Buddhism and Jainism in India

8/12/2019 Buddhism and Jainism in India

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BUDDHISM & JAINISM IN INDIA

Buddhism in India

Buddhism stands for 3 pillars :

Buddha :Its Founder.

Dhamma :His Teachings.

Sangha :Order of Buddhist monks and nuns.

The Buddha History :

Also known as Sakyamuni or Tathagata.

Born in 563 BC on the Vaishakha Poornima Day at Lumbini (near

Kapilavastu) in Nepal.

His father Suddhodana was the Saka ruler. His mother (Mahamaya, of Kosala dynasty) died after 7 days of his birth.

Brought up by stepmother Gautami.

Married at 16 to Yoshodhara. Enjoyed the married life for 13 years and

had a son named Rahula.

After seeing an old man, a sick man, a corpse and an ascetic, he decided

to become a wanderer.

Left his palace at 29 (with Channa, the charioteer and his favourite

horse, Kanthaka) in search of truth (also called Mahabhinishkramana or

The Great Renunciation) and wandered for 6 years.

He first meditated with Alara Kalama. But he was not convinced that man

could obtain liberation from sorrow by mental discipline and knowledge.

His next teacher was Udraka Ramputra. He then joined forces with five

ascetics- Kondana, Vappa, Bhadiya, Mahanama and Assagi, who were


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practicing the most rigorous selfmortification in the hope of wearing

away their karma and obtaining final bliss.

For six years he tortured himself until he was nothing but a walking

skeleton. But after six years, he felt that his fasts and penance had beenuseless. So he abandoned these things. The five disciples also left him.

Attained Nirvana or Enlightenment at 35 at Gaya in Magadha (Bihar)

under the Pipal tree.

Delivered the first sermon at Sarnath where his five disciples had

settled. His first sermon is called Dharmachakrapravartan or Turning of

the Wheel of Law.

Attained Mahaparinirvana at Kushinagar (identical with village Kasia in

Deoria district of UP) in 483 BC at the age of 80 in the Malla republic.

The Dhamma Indian History :

1.The Four Great Truths :

The world is full of sorrow and misery.

The cause of all pain and misery is desire.

Pain and misery can be ended by killing or controlling desire.

Desire can be controlled by following the Eight Fold Path.

2.The Eight Fold Path : It consists of Right Faith, Right Thought, Right

Action, Right Livelihood, Right Efforts, Right Speech, Right Remembrance

and Right Concentration.

3.Belief in Nirvana :

When desire ceases, rebirth ceases and nirvana is attained i.e. freedom

from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth is gained by following the 8-

fold path.

According to Buddha, soul is a myth.


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4.Belief in Ahimsa :One should not cause injury to any living being, animal or

man.

5.Law of Karma :Man reaps the fruits of his past deeds.

The Sangha History :

Consists of monks (Bhikshus or Shramanas) and nuns.

Bhikshus acted as a torch bearer of the dhamma.

Apart from Sangha, the worshippers were called Upasakas.

Buddhist Councils :The monks gathered 4 times after the death of Buddha

and the effect of these events had their effect on Buddhism.

First Council :At Rajgriha, in 483 BC under the chairman ship of

Mehakassaapa (King was Ajatshatru). Divided the teachings of Buddha into

two Pitakas Vihaya Pitaka and Sutta Pitaka. Upali recited the Vinaya Pitaka

and Ananda recited the Sutta Pitaka.

Second Council :At Vaishali, in 383 BC under Sabakami (King was Kalasoka).

Followers divided into Sthavirmadins and Mahasanghikas.

Third Council :At Pataliputra, in 250 BC under Mogaliputta Tissa (King was

Ashoka). In this, the third part of the Tripitaka was coded in the Pali

language.

Fourth Council :At Kashmir (Kundalvan), in 72 AD under Vasumitra (King was

Kanishka). Vice-Chairman was Ashwaghosha). Divided Buddhism into Mahayana

and Hinayana sects.

Note:

In Mahayana, idol worship is there. It became popular in China, Japan, Korea,

Afghanistan, Turkey and other SE countries.

Hinayana became popular in Magadha and SriLanka. It believed in individual

salvation and not in idol-worship.

Apart from these 2, there is a third vehicle, called Vajrayana, whichappeared in 8th century and grew rapidly in Bihar and Bengal. They did not


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treat meat, fish, wine, etc, as a taboo in dietary habit and freely consumed

them.

Buddist Literature :

In Pali language.

Buddhist scriptures in Pali are commonly referred to as Tripitakas, ie

Threefold Basket.

Vinaya Pitaka : Rules of discipline in Buddhist monasteries.

Sutta Pitaka :Largest, contains collection of Buddhas sermons.

Abhidhamma Pitaka : Explanation of the philosophical principles of the

Buddhist religion.

Note:

1. Mahavansh and Deepvansh are the other Buddhist texts. They provide

information about the then SriLanka.

2. Jataks are the fables about the different births of Buddha.

Growth of Buddhism :

Causes of New Movement :

1. The Vedic rituals were expensive & the sacrifices prescribed were very

complicated & had lost their meaning.

