1

DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

VISAKHAPATNAM, A.P., INDIA

CONCEPT OF HINDU AND BUDDHA DHARMA

HISTORY

Mr. VISWA CHANDRA MADASU

S V S S G AKHIL

2019063 I semester
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CONCEPT OF VICARIOUS LIABILITY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I have made my project titled “HINDU AND BUDDHA DHARMA” under the supervision of
prof. (Dr) VISWA CHANDRA MADASU., Faculty Lecturer, Damodaram Sanjivayya National
Law University. I find no words to express my sense of gratitude for Viswa Chandra Madasu sir
for providing the necessary guidance at every step during the completion of this project.

I am also grateful to the office, librarian and library staff of DSNLU, Visakhapatnam for
allowing me to use their library whenever I needed to. Further I am grateful to my learned
teachers for their academic patronage and persistent encouragement extended to me. I am once
again highly indebted to the office and Library Staff of DSNLU for the support and cooperation
extended by them from time to time. I cannot conclude with recording my thanks to my friends
for the assistance received from them in the preparation of this project.
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ABSTRACT
Hindu dharma and Buddhist dharma are the major religions in our world today. They
have been practicing for many years and have been surviving from many centuries

The word “Dharma” derived from the Sanskrit word “dhri” which means to uphold or
ethics. These are the principles which built the character of man as an individual and also as a
member of society. In Mahabharata, when Bhishma was asked to explain the meaning of the
dharma he said that anything which helps for upliftment of humans is Dharma but according to
Vedas dharma is the duty of the different groups i.e. Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras

According to Buddhists “Dharma” means the teachings of Buddha and the realization of his
teachings. Buddha spread nearly 83000 teachings all these teachings constitute as Buddha
dharma. According to “Tripitaka” the sacred book of Buddha, the problems in our life occurs due
to lack of knowledge and the one and only method to get the knowledge is to practice Dharma
i.e. Teachings of Buddha
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

S. no. CONTENTS Pg no.

1. ` INTRODUCTION 5-6

2. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY 6

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 6

4. LITERATURE REVIEW, RESEARCH QUESTION 6

5. SCOPE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY 7

6. ORIGIN OF HINDU DHARMA 8-9

7. TYPES OF HINDU DHARMA 9-12

8. LITERATURE OF HINDU DHARMA 13-15

9. HISTORY OF BUDDHISM 15-16

10. TEACHINGS OF BUDDHA 16-17

11. CAUSES FOR THE SPREAD OF BUDDHISM 17-18
12. COMPARISON BETWEEN HINDU AND 18-23
BUDDHA DHARNA
13. CONCLUSION 23
14. BIBLILOGRAPHY 24
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Introduction of Hindu and Buddha dharma

In Hinduism “Dharma” has a lot of meanings. A bare meaning of Dharma in
English is religion but it is much more than that Dharma means natural law, duty, social welfare,
ethics and many more. The dharma is taken from ancient scriptures called Vedas. These Vedas
also teach us about the Gods and the way to obtain their favors.

According to Hindus Dharma is in every aspect of his/her life. From the birth as a
baby to death dharma is present. According to Hindu dharma everyone was born in a caste. This
caste determines their level in the society and their job in the society. According to Dharma the
highest caste is Brahmins who are considered as closest to God. According to Hindu Dharma
(Vedas) these people help the other persons to get the blessings of God by performing Yagnas
and sacrifices. The second highest place was occupied by Kshatriyas whose duty was to protect
the other people. The third place was occupied by Vaishyas who performs farming activities and
the last caste are called Sudras whose duty was to assist all the three groups

According to Hindu Dharma if something bad happens to a person, it is believed

that he had done something bad in this life or previous one. Hindu Dharma believes in
reincarnation i.e. the cycle of being reborn which is called samsara and the goal is to stop the
cycle of being reborn which is called Moksha

