Mahatma Gandhi Posters & Art Prints, pg 2/2
for social studies and peace education, homeschoolers, and as theme decor for office and studio.

Humanity

“We must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” - Mahatma Gandhi

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Be True to Yourself

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” - Mahatma Gandhi

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Poster, created by Maurice Merlin, showing map of India, Buddha, Gandhi, and the Taj Mahal, 1941

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Religions of the World -
Hinduism

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World Religions -
Hinduism Wall Poster

“The truth is one; sages call it by various names.” – Rig Veda

Hinduism is the oldest of the world's major religions. It developed as a combination of ancient Indian religions and the religion of the Aryans. The Aryans were nomads who invaded northern India between 2000 and 900 B.C. Hindus worship many different gods and goddesses, but these gods and goddesses are all part of Brahman, the absolute and supreme realty. Hindus believe that everything – all things and events – plays a role in universal order. Today, Hinduism is the major religion of India. More that 760 million Hindus live in India and around the world.

The Vedas – which means “body of knowledge” – are the most honored texts in Hinduism. The Upanishads [oo-PAHN-ih-shads], an important part of the Vedas, explain the concept of Brahamn. The Upanishads also discuss reincarnation, the belief that when a person dies, his or her soul is reborn in another living being. Hindus compare the soul to a river. Like a river, the soul flows continuously, but it is always the same. Othr Hindu holy texts tell the stories of gods and goddesses. The three most important Hindu gods are Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver, and Siva, the destroyer. Individual devotion to a personal god is a major part of modern Hindu worship.

The Vedas also set up a “caste system,” a formal division of people into different social classes. Hindus believe that good actions in one life can lead to rebirth in a higher caste in the next life. A person's caste is determined by karma, the consequences of human actions. During the 1800s people started to work against the caste system because it denied basic rights to many. Under the caste system, “Untouchables,” people of the lowest social class, had to perform the worst jobs and couldn't use such public facilities as roads and wells. One man who led the struggle to end this system was the Hindu religious and political leader Mohandas K. Gandhi. Gandhi also helped India gain independence from Great Britain in 1947.

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Ancient India
(2500 B.C. — 1500 B.C.)
When historians talk about India, they usually mean the area that now includes Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as modern India. It was in this region, just south of the world's tallest, and most rugged moutains, that one of the great civilizations of ancient times flourished. This civilization is known as the Indus Valley civilization, because it grew up along the Indus River in the north. Like the Nile and the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers, the Indus River flooded its banks every year, creating a rich soil on which farmers could grow crops.

Around the year 2500 B.C., at the same time the Egyptians were building the great pyramids, the first cities rose up in the Indus Valley. The largest of these cities were Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. Each of these cities had more than 30,000 people. And each was carefully planned, with streets that ran north-south and east-west, like a grid. They were surrounded by impressive walls made of rock-hard mud bricks. Experts have found ruins of a public storage house for grain in both cities, suggesting that the Indus Valley people had some kind of organized government. The people of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro wre also very concerned with cleanliness. They disposed of the garbage by pushing it through narrow slits cut into the walls of houses, where it fell into special containers lined up outside. Most of the Indus Valley people were farmers. They grew wheat, barley, rice, and cotton to make cloth. Trade was also very important. The Indus people used special clay seals like the one shown here to mark packages of goods.

Around 1500 B.C., this remarkable civilization began to show signs of decline. No one really knows why. Some experts say the Indus River may have changed course, leaving the cities stranded. Others say the Indus Valley people may have overfarmed the soil and been forced to abandon their homes. But the most likely reason is that other peoples invaded from the north and killed off or enslaved the Indus Valley dwellers.

Artwork depicts the ruins of the public bath at Mohenjo-Daro, and one of the many clay seals used by Indus Valley peoples to mark packages.

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