What was Harshavardhan's Religion?

When it comes to the famous Pushyabhuti ruler Harshvardhan, there is a prevalent belief that he was a Buddhist. In this video, we will try to analyze this claim and see what the evidence tell us about Harsha's belief. But before talking about Harsha's religion, I think it is important to first see what kind of religious belief Harsha's ancestors had. If we look at the biography of Harsh, the founder of the dynasty and on whom the dynasty is named, Pushyabhuti is described as having entertained a great, almost inborn devotion towards Shiva, the adorable. If we look at Harsha's father, grandfather, or even great-grandfather, all are described which means that they were devotee of Sun. Now coming to Harshvardhan himself, there is a great debate among scholars about Harsha's religious belief. But most scholars agree that at the start of his reign, he was a devotee of Lord Shiva. The most important evidence about this comes from inscriptions. Two copper plate inscriptions, Banskhera and Madhuban, use the epithet Param Maheshwar which means a great devotee of God Maheshwar or Shiva. This is the title which has been used by these inscriptions for Harsh. Apart from these two inscriptions, we have Harsha's copper seal from Sonipat in which a reclining Nandi is depicted. So all of this makes clear that Harsha at the start of his rule was a Shaiv. There is a historical consensus on this. But did Harsha's faith remain unchanged throughout his reign? This is a matter of debate. Basically, we have two views. Some scholars argue that Harsha at the start of his rule was a Shaiv but later because of many factors, he became a devotee of Lord Buddha. Then there are other scholars who argue that this type of religious transformation never happened. Harsha throughout his life remained a Shaiv. These scholars argue that the personal belief of Harsha was that of a Shaiv but in his public life as an emperor of a vast empire in which there were multiple religious traditions, Harsha adopted the religious policy of respect for all. This respect towards different religious traditions should not be confused with Harsha's personal belief, which remained Shaiv throughout his life. Since now we know the debate, let's see what evidence these two sides put forward to explain their position. If we look at the evidence of scholars who argue that Harsha in his later life became a Buddhist, they base most of their arguments on Zhuanzang's account. As we all know, Zhuanzang was a Chinese traveler who visited India in the first half of 7th century AD. In this Indian visit, Zhuanzang also met Harsha. According to these scholars, the religious transformation of Harsha was the result of three factors. Firstly, Harsha's elder brother Rajvardhan was undoubtedly a Buddhist. He is described as Param Saugata. Sugata is the name of Lord Buddha. So this title Param Saugata means devotee of Sugata, which clearly suggests that Rajvardhan was a Buddhist. So these scholars argue that this belief of Harsha's elder brother also inspired Harsha. Then we find that at the start of Harsha's life, Harsha had to endure tragic events. Firstly, the death of his parents, then the death of his elder brother. So these tragic events moved Harsha closer to Buddhism. Apart from this, Harsha's sister, who is called Rajshri, she was also a Buddhist. And it is her belief that also attracted Harsha towards Buddhism. But according to these scholars, the person who was most responsible for changing Harsha's religious belief was none other than Zhuanzang. These scholars argue that Harsha's meeting with Zhuanzang and his brilliant exposition of the Mahayana tradition changed Harsha's view. Scholars who profess that Harsha in his later life became a Buddhist use multiple references from Zhuanzang's account to argue their case. For example, we are told in Zhuanzang's account that Harsha forcibly appropriated Buddha's tooth relic from Kashmir and later he enshrined these relics in a special religious structure in Kannauj. Later, Zhuanzang tells us that in Prayag, when Harsha began the famous quinquennial distribution of alms which is called the Mahamoksha Prasad, on the first day, he installed the image of Lord Buddha and performed various religious rites. On the second day, the image of Aditya or Sun was installed but the gifts that were offered to Lord Aditya were half that of the gifts that were offered to Lord Buddha. On the third day, the image of Lord Shiva was installed but here again the amount of gifts that were offered to Lord Shiva were half that of Buddha. So basically, Zhuanzang wants to tell us that Harsha favored Buddhism and these are the references which scholars have used from Zhuanzang's account to argue that Harsha in his later life became a follower of Lord Buddha. Now coming to the scholars