Ancient India - Publication Division - 3

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92  India: Early History Buddhism Buddhism flourished side by side in South East Asia not as an antagonistic religion but as a supplementary one. Buddha and Siva are associated together, and the former even finds a place in the Brahmanical Trinity consisting of Pad mod bha va (Brahma), Ambhojanetra (Visnu) and the Buddha. The assimilation of Buddha in the Brahmanical Trinity is an important feature. Buddhism acquired great favour both in Campa and Java. D-ong Duong in Campa appears to have been a stronghold o f Buddhists as evidenced by several images o f Buddha, and remnan ts of a Buddhist temple were found there. In Java the famous stupa at Barabudur is a living monument, symbolizing the flourishing state of Buddh ism in that island. In all these place s the reli gion of the Tathagata was not an antagonistic force set up against Brahmanism, but was something friendly or even identical. A Siva-Buddha cult existed in Java, and Siva, Visnu, and the Buddha were all regarded as identical. The international character of Buddh ism is apparent from contacts between SuvarnadvTpa and India on the one hand, and other Buddhist countries on the other. We hav e re fe re nce to AtT^a DTparikara of VikramasTl a and Dharmapala of KancT as visitors to SuvarnadvTpa. Temples Art, as the handmaid of religion, c onstitute s the greatest living memorial of Indian culture and civilization in South East Asia . Whether it be the temples of Myson or Po- Nag ar i n Campa, or those of Angko r Vat and Bayon in Cambod ia, or the Bur abudur and t he Candls of Java, they were all inspired by, one ideal— the sitting up o f a fitting monu ment sym boli zing the people’s religious devotion. The earlier phase in temple construction is completely Indian, either of the North Indian s'ikhara type or of the South Indian Dravida style, but native genius with a desire for lofty and sky-scraping structures triumphs over the earlier impulse. A colossal character to the whole structu re is a lso given by the grou ping o f nume rous temples in one enclosure. The sculptures and narrative reliefs bear a stamp of their own, whether they are the  Ramayana

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92   India: Early History

BuddhismBuddhism flourished side by side in South East Asia not as

an antagonistic religion but as a supplementary one. Buddha

and Siva are associated together, and the former even finds a

place in the Brahmanical Trinity consisting of Pad mod bha va

(Brahma), Ambhojanetra (Visnu) and the Buddha. The assimilation

of Buddha in the Brahmanical Trinity is an important feature.

Buddhism acquired great favour both in Campa and Java. D-ong

Duong in Campa appears to have been a stronghold o f Buddhists

as evidenced by several images o f Buddha, and remnan ts o f a

Buddhist temple were found there. In Java the famous stupa at

Barabudur is a l iving monument, symbolizing the flourishing

state of Buddh ism in that island. In all these place s the reli gion

of the Tathagata was not an antagonistic force set up against

Brahmanism, but was something friendly or even identical. A

Siva-Buddha cult existed in Java, and Siva, Visnu, and the

Buddha were all regarded as identical. The international character

of Buddh ism is apparent from contacts between SuvarnadvTpa

and India on the one hand, and other Buddhist countries on the

other. We hav e re fe re nce to AtT^a DTparikara of VikramasTla and

Dharmapala of KancT as visitors to SuvarnadvTpa.

Temples

Art , as the handm aid o f rel igion, c onst i tute s the greatest

l iv ing memor ia l of Indian cul ture and c iv i l iza t ion in South

Eas t Asia. Whether it be the temples of Myson or Po- Nag ar in

Campa, or those o f Angko r Vat and Bayon in Cambod ia, or the

Bur abu dur and the Candls of Java, they were al l inspired by,

one ideal— the s i t t ing up o f a f i t t ing monu ment sym boli zing

the people’s rel igious devot ion. The ear l ier phase in temple

cons t ruc t ion is comple te ly Indian, e i ther of the Nor th Indian

s'ikhara type or of the South Indian Dravida s tyle, but nat ive

genius with a desire for lof ty and sky-scraping s t ructures

t r iumphs over the ear l ie r impulse . A colossa l charac ter to the

whole s t ruc tu re i s al so g iven by the grou ping o f nume rous

temples in one enclosure . The sculptures and nar ra t ive

reliefs bea r a stamp of their own, wheth er they are the  Ramayana

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96    India: Early History

encouraged the translation into Persian of Indian treatise on medicine

and astronomy. The Hindu system of numerals was borrowed from

India by the Arabs and they spread it all over the world.

