Does Buddhism have Central Eurasian roots?

[Jacques de Imbelloni]

by Johannes Bronkhorst, Lausanne

This paper deals with one aspect of Christopher Beckwith’s
claim (Empires of the Silk Road) that most of the classical civili-
zations of Eurasia have Central Eurasian roots by concentrating
on Buddhism. The wide-spread use of stūpas and similar tumuli
in the subcontinent is taken as a possible continuation of a Cen-
tral Eurasian custom. The conclusion reached is that it is diffi-
cult to establish the connection between the Central Eurasian
and the South Asian customs with certainty.

There can be no doubt that Central Eurasia exerted an influence on Indian
religions. The fact that the Vedic language is Indo-European reveals its
prehistoric connection with Central Eurasia, as do various features of Ve-
dic mythology.
The situation is less straightforward in the case of Buddhism. The funda-
mental doctrinal position without which Buddhism would not have arisen
is the belief in rebirth and karmic retribution. Buddhism shares this belief
with Jainism and other religious movements. Indologists thought for a long
time that the belief in rebirth and karmic retribution arose in Vedic circles
as a result of inner-Vedic religious developments. Seen this way, Buddhism
and Jainism are expressions of developments in and of Vedic religion. If,
therefore, Vedic religion shows clear traces of its ultimately Central Eura-
sian origins, Buddhism and Jainism are no more than further continuations
of developments that can in the end be traced back to Central Eurasia.

I have argued in other publications that this picture of the background of
Buddhism and Jainism is not correct. The belief in rebirth and karmic re-
tribution did not develop inside Vedic religion. It rather existed, at the be-
ginning of historical time, outside it in a region where Vedic religion held
Does Buddhism have Central Eurasian roots?
149
no sway; this region I call Greater Magadha. In that region Buddhism and
Jainism arose as responses to the there wide-spread belief in rebirth and kar
-
mic retribution. Subsequently this same belief also came to influence Vedic
religion, and finds therefore expression in a few late-Vedic texts.
2
This leaves us with the question where we have to look to find the roots
of Buddhism (and Jainism). Since the languages in which these religions
found expression were Indo-Aryan from the beginning, we are tempted
to look for Central Eurasian roots for these religions, too. Since both the-
se religions are responses to the belief in rebirth and karmic retribution,
one would like to know whether this belief was already held by at least
some speakers of Indo-European languages before they entered India. To
my knowledge, there is no convincing way to answer this question either
positively or negatively.

However, there are other features of Central Eurasian Culture that may
have been continued in Buddhism. I am thinking of the defining feature of
the so-called Kurgan hypothesis, which “remains the single most popular
solution to the Indo-European homeland problem”

According to this hypothesis, the tumuli, also called kurgans,
that have been found in Central Eurasia, belonged to speakers of Indo-
European languages. The hypothesis I wish to consider is that these same
kurgans were the ancestors of Buddhist stūpas.

full article:
https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serv...22846.P001/REF

[Saleko]

of course it has

http://thaimangoes.blogspot.rs/2009/08/h9.html

[palawanaman]

by Johannes Bronkhorst, Lausanne

This paper deals with one aspect of Christopher Beckwith’s
claim (Empires of the Silk Road) that most of the classical civili-
zations of Eurasia have Central Eurasian roots by concentrating
on Buddhism. The wide-spread use of stūpas and similar tumuli
in the subcontinent is taken as a possible continuation of a Cen-
tral Eurasian custom. The conclusion reached is that it is diffi-
cult to establish the connection between the Central Eurasian
and the South Asian customs with certainty.

There can be no doubt that Central Eurasia exerted an influence on Indian
religions. The fact that the Vedic language is Indo-European reveals its
prehistoric connection with Central Eurasia, as do various features of Ve-
dic mythology.
The situation is less straightforward in the case of Buddhism. The funda-
mental doctrinal position without which Buddhism would not have arisen
is the belief in rebirth and karmic retribution. Buddhism shares this belief
with Jainism and other religious movements. Indologists thought for a long
time that the belief in rebirth and karmic retribution arose in Vedic circles
as a result of inner-Vedic religious developments. Seen this way, Buddhism
and Jainism are expressions of developments in and of Vedic religion. If,
therefore, Vedic religion shows clear traces of its ultimately Central Eura-
sian origins, Buddhism and Jainism are no more than further continuations
of developments that can in the end be traced back to Central Eurasia.

I have argued in other publications that this picture of the background of
Buddhism and Jainism is not correct. The belief in rebirth and karmic re-
tribution did not develop inside Vedic religion. It rather existed, at the be-
ginning of historical time, outside it in a region where Vedic religion held
Does Buddhism have Central Eurasian roots?
149
no sway; this region I call Greater Magadha. In that region Buddhism and
Jainism arose as responses to the there wide-spread belief in rebirth and kar
-
mic retribution. Subsequently this same belief also came to influence Vedic
religion, and finds therefore expression in a few late-Vedic texts.
2
This leaves us with the question where we have to look to find the roots
of Buddhism (and Jainism). Since the languages in which these religions
found expression were Indo-Aryan from the beginning, we are tempted
to look for Central Eurasian roots for these religions, too. Since both the-
se religions are responses to the belief in rebirth and karmic retribution,
one would like to know whether this belief was already held by at least
some speakers of Indo-European languages before they entered India. To
my knowledge, there is no convincing way to answer this question either
positively or negatively.

However, there are other features of Central Eurasian Culture that may
have been continued in Buddhism. I am thinking of the defining feature of
the so-called Kurgan hypothesis, which “remains the single most popular
solution to the Indo-European homeland problem”

According to this hypothesis, the tumuli, also called kurgans,
that have been found in Central Eurasia, belonged to speakers of Indo-
European languages. The hypothesis I wish to consider is that these same
kurgans were the ancestors of Buddhist stūpas.

full article:
https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serv...22846.P001/REF

I think it probably started in afghanistan, theres a lot of evidence for this in wiki