Dhammaofgotamabu 00 Aike

BL 1451 .A47 1900 Aiken, Charles Francis, 1863 -1925.
The dhamma of Gotama the RnHrlha snri thp nn.c;npl of
The Dhamma
the
AND THE
of Gotama
Buddha
Gospel of Jesus the Christ

j^ Critical Inquiry into the Alleged Relations of
Buddhism with Primitive Christianity

DISSERTATION FOR THE DOCTORATE IN THEOLOGY AT THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA
By
the
Rev. Charles Francis Aiken, S.T.L.

*
Of
the Archdiocese of Boston
BOSTON
MARLIER AND COMPANY,
IQOO
Limited
The
Dhamma
of
Gotama
and
the
Buddha
The Gospel of
Jesus the Christ
NIHIL OBSTAT.
Carolus
p.
Grannan,
S.T.D., Ceftsor Deputatus.
IMPRIMATUR.
^Joannes Josephus,
Archiepiscopus Bostoniensis.
Copyright,
igoo
By Charles
^11
Francis Aiken.
righti reserved
Printed at Boston, U.S.A.
TO
IHg Scar
fflot!)cr
Preface
THE
It
work
in
hand
is
partly the outcome of a
series of lectures
on Buddhism delivered by
the author in the Catholic University of America.
has been written to meet a want keenly
felt
in
at-
the field of Christian Apologetics.
The specious
tempts to lay the Gospels under obligation to Buddhist teaching have shaken
the faith of not a few

is
Christians,
perative.
The need
of a thorough refutation
in
im-
The few works
English vindicating the
independent origin of Christianity against Buddhist

usurpation,
all
of them
by Protestant
writers,
excellent as they are, dwell too largely on the

parative
com-
superiority of
Christian teaching, and do
not enter in sufficient detail into a critical scrutiny of

the alleged proofs of Buddhist influence on Christianity.
It is to
the latter point that the author of

his chief care, contenting
this little
volume has given
himself with a brief exposition of the inferiority of
Buddhism
rejection
to the
religion of Christ.
The
detailed
of spurious
evidence has
necessitated
Vlll
Preface
more frequent reference to the writers refuted than would otherwise have been made but in the controversial parts he has sought to be courteous and
;
fair.
The
exposition of
Brahmanism and Buddhism,
so
necessary for the proper understanding of the

thesis, will
main
be found to have a value independ-
ently of the part that follows.

cost of
While
striving at a
much
labor to attain to
thoroughness and
accuracy, the author has aimed to produce a work

that
may
be read with interest and profit by those

it
who
are strangers to the subject of which
treats.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I. THE ANTECEDENTS OF BUDDHISM BRAHMANISM
CHAPTER
Vedic and Brahman Rites
The Aryan
deities
I
Page 3
invaders of India Their gods chiefly nature Monotheistic tendencies The sacrifices Rude superstitions Transition Worship of the to Brahmanism Elaborate liturgy Sacredness of the sacrifice The Agni-hotra The sacred Vedas Sacred Retribution of good and formulae Purificatory deeds, transmigration, karma Brahman religion
pitris
rites
evil
more than an empty formalism.
CHAPTER
The
caste-system
II
Social and Religious Institutions
16
Brahmans dignity Unequal distribution of privileges Rigid caste-rules Sudras excluded from Studentship of the three upper castes the Vedic Ceremony of initiation Ascetic of the student Marriage Rigid caste-rule for the choice of the wife Polygamy allowed Low estimate of woman Duties of the wife The religious duties of the householder Sraddha feasts honor of the dead Ascetics Their rule af Their incredible mortifications The practice of Yoga Vows of the ascetic.
first
Brahmans,
in
Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, Sudras
rites
life
first
in
life
Contents
CHAPTER
Rules of Conduct
Multiplicity of
III
Page 32
Brahman restrictions Arbitrary and ab Food-restrictions, especially as to flesh-meat and spirituous liquors Penalty for drinking sura Contempt for manual labor Occupations held to be degraddrinking and ing and impure Precautions observed High standard of walking out of regard for insect Moral forgiveness of injuries Insistence ethics on significance of thoughts clearly recognized Choice exsurd rules
in
life
amples of Brahman wisdom.
CHAPTER
Pantheistic Speculations
IV
45
:
The development towards monotheism Prajapati-Brahman The rise of pantheistic speculations The Upanishads
Brahman-Atman-Purusha
The
incomprehensibility of
identified with all
things
Brahman Maya Rebirth Brahman pessimism and misery due to maya Recognition of man's identity with Brahman the only means of salvation Absorption into Brahman the true end of
man
Pantheism subversive of
in
traditional
it.
Brahmanism,
though nominally
harmony with
PART
IL
BUDDHISM
I
CHAPTER
The Founder, Buddha
Brahman pantheism popular with
It
63
gives rise to rival sects,

little
Of Buddha but
which one Buddhism known for certain His father

the caste of warriors
is
of
Contents
but a petty raja His birthplace His names His education and marriage His abandonment of home for the ascetic life His long not a king
various
xi
The Buddha-Legend Miraculous conception and birth Asita Life the palace of pleasure The from home Mortifications The Bodhi-tree Mara's temptations Supreme enlightenment First preaching Benares Conversions Devadatta The meal with Chunda The painful journey to Kusinara Under the Sala-trees Subhadda Buddha's words Obsequies Divi Estimate of Buddha's character. sion of
period of missionary activity
in
flight
Page
at
fatal
last
relics
CHAPTER
The Law, Dhamma
II
87
Deliverance from suffering the aim of
Four Great Truths
Buddhism
(i)
The
truth of
The suffering
Buddhist pessimism (2) The cause of suffering: desire Karma and rebirth and ignorance 'J'he extinc(3) tion of suffering through the extinction of desire Nir-
vana, of the living, of the dead

soul The
The
the joyful element in supplemented by the Brahman paradise, swarga

latter the
Buddhist view of Buddhism Nirvana
The
path to
The eightfold more popular conception (4) Nirvana Comparison of the Buddhist with the
Brahman standard of ethics The five great duties Attitude of Buddhism towards suicide Gentleness and
forgiveness of injuries
Examples of
III
Buddhist wisdom.
CHAPTER
The Buddhist Order, Sangha
108
Celibacy exacted of Buddha's followers
Poverty and asceticism also requi Excessive austerities avoided Alms the means of subsistence hence the name Bhikkhus Neither manual
towards marriage
site
:
Severe
attitude
xii
Contents
Page
labor nor works of charity in
harmony with Buddhist

initiation
discipline Distinctions of birth ignored Buddha not asocial reformer The Novitiate Rite of Clothing and food Avoidance of luxuries Rule of and worldly amusements Cleanliness exacted Precaulife
tions to be observed in traversing the village
and
in the
presence of
kha
itation
The retreat during the rainy season, Vassa Med Grades of perfection Bhikkhunis The lay
in
women
The
rite of
confession, the Patimok-
element
Buddhism.
CHAPTER
The History of Buddhism
Religious Developments
IV
129
existence of the Brah-
The
man gods
recognized
in primitive
Buddhism, but man's
Hence no rites of worship dependence on them denied Devotion to the gods tolerated in the Buddhist layman VenerRise of religious rites after Buddha's death pilgrimages, ation of his relics, stupas, and statues
processions, and
come, Metteyya the Adi-Buddha
festivals Worship of the Buddha to Divinization of Gotama Buddha as The Bodhisattvas Mahayana and Hinayana The Growth of Buddhism The dubious councils of Rajagriha and Vaisali Asoka His rockinscriptions His zeal for Buddhism Unreliable traditions, especially concerning Mahinda and the council of Patna The introduction of Buddhism into Ceylon
The
evangelization of Kashmir, Gandhara, and Bactria
King
The council of Kanishka Buddhism into China The Chinese pilgrims: Fa Hien and Hiouen Thsang Mito and Fousa Kwancharacter of Chinese Buddhism The The introduction of Buddhism into Tibet yin Resemblances to certain featcharacter of Lamaism The spread of Buddhism over ures of Catholicism Southern Asia The decline of Buddhism in India The
Kashmir
The
Menander
King
introduction of
number
of
Buddhists greatly exaggerated.
Contents
xiii
CHAPTER V
Page
The Buddhist Sacred Books

The twofold Buddhist canon, the Northern (Sanskrit) and The character of the Southern the Southern (Pali) The Vinaya-pitaka, Siitta-pilaka, and Abhlcanon
153
dhamttia-pitaka, constituting the

ical
Ti-pitaka
Extra-canonI'istara,
works: the Dipavansa, Mahavansa, Comnienturies of Works peculiar to the Bndcihagkosa, Miliiida Panha
Northern canon: the Buddha Charita, Lalita Abhinishkramana Sutra, Saddharma-pundarika

lations Age of the
TransTi-pitaka greatly exaggerated The
view that it was fixed for good in the time of Asoka unThe Legendary Biographies of Buddha warranted Critical examination of the age of the Biidd/ia Charita Critical examination of the age of the Lalita Vistara Other Chinese Date of the chief Chinese biography
versions
Tibetan
versions
Dates
:
of
the chief
biog-
raphies of the Southern school
the A'idana
Katha and
recent
Commentary on the Bnddhavansa forms of the Buddha-legend.

the
More
PART III. THE ALLEGED RELATIONS OF BUDDHISM WITH CHRISTIANITY EXAMINED

CHAPTER
I
'
Survey of the Chief Works Written to Show THE Presence of Buddhist Thought in the
Gospels
The theory that Buddhism not
primitive
Christianity
173
was influenced by
(i)
held by the majority of scholars
three chief advocates of the theory
The
Ernst von Bun-
xiv
sen
Contents
argument Critical view of his Rudolf Seydel Outline of his argument Critical view of his defects (3) Arthur Lillie The untrustworthy character of his works Outline of his argument Critical view of his defects Jesus not an Essene Neither Essenes nor Therapeuts Buddhists Futility of the attempt to make John and Paul out to be Gnostics.
of
his
Outline
defects
{2) Prof.
Page
CHAPTER
Exaggerated Resemblances
II
198
Spurious evidence used to impugn the originality of the Gospels classified under three heads exaggerations, anachronisms, fictions Exaggerations The pre-exist:
ence of Jesus
Buddha
heaven contrasted with that ascribed to Divergent circumstances of birth Simeon

in
versus Asita
resemblances between the temptation of Jesus and that of

to
Buddha
Buddha
Unfair
The
fast of Jesus
compared with
the
that of
attempts
exaggerate
The
transfiguration of
Jesus without a close
counterpart in the Buddha-legend.
CHAPTER
Anachronisms
III
21;
Resemblances drawn from Buddhist sources plainly prechristian, alone legitimate in the present comparison Kanishka's conquest of Northern India in 78 A. D. the
probable cause of separation of the Buddhists
of the
South hence Buddhist parallels not known to both Northern and Southern schools are of doubtful prechristian origin Further means of control afforded by the different early versions of the Buddhalegend Anachronisms The genealogy of Buddha The presentation of the infant Buddha in the temple The corresponding Gospel story not out of harmony with Jewish custom The school-scene The gift of
of the
:
North from those
Contents
tongues The augmenting of food at the marriage-feast Lamentation of women over Buddha's corpse The The BudChinese variant Buddha's descent into dhist parable of the lost son Parallels to John, 2S Sadhu Lamaistic resemblances and to Matthew, to certain features of Catholicism The Kwanyin liturgy The swastika.
hell
viii.
xv
Page
57,
v.
CHAPTER
Fictions
Vain attempts to
find a
IV
234
Buddhist parallel to the Holy Ghost
Maya not
a virgin
to
Spurious
to
parallels to the angelic
The star in the Joseph East Pretended Buddha not born on Christmas-day counterparts to the offerings of the Magi Bimbisara not
announcements
Mary and
the prototype of
Herod
Tathagata
Lack
Habba
not synonymous with
of resemblance
between the story of
the lost child Jesus and the Jambu-tree incident
Pre-
tended baptism of Buddha
Untenableness of
the state-
ment that Buddha and Christ began to preach at the same age The Bodhi-tree incident not the source of the story of Nathaniel and the fig-tree The Gospel incident of the man born blind independent of the Buddhist notion of karma Yasa not the prototype of Nicodemus Lack of resemblance between Buddha's entry into
'
Rajagriha and Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem The Last Supper of Jesus wholly unlike the final meal of
Buddha Unwarranted ascription to Buddha of words spoken by Christ Spurious Buddhist parallels to the
abandonment of Jesus by His

rection, to
disciples, to the thief on the cross, to the parting of Christ's garments, to the resur-
Matthew,
v.
29,
and
xiii.
45.
CHAPTER V
Resemblances not Implying Dependence
Abuse
ence
of the principle
.
25
Resemblances
that resemblance
means dependorigin
often
of
independent
xvi
Contents
Examples from comparative ethnology and religion Explained by similarity of conditions and by the uniformity of the laws of thought Further instances Enumer-
Page
ation of the Buddhist parallels wrongly taken to indicate
the influence of
Buddhism on
Christianity.
CHAPTER
Gospels
The
apostolic origin of the Gospels of
VI
Arguments for the Independent Origin of the

269
Matthew and of Luke mythical elements, and
incompatible with the adoption of especially of features of the Buddha-legend
The alleged
presence of Buddhist lore in Palestine and Greece an unwarranted assumption The second Girnar Edict not an indication of Buddhist activity in the western possessions
of Antiochus
Yavana( Yona)-loka
speaking world
The meaning of Yavana (Yona), and of The thirteenth edict not conclusive
in
evidence of the existence of Buddhism
the
Greekre-
The
latter
disproved by the silence of
Inconsistent also with the silence of the Buddhist Chronicles Alasadda, capital of the Yona country, not a not Alexandria of Egypt Zarmanochegas
Buddhist.
Greek mains
literature
and the
total
absence of Buddhist
CHAPTER
The
dhism
Parthian Jews converted by Peter
dition that the apostle
VII
Bud-
Possible Influence of Christianity on
288
Reliability
of the tra-
Thomas preached
to the
people
testi-
The
mony
fifth
of Parthia, Bactria,
and Northwest India
The ancient episcopal sees of Merv, Herat, and Sistan Christian influence in Panjabin the century shown by the Jamalgiri sculptures The
of
early mission of Pantaenus in
Gondophares India The
Cosmas
spread of Nestorianism over the East
in
the fifth and
Contents
following centuries
xvii
Page
of
Si-
ngan-fu
of
The Nestorian monument Likelihood that some of the incidents

into
?
related
Christ have been incorporated
the
Buddha-
legend
Is the Asita-story
one of these
CHAPTER
Buddhism Viewed
in
VIII
.
the Light of Christianity
304
The miracles of Christ above comparison with those ascribed to Buddha the latter unvouched by contempo:
rary witnesses
and tainted by absurdities

its
Examples
Buddhism a
stition
religion not of enlightenment, but of super-
a false assumption
in
Karma and implied transmigration The failure of Buddhism to recognize man's dependence on the supreme God Budthe powerful Christian motives to dhism lacking Nirvana right conduct Buddhist morality not an appeal to unselfishness Buddhist pessimism a
and error
utilitarian
crime against nature

the family, to society
injustice to the individual, to Buddhist propagandism far inferior to the Christian Alliance of Buddhism with local superstitions Buddhist benevolence greatly surpassed by Christian works of charity The impotence of Buddhism to elevate the people of Asia Sad state of morals in Buddhist lands Slavery and polygamy untouched by Buddhism The degenerate condition of the Buddhist order The transcendent excellence of
Its
Christianity.
Bibliography
325
345
Index
PART
The Antecedents
of Buddhism
Brahmanism
The Dhamma of Gotama the Buddha

and
The Gospel of Jesus

PART
The Antecedents
the Christ
of Buddhism
Brahmanism
CHAPTER
The Aryan
pitris
VEDIC AND BRAHMAN RITES
Their gods chiefly nature-deities The sacrifices Worship of the Rude superstitions Transition to Brahmanism Elab The Agni-hotra orate liturgy Sacredness of the RetriThe sacred Vedas Sacred formulae Purificatory bution of good and deeds, transmigration, karma Brahman
invaders of India
tendencies
Monotheistic
sacrifice
rites
evil
religion
more than an empty formalism.
the history of human thought and action we find IN that great movements do not spring indepen-
dently into being.
Whether
philosophical, political,
economic, or religious, they are largely the outcome

of what has gone before.
To
it
this
rule
Buddhism
appreciate
forms no exception.
It
bears an intimate relationship

sprang.
with the religion from which

it
To
rightly,
one must
first
have some acquaintance with
Brahmanism.
Antecedents of Buddhism
The beginnings
of
Brahmanism carry
us
back
through the vast interval of more than three thousand years to the time when the small bands of
intrepid
Aryan invaders pushed
their
way through
the mountain passes of Northern India, and, bearing
down
the opposition of the native tribes, took posits
session of the fertile valleys of the Indus and

tributaries.
four
There they made
their
home, an ener-
getic, industrious,
and progressive people, victorious

successful in the tillage
It
in the frequent
wars waged with the hostile natives,

less
and none the

soil
of the
and
in the raising of cattle.

It
was a period of
prosperous growth.
was likewise a period of

that,
earnest religious thought, to which the gifted bards
gave expression
in
hymns
like
the
for
psalms,
succeed-
became the
favorite forms
of prayer
ing generations.
Many
the
were the gods that claimed their worship,

representatives
:
personal
of the striking phe-
nomena of nature Varuna, the all-embracing heaven, maker and lord of all things, and upholder of the moral law the sun-god, variously known as Surya, the enemy of darkness and bringer of blessings, as
;
Pushan,
the
nourisher,
as
Mitra,
the
omniscient
friend of the good, and avenger of lying and deceit,
as Savitar, the enlivener, arousing

ity,
men
to daily activin
as Vishnu, said to
have measured the earth

Indra, also like
three strides and to have given the rich pastures to
mortals; the god of the
air,
Mars

the mighty god of war,
who
set free
from the cloud-
serpent Ahi (Vritra) the quickening rain, and
gave a happy issue to battles

Siva, the destroying one,
Rudra,
his
later
who known as
evilfire-
and
sons the Maruts
gods of the destructive thunderstorm, dreadful to

doers, but
beneficent to the good
Agni, the
god, the friend and benefactor of men, dwelling on

their hearths,
and bearing to the gods their

;
sacrificial
prayers and offerings

rious plant
Soma, the god of

juice
that myste-
whose inebriating
off disease,
was so dear to gods
and men, warding
imparting strength, and
securing immortality.
These and many others of

devas, the shining ones, to
less
importance were the

they offered praise,
whom
sending up petitions chiefly

life,
for the
good things of
children and cattle and health and length of days, but not unmindful, too, of the need of craving their forgiveness for sins committed.
Though
Each
all
thus directed to
acterized
many
gods, their worship was char-
by strong monotheistic tendencies.
god
to
whom
the worshipper addressed himself was
for the
time being praised as the supreme lord of
things, having the attriJDutes of omnipotence, creative
power, unlimited knowledge, and allwise providence.
There were no temples

sacrifices
altar
turf,
at this early period.
were performed under the open sky.
was very simple, consisting of a small
The The mound of
the surrounding ground being carefully cleared of
grass and shrubs to guard against a possible spreading
6
of the
fire to
the surrounding fields or woods.
The
sacrifices
were chiefly private, being offered by the head of the family, the members of which alone were supposed to profit thereby. The more complicated
sacrifices,
however, were performed by priests
in
union
with the householder.

horse-sacrifices,
Such were the soma- and the both of which were held to be pre-emipitris (fathers), the spirits of de-
nently solemn and efficacious.
Devotion to the
parted ancestors, was also part of their religion.
They
firmly believed in the persistence of the individual

after death.
When
to
first
good man
in
died, his
body mingled
with the earth, but his soul mounted to the realms of

bliss
above
the
live
unalloyed contentment under
Yama,
man, now lord of the dead. But the happiness of these pitris was not altogether independent of the actions of the living. It could be
greatly increased
by
offerings of soma, rice, and water.
Hence the surviving children felt it a sacred duty to make sacrificial offerings at stated times to their departed
pitris.
have
at least
It was the ambition of every man to one son to survive him and contribute to
his future happiness
by abundant
grateful
offerings.
On
the
other hand, the living profited by this generosity to

the
dead;
for the
pitris
secured them in
return health and wealth and posterity.
from the lower forms of that entered superstitions the and nature-worship,
Nor was
their religion free
into the
belief of other
Aryan
peoples.
The cow

was held
in
7
divinfor
for
religious
reverence
worship was not
withheld from serpents and trees.

ation were widely practised.
Magic and
off
Formulae abounded
driving
healing the
diseased,
for
demons,
averting evil omens, for obtaining the object of one's

desire.
Witchcraft
was
dreaded, and recourse to
ordeals was
common
for the detection of guilt.
Such was the

maintained
religious system
into India.
its
which the Aryans

It
brought with them
seems
to
have
much
of
primitive simplicity during
the period of expansive conquest,
whereby the
all
in-
vaders
made
In
themselves
masters of
Northern
India from the valley of the Indus to that of the
Ganges.
the
it
long period of peace and plenty
that followed,
developed
little
by
little
into the
highly complicated,
sacramental system
known
as
Brahmanism.
This transformation was chiefly due to the
influ-
ence of the priests or

prayers and
Brahmans.
Owing
to their
excessive fondness for symbolic words and forms, the
details of ritual
of sacrifice
hymns became greatly multiplied, the more and more intricate. Each kind came to have a liturgy proper to itself
In the performance of the
Some
of them were so elaborate as to require the
service of sixteen priests.

liturgy, the greatest care
had
to
be observed
for
it
was believed the omission of a word or the mispronouncing of a

syllable, or
the failure to carry out

sacrifice void
any ceremonial
detail
would render the
It
and even dangerous.

sacramental
rite,
partook of the nature of a
the due performance of which was

effect.
sure to produce the desired
The
sacrifice
became the
visible
all-important
centre around u^hich the
and
invisible
world revolved.
On
it
it
the very-
gods of heaven depended.

imate wishes of the
realization.
insist
It is true,
Through
all
the legittheir
fail
human
the
heart could find
Brahmans did not
to
in-
on generosity
to the sacrificing priest as
an
dispensable condition of the efficacy of the sacrifice.

Still
it
was not a mere perfunctory ceremony.

that, if
It
was of so sacred a character unworthy

no
avail. ^
performed by an
priest,
it
was accounted sacrilegious and of

the individual in whose behalf
derive
Nor could
a sacrifice was
offered
any benefit from
it
unless he was in the proper disposition.
He
had to
prepare for
it
by a day of abstinence from food and
conjugal intercourse, and by a purificatory bath.
At
the sacrifice offered at the beginning of the rainy

season, the wife of the sacrificer had to confess to
the officiating priest any sin of conjugal infidelity of
which she might be

1
guilty.^
truly
is
"
The Bahishpavamana chant

its
a ship
bound heavenwards
the priests are

world.
If
spars and oars, the
means
of reaching the heavenly
make
is
would sink he makes it sink, even as one who ascends a ship that would make it sink. And, indeed, every sacrifice is a ship bound heavenwards hence one should seek to keep a blameworthy [priest] away from every sacrifice." Satapatha BrahnuDia, iv. 2, 5, Sacred Books of the East, vol. XXVI. pp. 310-31 1. ID. 2 Sat. Brah. ii. 5, 2, 20. S. B. E. XII. p. 396.
it
:
there be a blameworthy one, even that one [priest]
full

One form of
sacrifice,
g
in the
offer-
however, remained
hands of the householder; that was the simple

ing of milk, butter, grain, and
wood
to the hearth-fire
every morning and evening.
This offering, called the
Agni-hotra, was a sacred duty, to which the greatest
importance was attached.

sun would not
ing to the
fire,
It
was taught that
the
rise
were
it
not for the morning offerfaithful
and that the
performance of
the morning and evening Agni-hotra secured a

hereafter.
happy
In keeping with the complicated liturgy of sacrificial
worship was the multiplicity of prayers

life
and
purificatory rites that entered into the daily
of the
Brahman.
the
first
place.
Here the threefold Veda (Wisdom) held This was the devotional lore created
earlier generations,
by the piety of
deposit.
It
and transmitted
and sacred
orally from old to
young
as a venerable
consisted of a collection of ancient riks

praise of the
or
hymns
in
many
gods, the so-called
Rig-Veda, and of two

as
sacrificial rituals,
one known as
the Sama-Veda, compiled from parts of the Rig- Veda
song-service
for
the soma-sacrifice, and the

in
other called the Yajnr-Veda, a liturgy composed
part of ancient hymns, in part of other prayers, invocations,
and
benedictions,
for
use
in
the
various
elaborate forms of sacrifice.

threefold
In course of time this
Veda came
to
be looked upon as having
existed from eternity, and as having been
communi-
cated supernaturally to early man.
Its
preservation
lo
unknown,
to others.
was a sacred duty of the Brahmans.

it
As
writing was
had
to
be memorized and taught orally
Great merit was attached to the recitation
of passages from the Veda, a privilege, however, from
which
caste.^
all
women were
debarred, as well as
men
of low
Besides these, certain formulae consisting of short

extracts from the Rig- Veda
were much
in
vogue and
the
were held to be of great

ant was the so-called
efficacy.
The most importa prayer which
Savitri,
devout individual was careful to address every morning
and evening to the sun as Savitar, the

ran as follows
:
Vivifier.
It
"
Let us meditate on that excellent
glory of the divine Vivifier.
May
he enlighten our
understandings."
Associated with
it
were two sacred ejaculations of

in-
wonderful power, that served as an indispensable

troduction to every important act of devotion.
One
was the divine monosyllable

1
OM
(aum), whose three
and other magic formulae inherited by the Aryan invaders of India from their remote ancestors, seem not to have been brought together into a fixed collection till This collection, known after the formation of the threefold Veda. as the Atharva-Veda (Priestly Veda), was not long in winning recogThe latter also came in time to nition as part of the sacred canon. verbose and miscellaneous exinclude the so-called Brahmaiias, and the so-called Sutras planations of Vedic texts, rites, and customs, in which the contents of the Brahmanas were greatly abridged and
incantations,
The
exorcisms,
given an orderly arrangement.

treatise
To
this class of sacred literature beis
long the ancient law-books, of which the most famous
the metrical
known
as the
Laws of
Mami.
2M. Williams, Indian Wisdom, London,
1876.
p. 20.

letters
were a mystical compendium of the threefold
Veda.
The
other consisted of the three magic words,
Bhuh, Bhuvah, and Svak (Earth, Air, and Heaven). Great was the efficacy of these two formulae when
joined to the Savitri and accompanied by suppressions
of breath.
Devoutly recited every morning and evenlearned
ing by the
Brahmans, they procured
as
much
merit as the recitation of the Vedas.
Their
frequent repetition by
way of penance had
the effect
sin.^
of effacing from the soul the guilt of grievous
scrupulous solicitude for ceremonial purity, surrise in
passing even that of the Jewish Pharisee, gave
Brahmanism
rites,
to
an endless succession of purificatory

water,
baths,
sprinkling with
smearing with
ashes or cow-dung, sippings of water, suppressions
of breath,
all
of them sacramental in character and
efficacious for the remission of sin.^
The
retribution of
good and
later
evil
deeds both here
and hereafter, so clearly expressed formed likewise part of

conceived.
the character of that retribution
in the
Rig- Veda,
belief;
Brahmanic
but
came
to be differently
The
idea of heaven as the final reward of
the just remained unchanged.
But the abyss of darkto a great
ness to which, according to the ancient Vedic hymns,

the wicked were consigned, gave place
variety of hells, the positive torments of
1
which were
XXV.
pp.
T/ie
Laws
V. 57
of
Mann,
ii.
75-83;
xi.
249.
i".
B. E.
44. 479'^
Manu,
ff.
Baudhayana,
iv. 5.
.S.
B. E. XIV. pp. 323
ff.
12
graded to
degrees of
suit different kinds of
guilt. ^
crime and different
These harrowing torments were
most vividly and circumstantially depicted.

were
not,
They
Besides
however, eternal, nor were they the only

evil
forms of retribution of
these, there
less severe
after
death.
was recognized a long graduated scale of

guilti-
punishments suited to sinners whose
ness was not great enough to deserve hell-torments,
or whose debt of suffering had been sufficiently re-
duced by on
to a
infernal
punishments to allow them to pass

state of expiation.
more endurable
less
This was
the progressive series of rebirths from those of plants,
through those of
that of man.
est
and
less
ignoble animals, up to
Thus from
the lowest hell to the highseries of states of

in
rebirth as
man, a formidable
retribution
severity.
was recognized, gradually diminishing

to the degree of guiltiness.
According
first
King
Yama, the
man, now lord and judge of the dead,

in this
determined the grade
long series of punish-
ments to which each sinner should be assigned.

that grade, the
From
by a
condemned
culprit
had
to
pass
slow transition through the rest of the ascending series

until his birth as
man was once more

we
attained.'-^
In the Vedic hymns,
find sickness
and other
kinds of misfortune regarded as punishments sent by

the gods for the evil deeds of earlier years.
i
BrahmanCf.
In Afaiiu, iv.
twenty-one different hells are distinguished.

xliii.
;
Institutes of Vishnu,
"^
S.
E. B. VII.
p. iii.
Manu,
xii.
21-22, 52-58, 61-67, 73-81.

that certain kinds of sickness and deformity were
to the
ism improved on the more ancient belief by teaching
due
unexpiated misdeeds of a former existence, and

fitting
hence ought to be supplemented .by
penances.
"A
twice-born
it
man
life,
having become liable to perform a
penance, be
fate or by [an act] commust not before the penance has been Some performed, have intercourse with virtuous men. wicked men suffer a change of their [natural] appearance in
by [the decree of]
mitted in a former
consequence of crimes committed in this Ufe, and some in consequence of those committed in a former [existence].
He who
steals the
gold [of a Brahman] has diseased nails
drinker of [the spirituous liquor called] sura, black teeth

the slayer of a Brahman,
consumption
;
the violator of a
foul smelling
Garu's bed, a diseased skin
an informer, a
nose
a calumniator, a stinking breath,

.
...
are are
a stealer of
[cooked] food, dyspepsia.
Thus
in
consequence of a
born
all
remnant of [the
guilt
of former]
crimes,
idiots,
dumb, by the
blind, deaf,
and deformed men, who
despised
virtuous."
In this
way
the idea of retribution was
made
to
em-
most rigorous and far-reaching consequences, from which, save by timely penance, there was no escape. As every good action was certain of
brace the
its
future recompense, so every evil action

its fruit
was desThis
tined to bear
of misery
in
the next
life.
law that every good and
evil action
would inevitably
result in future weal or woe,
was known as karma
(action).
1
Manti,
xi.
47-53.
14
the devotee of Brahmanism, however, a
To
means
was held out of securing hberation from the sad conThis means was the pracsequences of evil deeds.
tice of
penances and purificatory
rites.
Evil deserts
could be offset and nullified by the merits of good

works,
alms,
confession,
baths,
suppressions
of
breath, recitation of the Savitri and other Vedic texts,

fasts,
and various kinds of
self-torture,
some of which
were unto death.

It
is
customary
to see
in
these practices, which
figure so largely in the sacred law-books,
naught
else
than a perfunctory formalism.
But
this
is
view scarcely
reason to be-
does justice to Brahmanism.
There
in the
lieve that the consciousness of guilt for sinful
conduct
was keen and

these
rites,
vivid,
and that
performance of
remarkable pas-
so liable to abuse, a penitential disposition
of soul was largely cultivated.
sage in the
efficacy of
Laws of Manu
in a
sets forth the nature
and
to
penance
manner
that leaves
little
be desired.
by repentance, by austerity, and by reVeda] a sinner is freed from guilt and, in case no other course is possible, by liberality. " In proportion as a man who has done wrong, himself
confession,
"
By
citing [the
confesses
its
it,
even so
far
he
is
freed from guilt as a snake from
slough.
" In proportion as his heart loathes his evil deed, even
so far
1
is
his
body freed from

xi.
that guilt.
iii.
Mann, book
Baudhayana,
4 to
iv. 8.
S, B. E. XIV. pp.
294-333-

"
He who
sin,
has committed a sin and has repented,
is
freed
from that
"
arise
but he
is
purified only
'
ceasing [to sin and thinking]
I will
by [the resolution of] do so no more.'
Having thus considered

from
his
in
his
deeds
after death, let
mind what results will him always be good in

intentionally
thoughts, speech, and actions.

"
He
who, having
either unintentionally or
committed a reprehensible deed, desires

[the guilt of]
it,
to be freed
from
must not commit
it
a second time.
to
" If his
mind be uneasy with respect

conscience]."^
any
act, let
it
him
until
repeat the austerities [prescribed as a penance] for
they
'^
fully satisfy [his
Mami,
p. 176.
of his
Cf. Baudhayana, ii. 5, 10. B. E. XIV. "Let him always be sorrowing in his heart when he thinks sins, [let him] practise austerities and be careful thus he will
xi.
22S-234.
.S".
be freed from sin."
CHAPTER
II
SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS

The
Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, Sudras dignity Unequal distribution of privileges StuRigid caste-rules Sudras excluded from the Vedic dentship of the three upper castes Ceremony of initiation Ascetic of the student Marriage Rigid caste-rule for the choice of the wife Polygamy allowed Low estimate of woman Duties of the wife The religious duties of the householder Sraddha feasts honor of the dead Ascetics Their Their incredible mortifications The practice of rule of Yoga Vows of the ascetic.
caste-system
Brahmans
first in
rites
life
first
in
life
INTIMATELY
most important
bound up with the reHgious system

as to constitute one
of Brahmanism, so
features,
of
its
was the division of society
into rigidly defined castes.
From
the earHest times the people had been sub-
ject to class-distinctions.
Besides the class of Ksha-
triyas (also called Rajanyas) or warriors,
which then
Vaisyas
stood
first in
importance, there were recognized three

priests, that of
all,
others,
that of Brahmans or
composed
Between the three
or farmers, and last as well as least of

class of Sudras,
the servile
chiefly of the
first
conquered
natives.
fast lines
classes no hard
and
of separation had been drawn.
17
But with the
development of Brahmanism there
came
a notable change.
The
four ancient divisions
of society became stereotyped into fixed and exclusive castes,
while at
the
same time the Brahmans

first
took precedence of the warriors and assumed the

place of dignity and importance.
As guardians and
be
teachers of the sacred Veda, and as the officiating

priests of the august sacrifices, they professed to
the very representatives of the gods, and hence the peers of the
for
human
Their
race.
No
honors were too great

inviolate.
them.
persons were
To
them
lay
hands on them was a sacrilege. no right

anger.
to
Even
to
the king had

stir
do or say what was apt
to
The
leges
share which the various castes had in privi-
was very unequal.

all,
The
Brahman,
as
the
superior of
tage,
enjoyed the largest amount of advandespised
while
all.
the
Sudra had scarcely any
rights at
On
the other hand, the penalties for
wrong-doing, with but few exceptions, lay heaviest
on the Sudra, and diminished by very considerable

degrees as they affected the three other castes
in
the
ascending scale.
The comparative worth

were held,
is
in
which the four castes

for
revealed by the following text from the

'"
Laws
of Mann,
One-fourth the penance

is
the
murder of a Brahman
prescribed as expiation for

;
intentionally killing a Kshatriya

1
one-eighth for killing

flf.
Manu,
viii.
267
;
a Vaisya
know
that
^
it
is
one-sixteenth for killing a
virtuous Sudra."
These
caste-distinctions, declared
by
later
Brahman
teaching to have existed from the beginning by right divine, were maintained by the most stringent laws. Members of the upper castes might forfeit their rank
through a violation of some caste-rule, and thus sink But no one to the degraded condition of Sudras.
could
rise
above the caste
Moreover, to
it
in which he was born. Kshatriya, or Vaisya, or Brahman, be a
the caste
to a
was necessary that both parents should belong to Children of a mother married in question.
husband of the caste above, inherited the casteMarriages between of the mother only. women of a higher and men of a lower caste gave
rights
rise to
mixed
castes.^
Most contemptible of
all
was
the Chandala, the offspring of a Sudra and a
woman
of the
Brahman
caste.
The very touch
of such a
person was avoided by the Brahman as defiling. Only the three upper castes had the right to know
the Vedas, and to take part
in
the sacrifices;
for
all,
Brahmanism,
far
from being a religion open to
was exclusively a privilege of birth. From its saving the Sudra was most rigorously excluded. rites
Woe
to the
Sudra who sought

"
to gain a
knowledge
of the sacred Veda.
Now
if
he
listens intention-
ally [to a recitation of]

1
the Veda, his ears shall be
Mami, xi. 127. The minor castes
are
all
enumerated
m the
tenth book of Maiui.

filled
19
with molten tin or
lac.
If
he recites the [Vedic]

If
texts, his
tongue shall be cut out.
he remembers
^
them,
It
his
body
shall
be
split
in
twain."
was solely
in the acquisition
of Vedic lore that

;
the education of the youth consisted
and
as
none
his
in-
but a Brahman had the right to teach the Veda, the

training
of
the
youthful
mind was wholly
in
hands.
fluence
;
This was one of the sources of his great

for
in
the capacity of gjini or teacher, he

all
had the moulding of the minds and dispositions of
who
constituted the strength and
mainstay of the
to
nation.
Every youth of good family had
spend
some of
his tender years as a student in the service
of a Brahman.
The entrance into this period of studentship was marked by a most important ceremony, corresponding to the Christian
rite
of baptism.
It
was the
in-
vestiture with the sacred girdle

for this
and cord.
to
The time
the six-
ceremony was from the eighth
teenth year after conception for a Brahman, from the eleventh to the twenty-second year for a Kshatriya,
and from the twelfth

Vaisya.
If
to the twenty-fourth
year for a
not brought to a
Brahman
for this initia-
tion before the
end of the allotted period, the youth

and was excluded from
religion.
all
forfeited his caste-rights
participation in the
Brahman
As
a preparation for the
ceremony, the novice took
a bath and
1
had
his
xii.
head shaved.
4-6.
Then with
the
Gatttatna,
6".
B. E.
II. p. 236.
20
Antecedents ot Buddhism
which served
as his family
tufts of hair
mark
neatly-
arranged, he presented himself
in festive attire to his
chosen Brahman teacher, bearing a new mantle, a Sacrifice having been girdle, a cord, and a staff.
offered, the
the
novice with the mantle, girdle,
Brahman, standing near the fire, invested and sacrificial

act with
cord,
accompanying each
an appropriate
prayer.
The
novice then signified his desire to serve
under him as a student, whereupon the Brahman,

sprinkling the joined hands of the novice with water,
and then seizing them

formulas of
initiation
in
his
own, pronounced the
and
adoption,
said,
and
the
finally,
touching his right shoulder,

thou.
"A
Do
student
art
Put on
fuel.
Take
water.
service.
till
Do
not sleep in the daytime.

fuel.
Keep
silence
the
putting on of
Be devoted
to the teacher
and
study the Veda."
He was
dvi-ja,
then taught the Savitri prayer, and became

twice-born,
or
with the
right to learn
"
the
Veda and
castes.
to participate in the sacrifices.
Three
Brahman, Kshatriya, and Vaisya

Their
first
[are called]
twice-born.
birth
is
from their mother;

the mother, but
the second from the investiture of the sacred girdle.
In that [second birth] the Savitri

the teacher
is
is
said to be the father.
They
call the
teacher father, because he gives instruction in the
Veda."
Thus
prepared
1
by
ii.
solemn
consecration,
p. 9.
the
Vasishtha,
1-4.-6'. B. E. XIV.
Social
and Religious Institutions

to
21
young novice applied himself
the study of the
sacred Veda, learning, not from the written page,
but from the spoken word of the teacher.^
Day
after
day, at the appointed time, he presented himself to

his
teacher,
and
sitting upright
upon the ground,

to
with legs crossed and hands respectfully clasped, he
committed a portion of the Vedic text
memory.
year or two of study sufficed, as a
rule, for
memonly
bers of the warrior or farmer caste, of

a partial
whom
knowledge of the Vedas was expected.
But
the
till
young Brahman had to keep up his studentship he knew the three Vedas by heart. The very
could not hope
to
brightest
reach this degree
of
proficiency in less than nine years.
whom
ence.
The student generally resided with his teacher, he was bound to serve with docility and reverEverything
in his daily life
was calculated
to
impress upon him the sacredness of the Vedas and

the holiness
requisite
for
their
proper study.
He
began and ended the day with prayer, reciting the Savitri in honor of the rising and setting sun, and
making
offerings of
fire.
wood
had
to
Agni (Surya) on the

till
household
He
to rise before the sun, nor

after sunset.
could he recline again
in sleep
He
was allowed a morning and an evening meal, but of Meat could not be eaten, nor the simplest kind.
honey, nor rich and dainty dishes.
1
Between these
till
The sacred books were

became
not committed to writing
long after
the art of writing
familiar to the people of India.
22
meals a
strict fast
had
to
be observed.
He
subsisted
to
on alms, proceeding every morning and evening

the village to
beg
his food of
worthy people who
lived according to the Vedas.
observe the
strictest chastity.
He was expected to Any violation of this
virtue broke the
vow
of his studentship and had to
be atoned
for
by severe penance.
and
to the
He
was
also
bound
to avoid music, dancing, gambling, falsehood,
disrespect to superiors
ness, anger,
aged, covetous-
and injury to animals.^

life
The
and
student's
was thus a
In
it
life
of stern moral
intellectual discipline.
the three monastic
vows of poverty,
realization.
chastity,
and obedience found their
Coming as it did at the critical period of youth, when the will needed to be strengthened against the demands of unruly instincts, and when
influences
the mind was most susceptible to
from
without, this discipline must have helped in no small
measure
a
to
develop a sturdy moral character, as well
as to foster a deeply religious spirit
and to cultivate
quick and retentive mind.
Theirs was indeed a
religious education.
Brahmana
text declares that a
Brahman comes
into the world
burdened with three debts.

;
To
;
the
gods, he owes the debt of sacrifice
to the rishis, or to the
ancient bards, the debt of reciting the Vedas

pitris,
1
'^
or departed fathers, the debt of begetting sons.^

ii.
Manu,
177-1S1
xi.
19-124.
Taittiriya-Bra/unana,
vi. 3, 10, 5.
Cf. S. B. E. XIV.
p.
271-272.
23
Marriage was thus one of the religious duties of a

twice-born man.
Freed from
his
vow
of studentship,
he soon entered into the state of the householder. Characteristic is the advice given in the Lazvs of
Mamc
"
is
for the choice of a bride,
twice-born
man
shall
marry a wife of equal caste who

. .
.
endowed
.
.
with auspicious [bodily] marks.

. .
,
Let him
is
.
not marry a maiden with reddish hair

sickly
.
nor one who

.
nor one who
is
garrulous or has red eyes,
Let him wed a female free from bodily defects, who has an
agreeable name, the graceful gait of an elephant, a moderate
quantity of hair, small teeth, and soft limbs."
^
The
as
rule that the bride should be of the
same
caste
the
groom was
strongly insisted upon.
It
was
be-
necessary for the maintenance of the castes.
To
come
a householder
through marriage with a Sudra
woman was
a crime and a lasting disgrace, the guilti-
ness of which was the greater, the higher the rank of
the offender.
Brahman who would thus debase

hell.^
first
himself was destined to sink into

It
was only of the

good.
and principal marriage that
this rule held
It
did not apply to the secondary

;
marriages, which were the privilege of the twice-born

for as in all oriental
peoples of antiquity, polygamy

religion.
had the sanction of

inferior wife
man
could take an
only from a caste below his
own
nor was
he ordinarily allowed more than one wife from the

^
Mann,
iii.
4, 8,
10.
Alanu,
iii.
17-19.
24
same
caste.
Hence the higher the caste, the larger A Brahman could have four wives, one
two
;
the privilege.
from each
caste, a warrior three, a farmer
while
the Sudra was expected to content himself with one.
Monogamy, however, seems

practised
to
have been largely
by the Brahmans, while the wealthy nobles maintained harems proportionate to their means. In Brahmanism, woman's freedom of action was
subject to
her deserts.
many restrictions The wife had
that did scant justice to
the
right to participate
all
with her husband in the sacrifices, but

of the
knowledge
Veda was withheld from

for
her.
is
"
The
nuptial
ceremony," runs a text of Man u,^ "

Vedic sacrament
initiation
;
stated to be the
women
[and to be] equal to the
serving the husband [equivalent to] the
residence in the house of the teacher; and the house-
hold duties [the same as] the daily worship of the

sacred
fire."
The
speculative estimate of
decidedly low.
instinctive
womanly worth was To seduce men was thought to be the

Laziness, excessive
impulse of women.
for
fondness
ornament,
sensuality,
dishonesty,
malice, heartlessness, and instability were imputed to
them
as
dispositions
inherent in their very nature.

to his
The prudent man was warned not

and unguarded with females, even
tions.2
j|.
remain alone
nearest rela-
^y^g
i^j(j
down
that a
woman must
213-215;
i.x.
never
be independent, but always

1
live in subjection, in childii.
A/(iu!t,
ii.
67.
15.
25
in
hood to her father, in youth widowhood to her sons.^
to her
husband,
her
To
her husband, especially, she
owed
the greatest
fast
obedience and devotion, undertaking no vow or

without his permission. be beaten.
faulty,
unruly wife could
Bound by an
indissoluble tie to her husfidel-
band, she had to bear with him in patience and

ity,
and worship him as a god, even

cruel.
if
he were harsh
and
But
if
she herself proved unworthy, she
could be repudiated by her husband and supplanted
by another.
This one-sided privilege of the husband
was, however, limited
by
certain restrictions.^
Nor
if
did the obligation of the wife to the husband cease

at
his death.
She was not

was
to
to
marry again even
childless, but
ful
remain chaste and
single, faithif
to the
memory
of her departed lord,
she ex-
pected to be honored on earth and to be happy with
him
in
heaven.^
disabilities, the right
if
But despite her many

mate, was not overlooked.
fail
of the
wife to be treated as an honorable,
inferior, help-
The
sacred books did not
to
remind the householder of the sympathy, kindfidelity that
ness,
and affectionate
he owed to her
whom
he had received
1
in intimate
union from the very gods.*
Mami,
V.
147-148.
ix-
2 V. 3 V.
154-155;
156-157.
77-82.
cruel Hindu custom known as sutteeism, by which widows were instigated to seek death on the pyres of their husbands, seems to have formed no part of early Brahmanism.
The
iii.
55-62;
ix. 45, 95, loi.
26
like the student,
The householder,
had
to rise be-
fore the sun, bathe, recite the Savitri,
and pour out

Similar
In
libations of water to his departed relatives.
devotions were expected of him every evening.

addition,
Brahman householder had to recite devoutly every day portions of the Veda and, if a guru, communicate them to his pupil. One of the first duties of the newly married householder was to set up the domestic fire. The maintethe
nance and worship of the household
fire
secured the
presence and blessing of the fire-god Agni, without
which no family could prosper.

burning.
It
was kept always
Every
morning
it
and
evening, offerings
(Agni-hotra) were made to

barley, and sesamum.^
of hot milk, butter, rice,
These daily
sacrifices of
offerings to the
fire,
together with the

full
burnt offerings at every new and
moon,
at the
at the
beginning of each of the three seasons,

at the solstices, as well as the
two harvests, and
soma-sacrifice at the end of the year, constituted the
sum
ficial
of his obligations to the gods, as regards sacri-
worship.
Scarcely less important than these offerings to the
gods were those he had to make to

tives.
his
departed rela-
Once
to
a month, at the time of the full

sacrificial
moon, he
feast
in
had
provide the svaddha, or
honor of the dead.

ful nature,
"^
To
this feast,
which was of a joy-
one or more pious Brahmans and a numi.
Asvalayana-G7-ihya-Siitra,
9.
.S".
B. E.
XXIX.
p. 172.

ber of near relatives were invited.
27
Great care had to

it
be exercised
that
in
the choice of guests, for
was taught
unworthy persons would rob the
sacrifice of its
efficacy.
feast,
Of
the dead supposed to take part in this
the relatives up to the third generation were
to derive
most
profit.^
The
seems
ism.
strong tendency to asceticism, which has as-
serted itself in the chief religious systems of India,

to
It
have taken
its
rise
in
very early
in
Brahman-
found expression
the fasts preceding the
great sacrifices, in the severe penances for transgressions, in the austere

life
exacted of the student,

first
in
the
laws prescribing conjugal abstinence for the
three
days after the nuptial rite and on certain specified days of every month, but, above all, in the rigorous
life
of solitude and privation to which not a few de-
voted their declining years.

hermits and ascetics.
These were the
so-called
The majority
to the end.
of
Brahmans remained householders

their
felt
But a goodly number, having paid
three debts to the gods, the pitris, and the rishis,

called
by the spirit of devotion to increase their store of merit by renouncing the comforts of home life and
withdrawing to the forest to spend the
rest of their
days
in
seclusion, meditation,
and severe
discipline.
The Laws of Mann recommend

time for embracing the ascetic
old age as the proper
life.
"When
a house-
holder sees his skin wrinkled and his hair white and
1
Maim,
iii.
122
ff.
28
the
1
sons of his sons,
then he
may
resort to the
forest."
This rule seems at

served
;
first
to
have been rigidly ob-
but, in the course of time, exceptions

in favor
came
to
be made
of young and even unmarried men,
when
to
the influence of pantheistic speculations led to

life
a strong prepossession for the contemplative a
and
corresponding indifiference
towards
sacrificial
rites.^
In
withdrawing to the solitude of the

if
forest,
he
could take his wife with him

as a hermit, he set
he so chose.
There,
up
a
a rude hut,
maintained the
to
three sacred
fires,
if
Brahman, and continued
perform the
sacrificial rites.
The morning and even-
ing purificatory bath had to be observed.

tattered
skin or
garment was
his
only clothing.
Abstaining
from honey and rich foods, he had to subsist on

water,
fruit, grain,
and herbs, giving

his hospitality.
freely of his store
to those
who sought
He was
allowed
to lay aside food
enough
to last
him for a
to
year.^
Besides these hermits,

ascetics,
there
were the so-called

a
life
who devoted themselves
of even
their
greater austerity.
wives,
Renouncing the society of

fires
and incorporating the sacred
within their
bodies by inhaling the smoke, they condemned themselves to live without fire
^
and with no shelter save
Manu, Manu,
vi. 2.
ii.
2 8
Cf. Baudhayana,
vi. t,-iS.
Baudh.
lo, 17, 2-5.

ii.
S.
B. E.
6, 11.
S. B. E
XIV. p. 273. XIV. 259.

that of a spreading tree.
29
They
subsisted on roots
at the
and herbs, and on alms collected
kitchen-door
when
meal-time was past and
only cold victuals
remained.
Water was
their only drink.
Meat could
once a dav,
not be eaten.
It
was the
"
rule for ascetics to eat but
and then scarcely enough to keep away the pangs of

hunger.
Eight mouthfuls are the meal of an as"sixteen that of a hermit,
cetic," runs a sacred text,
thirty-two that of a householder, an unlimited quantity

for a student."
^
so
The severity of life adopted by the ascetic was not much a penitential discipline for past offences, as a
religious merit
means of acquiring
powers.
and superhuman
The severer the mortification, the greater was deemed the holiness of the ascetic, the richer his It was commonly believed, too, that future reward. by extraordinary austerities one could obtain so great a mastery over the body as to become invisible at will, or to float in the air, or to move with lightning-speed to distant places. And so the more ambitious
gave themselves up
to
variety
of
self-
tortures as fanatic as they were absurd.
Listen, for
example, to the methods recommended by the Laii's

of
"
Manu
for
the
practice
roll
of bodily mortification.
1
Let him either
about on the ground or stan

let
during the day on tiptoe, or
and
sit
down.
1
In
summer
vi. 20.
let
him alternately stand him expose himself to

XIV.
p. 37.
Vasishtha,
S. B. E.
30
fires,
the heat of five
during the rainy season Hve

in
under the open sky, and

clothes, thus
austerities."
^
winter be dressed in wet

rigor of his
gradually increasing the
The most common means

was
fasting.
of rigorous self-discipline
all
Various were the forms devised,
in-
credibly severe, and
some of them grotesque.

meal-time, or
at
They
every
would eat
at
every fourth
eighth; or they would conform their fast to the rule

of the lunar penance.
fast
Proceeding from an absolute
on the day of the new moon, they would increase

meal daily by the addition of a single mouthful
till
their
of food,
at full
moon
the
maximum
of fourteen
mouthfuls was reached, and then during the days of

the waning
moon
diminish the amount of food
in
corresponding manner.^
for wonderfully
Others lived on water alone
long periods of time.
But mortifications were not the only occupation of

the ascetics.
The
practice ofj'o^-a, or contemplation,

their daily
life.
was also a prominent feature of
As-
suming
steadily
a motionless posture,
and fixing their gaze

they lapsed into a
on some object before them, they would think

till
intensely on an abstract subject
trance and fancied they were brought into intimate
union with the supreme deity. Brahman.
The
fruit
of
these contemplations was the pantheistic conception
of the deity, the soul, and salvation, which gave rise

to
new schools
1
of thought, and to a
22-23.
^
'^'*
new
'9' 2-
class of
Mann,
vi.

sacred literature,
abler
ascetics
the
so-called
to
Upanishads.
The
of
teachers and to
In
assume the gather about them disciples.

thus
ascetic,
came
role
becoming an
ten
vows were taken.
Five were known as the greater vows, and embraced

(i) avoidance of injury to
all
living things, (2) truth-
fulness, (3) respect for the property-rights of others,
(4) absolute chastity, (5) liberality.
The
five
minor
vows were (i)
to avoid anger, (2) to
obey the guru,

(5) to
(3) to avoid rashness, (4) to
be cleanly,
observe
purity in eating.^
1
Baitdk.
ii.
lo, i8.
J. B. E. XIV.
p. 279.
CHAPTER
III
RULES OF CONDUCT
Multiplicity of
Brahman restrictions Arbitrary and absurd rules Food-restrictions, especially as to flesh-meat and spirituous liquors Penalty for drinking sura Contempt for manual labor Occupations held be degrading and impure Precautions
to
observed
in
drinking and walking out of regard for insect

of ethics
life
High standard
Moral significance of thoughts ckarly recognized examples of Brahman wisdom.
Insistence
on forgiveness
of injuries
Choice
THE
sive.
influence which
Brahmanism exercised on
the conduct of those
who acknowledged
its
claims was remarkably far-reaching and comprehen-
There was not

life
customary action, however
private, of daily
that was not regulated

restrictions,
by preof
scribed rules.
Innumerable
partly
the nature of religious taboos, partly prompted strange notions of expedience and propriety,
by hampre-
pered freedom of action

cepts
at
every turn.
in
These
and prohibitions were held
equal respect
with the recognized ethical duties, from which they
were but dimly distinguished.
Nowhere,
in fact,
do
we
find
a greater confusion of the laws of conduct
based on the divinely established order with those
Rules of Conduct
resting on inherited superstitions and ceremonial
social observances.
33
and
In the sacred law-books setting
forth the rules of moral

is
and religious conduct, there
a hopeless entanglement of
is
what
is
truly noble
with what
with dross.
trivial,
an incredible mixture of gold
In the
most unexpected manner, the

of right conduct gravely links
Brahman expounder
the most
silly
together sound moral precepts with rules of action
and ludicrous
his
for
all
are
of equal
importance from the
in
eyes.
Here are a few examples
Laws of Maim.
his hair, nails,
" Keeping
and beard clipped, subduing
his
passions by austerities, wearing white garments and [keep-
ing himself] pure, he
[/.
c.,
the householder] shall always be
engaged
in
studying the Veda and [such acts as are] con-
ducive to his welfare. " Let him not step over a rope to which a calf
is
tied, let
him not run when image in water.
it
rains,
and
let
him not look
at his
own
" Let him pass by [a mound of] earth, a cow, an idol, a Brahman, clarified butter, honey, a cross-way, and wellknown trees turning his right hand towards them." ^ *' Let him never play with dice nor himself take off his
shoes, let
him not
eat lying in
bed, nor what has been
placed
in his
hand, nor on his seat.
" Let him eat while his feet are [yet] wet [from the ablu-
him not go to bed with wet feet." ^ him who desires prosperity, indeed, never despise a Kshatriya, a snake, any learned Brahman, be they ever
tion], but let
" Let
so feeble."
1
Mauu,
iv. 35, 38, 39.
2 iv_ 7^^ ^g.
3 iv.
135.
34
" Let him never offend the teacher who initiated him, nor him who explains the Veda, nor his father and mother, nor [any other] guru, nor cows, nor Brahmans, nor any men performing austerities. Let him avoid atheism, cavilling at the
Vedas, contempt of the gods, hatred, want of modesty, pride,

anger, and harshness."
^
" Let him never bathe in tanks belonging to other

if
men
he bathes [in such a one], he

"
is
tainted by a portion of
the guilt of
him who made the tank.

uses without permission a carriage, a bed, a
He who
seat, a well, a
garden, or a house belonging to another [man],

guilt."
^
takes
upon himself one-fourth of [the owner's]
To
the Christian reader, this hopeless
confusion
alter-
brings a constant series of surprises, producing

nately feelings of admiration and amusement,
sym-
pathy and
disgust.
One marvels how

clear
religious
minds that possessed so

unshaken approval
puerile superstitions.
In the
.
vision
of
many
moral truths could be so blinded as to give their

to
multitude
of absurd and
matter of food, the religious
restrictions
all
were numerous and severe.

fish
Almost
kinds of
were forbidden, as well as
many
kinds of landbirds,
animals, such as carnivorous
and web-footed
lawful kinds of
village-fowls, village-pigs, camels, horses,
and other
fish,
one-hoofed
fowl,
beasts.
Even the
and meat could not be used as ordinary

It
articles
of
diet.
was only on occasions of entertaining

pitris,
guests,
^
and of sacrificing to the gods and

Mann,
iv. 162,
that
163.
iv.
201, 202.
Rules of Conduct
they could be eaten without
sin.
35
slain
The animals
on such occasions were thought

fited,
to be greatly bene-
inasmuch as
their
immolation was rewarded by
a rebirth in a higher and

" Herbs, trees,
more blessed
existence.
that have
cattle, birds,
and [other] animals
been destroyed
existences.
for sacrifices, receive
[being reborn] higher
"
fice
On
and
offering the honey-mixture [to a guest], at a sacriat the rites
in
honor of the manes, but on these

animal be
slain
;
occasions
only,
may an
that
Manu
proclaimed.
"
twice-born
man who, knowing
the true meaning of
the Veda, slays an animal for these purposes, causes both
himself and the animal to enter a most blessed state."
But
to slaughter an animal for ordinary
purposes
the
of consumption was accounted a grave

guilt of
its
injury,
which was shared by those who used any of
flesh as food.
" Meat can

creatures,
never be
obtained without injury to living

is
and
injury to sentient beings

bliss
;
detrimental to [the
attainment of] heavenly
let
him therefore shun [the
use of] meat. " Having well considered the [disgusting] origin of flesh
and the [cruelty

let
of] fettering
and
slaying corporeal beings,

flesh.
him
"
it
entirely abstain
from eating
He who
up, he
permits [the slaughter of an animal], he
who
it,.
cuts
who
it,
kills
it,
he who buys and

it
sells
[meat],
eats
he who cooks
he who serves
up,
and he who
[must
all
be considered as] the slayers [of the animal].

1
Mann,
IV.
40-42.
36
" There
is
no greater sinner
tlian tliat
man who, though
not worshipping the gods or the manes, seeks to increase of other flesh [the bulk of] his own flesh by the
[beings]."^
Other
ban.
It
articles of
food were likewise put under the

to use the
was wrong
milk of sheep, camels,
mares, and even of cows within ten days of calving.
So vigorous was
the prohibition against
mushrooms,
onions, leeks, and garlic, that to use such food know-
ingly was accounted a crime involving loss of caste.
To
leges.
the Brahman,
all
sorts of spirituous liquors

all
were
forbidden under pain of forfeiture of
caste-privi-
The very
dignity of his position
that he should be a total abstainer.
demanded Members of the

But the
other castes were allowed the use of liquors distilled
from molasses and from Madhuka

from ground
forbidden to
this
rice,
all
flowers.
so-called sura, a highly intoxicating drink distilled
corn,
and barley, was solemnly
without distinction.
wâs
To
indulge in
form of beverage
held
to
be one of the
greatest of crimes, the expiation of which called for
penances appaUing
for their severity.
"A
twice-born
man who
boiling
has [intentionally] drunk through

Sura,
shall
delusion of mind [the spirituous liquor called]
drink that liquor

"
hot
when
is
his
body has been

milk,
clarifled
completely scalded by
that,
he
freed from guilt
Or he may drink cows' butter, or [liquid] cow-dung

1
urine,
water,
till
boiling hot
iv,
he dies
Manti.
4S-52.
Rules of Conduct
" Or, in order to remove the guilt of drinking Sura, he
eat during a year
37
may
hair
once [a day]
at night grains
[of rice] or
oilcake, wearing clothes

in braids,
made
of cow-hair and his

^
own
and carrying
[a
wine cup as] a badge."
No
less
subject to rigorous restrictions

a livelihood.
was the
manner of gaining
tions of
As
in the civilizain
Greece and Rome, so too

be a defilement
for a
Brahmanism,
or
a
the dignity of manual industry failed of recognition.

