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diff --git a/15255-0.txt b/15255-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1a92fd1 --- /dev/null +++ b/15255-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18230 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Hinduism and Buddhism, Vol I. (of 3), by Charles Eliot + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Hinduism and Buddhism, Vol I. (of 3) + An Historical Sketch + +Author: Charles Eliot + +Release Date: March 4, 2005 [EBook #15255] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Shawn Wheeler and the PG Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + +HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM +AN HISTORICAL SKETCH + + +BY SIR CHARLES ELIOT + + + + +In three volumes VOLUME I + +ROUTLEDGE & KEGAN PAUL LTD Broadway House, 68-74 Carter Lane, London, +E.C.4. + +_First published_ 1921 _Reprinted_ 1954 _Reprinted_ 1957 _Reprinted_ +1962 + + +PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY + +LUND HUMPHRIES LONDON • BRADFORD + + + + +PREFACE + + +The present work was begun in 1907 and was practically complete when the +war broke out, but many circumstances such as the difficulty of +returning home, unavoidable delays in printing and correcting proofs, +and political duties have deferred its publication until now. In the +interval many important books dealing with Hinduism and Buddhism have +appeared, but having been resident in the Far East (with one brief +exception) since 1912 I have found it exceedingly difficult to keep in +touch with recent literature. Much of it has reached me only in the last +few months and I have often been compelled to notice new facts and views +in footnotes only, though I should have wished to modify the text. + +Besides living for some time in the Far East, I have paid many visits to +India, some of which were of considerable length, and have travelled in +all the countries of which I treat except Tibet. I have however seen +something of Lamaism near Darjeeling, in northern China and in Mongolia. +But though I have in several places described the beliefs and practices +prevalent at the present day, my object is to trace the history and +development of religion in India and elsewhere with occasional remarks +on its latest phases. I have not attempted to give a general account of +contemporary religious thought in India or China and still less to +forecast the possible result of present tendencies. + +In the following pages I have occasion to transcribe words belonging to +many oriental languages in Latin characters. Unfortunately a uniform +system of transcription, applicable to all tongues, seems not to be +practical at present. It was attempted in the _Sacred Books of the +East_, but that system has fallen into disuse and is liable to be +misunderstood. It therefore seems best to use for each language the +method of transcription adopted by standard works in English dealing +with each, for French and German transcriptions, whatever their merits +may be as representations of the original sounds, are often misleading +to English readers, especially in Chinese. For Chinese I have adopted +Wade's system as used in Giles's _Dictionary_, for Tibetan the system of +Sarat Chandra Das, for Pali that of the Pali Text Society and for +Sanskrit that of Monier-Williams's _Sanskrit Dictionary,_ except that I +write ś instead of s. Indian languages however offer many difficulties: +it is often hard to decide whether Sanskrit or vernacular forms are more +suitable and in dealing with Buddhist subjects whether Sanskrit or Pali +words should be used. I have found it convenient to vary the form of +proper names according as my remarks are based on Sanskrit or on Pali +literature, but this obliges me to write the same word differently in +different places, e.g. sometimes Ajâtaśatru and sometimes Ajâtasattu, +just as in a book dealing with Greek and Latin mythology one might +employ both Herakles and Hercules. Also many Indian names such as +Ramayana, Krishna, nirvana have become Europeanized or at least are +familiar to all Europeans interested in Indian literature. It seems +pedantic to write them with their full and accurate complement of +accents and dots and my general practice is to give such words in their +accurate spelling (Râmâyana, etc.) when they are first mentioned and +also in the notes but usually to print them in their simpler and +unaccented forms. I fear however that my practice in this matter is not +entirely consistent since different parts of the book were written at +different times. + +My best thanks are due to Mr R.F. Johnston (author of _Chinese +Buddhism_), to Professor W.J. Hinton of the University of Hong Kong and +to Mr H.I. Harding of H.M. Legation at Peking for reading the proofs and +correcting many errors: to Sir E. Denison Ross and Professor L. Finot +for valuable information: and especially to Professor and Mrs Rhys +Davids for much advice, though they are in no way responsible for the +views which I have expressed and perhaps do not agree with them. It is +superfluous for me to pay a tribute to these eminent scholars whose +works are well known to all who are interested in Indian religion, but +no one who has studied the early history of Buddhism or the Pali +language can refrain from acknowledging a debt of gratitude to those who +have made such researches possible by founding and maintaining during +nearly forty years the Pali Text Society and rendering many of the texts +still more accessible to Europe by their explanations and translations. + +C. ELIOT. + +TOKYO, + +_May_, 1921. + + + + +LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS + +The following are the principal abbreviations used: + + +Ep. Ind. Epigraphia India. + +E.R.E. Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (edited by Hastings). + +I.A. Indian Antiquary. + +J.A. Journal Asiatique. + +J.A.O.S. Journal of the American Oriental Society. + +J.R.A.S. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. + +P.T.S. Pali Text Society. + +S.B.E. Sacred Books of the East (Clarendon Press). + + + + +CONTENTS + +BOOK I + +INTRODUCTION + + +1. INFLUENCE OF INDIAN THOUGHT IN EASTERN ASIA xi + +2. ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF HINDUISM xiv + +3. THE BUDDHA xix + +4. ASOKA xxii + +5. EXTENSION OF BUDDHISM AND HINDUISM BEYOND INDIA xxiv + +6. NEW FORMS OF BUDDHISM xxix + +7. REVIVAL OF HINDUISM xxxiii + +8. LATER FORMS OF HINDUISM xl + +9. EUROPEAN INFLUENCE AND MODERN HINDUISM xlvi + +10. CHANGE AND PERMANENCE IN BUDDHISM xlviii + +11. REBIRTH AND THE NATURE OF THE SOUL l + +12. " " " " lviii + +13. " " " " lxii + +14. EASTERN PESSIMISM AND RENUNCIATION lxv + +15. EASTERN POLYTHEISM lxviii + +16. THE EXTRAVAGANCE OF HINDUISM lxx + +17. THE HINDU AND BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES lxxii + +18. MORALITY AND WILL lxxvi + +19. THE ORIGIN OF EVIL lxxix + +20. CHURCH AND STATE lxxxi + +21. PUBLIC WORSHIP AND CEREMONIAL lxxxiv + +22. THE WORSHIP OF THE REPRODUCTIVE FORCES lxxxvi + +23. HINDUISM IN PRACTICE lxxxviii + +24. BUDDHISM IN PRACTICE xcii + +25. INTEREST OF INDIAN THOUGHT FOR EUROPE xcv + + + + +BOOK II + +EARLY INDIAN RELIGION: A GENERAL VIEW + + +I. RELIGIONS OF INDIA AND EASTERN ASIA 5 + +II. HISTORICAL 15 + +III. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIAN RELIGION 33 + +IV. VEDIC DEITIES AND SACRIFICES 50 + +V. ASCETICISM AND KNOWLEDGE 71 + +VI. RELIGIOUS LIFE IN PRE-BUDDHIST INDIA 87 + +VII. THE JAINS 105 + + + + +BOOK III + +PALI BUDDHISM + + +VIII. LIFE OF THE BUDDHA 129 + +IX. THE BUDDHA COMPARED WITH OTHER RELIGIOUS TEACHERS 177 + +X. THE TEACHING OF THE BUDDHA 185 + +XI. MONKS AND LAYMEN 237 + +XII. ASOKA 254 + +XIII. THE CANON 275 + +XIV. MEDITATION 302 + +XV. MYTHOLOGY IN HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +1. _Influence of Indian Thought in Eastern Asia_ + + +Probably the first thought which will occur to the reader who is +acquainted with the matters treated in this work will be that the +subject is too large. A history of Hinduism or Buddhism or even of both +within the frontiers of India may be a profitable though arduous task, +but to attempt a historical sketch of the two faiths in their whole +duration and extension over Eastern Asia is to choose a scene unsuited +to any canvas which can be prepared at the present day. Not only is the +breadth of the landscape enormous but in some places it is crowded with +details which cannot be omitted while in others the principal features +are hidden by a mist which obscures the unity and connection of the +whole composition. No one can feel these difficulties more than I do +myself or approach his work with more diffidence, yet I venture to think +that wide surveys may sometimes be useful and are needed in the present +state of oriental studies. For the reality of Indian influence in +Asia—from Japan to the frontiers of Persia, from Manchuria to Java, from +Burma to Mongolia—is undoubted and the influence is one. You cannot +separate Hinduism from Buddhism, for without it Hinduism could not have +assumed its medieval shape and some forms of Buddhism, such as Lamaism, +countenance Brahmanic deities and ceremonies, while in Java and Camboja +the two religions were avowedly combined and declared to be the same. +Neither is it convenient to separate the fortunes of Buddhism and +Hinduism outside India from their history within it, for although the +importance of Buddhism depends largely on its foreign conquests, the +forms which it assumed in its new territories can be understood only by +reference to the religious condition of India at the periods when +successive missions were despatched. + +This book then is an attempt to give a sketch of Indian thought or +Indian religion—for the two terms are nearly equivalent in extent—and of +its history and influence in Asia. I will not say in the world, for that +sounds too ambitious and really adds little to the more restricted +phrase. For ideas, like empires and races, have their natural frontiers. +Thus Europe may be said to be non-Mohammedan. Although the essential +principles of Mohammedanism seem in harmony with European monotheism, +yet it has been deliberately rejected by the continent and often +repelled by force. Similarly in the regions west of India[1], Indian +religion is sporadic and exotic. I do not think that it had much +influence on ancient Egypt, Babylon and Palestine or that it should be +counted among the forces which shaped the character and teaching of +Christ, though Christian monasticism and mysticism perhaps owed +something to it. The debt of Manichaeism and various Gnostic sects is +more certain and more considerable, but these communities have not +endured and were regarded as heretical while they lasted. Among the +Neoplatonists of Alexandria and the Sufis of Arabia and Persia many seem +to have listened to the voice of Hindu mysticism but rather as +individuals than as leaders of popular movements. + +But in Eastern Asia the influence of India has been notable in extent, +strength and duration. Scant justice is done to her position in the +world by those histories which recount the exploits of her invaders and +leave the impression that her own people were a feeble, dreamy folk, +sundered from the rest of mankind by their sea and mountain frontiers. +Such a picture takes no account of the intellectual conquests of the +Hindus. Even their political conquests were not contemptible and were +remarkable for the distance if not for the extent of the territory +occupied. For there were Hindu kingdoms in Java and Camboja and +settlements in Sumatra[2] and even in Borneo, an island about as far +from India as is Persia from Rome. But such military or commercial +invasions are insignificant compared with the spread of Indian thought. +The south-eastern region of Asia—both mainland and archipelago—owed its +civilization almost entirely to India. In Ceylon, Burma, Siam, Camboja, +Champa and Java, religion, art, the alphabet, literature, as well as +whatever science and political organization existed, were the direct +gift of Hindus, whether Brahmans or Buddhists, and much the same may be +said of Tibet, whence the wilder Mongols took as much Indian +civilization as they could stomach. In Java and other Malay countries +this Indian culture has been superseded by Islam, yet even in Java the +alphabet and to a large extent the customs of the people are still +Indian. + +In the countries mentioned Indian influence has been dominant until the +present day, or at least until the advent of Islam. In another large +area comprising China, Japan, Korea, and Annam it appears as a layer +superimposed on Chinese culture, yet not a mere veneer. In these regions +Chinese ethics, literature and art form the major part of intellectual +life and have an outward and visible sign in the Chinese written +characters which have not been ousted by an Indian alphabet[3]. But in +all, especially in Japan, the influence of Buddhism has been profound +and penetrating. None of these lands can be justly described as Buddhist +in the same sense as Burma or Siam but Buddhism gave them a creed +acceptable in different forms to superstitious, emotional and +metaphysical minds: it provided subjects and models for art, especially +for painting, and entered into popular life, thought and language. + +But what are Hinduism and Buddhism? What do they teach about gods and +men and the destinies of the soul? What ideals do they hold up and is +their teaching of value or at least of interest for Europe? I will not +at once answer these questions by general statements, because such names +as Hinduism and Buddhism have different meanings in different countries +and ages, but will rather begin by briefly reviewing the development of +the two religions. I hope that the reader will forgive me if in doing so +I repeat much that is to be found in the body of this work. + +One general observation about India may be made at the outset. Here more +than in any other country the national mind finds its favourite +occupation and full expression in religion. This quality is geographical +rather than racial, for it is possessed by Dravidians as much as by +Aryans. From the Raja to the peasant most Hindus have an interest in +theology and often a passion for it. Few works of art or literature are +purely secular: the intellectual and aesthetic efforts of India, long, +continuous and distinguished as they are, are monotonous inasmuch as +they are almost all the expression of some religious phase. But the +religion itself is extraordinarily full and varied. The love of +discussion and speculation creates considerable variety in practice and +almost unlimited variety in creed and theory. There are few dogmas known +to the theologies of the world which are not held by some of India's +multitudinous sects[4] and it is perhaps impossible to make a single +general statement about Hinduism, to which some sects would not prove an +exception. Any such statements in this book must be understood as +referring merely to the great majority of Hindus. + +As a form of life and thought Hinduism is definite and unmistakeable. In +whatever shape it presents itself it can be recognized at once. But it +is so vast and multitudinous that only an encyclopedia could describe it +and no formula can summarize it. Essayists flounder among conflicting +propositions such as that sectarianism is the essence of Hinduism or +that no educated Hindu belongs to a sect. Either can easily be proved, +for it may be said of Hinduism, as it has been said of zoology, that you +can prove anything if you merely collect facts which support your theory +and not those which conflict with it. Hence many distinguished writers +err by overestimating the phase which specially interests them. For one +the religious life of India is fundamentally monotheistic and Vishnuite: +for another philosophic Sivaism is its crown and quintessence: a third +maintains with equal truth that all forms of Hinduism are tantric. All +these views are tenable because though Hindu life may be cut up into +castes and sects, Hindu creeds are not mutually exclusive and repellent. +They attract and colour one another. + + +2. _Origin and Growth of Hinduism_ + +The earliest product of Indian literature, the Rig Veda, contains the +songs of the Aryan invaders who were beginning to make a home in India. +Though no longer nomads, they had little local sentiment. No cities had +arisen comparable with Babylon or Thebes and we hear little of ancient +kingdoms or dynasties. Many of the gods who occupied so much of their +thoughts were personifications of natural forces such as the sun, wind +and fire, worshipped without temples or images and hence more indefinite +in form, habitation and attributes than the deities of Assyria or Egypt. +The idea of a struggle between good and evil was not prominent. In +Persia, where the original pantheon was almost the same as that of the +Veda, this idea produced monotheism: the minor deities became angels and +the chief deity a Lord of hosts who wages a successful struggle against +an independent but still inferior spirit of evil. But in India the +Spirits of Good and Evil are not thus personified. The world is regarded +less as a battlefield of principles than as a theatre for the display of +natural forces. No one god assumes lordship over the others but all are +seen to be interchangeable—mere names and aspects of something which is +greater than any god. + +Indian religion is commonly regarded as the offspring of an Aryan +religion, brought into India by invaders from the north and modified by +contact with Dravidian civilization. The materials at our disposal +hardly permit us to take any other point of view, for the literature of +the Vedic Aryans is relatively ancient and full and we have no +information about the old Dravidians comparable with it. But were our +knowledge less one-sided, we might see that it would be more correct to +describe Indian religion as Dravidian religion stimulated and modified +by the ideas of Aryan invaders. For the greatest deities of Hinduism, +Siva, Krishna, Râma, Durgâ and some of its most essential doctrines such +as metempsychosis and divine incarnations, are either totally unknown to +the Veda or obscurely adumbrated in it. The chief characteristics of +mature Indian religion are characteristics of an area, not of a race, +and they are not the characteristics of religion in Persia, Greece or +other Aryan lands[5]. + +Some writers explain Indian religion as the worship of nature spirits, +others as the veneration of the dead. But it is a mistake to see in the +religion of any large area only one origin or impulse. The principles +which in a learned form are championed to-day by various professors +represent thoughts which were creative in early times. In ancient India +there were some whose minds turned to their ancestors and dead friends +while others saw divinity in the wonders of storm, spring and harvest. +Krishna is in the main a product of hero worship, but Śiva has no such +historical basis. He personifies the powers of birth and death, of +change, decay and rebirth—in fact all that we include in the prosaic +word nature. Assuredly both these lines of thought—the worship of nature +and of the dead—and perhaps many others existed in ancient India. + +By the time of the Upanishads, that is about 600 B.C., we trace three +clear currents in Indian religion which have persisted until the present +day. The first is ritual. This became extraordinarily complicated but +retained its primitive and magical character. The object of an ancient +Indian sacrifice was partly to please the gods but still more to coerce +them by certain acts and formulae[6]. Secondly all Hindus lay stress on +asceticism and self-mortification, as a means of purifying the soul and +obtaining supernatural powers. They have a conviction that every man who +is in earnest about religion and even every student of philosophy must +follow a discipline at least to the extent of observing chastity and +eating only to support life. Severer austerities give clearer insight +into divine mysteries and control over the forces of nature. Europeans +are apt to condemn eastern asceticism as a waste of life but it has had +an important moral effect. The weakness of Hinduism, though not of +Buddhism, is that ethics have so small a place in its fundamental +conceptions. Its deities are not identified with the moral law and the +saint is above that law. But this dangerous doctrine is corrected by the +dogma, which is also a popular conviction, that a saint must be a +passionless ascetic. In India no religious teacher can expect a hearing +unless he begins by renouncing the world. + +Thirdly, the deepest conviction of Hindus in all ages is that salvation +and happiness are attainable by knowledge. The corresponding phrases in +Sanskrit are perhaps less purely intellectual than our word and contain +some idea of effort and emotion. He who knows God attains to God, nay he +is God. Rites and self-denial are but necessary preliminaries to such +knowledge: he who possesses it stands above them. It is inconceivable to +the Hindus that he should care for the things of the world but he cares +equally little for creeds and ceremonies. Hence, side by side with +irksome codes, complicated ritual and elaborate theology, we find the +conviction that all these things are but vanity and weariness, fetters +to be shaken off by the free in spirit. Nor do those who hold such views +correspond to the anti-clerical and radical parties of Europe. The +ascetic sitting in the temple court often holds that the rites performed +around him are spiritually useless and the gods of the shrine mere +fanciful presentments of that which cannot be depicted or described. + +Rather later, but still before the Christian era, another idea makes +itself prominent in Indian religion, namely faith or devotion to a +particular deity. This idea, which needs no explanation, is pushed on +the one hand to every extreme of theory and practice: on the other it +rarely abolishes altogether the belief in ritualism, asceticism and +knowledge. + +Any attempt to describe Hinduism as one whole leads to startling +contrasts. The same religion enjoins self-mortification and orgies: +commands human sacrifices and yet counts it a sin to eat meat or crush +an insect: has more priests, rites and images than ancient Egypt or +medieval Rome and yet out does Quakers in rejecting all externals. These +singular features are connected with the ascendancy of the Brahman +caste. The Brahmans are an interesting social phenomenon without exact +parallel elsewhere. They are not, like the Catholic or Moslem clergy, a +priesthood pledged to support certain doctrines but an intellectual, +hereditary aristocracy who claim to direct the thought of India whatever +forms it may take. All who admit this claim and accord a nominal +recognition to the authority of the Veda are within the spacious fold or +menagerie. Neither the devil-worshipping aboriginee nor the atheistic +philosopher is excommunicated, though neither may be relished by average +orthodoxy. + +Though Hinduism has no one creed, yet there are at least two doctrines +held by nearly all who call themselves Hindus. One may be described as +polytheistic pantheism. Most Hindus are apparently polytheists, that is +to say they venerate the images of several deities or spirits, yet most +are monotheists in the sense that they address their worship to one god. +But this monotheism has almost always a pantheistic tinge. The Hindu +does not say the gods of the heathen are but idols, but it is the Lord +who made the heavens: he says, My Lord (Râma, Krishna or whoever it may +be) is all the other gods. Some schools would prefer to say that no +human language applied to the Godhead can be correct and that all ideas +of a personal ruler of the world are at best but relative truths. This +ultimate ineffable Godhead is called Brahman[7]. + +The second doctrine is commonly known as metempsychosis, the +transmigration of souls or reincarnation, the last name being the most +correct. In detail the doctrine assumes various forms since different +views are held about the relation of soul to body. But the essence of +all is the same, namely that a life does not begin at birth or end at +death but is a link in an infinite series of lives, each of which is +conditioned and determined by the acts done in previous existences +(karma). Animal, human and divine (or at least angelic) existences may +all be links in the chain. A man's deeds, if good, may exalt him to the +heavens, if evil may degrade him to life as a beast. Since all lives, +even in heaven, must come to an end, happiness is not to be sought in +heaven or on earth. The common aspiration of the religious Indian is for +deliverance, that is release from the round of births and repose in some +changeless state called by such names as union with Brahman, nirvana and +many others. + + +3. _The Buddha_ + +As observed above, the Brahmans claim to direct the religious life and +thought of India and apart from Mohammedanism may be said to have +achieved their ambition, though at the price of tolerating much that the +majority would wish to suppress. But in earlier ages their influence was +less extensive and there were other currents of religious activity, some +hostile and some simply independent. The most formidable of these found +expression in Jainism and Buddhism both of which arose in Bihar in the +sixth century[8] B.C. This century was a time of intellectual ferment in +many countries. In China it produced Lao-tz[u] and Confucius: in Greece, +Parmenides, Empedocles, and the sophists were only a little later. In +all these regions we have the same phenomenon of restless, wandering +teachers, ready to give advice on politics, religion or philosophy, to +any one who would hear them. + +At that time the influence of the Brahmans had hardly permeated Bihar, +though predominant to the west of it, and speculation there followed +lines different from those laid down in the Upanishads, but of some +antiquity, for we know that there were Buddhas before Gotama and that +Mahâvîra, the founder of Jainism, reformed the doctrine of an older +teacher called Parśva. + +In Gotama's youth Bihar was full of wandering philosophers who appear to +have been atheistic and disposed to uphold the boldest paradoxes, +intellectual and moral. There must however have been constructive +elements in their doctrine, for they believed in reincarnation and the +periodic appearance of superhuman teachers and in the advantage of +following an ascetic discipline. They probably belonged chiefly to the +warrior caste as did Gotama, the Buddha known to history. The Pitakas +represent him as differing in details from contemporary teachers but as +rediscovering the truth taught by his predecessors. They imply that the +world is so constituted that there is only one way to emancipation and +that from time to time superior minds see this and announce it to +others. Still Buddhism does not in practice use such formulae as living +in harmony with the laws of nature. + +Indian literature is notoriously concerned with ideas rather than facts +but the vigorous personality of the Buddha has impressed on it a +portrait more distinct than that left by any other teacher or king. His +work had a double effect. Firstly it influenced all departments of Hindu +religion and thought, even those nominally opposed to it. Secondly it +spread not only Buddhism in the strict sense but Indian art and +literature beyond the confines of India. The expansion of Hindu culture +owes much to the doctrine that the Good Law should be preached to all +nations. + +The teaching of Gotama was essentially practical. This statement may +seem paradoxical to the reader who has some acquaintance with the +Buddhist scriptures and he will exclaim that of all religious books they +are the least practical and least popular: they set up an anti-social +ideal and are mainly occupied with psychological theories. But the +Buddha addressed a public such as we now find it hard even to imagine. +In those days the intellectual classes of India felt the ordinary +activities of life to be unsatisfying: they thought it natural to +renounce the world and mortify the flesh: divergent systems of ritual, +theology and self-denial promised happiness but all agreed in thinking +it normal as well as laudable that a man should devote his life to +meditation and study. Compared with this frame of mind the teaching of +the Buddha is not unsocial, unpractical and mysterious but human, +business-like and clear. We are inclined to see in the monastic life +which he recommended little but a useless sacrifice but it is evident +that in the opinion of his contemporaries his disciples had an easy +time, and that he had no intention of prescribing any cramped or +unnatural existence. He accepted the current conviction that those who +devote themselves to the things of the mind and spirit should be +released from worldly ties and abstain from luxury but he meant his +monks to live a life of sustained intellectual activity for themselves +and of benevolence for others. His teaching is formulated in severe and +technical phraseology, yet the substance of it is so simple that many +have criticized it as too obvious and jejune to be the basis of a +religion. But when he first enunciated his theses some two thousand five +hundred years ago, they were not obvious but revolutionary and little +less than paradoxical. + +The principal of these propositions are as follows. The existence of +everything depends on a cause: hence if the cause of evil or suffering +can be detected and removed, evil itself will be removed. That cause is +lust and craving for pleasure[9]. Hence all sacrificial and sacramental +religions are irrelevant, for the cure which they propose has nothing to +do with the disease. The cause of evil or suffering is removed by +purifying the heart and by following the moral law which sets high value +on sympathy and social duties, but an equally high value on the +cultivation of individual character. But training and cultivation imply +the possibility of change. Hence it is a fatal mistake in the religious +life to hold a view common in India which regards the essence of man as +something unchangeable and happy in itself, if it can only be isolated +from physical trammels. On the contrary the happy mind is something to +be built up by good thoughts, good words and good deeds. In its origin +the Buddha's celebrated doctrine that there is no permanent self in +persons or things is not a speculative proposition, nor a sentimental +lament over the transitoriness of the world, but a basis for religion +and morals. You will never be happy unless you realize that you can make +and remake your own soul. + +These simple principles and the absence of all dogmas as to God or +Brahman distinguish the teaching of Gotama from most Indian systems, but +he accepted the usual Indian beliefs about Karma and rebirth and with +them the usual conclusion that release from the series of rebirths is +the _summum bonum_. This deliverance he called saintship (_arahattam_) +or nirvana of which I shall say something below. In early Buddhism it is +primarily a state of happiness to be attained in this life and the +Buddha persistently refused to explain what is the nature of a saint +after death. The question is unprofitable and perhaps he would have +said, had he spoken our language, unmeaning. Later generations did not +hesitate to discuss the problem but the Buddha's own teaching is simply +that a man can attain before death to a blessed state in which he has +nothing to fear from either death or rebirth. + +The Buddha attacked both the ritual and the philosophy of the Brahmans. +After his time the sacrificial system, though it did not die, never +regained its old prestige and he profoundly affected the history of +Indian metaphysics. It may be justly said that most of his philosophic +as distinguished from his practical teaching was common property before +his time, but he transmuted common ideas and gave them a currency and +significance which they did not possess before. But he was less +destructive as a religious and social reformer than many have supposed. +He did not deny the existence nor forbid the worship of the popular +gods, but such worship is not Buddhism and the gods are merely angels +who may be willing to help good Buddhists but are in no wise guides to +religion, since they need instruction themselves. And though he denied +that the Brahmans were superior by birth to others, he did not preach +against caste, partly because it then existed only in a rudimentary +form. But he taught that the road to salvation was one and open to all +who were able to walk in it[10], whether Hindus or foreigners. All may +not have the necessary qualifications of intellect and character to +become monks but all can be good laymen, for whom the religious life +means the observance of morality combined with such simple exercises as +reading the scriptures. It is clear that this lay Buddhism had much to +do with the spread of the faith. The elemental simplicity of its +principles—namely that religion is open to all and identical with +morality—made a clean sweep of Brahmanic theology and sacrifices and put +in its place something like Confucianism. But the innate Indian love for +philosophizing and ritual caused generation after generation to add more +and more supplements to the Master's teaching and it is only outside +India that it has been preserved in any purity. + + +4. _Asoka_ + +Gotama spent his life in preaching and by his personal exertions spread +his doctrines over Bihar and Oudh but for two centuries after his death +we know little of the history of Buddhism. In the reign of Asoka +(273-232 B.C.) its fortunes suddenly changed, for this great Emperor +whose dominions comprised nearly all India made it the state religion +and also engraved on rocks and pillars a long series of edicts recording +his opinions and aspirations. Buddhism is often criticized as a gloomy +and unpractical creed, suited at best to stoical and scholarly recluses. +But these are certainly not its characteristics when it first appears in +political history, just as they are not its characteristics in Burma or +Japan to-day. Both by precept and example Asoka was an ardent exponent +of the strenuous life. In his first edict he lays down the principle +"Let small and great exert themselves" and in subsequent inscriptions he +continually harps upon the necessity of energy and exertion. The Law or +Religion (Dhamma) which his edicts enjoin is merely human and civic +virtue, except that it makes respect for animal life an integral part of +morality. In one passage he summarizes it as "Little impiety, many good +deeds, compassion, liberality, truthfulness and purity." He makes no +reference to a supreme deity, but insists on the reality and importance +of the future life. Though he does not use the word _Karma_ this is +clearly the conception which dominates his philosophy: those who do good +are happy in this world and the next but those who fail in their duty +win neither heaven nor the royal favour. The king's creed is remarkable +in India for its great simplicity. He deprecates superstitious +ceremonies and says nothing of Nirvana but dwells on morality as +necessary to happiness in this life and others. This is not the whole of +Gotama's teaching but two centuries after his death a powerful and +enlightened Buddhist gives it as the gist of Buddhism for laymen. + +Asoka wished to make Buddhism the creed not only of India but of the +world as known to him and he boasts that he extended his "conquests of +religion" to the Hellenistic kingdoms of the west. If the missions which +he despatched thither reached their destination, there is little +evidence that they bore any fruit, but the conversion of Ceylon and some +districts in the Himalayas seems directly due to his initiative. + + +5. _Extension of Buddhism and Hinduism beyond India_ + +This is perhaps a convenient place to review the extension of Buddhism +and Hinduism outside India. To do so at this point implies of course an +anticipation of chronology, but to delay the survey might blind the +reader to the fact that from the time of Asoka onward India was engaged +not only in creating but also in exporting new varieties of religious +thought. + +The countries which have received Indian culture fall into two classes: +first those to which it came as a result of religious missions or of +peaceful international intercourse, and second those where it was +established after conquest or at least colonization. In the first class +the religion introduced was Buddhism. If, as in Tibet, it seems to us +mixed with Hinduism, yet it was a mixture which at the date of its +introduction passed in India for Buddhism. But in the second and smaller +class including Java, Camboja and Champa the immigrants brought with +them both Hinduism and Buddhism. The two systems were often declared to +be the same but the result was Hinduism mixed with some Buddhism, not +_vice versâ_. + +The countries of the first class comprise Ceylon, Burma and Siam, +Central Asia, Nepal, China with Annam, Korea and Japan, Tibet with +Mongolia. The Buddhism of the first three countries[11] is a real unity +or in European language a church, for though they have no common +hierarchy they use the same sacred language, Pali, and have the same +canon. Burma and Siam have repeatedly recognized Ceylon as a sort of +metropolitan see and on the other hand when religion in Ceylon fell on +evil days the clergy were recruited from Burma and Siam. In the other +countries Buddhism presents greater differences and divisions. It had no +one sacred language and in different regions used either Sanskrit texts +or translations into Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian and the languages of +Central Asia. + +1. Ceylon. There is no reason to doubt that Buddhism was introduced +under the auspices of Asoka. Though the invasions and settlements of +Tamils have brought Hinduism into Ceylon, yet none of the later and +mixed forms of Buddhism, in spite of some attempts to gain a footing, +ever flourished there on a large scale. Sinhalese Buddhism had probably +a closer connection with southern India than the legend suggests and +Conjevaram was long a Buddhist centre which kept up intercourse with +both Ceylon and Burma. + +2. Burma. The early history of Burmese Buddhism is obscure and its +origin probably complex, since at many different periods it may have +received teachers from both India and China. The present dominant type +(identical with the Buddhism of Ceylon) existed before the sixth +century[12] and tradition ascribes its introduction both to the labours +of Buddhaghosa and to the missionaries of Asoka. There was probably a +connection between Pegu and Conjevaram. In the eleventh century Burmese +Buddhism had become extremely corrupt except in Pegu but King Anawrata +conquered Pegu and spread a purer form throughout his dominions. + +3. Siam. The Thai race, who starting from somewhere in the Chinese +province of Yünnan began to settle in what is now called Siam about the +beginning of the twelfth century, probably brought with them some form +of Buddhism. About 1300 the possessions of Râma Komhëng, King of Siam, +included Pegu and Pali Buddhism prevailed among his subjects. Somewhat +later, in 1361, a high ecclesiastic was summoned from Ceylon to arrange +the affairs of the church but not, it would seem, to introduce any new +doctrine. Pegu was the centre from which Pali Buddhism spread to upper +Burma in the eleventh century and it probably performed the same service +for Siam later. The modern Buddhism of Camboja is simply Siamese +Buddhism which filtered into the country from about 1250 onwards. The +older Buddhism of Camboja, for which see below, was quite different. + +At the courts of Siam and Camboja, as formerly in Burma, there are +Brahmans who perform state ceremonies and act as astrologers. Though +they have little to do with the religion of the people, their presence +explains the predominance of Indian rather than Chinese influence in +these countries. + +4. Tradition says that Indian colonists settled in Khotan during the +reign of Asoka, but no precise date can at present be fixed for the +introduction of Buddhism into the Tarim basin and other regions commonly +called Central Asia. But it must have been flourishing there about the +time of the Christian era, since it spread thence to China not later +than the middle of the first century. There were two schools +representing two distinct currents from India. First the Sarvâstivâdin +school, prevalent in Badakshan, Kashgar and Kucha, secondly the Mahâyâna +in Khotan and Yarkand. The spread of the former was no doubt connected +with the growth of the Kushan Empire but may be anterior to the +conversion of Kanishka, for though he gave a great impetus to the +propagation of the faith, it is probable that, like most royal converts, +he favoured an already popular religion. The Mahâyâna subsequently won +much territory from the other school. + +5. As in other countries, so in China Buddhism entered by more than one +road. It came first by land from Central Asia. The official date for its +introduction by this route is 62 A.D. but it was probably known within +the Chinese frontier before that time, though not recognized by the +state. Secondly when Buddhism was established, there arose a desire for +accurate knowledge of the true Indian doctrine. Chinese pilgrims went to +India and Indian teachers came to China. After the fourth century many +of these religious journeys were made by sea and it was thus that +Bodhidharma landed at Canton in 520[13]. A third stream of Buddhism, +namely Lamaism, came into China from Tibet under the Mongol dynasty +(1280). Khubilai considered this the best religion for his Mongols and +numerous Lamaist temples and convents were established and still exist +in northern China. Lamaism has not perhaps been a great religious or +intellectual force there, but its political importance was considerable, +for the Ming and Manchu dynasties who wished to assert their rule over +the Tibetans and Mongols by peaceful methods, consistently strove to win +the goodwill of the Lamaist clergy. + +The Buddhism of Korea, Japan and Annam is directly derived from the +earlier forms of Chinese Buddhism but was not affected by the later +influx of Lamaism. Buddhism passed from China into Korea in the fourth +century and thence to Japan in the sixth. In the latter country it was +stimulated by frequent contact with China and the repeated introduction +of new Chinese sects but was not appreciably influenced by direct +intercourse with Hindus or other foreign Buddhists. In the twelfth and +thirteenth centuries Japanese Buddhism showed great vitality, +transforming old sects and creating new ones. + +In the south, Chinese Buddhism spread into Annam rather late: according +to native tradition in the tenth century. This region was a battlefield +of two cultures. Chinese influence descending southwards from Canton +proved predominant and, after the triumph of Annam over Champa, extended +to the borders of Camboja. But so long as the kingdom of Champa existed, +Indian culture and Hinduism maintained themselves at least as far north +as Hué. + +6. The Buddhism of Tibet is a late and startling transformation of +Gotama's teaching, but the transformation is due rather to the change +and degeneration of that teaching in Bengal than to the admixture of +Tibetan ideas. Such admixture however was not absent and a series of +reformers endeavoured to bring the church back to what they considered +the true standard. The first introduction is said to have occurred in +630 but probably the arrival of Padma Sambhava from India in 747 marks +the real foundation of the Lamaist church. It was reformed by the Hindu +Atîśa in 1038 and again by the Tibetan Tsong-kha-pa about 1400. + +The Grand Lama is the head of the church as reorganized by Tsong-kha-pa. +In Tibet the priesthood attained to temporal power comparable with the +Papacy. The disintegration of the government divided the whole land into +small principalities and among these the great monasteries were as +important as any temporal lord. The abbots of the Sakya monastery were +the practical rulers of Tibet for seventy years (1270-1340). Another +period of disintegration followed but after 1630 the Grand Lamas of +Lhasa were able to claim and maintain a similar position. + +Mongolian Buddhism is a branch of Lamaism distinguished by no special +doctrines. The Mongols were partially converted in the time of Khubilai +and a second time and more thoroughly in 1570 by the third Grand Lama. + +7. Nepal exhibits another phase of degeneration. In Tibet Indian +Buddhism passed into the hands of a vigorous national priesthood and was +not exposed to the assimilative influence of Hinduism. In Nepal it had +not the same defence. It probably existed there since the time of Asoka +and underwent the same phases of decay and corruption as in Bengal. But +whereas the last great monasteries in Bengal were shattered by the +Mohammedan invasion of 1193, the secluded valley of Nepal was protected +against such violence and Buddhism continued to exist there in name. It +has preserved a good deal of Sanskrit Buddhist literature but has become +little more than a sect of Hinduism. + +Nepal ought perhaps to be classed in our second division, that is those +countries where Indian culture was introduced not by missionaries but by +the settlement of Indian conquerors or immigrants. To this class belong +the Hindu civilizations of Indo-China and the Archipelago. In all of +these Hinduism and Mahayanist Buddhism are found mixed together, +Hinduism being the stronger element. The earliest Sanskrit inscription +in these regions is that of Vochan in Champa which is apparently +Buddhist. It is not later than the third century and refers to an +earlier king, so that an Indian dynasty probably existed there about +150-200 A.D. Though the presence of Indian culture is beyond dispute, it +is not clear whether the Chams were civilized in Champa by Hindu +invaders or whether they were hinduized Malays who invaded Champa from +elsewhere. + +8. In Camboja a Hindu dynasty was founded by invaders and the Brahmans +who accompanied them established a counterpart to it in a powerful +hierarchy, Sanskrit becoming the language of religion. It is clear that +these invaders came ultimately from India but they may have halted in +Java or the Malay Peninsula for an unknown period. The Brahmanic +hierarchy began to fail about the fourteenth century and was supplanted +by Siamese Buddhism. Before that time the state religion of both Champa +and Camboja was the worship of Śiva, especially in the form called +Mukhalinga. Mahayanist Buddhism, tending to identify Buddha with Śiva, +also existed but enjoyed less of the royal patronage. + +9. Religious conditions were similar in Java but politically there was +this difference, that there was no one continuous and paramount kingdom. +A considerable number of Hindus must have settled in the island to +produce such an effect on its language and architecture but the rulers +of the states known to us were hinduized Javanese rather than true +Hindus and the language of literature and of most inscriptions was Old +Javanese, not Sanskrit, though most of the works written in it were +translations or adaptations of Sanskrit originals. As in Camboja, +Śivaism and Buddhism both flourished without mutual hostility and there +was less difference in the status of the two creeds. + +In all these countries religion seems to have been connected with +politics more closely than in India. The chief shrine was a national +cathedral, the living king was semi-divine and dead kings were +represented by statues bearing the attributes of their favourite gods. + + +6. _New Forms of Buddhism_ + +In the three or four centuries following Asoka a surprising change came +over Indian Buddhism, but though the facts are clear it is hard to +connect them with dates and persons. But the change was clearly +posterior to Asoka for though his edicts show a spirit of wide charity +it is not crystallized in the form of certain doctrines which +subsequently became prominent. + +The first of these holds up as the moral ideal not personal perfection +or individual salvation but the happiness of all living creatures. The +good man who strives for this should boldly aspire to become a Buddha in +some future birth and such aspirants are called Bodhisattvas. Secondly +Buddhas and some Bodhisattvas come to be considered as supernatural +beings and practically deities. The human life of Gotama, though not +denied, is regarded as the manifestation of a cosmic force which also +reveals itself in countless other Buddhas who are not merely his +predecessors or destined successors but the rulers of paradises in other +worlds. Faith in a Buddha, especially in Amitâbha, can secure rebirth in +his paradise. The great Bodhisattvas, such as Avalokita and Mañjuśrî, +are splendid angels of mercy and knowledge who are theoretically +distinguished from Buddhas because they have indefinitely postponed +their entry into nirvana in order to alleviate the sufferings of the +world. These new tenets are accompanied by a remarkable development of +art and of idealist metaphysics. + +This new form of Buddhism is called Mahâyâna, or the Great Vehicle, as +opposed to the Small Vehicle or Hînayâna, a somewhat contemptuous name +given to the older school. The idea underlying these phrases is that +sects are merely coaches, all travelling on the same road to salvation +though some may be quicker than others. The Mahayana did not suppress +the Hinayana but it gradually absorbed the traffic. + +The causes of this transformation were two-fold, internal or Indian and +external. Buddhism was a living, that is changing, stream of thought and +the Hindus as a nation have an exceptional taste and capacity for +metaphysics. This taste was not destroyed by Gotama's dicta as to the +limits of profitable knowledge nor did new deities arouse hostility +because they were not mentioned in the ancient scriptures. The +development of Brahmanism and Buddhism was parallel: if an attractive +novelty appeared in one, something like it was soon provided by the +other. Thus the Bhagavad-gîtâ contains the ideas of the Mahayana in +substance, though in a different setting: it praises disinterested +activity and insists on faith. It is clear that at this period all +Indian thought and not merely Buddhism was vivified and transmuted by +two great currents of feeling demanding, the one a more emotional +morality the other more personal and more sympathetic deities. + +I shall show in more detail below that most Mahayanist doctrines, though +apparently new, have their roots in old Indian ideas. But the presence +of foreign influences is not to be disputed and there is no difficulty +in accounting for them. Gandhara was a Persian province from 530 to 330 +B.C. and in the succeeding centuries the north-western parts of India +experienced the invasions and settlements of numerous aliens, such as +Greeks from the Hellenistic kingdoms which arose after Alexander's +expedition, Parthians, Sakas and Kushans. Such immigrants, even if they +had no culture of their own, at least transported culture, just as the +Turks introduced Islam into Europe. Thus whatever ideas were prevalent +in Persia, in the Hellenistic kingdoms, or in Central Asia may also have +been prevalent in north-western India, where was situated the university +town of Taxila frequently mentioned in the Jâtakas as a seat of Buddhist +learning. The foreigners who entered India adopted Indian religions[14] +and probably Buddhism more often than Hinduism, for it was at that time +predominant and disposed to evangelize without raising difficulties as +to caste. + +Foreign influences stimulated mythology and imagery. In the reliefs of +Asoka's time, the image of the Buddha never appears, and, as in the +earliest Christian art, the intention of the sculptors is to illustrate +an edifying narrative rather than to provide an object of worship. But +in the Gandharan sculptures, which are a branch of Græco-Roman art, he +is habitually represented by a figure modelled on the conventional type +of Apollo. The gods of India were not derived from Greece but they were +stereotyped under the influence of western art to this extent that +familiarity with such figures as Apollo and Pallas encouraged the Hindus +to represent their gods and heroes in human or quasi-human shapes. The +influence of Greece on Indian religion was not profound: it did not +affect the architecture or ritual of temples and still less thought or +doctrine. But when Indian religion and especially Buddhism passed into +the hands of men accustomed to Greek statuary, the inclination to +venerate definite personalities having definite shapes was +strengthened[15]. + +Persian influence was stronger than Greek. To it are probably due the +many radiant deities who shed their beneficent glory over the Mahayanist +pantheon, as well as the doctrine that Bodhisattvas are emanations of +Buddhas. The discoveries of Stein, Pelliot and others have shown that +this influence extended across Central Asia to China and one of the most +important turns in the fortunes of Buddhism was its association with a +Central Asian tribe analogous to the Turks and called Kushans or +Yüeh-chih, whose territories lay without as well as within the frontiers +of modern India and who borrowed much of their culture from Persia and +some from the Greeks. Their great king Kanishka is a figure in Buddhist +annals second only to Asoka. Unfortunately his date is still a matter of +discussion. The majority of scholars place his accession about 78 A.D. +but some put it rather later[16]. The evidence of numismatics and of art +indicates that he came towards the end of his dynasty rather than at the +beginning and the tradition which makes Aśvaghosha his contemporary is +compatible with the later date. + +Some writers describe Kanishka as the special patron of Mahayanism. But +the description is of doubtful accuracy. The style of religious art +known as Gandharan flourished in his reign and he convened a council +which fixed the canon of the Sarvâstivâdins. This school was reckoned as +Hinayanist and though Aśvaghosha enjoys general fame in the Far East as +a Mahayanist doctor, yet his undoubted writings are not Mahayanist in +the strict sense of the word[17]. But a more ornate and mythological +form of religion was becoming prevalent and perhaps Kanishka's Council +arranged some compromise between the old and the new. + +After Aśvaghosha comes Nâgârjuna who may have flourished any time +between 125 and 200 A.D. A legend which makes him live for 300 years is +not without significance, for he represents a movement and a school as +much as a personality and if he taught in the second century A.D. he +cannot have been the _founder_ of Mahayanism. Yet he seems to be the +first great name definitely connected with it and the ascription to him +of numerous later treatises, though unwarrantable, shows that his +authority was sufficient to stamp a work or a doctrine as orthodox +Mahayanism. His biographies connect him with the system of idealist or +nihilistic metaphysics expounded in the literature (for it is more than +a single work) called Prajñâpâramitâ, with magical practices (by which +the power of summoning Bodhisattvas or deities is specially meant) and +with the worship of Amitâbha. His teacher Saraha, a foreigner, is said +to have been the first who taught this worship in India. In this there +may be a kernel of truth but otherwise the extant accounts of Nâgârjuna +are too legendary to permit of historical deductions. He was perhaps the +first eminent exponent of Mahayanist metaphysics, but the train of +thought was not new: it was the result of applying to the external world +the same destructive logic which Gotama applied to the soul and the +result had considerable analogies to Śankara's version of the Vedanta. +Whether in the second century A.D. the leaders of Buddhism already +identified themselves with the sorcery which demoralized late Indian +Mahayanism may be doubted, but tradition certainly ascribes to Nâgârjuna +this corrupting mixture of metaphysics and magic. + +The third century offers a strange blank in Indian history. Little can +be said except that the power of the Kushans decayed and that northern +India was probably invaded by Persians and Central Asian tribes. The +same trouble did not affect southern India and it may be that religion +and speculation flourished there and spread northwards, as certainly +happened in later times. Many of the greatest Hindu teachers were +Dravidians and at the present day it is in the Dravidian regions that +the temples are most splendid, the Brahmans strictest and most +respected. It may be that this Dravidian influence affected even +Buddhism in the third century A.D., for Aryadeva the successor of +Nâgârjuna was a southerner and the legends told of him recall certain +Dravidian myths. Bodhidharma too came from the South and imported into +China a form of Buddhism which has left no record in India. + + +7. _Revival of Hinduism_ + +In 320 a native Indian dynasty, the Guptas, came to the throne and +inaugurated a revival of Hinduism, to which religion we must now turn. +To speak of the revival of Hinduism does not mean that in the previous +period it had been dead or torpid. Indeed we know that there was a Hindu +reaction against the Buddhism of Asoka about 150 B.C. But, on the whole, +from the time of Asoka onwards Buddhism had been the principal religion +of India, and before the Gupta era there are hardly any records of +donations made to Brahmans. Yet during these centuries they were not +despised or oppressed. They produced much literature[18]: their schools +of philosophy and ritual did not decay and they gradually made good +their claim to be the priests of India's gods, whoever those gods might +be. The difference between the old religion and the new lies in this. +The Brâhmanas and Upanishads describe practices and doctrines of +considerable variety but still all the property of a privileged class in +a special region. They do not represent popular religion nor the +religion of India as a whole. But in the Gupta period Hinduism began to +do this. It is not a system like Islam or even Buddhism but a parliament +of religions, of which every Indian creed can become a member on +condition of observing some simple rules of the house, such as respect +for Brahmans and theoretical acceptance of the Veda. Nothing is +abolished: the ancient rites and texts preserve their mysterious power +and kings perform the horse-sacrifice. But side by side with this, +deities unknown to the Veda rise to the first rank and it is frankly +admitted that new revelations more suited to the age have been given to +mankind. + +Art too enters on a new phase. In the early Indian sculptures deities +are mostly portrayed in human form, but in about the first century of +our era there is seen a tendency to depict them with many heads and +limbs and this tendency grows stronger until in mediaeval times it is +predominant. It has its origin in symbolism. The deity is thought of as +carrying many insignia, as performing more actions than two hands can +indicate; the worshipper is taught to think of him as appearing in this +shape and the artist does not hesitate to represent it in paint and +stone. + +As we have seen, the change which came over Buddhism was partly due to +foreign influences and no doubt they affected most Indian creeds. But +the prodigious amplification of Hinduism was mainly due to the +absorption of beliefs prevalent in Indian districts other than the homes +of the ancient Brahmans. Thus south Indian religion is characterized +when we first know it by its emotional tone and it resulted in the +mediaeval Sivaism of the Tamil country. In another region, probably in +the west, grew up the monotheism of the Bhâgavatas, which was the parent +of Vishnuism. + +Hinduism may be said to fall into four principal divisions which are +really different religions: the Smârtas or traditionalists, the +Sivaites, the Vishnuites and the Śâktas. The first, who are still +numerous, represent the pre-buddhist Brahmans. They follow, so far as +modern circumstances permit, the ancient ritual and are apparent +polytheists while accepting pantheism as the higher truth. Vishnuites +and Sivaites however are monotheists in the sense that their minor +deities are not essentially different from the saints of Roman and +Eastern Christianity but their monotheism has a pantheistic tinge. +Neither sect denies the existence of the rival god, but each makes its +own deity God, not only in the theistic but in the pantheistic sense and +regards the other deity as merely an influential angel. From time to +time the impropriety of thus specially deifying one aspect of the +universal spirit made itself felt and then Vishnu and Śiva were adored +in a composite dual form or, with the addition of Brahmâ, as a trinity. +But this triad had not great importance and it is a mistake to compare +it with the Christian trinity. Strong as was the tendency to combine and +amalgamate deities, it was mastered in these religions by the desire to +have one definite God, personal inasmuch as he can receive and return +love, although the Indian feeling that God must be all and in all +continually causes the conceptions called Vishnu and Śiva to transcend +the limits of personality. This feeling is specially clear in the growth +of Râma and Krishna worship. Both of these deities were originally +ancient heroes, and stories of love and battle cling to them in their +later phases. Yet for their respective devotees each becomes God in +every sense, God as lover of the soul, God as ruler of the universe and +the God of pantheism who is all that exists and can exist. + +For some time before and after the beginning of our era, north-western +India witnessed a great fusion of ideas and Indian, Persian and Greek +religion must have been in contact at the university town of Taxila and +many other places. Kashmir too, if somewhat too secluded to be a +meeting-place of nations, was a considerable intellectual centre. We +have not yet sufficient documents to enable us to trace the history and +especially the chronology of thought in these regions but we can say +that certain forms of Vishnuism, Śivaism and Buddhism were all evolved +there and often show features in common. Thus in all we find the idea +that the divine nature is manifested in four forms or five, if we count +the Absolute Godhead as one of them[19]. + +I shall consider at length below this worship of Vishnu and Śiva and +here will merely point out that it differs from the polytheism of the +Smârtas. In their higher phases all Hindu religions agree in teaching +some form of pantheism, some laying more and some less stress on the +personal aspect which the deity can assume. But whereas the pantheism of +the Smârtas grew out of the feeling that the many gods of tradition must +all be one, the pantheism of the Vishnuites was not evolved out of +pre-buddhist Brahmanism and is due to the conviction that the one God +must be everything. It is Indian but it grew up in some region outside +Brahmanic influence and was accepted by the Brahmans as a permissible +creed, but many legends in the Epics and Puranas indicate that there was +hostility between the old-fashioned Brahmans and the worshippers of +Râma, Krishna and Śiva before the alliance was made. + +Śâktism[20] also was not evolved from ancient Brahmanism but is +different in tone from Vishnuism and Sivaism. Whereas they start from a +movement of thought and spiritual feeling, Śâktism has for its basis +certain ancient popular worships. With these it has combined much +philosophy and has attempted to bring its teaching into conformity with +Brahmanism, but yet remains somewhat apart. It worships a goddess of +many names and forms, who is adored with sexual rites and the sacrifice +of animals, or, when the law permits, of men. It asserts even more +plainly than Vishnuism that the teaching of the Vedas is too difficult +for these latter days and even useless, and it offers to its followers +new scriptures called Tantras and new ceremonies as all-sufficient. It +is true that many Hindus object to this sect, which may be compared with +the Mormons in America or the Skoptsy in Russia, and it is numerous only +in certain parts of India (especially Bengal and Assam) but since a +section of Brahmans patronize it, it must be reckoned as a phase of +Hinduism and even at the present day it is an important phase. + +There are many cults prevalent in India, though not recognized as sects, +in which the worship of some aboriginal deity is accepted in all its +crudeness without much admixture of philosophy, the only change being +that the deity is described as a form, incarnation or servant of some +well-known god and that Brahmans are connected with this worship. This +habit of absorbing aboriginal superstitions materially lowers the +average level of creed and ritual. An educated Brahman would laugh at +the idea that village superstitions can be taken seriously as religion +but he does not condemn them and, as superstitions, he does not +disbelieve in them. It is chiefly owing to this habit that Hinduism has +spread all over India and its treatment of men and gods is curiously +parallel. Princes like the Manipuris of Assam came under Hindu influence +and were finally recognized as Kshattiyas with an imaginary pedigree, +and on the same principle their deities are recognized as forms of Siva +or Durga. And Siva and Durga themselves were built up in past ages out +of aboriginal beliefs, though the cement holding their figures together +is Indian thought and philosophy, which are able to see in grotesque +rustic godlings an expression of cosmic forces. + +Though this is the principal method by which Hinduism has been +propagated, direct missionary effort has not been wanting. For instance +a large part of Assam was converted by the preaching of Vishnuite +teachers in the sixteenth century and the process still continues[21]. +But on the whole the missionary spirit characterizes Buddhism rather +than Hinduism. Buddhist missionaries preached their faith, without any +political motive, wherever they could penetrate. But in such countries +as Camboja, Hinduism was primarily the religion of the foreign settlers +and when the political power of the Brahmans began to wane, the people +embraced Buddhism. Outside India it was perhaps only in Java and the +neighbouring islands that Hinduism (with an admixture of Buddhism) +became the religion of the natives. + +Many features of Hinduism, its steady though slow conquest of India, its +extraordinary vitality and tenacity in resisting the attacks of +Mohammedanism, and its small power of expansion beyond the seas are +explained by the fact that it is a mode of life as much as a faith. To +be a Hindu it is not sufficient to hold the doctrine of the Upanishads +or any other scriptures: it is necessary to be a member of a Hindu caste +and observe its regulations. It is not quite correct to say that one +must be born a Hindu, since Hinduism has grown by gradually hinduizing +the wilder tribes of India and the process still continues. But a +convert cannot enter the fold by any simple ceremony like baptism. The +community to which he belongs must adopt Hindu usages and then it will +be recognized as a caste, at first of very low standing but in a few +generations it may rise in the general esteem. A Hindu is bound to his +religion by almost the same ties that bind him to his family. Hence the +strength of Hinduism in India. But such ties are hard to knit and +Hinduism has no chance of spreading abroad unless there is a large +colony of Hindus surrounded by an appreciative and imitative +population[22]. + +In the contest between Hinduism and Buddhism the former owed the victory +which it obtained in India, though not in other lands, to this +assimilative social influence. The struggle continued from the fourth to +the ninth century, after which Buddhism was clearly defeated and +survived only in special localities. Its final disappearance was due to +the destruction of its remaining monasteries by Moslem invaders but this +blow was fatal only because Buddhism was concentrated in its monkhood. +Innumerable Hindu temples were destroyed, yet Hinduism was at no time in +danger of extinction. + +The Hindu reaction against Buddhism became apparent under the Gupta +dynasty but Mahayanism in its use of Sanskrit and its worship of +Bodhisattvas shows the beginnings of the same movement. The danger for +Buddhism was not persecution but tolerance and obliteration of +differences. The Guptas were not bigots. It was probably in their time +that the oldest Puranas, the laws of Manu and the Mahabharata received +their final form. These are on the whole text-books of Smârta Hinduism +and two Gupta monarchs celebrated the horse sacrifice. But the +Mahabharata contains several episodes which justify the exclusive +worship of either Vishnu or Siva, and the architecture of the Guptas +suggests that they were Vishnuites. They also bestowed favours on +Buddhism which was not yet decadent, for Vasubandhu and Asanga, who +probably lived in the fourth century, were constructive thinkers. It is +true that their additions were of the dangerous kind which render an +edifice top-heavy but their works show vitality and had a wide +influence[23]. The very name of Asanga's philosophy—Yogâcârya—indicates +its affinity to Brahmanic thought, as do his doctrines of Alayavijñâna +and Bodhi, which permit him to express in Buddhist language the idea +that the soul may be illumined by the deity. In some cases Hinduism, in +others Buddhism, may have played the receptive part but the general +result—namely the diminution of differences between the two—was always +the same. + +The Hun invasions were unfavourable to religious and intellectual +activity in the north and, just as in the time of Moslim inroads, their +ravages had more serious consequences for Buddhism than for Hinduism. +The great Emperor Harsha (†647), of whom we know something from Bâna and +Hsüan Chuang, became at the end of his life a zealous but eclectic +Buddhist. Yet it is plain from Hsiian Chuang's account that at this time +Buddhism was decadent in most districts both of the north and south. + +This decadence was hastened by an unfortunate alliance with those forms +of magic and erotic mysticism which are called Śâktism[24]. It is +difficult to estimate the extent of the corruption, for the singularity +of the evil, a combination of the austere and ethical teaching of Gotama +with the most fantastic form of Hinduism, arrests attention and perhaps +European scholars have written more about it than it deserves. It did +not touch the Hinayanist churches nor appreciably infect the Buddhism of +the Far East, nor even (it would seem) Indian Buddhism outside Bengal +and Orissa. Unfortunately Magadha, which was both the home and last +asylum of the faith, was also very near the regions where Śâktism most +flourished. It is, as I have often noticed in these pages, a peculiarity +of all Indian sects that in matters of belief they are not exclusive nor +hostile to novelties. When a new idea wins converts it is the instinct +of the older sects to declare that it is compatible with their teaching +or that they have something similar and just as good. It was in this +fashion that the Buddhists of Magadha accepted Śâktist and tantric +ideas. If Hinduism could summon gods and goddesses by magical methods, +they could summon Bodhisattvas, male and female, in the same way, and +these spirits were as good as the gods. In justice it must be said that +despite distortions and monstrous accretions the real teaching of Gotama +did not entirely disappear even in Magadha and Tibet. + + +8. _Later Forms of Hinduism_ + +In the eighth and ninth centuries this degenerate Buddhism was exposed +to the attacks of the great Hindu champions Kumâriḷa and Śankara, though +it probably endured little persecution in our sense of the word. Both of +them were Smârtas or traditionalists and laboured in the cause not of +Vishnuism or Śivaism but of the ancient Brahmanic religion, amplified by +many changes which the ages had brought but holding up as the religious +ideal a manhood occupied with ritual observances, followed by an old age +devoted to philosophy. Śankara was the greater of the two and would have +a higher place among the famous names of the world had not his respect +for tradition prevented him from asserting the originality which he +undoubtedly possessed. Yet many remarkable features of his life work, +both practical and intellectual, are due to imitation of the Buddhists +and illustrate the dictum that Buddhism did not disappear from India[25] +until Hinduism had absorbed from it all the good that it had to offer. +Śankara took Buddhist institutions as his model in rearranging the +ascetic orders of Hinduism, and his philosophy, a rigorously consistent +pantheism which ascribed all apparent multiplicity and difference to +illusion, is indebted to Mahayanist speculation. It is remarkable that +his opponents stigmatized him as a Buddhist in disguise and his system, +though it is one of the most influential lines of thought among educated +Hindus, is anathematized by some theistic sects[26]. + +Śankara was a native of southern India. It is not easy to combine in one +picture the progress of thought in the north and south, and for the +earlier centuries our information as to the Dravidian countries is +meagre. Yet they cannot be omitted, for their influence on the whole of +India was great. Greeks, Kushans, Huns, and Mohammedans penetrated into +the north but, until after the fall of Vijayanagar in 1565, no invader +professing a foreign religion entered the country of the Tamils. Left in +peace they elaborated their own version of current theological problems +and the result spread over India. Buddhism and Jainism also flourished +in the south. The former was introduced under Asoka but apparently +ceased to be the dominant religion (if it ever was so) in the early +centuries of our era. Still even in the eleventh century monasteries +were built in Mysore. Jainism had a distinguished but chequered career +in the south. It was powerful in the seventh century but subsequently +endured considerable persecution. It still exists and possesses +remarkable monuments at Sravana Belgola and elsewhere. + +But the characteristic form of Dravidian religion is an emotional +theism, running in the parallel channels of Vishnuism and Śivaism and +accompanied by humbler but vigorous popular superstitions, which reveal +the origin of its special temperament. For the frenzied ecstasies of +devil dancers (to use a current though inaccurate phrase) are a +primitive expression of the same sentiment which sees in the whole world +the exulting energy and rhythmic force of Siva. And though the most +rigid Brahmanism still flourishes in the Madras Presidency there is +audible in the Dravidian hymns a distinct note of anti-sacerdotalism and +of belief that every man by his own efforts can come into immediate +contact with the Great Being whom he worships. + +The Vishnuism and Śivaism of the south go back to the early centuries of +our era, but the chronology is difficult. In both there is a line of +poet-saints followed by philosophers and teachers and in both a +considerable collection of Tamil hymns esteemed as equivalent to the +Veda. Perhaps Śivaism was dominant first and Vishnuism somewhat later +but at no epoch did either extinguish the other. It was the object of +Śankara to bring these valuable but dangerous forces, as well as much +Buddhist doctrine and practice, into harmony with Brahmanism. + +Islam first entered India in 712 but it was some time before it passed +beyond the frontier provinces and for many centuries it was too hostile +and aggressive to invite imitation, but the spectacle of a strong +community pledged to the worship of a single personal God produced an +effect. In the period extending from the eighth to the twelfth +centuries, in which Buddhism practically disappeared and Islam came to +the front as a formidable though not irresistible antagonist, the +dominant form of Hinduism was that which finds expression in the older +Puranas, in the temples of Orissa and Khajarao and the Kailâsa at +Ellora. It is the worship of one god, either Siva or Vishnu, but a +monotheism adorned with a luxuriant mythology and delighting in the +manifold shapes which the one deity assumes. It freely used the +terminology of the Sânkhya but the first place in philosophy belonged to +the severe pantheism of Śankara which, in contrast to this riotous +exuberance of legend and sculpture, sees the highest truth in one Being +to whom no epithets can be applied. + +In the next epoch, say the twelfth to the seventeenth centuries, Indian +thought clearly hankers after theism in the western sense and yet never +completely acquiesces in it. Mythology, if still rampant according to +our taste, at least becomes subsidiary and more detachable from the +supreme deity, and this deity, if less anthropomorphic than Allah or +Jehovah, is still a being who loves and helps souls, and these souls are +explained in varying formulae as being identical with him and yet +distinct. + +It can hardly be by chance that as the Hindus became more familiar with +Islam their sects grew more definite in doctrine and organization +especially among the Vishnuites who showed a greater disposition to form +sects than the Sivaites, partly because the incarnations of Vishnu offer +an obvious ground for diversity. About 1100 A.D.[27] the first great +Vaishnava sect was founded by Râmânuja. He was a native of the Madras +country and claimed to be the spiritual descendant of the early Tamil +saints. In doctrine he expressly accepted the views of the ancient +Bhâgavatas, which had been condemned by Śankara, and he affirmed the +existence of one personal deity commonly spoken of as Nârâyana or +Vâsudeva. + +From the time of Śankara onwards nearly all Hindu theologians of the +first rank expounded their views by writing a commentary on the Brahma +Sûtras, an authoritative but singularly enigmatic digest of the +Upanishads. Śankara's doctrine may be summarized as absolute monism +which holds that nothing really exists but Brahman and that Brahman is +identical with the soul. All apparent plurality is due to illusion. He +draws a distinction between the lower and higher Brahman which perhaps +may be rendered by God and the Godhead. In the same sense in which +individual souls and matter exist, a personal God also exists, but the +higher truth is that individuality, personality and matter are all +illusion. But the teaching of Râmânuja rejects the doctrines that the +world is an illusion and that there is a distinction between the lower +and higher Brahman and it affirms that the soul, though of the same +substance as God and emitted from him rather than created, can obtain +bliss not in absorption but in existence near him. + +It is round these problems that Hindu theology turns. The innumerable +solutions lack neither boldness nor variety but they all try to satisfy +both the philosopher and the saint and none achieve both tasks. The +system of Śankara is a masterpiece of intellect, despite his +disparagement of reasoning in theology, and could inspire a fine piety, +as when on his deathbed he asked forgiveness for having frequented +temples, since by so doing he had seemed to deny that God is everywhere. +But piety of this kind is unfavourable to public worship and even to +those religious experiences in which the soul seems to have direct +contact with God in return for its tribute of faith and love. In fact +the Advaita philosophy countenances emotional theism only as an +imperfect creed and not as the highest truth. But the existence of all +sects and priesthoods depends on their power to satisfy the religious +instinct with ceremonial or some better method of putting the soul in +communication with the divine. On the other hand pantheism in India is +not a philosophical speculation, it is a habit of mind: it is not enough +for the Hindu that his God is lord of all things: he must _be_ all +things and the soul in its endeavour to reach God must obtain +deliverance from the fetters not only of matter but of individuality. +Hence Hindu theology is in a perpetual oscillation illustrated by the +discrepant statements found side by side in the Bhagavad-gîtâ and other +works. Indian temperament and Indian logic want a pantheistic God and a +soul which can transcend personality, but religious thought and practice +imply personality both in the soul and in God. All varieties of +Vishnuism show an effort to reconcile these double aspirations and +theories. The theistic view is popular, for without it what would become +of temples, worshippers and priests? But I think that the pantheistic +view is the real basis of Indian religious thought. + +The qualified monism of Râmânuja (as his system is sometimes called) led +to more uncompromising treatment of the question and to the affirmation +of dualism, not the dualism of God and the Devil but the distinctness of +the soul and of matter from God. This is the doctrine of Madhva, another +southern teacher who lived about a century after Râmânuja and was +perhaps directly influenced by Islam. But though the logical outcome of +his teaching may appear to be simple theism analogous to Islam or +Judaism, it does not in practice lead to this result but rather to the +worship of Krishna. Madhva's sect is still important but even more +important is another branch of the spiritual family of Râmânuja, +starting from Râmânand who probably flourished in the fourteenth +century[28]. + +Râmânuja, while in some ways accepting innovations, insisted on the +strict observance of caste. Râmânand abandoned this, separated from his +sect and removed to Benares. His teaching marks a turning-point in the +history of modern Hinduism. Firstly he held that caste need not prevent +a man from rightly worshipping God and he admitted even Moslims as +members of his community. To this liberality are directly traceable the +numerous sects combining Hindu with Mohammedan doctrines, among which +the Kabir Panthis and the Sikhs are the most conspicuous. But it is a +singular testimony to the tenacity of Hindu ideas that though many +teachers holding most diverse opinions have declared there is no caste +before God, yet caste has generally reasserted itself among their +followers as a social if not as a religious institution. The second +important point in Râmânand's teaching was the use of the vernacular for +religious literature. Dravidian scriptures had already been recognized +in the south but it is from this time that there begins to flow in the +north that great stream of sacred poetry in Hindi and Bengali which +waters the roots of modern popular Hinduism. Among many eminent names +which have contributed to it, the greatest is Tulsi Das who retold the +Ramayana in Hindi and thus wrote a poem which is little less than a +Bible for millions in the Ganges valley. + +The sects which derive from the teaching of Râmânand mostly worship the +Supreme Being under the name of Râma. Even more numerous, especially in +the north, are those who use the name of Krishna, the other great +incarnation of Vishnu. This worship was organized and extended by the +preaching of Vallabha and Caitanya (c. 1500) in the valley of the Ganges +and Bengal, but was not new. I shall discuss in some detail below the +many elements combined in the complex figure of Krishna but in one way +or another he was connected with the earliest forms of Vishnuite +monotheism and is the chief figure in the Bhagavad-gîtâ, its earliest +text-book. Legend connects him partly with Muttra and partly with +western India but, though by no means ignored in southern India, he does +not receive there such definite and exclusive adoration as in the north. +The Krishnaite sects are emotional, and their favourite doctrine that +the relation between God and the soul is typified by passionate love has +led to dubious moral results. + +This Krishnaite propaganda, which coincided with the Reformation in +Europe, was the last great religious movement in India. Since that time +there has been considerable activity of a minor kind. Protests have been +raised against abuses and existing communities have undergone changes, +such as may be seen in the growth of the Sikhs, but there has been no +general or original movement. The absence of such can be easily +explained by the persecutions of Aurungzeb and by the invasions and +internal struggles of the eighteenth century. At the end of that century +Hinduism was at its lowest but its productive power was not destroyed. +The decennial census never fails to record the rise of new sects and the +sudden growth of others which had been obscure and minute. + +Any historical treatment of Hinduism inevitably makes Vishnuism seem +more prominent than other sects, for it offers more events to record. +But though Sivaism has undergone fewer changes and produced fewer great +names, it must not be thought of as lifeless or decadent. The lingam is +worshipped all over India and many of the most celebrated shrines, such +as Benares and Bhubaneshwar, are dedicated to the Lord of life and +death. The Śivaism of the Tamil country is one of the most energetic and +progressive forms of modern Hinduism, but in doctrine it hardly varies +from the ancient standard of the Tiruvacagam. + + +9. _European Influence and Modern Hinduism_ + +The small effect of European religion on Hinduism is remarkable. Islam, +though aggressively hostile, yet fused with it in some sects, for +instance the Sikhs, but such fusions of Indian religion and Christianity +as have been noted[29] are microscopic curiosities. European free +thought and Deism have not fared better, for the Brahmo Samaj which was +founded under their inspiration has only 5504 adherents[30]. In social +life there has been some change: caste restrictions, though not +abolished, are evaded by ingenious subterfuges and there is a growing +feeling against child-marriage. Yet were the laws against sati and human +sacrifice repealed, there are many districts in which such practices +would not be forbidden by popular sentiment. + +It is easy to explain the insensibility of Hinduism to European contact: +even Islam had little effect on its stubborn vitality, though Islam +brought with it settlers and resident rulers, ready to make converts by +force. But the British have shown perfect toleration and are merely +sojourners in the land who spend their youth and age elsewhere. European +exclusiveness and Indian ideas about caste alike made it natural to +regard them as an isolated class charged with the business of Government +but divorced from the intellectual and religious life of other classes. +Previous experience of Moslims and other invaders disposed the Brahmans +to accept foreigners as rulers without admitting that their creeds and +customs were in the least worthy of imitation. European methods of +organization and advertisement have not however been disdained. + +The last half century has witnessed a remarkable revival of Hinduism. In +the previous decades the most conspicuous force in India, although +numerically weak, was the already mentioned Brahmo Samaj, founded by Ram +Mohun Roy in 1828. But it was colourless and wanting in constructive +power. Educated opinion, at least in Bengal, seemed to be tending +towards agnosticism and social revolution. This tendency was checked by +a conservative and nationalist movement, which in all its varied phases +gave support to Indian religion and was intolerant of European ideas. It +had a political side but there was nothing disloyal in its main idea, +namely, that in the intellectual and religious sphere, where Indian life +is most intense, Indian ideas must not decay. No one who has known India +during the last thirty years can have failed to notice how many new +temples have been built and how many old ones repaired. Almost all the +principal sects have founded associations to protect and extend their +interests by such means as financial and administrative organization, +the publication of periodicals and other literature, annual conferences, +lectures and the foundation of religious houses or quasi-monastic +orders. Several societies have been founded not restricted to any +particular sect but with the avowed object of defending and promoting +strict Hinduism. Among such the most important are, first the Bharat +Dharma Mahamandala, under the distinguished presidency of the Maharaja +of Darbhanga: secondly the movement started by Ramakrishna and Swami +Vivekananda and adorned by the beautiful life and writings of Sister +Nivedita (Miss Noble) and thirdly the Theosophical Society under the +leadership of Mrs Besant. It is remarkable that Europeans, both men and +women, have played a considerable part in this revival. All these +organizations are influential: the two latter have done great service in +defending and encouraging Hinduism, but I am less sure of their success +in mingling Eastern and Western ideas or in popularizing Hinduism among +Europeans. + +Somewhat different, but described by the Census of 1911 as "the greatest +religious movement in India of the past half century" is the Arya Samaj, +founded in 1875 by Swami Dayanand. Whereas the movements mentioned above +support Sanâtana Dharma or Orthodox Hinduism in all its shapes, the Arya +Samaj aims at reform. Its original programme was a revival of the +ancient Vedic religion but it has since been perceptibly modified and +tends towards conciliating contemporary orthodoxy, for it now prohibits +the slaughter of cattle, accords a partial recognition to caste, affirms +its belief in karma and apparently approves a form of the Yoga +philosophy. Though it is not yet accepted as a form of orthodox +Hinduism, it seems probable that concessions on both sides will produce +this result before long. It numbers at present only about a quarter of a +million but is said to be rapidly increasing, especially in the United +Provinces and Panjab, and to be remarkable for the completeness and +efficiency of its organization. It maintains missionary colleges, +orphanages and schools. Affiliated to it is a society for the +purification (shuddhi) of Mohammedans, Christians and outcasts, that is +for turning them into Hindus and giving them some kind of caste. It +would appear that those who undergo this purification do not always +become members of the Ṡamaj but are merged in the ordinary Hindu +community where they are accepted without opposition if also without +enthusiasm. + + +10. _Change and Permanence in Buddhism_ + +Thus we have a record of Indian thought for about 3000 years. It has +directly affected such distant points as Balkh, Java and Japan and it is +still living and active. But life and action mean change and such wide +extension in time and space implies variety. We talk of converting +foreign countries but the religion which is transplanted also undergoes +conversion or else it cannot enter new brains and hearts. Buddhism in +Ceylon and Japan, Christianity in Scotland and Russia are not the same, +although professing to reverence the same teachers. It is easy to argue +the other way, but it can only be done by setting aside as non-essential +differences of great practical importance. Europeans are ready enough to +admit that Buddhism is changeable and easily corrupted but it is not +singular in that respect[31]. I doubt if Lhasa and Tantrism are further +from the teaching of Gotama than the Papacy, the Inquisition, and the +religion of the German Emperor, from the teaching of Christ. + +A religion is the expression of the thought of a particular age and +cannot really be permanent in other ages which have other thoughts. The +apparent permanence of Christianity is due first to the suppression of +much original teaching, such as Christ's turning the cheek to the smiter +and Paul's belief in the coming end of the world, and secondly to the +adoption of new social ideals which have no place in the New Testament, +such as the abolition of slavery and the improved status of women. + +Buddhism arising out of Brahmanism suggests a comparison with +Christianity arising out of Judaism, but the comparison breaks down in +most points of detail. But there is one real resemblance, namely that +Buddhism and Christianity have both won their greatest triumphs outside +the land of their birth. The flowers of the mind, if they can be +transplanted at all, often flourish with special vigour on alien soil. +Witness the triumphs of Islam in the hands of the Turks and Mughals, the +progress of Nestorianism in Central Asia, and the spread of Manichaeism +in both the East and West outside the limits of Persia. Even so Lamaism +in Tibet and Amidism in Japan, though scholars may regard them as +singular perversions, have more vitality than any branch of Buddhism +which has existed in India since the seventh century. But even here the +parallel with Christian sects is imperfect. It would be more complete if +Palestine had been the centre from which different phases of +Christianity radiated during some twelve centuries, for this is the +relation between Indian and foreign Buddhism. Lamaism is not the +teaching of the Buddha travestied by Tibetans but a late form of Indian +Buddhism exported to Tibet and modified there in some external features +(such as ecclesiastical organization and art) but not differing greatly +in doctrine from Bengali Buddhism of the eleventh century. And even +Amidism appears to have originated not in the Far East but in Gandhara +and the adjacent lands. Thus the many varieties of Buddhism now existing +are due partly to local colour but even more to the workings of the +restless Hindu mind which during many centuries after the Christian era +continued to invent for it novelties in metaphysics and mythology. + +The preservation of a very ancient form of Buddhism in Ceylon[32] is +truly remarkable, for if in many countries Buddhism has shown itself +fluid and protean, it here manifests a stability which can hardly be +paralleled except in Judaism. The Sinhalese, unlike the Hindus, had no +native propensity to speculation. They were content to classify, +summarize and expound the teaching of the Pitakas without restating it +in the light of their own imagination. Whereas the most stable form of +Christianity is the Church of Rome, which began by making considerable +additions to the doctrine of the New Testament, the most stable form of +Buddhism is neither a transformation of the old nor a protest against +innovation but simply the continuation of a very ancient sect in strange +lands[33]. This ancient Buddhism, like Islam which is also simple and +stable, is somewhat open to the charge of engaging in disputes about +trivial details[34], but alike in Ceylon, Burma and Siam, it has not +only shown remarkable persistence but has become a truly national +religion, the glory and comfort of those who profess it. + + +11. _Rebirth and the Nature of the Soul_ + +The most characteristic doctrine of Indian religion—rarely absent in +India and imported by Buddhism into all the countries which it +influenced—is that called metempsychosis, the transmigration of the soul +or reincarnation. The last of these terms best expresses Indian, +especially Buddhist, ideas but still the usual Sanskrit equivalent, +_Saṃsâra_, means migration. The body breaks up at death but something +passes on and migrates to another equally transitory tenement. Neither +Brahmans nor Buddhists seem to contemplate the possibility that the +human soul may be a temporary manifestation of the Eternal Spirit which +comes to an end at death—a leaf on a tree or a momentary ripple on the +water. It is always regarded as passing through many births, a wave +traversing the ocean. + +Hindu speculation has never passed through the materialistic phase, and +the doctrine that the soul is annihilated at death is extremely rare in +India. Even rarer perhaps is the doctrine that it usually enters on a +permanent existence, happy or otherwise. The idea underlying the +transmigration theory is that every state which we call existence must +come to an end. If the soul can be isolated from all the accidents and +accessories attaching to it, then there may be a state of permanence and +peace but not a state comparable with human existence, however enlarged +and glorified. But why does not this conviction of impermanence lead to +the simpler conclusion that the end of physical life is the end of all +life? Because the Hindus have an equally strong conviction of +continuity: everything passes away and changes but it is not true to say +of anything that it arises from nothing or passes into nothing. If human +organisms (or any other organisms) are mere machines, if there is +nothing more to be said about a corpse than about a smashed watch, then +(the Hindu thinks) the universe is not continuous. Its continuity means +for him that there is something which eternally manifests itself in +perishable forms but does not perish with them any more than water when +a pitcher is broken or fire that passes from the wood it has consumed to +fresh fuel. + +These metaphors suggest that the doctrine of transmigration or +reincarnation does not promise what we call personal immortality. I +confess that I cannot understand how there can be personality in the +ordinary human sense without a body. When we think of a friend, we think +of a body and a character, thoughts and feelings, all of them connected +with that body and many of them conditioned by it. But the immortal soul +is commonly esteemed to be something equally present in a new born babe, +a youth and an old man. If so, it cannot be a personality in the +ordinary sense, for no one could recognize the spirit of a departed +friend, if it is something which was present in him the day he was born +and different from all the characteristics which he acquired during +life. The belief that we shall recognize our friends in another world +assumes that these characteristics are immortal, but it is hard to +understand how they can be so, especially as it is also assumed that +there is nothing immortal in a dog, which possesses affection and +intelligence, but that there is something immortal in a new born infant +which cannot be said to possess either. + +In one way metempsychosis raises insuperable difficulties to the +survival of personality, for if you become someone else, especially an +animal, you are no longer yourself according to any ordinary use of +language. But one of the principal forms taken by the doctrine in India +makes a modified survival intelligible. For it is held that a new born +child brings with it as a result of actions done in previous lives +certain predispositions and these after being developed and modified in +the course of that child's life are transmitted to its next existence. + +As to the method of transmission there are various theories, for in +India the belief in reincarnation is not so much a dogma as an instinct +innate in all and only occasionally justified by philosophers, not +because it was disputed but because they felt bound to show that their +own systems were compatible with it. One explanation is that given by +the Vedânta philosophy, according to which the soul is accompanied in +its migrations by the _Sûkshmaśarîra_ or subtle body, a counterpart of +the mortal body but transparent and invisible, though material. The +truth of this theory, as of all theories respecting ghosts and spirits, +seems to me a matter for experimental verification, but the Vedânta +recognizes that in our experience a personal individual existence is +always connected with a physical substratum. + +The Buddhist theory of rebirth is somewhat different, for Buddhism even +in its later divagations rarely ceased to profess belief in Gotama's +doctrine that there is no such thing as a soul—by which is meant no such +thing as a permanent unchanging self or _âtman_. Buddhists are concerned +to show that transmigration is not inconsistent with this denial of the +_âtman_. The ordinary, and indeed inevitable translation of this word by +soul leads to misunderstanding for we naturally interpret it as meaning +that there is nothing which survives the death of the body and _a +fortiori_ nothing to transmigrate. But in reality the denial of the +_âtman_ applies to the living rather than to the dead. It means that in +a living man there is no permanent, unchangeable entity but only a +series of mental states, and since human beings, although they have no +_âtman_, certainly exist in this present life, the absence of the +_âtman_ is not in itself an obstacle to belief in a similar life after +death or before birth. Infancy, youth, age and the state immediately +after death may form a series of which the last two are as intimately +connected as any other two. The Buddhist teaching is that when men die +in whom the desire for another life exists—as it exists in all except +saints—then desire, which is really the creator of the world, fashions +another being, conditioned by the character and merits of the being +which has just come to an end. Life is like fire: its very nature is to +burn its fuel. When one body dies, it is as if one piece of fuel were +burnt: the vital process passes on and recommences in another and so +long as there is desire of life, the provision of fuel fails not. +Buddhist doctors have busied themselves with the question whether two +successive lives are the same man or different men, and have illustrated +the relationship by various analogies of things which seem to be the +same and yet not the same, such as a child and an adult, milk and curds, +or fire which spreads from a lamp and burns down a village, but, like +the Brahmans, they do not discuss why the hypothesis of transmigration +is necessary. They had the same feeling for the continuity of nature, +and more than others they insisted on the principle that everything has +a cause. They held that the sexual act creates the conditions in which a +new life appears but is not an adequate cause for the new life itself. +And unless we accept a materialist explanation of human nature, this +argument is sound: unless we admit that mind is merely a function of +matter, the birth of a mind is not explicable as a mere process of cell +development: something pre-existent must act upon the cells. + +Europeans in discussing such questions as the nature of the soul and +immortality are prone to concentrate their attention on death and +neglect the phenomena of birth, which surely are equally important. For +if a soul survives the death of this complex of cells which is called +the body, its origin and development must, according to all analogy, be +different from those of the perishable body. Orthodox theology deals +with the problem by saying that God creates a new soul every time a +child is born[35] but free discussion usually ignores it and taking an +adult as he is, asks what are the chances that any part of him survives +death. Yet the questions, what is destroyed at death and how and why, +are closely connected with the questions what comes into existence at +birth and how and why. This second series of questions is hard enough, +but it has this advantage over the first that whereas death abruptly +closes the road and we cannot follow the soul one inch on its journey +beyond, the portals of birth are a less absolute frontier. We know that +every child has passed through stages in which it could hardly be called +a child. The earliest phase consists of two cells, which unite and then +proceed to subdivide and grow. The mystery of the process by which they +assume a human form is not explained by scientific or theological +phrases. The complete individual is assuredly not contained in the first +germ. The microscope cannot find it there and to say that it is there +potentially, merely means that we know the germ will develop in a +certain way. To say that a force is manifesting itself in the germ and +assuming the shape which it chooses to take or must take is also merely +a phrase and metaphor, but it seems to me to fit the facts[36]. + +The doctrines of pre-existence and transmigration (but not, I think, of +karma which is purely Indian) are common among savages in Africa and +America, nor is their wide distribution strange. Savages commonly think +that the soul wanders during sleep and that a dead man's soul goes +somewhere: what more natural than to suppose that the soul of a new born +infant comes from somewhere? But among civilized peoples such ideas are +in most cases due to Indian influence. In India they seem indigenous to +the soil and not imported by the Aryan invaders, for they are not +clearly enunciated in the Rig Veda, nor formulated before the time of +the Upanishads[37]. They were introduced by Buddhism to the Far East and +their presence in Manichaeism, Neoplatonism, Sufiism and ultimately in +the Jewish Kabbala seems a rivulet from the same source. Recent research +discredits the theory that metempsychosis was an important feature in +the earlier religion of Egypt or among the Druids[38]. But it played a +prominent part in the philosophy of Pythagoras and in the Orphic +mysteries, which had some connection with Thrace and possibly also with +Crete. A few great European intellects[39]--notably Plato and +Virgil—have given it undying expression, but Europeans as a whole have +rejected it with that curiously crude contempt which they have shown +until recently for Oriental art and literature. + +Considering how fixed is the belief in immortality among Europeans, or +at least the desire for it, the rarity of a belief in pre-existence or +transmigration is remarkable. But most people's expectation of a future +life is based on craving rather than on reasoned anticipation. I cannot +myself understand how anything that comes into being can be immortal. +Such immortality is unsupported by a single analogy nor can any instance +be quoted of a thing which is known to have had an origin and yet is +even apparently indestructible[40]. And is it possible to suppose that +the universe is capable of indefinite increase by the continual addition +of new and eternal souls? But these difficulties do not exist for +theories which regard the soul as something existing before as well as +after the body, truly immortal _a parte ante_ as well as _a parte post_ +and manifesting itself in temporary homes of human or lower shape. Such +theories become very various and fall into many obscurities when they +try to define the nature of the soul and its relation to the body, but +they avoid what seems to me the contradiction of the created but +immortal soul. + +The doctrine of metempsychosis is also interesting as affecting the +relations of men and animals. The popular European conception of "the +beasts which perish" weakens the arguments for human immortality. For if +the mind of a dog or chimpanzee contains no element which is immortal, +the part of the human mind on which the claim to immortality can be +based must be parlously small, since _ex hypothesi_ sensation, volition, +desire and the simpler forms of intelligence are not immortal. But in +India where men have more charity and more philosophy this distinction +is not drawn. The animating principle of men, animals and plants is +regarded as one or at least similar, and even matter which we consider +inanimate, such as water, is often considered to possess a soul. But +though there is ample warrant in both Brahmanic and Buddhist literature +for the idea that the soul may sink from a human to an animal form or +_vice versâ_ rise, and though one sometimes meets this belief in modern +life[41], yet it is not the most prominent aspect of metempsychosis in +India and the beautiful precept of ahimsâ or not injuring living things +is not, as Europeans imagine, founded on the fear of eating one's +grandparents but rather on the humane and enlightened feeling that all +life is one and that men who devour beasts are not much above the level +of the beasts who devour one another. The feeling has grown stronger +with time. In the Vedas animal sacrifices are prescribed and they are +even now used in the worship of some deities. In the Epics the eating of +meat is mentioned. But the doctrine that it is wrong to take animal life +was definitely adopted by Buddhism and gained strength with its +diffusion. + +One obvious objection to all theories of rebirth is that we do not +remember our previous existences and that, if they are connected by no +thread of memory, they are for all practical purposes the existences of +different people. But this want of memory affects not only past +existences but the early phases of this existence. Does any one deny his +existence as an infant or embryo because he cannot remember it[42]? And +if a wrong could be done to an infant the effects of which would not be +felt for twenty years, could it be said to be no concern of the infant +because the person who will suffer in twenty years time will have no +recollection that he was that infant? And common opinion in Eastern +Asia, not without occasional confirmation from Europe, denies the +proposition that we cannot remember our former lives and asserts that +those who take any pains to sharpen their spiritual faculties can +remember them. The evidence for such recollection seems to me better +than the evidence for most spiritualistic phenomena[43]. + +Another objection comes from the facts of heredity. On the whole we +resemble our parents and ancestors in mind as well as in body. A child +often seems to be an obvious product of its parents and not a being come +from outside and from another life. This objection of course applies +equally to the creation theory. If the soul is created by an act of God, +there seems to be no reason why it should be like the parents, or, if he +causes it to be like them, he is made responsible for sending children +into the world with vicious natures. On the other hand if parents +literally make a child, mind as well as body, there seems to be no +reason why children should ever be unlike their parents, or brothers and +sisters unlike one another, as they undoubtedly sometimes are. An Indian +would say that a soul[44] seeking rebirth carries with it certain +potentialities of good and evil and can obtain embodiment only in a +family offering the necessary conditions. Hence to some extent it is +natural that the child should be like its parents. But the soul seeking +rebirth is not completely fixed in form and stiff: it is hampered and +limited by the results of its previous life, but in many respects it may +be flexible and free, ready to vary in response to its new environment. + +But there is a psychological and temperamental objection to the doctrine +of rebirth, which goes to the root of the matter. Love of life and the +desire to find a field of activity are so strong in most Europeans that +it might be supposed that a theory offering an endless vista of new +activities and new chances would be acceptable. But as a rule Europeans +who discuss the question say that they do not relish this prospect. They +may be willing to struggle until death, but they wish for +repose—conscious repose of course—afterwards. The idea that one just +dead has not entered into his rest, but is beginning another life with +similar struggles and fleeting successes, similar sorrows and +disappointments, is not satisfying and is almost shocking[45]. We do not +like it, and not to like any particular view about the destinies of the +soul is generally, but most illogically, considered a reason for +rejecting it[46]. + + +12. + +It must not however be supposed that Hindus like the prospect of +transmigration. On the contrary from the time of the Upanishads and the +Buddha to the present day their religious ideal corresponding to +salvation is emancipation and deliverance, deliverance from rebirth and +from the bondage of desire which brings about rebirth. Now all Indian +theories as to the nature of transmigration are in some way connected +with the idea of _Karma_, that is the power of deeds done in past +existences to condition or even to create future existences. Every deed +done, whether good or bad, affects the character of the doer for a long +while, so that to use a metaphor, the soul awaiting rebirth has a +special shape, which is of its own making, and it can find re-embodiment +only in a form into which that shape can squeeze. + +These views of rebirth and karma have a moral value, for they teach that +what a man gets depends on what he is or makes himself to be, and they +avoid the difficulty of supposing that a benevolent creator can have +given his creatures only one life with such strange and unmerited +disproportion in their lots. Ordinary folk in the East hope that a life +of virtue will secure them another life as happy beings on earth or +perhaps in some heaven which, though not eternal, will still be long. +But for many the higher ideal is renunciation of the world and a life of +contemplative asceticism which will accumulate no karma so that after +death the soul will pass not to another birth but to some higher and +more mysterious state which is beyond birth and death. It is the +prevalence of views like this which has given both Hinduism and Buddhism +the reputation of being pessimistic and unpractical. + +It is generally assumed that these are bad epithets, but are they not +applicable to Christian teaching? Modern and medieval Christianity—as +witness many popular hymns—regards this world as vain and transitory, a +vale of tears and tribulation, a troubled sea through whose waves we +must pass before we reach our rest. And choirs sing, though without much +conviction, that it is weary waiting here. This language seems justified +by the Gospels and Epistles. It is true that some utterances of Christ +suggest that happiness is to be found in a simple and natural life of +friendliness and love, but on the whole both he and St Paul teach that +the world is evil or at least spoiled and distorted: to become a happy +world it must be somehow remade and transfigured by the second coming of +Christ. The desires and ambitions which are the motive power of modern +Europe are, if not wrong, at least vain and do not even seek for true +peace and happiness. Like Indian teachers, the early Christians tried to +create a right temper rather than to change social institutions. They +bade masters and slaves treat one another with kindness and respect, but +they did not attempt to abolish slavery. + +Indian thought does not really go much further in pessimism than +Christianity, but its pessimism is intellectual rather than emotional. +He who understands the nature of the soul and its successive lives +cannot regard any single life as of great importance in itself, though +its consequences for the future may be momentous, and though he will not +say that life is not worth living. Reiterated declarations that all +existence is suffering do, it is true, seem to destroy all prospect of +happiness and all motive for effort, but the more accurate statement is, +in the words of the Buddha himself, that all clinging to physical +existence involves suffering. The earliest Buddhist texts teach that +when this clinging and craving cease, a feeling of freedom and happiness +takes their place and later Buddhism treated itself to visions of +paradise as freely as Christianity. Many forms of Hinduism teach that +the soul released from the body can enjoy eternal bliss in the presence +of God and even those severer philosophers who do not admit that the +released soul is a personality in any human sense have no doubt of its +happiness. + +The opposition is not so much between Indian thought and the New +Testament, for both of them teach that bliss is attainable but not by +satisfying desire. The fundamental contrast is rather between both India +and the New Testament on the one hand and on the other the rooted +conviction of European races[47], however much Christian orthodoxy may +disguise their expression of it, that this world is all-important. This +conviction finds expression not only in the avowed pursuit of pleasure +and ambition but in such sayings as that the best religion is the one +which does most good and such ideals as self-realization or the full +development of one's nature and powers. Europeans as a rule have an +innate dislike and mistrust of the doctrine that the world is vain or +unreal. They can accord some sympathy to a dying man who sees in due +perspective the unimportance of his past life or to a poet who under the +starry heavens can make felt the smallness of man and his earth. But +such thoughts are considered permissible only as retrospects, not as +principles of life: you may say that your labour has amounted to +nothing, but not that labour is vain. Though monasteries and monks still +exist, the great majority of Europeans instinctively disbelieve in +asceticism, the contemplative life and contempt of the world: they have +no love for a philosopher who rejects the idea of progress and is not +satisfied with an ideal consisting in movement towards an unknown goal. +They demand a religion which theoretically justifies the strenuous life. +All this is a matter of temperament and the temperament is so common +that it needs no explanation. What needs explanation is rather the other +temperament which rejects this world as unsatisfactory and sets up +another ideal, another sphere, another standard of values. This ideal +and standard are not entirely peculiar to India but certainly they are +understood and honoured there more than elsewhere. They are professed, +as I have already observed, by Christianity, but even the New Testament +is not free from the idea that saints are having a bad time now but will +hereafter enjoy a triumph, parlously like the exuberance of the wicked +in this world. The Far East too has its unworldly side which, though +harmonizing with Buddhism, is native. In many ways the Chinese are as +materialistic as Europeans, but throughout the long history of their art +and literature, there has always been a school, clear-voiced if small, +which has sung and pursued the joys of the hermit, the dweller among +trees and mountains who finds nature and his own thoughts an +all-sufficient source of continual happiness. But the Indian ideal, +though it often includes the pleasures of communion with nature, differs +from most forms of the Chinese and Christian ideal inasmuch as it +assumes the reality of certain religious experiences and treats them as +the substance and occupation of the highest life. We are disposed to +describe these experiences as trances or visions, names which generally +mean something morbid or hypnotic. But in India their validity is +unquestioned and they are not considered morbid. The sensual scheming +life of the world is sick and ailing; the rapture of contemplation is +the true and healthy life of the soul. More than that it is the type and +foretaste of a higher existence compared with which this world is +worthless or rather nothing at all. This view has been held in India for +nearly three thousand years: it has been confirmed by the experience of +men whose writings testify to their intellectual power and has commanded +the respect of the masses. It must command our respect too, even if it +is contrary to our temperament, for it is the persistent ideal of a +great nation and cannot be explained away as hallucination or +charlatanism. It is allied to the experiences of European mystics of +whom St Teresa is a striking example, though less saintly persons, such +as Walt Whitman and J.A. Symonds, might also be cited. Of such mysticism +William James said "the existence of mystical states absolutely +overthrows the pretension of non-mystical states to be the sole and +ultimate dictators of what we may believe[48]." + +These mystical states are commonly described as meditation but they +include not merely peaceful contemplation but ecstatic rapture. They are +sometimes explained as union with Brahman[49], the absorption of the +soul in God, or its feeling that it is one with him. But this is +certainly not the only explanation of ecstasy given in India, for it is +recognized as real and beneficent by Buddhists and Jains. The same +rapture, the same sense of omniscience and of ability to comprehend the +scheme of things, the same peace and freedom are experienced by both +theistic and non-theistic sects, just as they have also been experienced +by Christian mystics. The experiences are real but they do not depend on +the presence of any special deity, though they may be coloured by the +theological views of individual thinkers[50]. The earliest Buddhist +texts make right rapture (sammâ samâdhi) the end and crown of the +eight-fold path but offer no explanation of it. They suggest that it is +something wrought by the mind for itself and without the co-operation or +infusion of any external influence. + + +13. + +Indian ideas about the destiny of the soul are connected with equally +important views about its nature. I will not presume to say what is the +definition of the soul in European philosophy but in the language of +popular religion it undoubtedly means that which remains when a body is +arbitrarily abstracted from a human personality, without enquiring how +much of that personality is thinkable without a material substratum. +This popular soul includes mind, perception and desire and often no +attempt is made to distinguish it from them. But in India it is so +distinguished. The soul (âtman or purusha) _uses_ the mind and senses: +they are its instruments rather than parts of it. Sight, for instance, +serves as the spectacles of the soul, and the other senses and even the +mind (manas) which is an intellectual _organ_ are also instruments. If +we talk of a soul passing from death to another birth, this according to +most Hindus is a soul accompanied by its baggage of mind and senses, a +subtle body indeed, but still gaseous not spiritual. But what is the +soul by itself? When an English poet sings of death that it is "Only the +sleep eternal in an eternal night" or a Greek poet calls it [Greek: +atermona nêgreton hupnon] we feel that they are denying immortality. But +Indian divines maintain that deep sleep is one of the states in which +the soul approaches nearest to God: that it is a state of bliss, and is +unconscious not because consciousness is suspended but because no +objects are presented to it. Even higher than dreamless sleep is another +condition known simply as the fourth state[51], the others being waking, +dream-sleep and dreamless sleep. In this fourth state thought is one +with the object of thought and, knowledge being perfect, there exists no +contrast between knowledge and ignorance. All this sounds strange to +modern Europe. We are apt to say that dreamless sleep is simply +unconsciousness[52] and that the so-called fourth state is imaginary or +unmeaning. But to follow even popular speculation in India it is +necessary to grasp this truth, or assumption, that when discursive +thought ceases, when the mind and the senses are no longer active, the +result is not unconsciousness equivalent to non-existence but the +highest and purest state of the soul, in which, rising above thought and +feeling, it enjoys the untrammelled bliss of its own nature[53]. + +If these views sound mysterious and fanciful, I would ask those +Europeans who believe in the immortality of the soul what, in their +opinion, survives death. The brain, the nerves and the sense organs +obviously decay: the soul, you may say, is not a product of them, but +when they are destroyed or even injured, perceptive and intellectual +processes are inhibited and apparently rendered impossible. Must not +that which lives for ever be, as the Hindus think, independent of +thought and of sense-impressions? + +I have observed in my reading that European philosophers are more ready +to talk about soul and spirit than to define them[54] and the same is +true of Indian philosophers. The word most commonly rendered by soul is +_âtman_[55] but no one definition can be given for it, for some hold +that the soul is identical with the Universal Spirit, others that it is +merely of the same nature, still others that there are innumerable souls +uncreate and eternal, while the Buddhists deny the existence of a soul +_in toto_. But most Hindus who believe in the existence of an âtman or +soul agree in thinking that it is the real self and essence of all human +beings (or for that matter of other beings): that it is eternal _a parte +ante_ and _a parte post_: that it is not subject to variation but passes +unchanged from one birth to another: that youth and age, joy and sorrow, +and all the accidents of human life are affections, not so much of the +soul as of the envelopes and limitations which surround it during its +pilgrimage: that the soul, if it can be released and disengaged from +these envelopes, is in itself knowledge and bliss, knowledge meaning the +immediate and intuitive knowledge of God. A proper comprehension of this +point of view will make us chary of labelling Indian thought as +pessimistic on the ground that it promises the soul something which we +are inclined to call unconsciousness. + +In studying oriental religions sympathy and a desire to agree if +possible are the first requisites. For instance, he who says of a +certain ideal "this means annihilation and I do not like it" is on the +wrong way. The right way is to ascertain what many of our most +intelligent brothers mean by the cessation of mental activity and why it +is for them an ideal. + + +14. _Eastern Pessimism and Renunciation_ + +But the charge of pessimism against Eastern religions is so important +that we must consider other aspects of it, for though the charge is +wrong, it is wrong only because those who bring it do not use quite the +right word. And indeed it would be hard to find the right word in a +European language. The temperament and theory described as pessimism are +European. They imply an attitude of revolt, a right to judge and +grumble. Why did the Deity make something out of nothing? What was his +object? But this is not the attitude of Eastern thought: it generally +holds that we cannot imagine nothing: that the world process is without +beginning or end and that man must learn how to make the best of it. + +The Far East purged Buddhism of much of its pessimism. There we see that +the First Truth about suffering is little more than an admission of the +existence of evil, which all religions and common sense admit. Evil +ceases in the saint: nirvana in this life is perfect happiness. And +though striving for the material improvement of the world is not held up +conspicuously as an ideal in the Buddhist scriptures (or for that matter +in the New Testament), yet it is never hinted that good effort is vain. +A king should be a good king. + +Renunciation is a great word in the religions of both Europe and Asia, +but in Europe it is almost active. Except to advanced mystics, it means +abandoning a natural attitude and deliberately assuming another which it +is difficult to maintain. Something similar is found in India in the +legends of those ascetics who triumphed over the flesh until they become +very gods in power[56]. But it is also a common view in the East that he +who renounces ambition and passion is not struggling against the world +and the devil but simply leading a natural life. His passions indeed +obey his will and do not wander here and there according to their fancy, +but his temperament is one of acquiescence not resistance. He takes his +place among the men, beasts and plants around him and ceasing to +struggle finds that his own soul contains happiness in itself. + +Most Europeans consider man as the centre and lord of the world or, if +they are very religious, as its vice-regent under God. He may kill or +otherwise maltreat animals for his pleasure or convenience: his task is +to subdue the forces of nature: nature is subservient to him and to his +destinies: without man nature is meaningless. Much the same view was +held by the ancient Greeks and in a less acute form by the Jews and +Romans. Swinburne's line + + Glory to man in the highest, for man is the master of things + +is overbold for professing Christians but it expresses both the modern +scientific sentiment and the ancient Hellenic sentiment. + +But such a line of poetry would I think be impossible in India or in any +country to the East of it. There man is thought of as a part of nature +not its centre or master[57]. Above him are formidable hosts of deities +and spirits, and even European engineers cannot subdue the genii of the +flood and typhoon: below but still not separated from him are the +various tribes of birds and beasts. A good man does not kill them for +pleasure nor eat flesh, and even those whose aspirations to virtue are +modest treat animals as humble brethren rather than as lower creatures +over whom they have dominion by divine command. + +This attitude is illustrated by Chinese and Japanese art. In +architecture, this art makes it a principle that palaces and temples +should not dominate a landscape but fit into it and adapt their lines to +its features. For the painter, flowers and animals form a sufficient +picture by themselves and are not felt to be inadequate because man is +absent. Portraits are frequent but a common form of European +composition, namely a group of figures subordinated to a principal one, +though not unknown, is comparatively rare. + +How scanty are the records of great men in India! Great buildings +attract attention but who knows the names of the architects who planned +them or the kings who paid for them? We are not quite sure of the date +of Kâlidâsa, the Indian Shakespeare, and though the doctrines of +Śankara, Kabir, and Nânak still nourish, it is with difficulty that the +antiquary collects from the meagre legends clinging to their names a few +facts for their biographies. And Kings and Emperors, a class who in +Europe can count on being remembered if not esteemed after death, fare +even worse. The laborious research of Europeans has shown that Asoka and +Harsha were great monarchs. Their own countrymen merely say "once upon a +time there was a king" and recount some trivial story. + +In fact, Hindus have a very weak historical sense. In this they are not +wholly wrong, for Europeans undoubtedly exaggerate the historical +treatment of thought and art[58]. In science, most students want to know +what is certain in theory and useful in practice, not what were the +discarded hypotheses and imperfect instruments of the past. In +literature, when the actors and audience are really interested, the date +of Shakespeare and even the authorship of the play cease to be +important[59]. In the same way Hindus want to know whether doctrines and +speculations are true, whether a man can make use of them in his own +religious experiences and aspirations. They care little for the date, +authorship, unity and textual accuracy of the Bhagavad-gîtâ. They simply +ask, is it true, what can I get from it? The European critic, who +expects nothing of the sort from the work, racks his brains to know who +wrote it and when, who touched it up and why? + +The Hindus are also indifferent to the past because they do not +recognize that the history of the world, the whole cosmic process, has +any meaning or value. In most departments of Indian thought, great or +small, the conception of [Greek: telos] or purpose is absent, and if the +European reader thinks this a grave lacuna, let him ask himself whether +satisfied love has any [Greek: telos]. For Hindus the world is endless +repetition not a progress towards an end. Creation has rarely the sense +which it bears for Europeans. An infinite number of times the universe +has collapsed in flaming or watery ruin, aeons of quiescence follow the +collapse and then the Deity (he has done it an infinite number of times) +emits