Art & Culture (Indian Philosophy) by Shivlal Gupta

Model Answer

Question #1. The emergence and core philosophy of Buddhism and Jainism have a striking resemblance as well as certain differences. Contrast and compare the two religious philosophies.

Approach:   

•   Introduce about Buddhism and Jainism
•   Discuss the similarities in the two faiths such as values like peace and righteous conduct
•   Bring out the differences between them like the concept of soul, non violence, sacrifice etc.
•   Conclude with the gist of the answer

Hints:    

Buddhism and Jainism are the two ancient Indian religions that developed in Magadha (Bihar) in the post-Vedic period (Sixth century BC- Fifth century BC). These religions emerged as the most significant religious reform movements in ancient India. While the proponent of Jainism is believed to be Mahavira Jain, the 24th Jain tirthankar, Buddhism regards Siddhartha Gautama as its founder.

Both religions having being developed in similar circumstances and same time period thus have striking similarities as follow:

• Kshatriya, the ruling class, reacted strongly against the ritualistic domination of Brahmanas and led a protest movement against the importance attached to birth in Varna system. Vardhaman Mahavira & Gautama Buddha both belonged to the Kshatriya clan & disputed the authority of Brahmanas.

• A new economic system based on settled life and agriculture was in its growing stage and it required cattle wealth for its use in iron ploughshare farming. Vedic sacrifices of cattle led by the Brahmin class apparently were hindering the growth of agriculture. It resented the Vaishya and Shudra castes.
• Both Jainism & Buddhism spoke against sacrifice of cattle wealth & propagated the idea of ahimsa.
• Brahminical scriptures also prohibited money earned on interest and accumulation of material wealth as a result of which the trader class, namely the Vaishyas, supported the new religions as a refuge against Brahminical hegemony.
• Buddhism and Jainism placed similar significance on certain values like peace, righteous conduct and opposition to ritualism.
• Moreover, both religions challenged the authority of Vedas and preached their religion in the common language of the people and discarded Sanskrit as the language of their early religious texts.
• These religions admitted disciples from all the castes and from both sexes unlike the rigid rules of Brahminical religion which prohibited it.
• Both religions earned political patronage, though to varying degrees. While Buddhism was patronised by rulers like Ashoka, Jainism was patronised by Chandragupta Maurya, Kharvela king of Kalinga, etc.

Despite similarities, Buddhism and Jainism also had some fundamental differences between them:

•   Buddhism does not recognise the existence of God, whereas, Jainism recognises existence of God but places it below Jina or the ‘conqueror’.
•   The Jain concept of soul is different from that of Buddhism. Jainism believes that everything in nature, animate and inanimate things like stone and water has a soul of its own. Buddhism does not believe so (anatta). Jainism believed in the transmigration of soul as well i.e. reincarnation, while Buddhism does not.
•   According to Buddhism, a man attains ‘Moksha’or liberation when he ends all the desires and can attain it while living in this world. But according to Jainism, Moksha is freedom from miseries and can be attained only after death.
•   While both the religions admitted women as followers, Buddha made reservations on admitting them in monasteries. The Digambar sect of Jainism stated that women cannot attain liberation without being reborn as men first, although the Shwetambar sect disagreed on this.
•   Jainism didn’t condemn the Varna system as Buddhism did. Also, unlike Buddhism, Jainism did not very clearly mark itself out of Brahmanical religion, hence failing to attract masses.
•   Buddhism adopted Pali as the main language for transmission of Buddhist teachings, Jainism adopted Prakrit language.
•   Following Jainism demanded strict asceticism, it didn’t allow farming and wars, confining the members to trade and mercantile activities. Strict asceticism was the means to attain salvation while Buddhism advised its followers to follow the middle path or Tathagata marg.
•   Jainism spread mainly in south and west India. It did not have much reach in foreign lands like Buddhism which got rooted in South East Asia, Central Asia, Sri Lanka, etc.
•   But at the same time, while Jainism was still a living force in India, Buddhism had practically vanished from the land of its birth due to persecution by foreign invaders, Shunga rulers, Huns, etc.

Conclusion:

In spite of differences, both the religious philosophies helped in enriching the culture, literature, architecture and art of India by contributing in respective capacities. More importantly, as religious reform movements, Buddhism and Jainism offered the people, especially the downtrodden ones, liberation from suffering and oppression by the rigid caste system.

Question #2. After coming to India, Sufism continued to grow by taking the influence of the philosophical schools of the Indian subcontinent and their principles. Discuss.

Approach 

•     Sufism adopted a lot from Indian traditions and philosophy.
•     Give a brief introduction to Sufism at the beginning of the answer
•     Describe in detail the various elements which were adopted by Sufism in India.
•     Underline the changes brought about by the above process at the end of the answer.

Hints

Sufism originated in the Arab region along with Islam, but it became popular in the medieval period.  Sufi thought is an attempt to bring God and transcendental truths to the common man.

Early beliefs of Sufism before coming to India

•     The goal of Sufism is to move towards God and assimilate his qualities and when this stream came to India, many Indian philosophical concepts were incorporated in it.
•     A person who believes in Sufism, staying away from worldly and lust, worships by being devoted to God with love.

Changes in Sufism after coming to India

•     Sufism came to India and maintained its ideology of pure monotheism and also incorporated principles like animism, monotheism, and monism.
•     monism means that the visible world is not real and its basis is one eternal  element and that is the truth and there is no other existence independent of it
•     In the thirteenth and 14th centuries, the influence of Sufi khanqahs was increasing in many parts of India. 
•     Many Muslim missionaries came to India voluntarily through Afghanistan and their goal was God's love and human service. 
•     Their pious conduct, truthfulness and pure spirituality soon attracted the people of India. 
•     In Ain Akbari, Abul Fazl has mentioned 14 Sufi silsila, in which Chishti, Suhrawardi, Naqshbandi etc. were important.
•     The Sufi saint often used Hindi poetry to deliver discourses so as to have a greater impact on the audience. 
•     Nizamuddin Auliya adopted the method of Pranayama, which earned him the title of Yogi.
•     Sufi principles and practices had assimilated various elements of Hindu philosophy and devotion. 
•     The influence of Buddhist and Hindu yogis is reflected in the monastic organizations of the Sufis and some of their practices such as atonement, fasting, pranayama etc. 
•     Khanqahs were also built by Sufis like Buddhist monasteries and Hindu monasteries.
•     Sufi streams were greatly influenced by the concept of Amrit Kund of Hatha Yoga under Indian Yoga theory.
•     Apart from this, the Sufis adopted the method of song, music, which is called sama, to create an impression of the nearness of God in their discourses.

Conclusion

Sufi thought, syncretic values, literature, education, and entertainment has created an enduring impact on the presence of Islam in India today.  Thus, it seems expedient to say that the Sufi movement in India had significantly changed the old form of Islam that was presented by Sunni theologians.