BUDDHISM...........SOCIETY 409
My answer is that whatsoever the religion may be, it requires the priest community to preserve it. Due to the shortage of Buddhist monks, Buddhism declined. Efforts were subsequently made by some Buddhists to raise another priest-hood in order to revive Buddhism but their efforts failed. Such is not case with Hinduism. A Brahmin’s son is priest by birth. Therefore, no separate priest community is required to protect their religion. This is why Hinduism survived Muslim onslaught. Moreover, Buddhism as a religion is difficult to practise while Hinduism is not. Besides, the political climate in India had also been inhospitable to its advancement.
I do not agree with the suggestion made by many people in India that Buddhism was destroyed by the dialectics of Shankaracharya. This is contrary to the facts as Buddhism existed for many centuries after his death. In my opinion, Shankaracharya himself was a Buddhist. His Guru too was Buddhist. Of course, Buddhism declined in India because of the rise of Vaishnavism and Saivism, the two cults which adopted and absorbed many good points of Buddhism. Today, Hinduism is in a very much changed form. Hinduism which taught and practised violence earlier has started teaching non-violence. This has been copied from Buddhism. Buddhism may have disappeared, in material form but as a spiritual force it still exists in India.” [1]
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- Bauddha Dharam hi Manav Dharam (Hindi)—Speech in Colombo. Sri Lanka, on 6-6-1950.
Reprinted : Dr. Ambedkar on Buddhism : Editor D. C. Ahir, Pp 111 — 114.