again from himself worlds and souls of the same old kind. But +though, as I have said before, all varieties of theological opinion may +be found in India, he is usually represented as moved by some +reproductive impulse rather than as executing a plan. Śankara says +boldly that no motive can be attributed to God, because he being perfect +can desire no addition to his perfection, so that his creative activity +is mere exuberance, like the sport of young princes, who take exercise +though they are not obliged to do so. + +Such views are distasteful to Europeans. Our vanity impels us to invent +explanations of the Universe which make our own existence important and +significant. Nor does European science altogether support the Indian +doctrine of periodicity. It has theories as to the probable origin of +the solar system and other similar systems, but it points to the +conclusion that the Universe as a whole is not appreciably affected by +the growth or decay of its parts, whereas Indian imagination thinks of +universal cataclysms and recurring periods of quiescence in which +nothing whatever remains except the undifferentiated divine spirit. + +Western ethics generally aim at teaching a man how to act: Eastern +ethics at forming a character. A good character will no doubt act +rightly when circumstances require action, but he need not seek +occasions for action, he may even avoid them, and in India the +passionless sage is still in popular esteem superior to warriors, +statesmen and scientists. + + +15. _Eastern Polytheism_ + +Different as India and China are, they agree in this that in order not +to misapprehend their religious condition we must make our minds +familiar with a new set of relations. The relations of religion to +philosophy, to ethics, and to the state, as well as the relations of +different religions to one another, are not the same as in Europe. China +and India are pagan, a word which I deprecate if it is understood to +imply inferiority but which if used in a descriptive and respectful +sense is very useful. Christianity and Islam are organized religions. +They say (or rather their several sects say) that they each not only +possess the truth but that all other creeds and rites are wrong. But +paganism is not organized: it rarely presents anything like a church +united under one head: still more rarely does it condemn or interfere +with other religions unless attacked first. Buddhism stands between the +two classes. Like Christianity and Islam it professes to teach the only +true law, but unlike them it is exceedingly tolerant and many Buddhists +also worship Hindu or Chinese gods. + +Popular religion in India and China is certainly polytheistic, yet if +one uses this word in contrast to the monotheism of Islam and of +Protestantism the antithesis is unjust, for the polytheist does not +believe in many creators and rulers of the world, in many Allahs or +Jehovahs, but he considers that there are many spiritual beings, with +different spheres and powers, to the most appropriate of whom he +addresses his petitions. Polytheism and image-worship lie under an +unmerited stigma in Europe. We generally assume that to believe in one +God is obviously better, intellectually and ethically, than to believe +in many. Yet Trinitarian religions escape being polytheistic only by +juggling with words, and if Hindus and Chinese are polytheists so are +the Roman and Oriental Churches, for there is no real distinction +between praying to the Madonna, Saints and Angels, and propitiating +minor deities. William James[60] has pointed out that polytheism is not +theoretically absurd and is practically the religion of many Europeans. +In some ways it is more intelligible and reasonable than monotheism. For +if there is only one personal God, I do not understand how anything that +can be called a person can be so expanded as to be capable of hearing +and answering the prayers of the whole world. Anything susceptible of +such extension must be more than a person. Is it not at least equally +reasonable to assume that there are many spirits, or many shapes taken +by the superpersonal world spirit, with which the soul can get into +touch? + +The worship of images cannot be recommended without qualification, for +it seems to require artists capable of making a worthy representation of +the divine. And it must be confessed that many figures in Indian +temples, such as the statues of Kâlî, seem repulsive or grotesque, +though a Hindu might say that none of them are so strange in idea or so +horrible in appearance as the crucifix. But the claim of the iconoclast +from the times of the Old Testament onwards that he worships a spirit +whereas others worship wood and stone is true only of the lowest phases +of religion, if even there. Hindu theologians distinguish different +kinds of _avatâras_ or ways in which God descends into the world: among +them are incarnations like Krishna, the presence of God in the human +heart and his presence in a symbol or image (_arcâ_). It may be +difficult to decide how far the symbol and the spirit are kept separate +either in the East or in Europe, but no one can attend a great +car-festival in southern India or the feast of Durgâ in Bengal without +feeling and in some measure sharing the ecstasy and enthusiasm of the +crowd. It is an enthusiasm such as may be evoked in critical times by a +king or a flag, and as the flag may do duty for the king and all that he +stands for, so may the image do duty for the deity. + + +16. _The Extravagance of Hinduism_ + +What I have just said applies to India rather than to China and so do +the observations which follow. India is the most religious country in +the world. The percentage of people who literally make religion their +chief business, who sacrifice to it money and life itself (for religious +suicide is not extinct), is far greater than elsewhere. Russia[61] +probably comes next but the other nations fall behind by a long +interval. Matter of fact respectable people—Chinese as well as +Europeans—call this attitude extravagance and it sometimes deserves the +name, for since there is no one creed or criterion in India, all sorts +of aboriginal or decadent superstitions command the respect due to the +name of religion. + +This extravagance is both intellectual and moral. No story is too +extraordinary to be told of Hindu gods. They are the magicians of the +universe who sport with the forces of nature as easily as a conjuror in +a bazaar does tricks with a handful of balls. But though the average +Hindu would be shocked to hear the Puranas described as idle tales, yet +he does not make his creed depend on their accuracy, as many in Europe +make Christianity depend on miracles. The value of truth in religion is +rated higher in India than in Europe but it is not historical truth. The +Hindu approaches his sacred literature somewhat in the spirit in which +we approach Milton and Dante. The beauty and value of such poems is +clear. The question whether they are accurate reports of facts seems +irrelevant. Hindus believe in progressive revelation. Many Tantras and +Vishnuite works profess to be better suited to the present age than the +Vedas, and innumerable treatises in the vernacular are commonly accepted +as scripture. + +Scriptures in India[62] are thought of as words not writings. It is the +sacred sound not a sacred book which is venerated. They are learnt by +oral transmission and it is rare to see a book used in religious +services. Diagrams accompanied by letters and a few words are credited +with magical powers, but still tantric spells are things to be recited +rather than written. This view of scripture makes the hearer uncritical. +The ordinary layman hears parts of a sacred book recited and probably +admires what he understands, but he has no means of judging of a book as +a whole, especially of its coherency and consistency. + +The moral extravagance of Hinduism is more serious. It is kept in check +by the general conviction that asceticism, or at least temperance, +charity and self-effacement are the indispensable outward signs of +religion, but still among the great religions of the world there is none +which countenances so many hysterical, immoral and cruel rites. A +literary example will illustrate the position. It is taken from the +drama Mâdhava and Mâlatî written about 730 A.D., but the incidents of +the plot might happen in any native state to-day, if European +supervision were removed. In it Mâdhava, a young Brahman, surprises a +priest of the goddess Châmundâ who is about to immolate Mâlatî. He kills +the priest and apparently the other characters consider his conduct +natural and not sacrilegious. But it is not suggested that either the +police or any ecclesiastical authority ought to prevent human +sacrifices, and the reason why Mâdhava was able to save his beloved from +death was that he had gone to the uncanny spot where such rites were +performed to make an offering of human flesh to demons. + +In Buddhism religion and the moral law are identified, but not in +Hinduism. Brahmanical literature contains beautiful moral sayings, +especially about unselfishness and self-restraint, but the greatest +popular gods such as Vishnu and Śiva are not identified with the moral +law. They are super-moral and the God of philosophy, who _is_ all +things, is also above good and evil. The aim of the philosophic saint is +not so much to choose the good and eschew evil as to draw nearer to God +by rising above both. + +Indian literature as a whole has a strong ethical and didactic flavour, +yet the great philosophic and religious systems concern themselves +little with ethics. They discuss the nature of the external world and +other metaphysical questions which seem to us hardly religious: they +clearly feel a peculiar interest in defining the relation of the soul to +God, but they rarely ask why should I be good or what is the sanction of +morality. They are concerned less with sin than with ignorance: virtue +is indispensable, but without knowledge it is useless. + + +17. _The Hindu and Buddhist Scriptures_ + +The history and criticism of Hindu and Buddhist scriptures naturally +occupy some space in this work, but two general remarks may be made +here. First, the oldest scriptures are almost without exception +compilations, that is collections of utterances handed down by tradition +and arranged by later generations in some form which gives them apparent +unity. Thus the Rig Veda is obviously an anthology of hymns and some +three thousand years later the Granth or sacred book of the Sikhs was +compiled on the same principle. It consists of poems by Nanak, Kabir and +many other writers but is treated with extraordinary respect as a +continuous and consistent revelation. The Brahmanas and Upanishads are +not such obvious compilations yet on careful inspection the older[63] +ones will be found to be nothing else. Thus the Brihad Aranyaka +Upanishad, though possessing considerable coherency, is not only a +collection of such philosophic views as commended themselves to the +doctors of the Taittiriya school, but is formed by the union of three +such collections. Each of the first two collections ends with a list of +the teachers who handed it down and the third is openly called a +supplement. One long passage, the dialogue between Yâjnavalkya and his +wife, is incorporated in both the first and the second collection. Thus +our text represents the period when the Taittirîyas brought their +philosophic thoughts together in a complete form, but that period was +preceded by another in which slightly different schools each had their +own collection and for some time before this the various maxims and +dialogues must have been current separately. Since the conversation +between Yajnavalkya and Maitreyi occurs in almost the same form in two +collections, it probably once existed as an independent piece. + +In Buddhist literature the composite and tertiary character of the Sutta +Pitaka is equally plain. The various Nikayas are confessedly collections +of discourses. The two older ones seem dominated by the desire to bring +before the reader the image of the Buddha preaching: the Samyutta and +Anguttara emphasize the doctrine rather than the teacher and arrange +much the same matter under new headings. But it is clear that in +whatever form the various sermons, dialogues and dissertations appear, +that form is not primary but presupposes compilers dealing with an oral +tradition already stereotyped in language. For long passages such as the +tract on morality and the description of progress in the religious life +occur in several discourses and the amount of matter common to different +Suttas and Nikayas is surprising. Thus nearly the whole of the long +Sutta describing the Buddha's last days and death[64], which at first +sight seems to be a connected narrative somewhat different from other +Suttas, is found scattered in other parts of the Canon. + +Thus our oldest texts whether Brahmanic or Buddhist are editions and +codifications, perhaps amplifications, of a considerably older oral +teaching. They cannot be treated as personal documents similar to the +Koran or the Epistles of Paul. + +The works of middle antiquity such as the Epics, Puranas, and Mahayanist +sutras were also not produced by one author. Many of them exist in more +than one recension and they usually consist of a nucleus enveloped and +sometimes itself affected by additions which may exceed the original +matter in bulk. The Mahâbhârata and Prajñâpâramitâ are not books in the +European sense: we cannot give a date or a table of contents for the +first edition[65]: they each represent a body of literature whose +composition extended over a long period. As time goes on, history +naturally grows clearer and literary personalities become more distinct, +yet the later Puranas are not attributed to human authors and were +susceptible of interpolation even in recent times. Thus the story of +Genesis has been incorporated in the Bhavishya Purana, apparently after +Protestant missionaries had begun to preach in India. + +The other point to which I would draw attention is the importance of +relatively modern works, which supersede the older scriptures, +especially in Hinduism. This phenomenon is common in many countries, for +only a few books such as the Bhagavad-gîtâ, the Gospels and the sayings +of Confucius have a portion of the eternal and universal sufficient to +outlast the wear and tear of a thousand years. Vedic literature is far +from being discredited in India, though some Tantras say openly that it +is useless. It still has a place in ritual and is appealed to by +reforming sects. But to see Hinduism in proper perspective we must +remember that from the time of the Buddha till now, the composition of +religious literature in India has been almost uninterrupted and that +almost every century has produced works accepted by some sect as +infallible scripture. For most Vishnuites the Bhagavad-gîtâ is the +beginning of sacred literature and the Nârâyaṇîya[66] is also held in +high esteem: the philosophy of each sect is usually determined by a +commentary on the Brahma Sutras: the Bhagavata Purana (perhaps in a +vernacular paraphrase) and the Ramayana of Tulsi Das are probably the +favourite reading of the laity and for devotional purposes may be +supplemented by a collection of hymns such as the Namghosha, copies of +which actually receive homage in Assam. The average man—even the average +priest—regards all these as sacred works without troubling himself with +distinctions as to _śruti_ and _smṛiti_, and the Vedas and Upanishads +are hardly within his horizon. + +In respect of sacred literature Buddhism is more conservative than +Hinduism, or to put it another way, has been less productive in the last +fifteen hundred years. The Hinayanists are like those Protestant sects +which still profess not to go beyond the Bible. The monks read the +Abhidhamma and the laity the Suttas, though perhaps both are disposed to +use extracts and compendiums rather than the full ancient texts. Among +the Mahayanists the ancient Vinaya and Nikayas exist only as literary +curiosities. The former is superseded by modern manuals, the latter by +Mahayanist Sutras such as the Lotus and the Happy Land, which are +however of respectable antiquity. As in India, each sect selects rather +arbitrarily a few books for its own use, without condemning others but +also without according to them the formal recognition received by the +Old and New Testaments among Christians. + +No Asiatic country possesses so large a portion of the critical spirit +as China. The educated Chinese, however much they may venerate their +classics, think of them as we think of the masterpieces of Greek +literature, aS texts which may contain wrong readings, interpolations +and lacunae, which owe whatever authority they possess to the labours of +the scholars who collected, arranged and corrected them. This attitude +is to some extent the result of the attempt made by the First Emperor +about 200 B.C. to destroy the classical literature and to its subsequent +laborious restoration. At a time when the Indians regarded the Veda as a +verbal revelation, certain and divine in every syllable, the Chinese +were painfully recovering and re-piecing their ancient chronicles and +poems from imperfect manuscripts and fallible memories. The process +obliged them to enquire at every step whether the texts which they +examined were genuine and complete: to admit that they might be +defective or paraphrases of a difficult original. Hence the Chinese have +sound principles of criticism unknown to the Hindus and in discussing +the date of an ancient work or the probability of an alleged historical +event they generally use arguments which a European scholar can accept. + +Chinese literature has a strong ethical and political flavour which +tempered the extravagance of imported Indian ideas. Most Chinese systems +assert more or less plainly that right conduct is conduct in harmony +with the laws of the State and the Universe. + + +18. _Morality and Will_ + +It is dangerous to make sweeping statements about the huge mass of +Indian literature, but I think that most Buddhist and Brahmanic systems +assume that morality is merely a means of obtaining happiness[67] and is +not obedience to a categorical imperative or to the will of God. +Morality is by inference raised to the status of a cosmic law, because +evil deeds will infallibly bring evil consequences to the doer in this +life or in another. But it is not commonly spoken of as such a law. The +usual point of view is that man desires happiness and for this morality +is a necessary though insufficient preparation. But there may be higher +states which cannot be expressed in terms of happiness. + +The will receives more attention in European philosophy than in Indian, +whether Buddhist or Brahmanic, which both regard it not as a separate +kind of activity but as a form of thought. As such it is not neglected +in Buddhist psychology: will, desire and struggle are recognized as good +provided their object is good, a point overlooked by those who accuse +Buddhism of preaching inaction[68]. + +Schopenhauer's doctrine that will is the essential fact in the universe +and in life may appear to have analogies to Indian thought: it would be +easy for instance to quote passages from the Pitakas showing that +_taṇhâ_, thirst, craving or desire, is the force which makes and remakes +the world. But such statements must be taken as generalizations +respecting the world as it is rather than as implying theories of its +origin, for though _taṇhâ_ is a link in the chain of causation, it is +not regarded as an ultimate principle more than any other link but is +made to depend on feeling. The Mâyâ of the Vedanta is not so much the +affirmation of the will to live as the illusion that we have a real +existence apart from Brahman, and the same may be said of Ahaṃkâra in +the Sânkhya philosophy. It is the principle of egoism and individuality, +but its essence is not so much self-assertion as the _mistaken_ idea +that this is _mine_, that _I_ am happy or unhappy. + +There is a question much debated in European philosophy but little +argued in India, namely the freedom of the will. The active European +feeling the obligation and the difficulties of morality is perplexed by +the doubt whether he really has the power to act as he wishes. This +problem has not much troubled the Hindus and rightly, as I think. For if +the human will is not free, what does freedom mean? What example of +freedom can be quoted with which to contrast the supposed non-freedom of +the will? If in fact it is from the will that our notion of freedom is +derived, is it not unreasonable to say that the will is not free? +Absolute freedom in the sense of something regulated by no laws is +unthinkable. When a thing is conditioned by external causes it is +dependent. When it is conditioned by internal causes which are part of +its own nature, it is free. No other freedom is known. An Indian would +say that a man's nature is limited by Karma. Some minds are incapable of +the higher forms of virtue and wisdom, just as some bodies are incapable +of athletic feats. But within the limits of his own nature a human being +is free. Indian theology is not much hampered by the mad doctrine that +God has predestined some souls to damnation, nor by the idea of Fate, +except in so far as Karma is Fate. It is Fate in the sense that Karma +inherited from a previous birth is a store of rewards and punishments +which must be enjoyed or endured, but it differs from Fate because we +are all the time making our own karma and determining the character of +our next birth. + +The older Upanishads hint at a doctrine analogous to that of Kant, +namely that man is bound and conditioned in so far as he is a part of +the world of phenomena but free in so far as the self within him is +identical with the divine self which is the creator of all bonds and +conditions. Thus the Kaushîtaki Upanishad says, "He it is who causes the +man whom he will lead upwards from these worlds to do good works and He +it is who causes the man whom he will lead downwards to do evil works. +He is the guardian of the world, He is the ruler of the world, He is the +Lord of the world and He is myself." Here the last words destroy the +apparent determinism of the first part of the sentence. And similarly +the Chândogya Upanishad says, "They who depart hence without having +known the Self and those true desires, for them there is no freedom in +all worlds. But they who depart hence after knowing the Self and those +true desires, for them there is freedom in all worlds[70]." + +Early Buddhist literature asserts uncompromisingly that every state of +consciousness has a cause and in one of his earliest discourses the +Buddha argues that the Skandhas, including mental states, cannot be the +Self because we have not free will to make them exactly what we +choose[71]. But throughout his ethical teaching it is I think assumed +that, subject to the law of karma, conscious action is equivalent to +spontaneous action. Good mental states can be made to grow and bad +mental states to decrease until the stage is reached when the saint +knows that he is free. It may perhaps be thought that the early +Buddhists did not realize the consequences of applying their doctrine of +causation to psychology and hence never faced the possibility of +determinism. But determinism, fatalism, and the uselessness of effort +formed part of the paradoxical teaching of Makkhali Gosala reported in +the Pitakas and therefore well known. If neither the Jains nor the +Buddhists allowed themselves to be embarrassed by such denials of free +will, the inference is that in some matters at least the Hindus had +strong common sense and declined to accept any view which takes away +from man the responsibility and lordship of his own soul. + + +19. _The Origin of Evil_ + +The reader will have gathered from what precedes that Hinduism has +little room for the Devil[72]. Buddhism being essentially an ethical +system recognizes the importance of the Tempter or Mâra, but still Mâra +is not an evil spirit who has spoilt a good world. In Hinduism, whether +pantheistic or polytheistic, there is even less disposition to personify +evil in one figure, and most Indian religious systems are disposed to +think of the imperfections of the world as suffering rather than as sin. + +Yet the existence of evil is the chief reason for the existence of +religion, at least of such religions as promise salvation, and the +explanation of evil is the chief problem of all religions and +philosophies, and the problem which they all alike are conspicuously +unsuccessful in solving. I can assign no reason for rejecting as +untenable the idea that the ultimate reality may be a duality—a good and +an evil spirit—or even a plurality[73], but still it is unthinkable for +me and I believe for most minds. If there are two ultimate beings, +either they must be complementary and necessary one to the other, in +which case it seems to me more correct to describe them as two aspects +of one being, or if they are quite separate, my mind postulates (but I +do not know why) a third being who is the cause of them both. + +The problem of evil is not quite the same for Indian and European +pantheists. The European pantheist holds that since God is all things or +in all things, evil is only something viewed out of due perspective: +that the world would be seen to be perfect, if it could be seen as a +whole, or that evil will be eliminated in the course of development. But +he cannot explain why the partial view of the world which human beings +are obliged to take shows the existence of obvious evil. The Hindus +think that it is possible and better for the soul to leave the vain show +of the world and find peace in union with God. They are therefore not +concerned to prove that the world is good, although they cannot explain +why God allows it to exist. The Upanishads contain some myths and +parables about the introduction of evil but they do not say that a +naturally good world was spoilt[74]. They rather imply that increasing +complexity involves the increase of evil as well as of good. This is +also the ground thought of the Aggañña Sutta, the Buddhist Genesis (Dig. +Nik. XXVII.). + +I think that the substance of much Indian pantheism—late Buddhist as +well as Brahmanic—is that the world, the soul and God (the three terms +being practically the same) have two modes of existence: one of repose +and bliss, the other of struggle and trouble. Of these the first mode is +the better and it is only by mistake[75] that the eternal spirit adopts +the latter. But both the mistake and the correction of it are being +eternally repeated. Such a formulation of the Advaita philosophy would +no doubt be regarded in India as wholly unorthodox. Yet orthodoxy admits +that the existence of the world is due to the coexistence of Mâyâ +(illusion) with Brahman (spirit) and also states that the task of the +soul is to pass beyond Mâyâ to Brahman. If this is so, there is either a +real duality (Brahman and Mâyâ) or else Mâyâ is an aspect of Brahman, +but an aspect which the soul should transcend and avoid, and for whose +existence no reason whatever is given. The more theistic forms of Indian +religion, whether Sivaite or Vishnuite, tend to regard individual souls +and matter as eternal. By the help of God souls can obtain release from +matter. But here again there is no explanation why the soul is +contaminated by matter or ignorance. + +It is clearly illogical to condemn the Infinite as bad or a mistake. +Buddhism is perhaps sometimes open to this charge because on account of +its exceedingly cautious language about nirvana it fails to set it up as +a reality contrasted with the world of suffering. But many varieties of +Indian religion do emphatically point to the infinite reality behind and +beyond Mâyâ. It is only Mâyâ which is unsatisfactory because it is +partial. + +Another attempt to make the Universe intelligible regards it as an +eternal rhythm playing and pulsing outwards from spirit to matter +(pravritti) and then backwards and inwards from matter to spirit +(nirvritti). This idea seems implied by Śankara's view that creation is +similar to the sportive impulses of exuberant youth and the +Bhagavad-gîtâ is familiar with _pravritti_ and _nirvritti_, but the +double character of the rhythm is emphasized most clearly in Śâkta +treatises. Ordinary Hinduism concentrates its attention on the process +of liberation and return to Brahman, but the Tantras recognize and +consecrate both movements, the outward throbbing stream of energy and +enjoyment (bhukti) and the calm returning flow of liberation and peace. +Both are happiness, but the wise understand that the active outward +movement is right and happy only up to a certain point and under certain +restrictions. + +That great poet Tulsi Das hints at an explanation of the creation or of +God's expansion of himself which will perhaps commend itself to +Europeans more than most Indian ideas, namely that the bliss enjoyed by +God and the souls whom he loves is greater than the bliss of solitary +divinity[76]. + + +20. _Church and State_ + +I will now turn to another point, namely the relations of Church and +State. These are simplest in Buddhism, which teaches that the truth is +one, that all men ought to follow it and that all good kings should +honour and encourage it. This is also the Christian position but +Buddhism has almost always been tolerant and has hardly ever +countenanced the doctrine that error should be suppressed by force[77]. +Buddhism does not claim to cover the whole field of religion as +understood in Europe: if people like to propitiate spirits in the hope +of obtaining wealth and crops, it permits them to do so. In Japan and +Tibet Buddhism has played a more secular role than in other countries, +analogous to the struggles of the mediaeval European church for temporal +authority. In Japan the great monasteries very nearly became the chief +military as well as the chief political power and this danger was +averted only by the destruction of Hieizan and other large +establishments in the sixteenth century. What was prevented in Japan did +actually happen in Tibet, for the monasteries became stronger than any +of the competing secular factions and the principal sect set up an +ecclesiastical government singularly like the Papacy. In southern +countries, such as Burma and Ceylon, Buddhism made no attempt to +interfere in politics. This aloofness is particularly remarkable in Siam +and Camboja, where state festivals are usually conducted by Brahmans not +by Buddhist ecclesiastics. In Siam, as formerly in Burma, the king being +a Buddhist is in some ways the head of the Church. He may reform lax +discipline or incorrect observances, but apparently not of his own +authority but merely as an executive power enforcing the opinion of the +higher clergy. + +Buddhism and Hinduism both have the idea that the monk or priest is a +person who in virtue of ordination or birth lives on a higher level than +others. He may teach and do good but irrespective of that it is the duty +of the laity to support the priesthood. This doctrine is preached by +Hinduism in a stronger form than by Buddhism. The intellectual +superiority of the Brahmans as a caste was sufficiently real to ensure +its acceptance and in politics they had the good sense to rule by +serving, to be ministers and not kings. In theory and to a considerable +extent in practice, the Brahmans and their gods are not an _imperium in +imperio_ but an _imperium super imperium_. The position was possible +only because, unlike the Papacy and unlike the Lamas of Tibet, they had +no Pope and no hierarchy. They produced no à'Beckets or Hildebrands and +no Inquisition. They did not quarrel with science but monopolized it. + +In India kings are expected to maintain the priesthood and the temples +yet Hinduism rarely assumes the form of a state religion[78] nor does it +admit, as state religions generally have to admit, that the secular arm +has a co-ordinate jurisdiction in ecclesiastical matters. Yet it affects +every department of social life and a Hindu who breaks with it loses his +social status. Hindu deities are rarely tribal gods like Athene of +Athens or the gods of Mr Kipling and the German Emperor. There are +thousands of shrines specially favoured by a divine presence but the +worshippers think of that presence not as the protector of a race or +city but as a special manifestation of a universal though often +invisible power. The conquests of Mohammedans and Christians are not +interpreted as meaning that the gods of Hinduism have succumbed to alien +deities. + +The views prevalent in China and Japan as to the relations of Church and +State are almost the antipodes of those described. In those countries it +is the hardly dissembled theory of the official world that religion is a +department of government and that there should be regulations for gods +and worship, just as there are for ministers and etiquette. If we say +that religion is identified with the government in Tibet and forms an +_imperium super imperium_ in India, we may compare its position in the +Far East to native states under British rule. There is no interference +with creeds provided they respect ethical and social conventions: +interesting doctrines and rites are appreciated: the Government accepts +and rewards the loyal co-operation of the Buddhist and Taoist +priesthoods but maintains the right to restrict their activity should it +take a wrong political turn or should an excessive increase in the +number of monks seem a public danger. The Chinese Imperial Government +successfully claimed the strangest powers of ecclesiastical discipline, +since it promoted and degraded not only priests but deities. In both +China and Japan there has often been a strong current of feeling in the +official classes against Buddhism but on the other hand it often had the +support of both emperors and people, and princes not infrequently joined +the clergy, especially when it was desirable for them to live in +retirement. Confucianism and Shintoism, which are ethical and ceremonial +rather than doctrinal, have been in the past to some extent a law to the +governments of China and Japan, or more accurately an aspect of those +governments. But for many centuries Far Eastern statesmen have rarely +regarded Buddhism and Taoism as more than interesting and legitimate +activities, to be encouraged and regulated like educational and +scientific institutions. + + +21. _Public Worship and Ceremonial_ + +In no point does Hinduism differ from western religions more than in its +public worship and, in spite of much that is striking and interesting, +the comparison is not to the advantage of India. It is true that temple +worship is not so important for the Hindus as Church services are for +the Christian. They set more store on home ceremonies and on +contemplation. Still the temples of India are so numerous, so +conspicuous and so crowded that the religion which maintains them must +to some extent be judged by them. + +At any rate they avoid the faults of public worship in the west. The +practice of arranging the congregation in seats for which they pay seems +to me more irreligious than the slovenliness of the heathen and makes +the whole performance resemble a very dull concert. + +Protestant services are in the main modelled on the ritual of the +synagogue. They are meetings of the laity at which the scriptures are +read, prayers offered, sermons preached and benedictions pronounced. The +clergy play a principal but not exclusive part. The rites of the Roman +and Eastern Churches have borrowed much from pagan ceremonial but still +they have not wholly departed from the traditions of the synagogue. +These have also served as a model for Mohammedan ritual which differs +from the Jewish in little but its almost military regularity. + +But with all this the ordinary ritual of Hindu temples[79] has nothing +in common. It derives from another origin and follows other lines. The +temple is regarded as the court of a prince and the daily ceremonies are +the attendance of his courtiers on him. He must be awakened, fed, amused +and finally put to bed. This conception of ritual prevailed in Egypt but +in India there is no trace of it in Vedic literature and perhaps it did +not come into fashion until Gupta times. Although the laity may be +present and salute the god, such worship cannot be called +congregational. Yet in other ways a Hindu temple may provide as much +popular worship as a Nonconformist chapel. In the corridors will +generally be found readers surrounded by an attentive crowd to whom they +recite and expound the Mahabharata or some other sacred text. At +festivals and times of pilgrimage the precincts are thronged by a crowd +of worshippers the like of which is hardly to be seen in Europe, +worshippers not only devout but fired with an enthusiasm which bursts +into a mighty chorus of welcome when the image of the god is brought +forth from the inner shrine. + +The earlier forms of Buddhist ceremonial are of the synagogue type +(though in no way derived from Jewish sources) for, though there is no +prayer, they consist chiefly of confession, preaching and reading the +scriptures. But this puritanic severity could not be popular and the +veneration of images and relics was soon added to the ritual. The former +was adopted by Buddhism earlier than by the Brahmans. The latter, though +a conspicuous feature of Buddhism in all lands, is almost unknown to +Hinduism. In their later developments Buddhist and Christian ceremonies +show an extraordinary resemblance due in my opinion chiefly to +convergence, though I do not entirely exclude mutual influence. Both +Buddhism and Roman Catholicism accepted pagan ritual with some +reservations and refinements. The worship has for its object an image or +a shrine containing a relic which is placed in a conspicuous position at +the end of the hall of worship[80]. Animal sacrifices are rejected but +offerings of flowers, lights and incense are permitted, as well as the +singing of hymns. It is not altogether strange if Buddhist and Catholic +rituals starting from the same elements ended by producing similar +scenic effects. + +Yet though the scenic effect may be similar, there is often a difference +in the nature of the rite. Direct invocations are not wanting in Tibetan +and Far Eastern Buddhism but many services consist not of prayers but of +the recitation of scripture by which merit is acquired. This merit is +then formally transferred by the officiants to some special object, such +as the peace of the dead or the prosperity of a living suppliant. + +The later phases of both Hinduism and Buddhism are permeated by what is +called Tantrism[81], that is to say the endeavour to attain spiritual +ends by ritual acts such as gestures and the repetition of formulae. +These expedients are dangerous and may become puerile, but those who +ridicule them often forget that they may be termed sacramental with as +much propriety as magical and are in fact based on the same theory as +the sacraments of the Catholic Church. When a child is made eligible for +salvation by sprinkling with water, by the sign of the cross and by the +mantra "In the Name of the Father," etc., or when the divine spirit is +localized in bread and wine and worshipped, these rites are closely +analogous to tantric ceremonial. + +The Buddhist temples of the Far East are in original intention copies of +Indian edifices and in the larger establishments there is a daily +routine of services performed by resident monks. But the management of +religious foundations in these countries has been much influenced by old +pagan usages as to temples and worship which show an interesting +resemblance to the customs of classical antiquity but have little in +common with Buddhist or Christian ideas. A Chinese municipal temple is a +public building dedicated to a spirit or departed worthy. If sacrifices +are offered in it, they are not likely to take place more than three or +four times a year. Private persons may go there to obtain luck by +burning a little incense or still more frequently to divine the future: +public meetings and theatrical performances may be held there, but +anything like a congregational service is rare. Just so in ancient Rome +a temple might be used for a meeting of the Senate or for funeral games. + + +22. _The Worship of the Reproductive Forces_ + +One aspect of Indian religions is so singular that it demands notice, +although it is difficult to discuss. I mean the worship of the +generative forces. The cult of a god, or more often of a goddess, who +personifies the reproductive and also the destructive powers of nature +(for it is not only in India that the two activities are seen to be +akin) existed in many countries. It was prominent in Babylonia and Asia +Minor, less prominent but still distinctly present in Egypt and in many +cases was accompanied by hysterical and immoral rites, by mutilations of +the body and offerings of blood. But in most countries such deities and +rites are a matter of ancient history: they decayed as civilization +grew: in China and Japan, as formerly in Greece and Rome, they are not +an important constituent of religion. It is only in India and to some +extent in Tibet, which has been influenced by India, that they have +remained unabashed until modern times. + +If it is right to regard with veneration the great forces of nature, +fire, sun and water, a similar feeling towards the reproductive force +cannot be unphilosophic or immoral. Nor does the idea that the supreme +deity is a mother rather than a father, though startling, contain +anything unseemly. Yet it is an undoubted fact that all the great +religions except Hinduism, though they may admit a Goddess of +Mercy—Kuan-yin or the Madonna—agree in rejecting essentially sexual +deities. Modern Europe is probably prudish to excess, but the general +practice of mankind testifies that words and acts too nearly connected +with sexual things cannot be safely permitted in the temple. This remark +would indeed be superfluous were it not that many millions of our Hindu +fellow-citizens are of a contrary opinion. + +Such practices prevail chiefly among the Śâktas in Bengal and Assam but +similar licence is permitted (though the theoretical justification and +theological setting are different) in some Vishnuite sects. Both are +reprobated by the majority of respectable Hindus, but both find educated +and able apologists. And though it may be admitted that worship of the +linga may exist without bad effects, moral or intellectual, yet I think +that these effects make themselves felt so soon as a sect becomes +distinctly erotic. Anyone who visits two such different localities as +Kamakhya in Assam and Gokul near Muttra must be struck with the total +absence in the shrines of anything that can be called beautiful, solemn +or even terrible. The general impression is of something diseased, +unclean and undignified. The figure of the Great Goddess of life and +death might have fired[82] the invention of artists but as a matter of +fact her worship has paralyzed their hands and brains. + +Nor can I give much praise to the Tantras as literature[83]. It is true +that, as some authors point out, they contain fine sayings about God and +the soul. But in India such things form part of the common literary +stock and do not entitle the author to the praise which he would win +elsewhere, unless his language or thoughts show originality. Such +originality I have not found in those Tantras which are accessible. The +magical and erotic parts may have the melancholy distinction of being +unlike other works but the philosophical and theological sections could +have been produced by any Hindu who had studied these branches of Indian +literature. + + +23. _Hinduism in Practice_ + +After reviewing the characteristics of a religion it is natural to ask +what is its effect on those who profess it. Buddhism, Christianity and +Islam offer materials for answering such a question, since they are not +racial religions. In historical times they have been accepted by peoples +who did not profess them previously and we can estimate the consequences +of such changes. But Hinduism has racial or geographical limits. It +proselytizes, but hardly outside the Indian area: it is difficult to +distinguish it from Indian custom, as the gospel is distinguished from +the practice of Europe: it is superfluous to enquire what would be its +effect on other countries, since it shows no desire to impose itself on +them and they none to accept it. It is, like Shinto in Japan, not a +religion which has moulded the national character but the national +character finding expression in religion. Shinto and Hinduism are also +alike in perpetuating ancient beliefs and practices which seem +anachronisms but otherwise they are very different, for many races and +languages have contributed their thoughts and hopes to the ocean of +Hinduism and they all had an interest in speculation and mysticism +unknown to the Japanese. + +The fact that Hinduism is something larger and more comprehensive than +what we call a religion is one reason why it contains much of dubious +moral value. It is analogous not to Christianity but to European +civilization which produces side by side philanthropy and the horrors of +war, or to science which has given us the blessings of surgery and the +curse of explosives. There is a deep-rooted idea in India that a man's +daily life must be accompanied by religious observances and regulated by +a religious code, by no means of universal application but still +suitable to his particular class. An immoral occupation need not be +irreligious: it simply requires gods of a special character. Hence we +find Thugs killing and robbing their victims in the name of Kali. But +though the Hindu is not at ease unless his customs are sanctioned by his +religion, yet religion in the wider sense is not bound by custom, for +the founders of many sects have declared that before God there is no +caste. A Hindu may devote himself to religion and abandon the world with +all its conventions, but if like most men he prefers to live in the +world, it is his duty to follow the customs and usages sanctioned for +his class and occupation. Thus as Sister Nivedita has shown in her +beautiful writings, cooking, washing and all the humble round of +domestic life become one long ritual of purification and prayer in which +the entertainment of a guest stands out as a great sacrifice. But though +religion may thus give beauty and holiness to common things, yet +inasmuch as it sanctifies what it finds rather than prescribes what +should be, it must bear the blame for foolish and even injurious +customs. Child marriages have nothing to do with the creed of Hinduism, +yet many Hindus, especially Hindu women, would feel it irreligious, as +well as a social disgrace, to let a daughter become adult without being +married. + +A comparison of Indian Mohammedans and Hindus suggests that the former +are more warlike and robust, the latter more intellectual and ingenious. +The fact that some Mohammedans belong to hardy tribes of invaders must +be taken into account but Islam deserves the credit of having introduced +a simple and fairly healthy rule of life which does not allow every +caste to make its own observances into a divine law. Yet it would seem +that the medical and sanitary rules of Hinduism deserve less abuse than +they generally receive. Col. King, Sanitary Commissioner of the Madras +Presidency, is quoted as saying in a lecture[84]: "The Institutes of +Vishnu and the Laws of Manu fit in excellently with the bacteriology, +parasitology and applied hygiene of the West. The hygiene of food and +water, private and public conservancy, disease suppression and +prevention, are all carefully dealt with." + +Hinduism certainly has proved marvellously stimulating to the intellect +or—shall we put it the other way?--is the product of profound, acute, +and restless minds. It cannot be justly accused of being enervating or +melancholy, for many Hindu states were vigorous and warlike[85] and the +accounts of early travellers indicate that in pre-mohammedan days the +people were humane, civilized and contented. It created an original and +spiritual art, for Indian art, more than any other, is the direct +product of religion and not merely inspired by it. In ages when original +talent is rare this close relation has disadvantages for it tends to +make all art symbolic and conventional. An artist must not represent a +deity in the way that he thinks most effective: the proportions, +attitude and ornaments are all prescribed, not because they suit a +picture or statue but because they mean something. + +Indian literature is also directly related to religion. Its extent is +well-nigh immeasurable. I will not alarm the reader with statistics of +the theological and metaphysical treatises which it contains. A little +of such goes a long way even when they are first-rate, but India may at +least boast of having more theological works which, if considered as +intellectual productions, must be placed in the first class than Europe. +Nor are religious writings of a more human type absent—the language of +heart to heart and of the heart to God. The Ramayana of Tulsi Das and +the Tiruvwçagam are extolled by Groâse, Grierson and Pope (all of them +Christians, I believe) as not only masterpieces of literature but as +noble expressions of pure devotion, and the poems of Kabir and Tukaram, +if less considerable as literary efforts, show the same spiritual +quality. Indian poetry, even when nominally secular, is perhaps too much +under religious influence to suit our taste and the long didactic and +philosophic harangues which interrupt the action of the Mahabharata seem +to us inartistic, yet to those who take the pains to familiarize +themselves with what at first is strange, the Mahabharata is, I think, a +greater poem than the _Iliad_. It should not be regarded as an epic +distended and interrupted by interpolated sermons but as the scripture +of the warrior caste, which sees in the soldier's life a form of +religion. + +I have touched in several places on the defects of Hinduism. They are +due partly to its sanction of customs which have no necessary connection +with it and partly to its extravagance, which in the service of the gods +sees no barriers of morality or humanity. But suttee, human sacrifices +and orgies strike the imagination and assume an importance which they +have not and never had for Hinduism as a whole. If Hinduism were really +bad, so many great thoughts, so many good lives could not have grown up +in its atmosphere. More than any other religion it is a quest of truth +and not a creed, which must necessarily become antiquated: it admits the +possibility of new scriptures, new incarnations, new institutions. It +has no quarrel with knowledge or speculation: perhaps it excludes +materialists, because they have no common ground with religion, but it +tolerates even the Sânkhya philosophy which has nothing to say about God +or worship. It is truly dynamic and in the past whenever it has seemed +in danger of withering it has never failed to bud with new life and put +forth new flowers. + +More than other religions, Hinduism appeals to the soul's immediate +knowledge and experience of God. It has sacred books innumerable but +they agree in little but this, that the soul can come into contact and +intimacy with its God, whatever name be given him and even if he be +superpersonal. The possibility and truth of this experience is hardly +questioned in India and the task of religion is to bring it about, not +to promote the welfare of tribes and states but to effect the +enlightenment and salvation of souls. + +The love of the Hindus for every form of argument and philosophizing is +well known but it is happily counterbalanced by another tendency. +Instinct and religion both bring them into close sympathy with nature. +India is in the main an agricultural country[86] and nearly +three-quarters of the population are villagers whose life is bound up +with the welfare of plants and animals and lies at the mercy of rivers +that overflow or skies that withhold the rain. To such people +nature-myths and sacred animals appeal with a force that Europeans +rarely understand. The parrots that perch on the pinnacles of the temple +and the oxen that rest in the shade of its courts are not intruders but +humble brothers of mankind, who may also be the messengers of the gods. + + +24. _Buddhism in Practice_ + +As I said above, it is easier to estimate the effects of Buddhism than +of Hinduism, for its history is the chronicle of a great missionary +enterprise and there are abundant materials for studying the results of +its diffusion. + +Even its adversaries must admit that it has many excellent qualities. It +preaches morality and charity and was the first religion to proclaim to +the world—not to a caste or country—that these are the foundation of +that Law which if kept brings happiness. It civilized many nations, for +instance the Tibetans and Mongols. It has practised toleration and true +unworldliness, if not without any exception[87], at least far more +generally than any other great religion. It has directly encouraged art +and literature and, so far as I know, has never opposed the progress of +knowledge. But two charges may be brought against it which deserve +consideration. First that its pessimistic doctrines and monastic +institutions are, if judged by ordinary standards, bad for the welfare +of a nation: second that more than any other religion it is liable to +become corrupt. + +In all Buddhist lands, though good laymen are promised the blessings of +religion, the monastic and contemplative life is held up as the ideal. +In Christendom, this ideal is rejected by Protestants and for the Roman +and Oriental Churches it is only one among others. Hence every one's +judgment of Buddhism must in a large measure depend on what he thinks of +this ideal. Monks are not of this world and therefore the world hateth +them. If they keep to themselves, they are called lazy and useless. If +they take part in secular matters, they meet with even severer +criticism. Yet can any one doubt that what is most needed in the present +age is more people who have leisure and ability to think? + +Whatever evil is said of Buddhist monks is also said of Mt Athos and +similar Christian establishments. I am far from saying that this +depreciation of the cloistered life is just in either case but any +impartial critic of monastic institutions must admit that their virtues +avoid publicity and their faults attract attention. In all countries a +large percentage of monks are indolent: it is the temptation which +besets all but the elect. Yet the Buddhist ideal of the man who has +renounced the world leaves no place for slackness, nor I think does the +Christian. Buddhist monks are men of higher aspirations than others: +they try to make themselves supermen by cultivating not the forceful and +domineering part of their nature but the gentle, charitable and +intelligent part. The laity treat them with the greatest respect +provided that they set an example of a life better than most men can +live. A monastic system of this kind is found in Burma. I do not mean +that it is not found in other Buddhist lands, but I cite an instance +which I have seen myself and which has impressed most observers +favourably. + +The Burmese monks are not far from the ideal of Gotama, yet perhaps by +adhering somewhat strictly to the letter of his law they have lost +something of the freedom which he contemplated. In his time there were +no books: the mind found exercise and knowledge in conversation. A +monastery was not a permanent residence, except during the rainy season, +but merely a halting-place for the brethren who were habitually +wanderers, continually hearing and seeing something new. Hermits and +solitary dwellers in the forests were not unknown but assuredly the +majority of the brethren had no intention of secluding themselves from +the intellectual life of the age. What would Gotama have done had he +lived some hundreds or thousands of years later? I see no reason to +doubt that he would have encouraged the study of literature and science. +He would probably have praised all art which expresses noble and +spiritual ideas, while misdoubting representations of sensuous beauty. + +The second criticism—that Buddhists are prone to corrupt their faith—is +just, for their courteous acquiescence in other creeds enfeebles and +denaturalizes their own. In Annam, Korea and some parts of China though +there are temples and priests more or less deserving the name of +Buddhist, there is no idea that Buddhism is a distinct religion or mode +of life. Such statements as that the real religion of the Burmese is not +Buddhism but animism are, I think, incorrect, but even the Burmese are +dangerously tolerant. + +This weakness is not due to any positive defect, since Buddhism provides +for those who lead the higher life a strenuous curriculum and for the +laity a system of morality based on rational grounds and differing +little from the standard accepted in both Europe and China, except that +it emphasizes the duties of mankind to animals. The weakness comes from +the absence of any command against superstitious rites and beliefs. When +the cardinal principles of Buddhism are held strongly these accessories +do not matter, but the time comes when the creeper which was once an +ornament grows into the walls of the shrine and splits the masonry. The +faults of western religions are mainly faults of self-assertion—such as +the Inquisition and opposition to science. The faults of Indian +religions are mainly tolerance of what does not belong to them and +sometimes of what is not only foreign to them but bad in itself. + +Buddhism has been both praised and blamed as a religion which +acknowledges neither God nor the soul[88] and its acceptance in its +later phases of the supernatural has been regarded as proving the human +mind's natural need of theism. But it is rather an illustration of that +craving for personal though superhuman help which makes Roman Catholics +supplement theism with the worship of saints. + +On the whole it is correct to say that Buddhism (except perhaps in very +exceptional sects) has always taken and still takes a point of view +which has little in common with European theism. The world is not +thought of as the handiwork of a divine personality nor the moral law as +his will. The fact that religion can exist without these ideas is of +capital importance[89]. But any statements implying that Buddhism +divorces morality from the doctrine of immortality may be misunderstood +for it teaches that just as an old man may suffer for the follies of his +youth, so faults committed in one life may be punished in another. +Rewards and punishments in another world were part of the creed of Asoka +and tradition represents the missionaries who converted Ceylon as using +this simple argument[90]. It would not however be true to say that +Buddhism makes the value of morality contingent on another world. The +life of an Arhat which includes the strictest morality is commended on +its own account as the best and happiest existence. + +European assertions about Buddhism often imply that it sets up as an +ideal and goal either annihilation or some condition of dreamy bliss. +Modern Buddhists who mostly neglect Nirvana as something beyond their +powers, just as the ordinary Christian does not say that he hopes to +become a saint, lose much of the Master's teaching but do it less +injustice than such misrepresentations. The Buddha did not describe +Nirvana as something to be won after death, but as a state of happiness +attainable in this life by strenuous endeavour—a state of perfect peace +but compatible with energy, as his own example showed. + + +25. _Interest of Indian Thought for Europe_ + +We are now in a better position to answer the question asked at the +beginning of this introduction, Is Indian thought of value or at least +of interest for Europe? + +Let me confess that I cannot share the confidence in the superiority of +Europeans and their ways which is prevalent in the west. Whatever view +we take of the rights and wrongs of the recent war, it is clearly absurd +for Europe as a whole to pose in the presence of such doings as a +qualified instructor in humanity and civilization. Many of those who are +proudest of our fancied superiority escape when the chance offers from +western civilization and seek distraction in exploration, and many who +have spent their lives among what they consider inferior races are +uneasy when they retire and settle at home. In fact European +civilization is not satisfying and Asia can still offer something more +attractive to many who are far from Asiatic in spirit. Yet though most +who have paid even a passing visit to the East feel its charm, the +history, art and literature of Asia are still treated with ignorant +indifference in cultured circles—an ignorance and indifference which are +extraordinary in Englishmen who have so close a connection with India +and devote a disproportionate part of their education to ancient Greece +and Rome. I have heard a professor of history in an English university +say that he thought the history of India began with the advent of the +British and that he did not know that China had any history at all. And +Matthew Arnold in speaking of Indian thought[91] hardly escaped meriting +his own favourite epithets of condemnation, Philistine and _saugrenu_. + +Europeans sometimes mention it as an amazing and almost ridiculous +circumstance that an educated Chinese can belong to three religions, +Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. But I find this attitude of mind +eminently sensible. Confucianism is an admirable religion for State +ceremonies and College chapels. By attending its occasional rites one +shows a decent respect for Heaven and Providence and commits oneself to +nothing. And though a rigid Confucianist may have the contempt of a +scholar and statesman for popular ideas, yet the most devout Buddhist +and Taoist can conform to Confucianism without scruple, whereas many who +have attended an English coronation service must have wondered at the +language which they seemed to approve of by their presence. And in China +if you wish to water the aridity of Confucianism, you can find in +Buddhism or Taoism whatever you want in the way of emotion or philosophy +and you will not be accused of changing your religion because you take +this refreshment. This temper is not good for creating new and profound +religious thought, but it is good for sampling and appreciating the +"varieties of religious experience" which offer their results as guides +for this and other lives. + +For religion is systematized religious experience and this experience +depends on temperament. There can therefore be no one religion in the +European sense and it is one of the Hindus' many merits that they +recognize this. Some people ask of religion forgiveness for their sins, +others communion with the divine: most want health and wealth, many +crave for an explanation of life and death. Indian religion accommodates +itself to these various needs. Nothing is more surprising than the +variety of its phases except the underlying unity. + +This power of varying in sympathetic response to the needs of many minds +and growing in harmony with the outlook of successive ages, is a +contrast to the pretended _quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab +omnibus_[92] of Western Churches, for in view of their differences and +mutual hostility it can only be called a pretence. Indians recognize +that only the greatest and simplest religious questions can be asked now +in the same words that came to the lips more than two thousand years ago +and even if the questions are the same, the answers of the thoughtful +are still as widely divergent as the pronouncements of the Buddha and +the Brahmans. But nearly all the propositions contained in a European +creed involve matters of history or science which are obviously affected +by research and discovery as much as are astronomy or medicine, and not +only are the propositions out of date but they mostly refer to problems +which have lost their interest. But Indian religion eschews creeds and +will not die with the spread of knowledge. It will merely change and +enter a new phase of life in which much that is now believed and +practised will be regarded as the gods and rites of the Veda are +regarded now. + +I do not think that there is much profit in comparing religions, which +generally means exalting one at the expense of the others, but rather +that it is interesting and useful to learn what others, especially those +least like ourselves, think of these matters. And in religious questions +Asia has a distinct right to be heard. + +For if Europeans have any superiority over Asiatics, it lies in +practical science, finance and administration, not in thought or art. If +one were collecting views about philosophy and religion in Europe, one +would not begin by consulting financiers and engineers, and the +policeman who stands in the middle of the street and directs the traffic +to this side and that is not intellectually superior to those who obey +him as if he were something superhuman. Europeans in Asia are like such +a policeman: their gifts are authority and power to organize: in other +respects their superiority is imaginary. + +I do not think that Christianity will ever make much progress in Asia, +for what is commonly known by that name is not the teaching of Christ +but a rearrangement of it made in Europe and like most European +institutions practical rather than thoughtful. And as for the teaching +of Christ himself, the Indian finds it excellent but not ample or +satisfying. There is little in it which cannot be found in some of the +many scriptures of Hinduism and it is silent on many points about which +they speak, if not with convincing authority, at least with suggestive +profundity. Neither do I think that Europe is likely to adopt Buddhist +or Brahmanic methods of thought on any large scale. Theosophical and +Buddhist societies have my sympathy but it is sympathy with lonely +workers in an unpopular cause and I am not sure that they always +understand what they try to teach. There is truth at the bottom of the +dogma that all Buddhas must be born and teach in India: Asiatic doctrine +may commend itself to European minds but it fits awkwardly into European +life. + +But this is no reason for refusing to accord to Indian religion at least +the same attention that we give to Plato and Aristotle. Every idea which +is held strongly by any large body of men is worthy of respectful +examination, although I do not think that because an opinion is +widespread it is therefore true. Thus the idea that in the remote past +there was some kind of paradise or golden age and that the span of human +life was once much longer than now is found among most nations. Yet +research and analogy suggest that it is without foundation. The fact +that about half the population of the world has come under the influence +of Hindu ideas gives Indian thought historical importance rather than +authority. The claim of India to the attention of the world is that she, +more than any other nation since history began, has devoted herself to +contemplating the ultimate mysteries of existence and, in my eyes, the +fact that Indian thought diverges widely from our own popular thought is +a positive merit. In intellectual and philosophical pursuits we want new +ideas and Indian ideas are not familiar or hackneyed in the west, though +I think that more European philosophers and mystics have arrived at +similar conclusions than is generally supposed. + +Indian religions have more spirituality and a greater sense of the +Infinite than our western creeds and more liberality. They are not +merely tolerant but often hold that the different classes of mankind +have their own rules of life and suitable beliefs and that he who +follows such partial truths does no wrong to the greater and +all-inclusive truths on which his circumstances do not permit him to fix +his attention. And though some Indian religions may sanction bad +customs, sacrifice of animals and immoral rites, yet on the whole they +give the duty of kindness to animals a prominence unknown in Europe and +are more penetrated with the idea that civilization means a gentle and +enlightened temper—an idea sadly forgotten in these days of war. Their +speculative interest can hardly be denied. For instance, the idea of a +religion without a personal God may seem distasteful or absurd but the +student of human thought must take account of it and future generations +may not find it a useless notion. It is certain that in Asia we find +Buddhist Churches which preach morality and employ ritual and yet are +not theistic, and also various systems of pantheism which, though they +may use the word God, obviously use it in a sense which has nothing in +common with Christian and Mohammedan ideas. + +India's greatest contribution to religion is not intellectual, as the +mass of commentaries and arguments produced by Hindus might lead us to +imagine, but the persistent and almost unchallenged belief in the +reality and bliss of certain spiritual states which involve intuition. +All Indians agree that they are real, even to the extent of offering an +alternative superior to any ordinary life of pleasure and success, but +their value for us is lessened by the variety of interpretations which +they receive and which make it hard to give a more detailed definition +than that above. For some they are the intuition of a particular god, +for others of divinity in general. For Buddhists they mean a new life of +knowledge, freedom and bliss without reference to a deity. But apart +from such high matters I believe that the mental training preliminary to +these states—what is called meditation and concentration—is well worth +the attention of Europeans. I am not recommending trances or catalepsy: +in these as in other matters the Hindus are probably prone to exaggerate +and the Buddha himself in his early quest for truth discarded trances as +an unsatisfactory method. But the reader can convince himself by +experiment that the elementary discipline which consists in suppressing +"discursive thought" and concentrating the mind on a particular +object—say a red flower—so that for some time nothing else is present to +the mind and the image of the flower is seen and realized in all its +details, is most efficacious for producing mental calm and alertness. By +such simple exercises the mind learns how to rest and refresh itself. +Its quickness of apprehension and its retentive power are considerably +increased, for words and facts imprinted on it when by the suppression +of its ordinary activities it has thus been made a _tabula rasa_ remain +fixed and clear. + +Such great expressions of emotional theism as the Râmâyana of Tulsi Das +are likely to find sympathetic readers in Europe, but the most original +feature of Indian thought is that, as already mentioned, it produces +systems which can hardly be refused the name of religion and yet are +hardly theistic. The Buddha preached a creed without reference to a +supreme deity and the great Emperor Asoka, the friend of man and beast, +popularized this creed throughout India. Even at the present day the +prosperous and intelligent community of Jains follow a similar doctrine +and the Advaita philosophy diverges widely from European theism. It is +true that Buddhism invented gods for itself and became more and more +like Hinduism and that the later Vedantist and Sivaite schools have a +strong bent to monotheism. Yet all Indian theism seems to me to have a +pantheistic tinge[93] and India is certainly the classic land of +Pantheism. The difficulties of Pantheism are practical: it does not lend +itself easily to popular cries and causes and it finds it hard to +distinguish and condemn evil[94]. But it appeals to the scientific +temper and is not repulsive to many religious and emotional natures. +Indeed it may be said that in monotheistic creeds the most thoughtful +and devout minds often tend towards Pantheism, as witness the Sufis +among Moslims, the Kabbalists among the Jews and many eminent mystics in +the Christian Church. In India, the only country where the speculative +interest is stronger than the practical, it is a common form of belief +and it is of great importance for the history and criticism of religion +to see how an idea which in Europe is hardly more than philosophic +theory works on a large scale. + +Later Buddhism—the so-called Mahayana—may be justly treated as one of +the many varieties of Indian religion, not more differentiated from +others than is for instance the creed of the Sikhs. The speculative side +of early Buddhism (which was however mainly a practical movement) may be +better described as an Indian critique of current Indian views. The +psychology of the Pitakas has certainly enough life to provoke +discussion still, for it receives both appreciative treatment and +uncompromising condemnation at the hands of European scholars. To set it +aside as not worth the labour spent on elucidating it, seems to me an +error of judgment. As a criticism of the doctrine developed in the +Upanishads, it is acute and interesting, even if we hold the Upanishads +to be in the right, and no serious attempt to analyze the human mind can +be without value, for though the facts are before every human being such +attempts are rare. It is singular that so many religions should +prescribe and prophecy for the soul without being able to describe its +nature. Hesitation and diffidence in defining the Deity seem proper and +natural but it is truly surprising that people are not agreed as to the +essential facts about their own consciousness, their selves, souls, +minds and spirits: whether these are the same or different: whether they +are entities or aggregations. The Buddha's answers to these questions +cannot be dismissed as ancient or outlandish, for they are practically +the conclusions arrived at by a distinguished modern psychologist, +William James, who says in his _Psychology_[95], "The states of +consciousness are all that psychology requires to do her work with. +Metaphysics or theology may prove the soul to exist, but for psychology +the hypothesis of such a substantial principle of unity is superfluous" +and again "In this book the provisional solution which we have reached +must be the final one: The thoughts themselves are the thinkers." + +Equally in sympathy with Buddhist ideas is the philosophy of M. Bergson, +which holds that movement, change, becoming is everything and that there +is nothing else: no things that move and change and become[96]. Huxley +too, speaking of idealism, said "what Berkeley does not seem to have so +clearly perceived is that the non-existence of a substance of mind is +equally arguable.... It is a remarkable indication of the subtlety of +Indian speculation that Gautama should have seen deeper than the +greatest of modern idealists[97]." + +Even Mr Bradley says "the soul is a particular group of psychical events +in so far as those events are taken merely as happening in time[98]." +There is a smack of the Pitakas about this, although Mr Bradley's +philosophy as a whole shows little sympathy for Buddhism but a wondrous +resemblance both in thought and language to the Vedânta. This is the +more remarkable because there is no trace in his works of Sanskrit +learning or even of Indian influence at second hand. A peculiarly +original and independent mind seems to have worked its way to many of +the doctrines of the Advaita, without entirely adopting its general +conclusions, for I doubt if Sankara would have said "the positive +relation of every appearance as an adjective to reality and the presence +of reality among its appearances in different degrees and with different +values—this double truth we have found to be the centre of philosophy." +But still this is the gist of many Vedantic utterances both early[99] +and late. Gauḍapâda states that the world of appearance is due to +_svabhâva_ or the essential nature of Brahman and I imagine that the +thought here is the same as when Mr Bradley says that the Absolute is +positively present in all appearances. + +Among many coincidences both in thought and expression, I note the +following. Mr Bradley[100] says "The Perfect ... means the identity of +idea and existence, accompanied by pleasure" which is almost the verbal +equivalent of _saccidânanda_. "The universe is one reality which appears +in finite centres." "How there can be such a thing as appearance we do +not understand." In the same way Vedantists and Mahayanists can offer no +explanation of Maya or whatever is the power which makes the universe of +phenomena. Again he holds that neither our bodies nor our souls (as we +commonly understand the word) are truly real[101] and he denies the +reality of progress "For nothing perfect, nothing genuinely real can +move." And his discussion of the difficulty of reconciling the ideas of +God and the Absolute and specially the phrase "short of the Absolute, +God cannot rest and having reached that goal he is lost and religion +with him" is an epitome of the oscillations of philosophic Hinduism +which feels the difficulty far more keenly than European religion, +because ideas analogous to the Absolute are a more vital part of +religion (as distinguished from metaphysics) in India than in +Europe[102]. + +Nor can Indian ideas as to Maya and the unreality of matter be dismissed +as curious dreams of mystical brains, for the most recent phases of +Physics—a science which changes its fundamental ideas as often as +philosophy—tend to regard matter as electrical charges in motion. This +theory is a phrase rather than an explanation, but it has a real +affinity to Indian phrases which say that Brahman or Śakti (which are +forces) produce the illusion of the world. + +I am not venturing here on any general comparison of European and Indian +thought. My object is merely to point out that the latter contains many +ideas to which British philosophers find themselves led and from which, +when they have discovered them in their own way, they do not shrink. It +can hardly then be without interest to see how these ideas have been +elaborated, often more boldly and thoroughly, in Asia. + + + + +BOOK II + + + + +EARLY INDIAN RELIGION + +A GENERAL VIEW + + + + +BOOK II + + +In this book I shall briefly sketch the condition of religion in India +prior to the rise of Buddhism and in so doing shall be naturally led to +indicate several of the fundamental ideas of Hinduism. For few old ideas +have entirely perished: new deities, new sects and new rites have arisen +but the main theories of the older Upanishads still command respect and +modern reformers try to justify their teaching from the ancient texts. + +But I do not propose to discuss in detail the religion of the Vedic +hymns for, so far as it can be distinguished from later phases, it looks +backward rather than forward. It is important to students of comparative +mythology, of the origins of religion, of the Aryan race. But it +represents rather what the Aryans brought into India than what was +invented in India, and it is this latter which assumes a prominent place +in the intellectual history of the world as Hinduism and Buddhism. The +ancient nature gods of the wind and the dawn have little place in the +mental horizon of either the Buddha or Bhagavad-gîtâ and even when the +old names remain, the beings who bear them generally have new +attributes. Still, Vedic texts are used in modern worship and in many +respects there is a real continuity of thought. + +In the first chapter I enquire whether there is any element common to +the religions of India and to the countries of Eastern Asia and find +that the worship of nature spirits and the veneration of ancestors +prevail throughout the whole of this vast region and have not been +suppressed by Buddhism or Brahmanism. Then coming to the purely Indian +sphere, I have thought it might not be amiss to give an epitome of such +parts of Indian history as are of importance for religion. Next I +endeavour to explain how the social institutions of India and the unique +position acquired by the Brahman aristocracy have determined the +character of Hindu religion—protean and yet unmistakeably Indian in all +its phases—and I also investigate the influence of the belief in +rebirth, which from the time of the Upanishads onwards dominates Indian +thought. In the fourth and fifth chapters I trace the survival of some +ancient ideas and show how many attributes of the Vedic gods can be +found in modern deities who are at first sight widely different and how +theories of salvation by sacrifice or asceticism or knowledge have been +similarly persistent. In the sixth chapter I attempt to give a picture +of religious life, both Brahmanic and non-Brahmanic, as it existed in +India about the time when the Buddha was born. Of the non-Brahmanic +sects which then flourished most have disappeared, but one, namely the +Jains, has survived and left a considerable record in literature and +art. I have therefore devoted a chapter to it here. + +My object in this book is to discuss the characteristics of Indian +religion which are not only fundamental but ancient. Hence this is not +the place to dwell on Bhakti or relatively modern theistic sects, +however great their importance in later Hinduism may be. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +RELIGIONS OP INDIA AND EASTERN ASIA + + +The countries with which this work deals are roughly speaking India with +Ceylon; Indo-China with parts of the Malay Archipelago; Japan and China +with the neighbouring regions such as Tibet and Mongolia. All of them +have been more or less influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism and in hardly +any of them is Mohammedanism the predominant creed[103], though it may +have numerous adherents. The rest of Asia is mainly Mohammedan or +Christian and though a few Buddhists may be found even in Europe (as the +Kalmuks) still neither Hinduism nor Buddhism has met with general +acceptance west of India. + +In one sense, the common element in the religion of all these countries +is the presence of Indian ideas, due in most cases to Buddhism which is +the export form of Hinduism, although Brahmanic Hinduism reached Camboja +and the Archipelago. But this is not the element on which I wish now to +insist. I would rather enquire whether apart from the diffusion of ideas +which has taken place in historical times, there is any common +substratum in the religious temperament of this area, any fund of +primitive, or at least prehistoric ideas, shared by its inhabitants. +Such common ideas will be deep-seated and not obvious, for it needs but +little first-hand acquaintance with Asia to learn that all +generalizations about the spirit of the East require careful testing and +that such words as Asiatic or oriental do not connote one type of mind. +For instance in China and Japan the control of the state over religion +is exceptionally strong: in India it is exceptionally weak. The +religious temperaments of these nations differ from one another as much +as the Mohammedan and European temperaments and the fact that many races +have adopted Buddhism and refashioned it to their liking does not +indicate that their mental texture is identical. The cause of this +superficial uniformity is rather that Buddhism in its prime had no +serious rivals in either activity or profundity, but presented itself to +the inhabitants of Eastern Asia as pre-eminently the religion of +civilized men, and was often backed by the support of princes. Yet one +cannot help thinking that its success in Eastern Asia and its failure in +the West are not due merely to politics and geography but must +correspond with some racial idiosyncrasies. Though it is hard to see +what mental features are common to the dreamy Hindus and the practical +Chinese, it may be true that throughout Eastern Asia for one reason or +another such as political despotism, want of military spirit, or on the +other hand a tendency to regard the family, the clan or the state as the +unit, the sense of individuality is weaker than in Western Asia or +Europe, so that pantheism and quietism with their doctrines of the +vanity of the world and the bliss of absorption arouse less opposition +from robust lovers of life. This is the most that can be stated and it +does not explain why there are many Buddhists in Japan but none in +Persia. + +But apart from Buddhism and all creeds which have received a name, +certain ideas are universal in this vast region. One of them is the +belief in nature spirits, beings who dwell in rocks, trees, streams and +other natural objects and possess in their own sphere considerable +powers of doing good or ill. The Nagas, Yakshas and Bhutas of India, the +Nats of Burma, the Peys of Siam, the Kami of Japan and the Shen of China +are a few items in a list which might be indefinitely extended. In many +countries this ghostly population is as numerous as the birds of the +forest: they haunt every retired spot and perch unseen under the eaves +of every house. Theology has not usually troubled itself to define their +status and it may even be uncertain whether respect is shown to the +spirits inhabiting streams and mountain peaks or to the peaks and +streams themselves[104]. + +They may be kindly (though generally requiring punctilious attention), +or mischievous, or determined enemies of mankind. But infinite as are +their variations, the ordinary Asiatic no more doubts their existence +than he doubts the existence of animals. The position which they enjoy, +like their character, is various, for in Asia deities like men have +careers which depend on luck. Many of them remain mere elves or goblins, +some become considerable local deities. But often they occupy a position +intermediate between real gods and fairies. Thus in southern India, +Burma and Ceylon may be seen humble shrines, which are not exactly +temples but the abodes of beings whom prudent people respect. They have +little concern with the destinies of the soul or the observance of the +moral law but much to do with the vagaries of rivers and weather and +with the prosperity of the village. Though these spirits may attain a +high position within a certain district (as for instance Maha Saman, the +deity of Adam's Peak in Ceylon) they are not of the same stuff as the +great gods of Asia. These latter are syntheses of many ideas, and +centuries of human thought have laboured on their gigantic figures. It +is true that the mental attitude which deifies the village stream is +fundamentally the same as that which worships the sun, but in the latter +case the magnitude of the phenomenon deified sets it even for the most +rustic mind in another plane. Also the nature gods of the Veda are not +quite the same as the nature spirits which the Indian peasants worship +to-day and worshipped, as the Pitakas tell us, in the time of the +Buddha. For the Vedic deities are such forces as fire and light, wind +and water. This is nature worship but the worship of nature generalized, +not of some bold rock or mysterious rustling tree. It may be that a +migratory life, such as the ancient Aryans at one time led, inclined +their minds to these wider views, since neither the family nor the tribe +had an abiding interest in any one place. Thus the ancestors of the +Turks in the days before Islam worshipped the spirits of the sky, earth +and water, whereas the more civilized but sedentary Chinese had genii +for every hamlet, pool and hillock. + +It is difficult to say whether monotheism is a development of this +nature worship or has another origin. In Japanese religion the +monotheistic tendency is markedly absent. The sun-goddess is the +principal deity but remains simply _prima inter pares_. But in the +ancient religion of China, T'ien or Heaven, also called Shang-ti, the +supreme ruler, though somewhat shadowy and impersonal, does become an +omnipotent Providence without even approximate rivals. Other superhuman +beings are in comparison with him merely angels. Unfortunately the early +history of Chinese religion is obscure and the documents scanty. In +India however the evolution of pantheism or theism (though usually with +a pantheistic tinge) out of the worship of nature forces seems clear. +These gods or forces are seen to melt into one another and to be aspects +of one another, until the mind naturally passes on to the idea that they +are all manifestations of one force finding expression in human +consciousness as well as in physical phenomena. The animist and +pantheist represent different stages but not different methods of +thought. For the former, every natural object which impresses him is +alive; the latter concurs in this view, only he thinks the universe is +instinct with one and the same life displaying itself in infinite +variety. + +One difficulty incidental to the treatment of Asiatic religions in +European languages is the necessity, or at any rate the ineradicable +habit, of using well-known words like God and soul as the equivalents of +Asiatic terms which have not precisely the same content and which often +imply a different point of view. For practical life it is wise and +charitable to minimize religious differences and emphasize points of +agreement. But this willingness to believe that others think as we do +becomes a veritable vice if we are attempting an impartial exposition of +their ideas. If the English word God means the deity of ordinary +Christianity, who is much the same as Allah or Jehovah—that is to say +the creator of the world and enforcer of the moral law—then it would be +better never to use this word in writing of the religions of India and +Eastern Asia, for the concept is almost entirely foreign to them. The +nature spirits of which we have been speaking are clearly not God: when +an Indian peasant brings offerings to the tomb of a deceased brigand or +the Emperor of China promotes some departed worthy to be a deity of a +certain class, we call the ceremony deification, but there is not the +smallest intention of identifying the person deified with the Supreme +Being, and odd as it may seem, the worship of such "gods" is compatible +with monotheism or atheism. In China, Shang-ti is less definite than +God[105] and it does not appear that he is thought of as the creator of +the world and of human souls. Even the greater Hindu deities are not +really God, for those who follow the higher life can neglect and almost +despise them, without, however, denying their existence. On the other +hand Brahman, the pantheos of India, though equal to the Christian God +in majesty, is really a different conception, for he is not a creator in +the ordinary sense: he is impersonal and though not evil, yet he +transcends both good and evil. He might seem merely a force more suited +to be the subject matter of science than of religion, were not +meditation on him the occupation, and union with him the goal, of many +devout lives. And even when Indian deities are most personal, as in the +Vishnuite sects, it will be generally found that their relations to the +world and the soul are not those of the Christian God. It is because the +conception of superhuman existence is so different in Europe and Asia +that Asiatic religions often seem contradictory or corrupt: Buddhism and +Jainism, which we describe as atheistic, and the colourless respectable +religion of educated Chinese, become in their outward manifestations +unblushingly polytheistic. + +Similar difficulties and ambiguities attend the use of the word soul, +for Buddhism, which is supposed to hold that there is no soul, preaches +retribution in future existences for acts done in this, and seeks to +terrify the evil doer with the pains of hell; whereas the philosophy of +the Brahmans, which inculcates a belief in the soul, seems to teach in +some of its phases that the disembodied and immortal soul has no +consciousness in the ordinary human sense. Here language is dealing with +the same problems as those which we describe by such phrases as the +soul, immortality and continuous existence, but it is striving to +express ideas for which we have little sympathy and no adequate +terminology. They will be considered later. + +But one attitude towards that which survives death is almost universal +in Eastern Asia and also easily intelligible. It finds expression in the +ceremonies known as ancestor worship. This practice has attracted +special attention in China, where it is the commonest and most +conspicuous form of religious observance, but it is equally prevalent +among the Hindus, though less prominent because it is only one among the +many rites which engage the attention of that most devout nation. It is +one of the main constituents in the religions of Indo-China and Japan, +though the best authorities think that it was not the predominant +element in the oldest form of Shinto. It is less prominent among the +Tibeto-Burmese tribes but not absent, for in Tibet there are both good +and evil ghosts who demand recognition by appropriate rites. It is +sometimes hard to distinguish it from the worship of natural forces. For +instance in China and southern India most villages have a local deity +who is often nameless. The origin of such deities may be found either in +a departed worthy or in some striking phenomenon or in the association +of the two. + +The cult of ghosts may be due to either fear or affection, and both +motives are found in Eastern Asia. But though abundant examples of the +propitiation of angry spirits can be cited, respect and consideration +for the dead are the feelings which usually inspire these ceremonies at +the present day and form the chief basis of family religion. There is no +need to explain this sentiment. It is much stronger in Asia than in +Europe but some of its manifestations may be paralleled by masses and +prayers for the dead, others by the care bestowed on graves and by +notices _in memoriam_. As a rule both in China and India only the last +three generations are honoured in these ceremonies. The reason is +obvious: the more ancient ancestors have ceased to be living memories. +But it might be hard to find a theoretical justification for neglecting +them and it is remarkable that in all parts of Asia the cult of the dead +fits very awkwardly into the official creeds. It is not really +consistent with any doctrine of metempsychosis or with Buddhist teaching +as to the impermanence of the Ego. In China may be found the further +inconsistency that the spirit of a departed relative may receive the +tribute of offerings and salutations called ancestor worship, while at +the same time Buddhist services are being performed for his deliverance +from hell. But of the wide distribution, antiquity and strength of the +cult there can be no doubt. It is anterior not only to Brahmanism but to +the doctrines of transmigration and karma, and the main occupation of +Buddhist priests in China and Japan is the performance of ceremonies +supposed to benefit the dead. Even within Buddhism these practices +cannot be dismissed as a late or foreign corruption. In the +Khuddaka-pâṭha which, if not belonging to the most ancient part of the +Buddhist canon, is at least pre-Christian and purely Indian, the dead +are represented as waiting for offerings and as blessing those who give +them. It is also curious that a recent work called _Raymond_ by Sir O. +Lodge (1916) gives a view of the state after death which is +substantially that of the Chinese. For its teaching is that the dead +retain their personality, concern themselves with the things of this +world, know what is going to happen here and can to some extent render +assistance to the living[106]. Also (and this point is specially +remarkable) burning and mutilation of the body seem to inconvenience the +dead. + +Early Chinese works prescribe that during the performance of ancestral +rites, the ghosts are to be represented by people known as the +personators of the dead who receive the offerings and are supposed to be +temporarily possessed by spirits and to be their mouthpieces. Possession +by ghosts or other spirits is, in popular esteem, of frequent occurrence +in India, China, Japan and Indo-China. It is one of the many factors +which have contributed to the ideas of incarnation and deification, that +is, that gods can become men and men gods. In Europe the spheres of the +human and divine are strictly separated: to pass from one to the other +is exceptional: a single incarnation is regarded as an epoch-making +event of universal importance. But in Asia the frontiers are not thus +rigidly delimitated, nor are God and man thus opposed. The ordinary dead +become powers in the spirit world and can bless or injure here: the +great dead become deities: in another order of ideas, the dead +immediately become reincarnate and reappear on earth: the gods take the +shape of men, sometimes for the space of a human life, sometimes for a +shorter apparition. Many teachers in India have been revered as partial +incarnations of Vishnu and most of the higher clergy in Tibet claim to +be Buddhas or Bodhisattvas manifest in the flesh. There is no proof that +the doctrine of metempsychosis existed in Eastern Asia independently of +Indian influence but the ready acceptance accorded to it was largely due +to the prevalent feeling that the worlds of men and spirits are divided +by no great gulf. It is quite natural to step into the spirit world and +back again into this. + +It will not have escaped the reader's attention that many of the +features which I have noticed as common to the religions of Eastern +Asia—such as the worship of nature spirits and ancestors—are not +peculiar to those countries but are almost, if not quite, universal in +certain stages of religious development. They can, for instance, be +traced in Europe. But whereas they exist here as survivals discernible +only to the eye of research and even at the beginning of the Christian +era had ceased to be the obvious characteristics of European paganism, +in Asia they are still obvious. Age and logic have not impaired their +vigour, and official theology, far from persecuting them, has +accommodated its shape to theirs. This brings us to another point where +the linguistic difficulty again makes itself felt, namely, that the word +religion has not quite the same meaning in Eastern Asia as in Mohammedan +and Christian lands. I know of no definition which would cover +Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism and the superstitions of African +savages, for the four have little community of subject matter or aim. If +any definition can be found it must I think be based on some superficial +characteristic such as ceremonial. Nor is there any objection to +refusing the title of religion to Buddhism and Confucianism, except that +an inconvenient lacuna would remain in our vocabulary, for they are not +adequately described as philosophies. A crucial instance of the +difference in the ideas prevalent in Europe and Eastern Asia is the fact +that in China many people belong to two or three religions and it would +seem that when Buddhism existed in India the common practice was +similar. Paganism and spiritual religion can co-exist in the same mind +provided their spheres are kept distinct. But Christianity and Islam +both retain the idea of a jealous God who demands not only exclusive +devotion but also exclusive belief: to believe in other Gods is not only +erroneous; it is disobedience and disloyalty. But such ideas have little +currency in Eastern Asia, especially among Buddhists. The Buddha is not +a creator or a king but rather a physician. He demands no allegiance and +for those who disobey him the only punishment is continuance of the +disease. And though Indian deities may claim personal and exclusive +devotion, yet in defining and limiting belief their priests are less +exacting than Papal or Moslim doctors. Despite sectarian formulas, the +Hindu cherishes broader ideas such as that all deities are forms and +passing shapes of one essence; that all have their proper places and +that gods, creeds and ceremonies are necessary helps in the lower stages +of the religious life but immaterial to the adept. + +It does not follow from this that Hindus are lukewarm or insincere in +their convictions. On the contrary, faith is more intense and more +widely spread among them than in Europe. Nor can it be said that their +religion is something detachable from ordinary life: the burden of daily +observances prescribed and duly borne seems to us intolerable. But +Buddhism and many forms of Hinduism present themselves as methods of +salvation with a simplicity and singleness of aim which may be +paralleled in the Gospels but only rarely in the national churches of +Europe. The pious Buddhist is one who moulds his life and thoughts +according to a certain law: he is not much concerned with worshipping +the gods of the state or city, but has nothing against such worship: his +aims and procedure have nothing to do with spirits who give wealth and +children or avert misfortune. But since such matters are of great +interest to mankind, he is naturally brought into contact with them and +he has no more objection to a religious service for procuring rain than +to a scientific experiment for the same purpose. Similarly Confucians +follow a system of ethics which is sufficient for a gentleman and +accords a decorous recognition to a Supreme Being and ancestral spirits. +Much concession to superstition would be reprehensible according to this +code but if a Confucian honours some deity either for his private +objects or because it is part of his duties as a magistrate, he is not +offending Confucius. He is simply engaging in an act which has nothing +to do with Confucianism. The same distinction often applies in Indian +religion but is less clear there, because both the higher doctrine as +well as ordinary ceremonial and mythology are described under one name +as Hinduism. But if a native of southern India occasionally sacrifices a +buffalo to placate some village spirit, it does not follow that all his +religious notions are of this barbarous type. + +Asiatic ideas as to the relations between religions are illustrated by +an anecdote related to me in Assam. Christianity has made many converts +among the Khasis, a non-Hindu tribe of that region, and a successful +revival meeting extending over a week was once held in a district of +professing Christians. When the week was over and the missionaries gone, +the Khasis performed a ceremony in honour of their tribal deities. Their +pastors regarded this as a woeful lapse from grace but no disbelief in +Christianity or change of faith was implied. The Khasis had embraced +Christianity in the same spirit that animated the ancient disciples of +the Buddha: it was the higher law which spoke of a new life and of the +world to come. But it was not understood that it offered to take over +the business of the local deities, to look after crops and pigs and +children, to keep smallpox, tigers and serpents in order. Nobody doubted +the existence of spirits who regulate these matters, while admitting +that ethics and the road to heaven were not in their department, and +therefore it was thought wise to supplement the Christian ceremonies by +others held in their honour and thus let them see that they were not +forgotten and run no risk of incurring their enmity. + +My object in this chapter is to point out at the very beginning that in +Asia the existence of a duly labelled religion, such as Buddhism or +Confucianism, does not imply the suppression of older nameless beliefs, +especially about nature spirits and ghosts. In China and many other +countries we must not be surprised to find Buddhists honouring spirits +who have nothing to do with Buddhism. In India we must not suppose that +the doctrines of Râmânuja or any other great teacher are responsible for +the crudities of village worship, nor yet rashly assume that the +villager is ignorant of them. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +HISTORICAL + + +It may be useful to insert here a brief sketch of Indian history, but +its aim is merely to outline the surroundings in which Hindu religion +and philosophy grew up. It, therefore, passes lightly over much which is +important from other points of view and is intended for reference rather +than for continuous reading. + +An indifference to history, including biography, politics and geography, +is the great defect of Indian literature. Not only are there few +historical treatises[107] but even historical allusions are rare and +this curious vagueness is not peculiar to any age or district. It is as +noticeable among the Dravidians of the south as among the speakers of +Aryan languages in the north. It prevails from Vedic times until the +Mohammedan conquest, which produced chronicles though it did not induce +Brahmans to write them in Sanskrit. The lacuna is being slowly filled up +by the labours of European scholars who have collected numerous data +from an examination of inscriptions, monuments and coins, from the +critical study of Hindu literature, and from research in foreign, +especially Chinese, accounts of ancient India. + +At first sight the history of India seems merely a record of invasions, +the annals of a land that was always receptive and fated to be +conquered. The coast is poor in ports and the nearest foreign shore +distant. The land frontiers offer more temptation to invaders than to +emigrants. The Vedic Aryans, Persians, Greeks and hordes innumerable +from Central Asia poured in century after century through the passes of +the north-western mountains and after the arrival of Vasco da Gama other +hordes came from Europe by sea. But the armies and fleets of India can +tell no similar story of foreign victories. This picture however +neglects the fact that large parts of Indo-China and the Malay +Archipelago (including Camboja, Champa, Java and even Borneo) received +not only civilization but colonists and rulers from India. In the north +too Nepal, Kashmir, Khotan and many other districts might at one time or +another be legitimately described as conquered or tributary countries. +It may indeed be justly objected that Indian literature knows nothing of +Camboja and other lands where Indian buildings have been discovered[108] +and that the people of India were unconscious of having conquered them. +But Indian literature is equally unconscious of the conquests made by +Alexander, Kanishka and many others. Poets and philosophers were little +interested in the expeditions of princes, whether native or foreign. But +if by India is meant the country bounded by the sea and northern +mountains it undoubtedly sent armies and colonists to regions far beyond +these limits, both in the south-east and the north, and if the expansion +of a country is to be measured not merely by territorial acquisition but +by the diffusion of its institutions, religion, art and literature, then +"the conquests of the Dhamma," to use Asoka's phrase, include China, +Japan, Tibet and Mongolia. + +The fact that the Hindus paid no attention to these conquests and this +spread of their civilization argues a curious lack of interest in +national questions and an inability to see or utilize political +opportunities which must be the result of temperament rather than of +distracting invasions. For the long interval between the defeat of the +Huns in 526 A.D. and the raids of Mahmud of Ghazni about 1000 A.D. which +was almost entirely free from foreign inroads, seems precisely the +period when the want of political ideas and constructive capacity was +most marked. Nor were the incursions always destructive and sterile. The +invaders, though they had generally more valour than culture of their +own, often brought with them foreign art and ideas, Hellenic, Persian or +Mohammedan. Naturally the northern districts felt their violence most as +well as the new influences which they brought, whereas the south became +the focus of Hindu politics and culture which radiated thence northwards +again. Yet, on the whole, seeing how vast is the area occupied by the +Hindus, how great the differences not only of race but of language, it +is remarkable how large a measure of uniformity exists among them (of +course I exclude Mohammedans) in things religious and intellectual. +Hinduism ranges from the lowest superstition to the highest philosophy +but the stages are not distributed geographically. Pilgrims go from +Badrinath to Ramesvaram: the Vaishnavism of Trichinopoly, Muttra and +Bengal does not differ in essentials, the worship of the linga can be +seen almost anywhere. And though India has often been receptive, this +receptivity has been deliberate and discriminating. Great as was the +advance of Islam, the resistance offered to it was even more remarkable +and at the present day it cannot be said that in the things which most +interest them Indian minds are specially hospitable to British ideas. + +The relative absence of political unity seems due to want of interest in +politics. It is often said that the history of India in pre-Mohammedan +times is an unintelligible or, at least, unreadable, record of the +complicated quarrels and varying frontiers of small states. Yet this is +as true of the history of the Italian as of the Indian peninsula. The +real reason why Indian history seems tedious and intricate is that large +interests are involved only in the greatest struggles, such as the +efforts to repulse the Huns or Mohammedans. + +The ordinary wars, though conducted on no small scale, did not involve +such causes or principles as the strife of Roundheads with Cavaliers. +With rare exceptions, states and empires were regarded as the property +of their monarchs. Religion claimed to advise kings, like other wealthy +persons, as to their duties and opportunities, and ministers became the +practical rulers of kingdoms just as a steward may get the management of +an estate into his hands. But it rarely occurred to Hindus that other +persons in the estate had any right to a share in the government, or +that a Raja could be dispossessed by anybody but another Raja. Of that, +indeed, there was no lack. Not only had every sovereign to defend +himself against the enemies in his own house but external politics +seemed based on the maxim that it is the duty of a powerful ruler to +increase his territory by direct and unprovoked attacks on his +neighbours. There is hardly a king of eminence who did not expand his +power in this way, and the usual history of a royal house is successful +aggression followed by collapse when weaker hands were unable to hold +the inherited handful. Even moderately long intervals of peace are rare. +Yet all the while we seem to be dealing not with the expansion or +decadence of a nation, but with great nobles who add to their estates or +go bankrupt. + +These features of Indian politics are illustrated by the Arthaśâstra, a +manual of state-craft attributed to Câṇakya, the minister of Candragupta +and sometimes called the Indian Macchiavelli. Its authenticity has been +disputed but it is now generally accepted by scholars as an ancient work +composed if not in the fourth century, at least some time before the +Christian era. It does not, like Manu and other Brahmanic law-books, +give regulations for an ideal kingdom but frankly describes the practice +of kings. The form of state contemplated is a small kingdom surrounded +by others like it and war is assumed to be their almost normal relation, +but due to the taste or policy of kings, not to national aspirations or +economic causes. Towards the Brahmans a king has certain moral +obligations, towards his subjects and fellow monarchs none. It is +assumed that his object is to obtain money from his subjects, conquer +his neighbours, and protect himself by espionage and severe punishments +against the attacks to which he is continually exposed, especially at +the hands of his sons. But the author does not allow his prince a life +of pleasure: he is to work hard and the first things he has to attend to +are religious matters. + +The difficulty of writing historical epitomes which are either accurate +or readable is well known and to outline the events which have occurred +in the vast area called India during the last 2500 years is a specially +arduous task, for it is almost impossible to frame a narrative which +follows the fortunes of the best known Hindu kingdoms and also does +justice to the influence of southern India and Islam. It may be useful +to tabulate the principal periods, but the table is not continuous and +even when there is no gap in chronology, it often happens that only one +political area is illuminated amid the general darkness and that this +area is not the same for many centuries. + +1. From about 500 to 200 B.C. Magadha (the modern Bihar) was the +principal state and the dominions of its great king Asoka were almost +the same as British India to-day. + +2. In the immediately succeeding period many invaders entered from the +north-west. Some were Greeks and some Iranians but the most important +were the Kushans who ruled over an Empire embracing both north-western +India and regions beyond it in Afghanistan and Central Asia. This Empire +came to an end in the third century A.D. but the causes of its collapse +are obscure. + +3. The native Hindu dynasty of the Guptas began to rule in 320 A.D. Its +dominions included nearly all northern India but it was destroyed by the +invasions of the Huns in the fifth and sixth centuries. + +4. The Hindu Emperor Harsha (606-647 A.D.) practically reconstituted the +Gupta Empire but his dominions split up after his death. At the same +time another Empire which extended from Gujarat to Madras was founded by +Pulakeśin, a prince from the south, a region which though by no means +uncivilized had hitherto played a small part in the general history of +India. + +5. From 650 to 1000 A.D. India was divided among numerous independent +kingdoms. There was no central power but Bengal and the Deccan were more +prominent than previously. + +6. After 1000 A.D. the conquests of Mohammedan invaders became important +and the Hindu states of northern and central India collapsed or grew +weak. But the Hindus held out in Rajputana, Orissa, and above all in +Vijayanagar. + +7. In 1526 came the invasion of the Mughals, who founded an Empire which +at its zenith (1556-1707) included all India except the extreme south. +In its decadence the Marathas and Sikhs became powerful and Europeans +began to intervene. + +It is generally agreed that at a period which, though not fixed, was +anterior to 1000 B.C.[109] a body of invaders known as Aryans and nearly +akin to the ancient Iranians entered India through the north-western +mountains. They found there other tribes not deficient in civilization +but unable to offer any effective resistance. These tribes who retired +southwards are commonly known as Dravidians[110] and possibly represent +an earlier invasion of central-Asiatic tribes allied to the remote +ancestors of the Turks and Mongols[111]. At the time when the earlier +hymns of the Rig Veda were composed, the Aryans apparently lived in the +Panjab and did not know the sea, the Vindhya mountains or the Narbudda +river. They included several tribes, among whom five are specially +mentioned, and we hear that a great battle was fought on the Ravi, in +which a confederation of ten kings who wished to force a passage to the +east was repulsed by Sudas, chief of the Tritsus. Still the +south-eastern movement, across the modern United Provinces to the +borders of Bengal, continued and, so far as our records go, it was in +this direction rather than due south or south-west, that the Aryans +chiefly advanced[112]. When the Brâhmaṇas and earlier Upanishads were +composed (c. 800-600 B.C.) the principal political units were the +kingdoms of the Pancâlas and Kurus in the region of Delhi. The city of +Ayodhyâ (Oudh) is also credited with a very ancient but legendary +history. + +The real history of India begins with the life of the Buddha who lived +in the sixth century B.C.[113] At that time the small states of northern +India, which were apparently oligarchies or monarchies restricted by the +powers of a tribal council, were in process of being absorbed by larger +states which were absolute monarchies and this remained the normal form +of government in both Hindu and Moslim times. Thus Kosala (or Oudh) +absorbed the kingdom of Benares but was itself conquered by Magadha or +Bihar, the chief city of which was Pataliputra or Patna, destined to +become the capital of India. We also know that at this period and for +about two centuries later the Persian Empire had two satrapies within +the limits of modern India, one called "India," including the country +east of the Indus and possibly part of the Panjab, and the other called +Gândhâra (Peshawar) containing Takshaśilâ[114], a celebrated university. +The situation of this seat of learning is important, for it was +frequented by students from other districts and they must have felt +there in early times Persian and afterwards Hellenistic influence. There +are clear signs of Persian influence in India in the reign of Asoka. Of +Magadha there is little to be said for the next century and a half, but +it appears to have remained the chief state of northern India. + +In 327 B.C. Alexander the Great after over-throwing the Persian Empire +invaded India, where he remained only nineteen months. He probably +intended to annex Sind and the Panjab permanently to his Empire but he +died in 323 and in the next year Candragupta, an exiled scion of the +royal house of Magadha, put an end to Macedonian authority in India and +then seized the throne of his ancestors. He founded the Maurya dynasty +under which Magadha expanded into an Empire comprising all India except +the extreme south. Seleucus Nicator, who had inherited the Asiatic +possessions of Alexander and wished to assert his authority, came into +collision with Candragupta but was completely worsted and about 303 B.C. +concluded a treaty by which he ceded the districts of Kabul, Herat and +Kandahar. Shortly afterwards he sent as his ambassador to the court of +Pataliputra a Greek named Megasthenes who resided there for a +considerable time and wrote an account of the country still extant in a +fragmentary form. The grandson of Candragupta was Asoka, the first ruler +of all India (c. 273-231 B.C.). His Empire extended from Afghanistan +almost to Madras and was governed with benevolent but somewhat +grandmotherly despotism. He was an ardent Buddhist and it is mainly +owing to his efforts, which are described in more detail below, that +Buddhism became during some centuries the dominant faith in India. +Asoka's Empire broke up soon after his death in circumstances which are +not clear, for we now enter upon one of those chaotic periods which +recur from time to time in Indian history and we have little certain +information until the fourth century A.D. Andhra, a region including +large parts of the districts now called the Northern Circars, Hyderabad +and Central Provinces, was the first to revolt from the Mauryas and a +dynasty of Andhra kings[115], who claimed to belong to the Śâtavâhana +family, ruled until 236 A.D. over varying but often extensive +territories. What remained of the Maurya throne was usurped in 184 B.C. +by the Sungas who in their turn were overthrown by the Kaṇvas. These +latter could not withstand the Andhras and collapsed before them about +27 B.C. + +Alexander's invasion produced little direct effect, and no allusion to +it has been found in Indian literature. But indirectly it had a great +influence on the political, artistic and religious development of the +Hindus by preparing the way for a series of later invasions from the +north which brought with them a mixed culture containing Hellenic, +Persian and other elements. During some centuries India, as a political +region, was not delimitated on the north-western side as it is at +present and numerous principalities rose and fell which included Indian +territory as well as parts of Afghanistan. + +These states were of at least three classes, Hellenistic, Persian or +Parthian, and Scythian, if that word can be properly used to include the +Sakas and Kushans. + +Bactria was a Persian satrapy before Alexander's invasion but when he +passed through it on his way to India he founded twelve cities and +settled a considerable number of his soldiers in them. It formed part of +the Empire of Seleucus but declared itself independent in 250 B.C. about +the same time that the Parthians revolted and founded the Empire of the +Arsacidae. The Bactrian kings bore Greek names and in 209 Antiochus III +made peace with one of them called Euthydemus, in common cause against +the nomads who threatened Western Asia. Demetrius, the son of this +Euthydemus, appears to have conquered Kabul, the Panjab and Sind (c. 190 +B.C.) but his reign was troubled by the rebellion of a certain +Eukratides and it is probable that many small and contending +frontier-states, of which we have a confused record, were ruled by the +relatives of one or other of these two princes. The most important of +them was Menander, apparently king of the Kabul valley. About 155 he +made an incursion to the east, occupied Muttra and threatened +Pataliputra itself but was repulsed. He is celebrated in Buddhist +literature as the hero of the Questions of Milinda but his coins, though +showing some Buddhist emblems, indicate that he was also a worshipper of +Pallas. Shortly after this Hellenic influence in Bactria was overwhelmed +by the invasion of the Yüeh-chih, though the Greek principalities in the +Panjab may have lasted considerably longer. + +In the reign of Mithridates (c. 171-138 B.C.) the Parthian Empire was +limitrophe with India and possibly his authority extended beyond the +Indus. A little later the Parthian dependencies included two satrapies, +Aracosia and the western Panjab with capitals at Kandahar and Taxila +respectively. In the latter ruled kings or viceroys one of whom called +Gondophores (c. 20 A.D.) is celebrated on account of his legendary +connection with the Apostle Thomas. + +More important for the history of India were the conquests of the Sakas +and Yüeh-chih, nomad tribes of Central Asia similar to the modern +Turkomans[116]. The former are first heard of in the basin of the river +Ili, and being dislodged by the advance of the Yüeh-chih moved +southwards reaching northwestern India about 150 B.C. Here they founded +many small principalities, the rulers of which appear to have admitted +the suzerainty of the Parthians for some time and to have borne the +title of satraps. It is clear that western India was parcelled out among +foreign princes called Sakas, Yavanas, or Pallavas whose frontiers and +mutual relations were constantly changing. The most important of these +principalities was known as the Great Satrapy which included Surashṭra +(Kathiawar) with adjacent parts of the mainland and lasted until about +395 A.D. + +The Yüeh-chih started westwards from the frontiers of China about 100 +B.C. and, driving the Sakas before them, settled in Bactria. Here +Kadphises, the chief of one of their tribes, called the Kushans, +succeeded in imposing his authority on the others who coalesced into one +nation henceforth known by the tribal name. The chronology of the Kushan +Empire is one of the vexed questions of Indian history and the dates +given below are stated positively only because there is no space for +adequate discussion and are given with some scepticism, that is desire +for more knowledge founded on facts. Kadphises I (c. 15-45 A.D.) after +consolidating his Empire led his armies southwards, conquering Kabul and +perhaps Kashmir. His successor Kadphises II (c. 45-78 A.D.) annexed the +whole of north-western India, including northern Sind, the Panjab and +perhaps Benares. There was a considerable trade between India and the +Roman Empire at this period and an embassy was sent to Trajan, +apparently by Kanishka (c. 78-123), the successor of Kadphises. This +monarch played a part in the later history of Buddhism comparable with +that of Asoka in earlier ages[117]. He waged war with the Parthians and +Chinese, and his Empire which had its capital at Peshawar included +Afghanistan, Bactria, Kashgar, Yarkand, Khotan[118] and Kashmir. These +dominions, which perhaps extended as far as Gaya in the east, were +retained by his successors Huvishka (123-?140 A.D.) and Vasudeva +(?140-178 A.D.), but after this period the Andhra and Kushan dynasties +both collapsed as Indian powers, although Kushan kings continued to rule +in Kabul. The reasons of their fall are unknown but may be connected +with the rise of the Sassanids in Persia. For more than a century the +political history of India is a blank and little can be said except that +the kingdom of Surashṭra continued to exist under a Saka dynasty. + +Light returns with the rise of the Gupta dynasty, which roughly marks +the beginning of modern Hinduism and of a reaction against Buddhism. +Though nothing is known of the fortunes of Pataliputra, the ancient +imperial city of the Mauryas, during the first three centuries of our +era, it continued to exist. In 320 a local Raja known as Candragupta I +increased his dominions and celebrated his coronation by the institution +of the Gupta era. His son Samudra Gupta continued his conquests and in +the course of an extraordinary campaign, concluded about 340 A.D., +appears to have received the submission of almost the whole peninsula. +He made no attempt to retain all this territory but his effective +authority was exercised in a wide district extending from the Hugli to +the rivers Jumna and Chambal in the west and from the Himalayas to the +Narbudda. His son Candragupta II or Vikramâditya added to these +possessions Malwa, Gujarat and Kathiawar and for more than half a +century the Guptas ruled undisturbed over nearly all northern India +except Rajputana and Sind. Their capital was at first Pataliputra, but +afterwards Kausambi and Ayodhya became royal residences. + +The fall of the Guptas was brought about by another invasion of +barbarians known as Hûnas, Ephthalites[119] or White Huns and apparently +a branch of the Huns who invaded Europe. This branch remained behind in +Asia and occupied northern Persia. They invaded India first in 455, and +were repulsed, but returned about 490 in greater force and overthrew the +Guptas. Their kings Toramâṇa and Mihiragula were masters of northern +India till 540 and had their local capital at Sialkot in the Panjab, +though their headquarters were rather in Bamyin and Balkh. The cruelties +of Mihiragula provoked a coalition of Hindu princes. The Huns were +driven to the north and about 565 A.D. their destruction was completed +by the allied forces of the Persians and Turks. Though they founded no +permanent states their invasion was important, for many of them together +with kindred tribes such as the Gurjaras (Gujars) remained behind when +their political power broke up and, like the Sakas and Kushans before +them, contributed to form the population of north-western India, +especially the Rajput clans. + +The defeat of the Huns was followed by another period of obscurity, but +at the beginning of the seventh century Harsha (606-647 A.D.), a prince +of Thanesar, founded after thirty-five years of warfare a state which +though it did not outlast his own life emulated for a time the +dimensions and prosperity of the Gupta Empire. We gather from the +account of the Chinese pilgrim Hsüan Chuang, who visited his court at +Kanauj, that the kings of Bengal, Assam and Ujjain were his vassals but +that the Panjab, Sind and Kashmir were independent. Kalinga, to the +south of Bengal, was depopulated but Harsha was not able to subdue +Pulakeśin II, the Câlukya king of the Deccan. + +Let us now turn for a moment to the history of the south. It is even +more obscure both in events and chronology than that of the north, but +we must not think of the Dravidian countries as uninhabited or +barbarous. Even the classical writers of Europe had some knowledge of +them. King Pandion (Pândya) sent a mission to Augustus in 20 B.C.