Buddhism Flashcards
Intro
Before the 6th BCE, Vedic practices were dominant in India. Later, there was growing opposition to these ritualisitic orthodox iseas of Brahmanism which, ultimately led to the emergence of heterdox religions such as Buddhism and Jainism.
Why did Jainism and Buddhism come
Factors leading to emergence and spread of Buddhism and Jainism in India around 6th BCE are -
1. Rituals and Ceremonies - The Vedic rituals were expensive and the sacrifices prescribed were very complicated and had lost their meaning. The superstitious beliefs and mantras confused the people.
2. The teachings of Upanishads were highly philosophical in nature and therefore not understood by all.
3. Varna System - The society was divied into 4 varnas and duties and restrictions were imposed and priveleges assigned. This generated tensions in the society.
4. Practice of Untouchability- The traditional hierarchical arrangement of castes based on the concept of ‘purity and pollution’ led to caste based discrimination and untouchability.
5. Brahminic Supremacy - The Kshatriyas had resented the domination of the priestly class. Both Buddha and Mahavira belonged to Kshatriya caste.
6. Growth of Trade - This led to the improvement in the economic conditions of the Vaishyas. As a result, they wanted to enhance their social status but the orthodox Varna system did not allow this. It was this merchant class that extended the chief support to these new religions.
7. Rise of new agricultural economy - Vedic practice of killing cattle indiscriminately stood in the way of new agricultural economy. Therefore, the principle of non violence introduced by Buddhism and Jainism found popularity and support among the businessmen and traders.
8. Use of vernacular language - The new religions preached in Pali and Prakrit which were spoken by general public, in contrast to Sanskrit which was the language of the learned people at that time. This helped the new religion to spread their message to the common masses.
Buddhism and Jainism, thus emerged, in response to the changing circumstances in the society and were followed by kings, big merchants, rich households, commoners and courtesans. These religions represented a new society which were emerging in the 6th BCE.
Reasons for decline of Buddhism
- Decline of Buddhist sanghas - Sanghas became centres of corruption. Discipline of Vinaya pittaka was violated.
- Revival of Brahmanical Hinduism - rites and rituals of Hinduism were simplified.
- Appropriation of Buddhism by Hinduism - Hinduism also incorporated Buddhist principles of non violence and accepted Buddha as a Hindu incarnation.
- Loss of patronage - Buddhism lost royal patronage which it received during the period of Asoka, Kanishka and Harshvardhana.
- Fragmentation of Buddhism- it was divided into several groups like Hinayana, Mahayana, Vajrayana, Etc.
- After the birth of Mahayana Buddhism, the practice of idol worship and making offerings went against the very tenets of Buddhism.
- Buddhist monks gave up Pali and started using Sanskrit, the language of the intellectuals which was rarely understood by common people.
- Mahayana Buddhism started worshipping Buddha as a God. This image worship was a clear violation of the Buddhist doctrines.
- During 8th to 12th N India was ruled by Rajputs who were war like fighting and discarded Buddhist principles of non violence.
- Moreover, the attack of the Huns in 5th and 6th centuries and the Turkish invaders in 12th century destroyed the monasteries.
- The revival of Brahmanism and the rise of Bhagavatism. In 8th century AD, Adi Sankara greatly cleaned up Hinduism and brought a very forward outlook. His efforts were assisted by other south Indian gems like Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, etc
Contribution of Buddhism to Art and Culture
- Buddhist stupas
- Buddhist rock cut architecture
Buddhist stupas
- They are mound like or hemispherical structures containing relics ( remains of Gautama Buddha and other monks).
- In Buddha it is believed that a stupa brings enlightenment to the one who builds and owns it.
- In addition, stupas are considered as places of worship and Buddhist complete pilgrimages to significant stupas.
- 5 types of stupas -
- Diagram of Stupa
- All stupas have a few features in common, however they vary visually.
- Originally a simple mound of clay or mud, Stupas evolved from simple funerary monuments to become elaborate decorated objects of veneration.
5 types of Stupas
- Relic stupas - in which relics of Buddha and other religious persons are buried.
- Object Stupas - in which objects belonging to Buddha or his disciples are buried.
- Commemorative stupas - built to commemorate events in life of Buddha and his disciples.
- Symbolic stupas - built to symbolise various aspects of Buddhist theology.
- Votive stupas - constructed to gain spiritual benefits or commemorate visits.
Buddhist rock cut architecture
- Buddhist rock cut temples and monasteries were often located near trade routes and these spaces became stopovers and lodging houses for traders.
The residences of monks are called Viharas while the cave shrines used for worship are called Chaityas. - As their endowments grew, the interiors of rock cut temples became more and more elaborate.
