Why did Buddhism disappear from Bharat?

Why did Buddhism disappear from Bharat?


Jainism was in full swing in India prior to Hinduism. All royal people were influenced by Jain
monks and there speech on ruthless Hindu Kshatriya or warrior dharma/religion of protection &
offense. They highlighted the path of peace and salvation that could only be attained by Jainism.
The Brahmins performed a great Puja and earnestly prayed Lord Shiva to stop the progress of
Jainism. According to aggressive Hindu beliefs Adi Shankaracharya was born. Regarding
Shankaracharya it is said in at least one case he was not able to answer questions placed by a
married woman regarding sex and he was not aware of sexual behaviors because being a
Brahmin he was performing vrat of Brahmcharya where a person is supposed to fight back any
sexual thoughts arising in mind. Hence his knowledge regarding sex was either zero or in infancy
or very less as compared to sex indulged people of his age.
The antics of Adi Shankara in the 8th century assuming he was born in 788 and died in 820 CE
are well known and part of history. Sankara postulated the Vedas as authority; and hence was
ranked as a Sanatani. Later on, the priestly class appropriated this and Max Muller called it
Hinduism. Thus Hinduism dates back to to the 8th century.
English: Statue of Adi Shankara at his Samadhi Mandir in Kedarnath, India. Photo taken by
Priyanath. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
He was the arch foe of Buddhism and the principal architect of its downfall in India (Pande
1994: p. 255). Adi Shankara, along with Madhva and Ramanuja, was instrumental in the revival
of Hinduism through aggressive and violent means.
The historians like Vincent Smith suggested that it was due to Adi Sankaracharya there was
decline of Buddhism in India. Others argue that it was due to the Muslim invasion (of Bakhtyar)
that Nalanda was routed and the library there was burned and thousands of Buddha viharas were
destroyed subsequently. Much of this is described in The Book of Thoth(Leaves of Wisdom).
Shashanka was the Shaivite Brahmin king of Bengal. He was manipulated by the Brahmins to
become a ferocious oppressor of the Buddhists. He had destroyed the Bodhi tree of Bodh Gaya
and ordered the mass destruction of all Buddhist images and monasteries in his kingdom.
1. Lal, V. 2004. Buddhism’s Disappearance from India [serial online]. [cited 2009 August 26]; [2
screens]. Available from: URL:
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/Religions/paths/BuddhismDisappear.doc.
English: Shri Adi Shankara Devasthanam (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
2. Jaini, P.S., Narain A.K., ed., 1980. The Disappearance of Buddhism and the Survival of
Jainism: A Study in Contrast. Studies in History of Buddhism. Delhi: B.R. Publishing
Company:181-91.
3. Ahir, D.C. 2005. Buddhism Declined in India: How and Why? Delhi: B.R. Publishing.
Prof. P. Sankaranarayanan in his article The life and work of Sri Sankara published in the web
page of Kanchi Mutt writes: “Buddhism, the rebel child of the Vedic religion and philosophy,
denied God and the soul, laid the axe at the very roots of Vedic thought and posed a great danger
to its very survival. This onslaught was stemmed occasionally, compelling Buddhism to seek
refuge in other lands. While the credit for this should go primarily to the Mimamsaka, Kumarila
Bhatta, it was because of Sri Sankara’s dialectical skill and irrefutable arguments that it ceased to
have sway over the minds of the inheritors of Vedic religion.”
Adi Sankara Keerthi Sthampa Mandapam, Kalady, Kerala (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The hold of Buddhism on the masses of India could be seen from the writing of celebrated
Chinese pilgrim Faxian (334-420 AD). He made a journey that marked the high point of the first
wave of Chinese pilgrims in India. He left China in 399 AD and returned in 414 AD. We see that
even two centuries later the religion was hardly weakened as may be gleaned from the detailed
historic accounts of the reign of Harshavardhana (606-647AD). The sources for such accounts
are: coins and inscriptions, the reports of pilgrims, official Chinese documents and writings by
well-known personalities like the Chinese traveler Huien Tsang.
Though a Hindu, King Harshavardhana maintained an impartial tolerance towards the other
religions, especially Buddhism that at that time was the religion of the common masses. To
honor Huien Tsang, a devout student Buddhist theology and admirer of the holy land of Buddha,
Harshavardhana organized the Kanauj Assembly in 643 AD. This was a grand assembly of many
rajas including King Bhaskaravarman of Kamrupa (Assam) and the Vallabhi king, Dhuvabhatti.
The Assembly at Kanauj included a large congregation of Brahmans, Buddhist monks ands
Jains, who were involved in religious discourses. We should not forget to mention that Huien
Tsang, along with thousands of students from many countries, studied in the well-known
Buddhist university of Nalanda. If so, how could the religion that Sankara opposed and helped
drive out of India flourish
Sculpture of the two Jain tirthankaras Rishabha (left) and Mahavira (right). Photographed at the
British Museum (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
1) The Divyavadana (ed. Vaidya, 282). The most important of the murderous Hindu bigots who
carried out their systematic campaign of violence against the peaceful followers of Lord Buddha
was Pushyamitra (184-48 B.C.), the founder of the Shunga dynasty. For details and refrences do
see BELOW
2) Goyal [430] “The culprit in this case was Toramana, a member of the same dynasty as the
Shaivite Mihirakula who did “immense damage to the Buddhist shrines in Gandhara, Punjab and
Kashmir.” For details and refrences do see BELOW
3) Mihirakula is said to have razed 1600 viharas, stupas and monasteries, and “put to death 900
Kotis, or lay adherents of Buddhism” [Joshi, 404].
4) The Aryamanjushrimulakalpa tells us that Pushyamitra “destroyed monasteries with relics and
killed monks of good conduct.” [Jayaswal, 18-19]
5) As Goyal [394] notes, “According to many scholars hostility of the Brahmanas was one of the
major causes of the decline of Buddhism in India.”
6) The celebrated Tibetan historian Lama Taranatha mentions the march of Pushyamitra from
Madhyadesha to Jalandhara. In the course of his campaigns, the book states, Pushyamitra burned
down numerous Buddhist monasteries and killed a number of learned monks The archaeological
evidence for the ravages wrought by Pushyamitra and other Hindu fanatic rulers on famous
Buddhist shrines is abundant.
Buddhism in Bangkok, Thailand (Photo credit: photo-555.com)
7) The Brhannaradiya-purana lays it down as a principal sin for a Brahmana to enter the house of
a Buddhist even in times of great peril.
8) The drama Mrchchhakatika shows that in Ujjain the Buddhist monks were despised and their
sight was considered inauspicious.
9) The Vishnupurana (XVIII 13-18) also regards the Buddha as Mayamoha who appeared in the
world to delude the demons. Kumarila is said to have instigated King Sudhanvan of Ujjain to
exterminate the Buddhists.
10) The Kerala-utpatti describes how he exterminated the Buddhists from Kerala.”
The birth place of Adi Shankara at Kalady in Kerala, Source:
