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IN THE SIXTH CENTRY B.C., THE HINDU SOCIETY HAD LOST
ITS FORMER GLORY AND BECOME IMPURE .MANY KINDS OF
ABUSES AND SUPERSTITIONS HAD CREPT IN TO IT. THE FOR
MATITIES OF SACRIFICIAL RITES AS WELL AS THEIR
EXPENSIVENESS PROVED ONEROUS TO MANY A
HOUSEHOLDER.THE HYMNS OF THE VEDAS FOUND IN
SANSKRIT LANGUAGE WERE TOO DIFFICULT FOR THEM TO
UNDERSTAND AND APPRECIATE.
GAUTAMA BUDDHA WAS THE FOUNDER OF BUDDHISM.
HIS ORIGINAL NAME WAS SIDDHARTHA HE WAS BORN IN
THE LUMBINI GROVE NEAR THE CITY OF KAPILAVASTU IN
THE YEAR 567 B.C. SUDDHODANA WAS THE NAME OF IS
FATHER AND MAHAYA, THE NAME OF IS MOTHER.
HE MARRIED YASODHA AT THE AGE OF SIXTEEN. AT THE
AGE OF 29, A SON WAS BORN TO HIM AND HE WAS GIVE
THE NAME OF RAHUL.
“FOUR GREAT SIGNS’’ PROFOUNDLY AFFECTED THE LIFE OF THE YOUNG
SIDDHARTHA.ONE DAY HE SAW AN OLD MAN WHO HAD BEEN GIVEN UP BY
HIS PEOPLE . HE SAW ANOTHER MAN SUFFERING FROM THE AGONY OF
DISEASE. THEN HE SAW A DEAD MAN SURROUNDED BY WEEPING
RELATIVES. THE FOURTH SIGN WAS THAT OF A MENDICANT WHO HAN
GIVEN UP THE WORLD AND WAS MOVING ABOUT IN SEARCH OF TRUATH .
“RENUNCIATION OF GOUTHMAM BUDDHA
AND HE FELT DISGUSTED AT THE PLEASURES AND LUXURIES OF
THE PALACE. ONE DAY HE LEFT HIS HOME, IN ORDER TO DISCOVER
A REMEDY FOR THE SUFFERING HUMANITY. WHILE SITTING IN
CONTEMPLATION UNDER A PIPAL TREE, THE REVELATION COME
TO HIM. HE RECEIVED THE TITLE OF BUDDHA WHICH MEANS
ENLIGHTENED.
IN HIS FIRST SERMON AT BENARES, GAUTAMA BUDDHA FORMULATED
HIS SYTEM UNDER FOUR HEADS, VIZ 1.SORROW 2.CAUSE OF SORROW
3.THE REMOVAL OF SORROW AND 4.THE WAY LEADING TO THE
REMOVAL OF SORROW. THE SORROW CAN BE REMOVED BY
FOLLOWING THE EIGHT FOLD PATH. IT CONSISTS OF 1.RIGHT BELIEF,
2. RIGHT THOUGHT 3. RIGHT ACTION 4. RIGHT SPEECH 5.RIGHT MEANS
OF LIVELIHOD 6.RIGHT EXERTION 7. RIGHT REMEMBERANCE AND
8. RIGHT MEDITATION. BY FOLLOWING THIS PATH, ONE CAN ATTAIN
SALVATION.BUDDHISM RECOGNISES THE LAW OF KARAM AND
RESPECT FOR ANIMALS.
THE PREACHING OF BUDDHA WAS VERY SIMPLE. HE USED
PRKRIT, KNOWN LANGUAGE TO PREACH HIS IDEAS. RELERS
LIKE BIMBISARA, AJATASATRU, ASOKA, KANISHKA AND HARSHA
PATRONISED BUDDHISM. ASOKA MADE BUDDHISM THE STATE
RELIGION. THESE RULERS SENT BUDDHIST MONKS TO CEYLON,
CHINA, TIBET ETC..., TO SPREAD BUDDHISM. ASOKA SENT HIS
SON MAHENDRA AND HIS DAUGHTER SANGHAMITRA TO
CEYLON FOR THE SAME PURPOSE. MONASTERIES WERE BUILT
TO HOUSE THE MONKS. BESIDES RELIGIOUS PROPAGANDA,
THEY IMPARTED EDUCATION TO THE PEOPLE.
BUDDHIM HAD UNDERGONE CONSIDERABLE TRANSFORMATION IN
KINISHKA’S TIME.MAHAYANA WAS A SECT WITH MANY RITES AND
CEREMONIES AND WORSHIP OF SAINTS. THE MOST STRIKING
FEATURE OF THIS NEW BUDDHISM WAS THAT THE BUDDHA
CAME TO BE REGARDAD AS A GOD ATTENDED BY A
HIERARCHY OF BODHISATTVAS, ACTING AS MEDIATORS
BETWENN HIM AND SINFUL MEN. BUT BUDDHA IN THE
HINAYANA SECT WAS CONSIDERED AS AN INDIVIDUAL ONLY.
SANCHI STUPA AND SARANAH PILLAR STAND AS THE BEST
EXAMPLE OF THE DEVELOPMENT IN ARCHITECTURE. VIHARAS
WERE CONSTRUCTED AT AJANTA, ELLORA AND KARLA, WHICH
COMPRISE OF BEAUTFIUL PAINTINGS, GANDHARA ART, A
FUSION OF INDO- GREEK ART TOOK PLACE IN THE TIME OF
KANISHKA.
THE TEACHINIS OF BUDDHA WERE EDITED AS PITAKAS.
LITERATURE IN PALI AND SANSKRIT WAS ENRICHED ‘VIHARAS’
BECAME CENTRES OF LEARING.UNIVERSITIES OR CENTRES OF
HIGHER LEARNING WERE ESTABLIHED AT NALNDA, TAXILA AND
VIKRAMASILA. CHINESE TRAVELLERS LIKE FAHIEN AND HIUEN
T”SANG CAME TO INDIA AND HAVE LEFT VALUABLE
INFORMATION OF OUR COUNTRY
.