Chapter 6

reincarnation

The successive attachment of the soul to some animate form according to merits earned in previous lives.

karma

The sum of merits accumulated by a soul at any given point in time; determined the caste to which the soul would be assigned in the next life.

Intensifying Caste and Gender Inequities and Gupta Decline

The surge in creativity in the arts and sciences that came with the restoration under the Guptas of the brahmans' influence was offset to some extent by the growing rigidity of the caste system and the increase in control that males, particularly household heads, were able to exert over women at all social levels. As the brahmans recovered their social dominance, the caste hierarchy they had long promoted became the backbone of the Indian social system. Caste divisions grew even more complex and came to vary significantly between different areas in the subcontinent. Styles of dress increasingly distinguished members of each varna, and the restrictions on untouchables and other low-caste groups grew harsher and more pervasive. In some areas, for example, untouchables traveling on roadways had to clap sticks together or shout to warn high-caste groups that they were in danger of being polluted. If a brahman or merchant was seen approaching, the untouchable was required to leave the road and pass by through the fields at a distance. The untouchables were not allowed to use any wells but their own or to worship in the temples used by other caste groups. Their living quarters were segregated from the rest of the towns and rural villages.

The Kingdoms of the Gangetic Plain

As Aryan settlement spread in the last millennium b.c.e. from the Indus region and Himalayan foothills to vast plains of the Ganges River system, republics and religious skeptics gave way to kings and powerful brahman priests. The hilly regions were divided into a patchwork of rival kingdoms. Except for their influential brahman advisors, there were no formal checks on the kings' power. As these roles suggest, the powers and privileges these kings enjoyed were justified by the duties they performed and the services they provided for their subjects.

The End of an Era

Roughly 1000 years after the first Aryan tribes entered India, a new civilization had come into being that was different in many ways from the Harappan complex it replaced. Sedentary agriculture was well established and was productive enough to support a variety of specialized elites, true cities, extensive trade, and non agrarian artisan manufacturers. In the caste system, the Indians had developed perhaps the most complex scheme of social stratification and labor division in human history. They had also made notable accomplishments in philosophical and religious speculation and artistic creativity. Although most of the artworks were done in wood and thus have perished over time, the profound thought of the age has been transmitted through the ages in extensive Sanskrit texts such as the Vedas and the great Indian epics.

mandalas

Cosmic diagrams; part of the Hindu belief system.

Mauryan

Dynasty established in Indian subcontinent in 4th century b.c.e. following invasion by Alexander the Great.

Guptas

Dynasty that succeeded the Kushans, one of the Buddhist dynasties that emerged after the fall of the Mauryas in the 3rd century c.e.; built empire that extended to all but the southern regions of Indian subcontinent; less centralized than Mauryan Empire.

Gupta Lifestyles of the Ordinary People

For most Indian peasants, artisans, and sweepers at the lower levels of the caste system, the delights of upper-caste youths or the life of a wandering holy man were unattainable. Most Indians lived lives of hard work, if not sheer drudgery. Most knew no deference from others but rather spent their lives bowing to and serving their caste superiors. At the lower-caste levels, women were somewhat freer in their ability to move about the town and countryside and buy and sell in the local marketplace. But they had no servants to perform their many household chores and had to do backbreaking farming tasks, such as weeding fields or transplanting rice

Gupta Decline and a Return to Political Fragmentation

For nearly 250 years, the Guptas managed to hold together the collection of vassal kingdoms that they passed off as an empire. Signs of future danger appeared in the northwest with the first of the probes across the Himalayas by the nomadic Huns from central Asia in the early 5th century c.e. Preoccupied by the growing threat on their northern frontier, the later Gupta rulers failed to crush resistance from their vassals and challenges from states to the south of the Gupta domains. By the middle of the century, Gupta efforts to hold back repeated assaults by greater and greater numbers of Hun invaders were faltering. With the death of Skanda Gupta, the last of the truly able Gupta monarchs, a flood of nomadic invaders broke into the empire. Their pillaging and widely dispersed assaults finished off what remained of Gupta military might, and the empire dissolved into a patchwork of local kingdoms and warring states. From the mid-7th century until the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate in the early 13th century, northern India was divided and vulnerable to outside invasions.

A Hindu Renaissance

From the outset, the Guptas had been staunch defenders of Hinduism and patrons of the brahmans. With the family's rise to power, the brahmans' roles as sanctifiers of and advisors to kings were fully restored. Buddhist monks were increasingly confined to their monasteries, which, lacking the patronage of the imperial court, had to depend on wealthy local merchants or landowners for support. The brahmans' roles as gurus, or teachers, for the princes of the imperial court and the sons of local notables also became entrenched. Brahmans regained the aura of mystery and supernatural power that they had enjoyed in the Vedic age. With their power base and sources of patronage restored, brahman priests, poets, scholars, and patrons of the arts became the driving force behind an era of splendid achievement in literature, music, art, architecture, and the natural sciences.

