Religion and Philosophy
- Buddhism
- Jainism
- Zoroastrianism
- 6 Orthodox School of Philosophy
- Samkhya School of Philosophy
- Yoga School of Philosophy
- Nyaya School of Philosophy
- Vaisesikha School of Philosophy
- Mimansa School of Philosophy
- Vedanta School of Philosophy
- 4 Heterodox School of Philosophy
Buddhism
- Founder - Siddharta (Gautam Buddha)
- Birth - 563 BC
- Birth place - Lumbini, Nepal under a Sal tree
- Father - Suddodhana
- Mother - Mahamaya Devi (from Kosala)
- Varna - Kshatriya
- Clan - Shakya
- Kingdom - Kapilvastu
- Wife - Yasodhara
- Son - Rahul
- Mahabhiniskram - Buddha left home at the age of 29 years.
- Teacher of Buddha after leaving home - Alara Kalam
- Attainment of enlightenment (Nirvana) - at Bodhgaya under a Peepal tree.
- First Sermon (Dharmachakra Parivartan) - at Sarnath
- Death (Mahaparinirvana) - in 483 BC in Kushinagar, UP (in Mallas Republic)
- Kings who embraced Buddhism I
- Kanishka - Hinayan Buddhism
- Harshvardhan - Mahayan Buddhism
The story of the Birth of Siddhartha (Gautam Buddha)
The day Siddhartha was born, there was full of joy and celebration in Kapilvastu. Suddodana asked an astrologer, Asita about the faith of his son. He said that the young child is not a natural being but a super natural being. There is a possibility that your son is going to become either a universal king or a universal teacher.
Suddodhana wanted his son to be the universal teacher. So, he raised his son in great luxury and shielded him from knowledge of any human suffering.
One day he had a fight with his cousin Devdutta, who told him that one day you would also die. This shook young Siddhartha. He asked his charioteer/maid Channa to see the outside world and thus on one fine day he ventured around the kingdom where he saw 4 signs of life which induced him to the path of universal teacher.
4 signs of life which inducted Siddhartha into the path of universal teacher -
- Old man
- Sick man
- Dead body
- Yellow (Bhagwa) robed monk
The first three (i.e., old man, sick man and the dead body) represents the sign of despair whereas the 4th one a monk represents the sign of hope.
At the age of 29 years, Siddhartha decided to leave his home. This event of renunciating home is known as Mahabhinishkramana (which mean great going forth).
Later he became parivajak (i.e., homeless wanderer). After some point of time he founded a teacher, Alara Kalam who was an early Samkhya philosopher. After learning many things from Kalam, Siddhartha decided to strive for his enlightenment.
In this series he again started to wander from place to place and at the age of 35 years, he reached Bodhgaya where at the banks of River Niranjana and under a Peepal tree, he started meditation and on the 49th day of his meditation he attained Nirvana (i.e., enlightenment).
What is the meaning of Nirvana?
- Final blow out.
- Bliss and rest
- Extinguishment of flames of desire.
- Bliss
Answer - c (extinguishment of flame of desire)
Nirvana means extinguishment of flames of desire (according to Buddha, Hinayana Buddhism and Theravada) whereas according to Mahayana Buddhism, Nirvana also means 'Bliss and rest'.
After achieving Nirvana, Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath. This event is in Buddhism is known as Dharmachakra Parivartana (i.e., turning the wheel of religion or law).
4 Nobel truth of Buddhism (Arya Satya of Buddhism)
- The truth of suffering (i.e., Dukkha)
- "World is full of misery/sorrow"
- The truth of origin of suffering (i.e., Samudaya)
- "Desire is the root cause of suffering"
- The truth of cessation of suffering (i.e., Nirodha)
- "Misery can be overcome"
- The truth of path to the cessation of suffering (i.e., Magga)
- "There is a path - Astangika Marga (i.e., 8 fold path)
Astangika Marga (Eight fold path)
- Samyak drishti (i.e., Right vision)
- Samyak vacha (i.e., Right speech)
- Samyak Kammanta (i.e., Right conduct)
- Samyak Jnan (i.e., Right knowledge)
- Samyak Ajivana (i.e., Right means of livelihood)
- Samyak dhyan (i.e., Right concentration)
- Samyak smriti (i.e., Right self awareness)
- Samyak samadhi (i.e., Right deep meditation)
After preaching for so many years, Buddha took his last breath at a place called Kushinagar in 483BC. This event of death of Buddha in Buddhism is marked as Mahaparinirvana which means 'Final blow out'.
The event of Mahaparinirvana is considered as moment of joy and satisfaction because Buddha died after achieving Nirvana which means that there would be no rebirth of Buddha and he is free from all the worldly things.
The word Maha in Mahaparinirvana means great. So, the term Mahaparinirvana is used only for Buddha and for all others Parinirvana was used. But because of dillution in Buddhism, this term has also been used for other persons such as Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
Stages in Buddha's life and its meaning
- Mahabhinishkramana - Great going forth
- Nirvana - Extinguishment of flames of desire
- Dharmachakra Parivartana - Turning the wheel of law or religion
- Mahaparinirvana - Final blow out
Buddhist council
After the death of Gautam Buddha, 4 Buddhist councils took place at different places. These are -
- First Buddhist Council at Rajgriha in 483 BC.
