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Thinkers, Beliefs And Buildings
Question
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Discuss the contents of Jatakas. What do they depict?

Answer

The Jataka stories have an important place in Buddhist literature. These stories were originally written in Pali, the language of the Buddhist scriptures and compiled in books during the first century B.C.

There are about 500 Jataka tales that tell about the 84,000 previous births of the Buddha.
i. It was believed that before he was finally born as Gautama, the Buddha passed through more than 84,000 births, in many cases in the form of animals. Each birth story is called a Jataka, which is a folk tale.

ii. They are interesting and deal with the common life of people, economic conditions and social manner and customs of those times. The subjects of these stories were used in sculptures in the railings of the famous stupas.

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Some More Questions From Thinkers, Beliefs And Buildings Chapter

Describe how in the case of Vaishnavism, cults developed around the various avatars of the deity.

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Explain the variety of sources used by the historians to reconstruct histories of religious traditions.

Were the ideas of the Upanishadic thinkers different from those of the fatalists and materialists? Give reasons for your answer.

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Discuss the role of the begums of Bhopal in preserving the stupa at Sanchi.

Or

“The Begums of Bhopal played a significant role in preserving the remains of stupa at Sanchi.” Support this statement with suitable evidence.

Read this short inscription and answer the questions that follow:

In the year 33 of the maharaja Huvishka (a Kushana ruler), in the first month of the hot season on the eighth day, a Bodhisatta was set up at Madhuvanaka by the bhikkhuni Dhanavati, the sister’s daughter of the bhikkhuni Buddhamita, who knows the Tipitaka, the female pupil of the bhikkhu Bala, who knows the Tipitaka, together with her father and mother.

A. How did Dhanavati date her inscription?

B. Why do you think she installed an image of the Bodhisatta?

C. Who were the relatives she mentioned?

D. What Buddhist text did she know?

E From whom did she learn this text?

Why do you think women and men joined the Sangha?

To what extent does knowledge of Buddhist literature help in understanding the sculpture at Sanchi?

Figures I and II. are two scenes from Sanchi. Describe what you see in each of them, focusing on the architecture, plants and animals, and the activities. Identify which one shows a rural scene and which an urban scene, giving reasons for your answer.

Fig.: I

Fig. : II