Buddhism, Jainism and other philosophical developments, 6th century BCE onward

The Upanishads are the main source for the religious and philosophical developments that took place within the Vedic fold in this age.
For the Buddha, Mahavira and their teaching, the sources are the canons met in earlier themes: the Buddhist Tripitaka and the Jain Siddhanta or Agama.
Charvaka literature has mostly been lost, and its doctrine survives largely through the criticisms of its opponents rather than in its own words.
What we know of Charvaka therefore comes from hostile sources, so every statement about its teaching must be used with caution.

The major disciples of the Buddha were Ananda, Sariputta, Moggallana, Mahakashyapa and Upali, who together carried his teaching forward.
The first four Tirthankaras were Rishabhanatha or Adinatha, the earliest and most primordial teacher, followed by Ajitanatha, Sambhavanatha and Abhinandananatha.
These earliest Tirthankaras belong to sacred and traditional chronology, without the secure historical dates that exist for Mahavira.

Brihaspati
philosopher; also Vrihaspati
Traditionally revered as the founder of the Charvaka or Lokayata school.
Charvaka
philosopher
A disciple of Brihaspati, or the philosopher who systematically set out the school's ideas.
Ajita Kesakambali
philosopher
Sixth century BCE contemporary of the Buddha and a major forerunner of the Charvaka tradition.
Makkhali Gosala
teacher
The most famous Ajivika teacher, a contemporary of the Buddha and Mahavira.
Gautama Buddha
teacher; also Siddhartha Gautama
Siddhartha Gautama of the Shakya clan, born at Lumbini; enlightened at Bodh Gaya, first sermon at Sarnath, died at Kushinagara.
Suddhodana
chief
Father of the Buddha.
Maya
queen
Mother of the Buddha.
Mahaprajapati Gautami
queen
Stepmother and foster mother of the Buddha.
Yashodhara
wife
Wife of the Buddha.
Rahula
son
Son of the Buddha.
Alara Kalama
teacher
A teacher under whom the Buddha first studied.
Uddaka Ramaputta
teacher
A teacher under whom the Buddha first studied.
Ananda
disciple
A major disciple of the Buddha.
Sariputta
disciple
A major disciple of the Buddha.
Moggallana
disciple
A major disciple of the Buddha.
Mahakashyapa
disciple
A major disciple of the Buddha.
Upali
disciple
A major disciple of the Buddha.
Rishabhanatha
Tirthankara; also Adinatha
The first Tirthankara, the earliest and most primordial teacher in Jain tradition.
Ajitanatha
Tirthankara
The second Tirthankara.
Sambhavanatha
Tirthankara
The third Tirthankara.
Abhinandananatha
Tirthankara
The fourth Tirthankara.
Parshvanatha
Tirthankara
The 23rd Tirthankara, probably of the early first millennium BCE, whose ascetic tradition Mahavira inherited and expanded.
Mahavira
Tirthankara; also Vardhamana
The 24th Tirthankara and great historical organiser of Jainism; born at Kundagrama near Vaishali, died at Pavapuri.
Siddhartha
chief
Father of Mahavira.
Trishala
queen
Mother of Mahavira and sister of Chetaka, the Licchavi chief.
Chetaka
chief
Head of the Licchavi clan ruling from Vaishali, and brother of Trishala.

By the later Vedic period religion had become ritualistic, priest dominated, expensive and hierarchical, and this bred growing dissatisfaction in society.
Excessive ritual made religion feel external and mechanical, while Brahmanas held ritual knowledge and authority, which gave them special social power.
Some groups were morally uncomfortable with animal sacrifice, and the merchants, artisans and townspeople of the new urban economy wanted ethical and practical systems instead.
Two sets of developments followed: the astika schools, which accepted the authority of the Vedas, and the nastika schools, which did not.
Astika does not simply mean theist, nor nastika atheist, because the key question is whether a school accepts the Vedas as authoritative.
Later Indian philosophy recognises six astika schools, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mimamsa and Vedanta, which are taken up in a later theme.
The major nastika traditions of ancient India are Buddhism, Jainism, the Ajivikas and Charvaka or Lokayata, each challenging Vedic authority in its own way.
They belong to the broad shramana world of renunciants and wandering seekers who stood outside the orthodox Vedic sacrificial order.
The shramana traditions rejected or downplayed Vedic authority, ritual sacrifice and the priestly monopoly, though each did so in a different way.

