Unit 8: Religious Movements

I. Historical Orientation

Jainism and Buddhism arose prominently in the sixth century BCE, especially in the middle Gangetic basin, amid urban growth, expanding trade, new kingdoms and dissatisfaction with costly Vedic ritualism. Both belonged to the śramaṇa tradition of renunciation and offered ethical, disciplined paths to liberation.

• Historical setting:
  • The mahājanapadas, including Magadha, Kosala and Vatsa, replaced many smaller tribal societies.
  • Towns, coinage and merchant groups grew during the period often called India’s second urbanisation.
• Common characteristics:
  • Karma and rebirth: Actions bind living beings to repeated birth and suffering.
  • Liberation: Jainism called it kevala-jñāna or moksha; Buddhism called it nirvana.
  • Ethical conduct: Self-control, non-violence and renunciation were valued above sacrifice.
  • Open instruction: Teachings were communicated in languages related to everyday speech rather than restricted to Vedic Sanskrit.
  • Organised communities: Monks, nuns and lay followers created durable religious institutions.
• Important distinction: Jainism accepted an eternal individual soul, or jīva, whereas Buddhism rejected belief in a permanent self through the doctrine of anattā or anātman.

II. Jainism — Liberation through Non-violence and Self-discipline

A. Jainism

Jainism teaches that every living being possesses an eternal soul which can attain liberation by removing karmic matter through right belief, knowledge and conduct.

• Tirthankara tradition: Jain tradition recognises twenty-four Tirthankaras, spiritual teachers who rediscover and proclaim the path to liberation.
  • Parshvanatha: The twenty-third Tirthankara, traditionally dated to the eighth or seventh century BCE, taught four vows.
  • Mahavira: The twenty-fourth Tirthankara systematised the tradition and added celibacy as a distinct fifth vow.
• Three Jewels: The Triratna consists of:
  1. Right faith (samyak darśana).
  2. Right knowledge (samyak jñāna).
  3. Right conduct (samyak chāritra).
• Five great vows: Jain ascetics observe ahiṃsā (non-violence), satya (truth), asteya (non-stealing), aparigraha (non-possession) and brahmacharya (celibacy).
• Doctrine of karma: Karma is understood as subtle matter attaching itself to the soul because of passions and actions; austerity stops new accumulation and removes existing bondage.
• Intellectual principles:
  • Anekāntavāda: Reality has many aspects and cannot be completely expressed from one viewpoint.
  • Syādvāda: Statements are conditional—true from a particular standpoint or under specified conditions.
• Major sects:
  1. Digambaras: Ideally require complete renunciation, symbolised for advanced male ascetics by nudity; their canonical and doctrinal traditions differ from those of the Shvetambaras.
  2. Shvetambaras: Their monks and nuns wear white robes and preserve a canon traditionally associated with the councils of Pataliputra and Valabhi.
• Social base: Jainism became influential among merchants, artisans and some ruling families, particularly in western and southern India.

B. Vardhamana Mahavira's contribution

Vardhamana Mahavira gave Jainism an organised religious form and made rigorous ethical discipline central to its path of liberation.

• Life and renunciation: Mahavira was born at Kundagrama near Vaishali, traditionally in 599 BCE, although some historical reconstructions place him later; he belonged to the Jnatrika clan.
• Enlightenment: After renouncing household life at about thirty, he practised severe austerities for roughly twelve years and attained kevala-jñāna, or perfect knowledge.
• Title and mission: The title Mahavira, “Great Hero,” reflected his conquest of attachment and passion; as a Jina, or “Conqueror,” he taught until his death at Pavapuri.
• Ethical consolidation: He transformed Parshvanatha’s fourfold discipline into the five vows by treating celibacy as an independent obligation.
• Primacy of ahiṃsā: Mahavira extended non-violence to humans, animals, insects, plants and minute life forms; intention, speech and indirect participation also carried moral consequences.
• Fourfold community: He organised Jain society into:
  • Monks.
  • Nuns.
  • Laymen.
  • Laywomen.
• Lay discipline: Household followers observed limited vows, allowing Jain ethics to function outside complete monastic renunciation.
• Language and accessibility: His teachings were transmitted in Ardhamagadhi and related Prakrit traditions, widening their reach beyond Sanskrit-educated ritual specialists.
• Lasting contribution: Mahavira did not claim to create the world or act as a divine saviour; he presented liberation as the result of individual knowledge, restraint and effort.

