Aryan Civilization

Aryan Migration

 pastoral  depended on their cattle.

 warriors  horse-drawn chariots.
 Indus River Valley: A
Conquered People
• Aryans; warrior nomads,
migrated into the Indus
valley around 2,000 B.C.
• Introduced a caste system
that ranked people in society
• Aryans were able to conquer
the Indus Valley due to
natural disasters in form the
of famines, devastating
floods and over usage of
topsoil
• These events allowed the
Aryans to sweep across the
valley region
• Around 1500 BCE, a group of nomadic
warrior-herders crossed the narrow Khyber
Pass in the Hindu Kush Mountains and
invaded the Indus Valley culture.
• These people, the Aryans, came from
Eastern Europe between the Black Sea
and Caspian Sea, probably looking for
pastures for their animals.
• Flooding and earthquakes had weakened
the Indus Valley culture and they were
unable to withstand the newcomers.
The route of the
Aryans into
India.
 Aryan Migration to India and Europe

Why did the Aryans Migrate?

• Why do people migrate?

• Basic Needs
• Food
• Shelter
• Population Pressure
• Pursuit of Happiness
 Hints of Reasons of Migration
• Indian Mythological Stories
– Gods leaving the heaven because of the Asuras
– Aryans in Iran (Aryan) worshipped Ahuras HS
• The River Indus was originally known as Sindhu
– Sindhu means – a large body of water
• Sindhu > Hindu > Hindi > Indus > India

• The word Hindu was used by Iranians/Aryans to just distinguish

themselves and refer to the tribe that were lost.

• The Indian Aryans – did not call themselves as Hindu-s.

• The Iranian – Aryans called them Hindu-s and the name got
stuck
Ancient India
 What were the Aryans Like?
• They were nomads
• They did not have farms
• They did not know how to write
• They did not know how to build brick
houses or cities
• They were great thinkers/inventors
• They knew how to make iron
– That means they mined for coal and iron
• They learned how to use horse in
war and hunting

© 2011 Maharaj Mukherjee

 Holt
Holt McDougal
McDougal Social
Social Studies
Studies EASTERN
EASTERN HEMISPHERE,
HEMISPHERE, New
New York
York Edition
Edition

Main Idea 3:
The Ayran invasion changed India’s
civilization.
Arrival and Government Language
Spread and Society
• First arrived in • Did not read or
India in the 2000s • Nomads who write
BC eventually settled
in villages and • Memorized
• Originally from began to farm poems and
the area around hymns that were
the Caspian Sea • Lived in small important to
in Central Asia communities their culture
• Spread east and based on family
ties • Sanskrit was
south into central the most
India • Villages were important
• Most of what we governed by language in
rajas. ancient India.
know about Aryan
society comes • Groups often • Sanskrit is no
from the Vedas fought each other longer spoken
today.
 Aryan
• Aryan invaders ended the civilization of the
Indus River valley by conquering the
Harappans.
• The Aryans were a nomadic Indo-European
people living in central Asia.
• Around 1500 B.C. they moved south across
the Hindu Kush mountain range into northern
India.
 Aryan
• The Aryans created a new Indian society.
• Like other nomadic people, the Aryans
excelled at war.
• By 1000 B.C. they had extended their control
throughout India.
• In India these nomadic warriors gave up the
pastoral life for regular farming.
o The Aryans brought with them their own
language, called Sanskrit and religious and
cultural beliefs.
o The Indus Valley people eventually became
intermixed with the Aryan people and the two
cultures together make up what is now much of
the culture of modern India.
o Hinduism, the major religion of India, was a
mixture of Aryan and Indus Valley beliefs.
o The caste system, which keeps people in strict
social classes, was brought to India by the
Aryans.
 Aryan invaders
• Below: an illustration of
a scene from the Rig-
Veda
 The Aryan “Invasion”
 Aryans, lighter-skinned invaders from the north
 not to be confused with Hitler’s “Aryans”
 Dravidians, darker-skinned sedentary inhabitants of Harappa and
lower India
 Color Bias
 tall, blue-eyed, fair-skinned
 describe the indigenous population as short, “black”, noseless,
and slaves
 Difficulty of theory: no evidence of large-scale military conquest
 Continuous flow of Aryans over a long period of time
 gradual infiltration
 more primitive than the earlier culture
 Used chariots, raised forward w/bows and arrows, rearmed and
returned
 Seems to be key to ‘invasion’
 Aryans Transform India

