How did Buddhism Die in India?

When I visited China and interacted with the locals I realized that most of them still think that Indians are mostly Hindus and Buddhists. They were shocked to hear that there are only around 9 million Buddhists in India that accounts for less than 1% of India’s population. China has over 25 times more Buddhist than the country in which Buddha was born. That was certainly not the case in our historical past when the land was indeed dominated by Hindus and Buddhists. What happened to Buddhism in India? How did it die?

LEFT VERDICT: Hindus destroyed Buddhism.RIGHT VERDICT: Muslims destroyed Buddhism.

Like with most debates, there is no simple answer to why Buddhism died in India. There is truth and propaganda in both left and right version. The downfall cannot be attributed to a single factor. 

Buddha was born to King of Kapilavastu, sometime between 2,600 and 2,400 years ago. The wealthy prince realized that all his wealth was not going to prevent him from the miseries of illness, old age, and death. Even the power of being the king does not give him control over his own body or mind. So, he left his wife and kingdom to find salvation. Some may blame him for leaving his family. We don't really know what actually happened. Even if he was wrong, one must not forget that he was not wise yet. He went away sacrificing everything in search of wisdom.

According to the Buddhist texts he renounced his wealth, power and wife at the age of 29 years to become an ascetic after seeing the miseries of old age, disease, and death. Gautama was desperate for a solution to the miseries. He met many sages, but none could satisfy his quest. Hungry, weak, and frustrated, he sat under a pipal tree in Bodh Gaya (Bihar) to meditate—to know the absolute truth. According to Buddhist texts the descendents of Mara, the demon of delusion, tried to torment him while Gautama was on the verge of enlightenment. Gautama vanquished the armies of Mara. On the eighth day of the twelfth month under the papal tree, the once prince named Gautama transformed to Buddha, the awakened one. He exclaimed with joy, 

‘How strange! Every human being is capable of getting this enlightment, but for their clingings of false thought’. 

From there, he went to Sarnath, where he gave his first sermon. Buddha was against the Vedic rituals, superstition, caste system, metaphysics, miracles, and priest crafts. He never wanted to create another religion, but only teach people in need about compassion and humbleness.

Buddha’s disciples were mostly educated and wealthy Brahmin priests, Kshtriyas and merchants, who were looking for peace. Buddha did not distinguish between different social classes, and he did have followers from humble backgrounds like Sunita the sweeper and Upali the barber. However, his philosophy was such that it attracted mostly the wise and wealthy. The poors were probably too used to sufferings. Buddhism grew after the death of Buddha. Kings like Ashoka, Milinda and Kanishka turned a local philosophy into a global religion. Ashoka helped the religion spread across India and Sri Lanka. 

Some Hindu kings did promote Hinduism favourably, the same way Buddhist kings like Ashoka and Kanishka favoured Buddhism. Rare occasions of persecution of Buddhists by more orthodox Hindu rulers cannot be discarded. According to Buddhist texts like Asokavadana, Pushyamitra ruthlessly persecuted the Buddhists. His ministers advised him that only by destroying Buddhism could he become more famous than Ashoka. Pushyamitra attacked and destroyed 500 monasteries, burnt down the Buddhist scriptures and killed all the Buddhist monks he could lay his hands on. Some scholars are of the opinion that his aggression against Buddhism was due to the alliance of Buddhist monks with his Indo-Greek rival. Buddhism survived the attacks of Pushyamitra and soon revived to become one of the most dominant religions in world. Buddhism flourished under Milinda and Kanishka. These foreign rulers settled in India and were impressed by Buddhism. They got converted and helped Buddhism reach far corners of Asia. It was during their rule that Buddhism spread to China. 

The Gupta Empire marked the revival of Hinduism, but at the same time, other religions like Buddhism and Jainism also flourished. Many Hindu gods found their way into Buddhist and Jain texts. Buddha himself was given the status of the ninth incarnation of Vishnu in Agni Purana. According to it, Buddha created a non-Vedic path purposefully to divert the mighty Asuras from the Vedic ways to ensure that they are thrown to hell, helping Devas regain power. Foreign rulers like Milinda and Kanishka came to rule India but later became influenced by Buddhism. These stories of Puranas were probably reflecting those sentiments. However, most Hindu texts were silent about Buddhism, reflecting the tensions between the two groups.

The White Huns gained more control of Western India after the fall of Gupta Empire. They were particularly harsh on the Buddhists. White Hun king Mihirakula, a Shiva devotee, destroyed many Buddhist sites. A new cult of Tantric Buddhism evolved from the dying Mahayana Buddhism. Such esoteric form of Buddhism had its roots in the teachings of Nagasena and his disciples. It became more popular in the 8th century, popularized in different placed by groups of wandering yogis called Mahasiddhas (great adepts). Tantric Buddhism became very popular under the Pala Dynasty of Bengal. Palas were patrons of Buddhism. Universities like Vikramshila and Nalanda flourished under the Palas.

