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diff --git a/16546.txt b/16546.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d585a1e --- /dev/null +++ b/16546.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14439 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hinduism And Buddhism, Volume II. (of 3) +by Charles Eliot + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Hinduism And Buddhism, Volume II. (of 3) + An Historical Sketch + +Author: Charles Eliot + +Release Date: August 19, 2005 [EBook #16546] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Sankar Viswanathan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + Volume 1 may be found at https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/2/5/15255/ + + Excerpts from the Preface to the book from Volume 1, + regarding the method of transcription used. + + "In the following pages I have occasion to transcribe words + belonging to many oriental languages in Latin characters. + Unfortunately a uniform system of transcription, applicable + to all tongues, seems not to be practical at present. It was + attempted in the Sacred Books of the East, but that system + has fallen into disuse and is liable to be misunderstood. It + therefore seems best to use for each language the method of + transcription adopted by standard works in English dealing + with each, for French and German transcriptions, whatever + their merits may be as representations of the original + sounds, are often misleading to English readers, especially + in Chinese. For Chinese I have adopted Wade's system as used + in Giles's Dictionary, for Tibetan the system of Sarat + Chandra Das, for Pali that of the Pali Text Society and for + Sanskrit that of Monier-Williams's Sanskrit Dictionary, + except that I write s instead of s. Indian languages however + offer many difficulties: it is often hard to decide whether + Sanskrit or vernacular forms are more suitable and in + dealing with Buddhist subjects whether Sanskrit or Pali + words should be used. I have found it convenient to vary the + form of proper names according as my remarks are based on + Sanskrit or on Pali literature, but this obliges me to write + the same word differently in different places, e.g. + sometimes Ajatasatru and sometimes Ajatasattu, just as in a + book dealing with Greek and Latin mythology one might employ + both Herakles and Hercules. Also many Indian names such as + Ramayana, Krishna, nirvana have become Europeanized or at + least are familiar to all Europeans interested in Indian + literature. It seems pedantic to write them with their full + and accurate complement of accents and dots and my general + practice is to give such words in their accurate spelling + (Ramayana, etc.) when they are first mentioned and also in + the notes but usually to print them in their simpler and + unaccented forms. I fear however that my practice in this + matter is not entirely consistent since different parts of + the book were written at different times." + + +LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS [From Volume 1] + +The following are the principal abbreviations used: + +Ep. Ind. Epigraphia India. + +E.R.E. Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (edited by Hastings). + +I.A. Indian Antiquary. + +J.A. Journal Asiatique. + +J.A.O.S. Journal of the American Oriental Society. + +J.R.A.S. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. + +P.T.S. Pali Text Society. + +S.B.E. Sacred Books of the East (Clarendon Press). + + + + HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM + + AN HISTORICAL SKETCH + + + + BY + + SIR CHARLES ELIOT + + + + + In three volumes + + VOLUME II + + + + + + + ROUTLEDGE & KEGAN PAUL LTD + + Broadway House, 68-74 Carter Lane, + + London, E.C.4. + + + + + + _First published_ 1921 + _Reprinted_ 1954 + _Reprinted_ 1957 + _Reprinted_ 1962 + + + + PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY + + LUND HUMPHRIES + LONDON - BRADFORD + + + + + + CONTENTS + + + BOOK IV + + THE MAHAYANA + + CHAPTER + + + XVI. MAIN FEATURES OF THE MAHAYANA + + XVII. BODHISATTVAS + + XVIII. THE BUDDHAS or MAHAYANISM + + XIX. MAHAYANIST METAPHYSICS + + XX. MAHAYANIST SCRIPTURES + + XXI. CHRONOLOGY OF THE MAHAYANA + + XXII. FROM KANISHKA TO VASUBANDHU + + XXIII. INDIAN BUDDHISM AS SEEN BY THE CHINESE PILGRIMS + + XXIV. DECADENCE OF BUDDHISM IN INDIA + + + BOOK V + + HINDUISM + + + XXV. SIVA AND VISHNU + + XXVI. FEATURES OF HINDUISM: RITUAL, CASTE, SECT, + FAITH + + XXVII. THE EVOLUTION OF HINDUISM. BHAGAVATAS AND + PASUPATAS + + XXVIII. SANKARA. SIVAISM IN SOUTHERN INDIA. KASHMIR. + LlNGAYATS + + XXIX. VISHNUISM IN SOUTH INDIA + + XXX. LATER VISHNUISM IN NORTH INDIA + + XXXI. AMALGAMATION OF HINDUISM AND ISLAM. KABIR + AND THE SIKHS + + XXXII. SAKTISM + + XXXIII. HINDU PHILOSOPHY + + + + + + + + +BOOK IV + +THE MAHAYANA + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +MAIN FEATURES OF THE MAHAYANA + + +The obscurest period in the history of Buddhism is that which follows +the reign of Asoka, but the enquirer cannot grope for long in these +dark ages without stumbling upon the word Mahayana. This is the name +given to a movement which in its various phases may be regarded as a +philosophical school, a sect and a church, and though it is not always +easy to define its relationship to other schools and sects it +certainly became a prominent aspect of Buddhism in India about the +beginning of our era besides achieving enduring triumphs in the Far +East. The word[1] signifies Great Vehicle or Carriage, that is a means +of conveyance to salvation, and is contrasted with Hinayana, the +Little Vehicle, a name bestowed on the more conservative party though +not willingly accepted by them. The simplest description of the two +Vehicles is that given by the Chinese traveller I-Ching (635-713 A.D.) +who saw them both as living realities in India. He says[2] "Those who +worship Bodhisattvas and read Mahayana Sutras are called Mahayanists, +while those who do not do this are called Hinayanists." In other +words, the Mahayanists have scriptures of their own, not included in +the Hinayanist Canon and adore superhuman beings in the stage of +existence immediately below Buddhahood and practically differing +little from Indian deities. Many characteristics could be added to +I-Ching's description but they might not prove universally true of the +Mahayana nor entirely absent from the Hinayana, for however divergent +the two Vehicles may have become when separated geographically, for +instance in Ceylon and Japan, it is clear that when they were in +contact, as in India and China, the distinction was not always sharp. +But in general the Mahayana was more popular, not in the sense of +being simpler, for parts of its teaching were exceedingly abstruse, +but in the sense of striving to invent or include doctrines agreeable +to the masses. It was less monastic than the older Buddhism, and more +emotional; warmer in charity, more personal in devotion, more ornate +in art, literature and ritual, more disposed to evolution and +development, whereas the Hinayana was conservative and rigid, secluded +in its cloisters and open to the plausible if unjust accusation of +selfishness. The two sections are sometimes described as northern and +southern Buddhism, but except as a rough description of their +distribution at the present day, this distinction is not accurate, for +the Mahayana penetrated to Java, while the Hinayana reached Central +Asia and China. But it is true that the development of the Mahayana +was due to influences prevalent in northern India and not equally +prevalent in the South. The terms Pali and Sanskrit Buddhism are +convenient and as accurate as can be expected of any nomenclature +covering so large a field. + +Though European writers usually talk of _two_ Yanas or Vehicles--the +great and the little--and though this is clearly the important +distinction for historical purposes, yet Indian and Chinese Buddhists +frequently enumerate _three_. These are the _Sravakayana_, the +vehicle of the ordinary Bhikshu who hopes to become an Arhat, the +_Pratyekabuddhayana_ for the rare beings who are able to become +Buddhas but do not preach the law to others, and in contrast to both +of these the _Mahayana_ or vehicle of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. As a +rule these three Vehicles are not regarded as hostile or even +incompatible. Thus the _Lotus sutra_,[3] maintains that there is +really but one vehicle though by a wise concession to human weakness +the Buddha lets it appear that there are three to suit divers tastes. +And the Mahayana is not a single vehicle but rather a train comprising +many carriages of different classes. It has an unfortunate but +distinct later phase known in Sanskrit as Mantrayana and Vajrayana but +generally described by Europeans as Tantrism. This phase took some of +the worst features in Hinduism, such as spells, charms, and the +worship of goddesses, and with misplaced ingenuity fitted them into +Buddhism. I shall treat of it in a subsequent chapter, for it is +chronologically late. The silence of Hsuean Chuang and I-Ching implies +that in the seventh century it was not a noticeable aspect of Indian +Buddhism. + +Although the record of the Mahayana in literature and art is clear and +even brilliant, it is not easy either to trace its rise or connect its +development with other events in India. Its annals are an interminable +list of names and doctrines, but bring before us few living +personalities and hence are dull. They are like a record of the +Christian Church's fight against Arians, Monophysites and Nestorians +with all the great figures of Byzantine history omitted or called in +question. Hence I fear that my readers (if I have any) may find these +chapters repellent, a mist of hypotheses and a catalogue of ancient +paradoxes. I can only urge that if the history of the Mahayana is +uncertain, its teaching fanciful and its scriptures tedious, yet it +has been a force of the first magnitude in the secular history and art +of China, Japan and Tibet and even to-day the most metaphysical of its +sacred books, the Diamond Cutter, has probably more readers than Kant +and Hegel. + +Since the early history of the Mahayana is a matter for argument +rather than precise statement, it will perhaps be best to begin with +some account of its doctrines and literature and proceed afterwards to +chronology. I may, however, mention that general tradition connects it +with King Kanishka and asserts that the great doctors Asvaghosha and +Nagarjuna lived in and immediately after his reign. The attitude of +Kanishka and of the Council which he summoned towards the Mahayana is +far from clear and I shall say something about this difficult subject +below. Unfortunately his date is not beyond dispute for while a +considerable consensus of opinion fixes his accession at about 78 +A.D., some scholars place it earlier and others in the second century +A.D.[4] Apart from this, it appears established that the +Sukhavati-vyuha which is definitely Mahayanist was translated into +Chinese between 147 and 186 A.D. We may assume that it was then +already well known and had been composed some time before, so that, +whatever Kanishka's date may have been, Mahayanist doctrines must have +been in existence about the time of the Christian era, and perhaps +considerably earlier. Naturally no one date like a reign or a council +can be selected to mark the beginning of a great school. Such a body +of doctrine must have existed piecemeal and unauthorized before it was +collected and recognized and some tenets are older than others. +Enlarging I-Ching's definition we may find in the Mahayana seven lines +of thought or practice. All are not found in all sects and some are +shared with the Hinayana but probably none are found fully developed +outside the Mahayana. Many of them have parallels in the contemporary +phases of Hinduism. + +1. A belief in Bodhisattvas and in the power of human beings to become +Bodhisattvas. + +2. A code of altruistic ethics which teaches that everyone must do +good in the interest of the whole world and make over to others any +merit he may acquire by his virtues. The aim of the religious life is +to become a Bodhisattva, not to become an Arhat. + +3. A doctrine that Buddhas are supernatural beings, distributed +through infinite space and time, and innumerable. In the language of +later theology a Buddha has three bodies and still later there is a +group of five Buddhas. + +4. Various systems of idealist metaphysics, which tend to regard the +Buddha essence or Nirvana much as Brahman is regarded in the Vedanta. + +5. A canon composed in Sanskrit and apparently later than the Pali +Canon. + +6. Habitual worship of images and elaboration of ritual. There is a +dangerous tendency to rely on formulae and charms. + +7. A special doctrine of salvation by faith in a Buddha, usually +Amitabha, and invocation of his name. Mahayanism can exist without +this doctrine but it is tolerated by most sects and considered +essential by some. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 1: Sanskrit, _Mahayana_; Chinese, _Ta Ch'eng_ (pronounced +_Tai Sheng_ in many southern provinces); Japanese, _Dai-jo_; Tibetan, +_Theg-pa-chen-po_; Mongolian, _Yaekae-kuelgaen_; Sanskrit, _Hinayana_; +Chinese, _Hsiao-Ch'eng_; Japanese, _Sho-jo_; Tibetan, _Theg-dman_; +Mongolian _Uetsuekaen-kuelgaen_. In Sanskrit the synonyms agrayana and +uttama-yana are also found.] + +[Footnote 2: Record of Buddhist practices. Transl. Takakusu, 1896, p. +14. Hsuean Chuang seems to have thought that acceptance of the +Yogacaryabhumi (Nanjio, 1170) was essential for a Mahayanist. See his +life, transl. by Beal, p. 39, transl. by Julien, p. 50.] + +[Footnote 3: Saddharma-Pundarika, chap. III. For brevity, I usually +cite this work by the title of The Lotus.] + +[Footnote 4: The date 58 B.C. has probably few supporters among +scholars now, especially after Marshall's discoveries.] + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +BODHISATTVAS + + +Let us now consider these doctrines and take first the worship of +Bodhisattvas. This word means one whose essence is knowledge but is +used in the technical sense of a being who is in process of obtaining +but has not yet obtained Buddhahood. The Pali Canon shows little +interest in the personality of Bodhisattvas and regards them simply as +the preliminary or larval form of a Buddha, either Sakyamuni[5] or +some of his predecessors. It was incredible that a being so superior +to ordinary humanity as a Buddha should be suddenly produced in a +human family nor could he be regarded as an incarnation in the strict +sense. But it was both logical and edifying to suppose that he was the +product of a long evolution of virtue, of good deeds and noble +resolutions extending through countless ages and culminating in a +being superior to the Devas. Such a being awaited in the Tushita +heaven the time fixed for his appearance on earth as a Buddha and his +birth was accompanied by marvels. But though the Pali Canon thus +recognizes the Bodhisattva as a type which, if rare, yet makes its +appearance at certain intervals, it leaves the matter there. It is not +suggested that saints should try to become Bodhisattvas and Buddhas, +or that Bodhisattvas can be helpers of mankind.[6] But both these +trains of thought are natural developments of the older ideas and soon +made themselves prominent. It is a characteristic doctrine of +Mahayanism that men can try and should try to become Bodhisattvas. + +In the Pali Canon we hear of Arhats, Pacceka Buddhas, and perfect +Buddhas. For all three the ultimate goal is the same, namely Nirvana, +but a Pacceka Buddha is greater than an Arhat, because he has greater +intellectual powers though he is not omniscient, and a perfect Buddha +is greater still, partly because he is omniscient and partly because +he saves others. But if we admit that the career of the Buddha is +better and nobler, and also that it is, as the Introduction to the +Jataka recounts, simply the result of an earnest resolution to school +himself and help others, kept firmly through the long chain of +existences, there is nothing illogical or presumptuous in making our +goal not the quest of personal salvation, but the attainment of +Bodhisattvaship, that is the state of those who may aspire to become +Buddhas. In fact the Arhat, engrossed in his own salvation, is excused +only by his humility and is open to the charge of selfish desire, +since the passion for Nirvana is an ambition like any other and the +quest for salvation can be best followed by devoting oneself entirely +to others. But though my object here is to render intelligible the +Mahayanist point of view including its objections to Hinayanism, I +must defend the latter from the accusation of selfishness. The +vigorous and authoritative character of Gotama led him to regard all +mankind as patients requiring treatment and to emphasize the truth +that they could cure themselves if they would try. But the Buddhism of +the Pali Canon does not ignore the duties of loving and instructing +others;[7] it merely insists on man's power to save himself if +properly instructed and bids him do it at once: "sell all that thou +hast and follow me." And the Mahayana, if less self-centred, has also +less self-reliance, and self-discipline. It is more human and +charitable, but also more easygoing: it teaches the believer to lean +on external supports which if well chosen may be a help, but if +trusted without discrimination become paralyzing abuses. And if we +look at the abuses of both systems the fossilized monk of the Hinayana +will compare favourably with the tantric adept. It was to the +corruptions of the Mahayana rather than of the Hinayana that the decay +of Buddhism in India was due. + +The career of the Bodhisattva was early divided into stages (bhumi) +each marked by the acquisition of some virtue in his triumphant +course. The stages are variously reckoned as five, seven and ten. The +Mahavastu,[8] which is the earliest work where the progress is +described, enumerates ten without distinguishing them very clearly. +Later writers commonly look at the Bodhisattva's task from the humbler +point of view of the beginner who wishes to learn the initiatory +stages. For them the Bodhisattva is primarily not a supernatural being +or even a saint but simply a religious person who wishes to perform +the duties and enjoy the privileges of the Church to the full, much +like a communicant in the language of contemporary Christianity. We +have a manual for those who would follow this path, in the +Bodhicaryavatara of Santideva, which in its humility, sweetness and +fervent piety has been rightly compared with the De Imitatione +Christi. In many respects the virtues of the Bodhisattva are those of +the Arhat. His will must be strenuous and concentrated; he must +cultivate the strictest morality, patience, energy, meditation and +knowledge. But he is also a devotee, a _bhakta_: he adores all the +Buddhas of the past, present and future as well as sundry superhuman +Bodhisattvas, and he confesses his sins, not after the fashion of the +Patimokkha, but by accusing himself before these heavenly Protectors +and vowing to sin no more. + +Santideva lived in the seventh century[9] but tells us that he follows +the scriptures and has nothing new to say. This seems to be true for, +though his book being a manual of devotion presents its subject-matter +in a dogmatic form, its main ideas are stated and even elaborated in +the Lotus. Not only are eminent figures in the Church, such as +Sariputra and Ananda, there designated as future Buddhas, but the same +dignity is predicted wholesale for five hundred and again for two +thousand monks while in Chapter X is sketched the course to be +followed by "young men or young ladies of good family" who wish to +become Bodhisattvas.[10] The chief difference is that the +Bodhicaryavatara portrays a more spiritual life, it speaks more of +devotion, less of the million shapes that compose the heavenly host: +more of love and wisdom, less of the merits of reading particular +sutras. While rendering to it and the faith that produced it all +honour, we must remember that it is typical of the Mahayana only in +the sense that the De Imitatione Christi is typical of Roman +Catholicism, for both faiths have other sides. + +Santideva's Bodhisattva, when conceiving the thought of Bodhi or +eventual supreme enlightenment to be obtained, it may be, only after +numberless births, feels first a sympathetic joy in the good actions +of all living beings. He addresses to the Buddhas a prayer which is +not a mere act of commemoration, but a request to preach the law and +to defer their entrance into Nirvana. He then makes over to others +whatever merit he may possess or acquire and offers himself and all +his possessions, moral and material, as a sacrifice for the salvation +of all beings. This on the one hand does not much exceed the limits of +_danam_ or the virtue of giving as practised by Sakyamuni in previous +births according to the Pali scriptures, but on the other it contains +in embryo the doctrine of vicarious merit and salvation through a +saviour. The older tradition admits that the future Buddha (_e.g._ in +the Vessantara birth-story) gives all that is asked from him including +life, wife and children. To consider the surrender and transfer of +merit (pattidana in Pali) as parallel is a natural though perhaps +false analogy. But the transfer of Karma is not altogether foreign to +Brahmanic thought, for it is held that a wife may share in her +husband's Karma nor is it wholly unknown to Sinhalese Buddhism.[11] +After thus deliberately rejecting all personal success and selfish +aims, the neophyte makes a vow (pranidhana) to acquire enlightenment +for the good of all beings and not to swerve from the rules of life +and faith requisite for this end. He is then a "son of Buddha," a +phrase which is merely a natural metaphor for saying that he is one of +the household of faith[12] but still paves the way to later ideas +which make the celestial Bodhisattva an emanation or spiritual son of +a celestial Buddha. + +Asanga gives[13] a more technical and scholastic description of the +ten _bhumis_ or stages which mark the Bodhisattva's progress towards +complete enlightenment and culminate in a phase bearing the remarkable +but ancient name of Dharmamegha known also to the Yoga philosophy. The +other stages are called: _mudita_ (joyful): _vimala_ (immaculate): +_prabhakari_ (light giving): _arcismati_ (radiant): _durjaya_ (hard to +gain): _abhimukhi_ (facing, because it faces both transmigration and +Nirvana): _duramgama_ (far-going): _acala_ (immovable): _sadhumati_ +(good minded). + +The incarnate Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of Tibet are a travesty of the +Mahayana which on Indian soil adhered to the sound doctrine that +saints are known by their achievements as men and cannot be selected +among infant prodigies.[14] It was the general though not universal +opinion that one who had entered on the career of a Bodhisattva could +not fall so low as to be reborn in any state of punishment, but the +spirit of humility and self-effacement which has always marked the +Buddhist ideal tended to represent his triumph as incalculably +distant. Meanwhile, although in the whirl of births he was on the +upward grade, he yet had his ups and downs and there is no evidence +that Indian or Far Eastern Buddhists arrogated to themselves special +claims and powers on the ground that they were well advanced in the +career of Buddhahood. The vow to suppress self and follow the light +not only in this life but in all future births contains an element of +faith or fantasy, but has any religion formed a nobler or even +equivalent picture of the soul's destiny or built a better staircase +from the world of men to the immeasurable spheres of the superhuman? + +One aspect of the story of Sakyamuni and his antecedent births thus +led to the idea that all may become Buddhas. An equally natural +development in another direction created celestial and superhuman +Bodhisattvas. The Hinayana held that Gotama, before his last birth, +dwelt in the Tushita heaven enjoying the power and splendour of an +Indian god and it looked forward to the advent of Maitreya. But it +admitted no other Bodhisattvas, a consequence apparently of the +doctrine that there can only be one Buddha at a time. But the +luxuriant fancy of India, which loves to multiply divinities, soon +broke through this restriction and fashioned for itself beautiful +images of benevolent beings who refuse the bliss of Nirvana that they +may alleviate the sufferings of others.