Shiva

Hindu god of destruction and reproduction; worshiped as the personification of cosmic forces of change.

Ashoka

(r. 273-232 b.c.e.) Grandson of Chandragupta Maurya; completed conquests of Indian subcontinent; converted to Buddhism and sponsored spread of new religion throughout his empire.

Chandragupta Maurya

(r. 322-298 b.c.e.) Founder of Maurya dynasty; established first empire in Indian subcontinent; first centralized government since Harappan civilization.

Enforcing Social Divisions

A person was born into a caste group and could not change his or her caste status. Over long periods of time, a caste group could collectively rise or fall in status, but individuals were tied to the fortunes of their caste. Refusal to accept the duties and status of the caste into which one was born could lead to beatings and other forms of physical abuse. If the rebellious person continued to violate caste laws, he or she would be ostracized or outcast. This penalty normally meant certain death because no one, including a member of the outcast's own family, was allowed to pay him or her for labor or offer food, drink, or other services. In addition to local sanctions, the caste system was upheld by Indian rulers and the belief that it was supernaturally ordained.

The Making of a religious Teacher

Accounts of the Buddha's life are so cluttered with myths and miracles that it is difficult to know what kind of man he actually was and what sort of message he originally preached. We are fairly certain that he lived from the mid-6th century to the second decade of the 5th century b.c.e. He was born into one of the warrior clans of the hill states south of the Himalayas, where, as we have seen, the rule of kings and the hold of the brahmans was weak.

The Emergence of Buddhism as a Religion

After his death the Buddha was worshiped as a deity—often in the form of lifelike sculptures. His most faithful disciples became monks who devoted their lives to spreading his message and achieving nirvana. They held conferences in which they tried to compile authoritative collections of his teachings and the traditions concerning his life. Not surprisingly, disagreements over points of doctrine and meaning arose at these sessions. These disputes led to the formation of rival schools of monks, who vied with each other, the brahmans, and other sects to build a popular following. Over time, the rival schools created elaborate philosophical systems. in their efforts to attract a broader following, the monks stressed more accessible aspects of what had become a new religion. Although within the monastic communities Buddhist monks continued their emphasis on meditation and the achievement of nirvana, laypeople were encouraged to perform good deeds that would earn enough merit for their souls to go to one of the Buddhist heavens after death.

Sources of Brahman Power

Although most rulers of the kingdoms on the Ganges plains were members of the warrior elite, brahmans living at the court centers often exercised more real power. Their positions as the educators of the princes who would someday rule and as the chief advisors to the kings themselves made them influential figures in the ruling circles. In addition, only the brahmans knew how to perform the sacred rituals that were essential to crowning a new king. They alone knew the rites that conferred divine status on a monarch, and without divine status a ruler's legitimacy was in doubt. Once the ruler was installed, brahman astrologers foretold his future and regulated his daily schedule, telling him when to make war or have relations with his wives.

Gupta Pleasures of an Elite Life

Although women were limited in career options and largely confined to the home, life for those of the upper castes had its rewards, at least once a woman had established her place in her husband's family by having sons. Well-to-do families lived in large compounds set in gardens filled with flowering plants and colorful birds. They were waited on by servants and entertained at periodic festivals and in their own compounds by swings, games such as chess and pachisi (both of which the Indians invented), and wandering musicians. They dressed in silks and fine cottons and enjoyed one of the world's great cuisines. When they ventured away from the family compound, the very wealthy were carried in litters borne by servants and given the place of honor to which their caste entitled them.

Gupta Achievements in Literature and the Sciences

Although written languages had developed in India before the rise of the Gupta dynasty, the Gupta reign initiated one of the great ages of Indian literary achievement. In the Gupta period and the centuries that followed, many of the great classics of Sanskrit, the sacred and classical Indian language, and Tamil, one of the major languages of the south, were written. The poet Kalidasa (kah-lee-DAH-sah), who is acknowledged as the greatest Sanskrit author, lived in a period when Gupta power was at its height. In addition to poetry and drama, Hindu scholars in the classical era wrote treatises on the nature of time, space, and causality. These works contain arguments that have much in common with the findings of modern science on many issues.

transmigration

Belief in a number of Indian religious traditions that the souls of living creatures persisted in supernatural realms and returned to inhabit other humans or animals after death.

The Age Of Brahman Dominance

By the last millennium b.c.e., the social order of Aryan-dominated south Asia had become increasingly stratified and controlled by brahman priests, teachers and advisors, and regional warrior elites.

