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On Buddha and BuddhismAuthor(s): Professor WilsonSource: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 16 (1856), pp.229-265

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229

Art. XIII.?On Buddha and Buddhism. By Professor

Wilson, Director of the ll.A.S.

[Readas a Lecture, April 8, 1854.]

Much has been written, much has been said in various places, and

amongst them in this Socioty, about Buddha, and tho religious systemwhich bears his name, yet itmay bo suspected that the notions which

havo been entertained and propagated, in many particulars relatingto

both tho history and tho doctrines, have been adopted upon insufficient

information and somewhat prematurely disseminated. Very copious

additions, and those of ahighly

authentic character, havo been, but

very recently,made to tho stock of materials which wo heretofore

possessed, and thero has scarcely yet been sufficient timo for their

deliberate examination. Copious also and authentic as they are, (heyaro still incomplete, and much remains for Oriental scholars to

accomplish before it can bo said that the materials for such ahistory

of Buddha as shall command tho assent of all who study the subject,

havo been conclusively provided. I have, therefore, no purpose of

proposing to you in tho views I am about to take, that you should

consider them as final; my only intention is to bring tho subjectbeforo you as it stands at present, with some of that additional

elucidation which is derivable front the many valuablo publications

that haverecently appearod, and

particularlyfrom the learned and

authenticinvestigations

of the late Eugene Burnouf, theonly

scholar

as yet who has combined a knowledge of Sanscrit with that of Pali

and Tibetan, and has been equally familiar with the Buddhistauthorities of the north and south of India: unfortunately ho has

been lost to us beforo ho had gone through the wido circuit of research

which ho had contemplated, and which he only was competent to

havo traversed; and although ho has accomplished more than anyother scholar, more than it would seem

possible for any human ability

and industry to havo achieved, it is to bo deeply and for ever

regretted that his life was not spared to have effected all he had

intended, and for which ho was collecting, and had collected, many

valuable and abundant materials. Still he has left us, in his Intro

duction t\rilistoiro do Bouddhisme, and in his posthumous work Lo

Lotus do la Bonne Loi, an immense mass of authentic information

which was notformerly

within our reach, and which must contributo

effectually to rationalize the speculations that may be hazarded in

futuro on Buddha and his faith. Some of thoso which have been

started by tho erudition and ingenuity of the learned in past ages will

vol. xvi, it







230 BUDDHA AND BUDDHISM.

best introduco us to the opportunity we now have of ascertainingwhat is probable, if wo caunot positively affirm that it is all true.'

It is sometimes supposed that tho classical authors supply us with

evidence of the Buddhist religion in India three centuries before the

era of Christianity, drawing this inferenco especially from tho fragments which remain of the writings of Megasthenes, tho ambassador

of Scloucus to Ohandragupta, about tho year n.o. 295, according to his

latest editor, Schwanbcck, and to whoso descriptions of various particulars respecting India tho other ancient writers are almost whollyindebted. It is well known that he divides the Indian philosophersinto two classes, tho Brachmanai and tho Sarmanai; and tho latter it

has been concluded intend the Sramauas, one of tho titles of tho

Buddhist ascetics. This is not impossible. If wo trust to the traditions

of tho Buddhists, their founder lived at least two centuries before tho

mission of Megasthenes, and in that coso wo might oxpect to meet

with his disciples in tho descriptions of the ambassador. At tho same

time Sramana is not exclusively tho designation of a Buddhist, it is

equallythat of a Brahmanical

ascetic,and its uso docs not

positivolydetermine towhich class it is to be applied.1 In truth, it is clear from

what follows that tho Brahman was intended, forMogasthones pro

ceeds to say; "of the Sarmanai, tho mosthighly

vonoratcd among them

are thoHyllobii," that is, as ho goes on to

explain tho term,"

thoso

who pass their lives in tho woods (?.ei'T.t?ci' t<u?

v\?k),and who livo

upon wild fruits and seeds, and aro clothed in the barks of trees/' in

other words tho Vanaprastha of tho Brahniaiiical system; literally,tho dweller in tho woods, the man of tho third

order,who,

havingfulfilled his courso of householder, is enjoined by Manu to repair to

thelonely

wood to subsist upon green roots and fruit, and to woar a

vesture of bark. Major Cunningham, indeed, who is a courageous

etymologist, derives Hyllobii from tho Sanscrit Alobhiya, "ono who is

without desire," that is, the Bodhisatwa, who has suppressed all

human passions ; but Alobhiya is not a genuine Sanscrit word, nor

is thcro any authority for its application to a Bodhisatwa, and

Megasthenes maybe

presumed

to havo understood his own

language.His interpretation of Hyllobii, the dwellers in tho woods, is in such

perfect conformity with tho meaning of Vanaprastha, that wo cannot

doubt the identity of tho two designations.

Nothing of any value, upon this subject at least, is derivable

from classical writers in addition to tho information furnished by1When ?rjuna goes to the forest ho is attended amongst others by Sramanah

Vanaukasah, forest-dwelling Rrainanasi theso could not have been Buddhists,-?

Mah?bh?ral, Adi Parva, Y. 7742.







BUDDHA AND BUDDHISM. 231

Megasthenes; but when we como later down, or to tho early agesof Christianity, various curious notices of Buddhism occur in tho

writings of the Fathers of the Church, which though meagre arc in thomain correct. Wo need not be surprised at this : there is no doubt

that Buddhism was in a highly flourishing state in India in the first

centuries of Christianity, and it is not extraordinary that some indica

tions of its diffusion should have found thoir way to Syria and Egypt.Clemens of Alexandria, who lived towards tho close of tho second

contury, had ovidontly heard of tho monastic practices, and of tho

peculiar monuments or Topes of the Buddhists. When ho speaks of

tho Brachmanai and tho Sarmanai as two distinct classes of Indianphilosophers, ho uses tho very words of

Megasthenes,and

merely,

therefore, repeats his statement; but that ho docs not understand

Buddhists by Sarniancs is clear enough, for ho proceeds to add,"

thero

aro of the Indians some who worship Buddha, or Boutta, whom theyhonour as a

god"; and in another passago he observes:"

those of tho

Indians who are called Somnoi cultivate truth, foretell events, and

roverence certain pyramids in which they imagine tho bones of somo

divinity are deposited ; they observo perpetual continence ; there aroalso maidcus termed Seinnai." Semnoi and Sonuiai might bo thoughtto have somo relation to Siamanas, but tho words, perhaps, bear only

thoir original purport, "venerable or sacred."

About thoiniddlo of thofollowing century, Porphyry repeats

information gathered from Bardesancs, who obtained it from tho

Indian envoys sent to Antoninus; and although tho account is some

what confused, thoro is an evident allusion to Buddhist practices.

"Thoro arc," ho says, "two divisions of tho Gyninosophists, Brachuians,and Sainaiiai,"?not Sarmanai, but Samanai,?"tho former aro so

by

birth, tho latter by election, consisting of all those who give them

selves up to the cultivation of sacred learning : they live in colleges,in dwollings, and temples constructed by the princes, abandoning their

families and proporty : thoy aro summoned to prayer by the ringing of

a boll, and livo upon rico and fruits." Cyril of Alexandria also

mentions that tho Samamoans wcro thophilosophers

of tho Bactrians,

showing tho ox tension of Buddhism beyond tho confines of India; andat. Jerome, who, liko Cyril, livod at tho end of the fourtii and

beginning of tho fifth contury, was evidently acquainted with

Buddhistical legends, for ho says that Buddha was believed to havo

been born of a virgin, and to havo como forth from his mother's side.

From Cyril of Jerusalem and Ephraim, writers of tho middle of tho

fourth century, wo learn that Buddhism tainted somo of tho heresies

of tho early Christian Church, especially tho Munichumn, which tho

11 2







232 ??D?IIA AND BUDDHISM.

latter terms tho Indian heresy; tho fortnor states that Tcrebinthus,

the preceptor of Manes, the Persian Mani, took the name of Baudas.

Hydo and Beausobro explain this to mean no moro than that tho

word Tcrebinthus in Greek was the same as Butam in Chaldaic, a

kind of tree; but the word in Cyril is Baudas, not Butem, and it is

moro likely that Tcrebinthus styled himself a Bauddha, or a Buddha,

especiallyas an Indian origin was assigned to the doctrines he intro

duced. Epiphanius, indeed, explains how this happoucd by goinga step further. According to hint Scythian us, quasi Silky a, tho master

and instructor of Terobinthus, was an Arabian or Egyptian merchant,

who had grown rich by trading with India, whenco ho imported not

only valuable merchandise, but heretical doctrines and books. Suidas

calls Manes himself a Brahman, a pupil of Baudda, formerly called

Tcrebinthus, who, coming into Persia, falsely pretended that ho was

born of avirgin.

Theso accounts are no doubt scantyand iu somo

respects inaccurate, but they demonstrate clearly that the Buddhism

of India was notwholly

unknown to tho Christian writors between

the second and fifth centuries of our era.

Without at present referring moro particularly to the information

furnished us by Chinese travellers in India between the third and sixth

centuries, wemay

next advert to tho strango theories which wero

gravely advanced, bymen of tho highest repute in

Europe for erudition

and sagacity, from tho middle to tho end of the last century, respectingthe origin and character of Buddha. Deeply interested by the accounts

which were transmitted to Europe by the missionaries of tho Romish

Church, who penetrated to Tibet, Japan, and China, as well as byother travellers to those countries, the members of the French Academy

especially, set to work to establish coincidences the most improbable,and identified Buddha with a variety of personages, imaginary or real,with whom no possible congruity existed; thus it was attempted to

show (hat Buddha was the same as the Thoth or Hermes of tho

Egyptians,?theTurin of tho Etruscans; that ho was

Mercury,

Zoroaster, Pythagoras; tho Woden or Odin of tho Scandinavians:?

Manes, tho author of the Man ?chacun

heresy;

and even the divino

author ofChristianity.

These wero tho dreams of noordinary men;

and, besides, Giorgi and Paolino, we find amongst the speculators tho

names of Iluct, Vossius, Fourmont, Leibnitz, and De Guignes.

The influence and example of great names pervaded the inquiry,even after access to moro authentic information had been obtained,

and shews itself in some of the early volumes of the researches of our

venerable parent the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Thus Chambers is

divided between

Mercuryand Woden. Buchanan looks out for an








Egyptian orAbyssinian prototype, and even Sir William Jones

fluctuates between Woden and Sisac. In the first instance he observes :

"nor can wo doubt that Wod or Odin was tho same with Budh;"but in a

subsequent paper ho remarks: "wemay safely

conclude

that Sacya or Sisak, about 200 years after Vyasa, cither in person,or

bya colony from Egypt, imported into this country [India] tho

mild horcsy of tho ancient Bauddhas." This spirit of impossible

analogies is,oven

yet,not

wholly extinct; and writers arc found to

identify Buddha with tho prophet Daniel, and to ascribo the appearance of Buddhism in India, to the captivity and dispersion of the Jews.

