Around the seventh-eighth century AD, Buddhism was on the decline in the plains, The same national and social conditions apparently prevail today. The Vedic Brahmins of those times were, in their effort to demolish Buddhism, were out to humiliate the founder of Buddhism Lord Buddha, the Bodhisatva, and the Buddhist deities so that the Buddhists could lose their base and, therefore, be compelled to embrace the Vedic or the Brahminic doctrine. The process went o and it took at least three centuries for Buddhism to disintegrate, and disappear from the plains. The process was intensified following the spread of Islam into the Indian plains: Consequently, Buddhism lost its remaining citadel and was gradually absorbed into Islam and Vedic, religion.
The same conditions prevail today. To grab Buddhism, the RSS, the VHP, and the other Hindu outfits are making all pos sible attempts. Those organisations have unleashed some of their own men disguised as Buddhist monks in society, i they go on clamouring that Buddhism is not a separate doctrine trine, that it had originated from Hinduism, and that it is but a branch of Hinduism. They are representing the Buddha as the ninth incarnation of Vishnu and insist on their propaganda just in order to annihilate Buddhism.
So far, it appears to be history repeating itself, but the sobsequent state and its outcome is in the womb of future. The two stages are different in only that then Buddhism was on decline, but the actual process had started towards the lost around two decades or so. A revolutionary change in that state, however, occured when Babasaheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar em braced Buddhism along with his about 10 lakh followers at Nagpur on 14 October, 1956, which saw a spate of conversion in the coming years with crores of Dalits converting to Bud dhism during the course of time. And, the trend never ceased. Consequently, the count of Hindus in the last census has offi cially come down.
The increasing number of Muslims in India caused grave concern among Hindus at the present stage. The Hindus are a very cunning and shrewd people. They know they cannot include Muslims, Christians, and Parsis to show an increase in their population in the world as their doctrines and cultures are different. That leaves the Buddhists, the Jains, and the Sikhs. The Jains have already been absorbed as Hindus. The Sikhs do not call themselves Hindus, though they have all been counted as Hindus constitutionally, which is improper and unfair. Religiously, philosophically, and even culturally, the Buddhists cannot be counted among the Hindus. otherwise, the Buddhists countries in the world will have to be declared Hindu lands and their residents as Hindus, which will, however, not at all be acceptable to the Buddhists population of those countries. The Hindus in India are left with one option now, and that is to confuse the Buddhist in India with their false and unfounded statements, such as Buddhism is but a branch and part of Hinduism. If the Hindus succeed with their evil intentions and aims, the Buddhist doctrine will go back to ruins and get wholly as similated by Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. To avoid that Hinduism catastrophe, the attempts of the VHP, the RSS, and other Hindu outfits will have to be frustrated. And, it is most compulsive. To that end, the Buddhists of the world must stop the Hindus in their dirty attempts to declare the Buddha the ninth incar nation of Vishnu, and Buddhism a product, branch, and part of Hinduism, and to claim that Buddhism is not an independ ent doctrine but a revised form of Hinduism.
That will not be possibly accomplished, in India , by the Barua Buddhists, for they are closely associated with the Hindu culture and fear the Hindus. They keep a calculated distance from the Ambedkarite Buddhists. The Buddhists in Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh are so decent, gentle and submissive that they are easily seduced by the Hindus sweet talks and, therefore, have come closer to their creed. So far so, they have dropped their Buddhist names and picked up Hindu ones like Ram , Krishna etc. The Himachali Buddhists are of course radical and prefer to stay away from the Hindus. Under this state of affairs, the onus is on the initiated Buddhists to confront the Hindu propaganda and designs in the form of books, articles and seminars, to which the Hindus are taking recourse to malign the Buddha's name and his doctrine. The Buddhist follower of the Bodhisatva Babasaheb Dr. Ambedkar are now highly educated historians, intellectuals, professors, writers, philosophers, publishers, and journalists, and they must oppose those miscreant through their active and effective efforts. They also ought to enlighten people with the right perspective on the Buddha, his doctrine, and his philosophy so the Buddhists could be protected against the malicious propaganda unleashed against Buddhism by vested interests and also could be supplied with the right knowledge.
Sporadic references of these two cultures are conspicously found in the ancient Indian texts. The terms Brahmin and Sramans may be seen in the Pali Tipitaka, the Jain Agama, the Astadhyayi of Panini , the rock edicts of Asoka, and the Patanjali Bhasya. Such strong evidence would not let anyone deny this fact that Hinduism & Buddhism are two different cultures . Some great scholars of modern times have also, based on their efforts, admitted the fact that the two cultural traditions were visibly existent in the olden times. Prominent among them are-Mahapandita Rahula Sankrityayana, Acharya Narendra Dev, Babasaheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Dr. Bhadanta Ananda Kosalyayana, Bhikkhu Jagdish Kashyap , Dr. Shanti Bhikkhu Shastri, Bhikkhu Dhammarakkhita, Prof. Govind Chandra Pandey, Dr. C.S. Upasaka, and Prof. Awadh Kishore Naragana . So , there should now be no doubt about the separate and independent existence of these two cultures with their centuries old traditions. What is surprising is their co-existence even in the face of their substantial contrast.
Just as Muslim, Christian and Hindu cultures have co ordinated well with each other despite their dissimilarities and differences, so have the Vedic and the Sramano cultural had exchanges between them.
It is the process of the evolution of culture. In a certain context, it has also been observed that their relation is like that of snake and mangoose. As the two doc trines had originated from different sources, their different evo lution was but natural. Still, they evolved with relevant ex changes between them.
