NCERT Book Class 6 Social Science (History) Chapter 6 New Questions and Ideas

CHAPTER 6
NEW QUESTIONS AND IDEAS

Anagha’s school trip
This was the first time Anagha was going on a school trip.
They boarded the train from Pune (in Maharashtra) late
at night, to go all the way to Varanasi (in Uttar Pradesh).
Her mother, who came to see her off at the station, told
the teacher: “Do tell the children about the Buddha, and
take them to see Sarnath as well.”

The story of the Buddha
Siddhartha, also known as Gautama, the founder
of Buddhism, was born about 2500 years ago.
This was a time of rapid change in the lives of
people. As you saw in Chapter 5, some kings in
the mahajanapadas were growing more powerful.
New cities were developing, and life was changing
in the villages as well. Many thinkers were trying
to understand these changes in society. They also
wanted to try and find out the true meaning of life.
The Buddha belonged to a small gana known as
the Sakya gana, and was a kshatriya. When he
was a young man, he left the comforts of his home
in search of knowledge. He wandered for several
years, meeting and holding discussions with other
thinkers. He finally decided to find his own path to
realisation, and meditated for days on end under
a peepal tree at Bodh Gaya in Bihar, where he
attained enlightenment. After that, he was known
as the Buddha or the Wise One. He then went to
Sarnath, near Varanasi, where he taught for the
first time. He spent the rest of his life travelling on
foot, going from place to place, teaching people, till
 52 he passed away at Kusinara.
our pasts–i

Chapter 5-6.indd 52 22 April 2022 12:50:00