• The Aryan People

– Indo-European people,
enter Indus River Valley
before 2000 B.C.E.
– Sacred writings, the Vedas,
reveal much of their culture
 The Spread of Aryans in India
• The Aryans
moved along the
river Ganges Aryavarta – Land of Aryans

• Their spread
came to Bengal
last

• Their spread
was limited by Dakshinapath – The way of
Himalyas on the the South
North, Vindhya
on the South
and
Ganges+Bramh
aputra on the
East © 2011 Maharaj Mukherjee
The Spread of the Aryans
Gandhara, Madra,
Bahika:
Afghanistan/
Punjub

Kuru: Delhi and

surrounding
places

Panchala:
Uttarpradesh

Kosala: Bihar
Uttar Pradesh

Videha, Anga:
Bihar
© 2011 Maharaj Mukherjee
Possible route of the Aryan invasions
 Aryans
Transform
India
• Aryan Kingdoms Arise
– Aryans extend
settlements to other
river valleys
– Small Kingdoms arise
– Magadha kingdom
unites all and spreads
across India by 100
B.C.
 The Spread of Aryans
• The spread was along the Ganges Plains
• As they spread they also fought and interacted
with people who were already in India:
– Danavas – Big People (Indus Valley People ??)
– Rakshashas – Demons (Native Hunter Gatherers)
• They learned farming
• They learned to build cities
• They learned to build states and empires
– Will be covered in the next lecture

© 2011 Maharaj Mukherjee

 Aryan
• The introduction of iron helped make this
change, especially the introduction of the iron
plow, which could be used to clear the dense
jungle growth along the Ganges.
• Irrigation systems turned the area into
productive farmland.
 Aryan
• Rice was grown in the
fertile river valleys.
• Vegetables, grains,
cotton, and spices such
as cinnamon and
pepper were grown in
the south.
 Aryan
• Wheat, barley, and
millet were grown in
the north.
 The Aryans
 Emphasis on warfare
 restless, warlike people
 leaders chosen for military prowess
 Courage highest ideal
 Villages and kingdoms constantly fighting
 Pastoral economy: sheep, goats, horses, cattle
 Vegetarianism not widespread until many
centuries later
 Wealth from cattle and victories won
 Hunting, gambling, and rustling cattle
 Fighting, drinking, chariot racing
 Take soma – psychotropic mushroom?
 The Aryans, con’t
 These Aryans speak an Indo-European dialect
 related to other languages like Greek and Latin
 English father, Latin pater, Celtic athir, Sanskrit pitar
 they called themselves “Aryans”
 their land: “Aryavarta”
 land of the Aryans
 By 1200 B.C. still no cites (300 yrs)
 Not literate (no written language)
 No record system, little evidence
 No central authority, tribes
 small villages, mobile, wooden
 Class system
 Chiefs and kings
 Religious leaders
 Memorize ‘formulas’ for worship and sacrifice
 Aristocrats and freemen
 Aryan Religion
• They worshipped natural forces
– Indra – God of rain and thunder on a horse
– Varuna – God of water
– Agni – God of fire
– Pavana – God of the wind
– Ashwinis – God of the herbs
– Surya – The Sun God
– Soma – The Moon God
– Bramhana – The God that created everything
• As they migrated they also adapted the gods of
the natives
– Durga, Shiva, Vishnu

© 2011 Maharaj Mukherjee

 Alien gods and values
• Below: Brahma, Vishnu, and
Shiva
• Right: the monkey god
 Aryan
• As nomads, the
Aryans had no written
language.
• They developed their
first written language,
Sanskrit, around 1000
B.C.
Sanskrit
writing
 Aryan
• They wrote down the religious rituals, legends, and
chants that previously had been passed down orally.
• Early Aryan writings also reveal that between 1500
B.C. and 400 B.C., Aryan leaders
known as rajas (princes) dominated India.
• Each carved out a small state and fought other Aryan
chieftains.
 Aryans Transform India

• Aryan Kingdoms Arise

– Epic Mahabharata reflects
struggles in India as Aryan
kings worked to control
Indian lands
 Aryans and Hindus
 Aryans give rise to Hindu society
 but different characteristics
 cows: they ate them
 classes, but no castes
 priests subordinate to the nobility
 Holt
Holt McDougal
McDougal Social
Social Studies
Studies EASTERN
EASTERN HEMISPHERE,
HEMISPHERE, New
New York
York Edition
Edition

Main Idea 3:
Hinduism developed out of Brahmanism and
influences from other cultures.