When, howover,a moro

profound acquaintance with tho literature

of tho principal Buddhist nations began to shed genuine light upon

the subject, it soon scattered the shadows which tho darkness of

ignoranco had begotten. Tho languages of the Chineso and of tho

Mongols, wereassiduously studied in tho early part of tho present

contury, especially by Klaproth, Remusat, and Schmidt; and tho

application of their acquirements to the illustration of Buddhism, was

evinced in numerous

interestingand authentic contributions to the

early volumes of tho Journal Asiatique, and the transactions of the

Imperial Academy of St. Pctersburgh, and more particularly in the

copious annotations which accompany tho French translation, by

Roiuusat, Klaproth,and Laudrcsso, of tho travels of tho Chinese

priest, Fa llian, in the end of tho fourth and beginning of the fifth

centuries. Valuable as this workundoubtedly is, as a Buddhist

picture of tho condition of India at that period, it would have been

inmany respects

almostunintelligible

without thoamplification

of

its briof notices into tho extensivo views of the systemand its authors,

which aro to bo found in tho notes attached to tho text; tho details

contained in which aro mainly derived from tho Buddhist literature

of China, with somo accossions from that of thoMongols.In tho moan time, however, the interest, which had languished in

India, subsequently to tho first vain concoits of the Bengal Asiatic

Society,revived ; and a whole flood of contributions of a character

equallynovel and

important

was

poured upon

the

public,both from tho

north and from the south. Tho former took the lead, and Buddhism

as still prevalent inNepal and the adjacent Himalayan regions was

zealously investigated by Mr. Hodgson, the results of whoso inquirieswere communicated to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and

subsequentlyto tho Royal Asiatic Society. Besides the information which ho

himself collected, he contributed still moro importantly to tho progressof tho investigation, by first bringing to our knowledge the existence

of a number of Buddhistwritings

inSanscrit,

as well as that of amost








voluminous body of works, chiefly if not exclusively Buddhist, in tho

languago of Tibet. Ho did more; ho procured the books', and in tho

exercise of a sound judgment, as well as a gonorous liberality, sentthem where they wero likely to bo turned to good account, to tho

several Asiatio Societies of Calcutta, London, and Paris. To tho former,

between 1824 and 1830, ho presented nearly 50 volumes in Sanscrit,

and 200 in Tibetan: to this Society he presented above 100 volumos in

Sanscrit and Tibetan, and at various dates ho forwarded to tho Soci?t?

Asiatique 88 volumes of Sanscrit, besides tho whole of tho great

Tibetan collections, tho Kah-gyur and Stan-gyur, in more than 300

volumes. Ho finally presented to tho East India Company, a copy of

the two Tibetan collections, which aro now at tho India Houso.

Mr. Hodgson sent these books to Europe, not, as M. Burnouf observes,

hat they might slumbor iu undisturbed reposo upon tho shelves of a

library, but that they might bo mado to yiold tho information thoy

might contain. That theso expectations havo not been wholly disap

pointed is due, I am sorry to say, to no zeal or acquirement nativo to

the soil; and tho books in tho

Society'spossession havo dono littlo

more than reposo in dust and oblivion upon tho shelves where thoywere originally deposited.

The accumulations of Mr. Hodgson havo, howover, not been mado

in vain. Tho Tibetan volumes especiallywere fortunate in finding

nnexpounder

in Alexander Csoma K?'ri?si, whose ardent aspirations

after kuowlcdgo led him, penniless and friendless, from Transylvania

to Ladakh, where, with the aid of our equally adventurous countryman

Moorcroft, ho was enabled to

study

and to master tho languago of

Tibet. Placed subsequently in communication with tho Asiatio

Society of Calcutta, ho dovotcd much of his timo to the examination

of the volumes of the Kah-gyur, and has given the results of his labour

to the publie in tho Journals of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and in

the 20th vol. of tho llcscarchos; he has also afforded, bya grammar

and dictionaryof Tibetan, tho means of prosecuting tho cultivation of

the languago in Europo; and tho Transactions of tho Imporial Acadomy

of St.Pctersburgb,

as woll as other

publications,

ovinco tho scholar

ship of Mr. Schmidt in Tibotan as well as in tho literaturo of tho

-Mongol?. Wo havo also a very valuable contribution to tho History

of Buddhism in a lifo of Buddha, translated originally front Sanscrit

into Tibetan, and from that languago into French, and published two

or three years sinco by M. Foucaux. M. Burnouf also qualified himself

to mako use of tho Tibetan books supplied by Mr. Hodgson, but

found abundant occupation for his time in translating from tho Sanscrit

originals.His Introduction to the

History

of Buddhism contains copious








translations from many of tho principal Buddhist works, whilst the

work published after his death, the"

Lotus do la Bonno Loi," is a

translation of a Sanscrit Buddhist work which has been known to bo

highly estimated for centurios whcrovor Buddhism is professed.At tho samo time that Hodgson and Csoma were illustrating the

literature of Buddjiism, as it existed in tho north of India, a liko

spirit of research animated tho regions of tho south, and the Pali

scholars of Ceylon began to draw from tho stores within their reach,now and valuablo sources of information. Besides various contri

butions to the Ceylon periodicals, and to tho Journal of tho Bengal

Society,tho late Mr. Tumour has in his edition and translation of

theMah?wanso furnished us with an authentic record of tho notions

which are current not only amongst the people of Ceylon, but those of

Ava and Siam, whobelong

to tho saino school, and whoso authorities

aro identical. Tho course commencedby Mr. Tumour has been

followed up with great ability by tho Rev. Mr. Gogerly in the Friend

of Coylon, and the proceedings of tho branch Asiatic Society institutedou tho island, whilst Mr.

Hardyin his Eastern Monachism, and

Manual of Buddhism, has brought together all that is at present knownof tho Buddhism of tho South.

Wo aro not, therefore, in want now ofgenuino

means offorming

correct opinions of tho outlino of Buddhism, as to its doctrines ami

practices, but thcro aro still questions of vital importanco to its historyfor tho solution of which our materials aro defective.

Disregarding

all tho fancies of speculation which aro based upon imperfect know

ledge, and receiving with caution tho accounts given usby the Chinese

missionaries, tho most rational courso to bo adopted in seeking forinformation on which

dependence may bo placed, is, to consult the

works which tho Buddhists themselves regard as their scriptures, and

from which their own history and doctrines are derived : but then, who

will answer for tho authorities? what is the history, what is tho date,of tho numerous works that aro available, aud which consist of

two great divisions, tho Sanscrit and tho Pali . and what is the

comparativo valu? of tho respective classes ? Aro they to be

regarded as synchronous and independent 1 and if not, which istho senior, which h. tho original. These are questions which M.

Burnouf himself declares cannot yet bo answered with confidence :

an exact comparison between tho two scries of works, he declares

to bo impossible in tho prosont state of our knowledge. We are not

yet in possession of all tho works that may exist in cither class, but

even ifthey

wero all collected in any European library, theymust bo

read and studied, translated and commented upon, and the translations

and comments must be published. This task, more tedious than difli







23? BUDDHA AND BUDDHISM.

cult, wouldrequire tho cooperation

of many laborious andpatient

scholars, and upon its completion in a satisfactory manner could

criticalinvestigation

alono commence

Although, however, it is perfectly true that conclusions on which

implicit rolianco is to bo placed must bo preceded by such a series of

operationsas M. Burnouf indicates, yet,

as thatpreliminary process

is indefinitely doferrcd and may novcr bo perfected, wo must bo con

tent in tho meanwhilo to mako uso of such means as wo possess, and

from them to form a conjectural approximation, if not a positivo

propinquity, to tho solution of tho question upon which tho wholo

depends?tho antiquity and authenticity of tho writings in which thoBuddhists themselves record tho history of thoir founder and tho doc

trines which they maintain, aud from which alone wo can derivo

information that is of any real valuo. The great body of the Buddhist

writings consists avowedly of translations ; tho Tibetan, Mongolian,

Chinese, Cingalese, Burman, and Siamese books, are all declaredlytranslations of works written in the languago of India?that which

iscommonly

called Fan, or morocorrectly Fan-lan-mo, or

"tho lan

guago of the Brahmans ;"and then comes tho question, towhat languagodoes that term apply? docs it mean Sanscrit or docs it mean Pali?

involving also tho question of the priority and originality of tho works

written in thosolanguages respectively ; tho Sanscrit works as

they

havo como into our hands being found almost exclusively iu Nepal,those in Pali being obtainod chiefly from Coylon and Ava.

Until very lately, tho language designated by tho Chinese Fan,was enveloped in some uncertainty. Fa Hian in tho fourth century

takes with him Fan books not only front India but from Coylon, andthe latter it has been concluded were PAH. No Sanscrit Buddhist

works, as far as wo yet know, havo been met with in tho south any

more than Pali works in the north, although Sanscrit works aro not

tiufrcqiicnt iu Ceylon iu the present day. Tho mystery, however, is

now cleared up. In the life and travels of IIwan Tsang, written bytwo of his scholars and translated from tho Chineso by M. Julien,

the matter is placed beyond all disputo by tho description and by tho

examples which the Chinese traveller gives of tho construction of thoFan language, in which ho was himsolf a proficient, having been

engaged many years in the study whilst in India, and in translatingfrom it after his return to China. We learn then front him, that tho

words of the Fan languago aro distinguished under two classes, Tinganta and Svp-anta* tho Sanscrit grammatical designations

of verbs

and nouns; that the former havoeighteen modifications or

persons,

in two divisions, nine in each, ono called Fan-to-sa-mi, or, in Sa.iscrit,

l*ara$mai; the other Oia-mo-ni, or inSanscrit, Atmane, All verbs and








nouns have three numbers, singular, dual, and plural, of which he

gives us examples both in conjugation and declension. All this is

Sanscrit; and what ismore to tho point, it is not Mngadhi, tho proper

designation of tho dialect termed in tho south Pali. No form of Prakrit,Pali included, has a dual member, and thotermination of the cases of

tho noun are, in several respects, entirely distinct.1 H wan Tsang also

correctly adds that the grammar in uso in India, in his timo, was tho

1 The following examplesnrc given by H wan Tnang of the inflexions of a verb

and noun :

VERB.

Sanhkhit.iiin.:sb.

Third Person.

Sing. P'opoti

Du. P'o-po-pa

PL Pofan-tl

Second Person?

Sing. P'o-poHso

Du. P'o-popo

PL Popo-t'a

First Person.

Sing. P'opomiDu. P'opohoa

Bhavati

Bhavapa (for Bhavatah)Bhavanti

Bhavasi

Bhavapa (for Bhavathah)

Bhavatha

BhavfunlBliavAvah

PI. P'o-pomo V.P'opo-mo-sac Bhavfunah

NOUN.

Chinese.

Nominative.

Sing. Pu-lusha

Du. Pu-ht-shao

PL Pu-lu-sha-so

Accusative.Sing. Pu lushan

Du. Pu lu-shau

Pt. Pulunhoang

Instrumental.

Sing. Pnlu-fihai-na

Du. Fu lusha-picni Pu-lu-hhapi

I Pulu-shasKO

Dative.

Sing. Pu-hi-hin-yo

Du. Pu-lu -shapicn

PL Pu-lu-shaicho

Ablative.

Sing. Pu lu-shato

Du. Pu-lusha-picn

PL Pu-lu she cho

Genitive.

Sing. Pu-lu aha-tsic

Du. Pu lu

shapicnPL Pulu-sha-nan

SANSKRIT.

Puru?hah

Purushau

Purush??s

Puriibham

I'uniHliaii

Purushau

Piirushcna

PuniHhfibhyfim

Purushiibhih \

Purushais /

Puriishfiya

Puni.sh?ibhy?lm

Purushcshu (for Purushcbhyah)

Purushiit

Piuu.sh??bhy?im

Purushcshu (for Purushcbhyah)

Purushatsya

Purushftbhyfim (for Purushayoh)Puru?liiiuum

En?I-ISH.

He is

They two arc

They arc

Thou art

You two aro

You aro

I amWc two aro

AYe arc

English.

Man

Two men

Men

Man

Two men

Men

By a man

By two men

By men

To man

To two men

To men

From a man

Prom two men

From men

Of a man

Of two raen

Of men







238 BUDDHA AND BUDDHISM,

work of a Brahman of the north, a nativo of Tula or S?latula, named

Po-ni-ni, orP?nini, the well known Sanscrit grammarian ; and he no

tices a form of tho verb peculiar to the Grammar of tho Vedas, (Fei-to).

