Hinduism Socratic Seminar

Directions: Contained in the IB command prompts below are eight ideas related to Hinduism from the Classical period to today. Six of these eight command prompts will appear for discussion in our Socratic Seminar. However, since the class will be split into two groups, each of you will only be speaking about three of these, though you must prepare for all eight [insert a Doran-esque maniacal, gloating laugh here] . While you can root you information in anything we have discussed, you must make direct and specific reference to the texts assigned for the Socratic Seminar to receive a high mark on this 50-point culminating assessment. The texts, with page number from The Norton Anthology of World Religion vol. 1, are:

fromThe Ramayana of Valmiki (pp. 196-209);

fromThe Bhagavad Gita (pp. 179-195);

“The Gospel of Selfless Action” by Gandhi (pp. 640-647);

fromMidnight’s Children by Rushdie (pp. 698-700)

Prepare for the following command prompts on this assessment:

  • Compare and contrast the personalities, teachings, and values of the two avatars Vishnu—Ram(a) and Krishna—that serve as heroes of the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Deduce what the emphasis on these characters tells us about Classical Hinduism
  • Examine Arjuna’s continued rejection of dharma and explain its meaning and role within the theme of the Bhagavad Gita.
  • Examine the grounds within the Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana for the three types of modern margas within Hinudism.
  • Justify and examine what the humanity found within the character of Ram(a) does to explain the ideals and values of Humanism.
  • Compare and contrast the role of the importance of death in both the ancient and modern texts. Evaluate this commentary in your understanding of Hinduism.
  • To what extent does Gandhi skew the lesson of the Bhagavad Gita to serve his own values, ideals, and agenda in “The Gospel of Selfless Action”?
  • Evaluate this quote by Gandhi from the “Gospel of Selfless Action”:

“Thus the devotion required by the Gita is no softhearted effusiveness. It certainly is not blind faith. The devotion of the Gita has the least to do with externals. A devotee may use, if he likes, rosaries, forehead marks, make offerings, but these things are no test of his devotion. He is the devotee who is jealous of none, who is a fount of mercy, who is without egotism, who is selfless, who is ever forgiving, who is always contented, whose resolutions are firm, who has dedicated mind and soul to God, who causes no dread, who is not afraid of others, who is free from exultation, sorrow and fear, who is pure, who is versed in action and yet remains unaffected by it, who renounces all fruit, good or bad, who treats friend and foe alike, who is untouched by respect or disrespect, who is not puffed up by praise, who does not go under when people speak ill of him, who loves silence and solitude, who has a disciplined reason. Such devotion is inconsistent with the existence at the same time of strong attachments,” (p. 644).

  • Investigate the various special powers of the children in Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children.Evaluate the themes as commentaries on modern Hinduism and religion in India.