It
was held
If
to
Brahman
Kshatriya to support himself by the labor of his

hands.
hard pressed by lack of means, he was
permitted to practise through the agency of others

the occupations lawful to the Vaisya, namely,
culture, cattle-raising,
agri-
and a few kinds of trade.
But the
contempt
in
which these pursuits were held may be

fact
judged from the
that
shepherds, shopkeepers,
and those who subsisted by agriculture were excluded as unworthy guests from participation
in
the
sraddha
feasts in
honor of the
still
pitris.^
More contemptible
were the numerous occu-
pations that necessitated contact with substances held

to be defiling, or that tainted the purity of fire
and
water, or that involved the slaughter of animals and
the felling of trees.
All
who engaged
outcasts.
in
such forms
of business were treated as
Brahman
tailor,
could not accept food from a carpenter, a
worker
in leather or metals,
all
nor even from a physi-
cian; for they were

1
held to be impure.
^
Jii,
Manu,
xi.
91-93.
i^^^
i(3^_
and
166.
38
" Let
sick [men],
*'
him never
.
eat [food given]
by intoxicated, angry, or
Nor
the food given by a thief, a musician, a carpenter,

. .
. a usurer, ... a miser, one bound with fetters. " Nor [the food given] by a physician, a hunter, a cruel
man.
"
Nor
the food [given] by an informer, by one
who habtailor,
itually tells falsehoods,
nor by one who
sells
[the rewards
for] sacrifices,
nor the food [given] by an actor, a
or
an ungrateful [man],
" By a blacksmith, a Nishada, a stage-player,
smith, a basket-maker, or a dealer in weapons,
gold-
"
By
trainers of hunting dogs, publicans, a

'
washerman,
a dyer."
The scrupulous regard

vegetable
life,
for all
forms of animal and
developed by the doctrine of transmi-
gration, gave rise to restrictive rules of conduct that
bordered on the absurd.
Insects,
killed.
however repulsive
and noxious, could not be

be drunk
life
till it
Water could not

minute forms of
was
first
strained, lest
should be swallowed and destroyed.
We
have
just seen
leather,
how
carpentry, basket-making, working in
and other respectable occupations were held

because they could not be carried on
life.
in disrepute,
without a certain cost of plant and animal

zealots
Some
went so
far as
to question
the blamelessness
of
tilling
the ground on account of the unavoidable

to
injury
done
it
worms and
insects in ploughing.^
But
was of
1
ascetics that the greatest precautions

iv.
Manu,
207-216.
x. S4.
Rules of Conduct
were
exacted.
In
39
scan the
walking, they had to
ground carefully before them so

ing any living creature.
tread on a ploughed
It
as to avoid crush-
was forbidden them to
when
insects
field. During the rainy season, swarmed on the ground in greatest
number, they were allowed

possible.
to
move about
as
little
as
Through
these superstitious restrictions and
many
others of minor importance, freedom of action was
very narrowly circumscribed
for the
devotee of Brah-
manism.
himself,
This was especially true of the Brahman
were lawful
who was obliged to eschew many things for members of the other castes.
felt life
that
It is
not surprising that the more scrupulous

a burden, and
to
be
of
became imbued with
the
spirit
pessimism.
But
if
we
abstract from this superstitious and arbi-
trary limitation of
sideration the
in the
human conduct, and take into conBrahman teaching of right and wrong recognized sphere of ethics, we are confronted
with a largeness and depth of moral discernment that

justly excites our admiration.
Truthfulness, honesty, self-control,
obedience
to
parents and superiors, the moderate use of food and

drink, chastity, and almsgiving were strongly inculcated.
Especial stress was laid on the duty of acting

sick,
charitably towards students, ascetics, the
the
aged, and the feeble.

1
Though
46
ff.
allowing, like other
JlliUiu, vi.
40
religions
of antiquity,
polygamy and repudiation, Brahmanism strongly forbade adultery and all forms It condemned, likewise, in of unchaste indulgence.
severe
terms
suicide,
abortion,
perjury,
slander,
drunkenness, gambling, oppressive usury, hypocrisy,
and slothfulness.
hard side of
Its Christian-like
aim
its
to soften the
human
nature
is
seen in
many
its
lessons
of mildness, forbearance, respect for the aged, kindness towards servants and slaves, and in
insisting,
though
to
to an excessive degree, living creature.
on not causing death

cruelty to animals,
any
Wanton
met from the Brahman the reprobation it deserves. Nothing is more striking than its insistence on the
duty of forgiving injuries
evil.
and returning
good
for
In the
Laws
let
of Manu, we read of the ascetic:
" Let
him
;
patiently bear hard words, let
anybody
and
him not insult him not become anybody's enemy for the
sake of this [perishable] body. " Against an angry man let him not in return show anger,
let
him
bless
when
cursed,
and
let
him not
utter speech, de^
void of truth, scattered at the seven gates."
Nor
did this standard, so remarkable, of moral right

to external acts.
It
and wrong, apply simply

trated to the secret
peneIt
chamber of the
will.
heart.
de-
manded
recognition of the very
The
in
threefold
division of
good and bad
acts into thoughts, words,
and deeds,
teaching.
finds frequent expression
Brahmanic
Mamt,
vi. 47, 48.
Rules of Conduct
*'
41
He, forsooth, whose speech and thoughts are pure and ever perfectly guarded, gahis the whole reward which is conferred by the Vedanta.""
^
" Let him not even, though in pain [speak words], cutting
[others] to the quick
;
let
him not
injure others in thought
or;
deed
let
him not
[the
utter speeches
which make [others]
afraid
of him, since that will prevent
" Neither
sacrifices,
study of]
the
him from gaining heaven." ^ Vedas nor liberality, nor

restraint,
nor any self-imposed
nor
austerities,
ever procure the attainment [of rewards] to a

heart
is
man whose
words, and
*
contaminated with
wife
sensuality."'
''The
who keeps
in the
chaste
in
thoughts,
body, and remains
faithful to
her husband, attains to a reis
union with him
next world and
called virtuous."
like these.
The Laws of Mami abound in noble sentiments The more striking ones have been culled
in
out by Monier Williams and finely translated
his
work
this
entitled BraJinianism
and Hindnisui.
It is
from
collection that
:
have been taken

"
the
following
choice sentences
From poison thou mayest take the food of life, The purest gold from lumps of impure earth,
Example of good conduct from
Something from
all
a foe,
child,
Sweet speech and gentleness from e'en a

;
from
men
of low degree
^
Lessons of wisdom
if
thou humble be."
"
He who
Over
his
by firmness gains the mastery

words, his mind, and his whole body,
Is justly called a triple governor."

^
Mann,
V.
ii.
i6o.
ji_
160-161.
3-10.
ii.
97.
155
cf. xi.
232, 242;
xii.
^ ii.
238, 239.
^ xii. 10.
42
Do
thou,
" E'en as a driver checks his restive steeds,

if
thou
art wise, restrain thy passions,
Which, running
wild, will hurry thee
away."
" Pride not thyself on thy religious works
Give to the poor, but
talk
not of thy
gifts,
By pride
religious merit melts away,

^
The
"
merit of thy alms by ostentation."
None
sees us, say the sinful in their hearts
Yes, the gods see them, and the omniscient spirit
Within their
'
breasts.
Thou
thinkest,
good
friend,
am
alone,'
but there resides within thee

respects thy every act,
^
being
who
Knows
all
thy goodness and thy wickedness."
" If with the greatest Divinity who dwells
Within thy
breast,
thou hast no controversy.

*
Go
not to Ganges' water to be cleansed,

a pilgrimage to Kuru's fields."
is
Nor make
''
Contentment
the root of happiness,

^
And
discontent the root of misery.
Wouldst thou be happy, be thou moderate."
" Thou canst not gather what thou dost not sow ? 6 As thou dost plant the tree, so will it grow
"
Depend not on
another, rather lean
Upon
thyself; trust to thine
own
exertions,
Subjection to another's
will gives
pain
True happiness
1
consists in self-reliance."''
Mamf,
ii.
88.
Rules of Conduct
" Strive to complete the task thou hast
Wearied, renew thy
efforts
43
commenced
;
once again
Again
So
fotigued,
once more the work begin,

^
shalt
thou earn success and fortune win."

visits
" Be courteous to thy guest who
thee
Offer a seat, bed, water, food enough,
According
to thy substance, hospitahty

for thyself
till
Naught taking
he be served
Homage
*'
to guests brings wealth, fame, hfe,
and heaven."
"^
Though thou mayest suffer for thy righteous acts, Ne'er give thy mind to aughl but honest gain." ^
till
" Fidelity
death, this
is
the
sum
*
Of mutual
" Then only
duties for a married pair."
is
man
When
'
he
is
three,
a perfect
man
himself, his wife, his son,
For thus have learned men the law declared, A husband is one person with his wife.' " ^
"
When
Comes
Goodness, wounded by Iniquity,

to a court of justice,
and the judge

*^
Extracts not tenderly the pointed dart,
That very shaft shall pierce him to the heart."

''
Daily perform thine
own appointed work
Unweariedly
and
to obtain a friend,
sure
companion
to the future world,
Collect a store of virtue like the ants,
Who
1
garner up their treasures into heaps

father,
For neither
Manu,
ix.
mother, wife, nor son,

2 ^
iii.
300.
lo6;
iv. 29.
^ iv_ jyj, ^
viii.
4 ix. loi.
ix. 45.
12.
44
When
Thy
Single
Nor kinsman
will
remain beside thee then
thou art passing to that other home,
virtue will thy only

is
comrade be.
every living creature born,
Single he passes to another world/

Single he eats the fruit of evil deeds,
Single, the fruit of
good
and when he leaves
His body
like a log or
heap of clay
Upon
And
the ground, his kinsmen walk away;
Virtue alone stays by him at the tomb,

bears him through the weary, trackless gloom."
"^
The
iv.
following passage, not translated
by Mr. WilWisdom^
liams, reminds one of the familiar utterance in

8
:
"
No man is old because his hair is gray Who knows the Veda, though he still be
;
young,
^
Is
^
by the gods accounted rich
in years."
" Je mourrai seal." Maiiu, iv. 238-242.
Pascal.
3
ji_
i^5_
CHAPTER
IV
PANTHEISTIC SPECULATIONS
Prajapati-Brahman The The development towards monotheism BrahmanThe Upanishads rise of pantheistic speculations Atman-Purusha identified with all things- The incomprehensito maya misery due Rebirth and Maya bility of Brahman Recognition of man's identity with BrahBrahman pessimism Absorption into Brahman the man the only means of salvation true end of man Pantheism subversive of traditional Brahman:
ism, though nominally in
harmony with
it.
WE
have already seen that the rehgion of the Vedic hymns was characterized by a strong
The need was felt of a supreme god endowed with the attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, and retributive justice but in the choice of the deity there was great uncertainty. To different gods, Varuna, Mitra, Agni, Indra, Soma,
monotheistic tendency.
;
was accorded
in
turn the honor of supremacy.
The
worshipper who yesterday praised Varuna as supreme, was found to-day bestowing the same compliment on
For a while, indeed, Indra or some other deity. Varuna bid fair to outshine the other gods and win But a stronger his way to exclusive supremacy.
current of popularity set in favor of Indra, turn soon found a formidable rival in Agni.
who
in
46
of thus
attributing to
The inconsistency
gods properties
to
several
that, strictly speaking,
could belong
in
one alone, seems
to
have made
itself felt
the
minds of the
nition.
priestly class.
find a
And
so in the later
into recog-
Vedic hymns we
new
deity
coming
This was Prajapati, lord of creatures, omnip-
otent and supreme, the upholder of the moral order.
The gods of the ancient pantheon came to be viewed, now as the creatures of Prajapati, now as the various forms under which he made himself known. This new deity seems to have been a priestly, rather than It won its way into the a popular, conception.
liturgy;
but meanwhile Indra, Agni, Soma, and the

to
other gods continued
hold their old
place
in
worship and
in
popular esteem.
Another designait is
tion of Prajapati
was Brahman, and
by
this latter
name
that the
supreme deity came
in the
course of
time to be
religion,
commonly addressed. however, Brahman had a

being
In the popular
rather
shadowy
gods
of
existence,
more
remote than the

less
ancient tradition
and hence
prominently the
direct object of worship.
Such was the development towards monotheism

the popular Brahmanic religion.
there was a parallel
in
But besides
this,
movement towards pantheism.

in-
That the gods of the Vedas were but feebly

dividualized
is
shown by the readiness with which the attributes of one god were transferred to Hence when the new conception of the another.
plainly
47
to
supreme deity Prajapati or

recognized,
it
Brahman came
be
was an easy step
to identify with
him
the various gods of tradition.
But herein lay a grave
danger of lapsing into pantheism, owing to the association of these

if
gods with material phenomena.
For
the sun-god, fire-god, earth-god, heaven-god, and
the rest were nothing
the
supreme
to
deity,
then
that
more than manifestations of the conclusion seemed

the
legitimate
many
very sun,
fire,
earth,
heaven, and other parts of the visible universe were

identical with
It
Brahman.
to
was but another step
identify
man
himself
with this great underlying deity, and the pantheistic
theory was nearly complete. This school of thought was not a popular one.
It
was esoteric
in
its
teachings.
its
Not
all
Brahmans,
even, were initiated into
mysterious but precious
wisdom.
It
was chiefly the possession of those who

and
ascetics.
lived apart in the forest as hermits
The
more
gave
influential
assumed the
role of teachers,
founded
schools, and
rise to a
mystical,
by the accumulation of their aphorisms new class of literature, the philosophic, pantheistic treatises known as the Aranyakas
and Upmiisliads.
Like the
New
Testament, the Upanishads do not
attempt to give a systematic exposition of doctrine.
Nor do they agree
in
all
details,
for
they are the
products of various rival schools of thought.
They
consist largely of dialogues and tracts setting forth
48
in a
mysterious manner the pantheistic way of salva-
tion.
Thrown together without orderly arrangement,
these teachings are mingled with
many
absurdities
and puerile explanations.

inspired books, being also
In the course of time they
took their place with the Vedas and Brahmanas as

of the Veda).
for the
known as the Vedanta (End They became the authoritative basis

existence
Vedanta school of religious philosophy, which

its
has maintained
down
all
to the present day.^
The fundamental
one
tenet of the pantheistic school
was the absolute identity of

self-existent, spiritual
it
existing things with
being.
This being went
by various names. Now Brahman, now Purusha
was called Prajapati, now
(the
Male or Person), now

primarily
in
Atman
(the Self).
life
By Atman was meant

and personality
the principle of
each individual.
Not till after the identity of each individual self with Brahman was recognized, does the word Atman seem to have become a designation of the highest
deity.
Like the materialists, the pantheistic Brahmans
sought to reduce
to terms of
all
things animate and inanimate
one simple substance.

all
But while the
former declare that

held
its
things are matter, the latter
all
things to be
spirit.
The
material world with
endless variety of forms was Brahman.
Man was
Out of
I.
Brahman.
'
The very gods were Brahman.

in vol.
Upanishads have been translated of the Sacred Books of the East.

principal
The
and XV.
49
Brahman, by a process of emanation, came all individual beings, and into Brahman they were destined
ultimately to
be absorbed and to lose their
individuality, just as the drops of spray tossed
from the surface of the ocean
fall
back
to
up become
one again with the great parent mass.

" This
the truth.
is
As from a blazing
fire
sparks like
unto
fire
fly
forth a thousandfold, thus are various beings
brought forth from the Imperishable,

thither also.
is
.
my
friend,
and return
air,
From him [when

all
entering on creation]
born breath, mind, and

water,
organs of sense, ether,

all.
.
light,
and the
birds.
is
earth, the support of
From
him the many Devas too

men, catUe,
" All this
.
. .
are begotten, the
Sadhyas [genii],
'
The Person is all this.'" Brahman. Let a man meditate on

and breathing
all
.
that [visiin
it
ble world] as beginning, ending,
[the
all
Brahman].
He
from
whom
works,
all
desires,
all
sweet odors and tastes proceed,
who embraces
this,
who
never speaks and who

the heart,
is
is
never surprised, he, myself within
that
Brahman."^
all-embracing,
What was
we
the nature of this
all-
pervading deity?
see the wide
In the
answer to
this question,
difference between
the anthropo-
morphic conception of the
traditional
nature-gods
and the pantheistic notion of Brahman.

is
Brahman
is
as hard to describe as pure matter.

'
He
without
Cf. Katha.
Upan.
-
Mundaka Upanishad, ii. i. S. ii. 5. 5". B. E. XV. p. 19.

Chaiidogya Upanishad,
iii.
B. E.
XV.
pp. 34-35.
14.
S. B. E.
I. p.
48.
50
parts,
without form, a subtile
essence
that
cannot
be apprehended.
" That which cannot be seen, nor seized, which has no
family and no caste, no eyes nor ears, no hands nor
feet,
the
eternal,
is
the omnipresent [all-pervading], infinitesimal,

imperishable, that
^
that which
it
is
which the wise regard
as the source of all beings."
In his
ence,
own domain
is
of eternal, unchangeable exist;
he
all
but unconscious
is
for
according to
Hindu thought, there

since he himself
is
nothing for him to perceive

is,
all
that
and since perception
implies duality, a distinction between the perceiver
and the perceived.

"Verily, beloved, that Self
destructible nature.
is
imperishable and of an inis,
For when there
as
it
were, duality,
then one sees the other, one smells the other, one tastes the
other,
one
salutes the other,
ceives the other,
one hears the other, one perone touches the other, one knows the
is all this, how should he see how should he smell another, how should he taste another, how should he salute another, how should he hear another, how should he touch another, how should he know another? How should he know him by whom he knows
other
but when the Self only
another,
all
this?
That
Self
is
to
be described by no, no
he
He
;
is
incomprehensible, for he cannot be comprehended

imperishable, for he cannot perish
;
he
is
is
unattached, for he
suffer,
does not attach himself; unfettered, he does not does not

1
he
fail."
^^lnld.
upon.
i.
I.
^.
^. E.
XV.
iv. 5.
Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad,
S.
p. 2S.
B. E.
XV.
p. 1S5.
This recognized unity of
prehensible
Self,
all
things in the incom-
or Brahman, necessarily implied the
corresponding persuasion that the things of sense
were not what they seemed.

world was inaya,
illusion.
It
The manifold
had no
external
real existence,
being but a passing manifestation of Brahman.
Even
the gods were not real entities, having an existence
of their own.
Like man,
like the tree
and the stone,
they were but transitory emanations of the one, unchanging, incomprehensible

existed.
It
spirit.
Brahman alone
real-
He
alone was eternal, imperishable.

at large not to
was the misfortune of men

this
ize
double truth.
To
take
maya
for reality, to
delude himself into the belief that he was a distinct

individual
fatal
It
with a personality
of his own, was the
mistake of the ignorant and thoughtless man.

this false
was
all
view of things that lay at the root
of
misery.
For, ignoring his identity with Brahhis true end,
man, he did not see that

quently his highest
bliss,
and conse-
consisted in being absorbed
into the great spirit from
which he sprang.
He was
led to set his heart
on a merely personal existence.

and attaching himhis affection, stained his
He became
self to
a creature of desires,
objects
unworthy of
soul with guilt.

" Carried along by the waves of the qualities, darkened in
his imaginations, unstable, vacillating,
is
fickle,
crippled,
'
full
I
of desires,
he.' 'this
he enters into
he binds
belief, believing,
am
mine'
his self
by
his self, as a bird with
a net,
52
and overcome afterwards by the fruits of what he has done, downward or upward is he enters on a good or bad birth his course, and overcome by the pairs, he roams about."
;
-^
According
gation
to
popular Brahmanic
belief, l.he
obli-
of being born again was
incurred
only by
as well
those whose transgressions in the present

as in past forms of existence,
lite,
had not been expiated

died rich in
by proper penance.
Rebirth was nothing else than
a form of punishment.
The man who
merit and free from guilt was promised a personal

existence of endless bliss above.
In the
Upanishad school,
in
hell,
a different view prevailed.
Tortures
and
vile rebirths
continued to be
recognized as the punishments of wickedness.
But
the
freedom from
virtuous
all
rebirth
was also denied

of
his
to
man who,
ignorant
identity
with
Brahman, counted
virtue of his
on a personal
existence.
By
But
but
good works, he would mount
to heaven,
he might even win a place

this individual life of rest
fleeting.
It
among
bliss
the gods.
and
was
at best
could not
last forever.
After a while,
his store of merits
would give out

to
like oil in a
lamp,
and he would then have

earth to taste in a
existence.
''
descend once more to
new
birth the bitterness of earthly
Fools dwelling in darkness, wise in their
own
conceit
and puffed up with vain knowledge, go round and round,

1
Maitrayana-Brahmana Upanishad,
iii.
3.
S.
B. E.
XV.
p. 297.
staggering
to
53
by the
blind.
and
fro
like
blind
men
led
Children when they have long lived in ignorance, consider
Because those who depend on their good works are, owing to their passions, improvident, they fall and become miserable when their life [in the world
themselves happy.
which they had gained by
their
good works]
is
finished.
Considering sacrifice and good works as the best, these fools
know no
this
higher good, and having enjoyed [their reward] on
the height of heaven gained by
good works, they enter again

life of]
world or a lower one."
"^But they who, living in a village, practise [a

fices,
sacri-
works of public
utility,
and alms,
they go
to
the
smoke, from smoke

the
to night,
from night to the dark half of
moon, from the dark
half of the
moon
to the six
months
when
year.
the sun goes to the south.
But they do not reach the

from the ether to
From
the months they go to the world of the fathers,

fathers to the ether,
from the world of the

the
moon.
till
That
their
is
Soma
the
the King.
by the Devas,
there
yes,
Devas love
-
Here they are loved them. Having dwelt
[good] works are consumed, they return
again that
way
as they
came."
The prospect of being
thus
condemned
life
to
go
and
through the experiences of earthly
again
again was calculated to arouse the deepest concern;

for
Brahmanic speculations had
led to a very pessi-
mistic view of
human
existence.
king cries
out,
"O
1
Saint," a converted
"what
is
the
use of the enjoyment of pleasure in

Miindaka Upanishad, i. 2. Ckandogya Upanishad, v.
p. 176.
this
offensive, pithless
p. 32.
10.
S.
B. E.
XV.
S.
B. E.
I.
p. 80.
Cf. S. B. E.
XV.
54
mass of bones,
skin,
body a mere
slime
sinews, marrow, flesh,

bile,
seed, blood, mucus, tears, phlegm, ordure, water,

!
and
What
is is
the use of the enjoyment of pleasures in

assailed
the
body which
is
by
lust,
hatred, greed, delusion,

is
fear,
anguish, jealousy, separation from what
loved, union
illness,
with what
grief,
not loved, hunger,

evils.
.
thirst,
old age, death,
and other
if
" In such a world as

pleasures,
this
this,
what
is
the use of enjoyment of

is
he who has fed on them
sure to return [to

to take
world] again and again.

!
Deign therefore
dry
me
out
In this world
art
am
art
like a frog in a
well.
Saint,
thou
my
way, thou
my
way."
How,
sity of
then,
was man
to escape
from the
?
fatal
necesthe
being born again and again

of salvation
?
What was
true
way
The Upanishads gave

is
answer,
the perfection of existence
to
be gained, not by
fasts,
the storing up of merits through prayers,

fices,
sacri-
and virtuous deeds, but by the saving knowledge
of man's identity with Brahman.
As soon
fast to
as
one
the
could say from conviction
"
am Brahman," He
bonds were broken that held him

to that blessed state of passiveness
individual
existence and to ever-recurring births.
attained
and
inactivity, of
freedom from
disposed
to
all
desires, in
evil,
which he was no longer
do
no longer anxious to lay up
merit for a transitory enjoyment of bliss in heaven.

Mortifications and austerities were
still
welcome
as a
help to freedom from desires, to tranquillity of

^
life,
to
Maitrayana-Brahmana Upan.
vi. 76, 77.
i.
Cf.
Manu,
3-4.
.S".
B. E.
htstihites of Vishnu, xcvi.
S. B. E. VII.
XV.
pp. 28S-289.
p.
279.
concentration of mind on Brahman.
^^
Thus, peaceful
and tranquil, he lived on till death put an end to the seeming duality, and he became absorbed in Brahman,
like a
raindrop
in the
mighty ocean.
this
*
" Verily in the beginning
was Brahman, that Brahman
knew
[its] Self only, saying,
am
Brahman.'
From
;
it
all
Thus, whatever Deva was awakened [so as to know Brahman], he indeed became that [Brahman] and The rishi Varaadeva saw the same with rishis and men.
this sprang.
and understood
sun.'
it,
singing,
'
was
Manu [moon],
was the
is
Therefore
now
also
he who thus knows that he

^
Brahman, becomes
all this,
and even the Devas cannot pre-
vent it, for he himself is their self" " Their deeds and their self with all his knowledge
all
become
rivers
one
in the
highest Imperishable.
As the flowing
disappear in the sea, losing their

a wise man, freed from
name and
their form, thus
name and
form, goes to the Divine
Person who
is
greater than the great.
He who
.
.
knows
.
that
highest Brahman,
becomes even Brahman. comes grief, he overcomes evil, free from the heart, he becomes immortal."
"^
He
over-
fetters
of the
In this
tained.
way was complete emancipation to be obNor did absorption into Brahman, with its
its
attendant loss of personality, and
adoption of a
quasi-unconscious existence for

as a disadvantage.
all
future time, count

identified
By being
thus
with
Brahman, the soul passed from its unreal to its real condition it became raised to the blessed existence
;
Brik.-Aran. Upan.
\.
\.S.
B. E.
Mund. Upan.
iii.
2.
S. B.
E.
XV. p. XV. p. 41.
88.
56
of divinity
itself,
and thereby attained a

to
lot
beyond
comparison with any known

heaven.
" If a
man on
earth or in
man
all
is
healthy, wealthy,
and lord of
that
is
others, sur-
rounded by
ing of men.
human enjoyments,
fathers
the highest bless-
human blessings make who have conquered the world [of fathers]. A hundred blessings of the fathers who have conquered this world make one blessing in the Gandharva world. A hundred blessings in the Gandharva world make one blessing of the Devas by merit [work, sacrifice], who
Now
a hundred of these
one blessing of the
obtain their godhead by merit.
hundred blessings of the
Devas by merit make one blessing of the Devas by birth, also of a Srotriya ^ who is without sin and not overcome by desire. A hundred blessings of the Devas by birth make one
blessing in the world of Prajapati.
ings in the world of Prajapati
...
hundred
^
bless-
make one
blessing in the world
of Brahman.
And
brief,
this is the highest blessing."
Such, in
school as set forth in the Upanishads.

sing to be in perfect
it
was the teaching of the pantheistic While profes-
harmony with
the ancient Vedas,
was a wide departure from the traditional religion. The happiness of heaven, of which the ancient bards had sung, and which had been the hope and inspiration of so many generations, it robbed of all stability
and permanence, and
set
up
instead, as the
supreme end of man, the questionable bliss of losing one's individuality by absorption into Brahman and
1
A Brahman
Brih.-Aran. Upan.
thoroughly versed in the Vedas. iv. 4.-6'. B. E. XV. pp. 171-172.
thus sinking
repose.
It
^j
into
his eternal sleep
of unconscious
degraded the Vedic gods, and Prajapati the
personal. deity as well, to a condition of comparative

insignificance,
by declaring them
to be but transitory
emanations of Brahman, and by making the salvation

of each individual depend, not on them, but on his personal
effort.
For the same reason
it
greatly dirites,
minished the importance of the Vedic

prayers, the sacrifices, the
-the
it
penances, since
was
not in virtue of these, but by the recognition of one's

identity with
Brahman
that
one could bring to a happy
issue the great task of final deliverance.
The
ideal
man was no
on the
longer the Brahman, intent on the per-
formance of the multitudinous Vedic ceremonies and

recitation of the
Vedic
texts,
but rather the
removed from the active walks of life, absorbed in contemplation and the practice of austerities. While thus bringing the Vedas down from the high
ascetic, far
place of honor they had heretofore enjoyed, the pantheistic
innovators gave them a nominal veneration
and allegiance.
Though
the higher Upanishad teach-
ing could alone bring salvation, and thus rendered
superfluous the lower Vedic teaching, yet the latter
was recognized
It
to
be better suited to cruder minds.

it
was not to be contemned because
did not lead to
the highest good.
They even went
so far as to insist
on the necessity of learning the Vedas and performing the Vedic

rites
before one could enjoy the privi-
58
knowledge of
to
lege of acquiring the higher
salvation.
The lower knowledge was declared

was easy
to
be an indis-
pensable preparation for the higher.

the
But the step

at
more
radical
and consistent view
that Vedic rites

all.
had no claim on man's attention
This step was taken by the heretical schools,
notably by Buddhism.
REFERENCES
The
I.
following
works
are
recommended
for
the
study
of
Brahmanism
Texts.
F.
Max Muller,
Vedic Hymns.
Sacred Books of the East,
XXXII.
H. Oldenberg, Vedic Hymns. S. B. E. XLVI. MuiR, Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India, their Religions and Institutions. 5 vols. London,
J.
1868-70.
M. Bloomfield, The Atharva Veda. S. B. E. XLII. S. B. E. XII., XXVI., J. Eggeling, The Satapatha Brahmana. XLI. M. H.A.UG, Aitareya Brahmana, Text, Translation, and Notes. Bombay, 1863. F. Max Muller, The Upanishads. S. B. E. I., XV. H. Oldenberg and F. Max MOller, The Grihya-Sutras, Rules of Vedic Domestic Ceremonies. S. B. E. XXIX., XXX. G. BiJHLER, The Sacred Laws of The Aryas as Taught in the
Schools
of
Apastamba,
Gautama,
Vasishtha,
and
Baudhayana.
S. B. E. II.,
XIV. G. BuHLER, The Laws of Manu. S. B. E. XXV. S. B. E. VI J. Jolly, The Institutes of Vishnu. S. B E. XXXIII. J. Jolly, The Minor Law-books. G. Thibaut, The Vedanta-Sutras. S. B. E. XXXIV., XXXVIII.
II.
General Treatises.
of
A. Barth, The Religions London, 1S82.
India; Translated by
J.
Wood.
A. Bf.rgaigne, La religion vedique d'apres
les
59
hymnes du Rig-
Veda. 4 vols. Paris, 187S-97. H. T. CoLEBROOKE, Miscellaneous Essays, Edited by E. B. Cowell. 2 vols. London, 1873. P. Deussen', Das System des Vedanta. Leipzig, 18S3. Leipzig, 1899. P. Deussen, Die Philosophic der Upanishads. A. E. GouGH, The Philosophy of the Upanishads and Ancient Indian Metaphysics. London, 1882.
E.
W.
IIorKiNS, The Religions of India.
Boston, 1895.
A. Kaegi, The Rig-Veda; Translated by R. Arrowsmith.

1
Boston,
886.
C.
Lassen, Indische Alterthumskunde.
4 bde.
Bonn-Leipzig,
1847-1861.
J.
F.
M. Mitchell, Hinduism Past and Present. London, 1885. Max Muller, A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature.
i860.
London,
F.
Max MOller,
Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion

Religions of
India.
as
Illustrated
by the
(Hibbert
Lectures.)
London, 1878. H. Oldenberg, Die Religion des Veda. Berlin, 1894. Chantepie de la Sauss.aye, Lehrbuch der Religionsgeschichte.
2 bde.
Freiburg, 1897.
Vol.
II.
;
C. P. TiKLE, Outlines of the History of Religion
Translated
from the Dutch by
J.
Estlin Carpenter.
London,
1877.
J.
A. Weber, The History of Indian Literature; Translated by Mann and T. Zacharise. London, 1892. Monier Willl\ms, Indian Wisdom, or Examples of the EePhilosophical,
1876.
ligious,
and
Ethical
Doctrines
of
the
Hindus.
London,
Monier Williams, Hinduism. (S. P. C. K.) London, 1897. Monier Williams, Brahmanism and Hinduism, or Religious
Thought and
Life in India.
London,
1891.
PART
II
Buddhism
PART
II
Buddhism
CHAPTER
Brahman pantheism popular with
rise to
little
THE FOUNDER, BUDDHA^

the caste of warriors
is
It
gives
rival
sects,
one of which
Buddhism
known for certain His father not a king but a petty His birthplace His various names His education and His marriage His abandonment of home for the ascetic long period of missionary activity The Buddha-Legend Mir Life the palace of Asita aculous conception and birth from home Mortifications The Bodhipleasure The First enlightenment temptations Supreme tree Mara's preaching at Benares Conversions Devadatta The fatal meal with Chunda The painful journey to Kusinara Under words Obsequies the Sala-trees Subhadda Buddha's Estimate of Buddha's character. Division of
raja
life
Of
Buddha but
in
flight
last
relics
THE
in
pantheistic
teaching
embodied
in
the
Upanishads and reduced
to a systematic
form
the so-called Vedanta school of religious philosa radical departure from popular BrahIt
ophy was
manism.
was a new
religion
under
the
thin
disguise of orthodoxy.
to the sacred Vedas,
1
While professing allegiance was a menace

to the tradi-
it
The
references throughout this volume to works on
Buddhism
apply to the editions indicated in the bibliography.
64
tional religion.
It
Buddhism
might
insist
on the
traditional
observance of the Vedic

ration for the reception
rites as
a necessary prepa-
of
its
own saving
truths.
But
in
declaring the popular religion utterly helpless

it
to secure true salvation,
consistent minds to reject
prepared the way for more Brahmanism completely.

pantheistic religion seems
in
From
to have
the
first
the
new
found a welcome
the caste of nobles or the burden of a

reli-
warriors.
Doubtless they
felt
gion which put so
many
restraints
on
their
freedom
of action, whose forms of worship were so

so complicated,
many and
was an
whose
liturgical
language
fully
archaic
tongue
that few
could
understand,
whose
official
ministers were exalted to a position of
importance
far
above themselves.
They would
nat-
urally look kindly
on a movement which offered them

to the
an escape from the tyranny of the popular religion

without
at
the
same time exposing them
charge of unorthodoxy.
in
And
in
so, in fact,
we
are told
the Upanishads of kings and nobles professing the

faith
new
and taking part

it.
discussions and conver-
sations concerning
But pantheistic Brahmanism was not without rival movements in the claim of having discovered the true way of salvation. They started with the same morbid view that conscious
life is
a burden and a mis-
fortune, not worth the living, so that true happiness
was
to
be had only
free
in the state of soul like
dreamless
sleep, a state
from
all
desires, free
from con-
The Founder, Buddha

scious
action.
65
granted
the
births.
They,
too,
took
for
Upanishad doctrine of the endless chain of

But they
and
differed
in their attitude
rites,
from pantheistic Brahmanism both
rebirths
towards the Vedas and the Vedic manner by which emancipation from and from conscious existence was to be
in
the
obtained.
In their absolute rejection of Vedic
rites,
they stamped themselves as heresies.
Of
these the
one
destined
to
win
the
greatest
renown
was
Buddhism.
Of Buddha,
very
life
the founder of this great
movement,
little
is
positively
which tradition
to
The portrayal of his has handed down is so strongly

known.
is
it is
colored with the fanciful and marvellous that one
tempted
doubt whether
not
^
all
a fiction.
One
of the foremost of living scholars
of
Buddhism has
argued with no
are nothing
little
persuasiveness that the main
features of the legendary account of
Buddha's career
character
of
more than adaptations of sun and storm

an
historical
for certain
myths, clustered about
which
Still
little
can be known.
with the aid of the ancient Buddhist
monu-
ments, scholars have marked out what seems to be a

fairly
probable sketch of his career.

family from which
The
known
1
warrior-caste.
as
the
Buddha sprang, was of the They were a family of feudal princes, Sakyas, with the cognomen of Gosiir la
E. Senart, Essai
legoide
du Bouddha, son
caractire et ses
origines.
S
66
tama.
Buddhism
His
father,
called
in
the
Buddhist records
Suddhodana, was a petty

district
raja,
ruling over a small
stretch of country along the southern border of the
now known
as Nepal.
little
The
ago
of
capital of this
kingdom was Kapilavastu,
a town famous in Buddhist annals, but fallen centuries

in ruins,
the very site of which was

it
late,
when
was brought to
light
unknown till by the patient

the traditional
researches
of the archaeologist Dr. A. A. Fuhrer.^

this site
is
Eighteen miles southwest of

century
spot Lumbini, where, about the middle of the sixth

B.C.,
is
Buddha was
born.'^
There
so
reason for suspecting the tradition which
asserts that his parents gave
him the name Siddhattha,^

greatness.
It
is
prophetic
of his
future
more
name assigned to him in his infancy was Gotama,* the cognomen of his father, the name by which he is very commonly designated. Later in life, he became known to his disciples by other
likely that the
names, as
1
Sakya-muni (the
Monograph on
viii.
Sakya-sage),
Sakya-
Cf. A. A. Fiihrer,
Saky.iinioii^s Birthplace in the
Nepalcse Tarai, ch.

2
Here Dr. Fiihrer unearthed a pillar of stone containing this inscription of Asoka (250 B.C.) "King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods, having been anointed twenty years, came himself and worshipped, And he caused to be saying, Here Buddha Sakyamuni was born.' made a stone representing a horse, and he caused this stone pillar to be erected. Because here the worshipped one was born, the village of Lummini has been made free of taxes and a recipient of wealth."
'
Op.
3
*
cit. p. 27.
He
that succeeds in his aim.
Sanskrit,
Gautama.
The
Founder, Buddha
67
sinha (the Sakya-Hon), Bhagavat (the Blessed One),
Sugata (the Welcome One), Jina (the Conqueror),

Tathagata (the Perfect One), but most
all,
common
of
Buddha
(the Enlightened).
raja's son,
he must have received the education

to the
deemed indispensable
youths of his
caste,
and
was very likely sent to some learned Brahman to spend a number of years in the study of the Vedas.
Following the immemorial customs
he married at an early age, and
if
of the East,
trust tra-
we may
dition, exercised a prince's privilege of
maintaining a
harem.
His principal wife bore him a son.

rest.
But
his
heart was not at
The
to
pleasures of the world
soon palled upon him.

vanity of
life,
He became
convinced of the
his
and resolved
renounce
home and
high station.
He
put on the hermit's garb and rehimself to penance and
tired to the forest, devoting
meditation, studying doubtless the

as taught in the Upanishads.
satisfy his soul.
way
of salvation
this did
But even
not
as
After several years of austere
life
an ascetic, he became convinced that perfect peace

could not be obtained by rigorous
cations.
fasts
and mortifi-
He
gave
fruit
himself
to
long
and serious
thought, the
of which was the persuasion that
he had discovered the only true way of escaping from

the misery of rebirths and of attaining to Nirvana.
He
then set out to preach his gospel of deliverance,

at Benares.
beginning
His attractive personality and
his earnest, impressive eloquence
soon won over to
68
his cause a
too, felt the
Buddhism
number of
the warrior-caste.
Brahmans
persuasiveness of his words, and gave
his doctrine. It was not long before band of enthusiastic disciples gathered about him, in whose company he went from place to
adherence to
a
he had
place,
making converts by
his
preaching.
his disciples
who were
sufficiently versed in
Those of the new
doctrine
were also
sent
through the length and
breadth of the land, carrying the good news of salvation to high
and low, rich and poor, and inviting

castes to put
members of
all
on the yellow robes of
Buddha and seek the rest of Nirvana. The converts soon became numerous, and were formed into a great brotherhood of monks. Such was the work to which Buddha gave himself with unsparing zeal for over forty years. At length, worn out by
the followers of
his
long
life
of activity, he
flesh,
fell
sick after
a meal of
dried
boar's
and died
in
the
eightieth year
is
of his age.
The approximate
date of his death
480
B.C.
The tendency
kept
fairly in
to
myth-making
But
is
natural to man.
it
In the present age of positive, critical science,
is
check.
in the uncritical
it
and over-
credulous ages of the past,
had almost an unlimited

saints
life
range of play.
Heroes and
walks of
were hardly
re-
moved from
the
when
the luxuriant
growths of legend intertwined themselves with the

sober records of their
lives, often to
such a degree as
The Founder, Buddha

to
69
belonged
gos-
overshadow and render
insignificant \yhat
to the
domain of
historic truth.
lives
The apocryphal
of saints arc
pels
and some mediaeval
illustra-
tions of this.^
So
likewise the records
which have
come down to The meagre

lished with an
events,
fect
us of the founder of
facts of
Buddhism.
have been embel-
Buddha's
life
abundance of
fanciful
and wonderful
of our
some of which bear
a curious though imperlife
resemblance to certain features of the
blessed Lord.
Legend by a
heavenly
tells
how
the future
Buddha
raised himself
vast series of virtuous lives to the dignity of a

spirit,
and how, realizing the future great-
ness that was in store for him, he chose the time and
place for his birth as the redeemer of suffering hu-
manity.
He
chose for his mother the virtuous
Maya
for she alone
answered
to the conditions requisite for
giving birth to a Buddha, namely, to be of high family,
never to have tasted strong drink, and to have

for chaste
been distinguished
and virtuous conduct
durine one hundred thousand worlds.

In her he was miraculously conceived while she lay
asleep,
and dreamed that he had passed through her
right side in the guise of a small white elephant.
At
that
moment
a light of surprising brightness illumi-
nated ten thousand worlds.

1
Prodigies took place on
this
In the admirable studies of the Bollandists (Acâ Sanctonmi) legendary element of Catholic hagiography is noted with the
greatest care.
70
earth.
Buddhism
The
the
blind saw, the
deaf heard, the

Sufiferings
dumb
kinds
rivx-rs
spoke,
ceased.
lame walked.
Flowers of
of
all
The
birds cut short their flight.

all
The
ceased to flow.
kinds burst into richest
bloom.
stirred
The air was filled with sweetest odors and by gentle, refreshing zephyrs. It bore to the
of heavenly
ears
of astonished peoples the music
spirits.^
Wonderful
was
visit
as
was
his
conception, wonderful, too,
his
birth.
His mother, obtaining permission to
the royal garden at Lumbini, repaired thither in
by thousands of gods, women. As she entered the garden the shrubs and trees burst into bloom. She directed her steps to a Sala-tree, the boughs of which bent down over her. While she stood admiring its blossoms, the child was born. Emerging miraculously
a splendid chariot, escorted
warriors, and waiting
from her right
side,
he took seven steps towards the

is
north, and exclaimed, " This
my
last birth.
am
the greatest of beings."
ception were
The prodigies that had marked the time of his connow once more displayed. With minto the royal palace.
gled songs of joy from gods and men, the child and
mother were conveyed

days
later
Seven
the mother died, and was reborn in the
Tusita heaven, being rendered too sacred by Buddha's

birth to bear other children.
1 Rhys Davids, Buddhist Birth Legend of Gaiidama, pp. 26 ff.
Stories, p.
64.
Bish. Bigandet,
The Founder, Buddha

In the
71
Himalaya region
lived a venerable rishi or
ascetic, Asita
birth,
by name.
On
the day of
Gotama's
having mounted, as was
his wont, to the
heavens to refresh himself
after his
upper morning meal, he
came upon
the gods waving their robes and shouting
with joy, and was told that to
King Suddhodana was
born a son who would one day become a Buddha.
At once he
directed his course towards the

his
kingdom
soon
Suddhodana, and by
power of rapid
flight
reached the city of Kapilavastu.
He
asked to see
the wonderful babe, and, having discerned on his tiny
form the thirty-two marks of a supreme Buddha,^ he

told
of the glorious career to which the child was
destined, weeping,
live
however, because he would not
himself to see the day.
Passing over the wonderful incidents of his child-
hood and
whereby
early youth,
his
marvellous trance under

progress in the
arts,
the Jambu-tree, his wonderful

in a
few lessons he surpassed his teachers,
his easy victory over his youthful competitors in the athletic contest, his
life,
we come
girls,
to the critical period in
when,
in the society of his wife
Yasodhara and
innumerable singing
to a
life
he devoted himself wholly
of pleasure in the splendid palace his father

for
had prepared
him.
Anxious
to
have
his
son be-
come
a universal monarch, the king had taken the
greatest care to keep from the eyes of the prince

1 P'or the thirty-two marks of the Buddha, see H. Wheel of the Law, pp. 110-115, also 312-313.
.\Iabaster,
The
72
every spectacle of
foiled his plans.
Buddhism
human One day,
misery.
as
But the gods

a drive
Gotama took
beyond the precincts of
his palace,
they brought beto
fore his sight the four objects
which were destined
turn him to the homeless state,

feebled with
old
age,
namely, a man ento him,
one wasted with sickness, a
corpse, and a monk.
By
these sights the vanity and
impermanence of things were brought home

and he returned
to his palace with the
far
resolve to
abandon
girls try
all
he had thus
held dear, and to
become
singing
an ascetic.
In vain that night did his
many
with seductive wiles to win him back to his

life
customary
of pleasure.
fell
At
length,
overcome by
filled
weariness, they
asleep, sprawled about in hideous
and revolting attitudes.
This sight
Gotama
that the
with renewed disgust for the world.
He
felt
time for his act of renunciation was come.

night,
At midfare-
with the aid of his trusty attendant, he got
ready his favorite horse, and without a word of

well,
even to
his wife
and son, galloped
off in
the
darkness.
Invisible
hands opened the gates of the
palace of the city.
At
this juncture,
Mara, the Lord
of Death and Pleasure, appeared, and tried to dis-
suade him from his purpose. he cried out,

" in
"
Depart
not,
lord,"
seven days from

will
now
the wheel of
empire
will
appear, and
make you sovereign over Gotama heeded not

the
the four continents and the two thousand adjacent

isles.
Stop,
my
lord
"
!
tempter, but sped on through the darkness of the
The Founder, Buddha

night,
73
river.
and did not stop
till
break of day, when he
found himself at the farther shore of a distant
Here he cut ofif his hair with his sword, and, exchanging his princely robes for the garments of a hunter, he sent back his attendant and steed, and began
to practise the
life
of an ascetic.
in
Many were
in vain.
the
Brahman sages he consulted

his heart
the
hope of finding the peace
yearned
for,
but
After six years of ever-increasing austerities,

all
which reduced him to mere skin and bones, and
but caused his death, he became convinced that the

goal he sought was not to be attained by these excessive mortifications.
five
He began
life
to take
food.
His
as
companions
in asceticism
now abandoned him

now
having lapsed from the
of perfection.
at
The
hand.
great day of his enlightenment was
Having bathed in the river Nairanjana and partaken of the rice and cream, especially prepared
for
him by a shepherd's daughter, he proceeded
to
the Bodhi-tree (the tree of knowledge), and sitting
cross-legged beneath
it,
with his face to the east, he
made
the
vow
not to rise until he had attained com-
plete enlightenment.
In this purpose of
Gotama, Mara, Lord of Death

his'
and Pleasure, saw that

in
own power was being put

Bodhi-tree.
jeopardy.
or
He
of
recognized the necessity either of
enticing
First,
driving
him from the
he tried the method of
artful persuasion.
At'
his bidding, his three daughters
sought to turn the
74
heart of
Buddhism
Gotama
to the pursuit of sensual pleasures.
in vain.
all his
Their efforts proved
Then Mara exerted

the
power
against
to drive
him from
frightful
Bodhi-tree.
He
in
sent
him
tempest and a shower of burning rocks and cinders.
The very gods

sive.
fled
dismay, but
Gotama
sat impasto
As
the falHng rocks
seemed about
crush
him, they were turned into a shower of blossoms.
Hot with rage
at
being thus balked, the tempter

a thou-
assumed a form of hideous appearance, with

and having mounted
and
his
fifty
sand hands holding every conceivable kind of weapon,

his
war-elephant one hundred

like a flood
leagues high,
came rushing
with
host of frightful
in
monsters against the saint ab-
sorbed
meditation.
Calm and undisturbed he
sat,
while the terrible missies hurled at him were changed

into garlands of flowers.
This signal failure caused

for
Mara
army.
to despair.
He
withdrew
good with
his
Meanwhile the scattered gods took courage,

to the Bodhi-tree,
and returning
praises.
chanted the victor's
That very night supreme enlightenment was

tained,
toiled so long
at-
and as he seized the prize for which he had
and patiently, he burst into the song
of joy sung
"
by every Buddha.
!
Long have I wandered, long Bound by the chain of life, Thro' many births
;
Seeking thus long
in vain
Whence comes
this life in
man,
his consciousness, his pain
The Founder, Buddha

"
-j
And
hard to bear
is
birth,
When
pain and death but lead to birth again.

!
Found
It is
found
O
"
Cause of Individuality
No
longer shalt thou

are
all
make
a house for
me
Broken
thy beams,
!
Thy
ridgepole shattered
Into Nirvana
now my mind has
past.
!
The end
of cravinirs 'O" has been reached at last
"
Seven weeks he spent near the Bodhi-tree, enjoying the bliss of emancipation.
Then, having partaken
of food offered him by two merchants, he repaired to Benares, where he set in motion the wheel of the law.
His
first
converts were the five ascetics, his former
companions, who had deserted him when he gave up

the practice of fasting.
Among
the
disciples
who soon
rallied
in
great
numbers around him was

master.
his cousin, Devadatta.
Like
Judas, this disciple sought to thwart the plans of his
Several
times he plotted to destroy him.

;
At one time he hired thirty bowmen to slay him but as they drew near, awed by the majesty of his
presence, they
and, after
fell
at
his his
feet
craving forgiveness,
listening to
words of wisdom, were below which Buddha was

foot.
converted.
stone
On
It
another occasion, he rolled a huge
down
a steep slope
split
walking.
into
fragments on the way, and
only a piece struck the master, wounding his

It
was dressed by a physician, and found completely

1
Rhys Davids, Buddhist Birth
Stories, p. 103.
^6
Buddhism
Another time an infuriated in a narrow street.
well the next morning.
elephant was turned upon him
As
it
it
seemed about
its
to crush
him
in
in
its
wild onset,
checked
course and bent
submission before
him.
Finally, the evil-minded disciple sought to slay
Buddha
to
with his
own hand.
cast
in
But
as
he approached beneath him

hell.
carry out his
purpose, the
earth
opened and he was

punishment consists
deep
his
five
headlong into
feet
His
having his
sunk ankle-
into the
burning ground.
ears.
red-hot pan caps

is
head to the
His body
transfixed with
will
red-hot iron bars.

for a
This torment he
have to
endure
whole revolution of nature.
The story of Buddha's last days as told in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, or Book of the Great Decease, belongs to a much earlier tradition, and while not without exaggerations, is marked by much pathos and
beauty.
As he
sees that his life-work has

his
been accomplished,
he warns his disciples of

" Behold, now,
approaching end.
I
O
The
brethren,
exhort you, saying
'
:
All
component
with
will
things must grow old.

final
Work
out your salvation

the
diligence.
extinction
of '"
Tathagata^
take place before long.

this
At the end
will
of three
months
from
time the Tathagata
die
The occasion of
smith.
1
his fatal illness his
is
the meal pre-
pared for him and
disciples
by Chunda the
B. E. XI.
t^.
One
of
Buddha's appellations.
"^
S.
6i
The Founder, Buddha

"
'jj
in
Now
at
the
end of the
in
his
night,
Chunda, the worker
metals,
made ready
dwelHng-place sweet rice and
And he cakes and a quantity of dried boar's flesh. announced the hour to the Blessed One, saying, The hour. Lord, has come, and the meal is ready.' " And the Blessed One robed himself early in the morning, and, taking his bowl, went with the brethren to the dwelWhen he had ling-place of Chunda, the worker in metals.
'
come thither, he seated himself in the seat prepared for him. And when he was seated, he addressed Chunda, the worker As to the dried boar's flesh you have made in metals, and,
'
ready, serve
me
the sweet rice
with it, Chunda, and as to the other food, and cakes, serve the brethren with it.'
set before
Having eaten the meal

scious humor.
"
'
him,
Buddha
addresses his host with words striking for their uncon-
Whatever dried boar's

I
flesh,
Chunda,
is left
over to thee,
that bury in a hole.
see no one, Chunda, on earth nor in
Mara's heaven, nor in Brahma's heaven, no one among Samanas and Brahmanas, among gods and men, by whom when he has eaten it, that food can be assimilated, save by said Chunda, the worker Even so, Lord the Tathagata.'
' '
!
in metals,
in
assent, to the
Blessed
One.
And whatever
;
dried boar's flesh remained over, that he buried in a hole. " And he went to the place where the Blessed One was and when he had come there took his seat respectfully on
one
side.
And when
he
was seated, the Blessed

discourse.
seat
One
the
instructed and aroused

the worker in metals,
and incited and gladdened Chunda,

with religious
And
Blessed
One
^
then
rose
from
his
and
departed
thence."
.S".
B. E. XI. pp. 71-72.
yS
Buddhism
Buddha
is
In consequence of this meal,

illness
seized with
accompanied with intense

it
pain, but
mindful
and self-possessed, he bears

sets out for Kusinara.
without complaint, and
"
Now
the Blessed
One went
;
aside from the path to the

there,
I
foot of a certain tree
and when he had come

:
he
addressed the venerable Ananda, and said

you, Ananda, the robe, and spread
it
!
'
Fold,
pray
I
out for me.
am
weary, Ananda, and must rest awliile
"
to
'
Even
so,
the
Blessed
Lord said the venerable Ananda, in assent One, and spread out the robe folded
!
'
fourfold.
"
for
And
him
;
the Blessed
One
:
seated himself on the seat prepared
and when he was seated, he addressed the vener'
able
Ananda, and said

water.
I
Fetch me,
pray you, Ananda,

drink.'
some
am
thirsty,
Ananda, and would
Ananda
asks him to wait until they
come
to another
stream but a short distance away, for several hundred

carts have just passed over the stream at
hand and
have made the water muddy.

his request, so that
But Buddha repeats
Ananda, taking a bowl, goes down

lo
is
!
to the stream,
when,
the water, but a
moment ago
clear.
so foul and
muddy,
for
found to be perfectly
The pangs of
consideration
trouble.
"
illness
do not
dull
his
delicate
his
the
unsuspecting author of
And
said
;
the Blessed
'
One
addressed the venerable Ananda,

that
and
stir
Now it may happen, x\nanda,

in
some one should

*
:
up remorse
Chunda
the smith, saying
This
is
evil to
The Founder, Buddha
79
thee, Chunda, and loss to tliee in that when the Tathagata had eaten his last meal from thy provision, then he died."
He
that
bids
Ananda comfort Chunda by

is
the thought
is
there
in
no greater merit than that which

offering food
to a
acquired
Buddha, either
just
before his enlightenment or just before his death/
Ananda, seeing
their splendor
that
the
end
is
drawing nigh,
;
clothes his master in

is
robes of burnished gold
but
paled by the exceeding brightness

his
of his body.
"
Ananda expresses
it is,
astonishment
How
wonderful a thing
Lord, and
that the color of the skin of the Blessed

clear, so
how marvellous, One should be so

placed even this
for
if
it
exceeding bright
For when
lo
pair of robes of burnished cloth of gold,
and ready
as
wear
on the body of the Blessed One,

lost its splendor.'
'
it
seemed
had
" It is even so, Ananda. Ananda, there are two occasions on which the color of the skin of a Tathagata becomes clear
and exceeding
"
'
bright.
What
are the two
On
the night, Ananda,
on which a Tathagata
attains to
the supreme and perfect insight, and on the night

passes finally away, in that utter passing
when he
away which leaves
nothing whatever to remain, on these two occasions the skin of a Tathagata becomes clear and exceeding bright.' " ^
Having come with

disciple
1
a large
number of brethren
to
the Sala-grove near Kusinara, he addresses his favorite

:
^.
B. E. XI.
p. S3.
2 /^/^. p. 81.
8o
"
with
'
Buddhism
Spread over
its
for
me,
pray you, Ananda, the couch

Sala-trees.
I
head
to the north,
between the twin
am
weary, Ananda, and would He down.' " Even so, Lord said the venerable Ananda, in assent to
'
!
'
the Blessed One.
And
he spread a covering on the couch
with
its
head
to the north,
between the twin
Sala-trees.
And
the Blessed
One
laid himself
down on
;
his right side, with
one leg resting on the other

self-possessed.
and he was mindful and

Sala-trees were
;
"
Now
at that time the twin
all
one mass
of bloom with flowers out of season

of the Tathagata these dropped
themselves,
and
the
all
over the body
and sprinkled and scattered

for
out
old.
of
reverence
successor
of
the
Buddhas of
and
all
And
heavenly Mandarava flowers too and

falling
heavenly sandal-wood powder came
from the sky,
over the body of the Tathagata they descended and
sprinkled and scattered themselves, out of reverence for the
successor of the Buddhas of old.
And
heavenly music was
sounded
in the sky, out of
reverence for the successor of the
Buddhas of
old."
old.
And
heavenly songs came wafted from the
sky, out of reverence for the successor of the
Buddhas of
Buddha explains
and says
"
'
:
the
meaning of these prodigies,
Now
it is
not thus, Ananda, that the Tathagata

held sacred,
or
is
rightly
honored, reverenced, venerated,
revered.
But the brother or the
sister,
the devout
man
or the devout
woman, who
duties,
continually
fulfils all
life,
the greater
and the
lesser
who
it
is
correct in
walking according to the prevenerates,
cepts,
is
he who
rightly honors, reverences,
holds sacred, and reveres the Tathagata with the worthiest
homage.
Therefore, Ananda, be ye constant in the
fulfil-
The Founder, Buddha

ment
in
of.
life,
8i
the greater and the lesser duties, and be ye coirect

;
walking according to the precepts
and
thus,
Ananda,
should it be taught.' " ^ " Now the venerable Ananda went into the vihara, and
stood leaning against the
the thought, Alas
!
lintel of
still
the door,
and weeping
the Master "
!
at
remain
but a learner, one
who
is
has to work out his
own
perfection.
is
And
about to pass away from me, he who
so kind
Buddha
"
'
calls
Ananda and
Do
not
I
consoles him.
let
Enough, Ananda.
!
yourself be troubled
do
and
not weep
Have
in
not already, on former occasions, told

all
you
that
it is
the very nature of
things most near

?
.
dear to us that we must divide ourselves from them
For a long time, Ananda, you liave been very near to me by acts of love, kind and good, that never varies and is beyond all measure. ... Be earnest in effort, and you too
shall
from sensuality, soon be free from the great evils from individuality, from delusion, and from ignorance.' " -
The
to
chief representatives of Kusinara are allowed

their respects to the
pay
dying Buddha.
men-
dicant,
Subhadda, not of Buddha's order, asks three
times of
Ananda permission
friend
to
consult his master,
but each time receives the same answer of refusal

"
Enough,
Subhadda, trouble not the Tathais
gata.
"
The Blessed One

the Blessed
weary."
the conversation of the
Now
One overheard
venerable
Ananda with
the mendicant Subhadda.
And
: '
the
Blessed
One
called the venerable
Ananda, and said
It is
enough, Ananda.
1
Do
not keep out Subhadda.

2 jbid.
Subhadda,
S.
B. E. XI. pp. 86-87.
pp. 95-97.
82
Buddhism
Ananda, may be allowed
to see the Tathagata. Whatever Subhadda may ask of me, he will ask from a desire of knowlAnd whatever I may say in edge, and not to annoy me.
answer to
his questions, that
he
will
quickly understand.' "
Subhadda
and
his
is
admitted.
His mind
is
enlightened
doubts solved by the admonition of Buddha.

:
He
"
exclaims
'
Most
!
excellent. Lord, are the
words of thy mouth, most

to set
excellent
Just as
if
man were
up that which
is
is
thrown down, or were to reveal that which

astray, or
hidden away,
or were to point out the right road to him
who
has gone
were to bring a lamp into the darkness, so that

see external forms
:
those
who have eyes can
just
in
even
so,
Lord, has the truth been

figure,
made known
as
to
me,
many
by the Blessed One.
Lord, to the Blessed

the order.
as
One
from
May
"
i
the Blessed
And I, even I, betake myself. my refuge, to the truth and to One accept me as a disciple,
day
forth,
true
!
believer,
this
as
long
as
life
endures
"
*
'
Then
the Blessed
One addressed
I
the brethren,
and
said
is
Behold, now, brethren,

all
'
!
exhort you, saying, Decay

things.
in-
herent in
component
Work
out your salvation
with diligence
" This was the last
word
of the Tathagata.
died, there arose, at the
"
When
the Blessed
One
moment
forth."
^
of his passing out of existence, a mighty earthquake, terrible
and awe-inspiring
"
and the thunders of heaven burst
When
the
Blessed
One
died, of those of the brethren
who were
not yet free from the passions,

fell
some stretched
headlong on the
out their arms and wept, and some

1
.5".
B. E. XI. pp. 103
ff.
/3;v/. p.
116.
The Founder, Buddha

ground, rolling to and fro in anguish at the thought
'
:
83
Too Happy
soon has the Blessed One died
One passed from

!
out in the world ' " But those of the brethren
existence "
Too soon has the Too soon has the light gone
!
who were
are
all
free
from the pas-
sions [the Arahats] bore their grief collected

at the
thought
' :
Impermanent
and composed component things.

