Buddhism – Spread & Popularity and Its Decline

Buddhism as discussed by Harsh Kumar

Buddhism was flourished around the 6^th BC in the Indian subcontinent and with time it spread to other regions and different counties. There were various factors behind the popularity and spread of Buddhism in all over the world. We will be going to discuss this in detail.

Also Read : Buddhism – The Teachings and Philosophy

Jainism – The Philosophy and Teachings

Factors Behind the Spread and Popularity of Buddhism

The simplicity and relevance of Buddhist teachings attracted common masses towards it. The magnetic and simple personality of Mahatma Buddha also played a significant role in the rapid spread and popularity of the Buddhism. The use of common masses language is also played an important role. For example, Buddha used Pali language, which was the language of the masses during 6^th century BC., to propagate his ideas.

Institution of Monastery (Sangha) contributed immensely to spread the Buddhism as it provided unity and guidance to the Buddhist monks. It maintained discipline and purposefulness among the monks. Degenerated state of Brahmanical order also resulted in the rapid growth of the Buddhism because the common peoples were seating with the discontent in Brahmanical disorder. They were already looking of the new religion when Buddha emerged on the scene.

Patronage of some of the most prominent rulers such as Ajatshatru, Kalashoka, Ashoka and Kanishka. They contributed immensely in spreading of the Buddhism as councils were held during the reign of these rulers. According to Buddhist texts, a number of monks were sent by Ashoka to various of the world to propagate the ideas of Buddhism, after the end of third Buddhist council. Ashoka’s son Mahendra and daughter Sangmitra went to Sri Lanka.

Uttara and Suen went to Swarna Bhumi. Mahadev went to Mysore. Dharmarakshit went to Himalayan region. Maharakshit went to land of Greeks. The merchants and traders also contributed immensely in the spread of Buddhism as they gave huge amount of donations to Buddhist monasteries and patronized the monks. Many monks were used to travel along the merchants and traders to various parts of the world for spreading the message of Buddha.

This process was the main reason behind the spread of Buddhism to South-east Asia and Central Asia. Many rulers of neighbor countries also invited the Buddhist monks to their kingdom to carry the message of Buddhism. In 1^st century AD., the Chinese rulers sent his ambassadors to India to invite Buddhist monks. The Dharmarakshit and Kashyap Matanga went along with these ambassadors to China.

They translated the Buddhist texts to Chinese. Kumarajiva was a prominent Buddhist scholar who went to China in c. 401 AD., and became the president of Buddhist scholars in China. Dharamadeva also went there in c. 1001 AD. From China the Buddhism went to Korea and Japan. The Chinese travelers to India like Fa-Hien and Huan-Tsang visited India during 5^th and 7^th century respectively, who carried the Buddhist knowledge with them to their homeland.

Decline of Buddhism in India

Buddhism have emerged during the 6^th century BC and it phenomenally successful in India as well as in other parts of the world. But during the 4^th century AD, Buddhism gradually started to decline, as it was no longer a faith of percentage of Indian population. There were number of factors behind the decline of the Buddhism in India. Buddhism became complex with passage of time.

New ideas and philosophies were developed over the time by the Buddhist leaders. In the beginning, Buddha was considered as a teacher but Mahayanist transformed Buddha into a God. This complexity eroded the mass appeal of Buddhism. Sanskrit, which was the language of elite class, became the language of Mahayana Buddhism, so lost it’s contact with masses.

The Buddhist monasteries amassed the huge amount of wealth as Mahayanist received gifts in gold and silvers, which eroded the true character of Buddhism and became a reason of the decline of the Buddhism. The revival of Brahmanical religion in the form of Vaishnavism attracted the common masses towards it. It was free from the rituals, ceremonies, gifts and priestly domination as it gave emphasis on the direct connection between the God and Devotee through the way of Bhakti.

The loss of royal patronage also contributed in the decline of Buddhism because Guptas, the prominent power during the 4^th century AD, started to patronized Vaishnavism. The anti-Buddhist attitude of rulers like Pushyamitra Sunga, also contributed in the decline of Buddhism in India. He even destroyed the monasteries and killed Buddhist monks. The decline in the trade and commerce also resulted in the decline of Buddhism as it stopped the donations to the Buddhist monasteries.

Foreign invasions were also responsible for the decline of Buddhism. Huan’s led by Mihir Kula destroyed Buddhist monasteries. The Turks also attacked and destroyed the Buddhist monasteries and accumulated their wealth. Absence of great personalities like Mahatma Buddha also caused the decay of Buddhism. The scholars like Shankaracharya shattered the credibility and reputation of Buddhism by defeating Buddhist in discourses and discussions.

He adopted the good elements from the Buddhism and integrated them into mainstream Hinduism. The fragmentation of Buddhism into various sects also effected its popularity and mass appeal. By 4^th century AD, there were more than two dozen of sects of Buddhism who followed the different ideas and philosophies. This process was started during the second Buddhist council and further intensifies with time.

Thus, after flourishing for more than 1000 years, Buddhism started to decline because of various factors as we discussed in this blog.