Whatever we have today in Brahminism is a twisted history of Buddha’s work

Buddha’s messenger Ashoka had done a great service to his Dhamma. It was perhaps the only faith in the subcontinent to grant respect to variant beliefs, unlike the invaders who had razed precious intellectual sites to destroy idolatry. The invaders made no difference between Brahminic or Buddhist sites. For them, monotheism was the only message.

As a result, among others, Nalanda University received a mortal blow from Turkish leader Bakhtiyar Khalji who served Qutb al-Din Aibak, referred to as ‘jahansoz’, which roughly translates to ‘world burner’. The Sultan razed the generous past of the Buddhist cosmology. Bakhtiyar is said to have asked his men to enquire if Nalanda carried a copy of the Holy Quran. Reportedly upon finding that it did not, he ordered the destruction of the Great Monastery.

Thus, a centre of high learning and scientific scholarship was turned into ashes in 1193-34. It is reported that the three-storey university and its nearby areas burnt for several months, ejecting dark smoke. Bakhtiyar was also instrumental in the burning down of Somapura, Jagaddala, Vikramashila, and Odantapuri monasteries.

However, in the 14th Century, Firoz Shah preserved Hindu pillars for their sheer magnanimity and beauty. These pillars, known as Lath, were Ashoka’s pillars and were venerated by Hindus.

Pre-Islamic story of India received a similar fate at the hands of Brahminic rulers who devised strategies to ignore and eventually destroy the memory of Buddha’s kingdom. That is why it is no accident that Samrat Ashoka’s legacy remains not fully known. The great king was actually the unifier of India who ruled for 40 years. His messages carried forward Buddha’s Dhamma. It had laws and regulations meant to protect and redirect resources for what we today call the Welfare State.

The ‘welfarism for all’ was subverted by Brahmin general Pushyamitra who founded the Shunga dynasty through his anti-Buddhist regicide. It laid the foundation for destruction of Buddhist shrines, monasteries, icons and history.

Brahmin colonisation of Buddhism was continued by Adi Shankaracharya in the 9th century. He made Hinduism accessible to all and not only to the esoteric and non-quotidians. Babasaheb Ambedkar also pointed out this limitation of ascetic Buddhism, which divorced itself from Buddha’s gospel of serving society beyond personal practices.

One of the best ways to identify how history is twisted and reproduced to serve the purpose of dominant savarna castes is to go to the base of the architectural structures of sacred sites. The most famous temples in India, Pakistan, and Nepal originally used to be Buddhist places of learning and worship.

This colonisation of Buddhist heritage is evident in the inaccessibility to the sanctum sanctorum of temples. Dr K Jamnadas evocatively argued for a Buddhist story of Tirumala Balaji shrine. The enormous amount of gold and other ornaments hide the face and body of Balaji, he said. Why would a stone sculpture of god need any decoration when statues are usually covered in clothes, like that of the Buddha?

This was partly the reason why invaders attacked temples, for their wealth and capital. Jyotirao Phule exemplifies this contradiction in The Farmer’s Whipcord showing how Brahmins enjoy the loot of the ignorant farmer.

Whatever we have today in Brahminism is a twisted history of Buddha’s work. Even the sacred location Bodh Gaya has been morphed. Ashoka recorded the name of the place as ‘Sambodhi’.

Revisiting Buddha’s past is to pay a tribute to our ancestors who were tied to the Dhamma.

This article first appeared in the print edition on February 7, 2021, under the title “Revisiting India’s Buddhist past”. Suraj Yengde, author of Caste Matters, curates the fortnightly ‘Dalitality’ column