Essay: The History of Hinduism and Buddhism
Q: What can historical artefacts from South Asia tell us about religious practices in the past? Answer with reference to at least two items from the Durham University collections.
In this essay, I will be discussing religions in South Asia in relation to two historical artefacts, one linked to the Hindu faith and the other linked to Buddhism. The first artefact is a 19th century bronze shrine from Nepal of the Hindu God Shiva, who is sat alongside the gods Ganesha, Nagaraja, Annapurna, and Krishna. In this artefact, Shiva holds a trident in one hand and a snake in the other.[1] The second artefact is a 17th century brass vessel used to hold blessed rice during Buddhist prayers and ceremonies. There are patterns and foliage on the lid and an inscribed dragon.[2] In this essay, I will be discussing the symbolism of these two artefacts alongside the myths that are linked to them, to unveil the ways in which Hinduism and Buddhism functioned in South Asian cultures in the past. In doing so, I will not only be discussing Hinduism and Buddhism as two distinct religions but also how they have linked together historically.
Hinduism is a highly devotional religion in India, and we can see this notion emphasised in events such as the Bhakti movement that emerged in India between the seventh and the seventeenth centuries.[3] The Bhakti movement arose as a form of dissent to the Brahmanical hierarchies that created inequalities which many who were a part of the movement, would have believed inhibited their ability to form a close connection with God.[4] Thus, the Bhakti movement had at its core, an ethos that transcended caste or category with ‘Bhakti’ being the Sanskrit word for ‘devotion.’[5] As part of the Bhakti movement, many religious groups were established such as the Vira Shaivites who worshiped Shiva as a specific deity.[6] The bronze shrine of Shiva is the representation of the deity himself and was perhaps used by Hindus in the 19th century for similar reasons as the Vira Shaivites of the Bhakti movement, to embody the God of Shiva so that Hindus could develop a sense of oneness with him. An example of specific devotees to Lord Shiva were the 63 saint leaders (the Nayanars), who formed a part of the Tamil tradition.[7] Nandanar, was one of the sixty-three Nayanars, born into a low caste community which meant that he was prohibited to worship inside the temple of Shiva. The legend on Nandanar suggests that he only experienced the presence of Shiva after he was instructed by Shiva to walk through fire. Whilst some interpretated the fire as an act of deconstruction of caste, the legend explicitly says that after Nandanar experienced his baptism of fire, he became a Brahmin.[8] Brahmins, the top of the caste hierarchy, dominated the intellectual space in Hinduism[9] and the fact that Nandanar had to become a Brahmin to experience the presence of Shiva, highlights this inequality. Therefore, it can be suggested that the bronze shrine of Shiva, as a domestic item, was created to make worship outside of temples available to all and to prevent the type of exclusions that saints like Nandanar experienced because of their caste. Such iconography helps historians to understand the importance of devotion in Hinduism, with movements such as the Bhakti, helping to deconstruct caste systems and making the religion more diverse.
The bronze shrine of Shiva also portrays the God holding a snake and a trident. The snake embodies the spiritual symbolism of Shiva as the one that both destroys and renews all material things in the universe. On the 5th, 9th, and 11th day of the lunar part of the Hindu month of Sravana, Hindus celebrate the festival of Nagapancami, the festival of the snakes (Naga). The festival takes place during this month because it is the month of the rainy season when snakes are said to shed their skin. The shedding of a snake’s skin symbolises the destruction of the old to make space for the new, a timeless message that embodies the idea of destruction and renewal for Shiva.[10] The Puranas are ancient chronicles and enormous texts that transcribe key events within the history of Hinduism that sometimes stretch as far back as the sixth millennium B.C.[11] In such chronicles, Shiva is portrayed as the destroyer, ‘Not merely (of) the heavens and the earth at the end of the cycle, but (of) the chains that bind the individual soul.’[12] The message runs in tandem with the idea of the snake, for it is clear from the Puranas that even for ancient Hindus, Shiva’s role has always been to destroy and renew to continue the cycle of life. The fact that Shiva holds a trident in this ornament represents Shiva’s power over dangerous creatures in the universe such as the snake, which is also material and capable of being destroyed. Hence, we can infer that the usage of such a shrine was to seek protection. Its size suggests that it was a household ornament, meant to be displayed in the domestic setting. Clearly, individuals from the 16th onwards wanted to use Shiva’s powers of destruction to expel any negative influences from their households, through such ornaments.
