The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.s1.169

v2.c17.s1.169

The plan of action was the same everywhere; that of gradual appropriation and assimilation. It was not the Moslem sword that was brought into play, not the *Qoran* in one hand and the scymetar in the other, but the policy of reconciliation and compromise. The bulk of the people had certain belief, practices and prejudices, to which they were ardently attached; the revivalists were few in number, aud could not undo them by force; and they had, therefore, to resort to fraud. They tried to convince the people that there was no real difference between them; that he, whom they called Buddha, was no other than Viṣṇu; that kindness for animated beings was an important and integral part of Vaiṣṇavism; that the Vedic [**108**] rituals and sacrifices were designed for the ignorant to prepare them for a life of mercy; that Bo tree was a representative of Viṣṇu; that universal brotherhood, as opposed to the system of caste, was the outcome of the higher development of Vaiṣṇavism; that the emblems of Buddhism were no other than those of the followers of Janārdana; and that the only difference between the Vaiṣṇavas and the Buddhists consisted in denying the identity. This was exactly the way in which Kabīr set to work, when he declared that there was no difference between Rāma and Rahīm, and Caitanya did the same; and both thereby obtained Muhammadan proselytes to their creeds. A theological or verbal acknowledgment of this kind, when involving no necessity for a change in the form of worship, or ordinary course of conduct, was not difficult to make, and, when demanded by successful generals flushed with conquest, could not be denied. Subject races are usually the most zealous advocates of the principle of religious toleration ; what to the conqueror is but a manifestation of liberality or generosity, is, to the conquered, the chief, if not the only, means of protection ; and when the latter is called upon to put the principle into practice with reference to the conqueror, he cannot refuse it ; and when the admission is once made, it does not take long on the part of powerful king and governors, aided by shrewd logicians and venal priests, to effect such a change in practice as entirely to supplant the original form of worship.