Buddhism and Jainism and thier contributions to Indian culture

Jainism is a very ancient world religion with a history of over 3000 years, which originated in the Indian subcontinent, like Hinduism and Buddhism.

 Although it has some similarities with both traditions, Jainism is different from them with its own unique and distinguishing features.

 It is also older than Buddhism and is truly one of the most ancient and living religions of the world, besides Hinduism and Judaism.

 Jaina Dharma, as it is known popularly, is a truly ascetic religion which places heavy emphasis upon ethical conduct, personal purity for the liberation of the individual Souls. Jainism does not believe in a Creator God.

 It accepts the material universe as a self-existing system. Everything in it, including the individual Soul, is an aspect of matter.

 Each Soul is eternal but it has states, shapes and sizes. In the bound state (bandha) it is subject to karma and rebirth. It attains liberation only when it is able to completely get rid of karma.

 Jainism was founded by 24 Perfect Beings, known as Tirthankaras, who appeared upon earth in the past and laid the foundation for its doctrine.

 Mahavira was the last and the most popular of the Tirthankaras. Since it is a difficult and austere religion, from the earliest times, Jainism enjoyed popularity only among certain sections of Indian society, especially merchant communities.

 It is a predominantly Indian religion, with some following abroad. In this section we included information on the history, beliefs, practices, philosophy, and ethics of Jainism, and comparison with other faiths.

In course of time, Sthaviravadins, Mahasanghikas and Sarvastivadins emerged as major sects of Buddhism.

 New ideas emerged among the Sarvastivadins and Mahasanghikas. It led to the emergence of Mahayana and Hinayana (the Great and Lesser Vehicles) in Buddhism.

 Mahayana or the Great Vehicle became popular and influential in India. Nalanda University was an important centre of Buddhist learning and was patronised by the Palas. Mahayana spread to China and Japan.

 Hinayana or the Lesser Vehicle became popular in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand and other South-east Asian countries.

 By the end of the Gupta period, Vajrayana or the Vehicle of the Thunderbolt emerged. It was popular in Bengal and Bihar.

 It was influenced by primitive local cults and spread to Tibet in the 11th century CE. The Vikramasila University in Bihar was an important centre of Vajrayana Buddhism

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena today handed over a proposal seeking to declare the Theravada Tripitaka, the sacred ure of Buddhists, as a UNESCO World Heritage.

 The proposal was officially handed over during a national ceremony held in Kandy to the UN resident coordinator in Sri Lanka, Hanaa Singer.

 The Theravada Tripitaka was declared a National heritage of Sri Lanka by President in January 2019.

 Buddha’s teachings were initially propagated through word of mouth for generations till the Tripitaka was finally written down in Sri Lanka about 100 years BC.

 The teachings are contained in three volumes titled ‘Sutta, Vinaya and Abhidhamma’.

 They were first compiled and written on palm leaves with more than 1000 monks involved in the task in Aluvihare near Matale.

The Digha Nikaya is the compilation of the long discourses of Buddha. The book is translated in English as part of Max Mueller’s 50-volume Sacred Books of the East. Muller himself studied Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, French, German and English, and of course Latin and ancient Greek.

Buddhism faced divisions from time to time. Division into various splinter groups like ‘Hinayana’, ‘Mahayana’, ‘Vajrayana’, ‘Tantrayana’ and ‘Sahajayana’ led Buddhism to lose its originality.

Stupas.

Statement 1 is incorrect: Stupas were burial mounds prevalent in India from the

Vedic period. It is a conventional representation of a funeral cumulus in which relics and

ashes of the dead were kept.

Statement 2 is correct: During the period of Ashoka, the art of stupas reached its

climax. Almost 84000 stupas were erected during his period. Although a Vedic tradition,

stupas were popularised by the Buddhists

The sixth century BCE is known as an era of Second Urbanisation in the

Indian Subcontinent. After the decline of the Harappan towns and nearly after a gap of

more than a thousand years, urban centres emerged again but not in the Indus plain.

• The centre of economic and political activity shifted from the North-West,

Punjab, Haryana, and Western UP, to Eastern UP and Bihar (Ganga Basin).

• This region was not only fertile on account of better rainfall and river systems, but

was also closer to the iron production centres.

• The new iron agricultural tools and implements (such as the ploughshare)

enabled the people to clear thick forest cover and cultivate the hard soil of this area.

• Also, iron weapons made the warrior class more important, and slowly, people

gained a strong allegiance to the territory they belonged to rather than the Jana or

tribe.

• The use of better iron tools and weapons enabled some territorial states to

become very large, and they came to be called Mahajanapadas (large territorial

states) in North India (cities and states became visible in South India a few centuries

later).

• Most of the Mahajanapadas were situated in the north of Vindhyas, between

Bihar in the east to the north-west frontier of the subcontinent.

Important Buddhist writers and their works.

• Asvaghosha: Author of the Buddhacharita in Sanskrit. Contemporary of Kanishka.

He was a poet, dramatist, musician, scholar, and debater.

• Asanga and Vasubandhu: Two brothers who flourished in the Punjab region in the fourth century CE. Asanga was the most important teacher of Yogachara or

Vijnanavada school founded by his guru, Maitreyanatha. Vasubandhus greatest

work, Abhidharmakosa, is still considered an important encyclopaedia of

Buddhism.

• Buddhaghosa: He lived in the fifth century and was a great Pali scholar. His bestknown

work is the Visuddhimagga (Path of Purification), a comprehensive

summary and analysis of the Theravada understanding of the Buddhas path to

liberation.

