Causes for the Growth of Buddhism and Jainism

• The Vedic rituals were expensive and the sacrifices prescribed were very complicated and had lost their meaning.
• The caste system had become rigid.
• Supremacy of the Brahmins created unrest.
• All the religious texts were in Sanskrit, which was not understandable to the masses.
Buddhism
Buddhism is the middle way of wisdom and compassion.It stands for three pillars:
• Buddha – its founder ,Dhamma – his teachings, Sangha – order of Buddhist monks and nuns.
Five Great Events of Buddha’s Life and their Symbols
• Birth – Lotus and bull
• Great renunciation – Horse
• Nirvana – Bodhi tree
• First Sermon – Dharmachakra or wheel
• Parinirvana or death – Stupa
The Buddha
• Also known as Sakyamuni (the Sage of the Sakyas), Tathagata (one who has reached the truth).
• Born in 563 B.C. on the Vaishakha Poornima Day at Lumbini (near Kapilavastu) in Nepal.
• His father Suddhodana was the Saka ruler.
• His mother (Mahamaya, of Kosala dynasty) died after 7 days of his birth and he was brought up by his stepmother
Gautami.
• Buddha was married at 16 to Yashodhara and enjoyed married life for 13 years and had a son named Rahula.
• After seeing an old man, a sick man, a corpse and an ascetic, he decided to become a wanderer.
• Left his palace at 29 (with Channa, the charioteer and his favourite horse, Kanthaka) in search of
truth (also called ‘Mahabhinishkramana’ or the Great renunciation) and wandered for 6 years.
• Attained Nirvana or Enlightenment at 35 at Uruvela, Gaya in Magadha (Bihar) under the Pipal tree.
• Delivered the first sermon at Sarnath at Deer Park where his five disciples had settled. His first sermon is
called ‘Dharmachakrapravartan’ or ‘Turning of the Wheel of Law’.
• Attained Mahaparinirvana at Kushinagar (identical with village Kasia in Deoria district of U.P.) in 483
B.C. at the age of 80 in the Malla republic.
The Dhamma
The Four Great Truths
• Dukkha – The world is full of sorrow and misery.
• The cause of all pain and misery is desire and attachment.
• Pain and misery can be ended by killing or controlling desire.
• Desire can be controlled by following the Eight Fold Path.

The Eight Fold Path

The central theme of Buddha’s teachings is the eight-fold path (Astangamarga) prescribed by him which consist
of:
• Wisdom – Right Faith, Right Thought,
• Moral Discipline – Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Speech,
• Mental Disc ipline – Right Effort, Right Remembrance and Right Concentration.
Belief in Nirvana
• When desire ceases, rebirth ceases and nirvana is attained i.e. freedom from the cycle of birth and death by
following the eight-fold path.
• According to Buddha the soul is a myth.
Belief in Ahimsa
One should not cause injury to any living being, animal or man.
Law of Karma
Man reaps the fruits of his past deeds.
The Sangha
• Consists of monks (Bhikshus and Shramanas) and nuns.
• Bhikshus acted as torch bearer of the Dhamma.
• Apart from Sangha, the worshippers were called Upasakas.

Buddhist Councils
The monks gathered four times after the death of the Buddha and the effect of these events had their effect on
Buddhism.
• First Council – At Rajgriha, in 483 B.C. under the Chairmanship of Mehakassaapa (king was Ajatshatru).
Divided the teachings of Buddha into two Pitakas – Vinaya Pitaka and Sutta Pitaka. Upali recited the Vinaya Pitaka
and Ananda recited the Sutta Pitaka.
• Second Council – At Vaishali, in 383 B.C. under Sabakami (king was Kalasoka of Shishunaga Dynasty).
Fo l lo wer s were di v i ded into Sthavirmadins and Mahasanghikas.
• Third Council – At Pataliputra, in 250 B.C. under Mogaliputta Tissa (king was Ashoka). In this the third
part of the Tripitaka was coded in the Pali language.Fourth Council – At Kashmir (Kundalvan) in 72
A.D. under Vasumitra (king was Kanishka). Vice Chairman was Ashwagosha. Divided into Mahayana
and Hinayana sects.
• In Mahayana, idol worship is there. It became popular in China, Japan, Korea, Afghanistan, Turkey
and other South East countries.
• Hinayana became popular in Magadha and Sri Lanka. It believed in individual salvation and not in idol
worship.
Buddhist Literature
Buddhist literature in Pali language is commonly referred to as Tripitakas i.e. ‘Threefold Basket’.
• Vinaya Pitaka are the rules of discipline in Buddhist monasteries.
• Sutta Pitaka is the largest and contains collection of Buddha’s sermons.
• Abhinandan Pitaka is the explanation of the philosophical principles of the Buddhist religion.
• Mahayana and Deepvamsa are other Buddhist texts. They provide information about the then Sri Lanka.
• Jatakas are the fables about the different births of Buddha.