• The Vedas, the Upanishads, and other Vedic texts

remained the basis of Indian religion for centuries.
• Eventually, the ideas began to blend with ideas from other
cultures.
• This blending created a religion called Hinduism, the
largest religion in India today.
 Hindu Religion
The Aryans and the Indus
Valley culture eventually
produced what is known
today as Hinduism. This
religion is polytheistic,
which means believing in
many gods. We know
about this ancient
religion because of Aryan
books called “Vedas”
that record the beliefs of
the Aryans. Pictured
here is one of the many
gods of Hinduism,
Krishna.
 Hinduism differs from other religions like Christianity,
Judaism and Islam in that there is no one single founder or
one set of beliefs that must be followed. There are thousands
of Hindu gods and goddesses in Hinduism. Most of the
beliefs of Hinduism came from the oral traditions of the
Aryans which became the Vedas—or holy writings—of the
Hindus.
 Hinduism
• Originated with the Aryans
• Vedas were the scriptures
– Oldest scriptures still in active use
• Beliefs
– Brahman was the ultimate reality or god Carving showing Brahma,
• Reveals itself in millions of earthly shapes Vishnu, and Shiva
• Ties everything in nature together
(e.g. humans and insects)
– Focused on achieving oneness with Brahman
• Yoga was supposed to help lead to the union by leaving behind earthly life and having
a mind at rest
– Reincarnation
• Soul is reborn after death
– Karma
• Person’s actions determine how he will be reborn in the next life
– Dharma
• Divine law that rules karma
• Requires all people to do their duty (e.g. a woman’s dharma says she has to obey her
father, her husband, and her sons when widowed)
Reincarnation
• Central to Hinduism is the
belief in reincarnation.
Hindus believe that after a
person dies, they will be re-
born as some other creature
or thing. What you are re-
born as depends on your
“Karma” or the deeds you
did in your previous life. If
you did good deeds, you will
reborn into a higher, better
life. If you had bad Karma,
you may be re-born as an
insect or even a tree.
 India’s Classical Period
 Primary gods
 Indra – god of war
 Agni – gave fire
 Varuna – directed cosmic order
 Vishnu – incarnated to help humans
 Brahman – highest deity, omnipotent
 All other deities are reflections of him
 Most ceremonies performed outdoors
 Vishnu
 Matsya, the fish, appeared in the Satya Yuga.
Represents beginning of life.
 Kurma, the tortoise, appeared in the Satya Yuga.
Represents a human embryo just growing tiny legs, with
a huge belly.
 Varaha, the boar, appeared in the Satya Yuga.
Represents a human embryo which is almost ready. Its
features are visible.
 Narasimha, the Man-Lion (Nara = man, simha = lion),
appeared in the Satya Yuga. Represents a newborn
baby, hairy and cranky, bawling and full of blood.
 Vamana, the Dwarf, appeared in the Treta Yuga.
Represents an young child.
 Parashurama, Rama with the axe, appeared in the Treta
Yuga. Represents both an angry young man and a
grumpy old man simultaneously.
 Vishnu
 Rama, Sri Ramachandra, the prince and king of
Ayodhya, appeared in the Treta Yuga. Represents a
married man with children in a very ideological society
 Krishna (meaning dark or black; see also other
meanings in the article about him.), appeared in the
Dwapara Yuga. Represents a person in more practical
society, where there is one good or bad. Good or bad
depends on society you live in.
 Gautama Buddha is considered an avatar that
returned pure dharma to the world.
 Kalki ("Eternity", or "time", or "The Destroyer of
foulness"), who is expected to appear at the end of
Kali Yuga, the time period in which we currently exist,
which will end in the year 428899 CE.
 Hindu god statues

Ganesh – remover
of obstacles
Parvati – aspect
of Devi
Shiva – the destroyer
 Hindu god statues

Lakshmi –
Durga the
goddess of wealth
unconquerable
Dancing Lord Shiva –
as Nataraia
 Hindu god statues

