Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism: South Ch6 Exam Questions

Test Bank

to accompany

World Religions Today, Seventh Edition

Esposito • Fasching • Lewis • Feldmeier

Chapter 6

Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism: South Asian Religions

NOTE: Questions marked with “(w)” also appear in the student review quizzes on Oxford Learning Link.

Multiple Choice

1. (w) The purpose for chanting a mantra is to

a. Activate a spiritual force within the human consciousness.

b. Increase intellectual powers.

c. Increase creativity.

d. All of the above.

2. The word that means release from the cycle of birth and death is

a. Atman.

b. Moksha.

c. Samsara.

d. Karma.

3. (w) The most influential vehicle for spreading Hinduism among non-Hindu peoples has been

a. Yoga traditions.

b. Dharma.

c. Scripture.

d. Jnana.

4. Britain ruled over India directly for about

a. 25 years.

b. 50 years.

c. 75 years.

d. 90 years.

5. (w) Conquering Muslims used the word “Hindu” to designate people who lived east of what great river?

a. Nile.

b. Indus.

c. Ganges.

d. Tigris.

6. (w) What is the “limitation” that is responsible for giving Hinduism its unusual openness to ongoing revelation?

a. Its highly centralized organization.

b. The acceptance that pluralism is inevitable.

c. The acceptance that ultimate reality is beyond all human naming or philosophical comprehension.

d. Limiting the number of monasteries and ashrams.

7. (w) What is the ultimate goal of yoga meditation?

a. To learn how to negotiate the four stages of life.

b. To learn the Vedic rites.

c. To increase strength and flexibility.

d. To dwell for extended periods of trance and reach the highest mystical state.

8. Three of the four stages of life for a Hindu include

a. Student, householder, and soldier.

b. Teenager, householder, and forest dweller.

c. Student, soldier, and retiree.

d. Student, forest dweller, and homeless wanderer.

9. (w) Which of the following is NOT one of the classic Hindu social classes?

a. Bramins.

b. Kshatriyas (rulers).

c. Jati.

d. Shudras (workers).

10. (w) Hinduism is

a. The second largest world religion.

b. The smallest world religion.

c. The third largest world religion.

d. The next to smallest world religion.

11. (w) The widespread practice that symbolizes a new identity when accepting a guru is

a. Being baptized.

b. Receiving a new birth date.

c. Receiving a new name.

d. Bathing in the Ganges.

12. The word bhakti refers to

a. A collection of Sanskrit texts.

b. Devotional faith.

c. Liberation.

d. A monastic order.

13. Hinduism is

a. The fastest growing world religion.

b. The second fastest growing world religion.

c. The third fastest growing world religion.

d. Not growing.

14. The Rashtriya Svayamsevak Sangh group advocated

a. Retaining British colonial rule.

b. A move toward modern secularism.

c. Opposition to modern secularism.

d. All of the above.

15. (w) Advaita Vedanta’s prominent place among Hindu philosophies was because of the brilliant theologian

a. Shankara.

b. Ramanuja.

c. Muhammad.

d. Chaitanya.

16. (w) The Indian National Congress, founded in 1880 in Bombay, was an important player in

a. India’s acceptance of British rule.

b. Denouncing the brahmin caste.

c. Promoting violence.

d. India’s independence movement.

17. Around the eighth century, South Asia began to absorb the influences of what religion?

a. Christianity.

b. Judaism.

c. Islam.

d. Zoroastrianism.

18. (w) Guru Nanak founded Sikhism to correct the mistaken practices and partial truths of

a. Christianity and Judaism.

b. Islam and Christianity.

c. Islam and Judaism.

d. Hinduism and Islam.

19. (w) Rammohan Roy, regarded as the father of modern India, believed that the true Hinduism was found in the

a. Mahabharata.

b. Ramayana.

c. Bhagavad Gita.

d. Upanishads.

20. (w) In the Hindu world today

a. There is no relationship between politics and religion.

b. The relationship between politics and religion is decreasing.

c. The linkage of religion to politics is growing.

d. The linkage of religion to politics is continually decreasing.

21. Sikhism

a. Was the last great religious tradition to originate in India.

b. Offered an indigenous alternative to Islam.

c. Has more followers in South Asia than Buddhism.

d. All of the above.

22. (w) In Ramakrishna’s revivalism, what was emphasized?

a. Mystical experience and ecumenical theology.

b. Polytheism.

c. The infallible teachings of the Vedas.

d. Fighting against British colonialism.

23. (w) Mohandas Gandhi was

a. An unknown.

b. Born into a brahmin family.

c. The most significant leader to guide South Asia to independence.

d. None of the above.

24. Jain sages are called _______, meaning “ford finders.”

a. Gurus.

b. Tirthankaras.

c. Prophets.

d. Sikhs.

25. The disciple of Ramakrishna’s responsible for organizing the teachings systematically and creating a global awareness was

a. Rammohan Roy.

b. Swami Vivekananda.

c. Swami Dayananda.

d. Arya Samaj.