Astika and nastika

Astika

Accept the authority of the Vedas
Not simply theist
Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mimamsa, Vedanta

Nastika

Do not accept the authority of the Vedas
Not simply atheist
Buddhism, Jainism, Ajivika, Charvaka or Lokayata

The test is the authority of the Vedas, not belief in god.Source: Theme 6 handout

Upanishad literally means sitting near the teacher and, by extension, a secret or deeper philosophical teaching.
The Upanishads are the philosophical part of later Vedic literature, and as its concluding part they are also called Vedanta.
They arose in reaction to excessive dependence on ritual and shifted the focus to knowledge, the self, ultimate reality and liberation.
Among the earliest and most important are the Brihadaranyaka, Chandogya, Kena, Katha, Aitareya, Taittiriya, Isa, Mundaka, Prashna and Mandukya Upanishads.
For this phase the Brihadaranyaka and the Chandogya Upanishads matter most among the early philosophical texts of the later Vedic age.
Their central ideas are Atman, the self or inner essence, and Brahman, ultimate reality or the universal principle, which is not the same as varna.
One of the great Upanishadic insights is the unity of Atman and Brahman: the inner self and ultimate reality are deeply connected.
With these come moksha, liberation from the cycle of birth and death, karma, action and its moral and spiritual consequence, and samsara, the cycle itself.
The Upanishads challenged excessive ritualism, deepened philosophical inquiry, shaped the idea of liberation and influenced Hindu thought profoundly.
They also created the intellectual climate in which Buddhism and Jainism emerged as stronger traditions outside the Vedic fold.

Six key ideas of the Upanishads

Idea	Meaning
Atman	The self, the inner essence
Brahman	Ultimate reality, the universal principle; not the same as varna
Unity of Atman and Brahman	The inner self and ultimate reality are deeply connected
Moksha	Liberation from the cycle of birth and death
Karma	Action and its moral and spiritual consequence
Samsara	The cycle of birth, death and rebirth

The ideas that moved the focus from ritual to knowledge and liberation.Source: Theme 6 handout

Charvaka, also called Lokayata, was a materialist and sceptical tradition and a radical critique of religious orthodoxy in ancient India.
Tradition links the origin of Charvaka thought with Brihaspati, revered as its founder, though the historical details of that origin remain uncertain.
The sage Charvaka is regarded either as a disciple of Brihaspati or as the philosopher who systematically set out the school's ideas.
Ajita Kesakambali, of the sixth century BCE, was a contemporary of the Buddha and a major forerunner of the Charvaka tradition.
Charvaka held direct perception, or pratyaksha, to be the main valid source of knowledge, and held matter, not spirit, to be fundamental.
It found no reliable proof of an afterlife, rejected Vedic ritual and karmic rebirth in the orthodox sense, and stressed living in this world.
In response to this radical critique, other schools attacked Charvaka as too materialist and as morally dangerous.
The Ajivikas held that everything is governed by cosmic determinism, niyati, so that all is predetermined and life unfolds through a fixed order.
For the Ajivikas human effort had little or no ultimate role in altering that course, yet they still practised asceticism despite their determinism.
Makkhali Gosala, a contemporary of the Buddha and Mahavira, was the most famous teacher of the Ajivika tradition.
Buddhists and Jains disagreed strongly with Ajivika determinism because they believed that ethical effort matters.

Charvaka and Ajivika

	Charvaka or Lokayata	Ajivika
Core idea	Materialism: reality is material, not spiritual	Niyati: absolute determinism
Names linked	Brihaspati, the sage Charvaka, Ajita Kesakambali	Makkhali Gosala
Knowledge and effort	Direct perception (pratyaksha) is the main valid source of knowledge	Human effort has little or no ultimate role
Afterlife and practice	No reliable proof of an afterlife; live in this world	Asceticism still practised
Criticised as	Too materialist and morally dangerous	Denying that ethical effort matters

Two nastika traditions that Buddhists and Jains argued against.Source: Theme 6 handout

