Why Buddhism thrived in Asia but died in India

Posted on 13 May 2012. Tags: Atrocities, Buddhism, India

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.

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 .

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.

Since Buddhism was replaced by triumphant Brahminism, the eclipse of Buddhism in India was obviously primarily a result of the Brahminical revival. The Buddha was a true revolutionaryâ€”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 varnasâ “Kshatriya, Brahmin, Vaishya and Sudraâ”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.

Note: This article is only a historical artifact and has no bearing on the current Brahmans or Hindus who should be judged as individuals on their own merit. A religion does not make a human being good or bad. Hindus like any other religion may be good peace-loving people. However it is a fact that religious extremists among the Brahmans and the ruling class brought about problems for the Buddhists and eliminated them in South Asia. This article is not a religious article or written to defame any religion, and should not be used to refute any religion.

Why did Buddhism disappear from South Asia? Brahmin atrocities conducted mass genocide Persecution of Buddhists in India The Manuwadi Hindus destroyed Buddhism in its own land of birth

HINDU SOURCES DESCRIBING BUTCHERY: According to the Mahabharta 330 millions were killed. Prince Saddharta could not tolerate the death of millions, rejected paganism and became Gautum Buddh. Ashoka dumped his pagan roots and converted to Buddhism after the millions were massacred in the Hindu Kush. Of course these are not Western or non-Hindu sources that list the Kaura-Panda and the Mahabharta wars which were responsible for the death decimation and destruction of millions. According to Kalhani millions of Buddhists were killed and murdered in Buddhist Kashmir prior to the advent of anyone else. Buddhists were chased out of the Subcontinent.

Subraminium adds. We have to accept our shortcomings. The worst enemy of Hinduism is castism. Inequality of human beings determining by birth is unacceptable. The superiority complex of (the so called higher castes) even now does exist.

Coming to the death of Buddhism in India, yes it is still shrouded in mystery. Ramayana and Mahabharata, in all probability, were created much after Bhuddha’s advent. Though, Bhagwat Geeta has lot of great teachings that one can imbibe in oneself for liberation, it is difficult to digest that God created the four varnas. These things were deliberately written to brainwash people to the Hindu fold as Brahmins were losing hold.

… I have recently come across a book “Volga se Ganga” by Rahul Sankrityayan ane emininent scholer which describes the animosity of Brahmins towards Bhuddhists and the cunningness of Brahmins. There is a mention that either Pushyamitra or Agnimitra of Sunga dynasty only is described as Rama in Ramayana by Valmiki and similarly, Mahakavi Kalidasa had created Kumara Sambava in praise of Kumara Gupta (son of Chandra Gupta Vikramaditya) wherin the hero is described as Shankar’s kumar, the karthikeya. From this we find that these epcis and fables were written in praise of some kings who were given divine status, the later generations might have blindly followed the rituals thus rendering the origin in oblivion

The sword of Brahamanism was not used exclusively for the Buddhists, Jains and darker skinned Untouchables suffered too. Not satisfied by eliminating Buddhism on the continental Subcontinent today the same sword of Hinduvata Brahmanism continues to spread carnage to the Sinhalese Buddhists in Sri Lanka, the Sikkimese Buddhist, and the Bhutanese Buddhists. Brahman’s also chased the Buddhists in Southeast Asia. Campuchia, Laos and Vietnam are full of carcasses the carnage that was exported to Souteast Asia. Millions of Buddhists ran from the Subcontinent to Burma, and even to China, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

A dwarf Brahmin from Kerala, Adi Shankara, undertook the task of reviving Brahmanism by destroying Buddhism, physically annihilating Buddhists and their monks, and converting Buddhist viharas into Hindu temples. After a prolonged bloody war and violence, the Brahmanical religion was revived by manufacturing two tales – Epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata – and then scripture called the Bhagawad Gita. The caste system was evolved, codified and strictly enforced through the Manu Dharma Shastra; non-violence (ahimsa) was borrowed from Jainism and incorporated into Hinduism. Brahmins were directed to abstain from meat-eating and become vegetarians. And others were directed to refrain from eating beef and cow was declared a sacred animal (gomata) and next only to mother. These were the tricks adopted by Brahmins to destroy Buddhism and re-establish the world’s most violent religion of inequality, injustice and inhumanity. All these form part of the history written by Brahmin historians themselves. Conversion: the best, simplest, surest & the most non-violent way to liberate Dalits V.T. Rajshekar

The use of appropriate amount of ruthlessness eliminated Buddhism from South Asia.

In order to overpower their opponents, the Brahmin strategy was: saam, daan, bhed, dand…

BRAHMINS GAVE DAUGHTERS: In my over three-decade study of Brahmin scriptures and their history, I found that though Brahmins used all sorts of ways to finish their enemy, they used dand to crush the defenseless people like shudras/Dalits. The Indus people too were virtually defenseless. So the Brahmins used dand against them. They used daan against the mightier enemy to win over the English and Mughals, they offered them every price i.e. daan including their daughters.

Saam, the deadliest and the surest strategy, was used to destroy our history and culture.

Saam is the deadliest of the four. It has been the most effective and a never fail way to finish the strongest enemy whom they cannot crush by dand nor buy through daan.

HOW BUDHISM WAS DESTROYED: During the Maurya era, Budha Dhamma was the mightiest enemy of Brahmins. It had almost wiped out Brahminism. At that time our Indus kingdom was in full bloom. The excavation of the Indus cities prove that every city contained a stupa. Seals of dhamma-chakra are found in plenty. In one of the cities even a headless statue of Budha was also found. Seals depicting worship of Bodhi Pipal tree have also been found. The whole Indus kingdom had turned into Budhist state.

