/i 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 L I B R A^ T'. Y 1 
 
 1 f K '1 1 1 F 
 
 Theo 
 
 logical Seminary, [ 
 
 
 PRINCETON. N. J. 
 
 O/.vr 
 
 S%/f 
 
 ,W17Z 
 
 1 
 
 Booh 
 
 1 f 
 i 1 
 
THE LEGENDS AND THEORIES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BUDDHISTS. 
 
THE LEGENDS AND THEORIES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BUDDHISTS, 
 
 COMPARED WITH 
 
 HISTORY AND SCIENCE 
 
 WITH INTRODUCTORY NOTICES OF THE LIFE AND SYSTEM OF 
 
 GOTAMA BUDDHA. 
 
 BY 
 
 R. SPENCE HARDY, HON. M,R.A.S., 
 
 AUTHOR or "eastern (bxjddhist) monachism," "a manual of buddhism," etc. 
 
 WILLIAMS AND NOEGATE, 
 
 14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON; 
 
 AND 
 
 20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH. 
 
 1866. 
 
IIKUTFOR!) : 
 
 I'RINTRI) IIY XTEIUEN AUSTIN, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The system attributed to Gotama Buddlia is one of 
 the oldest beliefs in the world. It demands, therefore, a 
 place among the records of religious opinion, if for its 
 antiquity alone. But it has other claims upon our 
 attention. There is in it the germ of many of the specu- 
 lations that are the most prominent in the shifting philo- 
 sophies of the present day ; and it is now professed, at the 
 lowest computation, by three hundred millions of the 
 human race. The information presented in these pages 
 has a further importance, as the Dharmma is compara- 
 tivelv unknown in Enorland. Of this we have evidence in 
 the singular fact, that the name of Gotama Buddha is not 
 found in any work in our language that is exclusively 
 biographical,* although no uninspired man has exercised 
 a greater influence than he upon the social and religious 
 interests of the world. 
 
 * In the last edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica there is an article 
 Tinder the head of " Gotama Buddha," derived from the same sources as the 
 present work. 
 
V 
 
 V 
 
 VI niEFACE, 
 
 Tlie first edition of this \roik was publisliecl in the 
 island of Ceylon. Its principal aim was, to reveal to 
 the adherents of the system the errors it contains ; but 
 the original form is retained, as the doctrines here attri- 
 buted to Buddha have not been controverted, so far as I 
 can learn, by any of the priests ; though, of course, they 
 repudiate the inferences I have drawn from them. We 
 are thus warranted in concluding, that they may be 
 received as a faithful and trustworthy exposition of this 
 wide-spread creed ; and it is the more necessary to notice 
 this fact, as there are many things in them that are con- 
 trary to the teachings on this subject of several authors 
 of great name in western literature. The supporters of 
 Protestant missions will also learn in what manner and 
 Bjjirit their agents are conducting the great controversy, 
 that must increase in magnitude and moment, until the 
 truth has imiversally prevailed throughout the realm 
 of India ; and a lesson may be learnt, of no small signi- 
 ficance, as to the acquirements, the mental furnishing, 
 re<piisite in the men who are chosen to do battle, in this 
 onslaught ii])f)n the most formidable of all the superstitions 
 that oppose the spread of the Gospel of the Son of God. 
 
 There are some things here inserted that would justly 
 be regarded as puerile or unnecessary^, if I were writing 
 exclusively for European readers; and in the sections 
 on native geography and astronomy many things appear 
 that would have assumed an ent irelv different form, if 
 
PKEFACE. VU 
 
 the appeal were made to persons acquainted with the 
 higher departments of science. I was only a visitor in 
 Ceylon when the work was written, and laboured under 
 some disadvantages, as my library was in England. But 
 the pages for which I have to make this apology are few, 
 as a great part of the volume consists of statements 
 taken from the original Pali, that have not previously 
 appeared in any European language. I have since pub- 
 lished a similar work in Singhalese,* more adapted to the 
 comprehension of the priests and others who know no 
 tongue but their own, and whose information is confined 
 to the limited circle of their own books. 
 
 I have to return thanks to the E,ev. John Scott, my 
 successor as the General Superintendent of the Wesleyan 
 Mission in South Ceylon, for many valuable suggestions. 
 I am also under a debt of obligation, that I can never 
 repay, to the Rev. David de Silva, a native minister of the 
 same mission. His attainments in general knowledge are 
 of a high order, he is well acquainted with Pali, and he is 
 the foremost and most able among the controversialists 
 of the island who have come forward in the defence of 
 Christianity. It was at one time my intention, with his aid, 
 to make an abridgment, or complete index, of the whole of 
 the sacred Pitakas. For this purpose I employed a learned 
 ex-priest, Don Johannes Panditatilaka, of Koggala, who 
 began to read witli us the section containing the Sutras, 
 
 * Suddharmma-niliasbaya. 
 
VI 11 PREFACE. 
 
 which he orally translated into Singhalese, sentence by 
 sentence ; but he was unwilling to proceed further than 
 the third or fourth Nikaya, probably deterred by the 
 supporters of Buddhism ; and as no one of competent in- 
 formation could be induced to continue the task, even for 
 high reward, I was reluctantly obliged to abandon my 
 design. I had, however, previously secured his aid, in 
 culling from the Pitakas the extracts I required in pre- 
 paring the present work. 
 
 A controversy, of great interest, has recently com- 
 menced in Ceylon, between the Christians and the 
 Buddhists. The priests have purchased presses and type, 
 and possess printing establishments of their own. They 
 now refuse to render any assistance to the missionaries, 
 as before, in explaining the native books, or lending those 
 that are in their libraries for transcription. Haj^plly, 
 there is a copy of nearly all the sections of the canonical 
 text and commentaries in the Wesleyan mission library 
 at Colombo, bequeathed to it by the late Bev. D. J. 
 Gogcrly. Tracts, pamphlets, and serials issue in large 
 numbers from the IJuddhist presses. The king of Slam, 
 and one of the native chiefs in Kandy, have contributed 
 largely towards their publication. They present some 
 arguments that are new and ingenious ; but the defiant 
 and blasj)]icmous expressions they contain, against the 
 eacrcd name of "Jehovah," are probably the most awful 
 ever framed in human language. I left Ceylon on my 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 return to England, for the third time, in June last, with 
 thankfulness for the evidences I had been permitted to 
 witness, on the part of many of the more intelligent 
 of the Singhalese, of a sincere desire to attain to the 
 possession of the light and truth. I have formed bright 
 anticipations as to the future. There can be no doubt as to 
 the result of the contest now carried on ; for although 
 it may be prolonged and severe, it must end in the total 
 discomfiture of those who have arisen against the Lord 
 and his Christ, and in the renunciation of the atheist 
 creed that now mars the happiness, and stays the en- 
 lightenment, of so many of the dwellers in Lanka; 
 beautiful, from the waters that lave its shores to the 
 storm-tried trees that crown the summits of its highest 
 mountains, and rich in historic associations, throughout 
 more than two thousand j^ears. 
 
 Headingley, Leeds, 
 January 1, 1866. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 There are few names among tlie men of tlie west, tliat 
 fitand forth as saliently as that of Gotama Buddha, in the 
 annals of the east. In little more than two centuries 
 from his decease the system he established had spread 
 throughout the whole of India, overcoming opposition 
 the most formidable, and binding together the most dis- 
 cordant elements ; and at the present moment Buddhism 
 is the prevailing religion, under various modifications, 
 in Tibet, ISTepal, Siam, Burma, Japan, and South Ceylon ; 
 and in China it has a position of at least equal prominence 
 with its two great rivals, Confucianism and Tauism. At 
 one time its influence extended throughout nearly three- 
 fourths of Asia ; from the steppes of Tartary to the palm- 
 groves of Ceylon, and from the vale of Cashmere to the 
 isles of Japan. 
 
 In the following pages I have endeavoured to expose 
 eome of its most notable defects and errors : but although 
 it was for this purpose that they were originally written, 
 there is a further lesson that its history loudly teaches, 
 of wider range and still greater consequence. With all 
 earnestness and sincerity, the prince Gotama set himself 
 
XI 1 IM'RODUCnoX. 
 
 to search out the truth ; and if he failed in his attempt to 
 discover it, those who may follow him in the same path, 
 and use only the same means, will have much to accomplish, 
 if they intend to be more successful in its pursuit. In 
 those who woidd surpass, or even equal, the so-called 
 Tathiigato, if we accept as true the records of his life, 
 there must be the exercise of a severe penance ; and their 
 search for tlie inner illumination must be continued, with 
 firm resolve and singleness of purpose, throughout many 
 weary years. They who set themselves to this task, must 
 possess an insight into the vanities of the world equally 
 clear, from a lengthened residence amidst the splendours 
 of the palace ; they must at once forsake all that men 
 regard as pleasant, for a life of extreme self-denial amidst 
 the solitudes of the wilderness ; they must struggle with 
 the powers of evil until demon spirits seem to become 
 visible, with foul gibe and fearful menace ; they must add 
 to this an intense hatred of all that is low and mean, 
 in those with whom they come in contact, and a life-long 
 passion to resolve the great problems of existence ; they 
 must possess a calnmcss of thought, " like a w^aveless sea,'* 
 tliat no opposition can ruffle, the result of a discipline that 
 has the acquirement of this serene state as its principal 
 object ; they must scrutinize all the powers and possessions 
 of man, witli an exactness like that with which the skilful 
 anatomist seeks to learn the manner and use of every 
 nerve and articulation of the bodily frame ; and when 
 they luivc suffered, thought out, and accomplished, in this 
 higli service, as much as the old man of ^lagadha, before 
 he expired under the sal-tree near Kusinara, they will be 
 
INTRODUCTION. Xlll 
 
 entitled to speak of tlie majesty of intuition, and we will 
 listen heedfully to tlieir words. The system elaborated 
 with so mucli travail of spirit, and under circumstances sa 
 impressive, is one of the most wonderful emanations that 
 ever proceeded from man's intellect, unaided by the 
 outward revelation of God: but, as we look at it as it 
 is, calmly and without prejudice, we see, that although 
 it presents so many evidences of deep thought, and 
 possesses so many claims to our regard, it manifests, 
 throughout the most palpable ignorance, not only as to 
 the facts of science, but also as to the great and essential 
 principles of morality ; and that after all its promise, it 
 tends only to increase man's perplexity as to the present,. 
 and his uncertainty as to the future, leaving him at last 
 in hopelessness and desolation. 
 
 But before some of my readers can see the force and 
 verity of this conclusion, it will be necessary that they 
 become better acquainted with the sage of whom I thus 
 write ; and it is to furnish those who may be uninformed 
 of the history of Buddhism, with a rapid sketch of the 
 doings and doctrines of its founder, that this Introduction 
 has been penned. 
 
 Neither the age, nor even the individual existence,. 
 of Buddha, is established beyond all controversy ; but 
 the system is a reality, and stands before us in imposing 
 magnitude ; forcing itself upon our attention, by its own 
 inner power, as well as by the consequences it has pro- 
 duced, widely and in so many ages. We must try, if we 
 would know rightly the circumstances under which Gotama 
 is said to have lived, to transport ourselves to the time 
 
XIV INTRODUCmON. 
 
 of the prophet Daniel ; but to forget all about Babylon and 
 its stately monarchs, and imagine ourselves in an appanage 
 of Ptajagaha, the capital of Magadha, where the lord para- 
 mount of the Aryan race holds his court. We have before 
 us a state of intellectual culture resembling that of Athens, 
 in the age of its earlier philosophers ; a splendour and 
 magnificence like that of Bagdad, in the days of its most 
 famous caliphs ; a commercial activity like that presented 
 along the course of the Tyrian caravan, when Tadmor 
 appeared in the desert, beautiful as its mirage, but no 
 mockery, as its majestic temples rose in A'iew before the 
 merchant from some distant land ; and a freedom of 
 manners and constancy of intercourse between the different 
 grades of society, like that seen now among the nations 
 of Europe. The stor}^ of a people migrating from beyond 
 the snow-clad hills, where the gods are thought to hold 
 their seat, has long since been forgotten ; numerous 
 sectaries live together, in ceaseless antagonism, but 
 without any overt acts of persecution ; and a general 
 opinion seems to prevail, that some great personage is about 
 to appear, who will make all one, from being gifted Avith 
 uneri-ing intelligence and unbounded power. It is an era 
 of great importance in the history of the east ; and men 
 are waiting for some event that will decide whether future 
 acres are to be ruled bv a Chakrawartti, a univei'sal 
 monarch, or guided by a Buddha, an all-wise sage. 
 
 The most successful candidate for supremacy who tlien 
 arose was a prince of the race of Sakya, said to have been 
 "born at Kapilawastu, a city supposed to be on the borders 
 of Nepal ; on Tuesday, the day of the full moon, the lunar 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 mansion being Wisa, in the month of May, in the year 
 answering to b.c. 623 ; thus exact are the chroniclers 
 of this auspicious event. Five days afterwards he received 
 the name of Siddhartta. He was also called Gotama, 
 Sakya Singha, and Sakya Muni ; and for all these names 
 fanciful reasons are given. On the following day his 
 mother Maya died. At an early age his preceptors 
 foretold that he w^ould become a recluse, which led his 
 father, Suddhodana, to take means by which he hoped 
 that the prince would be induced to pursue a different 
 course ; and in the pursuit of pleasure, or the excitement 
 of war, seek glory in a manner more consistent with his 
 position and prospects, as the scion of a house so illustrious 
 that it could trace its descent throucfh the race of the sun, 
 to Sammata, the first monarch of the world. The anxiety 
 of his father increased as he grew older ; and even w^hen 
 he was married, at the age of sixteen, to the princess 
 Yasodhara, peerless in excellence as in grace, there 
 were reasons why former precautions should be continued. 
 The sight of a decrepit old man, supported by a staff, his 
 form bending in weakness tow^ard the ground, taught 
 Siddhartta a memorable lesson on the infirmities to which 
 man is subject. Not long afterwards he accidentally met 
 a loathsome leper, with attenuated limbs, and sores cover- 
 ing his entire bod}^, w^hich added to the impressiveness of 
 his former reflections. And wdien he saw, after the lapse 
 of another period, a dead bod}^, green with putridity, 
 offensive, and the prey of creeping worms, he learnt, with 
 a force that the witchery of music and the wiles of woman 
 could not overcome, the vanity of all that is existent, at 
 
XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 its best estate. Here was the discovery of tlic evil, tlia 
 danger ; but where was the remedy, the way of escape ? 
 This was presented to him, after months of further thought 
 and anxiet}^ He saw a recluse, gravely clad, gentle in 
 manner, and of placid countenance, walking quietly along 
 the road. His determination to follow the example he 
 had seen was formed at once, and it was a sturdy and 
 indomitable resolve. To increase our estimate of his self- 
 denial, it is said of him that on the very day when ho 
 heard of the birth of his firstborn, whilst the festivities 
 of the palace were conducted with unusual splendour, he 
 determined to carry his resolution into effect ; and that 
 though he saw the sleeping mother and his new-born 
 babe, lovely as a lotus flower, from the threshold of the 
 room in which they lay, he forsook them, without any 
 expression of regret, and rushed into the forest, far away 
 from all that could bind by affection or attract by smile,, 
 accompanied by only one attendant, whom he soon after- 
 wards dismissed. The vigilance of his father was on this 
 day relaxed, as it was a thing not to be thought of, that 
 at such a time, when the whole city was as one great 
 festive-hall, he could cast away the royal diadem, with all 
 its attendant attractions, for the alms-bowl of the mendi- 
 cant and its privations. 
 
 The garment of the recluse was adopted, but it was im- 
 possible to conceal the superiority of his birth ; and when 
 he went to the city of Hajagaha, to seek alms from door 
 to door, as was then the custom of those who had aban- 
 doned the world, the beauty of his person, and the grace* 
 fulness of his manner, attracted general attention, and 
 
lJ^TRODl;cTlo^^ xvii 
 
 made many suppose that some celestial personage had 
 visited their land. The food he received was different in 
 kind from that to which he had been accustomed in the 
 palace ; but he retired to the shade of a tree, and thought- 
 fully ate it, the sight of its uncleanness reminding him of 
 the vileness and impurit}^ of man's body, though tended 
 with so much care, and pampered by so many indulgences. 
 Five other persons, brahmans, were j^artakers in his 
 exercises of asceticism, and remained with him in the 
 wilderness, until, by his excessive austerities, life itself 
 appeared to be extinct. From this state of extreme weak- 
 ness he recovered ; but when, after six years of penance, 
 and the endurance of a mental agony intense beyond 
 utterance, in his attempts to acquire a mastery over all 
 attachment, and a clear understanding of all truth, he 
 returned to the carrying of the alms-bowl, without having 
 succeeded in his aim, the patience of his five companions 
 was exhausted, and they left him to pursue his painful 
 course alone. But the time of deliverance, the hour of 
 triumph, was at hand. Taking with him as much food as 
 would support him during forty-nine days of additional 
 trial, he retired to the spot that was afterwards to become 
 of world-wide renown. There, under a bo-tree, he was 
 assaulted by innumerable demons, and the contest was 
 fierce and prolonged ; but he resisted, with like success, 
 the menaces of frightful fiends, and the allurements of 
 beauty, under all the forms that licentiousness could 
 devise, until, before the setting of the sun, he was the 
 acknowledged victor ; and before the light had again 
 dawned, the great end of his toils was accomplished, and 
 
XVlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 he stood forth before all worlds a supreme Buddha, " wiser 
 than the wisest, and higher than the highest." 
 
 As he was twenty-nine years of ao:e when he left the 
 palace, and remained six years in the wilderness, this 
 eyent must have occurred about his thirtj^-fifth year. 
 From this time the monastery was his residence, and he 
 was soon surrounded by numerous disciples, as he claimed 
 to be the only teacher of men free from all error. At first, 
 from seeing the difficidty attending the establishment of a 
 new and strino:ent system! he resolved that he would con- 
 fine to his own breast the discovery he had made ; but at 
 the intercession of others he was induced to change his 
 resolution, and commence the preaching of the Dharmma. 
 It was to his old friends, the five brahmans, that he first 
 imfolded the principles of his religion. They were at that 
 time resident near the city of Benares. The discourse he 
 then deKvered is called the Dhamma-chakkapj^awattana- 
 suttan. In it he declares that there is sorrow connected 
 with every mode of existence ; that the cause of sorrow is 
 desire, or attachment (to sensuous objects) ; that the 
 destruction of sorrow is to be efiected by being set free 
 from attachment to existing objects (which secures the 
 possession of nirvrana) ; and that to be set free from this 
 attachment there must be right conduct, mental tran- 
 quillity, and other similar virtues. These truths were 
 previously unknown ; they were revealed by former 
 Buddhas, but had long been entirely forgotten. Gotama 
 now received them by intuition, and he proclaimed them 
 once more to the world, authoritatively, from having 
 attained to the most perfect wisdom. 
 
IJSTKODUCTIOK. XIX 
 
 The king of Magadlia, Bimsara, was converted to the 
 faith of his former friend, no^y become Bitddha. His two 
 principal disciples were Seriyut and Mugulan. The first 
 was convinced of the truth of the Dharmma by hearing the 
 stanza so often found upon monuments now existing in 
 India : — 
 
 " Ye dhamma lietuppabliawa 
 Yesan hetun Tathagato, 
 Aha yesan chayo nirodho 
 Ewan wadi Maha Samauo." 
 
 " All things proceed from some cause ; this cause has 
 been declared by the Tathagato ; all things will cease to 
 exist ; this is that which is declared by the great Sramana 
 (Buddha). 
 
 On a visit to his native city, his father, Suddhodana, 
 embraced his faith, and his half-brother, Nanda, and his 
 son Hahula, entered the order of the priesthood that he 
 established. The same course was followed by Anurudha 
 his cousin, Ananda his nephew, who became his personal 
 attendant, and Dewadatta, his wife's brother. The second 
 wife of his father, who was also his own foster-mother, 
 Maha Prajapati, was the first female admitted to profession. 
 
 The authority of Buddha was not undisputed, nor his 
 high position maintained without opposition and trial. 
 At one time a low female was suborned by his enemies to 
 accuse him with breaking the law of continence, but her 
 artifice ended only in her own confusion. The son of 
 Bimsara, Ajiisat, supported the cause of the brahmans, 
 and was joined in his enmity to Buddha by Dewadatta, at 
 whose instance he caused the death of his royal fathei*. 
 These sectarists attempted to take the life of Buddha on 
 
XX IXTRODUCTIOX. 
 
 three several occasions ; first, by means of 500 archers, 
 then by a stone hurled from a machine, which struck his 
 foot, and caused it slightly to bleed, and lastly by the 
 attack of a wild and infuriated elephant ; but on all these 
 occasions their wicked designs were frustrated. The king 
 afterwards repented of his crimes, and embraced the faith 
 of the Dharmma ; and Dewadatta was also led to see the 
 foll}^ of the course he had pursued ; but though he sought 
 forgiveness, his offences were too great to go unpunished, 
 and he died a hopeless death. The same reckless course 
 was followed by his father-in-law. Supra Buddha, whose 
 end was equally sad. The days of Buddha were spent in 
 carrying the alms-bowl, and in other acts required by 
 the disciplinary code of his order, to all of which he was 
 as submissive as any member of the novitiate ; in con- 
 versing with his friends and opponents on the principles 
 of his religion ; in visiting distant places, even the heavens, 
 that he might preach the bana to men and gods ; and in 
 performing more astounding miracles than were ever even 
 thought of by any wonder-worker among the western 
 nations, llis death, when eighty years of age, was caused 
 by partaking of pork given to him in alms by the smith 
 Ohunda, which produced diarrhoea. In great pain he 
 travelled from Pawa, a distance of twelve miles, during 
 which time he had frequently to rest ; and as he had been 
 born under a tree, and under a tree attained to the 
 wisdom of a Buddlia, it was under a tree that he died, 
 near the city of Kusinara. 
 
 In these legends there may b(^ a portion of trutli, but 
 
INTRODUCTIOX. XXL 
 
 tiiey liave been intermixed with, so many events of im- 
 possible occurrence, tliat we are necessitated to regard the 
 wliole with distrust. The easterns are great adepts at 
 dovetailing a number of stories, taken from widel}'' different 
 sources, into one even and unbroken narrative. We can 
 sometimes detect the traces of this method of manipula- 
 tion, in Buddhist authors, and discover in what way it has 
 been brought about ; but there are other instances in which 
 the keenest critic must confess himself at fault. There 
 are some events, such as his extreme asceticism in the 
 wilderness, his hesitation about declaring to others the 
 truths he had learnt, the opposition of certain of his 
 relatives, the attempts upon his life, the circumstances 
 attendant on the admission of women into his community, 
 the powers he acknowledged in his adversaries, and, above 
 all, the cause to which his death is attributed, for the in- 
 vention of which we can see no reason, and so conclude 
 that they may have been real occurrences. Of the ex- 
 aggerations and myths contained in the Buddhist records, 
 I have spoken elsewhere. It may suffice, therefore, to 
 state here, that the sage is regarded by his followers 
 as having unlimited knowledge and power, though a 
 man, and subject to all the passions and infirmities of 
 humanity, previous to his reception of the Buddhaship. 
 In his youth he married and had a son ; his inferior wives 
 were numbered by thousands ; he had to eat and drink 
 like other men, and seek relief from pain and sickness 
 by the use of medicine ; and it was from an ordinary 
 disease that he died. But all the principal events of his 
 life are represented as being attended by incredible 
 
XXU INTRODUCTION. 
 
 prodigies. He could overturn the earth in an instant,. 
 pass through the air at will, and know the thoughts of all 
 beings, in whatever world. The legends in which these 
 powers are assumed, and the incidents connected with their 
 exercise detailed, may be learnt from the three Pitakas. 
 
 These works constitute the sacred canon of the Buddhists^ 
 and if it can be proved that thej^ were formed under the 
 circumstances in which they claim to have been originally 
 revealed and rehearsed, at three general convocations, the 
 system they contain must be entitled to more regard than 
 we should infer from their foolish legends ; but the argu- 
 ments in favour of their trustworthiness fail in one most 
 important and essential particular. We cannot trace 
 them to the time in which Buddha is said to have lived. 
 In this respect they are in a similar position with the 
 greater part of Zend and Yedic lore, about the origin 
 of which we know little more than the name of the 
 author, and this not always with certainty. It is said 
 by Dr. Murray Mitchell, that it is not possible that 
 Zoroaster, the supposed great founder of the Zend system, 
 promulgated it in the shape it now possesses ; at all events, 
 that it cannot be demonstrated. The system of Zoroaster, 
 the system of the Zend books, the system of the Pahlvi 
 books, the system of the Persian books written by modern 
 Parsis, and the system of the Parsis of our own day, are 
 on no account to be assumed to be identical.* We might 
 make a similar statement in relation to Buddhism. There 
 can be little doubt, however, that the system known by 
 this name originated in some part of India between the 
 * Transactions of the Bombay Asiatic Society. 
 
INTRODUCTION. Xxiii 
 
 Ganges and the borders of Nepal, though we may have 
 no proof of this beyond the traditions of its adherents. 
 The reign of Asoka is the starting point of Buddhist 
 chronologists ; and we know from other sources that they 
 are here not far from the truth. Nor do I see any reason 
 to doubt that the system originated about the time of 
 Bimsara. The internal evidence presented by the Pitakas 
 of the age in which they were written will be more definite 
 when they have been more thoroughly studied. The 
 insight we receive therefrom into the social and religious 
 position of the people of India, would lead us to conclude 
 that the time in which Buddha Kved was strictly neither 
 Yedantic nor Brahmanical, but a transition state between 
 the establishment of the two systems, with a greater 
 tendency towards the latter. This opinion we found 
 upon the following circumstances. There is no reference 
 in them, so far as I can learn, to the question that was 
 afterwards the moot-point in all Hindu speculation, the 
 relation of man to the Supreme Spirit. Few of the gods 
 at present worshipped were then known, or if known by 
 the same names, they had offices given to them difieriiig 
 from those now assigned to them in Indian mythology. 
 In the accusation brought by Grotama against the Brah- 
 mans of corrupting the Yedas, there may be evidence 
 of the commencement of the changes that were afterwards 
 so extensively effected, as seen in the Puranas and other 
 legendary works. We do not find that he rebuked them 
 for their grossness or licentiousness, which he would have 
 done, if these evils had been as prominent in their religion 
 then as they are now. Neither is there any allusion to 
 
XXIV INTBODUCnOX. 
 
 liuiiian sacrifices, wliich may be regarded as a proof that 
 Buddhism commenced before they were practised in India. 
 The tenets afterwards professed by the Brahmans were not 
 yet fully developed, nor had they begun to influence 
 popular opinion to any great extent, or to produce that 
 change in the manners and customs of the Hindus that 
 has since been eflfected. The Brahman held an important 
 position in the king's court, but it was a subordinate one, 
 and the royal caste was placed by Buddha in the highest 
 rank. Though caste had for some time exerted an evil 
 influence, it still had to contend for universal acknowledg- 
 ment and reception. The Vedas were not regarded with 
 the same reverence by the other castes as by the Brah- 
 mans, nor were they looked upon generally as a standard 
 of appeal. When men refused to receive their revelations 
 as an infallible guide, it was not accounted as a crime 
 against the state, or as an innovation upon the polity of the 
 social order then established. The claims of Brahmanisni 
 were argued in the same manner as those of other religious 
 systems. The position of woman was much in accordance 
 with her place in the western world. We read of females 
 in th(^ higher ranks who never stepped ujDon the ground 
 for delicateness ; but when individuals are brought before 
 us, as Maha Maya, the mother of Gotama, or Wisakha, 
 the wife of Purnna-wardhana, we see them moving freely 
 in general society, and speaking to men without restraint. 
 It was the custom for certain classes of women to wander 
 about from place to place, and challenge even men to enter 
 into controversy with them, apparently without any sense 
 of impropriety on their part, or of condemnation in the 
 
INTRODUCrriON. XXV 
 
 minds of otlicrs. These criteria are confessedly indefinite ; 
 but yet, in the absence of more authoritative demonstration, 
 they are of some value, as they seem to fix the era of the 
 commencement of Buddhism in some age previous to the 
 oldest of the philosophies now received on the continent 
 of India. 
 
 But the period in which Buddhism originated, and that 
 in which the Pitakas were written, are widely different 
 questions. By no authority is it said that the sacred 
 books, as we have them now, were ivritten in the time of 
 Buddha. In speaking of these books historically, we shall 
 pay no attention to their claim to be the record of unmixed 
 truth, as there is scarcely one of their pages that does not 
 contradict this pretension. But placing them on a par 
 with the works of other men, there may be, as we have 
 seen, a vein of truth running through their confused and 
 abnormal strata, though the opinions of the Buddhists are 
 disregarded as to their having been framed in a given 
 period, or by hands divine. The value of the record as an 
 historic authority depends almost entirely upon its ago, 
 and upon the position and circumstances of the men by 
 whom it was originally made. It is here that its claim 
 to our confidence is set aside ; and though my reasons for 
 coming to this conclusion are stated in another place,* tlie 
 subject is of so much importance, that I may be forgiven 
 for referring to it here. About the year 432 ad., the 
 commentaries were translated from Singhalese into Pali, 
 by Buddhaghoso. The Singhalese version has disappeared 
 from the island, and cannot now be recovered. The Pali 
 
 * Pasre 66. 
 
XXVI INTRODUCrriOX. 
 
 version was lost for a time to the Singhalese, but it has 
 been renewed from Burma or Siam. I will concede that 
 the present recension may be the same, in all essential 
 particulars, as it was fourteen hundred years ago. The 
 works forming it profess to be a transcript of others 
 written for the first time in the reign of Wattagamini, 
 about 90 B.C. That they cannot be exactly and identically 
 the ipsissima verba of the older canon, we have internal 
 evidence ; but how far the difierence may extend cannot 
 now be determined. The works committed to writing by 
 the Singhalese priests are said to have been the same as 
 those brought over in the memory of Mahindo, who 
 introduced Buddhism into the island in 307 B.C. There 
 was thus an interval of more than 200 years, during 
 which the sacred canon, according to the Buddhists them- 
 selves, was preserved in the memory alone. It was trans- 
 mitted at this early stage from one generation of the 
 priesthood to another, by oral tradition. But, upon his- 
 torical grounds, we can neither accept the oral transmission 
 nor the subsequent committal to writing. The former is 
 not possible, and the other is opposed by facts of which we 
 have present evidence. No one acquainted with modern 
 research on eastern subjects will contend that the annals 
 of the Buddhists were now committed to writing for the 
 first time. We know that writin": was in use bv the 
 xVryan race before this period, and that it was employed 
 for religious purposes by the Buddhist monarch Asoka, 
 the father of Mahindo, by which means he sought to 
 extend its doctrines among all classes of his subjects, 
 and in all parts of his dominions. We cannot suppose 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXVIl 
 
 that he who is said to have erected 84,000 shrines m 
 honour of Buddha, with Pali inscriptions upon them, some 
 of which still exist, would neglect the more important 
 matter of the preservation of the words of the sage, so far 
 as they could then be recovered. In his reign the canon 
 of the Dharmma is said to have been rehearsed for the 
 third time; and as this was professedly on account of the 
 number of heresies that then abounded, the necessity must 
 have been seen of committing it to some more certain 
 medium than that of memory. The great legacy that 
 Buddha left to his disciples was the Dharmma. This, 
 with its exponents, the priests, was, by his own appoint- 
 ment, to represent him when he was no more visible, or 
 had become extinct ; and we may conclude, from the exact 
 knowledge of human nature he exhibited on so many 
 occasions, that he would see the futility of naming it as 
 his representative, unless its chief principles and require- 
 ments were written, and thus placed beyond the reach 
 of mistake. And we can further suppose that among the 
 numerous innovations made by Buddha upon established 
 custom, one would be, the writing down of the principia 
 of his religion, in the vernacular of his country, as it was 
 intended that his system should be of general acceptance, 
 and not confined to any particular class. The rehearsal 
 of the Pitakas in the time of As oka professes to be a 
 repetition of two former rehearsals, on each occasion the 
 same words being repeated, syllable by syllable, and word 
 by word. The canon as we have it now (with a few 
 necessary additions in relation to events that took place 
 afterwards), is declared to be the same as that rehearsed in 
 
XXYIU INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the year of Buddha's death. Upon the circumstances of 
 this first rehearsal, most important consequences depend. 
 If the miracles ascribed to Buddha can be proved to have- 
 been recorded of him at the time of his death, this would 
 go far towards proving that the authority to which he laid 
 claim was his rightful prerogative. They were of too 
 public a character to have been ascribed to him then, if" 
 they had not taken place ; so that if it was openly declared 
 by his contemporaries, by those who had lived with him 
 in the same monastery, that he had been repeatedly visited 
 by Sekra and other dewas ; and that he had walked through 
 the air, and visited the heavenly worlds, in the presence 
 of many thousands, and those the very persons whom 
 they addressed, we ought all to render him the homage 
 awarded to him by even his most devoted followers. But 
 the legend of the early rehearsal has nothing to support it,, 
 beyond the assertion of authors who lived at a period long 
 subsequent. The testimony of contemporaneous history 
 presents no record of any event that quadrates with the 
 wonderful powers attributed to the rahats, which would 
 undoubtedly not have been wanting, if these events had 
 really taken place. The text of the Pitakas is con- 
 siderably more ancient than the commentary, as we learn 
 from internal evidence ; and, from the style in M'hich it is 
 written, we may conclude tliat the two could not have 
 been simultaneously repeated, at the period assigned to the 
 first convocation. The text is the composition of men who. 
 wore well acquainted with the localities of India, and 
 probably resident upon the continent ; but many of tlie 
 mistakes made in the commentaries are oi' a kind that 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXIX 
 
 could not have been fallen into by persons familiar with 
 the places of which they write. The statement that the 
 sun passes annually from Maha Meru to the Sakwala rock,, 
 and back again, and therefore appears in the zenith of all 
 places in Jambudipa, must have been made by some one 
 resident in a region where the sun is annually vertical ; 
 but the cities in which the Pitakas are said to have been 
 recited are all to the north of the tropic of Cancer, where 
 the falsity of the account would at once be seen. The age 
 that succeeded that of Buddhaghoso is represented by 
 Colonel Sykes as a period strikingly marked by the inven- 
 tion of legends ; and it may have been from the publication 
 of the commentaries that many of them originated, or were 
 more extensively diflfused. In an extract from the Wi- 
 bhanga Atuwawa the case is supposed of a person speaking 
 Damila and Ardha, which would scarcely have occurred to 
 one then living north of the Ganges. There are incidents, 
 more especially in the Jatakas, that have their parallel in the 
 lore of the western side of the Indus ; which would seem to 
 bring them within some period later than the establishment 
 the Indo-Macedonian kingdom. Whether the similarity 
 is accidental, or the origin identical, is not yet certain ; 
 but the framework of the greater number of the tales with 
 which nearly all Buddhist works are so plentifully inter- 
 larded, is so eminently Hindu in its character that there can 
 be no mistake about the j)lace of their birth. 
 
 There are other things that tend to throw suspicion on 
 the authority of the Pitakas. Among these I may reckon 
 as one of the most prominent, the number of the heresies 
 that are said to have prevailed at an early period of 
 
XXX INTRODrCTION. 
 
 Buddhism. If there were any proof that the several 
 sectaries all acknowledged the validity of the Pitakas, and 
 only diflfered as to the interpretation of certain parts of 
 them, these very differences would be an argument in 
 favour of the purity of the canon. But from the dignity 
 of the persons connected with some of these schisms, or 
 •the importance of the subjects upon which they treat, as we 
 learn from their names, we may conclude that some of the 
 heresies were of such a character as necessarily to involve 
 the rejection of the Pitakas as the rule of faith. "We are 
 'told that, in the first century after Buddha there were no 
 sects formed ; but this statement is disproved by the names 
 of some of the schisms, one of which, it would appear, 
 proceeded from E-ahula, the son of Sakya, as we learn from 
 •the works of the Tibetans ; and the other from Dewadatta, 
 his brother-in-law, as we learn from Fa Hian. From these 
 premises we conclude, that though there might be Buddhist 
 works in existence at an early period, neither the text nor 
 the commentary of the Pitakas was compiled or completed, 
 in its present form, until long after the death of Buddha. 
 
 "We shall have a better insight into the circumstances of 
 the world in the time of Buddha, if we remember that 
 Lvcurorus had flourished, and the Messenian wars had been 
 fought, in the century preceding his death. If the reckon- 
 ing of Carpzov is correct, making Ezekiel to have received 
 his commission as a prophet in the year 694 B.C., when 
 he was nearly thirty years of age, he and Gotama must 
 have been born within a few months of each other, 
 •623-4 B.C. At this time Josiah reigned in Jerusalem, and 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXI 
 
 tliat city was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in the year in 
 whicb Gotama obtained the Buddhaship. Croesus in Lydia, 
 and Cyrus in Persia, lived about the same period ; in Greece, 
 Anacreon, Sappho, Simonides, Epimenides, Draco, Solon, 
 -i55sop, Pythagoras, Anaximander, Anaximenes, and 
 Pisistratus ; in Egypt, Psammeticus ; and in Rome, 
 Servius TuUius. About thirty years after his death, 
 Ahashuerus reigned from '' India even unto Ethiopia/' 
 This was a stirring era in the history of the world, when 
 nations were agitated, and men were seeking out new 
 channels of thought and action. The idea of men now 
 flying through the air at will is unfounded and absurd. It 
 so happens, that the intercourse of the west with the east 
 commenced in this age ; and we can deny, on historical 
 grounds, the possibility of the appearance of any sage in 
 India with powers like those fabled of Buddha, with 
 greater certainty than if he had lived at any previous 
 period. 
 
 "VVe may now leave all questions relative to the origin 
 of Buddhism and its sacred code, and proceed to an exami- 
 nation of its more important principles. Throughout our 
 investigation it w^ll be necessary to bear in mind that 
 there is a great and essential difference between Buddhism 
 and Brahmanism ; and this caution is required the more, 
 because in many instances, the same terms are used in both 
 systems, but in senses widely different. The antagonism 
 of the one to the other is decided, continually presented, 
 and extending to nearly all their more prominent specula- 
 tions. The religion of the earlier portions of the Yedas is 
 
XXXll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 that of the countryman, the peasant : not of men living 
 in the city, nor always in the encampment or the rude 
 village ; but often abroad, by the rock, near the river, or 
 in the broad plain. Here the lightning gleams, and the 
 heavy clouds pour down fatness, and the bright sun seems 
 to bring into existence all that breathes in the air or 
 waves in the wind ; and at another time the soft moonlight 
 sleeps upon the bank, and the lotus lies still as it is out- 
 spread upon the waters, and the leaves of the tall sal tree- 
 are unstirred, as they stand out against the pale sapphire 
 of the sky. Surrounded by these influences, the Arj^ans 
 were led to worship the elements ; first, the gods who 
 direct them, and then the material powers themselves. 
 When the son of Suddhodana passed at once from the walls 
 of the palace to the open wilderness, the physical changes 
 by which he was met must have appeared to him, in great 
 measure, as they had done to the first Aryan settlers, and 
 their poets, the rishis, when they descended from the 
 rugged mountain, and entered the vast plains of Hindu- 
 sthan. But the efiect produced upon the mind was widely 
 difierent in the two instances. The prince retired to the 
 forest to search for truth ; not to lurk as a robber or watch 
 for prey. He saw what others had not seen, and what 
 others had seen he disregarded. His attention was fixed 
 upon himself; and when the thunder shook the earth 
 around him, its roll came not to him as a voice telling 
 of the presence of God, but as a monition to remind him 
 that nothing whatever is permanent. In the brightest 
 sunliglit, as in the darkest storm-cloud, everywliere and 
 always, there appeared to him unquiet, disappointment, and 
 sorrow. 
 
INTRODUCrriON, XXXlll 
 
 There were other lessons of the wilderness to which he 
 w^as not unheedful. He had seen that all things outward 
 are vanity. He now set himself to discover a well-spring 
 of happiness in other sources. But in his search he was 
 continually met by opposing influences of mighty power, 
 that thwarted all his designs ; and the more profound his 
 thoughts to learn the way in w^hich these antagonisms 
 were to be overcome, the more distant and difiicult 
 appeared to be the result at which he aimed. What 
 am I ? What have I been ? What shall I be ? These 
 important themes were the subject of his meditation, and 
 constantly agitated his mind. Had there been some one 
 near to tell him of God, he might have been led to rejoice 
 in the outgoings of divine power, and sought rest in the 
 presence of the Eternal. But he was alone. The teachings 
 he had received from the preceptors of his earlier days, 
 were seen to be without power or profit ; and the end of 
 his searching was, to declare the emptiness of all that 
 is earthly, and the unreality of everything that appears to 
 be existent. 
 
 In the privations of the forest he further learnt the 
 effect of temperance upon the mind, fitting it for quiet 
 contemplation. In his efforts to put away the thoughts 
 arising from the memory of scenes connected with the 
 revelry in which he had formerly joined, he acquired 
 the power to fix his attention continuously on one single 
 object. From all outward and visible things he turned 
 away ; and as he concentrated all his powers on the con- 
 templation of his own being, he learnt, by this process, to 
 look upon man as a mere rupa, an organised body, attached 
 
XXXIV INTRODUCTION. , 
 
 to which are certain qualities or attributes.* He also saw 
 that neither raging element nor prowling wild beast had 
 any respect for him as a king's son ; that there is no 
 mystic power surrounding royalty ; and the futility of all 
 caste pretension was thereby discovered. He learnt, again, 
 that man requires not, for his preservation and support^ 
 costly array, a substantial dwelling, or a luxurious couch 
 on which to repose ; and these were accordingly rejected. 
 In the woods he was away from all kinds of domestic or 
 social entanglement ; and as he saw that home associations 
 are a hindrance when seeking the perfection of tranquillity, 
 these were sternly set aside. When in the world he had 
 felt only disappointment and dissatisfaction ; and as he 
 now discovered that even the shade of the tree, and the 
 most secret recesses of the cave, are not free from the 
 thoughts that bring uneasiness and apprehension, he con- 
 cluded that perfect peace is not to be found with the 
 living in any world. Over these conclusions he long^ 
 brooded, sometimes battling with them as with real 
 existences, until he had satisfied himself that the cessation 
 of man's restlessness can only be brought about by the 
 cessation of his existence. He then sought out the moans 
 by which this is to be accomplished ; and when he had dis- 
 covered four paths to this desired end, he proclaimed that 
 through the power of intuition he had seen, by the divine 
 eyes with which he had become gifted, the foundation of all 
 knowledge, the most important of all the truths that can 
 
 possibly be presented to the intellect. 
 
 * As in the case of D'llolbach, " nature becomes in his scheme a machine, 
 man an organism, morality self-interest, deity a fiction." — Farrar's Hampton 
 Lectures, p. 256. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXV 
 
 In this arrangement I have followed the guidance 
 of Buddhist authors. It is probable, however, that the 
 conclusions I have described were not the product of one 
 individual mind. Long periods may have elapsed between 
 one discovery and another, and many different persons may 
 have been engaged in the adjustment of the whole into 
 one uniform and connected system. Under the influence 
 of the impressions said to have been thus produced, Gotiima 
 is represented as again seeldng intercourse with the world. 
 But whilst in it, he was not of it. He sought only to 
 expose its follies, and to reveal to others the wisdom of the 
 Dharmma, which he had himself acquired with so much 
 difficulty. After a slight hesitation as to the propriety 
 of the course he was about to pursue, he was at first, in the 
 greatness of his pity for mankind, ready to receive into his 
 community any one who presented himself for acceptance ; 
 but as he found that many evils were attendant upon this 
 indiscriminate admission, he rejected, for obvious reasons, 
 the leper, the being not human (amanusya), the slave, the 
 debtor, the king's servant, the minor, and the youth who 
 had not received the consent of his parents. The form 
 of admission was simple, being little more than the 
 utterance of the words "Come hither;" and even at 
 a subsequent period, though greater formality was used, 
 certain obligations were implied, and the consequences 
 of their non- observance stated, no vows were taken, and no 
 promise was made. The professed Bhikkhu was to shun all 
 sexual intercourse, "of whatever kind or in whatever 
 form," and to avoid all conversation or familiarity that 
 might lead his mind toward evil. The recollections of 
 
XXXVl INTRODUCTION. 
 
 home were to be put away ; all relationship that was not 
 within the monastery was to be unheeded ; and he w^as to 
 live as one who had nothing to do with the world, but to 
 repudiate alike its fro^^^l and its favour. Except certain 
 specified garments, an alms-bowl, a razor, a needle, and a 
 water-strainer, he was not to possess anything of his own. 
 He was to be a mendicant, in his appointed round to seek 
 for food, passing by no house on account of the poverty 
 or low caste of its inmates. He was not to make any sign 
 that he was present as he stood before the door, but to wait 
 in silence ; and after a certain time, if he received nothing, 
 he was to pass onward to some other habitation. He was 
 meditatively to eat what he had received, in the reverse 
 order of that in w^hich it had been put into the bowl, 
 taking the last first, however inferior it might be to other 
 portions lower down in the vessel. No food that he had 
 Tiot received in alms was to pass the door of his mouth, 
 nor was he to eat anything solid after the noon of the day. 
 He was not to touch gold or silver ; indolence was to 
 Tdc avoided ; sleep indulged in sparingly ; and all luxuries 
 were to be rejected. 
 
 As to the outward person, the priest was to regard 
 his body as a loathsome wound, of which his garments 
 are the bandage. The robe was to be made of a prescribed 
 form, divided into patches, and sewn together ; and if he 
 t^ok for this purpose a piece of cloth that had been tram- 
 pled upon in the street, blown away by the wind, cast on 
 shore by the waves, or that had covered a dead bod}^, so 
 much the better, as it would be the greater mortification to 
 his pride. No ringlets were to cluster around his head, as 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXVU 
 
 It was to be close shaven ; and no kind of ornament or 
 perfume was to be used. He was not to live in a permanent 
 or substantial house ; his residence was to be made of leaves ; 
 and he who sought the higher attainments of his profession 
 was never to lie down, but to live at the root of a tree, in a 
 cave, or in a cemetery. 
 
 It is evident that so stringent a code of discipline would 
 require, for its right enforcement, a vigilant mode of super- 
 vision. The Pratimoksha, which contains the precepts and 
 prohibitions, 227 in number,* to be attended to, is, there- 
 fore, to be read bi-monthly in an assembly of the priests, 
 at which at least four must be present. No more painful 
 ipenance is exacted for transgression than the sweeping 
 of the court-yard of the temple, or some act equally easy 
 •of performance ; but there are certain crimes that are 
 followed by permanent exclusion. If all the priests present 
 at a chapter are found, on examination, to be guilty of the 
 same offence, they cannot absolve each other ; but if one 
 has broken one precept, and some one else a different 
 precept, they can give each other absolution. 
 
 It has been supposed that one method by which Bud- 
 dhism gained so great an ascendency over its rivals, and 
 one reason why it spread so rapidly, was, that it adopted 
 the custom of preaching to the people in the vernacular 
 tongue. But I have not learnt, from the records I have 
 read, that there was any difference in this respect, between 
 Ootama and the other teachers who in his day professed to 
 
 * These laws, translated from Pali by the late Rev. D. J. Gogerly, and froi.i 
 Chinese by the Rev. S. Beale, appear at length in the Journal of the Ruyal 
 Asiatic Society, vol. xix., 407. 
 
XXXVUl INTRODUCTION. 
 
 proclaim the truth. The formulas they adopted, thee 
 doctrines they taught, and the controversies they main- 
 tained, were all in the same tons-ue as the teachino-s 
 of Buddha. Even the Yedas were in a dialect generally 
 understood at the time in which they were composed. Nor 
 can I see that there was anything like preaching, as 
 practised in our own day, or as was once heard from the 
 great word-master of Constantinople. Whoever wished 
 might have access to Buddha, at all proper hours, and he- 
 was willing to answer any question that was asked of hiui 
 by any one who was not impertinent, or who evidenced 
 a desire to know the truth. The rude opponent he caught 
 in the meshes of his own net, and silenced his objections,, 
 quietly, but with withering effect, as he was a most accom- 
 plished dialectician. Nearly all his recorded discourses 
 arose out of conversations he held with persons whom he 
 sought out with the intention of teaching and convertings 
 to his faith, or with persons who came to his residence to- 
 dispute his propositions or listen to his words. There 
 does not appear to have been an}^ particular hour of the 
 day, or day of the week, when he regularly preached to a 
 promiscuous company, as was the practice of Mahomet. 
 lie is said to have kept " was," in which the public read- 
 ing of the bana is now essential, and, when he visited 
 the heavenly worlds, he is represented as delivering a 
 long discourse ; but the first is a custom of later times, 
 which arose when the canon of the Dliarmma was com- 
 pleted, and the last is away from the province of history, 
 and we must pitch our tents in dreamland before we can 
 receive it as true. As Mahindo is said to have translated 
 
INTRODUCnOX. XXXIX 
 
 the Pitakas into tlie vernacular Singhalese, we may 
 suppose that something similar was done in other countries 
 when Buddhism was introduced. They are now usually 
 read in Pali, in the month when *'was" is celebrated. It 
 is believed that the mere hearing of the words, without the 
 understanding of them, is an opus operatum ; but they are 
 sometimes read by one priest and interpreted by another. 
 The power arising from the use of the vernacular is now 
 overlooked by the priests ; but there are lay devotees who 
 read and interpret the sacred canon in families, after the 
 manner of Scripture-readers. The images of Buddha 
 sometimes represent him as in the attitude of preaching, 
 as if this were one of his common practices ; but image - 
 worship is altogether an innovation upon primitive Bud- 
 dhism ; and it is possible that the posture we take to 
 indicate preaching may rather refer to the act of blessing. 
 When the Aryan race became a settled people, and 
 were no longer nomads, it would be seen by the more 
 thoughtful that the spirit of the Yedas was not in unison 
 with their present circumstances ; and that the most im- 
 portant questions they were now anxious to understand, 
 received no solution from this source. The same defects 
 would be notixjed by Gotama, amidst his meditations in the 
 forest, and he there learnt to disregard the Yedas as a 
 revelation of truth. He must have had some acquaintance 
 with these ancient records, though, perhaps, not to any 
 great extent, as they were in a language that differed from 
 his own ; and when a youth he would not be permitted 
 by his anxious father, to spend much time in stud3\ 
 "We have no reference to them in his discourses, until 
 
xl INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the controversies are recorded that he held with the 
 Brahmans ; and then the allusions are inexact, and not 
 iinfrequently intended only to convince his opponents that 
 the recension then in use had been surreptitiously interpo- 
 lated, in order to promote the interests of the Brahmans. 
 
 The principal precepts are ten in number, the first 
 five of which may be taken* by the laity. They are 
 all negative; they set before man no God to ''love" and 
 *' obey," and no one to *' honour." They are observances 
 rather than obligations. The ethical works of the 
 Buddhists, however, give a. more favourable insight into 
 the morality of the system than its ten precepts, as will 
 be seen by reference to the Dhammapadan, or ^' Footsteps 
 of Buddha." This work, though forming part of the last 
 section of the discourses of Buddha, is evidently of more 
 recent origin, from its deference to the authority of 
 " the ancients," and its statements as to the happiness 
 of " the next world." 
 
 By the earlier Buddhists there is much said about 
 certain rites, connected with meditation, abstraction, and 
 the acquirement of supernatural powers. In the subduing 
 of the passions, some of the rules laid do^vn may be found 
 of benefit. The meditation of kindness, maitri, is to be 
 thus conducted. The priest must think that if the words 
 of any one with whom he is at enmity are bad, his actions 
 may be good ; that if his words and actions are bad, his 
 mind may be still free from evil ; and that if his mind 
 and actions are bad, his words may be good. Again, if he 
 
 • Til is expression, though not idiomatic, is a literal rendering of the word 
 used by tlic Buddhists. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xll 
 
 has only a few things about him that are good, the priest 
 must think about these alone, and forget the bad entirely. 
 That sympathy may be produced, the priest must think of 
 what his enemy must afterwards suffer, and of what he 
 himself must suffer if the enmity is not overcome. Again, 
 he must think that the person in question may have been 
 his own father or mother, or some other relative, in a 
 former birth. And if all these thoughts are of no avail, 
 he must ask himself. What am I at enmity with ? With 
 a lot of bones, a skin covered with hair, vessels filled with 
 blood, or what ? Thus his enmity will have nothing upon 
 which it can lay hold, and will disappear. But, as to all 
 overt acts of self-denjdng charity, the meditation is of no 
 avail, and is inoperative as the dead faith spoken of by 
 the apostle James.* 
 
 We have seen that although Buddha was so long resi- 
 dent in the forest of Uruwela, there is no evidence of his 
 mind having been impressed, to any great extent, by the 
 mysterious forces that are there seen alternately to smile 
 in the simbeam, or threaten in the thunder. When he 
 came forth from their presence, it was to speak to man of 
 subjects more important in themselves, and more influ- 
 ential upon his destiny. He disregarded all mere forms. 
 On one occasion, when he saw the householder, Singh a- 
 loka, with w^et hair and streaming garments, making 
 
 obeisance in the six cardinal directions, he pointed out 
 
 I" 
 
 * "The Tvhole of the precepts (which are comprised in 250 articles) display 
 a negative character ; thus, charity is inculcated, not hy the command ' to give,' 
 but by the prohibition 'to take,' save when the gift be oflfered as alms." — 
 Schlagintweif s Buddhism in Tibet. 
 
xlii INTRODrCTION. 
 
 the folly of what he was doing, and recommended him 
 rather to honour his relatives, rulers, friends, and teachers. 
 The tradition of God's existence, dimly seen in the 
 earlier Sanhitas of the Rig Yeda, had now passed away; 
 and it is possible that this great truth may never once 
 have been presented to his mind.* This is not an axiom 
 that the phj^sical elements teach us, with all their won- 
 drous revelations. They may tell us of power, and wisdom, 
 and prevailing goodness ; but their own untaught and 
 unaided voice cannot lead man up to God ; nor is the 
 the thought of the fanciful Renan correct, that the desert 
 is monotheistic. t With the furtive propensities of the 
 rishis, Buddha could have no sympathy, and to the gods 
 who were said to aid them in the chase, the raid, or the 
 battle, he could paj" no reverence or respect. In his 
 meditations, intense and long continued, he thought that 
 he had discovered all that belongs to man, all the essen- 
 tialities of existence. Under the influence of former dis- 
 appointment the search was conducted. He was prepared 
 to find man an empty, unreal, and disconsolate being. 
 When he had seen man's body, feeble, decaying, and 
 
 * Tlie nearest approach to it that I have met with is found in page 171. 
 
 t The following thoughts are more in accordance with fact. " If the eye of 
 sense be the sole guide in looking around on nature, we discover only a uni- 
 verse of brute matter, phenomena linked together in a uniform succession of 
 antecedents and consequents. Mind becomes only a higher form of matter, 
 Sin loses its poignancy. Immortality disappears. God exists not, except as a 
 personification of the Cosmos. IMatcrialism, atheism, fatalism, are tlic ulti- 
 mate results which are proved by logic and history to follow from this extreme 
 view. Tlie idea of spirit cannot be reached by it." — {Farrar's Hampton 
 lectures, 3.5.) These sentences might liave been written expressly to illus- 
 trate the origin and character of Buddhism, so true are tliey to its principles 
 and teachings. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xllii 
 
 loathsome ; when he had marked well the way in which 
 he feels and thinks ; and when he had traced the entire 
 circle of his hopes and fears — he supposed that he had 
 seen all of man ; and then it was he inferred that he is a 
 mere collection of atoms, organizations, and mental powers, 
 which at death are broken up and dissipated, and all their, 
 mutuality lost for ever. There is nothing, he concluded 
 connected with man like a spirit or soul; all that is 
 regarded as the self being an unreality, a delusion, a 
 mere name. 
 
 But though Buddha could discover no connexion be- 
 X;ween the individual man, now and in other states of 
 existence, there were around him constantly-recurring 
 events that might have something parallel in the story 
 of intelligent existence. The changes of the seasons, the 
 appearance of the same wonderfully- formed insects and 
 many-tinted flowers at one period of every year, the 
 coming of the monsoon and its destructive storms, and 
 the cycles of the stars, could not fail to make some im- 
 pression on his mind; and may have awoke the thought 
 that something in man may come and go, appear and dis- 
 appear, and then re- appear, in a similar manner. The 
 sight of the seeds that germinated around his retreat, 
 and of the fruits that grew everywhere in the verdant 
 wilderness, producing other seed-bearing and fruit-bearing 
 trees, taught him that there is some nexus of communica- 
 tion betwen life and life : the life that now is, and the life 
 presented in lineal succession. He saw, too, that the virtue 
 of the seed or fruit is imparted to the grain or tree that 
 springs from it, and to all its products ; that like produces 
 
Xliv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 like ; and that this process may go on for ever, unless the 
 
 principle of life be extinguished. There was a plain. 
 
 analogy to all this in the appearance of the successive 
 
 generations of men ; but he strangely applied the process 
 
 to man as a moral agent. He thought that another being 
 
 was, in some mysterious way, produced from the being 
 
 that was '' broken up ;" and that to this new existence the 
 
 virtue of the former existence, not only its mental idio- 
 
 s}Ticrasies, but its moral responsibilities, was communicated 
 
 intact. But as he saw that there are anomalies which 
 
 were not by this means explained, he concluded that not 
 
 only the virtue of the individual seed is communicated to 
 
 the seed next produced, but that the separate virtue of all. 
 
 the preceding seeds from which it had been produced for 
 
 thousands of generations, was communicated also, though 
 
 in the seed itself that virtue might not be apparent ; or, to 
 
 pass away from the analogy to the actuality, he inferred 
 
 that all living beings are under the influence of all that 
 
 they have ever done, in all the myriad states of existence 
 
 through which they have passed in b3''-gone ages. Eut 
 
 here his analogy becomes a fallacy and a delusion ; and the 
 
 moment he passes away from the visible to the invisible, he 
 
 is lost in a devious maze. The productive power of the 
 
 seed or the fruit may illustrate man's origin, as possessed 
 
 of an organized body, but we may not carry it further.. 
 
 The passing on of an apparent moral and mental identity 
 
 ma}' be witnessed in some families, and a strong and 
 
 healthy parentage will probably produce an offspring with 
 
 similar characteristics. That offspring will not only be of 
 
 the same species as the parent, and similar in appcarduceji, 
 
INTRODUCTION. xlv 
 
 but may have the same dispositions, endowments, and pro- 
 pensities. But Buddhism teaches that the new being may 
 oe of an entirely different species to that from whence it 
 proceeded ; and we have no trace of an invisible transfer- 
 ence of the virtue of the grape to the haw, or of the fish 
 of the sea proceeding from the fowl of the air, which 
 ought to take place for the analogy of its founder to hold 
 good. There is something belonging to man which no 
 unaided mind can discover, and which no eye can see, 
 unless the darkening film that rests thereon be taken away 
 by the hand of God ; but as this was too subtle an object 
 to be found out by Buddha, it entirely eluded his search, 
 and he was unable to trace its pathway into the other 
 world. He knew not that man had received within him- 
 self, in the beginning, the breath of life ; and that in 
 creation he is alone, with an essential difference, and an 
 impassable distance, between himself and the highest of 
 the other creatures in his own world. 
 
 By the Hindus man is considered to be an emanation 
 from God, and an almost imperceptibly small part of a 
 vast whole ; his ver}" existence being an illusion, without 
 permanence or reality. The relationships of life are of 
 importance, as influencing his position in another state of 
 existence ; but there will be no cessation to his wanderir.gs 
 until he is re-absorbed in God. By Buddha, however, rJI 
 thoughts of dependence on any other power outward to 
 man, either as to present or future existence, was discarded. 
 He concluded that each congeries we call a man is the 
 maker of his own fortune, the establisher of his cwn 
 position ; it is he who shapes out his own destiny, whether 
 
slvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of partial blessedness or of mingled woe ; inasmuch as lie 
 inherits the karmma, the moral power, of all his actions, in 
 all former states of existence, whether it be good or evil. 
 So long as he is under the influence of upadana, or attach- 
 ment to sensuous objects, that attachment will necessitate 
 "the repetition of existence. On the overcoming, or exci- 
 sion, of attachment, and not till then, he attains nirwana ; 
 after which he will never again be re-born, but will cease 
 to exist. There is no appeal by the Buddhist to any 
 exterior power to assist him in the attainment of this 
 grand consummation ; if he is faithful to his position and 
 privileges, he himself may become a better and nobler 
 being than any of the gods. He is isolated and indepen- 
 dent ; he joins no one else in seeking assistance by prayer, 
 though from the teachings of another he may receive aid, 
 to do in a better manner what, after all, must be his own 
 work. AYhen he enters upon the most exalted of all the 
 exercises it is possible for him to have recourse to, that of 
 dhyana, he retires to some secret place for the purj^ose, 
 where, shutting out all the world, he seeks to overcome 
 the motion of his own breath, and then enters ujDon a 
 course of meditation so abstract and profound, that if a 
 blast from the war-trumpet were to be blown close to his 
 ear, he would no more perceive it than if he were dead. 
 
