As already mentioned the History of Hinduism is characterized by a continuous interrelation between theistic and non-theistic Speculation. Both are continuously influencing each other, being itself thereby modified, thus again creating new synthetic schools of thought, which again started influencing each other. This continuous process is one aspect of the enourmous vitality, the power of assimilating and of accepting and developing new concepts, which is so characteristic for Hinduism.

One important factor in the development of Hindu Theism and Non-theism was its inter-relation with Buddhism, an inter-relation which finally led to the disappearance of Buddhism as a separate Religion on the Indian soil. With its power of assimilation Hinduism succeeded to absorb and modify the main Buddhist conceptions, while impressing it deeply with Hindu elements, still evident in the Buddhist systems.

As I need not say, the original early Buddhism was absolutely non-theistic, and even to a certain degree non-transcendental, as speculations on the nature of ultimate reality of salvation and nirvana were not allowed. But they were of course in the long tun inevitable. So a general concept was developed, with at the beginning in accordance with early Buddhism was, as its name, Shunya- Nothingness, suggest, completely negative. Nagarjuna, the great Budhist scholar who exposed the theory of unconditioned void, is said to have visited Orissa. The concept of Shunya, being constantly confronted with Hinduism, gradually became the concept of a positive ultimate reality, comparable more and more to the idea of Brahman. The idea of Brahman on the other side was influenced by Buddhist notions, its negative aspects were stresses, the idea of maya, which in the Vedas means the power of magic of the gods was thought of as illusion etc.

Once the concept of Shunya was held to be positive, it could also be associated with theistic speculation. This was done within Buddhism as well as within Hinduism. Mahayana, the theistic form of Buddhism, associated this modified concept of Sunya with the nature of the Buddha, which became the theistic ultimate reality. [From here the concept of Shunya entered cults like the Dharma-cult, where it became just a synonym for the God Dharma].

Vaishnavism in Orissa took up Buddhist terminology on a vast scale. The most striking example is the well known identification of Lord Jagannatha with Buddha. The Panchasakha especially emphasised the concept of Shunya. But, as exemplified, this concept was by no means still the original, strictly non-theistic; after all the modifications it had undergone, it is not astonishing to find Shunya in the thought of the Panchasakha as an attribute of theistic theology. Shunya became the highest abode of Krishna, it was even associated with the personal idea of purusha, Shunya-purusha being the personal though indescribable (alekha) reality became the highest entity. As Prof. P. Mukherjee has stated: "Achyutananda and his associates were pious and sincere Vaishnavas. They exalted the worship of the Void, no doubt, but they took it to be a feature of Vaishnavism" (p. 112). The concept of Sunya remained, as we shall see, a basic concept of Theism in Orissa, upto its latest development.

The sixteenth century when, roughly speaking the panchasakhas, Achyutananda Das, Balaram Das, Ananta Das, Yasovanta Sa and Jagannatha Das lived, has own Malikas, The Malikas of Bhima Bhoi describe the advent of Mahima Svami in terms of the older scriptures. But they also predict the future advent of Satya-Yuga, when only the Kumbhipatis, that is another name of Mahima Dharma, shall be saved.