Judaism & Brahmanism vs Buddhism & Christianity

[chownah]

Our Prime Minister is a Shudra who was a tea seller on railway platform and was voted into power by all castes (not me since I am secular fellow)

Can it get more socially mobile than that?

Forgot to mention that our President is an untouchable

Well, our president was a black man so what did that prove?
chownah

[DooDoot]

Hinduism never attacked Buddhism in any way (other than at debates) so "Hinduism defeated Buddhism" is wrong statement.

Did I infer anything otherwise?

Please do not invent history (rather dangerous since most who visit this forum have no idea of ancient Indian history).

I didn't reinvent history.

Buddhism declined because it lost popularity...

Buddhism was defeated in the popularity contest & Hinduism won the contest (just as Hinduism has appeared to won the contest in your mind).

[No_Mind]

Hinduism never attacked Buddhism in any way (other than at debates) so "Hinduism defeated Buddhism" is wrong statement.

Did I infer anything otherwise?

"Hinduism defeated Buddhism" carries other connotations unless one writes "Hinduism defeated Buddhism at debates."

Look buddy, no war with you but I am sole representative of 1.3 billion people in this mini-UN. I have to make sure i's are dotted and t's are crossed, when any reference to the subcontinent is made.

A member passed off couple of Nepali videos as Indian .. thankfully I was here to correct the error.

I hope you understand my position. It is not one I enjoy doing. I wandered into this forum one day .. and after some time found there were at least sixty Indian members here but all except me were silent (I think some of them secretly enjoy my predicament)

I feel like Sinbad the sailor carrying the old man on his back.

I have long wanted that history be rewritten to show that Buddha was born in Europe .. maybe Germany .. so that I maybe free. But it is not happening.

[JiWe2]

Hinduism never attacked Buddhism in any way (other than at debates) so "Hinduism defeated Buddhism" is wrong statement. Please do not invent history (rather dangerous since most who visit this forum have no idea of ancient Indian history).

Buddhism declined because it lost popularity and due to Islamic invaders who attacked the subcontinent.

I listened a while ago Dr. Alex Wynne's recent talk "Buddhist India" at Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies:

https://ocbs.org/buddhist-india/

Starting around time 25:30, page 24 of the pdf, he goes to subject "What happened to Buddhist India?" and the situation seems to be a bit more complex than debates, lost popularity and Islamic invaders.

Dr. Wynne quotes Giovanni Verardi's 2011 book "Hardships & Downfall of Buddhism in India". I don't have access to it, but I found a review of it here:
http://jocbs.org/index.php/jocbs/articl ... ad/138/161

There seems to be documented persecution of Buddhists (and Jains) by "neo-Brahmanical" sects, both before and after the Muslims.

"In a sense, such issues may seem secondary: what matters is that the Buddhists of India were violently repressed and 'cleansed'. That truth demands recognition. But surely it is important to consider why it has for so long been so hard to look clearly at the death of Indian Buddhism."

Some Indian scholars seem to share that view:

"There are many who seem to believe that brutality and bloodshed were the sole preserve of Muslim rulers and that Hindu rajas lived in an idyllic ocean of peace and tranquility. Unfortunately, an examination of the history of the Indian sub continent does not support such an uninformed opinion."
How the Buddhists and Jains were Persecuted in Ancient India.
https://karthiknavayan.wordpress.com/20 ... ent-india/

Opinions, opinions, opinions...

[No_Mind]

Hinduism never attacked Buddhism in any way (other than at debates) so "Hinduism defeated Buddhism" is wrong statement. Please do not invent history (rather dangerous since most who visit this forum have no idea of ancient Indian history).

Buddhism declined because it lost popularity and due to Islamic invaders who attacked the subcontinent.

I listened a while ago Dr. Alex Wynne's recent talk "Buddhist India" at Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies:

https://ocbs.org/buddhist-india/

Starting around time 25:30, page 24 of the pdf, he goes to subject "What happened to Buddhist India?" and the situation seems to be a bit more complex than debates, lost popularity and Islamic invaders.

Dr. Wynne quotes Giovanni Verardi's 2011 book "Hardships & Downfall of Buddhism in India". I don't have access to it, but I found a review of it here:
http://jocbs.org/index.php/jocbs/articl ... ad/138/161

There seems to be documented persecution of Buddhists (and Jains) by "neo-Brahmanical" sects, both before and after the Muslims.

"In a sense, such issues may seem secondary: what matters is that the Buddhists of India were violently repressed and 'cleansed'. That truth demands recognition. But surely it is important to consider why it has for so long been so hard to look clearly at the death of Indian Buddhism."

Some Indian scholars seem to share that view:

"There are many who seem to believe that brutality and bloodshed were the sole preserve of Muslim rulers and that Hindu rajas lived in an idyllic ocean of peace and tranquility. Unfortunately, an examination of the history of the Indian sub continent does not support such an uninformed opinion."
How the Buddhists and Jains were Persecuted in Ancient India.
https://karthiknavayan.wordpress.com/20 ... ent-india/

Opinions, opinions, opinions...

I fully agree with you.

Do you know why .. because ancient Indians had been very bad at preserving history for future generations. Most of Indian history till coming of Islamic invaders in 10th century are from Vedas, Puranas and the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata as well as Buddhist and Jain scriptures. Religious texts are not dependable sources of general information.

However if we are sharing little known conjectures .. I might as share this one - Ashoka killed 18,000 Ajivika monks in one day because Ajivikas were against Buddha.

According to the 2nd century CE text Ashokavadana, the Mauryan emperor Bindusara and his chief queen Shubhadrangi were believers of this philosophy, that reached its peak of popularity during this time. Ashokavadana also mentions that after his conversion to Buddhism, Bindusara's son Ashoka issued an order to kill all the Ajivikas in Pundravardhana, enraged at a picture that depicted Gautama Buddha in a negative light. Around 18,000 followers of the Ajivika sect were executed as a result of this order.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%80j%C4%ABvika

Opinions, opinions, opinions ..

Any more conjectures that you wish to share .. we can always rewrite history The future is always certain .. the past is always uncertain. We can always rewrite it to suit ourselves.

[JiWe2]

Any more conjectures that you wish to share ..

No. Now the conjectures are balanced to my liking.