^
How
is it
impossible that they should not be dissolved?' "
The body of Buddha

laid
is
properly prepared and

the burning.
on the funeral
pile
for
But, in
spite of all efforts, the

fire.
kindling-wood refuses to take
Meanwhile the venerable brother Maha Kasfive
sapa arrives with

"
hundred brethren.
Then
the venerable
where the funeral
pile of the
it,
Maha Kassapa went Blessed One was.

clasped
;
to the place
And when
come up to and bowing down

he had
he arranged his robe on one shoulder

hands,
with
he thrice walked
reverently around the pile
and
then, uncovering the feet,
he bowed down
in
reverence at the feet of the Blessed One."
The
"
five
hundred brethren do the same.

the
And when
homage of
the venerable
Maha Kassapa
^
and of those
five
hundred brethren was ended, the funeral
pile of the Blessed
One
caught
fire
of itself"
The bone
relics
are divided into eight portions,

cities,
and taken to as many different

worship.
^
where mounds
as
(stupas) are built to preserve them
objects of
s.B.
XI.
p. 117.
2 /^;v/. p.
129.
84
If
Buddhism
we
eliminate the miraculous from the records of
Buddha's career, how much of the residue can we

accept as reliable information?
question
the
is
The answer to this The historical basis on which biography of Buddha rests is not to be compared
not easy.
life-
with that which belongs to the personality and
work of our blessed Saviour.

Decease
later
is,
The Book of
the
Great
at the
very
it
least,
a century and a half
than the events

earlier
describes, and the authorities

life
for the
portions of Buddha's
the
are
much
later
still.
Hence
opportunities
for
legendary
growths were ample.

the oldest
But confining our attention to
Suttas and
Vinaya texts which
treat of
Buddha's missionary career,

astray,
if
we
is
shall
not
go
far
we take much of what
recorded of him to
be
at least typical of his character

all
and of
his
work.
Not
true.
the anecdotes told of him
may
be historically
But of
is
his reputed sayings
and arguments the

his.
substance
consider
doubtless in great part
When we
in
how profound must have been
the influence
he exercised on his generation, when we bear
mind
that he spent the best part of his long
life in
building up the system that was to immortalize his
name, that by years of intimate association he had
made
his
disciples thoroughly familiar with his re-
ligious views, his disposition,
and
his habits of
life,
we need not deem it likely that in the memory of those who carried on his work of zeal, his character,
words,
and deeds should
quickly
fade
away.
In
The Founder, Buddha

these earlier traditions,
indication both
85
fair
we have,
in
the main, a
of the
man and
in
of his
method
of
teaching.
There
birth dear, to
is
something inspiring
fine
that
man
of high
and
culture,
leaving
all
the world holds
bend
his life's energies to the unselfish task
of making
known
to suffering
humanity the precious

In
his
deliverance he thought he had discovered.

idea of salvation he missed the mark,
but he was
none the
less sincere.
It
was
this sincerity,
coupled
with true greatness of soul, that carried him to the

successful accomplishment of his plans.
None but
great and strong soul, none but a
lofty
and com-
manding
personality, could have exerted so powerful
an influence on his contemporaries and on succeeding generations.

ers,
In the eyes of his admiring follow-
he was
sinless, free
from
all
defects,
adorned with
hesitate
every grace of mind and heart.
We may
before taking the highly colored portrait of Buddhist

tradition for the exact representation of the original.
But we may credit him
all
the same with the qualities
of a good and great man.
The records
depict him
moving about from place

fort,
to place, regardless of
com-
calm and
fearless,
mild and compassionate, conof every walk of

life,
siderate towards
men
absorbed
with the one idea of freeing them from the bonds of

misery, and irresistible
in
the eloquence and skill of
argument with which he

ance.
set forth the
way
of deliver-
In
his
mildness,
his
readiness
to
overlook
86
reminds one not a
all
Buddhism
life,
insults, his zeal, his chastity, his simplicity of

little
he
In
of Saint Francis of Assisi.
pagan
antiquity,
no character has been depicted

If the portrait
is
more noble and more winsome.

advance of the
original,
it
in
is
nevertheless of great
value, as setting forth the Buddhist conception of the

ideal
man.
CHAPTER
II
THE LAW, DHAMMA

Deliverance from suffering the aim of Buddhism
Truths
(i)
(3)
The truth
:
of suffering
extinction of birth desire Nirvana, of the

'J'he
The cause
of suffering
desire
The Four Great Buddhist pessimism and ignorance Karma and

(2) in
re-
suffering through the extinction of
living, of the
of the soul
The joyful element

(4)
The
The Buddhist view Buddhism Nirvana suppledead
mented by the Brahman paradise, swarga

popular conception
five
Comparison of the Buddhist with the Brahman standard of ethics The great duties Attitude of Buddhism towards suicide
eightfold path to Nirvana
The
latter the
more
Gentleness and forgiveness of injuries
Examples
of
Buddhist
wisdom.
sum THE known

from
suffering.
and substance of Buddha's teaching,

as
Dhamma,
the Law, centred about
one supremely important point, namely, deliverance
" As the great sea,

taste,
disciples,
is
permeated with but one

disciples,
this
the taste of
salt,
so also,
doctrine
and
this
law are pervaded with but one
taste,
the taste of
deliverance."^
To
1
set
men
free
from the sufferings of conscious
existence was the great end for which

II.
Buddha
toiled.
Oldenberg, Buddha, His Life, His Doctrines, His Order, p. 265. The quotations drawn from this admirable work are versions of texts
not to be found in the Sacred Books 0/ the East.
88
Buddhism
this
To accomplish
ing
rest,
purpose, to lead
men
to everlast-
he had to win their assent to the four Great
Truths concerning Suffering, the Cause of suffering,

the Extinction of suffering, and the Path leading to
the extinction of suffering.
It
is
is
under these four

up.
heads that Buddha's law
summed
Let us
examine them one by one.
The
first
truth
was the truth of

is
suffering.
:
" This,
Bhikkhus,
is
the noble truth of suffering

;
birth
is is
suffering
suffering.
decay
suffering
illness
is
suffering
is
;
death
;
Presence of objects we hate
suffering
separa-
tion from objects
we
love
is
suffering
not to obtain what

fivefold
we
desire
is
is
suffering.
^
Briefly,
the
clinging
to
existence
suffering."
all
its
Life in
living.
forms
is
suffering
and
fruit
is
not worth
This pessimistic view, the
of
Brahman
pantheistic speculation, finds expression in language
almost identical with what we find
in
the Upanishads.
The body
is
held in the
same morbid contempt.

covered with wounds,
thoughts, which has
" Look at the
dressed-up lump,
full
joined together, sickly,

strength,
of
many
is
no
in-
no hold
;
This body
wasted,
full
of sickness,
;
and
frail
this
heap of corruption breaks
to pieces
like
life
deed ends
in death.
Those white bones,

is
gourds thrown
away
in the
autumn, what pleasure
there in looking at
them?
After a stronghold has been

flesh
made
of the bones,
in
it
it is
covered with
and blood, and there dwell

deceit."
^
old age
and death, pride and

1
2
ii.
S. B. E. XII I. Mahavagga, i. 6, 19. 5'. B. E. X. Dhamtnapada, 146-150.
p. 95.
p. 41.
Cf.
i".
B. E. X. Pt.
p. 32.
The Law, Dhamma

In the world of
life
89
impermanent
and
and action,
all
is
all
is
and
subject
to
decay,
disappointment
spirit.
bitterness, vanity
and vexation of
" There are five things which no Samana or Brahman and no god, neither Mara, nor Brahma, nor any being in the universe
can
bring
about.
What
five
things
are these
;
That what is subject to old age should not grow old that what is subject to sickness should not be sick ; that what is
subject
to
death should not die
that
is
what
is
subject to
decay should not decay

should not pass away
:
that
this
what
liable to pass
away,
can no Samana bring about,

^
nor any Brahman, nor any god, neither Mara nor Brahman
nor any being

Life
is
in the universe."
thus strongly flavored with the bitterness of

fear,
disappointment, of
of
loss,
of anxiety, of pain, of sorrow,

is
of decay.
And
of this misery there

life
no end
for as
soon as one wretched

its
is
ended, another
follows in
place.
"The
pilgrimage of beings,
my
disciples, has
its
beginning
in eternity.
No
opening can be discovered, from which
mazed in ignorance, fettered by a and wander. What think ye, disciples, whether is more, the water which is in the four oceans, or the tears which have flowed from you and have been shed by
proceeding,
creatures
thirst for being, stray
you while you strayed and wandered on
this
long pilgrimage,
and sorrowed and wept because
that
was your portion which

?
ye abhorred, and that which ye loved was not your portion
mother's death, a father's death, a brother's death, a
sister's
death, a son's death, a daughters death, the loss of relations,

i
Oldenberg, Op.
cit. p.
217.
90
the loss of property,
Buddhism
all this
ye have experienced through
long ages.
And
while ye experienced this through long ages,
more
tears
have flowed from you and have been shed by you,
while you strayed and wandered on this long pilgrimage,
and
sorrowed and wept

four oceans."
^
than
all
the water which
is
in the
What
life?
is
the fundamental cause of this misery of

to this
The answer
question
constitutes
the
second of the four great truths.

"This,
suffering
:
Bhikkhus,
is
the noble truth of the cause of
thirst that leads to rebirth,
accompanied by and
there.
pleas-
ure and
is
lust,
finding
its
delight here
[This thirst
threefold], namely, thirst for pleasure, thirst for existence,,

^
thirst for prosperity."
The
is
source of the mischief thus

live, to
lies in
the
will.
It
the desire to
preserve one's individual existcravings of sensual
ence, the
desire
to
satisfy the
nature, the thirst for
name and wealth and power,

round of rebirths
that subjects
man
to the endless
with their unavoidable accompaniments of decay, im-
permanence, sickness, misery.
But
is
desire, after
its
all,
the ultimate source of reIt
birth and
attendant inisery?
seems not;
for in
it
the abstruse chain of cause and effect which the duty of every perfect
was
monk
to understand, igno'
ranee
is
put
down
as the
primary cause of suffering.
This chain, which scholars find hard to explain, runs

as follows
1
:
Oldenberg, Op.
cit-
pp. 216-217.
^.
b. E. XIII.
p. 95.
The Law, Dhamma

*'
91
From From the Sankharas springs Consciousness. " From Consciousness spring Name and Form. " From the Name and Form spring the Six Provinces
Ignorance spring the Sankharas.
"
[of
the six senses]. " From the six Provinces springs Contact. " " "
"
" "
From From From From From From
Contact springs Sensation.

Sensation springs Thirst [or Desire].
Thirst springs Attachment.
Attachment springs Existence.

Existence springs Birth.
Birth spring
Old Age and Death, and despair."

^
grief,
lamenta-
tion, suffering, dejection,
If
we ask what
all
is
this
ignorance which
lies at
the
root of
sufifering,
we
are told, the ignorance of the
great four truths.
It is
the " delusion which conceals
from man the true being and the true value of the
system of the universe.
Being
is
suffering
but igno:
rance totally deceives us as to this sufifering

us to see instead of sufifering, a
it
causes
phantom of happiness
and pleasure."
In thus attributing the origin of misery to ignorance
and
desire,
Buddha was
practically in
harmony with
rise to
the Upanishad
teaching, according to which igno-
rance of one's identity with

desire
for
Brahman gave
with
its
the
individual
existence
attendant
laid chief
misery.
1 -
But while the pantheistic Brahman

Mahavagga,
i.
i, 2.
S. B. E.
241.
XIII. pp. 75-77.
Oldenberg, Op.
cit. p.
92
stress
Buddhism
on ignorance, Buddha seems
principal
to
have empha-
sized desire, as the

suffering.
cause of rebirth and
In connection with
of doctrine for
this,
we may note another point

to
which Buddha was indebted

It
is
BrahLike
manic theology.
the Brahman,
the doctrine of karma.
Buddha recognized
that in the unceas-
ing chain of births, the character of each successive

existence of the individual was the net result of his
good and
evil
deeds
in the
preceding
to
life.
Grades of
guilt
punishment
proportionate
the
degree of
awaited the sinner at death, varying from rebirth as a
man
of lower caste
down
to a
life
of appalling but
hells.
limited duration in one of the
numerous
On
the other hand, various other forms of existence on
earth and
in
heaven were the expected rewards of
those who, though not yet ripe for Nirvana, acquitted
themselves as
men
of virtue.
This inheritance of a
sanction after death of good and evil deeds
presup-
posing, in the last analysis, beHef in man's dependence
on a supernatural being
of Buddhism.
It
is
one of the incongruities
was the aim of popular Brahmanism

off
to help
man
to
ward
by
suitable
penance the sad consequences
of his transgressions and attain a happy existence in
heaven.
Buddhism, on the contrary, sought,

ishad pantheism, to secure for
like the
Upanall
man
liberation
life
from
individual, conscious existence, even
in
heaven;
The Law, Dhamma

for all
93
forms of individual existence were held to be
impermanent, subject to decay and suffering.

This brings us to the third great truth as set forth
by Buddha,
" This,
suffering
sists in
:
that of the extinction of suffering.

Bhikkhus,
is
O
[it
the noble truth of the cessation of
ceases with] the complete cessation which con-
the absence of every passion

thirst,
with
it,
^
the abandoning
of this
with the doing away with
with the deliverance
from
it,
with the destruction of desire."
ter of
Here again, the strongly developed ethical characBuddhism asserts itself The pantheistic Brahrecognize your identity with the god man said Brahman and you thereby cease to be a creature of He desires, you are no longer subject to rebirths. laid chief stress on the act of the intellect. Buddha, on the contrary, puts abstruse specula:
tion in the background, and insists
on the saving act

desire, as the
of the
will,
the suppression of
all
one
thing needful.
With the
knowledge.
volition.
pantheist, salvation
is
it is
chiefly
through through
is
With
the Buddhist,
chiefly
Yet the value of
rigrht
knowledge
not
overlooked.
" While he thus
truths], his soul
is
knows and apprehends
[the four sacred
freed from the calamity of desire, freed
from the calamity of becoming, freed from the calamity of

error, freed
from the calamity of ignorance.
In the deliv-
ered there arises the knowledge of his deliverance, ended

t
^
S.
B. E. XIIT.
p. 95.
94
is
Buddhism
fulfilled
rebirth,
the
law, duty
:
done
no more
^
is
there
any returning
to this world
this
he knows."
What
is
this
extinction of desire which leads to

Is
it
extinction of suffering?
the extinction of
selfish,
lust,
of consuming ambition, of every

craving that finds
its
unbridled
It
is
satisfaction in sin?
this
but not
save a
this only.
The
extinction of evil desires will
man from
will
the punishments of vile rebirths,
but
it
not release him from the misery of existthis end, the
ence.
To
extinction
is
needed of and
all
desire save, perhaps, that of being rid of miserable
existence
itself.
Deliverance
from
rebirth
its
attendant suffering seems to have been a legitimate

object of yearning.
But
to attain this great end, all
other forms of desire must be absolutely quenched,
the
natural cravings for the solace and comforts

life,
of married
the desire for lawful pleasures and
satisfactions of all kinds, the desire
even to preserve
one's conscious existence.
It
is
only in the extincis
tion of every desire that cessation of misery
to
be
attained.
It
is
this state of
absence of desire and of
is known as Nirvana (Nibbana). The word Nirvana was not coined by Buddha. It was already current. Yet in the mind of Buddha it
pain which
doubtless assumed a
new shade of meaning. In the conveyed the notion of complete repose, of perfect freedom from desire and pain.
new
religion
it
Oldenberg, Op.
cit. p.
263.
The Law, Dhamma

The word Nirvana means
of delusion, of
to rebirth
all, in
95
ill-will,
"
blowing out," an
extinction, primarily, of the fire of desire, of
short, that binds the individual
and misery.
In this sense,
it
is
the pos-
session of every follower of
Buddha
as soon as
he
has fully mastered the four sacred truths and thereby

attained to the perfection of the arhat.
ciple
"
in
The
dis-
who
has put off lust and desire, rich
wisdom,
has here on earth attained the deliverance from death,

the rest, the Nirvana, the eternal state."
thus, in the living saint, a state of
^
It
was
calm repose, of
indifference to
life
and death,
to pleasure
and pain,
a state of imperturbable tranquillity, where the sense of freedom from the bonds of rebirth caused the discomforts, as well as the joys, of
significance.
It
life
to sink into in-
was the
state
which enabled one of
Buddha's prominent disciples to say:

for
"I long not

till
death,
long not for
life,
wait
my
;
hour
long
comes,
like a servant waiting for his

I
reward
till
not for death,
long not for
life, I
wait
^
my
hour
comes,
alert
and with watchful mind."

this
Between
form of Nirvana as attained by the

ascetic after recognizing fully
is
perfected Buddhist before death, and the tranquillity
of soul of the
Brahman
it
his identity with
Brahman, there
is
little
difference.
Of
let
the latter
said
" Let
;
him not
desire to live
1
let
him not desire to die, him wait for [his ap264.
Oldenberg, Op.
cit. p.
2 Ibid'-p. 265.
96
of his wages."
^
Buddhism
pointed] time as a servant [waits] for the payment
But
it
is
not
till
the
Buddhist arhat has passed

is
it
from earthly existence that Nirvana

completeness.
In this strict sense,
realized in
its
implies
much
more than
pain.
peaceful indifference to pleasure and
He who
has
entered into
Nirvana through
"
death has no longer any conscious existence, nothing
resembling the
life
of
men
or of gods.
The body
from
the
of the Perfect One,
disciples,"
runs an old text

off
concerning
Buddha,
" subsists,
cut
as his
stream of becoming.
so long will
As long gods and men see

life
body
If his
subsists,
him.
body be
shall
dissolved, his
run out, gods and
men
no
more behold him."^
When
which
hika,
asked the meaning of the cloud of smoke
flurried
about the corpse of the arhat Godis
Buddha
made
to say
;
"
That
is
Mara, the
wicked One,
disciples
he
is
looking for the noble
Godhika's consciousness.
^
But the noble Godhika
has entered into Nirvana; his consciousness nowhere

remains."
Eternal, unconscious repose
such
which
and
is
the state of
Nirvana.
Such, too, was the

goal
state of absorption in
Brahman, the
directed
beatific
1
towards
the
pantheist
his
state
vi.
religious to
thought
action.
The
which the
^
latter
aspired
cit.
implied
p. 266.
Mann,
45.
Oldenberg, Op.
3 Ibid. p.
266.
The Law, Dhamma

eternal
97
Did
existence
of
identity
with
Brahman.
Nirvana Hkewise imply continuity of existence or

did
it
mean
annihilation?
Many
scholars have taken Nirvana to be synonyannihilation.
mous with
And,
in
truth,
if
the psy-
chological speculations found in the sacred

are part of Buddha's personal
to
books
is
teaching,
it
hard
see
how he
could have held aught else as the
supreme goal of noblest endeavor.

According
thing in
to these speculations, there
is
no such
man
as a
permanent
a
soul,
surviving after
death and preserving one's personality unchanged.
Every individual
which admit of
bodily form,
is
compound
of various elements
classification into five
groups:
(i)
(2)
sensations,
(3)
perceptions,
(4)
conformations {sankharas, inner workings of intellect
and
will),
(5) consciousness.
None
is
of these by
itself
constitutes
all
the
ego, which
the joint product of

is
combined, just as the chariot
to be identified with
any one of
its
complex unit not component parts.-^
The proportions
combine vary
the
in
in
which these constituent elements
each individual, being determined by
karma
resulting from his previous existence.

fall
At
death they
a
away, to be forthwith succeeded by
new combination.
constant
The element
of
of consciousness
seems to be the connecting thread running through

the
1
succession
new
ii.
existences, but
in
pp.
Cf. Questions of King Milanda,
i,
\.
S.
B. E.
XXXV.
42
ff.
^8
reality
Buddhism
each new combination gives
rise to a different
personality.
The
logical result of this
philosophy
is
that
when in Nirvana these constituent elements company, never to be recombined into a new
there
If
ity,
is
part
ego,
no further existence, but absolute annihilation.

really held this view of
in
Buddha
its
human
personal-
he carefully abstained
logical
his teaching
from draw-
ing
conclusion.
Neither did he declare

"
Nirvana to be, as some scholars think,
the very per-
fection of existence, the beatitude of repose
comparison with earthly joys."

that, in the beginning, positive
beyond The researches of Professor Oldenberg and others have made it clear
^
teaching on the nature
of Nirvana after death was expressly avoided.
When
would
asked by the venerable disciple Malukya,
in
the most direct manner, whether he, the Perfect One,

live
or not after death,
Buddha
refused to give
any information, on the ground that it was irrelevant, not conducive to peace and enlightenment. It was
sufficient
to
know
the four
truths,
and hence that

"Therefore,
Nirvana was liberation from suffering,

that remain unrevealed
it
Malukya, whatsoever has not been revealed by me,

let
;
arid
what has been
re-
vealed, let
be revealed."^
On
another occasion a wandering monk, not of his
order, asked
1
him two questions:
" Is there the
ego?
Cf.
Max
Miiller, in his introduction to
Buddhaghosha's Parables,
by T. Rogers. 2 Oldenberg, Op.
cit.
pp. 275-276.
The Law, Dhamma

Is there
99
faith-
not the ego? "
These questions Buddha met
with absolute silence.

ful disciple
When
asked later by his

not answered,
Ananda why he had
Buddha
"the ego is" would have confirmed the heretical doctrine of the permanence
replied that to have said
of things, while to have said "the ego
is not" would have confirmed the doctrine of those who believed in
annihilation. It would have caused the monk to be thrown from one bewilderment into another: "My ego did not exist before? But now it exists no
longer."
then, either upon the existence or upon the non-existence of those who entered into Nirvana was declared wrong by Buddha. As was the
To pronounce,
teaching of the Master, so was that of his intimate

disciples.
monk, who interpreted Nirvana to mean annihilwas taken to task by the venerable Sariputta, who by a series of pointed questions convinced him
ation,
that he had no right to hold such a view, since the
subject was involved in mystery.
The answer which King of Kosala, when

of
the
the nun
Khema made
in
to the
inquiring about the existence
deceased
Buddha, was
a similar vein.
Whether
the Perfect
One
exists after death,
whether
he does not exist
after death,
whether he exists and
at the same time does not exist after death, whether he neither exists nor does not exist after death, has
1
Oldenberg, Op.
cit.
pp. 272-273.
2 /^/^_
pp 281-282.
loo
Buddhism
not been revealed by Buddha.

the existence of the Perfect
to be fathomed,
Why
is
not?
Because
One
a subject too
'
deep
Hke the ocean.

is
"
The
' ;
Perfect
One
exists after death,' this
not apposite
The
Perfect
One does not exist after death,' this is also not appoThe Perfect One at the same time exists and site
'
does not exist

'
after death,' this
is
also not apposite
The
Perfect
One
neither does nor does not exist

is
after death,'
this also
not apposite."
Since, then, the nature of Nirvana
was too mysteri-
ous to be grasped by the Hindu mind, too subtile to be expressed in terms either of existence or nonexistence,
it is
idle to
attempt a positive solution of
the question
It suffices to
left
purposely unanswered by Buddha.

that
it
know
meant a
state of
unconscious
repose, of endless tranquillity, undisturbed
by
feelings
of joy or sorrow.
Between such a
is
state
and that of
positive annihilation, there
practically nothing to
is
choose.
The Buddhist
ideal
that of an eternal
sleep which
is
knows no awakening.
In this respect
it
practically one with the ideal of the
pantheistic
Brahman.
A
life
religious system that persuades

at its
its
votaries that
its
best
is
not worth living, that offers as
highest consolation an eternity of unconscious repose,
seems melancholy enough in our eyes. Its natural Yet fruit would seem to be pessimism and despair. with the Indian Buddhist it was not so. For him,
1
Oldenberg, Op.
cit.
pp. 27S-2S0.
The Law, Dhamma

liberation a
loi
from the misery of individual existence was

to be wished.
It
consummation devoutly
siimniiiin
Nirvana
was the
is
bonum.
was
to
him what heaven
to the zealous Christian,
the
one great object of
yearning and of hope.
And
so the dominant tone in
Buddhism
"Let
ailing
!
is
that of joy.
us live happily, then, free from aihnents

.
. .
among
the
call
Let us
live happily, then,
though we can
nothing our
own
!
We
.
shall
be
is
like the brightest
gods feeding
Nir-
on happiness
Health
;
the greatest of gifts, contentedthe best of relationships

;
ness the best riches
trust
is
vana the highest happiness."
But the recognition of

followers does not
this heroic ideal
by Buddha's
an be
well
mean
that
it
was
for all alike
object
of enthusiastic
longing.
As may
imagined, only the
more
resolute souls
bent their
energies to the stern task of attaining at death to
Nirvana.
It
is
only of
holds
the
:
noble few that

"
the
Buddhist
verse
true
Even
in
heavenly
pleasures he finds no satisfaction, the disciple

is
who
fully
awakened delights only

^
in
the destruction of
all
desires."
Buddha's system conveniently provided
for
those
who accepted
in
theory the teaching that Nirvana
alone was the true end of man, but

the courage to cut aloof from
all
who
still
lacked
individual existence.
The
various heavens of
1
Brahman
theology, with their

B. E. X. pp.
p. 51.
Dhammapada,
Dhavimapada,
198, 200, 204. 187.
6".
53, 55.
S.
B. E. X.
I02
positive,
Buddhism
even sensual, delights were retained as the
for
reward of virtuous souls not yet ripe
Nirvana.
To
aspire after such rewards was

;
permitted to the
to the
lukewarm monk
it
was commended
layman.
Hence
the frequent
reference, even in the earliest
Buddhist scriptures, to heaven (swarga) and to future

delights as an
encouragement
!
to right conduct.
virtuous rest in bliss in
is
" Follow the law of virtue

this
The
world and
;
in the next."
" This world
dark, few only
a few only go to heaven, like birds escaped from the net." " The uncharitable do not go to the world " Some people are born again ; evil-doers go of the gods."
can see here
to hell
righteous people go to heaven
those
^
who
are free
from
all
worldly desires attain Nirvana."
Buddha himself is made responsible for the statethat they who die on a pilgrimage to the four holy places " shall be reborn after death, when the body shall dissolve, in the happy realms of heaven." ^
ment
Sufficient
this
prominence
is
not generally given
to
more popular
to
side of Buddhist teaching, with-
out which the followers of

limited
Buddha would have been
an insignificant and short-lived band of

It is this
heroic souls.
inscriptions of
element, so prominent in the
Asoka, that tempered the severity of

his religion
in
Buddha's doctrine of Nirvana and made

acceptable to the masses.
of
1
It
was destined
primitive
course
of
time to triumph over the

Dhammapada,
i6S, 174, 177, 126.
v. 22.
2
notion
Book of the Great Decease,
S. B, E. XI.
p. 91.
Vide infra,
pp. 127. 134.
The Law, Dhamma

Nirvana
itself,
103
reducing
it
to a
heaven of positive
the extinction of
bliss of Nir-
and never-ending delights.
But how was man

vana?
to
attain to
desire and thus share in the
supreme
in
The answer
is
found
the last of the four
great truths.
" This,
Bhikkhus,
is
the noble truth of the path which
leads to the cessation of suffering, that holy eightfold path,

that
is
to say, right belief, right aspiration, right speech, right
conduct, right means of livelihood, right
endeavor, right
memory,
right meditation."
In this eightfold path,
we have an
abstract
sumfall
mary
of the
to
laws of conduct to which every one
aspiring
Nirvana
should
conform.
first,
They
naturally under
to the
two heads:
those
belonging
domain of morals; secondly, those touching
on discipline.
treated
It
is
The latter division will be sufficiently when we speak of the Order, the Sangha. chiefly to the ethical code recognized by
turn our attention.
Buddha that we now If we compare the

two chief points of
absence
puerile
in
that recognized in the
code of Buddha with Brahman law-books, we note The first is the difference.
ethical
precepts
Buddhism, to a large extent, of those and prohibitions that must have
made
life
is
under the old religion so irksome.
The
second
the severe, though logical, attitude which

life.
p. 95.
Buddha took towards married

1
With the excep-
S. B.
E. XIII.
I04
tion of these
little
Buddhism
two
points, Buddhist ethics differ but
If
from those of Brahmanism.

evidence
we may
sources,
trust
the
drawn
from
Buddhist
the
Brahmans of Buddha's day were far from exhibiting in their manner of life the realization of the high moral standard we find in the Lazus of Manu. The followers of Buddha, fired by the enthusiasm of the
that put the
new movement, gave examples of moral earnestness Brahmans to the blush and told strongly
Buddhist claims.
little
in favor of the
Yet,
in
theory, the
a
moral code of Buddhism was

of that of Brahmanism.
more than
copy
Buddhist morality,
sist
like the
Brahman, did not conto the standard

in
in
mere outward conformity

It
of
right and wrong.
had
its
source
the
will.
man's thoughts, no
less
than his words and deeds,

\vorth.
formed the basis of
his
moral
This important ethical truth finds abundant expression in the Buddhist scriptures, notably in the
Bud-
dhist
book
of proverbs
known
as the
DJiavimapada
(Path of the Law).

" All that we are
it is
is
the result of what

it is
we have thought
of our thoughts.
founded
in our thoughts,
made up
evil
If a
man
speaks or acts with an
thought, pain follows
him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the
carriage.
...
If a
man
him,
speaks or acts with a pure thought,

like
happiness follows
shadow
that
never leaves
him."
Dhammapada,
1-2.
6".
B. E. X. pp. 3 and
4.
The Law, Dhamma

" Let the wise
cult to
list
:
105
they are
diffi-
man guard
very
artful,
his thoughts, for
i)erceive,
and they rush wherever they
thoughts well guarded bring happiness." ^ " Even the gods envy him whose senses, like horses well
in by the driver, have been subdued, who is free from His thought is quiet, and free from appetites. quiet are his word and deed, when he has obtained freedom
broken
pride,
by true knowledge."
"
Not nakedness, nor

can purify a
platted hair,
nor
dirt,
nor fasting,
sitting
nor lying on the ground, nor rubbing with dust, nor

motionless
desire."
^
mortal
who
has
not
overcome
The
five
great duties, constituting

"
the
" fivefold
uprightness
are
an echo
kill
of
Brahman
teaching.
(2)
They
lie;
are: (i) not to

(3)
any
living creature;
not to steal;
not to act unchastely; (4) not to
(5) not to drink intoxicating liquors.
The
lawfulness of hastening one's
entrance
into
Nirvana by suicide would seem to be a natural deduction from the pessimistic premises laid
down by
Buddha
and
in
fact
there are a (ew instances on
record of Buddhist arhats dying by their
own hands
But
anyincite
without any blame attaching to their conduct.

these instances are rare exceptions.
To
one
to take his
liable to
own
life
was an offence rendering a
monk
human
1
expulsion from the community.

shall
"Whatsoever Bhikkhu
knowingly deprive of
life
being, or shall seek out an assassin against a

36.
human
Dhammapada,
S.
B. E. X. p.
12.
3 //,/^_
2 Ibid.
94 and 96, p. 28.
1^7^ p.
-^8.
io6
self-destruction,
Buddhism
saying,
'
being, or shall utter the praises of death, or incite another to
Ho
my
friend
what
is
good do
better to
he,
you get from

thee than
life
!
this
'
wicked, sinful
if,
life ?
Death
so thinking,
and with such an aim,

is
by various argument,
is
utter the praises of death
or incite
another to self-destruction
he too
^
fallen into defeat,
he
no longer
in
communion."'
Lust, covetousness, envy,

fittingly
pride,
harshness,
are
condemned.
spirit
But what,
perhaps,
brings
Chris-
Buddhism most
tianity,
injuries.
is its
strikingly in
contact with
of gentleness and forgiveness of
To
cultivate benevolence towards
men
of
all
classes, to avoid
anger and physical violence, to be
patient under insult and injury, to return

evil, all this
was inculcated
in
to
make
it
one of the gentlest
good for Buddhism and helped Buddha of religions.

in
did not originate this notion of gentleness and forgiveness of wrongs.

teaching.
It
already existed
it
Brahmanic
have been
But
in
Buddhism
seems
to
brought into greater prominence.

" Let a
man
all
leave anger, let
him forsake
I
pride,
let
him
other
overcome
anger
like
bondage!
... He who
call
holds
back
;
rising
a rolling chariot, him
a real driver
people are but holding the reins.
Let a
man overcome
;
anger by love
let
him overcome
the
liar
if
evil
come greed by liberality,

do not
yield to anger
;
by truth
thou
art
by good let him overSpeak the truth,

!
give,
asked
^
for Httle
by
these three steps thou wilt go near the gods."

1
Patimokkha.
S. 8. E. XIII.
221-224.
p. 4-
Dhammapada,
Cf. 231-234.
The Law, Dhamma

The
form.
" Let
will
107
are
in its
following thoughts from the
Dhammapada
further illustrations of Buddhist
wisdom
highest
not
no man make light come nigh unto me.

is filled.
of
evil,
saying in his heart
it
drops, a water-pot
Even by the falling of waterThe fool becomes full of evil,

^
even
if
he gather
it little
by
little."
" If one
man conquer
if
in battle
a thousand times a thouhimself,
sand men, and

" Better the
flecting,
another
'^
conquer
a
he
is
the
greatest of conquerors."
life
of one day,
if
man
if
is
virtuous
is
and
re-
than that of a hundred years,

^
he
vicious
and
unrestrained."
"
A man
is
is
not an elder, because his hair

but he
is
is
gray.
His age
in
may be
there
free
ripe,
called
Old-in-vain.
He
whom
is
^
truth, virtue, love, restraint, moderation,

is
he who
from impurity and

is
wise, he
is
called an elder."
it is
" It
easy to see another's
faults,
hard to see one's
own.
his
A man
fault
^
winnows
his
neighbor's faults like chaff, but
own
he hides, as a cheat hides a bad die from the
gambler."
1
Dhain.
21.
2 ^
/^/^. 103.
Ibid. 252.
/^;V/. 1 10.
Ibid. 260-261.
CHAPTER
III
THE BUDDHIST ORDER, SANGHA

Celibacy exacted of Buddha's followers
Severe attitude towards Poverty and asceticism also requisite Excessive austerities avoided Alms the means of subsistence: hence the name Bhikkhus Neither manual labor nor works of charity harmony with Buddhist discipline Distinctions of birth ignored Buddha not a social reformer The Novitiate Rite of Clothing and food Avoidance of luxuries tion Rule of and worldly amusements Cleanliness exacted Precautions to
marriage
in
initialife
be observed
in
The
traversing the village and in the presence of
rite
of confession, the
the rainy season,
Patimokkha The retreat during Vassa Meditation Grades of perfection
women
Bhikkhunis
The lay element in Buddhism.

the keynote of Buddhism.
T
vited
It
HE
extinction of suffering through the extincis
tion of desire
The
path to Nirvana was marked by the gravestones, not

only of every unworthy passion, but of every
legitilife,
mate desire of human nature.
The
to
life
perfect
of
in-
which Buddha
his
set the
example and was

a
which he
celibacy
fellow-men,
of
and
asceticism.
was
first
of
all
life
of celibacy.
Conjugal
life,
being founded on the reproductive
instinct,
was
in-
compatible with the quenching of desire and the ex-
The
from family
life
Buddhist Order, Sangha
109
tinction of individual existence.
Hence detachment
was the
first
requisite of a true fol-
lower of Buddha.
The
attitude
which Buddha took towards marriage

"
was excessively derogatory and severe.

should avoid married
life,"
A man
were
he taught,
^
" as
if it
a burning pit of live coals."
holder
is
represented as saying:
is
converted house-
" Full of hindrances
the household
is
life,
a path defiled
by passion nounced all

:
free as the air
the
life
of him
it is
who
has re-
earthly things.
How
difficult
for the
man
who
off
dwells at
home
to live the higher
life in all its

!
fulness,
in all its purity, in all its bright perfection
Let
me
life
then cut
and beard, robes, and let me go

hair
my
let
me
clothe myself in orange-colored
forth
from a household
into the
homeless
state
"
sacrifice
But detachment from family life was not the only demanded of Buddha's followers. They had
all
to stand aloof from
that binds the heart to indi-
vidual existence
sessions,
they had to give up worldly pos-
and worldly power, to detach themselves from
everything that could minister to pride and softness
and
ease.
They
had, in a word, to live a
life
of pov-
erty and asceticism.

It is
easy to see
in all this
the influence of
Brahman
life
asceticism.
1
Still, in
Sutta, 21.
exacting of his followers a
of
Dhammika
Quoted by Monier Williams, Buddhism,

p. 187.
p. 88.
2
Tevijja Sutta,
i.
47.i". B. E. XI.
iio
severe simplicity,
Buddhism
Buddha
did not go to the extremes
of fanaticism which characterized most of the ascetics of his day.
He
life
chose a more rational course, which

of unrelenting austerity no less than
In
his
first
excluded a
one of ease and abundance.

preached
at
sermon
Benares to the ascetics who had been his
former companions
tifications,
he said
in
the practice of excessive mor-
" There are two extremes,
Bhikkhus, which he
who
has
given up the world ought to avoid.
What
are these
two
extremes?
life
is
given to pleasure, devoted to pleasures

degrading, sensual, vulgar, ignoble, and
given to mortifications
:
and
lusts
;
this
profitless
and a
life
this is painful,
ignoble,
and
profitless.
By avoiding
insight,
these two extremes,
Bhikkhus, the Tathagata has gained the knowledge of the
middle path, which leads to
which leads
to
wisdom,
which conduces
Nirvana."
^
to calm, to
knowledge, to the Sambodhi, to
In an interesting dialogue between
Buddha and a
monk who,
in his reaction
from a
life
of undue asceti-
cism, was tempted to adopt the opposite extreme of

reckless enjoyment, the middle path of moderate as-
ceticism
is
compared
to a lute
which gives forth the
proper tones only when the strings are neither too

tight nor too slack.^
To secure perfect detachment from the world, Buddha adopted for himself and his followers the
1
Mahavagga,
.S-.
i.
6,
17.^. B. E. XIII.
7.
p. 94.
B. E. XVII. p.
The

life
1 1
quiet, secluded, contemplative
practised
by the
ascetics of his day.
Their means of subsistence was
alms
hence the name commonly applied to Buddhist

It
monks,^ BJdkkJius, beggars, mendicants.
was
for-
eign to his plan that his followers should engage in
any works of manual labor or

tions to the
in charitable ministra-
unfortunate.
The
traditional
contempt
Brahman for industrial pursuits was largely shared by the Buddhist. Then, too, manual labor
of the
would have been productive of

and enfeebled him
for
riches,
would have
entangled the aspirant to perfection in worldly cares,

the great business that de-
manded
his
undivided attention, the thorough knowllaw.
edge and observance of the

In like manner,
works of charity, such as the care
of the sick and destitute, would have been a hin-
drance to Buddhist perfection.
Not indeed
that the
needs of the sick and helpless were utterly ignored.
Through Buddhist
treatment.
istered
influence, centres
were established
medicine and
where the suffering could repair
for
But these charitable
offices
were admin-
there
is
Nevertheless, by laymen, not by monks. not in Buddhism that keen sympathy for indi-
vidual suffering and that corresponding impulse to

alleviate
it
for
which Christianity
is
pre-eminently con-
1 The application of the Christian terms, monks and nuns, to members of the Buddhist order is regrettable on account of the con-
fusion of thought to which

of
it is
apt to lead.
But having the sanction
modern usage,
it
cannot well be avoided.
1 1
Buddhism
Buddha's chief concern was
to teach
spicuous.
men
to escape the misery of rebirth

all
by the extinction of
the sick and minister
to
desire.
Hence
the tendency to view present suffer-
ings with indifference.
To nurse
to the needs of the destitute,
would have helped
confirm the
individual
afflicted
in their delusive
attachment to
existence, the
It
life
very thing which Buddha

dis-
sought to undo.
tracting.
would likewise have been too

which Buddha
felt
The
to
be alone
suited to the pursuit of Nirvana
was one, not of active
participation in the world, but of quiet solitude and
contemplation.
the Buddhist
heretical
In the Tevijja Siitta the conduct of

that of certain
"
monk is contrasted with monks who gain a livelihood

in the
;
by
prescrib-
ing medicines to produce vomiting or purging, or to
remove obstructions
higher or lower intestines,

oils for
or to relieve headache
by preparing
the ear,
;
collyriums, catholicons, antimony, and cooling drinks
by
practising cautery, midwifery, or the use of root
decoctions or salves."^
The only
his
act of beneficence
disciples
which Buddha inculcated on

preach to others.
was to
life,
Such are the main if we may call

his
felt
characteristics of the religious

it
religious,
to
which Buddha
opening up
Herein
invited
fellow-men.
to
And
in
thus
what he
be the true path of salvation, he
made no
discrimination of social conditions.
lay one of the
most
1
striking contrasts
between the
S. B. E. XI. p. 200.
The
old religion
1 1
and the new.

Full the
Brahmanism was founded

participation
in
its
on caste-distinctions.
vantages belonged to
religious privileges
ad-
Brahmans alone. The accorded to members of the next

inferior grade, while Sudras,
two
castes,
were of an
still
and members of
excluded.
lower classes, were absolutely
Buddha, on the contrary, extended the hand of welcome to men of low, as well as high, birth and
station.
test
Virtue, not birth, was declared to be the
of superiority.
In
the brotherhood which he
built
around him,
all
caste-distinctions
were put aside.

All
The despised Sudra stood on

equality with
the
if
a footing of perfect
high-born Brahman.
were
brothers
it
and
greater esteem attached to some,
was owing
In
to their greater zeal in the practice
of
virtue.
this
religious
its
democracy of Buddhism
lay doubtless one of
strongest influences for con-
version
among
the lower masses.
In thus putting his followers, irrespective of birth,
on a plane of perfect equality, Buddha had no intenNot a tion of acting the part of a social reformer.
few writers have attributed to him the purpose of
breaking down caste-distinctions

replacing them
insure a
in
society,
and of
by
a democratic system which would
This
is
a mistake.
more equitable distribution of privileges. Buddha had no more intention

was only within the
limits of his
of abolishing caste than he did of abolishing marriage.

It
own order
14
It
Buddhism
was not part of
less
that he insisted on social equality, as he did on celi-
bacy.
his
plan to secure the

classes.
amelioration of the
favored
Neither
did his followers anywhere pose as social reformers.
Wherever Buddhism has

has not been abolished.
prevailed, the caste-system
On
the contrary, the later
Buddhist scriptures imply the permanence of castes,

for
it
is
laid
down
as a principle that a
Buddha
is
never to be born into a family of the peasant or

servile caste,
but only as a warrior or as a Brahman.^
Let us now look more closely into the mode of

life
which Buddha prescribed
for his followers.

full
Before being admitted to the

Sang/ia, or order of monks, the
privileges of the
to pass
members had
in
through a period of probation as novices.

as has
Although,
life
been
said,
men
of every station
could
present themselves as novices, yet those alone were
accepted
tions.
who were
free
from certain disqualificacriminals
Thus, confirmed
afflicted
were debarred,
men
with serious deformities and diseases,
debtors, slaves, soldiers
whose term of
service
was
not yet ended, sons whose parents had not given

their consent.
As
a rule, the novice had to be at
least fifteen years old
(from the time of conception),
but exceptions were sometimes
made
in
favor of
children only twelve years of age.^

1
Cf. Foucaux, Lalita Vistara, p. 21;
Warren, Buddhisviin Trans-
lations, p. 41.
2
S. B.
E. XIII.
p. 204.
The Buddhist
The ceremony
Having cut
juration of previous
Order, Sangha
1 1
of reception was simple.

religious
No
ab-
belief
was required.
off his hair
and beard, and having put
on the yellow robes peculiar to the order, he squatted

at the feet of the
monks, and, with hands joined above

Buddhist formula of
his head, recited three times the

faith:
"I
take
my
refuge in
;
Buddha,
I
take
my
refuge in the
Law [Dhamma]
take
my
refuge in
the Order [Sangha]."^
He
then chose as preceptor a worthy
monk
of at
till
least ten years' standing,

his novitiate
and served under him
was ended.
The
shortest term of pro-
bation was four months.
From
the beginning the novice had to observe the
ten precepts exacted of every Buddhist

to abstain from destroying every
stealing,
monk, namely,
life,
form of
from
from unchaste indulgence, from
lying,
from
strong drink, from eating at forbidden times, from
dancing or singing, from the use of perfumes, oint-
ments and flowers, from the use of high and broad

beds, from accepting gold or silver.^
into
The ceremony by which the novice was received full membership was somewhat more solemn. Having satisfactorily spent the period of probation,
at
and being
with
1
least
twenty years
old,
he appeared
his
preceptor before the assembled

p. 115.
2
monks.^
s.
B. E. XIII.
7/,/^. p.
311.
3 It
was the
rule that at least ten
monks should
assist at the rite
of ordination, but in remote districts four were declared sufficient.

S.
B. E. XVII. pp. 33 and
38.
Buddhism
adjusted his robe so as to cover one shoulder,
feet,
He
and, squatting at their
with his hands joined over
his head, recited three times the

in
formula of refuge
Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha.
He was
which a
then asked the
following
questions,
:
truthful
answer had to be given
to
" Are you afflicted with the following diseases

boils,
leprosy,
dry leprosy,
consumption, and
fits ?
" Are you a
man ?
" Are you a male ?
" Are you a freeman ? " Have you no debts? " Are you not in the royal service
" Have your father and mother given " Are you full twenty years old ?
" Are your alms-bowl and your robes
their
consent?
in
due
state ?
What " What

If the
"
is is
your
name ?
^
your preceptor's name ? "
answers were satisfactory,

his
the
preceptor
turned to
assembled brethren, announced the

candidate, and then
worthiness of the
three
times
asked them to show their approval by silence or their

disapproval by speaking.
If,
after the third request,
no objection was
full
raised, the candidate
was declared a
of
life
member
of the order.
The mode
to
which
he had to conform was then briefly rehearsed to him,
and he was reminded of the four great prohibitions,
whose
violation brought expulsion from the order.
They were
(i) to avoid every form of sexual indul1

.S".
.5".
E. XIII.
p.
230.
The
gence;
117
(2) to take nothing but what was given to not to deprive

;
him, not even a blade of grass; (3)
any creature of
to boast of
Hfe,
even a
worm
or an ant
(4) not
any superhuman
perfection.-^
In
thus
becoming a member of the order, the

If after
monk
to the
did not bind himself by any vows.
time he
came
severe
to the conclusion that

life
he was not suited

free
he had adopted, he was
to
withdraw from the order and to go back to the world.
Sometimes after returning to a worldly life, he repented and again sought admission into the order.
Such admission was very rarely refused. The asceticism which Buddha demanded of his followers, while not of extreme rigor, was what we should call severe. Each member was allowed but
one
set of garments,
which had
to
be of yellow color
and of cheap
quality.
They
consisted of a piece of
cloth encircling the waist and falling below the knees,
of an upper garment covering the back and breast,
and of an outer
robe.
These, together with his
sleeping-mat, razor, needle, water-strainer, and alms-
bowl, constituted the
sum
of his worldly possessions.
His single meal, which had to be taken before noon,

consisted chiefly of bread, rice, and curry, which he
gathered daily in his alms-bowl by begging from door

to door.
Water or rice-milk was

Meat,
cit.
his
customary drink,
and delicacies
wine and other intoxicants being rigorously forbidden,
even as medicine.
^
fish,
Oldenberg, Op.
pp. 3-16-351.
Ii8
Buddhism
in
were rarely eaten, except
sickness or
when
is
the
monk
dined by invitation with some patron. " What-
soever Bhikkhu," runs a Vinaya text, "

sick, shall request for his
when he
not
own
use,
oil,
is
and
shall partake
of delicacies,
fish, flesh,
ghee,
butter,
honey,
molasses,
(/.
t'.,
milk, curds,
that
a Pakittiya "
an
offence requiring a penance),^
During the day he had

legs crossed.
to stand or
sit
upright with
Only
at night could
he
lie
down, but
not on a high or broad bed.
He was
forbidden not
only to use wreaths, ornaments, and perfumes, but

also to take
part in worldly amusements.
Among
the
latter
were included many that seem innocent

our degenerate minds, as the following
enough
to
interesting
passage from the
Tcvijja Sittta
makes
known
" Whereas
some Samana-Brahmans
faithful,
who
live
on the food
provided by the
their time with
continue addicted to occupying

to their progress in virtue
:
games detrimental
tossing
;
that
is
to
say,
with a board of sixty-four

;
squares,
or of
one hundred squares

without
up
hopping over diagrams

trap-ball
formed on the ground

ing rude figures
removing substances from a heap

;
shaking the remainder

;
dicing
sketch-
tossing balls
;
blowing trumpets
;
ploughguessing
ing matches
at
tumbling
forming mimic wind-mills

;
measures
;
chariot races
archery
shooting marbles from

;
the fingers
guessing other people's thoughts

;
and mimickrefrains
ing other people's acts
he,
on the other hand,

^
from
such games detrimental to virtue."

1
^.
B. E. XIII. B. E. XI.
p. 40.
Brahman
ascetics.
3 S.
p. 193.
The
At
first,

monks
;
119
the
lived in
temporary shelters of
the rudest kind
for
except during the rainy season
(from the middle of June to the middle of October)
they were constantly moving from place to place.

In course of time, parks and gardens were
to them,
made over
and there they erected
solid
and permanent
clusters of cells.
viJiaras,
Cloisters were thus formed, called
but the furnishings were of a very simple
kind.
Some
of these viharas
were provided with
hot-air baths.
We
note with pleasure that Buddhist asceticism
was characterized by a scrupulous regard for cleanliDirt and foul smells formed no part of Budness.
dhist sanctity.
Every member of the community was

cell
expected to bathe once a fortnight, and to keep his

garments, sleeping-mat, alms-bowl, and
condition.^
in
neat
The
life
which Buddha
felt
to
be alone suited to
the pursuit of Nirvana wâs one, as
we have already
For
this reason,
noted, not of active participation in the world, but
of quiet solitude and contemplation.

his followers, like the
Brahman
ascetics,
were not
allowed to live
the outskirts.
in the villages
and towns, but only on

visit
They were
not even to
the towns,
in
except
in
the early morning,
when they went

felt
quest
of alms.
Contact with worldly

1
life
was
to
be a source of
s. B.
E.
XX.
p. 103.
^ Ibid.
XIII. pp. 44, 157-160;
XX.
pp. 295-296.
20
for
Buddhism
one who was striving
in his dailv
danger
fection.
after
Buddhist pervil-
Hence,
rounds through the

"
lage,
he had to observe the greatest precaution.
As
one who has no shoes, walks over thorny ground,

watchfully picking his steps, so
in
let
the wise
man walk
the
village."
With sober
bowl
gait
and with eyes and receiving
modestly cast on the ground, he proceeded from door

to door, holding out his
in silence
the alms without looking on the face of the giver.
As soon
as his
bowl was
filled,
he made his way back
to the convent.
He was
see
if
then expected to examine

his visit to the villasfe
his conscience to
was
free
"
''
from blame.
monk,
Sariputta,"
:
Buddha
is
reported
as
saying,
I
must thus
reflect
'
On my way
to the village,
when
was
going to collect alms, and in the places where
I collected
alms, and on my way back from the village, have I in the forms which the eye perceives, the sounds which the ear
perceives,
.
experienced pleasure, or desire, or hatred,
or distraction, or anger in
my mind?
to
if
'
If so, then
must
this
monk,
Sariputta,
endeavor
treacherous emotions.
But
test
become free from these evil, the monk, O Sariputta, who

'
:
submits himself to this
finds
have not experienced
pleasure, or desire, or hatred, or distraction, or anger,' then
should he be glad and rejoice.
Happy
^
the
man who
has
long accustomed his mind to good."
Among the
self with
^
seductive influences of the world against

to
which the true follower of Buddha had
guard him-
utmost vigilance, was association with women.

cit.
Oldenberg, Op.
p. 307.
Jhid.
The
He was
121
forbidden to converse alone with a woman,

all
however respectable, and
communication with
Char-
women was
acteristic
is
to
be avoided as
"
far as possible.
the advice which
Buddha gave Ananda

to
on
this subject:
How
to
are
we
conduct ourselves,
Lord, with regard
womanhood?"
if
"Don't
"
see
them, Ananda."
"
But
we should
see them, what are
we
if
to
do?
"
"
Abstain from speech, Ananda."

us.
But
"
they should speak to
Lord, what are we to do?

^
"
Keep wide awake, Ananda." As a further aid to correctness
of conduct, a public
examination and confession of

fortnight,
this
faults
took place every

full
on the days of the new and
moon.
At
ceremony, known as the Patimokklia (the unbur-
all the monks of the locality had to be presThe meeting was held at evening, and the most venerable monk of the community presided. Having
dening),
ent.
solemnly announced the purpose of the meeting, he
proceeded to enumerate the various kinds of offences
which
list
it
was the duty of every monk to avoid.

subject, doubtless,
in in
This
of
sins,
the beginning to
constant variations, became
course of time a ster-
eotyped formula, a sort of

to be strictly observed.^
It
liturgical rite,
which had
was divided
into several
classes of offences, beginning with the class of trans-
gressions that entailed expulsion from the order, and

^ Book of the Great Decease, v. 23. ^. B. E. the Buddhist joins hands witli the Brahman.
XL p. 91.
Here again
2 This Patimokkha formula may be found XIII. 6-. B. E.
in the first part of Vol.
122
Buddhism
less
proceeding to others of
and
less
consequence.
in
After enumerating the sins comprised

the presiding
this question
:
each
class,
monk
put three times to the assembly
" Venerable Sirs, are
you pure
in
this
all
matter?
"
If
no one spoke,
If a
it
was understood that
present were guiltless.

guilty of
monk
confessed himself
some one of the
offences enumerated, a pen-
alty proportionate to the seriousness of the offence
was
laid upon him. Such was the Patimokkha
in its original form.
But
later on, the confession of faults
was exacted of the
monk
some
outside the Patimokkha.

offence,
monk,
it
guilty of
was expected
to confess
to a brother
monk
ance.
guilt
after
that very day, and to receive the fitting pen-
Every day's delay

and called
thus
in confessing increased
his
for a greater his
penance.
It
was only
private
unburdening
conscience by
confession of guilt, that he had the right to be present

at the
Patimokkha.^
be remarked that the Buddhist confession
It is to
had nothing of a sacramental character.

these the majority were infringements of
rules.
Again,
only external offences had to be confessed, and of
community
in
Another ceremony having a
similar
end
view
was the public accusation of faults known as the Pavarana (invitation). During a period of three months,
beginning with June or July,
1
the rainy season, called

p. 409.
Cf. S. B.
E. XX.
The
Vassa,

travel,
123
and had
the monks were forbidden to

in quiet
to reside together at their various monasteries, spend-
ing the time
contemplation.
At
on
the end of
this period, before setting out again
their wander-
ings, the
monks met
in
solemn assembly, and each

be
one
in
turn, raising his clasped hands, asked to

faults of his
reminded of any
committed during the

had observed.
I
rainy season that his fellow-monks " Reverend Sirs," the formula ran, "
der,
if
invite the orpart, or
ye have seen anything on
my
have
heard anything, or have any suspicion about me, have

pity on me, Reverend Sirs, and speak.
shall atone for
it."
^
If
see
it,
This necessity of making known and atoning for

external offences was, doubtless, of great efficacy in
securing that observance of outward decorum which
Buddha demanded
of his followers.
But mere outward observance of the rules of the

order was not enough.
To
enable the
members
to
assimilate the true spirit of the order, to advance interiorly towards the perfection of Nirvana, the practice
of profound meditation was enjoined.
This practice
the counterpart of the j'oâ of the Brahman ascetic was adopted by the monks with very unequal degrees of success.
tion
One
of the surest marks of perfec-
and of ripeness
for entering into
Nirvana was the
aptitude for sinking one's self into abstract meditation,

in
which the monk, regardless of everything about

1
Oldenberg, Op.
cit.
pp. 374-375.
Cf. S. B. E. XIII. p. 329.
24
Buddhism
his
him, concentrated
state of Nirvana.
mind on the unconditioned

rules for bring-
There were certain
ing on this meditative condition of soul.
Selecting
some quiet
legs, erect
spot, the
monk would
sit
with crossed
and motionless, dwelling on more and more

till
abstract subjects,
this
often he sank into a trance.
In
morbid
state,
various hallucinations, mistaken for
realities,
would
affect his
mind.
visions
and heard heavenly sounds.

distant
He saw heavenlyHe peered into

the
the remote past and future, saw what was happening

in
places,
and
read
thoughts of
others.
As we have
at death
seen, the object of Buddha's monastic
system was to lead
men
to a state of perfection
which
would secure
all
their
entrance into Nirvana.
But not
the
members of
his order attained in their
lifetime to this ideal state of perfection.
Only some
i.
of them succeeded in becoming arhats,

ones, free from
all
e.,
perfect
rebirth and destined at death to
enter into Nirvana.
Others attained to a degree of
holiness which destined
them
to a
new
life
with the
gods
in
heaven, to end by absorption into Nirvana.
Others were destined to reach the desired goal only

after
another
life
on
earth.^
But the more worldly
monks were under the necessity of being reborn a number of times before they could hope to acquire perfection. The Buddhist records show that worldly, even vicious, monks were by no means unconmion,
1
S. B. E. XI. pp. 25-26.
The
125
dis-
and that the peace of the community was often

turbed by them.^
It
seems
to
have been Buddha's original intention system to men.

But, yielding
to confine his monastic to entreaties,
he established a supplementary order of
nuns (Bhikkhunis).
while
living
in
These communities of nuns,

vicinity
the
of
the
monks, were
strictest
entirely separated from
them.
The
rules
regulated the relations of the one with the other.
monk was
;
forbidden to
converse
alone with
nun
they could
not travel
together.
Only the
place
monk
especially appointed for

it
the
purpose could
in their
preach to them, and then
was not
of habitation, but in the neighborhood of the monastery,
where the presence of a second monk was

status of the
required.
The
nun was much

"
inferior in dignity
to that of the
monk.
Bhikkhuni," runs one of
their eight rules, " even

ing, shall
if
of a hundred years' stand-
make
a salutation to, shall rise
up
in the
presence
all
of, shall
bow down
is
before, and shall perform

if
proper duties towards, a Bhikkhu,

This
a rule to be revered
only just
initiated.
and rever-
enced, honored and observed, and during her long

life
never to be transgressed."
1 These disturbers of the peace were generally designated as the Khabbaggiya Bhikkhus, Cf. S. B. E. XVII. pp. 343-344, 347 ff.; XX.
pp. 147, 296.

2
.S".
B. E.
XX.
pp. 322-123.
126
Buddhism
nun was never allowed
to reprove a
monk
for
any misdemeanor, while the monk had always the

right to
admonish an erring nun.

to
They had
ing a
life
conform
to the
same
rule of
life
as
that prescribed for
monks,
living
on alms, and lead-
of retirement and contemplation.
They
were never so numerous as the monks, and became

a very insignificant fraction of the
Sangha
as time
went on.
Strictly speaking,
Buddha's order was composed

the world and given
live a life
only of those
who had renounced

nuns.
proof of their purpose to

as
life
of contemplation
their
monks and
But the very character of
made them dependent for their subsistence on the charity of men and women who preferred to live in
the world and to enjoy the comforts of the household
state.
Those who thus sympathized with the order

to contribute to
its
and helped
support, formed the
lay element in Buddhism.

called
tipasakas,
if
These lay associates were

if
men, and upasikas,

end of the present
women.
But
Not being monks

attain to
or nuns, they could not hope to

life.
Nirvana
at the
through their association with the order, and their

acts of beneficence to
it,
they could ensure for them-
selves a
happy
rebirth in the traditional swarga or
heaven, with the additional prospect of being able

at
some
future birth to attain to Nirvana
if
they so
desired.
The
majority, however, did not share the

for
enthusiasm of the Buddhist arhat
Nirvana, being
The

look forward to a
in
life
27
quite content to
of positive,
though impermanent, delights
heaven.^
To become
of refuge
in
a upasaka, no rite of initiation was re-
quired beyond the simple declaration before a
monk
There
Buddha, the Law, and the Order.
was no obligation of renouncing the various popular

forms of worship.
To
contribute to the support of
the order was their chief duty and their privilege as

well.
They supplied
the
clothing,
and medicine.
monks and nuns with food, They vied with one another
in having the monks dine with them at their homes. The more wealthy donated parks, and stood the
expense of building suitable

the
cloisters.
In return,
monks gladdened them with
religious discourses
and assured them of abundant

beneficence.
" Whatsoever
rewards for their
woman
upright in
life,
a disciple of
the
Happy One,
gives,
glad at heart and overcoming avarice,
both food and drink
heavenly
is
life
does she obtain
entering on the path that

purity,
free
from corruption and im-
aiming
sickness,
at good, happy does she become and free from and long does she rejoice in a heavenly body." ^
These
lay
brethren
wêre
exhorted
to
life,
observe
to avoid
chastity in keeping with their state of
^ This accounts for the frequent reference to heaven, and the apparent ignoring of Nirvana in the inscriptions of Asol<a, a fact wrongly taken by Senart to imply that the speculations on Nirvana were unknown in Asoka's day. Cf. Les Inscriptions de Piyadasi, II.
P- 3-3^
Mahavagga,
viii. 15, 14.
S.
B. E. XVII.
p. 225.
128
Buddhism
and the taking
even that of animals.
lying, stealing, the use of intoxicants,
of
life,
But
failure to
conform
to these precepts of
in
moral conduct did not, except
very flagrant instances, prevent them from enjoyorder.
ing friendly relations with the
But
it
was
otherwise with those
who
reviled
and slandered the
monks
cut
ofif
or their revered founder, or
jected any point of Buddha's teaching.
who openly reThey were

Their
from
all
association with the monks.
invitations to dine
out were refused, and the almsin their presence.
bowl was turned down
But
if
they
re-
apologized for their offensive conduct, they were

instated in the good-will of the order.
CHAPTER
IV
THE HISTORY OF BUDDHISM

Religious Developments
recognized
in
existence of the Brahman gods Buddhism, but man's dependence on them denied Hence no rites of worship Devotion to the gods tolerated in the Buddhist layman Rise of religious rites after Buddha's death Veneration of his relics, stupas, and statues pilgrimages, processions, and festivals Worship of the Buddha to come, Metteyya Divinization of Gotama Buddha as the Adi-Buddha The Bodhisattvas Mahayanaand Hinayana The Growth of Buddhism The dubious councils of Rajagriha and Vaisali His rock-inscriptions Asoka His zeal for Buddhism Unreliable traditions, especially concerning Mahinda and the council of Patna The introduction of Buddhism into Ceylon The evangelization of Kashmir, Gandhara, and Bactria King Menander King Kanishka The council of Kashmir The introduction of Buddhism into China Chinese pilgrims Fa Hien and Hiouen Thsang The character of Chinese Buddhism Mito and Fousa Kwanyin The introduction of Buddhism into Tibet The character of Lamaism Resemblances to cer-
The
primitive
tain
features of
Southern Asia
The decline of Buddhism in India The number
Catholicism The
spread of Buddhism over
of Buddhists greatly exaggerated.
may appear strange that in our survey of BudITdhism no account has been taken of rehgious duties
and practices.
But the
fact
is
that rehgious duties,
in the strict sense,
form no part of Buddha's teaching.

reh'gious
rites
For the attainment of Nirvana,

9
were
130
accounted of no
Buddhism
avail, just as in pantheistic
Brahman-
ism they were held to be useless for securing absorption into
Brahman.
the Vedas, and insisted
But while the pantheist clung to on the necessity of Vedic

for
worship as a preparatiori
the
higher religion,
Buddha, with greater consistency, rejected both the
Vedas and the Vedic
rites.
Buddha was not an

called
atheist in the
sense
that
he
denied the existence of the gods.
Nor can he be
living
an agnostic.
To him
the gods were
realities.
In his alleged sayings, as in the Buddhist

generally, the
respect.^
scriptures
gods are often mentioned
But like the pantheistic Brahman, he did not acknowledge his dependence on
them. They were held to be subject like men to karma and rebirth. The god of to-day might be reborn in the future in some inferior condition, while
a
and always with
man
of virtuous conduct might succeed in raising

in
himself
his next birth
to
the
rank of a god
in
heaven.
The very
was
idle to
gods, then, no less than men, had
need of that perfect wisdom that leads to Nirvana, and

hence
it
pray or
sacrifice to
them
in
the hope
of obtaining the boon which they themselves did not

possess.
They were even

to
in
inferior to
Buddha, since he
In like manner,
had already attained

they who followed
Nirvana.
Buddha's footsteps had no need
of worshipping the gods by prayers and offerings.

