History

Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings

Question:

Why do you think women and men joined the sangha?

Answer:

The important reasons why men and women joined sanghas could be as follows:
(а) Many of them wanted to renounce the worldly pleasures.
(b) They could study the Buddhist literature and philosophy by staying in the company of other monks.
(c) Many people entered sanghas to become priests and teachers of Buddhism.
(d) All were considered equal and the previous social identity was to be renounced.
(e) The environment of sanghas was democratic. The decision making within sanghas was based on voting. This attracted many and they took to the life of sanghas

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Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings

Q 1.

Summarise the central teachings of Jainism.

Q 2.

Why do you think women and men joined the sangha?

Q 3.

Were the ideas of the Upanishadic thinkers different from those of the fatalists and materialists ? Give reasons for your answers.

Q 4.

Discuss how and why stupas were built. Describe the structure of stupa with example.

Q 5.

To what extent does knowledge of Buddhist literature help in understanding the sculpture at Sanchi?

Q 6.

Were the ideas of the Upanishadic thinkers different from those of the fatalists and materialists ? Give reasons for your answers.

Q 7.

Read this short inscription and answer:
In the year 33 of the maharaja Huvishka, (a Kushana ruler), in the first month of the hot season on the eighth day, a Bodhisatta was set up at Madhuvanaka by the bhikkhuni Dhanavati, the sister's daughter of the bhikkhuni Buddhamita, who knows the Tipitaka, the female pupil of the bhikkhu Bala, who knows the Tipitaka, together with her father and mother.
(a) How did Dhanavati date her inscription?
(b) Why do you think she installed an image of the Bodhisatta?
(c) Who were the relatives she mentioned?
(d) What Buddhist text did she know?
(e) From whom dicTshe learn this text?

Q 8.

Of the religious traditions discussed in this chapter, is there any that is practised in your neighbourhood? What are the religious texts used today, an how are they preserved and transmitted? Are images used in worship? If so, are these similar to or different from those described in this chapter? Describe the buildings used for religious : activities today, comparing them with early stupas and temples.

Q 9.

Discuss the development in sculpture and architecture associated with the rise of Vaishnavism and Shaivism.

Q 10.

Discuss the role of the begums of Bhopal in preserving the stupa at Sanchi.