bronkhorst - buddhism 
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BUDDHISMINTHESHADOWOFBRAHMANISM

by

JohannesBronkhorst

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I.INTRODUCTION:BUDDHISMBEFORETHENEWBRAHMANISMThe original context Interactions Imperial help

II.BRAHMANISMII.1ThenewBrahmanismII.2ThespreadofSanskritII.3ThebrahmanicalcolonizationofthepastII.4Thebrahmanizationofborrowedfeatures

III.BUDDHISMCONFRONTEDWITHBRAHMANISM

III.1AcourtlychallengeIII.2ScienceandreligioninclassicalIndiaIII.3AnewlanguageAppendix to chapter III.3: Jainism, Mathur and Sanskrit III.4BuddhistHybridSanskrit,theoriginallanguageIII.5Buddhismsanskritized,BuddhismbrahmanizedIII.6PhilosophicalencountersIII.7TherelicsoftheBuddhaRelic worship What happened to the body of the Buddha? Appendix to chapter III.7: What happened to Mahvras body? III.8AdjustmenttopoliticalrealityReferencesAbbreviationsIndex

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I.INTRODUCTION:BUDDHISMBEFORETHENEWBRAHMANISM

The original context

Buddhism,weareoftentold,wasareactionagainstvedicBrahmanism.Vedic

BrahmanismisthereligionthatfindsexpressionintheVeda,animmensecorpus

oftexts.VedicBrahmanism,wearemadetounderstand,ismucholderthan

BuddhismandwasindeedthedominantreligioninnorthernIndia,includingthe

areainwhichBuddhismarose.

Idonotsharethisopinion.Idonotdenythatmanyvedictextsexisted

already,inoralform,atthetimewhentheBuddhawasborn.However,the

bearersofthistradition,theBrahmins,didnotoccupyadominantpositioninthe

areainwhichtheBuddhapreachedhismessage,andthismessagewasnot,

therefore,areactionagainstbrahmanicalthoughtandculture.

IhavearguedthispositionatlengthinabookGreater Magadhathat

cameoutin2007.Inthisintroductionnofulljusticecanbedonetothearguments

therepresented.Inordertounderstandwhatfollows,itisyetnecessarytobe

acquaintedwithsomeofitsfindings.Thesewillherebebrieflyreviewed.Further

information,argumentsandreferencescanbefoundinGreater Magadha.1

WedonotknowexactlywhenthehistoricalBuddhadied.Foralongtime

Buddhistscholarsthoughttheyknew.MostWesternscholarsagreeduponadate

closetotheyear480BCE.Fewscholarsstillacceptthisdate.Astudyinwhich

1GeoffreySamuel,inarecentpublication(2008:48ff.;also61ff.)whichhoweverrefersbacktoanearlierunpublishedmanuscriptofThomasHopkins,presentsonthebasisofprimarilyarchaeologicalevidenceanotionoftwoculturalprocessesmovingmoreorlessconcurrentlytowardtheuseofironandurbanizationfromtwoseparatesources:oneintheeasternPunjab,Rajasthan,theDoab,andnorthwardtotheHimalayaswestof81longitude,identifiedwiththePaintedGreyWarecultureandtheAryans;theotherbasedontheEasternGangeticculturewithitsapparentinitialconnectiontotheMalwa-typeculturalcomplexintheregionofPatna,inthevalleysoftheGhagaraandGandakriversnorthwestofPatna,andwestwardtotheregionaroundthelowerDoab.ThetwoareascorrespondtothosedistinguishedinGreater Magadha.Tothelistofaspectsinwhichthetwoworldsmayhavedifferedfromeachother,Samuel(p.89ff.)addsgenderattitudes.Samuelisnodoubtrightinconcluding(p.343):ItseemstomethataninitialtensionbetweenthevaluesofthevedicsocietyofKuru-PaclaandthoseoftheCentralGangeticregioncanbesensedthroughmuchoftheearlydevelopmentofIndicreligions,andinvariouswayscontinuesintomuchlatertimes.