http://keralahistory.ac.in/images/kaladi_shankerberthplace.jpg (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
11) The Chinese traveller Yuan Chwang (Huen Tsang), who visited India in the seventh century
records the oppressions of Shashanka, the king of Gauda, who was a devotee of Shiva.
12) Yuan Chwang’s account reads, “In recent times Shashanka, the enemy and oppressor of
Buddhism, cut down the Bodhi tree, destroyed its roots down to the water and burned what
remained.” [Watters II p.115] He also says that Shashanka tried “to have the image (of Lord
Buddha at Bodhgaya) removed and replaced by one of Shiva”.
13) Another independent account of Shashanka’s oppressions is found in the
Aryamanjushrimulakalpa, which refers to Shashanka destroying “the beautiful image of Buddha”
[Jayaswal, 49-50].
English: Adi Sankara Statue at Sarvajna Peedam, Kodachadri, Kollur (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
14) Another prominent seventh century murderer of Buddhists was Sudhanvan of Ujjain, already
mentioned in the quotation from Goyal above as having been supposedly instigated by Kumarila
Bhatt.
15) Madhava Acharya, in his “Sankara-digvijayam” of the fourteenth century A.D., records that
Suddhanvan “issued orders to put to death all the Buddhists from Ramesvaram to the
Himalayas”.
16) Even after the Islamic invasions of India, Hindu bigotry and hatred for Buddhists was not
subdued. According to Sharmasvamin, a Tibetan pilgrim who visited Bihar three decades after
the invasion of Bakhtiaruddin Khilji in the 12th century, the biggest library at Nalanda was
destroyed by Hindu mendicants who took advantage of the chaos produced by the invasion.
A statue of Adi Shanakaracharya in a temple in Mysore (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
He says that “they (Hindus) performed a Yajna, a fire sacrifice, and threw living embers and
ashes from the sacrifice into the Buddhist temples. This produced a great conflagration which
consumed Ratnabodhi, the
nine-storeyed library of the Nalanda University“. [Prakash, 213]. Numerous destroyed Buddhist
shrines were converted into Hindu temples after their destruction.
17) Ahir [58] notes that “The Seat of Buddha’s Enlightenment was in the possession of a Hindu
Mahant till 1952.
18) Similarly, at Kushinara, where the Buddha had entered into Mahaparinirvana, the cremation
stupa had been converted into a Hindu temple, and on top of it stood the temple of Rambhar
Bhavani when
Cunningham discovered the site in 1860-61.
19) Among the shrines which still continue to be dedicated to Hindu gods mention may be made
of the Caityas of Chezrala and Ter in Andhra Pradesh which are now Shiva and Vishnu temples
respectively.
Srimad Guru Adi Shankaracharya (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
20) The temple of Madhava at Sal Kusa, opposite Gauhati in Asam, was once a sacred shrine of
the Buddhists. …
21) And the famous Jagannatha temple at Puri in Orissa was also originally a Buddhist shrine.
22) Similarly, the Vishnupada temple at Gaya was also once a Buddhist shrine.” As Rajendralal
Mitra notes in his famous work of 1878 [quoted in Ahir, 59] the feet of Buddha at Gaya were
rechristened the feet of Vishnu and held as the most sacred object of worship in the new
Vishnupada temple.
23) According to the records of Hieun Tsang and Kalhana’s Rajaatarangini, Asoka the great
repented, converted to Buddhism (273-232 BC) and did a lot for Buddhism. Asoka renounced
violence, and renounced his religion after the Kalinga war, and he became a Buddhist. During
Asoka, Buddhism had become the state religion. The Brahmans did not like him, and many
historians think the Brahaman opposition to Asoka led to the destruction of the Muyarian
dynasty.
24) In Glimpses of World History Jawahrlal Nehru says the following about the Kushans
(emphasis is mine and not Nehru’s): ” This Kushan Empire is interesting in many ways. IT WAS
A BUDDHIST EMPIRE, and one of its famous rulers-the Emperor Kanishka-was ardently
devoted to the dharma…the Kushans were Mongolians or closely allied to them. From the
Kushan capital there must have been a continuous coming and going to the Mongolian
homelands, and Buddhist learning and Buddhist culture must have gone to China and
Mongolia…the Kushan Empire sat like a colossus astride the back of Asia, in between the
Greaco-Roman world in the south. It was a halfway house both between India, and Rome, and
India and China. The Kushan period corresponded with the last days of the Roman Republic
when Julius Ceaser was alive, and first 200 years of the Roman Empire
Adi Shankara (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
25) THE HINDU KASHATRIYA HINDU AND BUDDHIST WARS
Jawarhalal Nehru in his book Glimpses of World History says (Page 103 and 104)
“Chandragupta proclaimed his holy war “against all foreign rulers in India. The Kashatriyas and
the Aryan aristocracy, deprived of their power and positions by the aliens (Kushans), were at the
back of this war. After a dozen or so years of fighting, Chandragupta managed to gain control
over Northern India including what is now called UP. He then crowned himself king of kings.
Thus began the Gupta dynasty. It was a period of somewhat aggressive Hinduism and
nationalism. The foreign rulers-the Turkis and Parathions and other Non-Aryans were rooted our
and forcibly removed. We thus find racial antagonism at work. The Indo-Aryan aristocrat was
proud of his race and looked down upon these barbarians and malachas. Indo-Aryan States and
rulers were conquered by the Guptas were dealt with leniently, But there was not leniency for
non-Aryans.
26) Jawarhalal Nehru in his book Glimpses of World History says “Chandragupta’s son
Samadugupta was an even more aggressive fighter than his father….the Kushans were pushed
back across the Indus…Samadugupta’s son, Chandragupta II was also a warrior king, and he
conquered Kathiwad and Gujrat, which had been under the rule of a Saka or Turki dynasty for a
long time. He took the name Vikramaditya…..The Gupta period was a period of Hindu
imperialism in India. There was a great revival of old Aryan culture and Sanskrit learning. The
Hellenistic, or Greek and Mongolian elements in Indian life and culture which had been brought
by the Greeks, Kushans and others were not encouraged, and were in fact deliberately
superseded by laying stress on the Indo-Aryan traditions. Sanskrit was the official court
language. But EVEN IN THOSE DAYS SANSKRIT WAS NOT THE COMMON LANGUAGE
OF THE PEOPLE.
The spoken language was a form of Prakrit….Kalidasa belonged to this period …………….
Samadragupta changed the capital of his empire from Pataliputra (Peshawar) to Ayodhia.
Perhaps he felt that Ayodhiya
offered a more suitable outlook–with its story of Ramachandra immortalized in Valmikis epic.
27) HINDU BUDDHIST CONFLICT
Jawarhalal Nehru in his book Glimpses of World History says “The Gupta revival of Aryanism
and Hinduism was naturally not very favorably inclined towards Buddhism. This was partly
because this movement was aristocratic, with the Kashatriya chiefs backing it, and Buddhism
had more democracy in it; partly because the Mahayana form of Buddhism was closely
associated with the Kushans and other alien rulers of northern India….but Buddhism declined in
India…Chandragupta the first was a contemporary of Constantine the great, the Roman Emperor
who founded Constantinople. “
