Mahayana

Also called: Great Vehicle · Topic: Buddhism, Jainism and Heterodox Traditions · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings"

Meaning

Mahāyāna ("great vehicle") is a form of Buddhism. Its ideas began to appear from c. second century BCE, and by the first century CE they had clearly changed how Buddhism was practised. In Mahāyāna, the Buddha came to be seen as a saviour. Its ideal was the Bodhisatta, a kind being who puts off his own release to help others. Images of the Buddha and Bodhisattas were worshipped.

It matters because it changed Buddhism from a path of self-effort into a path of devotion and help from others. It is also the form of Buddhism that later spread across Central and East Asia.

Explanation

Background: from self-effort to a saviour

• Early Buddhism taught self-effort.
• Each person had to work out their own release.
• The Buddha was seen as a human being. He reached enlightenment (waking up to the truth about suffering) by his own effort.

• He was a teacher, not a rescuer.

• By the first century CE, Buddhist ideas and practices were changing.

• People began to believe in a saviour, someone who could help them cross over to release.

• Devotion came to matter as much as personal effort.

• The roots go back further. The Mahāsaṅghika school broke away about a century after the Buddha's death. This was the first big split in the saṅgha (the community of monks). It held new views about the nature of the Buddha and is seen as a forerunner of Mahāyāna. [2]

Main features

• Bodhisatta ideal (Sanskrit Bodhisattva):
• A Bodhisatta is a deeply compassionate being.
• Bodhisattas built up merit (good karma earned through good deeds).
• They could have entered nibbāna (freedom from the cycle of birth and rebirth), but they chose to put it off.

• They used their merit to help others who were still suffering, not to leave the world themselves.

• A new goal replaced the old one.

• The older schools held up the arhat, a perfected person who wins his own release.

• Mahāyāna put the bodhisattva in that place. The bodhisattva vows to become a buddha and delays nirvana to help all beings. [2]

• Image worship.

• Earlier, the Buddha was shown only through signs: an empty seat, a wheel, a tree.

• Now his human form was carved and worshipped, along with images of Bodhisattas.

• Many buddhas and bodhisattvas. Mahāyāna followers honour many buddhas and bodhisattvas. Theravādins deeply respect the historical Buddha as a perfect master, but they do not worship these other buddhas and bodhisattvas. [2]

The naming: Mahāyāna and "Hīnayāna"

• The new school called itself Mahāyāna, the "great vehicle", like a big boat that can carry many people across.
• It called the older tradition Hīnayāna, the "lesser vehicle". This was an insulting label given by outsiders.
• The older tradition never used this name. Its followers called themselves theravādins, followers of the path of the old, respected teachers (theras).
• Hīnayāna is not exactly the same as Theravāda.
• "Hīnayāna" covers all 18 ancient schools, because they all existed before Mahāyāna became a separate doctrine. [2]
• Theravāda is only one of those 18 schools. It is the one that survives today. [2]

Results: spread and a changing religious world

• Mahāyāna spread across Asia.
• The Mahāyāna movement arose within Indian Buddhism around the beginning of the Common Era. By the 9th century CE it was the main influence on the Buddhist cultures of Central and East Asia. [2]
• Northern arm: through Central Asia to China, Korea and Japan.

• Southern/sea arm: through Sri Lanka, across the seas to Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia.

• It changed in new lands. In China, Buddhism mixed with Taoism and Confucianism. This produced new Mahāyāna schools such as Chan (Zen) and Pure Land. [3]

• The saviour idea was not only Buddhist. At the same time, Brahmanical traditions also turned towards devotion:
• Vaiṣhṇavism had a cult of ten avatars (forms Vishnu takes on earth). Each avatar comes to save the world from disorder.
• Śhaivism worshipped Shiva in the form of the linga (an upright stone symbol).
• In both, the bond between devotee and god was bhakti, meaning love and devotion.

