India
India is why we love Social
Studies
Chapter 3.3 &3.2: Empires of
India
•
Hinduism and Buddhism
–
The Beliefs of Hinduism
–
No single founder or no single sacred texts like most
major religions
» Probably happened slowly over time and began
when the Aryans added the gods of the Indus
people to their own gods
» More gods added later making Hinduism very
complex with countless gods and goddesses and
many forms of worship
» Still, all Hindus share certain basic beliefs
Many Gods – or One?
All of the universe is part of the
unchanging, all-powerful spiritual
force called Brahman
Brahman is too complex a force for
most people to understand, so they
worship a variety of gods that give a
concrete form to Brahman
Most important gods
Brama, the Creator
Vishnu, the Preserver
Shiva, the Destroyer
All gods can take many forms
human or animal, and also has his
own family
Sacred Texts
Hindu teachings were recorded
over several thousand years in the
Vedas and Upanishads
The Bhagavad-Gita spells out
many ethical ideas central to
Hinduism…duty over personal
desires
The Goal of Life
Every person has an essential self or atman
(another name for Brahman)
The ultimate goal of existence is achieving
moksha or unison with Brahman
A person must free themselves from selfish
desires that separate them from Brahman…cannot
do this in one lifetime
Reincarnation is the rebirth of the soul into
another bodily form and allows people to continue
working toward moksha through several lifetimes
Karma and Dharma
Can come closer to moksha by obeying the
law of karma
Karma is the actions of a person’s life that
affect his or her fate in the next life
Hindus rank all existence
Humans are closest to Brahman
Then, animals, plants, and objects
like rocks and water
If you live a virtuous life, you are
reborn at a higher level of
existence
If you do evil, you acquire bad karma
and are reborn into suffering
Endless cycle of rebirth is
symbolized by the image of the
wheel in Indian art
Dharma
» Dharma is the religious and moral
duties of an individual
» These duties vary according to
class, occupation, gender, or age
» By obeying dharma, a person
acquires merit for the next life
» Escape the wheel of fate by
following dharma
» The concepts of dharma and karma
helped ensure the social order by
supporting the caste system
» Another key moral principle of
Hinduism is ahimsa (uh HIM sah) or
nonviolence
» All people and things are aspects of
Brahman and should be respected
» Many holy people have tried to
follow the path of nonviolence
– Opposition to the Brahmins
» 500 BC Mahavira (muh hah VEE
ruh) founded Jainism (JIN ihz um),
a new religion that grew out of
Hindu traditions
» Rejected the idea that Brahmin
priests alone could perform
certain sacred rites
» Emphasized meditation, selfdenial and an extreme form of
ahimsa
» To avoid accidentally killing even
an insect, Jains carried brooms to
sweep the ground in front of their
feet
– Gautama Buddha: The Enlightened One
– Siddhartha Gautama…beliefs
eventually spread through Asia to
become the core beliefs of one of the
world’s most influential religions
– Early Life
» Born about 566 BC to a high-caste
family
» Prophet said because of mother’s
dream, that he would someday
become a wandering holy man
» Father kept him in the palace
surrounded by comfort and
luxury…he married, had a son,
and lived a happy life
– The Search
» Rode beyond the palace wall one day and
saw a sick person, an old person, and a
dead person
» For the first time, he became aware of
human suffering
» Said goodbye to his wife and set out to
find “the realm of life where there is
neither suffering nor death”
»Wandered for years seeking answers
from Hindu scholars and holy
men…fasted and meditated
»Stayed under a giant tree, determined
to stay there until he understood the
mystery of life
»For 48 days, evil spirits tempted him
to give up his meditations
»Finally, he arose as Buddha, the
“Enlightened One”
The Four Noble Truths
• 1. Life means suffering
• 2. The origin of suffering is attachment
• 3. The cessation of suffering is
attainable
• 4. The path to the cessation of suffering
– Four Noble Truths
» Spent the rest of his life teaching
others what he had learned
» In his first sermon, he explained the
four noble truths that lay at the heart
of Buddhism
» All life is full of suffering, pain and
sorrow
» The cause of suffering is the desire
for things that are really illusions,
such as riches, power, and long life
» The only cure for suffering is to
overcome desire
» The way to overcome desire is to
» The Eightfold Path was right views,
right aspirations, right speech, right
conduct, right livelihood, right effort,
right mindfulness, and right
contemplation
» The first two steps involved
understanding the Four Noble Truths
and committing oneself to the
Eightfold Path
»Next, a person had to live a moral life,
avoiding evil words and actions
»Through meditation, a person might
at last achieve enlightenment
»The final goal is nirvana, union with
the universe and release from the
cycle of rebirth
•
The Buddha saw the Eightfold Path as a
