Sage Sri Sankara endeavoured towards establishing Vedic religion overthrowing Buddhism. But even he was not able to avoid the influence of Buddhism.*****

Religion is noting to do with Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sri. Sankara. Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sri, Sankara is pure spirituality or Adythma.

Religious people think  Soul is different and God is different. A great majority of Hindus are not in contact with their religious history therefore, they believe their inherited beliefs as ultimate truth.

Hinduism is based on myths and thus people of India are unaware of the facts of their inherited religious history. The Vedic Culture and Vedas are complete in themselves but Hinduism which is non-Vedic belief system with all its ritual and conduct oriented practices has been contributed largely by the orthodox priests to suit their convenience!

Vedas are in Vedic language   which was a high class language. Rig Veda (excluding chapters II and X) were written before the Christian Era in Vedic language.  Vedic language is not Sanskrit.  It is the same language in which the Zoroastrian Scripture Zend Avesta is written – a form of Persian language.  All the other scriptures of India are written in Sanskrit.  

These include Rig Veda Chapter II and X and the Upanishads, Brahmanas, Puranas and the Vedantas.  These were written during the Christian Era after the Thomas ministry. As the use of this language diminished, it became a tough language for the commoners. The priests, who were supposed to be expert of this language, translated it into Sanskrit language and manipulated the meanings in time and gradually, all the practices changed.

The Dvaita, Vedanta borrows concept from Abrahamic religions, such as Eternal Damanation (of certain Souls destined to hell forever) which goes against the belief of most Vedanta schools, which state that Soul attain liberation.

It looks like the creator & creation theory is also borrowed from Abrahamic religion and on the base new belief system has been introduced giving it Vedic outlook and propagated all non-Vedic rituals and worships by someone in the past.  

The vast ocean of Vedic religion or Sanatana Dharma was consistently steady and calm for a very long period. It appears that as a consequence of the rage of Buddhist revolution it got suddenly disturbed and flowed down to us in disorder. Even today Vedic religion or Sanatana Dharma has not recovered from the onslaught of Buddhism and Jainism and is not able to settle in people's heart in its original form in the same old measure.

The Buddhist influence is seen in a great measure in the Vedic philosophy which is followed by the majority of Indians. Thus, it is clear that Vedic religion or Sanatana Dharma has not retained its original form, but been influenced by other religions has undergone a sea change. Thus the influence of Buddhism on Sanatana Dharma is extraordinary. Even Kumarila Bhatta, who fought with great heroism for the revival of Vedic religion, was so much influenced by Buddhism that he established for the first time in the country, an atheist Vedic religion or Sanatana Dharma. There is no room for any doubt to assert that the Kumarila Bhatta School was influenced by the atheist Buddhism because the school which is based on the validity of the Vedas and rituals refutes the existence of God.

Sage Sri Sankara endeavoured towards establishing Vedic religion overthrowing Buddhism. But even he was not able to avoid the influence of Buddhism. The influence of the revolutionary atmosphere of Buddhism has reappeared in the Advaita of Sage Sri, Sankara. His inability to revive Vedic religion that flourished before the Buddhist revolution in its pure form is discernible.

Many thinkers since his time have said about Sage Sri Sankara that he made use of many important tenets of Buddhism and presented to the people the very Buddhism in the guise of Vedic religion. Though the Vedic religion represented by Sri Sage Sankara is like a conglomeration of many things he deserves the credit of having turned the Hindu mind which was once averse to Vedas -the root of Hinduism, towards the Vedas once again. For this the followers of Vedic religion should be grateful to Sage Sri Sankara.

The brilliance shown by Sage Sri Sankara, a man of wonderful genius, a matchless speaker and an extra-ordinary dialectician is really a great spectacle in history. In his time, there was a severe conflict between Buddhism and the atheist Vedic religion of Kumarila Bhatta. Utilizing this opportunity Sage Sri Sankara intervened in the conflict and making use of some concepts and methodology of both the Kumarila Bhatta school and Buddhism presented a new coalition religion before people.

Sage Sri, Sankara gave an extraordinary charisma to this religion with the help of his methods of logic and style of exposition. Its influence was so much that both the Bhatta School and Buddhism had to flee from India without leaving a trace. The absence, even today, of a single follower of the Kumarila Bhatta school as well as of Buddhism, is a proof enough for the great achievement of Sage Sri Sankara. This indeed is a historical miracle.

One can see in the Vedic religion expounded by Sri Sankara a different version of the Kumarila Bhatta School and Buddhism. That is why the tradition of following Kumarila Bhatta methodology in expounding the Advaita thought at the empirical level gained ground in the Advaita School. Different types of methodology of Buddhism were absorbed into the Advaita thought, of course, under new labels. There is very clear similarity between the Vedic religion of sage  Sri Sankara and Buddhism and the Advaita School have given the world a common message. The essence of both the schools is:~

The entire world which one perceives is illusory; it is just an appearance of unreality and there is only one indeterminate and attributeless Sat at the root of this world".

