Academic literature on the topic 'Bengali Buddhist literature'

Buddhism was the State Religion of Bengal at least for more than four hundred years between mid of 8th century and 12th century during the Pala reign in Bengal. In the 2011 Indian census, the percentage of Buddhists in West Bengal was 0.31% while in Bangladesh less than 1% of the total population is now a follower of Buddhism. Most of the Buddhists were converted to Islam during the Sultanate rule in Bengal while Hinduism silently took over many of their shrines and deities. This paper is an attempt to revisit the cultural landscape of early Buddhism in Bengal along with a focus on the elements of Buddhist culture in folk life applying cultural geographical methodologies and examining the presence of Buddhist rituals and deities in agrarian society in sublime form. A literature review was followed by extensive fieldwork during festivities of the shrines of Hindu deities having a connection with early Buddhism of Bengal. Along with participant observation during ritualistic practices, interviews, and focus group discussion methods have been applied involving stakeholders to obtain qualitative data for analysis. The results reveal the various manifestations of the interplay between the process of universalization and parochialization in the dynamism of the evolving belief system of an apparently Non-Buddhist folk society of the present day, the root of the culture of which was exclusively Buddhist.

The sheer intensity of the encounter between the Buddhist and Hindu pantheons in ‘Eastern India’ (comprising the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and present Bangladesh) from the 7th to the 12th century, was unmatched in any other region.1 It left, above all, a visual and textual trail in the Buddhist iconography, as attested by the presence of two Mātṛkas (Mothers) among the members of Māra’s army attacking the Buddha on the night of his Awakening, Brahmanical deities being incorporated into the Buddhist world: Vārāhī appears in the Jagdishpur sculpture, and Cāmuṇḍā in a large fragment from a sculpture which must have been as large as the Jagdishpur image and used to stand in Lakhisarai, more fragments of it being preserved in the Indian Museum (Fig. 1).2 Further, the key component of Vārāhī iconography,3 the hog head, became an integral part of the images of Buddhist deities like Mārīcī and Vajravārāhī. The cultural background within which the images of the goddess were incorporated helps to understand this twofold phenomenon, the representation of her being transferred to a Buddhist context and some of her specific features being embedded in the iconography of Buddhist deities.

Abstract Stressing the importance of 5th–6th-century copper-plate charters connected to the Viṣṇukuṇḍin dynasty for the history of Buddhism in Āndhradeśa, this article demonstrates that, contrary to earlier scholarly assumptions, and despite the paucity of archeological evidence for Buddhist activity at that time, Buddhist lineages still benefitted from lavish donations by ruling families. This study consists of three parts: the first explores the representation of two Viṣṇukuṇḍin rulers as Buddhist kings, and shows how their portraits and their aspirations are permeated by the ideology of the Bodhisattvayāna. The second part examines one of the main recipients of royal donations, the Sthā̆vira/Theriya lineage of the Tāmraparṇīyas, already known from inscriptions issued under the previous Ikṣvāku dynasty. The analysis of these earlier records from Nagarjunakonda in light of little-studied copper plates shows that the Tāmraparṇīyas had a strong institutional presence in Āndhradeśa from the mid-3rd to the late 6th century. The lineage’s connections with Laṅkā and with other Theriya centres along the Bay of Bengal are delineated through a close examination of the terminology used in the inscriptions under scrutiny, in light of co-eval records, and especially of Pāli Vinaya literature and historical narratives. The last part of this article focuses on a poetic allusion to the episode of the Buddha’s victory over Māra included in the opening stanza of a grant issued by king Pr̥thivīśrīmūla. The evidence suggests that this record connects for the first time the water poured by Śākyamuni in his previous lives as a Bodhisattva with a flood that drove away Māra’s army from the seat of Awakening, a motif that grew—like a tide—and spread across Southeast Asia.

Sufism refers to the mystical dimension of Islam, which, moving away from its rigid doctrinal form, speaks of self-realization, love, submission, and intense personal devotion as being the path to reach God. This paper attempts to understand Sufism and its essential principles, proceeding to trace its establishment and evolution in the Indian subcontinent, with a special focus on Bengal and Assam. The paper discusses the development of Sufism in the regions of Bengal and Assam by situating it in its precise historical and cultural context, exploring at length its interactions with the Bhakti movement and Buddhist Sahajiya tantrism, its impact on the folk art, culture and literature of the regions, and its role in shaping the socio-political climate of the regions over the ages. Lastly, the paper attempts to comment upon how Sufism, with its inherent variations and contradictions, survives in these regions today, and the significance that it holds for the people in contemporary times. In doing so, the paper attempts to understand whether Sufism and its ideals can become useful in promulgating a culture of peace and tolerance in an increasingly polarized and divided society.

