Buddhism
The rise of Buddhism was facilitated by condition of the Hindu society on the eve of Buddha's birth. The Hindu society had lost it's glory and many kinds of abuses and superstitions had crept into it. The Brahmanas had a monopoly in the field of religion and they behaved as unscruplous hman beings. They encouraged superstition and tried to extord as much as they could from the people.
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| Gautam Buddha |
The vedic concept of 'Mantram' was a Sanskrit formula composed on certain sequence of sounds and rhythms. It was said to control the negative vibrations ans produce effects, beneficial to the persons or objects concerned. It was believed that, 'Mantram' could bring victory of defeat in wars.
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The Brahmanical theory of mantram implied that, it contained in itself a divine principle and compelling power of the diety itself. The use of Mantram by ignorant priests encouraged superstition aiming the masses and thereby, acted as hindrance(obstacle) to civilisation and a source of cruelty.
The same was the case with sacrifices. In he course of many centuries, the performance of sacrificial rites was transformed into a fine art and only Brahman experts could perform them properly. The weightage(importance) of the sacrifices depended upon the Dakshina or money paid to the priest or their servants.
Every attempt was made by Brahman priest to multiply the number of sacrifices which were required to be performed by every householder. Sacrifices were made to get sons, birth sacrifices had to be repeated every month.
Sacrifice had to be made on the occasion of performance of many Samskaras.The indiscriminate slaughter of the animals, the intoxication of Brahmanas with the 'Soma-juice' and demand of dakshina from householders and the state, created a lot of bitterness against Brahamanical priests. The people were exploited and figured themselves as victims.
Another superstition was encouraged by Brahmana priests among the people and that related to the practice of 'tapas' or self-torture by which it was believed that, both, gods and man acquired spiritual; insight and command over the forces of nature. Starvation was expected to bring about good results.
It was believed that, by self-torture, man could establish mastery over his physical senses and ultimately over the universe.
The Hindu presented a confusing mass of things, which was beyond the comprehension of the man in the street. The hymns of the vedas were too difficult for them to understand and appreciate. Even the Brahmanas found it difficult to interpret them. The deep philosophy of the Upanishads was too difficult for the common man.
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In other words, the masses did not understand Hinduism, they could not be expected to have love for the same. The vedic religion with lofty ideas and ideals of god, soul, salvation and creation of the world, which was merely a rattle, which did not satisfy the inner-cravings of the people.
It was felt that, there was an urgent necessity of a religion, which though less deep and profound, was understood by the people an could be made by them part and parcel of their lives.
The Hindu society was suffering from the evils of the caste system, which condemned the lower classes or the Shudras to a life of degradation and humiliation. The Shudras hated the superiority of the higher castes and were willing to get of any opportunity to overthrow their pre-dominance.
The Kshatriyas and Vaishyas were also against the supremacy of the Brahmanas.
Inspite of their superior physical force and wealth, they had to put up with arrogance of Brahmanas, who practically did nothing for the good of the society. It was in these atmosphere, that Buddhism and Jainism made their appearance.
Life Of Buddha
Gautam Buddha was the founder of Buddhism. He is called the enlightened one. One who has attained the truth and the sage of 'Sakyas'. Sudhodhana was the name of his father and Maha-maya was his mother. 487B.C. is taken to to be the year of the death of Buddha and 567B.C. as the date of his birth. The 'Jatakas' refer to the previous births of Buddha, before he was born in Sakya family.
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| Buddha |
It is stated that, the Mahamayahad a dream of white elephant with six tusks entering her body. The atsrologers interpreted he dream as indicating that, the prospective child was to be a prophet or a great emperor. On the way to Devadaha, in Lumbini grove, she gave birth to a son. Immediately after his birth, there appeared a spring of water in which the child was given a bath.
After that, the infant took seven firm steps and recited seven verses saying, "I will be an example of all that is good and it will be my last birth and i will cross the ocean of existence forever". Seven days after the birth of Buddha, Mahamaya died and the child was nursed by his step-mother and aunt named- Mahaprajapati Gotami.
The child called 'Siddharta' was brought up in a great luxury and was married at age of 16. His wife has been called by various names-Yashodhara, Gopa, Bimba etc. At the age of 29, a son was born to him and he was given the name-Rahul.
The Buddhists refer to 'four great signs', which profoundly affected the life of young Siddharta. It is stated that, one evening his charioteer drove the prince in the city and he came across- and old man who had been given by his people.
He saw another man suffering from agony of disease, and the charioteer-'Channa' told him that was the fate of every human being. Then he saw a dead man surrounded by weeping relatives. The fourth sign was that of a mendicant who had given up the world and was moving about in search of truth.
