202 CHAPTER 6 Early India

HHinduism induism andand

BBuddhism uddhism

What’s the Connection?Much of Indian civilization is

based on Aryan ideas and culture,which you learned about in the lastsection. One of the most importantand long-lasting contributions of theAryans is the main religion of India,Hinduism.

Focusing on the • Hinduism grew out of the ancient

beliefs of the Aryans. (page 203)

• A new religion, Buddhism, appealedto many people in India and otherparts of Asia. (page 205)

Locating PlacesNepal (nuh•PAWL)Tibet (tuh•BEHT)

Meeting PeopleSiddhartha Gautama (sih•DAHR•

tuh GOW•tuh•muh)Dalai Lama (DAH•LY LAH•muh)

Building Your Vocabulary Hinduism (HIHN•doo• IH•zuhm)Brahman (BRAH•muhn)reincarnation

(REE• ihn•kahr•NAY•shuhn)dharma (DAHR•muh)karma (KAHR•muh)Buddhism (BOO•DIH•zuhm)nirvana (nihr•VAH•nuh)theocracy (thee•AH•kruh•see)

Reading StrategySummarizing Information Create a web diagram like the one below. Inthe ovals, identify major beliefs ofHinduism.

c. 1500 B.C.Aryans bring earlyHindu ideas to India

c. 563 B.C.The Buddhais born inNepal

c. 200 B.C.Theravada Buddhismspreads to Sri Lanka

Ganges R.

NEPAL

SRILANKA

1500 B.C. 800 B.C. 100 B.C.1500 B.C. 800 B.C. 100 B.C.

Hinduism

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HinduismHinduism grew out of the ancient

beliefs of the Aryans.

Reading Focus Have you ever wondered why most

people try to behave properly or do good deeds? As you

read this section, find out how a Hindu would answer

this question.

Hinduism (HIHN •doo • IH • zuhm) is one ofthe oldest religions in the world, and today itis the third largest. It began with the religionof the Aryans, who arrived in India about1500 B.C. The Aryans believed in many godsand goddesses who controlled the forces ofnature. We know about Aryan religion fromtheir ancient hymns and poetry, especiallytheir epics, or long poems.

For centuries, the priests, or Brahmans,recited these works, and much later theywere written down in Sanskrit. Over the cen-turies, Aryan religion changed. It borrowedsome religious ideas from the people the

Aryans conquered in India. This mix ofbeliefs eventually became Hinduism.

Early Hinduism Hinduism grew out of thereligious customs of many people overthousands of years. This might explain whyHinduism has thousands of gods and god-desses. Hindus tend to think of all gods andgoddesses as different parts of one univer-sal spirit. This universal spirit is calledBrahman (BRAH •muhn).

The search for a universal spirit isdescribed in the ancient religious writingsknown as the Upanishads (oo • PAH • nih •SHADZ). Those writings say that every livingbeing has a soul that wants to be reunitedwith Brahman and that this happens whena person dies.

The Upanishads describe how a personunites with Brahman: A soul that becomesone with Brahman is like a lump of saltthrown into water. The lump of salt is gone,but the water tastes salty. The salt hasbecome part of the water.

What Is Karma? Hindus believe that asoul is not joined to the Brahman immedi-ately after a person dies. Instead, a personmust pass through many lives to be united

Hindu temple

Hindus meet to discuss holy writings.What ancient religious writings describethe search for a universal spirit?

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204 CHAPTER 6 Early India

Name RealmName Realm

Brahma

Vishnu

Siva

Ganesha

Krishna

Lakshmi

Surya

Indra

Saraswati

Parvati

creator of the world

preserver of the world

destroyer of the world

lord of existing beings; remover of obstacles

teacher of the world

goddess of light, beauty, good fortune, and wealth

god of the sun

king of the gods; ruler of the heavens and sky

goddess of knowledge, music, and creative arts

universal mother

Major Hindu Gods and GoddessesMajor Hindu Gods and Goddesses

Siva

Ganesha

with Brahman. On its journey, a soul mightbe reborn into a higher caste. If a personlived a bad life, he or she might be reborninto a lower caste.

This idea of passing through many livesto reach the Brahman is called reincarnation(REE • ihn •kahr •NAY • shuhn). It is very impor-tant in Hinduism and it influences howHindus live their daily lives. It even affectshow they treat animals because they con-sider all life sacred.

To earn the reward of a better life in theirnext life, Hindus believe they must performtheir duty. Dharma (DAHR • muh) is thedivine law. It requires people to perform theduties of their caste. A farmer has differentduties than a priest and men have differentduties than women.

The consequences of how a person livesare known as karma (KAHR•muh). If Hindus

do their duty and live a good life, they willhave good karma. This will move themcloser to the Brahman in their next life.

