Summary

Art and Culture Class 09

JAINISM (01:35 PM)

Shwetambra	Digambar
Popularly known as White Clads Liberal sect They used to wear white clothes. They maintained that Tirthakar 17 was a woman. They believed that women could achieve *Kaivalya* in this birth only. Swetambar compiled their canons of Jainism in the 1st Jain council.	Sky Clads Orthodox sect They remained naked all the time. Digambars held that Mallinath was not a woman. They hold that women cannot achieve Kaivalya at the same birth. Maximum they can strive to be born as a man in the next birth. Then in that particular birth, they can strive for Kaivalya. They rejected the canons of Swetambars and compiled their own Jain doctrines.

Some of the earlier sub-sects of Jainism- (01:47 PM)
Mulapanthi
Bispanthi
Tarapanthi
Therapanthi
Gumanapanthi
Sthanakvasi
Totapanti
Metaphysical Thoughts of Jainism-
Universe- Jains hold that the Universe was created on the laws of nature; or
On the basis of Universal law.
Vedas- Jains rejected the divine authority of Vedas.
God- They do not reject the concept of reject but they keep God below Tirthankars.
Rebirth- Like the other oriental religions, Jains believed in Rebirth.
Soul- They believed in both non-living and living souls.
They not only ascribed souls to Jeev but also to Ajeev.
As per them non-living things like rivers, water, stone, etc also have souls.
[*Jains believed in the extreme concept of non-violence.
They not only forbid the killings of animals & plants but also insects and even germs.]

QUESTION - DECLINE OF BUDDHISM (02:07 PM)

Buddhism was once one of the largest religions of India but in the later times, it started to decline from its own place of birth. By the arrival of the medieval centuries, it almost became extinct from India.
Once there was a discussion between Buddha and his cousin Anand.
Anand insisted on the entry of women into the Sangha.
But Buddha was not in favor of women's entry into Sangh.
On the insistence of Anand, Buddha allowed women into the Sangh but maintained if the entry of women happens in the Sangha, Buddhism which is going to survive for more than 1000 years will vanish within 1000 years itself.
Monks became corrupt which further led to the dilution of Buddhism.
Some of the monks started to lead a luxurious life & left the practice of asceticism.
The language of the common public was Pali and Prakrit.
Monks also started to interfere in the political affairs of the kingdoms.
It offended many kings who stopped their patronage of Buddhism.
The constant division of Buddhism into many sects was also responsible for its decline through the dilution of its tenets.
In the Gupta Age, reforms were introduced.
Now, animal sacrifice was discouraged and importance was placed on Bhakti.
The Gupta Age also led to the institutionalization of Hinduism through Temple architecture & compilation of sacred Hindu religious scriptures like Puranas.
At this time, in Hinduism, it was popularised that Buddha was the 9th reincarnation of lord Vishnu.
It also diluted the doctrines of Buddhism.
Some of the sects of Buddhism like Vajrayana adopted similar practices to Hinduism which further blurred the boundary between the two religions.
Buddhism was highly critical to practices in Hinduism particularly the Caste system and complex Vedic rituals.
On the other hand, Jainism was not severely critical to the Caste system.
Buddhists displayed a very high missionary zeal which started to work against them.
On the other hand, Jainism which was always a small community in India never displayed very high missionary zeal.
Instead, they followed an approach of convincing people through their doctrines and leaving it to them to decide on conversion.
Lastly, with the establishment of Islamic rule in India, many of the symbols of Buddhism were destroyed.
E.g.: Burning of Nalanda University library by Bakhtayar Khilji.

INDIAN PHILOSOPHY (02:48 PM)

Orthodox	Heterodox
It is Astika which means that they believed in the divine authority of Vedas. Samkhya Yoga Nyaya Vaisesikha Mimansa Vedanta [Rebirth and Salvation]	It is Nastika which means they do not believe in the divine authority of Vedas. Buddhism Jainism Carvaka Ajivika

Samkhya- (02:55 PM)
It was founded by Kapil Muni.
Its development happened in two phases.
The early Samkhya philosophy holds that the Universe was created on the elements of nature.
Later the main view of Samkhya philosophy developed & it maintained that not only Prakriti (nature) but also Purusha (consciousness) is responsible for the creation of the Universe.
Since they believed in two realities, this philosophy is often referred to as Dwaitvada or Dualism.
It further adds that Salvation can be attained through real knowledge.
There are three ways of attaining real knowledge;
Pratyaksh (Perception)
Anuman (Inference)
Shabda (Testimony)
Yoga- (03:17 PM)
Founded by Patanjali
Its tenets are mentioned in the book Yogasutra.
Yoga and Samkhya are considered as a Yugma.
Yoga believes in the Samkhya theory of the creation of the Universe.
Yoga is mainly a disciplinary science associated with body and mind to refine and purify the human soul.
Yoga advocates the attainment of salvation through Ashtanga Yoga.
Yama (Don't's)
Niyama (Do's)
Asana (Physical posture)
Pranayam (Breathing exercise)
Pratyahara (Restraints)
Dharana (selecting an object for concentration)
Dhyana (concentrating on the object)
Samadhi (deep meditation)
One of the stages in Yoga is Kundalini Jagaran.
In this stage, five chakra in the body get activated after the activation of the Muladhar Chakra.
In this stage, the energy of the body becomes synonymous with the energy of the Universe.
Nyaya- (03:39 PM)
Founder- Akshapala Gautama
It is considered as Yugm of Vaiseska philosophy.
It emphasizes the importance of logic and reasoning.
It says valid knowledge is required to attain salvation.
Valid knowledge is the one which is based on logic and reasoning & it can be attained through four ways;
Pratyaksh, Anumana, Upmana (Comparative knowledge), Shabd
They gave a famous proposition "Where there is smoke, there is fire".
Vaiseshika- (03:47 pm)
Founder- Kannada (Aulukya)
It marked the beginning of the thirst for physics in India.
It recognized the atomic nature of the Universe.
It says all the things in the Universe are made up of atoms.
Atom is the smallest indivisible & indestructible part of the Universe, though they are inactive in themselves, they are put into motion due to god's will.
They further maintained this atomic recognition of the Universe is the valid knowledge that further leads to salvation.

TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED IN THE NEXT CLASS- MIMANSA, VEDANTA, CARVAKA, AJIVIKA