[120] +Pliny[121] speaks of Modura (Madura) and Ptolemy also mentions this town +with about forty others. It is said[122] that there was a temple +dedicated to Augustus at Muziris, identified with Cranganore. From an +early period the extreme south of the peninsula was divided into three +states known as the Pândya, Cera and Cola kingdoms[123]. The first +corresponded to the districts of Madura and Tinnevelly. Cera or Kerala +lay on the west coast in the modern Travancore. The Cola country +included Tanjore, Trichinopoly, Madras, with the greater part of Mysore. +From the sixth to the eighth century A.D. a fourth power was important, +namely the Pallavas, who apparently came from the north of the Madras +Presidency. They had their capital at Conjeevaram and were generally at +war with the three kingdoms. Their king, Narasimha-Varman (625-645 A.D.) +ruled over part of the Deccan and most of the Cola country but after +about 750 they declined, whereas the Colas grew stronger and Rajaraja +(985-1018) whose dominions included the Madras Presidency and Mysore +made them the paramount power in southern India, which position they +retained until the thirteenth century. + +As already mentioned, the Deccan was ruled by the Andhras from 220 B.C. +to 236 A.D., but for the next three centuries nothing is known of its +history until the rise of the Câlukya dynasty at Vatapi (Badami) in +Bijapur. Pulakeśin II of this dynasty (608-642), a contemporary of +Harsha, was for some time successful in creating a rival Empire which +extended from Gujarat to Madras, and his power was so considerable that +he exchanged embassies with Khusru II, King of Persia, as is depicted in +the frescoes of Ajanta. But in 642 he was defeated and slain by the +Pallavas. + +With the death of Pulakeśin and Harsha begins what has been called the +Rajput period, extending from about 650 to 1000 A.D. and characterized +by the existence of numerous kingdoms ruled by dynasties nominally +Hindu, but often descended from northern invaders or non-Hindu +aboriginal tribes. Among them may be mentioned the following: + +1. Kanauj or Pancâla. This kingdom passed through troublous times after +the death of Harsha but from about 840 to 910 A.D. under Bhoja (or +Mihira) and his son, it became the principal power in northern India, +extending from Bihar to Sind. In the twelfth century it again became +important under the Gaharwar dynasty. + +2. Kanauj was often at war with the Palas of Bengal, a line of Buddhist +kings which began about 730 A.D. Dharmapala (c. 800 A.D.) was +sufficiently powerful to depose the king of Kanauj. Subsequently the +eastern portion of the Pala kingdom separated itself under a rival +dynasty known as the Senas. + +3. The districts to the south of the Jumna known as Jejâkabhukti +(Bundelkhand) and Cedi (nearly equivalent to our Central Provinces) were +governed by two dynasties known as Candels and Kalacuris. The former are +thought to have been originally Gonds. They were great builders and +constructed among other monuments the temples of Khajarao. Kîrtivarman +Chandel (1049-1100) greatly extended their territories. He was a patron +of learning and the allegorical drama Prabodhacandrodaya was produced at +his court. + +4. The Paramara (Pawar) dynasty of Malwa were likewise celebrated as +patrons of literature and kings Munja (974-995) and Bhoja (1018-1060) +were authors as well as successful warriors. + +5. Though the Câlukyas of Vatapi were temporarily crushed by the +Pallavas their power was re-established in 655 and continued for a +century. The Eastern Câlukyas, another branch of the same family, +established themselves in Vengi between the Kistna and Godaveri. Here +they ruled from 609 to 1070 first as viceroys of the Western Câlukyas +and then as an independent power till they were absorbed by the Colas. +Yet another branch settled in Gujarat. + +6. The Câlukyas of Vatapi were overthrown by the Râshṭrakûṭas who were +masters of the Deccan from about 750 to 972, and reigned first at Nasik +and then at Manyakheta (Malkhed). Krishna I of this dynasty excavated +the Kailasa temple at Ellora (c. 760) but many of his successors were +Jains. During the ninth century the Râshṭrakûṭas seem to have ruled over +most of western India from Malwa to the Tungabhadra. + +7. The Râshṭrakûṭas collapsed before a revival of the Câlukya dynasty +which reappears from 993 to 1190 as the Câlukyas of Kalyani (in the +Nizam's dominions). The end of this dynasty was partly due to the +usurpation of a Jain named Bijjala in whose reign the sect of the +Lingâyats arose. + +We must now turn to an event of great historical importance although its +details are not relevant to the subject of this book, namely the +Mohammedan conquest. Three periods in it may be recognized. First, the +conquest of Sind in 712 A.D. by the Arabs, who held it till the eleventh +century but without disturbing or influencing India beyond their +immediate neighbourhood. Secondly, the period of invasions and dynasties +which are commonly called Turki (c. 1000-1526 A.D.). The progress of +Islam in Central Asia coincided with the advance to the west and south +of vigorous tribes known as Turks or Mongols, and by giving them a +religious and legal discipline admirably suited to their stage of +civilization, it greatly increased their political efficiency. The +Moslim invaders of India started from principalities founded by these +tribes near the north-western frontier with a military population of +mixed blood and a veneer of Perso-Arabic civilization, and apart from +the greater invasions, there were incursions and settlements of Turkis, +Afghans and Mongols. The whole period was troublous and distracted. The +third period was more significant and relatively stable. Baber, a +Turkish prince of Fergana, captured Delhi in 1526 and founded the power +of the Mughals, which during the seventeenth century deserved the name +of the Indian Empire. + +The first serious Moslim incursions were those of Mahmud of Ghazni, who +between 997 and 1030 made many raids in which he sacked Kanauj, Muttra, +Somnath and many other places but without acquiring them as permanent +possessions. Only the Panjab became a Moslim province. In 1150 the +rulers of Ghor, a vassal principality near Herat, revolted against +Ghazni and occupied its territory, whence the chieftain commonly called +Muhammad of Ghor descended on India and subdued Hindustan as well as the +Panjab (1175-1206). One of his slaves named Kutb-ud-Din Ibak became his +general and viceroy and, when Muhammad died, founded at Delhi the +dynasty known as Slave Sultans. They were succeeded by the Khilji +Sultans (1290-1318) the most celebrated of whom was the capable but +ferocious Ala-ud-Din and these again by the Tughlak dynasty. Muhammad +Adil, the second of this line, attempted to move the capital from Delhi +to Daulatabad in the Deccan. In 1398 northern India was convulsed by the +invasion of Timur who only remained a few months but sacked Delhi with +terrible carnage. Many years of confusion followed, and a dynasty known +as the Saiyids ruled in greatly diminished territories. But in 1451 +arose the Lodi or Afghan dynasty which held the Panjab, Hindustan and +Bundelkhand until the advent of the Mughals. These five royal houses do +not represent successive invasions from the west. Their founders, though +of diverse origin, were all leaders engaged in the troubled politics of +northern India, and they all reigned at Delhi, round which a tradition +of Empire thus grew up. But the succession was disputed in almost every +case; out of thirty-four kings twelve came to a violent end and not one +deserved to be called Emperor of India. They were confronted by a double +array of rivals, firstly Hindu states which were at no period all +reduced to subjection, and, secondly, independent Mohammedan states, for +the governors in the more distant provinces threw off their allegiance +and proclaimed themselves sovereigns. Thus Bengal from the time of its +first conquest by Muhammad Bakhtyar had only a nominal connection with +Delhi and declared itself independent in 1338. When Timur upset the +Tughlak dynasty, the states of Jaunpur, Gujarat, Malwa and Khandesh +became separate kingdoms and remained so until the time of Akbar. In the +south one of Muhammad Adil's generals founded the Bahmani dynasty which +for about a century (1374-1482) ruled the Deccan from sea to sea. It +then split up into five sultanates with capitals at Bidar, Bijapur, +Golkonda, Ahmadnagar and Elichpur. + +In the twelfth century, the Hindu states were not quite the same as +those noticed for the previous period. Kanauj and Gujarat were the most +important. The Palas and Senas ruled in Bengal, the Tomaras at Delhi, +the Chohans in Ajmer and subsequently in Delhi too. The Mohammedans +conquered all these states at the end of the twelfth century. Their +advance was naturally less rapid towards the south. In the Deccan the +old Hindu dynasties had been replaced by the Hoysalas (c. 1117-1310 +A.D.) and the Yadavas (1180-1309 A.D.) with capitals at Halebid and +Daulatabad respectively. Both were destroyed by Malik Kafur, the slave +general of Sultan Ala-ud-Din, but the spirit of the Deccan was not +broken and within a few years the brothers Bukka and Harihara founded +the state of Vijayanagar, "the never-to-be-forgotten Empire" as a native +scholar has aptly termed it, which for more than two centuries was the +centre of Hindu political power. The imposing ruins of its capital may +still be seen at Hampi on the Tungabhadra and its possessions comprised +everything to the south of this, and, at times, also territory to the +north, for throughout its existence it was engaged in warfare with the +Bahmani dynasty or the five sultanates. Among its rulers the most +notable was Krishnadeva (1509-1529) but the arrogance and weakness of +his successors provoked the five Moslim Sultans to form a coalition. +They collected an immense army, defeated the troops of Vijayanagar at +the battle of Talikota and sacked the city (1565). + +In two other districts the Hindus were able to retain political +independence until the time of Akbar, namely Orissa and Rajputana. In +the former the best known name is Anantavarman Colaganga (1076-1147) who +built the temple of Jagannath at Puri, established the Eastern Ganga +dynasty and ruled from the Godaveri to the Ganges. The Mohammedans never +occupied Rajputana, and though they captured the principal fortresses, +they did not retain them. The State of Mewar can even boast that it +never made any but a nominal and honourable submission to the Sultans of +Delhi. Akbar incorporated the Rajputs in his Empire and by his +considerate treatment secured their support. + +The history of the Mughals may be divided into three periods. In the +first Baber acquired (1526 A.D.) the dominions of the Lodi dynasty as +well as Jaunpur, but his death was followed by a troubled interval and +it was not till the second period (1556-1707) comprising the reigns of +Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jehan and Aurungzeb that the Empire was securely +established. Akbar made himself master of practically all India north of +the Godaveri and his liberal policy did much to conciliate his Hindu +subjects. He abolished the poll tax levied from non-Moslims and the tax +on pilgrimages. The reform of revenue administration was entrusted to an +orthodox Hindu, Todar Mall. Among the Emperor's personal friends were +Brahmans and Rajputs, and the principal Hindu states (except Mewar) sent +daughters to his harem. In religion he was eclectic and loved to hear +theological argument. Towards the end of his life he adopted many Hindu +usages and founded a new religion which held as one of its principal +tenets that Akbar was God's Viceregent. His successors, Jehangir and +Shah Jehan, were also tolerant of Hinduism, but Aurungzeb was a +fanatical Moslim and though he extended his rule over all India except +the extreme south, he alienated the affection of his Hindu subjects by +reimposing the poll tax and destroying many temples. The Rajputs, Sikhs +and Marathas all rebelled and after his death the Empire entered into +the third period in which it rapidly disintegrated. Hindu states, like +the Maratha confederacy and Rajputana, asserted themselves. Mohammedan +governors declared their independence in Oudh, Bengal, the Nizam's +dominions and elsewhere: Persians and Afghans raided the Panjab: French +and English contended for the possession of southern India. + +It would be outside the purpose of this book even to outline the +establishment of British authority, but I may mention that direct +European influence began to be felt in the sixteenth century, for Vasco +da Gama arrived in Calicut in 1498 and Goa was a Portuguese possession +from 1510 onwards. Nor can we linger over the fortunes of the Marathas +who took the place of Vijayanagar as the Hindu opposition to +Mohammedanism. They are, however, important for us in so far as they +show that even in matters political the long Moslim domination had not +broken the spirit of the Hindus. About 1660 a chieftain named Sivaji, +who was not merely a successful soldier but something of a fanatic with +a belief in his divine mission, founded a kingdom in the western Ghats +and, like the Sikh leaders, almost created a nation, for it does not +appear that before his time the word Maratha (Mahârâshṭra) had any +special ethnic significance. After half a century the power of his +successors passed into the hands of their Brahman ministers, known as +Peshwas, who became the heads of a confederacy of Maratha chiefs, +including the Rajas of Gwalior, Berar and Orissa, Indore and Baroda. +About 1760 the Marathas were practically masters of India and though the +Mughal Emperor nominally ruled at Delhi, he was under their tutelage. +They had a chance of reviving the glories of Asoka and the Guptas, but, +even apart from the intervention of Europeans, they were distracted by +jealousy and quarrels. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIAN RELIGION + +1 + + +In the first chapter we enquired whether there are any religious ideas +common to Eastern Asia as a whole and found that they amount to little +more than a background of nature worship and ancestor worship almost +universally present behind the official creeds. Also the conception of a +religious system and its relation to beliefs which do not fall within it +are not quite the same in these countries as in Europe, so that the +inhabitants sometimes follow more than one religion. + +Let us now examine the characteristics common to Indian creeds. They are +numerous and striking. A prolonged study of the multitudinous sects in +which Indian religion manifests itself makes the enquirer feel the truth +of its own thesis that plurality is an illusion and only the one +substratum real. Still there are divergent lines of thought, the most +important of which are Hinduism and Buddhism. Though decadent Buddhism +differed little from the sects which surrounded it, early Buddhism did +offer a decided contrast to the Brahmanic schools in its theories as to +human nature as well as in ignoring tradition and sacerdotalism. We may +argue that Buddhism is merely Vaishnavism or Śaivism in travelling +dress, but its rejection of Brahmanic authority is of capital +importance. It is one of the reasons for its success outside India and +its disappearance in India meant that it could not maintain this +attitude. Yet many features of Buddhism are due to the fact that +Hinduism, and not Islam or Christianity, was the national expression of +religion in India and also many features of Hinduism may be explained by +the existence of this once vigorous antagonist. + +Hinduism[124] has striking peculiarities which distinguish it from +Christianity, Islam and even from Buddhism. It recognizes no one master +and all unifying principles known to other creeds seem here to be +absent. Yet its unity and vitality are clear and depend chiefly on its +association with the Brahman caste. We cannot here consider the complex +details of the modern caste system but this seems the place to examine +the position of the Brahmans, for, from the dawn of Sanskrit literature +until now, they have claimed to be the guides of India in all matters +intellectual and religious and this persistent claim, though often +disputed, has had a great measure of success. + +The institution of caste is social rather than religious and has grown +gradually: we know for instance that in the time of the Buddha it had +not attained to anything like its present complexity and rigidity. Its +origin is explicable if we imagine that the Indo-Aryans were an invading +people with an unusual interest in religion. The Kshatriyas and Vaiśyas +mark the distinction between the warriors or nobles and the plebs which +is found in other Aryan communities, and the natives whom the Aryans +conquered formed a separate class, recognized as inferior to all the +conquerors. This might have happened in any country. The special feature +of India is the numerical, social and intellectual strength of the +priestly caste. It is true that in reading Sanskrit literature we must +remember that most of it is the work of Brahmans and discount their +proclivity to glorify the priesthood, but still it is clear that in +India the sacerdotal families acquired a position without parallel +elsewhere and influenced its whole social and political history. In most +countries powerful priesthoods are closely connected with the Government +under which they flourish and support the secular authority. As a result +of this alliance, kings and the upper classes generally profess and +protect orthodoxy, and revolutionary movements in religion generally +come from below. But in ancient India though the priests were glad +enough to side with the kings, the nobles during many centuries were not +ready to give up thinking for themselves. The Hindu's capacity for +veneration and the small inclination of the Brahmans to exercise direct +government prevented revolts against sacerdotal tyranny from assuming +the proportions we should expect, but whereas in many countries history +records the attempts of priests to become kings, the position is here +reversed. The national proclivity towards all that is religious, +metaphysical, intellectual and speculative made all agree in regarding +the man of knowledge who has the secret of intercourse with the other +world as the highest type. The priests tended to become a hereditary +guild possessed of a secret professional knowledge. The warrior caste +disputed this monopoly and sought with less learning but not inferior +vigour to obtain the same powers. They had some success during a +considerable period, for Buddhism, Jainism and other sects all had their +origin in the military aristocracy and had it remained purely Hindu, it +would perhaps have continued the contest. But it was partly destroyed by +Turanian invaders and partly amalgamated with them, so that in 500 A.D. +whereas the Brahmans were in race and temperament very much what they +were in 500 B.C. the Kshatriyas were different. It is interesting to see +how this continuity of race brought triumph to the Brahmans in the +theological sphere. At one time the Buddhists and even the Jains seemed +to be competitors for the first place, but there are now hardly any +Indian Buddhists in India[125] and less than a million and a half of +Jains, whereas Hinduism has more than 217 million adherents. The power +of persistence and resistance displayed by the priestly caste is largely +due to the fact that they were householders not collected in temples or +monasteries but distributed over the country in villages, intensely +occupied with the things of the mind and soul, but living a simple +family life. The long succession of invasions which swept over northern +India destroyed temples, broke up monasteries and annihilated dynasties, +but their destructive force had less effect on these communities of +theologians whose influence depended not on institutions or organization +but on their hereditary aptitudes. Though the modern Brahmans are not +pure in race, still the continuity of blood and tradition is greater +among them than in the royal families of India. Many of these belong to +districts which were formerly without the pale of Hinduism: many more +are the descendants of the northern hordes who century after century +invaded India: few can bring forward any good evidence of Kshatriya +descent. Hence in India kings have never attained a national and +representative position like the Emperors of China and Japan or even the +Sultans of Turkey. They were never considered as the high priests of the +land or a quasi-divine epitome of the national qualities: the people +tended to regard them as powerful and almost superhuman beings, but +somewhat divorced from the moral standard and ideals of their subjects. +In early times there was indeed the idea of a universal Emperor, the +Cakravartin, analogous to the Messiah but, by a characteristic turn of +thought, he was thought of less as a deliverer than as a type of +superman, recurring at intervals. But monarchs who even approximated to +this type were rare, and some of the greatest of them were in early ages +Buddhists and in later Mohammedans, so that they had not the support of +the priesthood and as time went on it became less and less possible to +imagine all India rendering sympathetic homage to one sovereign. + +In the midst of a perturbed flux of dynasties, usually short lived, +often alien, only occasionally commanding the affection and respect of +the population, the Brahmans have maintained for at least two +millenniums and a half their predominant position as an intellectual +aristocracy. They are an aristocracy, for they boldly profess to be by +birth better than other men. Although it is probable that many clans +have entered the privileged order without genealogical warrant, yet in +all cases birth is claimed[126]. And though the Brahmans have +aristocratic faults, such as unreasonable pride of birth, still +throughout their long history they have produced in every age men of +intelligence, learning and true piety, in numbers sufficient to make +their claims to superiority seem reasonable. In all ages they have been +sensual, ambitious and avaricious, but in all ages penetrated by the +conviction that desire is a plague and gratification unsatisfying. It is +the intelligent sensualist and politician who are bound to learn that +passion and office are vanity. + +A Brahman is not necessarily a priest. Although they have continually +and on the whole successfully claimed a monopoly of sacred science, yet +at the present day many follow secular callings and probably this was so +in early periods. And though many rites can be performed by Brahmans +only, yet by a distinction which it is difficult for Europeans to grasp, +the priests of temples are not necessarily and, in many places, not +usually Brahmans. The reason perhaps is that the easy and superstitious +worship offered in temples is considered trivial and almost degrading in +comparison with the elaborate ceremonial and subtle speculation which +ought to occupy a Brahman's life. + +In Europe we are accustomed to associate the ideas of sacerdotalism, +hierarchy and dogma, mainly because they are united in the greatest +religious organization familiar to us, the Roman Catholic Church. But +the combination is not necessary. Hinduism is intensely sacerdotal but +neither hierarchical nor dogmatic: Mohammedanism is dogmatic but neither +sacerdotal nor hierarchical: Buddhism is dogmatic and also somewhat +hierarchical, since it has to deal with bodies of men collected in +monasteries where discipline is necessary, but except in its most +corrupt forms it is not sacerdotal. The absence of the hierarchical idea +in Hinduism is striking. Not only is there no Pope, but there is hardly +any office comparable with a Bishopric[127]. The relationships +recognized in the priesthood are those springing from birth and the +equally sacred ties uniting teacher and pupil. Hence there is little to +remind us of the organization of Christian Churches. We have simply +teachers expounding their sacred books to their scholars, with such +combination of tradition and originality as their idiosyncrasies may +suggest, somewhat after the theory of congregational churches. But that +resemblance is almost destroyed by the fact that both teachers and +pupils belong to clans, connected by descent and accepted by the people +as a superior order of mankind. Even in the most modern sects the +descendants of the founder often receive special reverence. + +Though the Brahmans have no ecclesiastical discipline, they do not +tolerate the interference of kings. Buddhist sovereigns have summoned +councils, but not so Hindu monarchs. They have built temples, paid +priests to perform sacrifices and often been jealous of them but for the +last two thousand years they have not attempted to control them within +their own sphere or to create a State Church. And the Brahmans on their +side have kept within their own province. It is true that they have +succeeded in imposing—or in identifying themselves with—a most exacting +code of social, legal and religious prescriptions, but they have rarely +aimed at temporal power or attempted to be more than viziers. They have +of course supported pious kings and received support—especially +donations—from them, and they have enjoyed political influence as +domestic chaplains to royal families, but they have not consented to any +such relations between religion and the state as exist (or existed) in +England, Russia, Mohammedan countries or China. At the ancient +coronation ceremony the priest who presented the new ruler to his +subjects said, "This is your King, O people: The King of us Brahmans is +Soma[128]." + + +2 + +These facts go far to explain some peculiar features of Hinduism. +Compared with Islam or Christianity its doctrines are extraordinarily +fluid, multiform and even inconsistent: its practice, though rarely lax, +is also very various in different castes and districts. The strangeness +of the phenomenon is diminished if one considers that the uniformity and +rigidity of western creeds are due to their political more than to their +religious character. Like the wind, the spirit bloweth where it listeth: +it is governed by no laws but those which its own reverence imposes: it +lives in changing speculation. But in Europe it has been in double +bondage to the logic of Greece and the law of Rome. India deals in +images and metaphor: Greece in dialectic. The original thought of +Christianity had something of this Indian quality, though more sober and +less fantastic, with more limitation and less imagination. On this +substratum the Greeks reared their edifices of dialectic and when the +quarrels of theologians began to disturb politics, the state treated the +whole question from a legal point of view. It was assumed that there +must be a right doctrine which the state should protect or even enforce, +and a wrong doctrine which it should discourage or even forbid. Hence +councils, creeds and persecutions. The whole position is logical and +legal. The truth has been defined: those who do not accept it harm not +only themselves but others: therefore they should be restrained and +punished. + +But in religious matters Hindus have not proceeded in this way as a +rule. They have adopted the attitude not of a judge who decides, but of +the humane observer who sees that neither side is completely right or +completely wrong and avoids expressing his opinion in a legal form. +Hindu teachers have never hesitated to proclaim their views as the whole +and perfect truth. In that indeed they do not yield to Christian +theologians but their pronouncements are professorial rather than +judicial and so diverse and yet all so influential that the state, +though bound to protect sound doctrine, dare not champion one more than +the other. Religious persecution is rare. It is not absent but the +student has to search for instances, whereas in Christian Europe they +are among the most conspicuous facts of history. + +Restless, subtle and argumentative as Hindu thought is, it is less prone +than European theology to the vice of distorting transcendental ideas by +too stringent definition. It adumbrates the indescribable by metaphors +and figures. It is not afraid of inconsistencies which may illustrate +different aspects of the infinite, but it rarely tries to cramp the +divine within the limits of a logical phrase. Attempts to explain how +the divine and human nature were combined in Christ convulsed the +Byzantine Empire and have fettered succeeding generations with their +stiff formulae. It would be rash to say that the ocean of Hindu +theological literature contains no speculations about the incarnations +of Vishnu similar to the views of the Nestorians, Monophysites and +Catholics, but if such exist they have never attracted much interest or +been embodied in well-known phrases[129]. The process by which a god can +be born as a man, while continuing to exist as a god, is not described +in quasi-legal language. Similarly the Soma offered in sacrifices is a +god as well as a drink. But though the ritual of this sacrifice has +produced an infinity of discussion and exegesis, no doctrine like +transubstantiation or consubstantiation has assumed any prominence. + +The Hindu has an extraordinary power of combining dogma and free +thought, uniformity and variety. For instance it is held that the Vedas +are a self-existent, eternal revelation made manifest to ancient sages +and that their correct recitation ensures superhuman results. Yet each +Veda exists in several recensions handed down by oral tradition in +separate schools, and though the exact text and pronunciation are +matters of the utmost importance, diversities of opinion respecting them +are tolerated and honoured. Further, though the early scriptures were +preserved with scrupulous care the canon was never closed. It is +impossible to say how many Upanishads there are, nor does a Hindu think +the less of an Upanishad because it is not found in a certain list. And +in mediaeval and modern times these ancient sacred books have been +replaced for all except Brahmans by more recent Sanskrit works, or by a +vernacular literature which, though having no particular imprimatur, +claims the same authority as the Vedas[130]. + +The only essential tenets of Hinduism are recognition of the Brahman +caste and divine authority of the Vedas. Those who publicly deny these +doctrines as the Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs have done, put themselves +outside the pale, but the recognition required to ensure orthodoxy or at +least to avoid excommunication must not be compared with that implied by +such phrases as recognizing the authority of the Bible, or the supremacy +of the Pope. The utmost latitude of interpretation is allowed and the +supposed followers of the Veda comprise sects whose beliefs seem to have +no relation to one another or to the Veda, philosophic atheists and +demonolaters whose religious ideas hardly rise above those of African +savages. + +One explanation may be, that every nation insists on liberty at the +expense of logic in the matters which interest it most. We do this in +politics. It might be difficult to make an untravelled oriental +understand how parliamentary institutions can continue for a day, how +socialists and republicans can take part in the government of a +monarchical country, and why the majority do not muzzle the opposition. +Yet Englishmen prefer to let this curious illogical muddle continue +rather than tolerate some symmetrical and authoritative system which +would check free speech and individuality. It is the same in Indian +religion. In all ages the Hindu has been passionately devoted to +speculation. He will bear heavy burdens in the way of priestly exaction, +social restrictions, and elaborate ceremonies, but he will not allow +secular or even ecclesiastical authority to cramp and school his +religious fancy, nor will he be deterred from sampling an attractive +form of speculation merely because it is pronounced unorthodox by the +priesthood, and the priesthood, being themselves Hindus, are discreet in +the use of anathemas. They insist not so much on particular doctrines +and rites as on the principle that whatever the doctrine, whatever the +rite, they must be the teachers and officiants. In critical and +revolutionary times the Brahmans have often assured their pre-eminence +by the judicious recognition of heresies. In all ages there has been a +conservative clique which restricted religion to ceremonial observances. +Again and again some intellectual or emotional outburst has swept away +such narrow limits and proclaimed doctrines which seemed subversive of +the orthodoxy of the day. But they have simply become the orthodoxy of +the morrow, under the protection of the same Brahman caste. The +assailants are turned into champions, and in time the bold reformers +stiffen into antiquated saints. + +Hinduism has not been made but has grown. It is a jungle not a building. +It is a living example of a great national paganism such as might have +existed in Europe if Christianity had not become the state religion of +the Roman Empire, if there had remained an incongruous jumble of old +local superstitions, Greek philosophy and oriental cults such as the +worship of Mithra or Serapis. Yet the parallel is not exact, for in Rome +many of the discordant religious elements remained exotic, whereas in +India they all, whatever their origin, became Indian and smack of the +soil. There was wanting in European paganism the bond of union supplied +by the Brahmans who by sometimes originating, sometimes tolerating and +adapting, have managed to set their seal upon all Indian beliefs. + + +3 + +Thus the dominance of the Brahmans and their readiness to countenance +every cult and doctrine which can attract worshippers explains the +diversity of Indian religion, but are there no general characteristics +which mark all its multiple forms? There are, and they apply to Buddhism +as well as Hinduism, but in attempting to formulate them it is well to +say that Indian religion is as wilful and unexpected in its variations +as human nature itself and that all generalizations about it are subject +to exceptions. If we say that it preaches asceticism and the subjection +of the flesh, we may be confronted with the Vallabhâcâryas who inculcate +self-indulgence; if we say that it teaches reincarnation and successive +lives, we may be told that the Lingâyats[131] do not hold that doctrine. +And though we might logically maintain that these sects are unorthodox, +yet it does not appear that Hindus excommunicate them. Still, it is just +to say that the doctrines mentioned are characteristic of Hinduism and +are repudiated only by eccentric sects. + +Perhaps the idea which has had the widest and most penetrating influence +on Indian thought is that conception of the Universe which is known as +Saṃsâra, the world of change and transmigration. The idea of rebirth and +the wandering of souls from one body to another exists in a fragmentary +form among savage tribes in many countries, but in India it makes its +appearance as a product of ripening metaphysics rather than as a +survival. It plays no part in the Vedic hymns: it first acquires +importance in the older Upanishads but more as a mystery to be +communicated to the elect than as a popular belief and to some extent as +the special doctrine of the military class rather than of the Brahmans. +At the time of the Buddha, however, it had passed beyond this stage and +was as integral a part of popular theology as is the immortality of the +soul in Europe. + +Such expressions as the transmigration of souls or metempsychosis +imperfectly represent Indian ideas. They are incorrect as descriptions +of Buddhist dogmas, which start by denying the existence of a soul, and +they are not entirely suitable to those Vedantic schools which regard +transmigration as part of the illusory phenomenal world. The thought +underlying the doctrine is rather that as a child grows into youth and +age, so the soul passes from life to life in continuity if not in +identity. Whatever the origin of the idea may have been, its root in +post-Vedic times is a sense of the transitoriness but continuity of +everything. Nothing is eternal or even permanent: not even the gods, for +they must die, not even death, for it must turn into new life. + +This view of life is ingrained in Indian nature. It is not merely a +scientific or philosophical speculation, but it summarizes the outlook +of ordinary humanity. In Europe the average religious man thanks or at +least remembers his Creator. But in India the Creator has less place in +popular thought. There is a disinclination to make him responsible for +the sufferings of the world, and speculation, though continually +occupied with the origins of things, rarely adopts the idea familiar to +Christians and Mohammedans alike, that something was produced out of +nothing by the divine fiat. Hindu cosmogonies are various and discordant +in details, but usually start with the evolution or emanation of living +beings from the Divinity and often a reproductive act forms part of the +process, such as the hatching of an egg or the division of a Divinity +into male and female halves. In many accounts the Deity brings into +being personages who continue the work of world-making and such entities +as mind, time and desire are produced before the material world. But +everything in these creation stories is figurative. The faithful are not +perplexed by the discrepancies in the inspired narratives, and one can +hardly imagine an Indian sect agitated by the question whether God made +the world in six literal days. + +All religious doctrines, especially theories about the soul, are matters +of temperament. A race with more power of will and more delight in life +might have held that the soul is the one agent that can stand firm and +unshaken midst the flux of circumstance. The intelligent but passive +Hindu sees clearly that whatever illusions the soul may have, it really +passes on like everything else and continueth not in one stay. He is +disposed to think of it not as created with the birth of the body, but +as a drop drawn from some ocean to which it is destined to return. As a +rule he considers it to be immortal but he does not emphasize or value +personality in our sense. In previous births he has already been a great +many persons and he will be a great many more. Whatever may be the +thread between these existences it is not individuality. And what he +craves is not eternal personal activity, but unbroken rest in which +personality, even if supposed to continue, can have little meaning. + +The character of the successive appearances or tenements of the soul is +determined by the law of Karma, which even more than metempsychosis is +the basis of Indian ideas about the universe. Karma is best known as a +term of the Buddhists, who are largely responsible both for the +definition and wide diffusion of the doctrine. But the idea is Brahmanic +as well as Buddhist and occurs in well-known passages of the Upanishads, +where it is laid down that as a man acts so shall he be in the next +life[132]. The word (which means simply _deed_) is the accepted +abbreviation for the doctrine that all deeds bring upon the doer an +accurately proportionate consequence either in this existence, or, more +often, in a future birth. At the end of a man's life his character or +personality is practically the sum of his acts, and when extraneous +circumstances such as worldly position disappear, the soul is left with +nothing but these acts and the character they have formed as, in Indian +language, the fruit of life and it is these acts and this character +which determine its next tenement. That tenement is simply the home +which it is able to occupy in virtue of the configuration and qualities +which it has induced in itself. It cannot complain. + +One aspect of the theory of Saṃsâra which is important for the whole +history of Indian thought is its tendency towards pessimism. This +tendency is specially definite and dogmatic in Buddhism, but it is a +marked characteristic of the Indian temperament and appears in almost +every form of devotion and speculation. What salvation or the desire to +be saved is to the ordinary Protestant, Mukti or Moksha, deliverance, is +to the ordinary Hindu. In Buddhism this desire is given a dogmatic basis +for it is declared that all existence in all possible worlds necessarily +involves dukkha or suffering[133] and this view seems to have met with +popular as well as philosophic assent. But the desire for release and +deliverance is based less on a contemplation of the woes of life than on +a profound sense of its impermanence and instability[134]. Life is not +the preface to eternity, as religious Europeans think: the Hindu justly +rejects the notion that the conduct of the soul during a few score years +can fix its everlasting destiny. Every action is important for it helps +to determine the character of the next life, but this next life, even if +it should be passed in some temporary heaven, will not be essentially +different from the present. Before and behind there stretches a vista of +lives, past, present and to come, impermanent and unsatisfying, so that +future existences are spoken of not as immortality but as repeated +death. + + +4 + +This sense of weary reiteration is increased by two other doctrines, +which are prevalent in Hinduism, though not universal or uncontested. +The first of them identifies the human soul with the supreme and only +Being. The doctrine of Saṃsâra holds that different forms of existence +may be phases of the same soul and thus prepares the way for the +doctrine that all forms of existence are the same and all souls parts +of, or even identical with the Âtman or Self, the divine soul which not +only pervades the world but _is_ the world. Connected with this doctrine +is another, namely, that the whole world of phenomena is Mâyâ or +illusion. Nothing really exists except the supreme Âtman: all perception +of plurality and difference is illusion and error: the reality is unity, +identity and rest. The development of these ideas leads to some of the +principal systems of philosophy and will claim our attention later. At +present I merely give their outlines as indicative of Hindu thought and +temperament. The Indian thinks of this world as a circular and unending +journey, an ocean without shore, a shadow play without even a plot. He +feels more strongly than the European that change is in itself an evil +and he finds small satisfaction in action for its own sake. All his +higher aspirations bid him extricate himself from this labyrinth of +repeated births, this phantasmagoria of fleeting, unsubstantial visions +and he has generally the conviction that this can be done by knowledge, +for since the whole Saṃsâra is illusion, it collapses and ceases so soon +as the soul knows its own real nature and its independence of phenomena. +This conviction that the soul in itself is capable of happiness and in +order to enjoy needs only the courage to know itself and be itself goes +far to correct the apathy which is the great danger of Indian thought. +It is also just to point out that from the Upanishads down to the +writings of Rabindranath Tagore in the present day Indian literature +from time to time enunciates the idea that the whole universe is the +manifestation of some exuberant force giving expression to itself in +joyous movement. Thus the Taittirîya Upanishad (III. 6) says: "Bliss is +Brahman, for from bliss all these beings are born, by bliss when born +they live, into bliss they enter at their death." + +It is remarkable that Indian thought, restless and speculative as it is, +hardly ever concerns itself with the design, object or end of the world. +The notion of [Greek: Telos] plays little part in its cosmogony or +ethics[135]. The Universe is often regarded as a sport, a passing whim +of the divine Being, almost a mistake. Those legends which describe it +as the outcome of a creative act, generally represent the creator as +moved by some impulse to multiply himself rather than as executing some +deliberate if mysterious plan. Legends about the end of the world and +the establishment of a better order are rare. Hindu chronology revels in +periods, whose enormous length though expressed in figures leaves no +real impression on the mind, days and nights of Brahma, Kalpas, +Manvantaras and Yugas, in which gods and worlds are absorbed into the +supreme essence and born again. But there is no finality about these +catastrophes: the destruction of the whole universe is as certain as the +death of a mouse and to the philosopher not more important[136]. +Everything is periodic: Buddhas, Jinas and incarnations of all sorts are +all members of a series. They all deserve great respect and are of great +importance in their own day, but they are none of them final, still less +are they able to create a new heaven and earth or to rise above the +perpetual flux of Saṃsâra. The Buddhists look forward to the advent of +Maitreya, the future Buddha, and the Hindus to the reappearance of +Vishnu as Kalkî, who, sword in hand and mounted on a white horse, will +purge India of barbarians, but these future apparitions excite only a +feeble interest in the popular conscience and cannot be compared in +intensity with such ideas as the Jewish Messiah. + +It may seem that Indian religion is dreamy, hopeless, and unpractical, +but another point of view will show that all Indian systems are +intensely practical and hopeful. They promise happiness and point out +the way. A mode of life is always prescribed, not merely by works on law +and ceremony but by theological and metaphysical treatises. These are +not analogous to the writings of Kant or Schopenhauer and to study them +as if they were, is like trying to learn riding or cricket by reading +handbooks. The aphorisms of the Sânkhya and Vednâta are meant to be read +under the direction of a teacher who will see that the pupil's mind is +duly prepared not only by explanation but by abstinence and other +physical training. Hindu religions are unpractical only in so far that +they decline to subordinate themselves to human life. It is assumed that +the religious man who is striving towards a goal beyond this world is +ready to sacrifice the world without regret and in India the assumption +is justified surprisingly often. + +As mentioned already the word god has more than one meaning. In India we +have at least two different classes of divinities, distinguished in the +native languages. First there is Brahman the one self-existent, +omnipresent, superpersonal spirit from whom all things emanate and to +whom all things return. The elaboration of this conception is the most +original feature of Indian theology, which tends to regard Brahman as +not merely immanent in all things, but as being all things, so that the +soul liberated from illusion can see that it is one with him and that +nothing else exists. Very different is the meaning of Deva: this +signifies a god (which is not the same as God, though our language +insufficiently distinguishes the two) roughly comparable with the gods +of classical mythology[137]. How little sense of divinity it carries +with it is seen by the fact that it became the common form of address to +kings and simply equivalent to Your Majesty. In later times, though Siva +is styled Mahâdeva, it was felt that the great sectarian gods, who are +for their respective worshippers the personal manifestations in which +Brahman makes himself intelligible, required some name distinguishing +them from the hosts of minor deities. They are commonly spoken of by +some title signifying the Lord: thus Siva is Îśvara, Vishnu and his +incarnations are more often styled Bhagavad. + +From the Vedic hymns onwards the gods of India have been polymorphic +figures not restricted by the limitations of human personality. If a Jew +or a Moslim hears new views about God, he is disposed to condemn them as +wrong. The Hindu's inclination is to appropriate them and ascribe to his +own deity the novel attributes, whether they are consistent with the +existing figure or not. All Indian gods are really everything. As the +thought of the worshipper wanders among them they turn into one another. +Even so sturdy a personality as Indra is declared to be the same as Agni +and as Varuna, and probably every deity in the Vedic pantheon is at some +time identified with another deity. But though in one way the gods seem +vague and impersonal, in another the distinction between gods and men is +slight. The Brâhmaṇas tell us that the gods were originally mortal and +obtained immortality by offering sacrifices: the man who sacrifices like +them makes for himself an immortal body in the abode of the gods and +practically becomes a Deva and the bliss of great sages is declared +equal to the bliss of the gods[138]. The human and divine worlds are not +really distinct, and as in China and Japan, distinguished men are +deified. The deification of Buddha takes place before our eyes as we +follow the course of history: the origin of Krishna's godhead is more +obscure but it is probable that he was a deified local hero. After the +period of the Brâhmaṇas the theory that deities manifest themselves to +the world in avatâras or descents, that is in our idiom incarnations, +becomes part of popular theology. + +There are other general characteristics of Indian religion which will be +best made clear by more detailed treatment in succeeding chapters. Such +are, firstly, a special theory of sacrifice or ritual which, though +totally rejected by Buddhism, has survived to modern times. Secondly, a +belief in the efficacy of self-mortification as a means of obtaining +super-human powers or final salvation. Thirdly, an even more deeply +rooted conviction that salvation can be obtained by knowledge. Fourthly, +there is the doctrine that faith or devotion to a particular deity is +the best way to salvation, but this teaching, though it seems natural to +our minds, does not make its appearance in India until relatively late. +It is not so peculiarly Indian as the other ideas mentioned, but even at +the outset it is well to insist on its prevalence during the last two +thousand years because a very false impression may be produced by +ignoring it. + +There also runs through Indian religion a persistent though +inconspicuous current of non-theistic thought. It does not deny the +existence of spirits but it treats them as being, like men, subject to +natural laws, though able, like men, to influence events. The ultimate +truth for it is not pantheism but fixed natural laws of which no +explanation is offered. The religion of the Jains and the Sânkhya +philosophy belong to this current. So did the teaching of several +ancient sects, such as the Âjîvìkas, and strictly speaking Buddhism +itself. For the Buddha is not an Avatâra or a messenger but a superman +whose exceptional intelligence sees that the Wheel of Causation and the +Four Truths are part of the very nature of things. It is strange too +that asceticism, sacrifices and modern tantric rites which seem to us +concerned with the relations between man and God are in India penetrated +by a non-theistic theory, namely that there are certain laws which can +be studied and applied, much like electricity, and that then spirits can +be coerced to grant what the ascetic or sacrificer desires. At the same +time such views are more often implied than formulated. The Dharma is +spoken of as the teaching of the Buddha rather than as Cosmic Order like +the Tao of the Chinese and though tantric theory assumes the existence +of certain forces which can be used scientifically, the general +impression produced by tantric works is that they expound an intricate +mythology and ritual. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +VEDIC DEITIES AND SACRIFICES + +1 + + +Our knowledge of early Indian religion is derived almost entirely from +literature. After the rise of Buddhism this is supplemented to some +extent by buildings, statues and inscriptions, but unlike Egypt and +Babylonia, pre-Buddhist India has yielded no temples, images or other +religious antiquities, nor is it probable that such will be discovered. +Certainly the material for study is not scanty. The theological +literature of India is enormous: the difficulty is to grasp it and +select what is important. The enquirer is confronted with a series of +encyclopædic works of great bulk and considerable antiquity, treating of +every aspect of religion which interested the Brahmans. But he +continually feels the want of independent testimony to check their +statements. They set forth the views of their authors but whether those +views met with general acceptance outside the Brahmanic caste and +influenced Indian life as a whole or whether classes, such as the +military caste, or regions, such as western India and Dravidian India, +had different views, it is often hard to say. Even more serious is the +difficulty of chronology which affects secular as well as religious +literature. The feats of Hindus in the matter of computing time show in +the most extravagant form the peculiarities of their mental temperament, +for while in their cosmogonies æons whose length the mind can hardly +grasp are tabulated with the names of their superhuman rulers there are +few[139] dates in the pre-Mohammedan history which can be determined +from purely Indian sources. The fragments of obscure Greek writers and +the notes of a travelling Chinaman furnish more trustworthy data about +important epochs in the history of the Hindus than the whole of their +gigantic literature, in which there has been found no mention of +Alexander's invasion and only scattered allusions to the conquests of +the Sakas, Kushans and Hûnas. We can hardly imagine doubt as to the +century in which Shakespeare or Virgil lived, yet when I first studied +Sanskrit the greatest of Indian dramatists, Kalidasa, was supposed to +have lived about 50 B.C. His date is not yet fixed with unanimity but it +is now generally placed in the fifth or sixth century A.D. + +This chronological chaos naturally affects the value of literature as a +record of the development of thought. We are in danger of moving in a +vicious circle: of assigning ideas to an epoch because they occur in a +certain book, while at the same time we fix the date of the book in +virtue of the ideas which it contains. Still we may feel some security +as to the sequence, if not the exact dates, of the great divisions in +Indian religious literature such as the period of the Vedic hymns, the +period of the Brâhmaṇas, the rise of Buddhism, the composition of the +two great epics, and the Puranas. If we follow the opinion of most +authorities and accept the picture of Indian life and thought contained +in the Pali Tripitaka as in the main historical, it seems to follow that +both the ritual system of the Brâhmaṇas and the philosophic speculations +of the Upanishads were in existence by 500 B.C.[140] and sufficiently +developed to impress the public mind with a sense of their futility. +Some interval of mental growth seems to separate the Upanishads from the +Brâhmaṇas and a more decided interval separates the Brâhmaṇas from the +earlier hymns of the Rig Veda, if not from the compilation of the whole +collection[141]. We may hence say that the older Upanishads and +Brahmaṇas must have been composed between 800 and 500 B.C. and the hymns +of the Rig Veda hardly later than 1000 B.C. Many authorities think the +earlier hymns must date from 2000 rather than 1000 B.C. but the +resemblance of the Rig Veda to the Zoroastrian Gathas (which are +generally regarded as considerably later than 1000 B.C.) is plain, and +it will be strange if the two collections prove to be separated by an +interval of many centuries. But the stage of social and religious +culture indicated in the Vedic hymns may have begun long before they +were composed, and rites and deities common to Indians and Iranians +existed before the reforms of Zoroaster[142]. + +It may seem that everything is uncertain in this literature without +dates or authors and that the growth of religion in India cannot be +scientifically studied. The difficulties are indeed considerable but +they are materially reduced by the veneration in which the ancient +scriptures were held, and by the retentiveness of memory and devotion to +grammar, if not to history, which have characterized the Brahmans for at +least twenty-five centuries. The authenticity of certain Vedic texts is +guaranteed not only by the quotations found in later works, but by +treatises on phonetics, grammar and versification as well as by indices +which give the number of words in every book, chapter and verse. We may +be sure that we possess not perhaps the exact words of the Vedic poets, +but what were believed about 600 B.C. to be their exact words, and there +is no reason to doubt that this is a substantially correct version of +the hymns as recited several centuries earlier[143]. + +In drawing any deductions from the hymns of the Rig Veda it must be +remembered that it is the manual of the Hotri priests[144]. This does +not affect the age or character of the single pieces: they may have been +composed at very different dates and they are not arranged in the order +in which the priest recites them. But the liturgical character of the +compilation does somewhat qualify its title to give a complete picture +of religion. One could not throw doubt on a ceremony of the Church, +still less on a popular custom, because it was not mentioned in the +missal, and we cannot assume that ideas or usages not mentioned in the +Rig Veda did not exist at the time when it was composed. + +We have no other Sanskrit writings contemporary with the older parts of +the Rig Veda, but the roots of epic poetry stretch far back and ballads +may be as old as hymns, though they neither sought nor obtained the +official sanction of the priesthood. Side by side with Vedic tradition, +unrecorded Epic tradition built up the figures of Siva, Râma and Krishna +which astonish us by their sudden appearance in later literature only +because their earlier phases have not been preserved. + +The Vedic hymns were probably collected and arranged between 1000 and +500 B.C. At that period rites and ceremonies multiplied and absorbed +man's mind to a degree unparalleled in the history of the world and +literature occupied itself with the description or discussion of this +dreary ceremonial. Buddhism was a protest against the necessity of +sacrifices and, though Buddhism decayed in India, the sacrificial system +never recovered from the attack and assumed comparatively modest +proportions. But in an earlier period, after the composition of the +Vedic hymns and before the predominance of speculation, skill in +ceremonial was regarded as the highest and indeed only science and the +ancient prayers and poems of the race were arranged in three collections +to suit the ritual. These were the Rig Veda, containing metrical +prayers: the Yajur Veda (in an old and new recension known as the Black +and the White) containing formulæ mainly in prose to be muttered during +the course of the sacrifice: and the Sâma Veda, a book of chants, +consisting almost entirely of verses taken from the Rig Veda and +arranged for singing. The Rig Veda is clearly older than the others: its +elements are anterior to the Brahmanic liturgy and are arranged in less +complete subservience to it than in the Yajur and Sâma Vedas. + +The restriction of the words Veda and Vedic to the collection of hymns, +though convenient, is not in accordance with Indian usage, which applies +the name to a much larger body of religious literature. What we call the +Rig Veda is strictly speaking the mantras of the Rig Veda or the +Rig-Veda-Saṃhitâ: besides this, there are the Brâhmaṇas or ceremonial +treatises, the Âraṇyakas and Upanishads containing philosophy and +speculation, the Sûtras or aphoristic rules, all comprised in the Veda +or Śruti (hearing), that is the revelation heard directly by saints as +opposed to Smṛiti (remembering) or tradition starting from human +teachers. Modern Hindus when not influenced by the language of European +scholars apply the word Veda especially to the Upanishads. + +For some time only three[145] Vedas were accepted. But the Epics and the +Puranas know of the fourfold Veda and place the Atharva Veda on a level +with the other three. It was the manual of two ancient priestly +families, the Atharvans and Angirasas, whose speciality was charms and +prophylactics rather than the performance of the regular sacrifices. The +hymns and magic songs which it contains were probably collected +subsequently to the composition of the Brâhmaṇas, but the separate poems +are older and, so far as can be judged from their language, are +intermediate between the Rig Veda and the Brâhmaṇas. But the substance +of many of the spells must be older still, since the incantations +prescribed show a remarkable similarity to old German, Russian and +Lettish charms. The Atharva also contains speculative poems and, if it +has not the freshness of the Rig Veda, is most valuable for the history +of Indian thought and civilization. + +I will not here enquire what was the original home of the Aryans or +whether the resemblances shown by Aryan languages justify us in +believing that the ancestors of the Hindus, Greeks, Kelts, Slavs, etc., +belonged to a single race and physical type. The grounds for such a +belief seem to me doubtful. But a comparison of language, religion and +customs makes it probable that the ancestors of the Iranians and Hindus +dwelt together in some region lying to the north of India and then, in +descending southwards, parted company and wandered, one band westwards +to Persia and the other to the Panjab and south-east[146]. These latter +produced the poets of the Rig Veda. Their home is indicated by their +acquaintance with the Himalayas, the Kabul river, the Indus and rivers +of the Panjab, and the Jamna. The Ganges, though known, apparently lay +beyond their sphere, but the geography of the Atharva extends as far as +Benares and implies a practical knowledge of the sea, which is spoken of +somewhat vaguely in the Rig Veda. It is probable that the oldest hymns +were composed among the rivers of the Panjab, but the majority somewhat +further to the east, in the district of Kurukshetra or Thanesar. At some +period subsequent to the Aryan immigration there was a great struggle +between two branches of the same stock, related in a legendary form as +the contest between the Kauravas and Pâṇḍavas. Some have thought that we +have here an indication of a second invasion composed of Aryans who +remained in the mountainous districts north of the Hindu Kush when the +first detachment moved south and who developed there somewhat different +customs. It is also possible that the Atharva Veda may represent the +religious ideas of these second invaders. In several passages the +Mahâbhârata speaks of the Atharva as the highest Veda and represents the +Pâṇḍavas as practising polyandry, a custom which still prevails among +many Himalayan tribes. + +The Rig Veda depicts a life not far advanced in material arts but, +considering the date, humane and civilized. There were no towns but +merely villages and fortified enclosures to be used as refuges in case +of necessity. The general tone of the hymns is kindly and healthy; many +of them indeed have more robust piety than interest. There are few +indications of barbarous customs. The general impression is of a free +and joyous life in which the principal actors are chiefs and priests, +though neither have become tyrannical. + +The composition of this anthology probably extended over several +centuries and comprised a period of lively mental growth. It is +therefore natural that it should represent stages of religious +development which are not contemporaneous. But though thought is active +and exuberant in these poems they are not altogether an intellectual +outburst excited by the successful advance into India. The calm of +settlement as well as the fire of conquest have left their mark on them +and during the period of composition religion grew more boldly +speculative but also more sedentary, formal and meticulous. The earliest +hymns bear traces of quasi-nomadic life, but the writers are no longer +nomads. They follow agriculture as well as pasturage, but they are still +contending with the aborigines: still expanding and moving on. They +mention no states or capitals: they revere rivers and mountains but have +no shrines to serve as religious centres, as repositories and factories +of tradition. Legends and precepts have of course come down from earlier +generations, but are not very definite or cogent: the stories of ancient +sages and warriors are vague and wanting in individual colour. + + +2 + +The absence of sculpture and painting explains much in the character of +the Vedic deities. The hymn-writers were devout and imaginative, not +content to revere some undescribed being in the sky, but full of +mythology, metaphor and poetry and continually singling out new powers +for worship. Among many races the conceptions thus evolved acquire +solidity and permanence by the aid of art. An image stereotypes a deity, +worshippers from other districts can see it and it remains from +generation to generation as a conservative and unifying force. Even a +stone may have something of the same effect, for it connects the deity +with the events, rites and ideas of a locality. But the earliest stratum +of Vedic religion is worship of the powers of nature—such as the Sun, +the Sky, the Dawn, the Fire—which are personified but not localized or +depicted. Their attributes do not depend at all on art, not much on +local or tribal custom but chiefly on imagination and poetry, and as +this poetry was not united in one collection until a later period, a +bard was under no obligation to conform to the standards of his fellows +and probably many bards sang without knowing of one another's existence. + +Such a figure as Agni or Fire—if one can call him a figure—illustrates +the fluid and intangible character of Vedic divinities. He is one of the +greatest in the Pantheon, and in some ways his godhead is strongly +marked. He blesses, protects, preserves, and inspires: he is a divine +priest and messenger between gods and men: he "knows all generations." +Yet we cannot give any definite account of him such as could be drawn up +for a Greek deity. He is not a god of fire, like Vulcan, but the Fire +itself regarded as divine. The descriptions of his appearance are not +really anthropomorphic but metaphorical imagery depicting shining, +streaming flames. The hymns tell us that he has a tawny beard and hair: +a flaming head or three heads: three tongues or seven: four eyes or a +thousand. One poem says that he faces in all directions: another that he +is footless and headless. He is called the son of Heaven and Earth, of +Tvashṭri and the Waters, of the Dawn, of Indra-Vishnu. One singer says +that the gods generated him to be a light for the Aryans, another that +he is the father of the gods. This multiple origin becomes more definite +in the theory of Agni's three births: he is born on earth from the +friction of fire sticks, in the clouds as lightning, and in the highest +heavens as the Sun or celestial light. In virtue of this triple birth he +assumes a triune character: his heads, tongues, bodies and dwellings are +three, and this threefold nature has perhaps something to do with the +triads of deities which become frequent later and finally develop into +the Trimûrti or Brahmâ, Vishnu, and Siva. But there is nothing fixed or +dogmatic in this idea of Agni's three births. In other texts he is said +to have two, one in Heaven and one on Earth, and yet another turn of +fancy ascribes to him births innumerable because he is kindled on many +hearths. Some of the epithets applied to him become quasi-independent. +For instance, Agni Vaiśvânara—All men's fire—and Agni Tanunapat, which +seems to mean son of himself, or fire spontaneously generated, are in a +later period treated almost as separate deities. Mâtariśvan is sometimes +a name of Agni and sometimes a separate deity who brings Agni to +mankind. + +In the same way the Rig Veda has not one but many solar deities. Mitra, +Sûrya, Savitri, and perhaps Puśan, Bhaga, Vivasvat and Vishnu, are all +loose personifications of certain functions or epithets of the sun. +Deities are often thought of in classes. Thus we have the Maruts, Rudras +and Vasus. We hear of Prajâpati in the singular, but also of the +Prajâpatis or creative forces. + +Not only does Agni tend to be regarded as more than one: he is +identified with other gods. We are told he is Varuṇa and Mitra, Savitri +and Indra. "Thou art Varuṇa when born," says one hymn, "thou becomest +Mitra when kindled. In thee, O son of strength, are all the gods[147]." +Such identifications are common in the Vedas. Philosophically, they are +an early manifestation of the mental bias which leads to pantheism, +metempsychosis, and the feeling that all things and persons are +transitory and partial aspects of the one reality. But evidently the +mutability of the Vedic gods is also due to their nature: they are +bundles of epithets and functions without much personal or local centre. +And these epithets and functions are to a large extent, the same. All +the gods are bright and swift and helpful: all love sacrifices and +bestow wealth, sons and cows. A figure like Agni enables us to +understand the many-sided, inconsistent presentment of Siva and Vishnu +in later times. A richer mythology surrounds them but in the fluidity of +their outline, their mutability and their readiness to absorb or become +all other deities they follow the old lines. Even a deity like Gaṇeśa +who seems at first sight modern and definite illustrates these ancient +characteristics. He has one or five heads and from four to sixteen arms: +there are half a dozen strange stories of his birth and wonderful +allegories describing his adventures. Yet he is also identified with all +the Gods and declared to be the creator, preserver and destroyer of the +Universe, nay the Supreme Spirit itself[148]. + +In Soma, the sacred plant whose juice was offered in the most solemn +sacrifices, we again find the combination of natural phenomena and +divinity with hardly any personification. Soma is not a sacred tree +inhabited by some spirit of the woods but the Lord of immortality who +can place his worshippers in the land of eternal life and light. Some of +the finest and most spiritual of the Vedic hymns are addressed to him +and yet it is hard to say whether they are addressed to a person or a +beverage. The personification is not much more than when French writers +call absinthe "La fée aux yeux verts." Later, Soma was identified with +the moon, perhaps because the juice was bright and shining. On the other +hand Soma worship is connected with a very ancient but persistent form +of animism, for the Vedic poets celebrate as immortal the stones under +which the plant is pressed and beg them to bestow wealth and children. +Just so at the present day agricultural and other implements receive the +salutations and prayers of those who use them. They are not gods in any +ordinary sense but they are potent forces. + +But some Vedic deities are drawn more distinctly, particularly Indra, +who having more character has also lasted longer than most of his +fellows, partly because he was taken over by Buddhism and enrolled in +the retinue of the Buddha. He appears to have been originally a god of +thunder, a phenomenon which lends itself to anthropomorphic treatment. +As an atmospheric deity, he conquers various powers of evil, +particularly Vritra, the demon of drought. The Vedas know of evil +spirits against whom the gods wage successful war but they have no +single personification of evil in general, like our devil, and few +malevolent deities. Of these latter Rudra, the prototype of Siva, is the +most important but he is not wholly malevolent for he is the god of +healing and can take away sickness as well as cause it. Indian thought +is not inclined to dualism, which is perhaps the outcome of a practical +mind desiring a certain course and seeing everywhere the difficulties +which the Evil One puts in the way of it, but rather to that pantheism +which tends to subsume both good and evil under a higher unity. + +Indra was the tutelary deity of the invading Aryans. His principles +would delight a European settler in Africa. He protects the Aryan colour +and subjects the black skin: he gave land to the Aryans and made the +Dâsyus (aborigines) subject to them: he dispersed fifty thousand of the +black race and rent their citadels[149]. Some of the events with which +he is connected, such as the battles of King Sudas, may have a +historical basis. He is represented as a gigantic being of enormous size +and vigour and of gross passions. He feasts on the flesh of bulls and +buffaloes roasted by hundreds, his potations are counted in terms of +lakes, and not only nerve him for the fray but also intoxicate him[150]. +Under the name of Sakka, Indra figures largely in the Buddhist sûtras, +and seems to have been the chief popular deity in the Buddha's lifetime. +He was adopted into the new creed as a sort of archangel and heavenly +defender of the faith. In the epics he is still a mighty deity and the +lord of paradise. Happiness in his heaven is the reward of the pious +warrior after death. The Mahâbhârata and the Puranas, influenced perhaps +by Buddhism, speak of a series of Indras, each lasting for a cycle, but +superseded when a new heaven and earth appear. In modern Hinduism his +name is familiar though he does not receive much worship. Yet in spite +of his long pre-eminence there is no disposition to regard him as the +supreme and only god. Though the Rig Veda calls him the creator and +destroyer of all things[151], he is not God in our sense any more than +other deities are. He is the personification of strength and success, +but he is not sufficiently spiritual or mystical to hold and satisfy the +enquiring mind. + + +3 + +One of the most interesting and impressive of Vedic deities is Varuṇa, +often invoked with a more shadowy double called Mitra. No myths or +exploits are related of him but he is the omnipotent and omniscient +upholder of moral and physical law. He established earth and sky: he set +the sun in heaven and ordained the movements of the moon and stars: the +wind is his breath and by his law the heavens and earth are kept apart. +He perceives all that exists in heaven and earth or beyond, nor could a +man escape him though he fled beyond the sky. The winkings of men's eyes +are all numbered by him[152]: he knows all that man does or thinks. Sin +is the infringement of his ordinances and he binds sinners in fetters. +Hence they pray to him for release from sin and he is gracious to the +penitent. Whereas the other deities are mainly asked to bestow material +boons, the hymns addressed to Varuṇa contain petitions for forgiveness. +He dwells in heaven in a golden mansion. His throne is great and lofty +with a thousand columns and his abode has a thousand doors. From it he +looks down on the doings of men and the all-seeing sun comes to his +courts to report. + +There is much in these descriptions which is unlike the attributes +ascribed to any other member of the Vedic pantheon and recalls Ahura +Mazda of the Avesta or Semitic deities. No proof of foreign influence is +forthcoming, but the opinion of some scholars that the figure of Varuṇa +somehow reflects Semitic ideas is plausible. It has been suggested that +he was originally a lunar deity, which explains his association with +Mitra (the Persian Mithra) who was a sun god, and that the group of +deities called Âdityas and including Mitra and Varuṇa were the sun, moon +and the five planets known to the ancients. This resembles the +Babylonian worship of the heavenly bodies and, though there is no record +whatever of how such ideas reached the Aryans, it is not difficult to +imagine that they may have come from Babylonia either to India[153] or +to the country where Indians and Iranians dwelt together. There is a +Semitic flavour too in the Indian legend of the Churning of the +Ocean[154]. The Gods and Asuras effect this by using a huge serpent as a +rope to whirl round a mountain and from the turmoil there arise various +marvellous personages and substances including the moon. This resembles +in tone if not in detail the Babylonian creation myths, telling of a +primæval abyss of waters and a great serpent which is slain by the Gods +who use its body as the material for making the heavens and the +earth[155]. + +Yet Varuṇa is not the centre of a monotheistic religion any more than +Indra, and in later times he becomes a water god of no marked +importance. The Aryans and Semites, while both dissatisfied with +polytheism and seeking the one among the many, moved along different +paths and did not reach exactly the same goal. Semitic deities were +representations of the forces of nature in human form but their +character was stereotyped by images, at any rate in Assyria and +Babylonia, and by the ritual of particular places with which they were +identified. Semitic polytheism is mainly due to the number of tribes and +localities possessing separate deities, not to the number of deities +worshipped by each place and tribe. As villages and small towns were +subordinate to great towns, so the deities of minor localities were +subordinate to those of the greater. Hence the Semitic god was often +thought of as a king who might be surrounded by a court and then became +the head of a pantheon of inferior deities, but also might be thought of +as tolerating no rivals. This latter conception when combined with moral +earnestness gives us Jehovah, who resembles Varuṇa, except that Varuṇa +is neither jealous nor national. Indian polytheism also originated in +the personification of various phenomena, the sun, thunder, fire, +rivers, and so forth, but these deities unlike the Semitic gods had +little to do with special tribes or localities and the philosophic +Indian easily traced a connection between them. It is not difficult to +see that sun, fire and lightning have something in common. The gods are +frequently thought of as joined in couples, triads or larger companies +and early worship probably showed the beginnings of a feature which is +prominent in the later ritual, namely, that a sacrifice is not an +isolated oblation offered to one particular god but a series of +oblations presented to a series of deities. There was thus little +disposition to exalt one god and annihilate the others, but every +disposition to identify the gods with one another and all of them with +something else. Just as rivers, mountains and plains are dimly seen to +be parts of a whole which later ages call nature, so are the gods seen +to be parts of some divine whole which is greater than any of them. Even +in the Rig Veda we find such sentiments as "The priests speak of the One +Being in many ways: they call it Agni, Yama, Mâtariśvan[156]." Hence it +is not surprising that when in the later Vedic period a tendency towards +monotheism (but monotheism of a pantheistic type) appears, the supreme +position is given to none of the old deities but to a new figure, +Prajâpati. This word, meaning Lord of living creatures, occurs in the +Rig Veda as an epithet of the sun and is also occasionally used as the +name of the Being by whom all gods and worlds were generated and by +whose power they continue to exist. In the Brâhmaṇas and later ritual +literature he is definitely recognized as the supreme deity, the +Creator, the first sacrificer and the sacrifice itself. It is perhaps +owing to his close connection with ceremonial that enquiring and +speculative minds felt Prajâpati not to be a final or satisfactory +explanation of the universe. He is identified with Brahmâ, the active +personal creator, and this later name gradually ousts the other but he +does not, any more than Indra or Varuṇa, become the Âtman or supreme +universal Being of the Upanishads. + +The principal Vedic deities are male and the few goddesses that are +mentioned such as Ushas. the Dawn, seem to owe their sex to purely +dramatic reasons. Greece and Rome as well as India felt it appropriate +to represent the daybreak as a radiant nymph. But though in later times +such goddesses as Durgâ assumed in some sects a paramount position, and +though the Veda is familiar with the idea of the world being born, there +are few traces in it of a goddess corresponding to the Great Mother, +Cybele or Astarte. + +In an earlier period of Vedic studies many deities were identified with +figures in the classical or Teutonic mythology chiefly on philological +grounds but most of these identifications have now been abandoned. But a +few names and figures seem to be found among both the Asiatic and +European Aryans and to point to a common stock of ideas. Dyaus, the Sky +God, is admittedly the same as Zeus and Jupiter. The Aśvins agree in +character, though not in name, with the Dioscuri and other parallels are +quoted from Lettish mythology. Bhaga, the bountiful giver, a somewhat +obscure deity, is the same word as the Slavonic Bog, used in the general +sense of God, and we find _deva_ in Sanskrit, _deus_ in Latin, and +_devas_ in Lithuanian. Ushas, the Dawn, is phonetically related to +[Greek: 'Êhôs] and Aurora who, however, are only half deities. Indra, if +he cannot be scientifically identified with Thor, is a similar personage +who must have grown out of the same stock of ideas. By a curious +transference the Prophet Elias has in south-eastern Europe inherited the +attributes of the thunder god and is even now in the imagination of the +peasantry a jovial and riotous being who, like Indra, drives a noisy +chariot across the sky. + +The connection with ancient Persian mythology is closer. The Avestan +religion was a reformation due to the genius of Zoroaster and therefore +comparable with Buddhism rather than Hinduism, but the less systematic +polytheism which preceded it contained much which reminds us of the +Vedic hymns. It can hardly be doubted that the ancestors of the Indians +and Iranians once practised almost identical forms of religion and had +even a common ritual. The chief features of the fire cult and of the +Soma or Haoma sacrifice appear in both. The sacrifice is called Yajña in +the Veda, Yasna in the Avesta: the Hotri priest is Zaotar, Atharvan is +Athravan, Mitra is Mithra. Vâyu and Âpaḥ (the divine waters) meet us in +the Avesta in almost the same forms and Indra's epithet of Vritrahan +(the slayer of Vritra) appears as Verethragna. Ahura Mazda seems to be a +development of the deity who appears as Varuṇa in India though he has +not the same name, and the main difference between Indian and Iranian +religion lies in this, that the latter was systematized by a theistic +reformer who exalted one deity above the others, whereas in India, where +there was more religious vitality, polytheistic and pantheistic fancies +flourished uncurbed and the greatest reformer, the Buddha, was not a +theist. + +One peculiarity of Indians in all ages is that they put more into +religion than other races. It received most of the energy and talent +which, elsewhere, went into art, politics and philosophy. Hence it +became both intense and manifold, for deities and creeds were wanted for +every stage of intelligence and variety of taste, and also very +tolerant, for sects in India, though multitudinous, are not so sharply +divided or mutually hostile as in Europe. Connected with the general +interest which religion inspired is its strongly marked speculative +character. The Rig Veda asks whether in the beginning there was being or +not being, and the later Vedas and Brâhmaṇas are filled with discussions +as to the meaning of ceremonies, which show that the most dreary +formalism could not extinguish the innate propensity to seek for a +reason. In the Upanishads we have the same spirit dealing with more +promising material. And throughout the long history of Hinduism religion +and philosophy are seldom separated: we rarely find detached +metaphysicians: philosophers found new sects or support old ones: +religion absorbs philosophy and translates it into theology or myths. + + +4 + +To the age of the Vedas succeeds that of the Brâhmaṇas or sacrificial +treatises. The two periods are distinct and have each a well-marked +tone, but they pass into one another, for the Yajur and Sâma Vedas +pre-suppose the ritual of the Brâhmaṇas. These treatises introduce us to +one feature of Indian religion mentioned above, namely the extraordinary +elaboration of its ritual. To read them one would suppose that the one +occupation of all India was the offering of sacrifices. The accounts are +no doubt exaggerated and must often be treated as specimens of +sacerdotal imagination, like the Biblical descriptions of the rites +performed in the Tabernacle during the wanderings of the Israelites. But +making all allowance for priestly enthusiasm, it still remains true that +the intellect of India, so far as it is preserved in literature, was +occupied during two centuries or so with the sacrificial art and that +philosophy had difficulty in disentangling itself from ceremonies. One +has only to compare Greek and Sanskrit literature to see how vast are +the proportions assumed by ritual in India. Our information about the +political institutions, the wars and chronology of ancient Greece is +full, but of the details of Greek worship we hear little and probably +there was not much to tell. But in India, where there are no histories +and no dates, we know every prayer and gesture of the officiants +throughout complicated sacrifices and possess a whole library describing +their correct performance. + +In most respects these sacrifices which absorbed so much intellect and +energy belong to ancient history. They must not be confounded with the +ceremonies performed in modern temples, which have a different origin +and character. A great blow was struck at the sacrificial system by +Buddhism. Not only did it withdraw the support of many kings and nobles +(and the greater ceremonies being very costly depended largely on the +patronage of the wealthy), but it popularized the idea that animal +sacrifices are shocking and that attempts to win salvation by offerings +are crude and unphilosophic. But though, after Buddhism had leavened +India for a few centuries, we no longer find the religious world given +over to sacrificing as it had been about 600 B.C., these rites did not +die out. Even now they are occasionally performed in South India and the +Deccan. There are still many Brahmans in these regions who, if they have +not the means or learning to perform the greater Vedic ceremonies, at +any rate sympathize with the mental attitude which they imply, and this +attitude has many curious features. + +The rite of sacrifice, which in the simple form of an offering supposed +to be agreeable to the deity is the principal ceremony in the early +stages of most religions, persists in their later stages but gives rise +to clouds of theory and mystical interpretations. Thus in Christianity, +the Jewish sacrifices are regarded as prototypes of the death of Christ +and that death itself as a sacrifice to the Almighty, an offering of +himself to himself, which in some way acts as an expiation for the sins +of the world. And by a further development the sacrifice of the mass, +that is, the offering of portions of bread and wine which are held to be +miraculously transformed into the body and blood of Christ by the +manipulations of a qualified priest, is believed to repeat every day the +tragedy of Calvary. The prevalence of this view in Europe should make us +chary of stigmatizing Hindu ideas about sacrifice as mental aberrations. +They represent the fancies of acute intellects dealing with ancient +ceremonies which they cannot abandon but which they transform into +something more congenial to their own transitional mode of thought. + +Though the Brâhmaṇas and Upanishads mix up ritual with physical and +metaphysical theories in the most extraordinary fashion, their main +motive deserves sympathy and respect. Their weakness lies in their +inability to detach themselves (as the Buddha succeeded in doing) from a +ritual which though elaborate was neither edifying nor artistic: they +seem unable to see the great problems of existence except through the +mists of altar smoke. Their merit is their evident conviction that this +formalism is inadequate. Their wish is not to distort and cramp nature +by bringing it within the limits of the ritual, but to enlarge and +expand the ritual until it becomes cosmic. If they regard the whole +universe as one long act of prayer and sacrifice, the idea is grandiose +rather than pedantic, though the details may not always be to our +taste[157]. And the Upanishads pass from ritual and theology to real +speculation in a way unknown to Christian thought. To imagine a +parallel, we must picture Spinoza beginning with an exposition of the +Trinity and transubstantiation and proceeding to develop his own system +without becoming unorthodox. + +The conception of the sacrifice set forth in the Brâhmaṇas is that it is +a scientific method of acquiring immortality as well as temporal +blessings. Though originally a mere offering in the _do ut des_ +principle, it has assumed a higher and more mysterious position[158]. We +are told that the gods obtained immortality and heaven by sacrifice, +that they created the universe by sacrifice, that Prajâpati, the +creator, _is_ the sacrifice. Although some writers are disposed to +distinguish magic sharply from religion, the two are not separated in +the Vedas. Sacrifice is not merely a means of pleasing the gods: it is a +system of authorized magic or sacred science controlling all worlds, if +properly understood. It is a mysterious cosmic force like electricity +which can be utilized by a properly trained priest but is dangerous in +unskilful hands, for the rites, if wrongly performed, bring disaster or +even death on bunglers. Though the Vedic sacrifices fell more and more +out of general use, this notion of the power of rites and formulae did +not fade with them but has deeply infected modern Hinduism and even +Buddhism, in both of which the lore of spells and gestures assumes +monstrous proportions. The Vedic and modern tantric rituals are +different but they are based on the same supposition that the universe +(including the gods which are part of it) is regulated by some +permeating principle, and that this principle can be apprehended by +sacred science and controlled by the use of proper methods[159]. So far +as these systems express the idea that the human mind can grasp the +universe by knowledge, they offer an example of the bold sweep of the +Hindu intellect, but the methods prescribed are often fatuous. + +The belief in the potency of words and formulae, though amplified and +embellished by the Hindus, is not an Indian invention but a common +aspect of early thought which was less emphasized in other countries. It +is found in Persia and among the tribes of Central and Northern Asia and +of Northern Europe, and attained a high development in Finland where +_runot_ or magical songs are credited with very practical efficacy. Thus +the Kalevala relates how Wäinämöinen was building a boat by means of +songs when the process came to a sudden stop because he had forgotten +three words. This is exactly the sort of thing that might happen in the +legends of a Vedic sacrifice if the priest had forgotten the texts he +ought to recite. + +The external features of Vedic rites are remarkable and unlike what we +know of those performed by other nations of antiquity. The sacrifice is +not as a rule a gift presented to a single god to win his favour. +Oblations are made to most members of the pantheon in the course of a +prolonged ceremony, but the time, manner and recipients of these +oblations are fixed rather by the mysteries of sacrificial science, than +by the sacrificer's need to propitiate a particular deity. Also the +sacrifice is not offered in a temple and it would appear that in +pre-Buddhist times there were no religious edifices. It is not even +associated with sacred spots, such as groves or fountains haunted by a +deity. The scene of operations requires long and careful preparation, +but it is merely an enclosure with certain sheds, fireplaces and mounds. +It has no architectural pretensions and is not a centre round which +shrines can grow for it requires reconsecration for each ceremony, and +in many cases must not be used twice. There is little that is national, +tribal or communal about these rites. Some of them, such as the +Aśvamedha or horse sacrifice and the Râjasaya, or consecration of a +king, may be attended by games and sports, but that is because they are +connected with secular events. In their essence sacrifices are not +popular festivals or holidays but private services, performed for the +benefit of the sacrificer, that is, the person who pays the fees of the +priests. Usually they have a definite object and, though ceremonies for +the attainment of material blessings are not wanting, this object is +most frequently supramundane, such as the fabrication of a body in the +heavenly world. It is in keeping with these characteristics that there +should be no pomp or spectacular effect: the rites resemble some +complicated culinary operation or scientific experiment, and the +sacrificial enclosure has the appearance of a laboratory rather than a +place of worship. + +Vedic ritual includes the sacrifice of animals, and there are +indications of the former prevalence of human sacrifice. At the time +when the Brâhmaṇas were composed the human victims were released alive, +but afterwards the practice of real sacrifice was revived, probably +owing to the continual incorporation into the Hindu community of +semi-barbarous tribes and their savage deities. Human victims were +offered to Mahâdevî the spouse of Siva until the last century, and would +doubtless be offered now, were legal restrictions removed. But though +the sporadic survival of an old custom in its most primitive and +barbarous form is characteristic of Hinduism, the whole tendency of +thought and practice since the rise of Buddhism has been adverse to +religious bloodshed, even of animals. The doctrine of substitution and +atonement, of offering the victim on behalf of the sacrificer, though +not absent, plays a smaller part than in the religions of Western Asia. + +Evidently it was not congenial: the Hindu has always been inclined to +think that the individual earns his future in another world by his own +thoughts and acts. Even the value of the victim is less important than +the correct performance of the ceremony. The teaching of the Brâhmaṇas +is not so much that a good heart is better than lavish alms as that the +ritually correct sacrifice of a cake is better than a hecatomb not +offered according to rule. + +The offerings required by the Vedic ritual are very varied. The simplest +are cakes and libations of melted butter poured on the fire from two +wooden spoons held one over the other while Vedic verses are recited. +Besides these there was the animal sacrifice, and still more important +the Soma[160] sacrifice. This ceremony is very ancient and goes back to +the time when the Hindus and Iranians were not divided. In India the +sacrifice lasted at least five days and, even in its simpler forms, was +far more complicated than any ceremony known to the Greeks, Romans or +Jews. Only professional priests could perform it and as a rule a priest +did not attempt to master more than one branch and to be for instance +either a reciter (Hotri) or singer (Udgâtri). But the five-day +sacrifices are little more than the rudiments of the sacrificial art and +lead on to the Ahînas or sacrifices comprising from two to twelve days +of Soma pressing which last not more than a month. The Ahinas again can +be combined into sacrificial sessions lasting a year or more[161], and +it would seem that rites of this length were really performed, though +when we read of such sessions extending over a hundred years, we may +hope that they are creations of a fancy like that of the hymn-writer who +celebrated the state + +Where congregations ne'er break up And Sabbaths never end. + +The ritual literature of India is enormous and much of it has been +edited and translated by European scholars with a care that merited a +better object. It is a mine of information respecting curious beliefs +and practices of considerable historical interest, but it does not +represent the main current of religious ideas in post-Buddhist times. +The Brahmans indeed never ceased to give the sacrificial system their +theoretical and, when possible, their practical approval, for it +embodies a principle most dear to them, namely, that the other castes +can obtain success and heaven only under the guidance of Brahmans and by +rites which only Brahmans can perform. But for this very reason it +incurred the hostility not only of philosophers and morally earnest men, +but of the military caste and it never really recovered from the blow +dealt it by Buddhism, the religion of that caste. But with every +Brahmanic revival it came to the front and the performance of the +Aśvamedha or horse sacrifice[162] was long the culminating glory of an +orthodox king. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +ASCETICISM AND KNOWLEDGE + +1 + + +As sacrifice and ceremonial are the material accompaniments of prayer, +so are asceticism and discipline those of thought. This is less +conspicuous in other countries, but in India it is habitually assumed +that the study of what we call metaphysics or theology needs some kind +of physical discipline and it will be well to elucidate this point +before describing the beginnings of speculation. + +Tapas, that is asceticism or self-mortification, holds in the religious +thought and practice of India as large a place as sacrifice. We hear of +it as early, for it is mentioned in the Rig Veda[163], and it lasts +longer, for it is a part of contemporary Hinduism just as much as prayer +or worship. It appears even in creeds which disavow it theoretically, +_e.g._ in Buddhism, and evidently has its root in a deep-seated and +persistent instinct. + +Tapas is often translated penance but the idea of mortification as an +expiation for sins committed, though not unknown in India, is certainly +not that which underlies the austerities of most ascetics. The word +means literally heat, hence pain or toil, and some think that its origin +should be sought in practices which produced fever, or tended to +concentrate heat in the body. One object of Tapas is to obtain abnormal +powers by the suppression of desires or the endurance of voluntary +tortures. There is an element of truth in this aspiration. Temperance, +chastity and mental concentration are great aids for increasing the +force of thought and will. The Hindu believes that intensity and +perseverance in this road of abstinence and rapture will yield +correspondingly increased results. The many singular phenomena connected +with Indian asceticism have been imperfectly investigated but a +psychological examination would probably find that subjective results +(such as visions and the feeling of flying through the air) are really +produced by the discipline recommended and there may be elements of much +greater value in the various systems of meditation. But this is only the +beginning of Tapas. To the idea that the soul when freed from earthly +desires is best able to comprehend the divine is superadded another +idea, namely that self-mortification is a process of productive labour +akin to intellectual toil. Just as the whole world is supposed to be +permeated by a mysterious principle which can be known and subdued by +the science of the sacrificing priests, so the ascetic is able to +control gods and nature by the force of his austerities. The creative +deities are said to have produced the world by Tapas, just as they are +said to have produced it by sacrifice and Hindu mythology abounds in +stories of ascetics who became so mighty that the very gods were +alarmed. For instance Râvaṇa, the Demon ruler of Lanka who carried off +Sîtâ, had acquired his power by austerities which enabled him to extort +a boon from Brahmâ. Thus there need be nothing moral in the object of +asceticism or in the use of the power obtained. The epics and dramas +frequently portray ascetics as choleric and unamiable characters and +modern Yogis maintain the tradition. + +Though asceticism resembles the sacrifice in being a means by which man +can obtain his wishes whether religious or profane, it differs in being +comparatively easy. Irksome as it may be, it demands merely strength of +will and not a scientific training in ritual and Vedic texts. Hence in +this sphere the supremacy of the Brahman could be challenged by other +castes and an instructive legend relates how Râma slew a Śûdra whom he +surprised in the act of performing austerities. The lowest castes can by +this process acquire a position which makes them equal to the +highest[164]. + +Of the non-Brahmanic sects, the Jains set the highest value on Tapas, +but chiefly as a purification of the soul and a means of obtaining an +unearthly state of pure knowledge[165]. In theory the Buddha rejected +it; he taught a middle way, rejecting alike self-indulgence and +self-mortification. But even Pali Buddhism admits such practices as the +Dhûtângas and the more extravagant sects, for instance in Tibet, allow +monks to entomb themselves in dark cells. According to our standards +even the ordinary religious life of both Hindus and Buddhists is +severely ascetic. It is assumed as a _sine qua non_ that strict chastity +must be observed, nourishment be taken only to support life and not for +pleasure, that all gratification coming from the senses must be avoided +and the mind kept under rigid discipline. This discipline receives +systematic treatment in the Yoga school of philosophy but it is really +common to all varieties of Hinduism and Buddhism; all agree that the +body must be subdued by physical training before the mind can apprehend +the higher truths. The only question is how far asceticism is directly +instrumental in giving higher knowledge. If some texts speak slightingly +of it, we must remember that the life of a hermit dwelling in the woods +without possessions or desires might not be regarded by a Hindu as +_tapas_ though we should certainly regard it as asceticism. It is also +agreed that supernatural powers can be acquired by special forms of +asceticism. These powers are sometimes treated as mere magic and +spiritually worthless but their reality is not questioned. + + +2 + +We have now said something of two aspects of Indian religion—ritual and +asceticism—and must pass on to the third, namely, knowledge or +philosophy. Its importance was recognized by the severest ritualists. +They admitted it as a supplement and crown to the life of ceremonial +observances and in the public estimation it came to be reputed an +alternative or superior road to salvation. Respect and desire for +knowledge are even more intimately a part of Hindu mentality than a +proclivity to asceticism or ritual. The sacrifice itself must be +understood as well as offered. He who _knows_ the meaning of this or +that observance obtains his desires[166]. + +Nor did the Brahmans resent criticism and discussion. India has always +loved theological argument: it is the national passion. The early +Upanishads relate without disapproval how kings such as Ajâtaśatru of +Kâśi, Pravâhaṇa Jaivali and Aśvapati Kaikeya imparted to learned +Brahmans philosophical and theological knowledge previously unknown to +them[167] and even women like Gârgî and Maitreyî took part in +theological discussions. Obviously knowledge in the sense of +philosophical speculation commended itself to religiously disposed +persons in the non-sacerdotal castes for the same reason as asceticism. +Whatever difficulties it might offer, it was more accessible than the +learning which could be acquired only under a Brahman teacher, although +the Brahmans in the interests of the sacerdotal caste maintained that +philosophy like ritual was a secret to be imparted, not a result to be +won by independent thought. + +Again and again the Upanishads insist that the more profound doctrines +must not be communicated to any but a son or an accredited pupil and +also that no one can think them out for himself[168], yet the older ones +admit in such stories as those mentioned that the impulse towards +speculation came in early periods, as it did in the time of the Buddha, +largely from outside the priestly clans and was adopted rather than +initiated by them. But in justice to the Brahmans we must admit that +they have rarely—or at any rate much less frequently than other +sacerdotal corporations—shown hostility to new ideas and then chiefly +when such ideas (like those of Buddhism) implied that the rites by which +they gained their living were worthless. Otherwise they showed great +pliancy and receptivity, for they combined Vedic rites and mythology +with such systems as the Sânkhya and Advaita philosophies, both of which +really render superfluous everything which is usually called religion +since, though their language is decorous, they teach that he who _knows_ +the truth about the universe is thereby saved. + +The best opinion of India has always felt that the way of knowledge or +Jñâna was the true way. The favourite thesis of the Brahmans was that a +man should devote his youth to study, his maturity to the duties and +ceremonies of a householder, and his age to more sublime speculations. +But at all periods the idea that it was possible to know God and the +universe was allied to the idea that all ceremonies as well as all +worldly effort and indeed all active morality are superfluous[169]. All +alike are unessential and trivial, and merit the attention only of those +who know nothing higher. Human feelings and interests qualified and +contradicted this negative and unearthly view of religion, but still +popular sentiment as well as philosophic thought during the whole period +of which we know something of them in India tended to regard the highest +life as consisting in rapt contemplation or insight accompanied by the +suppression of desire and by disengagement from mundane ties and +interests. But knowledge in Indian theology implies more intensity than +we attach to the word and even some admixture of volition. The knowledge +of Brahman is not an understanding of pantheistic doctrines such as may +be obtained by reading _The Sacred Books of the East_ in an easy chair +but a realization (in all senses) of personal identity with the +universal spirit, in the light of which all material attachments and +fetters fall away. + +The earlier philosophical speculations of the Brahmans are chiefly found +in the treatises called Upanishads. The teaching contained in these +works is habitually presented as something secret[170] or esoteric and +does not, like Buddhism or Jainism, profess to be a gospel for all. Also +the teaching is not systematized and has never been unified by a +personality like the Buddha. It grew up in the various _parishads_, or +communities of learned Brahmans, and perhaps flourished most in north +western India[171]. There is of course a common substratum of ideas but +they appear in different versions: we have the teaching of Yâjñavalkya, +of Uddâlaka Âruṇi and other masters and each teaching has some +individuality. They are merely reported as words of the wise without an +attempt to harmonize them. There are many apparent inconsistencies due +to the use of divergent metaphors to indicate different aspects of the +indescribable, and some real inconsistencies due to the existence of +different schools. Hence, attempts whether Indian or European to give a +harmonious summary of this ancient doctrine are likely to be erroneous. + +There are a great number of Upanishads, composed at various dates and +not all equally revered. They represent different orders of ideas and +some of the later are distinctly sectarian. Collections of 45, 52 and 60 +are mentioned, and the Muktikâ Upanishad gives a list of 108. This is +the number currently accepted in India at the present day. But +Schrader[172] describes many Upanishads existing in MS. in addition to +this list and points out that though they may be modern there is no +ground for calling them spurious. According to Indian ideas there is no +_a priori_ objection to the appearance now or in the future of new +Upanishads[173]. All revelation is eternal and self-existent but it can +manifest itself at its own good time. + +Many of the more modern Upanishads appear to be the compositions of +single authors and may be called tracts or poems in the ordinary +European sense. But the older ones, unless they are very short, are +clearly not the attempts of an individual to express his creed but +collections of such philosophical sayings and narratives as a particular +school thought fit to include in its version of the scriptures. There +was so to speak a body of philosophic folk-lore portions of which each +school selected and elaborated as it thought best. Thus an apologue +proving that the breath is the essential vital constituent of a human +being is found in five ancient Upanishads[174]. The Chândogya and +Bṛihad-Âraṇyaka both contain an almost identical narrative of how the +priest Âruṇi was puzzled and instructed by a king and a similar story is +found at the beginning of the Kausîhtaki[175]. The two Upanishads last +mentioned also contain two dialogues in which king Ajâtaśatru explains +the fate of the soul after death and which differ in little except that +one is rather fuller than the other[176]. So too several well-known +stanzas and also quotations from the Veda used with special applications +are found in more than one Upanishad[177]. + +The older Upanishads[178] are connected with the other parts of the +Vedic canon and sometimes form an appendix to a Brâhmaṇa so that the +topics discussed change gradually from ritual to philosophy[179]. It +would be excessive to say that this arrangement gives the genesis of +speculation in ancient India, for some hymns of the Rig Veda are purely +philosophic, but it illustrates a lengthy phase of Brahmanic thought in +which speculation could not disengage itself from ritual and was also +hampered by physical ideas. The Upanishads often receive such epithets +as transcendental and idealistic but in many passages—perhaps in the +majority—they labour with imperfect success to separate the spiritual +and material. The self or spirit is sometimes identified in man with the +breath, in nature with air, ether or space. At other times it is +described as dwelling in the heart and about the size of the thumb but +capable of becoming smaller, travelling through the veins and showing +itself in the pupil: capable also of becoming infinitely large and one +with the world soul. But when thought finds its wings and soars above +these material fancies, the teaching of the Upanishads shares with +Buddhism the glory of being the finest product of the Indian intellect. + +In India the religious life has always been regarded as a journey and a +search after truth. Even the most orthodox and priestly programme admits +this. There comes a time when observances are felt to be vain and the +soul demands knowledge of the essence of things. And though later +dogmatism asserts that this knowledge is given by revelation, yet a note +of genuine enquiry and speculation is struck in the Vedas and is never +entirely silenced throughout the long procession of Indian writers. In +well-known words the Vedas ask[180] "Who is the God to whom we shall +offer our sacrifice? ... Who is he who is the Creator and sustainer of +the Universe ... whose shadow is immortality, whose shadow is death?" +or, in even more daring phrases[181], "The Gods were subsequent to the +creation of this universe. Who then knows whence it sprang? He who in +the highest heaven is the overseer of this universe, he knows or even he +does not know." These profound enquiries, which have probably no +parallel in the contemporary literature of other nations, are as time +goes on supplemented though perhaps not enlarged by many others, nor +does confidence fail that there is an answer—the Truth, which when known +is the goal of life. A European is inclined to ask what use can be made +of the truth, but for the Hindus divine knowledge is an end and a state, +not a means. It is not thought of as something which may be used to +improve the world or for any other purpose whatever. For use and purpose +imply that the thing utilized is subservient and inferior to an end, +whereas divine knowledge is the culmination and meaning of the universe, +or, from another point of view, the annihilation of both the external +world and individuality. Hence the Hindu does not expect of his saints +philanthropy or activity of any sort. + +As already indicated, the characteristic (though not the only) answer of +India to these questionings is that nothing really exists except God or, +better, except Brahman. The soul is identical with Brahman. The external +world which we perceive is not real in the same sense: it is in some way +or other an evolution of Brahman or even mere illusion. This doctrine is +not universal: it is for instance severely criticized and rejected by +the older forms of Buddhism but its hold on the Indian temperament is +seen by its reappearance in later Buddhism where by an astounding +transformation the Buddha is identified with the universal spirit. +Though the form in which I have quoted the doctrine above is an epitome +of the Vedânta, it is hardly correct historically to give it as an +epitome of the older Upanishads. Their teaching is less complete and +uncompromising, more veiled, tentative and allusive, and sometimes +cumbered by material notions. But it is obviously the precursor of the +Vedânta and the devout Vedântist can justify his system from it. + + +3 + +Instead of attempting to summarize the Upanishads it may be well to +quote one or two celebrated passages. One is from the +Bṛihad-Âraṇyaka[182] and relates how Yâjñavalkya, when about to retire +to the forest as an ascetic, wished to divide his property between his +two wives, Kâtyâyanî "who possessed only such knowledge as women +possess" and Maitreyî "who was conversant with Brahman." The latter +asked her husband whether she would be immortal if she owned the whole +world. "No," he replied, "like the life of the rich would be thy life +but there is no hope of immortality." Maitreyî said that she had no need +of what would not make her immortal. Yâjñavalkya proceeded to explain to +her his doctrine of the Âtman, the self or essence, the spirit present +in man as well as in the universe. "Not for the husband's sake is the +husband dear but for the sake of the Âtman. Not for the wife's sake is +the wife dear but for the sake of the Âtman. Not for their own sake are +sons, wealth, Brahmans, warriors, worlds, gods, Vedas and all things +dear, but for the sake of the Âtman. The Âtman is to be seen, to be +heard, to be perceived, to be marked: by him who has seen and known the +Âtman all the universe is known.... He who looks for Brahmans, warriors, +worlds, gods or Vedas anywhere but in the Âtman, loses them all...." + +"As all waters have their meeting place in the sea, all touch in the +skin, all tastes in the tongue, all odours in the nose, all colours in +the eye, all sounds in the ear, all percepts in the mind, all knowledge +in the heart, all actions in the hands....As a lump of salt has no +inside nor outside and is nothing but taste, so has this Âtman neither +inside nor outside and is nothing but knowledge. Having risen from out +these elements it (the human soul) vanishes with them. When it has +departed (after death) there is no more consciousness." Here Maitreyî +professes herself bewildered but Yâjñavalkya continues "I say nothing +bewildering. Verily, beloved, that Âtman is imperishable and +indestructible. When there is as it were duality, then one sees the +other, one tastes the other, one salutes the other, one hears the other, +one touches the other, one knows the other. But when the Âtman only is +all this, how should we see, taste, hear, touch or know another? How can +we know him by whose power we know all this? That Âtman is to be +described by no, no (neti, neti). He is incomprehensible for he cannot +be comprehended, indestructible for he cannot be destroyed, unattached +for he does not attach himself: he knows no bonds, no suffering, no +decay. How, O beloved, can one know the knower?" And having so spoken, +Yâjñavalkya went away into the forest. In another verse of the same work +it is declared that "This great unborn Âtman (or Self) undecaying, +undying, immortal, fearless, is indeed Brahman." + +It is interesting that this doctrine, evidently regarded as the +quintessence of Yâjñavalkya's knowledge, should be imparted to a woman. +It is not easy to translate. Âtman, of course, means self and is so +rendered by Max Müller in this passage, but it seems to me that this +rendering jars on the English ear for it inevitably suggests the +individual self and selfishness, whereas Âtman means the universal +spirit which is Self, because it is the highest (or only) Reality and +Being, not definable in terms of anything else. Nothing, says +Yâjñavalkya, has any value, meaning, or indeed reality except in +relation to this Self[183]. The whole world including the Vedas and +religion is an emanation from him. The passage at which Maitreyî +expresses her bewilderment is obscure, but the reply is more definite. +The Self is indestructible but still it is incorrect to speak of the +soul having knowledge and perception after death, for knowledge and +perception imply duality, a subject and an object. But when the human +soul and the universal Âtman are one, there is no duality and no human +expression can be correctly used about the Âtman. Whatever you say of +it, the answer must be _neti, neti_, it is not like that[184]; that is +to say, the ordinary language used about the individual soul is not +applicable to the Âtman or to the human soul when regarded as identical +with it. + +This identity is stated more precisely in another passage[185] where +first occurs the celebrated formula Tat tvam asi, That art Thou, or Thou +art It[186], _i.e._ the human soul is the Âtman and hence there is no +real distinction between souls. Like Yâjñiavalkya's teaching, the +statement of this doctrine takes the form of an intimate conversation, +this time between a Brahman, Uddâlaka Âruṇi, and his son Śvetaketu who +is twenty-four years of age and having just finished his studentship is +very well satisfied with himself. His father remarks on his conceit and +says "Have you ever asked your teachers for that instruction by which +the unheard becomes heard, the unperceived perceived and the unknown +known?" Śvetaketu enquires what this instruction is and his father +replies, "As by one lump of clay all that is made of clay is known, and +the change[187] is a mere matter of words, nothing but a name, the truth +being that all is clay, and as by one piece of copper or by one pair of +nail-scissors all that is made of copper or iron can be known, so is +that instruction." That is to say, it would seem, the reality is One: +all diversity and multiplicity is secondary and superficial, merely a +matter of words. "In the beginning," continues the father, "there was +only that which is, one without a second. Others say in the beginning +there was that only which is not (non-existence), one without a second, +and from that which is not, that which is was born. But how could that +which is be born of that which is not[188]? No, only that which is was +in the beginning, one only without a second. It thought, may I be many: +may I have offspring. It sent forth fire." Here follows a cosmogony and +an explanation of the constitution of animate beings, and then the +father continues--"All creatures have their root in the Real, dwell in +the Real and rest in the Real. That subtle being by which this universe +subsists, it is the Real, it is the Âtman, and thou, Śvetaketu, art It." +Many illustrations of the relations of the Âtman and the universe +follow. For instance, if the life (sap) leaves a tree, it withers and +dies. So "this body withers and dies when the life has left it: the life +dies not." In the fruit of the Banyan (fig-tree) are minute seeds +innumerable. But the imperceptible subtle essence in each seed is the +whole Banyan. Each example adduced concludes with the same formula, Thou +art that subtle essence, and as in the Bṛihad-Âraṇyaka salt is used as a +metaphor. "'Place this salt in water and then come to me in the +morning.' The son did so and in the morning the father said 'Bring me +the salt.' The son looked for it but found it not, for of course it was +melted. The father said, 'Taste from the surface of the water. How is +it?' The son replied, 'It is salt.' 'Taste from the middle. How is it?' +'It is salt.' 'Taste from the bottom, how is it?' 'It is salt.' ... The +father said, 'Here also in this body you do not perceive the Real, but +there it is. That subtle being by which this universe subsists, it is +the Real, it is the Âtman and thou, Svetaketu, art It.'" + +The writers of these passages have not quite reached Śankara's point of +view, that the Âtman is all and the whole universe mere illusion or +Mâyâ. Their thought still tends to regard the universe as something +drawn forth from the Âtman and then pervaded by it. But still the main +features of the later Advaita, or philosophy of no duality, are there. +All the universe has grown forth from the Âtman: there is no real +difference in things, just as all gold is gold whatever it is made into. +The soul is identical with this Âtman and after death may be one with it +in a union excluding all duality even of perceiver and perceived. + +A similar union occurs in sleep. This idea is important for it is +closely connected with another belief which has had far-reaching +consequences on thought and practice in India, the belief namely that +the soul can attain without death and as the result of mental discipline +to union[189] with Brahman. This idea is common in Hinduism and though +Buddhism rejects the notion of union with the supreme spirit yet it +attaches importance to meditation and makes Samâdhi or rapture the crown +of the perfect life. In this, as in other matters, the teaching of the +Upanishads is manifold and unsystematic compared with later doctrines. +The older passages ascribe to the soul three states corresponding to the +bodily conditions of waking, dream-sleep, and deep dreamless sleep, and +the Bṛihad-Âraṇyaka affirms of the last (IV. 3. 32): "This is the Brahma +world. This is his highest world, this is his highest bliss. All other +creatures live on a small portion of that bliss." But even in some +Upanishads of the second stratum (Mâṇḍukya, Maitrâyaṇa) we find added a +fourth state, Caturtha or more commonly Turîya, in which the bliss +attainable in deep sleep is accompanied by consciousness[190]. This +theory and various practices founded on it develop rapidly. + + +4 + +The explanation of dreamless sleep as supreme bliss and Yâjñavalkya's +statement that the soul after death cannot be said to know or feel, may +suggest that union with Brahman is another name for annihilation. But +that is not the doctrine of the Upanishads though a European perhaps +might say that the consciousness contemplated is so different from +ordinary human consciousness that it should not bear the same name. In +another passage[191] Yâjñavalkya himself explains "when he does not +know, yet he is knowing though he does not know. For knowing is +inseparable from the knower, because it cannot perish. But there is no +second, nothing else different from him that he could know." A common +formula for Brahman in the later philosophy is Saccidânanda, Being, +Thought and Joy[192]. This is a just summary of the earlier teaching. We +have already seen how the Âtman is recognized as the only Reality. Its +intellectual character is equally clearly affirmed. Thus the +Bṛihad-Âraṇyaka (III. 7. 23) says: "There is no seer beside him, no +hearer beside him, no perceiver beside him, no knower beside him. This +is thy Self, the ruler within, the immortal. Everything distinct from +him is subject to pain." This idea that pain and fear exist only as far +as a man makes a distinction between his own self and the real Self is +eloquently developed in the division of the Taittirîya Upanishad called +the Chapter of Bliss. "He who knows Brahman" it declares, "which exists, +which is conscious, which is without end, as hidden in the depth of the +heart, and in farthest space, he enjoys all blessings, in communion with +the omniscient Brahman.... He who knows the bliss (ânandam) of that +Brahman from which all speech and mind turn away unable to reach it, he +never fears[193]." + +Bliss is obtainable by union with Brahman, and the road to such union is +knowledge of Brahman. That knowledge is often represented as acquired by +tapas or asceticism, but this, though repeatedly enjoined as necessary, +seems to be regarded (in the nobler expositions at least) as an +indispensable schooling rather than as efficacious by its own virtue. +Sometimes the topic is treated in an almost Buddhist spirit of +reasonableness and depreciation of self-mortification for its own sake. +Thus Yâjñavalkya says to Gârgî[194]: "Whoever without knowing the +imperishable one offers oblations in this world, sacrifices, and +practises asceticism even for a thousand years, his work will perish." +And in a remarkable scene described in the Chândogya Upanishad, the +three sacred fires decide to instruct a student who is exhausted by +austerities, and tell him that Brahman is life, bliss and space[195]. + +Analogous to the conception of Brahman as bliss, is the description of +him as light or "light of lights." A beautiful passage[196] says: "To +the wise who perceive him (Brahman) within their own self, belongs +eternal peace, not to others. They feel that highest, unspeakable bliss +saying, this is that. How then can I understand it? Has it its own light +or does it reflect light? No sun shines there, nor moon nor stars, nor +these lightnings, much less this fire. When he shines everything shines +after him: by his light all the world is lighted." + +In most of the texts which we have examined the words Brahman and Âtman +are so impersonal that they cannot be replaced by God. In other passages +the conception of the deity is more personal. The universe is often said +to have been emitted or breathed forth by Brahman. By emphasizing the +origin and result of this process separately, we reach the idea of the +Maker and Master of the Universe, commonly expressed by the word Îśvara, +Lord. But even when using this expression, Hindu thought tends in its +subtler moments to regard both the creator and the creature as +illusions. In the same sense as the world exists there also exists its +creator who is an aspect of Brahman, but the deeper truth is that +neither is real: there is but One who neither makes nor is made[197]. In +a land of such multiform theology it would be hazardous to say that +Monotheism has always arisen out of Pantheism, but in the speculative +schools where the Upanishads were composed, this was often its genesis. +The older idea is that a subtle essence pervades all nature and the +deities who rule nature: this is spiritualized into the doctrine of +Brahman attributed to Yâjñavalkya and it is only by a secondary process +that this Brahman is personified and sometimes identified with a +particular god such as Siva. The doctrine of the personal Îśvara is +elaborated in the Śvetâśvatara Upanishad of uncertain date[198]. It +celebrates him in hymns of almost Mohammedan monotheism. "Let us know +that great Lord of Lords, the highest God of Gods, the Master of +Masters, the highest above, as God, as Lord of the world, who is to be +glorified[199]." But this monotheistic fervour does not last long +without relapsing into the familiar pantheistic strain. "Thou art +woman," says the same Upanishad[200], "and Thou art man: Thou art youth +and maiden: Thou as an old man totterest along on thy staff: Thou art +born with thy face turned everywhere. Thou art the dark-blue bee: Thou +the green parrot with the red eyes. Thou art the thunder cloud, the +seasons and the seas. Thou art without beginning because Thou art +infinite, Thou, from whom all worlds are born." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +RELIGIOUS LIFE IN PRE-BUDDHIST INDIA + + +In reading the Brâhmaṅas and older Upanishads we often wish we knew more +of the writers and their lives. Rarely can so many representative men +have bequeathed so much literature and yet left so dim a sketch of their +times. Thought was their real life: of that they have given a full +record, imperfect only in chronology, for though their speculations are +often set forth in a narrative form, we hear surprisingly little about +contemporary events. + +The territory familiar to these works is the western part of the modern +United Provinces with the neighbouring districts of the Panjab, the +lands of the Kurus, Pancâlas, and Matsyas, all in the region of Agra and +Delhi, and further east Kâśi (Benares) with Videha or Tirhut. Gândhâra +was known[201] but Magadha and Bengal are not mentioned. Even in the +Buddha's lifetime they were still imperfectly brahmanized. + +What we know of the period 800 to 600 B.C. is mostly due to the +Brahmans, and many Indianists have accepted their view, that they were +then socially the highest class and the repository of religion and +culture. But it is clear from Buddhist writings (which, however, are +somewhat later) that this pre-eminence was not unchallenged[202], and +many admissions in the Brâhmaṅas and Upanishads indicate that some +centuries before the Buddha the Kshatriyas held socially the first rank +and shared intellectual honours with the Brahmans. Janaka, king of +Videha[203], and Yâjñavalkya, the Brahman, meet on terms of mutual +respect and other Kshatriyas, such as Ajâtaśatru of Kâśi and Pravâhaṅa +Jaivali are represented as instructing Brahmans, and the latter in doing +so says "this knowledge did not go to any Brahman before but belonged to +the Kshatriyas alone[204]." But as a profession theology, both practical +and speculative, was left to the Brahmans. + +The proper relation between the nobles and Brahmans finds expression in +the office of Purohita[205] or domestic chaplain, which is as old as the +Vedas and has lasted to the present day. In early times he was not +merely a spiritual guide but also a councillor expected to advise the +king as to his enterprises and secure their success by appropriate +rites. By king we should understand a tribal chief, entrusted with +considerable powers in the not infrequent times of war, but in peace +obliged to consult the clan, or at least the aristocratic part of it, on +all matters of importance. A Purohita might attain a very high position, +like Devabhaga, priest of both the Kurus and Srinjayas[206]. The +Brahmans did not attempt to become kings, but the sacred books insist +that though a Brahman can do without a king, yet a king cannot do +without a Brahman. The two castes are compared to the deities Mitra and +Varuṅa, typifying intelligence and will. When they are united deeds can +be done[207]. But "the Gods do not eat the food of a king who is without +a Purohita." Other castes can offer sacrifices only by the mediation of +Brahmans, and it does not appear that kings disputed this, though they +claimed the right to think for themselves and may have denied the +utility of sacrifice[208]. Apart from kings the duties and claims of the +Brahman extend to the people at large. He has four virtues, "birth, +deportment, fame and the perfecting of the people," and in return the +people owe him respect, liberality, security against oppression and +against capital punishment. + +Towns in this period must have been few and those few essentially forts, +not collections of palaces and temples. We hear of Kâśi (Benares) but +the name may signify a district. People are said to go to the Kurus or +Pancâlas, not to Mithilâ or any other city. It was in village life—which +is still the life of the greater part of India—that Brahmanism grew up. +Probably then as now Brahman families occupied separate villages, or at +least quarters, and were allowed to hold the land rent free as a reward +for rendering religious services to the king. They followed various +professions but the life which was most respected, and also most +lucrative, was that devoted to the study and practice of sacred science, +that is the learning and recitation of sacred texts, performance of +ceremonies, and theological discussion. The later law books divide a +Brahman's life into four stages or âśramas in which he was successively +a student, a householder, a hermit and an ascetic[209]. The third and +fourth stages are not very clearly distinguished. A hermit is supposed +to renounce family life and live in the forest, but still to perform +sacrifices, whereas the Sannyâsi or perfect ascetic, in many ways the +ideal of India, subsists on alms, freed alike from duties and passions +and absorbed in meditation. In the older Upanishads three stages are +indicated as part of contemporary practice[210]. For a period of from +nine to thirty-six years, a Brahman dwelt with a teacher. While his +state of pupilage lasted he lived on alms and was bound by the severest +vows of obedience and chastity. The instruction given consisted in +imparting sacred texts which could be acquired only by hearing them +recited, for writing, though it may have been known in India as early as +the seventh century B.C., was not used for literature. The Śatapatha +Brâhmaṇa recommends the study not only of the four Vedas but of the +precepts (perhaps grammar, etymology, etc.), the sciences (perhaps +philosophy), dialogues (no doubt such as those found in the Upanishads), +traditions and ancient legends, stanzas and tales of heroes[211], +showing that, besides the scriptures, more popular compositions which +doubtless contained the germs of the later Epics and Puranas were held +in esteem. + +On terminating his apprenticeship the young Brahman became a householder +and married, moderate polygamy being usual. To some extent he followed +the occupations of an ordinary man of business and father of a family, +but the most important point in establishing a home of his own was the +kindling of his own sacred fire[212], and the householder's life was +regarded as a series of rites, such as the daily offering of milk, the +new and full moon ceremonies, seasonal sacrifices every four months and +the Soma sacrifice once a year, besides oblations to ancestors and other +domestic observances. The third stage of life should begin when a +householder sees that his hair is turning grey and a grandson has been +born. He should then abandon his home and live in the forest. The +tradition that it is justifiable and even commendable for men and women +to abandon their families and take to the religious life has at all +times been strong in India and public opinion has never considered that +the deserted party had a grievance. No doubt comfortable householders +were in no hurry to take to the woods and many must always have shirked +the duty. But on the other hand, the very pious, of whom India has +always produced a superabundance, were not willing to bear the cares of +domestic life and renounced the world before the prescribed time. On the +whole Brahmanic (as opposed to Buddhist) literature is occupied in +insisting not so much that the devout should abandon the world as that +they must perform the ritual observances prescribed for householders +before doing so. + +The Brahman's existence as drawn in the law-books is a description of +what the writers thought ought to be done rather than of the general +practice. Still it cannot be dismissed as imaginary, for the +Nambutiri[213] Brahmans of Travancore have not yet abandoned a mode of +life which is in essentials that prescribed by Manu and probably that +led by Brahmans in the seventh century B.C. or earlier[214]. + +They are for the most part landowners dwelling in large houses built to +accommodate a patriarchal family and erected in spacious compounds. In +youth they spend about eight years in learning the Veda, and in mature +life religious ceremonies, including such observances as bathing and the +preparation of meals, occupy about six hours of the day. As a +profession, the performance of religious rites for others is most +esteemed. In food, drink and pleasures, the Nambutiris are almost +ascetics: their rectitude, punctiliousness and dignity still command +exaggerated respect. But they seem unproductive and petrified, even in +such matters as literature and scholarship, and their inability to adapt +themselves to changing conditions threatens them with impoverishment and +deterioration. + +Yet the ideal Brahmanic life, which by no means excludes intellectual +activity, is laid out in severe and noble lines and though on its good +side somewhat beyond the reach of human endeavour and on its bad side +overloaded with pedantry and superstition, it combines in a rare degree +self-abnegation and independence. It differs from the ideal set up by +Buddhism and by many forms of Hinduism which preach the renunciation of +family ties, for it clearly lays down that it is a man's duty to +continue his family and help his fellow men just as much as to engage in +religious exercises. Thus, the Śatapatha Brâhmaṇa[215] teaches that man +is born owing four debts, one to the gods, one to the Rishis or the +sages to whom the Vedic hymns were revealed, one to his ancestors and +one to men. To discharge these obligations he must offer sacrifices, +study the Veda, beget a son and practise hospitality. + +The tranquil isolation of village life in ancient India has left its +mark on literature. Though the names of teachers are handed down and +their opinions cited with pious care, yet for many centuries after the +Vedic age we find no books attributed to human authors. There was an +indifference to literary fame among these early philosophers and a +curious selflessness. Doctors disputed as elsewhere, yet they were at no +pains to couple their names with theories or sects. Like the Jewish +Rabbis they were content to go down to posterity as the authors of a few +sayings, and these are mostly contributions to a common stock with no +pretension to be systems of philosophy. The Upanishads leave an +impression of a society which, if reposeful, was also mentally alert and +tolerant to an unusual degree. Much was absent that occupied the +intelligence of other countries. Painting, sculpture and architecture +can have attained but modest proportions and the purview of religion +included neither temples nor images. India was untroubled by foreign +invasions and all classes seem to have been content to let the +Kshatriyas look after such internal politics as there were. Trade too +was on a small scale. Doubtless the Indian was then, as now, a good man +of business and the western coast may have been affected by its +relations with the Persian Gulf, but Brahmanic civilization was a thing +of the Midland and drew no inspiration from abroad. The best minds were +occupied with the leisurely elaboration and discussion of speculative +ideas and self-effacement was both practised and preached. + +But movement and circulation prevented this calm rustic world from +becoming stagnant. Though roads were few and dangerous, a habit of +travel was conspicuous among the religious and intellectual classes. The +Indian is by nature a pilgrim rather than a stationary monk, and we +often hear of Brahmans travelling in quest of knowledge alone or in +companies, and stopping in rest houses[216]. In the Śatapatha +Brâhmaṇa[217], Uddâlaka Âruṇi is represented as driving about and +offering a piece of gold as a prize to those who could defeat him in +argument. Great sacrifices were often made the occasion of these +discussions. We must not think of them as mere religious ceremonies, as +a sort of high mass extending over several days. The fact that they +lasted so long and involved operations like building sheds and altars +made them unlike our church services and gave opportunities for debate +and criticism of what was done. Such competition and publicity were good +for the wits. The man who cut the best figure in argument was in +greatest demand as a sacrificer and obtained the highest fees. But these +stories of prizes and fees emphasize a feature which has characterized +the Brahmans from Vedic times to the present day, namely, their +shameless love of money. The severest critic cannot deny them a +disinterested taste for intellectual, religious and spiritual things, +but their own books often use language which shows them as professional +men merely anxious to make a fortune by the altar. "The sacrifice is +twofold," says the Śatapatha Brâhmaṇa, "oblations to the gods and gifts +to the priests. With oblations men gratify the gods and with gifts the +human gods. These two kinds of gods when gratified convey the worshipper +to the heavenly world[218]." Without a fee the sacrifice is as dead as +the victim. It is the fee which makes it living and successful[219]. + +Tradition has preserved the names of many of these acute, argumentative, +fee-loving priests, but of few can we form any clear picture. The most +distinguished is Yâjñavalkya who, though seen through a mist of myths +and trivial stories about the minutiae of ritual, appears as a +personality with certain traits that are probably historical. Many +remarks attributed to him are abrupt and scornful and the legend +indicates dimly that he was once thought a dangerous innovator. But, as +has happened so often since, this early heretic became the corner stone +of later orthodoxy. He belonged to the school of the Yajur Veda and was +apparently the main author of the new or White recension in which the +prayers and directions are more or less separate, whereas in the old or +Black recension they are mixed together. According to the legend he +vomited forth the texts which he had learnt, calling his fellow pupils +"miserable and inefficient Brahmans," and then received a new revelation +from the Sun[220]. The quarrel was probably violent for the Śatapatha +Brâhmaṇa mentions that he was cursed by priests of the other party. Nor +does this work, while recognizing him as the principal teacher, endorse +all his sayings. Thus it forbids the eating of beef but adds the curious +remark "Nevertheless Yâjñavalkya said, I for one eat it, provided it is +tender[221]." Remarkable, too, is his answer to the question what would +happen if all the ordinary materials for sacrifices were absent, "Then +indeed nothing would be offered here, but there would be offered the +truth in faith[222]." It is probable that the Black Yajur Veda +represents the more western schools and that the native land of the +White recension and of Yâjñavalkya lay further east, perhaps in Videha. +But his chief interest for us is not the reforms in text and ritual +which he may have made, but his philosophic doctrines of which I have +already spoken. Our principal authority for them is the Bṛihad-Âraṇyaka +Upanishad of which he is the protagonist, much as Socrates is of the +Platonic dialogues. Unfortunately the striking picture which it gives of +Yâjñavalkya cannot be accepted as historical. He is a prominent figure +in the Śatapatha Brâhmaṇa which is older than the Upanishad and +represents an earlier stage of speculation. The sketch of his doctrines +which it contains is clearly a preliminary study elaborated and +amplified in the Upanishad. But if a personage is introduced in early +works as expounding a rudimentary form of certain doctrines and in later +works is credited with a matured philosophy, there can be little doubt +that he has become a great name whose authority is invoked by later +thought, much as Solomon was made the author of the Proverbs and +Ecclesiastes and the Song which bears his name. + +Yâjñavalkya appears in the Bṛihad-Âraṇyaka as the respected friend but +apparently not the chaplain of King Janaka. This monarch celebrated a +great sacrifice and offered a thousand cows with a present of money to +him who should prove himself wisest. Yâjñavalkya rather arrogantly bade +his pupil drive off the beasts. But his claim was challenged: seven +Brahmans and one woman, Gârgî Vâcaknavî, disputed with him at length but +had to admit his superiority. A point of special interest is raised by +the question what happens after death. Yâjñavalkya said to his +questioner, "'Take my hand, my friend. We two alone shall know of this. +Let this question of ours not be discussed in public.' Then these two +went out and argued, and what they said was Karma and what they praised +was Karma[223]." The doctrine that a man's deeds cause his future +existence and determine its character was apparently not popular among +the priesthood who claimed that by their rites they could manufacture +heavenly bodies for their clients. + + +2 + +This imperfect and sketchy picture of religious life in India so far as +it can be gathered from the older Brahmanic books has reference mainly +to the kingdoms of the Kuru-Pancâlas and Videha in 800-600 B.C. Another +picture, somewhat fuller, is found in the ancient literature of the +Buddhists and Jains, which depicts the kingdoms of Magadha (Bihar) and +Kosala (Oudh) in the time of the Buddha and Mahâvîra, the founder of +Jainism, that is, about 500 B.C. or rather earlier. It is probable that +the picture is substantially true for this period or even for a period +considerably earlier, for Mahâvîra was supposed to have revived with +modifications the doctrines of Parśvanâtha and some of the Buddhas +mentioned as preceding Gotama were probably historical personages. But +the Brahmanic and Buddhist accounts do not give two successive phases of +thought in the same people, for the locality is not quite the same. Both +pictures include the territory of Kâśi and Videha, but the Brahmanic +landscape lies mainly to the west and the Buddhist mainly to the east of +this region. In the Buddhist sphere it is clear that in the youth of +Gotama Brahmanic doctrines and ritual were well known but not +predominant. It is hardly demonstrable from literature, but still +probable, that the ideas and usages which found expression in Jainism +and Buddhism existed in the western districts, though less powerful +there than in the east[224]. + +A striking feature of the world in which Jainism and Buddhism arose was +the prevalence of confraternities or religious orders. They were the +recognized form of expression not only for piety but for the germs of +theology, metaphysics and science. The ordinary man of the world kept on +good terms with such gods as came his way, but those who craved for some +higher interest often separated themselves from the body of citizens and +followed some special rule of life. In one sense the Brahmans were the +greatest of such communities, but they were a hereditary corporation and +though they were not averse to new ideas, their special stock in trade +was an acquaintance with traditional formulæ and rites. They were also, +in the main, sedentary and householders. Somewhat opposed to them were +other companies, described collectively as Paribbâjakas or Samanas[225]. +These, though offering many differences among themselves, were clearly +distinguished from the Brahmans, and it is probable that they usually +belonged to the warrior caste. But they did not maintain that religious +knowledge was the exclusive privilege of any caste: they were not +householders but wanderers and celibates. Often they were ascetics and +addicted to extreme forms of self-mortification. They did not study the +Vedas or perform sacrifices, and their speculations were often +revolutionary, and as a rule not theistic. It is not easy to find any +English word which describes these people or the Buddhist Bhikkhus. Monk +is perhaps the best, though inadequate. Pilgrim and friar give the idea +of wandering, but otherwise suggest wrong associations. But in calling +them monks, we must remember that though celibates, and to some extent +recluses (for they mixed with the world only in a limited degree), they +were not confined in cloisters. The more stationary lived in woods, +either in huts or the open air, but many spent the greater part of the +year in wandering. + +The practice of adopting a wandering religious life was frequent among +the upper classes, and must have been a characteristic feature of +society. No blame attached to the man who abruptly left his family, +though well-to-do people are represented as dissuading their children +from the step. The interest in philosophical and theological questions +was perhaps even greater than among the Brahmans, and they were +recognized not as parerga to a life of business or amusement, but as +occupations in themselves. Material civilization had not kept pace with +the growth of thought and speculation. Thus restless and inquisitive +minds found little to satisfy them in villages or small towns, and the +wanderer, instead of being a useless rolling stone, was likely not only +to have a more interesting life but to meet with sympathy and respect. +Ideas and discussion were plentiful but there were no books and hardly +any centres of learning. Yet there was even more movement than among the +travelling priests of the Kurus and Pancâlas, a coming and going, a +trafficking in ideas. Knowledge was to be picked up in the market-places +and highways. Up and down the main roads circulated crowds of highly +intelligent men. They lived upon alms, that is to say, they were fed by +the citizens who favoured their opinions or by those good souls who gave +indiscriminately to all holy men—and in the larger places rest houses +were erected for their comfort. It was natural that the more commanding +and original spirits should collect others round them and form bands, +for though there was public discussion, writing was not used for +religious purposes and he who would study any doctrine had to become the +pupil of a master. The doctrine too involved a discipline, or mode of +life best led in common. Hence these bands easily grew into communities +which we may call orders or sects, if we recognize that their +constitution was more fluid and less formal than is implied by those +words. It is not easy to say how much organization such communities +possessed before the time of the Buddha. His Sangha was the most +successful of them all and doubtless surpassed the others in this as in +other respects. Yet it was modelled on existing institutions and the +Vinaya Pitaka[226] itself represents him as prescribing the observance +of times and seasons, not so much because he thought it necessary as +because the laity suggested that he would do well to follow the practice +of the Titthiya schools. By this phrase we are to understand the +adherents of Makkhali Gosâla, Sâñjaya Belaṭṭhiputta and others. We know +less about these sects than we could wish, but two lists of schools or +theories are preserved, one in the Brahmajâla Sutta[227] where the +Buddha himself criticises 62 erroneous views and another in Jain +literature[228], which enumerates no fewer than 363. + +Both catalogues are somewhat artificial, and it is clear that many views +are mentioned not because they represent the tenets of real schools but +from a desire to condemn all possible errors. But the list of topics +discussed is interesting. From the Brahmajâla Sutta we learn that the +problems which agitated ancient Magadha were such as the following:--is +the world eternal or not: is it infinite or finite: is there a cause for +the origin of things or is it without cause: does the soul exist after +death: if so, is its existence conscious or unconscious: is it eternal +or does it cease to exist, not necessarily at the end of its present +life but after a certain number of lives: can it enjoy perfect bliss +here or elsewhere? Theories on these and other points are commonly +called vâda or talk, and those who hold them vâdins. Thus there is the +Kâla-vâda[229] which makes Time the origin and principle of the +universe, and the Svabhâva-vada which teaches that things come into +being of their own accord. This seems crude when stated with archaic +frankness but becomes plausible if paraphrased in modern language as +"discontinuous variation and the spontaneous origin of definite +species." There were also the Niyati-vâdins, or fatalists, who believed +that all that happens is the result of Niyati or fixed order, and the +Yadricchâ-vâdins who, on the contrary, ascribed everything to chance and +apparently denied causation, because the same result follows from +different antecedents. It is noticeable that none of these views imply +theism or pantheism but the Buddha directed so persistent a polemic +against the doctrine of the Âtman that it must have been known in +Magadha. The fundamental principles of the Sânkhya were also known, +though perhaps not by that name. It is probably correct to say not that +the Buddha borrowed from the Sânkhya but that both he and the Sânkhya +accepted and elaborated in different ways certain current views. + +The Pali Suttas[230] mention six agnostic or materialist teachers and +give a brief but perhaps not very just compendium of their doctrines. +One of them was the founder of the Jains who, as a sect that has lasted +to the present day with a considerable record in art and literature, +merit a separate chapter. Of the remaining five, one, Sâñjaya of the +Belaṭṭha clan, was an agnostic, similar to the people described +elsewhere[231] as eel-wrigglers, who in answer to such questions as, is +there a result of good and bad actions, decline to say either _(a)_ +there is, _(b)_ there is not, _(c)_ there both is and is not, _(d)_ +there neither is nor is not. This form of argument has been adopted by +Buddhism for some important questions but Sâñjaya and his disciples +appear to have applied it indiscriminately and to have concluded that +positive assertion is impossible. + +The other four were in many respects what we should call fatalists and +materialists[232], or in the language of their time Akriya-vâdins, +denying, that is, free will, responsibility and the merit or demerit of +good or bad actions. They nevertheless believed in metempsychosis and +practised asceticism. Apparently they held that beings are born again +and again according to a natural law, but not according to their deeds: +and that though asceticism cannot accelerate the soul's journey, yet at +a certain stage it is a fore-ordained and indispensable preliminary to +emancipation. The doctrines attributed to all four are crude and +startling. Perhaps they are exaggerated by the Buddhist narrator, but +they also reflect the irreverent exuberance of young thought. Pûraṇa +Kassapa denies that there is any merit in virtue or harm in murder. +Another ascetic called Ajita of the garment of hair teaches that nothing +exists but the four elements, and that "fools and wise alike are +annihilated on the dissolution of the body and after death they are +not." Then why, one asks, was he an ascetic? Similarly Pakudha Kaccâyana +states that "when a sharp sword cleaves a head in twain" the soul and +pain play a part similar to that played by the component elements of the +sword and head. The most important of these teachers was Makkhali +Gosâla. His doctrine comprises a denial of causation and free will and +an assertion that fools and wise alike will make an end of pain after +wandering through eighty-four hundred thousand births. The followers of +this teacher were called ÂjÎvikas: they were a distinct body in the time +of Asoka, and the name[233] occurs as late as the thirteenth century in +South Indian inscriptions. Several accounts[234] of the founder are +extant, but all were compiled by bitter opponents, for he was hated by +Jains and Buddhists alike. His doctrine was closely allied to Jainism, +especially the Digambara sect, but was probably more extravagant and +anti-social. He appears to have objected to confraternities[235], to +have enjoined a solitary life, absolute nudity and extreme forms of +self-mortification, such as eating filth. The Jains accused his +followers of immorality and perhaps they were ancient prototypes of the +lower class of religious mendicants who have brought discredit on +Hinduism. + +3 + +None of the phases of religious life described above can be called +popular. The religion of the Brahmans was the thought and science of a +class. The various un-Brahmanic confraternities usually required their +members to be wandering ascetics. They had little to say to village +householders who must have constituted the great majority of the +population. Also there are signs that priests and nobles, however much +they quarrelled, combined to keep the lower castes in subjection[236]. +Yet we can hardly doubt that then as now all classes were profoundly +religious, and that just as to-day village deities unknown to the Vedas, +or even to the Puranas, receive the worship of millions, so then there +were gods and rites that did not lack popular attention though unnoticed +in the scriptures of Brahmans and Buddhists. + +We know little of this popular religion by direct description before or +even during the Buddhist period, but we have fragmentary indications of +its character. Firstly several incongruous observances have obtruded +themselves into the Brahmanic ritual. Thus in the course of the +Mahâvrata ceremony[237] the Hotri priest sits in a swing and maidens, +carrying pitchers of water on their heads and singing, dance round an +altar while drums are beaten. Parallels to this may be found to-day. The +image of Krishna, or even a priest who represents Krishna, is swung to +and fro in many temples, the use of drums in worship is distressingly +common, and during the Pongol festivities in southern India young people +dance round or leap over a fire. Other remarkable features in the +Mahâvrata are the shooting of arrows into a target of skin, the use of +obscene language (such as is still used at the Holi festival) and even +obscene acts[238]. We must not assume that popular religion in ancient +India was specially indecent, but it probably included ceremonies +analogous to the Lupercalia and Thesmophoria, in which licence in words +and deeds was supposed to promote fertility and prosperity. + +We are also justified in supposing that offerings to ancestors and many +ceremonies mentioned in the Gṛihya-sûtras or handbooks of domestic +ritual were performed by far larger classes of the population than the +greater sacrifices, but we have no safe criteria for distinguishing +between priestly injunctions and the real practice of ancient times. + +Secondly, in the spells and charms of the Atharva[239], which received +the Brahmanic imprimatur later than the other three Vedas, we find an +outlook differing from that of the other Vedas and resembling the +popular religion of China. Mankind are persecuted by a host of evil +spirits and protect themselves by charms addressed directly to their +tormentors or by invoking the aid of beneficent powers. All nature is +animated by good and evil spirits, to be dealt with like other natural +advantages or difficulties, but not thought of as moral or spiritual +guides. It is true that the Atharva often rises above this phase, for it +consists not of simple folk-lore, but of folk-lore modified +under-sacerdotal influence. The protecting powers invoked are often the +gods of the Rig Veda[240], but prayers and incantations are also +addressed directly to diseases[241] and demons[242] or, on the other +hand, to healing plants and amulets[243]. We can hardly be wrong in +supposing that in such invocations the Atharva reflects the popular +practice of its time, but it prefers the invocation of counteracting +forces, whether Vedic deities or magical plants, to the propitiation of +malignant spirits, such as the worship of the goddesses presiding over +smallpox and cholera which is still prevalent in India. In this there is +probably a contrast between the ideas of the Aryan and non-Aryan races. +The latter propitiate the demon or disease; the Aryans invoke a +beneficent and healing power. But though on the whole the Atharva is +inclined to banish the black spectres of popular demonology with the +help of luminous Aryan gods, still we find invoked in it and in its +subsidiary literature a multitude of spirits, good and bad, known by +little except their names which, however, often suffice to indicate +their functions. Such are Âśâpati (Lord of the region), Kshetrapati +(Lord of the field), both invoked in ceremonies for destroying locusts +and other noxious insects, Śakambhara and Apvâ, deities of diarrhoea, +and Arâti, the goddess of avarice and grudge. In one hymn[244] the poet +invokes, together with many Vedic deities, all manner of nature spirits, +demons, animals, healing plants, seasons and ghosts. A similar +collection of queer and vague personalities is found in the popular +pantheon of China to-day[245]. + +Thirdly, various deities who are evidently considered to be well known, +play some part in the Pali Pitakas. Those most frequently mentioned are +Mahâbrahmâ or Brahmâ Sahampati, and Sakka or Indra, but not quite the +same as the Vedic Indra and less in need of libations of Soma. In two +curious suttas[246] deputations of deities, clearly intended to include +all the important gods worshipped at the time, are represented as +visiting the Buddha. In both lists a prominent position is given to the +Four Great Kings, or Ruling Spirits of the Four Quarters, accompanied by +retinues called Gandhabbas, Kumbhandas, Nâgas, and Yakkhas respectively, +and similar to the Nats of Burma. The Gandhabbas (or Gandharvas) are +heavenly musicians and mostly benevolent, but are mentioned in the +Brâhmaṇas as taking possession of women who then deliver oracles. The +Nâgas are serpents, sometimes represented as cobras with one or more +heads and sometimes as half human: sometimes they live in palaces under +the water or in the depths of the earth and sometimes they are the +tutelary deities of trees. Serpent worship has undoubtedly been +prevalent in India in all ages: indications of it are found in the +earliest Buddhist sculptures and it still survives[247]. The Yakkhas (or +Yakshas) though hardly demons (as their name is often rendered) are +mostly ill disposed to the human race, sometimes man-eaters and often of +unedifying conduct. The Mahâsamaya-sutta also mentions mountain spirits +from the Himalaya, Satagiri, and Mount Vepulla. Of the Devas or chiefs +of the Yakkhas in this catalogue only a few are known to Brahmanic +works, such as Soma, Varuṇa, Veṇhu (Vishnu), the Yamas, Pajâpati, Inda +(Indra), Sanan-kumâra. All these deities are enumerated together with +little regard to the positions they occupy in the sacerdotal pantheon. +The enquirer finds a similar difficulty when he tries in the twentieth +century to identify rural deities, or even the tutelaries of many great +temples, with any personages recognized by the canonical literature. + +In several discourses attributed to the Buddha[248] is incorporated a +tract called the Sîla-vagga, giving a list of practices of which he +disapproved, such as divination and the use of spells and drugs. Among +special observances censured, the following are of interest. (_a_) Burnt +offerings, and offerings of blood drawn from the right knee. (_b_) The +worship of the Sun, of Siri, the goddess of Luck, and of the Great One, +meaning perhaps the Earth. (_c_) Oracles obtained from a mirror, or from +a girl possessed by a spirit or from a god. + +We also find allusions in Buddhist and Jain works as well as in the +inscriptions of Asoka to popular festivals or fairs called Samajjas[249] +which were held on the tops of hills and seem to have included music, +recitations, dancing and perhaps dramatic performances. These meetings +were probably like the modern _mela_, half religion and half +entertainment, and it was in such surroundings that the legends and +mythology which the great Epics show in full bloom first grew and +budded. + +Thus we have evidence of the existence in pre-Buddhist India of rites +and beliefs—the latter chiefly of the kind called animistic—disowned for +the most part by the Buddhists and only tolerated by the Brahmans. No +elaborate explanation of this popular religion or of its relation to +more intellectual and sacerdotal cults is necessary, for the same thing +exists at the present day and the best commentary on the Sîla-vagga is +Crooke's _Popular Religion and Folk-lore of Northern India_. + +In themselves such popular superstitions may seem despicable and +repulsive (as the Buddha found them), but when they are numerous and +vigorous, as in India, they have a real importance for they provide a +matrix and nursery in which the beginnings of great religions may be +reared. Sâktism and the worship of Râma and Krishna, together with many +less conspicuous cults, all entered Brahmanism in this way. Whenever a +popular cult grew important or whenever Brahmanic influence spread to a +new district possessing such a cult, the popular cult was recognized and +brahmanized. This policy can be abundantly illustrated for the last four +or five centuries (for instance in Assam), and it was in operation two +and a half millenniums ago or earlier. It explains the low and magical +character of the residue of popular religion, every ceremony and deity +of importance being put under Brahmanic patronage, and it also explains +the sudden appearance of new deities. We can safely assert that in the +time of the Buddha, and _a fortiori_ in the time of the older +Upanishads[250] and Brâhmaṇas, Krishna and Râma were not prominent as +deities in Hindustan, but it may well be that they had a considerable +position as heroes whose exploits were recited at popular festivals and +that Krishna was growing into a god in other regions which have left no +literature. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE JAINS[251] + +1 + + +Before leaving pre-Buddhist India, it may be well to say something of +the Jains. Many of their doctrines, especially their disregard not only +of priests but of gods, which seems to us so strange in any system which +can be called a religion, are closely analogous to Buddhism and from one +point of view Jainism is part of the Buddhist movement. But more +accurately it may be called an early specialized form of the general +movement which culminated in Buddhism. Its founder, Mahâvîra, was an +earlier contemporary of the Buddha and not a pupil or imitator[252]. +Even had its independent appearance been later, we might still say that +it represents an earlier stage of thought. Its kinship to the theories +mentioned in the last chapter is clear. It does not indeed deny +responsibility and free will, but its advocacy of extreme asceticism and +death by starvation has a touch of the same extravagance and its list of +elements in which physical substances and ideas are mixed together is +curiously crude. + +Jainism is atheistic, and this atheism is as a rule neither apologetic +nor polemical but is accepted as a natural religious attitude. By +atheism, of course, a denial of the existence of Devas is not meant; the +Jains surpass, if possible, the exuberant fancy of the Brahmans and +Buddhists in designing imaginary worlds and peopling them with angelic +or diabolical inhabitants, but, as in Buddhism, these beings are like +mankind subject to transmigration and decay and are not the masters, +still less the creators, of the universe. There were two principal world +theories in ancient India. One, which was systematized as the Vedânta, +teaches in its extreme form that the soul and the universal spirit are +identical and the external world an illusion. The other, systematized as +the Sânkhya, is dualistic and teaches that primordial matter and +separate individual souls are both of them uncreated and indestructible. +Both lines of thought look for salvation in the liberation of the soul +to be attained by the suppression of the passions and the acquisition of +true knowledge. + +Jainism belongs to the second of these classes. It teaches that the +world is eternal, self-existent and composed of six constituent +substances: souls, dharma, adharma, space, time, and particles of +matter[253]. Dharma and adharma are defined by modern Jains as subtle +substances analogous to space which make it possible for things to move +or rest, but Jacobi is probably right in supposing that in primitive +speculation the words had their natural meaning and denoted subtle +fluids which cause merit and demerit. In any case the enumeration places +in singular juxtaposition substances and activities, the material and +the immaterial. The process of salvation and liberation is not +distinguished from physical processes and we see how other sects may +have drawn the conclusion, which apparently the Jains did not draw, that +human action is necessitated and that there is no such thing as free +will. For Jainism individual souls are free, separate existences, whose +essence is pure intelligence. But they have a tendency towards action +and passion and are misled by false beliefs. For this reason, in the +existence which we know they are chained to bodies and are found not +only in Devas and in human beings but in animals, plants and inanimate +matter. The habitation of the soul depends on the merit or demerit which +it acquires and merit and demerit have respectively greater or less +influence during immensely long periods called Utsarpinî and Avasarpinî, +ascending and descending, in which human stature and the duration of +life increase or decrease by a regular law. Merit secures birth among +the gods or good men. Sin sends the soul to baser births, even in +inanimate substances. On this downward path, the intelligence is +gradually dimmed till at last motion and consciousness are lost, which +is not however regarded as equivalent to annihilation. + +Another dogmatic exposition of the Jain creed is based on seven +principles, called soul, non-soul, influx, imprisonment, exclusion, +dissipation, release[254]. Karma, which in the ordinary language of +Indian philosophy means deeds and their effect on the soul, is here +regarded as a peculiarly subtle form of matter[255] which enters the +soul and by this influx (or âsrava, a term well-known in Buddhism) +defiles and weighs it down. As food is transformed into flesh, so the +Karma forms a subtle body which invests the soul and prevents it from +being wholly isolated from matter at death. The upward path and +liberation of the soul are effected by stopping the entrance of Karma, +that is by not performing actions which give occasion to the influx, and +by expelling it. The most effective means to this end is +self-mortification, which not only prevents the entrance of new Karma +but annihilates what has accumulated. + +Like most Indian sects, Jainism considers the world of transmigration as +a bondage or journey which the wise long to terminate. But joyless as is +its immediate outlook, its ultimate ideas are not pessimistic. Even in +the body the soul can attain a beatific state of perfect knowledge[256] +and above the highest heaven (where the greatest gods live in bliss for +immense periods though ultimately subject to transmigration) is the +paradise of blessed souls, freed from transmigration. They have no +visible form but consist of life throughout, and enjoy happiness beyond +compare. With a materialism characteristic of Jain theology, the +treatise from which this account is taken[257] adds that the dimensions +of a perfected soul are two-thirds of the height possessed in its last +existence. + +How is this paradise to be reached? By right faith, right knowledge and +right conduct, called the three jewels, a phrase familiar to Buddhism. +The right faith is complete confidence in Mahâvîra and his teaching. +Right knowledge is correct theology as outlined above. Knowledge is of +five degrees of which the highest is called Kevalam or omniscience. This +sounds ambitious, but the special method of reasoning favoured by the +Jains is the modest Syâdvâda[258] or doctrine of may-be, which holds +that you can (1) affirm the existence of a thing from one point of view, +(2) deny it from another, and (3) affirm both existence and +non-existence with reference to it at different times. If (4) you should +think of affirming existence and non-existence at the same time and from +the same point of view, you must say that the thing cannot be spoken of. +The essence of the doctrine, so far as one can disentangle it from +scholastic terminology, seems just, for it amounts to this, that as to +matters of experience it is impossible to formulate the whole and +complete truth, and as to matters which transcend experience language is +inadequate: also that Being is associated with production, continuation +and destruction. This doctrine is called _anekânta-vâda_, meaning that +Being is not one and absolute as the Upanishads assert: matter is +permanent, but changes its shape, and its other accidents. Thus in many +points the Jains adopt the common sense and _primâ facie_ point of view. +But the doctrines of metempsychosis and Karma are also admitted as +obvious propositions, and though the fortunes and struggles of the +embodied soul are described in materialistic terms, happiness is never +placed in material well-being but in liberation from the material +universe. + +We cannot be sure that the existing Jain scriptures present these +doctrines in their original form, but the full acceptance of +metempsychosis, the animistic belief that plants, particles of earth and +water have souls and the materialistic phraseology (from which the +widely different speculations of the Upanishads are by no means free) +agree with what we know of Indian thought about 550 B.C. Jainism like +Buddhism ignores the efficacy of ceremonies and the powers of priests, +but it bears even fewer signs than Buddhism of being in its origin a +protestant or hostile movement. The intellectual atmosphere seems other +than that of the Upanishads, but it is very nearly that of the Sânkhya +philosophy, which also recognizes an infinity of individual souls +radically distinct from matter and capable of attaining bliss only by +isolation from matter. Of the origin of that important school we know +nothing, but it differs from Jainism chiefly in the greater elaboration +of its psychological and evolutionary theories and in the elimination of +some materialistic ideas. Possibly the same region and climate of +opinion gave birth to two doctrines, one simple and practical, inasmuch +as it found its principal expression in a religious order, the other +more intellectual and scholastic and, at least in the form in which we +read it, later[259]. + +Right conduct is based on the five vows taken by every Jain ascetic, (1) +not to kill, (2) not to speak untruth, (3) to take nothing that is not +given, (4) to observe chastity, (5) to renounce all pleasure in external +objects. These vows receive an extensive and strict interpretation by +means of five explanatory clauses applicable to each and to be construed +with reference to deed, word, and thought, to acting, commanding and +consenting. Thus the vow not to kill forbids not only the destruction of +the smallest insect but also all speech or thought which could bring +about a quarrel, and the doing, causing or permitting of any action +which could even inadvertently injure living beings, such as +carelessness in walking. Naturally such rules can be kept only by an +ascetic, and in addition to them asceticism is expressly enjoined. It is +either internal or external. The former takes such forms as repentance, +humility, meditation and the suppression of all desires: the latter +comprises various forms of self-denial, culminating in death by +starvation. This form of religious suicide is prescribed for those who +have undergone twelve years' penance and are ripe for Nirvana[260] but +it is wrong if adopted as a means of shortening austerities. Numerous +inscriptions record such deaths and the head-teachers of the Digambaras +are said still to leave the world in this way. + +Important but not peculiar to Jainism is the doctrine of the periodical +appearance of great teachers who from time to time restore the true +faith[261]. The same idea meets us in the fourteen Manus, the +incarnations of Vishnu, and the series of Buddhas who preceded Gotama. +The Jain saints are sometimes designated as Buddha, Kevalin, Siddha, +Tathâgata and Arhat (all Buddhist titles) but their special appellation +is Jina or conqueror which is, however, also used by Buddhists[262]. It +was clearly a common notion in India that great teachers appear at +regular intervals and that one might reasonably be expected in the sixth +century B.C. The Jains gave preference or prominence to the titles Jina +or Tîrthankara: the Buddhists to Buddha or Tathâgata. + + +2 + +According to the Jain scriptures all Jinas are born in the warrior +caste, never among Brahmans. The first called Rishabha, who was born an +almost inexpressibly[263] long time ago and lived 8,400,000 years, was +the son of a king of Ayodhyâ. But as ages elapsed, the lives of his +successors and the intervals which separated them became shorter. +Parśva, the twenty-third Jina, must have some historical basis[264]. We +are told that he lived 250 years before Mahâvîra, that his followers +still existed in the time of the latter: that he permitted the use of +clothes and taught that four and not five vows were necessary[265]. Both +Jain and Buddhist scriptures support the idea that Mahâvîra was a +reviver and reformer rather than an originator. The former do not +emphasize the novelty of his revelation and the latter treat Jainism as +a well-known form of error without indicating that it was either new or +attributable to one individual. + +Mahâvîra, or the great hero, is the common designation of the +twenty-fourth Jina but his personal name was Vardhamâna. He was a +contemporary of the Buddha but somewhat older and belonged to a +Kshatriya clan, variously called Jñâta, Ñâta, or Ñâya. His parents lived +in a suburb of Vaiśâlî and were followers of Parśva. When he was in his +thirty-first year they decided to die by voluntary starvation and after +their death he renounced the world and started to wander naked in +western Bengal, enduring some persecution as well as self-inflicted +penances. After thirteen years of this life, he believed that he had +attained enlightenment and appeared as the Jina, the head of a religious +order called Nirgaṇṭhas (or Nigaṇṭhas). This word, which means +unfettered or free from bonds, is the name by which the Jains are +generally known in Buddhist literature and it occurs in their own +scriptures, though it gradually fell out of use. Possibly it was the +designation of an order claiming to have been founded by Parśva and +accepted by Mahâvîra. + +The meagre accounts of his life relate that he continued to travel for +nearly thirty years and had eleven principal disciples. He apparently +influenced much the same region as the Buddha and came in contact with +the same personalities, such as kings Bimbisâra and Ajâtasattu. He had +relations with Makkhali Gosâla and his disciples disputed with the +Buddhists[266] but it does not appear that he himself ever met Gotama. +He died at the age of seventy-two at Pâvâ near Râjagaha. Only one of his +principal disciples, Sudharman, survived him and a schism broke out +immediately after his death. There had already been one in the fifteenth +year of his teaching brought about by his son-in-law. + + +3 + +We have no information about the differences on which these schisms +turned, but Jainism is still split into two sects which, though +following in most respects identical doctrines and customs, refuse to +intermarry or eat together. Their sacred literature is not the same and +the evidence of inscriptions indicates that they were distinct at the +beginning of the Christian era and perhaps much earlier. + +The Digambara sect, or those who are clothed in air, maintain that +absolute nudity is a necessary condition of saintship: the other +division or Śvetâmbaras, those who are dressed in white, admit that +Mahâvîra went about naked, but hold that the use of clothes does not +impede the highest sanctity, and also that such sanctity can be attained +by women, which the Digambaras deny. Nudity as a part of asceticism was +practised by several sects in the time of Mahâvîra[267] but it was also +reprobated by others (including all Buddhists) who felt it to be +barbarous and unedifying. It is therefore probable that both Digambaras +and Śvetâmbaras existed in the infancy of Jainism, and the latter may +represent the older sect reformed or exaggerated by Mahâvîra. Thus we +are told[268] that "the law taught by Vardhamâna forbids clothes but +that of the great sage Parśva allows an under and an upper garment." But +it was not until considerably later that the schism was completed by the +constitution of two different canons[269]. At the present day most +Digambaras wear the ordinary costume of their district and only the +higher ascetics attempt to observe the rule of nudity. When they go +about they wrap themselves in a large cloth, but lay it aside when +eating. The Digambaras are divided into four principal sects and the +Śvetâmbaras into no less than eighty-four, which are said to date from +the tenth century A.D. + +Apart from these divisions, all Jain communities are differentiated into +laymen and members of the order or Yatis, literally strivers. It is +recognized that laymen cannot observe the five vows. Killing, lying, and +stealing are forbidden to them only in their obvious and gross forms: +chastity is replaced by conjugal fidelity and self-denial by the +prohibition of covetousness. They can also acquire merit by observing +seven other miscellaneous vows (whence we hear of the twelvefold law) +comprising rules as to residence, trade, etc. Agriculture is forbidden +since it involves tearing up the ground and the death of insects. + +Mahâvîra was succeeded by a long line of teachers sometimes called +Patriarchs and it would seem that their names have been correctly +preserved though the accounts of their doings are meagre. Various +notices in Buddhist literature confirm the idea that the Jains were +active in the districts corresponding to Oudh, Tirhut and Bihar in the +period following Mahâvîra's death, and we hear of them in Ceylon before +our era. Further historical evidence is afforded by inscriptions[270]. +The earliest in which the Jains are mentioned are the edicts of Asoka. +He directed the officials called "superintendents of religion" to +concern themselves with the Niganṭḥas[271]: and when [272] he describes +how he has provided medicine, useful plants and wells for both men and +animals, we are reminded of the hospitals for animals which are still +maintained by the Jains. According to Jain tradition (which however has +not yet been verified by other evidence) Samprati, the grandson of +Asoka, was a devout patron of the faith. More certain is the patronage +accorded to it by King Khâravela of Orissa about 157 B.C. which is +attested by inscriptions. Many dedicatory inscriptions prove that the +Jains were a flourishing community at Muttra in the reigns of Kanishka, +Huvishka and Vasudeva and one inscription from the same locality seems +as old as 150 B.C. We learn from these records that the sect comprised a +great number of schools and subdivisions. We need not suppose that the +different teachers were necessarily hostile to one another but their +existence testifies to an activity and freedom of interpretation which +have left traces in the multitude of modern subsects. + +Jainism also spread in the south of India and before our era it had a +strong hold in Tamil lands, but our knowledge of its early progress is +defective. According to Jain tradition there was a severe famine in +northern India about 200 years after Mahâvîra's death and the patriarch +Bhadrabâhu led a band of the faithful to the south[273]. In the seventh +century A.D. we know from various records of the reign of Harsha and +from the Chinese pilgrim Hsüan Chuang that it was nourishing in Vaiśâlî +and Bengal and also as far south as Conjeevaram. It also made +considerable progress in the southern Maratha country under the Câlukya +dynasty of Vatapi, in the modern district of Bijapur (500-750) and under +the Râshṭrakûta sovereigns of the Deccan. Amoghavarsha of this line +(815-877) patronized the Digambaras and in his old age abdicated and +became an ascetic. The names of notable Digambara leaders like Jinasena +and Guṇabhadra dating from this period are preserved and Jainism must in +some districts have become the dominant religion. Bijjala who usurped +the Câlukya throne (1156-1167) was a Jain and the Hoysala kings of +Mysore, though themselves Vaishnavas, protected the religion. +Inscriptions[274] appear to attest the presence of Jainism at Girnar in +the first century A.D. and subsequently Gujarat became a model Jain +state after the conversion of King Kumarapala about 1160. + +Such success naturally incurred the enmity of the Brahmans and there is +more evidence of systematic persecution directed against the Jains than +against the Buddhists. The Cola kings who ruled in the south-east of the +Madras Presidency were jealous worshippers of Siva and the Jains +suffered severely at their hands in the eleventh century and also under +the Pândya kings of the extreme south. King Sundara of the latter +dynasty is said to have impaled 8000 of them and pictures on the walls +of the great temple at Madura represent their tortures. A little later +(1174) Ajayadeva, a Saiva king of Gujarat, is said to have raged against +them with equal fury. The rise of the Lingâyats in the Deccan must also +have had an unfavourable effect on their numbers. But in the fourteenth +century greater tolerance prevailed, perhaps in consequence of the +common danger from Islam. Inscriptions found at Sravana Belgola and +other places[275] narrate an interesting event which occurred in 1368. +The Jains appealed to the king of Vijayanagar for protection from +persecution and he effected a public reconciliation between them and the +Vaishnavas, holding the hands of both leaders in his own and declaring +that equal protection would be given to both sects. Another inscription +records an amicable agreement regulating the worship of a lingam in a +Jain temple at Halebid. Many others, chiefly recording grants of land, +testify to the prosperity of Jainism in the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar +and in the region of Mt Abu in the sixteenth and seventeenth +centuries[276]. The great Emperor Akbar himself came under the influence +of Jainism and received instruction from three Jain teachers from 1578 +to 1597. + +Persecution and still more the steady pressure and absorptive power of +Hinduism have reduced the proportions of the sect, and the last census +estimated it at one million and a third. It is probable, however, that +many Jains returned themselves as Hindus, and that their numbers are +really greater. More than two-fifths of them are found in Bombay, +Rajputana, and Central India. Elsewhere they are generally distributed +but only in small numbers. They observe caste, at least in some +districts, and generally belong to the Baniyas. They include many +wealthy merchants who expend large sums on the construction and +maintenance of temples, houses for wandering ascetics and homes for +cattle. Their respect and care for animal life are remarkable. Wherever +Jains gain influence beasts are not slaughtered or sacrificed, and when +old or injured are often kept in hospitals or asylums, as, for instance, +at Ahmadabad[277]. Their ascetics take stringent precautions to avoid +killing the smallest creature: they strain their drinking water, sweep +the ground before them with a broom as they walk and wear a veil over +their mouths. Even in the shops of the laity lamps are carefully +screened to prevent insects from burning themselves. + +The principal divisions are the Digambara and Śvetâmbara as above +described and an offshoot of the latter called Dhundia[278] who refuse +to use images in worship and are remarkable even among Jains for their +aversion to taking life. In Central India the Digambaras are about half +the total number; in Baroda and Bombay the Śvetâmbaras are stronger. In +Central India the Jains are said to be sharply distinguished from Hindus +but in other parts they intermarry with Vaishnavas and while respecting +their own ascetics as religious teachers, employ the services of +Brahmans in their ceremonies. + + +4 + +The Jains have a copious and in part ancient literature. The oldest +works are found in the canon (or Siddhânta) of the Śvetâmbaras, which is +not accepted by the Digambaras. In this canon the highest rank is given +to eleven works[279] called Angas or limbs of the law but it also +comprises many other esteemed treatises such as the Kalpasûtra ascribed +to Bhadrabâhu. Fourteen older books called Puvvas (Sk. Pûrvas) and now +lost are said to have together formed a twelfth anga. The language of +the canon is a variety of Prakrit[280], fairly ancient though more +modern than Pali, and remarkable for its habit of omitting or softening +consonants coming between two vowels, _e.g._ sûyam for sûtram, loo for +loko[281]. We cannot, however, conclude that it is the language in which +the books were composed, for it is probable that the early Jains, +rejecting Brahmanical notions of a revealed text, handed down their +religious teaching in the vernacular and allowed its grammar and +phonetics to follow the changes brought about by time. According to a +tradition which probably contains elements of truth the first collection +of sacred works was made about 200 years after Mahâvîra's death by a +council which sat at Pataliputra. Just about the same time came the +famine already mentioned and many Jains migrated to the south. When they +returned they found that their co-religionists had abandoned the +obligation of nakedness and they consequently refused to recognize their +sacred books. The Śvetâmbara canon was subsequently revised and written +down by a council held at Valabhi in Gujarat in the middle of the fifth +century A.D. This is the edition which is still extant. The canon of the +Digambaras, which is less well known, is said to be chiefly in Sanskrit +and according to tradition was codified by Pushpadanta in the second +century A.D. but appears to be really posterior to the Śvetâmbara +scriptures[282]. It is divided into four sections called Vedas and +treating respectively of history, cosmology, philosophy and rules of +life[283]. + +Though the books of the Jain canon contain ancient matter, yet they +seem, as compositions, considerably later than the older parts of the +Buddhist Tripitaka. They do not claim to record recent events and +teaching but are attempts at synthesis which assume that Jainism is well +known and respected. In style they offer some resemblance to the +Pitakas: there is the same inordinate love of repetition and in the more +emotional passages great similarity of tone and metaphor[284]. + +Besides the two canons, the Jains have a considerable literature +consisting both of commentaries and secular works. The most eminent of +their authors is Hemacandra, born in 1088, who though a monk was an +ornament of the court and rendered an important service to his sect by +converting Kumârapâla, King of Gujarat. He composed numerous and +valuable works on grammar, lexicography, poetics and ecclesiastical +biography. Such subjects were congenial to the later Jain writers and +they not only cultivated both Sanskrit and Prakrit but also had a +vivifying effect on the vernaculars of southern India. Kanarese, Tamil, +and Telugu in their literary form owe much to the labours of Jain monks, +and the Jain works composed in these languages, such as the +Jîvakacintâmaṇi in Tamil, if not of world-wide importance, at least +greatly influenced Dravidian civilization. + +Though the Jains thus occupy an honourable, and even distinguished place +in the history of letters it must be confessed that it is hard to praise +their older religious books. This literature is of considerable +scientific interest for it contains many data about ancient India as yet +unsifted but it is tedious in style and rarely elevated in sentiment. It +has an arid extravagance, which merely piles one above the other +interminable lists of names and computations of immensity in time and +space. Even more than in the Buddhist suttas there is a tendency to +repetition which offends our sense of proportion and though the main +idea, to free the soul from the trammels of passion and matter, is not +inferior to any of the religious themes of India, the treatment is not +adequate to the subject and the counsels of perfection are smothered +under a mass of minute precepts about the most unsavoury details of life +and culminate in the recommendation of death by voluntary starvation. + + +5 + +But observation of Jainism as it exists to-day produces a quite +different impression. The Jains are well-to-do, industrious and +practical: their schools and religious establishments are well ordered: +their temples have a beauty, cleanliness, and cheerfulness unusual in +India and due to the large use made of white marble and brilliant +colours. The tenderness for animal life may degenerate into superstition +(though surely it is a fault on the right side) and some observances of +the ascetics (such as pulling out the hair instead of shaving the head) +are severe, but as a community the Jains lead sane and serious lives, +hardly practising and certainly not parading the extravagances of +self-torture which they theoretically commend. Mahâvîra is said to have +taught that place, time and occasion should be taken into consideration +and his successors adapted their precepts to the age in which they +lived. Such monks as I have met[285] maintained that extreme forms of +_tapas_ were good for the nerves of ancient saints but not for the +weaker natures of to-day. But in avoiding rigorous severity, they have +not fallen into sloth or luxury. + +The beauty of Jainism finds its best expression in architecture. This +reached its zenith both in style and quantity during the eleventh and +twelfth centuries which accords with what we know of the growth of the +sect. After this period the Mohammedan invasions were unfavourable to +all forms of Hindu architecture. But the taste for building remained and +somewhat later pious Jains again began to construct large edifices which +are generally less degenerate than modern Hindu temples, though they +often show traces of Mohammedan influence. Hathi Singh's temple at +Ahmadabad completed in 1848 is a fine example of this modern style. + +There is a considerable difference between Jain and Buddhist +architecture both in intention and effect. Jain monks did not live +together in large communities and there was no worship of relics. Hence +the vihâra and the stûpa—the two principal types of Buddhist +buildings—are both absent. Yet there is some resemblance between Jain +temples (for instance those at Palitâna) and the larger Burmese +sanctuaries, such as the Shwe Dagon Pagoda. It is partly due to the same +conviction, namely that the most meritorious work which a layman can +perform is to multiply shrines and images. In both localities the +general plan is similar. On the top of a hill or mound is a central +building round which are grouped a multitude of other shrines. The +repetition of chapels and images is very remarkable: in Burma they all +represent Gotama, in Jain temples the figures of Tîrthankaras are +nominally different personalities but so alike in presentment that the +laity rarely know them apart. In both styles of art white and jewelled +images are common as well as groups of four sitting figures set back to +back and facing the four quarters[286]: in both we meet with veritable +cities of temples, on the hill tops of Gujarat and in the plain of Pagan +on the banks of the Irawaddy. As some features of Burmese art are +undoubtedly borrowed from India[287], the above characteristics may be +due to imitation of Jain methods. It might be argued that the +architectural style of late Indian Buddhism survives among the Jains but +there is no proof that the multiplication of temples and images was a +feature of this style. But in some points it is clear that the Jains +have followed the artistic conventions of the Buddhists. Thus +Pârśvanâtha is sheltered by a cobra's hood, like Gotama, and though the +Bo-tree plays no part in the legend of the Tîrthankaras, they are +represented as sitting under such trees and a living tree is venerated +at Palitâna. + +As single edifices illustrating the beauty of Jain art both in grace of +design and patient elaboration of workmanship may be mentioned the +Towers of Fame and Victory at Chitore, and the temples of Mt Abu. Some +differences of style are visible in north and south India. In the former +the essential features are a shrine with a portico attached and +surmounted by a conical tower, the whole placed in a quadrangular court +round which are a series of cells or chapels containing images seated on +thrones. These are the Tîrthankaras, almost exactly alike and of white +marble, though some of the later saints are represented as black. The +Śvetâmbaras represent their Tîrthankaras as clothed but in the temples +of the Digambaras the images are naked. + +In the south are found religious monuments of two kinds known as Bastis +and Bettus. The Bastis consist of pillared vestibules leading to a +shrine over which rises a dome constructed in three or four stages. The +Bettus are not temples in the ordinary sense but courtyards surrounding +gigantic images of a saint named Gommateśvara who is said to have been +the son of the first Tîrthankara[288]. The largest of these colossi is +at Sravana Belgola. It is seventy feet in height and carved out of a +mass of granite standing on the top of a hill and represents a sage so +sunk in meditation that anthills and creepers have grown round his feet +without breaking his trance. An inscription states that it was erected +about 983 A.D. by the minister of a king of the Ganga dynasty[289]. + +But even more remarkable than these gigantic statues are the collections +of temples found on several eminences, such as Girnar and +Satrunjaya[290], mountain masses which rise abruptly to a height of +three or four thousand feet out of level plains. On the summit of +Satrunjaya are innumerable shrines, arranged in marble courts or along +well-paved streets. In each enclosure is a central temple surrounded by +others at the sides, and all are dominated by one which in the +proportions of its spire and courtyard surpasses the rest. Only a few +Yatis are allowed to pass the night in the sacred precincts and it is a +strange experience to enter the gates at dawn and wander through the +interminable succession of white marble courts tenanted only by flocks +of sacred pigeons. On every side sculptured chapels gorgeous in gold and +colour stand silent and open: within are saints sitting grave and +passionless behind the lights that burn on their altars. The multitude +of calm stone faces, the strange silence and emptiness, unaccompanied by +any sign of neglect or decay, the bewildering repetition of shrines and +deities in this aerial castle, suggest nothing built with human purpose +but some petrified spirit world. + +Soon after dawn a string of devotees daily ascends the hill. Most are +laymen, but there is a considerable sprinkling of ascetics, especially +nuns. After joining the order both sexes wear yellowish white robes and +carry long sticks. They spend much of their time in visiting holy places +and usually do not stop at one rest house for more than two months. The +worship performed in the temples consists of simple offerings of +flowers, incense and lights made with little ceremony. Pilgrims go their +rounds in small bands and kneeling together before the images sing the +praises of the Jinas. + + +6 + +It is remarkable that Jainism is still a living sect, whereas the +Buddhists have disappeared from India. Its strength and persistence are +centred in its power of enlisting the interest of the laity and of +forming them into a corporation. In theory the position of the Jain and +Buddhist layman is the same. Both revere and support a religious order +for which they have not a vocation, and are bound by minor vows less +stringent than those of the monks. But among the Buddhists the members +of the order came to be regarded more and more as the true church[291] +and the laity tended to become (what they actually have become in China +and Japan) pious persons who revere that order as something extraneous +to themselves and very often only as one among several religious +organizations. Hence when in India monasteries decayed or were +destroyed, little active Buddhism was left outside them. But the +wandering ascetics of the Jains never concentrated the strength of the +religion in themselves to the same extent; the severity of their rule +limited their numbers: the laity were wealthy and practically formed a +caste; persecution acted as a tonic. As a result we have a sect +analogous in some ways to the Jews, Parsis, and Quakers[292], among all +of whom we find the same features, namely a wealthy laity, little or no +sacerdotalism and endurance of persecution. + +Another question of some interest is how far Jainism should be regarded +as separate from Buddhism. Historically the position seems clear. Both +are offshoots of a movement which was active in India in the sixth +century B.C. in certain districts and especially among the aristocracy. +Of these offshoots—the survivors among many which hardly outlived their +birth—Jainism was a trifle the earlier, but Buddhism was superior and +more satisfying to the intellect and moral sense alike. Out of the +theory and practice of religious life current in their time Gotama +fashioned a beautiful vase, Mahâvîra a homely but still durable pot. The +resemblances between the two systems are not merely obvious but +fundamental. Both had their origin outside the priestly class and owed +much of their success to the protection of princes. Both preach a road +to salvation open to man's unaided strength and needing neither +sacrifice nor revealed lore. Both are universal, for though Buddhism set +about its world mission with more knowledge and grasp of the task, the +Jain sûtras are addressed "to Aryans and non-Aryans" and it is said that +in modern times Mohammedans have been received into the Jain Church. +Neither is theistic. Both believe in some form of reincarnation, in +karma and in the periodical appearance of beings possessed of superhuman +knowledge and called indifferently Jinas or Buddhas. The historian may +therefore be disposed to regard the two religions as not differing much +more than the varieties of Protestant Dissenters to be found in Great +Britain. But the theologian will perceive real differences. One of the +most important doctrines of Buddhism---perhaps in the Buddha's own +esteem the central doctrine—is the non-existence of the soul as a +permanent entity: in Jainism on the contrary not only the human body but +the whole world including inanimate matter is inhabited by individual +souls who can also exist apart from matter in individual blessedness. +The Jain theory of fivefold knowledge is unknown to the Buddhists, as is +their theory of the Skandhas to the Jains. Secondly as to practice +Jainism teaches (with some concessions in modern times) that salvation +is obtainable by self-mortification but this is the method which the +Buddha condemned after prolonged trial. It is clear that in his own +opinion and that of his contemporaries the rule and ideal of life which +he prescribed differed widely from those of the Jains, Âjîvikas and +other wandering ascetics. + + + + +BOOK III + +PALI BUDDHISM + + + + +BOOK III + + +In the previous book I have treated chiefly the general characteristics +of Indian religion. They persist in its later phases but great changes +and additions are made. In the present book I propose to speak about the +life and teaching of the Buddha which even hostile critics must admit to +be a turning point in the history of Indian thought and institutions, +and about the earliest forms of Buddhism. For twelve centuries or more +after the death of this great genius Indian religion flows in two +parallel streams, Buddhist and Brahmanic, which subsequently unite, +Buddhism colouring the whole river but ceasing within India itself to +have any important manifestations distinct from Brahmanism. + +In a general survey it is hardly possible to follow the order of strict +chronology until comparatively modern times. We cannot, for instance, +give a sketch of Indian thought in the first century B.C., simply +because our data do not permit us to assign certain sects and books to +that period rather than to the hundred years which preceded or followed +it. But we can follow with moderate accuracy the two streams of thought +in their respective courses. I have wondered if I should not take +Hinduism first. Its development from ancient Brahmanism is continuous +and Buddhism is merely an episode in it, though a lengthy one. But many +as are the lacunæ in the history of Buddhism, it offers more data and +documents than the history of Hinduism. We know more about the views of +Asoka for instance than about those of Candragupta Maurya. I shall +therefore deal first with Buddhism and then with Hinduism, while +regretting that a parallel and synoptic treatment is impracticable. + +The eight chapters of this book deal mainly with Pali Buddhism[293]--a +convenient and non-controversial term—and not with the Mahayana, though +they note the tendencies which found expression in it. In the first +chapter I treat of the Buddha's life: in the second I venture to compare +him with other great religious teachers: in the third I consider his +doctrine as expounded in the Pali Tripitaka and in the fourth the order +of mendicants which he founded. The nature and value of the Pali Canon +form the subject of the fifth chapter and the sixth is occupied with the +great Emperor Asoka whose name is the clearest landmark in the early +history of Buddhism, and indeed of India. + +The seventh and eighth chapters discuss topics which belong to Hinduism +as well as to Buddhism, namely, meditation and mythology. The latter is +anterior to Buddhism and it is only in a special sense that it can be +called an addition or accretion. Indian thought makes clearings in the +jungle of mythology, which become obliterated or diminished as the +jungle grows over them again. Buddhism was the most thorough of such +clearings, yet it was invaded more rapidly and completely than any +other. The Vedânta and Sânkhya are really, if less obviously, similar +clearings. They raise no objection to popular divinities but such +divinities do not come within the scope of religious philosophy as they +understand it. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +LIFE OF THE BUDDHA + +1 + + +We have hitherto been occupied with obscure and shadowy personalities. +The authors of the Upanishads are nameless and even MahâvÎra is unknown +outside India. But we now come to the career of one who must be ranked +among the greatest leaders of thought that the world has seen, the +Indian prince generally known as Gotama or the Buddha. His historical +character has been called in question, but at the present day probably +few, if any, competent judges doubt that he was a real person whose date +can be fixed and whose life can be sketched at least in outline. + +We have seen that apart from the personality of Gotama, ancient India +was familiar with the idea of a Buddha and had even classified the +attributes he should possess. Two styles of biography are therefore +possible: an account of what Gotama actually was and did and an account +of what a Buddha is expected to be and do. This second style prevails in +later Buddhist works: they contain descriptions of the deeds and +teaching of a Buddha, adapted to such facts in Gotama's life as seemed +suitable for such treatment or could not be ignored. Rhys Davids has +well compared them to _Paradise Regained_, but the supernatural element +is, after the Indian fashion, more ornate. + +The reader will perhaps ask what are the documents describing Gotama's +sayings and doings and what warrant we have for trusting them. I will +treat of this question in more detail in a later chapter and here will +merely say that the Pali works called Vinaya or monastic rules and +Suttas[294] or sermons recount the circumstances in which each rule was +laid down and each sermon preached. Some narrative passages, such as the +Sutta which relates the close of the Buddha's life and the portion of +the Vinaya which tells how he obtained enlightenment and made his first +converts, are of considerable length. Though these narratives are +compilations which accepted new matter during several centuries, I see +no reason to doubt that the oldest stratum contains the recollections of +those who had seen and heard the master. + +In basing the following account on the Pali Canon, I do not mean to +discredit Sanskrit texts merely because they are written in that +language or to deny that many Pali texts contain miraculous and +unhistorical narratives[295]. But the principal Sanskrit Sûtras such as +the Lotus and the Diamond Cutter are purely doctrinal and those texts +which profess to contain historical matter, such as the Vinayas +translated from Sanskrit into Chinese, are as yet hardly accessible to +European scholars. So far as they are known, they add incidents to the +career of the Buddha without altering its main lines, and when the +accounts of such incidents are not in themselves improbable they merit +consideration. On the whole these Sanskrit texts are later and more +embellished than their Pali counterparts, but it is necessary not to +forget the existence of this vast store-house of traditions, which may +contain many surprises[296]. + +Though the Pali texts do not give the story of the Buddha's life in a +connected form, they do give us details about many important events in +it and they offer a picture of the world in which he moved. The idea of +biography was unknown to the older Indian literature. The Brâhmaṇas and +Upanishads tell us of the beliefs and practices of their sages, the +doctrines they taught and the sacrifices they offered, but they rarely +give even an outline of their lives. And whenever the Hindus write about +a man of religion or a philosopher, their weak historical sense and +their strong feeling for the importance of the teaching lead them to +neglect the figure of the teacher and present a portrait which seems to +us dim and impersonal. Indian saints are distinguished by what they +said, not by what they did and it is a strong testimony to Gotama's +individuality and force of character, that in spite of the centuries +which separate us from him and the misty unreal atmosphere which in +later times hangs round his name, his personality is more distinct and +lifelike than that of many later teachers. + +Most of the stories of his youth and childhood have a mythical air and +make their first appearance in works composed long after his death, but +there is no reason to distrust the traditional accounts of his lineage. +He was the son of Suddhodana of the Kshatriya clan known as Sâkya or +Sâkiya[297]. In later literature his father is usually described as a +king but this statement needs qualification. The Sâkyas were a small +aristocratic republic. At the time of the Buddha's birth they recognized +the suzerainty of the neighbouring kingdom of Kosala or Oudh and they +were subsequently annexed by it, but, so long as they were independent, +all that we know of their government leads us to suppose that they were +not a monarchy like Kosala and Magadha. The political and administrative +business of the clan was transacted by an assembly which met in a +council hall[298] at Kapilavatthu. Its president was styled Râjâ but we +do not know how he was selected nor for how long he held office. The +Buddha's father is sometimes spoken of as Râjâ, sometimes as if he were +a simple citizen. Some scholars think the position was temporary and +elective[299]. But in any case it seems clear that he was not a Mahârâjâ +like Ajâtasattu and other monarchs of the period. He was a prominent +member of a wealthy and aristocratic family rather than a despot. In +some passages[300] Brahmans are represented as discussing the Buddha's +claims to respect. It is said that he is of a noble and wealthy family +but not that he is the son of a king or heir to the throne, though the +statement, if true, would be so obvious and appropriate that its +omission is sufficient to disprove it. The point is of psychological +importance, for the later literature in its desire to emphasize the +sacrifice made by the Buddha exaggerates the splendour and luxury by +which he was surrounded in youth and produces the impression that his +temperament was something like that reflected in the book of +Ecclesiastes, the weary calm, bred of satiety and disenchantment, of one +who has possessed everything and found everything to be but vanity. But +this is not the dominant note of the Buddha's discourses as we have +them. He condemns the pleasures and ambitions of the world as +unsatisfying, but he stands before us as one who has resisted and +vanquished temptation rather than as a disillusioned pleasure-seeker. +The tone of these sermons accords perfectly with the supposition, +supported by whatever historical data we possess, that he belonged to a +fighting aristocracy, active in war and debate, wealthy according to the +standard of the times and yielding imperfect obedience to the authority +of kings and priests. The Pitakas allude several times to the pride of +the Sâkyas, and in spite of the gentleness and courtesy of the Buddha +this family trait is often apparent in his attitude, in the independence +of his views, his calm disregard of Brahmanic pretensions and the +authority that marks his utterances. + +The territory of the Sâkyas lay about the frontier which now divides +Nepal from the United Provinces, between the upper Rapti and the Gandak +rivers, a hundred miles or so to the north of Benares. The capital was +called Kapilavatthu[301], and the mention of several other towns in the +oldest texts indicates that the country was populous. Its wealth was +derived chiefly from rice-fields and cattle. The uncultivated parts were +covered with forest and often infested by robbers. The spot where the +Buddha was born was known as the Lumbini Park and the site, or at least +what was supposed to be the site in Asoka's time, is marked by a pillar +erected by that monarch at a place now called Rummindei[302]. His mother +was named Mâyâ and was also of the Sâkya clan. Tradition states that she +died seven days after his birth and that he was brought up by her +sister, Mahâprajâpatî, who was also a wife of Suddhodana. The names of +other relatives are preserved, but otherwise the older documents tell us +nothing of his childhood and the copious legends of the later church +seem to be poetical embellishments. The Sutta-Nipâta contains the story +of an aged seer named Asita who came to see the child and, much like +Simeon, prophesied his future greatness but wept that he himself must +die before hearing the new gospel. + +The personal name of the Buddha was Siddhârtha in Sanskrit or Siddhattha +in Pali, meaning he who has achieved his object, but it is rarely used. +Persons who are introduced in the Pitakas as addressing him directly +either employ a title or call him Gotama (Sanskrit Gautama). This was +the name of his _gotra_ or gens and roughly corresponds to a surname, +being less comprehensive than the clan name Sâkya. The name Gotama is +applied in the Pitakas to other Sâkyas such as the Buddha's father and +his cousin Ânanda. It is said to be still in use in India and has been +borne by many distinguished Hindus. But since it seemed somewhat +irreverent to speak of the Buddha merely by his surname, it became the +custom to describe him by titles. The most celebrated of these is the +word Buddha[303] itself, the awakened or wise one. But in Pali works he +is described just as frequently by the name of Bhagavâ or the Lord. The +titles of Śâkya-Muni and Śâkya-Siṃha have also passed into common use +and the former is his usual designation in the Sanskrit sûtras. The word +Tathâgata, of somewhat obscure signification[304], is frequently found +as an equivalent of Buddha and is put into the mouth of Gotama himself +as a substitute for the first personal pronoun. + +We can only guess what was the religious and moral atmosphere in which +the child grew up. There were certainly Brahmans in the Sâkya territory: +everyone had heard of their Vedic lore, their ceremonies and their +claims to superiority. But it is probable that their influence was less +complete here than further west[305] and that even before this time they +encountered a good deal of scepticism and independent religious +sentiment. This may have been in part military impatience of priestly +pedantry, but if the Sâkyas were not submissive sheep, their waywardness +was not due to want of interest in religion. A frequent phrase in the +Buddha's discourses speaks of the "highest goal of the holy life for the +sake of which clansmen leave their homes and go forth into +homelessness." The religious mendicant seemed the proper incarnation of +this ideal to which Kshatriyas as well as Brahmans aspired, and we are +justified in supposing that the future Buddha's thoughts would naturally +turn towards the wandering life. The legend represents him as carefully +secluded from all disquieting sights and as learning the existence of +old age, sickness and death only by chance encounters which left a +profound impression. The older texts do not emphasize this view of his +mental development, though they do not preclude it. It is stated +incidentally that his parents regretted his abandonment of worldly life +and it is natural to suppose that they may have tried to turn his mind +to secular interests and pleasures[306]. His son, Râhula, is mentioned +several times in the Pitakas but his wife only once and then not by name +but as "the princess who was the mother of Râhula[307]." His separation +from her becomes in the later legend the theme of an affecting tale but +the scanty allusions to his family found in the Pitakas are devoid of +sentimental touches. A remarkable passage is preserved in the Anguttara +Nikâya[308] describing his feelings as a young man and may be the origin +of the story[309] about the four visions of old age, sickness, death and +of peace in the religious life. After describing the wealth and comfort +in which he lived[310], he says that he reflected how people feel +repulsion and disgust at the sight of old age, sickness and death. But +is this right? "I also" he thought "am subject to decay and am not free +from the power of old age, sickness and death. Is it right that I should +feel horror, repulsion and disgust when I see another in such plight? +And when I reflected thus, my disciples, all the joy of life which there +is in life died within me." + +No connected account of his renunciation of the world has been found in +the Pitakas but[311] people are represented as saying that in spite of +his parents' grief he "went out from the household life into the +homeless state" while still a young man. Accepted tradition, confirmed +by the Mahâparinibbâna Sutta, says that he retired from worldly life +when he was twenty-nine years old. The event is also commemorated in a +poem of the Sutta-Nipâta[312] which reads like a very ancient ballad. + +It relates how Bimbisâra, King of Magadha, looking out from his palace, +saw an unknown ascetic, and feeling he was no ordinary person went +himself to visit him. It would appear from this that Gotama on leaving +his family went down to the plains and visited Râjagaha, the capital of +Magadha, now Rajgîr to the south of Patna. The teachers of the Ganges +valley had probably a greater reputation for learning and sanctity than +the rough wits of the Sâkya land and this may have attracted Gotama. At +any rate he applied himself diligently to acquire what knowledge could +be learned from contemporary teachers of religion. We have an account +put into his own mouth[313] of his experiences as the pupil of Alâra +Kâlâma and Uddaka Râmaputta but it gives few details of his studies. It +would appear however that they both had a fixed system (dhamma) to +impart and that their students lived in religious discipline (vinaya) as +members of an Order. They were therefore doing exactly what the Buddha +himself did later on a larger scale and with more conspicuous success. +The instruction, we gather, was oral. Gotama assimilated it thoroughly +and rapidly but was dissatisfied because he found that it did not +conduce to perfect knowledge and salvation[314]. He evidently accepted +his teachers' general ideas about belief and conduct—a dhamma, a vinaya, +and the practice of meditation—but rejected the content of their +teaching as inadequate. So he went away. + +The European mystic knows the dangers of Quietism[315]. When Molinos and +other quietists praise the Interior Silence in which the soul neither +speaks nor desires nor thinks, they suggest that the suspension of all +mental activity is good in itself. But more robust seekers hold that +this "orison of quiet" is merely a state of preparation, not the end of +the quest, and valuable merely because the soul recuperates therein and +is ready for further action. Some doctrine akin to that of the quietists +seems to underlie the mysterious old phrases in which the Buddha's two +teachers tried to explain their trances, and he left them for much the +same reasons as led the Church to condemn Quietism. He did not say that +the trances are bad; indeed he represented them as productive of +happiness[316] in a sense which Europeans can hardly follow. But he +clearly refused to admit that they were the proper end of the religious +life. He felt there was something better and he set out to find it. + +The interval between his abandonment of the world and his enlightenment +is traditionally estimated at seven years and this accords with our +other data. But we are not told how long he remained with his two +teachers nor where they lived. He says however that after leaving them +he wandered up and down the land of Magadha, so that their residence was +probably in or near that district[317]. He settled at a place called +Uruvelâ. "There" he says "I thought to myself, truly this is a pleasant +spot and a beautiful forest. Clear flows the river and pleasant are the +bathing places: all around are meadows and villages." Here he determined +to devote himself to the severest forms of asceticism. The place is in +the neighbourhood of Bodh-Gaya, near the river now called Phalgu or +Lilañja but formerly Nerañjara. The fertile fields and gardens, the +flights of steps and temples are modern additions but the trees and the +river still give the sense of repose and inspiration which Gotama felt, +an influence alike calming to the senses and stimulating to the mind. +Buddhism, though in theory setting no value on the pleasures of the eye, +is not in practice disdainful of beauty, as witness the many allusions +to the Buddha's personal appearance, the persistent love of art, and the +equally persistent love of nature which is found in such early poems as +the Theragâthâ and still inspires those who select the sites of +monasteries throughout the Buddhist world from Burma to Japan. The +example of the Buddha, if we may believe the story, shows that he felt +the importance of scenery and climate in the struggle before him and his +followers still hold that a holy life is led most easily in beautiful +and peaceful landscapes. + + +2 + +Hitherto we have found allusions to the events of the Buddha's life +rather than consecutive statements and narratives but for the next +period, comprising his struggle for enlightenment, its attainment and +the commencement of his career as a teacher, we have several accounts, +both discourses put into his own mouth and narratives in the third +person like the beginning of the Mahâvagga. It evidently was felt that +this was the most interesting and critical period of his life and for +it, as for the period immediately preceding his death, the Pitakas +provide the elements of a biography. The accounts vary as to the amount +of detail and supernatural events which they contain, but though the +simplest is perhaps the oldest, it does not follow that events +consistent with it but only found in other versions are untrue. One +cannot argue that anyone recounting his spiritual experiences is bound +to give a biographically complete picture. He may recount only what is +relevant to the purpose of his discourse. + +Gotama's ascetic life at Uruvelâ is known as the wrestling or struggle +for truth. The story, as he tells it in the Pitakas, gives no dates, but +is impressive in its intensity and insistent iteration[318]. Fire, he +thought to himself, cannot be produced from damp wood by friction, but +it can from dry wood. Even so must the body be purged of its humours to +make it a fit receptacle for illumination and knowledge. So he began a +series of terrible fasts and sat "with set teeth and tongue pressed +against the palate" until in this spiritual wrestling the sweat poured +down from his arm pits. Then he applied himself to meditation +accompanied by complete cessation of breathing, and, as he persevered +and went from stage to stage of this painful exercise, he heard the +blood rushing in his head and felt as if his skull was being split, as +if his belly were being cut open with a butcher's knife, and finally as +if he were thrown into a pit of burning coals. Elsewhere[319] he gives +further details of the horrible penances which he inflicted on himself. +He gradually reduced his food to a grain of rice each day. He lived on +seeds and grass, and for one period literally on dung. He wore haircloth +or other irritating clothes: he plucked out his hair and beard: he stood +continuously: he lay upon thorns. He let the dust and dirt accumulate +till his body looked like an old tree. He frequented a cemetery—that is +a place where corpses were thrown to decay or be eaten by birds and +beasts—and lay among the rotting bodies. + +But no enlightenment, no glimpse into the riddle of the world came of +all this, so, although he was nearly at death's door, he determined to +abstain from food altogether. But spirits appeared and dissuaded him, +saying that if he attempted thus to kill himself they would nourish him +by infusing a celestial elixir through his skin and he reflected that he +might as well take a little food[320]. So he took a palmful or two of +bean soup. He was worn almost to a shadow, he says. "When I touched my +belly, I felt my backbone through it and when I touched my back, I felt +my belly—so near had my back and my belly come together through this +fasting. And when I rubbed my limbs to refresh them the hair fell +off[321]." Then he reflected that he had reached the limit of +self-mortification and yet attained no enlightenment. There must be +another way to knowledge. And he remembered how once in his youth he had +sat in the shade of a rose apple tree and entered into the stage of +contemplation known as the first rapture. That, he now thought, must be +the way to enlightenment: why be afraid of such bliss? But to attain it, +he must have more strength and to get strength he must eat. So he ate +some rice porridge. There were five monks living near him, hoping that +when he found the Truth he would tell it to them. But when they saw that +he had begun to take food, their faith failed and they went away. + +The Buddha then relates how, having taken food, he began to meditate and +passed through four stages of contemplation, culminating in pure +self-possession and equanimity, free alike from all feeling of pain or +ease. Such meditation was nothing miraculous but supposed to be within +the power of any trained ascetic. Then there arose before him a vision +of his previous births, the hundreds of thousands of existences with all +their details of name, family and caste through which he had passed. +This was succeeded by a second and wider vision in which he saw the +whole universe as a system of karma and reincarnation, composed of +beings noble or mean, happy or unhappy, continually "passing away +according to their deeds," leaving one form of existence and taking +shape in another. Finally, he understood the nature of error[322] and of +suffering, the cessation of suffering and the path that leads to the +cessation of suffering. "In me thus set free the knowledge of freedom +arose and I knew 'Rebirth has been destroyed, the higher life has been +led; what had to be done has been done, I have no more to do with this +world[323].' This third knowledge came to me in the last watch of the +night: ignorance was destroyed, knowledge had arisen, darkness was +destroyed, light had arisen, as I sat there earnest, strenuous, +resolute[324]." + +On attaining enlightenment he at first despaired of preaching the truth +to others. He reflected that his doctrine was abstruse and that mankind +are given over to their desires. How can such men understand the chain +of cause and effect or teaching about Nirvana and the annihilation of +desire? So he determined to remain quiet and not to preach. Then the +deity Brahmâ Sahampati appeared before him and besought him to preach +the Truth, pleading that some men could understand. The Buddha surveyed +the world with his mind's eye and saw the different natures of mankind. +"As in a pool of lotuses, blue, red or white, some lotuses born in the +water, grown up in the water, do not rise above the water but thrive +hidden under the water and other lotuses, blue, red or white, born in +the water, grown up in the water, reach to the surface: and other +lotuses, blue, red or white, born in the water, grown up in the water, +stand up out of the water and the water does not touch them." Thus did +he perceive the world to be and he said to Brahmâ "The doors of +immortality are open. Let them that have ears to hear, show faith." + +Then he began to wonder to whom he should first preach his doctrine, and +he thought of his former teachers. But a spirit warned him that they had +recently died. Then he thought of the five monks who had tended him +during his austerities but left him when he ceased to fast. By his +superhuman power of vision he perceived that they were living at Benares +in the deer park, Isipatana. So, after remaining awhile at Uruvelâ he +started to find them and on the way met a naked ascetic, in answer to +whose enquiries he proclaimed himself as the Buddha; "I am the Holy One +in this world, I am the highest teacher, I alone am the perfect supreme +Buddha, I have gained calm and nirvana, I go to Benares to set moving +the wheels of righteousness[325]. I will beat the drum of immortality in +the darkness of this world." But the ascetic replied. "It may be so, +friend," shook his head, took another road and went away, with the +honour of being the first sceptic. + +When the Buddha reached the deer park[326], a wood where ascetics were +allowed to dwell and animals might not be killed, the five monks saw him +coming and determined not to salute him since he had given up his +exertions, and turned to a luxurious life. But as he drew near they were +overawed and in spite of their resolution advanced to meet him, and +brought water to wash his feet. While showing him this honour they +called him Friend Gotama but he replied that it was not proper to +address the Tathâgata[327] thus. He had become a Buddha and was ready to +teach them the Truth but the monks demurred saying that if he had been +unable to win enlightenment while practising austerities, he was not +likely to have found it now that he was living a life of ease. But he +overcame their doubts and proceeded to instruct them, apparently during +some days, for we are told that they went out to beg alms. + +Can this account be regarded as in any sense historical, as being not +perhaps the Buddha's own words but the reminiscences of some one who had +heard him describe the crisis of his life? Like so much of the Pitakas +the narrative has an air of patchwork. Many striking passages, such as +the descriptions of the raptures through which he passed, occur in other +connections but the formulæ are ancient and their use here may be as +early and legitimate as elsewhere. In its main outlines the account is +simple, unpretentious and human. Gotama seeks to obtain enlightenment by +self-mortification: finds that this is the wrong way: tries a more +natural method and succeeds: debates whether he shall become a teacher +and at first hesitates. These are not features which the average Indian +hagiographer, anxious to prove his hero omnipotent and omniscient, would +invent or emphasize. Towards the end of the narrative the language is +more majestic and the compiler introduces several stanzas, but though it +is hardly likely that Gotama would have used these stanzas in telling +his own story, they may be ancient and in substance authentic. The +supernatural intervention recorded is not really great. It amounts to +this, that in mental crises the Buddha received warnings somewhat +similar to those delivered by the dæmon of Socrates[328]. The appearance +of Brahmâ Sahampati is related with more detail and largely in verse, +which suggests that the compiler may have inserted some legend which he +found ready to hand, but on the whole I am inclined to believe that in +this narrative we have a tradition not separated from the Buddha by many +generations and going back to those who had themselves heard him +describe his wrestling to obtain the Truth and his victory. + +Other versions of the enlightenment give other incidents which are not +rendered less credible by their omission from the narrative quoted, for +it is clearly an epitome put together for a special didactic purpose. +But still the story as related at the beginning of the Mahâvagga of the +Vinaya has a stronger smack of mythology than the passages quoted from +the Sutta-Pitaka. In these last the Bodhi-tree[329] is mentioned only +incidentally, which is natural, for it is a detail which would impress +later piety rather than the Buddha himself. But there is no reason to be +sceptical as to the part it has played in Buddhist history. Even if we +had not been told that he sat under a tree, we might surmise that he did +so, for to sit under a tree or in a cave was the only alternative for a +homeless ascetic. The Mahâvagga states that after attaining Buddhahood +he sat crosslegged at the foot of the tree for seven days +uninterruptedly, enjoying the bliss of emancipation, and while there +thought out the chain of causation which is only alluded to in the +suttas quoted above. He also sat under three other trees, seven days +under each. Heavy rain came on but Mucalinda, the king of the serpents, +"came out of his abode and seven times encircled the body of the Lord +with his windings and spread his great hood over the Lord's head." Here +we are in the domain of mythology: this is not a vignette from the old +religious life on the banks of the Nerañjara but a work of sacred art: +the Holy Supreme Buddha sitting immovable and imperturbable in the midst +of a storm sheltered by the folds of some pious monster that the +artist's fancy has created. + +The narrative quoted from the Majjhima-Nikâya does not mention that the +Buddha during his struggle for enlightenment was assailed or tempted by +Mâra, the personification of evil and of transitory pleasures but also +of death. But that such an encounter—in some respects analogous to the +temptation of Christ by the Devil—formed part of the old tradition is +indicated by several passages in the Pitakas[330] and not merely by the +later literature where it assumes a prominent and picturesque form. This +struggle is psychologically probable enough but the origin of the story, +which is exhaustively discussed in Windisch's _Buddha und Mâra_, seems +to lie not so much in any account which the Buddha may have given of his +mental struggles as in amplifications of old legends and in +dramatizations of metaphors which he may have used about conquering +death. + +The Bodhi-tree is still shown at Bodh-Gaya. It stands on a low terrace +behind the temple, the whole lying in a hollow, below the level of the +surrounding modern buildings, and still attracts many pilgrims from all +Buddhist lands though perhaps not so many as the tree at Anuradhapura in +Ceylon, which is said to be sprung from one of its branches transplanted +thither. Whatever title it may have to the reverence of the faithful +rests on lineage rather than identity, for the growth which we see at +Bodh-Gaya now cannot claim to be the branches under which the Buddha sat +or even the trunk which Asoka tended. At best it is a modern stem sprung +from the seeds of the old tree, and this descent is rendered disputable +by legends of its destruction and miraculous restoration. Even during +the time that Sir A. Cunningham knew the locality from 1862 to 1880 it +would seem that the old trunk decayed and was replaced by scions grown +from seed. + +The texts quoted above leave the Buddha occupied in teaching the five +monks in the Deer Park and the Mahâvagga gives us the text of the +sermon[331] with which he opened his instruction. It is entitled Turning +the Wheel of Righteousness, and is also known as The Sermon at Benares. +It is a very early statement of the main doctrines of primitive Buddhism +and I see no reason to doubt that it contains the ideas and phrases of +the Buddha. The gist of the sermon is extremely simple. He first says +that those who wish to lead a religious life should avoid the two +extremes of self-indulgence and self-torture and follow a middle way. +Then he enunciates what he calls the four truths[332] about evil or +suffering and the way to make an end of it. He opens very practically, +and it may be noticed that abstruse as are many of his discourses they +generally go straight to the heart of some contemporary interest. Here +he says that self-indulgence is low and self-mortification crazy: that +both are profitless and neither is the religious life. That consists in +walking in the middle path, or noble eightfold path defined in a +celebrated formula as right views, right aspirations, right speech, +right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right +rapture. He then enunciates the four truths. The first declares that all +clinging to existence involves suffering. I shall have occasion to +examine later the pessimism which is often said to characterize Buddhism +and Indian thought generally. Here let it suffice to say that the first +truth must be taken in conjunction with the others. The teaching of the +Buddha is a teaching not so much of pessimism as of emancipation: but +emancipation implies the existence of evil from which men must be freed: +a happy world would not need it. Buddhism recognizes the evil of the +world but it is not on that account a religion of despair: the essence +of it is that it provides a remedy and an escape. + +The second and third truths must be taken together and in connection +with the formula known as the chain of causation (paṭiccasamuppâda). +Everything has a cause and produces an effect. If this is, that is: if +this is not, then that is not. This simple principle of uniform +causation is applied to the whole universe, gods and men, heaven, earth +and hell. Indian thought has always loved wide applications of +fundamental principles and here a law of the universe is propounded in a +form both simple and abstract. Everything exists in virtue of a cause +and does not exist if that cause is absent. Suffering has a cause and if +that cause can be detected and eliminated, suffering itself will be +eliminated. This cause of evil is Tanhâ, the thirst or craving for +existence, pleasure and success. And the cure is to remove it. It may +seem to the European that this is a proposal to cure the evils of life +by removing life itself but when in the fourth truth we come to the +course to be followed by the seeker after salvation—the eightfold +path—we find it neither extravagant nor morbid. We may imagine that an +Indian of that time asking different schools of thinkers for the way to +salvation would have been told by Brahmans (if indeed they had been +willing to impart knowledge to any but an accredited pupil) that he who +performs a certain ceremony goes to the abode of the gods: other +teachers would have insisted on a course of fasting and self-torture: +others again like Sâñjaya and Makkhali would have given argumentative +and unpractical answers. The Buddha's answer is simple and practical: +seven-eighths of it would be accepted in every civilized country as a +description of the good life. It is not merely external, for it insists +on right thought and right aspiration: the motive and temper are as +important as the act. It does not neglect will-power and activity, for +right action, right livelihood and right effort are necessary—a point to +be remembered when Buddhism is called a dreamy unpractical religion. But +no doubt the last stage of the path, right rapture or right meditation, +is meant to be its crown and fulfilment. It takes the place of prayer +and communion with the deity and the Buddha promises the beatific vision +in this life to those who persevere. The negative features of the Path +are also important. It contains no mention of ceremonial, austerities, +gods, many or one, nor of the Buddha himself. He is the discoverer and +teacher of the truth; beyond that his personality plays no part. + +But we are here treating of his life rather than of his doctrine and +must now return to the events which are said to have followed the first +sermon. + +The first converts had, even before embracing the Buddha's teaching, +been followers of a religious life but the next batch of recruits came +from the wealthy mercantile families of Benares. The first was a youth +named Yasa who joined the order, while his father, mother and former +wife became lay believers. Then came first four and subsequently fifty +friends of Yasa and joined the order. "At that time" says the +Mahâvagga. "there were sixty-one Arhats[333] in the world," so that at +first arhatship seems to have followed immediately on ordination. Arhat, +it may be mentioned, is the commonest word in early Buddhist literature +(more common than any phrase about nirvana) for describing sanctity and +spiritual perfection. The arhat is one who has broken the fetters of the +senses and passions, for whom there will be no new birth or death, and +who lives in this world like the Buddha, detached but happy and +beneficent. + +The Buddha then addressed his followers and said--"Monks, I am delivered +from all fetters, human and divine, and so are you. Go now and wander +for the gain of many, for the welfare of many, out of compassion for the +world, for the good, for the gain and for the welfare of gods and men. +Let not two of you go the same way. Preach the doctrine which is +glorious in the beginning, glorious in the middle and glorious in the +end, in the spirit and in the letter; proclaim a consummate, perfect and +pure life of holiness." The monks then went forth and returned bringing +candidates to be formally ordained by the Buddha. But seeing that these +journeys caused fatigue and trouble, he authorized the ordained monks to +confer ordination without reference to himself. He then returned to +Uruvelâ, where he had dwelt before attaining Buddhahood, and converted a +thousand Jaṭilas, that is to say Brahmans living the life of hermits, +which involved the abandonment of household life but not of sacrifices. +The admission of these hermits to the order is probably historical and +explains the presence among the Buddha's disciples of a tendency towards +self-mortification of which he himself did not wholly approve. The +Mahâvagga[334] contains a series of short legends about these +occurrences, one of them in two versions. The narratives are miraculous +but have an ancient tone and probably represent the type of popular +story current about the Buddha shortly after or even during his life. +One of them is a not uncommon subject in Buddhist art. It relates how +the chamber in which a Brahman called Kassapa kept his sacred fire was +haunted by a fire-breathing magical serpent. The Buddha however spent +the night in this chamber and after a contest in which both emitted +flames succeeded in conquering the beast. After converting the Jaṭilas +he preached to them the celebrated Fire Sermon, said to have been +delivered on the eminence now called Brahma Yoen[335] near Gaya and +possibly inspired by the spectacle of grass fires which at some seasons +may be seen creeping over every hill-side in an Indian night, +"Everything, Monks, is burning and how is it burning? The eye is +burning: what the eye sees is burning: thoughts based on the eye are +burning: the contact of the eye (with visible things) is burning and the +sensation produced by that contact, whether pleasant, painful or +indifferent is also burning. With what fire is it burning? It is burning +with the fire of lust, the fire of anger, with the fire of ignorance; it +is burning with the sorrows of birth, decay, death, grief, lamentation, +suffering, dejection and despair." + +The Buddha now went on with his converts to Râjagaha. He stopped in a +bamboo grove outside the town and here the king, Bimbisâra, waited on +him and with every sign of respect asked him to take food in his palace. +It was on this occasion that we first hear of him accepting an +invitation to dinner[336], which he did frequently during the rest of +his career. After the repast the king presented a pleasure garden just +outside the town "to the fraternity of monks with the Buddha at their +head." At that time another celebrated teacher named Sâñjaya was +stopping at Râjagaha with a train of two hundred and fifty disciples. +Two of them, Sâriputta and Moggallâna, joined the Buddha's order and +took with them the whole body of their companions. + +The Mahâvagga proceeds to relate that many of the young nobility joined +the order and that the people began to murmur saying "The Monk Gotama +causes fathers to beget no sons and families to become extinct." And +again "The Great Monk has come to Giribbaja of the Magadha people, +leading with him all the followers of Sâñjaya. Whom will he lead off +next?" When this was told to the Buddha he replied that the excitement +would only last seven days and bade his followers answer with the +following verse "It is by the true doctrine that the great heroes, the +Buddhas, lead men. Who will murmur at the wise who lead men by the power +of truth?" It is possible, as Oldenburg suggests, that we have here two +popular couplets which were really bandied between the friends and +enemies of the Buddha. + + +3 + +It now becomes difficult to give dates but the Mahâvagga[337] relates +that the Buddha stopped some time at Râjagaha and then revisited his +native town, Kapilavatthu. That he should have done so is natural enough +but there is little trace of sentiment in the narrative of the Vinaya. +Its object is to state the occasion on which the Buddha laid down the +rules of the order. Irrelevant incidents are ignored and those which are +noticed are regarded simply as the circumstances which led to the +formulation of certain regulations. "The Lord dwelt in the Sakka country +near Kapilavatthu in the Banyan Grove. And in the forenoon having put on +his robes and taken his alms bowl he went to the home of the Sakka +Suddhodana[338] and sat down on a seat prepared for him. Then the +princess who was the mother of Râhula[339] said to him 'This is your +father, Râhula, go and ask him for your inheritance.' Then young Râhula +went to the place where the Lord was, and standing before him said 'Your +shadow, Monk, is a place of bliss.' Then the Lord rose from his seat and +went away but Râhula followed him saying 'Give me my inheritance, Monk.' +Then the Lord said to Sâriputta (who had already become his chief +disciple) 'Well, Sâriputta, confer the preliminary ordination on young +Râhula.' Sâriputta asked how he should do so and the Buddha explained +the forms. + +"Then the Sakka Suddhodana went to the place where the Lord was and +after respectfully saluting him asked for a boon. 