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manyparticipatedhasnotledtoaresultuponwhichscholarsagree.2However,

manyofthemapproveofadatenottoodistantintimefromtheyear400BCE,

giveortakeafewdecadesineitherdirection.400BCEmeansbeforethe

incursionintoIndiabyAlexanderofMacedoniainthesecondhalfofthefourth

centuryBCE,alsobeforethecreationofalargeempireinnorthernIndiabythe

NandasandtheMauryaspresumablyfromthemiddleofthefourthcenturyBCE

onward,andmuchbeforetheSanskritgrammarianPatajali,whomweknowto

havelivedaroundtheyear150BCE.

ThisSanskritgrammarianprovidesuswithsomeinterestinginformation

abouttheheartlandofBrahmanisminhistime.Hecallsitlandoftheryas

(ryvarta),andsituatesinessentiallyintheGangesplain,betweentheThar

desertinthewestandtheconfluenceoftheriversGanges(Gag)andJumna

(Yamun)intheeast.3ExactlythesameexpressionisusedagainintheMnava

Dharmastra,atextthatwascomposedthreetofourcenturieslater.4Here,

however,thelandoftheryas(ryvarta)extendsfromtheeasterntothe

westernsea,andisthereforemuchlargerthanPatajalisryvarta.This

suggeststhatanimportantchangehadtakenplacebetweenthesecondcentury

BCEandthesecondorthirdcenturyCE:TheBrahminsofthesecondcentury

BCElookedupontheeasternGangesvalleyasmoreorlessforeignterritory,the

BrahminsofthesecondorthirdcenturiesCElookeduponitastheirland.

ThischangeconcernstheeastwardspreadofBrahmanism.Thisshouldnot

beconfusedwiththemoveeastwardofindividualBrahmins,eventhoughthetwo

areconnected.Brahminscarrytheclaimofbeingsuperiortoothermembersof

society.AregionthathasanumberofBrahminslivinginitbutwhichdoesnot

recognizetheBrahminsclaimtosuperiorityisnotbrahmanized.Itbecomes

2Bechert,1986;1991;1992;1995;1997.3Interestingly,thejainatext(Bhat-)Kalpastraalsospeaksofryancountries,inthefollowingmanner:MonksornunsmaywandereastwardasfarasAnga-Magadha,southwardasfarasKosamb,westwardasfarasThandnorthwardasfarasKula.Theymaywanderthusfar,(for)thusfarthereareryancountries,butnotbeyondunlesstheDhammaflourishesthere.(Bolle,1998:xxiv).EventhoughitisdifficulttoidentifyTh,itseemslikelythatthejainaryancountrieslaytotheeastofthebrahmanicallandoftheryas.4SeeBronkhorst,forthcoming,foradiscussionofManusdate.

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brahmanizedwhenthisclaimcomestobeaccepted.Untilthattimetheregion

concernedisnotbrahmanicalterritory.

Thepassagesconsideredsuggestthattheregioneastoftheconfluenceof

theGagandtheYamunwasnotconsideredbrahmanicalterritoryatthetime

ofPatajali.ThisdoesnotexcludethattherewereBrahminslivingthere.Rather,

itsuggeststhattheBrahminslivinginitdidnotreceivetheesteemwhichthey

deemedthemselvesentitledto.InPatajalisryvarta,ontheotherhand,we

mayassumethattheydidreceivethisesteem,atleasttosomeextent.

TheregioneastoftheconfluenceoftheGagandtheYamunisof

particularinterestforthestudyofBuddhism.ItistherethatBuddhismarose,itis

therethattheBuddhalivedandpreached.Ifthisregionwasnotyetbrahmanical

territoryatthetimeofPatajali,itwascertainlynotbrahmanicalterritoryatthe

timeoftheBuddha,forPatajalilivedtwoortwoandahalfcenturiesafterthe

deathoftheBuddha.ThebrahmanizationoftheeasternGangesvalleyis

thereforeatopicofthegreatestinterestforthestudyofearlyBuddhism.

