Q.1. Means of Buddha and Karl Marx
1. Means of Buddha:
- PancaSila: to remove the cause of misery, he preached the practice of PancaSila.
- Noble Fight-Fold Path: For the removal of man’s inequity towards man, the Buddha prescribed the Noble Eight-Fold Path. The aim of the Noble Eight-Fold Path is to establish on earth the kingdom of righteousness, and thereby to banish sorrow and unhappiness from the face of the world.
- The doctrine of Nibbana and Ten Asavas or Hindrances.
- The doctrine of Paramitas. The doctrine of Paraimitas inculcates the practice of ten virtues in one's daily life.
It is clear that the means adopted by the Buddha were to convert a man by changing his moral disposition to follow the path voluntarily.
2. Means of Karl Marx:
- Violence and
- Dictatorship of the Proletariat.
The Communists say that there are the only two means of establishing communism. The first is violence. Nothing short of it will suffice to break up the existing system. The other is dictatorship of the proletariat. Nothing short of it will suffice to continue the new system.
Q.2. Ambedkar’s writings:
Dr. Ambedkar’s writings covered diverse subject of human interest such as law, economics, finance, administration, sociology, anthroplogy, politics, religion and Buddhism. It consists of four main parts:
1. The first four books written by Dr. Ambedkar, namely,
- Ancient Indian Commerce’(degree of M.A),
- The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India (Ph.D).
- Provincial Decentralisation of Imperial Finance in British India
- Problem of the Rupees
2. The most important and thought-provoking books written by Dr. Ambedkar:
- Thoughts on Pakistan, 1940
- What Congress and Gandhi have done to the Untouchables, 1945
- Who were the Shudras? 1946
- The Untouchable, 1948
- The Buddha and His Dhamma, 1957
3. Whatever Dr. Ambedkar spoke or wrote:
- Castes in India (1916).
- Annihilation of Caste (1936).
- Federation versus Freedom (1939).
- Ranade, Gandhi and Jinnah (1943).
4. Writings on Buddhism:
- Volumn 3: + Revolution and the counter revolution.
+ Buddha and Karl Marx.
- Volumn 4: + Palilanguague.
+ Pali grammar.
+ Pali dictionary.
+ Buddha pooja path.
- Volumn 17: + The Buddha and future of his religion.
+ Buddha and his Dharma.
+ The Buddhist society of India.
+ The position of women in Hindu and Buddhism.
Q.3. Ambedkar’s philosophy
- B. R Ambedkar’s view on Rationalism: Ambedkar has tried to interpret religion in a rationalist manner. Ambedkar’s final religious act was to embrace Buddhism.
- B. R Ambedkar’s view on God and Soul: Ambedkar did not believe in the existence of God and soul.
- B. R. Ambedkar’s view on Rebirth: According to Ambedkar, Buddha replaced the doctrine of transmigration (Sansara) by the doctrine of rebirth.
- B. R Ambedkar’s view on Karma:He denied the fatalistic view of Karma and replaced it with a much more scientific view.
- B. R Ambedkar’s view on Nibbana and the Eight-Fold Path: Ambedkar says that Buddha replaced the doctrine of Moksha or salvation of the soul by the doctrine of Nibbana.
- B. R Ambedkar’s view on Religion: Philosophy of religion, according to Ambedkar, is both descriptive and normative.
- B. R Ambedkar’s view on Religion and Dhamma: According to him, the word “religion” is an ambiguous word with more than one meaning. What the Buddha calls dhamma differs fundamentally from what is called religion. Dhamma is righteousness, which means right relations between human beings in all spheres of life.
- B. R Ambedkar’s view on Hinduism: Varna-vyavastha:Ambedkar was very strongly opposed to varna-vyavastha including caste and untouchability.
Q.1. Ambedkar’s view on the “Going Forth” of Siddhartha( 10 marks)
According to Ambedkar, Siddhartha was going forth because of the conflict related to the water of Rohiniriver between Sakyans and Koliyans.
Siddhartha became a member of the SakyaSangh at the age of eight. He was a very devoted and steadfast member of the Sangh. In the eighth year of his membership, an event occurred which resulted in a tragedy for the family of Suddhodana and a crisis in the life of Siddharth.
This is the origin of the tragedy.Bordering on the State of the Sakyas was the State of the Koliyas. The two kingdoms were divided by the river Rohini.
The waters of the Rohini were used by both the Sakyas and the Koliyas for irrigating their fields. Every season there used to be disputes between them as to who should take the water of the Rohini first and how much. These disputes resulted in quarrels and sometimes in affrays.
In the year when Siddhartha was twenty-eight, there was a major clash over the waters between the servants of the Sakyas and the servants of the Koliyas, Both sides suffered injuries.Coming to know of this, the Sakyas and the Koliyas felt that the issue must be settled once for all by war.
Siddhartha failed to settle the dispute between the Sakyas arid the Koliyas. But if you create public opinion in favour of settlement you might suc