Religious Reform Movement in Ancient Bihar

Around the sixth century BCE, new thought streams were born, which come to be known in history as the religious reform movement. Because in the post-Vedic period, along with the effects of ritualistic complications and caste disparities, the society was also afflicted with many evils, from which people wanted to get rid of. That’s why when Buddhism and Jainism preached peace and social harmony, people welcomed it with open heart. Since both Buddha and Mahavira were close contemporaries, both emphasized that real happiness comes not from material prosperity or religious rituals, but from good social deeds of human concern, such as kindness, charity, frugality.

Buddhism

Gautam Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, belonged to the Kshatriya clan. Against the orthodox religion of Brahmins, both the economically and socially fallen lower castes gave birth to a reformist ideology based on equality.

Thus, Buddhism was a reformative movement against Brahmanical religion. Peace and non-violence were the basic tenets of Buddhism. It helped Vaishyas, Shudras and women to raise their status in the society.

• Lord Buddha (Siddhartha) the originator of Buddhism, was born in a Sakya Kshatriya clan in 563 BCE in a place called Lumbini (now in Nepal) in Kapilvastu Buddha’s father’s name was Suddhodana and mother’s name was
• Following his mother’s death a few days after his birth, he was brought up by his stepmother Prajapati Gautami.
• Mahatma Buddha’s wife’s name was Yashodhara and son’s name was Rahul When Siddhartha went on a visit of Kapilvasty he was distracted by the following four scenes (1) an old man, (2) a sick person, (3) a funeral procession and (4) an ascetic.

• Gautam Buddha’s favorite horse was Kanthaka and his favorite charioteer was
• Disillusioned with worldly pleasures and pains, Siddhartha did Mahabhinishkraman (Grih Tyaag) at the age of 29. After leaving his home, he first went to the ashram of Alarkalam, a master of Sankhya Darshan near Vaishali famous for his spiritual power.
• He learned Sankhya philosophy from Alarkalam. (Alarkalam was the first teacher of Buddha). Thereafter he met Rudrak Ramaputra of Rajagriha and from there reached Uruvela (Bodh Gaya) in search of knowledge.

• Siddhartha attained enlightenment on the Baisakh Purnima at the age of 35 after 6 years of severe penance under a Peepal tree in the Uruvela forest on the banks of the Niranjana river (Phalgu) in Bodh Gaya.
• It is believed that Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment and became Tathagat Buddha after eating kheer gifted by a woman named
• The Peepal tree under which he attained enlightenment is called Bodhi tree and that place is called Bodh Gaya. After attaining enlightenment, he came to be known as Vipassana (mudra) was adopted by Buddha in the practice of knowledge/meditation.
• After attaining enlightenment, Buddha gave his first sermon at Rishipatana (Sarnath), and it known as
• Buddha first initiated his five disciples in Sarnath – Ananda, Upali, Shreyaputra, Mogallan and Ashwajit.
• After attaining enlightenment, Buddha preached Buddhism for 40 years in the areas of Magadha, Vaishali, Sarnath etc.
• Buddha gave most of his life’s teachings in Sravasti, the capital of Kosala and made Magadha the center of promulgation.
• Gridhkuta in Ratnagiri (Rajgriha) was the favorite abode of Mahatma Buddha.
• The king disciples/followers of Gautama Buddha were- Bimbisara, Ajatashatru, Prasenjit and Udayin.
• Mahatma Buddha made two merchants (Banjaras) named Tapuss and Mallik as his disciples in Bodh Gaya. Both of them were Shudras. In this way, Buddha made those two Shudras the first followers of Buddhism.
• Buddhism doesn’t believe in the concept of soul. It believes in reincarnation while opposing the varna system and caste system.
• The dates of Buddha’s birth and death have been fixed on the basis of Canton Inscription of Chinese tradition.
• Information about Buddhism is obtained from Tripitaka composed in Pali language.
• There are three gems in Buddhism – Buddha, Dhamma and
• The teachings of Buddhism are given in Pali language.
• After consuming Sukarmadava (pork), fed by a person named Chund near Pava (Kushinagar), he suffered from stomach disorder and died (Mahaparinirvana) at the age of 80 on the full moon day of Vaishakh in 483 BCE. Buddha’s death was called
• After Mahaparinirvana, Buddha’s remains/bones were divided into 8 parts and kept at– 1. Kushinagar 2. Vaishali 3. Kapilvastu 4. Pavagadh 5. Allakalp 6. Ramgram 7. Rajagriha 8. Vetdweep.

Mahatma Buddha first proclaimed the following 4 noble (Arya) truths-

1. i) The world is full of sorrows (dukkha).
2. ii) Desires are the cause of sorrow (dukkha samudaya).

iii) By conquering desires one can get rid of all sorrows (dukkha nirodha).

