DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.67683#0593
INDIA
407
Buddhism spread rapidly; and when the great Asoka (2.73-
2.32. b.c.) came to the throne, he made it the state religion, organ-
ized councils to gather together the sacred literature and to
decide upon points of creed, and sent out missionaries to propa-
gate the faith. Buddhism was not the foe of Brahmanism, for
it did not run counter to the tradition of the older faith, but
was rather a heresy existing alongside the latter, and was finally
absorbed by it, about the eighth century a.d. Through mission-
aries and colonists, however, it had penetrated Ceylon, Java,
China, and Japan, and there became a dominant factor of civiliza-
tion and a mighty stimulus to the creation of great art.
Of the large number of gods worshiped by the Brahmans in
their desire to win salvation from continual rebirth, the funda-
mental trinity consisted of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the
sustainer, and Shiva the destroyer; but it was about the worship
of the last two as manifestations of the supreme God that the
two great Hindu sects gathered. This religious faith, which
permeated every act of life, was so vital an element in Indian
culture that it is impossible to think of the Hindu apart from it.
With him life was a complete synthesis of its religious, social,
and economic aspects.
One element in particular in Hindu society needs mention, the
caste system, which has been described as “a group of families
united by peculiar rules for the observance of ceremonial purity,
especially in matters of diet and marriage.” Thus the Hindus
are divided into more than twenty-five hundred social groups,
admission to which comes by birth. Change from one to another
is practically impossible, and violation of caste rules results in
expulsion from the caste, which means social ruin as well as
serious hardship. This system is of great antiquity, and evolved
out of natural conditions. To the Hindu mind it is a part of the
natural order of things; and while it militates against unity,
social, political, or religious, stimulates class pride, and restricts
individual liberty in many ways, still it has steadied and deepened
the strong race feeling that is so characteristic of India. Under
such a system, tradition and the sacrifice of the individual to the
good of the larger social unit are fostered much more effectively
than among the more cosmopolitan and more individualized
nations of the West. Hence we may expect to find tenacity of
conventions in the art of such a nation, and an expression that
is racial rather than personal.
While this national evolution was taking place within the
life of India, foreign influences from the West were strong enough
407
Buddhism spread rapidly; and when the great Asoka (2.73-
2.32. b.c.) came to the throne, he made it the state religion, organ-
ized councils to gather together the sacred literature and to
decide upon points of creed, and sent out missionaries to propa-
gate the faith. Buddhism was not the foe of Brahmanism, for
it did not run counter to the tradition of the older faith, but
was rather a heresy existing alongside the latter, and was finally
absorbed by it, about the eighth century a.d. Through mission-
aries and colonists, however, it had penetrated Ceylon, Java,
China, and Japan, and there became a dominant factor of civiliza-
tion and a mighty stimulus to the creation of great art.
Of the large number of gods worshiped by the Brahmans in
their desire to win salvation from continual rebirth, the funda-
mental trinity consisted of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the
sustainer, and Shiva the destroyer; but it was about the worship
of the last two as manifestations of the supreme God that the
two great Hindu sects gathered. This religious faith, which
permeated every act of life, was so vital an element in Indian
culture that it is impossible to think of the Hindu apart from it.
With him life was a complete synthesis of its religious, social,
and economic aspects.
One element in particular in Hindu society needs mention, the
caste system, which has been described as “a group of families
united by peculiar rules for the observance of ceremonial purity,
especially in matters of diet and marriage.” Thus the Hindus
are divided into more than twenty-five hundred social groups,
admission to which comes by birth. Change from one to another
is practically impossible, and violation of caste rules results in
expulsion from the caste, which means social ruin as well as
serious hardship. This system is of great antiquity, and evolved
out of natural conditions. To the Hindu mind it is a part of the
natural order of things; and while it militates against unity,
social, political, or religious, stimulates class pride, and restricts
individual liberty in many ways, still it has steadied and deepened
the strong race feeling that is so characteristic of India. Under
such a system, tradition and the sacrifice of the individual to the
good of the larger social unit are fostered much more effectively
than among the more cosmopolitan and more individualized
nations of the West. Hence we may expect to find tenacity of
conventions in the art of such a nation, and an expression that
is racial rather than personal.
While this national evolution was taking place within the
life of India, foreign influences from the West were strong enough