he spirit of tolerance was not totally maintained in the same manner among the later Buddhists of India.

It was a natural tendency, common enough in history, for society bound by older customs to oppose the
Buddhist order which had to stand against other religions and philosophies as it became an established
religion and created special rites and customs. However, almost all the Buddhists in India, believing that
the fundamental standpoint of Buddhism was not contradictory to other heretical views, did not intend
to compete with them actively. As a result, Buddhism, in spreading over the Asian countries, caused less
friction among the indigenous faiths of the peoples who had received it. Native or traditional faiths and
customs were scarcely destroyed by Buddhists and could easily survive; so long as they were seen as
ethical from the Buddhist point of view, they were able to remain in existence side by side with the
newly-arrived Buddhism, and sometimes were absorbed in Buddhism. In later days Buddhism itself
fused into one of the native religions, giving them philosophical foundations. As for the fact that there
exist many different philosophies and religions in the world, Vedanta* philosophers also stated views
like those of the Buddhists. Basing themselves on Absolute Monism, they regarded even heretical
doctrines as having their basis in Brahman. According to them, there are many ultimate principles—
elements, gods, breath, time, etc.,— Previous Released By -TSJ5J- Next Previous Released By -TSJ5J-
Next Page 170 which are respectively asserted by many philosophical schools to be the Absolute
Principle. And this is why there are so many schools with diversified views. From the viewpoint of
Vedanta *, however, none of them deserves to be regarded as the Absolute Truth. They are only
assumed (vikalpita) to be the world-principle. The fact is that the Atman* is the Absolute One for the
Advaita Vedantist* who believes that these philosophers misunderstood the real nature of things. Their
views, however wrong, no matter how heretical, are also included in the Atman-theory of Vedanta.
Vedanta philosophers thus went so far as to say that even these heretical views were manifestations of
the Atman, and were partly true even though they were incomplete in themselves. The standpoint of
Vedanta because of its broader scope is quite different from these heretical views. In the
Mandukyakarikas* we read: 'Those who admit duality, adhere to their views and are inconsistent with
each other. However, (Vedantists*) are not inconsistent (with such dualists)."7 According to Samkara*,
this is likened to limbs that are not incompatible with their bodies. In later Jain philosophy the same idea
was also expressed. Hemacandra says: "Discussions in other schools produce jealousy because the one
insists while the other opposes. But in Jainism they advocate no dogma and no discussions because they
admit the teachings of 'Naya.'"8 Because of this way of thinking that in every heretical view some raison
d'être exists, Indian philosophers in the medieval period tried to establish a "comprehensive system of
world philosophy," or a "systematic conception of the world." These systems also show tolerance in
recognizing the raison d'être in all others that have different views which are then reconciled into the
same school. Generally speaking, we cannot find in any Indian religion the conception of "heretic" in the
sense of Western usage. Such a tolerant attitude is found not only in religious teachings but in the
fundamental policies of administration taken by many kings and rulers throughout the history of India.
King Asoka*, for example, himself an earnest Buddhist layman, never excluded other religions—
Brahmanism, Jainism, Ajivikas*, etc. He "adored both monks and laymen of all religions."9 His sincere
wishes were that "everyone in every religion dwell peacefully side by side," and cooperate with one
another for promoting the welfare of mankind. Though King Asoka made Buddhism a state religion, he
did not persecute the non-Buddhist religions in his territory.