Sree Sharadha temple, Shringeri, India. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Buddha was a true revolutionary—and his crusade against Brahminical supremacy won him
his most ardent followers from among the oppressed castes. The Buddha challenged the divinity
of the Vedas, the bedrock of Brahminism. He held that all men are equal and that the caste
system or varnashramadharma, to which the Vedas and Other Brah’minical’ books had given
religious sanction, was completely false. Thus, in the Anguttara Nikaya, the Buddha is said to
have exhorted the Bhikkus, saying,
“Just, O brethren, as the great rivers, when they have emptied themselves into the Great Ocean,
lose their different names and are known as the Great Ocean Just so, O brethren, do the four
varnas—Kshatriya, Brahmin, Vaishya and Sudra—when they begin to follow the doctrine and
discipline propounded by the Tathagata [i.e. the Buddha], renounce the different names of caste
and rank and become the members of one and the same society.”
The Buddha’s fight against Brahminism won him many enemies from among the Brahmins.
They were not as greatly opposed to his philosophical teachings as they were to his message of
universal brotherhood and equality for it directly challenged their hegemony and the scriptures
that they had invented to legitimize this. To combat Buddhism and revive the tottering
Brahminical hegemony, Brahminical revivalists resorted to a three-pronged strategy.
Firstly, they launched a campaign of hatred and persecution against the Buddhists. Then, they
appropriated many of the finer aspects of Buddhism into their own system so as to win over the
“lower” caste Buddhist masses, but made sure that this selective appropriation did not in any way
undermine Brahminical hegemony. The final stage in this project to wipeout Buddhism was to
propound and propagate the myth that the Buddha was merely another ‘incarnation’ (avatar) of
the Hindu god Vishnu. Buddha was turned into just another of the countless deities of the
Brahminical pantheon. The Buddhists were finally absorbed into the caste system, mainly as
Shudras and ‘Untouchables’, and with that the Buddhist presence was completely obliterated
from the land of its birth. Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar writes in his book, The Untouchables, that the
ancestors of today’s Dalits were Buddhists who were reduced to the lowly status of
‘untouchables’ for not having accepted the supremacy of the Brahmins. They were kept apart
from other people and were forced to live in ghettos of their own. Being treated worse that beasts
of burden and forbidden to receive any education, these people gradually lost touch with
Buddhism, but yet never fully reconciled themselves to the Brahminical order. Many of them
later converted to Islam, Sikhism and Christianity in a quest for liberation from the Brahminical
religion.
To lend legitimacy to their campaign against Buddhism, Brahminical texts included fierce
strictures against Buddhists. Manu, in his Manusmriti, laid down that, “If a person touches a
Buddhist […] he shall purify himself by having a bath.” Aparaka ordained the same in his Smriti.
Vradha Harit declared entry into a Buddhist temple a sin, which could only be expiated for by
taking a ritual bath. Even dramas and other books for lay people written by Brahmins contained
venomous propaganda against the Buddhists. In the classic work, Mricchakatika, (Act VII), the
hero Charudatta, on seeing a Buddhist monk pass by, exclaims to his friend Maitriya— “Ah!
Here is an inauspicious sight, a Buddhist monk coming towards us.”
The Brahmin Chanakya, author of Arthashastra, declared that, “When a person entertains in a
dinner dedicated to gods and ancestors those who are Sakyas (Buddhists), Ajivikas, Shudras and
exiled persons, a fine of one hundred panas shall be imposed on him.” Shankaracharaya, the
leader of the Brahminical revival, struck terror into the hearts of the Buddhists with his diatribes
against their religion.
The simplicity of the Buddha’s message, its stress on equality and its crusade against the bloody
and costly sacrifices and ritualism of Brahminism had attracted the oppressed casts in large
numbers. The Brahminical revivalists understood the need to appropriate some of these finer
aspects of Buddhism and discarded some of the worst of their own practices so as to be able to
win over the masses back to the Brahminical fold. Hence began the process of the assimilation of
Buddhism by Brahminism.
The Brahimns, who were once voracious beef-eaters, turned vegetarian, imitating the Buddhists
in this regard. Popular devotion to the Buddha was sought to be replaced by devotion to Hindu
gods such as Rama and Krishna. The existing version of the Mahabharata was written in the
period in which the decline of Buddhism had already begun, and it was specially meant for the
Shudras, most of whom were Buddhists, to attract them away from Buddhism. Brahminism,
however, still prevented the Shudras from having access to the Vedas, and the Mahabharata was
possibly written to placate the Buddhist Shudras and to compensate them for this discrimination.
The Mahabharata incorporated some of the humanistic elements of Buddhism to win over the
Shudras, but, overall, played its role of bolstering the Brahminical hegemony rather well. Thus,
Krishna, in the Gita, is made to say that a person ought not to violate the “divinely ordained” law
of caste. Eklavya is made to slice off his thumb by Drona, who is finds it a gross violation of
dharma that a mere tribal boy should excel the Kshatriya Arjun in archery.
The various writer of the puranas, too, carried on this systematic campaign of hatred, slander and
calumny against the Buddhists. The Brahannardiya Purana made it a principal sin for Brahmins
to enter the house of a Buddhist even in times of great peril. The Vishnu Purana dubs the Buddha
as Maha Moha or ‘the great seducer’. It further cautions against the “sin of conversing with
Buddhists” and lays down that “those who merely talk to Buddhist ascetics shall be sent to hell.”
In the Gaya Mahatmaya, the concluding section of the Vayu Purana, the town of Gaya is
identified as Gaya Asura, a demon who had attained such holiness that all those who saw him or
touched him went straight to heaven. Clearly, this ‘demon’ was none other the Buddha who
preached a simple way for all, including the oppressed castes, to attain salvation. The Vayu
Purana story goes on to add that Yama, the king of hell, grew jealous at this, possibly because
less people were now entering his domains. He appealed to the gods to limit the powers of Asura
Gaya. This the gods, led by Vishnu, were able to do by placing a massive stone on the
“demon’s” head. This monstrous legend signified the ultimate capture of Budhdhism’s most holy
centre by its most inveterate foes.
Kushinagar, also known as Harramba, was one of the most important Buddhist centres as the
Buddha breathed his last there. The Brahmins, envious of the prosperity of this pilgrim town and
in order to discourage people from going there, invented the absurd theory that one who dies in
Harramba goes to hell, or is reborn as an ass, while he who dies in Kashi, the citadel of
Brahminism, goes straight to heaven. So pervasive was the belief in this bizarre theory that when
the Sufi saint Kabir died in 1518 AD at Maghar, not far from Kushinagar, some of his Hindu