At that time Brahmins under Pushyamitra committed regicide of Emperor Varihdarth and genocide of Budhists. But the Brahmins did not succeed in fishing the Budha Dhamma by dand. Therefore, they adopted the sure strategy of sam. Under this strategy, the Brahmins took their first step by declaring the Budha as one of our gods. As a next step the cunning Brahmins joined Budhism as bhikkhus.

A Brahmin like Kumarila Bhat, Nagarjun in the garb of bhikhus injected Brahminic venom into the veins of Dhamma. Tales of Jatak were distorted, simple Dhamma was infected with complex rituals. Brahmins led the Dhamma to Tantarikism. In the garb of bhikhu, they committed heinous sins. The end result: Dhamma vanished from its birth place.

The saam is persisting even today.

RADHAKRISHNAN’S MISCHIEF: The Brahmins took centuries to complete their job. The most dangerous part is that even today they are using this strategy.

Mischievous “scholars” like Dr. S. Radhakrishnan feel no shame in declaring that the Budha was born a Hindu and died a Hindu.

The Brahminist (Kayasth) Vivekananda feels no shame in depicting Budha’s moral values as that of Brahminism.

RSS fellows shout that Babasaheb is their leader, Budha is their god. Brahmins have no hesitation to join an exclusive Dalit party like BSP under this saam niti. They even go to the extent of claiming that the constitution too describes Budhism under Hinduism. http://palashscape.wordpress.com/2009/05/10/but-how-does-media-treat-dalits-and-the-issues-which-concern-them/

SUMMARY OF BRAHMAN ATROCITIES THAT DESTROYED BUDDHISM IN INDIA

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.

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.”

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].

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.

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, thenine-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.

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

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 nameVikramaditya…..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 Ayodhiyaoffered 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. “

28) HINDU IMPERIALISM SAILS TO THE FAR EAST AND DESTROYS THE MALAY CIVILIZATION

The years of ANO DOMINI saw the beginning of Hindu imperialism outside India. Just like the Ferocious Aryans destroyed the IVC, these Hindu invaders destroyed the 2500 year old civilization of the Malay peninsula and imposed a foreign culture upon the peace loving people of the far east. Local temples were destroyed, people were enslaved, and the local language was abolished. Being polite, Jawahalal Nehru in the

understatement of the century writes in his book Glimpses of World History says:

Jawarhalal Nehru in his book Glimpses of World History says “These colonizing excursions started in the first century after Christ and they continued for a hundred years. All over Malay and Java and Sumatra andCambodia and Borneo they went, and established and took Indian culture with them…..In Burma and Siam and Indo-China there were large Indian colonies. Many times even of the names they gave to their new towns and settlements were borrowed from India-Ayodhia, Hastinapur, Taxila, Gandhara…No doubt Indian colonialists misbehaved wherever they went, as all such colonialists do. They must have exploited the people islands and lorded it over them….Hindu States and empires were established in these eastern islands, and then Buddhist rulers came, and between the Hindu and the Buddhist there was a tussle for mastery. It is a long and ..story………mighty ruins still tell us of the great buildings and temples …..there were great cities…Kamboja, Sri Vijay, Angkor …”

29) During this time Fa-hien visited India to study Buddhism (399 AD) and found “gaya wa waste and desolate“. He gives a detailed account of Buddhist persecution by the Brahman Aryans.

THE ARYAN HUNS INVADE THE IVC. SUN WORSHIPPING and MAHAYANA BUDDHISM PROSECUTEDWith the decline of the Guptas, the nomadic tribes of Central Asia called the Huns invaded India. Their leader was Tormana (500 AD). Jawaharlal Nehru in his book Glimpses of World History says:

“Skandagupta, the fith of the Gupta line had to face this Hun invasion…gradually they spread all over Gandhara and the greater part of Northern India. THEY TORTURED THE BUDDHISTS AND COMMITTED ALL MANNER OF FRIGHTFULNESS”….There must have been continuous warfare against them, but the Guptas could not drive them away. Fresh waves of Huns came …”

‘30) Jawaharlal Nehru in his book Glimpses of World History says:

…Torman installed himself king . He was bad enough, but after him came his son Miharagula, who was an unmitagated savage and fiendishly cruel. Lalhana in his history of Kashmir–the Rajatrangini–tells us that one of is Miharagula’s amusements was to have elephants thrown over the great precipices into the valley below”.

31) Jawaharlal Nehru in his book Glimpses of World History says:

The treatment of men was sometimes worse then that of animals (some of the animals like cows were actually revered because they were Gods). Lower caste Hindus had a misrable life. Other historians have commented that the treatment of women was even worse, specially women of lower castes, they were considered the “property” of the upper caste Hindus, to be molested and/or raped at will. In many cases the new bride had to stay a night with the village Brahman before she was married off. Kashmir converted to Islam during this time period. It was cruelty like this that led to the whole sale conversion to Islam. The new religion offered them equality and saved them from the Brahmans.

32) Jawaharlal Nehru says, “Soon however the Hun power weakened in India… the Huns have been defeated and driven back, but many remain in odd corners. The Great Gupta dynasty fades away after Balditya.

33) HUNS DEFEATED. HARSHA VARDHANA TRIES TO REVIVE BUDDHISM

Jawaharlal Nehru in his book Glimpses of World History says:

“The Huns killed the Raja of Kanauj and made his wife Rajashiri a prisoner. Thereupon Rajashiri’s brother Raja came to fight the Huns and bacme an emperor (606-647 AD). The Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang visited India at this time, he gives a very harsh account of the conditions of India, and writes extensively of the persucution of Buddhists. Harshas ancestors were sun worshippers, however he was also attracted towards the Mahayana form of Buddhism. The Brahmans were very displeased with him and even conspired to kill him. Harsha spent time and money on arts and literature, and drama, and was probably the last great Buddhist emperor of India. He extensivle wrote of the atrocities com itted by the Hindusagainst the Buddhists in India.