1 One of the names of Devanampiya (dear to the
the famous Buddhist king, Asoka,
was
gods).
History of Buddhism
131
On
the other hand,
above the need of

indifference,
if
much as Buddha felt hitnsclf Brahman rites, he looked with

who
still
not with complacency, on the worship
of the gods by those
clung to the delusion
of individual existence, and preferred the household

to the
homeless
state.
all
For souls
not wholly
like these, gifts to

in vain,
the gods were after

in the
in
since
it
lay
power of the
grateful deities to confer benefits

in
return.
This view finds expression
the seem-
ingly incongruous words that
addressed to
Buddha is said two high officials of Magadha:

man
shall take
to
have
" Wheresoe'er the prudent
up
his abode,
Let him support there good and upright

Let him give
again
gifts to all
such deities as
men of self-control. may be there.

will
Revered, they
;
will
revere
him
honored, they
honor him
Are gracious
to him, as a
mother
to her one, her only son.
And
the
man who
^
has the grace of the gods, good fortune
he beholds."
Bloody
but
sacrifices
were
abominated
by Buddha
in
because they involved the killing of living things
how
far
he was from setting himself
bitter
is
antagonism to other features of Brahman worship,
shown by the benediction he pronounced on Keniya,

the
Brahman
ascetic, in
which he praises the tran-
scendent excellence of his
own
religion without dis-
paraging that of
1
his host.
i.
31.
S. B. E. XI.
p. 20.
132
"
Buddhism
offerings, the fire sacrifice
is
Of the
is
the chief, of sacred
verses, the chief
the Savitthi
is
^
;
"Among men
Of
sun
;
the king
chief,
is
and of waters the ocean; and of

heat-givers the
constellations the
moon
chief,
But of them, the conquering ones, who long

the Sangha verily
is
after
good,
chief."
"
But while worship of the gods was tolerated

Buddhist layman,
It
it
in the
was not inculcated
as a
duty.
was rather discouraged indirectly by the

it
inferior
degree to which
torious works.
was assigned
in the scale of
meri-
Virtuous conduct and loyal devotion
to the Sangha, were taught to be of incomparably
greater value than religious

" If a
rites.
man
a
for a
hundred years
if
sacrifice
month
after
month with homage to

years."
^
a thousand, and
he but for one

is
moment pay
knowhundred
man whose
is
soul
grounded
[in true
ledge], better
that
homage, than a
sacrifice for a
Benefits
derived from
the worship
of the
gods
to
were
at
best but fleeting.
esteemed by the
They were not monks and nuns, who set their

religious rites in the order
be
hearts
on Nirvana.
This lack of keenly
felt in
all
was not
the presence of their venerable founder.
Their intense devotion to

religious
1
him took the place of
fervor.
Pali
But he was not long dead when

of Sanskrit
vi. 35,
form
word
Savitri.
p. 134.
2 3
Mahavagi^m,
Z.S. B. E. XVII.
Dhatnmapada,
106.
History of Buddhism
this
133
very devotion to Buddha began to assume the
form of religious worship.

sisting
vessel,
His reputed reHcs, conalms-bowl, cremation-
of his
bones,
teeth,
and ashes from the funeral pyre, found their
way
in
to the chief cities of India, and, being enclosed
dome-shaped mounds, called dagobas, chaityas, topes, or stupas, were honored with offerings of
lights, flowers,
and perfumes.
This was represented
to
be
in
accordance with a provision of Buddha
himself.
" At the four cross-roads, a dagoba should be erected to
the Tathagata.
And whosoever
make
shall there place garlands,
or perfumes, or paint, or
in
its
^
a salutation there, or
become
presence calm in heart, that shall long be to them a
profit
and a joy."
Likewise, the places of his birth, supreme enlight-
enment,
first
preaching,
and death were accounted
especially sacred, and
became the objects of pious
pilgrimages, and the occasion of recurring festivals.
To
give these rites a greater dignity and importance,
the dying
Buddha
It is
is
alleged to have been himself
their author.
he
who reminds Ananda
of the
four places to be visited with feelings of reverence
and awe, and says

"
'
And
there will come,

sisters will
1
Ananda,
to
such spots, believers,
brethren and
of the order, devout
men and devout
women, and
say,
Here was
the Tathagata born,' or,

v. 26.
134
'
Buddhism
the Tathagata attain to the supreme and perfect
'
Here did
insight,' or,
foot
by the Tathagata,'
in that utter
Here was the Kingdom of righteousness set on or, Here the Tathagata passed away passing away which leaves nothing whatever to
'
remain behind.'
"
And
they,
Ananda, who
shall die while
they with be-
lieving
heart are journeying on such

after
pilgrimage, shall be
shall
reborn
death,
when
^
the
body
resolve, in
the
happy realms
of heaven."
Of
these
places of pilgrimage, the most
sacred
and the most popular was the spot where he attained

to perfect enlightenment
under the Bodhi-tree.
This
tree, a pipala or variety of the fig-tree,
became the
of
object of extravagant veneration.
Besides these,
pictures
and
statues
Buddha
side.
came
into vogue,
and were multiplied on every

to
Offerings were
made
them of
lights, flowers,
and
perfumes.
of
Festivals were instituted at
which statues
Buddha were
carried about in solemn procession.^

for religious
But the craving

satisfied.
worship was not yet

into
Buddha, having
entered
Nirvana,
could not be conscious of the religious honors that
were heaped upon him.

living
The need was

religious
felt
of a
personality worthy of
veneration,
to
and
1 2
at the
same time sensible of the honors paid
Book of
the Great Decease, v. 16-22.
The
fifth
Girnar edict of Asoka refers to religious processions.

I.
Cf.
Senart, Les Inscriptions de Piyadasi,
p.
113.
veiT good
is
account of Buddha's relics and other objects of veneration by K. F. Koppen, Die Religion des Buddha, I. pp. 516 ff.
given
History of Buddhism
him.
135
to
Such a personality was brought
Hght by
This was
the later speculations of Buddhist monks.

Metteyya,-^ the loving one,
now
living happily as a
in
Bodhisattva
future
to
in
heaven, but destined

a
the remote
to
set
in
become
Buddha, and again
motion
the
wheel of the law.
For the
religion
founded by Gotama Buddha was not destined to

persist for
all
time.
at
In this world-age, three Buddhas
had preceded him
long intervals of time, and the
teachings of each had after a while utterly vanished
from the minds of men.

order was destined to
last
So
only
in five
like
manner
his
hundred
last
years.^
Then would ensue

ignorance
till
long reign of darkness and

fifth
Metteyya, the
and
Buddha,
would appear and renew the work of

this
salvation.
To
Metteyya
the
in
heaven, the Buddhists turned as
the living object of worship of which they had so
long
felt
need,
and
they paid him
religious
homage
as the future saviour of the world.
Such was the character of the

observed by those
religious worship
Buddha's teachings.
who departed the least from It is what we find to-day in

by the
in-
the so-called Southern Buddhism, as held habitants of Ceylon, Burma, and Siam.
But even devotion

1
to
the Bodhisattva
Metteyya
Sanskrit, Maitreya.
2 It
would have lasted a thousand
years,
prevailed upon
order.
Buddha
to admit
Chullavagga,
x. i, 6.
S.
women B. E. XX.
to
had not the disciples membership in the
p. 325.
136
failed
in
Buddhism
the
long run to
give
satisfaction
to the
majority of Buddhist believers.
The
idea of Brahto
man, the eternal lord of gods and men, came

transferred
to
be
Buddha
latter,
himself.
To
reconcile the
contradiction between this conception and the
Buddha
to
of tradition, the
Sakyamuni, was declared

Adi-Buddha,
be an incarnation of the eternal and unchanging
Buddha,
later
known
as
dwelling
in
Around this supreme Buddha were grouped a countless number of Bodhisattvas, destined in future ages to become human Buddhas
the highest heaven.
for the sake of erring
man.
To
raise oneself to the
rank of Bodhisattva by virtuous and meritorious works
was the
religious
ideal
now
held out to generous souls.
In-
stead of Nirvana, Sukhavati
became the object of

delights,
hope,
the
heaven of sensuous
an
where
this
Amitabha,^
emanation
of
the
eternal
Buddha, happily reigned.
For the attainment of
end, the necessity of virtuous conduct was not
altogether forgotten, but an extravagant importance
was attached
to the
worship of
all
relics
and
statues, to
pilgrimages, and above
to the reciting of sacred
names and magic
formulae.
Many
other gross forms
of Hindu superstition were also adopted.
This innovation, so utterly foreign to the teaching

of Buddha, took
first
1
its
rise in
It
Northern India about the

as the
century
B.
was known
Yama,
Mahayana
Brahman
The Buddhist
substitute for
the lord of the
paradise.
History of Buddhism
or Great Vehicle,
in distinction
137
Hinayana
from the earHer form
of Buddhism contemptuously styled the

or Little Vehicle.^
The new movement grew

few centuries
supplanted
apace, and in the next

older
the
Northern India, Kashmir, and Bactria.
Buddhism in The Buddhist
order thus became separated into two great schisms,

the
Mahayana
or
Buddhism of
the North, and the
Hinayana or Buddhism of the South. It was this Northern Buddhism that was propagated in China, Japan, Tartary, and Tibet, the very
countries that furnish to-day the overwhelming
jority of Buddhists.
ma-
But they are Buddhists
in
name
to
only, adhering to forms of religious belief and practice

in
open contradiction
It is
to
what Buddha took pains
inculcate.
only by the few millions of Southern
Buddhists that primitive

fairly
Buddhism has been even

after the
preserved.
For more than two centuries

Buddha, nothing positive
is
death of
known of the history of The later Buddhist the religion that he founded. scriptures tell how a council of five hundred monks was held at Rajagriha in the summer following Buddha's death, to give a fixed and authoritative expression to his dogmatic and disciplinary teachings;
also
how, a century
later,
another council of seven hundred
1 According to some, it was called the Great Vehicle because it opened up the highest salvation to laymen as well as to monks, whereas the Little Vehicle held out Nirvana to monks alone.
10 8
Buddhism
at Vaisali, to
monks convened
cipline.
suppress the lax inno-
vations that threatened the integrity of Buddhist dis-
But the
in
historical character of these accounts
as
found
the last two chapters of the Chullavagga
is called in question by many.^ That Buddha's order must have grown rapidly and soon become conspicuous in Northern India is very
and elsewhere
likely
for in
the third century B.C.,
we
find
it
in a
flourishing
condition,
enjoying
fact that
the
patronage
of
those
in
power.
The
from the caste of warriors,

in his
Buddha came himself and the welcome extended

for the
system to
men
of every rank, must have helped

to
in
no small measure
win
new
religion the
good-will of rulers, whose inferior origin debarred
them from Brahman

has been set
privileges.
Political
influence
down as one of the important factors in the spread of Buddhism in India. The first reliable evidence we have of the growth
of Buddhism,
is
that offered
by the
inscriptions of
King
Asoka.2
He was
the
grandson of Chandragupta
the encroachments
(Sandrokottos), who, after the death of Alexander

the Great,
successfully resisted
1 Cf. de la Saussaye, Relifionsgeschichte, 84. J. H. C. Kern, Der Buddhisnnts und scim Geschichte in Indien^ II. pp. 288 ff. - The most complete and reliable account of Asoka and his inscriptions is to be found in Senart's monumental work in two volumes,
Les Inscriptions de Piyadasi.

des
Cf. also his interesting article,

;
Un
roi
de rinde au III siecle avant notre ere

scriptions
Asoka
et le
bouddhisme.
Rev.
deux Mondes, 18S9, I. pp. 67 ff. A translation of Senart's Inmay be found in the Indian Antiquary, vols. IX., X., XVII., and XXI.
History of Buddhism
of
the
^9
in
Greeks,
and
founded
vast
empire
Northern India.
273
B.C.^
Asoka mounted the throne about and enlarged the empire by new conquests.
frightful
But softened by the
havoc of war, he bein
came converted
year of his
to
Buddhism
about the thirteenth

all
reign,
and setting himself against

his
thought of future conquest, devoted
energies to
the promotion of the welfare of his dominion embraced all of India as
subjects.
far
His
as
south
the
Mysore, and extended north as

valley.
far as
Kabul
His reign lasted thirty years or more.^

the religion he had adopted,
In the interest of
Asoka published
number of
interesting
to
edicts,
which have fortunately been preserved
our day.
They were engraved on the on stone pillars, the same

of inscriptions have thus
faces of
huge rocks and
edict being published in
different parts of the empire.

far
Several duplicate sets
been found.
Of
these
the most important are the fourteen rock-inscriptions

existing in a partially defaced condition, at
Mansehra
upper
on the Afghan
frontier, at
Kapur
di Giri in the
valley of the Indus, at Girnar in the Gujerat peninsula,
at
Khalsi near the source of the Jumna, and

in Orissa.
at
Dhauli and Jaugada
At
the last two
places, edicts XI., XII.,

in
and XIII. are wanting, but their stead are two other important ones known as
first
the
1
and second separate edicts of Dhauli.

cit. II. p.
Senart, Op.
257.
is
The
eighth Delhi edict
dated from the 28th year of his conse-
cration as king.
140
Buddhism
is
Besides these, there
the edict of Bhabra, engraved

in
on a small granite rock now preserved

the rock-edict
Calcutta
Bairat,
common to Rupnath, Sahasaram,

and eight column-edicts found
Radhiah,
and Mysore
Allahabad,
Tarai.
at Delhi,
Mathiah,
and
the
Nepalese
In these inscriptions, the king, styling himself

Piyadasi (the Benevolent),
to the gods)
now now Devanampiya (Dear

to
shows himself
be a convert to Bud-
dhism, devout and zealous.

edict,
Indeed, in the Bhabra
he acts as
if
he were the authoritative head of
the Buddhist order, for he enjoins on the clergy of
Magadha
the frequent rehearsing to both
monks and
which he
out
laymen of certain sacred

enumerates.
missionaries to
compositions,
He
tells
of his zeal in sending

to
make known
men
the law of kindits
ness to
all
living creatures,
and boasts of
obser-
vance
in
the realms of Antiochus, Ptolemy, Antigonus,
Magas, and Alexander.

sacrifices,
While interdicting bloody

spirit
he displays a tolerant and kindly

heretical
sects.
towards Brahman and other
He
recommends
of virtue.
to every sect
the spirit of forbearance
and generous emulation

It is
in the
teaching and practice

re-
in virtuous
conduct that he finds
ligion chiefly to consist, inculcating docile obedience
to parents, masters,
for
and
all
other superiors, respect
the
aged, almsgiving to Brahmans and monks,

for the destitute, kind treatment of serlife,
compassion
vants and slaves, a merciful regard for animal
History of Buddhism
gentleness, purity, and truthfulness.
141
sets a
He
good
example himself by dealing with
his subjects as a
tender-hearted father to his children.
He
bestows
sect.
alms generously on Brahmans and monks of every
He
appoints inspectors to promote the welfare of the

all
people by suppressing
forms of injustice, especially
arbitrary imprisonment and torture.
He
ordains for
criminals
that they
condemned
to death a respite of three days,
may have
the opportunity of preparing for

fasting.
a better future
by almsgiving and
He
pro-
vides for the importation and cultivation of plants and

trees useful for
man and
beast, especially medicinal
herbs, and sees that the highways are properly fur-
nished with watering places.

use of animal food at his
tions
While abolishing the

table,
own
he puts restricmarket, and
on the slaughter of animals
for the
absolutely prohibits the religious sacrifice of bird or

beast.
Not unsuitably has he been

Buddhism.
told of
called the
Con-
stantine of
monuments throws grave doubt Asoka in the traditions embodied in the Mahavansa, a Ceylonese chronicle of the fifth century. Here we read that Asoka, converted by a miracle to Buddhism, built 84,000 stupas
silence of these
is
The
on much that
throughout
of the
in
his
realm
also that,
under the direction
monk
Tissa, a great council
was held
at Patna,
which the canonical books were
definitely recog-
nized.
This council, as we shall see in the following

is
chapter,
most
likely a
mere
fable.
142
became
distant
Buddhism
Mahinda monk, and havhig gone as a missionary to Ceylon, converted to Buddhism both king and
a
In like manner, the story that Asoka's son
people
and that Sanghamitta, Asoka's daughter,

likewise
who had
into the
renounced the world, introduced
newly converted country the Buddhist order

is
of nuns,
not without grave suspicion of being a
pious invention of the Ceylonese clergy, prompted by

feelings of local pride.
This
aries,
much
is
doubtless true, that Buddhist mission-
inspired
by Asoka,
carried the
knowledge of
largely due to
their religion into Ceylon.
For
it
is
the impetus given to the growth of

king, that the
the
Buddhism by the name of Buddha was made known to surrounding nations. At any rate we find Budin
dhism flourishing
Ceylon about 150
B.C.
under the
for
Buddhist king Duttha Gamini,
He
built
the
order a large monastery and two magnificent stupas.
Buddhism has ever

in
since been the prevailing religion
Ceylon.
The Mahavansa
prises
tells
of other missionary enter-
successfully carried out under the auspices of
Asoka.
Besides the conversion of the extreme north-
ern and western peoples of India, missionaries were

sent to evangelize Kashmir,
Gandhara (Kandahar),
in the
and the so-called Yavana country, identified by most

scholars
with
the
Greek settlements
Kabul
valley and vicinity, later

1
known
as Bactria.^
71.
Turnour
Mahiuoanso, p.
History of Buddhism
143
In these parts, Buddhism quickly took root and

especially under the Yavana or Greek King Menander, who held sway about 150 B.C. over
flourished,
a large empire comprising Bactria, Kabul, and the
northwest portion of India.

to
Being himself a convert

to
Buddhism, he did much
promote the welfare of
the order.
He
figures prominently in Buddhist tra-
dition as the royal patron of orthodoxy.-'
More important
as he
is
still
for the history of

is
Buddhism
in
the northern countries,

called
the reign of Kanishka, or,
on
his coins,
Kanerkes.
successor
the
of the Scythian conquerors
who had overthrown

Bactria,
Greek kingdoms of Parthia and

tended
his
Kanishka extill
empire by a
all
series
of conquests
it
embraced
of Northern India, as well as Kashmir,
Kabul, the Bactrian country to the north.
The time
of his reign was formerly a matter of conjecture, most scholars contenting themselves with the estimate of
Lassen, that
it
more, beginning about 10 A.D.
embraced a period of thirty years or But the correctness
of this view was called in question
when
the
accumu-
lating evidence of Indian archaeology pointed to the
reign at that very time in Northern India of a Parthian
King Gondophares.
in
In
1880,
James Fergusson
published an essay
the Joui'ual of the Royal Asiatic
Society on the " Saka, Samvat, and
Gupta Eras,"
in
which he advocated the view that Kanishka established

the Saka empire in India in 78 A.D.
1
This view has

and
C. Questions of King Milinda, S. B.
E.
XXXV.
XXXVI.
144
been
fully
Buddhism
confirmed by numismatic evidence, and
the majority of scholars.^
for
is
now accepted by
Kanishka was an ardent Buddhist and did much

the prosperity of the religion he professed.
It
was
convened
the
monks was Kashmir about lOO A.D.,^ at which three commentaries were drawn upon the threefold canon,
under
his auspices that a great council of
in
Tri-pitJiaka.
The
tradition
that
this
council
definitely fixed the
canon of Sanskrit Scriptures recis, hownumber of books belonging to
ognized
in the
Northern school of Buddhism,

;
ever, untenable
for a
the Northern canon are undoubtedly later than this

date.
That
this council
should be
is
unknown
to the South-
ern Buddhist school
not remarkable.
primarily at least for the benefit of
It was held Buddhism within
Kanishka's empire; and

quests,
it
in
view of
his
recent con-
is
hardly to be supposed that Buddhists

in
it.
elsewhere were invited to take part
It is
not
unlikely that this very conquest of Northern
India
by Kanishka was the occasion of

order throughout the
former, being soon
1
that separation of
the Buddhists of his empire from the

rest
of
India,
won over
The
to the
members of the whereby the Mahayana inno-
Cf. Percy Gardner,
Coins of the Greek
and
li.
Bactria
and India
p.
in the British
Museum,
p.
Silbernagel, Der
p.
Scytkic Kings of
Buddhisnius,
^
50.
Kern, Der Buddhismits und seine Geschichte in

Kern, Op.
cit.
II.,
Barth, Rev. 449. de
Hist. Rel.
XXXVIII.
Iiidieiiy II.
247.
ff.
pp. 448
la
Saussaye, Religionsgeschichte,
II.
p. 106.
History of Buddhism
vations,
145
grew up
into the so-called
Northern school,
with a literature and with traditions partly
common
to
those of the South, and partly peculiar to themselves.^
Meanwhile missionary
edge of Buddha
the year 61 A.
D.,
zeal
was carrying the knowlIn
into the distant land of China.^
the emperor Ming-ti sent a delega-
tion to India to procure Buddhist
books and Buddhist

with two Bud-
teachers.
After six years the embassy returned with

relics, in
books, pictures, and

dhist monks.
nized,
company
was
the
The new
religion
officially
recog-
and given a place of honor by the side of

In
Confucianism and Taoism.tury, conversions
following cen-
began
to multiply,
and more monks
came from
of zeal.
the far west to China to carry on the
work
the
Prominent among these was the Parthian

(An-shikao),
monk
An-tsing
who
arrived
at
Chinese capital about 150
A.D.,
bringing with him

^
sacred books which he translated into Chinese.
The
India
turies.
religious
communications between China and
became very close during the next few cenNot only did Buddhist missionaries from
labor
ir
India
China,
but
many Chinese monks

religion,
showed
and
to
their zeal for the
newly adopted
by
making pilgrimages
relics, statues,
to India to visit the holy places,
bring back to their country sacred
books,,
and pictures.
Vi(fe iti/ra, p. 213.
2 8
.Silbernagel,
Op.
cit.
pp. 119
ff.
de
327.
la
Saussaye, Op.
cit,
86.
Ci.Jourtt. Roy. As. Soc. 1856,
p.
10
146
Buddhism
of them wrote valuable accounts,
in
still
A few
these
extant,
of what they saw and heard

pilgrims
the
their
travels.
Of
most noted are Fa Hien, who
journeyed
A. D., in India
in India and Ceylon in the years 399-414 and Hiouen Thsang, who travelled extensively
two centuries
of
later
(629-645
A. D.).^
The form
clusively
Buddhism
first
introduced into China
was the early

in the first
traditional type,
now
represented exstill
by Southern Buddhism, but

century of the Christian era
prevalent
in the
North-
ern empire of Kanishka.

latter
But the absorption of the
a corresponding change
by the Mahayana movement, gave occasion for in the Buddhism of China.

being
in
The
and
later missionaries,
great majority from
Northern India, brought with them the new doctrine,

in a short time, the in favor of
Hinayana was abandoned

in
in
China
Northern Buddhism.
the
to
Two
latter
of the Bodhisattvas held in high honor
school especially
commended themselves
favorite
the
Chinese,
and
became the
objects
of
worship.
One was Amitabha,

A
the lord of the Sukthe
havati paradise.
1
The other was Avalokitesvara,

Monk Fa
Hien, of his Travels in India
Cf.
James Legge,
Record of Buddhist Al/igdoms, Being an Ac-
count of the Chinese

lon.
Oxford, 18S6.
and
Cey-
S. Beal, Buddhist Records of the Western World.
Lond. 1SS4. This work contains the narratives of Fa Plien and Hiouen Thsang, and also describes the journeys of two other pilgrims, Sung Yun and I-Tsing. J. Takakusii, a Japanese pupil of Max Miiller, has published I-Tsing's narrative under the title, A Record of the Buddhist Religion as practised in India and the Malay
2 vols.
Archipelago, by I- Tsing.
Oxford, 1896.
History of Buddhism
Bodhisattva so extravagantly praised,
in
147
the Lotus
of the True Law} as ready to extricate from every sort of danger and misfortune those who think of
him or cherish
to
his
name.
The former
or
is
known
of
the
Chinese as Amita
Mito.
his
Offerings
statues,
flowers
and incense made before

repetition
in
and
the
frequent
of his
name, are beUeved

western paradise,
to
to insure
a rebirth
his distant
where deHghts of mind and sense are

unceasingly.
be enjoyed
the Chi-
Fousa Kwanyin
male
deity,
is
the
name under which
nese worship Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara,
to the relief of
now as the goddess of men in every strait.

arts to
now as a mercy, who comes

and
relics,
An
excessive devotion
to statues
the
employment of magic
the observance of
keep
off evil spirits,
and
many
of the gross superstitions of

in
Taoism, complete the picture of Buddhism

so utterly unlike the system which
to
China,
Buddha taught
men.
From
ries
China, Buddhism was introduced into Corea

century.
in the fourth
Two
it
centuries later, missionain
from Corea made
known
in
Japan.
In both
these countries local superstitions were incorporated

into the
new
its
religion,
but
its
preserved
identity with the
main features it Buddhism of China.

at
Annam was
also evangelized
by Chinese Buddhists
an early day.
1
Ch. xxiv.
148
The
Buddhism
introduction of
Buddhism
into Tibet
dates
from the seventh century.

princess,
Influenced
by
his
two
Buddhist wives, one a Nepalese, the other a Chinese,

the
king of Tibet,
first
Srong-tsan
Sgam-po,
India
to
till
whose
invited
Hfe covers the
half of the seventh century,
Buddhist monks
in his
from
Northern
It
preach their rehgion
kingdom.
was not
in
the ninth century, however, that
Buddhism
Tibet
began
to thrive.'^
Monks from
India devoted them-
selves to
the
translation
of the sacred books, and
monasteries arose to meet the needs of the increasinsf

native clergy.
Persecutions broke out, and several

in
times the religion was
danger of extermination.
But
it
perseveringly struggled against opposition, and
in the thirteenth century
was the prevailing religion
of the land.
In the middle of the thirteenth century, the
Mondis-
gols conquered Tibet.
The
royal
family was
persed, and in
1260 the head lama, a
monk
of the
great Sakja monastery, was raised by Kublai Khan,
who
itual
also professed
Buddhism,
ruler.
to the position of spirthis action of
and temporal
the famous
cit.
To
Kublai
liturgy,
Khan, and
to the reforms in discipline
and
made by
1
Tsong Khaba,
ff.
in
the beginning
cit.
Silbernagel, Op.
pp. 154
de
la
Saussaye, Op.
85.
Rockhill {Life of the Buddha, p. 221) gives evidence that in the middle of the eighth century Tibet was hardly recognized as a Bud2
dhist country.
Most of the Tibetan

V Histoire
dti
translations of Buddhist
Ibid. p. 214.
works
Burn-
date from the ninth and following centuries.

ouf, Introduction a
Cf.
Bouddhisrne Indioi, pp. 577-578.
Weber, History of Indian
Literature, p. 294.
History of Buddhism
149
of the fifteenth century, Lamaism, as Tibetan Bud-
dhism
is
called,
is
owes many of
based
its
peculiarities.
Lamaism
the
on
the
Northern Buddhisrr
of the Middle Ages, which was a degraded form of
Mahayana
teaching, saturated with the gross and

Its limit.
disgusting elements of Tantra and Siva worship.

deities
are innumerable,
its
idolatry without
In the
use
of magic
formulae, and in
it
the endless
repetition of sacred names,
rivals
is,
the
of China.
Its
favorite formula
Om
Buddhism mani padine
hum,
"
jewel in the lotus, amen," which written
on streamers exposed to the wind, and multiplied
on paper
in
slips
turned by hand, or wind,

is
or water,
the so-called prayer-wheels,
thought to secure
are five Dhyani-
for the
agent unspeakable merit.

highest deities of
The
Lamaism
Buddhas, or Buddhas of contemplation.
the eternal, heavenly types of which the five
They are human
Buddhas of the present world-age are only incarnaEach Dhyani-Buddha has, besides, his corresponding Bodhisattva. Of these the most important is the Dhyani-Buddha Amitabha, whose Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, and who became incarnate in is Gotama Buddha. The Dalai-Lama, residing in the great monastery at Lhassa, passes for the incarnation of Buddha Amitabha. When he dies, Amitabha is believed to assume flesh in a new conception. Accordingly, nine
tions.
months
later,
a newly born babe
is
selected
by
divin-
150
ation
as
Buddhism
the reincarnate Buddha.
He
is
carefully
nurtured and surrounded with religious honors, and
when of mature years assumes Lama.

Between such a
religion
authority as the Dalai-
and Catholicism there

in its
it
is
world-wide difference.
Yet
elaborate ceremonial
and hierarchical constitution,
presents a
number
of
resemblances to points of Catholic liturgy and

pline.
disci-
"The
cross," writes
the
Abbe Hue, "the

are performing
mitre, the dalmatic, the
cope which the Grand Lamas
wear on
their journeys or
when they
some ceremony out

ser
of the temple, the service with
double choirs, the psalmody, the exorcisms, the cen-
suspended from
five
chains and which you can
open or close
the
at pleasure, the benedictions
given by
Lamas by extending
faithful,
the right
hand over the

celi-
heads of the
the rosary, ecclesiastical
bacy, spiritual retirement, veneration of the saints, the

fasts,
processions, litanies, the holy water,
all
these
^
are analogies between the Buddhist and ourselves."
He
might have added

and
to this
list
the infallible head
of the church, and grades of the clergy corresponding

to bishop
priest.
The wide propagation
of Nes-
torianism over Central and Eastern Asia in the Middle
Ages
offers a natural explanation for
such of these
resemblances as are accretions on early Buddhism.^

centuries In the twelfth and following 't>
1
Buddhism
II. ch.
ii.
Abbe Hue,
Travels in Tartary, Tibet,

ff.
and China, Vol.
Vide infra, pp. 299
History of Buddhism
151
spread over Tartary, through the missionary zeal of
Tibetan Lamas.
While Northern Buddhism was thus exerting a

widespread influence over China, Japan, Tartary, and
Tibet, the earlier form of
its
Buddhism was extending
peaceful conquests over the countries and islands
of Southern Asia.
ized
Missionaries from Ceylon evangelfifth
Burma
in
the
century.
Within the next two
centuries,
it
spread to Siam, Cambodia, Java, and

India, in the beginning of
adjacent islands.^
When Fa Hien
the
fifth
visited
century, he found
condition.
Buddhism in a flourishing Everywhere he saw splendid stupas and
monasteries, and temples adorned with precious statues.
Two
of the
ruins,
centuries later Hiouen Thsang found some monuments described by his predecessor in
but as yet there were no signs of general deIn later centuries a reaction against
cay.
set in,
rival.
Buddhism
its
and Hinduism rapidly gained ground on
by persecutions is still a subject of dispute, but with the Arab conquest of India, Buddhism came to an end in the Only in the small district of land that gave it birth.
Whether
its
decline was hastened
Nepal,
in the
extreme north, and

it
in
in
Ceylon,
in
the
its
extreme south, has

existence.
succeeded
maintaining
The number of Buddhists throughout the world is commonly estimated to be about four hundred and
1
Silbernagel, Op.
cit. p.
66.
152
fifty millions,
Buddhism
or one-third of the
is
human
The
race.
all
But
in
this estimate the error
made
of classing
the Chi-
nese and Japanese as Buddhists.
majority of the
Chinese are Confucianists and Taoists.
large part
of the people of Japan adhere to the traditions of
Shintoism.
dhists in the
Professor
Legge declares that
the
Bud-
whole world are not more than one hunbeing

far outnumbered, not only by by the adherents of Confucianism To this estimate Professor Monier
dred
millions,
Christians, but also
and Hinduism.
Williams
^
gives his approval.

be, this
Whatever
is
their exact
number may
much
first
certain, that the vast
majority adhere to forms of religion which
Buddha
It
is
himself would be the
to repudiate.
the
Southern Buddhists of Ceylon, Burma, and Siam who

alone deserve to be identified with the order founded
by Buddha.
They number
at
the most but thirty
millions of souls.
1
Buddhism,
p. 1 5.
CHAPTER V
THE BUDDHIST SACRED BOOKS
The twofold Buddhist canon, the Northern (Sanskrit) and the Southern (Pali) The character of the Southern canon The
Vinaya-pitaka, Sutta-pitaka, and
the Ti-pitaka
the
Extra-canonical works:
:
A bhidkamma-pitaka,
Panha
constituting
the Dipavansa, Mahavatisa,
Conwtetttarics of Bitddliaghosa, Milinda

to
Works
Lalita
peculiar
Vistara,
Northern canon
the
Buddha
Charita,
Abhinishkraviana Sutra, Saddharma-puiidarika
fixed for
The view that it was good in the time of Asoka unwarranted The Legendary Biographies of Buddha Critical examination of the age
Age
of the Ti-pitaka greatly exaggerated
Translations
of the
Lalita
Buddha Charita
Vistara
Critical
examination of the age of the
Other Tibetan versions Dates of the chief biogSouthern school the A'idana Katha and the Commentary on the Biiddhavansa More recent forms of the Buddha-legend.
of the chief Chinese biography
Date
Chinese versions
of
raphies
the
BOTH
of Ceylon,
the Northern and
the
Southern school
possess a canon of sacred books.
The Northis
ern canon, preserved by the Buddhists of Nepal

in Sanskrit; the
is
Southern, belonging to the Buddhists

Pali,
in
a softer language bearing the
same
relation to Sanskrit that Italian does to Latin.
The two canons made up only
are not identical in contents, being

in
part
of
the
same books.
The
154
Southern canon
respectable
it
;
Buddhism
is
the
more ancient and the more

without serious defects,
for while not
is
free
from the disgusting Tantra literature and

absurdities that disfigure the Northern
the
Mahayana
canon.
The canonical books
of the Southern school, twenty-
nine in number, are for the most part compilations

of numerous short themes and
authors, the fruit of
tracts
by unknown
many
ages of Buddhist moraliz-
ing and speculation.

tions,
Stripped of their endless repetiin
they would be about equal
amount
to the
Sacred Scriptures, though, on the whole,
far inferior to
them
in
depth of thought and richness of expression.
They abound in commonplaces, and are marred by many puerilities and ridiculous superstitions. Despite
the praise lavished on them by enthusiastic scholars
like
Rhys
Davids,-^ they deserve the
name
of being to
a large extent dull reading.
They
are
grouped under three heads,

in three
or,
as the
:
Buddhists would say,
baskets (pitakas)
The
Vinaya-pitaka, a collection of books dealing with the

disciplinary rules of the order
;
the Sutta-pitaka,
consisting of the alleged discourses of

his early disciples, as well as of didactic
cal tracts;^
1
Buddha and
and
histori-
and the AbJiidhanwia-pitaka, comprising

in S.
American Lectures on Buddhism, Lect. II. Vinaya-pitaka may be found translated XIII., XVII., and XX. 8 A few of these have been published in English dress X. and XL
Cf. his
2
Most
of the
B. E.
in S.
B. E.
Buddhist Sacred Books

more
the
155
detailed treaties on subjects chiefly doctrinal.^
These three/ baskets constitute the Buddhist Bible of

Southern school known as
the
triple
basket,
Ti-pitaka (Sanskrit, Tri-pitliakd).
Besides these canonical
books, there are
few,
dating mostly from the fourth
and following cent-
uries, that are held in great esteem.
These are the
Ceylonese chronicles known as the Dipavansa and

the Alahavansa, in which a history of
essayed from the death of the founder
Buddhism is down to about
300
A. D.
the commentaries on the canonical books,

in part
in part
composed,
century;
compiled, by Buddhaghosa,
the famous master of Buddhist wisdom belonging to

the
fifth
and the Milinda Panha, made
known
title,
to English readers
by Rhys Davids under the
The Questions of King Milinda? Northern Buddhism also has its Tri-pitJiaka, to
lives
which belong the legendary
of
Buddha known
and the
as the Biiddlia Charita^ the Lalita Vistara,^
AbJiinisJikraniana Sutra ; also the favorite
the
Mahayana
school,
known
as
work of the Saddharmaincluded in

accessible to
pimdarika, or Lotus of the True Law.^
Only part of the Northern canon

1
is
The Abhidhamma books have

S.
not yet been
made
English readers.
i
B. E.
XXXV.
and
XXXVI.
Its
date
is
placed " at or a
little
after the beginning of the Christian era."

3
Op. cit. Introd. Translation by E. B. Covvell in ^. B. E. XLIX. * French translation by Ph. E. Foucaux, in Annalcs du Musie Giiimet, t. VI. with supplement t. XIX. 6 Translation by H. Kern in ^. B. E. XXI.
156
the
Tri-pithaka.
Buddhism
The
rest consists
of Tantra
in
and
Dharani hterature, works abounding
obscene and
magic superstitions.
In the chief countries abroad where
firm root, the sacred books were
Buddhism took
to the
made known
people through translations.

all
These have been nearly
preserved, so that to-day the sacred Hterature of
Tibet contains the complete Northern canon, while

the
Southern
is
equally well
represented
in
the
sacred literature of Siam.

of China
is
also of great
The Buddhist literature It is made up of extent.
translations
from both the Northern and the South-
ern canon, but the
works peculiar to the former
predominate.
In Burmese, too, there are a
number of translations
of works belonging to the Southern canon.
notably
The attempt has been made by various scholars Max Miiller, Rhys Davids, and Professor Old-
enberg
to determine the
age of the different parts
of the Southern canon, but the data on which they

rely are not such as to inspire confidence in their estimates.
That the confession-formula, known
as
the Patimokkha, and
some other
parts of the Vinaya,
go back
to
the early years of the order, and that
many
of the sayings attributed to

substance, at
least,
Buddha
authentic
in
is
the
Suttas are in
not
improbable.
the time
But
to determine even
approximately
when
the various parts of the canon took

is
permanent form
a matter of the greatest uncer-

tainty,
157
Even
on which scholars are widely divided.
the question
when
the canon was finally closed does
not admit of a positive answer.
There
existence
is
no reason to doubt that the threefold

Ti-pitakay was
collection,
known as the when the sacred
already
in
traditions were first
com-
mitted to writing.
This took place, according to the
Ceylonese chronicles, during the reign of
Vattha
Gamini (88-76
centuries later?
B. C.).^
But was
this Ti-pitaka co-q^-
tensive with the canon
known
is
to
Buddhaghosa
six
There
no positive evidence
avail-
able to establish this absolute identity.

trary, the fact that the life of
On
the con-
Buddha, forming the
introduction to the canonical Jataka was
composed
{q.\w
in the fifth century, creates the strong suspicion that
additions were
centuries
tablets.
made
to the
its
canon
in
the next
following
inscription
on
palm-leaf
Max Miiller and Rhys Davids, relying on the testimony of the Ceylonese chronicles, say that the Pali
canon was fixed definitely
existence of this council
In the
first
at
the so-called council
of Patna held in the reign of Asoka.

is
But the very

the
a matter of grave doubt.^
place, there
is
no reference to
edict,
it
it
in
edicts of
Asoka.
The Bhabra
is
true,
was
formerly taken to be a memorial letter to this counTumour, Ma/uiwanso, p. 207. Cf. Dipava>isa, xx. 20, 21. Cf. Kern, Der Buddhismus, II. pp. 351-352. In his Manual of Indian Buddhism,-^, no, he sees in the so-called Council of Patna nothing more than a mere party-meeting.
^
,58
cil
;
Buddhism
but
it
is
now
recognized to be naught else than
a proclamation to the Buddhist order enjoining the
frequent use of certain tracts held to be the authentic
sayings of Buddha.^
unknown
silence
Secondly, the existence of this alleged council is This to Northern Buddhist tradition.
is is
alone almost convincing evidence that the

a myth.
council
For the Buddhists of the North
were evangelized by missionaries from Magadha in nay, according to the Ceylonese the reign of Asoka
;
tradition, their evangelization
was one of the
fruits
of that very council.
council of such importance
could not have been ignored by Northern tradition,
had
1
it
really existed.
Cf. p. xxvi of Professor Oldenberg's Introd. to vol. XIII. of S. B.
E.
E. Senart, Lcs Inscriptions de Piyadasi, II. pp. 304-305.

it
This
list is
interesting, for while
is
perfectly compatible with the existence at
that time of a
fact that in
much more
extensive canon,
it
bears witness to the
Asoka's day but few suttas were credited with an origin derived from Buddha himself. The edict is thus rendered by Senart. " King Piyadasi greets the clergy of Magadha and wishes them
prosperity and health.
will
I
You know,
sirs,
with what respect and good-
regard Buddha, the Law, and the Clergy. All that has been said by the Blessed Buddha has been well said, and as far, sirs, as my own will goes, I desire that this religious law may long abide. Here,
sirs, for
example, are religious works

Supernatural
(?)
pline, the
the Teaching of the DisciPowers of the Aryas, the Perils of the

:
Future, the Verses on the Hermit, the Questions of Upatishya, the Sutra on Perfection, and the Homily on Lying, pronounced by
Buddha before Rahula. These religious works I would have the frequent object of rehearsal and meditation for communities It of monks and nuns, and for the devout laity of both sexes as well. is for this reason, sirs, that I make this inscription, that you may
the Blessed
know my
will."
Translatedfrofu Senart, Op.
cit.
II.
pp. 207-20S.

Again, had the
Ti-pitaka received
its
159
final
and
it
permanent form
dhists of the
as
early as the time of Asoka,

in
its
must have been known

North
both were evangelized
presence
in the
entirety to
the
Bud;
as well as to those of
at
Ceylon
for
the
same
time.
But the
not
Southern canon of
many works
found
in the
Tri-pitJiaka of
Northern Buddhism and

sides the
vice versa,
shows that on both
number of
sacred works
commonly recognized
it
in the third cen-
tury
B. C.
was greatly augmented by

is
later accretions.
In the face of such evidence,
idle to
assume as
an established truth the
final
formation of the Pali
canon
sole
in
the time of Asoka, especially

for the
when
the
ground
assumption
is
a Ceylonese tradi-
tion six
Still
hundred years later than the alleged event.^ more hazardous is it to assert on the basis of
equally uncertain traditions that the great bulk of the
Vinaya and Sutta texts were passed upon by the

so-called council of Vaisali, a century after Buddha's
death.^
The
existence of this council rests on too
slender a foundation to serve as a reliable
datum
for
It is
fixing the age of the oldest parts of the canon.

1
The
value of Indian traditions
may
be judged from the follow:
ing statement of the judicious scholar James Fergusson
"
Any one
who
has travelled in India, knows what sort of information he gets
even from the best and most intelligent Brahmans with regard to the dates of the temples they and their forefathers have administered in ever since their erection. One or two thousand years is a moderate
age for temples which we
know were certainly erected within the two or three centuries." Rude Stone Monuments, p. 493. 2 Cf. Kern, Mantial of Indian Buddhism, p. 109.
last
i6o
Buddhism
probably nearer the truth to say that part of the
Vinaya and not a few of the Suttas are posterior to

the time of Asoka.
So profound and discriminating " With the exception of two or three events, the memory of which has been handed down to us by the Greeks, the
a scholar as A. Barth has said
:
chronological
scriptions.
history of India begins with the inthese, the

.
edicts
earliest
of
The most ancient of King Piyadasi-Asoka

It
is
famous
the
are
also
documents undoubtedly authentic that we

very probable that
have of Buddhism.
among
the elements that go to

are
for
make up
the Tri-pWiaka there
some
it is
that belong to a past
certain that the
more remote still; Buddhism of the inscriptions

in
a sort
literature.
of religion of state in the vast and mighty
realm of India
was
already
possession
for
of a
But there are many reasons

the
a
doubt-
ing
that
Buddhists of that time had come to

canon.
recognize
At any
canon
rate,
there
is
not a
single portion of this
in its
present form, Pali

certi-
as well as Sanskrit, that can
be assigned with
^
tude to so distant a period."

held by E. Senart
^
Similar views
are
and others.
it
From
these
considerations
is
plain
that
the
larger estimates of the translators of vol. X.,
XL, and
is
XIII. of the Sacred Books of the East are to be re-
ceived with prudent reserve.

1
This caution
XXVIII.
espe-
Jêvue de
r Histoire des
Religions,
p. 241.
Op.
cit. II.
pp. 304-305.

cially
i6i
needed in reading the American Lectures on Bnddhisin, where the illustrious author allows himself to
be carried so
far
by enthusiasm
suttas,
as to attrib-
ute, with a
confidence akin to certainty, extremely
remote dates to Buddhist

Asoka's time
It is
is
whose existence
in
at best
but conjectural.^
important to note that of the ancient canon

to
belonging unquestionably
the
prechristian
era,
only two books, The Book of the Great Decease and the Mahavagga, contain information in regard to the life of Buddha. The former, which Rhys Davids*'^
thinks to be as old as 300 B.C.,
is
not a biography,
last days,
but simply an account of Buddha's

sickness, death, obsequies,
relics.
his
and the division of his and important
The Mahavagga,
a very old
portion of the Vmaya, giving a history of the foundation and development of the order of monks, re-
counts a number of incidents, merely,
in the life of
the founder, beginning with his four weeks of con-
templation which followed his enlightenment under

the Bodhi-tree.^
encircles the person of
For our chief knowledge of the legendary lore that Buddha, we are thrown upon
1 Rhys Davids Buddhism, N. Y. 1S96, Lecture ii. and vi. Cf. also pages 95-96, where, on the basis of asutta of unknown date, he tries in all seriousness to solve the problem how long it takes a people to supernaturalize their hero, and decides that it takes less than a hundred years
2 ^.
3
^. ^. XI. p.xi.
translated in S. B. E. vol. XIII. and
It is
XVII.
62
be taken on
Buddhism
faith, ^
Buddhist books, whose integrity has, to a large extent, to
and not one of which can
be proved to be as old as the synoptic Gospels.
The
abundant mass of carefully
sifted evidence,
is
by which
is
the authenticity of the latter
vindicated,
in strik-
ing contrast with the slender and uncertain basis that

gives support to the generally accepted dates of the
Buddhist books
age
in question.^
The one which

is
has the best claim to priority in
the
Sanskrit
poem known
In
its
as
the
it
Buddha
belongs
it
Charita.
As
has been remarked already,
to the Northern canon.

sisted
tale of
original form,
con-
of thirteen chapters, and gave the legendary
Buddha's
life
as far as his attainment of per-
fect
wisdom under the

its
Bodhi-tree.
Most scholars
agree in ascribing
authorship to the
monk AsvaStill,
ghosa, the contemporary of Kanishka.
the evi-
dence on which
this estimate
is
made
is
scarcelv such
critics.
as would stand the severe
tests
of biblical
The
1
earliest positive
testimony seems to be that of

extant are of mediaeval origin.
to
The
oldest Buddhist
MSS.
Card.
subject of
Newman, in an interesting letter Buddhism and Christianity, very
W.
S.
Lilly
on the
pertinently says:
"To
prove the authenticity and date of one of our Gospels, we are plunged
and
maze of manuscripts of various dates and families, of various and quotations, and to satisfy the severity of our critics, there must be an absolute coincidence of text and concorinto a
patristic testimonies
in
dance of statement
evidence.
If
these various manuscripts put

is
forward as
discovered
a particular passage
it is
not found in
are
all
manuscripts,
condemned.
Why
we
not to ask for evi-
dence parallel to
S. Lilly,
77/1?
this before
we
receive the history of
Buddha ? "
ii.
W.
Claims of Christianity.
London, 1S94. Ch.

I-Tsing, a Chinese pilgrim
163
who came
to India in 673.
But
if
we carry
this
testimony further back, as does

translated the
is still
Professor Beal, to
Dhammaraksha, who
A. D.,
it
work
into
Chinese about 400
too far
removed from the time of Asvaghosa to exclude Allowing him, however, on the basis of misgivings.^ tn'is meagre evidence, to have been the contemporary
of Kanishka,
who
held sway in Northern India from

U.,
78 to about 106 A.
placing the
composition of his
we can hardly be justified in poem earlier than

the BuddJia
70
A. D.
It
may
well be as late as 100 A. D.
More widely known than

the Lalita Vistara
Charita
is
(Book of Exploits), a work

It
like-
wise of the Northern Buddhist school.

the
life
describes
of
Buddha down
to the time
It is
his first
sermon
at Benares.
when he preached a Sanskrit work in

passages
in
prose,
interspersed
with
many
verse,
which seem to have been taken from some poetic

life
of
Buddha and
to have been inserted into the
prose narrative so as to form a harmony.

of this
parallels
The date
life
work, the favorite source from which the

to
the
incidents
is
in
the
early
of our
Saviour are drawn,

certainty.
a matter of the greatest un-
yau-king,
From the Chinese translation, the PJinmade about 300 A. D., we know that it goes
century of our
era.'-^
back
1
at least to the third
Cf.
Introduction to the
the Fo-sho-hing-tsan-king, S. B. E.
2
Buddha XIX.
Charita, S. B. E.
p.
XLIX. and
xxx.
Cf. S. B. E.
XIX.
p. XXV.
164
Buddha
Buddhism
Charita, Professor Beal, following the Chi-
In the introduction to his version of the Chinese
nese scholar Stanislas Julien, has sought to identify

the Lalita
Vistara with the original of the so-called

life
Fo-pcn-hmg-khig, a Chinese
of Buddha, said to
have been translated from an Indian source by ChuBut this is mere fa-lan (Gobharana) about 70 A. D.
conjecture/
For
first
of
all,
the Chinese version
is
no longer extant, and hence

parison.
It
is
offers
no basis
for
com-
true,
Professor
Beal thinks that a
number
of passages
from a certain Pcn-hing-kiiig,
which he found quoted in a commentary on Wong Puh's Life of Buddha, a work of the seventh century, are
identical
from
this Peti-hing-king ;
for
they are not

in
with the
corresponding
or
life
passages
any
known Pen-hing-king,
early
of Buddha,
several
is
of which
examples/-^
Chinese
literature
this
offers
But the strength of

the consideration
inference
lessened
by
that these
quotations
may have
been taken from some

record has
Pen-hing-king
to us.
of which no
come down
But furthermore, even if these quotations did belong to the early Chinese version, their general
similarity with corresponding passages in the Lalita
1 The questionable assertion of Max Miiller that the Lalita Vistara " was translated into Chinese 76 a. D." {History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 517) has been unsuspectingly adopted by Isaac Taylor,
The Alphabet, an Acco7mt of the Origin and Development of London, 1S83, vol. II. p. 300. 2 C. S. B. E. XIX. pp. xvi-xvii.
Letters,

Vt'stara
165
latter
would not necessarily imply that the
was the source from which they came. It is just as likely that they were derived from the same traditional
source, perhaps oral, perhaps written, which
served as a basis for the Lalita
Vistam, the
Buddha
Charita, and the other forms of the legend that have
come down
to us.
This consideration seems not to

for
have escaped the mind of Professor Beal himself,
only a few pages further, he admits the possibility

of the Fo-peii-Jiing having been connected with the BuddJia CJiarita of Asvaghosa, or with " the original
then circulating
his
in
India on which Asvaghosa founded
poem."
In his
Buddhism
in
China, he
is
even
more
"
explicit.
do not know whether the life of Buddha taken to was in any way derived from this work of Asvaghosa, or whether he derived his material from this
China
a. d. 72
We
work
but
it is
likely that the
envoys sent by Ming-ti would

the
'
hear of the writings of the Patriarch of the Northern Buddhists, and it is possible that them was connected (either as
book they took back with

it
the original form of

{i. e.
or as a
digest)
with the
^
Buddha Charita Kavya
the Epic of
Buddha)."
It
is
plain that the possibility of the Fo-pcn-Jiing
being derived from the BjiddJia Charita, or some other

source, as well as from
the Lalita
Vistara,
is
very
slender proof for the existence of the latter as early as
70
1
A. D.
Op.
cit. p.
xxxi.
Op.
cit.
p. 73.
Cf. also p. 90.
i66
The
rest
Buddhism
of the evidence
on which the alleged

is
antiquity of the Lalita
Vistara
based,
is
equally-
lacking in cogency.
translated the
Professor
Foucaux, who has
as the Council of
for
it is
work into French, thinks it to be as old Kashmir held under King Kanishka
to this council that Tibetan tradition assigns
the fixing of the Northern Buddhist canon, to which
the Lalita Vistara belongs.^

If his
argument were convincing,
it
would not
es-
tablish for the
work
in
question a greater antiquity

it
than 80105 A.
D., for
was some time within

maintained
for,
this
period that the council was convened.^

this
But even
as
estimate cannot be
Rhys
first
Davids has pointed
out, the
Buddhist tradition on
which
to give
it
rests has
nothing to
commend
it.^
The
is
an account of the Council of Kashmir
the
Chinese pilgrim, Hiouen Thsang,

seventh century.
the Lalita
who belongs
to the
Of
a settlement of the canon, or of
Vistara, he has
not a word to say, but
merely relates that the monks contented themselves

with drawing up their commentaries to serve as an explanation of the Tri-pithaka.
A Tibetan
tradition,
which cannot be traced within

event,
is
six centuries of the
too uncertain a basis to build on.

is
There
1
extant a Chinese translation of the Lalita

adopted by
This dubious view
is
Max
Miiller.
Op.
cit. p.
517.
2
^
Vide supra, p. 163. Cf. Hibbert Lectures on Buddhism, pp. 197-204; also Buddhism,
P- 239-

Vistam, dating from about 300 A. D.
earhest positive evidence that
167
This
is
the
we have of the existence

follows
of the Sanskrit original.
It
that the latter

in
must be somewhat
it
earlier
still.
But the presence
of a striking incident that
is
not to be found in any
other version of the Buddha-legend of an earlier date
than 230
A. D.,
points to the third century as the time

at
when
the
work was composed, or

its
least
when
it
received
present form.^
Besides the
there
is
Buddha Charita and
the Lalita Vistara,
another Sanskrit work which treats of the
early days of Buddha, the so-called Alahabhiuishkra-
mana
date
Sutra, or Book of the Great Reminciation.

is
Its
unknown,
seems
to
but, like the Lalita Vistara,
it
does
not belong to the Southern canon.
In
its
original
form
it
Buddha's
flight
have comprised only the account of from his palace of pleasure, and his
life.
adoption of the ascetic

of Buddha's
life
Later, the other incidents

to
were added, so as
his incarnation to
make
complete
narrative from
the conversion of
his father, shortly after his
enlightenment under the
Bodhi-tree.
In
general character
and
style
It
it
re-
sembles very
much
the Lalita Vistara.
was
trans-
lated into Chinese in 588 A. d.
Of
this version, the
so-called
Fo-pen-hing-tsih-king,
Professor
Beal
has
title,
made an abridged English
translation under the
The Romantic Legend of Sakya Buddha.

1
Cf. S. B.
which allusion
is
E. XIX. pp. .x.xvi. made, vide infra,
ff.
For the striking incident
to
p. 21S.
68
Buddhism
offers
Besides the biography just mentioned, the Chinese
Buddhist canon
the
first
several versions dating from
three centuries of our era.
Professor Beal
has enumerated these, and indicated the contents of

the principal ones in the introduction to his translation of the Fo-pen-hing-tsan-king, the Chinese version
of the
tion with the
Buddha Charita} These versions, in conjuncBuddha Charita, are of great value as
witnesses to the character and contents of the early
Buddha-legend.
There are
also Tibetan versions of the Lalita Vistara

at the
and of the Buddha Charita, but they date,

earliest,
very
only from the seventh century.

