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N, , XN, , - The Upanishads are a type of Hindu religious text. The Upanishads are a set of books composed in Sanskrit, , which are conversations between the teacher and student and presented in the form of dialogues. There, are believed to be 108 Upanishads out of which 11 are considered important. Some of them are: Aitreya, Upanishad, Katha Upanishad, Isa Upanishad, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, etc., , . According to the Vedas, atman is the soul of a person, moksha is the freedom that the atman gains from, , the cycle of life and rebirth by uniting with the universal soul, ie, brahman., , . 4 noble truths of the Buddha—the world is full of suffering; all suffering is caused by our desires; to end, , suffering one must end or overcome desires; the way to end suffering is to follow the eightfold path., , The teachings of the Buddha are compiled in the Tripitakas which literally means Three Baskets. The tripitakas, are three books, Vinaya Pitaka, Sutta Pitaka and Abhidhamma Pitaka, These are written in Pali., , . Jain monuments: Dilwara temple and Adinath temple in Rajasthan, Buddhist monuments: stupas at Sanchi,, , Bharhut and Amravati., , . Society had become bound by rigid and strict caste rules. Religious worship had become ritualistic, complex, , and an expensive affair. New social groups came up during this period but they held a socially inferior position., Frequent wars also created unrest. All these conditions led to disaffection and dissatisfaction among the people, with them looking for alternatives. It was in such conditions that Jainism and Buddhism emerged., , . Similarities: Both leaders came from gana-sanghas, they were both Kshatriyas, both left their lives of comfort, , and went in search of enlightenment, both attained enlightenment and then preached their messages to, the common people till their deaths, both preached in the language of the masses, both preached ahimsa, or non-violence, equality of all human beings, condemned the caste system, both believed in karma. After, their deaths, their religions split into two branches., , , , w, , @, Differences: The Buddha preached the four noble truths and eightfold path while Mahavira advocated, triratnas; the Buddha advocated a policy of moderation or the middle path while Mahavira advocated a, policy of total renunciation. They had to give up all their possessions and not even wear clothes, While, both advocated ahimsa, Mahavira's rules of ahimsa were stricter., , . Four noble truths—all the world is full of suffering, all suffering is caused by our desires; to end suffering, , ‘one must end or overcome desires; the way to end suffering is to follow the eight fold path. The eight fold, path—right action, right meditation, right livelihood, right mindfulness, right speech, right intention, right, view, and right effort., , Vardhamana Mahavira was a contemporary of the Buddha. He gave shape to ideas which are believed to, have been in circulation earlier. He was born in Kundagrama near Vaishali in Bihar, around 599 BCE. He was, also a Kshatriya like the Buddha. His father was Siddhartha, the chief of Jnatrika clan, which was part of, ‘the Vajji confederacy. His mother, Trishala was a Lichchhavi princess. Vardhamana was married to Yashoda,, and they had a daughter., , At the age of 30, he left his home and became an ascetic. For the next 12 years, he wandered from place to, place, meditated and led a life of severe austerity in search of true knowledge. Finally at the age of 42, he, attained enlightenment and came to be known as Jina (conqueror) or Mahavira (great hero). He travelled, from place to place spreading the message of Jainism till he passed away at the age of 72 in Pavapuri near, Rajagriha in Bihar.