[15] So far as we can judge, +the figures of these Bodhisattvas took shape just about the same time +that the personalities of Vishnu and Siva were acquiring consistency. +The impulse in both cases is the same, namely the desire to express in +a form accessible to human prayer and sympathetic to human emotion the +forces which rule the universe. But in this work of portraiture the +Buddhists laid more emphasis on moral and spiritual law than did the +Brahmans: they isolated in personification qualities not found +isolated in nature. Siva is the law of change, of death and rebirth, +with all the riot of slaughter and priapism which it entails: Vishnu +is the protector and preserver, the type of good energy warring +against evil, but the unity of the figure is smothered by mythology +and broken up into various incarnations. But Avalokita and Manjusri, +though they had not such strong roots in Indian humanity as Siva and +Vishnu, are genii of purer and brighter presence. They are the +personifications of kindness and knowledge. Though manifold in shape, +they have little to do with mythology, and are analogous to the +archangels of Christian and Jewish tradition and to the Amesha Spentas +of Zoroastrianism. With these latter they may have some historical +connection, for Persian ideas may well have influenced Buddhism about +the time of the Christian era. However difficult it may be to prove +the foreign origin of Bodhisattvas, few of them have a clear origin in +India and all of them are much better known in Central Asia and China. +But they are represented with the appearance and attributes of Indian +Devas, as is natural, since even in the Pali Canon Devas form the +Buddha's retinue. The early Buddhists considered that these spirits, +whether called Bodhisattvas or Devas, had attained their high position +in the same way as Sakyamuni himself, that is by the practice of moral +and intellectual virtues through countless existences, but +subsequently they came to be regarded as emanations or sons of +superhuman Buddhas. Thus the Karanda-vyuha relates how the original +Adi-Buddha produced Avalokita by meditation and how he in his turn +produced the universe with its gods. + +Millions of unnamed Bodhisattvas are freely mentioned and even in the +older books copious lists of names are found,[16] but two, Avalokita +and Manjusri, tower above the rest, among whom only few have a +definite personality. The tantric school counts eight of the first +rank. Maitreya (who does not stand on the same footing as the others), +Samantabhadra, Mahasthana-prapta and above all Kshitigarbha, have some +importance, especially in China and Japan. + +Avalokita[17] in many forms and in many ages has been one of the +principal deities of Asia but his origin is obscure. His main +attributes are plain. He is the personification of divine mercy and +pity but even the meaning of his name is doubtful. In its full form it +is Avalokitesvara, often rendered the Lord who looks down (from +heaven). This is an appropriate title for the God of Mercy, but the +obvious meaning of the participle _avalokita_ in Sanskrit is passive, +the Lord who is looked at. Kern[18] thinks it may mean the Lord who is +everywhere visible as a very present help in trouble, or else the Lord +of View, like the epithet Drishtiguru applied to Siva. Another form +of the name is Lokesvara or Lord of the world and this suggests that +_avalokita_ may be a synonym of _loka_, meaning the visible universe. +It has also been suggested that the name may refer to the small image +of Amitabha which is set in his diadem and thus looks down on him. But +such small images set in the head of a larger figure are not +distinctive of Avalokita: they are found in other Buddhist statues and +paintings and also outside India, for instance at Palmyra. The Tibetan +translation of the name[19] means he who sees with bright eyes. Hsuean +Chuang's rendering Kwan-tzu-tsai[20] expresses the same idea, but the +more usual Chinese translation Kuan-yin or Kuan-shih-yin, the deity +who looks upon voices or the region of voices, seems to imply a verbal +misunderstanding. For the use of Yin or voice makes us suspect that +the translator identified the last part of _Avalokitesvara_ not with +_Isvara_ lord but with _svara_ sound.[21] + +Avalokitesvara is unknown to the Pali Canon and the Milinda Panha. So +far as I can discover he is not mentioned in the Divyavadana, +Jatakamala or any work attributed to Asvaghosha. His name does not +occur in the Lalita-vistara but a list of Bodhisattvas in its +introductory chapter includes Mahakarunacandin, suggesting +Mahakaruna, the Great Compassionate, which is one of his epithets. In +the Lotus[22] he is placed second in the introductory list of +Bodhisattvas after Manjusri. But Chapter XXIV, which is probably a +later addition, is dedicated to his praises as Samantamukha, he who +looks every way or the omnipresent. In this section his character as +the all-merciful saviour is fully developed. He saves those who call +on him from shipwreck, and execution, from robbers and all violence +and distress. He saves too from moral evils, such as passion, hatred +and folly. He grants children to women who worship him. This power, +which is commonly exercised by female deities, is worth remarking as a +hint of his subsequent transformation into a goddess. For the better +achievement of his merciful deeds, he assumes all manner of forms, and +appears in the guise of a Buddha, a Bodhisattva, a Hindu deity, a +goblin, or a Brahman and in fact in any shape. This chapter was +translated into Chinese before 417 A.D. and therefore can hardly be +later than 350. He is also mentioned in the Sukhavati-vyuha. The +records of the Chinese pilgrims Fa-Hsien and Hsuean Chuang[23] indicate +that his worship prevailed in India from the fourth till the seventh +century and we are perhaps justified in dating its beginnings at least +two centuries earlier. But the absence of any mention of it in the +writings of Asvaghosha is remarkable.[24] + +Avalokita is connected with a mountain called Potala or Potalaka. The +name is borne by the palace of the Grand Lama at Lhassa and by another +Lamaistic establishment at Jehol in north China. It reappears in the +sacred island of P'u-t'o near Ningpo. In all these cases the name of +Avalokita's Indian residence has been transferred to foreign shrines. +In India there were at least two places called Potala or Potalaka--one +at the mouth of the Indus and one in the south. No certain connection +has been traced between the former and the Bodhisattva but in the +seventh century the latter was regarded as his abode. Our information +about it comes mainly from Hsuean Chuang[25] who describes it when +speaking of the Malakuta country and as near the Mo-lo-ya (Malaya) +mountain. But apparently he did not visit it and this makes it +probable that it was not a religious centre but a mountain in the +south of which Buddhists in the north wrote with little precision.[26] +There is no evidence that Avalokita was first worshipped on this +Potalaka, though he is often associated with mountains such as Kapota +in Magadha and Valavati in Kataha.[27] In fact the connection of +Potala with Avalokita remains a mystery. + +Avalokita has, like most Bodhisattvas, many names. Among the principal +are Mahakaruna, the Great Compassionate one, Lokanatha or Lokesvara, +the Lord of the world, and Padmapani, or lotus-handed. This last +refers to his appearance as portrayed in statues and miniatures. In +the older works of art his figure is human, without redundant limbs, +and represents a youth in the costume of an Indian prince with a high +jewelled chignon, or sometimes a crown. The head-dress is usually +surmounted by a small figure of Amitabha. His right hand is extended +in the position known as the gesture of charity.[28] In his left he +carries a red lotus and he often stands on a larger blossom. His +complexion is white or red. Sometimes he has four arms and in later +images a great number. He then carries besides the lotus such objects +as a book, a rosary and a jug of nectar.[29] + +The images with many eyes and arms seem an attempt to represent him as +looking after the unhappy in all quarters and stretching out his hands +in help.[30] It is doubtful if the Bodhisattvas of the Gandhara +sculptures, though approaching the type of Avalokita, represent him +rather than any other, but nearly all the Buddhist sites of India +contain representations of him which date from the early centuries of +our era[31] and others are preserved in the miniatures of +manuscripts.[32] + +He is not a mere adaptation of any one Hindu god. Some of his +attributes are also those of Brahma. Though in some late texts he is +said to have evolved the world from himself, his characteristic +function is not to create but, like Vishnu, to save and like Vishnu he +holds a lotus. But also he has the title of Isvara, which is specially +applied to Siva. Thus he does not issue from any local cult and has no +single mythological pedigree but is the idea of divine compassion +represented with such materials as the art and mythology of the day +offered. + +He is often accompanied by a female figure Tara.[33] In the tantric +period she is recognized as his spouse and her images, common in +northern India from the seventh century onwards, show that she was +adored as a female Bodhisattva. In Tibet Tara is an important deity +who assumes many forms and even before the tantric influence had +become prominent she seems to have been associated with Avalokita. In +the Dharmasangraha she is named as one of the four Devis, and she is +mentioned twice under the name of To-lo Pu-sa by Hsuean Chuang, who saw +a statue of her in Vaisali and another at Tiladhaka in Magadha. This +last stood on the right of a gigantic figure of Buddha, Avalokita +being on his left.[34] + +Hsuean Chuang distinguishes To-lo (Tara) and Kuan-tzu-tsai. The latter +under the name of Kuan-yin or Kwannon has become the most popular +goddess of China and Japan, but is apparently a form of Avalokita. The +god in his desire to help mankind assumes many shapes and, among +these, divine womanhood has by the suffrage of millions been judged +the most appropriate. But Tara was not originally the same as +Kuan-yin, though the fact that she accompanies Avalokita and shares +his attributes may have made it easier to think of him in female +form.[35] + +The circumstances in which Avalokita became a goddess are obscure. The +Indian images of him are not feminine, although his sex is hardly +noticed before the tantric period. He is not a male deity like +Krishna, but a strong, bright spirit and like the Christian archangels +above sexual distinctions. No female form of him is reported from +Tibet and this confirms the idea that none was known in India,[36] and +that the change was made in China. It was probably facilitated by the +worship of Tara and of Hariti, an ogress who was converted by the +Buddha and is frequently represented in her regenerate state caressing +a child. She is mentioned by Hsuean Chuang and by I-Ching who adds that +her image was already known in China. The Chinese also worshipped a +native goddess called T'ien-hou or T'ou-mu. Kuan-yin was also +identified with an ancient Chinese heroine called Miao-shen.[37] This +is parallel to the legend of Ti-tsang (Kshitigarbha) who, though a +male Bodhisattva, was a virtuous maiden in two of his previous +existences. Evidently Chinese religious sentiment required a Madonna +and it is not unnatural if the god of mercy, who was reputed to assume +many shapes and to give sons to the childless, came to be thought of +chiefly in a feminine form. The artists of the T'ang dynasty usually +represented Avalokita as a youth with a slight moustache and the +evidence as to early female figures does not seem to me strong,[38] +though _a priori_ I see no reason for doubting their existence. In +1102 a Chinese monk named P'u-ming published a romantic legend of +Kuan-yin's earthly life which helped to popularize her worship. In +this and many other cases the later developments of Buddhism are due +to Chinese fancy and have no connection with Indian tradition. + +Tara is a goddess of north India, Nepal and the Lamaist Church and +almost unknown in China and Japan. Her name means she who causes to +cross, that is who saves, life and its troubles being by a common +metaphor described as a sea. Tara also means a star and in Puranic +mythology is the name given to the mother of Buddha, the planet +Mercury. Whether the name was first used by Buddhists or Brahmans is +unknown, but after the seventh century there was a decided tendency to +give Tara the epithets bestowed on the Saktis of Siva and assimilate +her to those goddesses. Thus in the list of her 108 names[39] she is +described among other more amiable attributes as terrible, furious, +the slayer of evil beings, the destroyer, and Kali: also as carrying +skulls and being the mother of the Vedas. Here we have if not the +borrowing by Buddhists of a Saiva deity, at least the grafting of +Saiva conceptions on a Bodhisattva. + +The second great Bodhisattva Manjusri[40] has other similar names, +such as Manjunatha and Manjughosha, the word Manju meaning sweet or +pleasant. He is also Vagisvara, the Lord of Speech, and Kumarabhuta, +the Prince, which possibly implies that he is the Buddha's eldest son, +charged with the government under his direction. He has much the same +literary history as Avalokita, not being mentioned in the Pali Canon +nor in the earlier Sanskrit works such as the Lalita-vistara and +Divyavadana. But his name occurs in the Sukhavati-vyuha: he is the +principal interlocutor in the Lankavatara sutra and is extolled in the +Ratna-karandaka-vyuha-sutra.[41] In the greater part of the Lotus he +is the principal Bodhisattva and instructs Maitreya, because, though +his youth is eternal, he has known many Buddhas through innumerable +ages. The Lotus[42] also recounts how he visited the depths of the sea +and converted the inhabitants thereof and how the Lord taught him what +are the duties of a Bodhisattva after the Buddha has entered finally +into Nirvana. As a rule he has no consort and appears as a male +Athene, all intellect and chastity, but sometimes Lakshmi or Sarasvati +or both are described as his consorts.[43] + +His worship prevailed not only in India but in Nepal, Tibet, China, +Japan and Java. Fa-Hsien states that he was honoured in Central India, +and Hsuean Chuang that there were stupas dedicated to him at +Muttra.[44] He is also said to have been incarnate in Atisa, the +Tibetan reformer, and in Vairocana who introduced Buddhism to Khotan, +but, great as is his benevolence, he is not so much the helper of +human beings, which is Avalokita's special function, as the +personification of thought, knowledge, and meditation. It is for this +that he has in his hands the sword of knowledge and a book. A +beautiful figure from Java bearing these emblems is in the Berlin +Museum.[45] Miniatures represent him as of a yellow colour with the +hands (when they do not carry emblems) set in the position known as +teaching the law.[46] Other signs which distinguish his images are the +blue lotus and the lion on which he sits. + +An interesting fact about Manjusri is his association with China,[47] +not only in Chinese but in late Indian legends. The mountain +Wu-t'ai-shan in the province of Shan-si is sacred to him and is +covered with temples erected in his honour.[48] The name (mountain of +five terraces) is rendered in Sanskrit as Pancasirsha, or Pancasikha, +and occurs both in the Svayambhu Purana and in the text appended to +miniatures representing Manjusri. The principal temple is said to have +been erected between 471 and 500 A.D. I have not seen any statement +that the locality was sacred in pre-Buddhist times, but it was +probably regarded as the haunt of deities, one of whom--perhaps some +spirit of divination--was identified with the wise Manjusri. It is +possible that during the various inroads of Graeco-Bactrians, +Yueeh-Chih, and other Central Asian tribes into India, Manjusri was +somehow imported into the pantheon of the Mahayana from China or +Central Asia, and he has, especially in the earlier descriptions, a +certain pure and abstract quality which recalls the Amesha-Spentas of +Persia. But still his attributes are Indian, and there is little +positive evidence of a foreign origin. I-Ching is the first to tell us +that the Hindus believed he came from China.[49] Hsuean Chuang does not +mention this belief, and probably did not hear of it, for it is an +interesting detail which no one writing for a Chinese audience would +have omitted. We may therefore suppose that the idea arose in India +about 650 A.D. By that date the temples of Wu-t'ai-Shan would have had +time to become celebrated, and the visits paid to India by +distinguished Chinese Buddhists would be likely to create the +impression that China was a centre of the faith and frequented by +Bodhisattvas.[50] We hear that Vajrabodhi (about 700) and Prajna (782) +both went to China to adore Manjusri. In 824 a Tibetan envoy arrived +at the Chinese Court to ask for an image of Manjusri, and later the +Grand Lamas officially recognized that he was incarnate in the +Emperor.[51] Another legend relates that Manjusri came from +Wu-t'ai-Shan to adore a miraculous lotus[52] that appeared on the lake +which then filled Nepal. With a blow of his sword he cleft the +mountain barrier and thus drained the valley and introduced +civilization. There may be hidden in this some tradition of the +introduction of culture into Nepal but the Nepalese legends are late +and in their collected form do not go back beyond the sixteenth +century. + +After Avalokita and Manjusri the most important Bodhisattva is +Maitreya,[53] also called Ajita or unconquered, who is the only one +recognized by the Pali Canon.[54] This is because he does not stand on +the same footing as the others. They are superhuman in their origin as +well as in their career, whereas Maitreya is simply a being who like +Gotama has lived innumerable lives and ultimately made himself worthy +of Buddhahood which he awaits in heaven. There is no reason to doubt +that Gotama regarded himself as one in a series of Buddhas: the Pali +scriptures relate that he mentioned his predecessors by name, and also +spoke of unnumbered Buddhas to come.[55] Nevertheless Maitreya or +Metteyya is rarely mentioned in the Pali Canon.[56] + +He is, however, frequently alluded to in the exegetical Pali +literature, in the Anagata-vamsa and in the earlier Sanskrit works +such as the Lalita-vistara, the Divyavadana and Mahavastu. In the +Lotus he plays a prominent part, but still is subordinate to Manjusri. +Ultimately he was eclipsed by the two great Bodhisattvas but in the +early centuries of our era he received much respect. His images are +frequent in all parts of the Buddhist world: he was believed to watch +over the propagation of the Faith,[57] and to have made special +revelations to Asanga.[58] In paintings he is usually of a golden +colour: his statues, which are often gigantic, show him standing or +sitting in the European fashion and not cross-legged. He appears to be +represented in the earliest Gandharan sculptures and there was a +famous image of him in Udyana of which Fa-Hsien (399-414 A.D.) speaks +as if it were already ancient.[59] Hsuean Chuang describes it as well +as a stupa erected[60] to commemorate Sakyamuni's prediction that +Maitreya would be his successor. On attaining Buddhahood he will +become lord of a terrestrial paradise and hold three assemblies under +a dragon flower tree,[61] at which all who have been good Buddhists in +previous births will become Arhats. I-Ching speaks of meditating on +the advent of Maitreya in language like that which Christian piety +uses of the second coming of Christ and concludes a poem which is +incorporated in his work with the aspiration "Deep as the depth of a +lake be my pure and calm meditation. Let me look for the first +meeting under the Tree of the Dragon Flower when I hear the deep +rippling voice of the Buddha Maitreya."[62] But messianic ideas were +not much developed in either Buddhism or Hinduism and perhaps the +figures of both Maitreya and Kalki owe something to Persian legends +about Saoshyant the Saviour. + +The other Bodhisattvas, though lauded in special treatises, have left +little impression on Indian Buddhism and have obtained in the Far East +most of whatever importance they possess. The makers of images and +miniatures assign to each his proper shape and colour, but when we +read about them we feel that we are dealing not with the objects of +real worship or even the products of a lively imagination, but with +names and figures which have a value for picturesque but conventional +art. + +Among the best known is Samantabhadra, the all gracious,[63] who is +still a popular deity in Tibet and the patron saint of the sacred +mountain Omei in China, with which he is associated as Manjusri with +Wu-tai-shan. He is represented as green and riding on an elephant. In +Indian Buddhism he has a moderately prominent position. He is +mentioned in the Dharmasangraha and in one chapter of the Lotus he is +charged with the special duty of protecting those who follow the law. +But the Chinese pilgrims do not mention his worship. + +Mahasthamaprapta[64] is a somewhat similar figure. A chapter of the +Lotus (XIX) is dedicated to him without however giving any clear idea +of his personality and he is extolled in several descriptions of +Sukhavati or Paradise, especially in the Amitayurdhyana-sutra. +Together with Amitabha and Avalokita he forms a triad who rule this +Happy Land and are often represented by three images in Chinese +temples. + +Vajrapani is mentioned in many lists of Bodhisattvas (_e.g._ in the +Dharmasangraha) but is of somewhat doubtful position as Hsuean Chuang +calls him a deva.[65] Historically his recognition as a Bodhisattva is +interesting for he is merely Indra transformed into a Buddhist. The +mysterious personages called Vajradhara and Vajrasattva, who in later +times are even identified with the original Buddha spirit, are further +developments of Vajrapani. He owes his elevation to the fact that +_Vajra_, originally meaning simply thunderbolt, came to be used as a +mystical expression for the highest truth. + +More important than these is Kshitigarbha, Ti-tsang or Jizo[66] who in +China and Japan ranks second only to Kuan-yin. Visser has consecrated +to him an interesting monograph[67] which shows what strange changes +and chances may attend spirits and how ideal figures may alter as +century after century they travel from land to land. We know little +about the origin of Kshitigarbha. The name seems to mean Earth-womb +and he has a shadowy counterpart in Akasagarbha, a similar deity of +the air, who it seems never had a hold on human hearts. The Earth is +generally personified as a goddess[68] and Kshitigarbha has some +slight feminine traits, though on the whole decidedly masculine. The +stories of his previous births relate how he was twice a woman: in +Japan he was identified with the mountain goddess of Kamado, and he +helps women in labour, a boon generally accorded by goddesses. In the +pantheon of India he played an inconspicuous part,[69] though reckoned +one of the eight great Bodhisattvas, but met with more general esteem +in Turkestan, where he began to collect the attributes afterwards +defined in the Far East. It is there that his history and +transformations become clear. + +He is primarily a deity of the nether world, but like Amitabha and +Avalokita he made a vow to help all living creatures and specially to +deliver them from hell. The Taoists pictured hell as divided into ten +departments ruled over by as many kings, and Chinese fancy made +Ti-tsang the superintendent of these functionaries. He thus becomes +not so much a Saviour as the kindly superintendent of a prison who +preaches to the inmates and willingly procures their release. Then we +hear of six Ti-tsangs, corresponding to the six worlds of sentient +beings, the gracious spirit being supposed to multiply his personality +in order to minister to the wants of all. He is often represented as a +monk, staff in hand and with shaven head. The origin of this guise is +not clear and it perhaps refers to his previous births. But in the +eighth century a monk of Chiu Hua[70] was regarded as an incarnation +of Ti-tsang and after death his body was gilded and enshrined as an +object of worship. In later times the Bodhisattva was confused with +the incarnation, in the same way as the portly figure of Pu-tai, +commonly known as the laughing Buddha, has been substituted for +Maitreya in Chinese iconography. + +In Japan the cult of the six Jizos became very popular. They were +regarded as the deities of roads[71] and their effigies ultimately +superseded the ancient phallic gods of the crossways. In this martial +country the Bodhisattva assumed yet another character as Shogun Jizo, +a militant priest riding on horseback[72] and wearing a helmet who +became the patron saint of warriors and was even identified with the +Japanese war god, Hachiman. Until the seventeenth century Jizo was +worshipped principally by soldiers and priests, but subsequently his +cult spread among all classes and in all districts. His benevolent +activities as a guide and saviour were more and more emphasized: he +heals sickness, he lengthens life, he leads to heaven, he saves from +hell: he even suffers as a substitute in hell and is the special +protector of the souls of children amid the perils of the underworld. +Though this modern figure of Jizo is wrought with ancient materials, +it is in the main a work of Japanese sentiment. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 5: In dealing with the Mahayanists, I use the expression +Sakyamuni in preference to Gotama. It is their own title for the +teacher and it seems incongruous to use the purely human name of +Gotama in describing doctrines which represent him as superhuman.] + +[Footnote 6: But Kings Hsin-byu-shin of Burma and Sri Suryavamsa Rama +of Siam have left inscriptions recording their desire to become +Buddhas. See my chapters on Burma and Siam below. Mahayanist ideas may +easily have entered these countries from China, but even in Ceylon the +idea of becoming a Buddha or Bodhisattva is not unknown. See _Manual +of a Mystic_ (P.T.S. 1916), pp. xviii and 140.] + +[Footnote 7: _E.g._ in Itivuttakam 75, there is a description of the +man who is like a drought and gives nothing, the man who is like rain +in a certain district and the man who is Sabbabhutanukampako, +compassionate to all creatures, and like rain falling everywhere. +Similarly _Ib._ 84, and elsewhere, we have descriptions of persons +(ordinary disciples as well as Buddhas) who are born for the welfare +of gods and men bahujanahitaya, bahujanasukhaya, lokanukampaya, +atthaya, hitaya, sukhaya devamanussanam.] + +[Footnote 8: Ed. Senart, vol. I. p. 142.] + +[Footnote 9: The Bodhicaryavatara was edited by Minayeff, 1889 and +also in the _Journal of the Buddhist Text Society_ and the +_Bibliotheca Indica_. De la Vallee Poussin published parts of the text +and commentary in his _Bouddhisme_ and also a translation in 1907.] + +[Footnote 10: The career of the Bodhisattva is also discussed in +detail in the Avatamsaka sutra and in works attributed to Nagarjuna +and Sthiramati, the Lakshana-vimukta-hridaya-sastra and the +Mahayana-dharma-dhatvaviseshata-sastra. I only know of these works as +quoted by Teitaro Suzuki.] + +[Footnote 11: See Childers, _Pali Dict._ s.v. Patti, Pattianuppadanam +and Punno.] + +[Footnote 12: It occurs in the Pali Canon, _e.g._ Itivuttakam 100. +Tassa me tumhe putta orasa, mukhato jata, dhammaja.] + +[Footnote 13: See Sylvain Levi, _Mahayana-sutralankara_: introduction +and passim. For much additional information about the Bhumis see De la +Vallee Poussin's article "Bodhisattva" in _E.R.E._] + +[Footnote 14: Eminent doctors such as Nagarjuna and Asanga are often +described as Bodhisattvas just as eminent Hindu teachers, _e.g._ +Caitanya, are described as Avataras.] + +[Footnote 15: The idea that Arhats may postpone their entry into +Nirvana for the good of the world is not unknown to the Pali Canon. +According to the Maha Parin-Sutta the Buddha himself might have done +so. Legends which cannot be called definitely Mahayanist relate how +Pindola and others are to tarry until Maitreya come and how Kasyapa +in a less active role awaits him in a cave or tomb, ready to revive at +his advent. See _J.A._ 1916, II. pp. 196, 270.] + +[Footnote 16: _E.g._ Lotus, chap. I.] + +[Footnote 17: De la Vallee Poussin's article "Avalokita" in _E.R.E._ +may be consulted.] + +[Footnote 18: Lotus, _S.B.E._ XXI. p. 407.] + +[Footnote 19: sPyan-ras-gzigs rendered in Mongol by Niduebaer-uedzaekci. +The other common Mongol name Ariobalo appears to be a corruption of +Aryavalokita.] + +[Footnote 20: Meaning apparently the seeing and self-existent one. Cf. +Ta-tzu-tsai as a name of Siva.] + +[Footnote 21: A maidservant in the drama Malatimadhava is called +Avalokita. It is not clear whether it is a feminine form of the divine +name or an adjective meaning looked-at, or admirable.] + +[Footnote 22: _S.B.E._ XXI. pp. 4 and 406 ff. It was translated in +Chinese between A.D. 265 and 316 and chap. XXIV was separately +translated between A.D. 384 and 417. See Nanjio, Catalogue Nos. 136, +137, 138.] + +[Footnote 23: Hsuean Chuang (Watters, II. 215, 224) relates how an +Indian sage recited the Sui-hsin dharani before Kuan-tzu-tsai's image +for three years.] + +[Footnote 24: As will be noticed from time to time in these pages, the +sudden appearance of new deities in Indian literature often seems +strange. The fact is that until deities are generally recognized, +standard works pay no attention to them.] + +[Footnote 25: Watters, vol. II. pp. 228 ff. It is said that Potalaka +is also mentioned in the Hwa-yen-ching or Avatamsaka sutra. Tibetan +tradition connects it with the Sakya family. See Csoma de Koeroes, +Tibetan studies reprinted 1912, pp. 32-34.] + +[Footnote 26: Just as the Lankavatara sutra purports to have been +delivered at _Lankapura-samudra-malaya-sikhara_ rendered in the +Chinese translation as "in the city of Lanka on the summit of the +Malaya mountain on the border of the sea."] + +[Footnote 27: See Foucher, _Iconographie bouddhique_, 1900, pp. 100, +102.] + +[Footnote 28: Varamudra.] + +[Footnote 29: These as well as the red colour are attributes of the +Hindu deity Brahma.] + +[Footnote 30: A temple on the north side of the lake in the Imperial +City at Peking contains a gigantic image of him which has literally a +thousand heads and a thousand hands. This monstrous figure is a +warning against an attempt to represent metaphors literally.] + +[Footnote 31: Waddell on the Cult of Avalokita, _J.R.A.S._ 1894, pp. +51 ff. thinks they are not earlier than the fifth century.] + +[Footnote 32: See especially Foucher, _Iconographie Bouddhique_, +Paris, 1900.] + +[Footnote 33: See especially de Blonay, _Etudes pour servir a +l'histoire de la deesse bouddhique Tara_, Paris, 1895. Tara continued +to be worshipped as a Hindu goddess after Buddhism had disappeared and +several works were written in her honour. See Raj. Mitra, _Search for +Sk. MSS_. IV. 168, 171, X. 67.] + +[Footnote 34: About the time of Hsuean Chuang's travels Sarvajnamitra +wrote a hymn to Tara which has been preserved and published by de +Blonay, 1894.] + +[Footnote 35: Chinese Buddhists say Tara and Kuan-Yin are the same but +the difference between them is this. Tara is an Indian and Lamaist +goddess _associated_ with Avalokita and in origin analogous to the +Saktis of Tantrism. Kuan-yin is a female form of Avalokita who can +assume all shapes. The original Kuan-yin was a male deity: male +Kuan-yins are not unknown in China and are said to be the rule in +Korea. But Tara and Kuan-yin may justly be described as the same in so +far as they are attempts to embody the idea of divine pity in a +Madonna.] + +[Footnote 36: But many scholars think that the formula Om manipadme +hum, which is supposed to be addressed to Avalokita, is really an +invocation to a form of Sakti called Manipadma. A Nepalese +inscription says that "The Saktas call him Sakti" (_E.R.E._ vol. II. +p. 260 and _J.A._ IX. 192), but this may be merely a way of saying +that he is identical with the great gods of all sects.] + +[Footnote 37: Harlez, _Livre des esprits et des immortels_, p. 195, +and Dore, _Recherches sur les superstitions en Chine_, pp. 94-138.] + +[Footnote 38: See Fenollosa, _Epochs of Chinese and Japanese Art_ I. +pp. 105 and 124; Johnston, _Buddhist China_, 275 ff. Several Chinese +deities appear to be of uncertain or varying sex. Thus Chun-ti is +sometimes described as a deified Chinese General and sometimes +identified with the Indian goddess Marici. Yue-ti, generally masculine, +is sometimes feminine. See Dore, _l.c._ 212. Still more strangely the +Patriarch Asvaghosha (Ma Ming) is represented by a female figure. On +the other hand the monk Ta Sheng (c. 705 A.D.) is said to have been an +incarnation of the female Kuan Yin. Manjusri is said to be worshipped +in Nepal sometimes as a male, sometimes as a female. See Bendall and +Haraprasad, _Nepalese MSS_. p. lxvii.] + +[Footnote 39: de Blonay, _l.c._ pp. 48-57.] + +[Footnote 40: Chinese, Man-chu-shih-li, or Wen-shu; Japanese, Monju; +Tibetan, hJam-pahi-dbyans (pronounced Jam-yang). Manju is good +Sanskrit, but it must be confessed that the name has a Central-Asian +ring.] + +[Footnote 41: Translated into Chinese 270 A.D.] + +[Footnote 42: Chaps. XI. and XIII.] + +[Footnote 43: A special work Manjusrivikridita (Nanjio, 184, 185) +translated into Chinese 313 A.D. is quoted as describing Manjusri's +transformations and exploits.] + +[Footnote 44: Hsuean Chuang also relates how he assisted a philosopher +called Ch'en-na (=Dinnaga) and bade him study Mahayanist books.] + +[Footnote 45: It is reproduced in Gruenwedel's _Buddhist Art in India_. +Translated by Gibson, 1901, p. 200.] + +[Footnote 46: Dharmacakramudra.] + +[Footnote 47: For the Nepalese legends see S. Levi, _Le Nepal_, +1905-9.] + +[Footnote 48: For an account of this sacred mountain see Edkins, +_Religion in China_, chaps. XVII to XIX.] + +[Footnote 49: See I-tsing, trans. Takakusu, 1896, p. 136. For some +further remarks on the possible foreign origin of Manjusri see below, +chapter on Central Asia. The verses attributed to King Harsha (Nanjio, +1071) praise the reliquaries of China but without details.] + +[Footnote 50: Some of the Tantras, _e.g._ the Mahacinakramacara, though +they do not connect Manjusri with China, represent some of their most +surprising novelties as having been brought thence by ancient sages +like Vasishtha.] + +[Footnote 51: _J.R.A.S._ new series, XII. 522 and _J.A.S.B_. 1882, p. +41. The name Manchu perhaps contributed to this belief.] + +[Footnote 52: It is described as a Svayambhu or spontaneous +manifestation of the Adi-Buddha.] + +[Footnote 53: Sanskrit, Maitreya; Pali, Metteyya; Chinese, Mi-li; +Japanese, Miroku; Mongol, Maidari; Tibetan, Byams-pa (pronounced +Jampa). For the history of the Maitreya idea see especially Peri, +_B.E.F.E.O._ 1911, pp. 439-457.] + +[Footnote 54: But a Siamese inscription of about 1361, possibly +influenced by Chinese Mahayanism, speaks of the ten Bodhisattvas +headed by Metteyya. See _B.E.F.E.O._ 1917, No. 2, pp. 30, 31.] + +[Footnote 55: _E.g._ in the Mahaparinibbana Sutra.] + +[Footnote 56: Dig. Nik. XXVI. 25 and Buddhavamsa, XXVII. 19, and even +this last verse is said to be an addition.] + +[Footnote 57: See _e.g._ Watters, _Yuean Chwang_, I. 239.] + +[Footnote 58: See Watters and Peri in _B.E.F.E.O._ 1911, 439. A temple +of Maitreya has been found at Turfan in Central Asia with a Chinese +inscription which speaks of him as an active and benevolent deity +manifesting himself in many forms.] + +[Footnote 59: He has not fared well in Chinese iconography which +represents him as an enormously fat smiling monk. In the Liang dynasty +there was a monk called Pu-tai (Jap. Hotei) who was regarded as an +incarnation of Maitreya and became a popular subject for caricature. +It would appear that the Bodhisattva himself has become superseded by +this cheerful but undignified incarnation.] + +[Footnote 60: The stupa was apparently at Benares but Hsuean Chuang's +narrative is not clear and other versions make Rajagriha or Sravasti +the scene of the prediction.] + +[Footnote 61: Campa. This is his bodhi tree under which he will obtain +enlightenment as Sakyamuni under the _Ficus religiosa_. Each Buddha +has his own special kind of bodhi tree.] + +[Footnote 62: _Record of the Buddhist religion_, Trans. Takakusu, p. +213. See too Watters, _Yuean Chwang_, II. 57, 144, 210, 215.] + +[Footnote 63: Chinese P'u-hsien. See Johnston, _From Peking to +Mandalay_, for an interesting account of Mt. Omei.] + +[Footnote 64: Or Mahasthana. Chinese, Tai-shih-chih. He appears to be +the Arhat Maudgalyayana deified. In China and Japan there is a marked +tendency to regard all Bodhisattvas as ancient worthies who by their +vows and virtues have risen to their present high position. But these +euhemeristic explanations are common in the Far East and the real +origin of the Bodhisattvas may be quite different.] + +[Footnote 65: _E.g._ Watters, I. p. 229, II. 215.] + +[Footnote 66: Kshitigarbha is translated into Chinese as Ti-tsang and +Jizo is the Japanese pronunciation of the same two characters.] + +[Footnote 67: In _Ostasiat. Ztsft_. 1913-15. See too Johnston, +_Buddhist China_, chap. VIII.] + +[Footnote 68: The Earth goddess is known to the earliest Buddhist +legends. The Buddha called her to witness when sitting under the Bo +tree.] + +[Footnote 69: Three Sutras, analysed by Visser, treat of Kshitigarbha. +They are Nanjio, Nos. 64, 65, 67.] + +[Footnote 70: A celebrated monastery in the portion of An-hui which +lies to the south of the Yang-tse. See Johnston, _Buddhist China_, +chaps, VIII, IX and X.] + +[Footnote 71: There is some reason to think that even in Turkestan +Kshitigarbha was a god of roads.] + +[Footnote 72: In Annam too Jizo is represented on horseback.] + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE BUDDHAS OF MAHAYANISM + + +This mythology did not grow up around the Buddha without affecting the +central figure. To understand the extraordinary changes of meaning +both mythological and metaphysical which the word Buddha undergoes in +Mahayanist theology we must keep in mind not the personality of Gotama +but the idea that he is one of several successive Buddhas who for +convenience may be counted as four, seven or twenty-four but who +really form an infinite series extending without limit backwards into +the past and forwards into the future.[73] This belief in a series of +Buddhas produced a plentiful crop of imaginary personalities and also +of speculations as to their connection with one another, with the +phenomena of the world and with the human soul. + +In the Pali Canon the Buddhas antecedent to Gotama are introduced much +like ancient kings as part of the legendary history of this world. But +in the Lalita-vistara (Chap. XX) and the Lotus (Chap. VII) we hear of +Buddhas, usually described as Tathagatas, who apparently do not belong +to this world at all, but rule various points of the compass, or +regions described as Buddha-fields (Buddha-kshetra). Their names are +not the same in the different accounts and we remain dazzled by an +endless panorama of an infinity of universes with an infinity of +shining Buddhas, illuminating infinite space. + +Somewhat later five of these unearthly Buddhas were formed into a +pentad and described as Jinas[74] or Dhyani Buddhas (Buddhas of +contemplation), namely, Vairocana, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha +and Amoghasiddhi. In the fully developed form of this doctrine these +five personages are produced by contemplation from the Adi-Buddha or +original Buddha spirit and themselves produce various reflexes, +including Bodhisattvas, human Buddhas and goddesses like Tara. The +date when these beliefs first became part of the accepted Mahayana +creed cannot be fixed but probably the symmetrical arrangement of five +Buddhas is not anterior to the tantric period[75] of Buddhism. + +The most important of the five are Vairocana and Amitabha. Akshobhya +is mentioned in both the Lotus and Smaller Sukhavati-vyuha as the +chief Buddha of the eastern quarter, and a work purporting to be a +description of his paradise still extant in Chinese[76] is said to +have been translated in the time of the Eastern Han dynasty. But even +in the Far East he did not find many worshippers. More enduring has +been the glory of Vairocana who is the chief deity of the Shingon sect +in Japan and is represented by the gigantic image in the temple at +Nara. In Java he seems to have been regarded as the principal and +supreme Buddha. The name occurs in the Mahavastu as the designation of +an otherwise unknown Buddha of luminous attributes and in the Lotus we +hear of a distant Buddha-world called Vairocana-rasmi-pratimandita, +embellished by the rays of the sun.[77] Vairocana is clearly a +derivative of Virocana, a recognized title of the sun in Sanskrit, and +is rendered in Chinese by Ta-jih meaning great Sun. How this solar +deity first came to be regarded as a Buddha is not known but the +connection between a Buddha and light has always been recognized. Even +the Pali texts represent Gotama as being luminous on some occasions +and in the Mahayanist scriptures Buddhas are radiant and light-giving +beings, surrounded by halos of prodigious extent and emitting flashes +which illuminate the depths of space. The visions of innumerable +paradises in all quarters containing jewelled stupas and lighted by +refulgent Buddhas which are frequent in these works seem founded on +astronomy vaporized under the influence of the idea that there are +millions of universes all equally transitory and unsubstantial. There +is no reason, so far as I see, to regard Gotama as a mythical solar +hero, but the celestial Buddhas[78] clearly have many solar +attributes. This is natural. Solar deities are so abundant in Vedic +mythology that it is hardly possible to be a benevolent god without +having something of the character of the sun. The stream of foreign +religions which flowed into India from Bactria and Persia about the +time of the Christian era brought new aspects of sun worship such as +Mithra, Helios and Apollo and strengthened the tendency to connect +divinity and light. And this connection was peculiarly appropriate and +obvious in the case of a Buddha, for Buddhas are clearly revealers and +light-givers, conquerors of darkness and dispellers of ignorance. + +Amitabha (or the Buddha of measureless light), rising suddenly from an +obscure origin, has like Avalokita and Vishnu become one of the great +gods of Asia. He is also known as Amitayus or measureless life, and is +therefore a god of light and immortality. According to both the Lotus +and the Smaller Sukhavati-vyuha he is the lord of the western quarter +but he is unknown to the Lalita-vistara. It gives the ruler of the +west a lengthy title,[79] which suggests a land of gardens. Now +Paradise, which has biblical authority as a name for the place of +departed spirits, appears to mean in Persian a park or enclosed garden +and the Avesta speaks of four heavens, the good thought Paradise, the +good word Paradise, the good deed Paradise and the Endless Lights.[80] +This last expression bears a remarkable resemblance to the name of +Amitabha and we can understand that he should rule the west, because +it is the home to which the sun and departed spirits go. Amitabha's +Paradise is called Sukhavati or Happy Land. In the Puranas the city of +Varuna (who is suspected of having a non-Indian origin) is said to be +situated in the west and is called Sukha (Linga P. and Vayu P.) or +Mukhya (so Vishnu P. and others). The name Amitabha also occurs in the +Vishnu Purana as the name of a class of gods and it is curious that +they are in one place[81] associated with other deities called the +Mukhyas. The worship of Amitabha, so far as its history can be traced, +goes back to Saraha, the teacher of Nagarjuna. He is said to have been +a Sudra and his name seems un-Indian. This supports the theory that +this worship was foreign and imported into India.[82] + +This worship and the doctrine on which it is based are an almost +complete contradiction of Gotama's teaching, for they amount to this, +that religion consists in faith in Amitabha and prayer to him, in +return for which he will receive his followers after death in his +paradise. Yet this is not a late travesty of Buddhism but a relatively +early development which must have begun about the Christian era. The +principal works in which it is preached are the Greater +Sukhavati-vyuha or Description of the Happy Land, translated into +Chinese between 147 and 186 A.D., the lesser work of the same name +translated in 402 A.D. and the Sutra of meditation on Amitayus[83] +translated in 424. The first of these works purports to be a discourse +of Sakyamuni himself, delivered on the Vulture's Peak in answer to the +questions of Ananda. He relates how innumerable ages ago there was a +monk called Dharmakara who, with the help of the Buddha of that +period, made a vow or vows[84] to become a Buddha but on conditions. +That is to say he rejected the Buddhahood to which he might become +entitled unless his merits obtained certain advantages for others, and +having obtained Buddhahood on these conditions he can now cause them +to be fulfilled. In other words he can apportion his vast store of +accumulated merit to such persons and in such manner as he chooses. +The gist of the conditions is that he should when he obtained +Buddhahood be lord of a paradise whose inhabitants live in unbroken +happiness until they obtain Nirvana. All who have thought of this +paradise ten times are to be admitted therein, unless they have +committed grievous sin, and Amitabha will appear to them at the moment +of death so that their thoughts may not be troubled. The Buddha shows +Ananda a miraculous vision of this paradise and its joys are described +in language recalling the account of the New Jerusalem in the book of +Revelation and, though coarser pleasures are excluded, all the +delights of the eye and ear, such as jewels, gardens, flowers, rivers +and the songs of birds await the faithful. + +The smaller Sukhavati-vyuha, represented as preached by Sakyamuni at +Sravasti, is occupied almost entirely with a description of the +paradise. It marks a new departure in definitely preaching salvation +by faith only, not by works, whereas the previous treatise, though +dwelling on the efficacy of faith, also makes merit a requisite for +life in heaven. But the shorter discourse says dogmatically "Beings +are not born in that Buddha country as a reward and result of good +works performed in this present life. No, all men or women who hear +and bear in mind for one, two, three, four, five, six or seven nights +the name of Amitayus, when they come to die, Amitayus will stand +before them in the hour of death, they will depart this life with +quiet minds and after death they will be born in Paradise." + +The Amitayur-dhyana-sutra also purports to be the teaching of +Sakyamuni and has an historical introduction connecting it with Queen +Vaidehi and King Bimbisara. In theology it is more advanced than the +other treatises: it is familiar with the doctrine of Dharma-kaya +(which will be discussed below) and it represents the rulers of +paradise as a triad, Amitayus being assisted by Avalokita and +Mahasthamaprapta.[85] Admission to the paradise can be obtained in +various ways, but the method recommended is the practice of a series +of meditations which are described in detail. The system is +comprehensive, for salvation can be obtained by mere virtue with +little or no prayer but also by a single invocation of Amitayus, which +suffices to free from deadly sins. + +Strange as such doctrines appear when set beside the Pali texts, it is +clear that in their origin and even in the form which they assume in +the larger Sukhavati-vyuha they are simply an exaggeration of ordinary +Mahayanist teaching.[86] Amitabha is merely a monk who devotes himself +to the religious life, namely seeking _bodhi_ for the good of others. +He differs from every day devotees only in the degree of sanctity and +success obtained by his exertions. The operations which he performs +are nothing but examples on a stupendous scale of parinamana or the +assignment of one's own merits to others. His paradise, though in +popular esteem equivalent to the Persian or Christian heaven, is not +really so: strictly speaking it is not an ultimate ideal but a blessed +region in which Nirvana may be obtained without toil or care. + +Though this teaching had brilliant success in China and Japan, where +it still flourishes, the worship of Amitabha was never predominant in +India. In Nepal and Tibet he is one among many deities: the Chinese +pilgrims hardly mention him: his figure is not particularly frequent +in Indian iconography[87] and, except in the works composed specially +in his honour, he appears as an incidental rather than as a necessary +figure. The whole doctrine is hardly strenuous enough for Indians. To +pray to the Buddha at the end of a sinful life, enter his paradise and +obtain ultimate Nirvana in comfort is not only open to the same charge +of egoism as the Hinayana scheme of salvation but is much easier and +may lead to the abandonment of religious effort. And the Hindu, who +above all things likes to busy himself with his own salvation, does +not take kindly to these expedients. Numerous deities promise a long +spell of heaven as a reward for the mere utterance of their names,[88] +yet the believer continues to labour earnestly in ceremonies or +meditation. It would be interesting to know whether this doctrine of +salvation by the utterance of a single name or prayer originated among +Buddhists or Brahmans. In any case it is closely related to old ideas +about the magic power of Vedic verses. + +The five Jinas and other supernatural personages are often regarded as +manifestations of a single Buddha-force and at last this force is +personified as Adi-Buddha.