English
Very few buildings, however, be longing to these centuries remain above ground. Yet one of the most beautiful, the great Bud dhist pagoda at Buddh- Gaya, has survived, though probably much altered. The rich cluster of Hindu temples at Bhuvanesvara in Orissa are also still of 22. TEMPLE OF MUKTKSVARA At Bhuvanesvara. A small but beautiful shrine of the Indo-Aryan style. The ornamental arch in front, called a Torana, is very graceful. ^Photograph kindly favoured by Mr. Frank Anderson, of Bombay.) standing. They are the Indo-Aryan style. A Hindu or Jain temple consists of a cubical cell, lighted only from the door, but surmounted by a tower. The image is placed in the cell, which thus becomes the shrine. The tower marks the position of the shrine. Usually a porch stands in front of the door of the shrine. The three leading styles are distinguished from each other by the form of the tower. The Northern or Indo-Aryan 104 OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY tower has curvilinear sides: see figs. 22 and 28. The Southern or Dravidian tower is pyramidal and in stories : see figs. 23 and 34. The Chalukyan tower is usually star- shaped : see fig. 29. The earliest existing examples of Dravidian architecture are the Pallava temples of Conjee- veram and the rock-cut monuments known as the Seven 23. ROCK-CUT SHRINE At Mahavellipore. This and the other shrines, known as the Seven Pagodas, are all Hindu work. But the style of this example is taken unchanged from a Buddhist vihara or monastery. Then this in turn produced the tower of the Dravidian style. (See figs. 21 and 28.) Pagodas at Mahavellipore near Madras, which date from the seventh century. About the same time the Chalukyan style arose in the West. NOTE. — The text at the bottom of the page is an example of Puranic intolerance : ' Vishnu is the divinity of the gods ; the Trident-holder (i. e. Siva) is the divinity of devils.' Kurma Punina, xxii. 43. DECADENCE 105 ILLUSTRATIVE READINGS 18. Vishnu as Saviour of the Gods An Example of Puranic Mythology The gods addressed the mighty Vishnu thus — ' Conquered in battle by the evil demons, We fly to thee for succour, Soul of all : Pity and by thy might deliver us.' Hari the lord, creator of the world, Thus by the gods implored, all graciously Replied — ' Your strength shall be restored, ye gods ; Only accomplish what I now command ; Unite yourselves in peaceful combination With these your foes ; collect all plants and herbs Of diverse kinds from every quarter ; cast them Into the sea of milk ; take Mandara, The mountain, for a churning-stick, and Vasuki, The serpent, for a rope ; together churn The ocean to produce the beverage — Source of all strength and immortality ; Then reckon on my aid. I will take care Your foes shall share your toil, but not partake In its reward or drink th' immortal draught'; Thus by the god of gods advised, the host United in alliance with the demons. Straightway they gathered various herbs and cast them Into the waters, then they took the mountain To serve as churning-staff, and next the snake To serve as cord, and in the ocean's midst Hari himself, present in tortoise-form, Became a pivot for the churning-staff. Vishnu Parana, i. 9; Monier- Williams, Indian Wisdom, 498. io6 OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY 19. Living Souls in Particles of Earth NOTE. — This extract is inserted here as an example of the characteristic teaching of the Jains. Similar statements follow in the same Sutra with reference to living souls in fire, water, and air. The living world is afflicted, miserable, difficult to instruct, and without discrimination. In this world full of pain, suffer ing by their different acts, see the benighted ones cause great pain. See ! there are beings individually embodied in earth • not one all-soul. See ! there are men who control themselves, whilst others only pretend to be houseless, i. e. monks such as the Buddhists, whose conduct differs not from that of householders, because one destroys this earth- body by bad and injurious doings, and many other beings besides, which he hurts by means of earth, through his doing acts relating to earth. As somebody may cut or strike a blind man who cannot