Buddhism and Varanasi

This place is older than Rajgir.

The bricks are old, but they have been cemented together only recently.

Relics found here are 2,300 years old slightly pre-dating the time of Ashoka.

The wells in the district have no niches in their walls, which enabled people to climb down inside the well to reconstruct it if it collapsed or became dry.

The system of stepped niches came to India during the pathan period, but was already in vogue in Persia.

It was not adopted in India because the wells were constructed in hard soil-black cotton soil-so that they did not collapse. Since no niches are found in these wells, it can be concluded that people have ‘been here for 2500 years.

Baba also made the observation that bridges over rivers should, whenever possible, be built on black soil.

If a bridge is Constructed on soft soil, the bridge may remain standing, but the river will cut its way through the soft soil, soon creating the need for another bridge.

This mistake has been committed in the construction of Mokama bridge in Bihar where one side of the bridge is built on soft soil.

Layers after layers manifested the several plexuses-fire plexus, jagaddal padmas (pineal plexus), etc.

Great men ог teachers or Buddha would sit over it and would speak before the audience. The lowermost represented the solid plexus or the fire plexus.

Pineal plexus was symbolised as jagaddal, Parama Shiva was called Naera’tma Devii. Lamas of Tibet would utter “Om Manipadme hum”.

In the Bastar district of Madhya Pradesh, a place is named Jagaddalpur.

A big “Bihar” was called Jagaddal Bihar. Adjusting with the pedestal symbolising the plexus was placed a pot.

• Usually these pots were too big to be moved by people. The pot was known as Dharma ghata.

In those days, there was no clear differentiation between the Hiinayana and the Mahayana.

They differed in their goal.

• Mahayaniis accepted the existence of Atma
• Hinayanis did not accept any such entity

Later, in Hinayana, several deities got acceptance and recognition, such as Panca’, etc.

In India, Buddhism had its influence in the northern, northwestern and eastern parts including Sikkim, Bhutan and Nepal. But it had little influence over the southern and western portions of India.

100 years after Buddha’s death, the first Buddhist convention was held at Pataliputra.

The first divisions in Buddhism emerged there.

The second Buddhist convention was held another century later at Purusapur or Peshavara, where the existing differences became still more prominent.

By the time the third convention was held another century later, again at Pataliputra, the schism between Hinayana and Maha’yana was complete.

It was agreed that separate schools of Buddhism should be recognised.

This happened 300 years after Buddha’s death.

Hinayaniis were influential in Chittagong alone, while in the rest of India, Mahayana was dominant.

Later, Mahayaniis either embraced Purancism or were converted to Islam.

But Hinayanis remained firm in their faith.

Even today, they can be found in Chittagong, using the title Barua, which is derived from the Sanskrit word “Bat’uka”, meaning great.

Shiva is also known as Bat’ukana’tha.

Batuka-Bhaerava is a popular name and in Assam and Bengal, Hindus still use the title Bar’ua.

Buddhism remained a living faith in Varanasi and in its surrouding districts for several hundred years.

By the time, the Gupta period arrived, many kings had embraced Puranicism. The remainder of them, who were powerful landowners, were called Bhumihars. They used the title “Rai” and are found mostly hear Varanasi.

In Ballika Rajya or Ballia, many “Ra’is” can be found.

Some of the Bhumihars were called “Singh”.

In those days houses were rarely made of bricks. Brick- built houses were built from beneath the soil.

Pali was written in Brahmi script. Pali had two meanings- language and village.

Intellectuals who considered Pali a contemptuous language called it the language of the rural people.

Pundits or intellectuals:

• spoke in Sanskrit
• were proud of their learning

Ananda was Buddha’s mother’s sister’s son.

• He asked Buddha in which language should his teachings be recorded.
• Buddha replied that they should be recorded in the same language that he had spoken.

While speaking to ordinary people, Buddha used the “people’s language”, which was Pali.

• Pali thus became the scriptural language of the Hinayanis.

Pali, written in Brahmi script, can still be found on carvings in Varanasi.

Later, some 2,500 years ago, the script had become demi Magadhi.

• Still later the prevalent script was Sri Harsha.

The original script of Bhojpuri was Sri Harsha.

• Kutila was its scriptural name.

The present Bamla was similar to Sri Harsha Kutila or Sri Harsha was a popular script from Allahabad to Dibrugarh up to the Pathan period, it is, up to 400 to 300 years ago and dates back to 1500 to 2000 years.

Thus, the original script of Pali was Brahimi.

• But later, Kutila became the popular script.
• Bhojpuri was written was written in Kutila.

Today, no one can read old Bhojpuri (that is apart from Baba).

Bhojpuri has a rich heritage. Both Pali and Bhojpuri should be taught to university students in the Bhojpuri speaking areas of India.

Kashi was the winter capital of Shiva.

After thorough excavation, some ancient relics from Shiva’s time may be found in Kashi.

White Vardhaman or Burdwan is the oldest living city in the world.

Varanasii is the second oldest living city in India Prayag, of course, is quite a bit older than both these cities.

But the Prayag of ancient time was submerged in the floods of the Gangs and Jamuna rivers.

Present day Allahabad is the creation of the British period.

Shia Muslims built a separate Allahabad city and called it Illahabad.

• Later, the Sunnis called it Allahabad.

In the future, relics from Shiva’s time shall be found here.

• This will make the dates of this civilisation go back more than 7,500 years.

Lord Shiva was a regular visitor to Varanasi.

It is the oldest civilisation in recorded human history.

Varanasi was a great cultural centre and political capital. It had profound impact on human civilisation.

According to available records, Chinese civilisation is 6000 years old, Indo-Aryan civilisation is 5000 years old and the Egyptian civilisation is 4500 years old.

While indigenous Indian civilisation like that of Mohenjadoro and Ala’nia’, near Kota, is more than 5000 years old, Varanasi a stands as the oldest civilisation.

Thorough excavation in and Found Varanasi can establish this fact.

Bhojpuri possesses its own style of pronunciation and intonation, and Pali and Bhojpuri reflect it.

There are 4 distinct styles of reciting the Vedas; Gauriya, Kashika’, Mahrashtriya and Dramil. The style of Bhojpuri pronun- elation is Yajurvediya.

In Bhojpuri, Laks’man is pronounced Lakhan, a word commonly used in the Ra’mayana of Tulsidas.