According to Buddha Dharma means the teachings of Buddha and the realization of these

teachings. Buddha dharma is contradictory to Hindu Dharma. These teachings do not focus on

supernatural matters instead these teachings focused on concept of why we are suffering and the

ways. These teachings explained that humans have the powers to become liberated from these

sufferings. Buddhist teachings said that the suffering is due to dukkha, which are the unhappy

experiences that we have experienced in life. Some of these unhappy experiences are getting old,

lack of health, pain and death and attachment of things and ideas. These teachings explained that

one should accept that Happiness and unhappiness are always interconnected and one should

accept that reality

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When we are aware of dukkha, the interdependence and impermanence of things helps us

to see the things in reality. Nirvana (The state in which there is no suffering) can be achieved by

controlling the desire on things (craving). When we control the desire on things and being aware

of impermanence of all the things we can achieve nirvana

Hinduism’s and Buddhism’s Dharma are distinct from each other. Hindu Dharma

established on scriptures which teaches about supernatural powers and influences and guides the

society to become free from the cycle of Samsara and achieve moksha. But the Buddhist dharma

focused through the realization of reality the world can be released from suffering that is by

understanding the impermanence and interconnections of everything one can achieve Nirvana.

Objective of study
The objective of the study is to know the relationship between Hindu and Buddha dharma

Research question
Whether the Buddha dharma was the part of Hindu dharma?

Literature review
The books referred were,

 Buddhism a short history by Edward Conze

From this book the origin of Buddhism was taken
 Ancient India by V.D.Mahajan
From this book the part of Hindu dharma was taken
And some of the articles and websites were referred

Research Methodology
Doctrinal research and Historical study is conducted
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Scope of the study

The scope of the study is limited to comparisons between both Hinduism and Buddhism

Significance of the study

This study helps in understanding the relationship between both the religions
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ORIGIN OF HINDU DHARMA

The term ‘’Hinduism’’ refers to the indigenous religious philosophy of the peoples in
India and the Indian subcontinent. It is a combination of many traditions which are attached
through spiritually of the region. It does not have a clearly defined set of beliefs like the other
religions. It is widely accepted that Hinduism is the oldest religions in the world, but there is no
availability of known historical evidence about the founders. Hinduism's roots are vast and
diverse and are likely a synthesis of various regional beliefs of tribal people. According to some
of the historians, the origin of Hinduism was before 5,000 years or more. There was a belief that
Hinduism was brought to India by the Aryans. They occupied the Indus Valley civilization and
settled on the banks of the Indus River about 1500 BCE. According to this theory the Aryans
were lived in the banks of river Indus (which flows in Northern part of India) which is river
Sindhu in Sanskrit and which was the common language in Ancient India and their country was
called Arjavarta which means land of Aryans. The neighboring countries like Persians who ruled
before Islamic rulers pronounce the word Sindhu as Hindu and those people also started calling
the Aryans as Hindus. At first the term has only geographical and cultural label and later the
Aryans became Hindus and their practices were called as Hindu dharma but now this theory is
not accepted, and many historians are believing that the principles and practices of Hinduism
evolved within the groups of people who lived at Indus valley before iron age and some other
historians are saying that the core tenets of Hinduism were started from indigenous practices and
rituals and at the same time they were influenced by outside sources.

STAGES IN EVOLUTION OF HINDUISM

The Hindu religious system evolved slowly, According to many historians the evolution of
Hindu religion can be divided in to three categories Ancient period, medieval period and Modern
period
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Time line for early history of Hinduism

 3000-1600 BC- The earliest practices of Hinduism were started in Northern

Indian sub-continent region by the rise of Indus valley civilization

 1600-1200 BC-The Aryans were started invading southern Asia at 1600 BC

which had a huge impact on Hinduism

 1500-1200 BC-The Vedas were first compiled at 1500 BC

 1200-900 BC- The period where main tenets of Hinduism developed and the
Upanishads were also written at 1200 BC

 900-600 BC- This period is called later Vedic period where ritual worship was
developed and Upanishads have also emerged where the concept of Karma,
Moksha have developed

 500BC-1000AD-The Puranas were written at this time where the concept of three
gods was developed i.e. Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Epics like Ramayana,
Mahabharata was also started to form at this time