How did the belief in reincarnationaffect Indians? For one thing, it made themmore accepting of the caste system. Peoplebelieved they had to be happy with their rolein life and do the work of their caste. A ded-icated Hindu believes that the people in ahigher caste are superior and that they aresupposed to be on top. The belief in reincar-nation gave hope to everyone, even servants.If servants did their duty, they might bereborn into a higher caste in their next life.

Explain How is karmarelated to reincarnation?

Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva are considered thethree main Hindu gods.1. Which god is known as the “teacher of the

world”? 2. Conclude Why does Hinduism have so

many gods?

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CHAPTER 6 Early India 205

BuddhismA new religion, Buddhism, appealed to

many people in India and other parts of Asia.

Reading Focus What do you think makes a person

free and happy? Find out how the Buddha answered this

important question as you read this section.

By 600 B.C., many Indians began to ques-tion Hindu ideas. The Brahman priestsseemed to care only about their temple cere-monies and not about the needs of the peo-ple. Ordinary Hindus wanted a simpler,more spiritual religion. Many would findwhat they needed in Buddhism (BOO • DIH •zuhm), a new religion founded by SiddharthaGautama (sih•DAHR• tuh GOW• tuh•muh).

Who Is the Buddha? Prince SiddharthaGautama was born around 563 B.C. in asmall kingdom near the Himalaya. Today,this area is in southern Nepal (nuh•PAWL).

Siddhartha seemed to have it all. He waswealthy and handsome, happily married,and had a fine new son. Then one day hedecided to explore the kingdom beyond thepalace walls. As he traveled, he became veryupset. He saw beggars, people who were ill,and people broken down by age with nohome and nowhere to go. For the first time,he was truly aware of suffering.

Then and there, Siddhartha decided toseek an answer to this great riddle: Why didpeople suffer and how could their sufferingbe cured? He left his family and riches andbegan his search. At first he lived like a her-mit, fasting and sleeping on the hardground. Siddhartha nearly starved, but hestill had no answer to his questions.

Then he decided to meditate for as longas it took to get the answer. Legend tells usthat Siddhartha sat under a tree to meditate,and after 49 days, he finally understood. Itwas as if he had seen a great light.

Siddhartha spent the rest of his life wan-dering the countryside and telling peoplewhat he had discovered. His lessons aboutlife and the nature of suffering becameknown as Buddhism. To his followers, hebecame known as the Buddha, or“Enlightened One.”

What Is Buddhism? To understand theBuddha’s ideas, one first has to see the worldas he did. Like any good Hindu, Siddharthadid not think that the normal, everydayworld was real. Trees, houses, animals, thesky, and the oceans were just illusions. Sowere poverty and sickness, pain and sorrow.

Siddhartha believed that the only wayto find the truth about the world was togive up all desires. By giving up the desirefor fame, the desire for money, and thedesire for all worldly things, pain and sor-row would vanish.

If a person gave up all desires, he or she would reach nirvana (nihr • VAH • nuh).Nirvana is not a place but a state of wisdom.The word nirvana came from the Sanskritword for blowing out a candle flame.

This shrine in northern India marks the locationwhere it is believed the Buddha delivered hisfirst sermon. With what groups of Indians didthe Buddha’s message become popular?

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206 CHAPTER 6 Early India

The heart of the Buddha’s teachings iscontained in the Four Noble Truths. TheFour Noble Truths are:

1. Life is full of suffering.2. People suffer because they desire worldly

things and self-satisfaction.3. The way to end suffering is to stop desir-

ing things.4. The only way to stop desiring things is to

follow the Eightfold Path. The Buddha’s fourth truth says people

should follow eight steps to eliminate suffer-ing. The Buddha’s Eightfold Path was this:

1. Know and understand the Four NobleTruths.

2. Give up worldly things and don’t harmothers.

3. Tell the truth, don’t gossip, and don’tspeak badly of others.

4. Don’t commit evil acts, like killing, steal-ing, or living an unclean life.

5. Do rewarding work.6. Work for good and oppose evil.7. Make sure your mind keeps your senses

under control.8. Practice meditation as a way of under-

standing reality.One reason the Buddha’s ideas became

popular was that he did not accept thecaste system. A person’s place in lifedepended on the person, he thought. TheBuddha did believe in reincarnation, butwith a difference. If people wanted to stopbeing reborn into new lives, the Buddhasaid, they would only have to follow hisEightfold Path.Many people liked the Buddha’s mes-

sage, especially Untouchables and low-casteIndians. For the first time, these groups heardthat they, too, could reach enlightenment.

Buddhism in Southeast Asia For more than40 years, the Buddha preached his ideas.Disciples gathered around him, and after hisdeath, they spread his message all over Asia.