- Second Buddhist Council at Vaishali in 383 BC.
- Third Buddhist Council at Patliputra in 250 BC.
- Fourth Buddhist Council at Kashmir in78 AD.
First Buddhist Council - It was held in 483 BC at Rajgriha. It was patronised by contemporary king Ajatshatru and presided by Buddhist monk Mahakashyap.
One of the favourite disciple of and his cousin Anand elaborated original teachings of Buddha which was compiled in a book called Suttapitaka.
Another disciple of Buddha, Upali elaborated the ruled to be followed by monks inside the Buddhist Sangha and compiled a book called Vinayapitaka.
Second Buddhist Council - It was held in 383 BC at Vaishali. It was patronised by Kalashoka and presided by a Buddhist monk, Subakami.
The major development in this council was division of Buddhism into 2 informal sects which are -
- Stavir Vadiha also known as Theravada. It is considered as earliest sect of Buddhism. They adhered to the original teachings of Buddha and were orthodox in nature.
- Mahasanghika - It was a liberal sect of Buddhism and did not adhered to the original teachings of Buddhism.
Sthavirvadhiha are the believer in the teachings of elders whereas Mahasamghika are the members of great community.
Third Buddhist Council - It was held in 250 BC at Patliputra. It was patronised by Maurya ruler Ashoka and presided by a Buddhist monk named Mogaliputta Tissa (younger brother of Ashoka).
Note - Ashoka did not kill all of his brothers. He did not kill those who were aligning with him.
First and foremost initiative of this council was removal of all the heretics (deviations) from Buddhism.
During this time Buddhism was sub-divided into 18 small sects and they were deviated from Buddha's teaching.
Ashoka recognised Theravada as the original sect of Buddhism.
Second initiative of this council was compilation of a book, Abhidhamma Pitaka which contains philosophical interpretation of Buddha's teachings.
After the assembly was over, Ashoka started missionary activities whereby he sent various Buddhist missions to Sri Lanka, South East Asia, East Asia, Central Asia, etc.
After the death of Ashoka, the deviation in Buddhism resumed.
In between 3rd and 4th Buddhist council, three new sects of Buddhism made appearance which are -
- Shravastivadin
- Shammittiya
- Sautantrika
Fourth Buddhist Council - It was held at 78 AD at Kundalvana in Kashmir. It was patronised by Kanishka presided over by Vasumitra and sub-presided by Ashwagosh.
In this assembly, one encyclopedia of Buddhism Mahavibhasa was compiled.
After the end of this council, Buddhism got divided into 2 formal sects.
- Hinayana (under Vasumitra)
- Mahayana (under Ashwagosh)
Important sects of Buddhism -
1. Hinayana
- They are orthodox in nature.
- They adhered to original teachings of Buddha.
- They do not believe in idol worship.
- Nirvana was prescribed for individual.
- They did not believe in too many rituals.
- They generally used Pali language.
2. Mahayana
- They were liberal in nature.
- They diluted the original teachings of Buddha.
- They believed in idol worship and Bodhisattva.
- Nirvana is prescribed for the entire community.
- Their rituals were somewhat closer to the Hinduism.
- They started using Sanskrit.
- It is the largest sect of Buddhism.
Bodhisattva - Bodhisattva is an entity in Mahayana Buddhism. Bodhisattvas are considered as the previous birth of Buddha who were capable of achieving Nirvana but they postponed their own Nirvana to help all the sentient beings on the planet Earth. Finally after many lives, Bodhisattvas progressed to Buddhahood (i.e., path of Buddha).
There were as many Bodhisattva. Few of them are as follows -
- Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva - also known as Padmapani (Bodhisattva of Compassion).
- Maitreya - Future Buddha
- Vajrapani
- Manjushri Bodhisattva
 |
| Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva |
3. Vajrayana
- Vajrayana believes in the supreme power of Vajra.
- This school of Buddhism started to appear in the Eastern part of the country, i.e., Bengal.
- In the 11th century AD, Vajrayana became popular in Tibet and got consolidated there.
- Its rituals are almost closer to Hinduism and it is tantrik (i.e., Superstitious beliefs) sect of Buddhism.
- They also worshipped some female deity such as Tara, Mahamayuri, etc.
In the contemporary world, there is no existence of Hinayana but it is represented through Theraveda Buddhism which is also known as 'School of Elders'. In the present times, it is very popular in Sri Lanka and Myanmar.
Meta-physical thoughts of Buddhism (i.e., Philosophy of Buddhism)
Buddhist view on universe -
- They believed that the universe is created by the laws of the nature.
Buddhist view on god -
- They generally did not comment on that question.
- Buddhist were agnostic on the question of god and they did not incorporated the concept of god in any of their theory.
