Chapter 4 — Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings

The Tipitaka (literally 'three baskets') is the compilation of the Buddha's teachings assembled by his disciples at a council of elders at Vesali (Vaishali, present-day Bihar) after his death. Its three parts are: the Vinaya Pitaka (rules and regulations for the monastic sangha), the Sutta Pitaka (the Buddha's teachings), and the Abhidhamma Pitaka (philosophical matters).

Amaravati was found in 1796 before scholars understood the importance of preserving finds in situ; sculptures were progressively removed to Madras, Calcutta, London, and private gardens. When Sanchi was 'discovered' in 1818, archaeologist H.H. Cole successfully argued for in situ preservation; the Begums of Bhopal—Shahjehan Begum and Sultan Jehan Begum—also funded its upkeep, and European collectors were satisfied with plaster-cast copies of the gateways.

Jaina monks and nuns took five vows: to abstain from killing, to abstain from stealing, to abstain from lying, to observe celibacy, and to abstain from possessing property.

Mahapajapati Gotami was the foster mother of the Buddha. She became the first woman to be ordained as a bhikkhuni (Buddhist nun) in the sangha, after Ananda—one of the Buddha's closest disciples—persuaded him to admit women into the order.

These are three core concepts in Buddhist philosophy: anicca means the world is transient and constantly changing; anatta means it is soulless, with nothing permanent or eternal in it; dukkha means sorrow is intrinsic to human existence within this transient world.

A stupa originated as a simple semi-circular mound of earth called the anda. Above the anda was the harmika, a balcony-like structure representing the abode of the gods. Arising from the harmika was a mast called the yashti, often topped by a chhatri (umbrella). Around the mound was a stone railing separating the sacred space from the secular world, with richly carved gateways at the four cardinal points.

Early sculptors at sites like Sanchi did not depict the Buddha in human form. Instead they used symbols: an empty seat to indicate his meditation, a stupa to represent the mahaparinibbana, and a wheel to stand for his first sermon delivered at Sarnath.

Shahjehan Begum (ruled 1868–1901) and her successor Sultan Jehan Begum provided money for the preservation of Sanchi. Sultan Jehan funded the museum built there, the guesthouse where John Marshall lived while writing his volumes on Sanchi, and the publication of those volumes itself. John Marshall dedicated his important works on Sanchi to Sultan Jehan.

By the first century CE, new ideas called Mahayana ('great vehicle') emerged in Buddhism. Earlier teaching had emphasised self-effort to attain nibbana and regarded the Buddha as a human being. Mahayana introduced the idea of a saviour figure and the concept of Bodhisattas—compassionate beings who accumulated merit to help others rather than attaining nibbana for themselves. Followers of the older tradition called themselves theravadins; Mahayana adherents called that older path Hinayana ('lesser vehicle').

The garbhagriha was the small square room at the centre of an early temple, with a single doorway through which the worshipper entered to offer worship to an image. The shikhara was the tall structure gradually built over this central shrine. Later temples became more elaborate, with assembly halls, large walls, gateways, and water arrangements.

The four places are Lumbini (where the Buddha was born), Bodh Gaya (where he attained enlightenment), Sarnath (where he gave his first sermon), and Kusinagara (where he attained nibbana). About 200 years after the Buddha's time, Asoka erected a pillar at Lumbini to mark his visit there.

The shalabhanjika is a figure of a woman swinging from a gateway, holding a tree. According to popular belief, this was a woman whose touch caused trees to flower and bear fruit; it was regarded as an auspicious symbol. Its presence at Sanchi suggests that people who turned to Buddhism enriched it with pre-Buddhist and non-Buddhist beliefs and practices.

Major Alexander Cunningham was a British officer who examined the ruins at Sanchi, took drawings of the site, deciphered inscriptions, and bored shafts into the domes. He later published Bhilsa Topes in 1854, one of the earliest works on Sanchi.

Buddhist texts record this number because the mid-first millennium BCE was a period of intense intellectual debate. Teachers travelled from place to place arguing the validity of their philosophies; if a philosopher convinced a rival, the rival's followers also became his disciples, so support for sects could grow and shrink. Debates took place in the kutagarashala—literally a hut with a pointed roof—or in groves where travelling mendicants halted.

According to a Buddhist text called the Ashokavadana, Asoka distributed portions of the Buddha's relics to every important town and ordered the construction of stupas over them. By the second century BCE a number of stupas—including those at Bharhut, Sanchi, and Sarnath—had been built.

Yes—NCERT textbooks are free to download from the official NCERT website (ncert.nic.in) with no sign-up required. The full chapter is part of 'Themes in Indian History – Part I' for Class 12.