Hindu Creation Myth

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Religious Studies at KS 3 - an Outline

Y7 - 9 Assignments and Information

There are five tasks to do in this assignment.

Task ONE:-   READ the story in one go.  Then read it again and click on all the links to other sites just to get an idea where they go and the information they contain.  Some of the sites are quite hard so just briefly look

Before the world, before the sky, before space, there was nothing but ocean: a flat, rolling lake that lapped the edges of emptiness and the void beyond. Floating on the water was a giant water-snake: Ananta, Serpent-King. In his coils, eyes closed, undisturbed, lay the Lord Vishnu. God, asleep.
Water, snake, god: nothing moved. Still­ness . . . perfection .. .

Then in the deepest recesses of the world, a sound began. A slow gathering, a humming, a
throbbing. It grew and pulsed and filled the emptiness: a power, an urge, a throbbing itch of energy.
It billowed and gathered into a single echoing syl­lable, folding in on itself endlessly, endlessly,
like a beating heart: OM . . . OM ... OM ...

Lord Vishnu opened his eyes. It was time. The world was ready to be born. He looked out over the
calm waters. In that moment, a lotus flower took shape before him. In it sat Brahma the Creator,
the Lord Vishnu's servant. He bowed his head, and waited to hear Lord Vishnu's will.

'It is time, Brahma. Time for the world. Time to begin your work. In that single lotus flower is all you need. Create a world that will live forever, till I declare the end of time itself. Begin.'

As he spoke, a huge wind gathered. The ocean cowered. The Serpent-King, and Lord Vishnu with
him, disappeared from sight. Alone, Brahma's lotus-boat tossed in the churn­ing sea.

Brahma raised his arms, and the wind died. The sea fell back and was calm again. He stood up,
and with a sweep of his arms divided the lotus into three parts. The first part was heaven, the next
earth and the next sky. In a single moment, the world had begun.

Brahma clothed the new earth with plants: grass, trees, flowers, vegetables and fruit. To them he
gave the sense of touch. Then he created animals and insects - large and small, in land, sea and
air, some with fur, some with feathers, some with shells, some with scales; large and small, fierce
and timid, fast and slow. To them, as well as the sense of touch, he gave sight, smell, hearing - and above all, the power of movement.

At once the world filled with flurry and bustle. With crashing of branches, clatter of hooves, swishing and swoop­ing, flailing and flapping, the new creatures set off to find homes. Trumpeting, braying,
whistling, chattering, squeal­ing, they ran and wriggled and hopped and flew into every corner of creation.

In the stillness that was left, Brahma had only one thing more to do. The world needed a master, someone to enjoy it and take care of it, so that it would last forever, as Lord Vishnu had
commanded. Brahma sat quiet, and thought. After a long time his thoughts took shape. First, a
wisp of shadow in the white air ... a glowing, shimmering cloud that grew thicker and denser,
solidifying into a living, breathing shape. A new being, made from the thought of Brahma, in the form of god. Brahma looked at him in delight: surely this creature, made in god's image, would take charge of the world and keep it forever as Lord Vishnu wished.

But the creature did not move. Its eyes were shut, un­heeding the new world around it. Because it was made of the thoughts of Brahma, all it wanted was to sit thinking deeply about god.

Brahma saw that his creature was too simple, too flawless to look after the world. If he was to create a being to carry out Lord Vishnu's will, he would need another power. Thought was not enough: he would need to use action too. Not only his mind, but his whole body, his whole self, would be required if the new creature was to open his eyes to the world, be happy and fulfilled by creation as well as the creator.

There was only one certain way. Filled with contentment that he was carrying out Lord Vishnu's
orders, Brahma divided his own body in two. One moment there was one, the next there were two: equal, unblemished, whole, the image of one another. Out of one, Brahma shaped man; out of the other, woman. The man was called Manu, wise; the woman Shatarupa, mysterious.

Manu and Shatarupa, created out of Brahma himself, looked into each other's hearts. They smiled. Gently, they touched hands. Then they walked out together into the world Brahma had given them; their charge, their responsi­bility, the joy and the duty laid on them by Lord Vishnu at the start of time.

Manu, Shatarupa ... the first people ... the ancestors of the whole human race.

Task TWO.    Using the websites that are linked to this page find out about

VISHNU, 
BRAHMA, 
The AUM or OM symbol, 
The LOTUS flower
 

Using an A4 page,  download  a picture of each one and put them on the page.  Now create a text boxes next to each picture. In each text box  USING YOUR OWN WORDS, write a paragraph (50 or so words) on each picture explaining what it means.

Task THREE.   Use a double page in your exercise book to create a drawing showing the Hindu Creation Myth. Split the page into at least 8 sections to tell the story. You may use more than a double page if you wish.

Make sure you cover the following main points:

1. Vishnu resting on the serpent at the beginning of time
2. Vishnu commanding Brahma to create the world
3. Brahma floating in the lotus flower
4. Brahma then dividing the lotus up into three - heavens, earth & sky
5. Brahma creating first the flowers, trees etc and giving them the sense of touch
6. Brahma creating all the different animals and giving them the sense of touch and the power of movement.
7. Brahma splitting himself in two to create Man & Woman
8. Man & Woman being given the responsibility of looking after the earth
   
   UNDERNEATH EACH CARTOON HAVE A CAPTION EXPLAINING WHAT IS HAPPENING. 

Task FOUR    Hindus have a great respect of life and because of this many Hindus are vegetarian. Think of some ways in which they might show respect for life on earth.  Write these ideas in bullet form in your books.

Task FIVE.  Write a paragraph on the way in which you can show you respect for life on our planet