History Chapter 7: Spread of New Ideas PDF

# HISTORY ## 7. Spread of New Ideas During the 6th century BCE, many religious changes were taking place in various parts of the world. This was a period when many religious teachers, philosophers and thinkers lived. Their ideas made revolutionary changes in all aspects of life. In India too, as m...

# HISTORY ## 7. Spread of New Ideas During the 6th century BCE, many religious changes were taking place in various parts of the world. This was a period when many religious teachers, philosophers and thinkers lived. Their ideas made revolutionary changes in all aspects of life. In India too, as many as 62 religious groups developed in the Gangetic plains. Two great men, both in this period (6th century BCE), preached love, equality, non-violence and truth. These two men were Gautam Buddha and Vardhmana Mahavira. Their teachings gave birth to two new religions - Buddhism and Jainism. ### Buddhism Buddhism was a religion founded around the 6th century BCE by Gautama Buddha. Buddhism spread from India to Central Asia, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Southeast Asia as well as to East Asian countries such as China, Korea and Japan. ### Gautama Buddha Buddha's real name was Siddhartha. He was born in the Shakya Gana and was a Kshatriya by birth. His father, Shuddodhana was the chief of the Shakya Gana. Siddhartha was born at Kapilavasna in 563 BC. His mother Mahamaya died soon after his birth. He was brought up by his mother's younger sister, Mahaprajapati. At the time of his birth, a seer Asita lurecast that the baby would either become a great king or a great saint. But Siddhartha's father wanted him to become a great king. The shielded his son from religious teachings and knowledge of human suffering. As Siddhartha reached the age of 16, he was married to Yashodhara. Yashodhara gave birth to a son, Rahula. One day, Prince Siddhartha, while on a ride with his charioteer Channa, saw an old man, a sick man, a dead corpse and a monk. He was greatly troubled and he sought to correct old age, disease and death by living the life of an ascetic. At the age of 29, Siddhartha left his palace in order to become a monk. For several years, he wandered from place to place. Ultimately he sat beneath a piyal tree in Gayajand and began to meditate. After many days of intense meditation, he discovered supreme knowledge and attained enlightenment. Gautama became known as the Buddha or the Enlightened One. The pipal tree under which he gained knowledge in Bodh Gaya is known as the Mahabodhi tree. Buddha preached his first sermon at Sarnath (near Varanasi). It is known as the Dharmachakra Pravartana (setting in motion the wheel of Dharma). Buddha had a demise at the age of 80 in 483 BCE at Kushinagara, Kusalak, a district of Uttar Pradesh. ### Teachings of Buddha The teachings of the Buddha are explained in the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. * The Four Noble Truths: - The world is full of suffering. - The cause of suffering is desire. - To end suffering one must get rid of desire. - To understand and destroy, one must follow the eight-fold path. * The Eightfold Path are: - Right thought - Right speech - Right action - Right livelihood - Right effort - Right mindfulness - Right meditation - Right understanding Following the Eightfold Path would purify the mind and help attain Nirvana (or freedom from the cycle of rebirth). Buddha stressed on ahimsa or non-violence. No violence means that one should have no ill feelings against one another. It should be practiced with purity of thought, speech and action. He also criticized the caste system. He laid stress on love and compassion to living beings: in thought, word and deeds. ### Religious Texts The teachings of the Buddha are collected in the Tripitakas or (the three baskets). They are written in Pali. Besides these, there are the Jataka Tales relating to Buddha's birth and his previous life. ### DID YOU KNOW? * Ahimsa means not causing harm to anyone. * Moksha means "freedom from cycle of birth and rebirth" and Nirvana means "salvation". Both of them mean the same thing. Buddhism was accepted by a large section of people. The universities of Nalanda, Taxila and Vikramushila became centres of Buddhist learning. ### Spread of Buddhism During the reign of Kanishka, Buddhism was divided into two sects: * Hinayana or the Lesser Vehicle * Mahayana or the Greater Vehicle Those who belonged to the Hinayana sect followed Buddha's teachings only. Those who belonged to the Mahayana sect believed that the Buddha was an incarnation of God. They started worshipping him in the form of idols and Bodhisattvas. Buddhism spread far and wide because its teachings were very simple. It was taught in Prakrit (the language of the common people). Two great emperors - Ashoka and Kanishka - were patrons of Buddhism. ### Jainism Jainism was founded by Rishabhadeva. The Jains count Mahavira as the last of 24 preachers or teachers or Tirthankaras. The first Tirthankara was Rishabhadeva. He was also known as Adinath. ### Early Years of Mahavira Vardhamana Mahavira was born in 540 BCE at Kundagrama in Vaishali (Bihar). His father, Siddhartha, was the head of the Jnatrika clan. His mother, Trishala was a Lichhavi princess. Mahavira was married to a princess named Yashoda and had a daughter Priyadarsena. At the age of 30, he gave up his princely status to take up an ascetic life. After wandering from place to place for a period of 12 years he attained supreme knowledge. He was called 'Mahavira' or 'Jina' the Conqueror. His followers were called Jains. Many rulers like Kharavela and Chandragupta Maurya became followers of Jainism. Mahavira died in 468 BCE at Pavapuri near modern Rajgir (Bihar). ### Teachings of Mahavira Mahavira believed in leading a simple life. He was against rituals and animal sacrifices. He laid great emphasis on Ahimsa or non-violence. He believed that not only men but also animals and plants had a soul. So one could not cause injury to animals, birds, insects or plants. Man could free himself from the cycle of rebirth by attaining 'moksha'. This could be achieved through the triratnas or the three jewels of life: * Right Faith * Right Knowledge * Right Action Jainism mainly aims at the attainment of freedom from worldly bonds. Jainism taught five doctrines: 1. Do not commit violence. 