Durin g the long course o f history, Ind ia’s attitude towards

political and cultural expansion has never been imperialistic.

Armies were never sent to conquer any region. The conquest

was mainly intellectual, and incidentally the superior culture

triumphed over the native one. Individual men or groups set up

kingdo ms which in course of time shaped into empires. The

contact with the motherland was maintained but India never

exploi ted the colonies for her own benefit. The kingdoms were,

however, r epositories o f Indian culture— replicas of the ones in

India. In South East Asia, these kingdoms and I ndian culture

flourished for nearly fifteen hundred years; in the land beyond

the Himalayas their existence was of shorter duration. The

spade o f the archaeologist has uncovered this phase o f Indian

history. The degree and extent o f colonial ente rpris e was never

uniform, and sooner or later the Indians in their new homes

found themselves merged in the local populat ion. The

archaeological remains and famous existing monuments bear

eloquent testimony to the ancient panorama of ‘Greater India.’

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INDEX

Abbasids, 67

Abhidhamma,Pitaka, 80

Abhira Graharipu, 62

Abhiraja, 80

Abhiras, 36, 39, 44, 63

Aborigines, 4

Achaemenian empire, 95

Adam, Nedunjerai, 37

Adhirajendra, 74,76

Aditya, 81

Adityacola, 73

Adityacola 1, 73

Adityasena, 51

Afghanistan and India, 94-5

Agni,9

Agni-kula, 57

 Agnistomas, 48

Aiksvakus, 16, 17, 18Airlangga, king, 85

  Aitareya Brahmana. 16, 17,36

Ajatas'atru, 19

Ajayadeva, 60

Ajayapala, 63

Ajayaraja, 64

‘Alau’d-Daulah Mas’ud III, 58

‘Alau’d-din Husain, 68

‘Alau’d-din Khalji, 65Alexander, 22, 23, 26, 28, 29, 34;

invasion of, 20-21

AlptigTn,65

Alupas, 50

Ambhojanetra, 92

Amma II, 69 .

Amoghavarsa I, 69 ,

AmSuvarman, 44

Anahilapataka, 61, 63, 64Anahilla, Cahamana, 61

Ananda family, 48

Anandapala, SahT, 61

Aniruddha, 80

Amamites, 83

Antigonus Gonatas, 26

Antiochus I, 24

Antiochus II Theos, 26

Antiochus III, 28

Anus, 16

Aparajita, Pallava, 73, 76

Apollodotus, 29

Arabs, 52, 57, 66, 96; of Sind, 67-68

Arhats,95

Arjuna, 17Arjunayanas,39

Arnoraja, Cahamana, 63

Arya,3

Arya varna 3

Aryans, 1, 10, 11, 16; dress, 5;

family, 4; food, 5; houses, 4;

marriage, 5-6; origin, 1-2, lfn;

Rg-vedic, 3-5; settlement of, in

India, 1-2; women, 5

Aryas, 4

Art, 90-91

Atfaraja, Cahamana, 63

Asceticism, 95

Aioka, 24-27, 35-38, 79, 93; death,

27; missionary work, 26-27

 As'ramas, four , 11

 AstadhyayJ, 89

A^vaghosa, 32 .

 Asvamedha sacrifice, 16,39,40,45,47,48,49

A^vavarman, 84

  Atharva Veda, 10, 16

AtT£a Diparikara, 92

Avanijanatfraya, Pulaketfin, 67

Avantivarman, 66

Azes,30

Bactrian Creeks, 28

Badapa, Eastern Calukya, 69

Balaputradeva, 85

Balban,56

Ballala II, 72

Ballalasena, 55-56

Banabhatta, 42, 43

Bappa, 65