Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings Cultural Developments (600 BCE - 600 CE)

Where is Sanchi Kanakhera located?

Bhopal

What is Therigatha?

Buddhist text part of Sutta Pitaka composed by Bhikkhunis

Who as Punna?

A dasi or slave women

Went to river each morning to fetch water for her master’s household

Who produced one of the earliest works on Sanchi?

Alexander Cunningham

Bhila Topes

When was Sanchi declared a world heritage site?

1989

What were the gateways like?

Richly carved and installed at four cardinal points

Founder of Lokayatas

Ajita Kesakambalim

Founder of Ajivikas

Makkhali Gosala

What did Makkhali Gosala say?

Pleasure and pain cannot be altered in the course of samsara

Ajivakas

What religion was Bimbusara?

Ajivaks

Who said that there are no such thing as alms or sacrifice? Human Beings are made up of four elements

Lokayatas

Ajita Kesakambalin

What are Chaityas?

Sacred Places of Ancient time

Has small shrine

Derived from word chita

Funeral pyre or funerary mound

Difference between Ajivikas and Lokayatas

Ajivikas saw life as predetermined (Fatalists). Believed everything is predetermined. Makkhali Gosala

Lokayatas denied it (materialists)

Ajita Kesakambalim

What is samsara?

Transmigration

Who wrote commentaries of Tripitakas?

Ajatasattu and Ashoka

Three jewels or triratna?

Right knowledge

Right faith

Right Action

Who was Buddha married to?

Yashodhra

Son Rahul

Where did Buddha die?

Kushingar

583 BC

Parents of Buddha

Shuddhodhana and Mahamaya/Mayadavi

Shakya Kshatriya

Thinkers tried to understand the mysteries of existence and the relationship between human being and the?

Cosmic Order

Vedic literatue

Vedas

Brahmanas

Aranyankas

Upanishads

What are the types of Vedas?

Rigveda - Collection of hymns, prayers in praise of god. Most important

Samveda - Collection of songs

Yajurveda - Collection of sacrificial formula

Atharvaveda - Collection of spell and charm

What did the stupa represent?

Mahaparinibbana

Death of Buddha

What did early European scholars see sculptures as?

Grotesque with multiple arms and heads

How to escape from cycle of death and rebirth?

Individual agency and righteous action

What was a unique feature of early temples?

Hollowed out of huge rocks as artificial caves

What is an example for not recognizing sculptures?

Huge rock surface in Mahabalipuram

Some feel it depicts the descent of river Ganga from heaven

Some believe it represents Arjuna doing penance on the river bank in order to acquire arms

What statues were considered good by European scholars?

Those which looked like Greek statues

Like those of Buddha and Bodhisattas

Found in Taxila and Peshawar where Indo-Greek rulers established kingdoms

What strategy did the European scholars adopt?

Devising yardsticks derived from the familiar to make sense of the unfamiliar

What works were considered inferior by the European scholars?

Early Indian sculpture

How were early hollow temples made?

3rd Century BCE on orders of Asoka for those who belonged to Ajivika sect

How did writings in the Puranas evolve?

Through interaction amongst people, priests, merchants, and ordinary men and women

Why did Vishnu transform?

Transformed to save the world when it was threatened by disorder and destruction because of the dominance of evil forces

What did James Ferusson think Sanchi was?

Centre of tree and serpent worship

Why were animals carved in Sanchi?

Created lively scenes to draw viewers

What were women surrounded by lotuses and elephants?

Maya mother of Buddha or Gajalakshmi (goddess of good fortune)

Associated with elephants

What did the tree symbolize?

An event in the life of Buddha

When was Sanchi discovered?

1818

¾ gateways examined

Fourth was lying on the spot where it had fallen

Mound was in good condition

Where were slabs from Amravati taken?

Asiatic Society of Bengal at Calcutta

Indian office in Madras

Some in London

What did H.H. Cole say?

That it was a suicidal and indefensible policy to allow India to be looted of ancient art

Museums should have a plaster-cast of sculpture

Who came to the conclusion that Amravati was one of the most beautiful?

Walter Elliot

1854 Commissioner of Guntur

Took sculpture panels

What did the Raja do?

1796

Used the stone of Amravati stupa

Though treasure was buried there

How were early stupas at Sanchi and Bharhut made?

Plain except for stone railing which resembled a bamboo or wooden fence

What did worshippers do in the stupa?

Entered through eastern gateway and walked around the mound in clockwise direction keeping mound on the right

How was a stupa made?

Anda, Harmika (balcony that represented abode of gods, mast called yashti above harmika which was then surmounted by a chhatri.

A railing was made separating the sacred space from the seculat world

Who financed one of the gateways at Sanchi?