followers refused to erect any memorial in his honor there and instead set up one at Kashi.
Kabir’s Muslim followers were less superstitious. They set up a tomb for him at Maghar itself.
In addition to vilifying the fair name of the Buddha, the Brahminical revivalists goaded Hindu
kings to persecute and even slaughter innocent Buddhists. Sasanka, the Shaivite Brahmin king of
Bengal, murdered the last Buddhist emperor Rajyavardhana, elder brother of Harshavardhana, in
605 AD and then marched on to Bodh Gaya where he destroyed the Bodhi tree under which the
Buddha had attained enlightenment. He forcibly removed the Buddha’s image from the Bodh
Vihara near the tree and installed one of Shiva in its place.
Finally, Sasanka is said to have slaughtered all the Buddhist monks in the area around
Kushinagar. Another such Hindu king was, Mihirakula, a Shaivite, who is said to have
completely destroyed over 1500 Buddhist shrines. The Shaivite Toramana is said to have
destroyed the Ghositarama Buddhist monastery at Kausambi.
The extermination of Buddhism in India was hastened by the large-scale destruction and
appropriation of Buddhist shrines by the Brahmins. The Mahabodhi Vihara at Bodh Gaya was
forcibly converted into a Shaivite temple, and the controversy lingers on till this day. The
cremation stupa of the Buddha at Kushinagar was changed into a Hindu temple dedicated to the
obscure deity with the name of Ramhar Bhavani. Adi Shankara is said to have established his
Sringeri Mutth on the site of a Buddhist monastery which he took over. Many Hindu shrines in
Ayodhya are said to have once been Buddhist temples, as is the case with other famous
Brahminical temples such as those at Sabarimala, Tirupati, Badrinath and Puri.
References:
4. Yu-Ki Or, Buddhist Records of the Western Countries written by Hsien-tsang (circa 650 AD).
Taken from Translations by Thomas Watters (1904) and Samuel Beal (1884)
http://www.iras.ucalgary.ca/~volk/sylvia/Hsien-Tsang.htm)
5. Messengers of light: Chinese Buddhist pilgrims in India by Paul Magnin Unesco Courier, Vol.
48 No.5 May.1995 Pp.24-27.
6. Discovery of India by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
http://rupeenews.com/2009/03/24/the-manuwadi-hindus-destroyed-buddhism-in-its-own-land-ofbirth/
Recently we read in the Mississauga’s Weekly Voice dated December 5, 2009 relating to the
Crowning Glory entitled “Politician Donates $10 million Crown for Tirupati Deity.” It is also
most remarkable that medical surgeon Dr. K. Jamanadas writes a book entitled “Tirupate Balaji
was a Buddhist Shrine” and this book has potential credibility to accept that Buddha statues
become God Vishnu in Hinduism. Hindu rulers made the shiva linga in the Buddhagaya temple
and declared that Buddhagaya Mahabodhi Temple belongs to Hindus. Today Indian Buddhists
have no democratic and human rights in the Puri Jagannatha Buddhist temple and Mahabodhi
temple of Buddhagaya, Bihar. Hindu fanatic are taking over Mosque, Buddhist temples and
churches in India. There are no human rights in Hindu society. Non-violence is the supreme
religion in Buddhist philosophy. Violence or tragedy of caste system is the Vedic way of life in
Hinduism. Hindu fanatics burnt Buddhist monks and Buddhists alive.
The ruthless manner in which all the buildings at Nagarjuna Konda were destroyed is simply
appalling and cannot represent the work of treasure seekers because many of the pillars, statues
and sculptures have been wantonly smashed to pieces. Local tradition relates that the Brahmin
teacher Sankaracharya came to Nagarjuna Konda with a host of followers and destroyed the
Buddhist monuments. The cultivated lands on which the ruined buildings stand was a religious
grant made to Sankaracharya. In Kerala, Sankaracharya and his Hindu fanatic close associate
Kumarila Bhatta, an avowed enemy of Buddhism, organized a religious crusade against the
Buddhists. We get a vivid description of the pleasure of Sankaracharaya on seeing the people of
non-Brahmanic faith being burnt to death from the book Sankara Digvijaya (World Victory).
According to the Charyapada (First Bangla Book)and Sankara’s Digvijaya book havoc played in
Kerala, Bangladesh, West Bengal, Bihar and all South Asia. Kumarila Bhatta instigated king
Suddvannan of Ujjaini to exterminate the Buddhists. From the Mirchakatika of Sudraka we
learnt that King’s brother-in-law in Ujjain persecuted the Buddhist monks and nuns. They were
treated as bullocks by passing a string through their noses and yoking them to carts. The
keralopathi documents refer to the extermination of Buddhism from Kerala by Kumarila Bhatta.
In 1906 Pandit Haraprasad Sastri discovered the first Bangla book the “Charyapada” from the
Royal Library of Nepal and he declared that Bangla language was started from the Buddhist
thoughts. Dr. Mohammad Shahidullaha and Dr. Suniti Kumar Chatterjee discovered that
Brahmanism was started to destroy Buddhism. Hindu politics pays respect to the Buddha as the
“Vishnu’s 9th Avatar.” Hindu rulers did not convert to Buddhism but they convert the Buddha as
the Hindu god and the sinister conspiracy was started to destroy Buddhists in India. Hindu and
Brahmin politics could not tolerate at all as the separate Buddhist existence in India.
There are hundred of places in Keral, Bangladesh, Bihar, West Bengla and Uttar Pradesh having
the names like Buddha vihar, (Dharma Thakur), palli (or Buddha Vihar in Kerala) either affixed
or suffixed with them. In Kerala karungapalli, Karthikapalli, Pallickal, Pallipuram are some of
the examples of these places. The term palli means a Budhist Vihara in Kerala. It should be
noted that Kerala had 1, 200 years Buddhist tradition. Till recently schools in Kerala had been
called as Ezhuthupalli or Pallikoodam. Our Christian and Muslim brothers use the term Palli to
donate their place of worship in Kerala. The Buddhist Temples or Palli were wantonly smashed
by the Hindu Nazis under the leadership of Sankaracharya and Kumarila Bhatta. They
exterminated 1, 200 Buddhist tradition and transformed Kerala into a Brahmanical State.
Original inhabitants of Kerala like the Ezhavas, Pulayas etc. were crushed under the yoke of
cateism. Many Buddhist Temples or Viharas transformed into Hindu temples and the majority of
the people were prevented from entering the temples under the pretext of tragedy of caste
system. A number of the Buddha statues have been found at places like Ambalapuzha,
karungaoalli, Pallickal, Bharanikkavu, Mavelikkara and Neelamperur. They are all in disfigured
state.
A large number of Buddhist temples were usurped by the Fanatic Brahmins and were converted
into Hindu temples where the poor Hindus and Untouchables, Srisailam of Karnataka and many
others as they were originally the Buddhist temples. Anti-Brahmanism is particularly discussed
in the context of the Human Enlightenment of the Buddha and Racial Harmony. Lord Buddha’s
enlightenment and his Noble Community are a movement that opposes the Vedic Tragedy of
Caste system. We pray to Lord Buddha for peace in the world as the great poet Rabindranath
Tagore writes, “Buddha, my Lord, my Master, they birthplace, is truly here where cruel is the
world of men, for thy mercy is to fill the blank of their utter failure, to help them who have lost