[89] This admittedly theistic form of +Buddhism is late and is recorded from Nepal, Tibet (in the Kalacakra +system) and Java, a distribution which implies that it was exported +from Bengal.[90] But another form in which the Buddha-force is +impersonal and analogous to the Parabrahma of the Vedanta is much +older. Yet when this philosophic idea is expressed in popular language +it comes very near to Theism. As Kern has pointed out, Buddha is not +called Deva or Isvara in the Lotus simply because he is above such +beings. He declares that he has existed and will exist for +incalculable ages and has preached and will preach in innumerable +millions of worlds. His birth here and his nirvana are illusory, +kindly devices which may help weak disciples but do not mark the real +beginning and end of his activity. This implies a view of Buddha's +personality which is more precisely defined in the doctrine known as +Trikaya or the three bodies[91] and expounded in the +Mahayana-sutralankara, the Awakening of Faith, the Suvarna-prabhasa +sutra[92] and many other works. It may be stated dogmatically as +follows, but it assumes somewhat divergent forms according as it is +treated theologically or metaphysically. + +A Buddha has three bodies or forms of existence. The first is the +Dharma-kaya, which is the essence of all Buddhas. It is true knowledge +or Bodhi. It may also be described as Nirvana and also as the one +permanent reality underlying all phenomena and all individuals. The +second is the Sambhoga-kaya, or body of enjoyment, that is to say the +radiant and superhuman form in which Buddhas appear in their paradises +or when otherwise manifesting themselves in celestial splendour. The +third is the Nirmana-kaya, or the body of transformation, that is to +say the human form worn by Sakyamuni or any other Buddha and regarded +as a transformation of his true nature and almost a distortion, +because it is so partial and inadequate an expression of it. Later +theology regards Amitabha, Amitayus and Sakyamuni as a series +corresponding to the three bodies. Amitabha does not really express +the whole Dharma-kaya, which is incapable of personification, but when +he is accurately distinguished from Amitayus (and frequently they are +regarded as synonyms) he is made the more remote and ethereal of the +two. Amitayus with his rich ornaments and his flask containing the +water of eternal life is the ideal of a splendidly beneficent saviour +and represents the Sambhoga-kaya.[93] Sakyamuni is the same beneficent +being shrunk into human form. But this is only one aspect, and not the +most important, of the doctrine of the three bodies. We can easily +understand the Sambhoga-kaya and Nirmana-kaya: they correspond to a +deity such as Vishnu and his incarnation Krishna, and they are +puzzling in Buddhism simply because we think naturally of the older +view (not entirely discarded by the Mahayana) which makes the human +Buddha the crown and apex of a series of lives that find in him their +fulfilment. But it is less easy to understand the Dharma-kaya. + +The word should perhaps be translated as body of the law and the +thought originally underlying it may have been that the essential +nature of a Buddha, that which makes him a Buddha, is the law which he +preaches. As we might say, the teacher lives in his teaching: while it +survives, he is active and not dead. + +The change from metaphor to theology is illustrated by Hsuean Chuang +when he states[94] (no doubt quoting from his edition of the Pitakas) +that Gotama when dying said to those around him "Say not that the +Tathagata is undergoing final extinction: his spiritual presence +abides for ever unchangeable." This apparently corresponds to the +passage in the Pali Canon,[95] which runs "It may be that in some of +you the thought may arise, the word of the Master is ended: we have no +more a teacher. But it is not thus that you should regard it. The +truths and the rules which I have set forth, let them, after I am +gone, be the Teacher to you." But in Buddhist writings, including the +oldest Pali texts, Dharma or Dhamma has another important meaning. It +signifies phenomenon or mental state (the two being identical for an +idealistic philosophy) and comprises both the external and the +internal world. Now the Dharma-kaya is emphatically not a phenomenon +but it may be regarded as the substratum or totality of phenomena or +as that which gives phenomena whatever reality they possess and the +double use of the word dharma rendered such divagations of meaning +easier.[96] Hindus have a tendency to identify being and knowledge. +According to the Vedanta philosophy he who knows Brahman, knows that +he himself is Brahman and therefore he actually is Brahman. In the +same way the true body of the Buddha is prajna or knowledge.[97] By +this is meant a knowledge which transcends the distinction between +subject and object and which sees that neither animate beings nor +inanimate things have individuality or separate existence. Thus the +Dharma-kaya being an intelligence which sees the illusory quality of +the world and also how the illusion originates[98] may be regarded as +the origin and ground of all phenomena. As such it is also called +Tathagatagarbha and Dharma-dhatu, the matrix or store-house of all +phenomena. On the other hand, inasmuch as it is beyond them and +implies their unreality, it may also be regarded as the annihilation +of all phenomena, in other words as Nirvana. In fact the Dharma-kaya +(or Bhuta-tathata) is sometimes[99] defined in words similar to those +which the Pali Canon makes the Buddha use when asked if the Perfect +Saint exists after death--"it is neither that which is existence nor +that which is non-existence, nor that which is at once existence and +non-existence nor that which is neither existence nor non-existence." +In more theological language it may be said that according to the +general opinion of the Mahayanists a Buddha attains to Nirvana by the +very act of becoming a Buddha and is therefore beyond everything which +we call existence. Yet the compassion which he feels for mankind and +the good Karma which he has accumulated cause a human image of him +(Nirmana-kaya) to appear among men for their instruction and a +superhuman image, perceptible yet not material, to appear in Paradise. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 73: In Mahaparinib. Sut. I. 16 the Buddha is made to speak +of all the other Buddhas who have been in the long ages of the past +and will be in the long ages of the future.] + +[Footnote 74: Though Dhyani Buddha is the title most frequently used +in European works it would appear that Jina is more usual in Sanskrit +works, and in fact Dhyani Buddha is hardly known outside Nepalese +literature. Ratnasambhava and Amoghasiddhi are rarely mentioned apart +from the others. According to Getty (_Gods of Northern Buddhism_, pp. +26, 27) a group of six, including the Adi-Buddha himself under the +name of Vajrasattva, is sometimes worshipped.] + +[Footnote 75: About the same period Siva and Vishnu were worshipped +in five forms. See below, Book V. chap. III. sec. 3 _ad fin._] + +[Footnote 76: Nanjio, Cat. No. 28.] + +[Footnote 77: Virocana also occurs in the Chandogya Up. VIII. 7 and 8 +as the name of an Asura who misunderstood the teaching of Prajapati. +Verocana is the name of an Asura in Sam. Nik. I. xi. 1. 8.] + +[Footnote 78: The names of many of these Buddhas, perhaps the +majority, contain some word expressive of light such as Aditya, prabha +or tejas.] + +[Footnote 79: Chap. XX. Pushpavalivanarajikusumitabhijna.] + +[Footnote 80: _E.g._ Yashts. XXII. and XXIV. _S.B.E._ vol. XXIII. pp. +317 and 344. The title Pure Land (Chinese Ch'ing-t'u, Japanese Jo-do) +has also a Persian ring about it. See further in the chapter on +Central Asia.] + +[Footnote 81: Vishnu P., Book III. chap. II.] + +[Footnote 82: See below: Section on Central Asia, and Gruenwedel, +_Mythologie_, 31, 36 and notes: Taranatha (Shiefner), p. 93 and +notes.] + +[Footnote 83: Amitayur-dhyana-sutra. All three works are translated in +_S.B.E._ vol. XLIX.] + +[Footnote 84: Pranidhana. Not only Amitabha but all Bodhisattvas +(especially Avalokita and Kshitigarbha) are supposed to have made such +vows. This idea is very common in China and Japan but goes back to +Indian sources. See _e.g._ Lotus, XXIV. verse 3.] + +[Footnote 85: These Bodhisattvas are also mentioned but without much +emphasis in the Greater Sukhavati-vyuha.] + +[Footnote 86: Even in Hinayanist works such as the Nidanakatha +Sumedha's resolution to become a Buddha, formed as he lies on the +ground before Dipankara, has a resemblance to Amida's vow. He resolves +to attain the truth, to enable mankind to cross the sea of the world +and only then to attain Nirvana.] + +[Footnote 87: See Foucher, _Iconographie Bouddhique dans l'Inde._] + +[Footnote 88: The Bhagavad-gita states quite clearly the doctrine of +the deathbed prayer (VIII. ad init.). "He who leaves this body and +departs remembering me in his last moments comes to my essence. +Whatever form (of deity) he remembers when he finally leaves this +body, to that he goes having been used to ponder on it."] + +[Footnote 89: See art. Adi-Buddha in _E.R.E._ Asanga in the +Sutralankara (IX. 77) condemns the doctrine of Adi-Buddha, showing +that the term was known then, even if it had not the precise dogmatic +sense which it acquired later. His argument is that no one can become +a Buddha without an equipment (Sambhara) of merit and knowledge. Such +an equipment can only be obtained from a previous Buddha and therefore +the series of Buddhas must extend infinitely backwards.] + +[Footnote 90: For the prevalence of the doctrine in mediaeval Bengal +see B.K. Sarkar, _Folklore Element in Hindu Culture_, which is however +sparing of precise references. The Dharma or Niranjana of the Sunya +Purana seems to be equivalent to Adi-Buddha. + +Sometimes the Adi-Buddha is identified with Vajrasattva or +Samantabhadra, although these beings are otherwise classified as +Bodhisattvas. This appears analogous to the procedure common in +Hinduism by which a devotee declares that his special deity is all the +gods and the supreme spirit.] + +[Footnote 91: It would appear that some of the Tantras treat of five +bodies, adding to the three here given others such as the Anandakaya, +Vajrakaya and Svabhavakaya. For this doctrine see especially De la +Vallee Poussin, _J.R.A.S._ 1906, pp. 943-997 and _Museon_, 1913, pp. +257 ff. Jigs-med nam-mka, the historian of Tibetan Buddhism, describes +four. See Huth, _Ges. d. Bud. in d. Mongolei_, vol. II. pp. 83-89. +Hinduism also assigns to living beings three bodies, the +Karana-sarira, lingas. and sthulas.] + +[Footnote 92: Translated into Chinese by Dharmaraksha between 397 and +439 A.D.] + +[Footnote 93: The prototype of the Sambhoga-kaya is found in the Pali +Canon, for the Buddha says (Mahaparinib. Sut. III. 22) that when he +appears among the different classes of gods his form and voice are +similar to theirs.] + +[Footnote 94: Watters, vol. II. p. 38. "Spiritual essence" is Fa-shen +in Chinese, _i.e._ Dharma-kaya. Another passage is quoted to the +effect that "henceforth the observances of all my disciples constitute +the Tathagata's Fa-shen, eternal and imperishable."] + +[Footnote 95: Mahaparinib. Sut. VI. i.] + +[Footnote 96: Something similar might happen in English if think and +thing were pronounced in the same way and a thing were believed to be +that which we can think.] + +[Footnote 97: See Ashtasahasrika Prajna-paramita, chap. IV, near +beginning.] + +[Footnote 98: It is in this last point that no inferior intelligence +can follow the thought of a Buddha.] + +[Footnote 99: _The Awakening of Faith_, Teitaro Suzuki, p. 59.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MAHAYANIST METAPHYSICS + + +Thus the theory of the three bodies, especially of the Dharma-kaya, is +bound up with a theory of ontology. Metaphysics became a passion among +the travellers of the Great Vehicle as psychology had been in earlier +times. They may indeed be reproached with being bad Buddhists since +they insisted on speculating on those questions which Gotama had +declared to be unprofitable and incapable of an answer in human +language. He refused to pronounce on the whence, the whither and the +nature of things, but bade his disciples walk in the eightfold path +and analyse the human mind, because such analysis conduces to +spiritual progress. India was the last country in the world where such +restrictions were likely to be observed. Much Mahayanist literature is +not religious at all but simply metaphysics treated in an +authoritative and ecclesiastical manner. The nature and origin of the +world are discussed as freely as in the Vedanta and with similar +results: the old ethics and psychology receive scant attention. Yet +the difference is less than might be supposed. Anyone who reads these +treatises and notices the number of apparently eternal beings and the +talk about the universal mind is likely to think the old doctrine that +nothing has an atman or soul, has been forgotten. But this impression +is not correct; the doctrine of _Nairatmyam_ is asserted so +uncompromisingly that from one point of view it may be said that even +Buddhas do not exist. The meaning of this doctrine is that no being or +object contains an unchangeable permanent self, which lives unaltered +in the same or in different bodies. On the contrary individual +existences consist of nothing but a collection of skandhas or a +_santana_, a succession or series of mental phenomena. In the Pali +books this doctrine is applied chiefly to the soul and psychological +enquiries. The Mahayana applied it to the external world and proved by +ingenious arguments that nothing at all exists. Similarly the doctrine +of Karma is maintained, though it is seriously modified by the +admission that merit can be transferred from one personality to +another. The Mahayana continued to teach that an act once performed +affects a particular series of mental states until its effect is +exhausted, or in popular language that an individual enjoys or suffers +through a series of births the consequences of previous acts. Even the +instance of Amitabha's paradise, though it strains the doctrine of +Karma to the utmost, does not repudiate it. For the believer performs +an act--to wit, the invocation of Amitabha--to which has been attached +the wonderful result that the performer is reborn in a blessed state. +This is not essentially different from the idea found in the Pali +Canon that attentions paid to a Buddha may be rewarded by a happy +rebirth in heaven.[100] + +Mahayanist metaphysics, like all other departments of this theology, +are beset by the difficulty that the authorities who treat of them are +not always in accord and do not pretend to be in accord. The idea that +variety is permissible in belief and conduct is deeply rooted in later +Buddhism: there are many vehicles, some better than others no doubt +and some very ramshackle, but all are capable of conveying their +passengers to salvation. Nominally the Mahayana was divided into only +two schools of philosophy: practically every important treatise +propounds a system with features of its own. The two schools are the +Yogacaras and Madhyamikas.[101] Both are idealists and deny the +reality of the external world, but whereas the Yogacaras (also called +Vijnanavadins) admit that Vijnana or consciousness and the series of +states of which it consists are real, the Madhyamikas refuse the title +of reality to both the subjective and the objective world and hence +gained a reputation of being complete nihilists. Probably the +Madhyamikas are the older school. + +Both schools attach importance to the distinction between relative and +absolute knowledge. Relative knowledge is true for human beings living +in the world: that is to say it is not more false than the world of +appearance in which they live. The Hinayanist doctrines are true in +this sense. Absolute knowledge rises above the world of appearance and +is altogether true but difficult to express in words. The Yogacara +makes three divisions, dividing the inferior knowledge into two. It +distinguishes first illusory knowledge (_parikalpita_) such as +mistaking a piece of rope for a snake or belief in the existence of +individual souls. Secondly knowledge which depends on the relations of +things (_paratantra_) and which though not absolutely wrong is +necessarily limited, such as belief in the real existence of ropes and +snakes. And thirdly absolute knowledge (_parinishpanna_), which +understands all things as the manifestation of an underlying +principle. The Madhyamikas more simply divide knowledge into +_samvriti-satya_ and _paramartha-satya_, that is the truth of +every-day life and transcendental truth. The world and ordinary +religion with its doctrines and injunctions about good works are real +and true as _samvriti_ but in absolute truth (_paramartham_) we +attain Nirvana and then the world with its human Buddhas and its gods +exists no more. The word _sunyam_ or _sunyata_, that is _void_, is +often used as the equivalent of _paramartham_. Void must be understood +as meaning not an abyss of nothingness but that which is found to be +devoid of all the attributes which we try to ascribe to it. The world +of ordinary experience is not void, for a great number of statements +can be made about it, but absolute truth is void, because nothing +whatever can be predicated of it. Yet even this colourless designation +is not perfectly accurate,[102] because neither being nor not-being +can be predicated of absolute truth. It is for this reason, namely +that they admit neither being nor not-being but something between the +two, that the followers of Nagarjuna are known as the Madhyamikas or +school of the middle doctrine, though the European reader is tempted +to say that their theories are extreme to the point of being a +_reductio ad absurdum_ of the whole system. Yet though much of their +logic seems late and useless sophistry, its affinity to early Buddhism +cannot be denied. The fourfold proposition that the answer to certain +questions cannot be any of the statements "is," "is not," "both is and +is not," "neither is nor is not," is part of the earliest known +stratum of Buddhism. The Buddha himself is represented as saying[103] +that most people hold either to a belief in being or to a belief in +not being. But neither belief is possible for one who considers the +question with full knowledge. "That things have being is one extreme: +that things have no being is the other extreme. These extremes have +been avoided by the Tathagata and it is a middle doctrine that he +teaches," namely, dependent origination as explained in the chain of +twelve links. The Madhyamika theory that objects have no absolute and +independent existence but appear to exist in virtue of their relations +is a restatement of this ancient dictum. + +The Mahayanist doctors find an ethical meaning in their negations. If +things possessed _svabhava_, real, absolute, self-determined +existence, then the four truths and especially the cessation of +suffering and attainment of sanctity would be impossible. For if +things were due not to causation but to their own self-determining +nature (and the Hindus always seem to understand real existence in +this sense) cessation of evil and attainment of the good would be +alike impossible: the four Noble Truths imply a world which is in a +state of constant becoming, that is a world which is not really +existent. + +But for all that the doctrine of _sunyata_ as stated in the Madhyamika +aphorisms ascribed to Nagarjuna leaves an impression of audacious and +ingenious sophistry. After laying down that every object in the world +exists only in relation to every other object and has no +self-existence, the treatise proceeds to prove that rest and motion +are alike impossible. We speak about the path along which we are +passing but there is really no such thing, for if we divide the path +accurately, it always proves separable into the part which has been +passed over and the part which will be passed over. There is no part +which is being passed over. This of course amounts to a denial of the +existence of present time. Time consists of past and future separated +by an indivisible and immeasurable instant. The minimum of time which +has any meaning for us implies a change, and two elements, a former +and a subsequent. The present minute or the present hour are +fallacious expressions.[104] + +Therefore no one ever _is passing_ along a path. Again you cannot +logically say that the passer is passing, for the sentence is +redundant: the verb adds nothing to the noun and _vice versa_: but on +the other hand you clearly cannot say that the non-passer is passing. +Again if you say that the passer and the passing are identical, you +overlook the distinction between the agent and the act and both become +unreal. But you cannot maintain that the passer is different from the +passing, for a passer as distinct from passing and passing as +distinct from a passer have no meaning. "But how can two entities +exist at all, if they exist neither as identical with one another nor +as different from one another?" + +The above, though much abridged, gives an idea of the logic of these +sutras. They proceed to show that all manner of things, such as the +five skandhas, the elements, contact, attachment, fire and fuel, +origination, continuation and extinction have no real existence. +Similar reasoning is then applied to religious topics: the world of +transmigration as well as bondage and liberation are declared +non-existent. In reality no soul is in bondage and none is +released.[105] Similarly Karma, the Buddha himself, the four truths, +Nirvana and the twelve links in the chain of causation are all unreal. +This is not a declaration of scepticism. It means that the Buddha as a +human or celestial being and Nirvana as a state attainable in this +world are conceivable only in connection with this world and +therefore, like the world, unreal. No religious idea can enter into +the unreal (that is the practical) life of the world unless it is +itself unreal. This sounds a topsy turvy argument but it is really the +same as the Advaita doctrine. The Vedanta is on the one hand a scheme +of salvation for liberating souls which transmigrate unceasingly in a +world ruled by a personal God. But when true knowledge is attained, +the soul sees that it is identical with the Highest Brahman and that +souls which are in bondage and God who rules the world are illusions +like the world itself. But the Advaita has at least a verbal +superiority over the Madhyamika philosophy, for in its terminology +Brahman is the real and the existent contrasted with the world of +illusion. The result of giving to what the Advaita calls the real and +existent the name of sunyata or void is disconcerting. To say that +everything without distinction is non-existent is much the same as +saying that everything is existent. It only means that a wrong sense +is habitually given to the word exist, as if it meant to be +self-contained and without relation to other objects. Unless we can +make a verbal contrast and assert that there is something which does +exist, it seems futile to insist on the unreality of the world. Yet +this mode of thought is not confined to text-books on logic. It +invades the scriptures, and appears (for instance) in the Diamond +Cutter[106] which is still one of the most venerated books of devotion +in China and Japan. In this work the Buddha explains that a +Bodhisattva must resolve to deliver all living beings and yet must +understand that after he has thus delivered innumerable beings, no one +has been delivered. And why? Because no one is to be called a +Bodhisattva for whom there exists the idea of a being, or person. +Similarly a saint does not think that he is a saint, for if he did so +think, he would believe in a self, and a person. There occur +continually in this work phrases cast in the following form: "what was +preached as a store of merit, that was preached as no store of +merit[107] by the Tathagata and therefore it is called a store of +merit. If there existed a store of merit, the Tathagata would not have +preached a store of merit." That is to say, if I understand this dark +language rightly, accumulated merit is part of the world of illusion +which we live in and by speaking of it as he did the Buddha implied +that it, like everything else in the world, is really non-existent. +Did it belong to the sphere of absolute truth, he would not have +spoken of it as if it were one of the things commonly but erroneously +supposed to exist. Finally we are told of the highest knowledge "Even +the smallest thing is not known or perceived there; therefore it is +called the highest perfect knowledge." That is to say perfect +knowledge transcends all distinctions; it recognises the illusory +nature of all individuality and the truth of sameness, the +never-changing one behind the ever-changing many. In this sense it is +said to perceive nothing and know nothing. + +One might expect that a philosophy thus prone to use the language of +extreme nihilism would slip into a destructive, or at least negative +system. But Mahayanism was pulled equally strongly in the opposite +direction by the popular and mythological elements which it contained +and was on the whole inclined to theism and even polytheism quite as +much as to atheism and acosmism. A modern Japanese writer[108] says +that Dharma-kaya "may be considered to be equivalent to the Christian +conception of the Godhead." This is excessive as a historical +statement of the view current in India during the early centuries of +our era, but it does seem true that Dharma-kaya was made the +equivalent of the Hindu conception of Param Brahma and also that it is +very nearly equivalent to the Chinese Tao.