The Ocean Sutra is a 1,500-year-old Mahayana Buddhist manuscript that shows a strong influence of Tantrik Shaiva ideology. It was composed in Central Asia at a time when Buddhism, which rose 2,500 years ago and had overshadowed Vedic ritual practices, began facing pushback from the rise of temples dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu.

While Buddha had promoted monasticism and celibacy, Shiva’s story celebrated sexuality. Vishnu balanced the two extreme views.

This pushback can be traced to the epic Mahabharata, compiled around 100 BCE, which first narrates the tale of Shiva destroying Daksha’s yagna (a ritual in front of a sacred fire). By 500 CE, in Agni Purana, Buddha was presented as a form of Vishnu — taken to trick demons into giving up Veda, to follow the monastic path instead. This enabled Shiva to raise his bow and destroy the demons’ three flying cities with a single arrow. Thus, Shiva and Buddha were seen as doing anti-Vedic activities, for different reasons: Shiva, to be included in the newly emerging Hindu pantheon, and (Vishnu as an imposter) Buddha, to help the gods defeat demons. The supremacy of Veda was endorsed by these stories popularised by Brahmins.

Buddha shuns marriage; Shiva is wooed into marriage first by Sati, the priest’s daughter, and then Parvati, the mountain princess.........

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