C. Causes of the decline of Jainism

Jainism did not disappear, but its expansion became regionally restricted because its demanding discipline and changing political environment limited mass acceptance.

• Rigorous asceticism: Fasting, strict non-possession and extreme care against harming life were difficult for cultivators and ordinary householders to practise fully.
• Agrarian limitations: Agriculture inevitably damages plants, insects and soil organisms, creating tension with a strict interpretation of ahiṃsā.
• Restricted geographical spread: Jainism remained strongest in areas such as Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka and parts of Tamil Nadu rather than becoming equally established throughout India.
• Sectarian division: Digambara–Shvetambara differences over clothing, scriptures, monastic practice and women’s liberation weakened institutional unity.
• Loss of patronage: Jain communities benefited from rulers such as Kharavela and several western and southern dynasties, but their position weakened when courts supported Brahmanical traditions or Buddhism.
• Brahmanical adaptation: Hindu traditions increasingly emphasised non-violence, vegetarianism, devotional worship and temple institutions, reducing Jainism’s distinct appeal.
• Limited missionary expansion: Jain insistence on disciplined ascetic leadership produced fewer extensive overseas missions than those undertaken by Buddhist institutions.
• Resilience despite decline: Merchant support, temple networks, manuscript preservation and strong community organisation enabled Jainism to survive continuously.

III. Buddhism — The Middle Way and the End of Suffering

A. Buddhism

Buddhism is a path of ethical conduct, meditation and wisdom directed toward ending suffering and escaping the cycle of rebirth.

• Four Noble Truths:
  1. Dukkha: Conditioned existence involves suffering, instability and dissatisfaction.
  2. Samudaya: Craving, supported by ignorance, causes suffering.
  3. Nirodha: Ending craving makes the cessation of suffering possible.
  4. Magga: The Noble Eightfold Path leads to cessation.
• Eightfold Path: Right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration are grouped under wisdom, morality and meditation.
• Middle Way: Buddhism rejects both sensual indulgence and extreme self-mortification.
• Three marks of existence:
  • Impermanence (anicca).
  • Unsatisfactoriness (dukkha).
  • Absence of a permanent self (anattā).
• Dependent origination: Phenomena arise through causes and conditions; ignorance and craving sustain rebirth.
• Three Jewels: Followers take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha.
• Major traditions: Early schools eventually contributed to Theravada, while Mahayana promoted the Bodhisattva ideal; Vajrayana later incorporated mantras and elaborate ritual practices.

B. Gautama Buddha's contribution

Gautama Buddha formulated a practical explanation of suffering and established a community capable of preserving and spreading his teaching.

• Early life: Siddhartha Gautama was born at Lumbini into the Shakya clan, probably during the sixth or fifth century BCE, and was associated with Kapilavastu.
• Great Renunciation: Encounters with old age, sickness, death and renunciation symbolised his recognition of life’s insecurity.
• Enlightenment: After rejecting severe austerity, he meditated beneath the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya and became the Buddha, the “Awakened One.”
• First sermon: At Sarnath he taught the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path, an event remembered as the “turning of the wheel of Dhamma.”
• Practical method: The Buddha discouraged speculation that did not assist liberation and concentrated on conduct, mental training and insight.
• Social significance: He challenged the claim that spiritual worth depended upon birth, declaring conduct and understanding more important than hereditary status.
• Institutional contribution: He founded the Sangha, established rules for communal monastic life and eventually admitted women into an order of nuns.
• Final event: His death at Kushinagara was understood as mahāparinirvāṇa, final release from rebirth.

C. Factors responsible for the spread of Buddhism

Buddhism spread because its accessible doctrine was supported by organised institutions, political patrons and expanding communication networks.