[109] + +The work called _Awakening of Faith_[110] and ascribed to Asvaghosha +is not extant in Sanskrit but was translated into Chinese in 553 A.D. +Its doctrine is practically that of the Yogacara school and this makes +the ascription doubtful, but it is a most important treatise. It is +regarded as authoritative in China and Japan at the present day and it +illustrates the triple tendency of the Mahayana towards metaphysics, +mythology, and devotional piety. It declares that faith has four +aspects. Three of these are the three Jewels, or Buddha, the Law and +the Church, and cover between them the whole field of religion and +morality as generally understood. The exposition is tinged with a fine +unselfish emotion and tells the believer that though he should strive +not for his own emancipation but for the salvation of others yet he +himself receives unselfish and supernatural assistance. He is +remembered and guarded by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in all quarters of +the Universe who are eternally trying to liberate mankind by various +expedients (upaya). By expedient is meant a modified presentment of +the truth, which is easier of comprehension and, if not the goal, at +least on the road to it, such as the Paradise of Amitabha.[111] + +But the remaining aspect of faith, which is the one that the author +puts first in his enumeration, and treats at great length, is "to +believe in the fundamental truth, that is to think joyfully of +suchness." By suchness (in Sanskrit _bhuta-tathata_, in Chinese _Chen +ju_) is meant absolute truth as contrasted with the relative truth of +ordinary experience.[112] The word is not illuminating nor likely to +excite religious emotion and the most that can be said for it is that +it is less dreary than the void of Nagarjuna. Another and more +positive synonym is _dharma-dhatu_, the all-embracing totality of +things. It is only through our ignorance and subjectivity that things +appear distinct and individuate. Could we transcend this +subjectivity, isolated objects would cease to exist. Things in their +fundamental nature cannot be named or explained: they are beyond the +range of language and perception: they have no signs of distinction +but possess absolute sameness (samata). From this totality of things +nothing can be excluded and to it nothing can be added. Yet it is also +sunyata, negation or the void, because it cannot be said to possess +any of the attributes of the world we live in: neither existence nor +non-existence, nor unity nor plurality can be predicted of it. +According to the celebrated formula of Nagarjuna known as the eight +Nos there is in it "neither production (_utpada_) nor destruction +(_uccheda_) nor annihilation (_nirodha_) nor persistence (_sasvata_) +nor unity (_ekartha_) nor plurality (_nanartha_) nor coming in +(_agamana_) nor going out (_nirgama_)." But when we perceive that both +subject and object are unreal we also see that suchness is the one +reality and from that point of view it may be regarded as the +Dharma-kaya of all Buddhas. It is also called Tathagatagarbha, the +womb or store-house of the Buddha, from which all individual +existences are evolved under the law of causation, but this aspect of +it is already affected by ignorance, for in Bhuta-tathata as known in +the light of the highest truth there is neither causation nor +production. The Yogacara employs the word _sunyata_ (void), though not +so much as its sister school, but it makes special use of the term +_alaya-vijnana_, the receptacle or store of consciousness. This in so +far as it is superindividual is an aspect of suchness, but when it +affirms and particularises itself it becomes _citta_, that is the +human mind, or to be more accurate the substratum of the human mind +from which is developed _manas_, or the principle of will, +self-consciousness and self-affirmation. Similarly the Vedanta +philosophy, though it has no term corresponding to _alaya-vijnana_, is +familiar with the idea that Brahman is in one aspect immeasurable and +all-embracing but in another is infinitesimal and dwells in the human +heart: or that Brahman after creating the world entered into it. Again +another aspect of suchness is enlightenment (_bodhi_), that is +absolute knowledge free from the limitations of subject and object. +This "is the universal Dharma-kaya of the Tathagatas" and on account +of this all Tathagatas are spoken of as abiding in enlightenment _a +priori_. This enlightenment may be negative (as _sunyata_) in the +sense that it transcends all relations but it may also be affirmative +and then "it transforms and unfolds itself, whenever conditions are +favourable, in the form of a Tathagata or some other form in order +that all beings may be induced to bring their store of merit to +maturity."[113] + +It will be seen from the above that the absolute truth of the +Mahayanists varies from a severely metaphysical conception, the +indescribable thing in itself, to something very like an all-pervading +benevolent essence which from time to time takes shape in a Buddha. +And here we see how easy is the transition from the old Buddhism to a +form of pantheism. For if we admit that the Buddha is a superhuman +intelligence appearing from time to time according to a certain law, +we add little to this statement by saying that the essence or spirit +of the cosmos manifests itself from time to time as a Buddha. Only, +such words as essence or spirit are not really correct. The world of +individuals is the same as the highest truth, the same as the +Dharma-kaya, the same as Nirvana. It is only through ignorance that it +appears to be different and particularized. Ignorance, the essence of +which consists in believing in the distinction between subject and +object, is also called defilement and the highest truth passes through +various stages of defilement ending with that where under the +influence of egoism and passion the external world of particulars is +believed to be everything. But the various stages may influence one +another[114] so that under a higher influence the mind which is +involved in subjectivity begins to long for Nirvana. Yet Nirvana is +not something different from or beyond the world of experience; it +does not really involve annihilation of the skandhas. Just as in the +Advaita he who has the true knowledge sees that he himself and +everything else is Brahman, so for the Mahayanist all things are seen +_to be_ Nirvana, _to be_ the Dharma-kaya. It is sometimes[115] said +that there are four kinds of Nirvana (_a_) absolute Nirvana, which is +a synonym of the Dharma-kaya and in that sense universally present in +all beings, (_b_) upadhisesha-nirvana, the state of enlightenment +which can be attained during life, while the body with its limitations +still remains, (_c_) anupadhisesha-nirvana, a higher degree of the +same state attained after death when the hindrances of the body are +removed, (_d_) Nirvana without abode or apratishthita-nirvana. Those +who attain to this understand that there is no real antithesis between +Samsara and Nirvana:[116] they do not seek for rest or emancipation +but devote themselves to beneficent activity and to leading their +fellows to salvation. Although these statements that Nirvana and +Samsara are the same are not at all in the manner of the older +Buddhism, yet this ideal of disinterested activity combined with +Nirvana is not inconsistent with the portrait of Gotama preserved in +the Pali Canon. + +The Mahayanist Buddhism of the Far East makes free use of such phrases +as the Buddha in the heart, the Buddha mind and the Buddha nature. +These seem to represent such Sanskrit terms as Buddhatva and +Bodhicitta which can receive either an ethical or a metaphysical +emphasis. The former line of thought is well shown in Santideva[117] +who treats Bodhicitta as the initial impulse and motive power of the +religious life, combining intellectual illumination and unselfish +devotion to the good of others. Thus regarded it is a guiding and +stimulating principle somewhat analogous to the Holy Spirit in +Christianity. But the Bodhicitta is also the essential quality of a +Buddha (and the Holy Spirit too is a member of the Trinity) and in so +far as a man has the Bodhicitta he is one with all Buddhas. + +This conception is perhaps secondary in Buddhism but it is also as old +as the Upanishads and only another form of the doctrine that the +spirit in every man (antaryamin) is identical with the Supreme Spirit. +It is developed in many works still popular in the Far East[118] and +was the fundamental thesis of Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen +school. But the practical character of the Chinese and Japanese has +led them to attach more importance to the moral and intellectual side +of this doctrine than to the metaphysical and pantheistic side. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 100: _E.g._ in Mahaparinib. Sut. IV. 57, the Buddha says +"There has been laid up by Cunda the smith (who had given him his last +meal) a karma, redounding to length of life, to good fortune, to good +fame, _to the inheritance of heaven_, and of sovereign power."] + +[Footnote 101: Strictly speaking Madhyamaka is the name of the school +Madhyamika of its adherents. Both forms are used, _e.g._ +Madhyamakakarikas and Madhyamikasutra.] + +[Footnote 102: Nagarjuna says Sunyam iti na vaktavyam asunyam iti va +bhavet Ubhayam nobhayam ceti prajnaptyartham tu kathyate, "It cannot +be called void or not void or both or neither but in order to somehow +indicate it, it is called Sunyata."] + +[Footnote 103: Sam. Nik. XXII. 90. 16.] + +[Footnote 104: Gotama, the founder of the Nyaya philosophy, also +admitted the force of the arguments against the existence of present +time but regarded them as a _reductio ad absurdum_. Shadworth Hodgson +in his _Philosophy of Reflection_, vol. I. p. 253 also treats of the +question.] + +[Footnote 105: The Sankhya philosophy makes a similar statement, +though for different reasons.] + +[Footnote 106: Vajracchedika. See _S.B.E._ vol. XLIX. It was +translated into Chinese by Kumarajiva (384-417 A.D.).] + +[Footnote 107: Or in other repetitions of the same formula, beings, +ideas, good things, signs, etc., etc.] + +[Footnote 108: Soyen Shaku, _Sermons of a Buddhist Abbot_, p. 47.] + +[Footnote 109: See for a simple and persuasive statement of these +abstruse doctrines a charming little book called _Wu-Wei_ by H. +Borel.] + +[Footnote 110: Translated from the Chinese by Teitaro Suzuki, 1900. +The translation must be used with care, as its frequent use of the +word _soul_ may lead to misunderstanding.] + +[Footnote 111: Asanga's work _Mahayana-sutralankara_ (edited and +translated by S. Levi) which covers much of the same ground is extant +in Sanskrit as well as in Chinese and Tibetan translations. It is a +lucid and authoritative treatise but does not appear to have ever been +popular, or to be read now in the Far East. For Yogacara see also +_Museon_, 1904, p. 370.] + +[Footnote 112: The discussion of _tathata_ in Kathavatthu, XIX. 5 +seems to record an early phase of these speculations.] + +[Footnote 113: _Awakening of Faith_, Teitaro Suzuki, pp. 62 and 70.] + +[Footnote 114: The process is generally called Vasana or perfuming.] + +[Footnote 115: Vijnanamatra Sastra. Chinese version quoted by Teitaro +Suzuki, _Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism_, p. 343. Apparently both +upadhi and upadhi are used in Buddhist Sanskrit. Upadi is the Pali +form.] + +[Footnote 116: So the Madhyamika Sastra (XXV. 19) states that there is +no difference between Samsara and Nirvana. Cf. Rabindranath Tagore, +_Sadhana_, pp. 160-164.] + +[Footnote 117: _E.g._ Bodhicaryavatara, chap. I, called praise of the +Bodhicitta.] + +[Footnote 118: _E.g._ the Pu-ti-hsin-li-hsiang-lun (Nanjio, 1304), +translated from Nagarjuna, and the Ta-Ch'eng-fa-chieh-wu-cha-pieh-lun, +translated from Sthiramati (Nanjio, 1258).] + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +MAHAYANIST SCRIPTURES + + +In a previous chapter I have discussed the Pali Canon and I shall +subsequently have something to say about the Chinese and Tibetan +Canons, which are libraries of religious and edifying works rather +than sacred books similar to the Vedas or the Bible. My present object +is to speak of the Sanskrit literature, chiefly sutras, which appeared +contemporaneously with the rise of Mahayanism in India. + +The Mahayanist scriptures are the largest body of sacred writings +extant in the world, but it is not easy either to define the limits of +the Canon or to say when it was put together. According to a common +tradition Kanishka played for the Church of the Great Vehicle much the +same part as Asoka for the Theravadins and summoned a Council which +wrote commentaries on the Tripitaka. This may be reasonably held to +include a recension of the text commented on but we do not know what +that text was, and the brief and perplexing accounts of the Council +which we possess indicate not that it gave its imprimatur to +Mahayanist sutras but that it was specially concerned with the +Abhidharma works of the Sarvastivadin school. + +In any case no Canon formed in the time of Kanishka can have been +equivalent to the collections of writings accepted to-day in China and +Tibet, for they contain works later than any date which can be +assigned to his reign, as do also the nine sacred books revered in +Nepal. It was agreed among Indian Buddhists that the scriptures were +divided among the three Pitakas or baskets, but we may surmise that +there was no unanimity as to the precise contents of each basket. In +India the need for unanimity in such matters is not felt. The Brahmans +always recognized that the most holy and most jealously preserved +scriptures could exist in various recensions and the Mahabharata shows +how generations of respectful and uncritical hearers may allow +adventitious matter of all sorts to be incorporated in a work. +Something of the same kind happened with the Pitakas. We know that the +Pali recension which we possess was not the only one, for fragments of +a Sanskrit version have been discovered. + +There was probably a large floating literature of sutras, often +presenting several recensions of the same document worked up in +different ways. Just as additions were made to the list of Upanishads +up to the middle ages, although the character of the later works was +different from that of the earlier, so new sutras, modern in date and +in tone, were received in the capacious basket. And just as the +Puranas were accepted as sacred books without undermining the +authority of the Vedas, so new Buddhist scriptures superseded without +condemning the old ones. Various Mahayanist schools had their own +versions of the Vinaya which apparently contain the same rules as the +Pali text but also much additional narrative, and Asanga quotes from +works corresponding to the Pali Nikayas, though his doctrine belongs +to another age.[119] The Abhidharma section of the Pali Canon seems +however to have been peculiar to the Theravada school. The +Sarvastivadin Pitaka of the same name was entirely different and, +judging from the Chinese Canon, the Mahayanists gave the title to +philosophic works by such authors as Asanga and Vasubandhu, some of +which were described as revelations from Maitreya. + +Specially characteristic of Mahayanist Buddhism are the Vaipulya[120] +sutras, that is sutras of great extension or development. These works, +of which the Lotus is an example, follow the same scheme as the older +sutras but are of wider scope and on a much larger scale, for they +often consist of twenty or more chapters. They usually attempt to give +a general exposition of the whole Dharma, or at least of some aspect +of it which is extolled as sufficient for the right conduct of life. +The chief speaker is usually the Buddha, who is introduced as teaching +on the Vulture Peak, or some other well-known locality, and surrounded +by a great assemblage many of whom are superhuman beings. The occasion +of the discourse is commonly signalized by his sending forth rays of +light which illuminate the universe until the scene includes other +worlds. As early as the Anguttara Nikaya[121] we find references to +the danger of a taste for ornate and poetic sutras and these +compositions seem to be the outcome of that taste. The literary ideas +and methods which produced them are illustrated by the Sutralankara of +Asvaghosha, a collection of edifying tales, many of which use the +materials supplied by the Pali Nikayas and Vinaya but present them in +a more effective and artistic form. It was thought a pious task to +amplify and embellish the simple narratives handed down by tradition. + +The Mahayanist scriptures are composed in Sanskrit not in Pali, but it +is only rarely--for instance in the works of Asvaghosha--that Buddhist +Sanskrit conforms to the rules of the classical language. Usually the +words deviate from this standard both in form and meaning and often +suggest that the text as we have it is a Sanskritized version of an +older work in some popular dialect, brought into partial conformity +with literary usage. In the poetical portions, this process of +sanskritization encountered greater difficulties than in prose, +because metre and prosody often refused to admit the changes required +by grammar, so that this poetical dialect cannot be called either +Sanskrit, Pali or Magadhi but remains a mixture of learned and popular +speech. But Sanskrit did not become a sacred language for the +Mahayanists like Latin for Roman Catholics. It is rather Pali which +has assumed this position among the Hinayanists, for Burmese and +Sinhalese translations of the Pitakas acquired no authority. But in +the north the principle[122] that every man might read the Buddha's +word in his own vernacular was usually respected: and the populations +of Central Asia, the Chinese, the Tibetans, and the Mongols translated +the scriptures into their own languages without attaching any +superstitious importance to the original words, unless they were +Dharanis or spells. + +About the time of the Christian era or perhaps rather earlier, greater +use began to be made of writing for religious purposes. The old +practice of reciting the scriptures was not discontinued but no +objection was made to preserving and reading them in written copies. +According to tradition, the Pali scriptures were committed to writing +in Ceylon during the reign of Vattagamani, that is according to the +most recent chronology about 20 B.C., and Kanishka caused to be +engraved on copper plates the commentaries composed by the council +which he summoned. In Asvaghosha[123] we find the story of a Brahman +who casually taking up a book to pass the time lights on a copy of the +Sutra of the Twelve Causes and is converted. But though the Buddhists +remained on the whole true to the old view that the important thing +was to understand and disseminate the substance of the Master's +teaching and not merely to preserve the text as if it were a sacred +formula, still we see growing up in Mahayanist works ideas about the +sanctity and efficacy of scripture which are foreign to the Pali +Canon. Many sutras (for instance the Diamond Cutter) extol themselves +as all-sufficient for salvation: the Prajna-paramita commences with a +salutation addressed not as usual to the Buddha but to the work +itself, as if it were a deity, and Hodgson states that the Buddhists +of Nepal worship their nine sacred books. Nor was the idea excluded +that certain words, especially formulae or spells called Dharani, have +in themselves a mysterious efficacy and potency.[124] Some of these +are cited and recommended in the Lotus.[125] In so far as the +repetition of sacred words or spells is regarded as an integral part +of the religious life, the doctrine has no warrant in the earlier +teaching. It obviously becomes more and more prominent in later works. +But the idea itself is old, for it is clearly the same that produced a +belief in the Brahmanic mantras, particularly the mantras of the +Atharva Veda, and early Buddhism did not reject mantras in their +proper place. Thus[126] the deities present themselves to the Buddha +and offer to teach him a formula which will protect his disciples from +the attacks of evil spirits. Hsuean Chuang even states that the council +which sat at Rajagriha after the Buddha's death compiled five +Pitakas, one of which consisted of Dharanis,[127] and it may be that +the collection of such texts was begun as early as the collection of +discourses and rules. But for many centuries there is no evidence that +they were in any way confounded with the Dharma. + +The Mahayanist scriptures are so voluminous that not even the clergy +were expected to master any considerable part of them.[128] Indeed +they make no claim to be a connected whole. The theory was rather that +there were many vehicles plying on the road to salvation and many +guide books. No traveller thought of taking the whole library but only +a few volumes which suited him. Most of the Chinese and Japanese sects +avowedly base themselves upon three sutras, selected according to the +taste of each school from the hundreds quoted in catalogues. Thus the +T'ien-t'ai sect has for its scriptures the Lotus, the Nirvana-sutra +and the Prajna-paramita, while the Shin-shu sect admits only the three +Amidist sutras. + +The following are the names of some of the principal Mahayanist +scriptures. Comparatively few of them have been published in Europe +and some exist only in Chinese or Japanese translations. + +1. Prajna-paramita or transcendental knowledge[129] is a generic name +given to a whole literature consisting of treatises on the doctrine of +sunyata, which vary greatly in length. They are classed as sutras, +being described as discourses delivered by the Buddha on the Vulture +Peak. At least ten are known, besides excerpts which are sometimes +described as substantive works. The great collection translated into +Chinese by Hsuean Chuang is said to consist of 200,000 verses and to +comprise sixteen different sutras.[130] The earliest translation of +one of these treatises into Chinese (Nanjio, 5) was made about 170 +A.D. and everything indicates that portions of the Prajna-paramita are +among the earliest Mahayanist works and date from about the first +century of our era. Prajna not only means knowledge of the absolute +truth, that is to say of sunyata or the void, but is regarded as an +ontological principle synonymous with Bodhi and Dharma-kaya. Thus +Buddhas not only possess this knowledge in the ordinary sense but they +_are_ the knowledge manifest in human form, and Prajna is often +personified as a goddess. All these works lay great stress on the +doctrine of sunyata, and the non-existence of the world of experience. +The longest recension is said to contain a polemic against the +Hinayana. + +The Diamond Cutter is one of the best known of these transcendental +treatises and the two short works called Heart of the Prajna-paramita, +which are widely read in Japan, appear to be brief abstracts of the +essence of this teaching. + +2. The Saddharma-Pundarika, or Lotus of the Good Law,[131] is one of +the best known Mahayanist sutras and is highly esteemed in China and +Japan. It purports to be a discourse delivered by Sakyamuni on the +Vulture Peak to an assemblage of Bodhisattvas. The Lotus clearly +affirms the multiplicity of vehicles, or various ways of teaching the +law, and also the eternity of the Buddha, but it does not emphasize, +although it mentions, the doctrine of sunyata. The work consists of +two parts of which the second (chaps. XXI-XXVI) is a later addition. +This second part contains spells and many mythological narratives, +including one of an ancient Bodhisattva who burnt himself alive in +honour of a former Buddha. Portions of the Lotus were translated into +Chinese under the Western Tsin Dynasty 265-316 A.D. and it is quoted +in the Maha-prajna-paramita-sastra ascribed to Nagarjuna.