34) Jawahalal Nehru in his book Glimpses of World History says ” Harsha was a keen Buddhist. Buddhism as a separate faith, had weakened greatly in India, …he was a pious Buddhist, and he came to visit the sacred places of Buddhism and to take with him the scriptures of the faith .”

35) THE ARYAN RAJPUT INVASION

The death of Harsha ushered in an era of anarchy again. The Rajputs were the invaders this time. This era is called the Rajput era. According to Tod, the Rajputs were the descendants of Sakas, Huns, Ushans, Gujaaras

etc.

36) According to Rajatarangini of Kalhana which forms a major source of our history, Duralabhavardhana founded a new royal dynasty about the middle of the 7th century. Lalitaditya ascended the thorne in 724 AD and he conquered large areas of India and brought it under Kashmiri rule. After him (750 AD) the power of Kashmir receded.

37) Jiyapida, the grandson of Lalitaditya tried to revive the reputation of the Karkota dynasty. The Karkota dynasty was replaced by the Utpala dynasty about the middle of the 9th century. The Rajputs were true Hindus and patronized Hindu religion and culture in all of India.

The following is for the negationists who have been trying to conceal the

record of the Bloody Sword of Hinduism in India. The massacres and oppression perpetrated by Hindus out of religious hatred for Buddhists in ancient times are a matter of the historical record. Yet, for reasons best known to themselves, negationists like Mr. Rajiv Varma have been trying to conceal the hideous, blood-stained record of Hinduism.

The truth must be told. After the enlightenment of Gautama, the Buddha, in 483 B.C. his message and his teachings spread across the face of India and Asia. Everywhere, they encountered hostility and religious persecution from Hindu rulers and priests. The conversion of Ashoka, who ruled over much of India in the third century B.C., did much to counter this. After Ashoka’s death, however, the campaign of violence against Buddhists by Hindus began in earnest.

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.

The Divyavadana (ed. Vaidya, 282) tells us that this king resolved to nnihilate the teachings of the Buddha. He destroyed stupas, burned monasteries, and killed monks as far as Shakala, where he made the

infamous declaration: “Whosoever gives me the head of a Shramana, him I shall give a hundred gold coins.”

The Aryamanjushrimulakalpa tells us that Pushyamitra “destroyed monasteries with relics and killed monks of good conduct.” [Jayaswal, 18-19]. In his famous “History of Buddhism In India“, written in 1608 A.D. 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.

Marshall [I.] records evidence of damage done to Buddhist establishments at Takshashila. Goyal [430] notes that at Sanchi, “there is all too clear evidence of damage wrought during the age of Pushyamitra“. At Kaushambi, he continues, there is also evidence of the destruction and burning of the great monastery of Ghoshitarama in the second century B.C. 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.”

Mihirakula is said to have razed 1600 viharas, stupas and monasteries, and “put to death 900 Kotis, or lay adherents of Buddhism” [Joshi, 404]. As the revival of Brahmanical Hinduism progressed, atrocities against

Buddhists increased both in strength and in number. 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.” The hatred poured out against Buddhists in Hindu scriptures offers ample evidence of this. To quote Goyal again [394-5]:

“Yajnavalkya (I. 271-72) declares that the very sight of a Buddhist monk, even in dreams, is inauspicious“. 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. The drama Mrchchhakatika shows that in Ujjain the Buddhist monks were despised and their sight was considered inauspicious.

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. … The Kerala-utpatti describes how he exterminated the Buddhists from Kerala.”

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. 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”. 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].

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. 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“.

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 decaes 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. He says that “they (Hindus) performed a Yajna, a fire sacrifice, and threw living embers and ashes from the sacrifice into the Buddhist temples. Thisproduced 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. Ahir [58] notes that “The Seat of Buddha’s Enlightenment was in the possession of a Hindu Mahant till 1952.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. 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. The temple of Madhava at Sal Kusa, opposite Gauhati in Asam, was once a sacred shrine of the Buddhists. … And the famous Jagannatha temple at Puri in Orissa was also originally a Buddhist shrine. 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.

Hinduism’s record of violence and bigotry against the peaceful followers of Lord Buddha is unparalleled. I trust this marshalling of the available evidence for the benefit of readers who may not have had access to it will impel negationists like Varma to accept and apologise for the crimes committed in the name of Hinduism.

After hundreds of years of conflict the Brahmans took complete control of the system. They owned the people and the lands. This era of absolute Brahaman control is the darkest era of Hinduism. Many Hindus and other rebelled against the Brahamin injustices meeted out to the people.

HINDU AUTHORS LISTING CARNAGE: Kora-Panda, Mahabharta, Prakrit and other wars: THE DUPLICTIOUS GUILEFUL LUBRICIOUS SHIFTY SNEAKY POLICIES OF THE WORST OF THE BRAHMANS WHO WERE BENT ON TOTAL DOMINATION OF THE DOWNTRODDEN MASSES LED TO THE GENOCIDE OF THE BUDDHISTS.

THE EXTREMIST BRAHMANS MASSACRED MILLIONS OF OTHER HINDUS IN THE INTERNECINE INTER-ARYAN and ARYAN-DRAVIDIAN WARS, ENSLAVED HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS AS DALITS, AND DECIMATED MILLIONS OF BUDDHISTS—THEN THE BRIGHT BIGOTS AMONG THE BRAHMANS ATTEMPTED TO DISGUISE THEIR BRUTAL PAST BY WHITE WASHING THEIR BLOODY PAST HIDING IT UNDER PANAGLOSSIAN GLOSS THEN PASTING A VENEER OF NON-VIOLENCE AND PUTTING UP SARGENT MAJOR MOHANDAS GANDHI –THE ADULTERER RACIST AS THEIR ICON.

