Stressing on the need for digging into history and unearthing the facts about Buddhism in the country, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge questioned why the Krishna, the banks of which provided a lot of clues on Buddha, was neglected in historical research as compared to the Ganga, the Yamuna, and the Cauvery.
“History is hidden sometimes. It is unearthed some other times. It is also distorted often. Numerous archaeological evidences found along the banks of the Krishna and its tributary the Bhima indicated that Buddhism flourished in southern India. But, there is no further research to unearth more facts about Buddhism and reconstruct its history. Our mythology has plenty of references to the Ganga, the Yamuna, and the Cauvery and it hardly had any reference to the Krishna and the Bhima,” Mr. Kharge said.
He was speaking at the celebration of the 2568th Vaishakha Purnima, the birth anniversary of Gautam Buddha at Buddha Vihar on the outskirts of Kalaburagi on Thursday.
“King Nagarjuna was a great patron to thousands of Buddhist monks. When he faced stiff resistance to his patronage of Buddhism, he sent the monks to China, Tibet, and other countries. We must pick up such history, which is hitherto hidden, and pass it on to the next generation, no matter what resistance we face,” Mr. Kharge said.
Expressing his discontentment over the poor response to Buddhist thoughts in India, Mr. Kharge said that the number of foreigners visiting Sarnath was more than Indians visiting the place.
“People from Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other countries increasingly visit Sarnath. How many people from India are visiting the place which is just 16 km from Varanasi? It is the place where Gautama Buddha taught his first sermon to his five disciples after attaining enlightenment at Bodh Gaya,” he said.
Upholding the Buddha as a great philosopher and social reformer who enlightened the world with his revolutionary and scientific thoughts, Mr. Kharge, who is the founder of Buddha Vihar Trust in Kalaburagi, called upon the people understand, internalise, and follow Buddhist philosophy to get enlightened and lead a more humane life.
“We all must read, understand and internalise Buddha. Those who follow Buddha will be enlightened and lead a meaningful life. All religions have a bunch of fairytales and legendary stories. The followers of those religions exaggerated them to impress the people. However, Buddha had never lied. There was no exaggeration in Buddhist stories. All his words are facts and based on real-life experiences. His philosophy is rational and scientific. This is what exactly Basavanna [the 12th-century social reformer and poet in Karnataka] had advocated through his Vachanas [poems]. We need to think of and follow such scientific and progressive ideologies to lead more meaningful life,” Mr. Kharge said.
The event was attended by Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil, MLAs Allamprabhu Patil and M.Y. Patil, MLC Tippannappa Kamaknur and Congress leader Jagadev Guttedar.
Apart from Mr. Kharge’s wife Radhabai and several Buddhist monks arrived from different places.
“Buddha never advised his followers or the people at large what to be done and what not to be done. He never said he was a god. He simply went on to share his experiences. Buddha is regarded as the ninth incarnation of Vishnu. Is Buddha receiving the same treatment that Rama, Krishna, Parashuram, and other deities who were regarded as the other incarnations of Vishnu are receiving? When we had raised such valid questions, Prime Minister Modi alleged that we are making divisions between deities,” Mr. Kharge said.
Writer H.R. Swamy, who gave a special lecture on Buddha and his thoughts, said that Albert Einstein, who was regarded as the greatest scientist of all times, had termed Buddhism as the religion based on scientific foundation.
“The Buddhist thoughts are the basis for the revolutionary and progressive thoughts of the 12th century reformer Basavanna and Mahatma Gandhi,” he said.