Abstract Charles Bernstein's pataquericalism is not just a poetics but a philosophy of life, a leftist way to wrench freedom from authority to recognize the actual face of reality that toggles us with hope and despair, to explore hitherto undreamed regions of the mind in order to acquire a new point of view—to inquire into language, into poetics, into life, into reality. This poetics indeed resonates with Barin Ghosal's Expansive Consciousness theory in the world of Bengali New Poetry. Both are inventive poetics of an eccentric centrifugal journey toward infinite possibilities with intuitive leaps to open up an infinite space. This is to interenact with the endless rhythm of the cosmic dance of energy of the universe to harmonize our relationship with Eastern mystic philosophy of Upanishad/Zen Buddhism as well as modern science. This essay is intended to find the quantum coherence between the voices/processes/thoughts of different poets, scientists, and philosophers of the East and West.

This academic research is primarily concerned with two fundamental issues. The first objective is to depict Buddhist impacts on Turkic religious thoughts during Islamisation. The second issue is how this syncretic process aided Turks in capturing the Bengal region with the assistance of local Buddhists. The historical tie between Bengal and Central Asia dates to the first century BCE. In it, the northern Indian Maurya empire and the Turkish Huns played an important role. Through their efforts, Buddhism spread throughout Central Asia. Besides, Islam encountered significant opposition from Buddhism in Bengal and Central Asia. Over time, the Turks erected a Sultanate in Delhi and then hailed Bengal for the same purpose. As a result of an exhaustive search of the academic research on the database, applicable works have yet to be found related to running scholarly works. This study will employ a qualitative approach with a thematic focus. In addition, secondary categorical data from Turkish, English, and Bengali literature will be utilized in the current scholarly study.

Sowa-Rigpa” commonly known as Tibetan system of medicine is one of the oldest, Living and well documented medical tradition of the world. It has been originated from Tibet and popularly practice in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Mongolia and Russia. The majority of theory and practice of Sowa-Rigpa is similar to “Ayurveda”. The first Ayurvedic influence came to Tibet during 3rd century AD but it became popular only after 7th centuries with the approach of Buddhism to Tibet. There after this trend of exportation of Indian medical literature, along with Buddhism and other Indian art and sciences were continued till early 19th century. India being the birth place of Buddha and Buddhism has always been favorite place for learning Buddhist art and culture for Tibetan students; lots of Indian scholars were also invited to Tibet for prorogation of Buddhism and other Indian art and sciences. This long association with India had resulted in translation and preservation of thousands of Indian literature on various subjects like religion, sciences, arts, culture and language etc. in Tibetan language. Out of these around twenty-five text related to medicine are also preserved in both canonical and non-canonical forms of Tibetan literatures. Many of these knowledge were further enriched in Tibet with the knowledge and skills of neighboring countries and their own ethnic knowledge. “Sowa-Rigpa” (Science of healing) is one of the classic examples of it. rGyud-bZhi (four tantra) the fundamental text book of this medicine was composed by Yuthog Yonten Gonpo who is believed to be the father of Sowa Rigpa. rGyud-bZhi which is based on indigenous medicine of Tibet enriched with Ayurveda, Chinese and Greek Medicine. The impact of Sowa-Rigpa along with Buddhism and other Tibetan art and sciences were spread in neighboring Himalayan regions. In India, this system is widely practice in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Darjeeling (West Bengal), Dharamsala, Lahaul and Spiti(Himachal Pradesh) and Ladakh region of Jammu & Kashmir.

This article fills some of the gaps in the secondary literature about the growing Muslim presence in the Siamese capital of Ayutthaya during the mid-sixteenth century. It does so by reconstructing the arrival of Tok Takia, a miracle-working Sufi missionary who arrived from somewhere in the Indian subcontinent. The study begins with a description of the Tok Takia Complex which consists of a mosque that once was a Buddhist temple and a maqam where Tok Takia was buried in 1579 before introducing references to the former in Thai primary sources. Before dealing with details about Qadriyyah presence across the Bay of Bengal, this research reconstructs the geopolitical and commercial developments from the late fifteenth century contributing to the growth of Muslim—and specifically, Kling Muslims—presence in Ayutthaya mentioned in a range of Siamese and Portuguese primary sources. This paper presents reasons for suggesting that Tok Takia’s missionary activism was connected to the Nagore-e-Sharif complex in present-day Tamil Nadu.