Buddhism challenges Hinduism in the Valley of the Indus and the Valley of the Ganges:

Around the 5th century B.C Buddhism took root in the subcontinent. Suddharta (Gautam Buddh) rejected the caste system, the Hindu writings and the absolute power of the Brahmans. Around 468 B.C. Jainism and Buddhism appeared on the scene. Both Buddhism and Jainism competed with the tenants of Hinduism.

Buddhist-Hindu wars claimed many lives. The Muyara and the Gupta dynasties are chronologies of this time period. Many Zorastrian, Hindu and other kings converted to Buddhism and spread it to the four corners of the subcontinent and beyond.

“If you can’t win ‘em join ‘em”. Gautam Buddha was such a dynamic sage, that after his death, many enlightened Hindus have adopted him as a God.

Even some Muslims consider him a prophet. Buddhism is different from Hinduism. Though many Hindus later regard Buddha as God, the Brahmans were always leery of Buddhists because Buddhist teachings reduced the power of the Brahmins. Buddhism is fundamentally different than Hinduism because it does not believe in the caste system. Because of the lack of the caste system, the Brahmans did

not like Buddhists.

This is what Suresh says:

‘Except for brief period after Ashoka’s time, it(Buddhism) had always been associated with violence(wars) and nationalism. Always in rebellion against Hinduism.“

Horrific examples from Southeast Asia in general (where the majority of Buddhists practice the same form of Buddhism as in Sri Lanka), attest to this belief: Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma, Thailand and Japan(Buddhist-Zen beliefs). Especially in Thailand which had its share of Buddhist influence from the Sinhala-Buddhist clergy, Thai clergy gets involved in politics and its public positions have nationalistic overtones.

THE MACEDONIAN “GREEK” INFLUENCE ON BUDDHISM AND BACTERIAN COLONIES

One of the few direct results of the Macedonian “Greek” invasions of India was the establishment of Macedonian “Greek” colonies in “India”. One of Asokas edicts refers to the existence of Yavana (“Greek”) settlers on the fringes of his empire. We now know that he was referring to the area of Hunza. Actually after the fall of the Muyeria (“Greek”) kingdoms in India, the Bacterians formed a number of Greek kingdoms in the area in and around Kashmir. In fact Chandragupta actually faced Alexander for military help (324-300 BC) but did not secure it. On the eve of Alexander’s invasion, Kashmir was called Abhisara. Abhisara consisted of the districts of Punch and Naushara.

THE MUYARAS, JAINISM AND THE SPREAD OF BUDDIHISM in the IV and GV

The foundation of the Maurya empire in the brought a new dimension to “India”. Chandragupta Muyara was a Jain. One of the most brutal massacres of Hindus occurred at the hands of the Muyara kings, Asoka, during the battle of Kalinga. Some historians put the number at 300,000 (akin to 3 million in present day numbers). Contrary to BJP belief, all massacres in India were not committed by Muslims, Persians and Arabs. 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.

THE BACTERIANS INVADE THE INDUS VALLEY & BUDDHISM REPLACES ZORASTRIANISMWith political disunity in the subcontinent, many foreigners invaded India. Alexander’s kingdom was divided. The Bacterians invaded India (250 BC).

One of the Greek influences was the enshrinement of the father of Buddhism in a statue and his elevation to the status of God. Later, Buddhism split up into Mahayana and Hanayana sects. Mahayana was exported to the orient, while Hanayana pretty much shrunk to an unceremonial non-existance in India (though it still sruvives in, Sri Lanka, and Tibet, and also in Laos and Kampuchia)

While Buddhism was flourishing in “India”, Cunfuciansim was being preached in China, and Zorastrianism was being preached in Persia. The Sassandis were in power in Persia and were in a constant state of war . The Sassanids were under Ardeshir who was an ardent supporter of Zorastrianism. He enforced Zorastrianism on all of Persia. Much much later in the sevent century the defeat of the Sassanides in Persia led to the expulsion of Parsis to India in the seventh century.

THE KUSHANS THE BUDDHIST EMPIRE OF IV AND AFGHANISTANMany different races invaded the IV and made it their home. From the ashes of the Muyara empire, rose the Kushan dynasty. Kanishka the conqueror rose to power (78 AD) and began a new Buddhist era in India. He annexed the Indus Valley and conquered Kashmir. He set up his head quarters in Purushapura (Peshawar in present day Pakistan). Throughout a long duration in Indian history, the largest repositories of books were the Buddhist universities. In fact many non-Buddhist scholars had studied under Buddhist teachers.

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

Kanishka was originally a Zorastrian. His coins display the sun god. Later in life he supported Buddhism (to the ire of the Hindu Brahmans). Kanishka had convened the Buddhist Council to spread Buddhism instead of Hinduism in the subcontinent (much to the disgust of the Brahmans ). During Asoka, Buddhism had become the state religion. Hinduism survived only due to Indian princes like Gautamiputra Satkarni.

Jawahalal Nehru in his book Glimpses of World History says:

“the Kushans themselves had followed Indo-Aryan traditions to a large extent. This was indeed the reason why they manged to stay in India and rule over large parts of it for a long time. They wanted to behave as Indo Aryans, and wanted the people of the country to forget that they were aleins. They succeeded in some measure, but not quite, for among the Kashatrayas especially the feeling rankled that aliens wer ruling over them. They chafed under this foreign rule, and so the ferment grew and peoples minds were troubled. Ultimately these disaffected people found a capable leader, and under his banner they started a “holy war” as it is called to free Aryavarta. This leader was called Chandragupta. (Not be confused wiith the other Chandragupta, the grandfather of the Mauryan dynesty…this happened 534 years after Asokas death)”

THE GUPTAS AND THE REVIVAL OF HINDUISM, END OF BUDDHISM IN THE IVC and GVC

With the fall of the Muyara and the Kushan dynasty, the Guptas came to power (beginning of the fourth century AD) with their independent kingdoms. Dr. R.C. Majumdar writes that The empire of Samudragupta

included the whole of Northern India. The Gupta period saw the distinct revival of Hinduism in the subcontinent. Buddhism declined, and never did rise in India.

