Editorial 2: From Buddha’s First Sermon to the Emblem of Indian Republic
Context:
Recently India has officially nominated the Sarnath to the UNESCO World Heritage List for the 2025-26 year. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is planning to place a new plaque crediting Babu Jagat Singh for first excavating it in 1787-88. Presently, Jonathan Duncan, a British Indologist, is credited to have first reported this site in 1798.
A Sacred Buddhist Site:
- Sarnath, located near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, holds a special place in the history of India and world religions. It was here, in the 6th century BCE, that Gautama Buddha delivered his first sermon after attaining enlightenment at Bodh Gaya.
- This event, known as the Dhammachakrapravartana (setting in motion the wheel of Dharma), marked the formal beginning of the Buddhist Sangha and made Sarnath one of the holiest pilgrimage sites for Buddhists worldwide.
- Sarnath came to embody the spiritual significance of Buddhism.
- The site is mentioned in numerous Buddhist texts and traditions as the location where Buddha expounded the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.
- Buddhist texts such as Mrigadava, Rishipatna have mentioned this place, but its exact location was not mentioned.
- Over the centuries, stupas, monasteries, and art works were established there, with its influence spreading across India and beyond.
- Mauryan emperor Ashoka, after embracing Buddhism, visited Sarnath and erected monuments to commemorate its importance. Among these, the Ashokan Lion Capital became the most iconic.
- This polished sandstone sculpture of four lions back-to-back symbolized power, courage, and Dharma.
- It was later adopted as the national emblem of India in 1950, engraved on the Indian currency and government insignia, thereby linking Sarnath permanently to the identity of modern India.
- Sarnath was later patronized by Kushanas and Gupta rulers who refurbished Ashokan structures and built new ones such as monastery which survive till their destruction in 12th century AD.
Growth and Decline of Sarnath:
- Between the 3rd century BCE and the 12th century CE, Sarnath flourished as a major Buddhist learning and cultural centre.
- Magnificent stupas such as the Dhamekh Stupa and monasteries built under the patronage of rulers like the Guptas and Harshavardhana made it an international hub of Buddhist scholarship.
- Pilgrims and scholars from China, including Faxian and Xuanzang, visited and documented the splendor of Sarnath.
- However, by the late medieval period, Sarnath faced a sharp decline.
- There is theory that it was destroyed during the invasion of Qutub-ud-din Aibak in 1193, he destroyed many idols, temples to acquire wealth and land. This led the surviving monks flee the monastery, after which it fell into ruins.
- One of the theory propounded by historians argue that around mid-twelfth century, Buddhists were forced to flee as Saivaite temple was erected on the site. It was later destroyed during Muslim invasions.
- With the revival of Brahmanical Hinduism and successive invasions, the Buddhist institutions began to deteriorate.
- In the 12th century, Turkish invasions caused widespread destruction. The monasteries were razed, monks dispersed, and the monuments left in ruins.
- By the time of the Delhi Sultanate, Sarnath had largely fallen into obscurity, its sacred heritage buried under centuries of neglect.
Rediscovery in Modern Times:
- Sarnath’s revival came with colonial-era archaeological efforts.
- The credit for its rediscovery goes to Jagat Singh, the Diwan of Raja Chait Singh of Benares. His workers were digging the site to retrieve brick and stone for the new marketplace being built in his name. They discovered the inscribed pedestal of an image of the Buddha and two stone reliquaries.
- Jonathan Duncan, who established Sanskrit college at Varanasi in 1791, has also reported these findings in 1799.
- In the 19th century, British officials like Alexander Cunningham, the first Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), began excavations.
- They unearthed stupas, sculptures, and inscriptions that re-established Sarnath’s importance in Indian and Buddhist history. He also discovered sandstone box from the Dharmarajika Stupa.
- Later the site was more extensively excavated in 1904-05 by archaeologist Freidrich Oertel with the discovery of 476 architectural and sculptural relics and 41 inscriptions.
- The discovery of the Ashokan Lion Capital in 1905 was particularly significant. This finely carved piece of Mauryan art was adopted by free India in 1950 as the national emblem, with the motto “Satyameva Jayate” (Truth alone triumphs) inscribed below it.
- Sarnath thereby transcended its religious role and acquired a place in the political and cultural identity of the Republic of India.
Way Forward:
- Sarnath’s journey from being the site of Buddha’s first sermon to becoming a national symbol captures the essence of India’s cultural history. It is a story of how religion, art, and politics intersect to create enduring symbols of identity.
- Sarnath exemplifies the themes of Buddhist history, Mauryan art, colonial archaeology, and nation-building in modern India. Its Lion Capital, once a spiritual marker, now stands as the emblem of the world’s largest democracy — embodying both India’s ancient wisdom and modern sovereignty.