Hindu Dharma And Buddha’s Dhamma – Same Or Different?

By Author: Chaitanya Kumari
Total Articles: 135
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The topic of Hindu dharma vs Buddha’s dhamma is very important. A lot of literature on this topic causes much confusion. Firstly, Gautam Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, agreed with most aspects of Hindu dharma.

This reality is contrary to what is opined by many articles found on the Internet. However, Buddha never rejected Hindu dharma in totality. Further, the Dhammapada are the words and teachings of Gautam Buddha. The word Dhamma is denotes the words and actions of Gautam Buddha and is central to Buddhism. Later in this article, we discuss the areas where Gautam Buddha differed.

The key thing to note is that Gautam Buddha, just disagreed with a few facets of Hindu Dharma, as it was practiced in his time. Hinduism being a way of life that changes over time, has undergone few major changes since then.

Changes in Hinduism and Buddism since times of Gautam Buddha
Hindus have discontinued animal sacrifice, especially in Vedic yajnas. Hinduism today is much different from the times of Gautam Buddha. Today, Upasana or personal worship is probably the most popular form of Hindu practice. Popularity of ...
... Upasana worship in Hinduism is a post-Buddha development. The same is the case with Hindu Devalayams, mandirs, or temples – they have replaced the yajna form of worship in popularity.

In the 8th century AD, Adi Sankaracharya did much reform and purification of the practice of Hinduism. His sishyas or disciples championed the same vigorously for centuries after he departed this world. In addition, various other Hindu sects and mathas have continued the Hindu reform in their own way and Hinduism is much different from the times of Gautam Buddha.

Buddism too has changed much since the times of Gautam Buddha and has developed into many sects like Terayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. The original Buddhism is called Terayana Buddhism. Terayana Buddhism is called Hinayana by later sects of Buddhists – where the word ‘hinam’ has a negative connotation. For this reason, the Terayana Buddhists prefer to use the word ‘Terayana’ to identify themselves. This write-up attempts to understand the aspects of Gautam Buddha’s Dhamma that are in alignment with Hindu Dharma.

Hindu Dharma
We have a basic understanding of a few salient concepts of Hindu Dharma. It is only then that the commonalities between Hinduism and Buddhism can be understood. Firstly, Dharma is the cornerstone of Hinduism, it is based on cosmic principles and is not based on one individual’s teachings or faith. Dharma is something that upholds the Universe. On the topic of upholding, the word dhamma also has the same meaning.

What is dharma is not something that can be defined in a few words as it is something that upholds the world and various actions of humans in different situations help in upholding it. A human being’s judgment of dharma gets clouded due to their vested interest and as such the clarity of dharma eludes when a person falls for such temptations. This is a separate discussion.

Gautam Buddha must have held dharma in high regard to use a very similar word for his main teachings. Gautam Buddha was born a Hindu to a royal family, he was a student of Vedic Vidya as was the case for most princes in his time. Gautam Buddha must have spent 12 years in a gurukul to master the Hindu Vedic education.

Then comes Gautam Buddha’s focus on the concept of “Karma” in his teachings – again a Hindu concept or law conveying that an individual cannot escape facing the consequences of their actions, both good and bad. Good deeds lead to positive outcomes and bad actions make the individual face unpleasant situations. “Atman,” or soul, is one more pivotal concept in Hindu dharma. It states that a soul is the actual self of a human being; it is everlasting. Atman undergoes the cycle of “birth-death-birth” until it attains “Moksha,” also known as salvation.

Dharma and Dhamma – A comparison
Let us now compare Hindu Dharma and Buddhist Dhamma, with a focus mainly on similarities.

Many salient concepts of Hinduism became integral parts of “Dhamma,” though with some variations. As an example, the teachings of Buddha covered many noble aspects of dharma and karma, too.
Even the “Dhamma” of Lord Buddha includes detailed teachings on the consequences of good and bad karma. Likewise, the Dhamma encourages people to inculcate virtues like compassion, purity, and integrity. The significance of these noble traits is explained in various scriptures of Hindu Dharma.
Just like Hinduism, even Buddhism proclaims that salvation is the highest goal in the spiritual journey of a person. The only difference is that salvation is termed “Nirvana” in Dhamma, and it’s called “Moksha” in Hindu Dharma.
Buddhism urges its adherents to follow practices like mindfulness and meditation to progress spiritually. Many Hindu texts elaborate on the relevance of meditation, as well, which goes with the name “dhyana” in Dharma.
Buddha was against Vedic rites and rituals where animal sacrifice was included. Compassion towards all life forms and non-violence were the fundamental tenets of “Buddhist Dhamma.” There is abundant historical evidence to substantiate the fact that sacrificing animals was indeed widely prevalent in that era. Lord Buddha taught that the actual sacrifice is when individuals perform charitable acts and are compassionate towards all living creatures.
It is evident that the Dhamma rejected the concept of “Atman,” at least as interpreted in Hindu scriptures. In the same way, Lord Buddha was overall silent on the subject of the existence of God. He taught his disciples to seek their own salvation, without depending on any external authority.
Buddha vehemently criticized the Brahmanical authority where the Brahmins considered themselves sole guardians of the Vedas and all other scriptures. Buddha’s teachings included the point that spiritual growth is not connected to the social background or caste of a person.
Buddha never adopted an anti-Brahmanical or anti-Hindu stance. His objections primarily was against animal sacrifice for vedic rituals. Secondly, he wanted the wisdom and clarity of the Vedic knowledge to be available to the common man to help the lay person with their salvation not restricted to the Brahmins. Since, the framework of Hindu practice prevented that he gave it away to lay persons against the practice of that time. He never generalized that Hinduism or Brahmins are not worthy of respect.

However, Buddhism changed much after Gautam Buddha. If the teachings of Gautam Buddha himself are referred negatively as Hinayana by later Buddhists and many of his teachings were not followed, it conveys how Buddhist has changed after Gautam Buddha left this world. It will not be any surprise if such sects refer negatively against Brahmins or Hinduism, much against Gautam Buddha’s teachings.

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