Tho ovidenco of Hwan Teang, thcroforo, is conclusive as to tho

languago of the books which woro sought for and studied by the Chi

nese Buddhists in ludia, and carried with them to China, aud thero

translated into tho form and undor tho appollation in which thoy still

exist. Whether tho books they took from Ceylon wero Sanscrit or

Pali, wo havo no further indication than tho name Fan, which it seems

most probablo that Fa Hian employed in the samo sonso as Hwan

Tsang, or that of Sanscrit ; and it is also to bo observed that the prin

cipal works of Ceylon are subsequent to his time, which makes it fur

ther almost certain that thoFan books of Coylon wero also in Sanscrit.

Tho Buddhist authorities of India Proper, then, wero undeniably

Sanscrit; those of Ceylon might havo been Pali or Miigadhi: wero

they synchronous with the Sanscrit books, or were they older, or wero

they younger, moro ancient or more modern ? To answer theso ques

tions we must endeavour to determino their rolativo chronology, from

the imperfectmeans which are within our reach. Both sets of autho

rities undoubtedly, Sanscrit and Pali, wero in oxistenco in the fifth

and sixth centuries of our era. The Sanscrit works, according to tho

testimony of Chinese travellers, wero carried from China to India in

very considerable numbers from a much earlier dato ; in ono instanco

it is said two years beforo Christ, but it was not till aftor a.D. 70,

the date of the introduction of Buddhism into China, that they wero

imported in any numbor, and not till tho third and fourth centuries

that

theyhad become

very

numerous. In a Chineso

history

of cele

brated Buddhist teachers, published botweon 502 and 556, and from

which M. Julien has givenus extracts, a Buddhist priest namod Dharma,

is said to havo brought to China one hundred and sixty-five works,

amongst which were several that may bo readily identified with tho

Sanscrit works procured byMr. Hodgson

: wo cannot hesitate, for ox

nniplo, to recognise in the Ching-fa-hua, meaning"

Tho Flower of tho

Chinese. Sanskrit. English.

Locative.

Siug. Pu-lu-sh'al Purusho In a man

Vu. Pu-lu-sha-yu Purushayoh In two men

n. Pu-lu-sltai-tscu Purushcshu In men

Vocative.

Sing. Hi(IIc)Pulu-_lia Purusha Oman

Du. Hi (He) Pu-lu-sbao Purtishau O two men

PI. IB (He) Pulu-slm Purushah O men

The verb docs not differ materially from tho Pali verb; but the inflexional

terminations of tho cases of the noun differ verywidely:

somo of them arc min

slated, but this is probably from errors of transcription.








right Law," tho Sad Dharma Pundar?ka,"

Lo Lotus do la bonne Loi,"

which, as has been mentioned, was the last labour of M. Burnouf. Of

thiswork, repeated

translations havo been mado intoChinese,

tho first

of which dates a.d. 280, whilst of tho Laiita Vistara, or life of S?kya

Muni, tho earliost Chinese version was mado between A.n. 70?76.

Wo may be satisfied, therefore, that tho principal Sanscrit authorities

which wo still possess wero composod by the beginning of the Chris

tian era at least ;how much earlier is less easily determined.

According to tho Buddhists themselves, the doctrines of S?kyaMuni wero not committed to writing by him, but were orally commu

nicated to his disciples, and transmitted in liko manner by them tosucceeding generations. When they were first written is not clearly

mado out from tho traditions of tho north; but they agree with those

of tho south in describing tho occurrence of different public councils

or convocations at which tho senior Buddhist priests corrected the

errors that had crept into tho teaching of heterodox disciples aud

agreed upon tho chief points of discipline and doctrine that were to

bo promulgated.Tho first of these councils was held, it is said, imme

diately after Sakya Muni's death ; the second 110, and the third 218years afterwards, or about 240 u.c. Tho northern Buddhists confound

apparently tho second and third councils, or tako no notice of the

latter iu the timo of Asoka, but place tho third in Kashmir under the

patroimgo of Kanishka or Kanorka, ono of the Hindo-Sythic kings,400 years after Buddha's Nirvan,

or b.c. 153. Both accounts agreo

that the propagation of Buddhism, by missions dispatched for that

purposo, took place after tho third council.

According to the traditions which aro current in the south as wellas tho north, the classification of tho Buddhist authorities as the

Tripithaka, (tho threo collections,) took placo at tho first council; the

portion termed Sutra, tho doctrinal precepts, being compiled by

Ananda; tho Vinaya, or disciplino of tho priesthood, by Up?li; and

tho Abhidharma, or philosophical portion, by Kasyapa?all three

Buddha's disciples. Their compilations wero revised at tho second

council, and wero finally established as canonical at tho last. Thoir

being compiled, howovcr, docs not necessarily imply their being

written; and, according to tho northern Buddhists, they wero not

committed to writing until after tho convocation in Kashmir, or

153 n.c; whilst tho southern authorities state, that they wero

preserved by memory for 450 years, and wero then first reduced to

writing in Ceylon.It is to the former of these periods that M. Burnouf would ascribo

tho composition of the principal Sanscrit works which arc still extant.

That they continued to bo written for four or fivo centuries afterwards








is obvious from internal cvidenco, and even from their number and

extent. In the sixth century Hwau Tsang and his assistants

translated 740works, forming 1,335

volumes. Of these he himself

took to China C57, and thoy had been brought thither in greatnumbers before his time. There is also a considerable body of works

of a still more recent date, forming tho basis upon which manyadulterations have crept into Buddhism; evidently borrowed from tho

Tantras of tho Brahmans: 700 works, however, all undoubtedly priorto the sixth

century,must have been tho work of many years, and havo

furnished full occupation to tho Buddhist scholars of several ccnturios

preceding. We may consider it then established upon tho mostprobable evidence, that tho chief Sanscrit authorities of tho Buddhists

fctill in ourpossession

wcro written, at tho latest, from acentury and

u half before, to as much after, the era of Christianity.Now what is tho case with [the Piili authorities of tho South?

Wo have it most explicitly stated in the great Cingalese authority,tho Mah?wanso, that tho doctrines of Buddha wore handed down

orally, for moro than four centuries after his death; and that they

were not reduced to writing till tho reign of Wattag?mini, betweenu.c. 104 and 7G. And that then the Pittakan wcro first written in

P.ili, and the commentary upon them (tho Atthakatha) in Cingalese.The latter did not exist hiPali until thoffth century of tho Christian

era, or between A.D. 410, 432, whon Buddhnghosa, originallya Brah

man of Magadha, arrived in Ceylon, and gavo tho first impulse to tho

cultivation of his own dialect, tho Mdgadhi, to which tho people of

the south have applied the term Piili; moaning, according to

M. Tumour,

"

perfect, regular." Tho word is not known in India : it isnot an Indian term. Buddlrighosa, it is said, repaired with his books

to Pegu, and thenco nlso dates tho introduction of Piili as tho sacred

Inngungo of the Buddhists of A va and Siam. Shortly after his time,or between A.n. 459 and 477, the other great Piili work of tho

CingA-leso (the Maluiwanso) was composed. Of the Dipawanso another

of their authorities, tho date is not specified; but as it brings down

the history of Coylon to the beginning of tho fourth century when it

was left unfinished, and as Buddluighosa was tho main instrument of

introducing the uso of Piili into Ceylon, it must bo of tho same period,or tho fifth century. Tho principal Piili works of tho South arc,

therefore, of a period considerably subsequent to tho Sanscrit Budd

hist ical writings of India Proper, and dato only from tho fifth century

after Christ. Their subsequent date might also bo inferred from

internal evidence; for, although they arc in all essential respects tho

very same as tho Buddhist works of India?laying down tho samo

laws and precepts aud narrating tho same marvellous legends?they








bear the characteristics of a later and less intellectual cultivation, in

their greater diffusoncss, and tho extravagant and puerile additions

they frequently mako to the legendary matter. They seem also to be

very scantily supplied with tho Abhidharma ormetaphysical portion

of tho Tripithaka, as compared with the S?tra and Vinaya. Such

portions of tho Pittakan as havo been translated arc, however,

essentially the same as tho Sanscrit Sutras, whilst tho Atthakathas, or

the commentaries, tako a moro discursive range, and are of a less

authentic character; being in fact the compositions of Buddhaghosa,

taken, as he himself states, not translated, from the Cingalese Atthakatha

which are nolonger cxtaut. How much therefore is his own, cannot

bo now determined.

Of the threo classes of works constituting the Tripithaka, that of

tho Sfitras is historically the most important. A SAtra isproperly

a

briefaphorism

orprecept, conveying

aposition

ordogma in a few

conciso, and notunfrcqucntly obscuro, terms. The Buddhist Sutras

aro notexactly

of this nature.Thoy

aresupposed

to be theipsissiina

verba of

S?kyahimself, the Bttddha-vachana,

repeated by

Ananda as be

had heard them; and they all begin, whether inSanscrit or iu Pali, with

the expression:

"This has been heard

by me.?Etan-may? sriitam, Eso

niayasuttain," They aro in tho form of a dialogue, in which the

disciplo asks questions and S?kya explains; illustrating his explanation

by parables andlegendary

talcs of various extent. M. Burnouf has

shewn, however, that the Sfitras are of two differentdescriptions. In

ono class,no doubt tho oldest, tho

stylois much more

simple,and is

whollyprose; and the

legends

aro less extravagant.They

are called

by M. Burnouf, the simple Sutras. In the other, which tho Buddhists

themselves termVaipulya S ft tras, "expanded

ordeveloped Sutras,"

thestyle

is more diffuse, and is mixed prose and verse; and the latter

is very remarkable, ascontaining many ungrammatical forms; the

narratives arc prolix and marvellous; and new persons arc introduced

who, although unknown to tho simplo Sutras, evidently performed a

conspicuous partin the

subsequentdissemination and

corruption of

the Buddhistreligion;

such aroN?g?rjuna

orN?gasena, Manjusri,

ami

Padmap?ni, to the latter of whom the invocation that is now so

conspicuous in tho temples of Nepal and Tibet is addressed under a

modified name iuungrammatical Sanscrit, and with additions

palpa

bly borrowed from tho Tantras of the Brahmans?Out ! Mauipudiuo !

HumI?-Glory to Manipadma?Hum I Another personage is also, for

the first time, introduced,?Avalokitcswara, who isregarded by the

Tibetans as theirparticular patron, ami who is an

objectof

especial

worshipto the

Mongolsand

Chinese, amongstwhom he is sometimes








represented as having eleven heads and eight arms; or sometimes a

thousand eyes and a thousand hands, as expressed by his Chinese namo

Kwan-shi-in. Many absurd legonds respecting this Bodhisatwa arocurrent amongst the Buddhists of the north, but they, and tho

multiplied limbs of Avaloki teswara, are, no doubt, unauthorized addi

tions, even to tho texts of the Vaipulya Sutras. Tho introduction

of such legendary and mythological personages is, howovor, suflieiont

evidenco that theso works are later than tho simplo Sutras, althoughmost of them were current in India when visited by tho Chineso in

tho fifth and sixth centuries.

It is, therefore, to the simplo Sutras that wo are to look for thoearliest and least corrupt form inwhich, according to Buddhist notions,the doctrines of their founder are delivered. M. Burnouf has givenus specimens in the M?ndhatri and Kanakavarna S?tras, portions of a

larger work, tho Divya-avad?na; they record severally the names of

Buddha when ho was the king Mnndluitri, a namo well known in

Pauranik fiction, and when as king Kanakavarna, he gave away to a

Bodhisatwa tho last morsel of food which a long drought and famino

had left for his sole sustenance. Of courso this act of charity was

followed by an immediate fall of rain and the return of plenty. To

judgefrom these specimens, tho simplo S?tras, although

tho earlier, aro

not tho most interesting of the Buddhist writings, and details which

aro of moro valu? to tho history, if not to tho doctrino only,aro to bo

found in tho Vnipulya S?tras?constituting tho authorities of tho

Mnhnyana,the great vehicle, which woro tho

particular objectsof

Hwan Tsang's studies and collections. Amongsttheso wo may parti

cularize tho Laiita Vistara?tho expansion of the sports [of Buddha] ;

being his life?and in Buddhist belief, his autobiography?havingbeen repeated by himself. Tho Sanscrit original is not vory raro in

India, and tho Asiatic Society of Bengal has undertaken tho publication of the text and translation by Itnjcndra lalMitra: the first faseiclo

only has appeared. Tho en tiro work has boon published at Paris,

translated from the Tibetan, as I Iuiyo mentioned, by M. Foucaux,

who has

compared

it

carefully

with tho Sanscrit, and bears

testimonyto the closeness of the Tibetan translation. He ascribes its compositionto a

period subsequentto the third convocation,

or about 150 years u.c.