Ashoka's Conversion and the Flowering of Buddhism in the Mauryan Age

In the early years of his rule, Ashoka showed little of the wisdom and tolerance that set off his reign as one of the great periods in Indian history. He won his throne only after a bloody struggle in which he eliminated several brothers. According to contemporary Buddhist sources, he was both bad-tempered and impetuous. He also delighted in conquest, at least until he witnessed the horrible sufferings that were caused by his conquest of Orissa in eastern India. That experience, and regret for his earlier brutality, led to his conversion to Buddhism. From the time of his conversion onward, Ashoka strove to serve his people and promote their welfare. He ceased to enlarge his domains by conquest, used his revenues to build roads, hospitals, and rest houses, and sought to reduce the slaughter of animals in his kingdom by encouraging vegetarianism. The influence of Buddhism on Ashoka's personal life spilled over into his state policy. Drawing on the Buddhist concept of a righteous world ruler spreading peace and good government, Ashoka attempted to build an imperial bureaucracy that would enforce his laws and sanctions against war and animal slaughter.

The Gupta Empire

In the last decades of the 3rd century c.e., a family of wealthy landholders in the eastern Ganges plains infiltrated the court of the local ruler and seized his throne. Through a succession of clever alliances and timely military victories, the Gupta family built an empire that by the end of the 4th century c.e. extended across most of northern India. The Guptas' domains were not nearly as extensive as those of the Mauryas, and they had far less control over the regional lords and villages than the Mauryas had, particularly under Ashoka. The Gupta rulers never tried to build a genuine bureaucracy or regulate affairs at the local level. The Guptas were content to be acknowledged as supreme overlords and to draw tribute from the many vassals under their rule. Weak control from the center meant that local lords periodically revolted or squabbled among themselves. Although internal warfare continued, it was at a lower level than in the centuries after the fall of the Mauryas. Until the 5th century, foreign invaders were kept beyond the Himalayas and internal conflicts were short and localized. Gupta dominance brought more than two and a half centuries of peace and prosperity to much of north India.

Mahabharata

Indian epic of war, princely honor, love, and social duty; written down in the last centuries b.c.e.; previously handed down in oral form.

Skanda Gupta

Last of the able rulers of the Gupta dynasty; following his late 5th-century reign, the empire dissolved under the pressure of nomadic invasions.

Upanishads.

Later books of the Vedas; contained sophisticated and sublime philosophical ideas; utilized by brahmans to restore religious authority

rama

Major figure in the popular Indian epic Ramayana.

Signet Ring of Rakshasa

One of the great Sanskrit dramas produced in the Gupta period; dramatized authority of brahmans.

Ramayana

One of the great epic tales from classical India; traces adventures of King rama and his wife, Sita; written 4th to 2nd centuries b.c.e.

gurus

Originally referred to as brahmans who served as teachers for the princes of the imperial court of the Guptas.

ascetics

Persons who had renounced the pleasures of the material world. Only a small percentage of the brahmans in a given kingdom served as advisors at the court or as state administrators. Many were the personal priests or physicians of wealthy high-caste families; most were village priests, schoolteachers, and wandering ascetics— persons who had renounced the pleasures of the material world. In addition to the power exercised by the brahmans and the services they provided, religion shaped the daily lives of the peoples of south Asia through the ethical prescriptions found in the sacred Vedas.

Arthashastra

Political treatise written during reign of Chandragupta Maurya; advocated use of spies and assassins, bribery, and scientific forms of warfare.

Imperial Patronage and Social Change

Several social groups gained from Ashoka's attempts to recast Indian society in a Buddhist mold. Seeing in Buddhism an advantageous alternative to the caste system, merchants and artisans supported Ashoka's efforts. They generously patronized orders of Buddhist monks, which increased greatly in wealth and membership. Women also had good reasons to support the Buddhist alternative. Their position within the family was strengthened under Buddhist law. In addition, the monastic life gave them opportunities for achievement and self-expression as nuns, scholars, and artists. Another major effect of Ashoka's dedication to Buddhism resulted from his efforts to spread the faith beyond the Indian subcontinent. He sent missions, including one led by one of his sons, to Sri Lanka to the south and to the Himalayan kingdoms and the steppes of central Asia to the north. One of the chief signs of the Buddhist surge under Ashoka and his successors was the spread of great monastery complexes throughout the subcontinent.

The Family and the Changing Status of Women

Some of our best insights into family life and gender relationships in this era are provided by the two great Indian epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Although these tales of war, princely honor, love, and social duty were not written down until the last centuries b.c.e., they were related in oral form long before. They suggest that by the middle centuries of the last millennium b.c.e., the extended family was increasingly regarded as the ideal. Those who could support such large households, which normally meant only the highest caste groups, gathered all the male members of a given family and their wives and children under the same roof.

stupas

Stone shrines built to house pieces of bone or hair and personal possessions said to be relics of the Buddha; preserved Buddhist architectural forms.

nirvana

The Buddhist state of enlightenment, a state of tranquility.

