Most historians believe that Aryans were aliens who destroyed the pre-Vedic civilization and culture of India. The Vedic Aryans had obliterated every remnant of Buddhism and that is why Al Baruni wrote in his book Indology (AD1030) that he could not meet a single Buddhist monk nor could he lay his hands upon any Buddhist text. For want of historical or archaeological evidence, Francois Bernier, in his book Travels in the Mughal Empire 1656-1668, could write only one sentence on Buddhism while Abul Fazal did not even mention it in his Akbarnama. But in the modern age, Dr Ambedkar and many other scholars have written important books on Buddhism.
Now the Hindi translation of Swapna Kumar Das’s book, Buddhism: The Religion of Mohenjodaro and Harappa Cities, has been published under the title Bauddha Dharma: Mohenjodaro, Harappa Nagaron Ka Dharma. Well-known Dalit litterateur Satya Prakash has translated the book.
Quoting historical documents, edicts, archaeological evidence and religious, traditional and cultural practices, Vishwas has proved that Buddhism was the predominant religion in pre-Vedic India. The book is divided into 12 chapters, dealing with Buddhism, its philosophy, the struggle between Brahmanism and Buddhism and the history of the rise and fall of Buddhism. In the first chapter ‘Discovery of India’, Vishwas contends that Buddhism was the religion of Mohenjodaro and Harappa – the cities which the Aryans overran. “They destroyed all evidence of their crime of obliterating a culture” (Page 5). The writer says that a comparatively progressive Buddhism did not surrender before Brahmanism easily but was crushed in the most cruel manner. He writes, “The basic tenets of Hinduism are anti-people, discriminatory and oppressive” (Page 13) whereas “Buddhist Dhamma is a liberal religion, propounding universal brotherhood” (Page 37). That is why, the invading Aryans destroyed the Buddhist Dhamma of the original inhabitants and thrust Hinduism upon them so that they could build a “permanent machinery” of exploitation and oppression.
The book’s preface talks about the 28 Buddhas and the evidence for them. The history of the 27 Buddhas who pre-dated Siddhartha Gautam has been destroyed in India but it is safe in Sri Lanka. Dr Gunratna, a Buddhist monk, brought the information about 28 Buddhas from Sri Lanka to India. Vishwas links the Brahmanical ban on “crossing the seas” with the fear of “expansion of Buddhism” because the Brahmins knew that history of Buddhism was safe and available abroad. An entire chapter of the book is devoted to the revival of Buddhism in modern India and elaborates on the efforts made by Anagrik Dharmapal, Dr Ambedkar, Rahul Sankrityayan, etc in this direction.
All in all, this book is quite useful for those interested in history and for Bahujan activists.
Title : Baudhha Dharma: Mohenjodaro, Harappa Nagaron Ka Dharma
Author: Swapan Kumar Vishwas
Hindi Translation : Satyaprakash
Published : Gautam Book Centre, New Delhi
Phone : 9810173661
Published in the October 2014 issue of the Forward Press magazine
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