Contribution of Buddhism and Jainism to Indian Culture
Introduction:
Religion is one of the basic institutions of any society. It is
a universal system which is found in every society.
Religion can be understood as a social system in which
there is common faith, worship, rituals, customs and
traditions.
Buddhism is a religion of Indian origin, which
encompasses the various traditions and beliefs
influenced by Lord Buddha. Buddhism has its roots in
Ancient India in the 6th century B.C. and declined in India
during the middle ages.
Life of Lord Buddha:
Gautama Buddha was born in Lumbini, Nepal and grew
up in Kapilavastu. Gautama was an Kshatriya, the son
of Śuddhodana, who was the elected chief of the Shakya
clan. He was married at the age of 16 to Yasodhara and
had a son named Rahul. Although his father ensured that
Siddhartha was provided with everything he could want
or need, Buddhist scriptures say that the future Buddha
felt that material wealth was not life's goal. At the age of
29, he saw the four great sights-an old man, an sick man,
a corpse and an ascetic. It was now that he left all
material desires an started living the life of a monk
thereafter. Buddha had travelled in the Gangetic Plain, in
what is now Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and southern Nepal,
and preached his teaching from nobles to servants,
murderers such as Angulimala, and cannibals such as
Alavaka. He passed away at the age of 80.
An important teaching of Buddha:
The Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right
speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right
mindfulness, and right concentration.
Jainism:
Jainism is an ancient Indian religion, which has been
derived from the word ‘jina’ (to live),based on the
principles of non-violence. The followers of this religion
are known as Jains. Jainism has two major sub divisions:
Digambaras and Svetambaras. The Digambaras and
Svetambaras have different views on ascetic practices,
gender and which Jain texts can be considered
canonical.
1.Ahimsa: Ahimsa means intentional "non-violence ".
The first major vow taken by Jains is to cause no
harm to other human beings, as well as all living
beings.
2.Satya: Satya means "truth". This vow is to always
speak the truth, neither lie, nor speak what is not
true, do not encourage others or approve anyone
who speaks the untruth.
3. Asteya: Asteya means "not stealing". A Jain person
should not take anything that is not willingly given.
Brahmacharya: brahmacharya vow means chastity,
faithfulness to one's partner.
4.Aparigraha: Aparigraha means "non-
possessiveness". This includes non-attachment to
material and psychological possessions, avoiding
craving and greed. Jain monks and nuns completely
renounce property and social relations, own nothing
and are attached to no one.
Impact of Buddhism:
Buddhism had great impacts on Indian Society. Some
impacts are described as follows:
Popular religion for common people- The teaching
of Lord Buddha was simple and easy to follow and
had no rituals. Unlike the complex Vedic religion,
Buddhism appealed to the common people because
of its simplicity, easy ethical code and use of
languages such as Pali and Prakrit.
Moral Guidelines- Buddhism taught people
important values such as love, compassion, kindness,
and the use of non-violence to solve problems.
These qualities are instrumental in shaping up the
qualities of a person.
Development of language-Lord Buddha preached his
thoughts and ideas in Pali and Prakrit languages,
which were popular languages back then. The
Buddhist Canonical texts like ‘Sutta Pitaka’, ‘Vinaya
Pitaka’ and ‘Abhidhamma Pitaka’ and several others
were written in Pali language. ‘Mahabivasha’ was
another book on Buddhism written in Sanskrit.
Opposition to the caste system-Buddha opposed
the caste system, which was an ugly practise in
Indian society vigorously. Great leaders such as
Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr Br
Ambedkar also adopted this principle of Lord
Buddha.
Emancipation of Women-Buddha laid emphasis that
women had equal rights and opportunities as men
and should not be looked down upon. In every way,
Buddha was responsible for the upliftment of
women.
Interaction with foreign countries-Buddhism
established an intimate contact between India and
Foreign Countries. The Buddhist monks carried the
gospel of the Lord Buddha to the foreign countries
from 3rd century B.C. onwards and foreign Buddhist
Pilgrims and people came to India in search of
Buddhist knowledge.
Development of ancient universities-Many Buddhist
Monasteries were established in hilly areas to
promote the teachings of Lord Buddha. Students
study for a period of 10 years to be a monk. Many
universities established are in Nalanda, Taxila and
Yalabhi.