 It will have been noticed that the thoughts of Buddha 
 on the subject of transmigration are peculiar, and I know 
 of no approach to them in any other s^^stem. He teaches 
 that it is not a spirit that passes from one state of exist- 
 ence to another, nor any material vehicle, but the moral 
 principle of the man, as formed and moulded b}' the act* 
 
INTRODUCTION. xlvii 
 
 t)f the present and all preceding generations. This doc- 
 trine was repudiated by the priests of Ceylon when it was 
 first presented to them by the late Mr. Gogerly ; but, on 
 further examination, they acknowledged that it was in 
 accordance with the teaching of Buddha ; more especially 
 if Nagasena, who had many conversations with king 
 Milinda on this and kindred subjects, is to be regarded 
 as an authority. The earliest reference to transmigration, 
 a tenet now universally received among the Hindus, 
 appears to be in the Dharmma, as it is not alluded to 
 in the earlier Yedic hymns, nor is it received now by " the 
 un-brahmanized denominations of India."* The absurdity 
 of Buddha's teachings about the reproductive power of 
 attachment to sensuous objects, and the transference of 
 the karmma, was soon seen, and was never imitated ; but 
 the doctrine of transmigration was retained, as it appeared 
 to explain many of the difficulties presented in the moral 
 universe. "We trace the origin of this tenet to the same 
 period both in the eastern and western world. 
 
 In contrast to the worldly spirit of the Yedas, were the 
 speculations of Buddha as to the chief end of man. In 
 these old records there are few confessions of sin, and still 
 fewer supplications for its pardon, or for the reception of 
 power to put it away. But all the forthputting of the 
 utmost energy of the sage of Magadha, in the whole of 
 
 * " Professor Weber remarks that owing to the fragmentary nature of the 
 surviving documents of Indian literatui-e, we are not yet in a position to trace 
 with any distinctness the rise and growth of the doctrine of transmigration, 
 though he considers it to admit of no doubt that the tenet in question was 
 gradually developed in India itself, and not introduced from any foreign 
 country." — Br. J. Muir, Journal R.A.S., vol. i. 207. 
 
Xlviii IXTRODUCTION. 
 
 liis teachings and communications, had for its main object 
 to convince man that the plague-spot of his being is 
 attachment to sensuous objects. All the imagery is in- 
 voked that it is possible to summon to his assistance, that 
 he may impress upon his followers, with the greater power,, 
 the earthliness and sensuousness of their nature, and the 
 necessity of getting entirely free from all worldly attrac- 
 tions and entanglements, if they would enter " the city of 
 peace," and be for ever at rest. Of sin, in the sense ia 
 which the Scriptures speak of it, he knows nothing. There 
 is no authoritative lawgiver, according to the Dharmma, 
 nor can there possibly be one ; so that the transgression 
 of the precepts is not an iniquitj^, and brings no guilt. 
 It is right that we should try to get free from its 
 consequences, in the same way in which it is right for 
 us to appease hunger or overcome disease ; but no repent- 
 ance is required ; and if we are taught the necessity of 
 being tranquil, subdued, and humble, it is that our minds- 
 may go out with the less eagerness after those things that 
 unsettle its tranquillity. If we injure no one by our acts, 
 no wrong has been done ; and if they are an inconvenience- 
 to ourselves only, no one else has any right to regard us as 
 transgressors. The Dharmma has some resemblance to 
 the modern utilitarianism ; it is not, however, the produc- 
 tion of the greatest possible happiness at which it aims^ 
 but the removal of all possible evil and inconvenience — 
 from ourselves. 
 
 Notwithstanding the materialism of his system, it must 
 not be forgotten that Buddha acknowledges the existence- 
 of an ethical power, both in relation to the individual and 
 
INTRODUCTION. xHx 
 
 the economy of the world at large, which exercises an all- 
 pervading influence. It is not allied to any intelligence, 
 hut it is productive of benefit to those who seek merit in 
 the right way ; and acts with as much regularity and cer- 
 tainty as any other law of nature. The dewdrop is formed, 
 and the heart is tranquillised, and the practice of virtue is 
 rewarded, through the instrumentality of causes that are 
 alike in the manner of their operation. 
 
 In consistence with the thought that man, by his own 
 unaided power, can work out his own redemption, is the 
 rejection of sacrifice. When the design of the ofiering of 
 blood, as being vicarious or propitiatory, or as shewing 
 forth the death of some purer and nobler victim, is for- 
 gotten, the rite loses all its significance and power. We 
 can see something meet and congruous in the offering of 
 the first-fruits of the harvest, as an acknowledgment that 
 it is God who has " crowned the year with his goodness," 
 -and filled our storehouses with the rich fruit or nutritious 
 grain. But when the fat of lambs is brought, under the 
 idea that the deity to whom it is offered will in some 
 sense partake of its sweetness, or receive from it strength ; 
 when the intoxicating juice is poured out with the thought 
 that the divine being to whom it is given as a libation will 
 be thereby cheered ; when blood is offered under the sup- 
 position that the rage of the power who receives it will be 
 •appeased thereby, as thirst by the water of the brook — 
 sacrifice becomes a derogatory act, and lessens the dignity 
 of the man who can imagine his gods to be thus low and 
 <jreature-like. This was seen by Buddha, who was sensibly 
 •alive to whatever is of evil tendency, however high the 
 
1 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 authority for its practice. In liis conversations witli tlie- 
 bralimans he continually dwelt upon the inutility and 
 harm of sacrifice. In his mind there was connected with 
 every rite of blood the greater iniquit}^, as he regarded all 
 life as homogeneous, and to ofier sacrifice was a transgres- 
 sion of the first of the precepts. In Buddhism, therefore, all 
 manner of sacrifice is rejected, and it now knows no further 
 rite or ceremony than the rej^etition of the precepts in the. 
 presence of the priest, the jDlacing of flowers before the 
 image of the sage, and the occasional reading of the bana 
 on sacred days. But the system becomes thereby too cold 
 and abstract for the popular mind. Its mode of help is 
 too shadowy to impart confidence to man in the hour of 
 his trial. In Ceylon the people look to Buddhism for 
 deliverance as to the future world. By its instrumentality 
 they suppose that they can gain merit ; but for present 
 assistance, when the burden of affliction is heavy upon 
 them, their resort is to the demon priest, with his incan- 
 tations and sacrifices. 
 
 There arc one or two other characteristics of the system 
 that we may briefly notice, before concluding these remarks. 
 Buddha demanded an implicit submission to the doctrines 
 he enunciated. He said, " I know, and therefore you 
 must believe." But to convince those who were not his- 
 followers that they were wrong, he argued with them in 
 the usual manner, generally by asking a scries of questions, 
 by means of which he gradually brought them into an 
 unexpected dilemma, and made them stultify their own 
 propositions. The charge of novelty that might have 
 been brouo:ht aorainst the doctrines he taught, was sot 
 
INTRODUCTION. K 
 
 aside by his asserting that lie knew, from the power of 
 intuition, that they were the identical doctrines taught by 
 all former Buddhas, though entirely lost to the world after 
 the lapse of certain ages. 
 
 On the supposition that the system of Gotama, as we 
 have it now, was commenced in the period to w^hich it is 
 generally attributed, it is an interesting subject of enquiry 
 how much of it was original, and how much taken from 
 others, and what were the sources whence its borrowed 
 portions were derived. The principal works then in 
 existence were the Yedas ; and in them, so far as they are 
 accessible to a general reader like myself, it would be diffi- 
 cult to discover even the semblance of his more distinctive 
 principles. Yet at this period there was an intense desire 
 manifested to investigate and understand all subjects con- 
 nected with mental philosophy, ethics, and religion. These 
 enquiries were not, as in Greece, confined to the schools, 
 but seem to have pervaded all classes of the community. 
 There was less that was aesthetic in the genius of the 
 Arvan race than in that of the Hellenes, but there was 
 greater intensity of feeling on all subjects connected with 
 man's duty and destiny. In the fact that Buddha encoun- 
 tered many rivals, whose power he confessed, we have 
 evidence that he was not alone in the search after truth, 
 or in the supposition that he had discovered it. Upwards 
 of five hundred years had passed over since the appearance 
 of the earlier rishis. Of that interval, who shall tell the 
 story ? It appears, at present, to be an impenetrable mys- 
 tery. The dispersion of the Jews in the reign of Nebuchad- 
 nezzar could have little to do with the intellectual 
 
Ill INTRODUCTION. 
 
 position of India at tliis period. The Aryan nations 
 were too proud and stern to have been stirred to activity 
 in so short a period. The destruction of the polity of the 
 ten tribes, which took place one hundred and thirty years 
 previously, may, however, have originated the undulation 
 that now swept over the land with so much power ; but 
 the contrast between the teachings of the prophets of God 
 and the Tathagato is still greater than that between the 
 Pitakas and the Vedas. 
 
 The venerable leaves consulted by the magicians, the 
 astrologers, and the sorcerers, in the doomed palace of 
 Belshazzar, might have thrown greater light upon this 
 enquiry than they did in relation to the hand- writing 
 upon the wall ; but they are lost, and their secrets are 
 gone with them. The influence of the monarchs of Persia, 
 who reigned from India to Ethiopia, must not be dis- 
 regarded in our estimate of the causes that originated, 
 or the influences that directed, the philosophical specu- 
 lations of the Hindus in the earlier ages of Buddhism^ 
 The sages of Greece may seem to have been too far away to 
 have made any impression upon the Sramanas or Bralimans 
 of India, though some of them are said to have visited 
 the far east; but they have thoughts in common, that 
 appear to have been derived from one and the same source. 
 We have a more extended insight into the system of 
 Pythagoras than of any other of the contemj^oraries 
 of Buddha. We see it through the mists thrown around 
 it by the writers of a later age ; but there is a striking 
 similarity between the thoughts and doings of the two 
 sages. They both itinerated. They both taught the 
 
INTRODUCTION. liii 
 
 alternate destruction and renovation of the universe ; 
 that true knowledge is to be obtained, not by the medium 
 of the ears or the eyes, but by abstract thought ; they 
 both instituted commimities, and imposed upon their 
 followers a strict discipline, insisted strongly on the 
 necessity of temperance to preserve the mind in unbroken 
 serenity, forbade the use of sumptuous garments, regarded 
 purity of heart as of greater value than offerings or 
 sacrifices, taught a oneness of nature between gods, men, 
 and animals, and made a distinction between living above 
 nature and according to nature. This identity of sentiment 
 extended not merely to the outward life, but to the deeper 
 questions of philosophy. In teaching the doctrine of 
 transmigration, the Greek spoke of a triad, and of three 
 worlds ; he gave information to his disciples as to what 
 bodies he had previously inhabited, and under what cir- 
 cumstances he had then lived ; his memory was perfect 
 as to past states of existence ; he told others what sort 
 of persons they had been in former births ; and he made 
 known that there had been a gradual deterioration of the 
 human race, from a state of original purity and peaceful- 
 ness. The source of the great philosophies of the ancient 
 world seems to have been some region near the birth-place 
 of the nations ; and if we could summon from the past, 
 and make audible, the primitive language, and reveal the 
 thoughts and imaginations then eliminated, we should have 
 a key by which we could lay open and explain many an 
 enigma now clouded by misunderstanding or hid in utter 
 darkness. 
 
 We have referred to the difficulty of comparing one 
 
liv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 system of philosophy with another, from the difference 
 of meaning in the terms that are used ; and this becomes 
 the greater, when we set ourselves to the study of Hinduism 
 without a special training for the purpose ; because the 
 meaning we attach to many important terms is at variance 
 with that in which they are regarded by the native mind. 
 Hence the numerous mistakes that have been made by 
 men of name ; first, as to the terms themselves, and then 
 as to the arguments they have founded on them. In not 
 a few instances, things that appear absurd to the western 
 student are no longer so when viewed through the medium 
 of the mind by which they are received, and from the 
 same premises. The Hindu does not clearly separate 
 matter from spirit ; but confounds the properties and 
 powers connected with each. Even thought is supposed 
 to be a material operation. The whole of the outer world 
 is within us by the impression it produces. It is, therefore, 
 not a reality, and is not something separate from us, except 
 in appearance. In like manner, we ourselves appear to be 
 without the universal Paramatma, though in reality 
 within ; we are one with God, and not distinct existences. 
 The aim of nearly all the philosophies of India is the 
 same, to free existent beings from the power of evil, and 
 its consequences ; but this is almost the only subject upon 
 which they agree. They nearly all, either in truth or 
 semblance, acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Soul, 
 though differing as to the attributes they give to it ; but 
 as Buddha ignores the existence of any such Universality, 
 there can be no agreement between him and the other 
 Hindu sages upon this most fundamental of all truths ; 
 
INTRODUCTION. Iv 
 
 and this one divergence includes and necessitates in- 
 numerable variances. The Hindus do not believe in 
 creation, in the Semitic sense of the term. They say 
 that something may come from something ; and though 
 they do not seek for any proportionateness between cause 
 and effect, they insist that something cannot come from 
 nothing ; all changes are but the revolutions of one original 
 existence. These, however, are not the axioms of Buddha. 
 He teaches that at the dissolution of any given world, 
 the destruction of the elementary materials composing 
 it is complete, no more of anything being left than 
 can be found in the void inside the drum; and that 
 another world is produced de novo. On another 
 subject of primary importance, the existence of the soul, 
 Buddha is equally heterodox, as regards the general 
 standard of Hindu philosophies. They nearly all acknow- 
 ledge the existence of some kind of soul, though differing 
 widely as to its nature. One tells us that each person has 
 a separate soul, pointing out where it resides in the body. 
 Another tells us that all souls are one, and can have no 
 corporeal locality. Now we are informed that the soul is 
 a monad, an atom, an imperceptibly minute substance ; 
 and then that it has existed from eternity and is infinitely 
 extended, having the same qualities as space and time. 
 But there were some of these old thinkers, who had right 
 ideas of the office of the soul, and described it as like 
 a charioteer who has the guidance of the horses attached 
 
 to a car. 
 
 As to the evils to which man is subject, there is more 
 
 unison .of thought between the two great systems of India, 
 
 \ / 
 
Ivi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It may be possible to set aside the great facts of the exist- 
 ence of God and of a soid ; but no one can deny that the 
 state of man is one that calls for some remedy, if a cure for 
 his miseries can be found. Yet the schools differ as to the 
 cause of evil. Whilst one says that it arises from the 
 separation of the individual soul from the soul of the 
 universe, another affirms that it proceeds from the union 
 of the soul and matter, and a third teaches that it comes 
 from the restless activity that is natural to the soul ; whilst 
 Buddha proclaims, with wearisome prolixity, that it is the 
 consequence of attachment to the objects that are apparent 
 to the senses. The remedy is the same verbally in nearly 
 all the systems : receive the truth, and it will make you 
 free ; but whilst each system declares its own creed to be 
 the truth, the bewildered Hindu has to ask, amidst this 
 conflict of opinions and pretensions, What is truth ? 
 
 But the subject is interminable in its ramifi.cations ; 
 vast and complicated, as is all that proceeds from the 
 Aryan mind ; and of ever-increasing interest in connexion 
 with the speculations of other thinkers on man and his 
 coming and going, his present and past existence, and his 
 immortality. These introductory remarks, though imper- 
 fect, may at least throw some light upon the system, and 
 enable the reader to imderstand more readily the chap- 
 ters upon which he will now enter. Further notices must 
 be left to other expositors, or to a more favourable period 
 for research. 
 
 Colombo, Ceylon, 
 
 June IHth, 1865. 
 
LEGENDS AND THEOEIES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BUDDHISTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE LEGENDS AND LITERATURE OF INDIA. 
 
 .1. TESTS OE THE TRUTH OF HISTORY. 
 
 It is the maxim of the age in which we live, not to take 
 any assertion for granted, merely because it is so said by 
 some one else ; but, to ask for the ground on which we are 
 called upon to believe it. Formerly, a statement was 
 made, and if it had authority for its repetition, and was 
 confirmed by antiquity, it was received, and believed in, 
 without further search ; arguments arose from it, theories 
 were founded on it, and conclusions were drawn from it, 
 that no one disputed. But it was seen, when the world 
 had become more enlightened, and was about to leave the 
 deep ruts of other ages, that this was not the right way in 
 which the search for truth is to be conducted ; for if the 
 statement itself is wrong, all the results supposed to flow 
 from it are thereby vitiated. We are now told to act in 
 this way : " Begin at the beginning ; be sure that you 
 
 1 
 
2 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 are not deceived in your first proposition ; then proceed 
 cautiously, having a reason for every step you take, and 
 for every conclusion to which you come ; and thus pro- 
 ceeding, all fearlessly, you will attain, in the end, to 
 absolute verity, and will be able to maintain, against all 
 comers, the position on which you take your stand.'' It 
 is the use of experiment, commencing, not as formerly 
 from some conjectural basis, but with some simple and 
 certain truth, that has led to nearly all the scientific dis- 
 coveries of modern times, by which the condition of the 
 world has been changed to so great an extent. It is 
 authority that is now asked for in all departments of 
 science ; not the authority of names, but that of tried and 
 substantiated facts. To test the averments of history there 
 is the application of a similar ride, and no event is now 
 relied upon as certain, unless we have the evidence re- 
 quired to verify its claim to our regard.^ 
 
 * 
 
 2. THE LEGENDS OF EAELY E0:ME. 
 
 The severe and searching scrutiny to which the records 
 and religions of all nations have had to submit, — as well 
 with regard to their most minute ^particulars as to their 
 great and essential principles — has torn from history some 
 of its pleasantest pages ; but many an error has been 
 
 * I leave out, for the present, all reference to immediate revelation. When 
 any one claims to speak or act in the name of God, I have then to ask, "Wliat 
 are the proofs he can give me that he has received the commission of God ? 
 And if I have to receive these proofs on the testimony of another, I have 
 further to ask, lias the recorder had the opportunity of knowing- the certainty 
 of the statements he makes ? Is he a faithful recorder ; may I rely upon his 
 word witliout the fear of being led astray ? And have the facts that he records 
 come down to me as he wrote them, without corruption or alteration ? 
 
THE LEGENDS OF EARLY ROME. O 
 
 thereby exposed, that was previously thought to be a truth 
 of God. The process by which the enquiry is carried on, 
 is of so sure a character, that however much, in some 
 instances, we may regret the consequences of its applica- 
 tion, we are obliged to submit to its unimpeachable deci- 
 sions. That my meaning may be the better understood, I 
 will give an illustrative instance of the manner in which 
 the rule is applied to the history of ancient states. The 
 example I present is that of Rome. With what zest does 
 the schoolboy devour, when he reads, perhaps by stealth, 
 the legend of the birth of Romulus and Remus ! How 
 the daughter of king Numitor, Rhea Silvia, one of the* 
 vestal virgins, had two sons,, and was put to death for 
 violating her vow of chastity ; how the children were ex- 
 posed on a raft, by which they were carried down the 
 Tiber, until the frail vessel in which they lay, grounded 
 near a fig-tree, in one of the shallows that afterwards 
 became famous as the Forum ; how a she-wolf there found' 
 and suckled them, assisted in the reverent care she took of 
 her charge by a woodpecker, until they were discovered 
 by a shepherd, who carried them home, and brought them 
 up as his own children ; and how they afterwards learnt 
 the dignity of their descent, were acknowledged as the 
 grandchildren of !N^umitor, and founded Rome. The fig- 
 tree was in existence, as well as the shepherd's hut, in 
 historic times ; the story of the she-wolf was presented, 
 both by painter and sculptor, in works of art wrought 
 with the most exquisite skill ; and festivals were celebrated 
 to keep in remembrance the wonderful events, the divine 
 interpositions, connected with the founding of ^' the eternal 
 
4 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 city." But the whole has been proved by the unsparing 
 critic to be a mere legend, without any real authority ; 
 and it has now to be set aside as " unhistorical." The 
 story can be traced back, in this form, only to a certain 
 distance in the ancient chronicles of the city. It is then 
 told in ways that contradict each other in important par- 
 ticulars ; and it has also to struggle with other legends, 
 almost equally rich in poetry, but equally destitute of 
 foundation in truth. And at an earlier period still, there 
 is the burning of the citjf in which its archives are lost, 
 and beyond that time all is uncertainty and confusion. 
 " The claims of reason," we are told by Mebuhr, in re- 
 ference to the subject before us, must be asserted, and we 
 are " to take nothing as historical which cannot be his- 
 torical." 
 
 3. THE SINGHALESE LEGEND OF KALYANI. 
 
 To show more clearly still the manner in which these 
 conclusions are arrived at, I will apply the same process 
 to one of the earliest of the Singhalese legends, in itself 
 not without interest, and in some respects resembling the 
 story I have just repeated from the traditions of Home. 
 About the middle of the third century after the dcatli of 
 Buddha, Ceylon was divided into several pott}^ states, and 
 among the rest was that of Kalyani (Calany), of which 
 Tissa was king. His wife was beautiful ; his brother, 
 Uttiya, was a libertine ; and there was evil committed in 
 the royal household. But the king having hoard of the 
 wrong that was done, sent secretly for a Hodi3'cL, and 
 
THE LEGEND OF KALYANI. 
 
 spoke to him thus : "I will call together my retinue, 
 iucluding my younger brother, and I will say to thee, in 
 their j^resence, Is there any one of lower caste than thou 
 art ? and the reply thou must make is, The king's younger 
 brother is a meaner man than I am." This was accord- 
 ingly done ; and the prince, thus put to shame, fled to 
 Udagampala ; but he contrived to send a letter to the 
 queen, by a messenger disguised as a priest, who was to 
 enter the palace with the rest of the priests when they 
 went to receive the usual alms. The letter was filled with 
 the common topics of a guilty lover ; but it had no name, 
 nor was the place mentioned whence it came. The queen 
 was accustomed to assist at the giving of alms ; and as she 
 was looking towards the messenger, he took the opppr- 
 tunity to let the epistle fall on the ground. Its fall, how- 
 ever, caused a rustling noise, which attracting the notice 
 of the king, he took it up ; and on reading it he saw that 
 his queen was unfaithful to her exalted position. Uttiya 
 had been the pupil of the high priest of Kalyani, and 
 their hand- writing was alike. The king charged the high 
 priest with having written the letter ; listened to nq pro- 
 testations of his innocence ; and commanded him to be put 
 to death by being cast into a caldron of boiling oil. For 
 seven days the attempt was made to heat the oil, but it 
 still remained' cold ; but the priest, when a herdsman in a 
 former age, had acted contrary to the precept, by drowning 
 a fly that fell into some milk he was boiling, and for this 
 ofience, though he escaped the death appointed by the 
 king, he was turned into a heap of ashes. The queen was 
 thrown into the river, and the messenger was cut in 
 
6 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 pieces. But to punish tlie king for this act of impiety 
 towards an innocent priest, the dewas who protect Ceylon 
 caused the sea to encroach on the land, and much damage 
 was done to the country. To appease their wrath, as it 
 was supposed that the country could be saved in no other 
 way, the king resolved to sacrifice his virgin daughter. 
 Placing: her in a jjolden vessel, on which was inscribed the 
 word " rajadhitati," which signified that she was a royal 
 maiden, the vessel was committed to the waves of the sea. 
 But the flood still raged, until 100,000 towns, 970 fisher 
 villages, and 470 villages inhabited by divers for pearls, 
 had been submerged.* As the king, from the back of his 
 elephant, was watching the progress of the devastation, 
 the earth opened, flame burst forth from beneath, and he 
 was no more seen by his people. By this time twenty 
 miles of the coast, extending inland, had been washed 
 away, and the distance from Kalyani to the sea was re- 
 duced to four miles. The royal virgin drifted towards the 
 dominions of the king of Magani, when the vessel was 
 seen by some fishermen, who brought it to land. The 
 monarch Kawantissa, having heard of the wonderful cap- 
 ture made by the fishermen, went to examine it ; and 
 when he had read the inscription upon it, he released the 
 ]>rincess from her confinement, and she became his queen. 
 
 * Tlic same legend informs us that, in a former age, the citadel of RuwanCi, 
 25 palaces, and 400,000 streets, were swallowed up by the sea. This was on 
 account of the impiety of tlie giant king. Tlic submerged land was between 
 Tuticoreen and !^Ianaar, and tin; island of Manaar is all that is now left of 
 what was once a large territory. This legend, notwithstanding its manifest 
 exaggeration as to the extent of the injury, may be founded on fact, as the 
 Hindu and other nations have a similar tradition, and suppose that Ccyloa 
 waa then much larger than it is at present. 
 
THE LEGEND OF KALYANI. / 
 
 As the vessel was brouglit to shore near a wiliara, slie 
 was called Wihara-dewi ; and she afterwards became the 
 mother of Dutugemunu, famous as the expeller of the 
 Malabars from Ceylon. On the day on which the child 
 was named, the king invited 10,000 priests to the palace, 
 who were presented with an alms-offering of rice- 
 milk. 
 
 This story, taken from the Rajawaliya and the Maha- 
 wanso, cannot be received as true ; for the following 
 reasons, among others that might be named : 1. We are 
 certain that at this time there could not be one hundred 
 thousand villages in a province so far distant from the 
 seat of the principal government, or that 470 of these 
 could have been inhabited by pearl divers. There are no 
 ancient ruins here found that would indicate the existence 
 of a large population at this early period, though such 
 remains are abundantly presented in other parts of the 
 island. 2. It is equally improbable that the use of letters 
 should in this age (as we shall afterwards more distinctly 
 notice) and in those lawless times, have been so general an 
 accomplishment as it is here taken to be ; as, according to 
 the story, the two kings, the prince, the priest, and the 
 queen, must all have been able to read ; and it must have 
 been the supposition of the king that those who might 
 find the golden vessel would possess the same advantage. 
 3. The monarch Dutugemunu, who bound on the royal 
 diadem in 161 B.C. is represented, in the record where 
 these events are found, as being the great grandson of 
 Panduwasa, who became king in 504 B.C. For 343 years 
 we have only four generations. 4. It is said that 10,000 
 
8 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 priests were present at the naming of Dutugemimu.* 
 IIow could so small a province as that of Magam support 
 by alms so great a number of persons ; and how could the 
 king pro^-ide milk for the rice of all, in a country where 
 the traveller finds it difiicult now to procure a single 
 measure ? 5. The motive for the origin of the legend is 
 too apparent — the exaltation of the priesthood. An inno- 
 cent priest is put to death, upon presimiptive evidence of 
 his guilt. For this unintentional crime, a king loses his 
 life, his virgin daughter is sacrificed, and more than one 
 hundred thousand villages are destroyed. How sacred 
 then, how divine, must be the character of the priesthood, 
 if no inferior expiation could take away the consequences 
 of the sin. 6. We have no record of these events that we 
 can trace to the time when they are said to have occurred. 
 The date of the Rajawaliya we do not know ; that of the 
 Mahawanso is about a.d. 460. These are the only sources 
 whence our information is derived ; and they are too 
 distant, or too uncertain, in their date, to allow of our 
 placing confidence in their statements about the reign of 
 Tissa. These objections, independently of those arising 
 from the supposed interposition of the dcwas,' the awkward 
 introduction of the outcastc Hodlyd, and the improbability 
 that the king would in this way proclaim his own dis- 
 lionour, arc fatal to the credibility of the story. We can 
 only receive it as legend, in which there may be some 
 trutli ; but to what extent no one can tell. It is in a 
 similar manner that all tlio events recorded of the past are 
 sifted and examined by the modern historian, in order 
 
 ♦ Tumour's Muli^iwanso, cap. xxii. 
 
THE CASTE OF THE BRAHMANS. 9 
 
 that lie may discover to wliat extent tliey are entitled to 
 reception as real occurrences. I liave chosen the story of 
 the princess of Kalyani as a tentative example, because it 
 is one that Christians and Buddhists can alike examine 
 dispassionately. It is not referred to in any of the sacred 
 books ; it belongs to secular history, and not to religion ; 
 and whether it be true or false makes no dijfference to 
 Buddhism as a system of belief. 
 
 4. THE CASTE OE THE BEAHMANS. 
 
 Oriental students, whose attention has hitherto been 
 directed almost exclusively to Brahmanism, have been as 
 unsparing in their attacks on systems hoar with age, as 
 the professors of western lore. I shall notice their inno- 
 vations at some length ; as we shall thereby be aided in 
 bringing the same agency to bear upon the system that 
 claims as its author '^ the all- wise Buddha." 
 
 The most prominent institution on the continent of 
 India is that of caste ; which, under whatever aspect we 
 may view it, is an unmitigated evil. It seeks to unman 
 the whole race of human beings ; for it would make us 
 believe that a portion is composed , of those who are more 
 than men — they are gods : and the rest, including the 
 immense majority, are less than men — they are things 
 made to be huffed, oppressed, and degraded, every moment 
 and every where, to an extent that the people of other 
 lands have never known ; not even the African, in his 
 lowest humiliation. Yet in the command that bids the 
 binding of the mighty fetter, there are words that ought 
 
10 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 to shame every one wlio repeats it as a plea for oppression ; 
 for, tliougli the Sudra proceeds from the foot, he is equally 
 with the twice-born an emanation from Brahma ; still 
 *' his offspring." The pretensions of the Brahmans are 
 founded on a legend contained in the Jatimala, of which 
 the following is a translation: — "In the first creation by 
 Brahma, Brahmanas proceeded, with the Yeda, from the 
 mouth of Brahma. From his arms Kshatriyas sprung ; 
 so, from his thigh, Yaisyas; from his foot Sudras were 
 produced : all with their females. The Lord of creation 
 Tiewing them, said, ^AYhat shall be your occupation ?' 
 These replied, * We are not our own masters, god, com- 
 mand us what to undertake ! * Viewing and comparing 
 their labours, he made the first tribe superior over the 
 rest. As the first had great inclination for the Divine 
 sciences (brahmaveda), therefore he was called Brahmana. 
 The protector from ill (kshayate) w^as Kshatriya. Him 
 whose profession (vesa) consists in commerce (which pro- 
 motes the success of wars, for the protection of himself 
 and mankind) and in husbandry, and attendance on cattle, 
 he called Yaisya. The other shoidd voluntarily serve the 
 three tribes, and therefore he became a 8udra : he should 
 humble himself at their feet."* This legend has been 
 made to minister to an arrogance that has no equal in the 
 whole story of man's usurpations. " The Chandala," sa3^s 
 Manu, " can never be relieved from bondage or emanci- 
 pated by a master. How can he, whom the supreme God 
 has destined to be the slave of Brahmans, ever be released 
 from his destiny by man ? . . . . Whatever exists in the 
 
 * Colcbrooko, Mibct-lluucous Essays, 
 
THE CASTE OF THE BRAHMANS, 11 
 
 universe is all, in effect, tliougli not in form, the wealth of 
 the Brahman ; since the Brahman is entitled to all by his 
 primogeniture and eminence of birth. The Brahman eats 
 but his own food, wears but his own apparel, and bestows 
 but his own alms. Through the (permissive) benevolence 
 of the Brahmans, indeed, other mortals enjoy life." 
 
 The Jatimala is a comparatively recent work ; and 
 before we bow down, whether as Sudras or as Nishadas, 
 to the haughty Brahman, we require to have made known 
 to us, in order to secure our submission, some more ancient 
 authority; something that comes to us from times nearer the 
 era of the supposed emanation. But it is a fact of modern 
 discovery, that the further we go back in the history of the 
 Hindus, the fewer allusions we find to the subject of caste, 
 until, in the oldest of the Yedas it is a thing unknown. 
 One of the noblest among the many friends of India, 
 Dr. Muir, now of Edinburgh, and late of the Bengal Civil 
 Service, has set himself to the task of collecting, from 
 every available source, the principal Sanskrit texts that 
 bear upon the social and religious interests of India.* 
 
 * Three parts of this work, entitled " Original Sanskrit Texts, on the 
 Origin and History of the People of Ii\dia, their Religion and Institutions," 
 have been published. 1. On the Mythical and Legendary Accounts of 
 Caste. 2. The Trans-Himalayan Origin of the Hindus, and their Affinity 
 with the Western Branches of the Aryan Eace. 3. The Vedas : Opinions of 
 their Authors, and of later Indian Writers, in regard to their Origin, Inspira- 
 tion, and Authority. I regret that I have, at present, access to only the third 
 of these parts ; but I have made free use of a series of papers I wrote, at the 
 time of the publication of the Texts, in the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine, 
 for 1861. I have made extracts from Dr. Muir's priceless volumes to a 
 greater extent than might have been right under other circumstances ; as I 
 know that gain is not his object, but the spreading of information that will 
 advance the interests of India. [Since the above was written, a foiu'th part 
 has been published, which I have not seen.] 
 
12 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 This important work lie is executing with an industry and 
 erudition that demand the gratitude of all who are seeking 
 to place man in his proper position, as the free, noble, and 
 happy creature of a loving and most merciful God. There 
 is only one power that can bring about this grand con- 
 summation ; but before we can expect that power to be 
 rightly effective a previous work will have to be done : 
 many an error will have to be exposed, and broken many a 
 tyrant's gyve. 
 
 The results of Dr. Muir's investigations on " The Theory 
 of the Origin of Caste,'' are summed up in a section of so 
 much value, that I insert it without abridgment : — 
 
 " The contents of this chapter [On the General Theory 
 of the Origin of Castes] have made it abundantly evident 
 that the sacred books of the Hindus contain no uniform 
 and uncontroverted account of the origin of castes ; but, 
 on the contrary, present the greatest varieties of opinion 
 on the subject. Explanations, mystical, mythical, etymo- 
 logical, and critical are attempted : and the freest scope is 
 given by the writers to fanciful and arbitrary conjecture. 
 
 ''First of all, we have the mystical statement of the 
 Purusha Sukta, that the forefathers of the three superior 
 castes formed three of the members of Purusha's body, 
 while the servile issued from the feet. This, the oldest 
 extant passage in wliich the castes are connected with the 
 different parts of the creator's bod}', seems to have given 
 rise to all the subsequent representations to the same effect 
 in later works. The idea which it contains is repeated, 
 with little substantial alteration, in two texts of the 
 Bhagavata Purana : while, on the other hand, in passages 
 
THE CASTE OF THE BRAHMANS. 13 
 
 cited from Manu, from tlie Yishnu Purana, and the Yayu 
 Purana, and in one extracted from the Mahabharata, the 
 mystical character of the original Yedic text disappears, 
 and the castes are represented as if litevallj 2)roduced from 
 the several members of Brahma's body. This theory is 
 not, however, carried out consistently, even in those works 
 where it is most distinct^ proposed ; and the original 
 division of castes, after being lost sight of during the first 
 age of perfection, is again introduced at a later period in 
 such way as to necessitate a fresh explanation to account 
 for its re-appearance. 
 
 *^By two other authorities, the Harivansa and the 
 Mahabharata, the origin of castes is etymologically con- 
 nected ^\T.th colours : (mrna, the Sanskrit word for caste, 
 meaning originally colour :) an explanation which, how- 
 ever fancifully carried out in these passages, is really 
 founded on fact : as there can be no doubt that the Ar3^an 
 immigrants into India, coming from northern countries, 
 were of fair complexion, while the aboriginal tribes, with 
 whom they came into contact, were dark. This circum- 
 stance seems to be alluded to in the Yedic text. 'He 
 destroyed the Dasyus, and protected the Aryan colour.' 
 Again, attempts are made to explain the assumed charac- 
 teristics of the several castes by fanciful etymologies of 
 their respective names ; the word Kshatriya being con- 
 nected with protection, the name Yaisya with agriculture 
 and cattle, and the denomination Sudra with service. In 
 the case of the Brahman, indeed, the derivation is reason- 
 able ; as his appellation is probably connected ^dth hrahma, 
 prayer, or sacred learning, or the Yeda. 
 
l-i LEGENDS AND TPIEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 " Finally, we have passages of a difFerent tenor, as in a 
 quotation from tlie Mahabharata, in which the distinction 
 of castes is derived from the different characters and 
 pursuits of the several sections of the community ; or such 
 as that other text from another part of the same work, in 
 which men of all castes are said to be descended from 
 Manu." 
 
 In these discoveries, we have a powerful auxiliary in 
 the preparatory work that has to be undertaken for the 
 evangelizing of India, coming to us from an unexpected 
 source. It will now be a pleasant undertaking, to trouble 
 the Brahman with the same mantra spell wherewith he 
 has disquieted millions of men during more than two 
 thousand years ; and to proclaim to the Sudra the novel 
 intelligence, that the rishis, whom his oppressors so much 
 venerate, are his own friends, and never gave the Brahman 
 any particle of the power he has wrongfidly exercised 
 during so many ages. 
 
 I need not say to any one resident in this island, that 
 Buddha was uniformly the opponent of caste.* He pro- 
 claimed the original equality of all men. He ordained his 
 priests equally from all classes of the pco^^le, and gave 
 them precedence according to the order of their initiation, 
 
 ♦ " The hope of Ceylon arises from various causes, and wc sliall here 
 notice the inlluencc of caste on religion. It is a fact that the Singhalese are 
 not so much attached to the system of castes, as are their neighbours on the 
 continent of India. Caste exists in Ceylon, hut with greater force in India. 
 Here it is a mere custom — there a part of the national Hindu institutes. 
 Here it is more political than religious — tliere more religious than political. 
 Here no man loses his caste by the adoption of a new faitli — there the 
 Brahman becomes an utter outcast by changing his creed. Though demurred 
 to in this very place (the Ilall of the Legislative Council) by the higher 
 
THE CASTE OF THE BRA.HMANS. 15 
 
 without regarding tlie circumstances of tlieir birth or 
 their previous position. It was his doctrine, that it is the 
 greater or less development of the moral principle, that 
 makes the essential difference in the status of men. 
 Though it is too much to say that "no hostile feeling 
 against the Brahmans finds utterance in the Buddhist 
 canon,"* the opposition of Buddha to the principle of 
 caste was at first seen in the maintenance of an opinion 
 contrary to that of the Brahmans, rather than in direct 
 attack upon their system or express exposure of their 
 errors. The third Sutra records a conversation between 
 Buddha and the Brahman Ambatta, in which the sage 
 asserts the superiority of the Kshatriya caste. Another 
 Brahman is referred to who was called '' the white lotus," 
 from the colour of his skin. In the fourth Sutra, Sona- 
 dandha, Buddha asks a Brahman of that name what it is 
 that constitutes a Brahman. Is it descent, learning, fair- 
 ness of complexion, good conduct, or an acquaintance with 
 the rules of sacrifice ? He then asks of these things 
 separately, whether, if the one he named were wanting, 
 the man would still be a Brahman. Sonadandha answered, 
 that if a man had learning and good conduct, he would 
 still be a Brahman, though he had not any other of the 
 
 classes of the Singhalese, -we, nevertheless, find all castes and classes meeting 
 together in the jury box with the greatest harmony. All sit on the same form 
 in the Christian churches ; all partake of the same cup when the wine is 
 distributed at the Lord's Supper. The Wellalas (the highest caste among the 
 Singhalese) now follow different trades, which were anciently restricted to the 
 lower orders, and occasionally marriages take place between persons of 
 different castes. Caste is thus losing its iron grasp on the afi"ections of the 
 Singhalese." — Alwis's Lectures on Buddhism, p. 30. 
 * Max Miiller,^Ancient Sanskrit Literature. 
 
16 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 five advantages. This was the answer that Buddha 
 wanted to bring out, but it was not assented to by the 
 other Brahmans who were present. There is evident 
 a growing antagonism upon the part of the Brahmans, 
 from the time it became apparent that Gotama intended 
 to set aside their pretensions ; and we learn from more 
 than one of the Buddhist Sutras, that the theory of caste 
 was the subject of anxious investigation upon the part 
 of those who resorted for instruction to the hierarchs of 
 the svstem after his death. 
 
 ( Here Buddha is on the side of truth ; as to principle, 
 
 .put not as to fact. It is the teaching of Buddhism, that 
 
 when our earth was first inhabited, the beings who 
 
 \ ^'appeared in it were produced by the apparitional birth ; 
 
 i ^that their bodies still retained many of the attributes 
 
 ; I of the world from whence they had come — the Abhassara 
 
 ; brahma-loka ; that there was no difierence between night 
 
 and day, and no difference of sex ; that they lived together 
 
 in all happiness and in mutual peace ; and that they could 
 
 soar through the air at will, the glory proceeding from 
 
 their persons being so great that there was no necessity 
 
 for a sun or moon. The dogma of the Brahmans can be 
 
 traced back, in their own books, until it becomes extremely 
 
 attenuated, and then altogether invisible. That of Buddha 
 
 is confessedly, as are all his other doctrines, the rcsidt of 
 
 his own intuition ; and as there is no known fact to support 
 
 it, coming to us from any other source, it is to be regarded 
 
 as "unhistorical," and to be rejected. 
 
THE SANSKRIT AND PALI LANGUAGES. 17 
 
 5. THE SANSKEIT AKD PALI LAIS'GIJAGES. 
 
 The Bralimans have been deprived, by a similar process, 
 of another immunity that has long been ceded to them by 
 the inferior castes. They not only supposed themselves 
 to be above the rest of men because of their origin ; but 
 they maintained as another proof of this great fact, that 
 their language is divine ; that it is not, and never has 
 been, spoken by any other race upon earth ; that it is the 
 language of the gods, and that its majestic rhythm is heard 
 in the crystal palaces of heaven. So sacred is it, that if 
 the Sudra, even by accident, hear its words as enunciated 
 in the reading of the Yedas, bitter oil, and boiling, is to be 
 poured into his ear, that the orifice may be closed for ever 
 against a similar act of desecration. But when Jones, 
 Colebrooke, and other learned men, began to study 
 Sanskrit, they soon found that there are striking affinities 
 between languages that had previously been supposed to 
 have no resemblance to each other. The Zend, spoken 
 formerly in Persia, the Greek, and the Latin, it is now 
 evident, have all had the same origin as the language of the 
 Brahmans. The present vernaculars of India can be traced 
 back two thousand years, through inscriptions on rocks, 
 works in Pali, poems, dramas, and other compositions ; and 
 the further we go back the more nearly does the language 
 we meet with resemble the Sanskrit. It is thought by 
 many philologists that there must have been a time, when 
 Sanskrit was the common language of the people of India. 
 In the style of the Sanskrit compositions which have come 
 
 2 
 
18 LEGEKDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 down to US, there are changes and varieties that can only 
 be accounted for on the supposition that it was once a 
 spoken language ; since it is only when a language ceases 
 to be spoken that it becomes set and unchangeable. The 
 Brahmanas, for instance, equally differ from the ancient 
 Yedic hymns and from the more modern Sutras. These 
 hymns present various forms of inflection and conjugation 
 not seen in the works of later authors, and are to be re- 
 garded as by far the most ancient specimens of Sanskrit 
 literature now extant. By some disruption of the Sanskrit- 
 speaking population the country became divided into 
 separate provinces, each of which, in process of time, 
 had its own distinct dialect, from which has been 
 formed the present vernacular, whether it be Bengali, 
 Hindi, Mahrathi, or Guzarati. The Tamul, Malayalim, 
 and other languages of the Dravidian family, are not 
 included in this arrangement, for reasons that would 
 require, for their development, too long a digression 
 from our main object. The process we have referred to 
 closely resembles the formation of the French, Portuguese, 
 Spanish, Italian, and other languages of modern Europe, 
 from the parent Latin. There is also a remarkable resem- 
 blance in the manner in which the phonetic changes are 
 made. In Pali all harsh sounds are avoided ; the letter r 
 is frequently omitted ; and one word is made to flow into 
 another with wonderful ease and rhythm. The style of 
 the language and the character of the religion taught in it 
 assimilate ; and few languages would have been equally 
 adapted for uttering the soft tones and gentle sayings of 
 the Tathagato. Parwata, a rock, becomes pabbata in Pali y 
 
THE SANSKRIT AND PALI LANGUAGES. 19 
 
 aswa, a horse, in a similar manner becomes asso ; rakta, 
 red, ratta ; clliarmma, truth, dhamma ; vriksha, a tree, 
 rukha ; sisya, a disciple, sissan ; sarpa, a serpent, sappa ; 
 singha, a lion, siho ; and chaura, a thief, chora. In com- 
 position, as we learn from Clough's Balawatara, loka 
 aggo, the chief of the \Yorld, becomes lokaggo ; and tatra 
 ayan, there is, becomes tatrayan. 
 
 The following positions have been established by Dr. 
 Muir :— 
 
 " 1. That these forms of speech have all one common 
 origin : — i.e., that Sanskrit, Zend, Greek, and Latin are 
 all, as it were, sisters, — the daughters (some perhaps elder 
 and some younger, but still all daughters) of one mother 
 who died in giving them birth : or, to speak without a 
 figure, that they are derivations from, and the surviving 
 representatives of, one older language, which now no 
 longer exists. And, 2. That the races of men who spoke 
 these several languages are also all descended from one 
 stock ; and that their ancestors at a very early period 
 lived together in some country (situated out of Hindu- 
 stan), speaking one language ; but afterwards separated, 
 to travel away from their primeval abodes, at different 
 times, and in different directions, — the forefathers of the 
 Hindus, south-ward, or south-eastward, to India ; the 
 ancestors of the Persians, to the south ; and those of the 
 Greeks and the Eomans, to the west. The languages of 
 those branches of this great Indo-European stock which 
 remained longest together in their earliest home, — namely, 
 the Persians and the Indians, — continued to bear the 
 closest resemblance to each other; while the tongues of 
 
20 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 those ofFshoots which separated earliest from the parent 
 stock exhibit in later times the least amount of resem- 
 bhmce, the divergencies of dialect becoming wider and 
 wider in proportion to the length of time which had 
 elapsed since the separation." 
 
 It is thus evident that the ancestors of the dark and 
 dreamy Brahman, and of the pale and practical European, 
 once chased each other under the shade of the same tree, 
 and lived in the same home, and had the same father, and 
 spoke to -that father in the same language : and though 
 the difference is now great, both in outward appearance 
 and mental constitution, not more certainly do the answer- 
 ing crevices in the cleft rock tell that they were once 
 united, than the accordant sounds in the speech of the two 
 races tell that they were formerly one people; and this 
 unity is proclaimed every time that they address father or 
 mother, or call for the axe, or name the tree, or point out 
 the star, or utter numbers. The Singhalese being allied 
 to the Sanskrit to an extent not surpassed by any other 
 vernacular now in use, there must have been a time when 
 the two races, the Ccylonese and the British, were far 
 more nearly related to each other than as being residents 
 in the same beautiful land, or subjects of the same gracious 
 queen. The resemblance in the languages that have been 
 named will bo more clearly seen from the following list 
 of words, taken from Bopp's Comparative Grammar. 
 
 SANSKltlT. ZEND. GREEK. LATIN. ENGLISH. 
 
 p'itri paitar Trar/jp pater father 
 
 bhrdtri bartar (pparpla * /rater brother 
 
 * Bund or brotherhood. 
 
THE SANSKRIT AND PALI LANGUAGES. 
 
 21 
 
 SANSKRIT. 
 
 ZEND. 
 
 GREEK. 
 
 LATIN, 
 
 ENGLISH. 
 
 cluhitri 
 
 dughdhar 
 
 6vydTr]p 
 
 
 daughter 
 
 asiva 
 
 aspa 
 
 tTTTTO? 
 
 equus 
 
 horse 
 
 ndman 
 
 ndman 
 
 ovofjua 
 
 nomen 
 
 name 
 
 tdra 
 
 stdre 
 
 aarrip 
 
 astrum 
 
 star 
 
 upari 
 
 upairi 
 
 virip 
 
 super 
 
 above (upper) 
 
 dwi 
 
 dwa 
 
 hvo 
 
 duo 
 
 two 
 
 tris 
 
 tJiris 
 
 rph 
 
 ter 
 
 thrice 
 
 skat 
 
 kksvas 
 
 
 sex 
 
 six 
 
 tishtdmi 
 
 histami 
 
 X(TTr)LLL 
 
 sto 
 
 stand 
 
 Here an interesting enquiry presents itself, By what 
 people was the Sanskrit originally spoken, and what was 
 their origin or character? The authors of the Sanskrit 
 books regard themselves, and the heroes of whom they 
 speak, as Aryans, and their country is called Arya-bhumi or 
 Arya-desa. The word arya^ as may be learnt from the 
 Singhalese Lexicon, means "noble, excellent, of respectable 
 lineage." It was the national name of the ancient inhabit- 
 ants of India who worshipped the gods of the Brahmans, 
 in contradistinction to the Dasyas, who are regarded as 
 barbarians or demons. The word is still preserved in Iran, 
 the modern name for Persia, and even the green isle, 
 Erin, may have derived its name from the still more 
 luxuriant east. In the earliest traditions we see the Aryans 
 forcing their way across the snows of the Himalawana ; and 
 then, as they rush onward toward the sun-lit region that 
 lay at their feet, like the Paradise of which their fathers 
 had told them, they take possession of it as their permanent 
 home. In their old songs there are allusions that prove the 
 fact of their migration from a colder country ; they are a 
 
22 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS 
 
 fair race ; and in one of the Bralimanas there is a tradition 
 that the first man, Manu, descended from " the northern 
 mountain/' after a dekige. The Aryans advanced along 
 the borders of the great desert of Marvar, from the Sutlej 
 to the Saraswati ; and here they halted for so considerable 
 a period, that this region has since been regarded as sacred 
 ground. They must afterwards have spread themselves far 
 and ^ide, as in their more modern writings there are 
 numerous references to ships and maritime commerce ; and 
 it is evident that a language similar to Sanskrit was in use 
 on the sea-coast in the time of Solomon, as his ships are 
 said to have brought from the distant land they visited, 
 apes, ivory, peacocks, and algum trees ; the names of which, 
 as they appear in the Scriptures, are Sanskrit rather than 
 Hebrew.* 
 
 It must be a source of extreme mortification to the lordly 
 Brahman, when he finds, upon evidence provided by him- 
 self, and which he cannot controvert, that the language he 
 uses, under the supposition that it is known only to himself 
 and the gods, is derived from the same source as the 
 language spoken by the races he regards with such utter 
 contempt, and from which he turns away with disgust as 
 from a pollution and a curse. 
 
 The Buddliists have put forth the same pretensions in 
 reference to Pali, that the Brahmans liavc done as to 
 Sanskrit. It is the language in which their sacred books, 
 the Pitakas, are written, and is sometimes called Magadhi. 
 The word Pali is unknown on the continent of India. It 
 was the vernacular of the country in which Buddha lived ; 
 * Max Miillcr, Lectures ou the Science of Language. 
 
THE SANSKRIT AND PALI LANGUAGES. 23 
 
 and is thus spoken of by the grammarian Kachcliayano : 
 ^* There is a language which is the root (of all languages) ; 
 men and brahmans spoke it at the commencement of the 
 kalpa, who never before uttered a human accent, and even 
 the supreme Buddhas spoke it : it is Magadhi."* The same 
 statement is made in the Patisambhida Atuwawa, and the 
 following extract is taken from the Wibhanga Atuwawa : 
 ** Parents place their children when young either on a cot 
 or a chair and speak different things, or perform different 
 actions. Their words are thus distinctly fixed by their 
 children (on their minds), thinking that such was said 
 by him, and such by the other ; and in process of time they 
 learn the entire language. If a child born of a Damila 
 mother and an Andhaka father should hear his mother 
 speak first, he would speak the Damila language ; but if 
 he should hear his father first, he would speak the Andhaka. 
 If however he should not hear either of them, he would 
 speak the Magadhi. If, again, a person in an uninhabited 
 forest in which no speech (is heard) should intuitively 
 attempt to articulate words, he would speak the very 
 Magadhi. It predominates in all regions, such as hell, 
 the animal kingdom, the petta sphere, the human world ; 
 and the world of the devas. The remaining eighteen 
 languages, Xiratha, Andhaka, Yonaka, Damila, etc., un- 
 dergo changes, but not the Magadhi, which alone is 
 stationary, as it is said to be the language of Brahman 
 and Aryas. Even Buddha who rendered his tepitaka words 
 into doctrines, did so by means of the very Magadhi ; and 
 why ? Because by doing so it was easy to acquire their 
 
 * Appendix, K'ote A. 
 
24 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 true significations. Moreover, the sense of the words of 
 Buddha which are rendered into doctrines by means of the 
 Magadhi language, is conceived in hundreds and thousands 
 of waj^s by those who have attained the Patisambhida, so 
 soon as they reach the ear, or the instant the ear comes in 
 contact with them : but discourses rendered into other 
 languages are acquired with difficulty."* 
 
 It is said, moreover, that all the birds of the air and 
 the beasts of the forest speak the same language ; but as 
 they cannot learn letters, they speak it indistinctl}", and 
 in a manner unintelligible to men. A similar thought to 
 the first has been entertained by many nations in behalf 
 of their own tongue, and even in modem times experiments 
 have been tried to find out the primitive language, but 
 without any satisfactory result ; for if it were possible to 
 isolate children entirely, they would not speak at all, or 
 use a single articulate sound ; as may be seen in the case 
 of deaf mutes, many of whom have all the organs of 
 speech perfectly developed, but as they never heard a 
 sound, they are not able, except in cases where they are 
 specially instructed, and with great labour, to make one, 
 unless it be a murmur or a scream. There are tales among 
 all nations about persons who could understand the 
 language of bird and beast, that are popular in the 
 nursery, but are not repeated by men. The statement 
 is not correct that the Magadhi language has been 
 "stationary," as there is a wide difference between the 
 style of the text of the Pitakas and that of the 
 Commentary. The Buddhist must, therefore, submit to 
 * Alwis's Lectures on Buddhism, p. 55. 
 
THE VEDAS. 25 
 
 the same humiliation as the Brahman, and confess that 
 the language of his sacred books is derived, and not 
 original ; and that it comes to us from the same source as 
 the dialects spoken by the nations of Europe. This con- 
 clusion derives additional confirmation from the statements 
 on page 19. There is thus another reason why the 
 Buddhist should distrust the Atuwawas, which he has 
 been taught to revere as the word of the unerring ; in- 
 asmuch as they are proved to contain statements that are 
 not true. 
 
 6. THE VEDAS. 
 
 As a solace in the midst of his trouble, "the twice-born" 
 Brahman may resolve to turn toward the volume of the 
 holy Yeda, and comfort himself with the thought that 
 here he still remains supreme. Of this divine emanation 
 he is the sole guardian. Of the eternal word he is the one 
 authorized keeper. At intervals in the great ages of the 
 past, its existence has been hid in the mind of the deity ; 
 but it is now revealed to him, that he may live as a god 
 among men, and then return to be absorbed in the infinite 
 Paramatma, of which he now forms a part. But even 
 here the Brahman is followed by his stern and unrelenting 
 antagonist — Research. The orientalist can now stand on 
 the highest step of his temple, regardless of both idol and 
 priest, and proclaim to the millions of India, with an 
 energy of voice that the clang of the cymbal, the blast of 
 the chanque, the roll of the tomtom, the shouts of the 
 people, and all the other appliances brought to his rescue 
 
26 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 by his numerous retainers, cannot overpower, that th.e 
 older Yedas pay no respect whatever to the Brahman ; 
 that they know nothing, even by name, of the gods he 
 teaches men to worship ; and that the rishis wh.o composed 
 their most sacred portions, acknowledge themselves to 
 have been the same as other men in their io-norance and 
 weakness. As the Brahman and the Buddhist are alil^e 
 in their veneration for the rishis, the removal of the errors 
 60 long prevalent, respecting these ancient sages, will not 
 be without some importance and significance in this island, 
 as well as upon the continent. 
 
 The Vedas, when referred to in Pali works, are the 
 same, in name and number, as those of Sanskrit authors : 
 E-ich, Yajush, Saman, and Atharvana ; but Buddha, 
 when he referred to them, spoke of the Ti-weda. The 
 Buddhists regard the Atharvana as of less authority than 
 the other Yedas. They believe that they originally con- 
 tained pure and unmixed truth, when uttered by Maha 
 Brahma, but that they have been corrupted by tbe Brah- 
 mans to suit their own purposes, and are not now to be 
 relied upon as a divine revelation. This thought would 
 be worthy of further notice, were it possible to test its 
 value ; but the memories of dead men cannot be called as 
 witnesses, and we have no written documents as our guide. 
 Each Yeda consists of two parts : 1. The INIantras, or 
 Hymns, in which the gods are praised, and their assistance 
 is invoked. 2. The Brahmanas, illustrative and explana- 
 tory of the Mantras, with the Upanishads, in which ex- 
 pression is given to ideas of a more spiritual and mystical 
 character. The Mantras constitute the original and most 
 
THE VEDA8. 27 
 
 essential part of the Yeda. The Hymns are collected 
 together in portions called Sanhitas, which from the 
 archaic style in which they are written, are supposed to 
 be the oldest part of the Yeda. There are copies of the 
 Vedas in several of the libraries of Europe, and portions 
 of them have been translated into English, French, 
 German, and Eussian. By Max Miiller the Yedic litera- 
 ture is divided into four periods : 1. The Chhandas period, 
 in which the first, the oldest hymns of the Rig Yeda 
 were written, extending from 1200 to 1000 B.C. 2. The 
 Mantra period, in which the more recent Yedic hymns 
 were composed ; lasting from 1000 to 800 B.C. 3. Then 
 came the Brahmana period, during which the chief theo- 
 logical and liturgical tracts bearing this title were com- 
 posed; from 800 to 600 b.c. It was at the end of this 
 interval that Gotama Buddha appeared, according to the 
 chronology of the Singhalese. The authors of this period 
 appeal to various preceding unwritten authorities ; and 
 present the clearest proof that " the spirit of the ancient 
 Yedic poetry, and the purport of the original Yedic 
 sacrifices, were both beyond their comprehension.'^ 4. The 
 Sutra, or most modern period, extended from 600 to 200 
 B.C., in which the ceremonial precepts were reduced to a 
 systematic form. There can be no absolute certainty as 
 to these dates ; but they are not adopted without reason, 
 or from mere conjecture. There are no mile- stones in 
 Yedic literature ; but by the change in the character of 
 the scenery that presents itself, we can have some idea 
 of the distance we have travelled. Not unfrequently, an 
 author refers to a previous author. There are differences 
 
28 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 in constriiction and metre. The gradual development of 
 a great system can be traced, from the figurative ex- 
 pression, through the literal interpretation, to the accom- 
 plished fact and the established custom. There is a 
 perceptible change in manners and usages, and the introduc- 
 tion of new modes of thought, new restrictions, new laws, 
 new ceremonies, and new gods. The influence of the ascetic 
 principle, at first scarcely seen, secures to itself from age 
 to age, a position of greater prominence. The further we 
 go from the present, the fewer are the personages intro- 
 duced, whether divine or human, and there is a greater 
 simplicity and unity, both in liturgy and rite. By thus 
 sounding the stream of the past, and examining the sand 
 and shells that the plummet brings up from the depths 
 of other ages, the learned have criteria to guide them in 
 the judgment they form of the age in which the Yedic 
 books were composed. 
 
 The worship prescribed in the earlier Yedas comprehends 
 praj'crs, praises, and offerings ; the latter consisting princi- 
 pally of clarified butter poured on fire, and the intoxicating 
 juice of the Soma fruit. There is no reference in them to 
 the Trimurtti, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva ; to Durga, Kali, 
 or Rama ; or to any other of the gods that are at present 
 the most popular in India.* The principal deities are 
 Agni and Indra. Agni, at once fire and the god of fire, 
 is now regarded with indifference, and seldom worshipped. 
 Indra is a personification of the firmament as sending rain, 
 and is now ridiculed by the Brahman, although under the 
 name of Sckra, he is still honoured by the Buddhists. 
 
 ♦ Wilson, Rig- Veda Sanhita. 
 
THE VEDAS. 29 
 
 In tlie most ancient hymns the unity of God is acknow- 
 ledged ; just as we should infer it would be from the still 
 unshaken Pentateuch. We there find that up to the 
 time of the Exodus, there were men who, apart from the 
 teachings of Israel, worshipped the one true God, or 
 believed in his existence and might.* The path by which 
 man wandered away from primitive truth to polytheism 
 and idolatry can be seen most clearly in the literature of 
 the Hindus. In the earliest of their forms of invocation, 
 germs of error may be traced. The elements, in these 
 regions seen in their most sublime and terrific modes of 
 working, are personified. There is no mention of the 
 image of any god, nor is there any allusion to any form 
 of idol worship, and there is no formal temple ; but heaven 
 is regarded as the father of the universe, and earth the 
 mother. The stars are the radiant flock, held in captivity 
 by the god of storms, until set free by the swift arrows 
 of the god of lightning. The god of thunder has the wind 
 as his watch-dog, chasing the clouds as they career along 
 the sky, or acting as a faithful guide to lead the spirits 
 of the good to the realms above, beyond the broad river 
 or the atmosphere, that separates the two worlds. All the 
 great changes that take place around us are described in 
 mystical terms ; and wherever there is movement there 
 is supposed to be the presence of divinity. 
 
