Welcome dear students! Today we are going to learn about Rise of New Religions from Class 6 Social_Science. About 2500 years ago, many new philosophies came into existence that were different from Vedic philosophy. Gautama Buddha and Mahaveera were the harbingers, or forerunners, of these new philosophies. In this lesson, we will discuss their lives and preachings. We will also learn about the functioning of the Sixteen Maha Janapadas, which were kingdoms, and other Republics, or Ganatantra, that existed in the plains of the Ganga and Sindhu rivers. Our learning goals are to know the biographies of Gautama Buddha and Mahaveera, to understand their preachings, to comprehend the relevance of Buddhist and Jain philosophies, and to appreciate the tradition of Republics that existed 2500 years ago. [CHECKPOINT]
Around 2600 years ago, six new religions emerged in the Gangetic plains. Buddhism and Jainism are the most important among them. Gautama Buddha was the founder of Buddhism, and Vardhaman Mahaveera was the important Theerthankara of Jainism. Both were Kshatriyas belonging to a clan of republics. Let us begin with Buddhism. The religion founded by Gautama Buddha was Buddhism, established about 2500 years ago. Gautama Buddha was born in Lumbini near Kapilavastu of Nepal. His childhood name was Siddartha. His father Shudodhana was the head of the Shakya republic. His mother was Mayadevi. His wife was Yashodhara, and Rahul was his son. A sage named Asita, seeing him as an infant, predicted that Siddhartha would either be a king of the world or be a sage who would rid the world of its misery. On hearing these words, King Shudodhana wanted his son to become a king, so he brought him up in luxury and secluded him from the miseries of the world. [CHECKPOINT]
Still, Siddartha remained unhappy. Once, while strolling in the city, he accidentally came across an old man, a diseased man, a sage, and a funeral procession. All four scenes made him renounce worldly things and motivated him to search for the root cause of sorrow. One night, Siddartha left his family and palace on horseback without informing anyone. He sought guidance from many sages on how to remove sorrow, but he could not find an answer about the root of sorrow. Finally, he sat under a peepal tree in Gaya of Bihar and meditated for many days. He became enlightened there, and Siddartha became Buddha. Buddha means one who knows. This place is popularly known as Bodh Gaya. Buddha preached his thoughts to five disciples at Sarnath near Varanasi of present Uttar Pradesh for the first time. This incident is identified as Dharma Chakra Pravartana. [CHECKPOINT]
Later, he travelled around Bihar and other places for about forty years and preached his thoughts. Slowly, the fame of Buddha spread around, and many kings respected him. Finally, Buddha passed away at Kushinagar of Bihar. Now let us learn about Buddha’s teachings. The aim of Buddha’s teachings was to attain knowledge by practicing purity in life and thought. He called this Dhamma. He taught that the world is full of sorrow, and desire is the reason for sorrow. Whoever wins over desire attains Nirvana, which means liberation. He taught the eightfold path to attain Nirvana, which includes right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. This is called Ashtanga Marga. The four stages of Buddha’s life are Mahaparityaga, Jnanodaya, Dharma Chakra Pravartana, and Mahaparinirvana. [CHECKPOINT]
The basic teachings of Buddha are known as the Four Noble Truths and Ashtanga Marga. These state that the world is full of sorrow, desire is the root of sorrow, conquering desire is the way out of sorrow, and Ashtanga Marga is the path to end sorrow. Siddartha is also called Gautama Buddha, Thathagatha, and Shaakyamuni. Buddha made it a rule that his disciples should not consume liquor, practice violence, engage in corruption, or be untruthful. His teachings were easy and popular because he preached them in Pali, the common people’s language. All his teachings were collected in three pitakas by his disciples. They are Vinaya Pitaka, Sutta Pitaka, and Abhidhamma Pitaka. These sacred scriptures of the Buddhists are known as Tripitakas. There is another view that a river dispute made Siddartha leave his palace. There was a dispute over river water sharing between Siddartha’s state and another state. Siddartha opposed his people who were on the verge of war over this issue and later left his palace. This information is found in Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s book. [CHECKPOINT]
Let me share a beautiful story called Buddha’s Message to Kisa Gotami. She lost her only child and was roaming around the streets carrying her dead child in her arms. Seeing her sorry plight, a person took her to Buddha. She wanted her dead child alive. Buddha said, I will certainly make your child alive again. But I need mustard seeds from a house that has no deaths in it so that I can bring back your child to life. Kisa Gotami was very happy and went around to find mustard seeds from a house with no death. But every house had a death in it. A father, mother, sister, brother, son, daughter, grandfather, grandmother, and other relatives had died in every family she visited. Seeing this, Kisa Gotami realized the truth that death is certain and understood the Buddha’s teachings. The Buddha did not write any books. His disciples took notes of his teachings and preserved them. Later, his teachings were compiled in the form of Sutta Pitaka, which is in the Pali language. [CHECKPOINT]
Now let us move on to Jainism and the life of Mahaveera. Mahaveera is the 24th Tirthankara and preached Jainism. He was born 2500 years ago at Kundagrama near Vaishali. His earlier name was Vardhamana. Vardhamana’s father was Siddhartha, who was the head of a clan. Vardhamana’s mother was Trishala Devi. Vardhamana left his home in search of enlightenment. He spent some time as a digambara muni. Later, he spent twelve years in penance and became a Jina. Jina means the one who has conquered attachment, or Moha. His followers are called Jains. Mahaveera preached to all classes. He left his body at Pavapuri in present Bihar. Mahaveera’s teachings focused on non-violence. He wanted his disciples not to commit theft, not to amass wealth, and not to lie. He preached celibacy. Jainism has given more prominence to non-violence than any other religion in the world. [CHECKPOINT]
Mahaveera’s teachings are the continuation of the 23rd Tirthankara, Parshvanatha. Later, two sects named Digambara and Shwethambara emerged in Jainism. The followers of Parshvanatha, who wore white clothes, are Shwethambara. The followers of Mahaveera, who were not clothed, are Digambara. Shravanabelagola of Karnataka is the famous Jain religious centre. There are five moral principles in Jainism. They are Ahimsa, which means non-violence, Satya, which means truth, Asteya, which means non-stealing, Aparigraha, which means non-possession beyond the need, and Brahmacharya, which means keeping senses under control or celibacy. Let us now go back 2500 years to the time of Buddha. There were sixteen kingdoms, big and small, in the Sindhu-Gangetic plain. In Buddhist literature, they are called Mahajanapadas. Among them, Magadha, Kosala, and Vatsa were famous Mahajanapadas, and they were ruled by kings. [CHECKPOINT]
In the same period, many states were ruled by representatives of the people. They were called Republics or Ganarajya. While several republics existed, the most important among them was Vajji, also known as Vriji. It was a union of many republics. Vaishali city of Bihar was its capital. Vajji had a Sabha consisting of elder and younger members taking care of the administration. Members of the Sabha were addressed as Raja. All matters related to the union were discussed at the Sabha meetings. Now let us review some important new words from this chapter. Renunciation means leaving away all the worldly aspirations. Digambara means the one who wears the directions as clothes. Nirvana means the escape from the cycle of births and deaths. Did you know that Buddhism has two main sects called Hinayana and Mahayana? [CHECKPOINT]
Now it is time to practice with the exercises. Let us solve them together. Exercise One asks you to fill in the blanks with suitable words. Number one: Gautama Buddha was born in Lumbini near Kapilavastu of Nepal. Number two: Gautama Buddha preached his teaching in the Pali language. Number three: Jina means the one who has conquered attachment or Moha. Number four: The 23rd Tirthankara of Jainism was Parshvanatha. Number five: The section who wears white clothes belongs to the Shwethambara section of Jainism. Exercise Two asks you to answer the following questions in one sentence. Question six: Who were the parents of Gautama Buddha? The parents of Gautama Buddha were Shudodhana and Mayadevi. Question seven: Where did the Buddha give his first sermon? The Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath near Varanasi of present Uttar Pradesh. [CHECKPOINT]
Question eight: What is the meaning of Dharma Chakra Pravartana? It means the first preaching of Buddha’s thoughts to his five disciples at Sarnath. Question nine: What did Mahaveera preach? Mahaveera primarily preached non-violence, along with truth, non-stealing, non-possession, and celibacy, while advising against theft, amassing wealth, and lying. Question ten: Name the important republics of ancient India. While several republics existed during this period, the most important among them was Vajji or Vriji, a union of republics with its capital at Vaishali. Exercise Three asks you to discuss: What are the teachings of Buddha? The teachings of Buddha aim to attain knowledge through purity in life and thought, known as Dhamma. He taught the Four Noble Truths, stating that the world is full of sorrow, desire is the root of sorrow, conquering desire leads to liberation, and the Ashtanga Marga or eightfold path is the way to end sorrow. He also taught that disciples should not consume liquor, practice violence, engage in corruption, or be untruthful. [CHECKPOINT]
Exercise Four asks you to match the words in Column A with their descriptions in Column B. Let us match them correctly. Number one, Gautama Buddha, matches with D, the founder of Buddhism. Number two, Mahaveera, matches with E, the 24th Tirthankara. Number three, Vajji, matches with A, Republic. Number four, Shravanabelagola, matches with C, religious centre of Jainism. Number five, Tripitaka, matches with B, the sacred books of Buddhists. Finally, let us look at the activities. You are encouraged to know about the Jaina Basadis in your place. You should also collect pictures of Jaina Basadis and prepare an album with information. This will help you connect your learning with real-world heritage sites. Thank you for listening! Keep revising and practicing. Goodbye! [CHAPTER_COMPLETE]