- Barabar caves - these caves in Bihar were built in the 3rd BCE by Ashoka. They are oldest examples of Buddhist rock cut architecture. The caves mostly consist of two rooms carved entirely out of granite.
- Ajanta caves
- Ellora caves
AJANTA CAVES
- group of rock cut caves in Sahyadri range MH.
- They are considered as masterpieces of Buddhist architecture.
- They contain living and sleeping quarters, kitchens, monastic spaces, shrines and stupas.
- The residences of monks are called viharas, while the cave shrines used for worship are called chaityas.
- There are paintings which gracefully illustrate major events in Buddha’s life, and depiction of Jataka tales etc.
Ellora caves
- Ellora caves were built between the 5th and 10th CE.
- Located in Charandri Hills
- The caves are made up of 12 Buddhist, Hindu and Jain rock cut temples.
- The proximity of the temples that belong to different religions demonstrate the religious harmony of the time.
- The Ellora caves consist of many frescos, reliefs and shrines, including the carvings of Buddha, boddhisattvas and saints.
- In many cases the stone is intricately carved to look like wood.
Mauryan Art and Architecture
- The Mauryas made a remarkable contribution to art and architecture, and introduced stone masonry on a wide scale.
- Megasthenes states that the Maurya palace at Pataliputra was as splendid as that in the capital of Iran.
- Fragments of stone pillars and stumps, indicating the existence of an 84-pillared hall, have been discovered at Kumrahar on the outskirts of modern Patna. they certainly attest to the high technical skill achieved by Maurya artisans in polishing the stone pillars, which are as shining as the Northern Black Polished Ware.
- Each pillar is made of a single piece of buff-coloured sandstone. Only their capitals, which are beautiful pieces of sculpture in the form of lions or bulls, are joined to the pillars on the top.
- The erection of the polished pillars throughout India shows the spread of the technical knowledge involved in the art of polishing them. It also shows that transport had spread far and wide.
- The Maurya artisans also started the practice of hewing out caves from rocks for monks to live in. The earliest examples are the Barabar caves at a distance of 30 km from Gaya.
- In Maurya times terracottas were produced on a large scale. They generally represented animals and women. The women included mother goddesses, and animals included elephants. These terracottas were however modelled by hand. The stone statue of Yakshini in the form of a beautiful woman found in Didarganj (Patna) is noted for its Maurya polish.
Buddhism vs Brahmanism
- Brahmanical view of society derived from Purusha Sukta was primarily built upon the four fold caste system, with the Brahmans on top and the Shudras at the bottom. While no such caste system existed in the Buddhism.
- Buddhist theory of kingship depicts king as a well wisher of subjects whose utmost duty is to cherish his children. On the other hand brahmanical theory explicitly mentions strict norms to be followed by subjects to king, disobedience of which attract strict punishment. A clear idea of king as utmost guardian of subjects to provide service to them as depicted by Buddhist teachings is not seen here.
- Buddhist ideas tries to attribute king as learned person with human characters while brahmanical view tends to regard king to more divine and sublime establishing him as separate entity.
- According to Buddhist theory kings derives legitimacy from the
consent of people and latter have a right to dethrone him while in
brahmanical view it is considered as treason.
Ashoka’s contribution in spread of Buddhism
- Cultural Contribution: Ashoka sent Buddhist monks and missionaries on expedition to countries like Sri Lanka, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, China, Japan etc.
- Along with teachings of Buddha, they have made critical contribution to unfurl Buddhist festivals, cuisine, societal values etc. and specifically concept of nirvana.
- Architectural contribution: Ashoka built stupas, viharas, chaityas, pillars, capitals and also expand the process of inscription writing on rock edicts.
- Infusion of Buddhist art: Ashoka provided it a new shape by allowing direct Buddhist representation known as Mahayana unlike earlier phase which do not advocate Buddhist representation in art.
- Ashoka used local languages and scripts (Pali) on inscriptions to make them easily understandable for common man and for cultural contact.
- Helped to develop Mahaviharas such as Nalanda, Taxila.
DECLINE OF BUDDHISM
It started declining from the time of Gupta empire and decline took place at time of Rajput rule. It can be attributed to -
1. Vajrayana sect became very popular with emphasis on magic and tantricism.
2. immorality and corruption crept in Buddhism.
3. They started considering women as medium of salvation, intercourse neccesary for salvation.
4. Vaishnavism propagated by Shankaracharya and Ramanauja.j
5. Brahmanism incorporated Buddhism with Buddha as incarnation of Vishnu.
6. Rajput did not extend their patronage to it as it was a non violent religion and they were war like and imperialist.
7. Muslim invasion in Bengal and Bihar, where Palas had given patronage to buddhism. They destroyed all monasteries and viharas.
8. All survivors ran to Tibet and Nepal hence Buddhism dissappeared in 13th ce.
