Intellectual Awakening and Socio – Political Changes Online Test 9th Social Science Lesson 4 Question

Three more Vedas – Yajur, Sama and Atharva – were composed after the Rig Veda. Manuals of rituals called Brahmanas, specifying rhyming words to be sung, and two commentaries on certain Rig Vedic hymns called Aranyakas, containing knowledge to be learnt secretly in the forest, and the Upanishads, were compiled in the upper Gangetic plain during 1000–600 BC (BCE).

Mahavira and Buddha lived a life of purity and exemplified simplicity and self-denial. They lived in the times of Bimbisara and Ajatashatru, the famous kings of Magadha. The commercial development of the northern cities like Kaushambi, Kushinagara, Benaras, Vaishali and Rajagriha added importance to the Vaishyas who turned to Buddhism and Jainism in their eagerness to improve their social status.

Vardhamana Mahavira was born in 599 BC (BCE) at Kundagrama near Vaishali. His mother was Trishala, a Lichchavi princess. He spent his early life as a prince and was married to a princess named Yashoda. The couple had a daughter. At the age of thirty, he left his home and became an ascetic.

In the thirteenth year of his asceticism, he acquired the highest knowledge and came to be known as Jaina (the conqueror) and Mahavira (great hero). Jains believe that Mahavira came in a long line of Tirthankaras and he was the twenty fourth and the last of them.

Rishabha was the first Tirthankara and Parshvanath the penultimate or the twenty third. Mahavira travelled extensively as a preacher in the kingdoms of Magadha, Videha and Anga.

Magadha rulers Bimbisara and Ajatashatru were influenced by Mahavira teachings. Thousands of people became his followers. After 30 years of preaching, Mahavira died at Pawapuri in 527 BC (BCE) at the age of seventy two.

The statue of Bahubali (known as Gomateswara, 57 feet) at Shravanabelgola in Karnataka is the tallest Jaina statue ever carved out in India.

The three principles of Jainism, also known as Tri-ratnas, are the following: 1. Right faith: Belief in the teachings and wisdom of Mahavira. 2. Right knowledge: Acceptance of the theory that there is no God and that the world existed without a creator. 3. Right action: It refers to the Mahavira’s observance of the five great vows: (a) ahimsa, (b) honesty, (c) kindness, (d) truthfulness and (e) not coveting or desiring things belonging to others.

In order to spread his new faith, Mahavira founded monasteries. The Jaina monks who led a very austere life. In North India, this new faith was patronised by rulers such as Dhana Nanda, Chadragupta Maurya and Kharavela.

There was a notable followers of Jainism in Karnataka and western India during the 4th century BC (BCE). Jainism encouraged the public spirit among all who embraced it. Varna system practiced by Brahmans was challenged. People were spared from the costly and elaborate rituals and sacrifices. Mahavira believed that all objects, both animate and inanimate, have souls and various degrees of consciousness. They possess life and feel pain when they are injured.

In course of time, Jainism split into two branches, namely the Digambaras (sky-clad) and the Svetambaras (white-clad).

The lack of royal patronage, its severity, factionalism and spread of Buddhism led to the decline of Jainism in India.

Jainism was one of the major faiths in the Tamil region during the 7th century AD (CE). The Pallava king. Mahendravarman was a Jain. Under the influence of Appar he got converted to Saivism. Close to the present town of Kanchi there is a place called Jaina Kanchi where you find many Jain temples. One of the important temples is the Thiruparuthikundram temple, where the ceiling is painted with the life story of Mahavira.

Gautama Buddha was the son of Suddhodana, the chief of a Kshatriya clan of the Sakyas of Kapilavastu in present-day Nepal. His given name was Siddhartha.

Buddha’s mother, Mayadevi (Mahamaya), died after a few days of his birth and he was brought up by his step-mother. In order to divert his attention towards worldly affairs, his father got him married at the age of sixteen to a princess called Yashodhara. He led a happy married life for some time and had a son by name Rahula.

In 537 BC (BCE), Buddha left his palace and went into the forest in search of truth. In the course of his wanderings, he sat under a peepal tree for several days until he attained enlightenment. The place where he attained enlightenment, the Mahabodhi temple, still exists in Bodh Gaya (Bihar).