2 nd
century AD- Composition of Ramayana was completed at this time

Types of Dharma in Hinduism

Dharma influences the way of living of people in Hinduism. Hindu dharma explains that through
the religion one can develop knowledge and can achieve Moksha

1. Samanyadharma
Samanyadharma means qualities of the soul of an individual. It includes
control on the mind, truth, offerings, mercy, pilgrimage, control over the
senses, honesty, honoring deities and Brahmans, non-violence, absence of
the greed and not criticizing anyone etc

2. Varna dharma-Social dharma or Varna dharma consists of the

duties, responsibilities and occupations which everyone should perform
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for their nation, family, society and communities. One of the main aspect
in social dharma is religious and moral law

3. Ashrama dharma
Human law or Ashrama dharma is the stages of life. There are four stages
in human life. They are
 Brahmacharyashram-It’s the first stage of human life. It’s the
stage of celibacy and it’s the student life. In this stage one can get
education with the help of guru
 Gruhasthashram-It’s the stage of married life. Here the person has
the duties of maintaining the family, educating the children. This
is the most important stage of human life as they produces food
which helps for the people of other stages
 Vanaprasthashram-This is the stage of retirement life. The
transitions not only from house hold life to retired life but also
from emphasis on artha and Kama to Moksha.
 Sanyasashram- This is the stage of renunciation of life where
one emphasis mainly on Moksha. One can go directly to
Sanyasashram after Brahmacharyashram

4. Guna dharma
Guna dharma means the duty performed by the role one plays or in the
position one was there. For example the duty of king is to protect the
people it’s the Guna dharma of king. The quality of the cosmic elements
like air, water, fire, earth comes under Guna dharma for example the
quality of water is coolness that means the Guna dharma is coolness etc.
In our country this is also called as Swabhav of an object

5. Nimmittadharma-The behavior that has to be made based on

contemporary or prevailing circumstances. For example at the time of
Navaratra a lamp is lit. It should not be interrupted if it was interrupted as
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an atonement the person has to chant the deity name 108 times. Here the
chanting is Nimmittadharma

6. Apaddharma
Apaddharma means the code of duty one should follow during any
calamity. Guna dharma will be followed by the people in normal
circumstances but a time comes where the collapse of this system takes
place due to the unforeseen circumstances such as famines, forcible
migrations etc., At this time it is impossible to perform their duty which
is given according to their class I.e. Guna dharma. So at this time a
person of one class can perform the duty of another class under some
exceptions. This is also called as Dharma in adverse times. After the
crisis has done one should perform their previous duty I.e their own
dharma
There are 3 types of crisis
 Spiritual crisis- This crisis is due to drought etc.
 Physical crisis- This crisis is caused due to enemies
 Crisis due to some mistake- Punishment received from the guru
for their own fault

7. Stridharma
Stridharma is the dharma of woman. According to god Ram the woman
who worships only to his husband attains Moksha. According to this
Dharma for a woman her husband is companion and God. For a woman
to develop spiritually the husband must. They should treat their husband
like Gods

8. Vyashti and Samashti dharma

Our world can be looked from two levels. One is individual and other one
is cosmic. Here the individual is called Vyashti and cosmic can be called
as Samashti. The vision of Vyashti concerns over an individual and the
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vision of Samashti concerns over the welfare of society. If a person is

concerns only about his individuality, he can be called as selfish. The
objective of his life would be serving of society. Everyone should begin
with their own family and then they should go gradually to the society.
Any person who only looks about himself not also to his family is in a
danger. They use their family for their own needs and they do not know
the real meaning of love. Their life is dry and lonely and they can be said
to be in wrong path
The cosmic view concerns about the love and welfare of all the people. A
person who sensitizes others or taking care of others needs has a heart
full of love and peace. He considers others as his family and takes care of
their needs. The main aspect in Dharma is to be sensitive to others. When
a person does a good act towards any others he expects the same from
others and they do the same. This increases the goodness in society
So Vyashti and Samashti are different ways of looking the world. Even though this Cosmic view
visible as greater virtue of love and peace, both Vyashti and Samashti should go together. Both
are independent on another because in Samashti the welfare of all refers also to the welfare of the
individual. Here the individual is the unit of all. So both the Dharma should go hand in hand

