# Buddhism: The Buddha, Four Noble Truths, the Councils, Schools, Spread & Decline

Source: https://tracknation.in/story/buddhism-the-buddha-four-noble-truths-the-councils-schools-spread-decline (TrackNation — free UPSC notes with PYQs)

> A complete, high-yield guide to Buddhism. It covers the life of Gautama Buddha and its five great events, the core teaching (the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, the Middle Way, anatta and nirvana, the Triratna), why Buddhism spread so fast (caste-free sangha, Pali, royal patronage, Ashoka), the four Buddhist Councils, the Hinayana/Mahayana/Vajrayana schools, the Tripitaka and the monastic universities, Buddhist art, and the reasons for its decline in India.

## Start Here — Why Buddhism Is High-Yield

🎯 **Exam priority: High-yield.** *Buddhism (with Jainism) is the single most-tested
theme in the Ancient + Art-Culture cluster. Prelims drills the Buddha's life-events and symbols, the
Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path, the four Councils, and the Hinayana/Mahayana/Vajrayana schools;
Mains asks Buddhist stupa-art and rock-cut architecture. Go deep here.*

Out of the sixth-century-BCE ferment came the faith that would spread across Asia. Founded by
**Gautama Buddha**, Buddhism rejected ritual, caste, the soul and a creator-god, and offered
a practical path out of suffering — an appeal so wide that, under Ashoka, it became a world religion.

## The Life of the Buddha

**Gautama Buddha (Siddhartha)** was born around **563 BCE** at
**Lumbini**, into the **Sakya** kshatriya republican clan of
**Kapilavastu**; his mother Maya was a Kosalan princess. Moved by the sight of human
suffering, he made the **Great Renunciation at 29**, wandered and practised austerities for
years, and attained **enlightenment (nirvana) at 35** under a pipal (Bodhi) tree at
**Bodh Gaya**. He delivered his **first sermon at Sarnath** (the
*Dharmachakra-pravartana*, "turning of the wheel of law"), preached for 40 years, and attained
**Mahaparinirvana at 80, around 483 BCE**, at **Kushinagar**.

The five great events of his life recur in Buddhist art, each shown by a symbol (early art never
depicted the Buddha in human form):

| **Great event in the Buddha's life**

 | **Place**

 | **Symbol in art**

 |
| Birth

 | Lumbini

 | Lotus & bull

 |
| Great Renunciation (at 29)

 | Kapilavastu

 | Horse

 |
| Enlightenment / Nirvana (at 35)

 | Bodh Gaya

 | Bodhi (pipal) tree

 |
| First Sermon (Dharmachakra-pravartana)

 | Sarnath

 | Wheel (chakra)

 |
| Death (Mahaparinirvana, at 80)

 | Kushinagar

 | Stupa

 |

## The Core Teaching — Four Noble Truths & the Eightfold Path

The Buddha was a **practical reformer** who avoided metaphysical disputes about god and
soul, addressing instead the problem of **suffering**. His teaching rests on the
**Four Noble Truths (Arya Satya)**:

- **(1) Dukkha** — the world is full of suffering.

- **(2) Samudaya** — suffering is caused by desire/craving (*trishna*).

- **(3) Nirodha** — suffering can be ended by ending desire.

- **(4) Magga** — the way to end it is the Eightfold Path.

The **Eightfold Path (*astangika marga*)** — right view, intention, speech, action,
livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration — leads to **nirvana**, freedom from the
cycle of birth and death, **without the help of priests**. The Buddha urged the
**Middle Way**, avoiding both luxury and extreme austerity, and laid down five moral precepts
(no killing, stealing, lying, intoxicants or sexual misconduct).

- Radically, Buddhism denies both a **creator-god and a permanent soul (*anatta*)**
— a revolution in Indian religion — while keeping **karma and rebirth**.

- Its **Triratna (Three Jewels)** are the **Buddha, the Dhamma**
(doctrine) and the **Sangha** (monastic order).