AbstractThe first verse of the Holy Qur’an indicates that education is an integral part of Islam. Since then, educational development has been a parallel to the development of Muslim society. From the beginning of the Muslim conquest of Bengal by the Turks in the early 13th century, the society had also witnessed the rapid development of a new educational system. Before Islam in Bengal, The Buddhist and Brahmanic religious centres mainly served as educational centres. Cultivation of knowledge was instructed through the Sanskrit language and limited only to the upper classes people. But the scenario got a change under the Muslims both- Turko-Afghan Sultanate (1204-1576 A.D.) and the Mughals (1576-1757 A.D.). The period witnessed a rapid advancement in the educational field, which changed the traditional system. The Rulers patronized the spread of education considering it as their religious obligation. Besides Sultans, the Sufis, Ulamas, Nobles, Chieftains-all contributed in this regard. Masjids and Madrasahs mainly served as centre of Muslim education. In the Masjids, informal teaching was offered in all branches of Islamic studies, from elementary to the highest level. The Imams of the Masjids were acknowledged teachers of the community. Madrasahs were the most important institution, where formal education was instructed. Maktabs were used for primary education, which were organized either in the Masjids or private houses. Majilises were developed around individual scholars as higher educational centres such as the learning centre of Shaikh Jalaluddin Tabrizi at Deotala, Shaikh Sharfuddin Abu Tawama at Sonargaon, Dhaka etc. There was co-education at primary level, but the higher education for women was limited only to the higher & high-middle class families. Different branches of Islamic Sciences such as Tafsir, Hadith, fiqh-Jurisprudence, logic together with many diverse subjects such as natural sciences, mathematics, medicine, agriculture, astronomy, geography and Arabic & Persian languages and literature were taught in these institutions. To maintain these educational institutions, the rulers provided state patronage, granted rent-free lands as endowment. Thus, a very new and diversified educational system flourished in the society of Bengal under the Muslim rulers, which opened learning facilities for all the people, founding many educational institutions throughout the country. The paper is mainly aimed at discovering the nature and dimensions of educational system, which developed particularly during the Turko-Afghan Muslim Sultanate (1204-1576 A.D.) in Bengal and identify how the system can contribute to improve the present educational system of the country.

Bangladesh is majority Muslim at 91%, mostly Sunni, with Islam as the state religion since 1988. The Hindus at 8.1% are the largest religious minority. Buddhists make up another 0.7%. Christians of diverse denominations constitute less than 1%. There are two archdioceses and seven dioceses in Bangladesh. While William Carey, who translated and printed the Bible in Bengali, came to Serampore in 1793, Protestant missionary efforts took root during the first half of the nineteenth century. The Christian contribution to Bangladesh’s freedom fight during the Liberation War in 1971 involved about 1,500 Christians with 4,000 more assisting the combatants. However, the slow growth of Christianity in the country is due to resistance to the gospel by Muslims and Hindus who identify Christianity with Western ideologies. Secondly, early missionaries focused their work on education at the expense of evangelism. A third reason is the devastating climate, which has disheartened many missionaries from new efforts at evangelization. Still, the distribution of Christian literature continues to play an important role in evangelistic efforts. Christian relief and development works have evangelized many. The contributions of missionaries and indigenous Christians have proved to be highly significant in different sectors of national life.

“Any water-related stress you can imagine, we have. Abundance, shortage, pollution. We have them all,” a young woman named Afifa Raihana told me on my first trip to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Afifa was working for the World Bank at that time, coordinating environmental initiatives, having earlier worked as a journalist. The list of water-related problems in Bangladesh is long and sometimes contradictory: waterlogging as well as desertification, floods along with shortages. Bangladesh sees frequent cyclones and storm surges; it copes with salinity and sedimentation of riverbeds. Industrial chemicals, agricultural runoff, and urban sewage pollute the nation’s ponds and rivers. The problems sometimes stem from the sheer abundance of water in this nearliquid land. In the monsoon, a quarter of the land is regularly inundated. When rivers flood, two-thirds of the land may be covered by water—drowning people and their animals, displacing families, destroying crops. This is the bottom of the Ganges watershed; any water and sediment that has not been held back upstream comes to rest here or washes into the Bay of Bengal. On occasion the abundance is a curse, but usually it is a blessing. Maniruzzaman Miah told me that drought is a far greater threat here than floods, which are essential for growing rice and jute and for keeping the water table high. “Rain and the need for rain. That is what Bangladesh is all about. Floods are part of the ecosystem.” The oddly shaped country that is now Bangladesh was once part of a prosperous realm stretching from Bihar to the Bay of Bengal. Bengal, which was partitioned in 1948—half to India, half to Pakistan—was known as the best-educated, most literate, most cultured part of India. It was a grain basket, a seat of Buddhist learning in ancient times, and later had a well-developed textile industry until England’s East India Company strangled it to promote English-made textiles. Britain essentially launched control of the subcontinent from the east. Calcutta was the seat of British power until 1911, when the capital was moved to Delhi.