As more and more people practicedBuddhism, disagreements arose about theBuddha’s ideas. Finally, Buddhists split intotwo groups. The first was TheravadaBuddhism. Theravada means “teachings ofthe elders.” It sees the Buddha as a greatteacher, not a god.

Buddhist teachers and merchants spreadthe ideas of Theravada to the south and east.It was adopted in Ceylon in the 200s B.C. Ceylon, an island located near thesouthern tip of India, is now called Sri Lanka.Theravada Buddhism also became popularin Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos.

Morality in theEightfold Path

This passage describes the way a personshould act according to the Eightfold Path.“He avoids the killing ofliving beings. . . . He avoidsstealing, and abstains from[avoids] taking what is notgiven to him. Only what isgiven to him he takes,waiting till it is given; andhe lives with a heart honest and pure. . . .He avoids lying. . . . Hespeaks the truth, isdevoted to the truth,reliable, worthy ofconfidence, no deceiver of men.”

—The Word of the Buddha,Nyanatiloka, trans.

According to the passage, what is thecorrect way to accept something?

The Buddha

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THE BUDDHAC. 563–483 B.C.

Siddhartha Gautama—the thinker and teacher who

would later be called the Buddha—was born in what is now

Nepal. According to legend, his mother had a dream shortly

before his birth that was interpreted to mean that her son

would become a great leader.

The Gautama family belonged to the warrior caste.

Siddhartha’s father, Suddhodana, ruled a group called the

Shakyas. His mother, Maya, died shortly after his birth.

Siddhartha was very intelligent. According to legend,

the young man knew 64 languages and mastered all

his studies without needing

instruction. At age 29,

Siddhartha realized

that he wanted to

search for truth,

enlightenment, and a

way to rise above suffering.

He left his wife, Yasodhara,

and son, Rahula, to study

with priests.

At age 35, Siddhartha is

said to have reached full

enlightenment while sitting

beneath a tree. The Buddha began traveling to teach

others about his discoveries and about the nature of

life and suffering.

207

“Our life is shaped by“Our life is shaped by

our mind; we becomeour mind; we become

what we think.”what we think.”—The Buddha—The Buddha

Sculpture of the Buddha

sitting on a cobra

The Buddha

What types of present-day occupations often

involve traveling to teach others?

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Visit msworldhistory.com forHomework Helper.

Homework Helper

Reading SummaryReview the • Hinduism is an old religion with

many gods. Hindus believe inreincarnation and that a person’splace in life is determined by hisor her karma.

• In the 500s B.C., SiddharthaGautama founded the religion of Buddhism in northern India.According to Buddhism, a personwho follows the Four NobleTruths and the Eightfold Path can achieve nirvana.

1. What are the Upanishads?

2. What is reincarnation?

Critical Thinking3. Compare and Contrast

Draw a chart like the onebelow. Then add details tocompare the two mainbranches of Buddhism.

4. Describe Explain the conceptof karma.

5. Explain What is the impor-tance of the Four Noble Truthsand the Eightfold Path?

6. Analyze How did the belief inreincarnation both strengthenthe divisions in Indian societyand provide hope for the lowerclasses?

7. Expository Writing Write a short essay describingSiddhartha Gautama’s journey to enlightenment.

What Did You Learn?

Homework Helper Need help with the material in this section? Visit jat.glencoe.com

208 CHAPTER 6 Early India

Mahayana BuddhismThe second kind ofBuddhism is calledMahayana Buddhism.It teaches that theBuddha is a god whocame to save people.Mahayana Buddhistsbelieve that followingthe Eightfold Path istoo hard for most peo-ple in this world. Theybelieve that by worshiping the Buddhainstead, people will go to a heaven after theydie. There, they can follow the Eightfold Pathand reach nirvana.

Mahayana Buddhists also have specialaffection for the bodhisattvas (BOH • dih •SUHT • vuhz). Bodhisattvas are the enlight-ened people who postpone going to heaven.Instead, bodhisattvas have decided to stayon Earth to help others and do good deeds.

Mahayana Buddhism spread northwardinto China and from there to Korea andJapan.

A special kind of Mahayana Buddhismdeveloped in central Asia in the country ofTibet (tuh•BEHT). There it mixed with Tibet’straditional religion and with Hinduism.

In Tibet, the Buddhist leaders, calledlamas, also led the government. When reli-gious leaders head a government, it iscalled a theocracy (thee •AH •kruh • see). TheDalai Lama (DAH • LY LAH • muh) was thelama who headed the government, and the Panchen Lama was the lama who led thereligion. Both were considered reincarnationsof the Buddha.

Today, many Buddhists live in countrieslike Thailand, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka,but few live in India where the Buddha first preached.

Identify How could a

Buddhist reach nirvana?

TheravadaBuddhism

Branches of BuddhismMahayanaBuddhism

A Tibetan monktoday

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