THE HINDU KASHATRIYA HINDU AND BUDDHIST WARSJawarhalal 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 somewhatagressive 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 aritrocrat 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.

Chandragupta’s son Samadugupta was an even more agressive 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.

HINDU BUDDHIST CONFLICT

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. ”

BRAHMIN IMPERIALISM SAILS TO THE FAR EAST AND DESTROYS THE MALAY CIVILIZATION

understatement of the century writes in his book Glimpses of World History says:

“These colonizing excursions started in the first century after Christ and they continued for a hundred years. All over Malay and Java and Sumatra and Cambodia and Borneo they went, and established and took Indian culture with them…..In Burma and Siam and Indo-China there were large Indian colonies. Many times even of the names they gave to their new towns and settlements were borrowed from India-Ayodhia, Hastinapur, Taxila, Gandhara…No doubt Indian colonialists misbehaved wherever they went, asall such colonialists do. They must have exploited the people islands and lorded it over them….Hindu States and empires were established in these eastern islands, and then Buddhist rulers came, and between the Hindu and the Buddhist there was a tussle for mastery. It is a long and ..story………mighty ruins still tell us of the great buildings and temples …..there were great cities…Kamboja, Sri Vijay, Angkor …”

During this time Fa-hien visited India to study Buddhism (399 AD) and found “gaya wa waste and desolate”. He gives a detailed account of Buddhist persecution by the Brahman Aryans.

Lalhana in his history of Kashmir–the Rajatrangini–tells us that one of his Miharagula’s amusements was to have elephants thrown over the great precipices into the valley below”.

Jawaharlal Nehru says, “Soon however the Hun power weakened in India… the Huns have been defeated and driven back, but many remain in odd corners. The Great Gupta dynasty fades away after Balditya.

HUNS DEFEATED. HARSHA VARDHANA TRIES TO REVIVE BUDDHISM in the IVCThe Huns killed the Raja of Kanauj and made his wife Rajashiri a prisoner. Thereupon Rajashiri’s brother Raja came to fight the Huns and bacme an emperor (606-647 AD). The Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang visited India at this time, he gives a very harsh account of the conditions of India, and writes extensively of the persucution of Buddhists. Harshas ancestors were sun worshippers, however he was also attracted towards the Mahayana form of Buddhism. The Brahmans were very displeased with him and even conspired to kill him. Harsha spent time and money on arts and literature, and drama, and was probably the last great Buddhist emperor of India. He extensivle wrote of the atrocities committed by the Hindus against the Buddhists in India.

Jawahalal Nehru in his book Glimpses of World History says ” Harsha was a keen Buddhist. Buddhism as a separate faith, had weakened greatly in India, …he was a pious Buddhist, and he came to visit the sacred places of Buddhism and to take with him the scriptures of the faith .”

THE ARYAN RAJPUT INVASION into the IVCThe death of Harsha ushered in an era of anarchy again. The Rajputs were the invaders this time. This era is called the Rajput era. According to Tod, the Rajputs were the descendants of Sakas, Huns, Ushans, Gujaaras

etc.

According to Rajatarangini of Kalhana which forms a major source of our history, Duralabhavardhana founded a new royal dynasty about the middle of the 7th century. Lalitaditya ascended the thorne in 724 AD and he conquered large areas of India and brought it under Kashmiri rule. After him (750 AD) the power of Kashmir receded.

Jiyapida, the grandson of Lalitaditya tried to revive the reputation of the Karkota dynasty. The Karkota dynasty was replaced by the Utpala dynasty about the middle of the 9th century. The Rajputs were true Hindus and patronized Hindu religion and culture in all of India.

Disappearance of Buddhism From India: An Untold Story Disappearance of Buddhism From India: An Untold Story by Naresh Kumar

The complete disappearance of the religion of the Buddha from the land of its birth is one of the greatest puzzles of history. Once holding sway throughout the length and breadth of the subcontinent, Buddhism today survives only in the Himalayan fringes along the Tibetan frontier and in small pockets in northern and western India among recent Ambedkarite Dalit converts.

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 .

Since Buddhism was replaced by triumphant Brahminism, the eclipse of Buddhism in India was obviously primarily a result of the Brahminical revival. The Buddha was a true revolutionaryâ€”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, â€œJust, 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 varnasâ€”Kshatriya, Brahmin, Vaishya and Sudraâ€”when they begin to follow the doctrine and discipline propounded by the Tathagata [i.e. theBuddha], renounce the different names of caste and rank and become the members of one and the same society.â€

The Buddhaâ€TMs 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 â€˜incarnationâ€TM (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 â€˜Untouchablesâ€TM, 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 â€˜untouchablesâ€TM 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, â€œIf a person touches a Buddhist [â€¦] he shall purify himself by having a bath.â€ 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 Maitriyaâ€” “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 Buddhaâ€TMs 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 theassimilation 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 â€œdivinely ordainedâ€ 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 â€˜the great seducerâ€TM. It further cautions against the â€œsin of conversing with Buddhistsâ€ and lays down that â€œthose who merely talk to Buddhist ascetics shall be sent to hell.â€ 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 â€˜demonâ€TM 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 â€œdemonâ€TMsâ€ head. This monstrous legend signified the ultimate capture of Budhdhismâ€TMs 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 honour 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.