middle way between a life devoted to
pleasure and one based on semidenial…stressed moral principles such
as honesty, charity, and kindness to all
living creatures
– Buddhism and Hinduism Compared
» Both stressed nonviolence and
believed in karma, dharma, moksha,
and a cycle of rebirth
» Differed in several ways
» Buddha rejected the priests, formal
rituals, and many gods of
Hinduism…urged each person to
seek enlightenment through
meditation
» Buddhists rejected the caste system
offering the hope of nirvana to all
regardless of birth
Spread of Buddhism
Many were attracted to Buddhism
Set up monasteries and convents for
meditation and study…some became
major centers of learning
Death is clouded in legend…at age 80
supposedly ate spoiled food and
gave advice to work out salvation
with diligence
– Sacred Texts
» Works collected into a sacred text
called the Tripitaka or “Three
Baskets of Wisdom”
» Example of one of the “baskets”
includes Hindu emphasis on duty or
the Buddhist version of the Golden
Rule
– Two Sects
» Missionaries and traders spread
Buddhism across India to many
parts of Asia
» Buddhism split into two major sects
or smaller groups called Theravada
(ther uh VAH duh) Buddhism and
Mahayana (mah huh YAH nuh)
Buddhism
•
» Theravada is close to Buddha’s
original teachings and required a life
devoted to hard spiritual work
» Only dedicated seekers, like monks
and nuns, could hope for nirvana
» Spread to Sri Lanka and Southeast
Asia
» Mahayana made Buddhism easier
for ordinary people to follow
Even though Buddha had forbidden followers
to worship him, they pictured him and other
holy beings as compassionate gods for help in
solving daily problems as well as achieving
salvation
» Buddha had said little about the
nature of nirvana, but the
Mahayana described an afterlife
filled with many heavens and
hells
» Spread to China, Tibet, Korea,
and Japan
– Decline in India
» Buddhism slowly declined in India
» Hinduism eventually absorbed
some Buddhist ideas and made
room for Buddha as another
Hindu gods
» A few Buddhist centers survived
until the 1100s when they fell to
Muslim armies that invaded India
Pillars of Indian Life
•
The Complex Caste System
– Complex Rules
» Castes were linked to Hindu beliefs…higher castes
were purer and closer to moksha than someone
form a lower caste
» Web of complex rules governed every aspect of life
» Where people lived, what they ate, how they
dressed, and how they earned a living
» Rules forbade marrying outside one’s caste or
eating with members of another caste
» High caste people had the strictest rules to protect
them from the spiritually polluted, or impure lower
castes
» For the lowest-ranked outcastes, ro
“Untouchables”, life was harsh and restricted
» Impure jobs such as digging graves, cleaning
streets, or turning animal hides into leather
» Other castes feared that contact with the
“Untouchables” could spread pollution
» Untouchables had to live apart and sound a
wooden clapper to warn of their approach
» Despite inequalities, caste ensured a stable social
order
» People believed that the law of karma determined
their caste
» While they could not change their status in this life,
they could reach a higher state in a future life by
faithfully fulfilling the duties of their present caste
» Caste system gave people a sense of identity and
interdependence
» Each caste had its own occupation and its own
leaders
» Caste members cooperated to help one another
» Each caste had its own special role in Indian
society as a whole
» Although separated, different castes depended on
one another for their basic needs…carpenter built
house of a scholar
» Caste system also adapted to changing conditions
absorbing foreigners and new occupations into their
own castes
Family Life
» Ideal family was the joint family in which parents,
children, grandchildren, uncles, and their offspring
shared a common dwelling
» Only achieved by the wealthy because others did
not live long enough
» Still, close ties linked brothers, uncles, cousins, and
nephews
» Indian family was patriarchal…father headed the
household
» Enjoyed great authority
» Still, power was limited by sacred laws and
traditions and he usually made decisions after
consulting his wife and other family members
» Property belonged to the whole family
Children and Parents
» From an early age, children learned their family
duties which included obeying caste rules
» Family interests came before individual wishes
» Children worked in the fields with older relatives or
at a family trade
» Daughter learned at an early age that she would
have to serve and obey her husband’s family
» A son learned the rituals to honor the family’s
ancestors…deepened family bonds through the
generations
» Parents had to arrange a good marriage for their
children based on caste and family interests
» Marriage customs varied
» In Northern India, a bride’s family provided a dowry
or payment to the bridegroom and financed the
wedding festivities
» After marriage, the daughter left her home and
became part of her husband’s family