 The social life of the Yedic songs is more in accordance 
 with western usage. The family is instituted, and the 
 dwelling fixed. The government is patriarchal. Every 
 man is priest in his own house, and his own hand kindles 
 
 * Exod. xviii. 9. Num. xxii. 8. 
 
30 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 the sacred fire. Marriage is monogamic. "Woman Is had 
 in honour, and is a joint ruler, and a joint worshipper with 
 her husband. She is seen to move freely in the market, 
 at the well, in the place of worship, and in the palace. 
 There then succeeds an era of greater formality and ex- 
 clusiveness. Men with pleasant voices are employed to 
 chant the hymns ; the householder resigns his place of 
 privilege ; and the hierophant pretending to sanctity is 
 entreated to present the sacrifice. These begin to form a 
 separate class, and to claim immunities. Their pretensions 
 are resisted ; but they finally triumph, and the perfected 
 Brahman appears, claiming to be more than saint in purity, 
 and more than king in power. 
 
 The opinions entertained by the Hindus on the origin 
 of the Yedas are varied and contradictory. There are no 
 fewer than twelve difierent deliverances on this subject. 
 In the following analj^sis the supposed source is given, 
 and then the authority upon which the statement is made, 
 from some sacred book, but not Yedic. 1. The elements. 
 '*'Prajapati brooded over the three deities (fire, air, and 
 the sun), and from them, so brooded over, he drew forth 
 their essences — from fire the Eig Yeda, from air the Yajush, 
 and from the sun the Sama verses." Chdndogya IJpani- 
 shad. 2. The mouth of Brahma, at the creation. *' Once 
 the Yedas sprang from the four-faced creator, as he was 
 meditating. How shall I create the aggregate worlds as 
 before? lie formed from his eastern and other mouths 
 the Yedas called Eich, Yajush, 8aman and Atharvan, 
 together with praise, sacrifice, hymns, and expiation." 
 Bhiigavat Purana, iii. 12. 3. The breath of Brahma. 
 
THE VEDAS. 31 
 
 " As from a fire made of moist wood various modifications 
 of smoke proceed, so is the breathing of this great Being 
 the Rig Yeda, the Yajush, the Sama, the Atharvan, 
 the Itihasas, Puranas, science, the Upanishads, slokas, 
 aphorisms, comments of difierent kinds — all these are his 
 breathings." Yrihad Aranyaka Upanishad. 4. The 
 creative poiver of Brahma. " In order to the accomplish- 
 ment of sacrifice, he formed the Yedas : with these the 
 Sadhyas worshipped the gods, as we have heard." Hari- 
 vansa, v. 47. "The god fashioned the Hig Yeda, with 
 the Yajush, from his eyes, the Sama Yeda from the tip of 
 his tongue, and the Atharvan from his head. These 
 Yedas, as soon as they are born, find a body. Hence they 
 obtain their character of Yedas because they y??2<^ (vindanti) 
 that abode." Harivansa, v. 11. 665. 5. Sarasvati. 
 " Behold Sarasvati, as the mother of the Yedas ! " Maha- 
 bharata, V. 12, 920. 6. The mystical rite Pur usL "From 
 the universal sacrifice were produced the hymns called E-ich 
 and Saman, the metres, and the Yajush." Purusha Sukta. 
 7. Tmie. " From time the Pich verses sprang ; the 
 Yajush sprang from time." Manu, xii. 49. 8. From the 
 residue of the sacrifice. " The Pich and Saman verses 
 sprang from the remainder of the sacrifice, uchchhista." 
 Atharva Yeda, xi. 7. 9. The pure 'principle. " The Yeda 
 constitutes the second division of the sattva-guna, Brahma 
 being one of the first." Manu, xii. 49. 10. Eternity. 
 " The Sruti derived from Brahma is eternal ; these, 
 Brahman, are only its modifications." Yishnu Pur ana, 
 Wilson's Trans, p. 285. 11. Yishnu. "He is composed 
 of the Rich, of the Saman, of the Yajush ; he is the soul. 
 
32 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 .... Formed of the Yeda lie is divided; he forms the 
 Yeda and its branches into many divisions. Framer of 
 the branches, Sakhas, he is also their entirety, the infinite 
 lord, whose essence is knowledge." Vishnu Purana, 
 p. 274. 12. Emanation. " The Yeda was not the result 
 of effort proceeding from the conscious intelligence of any 
 individual." 
 
 The confusion arising from the differences between one 
 author and another is increased by the contradictions in 
 the writings of the same author. " He who comprehends," 
 says Manu, '' the essential meaning of the Yeda, in what- 
 ever order of life he may be, is prepared for absorption in 
 Brahma, even when abiding in this lower world." This 
 virtue is said to extend to all the Yedas. " Just as a clod 
 thrown into the lake is dissolved, when it touches the 
 water, so does all sin perish in the triple Yeda." Yet in 
 another place he says, "The Sama Yeda has the pitris 
 (sprites) for its divinities, wherefore its sound is impure." 
 In another place he asserts the impurity of this Yeda, 
 for another reason.* 
 
 By another class of writers, all of whom are regarded 
 as orthodox, the Yedas are placed on a level with other 
 works, or degraded below them. " First of all the Sastras, 
 the Purana was uttered by Brahma. Subsequently the 
 Yedas issued from his mouths." Yayu Purana, i. 56. One 
 Purana speaks of " the errors of the Yedas," and in an 
 Upanishad they are designated as " the inferior science," 
 in contrast to " the superior science," the knowledge of 
 the soul. There arc other authors and schools that reject 
 
 * Muir's Sanskrit Texts : Tart iii. 
 
THE RISHIS OF THE BRAHMANS. 33 
 
 one Yeda and not another, or parts of Yedas ; and others 
 wlio say tliat " there was formerly only one Yeda, one fire, 
 and one cast." There have been long controversies, car- 
 ried on with much ingenuity, about sound, originating in 
 the question whether the Yeda is eternal or a product ; 
 reminding us, by their inconclusiveness, of one of their 
 own sayings, that ''however much a man may try, he 
 cannot jump on to his own shoulders." 
 
 7. THE EISHIS OF THE BRAHMANS. 
 
 A far more important enquiry than any involved in this 
 useless logomachy is, What did the rishis, the authors, 
 or seers, or proclaimers, of these ancient hymns say of 
 themselves? Do they claim for themselves the mighty 
 and mystic powers that have been attributed to them in 
 modern ages, and that cause myriads, even in our own 
 day, to utter their names with reverence and awe ? Now 
 we may venture to affirm that neither eastern nor western 
 student was prepared for the discoveries that have been 
 made respecting them, from their own productions. I 
 have sometimes been ready to express my regret that so 
 much profound learning has been expended, and so much 
 money, in the preparing and printing of Yedic texts, by 
 difierent governments and societies ; but when I see the 
 use made of them by such men as Dr. Muir, and learn 
 the wonderful results that have arisen from the quest 
 into their interminable mazes, whereby revelations have 
 been made, most helpful to the missionary and the 
 philanthropist, that might otherwise have remained hid 
 
34 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 for further ages — I am more than reconciled to both care 
 and cost. 
 
 To the following important extracts, I ask the attention 
 of my island friends, and as there are many of them who 
 will understand the original, I insert the Sanskrit text, as 
 well as the translation.* 
 
 The rishis describe themselves as the composers of the 
 hymns, as w^ill be seen from the following passages, f 
 
 1. Passages in which the word kri, to make, is applied 
 to the composition of the hymns. 
 
 "Ayam devaya janmane stomo viprebhir asaj^a akari 
 ratnadhatamah. This hymn, conferring wealth, has been 
 made to the divine race, by the sages, with their 
 mouth."+ 1. 20. 1. 
 
 "Eved Indraya vrishabhaya vrishnc brahma akarma 
 Bhriyavo na ratham. . . Akari te harivo brahma navy am 
 dhiyd syama rathyah sadasah. Thus have we made a 
 prayer for Indra, the productive, the vigorous, as the 
 Bhrigus (fashioned) a car. ... A new prayer has been 
 made for thee, lord of steeds. May w^c through our 
 hymns (or rite) become possessed of chariots and j)erpctual 
 wealth." iv. 16, 20. 
 
 ♦ T know little of Sanskrit, except as the parent of Singhalese ; and T ara 
 therefore indebted to other writers for nearly all the information I present 
 about the Brahman and his literature ; tlie only exception being in those cases 
 in which illustrative reference is made to Buddhism, or extracts are made from 
 native books. 
 
 t Yet ]\lax Miiller, one of our groat authorities upon these subjects, says ; 
 " In the most ancient (Sanskrit) literature, the idea even of authorship is 
 excluded. "Works are spoken of as revealed to and communicated by certain 
 Bages, but not as composed by them." Ancient Sanskrit Literature, 523. 
 
 I •' With their own mouth." Wilson. 
 
THE mSHIS OF THE BE.AHMANS. 35 
 
 2. Passages in which the word tax, to fashion or fabri- 
 cate^ is applied to the composition of the hymns. 
 
 " Esha vah stomo Maruto namasvan hrida tashto 
 manasa dhayi devah. This reverential hymn, divine 
 Maruts, fashioned by the heart, has been presented by the 
 mind." i. 130, 6. 
 
 '* Etam te stomam tuvi-jata vipro ratham na dhirah 
 svapa ataxam. I, a sage, have fabricated this hymn for 
 thee, powerful (deity) as a skilful workman fashions 
 a car." v. 29. 15. 
 
 3. Texts in which the hymns are spoken of as being 
 generated by the rishis. 
 
 ''Suvriktim Indraya brahma janayanta viprah. The 
 sages generated a pure hymn and a prayer for Indra." 
 vii. 31, 11. 
 
 " Ima Agne matayas tubhyam jatah gobhir asvair abhi 
 grinanti radhah. These hymns, Agni, generated for thee, 
 supplicate wealth with cows and horses." x. 7. 2. 
 
 These extracts are selected from several hundreds of a 
 similar description, collected by the care of Dr. Muir. 
 Further extracts, from Professor Wilson's translation of 
 the same Veda, will throw additional light on the character 
 of the rishis. 
 
 Thus they pray : 
 
 "May he (Indra) be to us for the attainment of our 
 objects ; may he be to us for the acquirement of riches ; 
 may he be to us for the acquisition of knowledge : may he 
 come to us with food.'^ Sukta, ii. 3. "May the Maruts, 
 born from \h.Q brilliant lightning, everywhere preserve us 
 and make us happy." xxiii. 12. " Inasmuch as all people 
 
36 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 commit errors, so do we, divine Yaruna, daily disfigure 
 thy worship by imperfections : make us not the objects of 
 death." xxv. 2. *' Destroy every one that reviles us ; slay 
 every one that does us injury : Indra, of boundless wealth, 
 enrich us with thousands of excellent cows and horses." 
 xxix. 7. " Come, let us repair to Indra (to recover our 
 stolen cattle), for he, devoid of malice, exhilarates our 
 minds ; thereupon he will bestow upon us perfect know- 
 ledge of this wealth (which consists) of kine." xxxiii. 1. 
 *' Thrice, Aswins, visit our dwelling and the man who 
 is well disposed towards us ; thrice repair to him who 
 deserves your protection, and instruct us in threefold 
 knowledge : thrice grant us gratifying (rewards) ; thrice 
 shower upon us food, as (Indra) pours down rain." xxxiv. 
 4. "Agni, with the burning rays, destroy entirely our 
 foes, who make no gifts, as (potters' ware) with a club ; 
 let not one who is inimical to us, nor the man who attacks 
 us with sharp weapons, prevail against us." xxxvi. 16. 
 ** Discriminate between the Aryas and they who are 
 Dasyus ; restraining those who perform no religious rites, 
 compel them to submit to the performer of sacrifices." 
 11. 8. "Agni confer excellence upon our valued cattle, 
 and make all men bring us acceptable tribute." Ixx. 5. 
 " May thy opulent worshippers, Agiii, obtain (abundant) 
 food ; may the learned (who praise tliec) and offer thee 
 (oblations) acquire long life ; may we gain in battles 
 booty from our foes, presenting to the gods their portion 
 for (the acquisition of) renown." Ixxiii. 5. "Defended, 
 Agni, by thee, may we destroy the horses (of our enemies) 
 by (our) ^^^«?es, the men by (our) men, the sons by (our) 
 
THE RISHIS OF THE BRAHMANS. 37 
 
 sons, and may our sons, learned, and inheritors of ancestral 
 wealth, live for a hundred winters/' Ixxiii. 9. ^' Thou, 
 lord of all, knowest what are the riches of those men who 
 make no oflPerino:s : brinn^ their wealth to us." Ixxxi. 9. 
 *'The Soma juice has been expressed, Indra, for thee; 
 potent humbler (of thy foes), approach ; may vigour fill 
 thee (by the potation), as the sun fills the firmament with 
 his rays." Ixxxiv. 1. '^ Dissipate the concealing darkness : 
 drive away every devouring (foe) ; show us the light we 
 long for." Ixxxvi. 10. " Come into our presence ; they 
 have called thee, fond of the Soma juice ; it is prepared ; 
 drink of it for thine exhilaration ; vast of limb, distend thy 
 stomach, and, when invoked, hear us, as a father (Kstens 
 to the words of his sons)." civ. 9. "Kutsa, the E-ishi, 
 thrown into a well, has invoked to his succour, Indra, the 
 slayer of enemies." cvi. 6. " Aswins, you raised up, like 
 Soma, in a ladle, Rebha, who for ten nights and nine days 
 had lain (in a well), bound with tight cords, wounded, 
 immersed, and sufiering distress from the water.* Thus, 
 Aswins, have I declared your exploits : may I become the 
 master (of this place), having abundant cattle, and a 
 numerous progeny, and retaining my sight, enjoy a long 
 life : may I enter into old age, as (a master enters) his 
 house." cxvi. 24, 25. 
 
 In the later hymns of the Sanhita, there is a continuance 
 of the same form of supplication, and the request is still 
 
 * Rebha and Vandana (also cast into a well) are said to have been rishis. 
 " In these and similar instances, we may possibly have allusions to the 
 dangers undergone by some of the first teachers of Ilinduism among the 
 people whom they sought to civilise." Professor Wilson. But it seems much 
 more likely that it was on account of some cattle raid. 
 
38 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS 
 
 presented for " food, strength, and long life." Allusions 
 to the town and its customs, and to the cultivated field, 
 are more frequent ; but the cow and the horse are still the 
 most prominent objects before the worshipper, and he asks 
 for protection " from dogs and wolves." Now, as in former 
 instances, when the rishis ask for anything, they ask it for 
 themselves. They are not intercessors, vicariously pleading 
 with the gods. " Conquer for us ; fight for ws." cxxxii. 4. 
 ** May tve acquire riches, in the strife of heroes." clvii. 2. 
 "May tve overcome our mighty and formidable foes." 
 clxxviii. 5. " Let tis, through thy favour, overwhelm all 
 our foes, like torrents of water." ii. vii. 3. 
 
 As we read these extracts, the impression is made upon 
 our minds, that they are very like the revel-songs of some 
 band of moss-troopers, gone forth to levy black-mail ; and 
 perhaps this thought is not very far from the truth. As 
 the Aryans descended from the mighty hills where they 
 must for some time have lingered, and spread desolation 
 in the plains below, nothing could be more natural than 
 many of the sentiments and wishes here expressed. They 
 "were a young nation, full of life and hope, migrating to 
 another land, that they might seek a richer inheritance 
 than that of their fathers, and were opposed in their 
 progress by powerful enemies. The rishis were un- 
 doubtedly, in some cases at least, warriors as well as 
 makers of songs; the hand red with blood might mix 
 the intoxicating soma ; and we can imagine some of tlieir 
 hymns sung by the whole clan iuj mediately previous to an 
 attack upon the Dasyas, rich in flocks and herds, or after 
 some successful foray, when the low of the stolen kino 
 
THE RISHIS OF THE BRAHMANS. 39 
 
 would mingle witli the voice of praise to tlie power tliat 
 had given them their prey. We have here more than 
 enough to convince us that the framers of the Yedas were 
 ordinary men, making no pretension to the wonderful 
 powers with which they have been invested by the 
 Brahmans. The Yedas are a purely human production ; 
 the confessions and invocations of the rishis themselves 
 being our warrant for this conclusion. The religious 
 element is scarcely apparent, in many of the Sanhitas ; 
 for prey, and not purity, the request is presented. There 
 are occasionally hymns that rise above this low estimate 
 of rishi piety, in which are passages of great poetic beauty. 
 With some notion, however vague, of the unity of God, 
 they address the elements as his agents or representatives. 
 They see these elements, now for the first time in their 
 tropical energy ; and intense emotion is stirred within 
 their souls, as they appeal to the gleaming sun, the rapid 
 lightning, and the dark storm-cloud, lying low in the sky 
 from the weight of the abundant treasure it contains, with 
 which it is ready to fill the exhausted well and fertilize 
 the parched wilderness. 
 
 The claim set up by the Brahmans for the supernatural 
 inspiration of the rishis cannot be maintained. We speak, 
 in common phrase, of the inspiration of the poet. All ages 
 and nations have done the same. The poets themselves are 
 accustomed, like Milton, to ask light and aid from heaven. 
 
 " And chiefly, Thou, Spirit, that dost prefer 
 Before all temples, the upright heart and pure, 
 
 Instruct me 
 
 What in me is dark, 
 
 Illumine ; what is low raise and support." 
 
40 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 But we do not, on tliat account, approach the poet as 
 we should one whom we thought was in the possession of 
 super-human intelligence. Many of our rhymers are no 
 more sorcerers than the dullest prose writer that ever wrote 
 on palm-leaf or paper. Just in the same way, the rishi 
 of the Brahman, looked at as a hymn-maker, is a harmless 
 kind of being, respectable, sometimes religious, and some- 
 what austere, asking for divine guidance almost in the 
 very words his brother poets have used in all time, for 
 the same purpose ; and claiming for himself neither irre- 
 sistible power, like the wicked Mara, nor unerring intuition, 
 like the teacher Buddha. There is thus another race of 
 imaginary beings swept away, with the genii and ghouls 
 of our childhood, from the dreamland that has been the 
 dread of many generations ; and the whole world will soon 
 learn that man has been his own greatest enemy, and that 
 he has suffered the more, the further he has wandered away 
 from the voice of the God who loves him. 
 
 Nearly the whole of the Himalayan mass of later 
 >Sanskrit lore will have to be set aside as incredible. It 
 is the result of wilful perversion and pretence ; it tells of 
 events that could never, by any possibility, have happened, 
 and of beings that could never, by any possibility, have 
 lived. It will always be iutcrcsting, as the record of man's 
 wondrous power of creativenoss, within a certain limit, and 
 of his ability to fascinate and mislead those whom he seeks 
 to bind and blind ; but when the genius of history shall 
 appear in her full majesty, she will allow no stately temple 
 to the kings of the Brahman, and to his warriors no victor's 
 crown. 
 
THE RAHATS AND RISHIS OF THE BUDDHISTS. 41 
 
 We have seen what the first and the greatest of the 
 rishis were, on the testimony of their own hymns. The 
 character of these men, as it appears in the literature 
 of more recent periods, is so entirely different to that 
 which is recorded in the most ancient of the Sanhitas of 
 the Rig Yeda, that we can scarcely bring ourselves to 
 think that the ascetic Brahman, to whom the world, 
 and all within it, is an illusion, can be the representative, 
 by religious descent, of the Aryans, who loved to drink the 
 intoxicating soma, and rode on the wild horse, and lifted 
 cattle.* By degrees, as further research is made in Yedic 
 revelation, we shall be able to trace more clearly the 
 manner in which this great change was effected. But when 
 the Aryans ceased to be emigrant and nomadic; when 
 municipal institutions had to be formed, and property pro- 
 tected ; when a life of activity and warfare had to be suc- 
 ceeded by one of inertness and quiet ; when those whose 
 forefathers had dwelt amidst the everlasting snows had to 
 yield to the enervating effects of a warm climate — it is 
 reasonable to suppose that a new state of things would 
 arise, which would have a correlative effect upon the race. 
 
 8. THE EAHATS AND EISHIS OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 The Buddhists have been equally deceived with their 
 antagonists, the Brahmans, in the estimate they have 
 formed of the character of the rishis. The power they 
 
 * We see the modern disregard of the Yedas, in the fact that recently there 
 was not a complete copy of these sacred works in the possession of any of the 
 Brahmans of Calcutta, nor was there any one who had read them. 
 
42 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 atrribute to these yenerated sages is scarcely inferior to 
 that of the rahats, which we shall have to notice at greater 
 length by and bye. By Singhalese authors they are re- 
 presented as being possessed of super-human attributes. 
 In seeking to obtain nirwana, it is a great advantage 
 to have been a rishi in a former birth. The rishi can 
 tell, by his own intuitive knowledge, the nature of all 
 diseases, and prescribe for them an infallible remedy. 
 When he wishes for mangoes, or any other fruit, he can 
 go through the air and take them. He can comprehend 
 space. He can assume any form. He can destroy fifty 
 cities, if he so wills it. He can tell how many drops there 
 are in the ocean, and number the living creatures that 
 inhabit it ; and can tell how many spans there are in the 
 sky, and how many atoms in Maha Meru, though it is 
 nearly a million of miles high. He can dry up the sea, 
 though in one place it is eight hundred and forty thousand 
 miles deep. He can hide the earth with the tip of his 
 finger, and shake the whole of the Himalayan forest, with 
 all its mountains, with as much ease as if it were a ball of 
 thread. 
 
 When the power of the rishis is presented as a com- 
 parison, which is a common practice with native authors, 
 it is spoken of, if possible, in still more extravagant terms. 
 The gods are sometimes envious of the elevated -position 
 to which they attain, and fearing lest they themselves 
 should be superseded, and thereby lose their high and 
 privileged positions, they resort to the meanest and most 
 unwarranted schemes to accomplish their downfall. The 
 throne of Sekra (Indra) having become warm, ho knew 
 
THE RAHATS AND RISHIS OF THE BUDDHISTS. 43 
 
 thereby that his celestial supremacy was in danger ; and 
 when looking to see whence it proceeded, he discovered that 
 it came from the meritorious observance of the precepts 
 by the rishi Lomasa Kasyapa. To induce the sage to take 
 life, by slaying the animals at a sacrifice, and thus commit 
 evil, the dewa persuaded the king to call him to the 
 performance of this rite, by sending his daughter to the 
 forest in which he lived. Spell-bound by the beauty of 
 the princess, he consented to accompany her to the city 
 for this purpose ; but when about to uplift the sacrificial 
 knife, the plaintive cry of the animals brought him to his 
 senses, and he returned at once to the forest, thereby 
 preserving his great merit still intact. 
 
 The Yedas are declared by Buddha, as previously stated, 
 to have been corrupted by the Brahmans. The aged 
 brahman, Drona,- — who, at the sage's cremation, secreted 
 one of his bones as a relic, in his hair, but was afterwards 
 deprived of it by the dewas, — on visiting the teacher of 
 the three worlds, asked him whether, if an aged Brahman 
 were to visit him, he would rise and ofier him a seat. 
 Buddha replied that he could not do so, as it would be 
 highly improper ; and asked Drona if he regarded him- 
 self as a true Brahman. The reply that he made was : 
 *' If one who is descended from a father and mother that 
 are both of pure race, who can trace his descent as equally 
 pure through seven generations, and knows the Yeda 
 perfectly, is to be regarded as a Brahman, then am I 
 one." But Buddha denied that the Brahmans were then 
 in the possession of the real Yeda. He said that it was 
 given in the time of Kasyapa (a former supreme Buddha) 
 
44 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDIHSTS. 
 
 to certain rislils, who, by the practice of severe austerities, 
 had acquired the power of seeing with divine eyes. 
 They were Attako, Wamako, Wamadewo, ^Yessamitto, 
 Yamataggi, Angiraso, Bharaddwajo, Wasetto, Kassapo, 
 and Bhagu. The Vedas that were revealed to these rishis 
 were subsequently altered by the Brahmans, so that they 
 are now made to defend the sacrifice of animals, and to 
 oppose the doctrines of Buddha. It was on account of 
 this departure from the truth, that Buddha refused to pay 
 them any respect.* 
 
 J 'At another time, when Buddha resided at Jetawana, 
 there were several aged Brahmans of the Maha Sala Kula, 
 who came to visit him. (To belong to this kula, a 
 Kshatriya must possess 100 kotis of kahapanas, and 
 spend daily 20 amunams of treasure ; a Brahman 80 
 kotis, and spend 10 amunams ; and a Grahapati 40 kotis, 
 and spend 5 amunams). t These Brahmans resided in 
 Kosol, and were senile and decrepit, as they had lived in 
 the reigns of several kings. They sat respectfully on 
 one side, and said to Buddha, ''Do the present Brahmans 
 follow the same rules, practise the same rites, as those in 
 more ancient times?" lie replied, "'No." They then re- 
 quested, that if it were not inconvenient, he would be pleased 
 to declare to them the former Brahmana Dharrama. He 
 then proceeded : There were formerly rishis, men who had 
 subdued all passion by the keeping of the sila precepts 
 
 • Anguttara Nikaya : Panchaka Nipfita. 
 
 t It is to be understood throut^hout, that when, in quoting from the 
 Pitukas, words appear within parentheses, they are taken from the 
 Commentary, and not from the Text. 
 
THE RAHATS AND RISHIS OF THE BUDDHISTS. 45 
 
 and the leading of a pure life. They had no cattle, no 
 gold (not even as much as four massas, each of which is 
 of the weight of six mara seeds) and no grain. Their 
 riches and possessions consisted in the study of the Yeda, 
 and their treasure was a life free from all evil. On this 
 account they gained the respect of the people, who had 
 always alms ready for them at their doors. They suffered 
 no kind of annoyance or persecution, and no one sent them 
 away empty when they approached the dwelling. Some 
 of them remained continent until 48 years of age. They 
 did not then, like others, seek to purchase their wives, but 
 went to the door of some one of their own caste, and said 
 to the inmates, " I have remained chaste 48 years ; if you 
 have a virgin daughter, let her be given to me.'' The 
 daughter, if they have one, is brought to the door, in 
 bridal arra}^, water is poured on the hands of the Brahman 
 and his bride (as the marriage rite), and the j)arents say, 
 " This is our daughter, but we give her to you, that she 
 may become your wife, and be by you supported." But 
 why do these Brahmans, after refraining from marriage 
 so long, then seek a wife ? It is from a needless appre- 
 hension. They suppose that if they have no son, the race 
 will become extinct, and that on this account they will 
 have to suffer in hell. (There are four kinds of beings 
 who fear when there is no danger. 1. Worms, that fear 
 to eat much, lest they should exhaust the earth. 2. The 
 bird kirala, the blue jay, that hatches its eggs with its 
 feet upwards, that if the sky should fall, it may be ready 
 to support it. 3. The kos lihiniya, the curlew, that treads 
 with all gentleness, lest it should shake the earth. 4. The 
 
46 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 Brahman, tliat seeks a wife lest his race should become 
 extinct.) 
 
 The Brahmans, for a time, continued to do right, and 
 received in alms rice, seats, clothes, and oil, though they 
 did not ask for them. The animals that were given they 
 did not kill ; but they procured useful medicaments from 
 the cows, regarding them as friends and relatives, whose 
 products give strength, beauty and health. The Brahmans, 
 (not killing animals in sacrifice) had soft bodies, of a 
 golden colour, and great prosperity. Through their 
 abstinence from evil, other beings enjoyed a similar state 
 of happiness and repose. But by degrees they saw and 
 coveted the wealth of kings, as well as females richly 
 arrayed, chariots drawn by horses of the Ajanj^a breed 
 (that knew the mind of their owners, and took them 
 whither they willed to go, without any guidance) and 
 elegant buildings. In this way their minds became 
 corrupted. They resolved to ask kings to make animal 
 sacrifices. By this means the passions of the Brahmans 
 became increased. They thought that if the products of 
 the cow were so good, the flesh of the cow must be much 
 better. The king Okkaka, at their instance, instituted a 
 festival of sacrifice. AYhen the animals were assembled, 
 the king slew the first with his own sword, gashing them, 
 and pulling them cruelly by the horns, though previously 
 to this time they had remained free from injury or mo- 
 lestation. The Brahmans then slew the rest. Becaiise of 
 this butchery, the dewas and asurs cried out, " Tliere is un- 
 righteousness, unrighteousness, among men;" (so loudly 
 that all over the world it was heard). Prior to this period. 
 
THE RAHATS AND RISHIS OF THE BUDDHISTS. 47 
 
 there were only three kinds of diseases among men ; 
 carnality, hunger, and decay. There are now 98, of 
 various kinds. The Yaisyas and Sudras are opposed to 
 each other. The Kshatriyas are at war among themselves. 
 Husband and wife are at variance. And all castes mingle 
 together in lewdness and vice. The Brahmans, when they 
 had heard this discourse of Buddha, embraced his religion, 
 and said they would become upasaka devotees to the end 
 of their lives.* 
 
 It is evident, from these statements, that Buddha was 
 ignorant of the former condition of the world ; that he 
 knew nothing about the character and circumstances of the 
 ancient rishis ; and that he spoke from imagination alone, 
 and not with the authority of truth. Nearly every hymn 
 of the Rig Yeda contradicts his statements ; and the 
 whole array of tradition, legend, and history is opposed to 
 his theory of the origin of cruelty and crime among men. 
 It may be said, that if the Yedas have been corrupted, 
 though the statements of Buddha are contrary to them, 
 those statements are not thereby invalidated. But, how 
 was it possible to alter the Yedas to this extent ? It could 
 not be done after they were committed to writing, and 
 before this the Brahmans who preserved them were 
 scattered over a country a thousand miles in breadth. 
 Long before the time of Buddha there were rival sects 
 and schools among the Brahmans, who would watch each 
 other's proceedings with all jealousy, and render it im- 
 possible for them to concert any scheme to alter, in any 
 
 * Brahraana Dhammika Suttanta. 
 
48 LEGENDS AXD THEORIES OF THE BUDDHIST.S. 
 
 degree, the word that they regarded as eternal and the 
 breath of the supreme Brahm. 
 
 In the mistakes and misrepresentations of many of the 
 Brahmans, who were contemporaries of Gotama, as to the 
 power of the rishis, the sacred books of Buddhism 
 partake to an equal extent. They tell us, that his 
 father, Suddhodana, had a rishi friend, Kaladewala. 
 After breakfast this aged sage was accustomed to visit 
 one of the celestial worlds, and watch the waj^s of the 
 dewas ; and he there learnt that a supreme Buddha was 
 about to appear among men. He could see backward 40 
 kalpas, and forward the same period, and know the events 
 in each. 
 
 The following narrative is ascribed to Buddha himself, 
 and appears in the Jatakattha-katha. There was a priest, 
 Pindola Bharaddwaja, who went to the garden of the 
 king of Udeni, to spend the day in retirement. The king, 
 on the same day, went to the same garden, attended by a 
 retinue of women, upon the lap of one of whom he placed 
 his head, and fell asleep. AVhen the other woman saw 
 that the king was no longer listening to them, they put 
 down their instruments of music and went to walk in the 
 garden. On seeing the priest, they worshipped him, 
 and he preached to them the bana. When the king 
 awoke, he was annoyed that the other women had left 
 him ; and on discovering the priest, he resolved that he 
 would tease him, by causing red ants to sting him. But 
 Pindola Bharaddwaja rose up into tlie air, and after giving 
 the king some good advice, went through the air to 
 Jetawana, and alighted near the door of Buddha's resi- 
 
THE RAHATS AND RISHIS OF THE BUDDHISTS. 49 
 
 dence, who asked wliy lie had come ; and the priest re- 
 peated to him the whole story. On hearing it, Buddha 
 said that this was not the only occasion when he had been 
 thus treated, and he then declared to him the Matanga 
 Jataka. 
 
 In a former age, when Brahmadatta was king of 
 Benares, there was a low caste chandala, by name Matanga, 
 but on account of his great wisdom he was called Matanga 
 Pandita. He was a Bhodisat (the being who is afterwards 
 to become a supreme Buddha). In the same city was a 
 nobleman who had a daughter, Ditthamangalika, who 
 twice in the month, properly attended, resorted to one 
 of the gardens for pleasure. On one occasion, when 
 Matanga was approaching the city, the young lady was 
 emerging from the gate, accompanied by her maidens; 
 and so on seeing them he stood on one side, lest they 
 should be polluted by the presence of a low caste man. 
 As she was looking through the curtains of her conyeyance, 
 she happened to see him, and asked her maidens what he 
 was. They replied that he was a mean chandala. As she 
 had never seen such a being before, she called for scented 
 water, to wash her eyes, and commanded her retinue to 
 return home. On hearing this, they insulted and beat 
 Matanga without mercy, as it was through him that they 
 had lost their day's pleasure. When he came to his senses, 
 and reflected on what had happened to him, he resolved 
 that he would not rest, until he had obtained possession 
 of Ditthamangalika as his wife. At once he went and 
 lay down opposite the doorway of her father's house, and 
 when asked why he did so, he said that he had come to 
 
50 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 obtain the nobleman's daughter as his wife. His request 
 was, of course, indignantly rejected ; but there he remained 
 six days, and on the seventh (to save the family from the 
 still greater disgrace and inconvenience that would have 
 come upon it if he had perished at their door),* she was 
 brought and given to him; when she, respectfully, said 
 she was willing to go to his village. But he replied that 
 her attendants had beat him so cruelly that he could not 
 rise, and that she must carry him on her back. She was 
 obedient, and did as she was commanded. On the seventh 
 day, without having had any intercourse with her mean- 
 while, he thought within himself, "I must enrich this 
 maiden, by causing her to receive greater wealth and 
 happiness than any other woman ; but this cannot be 
 unless I become a sramana priest." Then saying to her 
 that he was going to the forest to provide the food they 
 needed, and that she must not be uneasy until his return, 
 he went away. On the seventh day after he had taken 
 upon himself the obligations, and assumed the garb of a 
 priest, he attained to samapatti (the completion of an 
 ascetic rite that confers supernatural powers). He then 
 returned to the village through the air. AVhen his wife 
 asked him why he had become a priest, he said she must 
 inform the people of Benares, that on the seventh day 
 from that time her husband would appear as Maha Brahma, 
 and cleave the moon in two. On the day of the full moon 
 he apppeared as he had said, illuminating by his bright- 
 ness the whole of the city, 120 miles in extent. In the 
 
 ♦ Had this misfortune occurred, the whole family would have lost caste for 
 Bcven generations. 
 
THE RAHATS AND RISHIS OF THE BUDDHISTS. 51 
 
 presence of the citizens, lie caused the moon to cleave into 
 two portions, and then descending went thrice round the 
 city through the air. 
 
 On seeing this those who were worshippers of Maha 
 Brahma went to the house of Matanga, presented offerings 
 of untold value, and ornamented his dwelling in the richest 
 manner. He then made known to his wife, that through 
 umbilical attrition alone she would have a son ; that the 
 water in which she bathed would be sought for with 
 eagerness by the people, as it would free them from all 
 disease and misfortune ever after ; and that those who saw 
 her would each offer to her a thousand (kahapanas). The 
 followers of Maha Brahma provided for her a golden 
 palanquin, and took her to the city, where they built for 
 her a splendid pavilion ; and as she there brought forth 
 her son, he was called, in consequence, Mandabba. When 
 grown up, he daily fed 16,000 Brahmans. But his father 
 Matanga, seeing by this means he was arriving at the 
 wrong landing place (in his effort to obtain salvation) 
 went through the air, and alighting at the place where 
 the alms were distributed, took his seat on one side ; but 
 when Mandabba saw him, he commanded him to be off 
 quickly, as there were no alms there for such as he. 
 "When the attendants were preparing to take him away, 
 he rose up into the air, and after repeating other gath^ 
 stanzas, said, "They who attempt anything against the 
 rishis, are like men who attempt to scrape the rough rock 
 with the finger nail, or to bite through hard iron with their 
 teeth, or to swallow fire.'^ After this Matanga went 
 through the air towards the east gate of the city, causing 
 
52 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 his footsteps to remain, as lie went from place to place 
 with the alms-bowl. The dewas of the city, enraged at 
 the insult he had received, caused the head of Mandabba 
 to be turned the wrong way on his shoulders, and the 
 Brahmans to vomit, and then roll themselves on the 
 ground, utterly disabled. "When Ditthamangalilia heard 
 of what had taken place, she went to enquire what was 
 the cause ; and when she had seen her son, his eyes white 
 like those of a dead man, and his body stiff, she said that 
 the sramana who had come to ask alms could be no one 
 else but Matanga, and resolved that she would go to him 
 and ask pardon for her son. By his footsteps she dis- 
 covered the place where he was. He was just finishing 
 his meal, leaving a small portion of rice in the bowl. She 
 poured water from a golden vessel, with which he washed 
 his mouth, and then ejected it into the same vessel. "When 
 the mother asked pardon for Mandabba, the rishi said that 
 the injury was not done by him ; he had felt no anger 
 when he was insulted, neither did he feel any anger then : 
 it was the demons that had done it. " Your son," said he, 
 " has studied the Yedas until he is intoxicated by them ; 
 but he is ignorant of that which is proper to be done, in 
 order to produce the result at which he aims." She still 
 pleaded in his behalf. He then said that he would give 
 her a divine medicine ; and that if she took half of the rice 
 from the bowl, and put it into her son's mouth, and the 
 other half into the mouth of the Brahmans, mixed with 
 water (from the golden vessel), they would all^ recover. 
 He also informed her how the persons were to be knowij 
 who were proper to be the recipients of alms. The 
 
THE RAHATS AND RISHIS OF THE BUDDHISTS. 53 
 
 Brahmans were revived, in tlie manner lie had said ; but 
 as they had been recovered by eating the rice of a 
 chandala, they were greatly ashamed, and went to live in 
 the city of Mejjha. 
 
 There was a Brahman, Jatimanta, who at that time 
 resided near the river Wettawati, and was exceedingly 
 proud of his high caste. To humble him, Matanga went 
 to reside near the same place, higher up the river. One 
 day, after cleaning his teeth, he expressed a wish that 
 the tooth-cleaner would fasten itself in the hair of the 
 Brahman. He then threw it into the river, and as 
 Jatimanta was bathing at the time, it was caught in the 
 tuft on the top of his head. Thinking it had come from 
 some one of low caste he went up the river to see, and 
 when he found out that it had come from Matanga, he 
 abused him as a mean, scurvy fellow, and told him to go 
 and live lower down the river (that the same inconvenience 
 might not occur again). On receiving this command, he 
 went to reside lower down ; but the thing took place again, 
 only the tooth- cleaner this time went against the stream 
 instead of down it. Again was Matanga subjected to 
 abuse; and the Brahman cursed him, and told him that 
 if he did not depart, on the seventh day his head would 
 split into seven pieces. Then the rishi, without any anger, 
 resolved that he would remove his pride by a stratagem ; 
 and accordingly, on the seventh day he prevented the 
 rising of the sun. When the people of the land came 
 to Jatimanta to entreat him to allow the light to shine, 
 he said that he was not the cause of its being withheld ; it 
 was Matanga. They then went to the rishi, who said 
 
54 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 that the sun might be released if Jatimanta would humble 
 himself at his feet. They therefore dragged the Brahman 
 to the place where the rishi was ; but even when he had 
 worshipped him, Matanga still refused to let the sun rise, 
 because, if it rose the head of the Brahman would be split 
 (as a punishment for the curse he had uttered). The 
 people asked what, in such a case, was to be done ; when 
 he told them to bring clay, and therewith cover the 
 head of Jatimanta, and take him to the river up to his 
 neck. This was done ; the sun was then permitted to rise ; 
 and its rays caused the clay to cleave into seven portions 
 (as a merciful mode of homogeneous revenge). The 
 Brahman went down under the water ; and his pride 
 was thoroughly subdued. Then Matanga seeing that the 
 16,000 Brahmans were residing in the city of Mejjha, 
 went thither through the air, and taking his bowl pro- 
 ceeded to seek alms in the street where he had alighted ; 
 but when the Brahmans saw him, lest they themselves 
 should come to nought through his influence, they per- 
 suaded the king to send messengers to put him to death. 
 At the moment of their arrival he was eating the rice 
 from his bowl ; and as his mind was ofi" its guard (and he 
 was left on that account, without the protection that 
 would otherwise have defended liim from all evil) they 
 were able to dispatch him with their swords. lie was 
 born in a Brahma-loka ; but the dewas, to avenge his 
 death, caused a shower of hot mud to fall, that destroyed 
 the whole country. In that birth Buddha was Matanga ; 
 and the king of Udeni was ^landabba. 
 
 In this translation, many of the minor details are omitted, 
 
THE RAHATS AND RISHIS OF THE BUDDHISTS. 55 
 
 as tlie narrative is too long to be inserted at full length ; 
 but I have preserved nearly all that relates to supernatural 
 endowment. One of three consequences must, of necessity, 
 follow from the statements made in this extract : 1. The 
 Atuwawa Commentaries are not to be received as an 
 authority ; or, 2. This particular narrative is an in- 
 terpolation ; or, 3. Buddha did really say what is ascribed 
 to him in this Jataka. The first alternative will scarcely 
 be conceded, from the important consequences that would 
 follow any attempt to invalidate the claim of the Com- 
 mentaries to be regarded as of equal authority with the 
 Text. It would be of no avail to allow the second, as the 
 same statements are made in other parts of the sacred 
 books. And if we receive the third, then the power 
 attributed to the rishis is acknowledged, attested, and 
 confirmed by Buddha. But that men with such powers 
 ever lived in this world is against the entire testimony of 
 all credible history; and in thus avowing his belief in 
 their existence the Tathagato proclaims that he is under 
 the control of like influences with other men. As in the 
 present instance, he is led into mistake by the errors of 
 his age. That the narrator of the Jataka believed in the 
 power attributed to Matanga, we have evidence in the 
 following stanza, uttered as his own thought in reference 
 to a previous stanza : 
 
 Having said this, Mltanga, 
 
 The rishi, truly powerful, 
 
 Went through the sky 
 
 Whilst the Brahmans were looking on.* 
 
 ♦ Appendix, Note B. 
 
56 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 9. THE CREDIBILITY OF THE HISTORICAL RECORDS 
 
 OF THE WEST. 
 
 It is a question often asked by the natives of India, 
 " Why are our books not to be believed just as much 
 as yours are ? It is only book against book ; and we 
 maintain that our books contain the truth, and that yours 
 do not.'' Our reply is, that when we see the ola leaf and 
 the printed page lie side by side, there may not be much 
 apparent difference in the credibility of their evidence ; 
 but we must go back some two thousand years, and then 
 the difference is not between book and book, but between 
 book and memory, or between book and tradition. 
 
 In the Scriptures of the Hebrews, the art of writing is 
 continually referred to, even in the earliest books. In Job 
 we have reference to three different kinds of writing ; in a 
 book, on lead, and in the rock (Job xix. 23, 24). In 
 Genesis v. I, we read of "the book of the generations 
 of Adam." In Exodus xvii. 14, Moses is commanded to 
 ''write this for a memorial in a book." The ten com- 
 mandments were written upon tables of stone " with the 
 finger of God" (Exod. xxxi. 18). Moses prays that if the 
 people were not forgiven, his name might be blotted out 
 of the book which God had written (Exodus xxxii. 32). 
 In the book of Joshua, who lived about a thousand years 
 before the time of Buddha, we read of Kirjath-sannah, or 
 "the city of letters," and of Kirjath-scphcr, "the city 
 of books" (Josh. XV. 15, 49). In Psalm xl. 7, we have 
 the passage, " Then said I, Lo, I come : in the volume 
 
HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE WEST. 57 
 
 of the book it is written of me/' It is thus evident that 
 writing must have been known to the Hebrews, and in 
 common use, long before the time at which the most 
 ancient of the Yedic Hymns were composed, if Max 
 Miiller's Chronology be taken as our guide. The Egyp- 
 tians were probably acquainted with writing at as early a 
 period as the Israelites. There is no reference to writing 
 in the poems attributed to Homer ; but the Greeks are 
 supposed to have become acquainted with the art in the 
 eighth century B.C., though the laws of Zaleucus, B.C. 664, 
 are the first that are known to have been written. There 
 is an inscription on a vase brought from Athens to England, 
 ''which cannot be later than 600 B.C." A public library 
 was established at Athens, about 526 B.C., by Hippias and 
 Hipparchus. The father of secular history, Herodotus, 
 was born 484 b.c, only 59 years after the death of Buddha. 
 From this time we have a regular succession of authors, 
 belonging to various nations, without any long interval 
 between one and the other, whose works have come down 
 to our own time. The events of their own day are recorded 
 by them, as well as those of preceding ages.* 
 
 From the statements and narratives of these successive 
 authors, in many instances for a time contemporary, we 
 have evidence that the men we revere among the Greeks 
 and other nations, are not imaginary names, and that the 
 acts attributed to them are real events. The proofs we 
 possess of the genuineness and credibility of early western 
 
 * In the list of authors prefixed to Liddell and Scott's Greek-English 
 Lexicon, there are the names of thirty-three persons who flourished before the 
 beginning of the fifth century B.C., and of sixty-seven who flourished in that 
 century. 
 
58 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 literature will be seen, by referring to the circumstances 
 under wbicb the New Testament was originally penned, 
 and has since been preserved. 1. There are quotations 
 from it, and references to it, in various books, from the 
 present time up to the time of the apostles. These 
 quotations are so numerous, that *' the whole of the New 
 Testament might have been recovered therefrom, even if 
 the originals had perished." 2. There are numerous manu- 
 scripts of ancient date now preserved in the libraries of 
 Europe, the oldest of which is in the Yatican at Rome, 
 and is supposed to have been written nearly 1500 years ago ; 
 and this would, no doubt, be copied from the oldest and 
 best authenticated MS. within reach of the transcriber. 
 3. There are ancient versions in several languages, the 
 oldest being the Syrian, which was translated either in the 
 first century of the Christian era, or immediately after- 
 wards. From these facts we can be certain that the New 
 Testament was written immediately after the death of our 
 Lord, to whom be "the kingdom, the power, and the 
 glory, for ever and ever ; " and that they have come down 
 to us in their original form, without addition, or diminution, 
 or corruption, beyond the usual mistakes of the most careful 
 copyist. The same mode of argument can be used in 
 relation to the age and uncorrupted preservation of other 
 works, though it may not be applicable to them to the 
 same extent as to the Scriptures. " The antiquity of the 
 records of the Christian faith," says Isaac Taylor, "is 
 substantiated by evidence, in a ten-fold proportion, more 
 various, copious, and conclusive, than that which can be 
 adduced in support of all other ancient works." 
 
INCREDIBILITY OF THE LEGENDS OF INDIA. 59 
 
 10. THE INCEEDIEILITY OF THE LEGEI^DS OF 
 
 INDIA. 
 
 When we turn to Brahmanical and Buddhist literature, 
 we find that similar evidences of credibility are either 
 entirely wanting, or are presented to a very small extent. 
 Max Miiller tells us, that in the 1017 hymns of the Hig-veda 
 there is not a single reference to any kind of writing, nor 
 in any work attributed to the Brahmana period ; and in 
 the Sutra period " all the evidence we can get would lead 
 us to suppose that even then, though the art of writing 
 began to be known, the whole literature of India was 
 preserved by oral tradition only.'' " The pure Brahmans 
 never speak of granthas, or books. They speak of their 
 Yeda, which means knowledge. They speak of their 
 Sruti, which means what they have heard with their ears. 
 They speak of. Smriti, which means what their fathers 
 have declared unto them. We meet with Brahmanas, i.e. 
 the sayings of Brahmans ; with Sutras, i.e. the strings 
 of rules ; with Yedangas, i.e. the members of the Yeda ; 
 with Pravachanas, i.e. preachings; with Darshanas, i.e. 
 demonstrations ; but we never meet, with a book, or a 
 volume, or a page." The names and divisions of the 
 Pitakas are of a similar character ; but there are in them 
 several undoubted references to writing. "There were 
 in Hajagaha seventeen children who were friends, Upali 
 being the principal one ; his parents thought much of a 
 profession for him, by which he might obtain a livelihood 
 after their death. They thought of his being a scribe, 
 
60 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 but remembered that writing would tire liis fingers."* 
 It is supposed by some orientalists that the earliest re- 
 ference to writing in India is in relation to Buddha, of 
 whom it is said in the Lalita Yistara, that when the young 
 prince had grown he was led to the writing- school, lipsala ; 
 but this is a comparatively modern work, of little authority, 
 and in Ceylon known only by name. 
 
 The art of writing cannot have been known in Ceylon 
 at a period much earlier than in India, as it was evidently 
 introduced into the island after the language in present 
 use was formed. The words tinta, ink, and paena, a pen, 
 shew that the people were taught to write on paper by the 
 Portuguese. When we examine the materials connected 
 with their own mode of writing, the words we meet with 
 are adapted words, or words formed by combination ; as 
 pota, a book, is from potta, plural potu, the bark of a tree, 
 like the English word book, from a root that signifies 
 primarily bark, the Latin liber, of the same meaning, and 
 the Greek biblos, the inner bark of the papyrus ; pus-kola, 
 a blank leaf, is the strip of talipot leaf upon which they 
 write ; liyanawa, to write, meant originally to cut, to 
 engrave, to make an incision ; ul-katuwa, the stylus, is 
 literally a sharp thorn ; akura, a letter, is from akka, a 
 mark ; kundaliya, ,,,^m.*^ the sign that a sentence is finished, 
 answering to our full stop, is a bracelet, or collar ; and 
 kiyawanawa, to read, is literally, to cause to say. 
 
 That the alphabet of Ceylon was derived from a western 
 source, will be seen from a comparison of the following 
 Phoenician and Singhalese letters : — 
 
 • Rev. D. J. Gogcrly, Journ. Ceylon Brancli Royal As. See. vol. ii. p. 124. 
 
INCREDIBILITY OF THE LEGENDS OF INDIA. 61 
 
 The outline of the shape, the elementary form, is the 
 same in both the series. We might have introduced other 
 letters, but these will be sufficient for our purpose ; and if 
 we had other specimens of the ancient alphabet from 
 which to choose, it is probable that we should be able to 
 trace the similarity further still. The letters g, y, n, and 
 r, are either reversed or turned upside down ; but this is 
 readily accounted for. The most ancient mode of writing, 
 as we learn from inscriptions now extant, was from right to 
 left, which was followed by the boustrophedon order, in 
 alternate lines from right to left and from left to right, 
 after the manner in which oxen plough, " in which the letters 
 were reversed."* The Greek epsilon for instance, is found in 
 four different positions, e 9 ^ m . Among the primitive 
 nations there appears to have been no fixed rule for the 
 direction of their writing. The direction of the sculptured 
 figures is said to be the guide in the monuments of Egypt. 
 In the confusion arising from this practice, the permanent 
 inversion of the above letters may have taken place. The 
 Singhalese alphabet is arranged on the Nagari system, 
 which in itself would indicate an Aryan origin : but thg 
 principal characters may have come to us from one source, 
 and their arrangement and completion from another. I 
 know too little about the character in which the ancient 
 inscriptions on our rocks and other places are cut, to allow 
 
 * Newman, Kitto's Biblical Cyclopaedia, art. Alphabet. 
 
62 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 of my giving an opinion as to the relation which, the two 
 alphabets of Ceylon bear towards each other. The view 
 I have taken of the origin of the Singhalese alphabet is 
 not without interest, in reference to the supposition of 
 Sir Emerson Tennent, that Galle is the Tarshish of the 
 Scriptures, with which the Phoenicians traded. There are 
 other Indian alphabets in which a similar resemblance can 
 be traced, but not to the same extent. Mr. James Alwis, 
 the editor and translator of the Sidath San gar ana, has 
 noticed the affinity between the Tamil and Siughalese 
 alphabets ; and remarks that *' the vowel signs with which 
 the consonants are inflected agree in a wonderful manner.'' 
 There may be some alliance, not in shape but in origin, 
 between the Hebrew points and the vowel- symbols of the 
 Aryan languages. 
 
 We therefore conclude, from the above facts, that the 
 art of writing was unknown in India when it was in 
 common use on the eastern coasts of the Mediterranean ; 
 and that the people of this island are indebted to some 
 nation there resident, most probably the Pha3nicians, for 
 a knowledge of the art, and for many of the characters of 
 the alphabet. I am thus particular in establishing what 
 micht otherwise seem to have little reference to our main 
 subject, from the fact, that the natives of India give to 
 every thing connected with themselves an immeasurable 
 antiquity, and thereby foreclose any attempt that may be 
 made to shew them their real position. 
 
 In India there is scarcely any trace of that kind of 
 literature that has ever been the heritage of the western 
 nations, except in what are called the middle ages, when 
 
INCREDIBILITY OF THE LEGENDS OF INDIA. 63 
 
 " gross darkness covered the people." We have no con- 
 temporary history of any Aryan nation, except in fragments 
 that are small in themselves, and separated from each other 
 by long intervals. Though there are, it is supposed, ten 
 thousand different Sanskrit works now in existence, with 
 the exception of the Raja Tarangini, there is hardly one 
 from which the historian can extract a sure date or a real 
 event. No occurrence has had a greater effect upon the 
 interests of Brahmanism, both as to caste and creed, than 
 the rise and spread of Buddhism ; but the notices of the 
 system in Sanskrit works are so few, that the most learned 
 of all Englishmen in this language. Professor Wilson, 
 judging from this stand-point, seriously questioned whether 
 Buddha ever existed at all. 
 
 There is the same want of all that is real and trust- 
 worthy, and the same absence of fact, in the writings 
 of the Buddhists. In that which takes the place of history 
 in their sacred books, they carry us back many myriads of 
 years, and give us long details about men who lived to the 
 age of 10,000 years, and sages who had an attendant 
 retinue of 400,000 disciples. The Mahawanso is not a 
 religious authority, and it presents a smaller portion of the 
 incredible than the Pitakas ; but even this work, upheld for 
 its comparative truthfulness, tells us that Gotama Buddha 
 was near the banks of the Ganges, and in the Himalayan 
 forest, and in Ceylon on the same day ; that finding the 
 island filled with demons he spread his carpet of skin on 
 the ground, which became effulgent, and extended itself 
 on all sides, until the demons stood on the outermost shore 
 (we suppose, like the cocoa-nut groves of the present day, 
 
64 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 but witlioiit their beauty) ; and that he caused the island 
 Giri to approach, to which he transferred them, and then 
 put the island back again in the deep sea, with all the 
 demons on it ; thus rendering Lanka habitable for men ; 
 and that then, as if this was not enough for one day's 
 wonders, when his work was so far done, he quietly folded 
 up his carpet and preached to the dewas, when more than 
 a myriad mj^riad beings "received the blessing of his 
 doctrines." If it be said that this was done by Buddha, 
 the all-powerful, and the acknowledged vanquisher of 
 demons, and is therefore out of the pale of ordinary occur- 
 rence, we may watch, as one of every day sights of those 
 times, and within the limit of humanity, the priest Anando 
 come through the air, enter a pavilion by emerging from 
 the floor without touching it, and assist in the holding 
 of a convocation, at the close of which " the self-balanced 
 earth quaked six times from the lowest abyss of the 
 ocean." Again, if it be said that this was in a far-away 
 country, about which we can know little, we may return to 
 our own land, and we are told that in the 307th year of 
 Buddha, or thereabouts, by virtue of the piety of the then 
 king, many miraculous phenomena took place ; the riches 
 and precious metals buried in the earth came up therefrom, 
 and appeared on the surface ; the treasures buried in the 
 sea came to the land ; and the eight .kinds of precious 
 pearls rose up from the ocean, and stood in a ridge on the 
 shore. 
 
 This is the manner in which the easterns write history ! 
 But the effects of this constant effort at exaggeration have 
 been most disastrous to the interests of India. The every 
 
INCREDIBILITY OF THE LEGENDS OF INDIA. 65 
 
 day incidents of common life, though, it is of these, almost 
 exclusively, that a nation's happiness is composed, are 
 regarded, in consequence, as too trivial to be of any 
 interest. The Aryan wants the marvellous and the mira- 
 culous, if he is to listen to what has been said or done in 
 other ages ; and so, for more than two thousand years, he 
 has been crammed to satiety with the puerile and im- 
 practicable, if it be possible to satisfy a craving so morbid 
 and unnatural. It is not necessary that further proof 
 should be presented, in order to convince the intelligent 
 natives of India that the events recorded in their histories, 
 so called, are monstrous and incredible ; and that before 
 we can believe any of their statements, we must have some 
 other evidence to convince us that what is said is true. 
 
 We are now prepared to understand the difference 
 between the historical works of Europe and India, as to 
 their truthfulness and credibility. All the most important 
 events in European history were recorded by authors who 
 lived at the time the events took place, or immediately 
 afterwards ; whilst in India there is often a vast, and 
 almost limitless, interval between the supposed happening 
 and its being recorded in a book. When the art of writing 
 was introduced into the east, a tempting opportunity was 
 presented for the exercise of a power that has bound, as 
 as with a spell more powerful than was ever feigned of 
 ancient rishi, all its generations, from that time to the 
 present. Brahman and Buddhist seized on the opportunity 
 with like fatality to the well-being of their deluded votaries. 
 There were no musty rolls or dust-covered parchments, to 
 start up from obscurity, like the Bible found by Luther in 
 
 5 
 
66 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 the library at Erfurth, and reveal the imposition that had 
 been palmed upon the world. The past was all before 
 them ; they could people it as they willed, aad make it 
 speak any language, or tell of any event, that best suited 
 their purpose. 
 
 The Buddhists were not so forward as the Brahmans to 
 embrace the opportunit}- thus afforded, if we may rely 
 upon what we learn from themselves ; but in wild inven- 
 tion they have outstripped all competitors, of whatever 
 age, race, or sect. They have writings that they regard 
 as sacred, to which they pay the same reverence that the 
 Brahman gives to the Yeda. These writings are called, in 
 Pali, Pitakattaya ; or in Singhalese, Pitakatraya, and to 
 the whole there are Commentaries, called in Pali, Atta- 
 katha, or in Singhalese, Atuwa. The principal sections 
 into which they are divided are three : — Winaya, Suttan, 
 and Abhidhamma. The Text and Commentaries contain, 
 according to a statement in the Saddharmcilankare, 
 29,368,000 letters.* There are three events, connected 
 with the transmission of these works, that we must notice. 
 1. We are told that the Pali Text and the Commentaries 
 were first brought to the island as the unwritten Dharmma, 
 in the mind or memory of Mahindo, son of tlic then reign- 
 ing monarch of India, B.C. 307, who came through the 
 air, with six other persons, '' instantaneously," and alighted 
 at Mihintalla, near Anuradhapura ; and that not long after 
 
 ♦ "We learn from a statement in the Journal of the Bcnj^al Asiatic Society 
 for May, 1817, communicated by Dr. J. Muir, that in tlic four Ycdas there are 
 5G,000 slokas, and in the Commentaries 400,000. It is said that in the 
 entire English Bible there arc 3,507,180 letters. 
 
INCREDIBILITY OF THE LEGENDS OF INDIA.. 67 
 
 liis arrival, in the space of a few minutes he converted the 
 king and 40,000 of his attendants, whom he met when out 
 hunting ; but no wonder, if " his voice could be heard all 
 over Lanka." He is said to have translated the Commen- 
 taries into Singhalese. But for Mahindo to have retained 
 in his memory the whole of the Text and the Commen- 
 taries, would have been almost as great a miracle as the 
 mode by which he is said to have reached Ceylon. If 
 Mahindo brought any part of the Pitakas, he could not 
 have brought them in the extended form in which we have 
 them now ; and, therefore, as the Buddhists of the island 
 cannot tell what portion is ancient, and what is new^ what 
 part was brought by the priest, and what has been added 
 by others, they can have no confidence that the word they 
 now receive as primitive truth is not the invention of a 
 later age. 2. We are told, again, that the whole of the 
 matter now composing the sacred books was orally trans- 
 mitted, from generation to generation of the priesthood, 
 until the year B.C. 90, without being committed to writing. 
 *' The profoundly wise priests had theretofore orally per- 
 petuated the Pali Pitakattaya and the Attakatha. At this 
 period these priests, foreseeing the perdition of the people 
 (from the perversions of the true doctrine), assembled; 
 and in order that the religion might endure for ages, re- 
 corded the same in books."* Then, even allowing that the 
 whole of the Pitakas were brought to the island at the 
 time of the establishment of Buddhism in it, what surety 
 is there that they were remembered exactly for so many 
 years, and that they were recorded correctly at last? 
 
 * Mahawanso, cap. xxxiii. 
 