who believe that Harsha never had a religious transformation, they rest their argument on Harsha's inscriptions and they are also critical of Zhuanzang's account. These scholars also challenged the claim that the death of Harsha's parents or the influence of Harsha's elder brother and his sister were responsible for Harsha's religious transformation. They argue that if we look at the period in which Harsha's parents died, we see that it was around the start of 7th century AD. Harsha's elder brother Rajyavardhan died around 606 AD. But when we look at Harsha's inscriptions, whether we are talking about the copper plates of Madhuban or Banskhera or another inscription, all use the title of Param Maheshwar for Harsha. These inscriptions were commissioned between 628 AD and 631 AD. So this means that by this time, Harsha was still a devotee of Lord Shiva. This fact makes it difficult to argue that one of the factors that led to Harsha's religious transformation was the death of his parents. As we all know, the death of Harsha's parents happened at the start of 7th century AD. If these deaths caused Harsha's religious transformation, then we would not see Harsha describing himself as a Shaiv some 20 years later. The dating of these inscriptions also rule out any influence that Harsha's elder brother might have had on the transformation of Harsha's religious belief because as we all know, the death of Rajyavardhan happened around 606 AD. Apart from these inscriptions, we have Harsha's gold coin as well in which Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati are depicted and we have still not found any coin of Harsha in which Lord Buddha or Buddhist symbols are depicted. These scholars who argue that Harsha never became a Buddhist also challenge Xuanzang's portrayal of Harsha as a great Buddhist ruler. These scholars point out that when we read Xuanzang's account, we find that there are inherent contradictions. For example, in one of his passages, Xuanzang tells us that Harsha had forbade the slaughter of animals for food and there was a capital punishment on it. But when he is giving the general description of India, he tells us that in food, fish, mutton and venison were occasional delicacies. Later, when talking about the quinquennial distribution of alms in Prayag, Xuanzang tells us that meat and various drinks were offered to religious communities that numbered around 10,000. So, we can see that there is an inherent contradiction in these references of Xuanzang. The claim that Xuanzang played an important role in Harsha's religious transformation is also rejected by these scholars because Xuanzang met Harsha for the first time in 642 AD and around 646 AD, Harsha was dead. So if Xuanzang was responsible for Harsha's conversion, then we have only 4 years for this momentous change and this in the view of these scholars is very little time. These scholars also point out that when we read Xuanzang's account, there is a tendency of Xuanzang to praise himself. For example, Xuanzang tells us that when Harsha met him for the first time, it was not like his influence gradually increased over Harsha. Instead, we are told that Harsha's devotion towards him was instant, spontaneous and complete. By reading Xuanzang's account, we get this impression that Harshavardhan and Bhaskar Varman, the ruler of Kamrup, Kamrup is situated in present-day Assam. So these two rulers were vying with each other to become the disciple of Xuanzang. And when we read how Xuanzang describes the first meeting with Harsha, he writes and I quote, On his arrival, the king bowed down at the feet of the master of law, Xuanzang. Then scattering flowers before him, he regarded him with respect and uttered his praises in Now one thing which could be asked here is that if this was a first meeting, then how Harsha can sing innumerable verses in praise of a Chinese traveler who he was meeting for the first time. In the second meeting, Xuanzang tells us that he showed Harsha his treatise, which was written against the Heinean doctrine. After reading it, Harsha became convinced of its merit and he sent an order to convene an all-India grand assembly in Kannauj to prove its merit. These references of Xuanzang, according to these scholars, are examples of self-praise. And this is not a reliable source for us to claim that Harsha in his later life became a Buddhist. These scholars argue that Harsha was a king of his times and like many other Indian kings, he respected all religions, which included Buddhism as well. But personally, Harsha was a devotee of Lord Shiva and this devotion did not change during his later days. Now if you want to know more about Harsha's period, do watch this playlist where I have covered different aspects of Harsha's reign. If you like this channel, do subscribe. Thank you for watching.