26. Why do pilgrims collect water from the Ganges and store it for future use?

a. Ganges water is seen as the best source for purifying a ritual space.

b. The Ganges is seen as the supreme goddess.

c. The Ganges flows down from the sacred Himalayas.

d. The river borders the most sacred temple in India.

27. Residences for gurus and their students are called

a. Ashrams.

b. Gopis.

c. Rishis.

d. Varnas.

28. The four Vedas were a collection of over a thousand

a. Hymns addressed to the gods.

b. Offerings made to the gods.

c. Wise sayings.

d. Lost manuscripts.

29. The most unity today among Hindus is in their

a. Beliefs.

b. Politics.

c. Ritualism.

d. None of the above.

30. Until 2006 the world’s only Hindu nation was

a. Pakistan.

b. Nepal.

c. China.

d. None of the above.

31. (w) According to classical Hindu doctrine, what is the most important spiritual force in the universe?

a. Reincarnation.

b. Karma.

c. Dharma.

d. Avatar.

32. (w) The largest single religious gathering in the world is

a. The final pilgrimage at Kashi.

b. Catholics at Lourdes.

c. The Kumbha Mela at Prayag.

d. Muslims gathering at Mecca.

33. The ultimate reality of the world in Hinduism is called

a. Brahmin.

b. Brahman.

c. Upanishads.

d. Atman.

34. (w) The elephant-headed deity, Ganesh, is associated with a recent miracle in which icons appeared to drink

a. Goat’s milk.

b. Cow’s milk.

c. Water from the Ganges.

d. Citrus juice.

35. The individual soul that wanders from birth to death again and again until it finds release from the cycle is called

a. Atman.

b. Brahmin.

c. Karma.

d. None of the above.

36. (w) The word for unchanging soul is

a. Atman.

b. Samsara.

c. Moksha.

d. Karma.

37. Ahimsa refers to

a. Ultimate reality.

b. Nonviolence.

c. Holy war.

d. Soul.

38. Dharma means

a. Unchanging soul.

b. Duty in life as determined by caste.

c. Nonviolence.

d. Inner life.

39. Hindus have adopted non-Hindu ideas primarily in what area?

a. Theology.

b. Their social institutions.

c. Their truth claims.

d. All of the above.

40. The Bhagavad Gita is part of the

a. Upanishads.

b. Ramayana.

c. Mahabharata.

d. Rig Veda.

True/False

1. (w) The unchanging spirit, or ultimate reality of the world, as put forth by the Upanishads, is called brahmin.

2. Rammohan Roy called for the reform of the Hindu community.

3. Hinduism is growing outside South Asia.

4. (w) The only river in India that has spiritual significance is the Ganges.

5. (w) Proponents of Hindu nationalism want to maintain India as a secular state.

6. (w) There are two classic Hindu social classes, upper and lower.

7. (w) Tantric teachings are given openly or universally.

8. (w) The Bhagavad Gita is an excerpt from the Upanishads.

9. (w) All Hindus complete all four stages of life in every lifetime.

10. The Tattvabodhini Sabha was a noninfluential group composed of members from the lowest castes.

11. The correct order for the stages of life are student, householder, forest dweller, homeless wanderer.

12. (w) The word that means release from the cycle of birth and death is moksha.

13. British colonial rule was supported by the RSS.

14. Like other traditions, tantric yoga requires one to select a partner from the same caste.

15. Sikhism promotes asceticism as an absolutely necessary path to realizing salvation.

16. Guru Nanak was motivated entirely by materialistic desires when he founded Sikhism.

17. (w) Gandhi originated the doctrine of nonviolence, or ahimsa.

18. (w) Sikhism never grew beyond a small number of adherents, making its present numbers smaller than the number of Buddhists.

19. (w) The powerful energy that travels up the spine through the chakras is called solar plexus.

20. (w) The Upanishads asserted that repeating the sound of OM is key to meditation that leads to moksha.

21. Conquering Muslims used “Hindu” to designate people living east of the Indus.

22. (w) Hindus have adopted non-Hindu ideas primarily in their social institutions.

23. It was when Mohandas Gandhi studied law in London that he first encountered the classical Hindu texts.

24. Britain ruled over India directly for 500 years.

25. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation movement has taken Hindu yoga tradition across the globe.

26. Ram Dass was an Indian merchant.

27. Hindus believe that complete human understanding of the highest truth has been achieved.

28. The Brahmo Samaj organization founded by Roy fizzled out after a short time and had no influence on subsequent generations.

29. (w) In the Hindu world today there is a relationship between politics and religion.

30. (w) Sikhs rejected the norms of caste society and affirmed social equality.

31. (w) One possibility for the reason that cows are considered holy in South Asia is because the cow actually promotes survival for the people.

32. (w) The heterodox religions of India, or those that do not accept the authority of the Vedas, include Buddhism and Jainism.

33. The greeting of “Namaste” is another way of greeting the divine in another person.

34. In 2007, 80 million Hindus gathered to bathe at Prayag, thus making it the largest single religious gathering on earth.

35. (w) Hinduism is the second largest of the world religions.