1. iv) There are ways to remove sorrow (dukkha nirodhgamini pratipada).

• According to Lord Buddha, freedom from sorrow is possible only through the eightfold path. There is only sorrow in the world and for the diagnosis of sorrow one should adopt the eightfold path.
• The eightfold path include- right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right living, right exercise, right memory and right samadhi.
• According to the Buddha, only by following these eightfold paths can one attain nirvana (salvation) by becoming free from the cravings of this world.
• Buddha’s doctrine was that of middle way. He believed that “don’t keep the string of the veena (harp) so loose that no music is produced while at the same time don’t tighten it so much that it breaks.”

Buddha laid special emphasis on purifying and improving moral conduct and for this he emphasized on the observance of ten precepts. These include: non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, abstinence, celibacy, renunciation of dancing-singing, renunciation of adornment, eating food on time, not having a soft bed and renunciation of Kanchan Kamini. Of these, the first five were necessary for the householders, while it was mandatory for the monks entering the Sangha to observe all the ten precepts.

Bihar and Buddhist Literature

• Tripitaka-Vinayapitaka, Sutpitaka and Abhidhammapitaka are important Buddhist texts, in which many historical events are mentioned.
• The language of all the three Pitakas is Pali. In the Sutpitaka, the religious doctrines of the Buddha are compiled in the form of arguments and dialogues. Vinayapitaka (literally meaning – basket of discipline) contains a collection of rules made for the monks and nuns of the Sangha. Philosophical interpretation of Buddhist beliefs has been given in Abhidhamma Pitaka.
• Nikaya and Jataka are collections of Buddhist doctrines and stories. The Jataka contain the story of the previous birth of the Buddha.
• Information about Mauryan history is obtained from the Pali texts named Deepavansh and

• Milindpanho composed by Nagsen gives information about the Indo- Yavan ruler Minander. The major treatise of Hinayana sect, Kathavastu describes many stories of the life character of Mahatma Buddha.
• Divyavadana gives information about the rulers from the successors of Ashoka to Pushyamitra Sunga.
• Fa Hien, Sungyung, Hiuen Tsang and Itsing were famous Chinese travelers. Chinese traveler Fa Hien came to the court of Chandragupta II Vikramaditya.
• The Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang came during the reign of King Harshavardhan and traveled to different places after living for 16 years.
• Hiuen Tsang was educated at Nalanda University for six years. His travelogue is known as Si-Yu-Ki, in which details of 139 countries are found.
• Itsing came to India at the end of the seventh century. It is known from his description that he came to visit Buddhist pilgrimages in India and to get information about Buddhism.
• Sir Edwin Arnold, the author of the book ‘The Light of Asia, has embellished Mahatma Buddha with the title of ‘The Light of Asia’.
• Later on, the Mahayana sect was divided into two parts– 1. Nihilism (Secondary) and 2. Scientism (Yogachara). People of Mahayana sect are today found in Tibet, China, Korea, Mongolia and
• The people of Hinayana sect are spread in countries like Sri Lanka, Myanmar and

• With time Hinayana sect got divided into many schools. It is believed that it had a total of 18 schools, of which the main three are – Theravada (Sthaviravada), Sarvastivada (Vaibhasika) and Kathavatthu/ Kathavastu composed by Moggaliputta Tissa is a major text of Hinayana.
• Independent thinking of Buddhist philosophers gave birth to new ideologies in the field of philosophy like nihilism, science, mayavad etc. Another branch of Buddhism called Vajrayana became popular which embodied ‘tantra-mantra’. Vikramshila University in Bhagalpur was its main center.
• The resolution was read out in the meeting of the Sangh. The proposition text is called Anusavan. The minimum number (quorum) for the validity of the assembly was
• Entry into the Sangha was called
• The organization of the Buddhist Sangha was based on the republic system.
• For Buddhists, 4 days of the month new moon, full moon and two Chaturthi days were fasting days.
• The description of Buddha’s Panchsheel principle is found in Chhandogya Upanishad.

Jainism

Rigvedic period society which was divided into four Varnas based on Deed which later became the basis of birth based caste system in Brahmin period. Brahmins became supreme and dominant in it. As a result, both the lower varnas along with the Kshatriyas gave rise to reformist movements like Jainism (Mahavir Swami) against the ideological dominance of Brahmins. In this religion, special emphasis was given on truth, non-violence and service. Its first Tirthankara was Adinath/Rishabhdeva was 23rd Tirthankara Parshvanath, while the last and greatest was 24th Tirthankara Mahavira Swami who became the real founder of Jainism.

