HIST
258: Indian Ocean
Religion
and philosophy
Emergence of metaphysics
in the Indian subcontinent after about 800 BCE, whether late-Vedic [orthodox,
brahman] or anti-Vedic [heterodox, sraman]
-
jaina, from ji,
to conquer, overcome: hence a jaina is one who overcomes
-
buddha, from budh,
to awake, know, perceive: hence a buddha is one who is awakened
-
brahmana, from
brahma, the supreme god of post-Vedic cosmology; in Vedic times,
one whose duty it was to perform ritual worship of gods; later, with Brahman,
ultimate reality, of which the entire universe of matter and mind is only
a manifestation: hence, a brahmana is one who both praises Brahma
but also one who corporeally predisposed to intimacy with Brahman
Brahmanism, Buddhism,
Jainism