their faith and betrayed their trust; to forget themselves in thee an thus forget their malignant
were given no entrance. The Buddhist places were projected as the Hindu temples by writing
puranas which were concocted myths or pseudo-history. Badrinath, Mathura, Ayodhya,
Srinegeri, Buddhagaya, Saranath, Delhi, Nalanda, Gudiallam, Nagarjuna konda, Srisailam and
Sabarimala (Lord Ayyappa) in Kerala are some of the striking examples of the Brahmanic
usurpation of the Buddhist centres. At Nagarjunakonda, the Adi Sankara (8th century) of Kerala
played a demon’s role in destroying the Buddhist statues and monuments. Longhurst who
conducted excavations of Nagarjuna Konda has recorded this in his book Memoirs of
Archaelogical Survey of India No. 54, The Buddhist Antiquites of Nagarjuna Konda (Delhi,
1938, page 6).
In this way, Hindu scholars including Swami Vivekananda discovered that the temples of Lord
Jagannath of Puri, Vithula of Pandharpur, Ayyappa of Keraladay. The Master Lord Buddha to
whose inspiration he owed his greatness needs to be invoked today even more fervently than in
his day. The cruel stupidity of wicked racial discrimination and caste and color bars, parading as
religion, has stained the earth with blood and deep hatred more than mutual violence, outrages
humanity at every step. Today, in this hapless land poisoned by fratricidal malice, we yearn for a
word from him who had proclaimed love and compassion for all creatures as the path to
salvation.”
Gautam Buddha is not the enemy of Hindu society and now Hindu politicians use the Buddha as
the Hindus’ trade mark. India emphasizes her mother India abiding Lord Buddha’s teaching and
Great Emperor Asoka’s Buddhist heritage. The wheel in the centre of the Indian national flag is
the wheel of the Law of the Buddha’s Teaching – the Dharma, and the state emblem of India is
an adaptation of the famous Lion Capital was erected by the Great Emperor Asoka at Saranath,
where the Buddha –Enlightened One first delivered his teaching of compassion and wisdom to
the world.
Buddhism invites anyone to come and see for himself and permits him to accept only those facts
which agree with reason, logic and truth. It encourages the seeker of a new way to discard
heresies, blind faith, miracles and magic. So scientist Einstein expressed this appreciation of
Buddhism, “The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal
God and avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and spiritual, it should be based
on a religious sense arising from the experiences of all things, natural and spiritual, as a
meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description.”
It is well documented in several books that Buddhism was never and is not a part of Hinduism.
Because of its uniqueness and noble teachings Buddhism spread almost all over the world,
especially in the South and South-East Asian countries where the peoples still regard “South
Asia” as the ‘Land of Buddha’ who had unfolded to them a new path, a new direction for a better
life. In fact from the 5th century BC to the 8th century AD India had passed through a golden
period of history in all spheres of human activities in ethics, art, architecture, sculpture, trade and
commerce, interactions with the peoples of different countries.
Can Hindus compare the Buddha with other leader of India? Puri’s Jagannath Temple belongs to
Buddhists. When the Indian Government tested nuclear bombs then the government broadcasted
“The Buddha laughs.” Please do not loss your temper in showing your spirit of brotherhood in
human rights system. In Buddhagaya even now there is a Shiva Linga hole which is worshipped
by Hindu priests every day on the original floor stone just in front of the statue of Lord Buddha
main hall of the Mahabodhi temple in Bihar. As the Daily Telegraph of Kolkata dated May 9,
2009 reported that Indian Buddhist community wanted freedom in Buddhagaya. You are
ignorant relating to freedom of Buddhists in India. Hindu politicians kidnapped Buddhism and
they boast it sings the glory of Hindu politicians and scholars who scarcely reveal an awareness
of the delicate difficulty in understanding the faith of other men. Hindu scholars write the Allah
Upanisad during the reign of Emperor Akbar- the great. Have you read it? Try your best to read
again and again in the Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru “How did Brahmanism absorb
Buddhism? Have you found Human Rights in the Bhagavad Gita (in the chapter 18) and slokas:
41, 42, 43 and 44. You are a stupid by your ego and delusion. Please find more from “Asoka and
the Decline of the Mauryas by Romila Thapar.”
United Nations marks the International Buddha Purnima in Bangkok, Thailand. World Buddhists
New year’s Buddha Jayanti of Buddhist Era 2553 in the Asian Heritage Month May – begins
with the Buddha’s blessings and tribute of Vaishaki – Buddha Purnima in Asia. Over 2553 years
through out the world history, Buddhism was started with boundless tolerance and compassion.
The very identity of independent Bangladesh the Charyapada (An Anthology of Buddhist Tantric
Songs), emphasize mother Bangladesh abiding Bangla language and its democratic heritage.
Buddha Purnima holds most glorious significance for the millions of Buddhists who – comprise
half of the world’s total population.
Buddha Purnima commemorates three great events: The Birth, Supreme Enlightenment and the
Great Passing Away of Gautama – the Buddha. On this day all Buddhists are expected to
reaffirm their faith in the Buddha Dharma and to lead a noble religious life. It is a day for
meditation, and radiating loving kindness. In thousands of temples across the world from Tokyo
in the East to San Francisco in the west, Buddhists will pay homage to an Indian Prince who
renounced the pleasures of a royal household to bring peace and happiness to mankind. The
Buddha or the Supremely Enlightened One was born in 623 B.C. on a Boisakhi Full –Moon day.
The young Prince was named Siddhartha or “the one who has brought about all good.” The
parents, King Sudhodana and Queen Devi Mahamayaa, ruled a Sakya kingdom called
Kapilavastu in Nepal.
Finally, on the 35th Anniversary of his (Prince Siddhartha) birth, again on the full moon day of
Vesak, and seated under the Bodhi tree in Buddha Gaya the ascetic prince (in Nepal) Siddhartha
became the Buddha, the Fully Enlightened One. For the next forty five years the Buddha traveled
around Northern India preaching his message of universal loving kindness for all beings and the
realization of the nature of existence with the Four Noble Truths (1. sufferings of life 2, causes of
sufferings : Desires 3. Removal of sufferings is Nirvana), 4.The Noble Eightfold Path. Scientist
Albert Einstein great genius of the 20th century found that among religious only Buddhism
emphasizes the importance of the scientific outlook in dealing with the problems of morality and
religions. This threat has been leveled against religious conceptions of man and the universe
from the time of Galileo, Bruno and Copernicus (17th century) who instrumental in altering
erroneous motions of the universe. However, in a world of darkness and distress, the Buddha
Dharma still shines across the gulf of twenty five centuries and it is not yet too late for us to
follow its guiding beams and emerge triumphant into a brighter and happier future. At no time in
