Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings Cultural Developments (C600 BCE-600 CE) Summary of the Chapter
In this chapter we shall go on a long journey across a thousand years to read about philosophes and their sttempts to understand the world they inhabited and the world they shaped.
We will also learn about the way their ideas were compiled as oral and written texts. Some of these ideas were expressed in architecture and sculpture, symbolic, representations of the imagination of men and women.
The sources that we can use to reconstruct exciting world of ideas and beliefs include Buddhist, Jains and Brahmanical texts, material remains etc.
The mind-first millennium BCE is generally considered as a turning point in world history, it saw the emergence of thinkers such as Zarathustra in Iran, Kong Zi in China, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle in Greece and Mahavira and Gautam Buddha among many others in India. They tried to find answers to fundamental questions about the meaning of existence and the relationship between human beings and the cosmic order.
There were several pre-existing traditions of thought, religious belief and practice. The best known amongst these was the Vedic traditions.
The early Vedic tradition is known from the Rigveda, compiled between C. 1500-1000 BCE, consisting of hymns in praise of variety of deities, especially, Agni, Indra and Soma. Sacrifices were performed collectively as well as individually by the people, where they prayed for cattle, sons, good health, peace, long life, rain etc.
Some people began speculating on the significant of the sacrifice. Were physical actions sufficient, or was there a deeper meaning? Many of these ideas are found in the Upanishads, which show that people were concerned about the meaning of life, the possibility of life after death, and of rebirth. If people were reborn, was this due to their past actions? These questions were hotly debated. We get a glimpse of lively discussions and debates form Buddhidt texts. These texts were preserved in manuscripts for several centuries in monasteries different parts of Asia. Modern translations have been prepared from texts in a variety of languages- Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan.
The basic philosophy of the Jains was already in existence in north India before the birth of Vardhamana, who came to be known as Mahavira, in the 6th century BCE.
According to Jaina tradition Mahavira was preceded by 23 other teachers or tirthankaras, literary those who could guide men and women across the river of existence.
The main ideas or principles of Jainism are- (i) ahimsa, (ii) karma and (iii) monastic existence. Jaina monks and nuns took five vows: to abstain from killing, stealing and lying; to observe celibacy and abstain from possesssing property.
Jainism spread to many parts of India. Like the Buddhists, Jaina scholars produced a wealth of literature in variety of languages-Prakrit, Sanskrit and Tamil. Many of these were carefully preserved in libraries attached to temples.
One of the most influncial teachers of the time was the Buddha. Historians have tried to reconstruct details of his life from hagiographies. According to historical records, Shidhartha, as the Buddha was named as a child, was son of the ruler of the Sakya clan. At the age of 30 years he left the palace in search of his own truth. After a number of experiments with bodily mortification and near death he finally attained enlightenment- that is he found a way out of the misery that had affected him so deeply when he was first confronted with the pain of old age, disease and death. After this he came to be known as tha Buddha or the enlightened one and had a long career as a teachers who taught the dharma of the path of righteous living.
The main teachings of the Buddha are:
(i) The world is transient (anicca) and constantly changing, it is also soulles (ametta) as there is nothing permanent or eternal in it. Within this transient world, dukkha or sorrow in intrinsic to human existence.
(ii) There is a way out, through the pursuit of a path of moderation between severe penance and the cycle of birth and rebirth.
(iii) The Buddha also upheld individual agency and righteous action as the means to escape from the cycle of birth and rebirth.
(iv) In the earliest froms of Buddhism, the existence of god was considered irrelevant. The Buddha regarded the social world as the creation of human rather than as of divine origin.
(v) Buddha advised kings and gahapatics to be humane and ethical. Individual effort was expected to transform social relations. It was also expected to lead to self-realisation and ribbans, literally the blowing out of the ego and desire and thus end the cycle of suffering for those who renounced the world.
Soon a body of disciples collected around the Buddha and he founded a sangha, an organisation of monks who too became teachers of the dhamma As they lived in alms, they were known as bhikkus.
The Buddha’s followers came from many social group. They included kings, wealth men and gahspatis and also humbles flok: workers, slaves and crafts people.
The tradition of erecting stupas may have been pre-Buddhist, but they came to be associated with Buddhism. The stupa originated as a simple semi-circular mound of earth, later called the anda. Gradually it enolved into a more complex structure, balancing round and square shapes. The early stupas at Sanchi and Bharhut were plain exept for the stone railings, which resembled a bamboo or fence, and the gateways which were rightly carved and installed at the four cardinal points. Inscriptions found on the railings and pillars record donations made for building and decorating stupas.
The sculpture wes removed from some stupas and transported all the way to Europe. To understand the meaning of development of sculpture, art historians had to acquire familiarity with hagiograophies of the Buddha. According to these the Buddha attained enlightenment while meditating under a tree. Many early sculptors did not show the Buddha in human form-instead, they sherved his presence through signs-so the empty seat was meant to indicate the meditation of the Buddha and the stupa was meant to represent the mahaparinirvanas. Another frequently used symbol was the wheel on the pillar. This stood for the first sermon of the Buddha, delivered at Sarnath.
By the first century CE there is evidence for change in Buddhist ideas and practices. Early Buddhist teachings had given great importance to self effort in achieving nibbans. However, gradually the idea of a saviour, known as Maitreys Buddha, was developed. It was believed that he could ensure salvation. Simultaneously, the concept of the Bodhisatta was also developed. The new worship of images of the Buddha and Boddhisattas became an important part of Buddhism. The new way of thinking developed in Buddhism was called Mahayana, literally the great vehicle. Those who adopted these beliefs described the older tradition (of Buddhism) as Hinayana or the lesser vehicle.
The notion of a saviour was not unique to Buddhism. We find similar ideas being developed in different ways within traditions that we now consider part of Hinduism. These included Vaishnavism (a form of Hinduism where Vishnu was worshipped as the principal deity and Shaivism (a tradition within which Shiva was regarded as the chief god), where there was growing emphasis on the worship of a chosen deity.
The bond between the devotes and the god was visualised as one of love, devotion or bhakti. In the case of Vaishnavism cults developed around the various avatars or incarnations of the deity. Ten avatars were recognided within the tradition. In the case of Shiva, his presence was very often indicated by the linga, although he was occasionally represented in human form.
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