2. Do not speak a lie. 3. Do not steal. 4. Do not acquire property 5. Observe continence (nigraha). Mahavira did not believe in the varna system. He treated all men as equal. Later, Jainism was divided into two sects: the Digambaras or the sky-clad and the Swetambaras or the white-clad. The Digambaras observed long fasts and did not wear any clothes and the Swetambaras were more liberal and wore white clothes. ### Spread of Jainism Jainism spread from Orissa in the east to Gujarat in the west and also in the south, as far as Mysore. It also spread to Gujarat and Rajasthan, where the followers of the Swetambara sect lived and Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh where the followers of the Digambara sect lived. Mahavira and his followers taught in Prakrit because that was the language understood by the common people. All religious texts were written in a form of Prakrit called Ardh-magadhi. ### The Sangha Sangha was established by Gautama Buddha in the 5th century BCE. (The term 'Sangha' means 'assembly' of community. It is used to refer to Buddhist or Jain groups. It was founded to spread the message of the Buddha far and wide. Even Shudras could join the Sangha). Both Buddha and Mahavira realized that only those who left their homes could gain true knowledge. So an arrangement was made for them to stay together in the Sangha. The rules for the Buddhist Sangha were written in a book called the Vinayapitaka. All men could join the Sangha. Children who wanted to join the Sangha had to seek permission of their parents. A woman had to take her husband's permission. Only emancipated or free slaves or dasas could join the Sangha. Both men and women who joined the Sangha led simple lives. They meditated for most of the time. They went to cities and villages at fixed hours to beg for food. They taught others and helped one another. Those who joined the Sangha included Brahmins, Kshatriyas, merchants, and slaves. ### DID YOU KNOW? * Panini - the Grammarian - He prepared a Grammar in Sanskrit in this period. He arranged the vowels and consonants in a special order, and formed formulae. He then wrote down the rules of grammar based on these formulae (around 3000 of them). ### Viharas (The Buddha established many monasteries. These monasteries were called viharas. Buddhist monks (Bhikkhus) lived in these viharas. These viharas were also the centres of education. As time passed, many supporters of the monks felt the need for more permanent shelters. These were known as viharas. These viharas were made of wood and then of brick. Some were situated even in caves that were dug out in hills in western India. ### Upanishads At the same time when the Buddha was preaching, many Hindu thinkers were discussing new ideas about Atman (the individual soul) or Brahman (the universal soul). They raised questions about life and death and the need for sacrifices. Most of the ideas of these thinkers were recorded in the Upanishads. Many Upanishadic thinkers were men, in fact Brahmins and Rajas. But there were women thinkers like Gargi who was famous for her learning and participated in debates. Poor people hardly participated in these discussions. One exception was Satyaka, who was accepted by a Brahmin teacher called Gautama. He became one of the most learned thinkers of the time. Many ideas of the Upanishads were later developed by Shankaracharya. The word 'Upanishad' consists of three words: * 'upa' means near, * 'ni' means down and * 'shad' means to be seated So (Upanishad' means 'be seated at the feet of the Guru to receive the teaching. The main topic of the 'Upanishads' is the ultimate knowledge: the identity of the Brahman and the livatma. These philosophical texts criticized rituals and laid stress on the value of right belief and knowledge. There are 13 main Upanishads out of a total of 108. They were written between the eighth and fourth century BCE. (The language of the Upanishads is Sanskrit). 13 Different Upanishads are related with the four Vedas: * They are the Rigveda, - Yajurveda, - Samaveda and - Atharvaveda. The longest and the oldest Upanishads are the Brihadaranyaka and the Chhandogya) Upanishad). ### Points to Remember * Two great religions arose in India in the sixth century BCE - Jainism and Buddhism. * Buddhism was founded by Gautama Buddha. The four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path are his main teachings. * Jainism was founded by Rishabhadeva. He was the first Tirthankara. * Mahavira was the 24th and the last Tirthankara of Jainism. * The Upanishads are written in Sanskrit. There are 13 main Upanishads. ### GLOSSARY * Jina: The conqueror * Moksha: Freedom from cycle of rebirth * Nirvana: Salvation * Prakrit: Language of the common people * Sangha: Assembly of Buddhist or Jain monks.