Shakti – feminine
creation

Vishnu the Preserver

Sarawati – goddess
of wisedom
 Quest for Learning
• First wide spread public
school system
– They did not know how to
write
– Spread knowledge from
the teacher to the student
by learning
• First Literature – not
written
– Vedas
– Upanishads
© 2011 Maharaj Mukherjee
• Sanskrit- written language Literature
that priests used to write
down sacred texts
• Mahabharata- India’s
greatest epic, 100,000
verses. Aryan tribes
fighting for Ganges. 5
royal brothers, Pandavas,
lose area to cousins but
take back after huge
battle. Discusses Indian
religious beliefs,
immortality of the soul,
and importance of duty
• Ramayana- Rama’s bride
Sita is kidnapped by
demon-king Ravana and
story it all about Rama
getting his bride back
• Stories evolved over time
and different morals
come from them like role
models and loyalty
 Aryan - Literature
• Vedas: A collection of verses describing
everything in life
– Scientific process – how to lit a fire, proper
way of farming
– How to lead a disciplined life
• Upanishadas: A more filtered version of
Vedas dealing with more esoteric and
spiritual quests

© 2011 Maharaj Mukherjee

 The Vedas
 1200 BCE-600 BCE.
 written in SANSKRIT.
 Hindu core of
beliefs:
 hymns and poems.
 religious prayers.
 magical spells.
 lists of the gods
Rig Veda  oldest work. and goddesses.
 A quote from the Vedas
In the beginning there was neither existence nor non- existence; there was no
atmosphere, no sky, and no realm beyond the sky. What power was there?
Where was that power? Who was that power? Was it finite or infinite?
There was neither death nor immortality. There was nothing to distinguish
night from day. There was no wind or breath. God alone breathed by his own
energy. Other than God there was... nothing.
In the beginning darkness was swathed in darkness. All was liquid and
formless. God was clothed in emptiness.
Then fire arose within God; and in the fire arose love. This was the seed of the
soul. Sages have found this seed within their hearts; they have discovered that
it is the bond between existence and non-existence.
Who really knows what happened? Who can describe it? How were things
produced? Where was creation born? When the universe was created, the one
became many. Who knows how this occurred?
Did creation happen at God's command, or did it happen without his
command? He looks down upon creation from the highest heaven. Only he
knows the answer -or perhaps he does not know.
Rig Veda 10:129.1-7

© 2011 Maharaj Mukherjee

 The Early Aryans
 Religious and Literary works: The Vedas
 Sanskrit: sacred tongue
 Prakrit: everyday language, evolved into Hindi,
Urdu, Bengali
 Four Vedas, most important, oldest Rig Veda
 “Veda” means “knowledge”
 1,028 hymns (oral poetry) to gods
 passed down orally from priests and singers
 comes to have a sacred character
 written down in the 500’s
 our primary source
 early Aryan tradition, later Hindu religion
 provides some historical information
 India’s Classical Period
 Mahabharata and Ramayana
 Epic poems, supplements the Vedas
 Major literary works
 Added to by later authors over the ages
 Mahabharata = longest poem in world
 The Bhagavad-Gita section = main tenants of
Hinduism
 Arjuna, a warrior prepares himself for battle,
doubts (family), charioteer – Lord Krishna/Vishnu
– body is only one part of a person
 Ramayana = story of Rama, displaced prince’s fight
for his wife and throne
Krishna reveals
himself to Arjuna
in his manifold
aspects
Krishna with
Arjuna on the
battlefield of
Kuruksketra
 India’s Classical Age
 Aryans began to expand territories
 Took over smaller, weaker areas
 Chief’s villages became cities
 Cotton farming and cloth making provided
funding
 Almost constant war/conflict
 By 600 BC 16 nations in N. India
 Dravidians in Deccan were still isolated
 India’s Classical Age
 Aryan rulers became raja
 Extensive wooden palaces
 Advisers for war and peace
 Scribes wrote down sacred literature (rather
than recording conquests)
 Brahman Religion grows
 Commonly called Hinduism
 Reinforced class system
• Daily life
– Life centered around the family
• Three generations often lived under
one roof
– Males were superior
• Patriarchal
• Usually, only males were educated
• Suttee – Required a wife to throw herself on her
dead husband’s funeral pyre
– Marriage
• Upper-class young men were not supposed to marry
until they had completed education
• Arranged marriages were common for young girls
• Divorce usually wasn’t allowed
– Children
• Expected to take care of parents when they got old
 Family in Ancient India
Primary Unit of Society
- extended family
1. three generations
-Patriarchal
- Superiority of men
1. no women priests
2. men only ones educated

