Nitin Singhania Test: Buddhism And Jainism - 1 - UPSC

The correct answer is D: All of them. Here's an explanation for each of the Triratna (Three Jewels) of Buddhism:
1. Buddha - The enlightened one**
- Represents Siddhartha Gautama, who achieved enlightenment and became the Buddha
- Symbolizes the ultimate goal of Buddhists: to reach enlightenment and free themselves from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (samsara)
2. Dhamma - Teachings of Buddha**
- Refers to the teachings and principles set forth by the Buddha during his lifetime
- Includes the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, and other ethical guidelines for living a moral and compassionate life
- Allows Buddhists to follow the path towards enlightenment
3. Sangha - The monastic order**
- Represents the community of monks, nuns, and lay followers who practice Buddhism together
- Provides support, guidance, and resources for those on the path towards enlightenment
- Helps to The correct answer is D: All of them. Here is an explanation of each jewel:

The basic tenets of Buddhism are explained through the four major Noble truths. They are

1. The truth of suffering (Dukkha)
2. The truth of the origin of suffering (Samudaya)The correct answer is D: None of them. The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism are not correctly matched in the given options. Here is the correct matching:

1. Dukkha - The truth of suffering:
- Life is full of suffering, dissatisfaction, and impermanence.
- This includes physical, emotional, and mental suffering.
2. Samudaya - The truth of the origin of suffering:
- Suffering arises from attachment, desire, and craving.
- It is caused by ignorance of the true nature of reality and the craving for existence.
3. Nirodha - The truth of the cessation of suffering:
- Suffering can be ended by eliminating attachment, desire, and craving.
- This is achieved through understanding the true nature of reality and letting go of attachments.
4. Magga - The truth of the path to the cessation of suffering:
- The path to end suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path, which consists of right understanding, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
- By following this path, one can attain enlightenment and be free from suffering.

3. The truth of the cessation of suffering (Nirodha)

4. The truth of the path to the cessation of suffering (Magga)

The Correct Answer is A: Pali

Tripitakas Written in Pali:
The Tripitakas, also known as the Pali Canon, are the sacred scriptures of Theravada Buddhism.
- These texts were written in Pali, an ancient Indian language closely related to Sanskrit.
- Pali was the language used by the Buddha and his followers, making it an important language for preserving and transmitting Buddhist teachings.
- The Tripitakas consist of three main sections: the Vinaya Pitaka, Sutta Pitaka, and Abhidhamma Pitaka.
Vinaya Pitaka: This section contains rules and regulations for monks and nuns, as well as stories about the Buddha and the early Buddhist community.
Sutta Pitaka: This section contains discourses and teachings of the Buddha, as well as dialogues between the Buddha and his disciples.
Abhidhamma Pitaka: This section contains detailed analysis and interpretation of the Buddha's teachings, focusing on philosophical and psychological aspects of Buddhism.
- The Tripitakas were passed down orally for centuries before being written down in Pali during the first century BCE.
- The Pali Canon is considered the most authoritative and complete collection of Buddhist texts in the Theravada tradition, and it continues to be studied and revered by Buddhists worldwide.

Answer: D. Neither of them
Explanation:
Vishuddhimagga: This text is a treatise on Theravada Buddhism, not Mahayana Buddhism. It was written by Buddhaghosa, a 5th-century Indian Theravadin Buddhist commentator, and serves as a comprehensive manual on Theravada teachings and meditation practices.
Emperor Ashoka: He is known for his patronage of Buddhism, but he primarily supported the Theravada sect rather than the Mahayana sect. Ashoka is credited with spreading Buddhism throughout his empire and beyond, but his support was mainly directed towards the more conservative Theravada tradition. Mahayana Buddhism developed and gained prominence later, after Ashoka's reign.

Other Prominent personalities associated with Buddhism:

1. Nagasena: He answered questions about Buddhism posed by Menander I (or Milinda), the Indo-Greek king, and the conversation is recorded in the book Milinda Panho around 150 BC.

2. Nagarjuna: lived around 150 AD-250 AD and founder of the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana Buddhism

3. Vasubandhu: A proponent of Mahayana Buddhism in the 4th-5th century AD from Gandhara and wrote from the Sarvastivada and Sautrantika schools' perspectives.

4. Bodhidharma: lived around 5th or 6th century AD and transmitted Buddhism to China.

5. Buddhaghosa: A 5th-century Indian Theravada Buddhist commentator and scholar famous for his work Visuddhimagga (Path of Purification)

6. Padmasambhava: A 8th-century monk and is contemplated as 'second Buddha' across Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Himalayan States of India.