Jainism
• Rishabhanath, the first Tirthankara.
• There were 24 Tirthankara (Prophets or Gurus) and all of them were Kshatriyas. Rishabhanath’s reference is also
there in the Rigveda. But there is no historical basis for the first 22 Tirthankaras. Only the last two are historical
personalities.
• The 23rd Tirthankara Parshwanath (symbol: snake) was the son of King Ashvasena of Benaras. His main teachings
were: Non-injury, Non-lying, Non- stealing, Non-possession.
• The 24th and the last Tirthankara was Vardhman Mahavira (symbol: lion). He added celibacy to his main
teachings.
Vardhman Mahavira
• He was born in Kundagram (district Muzaffarpur, Bihar) in 599 B.C.His father Siddhartha was the head
of Jnatrika clan. His mother was Trishla, sister of Lichchhavi Prince Chetak of Vaishali.
• Mahavira was contemporary to Bimbisara.
• Married to Yashoda and had a daughter named Priyadarsena, whose husband Jamali became his first
discipline.
• At 30, after the death of his parents he became an ascetic.
• In the 13th year of his asceticism, outside the town of Jrimbhikgrama, he attained supreme knowledge
(Kaivalya).
• From now on he was called Jaina or Jitendriya and Mahavira and his followers were named Jains. He
also got the title of Arihant i.e. worthy.
• At the age of 72, he attained death at Pava, near Patna in 527 B.C.
• After the death of Mahavira, during the reign of King Chandragupta, a severe famine led to the great
exodus of Jain monks from the Ganga valley to the Deccan, where they established important centres of
their faith. This migration led to a great split in Jainism. Bhadrabahu who led the emigrants insisted on
the retention of the rule of nudity which Mahavira had established. Sthulabhadra, the leader of the monks
who remained in the north allowed his followers to wear white garments, owing to the hardships and
 confusion of the famine. Hence arose two sects of the Jains: the Digambaras (sky-clad i.e. naked) and the
Svetanbaras (white-clad).
Teachings of Mahavira
• Rejected the authority of the Vedas and do not attach any importance to the performance of the
sacrifices.
• He believed that every object even the smallest particle possesses a soul and is endowed with
consciousness. That is why they observe strict non- violence.
• The Jains reject the concept of the Universal soul or a Supreme power as the creator or sustainer of the Universe.
• Jainism does not deny the existence of Gods but refuses to give Gods any important part in the universal scheme.
Gods are placed lower than the Jina.
• Universal brotherhood (non-belief in the caste system).
• In Jainism, three Ratnas (Triratnas) are given and they are called the way to Nirvana. They are Right Faith, Right
Knowledge and Right Conduct.

Jain Councils
Sthulabhadra called a first Council at Pataliputra held in the beginning of third century B.C. It resulted in the
compilation of 12 Angas.The Second Council was held at Vallabhi (Gujarat) in the 5th century A.D. under the
leadership of Devridhigani. It resulted in final compilation of 12 Angas and 12 Upangas.

Other Important Facts

• Jainism reached the highest point in Chandragupta Maurya’s time. In Kalinga it was greatly patronized by
Kharavela in the first century A.D.
• Various factors were responsible for the decline of Jainism in India. They took the concept of Ahimsa too
far. They advised that one should not take medicine when one fell sick because the medicine killed
germs. They believed that there was life in trees and vegetables and so refrained from harming them. Such
practices could not become popular with the common man.
• Lack of patronage from the later kings.
• Jain literature is in Ardh-Magadhi and Prakrit dialects.