After his enlightenment, Buddha decided to impart his knowledge to the people. He went to Varanasi and gave his first sermon at Saranath.

Buddha preached in the kingdoms of Magadha and Kosala. A large number of people became his followers including his own family. After forty five years of preaching, he breathed his last in 487 BC (BCE) at Kushinagar (near Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh) at the age of eighty.

Four Great Truths: (1) There is suffering and sorrow in this world. (2) The cause of human suffering is desire and craving. (3) This pain or sorrow can be removed by suppressing desire and craving. (4) This is to be achieved by leading a disciplined life or by following what Buddha called the ‘Noble Eight-fold Path’.

The Noble Eight-fold Path: Buddha preached a new path to attain the purest state of mind: (1) right views, (2) right aspirations, (3) right speech, (4) right action, (5) right livelihood, (6) right effort, (7) right mindfulness and (8) right contemplations or meditation. Buddha preached that he who practices the eightfold path can attain the highest and purest state of mind.

Buddha, in order to carry his message to different parts of India, established the Buddhist sangha or the Holy Order of Monks. The bikshus (monks) and the bikshunis (nuns) were enlisted for spreading the faith and they were required to lead a life of purity and poverty. Buddhism spread to Central Asia, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Southeast Asia, as well as the eastern countries of China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan and Vietnam.

During the reign of Kanishka, the Buddhist monk Nagarjuna initiated reforms in the way Buddhism was being followed. As a result, Buddhism was split into two as Hinayana and Mahayana.

The Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle) was the original creed preached by Buddha. The followers of this form regarded Buddha as their guru and did not worship him as God. They denied idol worship and continued with the people’s language, Pali.

When Buddha’s closest disciple Ananda asked Buddha whether women can become monks. Buddha said, Yes, if women can follow the path of renunciation, they can become monks and completely enlightened just as men.

In Mahayana (Greater Vehicle), Buddha was worshipped as God and Bodhisattuva as his previous avatar. The followers made images and statues of Buddha and Bodhisattuva and offered prayers, and recited hymns (mantras) in their praise. Later, they wrote their religious books in Sanskrit. This form of Buddhism was patronised by Kanishka.

Buddhism declined in India due to the following reasons: 1. Buddhism was popular in the beginning because it was preached in people’s language (Pali). The later texts were written in Sanskrit, which was difficult for the common people to understand. 2. The split in Buddhism into Hinayana and Mahayana was another vital reason. Image worship in Mahayana made no difference between Hinduism and Buddhism. 3. Buddhism lost its royal patronage during the reign of Guptas. 4. Further, the invasions of Huns and Turks almost wiped out Buddhism.

The period that produced Buddhism and Jainism also witnessed the birth of a sect known as Ajivika. Its founder was Gosala (Maskariputra Gosala), a friend of Mahavira. For some time, they were together. Later, Gosala moved away and founded the Ajiviaka sect. As an atheistic sect, Ajivikas rejected the karma theory, which postulated that the condition of men is determined by their past actions. Gosala argued that acts of charity and piety can, in no way, influence this finality.

Ajivikas had a small presence in southern India. Under the Cholas, a special tax was levied on them. Three Tamil texts, the Manimekalai of Buddhists, the Nilakesi of Jains and the Sivajnanasiddhiyar of Saivites, contain the outlines of Ajivika doctrine.

There were two distinct forms of government at the time of Mahavira and Buddha: monarchical kingdom and clan oligarchies or Gana-sanghas. The Gana-sanghas provided a polity alternative to the kingdoms. Vedic rituals and the rules of varna were not followed. The Gana-sanghas consisted of either a single clan, such as the Shakyas, Koliyas and Mallas, or a confederacy of clans, such as the Vrijjis and the Vrishnis (a confederacy located at Vaisali). The Gana-sanghas had only two strata: the Kshatriya rajakula, ruling families, and the dasa-karmakara, the slaves and labourers.

Many tribes of Rig Vedic period such as Bharatas, Pasus, Tritsus and Turvasas passed into oblivion and new tribes such as the Kurus and Panchalas rose into prominence. Sixteen mahajanapadas are listed in the Buddhist texts.

