|
Aśuddhatā
Aśuddhatā, (Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...: अशुद्धता, , lit. means "impurity") is a term most often used by Hindus in South Asia, means ritual impurity or uncleanness. Hindus believe in a duality of purity and impurity. They think that people are both pure and impure and they understand that a person cannot be entirely one or the other. While impurity has a negative connotation, “impurities are thought to be part of everyday life and all humans alternate between relative purity (''suddhatā'') and relative impurity (''aśuddhatā''). It is therefore best that these impurities be avoided as much as possible. ''Chõyāchũyi'' is a form of ''aśuddhatā''. It can be defined as “mutual touching”, which is essentially any form of co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion, diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age#South Asia, Bronze Age. Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism, the language of classical Hindu philosophy, and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism. It was a lingua franca, link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in the early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture, and of the political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting effect on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies. Sanskrit generally connotes several Indo-Aryan languages# ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hinduism In South Asia
Hinduism is the largest religion in South Asia with about 1.2 billion Hindus, forming just under two-thirds of South Asia's population. South Asia has the largest population of Hindus in the world, with about 99% of all global Hindus being from South Asia. Hinduism is the dominant religion in India and Nepal and is the second-largest religion in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan. Indo-Aryan migrations brought the Indo-Aryans to South Asia, where they compiled and composed the Vedic corpus during the Vedic period (ca. 1500-500 BCE) across present-day Northern India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The subsequent period, between and , was "a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions", and a formative period for Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. The Epic and Early Puranic period, from , saw the onset of the Hindu synthesis, followed by the classical "Golden Age" of India (), which coincides with the Gupta Empire. Following the conquest of Islamic rulers i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ritual Purification
Ritual purification is a ritual prescribed by a religion through which a person is considered to be freed of ''uncleanliness'', especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification may also apply to objects and places. Ritual uncleanliness is not identical with ordinary physical impurity, such as dirt stains; nevertheless, body fluids are generally considered ritually unclean. Most of these rituals existed long before the germ theory of disease, and figure prominently from the earliest known Ancient Near Eastern religion, religious systems of the Ancient Near East. Some writers connect the rituals to taboos. Some have seen benefits of these practices as a point of health and preventing infections especially in areas where humans come in close contact with each other. While these practices came before the idea of the germ theory was public in areas that use daily cleaning, the destruction of infectious agents seems t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ucchishta
''Uchchhishta'' (, , ), known by various regional terms, is an Indian and a Hindu concept related to the contamination of food by saliva. Though the term has various meanings and has no exact parallel in English,Roy p. 107 it is generally translated in English as "leftovers"Olivelle pp. 354-5 or "leavings", but with a denigratory aspect. ''Uchchhishta'' frequently denotes the food scraps remaining after a person has eaten. In a broader sense, it refers to the contamination of a food or hand that has come in contact with saliva or the inside of the mouth. A person or plate is said to be ''uchchhishta'' after coming into contact with ''uchchhishta'' food. ''Uchchhishta'' food, people and utensils are considered to be ritually impure. A person can become purified by washing their hand (Hindus traditionally eat with their fingers) and mouth. It is highly disrespectful to offer ''uchchhishta'' food to someone, however exceptions exist for food from socially superior individuals, and ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