7. Atisa: a Buddhist Bengali religious leader and master and is one of the major figures in the spread of 11th-century Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism in Asia. He inspired Buddhist thought from Tibet to Sumatra

8. Dalai Lama: They are modern spiritual leaders of the Yellow Hat school of Tibetan Buddhism.

• Jainism, like Buddhism, rejects the authority of Vedas. However, unlike Buddhism, it believes in the existence of the soul (atman). The soul is the core and fundamental focus of Jain philosophy.

• It is the soul that experiences existence and gains knowledge, not mind nor body as both are believed to be a heap of matter.

• Basics about Vardhamana Mahavira In around 540 BC, Prince Vardha 540 BC. Prince Vardhamana was born at Kundalgram in Vaishali to King Siddhartha and Queen Trishala, who ruled over the Jnatrika clan.

• At the age of 30, he went through a touching journey and left his home to live an ascetic life. According to Jain Holy books, on the 10th day of Vaishakha, he reached the town of Pava near Patna where he found the truth of life, i.e., Kevalya.

• He was given the title 'Mahavira' or the great hero. Some of the other titles given to him are Jaina or jitendriya, i.e., one who conquers all his senses and nirgrantha or the one who is free from all bonds.

• Monks of the Digambara tradition do not wear clothes as this sect believes in complete nudity.

• Female monks wear unstitched plain white sarees and are called Aryikas.

• Digambaras follow all the five constraints (Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Aparigraha and Brahmacharya) as per the teachings of Mahavira, unlike Svetambaras.

• Bhadrabahu was an exponent of Digambara sect, and he moved to Karnataka along with his disciples after predicting a long famine.

• The earliest record of Digambara beliefs is contained in the Prakrit Suttapahuda of Kundakunda.

• Digambara Jains believe that women can't be Tirthankaras and that Malli was a man

• Monasticism rules are more rigid under Digambara School.

Svetambara School: Its three sub-sects include:

1. Sthanakvasi: They believe in praying to Saints rather than to an idol in a temple. The saints wear a muhapatti near their mouth to cover it unlike Murtipujakas

2. Murtipujak (Deravasi): They keep idols of the Tirthankaras at their temples and worship them, and the saints do not wear a muhapatti.

3. Terapanthi: They pray to saints rather than to an idol in a temple, like Sthanakavasi. Terapanthi saints also wear a muhapatti near their mouth to cover it.

• The Great Elect, Maha Sammata, was the first monarch of the world.

• The chronicles of Theravada Buddhist tradition such as Mahavamsa and Maha Yazawin state that he was the Shakya dynasty founder, to which the historical Buddha belonged.

• He was the first of the eleven world monarchs named Maha Sammata, each of whom founded the eleven dynasties that existed from the beginning to Buddha's day.

• Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has gifted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a Samadhi Buddha statue.

• The Samadhi Buddha is a famous statue situated at Mahamevnawa Park in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. The Buddha is depicted in the Dhyana Mudra position, the meditation posture associated with his first Enlightenment. This statue is 7 feet 3 inches in height and carved from dolomite marble.

• The Jataka tales are a voluminous body of literature concerning the previous births of Gautama Buddha in human and animal forms.

• The future Buddha may appear as a king, an outcast, an elephant, a god-but, in whatever form, he exhibits some virtue that the tale inculcates.

• In Theravada Buddhism, the Jatakas are a textual division of the Pali Canon, included in the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Sutta Pitaka.

• The term Jataka may also refer to a traditional commentary on this book.

• Many stupas in northern India are said to mark locations from the Jataka tales; the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang reported several.

• The setting in motion of the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta or Promulgation of the Law Sutta is a Buddhist text that is considered a record of the first teaching given by Gautama Buddha after he attained enlightenment.

• According to tradition, Buddha gave this teaching in Samath, India, to the 'five ascetics', his former companions with whom he had spent six years practising austerities.

• The main topic of this Sutra is the Four Noble Truths, which are the central teachings of Buddhism that provide a unifying theme, or conceptual framework, for all of the Buddhist thoughts.

• This Sutra also introduces the Buddhist concepts of the middle way, impermanence, and dependent origination.

• In early Indian Buddhism, Bodhisattva was primarily used to refer specifically to Gautama Buddha in his former life.

• From the Jataka tales, Bodhisattva originally meant the Buddhism practitioner of austerities.

• In later Theravada literature, the term 'Bodhisatta' is used fairly frequently in the sense of someone on the path to liberation.

• According to some Mahayana sources, a Bodhisattva is someone on the path to full Buddhahood. Others speak of Bodhisattvas renouncing Buddhahood.

• However, under the new tradition, the most accepted definition is the one who aspires to become Buddha as soon as possible and then help sentient beings.