68 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 There were heresies abroad at the time, and we have no 
 proof that those who are called heretics were not the 
 orthodox Buddhists, and the writers of the Pitakas heretics. 
 3. The Commentaries, as we have them now, cannot be 
 the same as those that are said to have been brouofht over 
 by Mahindo. We learn from the Mahawanso that in the 
 year 432 a.d., nearly a thousand years after the death of 
 Buddha, a Hindu priest, E-ewato, was the means of the 
 conversion of a Brahman, called Buddhaghoso, '' the voice 
 of Buddha," from his eloquence, whom he commanded, in 
 the following terms, to repair to Ceylon, and there to 
 translate the Commentaries into Pali. "The text alone 
 has been preserved in this land : the Attakatha are not 
 extant there ; nor is there any version to be found of the 
 wada (schisms) complete. The Singhalese Attakatha are 
 genuine. They were composed (made) in the Singhalese 
 language by the inspired and profoundly wise Mahindo, 
 who had previously consulted the discourses of Buddha, 
 authenticated at the three convocations, and the disserta- 
 tions and arguments of Sariputto and others, and they are 
 extant among the Singhalese. Repairing thither, and 
 studying the same, translate (them) according to the rules 
 of the grammar of the Magadhas. It will be an act con- 
 ducive to the welfare of the whole world.'' On his ar- 
 rival in Ceylon, Buddhaghoso first made an abridgement 
 of the sacred books, which he called Wisuddhimarff^a. 
 "Having assembled the priesthood, who had a thorough 
 knowledge of Buddha, at the bo-tree, he commenced to 
 read out (the work he had composed). The dewas, in 
 order that they might make his gifts of wisdom celebrated 
 
INCREDIBILITY OF THE LEGENDS OF INDIA. 69 
 
 among men, rendered that book invisible. He, however, 
 for a second and third time recomposed it. When he was 
 in the act of reproducing his book for the third time, for 
 the purpose of propounding it, the dewas restored the 
 other two copies also. The (assembled) priests then read 
 out the three books simultaneously. In those three ver- 
 sions, neither in a signification, nor in a single misplace- 
 ment by transposition ; nay even in the thera controversy, 
 and in the Text, was there, in the measure of a verse, or 
 in the letter of a word, the slightest variation. . . . Then 
 taking up his residence in the secluded Ganthakaro wiharo 
 (temple) at Anuradhapura, he translated, according to the 
 grammatical rules of the Magadhas, which is the root of 
 all languages, the whole of the Singhalese Attakatha (into 
 Pali). This proved an achievement of the utmost conse- 
 quence to all the languages spoken by the human race,"* 
 It is not a little singular, that having been at first trans- 
 lated into Singhalese by a stranger from India, when the 
 Commentaries were again translated into PaK, it was a 
 Brahman who did it. The Singhalese Commentaries are 
 not now in existence ; but this may be accounted for from 
 the fact that the whole of the literature of Ceylon was 
 destroyed by the Tamils, and had to be renewed from 
 Burma or Siam. The priests of those countries, not 
 knowing the language of Ceylon, were probably never in 
 possession of the Singhalese version. 
 
 It is said in the same chapter of the Mahawanso : *' All 
 the theros and acharayos held this compilation in the 
 same estimation as the Text." This follows, almost of 
 
 * Mahawanso, 250. 
 
70 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 necessity, if the preceding statements are to be believed ; 
 for if Mabindo Avas a rahat (and therefore incapable of 
 falling into error on any subject connected with religion), 
 the Commentaries he translated must have been as free 
 from error as the original ; if the priests who afterwards 
 committed them to writing were rahats, as the Singhalese 
 affirm, they could not err ; and if Buddhaghoso wrote out 
 the whole of the Wisuddhimargga three times from 
 memory, without the slightest variation, *'even in the 
 letter of a word," we may conclude that his Commentary 
 was equally free from mistake. When the late Mr. George 
 Tumour had an interview, in Kandy, with the two high 
 priests of the Malwatta and Asgiri establishments, and 
 their fraternities, to discuss the question of an '^apparently 
 fatal discrepancy," between the Text and the Commentary, 
 they replied that " the Pittakattha only embodied the 
 essential portions of the discourses, revelations, and pro- 
 phecies of Buddha ; and that his disciples, some centuries 
 after his nibbanan, were endowed with inspiration, and 
 that their supplements to the Pitakattha were as sacred in 
 their estimation as the text itself." The Commentaries, 
 then, it is to bo remembered, are of equal authority with 
 the Text, on the testimony of the author of the Maha- 
 wanso, and of the high priests of botli the establishments 
 in Kandy. 
 
 11. WILSON, MAX MTJLLEU, AND TURNOUR ON 
 
 BUDDHISM. 
 
 "We shall be better prepared to enter upon some of the 
 questions we have yet to consider, if we notice before pro- 
 
"WILSON, MAX MiiLLER, AND TURNOUR ON BUDDHISM. 71 
 
 ceeding further, the opinions formed on Buddhism by the 
 learned men of Europe who have studied this subject. 
 The name of Professor Wilson is well-known, and greatly- 
 revered, in Ceylon, from the vast erudition he has dis- 
 played in his Sanskrit Dictionary and Grammar. The 
 following extracts are taken from an Essay, read as a 
 Lecture, "On Buddha and Buddhism," before the Royal 
 Asiatic Society, April 8, 1854, and published in the 
 Society's Journal, vol. xvi. art. 13. The Professor supposes 
 that the Pali books of Ceylon are not so ancient as the 
 Sanskrit Buddhistical writings of India Proper. " Their 
 subsequent date may be inferred from internal evidence ; 
 for, although they are in all respects the very same as the 
 Buddhist works of India — laying down the same laws and 
 precepts, and narrating the same marvellous legends — they 
 bear the characteristics of a later and less intellectual cul- 
 tivation, in their greater diffuseness, and the extravagant 
 and puerile additions they frequently make to the legen- 
 dary matter." After reference to the accounts that are 
 current among various nations as to the principal events 
 connected with the life and death of Buddha, he thus 
 proceeds : *' These accounts of Sakya's birth and proceed- 
 ings, laying aside the miraculous portions, have nothing 
 very impossible, and it does not seem improbable that an 
 individual of a speculative turn of mind, and not a Brah- 
 man by birth, should have set up a school of his own in 
 opposition to the Brahmanical monopoly of religious in- 
 struction, about six centuries before Christ; at the same 
 time there are various considerations which throw sus- 
 picion upon the narrative, and render it very problematical 
 
72 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 whether any such person as Sakya Sinha, or Sakya Muni, 
 or Sramana Gautama, ever actually existed. In the 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 by a Tibetan author, and 
 a dozen others might be easily added, the whole varying 
 from 2420 to 453 b.c. They may, however, be distin- 
 guished under two heads, that of the northern Buddhists, 
 1030 B.C. for the birth of Buddha, and that of the southern 
 Buddhists, for his death B.C. 543. It is difficult, however, 
 to understand why there should be such a difference as 
 five centuries, if Sakya had lived at either the one or 
 the other date. 
 
 " The name of his tribe, the Sakya, and their existence 
 as a distinct people and principality, find no warrant from 
 any of the Hindu writers, poetical, traditional, or mytho- 
 logical; and the legends that are given to explain their 
 origin and appellation are, beyond measure, absurd. 
 
 " The name of Sakya's father, Suddhodana, * he whose 
 food is pure ' — suggests an allegorical signification, and in 
 that of his mother, Maya, or Mayddevi, 'illusion, divine 
 delusion,' — we have a manifest allegorical fiction ; his 
 secular appellation as a prince, Siddliartha, ' he by whom 
 the end is accomplished,' — and his religious name, Bud- 
 dha, 'he by whom all is known,' are very much in the 
 style of the Pilgrim's Progress, and the city of his birth, 
 Kapila Yastu, which has no place in the geography of the 
 Hindus, is of the same description. It is explained, ' the 
 tawny site,' but it may also be rendered, * the substance of 
 
WILSON, MAX MiiLLER, AND TURNOUR ON BUDDHISM. 73 
 
 Kapila/ intimating, in fact, the Sankliya philosophy, the 
 doctrine of Kapila Muni, upon which the fundamental 
 elements of Buddhism, the eternity of matter, the prin- 
 ciples of things, and final extinction, are evidently based. 
 It seems not impossible, after all, that Sakya Muni is an 
 unreal beinff, and that all that is related of him is as much 
 a fiction as is that of his preceding migrations, and the 
 miracles that attended his birth, his life, and his de- 
 parture." 
 
 These conclusions of Professor Wilson were come to 
 without any reference to their religious bearing, from the 
 insight he gained into Buddhism by the study of Sanskrit 
 authors, and of such works in Pali as had then been 
 translated or published ; and he examines, and determines 
 upon, the character of the system, in the same manner in 
 which he woidd carry on any secular or scientific inves- 
 tigation. "The process of conversion,^' he says in the 
 last sentences of the Essay, " is unavoidably slow, espe- 
 cially in Central Asia, which is almost beyond the reach 
 of European activity and zeal, but there is no occasion to 
 despair of ultimate success. Various agencies are at work, 
 both in the north and the south, before whose salutary 
 influence civilisation is extending ; and the ignorance and 
 superstition which are the main props of Buddhism, must 
 be overturned by its advance." 
 
 No one has done more than Max Miiller to render sub- 
 jects connected with the languages and religions of India 
 popular in England. He has raised language into a 
 science, and by his terseness of style, power of analysis, 
 and richness of resource in illustration, he has also made 
 
/4 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS 
 
 Sanskrit lore part of the literature of the world. In his 
 able work " On Ancient Sanskrit Literature," he makes 
 frequent reference to Buddha, and supposes that the viru- 
 lence with which he was assailed, arose from his opposition 
 to the exclusive privileges and abuses of the Brahmans, 
 rather than from his religious speculations. The bitter- 
 ness of the Brahmans, and the mode in which they assailed 
 their opponents, may be learned from the following extract 
 from Kumarila's Tantra-varttika. " These Sakyas (Budd- 
 hists), Yaiseshikas, and other heretics, who have been 
 frightened out of their wits by the faithful Mimansakas, 
 prattle away with our own words as if trying to lay hold 
 of a shadow. They say that their sacred books are eternal ; 
 but they are of empty minds, and only out of hatred they 
 wish to deny that the Yeda is the most ancient book. And 
 these would-be logicians declare even that some of their 
 precepts (which they have stolen from us), like that of 
 universal benevolence, are not derived from the Yeda, 
 because most of Buddha's other sayings are altogether 
 opposed to the Yeda. Wishing, therefore, to keep true on 
 this point also, and seeing that no merely human precept 
 could have any authority on moral and supernatural sub- 
 jects, they try to veil their difficulty by aping our own 
 aro^uments for the eternal existence of the Yeda. They 
 know that the Mimansakas have proved that no sayings of 
 men can have any authority on supernatural subjects ; 
 they know also that the authority of the Yeda cannot be 
 controverted, because they can bring forward nothing 
 against the proofs adduced for its divine origin, by which 
 all supposition of a human source has been removed. 
 
WILSON, MAX MilLLER, AND TURNOUR ON BUDDHISM. 75 
 
 Therefore, their hearts being gnawed by their own words, 
 which are like the smattering of children, and having 
 themselves nothing to answer, because the deception of 
 their illogical arguments has been destroyed, they begin 
 to speak like a foolish suitor who came to ask for a bride, 
 saying, * My family is as good as your family.' In the 
 same manner they now maintain the eternal existence of 
 their books, aping the speeches of others. And if they 
 are challenged, and told that this is our argument, they 
 brawl, and say that we, the Mimansakas, have heard and 
 stolen it from them. For a man who has lost all shame, 
 who can talk away without any sense, and tries to cheat 
 his opponent, will never get tired, and will never be put 
 down !" Kumarila afterwards tells the Buddhists, that 
 "they who ascribe to everything a merely temporary 
 existence, have no business to talk of an eternal revela- 
 tion:" but, upon their own principles, they would refute 
 this argument, by saying, that what seems to be temporary 
 is the repetition of an eternal series. With the other 
 argument they would have greater difficulty ; that the 
 words of Gotama, who was born like other mortals, and 
 breathed like them, and who afterwards died and was 
 burnt, could not be allowed to supersede the revelation of 
 the gods, as presented in the unerring Yeda. 
 
 We are told by Max Miiller, from whom the preceding 
 extract has been taken, that the Buddhists have no history 
 previous to the time of As oka, except " what was clearly 
 supplied from their own heads and not from authentic 
 documents." Until the adoption of Buddhism as the state 
 religion by that king, there was no object in connecting 
 
76 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 the lives of Buddha and his disciples with the chronology 
 of the Solar or Lunar dj^nasties of India. We possess 
 more than one system of liuddliist chronology, but to try 
 to find out which is ''the most plausible seems useless, and 
 it can only make confusion worse confounded if we attempt 
 a combination of the three." Until new evidence can be 
 brought forward to substantiate the authenticity of the 
 early history of Buddhism as told by the Ceylonese priests, 
 it would be rash to use the dates of the southern Buddhists 
 as a corrective standard for those of the northern Budd- 
 hists or of the Brahmans, as before the year 161 B.C. their 
 chronology is "traditional and full of absurdities.'^ Yijaya, 
 the foimder of the first dynasty, means " conquest, '^ and 
 such a person most likely never existed. To give renown 
 to the temples of Ceylon, the statement was invented that 
 they had been visited by Buddha. These are the conclu- 
 sions of another orientalist; who regards the legends of 
 Buddha as "absurd," and its chronology as "confusion." 
 
 From the attention paid to Pali literature by the late 
 Mr. Turnour, — the most prominent name among the few 
 civilians of the island who have interested themselves in 
 the study of its languages, history, or religion — it is be- 
 lieved by many of the natives that he w^as in reality a 
 Buddhist ; with what reason, we may learn from the fol- 
 lowing extracts. "According to the Buddhistical creed, 
 all remote, historical data, whether sacred or profane, 
 anterior to Gotama's advent, are based upon kis revelation. 
 They are involved in absurdity as unboimded, as the 
 
 mystification in which Hindu literature is enveloped 
 
 It would be inconsistent with the scheme of sxitli a creed, 
 
WILSON, MAX MiiLLER, AND TURNOUR ON BUDDHISM. 77 
 
 and absurd on our part, to expect that the Buddhistical 
 data comprised in the four and a half centuries (subsequent 
 to the advent of Gotama), should be devoid of glaring 
 absurdities and gross superstitions."* "In regard to the 
 236 years which elapsed from the death of Gotama to the 
 introduction of Buddhism in Ceylon, in e.g. 307, there is 
 ground for suspecting that sectarian zeal, or the impostures 
 of superstition, have led to the assignment of the same 
 date for the landing of Wijayo, with the cardinal Budd- 
 histical event — the death of Gotama. If historical annals 
 did exist (of which there is ample internal evidence) in 
 Ceylon, anterior to Mahindo's arrival, Buddhist historians 
 have adapted those data to their falsified chronology." f 
 "Both the chronology and the historical narrative, prior 
 to the advent of Gotama Buddha, are involved in inten- 
 tional perversion and mystification ; a perversion evidently 
 had recourse to for the purpose of working out the scheme 
 on which he based that wonderful dispensation, which was 
 promulgated over Central India, during his pretended 
 divine mission on earth of forty-five years, between 588 
 and 543 before the birth of Christ." :J: There are other 
 passages of a similar description scattered throughout Mr. 
 Tumour's writings. No missionary has been more explicit 
 than he, in declaring Buddhism to be a pretence and 
 superstitious imposture, though he was better acquainted 
 with its history and character than any other civilian who 
 has resided in the island. 
 
 The inhabitants of India, who have among themselves 
 
 * Mahawanso, xxviii. f Mahawanso, li. 
 
 X Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society, vol. vii. 686. 
 
78 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 few examples of men wlio study, for years and years, a 
 religion tliey regard as false, for the sake of the general 
 information they thereby gain, take it for granted, when 
 they see a European poring over one of their sacred books 
 with intense interest, that it must necessarily be because 
 he admires its contents, and believes its doctrines. But 
 let them know, that this is a conclusion that has no foun- 
 dation in truth. 
 
 12. DirFERENCES I]^ THE CHROIS'OLOGY OF THE 
 
 BUDDHISTS. 
 
 It will have been noticed that there is one subject re- 
 ferred to alike by all the writers we have just named — the 
 extraordinary differences in the chronology of Buddha's 
 appearance, as adopted by the various nations that have 
 embraced his faith. This difference amounts to nearly two 
 thousand years. The Chinese have the following dates for 
 this event : B.C. 640, 767, 949, 950, 1045, and 1130. From 
 the Tibetan books fourteen different dates have been col- 
 lected, by the learned Hungarian, Csoma de Korosi : B.C. 
 546, 576, 653, 752, 837, 880, 882, 884, 1060, 1310, 2139, 
 2135, 2144, and 2422. The Japanese date is about B.C. 
 1000. Fa Uian, a Chinese traveller who visited Cej^on 
 in A.D. 410, says that ten days before " the middle of the 
 third moon" the king of this island was accustomed to 
 send a preacher to proclaim the austerities and mortifica- 
 tions of Buddha, at the conclusion of which he declared : 
 "since his Ni houan 1497 years have elapsed;" which 
 would make the death of Buddha to be in the year B.C. 
 
DIFFERENCES IN THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE BUDDHISTS. 79 
 
 1077.* Hiun Thsang, another Chinese pilgrim, who wrote 
 A.D. 640, after his return from India, says that the accounts 
 differ about Buddha's death, it being fixed at 900, 1000, 
 1200, 1300, and 1500 years before his time. The Maha- 
 wanso fixes the same date for the death of Buddha and the 
 landing of Wijaya in Ceylon ; but this date, B.C. 543, is 
 never found in the sacred chronology of Buddhism, before 
 it was borrowed from the profane chronology of Ceylon.f 
 It was the opinion of Mr. Tumour that "sectarian zeal, or 
 the impostures of superstition," had led to the assign- 
 ment of the same date for both these cardinal events. 
 Professor Wilson founded one of his reasons for question- 
 ing the existence of Buddha upon the fact of these numer- 
 ous discrepancies; and the Buddhist will do well to ask 
 himself. If the being I worship, and in whom I trust, 
 once lived, how has it come to pass that the differences of 
 opinion about the date of his death are so many, and 
 extending to so vast a period ? 
 
 * Laidlay's Pilgrimage of Fa Hian. 
 f Max Miiller, Ancient Sanskrit Literature. 
 
80 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 THE COSMICAL SYSTEM OE THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 In the preceding chapter we have prepared our way, 
 gradually, for a more direct and immediate notice and 
 refutation of the various statements put forth by Buddhist 
 writers that are not ''historically true;'* in which I in- 
 clude everj^thing that is contrary to facts known, proved, 
 and universally acknowledged, in European literature or 
 science. I confine myself, almost exclusively, to Pali 
 authorities ; and in the few instances in which I have 
 deviated from this course, I have given notice that my 
 information is taken from some more modern work. 
 
 PAET FIEST.— THE EUDDHIST UNIVERSE. 
 
 The Buddhists are taught that the universe is composed 
 of limitless systems or worlds, called Chakka-wala, or Sak- 
 walas. They are scattered throughout space, in sections 
 of three and three,* — and incomprehensible as is their 
 number, they can all be seen by Buddha ; who can know 
 whatever takes place in any one of tlicm,t if he turns his 
 
 * Appendix, Note C. 
 
 t Xotc D. Tlie Sara Sangrilia, from wliicli this infornintion is gained, is a 
 compilation from the Text and Commentaries, by the priest Suddattha, The 
 statement here made is taken by him from the Commentary on the Euddha 
 Wanso, whieh is not in the Mission Library. 
 
THE BUDDHIST UNIVERSE. 
 
 81 
 
 attention towards it, or wills to know it. In the centre 
 of each system there is a mountain called Sineru, or Maha 
 Meru. It is 1,680,000 miles from its base to its summit ; 
 half of which mass is below, and half above the surface of 
 the ocean. It is the same size, or 840,000 miles in length 
 and breadth.* On each side it is of a different colour, being 
 like silver towards the east, and like a sapphire towards 
 the south. t But though its sides are spoken of, it is 
 round, not square. If it were square, like a house, it 
 would be spoken of as having a north wall, or a south 
 wall. Its side means its aspect, whether north or south ; 
 and by its size is meant its diameter. It is supported on 
 the three-peaked Trikuta rock, like a vessel upon a tripod. 
 If it were square it would require four rocks upon which 
 to stand, instead of three. Where these rocks rise to 
 the elevation of 40,000 miles, there Maha Meru rests, 
 and it is firmly clasped by them as by a pair of pincers. 
 When it is said in the Loka-pannyap-tip-prakarana that 
 it lies in the ocean only 800,000 miles deep, it is because 
 the elevation of the rocks is not included. The three 
 rocks rest upon a World of Stone. The Chatumaharajika, 
 deva-loka, or celestial world, extends from the summit of 
 the Yugandhara rocks to Sakwala-gala. On the summit 
 of Maha Meru is Tawutisa, the heaven of Sekra. There 
 are six dewa-lokas in all. There are sixteen riipa-brahma- 
 
 * There is some uncertainty about the length of the yojana, by which all 
 great distances in India are measured ; but to be rather below, than above, 
 the supposed length, and for convenience of calculation, I have reckoned it at 
 10 miles. The native reading for the size of either half of Maha Meru would 
 be 84,000 yojanas, or yodunas. Note E. 
 
 t Note F. 
 
 6 
 
82 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 lokas, in which there are no sensuous pleasures, and four 
 more in which there is no hodily form. The residence of 
 the asurs is under Maha Meru. There are eight places of 
 suffering situated in the interior of the earth. At the 
 circumference, or outer circle, of the system, there is a 
 ridge of stone, called the Sakwala rock, 12,034,500 miles 
 in diameter, and 36,103,500 miles in circumference.* 
 
 Between Maha Meru and the Sakwala ridge there are 
 seven circles of rocks, with seven seas between them.f 
 They are circular because of the shape of Maha Meru. 
 The first, or innermost, Yugandhara, is 210,000 miles 
 broad ; its inner circumference is 7,560,000 miles, and its 
 outer 8,220,000 miles. From Maha Meru to Yugandhara 
 is 840,000 miles. Near Maha Meru the depth of the sea 
 is 840,000 miles, from which its depth gradually decreases, 
 until near Yugandhara it is 420,000 miles. The second, 
 Isadhara, is 210,000 miles high, and 105,000 broad ; its 
 inner circumference is 11,340,050 miles, and its outer 
 11,970,000. The width of the sea between Yugandhara 
 and Isadhara is 420,000 miles. Near Yugandhara the 
 depth of the sea is 420,000 miles, and near Isadhara 
 210,000. The third, Karawika, is 105,000 miles high, 
 and 52,500 broad; its inner circumference is 13,230,000 
 miles, and its outer 13,540,050. The width of the sea 
 between Isadhara and Karawika is 210,000 miles. Near 
 Isadhara the depth of the sea is 210,000 miles, and near 
 Karawika 105,000. The fourth, Sudassana, is 52,500 
 miles high, and 26,250 broad. Its inner circumference 
 is 14,175,000 miles, and its outer 14,332,500. The width 
 
 * Appendix, Note G. t Note U. 
 
THE BUDDHIST UNIVERSE. 83 
 
 of the sea between Karawika and Sudassana is 105,000 
 miles. Near Karawika the depth of the sea is 105,000 
 miles, and near Sudassana 52,500. The fifth, Nemindara, 
 is 26,250 miles high, and 13,125 broad. Its inner cir- 
 cumference is 14,647,500 miles, and its outer, 14,726,250. 
 The width of the sea between Sudassana and Nemindhara 
 is 52,500 miles. Its depth near Sudassana is 52,500 miles, 
 and near Kemindhara 26,250. The sixth, Winataka, is 
 13,125 miles high and 6,562J broad. Its inner circum- 
 ference is 14,883,750 miles, and its outer 14,923,120. 
 The width of the sea between Nemindhara and Winataka 
 is 26,250 miles. Its depth near Nemindhara is 26,250 
 miles, and near "Winataka 13,125. The seventh, Aswa- 
 kanna, is 6,562J miles high, and 3,281^ broad. Its inner 
 circumference is 15,001,860 miles, and its outer, 15,711,700. 
 The width of the sea between Winataka and Aswakanna 
 is 13,125 miles. Its depth near Winataka is 13,125 miles, 
 and near Aswakanna 6,5 62i. From Maha Meru to the 
 Sakwala rock the distance is 5,597,250 miles ; and the rock 
 itself is 1,640,000 miles high, half below the water and 
 half above.* Buddhaghoso names Yugandhara first ; but 
 Buddha himself mentions them in the f olio win o^ order: 
 Sudassana, Karawika, Isadhara, Yugandhara, Nemindhara, 
 Winataka, and Aswakanna. But the discrepancy is to be 
 reconciled thus. On a certain occasion Matali, the chariot- 
 eer of Sekra, showed king Nimi the infernal regions. As 
 their return was delayed, Sekra sent the swift Jawana to 
 
 * There is a discrepancy between these numbers and those given in other 
 places ; in some instances arising from errors of transcription in copying the 
 native olas. 
 
84 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 enquire what was the reason. The chariot was at once 
 turned towards the heaven whence they had come, Tawutisa. 
 When they rose above the water, they were near Sudassana, 
 and the king, looking before and behind, enquired what 
 rocks they were that he saw ; and the charioteer, looking 
 first before him, said, Sudassana, Karawika, Isadhara, and 
 Yugandhara ; and then looking behind him, said, Nemind- 
 hara, Winataka, and Aswakanna. Buddha, referring to 
 this occurrence, mentions them in the same order, whilst 
 the author of the Wisuddhi Margga takes them in their 
 local order, beorinning: with the innermost first. But there 
 is no disagreement between the one statement and the 
 other ; like the waters of the Yamuna and Ganga they 
 become united. "When the author of the Atuwawa on the 
 Mmi Jataka defines what Sudassana is, he says that the 
 outermost circle of rock is Sudassana ; but he wrote this 
 from carelessness, or want of thought.* 
 
 The seas between the circles of rock are called Sidanta, 
 because their waters are so light, or unbuoyant, that the 
 feather of a peafowl would not float in them.f There are 
 also seas that have their names from the colour of the rcLja 
 that fall on them from Maha Meru, or from the gems that 
 they contain. The rays are like the respective sides of the 
 mountain ; and the silver rays from the east, mingling 
 with the sapphire rays from the south, cause the seas and 
 skies in those directions to be of the same colour. The 
 rays pass across the circular rocks and seas, until they 
 strike against the Sakwala ridge.:}: The waters of the seas 
 
 • Jinklaokkra. t Appendix, Note I. I Note J. 
 
THE BUDDHIST UNIVERSE. 85 
 
 do not increase on account of rain, or diminish on account 
 of heat.* 
 
 The Great World is 2,400,000 miles in vertical thickness. 
 At its base is the Gal Polowa, or World of Stone, consisting 
 of hard rock, serving the same purpose as the boards at the 
 bottom of a tub, and impervious to water, 1,200,000 miles 
 thick ; and above that is the Pas Polowa, or World of Earth, 
 also 1,200,000 miles thick. Underneath the World of Stone 
 is the Jala Polowa, or World of Water, 4,800,000 miles 
 thick ; and below this the Wa Polowa, or World of Wind, 
 9,600,000, miles thick.f 
 
 In the great sea between the Aswakanna and Sakwala 
 rock there are four continents. 1. Jambudipa, in shape 
 like a chariot, is 100,000 miles in length and breadth. 
 
 2. Aparagoyana, in shape like a mirror, 70,000 miles. 
 
 3. Pubbawideha, in shape like a half-moon, 70,000 miles. 
 
 4. Uttarakuru, in shape like a seat, 80,000 miles. Around 
 each continent there are 500 islands. The faces of the 
 inhabitants are of the same shape as the continents in 
 which they live. J 
 
 From Maha Meru to the Aswakanna rocks is 2,083,600 
 miles ; from Maha Meru to the centre of Jambudipa is 
 2,798,600 miles ; and from Jambudipa to the middle of the 
 Sakwala rock is 2,798,000 miles, a little more or a little 
 less, as the odd yojanas are not reckoned. This continent 
 is situated in the centre of the Blue Sea.§ 
 
 If it were not for the circular rocks, all the waters 
 
 * S^ra Sangaha. Anguttara Nikaya Wannan^,, the Sth Nipata. Pah^r&da 
 Suttanta. "VVisuddhi Mar2:o:a. 
 
 t Note K. I Sara Sangaha. § Jinalankara, Appendix, Note L. 
 
86 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 would form one great ocean ; tHen, when the great wind 
 strikes against Meru and the Himala-wana, and the 
 Sakwala is shaken, the waters would be shaken too, and 
 all running to one side, would overflow the continents and 
 islands, and the Sakwala would be destroyed. When the 
 Sakwala is shaken, the waters within it are shaken too, 
 and this causes the sea to ebb and flow. In the Maha 
 Parinibbana Suttanta, Buddha enumerates to Anando 
 eight causes of earthquakes. The first he mentions is on 
 this wise : " The earth rests on the Jala-polo wa, or World 
 of Water, and the water rests on the Wa-polowa, or World 
 of Wind. The wind rests on the Akasa, air, or space. 
 Anando ! whenever the great wind blows, it causes the 
 water to shake, and when the water shakes, the earth 
 shakes."* The Aluwawa says: "When the wind blows 
 that shakes the Sakwala, it makes an opening in the 
 World of Wind, by which the water descends, and the 
 earth descends too ; but when the wind returns to its own 
 place, the water rises, and the earth rises with it. Thus, 
 when the water shakes, the earth shakes too, and this 
 shaking continues to our own time, but because the earth 
 is so large, its rising and descending are not perceived." 
 The Tika says that the Gal Polowa, or World of Stone, 
 and the Sakwala ridge arc joined together like (the 
 timbers of) a ship, and are one; only, to make a dis- 
 tinction, that which is under is called Gal Polowa, and 
 that which is round, Sakwala Gala. The Gal Polowa, 
 which prevents the World of Water from overflowing the 
 World of Earth, is like the bottom of an iron vessel, 
 
 * Appendix, Note M. 
 
THE BUDDHIST UNIVERSE. 87 
 
 the Sakwala ridge is like the rim of the vessel, the con- 
 tinents are like the rice (put in to be eaten), and the oceans 
 are like the sauce poured around the rice. * 
 
 Each Sakwala has a sun and moon. The sun is 500 
 miles in height, length, and breadth, and its circumference 
 is 1,500 miles. The moon is 490 miles in height, length, 
 and breadth, and its circumference 1,470 miles. Their 
 orbits are horizontal with Maha Meru, at an eleva- 
 tion of 420,000 miles above the surface of the earth. 
 The orbit of the moon is lower than that of the sun by 
 ten miles. It is one thousand miles from the lowest part 
 of the moon to the highest part of the sun. The inside of 
 the sun is gold, and the outside is covered over with 
 crystal. Both within and without it is hot. The inside of 
 the moon is a gem, and the outside is covered with silver. 
 Both within and without it is cold.t On the day of the 
 dark moon, the moon is immediately under the sun. The 
 sun and moon travel on together, but as the moon does not 
 move so rapidly as the sun, the distance between them 
 increases continually, until, on the day of the full moon, 
 it is 15,000,000 miles from the sun. J In the space of one 
 month it moves towards the north, and then towards the 
 south, as the sun does in one year. The planets travel on 
 the two sides of the moon. The moon moves towards 
 them, as a cow towards her calf. It never leaves the 
 twentj^-seven lunar mansions. When the sun travels 
 crosswise, from south to north, or from north to south, 
 it moves more slowly than when its course is straight. On 
 the day after the dark moon, the sun has passed away 
 * Jinalankara. f Appendix, Note N. J Note 0. 
 
88 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 from the moon a million miles, on account of its greater 
 swiftness. The moon then appears like a streak, or line. 
 On the second day the distance has increased a million 
 miles more. And thus it continues, day by day, until, on 
 the day of the full moon, when the sun is at the greatest 
 distance from the moon, and the sun's shadow entirely 
 removed from the moon, the whole of the moon's surface 
 appears. The same process then goes on as before ; the 
 distance between the sun and moon being altered by a 
 million of miles each day ; but it now diminishes, instead 
 of being increased. On the day of the dark moon, the 
 sun being the higher of the two, overshadows the moon, 
 like the covering of a small vessel by a larger, or the over- 
 powering of the light of a lamp by the sun's rays at 
 mid-day. * 
 
 There are three paths, and to each of the paths there are 
 four signs (of the Zodiac), in which the sun and moon 
 constantly travel ; they are the Goat, the Bull, and the 
 Elephant, t When they are in the first there is no rain ; 
 when in the second, there is a moderate quantity, neither 
 too much rain nor too much heat ; and when in the third 
 the rain is excessive, and pours down as if the heavens 
 were opened. The sun and moon, during six months of 
 the year, move from Maha Meru towards the Sakwala 
 rock, and during the other six months from the Sakwala 
 rock towards Maha Meru. When the path of the sun is 
 not cross-wise but straight, it gives light to three of the 
 continents at once. In each direction its rays remove the 
 darkness for the space of 9,000,000 miles. When the sun 
 • Sara Sangaha. t Appendix, Note P, 
 
THE BUDDHIST UNIVERSE. 89 
 
 is rising in this continent (Jambudipa), it is mid- day in 
 Pubbawideha, sunset in Uttarakuru, and midnight in Apa- 
 ragoyana ; when it is rising in Pubbawideha, it is mid-day 
 in Uttarakuru, sunset in Aparagoyana, and midnight 
 in this continent ; when it is rising in Uttarakuru it 
 is mid-day in Aparagoyana, sunset in this continent, 
 and midnight in Pubbawideha ; when it is rising in Apa- 
 ragoyana it is mid-day in this continent, sunset in Pub- 
 bawideha, and midnight in Uttarakuru ; and when it is 
 mid- day in this continent, half the sun appears in Pub- 
 bawideha, as if setting, and half appears in Aparagoyana, 
 as if rising ; thus the sun illuminates three continents (at 
 the same time).* 
 
 Are the sun and moon swallowed by the asur RahuPf 
 Yes. This Pahu is 48,000 miles in size; his breadth 
 between the shoulders is 12,000 miles ; his thickness, from 
 breast to back, is 6,000 miles ; his head is 9,000 miles in 
 size ; his forehead 3,000 miles ; from ej^ebrow to eyebrow 
 is 1,500 miles ; his nose is 3,000 miles long, and his mouth 
 3,000 miles deep ; the breadth of his palm and of his foot 
 foot is 2,000 miles ; and one joint of his finger is 500 
 miles long. When Pahu sees the shining of the sun, 
 he descends towards the path in which it moves, and there 
 remaining with his mouth open, the sun falls into it, as if 
 into the Awdchi hell. The dewas resident in the sun bawl 
 out, trembling with fear. He sometimes covers the sun 
 and moon with his hand ; sometimes hides them under his 
 jaw; sometimes licks them with his tongue; and some- 
 
 * Note Q,. Sara Sangaha, S^rattha Dipani, Agganya Sutta Wannan^. 
 t Note R. 
 
90 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 times moves ttiem up and down in his mouth, like an 
 .animal chewing its cud. But he is not able to prevent 
 them from moving onward. Were he to attempt to keep 
 them in his mouth, saying, "I will kill these (bawling) 
 dewas," they would escape through the crown of his 
 head.* 
 
 The waters of the sea in which the "VYalabhamukha 
 is formed, rise up towards the sky, appearing in all 
 directions like a lake with its embankments broken 
 down. When the waters thus rise, one side appears like 
 a precipice, and the other like a valley ; and they rush 
 impetuously towards the Aswakanna and Sakwala rock. 
 They rise in waves the height of ten or a hundred miles, 
 causing a hollow like the infernal regions, and making a 
 noise sufficient to break the drum of the ear. There is a 
 great whirlpool in one part of the sea. It is thus caused : 
 the gates of the Awichi hell (underneath Jambudipa), are 
 continually opening and shutting, by which a great flame 
 arises, so that the water boils for many miles below the 
 surface, which is thereby greatly agitated. It is this 
 terrible place that is called Walabhamukha.f 
 
 The waters become deeper as they recede from the 
 continents, on both sides, gradually, according to the 
 following scale ; an inch, two inches, a span, a cubit, a 
 yashtiya, an isba, a half gawuta, a gawuta, a half j^ojana, a 
 yojana, and so on, until, near Maha Meru they are 840,000 
 miles deep, and near tlic Sakwala rock 820,000 miles. 
 From the bottom upwards, for 400,000 miles, they are 
 
 * Sara Sanj^aha. Sanyutta "Wannani. 
 
 t Sara Sangaha. Suppira Jutaka. Thera Githa Wanuan^. 
 
THE BUDDHIST UNIVERSE. 91 
 
 agitated by large fishes ; and from the surface downward, 
 for 400,000 miles, they are agitated by the wind. In the , 
 40,000 miles that intervene between the two agitations, 
 there is a perfect calm. There are waves 600 miles high, 
 called Mahinda ; others 400 miles high, called Porana.* 
 The carcases of elephants, horses, and other animals, are 
 cast on shore, as if thrown by the hand, and no ^impurity 
 whatever attaches to the waters. In them there are fishes 
 called Timinda, 2,000 miles in size ; Timingala, 3,000 
 miles ; and Timira Pingala, 5,000 miles. There are four 
 others, Ananda, Timinda, Ajaroha, and Maha Timi, each 
 10,000 miles in size. When the Timira Pingala shakes 
 his right or left ear, the waters are agitated for the space 
 of 5000 miles around, and it is the same when he shakes 
 his head or his tail. When he moves his head and tail 
 together, the waters are agitated for the space of 8000 
 miles. It requires water more than a thousand miles deep 
 to cover his back.f 
 
 In the continent of Jambudipa, there are 40,000 miles 
 that have been swallowed up by the ocean, because the 
 merit of those who were to derive benefit from the land 
 was exhausted ; 30,000 miles are covered by the Himala- 
 wana ; and 30,000 miles are inhabited by men.:|: In the 
 part in which men live there are fifty- six ratnakaras (places 
 where gold, and the other ten kinds of treasure, are found) ; 
 99,000 seaports, from which customs are levied; and 189,000 
 cities. 
 
 The Himala-wana is so called, because it is covered with 
 
 * Appendix, Note S. f Sara Sangaha. Maha Nidana Sutta "Wannana, 
 
 in the Digha Nikaya. Appendix, Note T. X Note U. 
 
92 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 hima, or snow ; or because in tlie hot season the snow melts. 
 There are 500 rivers in it, each of which is 500 miles in 
 length, breadth, and depth. There are seven large lakes : 
 Anotatta, Kannamunda, Eathakara, Chhaddhanta, Kunala, 
 Mandakini, and Sihappapata, each of which is 1500 miles 
 in extent. Around Anotatta are five mountains : Sudas- 
 sana, Chitta, Kala, Gandhamadana, and Kailasa. Sudas- 
 sana is golden, and 2000 miles high ; its rocks hang over, 
 like the bill of a crow ; Chitta is throughout of gold ; Kala 
 is of antimony ; Gandhamadana is of the colour of mung 
 seed, and there grow upon it ten different kinds of fragrant 
 creepers or trees : kalu-wa.^1, with the fragrance in the 
 root ; sandun, in the wood ; hora, in the outer integument ; 
 lawanga (cinnamon ?), in the bark ; dhulu, in the layers ; 
 sarja, in the milk ; tamala, in the leaf; kungkuman, in the 
 flower; jatiphala, in the fruit; and ghanda-ghanda, in 
 every part ; with various kinds of medicinal plants. There 
 are also caves : golden, gem-like, and silver. At the en- 
 trance of the gem-like cave, there is a tree called Munju- 
 saka, ten miles high and ten broad, on which grow all 
 kinds of plants, whether aquatic or terrene ; and a wind 
 arises that removes all impurities, now making smooth and 
 even the comminuted gems of which the surrounding sand 
 is composed, and now sprinkling water from the Anotatta 
 lake, that has the fragrance of all sweet-scented trees. 
 Seats are at all times prepared for the reception of the 
 Pase-Buddhas, when any appear. AVhcn one Pase-Buddlia 
 takes his seat, all the others assemble there at the same 
 time ; and if any one has recently attained this privi- 
 lege, he tells how he became possessed of it. All the 
 
THE BUDDHIST UNIVERSE. 93 
 
 mountains are of the same heiglit and form. All are 500 
 miles broad, and in length and height 2000 miles. The 
 water in the lake is clear as crystal, and there are bathing- 
 places in it well divided from each other, to which those 
 resort who have merit ; the Buddhas, Pase-Buddhas, the 
 rishis who have the power of irdhi, the dewas, and yak- 
 shas. From its four sides proceed four rivers, called after 
 the mouths from which they issue : Singha, lion ; Hasta, 
 elephant ; Aswa, horse ; and Wrashabha, bull. These 
 animals abound upon their banks. Each of the rivers 
 goes three times round the lake, and then passes onward 
 to the sea. The river at the south proceeds in a straight 
 line over a bed of stone 600 miles, then strikes against a 
 rock, rising about ten miles in all directions, and becoming 
 like a lake ten miles in size, then passes 600 miles through 
 the air, and in its fall breaks the rock Tiyaggala in pieces. 
 It then becomes a lake 500 miles in extent, proceeds 600 
 miles on a bed of stone, and 600 miles underground, and 
 after striking against the rock Windhya, changes into five 
 streams, like the fingers on the hand. As the river goes 
 three times round Anotatta, it is called Awartta (coiling) ; 
 for the next 600 miles, Krashna ; when rising into the sky, 
 Akasa; after striking the rock, Tiyaggala; after passing the 
 rock, Bahata Ganga ; and when going underground, Uman. 
 The five rivers are the Ganga, Yamuna, Achirawati, Sara- 
 bhu, and Mahi. In the centre of the lakes the water is 
 clear, and there are then circles, ten miles broad, of vegeta- 
 tion, each circle having its own kind of plant or tree.* 
 
 * These are described in the original with great minuteness ; but I have 
 not thought it necessary to insert the description at length. 
 
94 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISIS. 
 
 Between the eastern and northern mouths of Chhaddantha 
 there is a nuga, or banian tree, the trunk of which is fifty- 
 miles round and seventy miles high ; it has branches on its 
 four sides sixty miles long ; from the root to the highest 
 part is 130 miles ; and from the tip of one branch to that 
 of the opposite one is 120 miles. It has 8000 roots, shin- 
 ing like the mountain Munda Mani.* On the eastern side 
 of the same lake there is a cave 120 miles in size, to which 
 the chief of the elephants, with 8000 others resort in the 
 rainy season, whilst in the hot season they lie among the 
 roots of the banian tree. Near the lakes, the sugar cane 
 grows as high as an areca tree. There are plantains as 
 large as an elephant's trunk, and lotus flowers the size of 
 the head of a plough. f 
 
 There are lions in the Himala-wana of four kinds: trina, 
 kala, pandu, and kesara. The trina is dove-coloured, and in 
 shape like a cow. It feeds on grass. The kala is like a 
 black cow, and feeds on grass. The pandu is of a yellow 
 colour (like a priest's robe,) and in shape is like a cow ; it 
 feeds on flesh. The kesara has its mouth, the tips of its 
 nails, and the extremities of its feet, red, like sealing-wax; 
 three lines run from the head along the back, as if drawn 
 by the pencil of a painter ; his mane is of thick hair, like 
 a rough mantle worth a laksha of money ; and in other 
 parts of his body his colour is like fine flour or the powder 
 of chanqucs. He is called murga-raja, or the kiug of 
 beasts. Issuing from a golden, silver, or gem-like cave, he 
 goes forth, cither because he is tired of darkness and wishes 
 for light, or for purposes of nature, or in search of food, or 
 • Sura Sangaba, Sarattlia Dipaui. f Saia Sangaba. 
 
THE BUDDHIST UNIVERSE. 95 
 
 prompted by passion. WTien going in searcli of food, lie 
 stands on a rock, or some other elevation, places his hind 
 legs evenly, spreads his front legs before him, draws forward 
 the hind part of his body, bends his back, breathes with a 
 noise like the thunder, and shakes the dust from his body. 
 In the same place he runs to and fro, like a young calf, at 
 this time appearing like a fire-brand whirled round in the 
 night. In compassion towards other beasts, he looks round 
 and roars ; at which time the elephants, bulls, and bufialoes, 
 which are on mountains, or near ponds and lakes, fall down 
 the precipice into the water. But can there be compassion 
 in one that feeds on another's flesh ? Yes. Thus he thinks : 
 Of what use will it be to kill many ? I must not destroy 
 the smaller beasts ; and so he has compassion. At his first 
 roar he can be heard thirty miles, in every direction. No 
 biped or quadruped that hears this roar can remain in the 
 same place. When he sports himself, he can leap, to the 
 right or left, an isba, and when he leaps upward, four or 
 eight isbas. If he leaps on even ground, he can leap 
 twelve or twenty isbas ; if from a rock or elevated place, 
 sixty or eighty isbas. If his course is intercepted by a 
 tree or rock, he passes an isba round, in order to avoid it. 
 "When he roars the third time, he moves thirty miles, as 
 rapidly as the sound of the roar, and at that distance he 
 overtakes the echo of his own voice.* 
 
 In the same forest there is a Jambu^ or Damba tree, 
 
 from which Jambudipa, or Dambadiwa, derives its names. 
 
 From the root to the highest part is 1000 miles ; the space 
 
 covered by the outspreading branches is 3000 miles in cir- 
 
 * Sara Sangalia, Appendix, Note V. Anguttara Nikaya Wannana. 
 
96 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 cumference ; the trunk is 150 miles round, and 500 miles 
 from the root to the place where the branches begin to 
 extend ; the four great branches are each 500 miles long, 
 and from between these flow four great rivers. Where 
 the fruit of the tree falls, small plants of gold arise, which 
 are washed into the river, and carried onward to the 
 ocean.* 
 
 This summary of what we may call the geography and 
 astronomy of the Buddhists, is taken from works that are 
 , considered as authoritative by the followers of the Tathagato ; 
 but nearly every one of the propositions therein contained 
 is proved to be false, unfounded, and unreal, by the demon- 
 strations of science. On reading them, the European, or 
 the native of India who is acquainted with European 
 literature, is ready to say, " "What nonsense ! these things 
 are too absurd to require to be refuted ;" but, though they 
 may appear in this light to those who have received 
 superior instruction, it may be well to remember, that 
 errors which have been regarded as revealed truth during 
 thousands of years, are not to be set aside by an utterance 
 of surprise or an expression of contempt. I shall, therefore, 
 examine, one by one, the statements attributed to the 
 Bhagawa ; who is called sarwagnya, the all-knowing ; 
 buddha, he who knows all that can be known, and lokawidu, 
 he who knows all worlds. 
 
 • Skra Sangaha. Note "W. WisuddM Magga. Sarattha Dipani. 
 
THE CHAKKA-WALA, OR SAKWALAS. 97 
 
 PART SECOND. — THE ERROES OF THE 
 
 SYSTEM. 
 
 1. THE CHAKKA-WALA, OR SAKWALAS. 
 
 It was the thouglit of Buddlia tTiat there are number- 
 less worlds on a- plane level with the world in which we 
 live. When he resided in the Nigrodharama temple, at 
 Kapila-wattu, his native city, he was asked by Anando 
 about a certain srawaka, called Abhibhu, who, whilst 
 resident in one of the brahma-lokas, could cause his voice 
 to be heard at the same time in a thousand worlds ; and he 
 was further requested by Anando to inform him whether 
 he himself possessed a similar power. Buddha replied ; 
 " The Tathagato is unlimited, appameyya (in the exercise 
 of this power.") The same question was asked by Anando 
 three times. Buddha then enquired if he knew what 
 chtilani lokadhatu meant ? And as he intimated, in reply, 
 that this would be a proper time in which to instruct the 
 priests upon the subject, the sage proceeded : '' The space 
 illuminated by one sun and moon is a lokadhatu, or world. 
 A thousand of these are a chiilani lokadhatu, or inferior 
 series of worlds ; so that in one chulani lokadhatu there 
 are a thousand suns and moons, a thousand Maha Merus, a 
 thousand of each of the four continents, four thousand 
 great oceans, and a thousand each of the dewa and brahma 
 lokas ; this is a chulani lokadhatu. Two thousand of these 
 make a majjhimika lokadhatu, or middle series. Three 
 thousand of the middle series make a maha sahassi lokad- 
 
 7 
 
98 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 hatu, or superior series. Anando ! if tlie Tathdgato is 
 wishful, he can cause his voice to be heard in all these 
 worlds, or even a greater number. And it is in this way. 
 By the glory proceeding from the Tathagato, all these 
 worlds are enlightened, and when the enquiry is made, 
 whence this brightness proceeds, he speaks with his voice, 
 (so that in all these worlds it can be heard).* 
 
 At another time, when Buddha resided in the Jetawana 
 wihara, near the city of Sawatthi, a certain dewata, called 
 Bohatissa, came to him by night, illuminating the whole 
 place by his presence, and respectfully asked him, "Is it 
 possible to know, see, or arrive at, the limit (of the worlds), 
 or a place where there is neither birth, jayati ; existence, 
 jiyati; death, miyati ; or re-production, chawati ?" Buddha 
 replied, "I do not say there is such a limit;'' but he 
 repeated a stanza to this effect : 
 
 By journeying (one) cannot arrive at 
 
 The limit of the loka : 
 
 (But) without arriving at the limit 
 
 There is (yet) freedom from sorrow (dukkha). 
 
 The dewata afterwards said ; " In a former birth I was 
 a rishi, of the same name as now. I had the power of 
 irdhi, and could go through the air. How? As the 
 arrow of the skilful archer cuts through the shadow of a 
 tall tree, with the same ease and rapidity I could stej) from 
 the eastern to the western boundary of the Sakwala. Being 
 possessed of this rapidity of motion, and Icngtli of step, a 
 desire arose in my mind to travel to the end of the world. 
 In this way, and for tliis purpose, I travelled for the 
 
 * Anguttara Nikaya. Appendix, Note X. 
 
THE CHAKKA-WALA, OR SAKWALAS. 99 
 
 period o^ one hundred years, never stopping unless for 
 eating, drinking, sleeping, or the purposes of nature ; but 
 in that space of time I had not arrived at the end of the 
 world; and I then died."* 
 
 No one but the Tathagato can know the extent of the 
 in&iite worlds. The Sakwalas are not the stars, as is 
 sometimes supposed ; they are tub-like masses, of the same 
 shape as our own Sakwala, floating as ships in the great 
 imiverse of waters, which is everywhere extended, and is 
 itself supported by the air, everywhere extended also. But 
 though the telescope of the astronomer has swept through 
 every part of the heavens, north, south, east, west, above, 
 and below, and revealed the existence of thousands of 
 worlds never seen by the naked eye, he has not discovered 
 anything like a Sakwala. It is not strictly correct that 
 Buddha teaches that the Sakwala is itself a plane. The 
 four continents and the great seas are on a level ; but from 
 Aswakanna to Maha Meru there is a series of rises, cul- 
 minating in the heaven of Sekra. Yet no fact in science 
 is more certain than that the earth is of a shape entirely 
 different to that v/hich is given it by Buddha. There is 
 scarcely any part of it in which Europeans are not found, 
 at any given moment, either as sailors, travellers, or colo- 
 nists ; and as no limit to it has been discovered by them, 
 it is proved thereby that its shape is like that of an 
 orange ; not merely round like a circle, but globular like a 
 ball or sphere. It is, therefore, of the same shape as the 
 other worlds that travel through the sky, and can have no 
 limit like a sakwala gala, or wall. To a line there^ '^re 
 
 * Anguttara Nikaya, Xote Y. 
 
1 00 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 limits; to a circle there is no limit; and if the whole 
 surface of a sphere be traced to find a limit, the efibrt will 
 be in vain. This limitlessness is not from its being in- 
 finitely extended, but from its globularity. The various 
 beings on the surface of the earth, whether they walk with 
 their heads upwards or downwards, are attracted towards 
 the centre of the earth by the law of gravity, or the 
 tendency that everywhere exists, in a smaller or lighter 
 body, to be attracted towards a mass that is larger, or of 
 greater weight. Upwards and downwards are relative 
 terms, varying with the position of the object about which 
 we speak.* 
 
 * It may not be out of place to insert here the reasons usually given for the 
 rotundity of the earth. 
 
 1. Nearly every part of the earth has been visited, but no limit has been 
 found to it. 
 
 2. By sailing always in an eastern direction without ever turning to the 
 west, or, by sailing always in a western direction, without ever turning to the 
 east, ships arrive at the same place whence they departed. Not many weeks 
 pass over without the arrival in England of ships that have sailed round the 
 world. This, it may be said, is not absolutely impossible upon Euddhist 
 principles; but then, as the Aswakanna rocks, outside which is the nearest 
 way we could go, are 15,111,700 miles in circumference, it would require more 
 than 200 years to accomplish the voyage, sailing at the rate of 200 miles 
 every da}". 
 
 3. "When there are tall objects at a distance, we can see only the top, but as 
 we approach them, we see gradually the parts that are lower. The most 
 satisfactory test of this law is at sea, because there we have no inequalities of 
 any consequence to intercept tlic view. By ascending to the top of the mast, 
 sailors can see distinctly things that they could not sec at all from the deck of 
 the vessel. In every part of the earth and sea similar effects arc observed. 
 When looking at a ship approaching the shore through a telescope, whilst it 
 is yet in the horizon, the upper parts of the mast are seen distinctly, so that 
 the colour and shape of the flag can bo distinguished, but the deck, the 
 vessel itself, cannot be seen at all. 
 
 4. The shadow of the earth is circular, as seen when thrown on the moon 
 during an eclipse. 
 
MAHA MERU. 101 
 
 An objection is sometimes raised by tbe Buddhists that 
 as there are some parts of the world not yet visited by 
 Europeans, these parts, if visited, might prove that the 
 Buddhist is right, and the European wrong. But this 
 cannot be. There are probably some parts of the province 
 of Bintenne, in this island, not yet explored by the white 
 man ; but he has been on every side of it, and knows 
 that it can only be of a certain size ; and it is the same 
 with other unvisited lands ; he has been all round them, 
 and can tell exactly their extent. Except the interior of 
 Africa and Australia, and the north and south poles, nearly 
 every part of the earth has been seen by the eye of the 
 traveller or navigator ; and if we could sift the evidence 
 they would give, under an examination on these subjects 
 by a board of scientific men, it would all tend to prove that 
 Buddha was ignorant of the true figure of the earth, and 
 that all he says about it is unscientific and false. 
 
 2. MAHA MERU, 
 
 1. There are proofs afibrded by mathematical astronomy 
 of the non-existence of this mountain, more certain than 
 any I can make plain to those who are not acquainted 
 
 5. By ascending an elevation, we can see near the horizon, stars that are 
 lower in the heavens than the lowest we saw when we were on level ground. 
 We then see more of the sky than half a circle. "When the sky has been 
 ascended in a balloon after sunset, the sun has again come into view, appearing 
 first to rise, and then to set a second time. 
 
 6. In one part of the earth the stars that are seen are entirely different to 
 those seen in another part ; and the manner in which they seem to change 
 their places can only be accounted for on the supposition that the earth turns 
 on its axis, and is spherical in shape. 
 
 None of these things could take place if the earth were of the shape it is 
 said to be by Buddha. It must be a sphere. 
 
102 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 with tlie science upon whicli its conclusions rest. But I 
 may state, that there is a general law in existence, that all 
 the parts of the universe, whether large or small, influence 
 each other, and are dependent on each other. I will ex- 
 plain what I mean by an illustration. Until the invention 
 of the telescope, the number of known planets was six : 
 Mercury, Yenus, the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn ; 
 but since then no fewer than fifty-five others have been 
 discovered, the existence of which was entirely unknown 
 previously to this period. In 1781, Sir William Herschell 
 discovered the planet now called Uranus. This planet was 
 closely watched from that time, and as certain irregularities 
 were observed in its motion that could not be explained by 
 the action of the planets then discovered, two young men, 
 Adams of Cambridge, and Le Yerrier of Paris, unknown 
 to each other, set themselves to the task of calculating the 
 cause of this irregularity. Each arrived at the same con- 
 clusion, that the cause must be the existence of a planet 
 outside the orbit of Uranus ; and they then sought out the 
 position in which the planet would be found. When Le 
 Yerrier had completed his calculations, on the 23rd Sept., 
 184G, he wrote to Dr. Galle, one of the Astronomers E-oyal 
 in the Observatory at Berlin, informing him that the 
 longitude of the planet he was to seek for would at that 
 time be 326 degrees, and requesting him to look for it 
 there. The astronomer did as he was requested, and found 
 the planet " that very night." The name of Neptune was 
 given to it. It is 2,801,000,000 miles from the sun, and 
 35,000 miles in diameter. It is evident, then, that if the 
 astronomer could tell the existence of an object one twenty- 
 
MAHA MERU. 
 
 103 
 
 fourth of the size of Maha Meru, and nearly nine hundred 
 times more distant from us, he could easily ascertain the 
 existence of that mountain, if there is such a place, even 
 though it were impossible to see it ; but the same science 
 that told of the existence of Neptune, and its exact position, 
 though human eye had never seen it from the foundation 
 of the world, tells us, with equal certainty, that it is im- 
 possible for a mass like Maha Meru to exist at all in the 
 present economy of the universe. 
 
 2. If there were such a mountain as Maha Meru, we 
 ought to see it from Ceylon, on the principles of Buddhism, 
 as its rays are said to strike the Sakwala rock, which is 
 much more distant from it than the continent in which we 
 live. This will be seen from the figure on the next page, if 
 A represent Maha Meru, B Jambudipa, and C the Sakwala 
 rock. The same diagram, in which the proportions are 
 drawn according to the heights and distances given in the 
 text, shews also that there is no object coming between 
 Jambudipa and the summit of Maha Meru. Perhaps it 
 will be said that its rays do not give the kind of light by 
 which objects are seen. But are we not told that these 
 rays give colour to the seas, as well as the skies, connected 
 with our continent ? Again, we are told that the eastern 
 side of Maha Meru is of silver and its southern of sapphire. 
 But is not the moon said to be of a similar substance ? 
 Then, if we can see the welcome face of the moon, formed 
 of crystal and silver, why cannot we see the face of Maha 
 Meru, which is formed of sapphire and silver, according to 
 Buddhist science ? And if it be said that it is too distant 
 for us to be able to see it, I ask, how is it, then, that we 
 
o 
 
 -s 
 
 « 
 
 t§ 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 m 
 
 
MAHA MERU. 105 
 
 can see so plainly the planet Saturn, whlcli we are told by 
 the astronomer is ten times less in size, and three hundred 
 times more distant from this continent, than the size and 
 distance given to Maha Meru by Buddha ? 
 
 3. All the objects upon the surface of the earth are 
 attracted towards its centre, and partake of a motion, it is 
 proved to possess, by which it turns round once in about 
 twenty-four hours. The turning of the earth upon its 
 axis may not be capable of proof from ocular evidence Kke 
 that afforded of the turning of the sun and planets by the 
 observation of the spots upon their surface, but either the 
 earth must thus turn, or the whole universe of sun, moon, 
 planets, comets, and fixed stars, must move round the earth 
 every twenty-four hours, which, from their immense dis- 
 tances, and the consequent rapidity with which they must 
 travel, would be a greater wonder than the rotation of the 
 earth, however marvellous it may seem. I have sometimes 
 been told that if the earth turns round, I have only to leap 
 up, and the ground from which I leaped would pass from 
 under me. But we will take the instance of a person in a 
 railway carriage, which sometimes goes at the rate of a 
 mile in one minute. By the law it is now attempted to 
 establish, if the person in the carriage were to let anything 
 fall from the roof, it would strike against the back of the 
 carriage, or at least fall obliquely ; but the experiment can 
 be tried in Ceylon, not many months hence, and it will be 
 found that the object will fall perpendicularly, whatever 
 may be the rapidity of the train, just as if the carriage 
 were perfectly at rest. The reason is, that the motion of 
 the carriage is communicated to everything in it ; and, for 
 
106 LEGEITOS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 the same recfeon, an arrow sent perpendicularly into the 
 air would return to the place whence it was shot from the 
 bow, because the motion of the earth would be communi- 
 cated to the air and the arrow. There must also be some 
 reason why the arrow returns to the earth, and does not 
 fly away into space. It has been discovered that its fall 
 is occasioned by what is called the attraction of grayitation, 
 a property by which, as we have already noticed, every 
 particle of matter has a tendency towards every other 
 particle of matter, so that all bodies not only attract other 
 bodies, but are themselves attracted ; and the property is 
 mutual and universal. This force increases in known pro- 
 portion to the nearness of bodies to each other, and by the 
 same law it decreases as ' they recede from each other. 
 Every two portions of matter within the universe attract 
 each other with a force proportional directly to the quan- 
 tity of matter they contain, and to the inverse square of 
 their distances. The force is also in proportion to the 
 quantity of matter contained in the body ; the more mas- 
 sive body exerting the greater power of attractiveness. 
 The sun attracts the earth, the earth the moon, and the 
 moon the waters of the ocean ; and all act upon each 
 other. The earth, then, being a far larger mass than any 
 object near it, everything upon it is attracted towards 
 its centre in a straight line ; and it is for this reason that 
 the arrow returns from the sky and falls to the ground. 
 But there is another force of a different kind, affecting 
 everything upon the surface of the earth. It acts in this 
 way. If a piece of lead, attached to a string, be turned 
 rapidly round, and the string breaks, the lead will fly off 
 
MAHA MERU. 
 