Buddha means the awakened one, and Siddhartha Gautama was a historical teacher, a human being who attained awakening, not a creator god in early Buddhism.
He was born at Lumbini, in present day Nepal, into the Shakya clan, the son of Suddhodana and Maya.
He was raised by his foster mother Mahaprajapati Gautami, and he had a wife, Yashodhara, and a son, Rahula.
Questions of suffering, old age, sickness and death led him to the Great Renunciation, the Mahabhinishkramana, when he left home in search of truth.
He studied under Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta, practised severe asceticism for years and then rejected it, which led to his Middle Path.
He attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya, in Bihar, after which Siddhartha became the Buddha.
He gave his first sermon at Sarnath, near Varanasi, called the Dharmachakra Pravartana, and died at Kushinagara, in Uttar Pradesh.
The Four Noble Truths are dukkha, suffering, samudaya, its cause in craving or tanha, nirodha, its cessation, and marga, the path to cessation.
The Noble Eightfold Path, the Arya Ashtangika Marga, is a disciplined ethical, mental and wisdom based path to liberation, beginning with right view.
The Middle Path, or madhyama pratipad, rejected both luxury and extreme asceticism and taught balance instead.
Anitya is impermanence, that everything changes, while anatman, no permanent self, is a major difference from many Upanishadic ideas.
Pratityasamutpada, dependent origination, holds that everything arises from causes and conditions, and nirvana is the extinction of craving and liberation from rebirth.

The Buddha's teachingTap to enlarge

The Four Noble Truths at the hub, the Eightfold Path on the rim, and four ideas around it.Source: Theme 6 handout

The life of the Buddha

Lumbini
Birth, of the Shakya clan
Kapilavastu
Early life in Shakya territory
The Great Renunciation
The Mahabhinishkramana; the teachers Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta; years of severe asceticism, then its rejection
Bodh Gaya
Enlightenment under the Bodhi tree
Sarnath
The first sermon, the Dharmachakra Pravartana
Rajagriha
Important royal and monastic contact
Shravasti
A major centre of preaching
Vaishali
An important interaction site
Kushinagara
Death, the Mahaparinirvana

The handout's eight places, with the renunciation between his early life and his enlightenment.Source: Theme 6 handout

The symbols

Symbol	What it stands for
Lotus	Birth, purity
Bodhi tree	Enlightenment
Dharmachakra	The first sermon
Footprints	The presence of the Buddha
Empty throne	Enlightenment, sacred presence
Stupa	Death and the relic tradition

Early Buddhist art showed the Buddha by symbols rather than in human form.Source: Theme 6 handout

The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path

Term	Meaning
Dukkha	Life involves suffering or unsatisfactoriness
Samudaya	The cause of suffering is craving (trishna or tanha)
Nirodha	The cessation of suffering is possible
Marga	There is a path to that cessation: the Eightfold Path
The Eightfold Path	Right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration

The Truths name the problem and the Path is the way out of it.Source: Theme 6 handout

Jainism is one of the most ancient religious traditions of India; it became prominent in the same age as Buddhism but sees itself as much older.
It emerged from the shramana tradition as a path of renunciation, non violence, self discipline and purification of the soul.
Jainism challenged Vedic sacrifice, priestly authority and violence in ritual, setting it against the Vedic order.
A Tirthankara is a ford maker, one who shows the crossing over the river of worldly existence.
Time moves in cycles, with 24 Tirthankaras in each major cycle, a doctrinal and cosmological number rather than a historical count.
Parshvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankara, is historically far more visible than the earliest and probably lived in the early first millennium BCE.
Jain tradition suggests that Mahavira inherited and expanded the ascetic tradition that already existed under Parshvanatha, his predecessor.
Mahavira, the great hero, also called Vardhamana, was the 24th Tirthankara and the great historical organiser of the Jain tradition.
He was born to Siddhartha and Trishala, of the Jnatrika or Naya clan, at Kundagrama near Vaishali, and he died at Pavapuri.
His mother Trishala was the sister of Chetaka, chief of the Licchavis of Vaishali, which tied Mahavira to the Licchavi and Vajji region.
Jain thought distinguishes jiva, the soul or living substance, from ajiva, non living substance, and treats karma as a material bondage on the soul.
The soul must be purified by discipline to reach moksha, guided by ahimsa, aparigraha, satya, asteya and brahmacharya.