Vishnu

The brahminical, later Hindu, god of sacrifice; widely worshiped.

dharma

The caste position and career determined by a person's birth; Hindu culture required that one accept one's social position and perform occupation to the best of one's ability in order to have a better situation in the next life.

The caste system

The class division in India between warriors, priests, and commoners that made up the tribal social order of the early Aryan invaders had changed radically over the centuries. New social groups, such as merchants and peasants, were added to these broad social categories, and each was subdivided into occupational subgroups, jatis or castes, for the purpose of general analysis. These smaller groupings were particular to different regions in south Asia. They were arranged in a hierarchy according to the degree to which the tasks each group performed were considered polluting, particularly at the highest and lowest levels. Over the centuries, the boundaries between caste groups hardened. In addition to occupation, a caste's position in the Indian social hierarchy was distinguished by its diet and by the caste groups with which its members could dine or exchange food. A caste's status also determined the social groups with which its members were allowed to intermarry and whether they were permitted to read the Vedas. Only members of castes belonging to the three highest varnas (Brahmans, warriors, and merchants) were allowed to read the sacred texts.

Religious Ferment and the Rise of Buddism

The rise of the Buddha and other dissenting religious teachers posed major challenges to the caste-based, brahman-dominated order that had developed in the millennium after the Aryan migrations into India.

The Greek Interlude

The intellectual and social ferment that swept northern India in the 6th century b.c.e. was intensified by political upheavals touched off by the invasion of northwestern India by Alexander the Great. This was an important, although not unique, case of direct contact between two core civilization areas during the classical period. In 327 b.c.e. Alexander's armies crossed the Hindu Kush into India, thus beginning his last major campaign of conquest. the impact of his campaign was largely indirect. It stimulated trade and cultural exchange between India and the Mediterranean region. Of particular importance were the flow of Greek astronomical and mathematical ideas to India and the impact of Indian thinking on religious movements in the Mediterranean. Greek Stoicism and the mystery religions that swept the eastern Mediterranean in the centuries around the birth of Christ owe much to Indian philosophical influences. In the arts, the combination of Indian and Greek styles led to an Indo-Greek school of sculpture that was both distinctive and influential in shaping approaches to the depiction of the Buddha. Indian motifs were blended with Greek physical features and artistic techniques.

Brahmanical Recovery and the Splendors of the Gupta Age

The loss of patronage on the part of the powerful Mauryan dynasty proved a major setback for Buddhism in its largely peaceful rivalry with Brahmanism. This trend in turn paved the way for the rise of the Gupta dynasty and the consolidation of the religious systems and social hierarchies that Western scholars later viewed as a coherent Hindu religious and social order.

The Buddhist Challenge

The monks and monastic organizations provided a viable alternative to the brahman priesthood as centers of scholarship, education, and religious ritual, and often directly opposed the beliefs that the brahmans championed. Although the Buddha retained the ideas of karma and reincarnation, he rejected the Vedas as divinely inspired teachings that ought to be accepted as the ultimate authority on all issues. He ridiculed the powers the brahmans claimed for their sacrifices and the gods for whom they were intended. He favored introspection and self-mastery over ritual. In so doing, he struck at the very heart of the brahmans' social and religious dominance. The Buddha rejected the lifestyles of both the brahmans who had become addicted to worldly power and the brahman ascetics who practiced extreme forms of bodily mortification. He tried to do away with the caste system, an aim that gave his teachings great appeal among the untouchables and other groups. The Buddha also accepted women as his followers and taught that they were capable of attaining nirvana.

jatis

The multitude of occupational subgroups into which the indian caste hierarchy is divided.

Hinduism

The name given to the mixture of forms of religious expression that became the predominant religion of India from last centuries b.c.e. Hinduism developed from the blending of sublime philosophical thinking, popular polythesistic cults, and mysticism.

An Era of Widespread Social Change in south Asia

With the growth of towns, merchant and artisan social groups became increasingly important economically, but their continuing low social status made them susceptible to religiously based challenges to the existing political, social, and philosophical order.

The Rise and Decline of the Mauryas

With the support of the powerful Mauryan ruler Ashoka, from the 3rd century b.c.e. Buddhism appeared destined to become the preeminent philosophy and main arbiter of social relations in a rapidly changing Indian civilization.

Kamasutra

Written by Vatsayana during Gupta era; offered instructions on all aspects of life for higher-caste males, including grooming, hygiene, etiquette, selection of wives, and lovemaking.

untouchables

lowest social caste in hindu culture; performed tasks that were considered polluting— street sweeping, removal of human waste, and tanning.