Some of the articles of I've been reading: http://www.byomakusuma.org/Teachings/Ma ... Part1.aspx
http://sgforums.com/forums/1728/topics/452467
I would also like someone to explain the situation with Buddhism in the post-Gupta period, since I've read some quotes from this thread:
If anyone could recommend any academic (or non-academic) books on the above, that would be greatly appreciated.http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.ph ... &start=140
Mihirakula is said to have razed 1600 viharas, stupas and monasteries,
and “put to death 900 Kotis, or lay adherents of Buddhism” [Joshi, 404].
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.
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.
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”.
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 Himalaya".
According
to The Rajatarangani (IV/112), Chandradip, a Buddhist ruler of Kashmir,
was killed by Brahmins in 722 AD. His successor Tarapida was killed two
years later. The newly anointed Brahma-Kshastra (Rajput) rulers usurped
power in the kingdoms of Sind and Kota. Graha Varman Maukhari, married
to Harsha’s sister, was treacherously killed by Sasanka, king of Gauda
(Bengal). He proudly destroyed many stupas and cut down the sacred Bodhi
tree at Gaya.
According to Gopinath Rao (East & West Vol 35)
the old tribal shrine at Jaganath Puri was usurped by Vaisnavas and the
walls of the temple even today displays gory murals recording the
beheading and massacre of Buddhists.
Epigraphica India Vol XXIX P 141-144 records that Vira Goggi Deva, a South Indian king, described himself as… “a
fire to the Jain scriptures, a hunter of wild beasts in the form of the
followers of Jina (Jains) and an adept at the demolition of Buddhist
canon”. It also records “the deliberate destruction of non
Brahminical literature like books of Lokayat/ Carvaca philosophy by
Brihaspati mentioned by Albaruni in the 11th century.” The huge Buddhist
complex at Nagarjunakonda was destroyed. According to Shankara Dig
Vijaya, the newly anointed Brahma-Kshastra kings ordered every Kshatriya
to kill every Buddhist young and old and to also kill those who did not
kill the Buddhists. A Jain temple at Huli in Karnataka had a statue of
five Jinas (Jain heroes) that was re carved into a Shaivite temple with
five lingas.
"During the reign of Nara "thousands of monastries were burnt, and
thousands of villages that supported those monastries were given over to
the Brahmans." Brahmans having succeeded in establishing their supremacy
set themselves in right earnest in strengthening themselves and their
position. Many superstitious observances and practices were invented.
Thought and culture were denied to everybody excepting themselves and
the modern Hinduism in Kashmir began its growth. But this degraded the
Brahmans themselves. During Mihirkula's reign many shameless practices
are ascribed to them..." (Kilam, 'A History of Kashmiri Pandits, Chapter
1- 'A Survey of Ancient Hindu Rule', Page 5)
"Though there was no great persecution of Buddhists by the ruling families of Andhradesa, at least two pallava rulers,
Simhavarma and Trilochana were zealous in destroying the monasteries at
Sriparvata and Dhanyakataka. Radical Saivaite sects like Kalamukhis
initially and later, Veerashaivas conducted an aggressive campaign
condemning Buddhists as atheists. Occupying Buddhists places, Shiva and Vishnu temples were built over Buddhists shrines.
The aggressive and often violent campaign is exemplified by the conduct
of the Veera Saiva proponent, Mallikarjuna Panditaradhya, who after
losing a debate to Buddhist monk in the court of chandole conspired and
got them, killed and destroyed their places of worship. Panditaradhya's
aggressive campaign almost wiped out Buddhism, in the Andhra country.
Earlier shankara who was known as Pracchana Buddha borrowed Madhyamaka
metaphysics and logic and modeled his mathas on Buddhist monasteries.
Kumarila and Shankara carried on virulent crusade against Buddhism."
Namo Amitabha Buddha
Tiger
Posts: 61
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:47 am
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Re: The Pitfalls of Western analysis of "Dharmic Traditions"
Postby Tiger » Tue Aug 14, 2012 12:00 pm
"The puranas, the Mrchhakatikas, the Yajnavalkya-smriti, the
Rajtarangini, the works of Kumarila and Sankara, the accounts of Chinese
travelers, and the histories of Bu-Ston and Taranatha, do seem to point
to deeper hatred for Buddhism.""The mounting tide of
anti-Buddhist propaganda in Brahmanical literature seems to have reached
its apex in the hands of Sankaracharya........Sankara's biography tells
us that the great guru led a religious expedition against Bauddhas and
caused their destruction from the Himalayas to the Indian Ocean".
.
"Sankara is known to have founded his Srngeri-Matha on the site of a Buddhist
Monastery. His anti-Buddhist activities may have been very terrible, and
according to the Tibetan tradition, at his approach " the Buddhist
monasteries began to tremble and the monks began to pell-mell.""
.
"Attention may be invited to a passage in the Bhasya of the Brahmasutra, in which
Sankara says: Buddha was an enemy of the people and taugh contradictory
and confusing things".
.
"Thus Sankara and Kumarila are the two
most important representatives of the Brahmanical hostility towards
Buddhism in India during this period"."
From "Looking for a Hindu Identity" by Jha
While there are many more examples of mutual hostility between
Saivas and VaiKIavas, sources testify also to the conflict between
BrahmaIism and heterodox sects. Early evidence of BrahmaIical
hostility towards Jainism, for example, comes from its canonical
text, the Ayarangasuttam, according to which monks hid themselves
in the day and travelled by night lest they be suspected of being
spies.156 Similarly, the Arthasastra of Kau_ilya contemptuously describes
the followers of non-Vedic sects as V<2ala or pa2a>?a (e.g.,
Sakyas, Ajivikas), assigns them residence at the end of or near the
cremation ground (pa2a>?acandalanam smasanante vasa=) and
prescribes a heavy fine for inviting them to dinners in honour of the
gods and the manes,157 though the occurrence of the word pa2a>?a
in the edict of Asoka “is not necessarily pejorative” because he appointed
dharmamahamatras to look after the affairs not only of the
Buddhist Sangha, the brahmaIs and the Ajivikas but also those of
“some other religious sects” (pa2a>?e2u).158
"The toleration of dissenting faiths which was the hallmark of
Asoka’s policy is not seen, however, in later times; for the celebrated
grammarian Patañjali (second century B.C.) observed that “the
sramaIas and BrahmaIas are ‘eternal enemies’ (virodha= sasvatika
=) like the snake and mongoose.”159"
The attitude of the orthodox philosophers found an echo in the
PuraIic texts as well. The Saurapura>a, for example, says that the
Carvakas, Buddhists and Jains should not be allowed to settle in a
kingdom.166 Similarly, the early medieval literary texts provide
highly pejorative portrayals of the Buddhists and the Jains. The
Mattavilasa Prahsana, a farce written by the Pallava ruler Mahendravarman
(seventh century), depicts Buddhists as morally
depraved, dishonest and the scum of the earth; a corrupt Buddhist
monk is made to ask “…why did [the Buddha] not think of
sanctioning the possession of women and the drinking of sura
(kinnukhalu striparigraha= surapanavidhanam ca na d<23am)?”167
The Prabodhacandrodaya, a drama written by KcKIa Misra (eleventh
century), describes both Buddhism and Jainism as tamasika (arising
out of darkness), depicts a Buddhist monk as indulging in worldly
pleasures168 and a Jain monk as naked, devoid of manliness
(nivirya), the hair of his head plucked out and carrying a peacock
feather in his hand.169