[132] The +first part is probably not later than the first century A.D. The Lotus +is unfortunately accessible to English readers only in a most unpoetic +translation by the late Professor Kern, but it is a great religious +poem which starting from humanity regards religion as cosmic and +universal, rather than something mainly concerned with our earth. The +discourses of Sakyamuni are accompanied in it by stupendous miracles +culminating in a grand cosmic phantasmagoria in which is evoked the +stupa containing the body of a departed Buddha, that is a shrine +containing the eternal truth. + +3. The Lalita-vistara[133] is a life of Sakyamuni up to the +commencement of his mission. Though the setting of the story is +miraculous and Buddhas and Bodhisattvas innumerable are freely spoken +of, yet the work does not enunciate the characteristic Mahayanist +doctrines so definitely as the other treatises here enumerated. It is +said to have originally belonged to the school of the Sarvastivadins +and to have been subsequently accepted by the Mahayanists, and though +it is not an epic but a collection of ballads and legends, yet it +often reads as if it were a preliminary study for Asvaghosha's +Buddhacarita. It contains Sanskrit versions of old legends, which are +almost verbal renderings of the Pali text, but also new material and +seems to be conscious of relating novelties which may arouse +scepticism for it interrupts the narrative to anathematize those who +do not believe in the miracles of the Nativity and to extol the merits +of faith (_sraddha_ not _bhakti_). It is probably coeval with the +earlier Gandharan art but there are no facts to fix its date.[134] + +4. The Lankavatara[135] gives an account of the revelation of the good +Law by Sakyamuni when visiting Lanka. It is presumably subsequent to +the period when Ceylon had become a centre of Buddhism, but the story +is pure fancy and unconnected with history or with older legends. It +relates how the Buddha alighted on Mt. Malaya in Lanka. Ravana came to +pay his respects and asked for definitions of virtue and vice which +were given. The Bodhisattva Mahamati (apparently Manjusri) proceeded +to propound a series of more abstruse questions which are answered at +considerable length. The Lankavatara represents a mature phase of +speculation and not only criticizes the Sankhya, Pasupata and other +Hindu schools, but is conscious of the growing resemblance of +Mahayanism to Brahmanic philosophy and tries to explain it. It +contains a prophecy about Nagarjuna and another which mentions the +Guptas, and it appears to allude to the domination of the Huns. This +allusion would make its date as late as the sixth century but a +translation into Chinese which is said to correspond with the Sanskrit +text was made in 513. If so the barbarians referred to cannot be the +Huns. An earlier translation made in 443 does not agree with our +Sanskrit text and perhaps the work existed in several recensions. + +5. The Suvarna-prabhasa or Glitter of Gold[136] is a Vaipulya sutra +in many ways resembling the Lotus. It insists on the supernatural +character of the Buddha. He was never really born nor entered into +Nirvana but is the Dharma-kaya. The scene is laid at Rajagriha and +many Brahmanic deities are among the interlocutors. It was translated +into Chinese about 420 A.D. and fragments of a translation into Uigur +have been discovered in Turkestan.[137] The contents comprise +philosophy, legends and spells. + +6. Ganda-vyuha[138] or the Structure of the World, which is compared +to a bubble. The name is not found in the catalogue of the Chinese +Tripitaka but the work is said to be the same as the Avatamsaka sutra +which is popular in the Far East under the name of Hua-yen in China or +Ke-gon in Japan. The identity of the two books could not have been +guessed from the extracts and analyses which have been published but +is guaranteed by high authorities.[139] It is possible however that +the Ganda-vyuha is only a portion of the larger work called +Avatamsaka. So far as can be judged from the extracts, this text +preaches in a fully developed form, the doctrines of Sunyata, +Dharma-kaya, the omnipresence of the Buddha and the redemption of the +world by the exertions of Bodhisattvas. Yet it seems to be early, for +a portion of it was translated into Chinese about 170 A.D. (Nanjio, +102) and about 405 Kumarajiva translated a commentary on it ascribed +to Nagarjuna (Nanjio, 1180). + +7. Tathagata-guhyaka. This work is known by the analysis of +Rajendralala Mitra from which it appears to be a Tantra of the worst +class and probably late. Its proper title is said to be +Sriguhyasamaja. Watanabe states that the work catalogued by Nanjio +under No. 1027 and translated into Chinese about 1000 A.D. is an +expurgated version of it. The Sikshasamuccaya cites the +Tathagata-guhya-sutra several times. The relations of these works to +one another are not quite clear. + +8. Samadhiraja[140] is a Vyakarana or narrative describing different +forms of meditation of which the Samadhiraja is the greatest and best. +The scene is laid on the Vulture's Peak and the principal +interlocutors are Sakyamuni and Candraprabha, a rich man of +Rajagriha. It appears to be the same as the Candrapradipa-sutra and +is a complete and copious treatise, which not only expounds the topic +from which it takes its name but incidentally enumerates the chief +principles of Mahayanism. Watanabe[141] states that it is the +Yueeh-teng-san-mei-ching (Nanjio, 191) translated about 450 and again +in 557 A.D. + +9. Dasabhumisvara.[142] An account of the ten stages in the career of +a Bodhisattva before he can attain to Buddhahood. The scene is laid in +the paradise of Indra where Sakyamuni was temporarily sojourning and +the principal interlocutor is a Bodhisattva named Vajragarbha. It is +said to be the same as the Dasabhumika-sutra first translated into +Chinese about 300 A.D. (Nanjio, 105 and 110) but this work appears to +be merely a portion of the Ganda-vyuha or Avatamsaka mentioned +above. + +These nine works are all extant in Sanskrit and are known in Nepal as +the nine Dharmas, the word Dharma being an abbreviation for +_Dharmaparyaya_, revolution or exposition of the law, a term +frequently used in the works themselves to describe a comprehensive +discourse delivered by the Buddha. They are all quoted in the +Sikshasamuccaya, supposed to have been written about 650 A.D. No +similar collection of nine seems to be known in Tibet or the Far East +and the origin of the selection is obscure. As however the list does +not include the Svayambhu Purana, the principal indigenous scripture +of Nepal, it may go back to an Indian source and represent an old +tradition. + +Besides the nine Dharmas, numerous other sutras exist in Sanskrit, +Chinese, Tibetan and the languages of Central Asia. Few have been +edited or translated and even when something is known of their +character detailed information as to their contents is usually +wanting. Among the better known are the following. + +10. One of the sutras most read in China and admired because its style +has a literary quality unusual in Buddhist works is commonly known as +the Leng-yen-ching. The full title is Shou-leng-yen-san-mei-ching +which is the Chinese transliteration of Surangama Samadhi.[143] This +sutra is quoted by name in the Sikshasamuccaya and fragments of the +Sanskrit text have been found in Turkestan.[144] The Surangama-Samadhi +Sutra has been conjectured to be the same as the Samadhiraja, but the +accounts of Rajendralala Mitra and Beal do not support this theory. +Beal's translation leaves the impression that it resembles a Pali +sutta. The scene is laid in the Jetavana with few miraculous +accessories. The Buddha discusses with Ananda the location of the soul +and after confuting his theories expounds the doctrine of the +Dharma-kaya. The fragments found in Turkestan recommend a particular +form of meditation. + +11. Taranatha informs us that among the many Mahayanist works which +appeared in the reign of Kanishka's son was the Ratnakuta-dharma-paryaya +in 1000 sections and the Ratnakuta is cited not only by the +Sikshasamuccaya but by Asanga.[145] The Tibetan and Chinese +canons contain sections with this name comprising forty-eight +or forty-nine items among which are the three important treatises +about Amitabha's paradise and many dialogues called Paripriccha, that +is, questions put by some personage, human or superhuman, and +furnished with appropriate replies.[146] The Chinese Ratnakuta is +said to have been compiled by Bodhiruchi (693-713 A.D.) but of course +he is responsible only for the selection not for the composition of +the works included. Section 14 of this Ratnakuta is said to be +identical with chapters 11 and 12 of the Mulasarvastivadin +Vinaya.[147] + +12. The Guna-karanda-vyuha and Karanda-vyuha are said to be two +recensions of the same work, the first in verse the second in prose. +Both are devoted to the praise of Avalokita who is represented as the +presiding deity of the universe. He has refused to enter Buddhahood +himself until all living creatures attain to true knowledge and is +specially occupied in procuring the release of those who suffer in +hell. The Guna-karanda-vyuha contains a remarkable account of the +origin of the world which is said to be absent from the prose version. +The primeval Buddha spirit, Adi-Buddha or Svayambhu, produces +Avalokita by meditation, and Avalokita produces the material world and +the gods of Hinduism from his body, Siva from his forehead, Narayana +from his heart and so on. As such doctrines are not known to have +appeared in Indian Buddhism before the tenth century it seems probable +that the versified edition is late. But a work with the title +Ratna-karandaka-vyuha-sutra was translated into Chinese in 270 and +the Karanda-vyuha is said to have been the first work translated +into Tibetan.[148] + +13. The Karunaa-pundarika[149] or Lotus of Compassion is mainly +occupied with the description of an imaginary continent called +Padmadhatu, its Buddha and its many splendours. It exists in Sanskrit +and was translated into Chinese about 400 A.D. (Nanjio, No. 142). + +14. The Mahavairocanabhisambhodhi called in Chinese Ta-jih-ching or +Great Sun sutra should perhaps be mentioned as it is the principal +scripture of the Chen-yen (Japanese Shingon) school. It is a late work +of unknown origin. It was translated into Chinese in 724 A.D. but the +Sanskrit text has not been found. + +There are a great number of other sutras which are important for the +history of literature, although little attention is paid to them by +Buddhists at the present day. Such are the Mahayanist version of the +Mahaparinirvana recounting the death and burial of the Buddha and the +Mahasannipata-sutra, which apparently includes the Suryagarbha and +Candragarbha sutras. All these works were translated into Chinese +about 420 A.D. and must therefore be of respectable antiquity. + +Besides the sutras, there are many compositions styled Avadanas or +pious legends.[150] These, though recognized by Mahayanists, do not as +a rule contain expositions of the Sunyata and Dharma-kaya and are not +sharply distinguished from the more imaginative of the Hinayanist +scriptures.[151] But they introduce a multiplicity of Buddhas and +Bodhisattvas and represent Sakyamuni as a superhuman worker of +miracles. + +They correspond in many respects to the Pali Vinaya but teach right +conduct not so much by precept as by edifying stories and, like most +Mahayanist works they lay less stress upon monastic discipline than on +unselfish virtue exercised throughout successive existences. There are +a dozen or more collections of Avadanas of which the most important +are the Mahavastu and the Divyavadana. The former[152] is an +encyclopaedic work which contains _inter alia_ a life of Sakyamuni. It +describes itself as belonging to the Lokottaravadins, a section of the +Aryamaha-sanghikas. The Lokottaravadins were an ancient sect, +precursors of the Mahayana rather than a branch of it, and much of the +Mahavastu is parallel to the Pali Canon and may have been composed a +century or two before our era. But other parts seem to belong to the +Gandharan period and the mention of Chinese and Hunnish writing points +to a much later date.[153] If it was originally a Vinaya treatise, it +has been distended out of all recognition by the addition of legends +and anecdotes but it still retains a certain amount of matter found +also in the Pali and Tibetan Vinayas. There were probably several +recensions in which successive additions were made to the original +nucleus. One interpolation is the lengthy and important section called +Dasabhumika, describing the career of a Bodhisattva. It is the only +part of the Mahavastu which can be called definitely Mahayanist. The +rest of the work marks a transitional stage in doctrine, just as its +language is neither Prakrit or Sanskrit but some ancient vernacular +brought into partial conformity with Sanskrit grammar. No Chinese +translation is known. + +The Divyavadana[154] is a collection of legends, part of which is +known as the Asokavadana and gives an edifying life of that pious +monarch. This portion was translated into Chinese A.D. 317-420 and the +work probably dates from the third century of our era. It is loosely +constructed: considerable portions of it seem to be identical with the +Vinaya of the Sarvastivadins and others with passages in the works of +Asvaghosha. + +The Avadanas lie on the borderland between scripture and pious +literature which uses human argument and refers to scripture for its +authority. Of this literature the Mahayanist church has a goodly +collection and the works ascribed to such doctors as Asvaghosha, +Nagarjuna, Asanga and Vasubandhu hold a high place in general esteem. +The Chinese Canon places many of them in the Pitakas (especially in +the Abhidharma Pitaka) and not among the works of miscellaneous +writers. + +The Mahayanist scriptures are still a living force. In Nepal the nine +Dharmas receive superstitious homage rather than intelligent study, +but in Tibet and the Far East the Prajna-paramita, the Lotus and the +sutras about Amitabha are in daily use for public worship and private +reading. I have heard the first-named work as well as the +Leng-yen-ching expounded, that is, read aloud with an extempore +paraphrase, to lay congregations in China, and the section of it +called the Diamond Cutter is the book which is most commonly in the +hands of religious Tibetans. The Lotus is the special scripture of the +Nichiren sect in Japan but is universally respected. The twenty-fourth +chapter which contains the praises of Avalokita is often printed +separately. The Amitabha sutras take the place of the New Testament +for the Jodo and Shin sects and copies of them may also be found in +almost every monastery throughout China and Annam. The Suvarna-prabhasa +is said to be specially popular among the Mongols. I know Chinese +Buddhists who read the Hua-yen (Avatamsaka) every day. Modern Japanese +writers quote frequently from the Lankavatara and Kasyapa-parivarta +but I have not met with any instance of these works being in popular +use. + +I have mentioned already the obscurity surrounding the history of the +Mahayanist Canon in India and it may seem to throw doubt on the +authenticity of these scriptures. Unauthentic they certainly are in +the sense that European criticism is not likely to accept as +historical the discourses which they attribute to the Buddha and +others, but there is no reason to doubt that they are treatises +composed in India early in our era and representing the doctrines then +prevalent. The religious public of India has never felt any difficulty +in accepting works of merit--and often only very moderate merit--as +revelations, whether called Upanishads, Puranas, Sutras or what not. +Only rarely have such works received any formal approbation, such as +recognition by a council. Indeed it is rather in Ceylon, Burma, Tibet +and China than in India itself that authoritative lists of scriptures +have been compiled. The natural instinct of the Hindus was not to +close the Canon but to leave it open for any additions which might be +vouchsafed. + +Two sketches of an elastic Mahayanist Canon of this kind are +preserved, one in the Sikshasamuccaya[155] attributed to Santideva, +who probably flourished in the seventh century, and the other in a +little work called the Duration of the Law, reporting a discourse by +an otherwise unknown Nandimitra, said to have lived in Ceylon 800 +years after the Buddha's death.[156] The former is a compendium of +doctrine illustrated by quotations from what the author regarded as +scripture. He cites about a hundred Mahayanist sutras, refers to the +Vinaya and Divyavadana but not apparently to the Abhidharma. He +mentions no Tantras[157] and not many Dharanis. + +The second work was translated by Hsuean Chuang and was therefore +probably written before 600 A.D.[158] Otherwise there is no external +evidence for fixing its date. It represents Nandimitra as explaining +on his deathbed the steps taken by the Buddha to protect the True Law +and in what works that Law is to be found. Like the Chinese Tripitaka +it recognizes both Mahayanist and Hinayanist works, but evidently +prefers the former and styles them collectively Bodhisattva-Pitaka. +It enumerates about fifty sutras by name, beginning with the +Prajna-paramita, the Lotus and other well-known texts. Then comes a +list of works with titles ending in Samadhi, followed by others called +Paripriccha[159] or questions. A new category seems to be formed by +the Buddhavatamsaka-sutra with which the sutras about Amitabha's +Paradise are associated. Then comes the Mahasannipata-sutra associated +with works which may correspond to the Ratnakuta division of the +Chinese Canon.[160] The writer adds that there are "hundreds of +myriads of similar sutras classified in groups and categories." He +mentions the Vinaya and Abhidharma without further particulars, +whereas in describing the Hinayanist versions of these two Pitakas he +gives many details. + +The importance of this list lies in the fact that it is Indian rather +than in its date, for the earliest catalogue of the Chinese Tripitaka +compiled about[161] 510 is perhaps older and certainly ampler. But if +the catalogue stood alone, it might be hard to say how far the +selection of works in it was due to Chinese taste. But taking the +Indian and Chinese evidence together, it is clear that in the sixth +century Indian Mahayanists (_a_) tolerated Hinayanist scriptures while +preferring their own, (_b_) made little use of the Vinaya or +Abhidharma for argument or edification, though the former was very +important as a code, (_c_) recognized extremely numerous sutras, +grouped in various classes such as Mahasannipata and Buddhavatamsaka, +(_d_) and did not use works called Tantras. Probably much the same is +true of the fourth century and even earlier, for Asanga in one +work[162] quotes both Maha-and Hinayanist scriptures and among the +former cites by name seventeen sutras, including one called +Paripriccha or questions. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 119: In the Mahayana-sutralankara he quotes frequently from +the Samyukta and Ekottara Agamas, corresponding to the Samyutta and +Anguttara Nikayas of the Pali.] + +[Footnote 120: A reading Vaitulya has also been found in some +manuscripts of the Lotus discovered at Kashgar and it is suggested +that the word may refer to the sect of Vetullas or Vetulyakas +mentioned in the Commentary on the Kathavatthu as holding that the +Buddha really remained in the Tushita heaven and sent a phantom to +represent him in the world and that it was Ananda, not the Buddha, who +preached the law. See Kern, _Vers. en Med. der K. Ak. v. +Wetenschappen, Letterk._, R. 4 D. VIII. pp. 312-9, Amsterdam, 1907, +and De la Vallee Poussin's notice of this article in _J.R.A.S._ 1907, +pp. 434-6. But this interpretation does not seem very probable.] + +[Footnote 121: IV. 160. 5.] + +[Footnote 122: See Cullavagga, V. 33. The meaning evidently is that +the Buddha's words are not to be enshrined in an artificial literary +form which will prevent them from being popular.] + +[Footnote 123: Sutralankara, I. 2.] + +[Footnote 124: See Waddell, "The Dharani cult" in _Ostasiat. Ztsft_. +1912, pp. 155 ff.] + +[Footnote 125: Chap. XXI, which is however a later addition.] + +[Footnote 126: Dig. Nik. 32.] + +[Footnote 127: Watters, _Yuean Chwang_, II. p. 160.] + +[Footnote 128: The Mahavyutpatti (65) gives a list of 105 sutras.] + +[Footnote 129: The word param-ita means as an adjective _gone to the +further shore_ or _transcendent_. As a feminine substantive it means a +transcendent virtue or perfection.] + +[Footnote 130: See Walleser, _Prajna-paramita_ in _Quellen der +Religionsgeschichte_, pp. 15 ff. _S.B.E._ XLIX. Nanjio, Catalogue Nos. +1-20 and Rajendralala Mitra's _Nepalese Buddhist Literature_, pp. 177 +ff. Versions are mentioned consisting of 125,000 verses, 100,000 +verses, 25,000 verses, 10,000 verses and 8,000 verses respectively. +(Similarly at the beginning of the Mahabharata we are told that the +Epic consists of 8,800 verses, of 24,000 and of 100,000.) Of these the +last or Ashtasahasrika has been published in the _Bibliotheca Indica_ +and the second or Satasahasrika is in process of publication. It is in +prose, so that the expression "verses" appears not to mean that the +works are Gathas. A Khotanese version of the Vajracchedika is edited +in Hoernle's _Manuscript Remains_ by Sten Konow. The Sanskrit text was +edited by Max Mueller in _Anecdota Oxoniensia._] + +[Footnote 131: The Sanskrit text has been edited by Kern and Nanjio in +_Bibliotheca Buddhica_; translated by Burnouf (_Le Lotus de la bonne +Loi_), 1852 and by Kern (Saddharma-Pundarika) in _S.B.E._ vol. XXI.] + +[Footnote 132: There appears to have been an earlier Chinese version +of 255 A.D. but it has been lost. See Nanjio, p. 390. One of the later +Chinese versions alludes to the existence of two recensions (Nanjio, +No. 139). See _B.E.F.E.O._ 1911, p. 453. Fragments of a shorter and +apparently earlier recension of the Lotus have been discovered in E. +Turkestan. See _J.R.A.S._ 1916, pp. 269-277.] + +[Footnote 133: Edited by Rajendralala Mitra in the _Bibliotheca +Indica_ and partially translated in the same series. A later critical +edition by Lefmann, 1902-8.] + +[Footnote 134: The early Chinese translations seem doubtful. One said +to have been made under the later Han has been lost. See Nanjio, No. +159.] + +[Footnote 135: See Burnouf, _Introduction_, pp. 458 ff. and _J.R.A.S._ +1905, pp. 831 ff. Rajendralala Mitra, _Nepalese Buddhist Literature_, +p. 113. A brief analysis is given in _J.A.S.B._ June, 1905 according +to which the sutra professes to be the work of a human author, Jina of +the clan of Katyayana born at Campa. An edition of the Sanskrit text +published by the Buddhist Text Society is cited but I have not seen +it. Chinese translations were made in 443 and 515 but the first is +incomplete and does not correspond with our Sanskrit text.] + +[Footnote 136: Abstract by Rajendralala Mitra, _Nepalese Buddhist +Lit_. p. 241.] + +[Footnote 137: See Nanjio, No. 127 and F.W.K. Muller in _Abhandl. der +K. Preuss. Akad. der Wissenschaften_, 1908. The Uigur text is +published in _Bibliotheca Buddhica_, 1914. Fragments of the Sanskrit +text have also been found in Turkestan.] + +[Footnote 138: Abstract by Raj. Mitra, _Nepalese Buddhist Lit._ pp. 90 +ff. The Sikshasamuccaya cites the Ganda-vyuha several times and does +not mention the Avatamsaka.] + +[Footnote 139: The statement was first made on the authority of +Takakusu quoted by Winternitz in _Ges. Ind. Lit_. II. i. p. 242. +Watanabe in _J.R.A.S._ 1911, 663 makes an equally definite statement +as to the identity of the two works. The identity is confirmed by +Pelliot in _J.A._ 1914, II. pp. 118-121.] + +[Footnote 140: Abstract by Raj. Mitra, _Nepalese Buddhist Lit._ pp. 81 +ff. Quoted in Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara, VIII. 106.] + +[Footnote 141: See _J.R.A.S._ 1911, 663.] + +[Footnote 142: Abstract by Raj. Mitra, _Nepalese Buddhist Lit._ pp. 81 +ff.] + +[Footnote 143: Translated in part by Beal, _Catena of Buddhist +Scriptures_, pp. 286-369. See also Teitaro Suzuki, _Outlines of +Mahayana_, p. 157. For notices of the text see Nanjio, Nos. 399, 446, +1588. Fa-Hsien, Chap. XXIX. For the equivalence of Shou-leng-yen and +Surangama see Nanjio's note to No. 399 and Julien, _Methode_, 1007 and +Vasilief, p. 175.] + +[Footnote 144: See Sikshas, ed. Bendall, pp. 8,91 and _Hoernle, +Manuscript remains_, I. pp. 125 ff.] + +[Footnote 145: Mahayana-sutralankara, XIX. 29.] + +[Footnote 146: _E.g._ the Rashtra-pala-paripriccha edited in Sanskrit +by Finot, _Biblioth. Buddhica_, 1901. The Sanskrit text seems to agree +with the Chinese version. The real number of sutras in the Ratnakuta +seems to be 48, two being practically the same but represented as +uttered on different occasions.] + +[Footnote 147: There is another somewhat similar collection of sutras +in the Chinese Canon called Ta Tsi or Mahasannipata but unlike the +Ratnakuta it seems to contain few well-known or popular works.] + +[Footnote 148: I know of these works only by Raj. Mitra's abstracts, +_Nepal. Bud. Lit._ pp. 95 and 101. The prose text is said to have been +published in Sanskrit at Calcutta, 1873.] + +[Footnote 149: Raj. Mitra, _Nepalese Buddhist Lit_. pp. 285 ff. The +Sanskrit text was published for the Buddhist Text Society, Calcutta, +1898.] + +[Footnote 150: Avadana is primarily a great and glorious act: hence an +account of such an act.] + +[Footnote 151: The Avadana-sataka (Feer, _Annales du Musee Guimet_, +XVIII) seems to be entirely Hinayanist.] + +[Footnote 152: Edited by Senart, 3 vols. 1882-1897. Windisch, _Die +Komposition des Mahavastu_, 1909. Article "Mahavastu" in _E.R.E._] + +[Footnote 153: So too do the words Horapathaka (astrologer), +Ujjhebhaka (? Uzbek), Peliyaksha (? Felix). The word Yogacara (I. 120) +may refer simply to the practice of Yoga and not to the school which +bore this name.] + +[Footnote 154: Edited by Cowell and Neil, 1886. See Nanjio, 1344.] + +[Footnote 155: Edited by Bendall in _Bibl. Buddhica._] + +[Footnote 156: Nanjio, No. 1466. For a learned discussion of this work +see Levi and Chavannes in _J.A._ 1916, Nos. I and II.] + +[Footnote 157: It is not likely that the Tathagata-guhya-sutra which +it quotes is the same as the Tantra with a similar name analysed by +Rajendralal Mitra.] + +[Footnote 158: Watters, _J.R.A.S._ 1898, p. 331 says there seems to +have been an earlier translation.] + +[Footnote 159: Many works with this title will be found in Nanjio.] + +[Footnote 160: But the Chinese title seems rather to represent +Ratnarasi.] + +[Footnote 161: See Nanjio, pp. xiii-xvii.] + +[Footnote 162: Mahayana-sutralankara. See Levi's introduction, p. 14. +The "Questions" sutra is Brahma-paripriccha.