Jain vows and ideasTap to enlarge

Jiva and ajiva first, then ahimsa and the four other principles, then anekantavada and syadvada.Source: Theme 6 handout

The Buddha and Mahavira

	The Buddha	Mahavira
The name means	The awakened one	The great hero; also called Vardhamana
Born at	Lumbini, in present day Nepal	Kundagrama, near Vaishali, Bihar
Clan	Shakya	Jnatrika or Naya
Parents	Suddhodana and Maya	Siddhartha and Trishala
Before him	Studied under Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta	Inherited the tradition of Parshvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankara
Died at	Kushinagara, Uttar Pradesh	Pavapuri, Bihar
Canon	The Tripitaka	The Siddhanta or Agama
Core idea	Anatman: no permanent self	Jiva: the soul, to be freed from karmic bondage

Contemporaries of the same region, who differed most on the self.Source: Theme 6 handout; the canon row, Theme 4 handout

Jain principles and ideas

Term	Meaning
Ahimsa	Non violence; the central principle, far more radical than in most traditions
Aparigraha	Non possession, non attachment
Satya	Truth
Asteya	Non stealing
Brahmacharya	Celibacy or disciplined conduct
Anekantavada	Reality is many sided
Syadvada	Conditioned predication: truth is seen from a standpoint

Five ethical principles, then two ideas about knowledge.Source: Theme 6 handout

Lumbini: the Maya Devi temple and the Ashokan pillar
The Buddha was born at Lumbini, in present day Nepal, of the Shakya clan.
Shadow Ayush, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lumbini, the Birthplace of the Lord Buddha
The World Heritage listing of Lumbini, the Buddha's birthplace.
See it at UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Kapilavastu, a gate at Tilaurakot
Kapilavastu is associated with the Buddha's early life in Shakya territory.
DiverDave, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Mahabodhi temple, Bodh Gaya
The Buddha attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, under the Bodhi tree.
Shubhrojit Misra, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya
The World Heritage listing of Bodh Gaya, the place of the enlightenment.
See it at UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Sarnath: the Dhamek stupa
The Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath, near Varanasi: the Dharmachakra Pravartana, turning the wheel of dharma.
Hardy Explorer, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Shravasti: the Jetavana
Shravasti was a major centre of the Buddha's preaching.
Photo Dharma, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Kushinagar: the Mahaparinirvana temple
The Buddha died at Kushinagara, in Uttar Pradesh: the Mahaparinirvana.
Am9612, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Pavapuri: the Jal Mandir
Mahavira died at Pavapuri, in Bihar.
Sumitsurai, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Astika: A school that accepts the authority of the Vedas; it does not simply mean theist.
Nastika: A school that does not accept the authority of the Vedas; it does not simply mean atheist.
Shramana: A renunciant or wandering seeker outside the orthodox Vedic sacrificial order.
Vedanta: The Upanishads, as the concluding part of Vedic literature; later also one of the six astika schools.
Atman: The self, the inner essence.
Brahman: Ultimate reality, the universal principle; not the same as the Brahmana varna.
Moksha: Liberation from the cycle of birth and death; in Jainism, the soul's liberation from karmic bondage.
Karma: Action and its moral and spiritual consequence; in Jainism, a material bondage on the soul.
Samsara: The cycle of birth, death and rebirth.
Pratyaksha: Direct perception, for Charvaka the main valid source of knowledge.
Niyati: Absolute determinism, the Ajivika belief that everything is predetermined.
Mahabhinishkramana: The Great Renunciation, the Buddha's leaving of worldly life.
Dharmachakra Pravartana: The turning of the wheel of dharma, the Buddha's first sermon at Sarnath.
Mahaparinirvana: The death of the Buddha, at Kushinagara.
Dukkha: Suffering or unsatisfactoriness, the first Noble Truth.
Tanha: Craving, also trishna, the cause of suffering in the second Noble Truth.
Madhyama pratipad: The Middle Path, rejecting both luxury and extreme asceticism.
Anitya: Impermanence: everything changes.
Anatman: No permanent self, also anatta; a major difference from many Upanishadic ideas.
Pratityasamutpada: Dependent origination: everything arises in dependence on causes and conditions.
Nirvana: The extinction of craving; liberation from suffering and rebirth.
Tirthankara: A ford maker, one who shows the crossing over the river of worldly existence; there are 24 in each major cycle of time.
Jiva and ajiva: The soul or living substance, and non living substance, the central Jain distinction.
Ahimsa: Non violence, the central ethical principle of Jainism.
Aparigraha: Non possession, non attachment.
Anekantavada: The Jain doctrine of many sided reality.
Syadvada: The Jain doctrine of conditioned predication: truth seen from a standpoint.

Buddhism left ethical compassion, the monastic tradition, and a legacy of art, stupas and pilgrimage circuits.
It deeply influenced Asian civilisation and saw a modern revival, especially through Ambedkarite Buddhism.
Jainism left radical non violence, vegetarian ethics, mercantile community traditions and a philosophy of restraint.
Jainism also played a major role in Indian art, manuscript culture and temple tradition.