## Why Buddhism Spread So Fast

Within the Buddha's own lifetime the faith won the monarchies of Magadha, Kosala and Kausambi. Several
factors explain its rapid rise:

- **It was liberal and democratic** — it **attacked the varna system**
and admitted people **regardless of caste**, and **women** into the sangha.

- **It used Pali**, the people's language (not elite Sanskrit), so doctrines reached
the common people.

- **The Sangha** — an organised, open monastic order — gave it institutional reach,
and the **Buddha's serene personality** and method of debate drew followers.

- **Royal patronage** — above all **Ashoka**, two centuries later,
who sent missions to Sri Lanka, Central and West Asia and transformed Buddhism into a
**world religion** (it survives today in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Tibet, China and Japan).

## The Four Buddhist Councils

The doctrine was preserved and debated through four great **councils** — a perennial
prelims favourite:

| **Council**

 | **Place**

 | **Royal patron**

 | **Key outcome**

 |
| First (c. 483 BCE)

 | Rajgriha

 | Ajatasatru

 | Compiled the Sutta & Vinaya Pitakas

 |
| Second (c. 383 BCE)

 | Vaishali

 | Kalashoka

 | First schism: Sthaviravadins vs Mahasanghikas

 |
| Third (c. 250 BCE)

 | Pataliputra

 | Ashoka

 | Abhidhamma Pitaka; missions sent abroad

 |
| Fourth (c. 1st c. CE)

 | Kashmir

 | Kanishka

 | Hinayana–Mahayana split; texts in Sanskrit

 |

The councils both **fixed the canon** (the Tripitaka) and marked the
**schisms** — the Second produced the Sthaviravadin/Mahasanghika split, and the Fourth, under
Kanishka, the great **Hinayana–Mahayana** divide.

## Schools, Literature, Universities & Art

### The three vehicles

- **Hinayana / Theravada** ("lesser vehicle") — the orthodox school using
**Pali**; individual salvation; no idol-worship of the Buddha. Dominant in Sri Lanka and
South-East Asia.

- **Mahayana** ("greater vehicle") — used **Sanskrit**; worships the
Buddha as a god and reveres **bodhisattvas** (compassionate saviours); spread to China, Japan,
Korea. It crystallised under **Kanishka**.

- **Vajrayana** ("thunderbolt vehicle") — a later **tantric** form with
magic, mantras and deities; took root in Tibet and, in early-medieval times, in Bihar and Bengal.

### Texts, universities & art

- The Pali canon is the **Tripitaka** ("three baskets"): the **Vinaya**
(monastic rules), **Sutta** (the Buddha's teachings) and **Abhidhamma**
(philosophy).

- Buddhist monasteries grew into great **residential universities** —
**Nalanda, Vikramshila** (Bihar) and **Valabhi** (Gujarat).

- Buddhism shaped early Indian **art**: the stupas and railings of
**Sanchi and Bharhut**, the first human images of the Buddha in the
**Gandhara** (Greco-Indian) and **Mathura** schools, and the beginnings of
**rock-cut cave architecture** (Barabar hills, Nasik).

## The Decline of Buddhism in India

By the **twelfth century CE** Buddhism had practically vanished from the land of its
birth. Why?

- **It succumbed to the very evils it had attacked** — from the 1st c. CE it took to
**idol-worship** and lavish ritual, and abandoned Pali for **Sanskrit**,
cutting the monks off from the people.

- **Monastic wealth & corruption** — rich grants (Nalanda drew revenue from 200
villages) bred ease and decadence, and the later **Vajrayana** practices hastened
degeneration.

- **The brahmanical revival** reformed Hinduism (stressing cow-protection and
admitting women and sudras to heaven), reabsorbing Buddhism's appeal — and the Buddha was even made an
avatar of Vishnu.