• Nagarjuna: He is considered to be the founder of the Madhyamaka school of

Mahayana Buddhism. He was a friend and contemporary of Satvahana King

Gautamiputra of Andhra.

The Sriparvata Arama project supported by the Government of India and

executed by the Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation (TSTDC), is an attempt

to capture the Buddhist heritage of the Telugu country and interpret it to the present

generation.

• The project also seeks to revive the forgotten Buddhist visual art traditions. Of the

three schools of Buddhist art, the Madhura School, the Gandhara School and the

Amaravati School, the last one belongs to the Telugu country.

• It is this School that flourished all over the South-India, even in Sri Lanka. It is also

this school which is celebrated for its quality of ‘moving images’ and for capturing

social and cultural life of the times in addition to religious imagery.

• Our artists and sculptors gave up Buddhist architecture and sculpture after the

decline of Buddhism around the 7th Century CE; the later temple architecture and

sculpture belong to the Pallavan and Chalukyan art traditions.

• The Arama project seeks to revive the forgotten Amaravati School of Art.

Sixth century BCE was a period of intense intellectual ferment. There are several reasons for the emergence of this ferment.

• State formation and the rigidity of the Vedic religion constrained the liberty of thought and action.
• A revolt against religious practice of following dogmas found its articulation in heterodox sects.
• The emergence of territorial identities accelerated the process of sociopolitical and economic changes.
• The elite class, disillusioned with the system in place, began to move in protest towards the heterodox religions blossoming in Magadha or middle Ganges plains.
• As the Vedic religion was not fully organized, its reach did not permeate into the society and hence people did not find it difficult to follow the newly emerging religious sects.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board class 11, page 46.

A Buddhist text, Samannaphala Sutta, while making a reference to Ajatashatru of Magadha meeting Gautama Buddha.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board class 11, page 46.

The Ajivikas are believed to have evolved from one of the many ascetic groups of the times.

According to Buddhist records, Nanda Vaccha was considered the founder of the Ajivika sect.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board class 11, page 46.

The term “lokayata” signifies materialist thought. Indian materialism has also been named Carvaka after one of the two founders of the school.

• Carvaka and Ajita Kesakambalin are said to have established Indian materialism as a formal philosophical system.
• Carvakas developed the concept of scepticism and believed in the pursuit of knowledge through experience. They questioned the authority of Vedas.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board class 11, page 47.

There was intense rivalry among the various heterodox sects.

• This is evident from the various religious accounts of the period.
• Buddhist and Jaina texts not only mention other heterodox sects but also belittle them.
• For example, Bhagavatisutra, a Jaina text, provides a poor account of Makkhali Gosala.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board class 11, page 47.

Among the various sects, the sect led by Vardhamana Mahavira (referred to as Nigantha Nataputta by Buddhist texts) bloomed into a religion called Jainism. It was earlier known as Nirgranthas (free from bonds).

Source: Tamil Nadu state board class 11, page 48.

Magadha was affected by severe famine and some of the Jaina monks under Bhadrabahu went south to maintain their strict discipline.

• They remained without garments and were known as Digambaras (space-clad or naked).
• Others stayed back under the leadership of Sthulabhadra and adopted a white garment and were known as Svetambaras (white-clad).
• The schism weakened Jainism in Magadha, but it found ardent followers in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Karnataka.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board class 11, page 49.

Jain discipline requires adherence to certain rigorous rules. The Jains are required to follow three principles called Triratnas or Three Gems.

• Right faith (samyag-darshana);
• Right knowledge (samyag-jnana);
• Right conduct (samyag-mahavrata)

Source: Tamil Nadu state board class 11, page 49.

Jainism is an egalitarian religion. It does not sanction any inequality based on birth.

• It is one’s deeds that determine one’s status in society and not birth.
• Jainism believes that “by one’s action one becomes a Brahmin, a Kshatriya, or a Vaishya, or a Sudra.”
• Pride based on birth is considered a sin.
• Women were admitted into the monastic order. However, as a woman one cannot attain salvation.
• By accumulating merit by good deeds, a woman could be reborn as a man and then strive to attain salvation.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board class 11, page 50.

Jainism spread to Tamil Nadu from about the third century CE. Jaina rock shelters are found in large numbers around Madurai and other places.

• The mention of death of Kopperuncholan by fasting in chol Purananuru is considered by some to be similar to Jaina practice of sallekhana.
• Jaina influence is strong in early Tamil literature. Naladiyar, Palamoli, Jivaka Chinthamani, Yapperunkalam Karikai, Neelakesi are some of the prominent Jaina works in Tamil.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board class 11, page 51.

Tibetan Buddhism has four major schools, namely Nyingma, (8th century),

Kagyu, (11th century), Sakya, (1073), and Gelug, (1409).

Sowa-Rigpa is one of the oldest, living and well documented medical traditions popular in

the world. The term ‘Sowa Rigpa’ is derived from Bhoti language which means ‘Knowledge of

Healing’. It is an ancient medical system which was enriched in the entire Trans-Himalayan

Region

Option 1 is correct. The Buddhist cloister of Ajina tepe is situated at a distance of 12 km east from the city of Kurgan-Tiube, Tajikistan.

Option 2 is correct. Termez is a city in the southernmost part of Uzbekistan. The ancient Termez was one of the largest centres of Buddhism in the region.

Option 3 is correct. Sahri Bahlol, is a city and archaeological site located in Mardan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is a historical place and it has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1980. The site has remnants of Buddhist structures.