Education
1. Guru
 Family
• The family was the basic unit of ancient Indian
society.
• The ideal was to have an extended family of three
generations under one roof.
• The oldest male had legal authority over the entire
family, which made the family unit patriarchal.
• Generally, only males could inherit property and were
educated.
 Family
• Women could not be priests.
• Divorce was forbidden, but men could take a
second wife if the first was not able to bear
children.
• Children were important primarily because
they were to take care of their aging and
elderly parents.
 Family in Ancient India
Marriage
- marriages arranged
- women considered a minor
- divorce
1. women almost never
2. take second wife (if first wife
could not have children)
- children important
Sati (STOPPED IN 1800s)
 Family
• Marriages were arranged.
• Men married after 12 years of study.
• Girls married young because they were an
economic drain on the family.
• Perhaps the strongest instance of male
domination in India is suttee.
 Family
• In India the dead were burned on funeral
pyres.
• Suttee required a wife to throw herself on her
dead husband’s funeral pyre and die herself.
• Those who refused were disgraced.
Funeral Pyre
 India’s Classical Period

 Aryan class system

 All men/women born unequal
 Highest – priestly class or Brahmans
 Monopoly on religious practices
 Memorized religious texts
 Indra – god of war – most popular
 After 600BC, some vedas written
 To train young Brahmans?
 Earliest copy from about 100 AD
 Used to address the gods
 The Iron Age: new sources
 the Upanishads: interpretations and
symbolic studies
 Form 700-500BC, philosopher’s
interpretation of Vedas
 From Sanskrit – ‘sit near’ the guru
 forerunners of later dissenting literature
 Strain of change
 Iron Age change causes strain on the
class system
 blurring of lines between Aryans and
Daas
 answered with the caste system
 Holt
Holt McDougal
McDougal Social
Social Studies
Studies EASTERN
EASTERN HEMISPHERE,
HEMISPHERE, New
New York
York Edition
Edition

Main Idea 1:
Indian society divided into distinct groups.

• These groups were largely organized by people’s

occupations.

• Strict rules developed about how people of

different groups could interact.

• Over time, these rules became stricter and

became central to Indian society.
 Caste System
• One social custom brought to
India by the Aryans was the
caste system. This system
put every person in society
into a certain class from
which they could never
advance. The caste system
was very effective in keeping
social order but it was rigid
and strict. Those in the
lowest caste were looked
down on by upper caste
members and could never
change castes.
 Holt
Holt McDougal
McDougal Social
Social Studies
Studies EASTERN
EASTERN HEMISPHERE,
HEMISPHERE, New
New York
York Edition
Edition

Social Divisions in Aryan society

The Varnas The Caste System Caste Rules

• Brahmins – • Aryans wanted to

priests • Divided Indian keep the classes
society into distinct.
• Kshatriyas –
rulers and groups based on • Sutras, or guides,
warriors a person’s birth, which listed the
wealth, or rules of the caste
• Vaisyas – occupation system
farmers,
craftspeople, and • Determined his or • People spent
traders her place in almost all of their
society time with others
• Sudras – in their same
laborers and • On rare
occasions, people class.
non-Aryans
could change
caste.
• Untouchables
were considered
unclean and were
the outcasts of
society.
 Caste System
• The caste system was one of the most
important Indian social creations.
• It set up a rigid hierarchy of classes that
determines a person’s occupation, economic
potential, and social status.
• In part it was based on skin color.
Top Caste Brahmins
* ruling elites in Aryan society
* priests and warriors

Second Caste Kshatriyas

* were warriors

Third Caste Vaisyas

* commoners
* usually engaged in commerce

Forth Caste Sudras

* not Aryan
* great part of the Indian
population
* peasants artisans / manual labor

The Untouchables
 Caste System, 1000 BC

 Puts Aryans above indigenous Dravidians

 Racial purity and control
 ritual purity
 Different wells
 Violations = punishment, even death
 “Us--Them” feelings
 divine order of four castes or “Varnas”
 Brahmins: the priests
 Kshatriyas: the warriors
 Vaisyas: merchants and peasants
 Sudras: non-Aryans
 Harijans: Untouchables
 Castes
 define a person’s social universe
 define a person’s standard of conduct
 define a person’s expectations
 define a person’s future
 define how a person deals with others
 Caste system in practice

 warrior class did not always accept it

 nor the other classes
 the process of evolution is still going on
 the most powerful organizer of Indian society
 thousand of castes today
 Define
 person’s social universe
 person’s standard of conduct
 person’s expectations
 person’s future
 how a person deals with others
 Caste System
• There were five major classes, or castes.
• The top two castes were the Aryan ruling
elites, the priests and warriors.
• The highest were members of the priestly
class, or Brahmans.
 Main Idea 2:
Aryans formed a religion known as Brahmanism.

