3
All flashcards in this topic
World Religions exam skills
Paper structures & tips
Track your progress with spaced repetition
Sign up free — Aimnova tells you exactly which cards to review and when, so you remember everything before your IB exam.
Start Free