'Lord, when the +Blessed One gave up the world, it was great pain to me and so it was +when Nanda[340] did the same. Great too was my pain when Râhula did it. +The love for a son, Lord, cuts into the skin, the flesh, the bones, and +reaches the marrow. Let not the preliminary ordination be conferred on a +son without his parents' permission.' The Buddha assented. Three or four +years later Suddhodana died." + +From Kapilavatthu the Buddha is said to have gone to Sâvatthî, the +capital of Kosala where Pasenadi was king, but now we lose the +chronological thread and do not find it again until the last years of +his life. Few of the numerous incidents recorded in the Pitakas can be +dated. The narrators resemble those Indian artists who when carving a +story in relief place all the principal figures in one panel without +attempting to mark the sequence of the incidents which are represented +simultaneously. For the connection of events with the Buddha's teaching +the compilers of the Pitakas had an eye; for their connection with his +life none at all. And though this attitude is disquieting to the +historic sense it is not unjustifiable. The object and the achievement +of the Buddha was to preach a certain doctrine and to found an order. +All the rest—years and countries, pains and pleasures—was of no +importance. And it would appear that we have not lost much: we should +have a greater sense of security if we had an orderly account of his +wanderings and his relations with the kings of his time, but after he +had once entered on his ministry the events which broke the peaceful +tenour of his long life were few and we probably know most of them +though we cannot date them. For about forty-five years he moved about +Kosala, Magadha and Anga visiting the two capitals Sâvatthî and Râjagaha +and going as far west as the country of the Kurus. He took little part +in politics or worldly life, though a hazy but not improbable story[341] +represents him as pacifying the Sâkyas and Koliyas, who were on the +point of fighting about the water of the Rohini which irrigated the +lands of both clans. He uniformly enjoyed the respect and attention of +kings and the wealthy classes. Doubtless he was not popular with the +Brahmans or with those good people who disliked seeing fine young men +made into monks. But it does not appear that his teaching provoked any +serious tumults or that he was troubled by anything but schism within +the order. We have, if not a history, at least a picture of a life which +though peaceful was active and benevolent but aloof, majestic and +authoritative. + +We are told[342] that at first his disciples wandered about at all +seasons but it was not long before he bade them observe the already +established routine for itinerant monks of travelling on foot during the +greater part of the year but of resting for three months during the +rainy season known as Vassa and beginning some time in June. When moving +about he appears to have walked from five to ten miles a day, regulating +his movements so as to reach inhabited places in time to collect food +for the midday meal. The afternoon he devoted to meditation and in the +evening gave instruction. He usually halted in woods or gardens on the +outskirts of villages and cities, and often on the bank of a river or +tank, for shade and water would be the first requisites for a wandering +monk. On these journeys he was accompanied by a considerable following +of disciples: five hundred or twelve hundred and fifty are often +mentioned and though the numbers may be exaggerated there is no reason +to doubt that the band was large. The suttas generally commence with a +picture of the surroundings in which the discourse recorded was +delivered. The Buddha is walking along the high road from Râjagaha to +Nâlanda with a great company of disciples. Or he is journeying through +Kosala and halting in a mango-grove on the banks of the Aciravatî river. +Or he is stopping in a wood outside a Brahman village and the people go +out to him. The principal Brahmans, taking their siesta on the upper +terraces of their houses, see the crowd and ask their doorkeepers what +it means. On hearing the cause they debate whether they or the Buddha +should pay the first call and ultimately visit him. Or he is halting on +the shore of the Gaggarâ Lake at Campâ in Western Bengal, sitting under +the fragrant white flowers of a campaka tree. Or he visits the hills +overlooking Râjagaha haunted by peacocks and by wandering monks. Often +he stops in buildings described as halls, which were sometimes merely +rest houses for travellers. But it became more and more the custom for +the devout to erect such buildings for his special use and even in his +lifetime they assumed the proportions of monasteries[343]. The people of +Vesâlî built one in a wood to the north of their city known as the +Gabled Hall. It was a storied house having on the ground floor a large +room surrounded by pillars and above it the private apartments of the +Buddha. Such private rooms (especially those which he occupied at +Sâvatthî), were called Gandhakûṭî or the perfumed chamber. At +Kapilavatthu[344] the Sâkyas erected a new building known as Santhagâra. +The Buddha was asked to inaugurate it and did so by a discourse lasting +late into the night which he delivered sitting with his back against a +pillar. At last he said his back was tired and lay down, leaving Ânanda +to continue the edification of the congregation who were apparently less +exhausted than the preacher. + +But perhaps the residence most frequently mentioned is that in the +garden called Jetavana at Sâvatthî. Anâthapiṇḍika, a rich merchant of +that town, was converted by the Buddha when staying at Râjagaha and +invited him to spend the next rainy season at Sâvatthî[345]. On +returning to his native town to look for a suitable place, he decided +that the garden of the Prince Jeta best satisfied his requirements. He +obtained it only after much negotiation for a sum sufficient to cover +the whole ground with coins. When all except a small space close to the +gateway had been thus covered Jeta asked to be allowed to share in the +gift and on receiving permission erected on the vacant spot a gateway +with a room over it. "And Anâthapiṇḍika the householder built dwelling +rooms and retiring rooms and storerooms and halls with fireplaces, and +outside storehouses and closets and cloisters and halls attached to the +bath rooms and ponds and roofed open sheds[346]." + +Buddhaghosa has given an account[347] of the way in which the Buddha was +wont to spend his days when stopping in some such resting-place, and his +description is confirmed by the numerous details given in the Pitakas. +He rose before dawn and would often retire and meditate until it was +time to set out on the round for alms but not unfrequently he is +represented as thinking that it was too early to start and that he might +first visit some monk of the neighbourhood. Then he went round the town +or village with his disciples, carrying his almsbowl and accepting +everything put into it. Sometimes he talked to his disciples while +walking[348]. Frequently, instead of begging for alms, he accepted an +invitation to dine with some pious person who asked the whole band of +disciples and made strenuous culinary efforts. Such invitations were +given at the conclusion of a visit paid to the Buddha on the previous +day and were accepted by him with silence which signified consent. On +the morning of the next day the host announced in person or through a +messenger that the meal was ready and the Buddha taking his mantle and +bowl went to the house. The host waited on the guests with his own +hands, putting the food which he had prepared into their bowls. After +the repast the Buddha delivered a discourse or catechized the company. +He did the same with his own disciples when he collected food himself +and returned home to eat it. He took but one meal a day[349], between +eleven and twelve, and did not refuse meat when given to him, provided +that he did not know the animals had been slaughtered expressly for his +food. When he had given instruction after the meal he usually retired to +his chamber or to a quiet spot under trees for repose and meditation. On +one occasion[350] he took his son Râhula with him into a wood at this +hour to impart some of the deepest truths to him, but as a rule he gave +no further instruction until the late afternoon. + +The Pitakas represent all believers as treating the Buddha with the +greatest respect but the salutations and titles which they employ hardly +exceed those ordinarily used in speaking to eminent persons[351]. Kings +were at this time addressed as Deva, whereas the Buddha's usual title is +Bhagavâ or Bhante, Lord. A religious solemnity and deliberation prevails +in the interviews which he grants but no extravagance of adoration is +recorded. Visitors salute him by bowing with joined hands, sit +respectfully on one side while he instructs them and in departing are +careful to leave him on their right hand. He accepts such gifts as food, +clothes, gardens and houses but rejects all ceremonial honours. Thus +Prince Bodhi[352] when receiving him carpeted his mansion with white +cloths but the Buddha would not walk on them and remained standing at +the entrance till they were taken up. + +The introduction to the Ariyapariyesana-Sutta gives a fairly complete +picture of a day in his life at Sâvatthî. It relates how in the morning +he took his bowl and mantle and went to the town to collect food. While +he was away, some monks told his personal attendant Ânanda that they +wished to hear a discourse from him, as it was long since they had had +the privilege. Ânanda suggested that they had better go to the hermitage +of the Brahman Rammaka near the town. The Buddha returned, ate his meal +and then said "Come, Ânanda, let us go to the terrace of Migâra's +mother[353] and stay there till evening." They went there and spent the +day in meditation. Towards evening the Buddha rose and said "Let us go +to the old bath to refresh our limbs." After they had bathed, Ânanda +suggested that they should go to Rammaka's hermitage: the Buddha +assented by his silence and they went together. Within the hermitage +were many monks engaged in instructive conversation, so the Buddha +waited at the door till there was a pause in the talk. Then he coughed +and knocked. The monks opened the door, and offered him a seat. After a +short conversation, he recounted to them how he had striven for and +obtained Buddhahood. + +These congregations were often prolonged late into the night. We hear +for instance how he sat on the terrace belonging to Migâra's mother[354] +in the midst of an assembly of monks waiting for his words, still and +silent in the light of the full moon; how a monk would rise, adjusting +his robe so as to leave one shoulder bare, bow with his hands joined and +raised to his forehead and ask permission to put a question and the Lord +would reply, Be seated, monk, ask what you will. But sometimes in these +nightly congregations the silence was unbroken. When King Ajâtasattu +went to visit him[355] in the mango grove of Jîvaka he was seized with +sudden fear at the unearthly stillness of the place and suspected an +ambush. "Fear not, O King," said Jîvaka, "I am playing you no tricks. Go +straight on. There in the pavilion hall the lamps are burning ... and +there is the Blessed One sitting against the middle pillar, facing the +east with the brethren round him." And when the king beheld the assembly +seated in perfect silence, calm as a clear lake, he exclaimed "Would +that my son might have such calm as this assembly now has." + +The major part of the Buddha's activity was concerned with the +instruction of his disciples and the organization of the Sangha or +order. Though he was ready to hear and teach all, the portrait presented +to us is not that of a popular preacher who collects and frequents +crowds but rather that of a master, occupied with the instruction of his +pupils, a large band indeed but well prepared and able to appreciate and +learn by heart teaching which, though freely offered to the whole world, +was somewhat hard to untrained ears. In one passage[356] an enquirer +asks him why he shows more zeal in teaching some than others. The answer +is, if a landowner had three fields, one excellent, one middling and one +of poor soil, would he not first sow the good field, then the middling +field, and last of all the bad field, thinking to himself; it will just +produce fodder for the cattle? So the Buddha preaches first to his own +monks, then to lay-believers, and then, like the landowner who sows the +bad field last, to Brahmans, ascetics and wandering monks of other +sects, thinking if they only understand one word, it will do them good +for a long while. It was to such congregations of disciples or to +enquirers belonging to other religious orders that he addressed his most +important discourses, iterating in grave numbered periods the truths +concerning the reality of sorrow and the equal reality of salvation, as +he sat under a clump of bamboos or in the shade of a banyan, in sight +perhaps of a tank where the lotuses red, white and blue, submerged or +rising from the water, typified the various classes of mankind. + +He did not start by laying down any constitution for his order. Its +rules were formed entirely by case law. Each incident and difficulty was +referred to him as it arose and his decision was accepted as the law on +that point. During his last illness he showed a noble anxiety not to +hamper his followers by the prestige of his name but to leave behind him +a body of free men, able to be a light and a help to themselves. But a +curious passage[357] represents an old monk as saying immediately after +his death "Weep not, brethren; we are well rid of the Great Monk. We +used to be annoyed by being told, 'This beseems you and this does not +beseem you. But now we shall be able to do what we like and not have to +do what we don't like.'" Clearly the laxer disciples felt the Master's +hand to be somewhat heavy and we might have guessed as much. For though +Gotama had a breadth of view rare in that or in any age, though he +refused to multiply observances or to dogmatize, every sutta indicates +that he was a man of exceptional authority and decision; what he has +laid down he has laid down; there is no compulsion or punishment, no vow +of obedience or _sacrificium intellectus_; but it is equally clear that +there is no place in the order for those who in great or small think +differently from the master. + +In shepherding his flock he had the assistance of his senior disciples. +Of these the most important were Sâriputta and Moggallâna, both of them +Brahmans who left their original teacher Sâñjaya to join him at the +outset of his ministry. Sâriputta[358] enjoyed his confidence so fully +that he acted as his representative and gave authoritative expositions +of doctrine. The Buddha even compared him to the eldest son of an +Emperor who assists his father in the government. But both he and +Moggallâna died before their master and thus did not labour +independently. Another important disciple Upâli survived him and +probably contributed materially to the codification of the Vinaya. +Anuruddha and Ânanda, both of them Sâkyas, are also frequently +mentioned, especially the latter who became his personal attendant[359] +and figures in the account of his illness and death as the beloved +disciple to whom his last instructions were committed. These two +together with four other young Sâkya nobles and Upâli joined the order +twenty-five years before Gotama's death and perhaps formed an inner +circle of trusted relatives, though we have no reason to think there was +any friction between them and Brahmans like Sâriputta. Upâli is said to +have been barber of the Sâkyas. It is not easy to say what his social +status may have been, but it probably did not preclude intimacy. + +The Buddha was frequently occupied with maintaining peace and order +among his disciples. Though the profession of a monk excluded worldly +advancement, it was held in great esteem and was hence adopted by +ambitious and quarrelsome men who had no true vocation. The troubles +which arose in the Sangha are often ascribed in the Vinaya to the +Chabbaggiyas, six brethren who became celebrated in tradition as spirits +of mischief and who are evidently made the peg on which these old +monkish anecdotes are hung. As a rule the intervention of the Buddha was +sufficient to restore peace, but one passage[360] indicates resistance +to his authority. The brethren quarrelled so often that the people said +it was a public scandal. The Buddha endeavoured to calm the disputants, +but one of them replied, "Lord, let the Blessed One quietly enjoy the +bliss which he has obtained in this life. The responsibility for these +quarrels will rest with us alone." This seems a clear hint that the +Blessed One had better mind his own business. Renewed injunctions and +parables met with no better result. "And the Blessed One thought" says +the narrative "'truly these fools are infatuated,' and he rose from his +seat and went away." + +Other troubles are mentioned but by far the most serious was the schism +of Devadatta, represented as occurring in the old age of Gotama when he +was about seventy-two. The story as told in the Cullavagga[361] is +embellished with supernatural incidents and seems not to observe the +natural sequence of events but perhaps three features are historical: +namely that Devadatta wished to supersede the Buddha as head of the +order, that he was the friend of Ajâtasattu, Crown Prince and afterwards +King of Magadha[362], and that he advocated a stricter rule of life than +the Buddha chose to enforce. This combination of piety and ambition is +perhaps not unnatural. He was a cousin of the Buddha and entered the +order at the same time as Ânanda and other young Sâkya nobles. Sprung +from that quarrelsome breed he possessed in a distorted form some of +Gotama's own ability. He is represented as publicly urging the Master to +retire and dwell at ease but met with an absolute refusal. Sâriputta was +directed to "proclaim" him in Râjagaha, the proclamation being to the +effect that his nature had changed and that all his words and deeds were +disowned by the order. Then Devadatta incited the Crown Prince to murder +his father, Bimbisâra. The plot was prevented by the ministers but the +king told Ajâtasattu that if he wanted the kingdom he could have it and +abdicated. But his unnatural son put him to death all the same[363] by +starving him slowly in confinement. With the assistance of Ajâtasattu, +Devadatta then tried to compass the death of the Buddha. First he hired +assassins, but they were converted as soon as they approached the sacred +presence. Then he rolled down a rock from the Vulture's peak with the +intention of crushing the Buddha, but the mountain itself interfered to +stop the sacrilege and only a splinter scratched the Lord's foot. Then +he arranged for a mad elephant to be let loose in the road at the time +of collecting alms, but the Buddha calmed the furious beast. It is +perhaps by some error of arrangement that after committing such +unpardonable crimes Devadatta is represented as still a member of the +order and endeavouring to provoke a schism by asking for stricter rules. +The attempt failed and according to later legends he died on the spot, +but the Vinaya merely says that hot blood gushed from his mouth. + +That there are historical elements in this story is shown by the +narrative of Fa Hsien, the Chinese pilgrim who travelled in India about +400 A.D. He tells us that the followers of Devadatta still existed in +Kosala and revered the three previous Buddhas but refused to recognize +Gotama. This is interesting, for it seems to show that it was possible +to accept Gotama's doctrine, or the greater part of it, as something +independent of his personality and an inheritance from earlier teachers. + +The Udâna and Jâtaka relate another plot without specifying the year. +Some heretics induced a nun called Sundarî to pretend she was the +Buddha's concubine and hired assassins to murder her. They then accused +the Bhikkhus of killing her to conceal their master's sin, but the real +assassins got drunk with the money they had received and revealed the +conspiracy in their cups. + +But these are isolated cases. As a whole the Buddha's long career was +marked by a peace and friendliness which are surprising if we consider +what innovations his teaching contained. Though in contending that +priestly ceremonies were useless he refrained from neither direct +condemnation nor satire, yet he is not represented as actively +attacking[364] them and we may doubt if he forbade his lay disciples to +take part in rites and sacrifices as a modern missionary might do. We +find him sitting by the sacred fire of a Brahman[365] and discoursing, +but not denouncing the worship carried on in the place. When he +converted Siha[366], the general of the Licchavis, who had been a Jain, +he bade him continue to give food and gifts as before to the Jain monks +who frequented his house—an instance of toleration in a proselytizing +teacher which is perhaps without parallel. Similarly in the +Sîgâlovâda-sutta it is laid down that a good man ministers to monks and +to Brahmans. If it is true that Ajâtasattu countenanced Devadatta's +attempts to murder him, he ignored such disagreeable details with a +sublime indifference, for he continued to frequent Râjagaha, received +the king, and preached to him one of his finest sermons without alluding +to the past. He stands before us in the suttas as a man of amazing power +of will, inaccessible to fear, promises and, one may add, to argument +but yet in comparison with other religious leaders singularly gentle in +taking the offensive against error. Often he simply ignored it as +irrelevant: "Never mind" he said on his deathbed to his last convert +"Never mind, whether other teachers are right or wrong. Listen to me, I +will teach you the truth." And when he is controversial his method is +often to retain old words in honourable use with new meanings. The +Brahmans are not denounced like the Pharisees in the New Testament but +the real Brahman is a man of uprightness and wisdom: the real sacrifice +is to abstain from sin and follow the Truth. + +Women played a considerable part in the entourage of Gotama. They were +not secluded in India at that time and he admitted that they were +capable of attaining saintship. The work of ministering to the order, of +supplying it with food and raiment, naturally fell largely to pious +matrons, and their attentive forethought delighted to provide for the +monks those comforts which might be accepted but not asked for. +Prominent among such donors was Visâkhâ, who married the son of a +wealthy merchant at Sâvatthî and converted her husband's family from +Jainism to the true doctrine. The Vinaya recounts how after entertaining +the Buddha and his disciples she asked eight boons which proved to be +the privileges of supplying various classes of monks with food, clothing +and medicine and of providing the nuns with bathing dresses, for, said +she, it shocked her sense of propriety to see them bathing naked. But +the anecdotes respecting the Buddha and women, whether his wife or +others, are not touched with sentiment, not even so much as is found in +the conversation between Yâjñavalkya and Maitreyî in the Upanishad. To +women as a class he gave their due and perhaps in his own opinion more +than their due, but if he felt any interest in them as individuals, the +sacred texts have obliterated the record. In the last year of his life +he dined with the courtezan Ambapâlî and the incident has attracted +attention on account of its supposed analogy to the narrative about +Christ and "the woman which was a sinner." But the resemblance is small. +There is no sign that the Buddha, then eighty years of age, felt any +personal interest in Ambapâlî. Whatever her morals may have been, she +was a benefactress of the order and he simply gave her the same +opportunity as others of receiving instruction. When the Licchavi +princes tried to induce him to dine with them instead of with her, he +refused to break his promise. The invitations of princes had no +attraction for him, and he was a prince himself. A fragment of +conversation introduced irrelevantly into his deathbed discourses[367] +is significant--"How, Lord, are we to conduct ourselves with regard to +womankind? Don't see them, Ânanda. But if we see them, what are we to +do? Abstain from speech. But if they should speak to us what are we to +do? Keep wide awake." + +This spirit is even more evident in the account of the admission of Nuns +to the order. When the Buddha was visiting his native town his aunt and +foster mother, Mahâprajâpatî, thrice begged him to grant this privilege +to women but was thrice refused and went away in tears. Then she +followed him to Vesâlî and stood in the entrance of the Kûṭagâra Hall +"with swollen feet and covered with dust, and sorrowful." Ânanda, who +had a tender heart, interviewed her and, going in to the Buddha, +submitted her request but received a triple refusal. But he was not to +be denied and urged that the Buddha admitted women to be capable of +attaining saintship and that it was unjust to refuse the blessings of +religion to one who had suckled him. At last Gotama yielded—perhaps the +only instance in which he is represented as convinced by argument—but he +added "If, Ânanda, women had not received permission to enter the Order, +the pure religion would have lasted long, the good law would have stood +fast a thousand years. But since they had received that permission, it +will now stand fast for only five hundred years[368]." + +He maintained and approved the same hard detached attitude in other +domestic relations. His son Râhula received special instruction but is +not represented as enjoying his confidence like Ânanda. A remarkable +narrative relates how, when the monk Sangâmaji was sitting beneath a +tree absorbed in meditation, his former wife (whom he had left on +abandoning the world) laid his child before him and said "Here, monk, is +your little son, nourish me and nourish him." But Sangâmaji took no +notice and the woman went away. The Buddha who observed what happened +said "He feels no pleasure when she comes, no sorrow when she goes: him +I call a true Brahman released from passion[369]." This narrative is +repulsive to European sentiment, particularly as the chronicler cannot +spare the easy charity of a miracle to provide for the wife and child, +but in taking it as an index of the character of Gotama, we must bear in +mind such sayings of Christ as "If any man come to me and hate not his +father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, yea +and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple[370]." + + +4 + +Political changes, in which however he took no part, occurred in the +last years of the Buddha's life. In Magadha Ajâtasattu had come to the +throne. If, as the Vinaya represents, he at first supported the schism +of Devadatta, he subsequently became a patron of the Buddha. He was an +ambitious prince and fortified Pâṭaligâma (afterwards Pâṭaliputra) +against the Vajjian confederation, which he destroyed a few years after +the Buddha's death. This confederation was an alliance of small +oligarchies like the Licchavis and Videhans. It would appear that this +form of constitution was on the wane in northern India and that the +monarchical states were annexing the decaying commonwealths. In Kosala, +Viḍûḍabha conquered Kapilavatthu a year or two before the Buddha's +death, and is said to have perpetrated a great massacre of the Sâkya +clan[371]. Possibly in consequence of these events the Buddha avoided +Kosala and the former Sâkya territory. At any rate the record of his +last days opens at Râjagaha, the capital of Magadha. + +This record is contained in the Mahâparinibbâna Sutta, the longest of +the suttas and evidently a compilation. The style is provokingly uneven. +It often promises to give a simple and natural narrative but such +passages are interrupted by more recent and less relevant matter. No +general estimate of its historical value can be given but each incident +must be apprized separately. Nearly all the events and discourses +recorded in it are found elsewhere in the canon in the same words[372] +and it contains explanatory matter of a suspiciously apologetic nature. +Also the supernatural element is freely introduced. But together with +all this it contains plain pathetic pictures of an old man's fatigue and +sufferings which would not have been inserted by a later hand, had they +not been found ready in tradition. And though events and sermonettes are +strung together in a way which is not artistic, there is nothing +improbable in the idea that the Buddha when he felt his end approaching +should have admonished his disciples about all that he thought most +important. + +The story opens at Râjagaha about six months before the Buddha's death. +The King sends his minister to ask whether he will be successful in +attacking the Vajjians. The Buddha replies that as long as they act in +concord, behave honourably, and respect the Faith, so long may they be +expected not to decline but prosper. The compiler may perhaps have felt +this narrative to be an appropriate parallel to the Buddha's advice to +his disciples to live in peace and order. He summoned and addressed the +brethren living in Râjagaha and visited various spots in the +neighbourhood. In these last utterances one phrase occurs with special +frequency, "Great is the fruit, great the advantage of meditation +accompanied by upright conduct: great is the advantage of intelligence +accompanied by meditation. The mind which has such intelligence is freed +from intoxications, from the desires of the senses, from love of life, +from delusion and from ignorance." + +He then set forth accompanied by Ânanda and several disciples. Judging +from the route adopted his intention was to go ultimately to Sâvatthî. +This was one of the towns where he resided from time to time, but we +cannot tell what may have been his special motives for visiting it on +the present occasion, for if the King of Kosala had recently massacred +the Sâkyas his presence there would have been strange. The road was not +direct but ran up northwards and then followed the base of the +mountains, thus enabling travellers to cross rivers near their sources +where they were still easy to ford. The stopping-places from Râjagaha +onwards were Nâlanda, Pâṭaliputra, Vesâlî, Bhandagâma, Pâvâ, Kusinârâ, +Kapilavatthu, Setavya, Sâvatthî. On his last journey the Buddha is +represented as following this route but he died at the seventh +stopping-place, Kusinârâ. When at Pâṭaligâma, he prophesied that it +would become a great emporium[373]. He was honourably entertained by the +officers of the King who decided that the gate and ferry by which he +left should be called Gotama's gate and Gotama's ferry. The gate +received the name, but when he came to the Ganges he vanished +miraculously and appeared standing on the further bank. He then went on +to Vesâlî, passing with indifference and immunity from the dominions of +the King of Magadha into those of his enemies, and halted in the grove +of the courtezan Ambapâlî[374]. She came to salute him and he accepted +her invitation to dine with her on the morrow, in spite of the protests +of the Licchavi princes. + +The rainy season was now commencing and the Buddha remained near Vesâlî +in the village of Beluva, where he fell seriously ill. One day after his +recovery he was sitting in the shade with Ânanda, who said that during +the illness his comfort had been the thought that the Buddha would not +pass away without leaving final instructions to the Order. The reply was +a remarkable address which is surely, at least, in parts the Buddha's +own words. + +"What does the order expect of me, Ânanda? I have preached the truth +without any distinction of esoteric or exoteric, for in respect of the +truth, there is no clenched hand in the teaching of the Tathâgata. If +there is anyone who thinks 'it is I who will lead the brotherhood' or +'the order is dependent on me,' it is he who should give instructions. +But the Tathâgata does not think that he should lead the order or that +the order is dependent on him. Why then should he leave instructions? I +am an old man now, and full of years, my pilgrimage is finished, I have +reached my sum of days, I am turning eighty years; and just as a +worn-out cart can only be made to move along with much additional care, +so can the body of the Tathagâta be kept going only with much additional +care. It is only when the Tathagâta, ceasing to attend to any outward +thing becomes plunged in meditation, it is only then that the body of +the Tathagâta is at ease. Therefore, Ânanda, be a lamp and a refuge to +yourselves. Seek no other refuge. Let the Truth be your lamp and refuge; +seek no refuge elsewhere. + +"And they, Ânanda, who now or when I am dead shall be a lamp and a +refuge to themselves, seeking no other refuge but taking the Truth as +their lamp and refuge, these shall be my foremost disciples—these who +are anxious to learn." + +This discourse is succeeded by a less convincing episode, in which the +Buddha tells Ânanda that he can prolong his life to the end of a +world-period if he desires it. But though the hint was thrice repeated, +the heedless disciple did not ask the Master to remain in the world. +When he had gone, Mâra, the Evil one, appeared and urged on the Buddha +that it was time for him to pass away. He replied that he would die in +three months but not before he had completely established the true +religion. Thus he deliberately rejected his allotted span of life and an +earthquake occurred. He explained the cause of it to Ânanda, who saw his +mistake too late. "Enough, Ânanda, the time for making such a request is +past[375]." + +The narrative becomes more human when it relates how one afternoon he +looked at the town and said, "This will be the last time that the +Tathâgata will behold Vesâlî. Come, Ânanda, let us go to Bhandagâma." +After three halts he arrived at Pâvâ and stopped in the mango grove of +Cunda, a smith, who invited him to dinner and served sweet rice, cakes, +and a dish which has been variously interpreted as dried boar's flesh or +a kind of truffle. The Buddha asked to be served with this dish and bade +him give the sweet rice and cakes to the brethren. After eating some of +it he ordered the rest to be buried, saying that no one in heaven or +earth except a Buddha could digest it, a strange remark to chronicle +since it was this meal which killed him[376]. But before he died he sent +word to Cunda that he had no need to feel remorse and that the two most +meritorious offerings in the world are the first meal given to a Buddha +after he has obtained enlightenment and the last one given him before +his death. On leaving Cunda's house he was attacked by dysentery and +violent pains but bore them patiently and started for Kusinârâ with his +disciples. In going thither he crossed the river Kakutthâ[377], and some +verses inserted into the text, which sound like a very old ballad, +relate how he bathed in it and then, weary and worn out, lay down on his +cloak. A curious incident occurs here. A young Mallian, named Pukkuisa, +after some conversation with the Buddha, presents him with a robe of +cloth of gold, but when it is put on it seems to lose its splendour, so +exceedingly clear and bright is his skin. Gotama explains that there are +two occasions when the skin of a Buddha glows like this—the night of his +enlightenment and the night before his death. The transfiguration of +Christ suggests itself as a parallel and is also associated with an +allusion to his coming death. Most people have seen a face so light up +under the influence of emotion that this popular metaphor seemed to +express physical truth and it is perhaps not excessive to suppose that +in men of exceptional gifts this illumination may have been so bright as +to leave traces in tradition. + +Then they went on[378] to a grove at Kusinârâ, and he lay down on a +couch spread between two Sâla trees. These trees were in full bloom, +though it was not the season for their flowering; heavenly strains and +odours filled the air and spirits unseen crowded round the bed. But +Ânanda, we are told, went into the Vihâra, which was apparently also in +the grove, and stood leaning against the lintel weeping at the thought +that he was to lose so kind a master. The Buddha sent for him and said, +"Do not weep. Have I not told you before that it is the very nature of +things most near and dear to us that we must part from them, leave them, +sever ourselves from them? All that is born, brought into being and put +together carries within itself the necessity of dissolution. How then is +it possible that such a being should not be dissolved? No such condition +is possible. For a long time, Ânanda, you have been very near me by +words of love, kind and good, that never varies and is beyond all +measure. You have done well, Ânanda. Be earnest in effort and you too +shall soon be free from the great evils—from sensuality, from +individuality, from delusion and from ignorance." + +The Indians have a strong feeling that persons of distinction should die +in a suitable place[379], and now comes a passage in which Ânanda begs +the Buddha not to die "in this little wattle and daub town in the midst +of the jungle" but rather in some great city. The Buddha told him that +Kusinârâ had once been the capital of King Mahâsudassana and a scene of +great splendour in former ages. This narrative is repeated in an +amplified form in the Sutta and Jâtaka[380] called Mahâsudassana, in +which the Buddha is said to have been that king in a previous birth. + +Kusinârâ was at that time one of the capitals of the Mallas, who were an +aristocratic republic like the Sâkyas and Vajjians. At the Buddha's +command Ânanda went to the Council hall and summoned the people. "Give +no occasion to reproach yourself hereafter saying, The Tathâgata died in +our own village and we neglected to visit him in his last hours." So the +Mallas came and Ânanda presented them by families to the dying Buddha as +he lay between the flowering trees, saying "Lord, a Malla of such and +such a name with his children, his wives, his retinue and his friends +humbly bows down at the feet of the Blessed One." + +A monk called Subhadda, who was not a believer, also came and Ânanda +tried to turn him away but the Buddha overhearing said "Do not keep out +Subhadda. Whatever he may ask of me he will ask from a desire for +knowledge and not to annoy me and he will quickly understand my +replies." He was the last disciple whom the Buddha converted, and he +straightway became an Arhat. + +Now comes the last watch of the night. "It may be, Ânanda," said the +Buddha, "that some of you may think, the word of the Master is ended. We +have no more a teacher. But you should not think thus. The truths and +the rules which I have declared and laid down for you all, let them be +the teacher for you after I am gone. + +"When I am gone address not one another as hitherto, saying 'Friend.' An +elder brother may address a younger brother by his name or family-name +or as friend, but a younger brother should say to an elder, Sir, or +Lord. + +"When I am gone let the order, if it should so wish, abolish all the +lesser and minor precepts." + +Thus in his last address the dying Buddha disclaims, as he had +disclaimed before in talking to Ânanda, all idea of dictating to the +order: his memory is not to become a paralyzing tradition. What he had +to teach, he has taught freely, holding back nothing in "a clenched +fist." The truths are indeed essential and immutable. But they must +become a living part of the believer, until he is no longer a follower +but a light unto himself. The rest does not matter: the order can change +all the minor rules if expedient. But in everyday life discipline and +forms must be observed: hitherto all have been equal compared with the +teacher, but now the young must show more respect for the older. And in +the same spirit of solicitude for the order he continues: + +"When I am gone, the highest penalty should be imposed on Channa." "What +is that, Lord?" "Let him say what he likes, but the brethren should not +speak to him or exhort him or admonish him[381]." + +The end approaches. "It may be, that there is some doubt or misgiving in +the mind of some as to the Buddha, or the truth, or the path, or the +way. Enquire freely. Do not have to reproach yourselves afterwards with +the thought, 'Our teacher was face to face with us and we could not +bring ourselves to enquire when we were face to face with him.'" All +were silent. A second and third time he put the same question and there +was silence still. "It may be, that you put no questions out of awe for +the teacher. Let one friend communicate to another." There was still +silence, till Ânanda said "How wonderful, Lord, and how marvellous. In +this whole assembly there is no one who has any doubt or misgiving as to +the Buddha, the truth, the path and the way." "Out of the fulness of +faith hast thou spoken Ânanda, but the Tathâgata knows for certain that +it is so. Even the most backward of all these five hundred brethren has +become converted and is no longer liable to be born in a state of +suffering and is assured of final salvation." + +"Behold, I exhort you saying, The elements of being are transitory[382]. +Strive earnestly. These were the last words of the Tathâgata." Then he +passed through a series of trances (no less than twenty stages are +enumerated) and expired. + +An earthquake and thunder, as one might have predicted, occurred at the +moment of his death but comparatively little stress is laid on these +prodigies. Anuruddha seems to have taken the lead among the brethren and +bade Ânanda announce the death to the Mallas. They heard it with cries +of grief: "Too soon has the Blessed One passed away. Too soon has the +light gone out of the world." + +No less than six days were passed in preparation for the obsequies[383]. +On the seventh they decided to carry the body to the south of the city +and there burn it. But when they endeavoured to lift it, they found it +immoveable. Anuruddha explained that spirits who were watching the +ceremony wished it to be carried not outside the city but through it. +When this was done the corpse moved easily and the heaven rained +flowers. The meaning of this legend is that the Mallas considered a +corpse would have defiled the city and therefore proposed to carry it +outside. By letting it pass through the city they showed that it was not +the ordinary relics of impure humanity. + +Again, when they tried to light the funeral pile it would not catch +fire. Anuruddha explained that this delay also was due to the +intervention of spirits who wished that Mahâkassapa, the same whom the +Buddha had converted at Uruvelâ and then on his way to pay his last +respects, should arrive before the cremation. When he came attended by +five hundred monks the pile caught fire of itself and the body was +consumed completely, leaving only the bones. Streams of rain +extinguished the flames and the Mallas took the bones to their council +hall. There they set round them a hedge of spears and a fence of bows +and honoured them with dance and song and offerings of garlands and +perfumes. + +Whatever may be thought of this story, the veneration of the Buddha's +relics, which is attested by the Piprava vase, is a proof that we have +to do with a man rather than a legend. The relics may all be false, but +the fact that they were venerated some 250 years after his death shows +that the people of India thought of him not as an ancient semi-divine +figure like Rama or Krishna but as something human and concrete. + +Seven persons or communities sent requests for a portion of the relics, +saying that they would erect a stupa over them and hold a feast. They +were King Ajâtasattu of Magadha, the Licchavis of Vesâlî, the Sâkyas of +Kapilavatthu, the Bulis of Allakappa, the Koṭiyas of Râmagâma, the +Mallas of Pâvâ[384] and the Brahman of Veṭhadîpa. All except the last +were Kshatriyas and based their claim on the ground that they like the +Buddha belonged to the warrior caste. The Mallas at first refused, but a +Brahman called Doṇa bade them not quarrel over the remains of him who +taught forbearance. So he divided the relics into eight parts, one for +Kusinârâ and one for each of the other seven claimants. At this juncture +the Moriyas of Pipphalivana sent in a claim for a share but had to be +content with the embers of the pyre since all the bones had been +distributed. Then eight stupas were built for the relics in the towns +mentioned and one over the embers and one by Doṇa the Brahman over the +iron vessel in which the body had been burnt. + + +5 + +Thus ended the career of a man who was undoubtedly one of the greatest +intellectual and moral forces that the world has yet seen, but it is +hard to arrive at any certain opinion as to the details of his character +and abilities, for in the later accounts he is deified and in the +Pitakas though veneration has not gone so far as this, he is +ecclesiasticized and the human side is neglected. The narrative moves +like some stately ceremonial in which emotion and incident would be out +of place until it reaches the strange deathbed, spread between the +flowering trees, and Ânanda introduces with the formality of a court +chamberlain the Malla householders who have come to pay their last +respects and bow down at the feet of the dying teacher. The scenes +described are like stained glass windows; the Lord preaching in the +centre, sinners repenting and saints listening, all in harmonious +colours and studied postures. But the central figure remains somewhat +aloof; when once he had begun his ministry he laboured uninterruptedly +and with continual success, but the foundation of the kingdom of +Righteousness seems less like the triumphant issue of a struggle than +the passage through the world of some compassionate angel. This is in +great part due to the fact that the Pitakas are works of edification. +True, they set before us the teacher as well as his teaching but they +speak of his doings and historical surroundings only in order to provide +a proper frame for the law which he preached. A less devout and more +observant historian would have arranged the picture differently and even +in the narratives that have come down to us there are touches of human +interest which seem authentic. + +When the Buddha was dying Ânanda wept because he was about to lose so +kind a master and the Buddha's own language to him is even more +affectionate. He cared not only for the organization of the order but +for its individual members. He is frequently represented as feeling that +some disciple needed a particular form of instruction and giving it. Nor +did he fail to provide for the comfort of the sick and weary. For +instance a ballad[385] relates how Panthaka driven from his home took +refuge at the door of the monastery garden. "Then came the Lord and +stroked my head and taking me by the arm led me into the garden of the +monastery and out of kindness he gave me a towel for my feet." A +striking anecdote[386] relates how he once found a monk who suffered +from a disagreeable disease lying on the ground in a filthy state. So +with Ânanda's assistance he washed him and lifting him up with his own +hands laid him on his bed. Then he summoned the brethren and told them +that if a sick brother had no special attendant the whole order should +wait on him. "You, monks, have no mothers or fathers to care for you. If +you do not wait one on the other, who is there who will wait on you? +Whosoever would wait on me, he should wait on the sick." This last +recalls Christ's words, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of +these brethren, ye have done it unto me." And, if his approval of monks +being deaf to the claims of family affection seems unfeeling, it should +also be mentioned that in the book called _Songs of the Nuns_[387] women +relate how they were crazy at the loss of their children but found +complete comfort and peace in his teaching. Sometimes we are told that +when persons whom he wished to convert proved refractory he "suffused +them with the feeling of his love" until they yielded to his +influence[388]. We can hardly doubt that this somewhat cumbrous phrase +preserves a tradition of his personal charm and power. + +The beauty of his appearance and the pleasant quality of his voice are +often mentioned but in somewhat conventional terms which inspire no +confidence that they are based on personal reminiscence, nor have the +most ancient images which we possess any claim to represent his +features, for the earliest of them are based on Greek models and it was +not the custom to represent him by a figure until some centuries after +his death. I can imagine that the truest idea of his person is to be +obtained not from the abundant effigies which show him as a somewhat +sanctimonious ascetic, but from statues of him as a young man, such as +that found at Sarnath, which may possibly preserve not indeed the +physiognomy of Gotama but the general physique of a young Nepalese +prince, with powerful limbs and features and a determined mouth. For +there is truth at the bottom of the saying that Gotama was born to be +either a Buddha or a universal monarch: he would have made a good +general, if he had not become a monk. + +We are perhaps on firmer ground when we find speakers in the +Pitakas[389] commenting on his calm and bright expression and his +unruffled courtesy in discussion. Of his eloquence it is hard to judge. +The Suttas may preserve his teaching and some of his words but they are +probably rearrangements made for recitation. Still it is impossible to +prove that he did not himself adopt this style, particularly when age +and iteration had made the use of certain formulæ familiar to him. But +though these repetitions and subdivisions of arrangement are often +wearisome, there are not wanting traces of another manner, which suggest +a terse and racy preacher going straight to the point and driving home +his meaning with homely instances. + +Humour often peeps through the Buddha's preaching. It pervades the +Jâtaka stories, and more than once he is said to have smiled when +remembering some previous birth. Some suttas, such as the tales of the +Great King of Glory, and of King Mahâ Vijita's sacrifice[390], are +simply Jâtakas in another form—interesting stories full of edification +for those who can understand but not to be taken as a narrative of +facts. At other times he simply states the ultimate facts of a case and +leaves them in their droll incongruity. Thus when King Ajâtasattu was +moved and illuminated by his teaching, he observed to his disciples that +His Majesty had all the makings of a saint in him, if only he had not +killed that excellent man his own father. Somewhat similar is his +judgment[391] on two naked ascetics, who imitated in all things the ways +of a dog and a cow respectively, in the hope of thus obtaining +salvation. When pressed to say what their next birth would be, he opined +that if their penance was successful they would be reborn as dogs and +cows, if unsuccessful, in hell. Irony and modesty are combined in his +rejection of extravagant praise. "Such faith have I, Lord[392]" said +Sâriputta, "that methinks there never has been nor will be nor is now +any other greater or wiser than the Blessed One." "Of course, Sâriputta" +is the reply, "you have known all the Buddhas of the past." "No, Lord." +"Well then, you know those of the future." "No, Lord." "Then at least +you know me and have penetrated my mind thoroughly." "Not even that, +Lord." "Then why, Sâriputta, are your words so grand and bold." + +There is much that is human in these passages yet we should be making a +fancy portrait did we allow ourselves to emphasize them too much and +neglect the general tone of the Pitakas. These scriptures are the +product of a school; but that school grew up under the Buddha's personal +influence and more than that is rooted in the very influences and +tendencies which produced the Buddha himself. The passionless, +intellectual aloofness; the elemental simplicity with which the facts of +life are stated and explained without any concession to sentiment, the +rigour of the prescription for salvation, that all sensual desire and +attachment must be cut off, are too marked and consistent for us to +suppose them due merely to monkish inability to understand the more +human side of his character. The Buddha began his career as an Indian +Muni, one supposed to be free from all emotions and intent only on +seeking deliverance from every tie connecting him with the world. This +was expected of him and had he done no more it would have secured him +universal respect. The fact that he did a great deal more, that he +devoted his life to active preaching, that he offered to all happiness +and escape from sorrow, that he personally aided with advice and +encouragement all who came to him, caused both his contemporaries and +future generations to regard him as a saviour. His character and the +substance of his teaching were admirably suited to the needs of the +religious world of India in his day. Judged by the needs of other +temperaments, which are entitled to neither more nor less consideration, +they seem too severe, too philosophic and the later varieties of +Buddhism have endeavoured to make them congenial to less strenuous +natures. + +Before leaving the personality of the Buddha, we must say a word about +the more legendary portions of his biography, for though of little +importance for history they have furnished the chief subjects of +Buddhist art and influenced the minds of his followers as much as or +more than the authentic incidents of his career[393]. The later legend +has not distorted the old narrative. It is possible that all its +incidents may be founded on stories known to the compilers of the +Pitakas, though this is not at present demonstrable, but they are +embellished by an unstinted use of the supernatural and of the hyperbole +usual in Indian poetry. The youthful Buddha moves through showers of +flowers and an atmosphere crowded with attendant deities. He cannot even +go to school without an escort of ten thousand children and a hundred +thousand maidens and astonishes the good man who proposes to teach him +the alphabet by suggesting sixty-four systems of writing. + +The principal scenes in this legend are as follows. The Bodhisattva, +that is the Buddha to-be, resides in the Tusita Heaven and selects his +birth-place and parentage. He then enters the womb of his mother Mâyâ in +the shape of a white elephant, which event she sees in a dream. Brahmans +are summoned and interpret the vision to mean that her son will be a +Universal Monarch or a Buddha. When near her confinement Mâyâ goes to +visit her parents but on the way brings forth her son in the Lumbini +grove. As she stands upright holding the bough of a tree, he issues from +her side without pain to her and is received by deities, but on touching +the ground, takes seven steps and says, "I am the foremost in the +world." On the same day are born several persons who play a part in his +life—his wife, his horse, Ânanda, Bimbisâra and others. Asita does +homage to him, as does also his father, and it is predicted that he will +become a Buddha and renounce the world. His father in his desire to +prevent this secludes him in the enjoyment of all luxury. At the +ploughing festival he falls into a trance under a tree and the shadow +stands still to protect him and does not change. Again his father does +him homage. He is of herculean strength and surpasses all as an archer. +He marries his cousin Yasodharâ, when sixteen years old. Then come the +four visions, which are among the scenes most frequently depicted in +modern sacred art. As he is driving in the palace grounds the gods show +him an old man, a sick man, a corpse and a monk of happy countenance. +His charioteer explains what they are and he determines to abandon the +world. It was at this time that his son was born and on hearing the news +he said that a new fetter now bound him to worldly life but still +decided to execute his resolve. That night he could take no pleasure in +the music of the singing women who were wont to play to him and they +fell asleep. As he looked at their sleeping forms he felt disgust and +ordered Channa, his charioteer, to saddle Kaṇṭhaka, a gigantic white +horse, eighteen cubits long from head to tail. Meanwhile he went to his +wife's room and took a last but silent look as she lay sleeping with her +child. + +Then he started on horseback attended by Channa and a host of heavenly +beings who opened the city gates. Here he was assailed by Mâra the +Tempter who offered him universal empire but in vain. After jumping the +river Anomâ on his steed, he cut off his long hair with his sword and +flinging it up into the air wished it might stay there if he was really +to become a Buddha. It remained suspended; admiring gods placed it in a +heavenly shrine and presented Gotama with the robes of a monk. + +Not much is added to the account of his wanderings and austerities as +given in the Pitakas, but the attainment of Buddhahood naturally +stimulates the devout imagination. At daybreak Gotama sits at the foot +of a tree, lighting up the landscape with the golden rays which issue +from his person. Sujârâ a noble maiden and her servant Pûrṇâ offer him +rice and milk in a golden vessel and he takes no more food for seven +weeks. He throws the vessel into the river, wishing that if he is to +become a Buddha it may ascend the stream against the current. It does so +and then sinks to the abode of the Nâgas. Towards evening he walks to +the Bodhi-tree and meets a grass-cutter who offers him grass to make a +seat. This he accepts and taking his seat vows that rather than rise +before attaining Buddhahood, he will let his blood dry up and his body +decay. Then comes the great assault of the Tempter. Mâra attacks him in +vain both with an army of terrible demons and with bands of seductive +nymphs. During the conflict Mâra asked him who is witness to his ever +having performed good deeds or bestowed alms? He called on the earth to +bear witness. Earthquakes and thunders responded to the appeal and the +goddess of the Earth herself rose and bore testimony. The rout of Mâra +is supposed to have taken place in the late evening. The full moon[394] +came out and in the three watches of the night he attained +enlightenment. + +The Pali and early Sanskrit texts place the most striking legendary +scenes in the first part of the Buddha's life just as scribes give +freest rein to their artistic imagination in tracing the first letter +and word of a chapter. In the later version, the whole text is coloured +and gilded with a splendour that exceeds the hues of ordinary life but +no incidents of capital importance are added after the +Enlightenment[395]. Historical names still occur and the Buddha is still +a wandering teacher with a band of disciples, but his miracles +continually convulse the universe: he preaches to mankind from the sky +and retires for three months to the Tusita Heaven in order to instruct +his mother, who had died before she could hear the truth from her son's +lips, and often the whole scene passes into a vision where the ordinary +limits of space, time and number cease to have any meaning. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE BUDDHA COMPARED WITH OTHER RELIGIOUS TEACHERS + + +The personality of the Buddha invites comparison with the founders of +the other world-religions, Christ and Mohammed. We are tempted to ask +too if there is any resemblance between him and Confucius, a +contemporary Asiatic whose influence has been equally lasting, but here +there is little common ground. For Confucius's interest was mainly in +social and ethical problems, not in religion. He laid stress on those +ties of kinship and society, respecting which the Indian monk (like +Christ) sometimes spoke harshly, although there is a strong likeness +between the moral code of the Buddhist layman and Confucianism: he was +full of humility and respect for antiquity, whereas Gotama had a good +share of that self-confidence which is necessary for all who propound to +the world a new religion.[396] + +But with Mohammed comparison, or rather contrast, is easier. Both were +seekers after truth: both found what they believed to be the truth only +when of mature years, Gotama when about thirty-six, Mohammed when forty +or more: both lived to be elderly men and possessed great authority. But +there the analogy ends. Perhaps no single human being has had so great +an effect on the world as Mohammed. His achievements are personal and, +had he never lived, it is not clear that the circumstances of the age +would have caused some one else to play approximately the same part. He +more than Cæsar or Alexander was individually the author of a movement +which transformed part of three continents. No one else has been able to +fuse the two noble instincts of religion and empire in so perfect a +manner, perfect because the two do not conflict or jar, as do the +teachings of Christ and the pretensions of his Church to temporal power. +But it is precisely this fusion of religion and politics which +disqualifies Islam as a universal religion and prevents it from +satisfying the intellectual and spiritual wants of that part of humanity +which is most intellectual and most spiritual. Law and religion are +inextricably mixed in it and a Moslim, more than the most superstitious +of Buddhists or Christians, is bound by a vast number of ties and +observances which have nothing to do with religion. It is in avoiding +these trammels that the superior religious instinct of Gotama shows +itself. He was aided in this by the temper of his times. Though he was +of the warrior caste and naturally brought into association with +princes, he was not on that account tempted to play a part in politics, +for to the Hindus, then as now, renunciation of the world was +indispensable for serious religion and there is no instance of a teacher +obtaining a hearing among them without such renunciation as a +preliminary. According to Indian popular ideas a genius might become +either an Emperor or a Buddha but not like Mohammed a mixture of the +two. But the danger which beset Gotama, and which he consistently and +consciously avoided, though Mohammed could not, was to give +authoritative decisions on unessential points as to both doctrine and +practice. There was clearly a party which wished to make the rule of his +order more severe and, had he consented, the religious world of his day +would have approved. But by so doing he would have made Buddhism an +Indian sect like Jainism, incapable of flourishing in lands with other +institutions. If Buddhism has had little influence outside Asia, that is +because there are differences of temperament in the world, not because +it sanctions anachronisms or prescribes observances of a purely local +and temporary value. In all his teaching Gotama insists on what is +essential only and will not lend his name and authority to what is +merely accessory. He will not for instance direct or even recommend his +disciples to be hermits. "Whoever wishes may dwell in a wood and whoever +wishes may dwell near a village." And in his last days he bade them be a +light unto themselves and gave them authority to change all the lesser +precepts. It is true that the order decided to make no use of this +permission, but the spirit which dictated it has shaped the destinies of +the faith. + +Akin to this contrast is another—that between the tolerance of Gotama +and the persecuting spirit of Islam. Mohammed and his followers never +got rid of the idea that any other form of religion is an insult to the +Almighty: that infidels should if possible be converted by compulsion, +or, if that were impossible, allowed to exist only on sufferance and in +an inferior position. Such ideas were unknown to Gotama. He laboured not +for his own or his Creator's glory but simply and solely to benefit +mankind. Conversion by force had no meaning for him, for what he desired +was not a profession of allegiance but a change of disposition and amid +many transformations his Church has not lost this temper. + +When we come to compare Gotama and Christ we are struck by many +resemblances of thought but also by great differences of circumstances +and career. Both were truly spiritual teachers who rose above forms and +codes: both accepted the current ideals of their time and strove to +become the one a Buddha, the other Messiah. But at the age when Christ +was executed Gotama was still in quest of truth and still on the wrong +track. He lived nearly fifty years longer and had ample opportunity of +putting his ideas into practice. So far as our meagre traditions allow +us to trace the development of the two, the differences are even more +fundamental. Peaceful as was the latter part of Gotama's life, the +beginning was a period of struggle and disillusion. He broke away from +worldly life to study philosophy: he broke away from philosophy to wear +out his body with the severest mortification; that again he found to be +vanity and only then did he attain to enlightenment. And though he +offers salvation to all without distinction, he repeatedly says that it +is difficult: with hard wrestling has he won the truth and it is hard +for ordinary men to understand. + +Troubled as was the life of Christ, it contains no struggle of this +sort. As a youth he grew up in a poor family where the disenchantment of +satiety was unknown: his genius first found expression in sermons +delivered in the synagogue—the ordinary routine of Jewish ritual: his +appearance as a public teacher and his ultimate conviction that he was +the Messiah were a natural enlargement of his sphere, not a change of +method: the temptation, though it offers analogies to Gotama's mental +struggle and particularly to the legends about Mâra, was not an internal +revolution in which old beliefs were seen to be false and new knowledge +arose from their ashes. So far as we know, his inner life was continuous +and undisturbed, and its final expression is emotional rather than +intellectual. He gives no explanations and leaves no feeling that they +are necessary. He is free in his use of metaphor and chary of +definition. The teaching of the Buddha on the other hand is essentially +intellectual. The nature and tastes of his audience were a sufficient +justification for his style, but it indicates a temper far removed from +the unquestioning and childlike faith of Christ. We can hardly conceive +him using such a phrase as Our Father, but we may be sure that if he had +done so he would have explained why and how and to what extent such +words can be properly used of the Deity. + +The most sceptical critics of the miracles recorded in the Gospels can +hardly doubt that Christ possessed some special power of calming and +healing nervous maladies and perhaps others. Sick people naturally +turned to him: they were brought to him when he arrived in a town. +Though the Buddha was occasionally kind to the sick, no such picture is +drawn of the company about him and persons afflicted with certain +diseases could not enter the order. When the merchant Anâthapiṇḍika is +seriously ill, he sends a messenger with instructions to inform the +Buddha and Sâriputta of his illness and to add in speaking to Sâriputta +that he begs him to visit him out of compassion[397]. He does not +presume to address the same request to the Buddha. Christ teaches that +the world is evil or, perhaps we should say, spoiled, but wishes to +remove the evil and found the Kingdom of Heaven: the Buddha teaches that +birth, sickness and death are necessary conditions of existence and that +disease, which like everything else has its origin in Karma, can be +destroyed only when the cause is destroyed[398]. Nor do we find ascribed +to him that love of children and tenderness towards the weak and erring +which are beautiful features in the portrait of Christ[399]. He had no +prejudices: he turned robust villains like Angulimâla, the brigand, into +saints and dined with prostitutes but one cannot associate him with +simple friendly intercourse. When he accepted invitations he did not so +much join in the life of the family which he visited as convert the +entertainment offered to him into an edifying religious service. Yet in +propaganda and controversy he was gracious and humane beyond the measure +of all other teachers. He did not call the priests of his time a +generation of vipers, though he laughed at their ceremonies and their +pretensions to superior birth. + +Though the Buddha passed through intellectual crises such as the +biographies of Christ do not hint at, yet in other matters it is he +rather than Christ who offers a picture and example of peace. Christ +enjoyed with a little band of friends an intimacy which the Hindu gave +to none, but from the very commencement of his mission he is at enmity +with what he calls the world. The world is evil and a great event is +coming of double import, for it will bring disaster on the wicked as +well as happiness for the good. "Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is +at hand." He is angry with the world because it will not hear him. He +declares that it hates him and the gospel according to St John even +makes him say, "I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast +given me[400]." The little towns of Galilee are worse in his eyes than +the wicked cities of antiquity because they are not impressed by his +miracles and Jerusalem which has slighted all the prophets and finally +himself is to receive signal punishment. The shadow of impending death +fell over the last period of his ministry and he felt that he was to be +offered as a sacrifice. The Jews even seem to have thought at one time +that he was unreasonably alarmed[401]. + +But the Buddha was not angry with the world. He thought of it as +unsatisfactory and transitory rather than wicked, as ignorant rather +than rebellious. He troubled little about people who would not listen. +The calm and confidence which so many narratives attribute to him rarely +failed to meet with the respect which they anticipated. In his life +there is no idea of sacrifice, no element of the tragic, no nervous +irritability. When Devadatta meditated his assassination, he is +represented as telling his disciples that they need not be uneasy +because it was physically impossible to kill a Buddha. The saying is +perhaps not historical but it illustrates Indian sentiment. In his +previous existences, when preparing for Buddhahood, he had frequently +given his life for others, not because it was any particular good to +them but in order to perfect his character for his own great career and +bring about the selflessness which is essential to a Buddha. When once +he had attained enlightenment any idea of sacrifice, such as the +shepherd laying down his life for the sheep, had no meaning. It would be +simply the destruction of the more valuable for the less valuable. Even +the modern developments of Buddhism which represent the Buddha Amida as +a saviour do not contain the idea that he gives up his life for his +followers. + +Gotama instituted a religious order and lived long enough to see it grow +out of infancy, but its organization was gradual and for a year or two +it was simply a band of disciples not more bound by rules than the +seventy whom Christ sent forth to preach. Would Christ, had he lived +longer, have created something analogous to the Buddhist _sangha_, a +community not conflicting with national and social institutions but +independent of them? The question is vain and to Europeans Christ's +sketch of the Christian life will appear more satisfactory than the +finished portrait of the Bhikkhu. But though his maxims are the perfect +expression of courtesy and good feeling with an occasional spice of +paradox, such as the command to love one's enemies, yet the experience +of nearly twenty centuries has shown that this morality is not for the +citizens of the world. The churches which give themselves his name +preach with rare exceptions that soldiering, financing and the business +of government—things about which he cared as little as do the birds and +the lilies of the field—are the proper concern of Christian men and one +wonders whether he would not, had his life been prolonged, have seen +that many of his precepts, such as turning the other cheek and not +resisting evil, are incompatible with ordinary institutions and have +followed the example of the great Indian by founding a society in which +they could be kept. The monastic orders of the Roman and Eastern +Churches show that such a need was felt. + +There are many resemblances between the Gospels and the teaching of the +Buddha but the bases of the two doctrines are different and, if the +results are sometimes similar, this shows that the same destination can +be reached by more than one road. It is perhaps the privilege of genius +to see the goal by intuition: the road and the vehicle are subsidiary +and may be varied to suit the minds of different nations. Christ, being +a Jew, took for his basis a refined form of the old Jewish theism. He +purged Jehovah of his jealousy and prejudices and made him a spirit of +pure benevolence who behaves to men as a loving father and bids them +behave to one another as loving brethren. Such ideas lie outside the +sphere of Gotama's thought and he would probably have asked why on this +hypothesis there is any evil in the world. That is a question which the +Gospels are chary of discussing but they seem to indicate that the +disobedience and sinfulness of mankind are the root of evil. A godly +world would be a happy world. But the Buddha would have said that though +the world would be very much happier if all its inhabitants were moral +and religious, yet the evils inherent in individual existence would +still remain; it would still be impermanent and unsatisfactory. + +Yet the Buddha and Christ are alike in points which are of considerable +human interest, though they are not those emphasized by the Churches. +Neither appears to have had much taste for theology or metaphysics. +Christ ignored them: the Buddha said categorically that such +speculations are vain. Indeed it is probably a general law in religions +that the theological phase does not begin until the second generation, +when the successors of the founder try to interpret and harmonize his +words. He himself sees clearly and says plainly what mankind ought to +do. Neither the Buddha, nor Christ, nor Mohammed cared for much beyond +this, and such of their sayings as have reference to the whence, the +whither and the why of the universe are obscure precisely because these +questions do not fall within the field of religious genius and receive +no illumination from its light. Argumentative as the Buddhist suttas +are, their aim is strictly practical, even when their language appears +scholastic, and the burden of all their ratiocination is the same and +very simple. Men are unhappy because of their foolish desires: to become +happy they must make themselves a new heart and will and, perhaps the +Buddha would have added, new eyes. + +Neither the Buddha nor Christ thought it worth while to write anything +and both of them ignored ceremonial and sacerdotal codes in a way which +must have astounded their contemporaries. The law-books and sacrifices +to which Brahmans and Pharisees devoted time and study are simply left +on one side. The former are replaced by injunctions to cultivate a good +habit of mind, such as is exemplified in the Eightfold Path and the +Beatitudes, the latter by some observances of extreme simplicity, such +as the Pâtimokkha and the Lord's Prayer. In both cases subsequent +generations felt that the provision made by the Founders was inadequate +and the Buddhist and Christian Churches have multiplied ceremonies +which, though not altogether unedifying, would certainly have astonished +Gotama and Christ. + +For Christ the greatest commandments were that a man should love God and +his neighbours. This summary is not in the manner of Gotama and though +love (mettâ) has an important place in his teaching, it is rather an +inseparable adjunct of a holy life than the force which creates and +animates it. In other words the Buddha teaches that a saint must love +his fellow men rather than that he who loves his fellow men is a saint. +But the passages extolling _mettâ_ are numerous and striking, and +European writers have, I think, shown too great a disposition to +maintain that _mettâ_ is something less than Christian love and little +more than benevolent equanimity. The love of the New Testament is not +eros but agape, a new word first used by Jewish and Christian writers +and nearly the exact equivalent of _mettâ_. For both words love is +rather too strong a rendering and charity too weak. Nor is it just to +say that the Buddha as compared with Christ preaches inaction. The +Christian nations of Europe are more inclined to action than the +Buddhist nations of Asia, yet the Beatitudes do not indicate that the +strenuous life is the road to happiness. Those declared blessed are the +poor, the mourners, the meek, the hungry, the pure and the persecuted. +Such men have just the virtues of the patient Bhikkhu and like Christ +the Buddha praised the merciful and the peacemakers. And similarly +Christ's phrase about rendering unto Cæsar the things that are Caesar's +seems to dissociate his true followers (like the Bhikkhus) from +political life. Money and taxes are the affair of those who put their +heads on coins; God and the things which concern him have quite another +sphere. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE TEACHING OF THE BUDDHA + +1 + + +When the Buddha preached his first sermon[402] to the five monks at +Benares the topics he selected were the following. First comes an +introduction about avoiding extremes of either self-indulgence or +self-mortification. This was specially appropriate to his hearers who +were ascetics and disposed to over-rate the value of austerities. Next +he defines the middle way or eightfold path. Then he enunciates the four +truths of the nature of suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the +method of bringing about that cessation. This method is no other than +the eightfold path. Then his hearers understood that whatever has a +beginning must have an end. This knowledge is described as the pure and +spotless Eye of Truth. The Buddha then formally admitted them as the +first members of the Sangha. He then explained to them that there is no +such thing as self. We are not told that they received any further +instruction before they were sent forth to be teachers and missionaries: +they were, it would seem, sufficiently equipped. When the Buddha +instructs his sixth convert, Yasa, the introduction is slightly +different, doubtless because he was a layman. It treats of "almsgiving, +of moral duties, of heaven, of the evil, vanity and sinfulness of +desires, of the blessings which come from abandoning desires." Then when +his catechumen's mind was prepared, he preached to him "the chief +doctrine of the Buddhas, namely suffering, its cause, its cessation and +the Path." And when Yasa understood this he obtained the Eye of Truth. + +It is clear, therefore, that the Buddha regarded practice as the +foundation of his system. He wished to create a temper and a habit of +life. Mere acquiescence in dogma, such as a Christian creed, is not +sufficient as a basis of religion and test of membership. It is only in +the second stage that he enunciates the four great theorems of his +system (of which one, the Path, is a matter of practice rather than +doctrine) and only later still that he expounds conceptions which are +logically fundamental, such as his view of personality. "Just as the +great ocean has only one taste, the taste of salt, so has this doctrine +and discipline only one taste, the taste of emancipation[403]." This +practical aim has affected the form given to much of the Buddha's +teaching, for instance the theory of the Skandhas and the chain of +causation. When examined at leisure by a student of to-day, the dogmas +seem formulated with imperfect logic and the results trite and obvious. +But such doctrines as that evil must have a cause which can be +discovered and removed by natural methods: that a bad unhappy mind can +be turned into a good, happy mind by suppressing evil thoughts and +cultivating good thoughts, are not commonplaces even now, if they +receive a practical application, and in 500 B.C. they were not +commonplaces in any sense. + +And yet no one can read Buddhist books or associate with Buddhist monks +without feeling that the intellectual element is preponderant, not the +emotional. The ultimate cause of suffering is ignorance. The Buddha has +won the truth by understanding the universe. Conversion is usually +described by some such phrase as acquiring the Eye of Truth, rather than +by words expressing belief or devotion. The major part of the ideal +life, set forth in a recurring passage of the Dîgha Nikâya, consists in +the creation of intellectual states, and though the Buddha disavowed all +speculative philosophy his discourses are full, if not of metaphysics, +at least of psychology. And this knowledge is essential. It is not +sufficient to affirm one's belief in it; it must be assimilated and +taken into the life of every true Buddhist. All cannot do this: most of +the unconverted are blinded by lust and passion, but some are +incapacitated by want of mental power. They must practise virtue and in +a happier birth their minds will be enlarged. + +The reader who has perused the previous chapters will have some idea of +the tone and subject matter of the Buddha's preaching. We will now +examine his doctrine as a system and will begin with the theory of +existence, premising that it disclaims all idea of doing more than +analyze our experience. With speculations or assertions as to the +origin, significance and purpose of the Universe, the Buddha has nothing +to do. Such questions do not affect his scheme of salvation. What +views—if any—he may have held or implied about them we shall gather as +we go on. But it is dangerous to formulate what he did not formulate +himself, and not always easy to understand what he did formulate. For +his words, though often plain and striking, are, like the utterances of +other great teachers, apt to provoke discordant explanations. They meet +our thoughts half way, but no interpretation exhausts their meaning. +When we read into them the ideas of modern philosophy and combine them +into a system logical and plausible after the standard of this age, we +often feel that the result is an anachronism: but if we treat them as +ancient simple discourses by one who wished to make men live an austere +and moral life, we still find that there are uncomfortably profound +sayings which will not harmonize with this theory. + +The Buddha's aversion to speculation did not prevent him from insisting +on the importance of a correct knowledge of our mental constitution, the +chain of causation and other abstruse matters; nor does it really take +the form of neglecting metaphysics: rather of defining them in a manner +so authoritative as to imply a reserve of unimparted knowledge. Again +and again questions about the fundamental mysteries of existence are put +to him and he will not give an answer. It would not conduce to +knowledge, peace, or freedom from passion, we are told, and, therefore, +the Lord has not declared it. _Therefore_: not, it would seem, because +he did not know, but because the discussion was not profitable. And the +modern investigator, who is not so submissive as the Buddha's disciples, +asks why not? Can it be that the teacher knew of things transcendental +not to be formulated in words? Once[404] he compared the truths he had +taught his disciples to a bunch of leaves which he held in his hand and +the other truths which he knew but had not taught to the leaves of the +whole forest in which they were walking. And the story of the blind men +and the elephant[405] seems to hint that Buddhas, those rare beings who +are not blind, can see the constitution of the universe. May we then in +chance phrases get a glimpse of ideas which he would not develop? It may +be so, but the quest is temerarious. "What I have revealed[406] hold as +revealed, and what I have not revealed, hold as not revealed." The +gracious but authoritative figure of the Master gives no further reply +when we endeavour to restate his teaching in some completer form which +admits of comparison with the ancient and modern philosophies of Europe. + +The best introduction to his theory of existence is perhaps the +instruction given to the five monks after his first sermon. The +body[407] is not the self, he says, for if it were, it would not be +subject to disease and we should be able to say, let my body be or not +be such and such. As the denial of the existence of the self or ego +(Attâ in Pali, Âtman in Sanskrit) is one of the fundamental and original +tenets of Gotama, we must remember that this self whose existence is +denied is something not subject to decay, and possessing perfect free +will with power to exercise it. The Brahmanic Âtman is such a self but +it is found nowhere in the world of our experience[408]. For the body or +form is not the self, neither is sensation or feeling (_vedanâ_) for +they are not free and eternal. Neither is perception (_saññâ_)[409] the +self. Neither, the Buddha goes on to say, are the _Sankhâras_ the self, +and for the same reason. + +Here we find ourselves sailing on the high seas of dogmatic terminology +and must investigate the meaning of this important and untranslateable +word. It is equivalent to the Sanskrit _saṃskâra_, which is akin to the +word Sanskrit itself, and means compounding, making anything artificial +and elaborate. It may be literally translated as synthesis or +confection, and is often used in the general sense of phenomena since +all phenomena are compound[410]. Occasionally[411] we hear of three +Sankhâras, body or deed, word and thought. But in later literature the +Sankhâras become a category with fifty-two divisions and these are +mostly mental or at least subjective states. The list opens with contact +(phasso) and then follow sensation, perception, thought, reflection, +memory and a series of dispositions or states such as attention, effort, +joy, torpor, stupidity, fear, doubt, lightness of body or mind, pity, +envy, worry, pride. As European thought does not class all these items +under one heading or, in other words, has no idea equivalent to +Sankhâra, it is not surprising that no adequate rendering has been +found, especially as Buddhism regards everything as mere becoming, not +fixed existence, and hence does not distinguish sharply between a +process and a result—between the act of preparing and a preparation. +Conformations, confections, syntheses, co-efficients, tendencies, +potentialities have all been used as equivalents but I propose to use +the Pali word as a rule. In some passages the word phenomena is an +adequate literary equivalent, if it is remembered that phenomena are not +thought of apart from a perceiving subject: in others some word like +predispositions or tendencies is a more luminous rendering, because the +Sankhâras are the potentialities for good and evil action existing in +the mind as a result of Karma[412]. + +The Buddha has now enumerated four categories which are not the self. +The fifth and last is Viññâṇa, frequently rendered by consciousness. But +this word is unsuitable in so far as it suggests in English some unified +and continuous mental state. Viññâṇa sometimes corresponds to thought +and sometimes is hardly distinguished from perception, for it means +awareness[413] of what is pleasant or painful, sweet or sour and so on. +But the Pitakas continually insist[414] that it is not a unity and that +its varieties come into being only when they receive proper nourishment +or, as we should say, an adequate stimulus. Thus visual consciousness +depends on the sight and on visible objects, auditory consciousness on +the hearing and on sounds. Viññâṇa is divided into eighty-nine classes +according as it is good, bad or indifferent, but none of these classes, +nor all of them together, can be called the self. + +These five groups—body, feeling, perception, the sankhâras, thought—are +generally known as the Skandhas[415] signifying in Sanskrit collections +or aggregates. The classification adopted is not completely logical, for +feeling and perception are both included in the Sankhâras and also +counted separately. But the object of the Buddha was not so much to +analyze the physical and mental constitution of a human being as to show +that this constitution contains no element which can be justly called +self or soul. For this reason all possible states of mind are +catalogued, sometimes under more than one head. They are none of them +the self and no self, ego, or soul in the sense defined above is +discernible, only aggregates of states and properties which come +together and fall apart again. When we investigate ourselves we find +nothing but psychical states: we do not find a psyche. The mind is even +less permanent than the body[416], for the body may last a hundred years +or so "but that which is called mind, thought or consciousness, day and +night keeps perishing as one thing and springing up as another." So in +the Saṃyutta-Nikâya, Mara the Tempter asks the nun Vajirâ by whom this +being, that is the human body, is made. Her answer is "Here is a mere +heap of _sankhâras_: there is no 'being.' As when various parts are +united, the word 'chariot[417]' is used (to describe the whole), so when +the _skandhas_ are present, the word 'being' is commonly used. But it is +suffering only that comes into existence and passes away." And +Buddhaghosa[418]says: + + "Misery only doth exist, none miserable; + No doer is there, naught but the deed is found; + Nirvana is, but not the man that seeks it; + The path exists but not the traveller on it." + + +Thus the Buddha and his disciples rejected such ideas as soul, being and +personality. But their language does not always conform to this ideal of +negative precision, for the vocabulary of Pali (and still more of +English) is inadequate for the task of discussing what form conduct and +belief should take unless such words are used. Also the Attâ (Âtman), +which the Buddha denies, means more than is implied by our words self +and personality. The word commonly used to signify an individual is +puggalo. Thus in one sutta[419] the Buddha preaches of the burden, the +bearer of the burden, taking it up and laying it down. The burden is the +five skandhas and the bearer is the individual or puggalo. This, if +pressed, implies that there is a personality apart from the skandhas +which has to bear them. But probably it should not be pressed and we +should regard the utterance as merely a popular sermon using language +which is, strictly speaking, metaphorical. + + +2 + +The doctrine of Anattâ—the doctrine that there is no such thing as a +soul or self—is justly emphasized as a most important part of the +Buddha's teaching and Buddhist ethics might be summarized as the +selfless life. Yet there is a danger that Europeans may exaggerate and +misunderstand the doctrine by taking it as equivalent to a denial of the +soul's immortality or of free will or to an affirmation that mind is a +function of the body. The universality of the proposition really +diminishes its apparent violence and nihilism. To say that some beings +have a soul and others have not is a formidable proposition, but to say +that absolutely no existing person or thing contains anything which can +be called a self or soul is less revolutionary than it sounds. It +clearly does not deny that men exist for decades and mountains for +millenniums: neither does it deny that before birth or after death there +may be other existences similar to human life. It merely states that in +all the world, organic and inorganic, there is nothing which is simple, +self-existent, self-determined, and permanent: everything is compound, +relative and transitory. The obvious fact that infancy, youth and age +form a series is not denied: the series may be called a personality and +death need not end it. The error to be avoided is the doctrine of the +Brahmans that through this series there runs a changeless self, which +assumes new phases like one who puts on new garments. + +The co-ordination and apparent unity observable in our mental +constitution is due to _mano_ which is commonly translated mind but is +really for Buddhism, as for the Upanishads, a _sensus communis_. Whereas +the five senses have different spheres or fields which are independent +and do not overlap, _mano_ has a share in all these spheres. It receives +and cognizes all sense impressions. + +The philosophy of early Buddhism deals with psychology rather than with +metaphysics. It holds it profitable to analyze and discuss man's mental +constitution, because such knowledge leads to the destruction of false +ideals and the pursuit of peace and insight. Enquiry into the origin and +nature of the external world is not equally profitable: in fact it is a +vain intellectual pastime. Still in treating of such matters as +sensation, perception and consciousness, it is impossible to ignore the +question of external objects or to avoid propounding, at least by +implication, some theory about them. In this connection we often come +upon the important word Dhamma (Sanskrit, Dharma). It means a law, and +more especially the law of the Buddha, or, in a wider sense, justice, +righteousness or religion[420]. But outside the moral and religious +sphere it is commonly used in the plural as equivalent to phenomena, +considered as involving states of consciousness. The Dhamma-sangaṇi[421] +divides phenomena into those which exist for the subject and those which +exist for other individuals and ignores the possibility of things +existing apart from a knowing subject. This hints at idealism and other +statements seem more precise. Thus the Saṃyutta-Nikâya declares: +"Verily, within this mortal body, some six feet high, but conscious and +endowed with mind, is the world, and its origin, and its passing +away[422]." And similarly[423] the problem is posed, "Where do the four +elements pass away and leave no trace behind." Neither gods nor men can +answer it, and when it is referred to the Buddha, his decision is that +the question is wrongly put and therefore admits of no solution. +"Instead of asking where the four elements pass away without trace, you +should have asked: + + Where do earth, water, fire and wind, + And long and short and fine and coarse, + Pure and impure no footing find? + Where is it that both name and form[424] + Die out and leave no trace behind?" + + +To that the answer is: In the mind of the Saint. + +Yet it is certain that such passages should not be interpreted as +equivalent to the later Yogâcâra doctrine that only thought really +exists or to any form of the doctrine that the world is Mâyâ or +illusion. The Pitakas leave no doubt on this point, for they elaborate +with clearness and consistency the theory that sensation and +consciousness depend on contact, that is contact between sense organs +and sense objects. "Man is conceived as a compound of instruments, +receptive and reacting[425]" and the Saṃyutta-Nikâya puts into the +Buddha's mouth the following dogmatic statement[426]. "Consciousness +arises because of duality. What is that duality? Visual[427] +consciousness arises because of sight and because of visible objects. +Sight is transitory and mutable: it is its very nature to change. +Visible objects are the same. So this duality is both in movement and +transitory." + +The question of the reality of the external world did not present itself +to the early Buddhists. Had it been posed we may surmise that the Buddha +would have replied, as in similar cases, that the question was not +properly put. He would not, we may imagine, have admitted that the human +mind has the creative power which idealism postulates, for such power +seems to imply the existence of something like a self or âtman. But +still though the Pitakas emphasize the empirical duality of sense-organs +and sense-objects, they also supply a basis for the doctrines of +Nâgârjuna and Asanga, which like much late Buddhist metaphysics insist +on using logic in regions where the master would not use it. When it is +said that the genesis of the world and its passing away are within this +mortal frame, the meaning probably is that the world as we experience it +with its pains and pleasures depends on the senses and that with the +modification or cessation of the senses it is changed or comes to an +end. In other words (for this doctrine like most of the Buddha's +doctrines is at bottom ethical rather than metaphysical) the saint can +make or unmake his own world and triumph over pain. But the theory of +sensation may be treated not ethically but metaphysically. Sensation +implies a duality and on the one side the Buddha's teaching argues that +there is no permanent sentient self but merely different kinds of +consciousness arising in response to different stimuli. It is admitted +too that visible objects are changing and transitory like sight itself +and thus there is no reason to regard the external world, which is one +half of the duality, as more permanent, self-existent and continuous +than the other half. When we apply to it the destructive analysis which +the Buddha applied only to mental states, we easily arrive at the +nihilism or idealism of the later Buddhists. Of this I will treat later. +For the present we have only to note that early Buddhism holds that +sensation depends on contact, that is on a duality. It does not +investigate the external part of this duality and it is clear that such +investigation leads to the very speculations which the Buddha declared +to be unprofitable, such as arguments about the eternity and infinity of +the universe. + +The doctrine of Anattâ is counterbalanced by the doctrine of causation. +Without this latter the Buddha might seem to teach that life is a chaos +of shadows. But on the contrary he teaches the universality of law, in +this life and in all lives. For Hindus of most schools of thought, +metempsychosis means the doctrine that the immortal soul passes from one +bodily tenement to another, and is reborn again and again: karma is the +law which determines the occurrence and the character of these births. +In Buddhism, though the Pitakas speak continually of rebirth, +metempsychosis is an incorrect expression since there is no soul to +transmigrate and there is strictly speaking nothing but karma. This +word, signifying literally action or act, is the name of the force which +finds expression in the fact that every event is the result of causes +and also is itself a cause which produces effects; further in the fact +(for Indians regard it as one) that when a life, whether of a god, man +or lower creature, comes to an end, the sum of its actions (which is in +many connections equivalent to personal character) takes effect as a +whole and determines the character of another aggregation of skandhas—in +popular language, another being—representing the net result of the life +which has come to an end. Karma is also used in the more concrete sense +of the merit or demerit acquired by various acts. Thus we hear of karma +which manifests itself in this life, and of karma which only manifests +itself in another. No explanation whatever is given of the origin of +karma, of its reason, method or aims and it would not be consistent with +the principles of the Buddha to give such an explanation. Indeed, though +it is justifiable to speak of karma as a force which calls into being +the world as we know it, such a phrase goes beyond the habitual language +of early Buddhism which merely states that everything has a cause and +that every one's nature and circumstances are the result of previous +actions in this or other existences. Karma is not so much invoked as a +metaphysical explanation of the universe as accorded the consideration +which it merits as an ultimate moral fact. + +It has often been pointed out that the Buddha did not originate or even +first popularize the ideas of reincarnation and karma: they are Indian, +not specifically Buddhist. In fact, of all Indian systems of thought, +Buddhism is the one which has the greatest difficulty in expressing +these ideas in intelligible and consistent language, because it denies +the existence of the ego. Some writers have gone so far as to suggest +that the whole doctrine formed no part of the Buddha's original teaching +and was an accretion, or at most a concession of the master to the +beliefs of his time. But I cannot think this view is correct. The idea +is woven into the texture of the Buddha's discourses. When in words +which have as strong a claim as any in the Pitakas to be regarded as old +and genuine he describes the stages by which he acquired enlightenment +and promises the same experiences to those who observe his +discipline[428], he says that he first followed the thread of his own +previous existences through past æons, plumbing the unfathomed depths of +time: next, the whole of existence was spread out before him, like a +view-seen from above, and he saw beings passing away from one body and +taking shape in another, according to their deeds. Only when he +understood both the perpetual transformation of the universe and also +the line and sequence in which that transformation occurs, only then did +he see the four truths as they really are. + +It is unfortunate for us that the doctrine of reincarnation met with +almost universal assent in India[429]. If some one were to found a new +Christian sect, he would probably not be asked to prove the immortality +of the soul: it is assumed as part of the common religious belief. +Similarly, no one asked the Buddha to prove the doctrine of rebirth. If +we permit our fancy to picture an interview between him and someone +holding the ordinary ideas of an educated European about the soul, we +may imagine that he would have some difficulty in understanding what is +the alternative to rebirth. His interlocutor might reply that there are +two types of theory among Europeans. Some think that the soul comes into +existence with the body at birth but continues to exist everlasting and +immortal after the death of the body. Others, commonly called +materialists, while agreeing that the soul comes into existence with the +birth of the body, hold that it ceases to exist with the death of the +body. To the first theory the Buddha would probably have replied that +there is one law without exception, namely that whatever has a beginning +has also an end. The whole universe offers no analogy or parallel to the +soul which has a beginning but no end, and not the smallest logical need +is shown for believing a doctrine so contrary to the nature of things. +And as for materialism he would probably say that it is a statement of +the processes of the world as perceived but no explanation of the mental +or even of the physical world. The materialists forget that objects as +known cannot be isolated from the knowing subject. Sensation implies +contact and duality but it is no real explanation to say that mental +phenomena are caused by physical phenomena. The Buddha reckoned among +vain speculations not only such problems as the eternity and infinity of +the world but also the question, Is the principle of life (Jîva) +identical with the body or not identical. That question, he said, is not +properly put, which is tantamount to condemning as inadequate all +theories which derive life and thought from purely material +antecedents[430]. Other ideas of modern Europe, such as that the body is +an instrument on which the soul works, or the expression of the soul, +seem to imply, or at least to be compatible with, the pre-existence of +the soul. + +It is probable too that the Buddha would have said, and a modern +Buddhist would certainly say, that the fact of rebirth can easily be +proved by testimony and experience, because those who will make the +effort can recall their previous births. For his hearers the difficulty +must have been not to explain why they believed in rebirth but to +harmonize the belief with the rest of the master's system, for what is +reborn and how? We detect a tendency to say that it is Viññâṇa, or +consciousness, and the expression paṭisandhiviññâṇam or +rebirth-consciousness occurs[431]. The question is treated in an +important dialogue in the Majjhima-Nikâya[432], where a monk called Sâti +maintains that, according to the Buddha's teaching, consciousness +transmigrates unchanged. The Buddha summoned Sâti and rebuked his error +in language of unusual severity, for it was evidently capital and fatal +if persisted in. The Buddha does not state what transmigrates, as the +European reader would wish him to do, and would no doubt have replied to +that question that it is improperly framed and does not admit of an +answer. + +His argument is directed not so much against the idea that consciousness +in one existence can have some connection with consciousness in the +next, as against the idea that this consciousness is a unity and +permanent. He maintains that it is a complex process due to many causes, +each producing its own effect. Yet the Pitakas seem to admit that the +processes which constitute consciousness in one life, can also produce +their effect in another life, for the character of future lives may be +determined by the wishes which we form in this life. Existence is really +a succession of states of consciousness following one another +irrespective of bodies. If _ABC_ and _abc_ are two successive lives, +_ABC_ is not more of a reality or unity than _BCa_. No personality +passes over at death from _ABC_ to _abc_ but then _ABC_ is itself not a +unity: it is merely a continuous process of change[433]. + +The discourse seems to say that taṇhâ, the thirst for life, is the +connecting link between different births, but it does not use this +expression. In one part of his address the Buddha exhorts his disciples +not to enquire what they were or what they will be or what is the nature +of their present existence, but rather to master and think out for +themselves the universal law of causation, that every state has a cause +for coming into being and a cause for passing away. No doubt his main +object is as usual practical, to incite to self-control rather than to +speculation. But may he not also have been under the influence of the +idea that time is merely a form of human thought? For the ordinary mind +which cannot conceive of events except as following one another in time, +the succession of births is as true as everything else. The higher kinds +of knowledge, such as are repeatedly indicated in the Buddha's +discourse, though they are not described because language is incapable +of describing them, may not be bound in this way by the idea of time and +may see that the essential truth is not so much a series of births in +which something persists and passes from existence to existence, as the +timeless fact that life depends upon taṇhâ, the desire for life. Death, +that is the breaking up of such constituents of human life as the body, +states of consciousness, etc., does not affect taṇhâ. If taṇhâ has not +been deliberately suppressed, it collects skandhas again. The result is +called a new individual. But the essential truth is the persistence of +the taṇhâ until it is destroyed. + +Still there is no doubt that the earliest Buddhist texts and the +discourse ascribed to the Buddha himself speak, when using ordinary +untechnical language, of rebirth and of a man dying and being born[434] +in such and such a state. Only we must not suppose that the man's self +is continued or transferred in this operation. There is no entity that +can be called soul and strictly speaking no entity that can be called +body, only a variable aggregation of skandhas, constantly changing. At +death this collocation disperses but a new one reassembles under the +influence of taṇhâ, the desire of life, and by the law of karma which +prescribes that every act must have its result. The illustration that +comes most naturally is that of water. Waves pass across the surface of +the sea and successive waves are not the same, nor is what we call the +same wave really the same at two different points in its progress, and +yet one wave causes another wave and transmits its form and movement. So +are beings travelling through the world (saṃsâra) not the same at any +two points in a single life and still less the same in two consecutive +lives: yet it is the impetus and form of the previous lives, the desire +that urges them and the form that it takes, which determine the +character of the succeeding lives. + +But Buddhist writers more commonly illustrate rebirth by fire than by +water and this simile is used with others in the Questions of Milinda. +We cannot assume that this book reflects the views of the Buddha or his +immediate followers, but it is the work of an Indian in touch with good +tradition who lived a few centuries later and expressed his opinions +with lucidity. It denies the existence of transmigration and of the soul +and then proceeds to illustrate by metaphors and analogies how two +successive lives can be the same and yet not the same. For instance, +suppose a man carelessly allows his lamp to set his thatch on fire with +the result that a whole village is burnt down. He is held responsible +for the loss but when brought before the judge argues that the flame of +his lamp was not the same as the flame that burnt down the village. Will +such a plea be allowed? Certainly not. Or to take another metaphor. +Suppose a man were to choose a young girl in marriage and after making a +contract with her parents were to go away, waiting for her to grow up. +Meanwhile another man comes and marries her. If the two men appeal to +the King and the later suitor says to the earlier, The little child whom +you chose and paid for is one and the full grown girl whom I paid for +and married is another, no one would listen to his argument, for clearly +the young woman has grown out of the girl and in ordinary language they +are the same person. Or again suppose that one man left a jar of milk +with another and the milk turned to curds. Would it be reasonable for +the first man to accuse the second of theft because the milk has +disappeared? + +The caterpillar and butterfly might supply another illustration. It is +unfortunate that the higher intelligences offer no example of such +metamorphosis in which consciousness is apparently interrupted between +the two stages. Would an intelligent caterpillar take an interest in his +future welfare as a butterfly and stigmatize as vices indulgences +pleasant to his caterpillar senses and harmful only to the coming +butterfly, between whom and the caterpillar there is perhaps no +continuity of consciousness? We can imagine how strongly butterflies +would insist that the foundation of morality is that caterpillars should +realize that the butterflies' interests and their own are the same. + + +3 + +When the Buddha contemplated the saṃsâra, the world of change and +transmigration in which there is nothing permanent, nothing satisfying, +nothing that can be called a self, he formulated his chief conclusions, +theoretical and practical, in four propositions known as the four +noble[435] truths, concerning suffering, the cause of suffering, the +extinction of suffering, and the path to the extinction of +suffering[436]. These truths are always represented as the essential and +indispensable part of Buddhism. Without them, says the Buddha more than +once, there can be no emancipation, and agreeably to this we find them +represented as having formed part of the teaching of previous +Buddhas[437] and consequently as being rediscovered rather than invented +by Gotama. He even compares himself to one who has found in the jungle +the site of an ancient city and caused it to be restored. It would +therefore not be surprising if they were found in pre-Buddhist writings, +and it has been pointed out that they are practically identical with the +four divisions of the Hindu science of medicine: roga, disease; +rogahetu, the cause of disease; arogya, absence of disease; bhaisajya, +medicine. A similar parallel between the language of medicine and moral +science can be found in the Yoga philosophy, and if the fourfold +division of medicine can be shown to be anterior to Buddhism[438], it +may well have suggested the mould in which the four truths were cast. +The comparison of life and passion to disease is frequent in Buddhist +writings and the Buddha is sometimes hailed as the King of Physicians. +It is a just compendium of his doctrine—so far as an illustration can be +a compendium—to say that human life is like a diseased body which +requires to be cured by a proper regimen. But the Buddha's claim to +originality is not thereby affected, for it rests upon just this, that +he was able to regard life and religion in this spirit and to put aside +the systems of ritual, speculation and self-mortification which were +being preached all round him. + +The first truth is that existence involves suffering. It receives +emotional expression in a discourse in the Saṃyutta-Nikâya[439]. "The +world of transmigration, my disciples, has its beginning in eternity. No +origin can be perceived, from which beings start, and hampered by +ignorance, fettered by craving, stray and wander. Which think you are +more—the tears which you have shed as you strayed and wandered on this +long journey, grieving and weeping because you were bound to what you +hated and separated from what you loved—which are more, these tears, or +the waters in the four oceans? A mother's death, a son's death, a +daughter's death, loss of kinsmen, loss of property, sickness, all these +have you endured through long ages—and while you felt these losses and +strayed and wandered on this long journey, grieving and weeping because +you were bound to what you hated and separated from what you loved, the +tears that you shed are more than the water in the four oceans." + +It is remarkable that such statements aroused no contradiction. The +Buddha was not an isolated and discontented philosopher, like +Schopenhauer in his hotel, but the leader of an exceptionally successful +religious movement in touch and sympathy with popular ideas. On many +points his assertions called forth discussion and contradiction but when +he said that all existence involves suffering no one disputed the +dictum: no one talked of the pleasures of life or used those arguments +which come so copiously to the healthy-minded modern essayist when he +devotes a page or two to disproving pessimism[440]. On this point the +views and temperament of the Buddha were clearly those of educated +India. The existence of this conviction and temperament in a large body +of intellectual men is as important as the belief in the value of life +and the love of activity for its own sake which is common among +Europeans. Both tempers must be taken into account by every theory which +is not merely personal but endeavours to ascertain what the human race +think and feel about existence. + +The sombre and meditative cast of Indian thought is not due to physical +degeneration or a depressing climate. Many authors speak as if the +Hindus lived in a damp relaxing heat in which physical and moral stamina +alike decay. I myself think that as to climate India is preferable to +Europe, and without arguing about what must be largely a question of +personal taste, one may point to the long record of physical and +intellectual labour performed even by Europeans in India. Neither can it +be maintained that in practice Buddhism destroys the joy and vigour of +life. The Burmese are among the most cheerful people in the world and +the Japanese among the most vigorous, and the latter are at least as +much Buddhists as Europeans are Christians. It might be plausibly +maintained that Europeans' love of activity is mainly due to the +intolerable climate and uncomfortable institutions of their continent, +which involve a continual struggle with the weather and continual +discussion forbidding any calm and comprehensive view of things. The +Indian being less troubled by these evils is able to judge what is the +value of life in itself, as an experience for the individual, not as +part of a universal struggle, which is the common view of seriously +minded Europeans, though as to this struggle they have but hazy ideas of +the antagonists, the cause and the result. + +The Buddhist doctrine does not mean that life is something trifling and +unimportant, to be lived anyhow. On the contrary, birth as a human being +is an opportunity of inestimable value. He who is so born has at least a +chance of hearing the truth and acquiring merit. "Hard is it to be born +as a man, hard to come to hear the true law" and when the chance comes, +the good fortune of the being who has attained to human form and the +critical issues which depend on his using it rightly are dwelt on with +an earnestness not surpassed in Christian homiletics. He who acts ill as +a man may fall back into the dreary cycles of inferior births, among +beasts and blind aimless beings who cannot understand the truth, even if +they hear it. From this point of view human life is happiness, only like +every form of existence it is not satisfying or permanent. + +Dukkha is commonly rendered in English by pain or suffering, but an +adequate literary equivalent which can be used consistently in +translating is not forthcoming. The opposite state, sukha, is fairly +rendered by well-being, satisfaction and happiness. Dukkha is the +contrary of this: uneasiness, discomfort, difficulty. Pain or suffering +are too strong as renderings, but no better are to hand. When the Buddha +enlarges on the evils of the world it will be found that the point most +emphasized as vitiating life is its transitoriness. + +"Is that which is impermanent sorrow or joy?" he asks of his disciples. +"Sorrow, Lord," is the answer, and this oft-repeated proposition is +always accepted as self-evident. The evils most frequently mentioned are +the great incurable weaknesses of humanity, old age, sickness and death, +and also the weariness of being tied to what we hate, the sadness of +parting from what we love. Another obvious evil is that we cannot get +what we want or achieve our ambitions. Thus the temper which prompts the +Buddha's utterances is not that of Ecclesiastes—the melancholy of +satiety which, having enjoyed all, finds that all is vanity—but rather +the regretful verdict of one who while sympathizing with the nobler +passions—love, ambition, the quest of knowledge—is forced to pronounce +them unsatisfactory. The human mind craves after something which is +permanent, something of which it can say This is mine. It longs to be +something or to produce something which is not transitory and which has +an absolute value in and for itself. But neither in this world nor in +any other world are such states and actions possible. Only in Nirvana do +we find a state which rises above the transitory because it rises above +desire. Not merely human life but all possible existences in all +imaginable heavens must be unsatisfactory, for such existences are +merely human life under favourable conditions. Some great evils, such as +sickness, may be absent but life in heaven must come to an end: it is +not eternal, it is not even permanent, it does not, any more than this +life, contain anything that god or man can call his own. And it may be +observed that when Christian writers attempt to describe the joys of a +heaven which is eternally satisfying, they have mostly to fall back on +negative phrases such as "Eye hath not seen nor ear heard." + +The European view of life differs from the Asiatic chiefly in +attributing a value to actions in themselves, and in not being disturbed +by the fact that their results are impermanent. It is, in fact, the +theoretical side of the will to live, which can find expression in a +treatise on metaphysics as well as in an act of procreation. An +Englishman according to his capacity and mental culture is satisfied +with some such rule of existence as having a good time, or playing the +game, or doing his duty, or working for some cause. The majority of +intelligent men are prepared to devote their lives to the service of the +British Empire: the fact that it must pass away as certainly as the +Empire of Babylon and that they are labouring for what is impermanent +does not disturb them and is hardly ever present to their minds. Those +Europeans who share with Asiatics some feeling of dissatisfaction with +the impermanent try to escape it by an unselfish morality and by holding +that life, which is unsatisfactory if regarded as a pursuit of +happiness, acquires a new and real value if lived for others. And from +this point of view the European moralist is apt to criticize the +Buddhist truths of suffering and the release from suffering as selfish. +But Buddhism is as full as or fuller than Christianity of love, +self-sacrifice and thought for others. It says that it is a fine thing +to be a man and have the power of helping others: that the best life is +that which is entirely unselfish and a continual sacrifice. But looking +at existence as a whole, and accepting the theory that the happiest and +best life is a life of self-sacrifice, it declines to consider as +satisfactory the world in which this principle holds good. Many of the +best Europeans would probably say that their ideal is not continual +personal enjoyment but activity which makes the world better. But this +ideal implies a background of evil just as much as does the Buddha's +teaching. If evil vanished, the ideal would vanish too. + +There is one important negative aspect of the truth of suffering and +indeed of all the four truths. A view of human life which is common in +Christian and Mohammedan countries represents man as put in the world by +God, and human life as a service to be rendered to God. Whether it is +pleasant, worth living or not are hardly questions for God's servants. +There is no trace of such a view in the Buddha's teaching. It is +throughout assumed that man in judging human life by human standards is +not presumptuous or blind to higher issues. Life involves unhappiness: +that is a fact, a cardinal truth. That this unhappiness may be ordered +for disciplinary or other mysterious motives by what is vaguely called +One above, that it would disappear or be explained if we could +contemplate our world as forming part of a larger universe, that "there +is some far off divine event," some unexpected solution in the fifth act +of this complicated tragedy, which could justify the creator of this +_dukkhakkhandha_, this mass of unhappiness—for all such ideas the +doctrine of the Blessed One has nothing but silence, the courteous and +charitable silence which will not speak contemptuously. The world of +transmigration has neither beginning nor end nor meaning: to those who +wish to escape from it the Buddha can show the way: of obligation to +stop in it there can be no question[441]. + +Buddhism is often described as pessimistic, but is the epithet just? +What does it mean? The dictionary defines pessimism as the doctrine +which teaches that the world is as bad as it can be and that everything +naturally tends towards evil. That is emphatically not Buddhist +teaching. The higher forms of religion have their basis and origin in +the existence of evil, but their justification and value depend on their +power to remove it. A religion, therefore, can never be pessimistic, +just as a doctor who should simply pronounce diseases to be incurable +would never be successful as a practitioner. The Buddha states with the +utmost frankness that religion is dependent on the existence of evil. +"If three things did not exist, the Buddha would not appear in the world +and his law and doctrine would not shine. What are the three? Birth, old +age and death." This is true. If there were people leading perfectly +happy, untroubled lives, it is not likely that any thought of religion +would enter their minds, and their irreligious attitude would be +reasonable, for the most that any deity is asked to give is perfect +happiness, and that these imaginary folk are supposed to have already. +But according to Buddhism no form of existence can be perfectly happy or +permanent. Gods and angels may be happier than men but they are not free +from the tyranny of desire and ultimately they must fall from their high +estate and pass away. + + +4 + +The second Truth declares the origin of suffering. "It is," says the +Buddha, "the thirst which causes rebirth, which is accompanied by +pleasure and lust and takes delight now here, now there; namely, the +thirst for pleasure, the thirst for another life, the thirst for +success." This Thirst (Taṇhâ) is the craving for life in the widest +sense: the craving for pleasure which propagates life, the craving for +existence in the dying man which brings about another birth, the craving +for wealth, for power, for pre-eminence within the limits of the present +life. What is the nature of this craving and of its action? Before +attempting to answer we must consider what is known as the chain of +causation[442], one of the oldest, most celebrated, and most obscure +formulæ of Buddhism. It is stated that the Buddha knew it before +attaining enlightenment[443], but it is second in importance only to the +four truths, and in the opening sections of the Mahâvagga, he is +represented as meditating on it under the Bo-tree, both in its positive +and negative form. It runs as follows: "From ignorance come the +sankhâras, from the sankhâras comes consciousness, from consciousness +come name-and-form, from name-and-form come the six provinces (of the +senses), from the six provinces comes contact, from contact comes +sensation, from sensation comes craving, from craving comes clinging, +from clinging comes existence, from existence comes birth, from birth +come old age and death, pain and lamentation, suffering, sorrow, and +despair. This is the origin of this whole mass of suffering. But by the +destruction of ignorance, effected by the complete absence of lust, the +sankhâras are destroyed, by the destruction of the sankhâras, +consciousness is destroyed" and so on through the whole chain backwards. + +The chain is also known as the twelve Nidânas or causes. It is clearly +in its positive and negative forms an amplification of the second and +third truths respectively, or perhaps they are a luminous compendium of +it. + +Besides the full form quoted above there are shorter versions. Sometimes +there are only nine links[444] or there are five links combined in an +endless chain[445]. So we must not attach too much importance to the +number or order of links. The chain is not a genealogy but a statement +respecting the interdependence of certain stages and aspects of human +nature. And though the importance of cause (hetu) is often emphasized, +the causal relation is understood in a wider sense than is usual in our +idiom. If there were no birth, there would be no death, but though birth +and death are interdependent we should hardly say that birth is the +cause of death. + +In whatever way we take the Chain of Causation, it seems to bring a +being into existence twice, and this is the view of Buddhaghosa who says +that the first two links (ignorance and the sankhâras) belong to past +time and explain the present existence: the next eight (consciousness to +existence) analyse the present existence: and the last two (birth and +old age) belong to future time, representing the results in another +existence of desire felt in this existence. And that is perhaps what the +constructor of the formula meant. It is clearest if taken backwards. +Suppose, the Buddha once said to Ânanda[446], there were no birth, would +there then be any old age or death? Clearly not. That is the meaning of +saying that old age and death depend on birth: if birth were +annihilated, they too would be annihilated. Similarly birth depends on +Bhava which means becoming and does not imply anything self-existent and +stationary: all the world is a continual process of coming into +existence and passing away. It is on the universality of this process +that birth (jâti) depends. But on what does the endless becoming itself +depend? We seem here on the threshold of the deepest problems but the +answer, though of wide consequences, brings us back to the strictly +human and didactic sphere. Existence depends on Upâdâna. This word means +literally grasping or clinging to and should be so translated here but +it also means fuel and its use is coloured by this meaning, since +Buddhist metaphor is fond of describing life as a flame. Existence +cannot continue without the clinging to life, just as fire cannot +continue without fuel[447]. + +The clinging in its turn depends on Taṇhâ, the thirst or craving for +existence. The distinction between taṇhâ and upâdâna is not always +observed, and it is often said taṇhâ is the cause of karma or of sorrow. +But, strictly speaking, upâdâna is the grasping at life or pleasure: +taṇhâ is the incessant, unsatisfied craving which causes it. It is +compared to the birana, a weed which infests rice fields and sends its +roots deep into the ground. So long as the smallest piece of root is +left the weed springs up again and propagates itself with surprising +rapidity, though the cultivator thought he had exterminated it. This +metaphor is also used to illustrate how taṇhâ leads to a new birth. +Death is like cutting down the plant: the root remains and sends up +another growth. + +We now seem to have reached an ultimate principle and basis, namely, the +craving for life which transcends the limits of one existence and finds +expression in birth after birth. Many passages in the Pitakas justify +the idea that the force which constructs the universe of our experience +is an impersonal appetite, analogous to the Will of Schopenhauer. The +shorter formula quoted above in which it is said that the sankhâras come +from taṇhâ also admits of such an interpretation. But the longer chain +does not, or at least it considers taṇhâ not as a cosmic force but +simply as a state of the human mind. Suffering can be traced back to the +fact that men have desire. To what is desire due? To sensation. With +this reply we leave the great mysteries at which the previous links +seemed to hint and begin one of those enquiries into the origin and +meaning of human sensation which are dear to early Buddhism. Just as +there could be no birth if there were no existence, so there could be no +desire if there were no sensation. What then is the cause of sensation? +Contact (phasso). This word plays a considerable part in Buddhist +psychology and is described as producing not only sensation but +perception and volition (cetanâ)[448]. Contact in its turn depends on +the senses (that is the five senses as we know them, and mind as a +sixth) and these depend on name-and-form. This expression, which occurs +in the Upanishads as well as in Buddhist writings, denotes mental and +corporeal life. In explaining it the commentators say that form means +the four elements and shape derived from them and that name means the +three skandhas of sensation, perception and the sankhâras. This use of +the word nâma probably goes back to ancient superstitions which regarded +a man's name as containing his true being but in Buddhist terminology it +is merely a technical expression for mental states collectively. +Buddhaghosa observes that name-and-form are like the playing of a lute +which does not come from any store of sound and when it ceases does not +go to form a store of sound elsewhere. + +On what do name-and-form depend? On consciousness. This point is so +important that in teaching Ânanda the Buddha adds further explanations. +"Suppose," he says, "consciousness were not to descend into the womb, +would name-and-form consolidate in the womb? No, Lord. Therefore, +Ânanda, consciousness is the cause, the occasion, the origin of +name-and-form." But consciousness according to the Buddha's +teaching[449] is not a unity, a thinking soul, but mental activity +produced by various appropriate causes. Hence it cannot be regarded as +independent of name-and-form and as their generator. So the Buddha goes +on to say that though name-and-form depend on consciousness it is +equally true that consciousness depends on name-and-form. The two +together make human life: everything that is born, and dies or is reborn +in another existence[450], is name-and-form plus consciousness. + +What we have learnt hitherto is that suffering depends on desire and +desire on the senses. For didactic purposes this is much, but as +philosophy the result is small: we have merely discovered that the world +depends on name-and-form plus consciousness, that is on human beings. +The first two links of the chain (the last in our examination) do not +leave the previous point of view—the history of individual life and not +an account of the world process—but they have at least that interest +which attaches to the mysterious. + +"Consciousness depends on the sankhâras." Here the sankhâras seem to +mean the predispositions anterior to consciousness which accompany birth +and hence are equivalent to one meaning of Karma, that is the good and +bad qualities and tendencies which appear when rebirth takes place. +Perhaps the best commentary on the statement that consciousness depends +on the sankhâras is furnished by a Sutta called Rebirth according to the +sankhâras[451]. The Buddha there says that if a monk possessed of the +necessary good qualities cherishes a wish to be born after death as a +noble, or in one of the many heavens, "then those predispositions +(sankhâra) and mental conditions (vihâro) if repeated[452] conduce to +rebirth" in the place he desires. Similarly when Citta is dying, the +spirits of the wood come round his death-bed and bid him wish to be an +Emperor in his next life. Thus a personality with certain +predispositions and aptitudes may be due to the thought and wishes of a +previous personality[453], and these predispositions, asserts the last +article of the formula, depend upon ignorance. We might be tempted to +identify this ignorance with some cosmic creative force such as the +Unconscious of Hartmann or the Mâyâ of Śankara. But though the idea that +the world of phenomena is a delusion bred of ignorance is common in +India, it does not enter into the formula which we are considering. Two +explanations of the first link are given in the Pitakas, which are +practically the same. One[454] states categorically that the ignorance +which produces the sankhâras is not to know the four Truths. +Elsewhere[455] the Buddha himself when asked what ignorance means +replies that it is not to know that everything must have an origin and a +cessation. The formula means that it is ignorance of the true nature of +the world and the true interests of mankind that brings about the +suffering which we see and feel. We were born into the world because of +our ignorance in our last birth and of the desire for re-existence which +was in us when we died. + +Of the supreme importance attached to this doctrine of causation there +can be no doubt. Perhaps the best instance is the story of Sâriputta's +conversion. In the early days of the Buddha's mission he asked for a +brief summary of the new teaching and in reply the essential points were +formulated in the well-known verses which declare that all things have a +cause and an end[456]. Such utterances sound like a scientific dictum +about the uniformity of nature or cosmic law. But though the Pitakas +imply some such idea, they seem to shrink from stating it clearly. They +do not emphasize the orderly course of nature or exhort men to live in +harmony with it. We are given to understand that the intelligence of +those supermen who are called Buddhas sees that the four Truths are a +consequence of the nature of the universe but subsequent instruction +bids us attend to the truths themselves and not to their connection with +the universal scheme. One reason for this is that Indians were little +inclined to think of impersonal laws and forces[457]. The law of karma +and the periodic rhythm of growth and decay which the universe obeys are +ideas common to Hinduism and Buddhism and not incompatible with the +mythology and ritual to which the Buddha objected. And though the +Pitakas insist on the universality of causation, they have no notion of +the uniformity of nature in our sense[458]. The Buddhist doctrine of +causation states that we cannot obtain emancipation and happiness unless +we understand and remove the cause of our distress, but it does not +discuss cosmic forces like karma and Mâyâ. Such discussion the Buddha +considered unprofitable[459] and perhaps he may have felt that +insistence on cosmic law came dangerously near to fatalism[460]. + +Though the number of the links may be varied the Buddha attached +importance to the method of concatenation and the impersonal formulation +of the whole and in one passage[461] he objects to the questions, what +are old age and death and who is it that has old age and death. Though +the chain of causation treats of a human life, it never speaks of a +person being born or growing old and Buddhaghosa[462] observes that the +Wheel of existence is without known beginning, without a personal cause +or passive recipient and empty with a twelvefold emptiness. It has no +external cause such as Brahma or any deity "and is also wanting in any +ego passively recipient of happiness and misery." + +The twelve Nidânas have passed into Buddhist art as the Wheel of Life. +An ancient example of this has been discovered in the frescoes of Ajanta +and modern diagrams, which represent the explanations current in +mediæval India, are still to be found in Tibet and Japan[463]. In the +nave of the wheel are three female figures signifying passion, hatred +and folly and in the spaces between the spokes are scenes depicting the +phases of human life: round the felly runs a series of pictures +representing the twelve links of the chain. The first two links are +represented by a blind man or blind camel and by a potter making pots. +The third, or consciousness, is an ape. Some have thought that this +figure represents the evolution of mind, which begins to show itself in +animals and is perfected in man. It may however refer to a simile found +in the Pitakas[464] where the restless, changeable mind is compared to a +monkey jumping about in a tree. + + +5 + +We have now examined three of the four Truths, for the Chain of +Causation in its positive form gives us the origin of suffering and in +its negative form the facts as to the extinction of suffering: it +teaches that as its links are broken suffering disappears. The fourth +truth, or the way which leads to the extinction of suffering, gives +practical directions to this effect. The way is the Noble Eightfold Path +consisting of: right views, right aspirations, right speech, right +conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right +rapture. This formula is comparable not with the Decalogue, to which +correspond the precepts for monks and laymen, but rather with the +Beatitudes. It contains no commands or prohibitions but in the simplest +language indicates the spirit that leads to emancipation. It breathes an +air of noble freedom. It says nothing about laws and rites: it simply +states that the way to be happy is to have a good heart and mind, taking +shape in good deeds and at last finding expression and fulfilment in the +rapture of ecstasy. We may think the numerical subdivisions of the Path +pedantic and find fault with its want of definition, for it does not +define the word right (sammâ) which it uses so often, but in thus +ignoring ceremonialism and legalism and making simple goodness in spirit +and deed the basis of religion. Gotama rises above all his +contemporaries and above all subsequent teachers except Christ. In +detaching the perfect life from all connection with a deity or outside +forces and in teaching man that the worst and best that can happen to +him lie within his own power, he holds a unique position. + +Indian thought has little sympathy with the question whether morality is +utilitarian or intuitionist, whether we do good to benefit ourselves or +whether certain acts and states are intrinsically good. The Buddha is a +physician who prescribes a cure for a disease—the disease of +suffering—and that cure is not a quack medicine which pretends to heal +rapidly but a regime and treatment. If we ask whether the reason for +following the regime is that it is good for us or that it is +scientifically correct; or why we want to be well or whether health is +really good: both the Buddha and the physician would reply that such +questions are tiresome and irrelevant. With an appearance of profundity, +they ask nothing worth answering. The eightfold path is the way and the +only way of salvation. Its form depends on the fact that the knowledge +of the Buddha, which embraces the whole universe, sees that it is a +consequence of the nature of things. In that sense it may be described +as an eternal law, but this is not the way in which the Pitakas usually +speak of it and it is not represented as a divine revelation dictated by +other than human motives. "Come, disciples," the Buddha was wont to say, +"lead a holy life for the complete extinction of suffering." Holiness is +simply the way out of misery into happiness. To ask why we should take +that way, would seem to an Indian an unnecessary question, as it might +seem to a Christian if he were asked why he wants to save his soul, but +if the question is pressed, the answer must be at every point, for the +Christian as much as for the Buddhist, to gain happiness[465]. +Incidentally the happiness of others is fully cared for, since both +religions make unselfishness the basis of morality and hold that the +conscious and selfish pursuit of happiness is not the way to gain it, +but if we choose to apply European methods of analysis to the Buddha's +preaching, it is utilitarian. But the fact that he and his first +disciples did not think such analysis and discussion necessary goes far +to show that the temper created in his Order was not religiously +utilitarian. It never occurred to them to look at things that way. + +The eightfold path is the road to happiness but it is the way, not the +destination, and the action of the Buddha and his disciples is something +beyond it. They had obtained the goal, for they were all Arhats, and +they might, if they had been inspired by that selfishness which some +European authors find prominent in Buddhism, have entered into their +rest. Yet the Buddha bade them go among men and preach "for the gain and +welfare of many" and they continued their benevolent activity although +it could add nothing to the reward which they had already won. + +The Buddha often commented on the eightfold path, and we may follow one +of the expositions attributed to him[466]. What, he asks, is meant by +right views (_Sammâdiṭṭhi_)? Simply a knowledge of the four truths, and +of such doctrines about personality and karma as are implied in them. +But the negative aspects of this _Sammâdiṭṭhi_ are more striking than +the positive. It does not imply any philosophical or metaphysical +system: the Buddha has shaken off all philosophical theories[467]. +Secondly, it does not imply that any knowledge or belief is of efficacy +in itself, as the lore of the Brahmans is supposed to be or those +Christian creeds which save by faith. The Buddha has not a position such +as the Church attributes to Christ, or later Buddhism to Amida. All that +is required under the head of right belief is a knowledge of the general +principles and programme of Buddhism. + +The Buddha continues, What is right resolve? It is the resolve to +renounce pleasures, to bear no malice and do no harm. What is right +speech? To abstain from lying and slandering, harsh words and foolish +chatter. What is right conduct? To abstain from taking life, from +stealing, from immorality. What is right livelihood? To abandon wrong +occupations and get one's living by a right occupation. This is +elsewhere defined as one that does not bring hurt or danger to any +living thing, and five bad occupations are enumerated, namely, those of +a caravan-trader, slave-dealer, butcher, publican and poison seller. +European critics of Buddhism have often found fault with its ethics as +being a morality of renunciation, and in the explanation epitomized +above each section of the path is interpreted in this way. But this +negative form is not a peculiarity of Buddhism. Only two of the +commandments in our Decalogue are positive precepts; the rest are +prohibitions. The same is true of most early codes. The negative form is +at once easier and more practical for it requires a mental effort to +formulate any ideal of human life; it is comparatively easy to note the +bad things people do, and say, don't. The pruning of the feelings, the +cutting off of every tendril which can cling to the pleasures of sense, +is an essential part of that mental cultivation in which the higher +Buddhism consists. But the Pitakas say clearly that what is to be +eliminated is only bad mental states. Desire for pleasure and striving +after wealth are bad, but it does not follow that desire and striving +are bad in themselves. Desire for what is good (Dhammachando as opposed +to Kâmachando) is itself good, and the effort to obtain nirvana is often +described as a struggle or wrestling[468]. Similarly though absolute +indifference to pains and pleasures is the ideal for a Bhikkhu, this by +no means implies, as is often assumed, a general insensibility and +indifference, the harmless oyster-like life of one who hurts nobody and +remains in his own shell. European criticisms on the selfishness and +pessimism of Buddhism forget the cheerfulness and buoyancy which are the +chief marks of its holy men. The Buddhist saint is essentially one who +has freed himself. His first impulse is to rejoice in his freedom and +share it with others, not to abuse the fetters he has cut away. Active +benevolence and love[469] are enjoined as a duty and praised in language +of no little beauty and earnestness. In the Itivuttaka[470] the +following is put into the mouth of Buddha. "All good works whatever[471] +are not worth one sixteenth part of love which sets free the heart. Love +which sets free the heart comprises them: it shines, gives light and +radiance. Just as the light of all the stars is not worth one sixteenth +of the light of the moon: as in the last month of the rains in the +season of autumn, when the sky is clear and cloudless the sun mounts up +on high and overcomes darkness in the firmament: as in the last hour of +the night when the dawn is breaking, the morning star shines and gives +light and radiance: even so does love which sets free the soul and +comprises all good works, shine and give light and radiance." So, too, +the Sutta-Nipâta bids a man love not only his neighbour but all the +world. "As a mother at the risk of her life watches over her own child, +her only child, so let every one cultivate a boundless love towards all +beings[472]." Nor are such precepts left vague and universal. If some of +his acts and words seem wanting in family affection, the Buddha enjoined +filial piety as emphatically as Moses or Confucius. There are two +beings, he says, namely Father and Mother, who can never be adequately +repaid[473]. If a man were to carry his parents about on his shoulders +for a hundred years or could give them all the kingdoms and treasures of +the earth, he still would not discharge his debt of gratitude[474]. But +whereas Confucius said that the good son does not deviate from the way +of his father, the Buddha, who was by no means conservative in religious +matters, said that the only way in which a son could repay his parents +was by teaching them the True Law. + +The Buddha defines the sixth section of the path more fully than those +which precede. Right effort, he says, is when a monk makes an effort, +and strives to prevent evil states of mind from arising: to suppress +them if they have arisen: to produce good states of mind, and develop +and perfect them. Hitherto we have been considering morality, +indispensable but elementary. This section is the beginning of the +specially Buddhist discipline of mental cultivation. The process is apt +to seem too self-conscious: we wonder if a freer growth would not yield +better fruits. But in a comparison with the similar programmes of other +religions Buddhism has little to fear. Its methods are not morbid or +introspective: it does not fetter the intellect with the bonds of +authority. The disciple has simply to discriminate between good and bad +thoughts, to develop the one and suppress the other. It is noticeable +that under this heading of right effort, or right wrestling as it is +sometimes called, both desire and striving for good ends are +consecrated. Sloth and torpor are as harmful to spiritual progress as +evil desires and as often reprimanded. Also the aim is not merely +negative: it is partly creative. The disciple is not to suppress will +and feeling, but he is to make all the good in him grow; he should +foster, increase and perfect it. + +What is right-mindfulness[475], the seventh section of the path? It is +"When a monk lives as regards the body, observant of the body, +strenuous, conscious, mindful and has rid himself of covetousness and +melancholy": and similarly as regards the sensations, the mind and +phenomena. The importance of this mindfulness is often insisted on. It +amounts to complete self-mastery by means of self-knowledge which allows +nothing to be done heedlessly and mechanically and controls not merely +recognized acts of volition but also those sense-impressions in which we +are apt to regard the mind as merely receptive. "Self is the lord of +self: who else should be the lord? With self well subdued, a man finds a +lord such as few can find[476]." + +Although the Buddha denies that there is any soul or self (attâ) apart +from the skandhas, yet here his ethical system