- **Turkish invasions** destroyed the wealthy monasteries; the **sack of
Nalanda** dealt a fatal blow, with surviving monks fleeing to Nepal and Tibet.

## Why this matters for UPSC

- Prelims drills the **life-events & symbols**, the **Four Truths &
Eightfold Path**, the **four Councils**, the **schools**, and the
**Tripitaka** — and stupa facts (the stupa concept is actually pre-Buddhist in origin).

- Mains repeatedly asks **Buddhist stupa-art (2016)** and **rock-cut
architecture (2020)** — Buddhism is as much an art-history topic as a religious one.

## Further Reading

- Standard NCERT-level texts and reference books on ancient, medieval and cultural Indian history (any UPSC reading list).

## Test Yourself: Practice Questions & PYQs

Buddhism is the densest Ancient topic for prelims. Try to answer each before revealing — watch the council–king and event–place matches.

## Practice Questions

**Q1.** Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment (nirvana) at:

- (a) Lumbini

- (b) Bodh Gaya

- (c) Kushinagar

- (d) Sarnath

**Answer: (b)** — He attained enlightenment under a pipal (Bodhi) tree at Bodh Gaya; he was born at Lumbini, gave his first sermon at Sarnath, and died at Kushinagar.

**Q2.** The Buddha's first sermon, the 'Dharmachakra-pravartana', was delivered at:

- (a) Vaishali

- (b) Sarnath

- (c) Rajgriha

- (d) Bodh Gaya

**Answer: (b)** — The first sermon ('turning of the wheel of law') was given at Sarnath near Varanasi; its symbol in art is the wheel (chakra).

**Q3.** Which is NOT one of the Four Noble Truths?

- (a) Suffering is caused by desire (samudaya)

- (b) All things are momentary (kshanika)

- (c) Suffering can be ended (nirodha)

- (d) The world is full of suffering (dukkha)

**Answer: (b)** — Momentariness (kshanikavada) is a later doctrinal idea, not one of the Four Noble Truths. The fourth truth is magga, the path (the Eightfold Path).

**Q4.** Which Buddhist Council, held under Kanishka, is associated with the Hinayana–Mahayana split?

- (a) Second (Vaishali)

- (b) First (Rajgriha)

- (c) Third (Pataliputra)

- (d) Fourth (Kashmir)

**Answer: (d)** — The Fourth Council in Kashmir, under Kanishka, saw the Hinayana–Mahayana divide and the use of Sanskrit. The Third (Pataliputra) was under Ashoka.

**Q5.** The Tripitaka, the Pali canon, consists of the Vinaya, the Abhidhamma and the:

- (a) Jataka Pitaka

- (b) Vajra Pitaka

- (c) Sama Pitaka

- (d) Sutta Pitaka

**Answer: (d)** — The 'three baskets' are the Vinaya (rules), Sutta (the Buddha's teachings) and Abhidhamma (philosophy).

**Q6.** Which school of Buddhism worships the Buddha as a god, reveres bodhisattvas, and used Sanskrit?

- (a) Mahayana

- (b) Sthaviravada

- (c) Vajrayana

- (d) Hinayana (Theravada)

**Answer: (a)** — Mahayana worships the Buddha as divine and reveres bodhisattvas, using Sanskrit; it spread to China and Japan. Hinayana/Theravada used Pali and sought individual salvation.

**Q7.** The Buddhist denial of a permanent, unchanging soul is the doctrine of:

- (a) Anatta (no-soul)

- (b) Niyati

- (c) Karma

- (d) Anekantavada

**Answer: (a)** — Buddhism teaches anatta (no-soul) and denies a creator-god — a sharp break from Vedic religion — while retaining karma and rebirth.

**Q8.** The first human images of the Buddha were produced by the Gandhara school and the school at:

- (a) Bharhut

- (b) Mathura

- (c) Amaravati

- (d) Sanchi

**Answer: (b)** — From the 1st century CE the Gandhara (Greco-Indian) and Mathura schools made the first Buddha images; Sanchi and Bharhut are earlier stupa sites where the Buddha was shown only by symbols.

