Rewriting the Roots: How Jain and Buddhist Ideas Entered Hindu Thought

The Śramaṇa Challenge to the Brahmin Worldview

For centuries, the dominant understanding of Indian philosophy among Rajputs has been filtered through a Brahminical lens—centered on the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita. But what if the core values we associate with Hinduism today—like karma, rebirth, and renunciation—didn’t originate in the Vedas at all?

This is not a rhetorical question. It is a historical and philosophical reality, and it’s time Rajput thinkers and youth take a deeper look.

Two of the most respected scholars in the field, Johannes Bronkhorst and Patrick Olivelle, have shown us that the philosophical DNA of modern Hinduism owes far more to the non-Vedic, Śramaṇa traditions of Jainism and Buddhism than we have been told. These traditions—often dismissed as “heterodox”—were not marginal. In many ways, they were the original revolutionaries of Indian thought.

Johannes Bronkhorst: The Two Indias

In his monumental work Greater Magadha: Studies in the Culture of Early India, Bronkhorst flips the usual narrative. He argues that the Indian subcontinent was home to two distinct cultures during the first millennium BCE:

1. Vedic-Brahminical culture in the Gangetic Doab

2. Śramaṇa culture in the eastern Gangetic plains (Magadha, Koshala, Videha)

The Vedic tradition, with its fire rituals and caste hierarchies, evolved separately from the eastern culture, where Buddhism, Jainism, and Ajivikism flourished. The Śramaṇas rejected sacrifice, questioned caste, and focused on ethical living, meditation, and liberation through knowledge and discipline—not ritual.

“The doctrine of rebirth and karmic retribution appears in the Upaniṣads only after the Vedic tradition came into contact with the eastern Śramaṇa movements.” – Johannes Bronkhorst

This is critical. The Vedas know nothing of karma and rebirth in the moral sense. In fact, the early Vedic afterlife was simple: if you performed the right rituals, you’d go to heaven. No cycle of birth and death. No moral accounting.

It was only when Brahmins encountered Śramaṇa teachings that they began to absorb these ideas—reinterpreting them through their own philosophical idiom, but borrowing nonetheless.

 Patrick Olivelle: Domesticating the Renouncer

If Bronkhorst exposed the origins of Śramaṇa ideas, Patrick Olivelle revealed how the Brahminical tradition appropriated and tamed them.

In his work on the Āśrama system (the four stages of life: student, householder, forest-dweller, and renouncer), Olivelle shows that the figure of the renunciate (sannyasi) was originally outside the Brahminical order—an existential threat to Vedic ritualism.

“The Brahminical tradition first resisted, then slowly co-opted the renouncer by fitting him into the āśrama system—making him the fourth and final stage of life.” – Patrick Olivelle

The early renouncers were precisely the kinds of people we see in the Jain, Buddhist, and Ajivika traditions: they gave up caste, wealth, and ritual in search of liberation. They didn’t wait to become old. They dropped out early and lived on the edge of society.

By institutionalizing renunciation, Brahmins were attempting a counter-offensive—absorbing the radical spirit of Śramaṇas while keeping their own authority intact.

The Rajput Relevance

Why should this matter to Rajputs?

Because for too long, the Rajput identity has been tied to defending the Brahminical worldview—as Kshatriyas upholding varnashrama dharma. But what if that worldview is not as ancient or indigenous as we were taught?

What if Rajput dharma is better aligned with the fierce individualism, ethical action, and resistance to ritualism found in Jain and Buddhist thought?

After all, many Rajput lineages—such as the Solankis, Paramaras, and Chahamanas—have a rich history of patronizing Jain monks and Buddhist scholars. Rana Kumbha’s court was home to Jain poet Acharya Jinapati Suri. The Harivamsa Purana and Prabandha Kosha mention Rajput kings who donated to Jain temples and invited Śramaṇa scholars to their courts.

Time for a Philosophical Awakening

The idea isn’t to “convert” anyone. It’s to reclaim a forgotten intellectual history—one that gives Rajput youth a deeper connection to Indic thought rooted in ethics, responsibility, and renunciation, not just ritual and caste.

The Vedas are not the only inheritance of India. The Śramaṇa traditions offer a parallel and powerful lineage—and in many ways, a more ethical and rational one. That’s where our inquiry begins.

Coming Next:
We’ll dive into how the Bhagavad Gita borrows from Śramaṇa ethics, especially the doctrine of action without attachment, and how its portrayal of dharma marks a silent negotiation with Buddhism and Jainism.