 107 
 
 to a considerable distance. There is tlie same tendency to 
 fly ofi* in all tilings whirled round by tlie turning of the 
 earth ; but this tendency is counteracted.by the other force, 
 the force of gravitation. There are thus two forces acting 
 upon everything near us ; one force pulling things towards 
 the earth, and the other tending to send them away from 
 it. Now at the height of 26,000 miles from the earth,* 
 the off-flying force counteracts or overcomes, the force by 
 which objects are attracted to the earth ; and, therefore, 
 everything connected with the earth, and carried with it as 
 it turns round day by day, must be within that distance. 
 There cannot, therefore, by any possibility, be a mountain 
 like Maha Meru upon this earth, or connected with it, as it 
 is said to be 840,000 miles high ; a height that would 
 necessitate its being hurled into space. 
 
 4. We know exactly at what place it is midnight, and 
 at what place it is noon, at any given moment, and the 
 exact distance also between the two places ; and we can 
 thereby prove that there can be no mountain between the 
 two places of the size of Maha Meru, as taught by Buddha. 
 
 5. The Buddhists seek to place Maha Meru in some 
 part of the world unvisited by Europeans ; and the North 
 Pole especially is one of their favourite positions. But 
 the poles of the earth are not 7,000 miles from Ceylon ; so 
 that if the centre of Maha Meru were at the North Pole, it 
 would not only reach to Ceylon, as the semi-diameter of 
 this mountain is 420,000 miles, but it would reach nearly 
 twice as far as the moon. As Maha Meru is fifty times 
 larger than the earth, it is evident that it cannot be 
 
 * Maury's Physical Geography of the Sea. 
 
108 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 upon the earth ; and when some adventurous man of the 
 coming time shall succeed in reaching the North Pole, we 
 are certain that he will not find there a mountain like 
 Maha Meru. 
 
 There can be no doubt that Buddha taught the exist- 
 ence of Maha Meru. These are his very words : " Sineru, 
 Bhikkhawe, pabbataraja chaturasiti-yojana-sahassani dya- 
 mena; chaturasiti-yojana-sahassani wittharena; chatu- 
 rasiti-yojana-sahassani maha samudde ajjhogalho ; chatu- 
 rasiti-yojana-sahassani samudde achchuggato.'^* " Priests! 
 the great mountain Sineru is 84,000 yojanas in length; 
 84,000 yojanas in breadth; 84,000 yojanas sunk in the 
 great ocean ; and 84,000 yojanas above the great ocean." 
 An attempt may be made to set aside the consequences of 
 this exposure of Buddha's ignorance, by saying, that this 
 is a kind of mistake that does not invalidate his doctrines ; 
 Buddhism may still be true as a religious system. But this 
 is a fallacy that I am most anxious to set aside. If Buddha 
 said that which is false, under the supposition that it 
 is true, he betrays ignorance, imperfect knowledge, and 
 misapprehension. lie cannot, therefore, be a safe teacher ; 
 there may be some things about his religion that are true, 
 as there are about every religion ; but it is not a reve- 
 lation ; its author was a mere man, with limited and 
 imperfect knowledge ; and to receive it as the pure un- 
 mixed truth, is a mischievous and fatal mistake. 
 
 When the existence of Maha Meru was denied some 
 years ago, a writer calling himself Kaliagalle Mohattala, 
 said that Buddha intended all he taught about Maha Meru 
 
 * Satta Suriyuggamana Suttanta : Anguttara Nikaya ; tlic 7th Nipata. 
 
THE SAKWALA ROCK. 109 
 
 as an allegory.* But if Malta Meru falls, it does not fall 
 alone. The heaven of Sekra, and the other celestial and 
 brahma worlds must fall with it. And if all these things 
 are an allegory, the hope of the Buddhist is indeed vain. 
 According to his own system, he knows not what sins of 
 former births he may have yet to expiate in births to come; 
 he may now be a religious and truth-loving man, but he 
 can tell nothing about his next birth, whether it will be 
 one of happiness or misery; he cannot aim at anything 
 higher or nobler as the end of existence than to become 
 nothing; and now a professor of his own religion takes 
 away from him all hope founded on the intermediate states 
 of happiness to which he has been permitted, heretofore, 
 to look forward as his temporary reward, f 
 
 3. THE SAKWALA ROCE-. 
 
 The same arguments that prove the non-existence of 
 Maha Meru prove the non-existence of the Sakwala rock. 
 From its massiveness, it could not exist without beino- 
 known to the astronomer, even though it were impossible 
 
 * Gogerly, Evidences and Doctrines of the Christian Religion. 
 
 t " Absurdities do not strike the people of India as they would the inha- 
 bitants of another land ; and, if pointed out, sometimes rather strengthen than 
 weaken their conviction of a divine origin. The statements about the size 
 of Maha Meru present to them no incongruity, and are gravely received, as if 
 they were a well-known axiom. A mortal, they say, could not put the greate^ 
 into the less, and therefore, by doing it, God gives a signal proof of the great- 
 ness of his power. In proportion as a statement, or doctrine is absurd its 
 credibility is not diminished, but augmented ; and the more it outrages reason 
 and common sense it is regarded as the more worthy of the Deity." Among 
 the matters regarded as incapable of demonstration by Kapila is the existence 
 of " the golden mountain Meru." — Chi-istian Work, Sept. 1863. 
 
110 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 to see it. But if it exists, it ouglit to be seen, as it is 
 nearly as higli as Maha Meru, and about tlie same distance 
 from us. Three of the Sak^yalas are alwaj's contiguous to 
 each other, as we learn from the Commentary on the 
 DIgha Nikaya, Mahapadana Suttan ; in which we are told 
 that three of the Sakwalas touch each other, like three 
 wheels, or three hoops, and that between the three there 
 is the Lokantarika hell, 80,000 miles in size. All the 
 Sakwalas are alike in their arrangement, each haying a 
 Maha Meru, sun, moon, etc. But every object of the size 
 of a Sakwala, in whatever part of visible space, has been 
 examined by the telescope. Bodies have been discovered 
 with phases like the moon ; others with dark spots, or with 
 belts, upon their surface ; and another with a luminous 
 ring near it, 30,000 miles broad. Several are seen to have 
 moons revolving round them as the moon revolves round 
 the earth, and some stars revolve around each other ; but 
 anything like the appearance presented by the Sakwala of 
 Buddhism, has not yet been discovered, and we maj^ 
 venture to say, never will, if the analogy presented by 
 numberless facts is to be regarded. 
 
 4. THE CIUCLES OF EOCK AND SEA. 
 
 The argument from the calculations of the astronomer 
 is applicable to all the seven circles of rock and sea, with 
 equal fatality to their existence. And besides that, if the 
 mighty steps that are said to form the pathway toward the 
 heaven of Sekra really exist, they ought, according to the 
 common laws of vision, to be seen from Ceylon, as being 
 one of the islands attached to Jambudipa. 
 
THE SUN AND MOON. 
 
 Ill 
 
 5. THE SUK AND MOOIT. 
 
 "We haTe learnt what the ideas of the Buddhists are as 
 to these luminaries. But what are the facts, as taught by 
 incontrovertible science ? Instead of the sun going round 
 the earth, it is the earth that goes round the sun. If the 
 sun and other objects in the heavens go round the earth, 
 such is their immense distance from it, that the sun must 
 travel 400,000 miles in a minute, the nearest stars must 
 rush through the sky at the rate of 1,000,000,000 miles in 
 a second of time, and the more distant stars, all of which 
 are much larger than the earth, with a rapidity that no 
 numbers can express. The sun is upwards of 90,000,000 
 miles from the earth, when it is the nearest to us. The 
 mode in which these numbers are found out may be learnt 
 from any work on practical astronomy ; there is no mystery 
 about them ; they may be calculated by those whom I now 
 address. As we know the size of the Sakwala, we are 
 certain that, by native computation, the sun can never be 
 much more than six millions of miles from us, when visible; 
 and science tells us that it is 882,000 miles in diameter, 
 and not 500, as stated in the native books. From the 
 earth to the moon is 240,000 miles, and this luminary is 
 about 2000 miles in diameter and not 490, as given by 
 native authors. According to European astronomy, found- 
 ed upon known and proved data, the distance from the 
 moon to the sun is never less than 90,000,000 of miles, 
 but according to the Buddhists, who found their numbers 
 upon imagination only, it is, in some instances, within the 
 
112 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 distance of one yojana, or ten miles. We may easily learn 
 that the native numbers as to the relative distances of 
 these two bodies from the earth, cannot be right. When 
 we look at the sun through a telescope its apparent size 
 is very little altered, on account of its immense distance ; 
 it is much the same in appearance as when seen by the 
 naked eye. But when we look at the moon through the 
 same instrument, it is like looking at another world ; rocks 
 and valleys can be seen and measured, and the shape of an 
 object as small as the fort of Colombo can be distinguished. 
 The moon is almost as near to us in realit}^, as the height 
 given to the Yugandhara rocks ; and it is evident, there- 
 fore, that if these rocks exist, the moon must strike against 
 them, in her passage through the sky, from the force of 
 gravitation, acting according to its invariable law. It is 
 further evident that the principles of Buddhism are wrong 
 altogether, because, if it were possible for the moon to 
 approach so closely to Maha Meru as to come within a 
 distance of 420,000 miles, she would be so powerfully 
 attracted towards the mountain, from its immense massive- 
 nes3, that her motion woidd be entirely disarranged. The 
 moon is not a luminous body in itself, but is visible because 
 it reflects the rays of the sun ; and when a smaller portion 
 of its surface appears, it is not from any covering as by a 
 vessel, or from any overpowering by a superior light, but 
 from its illuminated portion being turned away from the 
 earth. The half of its surface is always bright, except 
 during an eclipse ; but from our position on the earth we 
 can only sec the whole of its brightness when it is opposite 
 the sun. 
 
THE SUN AND MOON. 
 
 113 
 
 The outer side of tlie sun is said, in the Sara Sangaha 
 and other works, to be of crystal. But this statement is 
 proved by the telescope not to be correct. There are spots 
 on the sun, some lighter and some darker than the general 
 surface, which are continually changing their position and 
 appearance; and from them we learn that the sun turns 
 round once in a little more than twenty-five days, as the 
 earth turns round in one day. The numerous observations 
 made on these spots, since they were discovered, led at first 
 to the conclusion that the sun is a solid, non-luminous 
 body, covered over by two layers of gaseous matter, the 
 one nearest the sun being also non-luminous, but the other 
 luminous gas, or flame ; and that the spots are like open- 
 ings in the clouds of our own sky, revealing the dark sur- 
 face of the solid globe. Subsequent discoveries have some- 
 what modified this idea ; but no one can look at the sun, 
 through an instrument of even moderate power, without 
 being assured that the sun is not composed of either crystal 
 or gold. 
 
 The surface of the moon is said, by the same authorities, 
 to be covered over with silver, and to be cold; but the 
 telescope again teaches us a difierent lesson. When seen 
 through it, the surface of the moon appears to be thickly 
 covered with mountain masses, of various forms and size, 
 tinted white and gray, many of them extremely abrupt and 
 steep, and separated from each other by immense ravines 
 and extensive valleys. There is no vapour of any kind on 
 its surface, so that when visible it is always bright and 
 clear. The marks upon it are so well defined as to allow 
 of maps being made to represent its appearance, with names 
 
 8 
 
114 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 for the ridges and valleys, as in a map of the countries of 
 the earth. In 1856 Professor Smyth visited the island of 
 Teneriffe, for the purpose of making experiments on various 
 disputed points connected with the heavenly bodies. His 
 observations were made at 8,840 and 10,700 feet above the 
 level of the sea. At both elevations he ascertained the 
 warmth of the moon's light. 
 
 It is thus proved that nearly every one of the proposi- 
 tions made in the native books, as to the sun and moon, is 
 contrary to truth. The astronomers of the west were nearly 
 in equal ignorance with those of the east until the inven- 
 tion or improvement of the telescope, by Galileo, about two 
 hundred and sixty years ago. This instrument at once 
 upset all the old notions about an earth at rest and a 
 revolving sky ; and it now becomes an agent of destruc- 
 tion to the supremacy of Buddha, more fatal than the 
 arrow of the archer who tried to take his life at the in- 
 stigation of his brother-in-law, Dewadatta, or the stone 
 hurled against him from the Gijhakuta rock. 
 
 6. THE THREE PATHS. 
 
 The statements that appear in the native books respect- 
 ing celestial phenomena all lead to the conclusion that they 
 who made them were unacquainted with any other country 
 besides India. The speculations about the different de- 
 grees of rain when the sun is in different paths can only be 
 true of one region ; because, when it is cold and rainy in 
 one part of the world, it is warm and dry in another ; and 
 in some parts of the world, as the coasts of Peru and ^Icxico, 
 and the deserts of Africa, Asia, and Australia, there is no 
 
THE THREE PATHS. 115 
 
 rain at all, in any season of the year. Of these things the 
 native authors were ignorant ; they were guided by what 
 they themselves saw, in their own locality ; and from not 
 having the benefit of the enlarged observation of travellers 
 to other portions of the earth, they have fallen into the 
 errors they set forth as religious truth. It is difficult to i 
 arrive at certainty as to what they say about the motions \ 
 of the sun, the explanations given by the native pundits ^ 
 being contradictory : but if I am not mistaken, there are 
 three : 1. The sun is in different paths, according to the 
 season of the year, each path being at a different elevation 
 from the earth. 2. There is the (apparent) motion we see 
 daily from east to west. 3. There is an annual motion, 
 answering to our declination, in the passage of the sun 
 from Maha Meru to the Sakwala rocks, and its return from 
 the rock towards Maha Meru. About the last motion 
 there can be no doubt, as it is referred to in nearly all the 
 works that treat on these subjects. When near Maha 
 Meru, its position is called anto ; when mid- way between 
 Maha Meru and the Sakwala rock, majjhima ; and when 
 near the Sakwala rock, bahi ; or inner, central, and outer. 
 On this system, the sun must appear to all the inhabitants 
 of Jambudij)a, to be sometimes to the north, sometimes 
 overhead, or in the zenith, and sometimes to the south. 
 But this is contrary to fact, as every one who has come to 
 Ceylon from Europe by way of the Cape of Good Hope 
 can testify. In England, the sun is never overhead, and 
 never to the north ; near the Cape it is never overhead, 
 and never to the south. But, as in India and Ceylon it is 
 sometimes to the north, sometimes overhead, and sometimes 
 
 / 
 
116 LEGENDS AKD THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 to the soiitli, tlie Buddhist writers have so spoken of it 
 that it must necessarily be the same in all countries of 
 Jambudipa, upon their principles. This is another proof 
 that their information is confined and local, and that what 
 they assert with confidence, as the revelations of men they 
 call rahats, has no foundation in truth, and brings down 
 the intelligence of the rahats, upon these subjects, to a 
 lower level than that of the schoolboy, in the present age. 
 
 7. THE EISING OF THE SUN. 
 
 In what is recorded by Buddhist writers as to the position 
 of the sun, there is the same betrayal of a want of scientific 
 or experimental knowledge : a local occurrence is regarded 
 as if it were universal. The sun is always, in every 
 moment of the twenty-four hours of the day, rising in 
 some part of this world, and always setting in another part 
 of ikis world, the world in which we live, and that we 
 can personally visit. The worlds in which the inhabitants 
 have square or half-moon faces, or in which they never 
 grow old, must be other and separate worlds to this ; and 
 about the rising of the sun in them I can say nothing. 
 The sun is said to set on passing beyond Yughandara, by 
 which it is hid. But if so, why does it remain bchinci the 
 mountain so long ? What is it doing during the ten hours 
 of darkness, the length of the night in Ceylon ? And 
 how is it that in the north of Scotland, where I have lived, 
 and know of what I affirm, at midsummer the light of the 
 sun is seen during nearly the whole of the twenty-four 
 hours of the day, in mid- winter tlic da3^s being proj^ortion- 
 ately short ? And how is it, again, that near the north 
 
THE ASUR RAHU. 117 
 
 and south poles, for montlis togetlier, the sun never sets, 
 but goes round and round in the sky, and is always visible ? 
 It is one glory of Britain that the sun never sets upon its 
 territory; the meaning of which is, that during every 
 moment of every day and night the sun is visible in one 
 part or other of her Majesty's dominions. It was an 
 unfortunate day for Buddhism when its founder was made 
 to assert the existence of Maha Meru. This figment of a 
 wild imagination has led the native writers into errors that 
 are apparent to the inhabitants of all countries not tropical, 
 on the testimony of their own every-day experience. 
 
 8. THE ASUE KAHTJ. 
 
 The eclipses of the sun and moon are caused, according 
 to Buddha, by this monster, who is said to be nearly 
 50,000 miles high. He sometimes covers them with his 
 hand, and sometimes hides them in his mouth. But how 
 can a being, with a mouth only 3,000 miles deep, swallow 
 the sun, which is 800,000 miles in diameter, according to 
 the calculations of science. If the sun be of so hot a 
 nature as is represented, why does not he bawl out, as well 
 as the dewas, during the operation ; and as even a burnt 
 child shuns the fire, why does he repeat the experiment so 
 frequently, when he knows what must be the consequence ? 
 As to the moon, we are quite sure that there must be some 
 mistake. In the maps of its surface, the detached masses 
 of matter thrown down the sides of its mountains bear a 
 considerable resemblance to the mounds of sand, hollow in 
 the centre, piled up and thrown down with so much 
 
118 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 industry by the ants in the cirinamon gardens near Colombo 
 and other places. If Rahu licks the moon with his tongue, 
 how is it that immediately afterwards its surface is as 
 bright as ever, and not a fragment in its hollows or heaps 
 displaced? And how is it that scientific men, and even 
 the naksaestrakarayas of the island, can tell to so exact 
 a period as a second of time, for hundreds of years before- 
 hand, that the seizure will take place ? Is Rahu a living 
 machinery that has life like a man, and yet is obliged to 
 move with more regularity than a clock or a watch, and 
 this for thousands of years ? Then, there is not another 
 being like him in the whole universe. What does he do 
 it for? Does he suppose that he can stop the course of 
 the sun or the moon? If he could, what woidd be the 
 benefit? And when he has tried, and tried in vain, for 
 so many years, what a simpleton he must be to renew the 
 attempt ! And, lastly, how is it, except upon the principles 
 of European science, that the solar seizure always takes 
 place at the time of the dark moon, when the moon is 
 between the earth and the sun ; and that the lunar seizure 
 always takes place at the time the moon is full, when the 
 earth comes between the moon and the sun, and intercepts 
 his rays ? 
 
 I am told that my labour here may be spared, as there 
 is scarcely any one who will read these pages that really 
 believes in the existence of Tlahu. But is not this a de- 
 claration and confession, that Buddha either told a wilful 
 untruth, or that he was himself deceived ? There can be 
 no doubt as to what I afiirm ; because every time the Pirit 
 exorcism is read by the priests, they proclaim the damaging 
 
THE ASUR RAHU. 119 
 
 fact that Buddlia believed in tlie existence of Rahu, and in 
 his attempt to swallow the sun and moon. Here are his 
 words, as they appear in the Sanyutta Nikaya, Saha Gathd 
 Wagga. 
 
 " Thus I heard. Bhagawa was living in Sawatthi, in 
 the garden of Anatha Pindiko. At that time, the moon- 
 god was seized by the astir Bahu, Then the moon-god, 
 remembering Buddha, spake this stanza : 
 
 *^ Namo te Biiddha wirattliu 
 Wippamuttosi sabbadhi, 
 Sambadhapatipannosmi 
 Tassa me saranan' bliaw^ti. 
 
 <4 
 
 * Adoration to thee, great Buddha ! Thou art free from 
 all impurities. I am distressed. Become thou a refuge 
 to me.^ Then Bhagawa, in behalf of the moon-god, ad- 
 dressed Bahu thus : 
 
 *' Tathagatan' arabantan' 
 Cbandima saranan' g&.t<5, 
 R&bu cbandan' pamuncbassu, 
 Buddba lokanukampak^ti. 
 
 *' * In the rahat Tathagato, the moon-god has taken re- 
 fuge. Bahu ! Release thou the moon. The Buddhas are 
 merciful to the world.' Then the asur Bahu, having re- 
 leased the moon-god, went in great haste to the place 
 where the chief asur, Wepachitti, was, and after approach- 
 ing him, stood in great terror on one side. The chief asur 
 said to him : 
 
 " Kinnu santaram^nowa, 
 E4bu cbandan pamuncbasi, 
 Sanwiggarupo &gamma, 
 Kinnu bhitowa tittasiti. 
 
 " ' Why, Bahu, trembling, hast thou released the moon ? 
 
120 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 In terror having come, why dost thou stand thus, afraid?' 
 The asur Rahu replied : 
 
 " Sattadha me phale mucldli&, 
 Jewanto na sukhan' labhe, 
 Buddha gatabhi gitomhi, 
 Nochi munchej'j'a cbandimanti. 
 
 " ' If I do not release the moon, my head would be split 
 into seven (pieces) ; and were I to live, I could have no 
 enjoyment, as Buddha has recited stanzas (of prohibition)/" 
 
 This is the Chanda Pirit. The Suriya Pirit is the same, 
 substituting sun-god for moon-god, with this exception, 
 that in speaking of the sun-god Buddha says, '' Rahu ! 
 swallow not the traveller through the skies, who, with the 
 splendor of the heat of his shining orb, dissipates the dark- 
 
 ness." 
 
 These words, about which there can be no doubt as to 
 their being attributed to Buddha, are worse than weak. 
 They are not the result of ignorance alone ; they contain 
 what must be an intentional misguidance. We cannot 
 blame the prince Gotamo for not knowing more about 
 these things than the rest of mankind in that age ; but to 
 say that the sun-god or the moon-god applied to him for 
 protection from an asur, and that he professed to grant 
 this request, is to charge him with the utterance of what 
 he must have known to be untrue, and with the false 
 assumption of powers that he did not possess. 
 
 9. THE WORLDS OF WATER AND WIND. 
 
 The native authors do not often venture upon a scientific 
 demonstration in proof of any of their propositions ; but in 
 
THE SEA. 121 
 
 Milincla Panlia there is one in favour of the resting of the 
 World of Water on the World of Wind. When Milinda, 
 king of Sagal, said that he could not believe that this was 
 possible, the priest Nagasena replied, by taking a syringe, 
 and pointing out to him that the water within the instru- 
 ment was prevented from coming out by the external air ; 
 which reply was satisfactory to the king. But the reason 
 of the retention of the water within the syringe is, that 
 whilst there is the pressure of the air from below, there is 
 none from above, upon the water that has entered into the 
 space made by the drawing up of the handle. Were the 
 sucker not air-tight, the water would instantly rush out, 
 notwithstanding the pressure from below of the exterior 
 air. The reply of Nagasena does not, therefore, apply to 
 the case in question, and entirely fails to present an ade- 
 quate reason for the support of the World of Water by the 
 World of Wind, or Air. 
 
 10. THE SEA. 
 
 1. Its Waves. We are told that there are waves 100 
 miles, or more than three million feet, high. This is a 
 great exaggeration. There are no waves that are 100 feet 
 high, and not often any that are half that height. In the 
 wildest parts of the sea, and in the strongest gale, the 
 waves are seldom more than forty feet high. We are told, 
 again, that the water of the sea is agitated by the wind 
 400,000 miles from the surface; whereas, in the most 
 violent storms, the ocean is not moved by the wind in the 
 least at the depth of 100 feet. 
 
 2. Its Depth. Kear the Sakwala rock the sea is said to 
 
122 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 be 820,000 miles deep. This must be tbe sea to wbicli we 
 have access, because it is said to deejDen gradually to this 
 number of miles from the shores of Jambudipa, where it 
 is one inch deep. But what is the truth of the matter, 
 as ascertained by experiment, a thousand times repeated ? 
 The sea has nowhere been found to be more than eight 
 miles deep, and few soundings have told of a depth of 
 more than five miles, the average not being more than 
 three or four. The statement that the sea gradually 
 increases in depth from the shore of the continent, is 
 another great mistake. There are maj)s of the principal 
 oceans of the world, on which the depth of the water in 
 different places is marked ; and from these it is seen, that 
 in some instances the water is deeper near the shore than 
 it is in the middle of the ocean. In the bed of the Atlantic 
 there is a deep valley, averaging in depth five miles ; but 
 the depth between Ireland and Newfoundland does not 
 generally exceed one mile. 
 
 3. Its Stillness. We are told that between the 400,000 
 miles that are agitated by the wind, and the 400,000 miles 
 that are agitated by the fishes, in the Great World, there 
 is a stratum of still water 40,000 miles in thickness. But 
 the Timira Pin gala could not agitate the waters in which 
 it is said to live, for the space of 8,000 miles, without 
 affecting the waters above, especially if, at the time, it was 
 near the top of its own waters. Besides, no part of the 
 sea is ever still. Were there not a constant interchange 
 between the particles at the bottom and the top, the 
 sea would lose its balance and its counterpoises. Not being 
 able to preserve its status, the water at the bottom would 
 
THE SEA. 123 
 
 grow heavier and heavier, whilst that at the top would 
 become lighter and lighter, until the one became all salt, 
 and the other entirely fresh. By currents, and other 
 means, again, there is a general circulation in the sea, by 
 which, in process of time, water from one part is conveyed 
 to another part, and by which a general commingling and 
 interchange of the waters takes place.* 
 
 4. Its Fishes. We are told that in one part of the 
 sea there are mermen, with bodies like human beings, and 
 noses as sharp as razors, who rise up and down in the 
 water. This is a fabulous creature, formerly supposed 
 to exist by nearly all nations familiar with the sea; but 
 though ships are now sailing upon every part of the ocean, 
 no instance is recorded of a merman or mermaid having 
 been met with by any one whose word can be believed. 
 But what are we to say as to fishes 10,000 mUes in size? 
 By what are they sustained ? They must eat, or they are 
 not fishes. They must be in absolute darkness, as light 
 does not penetrate more than a few hundred feet below the 
 surface of the sea. Then, again, water is compressed by 
 pressure, or weight. At the depth of ninety -three miles it 
 would be twice as close or compressed as at the surface. 
 Where the sea is 3000 fathoms deep, upon every foot of 
 water there is a pressure equal to 1,296,000 pounds. The 
 reason of this I shall be able to explain more clearly, when, 
 in reference to the trees that are said to grow in the 
 Himala-wana, I shall have to speak of the properties of 
 air ; but I may here mention, that I have more than once 
 seen the following experiment tried at sea. An empty 
 * jM amy's Physical Geography of the Sea. 
 
124 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 bottle, closely corked, its mouth, covered over with cordage 
 and wax, is let down into the sea, during a calm. When 
 it is brought up again it is full of water, with the cork 
 reversed, shewing the immense pressure there must be to 
 force the cork into the bottle. At the depth of 440,000 
 miles the water would become solid, and the body of the 
 fish would become crushed with a weight so inconceivably 
 great, that it would be impossible for it to move, and, 
 therefore, it could neither shake its ear or its tail, as the 
 Timira Pingala is said to do. Thus, all that is said about 
 the sea is as untrue as the statements about the Sakwalas 
 and the sun and moon. 
 
 11. THE GEOGEAPHY OE THE WOULD. 
 
 1. Land and Water. By native geographers, professing 
 to write by the guidance of the unerring Bhagawa, the 
 proportion of water connected with our continent is repre- 
 sented as being immensely greater than that of land. But 
 if the surface of the earth were divided into 200 equal 
 parts, about fifty parts would be land, and the rest water ; 
 and if the 7nass of the earth were divided into 1786 equal 
 parts by weight, the sea would be equivalent to only one 
 of them. 
 
 2. The Continents and Islands. Nothing answering to 
 the four continents has been discovered upon the face of 
 the earth; nor can they exist, because, if existent, they 
 must have been seen by European mariners, who are con- 
 tinually visiting every sea and shore. The faces of men arc 
 not of one shape in one part of the world, and in another 
 of an entirely dificrent shape. Except where artificial 
 
THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE WORLD. 125 
 
 means are used to produce distortion, as among tlie Indians 
 of North America, there is not anywhere a greater dif- 
 ference than can be seen among the residents in Ceylon, 
 where we have the flat face of the Malay, and the oval 
 profile of the Singhalese. The five hundred islands said to 
 be attached to each continent, exist in the imagination 
 only. Near Jampudipa there are few islands ; at some 
 distance from it there are the Laccadives and Maldives, but 
 they are more than 40,000 in number, and in the South 
 Seas also the islands are numbered by thousands. 
 
 3. Jampudipa. This continent, inhabited by men, is 
 said to be 100,000 miles in length and breadth, including 
 the portion submerged for the want of merit in its inhabi- 
 tants. But it is difficult to tell what to make of Jambudipa, 
 as mentioned by native writers. If it is intended to 
 include the entire portion of the earth inhabited by men, 
 in the 30,000 miles that are given to Jambudipa as it now 
 exists, the description of it is imperfect, and like previous 
 statements that we have noticed, is put forth by persons 
 whose opportunities of observation have been limited, and 
 who can have had no intercourse with any part of the 
 world away from India and the countries on its immediate 
 borders. Its comparison in size with the Himala-wana, and 
 the names given to its principal provinces, cities, and 
 rivers, teach us that it includes no more than the country 
 now called India, and that the knowledge of the earlier 
 Buddhists was confined to this region. And yet, though 
 it is so small a portion of the earth, they believed that it 
 was the whole of the world of men. The rishis and rahats 
 are said to have visited other worlds, and yet the account 
 
126 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 they give us of their own is entirely wrong ; and when 
 they refer to any place out of the limits of their own 
 country, they give us fiction instead of truth, the imaginary 
 instead of the real. In this conclusion Buddha himself is 
 to be included. lie mistook a small part of the world for 
 the whole, and beyond what he learnt from others of places 
 at a distance from' his native country, he was as ignorant 
 as the rest of the subjects of Suddhodana. But the 30,000 
 miles, as applied to India, are not correct, as it is in 
 no part more than 2000 miles from east to west, or 1500 
 miles from north to south, whilst the surface of the whole 
 earth contains nearly two hundred millions of square miles. 
 4. The Simdla-icana. This forest is ^^*ithin sight of 
 places said to have been visited by Buddha in his reputed 
 wanderings from city to city ; and if we are to believe the 
 legends of his life, it was no more trouble to him to- go to 
 it through the air, than to take the alms-bowl through the 
 streets of any city near which he happened to live. Its 
 own name, the names of its mountains, its position, its 
 size in comparison with Jambudipa, and the rivers that 
 are said to rise within it, all point it out as being the wild 
 and mountainous region north of India. ^Ve should have 
 thought that whatever mistakes might be made with 
 rcirard to other countries of the world, there could be 
 none in relation to so near a land. But the errors about 
 this forest are as numerous, and almost as monstrous, as 
 those about Maha Meru and the seven circles of rock. 
 It is said to have in it seven lakes, each of which is 1500 
 miles in length and breadth ; though its whole length is 
 only 1000 miles, and its breadth much less. All kinds 
 
THE GEOGEAPHY OF THE WORLD. 127 
 
 of flowers and trees are said to grow there, tliougli several 
 of those enumerated are never seen out of the tropics, 
 unless protected by artificial means. It is said to have 
 mountains 2000 miles high, though the highest mountains 
 in it, and there are none higher in any other part of the 
 world, are not five miles high. From the descriptions of 
 it, and the allusions to it, in almost every part of Buddhist 
 literature, we should conclude that the forest is more like 
 the Paradise of the Scriptures than any other spot upon 
 the face of the earth. Prakrama Bahu, from hearing of 
 its fame, wished to visit it ; and when he died, on account 
 of his great merit he was born there as a bhumatu-dewa, 
 there to remain until the appearance of the next Buddha, 
 Maitri. But that my Singhalese friends may see the kind 
 of place to which the spirit of their former king has been 
 transported, I will make a few extracts from the Journal 
 of an English gentleman, who visited it about eighteen 
 years ago. *' The prospect was dreary in the extreme ; 
 the quantity of snow upon the mountains was continually 
 increasing ; a keen north blast pierced through tent and 
 blanket; and the ground was everywhere hard and 
 parched. — The people driving yaks looked miserably cold 
 and haggard, and their eyes, much inflamed, testified to 
 the hardships they had endured on the march. — For miles 
 continuously we proceeded over snow ; there was scarcely 
 a trace of vegetation, and the cold was excessive. — We 
 met a small party going to Tibet, all of whom appeared 
 alike overcome by lassitude, difiiculty of breathing, a sense 
 of weight on the stomach, giddiness, and head-ache. — I 
 found it almost impossible to keep my temper under the 
 
128 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 aggravations of pain in tlie forehead, lassitude, oppression 
 in breathing, a dense drizzling fog, a keen wind, a slippery- 
 footing, where I was stumbling at every few steps, and 
 icy-cold wet feet, hands, and eyelids. — Sometimes, when 
 the inhabitants are obliged from famine to change their 
 habitations in the winter, the old and feeble are frozen to 
 death, standing and resting their chins on their staves ; 
 remaining as pillars of ice, to fall only when the thaw of 
 the ensuing spring commences. — There is no loftier country 
 on the globe than that embraced from the Donkia Pass, 
 and no more howling wilderness ; well might the Singtam 
 Soubah describe it as the loftiest, coldest, windiest, and 
 most barren country in the world. Never in the" course 
 of all my wanderings, had my eye rested on a scene so 
 dreary and inhospitable. The * cities of the plain ' lie sunk 
 in no more death-like sea than Cholamoo lake, nor are the 
 tombs of Petra hewn in more desolate cliffs than those 
 which flank the valley of the Tibetan Arun."* There are 
 brighter spots in the Himalayas, but they are pleasant from 
 contrast, rather than from reality, and to an inhabitant of 
 the luxuriant island of Ceylon would appear to be most 
 undesirable places for a residence. The native writers 
 refer more especially to the parts where there are high 
 mountains and extensive caves, and to the great lakes from 
 whicli the rivers of Jambudipa take their rise ; and of 
 these regions this is the character — cold, barren, and 
 comfortless, to a degree that has few parallels on earth. 
 
 * Hooker's Ilimalayan Journals. 
 
THE ANOTATTA LAKE. i29 
 
 12. THE ANOTATTA LAKE. 
 
 No sheet of water answering to the description given of 
 this lake has been found in the Himalayas, though several 
 adventurous travellers have visited them, in order to find 
 out the sources of the great rivers of India. It is certain 
 that there is no lake, in any accessible part of the whole 
 range, from which all the four great rivers can take their 
 rise, nor any that has four rivers running round it. It is 
 generally supposed that by the Anotatta lake is meant the 
 Rawan Hrad, or Langa, near which, and some say com- 
 municating with it, is the Mansarawar, or Mapang. The 
 traditions of the natives of the Himalayas somewhat differ 
 from the statements of the Buddhists. According to them, 
 the four mouths are known by the name of the lion, the 
 peacock, the bull, and the horse ; the four rivers are the 
 Indus, Sutlej, Kali or Gogra, and the Brahmaputra ; and 
 the legend is, that the first river takes its name from the 
 bravery of the people who dwell on its banks, the second 
 from the beauty of its women, the third from the turbulent 
 wildness of its waters, and the last from the excellence 
 of its horses. The streams are supposed to rise from the 
 sacred hill Gangri, north of the lake Hawan Hrad, and the 
 general opinion is, that the lake has no outlet. The coun- 
 try through which the Indus runs at its commencement, is 
 described as " one of the most dreary regions in existence." 
 The Buddhist authors seem to have blended into one 
 narrative several different traditions, mingling with them 
 a few facts. The underground course of the Ganges may 
 
 9 
 
130 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 refer to the places wliere its stream is coYered by snow ; 
 the passage through the sky to some lofty waterfall ; and 
 the breaking of the rocks to a rapid rush of the waters 
 after some temporary obstruction by glaciers and other 
 causes ; but the five rivers of our day, " the Punjaub," 
 are the Jailum, Chenaub, Rawi, Beas, and Sutlej, none of 
 which have any connexion with the Ganges, and all that 
 is said about the size of the river near its source, and its 
 course around the lake, is contrary to fact.* 
 
 13. THE JAMBU AND NIJGA TEEES. 
 
 There are several remarkable trees recorded in the 
 Buddhist annals, but I shall confine mj^self to the two I 
 have just named. The Jambu tree is said to be a thou- 
 sand miles high, and the Nuga seventy miles ; the^ first is 
 in the centre of Jambudipa, and the other in the Himala- 
 wana. But it is utterly impossible that such trees can 
 exist. The process by which I shall prove it may seem 
 tedious, but it is sure, and will show the fallacy of many 
 other assertions of the Buddhists. In order to live, trees, 
 as well as animals, must have a certain amount of air. 
 Air is elastic, and has weight ; it may be compressed into 
 a smaller space than it occupies under ordinary circum- 
 stances, to an extent immensely greater than water, to 
 which I have previously referred. It is, therefore, much 
 thicker at the surface of the earth than it is above ; and it 
 becomes lighter, gradually, the higher we rise. The air 
 near the surface of the earth is pressed down by the air 
 
 • Thornton's Gazetteer, art. Indus. Journal of the Bengal Asiatic 
 Society, vol. xiii. p. 232. 
 
THE JAMBU AND NUGA TREES. 131 
 
 above it, with a force of fifteen pounds to tlie square inch. 
 In this way. There is a small heap of cotton, scattered 
 lightly ; if we throw more cotton upon it, the heap will 
 be pressed, and become thicker in proportion to the quan- 
 tity of cotton we throw ; and if we could throw as much 
 as would make a mountain, the original cotton would be 
 pressed down to a firm and solid mass. It is in the same 
 way with air; the air near the surface of the earth is 
 pressed down, and becomes thicker, from the weight 
 of the air above. We know, too, that the air does 
 not extend many miles above the surface of the earth. 
 We cannot tell exactly how high, but from the reflection 
 of the sun's rays after sunset, it is concluded to be about 
 40 or 45 miles. Beyond that distance we are certain that 
 there cannot be any air the existence of which is appre- 
 ciable. The air, at a certain distance up, becomes too 
 thin to sustain life. Thus when persons ascend high 
 mountains, as we have seen with the travellers in the 
 Himalayas, or rise to a greater height in balloons, 
 there is great difficulty in being heard, though speaking 
 loudly ; birds are unable to support themselves ; there is 
 an oppression in breathing ; the veins swell ; the blood 
 rushes to the nose ; the forehead throbs ; and a sleepiness 
 creeps on that, if not arrested, would end in death. In the 
 elevated plains of South America the inhabitants have 
 larger chests than those of lower regions — an admirable 
 instance of the animal frame being enabled to adapt itself 
 to its peculiar circumstances. A person breathing upon 
 the top of Mount Blanc, although extending his chest in 
 his usual way, takes in only half as much air as he does at 
 
132 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 the foot of the mountain.* There is an analogous effect 
 upon plants. As we ascend the mountain side, there are 
 certain kinds of plants that grow near the foot, which soon 
 disappear ; the plants that succeed them at a little higher 
 elevation, disappear in their turn ; the number of kinds 
 that will grow becoming less and less ; until at last an 
 elevation is reached in which nothing can grow. The 
 higher we rise the greater is the cold, for the same reason, 
 the rarity or thinness of the air, and from the distance 
 above the surface of the earth, where the heat is greatest. 
 In the Himala-wana, when we rise to the height of about 
 15,000 feet, there is perpetual snow, and neither animals 
 nor plants can live at these elevations, on account of the 
 extreme cold. We can suppose that at the same height^, 
 away from the mountains, the air will be colder still. It 
 is not possible, therefore, that there can be trees reaching 
 into these heights, where the cold is so intense, and the 
 air is too thin to sustain life. 
 
 There is a kind of breathing or respiration going on in 
 plants, as well as in animals. They drink in one kind of 
 air, ox3''gen, and give out another, carbonic acid, con- 
 tinually, by night and by day, in sunshine and shade. 
 They also obtain from the atmosphere a large proportion 
 of what they require as food ; and this they procure by 
 decomposing the carbonic acid of the air, absorbing or 
 fixing its carbon, and setting free its oxygen, by means of 
 their green parts, and under the influence of light. For 
 these processes air is indispensably necessary. There are 
 other reasons why trees cannot reach above a certain 
 
 • Arnot's Elements of Physics. 
 
THE LIONS OF THE GREAT FOREST. 133 
 
 elevation. They would fall in pieces by their own weight. 
 Were a piece of wood of a given thickness to be placed 
 erect, it would snap across for the same reason ; and 
 though a living tree might have greater strength, the same 
 effect would be produced, in similar circumstances. Trees 
 above a certain size and height would be unable to pro- 
 cure the quantity of food by their roots necessary to sustain 
 them ; there would be no air to stir their leaves, without 
 which they would droop ; and there would be no rain to 
 sprinkle and refresh their leaves. It is, therefore, impos- 
 sible that there can be trees, in any part of this earth. Like 
 the Jambu or Nuo^a of the Buddhists. 
 
 The largest tree seen in the Himalayas by Dr. Hooker, 
 who visited this region solely for botanical purposes, was 
 an oak, 47 feet in its girth, and 200 feet high. The 
 largest tree known to exist in the world is the Welling- 
 tonia gigantea, a native of California, which is said to 
 attain to the height of between 300 and 400 feet. But 
 trees that are miles high never existed anywhere but in 
 old tales ; and these tales are now only listened to by 
 children, or by the uninformed and superstitious. 
 
 14. THE LIOj^S of THE GREAT FOEEST. 
 
 The description given us in the Sara Sangaha of the 
 lions in the Himala-wana is confirmatory of the supposi- 
 tion I have ventured to make, that the Commentaries 
 must have been composed, as well as written, in this 
 island, and by persons wlio have known little of India but 
 by report. Nearly?- all the references to the continent are 
 like the record of one who attempts to describe, from 
 
134 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 imperfect sources, scenes of which he has heard, connected 
 with other people and lands, and has written down what 
 has been told him, with all its exaggerations. We can- 
 not think it possible that any one who had lived in the 
 north of India could write about lions that are in shape 
 like a cow, and eat grass. It may be the yak or the bison 
 that is intended, as these animals answer somewhat to this 
 description, and are found upon the Himalayas ; but no 
 one acquainted with even the rudiments of natural history 
 would class them with lions. Then as to the lions them- 
 selves. "VYho but a Buddhist ever talked, in sober earnest, 
 of lions that could leap 80 isbas, which would be 11,200 
 feet, or of lions that could keep pace with the sound of 
 their own voice, for the distance of 30 miles ? The fur- 
 thest distance that a lion can leap is not much more than 
 20 feet, according to the testimony of those who have 
 watched its habits in its native jungles. 
 
 "VVe have now had colossal proportions in nearly every 
 department of nature, but our records of the enormous are 
 not yet exhausted. The horse Kantako, upon which 
 Buddha rode, when he fled from the palace to become an 
 ascetic, was 3G feet long (from its neck to its tail) ; in the 
 same night it proceeded 300 miles, and could have gone 
 much further, if its progress had not been impeded by the 
 number of flowers thrown in its pathway by the dewas ; 
 and at one leap it crossed the river Anoma, a distance of 
 210 feet. When Anando told Buddha that the under- 
 standing of the circle of existence was not difficult, the 
 sage replied that he was not to speak in that manner, as it 
 was because of his being accustomed to it that it appeared 
 
THE KING OF BIRDS. 135 
 
 to be easy. The Commentary says, among other examples, 
 that, in a similar manner, the ocean appears deep to others, 
 but not to the Timara Pingala ; and that the sky appears 
 vast to others, but not to the Supanna-raja. Now this 
 bird is 1500 miles in size ; each of its wings is 500 miles ; 
 its tail 600 miles, its neck 300 miles, its mouth 90 miles, 
 and its legs 120 miles. It requires a space of 7000 or 
 8000 miles in which to flutter its wings. This creature, 
 if it exists, must be the king of birds, without any dispute. 
 The roc seen by Sinbad, the worthy sailor, was no bigger 
 than a cloud, and therefore very insignificant when com- 
 pared with the supanna-raja. 
 
 In this enumeration of the errors of Buddhism that are 
 contrary to fact, as taught by established and uncontro- 
 verted science, I have been guided in my selection by 
 those that are the most extravagant, and the existence of 
 which involves the most important consequences. There 
 are many others, of a similar kind, that I might notice ; 
 but by this means my work would be extended to an 
 inconvenient length; as the errors contained in the wri- 
 tings of the Buddhists are almost as numerous as the 
 leaves on which they appear. When I commenced my 
 Pali researches, I had not the most distant idea that I 
 should meet with these absurdities and extravagances in 
 the sacred books. I had read several of them, many times 
 over, in Singhalese ; but supposed that they were the mis- 
 representations of some isolated dreamer in one of the 
 wiharas of the interior, who had lived all his days amidst 
 the reveries and phantoms arising from a weak and con- 
 
136 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 fused intellect. But what has been my surprise, and I 
 may say my humiliation too, to find that they are re- 
 garded as the revelations of the rahats — men in whom the 
 Buddhists place the utmost confidence, as they suppose 
 that they could literally turn the world upside down, 
 divide the moon into two pieces, stop the coui'se of the 
 sun, and do a thousand other things equally wonderful.* 
 This ever-recurring defect, of a want of simplicit}^, and 
 a straining after that which is extravagant, vitiates all 
 Buddhist writings, even the most sacred. We are con- 
 tinually told of things that are either impossible in them- 
 selves, or so exaggerated by the narrator, that they become 
 impossibilities from the manner in which they are said to 
 have taken place. I do not include in this notice any of 
 the tales that are related about the dewas and their doings. 
 I deny the whole of the numerous statements that are 
 recorded, as to the visitation, assistance, and approbation 
 of these beings, said to have been given to Buddha and his 
 associates ; because, if they existed, which I also deny, 
 they must have known that the Tathiigato had no claim to 
 receive such marks of reverence at their hands, inasmuch 
 as they would learn from his sermons, that either he him- 
 self was deceived as to many of his statements and doc- 
 trines, or that he was wilfully deceiving the people whom 
 he addressed ; neither docs it seem a very dignified posi- 
 tion in which to place the supreme ruler of a celestial 
 world, to represent him as holding an umbrella twelve 
 
 * In this section my scientific authorities, in addition to those I have 
 already named, have heen — in astronomy, Ilcrschell, Mosely, Lardncr, and 
 Breen ; and on general subjects, the London and Penny Cyclopasdias. 
 
EXAGGERATIONS. 137 
 
 miles in height, or blowing a chanque shell twenty cubits 
 long. I deny all that is said about the passing through 
 the air of Buddha and his disciples, or of their being able 
 to visit the dewa and brahma worlds. They were men, 
 and no mere man was ever in the possession of such 
 powers as are attributed to the son of Maya and to the 
 rahats. The age in which these wonderful beings are said 
 to have lived is within the limit of history, and the testi- 
 mony from this authoritative source is most unquestionably 
 and conclusively against their existence. I select a few 
 examples of the kind of statement to which I refer, from 
 an extended series of a similar description. 
 
 We are told that when the prince Gotama was named, 
 80,000 of his relatives were present, and that when he was 
 sixteen years of age " the Sakya tribes sent their daugh- 
 ters superbly decorated (that they might become his 
 wives). There were 40,000 dancing girls. The princess 
 who was (afterwards) the mother of Hahulo, became the 
 principal queen." When returning from the pleasure 
 garden, at the time he was about to become an ascetic, he 
 took from his person a pearl necklace, worth a laksha of 
 treasure, and gave it as a present to the princess Kisa- 
 gotami. His royal father, Suddhodana, at an agricul- 
 tural show, held a golden plough, whilst his state officers 
 had ploughs of silver. There are many other statements 
 about the population and wealth of Kapila-wattu of the 
 same kind. But it is said that there were, at that time, 
 63,000 kings in Jambudipa, Eajagaha being the metropolis 
 of Magadha, and Bimbisara the lord paramount. The 
 city of Koli, the residence of another king, was onlj^ a few 
 
138 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 miles from Kapila-wattii, as the inhabitants of both cities 
 were accustomed to meet together for pastime in the Lum- 
 bini garden, which was about half way between the two 
 places. With so small a territory as the one over which 
 Suddhodana reigned as an inferior king, and with his own 
 court to provide for, how did he find means to provide for 
 the 40,000 women in the palace of his son ; and whence 
 came the wealth that the royal family must have possessed, 
 if the king could plough with an implement of gold, and 
 his son give away an ornament worth a laksha of trea- 
 sure ? And what are we to say about the 40,000 women 
 themselves ? How could so great a number of women be 
 taken from so confined a population ? Again, the num- 
 bers represented as being present on different occasions of 
 importance in the history of Buddhism are equally in- 
 credible, as when it is said that Bimbisara visited Buddha 
 accompanied by 120,000 Brahmans and householders, 
 and that 6,000,000 priests were present in the city of 
 Patali-putta, when the third convocation was held.* 
 
 The tales that are told about the acts performed by 
 Buddha, and the wonders attendant on these acts, need 
 only be stated, in order to be rejected at once from the 
 realm of reality and truth. A moment after his birth, he 
 stepped upon the ground, and called out, with the voice of 
 a lion, " Aggohamasmi lokassa ; jetthohamasmi lokassa ; 
 setthohamasmi lokassa; ayamantima jati; nattlii dhani 
 punabbawoti. I am chief in the world ; I am principal in 
 
 ♦ The statements in this and the former para,2:raph arc taken from the 
 Commentary on tlic liuddha AVanso, except the last, which is taken from 
 Tumour's citracts fi'om the Dipawanso. 
 
WONDERS. 139 
 
 the world ; I am supreme in the world ; this is my last 
 birth ; hereafter there is to me no other existence."* 
 When five months old he sat in the air, without any other 
 support, at a ploughing festival. At an exhibition of his 
 strength before his assembled relatives, prior to his mar- 
 riage, he sent an arrow from his bow which split a hair at 
 the distance of ten miles, though at the time " it were 
 dark as if it were night." The following occurrences took 
 place at the time he received the supreme Buddhaship. 
 " When meditating on the patichcha samuppada circle of 
 existence, the ten thousand sakwalas (in any of which 
 Bodhisat may be born) shook twelve times. When he 
 attained to the pre-eminent wisdom, the whole of these 
 sakwalas were ornamented (as a festive hall). The flags on 
 each side of the sakwala rocks, north, south, east, and west, 
 reached to the opposite side, south, north, west, and east. 
 Those that were raised on the earth reached to the brahma- 
 loka, and those that were raised in the brahma-loka 
 reached to the earth. All the flower trees in the various 
 sakwalas put forth blossoms ; and to the same extent the 
 fruit trees became laden with fruit. On the trunks and 
 branches there were lotus flowers, whilst garlands were 
 suspended from the sky. The rocks were rent, and upon 
 them flowers appeared, in ranges of seven, one above the 
 other. The whole space of the sakwalas appeared like one 
 wide mass of flowers, as everywhere they were spread. 
 The Lokantarika hells, 80,000 miles in extent, in all these 
 sakwalas, were illuminated by a more brilliant light than 
 could have been made by seven suns. The waters of the 
 * Mahapadana Suttanta, Jatakatha-katth^,. 
 
140 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 great ocean, 840,000 miles deep, became fresh. The 
 streams of the rivers were arrested. The blind from birth 
 saw, the deaf heard, the lame wallved, and the bomid pri- 
 soner was set free." Again, after he had preached his 
 first sermon, it is expressly said that " then the founda- 
 tions of 10,000 worlds were shaken, and moved about 
 tumultuously, and a great and brilliant light was pre- 
 sented."* These things are too absurd to require serious 
 refutation ; and the students at present in even the smaller 
 educational establishments of Ceylon, would feel themselves 
 aggrieved, were I to make the attempt. 
 
 There are endowments and powers claimed for the an- 
 cient ascetics, and for Bodhisat in his various forms of 
 existence, of the most extraordinary character. We have 
 seen that the rishi Matanga prevented the sun from rising, 
 and bisected the moon. Bindumati, a courtezan, turned 
 back the stream of the Ganges. The chakrawartti kings 
 had horses and elephants on which they could ride through 
 the air, and visit any of the four great continents. 
 
 When there was a famine in Weranja, Moggalan, one 
 of the two principal disciples of Buddha, asked permission 
 from liim to turn the earth over, that, as its under surface 
 is like virgin honey, the starving population might thereby 
 be fed ; and when he was asked what would become of the 
 inhabitants of the earth, he replied that he would cause an 
 extension of one of his hands, and collect in that all the 
 people, whilst he inverted the earth with the other. As 
 
 * J&takattha-katthu. Dhamma-cli:ikknp})a\vattana Suttanta. I oould 
 multiply the record of these marvels to an indetiiiitc extent, from numerous 
 other works ; but it is not necessary, as I found on them no argument. 
 
THE POWER OF MOGGALAN. 141 
 
 this was not permitted, lie wanted to take the priests to 
 Uttarakuru, but this proposition also was disapproved of by 
 Buddha ;* not from the act being impossible, but from its 
 not being necessary that it should be performed. 
 
 * Gogerly : translated from the Parajika. Journal of the Ceylon Branch 
 of the Eoyal Asiatic Society, vol. i. p. 79. 
 
142 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE 0^'TOLOGY OE BUDDHISM. 
 
 In exposing the errors of Buddhism that in the pre- 
 ceding pages have passed under our review, we have been 
 aided, in most instances, by the sure deductions of science. 
 We now turn to another order of error, in the overthrow 
 of which we shall require assistance from a different 
 source, or the application of former principles in a new 
 
 form. 
 
 1. FORMER STATES OE EXISTENCE. 
 
 The constancy with which reference is made to former 
 states of existence is one of the first things that strikes us 
 in looking into the writings of the Buddhists. The per- 
 sonal character of the Tathagato is invested thereby with 
 an a^oparcnt sublimit}^ of abnegation and self-sacrifice. 
 The resolves of the imaginar}^ Buddhas of past ages have 
 nothing to equal them, for disinterestedness, in all the 
 annals of heathenism. Myriads upon myriads of years 
 ago, according to his own fictitious narrations, he might 
 have released himself from the pains and penalties of suc- 
 cessive existence ; but he voluntarily continued in the 
 stream of repeated birth, that he might attain to the pri- 
 vilege of being able to teach sentient beings the way to 
 the city of peace; though he knew that he could only 
 
FORMER STATES OF EXISTENCE. 143 
 
 gain it by passing througli innumerable births, and en- 
 during reiterated privations and bardsbips. But it takes 
 away from our admiration of tbe thought, when we re- 
 member that the city of peace, to which he would lead 
 mankind, is nothingness ; and that in many of his births 
 his recorded actions are unworthy of so great an aim, as 
 that which he professes to have set before him. With his 
 own circumstances, and those of others, in the most distant 
 ages, he professed to be as familiar as with the events of 
 the passing moment ; and the sacred books would lose 
 much of their attractiveness, if the apologues and tales 
 having a reference to the past were taken from them. 
 There can be no transmigration, in the usual sense of the / /^ 
 term, according to the principles of Buddhism ; but there 
 is the repetition of existence ; and this idea enters into 
 every part of the system. It is more frequently referred 
 to by Buddha than any other of his tenets, and has pro- 
 duced a greater influence upon the people professing his 
 religion than any other of its speculations. 
 
 The pretensions of Buddha to a perfect knowledge of 
 the past is set forth in the following terms : " The rahat is 
 endowed with the power, called pubbeniwasananan'', of 
 revealing his various former existences. Thus, I am ac- 
 quainted with one existence, two existences, three exist- 
 ences, four existences, five existences, ten existences, twenty 
 existences, thirty existences, forty existences, fifty exist- 
 ences, a hundred existences, a thousand existences, and a 
 hundred thousand existences ; innumerable sanVatta- 
 kappe, innumerable wiwatta-kappe ; innumerable san'- 
 watta-wiwatta-kappe. 
 
144 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 " I know that I was born in sucli a place, bearing sucb 
 a name, descended of such a race, endowed with such a 
 complexion ; that I subsisted on such an aliment, and was 
 subjected to such and such jo3^s and griefs, and was gifted 
 with such a term of existence ; and who, after death, was 
 regenerated here. Thus it is that he who is endowed with 
 the pubbeniwiisananan^ is acquainted both with his origin 
 and external appearance (in his former states of exist- 
 ence)."* 
 
 The Atuwawa on the above extract has this further 
 explanation : " There are six kinds of beings who exercise 
 this power. . .• . Among these the titthiya (the professors 
 of other religions) have the power of revelation over forty 
 kappe, and not beyond, on account of their limited intel- 
 ligence ; and their intelligence is limited, as they recog- 
 nize a limitation to corporeal and individual regeneration. 
 The ordinary disciples (of Buddho) have the power of 
 revelation over a hundred and a thousand kappe, being 
 endowed with greater intelligence. The eighty principal 
 disciples have the power of revelation over a hundred 
 thousand kappe. The two chief disciples over one asan- 
 kheyyan and a hundred thousand kappe, their destination 
 being fulfilled at the termination of these respective 
 periods. To the intelligence of the supreme Buddho alone 
 there is no limitation." 
 
 It might be difficult, by mere reasoning, apart from the 
 
 ♦ Tiirnniir: translated from the Patisanibhulan', tlie 12tli book of the 
 Khudaka Nikuyo. Journal of the J5cngal Asiatic Society, vol. vii. p. G91. 
 The same sentences, nearly word for word, arc scattered throngliout the 
 Bacred hooks, and may be found, among other places, in the Samaunya Phala 
 Suttanta and the Maha Padaua Suttauta. 
 
FORMER STATES OF EXISTENCE. 145 
 
 Scriptures of God, to prove that tliere is no sucb. thing as 
 transmigration. But without entering into any argument 
 on the general question, we may safely assert, that Buddha 
 knew much less about the past than any one may learn in 
 the present age, who understands any language in which 
 there is a modern literature. There are facts of recent 
 discovery, unknown to Buddha, that powerfully teach one 
 of his favourite doctrines, the impermanence of all things. 
 By the pursuits of the geologist many phenomena have 
 been brought to light, that were undiscovered at the 
 beginning of the present century. We now learn that a 
 continual change is taking place in everything connected 
 with the earth, the nature of which it is not difficult to 
 understand. Wind, rain, light, heat, frost, the tides, 
 earthquakes, electricity, with other powers and forces, 
 affect almost every object, from the single atom to the 
 mighty mountain, and from the small rain- drop to the 
 extended ocean. We live in the midst of universal 
 change. One thing is melted, another becomes solid, and 
 a third seems to pass away entirely, by being changed 
 into air, or by being burnt. Rivers roll down their beds 
 great masses of rock, and remove them to considerable 
 distances. Ice forces its way down the sides of the moun- 
 tain, and alters the appearance of the plain. From the 
 polar seas vast masses of rock are floated to warmer re- 
 gions, by ice-bergs, and are there deposited when the ice 
 melts. In some countries there are numerous jets of boil- 
 ing water, that as they rush upwards throw out large 
 blocks of stone. Yolcanoes are at work, sending forth 
 streams of fire, that when they cool become like metal in 
 
 10 
 
146 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 hardness. The rivers are powerful agents, in producing 
 similar effects upon a mightier scale. It has been calcu- 
 lated that the Ganges brings down daily into the Bay of 
 Bengal, during the rainy season, 400,000,000 tons of mud. 
 The sea wears away the coast in one place, and enlarges it 
 in another ; and its waters insinuate themselves among 
 crags and hills, until they are so undermined that they 
 fall. The same power that formerly depressed the valleys 
 we now cultivate, and upheaved the hills we climb, is con- 
 tinually exerting its force. The south and west coasts of 
 England are gradually rising above the sea. The coast of 
 Norway has been elevated 200 feet within a recent period. 
 In South America there are tracts of country extending 
 thousands of miles, in which the rising and lowering of 
 the land has been observed, whilst in Mexico hundreds of 
 square miles have been thrust upwards, and a hill a thou- 
 sand feet high has been formed in a short space of time. 
 In the great Chilian earthquake a mass of earth equal to 
 an immense number of cubic miles was raised. The 
 smallest creatures are adding to the re- arrangement of the 
 geography of the world. Coral insects have built a reef 
 along the shore of New Caledonia, four hundred miles 
 long, and another a thousand miles long on the east coast 
 of Australia, in some instances their works being several 
 hundred feet high. 
 
 These effects may be observed in Ceylon, by those who 
 are willing to make geology their study, and watch the 
 changes that are taking place around them ; but it must 
 be with a patience like that of the old ascetics, when they 
 practised dhyuna, and a perseverance like that of Bhod- 
 
FORMER STATES OF EXISTENCE. 147 
 
 hisat, when, as a squirrel, according to the fable, he 
 sought to dry up the sea, by lading out its waters with his 
 bushy tail. " The land (of Ceylon) has for ages," we are 
 told by Sir Emerson Tennent, " been slowly rising from 
 the sea, and terraces abounding in marine shells imbedded 
 in agglutinated sand occur in situations far above high 
 water-mark. Immediately inland from Point de Galle, 
 the surface soil rests on a stratum of decomposing coral ; 
 and sea shells are found at a considerable distance from 
 the shore. Further north, at Madampe, between Chilaw 
 and Negombo, the shells of pearl oysters and other bi- 
 valves are turned up by the plough more than ten miles 
 from the sea. These recent formations present themselves 
 in a still more striking form in the north of the island, the 
 greater portion of which may be regarded as the conjoint 
 production of the coral polypi, and the currents, which for 
 the greater portion of the year set impetuously toward the 
 south. Coming laden with alluvial matter collected along 
 the coast of Coromandel, and meeting with obstacles south 
 of Point Calimere, they have deposited their burthens on 
 the coral reefs round Point Pedro, and these raised above 
 the sea-level, and covered deeply by sand drifts, have 
 formed the peninsula of Jaffna and the plains that trend 
 westward until they unite with the narrow cause -way of 
 Adam's Bridge — itself raised by the same agencies, and 
 annually added to by the influences of the tides and mon- 
 soons. 
 