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA:~ Hinduism, as a religion, incorporates all forms of belief without mandating the selection or elimination of any one single belief,“ It is a religion that has no single founder, no single scripture and no single set of teachings. It has been described as Sanatana Dharma, namely, eternal faith, as it is the collective wisdom and inspiration of the centuries that Hinduism seeks to preach and propagate,”  ---Hinduism has no single founder or scripture: SC, The Times of India (Delhi) Dec 17 2015

The Vedic system did not have castes system.  Caste system was a fake creation in the name of Hinduism. This non~Vedic belief system called Hinduism is created hatred in the low caste Hindu for the higher caste.

Sage Sri Sankara endeavoured towards establishing Vedic religion overthrowing Buddhism. But even he was not able to avoid the influence of Buddhism. The influence of the revolutionary atmosphere of Buddhism has reappeared in the Advaita of Sage Sri, Sankara. His inability to revive Vedic religion that flourished before the Buddhist revolution in its pure form is discernible.

Many thinkers since his time have said about Sage Sri Sankara that he made use of many important tenets of Buddhism and presented to the people the very Buddhism in the guise of Vedic religion. Though the Vedic religion represented by Sage Sri, Sankara is like a conglomeration of many things he deserves the credit of having turned the Indian populace which was once averse to Vedas -the root of Hinduism, towards the Vedas once again. For this Indian populace should be grateful to Sage Sri Sankara.

The brilliance shown by Sage Sri Sankara, a man of wonderful genius, a matchless speaker and an extra-ordinary dialectician is really a great spectacle in history. In his time, there was a severe conflict between Buddhism and the atheist Vedic religion of Kumarila Bhatta. Utilizing this opportunity Sage Sri Sankara intervened in the conflict and making use of some concepts and methodology of both the Kumarila Bhatta School and Buddhism presented a new coalition religion before people.

Sage Sri, Sankara gave an extraordinary charisma to this religion with the help of his methods of logic and style of exposition. Its influence was so much that both the Bhatta School and Buddhism had to flee from India without leaving a trace. The absence, even today, of a single follower of the Kumarila Bhatta School as well as of Buddhism, is a proof enough for the great achievement of Sage Sri Sankara. This indeed is a historical miracle.

One can see in the Vedic religion expounded by Sage Sri Sankara a different version of the Kumarila Bhatta School and Buddhism. That is why the tradition of following Kumarila Bhatta methodology in expounding the Advaita thought at the empirical level gained ground in the Advaita School. Different types of methodology of Buddhism were absorbed into the Advaita thought, of course, under new labels. There is very clear similarity between the Vedic religion of Sage Sri Sankara and Buddhism and the Advaita School have given the world a common message. The essence of both the schools is:

The world in  which you exit  is illusory; it is just an appearance of unreality and there is only one indeterminate and attributeless Sat at the root of this world".

Hindu idol or deity or temple is nothing to do with the Vedic religion. Vedic people ate beef. The Hindu practices of idol worship and temples worships ban on beef eating introduced   many centuries later.

As one peeps into the annals of religious history he finds that the Hinduism which exists today is not a continuation of the Vedic religion or Sanatana Dharma, and it has no real historical foundation.  The Hinduism is of a much later origin.

As per the researchers, the two faiths the Hindu belief system has drifted miles away from the Vedic faith so that the two seem to be two distinct faiths. It is not difficult to discover that there is no noticeable continuity of Hinduism from the Vedic religion or Sanatana Dharma.

The distinctive characteristics of the Hindu belief system cannot be traced in the Vedic literature. Besides, although the Vedas are revered as sacred texts, there are many people in India who do not know what ‘belief in the Vedas’ means. In most cases, the acquaintance of the Hindus with the Vedas is limited to the few hymns that are recited in temples and household liturgies.

Max Müller says: ~ "The religion of the Veda knows no idols; the worship of idols in India is a secondary formation, a degradation of the more primitive worship of ideal Gods."

Hindus are idol worshipers of the large number of Gods and Goddesses whereas in Vedas the God has been described as:-

In Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~   It has been said that God Supreme Sprit. 

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman (Soul or Spirit) is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman the innermost ‘Self’. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God) is the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself’.

Thus it refers to formless and attributeless God, which is the Atman (Soul), the innermost ‘Self’ within the false experience. Thus it indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imagination based on the false ‘Self’.  Thus Atman or Soul, the innermost ‘Self’ is God. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar