Right Occupation or Right Livelihood

We often spend a lot of time at work, but even if we do not work, Right Occupation refers to our habitual, everyday actions. Our regular activities should not infringe Right Speech and Right Action. What we do on a regular basis is more likely to establish bad karma than what we do as a one off.

Gotama gave various examples of wrong occupation, those that involve:

• deceit,
• treachery,
• soothsaying,
• trickery,
• usury.

Also, specifically, those trading

• in arms:
• in living beings,
• in flesh,
• in intoxicating drinks, and
• in poison'.

The professions of a soldier, a fisherman, a hunter, etc, are considered unfitting for a Buddhist.

The Vitthala temple in Vijayanagara has certain characteristic features like:

• In this temple Vitthala, a form of Vishnu was worshipped. The temple had huge halls and unique shrine designed as chariot.

• The chariot streets extends from temple <i>gopuram</i> in straight line.

(i) Sijda or complete prostration

(ii)    Chahar taslim

(iii)    Zaminbos i.e. kissing the ground.

The teachings of Buddha are as follows:

• The world is transient (anicca) and constantly changing. It is also soulless as there is nothing permanent or eternal in it.
• Within this transient world, sorrow (dukkha) is intrinsic to human existence.
• By following the path of moderation between severe penance and self-indulgence, human beings can use above these worldly pleasures.
• He advised kings and gahapatis to be humane and ethical. Buddha regarded the social world as the creation of humans rather than of divine origin.
• He emphasised individual agency and righteous action as the means to escape from the cycle of rebirth and attain self-realisation and nibbana (literally means the extinguishing of ego and desire).
  This ends the cycle of suffering for those who renounced the world.
• The words to his followers were “Be lamps into yourselves as all of you must work out your own liberation.”

The Harappan Civilisation has its earliest roots in cultures such as that of Mehrgarh, approximately 6000 BC. The two greatest cities, Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, emerged circa 2600 BC along the Indus River valley in Punjab and Sindh. This work led to the the first excavations in the early 20th century at Harappa by Rai Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni, and by R.D. Banerji at another Indus Civilization city, Mohenjo Daro. Many scholars believe that the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization was caused by climate change. Some experts believe the drying of the Saraswati River, which began around 1900 BCE, was the main cause for climate change, while others conclude that a great flood struck the area.

Nayakas were military chiefs usually mentioned law and order in their areas of control. They maintained forests and kept armed supporters. They use to control and expand fertile land and agricultural settlements. They usually submitted to kings (to the authority of Vijayanagara).

 The amara-nayaka system was a major political innovation of the Vijayanagara Empire. It is likely that many features of this system were derived from the Iqta system of the Delhi Sultanate. The amara-nayakas were military commanders who were given territories to govern by the raya

Historians often try to understand the meaning of sculpture by comparing it with textual evidence so that they can gain an insight into why the sculpture was created.

The "Sanchi Stupa" is one of the oldest Buddhist Sculptures located on a hill top at Sanchi town near Bhopal. It was first commissioned by Samrat Ashoka in the "3rd Century BCE".  It had been abandoned for nearly 600 years till it was discovered by the Europeans in 1818.

To understand the complex structure and its significance the historians minutely studied the textual evidence. They discovered several inscriptions which were slokas from the Rig Veda. Some were addressed to God Agni. The shape and architecture of the stupa was typically Buddhist. Some engravings disclosed the close meaning of the sculpture. Thus the historians gained a better insight to the meaning of the sculpture by comparing it with textual evidence.

The work was commissioned by Akbar, and written by Abul Fazl, one of the Nine Jewels (Hindi: Navaratnas) of Akbar's royal court. It is stated that the book took seven years to be completed.

The second round table conference was deemed a failure because of the many disagreements among the participants. While the INC claimed to speak for the whole of the country, other participants and leaders of other parties contested this claim. The second Round Table Conference was held in London from 7 September 1931 to 1 December 1931 with the participation of Gandhi and the Indian National Congress. ... Meanwhile, civil unrest had spread throughout India again, and upon return to India Gandhi was arrested along with other Congress leaders.

Since most of the rebels were sepoys and other leaders who were illiterate so it is difficult to know what the rebels thought but they used different techniques to propagate their ideas.

1. They issued proclamations and ishtahars (notifications) to propagate their ideas.

2. They also resorted to prophecy so that people can get involved in hope of early freedom. E.g. the prophecy that British rule will come to end on 100 years of Battle of Plassy of 1857.

3. The rebels tried to unify Hindus and Muslims and propagated that rebellion is a war in which both Hindus and Muslims had equally to lose or gain.

4. The ishtahar sharked back to the pre-British Hindu - Muslim past and glorified the coexistence of different communities under the Mughal Empire

.5. They also used techniques like secret propagation through under-ground workers. For E.g., Distribution of chapattis and lotus flowers as a symbol of revolt.

Meaning of Alvars and Nayanars : Some of the earliest Bhati movements(C. sixth century) were led by Alvars (literally meaning of this word is those who are emerged in devotion to Vishnu) and Nayanars (literally meaning of this word is those leaders who were devotees of lord Shiva). The Alvars and Nayanars travelled place to place singing hymns in Tamil (in praise of their god).

Attitude of Alvars and Nayanars towards caste system : Some historians suggest that the Alvars and Nayanars initiated a movement of protest against the caste system and the dominance of Brahmanas or at least attempted to reform the system. To some extent this is corroborated by the fact that bhaktas hailed from diverse social backgrounds ranging from Brahmanas to artisans and cultivators and even from castes considered “untouchable”.

Meaning of Virashaiva : The twelfth century witnessed the emergence of a new movement in Karnataka, led by a Brahmana named Basavanna (1106-68) who was initially a Jaina and a minister in the court of a Chalukya king. His followers were known as Virashaivas (heroes of Shiva) or Lingayats (wearers of the linga).

Attitude of Virashaivas towards caste system : The Lingayats challenged the idea of caste and the “pollution” attributed to certain groups by Brahmanas. They also questioned the theory of rebirth. These won them followers amongst those who were marginalised within the Brahmanical social order. The Lingayats also encoviraged certain practices disapproved in the Dhanmashastras, such as post puberty marriage and the remarriage of widows.

Reconstructing religous beliefs and practices of past is not an easy task. Now reconstructions of Harappan religion are made on the assumption that later traditions provide parallels with earlier ones. This is because archaeologists often move from the known to the unknown, that is, from the present to the past. While this is plausible in the case of stone querns and pots, it becomes more speculative when we extend it to “religious” symbols.

However attempts have been made by the scholars to reconstruct the religious beliefs and practices by examining the seals of the harappan civilization. And studying these seals and the motifs printed on it scholars have come out with ideas regarding the religious practices of the Harappan people. For example there are some seal which seem to depict ritual scenes. Others, with plant motifs, are thought to indicate nature worship. Some animals – such as the one-horned animal, often called the “unicorn” – depicted on seals seem to be mythical, composite creatures. In some seals, a figure shown seated cross-legged in a “yogic” posture, sometimes surrounded by animals, has been regarded as a depiction of “proto-Shiva”, that is, an early form of one of the major deities of Hinduism.

Even then there still remain doubts when it comes to religious practices for instance, at the “proto-Shiva” seals. The earliest religious text, the Rigveda (compiled c. 1500-1000 BCE) mentions a god named Rudra, which is a name used for Shiva in later Puranic traditions However, unlike Shiva, Rudra in the Rigveda is neither depicted as Pashupati (lord of animals in general and cattle in particular), nor as a yogi. In other words, this depiction does not match the description of Rudra in the Rigveda. 

Hence even though seals does help in reconstructing religious beliefs and practices of the Harappan civilization but even then it is no more than a speculation.

The royal Centre was located in the south-western part of the settlement.

(i) It included over 60 temples. About thirty building complexes have been identified as palaces.

(ii) The “King’s palace” was the largest of the enclosures but has not yielded definitive evidence of being a royal residence.

(iii) It had two of the most impressive platforms, usually called the “audience hall” and the “mahanavami dibba” which is located on one of the highest points in the city.