### UPSC Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

*Two genuine UPSC Prelims questions on Buddhism (the stupa, and the Bhumisparsha mudra). Explanations in our own words.*

**Q9.** With reference to ancient India, consider the following statements: (1) The concept of the Stupa is Buddhist in origin. (2) The Stupa was generally a repository of relics. (3) The Stupa was a votive and commemorative structure. Which are correct? (UPSC Prelims 2022)

- (a) 1 and 3 only

- (b) 1, 2 and 3

- (c) 1 and 2 only

- (d) 2 and 3 only

**Answer: (d)** — Statements 2 and 3 are correct. Statement 1 is wrong: the stupa (a burial mound) is PRE-Buddhist in origin — Buddhism adopted and developed it, but did not invent the form.

**Q10.** Lord Buddha's image is sometimes shown with the hand gesture called 'Bhumisparsha Mudra'. It symbolizes: (UPSC Prelims 2012)

- (a) Buddha's calling of the Earth to witness his purity and chastity despite the temptations of Mara

- (b) Buddha's calling of the Earth to witness his abstinence from worldly desires

- (c) Buddha's calling of the Earth to witness that he had attained enlightenment without help

- (d) Buddha's reminder to his followers that they all arise from the Earth and dissolve into it

**Answer: (a)** — The Bhumisparsha ('earth-touching') mudra shows the Buddha calling the Earth to witness his purity and steadfastness against Mara's temptations at the moment of enlightenment.

**Q11.** Which of the following kingdoms were associated with the life of the Buddha? 1. Avanti 2. Gandhara 3. Kosala 4. Magadha (UPSC Prelims 2015)

- (a) 1, 3 and 4

- (b) 1, 2 and 3 only

- (c) 2 and 3 only

- (d) 3 and 4 only

**Answer: (d)** — Kosala and Magadha only. The Buddha's Shakya clan was annexed by Kosala in his lifetime, and Prasenajit of Kosala was his contemporary; in Magadha, Bimbisara received him and gave the Veluvana to the sangha. Avanti under Pradyota was a great power then but there is no source placing the Buddha there, and Gandhara received Buddhism only later, under Ashoka.

**Q12.** With reference to the religious history of India, consider the following statements: 1. The concept of Bodhisattva is central to the Hinayana sect of Buddhism. 2. Bodhisattva is a compassionate one on his way to enlightenment. 3. Bodhisattva delays achieving his own salvation to help all sentient beings on their path to it. Which are correct? (UPSC Prelims 2016)

- (a) 2 and 3 only

- (b) 1, 2 and 3

- (c) 2 only

- (d) 1 only

**Answer: (a)** — Statement 1 is the trap — Bodhisattva is central to MAHAYANA, not Hinayana. The Hinayana goal was to become an arhat and reach nirvana in this life, an ideal of self-salvation. Mahayana's altruistic ideal made the Bodhisattva a 'cosmic helper' who postpones his own salvation, and a layman could aspire to it.

**Q13.** With reference to the religious history of India, consider the following statements: 1. Sautrantika and Sammitiya were sects of Jainism. 2. Sarvastivadin held that the constituents of phenomena were not wholly momentary, but existed forever in a latent form. Which is/are correct? (UPSC Prelims 2017)

- (a) Neither 1 nor 2

- (b) 2 only

- (c) Both 1 and 2

- (d) 1 only

**Answer: (b)** — Sautrantika and Sammitiya were sects of BUDDHISM, not Jainism — so 1 fails. The Sarvastivadins, literally 'they who say all is', did hold that dharmas are not wholly momentary but persist latently, so 2 is correct.