Buddhist view on Vedas -
- Buddhist rejected the authority of Vedas and did not considered it as divine.
Buddhist view on rebirth -
- They believe in rebirth.
- The concept of achieving Nirvana is to end the cycle of death-rebirth.
Buddhist view on Soul -
- Buddhist did not believe in the concept of permanent soul, i.e., Paramatma (as believed by Hinduism), but when it was asked that if they do not believe in soul then what takes the rebirth; to which Buddha replied, it is the consciousness (i.e., Chetna) or Panchskanda (i.e., five types of memory) which takes rebirth.
- In simple words, Buddhist did not believe in Paramatma but they do believe in Chetna.
Pratitya Samutpada concept of Buddhism (Philosophy of Buddha)
- It means nothing is without a reason or because of it. It says that every action has its cause and effect.
Question for practice
Though Buddhism took its birth in India but in the early medieval century it started to decline from India. Discuss the reasons.
- No patronisation from medieval kings
- Dilution of Buddhist doctrine
- Revival of Brahmanism
- Concept of Assimilation (by considering Buddha as the incarnation of Lord Vishnu)
- Entry of women, etc.
Buddha's comment on the entry of women in Sangha
Once Buddha commented that entry of women into the Sangha will lead to decline of Buddhism. He believed that entry of women into the Sangha will corrupt the monks and Buddhism which is going to survive for more than 1000 years will vanished within 1000 years.
Later, when women were allowed into the Sangh (on the request of Anand), the words of Buddha proved to be true.
Note - Mahaprajapati Gautami was the first women to accept Buddhism.
- First lady to enter into the Sangha - Mahaprajapati Gautami
- Second lady to enter into the Sangha - Amrapali
Other reasons for the decline of Buddhism - Apart from these, the followings reasons also lead to the decline of Buddhism.
- The monks became corrupt and started to lead a luxurious life.
- Monks started to practice Sanskrit which was a complex and sophisticated language not easily understood by the common public.
- Monks started to interfere in the affairs of the monarch which led to they being sidelined by the kings and finally, it lead to the stoppage of patronage to Buddhism.
- The doctrines of Buddhism were diluted and rituals closer to the Hinduism were incorporated.
- Hinduism reformed itself and slowly there was decline of animal sacrifice.
- It was propagated by the Hindu society that Buddha is the 9th incarnation of Lord Vishnu which lead to the dilution of the doctrine of Buddhism.
- Buddhist displayed a great missionary zeal which was not appreciated by many people and they started to move away from the Buddhism.
- Division of Buddhism.
- Invasion of Islamic rulers - With the arrival of Islamic rulers in India, Buddhism got completely disseminated from India.
Tri-ratnas of Buddhism
- Buddha - Highest spiritual potential in everyone
- Dhamma - The teachings of Buddha
- Sangha - Community of Buddhist monks and followers.
Buddham Saranam Gacchami।
Dhammam Saranam Gacchami।
Sangham Saranam Gacchami।
English Version
I go to the Buddha for refuge.
I go to the Dhamma for refuge.
I go to the Sangha for refuge.
Philosophy of Buddhism
- Four Noble truths of Buddhism -
- Dukkha
- Samudaya
- Nirodha
- Magga/Marga - Eight fold path
- Eight fold path of Buddhism -
- Samyak drishti (i.e., Right vision)
- Samyak vacha (i.e., Right speech)
- Samyak Kammanta (i.e., Right conduct)
- Samyak Jnan (i.e., Right knowledge)
- Samyak Ajivana (i.e., Right means of livelihood)
- Samyak dhyan (i.e., Right concentration)
- Samyak smriti (i.e., Right self awareness)
- Samyak samadhi (i.e., Right deep meditation)
- Panchashila of Buddhism (i.e., Code of conduct for the followers)
- Don't covet the property of others.
- Don't commit violence.
- Don't use intoxicants.
- Don't speak a lie.
- Don't indulge in corrupt practices.
Tripitakas of Buddhism - They are the teachings of Buddhism written in Pali language.
- Vinayapitaka
- Suttapitaka
- Abhidhammapitaka
Note - India's largest statue of reclining Buddha - Buddha International Welfare Mission Temple, Bodhgaya.
Reclining Buddha
- Buddha is about to enter Mahaparinirvana, i.e., the stage of great salvation after death that can only be attained by enlightened souls.
- Message given through reclining Buddha - All living beings have the potential to be awakened and be released from the cycle of death and rebirth.
- Reclining Buddha was first depicted in Gandhara Art.
- Cave no. 26 of Ajanta Cave - Sculpture of Reclining Buddha
- Largest statue of reclining Buddha - 6oo ft. at Winsein Tawya Buddha, Myanmar.
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Notes on other subjects
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Note - This is my Vision IAS Notes (Vision IAS Class Notes) and Ashutosh Pandey Sir's Public Administration Class notes. I've also added some of the information on my own.
Hope! It will help you to achieve your dream of getting selected in Civil Services Examination 👍
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