It was translated, as I have stated, into Chinese in tho first contury

after, which is compatible enough with tho date assigned to its first

composition, and there is internal evidence in favour of tho samo dato.

It is, undoubtedly, subsequent to tho Mah?-bhdrata, which I havo

elsewhere conjectured to be about two centuries prior toChristianity;

for it issaid,

that when the choice of the

family

in which the Buddha







BUDDHA AND BUDD??ISM. 243

should be born was under consideration in the Tushita heaven, that

of tho P?ndavas of IIastinapura was objected to, because they had

filled thoir genealogy with confusion, terming Yudhishthira the son

of Dharma, Bhfmasena the son of V?yu, Arjuua of Indra, Nakula

and Sahadeva of the Aswins; all very correct citations. In tho

proofs also of his skill in archery which S?kya displays in his youth,ho pierces with his arrow an iron offigy of a boar, tho very feat which

Arjuna performs, only that tho P?ndu prince achieves it within tho

reasouablo compass of a meadow, whilst, iu the usual strain of

Buddhist exaggeration, S?kya hits tho mark at tho distance of ten kos,or

twonty miles off: theso circumstancesclearly

refer to tho Hindu

poem, and concur in placing tho ago of tho Laiita Vistara about a

centuryand a half beforo tho Christian era. It ombodios, however, no

doubt, tho traditions of an earlier date, traditions not long subsequentto tho first dissemination of the principles of Buddhism.

The circumstances of Buddha's life, as told in tho Lalita Vistara,have furnished all the Buddhist nations with thoir traditions. Tho

life and acts of Buddha aroalways

related to tho samopurport, and

very nearly in the same words, in Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian, Pali,

Burman, Siamese, and Cingalese. After an infinitude of births iu

various characters, during ten millions of millions and ono hundred thou

sand millions ofkalpas,

the shortest of which consists of sixteen millions

of years, and tho longest of thirty-two millions; after this, ho attained

tho rank of Bodhisatwa, that which is inferior only to a Buddha, in the

Tushita heaven, whero he taught his doctrine to innumerable millions

of

Bodhisatwas,

or future

Buddhas,

and

gods

and

spirits;

and was

glorified by Sakra, Brahm?, Maheswara, Nagas, Gandharbas, Yaksbas,

Asuras, and other creations of tho Brahmanical mythology. To riso

to tho elevation of aperfect Buddha one existonco moro on earth

wasnocessary, and ho, therefore, becomes incarnato as tho son of tho

S?kya princo Suddhodana, king of Kapilavastu, and M?y? his wife:

ho is bornmiraculously

from his mothor's side, who died sevendays

after his birth : as soon as born ho took seven steps to each of tho

four

quarters, announcing

aloud his

supremacy

in

language,

which tho

Lalita Vistara and tho Buddhist writings of Ava and Ceylon similarly

repeat, at least substantially. The Lalita Vistara, for instance, makes

him say in tho east; "I shall proceed, tho first of all existences, spring

ing from the root of virtue :" in tho south,"

I shall be worthy of the

offerings of gods and men :" in the west, "This ismy last birth; I shall

put an end to birth, old age, disease, and death :" in the north,"

I

shall have nosuperior amongst beings." So Mr.

Hardy, translating

front various Buddhist works inPali, says:

"at his birth he was







244 BUDDHA AND BUDDHISM,

received by Mah? Brahm? in a golden net, from which ho was trans

ferred to tho guardians of tho four quarters, who received him on a

tiger's skin, from the downs ho was received by tho nobles, who

wrapped him in folds of the finest and softest cloth, but at onco

Bodhisat descended from their hands to tho ground, and looked to tho

four points, and to the four half points, and above and below; when

he looked towards the north ho proceeded seven steps in that direction

and exclaimed: 'I am tho most exalted in the world. I am chiof in

tho world. I am tho most oxcellent in the world. Hereafter there is

to mo no othor birth/" Tho legend is ovidently tho same although

slightly varied.

Siddlmrtha, his namo as aprince,

was educated as aprince,

married to difi?rent wives, and led a life of pleasure and enjoyment,until the vanity of worldly existence was impressed upon his con

victionby

bismeeting,

on tinco several occasions, with a sick man, a

corpse, and a mendicant, on which ho resolved to abandon his royaltyand devote himself to solitary meditation. His father disapprovesof his intention, and places him under restraint; but ho makes his

escape miraculously by night, with ono attendant, and having reached

a convenient distance from tho city changes his dress with a hunter,?a

demigodin

disguise,?and with his sword cuts oft* his own hair.

According to a Pali authority quoted by M. Biiruouf, this was tho

origin of tho curly hair of tho figures of Siikya, which induced early

European writers to consider him as of Abyssinian origin, for tho

hair, shortened to tho length of two fingers, turning upwards, romaincd

in that position the rest of his life. Ho then engages in sacred studyunder different Brahmaus, but, dissatisfied with their teaching, retires

into solitude, followed by five of his fellow-disciples, and for six years

practises rigorous austerities : finding their effects upon tho bodyunfavourable to intellectual energy, he desists and adopts a moro

genial course of life, on which his ?vo disciples quit him and he is left

alone. He is then assailed by the demon of wickedness, Mdra, "tho

killer," who is identical with Knma-dcva, or tho God of Lovo; but

terrors and temptations fail to disturb his serenity, and tho Tempteris compelled

toacknowledge

his defeat, and to withdraw. Buddha,

resinninghis meditations, contemplates tho causes of things, which is

the key to the well-known formula of tho Buddhists found upon so

many of their images, and of which tho various readings, a3 given in

n communication by Colonel Sykes, in tho forthcoming number of our

Journal,1 are ovidently nothing more than the blunders of ignorant

'

Auto, p.37.








transcribers, or defects in cutting the letters on clayor stone. In tho

Lalita Vistara, Buddha's meditations are thus recapitulated:?"Thus

thoughttho Bodhisatwa: 'from what

existing thingcome

disease aud death? ago and death being tho consequences of birth,birth is tho cause of disease and death/" He then proceeds toanaly.seiu the samo strain the causes of birth, of conception, of desire, of

sensation, of contact, of the senses, of name and form, ofcomprehen

sion, of idoas; and concludes that ignorance, Avidy?, is tho cause of

ideas, and is tho remoto cause of existence.

The next subject of his meditations is the means by which this

chain ofcauses

is to bo counteracted, and ho concludes: "Birth beingnomore, old age and death are not; therefore, by annihilation of birth,old age and death are annihilated; and as ignorance is tho ultimate

cause of existence, thenby

the removal of ignorance all its conse

quencesare

arrested, and existence ceases, bywhich means old ago,

death, wretchedness, sorrow, pain, anxiety,and trouble, the whole

mass ofsuffering, becomes for ever extinct." This is the summary of

Buddhistic wisdom set forth in thepopular stanza,

"

Yc dharma hctu-prabhav?,"

with which we have long been familiar.

Tho'Lalita Vistara is somewhat silent on the subject of S?kya's

peregrinations, and represents him aschiefly engaged in discourses to

his Bhikshus, or mendicant followers, or in intercourse with the Nagas

and the Dovas. lie attains to the perfection of a Buddha at Bodhi

mandn, which is apparentlyancient

Gaya,and resides thero until ho

thinks it necessary to look out for some person who may succeed him

as teacher of tho law; he then proceeds to Benares, and on his way,

havingno

money to pay for being ferried across the Ganges, he

transports himself over it iu tho air. At Benares he recovers his five

original disciples, but it does not appear that they arc appointed to

succeed him, on thocontrary,

Buddha addressed these words, it is said,

to Mah? K?syapa, Ananda, and the Bodhisatwa Maitroya ; "Friends !

tho Supreme Intelligence, perfect and full, which I have acquired iu

a hundred thousand millions of kalpas, I deposit in your bands. Do

you yourselves receive this part of tho Law, teach it fully in detail toothers." Ho then praises tho Sutra, the Lalita Vistara, after which,

"the sons of the gods,the M?hcswaras, and the rest of the

gods,

tho Siddhakav?sak?yikas, Maitroya, and, all the other Bodhisatwas,

Mah?sattwas, Mah? K?syapa, and the rest of the Mah? Sr?vakas,

Ananda, and tho worlds of the gods, of men, of Asuras, of

,Gandharbas, rejoiced, and praised aloud the instructions ofBhagav?n."

As the Lalita Vistara is attributed to S?kya himself, it cannot

vol. xvi. ?








contain any account of his death. For this we must have recourse to

the Mah? Parinirv?na S?tras, of which we have only the Tibetan trans

lation, in tho eighth and two following volumes of theNya volume of theDo Class of the Kahgyur, and of which Csoma has given us an abridgedtranslation ;we have italso in tho life of S?kya in theMongol,

as trans

lated by Klaproth in the Asia Polyglotta, and we have what is no doubt

the same work in Pali, tho Parinibbana Suttan, a section of the Digha

nik?yo,of which Mr. Tumour has given usan analysis (J. A. S. B., vii.,

991). The accounts, as far as they go, arosubstantially the same, but

the proximate cause of Sakya's death, illness brought onby eating pork,

seems to be an addition of the compiler of tho Cingalese narrativo; no

such incident isalluded to by either Csoma or Klaproth, and it seems

very inconsistent withSdkya's

recommendation of abstinence: as

also S?kya had attained the ago of eighty homight have been allowed

to die of natural decay. The Pali legend adds that the pork was

provided for him, and for him alono, by his host, at his particular

desire, because he knew it would cause his death. According to both

narratives ho directed his

disciples

to dispose of his remains after tho

fashion of that of tho Chakravarttis, or universal inonarchs, the ashes

of whose bodies, after burning,wcro collected and

depositedin

stately

pyramidal monuments. Accordingly his ashes wcro at first placed in a

monument erected where he died, inKusinagara, or Kusia inGorakhpur,but portions

were claimedby

various persons ; and the warriors of Kusa,

although they at first refused to givo up any of the precious deposit,were at last induced by the mediation of a Brahman, who is not named

in Csoma's analysis, but is termed Dono, that is,Drona, by Tumour, to

assent to a division. Tho distribution is in some respects not very

intelligible; ono part is for the champions of Kusa, ono for those of

Digpachan or Tibet, one for the royal tribo of Baluka, ono for tho royaltribe of Krodtya, one for a Brahman of Vishnudwipa, one for the Siikyaa,one for tho Lichhavis of Allahabad, and one for Ajdtasatru, hing of

Magadha: they all built chaityas over them and paid them worship.Tho urn in which the reliques had first been placed, was given to tho

Brahman who had

mediated,

and another Brahman received the cinders :

theyalso erected

chaityas.Of the four

eye-teeth,two wore distributed

to the deities called Trayastrinsats, and tho Niigas;one was

placed in

"The Delicious City," and ono in tho country of tho king of Kalinga,whence in timo it found its way to Ceylon, whero it is still preserved.Hence

originated tho practico of constructingtho monuments called

St hupas, or Topes, which have excited so much interest of lato years,and of which a subsequent sovereign of Magadha, Asoka, is said to

have constructed 84,000. In man}'parts

of

Tibet,

where

they

aro








morousually termed Chaityas,

or Chaits, they are numerous but

small, containing, it is supposed tho ashes of distinguished Lamas.