VV.
The
Life of
Buddha, compiled by
accretions of
W.
Rockhill from Tibetan
traditions, represents the legend as
developed by the
more modern
speculations.
The earliest extant form of the legend which we have from the Southern school is the so-called Nidana KatJia. It constitutes the introduction to the Jataka, a book of tales concerning Buddha's former lives, and was composed in Ceylon about the middle Its numerous references to other of the fifth century. biographies, now lost, show that it was not the first It written version known to the Southern school.
eives the narrative from his incarnation to the visit
he
made
his
father
soon
after
the
attainment of
has
Buddhaship.
An
1
excellent
in his B. E.
translation
been
made by Rhys Davids,

S.
Buddhist Birth
XIX.
Stories,
vol.

or Jataka Talcs.
169
The
chief portions of the narrative
may
tions.
also be found admirably translated in the very
useful
work of H. C. Warren, Buddhism
in Transla-
Practically identical with the
Nidana KatJia
It
is
the
biography found
lated
in the
fifth
Commentary on the Buddhacentury.

in
vansa, a work of the
has been trans-
by George Turnour,
hfe of
the seventh volume of
the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal}
The Burmese
an
Buddha, of which we possess
by Bishop Bigandet, The Life or Legend of Gaudama, the Buddha of the Burmese, is largely a translation of the Nidana Katha.
excellent English version
As
it
is
of recent origin, dating only from the eighits
teenth century,
variations from the
more ancient
form must be
lation.
set
down
as the product of later specu-
The same
and
old,
is
true of the biography compiled
by
Rev. R. S. Hardy from Ceylonese sources, both new
which he has published
in
his
ManuaJ. of
of
Budhism.
The Siamese
been made.
readers in the
are acquainted with a

life
life
Buddha
English
very like the Burmese

It
of which mention has just
has been
made known
to
work of H. Alabaster, The Wheel of the

1
Law.
pp. 789
ff.
PART
The
Christianity
III
Alleged Relations of Buddhism With
Examined
PART
The
Christianity
III
Alleged Relations of Buddhism With
Examined
CHAPTER
SURVEY OF THE CHIEF WORKS WRITTEN TO SHOW THE PRESENCE OF BUDDHIST THOUGHT IN THE
GOSPELS
The theory
cates
that primitive Christianity
was influenced by Buddhism
not held by the majority of scholars

of the
The
three
chief
advoof his
argument Critical view of his defects Outline of his argument Critical view
theory
(i)
Ernst von
Bunsen
Outline
(2) Prof.
Rudolf Seydel
of his defects
Arthur Lillie The untrustworthy character of his works Outline of his argument Critical view of his defects Jesus not an Essene Neither Essenes nor Therapeuts Buddhists Futility
of the attempt to
(3)
make John and Paul
out to be Gnostics.
HAS
dhism.
Christianity derived any of
its
features from
is
the religion of
Buddha?
This
a question
that naturally presents itself to the student of Bud-
From
the majority of those most competent to

it
pronounce on the question,

answer.
has received a negative

the eminent Indianists,
Among
these
are
H.
Oldenberg, A.
J.
Barth, E. Hardy,
Rhys Davids,
Monier Williams,
E. Carpenter, E.
W. Hopkins,
Alexander Cunningham, James Burgess, R. Spence Hardy, as well as distinguished scholars like H.
174
Buddhism and
d'Alviella,
Christianity
and Bishop Lightfoot.
Kuenen, Goblet
Some, as Christian Lassen, James Prinsep, A. Weber, F, Koppen, and James Fergusson, have thought it
probable that certain secondary features of Christianity,
such as monasticism, the veneration of saints and

the use of bells, church steeples, rosaries, are
relics,
of Buddhist origin.
Of
these scholars, the
first
two
have prudently abstained from positive pronouncements, having contented themselves with throwing
out a few conjectures.
But what with these was

of an established truth.
at best but conjecture,
has
been invested by a few recent writers with the dignity
Nor have they been content
with the limited influence on Western thought which

scholars like Lassen and Prinsep have attributed to
Buddhism, but have sought to prove that the Gospel

narrative of the
life
and teachings of Christ
is
but a
modified version of the Buddha-legend, embellished

with extracts from the Buddhist sutras.
The champions of this theory are chiefly three. The first to write a lengthy treatise on the subject was Ernst von Bunsen," who in 1880 brought before the
1
The
other advocates of this theory have done naught else than
the (three authors under consideration. Hence, there is no call for a special refutation of their several hackneyed productions. - Mr. Bunsen seems to have found the suggestion of his work in an article entitled, Der Essdisnius nndJesus, which Prof. A. Hilgenfeld
repeat
the arguments of
published
in his Zeitschrift filr wisseitschaftliche Thcolosê, 1867, 10, pp.
97 ff. and in which he advocated the theory that Jesus adopted Essene teachings and customs remotely of Buddhist origin.
Chief Pro-Buddhist Writers

public The Angel Messiah of Buddhists, Essenes,
Christians.
175
and
A
that
rapid glance through the pages of this tedious

is
volume
it
is
enough to convince the discreet reader a tissue of worthless little more than
is
speculations, for which there

historic proof, nay,
not a shred of sound

joint with
which are often out of
the facts.
His theory
is
that the notion of an incarnate Angel-
with the Zoroastrian Magi of Buddha imported this and other ZoroasThe Magi communicated trian doctrines into India. them through Daniel to the Essenes. The opening
Messiah
originated
Babylon.
of communications between the East and the West,

after
Alexander's conquests, enabled the Essenes to

the legendary lore that cenChrist
become acquainted with

tred
around
Buddha.
like
was an Essene, and
being regarded
Buddha
as an Angel-Messiah,
came
after his
death to have these legends applied to
Himself
In trying to
make good
their face
this series of propositions,
which betray on
ship, the
a lack of sound scholar-
author has employed methods the very

scientific.
opposite of
Take,
for
example, the fundamental idea
in
his
treatise, that the

/.
Essenes looked to an Angel-Messiah,
c.,
to a divine spirit of
heaven destined
to
assume
human
That
form, to free mankind from the fetters of sin.
this
notion formed part of Essene belief, no his-
176
torian
Buddhism and
of repute
for
Christianity
to affirm.
It
its
is
has
made bold
has
his-
remained
Mr. Bunsen to try to estabhsh
torical reality
by a process of reasoning
tells
that
sadly
lacking in coherence.
"
The Essenes," he
they also
^
us,
" believed in angels

in
and
may have
believed
an
Angel-
Messiah."
He
finds that the first direct evidence
of this belief dates from about 100 A.D.
date,
^
it
must be owned, somewhat

to
late for his
purpose
in
the person of a certain Elkesai, said by Epiphanius
have been a Jew who joined the sect of the
Essenes and wrote a prophetic book.

to others, he
According
sect.
was the founder of the Mendaean

^
Referring to Hippolytus
(who, by the way, carefully
distinguishes the Elkesaites from the Essenes), Mr.
Bunsen informs us that Elkesai

his
is
said to have got
book from the Parthians in the city Serae, which he takes to mean China. After connecting, by one
of his feats of philology, Elkesai the Jew with the
Casdim, or Assidêans, of Palestine, he makes the

suggestion
that
Buddhist work.
Elkesai's book was a ChineseThe reason he gives is both curious
and
characteristic.
East
''The connection of Elkesai-Buddha's doctrines with the is proved beyond dispute by the recorded fact that the
sect,
Mendseans, before being received into the Christian
had solemnly
to
renounce Zoroaster, whose doctrines were
by Buddha more generally introduced into India."

1
Op.
cit. p.
103.
Refutation of Heresies, B. IX. ch.
ix.

Before
177
of
this
admitting the
readers
indisputable
force
argument, most
would naturally look
for
proofs that Elkesai was a Mendaean, and that Buddha's
teaching was borrowed
from Zoroaster.
Neither does
if
But these
it
proofs are not forthcoming.
seem
to
have occurred to Mr. Bunsen that

the triumphant conclusion of
Elkesai was a
;
Mendaean, he could not have been an Essene

it all is,
for
" Since Elkesai
was a prophet among the Essenes, these seem to have

believed in an Angel-Messiah, and this Essenic tradition
may have
been of Chinese-Buddhistic origin."

is
No
less astonishing
his distortion of facts too
plain to be easily mistaken.
The simple statement of Jerome Wisdom

is
that
writers took Philo to be the author of the
some ancient book of
soberly appealed to as proof that this was

well.^
it
Jerome's view as
Eusebius, he asserts, thought
highly probable
that Buddhist traditions had been introduced into the
New Testament
History
(II. 17)
writings,
and
in
confirmation directs
the astonished reader to the passage in his CJiurch
where Eusebius, utterly ignoring the

to
Buddhists, aims
Christians.^
show
that the Therapeuts were
The
in
assertion of
Clement of Alexandria that Mary,

twisted into a denial
2
giving birth to our blessed Saviour, did not lose the

is
physical signs of virginity,

^
by
Op. Op.
cit.
pp.
1 1
2-1
5.
Op.
cit. p. 94.
cit.
pp. 51, 99.

12
178
Buddhism and
Christianity
Christ,
Clement of the virgin-birth of
and made
vii.
to
do
proof that he did not interpret Isaias,
14, as
pro-
phetic of Christ's miraculous conception.
Moreover, since Clement makes no mention here

of the account in MattJiciv of the virgin-motherhood
of Mary, the conclusion
is
drawn
that
this
Gospel
passage
is
an interpolation of
later date
than the time
of Clement.^
Such blunders would be inexcusable,

this
even
Isaias
it
if
Clement's homily on
in
very passage of
were not extant,
of Christ's
which he both interprets virgin-birth and also makes explicit

i.
reference to Matthciv,
23.
Examples
Mr.
like these, unfortunately too
numerous
in
Bunsen's
work,
are
supplemented
by
other
serious defects.
His imagination overrides his judgprofusion of erroneous sugges-
ment, and
tions,
riots in a
and worthless assumptions.
He
never
tires of
recurring to religious art symbols and zodiacal signs,^

the constellation Pleiades being the favorite
key
to
many
religious problems.
startling
He
is
the philologian run
mad, making
identifications
of names the
most remote, which

the
identifications are then pressed
into service for purposes of argument.
Homerides
are connected with

;
Homer and Gomer and the
Arabian Gomerides
the Casdim are the Assidaeans;
John the Baptist (Ashai) means John the Essene

1
Op.
It is
cit. p.
109.
liis
easy to recognize in this part of
work a
revival of the
obsolete speculations of the French atheists of the eighteenth century.

Cf, Volney, Les rjiincs, Ch. xxii,
xiii.

Pharisee
is
179
name
the same as Pharsis, the Arabian (!)

;
for the Persians
Pythagoras
is
the
Greek form of
to find
the
compound word Buddha-guru/

is
But what
more astonishing
up
still
is
the
flimsy suggestions and

earlier chapters turning
unwarranted conjectures of
later as established truths,
to
become the stepping-stones

defects,
to further conclusions.
These serious
exaggerated
together
with
the
to
grossly
parallelism
which
he seeks
make
good between the Buddha-legend and the Gospel

story of Christ, stamp the
tific
work
as utterly unscien-
and untrustworthy.
Professor
it
Kuenen
'^
in
his
it
Hibbert Lectures has scored

deserves.
with
the severity
Far superior to Mr. Bunsen
in
method, reasoning,
published
and
style,
is
Professor Rudolf Seydel, who, drawing
inspiration from Mr. Bunsen's work,
two
years later his
own
dissertation on the
indebtedness
in
of Christianity to Buddhism.^
^
After trying
the
His pronouncement on Pythagoras may bear repeating in an abridged form, as a further illustration of his visionary mind and looseness of thought. Pythagoras, he tells us on the authority of Clement of Alexandria, was generally thought to have been a barbarian. This word seems to have been formed after the Indian " varvara " and would thus have meant originally a "black skinned man with woolly hair." He was thus a Hamite. Now the Hamites of Genesis are cognate with the Homeric " Ethiopians from the Pythagoras was East," and these migrated from India to the West.
thus connected by barbarian descent with India.
This explains his
acquaintance with Indian Bodhi or Wisdom.

-
Op. cit. p. 68. Natural Religion and Universal Religions. London, 18S2, p. 235. Das Evangelium von /esu in seiiten Verhdltnissoi zu Btuidha-sage
Leipzig, 18S2.
laid Bnddha-lehre.
i8o
first
Buddhism and
of the
Christianity
'
part of his treatise to establish the prechristian
origin
Buddhist scriptures from which
he
draws, he devotes the bulk of the volume (pp. 105-
293) to an exhaustive comparison of the points of resemblance which he has found in the two
religions.
These points of resemblance,

to
fifty-one in
number, he then proceeds

classes.
separate
into
three
The
first
class includes those
which
may
be readily
explained without the hypothesis of a borrowing on

either side.
The second
ent origin.
class
embraces such
as
from their
detailed agreement are less likely to be of independ-
To each
of these two classes he assigns
twenty-
three parallels.
The
five
remaining parallels consti-
tute the third class, being of such a nature that they
can be satisfactorily explained only on the ground of
Buddhist origin.
They
are,
ist,
the presentation of
that
the infant Jesus in the temple compared with
of the infant Buddha; 2d, the
fast
of Jesus and that of Jesus and of
of Buddha;
3d, the pre-existence
Buddha
in
heaven; 4th, the episode of Nathaniel and

i.
the fig-tree in John,
46
ff".,
which Professor Seydel

;
connects with the legend of the Bodhi-tree

episode of the
is
5th, the
man born
blind {John, ix. 1-4) which
declared to have no place in Jewish thought.

If
Christianity
has borrowed
these
is
points
from
Buddhism, he argues, the presumption
very strong

of Buddhist origin.
that the resemblances of the second class are likewise
But how account

part of Christianity ?
for this actual
borrowing on the
Professor Seydel thinks, though

at the
he
is
unable to prove, that
time of the forma-
tion of the synoptic Gospels, there existed a poetic-
apocalyptic Gospel
traditions,
strongly colored by Buddhistic
which the writers of our canonical Gospels

of.
made
tunity
use
to
These
their
traditions
had ample oppor-
West, for there was a constant communication between Greece and

to the
make
way
India from the time of Alexander's conquest.

If Professor
Seydel had succeeded
in
making good
to
the several
points
is
of his argument, the conclusion

largely
that Christianity
indebted
Buddhism
of
the
would have been

has .egregiously
irresistible.
failed.
But
it
is
just here he
fault
The
capital
work
is its
excessive subjectiveness.
The
to
five cases
which he thinks point unmistakably

the weakest sort of evidence.
Buddhist
in-
fluence on Christianity prove, on examination, to be
Many
of the alleged
points of resemblance in the second class of parallels

are purely fanciful.
Others are exaggerated
while
not a
few are drawn
from Buddhist sources that

the Gospels.
are later in date than

in Palestine
The presence
is
of a Buddhistic-apocalyptic Gospel as the
actual source of the alleged Christian borrowings,
purely a figment of his imagination.

trace of
it
There
is
not a
in
apocryphal writings, not a mention of
82
Buddhism and
It is,
Christianity
it
in history.
moreover, incompatible with the
early date of the Gospels.
These
defects have been ably pointed out

^
by Pro^
fessor Seydel's critics, H. Oldenberg,

J.
E. Hardy,
and
E. Carpenter,^ with the unanimous verdict that his

is
thesis
not proven.
The
Lillie.
third writer
who
has tried to demonstrate the

is
indebtedness of Christianity to Buddhism,
Arthur
mental
The
inferior of Professor
Seydel both
in
grasp and in method of exposition, he has surpassed
him
in prolificness.
He
is
the author of no less than
four books dealing with the subject under review
Buddha and Early

in
BiiddJiisni,
London, 1881;*
;
TJie
Popular Life of Buddha, London, 1883
Buddhism
Christendom or Jesus the Essene, London, 1885;
and The Influence of Buddhism on Primitive ChrisBut the matter in these tianity London, 1893.
,
volumes, stripped of
curate,
its
repetitions, of
its
false, inac-
and unwarranted statements and inferences,

to the
would be reduced
book, the
loss of
compass of a very small

little
which would be
than
his
felt
in
the
world of scholars.
Scarcely less
1 2
^
visionary
precursor
Mr.
Theologische Literattirzeitung, 1882, no. 18, p. 415. Der Buddkis?niis, ch. 7.
Mod. Rev.
July,
18S2, pp.
620,
ff.
Professor Seydel published
a rejoinder to his
den Evangelien.
Die Buddha-legende tind das Leben Jcsii iiach It is little more than an abridgment of his former work, and is vitiated by the same defects. * The American edition published in New York, 1882, is the one
critics,
Leipzig, 1884.
referred to in this work.

Bunsen,
signs
183
he shows the same fondness for zodiacal
as a key to religious problems, and dilates supreme satisfaction on his theory of the Buddhist origin of the symbols of Christian art. He
with
is
constantly mistaking for facts the dictates of his
fancy,
and repeatedly
fails
to see things as they are.

in
The well-known passage

tice
which Philo
gives
instances from different nations of the life-long prac-
of virtue, mentioning in
of Greece, the
order the seven wise

Persia, the
men
Magi of
Gymnosois
phists of India,
as convincing
and the Essenes of Palestine, and
cited
proof that the Essenes were of the

is
same
faith
still
as the Buddhists,
made
the basis
for the
more remarkable statement
that Philo's
testimony shows that the "religions

Palestine,
of Babylon,
Egypt, and Greece were undermined by

mystical
societies
certain
kindred
organized
by
Buddha's missionaries under the various names of

Therapeuts, Essenes, Neo-Pythagoreans,
astrians,
etc.
^
Neo-Zoro-
Thus Buddhism paved
the
way
for
Christianity."
He
expects the reader to take his word for the

his assertion that " the
soundness of
new Zoroaster,
their inspira-
Elijah, Pythagoras,
and Laotse
^
all
drew
tion
from Buddha."
He
tells
us in confidence that
it
the writers of the canonical Gospels " thought

1
no
Every Virtuous Man is Fne. ^ Injluetice of Buddhism on Prifu. Christianity, pp. 104-105. Buddha and Early Buddhism, p. 6. 3 Buddha and Early Buddhistn, \>. 2C0.
Ch.
ix.
of his essay,
184
sin to
Buddhism and
for
Christianity
library of Buddhist
draw on the Alexandrine
much of their matter," though he does not see fit to make known the source of this interesting He tries to persuade us that piece of information.^
books
the Buddhists of Ceylon are theists in the face of the
Ceylonese priests who have declared
officially that
Buddhism teaches the highest goodness without

God.2
Indianists
in his several
must open
their eyes wide to

"
be told
"
;
volumes that
through Buddhism the

^
institution
of caste was assailed and overturned

for the
first
that "
polygamy was
time pronounced
immoral and slavery condemned;"* that

from a chattel was made man's equal
version preceded
;
"woman
con-
" ^ that "
by baptism and a confession of sins was an originality of Buddhism;"^ that the chief
Buddhist
rite
was a bread oblation
'
that the Lalita
Vistara represents the oldest form of
Buddhism
^
;
that the White Lotus of DJiarma {Lotus of the True Law) is one of the oldest Buddhist books ^ that
;
Japan was evangelized from Ceylon and that its that, accordBuddhism is of the Southern school
'^^
;
Influence, p.
3.
Buddha and Early Buddhism,

to the
pp. 15-17.
Cf. Olcott,
Buddhist
Boston,
Catechism according
18S5, p. 61.
3 * 6
'
Canon of
the Southern Church.

Ibid.
Introd.
^ Ibid.

Ibid. p. 18S.
p. 188.
*
Ibid. p. 70.
9 Ibid. p. 70.
^^
Ibid. p. 17.

ing to the Buddha-legend,
185
six years
Buddha spent
under the Bo (Bodhi) tree/ and that he converted
and baptized Mara, the tempter.Statements Hke these are after

ing from one
all
not so astonish-
who
dares to run counter to the strong

in asserting that ori-
current of
ginal
modern scholarship, Buddhism was based on

and
in a
belief in a
supreme
God
into
future
life
of conscious happiness
and that the so-called
atheistic creed
was introduced
Northern Buddhism during the reign of King

Still,
Kanishka.
from a
man who
sets himself
up
as
an enlightener of benighted Christians, one has a

right to expect, at least, such accuracy of statement
as
betokens a discerning and

is
critical
mind.
But
accuracy
not one of Mr.
Lillie's virtues.
He
gravely informs his readers that Christianity

;
Gods instead of one " ^ and the account given by the Abbes Hue and Gabet of the rite in which certain fanatic Lamas were wont to
" proclaimed three
draw
a knife
across the
abdomen and expose
the
bowels with apparent impunity, a thing which they

learned from hearsay and not from personal observation,
is
distorted
into
a " report that they saw a

in the great
Bokte
rip
open
his
own stomach
court
^
of the Lamaserie of Rache Tchurin in Tartary."

1
Ibid. p. 44.
The pretended theism

Influence, p. 22.
of
Asoka
Mr.
Jiiî^ p.
^^.
Lillie's
main proof
rests
^
on incorrect translations of the rock-edicts.
Buddha and Early BndJkistn,
p. 47.
86
The
Buddhism and
rite
Christianity
of initiation into the order of monks,
practised
by the Buddhists of Nepal
rite
of
three days' duration consisting of a tedious succession of prayers, offerings, and sprinkhngs, and pre-
senting but the remotest analogy to the baptismal
ceremony of the Catholic Church

Mr.
Lillie,
is,
according to
so like the Catholic
rite
of baptism " that
sian
Rhys Davids may be excused for holding it of PerHere the presumption is Gnostic origin." ^
to the
conveyed
is
unsuspecting reader that the writer
not talking at random, for he makes reference to

p.
Rhys Davids's Buddhism,

would
find, to
2o6; but
if
the reader
were to take the pains to verify

author considers
is
this reference,
he
dis-
his astonishment, that
what the
tinguished
possible
derivation
rite at
from Persian Gnosticism

all,
not this Buddhist
of which there
is
not the slightest mention, but
the metaphysical notion of the
Adi-Buddha
of Mr.
An
elementary knowledge
Fergusson's
well-known handbook of architecture would have

saved Mr.
" Mr.
Lillie
from so gross a blunder as to say:

vari-
James Fergusson was of opinion that the
ous details of the early Christian Church, nave,
aisles,
columns, semi-domed apse, cruciform ground plan,
were borrowed en
bloc
from the Buddhists."
Had
he even taken the pains to examine Mr. Fergusson's

admirable work on Indiaji and Eastern Architecture,
1
Buddha aiid Early Buddhism, p. Buddhism in Christendom, p. 206.

S3.
57.
p.
Influence,
p. 177.

to
87
is
which he
refers,
he would have seen that there

in all
not a single cruciform ground-plan

dhist temples of India
;
the Bud-
he would likewise have learned
from pages 120, 177, and 183-184, that Mr. Fergusson, far from bearing out his assertion, attributes to
Buddhist architecture,
in its later
developments, very
strong Greek influence.^
But because Mr. Fergusson

the curious
pointed
out
(p.
117)
resemblance of
the cave-temple of Karle to the choir of Norwich

cathedral,
Mr.
Lillic,
in
whose mind resemblance

bloc
always
to
means
from
dependence, gratuitously attributed

of Christian
archi-
him the borrowing en

Buddhist
tecture
bit
models.
This
remarkable
of fancy sketching adorns at least three of his
volumes.
The impression
ness to error,
1
thus derived of Mr.

relieved
is
Lillie's
prone-
is
by no means
p.
by
his
way of
century
What
it
Mr. Fergusson says,

is
183,
worth quoting: "If, for

first
instance,
not true that the King of Taxila, in the
spoke good Greek, as Apollonius of Tyana would persuade us he If Saint did, we know at least that he practised Greek architecture.
did not visit Gondophares, King of Gandhara, in the same many at least of his countrymen did, and there is no a priori reason why he should not have done so also. ... In short, when we realize how strongly European influence prevailed in Gandhara in the first five or si.x centuries after Christ, and think how many thousands, it may be, millions crossed the Indus going Eastward during that period, we ought not to be surprised at any amount of Western thought or art we may find in India." It is his conviction " that in
Thomas
century,
the first century of the Christian era, the civilization of the West exercised an influence on the arts and religion of the inhabitants of Cf. this part of India far greater than has hitherto been suspected."
also Tree
and Serpent Worship,
pp. 97-9S, 161, note, and 221.
88
Buddhism and
Christianity
dealing with the Gospels and with Gospel teaching.
The
credulity he displays in ascribing a prechrisdan

is
antiquity to everything Buddhisdc

trast with his
in striking
con-
opposidon
to the best results of
sound
^
biblical criticism.
cal of cridcs,
Assuming
Renan
the role of the most radi-
he champions the andquated theory

that the so-called
of Hilgenfeld and
according
to the
Gospel
Hehreivs, the Gospel of the Ebionites,

in
was the primitive Gospel and the source of much
Matthew and Luke.
The
canonical Gospels he throws
into^he second century, and discovers interpolations
on every other page.^

In his interpretadon of Scripture he displays a lack
of knowledge that
is
even
less excusable.
He
quotes
approvingly a passage from a work of L. Jacolliot in which a writer ignored by the scholars of France
the
predicdon of Christ that
his
followers
would
suffer
persecudon, even from their nearest relatives

is
{Matthezv, x. 21),
made
to read as
if
Christ bade
the brother deliver up the brother to death.'^ The familiar story in Luke (v. 18-26) of the mirac-
ulous cure which Christ, in proof of His power to

forgive sins,
wrought
as
in the
man
sick
of
palsy,
is
appealed to
evidence
that
Christ
held
certain
previous
1
maladies to be the consequences of sinful conduct in lives, " for He disdnctly announced that the
Cf.
Holtzman, Einleitung
in das
Neiu Testament, Freiburg,

^ Influence, p. 57.
1S98,
p. 48S.
2
Influence, ch. vi.

by annulling the
malady."
^
189
cure was effected not by any physical processes, but

sins
which were the cause of
his
The words
for the
of Christ in Matthew, xix. ii,
12,
con-
cerning the eunuchs
who have made themselves such

are brought forth, together
kingdom of heaven,
followers.^
vj\th.Apoc. xiv. 1-4, as
proof that
He enjoined
celibacy
on
his
The
decision of the Council of
Jerusalem that the Gentile converts should observe

the Mosaic custom of abstaining from things strangled
and from blood {Acts, xv. 28-29)
is
distorted into an
absolute prohibition to use any kind of flesh meat as

food.^
The words
of the angel to Zachary that the son to
be born to him shall drink no wine or strong drink,
coupled with other texts, as Mark, xv. 23, Apoc.

3,
xviii.
and xxi.
17, are
made
to
do proof that abstinence

of the
primitive
from wine was likewise exacted

Christians.*
1
Itijliuiice, p.
55.
Influence, p. 141.
^
*
Buddha and Early Buddhism, Buddha and Early Buddhisju, p. 211.

Ibid.
p. 210.
Mr.
Lillie is
open
to the charge of reasoning in a circle.
In his I)ifluence of Buddhism on Primitive Christianity, p. 140, arguing that Christ was an Essene on the ground of resemblances in
doctrine and practice, he notes that Christ imitated the Essenes in
giving a
new name
is
to converts.
This
bit of
information in regard to
Its source is
the Essenes
not to be found in any ancient writer.
Mr.
"
Lillie's
From name to
the
Buddha and Early Buddhistn, p. 190, where we example of Christ we may infer that the Essenes gave
fails
read,
new
their converts'''
His memory
him
at times, as
when on
p.
213 of his
Buddha
go
Grave
Buddhism and
Christianity
hardly calculated to
errors like these are
inspire confidence in the teacher
who
has taken on
himself the mission of leading his fellow-men from

the gloom of Christianity into the light of Buddhism.
Still
men may make

at least
mistakes in detail and at the
same time be Can this much

Mr.
Lillie's
right in their
main
line of
argument.
be said of Mr.
Lillie?
thesis
is
is
that the Buddhist origin
of
Christianity,
which
patent from the close agreeteachings

of
ment
it
shows with the legend and

finds
its
Buddha,
explanation
in
the
Essenism of
Jesus, and in the
Gnosticism of the writers of the
New
Testament.
cenobites
Now
in
the Essenes, like their closely
related
Egypt, the Therapeuts, were
monks
of Buddhist parentage, imbued consequently
with the same traditions that characterized the disciples of
Buddha
in India
and elsewhere.
Gnosticism
so Chris-
was likewise Buddhist metaphysics.

tianity could
And
be naught else than a new phase of
Buddhism, since Jesus was an Essene and Paul and
John were Gnostics.

This
is
practically the
its
same argument
is
as that of
Mr. Bunsen, and

the
(T/k/
exposition
characterized by
principle run-
same
defects.
The fundamental
Early Buddhism he argues that Jesus was an Essene and hence a ]!uddhist, because among other things He allowed His head to be
anointed with the precious spikenard {Matthew, xxvi.
a few pages before
defilement, though
Jewisli religions."
(p. 192)
7),
while only
he makes a statement that undermines his argument completely: " Buddhists and Essenes considered oil a
it
was a sacred unguent
in
the Brahmanic and

ning through
it
all
is
that
resemblance means deMr.
pendence, a principle which, taken without reserve,

is
sure to lead
astray.
This
principle
Lillie
uses in the most reckless and uncritical manner.
To
show the indebtedness of

ates
Christianity to
Buddhism
he fancies analogies that have no existence, exaggerthose that are but remote and imperfect, and
draws from Buddhist sources that by reason of time and distance could have had no possible influence on
Christianity,
With the
proofs,
later
agility of a
legendary
rishi,
he
flies
for
now
to a
Chinese version four
or five centuries
than the Gospels,
now
to a
Ceylonese text of
story of
the- fifth century,
now
to a
in
Burmese
Tibet or
to
modern
rite
times,
now
is
it
to
a rite
China or Japan that

Christian
ties
plainly
is
posterior
the
with which
compared.
Similari-
like these are just as valuable in his
eyes as the
resemblances that are plainly prechristian.
similar looseness of thought
is
displayed
in
the
other points of his
argument.
The Essenes and

life
Therapeuts are declared to have been Buddhists,

because
A
in their discipline
and mode of
they had
number of
features found
likewise in
Buddhism.
as Essenes
Jesus and John the Baptist are set
down
because of a few points of resemblance with Essene

doctrine and practice.
because several words found
John and Paul were Gnostics in their writings were
words especially used by the Gnostics,

It
needs but a grain of common-sense to detect the
T92
Buddhism and
Christianity
sophistry of this kind of reasoning.

identity of
To prove
the
A
is
with B,
it
does not suffice to show that
they agree
in
some
particulars merely.
If there are
perfect
facts
agreement
in
needed.
important
which they are
at variance,
they cannot be classed
together.
Apply
fair
this principle to
Mr.
Lillie's thesis,
and the
appear.
bubbles
he has blown burst and
dis-
From
phus,
the accounts given of the Essenes
by Josethat
Philo,
and
Hippolytus,
Pharisees
rest
we
in
know
the
Essenes outdid
servance of
purity.
the
scrupulous
ob-
the
Sabbath
and of ceremonial
They
abstained from meat and wine, even
from the custom, so

ing the
common
in
the East, of anoint-
body with
oil.
by others
the
as pollution.
They avoided food prepared Bound together by oath into
a rigidly exclusive association, they held aloof from
Temple
feasts,
and avoided the society, not only
of publicans, but of the Pharisees themselves.

accidental
Mere
contact even
with
an
Essene of lower
grade was held to be defiling, and had to be expiated
by an
tion
ablution.
One must be
of these
blind indeed to see an exemplificaprinciples

in
the
life
of
Him who
avoided the society of Essenes, and chose for companions
men whom they

and
;
despised
sinners,
who mingled
and healed
freely with publicans

their food
and partook of
sick,
who
laid
hands on the
on the Sabbath day; who allowed a penitent woman

to
193
wash His
feet with
her tears, and a pious female

oil
;
host to anoint His head with

for the guests at the
who
supplied wine
fish for
wedding
feast,
and
the
hungry multitude
per,
in
who
tasted wine at the Last

;
Suppart
and partook of the Paschal lamb
who took
the
Temple
feasts.
The founder
of Christianity,
forsooth, a
member
of a sect that from the earliest

^
!
times was branded by Christian writers as a heresy
Scarcely less objectionable

to
is
Mr.
Lillie's
attempt
prove that the Essenes and Therapeuts were one
with the Buddhists.

his
As
the
in the
preceding instance,
chief reason
is
fallacious
argument
from
partial resemblance.'-^
Like the Buddhists, the Es-
^ Mr. Lillie argues that John the Baptist was an Essene because he was an ascetic. But it would seem that the Gospel statement that he was a Nazarite ought to account satisfactorily for his asceticism,
unless, forsooth, the Nazarites
Essenes.
The statement
in
of ancient Jewish times were also both Matthew and Mark that John fed
on locusts and wild honey is hardly in accord with his alleged Essene belief. But Mr. Lillie escapes this difficulty by conveniently suggesting that this double text is an interpolation. When, moreover, he says that John " induced a whole people to come out to the desert and adopt the Essene rites and their community of goods " (////?ettce, p. 138), he goes wide astray, for far from speaking like an Essene, John showed a leniency towards publicans and soldiers that every Essene would have condemned. " There came to him also publicans to be baptized, and they said unto him, Master, what must we do? And he said unto them, Extort no one more than that which is appointed you. And soldiers also asked him, saying, And we, what must we do ? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither exact anything wrongfully and be content with your wages.'*
Luke,
2
iii.
12-14.
find a scholar of Professor Beal's ability led
It is surprising to
astray by this very fallacy.
Cf. Abstract of
Four Lectures
ff.
011
Buddhist
Literature in China, London, 1882, pp. 159
13
194
life
Buddhism and
Christianity
senes and Therapeuts were monks, committed to a of celibacy and asceticism

all
;
they abstained from
meat and wine, and had

tens
to
things in
common.
But
unfortunately for the conclusion that Mr. Lillie has-
draw, there
are a
number
of fundamental
differences
which show unmistakably that neither the
Therapeuts nor the Essenes conformed to Buddhist

belief
and practice. what
Granting
deny,
many
scholars
of
recent
times
that
the Therapeuts
really existed,
their
use of the sacred Scriptures and their exclusive worship of Jehovah, as well as their custom of wearing
white robes, of eating only after sunset, and of celebrating religious feasts late at night in which pious
women were
allowed to participate, stamp them as
anything but Buddhists.^
Even more striking still is the contrast between Buddhism and Essenism. To the latter the yellow robe the distinctive mark of Buddhism was un-
known.
While the Essene would
let
himself starve
to death rather than eat the food of those not of his
communion, and hence supported himself by the labor of his hands, the Buddhist made it a funda^
Since the appearance of the book of P. C. Lucius, Die Theraessay formerly ascribed to Philo,
peiiten, Strassburg, 1879, the
On
the
from which our knowledge of the Therapeuts is drawn, has come to be held by many scholars as a spurious work of
Coiitemplative Life,
Christian origin.
Cf. E. Schiirer. History of the Jr^vish People in the

;
N. Y. iSgi.II. ii. p. 218, and III. p. 358 Schaff-Herzog, Encyclopedia, article, Therapeuts contra, Smith & Wace, Dictionary of American Biography, article, Philo.
Christ,
;
Time of
Chief Pro-Buddhlst Writers

mental rule to
cepted
live
195
Of
on the alms of others, and acto dine at their
invitations
homes.
the
purifying ablutions
so essential
to
Essenism, the
life
Buddhist knew nothing.
Notwithstanding their
of seclusion, the Essenes were recognized as ortho-
dox
Jews.
Their
God was
the
God
of
Isaac and Jacob.
Their legislator, whose
Abraham and name Jose-
phus does not mention, but

ally take
whom
in
scholars gener-
to
be Moses, was held
reverence near
to
excess.
Their scriptures were those of Moses
and the prophets, with perhaps a few apocalyptic
works
Jubilees.
like
the
They
rigid.
strictly
book of Enocli and that of the conformed to the law of
circumcision.
Their observance of the Sabbath rest
was most
where the
and graven things.

eternally wretched.
They rejected with horror images They believed in a future life good were eternally happy and the bad
more absolute contrast beidentity.^
tween Buddhism and Essenism could not reasonably

be desired to disprove their alleged
besides,
When,
we consider
there
is
that in
all
the Palestinian Jewish
literature,
not a trace of distinctively Bud-
in mind that the name Buddha is not once associated with the Essenes, when we see scholars most competent to pronounce
dhist teaching,
when we bear
of
on the question,
1
like Zeller, Lightfoot, Schiirer,
Gins-
tion
Hippolytus, RefutaCf. Josephus, Wars of the Jews, II. ch. 8. of Heresies, IX. ch. 13-22 (Vol. V. of Ante-Aîcetie Fathers, N.V.
1896).
196
Buddhism and
Christianity-
berg, Edersheim, and Conybeare, denying even a re-
mote connection of Essenism with Buddhism, we are amply justified in setting down the theory in question as an absolute failure.^
Mr.
Lillie's
attempt to prove that Saint John and

is
Saint Paul were Gnostics
so puerile as scarcely to
deserve notice.
ings are toto
ticism,
Ignoring the fact that their teach-
coelo different
from the tenets of Gnos-
he notes that both the prologue of Saint John's

to the
Gospel and the Epistles
CorintJiians
and EpJie-
sians contain words to which the Gnostics attached a

special meaning.
life,
That these words, such
as light,
grace, truth, fulness, word, generation, have in
the sacred texts the meanings peculiar to Gnosticism,
he does not and cannot prove

is
hence
his
argument
utterly valueless.
in the
They
indicate the presence of

just as
Gnosticism
New
Testament
in the
much and
just as little as
they do
works of Plato and
other pre-Gnostic writers, where the same words
may
be found.
It is idle to
follow Mr. Lillie in his further attempt
to
it
show the Buddhist

is
origin of early Gnosticism, for

It
is
quite irrelevant.
not amiss, however, to

credulity
Mr.
Lillie
makes
in
too large a
demand on our
"
when he
asks us to see
" appear not
Jewish Essenism a new edition of Buddhism with
left out. The Buddhists," he says, have obtruded Sakya Muni's name, but to have fathered their teachings on some local Buddha." Buddha and Early
the great central figure, Buddha,

to
Buddhism,
p. 200.
Buddhism without Buddha
is
as great a paradox
as Christianity without Christ.

note that in trying to
197
recourse to a fallacy.
make good this point he has The early Church authorities,
he argues, indirectly witness to the Buddhist source

of early Gnosticism, for they exacted of Gnostic converts the abjuration of the doctrines of
Bodda and
Skuthianos.^
this
But the truth
is
that those of
whom
formula of abjuration was exacted were not the
early Gnostics, but converts from Manichaeism, a sect
of the third century .^
Having thus got
a general idea of the character of
the several works that aim to
show the indebtedness

let
of Christianity to Buddhism,
careful examination of the
to
all,
us proceed to the
main argument
common
which
is
based on the comparison of the points
of resemblance in both religions.

^
^
Buddhism
irph
in Christendom, p. 235.
'AvaOefiaTiâj koI KaTadefiaTi^tc ZapaSriv Kal Bo'55oi' aJ 'S.Kvdiayoy,

Mai'^x"''^''
rovs
yeyovSras.
iii.
A. Galland, Bibliotheca Veterum Pa-
tritm, Veiietiis, 1767,
p. 611.
CHAPTER
II
EXAGGERATED RESEMBLANCES
Spurious evidence used to impugn the originality of the Gospels classified under three heads exaggerations, anachronisms, fictions
:
Exaggerations The
trasted
of birth
pre-existence of Jesus in heaven con-
with that ascribed to
Simeon
versus Asita
Buddha Divergent circumstances The fast of Jesus compared
The transfiguration of Jesus without a

Buddha-legend.
Buddha Unfair attempts to exaggerate the resemblances between the temptation of Jesus and that of Buddha
with that of
close counterpart in the
great the works of Bunsen, Seydel, and IN stress laid on the comparison of those characLillie,
is
teristics that
Buddhism and
;
Christianity are supposed
to have in
is
common
for
is
it is
argued that where there
resemblance, there
dependence.
Hence, the
more numerous the similarities discovered in the two religions, the more imposing the evidence in proof of
Buddhist influence on Christianity.
Reserving for
later discussion the
soundness of the
let
principle that resemblance

first
means dependence,
argument.
us
put aside those alleged resemblances that have

in the
is
no right to a place
this
The amount
;
of
spurious evidence
surprisingly large
for in
their zeal to
make
the points of contact as
numerous
far
as
possible, the writers in

limits of
question
have gone
fairness.
beyond the
prudence and
First,
in
199
resem-
not a few instances, where comparison

legitimate,
;
would otherwise be
blance
is
the alleged
grossly exaggerated
secondly, a goodly
number of these pretended

thirdly, a
still
similarities are
drawn from
Let
the
Buddhist sources that are posterior to the Christian

larger
number
are pure fictions.

first,
;
us, then, for the
sake of clearness, examine,

secondly,
the
exaggerations
anachronisms
and
ser-
thirdly, the fictions, that
have been pressed into

Christianity
vice
show the indebtedness of Buddhism.

to
to
EXAGGERATIONS
Under the head of exaggerations should be
classed
not only those parallels that are represented to be
much more complete

as well
than the facts warrant, but those

sight are striking,
little
which
at
first
but which
prove on examination to be of
account of their
with the
(i)
latter.
significance
on
many
points of contrast.
VVe begin
Both Professor SeydeP and Mr.

is
Lillie
call
attention to the fact that as Jesus
believed to have
enjoyed an existence
nation, so in like
in
heaven previous to His incaris
manner Buddha
till
represented as
dwelling in the Tusita heaven

his descent in the
the time
came
for
Maya.
1
But
Op.
this
form of an elephant into his mother parallel is not nearly so remarkable
295. Influence of Buddhism on Primitive Christianity, p. 23.

cit. p.
200
as
it
Buddhism and
appears at
is
Christianity
first sight.
it
The
existence of Jesus in
heaven
self.
unique, for
is
the existence of
God Him-
That of Buddha
is
not extraordinary, being

to
simply what was

sattvas,
common
the
hundreds of the Bodhihigh

but
who by
merits of their previous births

this
raised
themselves to
Jesus
life in
impermanent
condition.
existed in
heaven from eternity.
Buddha's
existence,
the Tusita heaven was of very limited
extent, having been preceded
by many other kinds of some honorable and some without honor.

fifty-
Eighty-three times he had lived as an ascetic,
eight times as a king, twenty-four times as a Brah-
man, twenty times

times as a tree-god,
as
the god Sakkha, forty-three
five
times as a slave, once as a
devil-dancer, not to speak of animal existences as a

rat, pig, hare, lion, jackal,
It
is
pigeon, deer, and others.
hardly from a source like this that the lofty

in
conception of Christ's pre-existence
heaven could
have been derived.

Seydel holds
And
yet, strange to say. Professor

five striking re-
this to
be one of the
fitly
semblances that cannot be

anity from
explained except on
the hypothesis of a borrowing on the part of Christi-
Buddhism.
all
(2) In the circumstances of the birth of Christ,

three writers think they find an echo of the
legend.^
superficial
1
Buddha-
But here again the resemblances are only and are less remarkable than the contrasts.
cit. p.
Bunsen, Op.
34.
Seydel, Op.
cit. p.
136.
Lillie, Influence,
p. 26.
It is true that Christ,
201
hke Buddha,
is
of royal hne-
age.
But Joseph and
Mary Hved
in
poverty and
are de-
obscurity, whereas the parents of
Buddha
picted as king and queen reigning in great magnifi-
cence.
Maya, Hke Mary, was delivered while on a journey. But Maya was enjoying an excursion undertaken at her own desire, in the company of an immense procession of gods, warriors, and waiting-women
;
and she
gave birth to her son under the Sala-tree with every

circumstance of luxury and splendor that oriental
fancy could invent to enhance the dignity of Buddha.
What Mary
a striking contrast with the painful journey of

to the distant village of Bethlehem,
and the
humiliating and lonely surroundings in which Jesus
was born
The Buddha-legend
lotus-blossoms
fell
states that at
Buddha's birth,
the earth was shaken, showers of perfumed rain and
from
the
cloudless
sky,
while
latter
heavenly
but
spirits
sang and played music.
The
incident reminds one of the angel-songs at Christ's

birth,
is
not a resemblance of so striking a char-
acter as to suggest an historic connection.^
Buddha
Charita, b.
is
i.
Eoinantic Legend of Sakya Buddha, ch.

to the shepherds.
viii.
In the latter
a heavenly song that bears a resemblance to

"
is
To-day .Bodhisattva devas, to shed But light in the dark places, and to give sight to the blind" (p. 56). this song being five centuries later than its Gospel parallel cannot be
the angelic
announcement
born on earth, to give joy and peace to
men and
made
to tell against the originality of the latter.
202
Buddhism and
have
This
Christianity
is
When Buddha
greatest being
was born, he
said to have taken

:
seven steps and to

in
exclaimed
" I
am
the
the whole world.
am
^
the best
guide
in the
world.
my
last birth."
To
this utterance
in
which, for greater effectiveness,
he gives
the
elaborated
form peculiar
to
the
Chinese version of the sixth century, The Romantic
Legend of Sakya Buddha, Mr.

the
Lillie^ brings forward
a parallel, not from the canonical Gospels, but from
apocryphal
Gospel of the Infancy.
There the
cradle,
is
divine Infant, addressing
Mary from His

Word whom
made
*'
to say
am
Jesus the Son of God, the
thou didst
bring forth according to the declaration of the angel Gabriel

to thee,
and
my
Father hath sent
me
for the salvation of the
world."
Now
if it
were to be granted that
this
passage be-
trays a Buddhist origin, the originality of the inspired
Christian records would not be shaken in the least.
The
fact that
it
had a place only
in a
work
rejected as
spurious and unorthodox, would
tell
rather in favor
of the exclusive and independent character of the
canonical Gospels.
It
would
not, indeed, be
very
significant to find in an
apocryphal work traces of
Buddhist
lore, since
such books are of more recent
date than the four Gospels, and since, besides,
some
of
of them took their rise in Persia

heretical schools.
^
in
the interest
Lalita Vistara,
vii.
' Influence, p. 27.
But the present Buddhist
primitive
parallel,
203
its
reduced to
form, does
not present so
in
remarkable a
the Gospel of
resemblance to the incident related

the
Infancy as to
origin.
call
seriously
into
question
its
independent
infant Jesus
The
thoughts to which the

to give
and the infant Buddha are made
expression, are not the same.
The only
real point
of agreement
is
the precocious use of the faculty of
speech.
But
to
account for
this similarity,
it is
not
necessary to have recourse to the Lalita
Vistara,
which
It is
is
less ancient
than the Gospel of the InfaJicy.
not unlikely that the incident attributed to the
infant Jesus
was suggested by a too

x.
literal interpreta-
tion of
Hebrews,
5-7
" Wherefore, when

Sacrifice
He cometh
into the world,

not,
He
saith
and oblation thou wouldst

I
but a body thou
hast fitted to use.
Holocausts for sin did not please thee.

I
Then
said
behold
come.
In the head of the book

will,
it
is
written of
me
that I should
do Thy
God."
(3) There
is,
Indeed, a rather striking resemblance
between the venerable Simeon prophesying the future

greatness of the Infant Jesus, and the aged rishi Asita
foretelling to the king that his infant son will
one day
this
become
Buddha.
As might be
fail
expected,
point of comparison does not
to
be set forth by
each of the three writers under review.^
But the
cir-
cumstances of the Gospel incident are quite unlike

1
Bunsen, Op.
cit. p.
36.
Seydel, Op.
cit. p.
139.
Lillie, Influence,
p. 29.
204
Buddhism and
Christianity
Simeon's prophecy
is
those of the Buddhist parallel.
given on the occasion of the presentation of Jesus in

the temple.
The prophecy over

in
the infant
Buddha
in
is
made, not
of the
flight
the
temple
of the gods, but
the
palace, to which the aged rishi, on learning the birth
wonderful
infant,
betook himself by magic

Simeon, rejoicing
Israel, delife.
from the distant Himalayas.

himself
that his eyes have rested

clares
on the Saviour of
depart
not
ready to
from earthly
will
Asita weeps because he sees he

the
live to
see
to
day when
It
the
child
well be
shall
have
attained
Buddhaship.^
may
doubted whether
stories
presenting contrasts like these have any affinity with
each other,
(4) The forty known prototypes
days' fast of Jesus, with
in
its
well^
the Old Testament of

to
Moses
and of
in the
Elias,^
ought surely
be one of the
last
things
Gospel narrative to be suspected of Buddhist
origin.
Yet even here common-sense has had
to give
way
for
is
to the
mania
for discovering a
Buddhist pattern
parallel
everything Christian.
But the
proposed
tells
anything but complete.

after
The Buddha-legend
how Buddha,
for
1
overcoming Mara, and attaining to

taking no food and enjoying
perfect enlightenment under the Bodhi-tree, remained
seven weeks near
it,
Mr. Bunsen's statement that Asita " returns rejoicing to his mountain home, for his eyes have seen the promised and expected Saviour" (Op. cit. p. 36), is an e.xample of his gratuitous apphcation
of Scripture language to Buddha-legend.
2
Ex. xxxiv.
28.
/// Kiii^s
xix. 8.
the bliss of emancipation.'
205
To make
this forty-nine
days' fast more hke that of Jesus, which was followed by the temptation, Professor Seydel,^ in flat contradiction of the legend, pretends that this fast preceded
Buddha's victorious conflict and enliohtenment under

the Bodhi-tree.
footsteps,
It is to
Mr. Lillie^ follows blindly

falls
in
his
and
into the
this
is
same
ditch.
five parallels
be noted that
one of the
that, in the
mind of Professor Seydel, betray unmisin
takably the presence

fluence.
the Gospels of Buddhist infast,
This story of Jesus'

it
he argues, cannot
of
be
original, for
does not
fit
in with the attitude
Jesus towards the asceticism of John the Baptist.
But,
all
not to follow an ascetic

practice of fasting
tised fasting
is
life is
one thing, to avoid
another.
That Jesus both pracGos-
and taught
his disciples to fast, the
pels
give
ample evidence.
little
Had
Professor
Seydel
given this subject a
more thought, he would

fast,
have recognized that the same argument could be

turned against the propriety of Buddha's
since,
only a few days before, he had abandoned as useless

the rigorous mortifications of the
(5)
Brahman
is
ascetics.
In the Buddha-legend, there
an analogy to
the Gospel story of the temptation of Jesus by Satan.
But
Mr.
1
in
making the comparison, both Mr. Bunsen and

are guilty of unwarranted exaggerations.
to the
Lillie
According
most ancient account,
this period of fasting
and
contemplation lasted but four weeks.

2
Cf. S. B. E. XIII. pp. 73

* Influence, p. 44.
ff.
Op.
cit. p.
154.
2o6
To
Buddhism and
Christianity
bring the Buddhist parallel closer to the threefold

Lillie
temptation of Christ, Mr.
pretends that
Buddha
likewise underwent a threefold temptation under the
Bodhi-tree.
" The first temptation of Buddha," he says,^ " when Mara assailed him under the Bo-tree, is precisely
similar
to that
of Jesus.
'
His long
fast
had very
at the
nearly killed him.
Sweet creature, you are
point of death.
Sacrifice food.'
life."
This meant, eat a
portion to save your
Now
to
in the first place, this incident,
which
is is
re-
lated in chapter xviii. of the Lalita
Vistara,
said
have taken place, not under the Bodhi-tree, but

he abandoned as useless the austere
life
just before
of
an ascetic.^
Moreover, there
is
a dift'erence between
that of Jesus.
the alleged temptation of
Buddha and
What
Satan asked of Jesus was not so
much
make
to eat
food, for the
end of the
fast
was already
" If
at hand, but
rather to take occasion of His hunger to
a dis-
play of His divine power,
thou be the Son of
God,
command
that these stones be

to
made
to
bread."
his
But what Mara proposes

practice of
Gotama
advice
is
is
abandon
his life
undue asceticism, and preserve
by
taking food.
evil
Though
its
this
is
rejected as an
temptation,
wisdom
proved by the subsefor,
quent conduct of Gotama himself,

the unprofitableness of a
life
convinced of
of constant fasting, he
adopts the very course suggested by Mara.

1
Infiuence, p. 45.
cf_ also
i".
B. E. X.
p. 69.
"
207
The second temptation of Mara," he goes on to say,^ " is also like one of Satan's. The tempter by a miracle shows Buddha the glorious city of Kapilavastu, twisting the earth
round
like the
wheel of a
a
potter to do this.
He
offers to
in
make him
mighty
King of Kings [Chakravartin]

p.
seven days (Bigandet,
65)."
Here, again, the comparison of this so-called sec-
ond temptation with the well-known second temptation of Jesus, as told in the fourth chapter oi Liikc,
is
marred by gross exaggeration.

First,
in
it
calling this the
second temptation and

sets
making
happen under the Bodhi-tree, he
him-
self in flat contradiction to the authoritative
teaching
of the legend as
ern schools.
known
is
to
both Northern and Southin his favor,
There
no authority
ex-
cept the Chinese version of the sixth century,

as the
known
Romantic Legend.
he makes reference, the
life
The very version to which of Buddha translated by

in
Bishop Bigandet, agrees with the Nidaiia KatJia

assigning this temptation to the night
when Buddha
escape from
was abandoning
the city.
his
home and making

still is
his
More
as Satan
objectionable
Lillie gives
the fictitious description
which Mr.
so
of the temptation itself

all
Just
showed Christ
is
the
Mara
represented as
kingdoms of the earth, showing by a miracle the

This
is
glorious city of Kapilavastu.

1
a pure fiction,
hifluence, p. 45.
2o8
for
Buddhism and
is
Christianity
which there
not a single authority, not even the
authority of Bishop Bigandet, on which he seemingly

relies.
Here we
are told that as
Buddha was
fleeing
to
from Kapilavastu, he repressed the rising desire
turn back and take one last look at the magnificent

city,
whereupon the earth turned

of contemplating
^
like a potter's
wheel
satis-
" so that the very object
he denied himself the
faction
came of
is
itself
under
his
eyes."
This marvellous incident

it
not ascribed to
Mara's power, nor has
any connection with the

to
foregoing story of the temptation.

in a
few words.
city,
Mara appears
The latter is told Buddha in his flight

for in
from the days he
and urges him to return,

a universal
It
seven
will
become
monarch.
is
Buddha
rejects his advice with scorn.
to
be noted that
Mara, unlike Satan, does not pretend that universal
dominion
is
in his gift,
but simply acts the part of a
prophetic adviser.
But besides bearing only a
superficial
resemblance
power,
to the story of Christ's temptation to universal

this parallel lacks all likelihood
of having inspired
is
the Gospel story.
For while
it
common
to
the
Southern forms of the legend,

earlier scriptures of the
it
is
absent from the
Northern school, even the

sensuality
La lita The
Vis tara.
so-called
third
temptation to
in
by
Mara's daughters has nothing
common
63.
with the
Gospel story.
1
Bigandet, Op.
cit. I. p.
^
209
The assertion made by Mr. Bunsen and repeated by Mr. Lillie ^ that, after Buddha's triumph over the
tempter, angels comforted him,
of the reckless
is
another illustration
manner
in
pared with Christianity.

states
is comThe Buddha-legend simply
which Buddhism
that
after
Buddha's successful conflict with
Mara under the Bodhi-tree, the gods and heavenly spirits, who had fled in dire fear, returned and did homage to him as the greatest of beings. (6) The story of Moses coming down from Mount
Sinai with countenance of dazzling splendor,^ bears
but a distant resemblance to

transfiguration on the mount.
latter is
the story
of Christ's
Yet the
origin of the
far less
sought
in
Buddhist parallels that arc
striking.
Professor
SeydeH
gives his preference to the incident

death,'
preceding Buddha's
so great a brightness as to
golden robe that
when his body shone with dim the splendor of the had been put upon him.
^
Mr. Bunsen traces the Gospel story to the tale in

the
Romantic Legend
that
Buddha, coming one
time to a mountain of Ceylon, sat

tree,
down beneath a
a
when
his
body began
to shine like
golden
image, so that the people took him for the mountain

spirit.
This parallel,
the
besides being so
superficial,
labors under
Op.
fatal
disadvantage of having no
Op.
14
cit.
cit. p. 40.
2
4
p. 107.
Ex. xxxiv.
29.
240.
^ Ibid.
pp. 177-178.
2IO
Buddhism and
its
Christianity
the Chinese
earlier authority for
antiquity than
version, just mentioned, of the sixth century.
The
parallel
proposed by Mr.
Lillie
is
the incident
after
of Buddha's
descent from the Tusita
heaven
preaching the
Law
to his mother.
The gods
pre-
pared three ladders, the tops of which reached to

the heavens and rested against the
summit of the
Mienmo mountain. As Buddha descended the middle ladder in company with heavenly spirits,
fanning him, playing the harp, and shading him with
a
golden parasol, he allowed the six
glories
to
stream forth from his body to the people below,

witnessed
the
who
wonderful
sight
with
astonishment
and
In
joy.^
calling
this
incident
transfiguration
on a
mount, Mr.
Lillie lays
himself open to the charge of
exaggerating.
He
also
seems
to overlook the fact
that while the story of the descent from heaven
by
the
the
the
triple
ladder
is
undoubtedly prechristian,
being found
is
transfiguration incident,
solely
in
Burmese Life of
Btuid/ia,
not free from the grave
suspicion of being of comparatively recent origin.^

1 2
Influence, p. 63.
Cf. Bigandet,
Op.
cit. I.
p. 225.
In his
Buddhism
in Christendom, p. 191, he wrongly gives
Rock-
hill
as an additional authority.
p. 81, the
descent of
Buddha
In the Life of Buddha by the latter, is related, but no mention is made of
the brilliant rays emitted from his body.
CHAPTER
III
ANACHRONISMS
Resemblances drawn from Buddhist sources plainly prechristian, Kanishka's conquest alone legitimate in the present comparison
Northern India in 78 a. d. the probable cause of separation of the Buddhists of the North from those of the South hence Buddhist parallels not known to both Northern and Southern schools Further means of control are of doubtful prechristian origin afforded by the different early versions of the Buddha-legend The -presentaThe genealogy of Buddha Anachronisms The corresponding tion of the infant Buddha in the temple The schoolGospel story not out of harmony with Jewish custom The augmenting of food at the The gift of tongues scene Lamentation of women over Buddha's corpse marriage-feast The BudBuddha's descent into hell The Chinese variant Parallels to John, viii. 57, and to dhist parable of the lost son certain featresemblances to 28 Sadhti Lamaistic Matthew, v.
of
:
ures
liturgy The swastika. Kwanyin The of Catholicism
THE
is
three
writers
under review
argue
very
largely
on the principle
that, since
Buddhism
and Chris-
more ancient than
Christianity, every resemblance
which the former

tian teachings
offers to Christian rites
may
be used to show the indebtedness
of the Gospels to the religion of Buddha.

glaring
more
It
sophism
like
could
hardly
be
employed.
would be
arguing that because the Jewish and

are
Brahman
religions
older
than
Buddhism, the
212
contents
Buddhism and
of the
is
Christianity
Maccabees and of the Ramayajia

oldest in the
antedate what
Buddhist scriptures.
In Buddhism, as in other historic rehgions, there has
been a gradual growth of legendary and doctrinal

speculations.
In
its
sacred literature
much
it
that
is
comparatively recent has found a place side by side

with what
tate of
is
truly ancient.
And hence
is
a dic-
sound criticism
that, in a
comparison estab-
lished to
show the
possibility of Buddhist influence

all
on Christian thought,
held that cannot
plainly prechristian.
resemblances must be withto
be traced
Buddhist sources
Now
it
happens that a
in
fairly reliable
means
is
at
hand of discerning
rightly be
Buddhist literature what
may
credited
with an antiquity greater than

It
is
that of the Gospels.
the
comparison of the
scriptures held sacred
by the Northern and Southern

of the Southern school with
held
schools.
The unacquaintance
Council
of Kashmir,
under
first
King Kanishka,
century of the
shows that
cut
off
at the close of the
Christian era, the Buddhists of the South were already
from those of the North.
There
is
every
reason to believe that this separation was due primarily to political and not to religious causes.
Down
to
the
time of Kanishka,
in
the
prevailing
form of Buddhism
identical with
Northern India was practically

in the
what was professed
South.
In
both parts, the religion was derived from Magadha,
Anachronisms
being the
fruit
213
of the Buddhist propaganda inspired
by Asoka and continued under his successors. The Ceylonese tradition of the monks from the Northern countries coming in great numbers to take part in the dedication of the Mahathupa, erected by King Duttha Gamini/ bears witness that in the latter part
of the second century
B.
c, the
North and South

find
were
still
in close
communion.
a
Nor do we
in
any
religious
centuries.
cause
for
separation
the
next two
dhist order
It is true, the internal unity of the Budwas disturbed by many dissenting schools,
but this state of things existed from the beginning
and characterized Buddhism wherever
it
existed.^
No
was
growing
division, however,
between North and

the
South was yet discernible.

still
The Mahayana school

was only long
after
insignificant.
It
establishment of Kanishka's empire that this school
supplanted
North.
the
earlier
form of Buddhism
in
the
In the absence, then, of an adequate relig-
ious cause, the separation of the Buddhists of the
North from those of the South

explanation
in in
finds
its
natural
the
conquest
of
Northern
India
by Kanishka
at
78 A. D.
The
separation was thus

the the
first political. The subsequent spread of Mahayana innovations throughout the empire to
absorption of the ancient faith gave rise to the great
schism of the Northern school.

^
Cf.
Tumour, Mahatvanso, p. 171.' Even in Asoka's day, there were no
less
than seventeen minor
dissensions.
214
Buddhism and
is
Christianity
it
This point
of great importance, for
enables
us to determine
with considerable
precision
those
Buddhist parallels that have no
solid claim to an
age
as great as their corresponding Christian analogies.
For
it
is
plain that only
what
is
common
to
the
two schools can be traced back with certainty

time of their separation.-^
It
to the
would be rash
is
to assert
on the other hand that
The mistake
commonly made
to be in all its details as old as the
of taking the Buddha-legend Bharhut stupa, whose sculptures

B.
date, according to
Cunningham, 250-200
according to Fergusson,
Cf. his article,
200-150
B. c.
(Dr. Hultzsch of the Archaeological Survey maintains
that they belong to the second or third century B. C.
The BharJiaiit Inscriptions, in the I)tdian Antiquary, XXI. p. 225.) But the only features of the biography to which these sculptures bear witness are the descent of Buddha into his mother in the form of an elephant, the triple ladder by which he came down from heaven
after preaching to the gods, the gift of the Jetavana monastery, Indra
.Sala-guha, and, possibly, the scene of

flight
the rishis arrested in their
on the occasion of the ploughing-match. Cf. A. Cunningham, Tlie Stupa of BharJmt, London, 1879, What the extent of the P- 14Buddha-legend was'at that early period is impossible to say with any
degree of certainty. In all probability, it was very meagre. Not a few writers have appealed to the Sanchi sculptures in evidence of the existence in Asoka's day of the story of Buddha's temptation .ind
other features of the legend.
Among
these are Mr. Lillie

cit.
and Early Buddhism,'^.

Professor
Scriptures,^.
6,
18),
Professor Seydel (Op.

;
p. 98),
{Buddha and
Beal {Romantic
Legend, p. vii. Catena of Buddhist 131); in like manner Professor Kern {Manual of
Indian Buddhism,
p. lix)
p. 2) and Rhys Davids {Buddhist Birth Stories, base the antiquity of the Jatakas on the sculptures of Sanchi
as well as those of Bharhut.

itself (third,
(first
They confound
the age of the stupa
perhaps
D.)
fifth
century, B.C.) with that of the gateways
century A.
on which the sculptured scenes from the Buddha-
legend are found.
Cf. Fergusson, Tree and Serpent Worship, p. 100; A. Cunningham, The Bkilsa Topes, p. 270.
Anachronisms
all
215
those features that are the distinctive and exclusive
possession of either school have arisen after 78 A. D.
The
possibility cannot be denied of a legend
having
a local existence from prechristian times in a

dhist locality of Northern India, and being
to the
Bud-
unknown
any
Southern school, or vice versa.
But such a
possibility does not give sufficient probability to
particular parallel to justify
its
use in the argument

great majority of
is
under
criticism.
Moreover,
in the
parallels peculiar to
Northern Buddhism, there
further
means of
control. ""^For as
in
most of them are

of
pretended incidents
legend, where
the
life
Buddha,
their
absence from the earlier known forms of the Buddha-
we have
a right to expect them, be-
trays the fact that they are later accretions to the
ancient biography.
On
the other hand,
all
parallels
found only
in the literature
it
of the Southern school

is
may
been
be cast aside, since
only through the Budwell have
dhists of the
North that Christianity could
affected.^
Applying these principles, we find a goodly number of anachronisms in the comparisons instituted
by the
writers under review.

