The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c19.s8.1

c19.s8.1

1. The relationship between the Upaniṣads and early Buddhism is a much debated but still unresolved question. The conclusion so far is that they represent two parallel but separate developments that do not show unequivocal evidence of mutual contact or influence (see P. Horsch, “Buddhismus und Upaniṣaden,” in *Pratidānam: Studies Presented to F. B. J. Kuiper* [The Hague, 1968], 462–77). They seem to have their homelands in different though adjoining areas. Buddhism arose in the periphery of the brahmanized regions of present-day Bihar, while the Upaniṣads have their home in the ancient “Middle Country” to the west. Even though the eastern homeland of Buddhism was already “profondément brahmanisé,” its brahmanism “n'est pas le Brahmanisme des Brāhmaṇas et des Upanishads” (L. de la Vallée Poussin, *Indo-européens et Indo-iraniens*, revised ed., [Paris 1936], 312). The same author’s wise but inconclusive summary still holds: “á l’époque des Unpanishads et du Bouddhisme, comme plus tard, les écoles exploitaient, chacune á leur manière, un certain fond commun, très riche, et que nous ne connaissons pas parfaitement” (ibid., 314).