6 Reasons Why Buddhism Declined in the Land of Its Birth
Buddhism was the first organized religion in India and possibly also in the world. During the 5th century B.C. when the Buddha preached his doctrine that later gave rise to Buddhism, the other competing ideologies in India during the time were Brahmanism and Jainism. Hinduism, as we know today, was not present during that period.
For the next 1000 years, Buddhism remained the dominant religious ideology in India. But for various reasons, it was slowly obliterated in the country of its birth even while it flourished in the rest of Asia. So what were the reasons for this calamity that befell Buddhism in India?
Let’s look into the 6 main reasons for the decline of Buddhism in India in detail.
1. Attack from Brahmanism
The rise of the equalitarian ideology of Buddhism was resented by the Brahmins for a long time. While the Brahmins preached social hierarchy based on birth (chaturvarna dharma), the Buddha preached equality among all humans and discarded the concept of birth-based varna system.
Not just this, Buddhism preached non-violence towards living beings and also taught that enlightenment was possible for every individual without requiring the agency of priests or the favour of Gods.
This radical teaching was in stark contrast to the Brahmanical ideology of that time. The Brahmins could not digest the fact that a majority population of India embraced Buddhism which resulted in decline in patronage for the Brahmins and challenged their pre-eminent status in the society.
For this reason, after the demise of Emperor Ashoka, the Brahmins started their retribution.
Brihadrata, the last Mauryan ruler was murdered by his Brahmin general Pushyamitra Sunga who subsequently killed hundreds of Buddhist monks in the former Mauryan empire.
Shaskhanka, King of Gauda, cut down the holy Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya in Bihar and also suppressed Buddhism during his reign in 6th-7th century CE.
Madhava Varma, a Vishnukundin King and staunch supporter of Brahmanism damaged the famous Amaravathi Stupa (in present day Andhra Pradesh) and persecuted the Buddhist monks living in the area around the 5th-6th century CE.
The Brahmins also co-opted the Buddha by declaring him as the 9th avatar of Vishnu in order to assimilate Buddhism within the fold of Brahmanism. Even today, many statues of Buddha are being worshipped in different temples across India in the form of different Hindu deities.
This Brahmanical attempt at assimilation of the Buddha continues till today. A Ram temple has been recently constructed at the site of the destroyed Babri masjid at Ayodhya. The statue of Ram contains engravings of his so called nine avatars, including the Buddha.
The attack from Brahmanism, both physical and ideological, was the primary reason for the decline of Buddhism in India.
2. Gradual loss of royal patronage
Every religion in the ancient period thrived on the patronage of the rulers and Buddhism was no exception to this norm. It received the biggest fillip from Emperor Ashoka during the 2nd Century BC due to which it became a major religion.
Later on, multiple rulers gave generous grants to Buddhist monks to build monasteries and viharas throughout the country. In this regard, the contributions of King Kanishka, King Menander, King Harshvardhan, and the Palas of Bengal are noteworthy.
The world-renowned Buddhist universities of Nalanda, Vikramshila, and Odantapuri thrived under the patronage of the Pala rulers.
Once these kingdoms declined, so too did the patronage bestowed upon the Buddhist monks, monasteries and universities. Many later-day kings such as the Guptas adopted Shaivism or Vaishnavism and reduced or completely stopped their grants to Buddhism.
The decline in patronage combined with the persecution of Buddhist monks under the influence of Brahmanism led to the gradual desertion of the once thriving Buddhist monasteries.
3. Excessive focus on individual enlightenment
The Theravada school of Buddhism focuses on the individual and his capacity to achieve enlightenment by practicing the Dhamma. When the Buddha propounded his philosophy, he simultaneously founded the Sangha or the community of monks.
The sangha served two purposes. The first was to create a community of like minded ascetics who were dedicated to the practice of the Dhamma, free from the compulsions of material existence.
The second purpose was to guide the common people towards the path of the Dhamma. In this sense, the sangha played a missionary role much before the birth of Christianity, a religion that is widely known for its missionary activities.
However, over a period of time, the Sangha became detached from the masses thus providing an opportunity for the Brahmans to re-impose their ideology over the masses.