 " On the north-west side of the island, where the cur- 
 rents are checked by the obstruction of Adam's Bridge, 
 and still water prevails in the Gulf of Manaar, these de- 
 
148 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 posits have been profusely heaped, and the low sandy 
 plains have been proportionally extended ; whilst on the 
 south and east, where the current sweeps unimpeded along 
 the coast, the line of the shore is bold and occasionally 
 rocky. This explanation of the accretion and rising of 
 the land is somewhat opposed to the popular belief that 
 Ceylon was torn from the main land of India by a convul- 
 sion, during which the Gulf of Manaar and the narrow 
 channel at Paumbon were formed by the submersion of 
 the adjacent land. The two theories might be reconciled 
 by supposing the sinking to have occurred at an early 
 period, and to have been followed by the uprising still in 
 progress. But on a closer examination of the structure 
 and direction of the mountain system of Ceylon, it ex- 
 hibits no traces of submersion."* 
 
 A gentleman Vt^ell known for his scientific attainments 
 informs me, that every stone in the Jaffna peninsula is 
 composed of hardened sand and shells, furnishing some 
 very beautiful fossil specimens. The shells, in most in- 
 stances, particularly in the interior of the peninsula, have 
 been petrified by the gradual substitution of calcareous or 
 flinty particles for the particles of the shell inside the 
 stone ; but, bordering on the sea, the shells themselves arc 
 still to be traced in the rocks. The peninsula is visibh/ 
 growing and extending into the sea about Point Pedro. 
 
 !N^early the whole of our present lands and continents 
 
 were formerly under the sea, as is proved by the remains 
 
 of marine animals and plants that arc found deposited 
 
 below the surface of the earth ; and it is not only in the 
 
 * Sir J. Emerson Tennent's Ceylou, vol. i. p. 12. 
 
FORMER STATES OF EXISTENCE. 149 
 
 material of whicli the earth, is composed that these things 
 are taking place ; changes equally striking have taken 
 place in the world of living existence. Leaves, fruits, 
 stems, and roots of trees, and skeletons of animals, very 
 dijfferent to any that now live, have been found in thou- 
 sands of instances, in nearly all parts of the world. Not 
 only in the earliest ages was the animal and vegetable life 
 of a kind different to that which is now seen ; but this 
 was succeeded by new races, to be in turn displaced by 
 creatures of another form and habit, but in every instance 
 adapted to the condition of the earth at the period in 
 which they lived. At one time the atmosphere was of a 
 higher temperature than at present, on which account the 
 productions of the vegetable world were then most luxu- 
 riantly abundant. To this we are indebted for our present 
 supply of coal, which is composed of vegetable remains 
 that by pressure and other agencies have been converted 
 into a mineral substance. It has been calculated that at 
 Saar Rivier the coal stratum must be 22,015 feet below 
 the surface of the earth. " Hence," says Humboldt, " from 
 the highest pinnacle of the Himalayas to the lowest basin 
 containing the vegetation of an earlier world, there is a 
 vertical distance of 48,000 feet."* 
 
 There is a singular uniformity about the arrangement 
 of the strata in which the fossil remains are found. If we 
 are told the character of a stratum, we can know from that 
 the character of the one above it, and of the one below it, 
 in most instances. If we know the form of an animal or a 
 plant that formerly existed, we can tell in what kind of 
 * Humboldt's Cosmos, by Otte ; vol. i. 
 
150 LEGENDS AKD THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 earth or rock it will most probably be found ; and if we 
 know the earth or rock, we can tell what kind of form will 
 be the most abundant in its fossil remains. Of many of 
 the curious creatures that formerly existed, only a few 
 fragments have been foimd. Among them are birds of all 
 sizes, from an ostrich to a crow, and lizards with a bird's 
 beak and feet. Kear the shore, in the ocean, were fishes 
 with a pavement of teeth covering the palate, and enabling 
 them to crush and eat the crabs, lobsters, and other shell 
 fish that there abounded. Further out at sea were large 
 and voracious sharks. Reptile- like animals were at one 
 time the most numerous and powerful. The plesiosaurus 
 united the characters of the head of a lizard, with the teeth 
 of a crocodile, to a neck of immoderate length, so that it 
 has been compared to a serpent threaded through the shell 
 of a turtle. On the land were crocodiles in great variety. 
 One animal was taller than an elephant ; but instead of a 
 trunk it had a long narrow snout, armed with strong and 
 sharp tusks ; and another had a body half as long again as 
 an elephant, with feet so large and strong that a crocodile 
 would be crushed by it at a single blow. The Himalayas 
 contain the remains of a gigantic land tortoise, twelve feet 
 in lengrth and six in heif>-ht. The megatherium lies in the 
 vast plains of South America. It is larger than an Indian 
 bull, and has claws of immense length and power. The 
 length of the body is eighteen feet, and its girth fourteen 
 feet ; and the tliigh bone is nearly three times the size of 
 that of an elephant.* 
 
 * The geological facts I have recorded, are principally taken from Lyell, 
 Ansted and MautcU. 
 
FORMER STATES OF EXISTENCE. 151 
 
 There can be no doubt that the condition of the world, 
 in the ages of which we are speaking, was very different 
 to anything that is presented in our day. Now if Buddha 
 lived in these distant ages, and had a perfect insight into 
 their circumstances, as he tells us he had, how is it that we 
 have no intimation whatever, in any of his numerous re- 
 ferences to the past, that the world was so different, in 
 these respects, to what it is now ? We have exaggerations 
 of present forms of existence ; a thousand arms given to 
 Mdra, and a height higher than the moon to Kahu; but 
 of the innumerable creatures that then lived, and are now 
 found in a fossil state, he says not a word. According to 
 his discourses, there were, at that time, the same kinds of 
 trees, of reptiles, of fishes, of birds, and of beasts, as in his 
 own day. He was himself, as we learn from the Jataka 
 Wannana, an elephant, a lion, a horse, a bull, a deer, a 
 dog, a guana, a jackal, a monkey, a hare, a pig, a rat, a 
 serpent, a frog, a fish, an alligator, a hansa bird, a pea- 
 fowl, an eagle, a cock, a woodpecker, a water fowl, a 
 jungle-fowl, a crow, a snipe, and a kindura, or merman, 
 which is a fabulous creature, commonly met with in old 
 tales, but never seen in this age of universal observation 
 and enquiry. How is it that in his numerous births he 
 was never any kind of creature except those that are com- 
 mon to India ? The only conclusion we can come to is, 
 that he knew nothing about the beasts that roamed in 
 other lands, or the birds that flew in other skies ; and that 
 as he was ignorant of their existence he could not intro- 
 duce them into his tales. As we are told that he was 
 never born in any smaller form than a snipe, it might 
 
152 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 have been an indignity to him to be one of the organisms 
 found at Bilin, so small that there are forty-one thousand 
 millions of their shells in a cubic inch ; but it would have 
 been none to be a giraflfe in the present kalpa, or a mega- 
 therium among the creatures that are extinct. It will be 
 said that he was never born but in Jambudipa, and that 
 therefore, he could not be any creature not found in India; 
 but it is evident that by .Jambudipa he meant the whole 
 of the space inhabited by men, or man^s earth, about the 
 size and shape of which he was as ignorant as all the other 
 men who then lived. 
 
 Then again, how are we to believe his statements when 
 he speaks of Benares and other cities as having existed 
 for many mj^riads of years, when we know that an entire 
 change in the very formation of the countries in which 
 they are situated has taken place ? That the region now 
 called India has partaken in the general interchange of 
 land and water, we have proof in the fossil remains that 
 are plentifully and extensively found in the peninsula. 
 Remains of the sivatherium and mastodon, large animals 
 that once haunted its plains, and of the hippopotamus that 
 once frequented its rivers, may now be seen in museums. 
 The remains of the vegetable world tell us of the diifer- 
 ence between its present and former atmosphere and 
 temperature. At Chirra Ponji, north of Calcutta, there 
 is a bed of coal, 4300 feet above the level of the sea ; and 
 there are evidences, in the same neighbourhood, of great 
 upheavement from igneous action. Tlie hills not far distant 
 are covered with a stratum of marine shells, and in some 
 places there are the remains of an ancient coast, as is seen 
 
FORMER AGES. 153 
 
 by extensive deposits of shingle. Not far from Benares 
 coal lias been found, and it is certain that no city could 
 have existed in this country at the time these deposits 
 were formed.* 
 
 These facts are sufficient to convince every observant 
 mind, that what Buddha says about his past births, and 
 those of others, is an imposition upon the credulity of 
 mankind, without anything whatever to support it from 
 fact. The earth, in every part of its vast bosom ; in the 
 burning plain and the ice-bound sea; from the highest 
 elevation ever trod by human foot, to the lowest depth 
 ever seen by human eye, has cherished proofs infallible, 
 which she now reveals, that every word spoken by the 
 Tathagato about his former states of existence is a fabrica- 
 tion and an untruth. 
 
 2. FORMER AGES. 
 
 The Mahawanso, and other works written in Ceylon 
 that profess to be historical, tell us that the first twenty- 
 eight kings of the earth lived an asankya each. An 
 asankya is thus numerated. Ten decenniums make one 
 hundred; ten hundreds, one thousand; one hundred 
 thousands, one laksha ; one hundred lakshas, one koti ; one 
 hundred lakshas of kotis one prakoti ; one koti of prakotis, 
 one koti-prakoti ; one koti of koti-prakotis, one nahuta ; 
 and so on, for fourteen times more, each time multiplying 
 by ten millions, until the number reaches a unit with 
 
 * The statements in relation to the geology of India are taken from the 
 Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society. 
 
154 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 thirty three cyphers. I have not met with any confirmation 
 of kings living an asankya in the Text of the Pitakas ; 
 but in the commentary it is said to have been declared by 
 Buddha that men lived to this astounding ao:e. 
 
 The Euddhawanso is a history of the twenty-four 
 Buddhas who preceded Grotamo, and was delivered by 
 Buddha himself in the first year of his supremacy, in 
 order to convince his relations that the course he was 
 taking had high authority in its favour. In speaking of 
 Kakusandha, the third Buddha before himself, he says : 
 "In this kappo the Bhagawa Kakusandha w^as born, 
 whose allotted term of existence was forty- thousand years. 
 That term of existence gradually decreasing was reduced 
 to ten years ; and subsequently increasing again to an 
 asankheyyan, and from that point again diminishing, had 
 arrived at the term of thirty-thousand years." It is in 
 this manner that the decrease and increase in the term 
 of human life takes place. It commences with an asankj^a 
 and goes down gradually to ten j^ears ; and it then rises 
 again, until it reaches an asankya. In the same com- 
 mentary we are told that when the term of human exist- 
 ence is 100,000 years or upwards, it is not a proper time 
 in which for a Buddha to appear, because " under so pro- 
 tracted an existence the human race have no adequate 
 perception of birth, deca}^, or death." Kearl}'' at the end 
 of the commentary we have this statement : " Aparimeyye 
 ito kappe, chaturo asinsu nayakii. Infinite kalpas before 
 this, there were four great ones (Buddhas)." A Chinese 
 legend tells that before the present kalpa " ten quadrillion 
 times a hundred quadrillions of kalpas, each kalpa consist- 
 
FORMER AGES. 155 
 
 ing of 1344 millions of years, there was a chakrawartti 
 king/'* 
 
 The book of the Dipawanso,t after enumerating the 
 dynasties of all kings from the commencement of royalty, 
 and then referring to the Okkaka, or Sakya, race, to 
 which Buddha belonged, says : " The whole of these 
 monarchs, who were of great wealth and power, were in 
 number one laksha, four nahutans, and three hundred 
 (140,300). Such is the number of monarchs of the 
 dynasty from which Bodhisat is sprung." J From Maha 
 Sammata, the first king, to Suddhodana, the father of 
 Buddha, there were 706,787 kings, who reigned in nine- 
 teen different capitals, all of which were known in the 
 time of Bhagawa ; but several of them have since become 
 desolate, and even their sites forgotten, among which we 
 must include his own native city, Kapila-watthu. But 
 the length of these dynasties, the monarchs of which lived 
 for all periods from an asankya to the present age of man, 
 has no analogy in real occurrence. There are kings now 
 reigning who regard themselves as the successors of the 
 Caesars, and others who are called the children of the sun ; 
 but this is merely an honorary form, and though repeated 
 is not received as fact. There is no dynasty now, on any 
 throne, that exercised the functions of royalty in the time 
 of Buddha. 
 
 The periods to which we are taken back by the authori- 
 ties of Buddhism are so remote as to be beyond the power 
 
 * Laidlay's Pilgrimage of Fa Hian. 
 
 t This is not one of the sacred books. 
 
 X Turnour : Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society, vol. vii. p. 922. 
 
156 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 of numbers to express them. Yet in tlie most distant of 
 these ages, the same languages were spoken as in the time 
 of Buddha ; there were the same manners and customs, 
 the same kinds of dress and ornaments, and the same 
 kinds of food ; men had the same names, and followed the 
 same occupations ; there were the same modes of govern- 
 ment, the same castes, the same forms of religion, the 
 same modes of travelling, the same denominations of coin, 
 the same species of grain, and the same diseases and medi- 
 cines. But how is it possible for this unchangeableness 
 to have continued so long? Does not Buddha himself 
 teach us the impermanence of all things ? There is not 
 at the present moment a single country upon the face of 
 the earth occupied by the same people that lived in it 
 three thousand years ago, if we except the Arabs, and 
 perhaps the Ceylonese and Chinese. The men of Israel, 
 who existed then, exist now, but they are exiles from their 
 fatherland. It cannot be, that in myriads of years, and 
 with intervals of myriads of years as well, there has 
 been so little change in the economy of the world as 
 is represented by Buddha ; and so little difference, as 
 to the manners and customs of mankind, between these 
 distant times and the times in which Buddha is said to 
 have lived. 
 
 It will be said that this sameness is a necessity, as the 
 world exists in successive scries, one of which most inti- 
 mately resembles another ; and that, therefore, the history 
 of any given period must necessarily be like other and 
 distant periods. Then, we reply, the present age, as well 
 as those that preceded it, must have had its prototype in 
 
FORMEU AGES. 157 
 
 repeated and limitless cycles. And, by the same law, 
 there must have been in former ages, as now, the art of 
 printing ; the manufacture of telescopes, clocks, and 
 watches; the use of gas, gunpowder, and fire-arms; and 
 the establishment of steam-boats, railways, and electric 
 telegraphs ; and all the other inventions of modern science 
 (as we, in our ignorance, it seems, call them). How is it 
 that none of these things are ever referred to by Buddha, 
 even in the shadow of an allusion, or the most distant 
 hint ? We need not wander far for the true answer. It 
 is, that all that is said about past existence in Buddhist 
 works has no more reality about it than "the baseless 
 fabric of a vision," to pass away before the influence of 
 truth, as the mist of the mountain before the sun-ray of 
 the morning. 
 
 But we have not yet done with the evidence against 
 Buddha from the same source. He tells us that myriads 
 of years ago men lived in this world, and as he represents 
 their story, in far greater numbers than at the present 
 time. But reliable tradition and truthful history take us 
 no further back, in the story of man, than the time attri- 
 buted to the deluge ; and we are led to seek the origin of 
 our race, by the aid of the same guides, not only in that 
 particular age, but in some part of Central Asia, in con- 
 formity with the declaration of Scripture, that the ark of 
 Noah rested upon mount Ararat. We can trace man to 
 no more distant age, and to no other country or place. 
 And further, among all the fossil remains that have been 
 found, no bone that can be proved, without doubt or con- 
 troversy, to have belonged to the human species, has been 
 
158 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 discovered ; but even if the perfect skeleton of a man were 
 found in some old drift, clothed with flesh, and having 
 about him still the raiment in which he lived and the 
 weapons with which he fought, and with a legible inscrip- 
 tion around his place of burial, so as to make it certain 
 that he was a real man, and no mistake, this would prove 
 nothino^ in favour of Buddhism. It would onlv show that 
 there were men upon the earth at an earlier period than is 
 general^ supposed, but the argument we have adduced 
 would still remain in its fidl force ; because man could not 
 possibly have lived in the ages to which Buddha takes us, 
 as the world was not then prepared for his reception, and 
 its circumstances were antagonistic to the existence of any 
 being with an organism like that of man. All analogy 
 teaches us that the position in which God places his 
 creatures is always adapted to their frames and faculties. 
 Then, what becomes of the numerous tales about ''the 
 days of yore," when Brahmadatta was king of Benares, or 
 some other king reigned in some other city ? The sum of 
 the ages given to these monarchs takes us back more years 
 than the whole of the present generation of men could 
 count before their death, giving each man, woman, and 
 child, five hundred thousand to do in a day. To a demon- 
 stration, the statements of the Tathagato are "not histori- 
 cally true ;" and they ought, therefore, to be set aside as 
 unworthy of further notice, or handed down to posteritj^ 
 as examples of the foolish things that men are led to 
 believe when they lose the guidance of the oracles 
 of God. 
 
PRESENT EXISTENCE. 159 
 
 3. PEESENT EXISTENCE. 
 
 There was error in all that Buddha taught in relation 
 to j)ast existence, and when he spoke to his disciples of the 
 germ of present being, in many instances he was equally- 
 far from the truth. ISTo one but himself, according to his 
 own account, knew the manner of the origin of the 
 universe, and as it would have been of no benefit to his 
 disciples to understand it, he did not reveal it to them, 
 and says that all speculation upon this subject is profitless 
 and vain. But in his teachings on the manner of the 
 origin of the present race of men, he is much more com- 
 municative. He taught, correctl}^, that the first inhabi- 
 tants of the earth were pure, and free from evil ; but he 
 said, in addition, incorrectlj^, that they first appeared by 
 the apparitional birth, and could soar through the air, and 
 live without food; their fall taking place through the 
 tasting of a substance, like boiled milk, that then grew 
 temptingly upon the surface of the earth. This may have 
 been a perversion of an old truth, and a wrong mode of 
 expressing what in its main principle was correct — the 
 rectitude of primitive man, and his fall by eating some- 
 thing that was the means of leading him away from his 
 original purity. On the origin of the individual man, 
 Buddha leads his followers still further astray; but into 
 this subject I may not enter at any length. It may suffice 
 to say, that he attributes human conception to the most 
 absurd and impossible causes. Though born as men, we 
 may be subject to the most extraordinary transformations. 
 "VYe may change our sex, not only in passing to the next 
 
160 LEGEXDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 birtli, but now. We may be born as men, for part of our 
 lives, and wben the power of our merit is exliausted, we 
 may change to the inferior condition of women. We may 
 have to expiate some former misdeed, and on that account 
 be born as a female; but we may live to accomplish the 
 expiation, and then be changed, in the same life, from a 
 woman into a man.* We may be the one and the other 
 alternately ; for a time man, and then woman, in the 
 present life, and then return back again to our original 
 condition. 
 
 In the Dhammapada Wannana, there is an account of a 
 setthi, resident in the city of Soreyya, the father of two 
 children, who was changed into a woman, because of a 
 foolish and irreverent thought in relation to a priest, and 
 as a woman had two more children. But as forgiveness 
 was afterwards asked from the priest, and granted, the 
 same person was restored to the former sex, and became a 
 rahat. That this change took place, and that the children 
 were born, was acknowledged by Buddha, according to 
 the story ; but all these things are pure inventions, and 
 there is, throughout, the assignment of consequences to 
 impossible causes. The first change took place without 
 even the knowledge of the priest, no one can tell how ; 
 and though the second took place in consequence of the 
 priest's forgiveness, as it is not ascribed to his interference 
 or influence, it is simply confession of having done wrong 
 that in itself, without any other instrumentality, wrought 
 a miracle of the most extraordinary character; and one 
 
 * Gogcrly : Journal of tlie Ceylon Brancli of tlic Royal Asiatic Society, 
 vol. i. p. 87. 
 
PRESENT EXISTENCE. 161 
 
 that could only have beqii thought of in connexion with 
 a system that regards the state of womanhood as a punish- 
 ment, and the privileges she is permitted to enjoy as 
 greatly inferior to those of the other sex. The thought 
 of the setthi was not a crime, and scarcely a fault ; but it 
 was visited in this exemplary manner, because formed in 
 relation to a priest ; and we can only account for the 
 invention of the story by supposing that it aj-ose from a 
 wish to exalt the priesthood. 
 
 "We learn from the same authorities, that men and 
 women may be produced by the apparitional, opapatika, 
 birth, thereby starting at once into the full maturity of 
 being ; and that others are generated by touch, by look, 
 by perfumes, by flowers, by food, by the garment, by the 
 season, and b}^ the voice. Beings not human receive their 
 existence from perspiration and putridity, from wind, from 
 warmth, and from the sound of rain. Beings not human 
 may have human children. The Nagas have naturally a 
 serpentine form, but they can assume the shape of men, 
 and have been known to have children as such, and to have 
 become priests ; and it is only when, by inattention, they 
 have lost the assumed form, that it has been discovered 
 they were reptiles. Further search into these matters I 
 must leave to the physiologist, who will find many strange 
 fictions, but no new facts, in the science of life, as taught 
 in the sacred books ; I mention them that their absurdity 
 may be seen, and as further proof that the framers of 
 Buddhism were fanciful in their notions; and that they 
 are, therefore, unsafe as guides, whether in science or 
 religious truth. 
 
 11 
 
162 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 4. MAiSr. 
 
 "We haTe seen that the voice, or a look, may produce the 
 germ of human existence, according to Buddhism, from 
 which we should conclude that the nature and constitution 
 of man must be something eminently subtle and ethereal. 
 But instead of this, everything about him, after his birth, 
 is represented as being material, or the eflPect of causes that 
 are material; and as his existence is only the result of 
 certain constituents under certain circumstances, a mere 
 collection and continuance, at the separation or breaking 
 up of these constituents he ceases to be, in the same way 
 that the cloud ceases to be when its particles are separated 
 and scattered in the shower, or the cart when it is broken 
 up and made into bundles of firewood for the market. To 
 continue the last illustration ; the cart is only a name ; it 
 is nothing in itself but an idea ; it refers to a collection of 
 things of a certain form and size, and when they are 
 together we call them a cart ; but if we ask what the cart 
 is, as it is evident that neither the axle-tree, nor the wheel, 
 nor the shafts, nor any other separate portion, is the cart, 
 we are unable to tell what the cart is, except that it is a 
 name. In like manner if we ask what the man is, as 
 neither the hair, nor the nose, nor the arm, nor the foot, 
 nor any other separate member is the man, we are unable 
 to tell what the man is, except that there is a name. 
 These five khandas are the essentialities of sentient being. 
 1. Itupa, the organised body. 2. Wedana, sensation. 
 3. Sannya, perception. 4. Sankhdra, discrimination. 5. 
 "VVinydna, consciousness. Besides these five khandas there 
 
MAN. 163 
 
 is no other constituent tliat forms part and parcel of man 
 as a sentient being. There is therefore, belonging to man, 
 no soul, nor anything equivalent to what is commonly 
 understood by the soul. It cannot form any part of the 
 organized hodj, the twenty-eight elements and properties 
 of which are all defined. The soul may be attached to an 
 organism, but it cannot be connected mth it, and cannot 
 be one with it ; as body is one thing and soul another. 
 And it is equally evident that the soul cannot be in any 
 of the other khandas ; not in sensation, nor in perception, 
 nor in discrimination, nor in consciousness. These Toanj be 
 faculties of the soul, but they cannot be the soul itself. 
 Then, if the soul is in none of these things, and they are 
 the whole of the constituents essential to existence, there 
 being no other, according to Buddhism, there is no soul.* 
 
 This system tells man that he is a heap, a collection, an 
 accumulation, an aggregation, a congeries, an increment, 
 and nothing more. To develop light there is the lamp, the 
 wick, the oil and the flame ; and to develop the man there 
 must be the organised body and the four other khandas. 
 When the flame is extinguished, the light ceases to be ; 
 when the khandas are broken up, the man ceases to be ; 
 and no more, eventually, remains of the man than of the 
 light. There is great ingenuity exercised in the treatment 
 of this abstruse subject by native writers; but to follow 
 them through all their classifications and distinctions would 
 require an extended volume. The absence of originality, 
 or the reverence they have paid to some authoritative 
 model, causes their expositions to be consistent with each 
 
 * Appendix, Note Z. 
 
164 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 other ; and on this account, as we are not perplexed in our- 
 investigations by varied and discordant views, we can rely 
 with, the greater confidence on the conclusions to which 
 we have come as to their ontological doctrines. 
 
 The absence of the soul seems to render it impossible 
 that there can be any moral retribution after the present 
 life ; but the Buddhists profess to evade this consequence, 
 by saying that when man ceases to exist, the principle of 
 upadana, or cleaving to existence, causes the production 
 of another being, to which the karmma of the producer, — 
 the aggregate of all his actions, in every state of existence 
 in which he has lived, in their ethical character, as good, 
 or bad, or neither good nor bad, — is transferred intact. 
 When existence ceases, the karmma still lives, and it 
 passes over to its new possessor, with all its interests, pro- 
 perties, obligations, and liabilities, whether of punishment 
 or reward. In the same way, one flame produces another 
 flame, with the same properties ; and one tree another tree, 
 of the same nature as itself, by means of its fruit. The 
 apostle Paul tells us, " That which thou so west is not 
 quickened, except it die." But in this illustration of the 
 doctrine of the resurrection, we arc permitted to see the 
 manner of the revivification, and in some degree under- 
 stand it ; a nexus can be traced between the grain, dead and 
 decaying, and the living stalk, as it carries nourishment 
 from the decomposed particles it "swallows up" to the 
 opening flower or the bending car of corn. And then, 
 above all, we are to remember that " God givctli it a body 
 as it hath pleased him." But when existence ceases, 
 Buddhism presents us with no medium by which the 
 
r 
 
 MAN. 165 
 
 influence of tlie deceased being reaches the being that, 
 of necessity, he causes to be produced. When man dies, 
 as he has been no more than a heap, a machine, or a piece 
 of curious mosaic ; as there is nothing that passes away 
 from him but an abstract principle, nothing soul-like ; how 
 can he produce another being, and that being, perhaps, a 
 dewa on the summit of Maha Meru, or a Timira Pingala, 
 myriads of miles beneath the surface of the deep? The 
 man who, during his life, could not produce an atom of 
 sand or a blade of grass, at his death, of his own inherent 
 energ}^, and not as an instrumentality employed by another, 
 may cause the existence of the highest and most glorious 
 of the brahmas, or may pass onward an influence that in 
 the course of ages will produce a supreme Buddha. The 
 potentiality of being is not put forth until its dissolution ; 
 and man thus becomes, though not in the sense intended 
 by the poet, " most vigorous when the body dies." But 
 this method of retribution is imperfect, and altogether un- 
 satisfactory. It is one being that does good, and another 
 that is rewarded. It is one being that commits evil, and 
 another being that is punished. The Buddhist may say, 
 " Why need I care about the being who is to succeed to 
 my merit ? When he is, I shall not be. His existence 
 involves my non-existence. I can never know anything 
 about him, and he will never know anything about me. 
 And as, when he lives, I shall be broken up, gone out, and 
 non-sentient, w^hat matters it to me whether the heir of my 
 acts be a seraph or a sprite ? Let us eat and drink, for 
 to-morrow we die." 
 
 Upon these principles, there can be no transmigration. 
 
166 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 in the usual acceptation of the term. That which trans- 
 migrates is not the spirit, the soul, the self ; but the con- 
 duct and character of the man, something too subtle to be 
 defined or explained. The analogy of the flame and the 
 tree is misleading and defective. The flame produces 
 another flame of the same nature, but the existence of the 
 one does not involve the going out of the other ; and from 
 one flame a thousand flames may be produced, all burning 
 simidtaneously. The tree lives, in some instances many 
 hundreds of j^ears, after it has begun to produce fruit, and 
 it always produces its like, something after " its kind ; " 
 from a mango fruit comes a mango tree, and not a goraka, 
 as from the goraka fruit comes a goraka tree, and not a 
 mango. The tree is one, but its fruits are many. But on 
 the principles of Buddhism, when the man dies, he only 
 produces one other being, and the being that he produces 
 is most generally a being of a nature entirely different to 
 himself ; it may be an ant, a crow, a monkey, a whale, a 
 naga, an asur, an evil spirit, or a deity. The number of 
 sentient beings in the universe must ever remain the same, 
 if each being inherits one separate and unbroken series 
 of karmma, unless it be in the period in which men can 
 receive nirwdna. And by what means does it happen that 
 just as one being dies another is always beginning to exist, 
 as the new being is produced, not by the upadana of 
 the former being alone, but through the agency of other 
 causes, entirely separate from itself, but required to act in 
 unison with it. And how is it that these causes are always 
 in simultaneous operation at the very moment they are 
 required ? There must not only be these causes in opera- 
 
MAN. 167 
 
 tion at tlie very moment of the death of tlie being that 
 produces the new being ; but the residt, the position of the 
 new being, must be of such a character as to give oppor- 
 tunity for the reception of the karmma that has to be 
 transferred, with all its inherent properties, and afford 
 facilities for its exercise, in its own essential character, 
 whether of good or evil. To these grave difficulties, 
 Buddhism offers no solution. 
 
 I can give no further explanation of the mysterious 
 upadana, except that it forms one link in the patichcha 
 samuppada, or causes of continued existence. " On account 
 of awijja, ignorance, sankharo, merit and demerit are ac- 
 cumulated ; on account of these accumulations, winyyanaii, 
 the conscious faculty is produced ; in consequence of the 
 faculty of consciousness, namarupa, the sensitive powers, 
 the perceptive powers, the reasoning powers, and the body 
 are produced ; on account of namarupa, the body and 
 sensitive faculties, the sadaj^atanan, the six organs of sense 
 (the eye, the ear, the tongue, the nose, the body, and the 
 mind), are produced ; on account of the six bodily organs, 
 phassa, contact (the action of the organs) is produced ; on 
 account of contact, wedana, sensation is produced ; on 
 account of sensation, tanha, desire is produced ; in conse- 
 quence of desire, upadana, attachment is produced ; in 
 consequence of attachment, bhawa, existence, is produced ; 
 in consequence of a state of existence, jati, birth, is pro- 
 duced ; in consequence of birth, decay, death, sorrow, 
 weeping, grief, discontent, and vexation are produced. 
 Even thus is the origin of the complete catenation of 
 sorrow.'* By the same rule, when one of these constituents 
 
168 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 ceases to be, the next in the series ceases to be, until " the 
 whole combination of sorrow ceases to be produced." 
 
 This is a theory of causation, or of a series of causations, 
 to which we cannot assent. We can understand how 
 demerit may arise from ignorance ; but how the conscious 
 faculty is produced by merit and demerit we cannot tell. 
 The conscious faculty once in existence, from it perception 
 may arise. But how does perception produce the body and 
 sensitive faculties ? Where these are, there will be the 
 organs of sense, and then contact, and sensation, and 
 desire, in the prescribed order. But the great mystery 
 still is, how desire produces existence. Physiologists tell 
 us, wlien they want to put away God's hand from God's 
 " handy-work,'^ that desire may produce instincts, change 
 the shape of a bodily member, or develop new instru- 
 mentalities. Through desire, a race of birds that live in 
 marshy places may in time put forth longer legs and bills, 
 to help them in their search for prey. Even allowing this 
 to be true, it would only be another proof that God adapts 
 the powers of his creatures to their circumstances and 
 wants. But upadana is not a desire to produce life, but a 
 desire to enjoy life ; and for the above rule to be applicable 
 here, the desire of enjoyment ought to produce the power 
 of enjoj^mcnt ; but that it does so is contrary to all ex- 
 perience. There is a further law to be taken into the 
 account, that where there is no possibility of communica- 
 tion, there can be no consequence or effect ; and as it is 
 utterly impossible for upadana to act in places witli which 
 it cannot communicate, it must be powerless as to the act of 
 production, in the manner claimed for it by Buddha. On 
 
NIRWANA. 169 
 
 another and separate count, therefore, Bhagawa is proved 
 to be mistaken ; and it is seen that the doctrines he teaches 
 are inimical to morality, when carried out to their logical 
 result. 
 
 5. NIEWA'jS'A. 
 
 The breaking up of the khandas is not the extinction 
 of being. This is produced by a distinct and different 
 process. The root of existence is not destroyed until 
 nirwana has been seen or received. There are contra- 
 dictory opinions as to the meaning of this term. In 
 Europe, until recently, it was supposed to mean absorption. 
 No thought of this kind could arise from the study of 
 Buddhist writings ; but from its frequent repetition by 
 men who on other subjects are regarded as authorities, it 
 is possible that it may have been assented to by some of 
 my native readers, whose knowledge of men and things is 
 derived from English literature, rather than the perusal 
 of works written by their own countrymen ; and I, there- 
 fore, think it necessary to prove that this conclusion cannot 
 possibly be correct. 
 
 For absorption to be effected, there must be some greater 
 being into whom the inferior being is received, merged, or 
 lost. In Buddhism, there is no such being ; as all sentient 
 existence is homogeneous, and is always composed of one or 
 more of the five khandas. There are three bhawo, or phases 
 of being. 1. Kama. In the worlds belonging to this 
 division, which includes the places of punishment, the 
 earth, and the six dewa-lokas, there are the pleasures and 
 pains resulting from sensuousness, or the possession and 
 
170 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 exercise of the senses. 2. Eupa. In the worlds belonging 
 , to this division, there is the retention of the organised 
 body ; the intellectual powers are also retained, and are 
 active ; but the senses are not exercised or possessed. It 
 is a kind of objective existence, without anything sub- 
 jective. The eleventh dewa-loka, called Asannj^asatta, is 
 an exception to this rule, as there is in it only the bodily 
 form, without the consciousness of existence. 3. Arupa. 
 These worlds are four in number, and in them there is no 
 bodily form ; but there are the four other khandas, sensa- 
 tion, perception, discrimination, and consciousness. In the 
 fourth of this class of worlds, Newasannj^anasannya, there 
 is a kind of dreaminess, in which there is neither con- 
 sciousness nor unconsciousness. It is a nearer approach to 
 nirwana than any other state. The performance of the 
 dhyana rites secures an entrance into one or other of these 
 worlds. "\Yere a sentient being to pass through all these 
 states of existence, in all these worlds, the period would 
 extend to 231,628 maha kalpas, and 12,285,000,000 years. 
 Then, if all existent beings are composed of one or other 
 of the five khandas, and all possible forms of existence are 
 included in one or other of the three series of worlds, in 
 none of which there is permanence of being, there can be 
 no all-pervading and infinite existence, from which all 
 inferior and finite existences are derived, to which they 
 belong, and in which they may again be lost. 
 
 The idea of the Brahmans is, that there is a supreme 
 existence, paramatma, from which each individual existence 
 has derived its being, but that this separate existence is an 
 illusion ; and that the grand object of man is, to effect the 
 
NIRWANA. 171 
 
 destruction of the cause of seeming separation, and to 
 secure the re- union of the derived and the underived, the 
 conditioned and the unconditioned. But Buddha re- 
 peatedly, by an exhaustive variation of argument, denies 
 that there is any self or ego. Again and again, he runs 
 over the components and essentialities of being, enu- 
 merating with tedious minuteness the classifications into 
 which they may be divided, in order to convince his 
 followers, that in whatever way these constituents may be 
 placed, or however they may be arranged, there can be 
 found in them no self. The same arguments that prove 
 there can be no inferior or finite self, prove also that there 
 can be no superior or infinite self, as all being is composed 
 of one or more of the same elements. 
 
 The idea of creation, according to Buddha, arose in this 
 way. When the inferior worlds are destroyed, many beings 
 obtain existence in the sixth brahma-loka, called Abas- 
 sara. After living here the appointed time, eight kalpas, 
 one of the brahmas appears again in a renewed brahma- 
 world, of which he is the first inhabitant. He wishes that he 
 were not alone, and that there were other beings like him, 
 with whom he could associate. By and by other beings 
 appear in the same world. The first being then thinks 
 that the second being is the result of his own volition ; and 
 concludes that he is the chief, supreme ; kattha, or the 
 maker ; nimatta, or the creator ; sanjita, or the appor- 
 tioner ; the controller, and universal parent. The beings 
 that subsequently appear in the same world, know that he 
 was the first, and having no recollection of their former 
 births, conclude that the thought of the first being is 
 
172 LEGENDS AXD THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 correct, and that they have from him received their 
 existence. 
 
 The idea of eternity arises from a recollection of the 
 past. When men are able to trace their existence back- 
 ward, through myriads of years, they conclude that they 
 have had no beginning and have existed for ever. 
 
 The whole of being is now before us ; the ways of all 
 worlds are presented to our vision ; but we are told that 
 every being in every world revolves in the round of the 
 patichcha samuppada, the circle of existence, and that over 
 all and in all there is impermanency, decay, and death ; 
 and we thus learn, that as there is no paramatma, no 
 infinite spirit or self, there can be no absorption. And 
 yet, though there is no sentient Supreme Cause, there is a 
 cause for all things ; all existences are the result of some 
 cause ; but in no instance is this formative cause the work- 
 ing of a power inherent in any being, that can be exercised 
 at will. All beings are produced from the upadana, attach- 
 ment to existence, of some previous being ; the manner of 
 its exercise, the character of its consequences, being con- 
 trolled, directed, or apportioned by karmma ; and all 
 sentient existences are produced from the same causes, or 
 from some cause dependent on the results of these causes ; 
 so that upadana and karmma, mediately or immediately, 
 are the cause of all causes, and the source whence all beings 
 have originated in their present form. 
 
 So long as there is the upadana attachment, there will 
 be the repetition of birth in some form or other of sentient 
 existence, and in one or other of the three series of worlds. 
 When this attachment is destroyed, the repetition of birth 
 
NIRWANA. 173 
 
 ceases ; as the seed loses ite fructifying principle when it 
 has been immersed in boiling water, or the lamp no longer 
 burns when the whole of the oil and the wick is consumed. 
 This cessation of existence is nirwana. 
 
 The notices of nirwana in the sacred books appear to be 
 far from numerous, and are much less frequent than we 
 should have supposed from the importance of the subject 
 in Buddhist estimation. The following extract is from the 
 Abhidammattha Sangaha. " Nibbana, or nirwana, is per- 
 ceived by means of the knowledge derived from the four 
 paths (leading to itself), which are denominated lokottara, 
 pre-eminently excellent. To the four paths it is attached. 
 It is called nirwana, because it is free from wana, attach- 
 ment or desire. This is one view of it. It is divided into 
 two sections, sawupadisesa, and anupadisesa. It is also 
 sunyata, void ; animitta, unreal ; and apani-hita, unex- 
 pectant, passionless. Upadisesa signifies the five khandas ; 
 and it is so called because only the five khandas are left, 
 without any attachment or desire. It is said to be sawu- 
 padisesa, as having the five khandas. This is the state of 
 the rahat, and is one view of nirwana. It may be said of 
 the rahat, that he has attained to nirwana, though he still 
 lives. He who is anupadisesa has not the five khandas. 
 This is the state of the Buddhas, and of aU who are free 
 from the five khandas (as having neither the organized 
 body, sensation, perception, discrimination, nor conscious- 
 ness, one or other of which is essential to sentient existence) . 
 The great rishis, who are free from wana, desire, call that 
 nirwana which is achutan, that from which there is 
 no going (no transmigration) ; achchantaii, that which has 
 
174 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 no boundarj (neither birth nor death) ; asankhatan, that 
 which is not affected by cause or effect ; anuttara, that to 
 which there is not anything superior ; and padan, that 
 which has nothing to excel it as an advantage." 
 
 These are the characteristics of nirwana. That which 
 is void, that has no existence, no continuance, neither birth 
 nor death, that is subject to neither cause nor effect, and 
 that possesses none of the essentialities of being, must be 
 the cessation of existence, nihilism, or non-entity.* Thus 
 dark is the pall thrown by ignorant man over his own 
 destiny ; but the thought is too sad to be dwelt upon, and 
 we turn away from its painful associations, that we may 
 listen to the voice of one who had seen in reality visions 
 that were onh^ feigned to have been seen b}^ Buddha : 
 " Behold, I shew you a mystery ; wo shall not all sleep, 
 but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twink- 
 ling of an eye, at the last trump ; for the trumpet shall 
 
 * "Existence, in the eye of Biuldliism, is nothing but misery. It is con- 
 nected with disease, decay, and death. It is subject to grief, wailing, pain, 
 anguish, despair, and disappointment. It resembles a blazing fire, which 
 dazzles the eye, but torments us by its effects. There is notliiug real or 
 permanent in the wliole universe. ' Everything perishes.' 
 
 "Nothing, then, remained to be devised as a deliverance from this evil but 
 the destruction of existence itself. This is what the Buddhists call nirwiiua. 
 
 " So far as I can understand this abstruse doctrine, it is not absorption. 
 Viewed in every light in which the subject maybe considered, and tested by all 
 the definitions and arguments contained in tlic canonical works of lUuldliism, 
 nibban, to use an expression of Max Muller, is niliilism, the annihilation 
 of existence, the same as the extinction of fire. Tluit such is the fact appears 
 also from the prajna paramita and metaphysics of K&syapa. It is, moreover, 
 proved by the very nickname which the Brahmans apply to their Buddhist 
 opponents, viz., nastakas, ' those who maintain destruction or nihilism,' and 
 sunyiivo'dins, ' those who maintain that there is a universal void.' " — Alwis's 
 Lectures on Buddhism, p. 29. 
 
THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE UNIVERSE. 175 
 
 sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we 
 shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incor- 
 ruption ; and this mortal must put on immortality. 
 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption ; 
 and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall 
 be brought to pass the saying that is written. Death is 
 swallowed up in victory. death, where is thy sting? 
 grave, where is thy victory ? The sting of death is 
 sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to 
 God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ." These are grand words, and the extract is not 
 too long. 
 
 6. THE REVOLUTIONS OE THE UKIYEESE. 
 
 There is a periodical destruction and renovation of the 
 universe, not of our own earth, or sakwala, alone, but in 
 like manner of limitless (kap-laksha) sakwalas, with their 
 Maha Merus, suns, moons, circles of rock, continents, and 
 seas. The destruction is by water, fire, and wind ; in this 
 order, but not in alternate succession, the destruction by 
 wind being only at every sixty-fourth occurrence. Of the 
 destruction by fire, which will be the next in order, Buddha 
 thus speaks : " Priests ! there is a period in which, for 
 many hundreds of j^ears, for many thousands of j^ears, 
 for many tens of thousands of years, for many hundreds of 
 thousands of years, no rain will fall ; by which all cereals, 
 trees, and creepers, all medicinal plants, with all grasses, 
 aU nuga and other large trees, and aU forests will be dried 
 up, and will be no more : thus, priests ! all existing things 
 
176 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 aEe impermanent ; therefore, etc. After the lapse of a 
 further immense period, a second sun appears, by which 
 the smaller rivers, and the inferior tanks and lakes are 
 dried up and are no more. After the lapse of another 
 immense period, a third sun appears, b}^ which the five 
 great rivers are dried up. After the lapse of another im- 
 mense period, a fourth sun appears, by which the great 
 lakes whence the great rivers have their source, are dried 
 up. After the lapse of another immense period, a fifth 
 sun appears, by which the water in the seas, a hundred 
 miles deep, is dried up ; then a thousand, ten thousand, 
 and eight}^ thousand yojanas, until only four thousand 
 yojanas of water are left, which still further decreases 
 until the water is onlj^ one hundred ijiiles deep, fifty miles, 
 a mile, a cubit (many difierent numbers being mentioned) 
 until at last there is not more than would fill the feet marks 
 of cattle, or moisten the end of the finger. After the lapse 
 of another immense period, a sixth sun appears, when 
 Maha Meru begins to ignite, and the whole world, from 
 the sakwala rocks to the mansion of Sekra, sends forth one 
 unbroken volume of smoke. At the appearance of the 
 seventh sun, the earth and Maha Meru are burnt up, and 
 the flame reaches to tlie brahma-lokas. From the hell 
 Awichi to the brahma-loka Abassara, there is then one 
 dark abyss, and the wliole space is void " These revela- 
 tions are made that the priests may learn therefrom the 
 impermanence of all things, and seek to free themselves 
 from all sensuous attachments. 
 
 That the next destruction of the earth will be b}^ fire, 
 we know from another source ; but, as usual, when the 
 
MYSTIC POWERS. 177 
 
 sacred books of Buddhism present before us a truth, they 
 so mar it that in their hands it becomes an untruth. How 
 the smaller rivers still run, or the lakes have any water in 
 them, when there has been no rain for hundreds, ^f 
 thousands of years, would puzzle even Buddha himself to 
 explain. It is an axiom of science, that all natural pro- 
 cesses are conducted by the simplest means ; and there is 
 no necessity for the appearance of seven suns to burn' up 
 the earth. Beneath its surface are molten fires of vast 
 • extent, as felt in the earthquake and seen in the volcano ; 
 and that subtle element, the electric fluid, is everywhere 
 diffused, with its latent powers of mighty force, ready to 
 exert themselves at once, and reduce the whole world 
 to chaos, were God to issue the command, that they go 
 forth and destroy. 
 
 In this section of ray work, I have noticed the origin of 
 individual being, the change of state by the repetition 
 of birth, the cessation of existence, and the destruction of 
 the universe ; but in nearly every instance we have seen 
 that Buddha is in error, either from mistake in his first 
 principles, inadequacy in the causes he presents as leading 
 to certain consequences, the contrariety of his statements 
 to established science and known fact, or the want of logical 
 sequence in his arguments and illustrations. 
 
 I may leave these statements without further notice, as 
 they can be refuted by the boys on the lowest form of any 
 well-conducted English school in the island. 
 
 7. MYSTIC POWERS. 
 
 There were certain powers supposed to be possessed by 
 
 12 
 
178 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 the rishis and rahats that they could exercise at will. 
 There were other supernatural endowments, that were con- 
 nected with the exercise of prescribed rites, of an ascetical 
 character. By means of pathawi (earth) kasina, being 
 one, the faithful priest can become many. Having caused 
 an earth to appear in the sky, or on the water, he can 
 walk, stand, or sit on its surface. By apo (water) kasina 
 he can enter the earth as if it was water, and come out 
 of it ; he can cause water or rain to appear, create rivers 
 and seas, and shake the earth with its mountains. By 
 tejo (fire) kasina, he can send forth smoke, and cause 
 flames to arise, and showers of burning charcoal to 
 descend. He can subdue the light proceeding from others, 
 by the superior intensity of his own light. He has the 
 power to burn whatever he wills. He can cause a light by 
 which he can see an3'^thing, as by divine eyes. B}^ wayo 
 (wind or air) kasina, he can move as fast as the wind, and 
 create wind or rain. By other kasinas he can cause 
 darkness, turn whatever he wishes into gold, and pass 
 through walls and ramparts without touching them. 
 
 But the principal of these mystic rites is that of dhj^ana 
 or profound meditation. It was whilst engaged in this 
 exercise that Gotama obtained the Buddhaship. In the 
 first watch of the niglit, as he sat under the bo-tree, after 
 he had overcome Mara, he received pubba-niwasa-gnyana, 
 the wisdom by which he could know the occurrences in all 
 former births ; in the second watch, he received dibba- 
 chakkhun-gnyana, divine eyes, a vision clearer than that 
 of men ; in the third watch ho received patichcha-samup- 
 p4da-gnyana, the wis^lom by whicli he could sec the 
 
MYSTIC POWERS. 179 
 
 whole concatenation of causes and effects — tliat tliis is 
 sorrow, tliis the cause of sorrow, this the cessation of 
 sorrow, and this the path by which the cessation from 
 sorrow may be obtained ; and again, that these are the 
 attachments, or desires, this the cause of attachment, this 
 the extinction of attachment, and this the path leading to 
 the extinction of attachment ; and at the dawn of the dav 
 he received sabbangnyota-gnyana, the power of knowing 
 clearly and fully, anything to which he chose to turn his 
 attention.* 
 
 The priest who intends to practice the dhyanas seeks 
 out a retired locality, as, the foot of a tree, a rock, a cave, 
 a place where dead bodies have been burned, or an uncul- 
 tivated and iminhabited part of the forest, and prepares a 
 suitable place with his robe or with straw. He then seats 
 himself, cross-legged, in an upright position, with his 
 mind free from attachment and all evil thoughts, and with 
 compassion towards all sentient beings, putting away 
 sluggishness and drowsiness, possessed of wisdom and 
 understanding, and leaving all doubt, uncertainty, and 
 questioning, purifies his mind, and rejoices. Like a sick 
 man who gains health, he rejoices ; or a merchant who 
 gains wealth, or a prisoner who gains liberty, or a slave 
 who gains freedom, or a traveller along a dangerous road 
 who gains a place of safety. Thus rejoicing, he is refreshed 
 in body ; he has comfort ; and his mind is composed. But 
 he retains witarka, reasoning, and wichara, investigation. 
 This rejoicing is diffused through his whole body, as the 
 wind entirely fills the bag that contains it, or as the oil in 
 * Maha Padana Suttanta. Jatakattha-kattha. 
 
180 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS 
 
 which cotton has been clipped pervades every part ; it 
 comes in contact with his organised frame on all sides ; 
 there is no part of his body that does not feel it. Like an 
 attendant who takes a metal vessel, in which he puts some 
 of the powder used when bathing, and then mixes water 
 with it, as much as is required, working them together, 
 within and without, until the blending is complete ; so 
 does this rejoicing permeate through the whole body, and 
 is diffused throughout every part. 
 
 In the second dhyana, the priest has put away and 
 overcome reasoning and investigation, and attained to 
 clearness and fixedness of thought, so that his mind is con- 
 centrated on one object, and he has rejoicing and gladness. 
 There is no part of him that does not enjoy the pleasant 
 result ; as a deep lake into which no river flows, no rain 
 falls, and no water springs up from beneath, is filled and 
 pervaded in every part by the water, and is free from 
 agitation. 
 
 In the third dhyana there is no rejoicing, no gladness, 
 and no sorrow ; but there is upekkha, tranquillity, which 
 is diffused through every part of his bod}^, like the water 
 that nourishes the lotus, pervading every part, and passing 
 from the root to the petals, so that it is saturated with 
 water throughout its whole texture. 
 
 In the fourth dhyana, reasoning, investigation, joy, and 
 sorrow, are overcome, and he attains to freedom from 
 attachment to sensuous objects, and has purity and en- 
 lightenment of mind. These envelope liim, as a man 
 when he is covered by a white cloth from head to foot, 
 leaving no part of his person exposed. 
 
MYSTIC POWERS. 181 
 
 The priest who has practised the four dhyanas aright, 
 has the power to bring into existence a figure similar to 
 himself, with like senses and members ; but he knows that 
 it is not himself, as a man who distinguishes one kind of 
 grass from another, or a sword from its scabbard, or a 
 serpent from its cast-off skin. This priest has the power 
 of irdhi, which is thus exercised. 
 
 1. Being one, he multiplies himself, and becomes many ; 
 being many, he individualizes himself, and becomes one ; 
 and he makes himself visible or invisible at will. As one 
 who goes into the water and comes up again, so does he 
 descend into the earth, and again rise out of it ; he walks 
 on. water as others walk on dry land ; as a bird he can rise 
 into the air, sitting cross-legged ; he can feel, and touch, 
 and grasp, the sun and moon ; in any part of space, as 
 high up as the brahma-lokas, he can do anything he likes 
 with his body, like a potter who has the power to fashion 
 as he likes the clay, or as a carver in ivory w^ith his 
 figures, or a goldsmith with his ornaments. 
 
 2. By the possession of divine ears, he can distinguish 
 the sounds made by men and dewas, that are not audible 
 to others, whether near or distant ; and he can tell one 
 sound from another, as a traveller, when he hears the 
 sound of difierent drums and chanques, can distinguish the 
 roll of the drum from the blast of the trumpet, and the 
 blast of the trumpet from the roll of the drum. 
 
 3. By directing his mind to the thoughts of others, he 
 can know the mind of all beings ; if there be attachment 
 to sensuous objects, he can perceive it, and he knows 
 whether it is there or not ; it is the same with all other 
 
182 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 evils and ignorances ; and he knows who are firm or fixed, 
 and who are unstable. This knowledge extends both to 
 the riipa and arupa worlds, the worlds in which there is 
 body and in which there is not, and it obtains as to those 
 who are about to enter nirwana, and are rahats. As a 
 youth fond of pleasure, when he looks into a mirror, or 
 still water, learns therefrom all about his face and appear- 
 ance, so the priest can distinguish the thoughts of others 
 of whatever kind. 
 
 4. By directing his mind to the remembrance of former 
 births, he sees one, two, a hundred, a thousand, ten 
 thousand, and many kalpas, of existences ; and thinks — I 
 have been there, in such a place ; and my name, family, 
 colour, food, and circumstances, were of such a kind ; I 
 went from this place, and was born in that place — tracing 
 the manner of his existence from one birth to another, and 
 from one locality to another. As a man who has business 
 in another village goes there, and on his return remembers, 
 I stood there, and I sat there ; there I spoke, and there I 
 was silent ; in the same way a man remembers his former 
 births, whether one thousand or ten thousand. 
 
 5. By directing his mind to the attainment of chakkhu- 
 passana-gnyana, or divine vision, he sees sentient beings 
 as they pass from one state of existence to another, and 
 the position in which they are born, whether they are 
 mean or noble, ill favoured or good looking. lie sees that 
 others, on account of errors they have embraced, or propa- 
 gated, are born in hell, and that others again, on account 
 of their merit and truthfulness, are born in some heavenly 
 world. As a man with good sight, from the upper story 
 
MYSTIC POWERS. 183 
 
 of liis house, sees tlie people in the street ; some entering 
 the dwelling and some coming out, and others riding in 
 vehicles of different descriptions ; so the priest sees the 
 circumstances of other beings in all worlds. 
 
 6. By directing his mind to the four kinds of evil, viz., 
 anger, a desire for existence, ignorance, and scepticism ; 
 he knows that this is sorrow, this the cause of sorrow, this 
 the cessation of sorrow, and this the cause of the cessation 
 of sorrow ; and again, that this is evil, this the cause of 
 evil, this the cessation of evil, and this the cause of the 
 cessation of evil. His mind is free from the four kinds of 
 evil. He knows, I have overcome the repetition of ex- 
 istence ; I have completed my observance of the precepts ; 
 that which is proper to be done, I have done ; there is 
 nothing further to which I have to attend ; my work is 
 completed and ended. As a man who stands by the side 
 of a lake, when the water is clear and still, sees under the 
 surface different kinds of shells, stones, potsherds, and 
 fishes, some in motion and some at rest, and thinks, Here 
 are shells, here are stones, here are potsherds, and here are 
 fishes ; so the priest knows, I have overcome the repetition 
 of existence ; all that I have to do, is done. 
 
 The above paragraphs are taken from the Suttanta called 
 Samanya Phala, or the advantages of the priesthood. It 
 is said of each observance, that it is good and profitable, 
 but the last is declared to be the most excellent of all ; it 
 has nothing higher, no superior. 
 
 Here I pause ; and I ask myself, in bitterness of soul. 
 Is this all ? With all his reputed wisdom, can Buddha 
 lead his followers to ''nothing higher, nothing superior?" 
 
184 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 After a sentient being has existed more myriads of years 
 than tongue can utter, and throughout the whole of this 
 period, from the commencement of his existence until its 
 last stage, been subject to " birth, decay, sorrow, weeping, 
 grief, discontent, and vexation," according to the teaching 
 of the patichcha samuppada, has Buddhism nothing better 
 to present to him than that which is seen in the extract I 
 have made from the Samanva Phala Suttanta ? What is 
 it ? It is first, a rejoicing. But in what way ? Is it 
 from thoughts that fill the soul with their grandeur 
 and magnificence, pouring within it, from a thousand 
 origins, stream upon stream of the glorious imagina- 
 tions that enable man to revel in the free exercise 
 of intellectual power, as he seeks to grasp all present 
 knowledge, or exults before the radiant visions of eternity ? 
 There is no soul about it at all, w^hether in reality or 
 figure. It is just a sensation of the body ; as when the 
 nose smells the perfume, or the tongue tastes the pleasant 
 flavour, or the skin is shampooed by the soft hand ; and 
 with far less of the great and grand about it than when 
 the eye looks upon the beautiful vision, or the car listens 
 to harmonious sounds. There is an efibrt to take from 
 man all that is noble in his heritage, and make him lower 
 than the lowest creature that moves ; with no more vitality 
 about him than there is in the nidikumba sensitive plant, 
 in the last moment of its drooping, when all its leaves 
 are folded, and it lies in weakness, having life yet within 
 it, but not apparent. What real benefit would there be in 
 the power to multiply forms and appearances ? Were it 
 true that the priest, by the aid of irdhi, could listen to aU 
 
MYSTIC POWERS. 185 
 
 sounds, and know all thoughts, and see all former births, 
 and watch the course of all transmigrations, and learn the 
 cause of all causes, what advantage is derived therefrom, 
 if the acquirement of this power is to lead to results so 
 insignificant ? For what is the next stage in the supposed 
 uprising of this privileged priest ? He has done all that 
 he has to do ; the work of existence is completed ; life's 
 labour, in births innumerable, is over ; the goal, the long 
 anticipated reward, the final consummation of the whole 
 series of births and deaths, is now attained. But what 
 is it? Nothingness. 
 
 In the whole story of humanity ; in all the confessions 
 of heathen philosophy ; in all that we learn from the 
 misery produced by caste, slavery, and the foul deeds of 
 war ; in all the conclusions to which disappointed man has 
 come, in his far wanderings from God ; there is nothing 
 more cheerless, more depressing, or more afflictive, than 
 the revelations of the Suttanta in which Buddha tries to 
 set forth the highest privilege of the highest order of 
 sentient being. As we read it, we should be ready to 
 rebuke, with all severity, the religious guide who thus 
 takes from man all that is eminent in present attainment, 
 and all that is bright in anticipation, did we not know 
 that its representations arose from ignorance of the mercy 
 and love of the one and only Lord of earth and heaven, 
 and that they are another illustration of the apostle's 
 words, "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in 
 pain together until now." But the angelic song has been 
 heard, proclaiming " good tidings of great joy which shall 
 be to all people," through Him who was then born " in the 
 
186 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 city of David, a Saviour, whicli is Christ, the Lord," and 
 by whose atonement upon the cross there is now offered to 
 every one who, through ftiith, will accept it, a "joy un- 
 speakable, and full of glory," and "to them who by 
 patient endm^ance in well doing seek for glory and honour 
 and immortalitv, Eternal Life." 
 
187 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 THE DEVELOPMENT OF BUDDHISM. 
 
 1. GOTAMA BUDDHA. 
 
 Ix the preceding pages, I have spoken of Buddha as a 
 real personage ; I have attributed to an individual words 
 and acts, and have regarded the words and acts re- 
 corded in the Pitakas as said and done by that indi- 
 vidual ; but in this I have used the language of the 
 Buddhist, and not that of my own conviction or belief. I 
 will not say that I think no such person as Sakya Singha 
 ever existed ; but I affirm that we cannot know anything 
 about him with certainty ; and that, as it is not possible to 
 separate the myth from the truth, we cannot rely implicitly 
 on any one statement that is made in relation to him, 
 either in the Text or Commentary. There is doubt as to 
 his birth-place, his race, and the age in which he lived ; 
 and in a still greater degree, about almost every other 
 event connected with his history. There are a few things 
 said about him that we might believe, because they are 
 such as are common to man ; but even upon these we 
 cannot look without suspicion, from the overcrowding of 
 the page that records them with the most glaring 
 untruths ; and whether Gotama, prince and philosopher, 
 ever existed or not, we are quite certain that the Gotama 
 
188 
 
 LEGEIfDS AND THEORIES OF THE BL'DDHISTS. 
 
 Buddha of the Pitakas is an imaginary being, and never 
 did exist. 
 
 2. THE LEGENDS OF BUDDHA AKD MAHOMET 
 
 COMPARED. 
 