seems to assume that a +ruling principle which may be called self does exist. Nor is the +discrepancy fully explained by saying that the non-existence of self or +soul is the correct dogma and that expressions like self being the lord +of self are concessions to the exigencies of exposition. The evolution +of the self-controlled saint out of the confused mental states of the +ordinary man is a psychological difficulty. As we shall see, when the +eightfold path has been followed to the end new powers arise in the +mind, new lights stream into it. Yet if there is no self or soul, where +do they arise, into what do they stream? + +The doctrine of Gotama as expressed in his earliest utterance on the +subject to the five monks at Benares is that neither the body, nor any +mental faculty to which a name can be given, is what was called in +Brahmanic theology âtman, that is to say an entity which is absolutely +free, imperishable, changeless and not subject to pain. This of course +does not exclude the possibility that there may be something which does +not come under any of the above categories and which may be such an +entity as described. Indeed Brahmanic works which teach the existence of +the âtman often use language curiously like that of Buddhism. Thus the +Bhagavad-gîtâ[477] says that actions are performed by the Guṇas and only +he who is deluded by egoism thinks "I am the doer." And the Vishnu +Purana objects to the use of personal pronouns. "When one soul is +dispersed in all bodies, it is idle to ask who are you, who am I[478]?" +The accounts of the Buddhist higher life would be easier to understand +if we could suppose that there is such a self: that the pilgrim who is +walking in the paths gradually emancipates, develops and builds it up: +that it becomes partly free in nirvana before death and wholly free +after death. Schrader[479] has pointed out texts in the Pitakas which +seem to imply that there is something which is absolute and therefore +not touched by the doctrine of anattâ. In a remarkable passage[480] the +Buddha says: Therefore my disciples get rid of what is not yours. To get +rid of it will mean your health and happiness for a long time. Form, +sensation, perception, etc., are not yours; get rid of them. If a man +were to take away, or burn, or use for his needs, all the grass, and +boughs, and branches and leaves in this Jeta wood, would it ever occur +to you to say, the man is taking _us_ away, burning _us_, or using _us_ +for his needs? Certainly not, Lord. And why not? Because, Lord, it is +not our self or anything belonging to our self. Just in the same way, +replies the Buddha, get rid of the skandhas. The natural sense of this +seems to be that the skandhas have no more to do with the real being of +man than have the trees of the forest where he happens to be[481]. This +suggests that there is in man something real and permanent, to be +contrasted with the transitory skandhas and when the Buddha asks whether +anything which is perishable and changeable can be called the self, he +seems to imply that there is somewhere such a self. But this point +cannot be pressed, for it is perfectly logical to define first of all +what you mean by a ghost and then to prove that such a thing does not +exist. If we take the passages at present collected as a whole, and +admit that they are somewhat inconsistent or imperfectly understood, the +net result is hardly that the name of self can be given to some part of +human nature which remains when the skandhas are set on one side. + +But though the Buddha denied that there is in man anything permanent +which can be called the self, this does not imply a denial that human +nature can by mental training be changed into something different, +something infinitely superior to the nature of the ordinary man, perhaps +something other than the skandhas[482]. One of his principal objections +to the doctrine of the permanent self was that, if it were true, +emancipation and sanctity would be impossible[483], because human nature +could not be changed. In India the doctrine of the âtman was really +dangerous, because it led a religious man to suppose that to ensure +happiness and emancipation it is only necessary to isolate the âtman by +self-mortification and by suppressing discursive thought as well as +passion. But this, the Buddha teaches, is a capital error. That which +can make an end of suffering is not something lurking ready-made in +human nature but something that must be built up: man must be reborn, +not flayed and stripped of everything except some core of unchanging +soul. As to the nature of this new being the Pitakas are reticent, but +not absolutely silent, as we shall see below. Our loose use of language +might possibly lead us to call the new being a soul, but it is decidedly +not an âtman, for it is something which has been brought into being by +deliberate effort. The collective name for these higher states of mind +is _paññâ_[484], wisdom or knowledge. This word is the Pali equivalent +of the Sanskrit _prajñâ_ and is interesting as connecting early and +later Buddhism, for _prajñâ_ in the sense of transcendental or absolute +knowledge plays a great part in Mahayanism and is even personified. + +The Pitakas imply that Buddhas and Arhats can understand things which +the ordinary human mind cannot grasp and human words cannot utter. Later +Indian Buddhists had no scruples in formulating what the master left +unformulated. They did not venture to use the words âtman or attâ, but +they said that the saint can rise above all difference and plurality, +transcend the distinction between subject and object and that nirvana is +the absolute (Bhûtatathatâ). The Buddha would doubtless have objected to +this terminology as he objected to all attempts to express the ineffable +but perhaps the thought which struggles for expression in such language +is not far removed from his own thought. + +One of the common Buddhist similes for human life is fire and it is the +best simile for illuminating all Buddhist psychology. To insist on +finding a soul is like describing flames as substances. Fire is often +spoken of as an element but it is really a process which cannot be +isolated or interrupted. A flame is not the same as its fuel and it can +be distinguished from other flames. But though you can individualize it +and propagate it indefinitely, you cannot isolate it from its fuel and +keep it by itself. Even so in the human being there is not any soul +which can be isolated and go on living eternally but the analogy of the +flame still holds good. Unseizable though a flame may be, and +undefinable as substance, it is not unreasonable to trim a fire and make +a flame rise above its fuel, free from smoke, clear and pure. If it were +a conscious flame, such might be its own ideal. + +The eighth and last section of the path is sammâ-samâdhi, right +concentration or rapture. Mental concentration is essential to samâdhi, +which is the opposite of those wandering desires often blamed as seeking +for pleasure here and there. But samâdhi is more than mere concentration +or even meditation and may be rendered by rapture or ecstasy, though +like so many technical Buddhist terms it does not correspond exactly to +any European word. It takes in Buddhism the place occupied in other +religions by prayer—prayer, that is, in the sense of ecstatic communion +with the divine being. The sermon[485] which the Buddha preached to King +Ajâtasattu on the fruits of the life of a recluse gives an eloquent +account of the joys of samâdhi. He describes how a monk[486] seats +himself in the shade of a tree or in some mountain glen and then +"keeping his body erect and his intelligence alert and intent" purifies +his mind from all lust, ill-temper, sloth, fretfulness and perplexity. +When these are gone, he is like a man freed from jail or debt, gladness +rises in his heart and he passes successively through four stages of +meditation[487]. Then his whole mind and even his body is permeated with +a feeling of purity and peace. He concentrates his thoughts and is able +to apply them to such great matters as he may select. He may revel in +the enjoyment of supernatural powers, for we cannot deny that the oldest +documents which we possess credit the sage with miraculous gifts, though +they attach little importance to them, or he may follow the train of +thought which led the Buddha himself to enlightenment. He thinks of his +previous births and remembers them as clearly as a man who has been a +long walk remembers at the end of the day the villages through which he +has passed. He thinks of the birth and deaths of other beings and sees +them as plainly as a man on the top of a house sees the people moving in +the streets below. He realizes the full significance of the four truths +and he understands the origin and cessation of the three great evils, +love of pleasure, love of existence and ignorance. And when he thus sees +and knows, his heart is set free. "And in him thus set free there arises +the knowledge of his freedom and he knows that rebirth has been +destroyed, the higher life has been led, what had to be done has been +done. He has no more to do with this life. Just as if in a mountain +fastness there were a pool of water, clear, translucent and serene and a +man standing on the bank and with eyes to see should perceive the +mussels and the shells, the gravel and pebbles and the shoals of fish as +they move about or lie within it." + +Similar accounts occur in many other passages with variations in the +number of stages described. We must not therefore insist on the details +as essential. But in all cases the process is marked by mental activity. +The meditations of Indian recluses are often described as +self-hypnotism, and I shall say something on this point elsewhere, but +it is clear that in giving the above account the Buddha did not +contemplate any mental condition in which the mind ceases to be active +or master of itself. When, at the beginning, the monk sits down to +meditate it is "with intelligence alert and intent": in the last stage +he has the sense of freedom, of duty done, and of knowledge immediate +and unbounded, which sees the whole world spread below like a clear pool +in which every fish and pebble is visible. + + +6 + +With this stage he attains Nirvâṇa[488], the best known word and the +most difficult to explain in all the vocabulary of Buddhism. + +It is perhaps used more by western students than by oriental believers +and it belongs to the same department of religious language as the word +saint. For most Christians there is something presumptuous in trying to +be a saint or in defining the precise form of bliss enjoyed by saints in +heaven and it is the same with nirvana. Yet no one denies that sanctity +and nirvana are religious ideals. In a passage already quoted[489], +Gotama described how in attaining Buddhahood he sought and arrived at +the incomparable security of nirvana in which there is no birth, age, +sickness, death, pain or defilement. This, confirmed by many other +statements, shows that nirvana is a state attainable in this existence +and compatible with a life of intellectual and physical exertion such as +he himself led. The original meaning is the state of peace and happiness +in which the fires of lust, hatred and stupidity are extinguished and +the participle _nibbuto_ apparently derived from the same root had +passed into popular language in the sense of happy[490]. Two forms of +nirvana are distinguished. The first is upâdi-sesa-nibbânam[491] or +nirvana in which the skandhas remain, although passion is destroyed. +This state is also called arhatship, the condition of an arhat, meaning +originally a worthy or venerable man, and the person enjoying it is +alive. The idea that the emancipated saint who has attained the goal +still lingers in the world, though no longer of the world, and teaches +others, is common to all Indian religions. With the death of an arhat +comes the state known as an-upâdi-sesa-nibbânam in which no skandhas +remain. It is also called Parinibbânam and this word and the participle +parinibbuto are frequently used with special reference to the death of +the Buddha[492]. The difference between the two forms of nirvana is +important though the second is only the continuation of the first. +Nirvana in this life admits of approximate definition: it is the goal of +the religious life, though only the elect can even enter the struggle. +Nirvana after death is not a goal in the same sense. The correct +doctrine is rather that death is indifferent to one who has obtained +nirvana and the difficulty of defining his nature after death does not +mean that he has been striving for something inexplicable and illusory. + +Arhatship is the aim and sum of the Buddha's teaching: it is associated +in many passages with love for others, with wisdom, and happiness and is +a condition of perfection attainable in this life. The passages in the +Pitakas which seem to be the oldest and the most historical suggest that +the success of the Buddha was due to the fact that he substituted for +the chilly ideal of the Indian Munis something more inspiring and more +visibly fruitful, something akin to what Christ called the Kingdom of +Heaven. Thus we are told in the Vinaya that Bhaddiya was found sitting +at the foot of a tree and exclaiming ecstatically, O happiness, +happiness. When asked the reason of these ejaculations, he replied that +formerly when he was a raja he was anxious and full of fear but that +now, even when alone in the forest, he had become tranquil and calm, +"with mind as peaceful as an antelope's." + +Nirvana is frequently described by such adjectives as deathless, endless +and changeless. These epithets seem to apply to the quality, not to the +duration of the arhat's existence (for they refer to the time before the +death of the body) and to signify that in the state which he has +attained death and change have no power over him. He may suffer in body +but he does not suffer in mind, for he does not identify himself with +the body or its feelings[493]. + +Numerous passages could be quoted from the poetical books of the Pali +Canon to the effect that nirvana is happiness and the same is stated in +the more dogmatic and logical portions. Thus we hear of the bliss of +emancipation and of the happiness which is based on the religious +life[494] and the words "Nirvana is the greatest happiness" are put into +Gotama's own mouth[495]. The middle way preached by him is declared to +be free from all distress, and those who walk in it make an end of pain +even in this life[496]. In one passage[497] Gotama is found meditating +in a wood one winter night and is asked if he feels well and happy. The +night is cold, his seat is hard, his clothes are light and the wind +bitter. He replies emphatically that he is happy. Those who live in +comfortable houses suffer from the evils of lust, hatred and stupidity +but he has made an end of those evils and therefore is happy. Thus +nirvana is freedom and joy: it is not extinction in the sense we give +the word but light to them that sit in darkness, release to those in +prison and torture. But though it is legitimately described in terms +which imply positive happiness it transcends all human standards of good +and evil, pleasure and pain. In describing the progress to it we +all—whether Indians or Europeans—necessarily use such words as better, +higher, happier, but in truth it is not to be expressed in terms of such +values. In an interesting sutta[498] a Jain argues that happiness is the +goal of life. But the Buddha states categorically first that perfect +happiness is only attainable by abandoning the conscious pursuit of +happiness and secondly that even absolute happiness when attained is not +the highest goal: there is a better state beyond, and that state is +certainly not annihilation or extinction of feeling, for it is described +in terms of freedom and knowledge. + +The Dhamma-sangaṇi speaks of Nirvana as the Uncompounded Element[499] +and as a state not productive of good or evil. Numerous assertions[500] +are made about it incidentally but, though we hear that it is perfected +and supramundane, most of the epithets are negative and amount to little +more than that it transcends, or is absolutely detached from, all human +experience. Uncompounded (asankhato) may refer to the passing away of +all sankhâras but what may be the meaning of dhâtu or element in this +context, I do not presume to conjecture. But whatever else the word may +mean, it clearly does not signify annihilation. Both here and in the +Questions of Milinda an impression is produced in the mind of the +reader, and perhaps was not absent in the mind of the writer, that +nirvana is a sphere or plane of existence resembling though excelling +space or ether. It is true that the language when carefully examined +proves to be cautious and to exclude material interpretations but +clearly the expositor when trying to make plain the inexplicable leaned +to that side of error rather than towards annihilation[501]. + +Somewhat similar is the language attributed to the Buddha in the +Udâna[502]. "There is a state (âyatanam) where there is neither earth +nor water, fire nor air, nor infinity either of space or of +consciousness, nor nothingness, nor the absence of perception or +non-perception[503], neither this world nor another, neither sun nor +moon. That I call neither coming, going, nor standing, neither death nor +birth. It is without stability, without movement, without basis: it is +the end of sorrow, unborn, unoriginated, uncreated, uncompounded[504]." +The statements about nirvana in the Questions of Milinda are definite +and interesting. In this work[505], Nâgasena tells King Milinda that +there are two things which are not the result of a cause, to wit space +and Nirvana. Nirvana is unproduceable (which does not mean unattainable) +without origin, not made of anything and uncompounded. He who orders his +life aright passes beyond the transitory, and gains the Real, the +highest fruit. And when he has gained that, he has realized +Nirvana[506]. + +The parts of the Pitakas which seem oldest leave the impression that +those who heard and understood the Buddha's teaching at once attained +this blissful state, just as the Church regards the disciples of Christ +as saints. But already in the Pitakas[507] we find the idea that the +struggle to obtain nirvana extends over several births and that there +are four routes leading to sanctification. These routes are described by +the names of those who use them and are commonly defined in terms of +release from the ten fetters binding man to the world[508]. The first is +the Sotâpanno, he who has entered into the stream and is on his way to +salvation. He has broken the first three fetters called belief in the +existence of self, doubt, and trust in ceremonies or good works. He will +be born again on earth or in some heaven but not more than seven times +before he attains nirvana. He who enters on the next stage is called +Sakadâgâmin or coming once, because he will be born once more in this +world[509] and in that birth attain nirvana. He has broken the fetters +mentioned and also reduced to a minimum the next two, lust and hate. The +Anâgâmin, or he who does not return, has freed himself entirely from +these five fetters and will not be reborn on earth or any sensuous +heaven but in a Brahmâ world once only. The fourth route is that of the +Arhat who has completed his release by breaking the bonds called love of +life, pride, self-righteousness and ignorance and has made an end of all +evil and impurity. He attains nirvana here and is no more subject to +rebirth. This simple and direct route is the one contemplated in the +older discourses but later doctrine and popular feeling came to regard +it as more and more unusual, just as saints grow fewer as the centuries +advance further from the Apostolic age. In the dearth of visible Arhats +it was consoling to think that nirvana could be won in other worlds. + +The nirvana hitherto considered is that attained by a being living in +this or some other world. But all states of existence whatever come to +an end. When one who has not attained nirvana dies, he is born again. +But what happens when an Arhat or a Buddha dies? This question did not +fail to arouse interest during the Buddha's lifetime yet in the Pitakas +the discussion, though it could not be stifled, is relegated to the +background and brought forward only to be put aside as unpractical. The +greatest teachers of religion—Christ as well as Buddha—have shown little +disposition to speak of what follows on death. For them the centre of +gravity is on this side of the grave not on the other: the all important +thing is to live a religious life, at the end of which death is met +fearlessly as an incident of little moment. The Kingdom of Heaven, of +which Christ speaks, begins on earth though it may end elsewhere. In the +Gospels we hear something of the second coming of Christ and the +Judgment: hardly anything of the place and character of the soul's +eternal life. We only gather that a child of God who has done his best +need have no apprehension in this or another world. Though expressed in +very different phraseology, something like that is the gist of what the +Buddha teaches about the dying Saint. But this reticent attitude did not +satisfy ancient India any more than it satisfies modern Europe and we +have the record of how he was questioned and what he said in reply. +Within certain limits that reply is quite definite. The question, does +the Tathâgata, that is the Buddha or perfected saint, exist after death, +which is the phraseology usually employed by the Pitakas in formulating +the problem, belongs to the class of questions called not declared or +undetermined[510], because they do not admit of either an affirmative or +a negative answer. Other problems belonging to this class are: Is the +world eternal or not: Is the world infinite or not: Is the soul[511] the +same as the body or different from it? It is categorically asserted that +none of these questions admit of a reply: thus it is not right to say +that _(a)_ the saint exists after death, _(b)_ or that he does not +exist, _(c)_ or that he both does and does not exist, _(d)_ or that he +neither exists nor does not exist. The Buddha's teaching about these +problems is stated with great clearness in a Sutta named after +Mâlunkyaputta[512], an enquirer who visits him and after enumerating +them says frankly that he is dissatisfied because the Buddha will not +answer them. "If the Lord answers them, I will lead a religious life +under him, but if he does not answer them, I will give up religion and +return to the world. But if the Lord does not know, then the +straightforward thing is to say, I do not know." This is plain speaking, +almost discourtesy. The Buddha's reply is equally plain, but unyielding. +"Have I said to you, come and be my disciple and I will teach you +whether the world is eternal or not, infinite or not: whether the soul +is identical with the body, or separate, whether the saint exists after +death or not?" "No, Lord." "Now suppose a man were wounded by a poisoned +arrow and his friends called in a physician to dress his wound. What if +the man were to say, I shall not have my wound treated until I know what +was the caste, the family, the dwelling-place, the complexion and +stature of the man who wounded me; nor shall I let the arrow be drawn +out until I know what is the exact shape of the arrow and bow, and what +were the animals and plants which supplied the feathers, leather, shaft +and string. The man would never learn all that, because he would die +first." "Therefore" is the conclusion, "hold what I have determined as +determined and what I have not determined, as not determined." + +This sutta may be taken in connection with passages asserting that the +Buddha knows more than he tells his disciples. The result seems to be +that there are certain questions which the human mind and human language +had better leave alone because we are incapable of taking or expressing +a view sufficiently large to be correct, but that the Buddha has a more +than human knowledge which he does not impart because it is not +profitable and overstrains the faculties, just as it is no part of a +cure that the patient should make an exhaustive study of his disease. + +With reference to the special question of the existence of the saint +after death, the story of Yamaka[513] is important. He maintained that a +monk in whom evil is destroyed (khînâsavo) is annihilated when he dies, +and does not exist. This was considered a grave heresy and refuted by +Sâriputta who argues that even in this life the nature of a saint passes +understanding because he is neither all the skandhas taken together nor +yet one or more of them. + +Yet it would seem that according to the psychology of the Pitakas an +ordinary human being is an aggregate of the skandhas and nothing more. +When such a being dies and in popular language is born again, the +skandhas reconstitute themselves but it is expressly stated that when +the saint dies this does not happen. The Chain of Causation says that +consciousness and the sankhâras are interdependent. If there is no +rebirth, it is because (as it would seem) there are in the dying saint +no sankhâras. His nature cannot be formulated in the same terms as the +nature of an ordinary man. It may be noted that karma is not equivalent +to the effect produced on the world by a man's words and deeds, for if +that were so, no one would have died leaving more karma behind him than +the Buddha himself, yet according to Hindu doctrine, whether Buddhist or +Brahmanic, no karma attaches to the deeds of a saint. His acts may +affect others but there is nothing in them which tends to create a new +existence. + +In another dialogue[514] the Buddha replies to a wandering monk called +Vaccha who questioned him about the undetermined problems and in answer +to every solution suggested says that he does not hold that view. Vaccha +asks what objection he has to these theories that he has not adopted any +of them? + +"Vaccha, the theory that the saint exists (or does not exist and so on) +after death is a jungle, a desert, a puppet show, a writhing, an +entanglement and brings with it sorrow, anger, wrangling and agony. It +does not conduce to distaste for the world, to the absence of passion, +to the cessation of evil, to peace, to knowledge, to perfect +enlightenment, to nirvana. Perceiving this objection, I have not adopted +any of these theories." "Then has Gotama any theory of his own?" +"Vaccha, the Tathâgata has nothing to do with theories, but this is what +he knows: the nature of form, how form arises, how form perishes: the +nature of perception, how it arises and how it perishes (and so on with +the other skandhas). Therefore I say that the Tathâgata is emancipated +because he has completely and entirely abandoned all imaginations, +agitations and false notions about the Ego and anything pertaining to +the Ego." But, asks Vaccha, when one who has attained this emancipation +of mind dies where is he reborn? "Vaccha, the word 'reborn' does not fit +the case." "Then, Gotama, he is not reborn." "To say he is not reborn +does not fit the case, nor is it any better to say he is both reborn and +not reborn or that he is neither reborn nor not reborn." "Really, +Gotama, I am completely bewildered and my faith in you is gone." + +"Never mind your bewilderment. This doctrine is profound and difficult. +Suppose there was a fire in front of you. You would see it burning and +know that its burning depended on fuel. And if it went out (nibbâyeyya) +you would know that it had gone out. But if some one were to ask you, to +which quarter has it gone, East, West, North or South, what would you +say?" + +"The expression does not fit the case, Gotama. For the fire depended on +fuel and when the fuel is gone it is said to be extinguished, being +without nourishment." + +"In just the same way, all form by which one could predicate the +existence of the saint is abandoned and uprooted like a fan palm[515], +so that it will never grow up in future. The saint who is released from +what is styled form is deep, immeasurable, hard to fathom, like the +great ocean. It does not fit the case to say either that he is reborn, +not reborn, both reborn and not reborn, or neither reborn nor not +reborn." Exactly the same statement is then repeated four times the +words sensation, perception, sankhâras and consciousness being +substituted successively for the word form. Vaccha, we are told, was +satisfied. + +To appreciate properly the Buddha's simile we must concentrate our +attention on the fire. When we apply this metaphor to annihilation, we +usually think of the fuel or receptacle and our mind dwells sadly on the +heap of ashes or the extinguished lamp. But what has become of the fire? +It is hardly correct to say that it has been destroyed. If a particular +fire may be said to be annihilated in the sense that it is impossible to +reconstitute it by repeating the same process of burning, the reason is +not so much that we cannot get the same flames as that we cannot burn +the same fuel twice. But so long as there is continuous combustion in +the same fireplace or pile of fuel, we speak of the same fire although +neither the flame nor the fuel remains the same. When combustion ceases, +the fire goes out in popular language. To what quarter does it go? That +question clearly does not "fit the case." But neither does it fit the +case to say that the fire is annihilated[516]. + +Nirvana is the cessation of a process not the annihilation of an +existence. If I take a walk, nothing is annihilated when the walk comes +to an end: a particular form of action has ceased. Strictly speaking the +case of a fire is the same: when it goes out a process ceases. For the +ordinary man nirvana is annihilation in the sense that it is the absence +of all the activities which he considers desirable. But for the arhat +(who is the only person able to judge) nirvana after death, as compared +with nirvana in life, may be quiescence and suspension of activity, only +that such phrases seem to imply that activity is the right and normal +condition, quiescence being negative and unnatural, whereas for an arhat +these values are reversed. + +We may use too the parallel metaphor of water. A wave cannot become an +immortal personality. It may have an indefinitely long existence as it +moves across the ocean, although both its shape and substance are +constantly changing, and when it breaks against an obstacle the +resultant motion may form new waves. And if a wave ceases to struggle +for individual existence and differentiation from the surrounding sea, +it cannot be said to exist any more as a wave. Yet neither the water +which was its substance nor the motion which impelled it have been +annihilated. It is not even quite correct to say that it has been merged +in the sea. A drop of water added to a larger liquid mass is merged. The +wave simply ceases to be active and differentiated. + +In the Saṃyutta-Nikâya[517] the Buddha's statement that the saint after +death is deep and immeasurable like the ocean is expanded by significant +illustration of the mathematician's inability to number the sand or +express the sea in terms of liquid measure. It is in fact implied that +if we cannot say _he is_, this is only because that word cannot properly +be applied to the infinite, innumerable and immeasurable. + +The point which is clearest in the Buddha's treatment of this question +is that whatever his disciples may have thought, he did not himself +consider it of importance for true religion. Speculation on such points +may be interesting to the intellect but is not edifying. It is a jungle +where the traveller wanders without advancing, and a puppet-show, a vain +worldly amusement which wears a false appearance of religion because it +is diverting itself with quasi-religious problems. What is the state of +the saint after death, is not as people vainly suppose a question +parallel to, am I going to heaven or hell, what shall I do to be saved? +To those questions the Buddha gives but one answer in terms of human +language and human thought, namely, attain to nirvana and arhatship on +this side of death, if possible in your present existence; if not now, +then in the future good existences which you can fashion for yourself. +What lies beyond is impracticable as a goal, unprofitable as a subject +of speculation. We shall probably not be transgressing the limits of +Gotama's thought if we add that those who are not arhats are bound to +approach the question with misconception and it is a necessary part of +an Arhat's training to get rid of the idea "I am[518]." The state of a +Saint after death cannot be legitimately described in language which +suggests that it is a fuller and deeper mode of life[519]. Yet it is +clear that nearly all who dispute about it wish to make out that it is a +state they could somehow regard with active satisfaction. In technical +language they are infected with arûparâgo, or desire for life in a +formless world, and this is the seventh of the ten fetters, all of which +must be broken before arhatship is attained. I imagine that those modern +sects, such as the Zen in Japan, which hold that the deepest mysteries +of the faith cannot be communicated in words but somehow grow clear in +meditation are not far from the master's teaching, though to the best of +my belief no passage has been produced from the Pitakas stating that an +arahat has special knowledge about the avyâkatâni or undetermined +questions. + +Almost all who treat of nirvana after death try to make the Buddha say, +is or is not. That is what he refused to do. We still want a plain +answer to a plain question and insist that he really means either that +the saint is annihilated or enters on an infinite existence. But the +true analogues to this question are the other insoluble questions, for +instance, is the world infinite or finite in space? This is in form a +simple physical problem, yet it is impossible for the mind to conceive +either an infinite world or a world stopping abruptly with not even +space beyond. A common answer to this antinomy is that the mind is +attempting to deal with a subject with which it is incompetent to deal, +that the question is wrongly formulated and that every answer to it thus +formulated must be wrong. The way of truth lies in first finding the +true question. The real difficulty of the Buddha's teaching, though it +does not stimulate curiosity so much as the question of life after +death, is the nature and being of the saint in this life before death, +raised in the argument with Yamaka[520]. + +Another reason for not pressing the Buddha's language in either +direction is that, if he had wished to preach in the subtlest form +either infinite life or annihilation, he would have found minds +accustomed to the ideas and a vocabulary ready for his use. If he had +wished to indicate any form of absorption into a universal soul, or the +acquisition by the individual self of the knowledge that it is identical +with the universal self, he could easily have done so. But he studiously +avoided saying anything of the kind. He teaches that all existence +involves suffering and he preaches escape from it. After that escape the +words being and not being no longer apply, and the reason why some +people adopt the false idea of annihilation is because they have +commenced by adopting the false alternative of either annihilation or an +eternal prolongation of this life. A man makes[521] himself miserable +because he thinks he has lost something or that there is something which +he cannot get. But if he does not think he has lost something or is +deprived of something he might have, then he does not feel miserable. +Similarly, a man holds the erroneous opinion, "This world is the self, +or soul and I shall become it after death and be eternal, and +unchanging." Then he hears the preaching of a Buddha and he thinks "I +shall be annihilated, I shall not exist any more," and he feels +miserable. But if a man does not hold this doctrine that the soul is +identical with the universe and will exist eternally—which is just +complete full-blown folly[522]--and then hears the preaching of a Buddha +it does not occur to him to think that he will be annihilated and he is +not miserable. Here the Buddha emphasizes the fact that his teaching is +not a variety of the Brahmanic doctrine about the Âtman. Shortly +afterwards in the same sutta he even more emphatically says that he does +not teach annihilation. He teaches that the saint is already in this +life inconceivable (_ananuvejjo_): "And when I teach and explain this +some accuse me falsely and without the smallest ground[523] saying +'Gotama is an unbeliever; he preaches the annihilation, the destruction, +the dying out of real being.' When they talk like this they accuse me of +being what I am not, of saying what I do not say." + +Though the Buddha seems to condemn by anticipation the form of the +Vedanta known as the Advaita, this philosophy illustrates the difficulty +of making any statement about the saint after his death. For it teaches +that the saint knows that there is but one reality, namely Brahman, and +that all individual existences are illusion: he is aware that he is +Brahman and that he is not differentiated from the world around him. And +when he dies, what happens? Metaphors about drops and rivers are not +really to the point. It would be more correct to say that nothing at all +has happened. His physical life, an illusion which did not exist for +himself, has ceased to exist for others. + +Perhaps he will be nearest to the Buddha's train of thought who attempts +to consider, by reflection rather than by discussion in words, what is +meant by annihilation. By thinking of the mystery of existence and +realizing how difficult it is to explain how and why anything exists, we +are apt to slip into thinking that it would be quite natural and +intelligible if nothing existed or if existing things became nothing. +Yet as a matter of fact our minds have no experience of this nothing of +which we talk and it is inconceivable. When we try to think of +nothingness we really think of space from which we try to remove all +content, yet could we create an absolute vacuum within a vessel, the +interior of the vessel would not be annihilated. The man who has +attained nirvana cannot be adequately defined or grasped even in this +life: what binds him to being is cut[524] but it is inappropriate and +inadequate to say that he has become nothing[525]. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +MONKS AND LAYMEN + +1 + + +The great practical achievement of the Buddha was to found a religious +order which has lasted to the present day. It is known as the Sangha and +its members are called Bhikkhus[526]. It is chiefly to this institution +that the permanence of his religion is due. + +Corporations or confraternities formed for the purpose of leading a +particular form of life are among the most widespread manifestations, if +not of primitive worship, at any rate of that stage in which it passes +into something which can be called personal religion and at least three +causes contribute to their formation. First, early institutions were +narrower and more personal than those of to-day. In politics as well as +religion such relatively broad designations as Englishman or Frenchman, +Buddhist or Christian, imply a slowly widening horizon gained by +centuries of cooperation and thought. In the time of the Buddha such +national and religious names did not exist. People belonged to a clan or +served some local prince. Similarly in religious matters they followed +some teacher or worshipped some god, and in either case if they were in +earnest they tended to become members of a society. Societies such as +the Pythagorean and Orphic brotherhoods were also common in Greece from +the sixth century B.C. onwards but the result was small, for the genius +of the Greeks turned towards politics and philosophy. But in India, +where politics had strangely little attraction for the cultured classes, +energy and intelligence found an outlet in the religious life and +created a multitude of religious societies. Even to-day Hinduism has no +one creed or code and those who take a serious interest in religion are +not merely Hindus but follow some sect which, without damning what it +does not adopt, selects its own dogmas and observances. This is not +sectarianism in the sense of schism. It is merely the desire to have for +oneself some personal, intimate religious life. Even in so +uncompromising and levelling a creed as Islam the devout often follow +special _tariqs_, that is, roads or methods of the devotional life, and +these _tariqs_, though differing more than the various orders of the +Roman Catholic Church, are not regarded as sects distinct from ordinary +orthodoxy. When Christ died, Christianity was not much more than such a +_tariq_. It was an incipient religious order which had not yet broken +with Judaism. + +This idea of the private, even secret religious body is closely allied +to another, namely, that family life and worldly business are +incompatible with the quest for higher things. In early ages only +priests and consecrated persons are expected to fast and practise +chastity but when once the impression prevails that such observances not +only achieve particular ends but produce wiser, happier, or more +powerful lives, then they are likely to be followed by considerable +numbers of the more intelligent, emotional and credulous sections of the +population. The early Christian Church was influenced by the idea that +the world is given over to Satan and that he who would save himself must +disown it. The gentler Hindus were actuated by two motives. First, more +than other races, they felt the worry and futility of worldly life. +Secondly, they had a deep-rooted belief that miraculous powers could be +acquired by self-mortification and the sensations experienced by those +who practised fasting and trances confirmed this belief. + +The third cause for the foundation and increase of religious orders is a +perception of the influence which they can exercise. The disciples of a +master or the priests of a god, if numerous and organized, clearly +possess a power analogous to that of an army. To use such institutions +for the service and protection of the true faith is an obvious expedient +of the zealot: ecclesiastical statecraft and ambition soon make their +appearance in most orders founded for the assistance of the Church +militant. But of this spirit Buddhism has little to show; except in +Tibet and Japan it is almost absent. The ideal of the Buddha lay within +his order and was to be realized in the life of the members. They had no +need to strive after any extraneous goal. + +The Sangha, as this order was called, arose naturally out of the social +conditions of India in the time of Gotama. It was considered proper that +an earnest-minded man should renounce the world and become a wanderer. +In doing this and in collecting round him a band of disciples who had a +common mode of life Gotama created nothing new. He merely did with +conspicuous success what every contemporary teacher was doing. The +confraternity which he founded differed from others chiefly in being +broader and more human, less prone to extravagances and better +organized. As we read the accounts in the Pitakas, its growth seems so +simple and spontaneous that no explanation is necessary. Disciples +gather round the master and as their numbers increase he makes a few +salutary regulations. It is almost with surprise that we find the result +to be an organization which became one of the great forces of the world. + +The Buddha said that he taught a middle path equally distant from luxury +and from self-mortification, but Europeans are apt to be struck by his +condemnation of pleasure and to be repelled by a system which suppresses +so many harmless activities. But contemporary opinion in India +criticized his discipline as easy-going and lax. We frequently hear in +the Vinaya that the people murmured and said his disciples behaved like +those who still enjoy the good things of the world. Some, we are told, +tried to enter the order merely to secure a comfortable existence[527]. +It is clear that he went to the extreme limits which public opinion +allowed in dispensing with the rigours considered necessary to the +religious life, and we shall best understand his spirit if we fix our +attention not so much on the regime, to our way of thinking austere, +which he prescribed—the single meal a day and so on—as on his insistence +that what is necessary is emancipation of heart and mind and the +cultivation of love and knowledge, all else being a matter of +indifference. Thus he says to the ascetic Kassapa[528] that though a man +perform all manner of penances, yet if he has not attained the bliss +which comes of good conduct, a good heart and good mind, he is far from +being a true monk. But when he has the heart of love that knows no anger +nor ill-will, when he has destroyed lust and become emancipated even +before death, then he deserves the name of monk. It is a common thing to +say, he goes on, that it is hard to lead the life of a monk. But +asceticism is comparatively easy; what is really hard is the conversion +and emancipation of the heart. + +In India, where the proclivity to asceticism and self-torture is +endemic, it was only natural that penance should in very truth seem +easier and more satisfactory than this spiritual discipline. It won more +respect and doubtless seemed more tangible and definite, more like what +the world expected from a holy man. Accordingly we find that efforts +were made by Devadatta and others to induce the Buddha to increase the +severity of his discipline. But he refused[529]. The more ascetic form +of life, which he declined to make obligatory, is described in the rules +known as Dhutângas, of which twelve or thirteen are enumerated. They are +partly a stricter form of the ordinary rules about food and dress and +partly refer to the life of a hermit who lives in the woods or in a +cemetery. + +In the Pitakas[530] Kassapa's disciples are described as _dhutavâdâ_ and +the advantages arising from the observance of the Dhutângas are +enumerated in the Questions of Milinda. It is probable that the Buddha +himself had little sympathy with them. He was at any rate anxious that +they should not degenerate into excesses. Thus he forbade[531] his +disciples to spend the season of the rains in a hollow tree, or in a +place where dead bodies are kept, or to use an alms bowl made out of a +skull. Now Kassapa had been a Brahman ascetic and it is probable that in +tolerating the Dhutângas the Buddha merely intended to allow him and his +followers to continue the practices to which they were accustomed. They +were an influential body and he doubtless desired their adhesion, for he +was sensitive to public opinion[532] and anxious to conform to it when +conformity involved no sacrifice of principle. We hear repeatedly that +the laity complained of some practice of his Bhikkhus and that when the +complaint was brought to his ears he ordered the objectionable practice +to cease. Once the king of Magadha asked the congregation to postpone +the period of retreat during the rains until the next full moon day. +They referred the matter to the Buddha: "I prescribe that you obey +kings," was his reply. + +One obvious distinction between the Buddha's disciples and other +confraternities was that they were completely clad, whereas the +Âjîvikas, Jains and others went about naked. The motive for this rule +was no doubt decency and a similar thought made Gotama insist on the use +of a begging bowl, whereas some sectaries collected scraps of food in +their hands. Such extravagances led to abuses resembling the degradation +of some modern fakirs. Even the Jain scriptures admit that pious +householders were disgusted by the ascetics who asked for a lodging in +their houses—naked, unwashed men, foul to smell and loathsome to +behold[533]. This was the sort of life which the Buddha called anariyam, +ignoble or barbaric. With such degradation of humanity he would have +nothing to do. He forbade nakedness, as well as garments of hair and +other uncomfortable costumes. The raiment which he prescribed consisted +of three pieces of cloth of the colour called kâsâva. This was probably +dull orange, selected as being unornamental. It would appear that in +mediæval India the colour in use was reddish: at present a rather bright +and not unpleasing yellow is worn in Burma, Ceylon, Siam and Camboja. +Originally the robes were made of rags collected and sewed together but +it soon became the practice for pious laymen to supply the Order with +raiment. + + +2 + +In the Mahâ and Culla-vaggas of the Vinaya Pitaka we possess a large +collection of regulations purporting to be issued by the Buddha for the +guidance of the Order on such subjects as ceremonial, discipline, +clothes, food, furniture and medicine. The arrangement is roughly +chronological. Gotama starts as a new teacher, without either followers +or a code. As disciples multiply the need for regulations and uniformity +of life is felt. Each incident and difficulty that arises is reported to +him and he defines the correct practice. One may suspect that many +usages represented as originating in the injunctions of the master +really grew up gradually. But the documents are ancient; they date from +the generations immediately following the Buddha's death, and their +account of his activity as an organizer is probably correct in +substance. One of the first reasons which rendered regulations necessary +was the popularity of the order and the respect which it enjoyed. King +Bimbisâra of Magadha is represented as proclaiming that "It is not +permitted to do anything to those who join the order of the +Sakyaputtiya[534]." Hence robbers[535], debtors, slaves, soldiers +anxious to escape service and others who wished for protection against +the law or merely to lead an idle life, desired to avail themselves of +these immunities. This resulted in the gradual elaboration of a code of +discipline which did much to secure that only those actuated by proper +motives could enter the order and only those who conducted themselves +properly could stay within it. + +We find traces of a distinction between those Bhikkhus who were hermits +and lived solitary lives in the woods and those who moved about in +bands, frequenting rest houses. In the time of the Buddha the wandering +life was a reality but later most monks became residents in monasteries. +Already in the Vinaya we seem to breathe the atmosphere of large +conventual establishments where busy superintendents see to the lodging +and discipline of crowds of monks, and to the distribution of the gifts +made by pious laymen. But the Buddha himself knew the value of forests +and plant life for calming and quickening the mind. "Here are trees," he +would say to his disciples at the end of a lecture, "go and think it +out[536]." + +In the poetical books of the Tripitaka, especially the collections known +as the Songs of the Monks and Nuns, this feeling is still stronger: we +are among anchorites who pass their time in solitary meditation in the +depths of forests or on mountain tops and have a sense of freedom and a +joy in the life of wild things not found in cloisters. These old monkish +poems are somewhat wearisome as continuous reading, but their monotonous +enthusiasm about the conquest of desire is leavened by a sincere and +observant love of nature. They sing of the scenes in which meditation is +pleasant, the flowery banks of streams that flow through reeds and +grasses of many colours as well as the mysterious midnight forest when +the dew falls and wild beasts howl; they note the plumage of the blue +peacock, the flight of the yellow crane and the gliding movements of the +water snake. It does not appear that these amiable hermits arrogated any +superiority to themselves or that there was any opposition between them +and the rest of the brethren. They preferred a form of the religious +life which the Buddha would not make compulsory, but it is older than +Buddhism and not yet dead in India. The Sangha exercised no hierarchical +authority over them and they accepted such simple symbols of union as +the observance of Uposatha days. + +The character of the Sangha has not materially changed since its +constitution took definite shape towards the end of the master's life. +It was and is simply a body of people who believe that the higher life +cannot be lived in any existing form of society and therefore combine to +form a confraternity where they are relieved of care for food and +raiment, where they can really take no thought for the morrow and turn +the cheek to the smiter. They were not a corporation of priests and they +had no political aims. Any free man, unless his parents or the state had +a claim on him and unless he suffered from certain diseases, was +admitted; he took no vows of obedience and was at any time at liberty to +return to the world. + +Though the Sangha as founded by the Buddha did not claim, still less +exact, anything from the laity, yet it was their duty, their most +obvious and easy method of acquiring merit, to honour and support monks, +to provide them with food, clothes and lodging and with everything which +they might lawfully possess. Strictly speaking a monk does not beg for +food nor thank for what he receives. He gives the layman a chance of +doing a good deed and the donor, not the recipient, should be thankful. + +At first the Buddha admitted converts to the order himself, but he +subsequently prescribed two simple ceremonies for admission to the +novitiate and to full privileges respectively. They are often described +as ordinations but are rather applications from postulants which are +granted by a Chapter consisting of at least ten members. The first, +called pabbajjâ or going forth—that is leaving the world—is effected +when the would-be novice, duly shorn and robed in yellow, recites the +three refuges and the ten precepts[537]. Full membership is obtained by +the further ceremony called upasampadâ. The postulant, who must be at +least twenty years old, is examined in order to ascertain that he is +_sui juris_ and has no disqualifying disease or other impediment. Then +he is introduced to the Chapter by "a learned and competent monk" who +asks those who are in favour of his admission to signify the same by +their silence and those who are not, to speak. If this formula is +repeated three times without calling forth objection, the upasampadâ is +complete. The newly admitted Bhikkhu must have an Upajjhâya or preceptor +on whom he waits as a servant, seeing to his clothes, bath, bed, etc. In +return the preceptor gives him spiritual instruction, supervises his +conduct and tends him when sick. + +The Chapter which had power to accept new monks and regulate discipline +consisted of the monks inhabiting a parish or district, whose extent was +fixed by the Sangha itself. Its reality as a corporate body was secured +by stringent regulations that under no excuse must the Bhikkhus resident +in a parish omit to assemble on Uposatha days[538]. The Vinaya[539] +represents the initiative for these simple observances as coming not +from the Buddha but from King Bimbisâra, who pointed out that the +adherents of other schools met on fixed days and that it would be well +if his disciples did the same. He assented and ordered that when they +met they should recite a formula called Pâtimokkha which is still in +use. It is a confessional service, in which a list of offences is read +out and the brethren are asked three times after each item "Are you pure +in this matter?" Silence indicates a good conscience. Only if a monk has +anything to confess does he speak. It is then in the power of the +assembly to prescribe some form of expiation. The offender may be +rebuked, suspended or even expelled. But he must admit his guilt. +Otherwise disciplinary measures are forbidden. + +What has been said above[540] about the daily life of the Buddha applies +equally to the life of his disciples. Like him they rose early, +journeyed or went to beg their only meal until about half-past eleven +and spent the heat of the day in retirement and meditation. In the +evening followed discussion and instruction. It was forbidden to accept +gold and silver but the order might possess parks and monasteries and +receive offerings of food and clothes. The personal possessions allowed +to a monk were only the three robes, a girdle, an alms bowl, a razor, a +needle and a water strainer[541]. Everything else which might be given +to an individual had to be handed over to the confraternity and held in +common and the Vinaya shows clearly how a band of wandering monks +following their teacher from place to place speedily grew into an +influential corporation possessing parks and monasteries near the +principal cities. The life in these establishments attained a high level +of comfort according to the standard of the times and the number of +restrictive precepts suggests a tendency towards luxury. This was +natural, for the laity were taught that their duty was to give and the +Order had to decide how much it could properly receive from those pious +souls who were only too happy to acquire merit. In the larger Vihâras, +for instance at Sâvatthî, there were halls for exercise (that is walking +up and down), halls with fires in them, warm baths and store rooms. + +The year of the Bhikkhus was divided into two parts. During nine months +they might wander about, live in the woods or reside in a monastery. +During the remaining three months, known as Vassa[542] or rainy season, +residence in a monastery was obligatory. This custom, as mentioned, +existed in India before the Buddha's time and the Pitakas represent him +as adopting it, chiefly out of deference to public opinion. He did not +prescribe any special observances for the period of Vassa, but this was +the time when people had most leisure, since it was hard to move about, +and also when the monks were brought into continual contact with the +inhabitants of a special locality. So it naturally became regarded as +the appropriate season for giving instruction to the laity. The end of +the rainy season was marked by a ceremony called Pavâraṇâ, at which the +monks asked one another to pardon any offences that might have been +committed, and immediately after it came the Kathiṇa ceremony or +distribution of robes. Kathiṇa signifies the store of raw cotton cloth +presented by the laity and held as common property until distributed to +individuals. + +It would be tedious to give even an abstract of the regulations +contained in the Vinaya. They are almost exclusively concerned with +matters of daily life, dwellings, furniture, medicine and so forth, and +if we compare them with the statutes of other religious orders, we are +struck by the fact that the Buddha makes no provision for work, +obedience or worship. In the western branches of the Christian +Church—and to some extent, though less markedly, in the eastern—the +theory prevails that "Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to +do" and manual labour is a recognized part of the monastic life. But in +India conditions and ideals were different. The resident monk grew out +of the wandering teacher or disputant, who was not likely to practise +any trade; it was a maxim that religious persons lived on alms, and +occupations which we consider harmless, such as agriculture, were held +to be unsuitable because such acts as ploughing may destroy animal life. +Probably the Buddha would not have admitted the value of manual labour +as a distraction and defence against evil thoughts. No one was more +earnestly bent on the conquest of such thoughts, but he wished to +extirpate them, not merely to crowd them out. Energy and activity are +insisted on again and again, and there is no attempt to discourage +mental activity. Reading formed no part of the culture of the time, but +a life of travel and new impressions, continual discussion and the war +of wits, must have given the Bhikkhus a more stimulating training than +was to be had in the contemporary Brahmanic schools. + +The Buddha's regulations contain no vow of obedience or recognition of +rank other than simple seniority or the relation of teacher to pupil. As +time went on various hierarchical expedients were invented in different +countries, since the management of large bodies of men necessitates +authority in some form, but except in Lamaism this authority has rarely +taken the form familiar to us in the Roman and Oriental Churches, where +the Bishops and higher clergy assume the right to direct both the belief +and conduct of others. In the Sangha, no monk could give orders to +another: he who disobeyed the precepts of the order ceased to be a +member of it either _ipso facto_, or if he refused to comply with the +expiation prescribed. Also there was no compulsion, no suppression of +discussion, no delegated power to explain or supplement the truth. Hence +differences of opinion in the Buddhist Church have largely taken the +shape of schools of thought rather than of separate and polemical sects. +Dissension indeed has not been absent but of persecution, such as stains +the annals of the Christian Church, there is hardly any record. The fact +that the Sangha, though nearly five hundred years older than any +Christian institution, is still vigorous shows that this noble freedom +is not unsuccessful as a practical policy. + +The absence of anything that can be called worship or cultus in Gotama's +regulations is remarkable. He not merely sets aside the older religious +rites, such as prayer and sacrifice; he does not prescribe anything +whatever which is in ordinary language a religious act. For the +Pâtimokkha, Pavâraṇâ, etc., are not religious ceremonies, but chapters +of the order held with an ethical object, and the procedure (the +proposal of a resolution and the request for an expression of opinion) +is that adopted in modern public meetings, except that assent is +signified by silence. It is true that the ceremonial of a religion is +not likely to develop during the life of the founder, for pious +recollection and recitation of his utterances in the form of scripture +are as yet impossible. Still, if the Buddha had had any belief whatever +in the edifying effect of ritual, he would not have failed to institute +some ceremony, appealing if not to supernatural beings at least to human +emotions. Even the few observances which he did prescribe seem to be the +result of suggestion from others and the only inference to be drawn is +that he regarded every form of religious observance as entirely +superfluous. + +At first the Sangha consisted exclusively of men. It was not until about +five years after its establishment that the entreaties of the Buddha's +fostermother, who had become a widow, and of Ânanda prevailed on him to +throw it open to women as well[543] but it would seem that the +permission was wrung from him against his judgment. His reluctance was +not due to a low estimate of female ability, for he recognized and made +use of the influence of women in social and domestic life and he +admitted that they were as capable as men of attaining the highest +stages of spiritual and intellectual progress. This is also attested by +the Pitakas, for some of the most important and subtle arguments and +expositions are put into the mouths of nuns[544]. Indeed the objections +raised by the Buddha, though emphatic, are as arguments singularly vague +and the eight rules for nuns which he laid down and compared to an +embankment built to prevent a flood seem dictated not by the danger of +immorality but by the fear that women might aspire to the management of +the order and to be the equals or superiors of monks. + +So far as we can tell, his fears were not realized. The female branch of +the order showed little vigour after its first institution but it does +not appear that it was a cause of weakness or corruption. Women were +influential in the infancy of Buddhism, but we hear little of the nuns +when this first ardour was over. We may surmise that it was partly due +to personal devotion to Gotama and also that there was a growing +tendency to curtail the independence allowed to women by earlier Aryan +usage. The daughters of Asoka play some part in the narratives of the +conversion of Ceylon and Nepal but after the early days of the Church +female names are not prominent: subsequently the succession became +interrupted and, as nuns can receive ordination only from other nuns and +not from monks, it could not be restored. The so-called nuns of the +present day are merely religious women corresponding to the sisters of +Protestant Churches, but are not ordained members of an order. But the +right of women to enjoy the same spiritual privileges as men is not +denied in theory and in practice Buddhism has done nothing to support or +commend the system of the harem or zenana. In some Buddhist countries +such as Burma and Siam women enjoy almost the same independence as in +Europe. In China and Japan their status is not so high, but one period +when Buddhism was powerful in Japan (800-1100 A.D.) was marked by the +number of female writers and among the Manchus and Tibetans women enjoy +considerable freedom and authority. + +Those who follow the law of the Buddha but are not members of the Sangha +are called Upâsakas[545], that is worshippers or adherents. The word may +be conveniently rendered by laymen although the distinction between +clergy and laity, as understood in most parts of Europe, does not quite +correspond to the distinction between Bhikkhus and Upâsakas. European +clergy are often thought of as interpreters of the Deity, and whenever +they have had the power they have usually claimed the right to supervise +and control the moral or even the political administration of their +country. Something similar may be found in Lamaism, but it forms no part +of Gotama's original institution nor of the Buddhist Church as seen +to-day in Burma, Siam and Ceylon. The members of the Sangha are not +priests or mediators. They have joined a confraternity in order to lead +a higher life for which ordinary society has no place. They will teach +others, not as those whose duty it is to make the laity conform to their +standard but as those who desire to make known the truth. And easy as is +the transition from this attitude to the other, it must be admitted that +Buddhism has rarely laid itself open to the charge of interfering in +politics or of seeking temporal authority. Rather may it be accused of a +tendency to indolence. In some cases elementary education is in the +hands of the monks and their monasteries serve the purpose of village +schools. Elsewhere they are harmless recluses whom the unsympathetic +critic may pity as useless but can hardly condemn as ambitious or +interfering. This is not however altogether true of Tibet and the Far +East. + +It is sometimes said that the only real Buddhists are the members of the +Sangha and there is some truth in this, particularly in China, where one +cannot count as a Buddhist every one who occasionally attends a Buddhist +service. But on the other hand Gotama accorded to the laity a definite +and honourable position and in the Pitakas they notify their conversion +by a special formula. They cannot indeed lead the perfect life but they +can ensure birth in happy states and a good layman may even attain +nirvana on his death-bed. But though the pious householder "takes his +refuge in the law and in the order of monks" from whom he learns the +law, yet these monks make no attempt to supervise or even to judge his +life. The only punishment which the Order inflicts, to turn down the +bowl and refuse to accept alms from guilty hands, is reserved for those +who have tried to injure it and is not inflicted on notorious evil +livers. It is the business of a monk to spread true knowledge and good +feeling around him without enquiring into the thoughts and deeds of +those who do not spontaneously seek his counsel. Indeed it may be said +that in Burma it is the laity who supervise the monks rather than _vice +versa_. Those Bhikkhus who fall short of the accepted standard, +especially in chastity, are compelled by popular opinion to leave the +monastery or village where they have misbehaved. This reminds us of the +criticisms of laymen reported in the Vinaya and the deference which the +Buddha paid to them. + +The ethical character of Buddhism and its superiority to other Indian +systems are shown in the precepts which it lays down for laymen. +Ceremony and doctrine have hardly any place in this code, but it enjoins +good conduct and morality: moderation in pleasures and consideration for +others. Only five commandments are essential for a good life but they +are perhaps more comprehensive and harder to keep than the Decalogue, +for they prescribe abstinence from the five sins of taking life, +drinking intoxicants, lying, stealing and unchastity. It is meritorious +to observe in addition three other precepts, namely, to use no garlands +or perfumes: to sleep on a mat spread on the ground and not to eat after +midday. Pious laymen keep all these eight precepts, at least on Uposatha +days, and often make a vow to observe them for some special period. The +nearer a layman can approximate to the life of a monk the better for his +spiritual health, but still the aims and ideals, and consequently the +methods, of the lay and religious life are different. The Bhikkhu is not +of this world, he has cut himself loose from its ties, pleasures and +passions; he strives not for heaven but for arhatship. But the layman, +though he may profitably think of nirvana and final happiness, may also +rightly aspire to be born in some temporary heaven. The law merely bids +him be a kind, temperate, prudent man of the world. It is only when he +speaks to the monks that the Buddha really speaks to his own and gives +his own thoughts: only for them are the high selfless aspirations, the +austere counsels of perfection and the promises of bliss and something +beyond bliss. But the lay morality is excellent in its own sphere—the +good respectable life—and its teaching is most earnest and natural in +those departments where the hard unsentimental precepts of the higher +code jar on western minds. Whereas the monk severs all family ties and +is fettered by no domestic affection, this is the field which the layman +can cultivate with most profit. It was against his judgment that the +Buddha admitted women to his order and in bidding his monks beware of +them he said many hard things. But for women in the household life the +Pitakas show an appreciation and respect which is illustrated by the +position held by women in Buddhist countries from the devout and capable +matron Visâkhâ down to the women of Burma in the present day. The Buddha +even praised the ancients because they married for love and did not buy +their wives[546]. + +The right life of a layman is described in several suttas[547] and in +all of them, though almsgiving, religious conversation and hearing the +law are commended, the main emphasis is on such social virtues as +pleasant speech, kindness, temperance, consideration for others and +affection. The most complete of these discourses, the +Sigâlovâda-sutta[548], relates how the Buddha when starting one morning +to beg alms in Râjagaha saw the householder Sigâla bowing down with +clasped hands and saluting the four quarters, the nadir and the zenith. +The object of the ceremony was to avert any evil which might come from +these six points. The Buddha told him that this was not the right way to +protect oneself: a man should regard his parents as the east, his +teachers as the south, his wife and children as the west, his friends as +the north, his servants as the nadir and monks and Brahmans as the +zenith. By fulfilling his duty to these six classes a man protects +himself from all evil which may come from the six points. Then he +expounded in order the mutual duties of (1) parents and children, (2) +pupils and teachers, (3) husband and wife, (4) friends, (5) master and +servant, (6) laity and clergy. The precepts which follow show how much +common sense and good feeling Gotama could bring to bear on the affairs +of every-day life when he gave them his attention and the whole +classification of reciprocal obligations recalls the five relationships +of Chinese morality, three of which are identical with Gotama's +divisions, namely parents and children, husband and wife, and friends. +But national characteristics make themselves obvious in the differences. +Gotama says nothing about politics or loyalty; the Chinese list, which +opens with the mutual duties of sovereigns and subjects, is silent +respecting the church and clergy. + +The Sangha is an Indian institution and invites comparison with that +remarkable feature of Indian social life, the Brahman caste. At first +sight the two seem mutually opposed, for the one is a hereditary though +intellectual aristocracy, claiming the possession of incommunicable +knowledge and power, the other a corporation open to all who choose to +renounce the world and lead a good life. And this antithesis contains +historical truth: the Sangha, like the similar orders of the Jains and +other Kshatriya sects, was in its origin a protest against the +exclusiveness and ritualism of the Brahmans. Yet compared with anything +to be found in other countries the two bodies have something in common. +For instance it is a meritorious act to feed either Brahmans or +Bhikkhus. Europeans are inclined to call both of them priests, but this +is inaccurate for a Bhikkhu rarely deserves the title [549] and nowadays +Brahmans are not necessarily priests nor priests Brahmans. But in India +there is an old and widespread idea that he who devotes himself to a +religious and intellectual life (and the two spheres, though they do not +coincide, overlap more than in Europe) should be not only respected but +supported by the rest of the world. He is not a professional man in the +sense that lawyers, doctors and clergymen are, but rather an aristocrat. +Though from the earliest times the nobles of India have had a full share +of pride and self-confidence, the average Hindu has always believed in +another kind of upper class, entered in some sects by birth, in others +by merit, but in general a well-defined body, the conduct of whose +members does not fail to command respect. The _do ut des_ principle is +certainly not wanting, but the holy man is honoured not so much because +he will make an immediate return by imparting some instruction or +performing some ceremony but because to honour him is a good act which, +like other good acts, will sooner or later find its reward. The Buddha +is not represented as blaming the respect paid to Brahmans but as saying +that Brahmans must deserve it. Birth and plaited hair do not make a true +Brahman any more than a shaven head makes a Bhikkhu, but he who has +renounced the world, who is pure in thought, word and deed, who follows +the eight-fold path, and perfects himself in knowledge, he is the true +Brahman[550]. Men of such aspirations are commoner in India than +elsewhere and more than elsewhere they form a class, which is defined by +each sect for itself. But in all sects it is an essential part of piety +to offer respect and gifts to this religious aristocracy. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +ASOKA + +1 + + +The first period in the history of Buddhism extends from the death of +the founder to the death of Asoka, that is to about 232 B.C. It had then +not only become a great Indian religion but had begun to send forth +missionaries to foreign countries. But this growth had not yet brought +about the internal changes which are inevitable when a creed expands far +beyond the boundaries within which it was a natural expression of local +thought. An intellectual movement and growth is visible within the +limits of the Pali Canon and is confirmed by what we hear of the +existence of sects or schools, but it does not appear that in the time +of Asoka the workings of speculation had led to any point of view +materially different from that of Gotama. + +Our knowledge of general Indian history before the reign of Asoka is +scanty and the data which can be regarded as facts for Buddhist +ecclesiastical history are scantier still. We hear of two (or including +the Mahâsangîti three) meetings sometimes called Councils; scriptures, +obviously containing various strata, were compiled, and eighteen sects +or schools had time to arise and some of them to decay. Much doubt has +been cast upon the councils[551] but to my mind this suspicion is +unmerited, provided that too ecclesiastical a meaning is not given to +the word. We must not suppose that the meetings held at Râjagaha and +Vesâlî were similar to the Council of Nicaea or that they produced the +works edited by the Pali Text Society. Such terms as canon, dogma and +council, though indispensable, are misleading at this period. We want +less formal equivalents for the same ideas. A number of men who were +strangers to those conceptions of a hierarchy and a Bible[552] which are +so familiar to us met together to fix and record the opinions and +injunctions of the Master or to remove misapprehensions and abuses. It +would be better if we could avoid using even the word Buddhist at this +period, for it implies a difference sharper than the divisions existing +between the followers of Gotama and others. They were in the position of +the followers of Christ before they received at Antioch the name of +Christians and the meeting at Râjagaha was analogous to the conferences +recorded in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. + +The record of this meeting and of the subsequent meeting at Vesâlî is +contained in Chapters XI. and XII. of the Cullavagga, which must +therefore be later than the second meeting and perhaps considerably +later. Other accounts are found in the Dîpavaṃsa, Mahâ-Bodhi-Vaṃsa and +Buddhaghosa's commentaries. The version given in the Cullavagga is +abrupt and does not entirely agree with other narratives of what +followed on the death of the Buddha[553]. It seems to be a combination +of two documents, for it opens as a narrative by Kassapa, but it soon +turns into a narrative about him. But the clumsiness in compilation and +the errors of detail are hardly sufficient to discredit an event which +is probable in itself and left an impression on tradition. The Buddha +combined great personal authority with equally great liberality. While +he was alive he decided all questions of dogma and discipline himself, +but he left to the Order authority to abolish all the minor precepts. It +seems inevitable that some sort of meeting should have been held to +consider the position created by this wide permission. Brief and +confused as the story in the Cullavagga is, there is nothing improbable +in its outline—namely that a resolution was taken at Kusinârâ where he +died to hold a synod during the next rains at Râjagaha, a more central +place where alms and lodgings were plentiful, and there come to an +agreement as to what should be accepted as the true doctrine and +discipline. Accordingly five hundred monks met near this town and +enquired into the authenticity of the various rules and suttas. They +then went on to ask what the Buddha had meant by the lesser and minor +precepts which might be abolished. Ânanda (who came in for a good deal +of blame in the course of the proceedings) confessed that he had +forgotten to ask the Master for an explanation and divergent opinions +were expressed as to the extent of the discretion allowed. Kassapa +finally proposed that the Sangha should adopt without alteration or +addition the rules made by the Buddha. This was approved and the Dhamma +and Vinaya as chanted by the assembled Bhikkhus were accepted. The +Abhidhamma is not mentioned. The name usually given to these councils is +Sangîti, which means singing or chanting together. An elder is said to +have recited the text sentence by sentence and each phrase was intoned +after him by the assembly as a sign of acceptance. Upâli was the +principal authority for the Vinaya and Ânanda for the Dhamma but the +limits of the authority claimed by the meeting are illustrated by an +anecdote[554] which relates that after the chanting of the law had been +completed Pûraṇa and his disciples arrived from the Southern Hills. The +elders asked him to accept the version rehearsed by them. He replied, +"The Dhamma and Vinaya have been well sung by the Theras, nevertheless +as they have been received and heard by me from the mouth of the Lord, +so will I hold them." In other words the council has put together a very +good account of the Buddha's teaching but has no claim to impose it on +those who have personal reminiscences of their own. + +This want of a central authority, though less complete than in +Brahmanism, marks the early life of the Buddhist community. We read in +later works[555] of a succession of Elders who are sometimes called +Patriarchs[556] but it would be erroneous to think of them as possessing +episcopal authority. They were at most the chief teachers of the order. +From the death of the Buddha to Asoka only five names are mentioned. But +five names can fill the interval only if their bearers were unusually +long-lived. It is therefore probable that the list merely contains the +names of prominent Theras who exercised little authority in virtue of +any office, though their personal qualities assured them respect. Upâli, +who comes first, is called chief of the Vinaya but, so far as there was +one head of the order, it seems to have been Kassapa. He is the Brahman +ascetic of Uruvelâ whose conversion is recorded in the first book of the +Mahâvagga and is said to have exchanged robes with the Buddha[557]. He +observed the Dhutângas and we may conjecture that his influence tended +to promote asceticism. Dasaka and Sonaka are also designated as chiefs +of the Vinaya and there was perhaps a distinction between those who +studied (to use modern phrases) ecclesiastical law and dogmatic +theology. + +The accounts[558] of the second Council are as abrupt as those of the +first and do not connect it with previous events. The circumstances said +to have led to its meeting are, however, probable. According to the +Cullavagga, a hundred years after the death of the Buddha certain +Bhikkhus of Vajjian lineage resident at Vesâlî upheld ten theses +involving relaxations of the older discipline. The most important of +these was that monks were permitted to receive gold and silver, but all +of them, trivial as they may seem, had a dangerous bearing for they +encouraged not only luxury but the formation of independent schools. For +instance they allowed pupils to cite the practice of their preceptors as +a justification for their conduct and authorized monks resident in one +parish to hold Uposatha in separate companies and not as one united +body. The story of the condemnation of these new doctrines contains +miraculous incidents but seems to have a historical basis. It relates +how a monk called Yasa, when a guest of the monks of Vesâlî, quarrelled +with them because they accepted money from the laity and, departing +thence, sought for support among the Theras or elders of the south and +west. The result was a conference at Vesâlî in which the principal +figures are Revata and Sabbakâmi, a pupil of Ânanda, expressly said to +have been ordained one hundred and twenty years earlier[559]. The ten +theses were referred to a committee, which rejected them all, and this +rejection was confirmed by the whole Sangha, who proceeded to rehearse +the Vinaya. We are not however told that they revised the Sutta or +Abhidhamma. + +Here ends the account of the Cullavagga but the Dîpavaṃsa adds that the +wicked Vajjian monks, to whom it ascribes wrong doctrines as well as +errors in discipline, collected a strong faction and held a schismatic +council called the Mahâsangîti. This meeting recited or compiled a new +version of the Dhamma and Vinaya[560]. It is not easy to establish any +facts about the origin and tenets of this Mahâsangîtika or Mahâsanghika +sect, though it seems to have been important. The Chinese pilgrims Fa +Hsien and Hsüan Chuang, writing on the basis of information obtained in +the fifth and seventh centuries of our era, represent it as arising in +connection with the first council, which was either that of Râjagaha or +some earlier meeting supposed to have been held during the Buddha's +lifetime, and Hsüan Chuang[561] intimates that it was formed of laymen +as well as monks and that it accepted additional matter including +dhâraṇîs or spells rejected by the monkish council. Its name (admitted +by its opponents) seems to imply that it represented at one time the +opinions of the majority or at least a great number of the faithful. But +it was not the sect which flourished in Ceylon and the writer of the +Dîpavaṃsa is prejudiced against it. It may be a result of this animus +that he connects it with the discreditable Vajjian schism and the +Chinese tradition may be more correct. On the other hand the adherents +of the school would naturally be disposed to assign it an early origin. +Fa Hsien says[562] that the Vinaya of the Mahâsanghikas was considered +"the most complete with the fullest explanations." A translation of this +text is contained in the Chinese Tripitaka[563]. + +Early Indian Buddhism is said to have been divided into eighteen sects +or schools, which have long ceased to exist and must not be confounded +with any existing denominations. Fa Hsien observes that they agree in +essentials and differ only in details and this seems to have been true +not only when he wrote (about 420 A.D.) but throughout their history. In +different epochs and countries Buddhism presents a series of surprising +metamorphoses, but the divergences between the sects existing in India +at any given time are less profound in character and less violent in +expression than the divisions of Christianity. Similarly the so-called +sects[564] in modern China, Burma and Siam are better described as +schools, in some ways analogous to such parties as the High and Low +Church in England. On the other hand some of the eighteen schools +exceeded the variations permitted in Christianity and Islam by having +different collections of the scriptures. But at the time of which we are +treating these collections had not been reduced to writing: they were of +considerable extent compared with the Bible or Koran and they admitted +later explanatory matter. The record of the Buddha's words did not +profess to be a miraculous revelation but merely a recollection of what +had been said. It is therefore natural that each school should maintain +that the memory of its own scholars had transmitted the most accurate +and complete account and that tradition should represent the successive +councils as chiefly occupied in reciting and sifting these accounts. + +It is generally agreed that the eighteen[565] schools were in existence +during or shortly before the reign of Asoka, and that six others[566] +arose about the same period, but subsequently to them. The best +materials for a study of their opinions are afforded by the text and +commentary[567] of the Kathâ-vatthu, a treatise attributed to Tissa +Moggaliputta, who is said to have been President of the Third Council +held under Asoka. It is an examination and refutation of heretical views +rather than a description of the bodies that held them but we can judge +from it what was the religious atmosphere at the time and the commentary +gives some information about various sects. Many centuries later I-ching +tells us that during his visit to India (671-695 A.D.) the principal +schools were four in number, with eighteen subdivisions. These four[568] +are the Mahâsanghika, the Sthavira (equivalent to the old Theravâda), +the Mûlasarvâstivâda and the Sammitiya, and from the time of Asoka +onwards they throw the remaining divisions into the shade[569]. He adds +that it is not determined which of the four should be grouped with the +Mâhâyana and which with the Hînayâna, that distinction being probably +later in origin. The differences between the eighteen schools in +I-ching's time were not vital but concerned the composition of the canon +and details of discipline. It was a creditable thing to be versed in the +scriptures of them all[570]. It is curious that though the Kathâvatthu +pays more attention to the opinions of the six new sects than to those +held by most of the eighteen, yet this latter number continued to be +quoted nearly a thousand years later, whereas the additional six seem +forgotten. It may be that they were more unorthodox than the others and +hence required fuller criticism. Five of their names are geographical +designations, but we hear no more of them after the age of Asoka. + +The religious horizon of the heretics confuted in the Kâthavatthu does +not differ materially from that of the Pitakas. There are many questions +about arhatship, its nature, the method of obtaining it and the +possibility of losing it. Also we find registered divergent views +respecting the nature of knowledge and sensation. Of these the most +important is the doctrine attributed to the Sammitiyas, that a soul +exists in the highest and truest sense. They are also credited with +holding that an arhat can fall from arhatship, that a god can enter the +paths or the Order, and that even an unconverted man can get rid of all +lust and ill-will[571]. This collection of beliefs is possibly +explicable as a result of the view that the condition of the soul, which +is continuous from birth to birth, is stronger for good or evil than its +surroundings. The germs of the Mahâyâna may be detected in the opinions +of some sects on the nature of the Buddha and the career of a +Bodhisattva. Thus the Andhakas thought that the Buddha was superhuman in +the ordinary affairs of life and the Vetulyakas[572] held that he was +not really born in the world of men but sent a phantom to represent him, +remaining himself in the Tusita heaven. The doctrines attributed to the +Uttarâpathakas and Andhakas respectively that an unconverted man, if +good, is capable of entering on the career of a Bodhisattva and that a +Bodhisattva can in the course of his career fall into error and be +reborn in state of woe, show an interest in the development of a +Bodhisattva and a desire to bring it nearer to human life which are +foreign to the Pitakas. An inclination to think of other states of +existence in a manner half mythological half metaphysical is indicated +by other heresies, such as that there is an intermediate realm where +beings await rebirth, that the dead benefit by gifts given in the +world[573], that there are animals in heaven, that the Four Truths, the +Chain of Causation, and the Eightfold Path, are self-existent +(asankhata). + +The point of view of the Kathâ-vatthu, and indeed of the whole Pali +Tripitaka, is that of the Vibhajjavâdins, which seems to mean those who +proceed by analysis and do not make vague generalizations. This was the +school to which Tissa Moggaliputta belonged and was identical with the +Theravâda (teaching of the elders) or a section of it. The prominence of +this sect in the history of Buddhism has caused its own view, namely +that it represents primitive Buddhism, to be widely accepted. And this +view deserves respect for it rests on a solid historical basis, namely +that about two and a half centuries after the Buddha's death and in the +country where he preached, the Vibhajjavâdins claimed to get back to his +real teaching by an examination of the existing traditions[574]. This is +a very early starting-point. But the Sarvâstivâdins[575] were also an +early school which attained to widespread influence and had a similar +desire to preserve the simple and comparatively human presentment of the +Buddha's teaching as opposed to later embellishments. Only three +questions in the Kathâ-vatthu are directed against them but this +probably means not that they were unimportant but that they did not +differ much from the Vibhajjavâdins. The special views attributed to +them are that everything really exists, that an arhat can fall from +arhatship, and that continuity of thought constitutes Samâdhi or +meditation. These theses may perhaps be interpreted as indicative of an +aversion to metaphysics and the supernatural. A saint has not undergone +any supernatural transformation but has merely reached a level from +which he can fall: meditation is simply fixity of attention, not a +mystic trance. In virtue of the first doctrine European writers often +speak of the Sarvâstivâdins as realists but their peculiar view +concerned not so much the question of objective reality as the +difference between being and becoming. They said that the world _is_ +whereas other schools maintained that it was a continual process of +becoming[576]. It is not necessary at present to follow further the +history of this important school. It had a long career and flourished in +Kashmir and Central Asia. + +Confused as are the notices of these ancient sects, we see with some +clearness that in opposition to the Theravâda there was another body +alluded to in terms which, though hostile, still imply an admission of +size and learning, such as Mahâsanghika or Mahâsangîtika, the people of +the great assembly, and Âcâryavâda or the doctrine of the Teachers. It +appears to have originated in connection with some council and to embody +a popular protest against the severity of the doctrine there laid down. +This is natural, for it is pretty obvious that many found the +argumentative psychology of the Theravâdins arid and wearisome. The +Dîpavamsa accuses the Mahâsanghikas of garbling the canon but the +Chinese pilgrims testify that in later times their books were regarded +as specially complete. One well-known work, the Mahâvastu, perhaps +composed in the first century B.C., describes itself as belonging to the +Lokuttara branch of the Mahâsanghikas. The Mahâsanghikas probably +represent the elements which developed into the Mahâyâna. It is not +possible to formulate their views precisely but, whereas the Theravâda +was essentially teaching for the Bhikkhu, they represented those +concessions to popular taste from which Buddhism has never been quite +dissociated even in its earliest period. + + +2 + +For some two centuries after Gotama's death we have little information +as to the geographical extension of his doctrine, but some of the +Sanskrit versions of the Vinaya[577] represent him as visiting Muttra, +North-west India and Kashmir. So far as is known, the story of this +journey is not supported by more ancient documents or other arguments: +it contains a prediction about Kanishka, and may have been composed in +or after his reign when the flourishing condition of Buddhism in +Gândhâra made it seem appropriate to gild the past. But the narratives +about Muttra and Kashmir contain several predictions relating to the +progress of the faith 100 years after the Buddha's death and these can +hardly be explained except as references to a tradition that those +regions were converted at the epoch mentioned. There is no doubt of the +connection between Kashmir and the Sarvâstivâdins nor anything +improbable in the supposition that the first missionary activity was in +the direction of Muttra and Kashmir. + +But the great landmark in the earlier history of Buddhism is the reign +of Asoka. He came to the throne about 270 B.C. and inherited the vast +dominions of his father and grandfather. Almost all that we know of the +political events of his reign is that his coronation did not take place +until four years later, which may indicate a disputed succession, and +that he rounded off his possessions by the conquest of Kalinga, that is +the country between the Mahanadi and the Godavari, about 261 B.C. This +was the end of his military career. Nothing could be gained by further +conquests, for his empire already exceeded the limits set to effective +government by the imperfect communications of the epoch, seeing that it +extended from Afghanistan to the mouths of the Ganges and southwards +almost to Madras. No evidence substantiates the later stories which +represent him as a monster of wickedness before his conversion, but +according to the Dîpavaṃsa he at first favoured heretics. + +The general effect of Asoka's rule on the history of Buddhism and indeed +of Asia is clear, but there is still some difference of opinion as to +the date of his conversion. The most important document for the +chronology of his reign is the inscription known as the first Minor Rock +Edict[578]. It is now generally admitted that it does not state the time +which has elapsed since the death of the Buddha, as was once supposed, +and that the King relates in it how for more than two and a half years +after his conversion to Buddhism he was a lay-believer and did not exert +himself strenuously, but subsequently joined the Sangha[579] and began +to devote his energies to religion rather more than a year before the +publication of the edict. This proclamation has been regarded by some as +the first, by others as the last of his edicts. On the latter +supposition we must imagine that he published a long series of ethical +but not definitely Buddhist ordinances and that late in life he became +first a lay-believer and then a monk, probably abdicating at the same +time. But the King is exceedingly candid as to his changes of life and +mind: he tells us how the horrors of the war with Kalinga affected him, +how he was an easygoing layman and then a zealous monk. Had there been a +stage between the war and his acceptance of Buddhism as a layman, a +period of many years in which he devoted himself to the moral progress +of his people without being himself a Buddhist, he would surely have +explained it. Moreover in the Bhâbrû edict, which is distinctly +ecclesiastical and deals with the Buddhist scriptures, he employs his +favourite word Dhamma in the strict Buddhist sense, without indicating +that he is giving it an unusual or new meaning. I therefore think it +probable that he became a lay Buddhist soon after the conquest of +Kalinga, that is in the ninth or tenth year after his accession, and a +member of the Sangha two and a half years later. On this hypothesis all +his edicts are the utterances of a Buddhist. + +It may be objected that no one could be a monk and at the same time +govern a great empire: it is more natural and more in accordance with +Indian usage that towards the end of his life an aged king should +abdicate and renounce the world. But Wu Ti, the Buddhist Emperor of +China, retired to a monastery twice in the course of his long reign and +the cloistered Emperors of Japan in the eleventh and twelfth centuries +continued to direct the policy of their country, although they abdicated +in name and set a child on the throne as titular ruler. The Buddhist +Church was not likely to criticize Asoka's method of keeping his +monastic vows and indeed it may be said that his activity was not so +much that of a pious emperor as of an archbishop possessed of +exceptional temporal power. He definitely renounced conquest and +military ambitions and appears to have paid no attention to ordinary +civil administration which he perhaps entrusted to Commissioners; he +devoted himself to philanthropic and moral projects "for the welfare of +man and beast," such as lecturing his subjects on their duties towards +all living creatures, governing the Church, building hospitals and +stûpas, supervising charities and despatching missions. In all his +varied activity there is nothing unsuitable to an ecclesiastical +statesman: in fact he is distinguished from most popes and prelates by +his real indifference to secular aspirations and by the unusual +facilities which he enjoyed for immediately putting his ideals into +practice. + +Asoka has won immortality by the Edicts which he caused to be engraved +on stone[580]. They have survived to the present day and are the most +important monuments which we possess for the early history of India and +of Buddhism. They have a character of their own. A French writer has +said "On ne bavarde pas sur la pierre," and for most inscriptions the +saying holds good, but Asoka wrote on the rocks of India as if he were +dictating to a stenographer. He was no stylist and he was somewhat vain +although, considering his imperial position and the excellence of his +motives, this obvious side of his character is excusable. His +inscriptions give us a unique series of sermons on stones and a record, +if not of what the people of India thought, at least of what an +exceptionally devout and powerful Hindu thought they ought to think. + +Between thirty and forty of these inscriptions have been discovered, +scattered over nearly the whole of India, and composed in vernacular +dialects allied to Pali[581]. Many of them are dated by the year of the +King's reign and all announce themselves as the enactments of Piyadassi, +the name Asoka being rarely used[582]. They comprise, besides some +fourteen single edicts[583], two series, namely: + +(1) Fourteen Rock Edicts, dating from the thirteenth and fourteenth +years of Asoka's reign[584] and found inscribed in seven places but the +recensions differ and some do not include all fourteen edicts. + +(2) Seven Pillar Edicts dating from the 27th and 28th years, and found +in six recensions. + +The fourteen Rock Edicts are mostly sermons. Their style often recalls +the Pitakas verbally, particularly in the application of secular words +to religious matters. Thus we hear that righteousness is the best of +lucky ceremonies and that whereas former kings went on tours of pleasure +and hunting, Asoka prefers tours of piety and has set out on the road +leading to true knowledge. In this series he does not mention the Buddha +and in the twelfth edict he declares that he reverences all sects. But +what he wished to preach and enforce was the _Dhamma_. It is difficult +to find an English equivalent for this word[585] but there is no doubt +of the meaning. It is the law, in the sense of the righteous life which +a Buddhist layman ought to live, and perhaps religion is the simplest +translation, provided that word is understood to include conduct and its +consequences in another world but not theism. Asoka burns with zeal to +propagate this Dhamma and his language recalls[586] the utterances of +the Dhammapada. He formulates the law under four heads[587]: "Parents +must be obeyed: respect for living creatures must be enforced: truth +must be spoken ... the teacher must be reverenced by the pupil and +proper courtesy must be shown to relations." In many ways the Sacred +Edict of the Chinese Emperor K'ang Hsi resembles these proclamations for +it consists of imperial maxims on public morality addressed by a +Confucian Emperor to a population partly Buddhist and Taoist, just as +Asoka addressed Brahmans, Jains and other sects as well as Buddhists. +But when we find in the thirteenth Rock Edict the incidental statement +that the King thinks nothing of much importance except what concerns the +next world, we feel the great difference between Indian and Chinese +ideas whether ancient or modern. + +The Rock Edicts also deal with the sanctity of animal life. Asoka's +strong dislike of killing or hurting animals cannot be ascribed to +policy, for it must have brought him into collision with the Brahmans +who offered animals in sacrifice, but was the offspring of a naturally +gentle and civilized mind. We may conjecture that the humanity of +Buddhism was a feature which attracted him to it. In Rock Edict I. he +forbids animal sacrifices and informs us that whereas formerly many +thousand animals were killed daily for the royal kitchens now only three +are killed, namely two peacocks and a deer, and the deer not always. But +in future even these three creatures will not be slaughtered. In Rock +Edict II. he describes how he has cared for the comfort of man and +beast. Wells have been dug; trees, roots and healing herbs have been +planted and remedies—possibly hospitals—have been provided, all for +animals as well as for men, and this not only in his own dominions but +in neighbouring realms. In the fourteenth year of his reign he appointed +officers called Dhamma-mahâmâtâ, Ministers or Censors of the Dhamma. +Their duty was to promote the observance of the Dhamma and they also +acted as Charity Commissioners and superintendents of the households of +the King's relatives. We hear that "they attend to charitable +institutions, ascetics, householders and all the sects: I have also +arranged that they shall attend to the affairs of the Buddhist clergy, +as well as the Brahmans, the Jains, the Âjîvikas and in fact all the +various sects." Further he tells us that the local authorities[588] are +to hold quinquennial assemblies at which the Dhamma is to be proclaimed +and that religious processions with elephants, cars, and illuminations +have been arranged to please and instruct the people. Similar +processions can still be seen at the Perahera festival in Kandy. + +The last Rock Edict is of special interest for the light which it sheds +both on history and on the King's character. He expresses remorse for +the bloodshed which accompanied the conquest of Kalinga and declares +that he will henceforth devote his attention to conquest by the Dhamma, +which he has effected "both in his own dominions and in all the +neighbouring realms as far as six hundred leagues (?), even to where the +Greek King named Antiochus dwells and beyond that Antiochus to where +dwell the four kings named Ptolemy, Antigonus, Magas and Alexander[589], +and in the south the kings of the Colas and Pandyas[590] and of Ceylon +and likewise here in the King's dominions, among the Yonas[591] and +Kâmbojas[592] in Nâbhaka of the Nâbhitis[593] among the Bhojas and +Pitinikas, among the Ândhras and Pulindas[594]. Asoka thus appears to +state that he has sent missionaries to (1) the outlying parts of India, +on the borders of his own dominions, (2) to Ceylon, (3) to the +Hellenistic Kingdoms of Asia, Africa and Europe. + +This last statement is of the greatest importance, but no record has +hitherto been found of the arrival of these missionaries in the west. +The language of the Edict about them is not precise and in fact their +despatch is only an inference from it. Of the success of the Indian +missions there is no doubt. Buddhism was introduced into southern India, +where it flourished to some extent though it had to maintain a double +struggle against Jains as well as Brahmans. The statement of the Dîpa +and Mahâ-vaṃsas that missionaries were also sent to Pegu (Suvaṇṇabhûmi) +is not supported by the inscriptions, though not in itself improbable, +but the missions to the north and to Ceylon were remarkably successful. + +The Sinhalese Chronicles[595] give the names of the principal +missionaries despatched and their statements have received confirmation +in the discoveries made at Sanchi and Sonari where urns have been found +inscribed with the names of Majjhima, Kassapa, and Gotiputta the +successor of Dundhubhissara, who are called teachers of the Himalaya +region. The statement in the Mahâ and Dîpa-vaṃsas is that Majjhima was +sent to preach in the Himalaya accompanied by four assistants Kassapa, +Mâlikâdeva, Dundhâbhinossa and Sahassadeva. + +About the twenty-first year of his reign Asoka made a religious tour and +under the guidance of his preceptor Upagupta, visited the Lumbini Park +(now Rummindei) in the Terâi, where the Buddha was born, and other spots +connected with his life and preaching. A pillar has been discovered at +Rummindei bearing an inscription which records the visit and the +privileges granted to the village where "the Lord was born." At Niglîva +a few miles off he erected another inscribed pillar stating that he had +done reverence to the stûpa of the earlier Buddha Konâgamana and for the +second time repaired it. + +During this tour he visited Nepal and Lalitpur, the capital, founding +there five stûpas. His daughter Cârumatî is said to have accompanied him +and to have remained in Nepal when he returned. She built a convent +which still bears her name and lived there as a nun. It does not appear +that Asoka visited Kashmir, but he caused a new capital (Srînagar) to be +built there, and introduced Buddhism. + +In the 27th and 28th year of his reign he composed another series of +Edicts and this time had them carved in pillars not on rocks. They are +even more didactic than the Rock Edicts and contain an increasing number +of references to the next world, as well as stricter regulations +forbidding cruelty to animals, but the King remains tolerant and +says[596] that the chief thing is that each man should live up to his +own creed. It is probable that at this time he had partially abdicated +or at least abandoned some of the work of administration, for in Edict +IV. he states that he has appointed Commissioners with discretion to +award honours and penalties and that he feels secure like a man who has +handed over his child to a skilful nurse. + +In the two series of Rock and Pillar Edicts there is little dogmatic +Buddhism. It is true that the King's anxiety as to the hereafter of his +subjects and his solicitude for animals indicate thoughts busy with +religious ideas, but still his Dhamma is generally defined in terms +which do not go beyond morality, kindness and sympathy. But in the +Bhâbrû (less correctly Bhâbrâ) Edict he recommends for study a series of +scriptural passage which can be identified more or less certainly with +portions of the Pali Pitakas. In the Sarnath Edict he speaks not only as +a Buddhist but as head of the Church. He orders that monks or nuns who +endeavour to create a schism shall put on lay costume and live outside +their former monastery or convent. He thus assumes the right to expel +schismatics from the Sangha. He goes on to say that a similar edict +(i.e. an edict against schism) is to be inscribed for the benefit of the +laity who are to come and see it on Uposatha days. "And on the Uposatha +days in all months every officer is to come for the Uposatha service to +be inspired with confidence in this Edict and to learn it." Thus the +King's officers are to be Buddhists at least to the extent of attending +the Uposatha ceremony, and the edict about schismatics is to be brought +to the notice of the laity, which doubtless means that the laity are not +to give alms to them. + +It is probable that many more inscriptions remain to be discovered but +none of those known allude to the convening of a Council and our +information as to this meeting comes from the two Sinhalese Chronicles +and the works of Buddhaghosa. It is said to have been held two hundred +and thirty-six years after the death of the Buddha[597] and to have been +necessitated by the fact that the favour shown to the Sangha induced +heretics to become members of it without abandoning their errors. This +occasioned disturbances and the King was advised to summon a sage called +Tissa Moggaliputta (or Upagupta) then living in retirement and to place +the affairs of the church in his hands. He did so. Tissa then composed +the Kathâ-vatthu and presided over a council composed of one thousand +arhats which established the true doctrine and fixed the present Pali +Canon. + +Even so severe a critic of Sinhalese tradition as Vincent Smith admits +that the evidence for the council is too strong to be set aside, but it +must be confessed that it would be reassuring to find some allusion to +it in Asoka's inscriptions. He did not however always say what we should +expect. In reviewing his efforts in the cause of religion he mentions +neither a council nor foreign missions, although we know from other +inscriptions that such missions were despatched. The sessions of the +council may be equally true and are in no way improbable, for in later +times kings of Burma, Ceylon and Siam held conventions to revise the +text of the Tripitaka. It appeared natural that a pious King should see +that the sacred law was observed, and begin by ascertaining what that +law was. + +According to tradition Asoka died after reigning thirty-eight or forty +years but we have no authentic account of his death and the stories of +his last days seem to be pure legends. The most celebrated are the +pathetic tale of Kunâla which closely resembles a Jâtaka[598], and the +account of how Asoka vowed to present a hundred million gold pieces to +the Sangha and not being able to raise the whole sum made a gift of his +dominions instead. + + +3 + +Asoka had a decisive effect on the history of Buddhism, especially in +making it a world religion. This was not the accidental result of his +action in establishing it in north-west India and Ceylon, for he was +clearly dominated by the thought that the Dhamma must spread over the +whole world and, so far as we know, he was the first to have that +thought in a practical form. But we could estimate his work better if we +knew more about the religious condition of the country when he came to +the throne. As it is, the periods immediately before and after him are +plunged in obscurity and to illuminate his reign we have little +information except his own edicts which, though copious, do not aim at +giving a description of his subjects. Megasthenes who resided at +Pataliputra about 300 B.C. does not appear to have been aware of the +existence of Buddhism as a separate religion, but perhaps a foreign +minister in China at the present day might not notice that the Chinese +have more than one religion. On the other hand in Asoka's time Buddhism, +by whatever name it was called, was well known and there was evidently +no necessity for the King to explain what he meant by Dhamma and Sangha. +The Buddha had belonged to a noble family and was esteemed by the +aristocracy of Magadha; the code of morality which he prescribed for the +laity was excellent and sensible. It is therefore not surprising if the +Kshatriyas and others recognized it as their ideal nor if Asoka found it +a sound basis of legislation. This legislation may be called Buddhist in +the sense that in his edicts the King enjoins and to some extent +enforces _sîlam_ or morality, which is the indispensable beginning for +all spiritual progress, and that his enactments about animals go beyond +what is usual in secular law. But he expressly refrains from requiring +adherence to any particular sect. On the other hand there is no lack of +definite patronage of Buddhism. He institutes edifying processions, he +goes on pilgrimages to sacred sites, he addresses the Sangha as to the +most important parts of the scriptures, and we may infer that he did his +best to spread the knowledge of those scriptures. Though he says nothing +about it in the Edicts which have been discovered, he erected numerous +religious buildings including the Sanchi tope and the original temple at +Bodh-Gaya. Their effect in turning men's attention to Buddhism must have +been greatly enhanced by the fact that so far as we know no other sect +had stone temples at this time. To such influences, we must add the +human element. The example and well-known wishes of a great king, +supported by a numerous and learned clergy, could not fail to attract +crowds to the faith, and the faith itself—for let us not forget Gotama +while we give credit to his follower—was satisfying. Thus Asoka probably +found Buddhism in the form of a numerous order of monks, respected +locally and exercising a considerable power over the minds and conduct +of laymen. He left it a great church spread from the north to the south +of India and even beyond, with an army of officials to assist its +progress, with sacred buildings and monasteries, sermons and ceremonies. +How long his special institutions lasted we do not know, but no one +acquainted with India can help feeling that his system of inspection was +liable to grave abuse. Black-mailing and misuse of authority are ancient +faults of the Indian police and we may surmise that the generations +which followed him were not long in getting rid of his censors and +inspectors. + +Christian critics of Buddhism are apt to say that it has a paralyzing +effect on the nations who adopt it, but Asoka's edicts teem with words +like energy and strenuousness. "It is most necessary to make an effort +in this world," so he recounts the efforts which he has himself made and +wants everybody else to make an effort. "Work I must for the public +benefit—and the root of the matter is in exertion and despatch of +business than which nothing is more efficacious for the general +welfare." These sound like the words of a British utilitarian rather +than of a dreamy oriental emperor. He is far from pessimistic: indeed, +he almost ignores the Truth of Suffering. In describing the conquest of +Kalinga he speaks almost in the Buddha's words of the sorrow of death +and separation, but instead of saying that such things are inevitable he +wishes his subjects to be told that he regrets what has happened and +desires to give them security, peace and joy. + +Asoka has been compared with Constantine but it has been justly observed +that the comparison is superficial, for Constantine (more like Kanishka +than Asoka) merely recognized and regulated a religion which had already +won its way in his empire. He has also been compared with St Paul and in +so far as both men transformed a provincial sect into a religion for all +mankind the parallel is just, but it ends there. St Paul was a +constructive theologian. For good or evil he greatly developed and +complicated the teaching of Christ, but the Edicts of Asoka if compared +with the Pitakas seem to curtail and simplify their doctrines. No +inscription has yet been found mentioning the four truths, the chain of +causation and other familiar formulæ. Doubtless Asoka duly studied these +questions, but it was not theology nor metaphysics which drew him +towards religion. In the gallery of pious Emperors—a collection of +dubious moral and intellectual value—he stands isolated as perhaps the +one man whose only passion was for a sane, kindly and humane life, +neither too curious of great mysteries nor preoccupied with his own soul +but simply the friend of man and beast. + +For the history of doctrine the inscription at Rummindei is particularly +important. It merely states that the King did honour or reverence to the +birthplace of the Buddha, who receives no titles except Sakyamuni and +Bhagavan here or elsewhere in the inscriptions. It is a simple record of +respect paid to a great human teacher who is not in any way deified nor +does Asoka's language show any trace of the doctrines afterwards known +under the name of Mahayana. He does not mention nirvana or even +transmigration, though doubtless what he says about paradise and rewards +hereafter should be read in the light of Indian doctrines about karma +and samsâra. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE CANON + +1 + + +There are extant in several languages large collections of Buddhist +scriptures described by some European writers as the Canon. The name is +convenient and not incorrect, but the various canons are not altogether +similar and the standard for the inclusion or exclusion of particular +works is not always clear. We know something of four or five canons. + +(1) The Pali Canon, accepted by the Buddhists of Ceylon, Burma and Siam, +and rendered accessible to European students by the Pali Text Society. +It professes to contain the works recognized as canonical by the Council +of Asoka and it is reasonably homogeneous, that is to say, although some +ingenuity may be needed to harmonize the different strata of which it +consists, it does not include works composed by several schools. + +(2) The Sanskrit Canon or Canons. + +_(a)_ Nepalese scriptures. These do not correspond with any Pali texts +and all belong to the Mahayana. There appears to be no standard for +fixing the canonical character of Mahayanist works. Like the Upanishads +they are held to be revealed from time to time. + +_(b)_ Buddhist texts discovered in Central Asia. Hitherto these have +been merely fragments, but the number of manuscripts found and not yet +published permits the hope that longer texts may be forthcoming. Those +already made known are partly Mahayanist and partly similar to the Pali +Canon though not a literal translation of it. It is not clear to what +extent the Buddhists of Central Asia regarded the Hina and Mahayanist +scriptures as separate and distinct. Probably each school selected for +itself a small collection of texts as authoritative[599]. + +_(3)_ The Chinese Canon. This is a gigantic collection of Buddhist works +made and revised by order of various Emperors. The imperial imprimatur +is the only standard of canonicity. The contents include translations of +works belonging to all schools made from the first to the thirteenth +century A.D. The originals were apparently all in Sanskrit and were +probably the texts of which fragments have been found in Central Asia. +This canon also includes some original Chinese works. + +(4) There is a somewhat similar collection of translations into Tibetan. +But whereas the Chinese Canon contains translations dated from 67 A.D. +onwards, the Tibetan translations were made mainly in the ninth and +eleventh centuries and represent the literature esteemed by the mediæval +Buddhism of Bengal. Part at least of this Tibetan Canon has been +translated into Mongol. + +Renderings of various books into Uigur, Sogdian, Kuchanese, "Nordarisch" +and other languages of Central Asia have been discovered by recent +explorers. It is probable that they are all derived from the Sanskrit +Canon and do not represent any independent tradition. The scriptures +used in Japan and Korea are simply special editions of the Chinese +Canon, not translations. + +In the following pages I propose to consider the Pali Canon, postponing +until later an account of the others. It will be necessary, however, to +touch on the relations of Pali and Sanskrit texts. + +The scriptures published by the Pali Text Society represent the canon of +the ancient sect called Vibhajjavâdins and the particular recension of +it used at the monastery in Anuradhapura called Mahâvihâra. It is +therefore not incorrect to apply to this recension such epithets as +southern or Sinhalese, provided we remember that in its origin it was +neither one nor the other, for the major part of it was certainly +composed in India[600]. It was probably introduced into Ceylon in the +third century B.C. and it is also accepted in Burma, Siam and +Camboja[601]. Thus in a considerable area it is the sole and undisputed +version of the scriptures. + +The canon is often known by the name of Tripiṭaka[602] or Three Baskets. +When an excavation was made in ancient India it was the custom to pass +up the earth in baskets along a line of workmen[603] and the +metaphorical use of the word seems to be taken from this practice and to +signify transmission by tradition. + +The three Pitakas are known as Vinaya, Sutta, and Abhidhamma. Vinaya +means discipline and the works included in this division treat chiefly +of the rules to be observed by the members of the Sangha. The basis of +these rules is the Pâtimokkha, the ancient confessional formula +enumerating the offences which a monk can commit. It was read +periodically to a congregation of the order and those guilty of any sin +had to confess it. The text of the Pâtimokkha is in the Vinaya combined +with a very ancient commentary called the Sutta-vibhanga. The Vinaya +also contains two treatises known collectively as the Khandakas but more +frequently cited by their separate names as Mahâvagga and Cullavagga. +The first deals with such topics as the rules for admission to the +order, and observance of fast days, and in treating of each rule it +describes the occasion on which the Buddha made it and to some extent +follows the order of chronology. For some parts of the master's life it +is almost a biography. The Cullavagga is similar in construction but +less connected in style[604]. The Vinaya contains several important and +curious narratives and is a mine of information about the social +conditions of ancient India, but much of it has the same literary value +as the book of Leviticus. Of greater general interest is the Sutta +Pitaka, in which the sermons and discourses of the Buddha are collected. +Sutta is equivalent to the Sanskrit word Sûtra, literally a thread, +which signifies among the Brahmans a brief rule or aphorism but in Pali +a relatively short poem or narrative dealing with a single object. This +Sutta Pitaka is divided into five collections called Nikâyas. The first +four are mainly in prose and contain discourses attributed to Gotama or +his disciples. The fifth is mostly in verse and more miscellaneous. + +The four collections of discourses bear the names of Dîgha, Majjhima, +Saṃyutta and Anguttara. The first, meaning long, consists of thirty-four +narratives. They are not all sermons and are of varying character, +antiquity and interest, the reason why they are grouped together being +simply their length[605]. In some of them we may fancy that we catch an +echo of Gotama's own words, but in others the legendary character is +very marked. Thus the Mahâsamaya and Aṭânâṭiya suttas are epitomes of +popular mythology tacked on to the history of the Buddha. But for all +that they are interesting and ancient. + +Many of the suttas, especially the first thirteen, are rearrangements of +old materials put together by a considerable literary artist who lived +many generations after the Buddha. The account of the Buddha's last days +is an example of such a compilation which attains the proportions of a +Gospel and shows some dramatic power though it is marred by the +juxtaposition of passages composed in very different styles. + +The Majjhima-Nikâya is a collection of 152 discourses of moderate +(majjhima) length. Taken as a whole it is perhaps the most profound and +impassioned of all the Nikâyas and also the oldest. The sermons which it +contains, if not verbatim reports of Gotama's eloquence, have caught the +spirit of one who urged with insistent earnestness the importance of +certain difficult truths and the tremendous issues dependent on right +conduct and right knowledge. The remaining collections, the Saṃyutta and +Anguttara, classify the Buddha's utterances under various headings and +presuppose older documents which they sometimes quote[606]. The Saṃyutta +consists of a great number of suttas, mostly short, combined in groups +treating of a single subject which may be either a person or a topic. +The Anguttara, which is a still longer collection, is arranged in +numerical groups, a method of classification dear to the Hindus who +delight in such computations as the four meditations, the eightfold +path, the ten fetters. It takes such religious topics as can be counted +in this way and arranges them under the numbers from one to eleven. Thus +under three, it treats of thought, word and deed and the applications of +this division to morality; of the three messengers of the gods, old-age, +sickness and death; of the three great evils, lust, ill-will and +stupidity and so on. + +The fifth or Khuddaka-Nikâya is perhaps the portion of the Pali +scriptures which has found most favour with Europeans, for the treatises +composing it are short and some of them of remarkable beauty. They are +in great part composed of verses, sometimes disconnected couplets, +sometimes short poems. The stanzas are only imperfectly intelligible +without an explanation of the occasion to which they refer. This is +generally forthcoming, but is sometimes a part of the accepted text and +sometimes regarded as merely a commentary. To this division of the +Pitaka belong the Dhammapada, a justly celebrated anthology of +devotional verses, and the Sutta-Nipâta, a very ancient collection of +suttas chiefly in metre. Other important works included in it are the +Thera and Therî-gâthâ or poems written by monks and nuns respectively, +and the Jâtaka or stories about the Buddha's previous births[607]. Some +of the rather miscellaneous contents of this Nikâya are late and do not +belong to the same epoch of thought as the discourses attributed to +Gotama. Such are the Buddha-vaṃsa, or lives of Gotama and his +twenty-four predecessors, the Cariyâ-Piṭaka, a selection of Jâtaka +stories about Gotama's previous births and the Vimâna and Peta-vatthus, +accounts of celestial mansions and of the distressful existence led by +those who are condemned to be ghosts[608]. + +Though some works comprised in this Nikâya (e.g. the Suttanipâta) are +very ancient, the collection, as it stands, is late and probably known +only to the southern Church. The contents of it are not quite the same +in Ceylon, Burma and Siam, and only a small portion of them has been +identified in the Chinese Tripitaka. Nevertheless the word +_pañcanekâyika_, one who knows the five Nikâyas, is found in the +inscriptions of Sanchi and five Nikâyas are mentioned in the last books +of the Cullavagga. Thus a fifth Nikâya of some kind must have been known +fairly early. + +The third Pitaka is known by the name of Abhidhamma. Dhamma is the usual +designation for the doctrine of the Buddha and Buddhaghosa[609] explains +the prefix abhi as signifying excess and distinction, so that this +Pitaka is considered pre-eminent because it surpasses the others. This +pre-eminence consists solely in method and scope, not in novelty of +matter or charm of diction. The point of view of the Abhidhamma is +certainly later than that of the Sutta Pitaka and in some ways marks an +advance, for instead of professing to report the discourses of Gotama it +takes the various topics on which he touched, especially psychological +ethics, and treats them in a connected and systematic manner. The style +shows some resemblance to Sanskrit sûtras for it is so technical both in +vocabulary and arrangement that it can hardly be understood without a +commentary[610]. According to tradition the Buddha recited the +Abhidhamma when he went to heaven to preach to the gods, and this seems +a polite way of hinting that it was more than any human congregation +could tolerate or understand. Still throughout the long history of +Buddhism it has always been respected as the most profound portion of +the scriptures and has not failed to find students. This Pitaka includes +the Kathâ-vatthu, attributed to Tissa Moggaliputta who is said to have +composed it about 250 B.C. in Asoka's reign[611]. + +There is another division of the Buddhist scriptures into nine _angas_ +or members, namely: 1. Suttas. 2. Geyya: mixed prose and verse. 3. +Gâthâ: verse. 4. Udâna: ecstatic utterances. 5. Veyyâkaraṇa: +explanation. 6. Itivuttaka: sayings beginning with the phrase "Thus said +the Buddha." 7. Jâtaka: stories of former births. 8. Abbhutadhamma: +stories of wonders. 