Lillie,'^
(i) Mr.
1
following Professor Seydcl's ex-
might be objected that the Miliitda Panha, though composed in Northwest India about the time of Christ, has no place in Northern Buddhist literature. But this is an exception that bears out tlie rule. Being a flat contradiction of the teachings of the Mahayana
It
school, this
work was destined
to
be ignored wherever Mahayana

Christianity, p. 24.
doctrine gained exclusive recognition.

-
Influence of
Buddhism on Prnn.
2i6
leled
Buddhism and
by one that
the Jews
is
Christianity
is
ample, ^ notes that the genealogy of Christ

applied to Buddha.
paral-
But, aside
from the
fact that the

is
among
very commonness of genealogies enough to explain why one should

is
be recounted of Christ, the genealogy of Buddha

a topic that
is
not to be found
all,
in
the Northern
Bud-
dhist scriptures at
is
and even
in the
Southern school,
drawn from sources too
late
to merit consideraLillie appeals, the
tion.
The authority
is
to
which Mr.
Dipavansa,
earlier than
a Ceylonese
A. D.^
is
work of a date not much

on the Buddhist parable to
In the eighth chapter of
400
(2) Great stress
laid
the Gospel story of the presentation of the infant
Saviour
the
in
the temple.
Vistara,
we read that when the child Buddha was borne in an immense procession of
Lalita
warriors,
maids, and
deities to
the
temple of the
gods to give them worship, their images prostrated

themselves at
greatest of
all
his
feet
to
show
that
he was the
beings.
Mr. Bunsen,^
who
gratuitously combines with this
incident the story of Buddha's precocity, also asserts,
without a particle of authority, that the incident took

place
1
when
cit. p.
the child was twelve years of age.

105.
p. xiii.
Op. Op.
2
'
Cf. S. B.
E. X.
cit. p. 37.
his utterly unfair
His words are worth quoting as a specimen of and misleading presentation of alleged Buddhist
twelve years old, the child
all
is
resemblances.
"
When
presented
in
the temple, on which occasion forthwith
statues rise and throw
Anachronisms
Mr. Lillie/
substance to
to the
in
order to give a greater
show of
tliis
very shadowy parallel, has recourse
legend
in the
apocryphal Gospel of the In-
fancy, that the presence of

in a village
Mary and
the infant Jesus

fall
of
Egypt caused
its
a certain idol to
prostrate from
pedestal, a tale that
smacks rather
of the
idol
Old Testament story of the prostration of the

in the
Dagon
presence of the ark."

^
Professor Seydel
that he reckons
it
finds
this
parallel
five
so
striking
as
one of the
pieces of evi-
dence that point unmistakably to the indebtedness

of the
Gospels to Buddhist scriptures.
He
calls
attention to the natural fitness of the story in the
Buddha-legend, whereas
in
the Gospel, despite the
statement of the evangelist, there was no reason for

presenting the child Jesus in the temple.
objection
is
But
this
of
little
weight.
According
to the law
of Moses, the first-born son of every household had

to be
redeemed
had
to
at the
price of five shekels of the
sanctuary, and every mother, after giving birth to a

child,
make an
offering of purification.
Now
though the presence. in the temple of neither child

nor mother was indispensable for the fulfilment of
these
rites, yet, as
Edersheim has pointed out
in
his
even the statues of Indra and Brahma. He explains and asks learned questions he excels all those who enter Yet he waits till he has reached his into competition with him. thirtieth year before teaching in public, surrounded by his disciples."
themselves at his
feet,
;
Buddhism
I
Iiijlitence, p. 27.
3
I Kings,
V.
ff.
Op.
cit. p.
146.
21
excellent
"
Buddhism and
Christianity
Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah} mothers who were within convenient distance of
the temple, and especially the
more earnest among

personally
in
them, would
naturally
in
attend
the
temple
and
such cases, when practicable, the

first-born
redemption of the
his
and the purification of
mother would be combined."

if
But even
really
is,
the parallel were

to
much
of
closer than
it
it
would have
be rejected as an unquesfirst
all,
it
tionable anachronism.
For,
forms no
part of the ancient legend as
known
in the
to the
Southern
school, and hence has no respectable claim to an age

as old as the Gospels.
And
second place,
it is
absent from
all
the earlier
It is
versions
known
to
the
Northern school.
dJia
not to be found in the Bnd-
Charita, nor in any of the Chinese versions of

first
the Buddha-legend belonging to the

turies.
three cen-
There
is
thus good reason for not assigning to
this parallel
an origin earlier than the third century.^

of Mr. Lillie's most cherished parallels^
(3)
is
One
the school-scene in the tenth chapter of the Lalita
Vistara} where the
boy Gotama, taken

girls,
to the hall
of writing with a splendid
escort of ten
thousand
children and a hundred thousand

1
in a
shower
B. II. ch.
vii.
For the same reason, the Lalita Vistara
in its present form, at
least,
^
cannot be credited with an age greater than the third century. Professor Seydel makes use of it as well, Influence, p. 30.
149.
in the
It is
Op.
*
cit. p.
found also
Romantic legend,
ch. xi.
Anachronisms
of flowers and to
219
the sound of one hundred thousand
instruments of music, astonishes the schoolmaster by
enumerating sixty-four different kinds of writing, and
by explaining how every

be
letter of the
alphabet should
pronounced.
is
Mr.
Lillie
shows how strikingly
similar
the exhibition of precocity ascribed to the
child Jesus in the twentieth chapter of the First Gos-
pel of the Infaticy, where he puts to shame His master
Zacchaeus by the wisdom

forth the
He
letter
displays
in
setting
meaning of every
of the alphabet.
The
irrelevancy of seeking in apocryphal writings
resemblances to points of Buddhist lore has already
been shown.
the
But apart from

is
this,
the priority of the

In
Buddhist parable
first
open
to serious misgivings.
place, the story could not have arisen

it
much
before the Christian era, for
presupposes on the
part of the people of India not only the comparatively late
custom of teaching the youth the

a wide-spread
art of
reading and writing, but also, what must have been

later
still,
acquaintance
with
very
many different kinds of alphabets. Though the knowledge of letters

probably as ancient
as the
in
India
is
century
in
which Buddha
purposes
in the last
was born, yet the use of writing
for literary
seems
older
daily
to
have come into vogue only
two
or three centuries preceding the birth of Christ.
The
Vinaya
life
texts,
which describe
minutely the
of their
of the
monks and
the furnishings
rooms, make no mention of writing or of the instru-
220
Buddhism and
It
Christianity
in the
ments of writing.
was only
century pre-
ceding the Christian era that the sacred traditions of
Buddhism were
have prevailed
Bactria
first
committed
to m.anuscript.^
In Asoka's day, but two forms of writing seem to

in India, the Ariano-Pali,
common
to
and Northwest
India,
and
the
Indo-Pali,
peculiar to the inscriptions in the other parts of his

vast
realm.
Not
till
long after his time could the
story have been invented which ascribes to
Gotama
and his contemporaries a knowledge of many diverse

forms of writing.
Among
the sixty-four different kinds of alphabets
which the youthful Gotama enumerates, the CJiinese

1 Cf. Max Miiller, Hist, of Anc. Sansk. Lit., pp. 507 f. Weber, Indische Studien, V. pp. 18 ff. Oldenberg, Ancient India, its Language from which all and Religions, Chicago, 1896, p 22. The alphabet
;
existing forms of Indian writing have been developed, is that employed by Asoka in all his inscriptions save that of Kapur-di-giri in
the Northwest.
Pali,
The
origin of this alphabet, variously styled Indo-
Magadhi, Maurya, Asoka, is disputed. Some scholars, as PrinOthers, sep, Wilson, Senart, Halevy, derive it from Greek sources. as Lassen, Cunningham, Dowson, pronounce it of native origin. Ikit the most probable opinion is that it is a development of a Semitic script, Sabaean or Babylonian, which seems to have been introduced
into India by merchants
about the sixth century B.C. So Weber, Lenormant, and others. Cf. Isaac Taylor, The Alphabet, an Account of the Origin and Development of Letters.
Max
Miiller, Biihler,
London,
1883.
Vol. II. pp. 304
ff.
The alphabet
Ariano-Pali,
is
of the Kapur-di-giri inscription, generally
known
as
most of the Indo-Bactrian coins. It is of Iranian (Aramaean) origin and was probably introduced soon after the country was B.C., century, into the Panjab in the fifth reduced to a satrapy under the dominion of Uarius. Cf. Taylor,
identical with the script of
Op.
cit.
pp. 256
ff.
Anachronisms
writing
is
221
that
mentioned.
It
is
very likely
the
knowledge of the Chinese became popular in Northern India through the embassy sent by Ming-ti in
62
A. D.
Thus, from internal evidence alone, there

for suspecting that this
is
good reason
take form
till
legend did not
some time
after the birth of Christ.
This suspicion becomes confirmed when we examine the
biography known to Southern Buddhists, and

legend wanting.
story
find this earliest
Nor
life
is
it
present
in
the
of
Buddha's
belonging to
the
Northern canon, the Buddha

in all
it
C/iarita,
which would
legend had
probability have
made room
it
for the
existed at that time, for
notes the precocity of
the youthful Gotama,
"When
he
had passed the period of childhood and

in
reached that of middle youth, the young prince learned

few days the various sciences suitable to
generally took
his
race,
which
many
years to master."
The
in the
earliest
is
Buddhist work
the Chinese
A. D.^
in
which the legend
is
mentioned
life
of
Buddha
translated
year 194
But the corresponding legend

empire
at this time, for
about the precocity of the boy Jesus was already
known
of
in
the
Roman
Irenûs
ch. xx.
Lyons
in his
work Adversus
taxes
the
Hcereses, b.
i.
(written
in
the time that Eleutherus was bishop of
Rome,
177-190),
Gnostic
heretics
for
teaching this very fable about our Lord.

1
This imp. xvii.
Op.
cit.
ii.
24.
cf. S. B. E.
XIX.
22 2
Buddhism and
Christianity
plies that the
legend must have been known to the
Gnostics as early as the middle of the second century, and, perhaps,
even
is
earlier.
The
priority of the
least,
Buddhist parallel
uncertain.
(4)
thus,
to
say the
very
Professor Seydel
calls
attention to the strikgift
ing similarity of the story of the miraculous
of
tongues told of Saint Peter
in the
second chapter of
the Ac^s of the Apostles and that attributed to Bud-
dha
at the
preaching of
his first
sermon
at Benares.
The gods and heavenly beings were there as well as men and though Buddha spoke the language of
;
Magadha, they
all
thought that he was speaking
in
the tongue with which each one was familiar.
Since this incident
is
absent from the accounts of

in all
Buddha's sermon as told

story of his
life,
the early forms of the

earliest authority
it
and since the
en-
joys
is
the
Piijawaliya, a
it
Ceylonese work of the
thirteenth century,^
has no legitimate place in a
comparison
instituted to
show the presence of Bud-
dhist thought in Christian teaching.
(5)
The same
Lillie
'^
fatal
objection applies to the use
which Mr.
found
nor
'
makes of the story of Buddha mul-
tiplying food at a marriage feast.

in the scriptures of the
The
story
is
not
Southern school
at all,
in the
early biographies of the Northern canon.

248.
Op.
cit. p.
Cf. R. S.
Hardy, Manual of Biidhisjn,
p. 1S7, also p. 518.
8 Influence, p. 60.
Anachronisms
Its
223
only authority
is
the Chinese version of the sixth
century, the
Romantic Legeiid of Sakya Buddha.

newly
discovered
(6) "
The
fragments
of
the
Gospel of Peter," says the same

ing evidence of the haphazard
writer,^ " gives strikin
way
which extracts
from the Buddhist books seem to have been sprinkled
among
'
the Gospels.
It
records that
Mary Magdalen,
taking with her her friends,' went to the sepulchre

'
of Jesus to
place themselves beside

'
Him
and peretc.
rites
form
the
rites
of
wailing,
beating
breasts,
Amrapali and other courtesans did the same

to
Buddha, and the

tears.'
disciples
'
were indignant that

his
impure women should have

with their
In this passage
Lillie's
washed
dead body
"
(Rockhill, Tibetan Life, p. 153.)
we have
a further instance of
Mr.
looseness of thought and recklessness of asFirst of
all, it is to be noted that what he draw from Mr. Rockhill's Life of the Buddha is to be found there only in part. Not a word is said about Amrapali and other courtesans.
sertion.
pretends to
All that
we
are told
is
that at the council of Rajagriha,
the venerable
Kasyapa declared Ananda unworthy of
taking part in the proceedings, because on several occasions he had acted wrongly.
told.
One
of his faults
to corrupt
is
thus
"
Moreover, thou didst show
women
the golden
body of the Blessed One, which was then

if
sullied b}' their tears."
Now, even
this alleged parallel

1
were prechristian,
Influence, p. 66.
2
it
24
Lillie
Buddhism and
far
Christianity
would be
from justifying the conclusion which
Mr.
draws.
But
to base
still
its
antiquity on
Tibetan tradition betrays a

ment, the more
greater lack of judg-
so, as the primitive
form of the story,
which
exists in the canonical scriptures,
and which
alone can be accounted prechristian, offers no ground

for a parallel at
all.
In the Book of the Great Decease,
we
are told that
the Mallas of Kusinara, having learned that
Buddha
their
was about
to pass
away, came
in
deep grief with
wives and children, to see him for the
last time,
and
were admitted by Ananda

It is in allusion to this
in
family groups into the
presence of his dying master.^

incident that at the council
of Rajagriha, the following charge was
made
against
Ananda by some of
" This,
also, friend
his brother
monks:
ill
Ananda, was
done by
thee, in that
thou causedst the body of the Blessed
One
to be saluted
by
women
Blessed
first,
so
that
by
their
weeping, the
body of the
fault."
^
One was
It is
defiled
by
tears.
Confess that
(7)
from
this
same source
that the Chinese
Buddhists derived their story of a

over the body of
her tears.
It
woman weeping
his feet with
Buddha and moistening
was found by Professor Beal in a Chinese version of uncertain date and mentioned in his Abstract of Four Lectures on Buddhist Literatures^ Curious
1
S.
B. E. XI.
p. 103.
xi. i, \0.
2
3
Chullavagga,
S. B. E. XX.
p. 379.
pp. 75 and 165.
Anachronisms
to note,
225
woman
bath-
Mr, Bunsen^ seized upon
this as the proto-
type of the Gospel story of the penitent

ing in tears the feet of Jesus.
parallel, like the preceding,
It is
plain that this

as an
must be rejected
us
that
"
anachronism.
(8)
Mr.
Lillie
'
informs
Buddha,
.
.
like
Christ,
preached to the
spirits in prison.
The
Chinese hold that evêry thousand years,

in
Buddha,
of
the form of a beautiful the

hell
young man, goes down

clears
to
Avichi,
and
that
region
suffering."
Since this doctrine, which

with the teaching of Buddha,
is
is
wholly out of joint
unknown
is
to the
late
Budproit
dhism of India, and
is
nothing else than a

it
duct of Chinese speculation,
hard to see
how
could have exerted any influence on the formation of

early Christian
dogma.
Both Pro-
(9)
The
beautiful Gospel parable of the prodigal
son
is
not allowed to pass unchallenged.
fessor
SeydeP and Mr.

in a
Lillie^ call
attention to a
corresponding story
ern school.
canonical book of the North-
In the fourth chapter of the Loins of the

at the pros-
Tnie Law, Buddha's disciples, overjoyed
pect of being predestined to supreme enlightenment,

illustrate their
unexpected good fortune by a parable,

after
'fc>
A
1
poor wanderer,
an absence of
it
many
home.
years,
comes without knowintj

Op. Op.
cit
p. 49.
to his father's
The
2
*
Buddhism
IS
cit. p.
230.
Influence, p. 70.
2 26
Buddhism and
Christianity
simple shelter of former days has given place to a

splendid palace, where the father lives in princely
magnificence.
As
the son
approaches, he see the

little
lord of the mansion,
whom
he
suspects to be his
father, seated like a king
on a throne surrounded by
many
attendants.
Frightened by so
off.
much
splendor,
he turns aside and hastens
But the
father, recog-
nizing his long lost son, sends after him.

to
Unwilling
make himself known
before the son has given proof
of his fitness for a
life
of wealth and refinement, he

his fields at
engages him to labor
in
double wages.
He
lives
in
rude hut, faithfully performing the

till
menial tasks assigned him,
his
merit
becomes
thoroughly tested.
Then
his father, inwardly rejoic-
ing to find his son so worthy, but not yet ready to
make
himself known, raises him to a position of honor,

feel as
and bids him
a son in the house of his father.
In this condition he lives for
the father, feeling his end approaching,
many years, till at length summons the

heir of
all
king and nobles, and declaring the astonished servant to be his

possessions.
own
son,
makes him
his
Even
in
if
this story
were of prechristian origin,
it is
too unlike that of the prodigal son, both in outline and
purpose, to deserve the

is
name
of a parallel.
But
there
the
not a fragment of evidence that the Lotus of

in
St.
True Law,
which alone
John.
it is
found,
is
as old as
the gospel of
Professor
Seydel himself,
while inclined to give the book as early a date as
Anachronisms
possible, has to content himself with the
227
vague
estiis
mate of" before 200

tion^ that the
A. D."^
There
a Chinese tradi-
book was
is
translated into Chinese at
the close of the second century of the Christian era,
but this
testimony
contradicted
by
the
Chinese
Catalogue of the
Tri-pithaka, which states that the
oldest Chinese translation of the
work was made by

16.''^
Chu-fa-hu,of the Western Tsin dynasty, A.D. 265-3
From
internal
and external evidence, the most that

is
can be reliably made out
that about 250 A.D. the
work was
in existence
in
its
present form, and that
chapters i.-xx. and xxvii., which constituted the

originally, are earlier
still.
work
Pro-
But how much

for
earlier,
there
fessor
is
no positive ground
determining.
Kern thinks the

earlier
original
form
may be some
is
centuries
than
250
A.D.,
but this
pure
conjecture.*
It is
plain that a
book which cannot be assigned

is
with certainty to a date as early as 200 A. D.

legitimate source to
not a
draw from
in
trying to prove the
dependence of the Gospels on Buddhist thought.

(10)
the
In like manner, the authority of the Lotus of

justify the use of the parallel
^
True Lazv does not
which both Professor Seydel

1
and Mr.
Lillie^ find to
p. 89.
Op.
cit. p.
lot.
p. XX.
^ *
Edkins, Chinese Btiddhisvi,

Cf. S. B.
S. B. E.
XXI.
167.
E. XXI.
p. xxii.
^
^
Op.
cit. p.
Influeuce,
is
Buddha
harm a (ch. xiv.), p 62. "In the White LoUis of asked how it is that, having sat under the Bo-tree only forty
has been able, according to his boast, to see
years ago, he
many
2 28
Buddhism and
Christianity
the question put to Jesus by the doubting Pharisees:

" Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen " Abraham? (ii) The Book of Parables by Buddhaghosa is, as we have already seen, a Ceylonese work of the fifth
century.
Yet this
is
the authority on which Mr. Lillie
relies to attribute to
Buddha himself
the statement so
is
like
Matthew,
mind."
v. 28,
that the law to shun adultery "

at the wife of
broken by even looking

lustful
another with
(12)
the
Here
is
another characteristic
eff"usion
I
from
same
writer:'^
"On
!
one point,
of
have been
Buddhist
little
puzzled.
The pass-word
the
wanderers was Sadhu
which does
!
not
seem
x.
to
correspond with the Pax Vobiscum

of Christ's disciples.
(Âlat.
13)
But I have just come across Renan (^Lcs Apotrcs, p. 22) which {bojishows that the Hebrew word was Shalom " heur/) This is almost a literal translation of Sadhu The value of this remarkable discovery would be greatly enhanced if we did not find this form
a
passage
in
of
salutation
in
very
ancient
books of
the
Old
Testament.^
(13)
To
this
saints
category
of anachronisms belongs
Buddhas and
that,
swers that he has lived
who died hundreds of years previously. He anmany hundred thousand myriads of Kotis, and
form
of a
though
in the
Buddha, he
-
is
in reality
Swayambhu,
the Self-E.\istent, the Father of the million worlds."

1
Influence, p. 51.
Genesis,
xliii. 23.
Ibid. p. 47.
Judges,
vi.
23; xix. 20, and elsewhere.
Anachronisms
one which
is,
229
all,
perhaps, the grossest of

Lillie
and which
cul-
does not shield Mr.
from the imputation of

it
pable ignorance because
has been committed by

is
men whose
tain
reputation for scholarship

It is
far
greater
than his own.^
the attempt to prove, from cer-
mutual points of contact, the wholesale importa-
tion into
Roman
Catholicism of Lamaistic
rites
and
customs.
One of the early champions of this thesis was Mr. Henry Prinsep,^ who, drawing chiefly from the Abbe Hue's well-known book of travels, brought out, in 185 1, a small volume entitled, Tibet, Tartary, and
Mongolia.
worth,
is
This book, which has but
little
scientific
chiefly
known to-day
for
its
oft-quoted pas-
sage
enumerating the resemblances between Lama-
ism and Catholicism that Father Grueber, a Jesuit

missionary of the seventeenth century, remarked
his
in
*
journey through Tibet.

fail
This passage Mr.
Lillie
does not
to reproduce,
nor does he forget the

of the
equally well-known
testimony
Abbe Huc.^
Having thus shown by unimpeachable witnesses the
many
points in which the two religions agree,

its
the
the
monastic system, with

chastity,
obligations
of
poverty,
fasts,
and obedience, the tonsure, the

Fergusson, Rude Stone Monuments,
*
annual period of retreat and meditation, the venera^
Cf. J.
p. 502.
Not
Op.
to be
confounded with the eminent scholar, James Prinsep.

/n/Iueiice,^Y>- I74-I75II. ch.
2.
8
5
cit. p. 14.
Travels in
Tartary, Tibet,
and China,
Vide supra,
p. 150.
230
Buddhism and
and
relics,
Christianity
tion of saints
the use of bells and rosaries,
prayers and offerings for the dead, sacramental confession, baptism, offering of consecrated food
altar,
on an
the use of holy water and incense, of crosier,
mitre, dalmatic, cope, the processions, litanies, service
with
double choir, a graded hierarchy ruled by a
supreme head,
he
draws the conclusion that the

hands from
Tibetan
Catholic Church, being less ancient than Buddhism,
must have borrowed with

neighbor.
full
its
In this remarkable piece of sophistry, Mr. Lillie
seems to overlook the very important point that

primitive
Buddhism
is
is
one
thing,
and
Lamaistic
Buddhism
another.
Far from being ancient. Lamaits
ism, as has already been shown, took
rise
only
in
the Middle Ages, having been developed
by
a slow
process of modification from the Buddhism of Northern

India,
introduced
into
Tibet
by
Srong-tsan
Sgam-po
in the
seventh century.
Long
before
Lama-
ism had an existence, the resemblances enumerated

above, with the single exception of the rosary, were
prominent
features, not only of the Latin church, but
of the Greek and other Oriental churches
as
well.
Of
course,
it
cannot be denied that those points of
contact in
Lamaism which were derived from early Buddhism have an antiquity much greater than their Christian parallels. Such are the monastic system, the
use of bells, rosaries, the veneration of saints,
relics,
and images, and pilgrimages
to
holy places.
The
Anachronisms
with the similar elements to be found
is
231
Catholicism
question whether these have any historical connection

in
practically one with the larger question of the pos-
sible influence of
question
Buddhism on Christianity. To Lamaism has nothing to say. As for
this
the
remaining resemblances, which were not derived from

early
Buddhism, and which are

rites
distinctively Lamaistic,
the
priority of Catholic
and practices
is
too
plainly taught b}' history to be

discussion.
It
is
made
the subject of
idle, therefore, to
establish a
comif
parison between Catholicism and Lamaism, as

points
the
made to prejudice the claims of the Catholic Church.^ Nor is there any call on the latter to demonstrate the way in which Lamaism came to possess these resemblances. Still, a very
of contact could be
natural and plausible explanation
torianism, which presents the
is afforded by Nessame points of contact with the Buddhism of Tibet, and which is known to
have exerted a widespread influence even as

far as
in
Eastern Asia
in
China
itself,
during the very period
which Lamaism was taking form.^

1
Cf. K. F.
p. 116.
Koppen, Die Reliiîon Rhys Davids, Buddhism, p.
des
Buddha,
I.
pp. 561
ff.
and
II.
250.
Hibbert Lectures on Bud-
dhism, pp. 192-195.

-
J.
Fergusson {Rude Stone Monuments,
p. 503),
Max
Miiller
[Ntw
and Andrew White {History 0/ the Warfare of Science with- Theology, N. Y. 1S96, II. p. 381), ascribe to the Abbe Hue the explanation that Lamaism was a cunning invention of Satan, devised to ape the true religion of God. Had they taken the pains to read his interesting chapter on this subject {Travels, II. ch. 2), they would not have committed this injustice to the genial and largeRet'iew, IV. p. 68),
minded author.
232
(14)
Buddhism and
As
a
Christianity
the last anachronism,
Lillie's
supplement
to
and as a further instance of Mr.

arguing, observe
liturgy, the
what he says
of which
of the
method of Kwan-Yin
be traced
existence
cannot
beyond the beginning of the

"
fifteenth century.
This
is
what the Rev.

of this office
S. Beal, a
chaplain in the
in
navy, wrote of a liturgy that he found

'
China:
It
The form
is
a very curious one.
bears a singular likeness in
its
outline to the
liturgies.
"
common
is
type of the Eastern Christian

say, there
is
That
to
"
an
"
Proanaphoral
is
and an
"
anaphoral
portion.
incense,
There
an
a prayer of entrance, a prayer of
inscription
of praise
to
the
threefold
object, a prayer of oblation, the lections, the recitations
of the
Dharani,
the
against temptation, followed

a
p.
Embolismus or prayer by a " Confession " and

of Buddhist Scriptures,
" Dismissal."
'
(^Catena
397)."
The
early
following
Lillie
is
the continuation of the subject,

:
which Mr.
found convenient to ignore

Nestorian Christians
to
in
"
The
genthat
arrival of the
China
would be quite
eral
sufficient
account
if
for
this
resemblance, particularly
we
recollect
same emperor, Ta'e Tsung, who was the great patron of Buddhism, was also the protector of the new missionaries, who in consequence were able to
the
build churches and establish themselves as a recog1
Iiifluetice, p. 176.
Anachronisms
nized
233
body of
religious worshippers in several parts

^
of the empire."
(15)
The
use of the cruciform

is
swastika
in
the
Christian catacombs
as evidence of the
sometimes brought forward
a Buddhist symbol.^
borrowing by early Christians of But it is to be borne in mind

from being distinctively
to the peoples of Italy, Greece,
that this ancient symbol, far
Buddhist, was
known
and other parts of Europe long before Buddhism

took form.^
1
Catena, pp. 397-398.
For the derivation
of the
Chinese female
Kwan-Yin holding the child, from the Virgin Mother and Child. Cf. p. 412 of the same work. 2 Buddhism in Christendom, p. 213. 3 Cf. A. Bertrand, La religion des Gaulois. Paris, 1897, pp. 143 ff. The value of this work is greatly diminished by its many ill-founded The City and Ilios, Schliemann, Cf. also Henry speculations.
Country of the Trojans. N. Y., 1881, pp. 345
ff.
The Meaning and Origin of

Britannica, 1885, pp. 292
tion
datts I'antiqieite
ff.
the Fylfot
and
Sivastika.
Robert P. Gregg, Archaologia
Ludwig
Miilier,
L'emploi
et la significa-
gamme. Copenhagen, 1877. Thos. Wilson, The Sivastika, the earliest known Symbol and its Goblet d'Alviella, La migration des Migrations. Washington, 1896. The latter is of the opinion that the sytnholes. Paris, 1891. Ch. ii. swastika was introduced into India from Greece or Asia Minor about the fifth century B. c. There is good reason, however, to hold with Gregg, Miiller, and others that it was a common inheritance of the It seems Indo-European peoples from their Aryan ancestors.
du
signe dit crois
originally to have been a sun-symbol.
CHAPTER
FICTIONS
Vain attempts
IV
Buddhist parallel to the Holy Ghost Maya Spurious parallels to the angelic announcements the East Buddha not born to Mary and to Joseph The star on Christmas-day Pretended counterparts to the offerings of the Magi Bimbisara not the prototype of Herod Habba not synonymous with Tathagata Lack of resemblance between the story of the lost child Jesus and the Jambu-tree incident Pretended baptism of Buddha Untenableness of the statement that Buddha and Christ began to preach at the same age The
to find a
not a virgin
in
Bodhi-tree incident not the source of the story of Nathaniel and

the fig-tree
The
Gospel incident of the
pendent of the Buddhist notion of karma Yasa not the protoLack of resemblance between Buddha's type of Nicodemus
man born
blind inde-
entry into Rajagriha and Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem
The
Buddha
Last Supper of Jesus wholly unlike the
final
meal of
Unwarranted ascription to Buddha of words spoken by Christ Spurious Buddhist parallels to the abandonment of
Jesus by His disciples, to the thief on the cross, to the parting
of Christ's garments, to the resurrection, to Matthew, v.
xiii.
29,
and
45.
IN
a comparison between
ity,
Buddhism and
Christian-
such as
is
one has a right
made by the writers under review, to demand that none but genuine
It
is
resemblances should be taken into account.

should have no place
plain that fancied parallels, or, in other words, fictions,

in
an argument that pretends
Fictions
to rise
235
in
above sophistry.
That the writers
question
have gravely compromised themsehês

the following
(i)
list
in this respect,
of fictions will show.
"Conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the

Maya."
^
Virgin
Such
in
is
the
heading which
Mr.
the
Bunsen
tablish
gives to a passage in which he tries to es-
parallels
the Buddhist scriptures to
Gospel story of the miraculous conception and the

virgin-birth of Jesus.
In
this
objectionable use of
texts from Christian ritual and
Holy
Scripture, he
has been zealously imitated by both Professor Seydel
and Mr.
Lillie, in
whose works almost every

is
parallel,
however
far-fetched,
prefaced by a Gospel phrase
or sentence.
It
takes no
is
little
boldness to try to find in Budall
dhism what
to
recognized by
competent scholars
be an absolute contradiction to Buddhist teaching,
namely, a genuine counterpart to the Christian idea

of the
Holy
it
Spirit.
Yet
all
three writers have at-
tempted
with as
many
different results.
Accord-
ing to Mr. Bunsen,^ the Buddhist equivalent to the
Holy Ghost
is
karma, though of
for, in
this
he seems not to
be quite sure,
another place, he identifies the

spirit
Holy Ghost with the

Professor
future
of the Bodhi-tree
it
!'^
Seydel
holds
to be
Maitreya, the
Buddha
of love,
now
reigning as a Bodhisattva
to
in the Tusita heaven.

1
But while applying

'^
Gotama
Op.
cit. p.
33.
*
Ibid. p. 26.
3 Ibid. p. 42.
Op.
Cit. p. 263.
236
Buddha
"
Buddhism and
the
Christianity
Mr. Bunsen, Conceived by the Holy Ghost," he shrewdly avoids

it
phrase
borrowed from
the ridiculous, though consistent, conclusion that
was through the agency of Maitreya that Buddha's

conception was effected.
Mr.
Lillie
inclines to the
view that the Buddhist

dis-
Holy
Spirit
is
the
Dharma, the Law, which he
covers to be the very equivalent of the Greek Sophia.
On
In
opinions like these no
comment
is
needed.
declaring that Buddha, like Christ, was con-
ceived
by
the
Holy Ghost, Mr. Bunsen

Pali
in
it
is
not disin
concerted by the utter absence of testimony

Sanskrit
the
is
and
scriptures.
His authority
Chinese version,
discovery that "
which he made the remarkable

Spirit, or Shing-shin,
^
was the Holy
which descended on the Virgin Maya."

have no existence
is
This method of resorting to foreign versions for

parallels that
in
the original Bud-
dhist scriptures
unfortunately too
much
But
in favor
in-
with
all
the
writers
under review.
in this
stance, Mr.
Bunsen has made the additional blunder

it
of giving to the text a meaning which
plainly does
not bear.
The Chinese
is
version from which he drew
his fanciful notion
the one which Professor Beal
has summarized in the Introduction to volume XIX.

of the Sacred Books of the East.
p. xix, the
There, to be sure,
;
word Shing-shin occurs

it
but, as the conelse than

cit.
text clearly shows,

1
means nothing
2
the
Ii/fluetice, p. 172.
Op.
p.
2>2)-
Fictions
pure
of
spirit
237
side,
of Buddha himself, which entered the
Maya
(2)
in the
form of an elephant.
is
Equally unfounded
at the
the assertion that Maya,

a
like
Mary, was
Not,
is
same time
that
to
mother and a
of
virgin-
virgin.^
indeed,
peculiar
it
the
notion
motherhood
alone.
the
Sacred
Scriptures
We
find
elsewhere, in the Avesta, in the
mythology of Greece and of ancient Mexico.

this notion has
But
no place
in the
Buddha-legend, where
Maya
is
not once spoken of as a virgin, and where
the consummation of her marriage with
dhodana
sion
find
"
King SudThus in the very vermentioned above, where Mr. Bunsen pretends to the epithet virgin applied to Maya, we read
is
plainly implied.
The queen from

"
'
that
moment
life.
[/. e.
of conception]
leads a pure, unconlaminate
Now, on account
Bearing as
I give I
of this conception,
do a Mahasattva,
polluting ways,
^
up
all false,
And
"
both in heart and body rest in purity.' "
The Romantic Legend"^ represents Maya as saying: From this time forth, I will no more partake of any
In the Life of Buddha, as told in the
sensual pleasure."
Manual
of
Budhism,^ we read
"
From
the time of conception,

in the
Mahamaya was
1
free
from passion and lived
strictest continence."
Bunsen, Loc.
p. il.
cit.
Seydel, Op.
cit. p.
no.
Lillie,
Buddhism
^
in
Christendom,
-
S.
B. E. XIX.
p. xix.
p. 37.
p.
142..
238
Buddhism and
Christianity-
According to the Tibetan Life of Buddha, as given by Mr. Rockhill,i Suddhodana, the king, " knew Mahamaya his wife but she bore him no children."
;
In the
face
of such
evidence,
the following
fails
as-
tronomical
conviction
:
reasoning of Mr.
Lillie-
to
bring
"It has been debated whether she was a
virgin at the date of Buddha's birth.
As
she
is,
with-
out doubt, Virgo of the sky,
think the question
must be answered
in the
affirmative."
in
Nor does
work^ serve
the
to
plea
which he makes
another
make good his contention. "Attempts have been recently made to prove that the mother of Buddha was not a virgin but this goes
;
completely counter to both the Northern and the
Southern scriptures.
had a
In the
it is
It is
stated in the Lalita Vis-
tara that the mother of a

child.
Buddha must never have Southern scriptures, as given by

a
Mr. Tumour,
announced that
is
womb
in
which a
Buddha
elect has reposed,
like the
sanctuary of a
chaitya (temple)."
ment
to
The evidence already cited shows his first stateThe other two statements are to be untrue.
beside the point.
To be
childless
is
not the same as
be a virgin
and a comparison given as a reason
why Maya
1
could not bear again, has nothing to say
regarding her virginity.

p. 15.
Buddha and Early Buddhism, p. 70. This is an echo of Mr. Bunsen's symbolic speculation on p. 23 of his Anêl Messiah. Buddhism in Christendom, p. u. Cf. Influence, p. 23.
2
Fictions
"
239
hcos
A womb
in
which a Buddho elect

is
reposed
in
is
as the
sanctuary [in which the rehc
enshrined]
it
a chetiyo.
No
human being can

the mother of a
again occupy
or use
it.
On
that account
Buddho
elect,
is
dying on the seventh day

^
after the birth of the elect,
regenerated in Tusitapura.''^
Lillie tries to
In another work
virginity of
"
still,'
Mr.
prove the
Maya from
life
a passage in the Lalita Vistara.
By
the consent of the king, the queen was permitted
to lead the
of a virgin for thirty-two months."
'^
But the French translator, Mr. Foucaux, on whose

version Mr. Lillie relies,
text,
commenting on
this
very
denies that
it
implies virginity.
He
quotes a
passage from the Tibetan version of the Abhinish-
k7'amana
asserted.
Stitra,
wherein the very opposite

are as
follows
:
is
plainly
His words
"
Maya Devi
desir
soit
obtient du roi son
epoux de ne pas obeir au

il
pendant 32 mois, mais

vierge.
n'est pas dit qu'elle
Le passage
tib.)
suivant
le
*
do I'Abhinichkramana
p. 189,
Sutra (trad,
dans
sujet.
Kandjour
ne laisse
etant
aucun doute a ce
alle
Le
roi
Souddhodana
au
avec
ils
Mahamaya dans
se livrerent
"'*
I'interieur
solitaire
du
palais,
aux jeux,
se livrerent
plaisir,
se livrerent a la volupte.'
1
Turnour,
yi'7/r//.
Asiat. Soc. of Bengal, VII. p. 800.
Cf.
Warren,
Buddhism
^
*
in Translations, p. 45.
^ q\^ jj;^ Ann. Mus. Gniin. VI. p. 29. Gnim. XIX. p. 12. Saint Jerome seems to have been the first to make the mistake of ascribing to Maya a virgin-motherhood. " Apud Gymnosophistas Indias, quasi per manus hujus opini-
Influence, p. 24.
Ann.
ATus.
onis auctoritas traditur
quod Buddam principem dogmatis eorum

Adv. Jovinianuvi
,
latere suo virgo generarit."
lib. I. c. 42.
240
(3)
It
Buddhism and
needs a great
Christianity
of
imagiriation
to
reach
^
recognize with
Mr. LiUie
to
an
affinity
between the
angeHc
annunciation
Mary
of
her
impending
resort to
motherhood, and the dream of Maya that a white

elephant had entered her right side.
To
such a comparison seems Hke

sense of the reader.
trifling
with the good
On
the other hand, Professor Seydel the interpretation of Maya's

priests the appropriate
is
thinks he
sees in
dream by the
parallel.
Brahman Even this

(4)
Buddhist
too far-fetched to merit consideration-.

Lillie's ^
little
Despite Mr.
there
is
assurance
to
the con-
trary,
so
resemblance
between the
angel that appeared to Joseph in a dream to allay

his suspicions,
and the heavenly beings
that,
showing
half their forms, anticipated
Maya
in
announcing to
the king the glorious conception of Buddha, that the

parallelism,
must be unhesitatingly
real one, instead of
rejected.
Were
the
resemblance a
ful, it
being purely
fanci-
would have
to
be rejected as an anachronism,
in
since the earliest
book
which
it
is
found
is
the
Lalita Vistara.
(5)
The
star
which guided the wise men from the

is
East to Bethlehem
inal
not allowed to pass as an orig-
feature of the
Gospel narrative.*
We
is
p. 107.
are
re-
minded
1
that in the
Buddha-legend there
^
mention
Influence, p. 25.
Ififltience, p. 25.
Qp.
cit.
Bunsen, Op.
cit. p.
34.
Seydel, Op.
cit. p.
135.
Lillie, Influence,
p. 26.
Fictions
241
of a star as well, Pushya (the Flower), at the time of
whose conjunction Buddha was born.^

Mr.
Lillie calls
it
the " king of stars," and
tells
us
that " Colebrooke, the best astronomer of Oriental

philologists, identifies this with the Delta of Cancer."
"^
But neither
identified
star alleged.
is
Pushya the king of

all
stars,
nor
is it
even by Colebrooke with the insignificant

Colebrooke,'^ like
other competent
scholars, recognizes
Pushya
to be, not a single star,
but an asterism consisting of three stars in the constellation Cancer, the chief
is
one being Delta.
Pushya
one of the twenty-eight asterisms constituting the

zodiac,
by which the different parts of The appearance of Pushya on the eastern horizon at the time of sunset was thus It has not the remota regular annual phenomenon.
the year are designated.
est
Hindu lunar
resemblance with the mysterious star mentioned
in the
Gospel as having gone before the wise men
in
their
westward journey
till it
stopped over the place
where Jesus was.

(6)
is
Closely connected with this
spurious parallel
the alleged coincidence of the birthday of Jesus
with
Mr. Lillie,'* who dwells at that of Buddha. length on this point, informs us that " Mr. de Bunsen
1
Professor Seydel allows himself to be led into IJunsen's error of
assigning the appearance of Pushya to the time of Buddha's incarnation.

^
Buddhism
Essays,
171
Christendom,
p. 19.
II. p.
293 (Cowell's edition).
Cf.
W.
D. Whitney, Ori-
ental
*
and Linguistic Studies, Second Series, N. Y. Buddha and Early Buddhistn, p. 182.
16
1874, p. 352.
242
was the
Buddhism and
first
Christianity
to discover that
Buddha was born on

is
the 25th of December."
Invention, not discovery,
the proper term to apply to the curious and very
erroneous result obtained, not from the consideration

of the data given in the original sources, but from
the combination of a Chinese translation of the sixth
century with a Hindu

to the
New Year
reckoning belonging
Middle Ages.^
Both writers might have saved themselves many

pages of worthless discussion, had they made use of
the indications plainly set forth in the or the Lalita Vistara.
In chapter
Buddha
CJiarita,
vii.
of the latter,^
we
read that the birth took place at the time of the
conjunction of the asterism Pushya.

Lillie
That both Mr.

this,
is
and Mr. Bunsen should have ignored

little
it
not a
surprising, since they did not
fail
to
make
star.
use of
to duplicate the
Gospel incident of the
The time
of Buddha's birth was thus the time of confull
junction of the
moon
with the asterism Pushya,
in
other words,
when
the group of stars.

in
Gamma,
Delta,
and Theta of Cancer were
opposition to the sun,

at sun-
and hence appearing on the eastern horizon

set.^
This happens about the
middle of January,
not on Christmas day.
There
result.
1
is
another indication that leads to the same

vi.
cit. p.
Chapter
Op.
of the Lalita
18.
^
Vistara
j\fs.
opens
p. 74.
Cf. Bunsen,
a_
Gnim. VI.
VI.
p.
' Cf.
Journal of the American Oriental

Gtiim. VI. p. 54.
Society,
432; VII.
pp. 21, 68-69.

*
Ann. Mus.
Fictions
with the statement that Buddha's incarnation
place "in the
243
took
month Vaisaka [April-May], when

Mr.
Lillie
the asterism Visaka appeared."
himself
is
familiar with this very passage, for only
two pages
before the place
in his
book where he gives Decem-
ber 25 as the birthday of Buddha, he writes:

in
"So
spring,
when appears
mother."
in
^
the
.
constellation
. .
Visakha
[April-May], the Bodhisattva

side
entered the right

the forms of the
of his
Now
all
legend agree
solar
assigning ten lunar
months
(nine
months) to the period of gestation, so that Buddha's birth could not have taken place before
the middle of January.
this
This doubtless explains
why
"discovery" of Mr. Bunsen has received no
recognition in the scientific world.

(7)
The attempt
is
to find a parallel to the wise
men
offering to the infant Jesus gold, frankincense, and
myrrh
no more successful.
Professor Seydel,^
and myrrh," remarks that Buddha, not yet born, received from the
under the caption
" gold, frankincense,
god Brahman
immediately
dewdrop containing
all
power, and,
after birth,
was presented by gods and
nymphs with
incense and spikenard, while later on,
the Sakya princes bestowed on

it
him splendid palaces

According
to the South-
p. 73.
ern legend,
was
at this time that

Stories, p.
Davids, Buddhist Birth

p. 146.
-
Buddha was born. Cf. Rhys Hardy, Manual of Budhistn, 63.
Op.
cit. p.
139.
244
to live in.
Buddhism and
This
is
Christianity
anything but a counterpart of the
Gospel Mr,
story.^
Lillie
-
is
misleading,
when he complacently
says of this
*
futile effort, "
Seydel, in a chapter headed,
Gold, frankincense, and myrrh,' draws attention to
the similarity of the gift-presents in the Indian and

Christian
narratives."
Not
content,
however, with
in
this alleged parallel,
he resorts to the story told
the ninth chapter of the Lalita Vistara, that the
young
garden
Gotama was taken
in great
pomp
to the royal
rings, and adorned with every imaginable ornament, bracelets, necklaces, ear-rings, and cinctures, of gold
and precious stones,

his
but such
was the splendor of
body
that these ornaments
seemed
to
have
lost
their brilliancy.^
It is plain that this
story offers but a remote resem-
blance to the Gospel incident.

(8) In the story of
King Bimbisara, which

^
is first
found
in
the Romantic Legend^ belonging to
the
sixth century, Professor Seydel
and Mr.
Lillie*^
think
they see the prototype of the Gospel story of King
Herod.
sara was a king, ruling in the city of Rajagriha.

1
Like Herod and a thousand others, BimbiLike

bestowing of
seen,
is
The
earliest authority for this
gifts at birth is the
Lalita Vistara, which, as
we have
Gospels.
It relates, that
myriads of
much more recent than the nymphs showered upon Maya

and ornaments.
flowers, perfumes, garlands, ointments, vestments,
Ann. Mus. Giiim. VI. p. 84. Buddhism in Christendom, p. 30. 3 Cf. also Romantic Legend, p. 64.
'^
pp. 103-104.
Ifijluence, p. 28.
Op.
cit.
pp. 142-143.
Fictions
245
included, he was not
his
many
other monarchs,
Herod
rival
without fear that some
might contest
su-
premacy.
Unlike the case of Herod, there was no
helpless infant in his

to compass, lest
kingdom whose death he sought

it
one day
might prove a claimant

prince,
to
the throne.
He
was simply warned of the waxing
strength
of the neighboring
Gotama, who,
rival.
grown
to youthful vigor,
was soon
to take the reins
of power and might show himself a formidable
He was
advised to send an
army
at
once into
his
neighbor's kingdom, and destroy him.
But the king,

re-
who, unlike Herod, was a

jected
just
man, indignantly
so
wicked a proposal.
Always on
friendly
terms with Gotama, he became a convert to the new

religion.
It
is
only an overwrought fancy that could see a

this,
counterpart to the Gospel story in such a tale as

(9)
Mr. Bunsen
sees in the appellation
" habba,"
to the ex-
the "
coming one," applied by the Jews
pected Messiah, an echo of the
common
epithet of
Buddha, Tathagata,
meaning.
scholar
tention
to
which he attaches the same

is
Since there
gives
it
not a single Sanskrit or Pali
who
is
this
meaning, Mr. Bunsen's con-
valueless.^
(10) All three writers^ point to the legend of Bud1
Op. cit. p. Tathagata

p. 126.
18.
is
best rendered " the perfect one."

30. Seydel,
Cf. Oldenberg,
Buddha,
'''
liunsen, Op.
cit.
p.
Op.
cit.
p.
14S.
W\\\&, Bud-
dhism in
Christeiido7?i, p. 25.
246
dha
at the
Buddhism and
ploughing-match
found
Christianity
as the pattern after
which
the Gospel story of the lost child Jesus was modelled.
The Buddhist
story
is
in
two forms.
Accord-
ing to the Pali form, Buddha,
when an
infant of five
months, was put by

tree,
his nurses in the
shade of a Jambufield to wit-
while they withdrew to an adjoining
ness the royal ploughing-match.
So absorbed did
they become
their
later,
less,
little
in
the contest that they forgot about
charge, and
when they returned some hours

still
they found the babe sitting upright and motionin
deep meditation,
all
shaded by the
tree,
though the shadows of
the other trees had turned.

to witness the miracle,
The king was summoned

fell in
and
adoration before him.^
In the story as
episode
is
told of
known to the Northern school, this Buddha when a young man. The
it
Lalita Vistara'^ puts the incident before his marriage;
but according to the oldest versions,^

the eve of his flight from home.
took place on
Disgusted at the sight
of suffering, which even the diversion of the plough-
ing-match could not keep from view, he quietly

tired to a
re-
neighboring Jambu-tree, where he

into
sat,
with
crossed legs, and lapsed

Rishis,
meditative
trance.
arrested
in
their
flight,
came
to
do him
homage.
The king missed him, and

in
fearing
some
mishap, went out

1
search of him with attendants.
2 q)^ î. Hardy, Manual of Bndhism, p. 150. Buddha Charita, v. Cf. also S. B. E. XIX. pp. xx and 48. The Buddha Charita and its Chinese version make no mention of the 3
Jambu-tree or of the Rishis.
Fictions
247
He
It
soon found him
sitting motionless in the arrested
shadow of
is
the Jambu-tree.
single exception of the
far
plain that with the
search for the young prince, who,
from being
this
lost,
is
was well able

(11)
to
look after himself,
legend
quite unlike the story of the lost Jesus.
We
are gravely informed
by each of the three

in
writers^ that as Jesus, on the eve of his public ministry, suffered
himself to be baptized
the Jordan,
so Buddha, on the eve of his enlightenment under the
Bodhi-tree, sought baptism
in
the river Nairanjana.
This
is
a curious instance of the wish being father to

for the various versions of the
the thought;
legend
simply state that before partaking of the
rice
and
cream prepared
he went into
him by the shepherd's daughter, the stream and bathed. There is good
for
first
reason to believe that this was not the
time that
Buddha
(12)
tries to
subjected himself to this kind of baptism.^

Lillie,^
Mr.
on the authority of Mr. Bunsen,

Buddha,
of age.
like Christ,
persuade
to
his readers that

at
is
began
preach
thirty years
But Mr.
it
Bunsen's authority
here of no account, for

it
has
not a single Buddhist text to give
support.
Both
Bud-
the Sanskrit and the Pali scriptures agree in teaching

1 Bunsen, Op. cit. p. 42. dha and Early Buddhism, p.
Seydel, Op.
155.
cit.
p.
155.
Lillie,
- Great stress is laid on the mystic significance of " crossing to the other shore " of the river on this occasion. But as this element
is
ignored, and even contradicted, by the ancient forms of the legend,

fair to
it is
presume
that
its
importance
is
set too high.
Injineiice, p. 44.
248
that
Buddhism and
Buddha
left
Christianity
age of twenty-nine
his
home
at the
years, and only after six years of asceticism attained to
Buddhaship,
Benares.^
(13)
and
preached
his
first
sermon
in
at
One
of the Gospel
incidents which,
the
mind of Professor Seydel,^ point unmistakably

dhist influence,
is
to
Bud-
the story
in
the
first
chapter of
John, about Nathaniel and the

disciple
the new came with Philip, Jesus said: "Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee," whereupon Nathaniel recognized Him as the Messiah. Here, then, observes Professor Seydel, we
fig-tree.
As
have
the
fig-tree
mentioned
in
connection
with
Christ's
disciples.
for
messiahship
and with the winning of two

is
This association
so peculiar as to call
explanation.
Now
is
if
we
turn
to
the
Buddha-
legend, the mystery

to
his
solved.
For Buddha attained

fig-tree.
enlightenment under the Bodhi-tree, which

It
was a pippala, or variety of

sitting
his
was while
after
under the sacred
fig-tree,
immediately
enlightenment, that he converted the two mer-
chants,
first
Tapussa and Bhallika.
The winning
of these
two converts under the Bodhi-tree supplies the

to the explanation of the similar incident which,
key
in
John, has such an awkward setting.
But
^
is
not fancy here taking the place of reason?
Two
Op.
when
2
leaving home.
cit.
Chinese versions give nineteen years as the age of Buddha Cf. S. B. E. XIX. pp. x.\i, xxvi.
pp. 168-170, also, 296.
Fictions
Analyze the alleged
of contrasts.
parallel closely,
249
and
it
quickly
resolves itself into a series, not of resemblances, but
The sacred
for
fig-tree
it
is
associated with the

attained to per-
Buddhaship,
fect
beneath
Buddha
wisdom.
of
Buddha, according
Professor
to the
inaccurate
still
statement
Seydel,
his first
while
sitting
beneath the
tree,
makes
two converts, mer-
chants, who, being

their
his
way
rejoicing.
won over to the new law, go on They are not numbered among
intimate disciples.
On
the
first
other hand,
to be
Philip
and Nathaniel are not the

Christ.
Peter
won over to and John preceded them. They did

familiar disciples.
not merely believe in Christ; they joined themselves

to the small
band of His
sitting
Christ
did not, after the alleged
them over while

implied.
example of Buddha, win under the fig-tree nor is any

;
close connection of the fig-tree with His messiahship
He
led Nathaniel to recognize
Him
to
be
the
Messiah by giving proof of His superhuman knowledge. He declared that when Nathaniel was
under the
parison
fig-tree,
He knew
him.
Thus
the
only
thing in the two incidents that offers a basis for comis
the fig-tree.
But as
it
fig-trees
were com-
mon enough
go
coincidence.
(14)
in Palestine,
is
hardly necessary to
trivial
to India to find
the explanation of this
Another story thought by Professor SeydeP

Lillie
^
and Mr.
i
to bear the unmistakable impress of

2
Op.
cit.
pp. 230-231.
Influence, pp. 54-SS-
250
Buddhism and
is
Christianity
Buddhist speculation
that mentioned in JoJin, ix.
1-4, concerning the man born bHnd. The question put to Jesus by His disciples, " Who did sin, this man
or his parents?"
disciples
is
made
to bear witness
that the
rebirth,
in
were imbued with Buddhist ideas of

Professor
Seydel,
with the evil consequences of sin
committed
in
previous
life.
confirmation,
calls attention to a
parable in the Lotus of the True
Lazv, in which a physician cures a blind man, declaring beforehand that his infirmity was the result of a
previous
life
of
sin.
The
fictitious
character of this alleged resemblance
reveals itself on a
moment's
reflection.
First of
all,
the fact that the doctrine of rebirth was not

in
unknown
a
Palestine
in
the time of Christ,
while betraying
foreign influence, would not
necessarily
point to
Buddhist source
for the doctrine

far
was known
to the
Greeks, as well, as
back as Pythagoras.^
In the second place, granted that this notion was

in
the
air,
the question, " Did this
man
sin
or his
parents?" need not imply that the speaker held the

doctrine of metempsychosis
it,
himself.
The knowit
ledge that some held
and the suspicion that

to
might be
question,
1
true,
would be enough
account
for the
Mr.
Lillie,
following Mr. Bunsen, makes the gratuitous asser-
tion that Pythagoras
borrowed
his particular
views from Buddha.
Scholars think otherwise.