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +CHRONOLOGY OF THE MAHAYANA + + +In the previous chapters I have enumerated some features of +Mahayanism, such as the worship of Bodhisattvas leading to mythology, +the deification of Buddhas, entailing a theology as complicated as the +Christian creeds, the combination of metaphysics with religion, and +the rise of new scriptures consecrating all these innovations. I will +now essay the more difficult task of arranging these phenomena in some +sort of chronological setting. + +The voluminous Chinese literature concerning Buddhism offers valuable +assistance, for the Chinese, unlike the Hindus, have a natural +disposition to write simple narratives recording facts and dates. But +they are diarists and chroniclers rather than historians. The Chinese +pilgrims to India give a good account of their itinerary and +experiences, but they have little idea of investigating and arranging +past events and merely recount traditions connected with the places +which they visited. In spite of this their statements have +considerable historical value and on the whole harmonize with the +literary and archaelogical data furnished by India. + +The Tibetan Lama Taranatha who completed his History of Indian +Buddhism[163] in 1608 is a less satisfactory authority. He merits +attention but also scepticism and caution. His work is a compilation +but is not to be despised on that ground, for the Tibetan translations +of Sanskrit works offer a rich mine of information about the history +of the Mahayana. Unfortunately few of these works take the historical +point of view and Taranatha's own method is as uncritical as his +materials. Dire confusion prevails as to chronology and even as to +names,[164] so that the work is almost useless as a connected account, +though it contains many interesting details. + +Two epochs are of special importance for the development of later +Indian Buddhism, that of Kanishka and that of Vasubandhu and his +brother Asanga. The reader may expect me to discuss at length the date +of Kanishka's accession, but I do not propose to do so for it may be +hoped that in the next few years archaelogical research in India or +Central Asia will fix the chronology of the Kushans and meanwhile it +is waste of time to argue about probabilities or at any rate it can be +done profitably only in special articles. At present the majority of +scholars place his accession at about 78 A.D., others put it back to +58 B.C. and arrange the Kushan kings in a different order,[165] while +still others[166] think that he did not come to the throne until the +second century was well advanced. The evidence of art, particularly of +numismatics, indicates that Kanishka reigned towards the end of his +dynasty rather than at the beginning, but the use of Greek on his +coins and his traditional connection with the beginnings of the +Mahayana are arguments against a very late date. If the date 78 A.D. +is accepted, the conversion of the Yueeh-chih to Buddhism and its +diffusion in Central Asia cannot have been the work of Kanishka, for +Buddhism began to reach China by land about the time of the Christian +era.[167] There is however no reason to assume that they were his +work. Kanishka, like Constantine, probably favoured a winning cause, +and Buddhism may have been gradually making its way among the Kushans +and their neighbours for a couple of centuries before his time. In any +case, however important his reign may have been for the Buddhist +Church, I do not think that the history of the Mahayana should be made +to depend on his date. Chinese translations, supported by other +evidence, indicate that the Mahayanist movement had begun about the +time of our era. If it is proved that Kanishka lived considerably +later, we should not argue that Mahayanism is later than was supposed +but rather that his relation towards it has been misunderstood.[168] + +The date of Vasubandhu has also been much discussed and scholars have +generally placed him in the fourth or fifth century but Peri[169] +appears to have proved that he lived from about 280 to 360 A.D. and I +shall adopt this view. This chronology makes a reasonable setting for +the development of Buddhism. If Kanishka reigned from about 78 to 123 +A.D. or even later, there is no difficulty in supposing that +Asvaghosha flourished in his reign and was followed by Nagarjuna. The +collapse of the Kushan Empire was probably accompanied by raids from +Iranian tribes, for Persian influence appears to have been strong in +India during the confused interval between the Kushans and Guptas +(225-320). The latter inaugurated the revival of Hinduism but still +showed favour to individual Buddhists, and we know from Fa-Hsien that +Buddhism was fairly flourishing during his visit to India (399-415). +There is nothing improbable in supposing that Vasubandhu, who is +stated to have lived at Court, was patronized by the early Guptas. The +blank in Buddhist history which follows his career can be explained +first by the progress of Hinduism at the expense of Buddhism and +secondly by the invasions of the Huns. The Chinese pilgrim Sung-Yuen +has left us an account of India in this distressful period and for the +seventh century the works of Hsuean Chuang and I-Ching give copious +information. + +In investigating the beginnings of the Mahayana we may start from the +epoch of Asoka, who is regarded by tradition as the patron and +consolidator of the Hinayanist Church. And the tradition seems on the +whole correct: the united evidence of texts and inscriptions goes to +show that the Buddhists of Asoka's time held the chief doctrines +subsequently professed by the Sinhalese Church and did not hold the +other set of doctrines known as Mahayanist. That these latter are +posterior in time is practically admitted by the books that teach +them, for they are constantly described as the crown and completion of +a progressive revelation. Thus the Lotus[170] illustrates the +evolution of doctrine by a story which curiously resembles the parable +of the prodigal son except that the returned penitent does not +recognize his father, who proceeds to reveal gradually his name and +position, keeping back the full truth to the last. Similarly it is +held in the Far East that there were five periods in Sakyamuni's +teaching which after passing through the stage of the Hinayana +culminated in the Prajna-paramita and Amitabha sutras shortly before +his death. Such statements admit the historical priority of the +Hinayana: it is rudimentary (that is early) truth which needs +completion and expansion. Many critics demur to the assumption that +primitive Buddhism was a system of ethics purged of superstition and +mythology. And in a way they are right. Could we get hold of a +primitive Buddhist, we should probably find that miracles, magic, and +superhuman beings played a large part in his mind and that the Buddha +did not appear to him as what we call a human teacher. In that sense +the germs of the Mahayana existed in the life-time of Gotama. But the +difference between early and later Buddhism lies in this, that the +deities who surround the Buddha in the Pali Pitakas are mere +accessories: his teaching would not be affected if they were all +removed. But the Bodhisattvas in the Lotus or the Sutra of the Happy +Land have a doctrinal significance. + +Though in India old ideas persist with unusual vitality, still even +there they can live only if they either develop or gather round them +new accretions. As one of the religions of India, Buddhism was +sensitive to the general movement of Indian thought, or rather it was +a part of that movement. We see as clearly in Buddhist as in +non-Buddhist India that there was a tendency to construct philosophic +systems and another tendency to create deities satisfying to the +emotions as well as to the intellect and yet another tendency to +compose new scriptures. But apart from this parallel development, it +becomes clear after the Christian era that Buddhism is becoming +surrounded by Hinduism. The influence is not indeed one-sided: there +is interdependence and interpenetration but the net result is that the +general Indian features of each religious period overpower the +specially Buddhist features and in the end we find that while Hinduism +has only been profoundly modified Buddhism has vanished. + +If we examine the Pali Pitakas, including the heresies mentioned in +the Kathavatthu, we find that they contain the germs of many +Mahayanist ideas. Thus side by side with the human portrait of the +Buddha there is the doctrine that he is one in a series of +supernatural teachers, each with the same life-history, and this life +is connected with the whole course of nature, as is shown by the +sympathetic earthquakes which mark its crises. His birth is +supernatural and had he willed it he could have lived until the end of +the present Kalpa.[171] So, too, the nature of a Buddha when he is +released from form, that is after death, is deep and unfathomable as +the ocean.[172] The Kathavatthu condemns the ideas (thus showing that +they existed) that Buddhas are born in all quarters of the universe, +that the Buddha was superhuman in the ordinary affairs of life, that +he was not really born in the world of men and that he did not preach +the Law himself. These last two heresies are attributed by the +commentary to the Vetulyakas who are said to have believed that he +remained in the Tushita heaven and sent a phantom to preach on earth. +Here we have the rudiments of the doctrine afterwards systematized +under the name of the three bodies of Buddha. Similarly though Nirvana +is regarded as primarily an ethical state, the Pali Canon contains the +expression Nirvanadhatu and the idea[173] that Nirvana is a sphere or +realm (_ayatanam_) which transcends the transitory world and in which +such antitheses are coming and going, birth and death, cease to exist. +This foreshadows the doctrine of Bhuta-tathata and we seem to hear a +prelude to the dialectic of Nagarjuna when the Kathavatthu discusses +whether Sunnata or the void is predicable of the Skandhas and when it +condemns the views that anything now existing existed in the past: and +that knowledge of the present is possible (whereas the moment anything +is known it is really past). The Kathavatthu also condemns the +proposition that a Bodhisattva can be reborn in realms of woe or fall +into error, and this proposition hints that the career of a +Bodhisattva was considered of general interest. + +The Mahayana grows out of the Hinayana and in many respects the +Hinayana passes into it and is preserved unchanged. It is true that in +reading the Lotus we wonder how this marvellous cosmic vision can +represent itself as the teaching of Gotama, but the Buddhacarita of +Asvaghosha, though embellished with literary mythology, hardly +advances in doctrine beyond the Pali sutras describing the marvels of +the Buddha's nativity[174] and the greater part of Nagarjuna's +Friendly Epistle, which purports to contain an epitome of the faith, +is in phraseology as well as thought perfectly in harmony with the +Pali Canon. Whence comes this difference of tone in works accepted by +the same school? One difficulty of the historian who essays to account +for the later phases of Buddhism is to apportion duly the influence of +Indian and foreign elements. On the one hand, the Mahayana, whether we +call it a development or perversion, is a product of Indian thought. +To explain its trinities, its saviours, its doctrine of self sacrifice +it is not necessary to seek abroad. New schools, anxious to claim +continuity and antiquity, gladly retained as much of the old doctrine +as they could. But on the other hand, Indian Buddhism came into +contact with foreign, especially Iranian, ideas and undoubtedly +assimilated some of them. From time to time I have drawn attention to +such cases in this work, but as a rule the foreign ideas are so +thoroughly mastered and indianized that they cease to be obvious. They +merely open up to Indian thought a new path wherein it can move in its +own way. + +In the period following Asoka's death Buddhism suffered a temporary +eclipse. Pushyamitra who in 184 B.C. overthrew the Mauryas and +established the Sunga dynasty was a patron of the Brahmans. Taranatha +describes him[175] as a ferocious persecutor, and the Divyavadana +supports the story. But the persecution, if it really occurred, was +probably local and did not seriously check the spread of Buddhism, +which before the time of Kanishka had extended northwards to Bactria +and Kashmir. The latter territory became the special home of the +Sarvastivadins. It was in the reign of Pushyamitra that the +Graeco-Bactrian king Menander or Milinda invaded India (155-3 B.C.) and +there were many other invasions and settlements of tribes coming from +the north-west and variously described as Sakas, Pahlavas, Parthians +and Yavanas, culminating in the conquests of the Kushans. The whole +period was disturbed and confused but some general statements can be +made with considerable confidence. + +From about 300 B.C. to 100 A.D. we find inscriptions, buildings and +statues testifying to the piety of Buddhist and Jain donors but hardly +any indications of a similar liberality to Brahmans. In the second and +third centuries A.D. grants of land to Brahmans and their temples +begin to be recorded and in the fourth century (that is with the rise +of the Gupta Dynasty) such grants become frequent. These facts can +hardly be interpreted otherwise than as meaning that from 300 B.C. to +100 A.D. the upper classes of India favoured Buddhism and Jainism and +did not favour the Brahmans in the same way or to the same extent. But +it must be remembered that the religion of the Brahmans continued +throughout this period and produced a copious literature, and also +that the absence of works of art may be due to the fact that their +worship was performed in sacrificial enclosures and that they had not +yet begun to use temples and statues. After the first century A.D. we +have first a gradual and then a rapid rise in Brahmanic influence. +Inscriptions as well as books indicate that a linguistic change +occurred in the same period. At first popular dialects were regarded +as sufficiently dignified and current to be the medium for both +scripture and official records. Sanskrit remained a thing apart--the +peculiar possession of the Brahman literati. Then the popular language +was Sanskritized, the rules of Sanskrit grammar being accepted as the +standard to which it ought to conform, though perfect conformity was +impracticable. In much the same way the modern Greeks try to bring +Romaic into line with classical Greek. Finally Sanskrit was recognized +as the proper language for literature, government and religion. The +earliest inscriptions[176] in correct Sanskrit seem to date from the +second century A.D. Further, the invaders who entered India from the +north-west favoured Buddhism on the whole. Coins indicate that some of +them worshipped Siva[177] but the number and beauty of Buddhist +monuments erected under their rule can hardly be interpreted except as +a sign of their patronage. And their conversion was natural for they +had no strong religious convictions of their own and the Brahmans +with their pride of caste shrank from foreigners. But Buddhism had no +prejudice of race or class: it was animated by a missionary spirit and +it was probably the stronger creed at this period. It not only met the +invaders on their entry into India but it sent missionaries to them in +Bactria and Afghanistan, so that to some extent they brought Buddhism +with them. But it was a Buddhism combined with the most varied +elements. Hellenic art and religion had made the figures of Apollo, +Herakles and Helios familiar in Bactria, and both Bactria and northern +India were in touch with Zoroastrians. The mixed cults of these +borderlands readily professed allegiance to the Buddha but, not +understanding Indian ideas, simply made him into a deity and having +done this were not likely to repudiate other Indian deities. Thus in +its outward form the Buddhism of the invaders tended to be a compound +of Indian, Greek and Persian ideas in which Sun worship played a large +part, for not only Indian myths, but Apollo and Helios and the Persian +Mithra all entered into it. Persian influence in art is discernible as +early as the architecture of Asoka: in doctrine it has something to do +with such figures as Vairocana and Amitabha. Graeco-Roman influence +also was powerful in art and through art affected religion. In Asoka's +time likenesses of the Buddha were unknown and the adoration of +images, if not entirely due to the art of Gandhara, was at least +encouraged by it. + +But though coins and sculpture bring clearly before us a medley of +deities corresponding to a medley of human races, they do not help us +much in tracing the growth of thought, phases of which are preserved +in a literature sufficiently copious though the record sometimes fails +at the points of transition where it would be of most interest. It is +natural that sacred books should record accepted results rather than +tentative innovations and even disguise the latter. But we can fix a +few dates which enable us to judge what shape Buddhism was taking +about the time of the Christian era. The Tibetan historian Taranatha +is not of much help, for his chronology is most confused, but still he +definitely connects the appearance of Mahayanist texts with the reign +of Kanishka and the period immediately following it[178] and regards +them as a new phenomenon. Greater assistance is furnished by the +Chinese translators, whose dates are known with some exactitude. Thus +the earliest Buddhist work rendered into Chinese is said to be the +sutra of forty-two sections, translated by Kasyapa Matanga in 67 A.D. +It consists of extracts or resumes of the Buddha's teaching mostly +prefaced by the words "The Buddha said," doubtless in imitation of the +Confucian Analects where the introductory formula "The master said" +plays a similar part. Its ideas and precepts are Hinayanist:[179] the +Arhat is held up as the ideal and in a remarkable passage[180] where +the degrees of sanctity are graded and compared no mention is made of +Bodhisattvas. This first translation was followed by a long series of +others, principally from the Sutra-Pitaka, for very little of the +Vinaya was translated before the fifth century. A great number of +Hinayanist sutras were translated before 300 A.D. but very few after +450. On the other hand portions of the sutra about Amida's Paradise, +of the Prajna-paramita, and of the Avatamsaka were translated about +150 A.D. and translations of the Lotus and Lalita-vistara appeared +about 300. + +Great caution is necessary in using these data and the circumstances +of China as well as of India must be taken into account. If +translations of the Vinaya and complete collections of sutras are late +in appearing, it does not follow that the corresponding Indian texts +are late, for the need of the Vinaya was not felt until monasteries +began to spring up. Most of the translations made before the fifth +century are extracts and of indifferent workmanship. Some are retained +in the Chinese Tripitaka but are superseded by later versions. But +however inaccurate and incomplete these older translations may be, if +any of them can be identified with a part of an extant Sanskrit work +it follows that at least that part of the work and the doctrines +contained in it were current in India or Central Asia some time before +the translation was made. Applying this principle we may conclude that +the Hinayana and Mahayana were flourishing side by side in India and +Central Asia in the first century A.D. and that the Happy Land sutras +and portions of the Prajna-paramita already existed. From that time +onwards Mahayanist literature as represented by Chinese translations +steadily increases, and after 400 A.D. Hinayanist literature declines, +with two exceptions, the Vinaya and the Abhidharma books of the +Sarvastivadins. The Vinaya was evidently regarded as a rule of life +independent of theology, but it is remarkable that Hsuean Chuang after +his return from India in 645 should have thought it worth while to +translate the philosophy of the Sarvastivadins. + +Other considerations render this chronology probable. Two conspicuous +features of the Mahayana are the worship of Bodhisattvas and idealist +philosophy. These are obviously parallel to the worship of Siva and +Vishnu, and to the rise of the Vedanta. Now the worship of these +deities was probably not prevalent before 300 B.C., for they are +almost unknown to the Pali Pitakas, and it was fully developed about +the time of the Bhagavad-gita which perhaps assumed its present form a +little before the Christian era. Not only is the combination of +devotion and metaphysics found in this work similar to the tone of +many Mahayanist sutras but the manifestation of Krishna in his divine +form is like the transformation scenes of the Lotus.[181] The chief +moral principle of the Bhagavad-gita is substantially the same as that +prescribed for Bodhisattvas. It teaches that action is superior to +inaction, but that action should be wholly disinterested and not +directed to any selfish object. This is precisely the attitude of the +Bodhisattva who avoids the inaction of those who are engrossed in +self-culture as much as the pursuit of wealth or pleasure. Both the +Gita and Mahayanist treatises lay stress on faith. He who thinks on +Krishna when dying goes to Krishna[182] just as he who thinks on +Amitabha goes to the Happy Land and the idea is not unknown to the +Pali texts, for it finds complete expression in the story of +Matthakundali.