Chaitya,which is a Sanscrit

term,is in fact

equally applicableto

anysacred object, a temple, or a tomb; every Sthupa may bo aChaitya,

but aChaitya may be also something else of a religious character.

These accounts of S?kya's birth and proceedings, laying aside the

miraculous portions, have nothing very impossible, and it does not

seem improbable that an individual of a speculative turn of mind, aud

not a Brahman by birth, should havo set up a school of his own in

opposition to the Brahmanical monopoly of religious instruction, about

six centuries beforo Christ; at tho same time there arc various con

siderations which throw suspicion upon the narrative, and render it

very problematical whether any such person asS?kya Sinha, or

S?kya Muni, or Sramana Gautama, everactually

existed. In tho

first place, the Buddhists widely disagree with regard to the date of

his existence. In a paper I published many years ago in the Calcutta

Quarterly Magazine, I gave a list of thirteen different dates, collected

bya Tibetan author, and a dozen others

mightbe easily added, tho

whole varying from 2420 to 453 n.c. They may, however, bo

distinguished under two heads, that of the northern Buddhists,1030 u.c. for the birth of Buddha, and that of the southern Buddhists,for his death u.c. 543. It is difficult, however, to understand

why

thero should bo such a difference as fivo centuries, if S?kya had lived

at either the one or the other date.

The name of his tribe, theS?kya,

and their existence as a distinct

peoplo and principality, find no warrant from any of the Hindu

writers, poetical, traditional, or mythological ;and the legends that aro

givento explain their

originami

appellation arc, beyond measure,

absurd. Tho mostprobable affinity

of tho name is to that of the

Sakas, orScythians,

or IndoScythians,

as ifthey

wero an offshoot

from tho race that dislodged the Indo-Bactrian Greeks, but this is not

countenanced by any of the traditions, Brahmanical or Buddhist.

The name ofS?kya's father, Suddhodaua, "ho whose food is

pure,"

?suggestsan

allegorical signification, ami iu that of his mother, Maya,

or M?y ?dev?," illusion, di vine delusion,"?wo bave a manifestallegorical

fiction; his secular appellation as aprince, Siddlu'trtha, "ho

by whom

tho end is accomplished,"?and his religious name, Buddha, "heby

whom all is known," are very much in the style of the Pilgrim's

Progress, and the city of his birth, Kapila Vastu, which has no placeiu the

/roographyof the Hindus, is of tho same

description. It is

explained, "tho tawny site," but itmay also be rendered, "thesubstance

of Kapila," intimating, in fact, the S?nkhya philosophy, the doctrine of

S 2








Kapila Muui, upon which tho fundamental elements of Buddhism, tho

eternity of matter, tho principles of things, and final extinction, aro

evidently based. It seems not impossible, after all, that S?kya Muni

is an unreal being, and that all that is related of him is as much a

fiction ns is that of his preceding migrations, and the miracles that

attended his birth, his life, and his departure.At the samo timo, although wo may discredit tho actuality of tho

teacher, wo cannot dispute tho introduction of tho doctrine, and thcio

may havo been, about tho time attributed to Siikya's death by tho

southern Buddhists,a

person, or what is morolikely, persons of various

castes, comprisingoven Brahnians, who introduced a now

systemof

hierarchical organization, for that seems to havo been the chief, if not

tho sole innovation intended by the first propagators of Buddhism.

Tho doctrino of transmigration was common to tho Buddhists and to

every division of tho Brahman ?calHindus: the eternity of matter and

the periodical dissolution and renovation of tho world wcro also

familiar to all the schools; the Buddhists did not abolish caste, they

acknowledgedit

fully

ns a socialinstitution,

butthey

maintained that

it wasmerged in tho

religious character, and that all those who

adopteda

religious life wrercthereby emancipated from its restrictions,

and were of onocommunity:

tho moral precepts whichthey

incul

cated, with at least onoexception?the prohibition of

taking away

animal life, were common to them and to the Brahnians; and tho latter

seem to have adopted from the Buddhists, very possibly, the merit of

Ahins? : the Buddhists recognised tho existenco of all the gods of

tho Brahmaiiical

pantheon,

with

perhaps

ono or two

exceptions

which

may have been of later date, such as Krishna for instanco : the

notion of final extinction or Nirviiu, although more unqualified, was

not exclusively confined to the Buddhists. In short, the philosophy of

Buddhism, as is observedby Mr.

Gogerly,was

essentially eclectic,

and the main point of disagreement was the political institution of a

religious society which should comprise all classes, all castes, women as

well as men, and should throw oil' thoauthority

of the Bruhmuns a. tho

sole teachers of

religiousfaith. It seems

likolyalso that the sanio

innovators discarded the ritual of tho Vedas, and discontinued tho

adoration of the Hindu divinities, placing tho observance of moral

duties and tho practice of a lifo of self-denial and restraint above tho

burthensomo and expensive charges of formal worship. Their departure from the Brahmaiiical system started about tho timo ascribed to

Siikya's teaching, becamegradually developed

as the organization of

thoseby

whomthey

wereprofessed became more

perfect, andby

tho

middle of the thirdcentury

beforeChrist, they may

haveenjoyed

tho








patronage of Asoka, tho Raja of Central India, as tho Buddhist tradi

tions maintain, and under his encouragementa convocation may havo

been held, at which tho associated Buddhists commenced that course of

propagation which spread their religion throughout India and beyondits confines to tho north and to the south. I do not think that tho

difficulties which attend the identification of Asoka with Piyadasi have

yet been cleared up, but wo may admit that tho edicts on the columns

and the rocks were inscribed about the time of Asoka's reign, or in

tho third century before Christ. We may admit also that they aro

intended to recommend Buddhism, but their tono is not that of a

triumphant or exclusivo form of belief, and the spirit of toleration

whichthey breathe is an

unequivocal proofof a nascent faith, a sys

tem that courtscompromise rather than provokes and defies hostility.

At this periodwo

may conceive the marvels ofS?kya's

life and the

more detailed expansion of the doctrines ascribed to hint to have been

devised, as calculated to excite the admiration and win the belief of

the natives of India, everready

togive credit to the supernatural,

and

topay superstitious homngo

to theassumption

of

divinity.

Besides

tho inscriptions attributed to Asoka, he is said to have been a profuseconstructor of Vih?ras, Buddhist monasteries, and of Sthi'tpas or

monuments over Buddhist reliquia). Vih?ras were probably multipliedabout this timo or oven earlier: wc have not

yet mot with any Sthi'ipas

to which sohigh

anantiquity

can beconfidently assigned. It seems

littlo likely that S?kya, or the first propagators of the system, would

havoenjoined

tho construction of monuments to preserve the frail

relics of

humanity,

when their first dogmawas the worthlcssness of

bodily existence, and it could not have been untilS?kya

was elevated

byhis followers to tho rank of

somethingmore than a

god that his

relics, or thoso of hisearly disciples, should have been held entitled to

such veneration; atany rate wc have no evidence of the erection of any

Stlu'ipa as earlyas the middle of tho third century before Christ, whilst

wo havo several proofs of their construction after the era of Christi

anity, down as late as the sixthcentury afterwards. These are afforded

by

tho

discovery,

in the solid

body

of the monuments, of the coins of

tho consular families of Rome, and of the first Crcsars; of the coins of

the emperors ofConstantinople, Thcodosius, Murcian, and Leo, who

reigned from A.n. 407 to A.D. 474 ; and of great quantities of the

coins of the Sassanian princes of Persia, down to Kobad, who died

A.n. 531. Theso coins are found iu the Topes of the Punjab and

Afghanistan, and establish beyond dispute that the practice of con

structing monuments of this class prevailed in tho northwest of India

from somo time after thobeginning

oftho ?hristiau

era untilthq








sixth century. The most remarkable monument of this olass in Cen

tral India is that of Bhilsa or S?nchi, in its neighbourhood. This

was first brought to notice by Captain Foil, who published a description of it in the Calcutta Journal in 1819 ; this description, with addi

tions, wasreprinted by Mr. J. Prinsop, in tho third volumo of the

J. B. Asiatic Society, and at his suggestion sketches of the most

remarkable objects and facsimiles of inscriptions abounding on tho

spot, wcro sent him by Captains Smith and Murray, and published by

him, with translations andimportant commonts, in the sixth volumo of

the Journal. Moro recently, Lieutenant Maisoy has been omployed bythe government of

Bengalto make caroful drawings

of theso romains;

and some of his sketches which have been sent homo evinoo his greatmerit as an artist as well as an

antiquarian.The publication

of theso

documents has boon anticipated by Major Cunningham, who had asso

ciated himself with Lieutenant Maisey in the investigation, and who

has published tho results of his own labours in a work entitled Tho

Bhilsa Topes, in which he has given not only sketchos of various

interesting objects, but

copios

and translations of moro than 200

inscriptions. Thoyare

mostly short, merely specifyingtho

liberalityof

some devout Buddhist in a gift which is not specified ; as, Dhamma

rakhitasa bhichchuno dduam," tho gift of the mendicant Dharma

Rnkshitu." Major Cunningham conjectures tho gifts to havo been

stones orsculptured contributions to tho structure. From ono of them

he infers tho date of tho inclosure to havo been the early part of tho

reign of Asoka?" Subahitasa Gotiputasa Haja-lipikarasa d?uam?tho

gift

of the

king'sscribe, Subahita, sou of Goti;"

Gotiputra being

tho

teacher of the celebrated Moggali-putra. From an inscription in one of

the gateways in which tho namo of Sri Sat Kami occurs, Major Cun

ningham concludes thogateways

wcro erected about theboginning

of

the Christian era, in which Lieutenant Maisoy concurs. These,

however, he considers long posterior to the body of tho building, which

ho would carryas far back as 250 u.c., or even 500 li.c, on somewhat

insufficient evidence; its being ns old as Asoka, depending upon tho

identification ofGotiputra

the teacher ofMoggali-putra,

whopro

sided, it is said, at the third council in a.D. 241, a statement altogother

erroneous, asMogali putra, Maudgalu,

orMaudgulriyana,

was ono of

Siiky.as first disciples, threo centuries earlier. In the second and

third of the topes of Sanchi, Major Cunningham found relic boxes,inscribed with the names of K?syapa, Mogaliputra, and Sdriputra, from

which ho would seem to infer that the topes must have been erected

soon after their deaths, or some timo between 550 u.c. and 250 u.c.;

but, as he himself remarks, tho

reliquesof Buddha and his

principal








disciples wero very widely scattered, being found in different places;and onco the notion of their

sanctitywas

adopted, theywere no doubt

multiplied,

as so

many piousfrauds, in order to

give

a

reputation

to tho

building in which thoy were said to be enshrined ; similar vases were

also found at Satdhara and Andher, furnishing examples of this mul

tiplication of relies in tho samo immediate neighbourhood. Their as

sorted prcsonco, in any monument, is no more aproof

of itsantiquity

than would tho hairs of Buddha, if ever dug up, prove the Shwe

dagon of Rangoon to havo been built in hisday.

Nolegitimate

con

clusion can bo drawn, therefore, from inscriptionsof this class, as to

the date ofthe

S?nchimonuments, whilst tho

nameof

a S?t Kami

prince is a palpable indication of their being erected subsequent to

the Christian era. The topes of Ceylon, however, appear to be of an

earlier date, if womay credit the tradition which ascribes the erection

of the Ruanvelli mound at Anur?dhapura to king Dutthag?mini, who

reigned,161 n.c. to 137 u.c.

