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Thinkers, Beliefs And Buildings

Question
CBSEENHS12027920
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Mention the nature of Hinduism. Which are its main sects?

Solution

Hinduism is the most ancient religion of the world. It is the alone religion of the world which was not stated by any particular individual. It is the collection of experiences and knowledge of ancient rishis-munis and philosophers. Its nature and different sects are given below:
Nature of Hinduism

(i) Complete faith in God: According to Hinduism, God is almighty, alpowerful and is everywhere.

(ii) Monotheism: According to Hinduism almighty God is one but it also has faith in many gods and goddesses. It means that the existence of almighty could be seen in all the deities and in nature itself.

(iii) Belief in Trideva: There are three rulers of universe and these are Creator, Sustainer and Destroyer. That’s why Hinduism has faith in this rule, Brahma is known as the creator, Vishnu cares about everything and Mahesha is the destroyer.

(iv) Worship of Shakti: Worship of Shakti is the main feature of Hinduism. Many goddesses like Uma, Bhavani, Laxmi, Annapurna, Durga, Kali, Chamunda, Chandi etc. are worshipped in this religion.

(v) Four Purusharthas: Four Purusharthas are given in Hinduism-Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. One can achieve salvation by maintaining a proper balance between these four Purusharthas.

(vi) Karma and Rebirth: Hinduism has faith in Karma theory. According to it as one will sow, as he will reap. One takes birth, lives and dies according to his Karmas or actions

(vii) Faith in Avatars: Hinduism believes in the fact that when immorality increases in the world and people start working against religion, then God takes birth in the world and gives punishment to immoral persons.

Main Sects of Hinduism:

There are two main sects in Hinduism—Vaishnavism and Shaivism.

(i) Vaishnavism: Sect with the main deity as Vishnu is called Vaishnavism. Vishnu was a deity of Aryan in Rigvedic age. He become the main deity in post-Vedic age. Later on he was being worshipped in the form or Avtar of Rama and Krishna.

(ii) Shaivism: Hindus having faith in Lord Shiva belong to Shaivism sect of Hinduism. Shiva is known as the most ancient Adi Deva’ of the world. He was known as Rudra in Rigvedic age, Mahadeva in post-Vedic age and later on Pashupati, Shiv, Shankra etc.

Question
CBSEENHS12027923
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Discuss the historical importance of Buddhist literature.

Or

Write short notes on the following:

(a) Pitakas, (b) Mahavamsh and Deepvamsh,

(c) Divyavadan, and (d) Milinda Panho

Solution

Buddhist religious literature is also an important source of knowledge for ancient Indian history. This literature consists of (i) Pitakas (ii) Nikayas and (iii) Jatakas.


1. Pitakas are important part of Buddhist literature. Known as ‘Tripitakas’, they consist of Sutta Pitak, Abhidhamma Pitak and Vinay Pitak. This literature is a comprehensive compilation of the sayings of Lord Buddha and the principles of Buddhism. It was written after passing away of Gautam Buddha. Sutta Pitak is source of immense value to know about sermons and religious ideas of Gautam Buddha. Abhidhamma Pitak throws light on philosophical ideas of Buddhism. In Vinay Pitak is described the code of conduct followed by the followers of Buddhism. Besides being the most reliable source of information about Buddhist religion and philosophy, the Tripitakas help a research scholar in drawing a picture of social, economic and political life in the age of Gautam Buddha. These works are written in Pali language.

2. Jatakas are compilation of tales. They tell us about the lives of Bodhisattvas i.e. the earlier lives of Gautam Buddha. Belonging to the realm of fiction rather than facts, the stories are fanciful. One cannot vouch for the historicity of events narrated. But these books provide useful information abut social, cultural and economic history of pre-Buddhist days.

3. Other Buddhist works of note are Mahavamsh and Deepvamsh. These works are written in Pali. They are dated to 4th and 5th century. These works narrate the history of Ceylon but are useful as a source material for ancient Indian history because there are numerous references of ancient Indian ruling families in them. Shortcoming of these works is that they are full of fictitious and exaggerated accounts.

4. Divyavadan is a Buddhist work written in Sanskrit. It appears that this work was neither authored by one person, nor was written in one particular period. Still it contains some useful information about social, cultural and political life. Similarly ‘Lalit Vistaar ’ a biography of Lord Buddha also written in Sanskrit cannot be attributed to a particular author or period.

5. ‘Milinda Panho’ is a philosophical dialogue between Indo-Greek ruler Menander and Buddhist monk Nagasena contains useful material for cultural and political history. “Manju Shri Mool Kalpa” gives an account of Gupta rulers from the Buddhist angle.

In making use of Buddhist literature as a source material for history one has to be very careful because these works are contaminated by bias, exaggeration and subjectivity.

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Question
CBSEENHS12027943
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On an outline map of India, mark any five Buddhist sites.

Solution

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Question
CBSEENHS12028088
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How did Sutta-Pitaka reconstruct the philosophy of Buddhism ? Mention about Buddhist Tipitaka. 

Solution

Sutta Pitaka reconstructed the philosophy of Buddhism as:

(i)Buddha’s teachings have been reconstructed from stories found mainly in the Sutta Pitaka. These stories describe his miraculous powers other suggest that the Buddha tried to convince people through reasons and persuation rather than display of supernatural power.

(ii)The world is transient and constantly changing ; it is also soulless as there is nothing permanent.

(iii)Sorrow is intrinsic to human existence. It is by following the path of moderation between severe penance and self-indulgence that human beings can rise above these worldly troubles.

(iv)In the earliest form of Buddhism existence of god was irrelevant. Buddha regarded the social world as the creation of humans rather than of divine origin. Therefore, he advised kings to be humane and ethical. Individual effort was expected to transform social relations.

(v)The Buddha emphasized individual agency and righteous action as a means to escape from the cycle of rebirth and attain self-realisation and nibbana.The extinguishing of the ego and desire would thus end the cycle of suffering.

Buddhist Tipitakas:

It means three baskets which hold three types of texts. They were first transmitted orally and then written and classified according to the subject matter.

(i)The Vinaya Pitaka included rules and regulations for those who joined the sangha or monastic order.

(ii)The Sutta Pitaka which contains the teachings of Buddha

(iii)The Abhidhamma Pitaka dealt with philosophical matters. 

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