• Aryan priests were called Brahmins, and their religion is

often called Brahmanism.
• Aryan religion was based on the Vedas.
• Aryans wrote down their thoughts about the Vedas in
collections called Vedic texts.
– One collection of Vedic texts describes Aryan religious rituals.
– A second collection describes secret rituals that only certain
people could perform.
– The final group of Vedic texts are the Upanishads. These
writings are reflections on the Vedas by religious students and
teachers.
Caste System
• India’s caste system
is divided into many
different classes,
each with its own job.
The highest class is
the Brahmans, or
priests. They have
great authority and
respect.
 Caste System
• The warriors were called Kshatriyas.
• The third caste was made up of commoners,
who for the most part were merchants.
• Members of this caste were called the Vaisyas.
 Caste System
• The next level are
the warriors, or land-
owners. They are
often in the wealthy,
ruling class. In early
times, they were the
armies for the many
princes of India. They
are called Kshatriya
 Caste System
• The Vaishya are the
merchants and
artisans. They are
the people who sell
products. They, like
all members of each
caste, cannot ever
change their caste.
 Caste System
• Below this were the Sudras, who made up
most of the Indian population.
• They were the darker-skinned natives the
Aryans had conquered.
• Most were peasants who did manual labor, and
their rights were limited.
Caste System
• The lowest level are
the artisans and
farmers. They are
called Shudra. They
are very important
because they provide
food and goods for
society. Like members
of every caste, they
must marry within
their own caste.
 Caste System
The lowest group
in India are the
Harijan. They are
also called the
“untouchables” or
“outcasts” because
they are not even
considered part of
the caste system.
Their job is to do
all the worst jobs in
the community
such as cleaning
latrines and sewers
and sweeping the streets. Members of the caste system were not even supposed to
have the shadow of an untouchable touch them. These people believed that the
only way to get out of their lot in life was to perform their jobs without complaint
so they could be born into a higher caste in the next life.
 Caste System
• The Untouchables made up the lowest rung of
Indian society.
• They performed jobs considered degrading by
Indian society, like collecting trash and
handling the dead.
• They made up about 5 percent of ancient
India’s population.
 Caste System
• The life of an Untouchable was difficult.
• They were not considered human and their
presence was considered harmful.
• They lived in ghettos.
• When they traveled they had to tap sticks
together so others would know they were
coming and could avoid them.
 Caste system, con’t
 enforced by Brahmins
 literature emphasized the divine order
 Position determined by dharma from pervious life
 Can earn good karma to move up in the next life
(bad karma moves down)
 Try to achieve Moshka, beyond personal existence
 hierarchical relationship
 Influenced inheritance and marriage
 Family more important than the individual
 Arranged marriages, mother-in-law
 Multiple generations within one household
 Division of Labor (Barna)
• Four Categories or Barnas:
– Brahmins – Educators, Thinkers, Experts,
Priests
– Kshatriyas – Soldiers, Rulers, Kings, Knights,
– Baishyas – Traders, Business People,
Bankers,
– Shudras – Farmers, Workers, Laborers
• People outside the Barnas – Untouchables
– Mainly non-Aryans

© 2011 Maharaj Mukherjee

The Caste
System Brahmins

WHO IS… Kshatriyas

 The mouth?
 The arms? Vaishyas
 The legs?
 The feet?
Shudras
What is a JATI?
Challenges to the Aryans
 Main Idea 4:
The Jains reacted to Hinduism by breaking away.

• Mahariva did not like the control of religion by the

Brahmins and founded a new religion called Jainism.
– Jains try to live by four principals: injure no life, tell
the truth, do not steal, and own no property.
– Jains practice nonviolence, or the avoidance of
violent action.
– Jains believe that everything is alive and part of the
cycle of rebirth.
– Jains are vegetarians. They do not eat any food that
comes from animals.
 Challenges to Brahmans

