Buddhism rose as a revolt against the Brahmanic rituals and the theory’ of Vadas and insisted on right conduct and projected the human progress in terms of spiritual advancement. Initially Buddhism as well as Jainism was merely a reformed form of Brahmanism or Hinduism.
These two religions appealed to the people to give up their vices and follies and to practice that purity of conduct and sincerity of belief which is the essence of very true religion. They neither taught any new dogmas, nor any new rituals or a new philosophy. While Jainism laid stress on asceticism and self-torture, Buddha- based his teachings on the philosophy of Sankya and later Upanishads.
According to Prof. J.N. Sarkar,” The eight-fold path enjoined by Buddha for extinguishing the earthly miseries of soul caused by the cycle of birth and death is only a code of general ethics and not the special creed of a newly revealed and distinctive faith.”
Gautam Buddha explained to the people the futility of the rites and rituals and insisted that true piety consisted in leading a life of simplicity and purity. He died piety consisted in leading a life of simplicity and purity. He did not advocate any new principles. Even the principle of Ahimsa which he stressed so much was borrowed from the later Vedic text.
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The Ajivikas :
Another sect which emerged at the same time as Buddhism and Jainism, was’ that of the Ajivikas. This sect was founded by Gosala Maskariputra, who hailed from a humble family. It advocated complete nudity and rigorous discipline. This sect flourished during the Mauryan period and Ashoka and his successors presented a number of caves to the Ajivikas.
The Ajivikas did not believe in the principle of Karma and held that the whole universe was conditioned and determined by an impersonal cosmic principle ‘Niyati’ or destiny and it was impossible to influence the course of transmigration in any way.
Hinduism:
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The spiritual revolt of Jainism and Buddhism and the novelty of their teachings presented a serious challenge to Hinduism and demanded its new orientation. The Brahmans found it necessary to codify its tenets, hitherto unorganized, in finally established system. This period witnessed the production of an enormous amount of sacred literature.
The Vedas, Brahmans and Upanishads, theoretically still the most sacred of all India’s religious literature, but they were studied only by those who had undergone the ceremony of intimation and were hence the exclusive preserver of the Brahmans. The scriptures of Hinduism, as distinct from Brahmanism, were available to people of all caste. These included the Epics, the Puranas, and the books of sacred.