1
Marxists like D.N. Jha falsified history to demonize Hindus as fanatics who burnt Nalanda's library. A further scrutiny of his cited references reveal blatant distortion of historical references. In reality, Buddhist sources themselves state that Hindus helped the Buddhists.
2
Arun Shourie took Jha to task in a brilliant rebuttal, but an unrepentant Jha stubbornly quoted a new source - 16th c. Tibetan scholar Taranatha’s “History of Buddhism in India” from which he cites an excerpt of two Tirthikas whom he claims are Hindu fanatics burning Nalanda.
3
Jha’s claims Tirthikas are Hindus, but the word Tirthika was used to describe any non-Buddhist, from Jains to foreign heretics who even fought Pushyamitra Sunga. Crucially Taranatha’s work itself reveals the unexpected clue that Jha deliberately left out to distort history.
4
Taranatha first describes the history of Sri Nalendra (Nalanda) in elaborate detail as a monastery where “more than a 1000 Brahmans & an equal number of Tirthikas took up ordination” This clearly proves that in Taranatha’s context Tirthikas & Hindu Brahmanas were NOT the same.
5
In chapter 20, Taranatha describes the king’s minister holding an inaugral feast at a temple in Nalanda, where Buddhist Sramanas bullied two Tirthika beggars & unleashed dogs on them. This angered them so much that they practiced austerities to gain Siddhis & take revenge.
6
After 12 years the Tirthika attained Siddhis, & performed a fire worship whose ashes produced fire which burnt down Nalanda & its libraries. But the word used is Tibetan "sbyin-sreg", which means burnt offerings after fire puja performed by Tibetan Buddhists even today.
7
Miraculously, water extinguished the fire at Ratnodadhi temple & saved several Tantric manuscripts. The Tirthikas ran away to Assam but were consumed by their own magical fire. Clearly the Tirthikas were not Hindu Brahmanas & nor was the fire that they created a Vedic Yajna.
8
However the most crucial part that Jha cleverly edited out in his excerpt is at the end of the story where Taranatha says that the Nalanda “temples damaged by the fire were reconstructed by King Buddhapaksa, the BRAHMANA Shanku, the BRAHMANA Brihaspati & many householders.”
9
In the next chapter, Tarantha further describes how this same Brahmana Shanku knew esoteric magic about Nagas & was a devout Hindu who built a Garuda Stambha. Thus there is no question that he is referring to a Hindu Brahmana.
10
This is conclusive proof that not only were Hindus not involved in the burning of Nalanda & its libraries, but it was Brahmanas who reconstructed & rebuilt the structures at Nalanda after the fire. This decisively busts Jha’s lies about Hindu fanatics persecuting Buddhists.
11
This is corroborated by Tibetan Buddhist monk Dharmasvamin (1235 AD) who visited Nalanda & Bihar a few years after Khalji’s destruction. He describes Hindus giving alms to Buddhist monks & a Brahmana named Jayadeva saving the last Buddhist abbot of Nalanda from a Muslim attack
12
Ramasimha the Hindu Raja of Tirhut even asked Dharmasvamin to become his chaplain. And even when he refused, the Hindu king respectfully showered him with valuable presents. This was the true face of Hindus, who despite debate & conflict lived harmoniously with Buddhists.
13
Virulent Hinduphobes like Jha tried to transpose an utterly false picture of intolerance & fanaticism upon Hindus, to justify violent iconoclasm & savagery of Islamic invaders who destroyed Hindu, Buddhist & Jain temples & massacred millions to establish supremacy of Islam.
14
Even after passing on in 2021, Jha's legacy of malevolence lives on & is used by Hinduism’s enemies to demonize our history. That’s why it is important to thoroughly scrutinize the claims of such distorians to shame & expose their malicious agenda.
References:
Tāranātha's History of Buddhism in India. India, Motilal Banarsidass, 1990.
Roerich, George. "Biography of Dharmasvamin." (1959).
Mishra, Ram Kumar. “Pushyamitra Sunga & the Buddhists.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 73 (2012)
kafila.online/2014/07/09/how…
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