history has the message of the Buddha been more relevant than it is now to present day society of
the 21st century.
Psychology & Philosophy relating to Right understanding of life, 2. Right Thought, 3.Right
Speech, 4.Right Action, 5.Right Livlihood, 6.Right Effort 7.Right Mindfulness & 8.Right
Concentration. The Principles of Buddhism concern the Four Noble Truths, the first being that
existence of full of sufferings or unsatisfactoriness. The second Boble is that all suffering has a
cause. The third noble is that suffering can be made to come an end and the fourth noble Truth
that there is a way to end suffering – the Noble Eightfold Path.
According to Buddhism Karma (intentional action) is not predestination imposed on us by any
mysterious creator to which we must helplessly submit ourselves. The karma or deed may be
mental, oral or physical. Its nature judged by the accompanying volition. The Buddha teaches,
“Every living being has karma as its master, its inheritance, its congenital cause, its kinsman, its
refuge. It is karma that differentiates all beings into low and high states.
Nirvana, the ideal requires constant spiritual exercise and mind-development. The Buddha
imbued the robber Angulimala’s mind with metta (universal love) and the robber was converted
into a spiritual wayfarer. In this effect, even in the Nuclear Age Buddhists the world over owe a
duty to cooperate and coordinate their efforts in spreading the principles of Buddhism which has
love peace, human rights, happiness, and right understanding for all mankind. The Buddha
teaches, “A good ruler is delighted in righteousness, a good person is endowed with wisdom, a
good friend does not betray his friends and happiness is achieved by not doing evil.”
In the violent world through all dangers and difficulties not a single drop of blood was shed in
the name of Buddhism. Human beings are walking with the Dharma light of the Buddha as His
followers (monks and Nuns) and pilgrims in the Buddhist Pilgrimages at home (India) and
abroad. Spiritual enlightenment develops in our human minds and consciousness systems by
practicing universal love with donation, right meditation and insight wisdom. India’s Buddhism
invites anyone to come and see for himself and permits him to accept only those facts which
agree with reason, logic, and truth.
Buddhism encourages the seeker of a new way to discard heresies, blind faith, miracles and
magic. Principles of Buddhism invite criticism and testing. Buddhism is therefore, the most
appealing and most compelling factor that leads the modern minds in the East and West. The
Buddha then points out that to hold any kind of fixed view about the past or the future is to be
trapped in a net like fish. Suffering lies in clinging to views.
Guru Nanak’s birth day is the government holiday in West Bengal government’s calendar. Mr.
L. K Advani, former minister of Home Affairs, Government of India, a statement wherein him
self had mentioned that Buddhism is nothing but an integral part of Hinduism and Buddha’s
teachings were derived from the holy Gita which was, in fact, compiled much later than the
advent of Buddhism. Such type of Brahman conspiracy statement has wounded not only the
Buddhists of India, but also those of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand, China, Japan,
Korea, Tibet, Mongolia, Burma, (Myanmar), Combodia, Laos, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal,
Mongolia and all over the world where Buddhism is still a living faith. Indian Buddhists have
already received from those countries many complaints regarding this statement which has
tarnished the image of India there.
The writer is the former librarian, Assistant Editor of the W. F. B. REVIEW, Meditation Advisor
and Representative of the World Fellowship of Buddhists to the United Nations
http://mingkok.buddhistdoor.com/en/news/d/2619
More References:
4. Kantowsky, D. 2003. Buddhists in India Today: Descriptions, Pictures and Documents. Delhi:
Manohar Publications: 156.
5. Goyal, S.R. 1987. A History of Indian Buddhism. Meerut: 394.
6. Beal, S. 1884. Si-Yu Ki: Buddhist Records of the Western World. London: Trubner & Co.,
reprint ed., Delhi: Oriental Books Reprint Corporation.
During the rule of the Kushanas and the Guptas (325-497 AD), both Buddhists and adherents of
Brahmanism received royal patronage. However, the royal patronage had shifted from Buddhist
to Hindu religious institutions from the beginning of the sixth century A.D. Buddhism began to
suffer a decline as Brahmanism veered off into Vaishnavism and Saivism. This was followed by
some regional kingdoms subsequently developing into the major sites of power.1,2,3,5
Shashanka, the Shaivite Brahmin king of Bengal was manipulated by the Brahmins to become a
ferocious oppressor of the Buddhists. The single original source for all subsequent narratives
about Shashanka’s ruinous conduct towards Buddhists was documented by Ven. Hsuan Tsang
during his visit to India in early part of the seventh century A.D.
But the exact reasons for his hostile attitude towards Buddhism were not known. It was believed
that the Brahminical revivalists had goaded the Hindu kings like him to persecute and even
slaughter innocent Buddhists.7 It was reported that Shashanka had destroyed the Bodhi tree of
Bodh Gaya and ordered the mass destruction of all Buddhist images and monasteries in his
kingdom. This biased and sectarian policy of Shashanka had broken the backbone of Buddhism
in India.1,2,3,5,6
Shashanka had also murdered the last Buddhist emperor Rajyavardhana, elder brother of
Harshavardhana, in 605 AD. He had marched on to Bodh Gaya and destroyed the Bodhi tree
under which the Buddha had attained enlightenment. He forcibly removed the Buddha’s image
from the Bodhi Vihara near the tree and installed one of Shiva in its place. Shashanka is alleged
to have slaughtered all the Buddhist monks in the area around Kushinagar.1,2,3,7
After the rule of Shashanka, the Pala kingdom was established in Bengal. Though the Palas of
Bengal had been hospitable to Vaishnavism and Saivism, but nonetheless they were major
supporters of Buddhism. However, when Bengal came under the rule of the Senas (1097-1223),
Saivism was promulgated and Buddhism was neglected. 1,2,3 Another hostile Shaivite king like
Shashanka was Mihirakula who had completely destroyed over 1500 Buddhist shrines. His
hostile action was followed by the Shaivite, Toramana who had destroyed the Ghositarama
Buddhist monastery at Kausambi.7
Conclusions
The despotism of Shashanka and his hostile behavior towards the Buddhists was carried forward
by the revival of Hinduism that led to the further decline of Buddhism in India. Many scholars
often relate this Vedic revival as a tyrannical faith that caused massive destruction of the
Buddhist monasteries.
But this matter is however, far more complicated than this. A recent study of the Bengal Puranas
proved that the Buddhists were mocked and projected as mischievous and malicious in
Brahminical narratives as well as subjected to immense rhetorical violence. This rhetorical
violence should be interpreted as both physical and mental violence perpetrated upon the
Buddhists. The extermination of Buddhism in India was hastened by the large-scale destruction
of Buddhist shrines by the Brahmins. The Maha Bodhi Vihara at Bodh Gaya was forcibly
converted into a Shaivite temple.

