Buddhism: Life of the Buddha, Teachings, Councils and Spread

Why new religions arose in the 6th century BCE

The 6th century BCE was an age of intellectual ferment across the world – Confucius in China, Zoroaster in Iran, and the Greek philosophers. In India, as many as 62 sects are mentioned in Buddhist texts. Several reasons explain why heterodox (non-Vedic) movements such as Buddhism and Jainism became popular:

• Expensive Vedic rituals and animal sacrifices hurt farmers who needed cattle for ploughing.
• Rigid varna and the dominance of brahmanas annoyed kshatriyas (both the Buddha and Mahavira were kshatriyas) and vaishyas (merchants who had gained wealth but not status).
• New urban classes and traders wanted a simpler, ethical faith that favoured non-violence, frugality and lending (the Vedic texts frowned on usury).
• Teachers preached in popular languages (Pali, Prakrit) rather than Sanskrit.

Life of Gautama Buddha

The Buddha's personal name was Siddhartha; he was called Shakyamuni (sage of the Shakyas) and Tathagata. The four sights – an old man, a sick man, a dead body and an ascetic – led him to renounce worldly life. After trying severe austerity, he chose the Middle Path between indulgence and self-torture.

Note: many scholars now date the Buddha's death closer to c. 400 BCE; the traditional dates are still the ones usually asked.

Core teachings

Four Noble Truths (Arya Satya):

1. Life is full of suffering (dukkha).
2. Suffering has a cause – desire or craving (tanha/samudaya).
3. Suffering can be ended (nirodha).
4. The way to end it is the Eightfold Path (marga).

Eightfold Path (Ashtangika Marga): right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. These fall into three groups: wisdom (prajna), ethical conduct (shila) and mental discipline (samadhi).

Other key ideas:

• Anatta (no permanent self) and anicca (impermanence) – the Buddha rejected the idea of an eternal soul.
• Karma and rebirth were accepted; nirvana means freedom from the cycle of rebirth.
• Pratityasamutpada (dependent origination): everything arises from causes.
• He was silent on the existence of God and rejected the authority of the Vedas and the varna hierarchy.
• Ahimsa (non-violence), but less extreme than in Jainism.

Three Jewels (Triratna): the Buddha, the Dhamma (teaching) and the Sangha (order of monks and nuns). The sangha admitted women after his foster-mother Mahaprajapati Gautami pleaded, with Ananda's support.

Buddhist literature

The Tripitaka ("three baskets") in Pali:

• Vinaya Pitaka – rules for monks and nuns;
• Sutta Pitaka – the Buddha's discourses; includes the Jataka tales (stories of the Buddha's previous births) and the Dhammapada;
• Abhidhamma Pitaka – philosophy and psychology.

Other texts: Milindapanho (dialogue between the Greek king Menander and the monk Nagasena), Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa (Sri Lankan chronicles), and Buddhacharita by Ashvaghosha (Sanskrit).

Buddhist councils

Schools of Buddhism

• Hinayana / Theravada ("lesser vehicle"; the "teaching of the elders"): the Buddha as a great teacher, individual salvation through self-effort, no idol worship early on; texts in Pali. Spread to Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and South-East Asia.
• Mahayana ("greater vehicle"): the Buddha as a divine figure, image worship, the ideal of the Bodhisattva (who delays his own nirvana to help others – Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri, Maitreya); texts in Sanskrit. Spread to China, Korea, Japan. Key thinker Nagarjuna (Madhyamika school, "Indian Einstein" of Buddhist philosophy), and Asanga/Vasubandhu (Yogachara).
• Vajrayana ("thunderbolt vehicle"): tantric rituals and female deities (Tara); developed in eastern India from the 7th–8th century; spread to Tibet, Bhutan, Mongolia.
• Zen in Japan grew from Chinese Chan Buddhism, a branch of Mahayana.

Spread and decline in India

Reasons for spread: simple teaching in local language, the organised sangha, royal patronage (Ashoka, Kanishka, Harsha, the Palas), opposition to caste, monasteries as centres of learning (Nalanda, Vikramashila, Odantapuri), and trade networks that carried monks along the Silk Road and sea routes.

Reasons for decline (c. 12th century onward):

• the sangha grew wealthy and lost its simplicity;
• Mahayana and Vajrayana grew close to Hindu practices, making Buddhism less distinct; the Buddha came to be seen as an avatar of Vishnu;
• revival of Brahmanism and the Bhakti movement; teachers such as Shankaracharya offered strong philosophical alternatives;
• loss of royal patronage;
• destruction of monasteries such as Nalanda by Bakhtiyar Khalji (c. 1193–1200).

Contribution to Indian culture

• Architecture: stupas (Sanchi, Bharhut, Amaravati), chaityas and viharas (Karle, Ajanta).
• Art: Gandhara and Mathura schools; Ajanta paintings.
• Education: Nalanda and Vikramashila drew students from across Asia.
• Ethics: non-violence, compassion and the middle path influenced Ashoka's dhamma and, much later, Dr B.R. Ambedkar, who embraced Buddhism in 1956 (Navayana).
• Soft power today: the Buddhist circuit, the International Buddhist Confederation, and India's links with East and South-East Asia.

Buddhism beyond India

Buddhism became one of India's greatest cultural exports.

• Sri Lanka: Ashoka sent his son Mahinda and daughter Sanghamitra, who carried a sapling of the Bodhi tree to Anuradhapura.
• South-East Asia: missionaries Sona and Uttara went to Suvarnabhumi (lower Myanmar or Thailand). Later, Borobudur in Java and Angkor's Buddhist phase showed Indian influence.
• Central Asia and China: Kushan-era monks travelled the Silk Road. Kumarajiva translated texts into Chinese. Chinese pilgrims Faxian (Gupta period), Xuanzang (Harsha's period) and Yijing studied at Indian centres and left valuable accounts.
• Tibet: Padmasambhava and Atisha Dipankara (from Vikramashila) carried Vajrayana there.

Mains practice question

Q. "Buddhism was a response to the social and economic changes of the sixth century BCE." Examine. (150 words)

Answer framework:

• Context: second urbanisation, iron agriculture, new merchant classes.
• Response: opposition to costly sacrifice suited farmers; ethics of thrift and non-violence suited traders; rejection of caste hierarchy attracted the lower orders and kshatriyas.
• Limits: Buddhism also had spiritual roots and did not try to overturn the social order completely.
• Conclusion: a religious answer to material and social change, which also spread across Asia.

Quick self-test

1. Who chaired the First Council? *(Mahakassapa)*
2. Who wrote the Buddhacharita? *(Ashvaghosha)*
3. Which school spread to Tibet? *(Vajrayana)*
4. Which Chinese pilgrim visited during Harsha's reign? *(Xuanzang)*

Key terms glossary

• Dukkha, tanha, nirvana: suffering, craving, and release from rebirth.
• Bodhisattva: a being on the path to Buddhahood who helps others.
• Sangha, vihara, chaitya: order of monks, monastery, prayer hall.
• Stupa: a hemispherical mound holding relics; the Sanchi stupa is the best known.
• Upasaka / upasika: male and female lay followers.
• Pabbajja / upasampada: ordination as novice and as full monk.
• Mudras: symbolic hand gestures in Buddhist art, such as bhumisparsha (earth-touching) at enlightenment and dharmachakra at the first sermon.