There are several Hindu leaders who attribute the decline of Hindu society to the Buddhist encroachment.

Several Authors from the Voice of India School of thought say that Buddhism destroyed the warrior instincts of the Hindu society (Kshatra teja) — which made it vulnerable to attacks from barbaric invaders.  They say that Buddha is responsible for making Hindu society docile and passive by over-emphasising the values of sanyas (renunciation) and underestimating purushartha (the path of action).

Buddha, they say, created a class of bhikkus (monks) who were more or less  parasites on the society.  This ideal of the passive bhikku discouraged the martian section of the society to such an extent that even Kings and warriors laid down arms and went into impractical non-violent mode.

Consequently, Hindu society (weakened by the docile Buddhist Bhikku non-violence) turned out to be a sitting duck for Islamic invaders with their war-cry of Allah-O-Akbar (Convert or kill).  The logic is quite strong.  One can see giant Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan.  We can logically infer that Buddhists in Afghanistan might have been doing passive meditation while they watched their people getting killed and their women raped.  After all, it is karma in action and why should we bother?  (if you go by the naughty Buddhist logic).

Blaming Buddhism for the ills of Hindu society is quite logical.  However, my opinion is that it is only Ardha Satya (half-truth).  Yes, Buddhism did considerably weaken the Hindu society.  However, there was a greater reason for the decline of Hindu society.  I would prefer to call it destiny.  Certainly, Raja Dahir — the last ruler of Sindh who lost the battle to Muslim invaders — was not a weak King.  However, he suffered from huge bouts of plain bad luck.  In fact, his astrologers had told him before hand that he would lose the battle and they had already decamped.  Dahir went down fighting even though he knew that it was his Waterloo.

I have another reason to justify Buddhism and the passive meditators.  When Buddhism went to Japan, it created a new class of Samurais (spiritual warriors).  Why is it that only the Indian Buddhism is docile.  Why is it that Japanese Buddhism is warrior-like.  Certainly, we Hindus had it coming to us.  There is no use blaming Buddhism.  If at all, we have anything to blame, it was our lack of organisation.  Or maybe, it was the way it was.  Maybe, destiny willed it that we should be under slavery for sometimes.

However, that sometime has come to an end.  And time is at our service now.

Postscript: I have seen that the Indian brand of Buddhism is loaded with guilt while the Japanese brand is on the move and flowing.