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.

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.

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.

India: Unable to bear the Brutal Brahamanic persecution– Buddhism survives in South East Asia

The land of Pakistan has been a cradle of ancient civilizations. With well-developed cities, Indus Valley Civilization was contemporary to the Nile, Mesopotamia and Yellow River Civilizations. Over 2,000 years ago, Gandhara Buddhist Civilization flourished in northern Pakistan, with Taxila as a seat of Buddhist learning. Rev. Maranantha, a famous Buddhist monk, came from what is now Pakistan in the fourth century and introduced Buddhism to the Korean Kingdom of Baekje.

Bibliography.
Ahir, D.C. “Buddha Gaya Through the Ages”, Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica Series No. 134, Delhi 1994.
Goyal, S.R., “A History of Indian Buddhism”, Meerut 1987.
Jayaswal, “An imperial history of India”, Lahore 1934.
Joshi, L.M. “Studies in the Buddhistic Culture of India”, New Delhi 1967.
Marshall, John, “Taxila” Cambridge University Press 1951.
Prakash, Buddh, “Aspects of Indian History and Civilisation”, Agra 1965.
Taranatha, “History of Buddhism in India”, Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Simla, 1977.
Vaidya, P.L. ed. “Divyavadana”, Darbhanga 1959.
Watters, T. “On Yuan Chwang’s Travels in India,” ed. by T. W. Rhys Davids and S.W. Bushel, London 1904, 1905.
Rajwinder Singh.From: r…@crux4.cit.cornell.edu (Rohan Oberoi)

Prehistoric: Original Indus Valley Civilisation: meditation, asceticism.1800 – 1500 BCE.: Invasion of Aryans in India: Introduction of Vedas, Brahma, priesthood, caste system, ritual offering.1500 BCE onwards: development of (pre-) Hindu schools like Mimamsa, Samkhya, Vedanta.

590-470 BCE: Mahavir – Founder of Jainism, contemporary of the Buddha.

624-560 BCE: Birth of Siddhartha Gautama

589-525 BCE: Enlightenment of the Buddha in Bodhgaya (at age 36). During the full-moon night of July, the Buddha delivers his first discourse near Varanasi, introducing the world to the Four Noble Truths and commencing a 45-year career of teaching the religion he called “Dhamma-vinaya”.

544-480 BCE: Passing away of Gautama Buddha.

543 -479 BCE: 1st Buddhist Council in Rajaghgraha during the rains retreat following the Buddha’s Parinibbana. 500 Arahant Bhikkhus, led by Ven. Mahakassapa, gather to recite the entire body of the Buddha’s teachings. The recitation of the Vinaya by Ven. Upali becomes accepted as the Vinaya Pitaka; the recitation of the Dhamma by Ven. Ananda becomes established as the Sutta Pitaka. {1,4}

443-379 BCE: 2nd Buddhist Council in Vesali, 100 years after the Buddha’s parinirvana, to discuss controversial points of Vinaya. The first schism of the Sangha occurs, in which the Mahasanghika school parts ways with the traditionalist Sthaviravadins. At issue is the Mahasanghika’s reluctance to accept the Suttas and the Vinaya as the final authority on the Buddha’s teachings. This schism marks the first beginnings of what would later evolve into Mahayana Buddhism.

297 BCE: King Asoka (274-236 BCE) converted to Buddhism; Buddhism developed from small local group to state religion.

247 (308?) BCE : 3rd Buddhist Council, convened by King Asoka at Pataliputra (Patan?) India. Disputes on points of doctrine lead to further schisms, spawning the Sarvastivadin and Vibhajjavadin sects. The two Pitakas are enlarged to include the Abidhamma, forming the Tripitaka (three baskets.)The Abhidhamma Pitaka is recited at the Council. The modern Pali Tipitaka is now essentially complete, although some scholars have suggested that at least two parts of the extant Canon — the Parivara in the Vinaya, and the Apadana in the Sutta — may date from a later period. Asoka sends missionaries to Sri Lanka ( his son Mahindra), Kanara, Karnataka, Kashmir, Himalay a region, Burma, Afghanistan and even Egypt, Macedonia and Cyrene.

240 BCE Sri Lanka: Ven. Mahinda establishes the Mahavihara (Great Monastery) of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. The Vibhajjavadin community living there becomes known as the Theravadins. Mahinda’s sister, Ven. Sanghamitta, arrives in Sri Lanka with a cutting from the original Bo tree, and establishes the bhikkhuni-sangha (nuns) in Sri Lanka.

236 BCE India: After death of Asoka, period of persecution of Buddhism under Pusyamitra Sunga

1st Cent BCE India: Erection of the great Stupa at Sanchi. The Ratnaguna Samcayagatha–a summary of the Prajna Paramita is written down. This includes the oldest literal reference to Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, and Bodhiyana.

94 BC Shri Lanka: 4th Buddhist Council (acc. to Theravadins) at Cave Aloka in Malaya district – see also 2nd Century India for another ’4th Council’.

35 BCE Sri Lanka (or 100BCE?): King Vattagamani orders the Buddhist teachings (Theravada canon) to be committed to writing. Division between Mahavira and Abhayagiri vihara in Sri Lanka.

65 CE China: First historic proof of Buddhist community.

1st Cent CE Thailand and Burma: monks from Sri Lanka establish Theravada.

2nd Century India: 4th Buddhist Council in Jalandhar, India under royal patron Kaniska.

2nd Century India: Appearance of Mahayana Buddhism as separate school.

2nd Century China: translators like An Shih-kao began translating Indian Buddhist texts using mostly Taoist terminology, initially causing many Chinese to believe that Buddhism was another version of Taoism.

