{"id":628,"date":"2021-01-01T12:02:34","date_gmt":"2021-01-01T17:02:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abudinen.com\/blog\/?p=628"},"modified":"2021-04-11T11:48:07","modified_gmt":"2021-04-11T16:48:07","slug":"christianity-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abudinen.com\/blog\/2021\/01\/01\/christianity-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Christianity in India"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

According to the tradition of Indian Christians, the Christian faith was introduced to India through conversions by Thomas the Apostle<\/a>, who is said to have reached the Malabar Coast<\/a> (Kerala) in 52 AD.[3]<\/a>[4]<\/a>[5]<\/a>[6]<\/a><\/sup> According to another tradition Bartholomew the Apostle<\/a> is credited with simultaneously introducing Christianity along the Konkan<\/a> Coast.[7]<\/a><\/sup> There is a general scholarly consensus that Christian communities were firmly established in the Malabar Coast<\/a> (Kerala) of India by the 6th century AD,[8]<\/a><\/sup> which were communities who used Syriac<\/a> liturgies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paramita theravadin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Therav\u0101din teachings on the p\u0101ram\u012bs can be found in canonical books (Jataka tales<\/a><\/em>, Apad\u0101na<\/a><\/em>, Buddhava\u1e43sa<\/a><\/em>, Cariy\u0101pi\u1e6daka<\/a><\/em>) and post-canonical commentaries<\/a> written to supplement the P\u0101li Canon at a later time, and thus might not be an original part of the Therav\u0101din teachings.[7]<\/a>[8]<\/a><\/sup> The oldest parts of the Sutta Pi\u1e6daka<\/a><\/em> (for example, Majjhima Nik\u0101ya<\/a><\/em>, Digha Nik\u0101ya<\/a><\/em>, Sa\u1e43yutta Nik\u0101ya<\/a><\/em> and the A\u1e45guttara Nik\u0101ya<\/a><\/em>) do not have any mention of the p\u0101ram\u012bs as a category (though they are all mentioned individually and didn’t mean what they try to make them look like now).[9]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[7]<\/sup> “[Prose portions of the J\u0101takas<\/em>] originally did not form part of [the Therav\u0101dins] scriptures”: Nalinaksha Dutt (1978) Buddhist Sects in India<\/em>. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers (Delhi), 2nd Edition: 224<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[8]<\/sup> Regarding the Cariy\u0101pi\u1e6daka<\/em>, Horner (2000), Cariy\u0101pi\u1e6daka<\/em> section, p. vi, writes that it is “[c]onsidered to be post-Asokan<\/a>….”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[9]<\/sup> “[the Therav\u0101dins\u2019] early literature did not refer to the p\u0101ramit\u0101s.” Nalinaksha Dutt (1978) Buddhist Sects in India<\/em>. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers (Delhi), 2nd Edition: 228<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some scholars even refer to the teachings of the p\u0101ram\u012bs as a semi-Mah\u0101y\u0101na teaching added to the scriptures at a later time in order to appeal to the interests and needs of the lay community and to popularize their religion.[10]<\/a>[11]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[10]<\/sup> “The incorporation of p\u0101ramis by the Therav\u0101dins in the J\u0101takas reveals that they were not immune from Mah\u0101y\u0101nic influence. This happened, of course, at a much later date[.]” Nalinaksha Dutt (1978) Buddhist Sects in India<\/em>. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers (Delhi), 2nd Edition: 219<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[11]<\/sup> “It is evident that the Hinay\u0101nists, either to popularize their religion or to interest the laity more in it, incorporated in their doctrines the conception of Bodhisattva and the practice of p\u0101ramit\u0101s. This was effected by the production of new literature: the J\u0101takas and Avad\u0101nas.” Nalinaksha Dutt (1978) Buddhist Sects in India<\/em>. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers (Delhi), 2nd Edition: 251. The term “Semi-Mah\u0101y\u0101na” occurs here as a subtitle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddhism sexual misconduct<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Regarding Buddhist monks, the Vinaya<\/a> (code of monastic discipline) bans all sexual activity, but does so in purely physiological terms, making no moral distinctions among the many possible forms of intercourse it lists.[11]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the\u00a0P\u0101li Canon<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0\u0100gama<\/a>\u00a0(the Early Buddhist scriptures), there is not any saying that same or opposite gender relations have anything to do with sexual misconduct,[23]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and some\u00a0Theravada<\/a>\u00a0monks express that same-gender relations do not violate the rule to avoid sexual misconduct, which means not having sex with someone underage (thus protected by their parents or guardians), someone\u00a0betrothed or married<\/a>\u00a0and who have taken vows of religious celibacy.[24]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sidarta gautama wives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The meaning of the name Ya\u015bodhara (Sanskrit) [from ya\u015bas<\/em> “glory, splendour” + dhara<\/em> “bearing” from the verbal root dhri<\/em> “to bear, support”] is Bearer of glory<\/em>. The names she has been called besides Ya\u015bodhar\u0101 are: Ya\u015bodhar\u0101 Theri (doyenne Ya\u015bodhar\u0101), Bimb\u0101dev\u012b<\/em>, Bhaddakacc\u0101n\u0101<\/em> and R\u0101hulam\u0101t\u0101<\/em> (mother of Rahula<\/a>).[12]<\/a><\/sup> In the Pali Canon<\/a>, the name Ya\u015bodhar\u0101<\/em> is not found; there are two references to Bhaddakacc\u0101n\u0101<\/em>.[13]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several other names are identified as wives of the Buddha in different Buddhist traditions, including Gop\u0101 or Gop\u012b, M\u1e5bgaj\u0101, and Manodhar\u0101; according to the Mulasarvastivada<\/a> Vinaya and several other sources, the Buddha in fact had three wives, and a Jataka<\/a> story quoted by Nagarjuna<\/a> specifies two.[14]<\/a><\/sup> Thomas Rhys Davids<\/a> offered the interpretation that the Buddha had a single wife who acquired various titles and epithets over the years, eventually leading to the creation of origin stories for multiple wives.[14]<\/a><\/sup> Noel Peri<\/a> was the first scholar to treat the issue at length, examining the Chinese and Tibetan sources as well as the Pali<\/a>. He observed that early sources (translated before the 5th Century) seemed to consistently identify the Buddha’s wife as ‘Gop\u012b’, and that after a period of inconsistency ‘Ya\u015bodhara’ emerged as the favored name for texts translated in the latter half of the 5th Century and later.[14]<\/a><\/sup> In addition to Rhys David’s theory, he suggests other interpretations that included the possibility of multiple marriages, which in some cases better fit with the different variations in stories of the Buddha’s life, suggesting that these inconsistencies emerged when multiple distinct stories were combined into a single narrative.[14]<\/a><\/sup> He also suggested that the preference in later interpretations for a single wife may reflect an accommodation of changing social mores that preferred monogamy over other forms of traditional marriage.[14]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to the tradition of Indian Christians, the Christian faith was introduced to India through conversions by Thomas the Apostle, who is said to have reached the Malabar Coast (Kerala) in 52 AD.[3][4][5][6] According to another … Leer m\u00e1s<\/a><\/p>\n