The Causes Of Originating Buddhism and Jainism
Four varna—Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, vaishyas, and Shudras—clearly distinguished post-Vedic civilization. Unambiguous functions were given to each varna. Varna was based on birth, but the two higher varnas seized rights, power, and status at the expense of the inferior varnas. The highest level in society, according to the Brahmanas were given the jobs of priests and teachers.
In addition to receiving gifts and being free from paying taxes and being punished, they sought a number of rights. They were given these privileges frequently, according to post-Vedic sources. The second-highest class of people in terms of varna, the Kshatriyas, ruled and waged war while subsisting on taxes levied against the peasants. Agriculture, livestock raising, and trade were all practises used by the vaishyas.
Besides that, they were the main contributors. But they were part of the dvija group, which means “twice-born,” which is one of the two extreme varnas. The holy thread and reading the Vedas were things that only dvijas could do. The Shudras and women were both not allowed to study Vedic subjects because they were meant to help the bottom three varnas.
Mahavira Vardhamana and Buddhism
The Jainas held that Mahavira had 23 predecessors, or Tirthankaras, who were considered to be their most revered religious figures. The beginning of Jainism would date to the ninth century BC if Mahavira is considered to be the final or twenty-fourth Tirthankara.
Although Rishabhadeve is associated with Ayodhya, which was only fully inhabited by 500 BC, some Jainas hold that he was the first Tirthankara, or teacher, of Jainism. Up until the fourteenth, eastern UP and Bihar were considered to be the birthplaces of the majority of the Tirthankaras, although their historicity is highly disputed. Up to the fifth century BC, no area of the middle Gangetic plains had been extensively populated.
Jainist Doctrines
Jainism propagated five tenets: (i)I refrain from violence; (ii) refrain from lying; (iii) refrain from theft; (iv) refrain from hoarding; and (v) maintain chastity (brahmacharya).
According to legend, Mahavira alone added the fifth doctrine; the other four were taken over by him from earlier teachers. Ahimsa, or the practice of not inflicting harm on living things, was extremely valued in Jainism. It occasionally produced ludicrous outcomes, as certain Jaina kings mandated the execution of those found guilty of animal cruelty.
Mahavira instructed his disciples to remove all clothing, in contrast to Parshva, who had instructed them to cover both the upper and lower parts of their bodies. This suggests that Mahavira urged his disciples to live a simpler lifestyle.
The Growth of Jainism
To spread the lessons of Jainism, Mahavira set up an order of his followers that accepted both men and women. He preached in Prakrit, which is the tongue of the common people. He is said to have had only 14,000 fans, which is a small number.
Jainism failed to win over the public because it did not make a strong distinction between itself and the Brahmanical religion. Nevertheless, Jainism slowly took root in the south and western India, where the Brahmanical religion was not as strong. A recent tradition attributes Chandragupta Maurya to promoting Jainism in Karnataka (322 298 BC).
The empire is alleged to have become a Jaina, given up his throne, and spent his last years in Karnataka as a Jaina ascetic, but this story has no backing in other sources. A big hunger via Magadha is two hundred years after Mahavira’s death is thought to have been the second reason why Jainism spread in southern India.
The Role of Jainism
The ceremonial Vedic religion and the ills of the varna regime were first seriously addressed by Jainism. The early Jainas abandoned Sanskrit, which was primarily used by Brahmanas. Instead, they chose to communicate their doctrines in Prakrit, the language of the common people. Their religious literature was composed in Ardhamagadhi, and the books were eventually collected in Gujarat’s Valabhi, a great centre of learning, in the 6th century AD. The Jainas’ adoption of Prakrit contributed to the development of this language’s literature. From Prakrit, many regional languages emerged, most notably Shauraseni, which gave rise to the Marathi language.
Buddhist Doctrine and Gautama Buddha
Mahavira lived at the same time as Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddhartha. He was supposedly born around 567 BC into a Shakya Kshatriya family in Lumbini, Nepal, adjacent to Kapilavastu, which is known as Piprahwa in the Basti district and is close to Nepal’s foothills.
The father of Gautama, who presided over the Shakya publican clan, appears to have been the elected ruler of Kapilavastu. His mother was a Koshalan dynasty princess. Thus, Gautama came from a noble family just like Mahavira. He also inherited certain egalitarian views from his republican birthplace.
Beliefs in Buddhism
The Buddha established himself as a reformer who was aware of the times’ realities and realistic. He avoided the pointless debates that raged at the time about the soul (Arman) and Brahma in favour of focusing on practical issues. He asserted that people suffer as a result of their desires and that the world is full of suffering. Nirvana, or being free from the cycle of life and death, is realised when wants are vanquished.
Buddhism’s Characteristics and its Causes of Global Spread
Buddhism denies the existence of both deity and the soul. In the history of Indian cultures, this may be viewed as a sort of revolution. Early Buddhism attracted the common people because it was not mired in the jargon of intellectual debate. It also gained the trust of the lower classes since it opposed the varna system.
The Buddhist order accepted people without taking into account their caste, and women were also allowed membership in the sangha, putting them on an equal footing with men. Buddhism was more liberal and democratic than Brahman.
The Reasons for Buddhism’s Decline
By the 11th century, Buddhism had all but disappeared from India. Buddhism was still practised in Bengal and Bihar up until the 11th century when it nearly disappeared from the country. What led to this? We discover that while every religion begins with the intention of reforming, it gradually gives in to the rites and ceremonies it first condemned. Buddhist thought changed in a similar way. It lost its battle against Brahmapism’s ills and became a victim of it. The Brahmanas changed their religion in response to the Buddhist challenge. They emphasised the value of protecting livestock wealth and provided assurances of heaven for women and Shudras.
Buddhism’s Importance and Influence
Even if Buddhism as a formal religion is no longer practised, its influence on Indian culture and business remains. Beginning in 500 BC, the Buddhists displayed great awareness of the issues that the people of northeast India were dealing with.
The traders and aristocrats were able to amass money thanks to the iron ploughshare-based agriculture, trade, and use of currencies; we hear of persons owning eighty kotis of wealth. Sharp social and economic disparities were inevitably produced by all of this.
Buddhism thus advised against money accumulation. It says that poverty begets aggression, brutality, and hatred. The Buddha advocated providing farmers with grain and other resources, dealers with wealth, and the unemployed with jobs in order to abolish these evils.
