– Prabhat Mukherjee
Buddhism undoubtedly influenced the philosophy of medieval Vaiṣṇavism. The theory of piṇḍa-brahmāṇḍa was partly adapted from the dēhavāda of the Sahajīya Buddhists. The Buddha-within-the-body was adored by the Sahajīya Buddhists in place of external Buddha. Mahāmahōpādhyāya H. P. Shastri agrees with this hypothesis and remarks, “The Sahajīyas found the great world i.e. the universe, within the human body”. Kr̥ṣṇācārya and Lui-pa were exponents of the Sahaja vehicle.
N. N. Vasu has pointed out the Buddhist influence on the theory of Creation. According to the Mahāyānists, ādi-Buddha or Svayambhūḥ created in the beginning, the five Dhyānī Buddhas, “for the duration of the present systems of the worlds”. “This theory of creation”, he opines, “is exactly what is to be found in Chaitanya Dāsa’s work Viṣṇugarbha Purāṇa.
Nevertheless, there is a slight difference between the two conceptions. The five meditative Buddhas were of equal status. But Chaitanya Dāsa states that alēkha or anākāra Viṣṇu assumed the form and was named Nirākāra Viṣṇu. Four subsidiary Nirākāra Viṣṇus were born out of original Nirākāra Viṣṇu, who was thus primus inter pares.
Achyutānanda has referred to nirvāṇa in Shūnya-samhitā. Kr̥ṣṇa says to Uddhava that after the destruction of the world, he will keep Uddhava in the state of nirvāṇa. He also says to Varuṇa that nirākāra has made Varuṇa the lord of the nirvāṇa region. Thus, it is clear that the conception of nirvāṇa was imperfectly understood.
N N Vasu mentions that in the Svayambhū Purāṇa of Nepal, dharma has been represented as Buddha-mātā or Prajñāpāramitā. Achyutānanda refers to Buddha-mātā in Shūnya-samhitā. As Sudāmā approached the rāsa arena of eternal Rādhā-Kr̥ṣṇa, a sakhī came and accosted him. She asked him the reason for his visit and introduced herself, as one of the eight sakhīs of Mahāmāyā Mahādurgā. After imparting the nirākāra mantra to Sudāmā, she returned to the rāsa arena. Kr̥ṣṇa in his mundane form told Sudāmā, “Verily hath Buddha-mātā, the sakhī of ādiśakti, said that I derive real devotion from the worship of the Formless.” Prof. A. B. Mohanty is of the opinion that Buddha-mātā is Mahāmāyā herself. She has been addressed as sakhī as she is identical to Vr̥ndā. We however beg to differ with his opinion.
Jagannātha was considered to be the Buddha incarnation of the Lord. In Dārubrahma Gītā of Jagannātha Dāsa, Dēulatōlā of Kr̥ṣṇa Dāsa and in Shūnya-samhitā, the story of the manifestation of the Buddha incarnation is narrated. It is said that after the incarnation of Kr̥ṣṇa, the Lord appeared again as Jagannātha. Gautama Buddha and later on Chaitanya appeared as the incarnations of Jagannātha.
It is clear from Shūnya-samhitā that Buddhist philosophy (particularly of the Nāgārjunīya and Yōgācāra branches of the Mahāyāna school) was studied in Orissa even by the Vaiṣṇavas. The philosophy certainly did not exist in its pristine form. So we find Kr̥ṣṇa to be the expounder of the Buddhist philosophy. Nāgāntaka and Yōgāntaka theories were grouped with tāntric principles of expelling and killing. Achyutānanda had described the followers of Nāgārjuna as hypocrites or ‘hidden devotees’ (chadma-bhakta).
But the doctrine of the Void, as expounded by Nāgārjuna, undoubtedly influenced the philosophy of Orissan Vaishnavism. Nāgārjuna came to Orissa and preached Buddhism. In the seventh century A.D., Hiuen Tsiang found the Mahāyānists in all their glory and greatness in Odra country. The Nāgārjunīya doctrine of the Void was but a reflection of the Great Brahmavāda as inculcated in the Upaniṣads and the Gītā and was thus acceptable to the Orissan Vaishnavas.
A word of caution is needed here. In spite of their references to Buddha, Buddha-mātā and nirvnāṇ, Vaiṣṇavas like Achyutānanda, Chaitanya Dāsa and others were not lacking in sincerity. Our opinion thus completely differs from that of N N Vasu who thinks that “though outwardly professed the Vaiṣṇava faith and propagated the Chaitanya cult, yet in their heart of hearts they were but sincere and staunch pioneers and champions of the long-neglected and almost forgotten Mahāyāna school.”