9. Vedalla: a word of doubtful meaning, but perhaps +questions and answers. This enumeration is not to be understood as a +statement of the sections into which the whole body of scripture was +divided but as a description of the various styles of composition +recognized as being religious, just as the Old Testament might be said +to contain historical books, prophecies, canticles and so on. +Compositions in these various styles must have been current before the +work of collection began, as is proved by the fact that all the _angas_ +are enumerated in the Majjhima-Nikâya[612]. + + +2 + +This Tripitaka is written in Pali[613] which is regarded by Buddhist +tradition as the language spoken by the Master. In the time of Asoka the +dialect of Magadha must have been understood over the greater part of +India, like Hindustani in modern times, but in some details of grammar +and phonetics Pali differs from Mâgadhî Prakrit and seems to have been +influenced by Sanskrit and by western dialects. Being a literary rather +than a popular language it was probably a mixed form of speech and it +has been conjectured that it was elaborated in Avanti or in Gândhâra +where was the great Buddhist University of Takshaśîlâ. Subsequently it +died out as a literary language in India[614] but in Ceylon, Burma, Siam +and Camboja it became the vehicle of a considerable religious and +scholastic literature. The language of Asoka's inscriptions in the third +century B.C. is a parallel dialect, but only half stereotyped. The +language of the Mahâvastu and some Mahayanist texts, often called the +language of the Gâthâs, seems to be another vernacular brought more or +less into conformity with Sanskrit. It is probable that in preaching the +Buddha used not Pali in the strict sense but the spoken dialect of +Magadha[615], and that this dialect did not differ from Pali more than +Scotch or Yorkshire from standard English, and if for other reasons we +are satisfied that some of the suttas have preserved the phrases which +he employed, we may consider that apart from possible deviations in +pronunciation or inflexion they are his _ipsissima verba_. Even as we +have it, the text of the canon contains some anomalous forms which are +generally considered to be Magadhisms[616]. + +The Cullavagga relates how two monks who were Brahmans represented to +the Buddha that "monks of different lineage ... corrupt the word of the +Buddha by repeating it in their own dialect. Let us put the word of the +Buddhas into _chandas_[617]." No doubt Sanskrit verse is meant, +_chandas_ being a name applied to the language of the Vedic verses. +Gotama refused: "You are not to put the word of the Buddhas into +_chandas_. Whoever does so shall be guilty of an offence. I allow you to +learn the word of the Buddhas each in his own dialect." Subsequent +generations forgot this prohibition, but it probably has a historical +basis and it indicates the Buddha's desire to make his teaching popular. +It is not likely that he contemplated the composition of a body of +scriptures. He would have been afraid that it might resemble the hymns +of the Brahmans which he valued so little and he wished all men to hear +his teaching in the language they understood best. But when after his +death his disciples collected his sayings it was natural that they +should make at least one version of them in the dialect most widely +spoken and that this version should be gradually elaborated in what was +considered the best literary form of that dialect[618]. It is probable +that the text underwent several linguistic revisions before it reached +its present state. + +Pali is a sonorous and harmonious language which avoids combinations of +consonants and several difficult sounds found in Sanskrit. Its +excellence lies chiefly in its vocabulary and its weakness in its +syntax. Its inflexions are heavy and monotonous and the sentences lack +concentration and variety. Compound words do not assume such monstrous +proportions as in later Sanskrit, but there is the same tendency to make +the process of composition do duty for syntax. These faults have been +intensified by the fact that the language has been used chiefly for +theological discussion. The vocabulary on the other hand is copious and +for special purposes admirable. The translator has to struggle +continually with the difficulty of finding equivalents for words which, +though apparently synonymous, really involve nice distinctions and much +misunderstanding has arisen from the impossibility of adequately +rendering philosophical terms, which, though their European equivalents +sound vague, have themselves a precise significance. On the other hand +some words (e.g. _dhamma_ and _attho_) show an inconveniently wide range +of meaning. But the force of the language is best seen in its power of +gathering up in a single word, generally a short compound, an idea which +though possessing a real unity requires in European languages a whole +phrase for its expression. Thus the Buddha bids his disciples be +_attadîpâ atta-saraṇâ, anañña-saraṇâ: dhammadîpâ dhammasaraṇâ_[619]. "Be +ye lamps unto yourselves. Be ye a refuge unto yourselves. Betake +yourselves to no external refuge. Hold fast to the truth as a lamp. Hold +fast to the truth as a refuge." This is Rhys Davids' translation and +excellent both as English and as giving the meaning. But the five Pali +words compel attention and inscribe themselves on the memory in virtue +of a monumental simplicity which the five English sentences do not +possess. + +But the feature in the Pali scriptures which is most prominent and most +tiresome to the unsympathetic reader is the repetition of words, +sentences and whole paragraphs. This is partly the result of grammar or +at least of style. The simplicity of Pali syntax and the small use made +of dependent sentences, lead to the regular alignment of similar phrases +side by side like boards in a floor. When anything is predicated of +several subjects, for instance the five Skandhas, it is rare to find a +single sentence containing a combined statement. As a rule what has to +be said is predicated first of the first Skandha and then repeated +_totidem verbis_ of the others. But there is another cause for this +tedious peculiarity, namely that for a long period the Pitakas were +handed down by oral tradition only. They were first reduced to writing +in Ceylon about 20 B.C. in the reign of Vaṭṭagâmani, more than a century +and a half after their first importation in an oral form. This +circumstance need not throw doubt on the authenticity of the text, for +the whole ancient literature of India, prose as well as verse, was +handed down by word of mouth and even in the present day most of it +could be recovered if all manuscripts and books were lost. The Buddhists +did not, like the Brahmans, make minute regulations for preserving and +memorizing their sacred texts, and in the early ages of the faith were +impressed with the idea that their teaching was not a charm to be learnt +by heart but something to be understood and practised. They nevertheless +endeavoured, and probably with success, to learn by heart the words of +the Buddha, converting them into the dialect most widely understood. It +was then a common thing (and the phenomenon may still be seen in India) +for a man of learning to commit to memory a whole Veda together with +subsidiary treatises on ritual, metre, grammar and genealogy. For such +memories it was not difficult to retain the principal points in a series +of sermons. The Buddha had preached day by day for about forty-five +years. Though he sometimes spoke with reference to special events he no +doubt had a set of discourses which he regularly repeated. There was the +less objection to such repetition because he was continually moving +about and addressing new audiences. There were trained Brahman students +among his disciples, and at his death many persons, probably hundreds, +must have had by heart summaries of his principal sermons. + +But a sermon is less easy to remember than a poem or matter arranged by +some method of _memoria technica_. An obvious aid to recollection is to +divide the discourse into numbered heads and attach to each certain +striking phrases. If the phrases can be made to recur, so much the +better, for there is a guarantee of correctness when an expected formula +appears at appropriate points. + +It may be too that the wearisome and mechanical iteration of the Pali +Canon is partly due to the desire of the Sinhalese to lose nothing of +the sacred word imparted to them by missionaries from a foreign country, +for repetition to this extent is not characteristic of Indian +compositions. It is less noticeable in Sanskrit Buddhist sûtras than in +the Pali but is very marked in Jain literature. A moderate use of it is +a feature of the Upanishads. In these we find recurring formulæ and also +successive phrases constructed on one plan and varying only in a few +words[620]. + +But still I suspect that repetition characterized not only the reports +of the discourses but the discourses themselves. No doubt the versions +which we have are the result of compressing a free discourse into +numbered paragraphs and repetitions: the living word of the Buddha was +surely more vivacious and plastic than these stiff tabulations. But the +peculiarities of scholars can often be traced to the master and the +Buddha had much the same need of mnemonics as his hearers. For he had +excogitated complicated doctrines and he imparted them without the aid +of notes and though his natural wit enabled him to adapt his words to +the capacity of his hearers and to meet argument, still his wish was to +formulate a consistent statement of his thoughts. In the earliest +discourse ascribed to him, the sermon at Benares, we see these habits of +numbering and repetition already fully developed. The next discourse, on +the absence of a soul, consists in enumerating the five words, form, +sensation, perception, sankhâras, and consciousness three times, and +applying to each of them consecutively three statements or arguments, +the whole concluding with a phrase which is used as a finale in many +other places. Artificial as this arrangement sounds when analyzed, it is +a natural procedure for one who wished to impress on his hearers a +series of philosophic propositions without the aid of writing, and I can +imagine that these rhythmical formulæ uttered in that grave and pleasant +voice which the Buddha is said to have possessed, seemed to the +leisurely yet eager groups who sat round him under some wayside banyan +or in the monastery park, to be not tedious iteration but a gradual +revelation of truth growing clearer with each repetition. + +We gather from the Pitakas that writing was well known in the Buddha's +time[621]. But though it was used for inscriptions, accounts and even +letters, it was not used for books, partly because the Brahmans were +prejudiced against it, and partly because no suitable material for +inditing long compositions had been discovered. There were religious +objections to parchment and leaves were not employed till later. The +minute account of monastic life given in the Vinaya makes it certain +that the monks did not use writing for religious purposes. Equally +conclusive, though also negative, is the fact that in the accounts of +the assemblies at Râjagaha and Vesâlî[622] when there is a dispute as to +the correct ruling on a point, there is no appeal to writing but merely +to the memory of the oldest and most authoritative monks. In the Vinaya +we hear of people who know special books: of monks who are preachers of +the Dhamma and others who know the Sutta: of laymen who have learnt a +particular suttanta and are afraid it will fall into oblivion unless +others learn it from them. Apprehensions are expressed that suttas will +be lost if monks neglect to learn them by heart[623]. From inscriptions +of the third century B.C.[624] are quoted words like Petakî, a reciter +of the Pitakas or perhaps of one Pitaka: Suttântika and Suttântakinî, a +man or woman who recites the suttantas: Pancanekâyika, one who recites +the five Nikâyas. All this shows that from the early days of Buddhism +onwards a succession of persons made it their business to learn and +recite the doctrine and disciplinary rules and, considering the +retentiveness of trained memories, we have no reason to doubt that the +doctrine and rules have been preserved without much loss[625]. + +Not, however, without additions. The disadvantage of oral tradition is +not that it forgets but that it proceeds snowball fashion, adding with +every generation new edifying matter. The text of the Vedic hymns was +preserved with such jealous care that every verse and syllable was +counted. But in works of lesser sanctity interpolations and additions +were made according to the reciters' taste. We cannot assign to the +Mahâbhârata one date or author, and the title of Upanishad is no +guarantee for the age or authenticity of the treatises that bear it. +Already in the Anguttara-Nikâya[626], we hear of tables of contents and +the expression is important, for though we cannot give any more precise +explanation of it, it shows that care was taken to check the contents of +the works accepted as scripture. But still there is little doubt that +during the two or three centuries following the Buddha's death, there +went on a process not only of collection and recension but also of +composition. + +An account of the formation of the canon is given in the last two +chapters of the Cullavagga[627]. After the death of the Buddha his +disciples met to decide what should be regarded as the correct doctrine +and discipline. The only way to do that was to agree what had been the +utterances of the master and this, in a country where the oral +transmission of teaching was so well understood, amounted to laying the +foundations of a canon. Kassapa cross-examined experts as to the +Buddha's precepts. For the rules of discipline Upâli was the chief +authority and we read how he was asked where such and such a rule—for +instance, the commandment against stealing—was promulgated. + +"At Râjagaha, sir." + +"Concerning whom was it spoken?" + +"Dhaniya, the potter's son." + +"In regard to what matter?" + +"The taking of that which had not been given." + +For collecting the suttas they relied on the testimony of Ânanda and +asked him where the Brahmajâla[628] was spoken. He replied "between +Râjagaha and Nâlanda at the royal rest-house at Ambalatthika." +"Concerning whom was it spoken?" "Suppiya, the wandering ascetic and +Brahmadatta the young Brahman." + +Then follows a similar account of the Sâmaññaphala sutta and we are told +that Ânanda was "questioned through the five Nikâyas." That is no doubt +an exaggeration as applied to the time immediately after the Buddha's +death, but it is evidence that five Nikâyas were in existence when this +chapter was written[629]. + + +3 + +Lines of growth are clearly discernible in the Vinaya and Sutta Pitakas. +As already mentioned, the Khuddaka-Nikâya is, as a collection, later +than the others although separate books of it, such as the Sutta-nipâta +(especially the fourth and fifth books), are among the earliest +documents which we possess. But other books such as the Peta-[630] and +Vimâna-vatthu show a distinct difference in tone and are probably +separated from the Buddha by several centuries. Of the other four +Nikâyas the Saṃyutta and Anguttara are the more modern and the Anguttara +mentions Munda, King of Magadha who began to reign about forty years +after the Buddha's death. But even in the two older collections, the +Dîgha and the Majjhima, we have not reached the lowest stratum. The +first thirteen suttantas of the Dîgha all contain a very ancient +tractate on morality, and the Sâmaññaphala and following sections of the +Dîgha and also some suttas of the Majjhima contain either in whole or in +part a treatise on progress in the holy life. These treatises were +probably current as separate portions for recitation before the suttas +in which they are now set were composed. + +Similarly, the Vinaya clearly presupposes an old code in the form of a +list of offences called the Pâtimokkha. The Mahâvagga contains a portion +of an ancient word-for-word explanation of this code[631] and most of +the Sutta-vibhanga is an amplification and exposition of it. The +Pâtimokkha was already in existence when these books were composed, for +we hear[632] that if in a company of Bhikkhus no one knows the +Pâtimokkha, one of the younger brethren should be sent to some better +instructed monastery to learn it. And further we hear[633] that a +learned Bhikkhu was expected to know not merely the precepts of the +Pâtimokkha but also the occasion when each was formulated. The place, +the circumstances and the people concerned had been in each case handed +down. There is here all the material for a narrative. The reciter of a +sutta simply adopts the style of a village story-teller. "Thus have I +heard. Once upon a time the Lord was dwelling at Râjagaha," or wherever +it was, and such and such people came to see him. And then, after a more +or less dramatic introduction, comes the Lord's discourse and at the end +an epilogue saying how the hearers were edified and, if previously +unconverted, took refuge in the true doctrine. + +The Cullavagga states that the Vinaya (but not the other Pitakas) was +recited and verified at the Council of Vesâlî. As I have mentioned +elsewhere, Sinhalese and Chinese accounts speak of another Council, the +Mahâsangha or Mahâsangîti. Though its date is uncertain, there is a +consensus of tradition to the effect that it recognized a canon of its +own, different from our Pali Canon and containing a larger amount of +popular matter. + +Sinhalese tradition states that the canon as we now have it was fixed at +the third Council held at Pataliputra in the reign of Asoka (about +272-232 B.C.). The most precise statements about this Council are those +of Buddhaghosa who says that an assembly of monks who knew the three +Pitakas by heart recited the Vinaya and the Dhamma. + +But the most important and interesting evidence as to the existence of +Buddhist scriptures in the third century B.C. is afforded by the Bhâbrû +(or Bhâbrâ) edict of Asoka. He recommends the clergy to study seven +passages, of which nearly all can be identified in our present edition +of the Pitakas[634]. This edict does not prove that Asoka had before him +in the form which we know the Dîgha and other works cited. But the most +cautious logic must admit that there was a collection of the Buddha's +sayings to which he could appeal and that if most of his references to +this collection can be identified in our Pitakas, then the major part of +these Pitakas is probably identical in substance (not necessarily +verbally) with the collection of sayings known to Asoka. + +Neither Asoka nor the author of the Kathâ-vatthu cites books by name. +The latter for instance quotes the well-known lines "anupubbena medhavi" +not as coming from the Dhammapada but as "spoken by the Lord." But the +author of the Questions of Milinda, who knew the canonical books by the +names they bear now, also often adopts a similar method of citation. +Although this author's probable date is not earlier than our era his +evidence is important. He mentions all five Nikâyas by name, the titles +of many suttas and also the Vibhanga, Dhâtu-kathâ, Puggala-Paññatti, +Kathâ-vatthu, Yamaka and Paṭṭhâna. + +Everything indicates and nothing discredits the conclusion that this +canon of the Vibhajjavâdins was substantially fixed in the time of +Asoka, so far as the Vinaya and Sutta Pitakas are concerned. Some works +of minor importance may have had an uncertain position and subsequent +revisions may have been made but the principal scriptures were already +recognized and contained passages which occur in our versions. On the +other hand this recension of the scriptures was not the only one in +existence. If the patronage of Asoka gave it a special prestige in his +lifetime, it may have lost it in India after his death and for many +centuries the Buddhist Canon, like the list of the Upanishads, must have +been susceptible of alteration. The Sarvâstivâdins compiled an +Abhidhamma Pitaka of their own, apparently in the time of Kanishka, and +the Dharmagupta school also seems to have had its own version of this +Pitaka[635]. The date of the Pali Abhidhamma is very doubtful and I do +not reject the hypothesis that it was composed in Ceylon, for the +Sinhalese seem to have a special taste for such literature. But there is +no proof of this Sinhalese origin. + +According to Sinhalese tradition all three Pitakas were introduced into +Ceylon by Mahinda in the reign of Asoka, but only as oral tradition and +not in a written form. They received this latter about 20 B.C., as the +result of a dispute between two monasteries[636]. The controversy is +obscure but it appears that the ancient foundation called Mahâvihâra +accepted as canonical the fifth book of the Vinaya called Parivâra, +whereas it was rejected by the new monastery called Abhayagiri. The +Sinhalese chronicle (Mahâvamsa XXXIII. 100-104) says somewhat abruptly +"The wise monks had hitherto handed down the text of the three Pitakas +(Piṭakattayapâlim) as well as the commentary by word of mouth. But +seeing that mankind was becoming lost, they assembled together and wrote +them in books in order that the faith might long endure." This brief +account seems to mean that a council was held not by the whole clergy of +Ceylon but by the monks of the Mahâvihâra at which they committed to +writing their own version of the canon including the Parivâra. This book +forms an appendix to the Vinaya Pitaka and in some verses printed at the +conclusion is said to be the work of one Dîpa. It is generally accepted +as a relatively late production, composed in Ceylon. If such a work was +included in the canon of the Mahâvihâra, we must admit the possibility +that other portions of it may be Sinhalese and not Indian. + +But still the _onus probandi_ lies with those who maintain the Sinhalese +origin of any part of the Pali Canon and two strong arguments support +the Indian origin of the major part. First, many suttas not only show an +intimate knowledge of ancient Indian customs but discuss topics such as +caste, sacrifice, ancient heresies, and the value of the Veda which +would be of no interest to Sinhalese. Secondly, there is no Sinhalese +local colour and no Sinhalese legends have been introduced. Contrast +with this the Dîpa-and Mahâ-vaṃsa both of which open with accounts of +mythical visits paid by the Buddha to Ceylon[637]. + +In Ceylon versions of the scriptures other than that of the Mahâvihâra +were current until the twelfth century when uniformity was enforced by +Parâkrama Bâhu. Some of these, for instance the Pitaka of the +Vetulyakas, were decidedly heretical according to the standard of local +orthodoxy but others probably presented variations of reading and +arrangement rather than of doctrine. Anesaki[638] has compared with the +received Pali text a portion of the Saṃyuktâgama translated by +Guṇabhadra into Chinese. He thinks that the original was the text used +by the Abhayagiri monastery and brought to China by Fa Hsien. + +The Sinhalese ecclesiastical history, Nikâya-Sangrahawa, relates[639] +that 235 years after the Buddha's death nine heretical fraternities were +formed who proceeded to compose scriptures of their own such as the +Varṇapiṭaka and Angulimâla-Piṭaka. Though this treatise is late (_c_. +1400 A.D.) its statements merit attention as showing that even in +orthodox Ceylon tradition regarded the authorized Pitaka as one of +several versions. But many of the works mentioned sound like late +tantric texts rather than compositions of the early heretics to whom +they are attributed. + +Ecclesiastical opinion in Ceylon after centuries of discussion ended by +accepting the edition of the Mahâvihâra as the best, and we have no +grounds for rejecting or suspecting this opinion. According to tradition +Buddhaghosa was well versed in Sanskrit but deliberately preferred the +southern canon. The Mahayanist doctor Asanga cites texts found in the +Pali version, but not in the Sanskrit[640]. The monks of the Mahâvihâra +were probably too indulgent in admitting late scholastic treatises, such +as the Parivâra. On the other hand they often showed a critical instinct +in rejecting legendary matter. Thus the Sanskrit Vinayas contain many +more miraculous narratives than the Pali Vinaya. + + +4 + +European critics have rarely occasion to discuss the credibility of +Sanskrit literature, for most of it is so poetic or so speculative that +no such question arises. But the Pitakas raise this question as directly +as the Gospels, for they give the portrait of a man and the story of a +life, in which an overgrowth of the miraculous has not hidden or +destroyed the human substratum. How far can we accept them as a true +picture of what Gotama was and taught? + +Their credibility must be judged by the standard of Indian oral +tradition. Its greatest fault comes from that deficiency in historic +sense which we have repeatedly noticed. Hindu chroniclers ignore +important events and what they record drifts by in a haze in which +proportion, connection, and dates are lost. They frequently raise a +structure of fiction on a slight basis of fact or on no basis at all. +But the fiction is generally so obvious that the danger of historians in +the past has been not to be misled by it but to ignore the elements of +truth which it may contain. For the Hindus have a good verbal memory; +their genealogies, lists of kings and places generally prove to be +correct and they have a passion for catalogues of names. Also they take +a real interest in describing doctrine. If the Buddha has been +misrepresented, it is not for want of acumen or power of transmitting +abstruse ideas. The danger rather is that he who takes an interest in +theology is prone to interpret a master's teaching in the light of his +own pet views. + +The Pitakas illustrate the strong and weak points of Hindu tradition. +The feebleness of the historical sense may be seen in the account of +Devadatta's doings in the Cullavagga[641] where the compiler seems +unable to give a clear account of what he must have regarded as +momentous incidents. Yet the same treatise is copious and lucid in +dealing with monastic rules, and the sayings recorded have an air of +authenticity. In the suttas the strong side of Hindu memory is brought +into play. Of consecutive history there is no question. We have only an +introduction giving the names of some characters and localities followed +by a discourse. We know from the Vinaya that the monks were expected to +exercise themselves in remembering these things, and they are precisely +the things that they would get rightly by heart. I see no reason to +doubt that such discourses as the sermon preached at Benares[642] and +the recurring passages in the first book of the Dîgha-Nikâya are a Pali +version of what was accepted as the words of the Buddha soon after his +death. And the change of dialect is not of great importance. Asoka's +Bhâbrû Edict contains the saying: _Thus the good law shall long endure_, +which is believed to be a quotation and certainly corresponds pretty +closely with a passage in the Anguttara-Nikâya[643]. The King's version +is _Saddhamma cilathitike hasati_: the Pali is _Saddhammo cîratthitiko +hoti_. Somewhat similar may have been the differences between the +Buddha's speech and the text which we possess. The importance of the +change in language is diminished and the facility of transmission is +increased by the fact that in Pali, Sanskrit and kindred Indian +languages ideas are concentrated in single words rather than spread over +sentences. Thus the principal words of the sermon at Benares give its +purport with perfect clearness, if they are taken as a mere list without +grammatical connection. Similarly I should imagine that the recurring +paragraphs about progress in the holy life found in the early Suttas of +the Dîgha-Nikâya are an echo of the Buddha's own words, for they bear an +impress not only of antiquity but of eloquence and elevation. This does +not mean that we have any sermon in the exact form in which Gotama +uttered it. Such documents as the Sâmaññaphala-sutta and Ambaṭṭha-sutta +probably give a good idea of his method and style in consecutive +discourse and argument. But it would not be safe to regard them as more +than the work of compilers who were acquainted with the surroundings in +which he lived, the phrases he used, and the names and business of those +who conversed with him. With these they made a picture of a day in his +life, culminating in a sermon[644]. + +Like the historical value of the Pitakas, their literary value can be +justly estimated only if we remember that they are not books in our +sense but treatises handed down by memory and that their form is +determined primarily by the convenience of the memory. We must not +compare them with Plato and find them wanting, for often, especially in +the Abhidhamma, there is no intention of producing a work of art, but +merely of subdividing a subject and supplying explanations. Frequently +the exposition is thrown into the form of a catechism with questions and +answers arranged so as to correspond to numbered categories. Thus a +topic may be divided into twenty heads and six propositions may be +applied to each with positive or negative results. The strong point of +these Abhidhamma works---and of Buddhist philosophy generally—lies in +careful division and acute analysis but the power of definition is weak. +Rarely is a definition more than a collection of synonyms and very often +the word to be defined is repeated in the definition. Thus in the +Dhamma-sangaṇi the questions, what are good or bad states of mind? +receive answers cast in the form: when a good or bad thought has arisen +with certain accompaniments enumerated at length, then these are the +states that are good or bad. No definition of good is given. + +This mnemonic literature attains its highest excellence in poetry. The +art of composing short poems in which a thought, emotion or spiritual +experience is expressed with a few simple but pregnant words in the +compass of a single couplet or short hymn, was carried by the early +Buddhists to a perfection which has never been excelled. The +Dhammapada[645] is the best known specimen of this literature. Being an +anthology it is naturally more suited for quotation or recitation in +sections than for continuous reading. But its twenty-five chapters are +consecrated each to some special topic which receives fairly consecutive +treatment, though each chapter is a mosaic of short poems consisting of +one or more verses supposed to have been uttered by the Buddha or by +arhats on various occasions. The whole work combines literary beauty, +depth of thought and human feeling in a rare degree. Not only is it +irradiated with the calm light of peace, faith and happiness but it +glows with sympathy, with the desire to do good and help those who are +struggling in the mire of passion and delusion. For this reason it has +found more favour with European readers than the detached and +philosophic texts which simply preach self-conquest and aloofness. +Inferior in beauty but probably older is the Sutta-nipâta, a collection +of short discourses or conversations with the Buddha mostly in verse. +The rugged and popular language of these stanzas which reject +speculation as much as luxury, takes us back to the life of the +wanderers who followed the Buddha on his tours and we may imagine that +poems like the Dhaniya sutta would be recited when they met together in +a rest-house or grove set apart for their use on the outskirts of a +village. + +The Buddhist suttas, are interesting as being a special result of +Gotama's activity; they are not analogous to the Brahmanic works called +sûtras, and they have no close parallel in later Indian literature. +There is little personal background in the Upanishads, none at all in +the Sânkhya and Vedânta sûtras. But the Sutta Pitaka is an attempt to +delineate a personality as well as to record a doctrine. Though the idea +of writing biography has not yet been clearly conceived, yet almost +every discourse brings before us the figure of the Lord: though the +doctrine can be detached from the preacher, yet one feels that the +hearers of the Pitaka hungered not merely for a knowledge of the four +truths but for the very words of the great voice: did he really say +this, and if so when, where and why? Most suttas begin by answering +these questions. They describe a scene and report a discourse and in so +doing they create a type of literature with an interest and +individuality of its own. It is no exaggeration to say that the Buddha +is the most living figure in Hindu literature. He stands before us more +distinctly not only than Yâjñavalkya and Śankara, but than modern +teachers like Nanak and Râmânuja and the reason of this distinctness can +I think be nothing but the personal impression which he made on his age. +The later Buddhists compose nothing in the style of the Nikâyas: they +write about Gotama in new and fanciful ways, but no Acts of the Apostles +succeed the Gospels. + +Though the Buddhist suttas are _sui generis_ and mark a new epoch in +Indian literature, yet in style they are a natural development of the +Upanishads. The Upanishads are less dogmatic and show much less interest +in the personality of their sages, but they contain dialogues closely +analogous to suttas. Thus about half of the Bṛihad-Âraṇyaka is a +philosophic treatise unconnected with any particular name, but in this +are set five dialogues in which Yâjñavalkya appears and two others in +which Ajâtaśatru and Pravâhaṇa Jaivali are the protagonists. + +Though many suttas are little more than an exposition of some doctrine +arranged in mnemonic form, others show eloquence and dramatic skill. +Thus the Sâmaññaphala-sutta opens with a vivid description of the visit +paid one night by Ajâtasattu to the Buddha[646]. We see the royal +procession of elephants and share the alarm of the suspicious king at +the unearthly stillness of the monastery park, until he saw the Buddha +sitting in a lighted pavilion surrounded by an assembly of twelve +hundred and fifty brethren, calm and silent as a clear lake. The king's +long account of his fruitless quest for truth would be tiresome if it +were not of such great historic interest and the same may be said of the +Buddha's enumeration of superstitious and reprehensible practices, but +from this point onwards his discourse is a magnificent crescendo of +thought and language, never halting and illustrated by metaphors of +great effect and beauty. Equally forcible and surely resting on some +tradition of the Buddha's own words is the solemn fervour which often +marks the suttas of the Majjhima such as the descriptions of his +struggle for truth, the admonitions to Râhula and the reproof +administered to Sâti. + + +5 + +As mentioned above, our Pali Canon is the recension of the +Vibhajjavâdins. We know from the records of the Chinese pilgrims that +other schools also had recensions of their own, and several of these +recensions—such as those of the Sarvâstivâdins, Mahâsanghikas, +Mahisâsakas, Dhammaguttikas, and Sammitîyas—are still partly extant in +Chinese and Tibetan translations. These appear to have been made from +the Sanskrit and fragments of what was probably the original have been +preserved in Central Asia. A recension of the text in Sanskrit probably +implies less than what we understand by a translation. It may mean that +texts handed down in some Indian dialect which was neither Sanskrit nor +Pali were rewritten with Sanskrit orthography and inflexions while +preserving much of the original vocabulary. The Buddha allowed all men +to learn his teaching in their own language, and different schools are +said to have written the scriptures in different dialects, e.g. the +Mahâsanghikas in a kind of Prakrit not further specified and the +Mahâsammatîyas in Apabhramsa. When Sanskrit became the recognized +vehicle for literary composition there would naturally be in India +(though not in Ceylon) a tendency to rewrite books composed in other +dialects[647]. The idea that when any important matter is committed to +writing it should be expressed in a literary dialect not too +intelligible to the vulgar is prevalent from Morocco to China. The +language of Bengal illustrates what may have happened to the Buddhist +scriptures. It is said that at the beginning of the nineteenth century +ninety per cent, of the vocabulary of Bengali was Sanskrit, and the +grammatical construction sanskritized as well. Though the literary +language now-a-days is less artificial, it still differs widely from the +vernacular. Similarly the spoken word of the Buddha was forced into +conformity with one literary standard or another and ecclesiastical Pali +became as artificial as Sanskrit. The same incidents may be found worked +up in both languages. Thus the Sanskrit version of the story of Pûrṇâ in +the Divyâva-dâna repeats what is found in Pali in the +Saṃyutta-Nikâya[648] and reappears in Sanskrit in the Vinaya of the +Mûlasarvâstivâdin school. + +The Chinese Tripitaka has been catalogued and we possess some +information respecting the books which it contains, though none of them +have been edited in Europe. Thus we know something[649] of the +Sarvâstivâdin recension of the Abhidhamma. Like the Pali version it +consists of seven books of which one, the Jñâna-prasthâna by +Kâtyâyanîputra, is regarded as the principal, the rest being +supplementary. All the books are attributed to human authors, and though +some of these bear the names of the Buddha's immediate disciples, +tradition connects Kâtyâyanîputra with Kanishka's council. This is not a +very certain date, but still the inference is that about the time of the +Christian era the contents of the Abhidhamma-Pitaka were not rigidly +defined and a new recension was possible. + +The Sanskrit manuscripts discovered in Central Asia include Sûtras from +the Saṃyukta and Ekottara Âgamas (equivalent to the Saṃyutta and +Anguttara Nikâyas), a considerable part of the Dharmapada, fragments of +the Sutta-Nipâta and the Prâtimoksha of the Sarvâstivâdin school. These +correspond fairly well with the Pali text but represent another +recension and a somewhat different arrangement. We have therefore here +fragments of a Sanskrit version which must have been imported to Central +Asia from northern India and covers, so far as the fragments permit us +to judge, the same ground as the Vinaya and Suttas of the Pali Canon. +Far from displaying the diffuse and inflated style which characterizes +the Mahâyâna texts it is sometimes shorter and simpler than our Pali +version[650]. + +When was this version composed and what is its relation to the Pali? A +definite reply would be premature, for other Sanskrit texts may be +discovered in Central Asia, but two circumstances connect this early +Buddhist literature in Sanskrit with the epoch of Kanishka. Firstly the +Sanskrit Abhidharma of the Sarvâstivâdins seems to date from his council +and secondly a Buddhist drama by Aśvaghosha[651] of about the same time +represents the Buddha as speaking in Sanskrit whereas the inferior +characters speak Prakrit. But these facts do not prove that Sanskrit was +not the language of the canon at an earlier date[652] and it is not safe +to conclude that because Asoka did not employ it for writing edicts it +was not the sacred language of any section of Indian Buddhists. On the +other hand some of the Sanskrit texts contain indications that they are +a translation from Pali or some vernacular[653]. In others are found +historical allusions which suggest that they must have received +additions after our era[654]. + +I have already raised the question of the relative value attaching to +Pali and Sanskrit texts as authorities for early history. Two instances +will perhaps illustrate this better than a general discussion. As +already mentioned, the Vinaya of the Mûlasarvâstivâdins makes the Buddha +visit north-western India and Kashmir, whereas the Pali texts do not +represent him as travelling further west than the country of the Kurus. +The Sanskrit account is not known to be confirmed by more ancient +evidence, but there is nothing impossible in it, particularly as there +are periods in the Buddha's long life filled by no incidents. The +narrative however contains a prediction about Kanishka and therefore +cannot be earlier than his reign. Now there is no reason why the Pali +texts should be silent about this journey, if the Buddha really made it, +but one can easily imagine reasons for inventing it in the period of the +Kushan kings. North-western India was then full of monasteries and +sacred sites and the same spirit which makes uncritical Buddhists in +Ceylon and Siam assert to-day that the master visited their country +impelled the monks of Peshawar and Kashmir to imagine a not improbable +extension of his wanderings[655]. + +On the other hand this same Vinaya of the Mûlasarvâstivâdins probably +gives us a fragment of history when it tells us that the Buddha had +three wives, perhaps too when it relates how Râhula's paternity was +called in question and how Devadatta wanted to marry Yaśodharâ after the +Buddha had abandoned worldly life[656]. The Pali Vinaya and also some +Sanskrit Vinayas[657] mention only one wife or none at all. They do not +attempt to describe Gotama's domestic life and if they make no allusion +to it except to mention the mother of Râhula, this is not equivalent to +an assertion that he had no other wife. But when one Vinaya composed in +the north of India essays to give a biography of the Buddha and states +that he had three wives, there is no reason for doubting that the +compiler was in touch with good local tradition. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +MEDITATION + + +Indian religions lay stress on meditation. It is not merely commended as +a useful exercise but by common consent it takes rank with sacrifice and +prayer, or above them, as one of the great activities of the religious +life, or even as its only true activity. It has the full approval of +philosophy as well as of theology. In early Buddhism it takes the place +of prayer and worship and though in later times ceremonies multiply, it +still remains the main occupation of a monk. The Jains differ from the +Buddhists chiefly in emphasizing the importance of self-mortification, +which is put on a par with meditation. In Hinduism, as might be expected +in a fluctuating compound of superstition and philosophy, the schools +differ as to the relative efficacy of meditation and ceremonial, but +there is a strong tendency to give meditation the higher place. In all +ages a common characteristic appears in the most divergent Indian +creeds—the belief that by a course of mental and physical training the +soul can attain to a state of bliss which is the prelude to the final +deliverance attained after death. + + +1 + +We may begin by examining Brahmanic ideas as to meditation. Many of them +are connected with the word Yoga, which has become familiar to Europe. +It has two meanings. It is applied first to a definite form of Indian +philosophy which is a theistic modification of the Sânkhya and secondly +to much older practices sanctioned by that philosophy but anterior to +it. + +The idea which inspires these theories and practices is that the +immaterial soul can by various exercises free itself from the fetters of +matter. The soul is distinguished from the mind which, though composed +of the subtlest matter, is still material. This presupposes the duality +of matter and spirit taught by Jainism and the Sânkhya philosophy, but +it does not necessarily presuppose the special doctrines of either nor +do Vedântists object to the practice of the Yoga. The systematic +prosecution of mental concentration and the idea that supernatural +powers can be acquired thereby are very old—certainly older than +Buddhism. Such methods had at first only a slight philosophic substratum +and were independent of Sânkhya doctrines, though these, being a +speculative elaboration of the same fundamental principles, naturally +commended themselves to those who practised Yoga. The two teachers of +the Buddha, Âlâra and Uddaka, were Yogis, and held that beatitude or +emancipation consisted in the attainment of certain trances. Gotama, +while regarding their doctrine as insufficient, did not reject their +practices. + +Our present Yoga Sûtras are certainly much later than this date. They +are ascribed to one Patañjali identified by Hindu tradition with the +author of the Mahâbhâshya who lived about 150 B.C. Jacobi[658] however +is of opinion that they are the work of an entirely different person who +lived after the rise of the philosophy ascribed to Asanga sometimes +called Yogâcâra. Jacobi's arguments seem to me suggestive rather than +conclusive but, if they are confirmed, they lead to an interesting +deduction. There is some reason for thinking that Śankara's doctrine of +illusion was derived from the Buddhist Śûnyavâda. If Patañjali's sûtras +are posterior to Asanga, it also seems probable that the codification of +the Yoga by the Brahmans was connected with the rise of the Yogâcâra +among the Buddhists[659]. + +The Sûtras describe themselves as an exposition of Yoga, which has here +the meaning not of union with God, but rather of effort. The opening +aphorisms state that "Yoga is the suppression of the activities of the +mind, for then the spectator abides in his own form: at other times +there is identity of form with the activities." This dark language means +that the soul in its true nature is merely the spectator of the mind's +activity, consciousness being due, as in the Sânkhya, to the union of +the soul with the mind[660] which is its organ. When the mind is active, +the soul appears to experience various emotions, and it is only when the +mind ceases to feel emotions and becomes calm in meditation, that the +soul abides in its own true form. The object of the Yoga, as of the +Sânkhya, is Kaivalya or isolation, in which the soul ceases to be united +with the mind and is dissociated from all qualities (guṇas) so that the +shadow of the thinking principle no longer falls upon it. This isolation +is produced by performing certain exercises, physical as well as mental, +and, as a prelude to final and complete emancipation, superhuman powers +are acquired. These two ideas, the efficacy of physical discipline and +the acquisition of superhuman powers, have powerfully affected all +schools of religious thought in India, including Buddhism. They are not +peculiar to the Yoga, but still it is in the Yoga Sûtras that they find +their most authoritative and methodical exposition. + +The practice of Yoga has its roots in the fact that fasting and other +physical mortifications induce a mental state in which the subject +thinks that he has supernatural experiences[661]. Among many savage +tribes, especially in America, such fasts are practised by those who +desire communication with spirits. In the Yoga philosophy these ideas +appear in a refined form and offer many parallels to European mysticism. +The ultimate object is to dissociate the soul from its material +envelopes but in the means prescribed we can trace two orders of ideas. +One is to mortify the body and suppress not only appetite and passion +but also discursive thought: the other is to keep the body in perfect +health and ease, so that the intelligence and ultimately the soul may be +untroubled by physical influences. These two ideas are less incongruous +than they seem. Many examples show that extreme forms of asceticism are +not unhealthy but rather conducive to long life and the Yoga in +endeavouring to secure physical well-being does not aim at pleasure but +at such a purification of the physical part of man that it shall be the +obedient and unnoticed servant of the other parts. The branch of the +system which deals with method and discipline is called Kriyâ-yoga and +in later works we also find the expression Haṭha-yoga, which is +specially used to designate mechanical means (such as postures, +purification, etc.) prescribed for the attainment of various mental +states. In contrast to it is Râja-yoga, which signifies ecstasy and the +method of obtaining it by mental processes. The immediate object of the +Kriyâ-yoga is to destroy the five evils[662], namely ignorance, egoism, +desire, aversion and love of life: it consists of asceticism, +recitations and resignation to God, explained as meaning that the +devotee fasts, repeats mantras and surrenders to God the fruit of all +his works and, feeling no more concern for them, is at peace. Though the +Yoga Sûtras are theistic, theism is accessory rather than essential to +their teaching. They are not a theological treatise but the manual of an +ancient discipline which recognizes devotional feelings as one means to +its end. The method would remain almost intact if the part relating to +the deity were omitted, as in the Sânkhya. God is not for the Yoga +Sûtras, as he is for many Indian and European mystics, the one reality, +the whence and whither of the soul and world. + +Eight branches of practice[663] are enumerated, namely:-- + +1. Yama or restraint, that is abstinence from killing, lying, stealing, +incontinence, and from receiving gifts. It is almost equivalent to the +five great precepts of Buddhism. + +2. Niyama or observance, defined as purification, contentment, +mortification, recitation and devotion to the Lord. + +Purification is treated at great length in the later treatises on +Haṭha-yoga under the name of Shaṭ-karma or sixfold work. It comprises +not only ordinary ablutions but cleansing of the internal organs by such +methods as taking in water by the nostrils and discharging it by the +mouth. The object of these practices which, though they assume queer +forms, rest on sound therapeutic principles, is to remove adventitious +matter from the system and to reduce the gross elements of the +body[664]. + +3. Âsanam or posture is defined as a continuous and pleasant attitude. +It is difficult to see how the latter adjective applies to many of the +postures recommended, for considerable training is necessary to make +them even tolerable. But the object clearly is to prescribe an attitude +which can be maintained continuously without creating the distracting +feeling of physical discomfort and in this matter European and oriental +limbs feel differently. All the postures contemplated are different ways +of sitting cross-legged. Later works revel in enumerations of them and +also recognize others called Mudrâ. This word is specially applied to a +gesture of the hand but is sometimes used in a less restricted sense. +Thus there is a celebrated Mudra called Khecharî, in which the tongue is +reversed and pressed into the throat while the sight is directed to a +point between the eyebrows. This is said to induce the cataleptic trance +in which Yogis can be buried alive. + +4. Prâṇayama or regulation of the breath. When the Yogi has learnt to +assume a permanent posture, he accustoms himself to regulate the acts of +inspiration and expiration so as to prolong the period of quiescence +between the two. He will thus remove the veils which cover the light +within him. This practice probably depends on the idea which constantly +crops up in the Upanishads that the breath is the life and the soul. +Consequently he who can control and hold his breath keeps his soul at +home, and is better able to concentrate his mind. Apart from such ideas, +the fixing of the attention on the rhythmical succession of inspirations +and expirations conduces to that peaceful and detached frame of mind on +which most Indian sects set great store. The practice was greatly +esteemed by the Brahmans, and is also enjoined among the Taoists in +China and among Buddhists in all countries, but I have found no mention +of its use among European mystics. + +5. Pratyâhâra, the retraction or withdrawing of the senses. They are +naturally directed outwards towards their objects. The Yogi endeavours +to bring them into quiescence by diverting them from those objects and +directing them inwards. From this, say the Sûtras, comes complete +subjugation of the senses[665]. + +6-8. The five kinds of discipline hitherto mentioned constitute the +physical preparation for meditation comprising in succession _(a)_ a +morality of renunciation, _(b)_ mortification and purification, _(c)_ +suitable postures, _(d)_ regulation of the breathing, _(e)_ diversion of +the senses from their external objects. Now comes the intellectual part +of the process, consisting of three stages called Dhâraṇâ, Dhyâna and +Samâdhi. Dhâraṇâ means fixing the mind on a particular object, either a +part of the body such as the crown of the head or something external +such as the sky. Dhyâna[666] is the continuous intellectual state +arising out of this concentration. It is defined as an even current of +thought undisturbed by other thoughts. Samâdhi is a further stage of +Dhyâna in which the mind becomes so identified with the thing thought of +that consciousness of its separate existence ceases. The thinking power +is merged in the single thought and ultimately a state of trance is +induced. Several stages are distinguished in this Samâdhi. It is divided +into conscious and unconscious[667] and of the conscious kind there are +four grades[668], analogous, though not entirely corresponding to the +four Jhânas of Buddhism. When the feeling of joy passes away and is lost +in a higher sense of equanimity, there comes the state known by the +remarkable name of Dharma-megha[669] in which the isolation of the soul +and its absolute distinctness from matter (which includes what we call +mind) is realized, and Karma is no more. After the state of Dharma-megha +comes that of unconscious Samâdhi, in which the Yogi falls into a trance +and attains emancipation which is made permanent by death. + +The methods of the Kriyâ-yoga can be employed for the attainment not +only of salvation but of miraculous powers[670]. This subject is +discussed in the third book of the Yoga Sûtras where it is said that +such powers are obstructions in the contemplative and spiritual life, +though they may lead to success in waking or worldly life. This is the +same point of view as we meet in Buddhism, viz. that though the +miraculous powers resulting from meditation are real, they are not +essential to salvation and may become dangerous hindrances[671]. + +They are attained according to the Yoga Sûtras by the exercise of +saṃyama which is the name given conjointly to the three states of +dhâraṇâ, dhyâna and samâdhi when they are applied simultaneously or in +immediate succession to one object of thought[672]. The reader will +remember that this state of contemplation is to be preceded by +pratyâhâra, or direction of the senses inwards, in which ordinary +external stimuli are not felt. It is analogous to the hypnotic state in +which suggestions made by the hypnotizer have for the subject the +character of reality although he is not conscious of his surroundings, +and auto-suggestions—that is the expectations with which the Yogi begins +his meditation—apparently have the same effect. The trained Yogi is able +to exercise saṃyama with regard to any idea—that is to say his mind +becomes identified with that idea to the exclusion of all others. +Sometimes this saṃyama implies simply a thorough comprehension of the +object of meditation. Thus by making saṃyama on the saṃskâras or +predispositions existing in the mind, a knowledge of one's previous +births is obtained; by making saṃyama on sound, the language of animals +is understood. But in other cases a result is considered to be obtained +because the Yogi in his trance thinks it is obtained. Thus if saṃyama is +made on the throat, hunger and thirst are subdued; if on the strength of +an elephant, that strength is obtained: if on the sun, the knowledge of +all worlds is acquired. Other miraculous attainments are such that they +should be visible to others, but are probably explicable as subjective +fancies. Such are the powers of becoming heavy or light, infinitely +large or infinitely small and of emitting flames. This last phenomenon +is perhaps akin to the luminous visions, called photisms by +psychologists, which not infrequently accompany conversion and other +religious experiences and take the form of flashes or rays proceeding +from material objects[673]. The Yogi can even become many persons +instead of one by calling into existence other bodies by an effort of +his will and animating them all by his own mind[674]. + +Europeans are unfavourably impressed by the fact that the Yoga devotes +much time to the cultivation of hypnotic states of doubtful value both +for morality and sanity. But the meditation which it teaches is also +akin to aesthetic contemplation, when the mind forgets itself and is +conscious only of the beauty of what is contemplated. Schopenhauer[675] +has well expressed the Indian idea in European language. "When some +sudden cause or inward disposition lifts us out of the endless stream of +willing, the attention is no longer directed to the motives of willing +but comprehends things free from their relation to the will and thus +observes them without subjectivity purely objectively, gives itself +entirely up to them so far as they are ideas, but not in so far as they +are motives. Then all at once the peace which we were always seeking, +but which always fled from us on the former path of the desires, comes +to us of its own accord and it is well with us." And though the Yoga +Sûtras represent superhuman faculties as depending chiefly on the +hypnotic condition of saṃyama, they also say that they are obtainable—at +any rate such of them as consist in superhuman knowledge—by pratibhâ or +illumination. By this term is meant a state of enlightenment which +suddenly floods the mind prepared by the Yoga discipline. It precedes +emancipation as the morning star precedes the dawn. When this light has +once come, the Yogi possesses all knowledge without the process of +saṃyama. It may be compared to the Dibba-cakkhu or divine eye and the +knowledge of the truths which according to the Pitakas[676] precede +arhatship. Similar instances of sudden intellectual enlightenment are +recorded in the experiences of mystics in other countries. We may +compare the haplosis or ekstasis of Plotinus and the visions of St +Theresa or St Ignatius in which such mysteries as the Trinity became +clear, as well as the raptures in which various Christian mystics[677] +experienced the feeling of levitation and thought that they were being +literally carried off their feet. + +The practices and theories which are systematized in the Yoga Sûtras are +known to the Upanishads, particularly those of the Atharva Veda. But +even the earlier Upanishads allude to the special physical and mental +discipline necessary to produce concentration of mind. The Maitrâyana +Upanishad says that the sixfold Yoga consists of restraint of the +breath, restraint of the senses, meditation, fixed attention, +investigation, absorption. The Śvetâśvatara Upanishad speaks of the +proper places and postures for meditation, and the Chândogya[678] of +concentrating all the senses on the self, a process which is much the +same as the pratyâhâra of the Yoga. + +A later and mysterious but most important method of Yoga is known to the +Tantras[679] as Shaṭcakrabheda or piercing of the six cakras. These are +dynamic or nervous centres distributed through the human body from the +base of the spinal cord to the eyebrows. In the lowest of them resides +the Devî Kuṇḍalinî, a force identical with Śakti, who is the motive +power of the universe. In ordinary conditions this Kuṇḍalinî is pictured +as lying asleep and coiled like a serpent. But appropriate exercises +cause her to awake and ascend until she reaches the highest cakra when +she unites with Śiva and ineffable bliss and emancipation are attained. +The process, which is said to be painful and even dangerous to health, +is admittedly unintelligible without oral instruction from a Guru and, +as I have not had this advantage, I will say no more on the topic except +this, that strange and fanciful as the descriptions of Shaṭcakrabheda +may seem, they can hardly be pure inventions but must have a real +counterpart in nervous phenomena which apparently have not been studied +by European physiologists or psychologists[680]. + + +2 + +When we turn to the treatment of meditation and ecstasy in the earlier +Buddhist writings we are struck by its general resemblance to the +programme laid down in the Yoga Sûtras, and by many coincidences of +detail. The exercises, rules of conduct, and the powers to be +incidentally obtained are all similar. The final goal of both systems +also seems similar to the outsider, although a Buddhist and a Yogi might +have much to say about the differences, for the Yoga wishes to isolate a +soul which is complete and happy in its own nature if it can be +disentangled from its trammels, whereas Buddhism teaches that there is +no such soul awaiting release and that religious discipline should +create and foster good mental states. Just as the atmosphere of the +Pitakas is not that of the Brâhmanas or Sûtras, so are their ideas about +Jhâna and Samâdhi somewhat different. Though hypnotic and even +cataleptic phases are not wanting, the journey of the religious life, as +described in the Pitakas, is a progress of increasing peace, but also of +increasing intellectual power and activity. Gotama did not hold Jhâna or +regulated meditation to be essential to nirvana or arhatship, for that +state was attainable by laymen and apparently through sudden +illumination. But such cases were the exception. His own mental +evolution which culminated in enlightenment comprised the four +Jhânas[681]. Also in the eightfold path which is essential to arhatship +and nirvana the last and highest stage is sammâsaṃâdhi, right rapture or +ecstasy. + +Jhâna is difficult for laymen, but it was the rule of the order to +devote at least the afternoon to it. We might compare this with the +solitary prayer of Christians, and there is real similarity in the +process and the result. It brought peace and strength to the mind and we +hear of the bright clear faces and the radiantly happy expression of +those who returned to their duties after such contemplation. But +Christian prayer involves the idea of self-surrender and throwing open +the doors and windows of the soul to an influence which streams into it. +Buddhist meditation is rather the upsoaring of the mind which rises from +ecstasy to ecstasy until it attains not some sphere where it can live +_in_ bliss but a state which is in itself satisfying and all-comprising. + +All mental states to which such names as ecstasy, trance, and vision can +be applied involve a dangerous element which, if not actually +pathological, can easily become so. But the account of meditation put in +the Buddha's own mouth does not suggest either morbid dejection or +hysterical excitement[682] and it is stated expressly that the exercise +should be begun after the midday meal so that any visions which may come +cannot be laid to the charge of an empty stomach. Jhâna is not the same +as Samâdhi or concentration, though the Jhânas may be an instance of +Samâdhi. This latter is capable of marvellous extension and development, +but essentially it is a mental quality like Sammâsati or right +mindfulness, whereas Jhâna is a mental exercise or progressive rapture +passing through defined stages. + +Any system which analyzes and tabulates stages of contemplation and +ecstasy may be suspected of being late and of having lost something of +the glow and impetus which its cold formulæ try to explain. But the +impulse to catalogue is old in Buddhism[683] and one important +distinction in the various mental states lumped together under the name +of meditation deserves attention, namely that according to the oldest +documents some of them are indispensable preliminaries to nirvana and +some are not. Buddhaghosa reviewing the whole matter in scholastic +fashion in his Way of Purity divides the higher life into three +sections, firstly conduct or morality as necessary foundation, secondly +_adhicitta_, higher consciousness or concentration which leads to +_samatho_ or peace and thirdly _adhipaññâ_ or the higher wisdom which +leads to _vipassanâ_ or insight. Of these _adhipaññâ_ and _vipassanâ_ +are superior inasmuch as nirvana cannot be obtained without them but the +methods of _adhicitta_, though admirable and followed by the Buddha +himself, are not equally indispensable: they lead to peace and happiness +but not necessarily to nirvana. It is probably unwise (at any rate for +Europeans) to make too precise statements, for we do not really know the +nature of the psychical states discussed. _Adhipaññâ_ assuredly includes +the eightfold path ending with _samâdhi_ which is defined by the Buddha +himself in this connection in terms of the four _Jhânas_[684]. On the +other hand the doctrine that nirvana is attainable merely by practising +the _Jhânas_ is expressly reprobated as a heresy[685]. The teaching of +the Pitakas seems to be that nirvana is attainable by living the higher +life in which meditation and insight both have a place. In normal saints +both sides are developed: raptures and trances are their delight and +luxury. But in some cases nirvana may be attained by insight only: in +others meditation may lead to ecstasy and more than human powers of mind +but yet stop short of nirvana. The distinction is not without importance +for it means that knowledge and insight are indispensable for nirvana: +it cannot be obtained by hypnotic trances or magical powers. + +The Buddha is represented as saying that in his boyhood when sitting +under a tree he once fell into a state of contemplation which he calls +the first Jhâna. It is akin to a sensation which comes to Europeans most +frequently in childhood, but sometimes persists in mature life, when the +mind, usually under the influence of pleasant summer scenery, seems to +identify itself with nature, and on returning to its normal state asks +with surprise, can it be that what seems a small distant personality is +really I? The usual form of Jhâna comprises four stages[686]. The first +is a state of joy and ease born of detachment, which means physical calm +as well as the absence of worldly desires and irrelevant thoughts. It is +distinguished from the subsequent stages by the existence of reasoning +and investigation, and while it lasts the mind is compared to water +agitated by waves. In the second Jhâna reasoning and investigation +cease: the water becomes still and the mind set free rises slowly above +the thoughts which had encumbered it and grows calm and sure, dwelling +on high[687]. In this Jhâna the sense of joy and ease remains, but in +the third stage joy disappears, though ease remains. This ease (sukham) +is the opposite of dukkham, the discomfort which characterizes all +ordinary states of existence. It is in part a physical feeling, for the +text says that he who meditates has this sense of ease in his body. But +this feeling passes away in the fourth Jhâna, in which there is only a +sense of equanimity. This word, though perhaps the best rendering which +can be found for the Pali upekkhâ, is inadequate for it suggests merely +the absence of inclination, whereas upekkhâ represents a state of mind +which, though rising above hedonistic views, is yet positive and not +merely the negation of interest and desire. + +In the passage quoted the Buddha speaks as if only an effort of will +were needed to enter into the first Jhâna, but tradition, supported by +the Pitakas[688], sanctions the use of expedients to facilitate the +process. Some are topics on which attention should be concentrated, +others are external objects known as Kasina. This word (equivalent to +the Sanskrit kṛitsna) means entire or total, and hence something which +engrosses the attention. Thus in the procedure known as the earth +Kasina[689] the Bhikkhu who wishes to enter into the Jhâna makes a small +circle of reddish clay, and then gazes at it fixedly. After a time he +can see it as plainly when his eyes are closed as when they are +open[690]. This is followed by entry into Jhâna and he should not +continue looking at the circle. There are ten kinds of Kasina differing +from that described merely in substituting for the earthen circle some +other object, such as water, light, gold or silver. The whole procedure +is clearly a means of inducing a hypnotic trance[691]. + +The practice of tranquillizing the mind by regulating the breathing is +recommended repeatedly in Suttas which seem ancient and authentic; for +instance, in the instruction given by the Buddha to his son Râhula[692]. +On the other hand, his account of his fruitless self-mortification shows +that the exercise even in its extreme forms is not sufficient to secure +enlightenment. It appears to be a method of collecting and concentrating +the mind, not necessarily hypnotic. All Indian precepts and directions +for mental training attach far more importance to concentration of +thought and the power of applying the mind at will to one subject +exclusively than is usual in Europe. + +Buddhaghosa at the beginning of his discussion of _adhicitta_ enumerates +forty subjects of meditation namely, "the ten Kasinas, ten impurities, +ten reflections, four sublime states (Brahmâ-vihâra), the four formless +states, one perception and one analysis[693]." The Kasinas have been +already described. The ten impurities are a similar means of inducing +meditation. The monk fixes his attention on a corpse in some horrible +stage of decay and thus concentrates his mind on the impermanence of all +things. The ten recollections are a less gloomy exercise but similar in +principle, as the attention is fixed on some religious subject such as +the Buddha, his law, his order, etc. + +The Brahmâ-vihâras[694] are states of emotional meditation which lead to +rebirth in the heavens of Brahmâ. They are attained by letting love or +some other good emotion dominate the mind, and by "pervading the whole +world" with it. This language about pervading the world with kindly +emotion is common in Buddhist books though alien to European idiom. The +mind must harbour no uncharitable thought and then its benevolence +becomes a psychic force which spreads in all directions, just as the +sound of a trumpet can be heard in all four quarters. + +These Brahmâ-vihâras are sometimes represented as coming after the four +Jhânas[695], sometimes as replacing them[696]. But the object of the two +exercises is not the same, for the Brahmâ-vihâras aim at rebirth in a +better world. They are based on the theory common to Buddhism and +Hinduism that the predominant thoughts of a man's life, and especially +his thoughts when near death, determine the character of his next +existence. + +The trances known as the four formless states are analogous to the +Brahmâ-vihâras, their object being to ensure rebirth not in the heaven +of Brahmâ but in one of the heavens known as Formless Worlds where the +inhabitants have no material form[697]. They are sometimes combined with +other states into a series of eight, known as the eight +deliverances[698]. The more advanced of these stages seem to be hypnotic +and even cataleptic. In the first formless state the monk who is +meditating rises above all idea of form and multiplicity and reaches the +sphere in which the infinity of space is the only idea present to his +mind. He then passes to the sphere where the infinity of thought only is +present and thence to the sphere in which he thinks "nothing at all +exists[699]," though it would seem that the consciousness of his own +mental processes is undiminished. The teaching of Alâra Kâlâma, the +Buddha's first teacher, made the attainment of this state its goal. It +is succeeded by the state in which neither any idea nor the absence of +any idea is specially present to the mind[700]. This was the goal of +Uddaka Râmaputta, his second teacher, and is illustrated by the simile +of a bowl which has been smeared with oil inside. That is to say, +consciousness is reduced to a minimum. Beyond these four stages is yet +another[701], in which a complete cessation of perception and feeling is +attained[702]. This state differs from death only in the fact that heat +and physical life are not extinct and while it lasts there is no +consciousness. It is stated that it could continue during seven days but +not longer. Such hypnotic trances have always inspired respect in India +but the Buddha rejected as unsatisfying the teaching of his masters +which made them the final goal. + +But let us return to his account of Jhâna and its results. The first of +these is a correct knowledge of the body and of the connection of +consciousness with the body. Next comes the power to call up out of the +body a mental image which is apparently the earliest form of what has +become known in later times as the astral body. In the account of the +conversion of Angulimâla the brigand[703] it is related that the Buddha +caused to appear an image of himself which Angulimâla could not overtake +although he ran with all his might and the Buddha was walking quietly. + +The five states or faculties which follow in the enumeration are often +called (though not in the earliest texts) abhiññâ, or transcendental +knowledge. They are _iddhi_, or the wondrous gift: the heavenly ear +which hears heavenly music[704]: the knowledge of others' thoughts: the +power of remembering one's own previous births: the divine eye, which +sees the previous births of others[705]. It would appear that the order +of these states is not important and that they do not depend on one +another. Iddhi, like the power of evoking a mental image, seems to be +connected with hypnotic phenomena. It means literally power, but is used +in the special sense of magical or supernatural gifts such as ability to +walk on water, fly in the air, or pass through a wall[706]. Some of +these sensations are familiar in dreams and are probably easily +attainable as subjective results in trances. I am inclined to attribute +accounts implying their objective reality to the practice of hypnotism +and to suppose that a disciple in a hypnotic state would on the +assurance of his teacher believe that he saw the teacher himself, or +some person pointed out by the teacher, actually performing such feats. +Of iddhi we are told that a monk can practise it, just as a potter can +make anything he likes out of prepared clay, which is a way of saying +that he who has his mind perfectly controlled can treat himself to any +mental pleasure he chooses. Although the Buddha and others are +represented as performing such feats as floating in the air whenever it +suits them, yet the instruction given as to how the powers may be +acquired starts by bidding the neophyte pass through the four stages of +Jhâna or meditation in which ordinary external perception ceases. Then +he will be able to have the experiences described. And it is probable +that the description gives a correct account of the sensations which +arise in the course of a trance, particularly if the trance has been +entered upon with the object of experiencing them. In other words they +are hypnotic states and often the result of suggestion, since he who +meditates knows what the result of his meditation should be. Sometimes, +as mentioned, Jhâna is induced by methods familiar to mesmerists, such +as gazing at a circle or some bright object but such expedients are not +essential and with this European authorities agree. Thus Bernheim states +that even when a subject is hypnotized for the first time, no gestures +or passes are necessary, provided he is calm. It suffices to bid him +look at the operator and go to sleep. He adds that those who are most +susceptible to the hypnotic influence are not nervous and hysterical +subjects but docile and receptive natures who can concentrate their +attention[707]. Now it is hardly possible to imagine better hypnotic +subjects than the pupils of an Indian religious teacher. They are taught +to regard him with deep respect and complete confidence: they are +continually in a state of expectant receptivity, assimilating not only +the texts and doctrines which he imparts, but his way of life: their +training leads them to believe in the reality of mental and physical +powers exceeding those of ordinary mankind and indeed to think that if +they do not have such experiences it is through some fault of their own. +The teachers, though ignorant of hypnotism as such, would not hesitate +to use any procedure which seemed to favour progress in meditation and +the acquisition of supernatural powers. Now a large number of Indian +marvels fall under two heads. In the first case Buddha, Krishna, or any +personage raised above the ordinary human level points out to his +disciples that wonders are occurring or will occur: he causes people to +appear or disappear: he appears himself in an amazing form which he +explains. In the other case the possessor of marvellous powers has +experience which he subsequently relates: he goes up to heaven or flies +to the uttermost parts of the earth and returns. Both of these cases are +covered by the phenomena of hypnotism. I do not mean to say that any +given Indian legend can be explained by analyzing it as if it were a +report of a hypnotic operation, but merely that the general character of +these legends is largely due to the prevalence of hypnotic experiences +among their composers and hearers[708]. Two obscure branches of +hypnotism are probably of great importance in the religious history of +the human race, namely self-hypnotization without external suggestion +and the hypnotization of crowds. India affords plentiful materials for +the study of both. + +There is no reason to doubt that the Buddha believed in the existence of +these powers and countenanced the practices supposed to lead to them. +Thus Moggallâna, second only to Sâriputta among his disciples, was +called the master of iddhi[709], and it is mentioned as a creditable and +enjoyable accomplishment[710]. But it is made equally plain that such +magical or hypnotic practices are not essential to the attainment of the +Buddha's ideal. When lists of attainments are given, iddhi does not +receive the first place and it may be possessed by bad men: Devadatta +for instance was proficient in it. It is even denounced in the story of +Pindola Bhâradvâja[711] and in the Kevaddha sutta[712]. In this curious +dialogue the Buddha is asked to authorize the performance of miracles as +an advertisement of the true faith. He refuses categorically, saying +there are three sorts of wonders namely iddhi, that is flying through +the air, etc. the wonder of manifestation which is thought-reading: and +the wonder of education. Of the first two he says "I see danger in their +practice and therefore I loathe, abhor and am ashamed of them." Then by +one of those characteristic turns of language by which he uses old words +in new senses he adds that the true miracle is the education of the +heart. + +Neither are the other transcendental powers necessary for emancipation. +Sâriputta had not the heavenly eye, yet he was the chief disciple and an +eminent arhat. This heavenly eye (dib-ba-cakkhu) is not the same as the +eye of truth (dhamma-cakkhu). It means perfect knowledge of the +operation of Karma and hence a panoramic view of the universe, whereas +the eye of truth is a technical phrase for the opening of the eyes, the +mental revolution which accompanies conversion. But though +transcendental knowledge is not indispensable for attaining nirvana, it +is an attribute of the Buddha and in most of its forms amounts to an +exceptional insight into human nature and the laws of the universe, +which, though after the Indian manner exaggerated and pedantically +defined, does not differ essentially from what we call genius. + +The power of recollecting one's previous births, often mentioned in the +Pitakas, has been described in detail by Buddhist writers and +Buddhaghosa[713] distinguishes between the powers possessed by various +persons. The lowest form of recollection merely passes from one mental +state to a previous mental state and so on backwards through successive +lives, not however understanding each life as a whole. But even ordinary +disciples can not only recollect previous mental states but can also +travel backwards along the sequence of births and deaths and bring up +before their minds the succession of existences. A Buddha's intelligence +dispenses with the necessity of moving backwards from birth to birth but +can select any point of time and see at once the whole series of births +extending from it in both directions, backwards and forwards. +Buddhaghosa then goes on to prescribe the method to be followed by a +monk who tries for the first time to recollect previous births. After +taking his midday meal he should choose a quiet place and sitting down +pass through the four Jhânas in succession. On rising from the fourth +trance he should consider the event which last took place, namely his +sitting down; and then in retrograde order all that he did the day and +night before and so backwards month after month and year after year. A +clever monk (so says Buddhaghosa) is able at the first trial to pass +beyond the moment of his conception in the present existence and to take +as the object of his thought his individuality at the moment of his last +death. But since the individuality of the previous existence ceased and +another one came into being, therefore that point of time is like thick +darkness. Buddhaghosa goes on to explain, if I apprehend his meaning +rightly, that the proper recollection of previous births involves the +element of form and the mind sharpened by the practice of the four +trances does not merely reproduce feelings and impressions but knows the +name and events of the previous existence, whereas ordinary persons are +apt to reproduce feelings and impressions without having any clear idea +of the past existence as a whole. This, I believe, corresponds with the +experience of modern Buddhists. It is beyond doubt that those who +attempt to carry their memory back in the way described are convinced +that they remember existences before the present life. As a rule it +takes from a fortnight to a month to obtain such a remembrance clearly, +and every day the aspirant to a knowledge of previous births must carry +his memory further and further back, dwelling less and less on the +details of recent events. When he reaches the time of his birth, he +feels as if there were a curtain of black darkness before him, but if +the attention is concentrated, this curtain is rent and the end of the +previous life is recovered behind it. The process is painful for it +involves the recollection of death and the even greater pains of birth +and many have not courage to go beyond this point. It is not uncommon in +Ceylon, Burma, Siam and probably in all parts of the Far East, to find +people who are persuaded they can remember previous births in this way, +but I have never met anyone who professed to recall more than two or +three. There is no room in these modest modern visions for the long +vistas of previous lives seen by the earlier Buddhists. + +Meditation also plays a considerable part in the Buddhism of the Far +East under the name of Ch'an or Zen of which we shall have something to +say when we treat of China and Japan. + +As already indicated the methods and results of meditation as practised +by Brahmanic Hindus and by Buddhists show considerable resemblance to +the experiences of Christian mystics. The coincidences do not concern +mere matters of detail, although theology has done its best to make the +content and explanation of the experiences as divergent as possible. But +the essential similarity of form remains and there is clearly no +question of borrowing or direct influence. It is certain that what is +sometimes called the Mystic Way is not only true as a succession of +psychic states but is, for those who can walk in it, the road to a +happiness which in reality and power to satisfy exceeds all pleasures of +the senses and intellect, so that when once known it makes all other +joys and pains seem negligible. Yet despite the intense reality of this +happy state, despite the illumination which floods the soul and the wide +visions of a universal plan, there is no agreement as to the cause of +the experience nor, strange to say, as to its meaning as opposed to its +form. For many both in the east and west the one essential and +indubitable fact throughout the experience is God, yet Buddhists are +equally decided in holding that the experience has nothing to do with +any deity. This is not a mere question of interpretation. It means that +views as to theism and pantheism are indifferent for the attainment of +this happy state. + +The mystics of India are sometimes contrasted with their fellows in +Europe as being more passive and more self-centred: they are supposed to +desire self-annihilation and to have no thought for others. But I doubt +if the contrast is just. If Indian mysticism sometimes appears at a +disadvantage, I think it is because it is popular and in danger of being +stereotyped and sometimes vulgarized. Nowadays in Europe we have +students of mysticism rather than mystics, and the mystics of the +Christian Church were independent and distinguished spirits who, instead +of following the signposts of the beaten track, found out a path for +themselves. But in India mysticism was and is as common as prayer and as +popular as science. It was taught in manuals and parodied by charlatans. +When mysticism is the staple crop of a religion and not a rare wild +flower, the percentage of imperfect specimens is bound to be high. The +Buddha, Śankara and a host of less well-known teachers were as strenuous +and influential as Francis of Assisi or Ignatius Loyola. Neither in +Europe nor in Asia has mysticism contributed much directly to political +and social reform. That is not its sphere, but within the religious +sphere, in preaching, teaching and organization, the mystic is intensely +practical and the number of successes (as of failures) is greater in +Asia than in Europe. Even in theory Indian mysticism does not repudiate +energy. No one enjoyed more than the Buddha himself what Ruysbroeck +calls "the mysterious peace dwelling in activity," for before he began +his mission he had attained nirvana and such of his disciples as were +arhats were in the same case. Later Buddhism recognizes a special form +of nirvana called apratishṭhita: those who attain it see that there is +no real difference between mundane existence and nirvana and therefore +devote themselves to a life of beneficent activity. + +The period of transition and trial known to European mystics as the Dark +Night of the Soul, is not mentioned in Indian manuals as an episode of +the spiritual life, for such an interruption would hardly harmonize with +their curriculum of regular progress towards enlightenment. But mystic +poetry testifies that in Asia as in Europe this feeling of desertion and +loneliness is a frequent experience in the struggles and adventures of +the soul. It is apparently not necessary, just as the incidental joys +and triumphs of the soul—strains of heavenly music, aerial flights, and +visions of the universal scheme—are also not essential. The essential +features of the mystic way, as well as its usual incidents, are common +to Asia and Europe, and in both continents are expressed in two forms. +One view contrasts the surface life and a deeper life: when the +intellect ceases to plague and puzzle, something else arises from the +depth and makes its unity with some greater Force to be felt as a +reality. This idea finds ample expression in the many Brahmanic systems +which regarded the centre and core of the human being as an _âtman_ or +_purusha_, happy when in the undisturbed peace of its own nature but +distracted by the senses and intellect. The other view of mystic +experiences regards them as a remaking of character, the evolution of a +new personality and in fact a new birth. This of course need not be a +denial of the other view: the emergence of the latent self may effect a +transformation of the whole being. But Buddhism, at any rate early +Buddhism, formulates its theory in a polemical form. There is no +ready-made latent self, awaiting manifestation when its fetters and +veils are removed: man's inner life is capable of superhuman extension +but the extension is the result of enlargement and training, not of +self-revelation. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MYTHOLOGY IN HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM + +1 + + +The later phases of Buddhism, described as Mahâyâna, show this feature +among many others, that the supernatural and mythological side of +religion becomes prominent. Gods or angels play an increasingly +important part, the Buddha himself becomes a being superior to all gods, +and Buddhas, gods and saints perform at every turn feats for which +miracle seems too modest a name. The object of the present chapter is to +trace the early stages of these beliefs, for they are found in the Pali +Canon, although it is not until later that they overgrow and hide the +temple in whose walls they are rooted. + +It may be fairly said that Buddhism is not a miraculous religion in the +sense that none of its essential doctrines depend on miracles. It would +seem that such a religion as Mormonism must collapse if it were admitted +that the Book of Mormon is not a revelation delivered to Joseph Smith. +But the content of the Buddha's teaching is not miraculous and, though +he is alleged to have possessed insight exceeding ordinary human +knowledge, yet this is not exactly a miracle and it is a question +whether an unusual intelligence disciplined by meditation might not +attain to such knowledge. Still, though the essence of the doctrine may +be detachable from miracles and even be scientific, one cannot read very +far in the Vinaya or the Sutta Pitaka without coming upon unearthly +beings or supernatural occurrences. + +The credibility of miracles is to my mind simply a question of evidence. +Any extraordinary event, such as a person doing a thing totally foreign +to his character, is improbable _a priori_. But the law does not allow +that the best of men is incapable of committing the worst of crimes, if +the evidence proves he did. Nor can the most extraordinary violation of +nature's laws be pronounced impossible if supported by sufficient +evidence, only the evidence must be strong in proportion to the +strangeness of the circumstances. But I cannot see that the uniformity +of nature is any objection to the occurrence of miracles, for as a rule +a miracle is regarded not as an event without a cause, but as due to a +new cause, namely the intervention of a superhuman person. Many of the +best known miracles are such that one may imagine this person to effect +them by understanding and controlling some unknown natural force, just +as we control electricity. Only evidence is required to show that he can +do so. But on the other hand the weakness of every religion which +depends on miracles is that their truth is contested and not +unreasonably. If they are true, why are they not certain? Of all the +phenomena described as miracles, ghosts, fortune telling, magic, +clairvoyance, prophesying, and so on, none command unchallenged +acceptance. In every age miracles, portents and apparitions have been +recorded, yet none of them with a certainty that carries universal +conviction and in many ages contemporary scepticism was possible. Even +in Vedic times there were people who did not believe in the existence of +Indra[714]. + +It is clear that some miracles require more evidence than others and +many old stories are so fantastic that they may justly be put aside +because those who reported them did not see, as we can, what +difficulties they involve and hence felt no need for caution in belief. +Among ancient Indians or Hebrews tales of seven headed snakes or of +stopping the sun did not arouse the critical spirit, for the phenomena +did not seem much more extraordinary than centipedes or eclipses. Only +those who understand that such stories upset all we know of anatomy and +astronomy can realize their improbability and the weight of evidence +necessary to make them credible. The most important distinction in +miracles (I use the word as a popular description of extraordinary +events which is readily understood though hard to define) is whether +they are in any way subjective, that is to say that they depend in the +last resort on an impression produced in certain, but not all, human +minds or whether they are objective, that is to say that all witnesses +would have seen them like any other event. A man rising into the air +would be an objective miracle if it were admitted that this levitation +was as real as the flight of a bird, and very strong evidence would be +necessary to make us believe that such a movement had really been +executed. But the case is different if we are dealing with the +conviction of an enthusiast that he rose aloft or even with the +conviction of his disciples, that they, being in an ecstasy, saw him do +so. There is no reason to doubt the subjective reality of +well-authenticated visions and as motives and stimuli to action they may +have real objective importance. Miracles of healing are not dissimilar. +A man's mind can affect his body, either directly through his conviction +that certain physical changes are about to take place or indirectly as +conveying the influence of some powerful external mind which may be +either calming or stimulating. That some persons have a special power of +healing nervous or mental diseases can hardly be doubted and I am not +disposed to reject any well-authenticated miraculous cure, believing +that sudden mental relief or acute joy can so affect the whole frame +that in the improved physical conditions thus caused even diseases not +usually considered as nervous may pass away. But though there is no +reason to discredit miracles of healing, it is clear that they are not +only exaggerated but also distorted by reporters who do not understand +their nature. Those who chronicle the cures supposed to be effected at +Lourdes at the present day keep within the bounds of what is explicable, +but a Hindu who had seen a cripple recover some power of movement might +be equally ready to believe that when a man's leg had been cut off the +stump could grow into a complete limb. + +The miraculous events recorded in the Pitakas differ from those of later +works, whether Mahayanist literature or the Hindu Puranas and Epics, +chiefly in their moderation. They may be classified under several heads. +Many of them are mere embroidery or embellishment due to poetical +exuberance, esteemed appropriate in those generous climates though +repugnant to our chilly tastes. In every country poetry is allowed to +overstep the prosaic borders of fact without criticism. When an English +poet says that— + + The red rose cries She is near, she is near: + And the white rose weeps She is late: + The larkspur listens, I hear, I hear: + And the lily whispers, I wait-- + +no one thinks of criticizing the lines as absurd because flowers cannot +talk or of trying to prove that they can. Poetry can take liberties with +facts provided it follows the lines of metaphors which the reader finds +natural. The same latitude cannot be allowed in unfamiliar directions. +Thus though a shower of flowers from heaven is not more extraordinary +than talking flowers and is quite natural in Indian poetry, it would +probably disconcert the English reader[715]. An Indian poet would not +represent flowers as talking, but would give the same idea by saying +that the spirits inhabiting trees and plants recited stanzas. Similarly +when a painter draws a picture of an angel with wings rising from the +shoulder blades, even the very scientific do not think it needful to +point out that no such anatomical arrangement is known or probable, nor +do the very pious maintain that such creatures exist. The whole question +is allowed to rest happily in some realm of acquiescence untroubled by +discussions. And it is in this spirit that Indian books relate how when +the Buddha went abroad showers of flowers fell from the sky and the air +resounded with heavenly music, or diversify their theological +discussions with interludes of demons, nymphs and magic serpents. And +although this riot of the imagination offends our ideas of good sense +and proportion, the Buddhists do not often lose the distinction between +what Matthew Arnold called Literature and Dogma. The Buddha's visits to +various heavens are not presented as articles of faith: they are simply +a pleasant setting for his discourses. + +Some miracles of course have a more serious character and can be less +easily separated from the essentials of the faith. Thus the Pitakas +represent the Buddha as able to see all that happens in the world and to +transport himself anywhere at will. But even in such cases we may +remember that when we say of a well-informed and active person that he +is omniscient and ubiquitous, we are not misunderstood. The hyperbole of +Indian legends finds its compensation in the small importance attached +to them. No miraculous circumstance recorded of the Buddha has anything +like the significance attributed by Christians to the virgin birth or +the resurrection of Christ. His superhuman powers are in keeping with +the picture drawn of his character. They are mostly the result of an +attempt to describe a mind and will of more than human strength, but the +superman thus idealized rarely works miracles of healing. He saves +mankind by teaching the way of salvation, not by alleviating a few +chance cases of physical distress. In later works he is represented as +performing plentiful and extraordinary miracles, but these are just the +instances in which we can most clearly trace the addition of +embellishments. + + +2 + +The elaboration of marvellous episodes is regarded in India as a +legitimate form of literary art, no more blameable than dramatization, +and in sacred writings it flourishes unchecked. In Hinduism, as in +Buddhism, there is not wanting a feeling that the soul is weary of the +crowd of deities who demand sacrifices and promise happiness, and on the +serener heights of philosophy gods have little place. Still most forms +of Hinduism cannot like Buddhism be detached from the gods, and no +extravagance is too improbable to be included in the legends about them. +The extravagance is the more startling because their exploits form part +of quasi-historical narratives. Râma and Krishna seem to be idealized +and deified portraits of ancient heroes, who came to be regarded as +incarnations of the Almighty. This is understood by Indians to mean not +that the Almighty submitted consistently to human limitations, but that +he, though incarnate, exercised whenever it pleased him and often most +capriciously his full divine force. With this idea before them and no +historical scruples to restrain them, Indian writers tell how Krishna +held up a mountain on his finger, Indian readers accept the statement, +and crowds of pilgrims visit the scene of the exploit. + +The later Buddhist writings are perhaps not less extravagant than the +Puranas, but the Pitakas are relatively sober, though not quite +consistent in their account of the Buddha's attitude to the miraculous. +Thus he encourages Sâgata[716] to give a display of miracles, such as +walking in the air, in order to prepare the mind of a congregation to +whom he is going to preach, but in other narratives[717] which seem +ancient and authentic, he expresses his disapproval of such performances +(just as Christ refused to give signs), and says that they do not +"conduce to the conversion of the unconverted or to the increase of the +converted." Those who know India will easily call up a picture of how +the Bhikkhus strove to impress the crowd by exhibitions not unlike a +modern juggler's tricks and how the master stopped them. His motives are +clear: these performances had nothing to do with the essence of his +teaching. If it be true that he ever countenanced them, he soon saw his +error. He did not want people to say that he was a conjurer who knew the +Gândhâra charm or any other trick. And though we have no warrant for +doubting that he believed in the reality of the powers known as iddhi, +it is equally certain that he did not consider them essential or even +important for religion. + +Somewhat similar is the attitude of early Buddhism to the spirit +world—the hosts of deities and demons who people this and other spheres. +Their existence is assumed, but the truths of religion are not dependent +on them, and attempts to use their influence by sacrifices and oracles +are deprecated as vulgar practices similar to juggling. Later Buddhism +became infected with mythology and the critical change occurs when +deities, instead of being merely protectors of the church, take an +active part in the work of salvation. When the Hindu gods developed into +personalities who could appeal to religious and philosophic minds as +cosmic forces, as revealers of the truth and guides to bliss, the +example was too attractive to be neglected and a pantheon of +Bodhisattvas arose. But it is clear that when the Buddha preached in +Kosala and Magadha, the local deities had not attained any such +position. The systems of philosophy then in vogue were mostly not +theistic, and, strange as the words may sound, religion had little to do +with the gods. If this be thought to rest on a mistranslation, it is +certainly true that the _dhamma_ had very little to do with _devas_. The +example of Rome under the Empire or of modern China makes the position +clearer. In neither would a serious enquirer turn to the ancient +national gods for spiritual help. + +Often as the Devas figure in early Buddhist stories, the significance of +their appearance nearly always lies in their relations with the Buddha +or his disciples. Of mere mythology, such as the dealings of Brahmâ and +Indra with other gods, there is little. In fact the gods, though freely +invoked as accessories, are not taken seriously[718], and there are some +extremely curious passages in which Gotama seems to laugh at them, much +as the sceptics of the eighteenth century laughed at Jehovah. Thus in +the Kevaddha sutta[719] he relates how a monk who was puzzled by a +metaphysical problem applied to various gods and finally accosted Brahmâ +himself in the presence of all his retinue. After hearing the question, +which was Where do the elements cease and leave no trace behind? Brahmâ +replies, "I am the Great Brahmâ, the Supreme, the Mighty, the +All-seeing, the Ruler, the Lord of all, the Controller, the Creator, the +Chief of all, appointing to each his place, the Ancient of days, the +Father of all that are and are to be." "But," said the monk, "I did not +ask you, friend, whether you were indeed all you now say, but I ask you +where the four elements cease and leave no trace." Then the Great Brahmâ +took him by the arm and led him aside and said, "These gods think I know +and understand everything. Therefore I gave no answer in their presence. +But I do not know the answer to your question and you had better go and +ask the Buddha." Even more curiously ironical is the account given of +the origin of Brahmâ[720]. There comes a time when this world system +passes away and then certain beings are reborn in the World of Radiance +and remain there a long time. Sooner or later, the world system begins +to evolve again and the palace of Brahmâ appears, but it is empty. Then +some being whose time is up falls from the World of Radiance and comes +to life in the palace and remains there alone. At last he wishes for +company, and it so happens that other beings whose time is up fall from +the World of Radiance and join him. And the first being thinks that he +is Great Brahmâ, the Creator, because when he felt lonely and wished for +companions other beings appeared. And the other beings accept this view. +And at last one of Brahmâ's retinue falls from that state and is born in +the human world and, if he can remember his previous birth, he reflects +that he is transitory but that Brahmâ still remains and from this he +draws the erroneous conclusion that Brahmâ is eternal. + +He who dared to represent Brahmâ (for which name we might substitute +Allah or Jehovah) as a pompous deluded individual worried by the +difficulty of keeping up his position had more than the usual share of +scepticism and irony. The compilers of such discourses regarded the gods +as mere embellishments, as gargoyles and quaint figures in the cathedral +porch, not as saints above the altar. The mythology and cosmology +associated with early Buddhism are really extraneous. The Buddha's +teaching is simply the four truths and some kindred ethical and +psychological matter. It grew up in an atmosphere of animism which +peopled the trees and streams and mountains with spirits. It accepted +and played with the idea, just as it might have accepted and played with +the idea of radio-activity. But such notions do not affect the essence +of the Dharma and it might be preached in severe isolation. Yet in Asia +it hardly ever has been so isolated. It is true that Indian mythology +has not always accompanied the spread of Buddhism. There is much of it +in Tibet and Mongolia but less in China and Japan and still less in +Burma. But probably in every part of Asia the Buddhist missionaries +found existing a worship of nature spirits and accepted it, sometimes +even augmenting and modifying it. In every age the elect may have risen +superior to all ideas of gods and heavens and hells, but for any just +historical perspective, for any sympathetic understanding of the faith +as it exists as a living force to-day, it is essential to remember this +background and frame of fantastic but graceful mythology. + +Many later Mahayanist books are full of dhâraṇîs or spells. Dhâraṇîs are +not essentially different from mantras, especially tantric mantras +containing magical syllables, but whereas mantras are more or less +connected with worship, dhâraṇîs are rather for personal use, spells to +ward off evil and bring good luck. The Chinese pilgrim Hsüan Chuang[721] +states that the sect of the Mahâsanghikas, which in his opinion arose in +connection with the first council, compiled a Pitaka of dhâraṇîs. The +tradition cannot be dismissed as incredible for even the Dîgha-Nikâya +relates how a host of spirits visited the Buddha in order to impart a +formula which would keep his disciples safe from harm. Buddhist and +Brahmanic mythology represent two methods of working up popular legends. +The Mahâbhârata and Puranas introduce us to a moderately harmonious if +miscellaneous society of supernatural personages decently affiliated to +one another and to Brahmanic teaching. The same personages reappear in +Buddhism but are analogous to Christian angels or to fairies rather than +to minor deities. They are not so much the heroes of legends, as +protectors: they are interesting not for their past exploits but for +their readiness to help believers or to testify to the true doctrine. +Still there was a great body of Buddhist and Jain legend in ancient +India which handled the same stories as Brahmanic legend—e.g. the tale +of Krishna—but in a slightly different manner. The characteristic form +of Buddhist legend is the Jâtaka, or birth story. Folk-lore and sagas, +ancient jokes and tragedies, the whole stock in trade of rhapsodists and +minstrels are made an edifying and interesting branch of scripture by +simply identifying the principal characters with the Buddha, his friends +and his enemies in their previous births[722]. But in Hinayanist +Buddhism legend and mythology are ornamental, and edifying, nothing +more. Spirits may set a good example or send good luck: they have +nothing to do with emancipation or nirvana. The same distinction of +spheres is not wholly lost in Hinduism, for though the great philosophic +works treat of God under various names they mostly ignore minor deities, +and though the language of the Bhagavad-gîtâ is exuberant and +mythological, yet only Krishna is God: all other spirits are part of +him. + +The deities most frequently mentioned in Buddhist works are Indra, +generally under the name of Sakka (Śakra) and Brahmâ. The former is no +longer the demon-slaying soma-drinking deity of the Vedas, but the +heavenly counterpart of a pious Buddhist king. He frequently appears in +the Jâtaka stories as the protector of true religion and virtue, and +when a good man is in trouble, his throne grows hot and attracts his +attention. His transformation is analogous to the process by which +heathen deities, especially in the Eastern Church, have been accepted as +Christian saints[723]. Brahmâ rules in a much higher heaven than Sakka. +His appearances on earth are rarer and more weighty, and sometimes he +seems to be a personification of whatever intelligence and desire for +good there is in the world[724]. But in no case do the Pitakas concede +to him the position of supreme ruler of the Universe. In one singular +narrative the Buddha tells his disciples how he once ascertained that +Brahmâ Baka was under the delusion that his heaven was eternal and cured +him of it[725]. + + +3 + +All Indian religions have a passion for describing in bold imaginative +outline the history and geography of the universe. Their ideas are +juster than those of Europeans and Semites in so far as they imply a +sense of the distribution of life throughout immensities of time and +space. The Hindu perceived more clearly than the Jew and Greek that his +own age and country were merely parts of a much longer series and of a +far larger structure or growth. He wished to keep this whole continually +before the mind, but in attempting to describe it he fell into that +besetting intellectual sin of India, the systematizing of the imaginary. +Ages, continents and worlds are described in detailed statements which +bear no relation to facts. Thus, Brahmanic cosmogony usually deals with +a period of time called Kalpa. This is a day in the life of Brahmâ, who +lives one hundred years of such days, and it marks the duration of a +world which comes into being at its commencement and is annihilated at +its end. It consists of 4320 times a million years and is divided into +fourteen smaller periods called manvantaras each presided over by a +superhuman being called Manu[726]. A manvantara contains about +seventy-one mahâyugas and each mahâyuga is what men call the four ages +of the world[727]. Geography and astronomy show similar precision. The +Earth is the lowest of seven spheres or worlds, and beneath it are a +series of hells[728]. The three upper spheres last for a hundred Kalpas +but are still material, though less gross than those below. The whole +system of worlds is encompassed above and below by the shell of the egg +of Brahmâ. Round this again are envelopes of water, fire, air, ether, +mind and finally the infinite Pradhâna or cause of all existing things. +The earth consists of seven land-masses, divided and surrounded by seven +seas. In the centre of the central land-mass rises Mount Meru, nearly a +million miles high and bearing on its peaks the cities of Brahmâ and +other gods. + +The cosmography of the Buddhists is even more luxuriant, for it regards +the universe as consisting of innumerable spheres (cakkavâlas), each of +which might seem to a narrower imagination a universe in itself, since +it has its own earth, heavenly bodies, paradises and hells. A sphere is +divided into three regions, the lowest of which is the region of desire. +This consists of eleven divisions which, beginning from the lowest, are +the hells, and the worlds of animals, Pretas (hungry ghosts), Asuras +(Titans)[729] and men. This last, which we inhabit, consists of a vast +circular plain largely covered with water. In the centre of it is Mount +Meru, and it is surrounded by a wall. Above it rise six devalokas, or +heavens of the inferior gods. Above the realms of desire there follow +sixteen worlds in which there is form but no desire. All are states of +bliss one higher than the other and all are attained by the exercise of +meditation. Above these again come four formless worlds, in which there +is neither desire nor form. They correspond to the four stages of Arûpa +trances and in them the gross and evil elements of existence are reduced +to a minimum, but still they are not permanent and cannot be regarded as +final salvation. We naturally think of this series of worlds as so many +storeys rising one above the other and they are so depicted[730] but it +will be observed that the animal kingdom is placed between the hells and +humanity, obviously not as having its local habitation there but as +better off than the one, though inferior to the other, and perhaps if we +pointed this out to the Hindu artist he would smile and say that his +many storeyed picture must not be taken so literally: all states of +being are merely states of mind, hellish, brutish, human and divine. + +Grotesque as Hindu notions of the world may seem, they include two great +ideas of modern science. The universe is infinite or at least +immeasurable[731]. The vision of the astronomer who sees a solar system +in every star of the milky way is not wider than the thought that +devised these Cakkavâlas or spheres, each with a vista of heavens and a +procession of Buddhas, to look after its salvation. Yet compared with +the sum of being a sphere is an atom. Space is filled by aggregates of +them, considered by some as groups of three, by others as clusters of a +thousand. And secondly these world systems, with the living beings and +plants in them, are regarded as growing and developing by natural +processes, and, equally in virtue of natural processes, as decaying and +disintegrating when the time comes. In the Aggañña-Sutta[732] we have a +curious account of the evolution of man which, though not the same as +Darwin's, shows the same idea of development or perhaps degeneration and +differentiation. Human beings were originally immaterial, aerial and +self-luminous, but as the world gradually assumed its present form they +took to eating first of all a fragrant kind of earth and then plants +with the result that their bodies became gross and differences of sex +and colour were produced. + +No sect of Hinduism personifies the powers of evil in one figure +corresponding to Satan, or the Ahriman of Persia. In proportion as a +nation thinks pantheistically it is disinclined to regard the world as +being mainly a contest between good and evil. It is true there are +innumerable demons and innumerable good spirits who withstand them. But +just as there is no finality in the exploits of Râma and Krishna, so +Râvaṇa and other monsters do not attain to the dignity of the Devil. In +a sense the destructive forces are evil, but when they destroy the world +at the end of a Kalpa the result is not the triumph of evil. It is +simply winter after autumn, leading to spring and another summer. + +Buddhism having a stronger ethical bias than Hinduism was more conscious +of the existence of a Tempter, or a power that makes men sin. This power +is personified, but somewhat indistinctly, as Mâra, originally and +etymologically a god of death. He is commonly called Mâra the Evil +One[733], which corresponds to the Mrityuh pâpmâ of the Vedas, but as a +personality he seems to have developed entirely within the Buddhist +circle and to be unknown to general Indian mythology. In the thought of +the Pitakas the connection between death and desire is clear. The great +evils and great characteristics of the world are that everything in it +decays and dies and that existence depends on desire. Therefore the +ruler of the world may be represented as the god of desire and death. +Buddha and his saints struggle with evil and overcome it by overcoming +desire and this triumphant struggle is regarded as a duel with Mâra, who +is driven off and defeated[734]. + +Even in his most mythological aspects, Mâra is not a deity of Hell. He +presides over desire and temptation, not over judgment and punishment. +This is the function of Yama, the god of the dead, and one of the +Brahmanic deities who have migrated to the Far East. He has been adopted +by Buddhism, though no explanation is given of his status. But he is +introduced as a vague but effective figure—and yet hardly more than a +metaphor—whenever it is desired to personify the inflexible powers that +summon the living to the other world and there make them undergo, with +awful accuracy, the retribution due for their deeds. In a remarkable +passage[735] called Death's Messengers, it is related that when a sinner +dies he is led before King Yama who asks him if he never saw the three +messengers of the gods sent as warnings to mortals, namely an old man, a +sick man and a corpse. The sinner under judgment admits that he saw but +did not reflect and Yama sentences him to punishment, until suffering +commensurate to his sins has been inflicted. + +Buddhism tells of many hells, of which Avîci is the most terrible. They +are of course all temporary and therefore purgatories rather than places +of eternal punishment, and the beings who inhabit them have the power of +struggling upwards and acquiring merit[736], but the task is difficult +and one may be born repeatedly in hell. The phraseology of Buddhism +calls existences in heavens and hells new births. To us it seems more +natural to say that certain people are born again as men and that others +go to heaven or hell. But the three destinies are really parallel[737]. + +The desire to accommodate influential ideas, though they might be +incompatible with the strict teaching of the Buddha, is well seen in the +position accorded to spirits of the dead. The Buddha was untiring in his +denunciation of every idea which implied that some kind of soul or +double escapes from the body at death and continues to exist. But the +belief in the existence of departed ancestors and the presentation of +offerings to them have always formed a part of Hindu domestic religion. +To gratify this persistent belief, Buddhism recognized the world of +Petas, that is ghosts or spirits. Many varieties of these are described +in later literature. Some are as thin as withered leaves and suffer from +continual hunger, for their mouths are so small that they can take no +solid food. According to strict theology, the Petas are a category of +beings just above animals and certain forms of bad conduct entail birth +among them. But in popular estimation, they are merely the spirits of +the dead who can receive nourishment and other benefits from the living. +The veneration of the dead and the offering of sacrifices to or for +them, which form a conspicuous feature in Far Eastern Buddhism, are +often regarded as a perversion of the older faith, and so, indeed, they +are. Yet in the Khuddaka-pâṭha[738], which if not a very early work is +still part of the Sutta Pitaka, are found some curious and pathetic +verses describing how the spirits of the departed wait by walls and +crossways and at the doors, hoping to receive offerings of food. When +they receive it their hearts are gladdened and they wish their relatives +prosperity. As many streams fill the ocean, so does what is given here +help the dead. Above all, gifts given to monks will redound to the good +of the dead for a long time. This last point is totally opposed to the +spirit of Gotama's doctrine, but it contains the germ of the elaborate +system of funeral masses which has assumed vast proportions in the Far +East. + + +4 + +What then is the position of the Buddha himself in this universe of many +worlds and multitudinous deities? European writers sometimes fail to +understand how the popular thought of India combines the human and +superhuman: they divorce the two aspects and unduly emphasize one or the +other. If they are impressed by the historical character of Gotama, they +conclude that all legends with a supernatural tinge must be late and +adventitious. If, on the other hand, they feel that the extent and +importance of the legendary element entitles it to consideration, they +minimize the historical kernel. But in India, reality and fancy, prosaic +fact and extravagant imagination are found not as successive stages in +the development of religious ideas, but simultaneously and side by side. +Keshub Chunder Sen was a Babu of liberal views who probably looked as +prosaic a product of the nineteenth century as any radical politician. +Yet his followers were said to regard him as a God, and whether this is +a correct statement or not, it is certain that he was credited with +superhuman power and received a homage which seemed even to Indians +excessive[739]. It is in the light of such incidents and such +temperaments that we should read the story of the Buddha. Could we be +transported to India in the days of his preaching, we should probably +see a figure very like the portrait given in the more sober parts of the +Pitakas, a teacher of great intelligence and personal charm, yet +distinctly human. But had we talked about him in the villages which lay +along his route, or even in the circle of his disciples, I think we +should have heard tales of how Devas visited him and how he was wont to +vanish and betake himself to some heaven. The Hindu attributes such +feats to a religious leader, as naturally as Europeans would ascribe to +him a magnetic personality and a flashing eye. + +The Pitakas emphasize the omniscience and sinlessness of the Buddha but +contain no trace of the idea that he is God in the Christian or +Mahommedan sense. They are consistently non-theistic and it is only +later that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas become transformed into beings about +whom theistic language can be used. But in those parts of the Pitakas +which may be reasonably supposed to contain the ideas of the first +century after the Buddha's death, he is constantly represented as +instructing Devas and receiving their homage[740]. In the Khuddaka-pâṭha +the spirits are invited to come and do him reverence. He is described as +the Chief of the World with all its gods[741], and is made to deny that +he is a man. If a Buddha cannot be called a Deva rather than a man, it +is only because he is higher than both. It is this train of thought +which leads later Buddhists[742] to call him Devâtideva, or the Deva who +is above all other Devas, and thus make him ultimately a being +comparable with Siva or Vishnu. + +The idea that great teachers of mankind appear in a regular series and +at stated intervals is certainly older than Gotama, but it is hard to +say how far it was systematized before his time. The greatness of the +position which he won and the importance of the institutions which he +founded naturally caused his disciples to formulate the vague traditions +about his predecessors. They were called indifferently Buddha, Jina, +Arhat, etc., and it was only after the constitution of the Buddhist +church that these titles received fixed meanings. + +Closely connected with the idea of the Buddha or Jina is that of the +Mahâpurusha or great man. It was supposed that there are born from time +to time supermen distinguished by physical marks who become either +universal monarchs (cakra-vartin) or teachers of the truth. Such a +prediction is said to have been made respecting the infant Gotama and +all previous Buddhas. The marks are duly catalogued, as thirty-two +greater and eighty[743] smaller signs. Many of them are very curious. +The hair is glossy black: the tongue is so long that it can lick the +ears: the arms reach to the knees in an ordinary upright position: the +skin has a golden tinge: there is a protuberance on the skull and a +smaller one, like a ball, between the eyebrows. The long arms may be +compared with the Persian title rendered in Latin by Longimanus[744] and +it is conceivable that the protuberances on the head may have been +personal peculiarities of Gotama. For though the thirty-two marks are +mentioned in the Pitakas as well-known signs establishing his claims to +eminence, no description of them has been found in any pre-Buddhist +work[745], and they may have been modified to suit his personal +appearance. At any rate it is clear that the early generations of +Buddhists considered that the Master conformed to the type of the +Mahâpurusha and attached importance to the fact[746]. The Pitakas +repeatedly allude to the knowledge of these marks as forming a part of +Brahmanic training and in the account of the previous Buddha Vipassî +they are duly enumerated. These ideas about a Great Man and his +characteristics were probably current among the people at the time of +the Buddha's birth. They do not harmonize completely with later +definitions of a Buddha's nature, but they show how Gotama's +contemporaries may have regarded his career. + +In the older books of the Pitakas six Buddhas are mentioned as preceding +Gotama[747], namely Vipassî, Sikhî, Vessabhû, Kakusandha, Konâgamana and +Kassapa. The last three at least may have some historical character. The +Chinese pilgrim Fa Hsien, who visited India from 405 to 411 A.D., saw +their reputed birthplaces and says that there still existed followers of +Devadatta (apparently in Kosala) who recognized these three Buddhas but +not Gotama. Asoka erected a monument in honour of Konâgamana in Nepal +with a dedicatory inscription which has been preserved. In the +Majjhima-Nikâya[748] we find a story about Kakusandha and his disciples +and Gotama once gave[749] an extended account of Vipassî, whose teaching +and career are represented as almost identical with his own. Different +explanations have been given of this common element. There is clearly a +wish to emphasize the continuity of the Dhamma and the similarity of its +exponents in all ages. But are we to believe that the stories, true or +romantic, originally told of Gotama were transferred to his mythical +forerunners or that before his birth there was a Buddha legend to which +the account of his career was accommodated? Probably both processes went +on simultaneously. The notices of the Jain saints show that there must +have been such legends and traditions independent of Gotama. To them we +may refer things like the miracles attending birth. But the general +outline of the Buddha's career, the departure from home, struggle for +enlightenment and hesitation before preaching, seem to be a reminiscence +of Gotama's actual life rather than an earlier legend. + +There is an interesting discourse describing the wonders that attend the +birth of a Buddha[750], such as that he passes from the Tusita heaven to +his mother's womb; that she must die seven days after his birth: that +she stands when he is born: and so on. We may imagine that the death of +the mother is due to the historical fact that Gotama's mother did so +die, while the other circumstances are embellishments of the old Buddha +and Mahâpurusha legend. But the construction of this sutta is curious. +The monks in the Jetavana are talking of the wondrous powers possessed +by Buddhas. Gotama enters and asks what is the subject of their +discourse. They tell him and he bids Ânanda describe more fully the +wondrous attributes of a Buddha. Ânanda gives a long list of marvels and +at the end Gotama observes, "Take note of this too as one of the +wondrous attributes of a Buddha, that he has his feelings, perceptions +and thoughts under complete control[751]." + +No passage has yet been adduced from the suttas mentioning more than +seven Buddhas but later books, such as the Buddha-vaṃsa and the +introduction to the Jâtaka, describe twenty-five[752]. There are +twenty-four Jain Tîrthankaras and according to some accounts twenty-four +incarnations of Vishnu. Probably all these lists are based on some +calculation as to the proper allowance of saints for an aeon. The +biographies of these Buddhas are brief and monotonous. For each sage +they record the number of his followers, the name of his city, parents, +and chief disciples, the tree under which he attained enlightenment, his +height and his age, both in extravagant figures. They also record how +each met Gotama in one of his previous births and prophesied his future +glory. The object of these biographies is less to give information about +previous Buddhas than to trace the career of Gotama as a Bodhisattva. +This career began in the time of Dîpankara, the first of the twenty-five +Buddhas, incalculable ages ago, when Gotama was a hermit called Sumedha. +Seeing that the road over which Dîpankara had to pass was dirty, he +threw himself down in the mire in order that the Buddha might tread on +him and not soil his feet. At the same time he made a resolution to +become a Buddha and received from Dîpankara the assurance that ages +afterwards his wish would be fulfilled. This incident, called praṇidhâna +or the vow to become a Buddha, is frequently represented in the frescoes +found in Central Asia. + +The history of this career is given in the introduction to the Jâtaka +and in the late Pali work called the Cariyâ-piṭaka, but the suttas make +little reference to the topic. They refer incidentally to Gotama's +previous births[753] but their interest clearly centres in his last +existence. They not infrequently use the word Bodhisattva to describe +the youthful Gotama or some other Buddha before the attainment of +Buddhahood, but in later literature it commonly designates a being now +existing who will be a Buddha in the future. In the older phase of +Buddhism attention is concentrated on a human figure which fills the +stage, but before the canon closes we are conscious of a change which +paves the way for the Mahâyâna. Our sympathetic respect is invited not +only for Gotama the Buddha, but for the struggling Bodhisattva who, +battling towards the goal with incredible endurance and self-sacrifice +through lives innumerable, at last became Gotama. + +It is only natural that the line of Buddhas should extend after as well +as before Gotama. In the Pitakas there are allusions to such a posterior +series, as when for instance we hear[754] that all Buddhas past and to +come have had and will have attendants like Ânanda, but Metteya the +Buddha of the future has not yet become an important figure. He is just +mentioned in the Dîgha Nikâya and Buddha-Vaṃsa and the Milinda Pañha +quotes an utterance of Gotama to the effect that "He will be the leader +of thousands as I am of hundreds," but the quotation has not been +identified. + +The Buddhas enumerated are supreme Buddhas (Sammâ-sam-buddha) but there +is another order called Pacceka (Sanskrit Pratyeka) or private Buddhas. +Both classes attain by their own exertions to a knowledge of the four +truths but the Pacceka Buddhas are not, like the supreme Buddhas, +teachers of mankind and omniscient[755]. Their knowledge is confined to +what is necessary for their own salvation and perfection. They are +mentioned in the Nikâyas as worthy of all respect[756] but are not +prominent in either the earlier or later works, which is only natural, +seeing that by their very definition they are self-centred and of little +importance for mankind. The idea of the private Buddha however is +interesting, inasmuch as it implies that even when the four truths are +not preached they still exist and can be discovered by anyone who makes +the necessary mental and moral effort. It is also noticeable that the +superiority of a supreme Buddha lies in his power to teach and help +others. A passionless and self-centred sage falls short of the ideal. + + + + +[Footnote 1: The frontier seems to be about Long. 65° E.] + +[Footnote 2: See Coedes's views about Śrîvijaya in _B.E.F.E.O._ 1918, 6. +The inscriptions of Rajendracola I (1012-1042 A.D.) show that Hindus in +India were not wholly ignorant of Indian conquests abroad.] + +[Footnote 3: But the Japanese syllabaries were probably formed under +Indian influence.] + +[Footnote 4: Probably the Christian doctrine of the atonement or +salvation by the death of a deity is an exception. I do not know of any +Indian sect which holds a similar view. The obscure verse Rig Veda x. +13. 