9. Rashtra dharma
The efforts one used to put for the development of their Rashtra (Nation)
is known as Rashtra dharma

The essence of Hindu Dharma

 Hindu dharma is not a set of blind facts but it is the combination of reason and faith
which insights into reality.
 Hindu dharma is monotheistic religiously. It only recognizes one supreme spirit but that
one supreme spirit has different names.
 Hindu dharma does not restrict any person to examine, reflect and inquire and it accepts
all forms of beliefs. So all types of beliefs, faiths, worship and rituals found in Hindu
dharma.
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 Hindu dharma teaches man to strive for perfect as it says that the final aim of a person is
to attain Moksha which can and will be done by being perfect in their life
 It teaches one should do the work regardless of the result. Here the performance of work
is duty and the desire for the result should be irrelevant. In social services this principle
should be applied because in social service one should not expect the personal benefit to
perform the work
 Hindu dharma concentrates mainly on truth and reality rather than beliefs. Hindu dharma
never restricts the freedom of thought and feeling of man
 Hindu dharma says that there will be rebirth of a person and for every life the soul gets a
new body. This soul passes from one body to another body based on the merits and
demerits of previous lives. This cycle is interlinked to the karma of the person and one
can attain moksha when all the lessons of life are learned. The goal of Hindu dharma is to
attain Moksha. Hindu Dharma mainly concentrates on conduct of the person not on the
beliefs of person. So the quality of Hindu dharma is to respect for others creeds

VEDAS
Hindu dharma is existed due to the teachings of the Vedas. These are the source and authority of
Hindu dharma. In world parliament of religions in Chicago Swami Vivekananda said that the
Vedas have no beginning and no end. This means that they are the collection of laws by the
people at different times. Even before discovering of Vedas people would perform it and this
Vedas would act even the entire universe forget their existence. The credit for discovering of
Vedas goes to the Rishis and those rishis were considered as perfect human beings. These Vedas
are so fresh till today because it is interpreting by the rishis every time based on the
contemporary situations. The term “Veda” is a Sanskrit word which means knowledge. These are
written in four books namely Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. According to
some sources Vedas are written before four thousand years. Rishis believe that Vedas are
considered as the treasury of spiritual truths which were revealed to them by the god. As the
Rishis consider these Vedas are the revealed truths they were called as Shrutis which means
heard. These Vedas contain fundamental and basic principles of Hindu dharma. Ramakrishna
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Paramahamsa once said that Vedas do not contain any God but they give the knowledge about
god
Every Veda contains a part known as Karma Kanda which explains about Rituals. This karma
Kanda again divided into three parts namely Samhita, Brahmana and Aranyaka and the
remaining part of Vedas were called as Jnana Kanda or Upanishads or Vedanta which explains
about the knowledge

Rig Veda
It is considered as oldest among four Vedas it has ten books or mandalas. In this Veda some of
the mandalas are devoted to some of the Rishis for example 2nd mandala is devoted to the Rishi
Gritsamada, the 3rd to Vishvamitra and 4th to Vamadeva and the sixth to Bharadvaja and the fifth
to Atri and the 9th to Soma. Purusha Sukta theory was found in 10th mandala. Rig Veda has three
groups the first one dealt with gods like Indra, Agni and Varuna. The second group dealt with the
parts like the origin of universe and the third dealt with subjects like marriages and wars.
According to this Veda there are 33 dieties who are under the 3 gods namely Prithvi, Vayu and
Anthariksha. According to this Veda the truth is one but the Rishis call it by different names
.