These experiences had already affected the mind of Siddharta and when a son was born to him, he immediately decided to renounce the world. He left his wife and child sleeping and went away, accompanied bt 'Channa' the charioteer. Prince Siddharta sat at he feet of 'Alara' and 'Udraka' at Rajgriha and learnt from them the art of Concentration of mind. From there he went Uruvela and practised such great penances that, he was reduced to a mere skeleton.
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| Rajagriha |
Inspite of his sufferings, he did not get enlightenment. He tried to get enlightenment by keeping himself away from sensual desires and evil ideas. He also started taking food. One day, he sat under a Pipal tree and took the following vow- "I will not leave the place till I attain that peace of mind which I have been trying for all these years ".
Many difficulties came his way. He was both, threatened and tempted. But, he refused to leave the Pipal tree. Ultimately, it was under the same tree that, Siddharta got enlightenment and he came to be known as the Buddha or the enlightened one. This happened when Buddha was 35 years of age.
After having got enlightenment, Buddha decided to dedicate the rest of his life, to the good of the people. This he did for 45 years. During all these years, Buddha was always on the move with his followers and admirers. The first sermon was given by him at Sarnath, near Banaras. Buddha travelled in various parts of country. He visited his native land also and his son Rahul became a monk. Buddha died at the age of 80.
Teachings Of Buddha
Buddha taught for 45 years through conversation, lectures and parables. His method of teaching was unique. He walked from town, accompanied by his favourite disciples and followed by as many as 1200 devotees. He took no thought for the narrow and was contended to be fed by the local admirers.
Ordinarily, he stopped near some village and pitched his camp in some garden or wood or on some river bank. The afternoon was given to meditation and evening to instruction.
His favourite sutra was 'the four noble truths', which emphasised the fact that, life is full of pain which could be removed only by the removal of all desires.
1. Existence of sorrow 2. Cause of sorrow 3. Sorrow can be ended only by elimination of desires. 4. There must be a way to attain bliss and end desires, that was through the noble eight-fold path. According to Buddha, more tears have flowed than all the water that is in the 4 great oceans. The basic evil is not of desire, but of selfish desire.
Sexual desire above all leads to reproduction, which stretches out the chain of life into new sufferings aimlessly. One of his disciples suggested suicide to end troubles, but Buddha pointed out that suicide was useless as the unpurified soul was bound to be re-born again. The cycle of births could not be ended that way.
When the disciples asked him to define more clearly his conception of right-living, he formulated for their guidance, the following 5-moral rules:
1. Let not one kill any living being.
2. Let not one take what is not given to him.
3. Let not one speak falsely.
4. Let not one drink intoxicating drinks.
5. Let not one be unchaste.
Buddha was always uncomfortable in the presence of woman and he was reluctant to admit them into the Buddhist sangh.
Buddha's conception of religion was purely ethical. He did not care for worship or rituals. He put all his emphasis on conduct. Buddha refused to express any opinion as to whether the world had beginning or will have an end; whether the soul is the same as body or different from it.
Buddha did not bother about the caste system. He was ready to welcome anybody into the Buddhist sangha. Buddha did not explain clearly the concept of 'Nirvana'. In the teachings of Buddha, it seems to mean the extinction of all individual desires and escape of re-birth. The cause and source of Nirvana is the extinction of selfish desire.
Nirvana is the paleless peace, that rewards the moral upliftment of self-desires. Buddha was a great debater and he was always able to put his opponents on the defence. It was difficult to defeat him.
A few weeks after the death of Buddha, the first Buddhist council was held at Rajgriha in about 487BC. The discourses of Buddha were compiled, classified and adopted as 'authoritative canonical texts' by an assembly of 500 monks, representing various sanghas. The teachings of Buddha weer divided into two parts: The Vinayapittaka and Dhammapittaka.
The second Buddhist council was held 100 years after the death of Buddha in about 387BC. at Vaisali. The monks of Vaisali had adopted certain practices which were contrary to the rules of Vinayapittaka. The Vaisali monks refused to change their rules, orthodox came to be known as 'Sthaviras' and the new changers came to be known as 'mahasamghikas'.
The third Buddhist council was held at Pataliputra during the rule of Ashoka. It was held 236 years after the death of Buddha. A third pittaka was added called 'Abhihammapittaka', which contained the philosophical interpretations of the doctrines of the already existing two pittakas.
The fourth Buddhist council was held in Kashmir under the rule of Kanishka.
Mahayanism
In the time of Kanishka, a new school of Buddhism emerged, known as 'Mahayanism'. This was different from the old form of Buddhism, which was called as 'Hinayanism'.
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