How did Buddhism differ from Hinduism?
Buddhism rejected the caste system, Vedic rituals, and the authority of the Brahmin priestly class that were central to Hinduism. The Buddha taught that anyone could achieve enlightenment regardless of birth, denied the existence of a permanent soul (atman), and emphasized personal practice over priestly ritual — though both traditions share concepts like karma, dharma, and rebirth.
Buddhism emerged from the religious culture of ancient India and shares significant common ground with Hinduism, including concepts of karma, dharma, samsara (the cycle of rebirth), and the goal of liberation from that cycle. But the differences are substantial and were, in the Buddha's time, deliberately provocative.
The most socially radical difference was Buddhism's rejection of the caste system. Hindu society was organized into hereditary social groups (varnas) with the Brahmin priestly class at the top. Religious authority was concentrated in Brahmin hands, and one's spiritual possibilities were believed to be constrained by birth. The Buddha flatly rejected this. He taught that all people — regardless of birth, caste, or gender — had equal capacity for enlightenment. His monastic community (sangha) accepted members from all social backgrounds.
Philosophically, Buddhism departed from Hindu thought in several key ways. Hinduism posits the existence of atman — a permanent, unchanging soul or self that transmigrates between lives. The Buddha taught anatta (non-self) — the radical claim that there is no permanent self, only a constantly changing stream of mental and physical processes. This is one of the most distinctive and counterintuitive ideas in world philosophy.
Buddhism also rejected the authority of the Vedas (Hinduism's sacred texts) and the elaborate Vedic ritual system that required Brahmin priests as intermediaries between humans and the divine. The Buddha emphasized direct personal practice — meditation, ethical conduct, and wisdom — over ritual worship. He was notably silent on questions about the existence of God, focusing instead on the practical problem of suffering.
Despite these differences, Buddhism and Hinduism continued to influence each other for centuries. Hindu devotional practices (bhakti) may have been partly influenced by Buddhist emphasis on personal spiritual experience. And Buddhism in India gradually reabsorbed many Hindu elements before eventually declining on the subcontinent.