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Thinkers, Beliefs And Buildings
Describe the ideas of Buddha and Mahavira on the authority of Vedas.
Before going into the ideas of Buddha and Mahavra on the authority of vedas. Let us look what does vedas contain:
1. We find that vedas describes existence of various gods, god of war, fire, air, the creator, destroyer, etc. And vedas has the supreme authority.
2. Vedas also mentions different rites and rituals to be performed by the people for different occasions. Some rites and rituals are elaborate and very expensive and it is meant to be done by th ekings.
3. According to the vedas we also find that people are stratified according to their birth known as Varna system. Where brahmanas are at the top and shudras at the bottom. And there are also someone who are known as untouchables who were cast out of the varna systems.
Now we find that Jainism and Buddhism has with them some radical elements that challenges the norms existing in the Brahmanic order.
1. They challenge first the supreme authority of the vedas and existence of god as irrelevant for the salvation of a human.
2. They were also against the elaborate rituals system that vedas justified. they did not believe in the rites and rituals but rather believed in human karma and actions.
3. They also regarded the social world as the creation of humans rather than of divine origin. Individual effort was expected to transform social relations. The Buddha emphasised individual agency and righteous action as the means to escape from the cycle of rebirth and attain self-realisation and nibbana, literally the extinguishing of the ego and desire – and thus end the cycle of suffering for those who renounced the world.
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Describe how in the case of Vaishnavism, cults developed around the various avatars of the deity.
“Buddhism grew rapidly both during the life time of the Buddha and also after his death.” Justify the statement.
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.
Summarise the central teachings of Jainism.
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
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