India
is
"The
story of
Pythagoras' journey lo
taken by modern
critics to
be a fable.
p, S62.
Sound scholarship
recognizes the independent origin of Greek and Indian philosophy."
Lassen, Indische Alterthumskunde,
I.
Fictions
Thirdly,
it
251
the disciples
is
incredible
that
would
have held the Buddhist doctrine of karma without the

positive approbation of Jesus.
But how absolutely

notion,
is
foreign to His
mind was any such

:
plainly
shown by His reply

his parents
;
" Neither did this
but that the works of
man sin nor God should be

conceive a
made more
this.
manifest in him."
It is difficult to
absolute denial of the doctrine of
karma than
of the
is
Professor Seydel's appeal to

blind
the parable
Ti'uc
man
in
the Lotus of the
Lazv
of no
avail, for
the
Gospel of St. John antedates this work
by
at least a century.
(15) In the MaJiavagga} the story is told of the young nobleman Yasa, who abandoned his home to
become
Buddha's
original'
monk.
flight
It
is
identical with
the story of
from home, and seems to be the
and not the copy.

each season,
in
Yasa had three

lived a
life
palaces,
one
for
which he
of care-
less pleasure,
surrounded by female musicians.
One
night he awoke, and
by the
light of the
lamp, saw his

of hideous
gilt
female attendants lying asleep

positions.
slippers,
in all sorts
Disgusted at the sight, he put on his
and
fled.
mysterious hand opened

city, so
the
that
door of
his palace
and the gate of the

in the
he was able to make his way without hindrance to

the deer-park.
ing,
There,
gray light of the morn-
he came upon Buddha walking up and

1
i.
down
-j.S. B.
E. XIII.
p. 102.
252
in
Buddhism and
air.
Christianity
himself to him,
lis-
the open
He unburdened
tened to his exhortations, and became a disciple.
This
is
the character that Mr. Lillie
would have
" Professor
us take as the prototype of Nicodemus.
Rhys Davids points out that Yasas, a rich young man, came to Buddha by night for fear of his rich relations." On comparisons like these no comment
is
needed.
(16) "Buddha's triumphal entry into Rajagriha," says Mr. LiUie,^ " has been compared to Christ's entry
into Jerusalem."
The
merit of originating this com-
parison seems to belong to Professor Seydel.^

apart from the fact that the story
is
But
in
not found
the
most ancient forms of the Buddha-legend, and is entirely unknown to the Northern school, the points
of resemblance are too few to warrant the
parallel.
name of
to
in
Buddha, accepting an
invitation
dine
the
with Bimbisara, king of Rajagriha, sets out
morning with
city, a
his
band of monks.
and announces
As he
in
enters the
deva, assuming the form of a beautiful youth,
precedes Buddha,
song
to
the
inhabitants that the most perfect of kings,
exempt
from all passions, free from the miseries of rebirth, worthy of the homage of gods and men, is coming. Of anything like an enthusiastic greeting on the part of
the people, of a strewing of branches or flowers before
him, there
1
is
not a word.^
^ *
The
parallel
is
reduced to
Influence, p. 47.
/^/^. p.
^-j.
Op.
cit. p.
255.
Bigandet, Op.
cit.
pp. 154-155-
Fictions
the single
253
a city.
all.
common
it
^
feature of entering into

is
In other words,
(17) Mr. Lillie
no
parallel at
lays himself
open
to severe criti-
cism
in his
attempt to draw a parallelism between the

final
Last Supper of Jesus and the
meal prepared
for
Buddha by Chunda,
this
the smith.
His designation of
singularly inapproto sup at
all,
meal as a
;
" last
supper
"
is
priate
for
Buddha was not wont

life
being
obliged by his rule of

that before noon.^
to eat but
once a day, and

this
But what he says of

:
meal
is
" A treacherous disciple more objectionable still changed his alms-bowl, and apparently he was poisoned. ... It will be remembered that during the
last
supper of Jesus a treacherous disciple

his
dish,'
'
dipped
into
but as Jesus was
not poisoned, the
event had no sequence."
This comparison would be of
little
weight, even
fact
is
if
both sides were correctly stated.
But the
that
the Buddhist episode, besides being of tardy origin,^

is
strangely misrepresented.
In the Tibetan source

it,
from which he pretends to have drawn

mention,
not of
a
is
there
is
treacherous disciple,
it
but
of a
wicked one.
ciple
Nor
related that this wicked dis-
changed
his master's
in his greed,
dish and poisoned him,
but simply that,
he took for himself the
superior food which was meant for Buddha, so that

1
Influence, p. 65.
Buddhism
morning.
in
The Book of the

It is
Great Decease states that the meal

Vide supra, p.
77.
question
took place early

3
in the
not to be found in the Book of the Great Decease.
254
Buddhism and
Christianity
the host was obHged to have another bowl of equally
choice contents prepared for his distinguished guest.^
to build
Such are the elements out of which Mr. Lillie seeks up the Buddhist model of the Last Supper (i8) The following statement of Mr. Bunsen ^ is an
is
absolute fiction, for which there
not a shred of
is
evidence
in
Buddhist records:
"
Gautama Buddha
said to have
announced to his disciples that the time 'Arise, let us go hence, of his departure had come. my time is come.' Turning towards the east, and
with folded hands, he prayed to the highest Spirit,
who
inhabits the region of purest hght, to
Maha-
Brahma."
It is
easy to recognize in these words the influence
of the author of the Light of Asia.
To make
the
personages of the Buddha-legend speak the language of scripture is questionable even in a poet. But it is
absolutely inexcusable in one
as a
who
pretends to write
man
of science.
inanity of the following comparison
"
'
(19)
The
is
too
patent to call for discussion.
Then
all
His disciples
forsook
Him
and
a
'
fled.'
It is
recorded that on one
occasion,
'
when
^
must' elephant charged furiously,
all
the disciples deserted Buddha.
Ananda
alone
remamed.
(20) Fit to be classed with the preceding is the Buddhist parallel proposed to the conversion of the
1
Rockhill, Life of the Eiiddha, p. 133.
Op.
cit. p.
48.
Infuetice, p. 58.
Fictions
thief
255 DhamBuddha
on the
cross.
^
Referring to the Chinese

gravely informs us that "
mapada, Mr. LiUie

converts him."
confronts a terrible bandit in his mountain retreat, and
(21) Scarcely less trivial
is
the Buddhist parallel to

"
the parting of Christ's garments.

tells
The Abbe Hue

Lama,
his
us that on the death of the Bokte

into
little
garments are cut

mensely."
(22)
^
strips
and prized impart of
The
resurrection of the
body forms no
Buddhist belief
finds a
Yet, nothing daunted, Mr. Lillie^
Buddhist parallel to the Gospel narrative that

death of Christ on the cross, the bodies of
Referring to the Tibetan
after the
the saints that slept arose.
Buddha-legend, he says, "
When Buddha
city,
died
at
Kusinagara, Ananda and another disciple saw

denizens of the unseen world in the
many
river
by the
Yigdan."
{23)
So, too, the resurrection of Christ and
His
appearing to many, are not without their alleged

Buddhist prototype
;
for
a
is
Chinese version, which

centuries later than the
Mr.
Lillie* forgets to say

tells
Gospel narrative,
his
how the dead Buddha, to soothe mother, who had come down weeping from the
opened the
lid
sky,
of his coffin and appeared to
her!
1
Influence, p. 6i.
Ibid. p. 66.
2
is
Lillie,
Op.
in
cit. p.
67.
This incident
not to be found
the
Book of
the
Great Decease.
*
Influence, p. 67.
Buddhism
256
(24)
Buddhism and
To show
^
Christianity
the source of the saying of Christ,

offend
thee,
" If thy
right eye
phick
it
out,"
the
same writer
gives a story from the Ocean of Worlds,

to the can-
which he neglects to say does not belong

onical Buddhist scriptures
a rich
:
"
A young
monk meets
'
Blessed is woman who pities his hard lot. woman who looks into thy lovely eyes.' Lovely,' And plucking out replied the monk, look here
the
'
' '
!
one of
his eyes,
he held
it
up, bleeding and ghastly,
and asked her to correct her opinion."
As the principle on which the monk acted may be formulated, " If thy eye cause others to stumble,
pluck
it
out,"
it
would
have
been
his
better
had
Mr.
Lillie
sought elsewhere for
term of com-
parison.
(25)
The well-known
similitude of the
kingdom of
heaven to the pearl of great

the merchant sells
all his
price, to obtain
is
store,
which compared not with

in a
a similitude, as one would naturally expect, but with a story that

birth,
Buddha, when a merchant

a very precious
former
dropped
gem
into the sea, and,
through perseverance and determination, recovered

it!
2
These are the many

under review are
exaggerations and
fictions
which
in the
works
set forth as witnesses
against the
originality of Christianity.
Taken together with the
the
anachronisms already enu-
merated, they constitute the great majority of the

1
Infliteiice, p. 59.
2 /j/^. p. gj.
Fictions
257
do
alleged parallels that are pressed into service to
honor to Buddhism
religion.
to the prejudice of the Christian
Whether the small remnant of genuine

will
resemblances throws doubt on the originality of the
Gospels
be discussed
in the
following chapter.
17
CHAPTER V
RESEMBLANCES NOT IMPLYING DEPENDENCE
Abuse
Reof the principle that resemblance means dependence Examples from comsemblances often of independent origin Explained by similarity of parative ethnology and religion Further conditions and by the uniformity of the laws of thought Enumeration of the Buddhist parallels wrongly taken instances
to indicate the influence of
Buddhism on
Christianity.
IT parison
too large a
is
a mistake frequently committed in the

of different religious systems to
com-
make
use of the principle that
resemblance
liable to
means dependence.
abuse
;
No
principle
is
more
consequently, none should be
applied with
greater care.
give
warning that
For both experience and reflection in the customs and sayings of
different
peoples, there are
many resemblances
in
will
fact,
of
are
quite independent origin.
So common,
such resemblances that a careful scholar
be slow
in
to suspect an historical connection except

special instances.
very
Nothing
tive
is
more common
in the
study of compara-
ethnology and religion than to find similar social
and religious customs practised by peoples too remote to have had any communication, the one with
Independent Resemblances
the
other.
259
Take, for example, the uncleanness of
the mother at childbirth, or the use of ordeals, or

the custom of burying with the dead
the
utensils
needed
for the
next
life,
or the belief in witchcraft,

in
or in the reincarnation of the souls of the dead
human and animal
forms,
these
and many other
observances are the possession of peoples native to

every continent of the earth, peoples absolutely un-
known
to
one another, and representing almost every

progress.
degree of social and religious
Even
custom so singular
to prevail
Brazil,
as the
couvade has been found
among
of
the
tribes of California,
New
Mexico,
Western China, Southern Asia, among the

Black Sea, and
the
Tibareni
Basques of
Northern Spain.
It
needs but a
little
reflection to understand
how
these and a hundred other resemblances take their

rise.
All the world over,
men have
to a large extent
the same daily experiences, the same feelings, the
same
desires.
Now,
as the laws of
it
human thought
very nature
are everywhere the same,
lies
in the
of things that men, in so
far as
they have the same
experiences, will think the same thoughts, and give
expression to them in sayings and customs that strike

the unreflecting observer
It
is
by
their similarity.
particularly in the sphere of moral conduct

origin
that
resemblances of independent
for.
may be
looked
Where
different
and even remote peoples
26o
Buddhism and
Christianity-
stand on an equal grade of culture, man's duties to

his family, his friends, his tribes-men, are recognized
by
all
with about the same degree of perspicuity.

life
The
excellence of a
is
of virtue, such as
it is
con-
ceived,
held in equal esteem.
Hence
it is
that the
proverbs of such peoples, while of quite independent

origin, offer
many
points of contact.
too, in
The forms of speech,

find expression,
which these thoughts
are often very

is
much
alike.
it
Since
is
the use of figurative language

in the least surprising that the
universal,
not
same phenomena of
daily experience should furnish the orator in every
land with the figures that lend vividness to his utterance, nor
is
it
at all strange that religious
teachers
to
their
of
different
nations
should
give
point
teachings by similar parables
drawn from
the
familiar
examples of human
activity.
in
When
form
all
Isaias,^
:
speaking
"
name
of Jehovah,
shall per-
says of Cyrus
He
is
my
shepherd and
"
my
pleasure," or
when
:
Ezekiel,^ exercising
a similar office, says of David
And
will
set
up
one shepherd over them, and he

even
shall feed
them,
my
servant
David
he shall feed them and
shall be their shepherd,"
no one thinks of question-
ing the originality of the figure on the ground that

in the
to
Agamemnon
1 Isaias, xliv. 28.
poems of Homer the favorite epithet applied "shepherd of the people."^ is

^
Ezekiel, xxxiv. 23.
.8
Odyssey,
iii.
155.
Neither
is
261
affinity
there
any cause to suspect an
between the house-simile uttered by Buddha under

the Bodhi-tree, and the beautiful soliloquy of Philolaches,^ in
is
which he likens himself

need of repair.
to a
mansion that
the
in
sad
Nor does
Buddha-
epithet, Sakya-sinha, Sakya-lion,
imply any acquaint"

^
ance on the part of Buddhists with the similar epithet

given centuries before to Juda.
Juda
is
a lion's
whelp ... he couched as a

sis to
lion."
Nor
is it
neces-
sary to have recourse to the second chapter of Gene-
account
for the
Buddhist conception of the

see in the verse of the
Bodhi-tree.
Nor need we
of David given in //. Kings, xxii. 28, "
song For Thou art
my
lamp,
Lord," the source of the Buddhist say-
Be ye lamps unto yourselves," or of the similar figure used by an Aztec mother in instructing her daughter: " It will be to you as a lamp and a beacon
so long as
ing, "
you
shall live in this world."
These
reflections
serve to
show how
idle
is
the
attempt on the part of the writers under review to
make
capital of certain Buddhist parallels that offer
an undoubted resemblance to
the Gospels.
utterances
found
in
We
in
are
all
familiar with the beautiful incident told
the Gospel, that as Jesus was one
day preaching
^
to a throng of listeners, a
1
>
woman
2.
cried out in her

Gen. xlix.
8.
riautus, Mostellaria, act.
i.
seen.
Sahagun,
Ilistoria de
Nueva Espaha, VI.
cap. xix.
The passage
is
11.
translated by Prescott, Conquest of Mexico, Vol. II. Appendix, part

no.
I.
262
Buddhism and
is
Christianity
enthusiasm, " Blessed
the
womb
that bore
Thee
and the breasts that gave Thee suck," whereupon

our Saviour made reply, " Yea, rather, blessed are
they
who hear
this
the
word of God and keep

^
it."
To
most
dent
Professor Seydel
offers
what he thinks a
inci-
significant parallel, of
is
which the Gospel
an
tells
unmistakable reflection.
legend
how
a princess,
The Buddhalooking down from her
apartments on Gotama as he passed by, paling the

splendor of his retinue by his personal magnificence,
was
"
carried
away by the
sight
and
cried
out:
Happy
the father and mother

!
incomparable son
excellent a lord
!
Happy
the
who have such an wife who has so

real
"
But Gotama, seeing that

in
happiness was to be found only

his
Nirvana,
made up
;
mind
to
renounce the world that very night
and
a
it
in return for the great truth
which the words of the

to
his
princess had
brought home
pearls from
him,
he loosed
string of costly
to her.^
neck and sent
In this story, there
is
but one feature which admits
of comparison with the Gospel incident, namely, the
words of
felicitation
which the princess had
for the
mother who gave
birth to
Gotama.
But
is
this say-
ing so remarkable that Professor Seydel should deny

^
'^
Luke,
xi. 27, 28.
Die Buddha-Legende und das Leben Jesu, p. 20. 3 Cf. Legend of Gaudiwta, I. p. 58; Buddha Charita, v. 24. In the original, there is a play on the words " happiness" and " Nirvana," which sound much alike.
to the
it
263
Is
Gospel parallel the merit of originality?
not a
a
common
experience that parents take delight
in
worthy son?
Does not the Book of Proverbs

Surely,
for possessing a
say that a wise son maketh a glad father?

then, to call a
mother happy
remarkIt
is
able son
is
to
give utterance to a truism.
to
say what has doubtless been said ten thousand times

in evêry
language.
saying so
in
common would
not
have had a place either
the Gospel narrative or in

it
the Buddha-legend, had
not in both cases given

import.
occasion for a response of
much deeper
it
Every
religious teacher recognizes certain ideals,

is
and certain states which

individual to possess.
in the
a blessed thing for the

it
Hence
is
but natural that
traditional teachings
of different religions, a
number of
abound
ing,
in
beatitudes should be found.
The psalms
Buddhist
them.
Lillie
There
is
thus no reason for resort-
as
Mr.
does,^ to the following
text to explain
the presence in
the Sei'mon on the
Mount
''
of the eight incomparable beatitudes.

angels and
Many
Have
men
yearning for the inner wisdom.
to us the chief good.
held various things blessings,
When they were Do thou declare

"
Not
to serve the foolish,

spiritual
But to serve the
To honor
This
those worthy of honor,

is
the greatest blessing.

1
Influence, pp. 4S-49.
264
"
Buddhism and
To To To
Christianity
dwell in a spot that befits one's condition,

think of the effect of one's deeds,
guide the behavior aright,
This
"
is
Much
insight
Self-control
and education, and pleasant speech,

well spoken,
And whatever word be

This
is
"To
support father and mother,
To cherish wife and child, To follow a peaceful callings

This
"
is
To To
bestow alms and live righteously^

give help to kindred.
Deeds which cannot be blamed,

This
"
is
To abhor and cease froiti

Not
to be
sin,
Abstinence from strong drink,
weary
is
in well-doing,
This
" Reverence and
lowliness,
gratitude.
at
Contentment and
The
hearing of
Dharma
due seasons,
This
"
is
To be long-suffering and 7neek, To associate with the tranquil,

Religious talk at due seasons,
This
is
" Self-restraint and purity,
265
The knowledge The attainment

This
is
of noble truths, of Nirvana,
the greatest blessing."
From the Sutra of the Forty-two Sections, an early Chinese compilation of Buddhist teachings, Mr. Lillie ^
gives the following quotations
"
:
By love alone can we conquer wrath. By good alone can we conquer evil. The whole world dreads violence. All
men
tremble in the presence of death.
Do
to others
that
which ye would have them do to you. Kill not. Cause no death." "Say no harsh words to thy neighbor. He will
reply to thee in the
same tone."
to account for
These Buddhist texts are not needed

to return
the similar teaching of Christ to love our enemies and
good
for evil.
From Mr.
Lillie's
point of
would demand that he seek the origin of the Buddhist texts themselves in the earlier
view, consistency
teaching of the Book of Proverbs

"
soft
stirreth
answer turneth away wrath, but a harsh word up anger." " If thine enemy be hungry, give him
he be
^
to eat;
if
thirsty, give
fire
thou heap coals of
him water to drink; then upon his head, and the Lord
shalt
shall
reward thee."
Figurative language, based on the familiar occupation of husbandry,

is
not so remarkable that the Gos-
pel
parable
of the sower should be traced to the

:
following text
^
'^
Op.
cit. p.
48.
Proverbs, xv.
xxv. 21, 22.
Iiijiuence, p. 51.
266
" It
is
Buddhism and
Christianity
man
recorded that Buddha once stood beside the ploughKasibharadyaja, who reproved him for his idleness.
replied thus, 'I, too, plough
I
Buddha
ligion.
and sow, and from my

fruit.
ploughing and sowing
reap immortal
I
My
field
is
re-
The weeds
life.
that
pluck up are the passions of cleavis
ing to this
My
plough
wisdom,
my
seed purity.'
"
The same judgment holds good

texts, that are not
of the following
without their corresponding analo-
gies in the writings of the

" "
New
Testament:
1
As men sow, thus
shall
" they reap.'
Buddha, " buries a treasure in a deep pit, which lying concealed therein day after day, profits him
A man,"
;
says
nothing
but there
is
a treasure of charity, piety, temperance,
soberness, a treasure secure, impregnable, that cannot pass
away, a treasure that no thief can

practise
steal.
Let the wise
man
Dharma.
This
is
a treasure that follows him after

p. 13.)
^
death."
"
{Khuddaka Fatha,
As when a
string of blind
men
see,
are clinging
one
to the
other, neither
can the foremost
nor the middle one see,
nor the hindmost see. Just so, methinks, Vasittha, is the {Tevijja talk of the Brahmans versed in the three Vedas."
Sutta,
i.
15.)
is
"What
the outside
garment of skins
O fool! What of a Your low yearnings are within you, and {Dhajnmapada, 394.) thou makest clean "
the use of platted hair,
!
!
These are the most prominent resemblances that

are to be found between the religious teachings of Christ and those ascribed to Buddha. In not a single
1
Influence, p. 52.
Ibui. p. 56.
^ Ibid.
instance
is
267
They
an historical connection probable.

fitting
have their
explanation
in
in
the principle that the
human mind, working

Lastly,
similar circumstances, will
give birth to similar thoughts.
we may note
that the similarity of the
life-
work
not,
which Jesus and Buddha were engaged has given rise to a certain number of parallels which canin
however, be pressed into the argument without

historic truth.
committing a flagrant violation of
In
each case, the religion was propagated by preaching.
Buddha,
like
Christ, gathered
disciples
in
about him,
sent
and having instructed them
his
doctrines,
them forth to convert their fellow-men. We read that when the disciples were sixty-one in number, Buddha said to them
:
"
Go
ye,
now,
Bhikkhus, and wander for the gain of
the many, for the welfare of the 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."
As
the Gospel speaks of John, the disciple
whom
Jesus loved, so, too, do

favorite disciple
we hear tell of Ananda, the of Buddha. Nor is there wanting a
counterpart of Judas,
Devadatta. who
tried to foil
Buddha's plans, and even made several ineffectual

attempts on his
life.
Another
tianity
is
similarity
between Buddhism and Chris-
that both religions failed to maintain a flour1
Mahavagga,
i.
ii.
S.
B. E. XIII.
p. ii2.
268
Buddhism and
Christianity
ishing existence in the land that
saw them
rise.
They
and
languished at home, but found a vigorous

exercised a widespread influence abroad.
It is
life
needless to say that resemblances like these,
being mere coincidences, give no evidence of the
dependence of the one
religion
upon the
other.
CHAPTER
VI
ARGUMENTS FOR THE INDEPENDENT ORIGIN OF THE GOSPELS

The
apostolic origin of the Gospels of Matthew and of
ble with the adoption of mythical elements,
The alleged presence of Buddhist and Greece an unwarranted assumption The second Girnar Edict not an indication of Buddhist activity in the Antiochus possessions of The meaning western of Yavana The thirteenth edict not (Yona), and of Yavana(Yona)-loka conclusive evidence of the existence of Buddhism in the Greekspeaking world The latter disproved by the silence of Greek Inconsistliterature and the total absence of Buddhist remains ent also with the silence of the Buddhist chronicles Alasadda, capital of the Yona country, not Alexandria of Egypt Zarmanochegas not a Buddhist.
features of the Buddha-legend
lore in Palestine
Luke incompatiand especially of
WE
tianity
little
have already seen how the vast array of

pretended borrowings on the part of Chris-
from
Buddhist
sources
dwindles on close
for
examination to a few resemblances which,
the
greater part, are easily explained on the ground of
The theory that Christianity is more than a recasting of Buddhist elements into a new form thus falls to the ground for lack of For the purpose of sufficient coherent material.
independent origin.
refutation
further
arguments are
superfluous
but
2/0
Buddhism and
Christianity
completeness of view demands that a few more considerations be dealt with that are quite pertinent to
the subject.
While the points of agreement
in the
two religions have been shown not to be so remarkable as to create a likelihood that the one has bor-
rowed from the other, there are on the other hand,

several reasons that
tell
with great force against the
probability of an infiltration of Buddhist lore into the
Gospels.
First of
all,
it
should be borne
in
mind
that the
Gospels took form so soon

as to render
after the
death of Christ
of Buddha fables
any application
to
Him
morally impossible.
Christ was not a figure that
loomed up suddenly
before the people out of the mist of an
unknown
past.
For three long years He had

familiarity with His apostles
ples.
lived
on terms of closest
disci-
and some of His

act
His character was vividly impressed on their
minds.
Every saying and
of importance
was
carefully noted.
Nor were
the striking incidents of

;
His childhood likely to remain unknown

the followers
for among who cherished His memory were His
own mother and His
so-called brothers and sisters.
After His death. His acts and words were carefully

treasured up in the minds of those
best.
who knew Him
The preaching
of the apostles and disciples
consisted largely of these ineinorabilia of their be-
loved Master.
And
so
from the very
first
years of
the Christian Church, there existed a large unwritten
Gospels not of Buddhist Origin
271
collection of sayings and doings of Christ that were
preserved with jealous care,
being constantly em-
ployed
in the
sacred office of making Christ crucified
known
to
men.
Now
were
so long as Christ's
mother and His disciples
alive,
legendary fancies could never have

to
come
by mistake
form part of the authoritative teaching
concerning the person and work of our blessed Savior.
Had
the
story of the Magi, for example,

it
or that
of Simeon been a fable,
would have been denied
without a moment's hesitation
by Mary,
In
like
manner, the apostles would have been the

reject
first
to
any spurious accretions
to the story of Christ's
public life, with which they were so familiar. Only by fraudulent design could myths and legends have found their way into the apostolic memoirs of But this hypothesis is utterly excluded by Christ.
the
unquestionable sincerity of the apostles,

all
who
gave up
in
that the world holds dear, even
life itself,
testimony of the truth of what they preached.
Now
if
this
is
be true of the oral preaching of the

true as well of the Gospels of
apostles,
it
Matthew
and Lttke,
in
which the narratives of
Christ's earliest
years are to be found.

question whether the
We
need not enter into the
Matthew was really by the apostle with whose name it is linked. It is enough for our purpose to bear in mind that both these documents represent the authoritative
Gospel of
written
teaching of the
apostles,
having
been
composed
272
while
alive.
Buddhism and
many
Most
biblical
Christianity
still
of the apostles and disciples were

scholars
are
now agreed
in
assigning to these Gospels a date ranging from 70 to

85 A. D.
the Gospel of
Even so Luke
sceptical a critic as
\.o
Renan holds
A. d.
It
be as early as 70-80
stands to reason then, that both these Gospels, being
composed under the eyes of those who knew

so as to be reckoned
Christ
personally, and having the approbation of the apostles
among
the inspired scriptures,
could not have been embellished with fanciful tales

that formed no part of the personal experience of
Jesus.
But
crept
stories
if
fabulous elements in general could not have

the Gospel
narrative,
least of all
into
could
from the Buddha-legend have become part of

life
apostolic teaching concerning the
of Jesus.
Let
us
grant, for
argument's sake, that the legendary

life
account of Buddha's
the time of Christ.
was current
are
in
Palestine in
How
we
to
imagine for a
moment that myths so closely associated with the name of Buddha could have been incorporated unwittingly into the biography of Christ? The very
publicity of the Buddha-legend would have rendered
such a
confusion
impossible.
Even
failure
fraudulent
attempt to make Christ the hero of the Buddha-tales
would have proved a disastrous

grant an
for
so
fla-
imposture would
not
have
escaped
the
notice of those
tion to the
who
set themselves in bitter opposi-
new
religion.
They would
not have failed

to
273
for
make
use of
it
as a
most
effective
weapon
assailing the claim of Christianity to divine origin.
And
and
yet in the attacks of Marcion, Celsus, Porphyry,

Julian, there
is
not the shadow of a charge that
the Christian religion was guilty of arraying itself in
the borrowed finery of Buddhism.
But
this
is
not
all.
The argument under review

greater difficulty; for
in
its
is
burdened with a
in
still
chief
premise, that Buddhist lore was current

the
Palestine
time of Christ, lacks positive evidence and

set
must be
down
as a gratuitous assumption.
idle
it is
We
have already seen how
to try to
make
out that the Essenes were Buddhists and hence pur-
veyors of Buddhist traditions.
That they were acis
quainted with such traditions, there

respectable proof.
not a single
schools
In the
Nor do
the
rabbinical
betray any familiarity with Buddhist lore.
whole range of Palestinian
literature
the
name of
Buddha does not once

there
is
occur.
Of the Buddha-legend
not a trace.
is
Great emphasis
laid
on the possibility of Budto Syria
dhism having made

civilization of the
sibility
its
way
and Egypt over

This poslittle
the great trade-routes that connected India with the
West from
early times.
cannot be questioned.
it
But
it
counts for
unless
can be shown to have been realized.
India
was
also connected
by trade-routes with Tibet and

influence long before the Chris18
Siam, so that here, as well, was a possibility for Bud-
dhism
to
extend
its
274
tian era.
Buddhism and
And
yet
it
Christianity
till
was not
centuries after the
death of Christ that Buddhism was introduced into

those countries.
Is there, then,
any positive evidence

was born?
is,
to
show
that
the Greek world was familiar with Buddhist thought

at the time that Christ
The
writers under
as
review maintain that there

to leave no
and of such cogency

Let us submit
it
room
for doubt.
to a
careful examination.
Their strongest testimony

rock-inscriptions
that,
is
that afforded
Lillie
by the
us
of
Asoka.
Mr.
assures
They have set at rest forever the question ^ whether Buddhism was propagated Westwards." Of these inscriptions there are three that refer to
"
the existence of Buddhist influence
among Greek-
speaking peoples.
One
follows
:
of them, the second
Girnar edict, runs as
" And, moreover, within the domains of Antiochus the Greek King, of which Antiochus' generals are the rulers,
everywhere Piyadasi's [Asoka's] double system of medical aid is established, both medical aid for men and medical aid for animals, together with medicaments of all sorts, which are
suitable for
men and
suitable for animals."

^
"^
In this edict, Mr. Lillie

that throughout
1
finds convincing evidence
the vast realm of Antiochus, the
Buddhis7?t in Christendojii, p. 232. Prinsep's translation {Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, Yll. p. 159) used
Lillie.
by Mr.
3
Buddhism
in Christefidom, ch. xviii.
275
of their
Buddhist emissaries of Asoka were actively engaged

in the charitable ministrations characteristic
religion.
ing.
It is
But
this inference
is
altogether too sweep-
anything but likely that Antiochus would

in
have allowed so extensive a meddling

affairs
the internal
of his empire as would

interpretation
be implied by the
unreserved
put
is
upon the
had,
edict
by
Mr.
far
Lillie.
No
to
violence
done
to the text,
is
and a
greater semblance
of truth
if
we take
the words
mean
that Buddhist regulations were
allowed to prevail
in that part
of the Greek empire
that bordered on the possessions of
Asoka
for this
extreme eastern portion of Antiochus' dominion was

largely inhabited
by Buddhists.
edict.
This
is
the interpretation which the emuient scholar
James Prinsep has put on this in which he first made known

the second edict
"
the
In the article
to the
world the con-
tents of these rock-inscriptions of Girnar, he says of

:
We may
treaty
readily imagine
it
to
have been a provision in
King of India should be allowed to establish his religious and humane regulations among those of the same faith who resided under the rule
that
the
Buddhist
of Antiochus' generals, that
is,
Bactria and, perhaps, Sinde."
This view receives strong confirmation from the

fifth
Girnar edict, which gives notice that Asoka, in
the fourteenth year of his consecration as king, has

1
Jouni. As.
Soc.
Bengal, VII.
p. 162.
2/6
established
Buddhism and
superintendents
Christianity
of religion to promote
sect.
the practice of virtue

"
by men of every
Among
the Yavanas, the Kambojas, the Gandharas

frontier,
and the other peoples on the
they look after the
Brahmans and
to their welfare
the rich, the poor,
and the aged, with a view
and happiness."
Now
these
Yavanas, of which the edict makes
mention, were without doubt subjects of Antiochus.

is the Indian word for Ionian, that While the term came to designate any foreigner from the West, it was most commonly
is,
Yavana, or Yona,
Greek.
used to
call
to
mind the Greek-speaking
settlers in
Bactria, Parthia,
and the adjoining regions border-
ing on
India.'^
That these Greeks of the extreme East were the Yavanas referred to in the edict is plain from the
fact that
they were classed, like the Gandharas, with
the people on the frontier.
There
is little
doubt thai
Thus,
in
the contents of the other edict have reference likewise

to these
far
remote subjects of King Antiochus.
from indicating the presence of Buddhism
the
Greek world of the West, the

of benevolence
regions.
1
edict simply testifies to
the observance in Asoka's day of Buddhist practices

in
the
Kabul valley and adjacent
Tr.
from Senart, Les Inscriptions de Piyadasi,

I. p.
I.
p. 143.
Lassen, Indische Alterthitmskundc,
II. p. Ivi.
and
59.
6". B. E. Fergusson and Burgess, Cave Temples of India, pp. 17 Cf. Questions of King Mili7ida, S. B. E. XXXV. pp. 2 and 6.
861.
G. Biihler,

Mr.
Lillie
tries
277
to
find
additional support to his
interpretation of the edict in the well-known passage

in the twelfth
chapter of the Mahavansa, which
tells
of the propagation of auspices of Asoka.

1.
Buddhism abroad under According to this chronicle
the
Majjhantika evangelized Kashmir and Gandhara, win-
ning 100,000 converts.

2.
Mahadeva evangelized Mahisa,\vinning 80,000
converts.
3. 4.
Rakkhita evangelized Vanavasi, winning 60,000 converts.
Yona Dhammarakkhita
evangelized Aparantaka, win-

5.
Maha Dhammarakkhita
evangelized Maharattha, win-

6.
Malia Rakkhita evangelized Yonaloka, winning 187,000
converts.
7.
Majjhima evangelized Himavanta.

Sena and Uttara evangelized Savanna-bhumi. Mahinda and four others evangelized Lanka (Ceylon).
'^
8.
9.
Referring to the sixth missionary enterprise in this

list,
Mr.
is
Lillie,
with the absolute assurance of one
who
repeating a well established fact of history,
asserts that
Asoka's missionary
Maha Rakkhita
His statement
to
inis
troduced Buddhism into Greece.

entirely
misleading.
According
But, as
the
is,
text,
the
place evangelized was Yonaloka, that
the region
just seen,
of the Yonas or Yavanas.

the
so
we have
word Yonas meant,
for the
people of India, not
much
the natives of Greece, as the Greek-speaking
inhabitants of the Bactrian region, with

^
whom
they
G. Turnour, Mahawanso,
p. 71.
278
Buddhism and
Christianity
were brought into frequent contact. That it is to these Bactrian Greeks and not to the people of
Greece that the word
Yonaloka
here appHes,
all
competent scholars are agreed.
Among
these
may
be cited Lassen,^ Burnouf,^ Cunningham;'^ Fergusson/' Rhys Davids,^ and E. Hardy.*^

In the face of such overwhelming authority,
it
is
the height of rashness for Mr. Lillie to appeal to this

text of the
the
religion
Mahavansa in proof of his assertion of Buddha was made known to

Greece.
to the
that
the
people
of
Moreover,
his
interpretation
commits him
to
paradox that 187,000 converts

in
Buddhism were made

in their
Greece
at the close of the
third century without exciting a single note of
com-
ment
contemporaries, and without leaving a
trace of their belief in the literary or architectural
monuments of their native land. The chief inscription of Asoka which

to bear witness
to
is
thought
the existence
of the Buddhist
religion in the Greek-speaking nations of the
West
is
the famous thirteenth edict of Girnar.

tion
The
transla-
which Mr.
this version,
is
Lillie uses
is
that of
James Prinsep.
But
being based solely on the mutilated
Girnar text,
1
defective in the very part where accuII. p. 244.
Indische Alterthumskiiiide,
Introduction d V Histoire
2 3 I.
du Bouddhism
Iiidien, p. 62S.
Bhilsa
Topes, p.
11 8.
C. also Archceological
Survey of India,
p. xx.xv.
*
Cave Temples of India, Buddhism, p. 227.
p. 17.
^
Buddhismus,
p. 112.

racy
is
279
most needed.^
It
was not
till
long after his
death that the duplicates of

at
this edict
were discovered
Kapur di Giri which enabled scholars to make good the defects of the Girnar inscription. This has been admirably done by Senart, and it is from
Khalsi and
his
French version that the following passage from

is
the edict
" In
rity for
translated.
king, dear to the gods, has at heart seculife,
truth, the
all
creatures, respect for
peace, and happiness.
These
are the things that the king, dear to the gods, takes to
religion.
It
is
be the conquests of
in
these religious con-
quests that the king, dear to the gods, finds delight both in
his
of
own empire and over all many hundred yojanas.^
the border lands for the distance
Among
these [neighbors arej

this
Antiochus, the king of the Yavanas, and beyond
same
Antiochus four kings, Ptolemy, Antigonus, Magas, and Alex-
ander
in the
South, the Codas, Paradyas as far as Ceylon,
and
so, too,
the king of the
Huns
[ ?]
Vismavasi [
?J.
Among
the Yavanas and Kambojas, the Nabhakas and Nabhapamtis,

the Bhojas and Pentenikas, the Andhras and Pulindas, every-
where the
religious instructions of the king, dear to the gods,
are observed.
Wherever the embassies of the
king, dear to
the gods, have been sent, there, too, the duties of religion
having been
the gods,
made known in the name of the king, dear to men now give heed and will give heed to the relig,
.
.
ious instructions, to religion, this bulwark against.

1
In
this
"And
the
Greek King, besides, by

.
.
whom
.
the four Greelc Kings,
Ptolemaios and Gongakenos and Magas

permit that)
ever
'^
.
(have been induced to
both here and
in foreign countries
everywhere (the
people) follow the doctrine of the religion of

it
Devanampiya whereso-
reacheth."
Joia-it.
As. Soc. Bengal, VII. p. 224.

five miles.
measure of distance equal to about
28o
manner
Buddhism and
heartfelt joy.
^
Christianity
I
has the conquest been extended everywhere.
have
found therein a
Such
is
the satisfaction that
comes of
religious conquests."
The
five
contemporary kings mentioned by Asoka

Antiochus
have been identified by scholars with the following
names of history:
of Syria and
its
II.,
who was
ruler
vast dependencies in the years 260in the
247
B.C.
Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt

;
years 285-247 B.C.

in
Antigonus Gonatus, who reigned
Macedonia from 278-242 B.C. Magas of Cyrene, who died in 258 B.C., and Alexander of Epirus, whose
;
death occurred about the same time.

edict thus
falls
The
date of the
within the short period 260-258 B. C.

first
Now
on the
reading, this edict conveys the

its
impression that Buddhism had extended
conquests,
through the peaceful agency of Asoka, over the

greater part of the Greek-speaking world.
are several considerations that force
ful
But there
upon the thoughtfor suspectreli-
mind a much more

First of
all,
restricted interpretation.
there
is
very solid ground
ing that Asoka, in describing the extent of his
gious conquests, allowed himself to be carried by
excess
reality.
of enthusiasm beyond the bounds of sober
known
Asoka makes more he was a Buddhist layman without much show of zeal, but that within the
In the edict of Rupnath-Mysore, that for a year or
last year, since his

1
connection with the Sangha, he had

I.
Les Inscriptions de Piyadasi,
pp. 309-310.
Cf. II. pp. 24S-249.

taken a lively interest
It is fair to in
281
the religion he had adopted.^
conclude that whatever measures he em-
ployed to spread his religious conquests abroad, were

not taken
to
in
hand
till
after his
thorough conversion
Buddhism.
This happened, as we learn from the

thirteenth year of his
Piyadasi, dear to the
"
eighth
Girnar edict, in the

I,
kingly consecration.
King
gods, in the thirteenth year of

tained to true
my
'
consecration, at-
wisdom [sambodhi.]"
Now
as Senart
shows,
it is
very likely that the edicts of Girnar were
eneraved
edict,
tion.^
*to<7ether at the time indicated in the fifth

in the
it
namely,
fourteenth year of his consecra-
And
so
follows that
Asoka had
little
more
than a year at his disposal, to achieve the religious
conquests on which he prides himself.

cally
This practi-
means that his pretensions in regard to the spread of Buddhism in Egypt, Syria, and the other
realms beyond, rested on a very slender basis of
If
fact.
he sent Buddhist missionaries to
these
distant
countries,
questioned,
cannot be and the possibility of he must have been counting beforehand

this
on
their
success
when he framed
in
the edict.
a
It
is
absolutely incredible that
so short
time they
could have made the toilsome journey to Egypt, or

Syria, not to speak of Cyrene, Macedonia, and Epirus,
won many
converts to their religion, and

to
made
their
achievements known
'
him
in distant
India.
Senart
Senart, Op.
cit. II. p.
196; Joiirn. Asiat., 1892, pp. 4S1, 487.

^
Op.
cit. I. p.
197.
Op.
cit. II. p.
245.
282
thinks
the
Buddhism and
Christianity
of ^Nlagas,
only knowledge Asoka had
Antigonus, and Alexander, and, perhaps, of Ptolemy

as well, he obtained indirectly
through
his
communi-
cations with Antiochus.

''Although,"
he writes, "the records of the
past
have
made
us acquainted with the
haps, explorer,
who was
sent
names of an envoy or, perto India by the same Ptolemy

it
Philadelphus to
whom
is
Piyadasi refers,
is
doubtful
if
this
it is
reference of the latter
based on direct
relations..
But
very unlikely that direct relations existed between him and
Magas, or Antigonus, or Alexander.

pect that
it
There
is
reason to sus-
was through the intermediation of Antiochus that Piyadasi got his knowledge of the other kings whom he menIf
tions.
for the
voyage
he sent out special embassies, the time available about a year and a half scarcely justifies
the supposition that they
made
their
at
way
to so distant parts
of the Greek world.

edict was taking form,
II.,
Moreover,
the very time that the

b.
between 260 and 358

into
c, Antiochus
through
his
attempts on Thrace and his conflicts in the
Mediterranean, was brought
very
intimate
relations,
though not
donia,
for long, with the kings of

^
Egypt, Cyrene, Mace-
and Epirus."
Viewed in this light, the edict gives no reliable evidence of the spread of Buddhism westward, beyond the Greek or Yavana settlements on the border-land
of India and in the extreme eastern part of the vast
empire of Antiochus.
the
For
it
is
plainly to these that
the portion of the edict refers which reads:
"Among
Yavanas and Kambojas

^
everywhere the
Op.
cit. II. p.
259.
283
religious instructions of the king, dear to the gods,
are observed."
There are other considerations that add

lihood of this view.
to the Hke-
The most important of these is the absolute ignoring of Buddhism in the ancient Had Asoka's missionrecords of Greece and Egypt. aries been successful in establishing Buddhism in the Greek-speaking world, so striking a phenomenon
would not have
failed
to excite
universal
interest.
Stupas and monasteries would have arisen, and sacred
books would have been translated

isfy
into
Greek
to satbeliefs
for
the piety of Greek converts.
Buddhist
Constant
and practices would have been a popular theme

historical
and philosophic
writers.
referin
ences to Buddhism would have found a place

literary records.
the
And
;
yet what do
we
find
single ruin of a Buddhist stupa or
monastery
in
Not a Kgypt
in all
or Syria or Greece
not a single Greek translation of
a sacred Buddhist book; not a single reference
Greek
munity
literature to the existence of a

in
Buddhist com-
the Greek world.

first
Nay, the very name of

time only
in
liuddha occurs for the
the writings
of Clement of Alexandria.
Another important consideration
inclining to the
same
view,
is
the silence of the Buddhist chronicles.

his religious
Had Asoka extended
conquests to Syria,
Egypt, and other countries to the west, so remarkable a triumph would not have failed to be recorded
1
Cf. Senart,
Op.
cit. II.
pp. 252-254.
Vide supra,
p. 276.
284
in
Buddhism and
And
Christianity
very passage of
Buddhist annals.
yet, in the
the
Mahavansa} which
in
describes the propagation of
the Buddhist faith under

similar accounts
King Asoka,
as well as in
the Dipavansa'^ and
the
is
Sutta
Vibhanga of Buddhaghosa,^ not a word

missionary enterprises
in
said
of
Syria or Egypt, not to speak
of the more remote countries of Macedonia, Epirus,
and Cyrene.
But,
The
natural inference
is
that
Buddhism
did not gain a foothold in these countries.
we
are told, Buddhist annals afford positivê
evidence at least that Buddhism flourished in Egypt

in the
tells
second century before Christ. The MaJiavansa how Buddhist monks came from many distant
to
places
take part in the dedication of the great
stupa (Mahathupa) erected by the Ceylonese king
Duttha Gamini
Kashmir,
at Ruanwelli,
They came from BeKausambi, Patna,
nares, and from Sravasti, Vaisali,

Parthia,
" and
Maha Dhammarakkhito,
thero of Yona, accompanied by thirty thousand priests
from the vicinity of Alasadda, the capital of the Yona

country, attended."^
As Alasadda
is
is
is
the Pali form
of Alexandria, the inference
drawn by some that

in
the city here referred to

there
is
Alexandria
Egypt. But
is
every reason to believe that reference
here
made
to
Alexandria ad Caucasinn
First of
all,
in
the
Graeco-
Bactrian region.
nity of Buddhist
1
a flourishing
commu-
monks could not have

2
lived in the
Vide supra, p. 277.

I.
^ jj;
y^ g.
'
317.
G. Tumour, Mahawanso,
p. 171.

vicinity of
285
left
Alexandria
in
Egypt without having

in the
behind them traces of their existence
form
of
ruined stupas and monasteries, nor could they have
been utterly ignored

period.
in
the literary
monuments of that
question
country.
is
Secondly, the Alasadda
in
des-
ignated as the capital of the
Yona
But, as
we have already learned from our study of another passage from this same chronicle, by the Yona, or
Yavana, country,
is
meant the Gra^co-Bactrian region.

in
That
is
it
has this same meaning
the present instance,
shown by the fact that it is mentioned immediately after Kashmir and Parthia. Thirdly, it is
further
an unquestionable fact of history that about the capital
of this region, Alexandria
ad Caucasiun, were
grouped many communities of Buddhist monks, the

remains of whose monasteries and stupas exist to-day.
Lastly,
we have
in favor of this
view some of the
most eminent scholars of Buddhist archaeology, as James Prinsep and Alexander Cunningham.^ The
former,
commenting on
:
Mahavansa, says
"'The
it
this
very passage from the
vicinity of Alasadda, the capital of the
Yona coun-
try,' follows in the
enumeration the mention of Kashmir, while

is
precedes the wilderness of Vinjha, which
evidently Vin-
dravan, the
modern Bindrabund.
In situation, then, as well
as in date, I see nothing here to
Yona
as the
oppose the understanding of Greek dominion of Bactria and the Panjab, and I
dare even further propose that the

1
name
of the capital near

p. ii2.
Bhilsa Topes,
Y>.
ii8.
Cf. also E.
Hardy, Der Buddhismus,
286
Tumour
Buddhism and
states in his glossary to
.
.
Christianity
situated,
which the Buddhist monastery was

corruption of Alexandria.
alluded to
and which Mr,

is
be unidentified,
merely a
may probably be
in the
that
The particular Alexandria ad calceni Caucasi, which is

in the fifth
placed at -Beghram by Mr, Masson

journal,
volume of
his
my
and
neighborhood of which so many stupenlight
dous stupas have been brought to

investigations."
^
through
able
Evidence
is
for the
presence of Buddhism
in the
West
also
sought
in the story of
Zarmanochegas, told by
Strabo."
to
native of India, he
Rome
in the
time of Augustus, in the
came on an embassy name of a

his mis-
certain
sion, he
King Porus.
Having accomplished
his
went to Athens, where he had a pyre erected,
and having anointed

as
if for
body with precious unguents,

His ashes were
the inscription, "
a feast, burnt himself alive. a
placed
lies
in
tomb which bore

life
Here
Zarmanochegas, an Indian of Bargosa, who put

after the fashion of his country."
an end to his
By
a very dubious derivation of the

i.
name from
few have
Sramana-Sakya,
tried to
c, the
Sakya
ascetic, a
make
this
person out to have been a Buddhist

Mr.
Lillie alleges as a
Journ. As. Soc. Bengal,N\\. pp. 165-166.
reason for taking Alasadda to be Alexandria in Egypt, that it was much more feasible for thirty thousand monks to make the journey by sea from Egypt to Ceylon, than to come overland from distant Bactria. There is every reason to suspect that the number of monks
was grossly exaggerated. But whatever their number, it is plain that the journey from Bactria was no more difficult than that from Parthia, Kashmir, and other places mentioned.
2
Strabo,
XV.
i.
719.
287
many
monk
but this derivation
is
not accepted by
scholars.-
Moreover, as Buddhists were accustomed

alive, there
neither to use ointments for the body, nor to burn
themselves
is
every reason for excluding

fol-
Zarmanochegas from the number of Buddha's

lowers.
Such
in
is
the evidence brought forward to
show the
presence of Buddhist ideas and Buddhist institutions

the Greek world at the time that Christ was born.
Its utter
inadequacy to the desired end has been
suf-
ficiently set forth.

for
The utmost
that
it
that can be
made out
in
Buddhism
is
found a firm footing
the
Greek settlements of Bactria and Parthia, in the remote east. If Asoka sent missionaries to plant the
religion of
Buddha
is
in the
realms of Antiochus and
Ptolemy, there
efforts
every reason to believe that their
came
to naught.
We
look
in vain for a single

in
trace of the presence of
Buddhism
Egypt, Greece,
or Palestine.
1
Levi,
Le Boiiddhisnie
et les
Grccs
Rev. Hist. Rel. XXIII.
p. 47.
Cf. Lassen, Ind. Alt. III. p. 60.
E. Hardy, Buddhismiis, p. 113.
CHAPTER
VII
THE POSSIBLE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY ON BUDDHISM

Reliability of the tradition that Parthian Jews converted by Peter the apostle Thomas preached to the people of Parthia, Bactria,
and Northwest India

Pantaenus
in
in
India
episcopal sees of
Panjab
in the fifth
Gondophares The early mission of The testimony of Cosmas The ancient Merv, Herat, and Sistan Christian influence century shown by the Jamalgiri sculptures
in the fifth
The spread
hood
that
of
Nestorianism over the East

Nestorian
and follow-
ing centuries
The
of
monument
of Si-ngan-fu
Likeli-
some
the incidents related of Christ have been
incorporated into the

of these
?
Buddha-legend Is
the Asita-story one
THERE
no
Gospels.
is
further
consideration
to
that
adds
Httle
strength
the
evidence
already
accumulated
in favor
is
of the independent origin of the
This
the possibility that

its
Buddhism
itself
has
drawn some of
striking
resemblances from
Christian sources.
It is
rather strange that those
who
are so zealous
in
trying to
tine
show the presence of Buddhism in Palesand Egypt at the time of Christ, should ignore
stronger evidence that Christian influences
in
the
much
at
were
work
centres of Buddhist activity soon
Christianity on Buddhist Soil

after the
289
death of Christ, and that they flourished

first
with increasing vigor during the

Christian era.
centuries of the
That Northern Buddhism profited to

this
some extent by
contact with
Christianity,
is
thus by no means unHkely.

In the second chapter of the Ac^s of the Apostles,
we read
that on the
day of Pentecost, about three

His hearers consisted largely
thousand Jews were converted and baptized through

the preaching of Peter.
of devout Jews from distant parts of the
known
world,
who had made

cost.
the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to take
part in the sacred feasts of the Pasch and of Pente-
There were present not only Arabians and

also Parthians.
at
this
Medes and Elamites, but

Parthian
Now
the
kingdom, which was
time
being
brought under the subjection of the Indo-Scythian

monarchs, was
country, where
will
included in the so-called Yavana Buddhism had taken firm root. It be remembered that among the monks who went
to the dedication
to
Ceylon
of the Mahathupa, the

thus natural to con-
Parthians are mentioned.
It is
clude that as early as 35-40 A. D. Jewish converts to

Christianity
were already
in
contact with Parthian
and
Bactrian Buddhists.
Between these and the
Buddhists of Northern India there existed the closest

relations.
But the development of Christianity

east
in the
remote
in the
was not
left
to the to
weak
19
efforts
of these neo-
phytes.
According
an ancient tradrtion
290
Christian
Buddhism and
Church,
St.
Christianity
sent to
Thomas was
Parthia
and
Bactria,
and
after
preaching the Gospel there,
proceeded
to India,
where he died a martyr's death.
This tradition has

larly
much
in
to
commend
of
St.
it,
particuin
It
as
regards
It
is
the preaching
Thomas
Parthia.
is
found
the
Roman
Martyrology.
alluded to by
many
fathers of the
Greek and Latin
Church.
So
careful a writer as Eusebius, referring
to Origen, tells us that Parthia was assigned to the
apostle
Thomas
for
evangelization.
The
ancient
Syrian Church, too, bears witness to the apostolate

of
St.
Thomas
in the Orient.
St.
Ephrem, the Syrian,

lived seven or eight
whose period of
activity falls within the third quarter
of the fourth century, and

years in Edessa, wrote a
who poem
referring to the posof St.

India.
session by the Church of Edessa of the bones Thomas, which had been brought there from
Similar testimony to
relics
in the
the presence of the apostle's

is
Church of Edessa,
afforded
by the
Chronicle of Edessa, as well as by the early church

historians, Rufinus, Socrates,
and Sozomen.^
1 Ambrose, in Psalm, xlv. Jerome, Ep. 59 ad Marcellam (Migne) Gregory Naz., Oratio, 33 Paulinus Nolanus, Poem. 19 and 30 Gregory the Great, /// Evang. horn. 17; Eusebius, Ch. Hist. III. i; Carm. Lipsiae, 1S66. Bickell, S. Ephrczmi Syri Carmiua Nisibena.
;
42
5;
Socrates,
Assemani, Bib. Orient. Ch. Hist. IV.
I.
pp. 399, 403
Rufinus, Ch. Hist. II.

cf.
18;
Sozomen, Ch. Hist. VI. 18;
R. A. Lipsius, Die apokrypheii Apostelgeschichten wid Apostellcgenden. Braunschweig, 1883. I. pp. 225 ff. According to the Abgar-legend, St. Thomas was intimately connected with the Church of Edessa.
Cf. Eusebius, Ch. Hist.
I.
13; II.
i.
291
already-
The Acts of Thomas^

ancient
in
Gnostic work
the time of St.

as
Ephrem,
tells
how
the
apostle, disguised
an architect, went to
India,,
where he converted
with
many
history,
of his
subjects.^
King Gondophoros, together The story is embel-
lished with episodes too extravagant to be mistaken

for
but the underlying tradition that St.

in the
Thomas preached
is
not lightly to be set aside.
kingdom of Gondophares The existence of a

in the
Parthian king of this
name
time of the apostle

in
has been strangely brought to light

century.
the present the
Numerous
coins bearing his
name and
names of near relatives have been found in the Panjab, Kabul valley, and neighboring districts, showing
him
to
have been the head of an important Parthian

first
dynasty about the middle of the
century.
The
is
great archaeologist, General A. Cunningham, to whose

careful
researches our knowledge of these coins
largely due, says of
them
" The coins of Gondophares are common in Kabul and Kandahar and Sistan, and in the Western and Southern All these countries, therefore, must have owned Panjab. his sway. He was, besides, the head and founder of his family, as no less than three members of it claim relationship
Wright, The Apochryphal Acts of the Apostles, 2 vol. II. pp. 146 ff Lipsius, Op. cit. pp. 225 ff. AitteA'uene Fathers, li.Y. 1S95. VIII. 535. These ^c/j are at least as old as the middle of the third century, and possibly go back to about
1
Cf. \V.
London,
1871.
200
A. D.
Neue
Cf. Lipsius, Op. cit. p. 346; Holtzmann, Einleitiing in das Testament, Freiburg, 1892. p. 496.
292
Abdagases,
Buddhism and
Christianity
Orthagnes, his
full
with him on their coins

his
viz.
brother,
dis-
nephew, and Sasa [or Sasan], a more
tant relation.
The
coins of Orthagnes are found in Sistan

in the
and Kandahar, those of Abdagases and Sasan

Panjab.
I
Western
presume, therefore, that they were the viceroys
of those provinces on the part of the great King GondoAll the names are phares, who himself resided at Kabul.
those of Parthians, but the language of the coins
Pali.
is
Indian
Abdagases
is
the
name
of the Parthian chief
who
headed the successful revolt against Artabanus in a. d. 44. The great power of Gondophares, and the discovery of a coin of Artabanus countermarked with the peculiar mono-
gram of
all
the Gondopharian dynasty,
make
it
highly prob-
able that the Indo-Parthian Abdagases was the same as the
Parthian chief whose revolt

XV, 2)
is
recorded by Tacitus (Annal.
and Josephus (Antiq. xx, iii, 2). This surmise is very much strengthened by the date of the revolt [a. d. 44], which would make Gondophares a contemporary of St.
Thomas."^
Similar testimony
in
is
afiforded
by the stone found
1873 at Shahbazgarhi (Taht-i-Bahi) in the Panjab,
bearing in Ariano-Pali characters an inscription which

records the erection by a pious Buddhist of a
reli-
gious structure " in the twenty-sixth year of the great
King Guduphara,
1
in the
Samvat year
103."
Such
As.
Soc.,
Journ. Coins of Indian Buddhist Satraps 7vith Greek' Inscriptions. Bengal, XXIII. pp. 711-712. Cf. also Archceological SiD-vey
II. pp.
of India.,
in Vol.
59-60;
XIV. pp.48 and
toriqties et g'eographiques stir
116; Reinaud, Mhnoires hisPlnde, an interesting article to be found
XVIII.
pp. 94-96, of
Memoires de PAcademie des Inscriptions
Percy Gardner, Coins of the Greek and Scythic kings of Bactria

India, pp. xliv, 103-106.
and

at least is the
293
reading
made out by General Cunningminds

of
the
ham and
is
other eminent scholars,^ though the stone
so badly defaced as to leave doubt in the
of
some whether the name of the king has been

deciphered.
is
correctly
As
the
first
year
Samvat era
is
56
B.
C, the date of the inscription

results
in
perfect
agreement with the

the
is
obtained
independently from
mentioned.
study of the coins above
There
thus good ground for asserta contemporary
ing that Gondophares was
of
St.
Thomas, having dominion over the Kabul

Kandahar, and the Panjab,
have carried the Gospel
/.
valley,
^.,
the very countries

is
(Parthia and India) to which the apostle

;
said to
and hence
it is
but reason-
able to accept the conclusion of eminent scholars
such as General Cunningham,^ Reinaud, and others

that the tradition concerning St.
labors in the
history.
Thomas' missionary kingdom of Parthia stands for a fact of

reject this tradition, against
fairly
To
which no
argument of improbability can

which
which,
past,
is
be urged, and
scepticism
supported by so
testimonies,
is
many
ancient and indea
pendent
if
to
exercise
consistently applied to other records of the
would lead to the discrediting of many accepted
truths of history.
in
1
We
(New
need have no hesitation, then,

evidence of the presence of
Professor Dowson,
ff.
taking
it
as
reliable
ArchcEological Survey of India, V. pp. 59-60.

Series), VII. pp.
in
Journ. Roy. As. Soc.

cit. p. xliv.
376
Percy Gardner,
Op.
2
Archccol. Survey, II. pp. 59-60.
Vide supra,
p. 1S7.
294
Buddhism and
Christianity
Christianity in the very heart of Northern

as early as 50 A. D.^
Buddhism
in
But the evidence
of early
Christian activity
Buddhist lands does not end here.

tions the spread
Persia,
Bardesanes of
Edessa, a contemporary of Marcus Aurelius, menof Christianity in

Parthia,
Media,
and Bactria.^
relates in his CJiurcJi
Moreover, Eusebius
History^
Christian
that Pantaenus, previous to founding his
school of philosophy at Alexandria towards the close

of the second century, was
moved by
apostolic zeal to
to India,
preach the Gospel
in the far East.
He went
and there found Christians

ized
by
St.
who had been evangelBartholomew, and who still preserved

Matthew
written in Hebfew.
in den apokryphen
the Gospel of
^
The attempt
of
Gutschmid {Die Kmigsnamen
filr Philologie,
an article published in the Kheinisches Museum N. F. XIX. pp. i6i ff.) to make out that the Acts of Thomas are an adaptation of a Buddhist sutra is far from convincing. No Buddhist sutra corresponding even remotely to the Acts has ever
Apostelgeschichten,
been discovered.
The
features of alleged Buddhist origin, such as
the severe asceticism, especially in regard to marriage, the miracles,

the exorcism of demons, the Christophanies, are to be found as well
in other
question.
apocryphal writings, where Buddhist influence is out of the Moreover, some features of the Acts have no parallel in
Buddhist literature.
The statement
in
the Acts that
St.
Thomas
journeyed by sea from Jerusalem to the country of Gondophares is easily explained on the ground that the work was written in some
Gnostic centre
tine. in Persia
by one ignorant of the geography of Palesin
The
only other reason given by Gutschmid for ascribing a question

is
Buddhist origin to the work

Christ,
the fact that, in the time of

in
is
Buddhism was already established dophares. The insutificiency of this reason

2
the
kingdom
^
of
Gon-
manifest.
Eusebius, Prcsp.
Evaug. VI.
lo.
y.
10.
295
Owing
to a lack of sufficient data, the precise loca-
tion of these Jewish Christians of
India
cannot be
for
made
soil.
out with certainty, but
it is
enough
our pur-
pose to note that they were established on Buddhist

It is true,
a few are inclined with
Mosheim
-^
to
hold that they did not belong to India proper, but to
Yemen
loosely
(Arabia Felix), which was the seat of a
thriving Jewish
community and which was sometimes

as
designated
India.
But
in
Alexandria,
where Eusebius must have got

but the
strict sense,
his information, the

in
term India could hardly have been employed
any
owing
was
in
to the close
commercial
relations existing
between India and

It
this great cos-
mopolitan centre.
India proper that
Jerome
placed the scene of Pantasnus' labors, for he says he
was sent to India to preach the Gospel to the Brahmans and philosophers.^ It is thus very likely that
reference
is
made
to
some colony of
Jews, in part at
least Christian, established for
purposes of trade at
one of the great marts of Western India, perhaps,

Sinde.
According
to ancient tradition, India Citerior

earlier labors.
^
was the scene of Bartholomew's
We
know from the author Cosmas Indicopleustes

1
of the Pcriphis
that
and from
the
marts of Western
I. p.
Ecclesiastical History.
N. Y. 1844, Vol.
98.
~ " Pantaenus, Stoicae sectae philosophus, ob praecipuae eruditionis gloriam, a Demetrio Alexandrias episcopo missus est in Indiam ut
Christum apud Brachmanas et illius gentis philosophos praedicaret." Ep. Ixx ad Magnum (Migne). * Cf. Navigatio/t of the EryJ. W. McCrindle, The Commerce and thrcean Sea. London, 1S79, pp. 'O? ^-
296
Buddhism and
The journey
Christianity
India were regularly visited by merchant ships from
Alexandria.
explained.
of Panta^nus
is
thus easily
Like other early churches composed of

transmitting the faith through
Jewish converts, this Christian community did not

succeed
erations.
in
many gento
In the time of
in
Cosmas
it
seems
have
been no longer
tions,
possession of
in
all
its
apostolic tradi-
else
it
would
probability
have
been
mentioned by him.^
These converts of
dia.
St.
Bartholomew were not the

Indicopleustes,^
only Christians settled on the coast of Western In-
The Egyptian monk, Cosmas

as a
in the
who,
to
his
merchant, travelled by sea from Alexandria

year 522,
testifies to
Ceylon
the presence in
day of Christian churches
in
Ceylon, Malabar,
of Syrian-speak-
and Calliana.
attracted at
They were composed
ing families, the descendants, apparently, of settlers
land to these great marts of India.
some remote period from their native Those who adPersia, speaking of
ministered to their spiritual wants were educated and
ordained
in
course the Syrian

If
tongue, and being at that time Nestorians.
we may
1 G. M. Rae {The Syrian Church in India, Edinburgh, 1892, pp. 70 ff.) is of the opinion that this Christian community discovered by Pantaenus was composed, not of Jews, but of Parthians situated in the Indus valley. The Gospel in question he takes to have been
written in Aramaic, the knowledge of which was widely spread in

Parthia.
Jews
2
Josephus tells his readers that he wrote his Wars of the Aramaic, for the benefit of the Babylonians and Parthians. Topographia Christiana, III. Pat. Gr. Migne. Vol. 88, col. 169;
in
also col. 445-448.

trust the tradition of their
297
Thomas
modern
it
representatives,
the Syrian Christians of Malabar,^
was
St.
himself
tled
pel.
who brought
to their ancestors, already set-
on the coast of India, the knowlege of the GosThese churches gave evidence in Cosmas' day
;
for they were of having been long established thoroughly organized, being governed by a bishop,
who had
Thus
his see at Calliana.

in
the
first
Christianity established
and second centuries, we find in Parthia, Bactria, Northits
western India, and probably along
Western coast
from the Gujerat peninsula
to Ceylon.
But
the
it
was especially
religion
in the
next two centuries that

strides.'"^
new
advanced with rapid

in
Its
growth was hastened

Christians
places.
to
the fourth century by the

II.,
persecutions of King Sapor
which drove many

and
neighboring
to
Chorassan,
Sistan,
Among them
was Barsabbas, who came
Merv
in
the year 334, and was soon after
made bishop
in
over the numerous communities that grew apace

the city and neighboring villages. the
like
By
the end of
century,
Merv was a see of importance. In manner, the episcopal see of Herat rose out
sees,
is
of the multiplying parishes in Southern Chorassan.
Both these
1
as
well
as
that
of
Sistan,
were
This tradition
called in question by
some
scholars.
Cf. Ger-
mann, Die Kirche der Thomaschristen. Op. cit. ch. ix.

^
Giitersloh, 1S77.
G. M. Rae,
One
of the bishops
who
sat in the Council of Nice
was John
Bishop
of Persia
and Great India.
298
year 430.^
Buddhism and
Christianity
represented in the synod of Dad-Jesus held in the

the condition of Christianity in Panjab, Chris-
Of
tian
records have nothing to say.
We
have indeed
in
the testimony of St.
John Chrysostom, who,

Gospel
his
second homily on the

"
of St. John, says
The
Syrians
and the Egyptians, the Indians and the Per-
sians, the
Ethiopians and innumerable other peoples have
translated into their

Christ,
own tongue
the teachings received from

true philosophy,
and have thus learned
barbarians
though they be."
But where Christian documents are

Buddhist monuments give testimony.
near Peshawar, in
silent,
the very
The Buddhist
tell
sculptures on the walls of the ruined monasteries at

Jamalgiri,
better than
felt in
Northern Panjab,
words how Christianity was making the very centre of Northern Buddhism.
is
itself
For
the astonishing spectacle
here revealed of scenes

in
from the
life
of Christ carved
stone on Buddhist
fifth
walls that are thought to be as early as the

tury, thus going
cen-
when Merv, Herat, and Sistan were important episcopal sees. These sculptures, which are reproduced by Fergusson and Burgess in their interesting work The Cave Temples
back
to the time
of India} are thus described
of the most interesting peculiarities of the Peshawar, or rather Gandhara sculptures, is that it would not be
1
" One
T.
J.
Lamy
et
A. Gueluy, Le monument chritien de Si-ngan-fou.
Bruxelles, 1898.
2
pp. loi, 105.
pp. 138-139.

difficult to select
299
from among them several that would form

certainly
admirable
illustrations for a pictorial bible at the present day.
One,
in a
for
instance,
is
intended
to
is
represent the
nativity.
The
principal figure, a
it is
woman,
laying her child

is
manger, and that

its foal,
intended to be such
proved by
a mare with
ilar vessel.
attended by a man, feeding out of a sim-
Above
are represented two horses' heads
the
position that the ox

paintings.
and the
ass are represented in mediaeval
"
second represents the boy Christ disputing with the
doctors in the temple.
third,
Christ
if
healing the
man
with the withered limb, either of which,
exhibited in the
Lateran, and relabeled, might pass unchallenged as sculptures

of the fourth or
fifth
centuries."
Another sculpture
is
also reproduced which, in all
probability, depicts the
woman
accused
before our
Lord of adultery. For the first four

India were orthodox.
centuries, the Christians in the
Buddhist lands of Eastern Persia and Northwestern
But soon
after the council
of
Ephesus,
in
431, the majority of these Christians went
over to Nestorianism.
Patriarch established
The Nestorian Catholicos

his
or
see
at
Selucia-Ctesiphon.
The next
few centuries witnessed a remarkable growth

It
and spread of Nestorianism.

churches already established
fines to the
absorbed the Christian

India and on the conin
in
Northwest.
it
It
its
took firm root

to
Turkes-
tan,
made Nestorian monument

whence
way
China
itself
The
of Si-ngan-fu offers incontesta-
ble evidence that as early as 635 zealous Nestorian
300
China. ^
Buddhism and
Christianity
had reached the western capital of So rapid was the growth of Nestorianism that before this century was over, the patriarch of Ctesiphon had under him two hundred bishops, of whom twenty were metropohtans. Under the patrimissionaries
arch SaHba Zacha,
who
presided over the Nestorian
sect from 714 to 728, Herat,
Sarmakand, and China

sees.
were erected into metropohtan

their existence
It
is
till
They maintained
the fourteenth century.^
easy to see
rise in
its
how Tibetan Buddhism, which

development
till
took
its
the seventh century, and which d'd

full
not receive
the thirteenth,
may have drawn

those
striking
largely from Nestorian sources for

features
which distinguish
it
from
India Buddhism, and at the same time offer analogies
with certain points of Catholic ritual and discipline.
But can we say that the Buddhism of Northern India
owes anything
to Christian influence?
Weber
Christian
maintains
influences
that
"
The
supposition
the
that
may have
is
affected
growth
of Buddhist ritual and worship, as they did that of
the
Buddha
Lamy
legends,
by no means
to
be dismissed
out of hand."
1
et
Gueluy,
Monument
chretien de Si-ngan-fou
"jth
also J.
Legge, Christianity in China in the
It was just ten years later that 18S8. Si-ngan-u from his long pilgrimage to India, and it is not unlikely that the Nestorian Olopen met him at the court of the emperor Ta'e
and Sth Centuries, London, Hiouen Thsang returned to
Tsung.
2 3
Monnment
chretien de Si-ngan-fou, pp. 43
and
105.
Hist, of Ind. Lit. p. 307 n.