A somewhat earlier period than that of the Indian Sthiipas may bo

assignedto another

important class of Buddhist monuments ?tho

Cave Temples belonging to that persuasion?but they also, as far ashas been

yet ascertained, aresubsequent

toChristianity.

The Rev. Mr.

Stevenson has lately furnished important illustrations of this subjectto tho Journal of the Branch Asiatic

Societyof

Bombay,in his transla

tions of theinscriptions in the Cavo

Templesof Kanbcri, Karlen,

Junir, Nasik, and other places in thoSahyadri range of bills, from

facsimiles taken under theauthority

of the government by Mr. Brett.

They, liko tho inscriptions on the Sthiipas, are usually brief records of

gifts not specified, by persons, for tho most part, of no mark or likeli

hood, but thero are a few names of historical value, as well as a few

dates. In ono case, tho excavation at N?naGh?t, Mr. Stevenson con

jecturesfor it an

antiquityof 200 n c , but there do not seem to bo

sufficient groundsfor such a

conjecture. In another case ho proposes, for

a column at Karlen, the date 70 n.c, as it was set up by Agnimitra,son

of Maharaja Bhoti, whom ho would identify with the last of the Sunga

dynasty, Devabhuti ; but this, to say tho least, is problematical, and in

this, as well as in tho preceding, Mr. Stevenson himself queries thechronology : tho dates which he proposes without hesitation begin with

A.D. 189, but wo tread upon tolerablysafe ground when we como to

various dates from 20 u.c. to a.D. 410, because theinscriptions give

us

several of the names of tho Andhra-bhritya, or, in tho dialect of the

inscriptions, ?dh?-bhati princes; such as B?lin, Kripa Kama, Gau

tainiputra,and

Yajna Sri S?t Kami, members of adynasty

who were

tho powerful princes of the "Andbra gens," noticed by Pliny, and who,

we learn from the Pur?nas, confirmod by the accounts of the Chinese








travellers, extended their authority to Central India, and reigned at

Pntaliputra from tho commencement of tho Christian era to tho fifth

centuryafter

it,which

periodwo

mayconsider as the date of tho

principal Buddhist excavations in the west of India.

The evidence thus afforded by tho Sth?pas, and tho caves, of the

time inwhich the principal monuments of Buddhism were multiplied,harmonises with that which wo havo derived from tho more

lasting

literary monuments of tho same faith, and lcavo no doubt that tho

first four or ?ve ceutiirics after Christ, wcro tho period during which

the doctrino was mostsuccessfully propagated, and was

patronized by

many of the Bajas of India, particularly in tho north and in the wost.Ever ready as tho Chineso traveller, Fa-Hian, at tho ond of tho

fourth century, is to see Buddhism everywhere dominant, ho furnishes

evidenco that in tho east, and particularly in tho placo of its reputed

origin, tho birth placo of S.ikya, which had beconio a wilderness, it

had fallen into neglect. In the seventh century, Hhwan Tsuugabounds with notices of deserted monasteries, ruiued temples,diminished number of mendicants, and augmented proportion of

heretics. It has been already conjectured that this was tho term ofits vitality, and that tho soventh century witnessed its disappcaraiico

from tho continent of India. Traces of Buddhism lingered,no

doubt,

till a much later period, as is shewn by tho inscription found at

S?rn?th as lato as the eleventh century; but itwas then limited to a

few localities, and had shifted its sccno to tho regions bordering on

its birth-place, being shortly afterwards so utterly obliterated in India

Proper, that by tho sixteenth century tho highest authority in tho

country, tho intelligent minister of an inquiring king, tho minister ofAkbar, Abulfazl, could not find an individual to givo him an account

of its doctrines.

It would bo impossible, in the limited time at our disposal, to

enter upon a detail of what those doctrines are; but I may brieflyadvert to ono or two of those which may bo

regardedas most

characteristic. Some of those which aro common to Buddhists and

Brahnians havo been noticed, and of thoso which are peculiar, tho

difference is rather in degree than in substance.Thus the attribution to a Buddha of power and sanctity, infinitely

superior to that of tho Gods, is onlya development of tho notion that

tho gods could ho made subject to tho will of a mortal, by his

performanceof

superhuman austerities; only the Buddhists ascribed

it to the perfectionof tho internal purity acquired during

a succession

of births. Tho notion of Buddha's supremacyonco established, tho

worship of tho gods became superfluous; but as the mass of mankind

arc in need of sensible objects to which thoir devotions aro to bo








addressed, Buddha came to be substituted for the gods, and his statues

to usurp their altars. In tho course of time, in somo of the Buddhist

countries, at least other idols, several of them very uncongenial withthe spirit of Buddhism, and evidently borrowed front Hinduism, came

to be associated with him, particularly inTibet and China, in which

latter country the temples commonly present threoprincipal

colossal

images, which aro tho representatives of Buddha and two of his

chief disciples, S?kya, S?riputra, and Maudgal?yana; or, accordingto some authorities, of Buddha, Dharma, and

Sangha,or Buddha, tho

Law and the Community. They arc sometimes also said to be tho

Buddhas of tho past, present, and futuro ages, The temples, however,

present many other idols, such as agoddess of mercy,

aqueen of

heaven, a god of war, a god of wealth, atutelary divinity of sailors,

tutelary divinities of cities, and various other fanciful and not

tinfrequently grotesque beings, amongst whom we have Gancsa with

his elephant head. In Japan, if wo may trust to Kicmpfcr, we havo

representations of the avatars of Vishnu; and inNepal and western

Tibet,as

already remarked, wo havo thoDhyani Buddha.*}, and

Bodhisatwas, Manipadma, Manjusri, and Avalokiteswam, and a host

of inferior spirits and divinities, of whom pictures or statues fill the

courts, or cover the walls of thotemples. The

representation aud

worship of theso idols, although not prohibited by anything in tho

religion of Buddha, is obviously incompatible with its spirit, and must

bo regardedas exotic

corruptions;no such auxiliaries seem to bo

admitted in thoso countries where tho system exists in its greatest

purity,

as in A va, Siam, and

Ceylon,as,

although

the

images

in the

templesaro often exceedingly numerous, they are, with exception of

subsidiary figures which are notworshipped, such as

dragonsand lions,

all of tho sanio character, representing Gautama or his disciples gene

rally in asitting posture, with tho legs crossed, and the hands in tho

act of prayer or benediction; tho indefinite multiplication of the

images arisingfrom its

being considered an act of merit to set upa

statue of a Buddha or of a Buddhist priest of reputed sanctity.The organization

of aregular priesthood from all classes, and their

assemblago in Vih?ras or monasteries under asuperior, is also one of

the distinguishing features of Buddhism, as opposed to Bralimanisni,

although not wholly unknown to the institutes of the latter. The

monastic system, however, docs not seem to have originated with

S?kya himself, for he and his ?inmediato followers weremigratory,

passing front ono part of central India to another, except during the

rainy season, whenthey dispersed to their respective homes, reassem

bling

after thorains;

theorganization

commencedprobably

with tho








first convocation, and was brought to perfection by the third. In the

first instance, the heads of the communities wcro elected by the

associates, on account of thoir superior ago and learning; but other

motives, no doubt, soon camo to influence tho choico, and in time new

principles were introduced, which were not originally recognized,

although not wholly foreign to tho spirit of the system, particularlytho notion that guides tho elcotion of a successor to a deceased Dalai

Lama of Lhassa, or a Tashi Lama of Toshulaiubu, the selection of a

child in whoso person the soul of tho decoascd is supposed to have

bccoino regenerate, being in fact that of a Buddha on bis way to

perfection. This notion is now, at least, no longer confined to Tcshu

lambu, or to Lhassa; but is spread very generally through Tartary

according to the French missionaries; and every monastery of note seeks,

upon the demise of its Superior, for a child to succeed him, sending

usually to western Tibet to discover him, and detecting him by placingbefore the boy a variety of articles, from which he picks out such as

had belonged to the deceased, and which ho is supposed to recognizeas

havingbeen his

propertyin a

prior existence. This, if true, mayno

doubt be easily managed by a littlo dexterity, but Messrs. Hue and

G?bet suspect that Satan is at the child's elbow, and prompts tho

verification of tho articles. Tho notion howovcr is admitted to bo of

comparativelymodern introduction, as lato as tho thirteenth or four

teenth century.

Another essential difference between Brahmanism and Buddhism,wns the proselyting spirit of tho latter. Although Bralnuanisiii has

spread into countries where it could not have been indigenous, yet a

Brahman, like a poet, "nascitur non fit;" and, consistent with the spiritof tho code, a man must be born a Hindu, ho cannot become- a Hindu

by conversion. Tho Buddhists adopted tho opposite course, and heneo,

no doubt, their early success. The publie teaching of Buddha or of the

founders of the faith must have been so novel and attractive, that wo

can easily believe the Buddhist narrativos, that vast multitudes of all

classes and of both sexes attended tho publie preaching of tho Buddhist

missionaries, anencouraging precedent

wemay observe, by

tho way, for

those of a puro religion.There are, however, some

peculiarfeatures in

tho teaching of S?kya and his disciples, which render itmoresurprising

that it should ever have been successful than that its success should

have been of temporary duration. Its object is not the good of tho

people in their social condition : it no doubt enjoins the observance of

moral duties, and reverence topareuts

and teachers, and thegeneral

practiceof

compassionand benevolence, but to whom aro these in

junctions addressed? according to tho authorities of the religion,







BUDDHA AND BUDDHISM, 255

whether Sanscrit or Pali, to Bhikshus and Bhikshunis, persons who

have separated themselves from the world, and who, besides professing

faith in Buddha, engago to lead a life of self-denial, celibacy, aud

mendicancy,and to estrange themselves from all domestic and social

obligations : with all its boasted benevolence it enjoins positive inhu

manitywhere women aro concerned, and in its

anxietyfor the purity

of tho mendicant, prescribes not only that ho should not look at or

converse with a female, but that, if she bo his own mother and have

fallen into a river, and bo drowning, ho shall not give her bis hand to

help her out; if there bo a polo at hand he may reach that to her, but

if not, she must drown. An interesting illustration of this barbarityoccurs in tho drama called Mrichchhakati, which represents Buddhist

institutions with singular fidelity. In this spirit is tho whole of the

Vinayaor Buddhist disciplino conceived : it is a set of rules for indi

viduals separated from society, in whom all natural feeling is to bo

suppressed, all passions and desires extinguished, consistently enoughwith tho doe'rino that life is the source of all evil, and that one means

of counteracting it is by the checking the increase of living beings.

Rigid compliance with tho restraints imposed, has, however, been

fourni impracticable, and considerable latitude has been allowed in

practice.Tho rules of abstinence and

celibacymust be

strictlyob

served whilst the individual continues in the order of tho priesthood,

but he may withdraw from that order, cither for ever or for a season,

and may marry and lead a secular life ; ho may, after an interval, bo

readmitted, and bis second admission is considered as final, but even

this does not seem to be very rigorouslyenforced.

Belief in aSupreme Being, the Creator and Ruler of the universe,

isunquestionably

a modern graft upon tho unqualifiedatheism of

S?kya Muni : it is still of very limited recognition. Iu none of tho

standard authorities translated by M. Burnouf, or Mr. Gogerley, is

there the slightest allusion to such a First Causo, tho existence of whom

is incompatible with the fundamental Buddhist dogma, of the eter

nity of all existence? The doctrine of an Adi Buddha, a first Buddha,

in tho character of aSupreme Creator, which has found its way into

Nepal, and perhaps intoWestern Tibet, is entirely local, as is that of

tho Dhy?ni Buddhas and tho Bodhisatwas, their sons and agents in

creation, as described by Mr. Hodgson. They are not recognised in the

Buddhist mythology of any other people, and have no doubt been

borrowed from tho Hindus. There can bo no First Buddha, for it is of

tho essenco of tho system that Buddhas aro ofprogressive develop

ment: any one may become a Buddha by passing through a scries of

existences in thepractice

of virtue andbenevolence,

andthevo

have








been accordingly an infinitude of Buddhas in all ngcsand inall regions.One of the Pali authorities records tho actions of twenty-four; Schmidt,

from a Mongol work, has given us the names of a thousand Buddhas.