(iv) One of the most beautiful building in the royal centre was the Lotus Mahal and the most spectacular was known as the Hazara Rama temple as this was probably meant to be used only by the king and his family.

 (i) The British were unwilling to tolerate the power of Taluqdars. Immediately after the annexation, the taluqdars were disarmed and their forts destroyed.

 (ii) The British land revenue policy further undermined the position and authority of the taluqdars.

 (iii) The Summary Settlements proceeded to remove the taluqdars wherever possible.

 (iv) It was based on the assumption that the taluqdars were interlopers with permanent stakes in land.

 (v) The ties of loyalty and patronage that had bound the peasants to the taluqdars were disrupted.

British land revenue officials thought that if they could remove taluqdars then they could give land to their actual owners. It will reduce the level of exploitation of peasants and it will increase the revenue returns for the state. But actually this did not happen. There was a definite increase of revenue return for the state but the burden of demand on peasants remained the same. Officials soon came to know that most of the areas of Awadh were actually heavily overassessed. At some places the increase of revenue demanded was from 30% to 70%. That’s why neither taluqdars and nor peasants were happy. The result of dispossession of taluqdars was the breakdown of whole of the social order. The ties of loyalty and patronage were disrupted which had bounded the peasants to the taluqdars.

Analyse, with illustrations, why Bhaktland Sufi thinkers adopted a variety of languages in which to express their opinions.

The Bhakti and Sufi thinkers used the languages of the common people to expressh their opinions. They often spoke in local languages. So they were well-understood by the common people. Had they used a few distinct languages, they would not have reached to all the people. They would have gone extinct. Hence their use of the local languages proved very significant.

(i) Sanskrit was used by traditional Bhakti saints to sing hymns at different occasions, places of worship and ceremonies.

(ii) The Alvars and Nayanars of Tamil Nadu travelled from place to place singing hymns in Tamil in praise of their Gods. These developed as centres of pilgrimage. Singing compositions of these poet-saints became part of temple rituals in these shrines, as did worship of the saint images.

(iii) Kabir’s poems have survived in several languages and dialects, and some are composed in the special language of nirguna poets, the sant bhasha. Others, known as ulatbansi (upside-down sayings), are written in a form in which everyday meanings are inverted.

(iv)    Baba Guru Nanak, Baba Farid, Ravidas (Raidas), composed their hymns in various languages such as Punjabi and Hindi etc.

(v)    Amir Khusrau wrote and sang in Hindavi or Persian, Punjabi, Urdu and some other form oflanguages.

(vi)    It was not just in sama that the Chishtis adopted local languages. In Delhi, those associated with the Chishti Silsila conversed in Hindavi, the language of the people. Other sufis such as Baba Farid composed verses in the local languages, which were incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib.

(vii)    Other writers, thinkers, saints etc. composed long poems or masnavis to express ideas of divine love using human love as an allegory. For example, the prem-akhyan (love story) Padmavat composed by Malik Muhammad Jayasi revolved around the romance of Padmini and Ratansen, the king of Chittor. Their trials were symbolic of the soul’s journey to the divine. Such poetic compositions were often recited in hospices, usually during sama.

(viii) The poets of Bigapur and Karnatana wrote short poems in Dakhani, a variant of Urdu.

The growth of Magadha culminated in the emergence of the Mauryan Empire. Chandragupta Maurya, who founded the empire (c. 321 BCE), extended control as far northwest as Afghanistan and Baluchistan, and his grandson Asoka, arguably the most famous ruler of early India, conquered Kalinga (present-day Orissa). 
Such a huge empire needed a strong administration, hence here are the main features of how the empire was administered.

1. Division of empire into five major political centres- This centres were located at very strategic location for example both Taxila and Ujjayini were situated on important long-distance trade routes, while Suvarnagiri (literally, the golden mountain) was possibly important for tapping the gold mines of Karnataka.

2. Standing army- Such a diverse and vast region needed a strong army to control and protec it. Hence as Megasthenes has shown that the Mauryan had a very strong army. And he mentions six different committee with six subcommittees for coordinating military activity. Of these, one looked after the navy, the second managed transport and provisions, the third was responsible for foot-soldiers, the fourth for horses, the fifth for chariots and the sixth for elephants.

