The Decline of Buddhism in India

There are many reasons why Buddhism declined in India.

According to the anthropologist Lars Fogelin, the decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent is “not a singular event, with a singular cause, it was a centuries-long process”.

Before moving into the reasons for its declination, we have to understand how complex Buddhism had become right after the second and third Buddhist councils.

According to various Buddhist texts like the Sri Lankan chronicles Dipavamsa(3rd-4th century CE) and Mahavamsa(5th century CE) and texts written by Vasumitra and Vinitadeva, there were about 18–20 schools in Buddhism.

There was a constant disagreement of views among the various schools of Buddhism and one school used to dominate over the other. This inner conflict was one of the first reasons for the decline.

The divisions into various schools happened as follows:-

The first schism in Buddhism happened after the second Buddhist council in 300 BCE which was held at Vaishali.

In this council, the sangha was divided into two:-

• Sthaviravada(Sthavira monks)-These were minority elder monks who wanted to modify the Vinaya(Tripitakas which consist of rules and teachings for the Buddhist sangha). They were rigorous reformists.
• Mahasamghikas- the orthodox majority monks who opposed any form of modification in the Vinaya.

The Sthaviravada was further divided into:-

• Sarvastivada-school which flourished mainly in north, and northwestern India(mainly during the Kushan period) and parts of Central Asia.
• Vatsiputriya/Sammatiya/Pudgalavada-founded by Vatsiputra and emphasised mainly Pudgala or the body instead of the soul or atman.

The Sarvastivada was further divided based on regions into 3:-

• Vaibhasika of Kashmir
• Sautranika/Darstantika of Bactria and Gandhara
• Mulasarvastivada from Mathura

The Dharmarajika stupa, Taxila, Pakistan from the Kushan era(one of the greatest patrons of Sarvastivada Buddhism)

After the third Buddhist council(250 BCE) which was held at Pataliputra, patronised by Asoka, the Sarvastivada sect was further divided and a new school called Vibhajyavada was founded.

The Third Buddhist Council shows Asoka, Mogaliputta Tissa(the monk who presided over the meeting) at Asokarama, Pataliputra.

The Vibhajyavada was founded because of the following reasons:-

• The Sarvastivada believed that all Dhammas(principles) from past, present and future were important while the Vibhajyas believed that only the present dhammas should be considered important.
• The Sarvastivada believed that the four noble truths could be understood one at a time(anupubbābhisamaya) but the Vibhajyas believed that the truths are learnt at once(ekābhisamaya).
• The Vibhajyas rejected the idea of Sarvastivada that after attaining Nirvana, the person might fall again into the cycle of birth and rebirth(arhat).
• The Vibhajyas also rejected the idea that there is a concept of antarabhava or an intermediate state between birth and rebirth.

The Vibhajyavada was supported by Mogaliputta Tissa in the council.

This led to the split.

Now Vibhajyavada was again divided further into four:-

• Mahisasaka
• Dharmaguptaka
• Kasyapiya
• Tamraparniya/Theravada

The first three were spread in northwestern India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and through the silk route, Dharmaguptaka especially spread to central Asia.

Tamraparniya/Theravada on the other hand spread to Sri Lanka and Burma where it survived.

These schools were spread to these regions because of the missionaries sent by Asoka.

map showing the spread of Buddhist missionaries under Asoka.

This was the changing scenario of Buddhism till this time:-

Early Buddhism-pre sectarian Buddhism.

The first split into Sthaviravada and Mahasamghika.

The first split into Sthaviravada(north) and Mahasamghika(south)

Further division of Sthaviravada into Sarvastivada and Pudgalavada.

Rise of Vibhajjavada and spread of Dharmaguptaka in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Spread of Dharmaguptaka to central Asia through the Silk Route.

Then came the post-classical/medieval schools of Buddhism-Mahayana and Vajrayana which were popularised among the Buddhists.

Mahayana Buddhism considered Buddha as the supreme being and was very different from Hinayana/Theravada Buddhism. This school replaced the Mahasamghika Buddhism of ancient India.

Vajrayana Buddhism was an offshoot of Tantricism in North and Eastern India and it replaced the rigid Sarvastivada Buddhism. This rise of Vajrayana happened along with the rise of Tantric Shakt Parampara and Tantric Shaivism(Kashmir).

At this time, Sarvastivada declined because of loss of patronage and because it used the language of Sanskrit which was opposed by the common people. It was replaced by Vajrayana.

The Dharmaguptaka and other schools of Vibhajjavada in the north declined drastically because of Islamic invasions by the Arabs and Turks.

Thus the scenario now looked like this:-

Theravada spread to ancient Tamilakam and Burma and Mahayana replaced Mahasamghika. Mahayana became the dominant school and it spread to East and South-east Asia.

Vajrayana replaces Sarvastivada and spreads to Tibet.

This decline of various early schools happened for a long time as they lost patronage mainly because Buddhism believed in penance and asceticism. This started with the Shunga rulers of Pataliputra who were devout Hindus and did not patronise Buddhism, unlike Asoka.

Pushyamitra Sunga specifically promoted Hinduism. Yet his successors did build a Buddhist stupa at Bharhut.

Note: The references from Divyavadhana which describe that Sunga was a Buddhist hater are considered by many historians as exaggerations.

The eastern gateway of the Barhut stupa built by the later Shungas.

Then the Huns also attacked and destroyed many Buddhist stupas. Mihirakula specifically destroyed Nalanda and parts of Taxila.

During the Gupta period,Buddhism was promoted along with Vaishnavism and Shaivism.

seated Buddha, Gupta period.

Even Harshavardhana promoted Buddhism. Sashanka of Bengal on the other hand patronised the Vedic religion.

After Harshavardhana, nobody could stop the decline.

In South India, the Bhakti movement started in the 7th and 8th centuries and popularised Hinduism.

Adi Shankaracharya

There was a lot of tension among the religions in the south and one will find many beheaded Buddha statues in Tamil Nadu:-

Beheaded Buddha sculpture from the 10th-11th centuries, Thanjavur(a major Buddhist centre at that time)

In the north, Kashmiri rulers like Jalauka were devout Shaivites who promoted Shaivism over Buddhism. The Hunas and Scythians also did the same.

The Pudgalavada school also declined in Gujarat and was replaced by Shaivism.

Thus the only main schools left in the subcontinent were Mahayana in Bengal and Bihar, Theravada in Burma and Sri Lanka and Vajrayana which shifted to Tibet.

Map showing Mahayana in Bengal and Theravada in Sri Lanka and Burma.

Mahayana Buddhism survived in Bengal because of the Palas who promoted Vaishnav-Bauddha syncretism.

The Somapura Mahavira, Bangladesh, was the only main Buddhist vihara built in the post-classical period by Bengali ruler Dharmapala.

The Islamic invasions in Bengal were the final nail in the coffin.

Bakhtiyar Khilji at Nalanda(1193)

The only school to survive in the majority after the Islamic invasions was the Theravada which survived in Sri Lanka and Burma.

Buddhism in the subcontinent by 2020

In the 20th century, there were many movements to revive Buddhism by icons like Baba Saheb Ambedkar. It was called “Neo-Buddhism”.

It's important to note that while Buddhism declined as an organized religion in India, its teachings and philosophy continued to have a lasting impact on Indian society and culture. Buddhist principles and ideas have been integrated into various aspects of Indian thought, literature, art, and architecture. Today, Buddhism is experiencing a revival in India, with renewed interest and a small but growing number of followers and thus this is how Buddhism declined in the subcontinent.

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