Janma (Birth)—  Symbols is Lotus and Bull.
Mahaparinirvana (Death)—  Symbols is Stupa.
Dharmachakra pravartana (First Sermon)—  Symbols is Wheel.

• Gautama's three main disciples known as Upali, Ananda and Mahakashyap, remembered his teachings and passed them on to his followers.

• It is believed that soon after Buddha's death, a council was called at Raj agriha where Upali recited the Vinaya Pitaka (rules of the order), and Ananda recited the Sutta Pitaka (Buddha's sermons or doctrines and ethics).

• Sometime later, the Abhidhamma Pitaka consisting of the Buddhist philosophy came into existence.

• It is the last of the three pitakas constituting the Pali Canon, the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism.

• It is a detailed scholastic reworking of material appearing in the Suttas, according to schematic classifications. It contains summaries or enumerated lists and not systematic philosophical treatizes.

• There is no sutra in Buddhism called a Wheel sutra.

• Lotus, heart and Diamond are nicknames ascribed much later to the core Mahayana texts in Buddhism.

• Saddharma Pundarika Sutra (Lotus Sutra): This sutra was written by several Indian philosophers over hundreds of years, and led to the gradual formation of Mahayana Buddhism over that period.

• It is one of the most popular and influential Mahayana sutras. According to Paul Williams, "For many East Asian Buddhists, since early times, the Lotus Sutra contains the final teachings of the Buddha, complete and sufficient for salvation.

• The Heart Sutra is a popular sutra in Mahayana Buddhism. Its Sanskrit title, Prajnaparamitahrdaya, can be translated as "The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom". The Heart Sutra has often cited as the best- known and most popular Buddhist scripture. It is prevalent in East Asia and is highly respected by Tibetan Buddhism.

• Translated into various languages over a broad geographic range, the Diamond Sutra is one of the most influential Mahayana sutras in East Asia. It is particularly prominent within the Chan (or Zen) tradition.

• The title relies on the vajra's power (diamond or thunderbolt, but also an abstract term for a powerful weapon) to cut things as a metaphor for the type of wisdom that cuts and shatters illusions to get to ultimate reality.

• It refers primarily to the later schools of Buddhism philosophy founded by Nagarjuna.

• According to Madhyamaka school of Buddhism, all phenomena (dharmas) are empty (sunya) of 'nature', a 'substance' or 'essence' (svabhava), which gives them 'solid and independent existence' because they are dependently co-arisen.

• But this 'emptiness' itself is also 'empty': it does not exist independently, nor does it refer to a transcendental reality beyond or above phenomenal reality.

• Vinaya Pitaka ('Basket of Discipline') is the oldest and smallest of the three Buddhist canonical Tipitaka ('Triple Basket'). According to rules attributed to Buddha, Vinaya Pitaka is the one that regulates monastic life and the daily affairs of monks and nuns.

• It varies less from school to a school than does either the Sutta (discourses of Buddha and his disciples) or Abhidhamma (scholastic) sections of the canon.

• The rules themselves are basically the same even for Mahayana schools. However, some of the latter greatly extended the accompanying narrative and commentarial material.

• Buddha taught that sometimes, even if we get what we want, we are not satisfied, and want even more (or want other things). Buddha described this as thirst or tanlia.

• He taught that the following moderation could remove this constant craving in everything.

• Buddha was against the passive dying out of karma by practising immobile asceticism.

• He said one could not be liberated by this practice that involves sitting motionlessly for extended periods of time.

• Jetavana Grove, one of the eight major sites relating to Buddha's life, has long served as one of the major destinations for Buddhist pilgrims.

• The grove is located inside the ancient city of Sravasti (Savatthi, Pali) in the Indian state now known as Uttar Pradesh.

• During his ministry, Buddha was said to have spent 25 out of the 45 rainy seasons at or around this grove; he also delivered a wide range of teachings transmitted in canonical sutras and performed many miracles.

• As the legend is told, the grove was given to Buddha as a gift from both Anathapindika, a wealthy merchant, and Prince Jetakumara after a boastful challenge to cover the grounds' entirety with gold was met.

• It was the second vihara donated to Gautama Buddha after the Venuvana in Rajgir.

• Inscribed in 2012 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Buddhist chanting of Ladakh is an important part of monastic life.

• In the Ladakh region's monasteries and villages, Buddhist lamas (priests) chant sacred texts representing Buddha's spirit, philosophy, and teachings.

• Two forms of Buddhism are practised in Ladakh-Mahayana and Vajrayana-and, there are four major sects, namely, Nyingma, Kagyud, Shakya and Geluk. Each sect has several forms of chanting, practised during life-cycle rituals and on important days in the Buddhist and agrarian calendars.

