Gods in Buddhism

Hinduism and Buddhism have common origins in the Ganges culture of northern India during the so-called "second urbanisation" around 500 BCE. They have shared parallel beliefs that have existed side by side, but also pronounced differences.

Buddhism attained prominence in the Indian subcontinent as it was supported by royal courts, but started to decline after the Gupta era, and virtually disappeared from India in the 11th century CE, except in some pockets of India. It has continued to exist outside of India and is the major religion in several Asian countries.

Certain Buddhist teachings appear to have been formulated in response to ideas presented in the early Upanishads – in some cases concurring with them, and in other cases criticizing or re-interpreting them.

The influence of Upanishads, the earliest philosophical texts of Hindus, on Buddhism has been a subject of debate among scholars. While Radhakrishnan, Oldenberg and Neumann were convinced of Upanishadic influence on the Buddhist canon, Eliot and Thomas highlighted the points where Buddhism was opposed to Upanishads.

Buddhism may have been influenced by some Upanishadic ideas, it however discarded their orthodox tendencies. In Buddhist texts he is presented as rejecting avenues of salvation as "pernicious views". Later Indian religious thoughts were influenced by this interpretation and novel ideas of the Buddhist tradition of beliefs.

In later years, there is significant evidence that both Buddhism and Hinduism were supported by Indian rulers, regardless of the rulers' own religious identities. Buddhist kings continued to revere Hindu deities and teachers, and many Buddhist temples were built under the patronage of Hindu rulers. This was because never has Buddhism been considered an alien religion to that of Hinduism in India, but as only one of the many strains of Hinduism. Kalidas' work shows the ascension of Hinduism at the expense of Buddhism. By the eighth century, Shiva and Vishnu had replaced Buddha in pujas of royalty.

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