National Unity-Buddhism got spread to all parts of
the country and people followed Buddha’s
teachings. Ancient Indian rulers like Ashoka,
Kaniskha and Harshavardhan tried to unite India in
every possible way. The sense of national unity was
then followed by Mughals and then the British,
which led India to be a United country today.
Caves
Caves are the oldest form of the Buddhist
architecture. They are also known as the rock-cut
monasteries, which were hewn from the cliffs and
rock walls of the valleys. The Buddhist caves traces
back their beginning around 100 BCE. In India, the
most significant cave is Ajanta caves, near modern
Aurangabad, Maharashtra. The Indian Buddhist
monks carried this art of cave hewing to China,
where the earliest cave temples were built in the
4th century in Dunhuang or Tun-Huang, which were
further decorated with relief carvings, paintings
and stone images of the Buddha or the
Bodhisattvas.
Stupas
The Stupas holds the most important place among
all the earliest Buddhist sculptures. A Stupa is a
dome-shaped monument, used to house Buddhists'
relics or to commemorate significant facts of
Buddhism. Though the Stupas are the most
prominent sculptures throughout the world, but
Myanmar or Burma is credited to have more Stupas
than anywhere else. In India, the most important
and well preserved site is at Sanchi, where one can
find the full range of Buddhist art and architecture
from the 3rd century BCE to the 12th century CE.
Pagodas
Pagodas are the principle form of Buddhist
architecture, which are used as religious multistory
Buddhist towers, erected as a memorial or shrine.
They are symbols of five elements of the universe -
earth, water, fire, air and ether, and along with
them, the most important factor - Consciousness,
which is the ultimate reality.
The early Buddhists had started using the royal
symbol of 'Pagoda', by applying an umbrella-like
structure to symbolise the Buddha, which soon
took over the functions of the Stupas. In the 3rd
century BCE, an Indian emperor Ashoka, who had
converted to Buddhism, promoted the Pagodas by
building 84,000 of them throughout India, and since
then, Pagodas have been an inseparable parts of all
those countries, which practice Buddhism : China,
Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia. Myanmar
houses the Mahamuni Pagoda, one of the most
important pagodas in Mandalay, which has an
ancient statue of the Buddha, brought there by king
Bodawpaya in 1784 CE.
The Indian Pagodas, full of carvings and sculptures,
are mainly pyramidical in shape and taper to apex,
whereas those of China and other Asian regions are
stereotypical pagodas with tiled and upward
curving roofs.
Temples And Monasteries
The Buddhist temples and monasteries, found in
every Buddhist country, form another distinctive
example of the Buddhist architecture. The Buddhist
temples in India are superb examples of the temple
architecture with the most prominent one at Bodh
Gaya (Mahabodhi temple), the place of the
Buddha's enlightenment. Other major Buddhist
temples in India, which are fine examples of the
golden Indian architecture, are at Sanchi(450 CE),
Taxila and Sarnath. Similarly, other temples such as
those at Cambodia (the famous Angkor Wat
temple), Sri Lanka, Thailand, China and Japan
presents an excellent example of the Buddhist
architecture. Japan boasts of being the greatest
surviving concentration of the Buddhist art and
architecture in its 80,000 temples, most of which
retain original features from as early as the Nara
period(710 CE - 794 CE).
Impact of Jainism:
Languages and Literature- Jainism has also
rendered valuable contribution to the growth of
vernacular literature. the Jains preached in the
Prakrit, which was language of the common
people. The Jains also influenced the Kanada
literature in the South. Many Jain articles were
also produced in Sanskrit. The literature produced
in Sanskrit also includes subjects like grammar,
prosody, lexicography and mathematics.
Architecture- Jains did evolve a special
architecture; they rather adopted the local
building traditions. They have been credited to
have produced one of the finest architectural
works in India. These include the numerous Jain
temples and Stupas constructed all over India.
These stupas were built of stones and were
decorated with gate-ways, stone-umbrellas,
carved-pillars and huge statues. The Jains also
built many famous caves such as Tiger cave of
Udaigiri and Indira Sabha of Ellora.
Distinct philosophy- “Syatvad” was a new and
original philosophy founded by Jainism. This
philosophy aims at the welfare of both individual
as well as the society.
Purification of Hinduism-Jainism was responsible
for purification of evils in Hinduism such as
injustice in the Brahman sutras, Karma doctrine
etc.
Opposition of the caste system- Jainism was
responsible for reducing the caste system. Caste
system was greatly reduced in the 6th century BC
onwards.
