THINKERS, BELIEFS

AND BUILDINGS
CULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS
(C. 600 BCE-600 CE)
PART I
 Ideas were compiled as oral and written texts as
well as expressed in architecture and sculpture.
The sources used to reconstruct this world of ideas
and beliefs include :
• Buddhist texts
SOURCES
• Jaina texts
• Brahmanical texts
• Monuments
• Inscriptions.
 A SCULPTURE FROM SANCHI
SHAHJEHAN BEGUM
 A GLIMPSE OF SANCHI
• The rulers of Bhopal, Shahjehan Begum and her successor Sultan Jehan Begum, provided money for the preservation
of the ancient site.

• John Marshall dedicated his important volumes on Sanchi to Sultan Jehan.

• She funded the museum that was built there

• If the stupa complex has survived, it is because of

❖wise decisions
❖good luck in escaping the eyes of railway contractors, builders
❖Escaping those looking for finds to carry away to the museums of Europe.
❖One of the most important Buddhist centres, the discovery of Sanchi has vastly transformed our understanding of early
Buddhism.

❖Today it stands testimony to the successful restoration and preservation of a key archaeological site by the
Archaeological Survey of India.
 • 1st millennium BC proved to be a turning point in
world History.
• Emergence of Great Thinkers such as
THE Zarathustra in Iran, Kong Zi in China, Socrates ,
BACKGROUND: Plato and Aristotle in Greece, and Gautama
Buddha and Mahavira in India.
SACRIFICES
• They tried to understand the mysteries of
AND existence and the relationship between human
DEBATES beings and the cosmic order.
• People were curious about the meaning of life ,
the possibility of life after death and rebirth.
 Debates
The sacrificial and
New questions
tradition discussions
 People were Teachers travelled from
curious about : place to place, trying to
convince one another as
well as laypersons, about
The Rigveda compiled between c.1500 and the validity of their
1000 BCE consists of hymns in praise of a Meaning of philosophy or the way they
variety of deities, especially Agni, Indra and understood the world.
Soma. life

Many of these hymns were chanted when Debates took place in the
sacrifices were performed, where people Life after kutagarashala – literally, a
prayed for cattle, sons, good health, long death hut with a pointed roof – or
life, etc. in groves where travelling
mendicants halted.

At first, sacrifices were performed Rebirth

collectively.
Many of these teachers,
Nature of including Mahavira and the
Later (c. 1000 BCE-500 BCE onwards) ultimate Buddha, questioned the
some were performed by the heads of authority of the Vedas.
households for the wellbeing of the reality
domestic unit.
As there an
More elaborate sacrifices, such as the ultimate
rajasuya and ashvamedha, were performed reality
by chiefs and kings who depended on They also emphasised
Brahmana priests to conduct the ritual. individual agency.
Significance
of sacrificial
traditions
SOURCE 3:
FATALISTS AND MATERIALISTS
• Fatalists believe that everything is predetermined and an individual can’t make
or change his fate.
• The Materialists believe that there is no life after death. And don’t believe in
incarnation.
• A human being is made up of four elements and remain here after death.
 BEYOND WORLDLY PLEASURES
THE MESSAGE OF MAHAVIRA
• Preceded by 23 other Tirthankaras /teachers.
• According to Jainism – Everything is animated even stones , rocks and water have life.
• Ahimsa - Non injury to living beings-especially to humans ,animals, plants and insects is the
central philosophy of Jainism.
• Cycle of birth and rebirth depends on Karma.
• Ascetism and Penance is necessary to free oneself from karma – monastic existence is a
necessary condition of Salvation.
• Jain monks and nuns took 5 vows – Abstain from lying, killing, stealing, possessing property
and observe celibacy.
 • Jainism spread to many parts of
India.

THE SPREAD OF JAINISM • Jaina scholars produced a wealth

of literature in a variety of
languages – Prakrit, Sanskrit and
Tamil.
• Earliest stone sculptures
associated with religious traditions
were produced by devotees of the
Jaina tirthankaras, and have been
recovered from several sites
throughout the subcontinent.
 THE BUDDHA AND THE QUEST
FOR ENLIGHTENMENT
• Siddhartha, as the Buddha was named at birth, was the son of a chief of the Sakya clan.
• His first journey into the world outside was traumatic. He was deeply anguished when he
saw an old man, a sick man and a corpse.
• Siddhartha decided to leave the palace and set out in search of his own truth.
• He meditated for several days and finally attained enlightenment. After this he came to be
known as the Buddha or the Enlightened One.
• For the rest of his life, he taught dhamma or the path of righteous living.
 • World is transient and constantly changing.
• It is soulless as there is nothing permanent or eternal in it.
• Within this transient world , sorrow (dukha) is intrinsic to
human existence

THE • Follow the path of moderation between severe penance and

self indulgence.
TEACHINGS • Four Noble Truths and Eight Fold Path
OF • Whether or not God existed was irrelevant.

BUDDHA • Social world was creation of humans and not by God.

• Stressed on individual effort to attain Nibbana.
• His Last words – Be Lamps unto yourselves as all of you must
work out your own liberation.
 • A body of disciples of the Buddha
• He founded a sangha, an organisation of monks who too became
teachers of dhamma.
• These monks lived simply, possessing only the essential requisites for
survival, such as a bowl to receive food once a day from the laity.
• They lived on alms and were known as bhikkhus.
• Both men and women became part of Sangha
FOLLOWERS • The Buddha’s foster mother, Mahapajapati Gotami was the first woman to

OF BUDDHA •
be ordained as a bhikkhuni.
The Buddha’s followers came from many social groups.
• The internal functioning of the sangha was based on the traditions of
ganas and sanghas, where consensus was arrived at through discussions.
If that failed, decisions were taken by a vote on the subject.

• It appealed to many people dissatisfied with existing religious practices

and confused by the rapid social changes taking place around them.

• The emphasis placed on metta (fellow feeling) and karuna (compassion),

ASSIGNMENT

1. Were the ideas of the Upanishadic thinkers different from those of the
fatalists and materialists? Give reasons for your answer.
2. Summarise the central teachings of Jainism.
3. Discuss the role of the begums of Bhopal in preserving the stupa at Sanchi.
4. Why do you think women and men joined the sangha?