Busting the myth of "Brahmin Pushyamitra Sunga persecuting Buddhists" by #TrueIndology
Repost. https://twitter.com/truejainology/status/1210408249259741185

You are WRONG. FACTUALLY WRONG. That is because you have apparently never read the Divyavadana . I did. Divyavadana NEVER claims "Brahmin Pushyamitra Shunga persecuted Buddhists". It actually talks about "Pushyamitra Maurya a descendant of Ashoka" persecuting Buddhists.

English translation of the relevant section of Divyavadana. Pushyamitra Maurya was a descendant of Ashoka . Much nonsense has been written about alleged persecution of Buddhists by Pushyamitra Sunga when in reality the Bharhut Stupa was enlarged under Sunga patronage.

Now @truejainology , I am pretty sure you are not the kind who endorses selective narrative. Hence I ask you to reread and reevaluate your opinion before endorsing baseless historical fiction

RT @Chandrapida1: "Brahminism lived side by side with Buddhism in harmony". AK Warder one of greatest 20th century scholars on Buddhism and Pali said this in his "Indian Buddhism" page 486. This is what @TIinExile said today. His position is accepted by any serious Buddhologist.

This is wrong. You're sharing a biased & faulty 2ndary source which is contradicted by the primary source. I ask you again. Show me "Pushyamitra Sunga" from primary source which is Divyavadana(original or trans) Secondary sources have a lot of fake atrocity literature.

RT @Chandrapida1:Almost 2100 year old Prakrit inscription on eastern gateway of this Stupa says that stone work was caused to be made in 'reign of Sungas'. Text of inscription along with translation. One of grandest ancient Buddhist monuments built under patronage of Sungas. (2)

HaHaHa. So you BELIEVE Divyavadana when it talks about persecution of Buddhists. But you DISBELIEVE Divyavadana when it says the persecutor of Buddhists wasn't "Brahmin Pushyamitra Shunga" but a Maurya How selective and convenient! That my friend is your bias showing up.

@truejainology At any rate, your claim that "Divyavadana talks about persecution of Buddhists by Pushyamitra Sunga" is WRONG, as you yourself admit right now. There is no mention of Pushyamitra Sunga in Divyavadana. It only talks about Pushyamitra Maurya

I am not denying that there were occasional instances of persecution of Buddhists by "Hindus" and vice versa. But there was more amity that occasional instances of conflict. Brahmins also made huge contribution to Buddhism and Buddha's earliest disciples were almost all Brahmins

I have already given the primary source. Pushyamitra Maurya was a descendant of Ashoka via his successor Sampadi( Samprati). He was the son of Pushyadharman who was Samprati's descendant. Source: Divyavadana (English translation by indologist John Strong.

Infact, Divyavadana is very clear. it says-"With the death of Pushyamitra Maurya, the Mauryan lineage came to an end" Divyavadana very clearly states that the persecutor of Buddhists was the last Mauryan king. The word "Sunga" doesn't appear in Divyavadana

This is incorrect. Pushyamitra Maurya is very well attested in the the ancient Puranic genealogy( Vamsavalis). He is also mentioned in the later Kavya literature. There is no confusion. You are just unaware https://twitter.com/truejainology/status/1210893843509448705

You need to stop lying. It was not Pushyamitra the brahmin Shunga commander who allegedly destroyed 84,000 stupas It was Pushyamitra the Maurya. A descendant of Buddhist king Ashoka

This information comes from Ashokavadana, the same text which records that Pushyamitra destroyed 84,000 Stupas. According to the same text Ashokavadana, Pushyamitra was a Mauryan , a great grandson of king Ashoka Ashoka-> Samprati->Brhaspati->Pushyadharman->Pushyamitra

Yes, it is true. Commenting on Aṣṭādhyāyī 2.4.9, Patanjali cites śramaṇa- brāhmaṇa as an example of virodhadvandva. He says-"yeṣāṃ ca virodhaḥ śāśvatikaḥ" ("Their opposition is eternal") https://twitter.com/BatmanUvacha/status/1181560178266607618

Brahmans of old were nothing like Hindus of today who don't really hold firm onto ANY ideological position and compromise on every tenet in the name of "unity" with all and sundry.They had complete Shraddha in Vedic ritual and defended their position against opponents & Nastikas

RT @Gyaniist: I think we need a proper definition of 'Buddhist' here. I think the shramana kind is older. Buddhism is a religion, at least in the present times.

But the quote also exaggerates the point by equating Shramanas with Buddhists whereas the fact is that Buddhists were only one of the many sects of Shramanas. There were many Shramana sects that would be classified as "Hindu" today Pushyamitra Buddhist persecution story is false