Why did Buddhism disappear from South Asia? Brahmin atrocities that destroyed Buddhism in the Subcontinent

Why did Buddhism disappear from South Asia? Brahmin atrocities that destroyed Buddhism in the Subcontinent

 (Revamped with new material added in December 2012) by Suman Das


Many wonder why Buddhism disappeared from the Subcontinent but thrives in China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and in Sri Lanka. Many Hindus claim that Buddha was a Hindu God. Of course Buddhists in China, Thailand and other countries and in India do not accept that doctrine. In fact Buddhism was hounded out of its birthplace.
Prince Sidharta’s rejection of the hand of the illegitimate daughter had angered Vidudabha, son of Prasenadi, king of Koshala ostensibly because of their caste pride. They had withheld their legitimate daughters from the Prince. Hence began the war between Buddha and the Brahmans, and between Buddhism and Brahamanism.
“Despotic state power persecuted Buddhists for centuries as Brahminical Hinduism held sway in large parts of India. Buddhism was all but banished from this land and found refuge in Sri Lanka, Tibet, Myanmar, Thailand and eastwards.” Dr. Praful Bidwai. Praful Bidwai: “Hindutva’s fallacies and fantasies”, Frontline, 21-112001.
Various theories have been put forward which seek to explain the tragic eclipse of Buddhism from India. According to one view, corruption in the Buddhist sangha or priesthood precipitated Buddhism’s ultimate decline. While it is true that with time the Buddhist priests became increasingly lax in the observance of religious rules, corruption alone cannot explain the death of Buddhism. After all, Buddhism was replaced by an even more corrupt Brahminism. Another theory is that Buddhism disappeared from India in the wake of the Arab and Turkish invasions in which many Buddhists were said to have been killed. However, this theory, too, seems not to be convincing as a complete explanation of the extinction of Buddhism in India .
A must-read is Buddhist scholar Davidi Kalupahana, who rejects the inclusion of Buddhism in Hinduism, is irritated with Western scholarship.
“The history of India is nothing but a history of a mortal conflict between Buddhism and Brahmanism.” (Dr. Ambadekar. B.R. Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches, vol.3, p.267 (in the Chapter: “The triumph of Brahminism: regicide or the birth of counter-revolution”).
V.T. Rajshekar in his fortnightly Dalit Voice describes the Brahamnic atrocities in detail. Also elucidated by Dalit leaders like Bahujan Samaj Party president Kanshi Ram.
Arya Samaj’s writings are an eye-opener. They are bitter critics of Buddhism.
Buddhism has made a remarkable but heavily politicized come-back in India, first with the conversion of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar and millions of his Scheduled Caste followers (1956), and soon after with the settlement of a high-profile Tibetan refugee community and a Tibetan Government-in-Exile (1959).
For those interested in scholarly research, please view the enterprise by “two well known academicians of Kerala – Prof KM Bahauddin, former pro-vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim and Osmania universities, and Dr MS Jayaprakash, professor of history at Kollam – throw some deep insights into the dark history of India when Buddhism was systematically eliminated by Brahminical forces who control Hinduism, then and now.”
Jayaprakash elaborates:
‘Hundreds of Buddhist statues, stupas and viharas have been destroyed in India between 830 and 966 AD in the name of Hindu revivalism. Both literary and archaeological sources within and outside India speak volumes about the havoc done to Buddhism by Hindu fanatics. Spiritual leaders like Sankaracharya and many Hindu kings and rulers took pride in demolishing Buddhist images aiming at the total eradication of Buddhist culture.
After all, in places such as Bengal and Sind, which were ruled by Brahminical dynasties but had Buddhist majorities, Buddhists are said to have welcomed the Muslims as saviours who had freed them from the tyranny of ‘upper’ caste rule. This explains why most of the ‘lower-caste’ people in Eastern Bengal and Sind embraced Islam. Few, if any, among the ‘upper’ castes of these regions did the same.
Veer Savarkar describes the sharp contrasts between Hinduism and Brahamanism. He was highly critical of Buddhism.
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, devoted a part of his influential book “Hindutva” to Buddhism and attacks Buddhism’s “lack of martial involvement in society, and its lack of nationalist identification with India”.
Under pressure, he makes a few genuflections before the Buddha, but then reverts to his negative judgment. “We fear that the one telling factor that contributed to the fall of Buddhism more than any other has escaped that detailed attention of scholars which it deserves.”
Savarkar explains that “Philosophical differences” and the “inanitation and demoralization of the Buddhistic Church”, with Viharas attracting “a loose, lazy and promiscuous crowd of men who lived on others”, are insufficient. V.D. Savarkar: Hindutva, p.18.
“Thus it was political and national necessity that was at once the cause and the effect of the decline of Buddhism. Buddhism had its centre of gravity nowhere. So it was an imperative need to restore at least the national centre of gravity that India had lost in attempting to get identified with Buddhism.” Savarkar. V.D. Savarkar: Hindutva, p.28
They would have been inconsequential “had not the political consequences of the Buddhistic expansion been so disastrous to the national virility and even the national existence of our race”
Savarkar crticises Buddha, his teachings, and Buddhims –would give proof of downright “treason”:
“The reaction against universal tendencies of Buddhism only grew more insistent and powerful as the attempt to re-establish the Buddhist power in India began to assume a more threatening attitude. Nationalist tendencies refused to barter with our national independence and accept a foreign conqueror as our overlord. But if that foreigner happened to be favourably inclined towards Buddhism, then he was sure to find some secret sympathisers among the Indian Buddhists all over India, even as Catholic Spain could always find some important section in England to restore a Catholic dynasty in England. Not only this but dark hints abound in our ancient records to show that at times some foreign Buddhistic powers had actually invaded India with an express national and religious aim in view.” V.D. Savarkar: Hindutva, p.25
Savarkar states that the Greco-Bactrian and Kushana invaders adopted Buddhism, supported by native Buddhists. He questions the loyalty and collaboration of native Buddhists.Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History, Savarkar gives other instances of Buddhist treason.
“these Indian Buddhists were elated to see the Muslim foreigners march against the Hindu kingdom. These Buddhists, who bore malice towards the Hindus, perhaps thought that these new Muslim aggressors might embrace their Buddhist cult, as did their forerunners, the Greeks under Menander or the Kushans under Kanishka, and establish a Buddhist empire over India. So they went and greeted the Arabian-Muslim leader when he captured Port Deval from the hands of King Dahir.” V.D. Savarkar: Six Glorious Epochs, p.133-134. Savarkar wrote this book in Marathi: Bhâratiya itihâsâtîla sahâ sonerî pâne, it was translated into English by S.T. Godbole.
Sarvarkar thinks that the Buddhists sent this message to Qasim:
Savarkar imagines what the message they brought to Qasim sounded like: “We have nothing to do with Dahir and his Vedic Hindu cult. Our religious faith differs very widely from theirs. (…) Never suspect for a moment that we shall even enlist ourselves in King Dahir’s armed forces or help him in any way. So we pray that the Buddhists should not be subjected to any indignities or troubles at your hands.” Savarkar also imagines this response. “which amounted to complete surrender” was that he “gave them temporary assurance of safety”. V. D. Savarkar: Six Glorious Epochs, p. 134.
Savarkar asks and answers the question: “But what were the Buddhists doing in this national catastrophe? At the news of the fall of King Dahir and the victory of the Muslims, these Buddhists began to ring bells in their vihars to greet the Muslim conquerors, and prayed in congregations for the prosperity of the Muslim rulers!” V.D. Savarkar: Six Glorious Epochs, p. 136. Vihâra = Buddhist monastery. Notably those by C.V. Vaidya, S.N. Dhar, A.L. Srivastava, Henry M. Elliot, M. Titus, and the original testimonies, the Chach-Nâmah and Al Baladhuri’s Kitâb Futûh-ul-Baldân, both in English translation in H.M. Eliot & John Dowson: History of India as Told by Its Own Historians, vol.1.
S.T. Godbole translates how Al-Baladhuri mentions that “two Samanis, or priests” (apparently Shramanas, Buddhist monks) went all the way to Qasim’s employer Hajjaj “to treat for peace”
“His [Qasim’sl work was greatly facilitated by the treachery of certain Buddhist priests and renegade chiefs who deserted their sovereign and joined the invader" R.C. Majumdar, H.C. Raychoudhary, Kalikinkar Datta: An Advanced History of India, p. 172.
"Budhiman comes to Muhammad Kasim, and receives a promise of protection"?Quoted in Elliot & Dowson: History of India as Told by Its Own Historians, vol.1, p.157.
These authors believe that "one thousand Brahmans" who came to surrender are described as having "shaven heads and beards" and being "dressed in yellow clothes", the typical look of Shramanas.
Buddhist point of view: "Buddhism is a movement of anti-Hindu revolt then groaning under Hindu oppression, and the Muslim invaders came as liberators of those whom the Hindu regime oppressed, including the Buddhists."
"Brahminical orthodoxy having overwhelmed the Buddhist revolution, India of the eleventh and twelfth centuries must have been infested with multitudes of persecuted heretics who would eagerly welcome the message of Islam."M.N. Roy: Historical Role of Islam, p.81
Romila Thapar has said: "In an often horrible way, religious forms of expression like Buddhism and Jainism have been persecuted and even exterminated [by Hindus]. (…) The trauma for the Brahmins was that, in the time of the Moghuls, they were counted among ‘the rest’, i.e. the non-Muslims. Bad for them was also that Islam was more able to have a dialogue with the inheritors of Shramanism.” Interview with Romila Thapar by Marc Colpaert in Wereldwijd, March 1986. There is no information about this “dialogue” in Romila Thapar: A History of India, vol.1, which covers the period when these religions encountered each other.
Buddhism was hostile to Hinduism to the extent of collaborating with the Arab invasion.
Nowhere can one find evidence to say that some Indian Buddhist army or some Buddhist organization fought with the Muslim invaders any battle worth the name.” V.D. Savarkar: Six Glorious Epochs, p. 143.
Savarkar hates the Buddhists for their non-violence and he glrifies Hindu militarism. “Buddhism has conquests to claim but they belong to a world far removed from this our matter-of-fact world, where feet of clay do not stand long and steel could be easily sharpened, and trishna/thirst is too powerful and real to be quenched by painted streams that flow perennially in heaven. These must have been the considerations that must have driven themselves home to the hearts of our patriots and thinkers when the Huns and Shakas poured like volcanic torrents and burnt all that thrived. (…) So the leaders of thought and action of our race had to rekindle their Sacrificial Fire to oppose the sacrilegious one and to re-open the mines of Vedic fields for steel, to get it sharpened on the altar of Kali, ‘the Terrible’, so that Mahakal, the ‘spirit of the time’, be appeased. Nor were their anticipations belied. The success of the renovated Hindu arms was undisputed and indisputable. Vikramaditya who drove the foreigners from the Indian soil and Lalitaditya who caught and chastised them in their very dens from Tartary to Mongolia were but complements of each other. Valour had accomplished what formulas had failed to do.” V.D. Savarkar: Hindutva, p.20-22.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++