see the wound ; as somebody may cut or strike the foot, the ankle, the knee, the thigh, the hip, the navel, the belly, the flank, the back, the bosom, the heart, the breast, the neck, the arm, the finger, the nail, the eye, the brow, the forehead, the head ; as some kill openly ; as some extirpate secretly ; thus the earth-bodies are cut, struck, and killed, though their feeling is not manifest. He who injures these earth-bodies does not comprehend and renounce the sinful acts ; he who does not injure these, comprehends and renounces the sinful acts. Knowing them, a wise man should not act sinfully towards earth, nor cause others to act so, nor allow others to act so. He who knows these causes of sin relating to earth, is called a reward-knowing sage. Thus I say. Achdrdhga Sutra, I, i. 2, 1-2, 5-6; S.B.E., vol. xxii, 3-5. DECADENCE 107 TABLES 19. Period of Decadence External Events History and Religion Literature Buddhism enters A.D. 320 Rise of the Guptas A.D. 326 Samudragupta A.D. 375 Chandragupta II Vdyu Pur ana Korea BUDDHIST A. D. 400 The Iron Pillar at Delhi Kalldasa SCHOLARS Jain Svetambara Buddha- canon fixed ghosha A.D. 500 The Huns Fall of the Gupta Empire A.D. 454 A.I>. 552 Buddhism in Japan A.D. 600 Pataliputra destroyed A.D. 528 Defeat of the Huns Early Puranas edited Asanga Vasu- bandhu Dignaga HINDU ARCHITEC TURE Muham mad 57o-632 Buddhism in Tibet, Siam, Harsha reigns A.D. 606-647 Hiouen Tsang in India A.D. 629-646 Persian cross at Kottayam Kajputana Badami Conjeeveram Mahavellipore Guna- prabha Dharma- Burma Bhuvanesvara kirti and Java io8 OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY 20. The Leading Divinities of the Hindu Pantheon The incomprehensible Brahman is manifested in the Triad — Brahma, Vishnu, Siva. Brahma, the Creator, married Saras vatl, the goddess of learn ing. Vishnu, the Preserver, married Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, called also Sri. Siva, the Destroyer, married Unia, the daughter of Hima laya. She is also called Par- vati, Durga, Kali, Bhavanl. Their sons are Ganesa, the ele phant-headed god, whose func tions are somewhat like those of the Roman Janus,, and Karttikeya, called also Subrali- manya, Skanda and Kumara, the god of war. c$ c^LUJai CD GJT ! CHAPTER IX PERIOD OF RECONSTRUCTION POET-SAINTS AND COMMENTATORS From the Fall of Harsha's Empire to the Conquest of North India. A.D. 650-1200 74. History. There are very few outstanding events in the dead, dull level of these five and a half centuries. Muhammadan aggression was almost entirely confined to Sind and the frontier until the latter part of the twelfth century. Yet great ethnic changes were going on. The foreign races which had entered India in the earlier cen turies, and the aboriginal races of Bengal and Bihar which had risen to prominence, were gradually absorbed and assimilated by the old Hindu people. Numerous tribes were transformed into castes, and their leaders were sup plied with a mythical genealogy. From the midst of this creative chaos arose the Rajputs and dominated the centre and the west for several centuries. They were a chivalrous NOTE. — The lines at the top of the page form ONE OF MANIKKA VACHAKAR'S GREAT SAYINGS about Siva: 'Thou mad'st me thine; didst fiery poison eat, pitying poor souls, that I might thine ambrosia taste — I, meanest one.' Tiruv&chakam, Pope, p. 102. no OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY race, and their kingdoms in Malwa, Delhi, Kanauj, Ajmlr, and Gwalior showed great activity, military courage and high civilization ; but their dissensions made them an easy prey, when the bold Muhammadan invaders came. In the south a number of kingdoms arose and flourished and fell ; and the local fortunes of Jainism, of Buddhism, or of some Hindu sect were frequently intertwined with the 24. JAIN SCCLVTURE Illustrating the worship of the Digambara Jains, at Kalugumalai, Tinnevelly. See section 48. (Photograph by Nicholas & Co., Madras. political change ; but these events can scarcely be traced in a primer. 75. Religion and Literature. The steady rise of Hindu ism to supremacy and the corresponding decline of Bud dhism are the most prominent features of the religious history of this period.