Spread Of Buddhism -Edited by Ann Heirman and Stephan Peter Bumbacher
The rise of Buddhism occurred just after the end of the later Vedic period of Indian history (ca. 1000 BC–550 BC). According to tradition, its founder, the Buddha Siddha rtha Gautama, was born in the Lumbin park near Kapilavastu, in the sixth/ fifth century BC. Whereas it seems to be widely accepted that he lived for eighty years, the date of his parinirv ana, i.e., passing away, is still under debate. After his enlightenment and his subsequent teaching of the way formalised in the “Four noble Truths”, he was busy wandering for forty- five years through the region of the Middle Ganges from Kapilavastu in the north to Bodhgaya , Bihar, in the south, and from Mathur (Muttr , Uttar Pradesh) in the west to Camp a (Bhagalpur, Bihar) in the east preaching his dharma or “Law”.
The rise of Buddhism occurred just after the end of the later Vedic period of Indian history (ca. 1000 BC–550 BC). According to tradition, its founder, the Buddha Siddha rtha Gautama, was born in the Lumbin park near Kapilavastu, in the sixth/ fifth century BC. Whereas it seems to be widely accepted that he lived for eighty years, the date of his parinirv ana, i.e., passing away, is still under debate. After his enlightenment and his subsequent teaching of the way formalised in the “Four noble Truths”, he was busy wandering for forty- five years through the region of the Middle Ganges from Kapilavastu in the north to Bodhgaya , Bihar, in the south, and from Mathur (Muttr , Uttar Pradesh) in the west to Camp a (Bhagalpur, Bihar) in the east preaching his dharma or “Law”.
Among his disciples were the Group of Five (pañcavargika) with whom he had lived previously during the time of his austere penances and other people ordained by him. This sangha was immediately sent out on mission to teach the Buddhist Law. In the beginning, monks and nuns lived peripatetically, but very soon came to live in fixed residences which were donated and supported by female (upasika) and male (upasaka) lay followers. Matters concerning the preservation and transmission of the word of the Buddha were discussed in a series of councils. During these councils (Skt. samgiti or samgayana “singing” or “reciting in unison”) the Buddha’s dharma was recited, rehearsed, memorised and finally fixed in the Buddhist Canon. Shortly after the Buddha’s parinirvana the sangha split into different schools (nikaya) holding separate pr atimok sa ceremonies (public confessions of individual transgressions). Many different Hinayana schools are thus recorded.
For the spread of Buddhism it is important to note that India’s material culture in the Buddhist scriptures is described as expanding and trade relations are far wider reaching during the time of the Buddha than in the previous Vedic period. In the great cities, as for instance in Varanasi (Benares), we find very infuential mercantile communities organised in guilds. The texts also re flect a widespread sa ngha supported by kings and merchants. Evidently, the institution and maintenance of the sa ngha to a high degree depended on the existence of donations offered by the laity and the security and protection provided by the rulers. According to extant votive inscriptions, merchants and craftsmen were among the main supporters of cave monasteries and donors of funds for the construction of the great st upas in the centuries after the Buddha’s parinirvana.
Buddhist archaeological remains of the initial period of the Maurya dynasty (ca. 320–ca. 185 BC) are found in the Buddhist “Middle country” (madhyadesa) at all places which the Buddha is said to have visited or where he had lived, in Avanti in Madhya Pradesh and in Maharastra.
Whereas the first two kings of the Maurya dynasty (Candragupta and Bindus ara) seem to have supported the traditional Brahmans and the Jainas, the third king, Asoka (r. 268–233 BC), is known as the most important person responsible for the spread of Buddhism. He is also on record as the first ruler over almost the whole Indian subcontinent. He left a series of edicts which he had engraved on rocks and pillars and in which he recorded his conquests and achievements as well as his opinions and wishes. He seems to have been specially inclined to Buddhism as can be seen in his edict no. VIII. This Bhabhra edict is addressed to the Buddhist community, and A oka recommends to monks and lay people the study of seven “sermons on the Law” (dhammapaliya ya). Also the inscription of Rummindei was written on the occasion of Asoka’s pilgrimage to the birthplace of the Buddha in the twentieth year of his reign. Also during Asoka’s reign, a Buddhist council was held at P ataliputra (now Patna, Bihar). On that occasion decisions were made concerning Buddhist missionary activities which became crucial for the spread of Buddhism and its development into a world religion. Buddhism did not only spread throughout the whole of Asoka’s empire, but according to the Sinhalese chronicles, the Thera Moggaliputta sent missionaries to nine adjacent countries in order to propagate the Buddhist doctrine. Tradition further emphasises that also a son of Asoka, Mahinda, propagated Buddhism. He is said to have brought it to Sri Lanka.
Buddhism did not remain in India though. Xuanzang who travelled through India between 630 and 644 still reported the existence of about 2,000 Hinayana and 2,500 Mahayana monasteries, but in some regions the formerly rich monasteries already laid in ruins, abandoned for economical reasons, or destroyed by rapacious invaders or even by local rulers. The Sthavirava da schools retreated to the south, especially to Sri Lanka. The early schools of Buddhism of mainland India, the main centres of which had remained in Magadha and Northwest India, were finally destroyed when the Muslims took power around 1200 AD, thus putting an end to the great monastic universities in Bihar (Na landa and Vikramasi la) and Bengal. Among the laity, the Mantraya na or “Vehicle of Spells” which continued in Magadha, Bengal and Orissa appears to have been assimilated into similar Hindu traditions. Only in a restricted and secluded region of Nepal the Indian Mah aya na survived as a synthesis of the Madhyamaka Mantray ana of the twelfth century and of Tibetan Buddhism.
From the book 'The Spread of Buddhism' volume 16. Edited by Ann Heirman and Stephan Peter Bumbacher