Prelims

Try each before opening the answer; every question is also on the Prelims PYQs pages.

2023 · Q41

In which one of the following regions was Dhanyakataka, which flourished as a prominent Buddhist centre under the Mahasanghikas, located?

(a)AndhraUPSC key
(b)Gandhara
(c)Kalinga
(d)Magadha

Show answer and explanation

Dhanyakataka is the ancient name of Amaravati on the Krishna in coastal Andhra Pradesh, a major Buddhist centre under the Satavahanas and later the Ikshvakus, celebrated for the Amaravati stupa and its distinctive limestone relief sculpture. It was a stronghold of the Mahasanghika school and of its Chaitika and Purvasaila offshoots, and the region is also associated with Nagarjuna and Nagarjunakonda. Gandhara in the northwest was a Buddhist centre of the first rank but of the Sarvastivada tradition and Graeco Buddhist art, so (b) is wrong. Kalinga is associated with Ashoka's war and later Jaina patronage under Kharavela at Udayagiri and Khandagiri, so (c) is wrong. Magadha was the heartland of early Buddhism with Rajagriha, Nalanda and Bodh Gaya, but Dhanyakataka is not there, so (d) is wrong.

Difficult · Static · Ancient and Medieval History · Mahajanapadas to Gupta

2015 · Q39

Which of the following kingdoms were associated with the life of the Buddha?

1.Avanti
2.Gandhara
3.Kosala
4.Magadha

(a)1, 2 and 3
(b)2 and 3 only
(c)1, 3 and 4
(d)3 and 4 onlyUPSC key

Show answer and explanation

Kingdoms 3 and 4 are correct, so the official answer is (d). Kosala, ruled by Prasenajit, contained Sravasti, where the Buddha spent the greater number of his rain retreats at the Jetavana monastery given by Anathapindika, and Kapilavastu, his natal Sakya territory, lay within its sphere. Magadha under Bimbisara and then Ajatasatru contained Rajagriha, where the Venuvana was given to the order, Bodh Gaya, where he attained enlightenment, and Nalanda, and Bimbisara was among his earliest royal patrons. Gandhara, in the north west around Taxila and Pushkalavati, had no association with the Buddha's life; its Buddhist connection is later and artistic, the Gandhara school of sculpture arising under Kushana patronage some five centuries afterwards, which is exactly the confusion the item is built on. Avanti, with its capital at Ujjayini under Pradyota, was reached by Buddhism through the missionary work of the disciple Mahakatyayana rather than by the Buddha himself, who is not recorded as having travelled there. Elimination route: rejecting Gandhara removes options (a) and (b), after which the item turns on Avanti alone.

Moderate · Static · Ancient and Medieval History · Mahajanapadas to Gupta

2014 · Q25

Which of the following Kingdoms were associated with the life of the Buddha?

1.Avanti
2.Gandhara
3.Kosala
4.Magadha.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a)1, 2 and 3
(b)2 and 4
(c)3 and 4 onlyUPSC key
(d)1, 3 and 4

Show answer and explanation

Statements 3 and 4 are correct and statements 1 and 2 are incorrect, so the official answer is (c). Kosala, with its capital at Sravasti and its king Prasenajit, was central to the Buddha's career: he passed the largest number of rain retreats at the Jetavana monastery there, given by the merchant Anathapindika, and he was born at Lumbini in the Sakya republic, which lay within the Kosalan sphere. Magadha, with Rajagriha as its capital under Bimbisara and then Ajatashatru, was the other principal field of his activity; the Bamboo Grove at Rajagriha was among the earliest monastic gifts, the enlightenment took place at Bodh Gaya in Magadhan territory, and the first council met at Rajagriha after the parinirvana.
Statement 2 is incorrect and is the easiest to reject. Gandhara lay in the far north-west around Taxila and Pushkalavati, well outside the middle Gangetic plain that bounded the Buddha's travels; Buddhism reached it later, under Ashoka and then the Kushanas, and its celebrated Buddhist art belongs to the first centuries of the common era.
Statement 1 is incorrect for the purposes of this key. Avanti, with its capital Ujjayini under Pradyota, lay in western Malwa outside the region the Buddha traversed, which extended broadly between Kosala, Kasi, Magadha, Vajji, Malla and Anga. The elimination route runs through Gandhara, whose rejection removes (a) and (b) and leaves the item to be decided on Avanti alone, between (c) and (d).

Moderate · Static · Ancient and Medieval History · Mahajanapadas to Gupta