2nd Century Vietnam: First introduction from China, followed by more missions, both Mahayana and non-Mahayana in 3rd century.

c. 200 India: Buddhist monastic university at Nalanda flourishes; remains a world center of Buddhist study for over 1,000 years.

2nd-3rd Century India: Master Nagarjuna; known for his profound teachings on emptiness.

320 to 1000 India: Development of Vajrayana Buddhism, based on Mahayana.

4th Century India: Master Vasubandhu; known for his teachings on mind-only (Cittamatrin) and worship of Amitabha, desire for rebirth in the Pure Land, leading to the development of the later Pure Land schools.

4th Century Sri lanka: King Mahasena introduces Mahayana monks.

320 China: Invasion of Huns in China, after which many Buddhist monasteries were established until 6th Century.

334-416 China: Master Hui: Founder of the White Lotus Movement and of Pure Land Buddhism in China.

372 Korea: First arrival of Buddhism on the peninsula from China.

4th Century Nepal: from this time onwards, coexistence of Buddhism and Hinduism, followed Indian traditions.

425 Sri Lanka: Buddhaghosa composes the Visuddhimagga (The Path of Purity) which eventually becomes the classic Sri Lankan textbook on the Buddha’s teachings.

5th Century China: Founding of Ching-t’u school of Pure Land Buddhism by T’an Luan (476-542)

5th Century Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Burma; Mahayana Buddhism was introduced, mainly by Indian immigrants.

480 China: Indian Master Bodhidharma travels as a Buddhist missionary to China, as follower of the Lanka School he is considered the forefather of Ch’an and Zen.

499 India: Monks of the Sarvastivadin school decide on new canon.

5th Century Cambodia: mixture of Hindu Shivaism and Mahayana, lasting until the 11th century. Non-Mahayana schools were also present, but less prominent.

552 Japan: Buddhism enters from China (possibly via Korea?).

550-664 Korea: Buddhism is state religion.

6th Century China: Founding of T’ien T’ai by Chih-I (538-597), also known as Fa-hua, or lotus school; syncretism of all Mahayana shools.

6th Century Kashmir: invasion of Huns with persecution of monks. After their departure, slow restoration.

6th and 7th Century Korea: introduction of many Chinese schools.

641Tibet: Buddhism introduced from India, helped by King Song Tsen Gampo

650 Tibet: first Budhist temple in Tibet

7th century China: Founding of Hua-yen school by Fa-tsang (643-712) – tantric Buddhism lasted only until about 1000 CE. Founding of Ch’an school by 6th Patriarch Hui-neng (638-713)

7th Century Cambodia: repression of Buddhism, followed by later strong support.

7th and 8th Century Kashmir: revival of Buddhism, strong influence of tantric schools.

710 Japan: capital moved to Nara; development of the 6 Nara-schools which were highly politisized, leaving them open to corruption.

730 Japan: introduction of Chinese Hua-yen school, known as Kegon in Japanese.

713-741 China: The T’ang Dynasty Esoteric School was introduced by the three Mahasattvas Subhakarasimha, Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra.

713 onwards China: sub-division in Ch’an schools; most important Lin-Ch’i with sudden awakening and use of koans, and Tsao-t’ung school of “just sitting” and gradual enlightenment. Notably, Ch’an only became an independent school with own monastic rules at the time of Pochang Huai-hai (720-814).

719 Thailand: introduction of Buddhism

787 Tibet: Foundation of Samye, first Buddhist monastery by Padmasambhava.

8th Century Tibet, Sikkhim, Bhutan: Master Padmasambhava establishes tantric Buddhism.

805 Japan: The Tendai School (from the Chinese T’ien T’ai) officially founded by Master Saicho (Dengyo Daishi).

810 India: King Devapala (ca. 810-845) donates the “income of five villages” for the founding and preservation of a Buddhist Library and Sutra copying facility at the Nalanda Universities.

845 China: Persecution of Buddhism started by Taoist emperor Wu-Tsung. T’ien T’ai and Huy Neng do not survive. Ch’an and Ching t’u survived and slowly recuperated. In many places Islam replaces Buddhism

9th Century Cambodia: building of Angkor Wat

9th Century Japan: Shingon (“True Word”) Buddhism (tantric) established by Master Kukai (Kobo Daishi) derived from Chinese Chen-yen. A fusion of tantric Buddhism and indigenous Shinto became known as Ryobu-Shinto, which was remarkably separated again some 1000 years later into Buddhism and Shinto.

9th Century Tibet: Decline of Buddhism, persecution by King Langdharma

10th Century Tibet: Strong Buddhist revival.

1050 Sri Lanka: disruption of sangha by Tamil Nadu invaders. Lineage of nuns ordination dies out.

1070 Shri Lanka: reinstatement of monks ordination

11th and 12th Century Thailand: introduction of Mahayana due to Cambodian rule.

11-13th Centuries India: Encounter with Islam, iconoclasm, decline of (mainly Mahayana) Buddhism in Northern India. Sacking of Nalanda university in 1197, and Vikramasila University in 1203 by Muslims.

1164 Sri Lanka: Polonnaruwa destroyed by foreign invasion. With the guidance of two monks from a forest branch of the Mahavihara sect — Vens. Mahakassapa and Sariputta — King Parakramabahu reunites all bhikkhus in Sri Lanka into the Mahavihara sect.

12th Century Sri Lanka: King Parrakama Bahu abolishes schools other than Mahavira.

12th Century Cambodia: revival of Mahayana, but later mainly Theravada influence.

1236 Shri Lanka: monks from India revive monk ordination lineage.

c.1279 Burma: last nunnery mentioned in historic records.

13th Century Japan: Founding of Jodo (Pure Land) school in Japan by Honen (1133-1212).