 Mahariva (“Great Hero”) 6th Cen BC

 Nobel birth, life of luxury, troubled
 12 years as a beggar, wanderer
 Understood desire are root of problem, causes
clutter
 2nd insight – must preserve all life at all costs
 Rejects rules, rituals of brahmans
 Followers become Jains
 Vegitarians
 Tried to imitate Mahariva’s life, reject worldly
possesions
 Siddharta Gautama
• Around 566 BC, Siddharta Guatama was born into the warrior
or Kshatriya caste.
• He was a prince who was kept isolated inside a beautiful palace
and not allowed to see the real world.
• One day he left the walls of his palace and saw the pain and
misery of life.
• He decided from then on that he needed to find a way of living
that would allow people to find peace in life.
• He spent many years trying different ways of life, following
different philosophies.
• Finally he came up with his own way, which is now called
Buddhism.
• Gautama became known as Buddha, which means “enlightened
one”
• He developed the Four Noble Truths and The Eightfold Path.
• These are rules to live by that help people live morally and find
the “middle path,” without too much pain, or too much pleasure.
 Buddhism
 Siddhartha Gautama, 7th Cen BC
 Grew up a rich prince
 Prophecy said he’d never be king  father tried
to protect him, isolate him from pain/suffering
 Siddhartha saw an old man, then saw sick,
hungry, dead person  overwhelmed
 Abandoned family, became an ascetic (extreme
rejection of luxury)
 Sat beneath a bodhi tree, waiting/meditated for
49 days
 Enlightenment  Buddha
 Holt
Holt McDougal
McDougal Social
Social Studies
Studies EASTERN
EASTERN HEMISPHERE,
HEMISPHERE, New
New York
York Edition
Edition

The Buddha Finds Enlightenment

• Siddhartha spent six years wandering throughout India.
– He started fasting, or went without food.
– He spent time in meditation, the focusing of the mind on
spiritual ideas.

• After seven weeks of deep meditation under a tree in the town of

Gaya, Siddhartha suddenly had the answers that he had been
looking for.

• He discovered that human suffering comes from three things:

– wanting what we like but do not have,
– wanting to keep what we like and already have, and
– not wanting what we dislike but have.

• Siddhartha is said to have found “enlightenment” under the tree.

From that point on, he would be called the Buddha, or “Enlightened
One.”
 Buddha

 Believed in 4 noble truths

 Acknowledge suffering
 People suffer because of ambition and
desire
 To remove suffering, remove ambition and
desire
 Do this by following the 8-fold path
 Correct: understanding, wishes, speech, conduct,
employment, effort, kindness, meditation
 When accomplished  Enlightenment or Nirvana
 The Four Noble Truths
 Suffering and unhappiness are a part of human life.
No one can escape sorrow.

• Suffering comes from our desires for pleasure and

material goods. People cause their own misery
because they want things they cannot have.

 People can overcome their desires and ignorance and

reach nirvana, a state of perfect peace. Reaching
nirvana would free a person’s soul from suffering and
from the need for further reincarnation.

• People can overcome ignorance and desire by following

an eightfold path that leads to wisdom, enlightenment,
and salvation.
 The Eightfold Path

1. Right Thought
2. Right Intent
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration
 Buddha

 Nirvana – similar to Moshka

 Achieved with out Brahmans, personal
achievement
 Rejected idea only male Brahmans could read
Vedas
 Disciples shaved heads, wore yellow garments,
traveled w/begging bowl
 Buddhism divides; some follow personal
example of Buddha, some believe he has
divine qualities
 Develop ideas about heaven and hell later
Buddhist Teachings Challenged
Hindu Ideas
• The Buddha rejected many of the ideas contained in the Vedas
and told people that they did not have to follow these texts.

• The Buddha challenged the authority of the Hindu priests, the

Brahmins. He taught that each person was responsible for their
own salvation.

• The Buddha was opposed to the caste system.

 Main Idea 3:
Buddhism spread far from where it began in India.
In India Beyond India Buddhism Splits
• After his death, • As Buddhism
500 of the • The Indian king spread, not all
Buddha’s followers Asoka helped to Buddhists could
spread his spread Buddhism agree on their
teachings both within India beliefs and
throughout India and outside of India. practices.
after the Buddha • He built Buddhist
died. • Buddhism split into
temples and schools two major
• Buddhist teachings throughout India. branches:
were popular and • Asoka sent Theravada and
easy to missionaries to Mahayana.
understand. other kingdoms in • Both branches have
• Within 200 years Asia. millions of followers
of the Buddha’s • Buddhism spread via today, but
death, Buddhism the Silk Road into Mahayana is by far
had spread China, then Korea the larger branch.
throughout most and Japan.
of India.