Hinduism — Beliefs and Teachings
What's covered
Key facts
In Advaita Vedanta the atman is identical with Brahman.
The Gayatri Mantra is a Vedic prayer to the sun for wisdom.
Aham Brahmasmi ("I am Brahman") is a great Upanishadic saying (mahavakya) from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, asserting that the individual self is identical with Brahman.
Krishna teaches Arjuna about his svadharma as a warrior.
Hindu cosmology is cyclical: creation, preservation, destruction.
Advaita Vedanta of Shankara sees moksha as union with Brahman.
Ahimsa is non-violence to all beings.
Agami / kriyamana karma is karma being created right now.
Artha is the appropriate pursuit of the householder — the second of the four life stages — not of the student or renunciant stages.
Karma yoga is the path of selfless action.
Sample questions
A taste of the 120 questions in this topic, answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
What is the atman?
- ✓Eternal individual self
- •The cycle of death and rebirth
- •The moral duty of each person
- •The ultimate formless reality
What is Brahman?
- •Cosmic moral order governing all life
- •Eternal individual self
- •The cycle of reincarnation
- ✓Ultimate, formless reality
What does dharma mean?
- •Devotion and loving surrender to God
- •Liberation from the cycle of rebirth
- ✓Religious duty and right order
- •The soul's journey through many lives
Name the three gunas (qualities).
- •Ahimsa, karma, moksha
- •Brahman, atman, antaryamin
- •Dharma, artha, kama
- ✓Sattva, rajas, tamas
What is jivanmukti?
- •Freedom from karma through devotion
- •Liberation after bodily death
- ✓Liberation while still living
- •Release from dharmic obligations
Why is humility valued in Hinduism?
- •Earns merit for a better rebirth
- •Pleases the gods directly
- ✓Reduces ego, opens to truth
- •Wins respect from one's community
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