 It will be said, *'How do you account, then, for the 
 production of these works, if the sage whose teachings 
 they profess to contain, and whose miraculous power they 
 set forth, never did teach these doctrines, and never did 
 perform these supernatural deeds?" In answering this 
 question, there may be an apparent difficulty ; but it is 
 not real. The fables invented by the Buddhists have had 
 their counterpart in other ages, and among other people. 
 There are the Pur anas and other works of the Brahmans, 
 and the Zend Avesta of the Parsees, abounding with ex- 
 aggerations almost equally extravagant. The Talmuds 
 of the Jews are of a similar character. In classic history, 
 without mentioning the innumerable myths about imagi- 
 nary heroes and gods, we have Pythagoras of Samos, 
 Apollonius of Tyana, Apuleius the African, and Me- 
 lampus of Argos, who may have been real personages, 
 but have become mythical through the miraculous endow- 
 ments that are attributed to them, and the tales that have 
 been invented about their knowledge and power. In fact, 
 wherever the word of God is unknown, or it is regarded 
 as a sealed book to be read only by the priest, all classes 
 and races have formed for themselves, like the Buddhists, 
 a mythology, with a host of imaginary beings, whom they 
 have invested with prodigious strength, unbounded wisdom* 
 or unearthly purity. 
 
THE LEGENDS OF BUDDHA AND MAHOMET COMPARED. 189 
 
 The manner in which these inventions arise, may be 
 traced the most clearly in the history of Mahomet. 
 Against the supposition that legends of this character 
 would be invented about the impostor of Mecca, there is 
 the existence of the Koran, collected soon after his death, 
 and the fact that he laid no claim to the possession of 
 miraculous powers. But about 200 years after the Hegira, 
 the traditions respecting him had multiplied to such an 
 extent, that it was thought necessary to collect them 
 together, and separate the trustworthy from the fabulous. 
 
 " Reliance upon oral traditions," says Dr. Weil, '' at a 
 time when they were transmitted by memory, alone, and 
 every day produced new divisions among the professors 
 of Islam, opened up a wide field for fabrication and distor- 
 tion. There was nothing easier, when required to defend 
 any religious or political system, than to appeal to an oral 
 tradition of the prophet. The nature of these so-called 
 traditions, and the manner in which the name of Mahomet 
 was abused to support all possible lies and absurdities, may 
 be gathered most clearly from the fact that Bockhari, who 
 travelled from land to land to gather from the learned the 
 traditions they had received, came to the conclusion, after 
 many years' sifting, that out of 600,000 traditions ascer- 
 tained by him to be then current, only 4,000 were 
 authentic." We may remark, that Mahomet began to 
 contemplate his pretended mission about six centuries 
 after Christ, and Gotama is represented as looking towards 
 his exalted ofiice the same number of years before Christ. 
 Nor is this the only resemblance in the circumstances of 
 the two men. As there was no pain to the mother of 
 
190 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 Buddha before his birth, so the mother of Mahomet 
 suffered no inconvenience from the treasure with which 
 she was entrusted. As Buddha stepped upon the ground 
 immediately after his birth, and proclaimed his dignity 
 with a loud voice ; so, at the instant Mahomet was born, 
 he prostrated himself on the ground and recited the creed. 
 As Brahma and Sckra were in attendance at the birth 
 of Buddha, and to wash and refresh the mother and child 
 "two streams of water were sent by the dewas ;" so three 
 angels, " brighter than the sun,'* appeared from heaven to 
 welcome the prophet, and they afterwards washed him 
 seven times. The whole sakwala was enlightened at the 
 birth of the son of Maj^a, and the streets and palaces of 
 Boska, about sixty miles from the Jordan, were illuminated 
 it the birth of the son of Amina. Each of the mothers 
 had only one child. As the rishi Kaladewala examined the 
 person of the young prince, to see whether the signs of 
 Buddhaship were to be found, and when he saw them de- 
 clared his future exaltation ; so the monk Bahira examined 
 the body of Mahomet to discover the seal of prophesy ; and 
 seeing it plainly impressed upon his back, he referred to 
 the sacred books, and finding all the marks to correspond, 
 declared the boy to be the expected apostle. As no one 
 could measure the height of Buddha, because however 
 extended the instrument by which they tried to measure 
 him, he was higher still ; so, when Mahomet was weighed 
 by the angels against a thousand of his people, " lie out- 
 weighed them all." As Buddha was protected from the 
 storm by the extended hood of the niiga Muchalinda ; so 
 Mahomet was shaded by the angels during the heat of the 
 
THE PITAKAS. 191 
 
 day, and at other times was screened from the sun by 
 a cloud, *^ moving as he moved, and stopping as he 
 stopped." As Buddha, at three steps, went to the heaven 
 of Sekra ; so Mahomet, nuounted on the horse Borak, 
 in the tenth part of a night, passed beyond the third 
 heaven, and approached within two bow- shots of the 
 eternal throne.* We thus learn, that tradition soon 
 invests with impossible endowments those whom it delights 
 to honour; and that in the legends that are connected 
 with religions widely diflPerent from each other, there is 
 sometimes a great similarity as to character and extrava- 
 gance. 
 
 8. THE PITAKAS. 
 
 Nearly the whole of the Mohammedan legends I have 
 enumerated, were the growth of about two hundred years ; 
 but more than twice that number of years elapsed between 
 the death of Buddha and the period when the Pitakas are 
 said to have been committed to writing. In this long 
 interval there would be time for the invention of the won- 
 derful tales that are contained in the sacred books. Of 
 the rapid increase of these legends we have an instance on 
 record, as, though only one hundred years elapsed between 
 the visit of Fa Hian to India and that of Soung yun, " in 
 the interval the absurd traditions respecting Sakya Muni's 
 life and actions would appear to have been infinitely 
 multiplied, enlarged, and distorted."! I have already 
 expressed my doubts as to the truth of the statements 
 
 * Muir's Life of Mahomet, passim. 
 
 t Lieut.-Colonel Sykes : Notes on the Religious, Moral, and Political State 
 of Ancient India. — Journal of the Eoyal Asiatic Society, No. xii. 280. 
 
192 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 given by the historians of Ceylon, both in reference to the 
 mode in which the Pitakas are said to have been written 
 by the priest, and the time in which they were written. 
 There were books in existence, regarded by the Buddhists 
 as of authority, before b. c. 90. It was the opinion of 
 Turnour that there were records in the island previous to 
 the writing of the Pitakas at the Alu wihara, " and that 
 the concealment of the record till the reign of the Cey- 
 lonese ruler, Wattagamini, between b. c. 101 and 76, was 
 a part of the esoteric scheme of that (Buddhist) creed, had 
 recourse to in order to keep up the impression as to the 
 priesthood being endowed with the gift of inspiration/'* 
 By inspiration is meant rahatship. This power is not 
 ascribed to the writers of the Pitakas in the Mahawanso, 
 but we meet with it in the Sara Sangaha. " After the 
 nirwana of Buddha, for the space of 450 years, the Text 
 and Commentaries, and all the words of the Tathagato, 
 were preserved and transmitted by wise priests, orally, 
 mukha-pathena. But having seen the evils attendant 
 upon this mode of transmission, five hundred and fifty 
 rahats, of great authority, in the cave called Aloka (Ahi) 
 in the province of Malaya, in Lanka, under the guardian- 
 ship of the chief of that province, caused the (sacred) books 
 to be written." The third convocation is said to have 
 been held in the reign of Asoka, b. c. 307, and inscriptions 
 are still found in many parts of India tliat were cut in his 
 reign. Now we can scarcely think that if the art of 
 writing was commonly practised in that age, and for 
 Buddhist purposes, the same medium would not be used 
 * Journal of tbe Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. vii. 722. 
 
THE PITAKAS. 193 
 
 for tlie preservation and transmission of the sacred com- 
 pilations. The Brahmans had a fanciful notion that it 
 would be a desecration of the Yedas to commit them to 
 writing, but the disciples of Buddha could have no such 
 prejudice about the Dharmma, as the benefit of its doc- 
 trines was for all classes of men that would embrace its 
 supposed truths, or obey the ordinances of its discipline. 
 
 There are other difiiculties connected with the alleged 
 manner of the introduction of the Pitakas into Ceylon. 
 With the Commentaries, they are ten times the size of the 
 Holy Scriptures. Allowing that Mahindo retained the 
 whole in his own mind, exactly and perfectly, how could 
 he teach them to others, without their being written ? On 
 the supposition that he repeated the whole once every two 
 years that he spent in Ceylon, as he resided here forty- 
 seven years, no priest could have heard the recitation more 
 than twenty-four times ; and how is it possible that any 
 one could remember thirty million letters from hearing 
 them only twenty-four times, and with an interval of a 
 year between the repetition of each sentence or sermon ? 
 And if certain priests heard and remembered only a part, 
 which part they taught to others, the difficulties are not 
 lessened thereby, as the first instructors must have learnt 
 all thev did learn from the mouth of Mahindo. 'Nor must 
 we forget that the priests of Ceylon were at that time 
 ignorant of Pali, and would have to acquire a knowledge 
 of this language before they could derive any advantage 
 from the teachings of their royal preceptor ; and if it be 
 true that Mahindo translated the Commentaries into 
 Singhalese, this would be a further call upon his time, of 
 
 13 
 
194 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 a formidable character. My Buddhist friends will say- 
 that I am entirely overlooking the fact that there were 
 rahats in those days. But this I cannot believe, because 
 the Greeks had then begun to hold intercourse with the 
 very city whence Mahindo came ; and if men with powers 
 like those attributed to the rahats had existed, they would, 
 doubtless, have made it known to their countrymen, along 
 with the other wonders they told them about India. The 
 recollective faculty was cultivated to its utmost perfection 
 by the Arabian ; but though the Koran is trifling in size 
 when compared with the Pitakas, Katib al Wackadi men- 
 tions only four or five persons who could repeat the whole at 
 the time of Mahomet's death ; and to make it credible that 
 the whole had been retained in his own mind, it was fabled 
 that the angel Gabriel had with him an annual recitation 
 of the entire word.* 
 
 All analogy, all collateral facts that we can bring to 
 bear upon the question, forbid the receiving of the state- 
 ment that the Pitakas were first written in the reign of 
 Wattaf^^amini. We are told of "sacred books'* bein2r 
 carried to China before this period. It may be said that 
 this invalidates an argument I have presented above, that 
 the number of the false traditions of Buddhism was mul- 
 tiplied because of the length of the interval between the 
 death of the sage and the writing of the Dharmma. But 
 this objection is set aside by another fact, that wherever 
 we meet with books at an earlier period than the reign of 
 Wattagamini, the era of Buddha is carried backward 
 several hundred years beyond the date of his death, as 
 * Muir's Life of Mahomet, vol. i, p. 5. 
 
THE PITAKAS. 
 
 195 
 
 given by the Singhalese records. The Tibetan version of 
 the Pitakas is said to have been translated from works 
 "compiled'^ at three different places, and we are told that 
 the Sutras in general " were first written in the Sindhu 
 language."* There are many evidences that the Com- 
 mentaries were not written by Buddhaghoso in the exact 
 form in which they are said to have come down to his age. 
 He tells us that he omits certain portions ; and in other 
 instances refers us for further information to the Wisuddhi 
 Margga. This is not the manner of a man who under- 
 takes to translate a record, every sentence of which he 
 regards as divine ; as he would know that if some parts 
 were omitted, and others added, such a course would pre- 
 vent his work from being acknowledged as an authoritative 
 rule of faith and conduct. He also refers to Milinda 
 Panha, as explaining more fully certain subjects that he 
 introduces. In the Commentary on the Digha Nikaya he 
 says, that ^Hhis Commentary, which is called Suman'- 
 galawilasini, is madCy kata, by the venerable one who is 
 named by his teachers, Buddhaghoso, whose knowledge of 
 the Pitakas and the Commentaries is unlimited (without 
 anything to obstruct it)." The author of the Sara Sangha 
 says, that on one occasion he made a wrong statement, 
 *' from carelessness or want of thought." And if upon 
 one occasion, what certainty have we that it was not the 
 same in other instances ? 
 
 The names of the principal books in Tibetan agree with 
 those in Pali, but I can find no reference to any Commen- 
 tary like that which is said to have been brought from 
 
 * Csoma de Korosi : Journal of tlie Bengal Asiatic Society, vol. vi. p. 687. 
 
196 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 India by Mahindo. According to the opinion of the 
 Buddhists of Ceylon, and upon the principles they assume, 
 the Atuwawas, as we have seen, must be of equal authority 
 with the Text, and there is no possibility of evading this 
 conclusion. The same men who wrote the Atuwawas, in 
 the reign of Wattagamini, wrote the Text. The same 
 priest who brought the Text from India, brought also the 
 Atuwawas. Both the priests who wrote them, and the 
 priest who brought them, are regarded as being rahats, 
 and, therefore, as unerring in their knowlege of religious 
 truth. They were not inspired in the Christian sense of 
 the word, because there was no one to inspire them ; but 
 they had within themselves that which is equivalent to 
 inspiration in other systems. The Buddhists of Ceylon 
 have thus welded the Text and the Commentary so firmly 
 together, that if one is proved to be in error, the other 
 loses its authority ; and as we have proved that the Com- 
 mentary rests on no solid foundation, we are obliged to 
 put the Text in the same position of uncertainty and mis- 
 trust. Independent of the absurdities and impossibilities 
 contained in the Commentaries, the common rules of criti- 
 cism would oblige us to declare this compilation to be of 
 little value as a record of facts, and of no authority as an 
 exponent of the system of Buddha as originally promul- 
 gated by the sage himself, when he instituted the religion 
 known by his name. 
 
 There is this difference between a secular and sacred 
 record. From the former we may cull what we suppose 
 to be correct, and reject the rest, without denying the 
 general authority of the author, as he presents himself 
 
THE PITAKAS. 197 
 
 before us as a man liable to be mistaken. But we cannot 
 do the same with books that are regarded as sacred, with- 
 out taking away their power entirely as a divine rescript. 
 The supposition that they contain error is fatal to their 
 claims as a religious authority. Therefore, as we have 
 proved that the Pitakas contain that which is not true, 
 that which is contrary to known fact, not in isolated 
 instances only, but in connexion with their most essential 
 principles, we must place them in the same category as 
 the works of any other author, who is neither rahat nor 
 rishi. It follows, as a necessary consequence, that he who 
 puts his trust in their sarana, under the supposition that it 
 is based upon divine truth, will find, to his utter undoing, 
 that there is in it no power to save. But there are 
 many who will read my work that cannot be brought to 
 see or acknowledge this consequence. They say that 
 nobody now believes the tales about Maha Meru ; and 
 about waves, trees, or fishes, many miles in size, and about 
 lions as swift as sound ; and, yet, with strange and repre- 
 hensible inconsistency, they still profess to believe that the 
 books containing them are a divine and authoritative 
 canon. They say these things are intended as allegories, 
 figures, and hyperboles ; but a moment's unprejudiced 
 thought must convince them that this is impossible, as 
 they rest upon the same foundation, and possess the same 
 warrant, as the most important of Buddha*s doctrines and 
 revelations. The connexion between the one and the other 
 is so indissoluble, that if Maha Meru, and the other things 
 I have enumerated above, are proved to have no existence, 
 or to be impossibilities, Buddhism cannot be a true re- 
 
198 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BITDDHISTS. 
 
 ligion, and must be rejected as a guide to salvation or to 
 heaven. 
 
 4. THE SOTJECE OE BUDDHA'S REVELATIONS. 
 
 Among tlie most singular of the claims put forth in 
 behalf of Buddha, we may name the assertion, that though 
 he taught the same doctrines that former Buddhas had 
 done, all his revelations were the result of his own personal 
 discovery, by means of intuition, entirely apart from ex- 
 perience, without any instruction from another, and with- 
 out any aid from tradition, or from any other of the 
 sources by which knowledge is generally communicated to 
 man. In the interval between one Buddha and another, 
 " not only does the religion of the preceding Buddhas 
 become extinct, but the recollection and record of all pre- 
 ceding events are also lost.''* In the first sermon preached 
 by Buddha at Benares, he says, " Within me, priests, for 
 the attainment of these previously unknown doctrines, the 
 (divine) eye was developed, knowledge was developed, 
 wisdom was developed, perception was developed, light 
 was developed." But the claim to exclusive clearness of 
 perception, and extent of knowledge, put forth by Buddha, 
 is inconsistent with the power he attributed to the rishis. 
 In the twelve kalpas previous to Gotama, twenty-four 
 Buddhas appeared, and the doctrines of all former Buddhas 
 are the same as those of Gotama, though not always de- 
 veloped to the same extent. Then, if Kaladewdla, and 
 other rishis, could see backward forty kalpas, why were 
 they not as able to tell the doctrines of former Buddhas 
 
 • Tumour, Mahawanso, xxviii. 
 
THE SOURCE OF BUDDHa's REVELATIONS. 199 
 
 as Gotama himself? If the tirttaka unbelievers could see 
 the past in the manner that Buddha affirms, how could 
 any of them oppose him, when, from the power to see back- 
 ward forty kalpas, they must have known that their pre- 
 decessors were in error ? And if these men, who could 
 receive no aid from Buddha, because they were the pro- 
 moters of another system, could see the past, and learn all 
 about it, where was the necessity for Buddha, through 
 numberless births, to seek the attainment of the Buddha- 
 ship, in order that he might teach men the way to nirwana, 
 when others, according to his own principles, were able to 
 learn all that was required to be known, in order to secure 
 the same consummation ? Buddha must be wrong, on 
 one side or the other ; either when he says that his doc- 
 trines were " previously unknown,'* or when he says that 
 his opponents could see backward " forty kalpas/* 
 
 There are other facts that lead us to question the truth 
 of Buddha's statement, as to men's entire ignorance of the 
 existence and doctrines of the former Buddhas. He tells 
 us that the Vedas were given in the time of Xasyapa 
 Buddha. When I ask how all knowledge of the former 
 Buddhas was lost, if the Yedas then given were still in 
 existence, though corrupted, I am told that the oblivion of 
 the past extends only to matters connected with Buddhism ; 
 which reply is too unsatisfactory to be received. But there 
 are other events that tend to shake our faith in this state- 
 ment, unless the knowledge that so extensively prevailed 
 of former Buddhas was the consequence of his own revela- 
 tions, which it would be difficult to prove, as the Pitakas 
 give no sanction to such a conjecture. Fa Hian tells us, 
 
200 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BLDDHISTS. 
 
 in reference to the hill Kakutapeda : ''It is here that the 
 great Kia she (Kasyapa Buddha) is actually present. He 
 perforated the foot of the hill that he might enter it, and 
 prevented any other from entering in the same way. At 
 a considerable distance thence, there is a lateral opening, 
 in which is the entire body of Kia she.. The Tao kiao of 
 all kingdoms and countries come here annually to adore 
 Kia she." The Chinese have this formula : " Namo 
 Buddhaya. Namo Dhammaya. Namo Sangaya. Namo 
 Kasyapaya. Om ! Hara, hara, hara. Ho, he, he. Namo 
 Kasyapaya. Arhate. Samyak-Sambuddhaya.'* In the 
 Journals of Fa Hian the references to Kasyapa are so 
 frequent, as to lead to the conclusion that in the age in 
 which he visited India, this Buddha was regarded with 
 much and widely-extended reverence. In the temple at 
 Sanchi, there is an inscription which records that a female 
 devotee ** caused money to be given for the lamps of the 
 four Buddhas." It is, therefore, probable that much more 
 was known of the former Buddhas in the time of Gotama 
 than is acknowledged by the Pitakas of the Singhalese, 
 who worship no Buddha but the last. That there were 
 ever any beings in existence with endowments similar to 
 those attributed to the Buddhas, I must again deny, from 
 the arguments I have previously advanced ; but there may 
 have been religious teachers, sages, or philosophers, whose 
 system was embraced and extended by the son of Maya. 
 In some instances honours were paid to these former 
 Buddhas that were denied to Gotama. Fa Hian says : 
 " Thiao tha (Dewadatta) has sectaries who still subsist ; 
 these honour the three Foes (Buddhas) of the past time ; 
 
BUDDHISM IN INDIA. 201 
 
 Shy kia wen foe (Sakya) they honour not." From this it 
 appears that the religion founded by Dewadatta, the 
 brother-in-law of Gotama, was yet in existence eight 
 hundred years after his death. According to the Ceylonese 
 records, Dewadatta, after endeavouring in vain to reach 
 Euddha that he might ask and receive forgiveness for his 
 evil deeds, went to the Awichi hell, having previously been 
 abandoned by all his disciples. But how could his fol- 
 lowers have been led to worship the former Buddhas, and 
 refuse to worship Gotama, if all they knew about his pre- 
 decessors was derived from his own revelations ? And if 
 all Dewadatta's disciples left him prior to his death, how 
 is it that we find his system still followed after the lapse 
 of so many centuries ? 
 
 5. BUDDHISM IN INDIA. 
 
 The rapid spread of Buddhism on the Continent of India 
 may be accounted for, in part, by the circumstances of the 
 age in which Gotama is said to have lived. Whatever 
 that age might be, it is evident that in it the Brahmans 
 had begun to put forth their claims to superiority, which 
 were opposed by all classes, and especially by all persons 
 of royal Lineage. Whoever, at such a crisis, presented 
 himself as their opponent, would soon have followers in 
 abundance ; but in Gotama there was a prince, who, ill 
 addition to the influence he possessed from being a royal 
 personage, was himself a subtle disputant, able to contend 
 with any adversary whatever in the dialectics of the time. 
 It was an age of controversy, one of those eras that occa- 
 sionally occur, when men wake up from their usual apathy, 
 
202 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 and restless thinkers appear, sometimes for tlie world's 
 weal and sometimes for its hurt, contending with each 
 other in the arena of dehate, with all the eagerness of the 
 warrior on the field of battle, when the destiny of empires 
 is at stake. But at such times the masses of the people 
 are perplexed by the contests and contradictions of rival 
 systems ; and though interested for a time by the war of 
 words, they are soon wearied, and long for repose. The 
 boldest pretender has then the best chance of securing their 
 regard ; and when once their confidence has been gained, 
 they follow their leader with enthusiasm, as the watch- 
 words of a party save them from the trouble of searching 
 after truth. The doctrines ascribed to Buddha were 
 popular in their character, and well designed to secure the 
 attention of all. They were just what men like to listen 
 to ; as they were invited thereby to take refuge in some- 
 thing that promised to be a protection, yet requiring little 
 more than the repetition of a form to secure its privileges. 
 The rules were definite, the keeping of them was not irk- 
 some, and the reward promised to the obedient was ample. 
 It was enough to secure high recompence, if its votaries 
 gave alms and rendered homage to Bhagawa during his 
 lifetime, or to his representatives when he was dead ; for 
 though these things would not secure nirwana, they would 
 ensure an admittance to the sensuous pleasures of a dewa- 
 loka, which to many minds would be much more desirable 
 than the extinction of being. 
 
 Of the manner in which Buddhism gained its hold 
 on countries away from India we know too little to be 
 able to speak with certainty. Whatever might be its 
 
BUDDHISM IN INDIA. 203 
 
 moral superiority when first brouglit in contact witli other 
 systems, that advantage was not retained. The character 
 given by travellers of the priests in China is, that they are 
 *'low,*' *' stupid and unintellectual," "wretched specimens 
 of humanity," and that many of them are fugitives, out- 
 laws, and bandits, who have been driven by want or fear 
 to seek an asylum in the temples. Of the priests who wear 
 the yellow robe in other countries a similar character is 
 given — they are said to be idle, ignorant, untruthful and 
 without respect. 
 
 In all countries, the honours claimed by the priesthood 
 have won many to its ranks. In the course of time they 
 were carried out to so great an extent, that the mendicant 
 sramanas succeeded in placing the members of their Sangha 
 in a higher position than even the Brahman himself seeks 
 to secure. In the one instance there is pride of caste ; in 
 the other, pride of office; but the principle is the same 
 in both instances. The priesthood (as we call the office, 
 from the want of a better name), was at first open to nearly 
 all, whether men or women. The man who had been a 
 slave, if set free by his master, might receive admission ; 
 and when once the yellow robe was around him, he could 
 claim the reverence of kings. Even higher honours than 
 this were gained, when the use of the tun-sarana, the 
 threefold protective formula, was established, as the poor 
 misguided worshipper was led to say, "I take refuge in 
 the priesthood." And when the discourse called Ratana 
 was composed, now read as part of the Pirit, the priests 
 proceeded to a still more daring usurpation, and made the 
 ruler of the dewa-loka Tawutisa say, " Ye demons who are 
 
204 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 liere assembled, celestial or terrestial, we adore the asso- 
 ciated priesthood, the Tathagato, worshipped by gods and 
 men. May there be prosperity.'' They thus represent 
 themselves, not only as being higher than the gods, but as 
 being on an equality with the supreme Buddha, and as 
 receiving an equality of worship. In the Khanda Pirit 
 the following words are attributed to Buddha. '* Infinite 
 (in excellence) is Buddha ; infinite his doctrines ; infinite 
 his priesthood." It was in consistency with these teachings, 
 that when bishop Heber asked a priest, in Kandy, if 
 he worshipped the gods, he replied, ''No : the gods 
 worship me." 
 
 From its commencement, notwithstanding the advan- 
 tages it ofiered, and the gentleness of its professions, 
 Buddhism met with numerous opponents. It is by no 
 means certain that it was ever the religion of India 
 generally, though at one time its monuments might be 
 everywhere seen, and its formularies everywhere proclaimed. 
 The worship of fire, the system of the earlier Yedas, seems 
 to have prevailed to a greater extent than any other faith 
 in the time of Gotama. With this, the spirit of asceticism 
 exercised an almost equal, and an increasing influence. 
 Had Buddhism been left to work its own way, according 
 to its own principles, it might have flourished among the 
 Uindus at the present day, as one of their many forms of 
 religion. But in the gathering together of the armies, 
 and the fierce contentions of the kings, at the burning of 
 Buddha's body, we have a key to much of its subsequent 
 history. It was used as a political instrument. The kings 
 allied themselves to Buddhism, to save their race from the 
 
BUDDHISM IN INDIA. 205 
 
 degradation that threatened it from the Brahman. But 
 its tacit condemnation of caste was remembered, by its 
 royal partizans, when its denouncement of contention and 
 war was unheeded. The struggle that ensued is, perhaps, 
 one of the most sanguinary in the history of man, from the 
 bitterness of the passions it called forth, the length of its 
 duration, and the extent of the area in which it prevailed ; 
 but no red record tells us now of its alternations of conquest 
 and defeat. Parasu Rama, regarded as the champion of 
 the Brahmans, is said to have cleared the earth seven 
 times of the whole Kshatriya race. The names of various 
 kings are known who perished in the strife.* !Nagasena 
 refers to a battle between the brahman Bhadrasala, and 
 Chandagutta, of the race of Sakya, in which a hundred 
 kelas (1,000,000,000) of soldiers were slain; and though 
 the number is an oriental exaggeration, the battle may be 
 a fact. The adherents of Buddha were worsted in this 
 prolonged struggle ; and about the sixth century after 
 Christ, the prince Sudhanvan gave orders to put all the 
 Buddhists in India to death. Madhava Acharaya says : 
 " A-setor-a-tushadre Bauddhanam vriddhabalakan na hanti 
 sa hantavyo bhrityan ityanwasat nripah. The king com- 
 manded his servants to put to death the old men and the 
 children of the Bauddhas, from the bridge of Kama to the 
 snowy mountain : let him who slaj^s not be slain. ^'f The 
 fusion of three castes out of the four, leaving the Brahmans 
 paramount, and alone in integrity of race, is a proof of the 
 severity of the strife. Among the millions of the Hindus, 
 
 * Monier "Williams's Inaugural Lecture. 
 
 t Professor Wilson : Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xyi. p. 258. 
 
S06 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 Buddha lias not now a single worshipper. Even in the 
 time of Fa Hian, Kapila-wattu was one vast solitude, 
 without either king or people, and the roads were infested 
 by elephants and lions. The minister of the powerful 
 Akbar, in the sixteenth century, could find no one in the 
 wide dominions of his master who could give him any 
 explanation of the doctrines of Gotama.* 
 
 6. ANOMALIES. 
 
 It would be unfair to Buddhism, were I to allow the 
 supposition to go forth, that I regard the present work as 
 containing anj^thing like a complete exposition of the 
 system; though it so happens that nearly all its leading 
 principles have come imder our review, from the whole of 
 them being founded in error. I am here a controversialist, 
 and not an expositor : but I may express my conviction, 
 that little more is to be learnt about its principia from the 
 numerous works written by its disciples. Its leading facts 
 and most important doctrines are now kno\vn ; and when 
 our expositions of the system are confirmed, there will be 
 little to reward further research. But in the development 
 of its character and tendency, its bearing upon the interests 
 of mankind, and the place it holds among the agencies that 
 have exerted an extensive influence in the east, there is a 
 
 ♦ "Madhava a writer of the foui'tcenth century, places the Buddhas no 
 nearer than in Cashmir, and Abufazl declares that he never had met ■with a 
 folhnvcr of IJuddlia in Hindustan, and had only encountered some old men 
 of that faith in his third visit to Cashmir. Later periods are out of the 
 question, for in the present day I never heard of a person who had met with 
 natives of India proper of this faith, and it docs appear that an utter extir- 
 pation of the ]>uddha religion in India Avas effected between the twelfth and 
 sLscteenth centuries." — Professor Wilsgu. 
 
ANOMALIES. 207 
 
 vast field for cultivation, and a harvest of admonitory in- 
 struction for future generations. I have proved that 
 Buddhism is not a revelation of truth, that its founder 
 was an erring and imperfect teacher, and ignorant of many 
 things that are now almost universally known ; and that 
 the claim to the exercise of omniscience made for him by 
 his followers is an imposition and pretence. These con- 
 clusions I have founded upon statements taken from the 
 sacred writings. "Were it possible to form a true history 
 of the rise and progress of Buddhism, it would be a record 
 of great value. But this can never be, as the attempt ta 
 accomplish it, with the docmnents now in existence, would 
 be like the search for a portion of the water of the Ganges 
 in the southern extremity of the Indian ocean. We can 
 now only regard Buddha as an impostor ; whereas, if we 
 could learn the truth, it might have changed our censure 
 into respect. We might have seen the struggles of a mind 
 honestly, though unsuccessfully, contending with evil, and 
 have been led to invest his name with honours equal to 
 those given to other sages and moralists. If the compilers 
 of the Pitakas had had the magnanimity of the followers 
 of Mahomet, and rejected from the canon all spurious 
 traditions, it would have been a great boon to the real 
 interests of Buddhism. The inconsistencies and mistakes 
 with which it is now charged, and the most apparent of 
 its defects, may be the result of misconception and mis- 
 representation on the part of the exponents of the original 
 system, as propounded by Sakya Singha. It now presents 
 various anomalies, a few of which I enumerate, that his 
 own words might have explained. We can scarcely think 
 
208 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 that one who set himself so strongly against the pretensions 
 of caste would render to it the greatest homage in his 
 power, by declaring that the Buddhas are always born 
 of the two highest castes, the Kshatriya or the Brahman. 
 There are evidences throughout the records of Buddhism, 
 of an awkward attempt to join together three opposite 
 systems ; that of the householder, the mendicant priest, 
 and the hermit, or jungle-ascetic. The revels that take 
 place in the dewa-lokas, with the imperfections, grossness, 
 and bad passions of their inhabitants, do not agree with the 
 renunciation of pleasure, or the freedom from evil, repre- 
 sented as necessary in those who seek the rewards of 
 religion. All idea of atonement by sacrifice, or of salvation 
 through the vicarious sufferings of another, is set at nought 
 and rejected, and yet the "painful births" of Bodhisat are 
 represented as being voluntarily endured to prepare him 
 for the reception of the Buddhaship, by which he was 
 enabled to guide men to " the city of peace," nirwana. 
 Though Buddha is made to declare that there is no self, 
 nothing like a soul, that goes from one state of existence to 
 another, he says continually, speaking of existence in by- 
 gone ages, *' I was that person;" as in the Sussondiya 
 J4taka, when, in the gurulu (a fabulous bird) birth, he 
 committed sin with the queen of Tambatada, and declares 
 expressly, after narrating the circumstances under wliich 
 the deed was done, " I am he that was a gurulu at that 
 
 time." 
 
 7. DEFECTS. 
 
 Other defects may have been inherent in the original 
 system. The universal practice of two out of the five great 
 
DEFECTS. 209 
 
 precepts is an impossibilit}^ — the first and third — not to 
 take life, and not to have sexual intercourse. The pro- 
 hibition of things not wrong in themselves is absolute — not 
 to drink intoxicating liquors, and not to receive money. 
 We are taught, from a higher source, that it is not the use 
 of these things, but the abuse, that is an evil. But as 
 Buddhism can ofier no hand of help, to enable man to be 
 ** temperate in all things," it can only confess its weakness, 
 and forbid them altogether, as other systems have done 
 that are not of God. 
 
 The principle of the third precept is most insulting to 
 the woman, inasmuch as its infraction is not a wrong done 
 to her, but to her possessor or guardian. It was my in- 
 tention to have inserted an extract from the Sammadithi 
 Sutra Wannana, on the position of woman ; but the licence 
 given to her to do wrong is so great, and the preservation 
 of her chastity regarded as so small a matter, that I fear 
 to publish the quotation, lest it should lead any of those 
 who may read it to regard themselves as under no restraint. 
 There are twenty kinds of women who are not to be 
 approached, among whom the wife is not mentioned, unless 
 she comes under the class, " protected by some one ; " 
 though it is the consequence to another, and not the act 
 itself, that is regarded as constituting the crime. There 
 are some circumstances under which it is not sin to the 
 woman, and others under which it is not sin to either party. 
 The consent of the protector, whether relative or guardian, 
 renders the act blameless that would otherwise be a sin. 
 The woman who has personally no social or legal protector 
 has no protection from any other source. She who is 
 
 14 
 
210 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 forlorn and friendless, and needs a shield the most, is 
 deserted in her exposed position, and is accounted as 
 having none of the rights of woman. About the plighting 
 of the troth between one man and one woman, till death 
 them do part. Buddhism knows nothing. The morality of 
 the system has been praised ; but for what reason ? It is 
 sometimes said that it has ten commandments, very little 
 different from those of the Holy Scriptures. But is it so ? 
 In reality, there is no command at all. ^Yhen a man or a 
 woman chooses, they can go to the temple, and say before 
 the priest, '^I take the ordinance not to approach one 
 of the other sex;" and if no time be stated, when it is 
 taken, the obligation ceases, at the end of the poya day* 
 It is an absolute continence that is declared, and has little 
 more relation to the seventh commandment of Sinai, than 
 a vow to abstain from animal food for a day would have to 
 the command, '' Thou shalt do no murder." 
 
 The five precepts may be regarded as among the 
 institutions of primitive Buddhism, ordained in the time 
 of its founders ; but I must confess that the more closely I 
 look into the system, the less respect I feel for the character 
 of its originators. That which at first sight appears to be 
 the real glory of Buddhism, its moral code, loses all its 
 distinction when minutely examined. Its seeming bright- 
 ness is not that of the morning star, leading onward to 
 intenscr radiance, but that of the meteor ; and not even 
 that ; for the meteor warns the traveller that the dangerous 
 morass is near ; but Buddhism makes a fool of man by 
 promising to guide him to safety, whilst it leads him to 
 the very verge of the fatal precipice. Wo need not wonder 
 
DEFECTS. 21 1 
 
 at the moral circumstances of the people who profess this 
 system. In many instances the door of evil is thrown, 
 open by the record they take as their religious guide, 
 whilst they know nothing of the solemn thought implied 
 by the question, " How can I do this great wickedness and 
 sin against God ?" 
 
 The result of a sincere reception of Buddhism, as its 
 purpose is presented in the Pitakas, is to reduce man to 
 the smallest minimum of vitalitj^ The wisdom of sentient 
 existence is, to seek to become non- sentient and non- 
 existent ; and as man does not possess an immortal soul, 
 it is possible for this to be effected. To prove the im- 
 possibility of the existence of a soul, many a long and 
 weary conversation is recorded in the Abhidamma. All 
 thought is regarded as a material result. The operation 
 of the mind is no different in mode to that of the eye, or 
 ear ; vision is ej^e-touch, hearing is ear- touch, and thinking 
 is heart-touch. The man, as we have repeatedly seen, is a 
 mere mass, or cluster ; a name, and nothing more. He 
 who can reduce himself to a state most resembling a fish 
 when it lies torpid in the mud, or an animal when it 
 hibernates, is regarded as having attained to the most 
 exalted state of existence. The world next to nirwana, 
 in the order of privilege, is the fourth brahma-loka, where 
 the brahmas live 80,000 maha kalpas, in a state neither 
 conscious nor unconscious ; like the infant that lies in its 
 cradle in a dim uncertainty of thought and feeling, partly 
 sensible, and partly senseless. Our own fair world, and all 
 its scenes of beaut}^, v>dth all the sweetnesses of social 
 communion, are to be turned away from, and despised. 
 
212 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 To act wisely in the highest degree, is to retire to the 
 wilderness, and shut up all the senses, and get to be 
 SO near nothing that whilst yet living there shall be a 
 universal paralysis of body and soul. The devotee has 
 then only to commit the suicide of immortality, and secure 
 non-existence, and he has reached the perfection of being, 
 which is, not to be. 
 
 In such a system, there can be none of the activities of 
 benevolence. Words of kindness are whispered gently by 
 the lip, because this can be done without an effort to be 
 practically kind, and such words are plentiful. In a 
 discourse connected with the Pirit, the following sentences 
 are repeated : " May every being experience happiness, 
 peace, and mental enjoyment ! "Whatever sentient beings 
 may exist, erratic or stationary ; or of whatever kind, 
 long, or tall, or middle-sized ; or short, or stout ; seen, or 
 unseen ; near, or remote ; born, or otherwise existing — may 
 every being be happy. ..As a mother protects her child, 
 the child of her bosom ; so let immeasurable benevolence, 
 prevail among all beings ! Let unbounded kindness and 
 benevolence, prevail throughout the universe above, below, 
 around, without partialit}^, anger, or enmity ! Let these 
 dispositions be established in all who are awake, whether 
 standing, walking, sitting, or reclining ; this place is thus 
 constituted a holy residence!" Yet the priest who utters 
 these words knows that if he were to make anv movement 
 whatever towards carrying the sentiments they express 
 into effect, he would thereby expose liimself to ecclesiastical 
 censure. lie blesses by words, and not by works. lie is 
 an overflowing fountain of mercy, but receives back within 
 
DEFECTS. 213 
 
 himself all the streams that proceed therefrom. He 
 receiA'OS, and does not give. His is the kindness of the 
 heart, and not of the hand. It is forbidden to him to 
 prescribe in cases of sickness, or to prepare medicines, or 
 to perform any surgical operation. One half of the human 
 race is entirely shut out from his sympathy and regard, as 
 he may not look upon a woman, and the sound of her voice 
 is represented as a snare. To gain a livelihood by cal- 
 culating eclipses, or studying the motions of the planets, 
 or cultivating the ground, is called, as in the other in- 
 stances just named, the seeking of an unworthy livelihood 
 by an animal (tirachchana) science. We need not wonder 
 at the vacant look of the robed mendicant. The worship 
 of the people can afford little satisfaction to one excluded 
 from the smile of woman, the gleam of the stars, and all 
 opportunity of doing good. 
 
 The proper idea of sin cannot enter into the mind of the 
 Buddhist. His system knows^ nothing of a supreme in- 
 telligent Kuler of the universe. The priest is to consider, 
 " I am the result of karmma ; this forms my inheritance, 
 my state of birth, my relatives, my support: I shall be 
 heir of all the actions I perform, whether they be good or 
 evil." There is no law, because there is no lawgiver, no 
 authority from which law can proceed. Buddha is superior 
 in honour and wisdom to all other beings ; but he claims 
 no right to impose restrictions on other men. He points 
 out the course to be taken, if merit is to be gained; but 
 he who refuses to heed his words, does the Tathagato no 
 wrong. Religion is a mere code of proprieties, a mental 
 opiate, a plan for being free from discomfort, a system of 
 
214 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 personal profit, a traffic in merit, a venal process. In 
 addressing itself to tlie individual man, apart from its 
 honied words, it is a principle of selfislmess ; and yet, 
 though this is its beginning, centre, and end, it seeks to 
 hide its selfishness by denjang that there is any self. As 
 there is no infinite and all-worthy Being, to whose glory we 
 are called upon to live, when we commit evil the wrong is 
 done to ourselves, and not to another. There is no base- 
 ness about it ; it is not an iniquity. Hence the im- 
 possibility of making the Buddhist feel that he is a sinner, 
 when the attempt is made to bring the commandment 
 home to his conscience. A native has been heard to say 
 that he never committed sin since he was born, unless it 
 were in catching fish ; and some free themselves from the 
 consequences of this transgression, by saying that they 
 only take the fish out of the water, and they die of them- 
 selves. The vilest profligacy may be committed without 
 ofience, and may even become a virtue, as in the case of 
 the courtezan Bindumati, if in its commission preference 
 be avoided, and the mind remain unmoved. 
 
 The supposed absence of a holy and ever present In- 
 telligence from the universe, throws light on many of the 
 other institutions of Buddhism, and makes that possible 
 which would otherwise be too manifest an absurdity for it 
 ever to have been put in practice. 1. The priest can 
 receive permission to put ofi' his robe for a time, and break 
 the precept of continence, and be again admitted into 
 the Sangha, without the forfeiture of any privilege he 
 previously possessed. 2. In former years, when the wor- 
 shipper entered the temple, on taking ujDon himself the 
 
DEFECTS. 21 -J 
 
 obligations, lie said, " Alian bliante ajja ito patthaya yawa 
 pahomitawa wisun wisun rakkhanatthaya pancha sikkha- 
 padani sainadiyami. To-day, my lord, I take the five 
 precepts, to obey tliem, severally, as far as I am able, from 
 this time forward." Tbe strange clause, yawa pahomitawa, 
 as far as, or as long as, I am able, has recently been 
 omitted, not from its incongruity with the system, but from 
 the evil consequences that followed from its recital. Its 
 use, at any time, reveals the absence of all power or 
 authoritj^ beyond the will of the devotee. 3. There can 
 be no intelligent prayer in Buddhism, as there is no one to 
 listen to its voice. The people repeat the tun-sarana before 
 the image of Buddha. 
 
 Buddhan' saranan' gachchami I take refuge in Buddha 
 
 Dhamman' saranan' gachcliami I take refuge in the Truth 
 
 Sanghan' saranan' gachchami I take refuge in the Priesthood. 
 
 Once, twice, thrice, this is repeated. But the refuge of 
 Buddha can be of no avail, as he has ceased to be ; and as 
 well might men appeal to the light that once shone in the 
 festive hall of his summer palace, or the rainbow that 
 spanned his native city, in the hour of the passing storm. 
 The Dharmma, the doctrines of Buddha, are equally with- 
 out power. How can a sound, a law, a recitation, help any 
 one, by the exercise of its own influence, when it is itself 
 a mere abstraction, a name ? And as to the Sangha, the 
 associated Priesthood, I should like to ask any of my 
 readers who repeat the formula as an act of worship, in 
 what members of the Sangha it is that they seek refuge. 
 \ Not in the dead priests ; as some of them have become 
 Vflies or fishes, and others have become nothing in nirwana. 
 
216 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 It must be in some portion of the living priesthood. Then 
 I ask, Which ? Is it in those who are so frequently seen, 
 as plaintiffs or defendants, in our courts of justice ; or those 
 who are breaking the precept by adding land to land, and 
 by lending out money on usury ; or those whose stolid 
 countenances we see in the streets as they carry the alms- 
 bowl ; or those who utter words of blasphemy against their 
 Maker and Judge, and revile the servants of Christ, 
 forgetful of the advice of Buddha : " Priests, if others 
 speak against me, or speak anything against my doctrines, 
 or speak anj^thing against the priesthood, that is no reason 
 why you should be angry, discontented, and displeased with 
 them, thereby bringing yourselves into danger?* 
 
 The want of reality in the system leads, as a necessary 
 consequence, to moral imbecility. Buddha acknowledges 
 that there arc things excellent in other religions, and hence 
 he did not persecute. He declares that even his opponents 
 had a degree of wisdom, and exercised miraculous power. 
 But this very indifference about error, as about every thing 
 else ; this apparent candour and catholicity ; is attended by 
 an influence too often fatal to the best interests of those by 
 whom it is professed. There can be little difference in the 
 mind of the Buddhist between truth and error, right and 
 wrong ; and from this source arises the apparent inability 
 of many persons in this island to see the essential difference 
 between Christianity and Buddhism, or to learn that to be 
 a Christian a man must rc2:ard Buddha as a false teacher 
 and his claim to supremacy as a sin against Almighty God. 
 Not in any other part of the earth, to the same extent, are 
 
 * Bruhma Jala Suttauta. 
 
DEFECTS. 217 
 
 such saddening scenes presented as are here daily witnessed. 
 To name one instance will be sufficient to establish the fact ; 
 and I choose this, because it comes under my own im- 
 mediate notice : JN^ot many miles to the soutli of Colombo, 
 there is one holding office under government, who does all 
 he can to support Buddhism, by sending for priests of name 
 to live in his korla, by using his influence to establish 
 Dharmma-sabhawas, the members of which are made to 
 pledge themselves to avoid all countenance of Christianity, 
 and to regard all as outcasts who act otherwise, into whose 
 families they will not marry, and whose funerals they will 
 not attend. Yet this same person, though he exhorts his 
 dependents to act otherwise, swears as a Christian in a 
 court of justice; unable, it would seem, to see the incon- 
 sistency, or to understand the iniquity, of professing to 
 take an oath, and yet appealing to a God in whose exist- 
 ence he does not believe. Nor is he alone in his perilous 
 course. Too many of his countrymen are Christians in the 
 church and court, and heathens everywhere else. It is on 
 this account that the present revival of Buddhism in some 
 parts of this island is to be regarded with satisfaction. Its 
 consequence will be, to separate from the professing church 
 those who are in alliance with idolatry ; and when once 
 this has been accomplished, and not till then, the host of 
 the Lord will go on from conquering to conquer, until the 
 whole of the people have become truthful, and walk as the 
 children of light. 
 
 The system of Buddha is humiliating, cheerless, man- 
 marring, soul-crushing. It tells me that I am not a reality; 
 I have no soul. It tells me that there is no unalloyed 
 
218 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 happiness, no plenitude of enjoyment, no perfect unbroken 
 peace, in the possession of any being whatever, from the 
 highest to the lowest, in any world. It tells me that I 
 may live mj^iads of millions of ages, and that not in any 
 of these ages, nor in any portion of an age, can I be free 
 from apprehension as to the future, until I attain to a state 
 of unconsciousness ; and that in order to arrive at this 
 consummation I must turn away from all that is pleasant, 
 or lovely, or instructive, or elevating, or sublime. It tells 
 me, by voices ever-repeated, like the ceaseless sound of the 
 sea- wave on the shore, that I shall be subject to " sorrow, 
 impermanence, and unrealit}^," so long as I exist, and yet 
 that I cannot now cease to exist, nor for countless ages to 
 come, as I can only attain nirwana in the time of a supreme 
 Buddha. In my distress, I ask for the sympathy and 
 guidance of an all-wise and all-powerful Friend, who can 
 be touched with the feeling of m}^ infirmities, soothing me 
 with words of solace, and permitting me to come to him in 
 my darkness, and perplexity, and cast my care upon Him, 
 as the troubled child casts its care upon a mother's love, 
 and is then at sweet rest. But I am mocked, instead, by 
 the semblance of relief; and am told to look to Buddha, 
 who has ceased to exist ; to the Dharmma, that never was 
 an existence ; and to the Sanglia, the members of which 
 are real existences, but like myself, partakers of sorrow 
 and sin. 
 
 Of late years there have been evidences of a growing 
 disposition to receive as truth only the words spoken by 
 Buddha, and to reject all comments, glosses, and explana- 
 tions, or to regard them as of less authority. But the 
 
DEFECTS. 219 
 
 Buddhist has no other assurance that the words attributed 
 to the Tathagato were actually spoken by him, besides that 
 which he receives from the Pitakas. Why should these 
 books, which profess to have been transmitted from un- 
 erring rahats, be less trustworthy when they speak about 
 other matters than when they profess to give the words of 
 Buddha, as their authors had in both instances the same 
 opportunity of knowing the truth or untruth of the state- 
 ments they record? The warrant for receiving the comment 
 is just the same as that for receiving the word ; and the 
 common principles that guide us when placing our trust in 
 evidence, oblige us to receive both word and comment with, 
 equal confidence, or to reject both with equal incredulit3% 
 when they come to us with the same authority, and when 
 both profess to be revealed truth, whether that revelation 
 be from an inner and personal light, or from the inspiration 
 of some other being. The principles of the eclectic cannot 
 be applied to an inspired record. The very moment we 
 begin to choose one portion rather than another, we set 
 aside its sovereign authorit}^, and reduce it to the same 
 level as any other work. When we ask the Buddhist why 
 he believes certain words to have been" spoken by Bhagawa, 
 he says. Because the Pitakas declare it. We then reply, 
 By rejecting other parts of the Pitakas as being unworthy 
 of credence, and yet founding upon them, and upon them 
 alone, your trust in the words they ascribe to Buddha, you 
 do that which no wise worshipper would do, and what you 
 have no liberty to do as a man guided by the requirements 
 of reason. 
 
 I have thus endeavoured, fairly and faithfully, to set 
 
220 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 forth the errors of Buddhism, as we learn them from its 
 sacred books. The moral character of the system, as I 
 have presented it, is almost uniformly reflected in the 
 conduct of the inhabitants of the island who are guided 
 by its precepts. Too commonly, among its adherents, a 
 high sense of honour is wanting ; there is no resolute up- 
 standing for truth, no willingness to sufier rather than to 
 sin. There may be exceptions, but I have not met with 
 them, in my intercourse with persons of this creed. Few 
 things surprise the newly-arrived European so much as to 
 find so entire an absence of truthfulness in men who seem 
 otherwise to be respectable. There is the appearance of 
 all that is honest, and trustworthy ; in conversation, the 
 bated breath, and every token of respect for the j)erson 
 addressed ; a complacent smile, never intermitted ; a willing 
 assent to every proposition ; promises falling fast from the 
 lip, like flowers of the araliya tree at early dawn ; and at 
 parting a ready re-iteration of all that has been promised, 
 and a renewed and more positive declaration that every 
 command shall be obeyed. But as to the fulfilment, weary 
 will be the eye that watches for its coming, and long empty 
 the hand that expects from this source to be filled. How 
 can it be otherwise, if no higher motive for integrity than 
 that which Buddhism presents is found within the heart ? 
 But in the circle where Christian influence extends, even 
 though there may not be the profession of scriptural faith, 
 I can mark a great improvement in lionesty and truthful- 
 ness, since I first stepped upon these shores as a youth. 
 
 The belief in a soul is, perhaps, general among the 
 Siughalese, though so contrary to the teaching of Buddha. 
 
CONCLUSION. 221 
 
 The divinity tliat stirs within all men speaks with too loud 
 a voice for them not to know that the no-soul doctrine 
 must be wrong ; and the statement that Buddha told men 
 there is no self, is regarded as a misrepresentation. 
 
 The atheism of the Dharmma prevails more generally, 
 but it is not universal. There are some, especially among 
 those who are more conversant with the truths of the 
 Bible, who believe in the existence of one Almighty God ; 
 others confer upon the dewas the attributes of God ; and 
 others, like their so-called Bhagawa, are out-and-out 
 atheists. The arguments against the possibility of the 
 existence of a supreme intelligent Being are regarded as 
 so conclusive, that any attempt to disprove them would be 
 a mark of extreme folly. We find that their great 
 difficulty, when they set themselves in sincerity to seek out 
 the truth, is, to realise the great idea of the existence of 
 God. We are frequently told that our religion would be 
 an excellent one, if we could leave out of it all that is said 
 about a Creator ; for as holy men of old, in all that they 
 reveal, proceed upon the certainty that God is, " and that 
 he is a re warder of them that diligently seek him,'' so all 
 that Buddha teaches proceeds upon the supposition, dark 
 and joyless, that there is no God. 
 
 Before I conclude my little book, I ask permission, as 
 a minister of Christ fast hastening towards the sun- set 
 hour of life, to address a few words of afiectionate counsel 
 to those whose instruction I have now more immediately 
 in view, in the task I have undertaken, to expose the more 
 
222 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 prominent errors of Buddliism. At some personal incon- 
 venience, at the cost of severance from children whom I 
 love as my own soul, I have again visited this island, that 
 I may give to the Society to which it is my privilege to 
 belong, the benefit of my acquaintance with the principal 
 race here resident, and of my matured experience as to its 
 interests and wants. The friends of my youth, the brave 
 men whose zeal I tried to imitate when I saw them strons: 
 in faith amidst the shouts of the battle-field — where are 
 they ? I know where. I^ot in a nirwana of nothingness; 
 not amidst the uncertainties of a repetition of existence ; 
 but with God. I shall see them again ; and we shall no 
 longer have to toil together, but to triumph ; through the 
 one sacrifice made for all sinners. By the memory of these 
 servants of Christ — for many loved them as well as mj^self 
 — I ask of all those who shall read, and can understand, 
 the sentences I now write, to give me their further atten- 
 tion, whilst I seek to express to them the yearnings of my 
 soul, and to bare before them the throbbings of an anxious 
 heart. I will no longer speak as to an impersonality, but 
 suppose that I am standing before you, as an old acquaint- 
 ance ; and that under the shade of one of jour own palm- 
 groves, or by the perfume of your na trees, we are talking 
 over the story of days that to you, as well as myself, were 
 days of high resolve and bright hope. 
 
 Then, my friends, I will not insult you by asking if you 
 believe in the statements of Buddha and his disciples, the 
 fallacy of which I have endeavoured to expose. I know 
 that you do not ; you cannot. But if this is your position, 
 it involves consequences that are of an importance over 
 
CONCLUSTOX. 223 
 
 wliich. you will do well most seriously to ponder. There is 
 truth among the children of men — absolute, saving, en- 
 nobling and divine. Have you embraced this truth ? and 
 has it brought to you all that it professes to impart, in the 
 promises of the w^ord of God ? Is there that difference in 
 your peace of mind, as to the present, and in your assurance 
 of safety, as to the future, that gives a surer testimony of 
 the divinity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, than can be 
 learnt from books, or taught by man ? I lament, that as 
 to many of you — though you are indebted for nearly all 
 you know to the minister of God, and have listened to his 
 prayers, as again and again he has poured out his heart 
 before the throne of the heavenly grace in your behalf — 
 you have been no more influenced by the saving power of 
 Christianitj'', than if you had lived in some distant age, 
 and had learnt your hodiya at the pansala of Mahindo, or 
 fought in the wars of Prakrama Bahu. 
 
 T^ow, no placid smile, if you please, in commendation of 
 Christianity, whilst in your inner soul you disavow all that 
 you say or seem. There must be no trifling in the presence 
 of the all-seeing God, around whose throne is the terrible 
 thunder. If there be, indeed, a revelation from above, a 
 Gospel, a Redeemer, a Holy Spirit, a Father in heaven, the 
 danger that awaits you, if you wilfully neglect the truth, 
 or deliberately reject it, must be more appalling than all 
 the horrors that are told of Awichi, for it will be ever- 
 lasting. If the mighty Lord of all could not, in consistence 
 with his attribute of justice, save man without an atone- 
 ment, neither will he save you, if you reject that atonement. 
 I feel for you ; I sympathise with you ; I know something 
 
224 LEGENDS AXD THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 of the difficulties with, which you have to contend. For 
 many generations your forefathers have been taught to 
 regard the sacrifice of blood with aversion, as a thing 
 impure in itself, and as the root of all evil ; and whilst 
 these thoughts are cherished, or the remembrance of them 
 retained, there can be no sincere trust in the expiation 
 wrought out for man upon the cross ; though it is by this 
 alone that we can be saved from God's wrath and eternal 
 perdition. When the flower and the fruit are thought to 
 be an adequate offering, as an expression of religious 
 thought and feeling, there can be no right ajDpreciation of 
 the vileness of sin, or of man's need of an all-worthy 
 Substitution. We can only learn this from the saddest of 
 all sights, the outpouring of the life's blood ; but that which 
 is the saddest of all sights in itself, is the most cheering of 
 all in its character as a symbol, as it tells of the ransom- 
 price, "not without blood," paid for us men and for our 
 salvation ; when Christ Jesus, " the everlasting Son of the 
 Father," in the infinitude of his mercy, and of his ov^n 
 iree will, became " the propitiation for our sins ; and not 
 for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." 
 This one sentence is more cheering than all the revelations 
 of Buddhism, whether uttered by Bhagawa or rahat. 
 
 There is another barrier to j^our reception of Christianity 
 — the indifference of many of my own countrymen to the 
 duties that are insisted on as essential to a meetness for 
 heaven. But I wish to impress upon your minds, that no 
 man is a Christian, in the sight of God, because of his 
 birth, or name, or profession, or rank, or society, or church, 
 or nation ; or because of anything that he himself can do, 
 
CONCLUSION. 225 
 
 or say, or give, or learn, or believe, whilst lie continues in 
 sin. Every Briton needs a personal and individual con- 
 version, as much as any native of Ceylon. In the heart of 
 every unconverted Briton there is naturally the same 
 hatred to stern and uncompromising truth, that there is in 
 the heart of the heathen and the idolater ; and there is 
 needed, for the removal of this enmity, the influence of the 
 Holy Ghost, in the one case as much as the other. But 
 the souls of men go out after the honours, riches, or 
 pleasures, of this impermanent world ; and they thus forget, 
 through the influence of inner evil, and the temptations of 
 Satan, that the grand duty of this life is to prepare for the 
 life eternal. We are forewarned in the Scriptures, that the 
 saved are few ; the perishing many : an awful thought, 
 but its truth is confirmed by all experience, if those only 
 are to be saved, who in sincerity of heart obey and love 
 God. It was thus in the days of Christ. " This is the con- 
 demnation, that light is come into the world, but men love 
 darkness rather than light, lest their deeds should be re- 
 proved. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, 
 neither cometh he to the light, lest his deeds should be 
 reproved." But all my countrymen are not careless of 
 religious dut}'. There are some who have lived in the 
 midst of you as the sincere servants of God ; whose virtues 
 you have seen, and from whom you have learnt the loveli- 
 ness and beauty of true Christianity. 
 
 I want to bring before you the way of the government 
 of God, as presented by ancient prophet and holy apostle. 
 " No man liveth to himself." There are duties peculiar to 
 your position, as men of influence in this island, that may 
 
 15 
 
226 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 not be overlooked with impunity. The spread of Christi- 
 anity, nationally, has been, in most instances, through the 
 instrumentality of the higher classes, whilst its power and 
 yitality have been best presented amongst the poor. To 
 you light has come, whilst the masses around you are still 
 involved in darkness and error. It is not enough that you 
 yourselves embrace the truth. It is incumbent upon you, 
 as a momentous and paramount obligation, to seek to bring 
 this island, and all its people, into the only fold, under the 
 one Shepherd. But how few there are, among you all, 
 away from the paid agents of the church, that are seeking, 
 with their whole souls, to save their countrymen from the 
 wreck of eternal ruin. Whose are the names, among those 
 who within the last fifty years have been making a pro- 
 fession of Christianity, that will go down to future ages as 
 prominent in seeking to set aside the errors of Buddhism, 
 and convert men's souls to God ? There is a glorious work 
 before you, if you will set about its accomplishment in 
 sincerity and earnestness ; but it will be a sad account you 
 will have to give, if, in the day of judgment, Jesus Christ 
 shall have to say to you, impersonating those whom he has 
 redeemed, " I was ignorant, and ye taught me not." It is 
 not enough that you be baptised, or have your name in 
 some church registry, and occasionally attend the house of 
 God. Religion must be made the work of your life; it 
 must enter into everything ; and it must be seen by your 
 children, and servants, and neighbours, that your heart is 
 not here, but in heaven. The power to do all this cannot 
 be gained by your having learnt some catechism at school, 
 or by your having read the Scriptures as a lesson when a 
 
CONCLUSION. 227 
 
 youtli. To teach you further, to aid you in your contest 
 with evil, to save you from the pollution and power of sin, 
 to bring you into happy communion with God, there must 
 be a constancy of attention to ''the means of grace;" and 
 your religion must be a labour, a devotion, a sacrifice, never 
 neglected and never intermitted. 
 