• The knowledge about the origin of Jainism is not clear. But Rishabhdev, the first Tirthankara of Jainism, is considered the originator of this religion.
• According to Jain tradition, there were 24 Tirthankaras in this religion. The names of two Jain Tirthankaras Rishabhdev and Arishtanemi are
• The names of two Jain Tirthankaras Rishabhdev and Arishtanemi are mentioned in the Rigveda,
• The twenty-third Tirthankara of Jainism was Parshvanath, who was the son of King Ashwasen of Ikshvaku dynasty of Kashi. He left home at the age of 30. He attained salvation by doing severe penance on Shri Sammed Shikhar(Parasnath mountain, Jharkhand). That’s why this area is called ‘Siddha Kshetra’ and in Jainism it has been called ‘Tirthraj’. His followers have been called Nirgranth.

• Lord Mahavira, the last and twenty-fourth Tirthankara of Jainism, is considered the real founder of Jainism.
• Mahavira was born in 540 BCE at Kundagram in Vaishali to Siddhartha, the head of the Kshatriya Gyantrika
• Mahavira’s mother’s name was Trishala who was a Lichchhavi princess and his wife’s name was Yashoda while his daughter’s name was Jamali was his son-in-law and first disciple.
• At the age of 30, Mahavir renounced his home.
• At the age of 42, Mahavira attained Kaivalya (supreme knowledge) under a sal tree on the banks of Rijupalika river (Klul river) near Jumbhikgram (Jamui) after 12 years of continuous penance and meditation.
• Lord Mahavir gave his first discourse/sermon at Vipulgiri in Rajgir.
• Chandana/Chandanbala, the daughter of Champa King Dadhivahan, was the first Jain nun.
• He died at Pawapuri (Rajgir) in 468 BCE at the age of 72.
• Mahavira used the Prakrit language for the propagation of Jainism, while the texts of this religion were written in the Ardhamagadhi Later, Sanskrit was used extensively and the main book of Jainism ‘Kalpasutra’ was written in Sanskrit.
• The four Mahavratas propounded by Parshvanatha are Satya, Ahimsa, Aparigraha and Asteya.
• Mahavira has been called Nigantha Nathaputra in Buddhist literature.
• According to Jainism, this world is made up of 6 substances -Jiva, Pudgal, Dharma, Adharma, Akash and Kaal.
• Mahavira added the fifth Mahavrata, Brahmacharya, to the four Mahavratas propounded by
• Spiritual knowledge in Jainism is called
• Syadavada is related to Jainism. Syadavada (Anekantavada) or Saptabhangiya is called the principle of relativity of knowledge.
• Mahavira established a Sangha during his lifetime, which included 11 prominent followers. These were called Gandhars.
• Ten Gandharas died during Mahavira’s lifetime. Only Sudharman was alive after Mahavira.
• Jainism believes in rebirth and There is a belief in the soul in Jainism.
• Right philosophy, right knowledge and right conduct are the three gems of Jainism.
• Bhadrabahu and his followers have been called Digambar (Southern Jain/ clothless).
• Sthulbhadra and his followers have been called
• The people of the Svetambara sect first started worshiping Mahavira and other Tirthankaras.

Jain Council

First Council: During the reign of Chandragupta Maurya, the first Jain council was held at Pataliputra around 300 BCE. In this, the main part of Jainism, which included 12 organs; was edited.

• This meeting was held under the supervision of Sthaviras named Sthulbhadra and Sambhuti Vijay.
• In this, Jainism was divided into two parts, Digambara and

Second Council: This assembly was held under the leadership of Devarshi Kshamashravan at a place named Ballabhi in Gujarat in about 512 AD. In this, the last compilation of religious texts was done and they were scripted.

• The history of the 4th century BCE is found in the Kalpasutra composed by
• Information about the early and later events of Chandragupta Maurya’s life is available from Acharya Hemchandra’s Parishishtaparvan and Ratnanandi’s Bhadrabahucharita.
• The Bhagavatisutra gives details of Mahavira’s life and his relations with other contemporaries.
• According to the Jain literature Puranacharit, the history from the sixth century to the sixteenth century is described in it, from which knowledge of the political, social and religious condition of different periods is obtained.

Bihar and Jain literature: Jain literature has also contributed to the historical sources of Bihar. Its texts are also religious like Buddhist literature.

Note: In May, 2018, ‘Sabhyata Dwar’ containing the message of peace and non-violence of Mahatma Buddha, Mahavir Jain and Emperor Ashoka has been constructed on the bank of Ganga, north of Patna at Gandhi Maidan.

Similarities between Buddhism and Jainism

1. Non-violence and peace were the core of both the religions.
2. The rise of both also took place in opposition to Yagya rituals, Brahminism, caste system and untouchability.
3. Both do not believe in the power of God.
4. Both have accepted the theory of reincarnation.
5. Both these religions used the simple language of the public to propagate their ideas.