Founding of Zen sub-schools: Master Dogen (1200-1235) founds the Soto-shu (Chinese Ts’ao-tung) school. Master Eisai (1141-1251) founds the Rinzai-shu (Chinese Lin-Ch’I) school.

Master Nichiren Daishi (1222-1282) founds Nichiren Buddhism.

13th Century Laos: introduction of Theravada.

13th Century Mongolia: Introduction of Tibetan Buddhism under rulers like Kublai Khan (1260-94)

14th Century Korea: Decline of Buddhism with the assumption to the throne of the Chosun or Yi Dynasty and their adoption of Neo-Confucianism.

15th Century India: Final decline of Buddhism in Southern India, due to influence of various Hindu schools.

15th Century Indonesia: Eradication of Budhism by Islamic rebellion.

15th Century Thailand: monks were sent to Sri Lanka to establish a new ordination lineage.

16th Century Mongolia: after some decline, second introduction of Tibetan Buddhism under Altan Khan (1507-83)

16th Century: Sri Lanka; persecution and virtual eradication of Buddhism.

16th Century Japan: Master Ingen (1592-1673) founds the Obaku-shu zen school.

17th Century Sri Lanka: reintroduction of Dharma twice from Burma (same as original tradition).

1753 Sri Lanka: reinstatement of monks ordination from Thailand – the Siyam Nikaya lineage

1777 Thailand: standardisation of Thai translation of the Theravada Tripitaka

17th -19th Century inner Mongolia: The Ch’ing emperors of China (1662- 1911) encouraged Buddhism to keep control over the area. Buddhism first spread to outer Mongolia end 18th cent, which had remained fully shamanistic.

1851-64 China: Great peace rebellion; strong persecution in South.

1862: First Western translation of the Dhammapada into German

1868 or 1871? Burma: 5th Buddhist Council in Mandalay. The Pali scriptures were inscribed in marble.

Late 19th Century China: gradual revival of Buddhism

1905 North America: First Zen teachers arrive in North America.

1920 Soviet Union: Communist attack on Buddhism in Mongolia

1950 China: Beginning of communist attack on Buddhism

1954-56 Burma: 6th Buddhist Council in Mahapasana Great Cave, Kaba-Aye, Rangoon, Burma (Myanmar).

1959 Tibet: Exodus of many Tibetans (including His Holiness the Dalai Lama) from Tibet following the invasion by the Chinese. Virtually all monasteries are destroyed by the Chinese invaders and Buddhist practitioners are persecuted. http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/time-line.html

Sir Percy (Pen name) adds:

This is a very respectable and scholarly research about the near complete decline of Buddhism in India. Of course one of the big lie today is that China is against Buddhism. This is absurd since China has been the Kingdom of Buddhism over a thousand years and remaining so today. The second biggest lie is that due to the unholy union of India-Dalai Lama-USA, it is presenting to the world that India is the center of Buddhism and Dalai Lama is the Pop of Buddhism. Actually, under the old Dalai Lama hierarchy, Dalai, his monks and a few upper class affiliates acting like the Hindu Brahman class toward the Tibetans rather than like the compassionated Buddhists.
Chinese are free to believe any religions; this is the Chinese history as the most inclusive people. China only objects to using religions to de-stablelize China. Although Buddhism was originated in India, but it is pretty much died out in India long time ago due to persecutions, subversions and infiltrations as so faithfully documented by the author of this article. The real Buddhist Kingdom is China, including Tibet, China. There must be over at the least one hundred million of Chinese following Buddhism to various degree. For thousands of years of development in China, Buddhism has flourished, has been growing spiritually and in scholarship. It has become China’s own heritage. China’s Buddhist missionary monks also introduced it to Japan, Korea and other part of Asia. China actually introduced Buddhism to Tibet thru Chinese princess. Of course, Tibetan Buddhism was also influenced by Nepal and “India”. India was a tribal sub-continent and did not exist as a nation until consolidated by and independent from the Brits.
Dalai Lama’s sect of Buddhism represents a very small fraction of Buddhists in China and in the world. It does not even represent all the sects in Tibet. Therefore, some how he act like or being groomed by CIA and India as the Pope of Buddhism is certainly quite misleading to the world. Chinese are the most inclusive people in the world. China support research and growth in religious studies including Tibetan Buddhism but just don’t use any religion to destabilize Chinese society.

Dalai Lama eats meat which surprised many Chinese and international Buddhists. Since as a serious Buddhist, one is supposed to have compassion for all animals and not eating them. Sir Paul McCartney (Beatle), a vegetarian, asked Dalai to stop eating meat. His answer was that his medical/health conditions caused him to eat meat. But what about most of his monks in Diasporas also eat meats?

This pretense of being Pope of Buddhism sponsored by CIA, India even with Hollywood glitz cannot work.
It is most unfortunate that some Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns were misled by Dalai Lama.

The West is trying to create a false impression that the Tibetans are living under a yoke in China. Actually, it is the opposite. They were living under a yoke when Dalai was the local dictator under Qing Emperor. . Now they are free, prosperous and modern. Here are videos of a Tibetan female mail carrier conquer the mountains and business reports about Tibet:

http://english.cntv.cn/program/newshour/20110522/103115.shtml

Tibet Industry today

http://english.cntv.cn/program/rediscoveringchina/20110729/101530.shtml

Brahmans failed to occupy South East Asia (rupeenews.com)
Indian textbooks build hate culture against Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, & Maldives (rupeenews.com)
‘Jinnah wanted to save the Dalits, Gandhi enslaved them’ Mr V.T. Rajshekar (rupeenews.com)
Dalit – The Black Untouchables of India: VT. Rajsshekar (rupeenews.com)

Sir Percy (Pen Name) says:

May 29, 2012 at 8:11 pm

My congratulation to the author’s scholarship and dedication to complete this excellent research.