4 seems to hint at the self-sacrifice of a deity but the hymn about +the sacrifice of Purusha (x. 90) has nothing to do with redemption or +atonement.] + +[Footnote 5: It is possible (though not, I think, certain) that the +Buddha called his principal doctrines _ariya_ in the sense of Aryan not +of noble. But even the Blessed One may not have been infallible in +ethnography. When we call a thing British we do not mean to refer it to +the ancient Britons more than to the Saxons or Normans. And was the +Buddha an Aryan? See V. Smith, _Oxford History of India_, p. 47 for +doubts.] + +[Footnote 6: This is not altogether true of the modern temple ritual.] + +[Footnote 7: It is very unfortunate that English usage should make this +word appear the same as Brahman, the name of a caste, and there is much +to be said for using the old-fashioned word Brahmin to denote the caste, +for it is clear, though not correct. In Sanskrit there are several +similar words which are liable to be confused in English. In the +nominative case they are: + + (1) Brâhmanah, a man of the highest caste. + + (2) Brâhmanam, an ancient liturgical treatise. + + (3) Brahma, the Godhead, stem Brahman, neuter. + + (4) Brahmâ, a masculine nominative also formed from the stem Brahman and +used as the name of a personal deity. + +For (3) the stem Brahman is commonly used, as being distinct from +Brahmâ, though liable to be confounded with the name of the caste.] + +[Footnote 8: For some years most scholars accepted the opinion that the +Buddha died in 487 B.C. but the most recent researches into the history +of the Saisunâga dynasty suggest that the date should be put back to 554 +B.C. See Vincent Smith, _Oxford History of India_, p. 52.] + +[Footnote 9: This is sometimes rendered simply by desire but _desire_ in +English is a vague word and may include feelings which do not come +within the Pali _tanhâ_. The Buddha did not reprobate good desires. See +Mrs Rhys David's _Buddhism_, p. 222 and _E.R.E._ s.v. Desire.] + +[Footnote 10: It is practically correct to say that Buddhism was the +first universal and missionary religion, but Mahâvira, the founder of +the Jains and probably somewhat slightly his senior, is credited with +the same wide view.] + +[Footnote 11: It may be conveniently and correctly called Pali Buddhism. +This is better than Southern Buddhism or Hînayâna, for the Buddhism of +Java which lies even farther to the south is not the same and there were +formerly Hînayânists in Central Asia and China.] + +[Footnote 12: See Finot, _J.A._ 1912, n. 121-136.] + +[Footnote 13: There is no Indian record of Bodhidharma's doctrine and +its origin is obscure, but it seems to have been a compound of Buddhism +and Vedantism.] + +[Footnote 14: This is proved by coins and also by the Besnagar +inscription.] + +[Footnote 15: I do not think that this view is disproved by the fact +that Patañjali and the scholiasts on Pânini allude to images for they +also allude to Greeks. For the contrary view see Sten Konow in _I.A._ +1909, p. 145. The facts are (_a_) The ancient Brahmanic ritual used no +images. (_b_) They were used by Buddhism and popular Hinduism about the +fourth century B.C. (_c_) Alexander conquered Bactria in 329 B.C. But +allowance must be made for the usages of popular and especially of +Dravidian worship of which at this period we know nothing.] + +[Footnote 16: Few now advocate an earlier date such as 58 B.C.] + +[Footnote 17: His authorship of _The Awakening of Faith_ must be +regarded as doubtful.] + +[Footnote 18: Much of the Ramayana and Mahabharata must have been +composed during this period, both poems (especially the latter) +consisting of several strata.] + +[Footnote 19: _E.g._ the Vyûhas of the Pâncarâtras, the five Jinas of +the Mahayanists and the five Sadâśiva tattvas. See Gopinâtha Rao, +_Elements of Indian Iconography_, vol. III p. 363.] + +[Footnote 20: I draw a distinction between Śâktism and Tantrism. The +essence of Śâktism is the worship of a goddess with certain rites. +Tantrism means rather the use of spells, gestures, diagrams and various +magical or sacramental rites, which accompanies Śâktism but may exist +without it.] + +[Footnote 21: According to _Census of India_, 1911, _Assam_, p. 47, +about 80,000 animists were converted to Hinduism in Goalpara between +1901 and 1911 by a Brahman called Sib Narayan Swami.] + +[Footnote 22: It is said that in Burma Hindu settlers become absorbed in +the surrounding Buddhists. _Census of India_, 1911, I. p. 120.] + +[Footnote 23: The life and writings of Vasubandhu illustrate the +transition from the Hina-to the Mahayana. In the earlier part of his +life he wrote the Abhidharmakośa which is still used by Mahayanists in +Japan as a text-book, though it does not go beyond Hinayanism. Later he +became a Mahayanist and wrote Mahayanist works.] + +[Footnote 24: As already mentioned, I think Śâktism is the more +appropriate word but Tantrism is in common use by the best authorities.] + +[Footnote 25: In India proper there are hardly any Buddhists now. The +Kumbhipathias, an anti-Brahmanic sect in Orissa, are said to be based on +Buddhist doctrines and a Buddhist mission in Mysore, called the Sakya +Buddhist Society, has met with some success. See _Census of India_, +1911, i. pp. 122 and 126.] + +[Footnote 26: See the quotation in Schomerus, _Der Śaiva Siddhânta_, p. +20 where a Saiva Hindu says that he would rather see India embrace +Christianity than the doctrine of Śankara.] + +[Footnote 27: Some think that the sect called Nimávats was earlier.] + +[Footnote 28: The determination of his precise date offers some +difficulties. See for further discussion Book v.] + +[Footnote 29: The Kadianis and Chet Ramis in the N.W. Provinces are +mentioned but even here the fusion seems to be chiefly between Islam and +Christianity. See also the article Râdhâ Soârai in _E.R.E._] + +[Footnote 30: According to the Census of 1911.] + +[Footnote 31: There are curious survivals of paganism in out of the way +forms of Christianity. Thus animal sacrifices are not extinct among +Armenians and Nestorians. See _E.R.E._ article "Prayer for the Dead" at +the end.] + +[Footnote 32: The Buddhism of Siam and Burma is similar but in Siam it +is a mediæval importation and the early religious history of Burma is +still obscure.] + +[Footnote 33: Although stability is characteristic of the Hinayana its +later literature shows a certain movement of thought phases of which are +marked by the Questions of Milinda, Buddhaghosa's works and the +Abhidhammattha Sangaha.] + +[Footnote 34: _E.g._ the way a monastic robe should be worn and the +Sîmâ.] + +[Footnote 35: I believe this to be the orthodox explanation but it is +open to many objections. + +(1) It is a mere phrase. If to create means to produce something out of +nothing, then we have never seen such an act and to ascribe a sudden +appearance to such an act is really no explanation. Perhaps an act of +imagination or a dream may justly be called a creation, but the relation +between a soul and its Creator is not usually regarded as similar to the +relation between a mind and its fancies. + +(2) The responsibility of God for the evil of the world seems to be +greatly increased, if he is directly responsible for every birth of a +child in unhappy conditions. + +(3) Animals are not supposed to have souls. Therefore the production of +an animal's mind is not explained by this theory and it seems to be +assumed that such a complex mind ag a dog's can be explained as a +function of matter, whereas there is something in a child which cannot +be so explained. + +(4) If a new immortal soul is created every time a birth takes place, +the universe must be receiving incalculably large additions. For some +philosophies such an idea is impossible. (See Bradley, _Appearance and +Reality_, p. 502. "The universe is incapable of increase. And to suppose +a constant supply of new souls, none of which ever perished, would +clearly land us in the end in an insuperable difficulty.") But even if +we do not admit that it is impossible, it at least destroys all analogy +between the material and spiritual worlds. If all the bodies that ever +lived continued to exist separately after death, the congestion would be +unthinkable. Is a corresponding congestion in the spiritual world really +thinkable?] + +[Footnote 36: This seems to be the view of the Chândogya Up. VI. 12. As +the whole world is a manifestation ol Brahman, so is the great banyan +tree a manifestation of the subtle essence which is also present in its +minute seeds.] + +[Footnote 37: The Brihad Ar. Up. knows of samsâra and karma but as +matters of deep philosophy and not for the vulgar: but in the Buddhist +Pitakas they are assumed as universally accepted. The doctrine must +therefore have been popularized after the composition of the Upanishad. +But some allowance must be made for the fact that the Upanishads and the +earliest versions of the Buddhist Suttas were produced in different +parts of India.] + +[Footnote 38: Yet many instances are quoted from Celtic and Teutonic +folklore to the effect that birds and butterflies are human souls, and +Caesar's remarks about the Druids may not be wholly wrong.] + +[Footnote 39: Several other Europeans of eminence have let their minds +play with the ideas of metempsychosis, pre-existence and karma, as for +instance Giordano Bruno, Swedenborg, Goethe, Lessing, Lavater, Herder, +Schopenhauer, Ibsen, von Helmont, Lichtenberg and in England such +different spirits as Hume and Wordsworth. It would appear that towards +the end of the eighteenth century these ideas were popular in some +literary circles on the continent. See Bertholet, _The Transmigration of +Souls_, pp. 111 ff. Recently Professor McTaggart has argued in favour of +the doctrine with great lucidity and persuasiveness. Huxley too did not +think it absurd. See his _Romanes Lecture, Evolution and Ethics, +Collected Essays_, vol. IX. p. 61. As Deussen observes, Kant's argument +which bases immortality on the realization of the moral law, attainable +only by an infinite process of approximation, points to transmigration +rather than immortality in the usual sense.] + +[Footnote 40: The chemical elements are hardly an exception. Apparently +they have no beginning and no end but there is reason to suspect that +they have both.] + +[Footnote 41: I know well-authenticated cases of Burmese and Indians +thinking that the soul of a dead child had passed into an animal.] + +[Footnote 42: Or again, when I wake up in the morning I am conscious of +my identity because innumerable circumstances remind me of the previous +day. But if I wake up suddenly in the night with a toothache which +leaves room for no thought or feeling except the feeling of pain, is the +fact that I experience the pain in any way lessened if for the moment I +do not know who or where I am?] + +[Footnote 43: I believe that a French savant, Colonel Rochas, has +investigated in a scientific spirit cases in which hypnotized subjects +profess to remember their former births and found that these +recollections are as clear and coherent as any revelations about another +world which have been made by Mrs Piper or other mediums. But I have not +been able to obtain any of Col. Rochas's writings.] + +[Footnote 44: I use the word _soul_ merely for simplicity, but Buddhists +and others might demur to this phraseology.] + +[Footnote 45: But for a contrary view see _Reincarnation, the Hope of +the World_ by Irving S. Cooper. Even the Brihad Aran. Upan. (IV. 4. 3. +4) speaks of new births as new and more beautiful shapes which the soul +fashions for itself as a goldsmith works a piece of gold.] + +[Footnote 46: The increase of the human population of this planet does +not seem to me a serious argument against the doctrine of rebirth for +animals, and the denizens of other worlds may be supplying an increasing +number of souls competent to live as human beings.] + +[Footnote 47: Perhaps Russians in this as in many other matters think +somewhat differently from other Europeans.] + +[Footnote 48: _Varieties of Religious Experience_, p. 427. The chapter +contains many striking instances of these experiences, collected mostly +in the west.] + +[Footnote 49: Compare _St Teresa's Orison of Union_, W. James, _l.c._ p. +408.] + +[Footnote 50: Indian devotees understand how either Śiva or Krishna is +all in all, and thus too St Teresa understood the mystery of the +Trinity. See W. James, _l.c._ p. 411.] + +[Footnote 51: Turîya or caturtha.] + +[Footnote 52: Indians were well aware even in early times that such a +state might be regarded as equivalent to annihilation. Br. Ar. Up. II. +4. 13; Chând. Up. VIII. ii. 1.] + +[Footnote 53: The idea is not wholly strange to European philosophy. See +the passage from the _Phaedo_ quoted by Sir Alfred Lyall. "Thought is +best when the mind is gathered into herself and none of these things +trouble her—neither sounds nor sights nor pain nor any pleasure—when she +has as little as possible to do with the body and has no bodily sense or +feeling, but is aspiring after being."] + +[Footnote 54: Mr Bradley _(Appearance and Reality_, p. 498) says "Spirit +is a unity of the manifold in which the externality of the manifold has +utterly ceased." This seems to me one of the cases in which Mr Bradley's +thought shows an interesting affinity to Indian thought.] + +[Footnote 55: But also sometimes _purusha_.] + +[Footnote 56: Even when low class yogis display the tortures which they +inflict on their bodies, their object I think is not to show what +penances they undergo but simply that pleasure and pain are alike to +them.] + +[Footnote 57: The sense of human dignity was strongest among the early +Buddhists. They (or some sects of them) held that an arhat is superior +to a god (or as we should say to an angel) and that a god cannot enter +the path of salvation and become an arhat.] + +[Footnote 58: Cf. Bosanquet, _Gifford Lectures_, 1912, p. 78. "History +is a hybrid form of experience incapable of any considerable degree of +being or trueness. The doubtful story of successive events cannot +amalgamate with the complete interpretation of the social mind, of art, +or of religion. The great things which are necessary in themselves, +become within the narrative contingent or ascribed by most doubtful +assumptions of insight to this actor or that on the historical stage. +The study of Christianity is the study of a great world experience: the +assignment to individuals of a share in its development is a problem for +scholars whose conclusions, though of considerable human interest, can +never be of supreme importance."] + +[Footnote 59: The Chinese critic Hsieh Ho who lived in the sixth century +of our era said: "In Art the terms ancient and modern have no place." +This is exactly the Indian view of religion.] + +[Footnote 60: _The Varieties of Religious Experience_, pp. 525-527 and +_A Pluralistic Universe_, p. 310.] + +[Footnote 61: And in Russia there are sects which prescribe castration +and suicide.] + +[Footnote 62: This, of course, does not apply to Buddhism in China, +Japan and Tibet.] + +[Footnote 63: This is not true of the more modern Upanishads which are +often short treatises specially written to extol a particular deity or +doctrine.] + +[Footnote 64: Mahâparinibbâna sutta. See the table of parallel passages +prefixed to Rhys Davids's translation, _Dialogues of the Buddha_, II. +72.] + +[Footnote 65: Much the same is true of the various editions of the +Vinaya and the Mahâvastu. These texts were produced by a process first +of collection and then of amplification.] + +[Footnote 66: The latter part of Mahâbhârata XII.] + +[Footnote 67: Though European religions emphasize man's duty to God, +they do not exclude the pursuit of happiness: e.g. Westminster Shorter +Catechism (1647). Question 1, "What is the chief end of man? _A._ Man's +chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever."] + +[Footnote 68: Mrs Rhys Davids has brought out the importance of the will +for Buddhist ethics in several works. See _J.R.A.S._ 1898, p. 47 and +_Buddhism_, pp. 221 ff. See also Maj. Nik. 19 for a good example of +Buddhist views as to the necessity and method of cultivating the will.] + +[Footnote 69: Kaush. Up. III. 8.] + +[Footnote 70: The words are kâmacâra and akâmacâra. Chand. Up. 8. 1-6.] + +[Footnote 71: Mahâvag. I. 6. _E.g._ Ajâtasattu (Dig. Nik. 2, _ad fin._) +would have obtained the eye of truth, had he not been a parricide. The +consequent distortion of mind made higher states impossible.] + +[Footnote 72: But all general statements about Hinduism are liable to +exceptions. The evil spirit Duḥsaha described in the Mârkandeya Purâna +(chaps. L and LI) comes very near the Devil.] + +[Footnote 73: I can understand that the immediate reality is a duality +or plurality and that the one spirit may appear in many shapes.] + +[Footnote 74: _E.g._ Chand. Up. V. 1. 2. Bri. Ar. Up. I. 3. In the +Pâñcarâtra we do hear of a jñânabhraṃsa or a fall from knowledge +analogous to the fall of man in Christian theology. Souls have naturally +unlimited knowledge but this from some reason becomes limited and +obscured, so that religion is necessary to show the soul the right way. +Here the ground idea seems to be not that any devil has spoilt the world +but that ignorance is necessary for the world process, for otherwise +mankind would be one with God and there would be no world. See Schrader, +_Introd. to the Pâncarâtra_, pp. 78 and 83.] + +[Footnote 75: The Śatapatha Brâhmana has a curious legend (XI. 1. 6. 8 +ff.) in which the Creator admits that he made evil spirits by mistake +and smites them. In the Kârikâ of Gauḍapâda, 2. 19 it is actually said: +Mayaishâ tasya devasya yayâ sammohitaḥ svayam.] + +[Footnote 76: He does not say this expressly and it requires careful +statement in India where it is held strongly that God being perfect +cannot add to his bliss or perfection by creating anything. Compare +Dante, _Paradiso_, xxix. 13-18: + + Non per aver a sè di bene acquisto, + ch' esser non può, ma perchè suo splendore + potesse risplendendo dir: subsisto. + In sua eternità di tempo fuore, + fuor d' ogni altro comprender, come i piacque, + s'aperse in nuovi amor l' eterno amore.] + +[Footnote 77: The history of Japan and Tibet offers some exceptions.] + +[Footnote 78: There are some exceptions, _e.g._ ancient Camboja, the +Sikhs and the Marathas.] + +[Footnote 79: But there are other kinds of worship, such as the old +Vedic sacrifices which are still occasionally performed, and the burnt +offerings (homa) still made in some temples. There are also tantric +ceremonies and in Assam the public worship of the Vishnuites has +probably been influenced by the ritual of Lamas in neighbouring Buddhist +countries.] + +[Footnote 80: This position is of great importance as tending to produce +a similar arrangement of religious paraphernalia. The similarity +disappears when Buddhist ceremonies are performed round Stûpas out of +doors.] + +[Footnote 81: As explained elsewhere, I draw a distinction between +Tantrism and Śâktism.] + +[Footnote 82: It does not seem to me to have given much inspiration to +Rossetti in his _Aatarte Syriaca_.] + +[Footnote 83: But in justice to the Tantras it should be mentioned that +the Mahâ-nirvâṇa Tantra, x. 79, prohibits the burning of widows.] + +[Footnote 84: See _Asiatic Review_, July, 1916, p. 33.] + +[Footnote 85: _E.g._ Vijayanagar, the Marathas and the states of +Rajputana.] + +[Footnote 86: According to the census of 1911 no less than 72 per cent. +of the population live by agriculture.] + +[Footnote 87: The chief exceptions are: (_a_) the Tibetan church has +acquired and holds power by political methods. It is an exact parallel +to the Papacy, but it has never burnt people. (_b_) In mediæval Japan +the great monasteries became fortified castles with lands and troops of +their own. They fought one another and were a menace to the state. Later +the Tokugawa sovereigns had the assistance of the Buddhist clergy in +driving out Christianity but I do not think that their action can be +compared either in extent or cruelty with the Inquisition. (_c_) In +China Buddhism was in many reigns associated with a dissolute court and +palace intrigues. This led to many scandals and great waste of money.] + +[Footnote 88: See for instance Huxley's striking definition of Buddhism +in his _Romanes Lecture_, 1893. "A system which knows no God in the +western sense; which denies a soul to man: which counts the belief in +immortality a blunder and the hope of it a sin: which refuses any +efficacy to prayer and sacrifice: which bids men look to nothing but +their own efforts for salvation: which in its original purity knew +nothing of vows of obedience and never sought the aid of the secular +arm: yet spread over a considerable moiety of the old world with +marvellous rapidity and is still with whatever base admixture of foreign +superstitions the dominant creed of a large fraction of mankind." But +some of this is too strongly phrased. Early Buddhism counted the desire +for heaven as a hindrance to the highest spiritual life, but if a man +had not attained to that plane and was bound to be reborn somewhere, it +did not question that his natural desire to be reborn in heaven was +right and proper.] + +[Footnote 89: It may of course be denied that Buddhism is a religion. In +this connection some remarks of Mr Bradley are interesting. "The +doctrine that there cannot be a religion without a personal God is to my +mind entirely false" (_Essays on Truth and Reality_, p. 432). "I cannot +accept a personal God as the ultimate truth" (ib. 449). "There are few +greater responsibilities which a man can take on himself than to have +proclaimed or even hinted that without immortality all religion is a +cheat, all morality a self-deception" (_Appearance and Reality_, p. +510).] + +[Footnote 90: Mahâvaṃsa, xii. 29, xiv. 58 and 64. Dîpavaṃsa, xn. 84 and +85, xiii. 7 and 8.] + +[Footnote 91: _Essays in Criticism_, Second Series, Amiel.] + +[Footnote 92: This definition of orthodoxy is due to St Vincent of +Lerins. _Quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est._] + +[Footnote 93: I know that this statement may encounter objections, but I +believe that few Indians would be surprised at the proposition that God +is all things. Some might deny it, but as a familiar error.] + +[Footnote 94: But orthodox Christianity really falls into the same +difficulty. For if God planned the redemption of the world and we are +saved by the death of Christ, then the Chief Priests, Judas, Pilate and +the soldiers who crucified Christ are at least the instruments of +salvation.] + +[Footnote 95: Wm James, _Psychology_, pp. 203 and 216.] + +[Footnote 96: I quote this epitome from Wildon Carr's Henri Bergson, +_The Philosophy of Change_, because the phraseology is thoroughly +Buddhist and appears to have the approval of M. Bergson himself.] + +[Footnote 97: _Romanes Lecture_, 1893.] + +[Footnote 98: _Appearance_, p. 298.] + +[Footnote 99: Thus the Śvetâśvatara Up. says that the whole world is +filled with the parts or limbs of God and metaphors like sparks from a +fire or threads from a spider seem an attempt to express the same idea. +Br. Ar. Up. 2. 1. 20; Mund. Up. 2. 1. 1.] + +[Footnote 100: _Appearance_, p. 244; _Essays on Truth_, p. 409; +_Appearance_, p. 413. Though the above quotations are all from Mr +Bradley I might have added others from Mr Bosanquet's _Gifford Lectures_ +and from Mr McTaggart.] + +[Footnote 101: "The plurality of souls in the Absolute is therefore +appearance and their existence not genuine ... souls like their bodies, +are as such nothing more than appearance—Neither (body and soul) is real +in the end: each is merely phenomenal." _Appearance_, pp. 305-307.] + +[Footnote 102: Since I wrote this I have read Mr Wells' book _God the +Invisible King_. Mr Wells knows that he is indebted to oriental thought +and thinks that European religion in the future may be so too, but I do +not know if he realizes how nearly his God coincides with the Mahayanist +conception of a Bodhisattva such as Avalokita or Mañjuśri. These great +beings have, as Bodhisattvas, a beginning: they are not the creators of +the world but masters and conquerors of it and helpers of mankind: they +have courage and eternal youth and Mañjuśri "bears a sword, that clean +discriminating weapon." Like most Asiatics, Mr Wells cannot allow his +God to be crucified and he draws a distinction between God and the +Veiled Being, very like that made by Indians between Îśvara and +Brahman.] + +[Footnote 103: The Malay countries are the only exception.] + +[Footnote 104: Thus Motoori (quoted in Aston's _Shintō_, p. 9) says +"Birds, beasts, plants and trees, seas and mountains and all other +things whatsoever which deserve to be dreaded and revered for the +extraordinary and pre-eminent powers which they possess are called +_Kami_."] + +[Footnote 105: This impersonality is perhaps a later characteristic. The +original form of the Chinese character for T'ien Heaven represented a +man. The old Finnish and Samoyede names for God—Ukko and Num—perhaps +belong to this stage of thought.] + +[Footnote 106: See the account of the Faunus message in this book.] + +[Footnote 107: The chief exception in Sanskrit is the Râjataranginî, a +chronicle of Kashmir composed in 1148 A.D. There are also a few +panegyrics of contemporary monarchs, such as the Harshacarita of Bâṇa, +and some of the Puranas (especially the Matsya and Vâyu) contain +historical material. See Vincent Smith, _Early History of India_, chap. +I, sect. II, and _Pargiter Dynasties of the Kali Age_. The Greek and +Roman accounts of Ancient India have been collected by McCrindle in six +volumes 1877-1901.] + +[Footnote 108: The inscriptions of the Chola Kings however (c. 1000 +A.D.) seem to boast of conquests to the East of India. See Coedès "Le +royaume de Çrîvijaya" in _B.E.F.E.O._ 1918] + +[Footnote 109: Very different opinions have been held as to whether this +date should be approximately 1500 B.C. or 3000 B.C. The strong +resemblance of the hymns of the Ṛig Veda to those of the Avesta is in +favour of the less ancient date, but the date of the Gathas can hardly +be regarded as certain.] + +[Footnote 110: Linguistically there seems to be two distinct divisions, +the Dravidians and the Munda (Kolarian).] + +[Footnote 111: The affinity between the Dravidian and Ural-Altaic groups +of languages has often been suggested but has met with scepticism. Any +adequate treatment of this question demands a comparison of the earliest +forms known in both groups and as to this I have no pretension to speak. +But circumstances have led me to acquire at different times some +practical acquaintance with Turkish and Finnish as well as a slight +literary knowledge of Tamil and having these data I cannot help being +struck by the general similarity shown in the structure both of words +and of sentences (particularly the use of gerunds and the constructions +which replace relative sentences) and by some resemblances in +vocabulary. On the other hand the pronouns and consequently the +conjugation of verbs show remarkable differences. But the curious Brahui +language, which is classed as Dravidian, has negative forms in which +_pa_ is inserted into the verb, as in Yakut Turkish, e.g. Yakut +_bis-pa-ppin_, I do not cut; Brahui _khan-pa-ra_, I do not see. The +plural of nouns in Brahui uses the suffixes _k_ and _t_ which are found +in the Finnish group and in Hungarian.] + +[Footnote 112: See the legend in the Śat. Brâh. I. 4. 1. 14 ff.] + +[Footnote 113: This much seems sure but whereas European scholars were +till recently agreed that he died about 487 B.C. it is now suggested +that 543 may be nearer the true date. See Vincent Smith in _Oxford +History of India_, 1920, p. 48.] + +[Footnote 114: Pali Takkasila. Greek Taxila. It was near the modern +Rawal Pindi and is frequently mentioned in the Jâtakas as an ancient and +well-known place.] + +[Footnote 115: Most of them are known by the title of Śâtakarṇi.] + +[Footnote 116: But perhaps not in language. Recent research makes it +probable that the Kushans or Yüeh-chih used an Iranian idiom.] + +[Footnote 117: Fleet and Franke consider that Kanishka preceded the two +Kadphises and began to reign about 58 B.C.] + +[Footnote 118: He appears to have been defeated in these regions by the +Chinese general Pan-Chao about 90 A.D. but to have been more successful +about fifteen years later.] + +[Footnote 119: Or Hephthalites. The original name seems to have been +something like Haptal.] + +[Footnote 120: Strabo XV. 4. 73.] + +[Footnote 121: _Hist. Nat_. VI. 23. (26).] + +[Footnote 122: For authorities see Vincent Smith, _Early History of +India_, 1908, p. 401.] + +[Footnote 123: The inscriptions of Asoka mention four kingdoms, Pândya, +Keralaputra, Cola and Satiyaputra.] + +[Footnote 124: Hinduism is often used as a name for the mediaeval and +modern religion of India, and Brahmanism for the older pre-Buddhist +religion. But one word is needed as a general designation for Indian +religion and Hinduism seems the better of the two for this purpose.] + +[Footnote 125: Excluding Burma the last Census gives over 300,000. These +are partly inhabitants of frontier districts, which are Indian only in +the political sense, and partly foreigners residing in India.] + +[Footnote 126: Only tradition preserves the memory of an older and freer +system, when warriors like Viśvâmitra were able by their religious +austerities to become Brahmans. See Muir's _Sanskrit texts_, vol. I. pp. +296-479 on the early contests between Warriors and Brahmans. We hear of +Kings like Janaka of Videha and Ajâtaśatru of Kâśi who were admitted to +be more learned than Brahmans but also of Kings like Vena and Nahusha +who withstood the priesthood "and perished through want of +submissiveness." The legend of Paraśurâma, an incarnation of Vishnu as a +Brahman who destroyed the Kshatriya race, must surely have some +historical foundation, though no other evidence is forthcoming of the +events which it relates.] + +[Footnote 127: In southern India and in Assam the superiors of +monasteries sometimes exercise a quasi-episcopal authority.] + +[Footnote 128: Śat. Brâhm. v. 3. 3. 12 and v. 4. 2. 3.] + +[Footnote 129: The Mârkaṇḍeya Purâṇa discusses the question how Kṛishṇa +could become a man.] + +[Footnote 130: See for instance _The Holy Lives of the Azhvars_ by +Alkondavilli Govindâcârya. Mysore, 1902, pp. 215-216. "The Dravida Vedas +have thus as high a sanction and authority as the Girvana (i.e. +Sanskrit) Vedas."] + +[Footnote 131: I am inclined to believe that the Lingâyat doctrine +really is that Lingâyats dying in the true faith do not transmigrate any +more.] + +[Footnote 132: E.g. Brih.-Âr. III. 2. 13 and IV. 4. 2-6.] + +[Footnote 133: This is the accepted translation of _dukkha_ but perhaps +it is too strong, and _uneasiness_, though inconvenient for literary +reasons, gives the meaning better.] + +[Footnote 134: The old Scandinavian literature with its gods who must +die is equally full of this sense of impermanence, but the Viking +temperament bade a man fight and face his fate.] + +[Footnote 135: But see Rabindrannath Tagore: Sadhana, especially the +Chapter on Realization.] + +[Footnote 136: Cf. Shelley's lines in Hellas:— + + "Worlds on worlds are rolling ever + From creation to decay, + Like the bubbles on a river + Sparkling, bursting, borne away."] + +[Footnote 137: Nevertheless _deva_ is sometimes used in the Upanishads +as a designation of the supreme spirit.] + +[Footnote 138: E.g. Brih.-Âr. Up. IV. 3. 33 and the parallel passages in +the Taittirîya and other Upanishads.] + +[Footnote 139: The principal one is the date of Asoka, deducible from an +inscription in which he names contemporary Seleucid monarchs.] + +[Footnote 140: _E.g._ a learned Brahman is often described in the Sutta +Pitaka as "a repeater (of the sacred words) knowing the mystic verses by +heart, one who had mastered the three Vedas, with the indices, the +ritual, the phonology, the exegesis and the legends as a fifth."] + +[Footnote 141: There had been time for misunderstandings to arise. Thus +the S^{.}atapatha Brâhmana sees in the well-known verse "who is the God +to whom we shall offer our sacrifices" an address to a deity named Ka +(Sanskrit for _who_) and it would seem that an old word, _uloka_, has +been separated in several passages into two words, _u_ (a meaningless +particle) and _loka_.] + +[Footnote 142: Recent scholars are disposed to fix the appearance of +Zoroaster between the middle of the seventh century and the earlier half +of the sixth century B.C. But this date offers many difficulties. It +makes it hard to explain the resemblances between the Gathas and the Rig +Veda and how is it that respectable classical authorities of the fourth +century B.C. quoted by Pliny attribute a high antiquity to Zoroaster?] + +[Footnote 143: This applies chiefly to the three Samhitâs or collections +of hymns and prayers. On the other hand there was no feeling against the +composition of new Upanishads or the interpolation and amplification of +the Epics.] + +[Footnote 144: The Hotri recites prayers while other priests perform the +act of sacrifice. But there are several poems in the Rig Veda for which +even Indian ingenuity has not been able to find a liturgical use.] + +[Footnote 145: Thus the Pali Pitakas speak of the Tevijjâ or threefold +knowledge of the Brahmans.] + +[Footnote 146: Or it may be that the ancestors of the Persians were also +in the Panjab and retired westwards.] + +[Footnote 147: R.V. v. 3. 1.] + +[Footnote 148: See the Gaṇeśâtharvaśîrsha Upan. and Gopinatha Rao. +_Hindu Iconography_, vol. I. pp. 35-67.] + +[Footnote 149: See R.V. III. 34. 9. i. 130. 8; iv. 26. 2. vi. 18. 3; iv. +16. 13.] + +[Footnote 150: In one singular hymn (R.V. x. 119) Indra describes his +sensations after drinking freely, and in the Satapatha Brahmana (V. 5. +4. 9 and XII. 7. 1. 11) he seems to be represented as suffering from his +excesses and having to be cured by a special ceremony.] + +[Footnote 151: In some passages of the Upanishads he is identified with +the âtman _(e.g._ Kaushitaki Up. III. 8), but then all persons, whether +divine or human, are really the âtman if they only knew it.] + +[Footnote 152: A.V. IV. 16. 2.] + +[Footnote 153: The Indian alphabets are admittedly Semitic in origin.] + +[Footnote 154: See Mahâbhâr. I. xvii-xviii and other accounts in the +Râmâyaṇa and Purâṇas.] + +[Footnote 155: It has also been conjectured that Sk. Asura=Ashur, the +God of Assyria, and that Sumeru or Sineru (Meru)=Sumer or Shinar, see +_J.R.A.S._ 1916, pp. 364-5.] + +[Footnote 156: Ṛig V. I. 164. 46.] + +[Footnote 157: For instance chap. III. of the Chândogya Upanishad, which +compares the solar system to a beehive in which the bees are Vedic +hymns, is little less than stupendous, though singular and hard for +European thought to follow.] + +[Footnote 158: I presume that the strong opinion expressed in Caland and +Henri's _Agnishloma_ p. 484 that the sacrifice is merely a _do ut des_ +operation refers only to the earliest Vedic period and not to the time +of the Brâhmaṇas.] + +[Footnote 159: Thus both the Vedas and the Tantras devote considerable +space to rites which have for object the formation of a new body for the +sacrificer. Compare for instance the Aitareya Brâhmaṇa (I. 18-21: II. +35-38: III. 2 and VI. 27-31) with Avalon's account of Nyâsa, in his +introduction to the Mahânirvâṇa Tantra pages cvii-cxi.] + +[Footnote 160: There is considerable doubt as to what was the plant +originally known as Soma. That described in the Vedas and Brâhmanas is +said to grow on the mountains and to have a yellow juice of a strong +smell, fiery taste and intoxicating properties. The plants used as Haom +(Hum) by the modern Parsis of Yezd and Kerman are said to be members of +the family Asclepiadaceae (perhaps of the genus Sarcostemma) with fleshy +stalks and milky juice, and the Soma tested by Dr Haug at Poona was +probably made from another species of the same or an allied genus. He +found it extremely nasty, though it had some intoxicating effect. (See +his _Aitareya Brdh-mana_ n. p. 489.)] + +[Footnote 161: An ordinary sacrifice was offered for a private person +who had to be initiated and the priests were merely officiants acting on +his behalf. In a Sattra the priests were regarded as the sacrificers and +were initiated. It had some analogy to Buddhist and Christian monastic +foundations for reading sûtras and saying masses.] + +[Footnote 162: The political importance of the Aśvamedha lay in the fact +that the victim had to be let loose to roam freely for a year, so that +only a king whose territories were sufficiently extensive to allow of +its being followed and guarded during its wanderings could hope to +sacrifice it at the end.] + +[Footnote 163: R.V. x. 136 and x. 190.] + +[Footnote 164: Even the Upanishads (_e.g._ Chând. III. 17, Mahânâr. 64) +admit that a good life which includes _tapas_ is the equivalent of +sacrifice. But this of course is teaching for the elect only. The +Brih.-Âran. Up. (V. ii) contains the remarkable doctrine that sickness +and pain, if regarded by the sufferer as _tapas_, bring the same +reward.] + +[Footnote 165: So too in the Taittirîya Upanishad _tapas_ is described +as the means of attaining the knowledge of Brahman (III. 1-5).] + +[Footnote 166: Any ritual without knowledge may be worse than useless. +See Chând. Up. I. 10. 11.] + +[Footnote 167: See the various narratives in the Chândogya, Br.-Âran. +and Kaushîtaki Upanishads. The seventh chapter of the Chândogya relating +how Nârada, the learned sage, was instructed by Sanatkumâra or Skanda, +the god of war, seems to hint that the active military class may know +the great truths of religion better than deeply read priests who may be +hampered and blinded by their learning. For Skanda and Nârada in this +connection see Bhagavad-gitâ x. 24, 26.] + +[Footnote 168: For the necessity of a teacher see Kâth. Up. II. 8.] + +[Footnote 169: See especially the bold passage at the end of Taitt. +Upan. II. "He who knows the bliss of Brahman ... fears nothing. He does +not torment himself by asking what good have I left undone, what evil +have I done?"] + +[Footnote 170: The word Upanishad probably means sitting down at the +feet of a teacher to receive secret instruction: hence a secret +conversation or doctrine.] + +[Footnote 171: Some allusions in the older Upanishads point to this +district rather than the Ganges Valley as the centre of Brahmanic +philosophy. Thus the Brịhad-Âraṇyaka speaks familiarly of Gândhâra.] + +[Footnote 172: Cat. Adyar Library. The Ṛig and Sâma Vedas have two +Upanishads each, the Yajur Veda seven. All the others are described as +belonging to the Atharva Veda. They have no real connection with it, but +it was possible to add to the literature of the Atharva whereas it was +hardly possible to make similar additions to the older Vedas.] + +[Footnote 173: Debendranath Tagore composed a work which he called the +Brâhmî Upanishad in 1848. See Autobiography, p. 170. The sectarian +Upanishads are of doubtful date, but many were written between 400 and +1200 A.D. and were due to the desire of new sects to connect their +worship with the Veda. Several are Śaktist (e.g. Kaula, Tripurâ, Devî) +and many others show Śaktist influence. They usually advocate the +worship of a special deity such as Gaṇeśa, Sûrya, Râma, Nṛi Siṃha.] + +[Footnote 174: Br.-Âran. VI. 1, Ait. Âran. II. 4, Kaush. III. 3, Praśna, +II. 3, Chând. V. 1. The apologue is curiously like in form to the +classical fable of the belly and members.] + +[Footnote 175: Br.-Âran. VI. 2, Chând. V. 3] + +[Footnote 176: Br.-Âran. II. 1, Kaush. IV. 2.] + +[Footnote 177: The composite structure of these works is illustrated +very clearly by the Bṛihad-Âraṇyaka. It consists of three sections each +concluding with a list of teachers, namely (_a_) adhyâyas 1 and 2, (_b_) +adh. 3 and 4, (_c_) adh. 5 and 6. The lists are not quite the same, +which indicates some slight difference between the sub-schools which +composed the three parts, and a lengthy passage occurs twice in an +almost identical form. The Upanishad is clearly composed of two separate +collections with the addition of a third which still bears the title of +_Khila_ or supplement. The whole work exists in two recensions.] + +[Footnote 178: The Eleven translated in the _Sacred Books of the East_, +vols. I and XV, include the oldest and most important.] + +[Footnote 179: Thus the Aitareya Brâhmana is followed by the Aitareya +Âraṇyaka and that by the Aitareya-Âraṇyaka-Upanishad.] + +[Footnote 180: R.V. X. 121. The verses are also found in the Atharva +Veda, the Vâjasaneyi, Taittirîya, Maitrâyaṇi, and Kâṭhaka Saṃhitâs and +elsewhere.] + +[Footnote 181: R.V. X. 129.] + +[Footnote 182: IV. 5. 5 and repeated almost verbally II. 4. 5 with some +omissions. My quotation is somewhat abbreviated and repetitions are +omitted.] + +[Footnote 183: The sentiment is perhaps the same as that underlying the +words attributed to Florence Nightingale: "I must strive to see only God +in my friends and God in my cats."] + +[Footnote 184: It will be observed that he had said previously that the +Âtman must be seen, heard, perceived and known. This is an inconsistent +use of language.] + +[Footnote 185: Chândogya Upanishad VI.] + +[Footnote 186: In the language of the Upanishads the Âtman is often +called simply Tat or it.] + +[Footnote 187: _I.e._ the difference between clay and pots, etc. made of +clay.] + +[Footnote 188: Yet the contrary proposition is maintained in this same +Upanishad (III. 19. 1), in the Taittirîya Upanishad (II. 8) and +elsewhere. The reason of these divergent statements is of course the +difficulty of distinguishing pure Being without attributes from not +Being.] + +[Footnote 189: The word union is a convenient but not wholly accurate +term which covers several theories. The Upanishads sometimes speak of +the union of the soul with Brahman or its absorption in Brahman (_e.g._ +Maitr. Up. VI. 22, _Sâyujyatvam_ and _aśabde nidhanam eti_) but the soul +is more frequently stated to be Brahman or a part of Brahman and its +task is not to effect any act of union but simply to _know_ its own +nature. This knowledge is in itself emancipation. The well-known simile +which compares the soul to a river flowing into the sea is found in the +Upanishads (Chând. VI. 10. 1, Mund. III. 2, Praśna, VI. 5) but Śankara +(on Brahma S. I. iv. 21-22) evidently feels uneasy about it. From his +point of view the soul is not so much a river as a bay which _is_ the +sea, if the landscape can be seen properly.] + +[Footnote 190: The Mâṇḍukya Up. calls the fourth state +_ekâtmapratyayasâra_, founded solely on the certainty of its own self +and Gauḍapâda says that in it there awakes the eternal which neither +dreams nor sleeps. (Kâr. I. 15. See also III. 34 and 36.)] + +[Footnote 191: Bṛ.-Âraṇyaka, IV. 3. 33.] + +[Footnote 192: Cf. Bradley, _Appearance and Reality_, p. 244. "The +perfect ... means the identity of idea and existence, attended also by +pleasure."] + +[Footnote 193: Tait. Up. II. 1-9. See too ib. III. 6.] + +[Footnote 194: Bṛ.-Âran. III. 8. 10. See too VI. 2.15, speaking of those +who in the forest worship the truth with faith.] + +[Footnote 195: Chândog. Up. IV. 10. 5.] + +[Footnote 196: It occurs Katha. Up. II. v. 13, 15, also in the +Śvetâśvatara and Muṇḍaka Upanishads and there are similar words in the +Bhagavad-gîtâ. "This is that" means that the individual soul is the same +as Brahman.] + +[Footnote 197: The Nṙisiṁhottaratapanîya Up. I. says that Îśvara is +swallowed up in the Turîya.] + +[Footnote 198: But still ancient and perhaps anterior to the Christian +era.] + +[Footnote 199: Śvet. Up. VI. 7.] + +[Footnote 200: Śvet. Up. IV. 3. Max Müller's translation. The commentary +attributed to Śankara explains nîlaḣ pataṅgaḣ as bhramaraḣ but Deussen +seems to think it means a bird.] + +[Footnote 201: Chând. Up. vi. 14. 1. Śat. Brâh. viii. 1. 4. 10.] + +[Footnote 202: The Brahmans are even called low-born as compared with +Kshatriyas and in the Ambattha Sutta (Dig. Nik. iii.) the Buddha +demonstrates to a Brahman who boasts of his caste that the usages of +Hindu society prove that "the Kshatriyas are higher and the Brahmans +lower," seeing that the child of a mixed union between the castes is +accepted by the Brahmans as one of themselves but not by the Kshatriyas, +because he is not of pure descent.] + +[Footnote 203: He had learnt the Veda and Upanishads. Brih.-Âr. iv. 2. +1.] + +[Footnote 204: Chând. Up. v. 3. 7, Kaush. Up. iv., Brih.-Âr. Up. ii. 1. +The Kshatriyas seem to have regarded the doctrine of the two paths which +can be taken by the soul after death (_devayâna_ and _pitriyâna_, the +latter involving return to earth and transmigration) as their special +property.] + +[Footnote 205: Literally set in front, præfectus.] + +[Footnote 206: Śat. Brâh. ii. 4. 4. 5.] + +[Footnote 207: Śat. Brâh. iv. 1. 4. 1-6.] + +[Footnote 208: The legends of Vena, Paraśurâma and others indicate the +prevalence of considerable hostility between Brahmans and Kshatriyas at +some period.] + +[Footnote 209: Brahmacârin, Grihastha, Vanaprastha, Sannyâsin.] + +[Footnote 210: Thus in the Bṛih.-Âraṇ. Yajñavalkya retires to the +forest. But even the theory of three stages was at this time only in the +making, for the last section of the Chândogya Up. expressly authorizes a +religious man to spend all his life as a householder after completing +his studentship and the account given of the stages in Chând. ii. 21 is +not very clear.] + +[Footnote 211: Śat. Brâh. xi. 5. 6. 8. Cf. the lists in the Chândogya +Upanishad vii. secs. 1, 2 and 7.] + +[Footnote 212: In southern India at the present day it is the custom for +Brahmans to live as Agnihotris and maintain the sacred fire for a few +days after their marriage.] + +[Footnote 213: See Thurston, _Castes and Tribes of Southern India_, vol. +v. s.v.] + +[Footnote 214: The Emperor Jehangir writing about 1616 implies that the +Aśramas, which he describes, were observed by the Brahmans of that time. +See his _Memoirs_, edited by Beveridge, pp. 357-359.] + +[Footnote 215: Śat. Brâh. I. 7. 2. 1. Cf. Tait. Brâh. VI. 3. 10. 5.] + +[Footnote 216: Such as those built by Jânaśruti Pautrâyaṇa. See Chând. +Up. IV. 1.] + +[Footnote 217: Śat. Brâh. XI. 4. 1. 1.] + +[Footnote 218: Śat. Brâh. ii. 2. 2. 6 and iv. 3. 4. 4.] + +[Footnote 219: Śat. Brâh. iv. 3. 4. 2.] + +[Footnote 220: Vishnu Pur. iii. 5.] + +[Footnote 221: Śat. Brâh. iii. 8. 2. 24. Yâjñavalkya is the principal +authority cited in books i-v and x-xiv of this Brâhmaṇa, but not in +books vi-ix, which perhaps represent an earlier treatise incorporated in +the text.] + +[Footnote 222: Or "in confidence." Śat. Brâh. xi. 3. 1. 4.] + +[Footnote 223: Brih.-Âr. iii. 2. 13.] + +[Footnote 224: In the Pali Pitaka the Buddha is represented as preaching +in the land of the Kurus.] + +[Footnote 225: These are the Pali forms. The Sanskrit equivalents are +Parivrâjaka and Śramaṇa.] + +[Footnote 226: See for instance Mahâv. II. 1 and III. 1.] + +[Footnote 227: Dig. Nik. 1.] + +[Footnote 228: See O. Schrader, _Stand der indischen Philosophie zur +Zeit Mahâvîras und Buddhas_, 1902. + +See also Ang. Nik. vol. III. p. 276 and Rhys Davids' _Dialogues of the +Buddha_, I. pp. 220 ff. But these passages give one an impression of the +multitude of ascetic confraternities rather than a clear idea of their +different views.] + +[Footnote 229: It finds expression in two hymns of the Atharva Veda, +XIX. 53 and 54. Cf. too Gauḍap. Kâr. 8. Kâlât prasûtim bhutânâm manyante +kâlacintakâh.] + +[Footnote 230: Dîgha Nikâya II. The opinions of the six teachers are +quoted as being answers to a question put to them by King Ajâtasattu, +namely, What is gained by renouncing the world? Judged as such, they are +irrelevant but they probably represent current statements as to the +doctrine of each sect. The six teachers are also mentioned in several +other passages of the Dîgha and Maj. Nikâyas and also in the +Sutta-Nipâta. It is clear that at a very early period the list of their +names had become the usual formula for summarizing the teaching +prevalent in the time of Gotama which was neither Brahmanic nor +Buddhist.] + +[Footnote 231: Dig. Nik. I. 23-28.] + +[Footnote 232: A rather defiant materialism preaching, "Let us eat and +drink for to-morrow we die," crops up in India in various ages though +never very prominent.] + +[Footnote 233: But possibly the ascetics described by it were only +Digambara Jains.] + +[Footnote 234: See especially the article Âjîvikas by Hoernle, in +Hastings' _Dictionary of Religion_. Also Hoernle, _Uvâsagadasao_, +appendix, pp. 1-29. Rockhill, _Life of the Buddha_, pp. 249 ff. +Schrader, _Stand der indischen Philosophie zur Zeit Mahâvíras und +Buddhas_, p. 32. Sûtrakritânga II. 6.] + +[Footnote 235: Makkhali lived some time with Mahâvira, but they +quarrelled. But his followers, though they may not have been a united +body so much as other sects, had definite characteristics.] + +[Footnote 236: _E.g._ Śat. Brâh. v. 4. 4. 13. "He thus encloses the +Vaiśya and Śûdra on both sides by the priesthood and nobility and makes +them submissive."] + +[Footnote 237: See Śânkhâyana Âraṇyaka. Trans. Keith, pp. viii-xi, 78 +85. Also Aitareya Âraṇ. book v.] + +[Footnote 238: Cf. the ritual for the Horse sacrifice. ['Sat]. Brâh, +xiii. 2. 8, and Hillebrandt, _Vedische Opfer_., p. 152.] + +[Footnote 239: Supplemented by the Kauśika Sûtra, which, whatever its +age may be, has preserved a record of very ancient usages.] + +[Footnote 240: _E.g._ I. 10. This hymn, like many others, seems to +combine several moral and intellectual stages, the level at which the +combination was possible not being very high. On the one hand Varuṇa is +the Lord of Law and of Truth who punishes moral offences with dropsy. On +the other, the sorcerer "releases" the patient from Varuṇa by charms, +without imposing any moral penance, and offers the god a thousand other +men, provided that this particular victim is released.] + +[Footnote 241: _E.g._ VII. 116, VI. 105, VI. 83.] + +[Footnote 242: _E.g._ V. 7, XI. 9.] + +[Footnote 243: _E.g._ V. 4, XIX. 39, IV. 37, II. 8, XIX. 34, VIII. 7.] + +[Footnote 244: A. V XI. 6.] + +[Footnote 245: See, for instance, Du Bose, _The Dragon, Image and +Demon_, 1887, pp. 320-344.] + +[Footnote 246: Aṭânâṭiya and Mahâsamaya. Dig. Nik. XX. and XXXII.] + +[Footnote 247: See Crooke's _Popular Religion of Northern India_, vol. +II. chap. ii.] + +[Footnote 248: In the Brahma-Jala and subsequent suttas of the Dîgha +Nikâya.] + +[Footnote 249: See Rhys Davids' _Dialogues of the Buddha_, vol. I. p. 7, +note 4, and authorities there quoted.] + +[Footnote 250: Krishna is perhaps mentioned in the Chând. Up. III. 17. +6, but in any case not as a deity.] + +[Footnote 251: See, besides the translations mentioned below, Bühler, +_Ueber die indische Secte der Jainas_ 1887; Hoernle, _Metaphysics and +Ethics of the Jainas_ 1908; and Guérinot, _Essai de Bibliographie Jaina_ +and _Répertoire d'Épigraphie Jaina_; Jagmanderlal Jaini, _Outlines of +Jainism_; Jacobi's article Jainism in _E.R.E._. Much information may +also be found in Mrs Stevenson's _Heart of Jainism_. Winternitz, +_Geschichte d. Indischen Literatur_, vol. II. part II. (1920) treats of +Jain literature but I have not been able to see it.] + +[Footnote 252: In _J.R.A.S._ 1917, pp. 122-130 s.v. Venkateśvara argues +that Vardhamâna died about 437 B.C. and that the Nigaṇṭhas of the +Pitakas were followers of Parśva. His arguments deserve consideration +but he seems not to lay sufficient emphasis on the facts that _(a)_ +according to the Buddhist scriptures the Buddha and Gosâla were +contemporaries, while according to the Jain scriptures Gosâla and +Vardhamâna were contemporaries, _(b)_ in the Buddhist scriptures +Nâtaputta is the representative of the Nigaṇṭhas, while according to the +Jain scriptures Vardhamâna was of the Ñata clan.] + +[Footnote 253: The atoms are either simple or compound and from their +combinations are produced the four elements, earth, wind, fire and +water, and the whole material universe. For a clear statement of the +modern Jain doctrine about _dharma_ and _adharma_, see Jagmanderlal +Jaini, l.c. pp. 22 ff.] + +[Footnote 254: Jîva, ajîva, âsrava, bandha, saṃvara, nirjarâ, moksha. +The principles are sometimes made nine by the addition of _punya_, +merit, and _pâpa_, sin.] + +[Footnote 255: Paudgalikam karma. It would seem that all these ideas +about Karma should be taken in a literal and material sense. Karma, +which is a specially subtle form of matter able to enter, stain and +weigh down the soul, is of eight kinds (1 and 2) jñâna- and +darśana-varanîya impede knowledge and faith, which the soul naturally +possesses; (3) mohanîya causes delusion; (4) vedanîya brings pleasure +and pain; (5) ayushka fixes the length of life; (6) nâma furnishes +individual characteristics, and (7) gotra generic; (8) antarâya hinders +the development of good qualities.] + +[Footnote 256: Kevalam also called Jñâna, moksha, nirvâṇa. The nirvâṇa +of the Jains is clearly not incompatible with the continuance of +intelligence and knowledge.] + +[Footnote 257: Uttarâdhyâyana XXXVI. 64-68 in _S.B.E._ XLV. pp. +212-213.] + +[Footnote 258: _S.B.E._ XLV. p. xxvii. Bhandarkar Report for 1883-4, pp. +95 ff.] + +[Footnote 259: Somewhat similar seems to be the relation of Jainism to +the Vaiśeshika philosophy. It accepted an early form of the atomic +theory and this theory was subsequently elaborated in the philosophy +whose founder Kaṇâda was according to the Jains a pupil of a Jain +ascetic.] + +[Footnote 260: _E.g._ see Acarânga S. I. 7. 6.] + +[Footnote 261: They seem to have authority to formulate it in a form +suitable to the needs of the age. Thus we are told that Parśva enjoined +four vows but Mahâvîra five.] + +[Footnote 262: When Gotama after attaining Buddhahood was on his way to +Benares he met Upaka, a naked ascetic, to whom he declared that he was +the Supreme Buddha. Then, said Upaka, you profess to be the Jina, and +Gotama replied that he did, "Tasmâ 'ham Upakâ jinoti." (Mahâvag. I. 6. +10.)] + +[Footnote 263: The exact period is 100 billion sâgaras of years. A +sâgara is 100,000,000,000 palyas. A palya is the period in which a well +a mile deep filled with fine hairs can be emptied if one hair is +withdrawn every hundred years.] + +[Footnote 264: See M. Bloomfield, _Life and Stories of Pârçvanâtha_ +(1919).] + +[Footnote 265: See the discussions between followers of Parśva and +Mahâvîra given in Uttarâdhyâyana XXIV. and Sûtrakritânga II. 7.] + +[Footnote 266: There are many references to the Nigaṇṭhas in the +Buddhist scriptures and the Buddha, while by no means accepting their +views, treats them with tolerance. Thus he bade Siha, General of the +Licchavis, who became his disciple after being an adherent of Nâtaputta +to continue to give alms as before to Nigaṇṭha ascetics (Mahâvag. VI. +32).] + +[Footnote 267: Especially among the Âjîvikas. Their leader Gosâla had a +personal quarrel with Mahâvîra but his teaching was almost identical +except that he was a fatalist.] + +[Footnote 268: Uttarâdhyâyana. XXIII. 29.] + +[Footnote 269: According to Śvetâmbara tradition there was a great +schism 609 years after Mahâvîra's death. The canon was not fixed until +904 (? 454 A.D.) of the same era. The Digambara traditions are different +but appear to be later.] + +[Footnote 270: See especially Guérinot, _Répertoire d'Éipigraphie +Jaina_] + +[Footnote 271: So Bühler, Pillar Edict no. VIII. Senart Inscrip. de +Piyadasi II. 97 translates somewhat differently, but the reference to +the Jains is not disputed.] + +[Footnote 272: Rock Edict VI.] + +[Footnote 273: Rice _(Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions_, 1909, p. +310) thinks that certain inscriptions at Sravana Belgola in Mysore +establish that this tradition is true and also that the expedition was +accompanied by King Candragupta who had abdicated and become a Jain +ascetic. But this interpretation has been much criticised. It is +probably true that a migration occurred and increased the differences +which ultimately led to the division into Śvetâmbaras and Digambaras.] + +[Footnote 274: Guérinot, _Épig. Jaina_, no. 11.] + +[Footnote 275: Rice, _Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions_, 1909, pp. +113-114, 207-208.] + +[Footnote 276: Similar tolerance is attested by inscriptions (_e.g._ +Guérinot, nos. 522 and 5776) recording donations to both Jain and Saiva +temples.] + +[Footnote 277: They also make a regular practice of collecting and +rearing young animals which the owners throw away or wish to kill.] + +[Footnote 278: Or Sthânakavâsi. See for them _Census of India_, 1911, 1. +p. 127 and _Baroda_, p. 93. The sect waa founded about A.D. 1653.] + +[Footnote 279: Their names are as follows in Jain Prakrit, the Sanskrit +equivalent being given in bracketa: + + 1. *Âyârângasuttam (Âcârânga). + 2. *Sûyagadangam (Sûtrakṛitângam). + 3. Thânangam (Sthâ.). + 4. Samavâyangam. + 5. Viyâhapaññatti (Vyâkhyâprajnâpti). This work is commonly known + as the Bhagavatî. + 6. Ñâyâdhammakahâo (Jñâtadharmakathâ). + 7. *Uvâsagadasao (Upâsakadasâh). + 8. *Antagadadasao (Antakritad.). + 9. *Anuttarovavâidasâo (Anuttaraupapâtikad.). + 10. Panhâvâgaranâim (Prasnavyakaraṇâni). + 11. Vivâgasuyam (Vipâkasrutam). + +The books marked with an asterisk have been translated by Jacobi +(_S.B.E._ vols. XXII. and XIV.), Hoernle and Barnett. See too Weber, +_Indischie Studien_, Bd. XVI. pp. 211-479 and Bd. XVIII. pp. 1-90.] + +[Footnote 280: It is called Ârsha or Ardha-Mâgadhi and is the literary +form of the vernacular of Berar in the early centuries of the Christian +era. See H. Jacobi, Ausgewählte Erzählungen in _Maharashtri_, and +introduction to edition of _Ayarânga-sutta_.] + +[Footnote 281: The titles given in note 2 illustrate aome of its +peculiarities.] + +[Footnote 282: When I visited Sravana Belgola in 1910, the head of the +Jains there, who professed to be a Digambara, though dressed in purple +raiment, informed me that their sacred works were partly in Sanskrit and +partly in Prakrit. He showed me a book called Trilokasâra.] + +[Footnote 283: But see Jagmanderlal Jaini, l.c. appendix V.] + +[Footnote 284: Compare for instance Uttarâdyayana X., XXIII. and XXV. +with the Sutta-Nipâta and Dhammapada.] + +[Footnote 285: I have only visited establishments in towns. Possibly +Yatis who follow a severer rule may be found in the country, especially +among Digambaras.] + +[Footnote 286: In Gujarat they are called Cho-mukhji and it is said that +when a Tîrthankara preached in the midst of his audience each side saw +him facing them. In Burma the four figures are generally said to be the +last four Buddhas.] + +[Footnote 287: This seems clear from the presence in Burma of the +curvilinear sikra and even of copies of Indian temples, _e.g._ of +Bodh-Gaya at Pagan. Burmese pilgrims to Gaya might easily have visited +Mt Parasnath on their way.] + +[Footnote 288: I have this information from the Jain Guru at Sravana +Belgola. He said that Gomateśvara (who seems unknown to the Śvetâmbaras) +waa a Kevalin but not a Tîrthankara.] + +[Footnote 289: Two others, rather smaller, are known, one at Karkâl +(dated 1431) and one at Yannur. These images are honoured at occasional +festivals (one was held at Sravana Belgola in 1910) attended by a +considerable concourse of Jains. The type of the statues is not +Buddhist. They are nude and represent sages meditating in a standing +position whereas Buddhists prescribe a sitting posture for meditation.] + +[Footnote 290: The mountain of Satrunjaya rises above Palitâna, the +capital of a native state in Gujarat. Other collections of temples are +found on the hill of Parasnath in Bengal, at Sonâgir near Datiâ, and +Muktagiri near Gâwîlgarh. There are also a good many on the hills above +Rajgîr.] + +[Footnote 291: The strength of Buddhism in Burma and Siam is no doubt +largely due to the fact that custom obliges every one to spend part of +his life—if only a few days—as a member of the order.] + +[Footnote 292: One might perhaps add to this list the Skoptsy of Russia +and the Armenian colonies in many European and Asiatic towns.] + +[Footnote 293: Throughout this book I have not hesitated to make use of +the many excellent translations of Pali works which have been published. +Students of Indian religion need hardly be reminded how much our +knowledge of Pali writings and of early Buddhism owes to the labours of +Professor and Mrs Rhys Davids.] + +[Footnote 294: Sanskrit Sûtra, Pali Sutta. But the use of the words is +not quite the same in Buddhist and Brahmanic literature. A Buddhist +sutta or sûtra is a discourse, whether in Pali or in Sanskrit; a +Brahmanic sûtra is an aphorism. But the 227 divisions of the Pâtimokkha +are called Suttas, so that the word may have been originally used in +Pali to denote short statements of a single point. The longer Suttas are +often called Suttanta.] + +[Footnote 295: _E.g._ Maj. Nik. 123 about the marvels attending the +birth of a Buddha.] + +[Footnote 296: See some further remarks on this subject at the end of +chap. XIII. (on the Canon).] + +[Footnote 297: Also Sakya or Sakka. The Sanskrit form is Śâkya.] + +[Footnote 298: See among other passages the Ambaṭṭha Sutta of the Dîgha +Nikâya in which Ambattha relates how he saw the Sâkyas, old and young, +sitting on grand seats in this hall.] + +[Footnote 299: But in Cullavagga VII. 1 Bhaddiya, a cousin of the Buddha +who is described as being the Râjâ at that time, says when thinking of +renouncing the world "Wait whilst I hand over the kingdom to my sons and +my brothers," which seems to imply that the kingdom was a family +possession. Rajja perhaps means Consulship in the Roman sense rather +than kingdom.] + +[Footnote 300: E.g. the Sonadaṇḍa and Kûṭadanta Suttas of the Dîgha +Nikâya.] + +[Footnote 301: Sanskrit Kapilavastu: red place or red earth.] + +[Footnote 302: Tradition is unanimous that he died in his eightieth year +and hitherto it has been generally supposed that this was about 487 +B.C., so that he would have been born a little before 560. But Vincent +Smith now thinks that he died about 543 B.C. See _J.R.A.S._ 1918, p. +547. He was certainly contemporary with kings Bimbisâra and Ajâtasattu, +dying in the reign of the latter. His date therefore depends on the +chronology of the Śaisunâga and Nanda dynasties, for which new data are +now available.] + +[Footnote 303: It was some time before the word came to mean definitely +the Buddha. In Udâna 1.5, which is not a very early work, a number of +disciples including Devadatta are described as being all _Buddhâ_.] + +[Footnote 304: The Chinese translators render this word by Ju-lai (he +who has come thus). As they were in touch with the best Indian +tradition, this translation seems to prove that Tathâgata is equivalent +to Tathâ-âgata not to Tâtha-gata and the meaning must be, he who has +come in the proper manner; a holy man who conforms to a type and is one +in a series of Buddhas or Jinas.] + +[Footnote 305: See the article on the neighbouring country of Magadha in +Macdonell and Keith's _Vedic Index_.] + +[Footnote 306: Cf. the Ratthapâla-sutta.] + +[Footnote 307: Mahâv. I. 54. 1.] + +[Footnote 308: Devadûtavagga. Ang. Nik. III. 35.] + +[Footnote 309: But the story is found in the Mahâpadâna-sutta. See also +Winternitz, _J.R.A.S._ 1911, p. 1146.] + +[Footnote 310: He mentions that he had three palaces or houses, for the +hot, cold and rainy seasons respectively, but this is not necessarily +regal for the same words are used of Yasa, the son of a Treasurer +(Mahâv. 1. 7. 1) and Anuruddha, a Sâkyan noble (Cullav. VII. 1. 1).] + +[Footnote 311: In the Sonadaṇḍa-sutta and elsewhere.] + +[Footnote 312: The Pabbajjâ-sutta.] + +[Footnote 313: Maj. Nik. Ariyapariyesana-sutta. It is found in +substantially the same form in the Mahâsaccaka-sutta and the +Bodhirâjakumâra-sutta.] + +[Footnote 314: The teaching of Alâra Kâlâma led to rebirth in the sphere +called akiñcañ-ñâyatanam or the sphere in which nothing at all is +specially present to the mind and that of Uddaka Râmaputta to rebirth in +the sphere where neither any idea nor the absence of any idea is +specially present to the mind. These expressions occur elsewhere (_e.g._ +in the Mahâparinibbâna-sutta) as names of stages in meditation or of +incorporeal worlds (arûpabrahmâloka) where those states prevail. Some +mysterious utterances of Uddaka are preserved in Sam. Nik. XXXV. 103.] + +[Footnote 315: Underhill, _Introd. to Mysticism_, p. 387.] + +[Footnote 316: Sam. Nik. XXXVI. 19.] + +[Footnote 317: The Lalita Vistara says Alâra lived at Vesâlî and Uddaka +in Magadha.] + +[Footnote 318: The following account is based on Maj. Nik. suttas 85 and +26. Compare the beginning of the Mahâvagga of the Vinaya.] + +[Footnote 319: Maj. Nik. 12. See too Dig. Nik. 8.] + +[Footnote 320: If this discourse is regarded as giving in substance +Gotama's own version of his experiences, it need not be supposed to mean +much more than that his good angel (in European language) bade him not +take his own life. But the argument represented as appealing to him was +that if spirits sustained him with supernatural nourishment, entire +abstinence from food would be a useless pretence.] + +[Footnote 321: The remarkable figures known as "fasting Buddhas" in +Lahore Museum and elsewhere represent Gotama in this condition and show +very plainly the falling in of the belly.] + +[Footnote 322: Âsava. The word appears to mean literally an intoxicating +essence. See _e.g._ Vinaya, vol. IV. p. 110 (Rhys Davids and Oldenburg's +ed.). Cf. the use of the word in Sanskrit.] + +[Footnote 323: Nâparam itthattâyâti. Itthattam is a substantive formed +from ittham thus. It was at this time too that he thought out the chain +of causation.] + +[Footnote 324: Tradition states that it was on this occasion that he +uttered the well-known stanzas now found in the Dhammapada 154-5 (cf. +Theragâthâ 183) in which he exults in having, after long search in +repeated births, found the maker of the house. "Now, O maker of the +house thou art seen: no more shalt thou make a house." The lines which +follow are hard to translate. The ridge-pole of the house has been +destroyed (visankhitaṃ more literally de-com-posed) and so the mind +passes beyond the sankhâras (visankhâragataṃ). The play of words in +visankhitaṃ and visankhâra can hardly be rendered in English.] + +[Footnote 325: As Rhys Davids observes, this expression means "to found +the Kingdom of Righteousness" but the metaphor is to make the wheels of +the chariot of righteousness move unopposed over all the Earth.] + +[Footnote 326: At the modern Sarnath.] + +[Footnote 327: It is from this point that he begins to use this title in +speaking of himself.] + +[Footnote 328: Similar heavenly messages were often received by +Christian mystics and were probably true as subjective experiences. Thus +Suso was visited one Whitsunday by a heavenly messenger who bade him +cease his mortifications.] + +[Footnote 329: It is the Pipal tree or Ficus religiosa, as is mentioned +in the Dîgha Nikâya, XIV. 30, not the Banyan. Its leaves have long +points and tremble continually. Popular fancy says this is in memory of +the tremendous struggle which they witnessed.] + +[Footnote 330: Such are the Padhâna-sutta of the Sutta-Nipâta which has +an air of antiquity and the tales in the Mahâvagga of the +Saṃyutta-Nikâya. The Mahâvagga of the Vinaya (I. 11 and 13) mentions +such an encounter but places it considerably later after the conversion +of the five monks and of Yasa.] + +[Footnote 331: The text is also found in the Saṃyutta-Nikâya.] + +[Footnote 332: Concisely stated as suffering, the cause of suffering, +the suppression of suffering and the method of effecting that +suppression.] + +[Footnote 333: Writers on Buddhism use this word in various forms, +arhat, arahat and arahant. Perhaps it is best to use the Sanskrit form +arhat just as karma and nirvana are commonly used instead of the Pali +equivalents.] + +[Footnote 334: I.15-20.] + +[Footnote 335: Brahmayoni. I make this suggestion about grass fires +because I have myself watched them from this point.] + +[Footnote 336: This meal, the only solid one in the day, was taken a +little before midday.] + +[Footnote 337: I. 53-54.] + +[Footnote 338: His father.] + +[Footnote 339: _I.e._ the Buddha's former wife.] + +[Footnote 340: Half brother of the Buddha and Suddhodana'a son by +Mahâprajâpatî.] + +[Footnote 341: Jâtaka, 356.] + +[Footnote 342: Mahâvag. III. 1.] + +[Footnote 343: Thus we hear how Dasama of Atthakam (Maj. Nik. 52) built +one for fifteen hundred monks, and Ghotamukha another in Pataliputta, +which bore his name.] + +[Footnote 344: Maj. Nik. 53.] + +[Footnote 345: Cullavag. VI. 4.] + +[Footnote 346: Probably sheds consisting of a roof set on posts, but +without walls.] + +[Footnote 347: Translated by Rhys Davids, _American Lectures_, pp. 108 +ff.] + +[Footnote 348: _E.g._ Maj. Nik. 62.] + +[Footnote 349: But in Maj. Nik. II. 5 he says he is not bound by rules +as to eating.] + +[Footnote 350: Maj. Nik. 147.] + +[Footnote 351: In an exceedingly curious passage (Dig. Nik. IV.) the +Brahman Sonadaṇḍa, while accepting the Buddha's teaching, asks to be +excused from showing the Buddha such extreme marks of respect as rising +from his seat or dismounting from his chariot, on the ground that his +reputation would suffer. He proposes and apparently is allowed to +substitute less demonstrative salutations.] + +[Footnote 352: Cullavagga V. 21 and Maj. Nik. 85.] + +[Footnote 353: Visâkhâ, a lady of noted piety. It was probably a raised +garden planted with trees.] + +[Footnote 354: Maj. Nik. 110.] + +[Footnote 355: Dig. Nik. No. 2. Compare Jâtaka 150, which shows how much +variation was permitted in the words ascribed to the Buddha.] + +[Footnote 356: Sam. Nik. XLII. 7.] + +[Footnote 357: Mahâparinib-sutta, 6. 20. The monk Subhadda, in whose +mouth these words are put, was apparently not the person of the same +name who was the last convert made by the Buddha when dying.] + +[Footnote 358: His personal name was Upatissa.] + +[Footnote 359: This position was also held, previously no doubt, by +Sagata.] + +[Footnote 360: Mahavâg. X. 2. Compare the singular anecdote in VI. 22 +where the Buddha quite unjustifiably suspects a Doctor of making an +indelicate joke. The story seems to admit that the Buddha might be wrong +and also that he was sometimes treated with want of respect.] + +[Footnote 361: VII. 2 ff.] + +[Footnote 362: The introductions to Jâtakas 26 and 150 say that +Ajâtasattu built a great monastery for him at Gayâsîsa.] + +[Footnote 363: The Buddha says so himself (Dig. Nik. II.) but does not +mention the method.] + +[Footnote 364: The Dhamma-sangaṇī defines courtesy as being of two +kinds: hospitality and considerateness in matters of doctrine.] + +[Footnote 365: Maj. Nik. 75.] + +[Footnote 366: Mahāv. vi. 31. 11.] + +[Footnote 367: Cullavag. x. 1. 3.] + +[Footnote 368: Mahâparinib. V. 23. Perhaps the Buddha was supposed to be +giving Ânanda last warnings about his besetting weakness.] + +[Footnote 369: Udâna 1. 8.] + +[Footnote 370: Compare too the language of Angela of Foligno (1248-1309) +"By God's will there died my mother who was a great hindrance unto me in +following the way of God: my husband died likewise and all my children. +And because I had commenced to follow the aforesaid way and had prayed +God that he would rid me of them, I had great consolation of their +deaths, although I did also feel some grief." Beatae Angelae de Fulginio +Visionum et Instructionum Liber. Cap. ix.] + +[Footnote 371: No account of this event has yet been found in the +earliest texts but it is no doubt historical. The versions found in the +Jâtaka and Commentaries trace it back to a quarrel about a marriage, but +the story is not very clear or consistent and the real motive was +probably that indicated above.] + +[Footnote 372: See Rhys Davids, _Dialogues_, II. p. 70 and Przyluski's +articles (in _J.A_. 1918 ff.) Le Parinirvana et les funérailles du +Bouddha where the Pali texts are compared with the Mûlasarvâstivâdin +Vinaya and with other accounts.] + +[Footnote 373: This was probably written after Pâṭaliputra had become a +great city but we do not know when its rise commenced.] + +[Footnote 374: She was a noted character in Vesâlî. In Mahâvag. viii. 1, +people are represented as saying that it was through her the place was +so flourishing and that it would be a good thing if there were some one +like her in Râjagaha.] + +[Footnote 375: The whole passage is interesting as displaying even in +the Pali Canon the germs of the idea that the Buddha is an eternal +spirit only partially manifested in the limits of human life. In the +Mahâparinib.-sutta Gotama is only voluntarily subject to natural death.] + +[Footnote 376: The phrase occurs again in the Sutta-Nipâta. Its meaning +is not clear to me.] + +[Footnote 377: The text seems to represent him as crossing first a +streamlet and then the river.] + +[Footnote 378: It is not said how much time elapsed between the meal at +Cunda's and the arrival at Kusinârâ but since it was his last meal, he +probably arrived the same afternoon.] + +[Footnote 379: Cf. Lyall's poem, on a Rajput Chief of the Old School, +who when nearing his end has to leave his pleasure garden in order that +he may die in the ancestral castle.] + +[Footnote 380: Dig. Nik. 17 and Jâtaka 95.] + +[Footnote 381: It is said that this discipline was efficacious and that +Channa became an Arhat.] + +[Footnote 382: It is difficult to find a translation of these words +which is both accurate and natural in the mouth of a dying man. The Pali +text _vayadhammâ saṅkhârâ_ (transitory-by-nature are the Saṅkhâras) is +brief and simple but any correct and adequate rendering sounds +metaphysical and is dramatically inappropriate. Perhaps the rendering +"All compound things must decompose" expresses the Buddha's meaning +best. But the verbal antithesis between compound and decomposing is not +in the original and though saṅkhâra is etymologically the equivalent of +confection or synthesis it hardly means what we call a compound thing as +opposed to a simple thing.] + +[Footnote 383: The Buddha before his death had explained that the corpse +of a Buddha should be treated like the corpse of a universal monarch. It +should be wrapped in layers of new cloth and laid in an iron vessel of +oil. Then it should be burnt and a Dagoba should be erected at four +cross roads.] + +[Footnote 384: The Mallas had two capitals, Kusinârâ and Pâvâ, +corresponding to two subdivisions of the tribe.] + +[Footnote 385: Theragâthâ 557 ff. Water to refresh tired and dusty feet +is commonly offered to anyone who comes from a distance.] + +[Footnote 386: Mahâvag. VIII. 26.] + +[Footnote 387: _E.g._ Therîgâthâ 133 ff. It should also be remembered +that orientals, particularly Chinese and Japanese, find Christ's +behaviour to his mother as related in the gospels very strange.] + +[Footnote 388: _E.g._ Roja, the Malta, in Mahâvag. VI. 36 and the +account of the interview with the Five Monks in the Nidânakathâ (Rhys +Davids, _Budd. Birth Stories_, p. 112).] + +[Footnote 389: _E.g._ Maj. Nik. 36.] + +[Footnote 390: Dig. Nik. XVII. and V.] + +[Footnote 391: Maj. Nik. 57.] + +[Footnote 392: Mahâparib. Sutta, I. 61.] + +[Footnote 393: The earliest sources for these legends are the Mahâvastu, +the Sanskrit Vinayas (preserved in Chinese translations), the Lalita +Vistara, the Introduction to the Jâtaka and the Buddha-carita. For +Burmese, Sinhalese, Tibetan and Chinese lives of the Buddha, see the +works of Bigandet, Hardy, Rockhill and Schiefner, Wieger and Beal. See +also Foucher, _Liste indienne des actes du Buddha_ and Hackin, _Scènes +de la Vie du Buddha d'après des peintures tibétaines_.] + +[Footnote 394: It was the full moon of the month Vaiśâkha.] + +[Footnote 395: The best known of the later biographies of the Buddha, +such as the Lalita Vistara and the Buddha-carita of Aśvaghosha stop +short after the Enlightenment.] + +[Footnote 396: There are some curious coincidences of detail between the +Buddha and Confucius. Both disliked talking about prodigies (Analects. +V11. 20) Confucius concealed nothing from his disciples (ib. 23), just +as the Buddha had no "closed fist," but he would not discuss the +condition of the dead (Anal. xi. 11), just as the Buddha held it +unprofitable to discuss the fate of the saint after death. Neither had +any great opinion of the spirits worshipped in their respective +countries.] + +[Footnote 397: Maj. Nik. 143.] + +[Footnote 398: The miraculous cure of Suppiyâ (Mahâvag. VI. 23) is no +exception. She was ill not because of the effects of Karma but because, +according to the legend, she had cut off a piece of her flesh to cure a +sick monk who required meat broth. The Buddha healed her.] + +[Footnote 399: The most human and kindly portrait of the Buddha is that +furnished by the Commentary on the Thera- and Therî-gâthâ. See +Thera-gâthâ xxx, xxxi and Mrs Rhys Davids' trans. of _Therî-gâthâ_, pp. +71, 79.] + +[Footnote 400: John xvii. 9. But he prayed for his executioners.] + +[Footnote 401: John vii. 19-20.] + +[Footnote 402: See chap. VIII. of this book.] + +[Footnote 403: Cullavag, IX, I. IV.] + +[Footnote 404: Sam. Nik. LVI. 31.] + +[Footnote 405: Udâna VI. 4. The story is that a king bade a number of +blind men examine an elephant and describe its shape. Some touched the +legs, some the tusks, some the tail and so on and gave descriptions +accordingly, but none had any idea of the general shape.] + +[Footnote 406: Or "determined."] + +[Footnote 407: Or form: _rûpa_.] + +[Footnote 408: The word Jiva, sometimes translated _soul_, is not +equivalent to _âtman_. It seems to be a general expression for all the +immaterial side of a human being. It is laid down (Dig. Nik. VI. and +VII.) that it is fruitless to speculate whether the Jiva is distinct +from the body or not.] + +[Footnote 409: Saññâ like many technical Buddhist terms is difficult to +render adequately, because it does not cover the same ground as any one +English word. Its essential meaning is recognition by a mark. When we +perceive a blue thing we recognize it as blue and as like other blue +things that we have marked. See Mrs Rhys Davids, Dhamma-Sangaṇi, p. 8.] + +[Footnote 410: The Saṃyutta-Nikâya XXII. 79. 8 states that the Sankhâras +are so-called because they compose what is compound (sankhatam).] + +[Footnote 411: Maj. Nik. 44.] + +[Footnote 412: In this sense Sankhâra has also some affinity to the +Sanskrit use of Saṃskâra to mean a sacramental rite. It is the essential +nature of such a rite to produce a special effect. So too the Sankhâras +present in one existence inevitably produce their effect in the next +existence. For Sankhâra see also the long note by S.Z. Aung at the end +of the _Compendium of Philosophy_ (P.T.S. 1910).] + +[Footnote 413: The use of this word for Viññâṇa is, I believe, due to +Mrs Rhys Davids.] + +[Footnote 414: See especially Maj. Nik. 38.] + +[Footnote 415: Pali, Khanda. But it has become the custom to use the +Sanskrit term. Cf. Karma, nirvâna.] + +[Footnote 416: See Sam. Nik. XII. 62. For parallels to this view in +modern times see William James, _Text Book of Psychology_, especially +pp. 203, 215, 216.] + +[Footnote 417: Cf. Milinda Panha II. 1. 1 and also the dialogue between +the king of Sauvîra and the Brahman in Vishnu Pur. II. XIII.] + +[Footnote 418: Vis. Mag. chap. XVI. quoted by Warren, _Buddhism in +Translations_, p. 146. Also it is admitted that viññâṇa cannot be +disentangled and sharply distinguished from feeling and sensation. See +passages quoted in Mrs Rhys Davids, _Buddhist Psychology,_ pp. 52-54.] + +[Footnote 419: Sam. Nik. XXII. 22. 1.] + +[Footnote 420: With reference to a teacher dhamma is the doctrine which +he preaches. With reference to a disciple, it may often be equivalent to +duty. Cf. the Sanskrit expressions: sva-dharma, one's own duty; +para-dharma, the duty of another person or caste.] + +[Footnote 421: Dhamma-s. 1044-5.] + +[Footnote 422: II. 3. 8.] + +[Footnote 423: Dig. Nik. XI. 85.] + +[Footnote 424: Name and form is the Buddhist equivalent for subject and +object or mind and body.] + +[Footnote 425: Mrs Rhys Davids, _Buddhist Psychology_, p. 39.] + +[Footnote 426: Sam. Nik. xxxv. 93.] + +[Footnote 427: The same formula is repeated for the other senses.] + +[Footnote 428: See Maj. Nik. 36 for his own experiences and Dig. Nik. 2. +93-96.] + +[Footnote 429: In Dig. Nik. xxiii. Pâyâsi maintains the thesis, regarded +as most unusual (sec. 5), that there is no world but this and no such +things as rebirth and karma. He is confuted not by the Buddha but by +Kassapa. His arguments are that dead friends whom he has asked to bring +him news of the next world have not done so and that experiments +performed on criminals do not support the idea that a soul leaves the +body at death. Kassapa's reply is chiefly based on analogies of doubtful +value but also on the affirmation that those who have cultivated their +spiritual faculties have intuitive knowledge of rebirth and other +worlds. But Pâyâsi did not draw any distinction between rebirth and +immortality as understood in Europe. He was a simple materialist.] + +[Footnote 430: The more mythological parts of the Pitakas make it plain +that the early Buddhists were not materialists in the modern sense. It +is also said that there are formless worlds in which there is thought, +but no form or matter.] + +[Footnote 431: See too the story of Godhika's death. Sam. Nik. I. iv. 3 +and Buddhaghosa on Dhammap. 57.] + +[Footnote 432: No. 38 called the Mahâtaṇhâsankhaya-suttam.] + +[Footnote 433: See too Dig. Nik. n. 63, "If Viññâṇa did not descend into +the womb, would body and mind be constituted there?" and Sam. Nik. xii. +12. 3, "Viññâṇa food is the condition for bringing about rebirth in the +future."] + +[Footnote 434: Uppajjati is the usual word.] + +[Footnote 435: Ariyasaccâni. Rhys Davids translates the phrase as Aryan +truths and the word Ariya in old Pali appears not to have lost its +national or tribal sense, _e.g._ Dig. Nik. n. 87 Ariyam âyatanam the +Aryan sphere (of influence). But was a religious teacher preaching a +doctrine of salvation open to all men likely to describe its most +fundamental and universal truths by an adjective implying pride of +race?] + +[Footnote 436: In Maj. Nik. 44 the word dukkha is replaced by sakkâya, +individuality, which is apparently regarded as equivalent in meaning. So +for instance the Noble Eightfold path is described as +sakkâya-nirodha-gâminî patipadâ.] + +[Footnote 437: Theragâthâ 487-493, and Puggala Pañ. iv. 1.] + +[Footnote 438: But it has not been proved so far as I know.] + +[Footnote 439: Sam. Nik. XV. 3.] + +[Footnote 440: Buddhist works sometimes insist on the impurity of human +physical life in a way which seems morbid and disagreeable. But this +view is not exclusively Buddhist or Asiatic. It is found in Marcus +Aurelius and perhaps finds its strongest expression in the De Contemptu +Mundi of Pope Innocent III (in Pat. Lat. ccxvii. cols. 701-746).] + +[Footnote 441: As a general rule suicide is strictly forbidden (see the +third Pârâjika and Milinda, iv. 13 and 14) for in most cases it is not a +passionless renunciation of the world but rather a passionate and +irritable protest against difficulties which simply lays up bad karma in +the next life. Yet cases such as that of Godhika (see Buddhaghosa on the +Dhammapada, 57) seem to imply that it is unobjectionable if performed +not out of irritation but by one who having already obtained mental +release is troubled by disease.] + +[Footnote 442: Pali Paticca-samuppâda. Sanskrit Pratîtya-samutpâda.] + +[Footnote 443: Sam. Nik. xii. 10.] + +[Footnote 444: Dig. Nik. XV.] + +[Footnote 445: "Contact comes from consciousness: sensation from +contact: craving from sensation: the sankhâras from craving: +consciousness from the sankhâras: contact from consciousness" and so on +_ad infinitum_. See Mil. Pan. 51.] + +[Footnote 446: Dig. Nik. XV.] + +[Footnote 447: Sam. Nik. XII. 53. Cf. too the previous sutta 51. In the +Abhidhamma Pitaka and later scholastic works we find as a development of +the law of causation the theory of relations (paccaya) or system of +correlation (paṭṭhâna-nayo). According to this theory phenomena are not +thought of merely in the simple relation of cause and effect. One +phenomenon can be the assistant agency (upakâraka) of another phenomenon +in 24 modes. See Mrs Rhys Davids' article Relations in _E.R.E._] + +[Footnote 448: Mrs Rhys Davids, Dhamma-sangaṇi, pref. p. lii. "The +sensory process is analysed in each case into (_a_) an apparatus capable +of reaching to an impact not itself: (_b_) an impinging form (rûpam): +(_c_) contact between (_a_) and (_b_): (_d_) resultant modification of +the mental continuum, viz. first, contact of a specific sort, then +hedonistic result or intellectual result or presumably both."] + +[Footnote 449: See _e.g._ Maj. Nik. 38.] + +[Footnote 450: This does not mean that the same name-and-form plus +consciousness which dies in one existence reappears in another.] + +[Footnote 451: Maj. Nik. 120 Sankhâruppatti sutta.] + +[Footnote 452: He should make it a continual mental exercise to think of +the rebirth which he desires.] + +[Footnote 453: So too in the Sânkhya philosophy the samskâras are said +to pass from one human existence to another. They may also remain +dormant for several existences and then become active.] + +[Footnote 454: Maj. Nik. 9 Sammâdiṭṭhi sutta.] + +[Footnote 455: Sam. Nik. xxii. 126.] + +[Footnote 456: Mahâvag. i. 23. 4 and 5:] + +Ye dhammâ hetuppabhavâ tesam hetum Tathâgato Âha tesañca yo nirodho +evamvâdi Mahâsamano ti. + +The passage is remarkable because it insists that this is the principal +and essential doctrine of Gotama. Compare too the definition of the +Dhamma put in the Buddha's own mouth in Majjhima, 79: Dhammam te +desessâmi: imasmim sati, idam hoti: imass' uppâdâ idaṃ upajjhati, etc.] + +[Footnote 457: The Sânkhya might be described as teaching a law of +evolution, but that is not the way it is described in its own manuals.] + +[Footnote 458: Take among hundreds of instances the account of the +Buddha's funeral.] + +[Footnote 459: The Anguttara Nikâya, book iv. chap. 77, forbids +speculation on four subjects as likely to bring madness and trouble. Two +of the four are kamma-vipâko and loka-cintâ. An attempt to make the +chain of causation into a cosmic law would involve just this sort of +speculation.] + +[Footnote 460: The Pitakas insist that causation applies to mental as +well as physical phenomena.] + +[Footnote 461: Sam. Nik. xii. 35.] + +[Footnote 462: Vis. Mag. xvii. Warren, p. 175.] + +[Footnote 463: See Waddell, _J.R.A.S._ 1894, pp. 367-384: Rhys Davids, +_Amer. Lectures,_ pp. 155-160.] + +[Footnote 464: Sam. Nik. XII. 61. See too Theragâthâ, verses 125 and +1111, and for other illustrative quotations Mrs Rhys Davids, _Buddhist +Psychology_, pp. 34, 35.] + +[Footnote 465: But see Maj. Nik. 79, for the idea that there is +something beyond happiness.] + +[Footnote 466: Dig. Nik. 22.] + +[Footnote 467: Sutta-Nipâta, 787.] + +[Footnote 468: Padhânam. But in later Buddhism we also find the idea +that nirvana is something which comes only when we do not struggle for +it.] + +[Footnote 469: Mettâ, corresponding exactly to the Greek [Greek: agapei] +of the New Testament.] + +[Footnote 470: III. 7. The translation is abbreviated.] + +[Footnote 471: More literally, "All the occasions which can be used for +doing good works."] + +[Footnote 472: Sutta-Nipâta, 1-8, _S.B.E._ vol. X. p. 25 and see also +Ang. Nik. IV. 190 which says that love leads to rebirth in the higher +heavens and Sam. Nik. XX. 4 to the effect that a little love is better +than great gifts. Also _Questions of Milinda_, 4. 4. 16.] + +[Footnote 473: Ang. Nik. 1. 2. 4.] + +[Footnote 474: Cf. too Mahâvag. VIII. 22 where a monk is not blamed for +giving the property of the order to his parents.] + +[Footnote 475: Sati is the Sanskrit Smriti.] + +[Footnote 476: Dhammap. 160.] + +[Footnote 477: Bhag-gîtâ, 3. 27.] + +[Footnote 478: Vishnu Pur. II. 13. The ancient Egyptians also, though +for quite different reasons, did not accept our ideas of personality. +For them man was not an individual unity but a compound consisting of +the body and of several immaterial parts called for want of a better +word souls, the _ka_, the _ba_, the _sekhem_, etc., which after death +continue to exist independently.] + +[Footnote 479: _Ueber den Stand der indischen Philosophie zur Zeit +Mahâvîras und Buddhas_, 1902. And On the problem of Nirvana in _Journal +of Pali Text Society_, 1905. See too Sam. Nik. XXII. 15-17.] + +[Footnote 480: Maj. Nik. 22.] + +[Footnote 481: Compare also the sermon on the burden and the bearer and +Sam Nik. XXII. 15-17. It is admitted that Nirvana is not dukkha and not +aniccam and it seems to be implied it is not anattam.] + +[Footnote 482: See the argument with Yamaka in Sam. Nik. XXII. 85.] + +[Footnote 483: See Sam. Nik. III., XXII. 97.] + +[Footnote 484: Also paññâkkhandha or vijjâ.] + +[Footnote 485: Dig. Nik. II.] + +[Footnote 486: These exercises are hardly possible for the laity.] + +[Footnote 487: See chap. XIV. for details.] + +[Footnote 488: Sanskrit Nirvâṇa: Pali Nibbâna.] + +[Footnote 489: Maj. Nik. 26.] + +[Footnote 490: _E.g_. the words addressed to Buddha, nibbutâ nûna sâ +narî yassâyam îdiso pati. Happy is the woman who has such a husband. In +the Anguttara Nikâya, III. 55 the Brahman Jâṇussoṇi asks Buddha what is +meant by Sanditthikam nibbâṇam, that is nirvâṇa which is visible or +belongs to this world. The reply is that it is effected by the +destruction of lust, hatred and stupidity and it is described as +_akâlikam, ehipassikam opanayikam, paccattam veditabbam +viññûhi_--difficult words which occur elsewhere as epithets of Dhamma +and apparently mean immediate, inviting (it says "come and see"), +leading to salvation, to be known by all who can understand. For some +views as to the derivation of nibbana, nibbuto, etc. see _J.P.T.S._ +1919, pp. 53 ff. But the word nirvâṇa occurs frequently in the +Mahâbhârata and was probably borrowed by the Buddhists from the +Brahmans.] + +[Footnote 491: Or sa-upâdi.] + +[Footnote 492: But parinirvâṇa is not always rigidly distinguished from +nirvâṇa, _e.g._ Sutta Nipâta, 358. And in Cullavag. VI. 4. 4 the Buddha +describes himself as Brâhmaṇo parinibbuto. Parinibbuto is even used of a +horse in Maj. Nik. 65 _ad fin_.] + +[Footnote 493: Sam. Nik. XXII. 1. 18.] + +[Footnote 494: Vimuttisukham and brahmacariyogadham sukham.] + +[Footnote 495: Maj. Nik. 139, cf. also Ang. Nik. II. 7 where various +kinds of sukham or happiness are enumerated, and we hear of +nekkhammasukham nirupadhis, upekkhâs, arûparamanam sukham, etc.] + +[Footnote 496: _E.g._ Maj. Nik. 9 Ditthe dhamme dukkhass' antakaro +hoti.] + +[Footnote 497: Ang. Nik. V. xxxii.] + +[Footnote 498: Maj. Nik. 79.] + +[Footnote 499: Asankhatadhâtu, cf. the expression asankhâraparinibbâyî. +Pugg. Pan. l. 44.] + +[Footnote 500: Tabulated in Mrs Rhys Davids' translation, pp. 367-9.] + +[Footnote 501: Such a phrase as _Nibbâṇassa sacchikiriyâya_ "for the +attainment or realization of Nirvana" would be hardly possible if +Nirvana were annihilation.] + +[Footnote 502: Udâna VII. near beginning.] + +[Footnote 503: These are the formless stages of meditation. In Nirvana +there is neither any ordinary form of existence nor even the forms of +existence with which we become acquainted in trances.] + +[Footnote 504: This negative form of expression is very congenial to +Hindus. Thus many centuries later Kabir sung "With God is no rainy +season, no ocean, no sunshine, no shade: no creation and no destruction: +no life nor death: no sorrow nor joy is felt .... There is no water, +wind, nor fire. The True Guru is there contained."] + +[Footnote 505: IV. 7. 13 ff.] + +[Footnote 506: See also Book VII. of the Milinda containing a long list +of similes illustrating the qualities necessary for the attainment of +arhatship. Thirty qualities of arhatship are mentioned in Book VI. of +the same work. See also Mahâparinib. Sut. III. 65-60 and Rhys Davids' +note.] + +[Footnote 507: _E.g._ Dig. Nik. xvi. ii. 7, Cullavag. ix. 1. 4.] + +[Footnote 508: _E.g._ Pugg. Pan. 1. 39. The ten fetters are (1) +sakkâyadiṭṭhi, belief in the existence of the self, (2) vicikicchâ, +doubt, (3) silabbataparamâso, trust in ceremonies of good works, (4) +kâmarâgo, lust, (5) paṭigho, anger, (6) rûparâgo, desire for rebirth in +worlds of form, (7) arûparâgo, desire for rebirth in formless worlds, +(8) mano, pride, (9) uddhaccam, self-righteousness, (10) avijjâ, +ignorance.] + +[Footnote 509: There is some diversity of doctrine about the +Sakadâgâmin. Some hold that he has two births, because he _comes back_ +to the world of men after having been born once meanwhile in a heaven, +others that he has only one birth either on earth or in a devaloka.] + +[Footnote 510: Avyâkatani. The Buddha, being omniscient, _sabaññu_, must +have known the answer but did not declare it, perhaps because language +was incapable of expressing it] + +[Footnote 511: Jiva not attâ. ] + +[Footnote 512: Maj. Nik. 63.] + +[Footnote 513: Sam. Nik. xvii. 85.] + +[Footnote 514: Maj. Nik. 72.] + +[Footnote 515: Which is said not to grow up again.] + +[Footnote 516: It may be that the Buddha had in his mind the idea that a +flame which goes out returns to the primitive invisible state of fire. +This view is advocated by Schrader (_Jour. Pali Text Soc_. 1905, p. +167). The passages which he cites seem to me to show that there was +supposed to be such an invisible store from which fire is born but to be +less conclusive as proving that fire which goes out is supposed to +return to that store, though the quotation from the Maitreyi Up. points +in this direction. For the metaphor of the flame see also Sutta-Nipâta, +verses 1074-6.] + +[Footnote 517: XLIV. 1.] + +[Footnote 518: Maj. Nik. 9, ad init. Asmîti diṭṭhim ânânusayam +samûhanitvâ.] + +[Footnote 519: See especially Sutta-Nipâta, 1076 Atthan gatassa na +pamâṇam atthi, etc.] + +[Footnote 520: Sam. Nik. XXII. 85.] + +[Footnote 521: Maj. Nik. 22, Alagaddûpama-suttam.] + +[Footnote 522: Later in the same Sutta: Kevalo paripûro bâladhammo.] + +[Footnote 523: Four emphatic synonyms in the original.] + +[Footnote 524: Dig. Nik. I. 73 uccinna-bhava-nettiko.] + +[Footnote 525: I recommend the reader to consider carefully the passage +at the end of Book IV. of Schopenhauer's _Die Welt als Wille und +Vorstellung_ (Haldane and Kemp's translation, vol. I. pp. 529-530). +Though he evidently misunderstood what he calls "the Nirvana of the +Buddhists" yet his own thought throws much light on it.] + +[Footnote 526: Sk. _Bhikshu_, beggar or mendicant, because they live on +alms. _Bhikshâcaryam_ occurs in Brihad-Âr. Up. III. 5. I.] + +[Footnote 527: Mahâvag. I. 49, cf. ib. I. 39.] + +[Footnote 528: Dig. Nik. VIII.] + +[Footnote 529: Cullavag. I. 1. 3.] + +[Footnote 530: Sam. Nik. XIV. 15. 12, Ang. Nik. I. xiv.] + +[Footnote 531: Mahâvag. III. 12.] + +[Footnote 532: Or the opinion of single persons, e.g. Visâkhâ in +Mahâvag. III. 13.] + +[Footnote 533: Acârângasut, II. 2. 2.] + +[Footnote 534: Mahâv. I. 42.] + +[Footnote 535: But converted robbers were occasionally admitted, e.g. +Angulimâla.] + +[Footnote 536: Sam. Nik. IV. XXXV., Maj. Nik. 8 ad fin. On the value +attached by mystics in all countries to trees and flowers, see +Underhill, _Mysticism_, p. 231.] + +[Footnote 537: They are abstinence from (1) destroying life, (2) +stealing, (3) impurity, (4) lying, (5) intoxicants, (6) eating at +forbidden times, (7) dancing, music and theatres, (8) garlands, +perfumes, ornaments, (9) high or large beds, (10) accepting gold or +silver.] + +[Footnote 538: These are practically equivalent to Sundays, being the +new moon, full moon and the eighth days from the new and full moon. In +Tibet however the 14th, 15th, 29th and 30th of each month are observed.] + +[Footnote 539: Mahâvag. II. 1-2.] + +[Footnote 540: Chap. VIII. Sec. 3.] + +[Footnote 541: Required not so much to purify water as to prevent the +accidental destruction of insects.] + +[Footnote 542: It might begin either the day after the full moon of +Asâlha (June-July) or a month later. In either case the period was three +months. Mahâvag. III. 2.] + +[Footnote 543: Cullavag. X. 1.] + +[Footnote 544: See the papers by Mrs Bode in _J.R.A.S._ 1893, pp. 517-66 +and 763-98, and Mrs Rhys Davids in _Ninth Congress of Orientalists_, +vol. I. p. 344.] + +[Footnote 545: Feminine Upâsikâ.] + +[Footnote 546: Sutta-Nipâta, 289.] + +[Footnote 547: _E.g._ Mahâmangala and Dhammika-Sutta in Sut. Nip. II. 4 +and 14.] + +[Footnote 548: Dig. Nik. 31.] + +[Footnote 549: It may seem superfluous to insist on this, yet Warren in +his _Buddhism in Translations_ uniformly renders Bhikkhu by priest.] + +[Footnote 550: The same idea occurs in the Upanishads, _e.g._ Brih.-Âr. +Up. IV. 4. 23, "he becomes a true Brahman."] + +[Footnote 551: Especially in R.O. Franke's article in the _J.P.T.S._ +1908. To demonstrate the "literary dependence" of chapters XI., XII. of +the Cullavagga does not seem to me equivalent to demonstrating that the +narratives contained in those chapters are "air-bubbles."] + +[Footnote 552: The mantras of the Brahmans were hardly a sacred book +analogous to the Bible or Koran and, besides, the early Buddhists would +not have wished to imitate them.] + +[Footnote 553: _E.g._ Dig. Nik. XVI.] + +[Footnote 554: Cullav. XI. i. 11.] + +[Footnote 555: Especially in Chinese works.] + +[Footnote 556: Upâli, Dasaka, Sonaka, Siggava (with whom the name of +Candravajji is sometimes coupled) and Tissa Moggaliputta. This is the +list given in the Dîpavaṃsa.] + +[Footnote 557: Sam. Nik. XVI. 11. The whole section is called Kassapa +Saṃyutta.] + +[Footnote 558: They are to be found chiefly in Cullavagga, XII., +Dîpavaṃsa, IV. and V. and Mahâvaṃsa, IV.] + +[Footnote 559: The Dîpavaṃsa adds that all the principal monks present +had seen the Buddha. They must therefore all have been considerably over +a hundred years old so that the chronology is open to grave doubt. It +would be easier if we could suppose the meeting was held a hundred years +after the enlightenment.] + +[Footnote 560: They are said to have rejected the Parivâra, the +Paṭisambhidâ, the Niddesa and parts of the Jâtaka. These are all later +parts of the Canon and if the word rejection were taken literally it +would imply that the Mahâsangîti was late too. But perhaps all that is +meant is that the books were not found in their Canon. Chinese sources +(_e.g._ Fa Hsien, tr. Legge, p. 99) state that they had an Abhidhamma of +their own.] + +[Footnote 561: _Buddhist Records of the Western World_, vol. II. pp. +164-5; Watters, _Yüan Chwang_, pp. 159-161.] + +[Footnote 562: Cap. XXXVI. Legge, p. 98.] + +[Footnote 563: See I-tsing's _Records of the Buddhist Religion_, trans. +by Takakusu, p. XX. and Nanjio's _Catalogue of the Buddhist Tripitaka_, +nos. 1199, 1105 and 1159.] + +[Footnote 564: An exception ought perhaps to be made for the Japanese +sects.] + +[Footnote 565: The names are not quite the same in the various lists and +it seems useless to discuss them in detail. See Dîpavaṃsa, V. 39-48, +Mahâvaṃsa, V. ad in., Rhys Davids, _J.R.A.S._ 1891, p. 411, Rockhill, +_Life of the Buddha_, chap, VI., Geiger, _Trans. of Mahâvaṃsa_, App. B.] + +[Footnote 566: The Hemavatikas, Râjagirikas, Siddhattas, Pubbaselikas, +Aparaselikas and Apararâjagirikas.] + +[Footnote 567: Published in the _J.P.T.S._ 1889. Trans, by S.Z. Aung and +Mrs Rhys Davids, 1915. The text mentions doctrines only. The names of +the sects supposed to hold them are supplied by the commentary.] + +[Footnote 568: They must not be confused with the four philosophic +schools Vaibhâshika, Sautrântika, Yogâcâra and Mâdhyamika. These came +into existence later.] + +[Footnote 569: But the Vetulyakas were important in Ceylon.] + +[Footnote 570: See Paramârtha's _Life of Vasabandhu_, Toung Pao, 1904, +p. 290.] + +[Footnote 571: See Rhys Davids in _J.R.A.S._ 1892, pp. 8-9. The name is +variously spelt. The P.T.S. print Sammitiya, but the Sanskrit text of +the Madhyamakavritti (in _Bibl. Buddh._) has Sâmmitîya. Sanskrit +dictionaries give Sammatîya. The Abhidharma section of the Chinese +Tripitaka (Nanjio, 1272) contains a śâstra belonging to this school. +Nanjio, 1139 is apparently their Vinaya.] + +[Footnote 572: Kern (_Versl. en Med. der K. Akad. van Wetenschappen +Letterk._ 4. R.D. VIII. 1907, pp. 312-319, cf. _J.R.A.S._ 1907, p. 432) +suggested on the authority of Kashgarian MSS. that the expression +Vailpulya sûtra is a misreading for Vaitulya sûtra, a sûtra of the +Vetulyakas. Ânanda was sometimes identified with the phantom who +represented the Buddha.] + +[Footnote 573: It is remarkable that this view, though condemned by the +Kathâ-vatthu, is countenanced by the Khuddaka-pâṭha.] + +[Footnote 574: The Kathâ-vatthu constantly cites the Nikâyas.] + +[Footnote 575: Pali Sabbatthivâdins.] + +[Footnote 576: Cf. the doctrine of the Sânkhya. For more about the +Sarvâstivâdins see below, Book IV. chap. XXII.] + +[Footnote 577: See especially Le Nord-Ouest de L'Inde dans le Vinaya des +Mûlasarvâstivâdins by Przyluski in _J.A._ 1914, II. pp. 492 ff.] + +[Footnote 578: See articles by Fleet in _J.R.A.S._ of 1903, 1904, +1908-1911 and 1914: Hultzsch in _J.R.A.S._ 1910-11: Thomas in _J.A._ +1910: S. Lévi, _J.A._ 1911.] + +[Footnote 579: Asoka's statement is confirmed (if it needs confirmation) +by the Chinese pilgrim I-ching who saw in India statues of him in +monastic costume.] + +[Footnote 580: For a bibliography of the literature about these +inscriptions see Vincent Smith, _Early History of India_, 3rd ed. 1914, +pp. 172-4.] + +[Footnote 581: The dialect is not strictly speaking the same in all the +inscriptions.] + +[Footnote 582: Piyadassi, Sanskrit Priyadarsin. The Dîpavaṃsa, VI. 1 and +14, calls Asoka Piyadassi and Piyadassana. The name Asoka has hitherto +only been found in one edict discovered at Hyderabad, _J.R.A.S._ 1916, +p. 573.] + +[Footnote 583: The principal single edicts are (1) that known as Minor +Rock Edict I. found in four recensions, (2) The Bhâbrû (or Bhâbrâ) Edict +of great importance for the Buddhist scriptures, (3) Two Kalinga Edicts, +(4) Edicts about schism, found at Sarnath and elsewhere, (4) +Commemorative inscriptions in the Terâi, (5) Dedications of caves.] + +[Footnote 584: Asoka came to the throne about 270 B.C. (268 or 272 +according to various authorities) but was not crowned until four years +later. Events are generally dated by the year after his coronation +(abhisheka), not after his accession.] + +[Footnote 585: I must confess that Law of Piety (Vincent Smith) does not +seem to me very idiomatic.] + +[Footnote 586: See Senart, _Inscrip. de Piyadassi_, II. pp. 314 ff.] + +[Footnote 587: The Second Minor Rock Edict.] + +[Footnote 588: Râjûka and pradesika.] + +[Footnote 589: I.e. Syria, Egypt, Macedonia, Cyrene and Epirus.] + +[Footnote 590: Kingdoms in the south of India.] + +[Footnote 591: The inhabitants of the extreme north-west of India, not +necessarily Greeks by race.] + +[Footnote 592: Possibly Tibet.] + +[Footnote 593: Or Nâbhapamtis. In any case unknown.] + +[Footnote 594: All these appear to have been tribes of Central India.] + +[Footnote 595: Dîpav. VIII.; Mahâv. XII.] + +[Footnote 596: Pillar Edict VI.] + +[Footnote 597: Perhaps meant to be equivalent to 251 B.C. Vincent Smith +rejects this date and thinks that the Council met in the last ten years +of Asoka's reign. But the Sinhalese account is reasonable. Asoka was +very pious but very tolerant. Ten years of this regime may well have led +to the abuse complained of.] + +[Footnote 598: Jâtaka, no. 472.] + +[Footnote 599: See for instance the _Life of Hsüan Chuang_; Beal, p. 39; +Julien, p. 50.] + +[Footnote 600: I consider it possible, though by no means proved, that +the Abhidhamma was put together in Ceylon.] + +[Footnote 601: For the Burmese Canon see chap. XXVI. Even if the Burmese +had Pali scriptures which did not come from Ceylon, they sought to +harmonize them with the texts known there.] + +[Footnote 602: Pali Tipiṭaka.] + +[Footnote 603: So in Maj. Nik. xxi. a man who proposes to excavate comes +Kuddalapiṭakam âdâya, "With spade and basket."] + +[Footnote 604: The list of the Vinaya books is: + + Pârâjikam } together constituting the Sutta-vibhanga. + Pacittiyam} + + Mahâvagga } together constituting the Khandakas. + Cullavagga} + + Parivâra-pâtha: a supplement and index. This book was rejected by some + schools. + +Something is known of the Vinaya of the Sarvâstivâdins existing in a +Chinese translation and in fragments of the Sanskrit original found in +Central Asia. It also consists of the Pâtimokkha embedded in a +commentary called Vibhâga and of two treatises describing the foundation +of the order and its statutes. They are called Kshudrakavastu and +Vinayavastu. In these works the narrative and anecdotal element is +larger than in the Pali Vinaya. See also my remarks on the Mahâvastu +under the Mahayanist Canon. For some details about the Dharmagupta +Vinaya, see _J.A._ 1916, ii. p. 20: for a longish extract from the +Mülasarv. Vinaya, _J.A._ 1914, ii. pp. 493-522.] + +[Footnote 605: I find it hard to accept Francke's view that the Dîgha +should be regarded as the Book of the Tathâgata, deliberately composed +to expound the doctrine of Buddhahood. Many of the suttas do not deal +with the Tathâgata.] + +[Footnote 606: The Saṃyutta quotes by name a passage from the Dîgha as +"spoken by the Lord": compare Sam. Nik. XXII. 4 with Dig. Nik. 21. Both +the Anguttara and Saṃyutta quote the last two cantos of the +Sutta-Nipâta.] + +[Footnote 607: It appears that the canonical book of the Jâtaka consists +only of verses and does not include explanatory prose matter. Something +similar to these collections of verses which are not fully intelligible +without a commentary explaining the occasions on which they were uttered +may be seen in Chândogya Up. VI. The father's answers are given but the +son's questions which render them intelligible are not found in the text +but are supplied in the commentary.] + +[Footnote 608: The following ia a table of the Sutta Pitaka: + + I. Dîgha-Nikâya } + II. Majjhima-Nikâya } Collections of discourses mostly attributed + III. Samyutta-Nikâya } to the Buddha. + IV. Anguttara-Nikâya } + + V. Khuddaka-Nikâya: a collection of comparatively short treatises, + mostly in poetry, namely: + 1. Dhammapada. + 2. Udâna } Utterances of the Buddha with explanations + 3. Itivuttakam } af the attendant circumstances. + 4. Khuddaka-pâtha: a short anthology. + 5. Sutta-nipâta: a collection of suttas mostly in verse. + *6. Thera-gâthâ: poems by monks. + *7. Therî-gâthâ: poems by nuns. + 8. Niddesa: an old commentary on the latter half of the Sutta-nipâta, + ascribed to Sâriputta. + *9. The Jâtaka verses. + 10. Paṭisambhidâ. + *11. Apadâna. + *12. Buddha-vaṃsa. + *13. Vimâna-vatthu. + *14. Peta-vatthu. + *15. Cariyâ-piṭaka. + +The works marked * are not found in the Siamese edition of the Tripiṭaka +but the Burmese editions include four other texts, the Milinda-pañha, +Petakopadesa, Suttassanigaha, and Nettipakaraṇa. + +The Khuddaka-Nikâya seems to have been wanting in the Pitaka of the +Sarvâstivâdins or whatever sect supplied the originals from which the +Chinese Canon was translated, for this Canon classes the Dhammapada as a +miscellaneous work outside the Sutta Pitaka. Fragments of the +Sutta-nipâta have been found in Turkestan but it is not clear to what +Pitaka it was considered to belong. For mentions of the Khuddaka-Nikâya +in Chinese see _J.A._ 1916, pp. 32-3.] + +[Footnote 609: See _J.R.A.S._ 1891, p. 560. See too _Journal P.T.S._ +1919, p. 44. Lexicographical notes.] + +[Footnote 610: Mrs Rhys Davids' _Translations of the Dhamma-sangaṇi_ +give a good idea of these books.] + +[Footnote 611: The works comprised in this Pitaka are: + + 1. Dhamma-sangaṇi. + 2. Vibhanga. + 3. Kathâ-vatthu. + 4. Puggala-paññatti. + 5. Dhâtu-kathâ. + 6. Yamaka. + 7. Paṭṭhâna. + +The Abhidhamma of the Sarvâstivâdins was entirely different. It seems +probable that the Abhidhamma books of all schools consisted almost +entirely of explanatory matter and added very little to the doctrine +laid down in the suttas. It would appear that the only new topic +introduced in the Pali Abhidhamma is the theory of relations (paccaya).] + +[Footnote 612: Maj. Nik. XXII. and Angut. Nik. IV. 6.] + +[Footnote 613: Pali means primarily a line or row and then a text as +distinguished from the commentary. Thus Pâlimattam means the text +without the commentary and Palibhâsâ is the language of the text or what +we call Pali. See _Pali and Sanskrit_, R.O. Franke, 1902. Windisch, +"Ueber den sprachlichen Character des Pali," in _Actes du XIV'me Congrès +des Orientalistes_, 1905. Grierson, "Home of Pali" in _Bhandarkar +Commemorative Essays_, 1917.] + +[Footnote 614: It is not easy to say how late or to what extent Pali was +used in India. The Milinda-Pañha (or at least books II. and III.) was +probably composed in North Western India about the time of our era. +Dharmapâla wrote his commentaries (c. 500 A.D.) in the extreme south, +probably at Conjeevaram. Pali inscriptions of the second or third +century A.D. have been discovered at Sarnath but contain mistakes which +show that the engraver did not understand the language (_Epig. Ind_. +1908, p. 391). Bendall found Pali MSS. in Nepal, _J.R.A.S._ 1899, p. +422.] + +[Footnote 615: Magadha of course was not his birth-place and the dialect +of Kosala must have been his native language. But it is not hinted that +he had any difficulty in making himself understood in Magadha and +elsewhere.] + +[Footnote 616: E.g. nominatives singular in _e_. For the possible +existence of scriptures anterior to the Pali version and in another +dialect, see S. Lévi, _J.A._ 1912, II. p. 495.] + +[Footnote 617: Cullavag. V. 33, chandaso âropema.] + +[Footnote 618: Although Pali became a sacred language in the South, yet +in China, Tibet and Central Asia the scriptures were translated into the +idioms of the various countries which accepted Buddhism.] + +[Footnote 619: Mahâparinibbâna-sutta, II. 26. Another expressive +compound is Dhûmakâ-likam (Cullav. XI. 1. 9) literally smoke-timed. The +disciples were afraid that the discipline of the Buddha might last only +as long as the smoke of his funeral pyre.] + +[Footnote 620: Winternitz has acutely remarked that the Pali Pitaka +resembles the Upanishads in style. See also Keith, _Ait. Ar_. p. 55. For +repetitions in the Upanishads, see Chând. v. 3. 4 ff., v. 12 ff. and +much in VII. and VIII., Brihad. Âr. III. ix. 9 ff., VI. iii. 2, etc. +This Upanishad relates the incident of Yâjñavalkya and Maîtreyî twice. +So far as style goes, I see no reason why the earliest parts of the +Vinaya and Sutta Pitaka should not have been composed immediately after +the Buddha's death.] + +[Footnote 621: E.g. Mahâv. 1. 49, Dig. Nik. I. 14, Sut. Vib. Bhikkhunî, +LXIX., Sut. Vib. Pârâj. III. 4. 4.] + +[Footnote 622: Cullav. IV. 15. 4.] + +[Footnote 623: Ang. Nik. IV. 100. 5, ib. v. lxxiv. 5.] + +[Footnote 624: See Bühler in _Epigraphia Indica_, vol. II. p. 93.] + +[Footnote 625: Even at the time of Fa Hsien's visit to India (c. 400 +A.D.) the Vinaya of the Sarvâstivâdin school was preserved orally and +not written. See Legge's trans, p. 99.] + +[Footnote 626: Ang. Nik. IV. 160. 5, Bhikkhû bahussutâ ... mâtikâdhârâ +monks who carry in memory the indices.] + +[Footnote 627: Cullavag. XI., XII. ] + +[Footnote 628: Dig. Nik. 1.] + +[Footnote 629: It is remarkable that this account contemplates five +Nikâyas (of which the fifth is believed to be late) but only two +Pitakas, the Abhidhamma not being mentioned.] + +[Footnote 630: It refers to a king Pingalaka, said to have reigned two +hundred years after the Buddha's time.] + +[Footnote 631: Mahâv XI. 3.] + +[Footnote 632: Mahâv. II. 17.] + +[Footnote 633: Cullav. IX. 5.] + +[Footnote 634: The passages are: + + 1. The Vinaya-Samukasa. Perhaps the sermon at Benares with + introductory matter found at the beginning of the Mahâvagga. + See Edmunds, in _J.R.A.S._ 1913, p. 385. + 2. The Alia-Vâsâni (Pali Ariya-Vâsâni) = the Samgîti-sutta of the + Dîgha Nikâya. + 3. The Anâgata-bhayâni = Anguttara-Nikâya, V. 77-80, or part of it. + 4. The Munigâtha=Sutta-Nipâta, 206-220. + 5. The Moneyasute=Moneyya-sutta in the Itivuttakam, 67: see + also Ang. Nik. III. 120. + 6. The Upatisapasine. The question of Upatissa: not identified. + 7. The Lâghulovâde musâvâdam adhigicya. The addresses to Râhula + beginning with subject of lying=Maj. Nik. 61.] + +[Footnote 635: See _J.A._ 1916, II. pp. 20,38.] + +[Footnote 636: For the date see the chapter on Ceylon.] + +[Footnote 637: S. Lévi gives reasons for thinking that the prohibitions +against singing sacred texts (ayataka gîtassara, Cullavag. V. 3) go back +to the period when the Vedic accent was a living reality. See _J.A._ +1915, I. pp. 401 ff.] + +[Footnote 638: _Muséon_, 1905, p. 23. Anesaki thinks the text used by +Guṇabhadra was in Pali but the Abhayagiri, which had Mahayanist +proclivities, may have used Sanskrit texts.] + +[Footnote 639: Nikâya-Sangrahawa, Fernando, _Govt. Record Office_, +Colombo, 1918.] + +[Footnote 640: See Mahâyâna-sûtrâlatikâra, xvi. 22 and 75, with Lévi's +notes.] + +[Footnote 641: Cullav. VII. 3.] + +[Footnote 642: In the first book of the Mahâvagga. ] + +[Footnote 643: Ang. Nik. V. 201 and VI. 40.] + +[Footnote 644: It may be objected that some Suttas are put into the +mouths of the Buddha's disciples and that their words are very like +those of the Master. But as a rule they spoke on behalf of him and the +object was to make their language as much like his as possible.] + +[Footnote 645: The Pali anthology known by this name was only one of +several called Dhammapada or Udâna which are preserved in the Chinese +and Tibetan Canons.] + +[Footnote 646: The work might also be analyzed as consisting of three +old documents (the tract on morality, an account of ancient heresies, +and a discourse on spiritual progress) put together with a little +connecting matter, and provided with a prologue and epilogue.] + +[Footnote 647: But in Ceylon there was a decided tendency to rewrite +Sinhalese treatises in Pali.] + +[Footnote 648: Cf. Divyâv. ed. Cowell, p. 37 and Sam. Nik. _P.T.S._ +edition, vol. IV. p. 60.] + +[Footnote 649: See Takakusu on the Abhidharma literature of the +Sarvâstivâdins in the _Journ. of the Pali Text Society_, 1905, pp. +67-147.] + +[Footnote 650: But not always. See S. Lévi, _J.A._ 1910, p. 436.] + +[Footnote 651: See Lüders, _Bruchstücke Buddhistischer Dramen_, 1911 and +ib. _Das Sâri putra-prakaraṇa_, 1911.] + +[Footnote 652: Inscriptions from Swat written in an alphabet supposed to +date from 50 B.C. to 50 A.D. contain Sanskrit verses from the Dharmapada +and Mahâparinirvânasûtra. See _Epig. Indica_, vol. IV. p. 133.] + +[Footnote 653: E.g. The Sanskrit version of the Sutta-Nipâta. See +_J.R.A.S._ 1916, pp. 719-732.] + +[Footnote 654: See the remarks on the Saṃyuktâgama in _J.A._ 1916, II. +p. 272.] + +[Footnote 655: In the same spirit, the Chinese version of the Ekottara +(sec. 42) makes the dying Buddha order his bed to be made with the head +to the north, because northern India will be the home of the Law. See +_J.A._ Nov., Dec. 1918, p. 435.] + +[Footnote 656: See for the whole question, Péri, Les Femmes de Çâkya +Muni, _B.E.F.E.O._ 1918, No. 2.] + +[Footnote 657: Those of the Dharmaguptas, Mahâsânghikas and +Mahîśâsakas.] + +[Footnote 658: See _J.A.O.S._ Dec. 1910, p. 24.] + +[Footnote 659: Jacobi considers the Yoga Sûtras later than 450 A.D. but +if we adopt Péri's view that Vasubandhu, Asanga's brother, lived from +about 280-360, the fact that they imply a knowledge of the Vijnânavâda +need not make them much later than 300 A.D. It is noticeable that both +Asanga and the Yoga Sûtras employ the word _dharma-megha_.] + +[Footnote 660: Called Citta in the Yoga philosophy.] + +[Footnote 661: See Tylor, _Primitive Culture_, vol. II. pp. 410 ff. +Savages often supplement fasting by the use of drugs and the Yoga Sûtras +(IV. 1) mention that supernatural powers can be obtained by the use of +herbs.] + +[Footnote 662: Kleśa: Kilesa in Pạli.] + +[Footnote 663: The practices systematized in the Yoga Sûtras are +mentioned even in the older Upanishads such as the Maitrâyaṇa, +Śvetâśvatara and Chândogya.] + +[Footnote 664: An extreme development of the idea that physical +processes can produce spiritual results is found in Raseśvara Darśana or +the Mercurial System described in the Sarva-Darśana-Sangraha chap. IX. +_Marco Polo_ (Yule's Edition, vol. II. pp. 365, 369) had also heard of +it.] + +[Footnote 665: It seems to me analogous to the _introversion_ of +European mystics. See Underhill, _Mysticism_, chaps, VI. and VII.] + +[Footnote 666: Jhâna in Pali.] + +[Footnote 667: Samprajñâta and Asamprajñâta, called also sa- and +nirbīja, with and without seed.] + +[Footnote 668: Savitarka and Savicâra, in which there is investigation +concerned with gross and subtle objects respectively: Sânanda, in which +there is a feeling of joy: Sasmitâ, in which there is only +self-consciousness. The corresponding stages in Buddhism are described +as phases of Jhâna not of Samâdhi.] + +[Footnote 669: It is not easy to translate. _Megha_ is cloud and +_dharma_ may be rendered by righteousness but has many other meanings. +For the metaphor of the cloud compare the title of the English mystical +treatise _The Cloud of Unknowing_.] + +[Footnote 670: Siddhi, vibhûti, aiśvarya. A belief in these powers is +found even in the Rig Veda where it is said (X. 136) that munis can fly +through the air and associate with gods.] + +[Footnote 671: So too European mystics "are all but unanimous in their +refusal to attribute importance to any kind of visionary experience" +(Underhill, _Mysticism_, p. 335). St John of the Cross, Madame Guyon and +Walter Hilton are cited as severe critics of such experience.] + +[Footnote 672: Cf. Underbill's remarks about contemplation (_Mysticism_, +p. 394). "Its results feed every aspect of the personality: minister to +its instinct for the Good, the Beautiful and the True. Psychologically +it is an induced state in which the field of consciousness is greatly +contracted: the whole of the self, its conative power, being sharply +focussed, concentrated upon one thing. We pour ourselvea out or, as it +sometimes seems to us, _in_ towards this overpowering interest: seem to +ourselves to reach it and be merged with it. Whatever the thing may be, +in this act we _know_ it, as we cannot know it by any ordinary devices +of thought."] + +[Footnote 673: See instances quoted in W. James, _Varieties of Religious +Experience_, pp. 251-3.] + +[Footnote 674: This curious idea is also countenanced, though not much +emphasized, by the Brahma Sûtras, IV. 4. 15. The object of producing +such bodies is to work off Karma. The Yogi acquires no new Karma but he +may have to get rid of accumulated Karma inherited from previous births, +which must bear fruit. By "making himself many" he can work it off in +one lifetime.] + +[Footnote 675: _World as Will and Idea_, Book III. p. 254 (Haldane and +Kemp's translation).] + +[Footnote 676: E.g. Dig. Nik. II. 95, etc.] + +[Footnote 677: St Theresa, St Catharine of Siena and Rudman Merawin. Cf. +1 John ii. 20, 27. "Ye know all things."] + +[Footnote 678: Chândog. Up. VIII. 15.] + +[Footnote 679: As also to the Saṃhitâs of the Vaishṇavas and the Âgamic +literature of the Śaivas. The six cakras are: (1) Mûladhâra at the base +of the spinal cord, (2) Svâdhishṭhâna below the navel, (3) Maṇipûra near +the navel, (4) Anâhata in the heart, (5) Viśuddha at the lower end of +the throat, (6) Âjñâ between the eyebrows. See Avalon, _Tantric Texts_, +II. Shaṭcakranirûpana. Ib. _Tantra of Great Liberation_, pp. lvii ff., +cxxxii ff. Ib. _Principles of Tantra_, pp. cvii ff. Gopinatha Ras, +_Indian Iconography_, pp. 328 ff. See also "Manual of a Mystic" (_Pali +Text Soc._) for something apparently similar, though not very +intelligible, in Hinayanist Buddhism.] + +[Footnote 680: For the later Yoga see further Book V. I have recently +received A. Avalon, _The Serpent Power_, from which it appears that the +danger of the process lies in the fact that as Kuṇḍalinî ascends, the +lower parts of the body which she leaves become cold. The preliminary +note on Yoga in Grieraon and Barnett's Lallâ-Vâkyâni (_Asiat. Soc.'s +Monographs_, vol. XVII. 1920) contains much valuable information, but +both works arrived too late for me to make use of them.] + +[Footnote 681: Maj. Nik. 36 and 85, but not in 26.] + +[Footnote 682: Dig. Nik. 2. For the methods of Buddhist meditation, the +reader may consult the "Manual of a Mystic," edited (1896) and +translated (1916) by the _Pali Text Society_. But he will not find it +easy reading.] + +[Footnote 683: See Ang. Nik. 1. 20 for a long list of the various kinds +of meditation. A conspectus of the system of meditation is given in +Seidenstücker, _Pali-Buddhismus_, pp. 344-356.] + +[Footnote 684: Dig. Nik. XXII. _ad. in._] + +[Footnote 685: Dig. Nik. I. 21-26.] + +[Footnote 686: See, for instance, Dig. Nik. II. 75. Sometimes five +Jhânas are enumerated. This means that reasoning and investigation are +eliminated successively and not simultaneously, so that an additional +stage is created.] + +[Footnote 687: See _Dhamma-Sangaṇi_; Mrs Rhys Davids' translation, pp. +45-6 and notes. Also _Journal of Pali Text Society_, 1885, p. 32, for +meaning of the difficult word Ekodibhâva.] + +[Footnote 688: _E.g._ Maj. Nik. 77; Ang. Nik. 1. XX. 63.] + +[Footnote 689: Hardy, _Eastern Monachism_, pp. 252 ff.] + +[Footnote 690: But also without shape, colour or outward appearance, so +this statement must not be taken too literally.] + +[Footnote 691: Such procedure has not received much countenance in +Christian mysticism but the contemplation of a burnished pewter dish and +of running water induced ecstasy in Jacob Boehme and Ignatius Loyola +respectively. See Underhill, _Mysticism_, p. 69.] + +[Footnote 692: Maj. Nik. 62 end.] + +[Footnote 693: The analysis means to analyze all things as consisting +alike of the four elements. The one perception is the perception that +all nourishment is impure.] + +[Footnote 694: See Dig. Nik. 13 and Rhys Davids' introduction to it. In +spite of their name, they seem to be purely Buddhist and have not been +found in Brahmanic literature. The four states are characterized +respectively by love, sympathy with sorrow, sympathy with joy, and +equanimity.] + +[Footnote 695: Dig. Nik. XIII. 76.] + +[Footnote 696: Dig. Nik. XVII. 2-4.] + +[Footnote 697: Christian mystics also, such as St Angela and St Theresa, +had "formless visions." See Underhill, _Myst._ pp. 338 ff.] + +[Footnote 698: Attha vimokkhâ. See Mahâparinib. sut. in Rhys Davids' +_Dialogues of the Buddha,_ II. 119.] + +[Footnote 699: Akiñcaññâyatanam.] + +[Footnote 700: Nevasaññânâsaññâyatanam.] + +[Footnote 701: Saññavedâyita nirodhasamâpatti. The Buddha when dying +(Dig. XVI. V. 8, 9) passes through this state, but does not go from it +to Parinibbâna. This perhaps means that it was regarded as a +purification of the mind, but not on the direct road to the final goal.] + +[Footnote 702: See Maj. Nik. 43. But the point of the discussion seems +to be not so much special commendation of this form of trance as an +explanation of its origin, namely that it, like other mental states, is +bound to ensue when certain preliminary conditions both moral and +intellectual have been realized. See also Sam. Nik. XXXVI. ii. 5. See +for examples of this cataleptic form of Samâdhi Max Müller's _Life of +Ramakrishna_, pp. 49,59, etc. Christian mystics (_e.g._ St Catharine of +Siena and St Theresa) were also subject to deathlike trances lasting for +hours and St Theresa is said once to have been in this condition for +some days.] + +[Footnote 703: Maj. Nik. 86.] + +[Footnote 704: This is known to European mystics, particularly Suso. St +Francis of Assisi, St Catharine of Siena and Richard Rolle are also +cited. See Underhill. _Mysticism_, p. 332.] + +[Footnote 705: Christian visions of Hell, Purgatory and Paradise are +another instance of the divine eye, which thinks it can see the whole +scheme of things.] + +[Footnote 706: Tales about such powers, are still very common in the +East, for instance the Chinese story (in the _Liao Chai_) of the man who +learnt from a Taoist how to walk through a wall but failed ignominiously +when he tried to give an exhibition to his family. Educated Chinese seem +to think there is something in the story and say that he failed because +his motives were bad.] + +[Footnote 707: Bernheim, _La Suggestion_, chap. I. Quand j'ai éloigné de +son esprit la préoccupation que fait naître l'idée de magnétisme ... je +lui dis "Regardez-moi bien et ne songez qu'à dormir. Vous allez sentir +une lourdeur dans les paupières, une fatigue dans vos yeux: ils +clignotent, ils vont se mouiller; la vue devient confuse: ils se +ferment." Quelques sujets ferment les yeux et dorment immédiatement.... +_C'est le sommeil par la suggestion, c'est l'image du sommeil_ que je +suggère, que j'insinue dans le cerveau. Les passes, la fixation des yeux +ou des doigts de l'opérateur, propres seulement à concentrer +l'attention, ne sont pas absolument necéssaires.] + +[Footnote 708: Thus in the drama Ratnâvalî a magician makes the +characters see an imaginary conflagration of the palace and also a +vision of heaven. His performance seems to be accepted as merely a +remarkable piece of conjuring.] + +[Footnote 709: Ang. Nik. xvi. 1. In spite of his magic power he could +not prevent himself being murdered. The Milinda-Pañha explains this as +the result of Karma, which is stronger than magic and everything else.] + +[Footnote 710: _E.g._ Maj. Nik. 77. ] + +[Footnote 711: Cullavag. v. 8.] + +[Footnote 712: Dig. Nik. xi.] + +[Footnote 713: Visuddhi Magga, xii. in Warren, _Buddhism in +Translation_, pp. 315 ff.] + +[Footnote 714: R.V. II. 12. 5.] + +[Footnote 715: Yet Tennyson can say "And at their feet the crocus brake +like fire," but in a mythological poem.] + +[Footnote 716: Mahâv. V. i.] + +[Footnote 717: E.g. Dig. Nik. XI. and Cullavag. V. 8.] + +[Footnote 718: Even in the Upanishads the gods are not given a very high +position. They are powerless against Brahman (e.g. Kena Up. 14-28) and +are not naturally in possession of true knowledge, though they may +acquire it (e.g. Chând. Up. VIII. 7).] + +[Footnote 719: Dig. Nik. XI.] + +[Footnote 720: Dig. Nik. I. chap. 2, 1-6. The radiant gods are the +Abhassara, cf. Dhammap 200.] + +[Footnote 721: Watters, II. p. 160.] + +[Footnote 722: The legends of both Râma and Krishna occur in the _Book +of Jâtakas_ in a somewhat altered form, nos. 641 and 454.] + +[Footnote 723: Thus Helios the Sun passes into St Elias.] + +[Footnote 724: He is often called Brahmâ Sahampati, a title of doubtful +meaning and not found in Brahmanic writings. The Pitakas often speak of +Brahmâs and worlds of Brahmâ in the plural, as if there were a whole +class of Brahmâs. See especially the Suttas collected in book I, chap. +vi. of the Saṃyutta-Nikâya where we even hear of Pacceka Brahmâs, +apparently corresponding in some way to Pacceka Buddhas.] + +[Footnote 725: Maj. Nik. 49. The meaning of the title Baka is not clear +and may be ironical. Another ironical name is manopadosikâ (debauched in +mind) invented as the title of a class of gods in Dig. Nik. I. and XX. +The idea that sages can instruct the gods is anterior to Buddhism, See +e.g. Bṛihad-Âr. Up. II. 5. 17, and ib. IV. 3. 33, and the parallel +passage in the Tait. Chând. Kaush. Upanishads and Śat. Brâhmaṇa for the +idea that a Śrotriya is equal to the highest deities.] + +[Footnote 726: Six Manvantaras of the present Kalpa have elapsed and we +are in the seventh.] + +[Footnote 727: We are in the Kali or worst age of the present mahâyuga. +The Kali lasts 432,000 years and began 3102 B.C. + +In their number and in many other points of cosmography the various +accounts differ greatly. The account given above is taken from the +Vishnu Purâna, book II. but the details in it are not entirely +consistent.] + +[Footnote 728: The detailed formulation of this cosmography was +naturally gradual but its chief features are known to the Nikâyas. Dig. +Nik. XIV. 17 and 30 seem to imply the theory of spheres. For Heavens, +see Maj. Nik. 49, Dig. Nik. XI. 68-79 and for Hells Sut. Nip. III. 10, +Maj. Nik. 129. See too De la Vallée Poussin's article, _Cosmology +Buddhist_, in _E.R.E._] + +[Footnote 729: See for the Asuras Sam. Nik. I. xi. 1.] + +[Footnote 730: See a Tibetan representation in Waddell's _Buddhism of +Tibet_, p. 79.] + +[Footnote 731: The question of whether the universe is infinite in space +or not is according to the Pitakas one of those problems which cannot be +answered.] + +[Footnote 732: Dig. Nik. XXVII.] + +[Footnote 733: Mâro pâpimâ. See especially Windisch, _Mâra and Buddha_, +1895, and Sam. Nik. I. iv.] + +[Footnote 734: We sometimes hear of Mâras in the plural. Like Brahmâ he +is sometimes a personality, sometimes the type of a class of gods. We +also hear that he has obtained his present exalted though not virtuous +post by his liberality in former births. Thus, like Sakka and other +Buddhist Devas, Mâra is really an office held by successive occupants. +He is said to be worshipped by some Tibetan sects. It is possible that +the legends about Mâra and his daughters and about Krishna and the Gopîs +may have a common origin for Mâra is called Kaṇha (the Prakrit +equivalent of Krishna) in Sutta-Nipâta, 439.] + +[Footnote 735: Ang. Nik. III. 35.] + +[Footnote 736: This seems to be the correct doctrine, though it is hard +to understand how the popular idea of continual torture is compatible +with the performance of good deeds. The Kathâ-vatthu, XIII. 2, states +that a man in purgatory can do good. See too Ang. Nik. 1. 19.] + +[Footnote 737: But even the language of the Pitakas is not always quite +correct on this point, for it represents evil-doers as falling down +straight into hell.] + +[Footnote 738: Khud. Path. 7. In this poem, the word Peta (Sk. Preta) +seems to be used as equivalent to departed spirits, not necessarily +implying that they are undergoing punishment. In the _Questions of +Milinda_ (IV. 8. 29) the practice of making offerings on behalf of the +dead is countenanced, and it is explained exactly what classes of dead +profit by them. On the other hand the Kathâ-vatthu states that the dead +do not benefit by gifts given in this world, but two sects, the +Râjagirika and Siddhattika, are said by the commentary to hold the +contrary view.] + +[Footnote 739: See Max Müller's _Ramakrishna_, p. 40, for another +instance.] + +[Footnote 740: In a passage of the Mahâparinib. Sut. (III. 22) which is +probably not very early the Buddha says that when he mixes with gods or +men he takes the shape of his auditors, so that they do not know him.] + +[Footnote 741: Sam. Nik. II. 3. 10. Sadevakassa lokassa aggo.] + +[Footnote 742: E.g. in the Lotus Sutra.] + +[Footnote 743: One hundred and eight marks on the sole of each foot are +also enumerated in later writings.] + +[Footnote 744: Artaxerxes Longimanus. Cf. the Russian princely name +Dolgorouki. The Chinese also attribute forty-nine physical signs of +perfection to Confucius, including long arms. See Doré, _Recherches sur +les Superstitions en Chine_, vol. XIII. pp. 2-6.] + +[Footnote 745: Though Brahmans are represented as experts in these +marks, it seems likely that the idea of the Mahâpurusha was popular +chiefly among the Kshatriyas, for in one form, at any rate, it teaches +that a child of the warrior caste born with certain marks will become +either a universal monarch or a great teacher of the truth. This notion +must have been most distasteful to the priestly caste.] + +[Footnote 746: See Dig. Nik. 3. The Lakkhana Suttanta (Dig. Nik. 30) +contains a discussion of the marks.] + +[Footnote 747: See Dik. Nig. 14, Mahâpadânasutta: Therag. 490; Sam. Nik. +XII. 4-10.] + +[Footnote 748: Maj. Nik. 50, Mâratajjaniyasuttam.] + +[Footnote 749: Dig. Nik. 14.] + +[Footnote 750: Maj. Nik. 123. See also Dig. Nik. 14.] + +[Footnote 751: More literally that he knows exactly how his feelings, +etc., arise, continue and pass away and is not swayed by wandering +thoughts and desires.] + +[Footnote 752: Three extra Buddhas are sometimes mentioned but are +usually ignored because they did not, like the others, come into contact +with Gotama in his previous births.] + +[Footnote 753: E.g. Ang. Nik. III. 15 and the Mahâ-Sudassana Sutta (Dig. +Nik. X.) in which the Buddha says he has been buried at Kusinâra no less +than six times.] + +[Footnote 754: Dig. Nik. XVI. v. 15.] + +[Footnote 755: The two kinds of Buddhas are defined in the +Puggala-Pannatti, IX. 1. For details about Pratyeka-Buddhas see De La +Vallée Poussin's article in _E.R.E._] + +[Footnote 756: Thus in Dig. Nik. XVI. 5. 12 they are declared worthy of +a Dâgaba or funeral monument and Sam. Nik. III. 2. 10 declares the +efficacy of alms given to them.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Hinduism and Buddhism, Vol I. 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