GA Study Notes On Buddhism

➤➤Buddism was founded by Gautama Siddhartha who was a Kshatriya prince of the Sakya/Shakya clan.

➤➤Lord Buddha was born in 623 BC in the sacred area of Lumbini (near Kapilavastu) located in the Terai plains of southern Nepal.

➤➤Siddhartha received enlightenment at Bodh Gaya(Bihar) at the age of 35, under a Pipal tree and became the Buddha.

➤➤He delivered his first sermon at Sarnath in Banaras and spread his message for approximately 40 years, before dying at the age of 80 in 487 _BC at Kushinagar in Deoria district of eastern Uttar Pradesh.

➤➤The Buddha taught in the language of the ordinary people, Prakrit, so that everybody could understand his message.

➤➤There are many stories about Buddha’s lives and are called Jatakas.

➤➤The sacred book of Buddhism is called the Tripitaka (called Tipitaka in Pali). It is also called the Pali Canon, after the language in which it was first written.

➤➤Ajatashatru was the son of King Bimbisara and was a contemporary of both  Gautama Buddha and Mahavira. This was also the time when other scholars were at work. One of the most famous was Panini, who prepared a grammar for Sanskrit.

➤➤First Buddhist Council was held in – Rajagriha. During the fourth Buddist Council held in Kashmir, the Buddhists split two groups:
The Hinayana and the Mahayana.
⏩The Hinayana believed in the simple teachings of Buddha. They did not worship Buddha in the form of his image but honoured his footprints, umbrella and other objects. Pali was their main language.
⏩The Mahayana worshipped the image of Buddha. Sanskrit was their language. Ashwagosha, Nagarjuna, Vasubhandu were some of the greatest philosophers of Mahayanism.

➤➤The Eight-Fold Path -- Right faith, Right though, Right action, Right means of livelihood, Right exertion or efforts, Right speech, Right remembrance and Right concentration or meditation.

➤➤Three Ratnas- Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha.

➤➤Buddism flourished in India under the patronage of monarchs such as Ashoka and Kanishka.

Answer the following questions based on these Study Notes.

Q1.Who is known as Light of Asia?
Answer: Gautama Buddha

Q2.What was the name of Buddha's horse?
Answer: Kanthaka(Channa).

Q3.What is the name of worship place of Buddhists?
Answer: Pagoda.

Q4.What is Chaitya and Vihara?
Answer: Chaitya- prayer hall and Vihara - Buddhist monastery. 

Q5.What Mauryan ruler was the first to adopt Buddhism?
Answer: Ashoka.

Q6.Buddhacarita was written by?
Answer: Asvaghosa.

Q7.What is the meaning of Upanishad?
Answer: Upanishad literally means ‘approaching and sitting near’

Q8.The largest Buddhist temple in the world is located in?
Answer: The largest Buddhist temple in the world is Borobudur, in Indonesia.

Q9.who was the personal physician of Gautam Buddha?
Answer: Jeevaka

Q10.The earliest Buddhist literature which deals with the stories of the various births of Buddha are
Answer: Jatakas