The Buddhist monks became too engrossed with their individual enlightenment forgetting that compassion for all living beings was as important as individual enlightenment.
This was also the reason why Buddhism split into two schools, Hinayana and Mahayana.
4. Spiritualism lost out to materialism
Buddhism focuses on the practice of the Eightfold Path to achieve freedom from suffering. It does not lay undue emphasis on rituals or prayers. Rather, the practice of the values outlined in the Eightfold Path are important for any practitioner of Buddhism.
Hinduism, on the other hand, is one of the most materialistic religions in the world in which prayers and rituals are supreme. It actively encourages the acquisition of material things and even has a dedicated goddess of wealth and prosperity in the form of Lakshmi.
In contrast, Buddhism encourages simple and minimalistic living, advocating the middle path as a way of life. If you place Buddhism and Hinduism along an axis of Spiritualism and Materialism, Buddhism would come much closer to Spiritualism and Hinduism much closer to Materialism.
And we know that materialism encourages greed and pleasure. If a lay person is offered the choice between greed and pleasure on the one hand (materialism) and value-based living on the other (spiritualism), he will much more likely choose materialism over spiritualism.
This is exactly what happened with Buddhism.
While Buddhism prescribes the 5 precepts that lay followers should adhere to in their daily lives to lead a moral life, there are no such prescriptions in Hinduism.
True, there are some moral guidelines in Hinduism as well but their violation would not make the violator any less Hindu. However, in Buddhism practice matters much more than theory.
Mere knowledge of the Eight-fold path or the suttas will not help to become more spiritual. Rather, moving along the path of the dhamma will bring about true happiness.
But Indians have become so accustomed to meaningless rituals and rites prescribed in Hindu texts that the practice of the Buddha’s dhamma appears very difficult to them.
For this reason, Buddhism’s middle way and morality could not hold its own against the carrot of materialism dangled by Hinduism.
5. Internal changes within Hinduism
You might be aware that in ancient times, animal sacrifice and meat consumption (including beef consumption) was rampant in the Aryan society.
Buddha was the first religious leader to preach non-violence towards animals and discouraged animal sacrifice during ceremonial rituals. He also preached equality among all humans and refuted the graded social inequality based on birth i.e. varna.
This teaching of Buddhism greatly appealed to not just the rulers but also the lower castes who embraced Buddhism in great numbers. A number of Buddha’s disciples were from the lower castes.
Sensing this challenge from Buddhism, the Brahmins brought in some modifications to their religious ideology starting with the ban on beef consumption by declaring the cow as their mother.
Secondly, epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata were written mentioning the mythical characters like Ram, Krishna, and Hanuman. Folklores were crafted around these characters and they were elevated to the position of gods which the common people began worshipping.
Apart from these major gods, countless minor gods were carved out with their peculiar myths. The Indian society slowly dived deeper into superstitions, myths, and tradition where free thinking and rationality were looked down upon.
Buddha taught that every belief should be questioned and critically analyzed before being accepted. But Brahmanism discouraged free thinking and religious inquiry.
Such an environment was antithetical to the continuation of Buddhism that stood against superstitions and dogmas.
6. Invasion of the Islamic horde
But the final nail in the coffin of Buddhism was the invasion of the Islamic horde in the 12th Century CE.
Although Buddhism had largely disappeared from India by that time, the Buddhist universities of Nalanda, Vikramshila, and Odantapuri were still in existence.
These universities housed rare manuscripts of the teachings of the different schools of Buddhism. However, this treasure trove along with the centres of Buddhist learning were razed to rubble by invaders like Bakhtiyar Khilji in the 12th Century.
Since Islam was anti-idolatry, the invaders destroyed numerous Buddhist viharas, stupas, and Buddha statues across India.
However, we should remember that the glory days of Buddhism were well past when the Islamic rulers invaded India. The reasons mentioned earlier played a much more crucial role in the decline of Buddhism in India.
The situation turned so dismal that by the mediaeval period, all traces of Buddhism were wiped out from common parlance. It took great effort by the British Orientalists in the 19th Century to uncover the rich Buddhist heritage of India.