 Buddhism did revive for a short time under the great king Harsha. Harsha, according to Hindu texts, drove away the Brahmins from the religious council held in Kannauj. They fled to Deccan from where they staged a comeback under guidance of Brahminical philosopher and Mimamsa scholar Kumarila Bhatta. Over the years Buddhism evolved into different sects that were often at conflict with each other. The Buddhist sanghas became corrupt and faced a tough competition from the rejuvenated Hinduism.

Buddhism gave emphasis on life of monks, and was difficult for an ordinary householder to follow that path. Buddhism also lacked a personality like Sankaracharya to unite and promote their faith. Sankaracharya declared that Upanishads already contain everything that was good in Buddhism. Buddhism declined as many Buddhists started to follow Adi Sankaracharya. Hindu scriptures also started negative propaganda against Buddhism. It was written in Manu Smriti that ‘if a person touches a Buddhist … he shall purify himself by having a bath’.

Hinduism started receiving support from the crown. In South, the Pallava Dynasty favoured Hinduism and Kanchipuram, a popular Buddhist Center of learning, turned into a Hindu holy site and the royal capital of Pallavas. In Bengal Buddhism received a major blow under the rule of Sena dynasty. Sena Dynasty was from Karnataka who migrated to Bengal and replaced the Pala Dynasty in 1174CE. Vijayasen was the first ruler of Sena Dynasty. His son, Ballalsen, consolidated the kingdom. He was an orthodox Hindu ruler under whose rule Brahminism strengthened in Bengal and Buddhism was discouraged. Many Buddhists fled from Bengal to Sri Lanka. Some of the Buddhist Tantric Yogis who stayed back simply adapted Shiva-Tantra elements of Shaktism to survive. This resulted in the mixed Saiva-Buddhist cult of Bengal.

The main reason for the downfall of Buddhism was not political or religious, but the mere fact that Hinduism managed to adapt better with time compared to Buddhism. This was the reason why Buddhist monasteries lost Royal Patronage. Any religion needs the support of the crown to flourish. Over the years, Buddhism lost that support and Hinduism became the preferred religion of the crown.

According to Indologist Johannes Bronkhorst,

‘Brahmanism offered, apart from supernatural protection, lots of practical advice to rulers: how to organize society, how to run their kingdom, etc. etc. Buddhism, still during the early centuries of the Common Era, offered nothing of the kind…Buddhism had no vision of society and of how it should be run’.

In an era when fights between neighboring kingdoms were common, message of peace and non-violence became irrelevant to the crown.  By the time tantric Buddhism became popular in Bengal, it was too late. Buddhism was already weak when Islam arrived in India. 

The final nail in the coffin of Buddhism in India came during invasion of Islam. Islam was enemy of ‘But’, or idol worship. While Buddha was against idol worship, idol worshipping and rituals became common in Buddhism over centuries. B. R. Ambedkar writes, 

‘Before Islam came into being Buddhism was the religion of Bactria, Parthia, Afghanistan, Gandhar, and Chinese Turkestan, as it was of the whole of Asia. In all these countries Islam destroyed Buddhism’. 

After Shahabuddin Muhammad Ghori successfully defeated the Indian kings in the west it opened up the floodgates. Turks went on to conquer Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat under leadership of Qutub-ud-din Aibak. The Chalukyas soon recaptured Gujarat, but the rest remained under Turk control. The raids led to the destruction of many villages, along with the Buddhist universities of Nalanda and Vikramasila. Many Buddhists fled to Nepal and Tibet. When the monasteries (vihara) of Bihar were raided, the monks were mistaken as ‘shaven soldiers’. All of them were slaughtered. The invaders called the whole country ‘Bihar’ after the looted viharas. That’s how the modern state of Bihar got its name.

It is said that during one such raid Bakhtiyar attacked and burnt down the famous Nalanda University in 1197-1198CE. India lost a huge amount of its literature as one of the oldest and largest libraries of the world was burnt to ashes. According to some historians Nalanda University was already in ruins because of the internal rivalry between Hinayana and Mahayana sects of Buddhism. Bakhtiyar probably destroys another Mahavihara that was inside the fort of the local king. Tibetan monk Dharmasvamin visited Nalanda in 1234CE and is said to have found a 90 years old monk still residing there and teaching a group of students. But the religion of peace had already died in the land of its birth.

One cannot deny or hide history. Let's accept that there were persecution of men of one religion by some kings of rival religion. There is blood is everybody's hand. No once can claim that we are pure and 'others' are violent. But one must not forget that Buddhism and Hinduism coexisted under most of the powerful kings of India. Peace is in coexistence.

"Sarveshaam Svaastir Bhavatu, 

Sarveshaam Svaastir Bhavatu, 

Saveshaam Poornam Bhavatu, 

Sarveshaam Mangalam Bhavatu, 

Om Shanti, Shanti Shanteeh" 

"May health abound foreverMay peace abound foreverMay complete abundance abound foreverMay auspiciousness abound foreverOm Peace, Peace Peace."

Written by Subhrashis Adhikari

Also Check Out:  5 Questions of the Inquisitive Apes 

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