Guild of ivory workers

When

What is Mahaparnibbana Sutta part of?

Sutta Pitaka

Why were men and women allured by Buddhist teaching?

Dissatisfied with existing religious practices and confused by rapid social changes around them

Importance on conduct and values rather than claims of superiority based on birth

Emphasis on metta(fellow feelings) and karuna(compassion) for people who were younger and weaker

Who is a dasi?

A slave women

What is a Sangha?

Organisation of monks who became teachers of dhamma

Founded by Buddha

How was the functioning of the sangha based on?

Ganas and sanghas

Consensus arrived through discussion or vote if that failed

Who were Buddha’s followers?

Kings, wealthy men, and gahapatis

Workers, slaves and craftpeople

What did Buddha regard the social world as?

Creation of humans rather than of divine origin

What did the monks have for survival?

Bowl to receive food

How can humans rise above worldly troubles in Buddhism?

Path of moderation between severe penance and self-indulgence

Was god’s existence important in the early forms of Buddhism?

No

How did the Buddha gain enlightment?

Tried bodily mortification then abandoned that and meditated for several days at attained enlightenment

What did Buddha do for the rest of his life?

Taught Dhamma or the path of righteous living

Order in which Buddha went

Saw old man, then a sick man and then a corpse

How were Jaina texts preserved?

In libraries attached to temples

What are some of the earliest stone sculptures?

Made by devotees of the Jaina tirthankaras

What languages are Jainist texts written in?

Prakrit, Sanskrit and Tamil

What has left its mark on Indian thinking?

Ahmisa

Most important idea in Jainism?

Entire world is animated even stones, rocks and water have life

What is central to Jaina philosophy?

Non-injury to living beings

How did teachers spread messages?

Travelled from place to place, trying to convince one another as well as laypersons

What were sacrifices for?

Well-being of the domestic unit

What is a testimony to successful restoration by the ASI?

Sanchi Stupa

Time when kingdoms and cities were changing in a variety of way in the Ganga valley?

Mid first Millennium BCE

Who did John Marshall dedicate his writings to?

Sultan Jehan successor of Sultan Shahjehan Begum

Who stayed at Sanchi Stupa to examine ruins and take deawings?

Major Alexander Cunningham

Who was the nawab of Bhopal?

Sahjehan Begum

Who was the successor to Shahjehan Begum?

Sultan Jehan Begum

What did the French and British want from Sanchi?

The eastern gateway of the stupa

They were given replicas

How has the Sanchi stupa been preserved?

The begum and her successor gave money to preserve and write books on it

Due to wise decisions.

Who was John Marshall?

Wrote volumes on Sanchi stupa

Who was Agni?

God of fire

What is the turning point of world history?

Mid-first millennium BCE

Iranian thinker

Zarathustra

Chinese thinker

Kong Zi

Greek thinkers

Socrates, Plato and Aristotle

Indian thinkers

Mahavira and Gautama Buddha

When was the Rigveda complied?

1500 and 1000 BCE

Which deities were praised?

Agni, Indra and Soma

What did the Rigveda consist of?

Hymns which were chanted during sacrifices for cattle, sons, long health and good health

Hymns in praise of deities like Agni, Indra and Soma

When were sacrifices performed individually?

1000 BCE - 500 BCE

Which sacrifices did chief and kings perform?

Rajasuya and Ashvamedha

Depended on Brahmana priests to conduct it

How many Buddhists sects were there?

64

What was a hut with a pointed roof called? Debates used to take place here

Kutagarshala

What did the Upanishads say?

People were curious about

Meaning of life

Life after death

Rebirth

What happened if a philosopher convinces one of his rivals?

They would become his disciple.

Sects could grow and shrink

What did Mahavira and Buddha emphasise?

Questioned the Vedas

Men and Women could strive to attain liberation from the trials and tribulation of worldly existence

Not determined by birth

When did the Buddha die?

4-5 century BCE

Who compiled the Buddha’s texts?

Council of elders at Vesali (Vaishali inBihar)

Buddha said everything orally

What does Tipitaka mean?

Three baskets to hold different kinds of text

Each pitaka comprised a number of individual texts

What were the three Pitakas?

Vinaya Pitaka (Rules and regulation for the sangha)

Sutta Pitaka (Buddha teachings)

Abhidhamma Pitaka (Philosophical matters)

What were the new texts in Buddhism?

Dipavamsa (Chronicle of Island)

Mahavamsa (The great chronicle)

Contained biographies of Buddha

Pali later sanskrit

Sri Lanka

Who were the Chinese pilgrims?

Fa Xian and Xuan Zang

Came to India in search of texts and took it back to their country

What languages have the Buddhist scripts been written in?

Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan