Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism

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There are certain similarities and distinction between Brahmanism and Jainism and Buddhism.

Buddha did not give a new divine book to his followers; nor did he condemn any fundamental belief of the Brahmanical religion. The principle of Karma on which Buddhist laid great emphasis was not new.

In the latter Vedic period, the Karma philosophy was explained in DharmaShastra and Sutra literature. ‘Pari Nirvana’ of Buddhists was also not something new. The highest ideal of a follower of the Vedas was to attain Moksha-freedom from birth and death; and this is the highest goal of the Buddhists also.

The eight fold path of the Buddhists contained only those great principle of mortality which were taught by the Vedic Rishis.

Buddhists and Hindus both, in the beginning, had no faith in idol worship.

There were a number of points on which Brahmanism and Buddhism differed radically. In the first instance, Brahmanism believed in and worshipped a number of nature-Gods. Buddhists denied the existence of a personal God. Buddha held that there was a universal law-Dharma which controlled the universe, and this Force of Power could not be bribed by prayers of the votary. It is good deeds and not prayers, and chanting of mantras, performing of sacrifices that can lead to Moksha.

The Buddhist also condemned the cast system, and the Sanskrit language held no sanctity for them. They held that all were born equal and no person could claim any superiority in the sphere of religion, simply by virtue of birth. Good deeds and not birth determine one’s position in the society.

Besides, Buddhism was a missionary religion. It had its Sangha-an organization whose special duty was to carry the message of Buddha to every home. Bhikshus and Bhikshunis devoted all their life to the spreading of the faith.

On the other hand, the Brahmanas had no such organization. They had Sanyasis who were to uplift the people in the sphere of religion; but those Sanyasis were not as organized.

The Buddhists believed in non-violence or Ahimsa. Injury to animals was a great sin.

But Hinduism had no faith in non-violence. The Brahmans performed animal sacrifices to please their Gods. They were materialistic and did not look down upon war. Even their God Indra used to fight against the God of evil, Vratra, who was with holding rain from the people.

Brahmanism and Jainism, too, are fundamentally not different. Both believed in Karma and Moksha. Both lay emphasis on morality. But in matters of detail they have wide differences. The Jains, unlike the Buddhists, do not deny the existence of God altogether. They carry the principle of Ahimsa to extreme. According to Mahavira, even the plants, stones and fire have life and non life is to be destroyed or injured. Brahmanism has no faith in such things.

The Jains hold that death by gradual starvation is a noble thing. The Brahmans consider it a sin. The Jains consider wearing of cloths as something irreligious, but Brahmans do not go to such an extreme.

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Tags: buddha, buddhism, hinduism, indra, jainism, moksha

Rise and Fall of Jainism

Svetambaras and Digambaras are main sects of Jains. The Svetambaras wear white robes where as the Digambaras use no clothes. The former are the followers of Parsava while the latter of Mahavira.

Jainism remained confined to India and never attempted distant conquest. Chief activity of Jainism was in Gujarat, Malwa and Rajputana where they are still an influential community.

Early literary development of the Kanarese and Tamil languages was due to a great measure to the labours of the Jain monks.

Their doctrine of ‘ahimsa’ had also greatly modified Hinduism.

Jainism was a popular religion and still exists in India with a large following. The Jain Tirthankaras were adored in temples with the passage of time and, by the Middle Ages their worship was very near to the Hindus with offerings of flowers, incense, lamps etc.

Jainism proved more accommodating to Hinduism and did not offer serious hostility.

According to Jainism all knowledge is probable and relative and thus possesses a tolerant spirit of accommodation with other religions. These factors helped in its progress and are responsible for its existence in present-day India.

However, various factors contributed to its decline in India.

• Absence of popular religious preachers after the death of Mahavira
• Division into two sects, absence of protection by the later rulers
• Revival of Hinduism under the Gupta, Chola, Chalukya and Rajput kings

Jainism has helped enriching Indian culture, in the fields of literature, architecture and sculpture. The language of its religious texts of Jainism had been Prakrit. It gave a literary shape to some spoken languages of India. Its contribution to art reached its zenith in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

The temples and idols are still existing in cities such as Mathura, Gwalior, Junagarh, Chittor, Abu and other places of Rajasthan, Bundelkhand, Mysore and Orissa. These have been accepted as the best specimens of Indian architecture and sculpture. Out of these well known are particularly the temples of Abu, the Jain tower at Chittorgarh, the elephant caves of Orissa and the 70 feet high idol of Gomateshwara or Bahubali in Mysore.

The original texts of Jains were called Purvas and were 14 in number. In the third century B.C. a Jain council held at Patliputra arranged them in twelve parts known as Angas. the twelfth Anga was lost in the course of time. The remaining eleven Angas were again arranged by a Jain council held at Valabhi in the fifth century A.D. These books were written in the Prakrit language.

Digambaras, constituted their own texts because they did not recognize these angas.

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The Buddhism in India

Buddhism is the religion that made first bold attempt to solve our social problems. It boldly challenged caste system and inequality in the system. It raised a voice against bad customs and practices which Hinduism had adopted.

Buddhism challenged untouchability and spread the teaching that we should not accept religious dogma blindly. It taught us reason, love, pity, benevolence and the spirit of forgiveness.

Buddhism also preached non-violence. it also challenged authority of our religious books. It created a sense of respect for the women.

Buddhism had deep impact on Hinduism. Buddhism exposed the weaknesses of Hinduism.

Costly rituals, sacrifices were challenged. Buddhism believed that in religion blind faith should have no place.

In a sense Buddhism prompted revolt against Vedic religion.

It propagated the philosophy of equality of man. This was in stark opposition to caste system of Hinduism. Buddha’s great eight-fold path very significantly developed ethics and simplicity in society.

Buddhism appealed to the people and got attracted to it. It gave religions philosophical simplicity. It helped in the contribution of literature.

For the spread of Buddhism, monasteries, rock pillars, rock caves and images of Lord Buddha were made. These became beautiful art pieces. In this way Buddhism very much helped in the promotion of art. Buddhist missionaries also went abroad for the spread of their religion and thus India’s prestige in foreign countries was enhanced enormously.

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Tags: bharat, buddh, buddhism, caste system, hinduism, india, monk, sanskrit, untouchability, vedic religion

The Hinduism in India

Hinduism forms the basis of Hindu society and is the ancientmost religion of India.

Hindu society, to begin with was evil free. It was a society in which there was no caste system.

The people believed in simple living and purity of character, had simple food habits and simple customs and ceremonies. The deterioration came later With the passage of time and evils crept up in our society. Casteism, inferior treatment to women,dowry, sati and child marriage are few examples.

Hinduism produced vast literature. The Upnishads occupy a very important place in it. It is in the Upnishads that such complex and complicated questions have been discussed as what is maya, soul, the philosophy of rebirths, kama and mukti (or salvation).The Upnishads do not encourage unnecessary religious practices and ceremonies. Throughout there is keen desire for probing the problem and finding a solution for the same.

The spirit of enquiry is all pervading in these Upnishads.Truth, knowledge and immortality are the basis round which everything revolves in the Upnishads. These help solving very complex and complicated problems of life.

The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are religious books of Hindus. Both these books throw a lot of light on the life and society of those days.

In Ramayana age there was no love for power. For the sake of his father Rama will leave his throne and go to the Jungles.

There was immense love among the brothers. Lakshmana will accompany his brother and Bharat will not sit on the throne as according to him it was the trust of his brother. Not only this but there was the highest regard for the women.

But conditions had drastically changed under Mahabharata. Now there was quarrel among the brothers for getting the throne. The respect for women had come down. She was put on dice.

The Vedas and the Sastras however, shine unabated in our religious literature. No other religious piece of work can occupy better religious position than these. Among the Hindus they are great source of inspiration.

Bhagwat Gita tells us about the philosophy of life and death. It contains the sermons which Lord Krishna gave to Arjuna on the battlefield. These are eternal for every Hindu.

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