• Chanting is undertaken for the spiritual and moral well-being of the people, for purification and peace of mind, to appease evil spirits' wrath or invoke the blessings of various Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, deities and rinpoches.

• The chanting is performed in groups, either sitting indoors or accompanied by a dance in monastery courtyards or private houses.

• The Madhyamaka school of Buddhism, the followers of which are called Madhyamakas, was one of the two principal schools of Mahayana Buddhism in India, the other school being the Yogacara.

• The school's name refers to the claim made of Buddhism in general that it is a middle path (madhyama pratipad) that avoids the two extremes of eternalism- the doctrine explaining that all things exist of an eternal essence-and annihilationism-the doctrine explaining that things have essences. In contrast, they exist but that these essences are annihilated just when the things themselves go out of existence.

• The fundamental doctrine of the Yogacara School is 'that all phenomenal existence is fabricated by consciousness'.

• Consciousness is the basis of all activities from birth to attaining enlightenment; '... all are based upon the coming into being and then ceasing to be of consciousness, i.e., of distinctions 'in mind.

• Known as Kushavati in ancient times, Kushinagar is where Gautama Buddha attained Parinirvana, which occurs upon the death of a body of someone who has attained nirvana during his/her lifetime.

• Many of the ruins of stupas here are dated as early as the third and fifth century B.C.

• The third turning of the Wheel of Dharma was delivered to an audience of Bodhisattvas in the ancient city of Shravasti or Savatthi, one of the six largest cities in India during Gautama Buddha's lifetime.

• Jetavana monastery, the most famous Buddhist monastery in India, where Buddha gave the majority of his teachings and discourses, is also located here.

• The ancient city of Bihar, an archaeological site, is where Gautama Buddha preached his last sermon before his death in 483 B.C.

• The second Buddhist council was also held here in 383 B.C., and the city contains one of the best-preserved Pillars of Ashoka, topped by a single Asiatic lion.

• Piprahwa is a village near Birdpur in Siddharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. Piprahwa and its surroundings are of great significance to the Buddhist religion.

• It is one of the sites linked directly to Buddha's early life, as it is thought to be the location of the ancient city of Kapilavastu.

• According to Pali texts and ancient Buddhist traditions, Piprahwa is also one of the eight stupas constructed over Lord Buddha's remains.

• Piprahwa is to be found about nine kilometres north of Birdpur close to the border that separates India from Nepal.

• Mahapajapati Gotami was the step-mother and maternal aunt (mother's sister) of the Buddha.

• In the Buddhist tradition, she was the first woman to seek women directly from Gautama Buddha becoming the first bhikkhuni (Buddhist nun).

• When King Suddhodhana died, Mahapajapati Gotami decided to attain ordination. Mahapajapati Gotami went to the Buddha and asked to be ordained into the Sangha. The Buddha refused initially but later agreed that women nuns must follow the eight Gurudhammas or conditions laid down by him to be a part of the sangha.

• Gotami agreed to accept the eight Garudhammas. Subsequent women had to undergo full ordination to become nuns.

• The five ascetics who received the Buddha's first teaching after his enlightenment, and who requested permission to "go forth" as ordained followers, became the first members of the Sangha.

• Thus, the Buddhist monastic community's nucleus was initially comprised of men who had already withdrawn from society and lived for years as wandering mendicants.

• When kondana consecrated as the first member of the monastic sangha, the other four ascetics were given more and more extensive explanation of Buddha's teachings so that they soon attain the dhamma eye and get ordained. All the Buddha disciples attained the full experience of nirvana to become arhat in the second sermon given by Buddha.

• To make sixty-one arhats other disciples, monastic and lay followed dhamma which included Buddha. As a body of awakened monk disciples, Buddha sent them all out on a mission to spread the dhamma.

• The purpose of the first Buddhist council was to maintain the purity of the teachings of Buddha.

• The second Buddhist council was held at Vaishali around 383 B.C.

• The third Buddhist council was held at Pataliputra under the patronage of Ashoka. It was presided by Moggaliputta Tissa. The final version of Tripitaka's was completed in this council.

• The fourth Buddhist council was held in Kashmir by Kanishka and Vasumitra chaired it. Asvagosha participated in this council.

• The third Buddhist council was held at Pataliputra under the patronage of Ashoka. It was presided over by Moggaliputta Tissa. The final version of Tripitaka was completed in this council.

• The fourth Buddhist council was held in Kashmir by Kanishka, and Vasumitra chaired it. Asvagosha participated in this council.

The first Buddhist council was held at Rajagriha under the chairmanship of Mahakasyapa immediately after the death of Buddha under the patronage of King Ajatashatru. The purpose was to maintain the purity of the teachings of Buddha.