[Buddha-l] Hardships & Downfall of B. in I. (Christopher Fynn)

[Tim Cahill]

 From that short review...

"The broad dichotomy he proposes (here crudely put) pits the
“antinomian” trading Buddhist community against the hierarchical
agrarian Brahmanical community."

What about the Jains? - That religion survived in India, supported by
the same trading community, while Buddhism virtually vanished.
Perhaps Jain traders were less “antinomian” than Buddhist traders?
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I haven't yet read Verardi's recent book, but he does treat the Jains at some length in his earlier article (1996) on religious persecution in ancient India.

The Jains may have been a much larger religious group in ancient times. Their reduction in recent times to less than 1% of the population does amount to a "survival", but such a sharp decline would need explanation nonetheless.

best,
Tim Cahill
Loyola University