The relation between Brahmanism and Buddhism was not like that between judaism and Christianity. Some less informed people have misled by this analogy. Jesus was born a Jew and he utilized The Jewish religious inheritance in formulating a distinctive vision of the Kingdom of Heaven and in giving to his disciples a new and refined interpretation of traditional ethical commandments. He came to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of the children of Abraham. This was not the case of Skyamunis relation to Vedic Brahmanism or, as Louis Renou calls it, `Vedism. To be sure, there were no Hindus in the sixth and fifth centuries BC anywhere on this earth much less in north eastern Hindustan. India in those days was populated by many autochthonous peoples who were then far more numerous than Vedic Aryans and aryanized tribes and races. To say that Siddhartha Gautama was horn a Hindu is therefore entirely non-sensical. He was certainly not born a Vaidika. There is no evidence to think that Vedism was prevalent among the Sakyas, Mallas or Licchavis in the days of the Buddha and Mahavira. On the contrary, there is evidence of the progress and influence of several varieties of Sramanic religion and philosophy which had nothing in common with Brahmanic polytheism, sacrificialism, and world-affirmation. The ideologies of srananas cannot be traced to Indo-Aryans. They seem to have been the contributions of non-Aryans and pre-Aryan people of India. The Sainkhya, Jainism, Ajivikism, Buddhism, and numerous other forms of ascetically- oriented soteriologies propounded by munis and Sramaas,
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 13:18:45 +0000
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