Professor Beal,^ Goblet d'Alviella,^ E.
301
/"^
Hardy
and
other scholars of recognized ability hold similar views.
The
well
known tendency of Buddhism

in
to assimilate
it
elements
other
religious
systems with which
came
tive
in contact, creates
the presumption that so posi-
and self-asserting a religion as the Christian did
not exist for several centuries by the side of Bud-
dhism without exercising some influence
upon
it.
The presence
of
New
Testament
illustrations
among
the sculptures at Jamalgiri gives additional force to

this presumption.'^
Nevertheless,
when one
tries to
estimate the extent
of that influence, one finds the problem by no means

easy.
The
greatest caution
is
necessary.
To
conrite,
clude that every Buddhist legend or thought or

not plainly prechristian, and offering
some incommust
plete analogy with Christian doctrine or ritual,
have been derived from Christian sources, would be

to
repeat the blunders
which
vitiate
the works of
possibility of
Seydel,
Bunsen, and
Lillie.
But the
such borrowing cannot be denied, and hence resemblances

of this
character cannot be
made
to
tell
against the independent origin of the Gospels.

1
Abstract of Four Lectures

Bull, de rAcadeinie
oji
Buddhist Literature inC/tiua,
p. xiv.
Royale
des Sciences des Lettres et des
Beaux-
Arts de Belgique, 1897, pp. 723 Der Buddkistnus, p. iii.

*
ff.
Vide supra, p. 187.

its
The Krishna
cult,
which received
fifth
present form, according to
the best authorities, in the
or sixth century a.
Cf.
influenced by Christian traditions.

PP' 399-490-
d., was strongly Weber, Lndische Studien, II.
30 2
use that
is
Buddhism and
made of
Christianity
to the
These remarks apply with especial aptness

Gospel story of Simeon.
stories,
the Asita legend to prejudice the
We
have seen that the two
though presenting
striking resemblances, are
also
marked by very important divergencies.
The
possibility of their
independent origin cannot thus
be denied.
are
But those who think the resemblances
such as to create the strong presumption of
relationship, are too hasty
when they
infer that the
writer of the third Gospel
must have been the borat least as great that the
rower.
The
possibility
is
is
story of Asita
based on the story of Simeon.
The
earliest
Asita legend
have seen,
late
is
monument of the existence of the the Buddha Charita, which, as we not earlier than 70 a. d., and may be as
is
as
100
A.
is
D.
In
the cave
numbered XVI
of
Ajanta, there
a pictorial representation
in his
of Asita
with the infant Buddha

is
arms
but this picture
of an age not greater than the
fifth
century of the
Christian era.^
The
contact of Christians with the
Buddhists of Bactria and Northwestern India as early

as
40-50
A. D.,
thus gives rise to the possibility,
if
not
is
the presumption, that this Buddhist parallel, which
commonly
origin.
set
up
as
one of the strongest witnesses

is
against the originality of the Gospels,
of Christian
J.
^ Cf. Fergusson and Burgess, Cave Temples of India, p. 30S also Burgess, Notes on ike Baiiddha Rock-tefnples of AJanfa, pp. 3 and 60. Light S. H. Kellogg, in his Light of Asia and the of the World, p. 15S,
;
erroneously assigns this representation to a tope dating from about
300
B. c.
303
To sum up
Buddhist
literary
neither in the reUgious system of the
Essenes, nor in the inscriptions of Asoka, nor in the

chronicles,
nor
in
the
architectural
or
is
monuments
in the
of the ancient Greek
world,
there a particle of solid evidence that the knowledge

of
Buddhism
time of Christ had extended westdistrict,
ward beyond the Grseco-Bactrian

confines of India.
on the
evi-
The absence
to
alone of such
dence
is
fatal to the
theory that Buddhism has conthe
tributed
largely
formation
of the Gospels.
Taken
in
connection with the apostolic origin of the
Gospels of
Matthew and Luke, and with

it
the fewness
of the Buddhist-Christian resemblances that do not
admit of easy explanation,
offers all
but
irresistible
proof of the independent origin of the Gospels.
CHAPTER
BUDDHISM VIEWED
The
VIII
IN
THE LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY

those ascribed to
miracles of Christ above comparison with
Buddlia: the latter unvouched by contemporary witnesses and tainted by absurdities Examples Buddhism a religion not of
enlightenment, but of superstition and error

implied transmigration a false assumption
Karma The
failure of
and its Bud-
Buddhist benevolence greatly surpassed by Christian works of charity The impotence of Buddhism to elevate the people of Asia Sad state of morals Buddhist lands Slavery and polygamy untouched by Buddhism The degenerate condition of the Buddhist order The tranBuddhism with
local superstitions
in
man's dependence on the supreme God powerful Christian motives to right conduct Buddhist morality utilitarian Nirvana not an appeal to unselfishness Buddhist pessimism a crime against nature Its injustice to the individual, to the family, to society Buddhist propagandism far inferior to the Christian Alliance of
dhism
to recognize
Buddhism lacking
in the
scendent excellence of Christianity.
THERE
some
equal,
if is
has been
tendency on the part of
to extol the religion of
Buddha
is
as the
not the superior, of the revelation of Christ.

best in the teaching of the Gospels
like
What
claimed
to be in
manner the possession of Buddhism.

excellence of the
The transcendent
acknowledged,
its
former
is
not
claim to be the unique expression

is
of the divine will
impugned.
Buddhism
is
set
up
Buddhism from Christian View-point

as a legitimate rival of Christianity,
305
are
and
in
efforts
even
lands.
made
to
secure
it
foothold
Christian
It is this
narrow and imperfect view that
is
respon-
sible in part for the futile
attempts to establish the
indebtedness of Christianity to Buddhism, for
when
the incomparable superiority of the religion of Christ

is
once recognized, there

like
is
little
reason to look to a source

of
its
religion
Buddhism
for
the
lofty
teachings.
Let us then make a brief review of Buddhism from

the Christian standpoint, and note
its
serious short-
comings.
nowadays to oppose to the by Christ in confirmation of His divine mission, the wonderful things which the BudNot dhist scriptures ascribe to their religious hero.
It
is
the
fashion
miracles wrought
that the latter are held to be true, but they are put
forth
by way of analogy
It is
to
impair the miraculous

if
credentials of Jesus.
argued that
the one
is
to
be trusted as a divine teacher because of His wondrous works, the other, being likewise accredited with
miracles, has an equal right to confidence
and
faith.
The argument
that there
is
is
utterly sophistic, for the reason
no parity between the miracles told of
Christ and those ascribed to Buddha.

are of a character in every
way worthy
The former of one who
declared Himself to be the Saviour of mankind, and
being recorded by His apostles and disciples,

20
who
306
are
Buddhism and
Christianity
were constant eye-witnesses of His wonderful works,
beyond the suspicion of

is
invention.
While there
to the
thus solid reason to give credence

of the miracles of Christ,
Gospel
is
narrative
there
no ground
for treating the alleged miracles

idle
of
Buddha
as other than
myths.
It
was not
till
centuries after Buddha's
death
that they found
place in the sacred records, and, moreover, the vast
majority are
their face the
so
childish and stupid as to bear on

their fanciful origin.
stamp of
The extravagances of the Lalita

provoke a smile
in
Vistara, the
prom-
inent sacred narrative of the Northern school, would
most children of even tender years.
The twelfth chapter, which tells of the exploits of the young prince Gotama in his competition with other
youths for the hand of Gopa, the princess of marvellous beauty, reads like a tale of
for
Munchausen.
Take,
example, the well known elephant-incident.
huge white elephant is being led into the city as a present for Gotama, when his cousin, Devadatta, filled with envy and proud of his strength, seizes the
trunk of the monster with his
right gives
it
left
hand, and with his
so powerful a slap as to
knock
it
lifeless
rival,
to the ground.
Sundarananda, another youthful
happens by.
drags
it
He
in
takes the carcass
by the
tail
and
unaided outside the city-gate.

his
Then comes
Gotama, riding
chariot.
Seeing the carcass
so near the city-gate, a threatening source of stench
by
its
inevitable decay, without
dismounting from his

chariot, he seizes
its tail
307
with the toe of his foot, and

air,
hurls
it
several miles through the

its fall, it
so that in the
in
!
violence of
makes
huge depression
the
ground, known henceforth as the Elephant-ditch
What
a contrast between the dignified
wonders of
our blessed Saviour and the following display of power

said to have
been made by Buddha to confound some
doubting heretics.
"
Buddha ascended
to the
immense road which he had

filled
created in the air in the presence of the crowd, that

place, of eighteen
a
in
youdzanas
in
breadth and twenty-four
length.
the result of his
These wonders which he was about to display, were own wisdom, and could not be imitated by
anyone.
He
caused a stream of water to issue

his
from the
again
upper part of
part,
body, and flames of
fire
from the lower

;
and on a sudden, the reverse
to take place
fire left
issued from his right eye, and streams of water from his
eye,
and so on from
his nostrils, ears, right
and
left,
in front
and behind. The same wonder, too, happened in such a way that the streams of fire succeeded the streams of water, Each stream in an but without mingling with each other. upward direction reached the seats of the Brahmas each
;
stream in a downward direction penetrated as
far as hell
each
in a horizontal direction
reached the extremities of the
world.
From each
of his hairs the
same wonderful display
feasted the astonished eyes of the assembled people.

six glories gushed, as
it
The
were, from every part of his body,
and made it appear resplendent beyond description. Having no one to converse with, he created a personage, who appeared to walk with him. Sometimes he sat down, while and at other times, he his companion was pacing along himself walked, whilst his interlocutor was either standing or
;
308
sitting.
.
Buddhism and
.
.
Christianity
the won-
The people who heard him and saw
derful works he performed, obtained the understanding of
the four great principles."^
Lest
justice
it
may be
objected that these tales do not do
Buddhism, being drawn from the later, legendary writings, let us note one or two examples taken from portions of the sacred canon that are
to
reckoned among the

ures.
earliest of the
Buddhist script-
The Mahavagga recounts
the various miracles,
all
of them puerile, that Buddha wrought to secure the conversion of the Brahman ascetic Uruvela Kassapa
and
his five
hundred
followers.
The
first
wonder, his
triumphant encounter with the Naga king, a venomous serpent of deadly magical power, is told as follows
:
"
Then
the Blessed
One
entered the
room where
the
fire
was kept, made himself a couch of grass, and sat down crosslegged, keeping the body erect and surrounding himself with
And the Naga saw that the Blessed when he saw that, he became annoyed and irritated, and sent forth a cloud of smoke. Then the What if I were to leave intact the Blessed One thought
watchfulness of mind.
One had
entered
'
skin,
and hide, and

this
flesh,
;
marrow of
he
will
Naga
by
but were to conquer the

fire.'
and ligaments, and bones, and fire, which
send
forth,
my
"
And
the Blessed
One
effected the appropriate exercise
of miraculous power and sent forth a cloud of smoke. Then the Naga, who could not master his rage, sent forth flames.
And
the Blessed One, converting his
body
into
fire,
sent
forth flames.
1
When
they both shone forth with their flames,

I.
Bigandet, Legend of Gautama,
pp. 21S-219.

the
fire
309
if it
room looked
in flames.
:
as
if it
were
all
And
were burning and blazing, as the Jathilas, surrounding the
fire
is
room, said
'
Truly, the countenance of the great
Samana
beautiful, but the
Naga
will
do harm
to him.'
having elapsed, the Blessed One, leaving and hide and flesh and ligaments and bones and marrow of that Naga, and conquering the Naga's fire by his fire, threw him into his alms-bowl, and showed him to the
night
intact the skin
"That
Jathila
Uruvela Kassapa [saying],

;
'
Here you
see the Naga,

fire.'
:
Kassapa
"
great
his fire has
been conquered by
my
Then the Jathila Uruvela Kassapa thought Samana possesses high magical powers and
he
is
'
Truly, the
great facfire
ulties, in that
able to conquer by his
fire
the
of that
Naga king, who is possessed dreadfully venomous serpent. He

savage
of magical power, that

is
not,
however, holy
[araha] as
am.' "
to convince the
The display which the Sclasntta ascribes to Buddha Brahman Sela of hisBuddhaship is as puerile as it is undignified. Out of delicacy, a few
portions of the original are omitted.
"Then
the
Brahmana
and
after
Sela
went to the
place
where
Bhagavat was, and having gone there he talked pleasantly

with Bhagavat,
having had some pleasant and resat
markable conversation with him, he

while sitting
down
apart,
and
down
apart, Sela, the
Brahmana, looked
for the
of a great man on the body of Bhagavat. And the Brahmana Sela saw the thirty-two signs of a great man on the body of Bhagavat with the exception of two in respect to two of the signs of a great man he had doubts, he hesitated, he was not satisfied, he was not assured ... as to
thirty-two signs
;
his
having a large tongue.

1
,$.
B. . XII. pp.
19-120.
31 o
"
Buddhism and
this
Christianity
'
:
Then
occurred to Bhagavat
This Brahmana Sela
sees in
me
the thirty-two signs of a great man, with the ex;
ception of two
in respect to
two of the signs of a great man,

is
.
he has doubts, he hesitates, he is not satisfied, he sured ... as to my having a large tongue.'
both
not as.
Then
Bhagavat, having put out his tongue, touched and stroked

his
ears,
whole circumference of
tongue.
>>
touched and stroked both nostrils, and the his forehead he covered with his
religious system that teaches such inanities of
its
founder, betrays at once the superstitious character
of the minds on which
it
counts for
its
preservation.
Between extravagances
stories
in
like these,
is
and the miraculous

but the remotest
the
Gospels, there
analogy.
that
There are some, indeed, who would have us believe Buddhism is a religion of enlightenment, the enemy of ignorance and superstition. This judgment On the contrary. Budis not warranted by the facts.
dhism
is
a system that appeals only to the ignorant

I
and the superstitious.

emasculated Buddhism
is
do not now speak of the
of writers like Dr. Carus, which
thin veil of Buddhist terminology
nothing more than a polite agnosticism under the but I have in mind
;
the historic teaching of Buddha.

If we turn to the fundamental tenets of Buddhism, we find grave defects that betray its inadequacy to become the religion of enlightened humanity, and
1
S. B.
E. X.
p. loi.

that
3
to
bring out
in
bold relief
its
inferiority
the
religion of Jesus Christ.
In the
first
place, the very foundation
on which
its
Buddhism
rowed
the
rests
the doctrine of karma, with

^
is
im-
plied transmigration
false
and gratuitous.
teaching
Borin
from
the
it
pantheistic
current
Buddha's day,
first
seems
to
have been accepted from

In
in
all
as an unquestionable principle.
is
the
Buddhist scriptures, there

its
not a passage
which
demonstration
is
essayed.
This pretended law of
by which the multitudinous gods, ghosts, men, animals, and demons are but the transient forms of
nature,
rational beings essentially the same, but forced to this
diversity in
consequence of their varying degrees of

lives, is a
merit and demerit in former

tion in
flat
huge
hence
supersti-
contradiction to atavism and the other
well-known
ignored
in
laws
all
of heredity,
and
rightly
works of science.
is
Now
and then an
irresponsible voice
heard proclaiming the harmony

this doctrine
which exists between

evolution.
and the theory of
But
it
is
hardly part of biological teach-
ing that a good (!) rat or snake
may
succeed
in
being reborn as a
man
or a god.
Scientists
have not
yet reached that state of imbecility in which they

think they see in the manifold forms of animal
the
representatives of
life
men who
in
former genera-
tions did not live
up
to the dignity of their
human
condition.
Another fundamental defect
in
the
teaching of
312
Buddha
on a
Buddhism and
Christianity-
is its failure to recognize man's dependence supreme Lord and Creator, while retaining
superstitious belief in the innumerable devas of the
Hindu pantheon. Buddha lacked the penetration of mind to enable him to discern in these deities nothingf but empty names, and at the same time to rise to the conception of the Supreme God, towards which the more thoughtful of the Brahmans were groping.
The most he could do was

view prevalent
real,
to
adopt the pantheistic

these gods, though
in
his day, that
were powerless
to effect
man's eternal welfare.

he substituted
By
ignoring the Supreme God, and by making salva-
tion to rest solely

for the
on personal
effort,
Brahman
religion a cold
and colorless system
of philosophy.
For that can scarcely be called a

which the very core of religion
religious system in
the
being
sion
is
lively sense of
dependence on a supernatural
and
the
It
is
is
lacking.
for
In primitive Buddhism, no provi-
made
those questionings of mind

in
yearnings of heart that have found expression

religious utterances
of almost
every people.
shorn of those powerful motives to right conduct that

spring from the sense of dependence on a personal
God and
Father,
obedience,
love, gratitude, rever-
ential fear, feeling of confidence,
and sense of divine

anal-
assistance.
Hence
ysis
is
it is
that Buddhist morality in
its last
a selfish utilitarianism.
There
is
no sense of
duty, as in the religion of Christ,
prompted by rever-
ence for the Supreme Law-giver, by love for the merciful and kind Father, by personal allegiance to the divine Redeemer. Karma, the basis of Buddhist
morality,
ance of which
tions.
any other law of nature, the observprompted by prudential consideraThe Buddhist avoids bad conduct for the same
is
like
is
reason that he avoids contact with

the disastrous consequences.^
fire,
because
of
While
his
conscience
is
undoubtedly smites him
for
doing wrong, yet he
stranger to the sense of sin whereby the erring Christian reproaches himself for having offended the all-
good God, and

of
forgiveness.
is
prompted
to grief
and the seeking

possess
The Buddhist
to so
scriptures
nothing
like the beautiful
Miserere psalm, which has

contrite hearts through-
brought comfort
many
in
out the Christian world.
As
of
vile
the
final
is
motive
Buddhism
for
shunning
motive
wickedness
to
escape the fancied consequences

rebirths, so the final
is
and unhappy
for
the practice of virtue
to attain either to the eternal
sionary in Ceylon, says on this point

rior
Rev. R. Spence Hardy, for more than twenty-five years a mis" From the absence of a supe:
motive to obedience. Buddhism becomes a system of selfishness. The principle set forth in the vicarious endurances of the Bodhisat is
It is
forgotten.
lar order.
The acquirement
a vast scheme of profits and losses, reduced to reguof merit by the Buddhist is as merce. .
nary an act as the toils of the merchant. is not taught to abhor crime because of
The
disciple of
Buddha
its
exceeding sinfulness, but
There is no its commission will be to him a personal injury. moral pollution in sin it is merely a calamity to be deprecated, or a misfortune to be shunned." Manual of Budhism, p. 507.
because
;
314
Buddhism and
for a long,
Christianity
Nirvana, or to some one of the
Brahman heavens
(Swarga), where
but Hmited period, one
may
To
enjoy
all
the pleasures of sense like the gods.

superstition
the gross
which characterizes
this
it is
eschatology,
it is
needless to call attention.
But
important to note that the Nirvana of the arhat, as

well as the
Swarga of the
less perfect
Buddhist,
is
the
object of interested desire.
This disposes of a comChris-
parison sometimes
made between Buddhist and
tian eschatology to the prejudice of the latter.
Not
sur-
infrequently one meets the assertion that
Buddha
passed Jesus by holding out to struggling humanity
an end utterly unselfish.
This
its
is
a mistake.
Not
to
speak of Swarga, with

lights,
positive,
is
even sensual de-
the fact that Nirvana

it
a negative ideal of
bliss
does not make
the less an object of interested

is
desire.
Far from being an unselfish end, Nirvana

self-love.
It
based wholly on the motive of

stands on a
thus
much
in
lower level than the Christian ideal,
which, being primarily and essentially union of friendship with
God
heaven, appeals to motives of disin-
terested as well as interested love.^
Another
its
fatal
defect of the teaching of
Buddha
is
false
pessimism.
strong and
healthy mind
is
revolts against the

living, that
1
morbid view that
life
not worth
is
every form of conscious existence

is
an
It
It is
not to be forgotten that self-love
a necessary law of our
being, and
when duly
regulated,
is
a legitimate motive of action.

It is
enters into the purest and noblest forms of friendship.

to be despised because
it is
thus not
not the highest motive of
human
conduct.

evil.
Buddhism stands condemned by the voice of nature, whose dominant tone is one of hope and joy. Nor can it be retorted with fairness that the Christian
is
view of hfe
pessimistic as well.
Between the pesis
simism of Christianity and that of Buddhism, there

all
the difference in the world.
The
Christian sees
;
the goodness of God's creation marred by sin
he
is
saddened by the constant struggle between
his
good
life
is
and
evil
impulses
he knows that the present

to the fulness of
life in
incomparably
inferior
heaven
which God has
in store for
them who love Him; and

admix-
so, while thankful for the present life with its
ture of joy and sorrow, he has his heart fixed on his
abiding
home
in
heaven.
this
He
feels that
it is
good
for
him
to
have enjoyed
earthly existence, but he

life
looks with yearning to the better

the other hand,
beyond.
On
Buddhism encourages its votaries to look upon the present life as an unmixed evil. It is
an arraignment of nature
itself for
possessing that
which
life.
is its
crown of honor, the perfection of rational

is
Its
highest ambition
all
to destroy that perfec-
tion
by bringing
living beings to the
unconscious
guilty of a
repose of Nirvana.
Buddhism
is
thus
capital crime against nature.
In consequence of this unnatural pessimism, the

religion of
Buddha does
injustice to the individual.
All legitimate desires must be repressed, for they are
held to be
evil.
Innocent recreations are condemned

is
the cultivation of music
forbidden
researches in
316
Buddhism and
is
Christianity
;
natural science are discountenanced
the development
of the mind
limited to the
memorizing of Buddhist
which
texts and the study of Buddhist metaphysics, of
only a
minimum
is
of any genuine value.

is
The Bud-
dhist ideal on earth

to everything.
a state of passive indifference
The
perfect
impulses are benumbed,
man is one who is given

act
is
in
whom
life
all
to a
of
dreamy
like
inactivity,
whose highest
of
the trance-
contemplation of the negativeness of Nirvana.

result
all
The intended
extinction of
Buddhist discipline
is
the
individuality.
is
How
that
different
the teaching of
life
men might have
and have
in
it
Him who came more abundantly

!
Man's perfection consists not

desires, but in their
the repression of
all
proper control, so as to subserve
the harmonious development of his moral, intellectual,
and physical
faculties.
Christianity
is
thus in
harmony with
torts the
nature, while
growth of the
restraint.
Buddhism stunts and disindividual by its unreasonable

unjust to the family.
measures of
Buddhist pessimism
is
Buddha
life
inculcated a hearty contempt for the state of marriage.
He
exhorted
his
fellow-men to shun married
as
they would avoid a pit of burning coals.

creation of
life
The
life
pro-
he held
in
abhorrence, since
was a
to
misery.
Only
to those
who devoted themselves
the celibate state did he hold out the hope of attaining at death to Nirvana.
as a state
In thus branding marriage

its
unworthy of man, Buddhism betrays
in-

feriority to the religion of Christ,
317
which recommends
virginity as a higher state of hfe, but at the
same time
fulfil-
teaches marriage to be a sacred union, a source of

sanctification, the divinely
appointed means of
ling the law, " Increase
and multiply."
pessimistic spirit,
also.
It
In consequence of
its
Buddhism
does injustice to society
has set the seal of
approval on the Brahman prejudice against manual

labor.
Since
life is
not worth living, to labor for the

life is
comforts and refinements of civilized

energy.
a waste of
And
so
industrial occupations are held in
contempt.
The
perfect
man
is
not to
live
by the labor
of his hands, but on the alms of others.

practice of medicine
is
Even
the
beneath his notice.
In the religion of Christ, the " carpenter's son'," a

healthier view prevails.
held,
The
dignity of labor
is
is
up-
and every form of industry
encouraged that
tends to promote man's welfare.
comparison of the
fruits
of
Buddhism with those

still
of Christianity, brings out in

vast superiority of the latter.
bolder relief the
religion of
The mistake is often made of attributing to the Buddha a more successful propagandism
than to the religion of Christ.

that the
We
is
have already seen
number
of Buddhists, far from comprising

in reality
one third of the human race,

than the number of Christians.^
much
less
But even
if
Buddhism
the
outranked Christianity
1
in
number of adherents,
p. 152.
Vide supra,
Buddhism and Christianity

latter
superiority of the
as
a world-religion
would
its
remain untouched.
Christianity has extended
im-
mense conquests, not by compromising with error and superstition, but by winning souls to the excluWherever it has sive acceptance of its saving truths.
spread,
It
is
it
has maintained
its
individuality.
not so with the religion of Buddha.

it
Beginlacked
it
ning as a religion without divine worship,
the consistency and vitality needed to secure

the elements of change.
school,
it
from
Just
as in the
Northern
became the very opposite of what Buddha

in
taught to men, so too

it
spreading to foreign lands

the gross superstitions of In Nepal,
it
accommodated
it
itself to
the peoples
sought to win.
has adopted
the idolatrous and obscene nature-worship of degenerate Hinduism. In Tibet, while enriching
it
its
liturgy
with adaptations from Nestorianism,

to give
its
has not scrupled
sanction to degrading shamanistic observ-
ances.
In like manner, the
Buddhism of China, Monoverlaid with superstitions

It
golia, Japan,
and Assam
credit
is
peculiar to these respective countries.

little
would be
if
to
the
of the religion
this.
of
Christ
it
spread abroad at such a cost as
Buddhism has but

of humanity.
little
to
show
most
in
comparison with
for the uplifting
what Christianity has accomplished
One
of
its
attractive features,
which unfortunately has become well-nigh obsolete,
was
its
practice of benevolence towards the sick and
needy.
Between Brahmans and Buddhists there was

a
commendable
its
rivalry in
maintaining dispensaries
of food
and medicine.
But
this
form of charity,
excellent in
all
way, was not broad enough to cover

It
kinds of destitution.
did
not,
like Christian
charity, extend to the
prolonged nursing of unfortu-
nates stricken with contagious and incurable diseases,

to the protection of foundlings, to the bringing
up of
orphans, to the rescue of fallen women, to the unflag-
ging care of the aged and insane.

hospitals, in this sense, are
Asylums and
to
unknown
humanity
Buddhism.
to the
The
consecration of religious
service
to
men and women

is
lifelong
of afflicted
purpose
In the
foreign
dreamy Buddhist monasticism.

is
works of mercy of the Vincentian Sisters of Charity

alone, there
more genuine beneficence than

activity.
in
the
whole range of Buddhist
The wonderful
transforming
its
efficacy displayed
by the
religion of
Christ in purifying the morals of pagan Europe, and
heterogeneous mass of
humanity
into a united society intolerant of
polygamy, conno parallel
cubinage, prostitution, indiscriminate divorce, infanticide, slavery,

in
and other
social evils, has
Buddhist annals.
it
vailed,
Wherever Buddhism has prehas proved singularly inefficient to lift up

It
society to a high standard of morality.
has not
weaned the people of Tibet and Mongolia from the cruel custom of abandoning the aged, nor the Chinese
from the equally cruel practice of infanticide.
not touched the crying evil of slavery in Tibet,
It
has
Mon-
320
Buddhism and
Christianity
golia, China,
side the order of nuns,

to
raise
Burma, Assam, Laos, and Siam. Outit has done next to nothing
her state
of degradation
in
woman from
Not
to
'oriental lands.
speak of polygamy and conin all
cubinage, which are openly practised

countries, the
Buddhist
temporary marriages contracted with-
out disgrace between transient foreigners and
women
of Burma, Tibet, and Mongolia, the prevalence of
polyandry
in the
two
latter countries, the
shocking
frequency of divorce, and the light estimate put on

chastity in Ceylon,
Burma, Laos, Mongolia, and Tibet,
bear witness to the utter helplessness of Buddhism to
cope with the moral plagues of degenerate humanity.
The reasons
In the
first
is
for this
impotence are not
far to seek.
place, as has
been pointed out above,
Buddhism
to right
lacking in the strong, inspiriting motives
conduct that are the glorious possession of
the religion of Jesus Christ.

it
Another reason
laity,
is
that
has concentrated
its
energy on the small
circle of
its
monks and
for
nuns, while the
aside from the

left
routine
shift
of periodical preaching, have been

themselves.
Lastly,
to
Buddhism has
all
failed
to rise to the recognition of
monogamy
as the only
proper basis
quity,
it
for society.
Like
religions of anti-
has tolerated in lay society the customs of

divorce.
polygamy and easy

insisting
While holding up
cel-
ibacy as the only proper state for man, and while
on
his order,
its strict observance by the members of Buddha looked with equal indifference on

the
321
monogamous and polygamous practices sanctioned by Hindu law. The assertion now and then made that Buddha abolished polygamy, is as untrue
he abolished caste.
as the assertion that

a single text in the
There
is
not
whole range of Buddhist scrip-
tures that
inveighs against the abuses of
polygamy
contrary,
and indiscriminate repudiation.

of
On
the
the Buddha-legend, while proclaiming the sinlessness

its
hero, points with

early
complacency
to
the period
in his
manhood when he
his
lived in oriental
luxury
early
surrounded by
their
many hundred
wives. ^
The
Buddhist scriptures refer

pet convert,
to the extensive seraglio of
Bimbisara, without so
much
as
hinting any derogation on his part from the standard
of conduct befitting a royal Buddhist layman.^
The
evidence of later generations indicates no progress
towards a higher view of marriage.
The eighth
Cohimn Edict of Delhi and the fragmentary Edict of the Queen go to show that the great Asoka was
a polygamist.'^
The
bas-reliefs
of the Sanchi
and
Amravati topes
owing 'ts
1
depict Buddhist
nobles
diverting
It
themselves with their numerous concubines.*

to
was
the
influence of his two Buddhist wives
Rhys Davids, Buddhist Birth

Cf. S. B.
Stories, p. 75.
E. XIII.
p. 191
also S. B.
E. XVII.
p. 180,
where
his wives are said to be five hundred.

^
Cf. Senart, Les Inscriptions de Piyadasi, II. pp. 92-93,
98, 103,
271.
*
Cf. Fergusson,
Tree
and Serpent Worship,

and
xci.
plates xxiv.,
Ixii.,
Ixix., bcxii., Ixxiii., Ixxxiv.,
21
322
Buddhism and
Christianity
overtures
to establish
that the king of Tibet
official head of SouthBuddhism in his realm. ern Buddhism at the present day, the king of Siam,
made The
exercises without scruple his privilege of maintaining
a harem.
In the face of this appalling arraignment,
pity that, at least out of respect for
its
it
is
noble but
misguided founder, the extenuating plea could not

be entered that the Buddhist order of monks
its
is
doing
utmost to stem the
evils
it
cannot cure.
But even
this plea
cannot honestly be made.
The consentient
Buddhist
in
testimony of witnesses above the suspicion of prejudice establishes the
lamentable fact that
monks
are
everywhere strikingly deficient
that
dis-
moral earnestness and exemplary conduct that

tinguished the early followers of Buddha.
is all
Buddhism
faint pulsaits
but dead.
In
its
life
huge organism the

are
still
tions of
declining
activity
is
discernible, but
to
power of
1
gone never
be restored.
One
till
of his predecessors,
monk
period of
Chowfa Monkiit, who was a Buddhist he ascended the throne in 1S51, was able within the short eleven years to boast that he was the sire of sixtyCf.
seven children.
Anna H. Leonowens, The
Ens^lisk Governess at
the Siamese Court, Boston, 1870, p. 59.
Besides this very interesting work, the following are recommended as illustrating the state of morality in Buddhist lands, fitienne Aymonier, Voyage dans le Laos,
2 vols.,
Island of Ceylon
Knox, Historical Relation of the Robert 1817). Percival, An Account of the Island of Ceylon, London, 1S05. M. Symes, An Account of an Embassy to the Kin<:dom of Ava in the Year W. W. Rockhill, The Land of the Lamas 1795, Edinburgh, 1827.
1S95-97.
(in
Paris,
Robert
the History of Ceylon, London,
New
York, 1891.
323
human and imperfect work, it is destined to go the way of all things human. The spread of European
civilization
over the benighted
East
will
cause
its
inevitable extinction.
Such being the system

timid souls
that glories in the
name of
futile
Buddha, we need not share the empty
fears of a few
who
look with alarm on the recent

in
attempts to secure a following for Buddhism

tian lands.
Chris-
So long as the human mind retains its power of discriminating judgment, Christianity has nothing to fear from Buddhism. It will benefit, not To abandon the wisdom suffer, by the comparison.
of Christ for the vagaries of
Buddha would be
to
as
unreasonable as to prefer husks to bread, to turn
from the pure stream of the fountain

water of the stagnant pool, to grope
in
the
fetid
the night
by
the flame of the candle rather than to walk securely

in the full light of day.
Between the claims of Jesus

is
easy to make the proper To Him who is in truth the Light of the world every man of sense will turn, repeating the words of the great apostle, " Lord, to whom shall we eo? Thou hast the words of eternal life."
and those of Buddha
it
choice.
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et du Tandjour, du Tibet, par Alex. Csoma de Koros.

II.
(Original
the
in
English in
XX. (1836)).
in Tartary, Thibet,
Abb6 Hue, Travels

the
and China during

French
by
Years
1844-5-6.
2 vols.
Trans,
from
W.
Hazlitt.
Chicago, 1898.
22
22^
E.
F.
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S.
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342
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i.
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Arthur
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Lillie,
Buddha and Early Buddhism.

Buddhism
New
Arthur
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Lillie,
in Christendom, or Jesus the
London, 1885.
Lillie,
Arthur
The
Influence of
Buddhism on PrimiLondon, 1894.
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London, 1893.
of Christianity.
W.
Ch.
ii.
S.
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The Claims
A.
M. Machar, Buddhism and

ff.
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VV.
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ff.
and
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Christianity.
Cana CanaNew
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F.
Max Muller, Buddhism

ff.
Christianity.
Review, IV. pp. 67
Karl
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E. Neumann, Die innere Vervvandtschaft buddhischristlicher Lehren.
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Leipzig, 1891.
;
Felix L. Oswald, The Secret of the East

Decline.
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Felix L. Oswald,
pp. 193 ff
Was
Christ a Buddhist?
G. H. Palmer, Buddhism and Christianity.
Arena, Outlook,
III.
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Quart. XIII. pp. 462
ff.
Amer.
,
Cath.
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Face.
Boston, 1878.
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Abel Ri:MUSAT, Melanges
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343
Paris, 1825, vol. I.
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H. R. Reynolds, Buddhism, a Comparison and a ConLondon, 1887. trast between Buddhism and Christianity.
J.
M. Roberts,
Realms.
. . .
Antiquity Revealed.
Voices from
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Proving Christianity to be of Heathen
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(old
C. Schroder, Buddhism
pp. 458
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and
Christianity.
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V.
T. Schultze, Vedanta und

fiir
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als
Fermente
eine kiinftige Regeneration des religidsen Bewusstseins

Leipzig, 1893.
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Leopold von Schroeder, Buddhismus und Christenthum, was sie gemein haben und was sie unterscheidet. Reval,
1893.
Archibald Scott, Buddhism and
Christianity, a Parallel
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Verhaltnissen zu Buddha-sage
Rudolf Sevdel, Das Evangelium von Jesu und Buddha-lehre.
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1882.
Rudolf Seydel, Die Buddha-legende und das Leben

Jesu nach den Evangelien.
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Buddha
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et
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Bouddhisme.
Abbe Thomas, Christianisme

Paris, 1900.
J.
Wells, Christ and Other Heroes of Heathendom.

Vide supra).
London, 1879.
Monier Willlvms, Buddhism.
344
of the East.
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MoNiER WiLLiMis, The Holy
London, 1887. Mgr. N. p. S. Wiseman, Twelve Lectures on the Connection between Science and Revealed Religion. 2 vols.
London, 1849.
Lect.
xi.
Index
Alasadda
Amita, a
147.
(in
Mahavansa)
not Alexdeity,
Bodhisattva, 136.
Bodhi-tree, 73, 134, 235,248, 261.
andria of Egypt, 2S4.
Chinese
Buddhist

161.
76, 84,
Amitabha.
136, 146, 149.
Ananda,
78
ff.,
Buddha's favorite
267.
disciple,
Buddha, not a social reformer, 114; not an atheist, 130.
113-
Buddha
6, 26.
Charita, 155
date
of, 163.
Ancestor-worship, Brahman, Arhat, Buddhist saint, 124.

Asceticism,
Bitddhavansa, date
of, 169.
Buddhism
worship,
society,
tolerant towards
131
;
Brahman
of
Brahman, 21-22, 27-30;

1
powerless to reform
Buddhist, no,
17.
319-320;
degeneracy
inferior
Asita, the Buddhist Simeon, 71, 203.
Asita-story possibly of Christian origin,

302.
modern, 322. Buddhist propagandism

Christian, 317-318.
to
Asoka,
138 ff.; (See Edict).
edicts
of,
139,
140.
Bunsen, false statements

204, 216, 236,
of, 177, 178,
237, 242,
245, 247,
'
Asvaghosa, 162, 163.
254.
Baptism
of Jesus without a
Buddhist
Caste-system, Brahman, 16-1S; not

abolished by Buddha, 113. Catholicism not indebted to Lamaism,
parallel, 247.
Bardesanes, a witness to early spread

of Christianity to Bactria, 294.
Bartholomew's labors
296.
in
India, 295-
229-231. Chastity exacted of
Brahman
student,
Beatitudes, Christian independent of
Buddhist, 263. Beneficence, Buddhist and Christian
22; of Buddhist monk, 105, loS. Chinese Buddhism, 145 ff. Chinese pilgrims, 145-146. Christmas not the birthday of Buddha,
242-243.
compared, iii, 319. Bhagavat, epithet of Buddha, 67.
Chunda, 76-79, 253.

Confession of sins, Brahman, 8, 14 Buddhist, 121-122. Cosmas, a witness to the existence in India of Christian churches in the
sixth century, 296.
Bharhut stupa, date and sculptures,

214.
Bhikkhuni, Buddhist nun, 125, Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, 11 1. Bimbisara not the prototype of Herod,
244. Birth of Christ and that of Buddlra
Council of Kashmir, 144; of Patna, 141, 157-158: of Rajagriha, 137;

of Vaisali, 138.
compared, 202.
346
Dalai-Lama,
Devadatta,
267.
149.
Index
Herod-story unlike that of Bimbisara,
75,
the
Buddhist Judas,
of
244.
Devanampiya, epithet
Asoka, 140.
Hinayana, the Little Vehicle, 137. Hiouen Thsang, Chinese pilgrim, 146,
Dhammapada,
104, 107.
Dhyani-Buddha, Dipavansa, date
149.
of, 155.
Initiation
into
Brahmanism, 19;
into Buddhist order, 115-116.
Earthquake
Edict,
;
at
Buddha's death,
276;
82.
I-Tsing, Chinese pilgrim, 146.
Bhabra,
fifth
158;
second Girnar,
thirteenth
271 Girnar, 279. Edicts of Asoka, 139-140. Essenes not Buddhists, 193-195.
Ethics,
Girnar,
Jamalgiri
jab,
sculptures
evidence
of
early Christian influence in the Pan-
Brahman,
313.
39
ff.;
Buddhist,
103
ff.,
29S-299. Jesus not an Essene, 192. John the Baptist not an Essene, 193. Joyous element in pantheistic Brah-
manism, 56;
in
Buddhism, loi.
Fa Hien,
Chinese pilgrim, 146, 151. Fast of Jesus compared with that of
Kanishka
213.
(Kanerkes), 143, 163, 212,

notion,
Buddha, 204. Fig-tree in Gospel not an echo

the Buddha-legend, 248-249.
Food-restrictions,
Karma, Brahman
of the
dhist, 92
;
belief in
Bud13 karma wrongly

;
ascribed to the apostles, 250-251;
Brahman,
34-35
its
superstitious character, 311.
Buddhist, 117-118. Po-pcn-hing-king, 162. Fo-pen-hing-tsan-king,
68.
Po-pen-h ing-tsih-ki>ig, 167. Forgiveness of injuries, in Brahmanism, 40-41 in Buddhism, 106. Fousa Kwanyin, a Chinese Buddhist
;
Lalita Vistara, 155, 216, 218; date of, 163-166. Lamaism, 149; its points of resemblance with Catholicism, 150, 229-
230
its
alleged influence on Cath-
olicism a fable, 230-231.
deity, 147.
Last Supper of Jesus without a Buddliist parallel,
253.
of,
Genealogy
of Christ not a Buddhist
Lillie,
false
statements
1S8,
1S3,
1S4,
suggestion. 216.
Gift of tongues, late date of Buddhist
story, 222.
185,
186,
1S9, 223, 228, 238,
241, 242, 247, 253.
Gondophares, Indo-Bactrian king, contemporary with St. Thomas, 291293-
Lotus of the True La-a\ 155, 225, 250 date of, 227. Lumbini, birthplace of Buddha, 66.
;
Gospels beyond possibility of dhist influence, 270-273.
Bud-
Mahaparinibbana Sutta,
the Great Decease.
see Book of
213, 277,
Guru, Brahman
teacher, 19.
Mahavansa,
2S4
;
141, 142, 155,

of, 141.
date
Heaven
of
Brahmanism a
feature of
Mahayana, the Great
Vehicle,
136,
popular Buddhism, 102. 11, 12; Hell, Brahman,

76, 92.
Buddhist,
137.213Mahinda-story, dubious character

142.
of,
Index
Maitreya (Metteyya), 135, 235, 236. Malabar Christians, 296-297. Manual labor not honored in Brahmanism, T,y nor in Buddhism, iii, 317. Mara, lord of death and pleasure, 72;
347
story
of,
Ploughing-match,
Jesus, 246.
not
the
source of the story of the lost child,
Polygamy allowed
;
in
Brahmanism,
74,
204-207.
Marriage,
Brahman
view, 22
ff.
Bud-
23 in Buddhist lay society, 321. Prayer-wheels, Tibetan, 149. Pre-existence of Christ contrasted with
the alleged pre-existence of Buddha,
199.
dhist view, 109.

INIaya, the unreal world of sense, 51.
Maya, mother
of
Buddha, 69; not a

;
virgin, 237-239.
Presentation of Jesus in the temple not a fable derived from Buddhism,
Buddhist, Meditation, Brahman, 30 123-124. Metteyya, devotion to, 135.
216-218; in
Prodigal
son,
strict
accord with Jewstory
ish custom, 2 1 7-2 1 S.
Gospel
not
of
Milinda Panha, date
of, 155.
Buddhist origin, 225-227.
Miracles of Christ untouched by the

alleged marvels of Buddha, 305-309.
Mito, a Chinese Buddhist deity, 147.
Questions of
155-
King Milinda^
date of,
Monotheistic tendency of Vedic

5.
belief,
45-
Multiplication of food, late origin of
Buddhist story, 222.
Rebirth, popular Brahman view, 13; pantheistic Brahman view, 52;

Buddhist view, 92.
Relics of Buddha, veneration
of, 133.
Nestorianism
299-300.
in
the far East, 150,

of, 16S.
Resurrection not a Buddhist notion,

date
255Retribution
after
belief,
Nidana Kathn,
Nirvana,
meaning
of,
94-100;
death,
6,
heaven of delights
;
in later
Buddhism,
Brahman
Vedic and 11-12; Bud-
a selfish ideal, 314. 136 Noviciate, Buddhist, 114.
dhist, 76, 92, 102.
Romantic Legend of Sakya-Biiddha,

date of Chinese version, 167.
Number
of Buddhists greatly exagger-
ated, 152,
Occupations
nians, 37-38
;
reprobated
by Brah-
by Buddhists, 118.
Sacrifice, its importance in popular Brahmanism, 8. Saddharma-pundarika, 155 date of,

;
227.
Pant.enus,
early Christian mission-
Samt Thomas'
labors in Parthia
and
ary to India, 294-296.
Paravana, 122.
India, 290-293. Sakya-muni, epithet of Buddha, 66.
Patimokkha,
Buddhist
confession-
Sakya-sinha, epithet of Buddha, 67.

Sanchi-sculptures not prechristian, 214.
Savitri-prayer, 10, 20, 21.
formula, 121, 156.
Penances, Brahman, 14, 30, 36. Pessimism, Brahman, 54 Buddhist, SS-89; criticism of Buddhist notion,
;
3'5-
School-scene in the Gospel of the Infattcy probably not Buddhist origin, 218-221.
Separation of Northern from Southern
Pilgrimages, Buddhist, 133.

Pitris,
worship
of, 6, 26.
Buddhism,
21 3.
Piyadasi, epithet of Asoka, 140.
Siddhattha, epithet of Buddha, 66.
348
Simeon
compared, greater antiquity of Gospel
Index
and Asita
203
story,
Triumphal entry
into Jerusalem with-
out a Buddhist parallel, 252.
302. Sin, Buddhist view deficient, 313.

Si-ngan-fu,
ancient Christian
299.
monu-
Upaniskads, 47. Upasaka, Buddhist layman, 126.
ment
of,
Soul, Buddhist view of, 97. Sraddha, Brahman feast for the dead,
26.
Vassa, rainy-season, period of Buddhist retreat, 123.
Star in the East without a Buddhist

parallel, 240-241. Stupa, Buddhist relic-mound, 83.
Subhadda, Buddha's last convert. Si. Suddhodana, father of Buddha, 66. Sugata, epithet of Buddha, 67. Suicide condemned by Buddhism, 105. Northern paradise of Sukhavati,
Veda, threefold, g. Vedas, oral teaching of, 19; prolonged study of, 21 recited daily by Brahman, 26.
;
Vehicle, Great, 136, 137, 213

137.
Little,
Vihara, Buddhist monastery, 119.
Vows
Buddhism, 136, 146. Sung Yun, Chinese pilgrim,
of of Brahman ascetic, 31 Brahman student, 22 of Buddhist monk, 105, 115.

; ;
146.
Swastika a pre-Buddhist symbol, 233.
Woman, Brahman
Buddhist,
121.
estimate
of,
24;
Tathagata,
epithet of Buddha, 67;
Jewish wrongly identified with "habba," 245. Temptation of Jesus compared with that of Buddha, 205-209. Therapeuts not Buddhists, 194. Thoughts, their importance m ethics of Budof Brahmanism, 40-41
;
Writing
in India,
219-220.
Yama,
6, 136.
Yasas not the prototype of Nicodemus,

251-252. Yasodhara, the principal wife of Buddha, 71.
dhism, 104-105. Tibetan Buddhism, 148. Ti-pitaka, 155; age of, exaggerated,
156-161. Total abstinence, Brahman, 36
dhist, 105.
Bud-
Yavana, true meaning, 142-143. Parthian Bactrian and Yavanas, Greeks, 276-27S. Yona-loka, term for Bactria, 277-278. Yoga, Brahman contemplation, 30.
Transfiguration of Jesus imperfectly

paralleled in
Zarmanochegas
2S6, 287,
not
Buddhist,
Buddhism, 209.
THESES
QUAS
AD DOCTORATUM
IN
SACRA THEOLOGIA
Apud Universitatem Catholicam Americae
CONSEQUENDUM
PUBLICE PROPUGNABIT
CAROLUS FRANCISCUS AIKEN,

DIEBUS XXVII. ET XXVIII. NOVEMBRIS.
A.D.
S. T. L.
MDCCCC.
THESES
I.
"
Nulla quideiu theologum inter
et physicuiii
vera dissensio inter

i
cesserit,
dum
suis uterque finibus se contineat."
11.
Miniine
efificacia
sunt argumenta contra spiritualeni aniniae iiaturam
peti solita ex intiino eo
nexu cerebrum inter
et intellectuni
s.
vigente
quo
fit
Lit
laeso cerebro laedatur et facullas intellectual

III.
Religionem esse subjectioneni Deo voluntariam in cognitione dependentiae nostrae fundatani, ex eis quae in religionis conceptu
continentur
parumper
attendenti
patebit;
ideoque
non
solum
voluntatis, sed etiam intellectus et cordis actus implicare.
IV.
vero deficiunt definitiones

et
illae
onines quibus Kant, Schleierex])rimi
macher, Hegel, Plchte

marunt.
Mill religionis essentiam
autu-
V.
Buddhismus primitivus, cum hominem ex ente supernaturali jjendere deneget, non est proprie dicta religio.
VI.
Euhemerismus, systenia scilicet illud quod mythologiam ex historia derivari autumat, impar est religionis origini funditus explicandae.
VII. Ortuni duxisse religionem ab idea
concept! minime admittendum.
infiniti
utpote a
Max
Midler
.VIII.
The attempt
sound.
of Herbert Spencer to explain
all
forms of religion
scientifically un-
as developments of a mistaken ancestor-worship
is
IX.
It is a
mistake
religion.
to look
upon fetishism as a
distinct
and elementary
form of
1
Leo XIII, Prov. Dens.
Religion
reason.
is
the
natural
X. and legitimate outcome of the use of

XI.
The
universality of religion can not reasonably be called in doubt.
XII.
It is
incorrect to hold with Tylor, Tirinton, and other anthropolois
gists that the moral standard recognized by uncivilized peoples
devoid of
all
religious sanction.
Penance
in
for sin can

life
the religious
XIII. be shown to have been an important element of not a few heathen peoples.
XIV.
Non-revealed religions, while upholding the recognized moral standard, have often been a hindrance rather than a help to moral
advancement.
XV.
Primitive
Buddhism can not
fairly
be adduced as an example of
high morality maintained without religious sanction.
XVI.
Belief in the efficacy of prayer
is
not at variance with the estab-
lished truths of
modern
science.
XVII.
Resemblances
of origin.
in different
religions
do not always imply identity
XVIII.
Positive revelation, far from being impossible, the unprejudiced mind as antecedently probable.
commends
itself to
XIX.
Hysteria religionis revelatae nullum praebent obstaculum validum
quin pro vera accipiatur.
XX.
Miracula non sunt deneganda quasi naturae legibusque naturalibus adversantia, ideoque impossibilia,
XXI.
The
notion that miracles are not instances of the special intervention of G(jd in nature, but rather
extraordinary effects due to the
operation of certain occult forces of nature divinely determined to

this
end from the very beginning of creation, does not merit
a]5-
proval.
XXII.
The
evidential value of miracles
is
not
made void by
the possi-
bility of
demoniacal wonders.
XXIII.
Revelationem primis parentibus factam fuisse
eruitur.
e pluribus fontibus
XXIV.
There
is
a fair degree of probability in the view that the legends

distant peoples
of widely
concerning a former golden age are the
inherited reminiscences of the primitive Paradise.
XXV.
The tendency
probably a
to
monotheism
existing in almost
all
religions
is
relic of
primitive revelation.
XXVI.
The world-wide
takeu as a
belief in the immortality of the soul
may be
safely
relic of primitive tradition.
XXVII.
The
existence of flood-legends in the folk-lore of
many peoples
is
a strong testimony to the historical character of the Bible account

of the Deluge.
XXVIII.
The
assertion that Judaism derived
its
eschatology from Zoroas-
trianism lacks solid foundation.
XXIX.
The
origin.
positive, internal criteria of revelation,
when
in
rightly applied to
of
its
Christianity,
create
strong presumption
favor
divine
XXX.
The Diatessaron
of Tatian bears reliable testimony to the authenticity of the four Gosjêls.
XXXI.
The apostolic origin of the Gospels made good by the testimony of Papias.
of
Matthew and
of
Mark
is
From
internal evidence
it
can be
XXXII. made
plain that the author of
the fourth Ciospel
was
a Palestinian Jew, of the circle of Christ's
intimate disciples.
XXXIII.
examination of John xix, 35, and xxr, 24, is sufficient to show that the author of the fourth fiospel was John, the son of
critical
Zebedee.
XXXTV.
The
ism.
apostolic origin of the Gospels precludes
the possibility of
their being
contaminated with mythical elements drawn from Buddh-
XXXV.
The theory
tion
that the Gospel stories of Christ's miraculous concepof LSuddhist origin

is
and birth are
absolutely untenable.
XXXVI.
No
serious argument can be drawn from the Buddha-legend against
the Gospel teaching of the virgin-motherhood of Mary.
XXVII.
The
story of the temptation of Christ has no historical connection
with the somewhat similar story related of Buddha.
Tlie Gospel story of the
XXXVIII. man born blind
is
wrongly taken
to
imply
belief in the Buddhist doctrine of karma.
XXXIX.
The attempt
to prove that Jesus
was an Essene must be
set
down
as utterly futile.
XL.
Qui miraculis a Christo patratis thauniaturgiam Buddhae tam Solent opponere operam casse navant.
ascrip-
XLI.
The miraculous
cures wrought by Christ do not admit of the ex-
naturally through a
planation that they are relative miracles only, i. e., effects produced knowledge of nature's laws not possessed by
His contemporaries but within the grasp

lightened by scientific progress.
of later generations en-
XLII.
Christus
Dominus natus
est ex
Maria virgine.
XLIII. Ex sui ipsius testimonio Christum verum esse comprobatur.
Deum
invictissime
XLIV.
The
reality of Christ's resurrection is conclusively established
by
the concurrent testimony of the four Gospels.
XLV.
Even without the aid Paul to the Romans, to
are
Gospel narrative, the Epistles of .St. the Corinthians, and to the Galatians, which
of the
admitted even by rationalists to be genuine, are sufficient to prove that our Lord rose from the dead.
XLVI.
The
religion of
Buddha
is
incomparably inferior to the religion of
Jesus Christ.
a mistake to hold that
It is
XLVII. Buddhism has propagated
itself
with
greater success than Christianity.
XLVIII.
Ad
essentiam ecclesiae a Christo fundatae pertinet auctoritas mag-
isterii.
XLIX.
Christus ecclesiam
officio
suam
ita instituit ut
usque ad finem mundi
suo fungatur ab omni errore immunis.

L.
sacrorum dogmatum perpetuo est retinendus quern semel declaravit sancta Mater Ecclesia, nee unquam ab eo sensu, altioris intelligentiae specie et nomine, recedendum."
" Is sensus
^
'
Con. Vatic. Const. Dei Fiiius, cap.
4.
LI.
Discrimen inter clericos
et
laicos est juris divini.
LII.
Sacerdotium vere
stitiiit.
et
proprie dictum Christus in ecclesia sua
in-
LTII.
Verbis Mattliaei xvi,

diate contulisse
i8,
probatur Cliristum Petro apostolo immejurisdictionis.
primatum
LIV.
F-loinanuni
Pontificem primatum in ecclesia primis saeculis exer-
cuisse probatur.
LV.
Summus
Pontifex vi potestatis propriae et ordinariae a qualibet
lege ecclesia^tica dispensare potest.
LVI.
Licet in ecclesia episcopatus a Christo
Domino
institutus fuerit,
eorum tamen
jurisdictio a
Romano
Pontifice
immediate procedit.
LVIL
It
is
a gross error to maintain

its
that
the Christian observance of
Sunday had
source
in
the cult of Mithra.
LVIII.
The monastic
discipline of Christianity, while strikingly similar to

is
that of liuddhism,
of
independent origin.
LIX.
The
is
attem|)t to trace certain features of Catholicism to
Lamaism
a perversion of historic truth.
The connection
Buddhists
is
alleged by
LX. some between
the Essenes and the
a pure fiction.
LXL
Buddhism, far from being an original creation, derivation from Brahminism.
is
in
great part a
LXII.
The edicts of Buddhism
of
Asoka
afford no conclusive evidence of the spread

far as the
in his
day as
Greek-speaking world.
Lxin.
It is
very jjrobable that the separation of the Norlheiii from the
Southern Buddhists was occasioned by the conquest of Northern

India by Kanishka
in
78 a. d.
LXIV.
There
the
India.
is
strong historical evidence
in
support of the tradition that
Apostle
Thomas
evangelized
Parthia, ISactria and Northwest
LXY.
The
Jamalgiri sculptures point unmistakably to the presence of
fifth
Christian influences in the Panjab as early as the
century.
LXVI.
The Nestorian monument
of of Si-ngan-fu affords incontestable proof
in
the
presence of Christianity
China
in
the
first
half of the
sevttnth century.
LXVII.
Cultus hyperduliae beatae Mariae virgini exhibitus rectae ration!
principiisque revelatis
omnino convenit.
LXVIII.
Veneratio, quae iniagini Christi
solet exhiberi, procul
crucifi.xi
juxta pra.xim ecclesiae
dubio legitima
est censenda.
LXIX.
The Catholic
use of the sign of the cross
is
a characteristic feature
of prnnitive Christianity.
LXX.
The observance
of the Lord's day dates
from apostolic times.
LXXI.
Christus apostolis eorumque
successoribus potestatem contulit
peccata remittendi.
LXXII.
Ad sacramentum
testas
poenitentiae valide ministrandum requiritur pojurisdictionis.
non solum ordinis sed etiam
lO
LXXllI.
Contritio
motivo
caritatis
perfectae
concepta
peccatorem Deo
reconciliat ante absolutionem.
LXXIV.
Contrahentes sunt ministri sacramenti matrimonii.
LXXV.
Jus sodalitia formandi quibus conditiones laboris aequiores obtineantur, opificibus negari
non
potest.
Vidit Sacra Facultus,
Carolus
Joannes
p.
Grannan,
Creagh,
J.
S. T. D., p.
t.
Decanus.
a
T.
C. D.,
p.
t.
Secretis.
Vidit Rector Univeisitatis,
THOMAS
J.
COXATY,
S. T.
D.
Doviiis Pontificalis Praes2il.
Date Due

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BL 1451 .A47 1900 Aiken, Charles Francis, 1863 -1925.

The dhamma of Gotama the RnHrlha snri thp nn.c;npl of

Gospel of Jesus the Christ

Buddhism with Primitive Christianity

Rev. Charles Francis Aiken, S.T.L.

the Archdiocese of Boston

Jesus the Christ

S.T.D., Ceftsor Deputatus.

Printed at Boston, U.S.A.

partly the outcome of a

the author in the Catholic University of America.

has been written to meet a want keenly

the field of Christian Apologetics.

the faith of not a few

The few works

English vindicating the

independent origin of Christianity against Buddhist

excellent as they are, dwell too largely on the

Christian teaching, and do

not enter in sufficient detail into a critical scrutiny of

the latter point that the author of

volume has given

himself with a brief exposition of the inferiority of

Brahmanism and Buddhism,

necessary for the proper understanding of the

be found to have a value independ-

ently of the part that follows.

accuracy, the author has aimed to produce a work

be read with interest and profit by those

are strangers to the subject of which

more than an empty formalism.

Social and Religious Institutions

Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, Sudras

amples of Brahman wisdom.

identified with all

gives rise to rival sects,

which one Buddhism known for certain His father

Deliverance from suffering the aim of

Four Great Truths

vana, of the living, of the dead

the joyful element in supplemented by the Brahman paradise, swarga

Buddhist view of Buddhism Nirvana

Celibacy exacted of Buddha's followers

harmony with Buddhist

tions to be observed in traversing the village

confession, the Patimok-

Buddhism, but man's

come, Metteyya the Adi-Buddha

evangelization of Kashmir, Gandhara, and Bactria

Buddhists greatly exaggerated.

The Buddhist Sacred Books

dhamttia-pitaka, constituting the

Northern canon: the Buddha Charita, Lalita Abhinishkramana Sutra, Saddharma-pundarika

TransTi-pitaka greatly exaggerated The

raphies of the Southern school

Commentary on the Bnddhavansa forms of the Buddha-legend.

PART III. THE ALLEGED RELATIONS OF BUDDHISM WITH CHRISTIANITY EXAMINED

held by the majority of scholars

three chief advocates of the theory

Ernst von Bun-

heaven contrasted with that ascribed to Divergent circumstances of birth Simeon

resemblances between the temptation of Jesus and that of

Jesus without a close