Indian art and culture / Religion and philosophy
The Buddha and early Buddhism
Practise 5 PYQsConcepts to cover
- Life: Lumbini, Kapilavastu, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar; epithets Shakyamuni, Tathagata, Sugata; Nayaputta belongs to Mahavira
- Four noble truths, eightfold path, middle path avoiding extremes of penance and enjoyment (unlike Jainism), pratityasamutpada, anatta
- Nirvana as the extinction of the flame of desire (blowing out), not annihilation of self
- What Buddhism and Jainism share: rejection of Vedic authority and ritual efficacy; what they do not: the middle path
- Sangha rules, bhikkhus and bhikkhunis, upasakas and upasikas; shramana, parivrajaka and maagadha (bards) as social types
- Councils: Rajagriha, Vaishali (Mahasanghika split), Pataliputra under Ashoka, Kashmir under Kanishka; spread to Sri Lanka and Central Asia
Where to study
Themes in Indian History Part I, Class XII, Theme 4 Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings: Cultural Developments
- Theme 4 Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings, pp. 1-33 (printed 82-114)
- Theme 4 Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings, 4. The Buddha and the Quest for Enlightenment, pp. 8-9 (printed 89-90)
- Theme 4 Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings, 5. The Teachings of the Buddha, p. 10 (printed 91)
- Theme 4 Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings, 5. The Teachings of the Buddha (nibbana), pp. 10-11 (printed 91-92)
- Theme 4 Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings, 3. Beyond Worldly Pleasures: The Message of Mahavira; 5. The Teachings of the Buddha, pp. 7-10 (printed 88-91)
- Theme 4 Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings, 6. Followers of the Buddha; Rules for monks and nuns, pp. 11-13 (printed 92-94)
- Theme 4 Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings, 11. Can We 'See' Everything? (upasaka, shramana, parivrajaka), p. 26 (printed 107)
- Theme 4 Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings, 2. The Background: How Buddhist texts were prepared and preserved (councils), p. 5 (printed 86)
Our Pasts I, Class VI, ch. 6 New Questions and Ideas
- ch. 6 New Questions and Ideas, pp. 1-10 (printed 57-66)
- ch. 6 New Questions and Ideas, The story of the Buddha, pp. 1-2 (printed 57-58)
- ch. 6 New Questions and Ideas, The story of the Buddha (the Buddha's teachings), pp. 1-2 (printed 57-58)
- ch. 6 New Questions and Ideas, The sangha; Monasteries, pp. 6-7 (printed 62-63)
India’s Ancient Past · R. S. Sharma
- ch. 14
Tamil Nadu State Board Class XI History, Volume I
- Lesson 3 Rise of Territorial Kingdoms and New Religious Sects, pp. 46-61 (printed 42-57)
- Lesson 3 Rise of Territorial Kingdoms and New Religious Sects, 3.6 Buddhism (life of the Buddha), pp. 54-55 (printed 50-51)
- Lesson 3 Rise of Territorial Kingdoms and New Religious Sects, 3.6 Buddhism (the four noble truths and the eightfold path), pp. 54-57 (printed 50-53)
- Lesson 3 Rise of Territorial Kingdoms and New Religious Sects, 3.6 Buddhism (Nirvana), pp. 54-57 (printed 50-53)
- Lesson 3 Rise of Territorial Kingdoms and New Religious Sects, 3.3 Emergence of Heterodox Thinkers; Heterodox Sects, pp. 49-50 (printed 45-46)
- Lesson 3 Rise of Territorial Kingdoms and New Religious Sects, Buddhist Councils, pp. 55-56 (printed 51-52)
- Lesson 4 Emergence of State and Empire, Third Buddhist Council, p. 70 (printed 66)