2. The caste system had become rigid.

3. Supremacy of Brahmins created unrest.

4. All the religious text was in Sanskrit, which was not understandable to

the masses.

Causes of decline of buddhism :

1. It succumbed to the Brahmanic rituals and ceremonies, such as idol

worship, etc, which Buddhism had earlier denounced.

2. Revival of reformed Hinduism with the preaching of Shankaracharya

from ninth century onwards.


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3. Use of Sanskrit, the language of intellectuals, in place of Pali, the

language of the common people.

4. Deterioration in the moral standards among the monks living in Buddhist

monasteries.

5. Entry of women into Buddhist monasteries.

6. Attacks of Huna king Mihirkula in the sixth century and the Turkish

invaders in the twelfth century AD.

Jainism in India

History of Jainism Religion

Founded by Rishabhanath.

There were 24 tirthankaras (Prophetsor Gurus), all Kshatriyas.First was

Rishabhanath (Emblem: Bull). His reference is also 4n Rigveda. But there

is no historical basis for the first 22 Tirthankaras. Only the last two

Tirthankaras are historical personalities.

The 23rd Tirthankar Parshwanath (Emblem: Snake) was the son of King

Ashvasena of Banaras. His main teachings were: Non-injury, Non-lying,

Non-stealing, Non-possession.

The 24th and the last Tirthankar was Vardhman Mahavira (Emblem:

Lion).

Vardhman Mahavira History :

He was born in Kundagram (Distt Muzafffarpur, Bihar) in 599 BC.

His father Siddhartha was the head of Jnatrika clan. His mother wasTrishla, sister of Lichchavi Prince Chetak of Vaishali.

Mahavira was related to Bimbisara.

Married to Yashoda, had a daughter named Priyadarsena, whose husband

Jamali became his first disciple.

At 30, after the death of his parents, he became an ascetic.

In the 13th year of his asceticism (on the 10th of Vaishakha), outside

the town of Jrimbhikgrama, he attained supreme knowledge (Kaivalya).


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From now on he was called Jaina or Jitendriya and Mahavira, and his

followers were named Jains. He also got the title of Arihant, i.e., worthy.

At the age of 72, he attained death at Pava, near Patna, in 527 BC.

Mahavira preached almost the same message as Parshvanath and addedone more, Brahmcharya (celibacy) to it.

After the death of Mahavira, during the reign of King Chandragupta

Maurya, a severe famine led to a great exodus of Jain monks from the

Ganga valley to the Deccan, where they established important centers of

their faith.

This migration led to a great schism in Jainism. Bhadrabahu, who led the

emigrants, insisted on the retention of the rule of nudity which Mahavira

had established.

Sthulabhadra, the leader of the monks who remained in the north,

allowed his followers to wear white garments, owing to the hardships and

confusions of the famine. Hence arose the two sects of the Jains, the

Digambaras (sky-clad, i.e., naked) and the Svetambaras (white-clad).

Teachings of Mahavira :

1. Rejected the authority of the Vedas and do not attach any importance to

the performance of sacrifices.

2. He believed that every object, even the smallest particle, possesses a

soul and is endowed with consciousness. That is why they observe strict

non-violence.

3. The Jains reject the concept of a Universal Soul or a Supreme Power as

the creator or Sustainer of the universe.

4. Jainism does not deny the existence of gods but refuses to give gods any

important part in die universe scheme. Gods are placed lower than theJina.

5. Attainment of salvation (moksha) by believing in penance and dying of

starvation (Main difference between Jainism and Buddhism).

6. Universal brotherhood (non-belief in caste system).

Note: In Jainism, three Ratnas (Triratnas) are given and they are called the

way to Nirvana. They are Right Faith, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct.


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History of Jain Councils :

First Council :Held at Pataliputra by Sthulabhadra in the beginning of third

century BC. It resulted in the compilation of 12 Angas to replace 14 Purvas.

Second Council :It was held at Vallabhi (Gujarat) in the fifth century AD

under the leadership of Devridhigani. It resulted in final compilation of 12

Angas and 12 Upangas.

Growth of Jainism in India :

Causes of New Movement :

The Vedic rituals were expensive & the sacrifices prescribed were verycomplicated & had lost their meaning.

The caste system had become rigid.

Supremacy of Brahmins created unrest.

All the religious text was in Sanskrit, which was not understandable to

the masses.

Other Points:

Jainism reached the highest point in Chandragupta Mauryas time. InKalinga, it was greatly patronized by Kharavela in the first century AD.

Various factors were responsible for the decline of Jainism in India.

They took the concept of Ahimsa too far. They advised that one should

not take medicine when one fell sick because the medicine killed germs.

They believed that there was life in trees and vegetables and so

refrained from harming them. Such practices could not become popular

with common man. There was moreover no patronage from the later kings.

Jain literature is in Ardh-Magadhi and Prakrit dialects.

Due to the influence of Jainism, many regional languages emerged out,

like Sauraseni, out of which grew the Marathi, Gujarati, Rajasthani and

Kannada.

Buddhism and Jainism in India

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