One can also see the presence of serpentine creatures within the context of Buddhism. If you look carefully at the brass vessel, inscribed on the lid is the image of a dragon. Etymologically, the Sanskrit word Naga for snake, that is used by Hindus, is also used within the context of Buddhism to describe serpentine creatures like dragons.[13] Arguably, the most famous Naga in Buddhism is Muchalinda as he is linked to a very important myth about the Buddha himself, Siddhartha Gautama. Once he obtained enlightenment, it is said that Gautama meditated under four trees for one week each without food. It was underneath the Muchalinda tree that Gautama was hit by a great storm that lasted for the week he spent in contemplation. It was during this time that the great serpent, Muchalinda, emerged from the tree and wrapped his body in seven coils around the Buddha to protect him. When the storm ended, Gautama retired from the tree and encountered two merchants who offered him rice and sustenance after the four weeks of fasting.[14] It is because of this legend that snakes and dragons are regarded as the great protectors in Buddhism. Thus, historians can assume that the reason the dragon is inscribed on the brass vessel was because Buddhists wanted a way to get continuous protection of the Dharma (Buddhist laws or teachings)[15] which Muchalinda was so successful in preserving when he safeguarded Gautama. It is perhaps also a literal reinterpretation of the myth itself since the brass vessel is also used to hold rice which was the sustenance that Gautama received from the two merchants in the great myth about Muchalinda. As such, historians can confidently say that myths and legends were of great importance to Buddhists in South Asia in the past since they were clearly carried through in the ornamental culture of the religion.
The Nepalese brass vessel was used to hold blessed rice in rituals of offerings during ceremonies and prayers. When regarding Buddhism and the act of giving, as this item symbolises, the concept of gratitude becomes prevalent. When prayers were made in Buddhism, they were sometimes directed towards the Buddha, the founding figure of the religion, and the act of giving offerings such as rice during these prayers, served, in part, as an act of gratitude for the guidance that the Buddha had provided to his followers. This notion is evidenced by the history of Siddhartha Gautama, the founding Buddha previously referenced. Gautama was a wealthy prince born in Kapilavastu (present-day Nepal) around 2,500 years ago. He enjoyed a comfortable life of luxury for many years, due to his fortunate upbringing, but he gradually became aware of the nature of human suffering and that he too was subject to old age, sickness, and death, after observing the pain and suffering that were experienced by the people around him. The term “Buddha” refers to the one who is “awakened” or “enlightened” and that was the man that Gautama became. It is believed that Gautama achieved perfect enlightenment meditating under a fig tree.[16] When Buddhist followers offered food during rituals, these offerings created a symbiotic relationship whereby followers could feed the Buddha in exchange for him providing his continued guidance towards enlightenment. Therefore, this shows that gratitude in the form of such offerings, as represented by the brass vessel, formed a key part of the Buddhist faith in South Asia.
In summary, what is evident from the two historical artefacts is that South Asian religions have long and extensive histories that link closely with the ancient world they originated from. For Hinduism, events such as the Bhakti movement show that even as far back as the 8th century, devotion was vital in breaking down social structures like castes and making Hinduism more diverse and unified as embodied by the bronze shrine, devoted solely to the Hindu God Shiva. For Buddhism, symbols such as the serpentine dragon on the Nepalese brass vessel, allowed people to connect with the legend of Siddhartha Gautama and Muchalinda, reminding them of the value of protecting the Buddhist Dharma and worshipping the Buddha, who went through the perils to achieve enlightenment. Thus, what these two artefacts show is that South Asian religions like Hinduism and Buddhism, all involved practices linked to devotion, symbolism, and mysticism.
