Deck 6: Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism: South Asian Religions

Question 1

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.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

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

A) Atman.
B) Moksha.
C) Samsara.
D) Karma.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The most influential vehicle for spreading Hinduism among non-Hindu peoples has been

A) Yoga traditions.
B) Dharma.
C) Scripture.
D) Jnana.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Britain ruled over India directly for about

A) 25 years.
B) 50 years.
C) 75 years.
D) 90 years.

Question 5

Conquering Muslims used the word "Hindu" to designate people who lived east of what great river?

A) Nile.
B) Indus.
C) Ganges.
D) Tigris.

Question 6

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.

Question 7

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.

Question 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.

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT one of the classic Hindu social classes?

A) Bramins.
B) Kshatriyas (rulers).
C) Jati.
D) Shudras (workers).

Question 10

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.

Question 11

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.

Question 12

The word bhakti refers to

A) A collection of Sanskrit texts.
B) Devotional faith.
C) Liberation.
D) A monastic order.

Question 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.

Question 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.

Question 15

Advaita Vedanta's prominent place among Hindu philosophies was because of the brilliant theologian

A) Shankara.
B) Ramanuja.
C) Muhammad.
D) Chaitanya.

Question 16

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.

Question 17

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

A) Christianity.
B) Judaism.
C) Islam.
D) Zoroastrianism.

Question 18

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.

Question 19

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.

Question 20

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.

Question 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.

Question 22

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.

Question 23

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.

Question 24

Jain sages are called _______, meaning "ford finders."

A) Gurus.
B) Tirthankaras.
C) Prophets.
D) Sikhs.

Question 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.

Question 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.

Question 27

Residences for gurus and their students are called

A) Ashrams.
B) Gopis.
C) Rishis.
D) Varnas.

Question 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.

Question 29

The most unity today among Hindus is in their

A) Beliefs.
B) Politics.
C) Ritualism.
D) None of the above.

Question 30

Until 2006 the world's only Hindu nation was

A) Pakistan.
B) Nepal.
C) China.
D) None of the above.

Question 31

According to classical Hindu doctrine, what is the most important spiritual force in the universe?

A) Reincarnation.
B) Karma.
C) Dharma.
D) Avatar.

Question 32

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.

Question 33

The ultimate reality of the world in Hinduism is called

A) Brahmin.
B) Brahman.
C) Upanishads.
D) Atman.

Question 34

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.

Question 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.

Question 36

The word for unchanging soul is

A) Atman.
B) Samsara.
C) Moksha.
D) Karma.

Question 37

Ahimsa refers to

A) Ultimate reality.
B) Nonviolence.
C) Holy war.
D) Soul.

Question 38

Dharma means

A) Unchanging soul.
B) Duty in life as determined by caste.
C) Nonviolence.
D) Inner life.

Question 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.

Question 40

The Bhagavad Gita is part of the

A) Upanishads.
B) Ramayana.
C) Mahabharata.
D) Rig Veda.

Question 41

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

Question 42

Rammohan Roy called for the reform of the Hindu community.

Question 43

Hinduism is growing outside South Asia.

Question 44

The only river in India that has spiritual significance is the Ganges.

Question 45

Proponents of Hindu nationalism want to maintain India as a secular state.

Question 46

There are two classic Hindu social classes, upper and lower.

Question 47

Tantric teachings are given openly or universally.

Question 48

The Bhagavad Gita is an excerpt from the Upanishads.

Question 49

All Hindus complete all four stages of life in every lifetime.

Question 50

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

Question 51

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

Question 52

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

Question 53

British colonial rule was supported by the RSS.

Question 54

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

Question 55

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

Question 56

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

Question 57

Gandhi originated the doctrine of nonviolence, or ahimsa.

Question 58

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

Question 59

The powerful energy that travels up the spine through the chakras is called solar plexus.

Question 60

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

Question 61

Conquering Muslims used "Hindu" to designate people living east of the Indus.

Question 62

Hindus have adopted non-Hindu ideas primarily in their social institutions.

Question 63

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

Question 64

Britain ruled over India directly for 500 years.

Question 65

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

Question 66

Ram Dass was an Indian merchant.

Question 67

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

Question 68

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

Question 69

In the Hindu world today there is a relationship between politics and religion.

Question 70

Sikhs rejected the norms of caste society and affirmed social equality.

Question 71

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

Question 72

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

Question 73

The greeting of "Namaste" is another way of greeting the divine in another person.

Question 74

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

Question 75

Hinduism is the second largest of the world religions.

Question 76

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

Question 77

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

Question 78

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.

Question 79

Religion in South Asia has been the least pluralistic in the world.

Question 80

Bhakti yoga is the most popular with Hindus.