Sama Veda
This Veda is also known as holy book of songs. These songs are sung by Udgatris at the time of
performance of yagas. This Veda mainly concentrated on performance of rituals. This Veda is
considered as the way to reach the god through songs. Nearly 1875 Verses are present in Sama
Veda. Sama Veda is divided into three parts namely Purva Archika, Uttara Archika and Maha
Namni Archika and this Purva Archika is divided in to four kandas namely Agneya Kanda,
Aindra kanda and Pavmana Kanda. The Purva Archika and Uttara Archika has twobtypes of song
manuals

Yajur Veda
This Veda is the collection of Yajus which means mantras and which are useful for performing of
Sacrifices. This Veda is also deals about the rituals and duties of the priest who performs
sacrifices. This Veda has 1975 verses and forty chapters. Mainly this Veda deals about praying or
pleasing the god through the sacrifices. The contents in this Veda are the mantras regarding the
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rituals and sacrifices (killing of animals). Some of the Yagnas in this Veda is Agnistoma,
Vajapeya and Rajasuya.

Atharva Veda
Atharva Veda is the last Vedas in the list. This Veda is contributed by the sages Angria and
Atharvan. It has different aspects like Kingship, marriage etc. Atharva Veda discusses about the
tantric system which mentions about mantras to approach the benefit. This Veda also talks about
the Varna system and the prayers regarding the health and long life

Condition of Hindu society before Buddha

The spread of Buddhism and other religions were due to the conditions of Hindu society at the
time of birth of Gautama Buddha. The society at that time lost its charm and many superstitions
were prevail in the society. Even though Kshatriyas were kings, Brahmins ruled the society.
They tried to benefit from the people as much as possible. The Brahmins interpreted the Vedas in
such a way that mantras can control everything. It was believed that the mantras can bring the
victory or defeat in the war. These mantras were also used by the Brahmanas who did not
possess any knowledge. The use of mantras everywhere increased the beliefs of superstitions in
the society and the normal people could not make these superstitions a part of their lives as it
deals with a lot of money. These Brahmanas through the wealth possessed by them corrupted the
society and developed many bad qualities. At that time the society was suffering from the evil
practices of caste system in which the sudras were discriminated and condemned. The Vaishyas
and Kshatriyas also hated the supremacy of Brahmins even though they possess physical force
and wealth. At that time for these people Buddhism showed the way to made their appearance

History of Buddhism
The word Buddhism means devotion for Buddha this means the enlightened one or the awakened
one. There are many Buddhas in our society according to Buddhist texts but the most common
Buddha we know or we talk about is Gautama Buddha. He was born in a royal family which
ruled kapilvastu now Nepal at time 490 B.C.E., According to Buddhist texts he was born when
his mother queen Mahamaya was travelling to her parental home Devadaha to give birth to her
child. On that way , she gave birth to the child at a place now known as Lumbini. His father
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name was Suddhodana and he invited some scholars to name him and they named the baby boy
as Siddharta. After his birth her mother was died and he was nutured by his aunt. He grow up in
the luxuries and he was married to a girl named Yashodhara. At age 29 he went out of the palace
with his charioteer Channa to know about the real world. He had seen four sights which were a
sick man crying with pain, an old suffering or weakened due to age, a dead man whose corpse
were taken for cremation and also a roaming sanyasi. He became so sad and decided to leave his
place, his wife and his son to know about the real life, sufferings and solutions. He practiced
asceticism. He practiced this asceticism for six years and realized that luxury and starvation
won’t give the reality of life and followed a path known as meditation. He meditated under a
Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya and gained enlightenment and he became the enlightened one
(Buddha). He gave his first teachings to some of the ascetics who later became the first disciples
of him. He spread his teachings for forty five years when the Brahmans were dominating the
society. He rejected the concepts of sacrifices and caste system. So it was opened to all classes
Buddha became a teacher and attracted many people to follow his ideas. As many people joined,
a community with certain rules and regulations were formed. Buddha never proclaimed himself
as the leader of the community that’s why he had not appointed any successor of the community.
He encouraged the affected people because of Brahmins to follow his teachings (Dharma).