Bibliography:
Figures (Bronze), 1600. (DUROM.1978.10)
Vessels (Brass), 1800. (DUROM.1965.54)
Anikeeva, Elena, ‘Shaiva-Siddhanta (Philosophy of Shaivism) and Its Social Aspect’ in Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research (Atlantis Press, 2017), pp. 778 – 781. https://doi.org/10.2991/icelaic-17.2017.180.
Bailey, Greg, Hinduism in India: The Early Period (Los Angeles, 2017), pp. 7 – 26.
Burchett, Patton, ‘Bhakti Rhetoric in the Hagiography of ‘Untouchable’ Saints: Discerning Bhakti ‘ s Ambivalence on Caste and Brahminhood’ in Sushil Mittal (eds.), International Journal of Hindu Studies (Netherlands, 2009), pp. 115 – 141.
Daniélou, Alain, Gods of Love and Ecstasy: The Traditions of Shiva and Dionysus, (Rochester, 1992), pp. 13 – 73.
Dofflemyer, Virginia Sue., ‘Four Buddha-Muchalinda Representations in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art,’ Master’s thesis., (University of Southern California,1975), pp. 9 – 20. http://ezphost.dur.ac.uk/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/four-buddha-muchalinda-representations-los/docview/1626411374/se-2?accountid=14533.
Juergensmeyer, Mark & Wade, Roof .C, ‘Gautama, Siddhartha’, in Mark Juergensmeyer & Wade. C. Roof (eds.) Encyclopedia of Global Religion (California, 2012), pp. 429 – 430. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412997898.
Ramaswamy, Vijaya, Devotion and Dissent in Indian History (New Dehli, 2014), pp. 3 – 20.
Sahi, Jyoti, The Child and the Serpent: Reflections on Popular Indian Symbols (Boston, 1980), pp. 159 – 169.
Pechilis, Karen, ‘Siva as the Lord of Dance: What the Poetess Saw’, in The Journal of Hindu Studies, Volume 6, Issue 2,(Oxford, 2013), pp. 131 – 153.
[1] Figures (Bronze), 1600. (DUROM.1978.10)
[2] Vessels (Brass), 1800. (DUROM.1965.54)
[3] Vijaya Ramaswamy, Devotion and Dissent in Indian History (New Dehli, 2014), p. 6.
[4] Ibid., p. 8.
[5] Greg Bailey, Hinduism in India: The Early Period (Los Angeles, 2017), p. 8.
[6] Vijaya Ramaswamy, Devotion and Dissent in Indian History, p. 6.
[7] Karen Pechilis, ‘Siva as the Lord of Dance: What the Poetess Saw’, in The Journal of Hindu Studies,Volume 6, Issue 2, (Oxford, 2013), p. 136.
[8] Patton Burchett, ‘Bhakti Rhetoric in the Hagiography of ‘Untouchable’ Saints: Discerning Bhakti ‘ s Ambivalence on Caste and Brahminhood’ in in Sushil Mittal (eds.), International Journal of Hindu Studies (Netherlands, 2009), pp. 119 – 120.
[9] Elena Anikeeva, ‘Shaiva-Siddhanta (Philosophy of Shaivism) and Its Social Aspect’ in Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research (Atlantis Press, 2017), p. 778.
[10] Jyoti Sahi, The Child and the Serpent: Reflections on Popular Indian Symbols (Boston, 1980), p. 167.
[11]Alain Daniélou, Gods of Love and Ecstasy: The Traditions of Shiva and Dionysus (Rochester, 1992), p. 41.
[12] Ibid., p. 71.
[13] Virginia Sue. Dofflemyer, ‘Four Buddha-Muchalinda Representations in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’ in ProQuest Dissertations Publishing (California, 1975), p. 8.
[14] Virginia Sue Dofflemyer, ‘Four Buddha-Muchalinda Representations in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art,’ Master’s thesis., (University of Southern California, 1975), p.10.
[15] Mark Juergensmeyer & Wade. C. Roof, ‘Gautama, Siddhartha’, in Mark Juergensmeyer & Wade. C. Roof (eds.) Encyclopedia of Global Religion (California, 2012), p. 429. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412997898.
[16] Juergensmeyer & Roof, ‘Gautama, Siddhartha’, p. 429.
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