Buddhism And Hinduism: Differences

Buddhism and Hinduism can be treated as cousins sharing the same cultural and philosophical parentage. While the Buddhist population extends to 600 million in number, people belonging to the Hindu community are estimated to be 1 billion.

People who have faith in Hinduism consider Buddhism as its branch that grew in the humanitarian direction to shed light on the concepts that were not treated with due importance in Hinduism in that era, whereas Buddha fought against the misconceptions that certain Hindus nursed and created a revolution with his concepts and sermons. Although Buddha was of a Hindu order of birth, Buddhism slightly differs in handling various concepts comparatively speaking. Know about the difference between these two religions.

1. Buddha's Birth And Life

Buddha means enlightened one and he is known to have reached that state in the middle of his life. Buddha considered himself a Hindu prince, which he was originally in his earlier Ashram, but changed into an enlightened universal and perfect human who rose to sainthood through his constant inquiry into truth and practice of it. His life is representative of the evolution of a human being stage by stage towards an enlightened state of being.

2. Atheism vs Polytheism

Buddhism in comparison with Hinduism has several differences. Firstly, Buddha himself did not find the thought of an omniscient, omnipotent creator acceptable, whereas Hinduism is polytheistic with many gods, originating from one source, that is Para Brahma. Buddhism is a religion that does not include the belief in a god that is immortal or eternally divine.

3. Aryans vs Buddhists

Buddhism has a founder namely Buddha whereas Hinduism is not founded by anyone as it is a way of life that has been in practice from several yugas. Those who adhere to the philosophical tenets taught by buddha are called Buddhists. Those who adhere to the Vedic precepts and way of life are called Aryans. Anyone who follows the Vedic way of life is an Aryan. Buddha did not believe in the existence of the Vedas which Hinduism does not agree to. Vedas are the paramount source of primordial knowledge and a repository of universal information.

4. Association Of Languages

The Theravada tradition follows the Pali language whereas the Mahayana and Vajrayana follow Sanskrit. The history of Hinduism is interwoven with the Sanskrit language from time immemorial. Hindus call Sanskrit as Devanagari, meaning, the language of the gods. This was handed down to the current generation by oral traditions.

5. Concept of Marriage

Marriage is not compulsorily prescribed for Buddhist monks although it extols the importance of having a stable and harmonious married life for a married man. Hindus prescribe monogamy but in the past, there are instances of several kings marrying more than one person. Buddhism has only one prescribed festival of Vesak whereas Hindus have several festivals each commemorating the victory of the good over evil.

6. Sacred Scriptures

Tripitaka (a sacred Buddhist text) is a canonised text composed of three sections namely the Discourses, the Discipline and the Commentaries, and some early scriptures, whereas Hinduism has a vast array of scriptures like Vedas, Upanishad, Puranas, Gita. Smrti and Srutis. Buddhism believes in reaching nirvana by following an eight-fold path whereas Hinduism propounds several ways or avenues of karma, bhakti, gnana and yoga that lead to one God. The primary goal of Buddhism was to end the suffering of the mind whereas Hinduism follows the concept of moksha, the deathless and birthless state that is devoid of problems of reincarnation.

7. Meaning Of Sin

Buddhism does not believe in the idea of sin as it dubs it as a human weakness that has to be overcome. Both Buddhism and Hinduism share the basic common beliefs of the afterlife for their people. Hindu scriptures talk about sin and the repentance process that needs to be observed after committing sin. It believes sin is the cause of rebirths and deaths.

8. Racism And Humanitarian Approach

Buddha was more of a humanitarian who did not believe in discriminating against individuals based on the order of their birth. Hinduism believes in categorising people based on their evolution in terms of values and the nature of their karma.

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