Northern India extended from the Kabul Valley in the north to the Godavari in the South. It witnessed the rise of sixteen states known as Mahajanapadas or sixteen great states: Kasi, Kosla, Anga, Magadha, Vajji, Malla, Chedi, Vatsa, Kuru, Panchala, Matsya, Surasena, Assaka, Avanti, Gandhara and Kamboja.

The king was now assisted by a group of officers such as Bhugadugha (collector of taxes), Suta (charioteer), the Aksharapa (superintendent of gambling), Kshattri (chamberlin), Gorikartana (king’s companion in the chase), Palogola (courtier), Takshan (carpenter) and Rathakara (chariotmaker). In addition, there were the ecclesiastical and military officials like the Purohita (chaplain), the Senani (army general) and the Gramani (leader of the village).

Of the kingdoms mentioned in the literature of the period, Kashi, Kosala and Magadha are considered to be powerful. The only republic that rivalled these kingdoms was the Vrijjis, whose capital was Vaishali.

Bimbisara was the first important king of Magadha. Through matrimonial alliances with the high-status Lichchavi clan of Vaishali and the ruling family in Kosala, Bimbisara went on to conquer Anga (in West Bengal now), thereby gaining access to the Ganges delta. Bimbisara succeeded in establishing a comprehensive structure of administration.

Land tax (bali) was the main source of revenue to the kingdom and the share of the produce (bhaga) was determined proportionate to the extent of land cultivated.

Iron plough agriculture led to the rise of empires Assiriyan in Iran and Magadha in India. In the struggle for control for the Gangetic Plain, which had strategic and economic advantages, the Magadha kingdom emerged victorious.

Ajatashatru, the son of Bimbisara, is said to have murdered his father and ascended the throne in 493 BC (BCE). He continued his father’s policy of expansion through military conquests.

Fed up with such recurring instances, people of Magadha appointed the last ruler’s viceroy Shishunaga as the king. After ruling nearly for half a century, the Shishunaga dynasty lost the kingdom to Mahapadma Nanda who founded the Nanda dynasty. The Nandas were the first of non-kshatriya dynasties to rule in northern India.

Seleucus’s envoy, Megasthenes, is said to have remained in India and his account titled Indica is a useful record about Mauryan polity and society.

According to Jaina tradition, towards the end of his life, Chandragupta, who had by now become an ardent follower of Jainism, abdicated his throne in favour of his son Bindusara.

Bindusara, during his rule, succeeded in extending the Mauryan empire upto Karnataka. At the time of his death, a large part of the subcontinent had come under Mauryan suzerainty. Ashoka succeeded Bindusara in 268 BC (BCE).

Desirous of bringing the remaining parts of South India into his empire, Ashoka waged a war against Kalinga in the eighth year of his reign. The people of Kalinga fought bravely, but they were defeated after a large-scale slaughter. This war and slaughter affected Ashoka so much that he decided to give up war. Ashoka became an ardent Buddhist after meeting the Buddhist monk Upagupta and propounded his Dharma.

There are 33 edicts, including 14 major rock edicts, 7 pillar edicts and 2 Kalinga edicts, apart from Minor Rock edicts and Minor Pillar inscriptions. They form the reliable sources to know about the Mauryan Empire, in particular the dharmic rule of Ashoka.

Ashoka’s passion for protecting life extended to animals as well. Hospitals were constructed for them and animal sacrifice was forbidden. Ashoka sent his son Mahendra and his daughter Sanghamitra to Ceylon to spread his message of Dharma there. Ashoka died after ruling for 38 years. Our national emblem with four lions is a replica of the Ashoka Pillar of Saranath.

Chandragupta’s minister Chanakya is credited with a book titled Arthasastra, which gives a detailed account of the Mauryan administration.

Arthasastra refers to Kasi (Benares), Vanga (Bengal), Kamarupa (Assam) and Madurai as textile centres. The distribution of black polished ware of northern India as far as South India is indicative of the extent of trade during the Mauryan rule.

Monasteries and temples served the purpose of imparting education. Nalanda was a great monastery built by the Magadha Empire. Educational centres offered Buddhist and Vedic literature, logic, grammar, medicine, philosophy and astronomy. Even the science of war was taught. Nalanda became the most renowned seat of learning in course of time. It was supported by the revenues of 100 villages. No fees were charged to the students and they were provided free board and lodging.