It was
about this time, too, that a series of invasions began to pour into
India from the north-west. It may be hard to distinguish between the
foreign beliefs which they introduced and the Indian beliefs which
they accepted and modified. But it is clear that their general effect
was to upset traditional ideas associated with a ritual and learning
which required lifelong study.

2

It has been well said[406] that Buddhism did not waste away in India
until rival sects had appropriated from it everything they could make
use of. Perhaps Hinduism had an even stronger doctrinal influence on
Buddhism. The deification of the Buddha, the invention of Bodhisattvas
who are equivalent to gods and the extraordinary alliance between late
Buddhism and Sivaism, are all instances of the general Indian view
overcoming the special Buddhist view. But Buddhism is closely
connected with the theory of incarnations and the development of the
Advaita philosophy, and in the externals of religion, in rites,
ceremonies and institutions, its influence was great and lasting. We
may take first the doctrine of Ahimsa, non-injury, or in other words
the sanctity of animal life. This beautiful doctrine, the glory of
India, if not invented by the Buddha at least arose in schools which
were not Brahmanic and were related to the Jain and Buddhist
movements. It formed no part of the Vedic religion in which sacrifice
often meant butchery. But in Hinduism, it meets with extensive though
not universal acceptance. With the Vaishnavas it is an article of
faith nor do the worshippers of Siva usually propitiate him with
animal sacrifices, though these are offered by the Saktas and also by
the small class of Brahmans who still preserve the Vedic ritual.[407]
Hardly any Hindus habitually eat meat and most abhor it, especially
beef. Yet beef-eating seems to have been permitted in Vedic times and
even when parts of the Mahabharata were composed.

Apart from animal sacrifices Buddhism was the main agent in effecting
a mighty revolution in worship and ritual. One is tempted to regard
the change as total and complete, but such wide assertions are rarely
true in India: customs and institutions are not swept away by
reformers but are cut down like the grass and like the grass grow up
again. They sometimes die out but they are rarely destroyed. The Vedic
sacrifices are still occasionally offered,[408] but for many centuries
have been almost entirely superseded by a