Teachings of Buddha
Buddha through his teachings and lectures spread his beliefs for 45 years. His teaching
method was unique and different from others. He travelled around the villages and cities with
his disciples and followers and spread his ideas. He was fed by local followers and in the
afternoon he gave the time for meditation and instruction. He followed four noble sutras
which says or explains that the pain in our life can be removed by removing desires in our
life
1. The first sutra is the existence of sorrow which explains that every one’s life has sorrow
and pain
2. The second sutra is cause of the sorrow which says that the cause for all evils in our life
is desire so it must be removed
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3. The third sutra is sorrowing can be prevented by removing the desires in our life the end
of sorrow gives the perfect happiness
4. The fourth sutra explains about the way to obtain happiness and elimination of desires.
He said that the main evil is not the desire but the evil is selfish desire. Buddha gave
moral rules for right living. They are
 Let no murder should take place
 Let not think about the things which we do not posses
 Let no person speak falsely
 Let no one drink intoxicating drinks
 Let no one have illicit relationship
Let a man overcome evil by good and anger by kindness
Buddha did not concentrate on rituals and sacrifices but concentrated on the efforts or
conduct and he was also not bothered about the caste system he accepted all the people in
to the Buddhism

Causes of spread of Buddhism

1. The important cause for the spread of teachings of Buddha was simplicity. The
teachings of Buddha is nothing but a simple code of conduct which is different
from Hindu dharma which needs a lot of money and the people were tired of
rituals and sacrifices of Brahmanas
2. The teachings of Buddha were in Pali language which can be understood by many
people easily when compared to difficult language of Veda
3. It did not consider about caste system. The people who followed the teachings of
Buddha were considered as equal and they did not show any discrimination
towards the other followers like in Hindu dharma Brahmanas showed towards the
Sudras
4. The personality of Buddha was also the main reason for the spread of Buddhism.
Buddha travelled many places and attracted people. The people were also
attracted to his teachings because of his personality
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5. Another important reason is the followers and disciples were also played an
important role in spreading of Buddhism. The goal of their life is to spread their
ideology
6. Many kings also played a vital role in spreading of Buddhism. Some of them were
Asoka, Kanishka and harsha. Not only in India these kings they spread these
teachings to the other countries also
7. At that time there was only one important religion i.e. Hinduism, as the people
opposed this dharma the other alternative to them is Buddhism. That means non
development of big rivals like Islam and Christianity led to the migration of
people from Hinduism to Buddhism

Comparison between Hinduism and Buddhism

Some historians say that Buddhism is an offshoot of Hinduism. Buddhism and Hinduism
originated in this subcontinent and have a common, long relationship. This relationship is similar
to the relationship between Christianity and Judaism. Buddha was born in a Hindu family as like
Jesus was born in Jewish family. Buddhism became popular because it helped to stop the
oppression of Hindu traditions. The conduct, teachings and practices i.e. Dharma became the
hope of some people who was dominated by the caste system. Even though there are
fundamental differences between Hinduism and Buddhism both are influenced each other in
many ways
Before the enlightenment, the Buddha was nurtured in a Hindu family. Before practicing
Buddhism to clear his doubts he approached the Hindu gurus to get the reasons and solutions for
suffering of human beings. Buddha also followed the techniques of Hindu dharma like practicing
meditation. After enlightenment, he allowed some Brahmins and Kshatriyas to Buddhism
without any probation which was necessary for some people. He said to his disciples to treat
them with dignity as they have the good knowledge about the previous Dharma
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BUDDHISM HINDUISM
Buddhists reject the idea of that god is There are many gods according
present everywhere. Buddha himself to Hinduism but they believe that
rejected that a self-conscious, personal all are from the atman i.e. from
Belief of God
God created the universe. the soul of a person

The practices in Buddhism were, the Some of the practices in Hindu

Eightfold Path, Meditation, right dharma were the Meditation,
Practices aspiration right effort, right mindfulness, Yagnas (communal worship),
right concentration. There are no Yagnas offerings in the temple and
As compared to Hinduism sacrifices

Buddhism was originated in Indian The place of origin of Hinduism

Place of origin
subcontinent was also the Indian Subcontinent

They believe in rebirth of the persons and .They also believe that life is a
believe that life is a cycle which starts cycle of birth and death ant main
from birth and ends with death. This cycle aim is to stop this cycle which is
Life after death
cane be stopped by attaining Nirvana and called attainment of Moksha
their belief is that through Nirvana they
can escape from suffering called life.
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According to the available