(Trans. Soc. St. Petersburg, 2, GH.) There aro Sanscrit authorities for

seven in the present ago of the world, whose praises 1 havo translated,

(Asiatic Researches, vol. xvii.) and who are represented in tho Ajunta

paintings. An eighth, Muitroya. is to come; but theso aro only a few,confined to certain poriods: the number

duringall the extravagant

intervals of Buddhistchronology

has no limitation, and there can no

moro bo a Jirst than there can be a last, each passing on in his turn to

the end and aim of his existence,?extinction?nirvana.

Utter extinction, as the great end and object of life, isalso a funda

mental, and in some respects a peculiar, feature of Buddhism. N irvdua

is literally a blowing-out, as if of a candle,?annihilation : it has been

objected to this that Buddhism recognises a system of rewards and

punishments after death, ami no doubt its cosmology is copiously fur

nished with heavens and hells; but this it has in common with Brah

manisin: it is a part of tho scheme of transmigration; tho wicked aro

punished and the good rewarded, but thopunishment

and reward aro

only in proportion to thoir bad or good deeds, and when they havo

been balanced tho individual returns to earth to run up a fresh score,

to incur in fact, accordingto Buddhism,

a fresh infliction ofsuffering,

life being tho causo of ovil from which thoro is no escapo, but by

finally ceasing to be. Brahmaiiical speculation contemplates equallywith Buddhism, exemption

frombeing

bornagain

as the summum

bouum, but proposes to effect this by spiritual absorption either into

universal spirit, or into an all comprehending divine spirit ; but tho

Huddhists recognize no such recipient for tho liberated soul. No

doubt, amongst tho Buddhists, as amongst tho Brahnians, differences

of opinion occasionally prevailed, givingrise to various schools; four

of these wcro known to tho Brahmanical controversial writers heforo

the sixth century; but, besides them, who aro styled Sautrdntika,

Vaibhsishika, Mndhyuniika,and

Yog.iohdru, there was anAiswarya,

or thcistieal school, with which tho notions admitted into Nepal may

have originated: tho more ancient and

genuino school, however, was

that of the Swabluivikus, whoso doctrino is thus summarily indicated

in a Buddhist Pdli book : "Whence como existing things? from their

own nature,?swabh?v?t.Whore do

they go to afterlife? into other

forms, throughthe samo inherent

tendency.How do

they escapo from

that tendency? where do

they go finally?into

vacuity,?sunyat?" auuli

being the sum and substance of tho wisdom of Buddha. That this

was the

meaning

of Nirvana is shown in numerous passages both in








Sanscrit and in Pali. In the Saddharma Lank?vatara, S?kya is represented as

confuting a.ll the Brahmanical notions of Nirvana, and con

cludes by expounding it to bo tho complete annihilation of tho think

ing principle, illustrating bis doctrine by the comparison generally

employed of tho exhaustion of tho light of a lamp which goes out of

itself. In the Brahnia-j?la,a Pali Sutra, where

again S?kyais made

to confutosixty-two

Brahmanical heresies, bo winds up by saying:

"Existence isa tree ; the merit or demerit of the actions of men is tho

fruit of that tree and the seed of future trees ; death is the withering

away of the old tree from which the others have sprung; wisdom ami

virtuo take away the germinating faculty, so that when the tree diesthere is no reproduction. This is Nirv?n."

The segregation of the Buddhist priesthood from the people,

although, in tho first instance, probably popular, from the priestlycharacter being

thrown open to all castes alike, must have been

nnpropitious to the continued popularity of the system, and its success

canonly

be attributed to the activityof its propagators, and the

indolentacquiescence

of the Brahmans. When the influenceacquired

by tho Buddhists with the princes of India gave them consideration,and diverted tho stream of donations as well as of honours, tho

Brahmans beganto bo aroused from their

apathy,and set to work to

arrest tho progress of the schism. The success that attended thoir

efforts could havo boon, for along time, but partial; but that

thoy

weroultimately successful, and that Buddhism iu India gave way

before Brahmanism, is a historical fact: to what cause this wasowing

isby

no means established, but it was moreprobably the result of

internaldecay,

than of external violence. There are traditions of

persecution, aud it is very possiblethat local aud occasional acta of

aggressionwere

perpetrated bythe Brahmauicnl party: the Buddhist

writings intimate this whenthey represent the Bodhisatwas as

saying

to Buddha: "When you have entered into Nirvana, and the end of

time has arrived, wo shall expound this excellent Sutra, in doingwhich wo will endure, we will sutler

patiently, injuries, violence,

menaces of

beating

us with sticks, and the spitting upon us, with

which ignorantmen will assail us. The Tirthakas, composing Sutras

of their own, will speak in the assembly to insult us. In the presence

of kings, of the sons of kings, of the Brahmans, of Householders, and

otherreligious persons, they

will censure us in their discourses, and will

cause tho languageof the Tirthakas to be heard; but we will endure all

this through respect for the great Rishis. We must endure threatening

looks, andrepeated

ins'a.iccs ofcontumely,

and sufferexpulsion

front

ourVih?ras,

and submit to beimprisoned

andpunished

in a

varietyof








ways; but recalling at the end of this period the commands of tho

chief of the world, we will preach courageously this S?tra in tho

midst of the assembly, aud we will traverse towns, villages, the wholoworld, to give to those who will ask for it, the deposit which thou hast

entrusted to us.'1 This is tho language of the Sad-dharma Puudarika,

which, as I have mentioned, had been translated iuto Chinese boforo

the end of the third century, and shows that tho career of the

Buddhists had not been one ofuninterrupted success, oven at so

early

a date, although tho opposition had not been such as to arrest their

progress : this, if it at all occurred, was the work of a later period,

but wo have no very positivo information on tho subject. Accordingto Mddhava ?clu?rya,

a celebrated writer of the fourteenth century,

the Buddhists of the south of India were oxposed to a sanguinary

persecution at the instigation of K urnaril Bhatta, tho great authorityof the Mimdnsakas, who, as he preceded Sankara ?chdrya, may have

lived in tho sixth or seventhcentury,

or earlier. Mddhava asserts

that, at his recommendation, aprinco named Sudhanwan issued orders

to put tho Buddhists to death throughout the wholo of India :

"A-sctor-d-tushddro Bauddhdndm vriddhabdlakdu

na hanti sahantavyo bhritydn ityanwasdt nripuh."

"The king commanded his servants to put to death the old men and

the children of tho Bauddhas, from tho bridgo of ltdma to tho

snowy mountain; let him whoslays

not be slain."

We do not know who Sudhanwan was, but his commands wcro not

likely to bo obeyed from Capo Comorin to the Himalaya, aud whatever

truth there may be in his making Buddhism a capital crime, his autho

rity must havo been of restricted extent, and tho persecution limited

to his own principality. The dissemination of Buddhism, however, in

the countries beyond tho Bay of Bengal does seem to have received a

fresh impulse about the sixth or seventh centuries, and this may havo

been connected with somo partial acts of persecution in India, and

consequent ?migration of tho Buddhists; wo havo no record, howover,

of itshaving

been universal, and its

having

boon of

any greatextent

may be reasonably doubted : it seems moro likely that Buddhism died

a natural death. With tho discontinuance of thoactivity

of itsprofes

sors, who,yielding to the indolenco which prosperity is apt toongonder,ceased to traverse towns aud villages in seeking to make proselytes,the Buddhist priest in India sunk into the sloth and ignoranco which

now characterise the bulk of thepriests

of the samoreligion

in other

countries, especially China, nnd seem thero to be productivo of tho

same result,working

the

decay

and dissolution of the Buddhist

religion.







BUDDHA AND BUDDHISM, 259

Although expelled from India, and apparently in a state of decline

in somo of tho regions inwhich it took refuge, Buddhism still numbers

amongst its followers a largo proportion of tho human race. Accord

ing toBerghaus,

asquoted by Lassen, there are four hundred and fifty

fivo millions of Buddhists, whilst tho population of the Christian states

is reckoned at four hundred and seventy-four millions :Mohammedans

and Hindoos arevery much fewer. Tho enumeration of the Buddhists,

however, includes tho whole of tho population of China, without

adverting to their distribution as tho followers of Confucius or Taii-se,

or, as we havo latoly learned, as the professors of a composite

Christianity.

Numerous, however, as tho Buddhists still are, the system seems to

be on the decline, whero it is not upheld by the policy of the local

governments,or where the

priesthooddoes not constitute a

very largo

share of tho population. The people in general do not seem to take

much interest in the worship of tho temples, nor to entertain any

particular veneration for their priests. The templesare

always open,

aud service isregularly performed, usually

three times aday,

like tho

Sandhya of the Brahmans: on these occasions tho priests assemble,

usuallyseated in two divisions or

semi-choirs, who chaunt passages

from the sacred books, Tibetan, Pali, or Sanscrit, tho two latter being

utterly unintelligible to tho people, and understood by very few of the

priests. The ehaunting is relieved by the accompaniment of bells,

andcymbals,

and drums, and thoblowing of the conch shells or brass

trumpets, or, in tho easternHimalaya,

oftrumpets made of human

thigh bones; incense is burnt beforo the images of the Buddhas, and

fruit and flowers, and dishes of food placed before them. The peoplotako no

part in thisperformance,

and come in small numbers, at their

own convenience, and mako their offering and prostration, and then

depart, Tho priests, again, arc said to enjoy little personal considera

tion, not that they forfeit it by any conduct inconsistent with their

profession, for, although thero may be occasionalexceptions, they

seem in general to load inoffensive, if useless, lives. InCeylon,

accordingto Sir Emerson Tenncnt, the people pay more

respect to tho

garb than to tho wearer, and tako every opportunity of making it

known that tho yellow robe, and not the individual, is tho object of

their veneration.According

to Mr.Hardy,

tho whole number of

priests inCeylon, although many of tho communities possess extensive

landed estates, thegilts

of thepiety

of former princes, docs not

exceed 2,500, dispersed in monasteries, the largest of which hasseldom more than

twenty resident members. In Fa Hian's timo

thero were, according to him, from 50,000 to 60,000priests

in








Ceylon, and in ono of tho monasteries at Anunidhapurn, there wcro

5,000. Mr. Hardy adds: ''in no part of the island that I havo visited,

do tho priests as a body appear to bo respected by tho people:

although occasionally nn individual may recommend himself by agreonble manners :" they

aro sometimes treated unceremoniously; aud ho

mentions an instance in which a priest was driven out of a village bythe women armed with their brooms, and threatening him with

personal castigation,In the Burma

countrytho priests

aro moro

numerous, but there also they aro said to have but littlo influence

over the minds of thopeople,

who sometimes say,not without somo

reason, in excuse o( impropriety of conduct, that the precepts of tho

lawraro not for thorn but for tho priests. Tho system, however, is

supported by the Government, and a high priest resides at tho capital,

by whom all the Punghis, or heads of establishments, are appointed.

Although tolerant of the practice of other religions by those who

profess them, secession from tho national belief is rigidly prohibited,and a convert to any other form of faith incurs the penalty

of death.

The condition of Buddhism is said to bo

prosperous;

from 2,000 to

0,000 lay worshippersmake

daily offerings at tho great templeof tho

Shwo-dagou,near

Rangoon; and newtemples and Kyiiuis

arcdaily

springing up, oven in tho districts under Britishauthority. One

greatsource of influence in Ava is the

monopolyof education by tho

priesthood, and which, such as it is, is very general. Almost every

Burinan can write and read, for which he has to thank thoKyuni

or

monastery of his village. Buddhism is also flourishing in Siani,

where, as inAva, it is connected with tho political institutions of tho

slate, and, with the mass of the population: every male must enter

the order of the priesthood at some period of his life, for however

short a time; even tho king must become apriest for two or three

days, wearingthe mendicant dress and soliciting alms of his courtiers.

