CHAPTER III.

FAITH OF SÁKYA.

1. In the infancy of the world, when Man was left to his own unaided reason to solve the mysteries of nature, and the destiny of his race, the most casual observer must have seen that nothing of this earth is lasting; that the loftiest tree, the loveliest flower, the strongest animal, the hardest rock, are all subject to decay; nay, that man himself is nought but dust, and that to dust does he return. Closer observers would have been struck with the perpetual recurrence of seasons; the ever-changing yet unchanged moon; the continued productio of plants; and, above all, with the never-failing stream of human life.

2. Such observations would naturally lead to the discrimination of the various elements-earth, water, fire, and air; to a belief in the eternity of matter, and to the doctrine of the transmigration of souls. And thus the material elements, or Nature, with her supposed inherent power of combination and reproduction, became the Deity of this world. But even the most thoughtless man must at times have felt

conscious that he possessed within himself an unseen power which controlled the actions of his body. Hence arose a belief in the existence of Spirit, which was at first made only an inherent power of Nature, but was afterwards preferred before her; and was eventually raised to the position of the Great First Cause and Creator of all things.

3. Such is the course which the human mind most probably went through both in India and in Greece. In process of time the more commanding spirits, who ruled the passions of their fellow-men by the ascendancy of genius, and by unbending firmness of will, were held to be mortal emanations or avatárs of the Supreme Being; and, after death, were exalted to the rank of demigods. Thus, in both countries, heroworship had prevailed from remote antiquity; and the tombs of the mighty had become objects of reverence. In India, the Topes or Tumuli of Krakuchanda, Kanaka, and Kasyapa, existed before the preaching of Sákya; and the ancient elemental deities of the Vedas preceded the worship of Dharma, or concrete Nature.

4. The religious systems of India are all deeply imbued with metaphysical speculations; and the close agreement between these and the philosophical systems of Greece would be an interesting subject to the classical scholar. A strict analysis and comparison of the systems of both countries would most probably tend to mutual elucidation. The Indians have the advantage in point of time; and I feel

satisfied that the Greeks borrowed much of their philosophy from the East. The most perfect system of the Ionics, as developed by Anaxagoras,* is the same as the Sánkhya school of India; and the famous doctrines of Pythagoras are intensely Buddhistical. The transmigration of souls is Egyptian as well as Indian: but the prohibition against eating animal food is altogether Buddhist. Women were admitted as members both by Sákya and by Pythagoras; and there were grades in the brotherhood of Pythagoreans, as in the Sangha, or Community of Buddhists. These coincidences between the two systems seem too strong to be accidental.

5. Pythagoras is said to have visited India; and there are some curious verbal coincidences which really seem to countenance the story. Pythagoras married Theano (Sanskrit, Dhyana, "devout contemplation"); and by her had a daughter whom he named Damo (Sanskrit, Dharmma, " virtue, or practical morality"), and who became a most learned Pythagorean. He was the first who assumed the title of pilosopoc (Sanskrit, Buddha Mitra), the lover of wisdom, or Budha. His own name is perhaps only a compound of rubas, or Buddha, and αγορεύω,

Anaxagoras held that Novs, Mind or Intellect, was not the creator of all things, but only the artist who gave form to preexistent matter. According to him, matter consisted of various particles, which were put in motion by the action of Mind; the homogeneous particles were blended together into an infinite variety of forms, and the heterogeneous were separated.

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to expound or announce; and the names of two of his followers, Damon and Pythias (or Dharmma and Buddha), have become celebrated for their disinterested friendship. All these coincidences can scarcely be accidental; and though we may not be able to trace the actual progress of Buddhism from India to Greece, yet the evidence in favour of its transmission is much too strong to be doubted.

6. The system of faith taught by Sákya Muni has been tersely and truly characterized by Mr. Hodgson as "monastic asceticism in morals, and philosophical scepticism in religion." This is especially the case with the two more ancient philosophical systems, the Swábhávika and Aiswárika, which he has made known to us from the Sanskrit books of Nepál. The former, Mr. Hodgson thinks, was that of primitive Buddhism; but as the Swábhávika was essentially a doctrine of materialism, it must have been closely allied to the Niriswara Sankhya school of Kápila. In this system* Pradhan, or Mahá-Pradhán, or supreme nature," was held to be the Mula-Prakriti, or "plastic origin" of all things, from which Budhi, or "intelligence," was produced. Now this is the very system which SÁKYA had rejected, after six years' study at Rajagriha. The supremacy of Naturet taught by the Swábhávikas is also utterly at variance with the • Colebrooke, Trans. Roy. As. Soc.

66

Hodgson, pp. 33, 77. The Swábhávikas were simple mate

rialists.

solemn address made by SÁKYA to his disciples from his death-bed under the Sál tree at Kusinagara.* "Bhikshus!" said the dying teacher, "if any points seem doubtful or incomprehensible to you regarding Buddho, Dhammo, Sangho, &c., inquire now." In this address, which was three times repeated, Buddha, or "supreme intelligence," is placed before Dharma, or "material nature," as the first person of the Triad. The system of faith taught by SÁKYA must, therefore, have been that of the Theistical Triad of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. This is placed beyond all doubt by the edict of Priyadersi, published after the meeting of the 3rd Buddhistical Synod in B. C. 247, at which the orthodox doctrines of Sakya were upheld. In this edict, the names of the orthodox Buddhist Triad are distinctly mentioned as Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. The existence of the Buddhist Triad at that particular period, is further proved by the occurrence of such names as Budha-Pálita, Dharma Rakshita, and Sangha-Mitra, among the colonnade inscriptions of No. 2 Tope at Sánchi.

7. When Sákya Muni began his religious career, he first tried the system of the Sámádhikas, who placed the attainment of everlasting bliss in the continued practice of Samádhi, or of deep and

* Turnour, in Prinsep's Journal, vol. vii. p. 1007.

+ Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, are the Sanskrit names; the others are Páli.

See Jour. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. ix. p. 619, where the three names of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, are improperly translated "Buddhist faith."