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Thinkers, Beliefs And Buildings
How did Siddhartha get to be named Buddha? How did his followers lead their lives?
Siddharta as Buddha:
(i) Siddhartha as the Buddha was named at birth, was the son of a chief of the Sakya clan.
(ii) He had a sheltered upbringing within the palace, insulated from the harsh realities of life.
(iii) One day he persuaded his charioteer to take him into the city.His journey into the world outside was traumatic. He was deeply anguished when he saw an old man, a sick man and a corpse.
(iv) He realized in that moment that the decay and destruction of the human body was inevitable. He left the palace and set out in search of his own truth, he meditated for several days and finally attained enlightenment .
After this he came to be known as the Buddha or the Enlightened One. For the rest of his life, he taught dhamma or the path of righteous living.
Folowers of the Buddha:
(i) Monks, disciples of the Buddha, lived simply, possessing only the essential requisites for survivals, such as one bowl to receive food once a day from the laity.
(ii) They lived on alms, they were known as bhikkhus.
(iii) Initially, only men were allowed into the sangha, but later women also admitted. Many women who entered the sangha, an organisation of monks, became teachers of dhamma and went on to become theirs, or respected women who had attained liberation.
(iv) The Buddha’s followers came from many social groups like kings, wealthy men and gahapatis , and also humbler folk, workers, slaves and craftspeople Once within the sangha , all were regarded as equal, having shed their earlier social identities on becoming bhikkhus and bhikkunis.
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What does the motif of a woman, surrounded by lotuses and elephants, depict? State the two opinions.
State the social groups from which the followers of Buddha came.
Discuss the contents of Jatakas. What do they depict?
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?
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