Of Binaries and Beyond
The Dialectics of Buddhist–Brahmanical Relations in India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.v3i1.7Keywords:
Asvaghosha, Brahmanism, the Buddha, Buddhism, caste, dialogue, Mahabharata, texts, VajrasuciAbstract
Despite a long tradition of tracing the relationship between Buddhism and Brahmanism there is a need to rethink the view that the two are positioned as discrete binaries, consistently oppose to each other. While there is considerable antagonism between the Buddhists and the brahmanas they were also impelled to enter into negotiations with each other, making for a rich textual dialogue between the two. This paper examines the nature of this dialogue and shows how each impacted the other.
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