**Q14.** With reference to Indian history, who among the following is a future Buddha, yet to come to save the world? (UPSC Prelims 2018)

- (a) Maitreya

- (b) Lokesvara

- (c) Padmapani

- (d) Avalokiteshvara

**Answer: (a)** — Maitreya is the Buddha of the future, awaited to restore the dharma when it has been forgotten. Avalokiteshvara — also called Lokesvara and Padmapani — is by contrast a Bodhisattva of compassion, already present rather than yet to come.

**Q15.** With reference to the religious history of India, consider the following statements: 1. Sthaviravadins belong to Mahayana Buddhism. 2. The Lokottaravadin sect was an offshoot of the Mahasanghika sect. 3. The deification of the Buddha by the Mahasanghikas fostered Mahayana Buddhism. Which are correct? (UPSC Prelims 2020)

- (a) 1 and 2 only

- (b) 1, 2 and 3

- (c) 2 and 3 only

- (d) 3 only

**Answer: (c)** — Statement 1 is wrong — the Sthaviravadins are the elders' school, the HINAYANA/Theravada line, not Mahayana. The Lokottaravadins did split off from the Mahasanghikas, and it was Mahasanghika deification of the Buddha that grew into Mahayana.

**Q16.** With reference to the cultural history of India, consider the following pairs: 1. Parivrajaka — renunciant and wanderer 2. Shramana — priest with a high status 3. Upasaka — lay follower of Buddhism. Which pairs are correctly matched? (UPSC Prelims 2020)

- (a) 2 and 3 only

- (b) 1 and 3 only

- (c) 1, 2 and 3

- (d) 1 and 2 only

**Answer: (b)** — Pair 2 is wrong: a shramana was a wandering ASCETIC who rejected Vedic ritual and the brahmana's authority — very nearly the opposite of a high-status priest. Parivrajaka and upasaka are correctly described.

**Q17.** With reference to the cultural history of India, 'Paramitas' is the correct description of: (UPSC Prelims 2020)

- (a) The earliest Dharmashastra texts written in aphoristic (sutra) style

- (b) Powerful merchant guilds of early medieval South India

- (c) Perfections whose attainment led to the Bodhisattva path

- (d) Philosophical schools that did not accept the authority of the Vedas

**Answer: (c)** — The paramitas are the perfections — generosity, morality, patience, energy, meditation and wisdom — cultivated on the Bodhisattva path in Mahayana Buddhism, set out in texts such as the Lotus Sutra.

**Q18.** With reference to ancient India, Gautama Buddha was generally known by which of the following names? (UPSC Prelims 2024)

- (a) Muni and Samana

- (b) Nayaputta and Nigantha

- (c) Brahman and Bhagavan

- (d) Shakyamuni and Tathagata

**Answer: (d)** — Shakyamuni, the 'Sage of the Shakyas', and Tathagata, 'thus-come', are epithets of the Buddha. Nayaputta and Nigantha are epithets of MAHAVIRA — early Jain and Buddhist literature uses both sets, and UPSC tests whether you can tell them apart.

### Mains Practice Questions

Use these to frame full-length answers. You don't have to answer one exactly — they show the angles UPSC tests, so let them guide which points you cover.

- Why did Buddhism spread so rapidly in India and abroad, yet later decline in the land of its birth?

- Distinguish the Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana schools of Buddhism.

- Assess the contribution of Buddhism to Indian society, education and art.

### Mains PYQs — Last 10 Years (UPSC GS-I)

*The exact questions UPSC has actually asked on this topic over the last decade. Practise writing full-length answers to these.*

- Early Buddhist Stupa-art, while depicting folk motifs and narratives, successfully expounds Buddhist ideals. Elucidate. **(UPSC GS-I, 2016)**

- The rock-cut architecture represents one of the most important sources of our knowledge of early Indian art and history. Discuss. **(UPSC GS-I, 2020)**

- Pala period is the most significant phase in the history of Buddhism in India. Enumerate. **(UPSC GS-I, 2020)**