The founder of Buddhism was Siddhartha
Founder sources there is no particular
Who was later called as Buddha
founder

The people who lived near river

Sindhu were called Hindus and
Literal Meaning The literal meaning of Buddhism was
their practices were called as
teachings and practices of Buddha Hindu Dharma

It consists of male and female monks Brahmanas and Rishis spread

Who helps in spreading of beliefs the concepts and practices
Priesthood

Buddha is considered as highest teacher Some Hindus believe that

View on
and founder of Buddhism Buddha was the avatar of Vishnu
Gautama
Buddha

Some of the literature was tripitaka which

was composed in 3 sections i.e. the There is a vast literature in Hindu
Discourses, the Discipline and the dharma some of them are Vedas,
Literature Commentaries, and other literature was Upanishad, Puranas.
Ghandara texts
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The followers of Buddhism were called as The followers of Hinduism

Buddhists called as Hindus.
Followers

Many Buddhists followed Pali and The original language of

Original Sanskrit language Hindus were Sanskrit
Language(s)

At first women were also given

Women were treated equally with men equal rights to men. But later

Status of women and also allowed to spread the teachings men became supreme in Hindu
society

It is not a mandatory to marry. But their At first there is no polygamy

Marriage
dharma explains the way to have a good later it was prevalent. Kings
married life often married more than one
woman.

There is the strong influence in some of

People in India, Nepal and
the countries like China, Sri lanka, India,
Mauritius believe Hindu Dharma.
Geographical Nepal, Hong Kong, Bhutan, Tibet,
It Has significant population in
distribution and Myanmar (Burma), Korea, Japan, Laos,
Bhutan also
predominance Vietnam, Mongolia, Singapore, Taiwan

All the other Dharmas were rejected Hindus believe that Dharma of
View on other
Buddhism, Jainism are also part
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Dharmas of Hinduism

The goal is to eliminate the sufferings in The goal is to attain the freedom
Goal of life from cycle of birth
Philosophy

According to Hindu dharma the

Confessing of Sin is not a Buddhist unintentional sins can be
dharma repented but not the intentional
Confessing sins
sins

The time of origin is 3000 before

The time of origin is nearly 2500 BCE
christ
Time of origin

The approximate population is 500-600 The approximate population is

million nearly 1 Billion.
Population

Some of the symbols were endless knot,

fish, lotus, conch, vase, dharma chakra Important symbols were swastika
(Wheel of Dharma), parasol, and victory and Om
Symbols
banner.

The origin of Buddhism depends on birth The place of origin is Indian

Place of origin
of Siddhartha Gautama, the historical sub-continent
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Buddha, who was born in Lumbini now

Nepal. He enlightened at Bodhgaya which
is in India and gave his first teachings in
Sarnath which is in India

Vedas are considered as sacred

Status of Vedas Vedas were rejected by the Buddhists
literature of Hindus

Some other comparisons are

 The original Buddhism is known as Theravada Buddhism or Hinayana Buddhism as
taught by the Buddha. The followers do not worship Buddha's images, nor do they
believe in the Bodhisattvas. The Mahayana religion views the Buddha as the Ultimate
Soul or the Holy Being, as like the Hindu Brahman and adores him in the form of
pictures and symbols.
 Hindu dharma believes in four stages of life but Buddha dharma do not believe those four
stages
 Even though both the religions believe in karma and rebirth the manner to attain them is
so different

Conclusion
We could conclude that after the death of Buddha, Buddhism was considered as an
integral part of Hinduism. But later it went out to the outside world which was affected
by the geographical diversity and tradition and became one of the most important and
influential religions in the world but there is a deep connection between Hinduism and
Buddhism
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Bibliography
Books
 Buddhism a short history by Edward Conze
 Ancient India by V.D. Mahajan

Websites
 www.diffen.com/difference/Buddhism_vs_Hinduism
 http://www.vmission.org.in/vedanta/articles/v-s.htm
 https://www.scribd.com/read/384055441/Hindu-Dharma-
Introduction-to-Scriptures-and-Theology
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