Indian Civilizations Essay Example

Indian Civilizations Essay Example Indian Civilizations Essay Indian Civilizations Essay Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Indian Civilizations In the era studied this week, religion is the most significant factor. Indian civilization revolved around issues of religion. The Hindu and Buddhist religions played a significant role in the civilization of India. The allusion to the Bhagavad Gita and the reference to Hindu devotional worship reinforce the fact that religion is the most significant factor compared to the other factors. Religion forms part of Hindus’ everyday life. They referred to the Gita for wisdom, observed their religious devotions and practiced every bit of Hinduism. There were significant historical events that confirm the crucial role played by religion in Indian civilization. As India headed towards civilization, devotional movements increased in number. The most dominant aspect of Hindu religion was the belief in the existence of a personal God as enshrined in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata (De Bary, 323). It is also during this time that holy books such as the Purana, which talked about the divinity of God and his ability to become incarnate, gained popularity. With civilization, temples also gained popularity, in addition to being used as places of worship, they were places where people met to sing and dance as well as to practice their daily devotions. The temple cities such as Bhubaneswar attested to the fact that in Indian society religion came first. The second most crucial factor in this era of Indian civilization is society. Hindus were social people. The Gita taught them that to love one another is to achieve holiness (Mitchell, 22). Indians heeded this instruction, which laid down the framework for the interaction between religion and society. This can be seen from the devotional movements that were being formed at the time. The Indian society also ascribed to one religion and worshipped in instituted temples. Religion in the medieval Indian society was a communal venture there were various groups of devotions that comprised several people. Different schools and followers were formed because of the different doctrines available at the time. The Indian society was molded on the observance of these devotions and temples were built by kings for this purpose. Those who did not observe their devotions were lowly esteemed (De Bary, 326). Religion and society had a significant influence on the Indian’s way of life. As previously said, the Hindu holy books such as the Gita contained instructions on how people should conduct themselves. Religion played a vital role in eliminating castes. Many people put emphasis on devotions. Sources of Indian Tradition allude to the notion that some Indians even thought that caste did not show the position of someone in society (De Bary, 326).Someone’s social position depended on whether the person observes his or her devotions. The Indian society discriminated against people born into lower castes, such people being denied most basic freedoms. Religion became the unifying factor with Buddhism and Hindu playing a great role in making people equal. If I were writing a historical novel, I would represent this period in India with a character that was devout to his religion and who looked down upon those he considered of low social status. I would create a character from the economically backward caste. My character would be female of the Hindu religion, and probably a peasant farmer. I chose the above attributes for my character because India at the time was characterized by great religious devotion and social discrimination. The normal Indian of lower caste would probably be a peasant farmer who tilled a small piece of land for subsistence. Since Hindu was the popular religion, the person would probably be of the Hindu religion. I chose someone from the backward caste because I believe such a character will be able to reflect the degree of discrimination that existed at the time. De, Bary W. T. Sources of Indian Tradition. New York: Columbia University Press, 1958. Print. Mitchell, Stephen. Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation. New York: Harmony Books, 2000. Print.