• Simple ethical teaching: The Four Noble Truths and Middle Way were easier to communicate than elaborate sacrificial procedures.
• Use of regional languages: Teachings preserved in Pali and other Middle Indo-Aryan languages reached wider audiences.
• Organised Sangha: Monasteries trained teachers, preserved texts and provided stable centres for instruction.
• Royal patronage: Emperor Ashoka, after the Kalinga war, supported Buddhist institutions, erected inscriptions and associated dhamma missions with regions including Sri Lanka.
• Merchant support: Traders donated caves, monasteries and stupas along routes connecting cities and ports; sites such as Karle and Nasik benefited from commercial patronage.
• Adaptability: Mahayana devotional practices, Bodhisattvas and image worship made Buddhism accessible to broader communities.
• Educational centres: Institutions such as Nalanda became centres of Buddhist philosophy, debate and manuscript culture.
• International transmission: Monks and merchants carried Buddhism to Sri Lanka, Central Asia, China and Southeast Asia through land and maritime routes.
• Absence of birth barriers: Admission into the Sangha was theoretically based on discipline rather than caste origin, widening its appeal.

D. Buddhist customs and manners

Buddhist customs regulated monastic discipline, lay morality, worship and relations between religious communities and householders.

• Monastic rules: The Vinaya governed admission, robes, alms, residence, confession of offences and settlement of disputes.
• Daily conduct: Monks and nuns depended mainly on alms, avoided luxurious possessions and devoted time to teaching and meditation.
• Lay morality: The Five Precepts prohibit killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech and intoxicants.
• Observance days: On uposatha days, laypeople could visit monasteries, hear sermons and undertake additional vows.
• Rainy-season retreat: During vassa, monks remained in one place, reducing travel-related harm to crops and living creatures.
• Worship practices: Devotees offered flowers, lamps and incense, circumambulated sacred monuments clockwise and honoured relics, Bodhi trees and Buddha images.
• Merit-making: Donations of food, robes, medicines and monasteries generated puñña, or merit, often dedicated to relatives.
• Festivals: Vesak commemorates major events associated with the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and passing.
• Manners and social conduct: Compassion, restrained speech, respect for teachers, hospitality and avoidance of intoxicating or harmful behaviour expressed Buddhist ethics in ordinary life.

IV. Stupa Architecture — Relic Monument and Sacred Symbol

A. Stupa architecture

A stupa is a solid, usually hemispherical Buddhist monument built to enshrine relics or commemorate sacred persons, places and events.

• Origins: Stupas developed from burial mounds; Buddhist tradition associates early stupas with the distribution of the Buddha’s relics after his mahāparinirvāṇa.
• Ashokan phase: Ashoka sponsored or enlarged stupas in the third century BCE, making them prominent symbols of Buddhist patronage.
• Main components:
  • Anda: The hemispherical dome, symbolising the cosmic mound and containing the relic chamber.
  • Medhi: A raised circular terrace used for circumambulation.
  • Harmikā: A square railing at the summit, marking sacred space.
  • Yashti and chattras: A central mast and umbrellas representing dignity, spiritual sovereignty and ascending levels of honour.
  • Vedikā: A stone railing separating the sacred monument from its surroundings.
  • Toranas: Decorated gateways placed at cardinal directions.
• Ritual movement: Worshippers performed pradakṣiṇā, walking clockwise while keeping the sacred monument to their right.
• Sanchi: The Great Stupa, originally associated with Ashokan patronage and later enlarged, possesses richly carved gateways showing Jataka stories and episodes from the Buddha’s life.
• Aniconic representation: Early reliefs often represented the Buddha through an empty throne, footprints, the Bodhi tree or the wheel rather than a human figure.
• Narrative function: Sculptures taught doctrine visually through events, symbols, donors, animals and scenes of urban and courtly life.
• Architectural legacy: The stupa form travelled across Asia, developing into Sri Lankan dagobas, Southeast Asian monuments, Central Asian stupas and East Asian pagodas.