36. Vivekananda organized the Ramakrishna Mission to keep ancient Hindu beliefs and practices local.

37. Starting in the eighth century, South Asia began to absorb the influences of Islam.

38. (w) With many recent court decisions coming down on the side of maintaining India as a secular state, the Hindu-India movement is now all but defunct.

39. (w) Religion in South Asia has been the least pluralistic in the world.

40. Bhakti yoga is the most popular with Hindus.

Fill in the Blank

1. (w) Religion in South Asia is the most _______ and least centrally organized in the world.

2. (w) A spiritual guide or teacher is called a _______.

3. (w) _______ yoga regards the body as a microcosm of the universe, and the bodily energies can be harnessed and focused to achieve a transformative religious experience.

4. (w) Around 1500, Guru Nanak founded the last great religious tradition, called _______, to originate in India.

5. Hinduism’s most popular divinity is the elephant-headed _______.

6. The Ganges and its tributaries all are associated with divinity. It is conceived as a _______.

7. Early _______ religion was centered on fire sacrifices.

8. Mahatma Gandhi began organizing social uplift programs in _______.

9. Dharma is determined by caste and _______.

10. (w) The language of the Vedic hymns and which is considered sacred is _______.

11. The religious tradition _______ has more than 20 million followers worldwide and outnumbers Buddhists in India.

12. The Mughal Empire, during which the _______ was built, was the second era of Muslim rule.

13. (w) The Upanishads introduced the idea of the world, or _______, in which all phenomena are secondary appearances.

14. Humans act foolishly because they are blinded by _______, or illusion.

15. The oldest hymn of praise and supplication addressed to the gods is called _______.

16. All the world religions that emerged in _______ accept the paradigm of reality as outlined by the Upanishads.

17. Hinduism’s acceptance of pluralism began with _______ and extended into the modern era with other “Western” religions.

18. (w) To realize the atman within, Hinduism teaches that the best practice is _______.

19. _______ Hinduism, which arose in the second century bce, was the result of the orthodox brahmin priests responding to the new teachings of Buddhism.

20. (w) The most important spiritual force in the universe and the natural law affected by and inscribed within the atman is called _______.

21. (w) The Mahabharata is the longer of the two great Hindu _______ that inform the majority of Hindus on Hindu ideals and universal laws.

22. The Hindu social codes that arose in the early classical period maintained that rebirth occurred in regular patterns that separated society into groups called _______.

23. The four _______ of life include student, householder, forest dweller, and homeless wanderer.

24. (w) The puranas attribute to ______ the periodic cosmic upheavals that return the universe to a formless, empty resting state.

25. The four _______ of life include artha, kama, dharma, and moksha.

26. The postclassical tradition that emerged in both Hinduism and Buddhism and sought to weave together teaching and texts was known as _______.

27. The Upanishads began to be _______ to the Vedic hymns after 1000 bce.

28. (w) The predominant religious institution of Hinduism is the _______.

29. (w) It was Ramakrishna’s disciple Vivekananda who envisioned an ecumenical Hinduism as being the savior of the world and therefore became the first great _______ Hindu organizer.

30. (w) The founder of Sikhism, Nanak, taught that revelation of the divine Sat Guru within occurs through the effect of divine _______ on one’s consciousness.

31. The chosen deity of a ______ would be Shiva.

32. (w) All the fine arts of South Asia developed as offerings made to the _______.

33. (w) _______ was the most significant leader to guide South Asia to independence.

34. (w) Hindu nationalists want to end India’s postindependence character as a _______ state.

35. The practice of _______ and _______ have raised Western awareness of Hinduism.

36. (w) A rise of karma _______ is associated with the increasing importance of Indian workers and entrepreneurs in the global marketplace.

37. (w) The name the Upanishads gave to the unchanging spirit that underlies reality is _______.

38. (w) Water from the _______ is seen as the best source for purifying a ritual space.

39. The Tattvabodhini Sabha was an especially ______ group in Calcutta associated with the teachings of Rammohan Roy.

40. (w) Across Hindu South Asia today, the immanence of _______ is respected and the “gods live next door.”

Discussion

1. Name the four aims of life and briefly describe the purpose of each.

2. Discuss how Jainism grew out of Hinduism and the differences between the traditions.

3. (w) Explain how the social groupings of “castes” originated and developed.

4. Discuss how the majority of Hindus learn about the ideals of life, as outlined in classical Hinduism, from the two great epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.

5. Explain how Gandhi, as a political leader, was able to achieve such greatness with Indians.

6. (w) Discuss the lasting impact of British colonial rule on Hinduism.

7. (w) Describe some characteristics of the guru–disciple relationship in modern India.

8. Explain what aspects Guru Nanak took from Hinduism and Islam.

9. (w) Discuss the older interpretation of “Aryan” and how our understanding of that term has changed.

10. Describe how “energy” is used in the model presented by tantric yoga.

11. (w) Briefly describe the effect the early British Protestant missionaries had on Hinduism.

12. (w) List some characteristics of the deity Vishnu, including how the Vishnu avatar theory contributes to Hinduism’s flexible strength and openness to ongoing revelation.