History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c91.298

v7.c91.298

At the beginning of Chapter XXIV (pp. 913-14, n 1448) above, it was stated that the Purāṇas had a large share in bringing about the final disappearance of Buddhism from India, the land of its birth. The disappearance of Buddhism from India was complete and seemed to be sudden and is a complex problem. No single cause, nor even a few causes can fully account for this phenomenon. A combination of causes, both internal and external, must have been in operation for a pretty long time to bring about this remarkable event. It may be admitted that some of the causes are more or less conjectural. In the first quarter of the 5th century A. D. Fa-Hian found Buddhism in a flourishing condition in India, while in the first half of the 7th century A. D. Yuan Chwang appears to say that the decline of Buddhism had set in. It-sing found Buddhism very much on the decline in the beginning of the 8th century A. D. An attempt will be made here to discuss briefly the several causes that have been put forward by scholars for explaining the almost total disappearance of Buddhism from India. A few of the contributions bearing on this subject may be noted here. 'Religions of India' by A. Barth, translated by J. Wood (1882) pp. 133-139; Journal of Pali Texts Society (1896 pp. 87-92) on 'Persecution of Buddhists in India' by Rhys Davids, Kern's 'Manual of Buddhism' (in the German Grundriss pp 133-134); 'Buddhist India' by Rhys Davids (1903, pp. 157-158, 319); I. H. Q. vol. IX pp. 361-371 (where the causes of the disappearance of Buddhism emphasized by M. M. Haraprasad Shastri are enumerated); 'The Sum of History' by René Grousset, translated by A. and H. Temple Patterson pp. 101-105 (Tower Bridge Publications, 1951); 'The Decline of Buddhism in India' by Dr. R. C. Mitra (1954), particularly pp. 125-164; 'Life and Teaching of Buddha' by Devamitta Dharmapala (G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1938); '2500 years of Buddhism' edited by Prof. P. V. Bapat, 1956 pp. 360-376; 'The Path of the Buddha' by Prof. Kenneth W. Morgan pp. 47-50 (New York, 1956); 'How Buddhism left India' by N. J. O'Connor, Ralph Fletcher Seymour, Chicago (1957).