 The work of missions in this land has not been a failure ; 
 among the poor and the sufiering there have been seen the 
 sweetness, the power, and the joyousness of religion, as 
 these were known in the primitive church ; and now, among 
 the seraphim in heaven, there are many with the dazzling 
 diadem upon the brow, who learnt, in some humble school, 
 or mud- walled chapel, or unpretending church, the word of 
 reconciliatiin, and embraced the offer of mercv made to 
 them in the name of Christ. But amonsr those to whom 
 we once looked forward, because of the superiority of the 
 advantages they have possessed, as the heralds of the cross 
 to their countrymen, as those who were to take Christianity 
 into their households, and beseech the throne of God in 
 earnest supplication, until their ever}^ relative and servant 
 has been converted from the error of their way, there has 
 been severe disappointment. In the exhibition of generous 
 and elevated sentiment, in the successful pursuit of ac- 
 quirements and accomplishments of a high order, there has 
 been, of late years, a marked improvement. The names of 
 some of you, among which we may specially mention that 
 of the learned editor and translator of the Sidath Sangar- 
 awa, are heard in the halls of science and literature along 
 with those borne by men of world-wide reputation. The 
 author of Wiswapriya, by his invaluable publications, has 
 
228 LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 shewn that there are among you able and accomplished 
 controversialists. There are others who, as extensive 
 cultivators, as judges upon the bench, or as rulers of korlas, 
 have exhibited an integrity and uprightness that wete 
 formerly unkno^\Ti in the land. But the church wants to 
 see more of the spirit that fired the soul of the apostle 
 Paul, when he said, " God forbid that I should glory, save 
 in- the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world 
 is crucified to me and I unto the world." There are many 
 of you, especially among the more aged, who have had 
 other adverse influences to contend with, that are now 
 passing away. Your ayahs, your sisters, and your mothers, 
 were all heathen ; and home authority is the most powerful 
 of all modes of mastery. It is hard to have to say that 
 Buddha was a false teacher, and to have to reject his 
 doctrines, when those whom vou have loved most taus-ht 
 you to revere him as the best and greatest of beings. But 
 there are now mothers, in the homes of the highest families 
 in the land, who teach their children to bow their knees to 
 Jesus, once an infant, '' meek and mild." Even of those 
 whose parents are yet unbelievers in Christianity, we may 
 cherish hope. The reply of the Dewa Nilama, when our 
 good bishop recently addressed an assembly of chiefs and 
 priests at the pavilion in Kandy, is wortli}^ of grateful 
 record. *' I have no doubt," he said, " that the next 
 generation will be likely to embrace Christianity, seeing 
 that mv own son, who was educated in a Christian school, 
 is now a Christian." 
 
 The cross must triumph, wlicnever it is upheld in its 
 simplicity, by men who are willing to be nothing in its 
 
CONCLUSION. , 229 
 
 presence, that the name of the Redeemer may be high over 
 all. Where are the old idols of Europe, Jupiter and Mars, 
 Woden and Thor, and all the other lords many, and gods 
 many, whom my own forefathers worshipped ? Not one of 
 them has now a single votary in the whole world. And thus 
 it shall be with Buddha, and all the myriads of deities in 
 the east. The time will come when the wihara will be de- 
 serted, the dagoba unhonoured, and the bana unread. I 
 can suppose no lovelier spot in this wide world than Ceylon 
 will be, when in every household there shall be an altar 
 erected to the Lord God of heaven and earth. There is a win- 
 ningness, a pleasantness, and a natural gentleness about its 
 people, that when converted to Christianity will make them 
 like angel-spirits ; and to the high destiny of that coming 
 race, whether those who form it shall reap the luxuriance 
 of the rice- clad plain, or dwell amidst the plenty that shall 
 then be put forth on the slopes of the cultivated mountain, 
 we may look forward with shouts of exultation. Welcome, 
 then, toil, and difficulty, and reproach, if a consummation 
 so blessed as this is to be the reward of the servants of 
 Christ. And thus it shall be ; '' for the mouth of the Lord 
 hath spoken it." '^ There were great voices in heaven, 
 saying. The kingdoms of this world are become the king- 
 doms of our Lord, and of his Christ ; and he shall reign 
 for ever and ever." Rev. xi. 15. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Kote A. Page 23. Pali tlie root of all languages. 
 Sa Magadhi inula bliasa, 
 Nara ya yadikappika, 
 Bralimano chassutalapa, 
 Sambuddhacliapi bliasare. 
 
 Note B. Page 55. Buddha acknowledges the power of the 
 
 Rishis. 
 Idang watwana Matango, 
 Isi sachchaparakkamo, 
 Antalikkasmin pakkami, 
 Brahmananan udikkhatan. 
 
 Jdtaka Wannand. 
 
 Note C. Page 80. The Sakwalas are in Sections of three. 
 
 Lokantarikati tinnan tinnan chakkawalanan antare 
 
 ^keka lokantarika hoti; tinnan sakata chakkanaii pattanaii 
 
 wa annyamannyanan ahachcha t'hapitanai'i majhhe 6k- 
 
 asowiya. 
 
 MaJuq)addna Suttaicannand. 
 
 Note D. Page 80. The infinite Worlds known to Buddha. 
 Wisayakkhcttaiipana anantaparimanesuhi chakkawalesu 
 yanyan Tathagato dkankhati tantan janati. 
 
 Sdra Sangalia. Wisuddhi 31agga. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 231 
 
 Note E. Page 81. The size of Malia Meru. 
 
 Sineru bhikkhaw^ pabbataraja chaturasiti yojanasabssani 
 ayamenachaturasitiyojauasahassaniwittharenachaturasiti- 
 yojanasahassani maliasamudde ajjhogalho cbaturasitiyoja- 
 nasahassani mabasamudda achcbuggato. 
 
 Satta Suryuggamana Suttanta. 
 
 Note F. Page 8L The colour of Maha Mem. 
 
 Tassapana Sineruno pachinapassan rajatamayaii tasma 
 tassa pabhaya ajjohttathan tassan disayaii smuddodakan 
 khiran wiya pannyayati dakkhinapassaripana indanila- 
 manimayan tasma dakkhinadisa3''a samuddodakan yebhuy- 
 3''eiia nilawannanhutwa pannyayati tatha akasaii. 
 
 Sara Sangaha. Wisuddki llagga. Jindlankdra. 
 
 Note Gr. Page 82. The size of the Sakwala. 
 
 Ekan chakkawalan ayamato wittharatocha yojananau 
 dwadasasatasahassani chatuttinsa satani pannyasancha 
 jojanani. Parikkhepato. 
 
 Sabban sata sahassani, 
 Chattiiisa parimandalan, 
 Dasachewa sahassani, 
 Addhuddhani satanicha. 
 
 Wisuddhi Magga. 
 
 Note Ho Page 82, The seven Circles of Rock. 
 
 Ete satta maha sela 
 Sinerussa samantato. 
 Sam Sangaha. Wisuddhi Magga. Jindlankdra. 
 
232 APPENDIX. 
 
 Note I. Page 84. The seven Seas. 
 
 Sineru Yugandharadinan antare sidanta samuddanaiua 
 honti. 
 
 Sara Sangaha. Wisudclhi Magga. Jindlanlidra, 
 
 Note J. Page 84. The rays pass from Maha Meru to the 
 
 Sakwala rock. 
 Tatahi pubbadakkhinapassehi nikkihanta rajatamaniras- 
 miyo ekatohiitwa samuddapitthena gantwa chakkawala- 
 pabbatan ahachcha titthanti. 
 
 Bdra Sangaha JindlanMra. 
 
 Note K. Page 85. The thickness of the Worlds of Stone, 
 
 Earth, Water, and Wind.. 
 Dwe satasahassani, 
 Chattari nahutanicha, 
 Ettakan bahalattena, 
 Sankhatayan wasundhara. 
 
 Chattarisatasahassani, 
 Attewanahutanicha, 
 Ettakan bahalattena, 
 Jalan wate patitthitan. 
 
 Nawasatasahassani, 
 Maliito nabhamnggato, 
 Satthinchewasahassdni, 
 Esa lokassa santthiti. 
 
 Wisuddkl Magga, 
 
 Note L. Page 85. The distance from Maha Meru to 
 
 Jambudipa. 
 
 Sinorupabbatapassatc) patthaya yawa Jumbudipa majjhan'' 
 dwesatasahassani ekuiuisitisahassani atthasatani satthivo- 
 
 janani, Jambudipamajjhato patthaya j'liwa chakkawa- 
 
 lapabbatan tawa lonasagaro dwesatasahassani ekunasitisa- 
 hassani atthasatani satthiyoianani. J'mdlankdra. 
 
 « ft w • %f O 
 
APPENDIX. 233 
 
 Note M. Page 86. The causes of Earthquakes. 
 
 Ayan Aiianda mahapathawi udake patitthita udakan' 
 wate patitthitan' wato akasattohoti yokho Ananda samayo 
 yau mahawata wayanta udakan' kampenti udakan' kampi- 
 tan pathawin kampeti. 
 
 3Iaha Parinibhdna Siittanta. 
 
 mte ]Sr. Page 87. The Sun and Moon. 
 
 Tattha chandamandalan ujukan^ ayamato wittharato 
 ubbedhato ekunapannyasayojanan' parimandalatopana tihi- 
 yojanehi unan diyadclha satayojanan'. . .Suriyamandalan'- 
 pana ujukan pannyasayojanan' parimandalatopana diya- 
 
 ddha satayojanan' Tesupana chandamandalan' hettha 
 
 suriyamanclalan' upari antaran nesan' yojanan' hoti 
 
 Chandawim anan' ante manimayan' bahi raj atena parildvittan' 
 
 antocha bahicha sitalamewa hoti Suriyawimanan' anto 
 
 kanakamayan' bahiran' phalika parikkhittan' hoti antocha 
 baaicha unha mewa. 
 
 Sara Sangaha. 
 
 Note 0. Page 87. The Distance of the Moon from the Sun. 
 
 Surij'^okalapakkhuposate atikkhante patipadadiwaseyoja- 
 nanan satasahassan chandamandalan pahaya gachchati. 
 
 Jindkmkdra. 
 
 Note P. Page 88. The three Paths. 
 
 Imesanpana ajawithi nagawithi gowithiti ; tisso withiyo 
 honti ; tatha ajanan\idakan patikkulan hoti; hatthinan 
 manapan gunnan situnhasamataya phasuhoti. 
 
 Sara Sangaha. 
 
234 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 JN'ote Q. Page 89. The Sun shines upon three Continents 
 
 at once. 
 Ewan wicharantocha Ekappaharena tisii dwipesu alokan 
 karonti. Sara Sangaha. 
 
 Note R,. Page 89. The size of Eahu, and his seizure of 
 
 the Sun and Moon. 
 
 Ewan mahiddhike ewan mahanubhawe chandimasuriye 
 
 kin Rahu gilatiti ; ama gilati ; Rahussahi attabhawo maha 
 
 uchchantena atthayojanasatadhikanichattariyojanasahas- 
 
 sani. Sura Sangaha. 
 
 Note S. Page 91. The waters of the Ocean and the size 
 
 of the Waves. 
 Ewan santthitassa tassa hettha chattalisayoianasahas- 
 samatte thane udakan machchehi chalati upari tawatake- 
 yewa thane udakan watena chalati majjhe chatuyojanasa- 
 hassamatte thane udakan nichchalan' titthati ; tasmink- 
 khopanamahasamudde mahindawichinama satthiyojaniini 
 uggachchati poranawlchinama chattalisayojani uggach- 
 cliati. Sara SangaJia. 
 
 Note T. Page 91. The size of Ananda and other fishes. 
 
 Anando timindo ajjharoho mahatimiti imo chattaro 
 
 machcha j'ojanasahassika. 
 
 Sara Sangaha. 
 
 Note U. Page 01. The size of Jambudipa. 
 
 Jambudipopana chatusahassayojanappann'ino padeso ta- 
 dupabliogiyasattanan^ punnyakkha^^a udokiaia ajjuthatho 
 samuddoti sankhangato ; tisahassayujanappanuino manussa 
 wasanti ; tisahassayujanappamauc hiniawa patitthito. 
 
 Sara Sangaha. 
 
APPENDIX. 235 
 
 Note V. Page 95. The swiftness of the lions in Himala- 
 
 wana. 
 Tatiyanpana sihanadan^ naditwa tenewasaddhin^ tiyo- 
 janatthane panyyayati tiyojanan^ gantwa niwattitwa thito 
 attanowa nadassa anunadan^ sunati ; ewan^ sighena jawena 
 pakkamati. 
 
 Anguttara Nikdya Wannand. 
 
 Note W. Page 96. The size of the Jambu-tree. 
 Himawatiyewa patitthitassa yassa anubhawena ayan' 
 Jambudipoti wucchati tan^ mulato yawach agga yojana 
 satappamanan. Sara Sang aha. 
 
 Note X. Page 98. The extent to which Buddha's voice 
 
 could be heard. 
 Akan'khamano Ananda Tathagato tisahassi mahasahassi 
 lokadhatun' sarena winnyapeyya yawatayapana akan^khey- 
 yati. Anguttara Nikdya. 
 
 Note Y. Page 99. The extent of the Universe. 
 Gamanen ahan'' lokassa antan'' papunissamiti. sokho ahan^ 
 Bhante annyatrewa asita pita khayita sayita anuyata uch- 
 charapassawakamma annyatraniddakilamatha patiwinodana 
 wassa satayuko wassa satajiwT. wassa satan^ gantwu ap- 
 patwana lokassa antan' antara kalakato. 
 
 Anguttara Nikdya. 
 
 Note Z. Page 163. The non-existence of the Soul. 
 
 In consequence of the importance of this subject, and 
 the singularit}'' of the teachings of Buddha respecting it, 
 I insert an extract from the writings of the late Rev. D. 
 J. Gogerly. The rare powers of mind possessed by my 
 gifted predecessor and lamented friend, were never seen to 
 
236 APPENDIX. 
 
 greater advantage than when seeking to unravel the in- 
 tricate web of Buddhist metaphysics. His discoveries took 
 the priests by surprise; but there are none of authority 
 who now dispute his conclusions. I take this opportunity 
 of stating, that I am indebted to the same source for the 
 quotations I have made from the Pirit. It is much to be 
 lamented, that so far as my search has extended, I have not 
 been able to find among the papers he has left, any that 
 are so connected or perfect as to be available for publication. 
 
 " From Budha's description of the khandas, transmigra- 
 tion, in the ordinary sense of the word, is impossible. This 
 may also be inferred from a passage in the comment on 
 the Sanyutto discourses. The commentator mentions five 
 opinions as belonging to the uchedaditthi, or school of 
 philosophy which teaches that death is the termination of 
 existence. The opinions are, (1) that rupa, material organi- 
 zation, constitutes the soul ; (2) that wedana, sensation, is 
 the soul ; (3) that sannya, perception, is the soul ; (4) that 
 sankhara, thought, is the soul; and (5) that winnyana, 
 consciousness, is the soul. These five opinions could only 
 have been attributed to the annihilation school on this 
 principle, that Budha taught that each and all of the five 
 enumerated khandas cease and determine at death. 
 
 " This further appears from his definition of death, which 
 among other things he states to be antaradhauan'', a dis- 
 appearance, and khandcinan^ bhedo, breaking up of the 
 khandas, a dissolution of the system ; and even if bhedo 
 should be translated separation, and not dissolution, the 
 result would be the same, for we have seen tlie kliandas to 
 be so mutually dependent that their separation into in- 
 dividual khandas would be identical with the cessation of 
 their existence, excepting the body, which speedily is dis- 
 solved after the other kliandas are removed from it. It 
 
APPENDIX. 237 
 
 may be observed that althougli Budha Has given definitions 
 of death in many discourses, he has never intimated its 
 being the departure of a soul from the body to exist in 
 another form. Yet the doctrine was known, and among 
 the heterodox opinions one is stated to be, the representing 
 the soul upon death as 'flying happily away like a bird 
 from its cage/ How could he state it to be the departure 
 of the soul from the body, when he expressly states, as I 
 will show, that there is no soul ? 
 
 *' In his definition of birth, among other things, he states 
 it to be ayatananan patilabho, the attainment of the aya- 
 tanas, which comprise the 10 bodily and 2 mental organs, 
 and khandanan^ patubhawo, the springing up into existence 
 of the khandas ; for the verb patubhawati signifies that 
 beginning which had no pre\dous existence, and therefore 
 when a distinction is to be made between at present non- 
 existences, the word used for that which never had a being, 
 in opposition to that which once existed but has ceased to 
 be, is apatubhutan^, being the negative adjective from the 
 verb patubhawati. In another place also the khandas, 
 ayatanans, etc. are said uppattikhane-patubhawanti, to 
 spring into being at the moment of conception (or of 
 existence commencing in any way :) and as 10 of the 
 ayatanas are decidedly material, and evidently commence 
 their being at that moment, how can the remaining two 
 ayatanas be regarded as having a previous existence, and 
 only at that moment united to the others, when all are 
 governed by the same verb, and the ayatanas are spoken of 
 jointly and not severally. 
 
 *' These subjects did not escape king Milinda's penetra- 
 tion : he therefore enquires if a living soul is received 
 upon transmigration (that being the subject under discus- 
 sion); and the priest replied, in the higher, or proper sense 
 (parametthena), there is not. The only question is, whether 
 
238 APPENDIX. 
 
 I have correctly translated wedagu, by tlie words living soul. 
 But the king had used the same word before, in a discussion 
 on sensations and perceptions, and there the priest asks, 
 AYhat is this wedagu ? The king replied, * that inward 
 life, jiwo, which sees figure by the eye, hears sound by the 
 ear, smells odour by the nose, tastes flavour by the tongue, 
 touches objects with the body, and knows circumstances by 
 the mano, consciousness : ' thus explaining what we mean 
 by the word soul, a living conscious being, who acts through 
 the medium of the organs of sense. In further explanation 
 he adds, 'even as I sit in this palace and view external 
 objects through any window I please to look out of, so the 
 wedagu looks through the window of the eye, of the nose, 
 etc' The priest denies the existence of such a wedagu or 
 soul, and among other reasons states, that if what the king 
 said were true, the wedagu, or inward soul, might hear with 
 its nose and smell with its eyes. Whatever potency may 
 be in the priest's reasoning, this is clear, by wedagu the 
 king meant the soul, and that the priest denied that any 
 such thing was received upon transmigration. 
 
 " The king enquires further, ' Is there any thing (or 
 being, satto) which goes from this body to another body ? ' 
 * No, great king.' ' If, then, my Lord Nagasena, there be 
 no departure from this body to another body, certainly there 
 will be a deliverance from the consequence of sin.' This 
 consequence the priest denies, explaining it by the Mango 
 metaphor, and using the same words he had spoken before, 
 viz. * by this namarupa actions are performed, good or bad, 
 and by those actions another namarupa commences ex- 
 istence.' 
 . " But Budha denies the existence of a soul, or any thing 
 
 concerning which a man may say, This is (1), myself; and (2) 
 states that what by accommodation may be called the man 
 is ever fluctuating, never at two given periods the same, 
 
APPENDIX. 239 
 
 although not properly different. Of this peculiar doctrine 
 of identity I will endeavour to give a brief explanation. 
 The following is a close translation of part of a discourse 
 in the Sanyutto division. ' The soul, l^riests, is variously 
 considered by some recluses and Bramins, but tliey all re- 
 gard it as united with the five khandas or with one of the 
 five. What are the five ? The sensual and unlearned man 
 considers (1) body to be the soul, or (2) that the soul 
 possesses corporiety, or (3) that body emanates from the 
 soul, or (4) that the soul resides in the body.* Or they 
 regard (5) sensation to be the soul, or (6) that the soul 
 possesses sensation, or (7) that sensation emanates from the 
 soul, or (8) that the soul resides in the sensations. Or they 
 regard (9) perception to be the soul, etc. Or they regard 
 (13) thought to be the soul, etc. Or they regard (17) 
 consciousness to be the soul, etc., (making 20 opinions). 
 In consequence of these considerations they come to the 
 conclusion, 'I am' (asmi). Now, priests, / am is the state of 
 having the soul. The five organs, (indriyani) namely, the 
 organ of the eye, of the ear, of the tongue, and of the 
 body are conceived (in the womb or otherwise.) There is 
 consciousness (mano) ; there is dhamma (the three khandas 
 of sensation, perception, and thought ) ; there is the base of 
 wisdom (wijja dhatu.) The unlearned and sensual man 
 being affected by the sensations resulting from ignorance, 
 thinks ' lam' ' this is I.' — But concerning these the learned 
 
 * Thus explained in the Comment: he considers body to be the soul; i.e. 
 Is there any body ? that is I, is there any I, that is body ; body and soul are 
 not divers {adwayang, not two.) The soul possesses corporiety ; i.e. taking the 
 soul to be immaterial, he regards it as being body-possessing, as a tree is 
 shadow-possessing. Body emanates from the soul; i.e. regarding the soul to 
 be immaterial he thinks that body emanates from it, as odour emanates from a 
 flower. That the soul resides in the body ; i.e. taking the soul to be immaterial 
 he regards it as residing in the body, as a jewel resides in a casket. I need 
 not add, all these views are declared to be heterodox. 
 
240 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 disciple of Budlia being separated from ignorance and 
 obtaining wisdom, does not think ' I am, or this is 1/ 
 
 '' The following formula is used by him repeatedly in con- 
 nection with each of the five khandas, and twelve ayatanas, 
 which two classifications embrace everything that is an 
 integral part of the man, or corporeal. I shall only quote 
 it in connection with riipa, but it is used verbatim respect- 
 ing the others ; rupan bhikkhawe anitchang, yadanitchang 
 tang dukkhang, yang dukkhang tadanatta, yadanatta tang 
 netang mama, nesohamasmi, nameso atta. Body, priests, 
 is impermanent ; is anything imj)ermanent, that is sorrow 
 (substantially and naturally so) ; is anything sorrow that 
 is not the soul (not atta, the self) ; is anything not the self, 
 that [i.e. that rupa, or wedana, etc., etc.) is not mine, I am 
 not it, it is not my soul. The same is declared not only of 
 the 10 corporeal ayatanas but also of raano, consciousness, 
 or the principle of consciousness, dhamma, the combined 
 sensations, perceptions, and reasonings, whether regarded 
 as acts or powers. Of each and all of them he teaches, I 
 am not this, this is not my soul, or (name eso atta) this is 
 not to me a soul. 
 
 " In a discourse addressed to a person named Sona he is, 
 if possible, more definite : he says. If there be any organ- 
 ized form, sensation, perception, thought or consciousness, 
 past, future, or present, internal or external, great or small, 
 remote or proximate, of all it should be clearly and dis- 
 tinctly known. This is not mine, I am not it, it is not to me 
 a Soul. The learned disciple of Budha understanding this, 
 is w^eaned from attachment to body, sensation, pci'ccption, 
 thought and consciousness." — The Ceylon Friend, vol. ii. 
 No. 5. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Ages, former, 153. 
 
 Alphabet of the Singhalese, 60, 
 
 Alwis's Lectures on Buddhism, quoted, 
 
 24, 174 ; his Sidath Sangar&.wa, 
 
 quoted, 62, 227. 
 Ananda, the personal attendant of 
 
 Buddha, xix., 64, 97, 134. 
 Anotatta, a lake in the Himalayas, 
 
 92, 129. 
 Aryans, the ancient inhabitants of 
 
 India, xxxii., xxxix., 21, 61. 
 Asankya, an immense number, 153. 
 Asoka, a king of India, xxiii., xxvi., 
 
 75, 192. 
 Asurs, beings of great size and power, 
 
 82, 89, 117. 
 Atuw&,was (PaK, Attakatha), the 
 
 Commentaries on the Sacred Books, 
 
 23, 35, 66, 68. 
 
 Bana, the sacred word, xx., xixviii., 
 
 48. 
 Bhagawa, the meritorious, a name of 
 
 Buddha, 96, 219, 221. 
 Bhawo, the three phases of being, 
 
 169. 
 Bhikkhu, a mendicant, xxxv. 
 Bimsara, a king of Magadha, xix., 
 
 xxiii., 138. 
 Bopp's Comparative Grammar, quoted, 
 
 20. 
 Brahmans, their origin and history, 
 
 xxiv., 10, 13, 26 ; their dignity, 11, 
 
 30, 43, 208. 
 
 Brahmanism, xxiii. 
 
 Buddha, Gotaraa, doubts as to his 
 existence, xiii., 63, 73 ; dates to 
 which his birth is ascribed, 72, 76, 
 78; his mental exercises, xii., xvii. ; 
 characteristics of his age, xiv. ; his 
 history, xv. ; his reception of the 
 Buddhaship, xvii. ; his first sermon, 
 xviii. ; attempts upon his life, xix. ; 
 his death, xx. ; his knowledge and 
 mystic powers, xviii., xxi., 63, 138, 
 178, 230; the lessons he learnt in 
 the forest, xxxiii. ; his thoughts on 
 transmigration, xlvi. ; on sacrifice, 
 xlix. ; on caste, 14, 16 ; on the 
 Vedas, 26 ; on the Brahmans, 43, 
 45; on the rishis, 41; exaggera- 
 tions as to his life, 137 ; source of 
 his revelations, 198; his thoughts 
 on benevolence, 212; on sin, 213. 
 
 Buddhas, former, 43, 198. 
 
 Buddhaghoso, the translator of the 
 Singhalese Commentaries into Pali, 
 XXV., 68, 195. 
 
 Buddhism, its extent, v., xi.; "Wilson, 
 Max Miiller, and Turnour, on, 70; 
 its cosmical system, 80, 81, 97 ; its 
 ontology, 142 ; development of, 
 187 ; in India, 201 ; anomalies in, 
 206; its defects, 208; its cheerless- 
 ness, xxxii., 218. 
 
 Buddhists, their controversy with 
 Christians, Wii. ; incredibility of 
 their writings, 64. 
 
 16 
 
242 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Caste, xxiv., xxxiv., 9, 12, 49; in 
 Ceylon, 14. 
 
 Ceylon, its language, 20 ; its alpha- 
 bet, 60; visited by Buddha, 64; 
 
 • introduction of Buddhism into, 
 xxvi., 66, 76 ; geology of, 147. 
 
 Chandala, an outcaste, 10, 49. 
 
 Chronology, Buddhist, 72, 76; differ- 
 ences in, 78. 
 
 Commentaries on the Sacred Books, 
 XXV., 66, 68, 195. 
 
 Conception, 161. 
 
 Continents, the four great, 85, 89 .__ 
 
 Convocations, the three great, xxii., 
 xxviii., 192. 
 
 Creation, 171. 
 
 Dewa, a deity, an inhabitant of one 
 
 of the heavens, xxviii., 6, 8, 52, 
 
 64, 68. 
 Dewadatta, a relative and opponent 
 
 of G6tama, xxx. 
 Dharrama, the truth, the religious 
 
 system of Gotama, v., xxvii., xlviii., 
 
 66, 215, 218, 221. 
 Dhyana, a mystic rite, xlvi., 178. 
 
 Earth, 100. 
 
 Earthquakes, 86, 233. 
 
 Eclipses, 89, 117. 
 
 Evil, the cause of, Iv. 
 
 Existence, former states of, 142 ; 
 
 present, 159 ; how produced, 161 ; 
 
 causes of its continuance, 167 ; its 
 
 cessation, 169. 
 
 Fa Hian, a Chinese traveller, xxx., 
 
 78, 200, 206. 
 Farrar's Bampton Lectures, quoted, 
 
 xxxiv., xlii. 
 Fire worship, 204. 
 Fishes, their size, 91, 123, 234. 
 
 Ganges, 93, 129, 140. 
 Gogerly, D. J., quoted, 60, 109, 141, 
 160, 235. 
 
 Heresies, xxvii., xxix., 68. 
 Himalayas, 21, 42, 91, 94, 126, 133. 
 Hinduism, xxiii., liv., 11, 29. 
 
 Historical records, 66. 
 History, tests of the truth of, 1. 
 Hiun Thsang, a Chinese Traveller, 79. 
 
 India, legends of, 59 ; philosophies 
 
 of, Iv. 
 Intuition of Buddha, xviii., xxxiv., 
 
 li., 16. 
 
 Jambu, a fabulous tree, 95, 130, 235. 
 Jambudipa, the continent inhabited 
 
 by men, xxix., 85, 91, 116, 125, 
 
 232, 234. 
 Jatakas referred to, xxix., 49, 208, 
 Jatimala, quoted, 10, 
 Jinalankara, quoted, 84, 85, 87, 
 
 231. 
 
 Kacchayano, a grammarian, 23. 
 
 Kalpa, kappo, a cycle, 144, 211. 
 
 Kantako, a fabidous horse, 134. 
 
 Kapilawastu, a city on the borders of 
 Nepal, xiv., 72, 97, 155, 206. 
 
 Karmma, ethical action, the acts of 
 any living existence regarded in 
 their moral character, xlvi., xlvii., 
 164, 172, 213. 
 
 Kasina, a mystic rite, 178, 212. 
 
 Khandas, the five elements of exist- 
 ence, 162. 
 
 Kindness, meditation of, xl., 212. 
 
 Korosi Csoma de, a learned Hun- 
 garian, 78, 
 
 Kshatriya, the royal caste, 10, 13, 44, 
 47, 208. 
 
 Kumarila's Tantra-varttika, quota- 
 tion from, 74. 
 
 Kusinara, the city near which Buddha 
 died, its locality unknown, xii., xx. 
 
 Laidlay's Pilgrimage of Fa Hian, 
 quoted, 79, 155. 
 
 Languages of India, 17. 
 
 Legends of early Rome, 2 ; of Kalyana, 
 4 ; of Lomasa Ivasyapa, 43 ; of 
 Drona, 43; of Matanga, 49; of 
 Rohatissa, 98; of Soroyya, 160; 
 of Gotama and Mahomet com- 
 pared, 188. 
 
 Lions, 94, 133, 235. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 243 
 
 Loka, a woi-ld, the sii inhabited by 
 the dewas, the sixteen superior in- 
 habited by the brahmas, 81, 170, 
 211. 
 
 M&gadhi, the modern Berar, 22, 23. 
 Maha Meru, a mountain in the centre 
 
 of the earth, xxix., 42, 81, 176, 
 
 197, 231 ; its existence disproved, 
 
 101 ; its existence taught by 
 
 Buddha, 108. 
 Mah§,wanso, an ancient history of 
 
 Ceylon, 7, 8, 63, 67, 69, 77, 79, 
 
 153. 
 Mahindo, the priest who introduced 
 
 Buddhism into Ceylon, xxvi., 66. 
 Man, his original state, 16 ; an 
 
 emanation from God, xlv. ; the 
 
 chief end of, xlvii. ; an organism, 
 
 ixxiii., 162. 
 Matanga Jataka, 49. 
 Maya, the mother of Gotama, xv., 
 
 xxiv. 
 Mendicant, rules of the, ixxvi. 
 Moon, 87, 112, 233. 
 Muir, Dr. J., quoted, 11, 12, 19, 30, 
 
 32, 34. 
 Miiller, Max, quoted, 22, 27, 34, 57, 
 
 59, 73, 79. 
 Muni, a sage with supernatural 
 
 powers, XV., 72. 
 Mystic powers, 177. 
 
 Naga, a snake god, 161. 
 
 Nagasena, a priest whose conversa- 
 tions with king Malinda are re- 
 corded in the Malinda Prasna, 
 xlvii., 121. 
 
 New Testament, its transmission, 68. 
 
 Nirw^na (Pali, nibbanan), nihilism, 
 the cessation of being, xviii., ixxiv. 
 xlvi., 42, 70, 166, 169, 211. 
 
 Nuga, a fabulous tree, 94, 130. 
 
 Ocean, its tides, 86 ; its waves, 90, 
 
 121,234; its depth, 91, 121. 
 Ontology of Buddhism, 142. 
 
 P&li, the language in which the Sacred 
 Books of the Buddhists are written, 
 17, 22, 230. 
 
 P&li, quotations from the, xix., 230. 
 
 Paramktma, the Supreme Spirit, 25, 
 170. 
 
 Parsees, xxii., 188. 
 
 Pase-Buddhas, inferior Buddhas, 92. 
 
 Paths, the three, 114, 233. 
 
 Patisambhida, supernatural illumina- 
 tion, 24. 
 
 Phoenicians, 60, 62. 
 
 Philosophy, Greek, li. ; Hindu, 
 xxxii., xlv. 
 
 Pirit, a sort of exorcism, 118, 212. 
 
 Pitakas, the Sacred Books of the 
 Buddhists, vii., xxii., 66 ; the age 
 in which they were written, xxiii., 
 xxv., 22, 191 ; their oral trans- 
 mission, 66, 67, 192 ; their origin, 
 24 ; their extent, 66, 193. 
 
 Pr&,timoksha, the laws of the priest- 
 hood, xxxvii. 
 
 Precepts, the five, 210 ; the ten, xl. 
 
 Priesthood, admission to the, xxxv. 
 
 Priests, their customs and laws, xxxv., 
 xxxvii., 214. 
 
 Pur^nas, legends of the Brahmans, 
 xxiii. 
 
 Pythagoras, lii., 188. 
 
 Rabat, a sage endowed with super- 
 natural powers, xxviii., 41, 136, 
 143, 192. 
 
 Rahu, theasur, 89, 117, 234. 
 
 Eahula, the son of Gotama, xxx., 137. 
 
 R&jawaliya, an ancient history of 
 Ceylon, 7, 8. 
 
 Rawana, a giant king of Ceylon, 6. 
 
 Refuge, the three objects of, 203, 215. 
 
 Rishi, an ancient sage of mystic 
 power, xxxii., 26, 33, 41, 55, 173, 
 198, 230. 
 
 Rocks, the seven round Maha Meru, 
 82, 110, 231. 
 
 Rodiy&., an outcaste, 4. 
 
 Rome, legends of early, 2. 
 
 Sacrifice, xlix., 43, 46. 
 
 Sakwala, a system of worlds, 80, 83, 
 
 87, 97, 104, 109, 230, 231. 
 Sakya, the family to which G6taraa 
 
 belonged, xv., 72, 137. 
 Sam^patti, a mystic rite, 50. 
 
244 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Sangha, the collective priesthood, 
 
 214, 218. 
 Sanskrit, 17, 22, and Pali, 17. 
 Sara Sangaha, quoted, 80, 85, 88, 89, 
 
 90, 91, 96, 230. 
 Seas, the seven circular, 82, 110, 232. 
 Sekra, the ruler of the heaven Tawu- 
 
 tisa, xxviii., 28, 42, 81, 83, 99. 
 Sex, change of, 159, 160. 
 Siddhartha, a name of Gotama, xv., 
 
 72. 
 Soul, its non-existence, xliii., 163, 
 
 211, 235. 
 Spii'it, the Supreme, xxiii., liv. 
 Sramana, an ascetic, a priest, lii., 50. 
 Srawaka, a hearer, a priest, 97- 
 Suddhodana, the father of Gotama, 
 
 XV., 48, 72. 
 Sudra, the servile caste, 10, 13, 17, 47. 
 Sun, 53, 87, 111,116, 233. 
 Sutra, a division of the Pitakas, a dis- 
 course, vii., xviii., 15, 18, 27, 32, 
 
 85, 86, 184. 
 Supanna-raja, the king of birds, 135. 
 
 Tathagato, an epithet of Buddha, 
 implying that he came in the same 
 way as the previous Buddhas, xii., 
 18, 55, 92, 97, 98, 119, 136, 213. 
 
 Tennent, Emerson, quoted, 62, 147. 
 
 Transmigration, xlvi., 143, 165. 
 
 Turnour, G., on Buddhism, 70, 76, 
 79, 144, 155. 
 
 Universe, extent of, 97, 99, 235 ; 
 
 revolutions of, 175. 
 TTpad&na, the cleaving to sensuous 
 
 objects, xlvi., 167, 172. 
 Upasaka, a lay devotee, 47. 
 Uruwela, the forest visited by Gotama, 
 
 xli. 
 
 Vaisya, the agricultural caste, 10, 
 
 13, 47. 
 Vedas, the sacred books of the Brah- 
 
 raans, xxii., xxiii., xxiv., xxxii., 
 
 xxxix., 17, 25, 26, 39, 41, 59, 199 ; 
 
 their age, 27 ; origin, 30 ; authors, 
 
 44 ; authority, 74. 
 Vernacular, use of the, xxxvii. 
 
 "Was, a festival, xxxviii. 
 "Wihara, a Buddhist temple, 7. 
 "Wilson, Professor, quoted, 28, 34, 35, 
 
 37, 63, 71, 79, 205, 206. 
 Wisuddhi Margga, quoted, 68, 96. 
 "Woman, xxiv.,"30, 209. 
 Worlds, the four, 85, 120, 169, 232. 
 Writing, 7, 56, 59. 
 
 Yasodhara, the wife of Gotama, xv. 
 
 Zend lore, xxii., 17, 188. 
 
 STRPHKN AUSTIN, PRINTKR, HERTFORD. 
 
October, 1871. 
 
 SELECT 
 
 LIST OF WORKS 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 WILLIAMS AND NOEGATE, 
 
 14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON, W.C. ; AND 
 20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH. 
 
 An Arabic Chrestomathy, with complete Glos- 
 sary. By W. Wright, LL D., Professor of Arabic in the University 
 of Cambridge. 2 vols., 8vo. [Vol. I., containing the Texts, is now 
 ready. Price Ts. Qd.'\ 
 
 Wright (Wm.). Arabic Grammar, founded on the 
 
 German Work of Caspari, with many Additions and Corrections. By 
 William Wright, LL.D., etc. Svo., cloth. 155. 
 
 The Apocryphal Gospels and other documents 
 
 relating to the History of Christ. Translated from the originals in 
 Greek, Latin, S}Tiac, etc. With Notes, and Prolegomena. By 
 B. Harris Cowper. Third Edition, revised throughout. Crown Svo., 
 cloth, Qs. 
 
 On the Popular Names of British Plants ; being 
 
 an Explanation of the Origin and Meaning of the Names of our 
 indigenous and most commonly cultivated species. By R. C. 
 Alexander Prior, M.D., F.L.S., etc. Post Svo. Second Edition, 
 1870. 7*. Qd. 
 
 The Odes of Pindar. Translated into English 
 
 Prose, with Notes and a Preliminary Dissertation. By F. A. Paley, 
 M.A.,Translator and Editor of ^schylus, etc. Crown Svo., cloth, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Lubbock (Sir J.). Prehistoric Times, as Illus- 
 trated by Ancient Remains, and the Manners and Customs of Modern 
 Savages. Third Edition. Svo., cloth. [In the Press. 
 
 The Prometheus Yinctus of ^schylus; edited 
 
 from the Text of Dindorf, with Notes by the Rev. J. S. Watson, 
 M.A., Head Master of Stockwcll Grammar School. Svo. 3*. Qd. 
 
 Euripidis Ion ; with Notes for Beginners, Intro- 
 duction to the Greek Tragic Metres, and Questions for Examination. 
 By Charles Badiiam, D.D. Second Edition. 8vo., boards. Zs. 6d. 
 
 Dante Allighieri. On the Yernon Dante ; witli 
 
 Dissertations on Dante at Verona, and in the Val Lagarina. By 
 H. C. Barlow, M.D., F.G.S., etc. Svo. 3*. 6d. 
 
List of Worlcs PuUished hy Williams and Norgate. 
 
 Eow (Eev. C. A.). The Jesus of the Evangelists : 
 
 His Historical Character Yindicated; or, an Examination of the 
 Internal Evidence for our Lord's Divine Mission, with reference to 
 Modern Controversy. Post 8vo., cloth. 10s. ^d. 
 
 The Blessed Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, 
 
 regarded from a Layman's point of view. By Daniel Biddle. 
 Crown 8vo. o«. 
 
 The Spirit Controversy. Letters and Dissertations 
 
 on the Human Spirit and Soul ; their natiu-e and their condition, 
 both here and hereafter ; with Eemarks upon Future Rewards and 
 Punishments. By Daniel Biddle. Fcup. 8vo., cloth, 35. 6c?. 
 
 Contributions to the Apocryphal Literature of 
 
 the New Testament, collected from Syrtac MSS. in the British 
 Museum, and edited, with an English Translation and Notes, by 
 AV. Wright, LL.D., etc. Svo., cloth. Is. Qd. 
 
 Ancient Syriac Documents Eelative to the 
 
 Earliest Establishment of Christianity in Edessa and the neighbour- 
 ing Coimtries, from the year after our Lord's Ascension to the be- 
 ginning of the Fourth Centiu'y. Discovered, edited, translated, 
 and annotated by the late W. Cureton, D.D. "With a Preface 
 by W. Wright, Ph. D., LL.D., etc. 4to., cloth, 31«. Qd. 
 
 The Homilies of Aphraates, the Persian Sage. 
 
 Edited, in the original Syriac, from MSS. of the fifth and sixth 
 centuries, in the British Museum. With an English Translation, 
 by W. Wright, Ph.D., LL.D., etc. Vol. L (The Syriac Text), 
 4to., cloth. 42s. 
 
 Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, in Syriac ; 
 
 edited from MSS. in the British Museum, with an English Transla- 
 tion. By W. Wright, Ph.D., LL.D., etc. 2 vols. Svo., cloth. 
 
 Mar Jacob (Bishop of Edessa). A Letter on 
 
 Syriac Orthography ; also a Tract by the same Author, and a Dis- 
 course by Gregory Bar-Hebrirus on Syriac Accents. Edited, 
 in the original Syriac, from MSS. in the Britisli Museum, with 
 an English Translation and Notes, l^y the Rev. G. Phillips, 
 D.D., I'resident of Queens' College, Cambridge. Svo., cloth, lOs. 
 
 Sophocles; with Notes, etc., by E. Wunder ; 
 
 and a Collation of Dindorf 's Text, complete in 2 vols. 8vo., cloth. 21«. 
 The Plays may be had separately : price 3*. each. 
 
 Plato's Mono : Translated from the Greek, with 
 
 an Introduction and Notes, and a ]*reliminary Essay on the Moral 
 Education of tlie Greeks. By 11. W. Mackav, M.A. Crown Svo., 
 cloth. 7s. Gr/. 
 
 Plato's Sophistes : A Dialogue on True and False 
 
 Teaching. Translated, with Notes, and an Introduction on Ancient 
 and Modern Sophistry. By II. W. Mackay, M.A., author of *'The 
 Tubingen School aud its Antecedents," etc. Crown 8vo., cloth. 5s. 
 
List of Worhs Puhlished hy IVilliams and Norgate, 
 
 Davidson (Dr. S.). An Introduction to the Old 
 
 Testament, Critical, Historical, and Theological, containing a discus- 
 sion of the most important questions belonging to the several Books. 
 By Samuel Davidson, D.D., LL.D. 3 vols., 8vo., cloth. 425. 
 
 Mar Jacob (Bp. of Edessa). Scholia on Passages 
 
 of the Old Testament, now first edited in the original Syriac, witli an 
 English Translation and Notes, by the Eev. G. Phillips, D.D., 
 President of Queens' College, Cambridge. 8vo., cloth, bs. 
 
 S. John Chrysostom on the Priesthood. !N"ewly 
 
 translated from the Greek, with an Introduction by B. H. Cowper. 
 Crown 8vo., cloth. 6s. 
 
 Sermons. By James McDougall, Pastor of the 
 
 Beltjrave Congregational Church, Darwen. Crown Svo. cloth, bs. 
 
 Notes on the Prophet Amos ; with a new Trans- 
 lation, By W. Dkake, M.A., Honorary Canon of Worcester and 
 ■ Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen. Crown Svo., cloth. 3s. Qd. 
 
 St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, with a Para- 
 phrase and Introduction. By Sir Stafford Carey, M.A. Fools- 
 cap Svo. 3s. 
 
 Edmund Campion, Proto-martyr of the English 
 
 Jesuits: a Biography. By Richard Simpson. Svo., cloth. 10s. 
 
 Essays on Symbolism. By H. C. Baelow, M.D., 
 
 F.G.S., author of "Critical, Historical, and Philosophical Contribu- 
 tions to the Study of the Divina Commedia," etc. Crown Svo., 
 cloth. 4s. QcL 
 
 Daniel ; or, the Apocalypse of the Old Testament. 
 
 By Philip S. Desprez, B.I). With an Introduction by Rowland 
 Williams, D.D. Svo., cloth. 10s. M. 
 
 Huxley (Professor, F.E.S.). Evidence as to Man's 
 
 Place in jSTature. New and enlarged Edition. [In the Press. 
 
 An Elementary Atlas of Comparative Osteology, 
 
 Consisting of Twelve Plates, drawn on stone by B. Waterhouse 
 Hawkins, F.L.S. The figures selected and arranged by Professor 
 T. H. Huxley, F.R.S. Imperial 4to., bound in cloth. 2.5s. 
 
 Erkus (Eev. W., LL.B.). Orthodoxy, Scripture, 
 
 and Reason : an Examination of some of the Principal Articles of the 
 Creed of Christendom. Crown Svo,, cloth. 6s. 
 
 Lowndes (Eichard). An Introduction to the 
 
 Philosophy of Primary Beliefs. Crown Svo., cloth. 7s. Gd. 
 
 The Book of Job, translated from the Hebrew, with 
 
 NotesbytheRev. J.M. Rodwell, M.A. Svo. Second edition. 2s.?)d. 
 
 The Book of Jonah, in Four Shemitic Versions, 
 
 viz., Chaldee, Syriac, ^lithiopic, and Arabic, Avith Glossaries. By 
 W. Wright, LL.D., etc, Svo., cloth. 4s, 
 
List of Works Puhlished hy Williams and Norgate. 
 
 Bopp's Comparative Grammar of the Sanskrit, 
 
 Zend, Greek, Latin, Lithuanian, Gothic, German, and Shivonic Lan- 
 guages. Translated by Professor Eastwick, and edited by Professor 
 H.H. Wilson. 3 vols., 8vo., cloth, boards. Third edition. 3U. 6rf. 
 
 Offices from the Service Books of the Holy Eastern 
 
 Church, with a Translation, Notes, and Glossary. By E,ichard F. 
 LiTTLEDALE, LL.D. Crowu 8vo., cloth. 2>s. 6(1. 
 
 Donaldson (Eev. Dr.). Christian Orthodoxy re- 
 conciled with the conclusions of Modern Biblical learning. By 
 J. W. Donaldson, D.D., late FelloAV of Trinity College, Cambridge. 
 8vo. 65. 
 
 Donaldson's Jashar. Second Edition, with Im- 
 portant Additions. — Jashar. Fragmenta Archetypa Carminum 
 Hebraicorum in Masorethico Veteris Testaraenti Textu passim 
 tessellata collegit, restituit, Latine exhibuit, coramentario instruxit 
 J. G. Donaldson, S.T.D. Editio secunda, aucta et emendata. Svo., 
 cloth. 65. 
 
 "In publishing a new edition of this woi'k, the author wishes to state its scope 
 and purpose, which have been gravely misrepresented. Its immediate object is to 
 restore approximately the oldest religious book of the Jews — ' the Book of Jtishfir,' 
 i.e., of the ideal true Israel. The inquiries to which this restoration leads establish 
 the momentous fact that the Mosaic religion, as it existed in the time of David and 
 Solomon, was in its spirit and principles coincident with Christianity, and that the 
 Levitieal system, with its ceremonies and sacerdotal machinery, was an innovation 
 of much later date." 
 
 Anselm (Archiepisc. Cantuar). Cur Deus Homo ? 
 
 Libri IL Foolscap Svo., cloth, 2s. Sewed, Is. 6d. 
 
 Bengelii (Dr. Joh. Alb.). Gnomon novi Testa- 
 
 menti in quo ex nativa verborum vi simplicitas, profunditas, concin- 
 nitas, salubritas sensuum coelestium indicatur. Edit. III. per tilium 
 supcrstitem E. Bengel quondam curata Quinto rccusa adjuvante 
 J. Steudel. 1862. Eoyal 8vo., cloth. 125. (or half-bound morocco 1 5s.) 
 
 "Bengel's invaluable work — a work -which manifests the profoundcst and most 
 intimate knowledge of Scripture, and which, if we examine it with care, will often 
 be found to condense more matter into a line than can be extracted from pages of 
 other writers."— Akciidka CON Hare. 
 
 The Book of Genesis in Ilebrew, with various 
 
 Readings, and Grammatical and Critical Notes, etc. By the Rev. 
 C. II. II. Wkioht, jM.A. 8vo., cloth. 5s. 
 
 iEthiopic Liturgies and Prayers, translated from 
 
 ]\ISS. in tlie Library of the Britisli ]\luseum, ami of the British and 
 Foreign Bible Society, and from the Edition printed at Rome in lo48. 
 By the Rev. J. M. Rodwell, M.A. 8v(). 3s. 6d. 
 
 Cowpcr (B. H.). Syriac Grammar. The Prin- 
 ciples of Syriac Grammar, translated and abridged from that of 
 Dr. Hoffman, with additions. 8vo., cloth. 7*. (id. 
 
List of JForks Puhlished hy Williams and Norgate. 
 
 Cowper (B. H.), Syriac Miscellanies, or Extracts 
 
 relating to the First and Second General Councils, and various other 
 Quotations, Theological, Historical, and Classical, translated from 
 ]\ISS. in the British Museum and Imperial Library of I'aris, Avith 
 Notes. 8vo., cloth. 3«. 6c?. 
 
 Analecta ^N^icaena. Fragments 
 
 relating to the Council of Nice. The Syriac Text from an ancient 
 MS. in the British Museum, with a Translation, Notes, etc. 4to. bs. 
 
 Codex Alexandrinus. Novum Testamentum 
 
 Graece, e Codice Alexandrine a C. G. Woide olim descriptum : ad 
 
 fidem ipsius Codicis denuo accuratius edidit B. H. Cowper. 8vo., 
 
 cloth. 6«. 
 
 In this edition is reproduced in modern type the exact text of the celebrated 
 Codex Alexandrinus, without any deviation from the peculiar orthograpliy of the 
 MS. beyond the development of the contractions. In all other respects it will be 
 found to be a faithful and accurate transcript ; but, at the same time, in oi-der to 
 present at one view the entire Text of the New Testament, the few passajjes which 
 are lost from the MS. have been supplied from the text of INIill, due care hein};' taken 
 to enclose such passages in brackets, in order to distinguish them from that which 
 is actually existing in the Codex at the present time. 
 
 Dictionary of the Proper Names of the Old 
 
 Testament, with Historical and Geographical Illustrations, aiul an 
 Appendix of the Hebrew and Aramaic Names in the New Testament. 
 8vo., cloth. 4s. 6^. 
 
 Moor's Hindu Pantheon. A new Edition from 
 
 the original Copper-plates. 104 plates, with descriptive letter-press 
 by the Bev. A. P. Moor, Sub- Warden of St. Augustine's College, 
 Canterbury. Royal 4to., cloth boards, gilt. 31s. 66?. 
 
 Williams (Prof. Monier). Indian Epic Poetry, 
 
 being the substance of Lectures given at Oxford ; with a full 
 Analysis of the Ramayana, and the leading Story of the Maha 
 Bharata. 8vo., cloth. 5s. 
 
 The Study of Sanskrit in Eolation to 
 
 Missionary Work in India. An inaugural Lecture delivered before 
 the University at Oxford, with Notes and Additions. 8vo. 2s. 
 
 Macnaghten (Sir W.). Principles of Hindu and 
 
 Mohammedan Law. Edited, with an Introduction, by the late 
 Dr. H. H. WiLSOx, Boden Professor of Sanskrit in the University 
 of Oxford. Sixth edition. 8vo., cloth. 6s. 
 
 Law of India. The Administration of Justice in 
 
 British India, its Past History and Present State, comprising aa 
 Account of the Laws peculiar to India. By W. H. Morley, of the 
 Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law. Royal 8vo., cloth, boards. 10s. 
 
 The Legends and Theories of the Buddhists, com- 
 pared with History and Science ; with Introductory Notices of tlic 
 Life and System of Gotama Buddha. By R. Si'ENce Hakuy, Hon. 
 M.R.A.S. Crown Svo., cloth. 7s. ^d. 
 
List of Works Puhlislied hy Williams and Norgaie. 
 
 Koran, newly translated from the Arabic ; with 
 
 Preface, Notes, and Index. The Suras arranged in chi-onological 
 order. By the Hev. J. M. Rodwell, M.A., Eector of St. Ethel- 
 burga, Bishopsgate. Crown 8vo., cloth. 10s. 6</. 
 
 Grammar of the Egyptian Language, as contained 
 
 in the Coptic, Sahidic, and Bashrauric Dialects ; together with 
 Alphabets and Numerals in the Hieroglyphic and Enchorial Charac- 
 ters. By the Rev. Hexry Tattam, D.D., F.R.S. Second edition, 
 revised and corrected. 8vo., cloth. 9s. 
 
 The Genesis of the Earth and of Man ; or, the 
 
 History of Creation and the Antiquity and Races of Mankind con- 
 sidered on Biblical and other grounds. Edited by E. S. Poole, 
 M.R.S.L., etc. Second edition, revised and enlarged. Crown 8vo., 
 cloth, ^s. 
 
 Dante. Critical, Historical, and Philosophical 
 
 Contributions to the Study of the Divina Commedia. By II. C. 
 Baklow, M.D., F.G.S. Royal Svo., with facsimiles of MSS., 
 cloth. 25s. 
 
 Dante. The Sixth Centenary Eestiyals of Dante 
 
 Allighieri in Florence and at Ravenna. Svo. 1866. 3s, 
 
 Mackay (R. W.). The Tiibingen School and its 
 
 Antecedents. A Review of the History and Present Condition of 
 Modern New Testament Criticism. By R. W. Mackay, M.A., 
 author of "The Progress of the Intellect," "A Sketch of the 
 History of Christianity," etc. 8vo., cloth. 10s. 6<f. 
 
 Eellowes (Eobert, LL.D.). The Eeligion of the 
 
 Universe, with Consolatory Views of a Future State, and suggestions 
 on the most beneficial topics of Theological Instruction. Third 
 edition, revised, with additions from the Author's MS., and a Preface 
 by the Editor. Post 8vo., cloth. 6s. 
 
 Ferguson (E.). The Teutonic Name-System applied 
 
 to the Family Names of France, England, and Germany. By Rgkert 
 Ferguson, Author of "The River Names of Eiu'ope," tfec. 8vo., 
 cloth. \^s. 
 
 Eerguson (E.). The Eiver Names of Europe. 
 
 Post 8vo., cloth. 4s. ^d. 
 
 On the Inspiration of the Scriptures, showing the 
 
 Testimony which tliey themselves bear as to their own Insi)iration. 
 By James Stark, M.D., F.R.S. E. Crown 8vo., clotli. 3s. Zd. 
 
 Carrington (E. C), E.E.S. Observations of the 
 
 Sjxits on tlie Snn, from Novombor 9, 1853, to March 21, 1861, made 
 at Redliill. Illustrated by 1()6 plates. Royal Ito., ch)tli, boards. 25s. 
 
 Garnett's Linguistic Essays. The Philological 
 
 Essays of the late Rev. Richard Garnett, of the British Museum. 
 Edited, with a Mcmoii- of the author, by his Son. Svo. 10s. 6(/. . 
 
List of JForh' Published hi/ Williams and Nor gate. 
 
 Ancient Danish Ballads, translated from the ori- 
 ginals, with Notes and Introduction by E. C. Alexander Pkior, 
 M.D. 3 vols., 8vo., cloth. 31s. M. 
 
 Latham (E. G.). Philological, Ethnographical, 
 
 and other Essays. By K,. G. Latham, M.D., F.ll.S., editor of 
 Johnson's English Dictionary, etc. 8vo., cloth, bs. 
 
 Kennedy (James). Essays, Ethnological and 
 
 Linguistic. By the late James Kennedy, Esq., formerly H. B. M. 
 Judge at the Havana. 8vo., clotli. 4s. 
 
 Homer's Iliad, translated into Blank Yerse by 
 
 the Rev. T. S. Norgate. Post Svo., cloth. 15s. 
 
 Homer's Odyssey, translated into Blank Yerse 
 
 by the Rev. T. S. Norgate. Post Svo., cloth. 12*. 
 
 Diez (F.). Eomance Dictionary. An Etymolo- 
 gical Dictionary of the Romance Languages, from the German of 
 Fr. Diez, with Additions by T. C. Donelin, B.A. Svo., cloth. 15s. 
 In this work, the whole Dictionary which, in the original, is divided into four 
 
 I^arts, has been, for greater convenience in reference, reduced to one Alphabet ; and 
 
 at the end is added a Vocabulary of all English Words connected with any of the 
 
 Romance Words treated of throughout the Work. 
 
 Introduction to the Grammar of the 
 
 Romance Languages, translatedhyC.B.CAYLEYjB. A. Svo., cloth. 4s. ^d. 
 
 Platonis Phaedo. The Phaedo of Plato. Edited, 
 
 with Introduction and Notes, hy W. D. Geddes, M.A., Professor of 
 Greek in the University of Aberdeen. Svo., cloth. Ss. 
 
 Uhland's Poems, translated from the German by 
 
 the Rev. W. W. Skeat, M.A., late Fellow of Christ's College, Cam- 
 hridge. Post Svo., cloth. 7«. 
 
 Neale (E. Yansittart, M.A.). The Analogy of 
 
 Thought and Nature investigated. Svo., cloth. 7^. M. 
 
 The Song of Songs. Translated from the Hebrew, 
 
 with Notes and Illustrations. By Satyam Jayati ; to which is 
 added an abridged Paraphrase of the Gita Govinda. (With 4 plates.) 
 Royal Svo., cloth, os. 
 
 Megha-Duta ; or, the Cloud Messenger. A Poem 
 
 by Kalidasa, translated from the Sanskrit, with a Commentary. By 
 Colonel H. A. Ouvry, C.B. Crown Svo. bs. 
 
 Megha-Duta ; on, le IN'uage Messager. Traduit 
 
 du Sanskrit, avec un comraentaire. Par le Colonel H. A. Ouvry, 
 C.B. Crown Svo. (onlij 100 copies printed) . 5s. 
 
 The University : its historically received con- 
 ception, considered with especial reference to Oxford. By Edward 
 Kirkpatrick, M.A. Crown Svo., cloth. 5s. 
 
8 List of Works Published by Williams and Norgate. 
 
 Frederick Elvers, Independent Parson. By Mrs. 
 
 Flokexce Williamson. Post 8vo., cloth. Qs. 
 "It deserves to be read and studied." — Churchman. 
 " Undoubtedly a clever and amusing book." — Athcnwum. 
 
 "This is one of the cleverest, most uncompromising, most out-spoken books wc 
 have read for a long time." — Scotsman. 
 
 " The book has the great merit of freshness and reality." — Westminster Review. 
 " The book is very well -worth reading." — Saturday Review. 
 
 Morgan (J. F.). England under the Norman 
 
 Occupation. By James F. Morgan, M.A. Crown 8vo., cloth. 4*. 
 
 The Pentateuch in the authorized Version; with 
 
 a critically Revised Translation, a collation of various readings 
 translated into English, and of various Translations, together with 
 a Critical and Exegetical Commentary. For the use of English 
 Students of the Bible. By Charles H. H. Wktght, M.A., of 
 Trinity College, Dublin, and Exeter College, Oxford ; Editor of 
 the Book of Genesis in Hebrew, etc., etc. To be published in two 
 vols, super royal 8t'o. Price to Subscribers, I2s. 6d. each. [X.B. — 
 A specimen part, containing the four first chapters of Genesis, will 
 be sent post free in return for twelve postage stamps.] 
 
 I^atural History EevieW. Edited by Dr. W. B. Carpenter, 
 F.R.S. ; Dr. R. McDonnell; Dr. E. P. Wright, F.L.S. ; 
 G. Busk, F.R.S. ; Prof. Huxley, F.R.S. ; Sir John Lubbock. Bart., 
 F.R.S. ; Prof. J. R. Greene ; P.L. Sclater, F.R.S., Sec. Z.S., F.L.S. ; 
 D. Oliver, F.R.S., F.L.S.; F. Currey, F.R.S.; and Wyville Thom- 
 son, LL.D., F.R.S.E. ; (with illustrations). Complete in 5 vols. 
 (1861-65). Price 16s. each, bound in cloth. 
 N.B. — Complete sets, of which only a few remain for sale, may be had at 
 
 the reduced price of £3. 
 
 PUKHTO OR AFGHAN LANaUAGE. 
 Eaverty (Major H. G.). A Dictionary of the 
 
 Pukhto, Pushto, or Afghan Language. Second Edition. With 
 considerable additions and corrections. 4to., cloth. 3/. 3*. 
 
 Grammar of the Pukhto or Afghan 
 
 Language. Third Edition. 4to., cloth. 21.9. 
 
 Gulshan-i-Eoh. Selections, Prose and 
 
 Poetical, in the Pukhto or Afghan Language. Second Edition. 
 4to,, cloth. 42s. 
 
 Selections from the Poetry of the 
 
 Afghans, from the 16th to the 19th century. Translated from the 
 originals with notices of the several authors. 8vo., dotli. 1 Is. 
 N.B. — The orif^inals from which these are translated are contained in the 
 •'Gulshan-i-Koh." 
 
 Thesaurus of English and Hindustani 
 
 Technical Terms used in building and other useful arts ; and 
 Scientific Manual of words and phrases in the higher branches of 
 knowledge ; containing upwards of 5000 words not generally found 
 in the English and Urdu Dictionaries. Secoud Edition. 8vo., cloth. 5s. 
 
Date Due 
 
 jf^*«-e^ 
 
 |«ft(^' 
 
 
 
 lUrt^SUii**^ 
 
 P" 
 
 
 
 
 aWI^jU**"*^ 
 
 
 
 i^a^#» 
 
 
 
 
 ,^^!3fc«i»«'«%^ 
 
 !«»■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ''^^flfcita 
 
 
 
 
 ^% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 f)