Tho high officers of tho state sometimes take up their abode in a

monastery, and conform to all the rules of tho fraternity for two or

three monthstogether.

Thepriests,

orTalupoins

nsthey

arotermed,

from

carrying

a Tdla or

palm-leaf

as a fan, are

consequentlynumerous,

but the permanent inhabitants of the monasteries arc either persons

disgusted with life, or the old and infirm ; ?the younger and more

activo memberscontinually falling

back intosociety.

Tho sharo

taken by the sovereign in the organisation of the system seems to be

the chief source of its prosperity.We have no very recent accounts of the condition of Buddhism in

Japan, although, to judge from the drawings of Col. Sicbold in his

"Nipon,"

the

ordinary objects

of Buddhist

worship

arc numerous, and







BUDDHA AND BUDDHISM. 2G1

comprehend many of tho later saints of the system as well as per

sonages apparently of peculiar and local sanctity. Buddhism also is

brokenup

into various sectarial divisions. InChina,

as far as there

has been any opportunityof

ascertaining,which however is almost con

fined to tho maritime districts, it is evidently on the wano : althougha few monasteries are

respectably tenanted, the residents are much

loss numerous thanthey

have boon, and manyare altogether deserted;

many of the temples also are ina state of decay. The majority of the

priests aro illiterate, and seem to hold their oflices and their idols in

little vonoration; the people regard the priests with little respect,or

insome

instances with contempt, and attachno

great sanctityto

the objects of their worship,?a curious instance of this indifference iu

both is mentioned by the Rev. Mr. Smith, the present Bishop of Vic

toria. In atemplo belonging

to amonastery,

where ho was allowed

to occupy a residence, ho first inadvertently and then designedly,overthrew several idols, which, being of clay, were broken by the fall,

amidst, ho says, the laughter of the bystanders. He resided several

weeks in themonastery

ofTeon-tsung

nearNingpo,

where ho

constantly distributed Christian tracts in Chinese, without anyhindrance or molestation.

Tho lato Mr. Gutzlaff, in apaper in our Journal now in course of

printing,1 agrees ontircly in the description given by Bishop Smith of

tho ignorance of the Buddhist priesthood, of the low estimation in

which tho priests aro hold, and tho absence of all really religious

feeling in the people.It is iu tho north and north-west of China, extending thence

through Mongolia and Eastern Tibet to Lhassa, that the chief scats ofBuddhism aro to bo found,

as we learn from the travels of tho French

missionaries, Messrs. Hue and G?bet, who traversed the whole interval.

Throughout their entire route they met with, or heard of, what theyterm Lamaserais, that is, Vih?ras,

or monasteries connected with tem

ples,inhabited

bynumerous resident Lamas,

as well ashaving attached

to them a number of itinerant iijendicant brethren. Ata monastery,

at nplaco

called Chor-chi, there wero two thousand resident Lamas.

At a city, which they trauslato Blue-town, there were twenty

establishments, largoand small, inhabited

byat least twenty thousand

Lamas. At the monasteryof Kun-lun, where

theywere allowed to

take up their residence for several months, there were four thousand

resident Lamas. At the chiefmonastery

ofTartary,

that of tho

Khalkas and in its vicinity, thero were, it is said, thirty thousand

An to, p. 73.

VOL. XVI.








Lamas, the head of whom exercised tho temporal as well as spiritual

authority of the wholo country, and was an object of uneasiness to the

court of Pokin. In tho provinco of which Lhassa, the acknowledged

high seat of Laninisin, is tho capital, there wero said to bo three

thousand monastic establishments, in three of which, Khaldau,

Prebung, and Sera, there were in each fifteen thousand Lamas. The

missionaries estimate the Lamas at one-third of tho wholo population;

all the males of afamily, except the oldest, being oxpectcd

to enter

the order, at least for a term ; it being allowable iu Tartary, us well as

iu other Buddhist countries, for a member of amonastery to return to

active life. Every monastery has its Superior, who is very commonly

originallya boy brought from Tibet, boing supposed to bo the late

principal regenerated; ho being, in fact, as beforo obsorved, a Buddha

on his way toperfection.

The vast number of the Lamas of Tartary and Tibet naturally

suggests tho inquiry,how countries so

poor, upon the whole, ami

thinly peopled, can support so largo a proportion of unproductive

members. Some of their subsistence is derived front grants and

endowments madeby

tho Emperorsof China, whoso

policyit has been

to encourage Laniaisin, astending to keep down the population,

and

repress the martial spirit of tho nomadic tribes : further means are

supplied by the people,who aro a

simploand credulous race, and

who, althoughnot animated by any devotional fervour, are liberal

contributors to tho temples at public festivals, and to tho itinerant

mendicant- brothren, giving largelyfront their stores of sheep,

and

wool, and butler, and various articles of consumption.Tho chief

maintenance of the Lamas is, however, their own industry. I it the

Buddhist countries of tho south, as Coylon, Siam, and A vu, and

apparently in China, a priest is strictly prohibited from exercising any

mechanical art, or following any secular occupation; but in Tartary,

the Lamas aro permitted to support thomselvcs by their own industry,

even whilst living in the monastery : the nionastory being, iu fact, a

small town of a priestly population, dwelling in houses, in streets

collected round a

principaltemplo

or temples, and tho main buildings

occupied by the Pontiff with his staff and servants. The other Lamas

are the sculptors, painters, decorators, andprinters

of the establishment;

those who are qualifiedare the schoolmasters of tho children of the

neighbourhood,who have no other teachers; and those who are not

engaged in tho service of tho monastery, may employ their timo for

their ownprofit.

There areamongst them, consequently,

handi

craftsmen, as tailors, shoemakers, hatters ; somekeep

cattle aud

sell the milk and butter to the brethren, and somo even keep







HUJ.MIA ANI) ?WDMIISM. 260

shops; the consequence is great inequality of condition ; those who

aro activo andenterprising become opulent,

whilst the inert and

idle, who trust solely to the pittance which is doled out periodi

callyto

every member, from the common fund, may be almost in a

state of starvation.

. The general organizationof tho monasteries in

Tartaryand Tibet,

tho costumo of tho Lamas, and many particularsof the manner in

which religious service is celebrated in the temples, havo often struck

travellers aspresenting closo analogies to the conventual system

and the religious offices of tho Roman Catholic Church. In this

latter respect, wo havo the admission of tho French missionaries,whose enumeration wo

may safely follow, and whospecify

the use

of the cross, tho mitre, tho dalmatic, the hood, tho office of two

choirs, thopsalmody, the exorcisms, tho censer of five chains, the

benediction of tho lamas by placing tho right hand on the head of the

faithful, tho rosary, celibacy of tho clergy, spiritual retirement, the

worshipof saints, fasts, processions, litanies, and

holy water, as so

many coincidences with the Romish

ritual,

the

origin

of which cannot

be accidental. Tho present costumo and ceremonial are said to havo

originated with a celebrated reformer, who was born in tho latter half

of the fourteenth contury, named Tsong Kuba, who founded the monas

tery of Khal-dan, near Lhassa, in 1409, and died in 1419. Tho chinf

pontiff of Lhassa at first opposed tho innovations of Tseng Kaba, and

havingin vain invited him to a conference, paid

a visit to the re

former, and expatiated at great length upon the sacredness of tho

ancientpractices and his own

pre-eminence;

ho wasinterrupted

in his

harangue by Tsong Kaba, who had previously taken no notice of

him, and who suddenly exclaimed: "Wretch, let go tho flea that youaro

torturing between your thumb and forefinger ! I hear his groans,

they penetrate to my heart." Fleas, it seems, are very abundant in

Tibet, and tho Grand Lama, in violation of the precept that says,Thou shalt not kill, was

privily in tho act of committing murder,when thus rebuked by Tsong Kaba. Struck by this proof of TsongKaba's divino

perception,the Grand Lama

acknowledged

bis

supremacy, prostrated himself beforo him, and adopted his reforms. Tradi

tion speaks of astranger Lama from tho west, who was

TsongKulm's

preceptor, and who was remarkable amongst otherthings

for a long

nose; noses inTartary

are somewhat of the shortest; from which

circumstance, as well as from thepalpable resemblances ad verteil to,

Messieurs Hue and G?bet infer, not without someplausibility,

that

Tsong Kaba derived his innovations from the instruction of a Kuro

T 2








pean missionary,several of whom at this

early periodhad

penetrated

into Tibet, Tartary, and China.

The peculiarities of tho costumo are certainly foreign to the ori

ginal institutes of the Vinaya, which ismuch inoro faithfully followed

in the south. The shaven head aud yellow robes of tho priests of

Ceylon, Ava, and Siani, are much moro orthodox than tho red robes

and yellow hats or mitros of tho Lamas of Tartary and Tibet.

Notwithstanding tho liberality shewn by the pcoplo of Tibet,

especiallyat

particular festivals, to their monasteries and templos,

they take nopart in the celebration of tho

religious services,nor do

they evince any stronger dovotional interest than prevails in other

Buddhist countries. In all of them, however, thoro aropowerful

means by which tho priests work upon their feelings, and securo thoir

adherence, and extort theirbounty. Everywhere, except in China,

learning, such as it is, is confined to the priesthood, and they aro tho

sole instructors ofyouth ; they

arc also the collectors and vendors of

drugs, and the practisers of medicino. They still, as in tho days of

Clement, foretell events, determine lucky and unlucky times, and

pretend toregulate

the futuredestiny

of thedying, threatening the

niggard with hell, and promising heaven, or even, ovcntually, tho

glory of a Buddha, to tho liberal. Thoir great hold upon the peopleis thus derived from thoir gross ignorance,

their superstition,and their

fears ; they are fully imbued with a belief in tho efficacy of enchant

ments, in the existence of malevolent spirits, and in tho superhuman

sanctify of tho Lamas, as their only protection against them; tho

Lamas inTartary are, therefore, constantly

oxorcists and magicians,

sharing, no doubt, very often, thocredulity

of tho people, but fre

quently assisting faith in their superhuman faculties by jugglery and

fraud. In the most northern provinces of Russia, Buddhism, degradedto Shamanism, is nothing more than a miserable display of jugglingtricks and deceptions, and even in the Lamnsarais of Tibet, exhibi

tions of the same kind are permitted, whatever may bo tho belief and

practice of those of the community who aro better instructed, and tuko

nopart

in them, themselves. Ignoranceis at tho root of the wholo

system, and it must fall to pieces with the extension ofknowledge

and civilisation. Astriking conformity

in this conclusion is expressed

by the missionaries of d?fi?rent Christian communities. Messieurs Hue

and G?bet observe : "After all wo havo seen in our

long journey, aud

especially duringour

sojournin the monarchy

of Kun Lun, we aro

persuaded that it isby education, not by controversy, that the con

version of thesepeople

is to bo most efficaciously promoted;"and wo







BUDDHA AM) BUDDHISM. 2(5.3

learn from Erman, in his late travels in Siberia, that both the Russian

and English missionaries at Irkutsk, and on the Selinga, had aban

doned all attempts at direct conversion, and had confined themselves to

the cultivation of theMongol and M an chu languages, inorder to qualifythemselves to give education to the people. The process is unavoid

ably slow, especially in Central Asia, which is almost beyond the

reach ofEuropean activity

and zeal, but there is no occasion todespair

of ultimate success. Various agenciesare at work, both in the north

and the south, boforo whosesalutary

influence civilisation is extend

ing ; and the ignorance and superstitionwhich aro the main props of

Buddhism, must bo overturned byits advance.

on buddha and buddhism

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