3. Appointing royal princes as the governor of the major political centres, because being a royal princes they could be trusted.

4. During Asoka, he tried to hold his empire together by propagating dhamma, the principles of which were simple and virtually universally applicable. This, according to him, would ensure the well-being of people in this world and the next.

5. Strong means of communication along land and rivers were developed aso as to administer the vast empire.

Among the five points we see that it was his attempts to hold the empire using dhamma as means to be most prominent theme in the inscription which were inscribed on natural stones, pollished pillars.

1. Archaeologists trace socio-economic differences in Harappan society by adopting the following methods and techniques:

1. Burials. a. Difference in burial pits.
                b. Presence of artefacts in the burial.
 
Archaeologist have found out that in Burials
  a. There is difference in burial pits, some are just hollowed out space whereas others are lined with bricks.
   b. Although Harappans rarely buried precious material along with their death one, however some graves did contain pottery, ornaments, jewellery which were made of semi precious stones.

   

2. Availability of Luxury goods.

Archaeologists assume objects to be luxuries if they are rare or made from costly, non-local materials or with complicated technologies.

Archaeologist have noticed that,

a. Larger settlements like Harappa and Mohenjodaro has large concerntration of Luxury goods whereas smaller settlements like kalibangan etc did not.

The main features of the Mahajanapadas are as follow:
1. Mahajanapadas were forms of early states and were mostly ruled by kings. However there were oligarchy also known as Gana and Sanghas, where group of people shared power and were collectively known as Rajas.

2. Mahajanapadas had its own capital and it was fortified. It was where the king lived.

3. Mahajanapadas developed gradually a standing armies and bureaucracy.

4. There was the system of taxation, taxes were collected fromt the masses.

5. There developed a notion where king was supposed to come from Kshatriya, with its roles and duties.

Piecing together parts of Harappa history C 

i. Cunningham’s confusion- Harappan artifacts were found fairly often during the nineteenth century and some of these reached Cunningham, he did not realise how old these were but unsuccessfully tried to place it within the time-frame of c. sixth century BCE-fourth century CE. 

ii. John Marshall`s Ignorance- Marshall tended to excavate along regular horizontal units, measured uniformly throughout the mound, ignoring the stratigraphy of the site. This meant that all the artefacts recovered from the same unit were grouped together, even if they were found at different stratigraphic layers. As a result, valuable information about Harappan civilisation was irretrievably lost. 

 iii. R.E.M. Wheeler`s problems- R.E.M. Wheeler took over as Director-General of the ASI in 1944, rectified many problems. Wheeler recognized that it was necessary to follow the stratigraphy of the mound rather than dig mechanically along uniform horizontal lines. 

 iv. Daya Ram SahniSeals- were discovered at Harappa by archaeologists such as Daya Ram Sahni in the early decades of the twentieth century, in layers that were definitely much older than Early Historic levels. It was then that their significance began to be realized. 

v. Rakhal Das Banerji- in 1924,John Marshall, Director-General of the ASI, announced the discovery of a new civilization in the Indus valley to the world. 

vi. S.N. Roy- As S.N. Roy noted in The Story of Indian Archaeology, “Marshall left India three thousand years older than he had found her.”This was because similar, till-then-unidentified seals were found at excavations at Mesopotamian sites. It was then that the world knew not only of a new civilization interesting results in the future. 

The Mahabharata was composed over a period of about 1000 years between 500 BCE and 400 CE. The original story of the Mahabharata was composed by charioteer bards popularly called as Sutas. The various stages were: Brahmanas began to unite its story from the 500 BCE.

The major teachings of Guru Nanak are as follows:
1. He rejected the religious texts of both Hindus and Muslims.
2. He preached God is Nirakar viz. without any shape.
3. He criticised the religious practices like ceremonial bath, sacrifices , idol worship, and emphasised simplicity.
4. He called upon his followers to connect to divine by remembering and repeating the divine name.
Guru Nanak expressed himself in Punjabi, the language of the local people in a lyrical form called Shabad. Shabad can be recited in various ragas.