Abstract

Description: The book attempts to make a brief survey of Buddhism in some of its interesting and important features in seven chapters. Beginning with the background it contains the life of Gautama Buddha, his Sangha and his basic teachings. It speaks how the religion propounded by Buddha got divided into various schools of thought with their doctrinal tenets within a few centuries after his Mahaparinirvana. The huge mass of Pali literature regarded as the great store-house of valuable information regarding the literary, social, political, economic, architectural and religious history of ancient India have been discussed herein. Here has also been pointed out the system of education which has widely prevalent and attracted men in quest of learning even from abroad. True to its name the book presents many splendoured heritage of India embedded in Buddhist literature, the importance of which for the comprehensive study of our great civilization and culture can in no way be ignored or neglected. It will be useful illuminating to the scholars and the readers in general as well for a proper understanding of the cultural implications of Buddhism. Contents Preface 1. Background of Buddhism 2. Life of Gautama Buddha 3. The Buddhist Samgha 4. Fundamentals of Buddhism 5. Principal Schools and their Tenets 6. Buddhist Literature in Pali 7. Buddhist System of Education.