“…if I were to say that Hinduism and Buddhism are totally different, it would not be in conformity with truth.” Dalai Lama. Interview in Organiser, 22-11-1992.
“that the conflict against Brahmin supremacy had, in fact, started before Buddhist period, between Vasishta Muni, a Brahmin, and Viswamitra, a non-Brahmin. ‘The dispute was about the learning of ‘Vedas’, the right to conduct religious ceremony, to receive gifts, and to perform coronation of King. Vasishta Muni insisted that these were the exclusive privileges of Brahmins, while Viswamitra was opposed to such exclusive rights. This dispute lasted for long period, and even Kings joined in it (Writings and Speeches of Dr. Ambedkar, vol. 7, p. 148-155. It was won by Brahmins.’: Prof. Bahauddin Quoting Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.
A slightly immature presentation by ANKUR BARUA, M.A. BASILIO, Buddhist Door, Tung Lin Kok Yuen, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2009 also touches upon the subject:

Random uncertain thoughts of chaotic universe

The cloud transforms into rain

The flower transforms into earth

The earth transforms and becomes a flower

Watered by the rain

That was the cloud

Nothing exists on its own

With greed comes

Animosity, ignorance, pride

Thoughts of self-benefit and discontent

With generosity comes

Loving kindness, wisdom, humility,

Thoughts of all others and great joy

Austerity can make us hand

And withdrawn

Indulgence can make us soft

And indifferent

The middle path

Is the balanced way of

Compassion

Wisdom

And insight

As we think

As we become

Awakened ones

Are able to properly help others

Because their actions

Are born of wisdom

Do not resent for one’s fate

Do not blame our problems on others

Realize the negative cause

Lies within us

Was created by us

Can only be changed by us

Resolved by us with

Understanding

Diligence

Love

Lying is a hindrance to faith

Laziness to progress

Animosity to mindfulness

Hatred to deep concentration

And resentment to wisdom

If In our anger we realize

The other person is suffering

We can free ourselves

From anger

And from suffering

Which also helps free the other

Desires that are excessive

Preoccupy and distract us

Needs that are reasonable

Nurture and sustain us

When others hurt us

We usually react with

Anger

Resentment

And may even wish for retaliation

But these actions will only prolong our pain

For to hold resentment in our hearts and mind

Only serves to make us feel worse

Those who give in to desire

Are often intoxicated

By sensory indulgence

Not yet realizing

That what pleases today

All too often disappoints tomorrow

To truly help others

Do what is

Beneficial

Correct

Honest

Reasonable needs are to have

Enough food to eat

Adequate clothes to keep warm

A safe place to live

Good companions

On the path to awakening

Worry ties us up in knots and binds us to life time of pains

Who told us to worry?

Who said we could not stop?

Anger

The rise of anger

The initial cause of anger

Is selfishness

Peace

The rise of peace

The initial cause of peace

Is selflessness

Most of the things

We worry about

Never happen

Listen carefully

Study , diligently

Chant, sincerely

Think , deeply

Love , wisely

Practicing diligence is like lightning a fire

If we persist we will succeed

If we give up we will fail

So often in a new endeavor

There is an initial burst of enthusiasm

Then routine activity

Boredom

Cessation

With the strong determination

The fire will burn strong

Unkind speech can destroy

That which is kind

Can bring peace

And change the world

My thoughts are the precursors

Of everything I do

What I constantly tell myself will happen

The victor becomes arrogant

While the defeated dwells in pain

One who is wise turns away from both winning and losing to live in peace and happiness

And just performs for the best nothing concerned with winning or losing

When we are forgiving of others

Considerate of all the beings

contented with what we have

happy in whatever circumstances

we find ourselves

sadness and worry will fade

in losing ourselves in

thoughts of ourselves we lose

in losing ourselves in

thoughts of others

we truly benefit

our animosity and fury

will return to us

like fine dust

thrown into the wind

like flotsam

cast upstream

if we remain open

to the experience of love

as we let go

of preconceived ideas and

expectations

we will gradually feel the benefits

as we become more and more and more calm

and relaxed

peace----------------------the ultimate joy

oneness with one—---the ultimate reality

Enlightenment -----The ultimate Gain of this Short 
life