Time, place and evidence

• Period:
• Mahāyāna ideas appear from c. second century BCE onwards, the same time as Vaiṣhṇavism, Śhaivism and goddess cults.
• The change in practice is clear by the first century CE.
• Outside sources date the movement to around the beginning of the Common Era. [2]

• These dates are approximate.

• Place of origin: within Indian Buddhism. It later spread to Central Asia, China, Korea and Japan, and by sea routes to South-East Asia.

• Earlier background:
• Under the Mauryan emperor Ashoka (3rd century BCE), Buddhism spread across India.

• Ashoka sent missionaries far and wide, including to Sri Lanka. [3][4]

• Routes:

• The Silk Road was a network of trade routes joining Asia to West Asia and Europe. It carried monks and texts, not only goods. [3]

• UNESCO lists "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an–Tianshan Corridor" as a World Heritage property. [4]

• Evidence:

• Sculpture shows the change. Early art shows the Buddha only by symbols. Later art carves his human form and Bodhisatta images for worship.

• Buddhist art and shrines survive in Bamiyan (Afghanistan), Mount Wutai (China) and Borobudur (Indonesia). [3]

• Syllabus note: the decline of Buddhism in India is not covered in these NCERT chapters.

Don't confuse with

• Hīnayāna vs Theravāda: Hīnayāna ("lesser vehicle") was an insulting label given by Mahāyāna to all 18 older schools. Theravāda is the name one surviving school used for itself. [2]
• Bodhisatta vs Arhat: an arhat wins his own release. A Bodhisatta puts off nibbāna to help others reach it. [2]
• Mahāsaṅghika vs Mahāyāna: the Mahāsaṅghika was an early split, about 100 years after the Buddha's death. It is only a forerunner of Mahāyāna, not Mahāyāna itself. [2]
• Mahāyāna saviour vs Vaiṣhṇava avatar: both brought in the idea of a saviour at about the same time. A Bodhisatta is a compassionate being who delays release. An avatar is a form Vishnu takes on earth to save the world from disorder.

Prelims Hooks

• Mahāyāna = "great vehicle". Hīnayāna = "lesser vehicle". The second name was given by Mahāyāna to the older tradition. It was not chosen by that tradition.
• The older tradition called itself Theravāda, from theras (old, respected teachers). Theravāda is one of the 18 ancient schools and the only one surviving today. [2]
• Bodhisatta = a compassionate being who builds up merit but delays nibbāna to help others.
• Chronology: first stupas (c. 3rd century BCE) → Mahāyāna, Vaiṣhṇavism, Śhaivism, goddess cults (c. 2nd century BCE onwards) → earliest temples (c. 3rd century CE).
• Spread: Northern route Central Asia → China, Korea, Japan. Sea route Sri Lanka → Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia.
• Chan (Zen) and Pure Land are Mahāyāna schools that grew in China from a mix with Taoism and Confucianism. [3]

Mains Points

• Continuity and change: from self-effort to grace.
• Early Buddhism put the whole burden of release on the individual.
• The Bodhisatta ideal meant a compassionate being could help you towards release.

• Image worship followed from this. A saviour you honour needs a visible form, so the Buddha moved from symbols to sculpture.

• The politics of names.

• Hīnayāna is an insulting label coined by one side of a doctrinal argument. The group itself used the name Theravāda.

• A strong GS-I answer points this out and uses the name the group chose for itself. [2]

• A whole-landscape shift, carried by trade.

• From c. 2nd century BCE, Mahāyāna, Vaiṣhṇava avatars, Śhaiva linga worship and goddess cults all grew together. They shared devotion (bhakti) and a visible deity.
• Ashokan missions, the Silk Roads and sea lanes made Mahāyāna a pan-Asian religion. [3]
• In new lands it adapted rather than copied. Chan and Pure Land in China are examples. [3]

Related concepts

• Hinayana
• Bodhisattva
• Avalokiteshvara
• Maitreya
• Tara
• Vajrayana Buddhism
• Nagarjuna
• Madhyamaka
• Yogachara
• Vasubandhu

Read more

• Later evolution: Mahāyāna and the changing religious landscape