This book underlines various features of Buddhism on the previous pages, which have gained it an eminent place among the religions, philosophies, and doctrines of the world, and which is superbly unique. The last about fifty years have witnessed an absurd propaganda by the Hindus, particularly Dr. Radhkrishnan to prove Buddhism to be a part and branch of Hinduism.
Such efforts had actually started in the pre-Independence days and intensified during the meetings of the Constituent Assembly. That is why the Assembly at a certain level framed section 25 part 2 , which placed Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs under the Hindus.
Significantly, two sikh members of the Constituent Assem bly had strongly opposed the move and even got it recorded in the proceedings, but their opposition was rejected by the voice vote. Now the questions is-will the Hindus resort to the voice vote to settle these sensitive, delicate, and basic questions of the religions or of the lingual minorities? The Assembly had ridiculed and murdered democracy on that occasion. If it went on, any religion could be proved as a part of Hinduism-even Islam and Christianity. There is a concerted effort these days by the leaders of the RSS, the VHP, and the other hardcore Hindu outfits that one who lives in Hindustan is a Hindu, Does it serve our national interest? The answer is, surely no. It will not only be against the democratic values, but akin to murdering democracy and that will pave the way for a re disintegration of India.
It is frequently read in the newspapers and witnessed even otherwise these days that some Hindu leaders are trying their hardest to win Buddhists over to their side. Their constant cause of concern is that their count as a religions community in the world is diminishing as compared to the Christians, the Muslims, and the Buddhists. And, thus, they intend to include the Buddhists among them and increase their numbers , which is not possible. No Buddhist will ever consent to that . Several functions, seminars, and symposiums have been convened by the concerned Hindu leaders, but all their efforts have utterly failed. In fact, no Buddhist whether a common man or an intellectual, would ever accepts themself as a Hindu. The Hindu religious leaders are trying the same weapons that were tested, and failed during the seventh-eighth centuries. In this scientific age, to brand the Buddha as the ninth incarnation of Vishnu is nothing but buffonery. No modern Buddhist would ever admit such efforts by the buffoons. They have already manifested it in unison.
Babasaheb Dr. Ambedkar embraced Buddhism in 1956 along with lakhs of his followers. As Babasaheb doubted the Hindus integrity and intentions, he put the new converts to 22 pledges so that the Hindus would not be able to play any spoil sport. These 22 pledges are so clear and distinct that the Hindus will never afford to begnile them. These pledges are most sig nificant and frustrate the very designs of the Hindu leaders. Through these pledges, Babasaheb Dr. Ambedkar repudiated all thsoe doctrinal beliefs and faiths prevailing among the back wards and Dalits that could hamper their followers even after their conversion. Which reaffirms that Buddhism is an independent doctrine and cannot be called a part, division or a branch of any religion. The Buddhists of India should unite to approach the Constitution Amendment Commission and demand an independent existence for their religion, asserting not to be counted among the Hindus.
The 22 pledges enunciated by Babasaheb Dr. Ambedkar merit a mention here, so that the enlightened readers would realize that if the Buddhists follow them, they would never be counted among the Hindus. The 22 pledges are
1. I shall have no faith in Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh nor shall I worship them.
2. I shall have no faith in Rama and Krishna who are be lieved to be incarnation of God nor shall I worship them.
3. I shall have no faith in 'Gauri', Ganapati and other gods and goddesses of Hindus nor shall I worship them.
4. I do not believe in the incarnation of God.
5. I do not and shall not believe that Lord Buddha was the incarnation of Vishnu . I believe this to be a sheer madness and false propaganda.
6. I shall not perform 'Shraddha' nor shall I give 'pind - dan'.
7. I shall not act in a manner violating the principles and teachings of the Buddha.
8. I shall not allow any ceremonies to be performed by Brahmins.
9. I shall believe in the equality of man.
10. I shall endeavour to establish equality.
11. I shall follow the ' noble eightfold path ' of the Buddha.
12. I shall follow the 'paramitas' prescribed by the Buddha.
13. I shall have compassion and loving - kindness for all living beings and protect them. 14. I shall not steal.
15. I shall not tell lies.
16. I shall not commit carnal sins.
17. I shall not take intoxicants like liquor, drugs etc.
18. I shall endeavour to follow the noble eightfold path and practise compassion and loving kindness in every day life.
19. I renounce Hinduism which is harmful for humanity and impedes the advancement and development of humanity because it is based on inequality, and adopt Buddhism as my religion .
20. I firmly believe the Dhamma of the Buddha is the only true religion.
21. I believe that I am having a new birth.
22. I solemnly declare and affirm that I shall hereafter lead my life according to the principles and teachings of the Buddha and his Dhamma.
The present book proposes to reafirm that Buddhism is nei ther a part, a division, nor a branch of Hinduism. It is also a folly of highest classordn and madness to claim that the Buddha was the ninth incarnation of Vishnu or an incarnation of God, whether it was pronounced by a Shankaracharya or Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan or any buffoon or a political leader. Another historical and philosophical lie is that Buddhism believes in soul and in its transmigration. It is , again , a lie , un founded , and a distortion of historical fact to say that Bud dhist doctrine and philosophy has originated from the Vedas and the Upanisads. Finally, it is also a well-designed move of the Hindus to propose that the Buddha did not offer any new doctine but, as a social reformer would do, he reformed Hinduism to shape Buddhism.
The conclusion offers itself as a warning to the Buddhists that they should avoid to be trapped in the snare of madness, folly, cunning, intrigue, and buffoonery laid by the Hindus.
Source: Buddhism is not a branch of Hinduism
Dr.Dharmkirti
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