Thatthisregionwasnotbrahmanicalterritoryduringthecenturies

separatingtheBuddhafromPatajaliissupportedbythelittleweknowaboutits

politicalhistory.Itisherethatthefoundationswerelaidfortheempirethatcame

tocoveralargepartoftheSouthAsiansubcontinent.Ifoursourcescanbe

believed,noneoftherulersinvolvedwereespeciallyinterestedintheBrahmins

andtheirideas.5TheearlykingsofMagadhareikaBimbisraandAjtaatru

areclaimedastheirownbybothBuddhistsandJainas.TheNandas,whomay

haveconsolidatedimperialpoweratPaliputraaround350BCE,appeartohave

beenzealouspatronsoftheJainas.CandraguptaMauryaoverthrewtheNandas,

butmayhavehadnomoreinterestintheBrahminsthanthosewhomhereplaced.

HehimselfissaidtohaveadoptedJainismanddiedajainasaint.Hisson

Bindusraisbelievedtohavepatronizednon-brahmanicalmovements,

particularlythejvikas.AokawasinterestedinBuddhism;hisimmediate

successorsinjvikismandJainism.Itisonlywiththeugas,whosupposedly

5Forfurtherdetails,seethefinalpartofthisintroductionandchapterII.3,below.

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wereBrahminsthemselves,6thatBrahminsmayhavebeguntooccupytheplace

insocietywhichtheythoughtwasrightfullytheirs.Thishappenedaround185

BCE.Fortyorfiftyyearslater,Patajalithegrammarianwasstillnotreadyto

lookupontheGangesvalleyeastoftheconfluencewiththeJumnaasbeingpart

ofthelandoftheryas.UntilPatajalisdateandperhapsforsometimeafter

him,oursourcessuggest,theregioneastoftheconfluenceoftheGagandthe

Yamunwasnotbrahmanical.IcallthisareaGreater Magadha.Greater

MagadhacoversMagadhaanditssurroundinglands:roughlythegeographical

areainwhichtheBuddhaandMahvralivedandtaught.Withregardtothe

Buddha,thisareastretchedbyandlargefromrvast,thecapitalofKosala,in

thenorthwesttoRjagha,thecapitalofMagadha,inthesoutheast.Thisareawas

neitherwithoutculturenorwithoutreligion.Itisinthisareathatmostofthe

secondurbanizationofSouthAsiatookplacefromaround500BCEonward.Itis

alsointhisareathatanumberofreligiousandspiritualmovementsarose,most

famousamongthemBuddhismandJainism.Alltheseeventstookplacewithin,

andweremanifestationsof,thecultureofthatpartofnorthernIndia.

Vedicandearlypost-vedicliteraturecontainslittletoinformusaboutthe

cultureofitseasternneighbours.However,apassageoftheatapatha Brhmaa

speaksaboutthedemonicpeopleoftheeastwhowereinthehabitof

constructingsepulchralmoundsthatwereround,unlikethefour-corneredones

usedbythefollowersoftheVeda.Theseconstructionswerenodoubtthe

ancestorsofthestpas,well-knownfromBuddhism.Jainism,too,hadandhasits

stpas,ashadjvikism,itseems.7Wemustconcludethatstpa-like

constructionswereafeatureoffunerarypracticesinGreaterMagadha.

AnotherfeatureofthespiritualcultureofGreaterMagadhaisespecially

important,viz.itssharedspiritualideology.Knowingitisnecessaryifonewishes

tounderstandthebackgroundofearlyBuddhism.Thisideologycomprisedthe

6Foradiscussionoftheevidence,seeTsuchida,2009:14f.Bhandare(2006:97),onthebasisofnumismaticevide