[183] + +The idea of a benevolent deity to be worshipped with devotion and +faith and not with ceremonies is strange to old Buddhism and old +Brahmanism alike. It was a popular idea which became so strong that +neither priests nor Bhikshus could ignore it and in its ultimate +result it is hard to say whether Buddhist or Brahmanic elements are +more prominent. Both Avalokita and Krishna are Devas. The former has +the beauty of holiness and the strength which it gives, but also the +weakness of a somewhat abstract figure: the latter is very personal +and springs from the heart of India but to those who are not Hindus +seems wanting in purity and simplicity. The divine character of both +figures is due to Brahmanism rather than Buddhism, but the new form of +worship which laid stress on a frame of mind rather than on ceremonial +and the idea of Avataras or the periodic appearance of superhuman +saviours and teachers indicate the influence of Buddhism on +Brahmanism. + +There is a similar parallel between the newer Buddhist philosophy and +the Vedantist school represented by Sankara, and Indian critics +detected it. Sankara was called a Pracchanna-bauddha or +crypto-buddhist by his theological opponents[184] and the resemblance +between the two systems in thought, if not in word, is striking. Both +distinguish relative and absolute truth: for both the relative truth +is practically theism, for both absolute truth is beyond description +and whether it is called Brahman, Dharma-kaya or Sunyata is not +equivalent to God in the Christian or Mohammedan sense. Just as for +the Vedantist there exist in the light of the highest knowledge +neither a personal God nor an individual soul, so the Madhyamika Sutra +can declare that the Buddha does not really exist. The Mahayanist +philosophers do not use the word Maya but they state the same theory +in a more subjective form by ascribing the appearance of the +phenomenal world to ignorance, a nomenclature which is derived from +the Buddha's phrase, "From ignorance come the Sankharas." + +Here, as elsewhere, Buddhist and Brahmanic ideas acted and reacted in +such complex interrelations that it is hard to say which has borrowed +from the other. As to dates, the older Upanishads which contain the +foundations but not the complete edifice of Vedantism, seem a little +earlier than the Buddha. Now we know that within the Vedantist school +there were divergences of opinion which later received classic +expression in the hands of Sankara and Ramanuja. The latter rejected +the doctrines of Maya and of the difference between relative and +absolute truth. The germs of both schools are to be found in the +Upanishads but it seems probable that the ideas of Sankara were +originally worked out among Buddhists rather than among Brahmans and +were rightly described by their opponents as disguised Buddhism. As +early as 520 A.D. Bodhidharma preached in China a doctrine which is +practically the same as the Advaita. + +The earliest known work in which the theory of Maya and the Advaita +philosophy are clearly formulated is the metrical treatise known as +the Karika of Gaudapada. This name was borne by the teacher of +Sankara's teacher, who must have lived about 700 A.D., but the high +position accorded to the work, which is usually printed with the +Mandukya Upanishad and is practically regarded as[185] a part of it, +make an earlier date probable. Both in language and thought it bears a +striking resemblance to Buddhist writings of the Madhyamika school and +also contains many ideas and similes which reappear in the works of +Sankara.[186] On the other hand the Lankavatara Sutra which was +translated into Chinese in 513 and therefore can hardly have been +composed later than 450, is conscious that its doctrines resemble +Brahmanic philosophy, for an interlocutor objects that the language +used in it by the Buddha about the Tathagatagarbha is very like the +Brahmanic doctrine of the Atman. To which the Buddha replies that his +language is a concession to those who cannot stomach the doctrine of +the negation of reality in all its austerity. Some of the best known +verses of Gaudapada compare the world of appearance to the apparent +circle of fire produced by whirling a lighted torch. This striking +image occurs first in the Maitrayana Upanishad (VI. 24), which shows +other indications of an acquaintance with Buddhism, and also in the +Lankavatara Sutra. + +A real affinity unites the doctrine of Sankara to the teaching of +Gotama himself. That teaching as presented in the Pali Pitakas is +marked by its negative and deliberately circumscribed character. Its +rule is silence when strict accuracy of expression is impossible, +whereas later philosophy does not shrink from phrases which are +suggestive, if not exact. Gotama refuses to admit that the human soul +is a fixed entity or Atman, but he does not condemn (though he also +does not discuss) the idea that the whole world of change and +becoming, including human souls, is the expression or disguise of some +one ineffable principle. He teaches too that the human mind can grow +until it develops new faculties and powers and becomes the Buddha +mind, which sees the whole chain of births, the order of the world, +and the reality of emancipation. As the object of the whole system is +practical, Nirvana is always regarded as a _terminus ad quem_ or an +escape (nissaranam) from this transitory world, and this view is more +accurate as well as more edifying than the view which treats Brahman +or Sunyata as the origin of the universe. When the Vedanta teaches +that this changing troubled world is merely the disguise of that +unchanging and untroubled state into which saints can pass, it is, I +believe, following Gotama's thought, but giving it an expression which +he would have considered imperfect. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 163: Translated by Schiefner, 1869. Taranatha informs us (p. +281) that his chief authorities were the history of Kshemendrabhadra, +the Buddhapurana of Indradatta and Bhataghati's history of the +succession of the Acaryas.] + +[Footnote 164: The Tibetans generally translate instead of +transliterating Indian names. It is as if an English history of Greece +were to speak of Leader of the People instead of Agesilaus.] + +[Footnote 165: They place Kanishka, Vasishka, Huvishka and Vasudeva +before Kadphises I and Kadphises II.] + +[Footnote 166: _E.g._ Stael Holstein who also thinks that Kanishka's +tribe should be called Kusha not Kushan. Vincent Smith in his latest +work (_Oxford History of India_, p. 130) gives 120 A.D. as the most +probable date.] + +[Footnote 167: My chief difficulty in accepting 78-123 A.D. as the +reign of Kanishka is that the Chinese Annals record the doings of Pan +Ch'ao between 73 and 102 in Central Asia, with which region Kanishka +is believed to have had relations, and yet do not mention his name. +This silence makes it _prima facie_ probable that he lived either +before or after Pan Ch'ao's career. + +The catalogues of the Chinese Tripitaka state that An-Shih-Kao +(148-170 A.D.) translated the Margabhumi-sutra of Sangharaksha, who +was the chaplain of Kanishka. But this unfortunately proves nothing +except that Kanishka cannot have been very late. The work is not a +scripture for whose recognition some lapse of time must be postulated. +An-Shih-Kao, who came from the west, may very well have translated a +recent and popular treatise.] + +[Footnote 168: In this connection we may remember Taranatha's +statement that Kanishka's Council put an end to dissentions which had +lasted about a century. But he also states that it was after the +Council that Mahayanist texts began to appear. If Kanishka flourished +about 50 A.D. this would fit in with Taranatha's statements and what +we know of the history of Buddhism.] + +[Footnote 169: _B.E.F.E.O._ 1911, 339-390. Satischandra Vidyabhushana +arrived at the same conclusion in _J.A.S.B._ 1905, p. 227.] + +[Footnote 170: Chap. IV.] + +[Footnote 171: Mahaparinib. Sut. III.] + +[Footnote 172: Majj. Nik. 72.] + +[Footnote 173: Udana. VIII. 1-4.] + +[Footnote 174: Accariyabbhutasuttam. Majj. Nik. 123.] + +[Footnote 175: Chap. XVI.] + +[Footnote 176: That of Rudradaman at Girnar, dated 72 in the Saka Era, +has hitherto been considered the oldest, but it is now said that one +discovered at Isapur near Muttra is older. See _J.R.A.S_ 1912, p. +114.] + +[Footnote 177: _E.g._ Kadphises II and Vasudeva.] + +[Footnote 178: Chaps. XII, XIII.] + +[Footnote 179: The last section (42) as translated by Teitaro Suzuki +in the _Sermons of a Buddhist Abbot_ may seem an exception, for it +contains such statements as "I consider the doctrine of sameness as +the absolute ground of reality." But the translation seems to me +doubtful.] + +[Footnote 180: Sec. 11.] + +[Footnote 181: Just as all gods and worlds are seen within Krishna's +body, so we are told in the Karanda-vyuha (which is however a later +work) that in the pores of Avalokita's skin are woods and mountains +where dwell saints and gods.] + +[Footnote 182: Bhag. G. VIII. 5.] + +[Footnote 183: _Commentary on Dhammapada_, P.T.S. edition, pp. 25 ff. +especially p. 33.] + +[Footnote 184: See Ramanuja, Sribhashya, II. 2, 27 and Padma-Purana +uttarakanda 43 (quoted by Suhtankar in _Vienna Oriental Journ._ vol. +XXII. 1908). Mayavadam asacchastram pracchannam bauddham ucyate. The +Madhvas were specially bitter in their denunciation of Sankara.] + +[Footnote 185: Or as itself forming four separate Upanishads. For +other arguments in favour of an early date see Walleser, _Aelterer +Vedanta_, pp. 14 ff. He states that the Karika is quoted in the +Tibetan translations of Bhavaviveka's _Tarkajvala_. Bhavaviveka was +certainly anterior to the travels of Hsuean Chuang and perhaps was much +earlier. But if he died about 600 A.D. a work quoted by him can hardly +have been later than 550 and may be much earlier. But see also Jacobi +in _J.A.O.S._ April, 1913, p. 51.] + +[Footnote 186: For the resemblances to Nagarjuna see _J.R.A.S._ 1910, +pp. 136 ff. Especially remarkable are II. 32 na nirodho na cotpattir, +etc., and IV. 59 and the whole argument that causation is impossible. +Noticeable too is the use of Buddhist terms like upaya, nirvana, +buddha and adibuddha, though not always in the Buddhist sense.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +FROM KANISHKA TO VASUBANDHU + + +Tradition, as mentioned above, connects the rise of the Mahayana with +the reign of Kanishka. Materials for forming a picture of Indian life +under his rule are not plentiful but it was clearly an age of fusion. +His hereditary dominions were ample and he had no need to spend his +reign in conquests, but he probably subdued Kashmir as well as Khotan, +Yarkand and Kashgar.[187] Hostages from one of these states were sent +to reside in India and all accounts agree that they were treated with +generosity and that their sojourn improved the relations of Kanishka +with the northern tribes. His capital was Purushapura or Peshawar, and +the locality, like many other features of his reign, indicates a +tendency to amalgamate India with Persia and Central Asia. It was +embellished with masterpieces of Gandharan sculpture and its chief +ornament was a great stupa built by the king for the reception of the +relics of the Buddha which he collected. This building is described by +several Chinese pilgrims[188] and its proportions, though variously +stated, were sufficient to render it celebrated in all the Buddhist +world. It is said to have been several times burnt, and rebuilt, but +so solid a structure can hardly have been totally destroyed by fire +and the greater part of the monument discovered in 1908 probably dates +from the time of Kanishka. The base is a square measuring 285 feet on +each side, with massive towers at the corners, and on each of the four +faces projections bearing staircases. The sides were ornamented with +stucco figures of the Buddha and according to the Chinese pilgrims the +super-structure was crowned with an iron pillar on which were set +twenty-five gilded disks. Inside was found a metal casket, still +containing the sacred bones, and bearing an inscription which presents +two points of great interest. Firstly it mentions "Agisala the +overseer of works at Kanishka's vihara," that is, probably Agesilaus, +a foreigner in the king's service. Secondly it states that the casket +was made "for the acceptance of the teachers of the Sarvastivadin +sect,"[189] and the idea that Kanishka was the special patron of the +Mahayana must be reconsidered in the light of this statement. + +Legends ascribe Kanishka's fervour for the Buddhist faith not to +education but to conversion. His coinage, of which abundant specimens +have been preserved, confirms this for it presents images of Greek, +Persian, Indian and perhaps Babylonian deities showing how varied was +the mythology which may have mingled with Gandharan Buddhism. The +coins bearing figures of the Buddha are not numerous and, as he +undoubtedly left behind him the reputation of a pious Buddhist, it is +probable that they were struck late in his reign and represent his +last religious phase.[190] Hsuean Chuang[191] repeats some legends +which relate that he was originally anti-Buddhist, and that after his +conversion he summoned a council and built a stupa. + +The substance of these legends is probable. Kanishka as a barbarian +but docile conqueror was likely to adopt Buddhism if he wished to keep +abreast of the thought and civilisation of his subjects, for at that +time it undoubtedly inspired the intellect and art of north-western +India. Both as a statesman and as an enquirer after truth he would +wish to promote harmony and stop sectarian squabbles. His action +resembles that of Constantine who after his conversion to Christianity +proceeded to summon the Council of Nicaea in order to stop the +dissensions of the Church and settle what were the tenets of the +religion which he had embraced, a point about which both he and +Kanishka seem to have felt some uncertainty. Our knowledge of +Kanishka's Council depends chiefly on the traditions reported by Hsuean +Chuang[192] which present many difficulties. He tells us that the +king, acting in consultation with Parsva, issued summonses to all the +learned doctors of his realm. They came in such crowds that a severe +test was imposed and only 499 Arhats were selected. There was some +discussion as to the place of meeting but finally Kashmir[193] was +selected and the king built a monastery for the Brethren. When the +Council met, there arose a question as to whether Vasumitra (who is +not further described) should be admitted seeing that he was not an +Arhat but aspired to the career of a Bodhisattva. But owing to the +interposition of spirits he was not only admitted but made president. + +The texts of the Tripitaka were collected and the Council "composed +100,000 stanzas of Upadesa Sastras explanatory of the canonical +sutras, 100,000 stanzas of Vinaya-vibhasha Sastras explanatory of the +Vinaya and 100,000 of Abhidharma-vibhasha Sastras explanatory of the +Abhidharma. For this exposition of the Tripitaka all learning from +remote antiquity was thoroughly examined; the general sense and the +terse language (of the Buddhist scriptures) was again and again made +clear and distinct, and learning was widely diffused for the +safe-guiding of disciples. King Kanishka caused the treatises when +finished to be written out on copper plates and enclosed these in +stone boxes which he deposited in a tope made for the purpose. He then +ordered spirits to keep and guard the texts and not to allow any to be +taken out of the country by heretics; those who wished to study them +could do so in the country. When leaving to return to his own country, +Kanishka renewed Asoka's gift of all Kashmir to the Buddhist +Church."[194] + +Paramartha (499-569 A.D.) in his _Life of Vasubandhu_[195] gives an +account of a council generally considered to be the same as that +described by Hsuean Chuang, though the differences in the two versions +are considerable. He says that about five hundred years[196] after the +Buddha's death (_i.e._ between 87 B.C. and 13 A.D. if the Buddha died +487 B.C.) an Indian Arhat called Katyayani-putra, who was a monk of +the Sarvastivadin school, went to Kipin or Kashmir. There with 500 +other Arhats and 500 Bodhisattvas he collected the Abhidharma of the +Sarvastivadins and arranged it in eight books called Ka-lan-ta +(Sanskrit _Grantha_) or Kan-tu (Pali _Gantho_). This compilation was +also called Jnana-prasthana. He then made a proclamation inviting all +who had heard the Buddha preach to communicate what they remembered. +Many spirits responded and contributed their reminiscences which were +examined by the Council and, when they did not contradict the sutras +and the Vinaya, were accepted, but otherwise were rejected. The +selected pieces were grouped according to their subject-matter. Those +about wisdom formed the Prajna Grantha, and those about meditation the +Dhyana Grantha and so on. After finishing the eight books they +proceeded to the composition of a commentary or Vibhasha and invited +the assistance of Asvaghosha. When he came to Kashmir, Katyayani-putra +expounded the eight books to him and Asvaghosha put them into literary +form. At the end of twelve years the composition of the commentary was +finished. It consisted of 1,000,000 verses.... Katyayani-putra set up +a stone inscribed with this proclamation. "Those who hereafter learn +this law must not go out of Kashmir. No sentence of the eight books, +or of the Vibhasha must pass out of the land, lest other schools or +the Mahayana should corrupt the true law." This proclamation was +reported to the king who approved it. The sages of Kashmir had power +over demons and set them to guard the entrance to the country, but we +are told that anyone desirous of learning the law could come to +Kashmir and was in no way interrupted. + +There follows a story telling how, despite this prohibition, a native +of Ayodhya succeeded in learning the law in Kashmir and subsequently +teaching it in his native land. Paramartha's account seems +exaggerated, whereas the prohibition described by Hsuean Chuang is +intelligible. It was forbidden to take the official copies of the law +out of Kashmir, lest heretics should tamper with them. + +Taranatha[197] gives a singularly confused account of the meeting, +which he expressly calls the third council, but makes some important +statements about it. He says that it put an end to the dissensions +which had been distracting the Buddhist Church _for nearly a century_ +and that it recognized all the eighteen sects as holding the true +doctrine: that it put the Vinaya in writing as well as such parts of +the Sutra-pitaka and Abhidharma as were still unwritten and corrected +those which already existed as written texts: that all kinds of +Mahayanist writings appeared at this time but that the Sravakas raised +no opposition. + +It is hard to say how much history can be extracted from these vague +and discrepant stories. They seem to refer to one assembly regarded +(at least in Tibet) as the third council of the Church and held under +Kanishka four or five hundred years[198] after the Buddha's death. As +to what happened at the council tradition seems to justify the +following deductions, though as the tradition is certainly jumbled it +may also be incorrect in details. + +(_a_) The council is recognized only by the northern Church and is +unknown to the Churches of Ceylon, Burma and Siam. It seems to have +regarded Kashmir as sacred land outside which the true doctrine was +exposed to danger. (_b_) But it was not a specially Mahayanist meeting +but rather a conference of peace and compromise. Taranatha says this +clearly: in Hsuean Chuang's account an assembly of Arhats (which at +this time must have meant Hinayanists) elect a president who was not +an Arhat and according to Paramartha the assembly consisted of 500 +Arhats and 500 Bodhisattvas who were convened by a leader of the +Sarvastivadin school and ended by requesting Asvaghosha to revise +their work. (_c_) The literary result of the council was the +composition of commentaries on the three Pitakas. One of these, the +Abhidharma-mahavibhasha-sastra, translated into Chinese in 437-9 and +still extant, is said to be a work of encyclopaedic character, hardly a +commentary in the strict sense. Paramartha perhaps made a confusion in +saying that the Jnana-prasthana itself was composed at the council. +The traditions indicate that the council to some extent sifted and +revised the Tripitaka and perhaps it accepted the seven Abhidharma +books of the Sarvastivadins.[199] But it is not stated or implied that +it composed or sanctioned Mahayanist books. Taranatha merely says that +such books appeared at this time and that the Hinayanists raised no +active objection. + +But if the above is the gist of the traditions, the position described +is not clear. The council is recognized by Mahayanists yet it appears +to have resulted in the composition of a Sarvastivadin treatise, and +the tradition connecting the Sarvastivadins with the council is not +likely to be wrong, for they are recognized in the inscription on +Kanishka's casket, and Gandhara and Kashmir were their headquarters. +The decisions of councils are often politic rather than logical and it +may be that the doctors summoned by Kanishka, while compiling +Sarvastivadin treatises, admitted the principle that there is more +than one vehicle which can take mankind to salvation. Perhaps some +compromise based on geography was arranged, such as that Kashmir +should be left to the Sarvastivadin school which had long flourished +there, but that no opposition should be offered to the Mahayanists +elsewhere. + +The relations of the Sarvastivadins to Mahayanism are exceedingly +difficult to define and there are hardly sufficient materials for a +connected account of this once important sect, but I will state some +facts about it which seem certain. + +It is ancient, for the Kathavatthu alludes to its doctrines.[200] It +flourished in Gandhara, Kashmir and Central Asia, and Kanishka's +casket shows that he patronized it.[201] But it appears to have been +hardly known in Ceylon or Southern India. It was the principal +northern form of Hinayanism, just as the Theravada was the southern +form. I-Ching however says that it prevailed in the Malay Archipelago. + +Its doctrines, so far as known, were Hinayanist but it was +distinguished from cognate schools by holding that the external world +can be said to exist and is not merely a continual process of +becoming. It had its own version of the Abhidharma and of the Vinaya. +In the time of Fa-Hsien the latter was still preserved orally and was +not written. The adherents of this school were also called +Vaibhashikas, and Vibhasha was a name given to their exegetical +literature. + +But the association of the Sarvastivadins with Mahayanists is clear +from the council of Kanishka onwards. Many eminent Buddhists began by +being Sarvastivadins and became Mahayanists, their earlier belief +being regarded as preliminary rather than erroneous. Hsuean Chuang +translated the Sarvastivadin scriptures in his old age and I-Ching +belonged to the Mulasarvastivadin school;[202] yet both authors write +as if they were devout Mahayanists. The Tibetan Church is generally +regarded as an extreme form of Mahayanism but its Vinaya is that of +the Sarvastivadins. + +Though the Sarvastivadins can hardly have accepted idealist +metaphysics, yet the evidence of art and their own version of the +Vinaya make it probable that they tolerated a moderate amount of +mythology, and the Mahayanists, who like all philosophers were obliged +to admit the provisional validity of the external world, may also have +admitted their analysis of the same as provisionally valid. The +strength of the Hinayanist schools lay in the Vinaya. The Mahayanists +showed a tendency to replace it by legends and vague if noble +aspirations. But a code of discipline was necessary for large +monasteries and the code of the Sarvastivadins enjoyed general esteem +in Central Asia and China. + +Three stages in the history of Indian Buddhism are marked by the names +of Asvaghosha, Nagarjuna and the two brothers Asanga and Vasubandhu. +It would be easier to give a precise description of its development if +we were sure which of the works ascribed to these worthies are +authentic, but it seems that Asvaghosha represents an ornate and +transitional phase of the older schools leading to Mahayanism, whereas +Nagarjuna is connected with the Prajna-paramita and the nihilistic +philosophy described in the preceding chapter. Asanga was the founder +of the later and more scholastic system called Yogacara and is also +associated with a series of revelations said to have been made by +Maitreya. + +As mentioned above, tradition makes Asvaghosha,[203] one of the most +brilliant among Sanskrit writers, live at the court of Kanishka[204] +and according to some accounts he was given to the Kushans as part of +a war indemnity. The tradition[205] is confirmed by the style and +contents of his poems and it has been noted by Foucher that his +treatment of legends is in remarkable accord with their artistic +presentment in the Gandharan sculptures. Also fragmentary manuscripts +of his dramas discovered in Central Asia appear to date from the +Kushan epoch. Asvaghosha's rank as a poet depends chiefly on his +Buddhacarita, or life of the Buddha up to the time of his +enlightenment. It is the earliest example of a Kavya, usually +translated as artificial epic, but here literary skill is subservient +to the theme and does not, as too often in later works, overwhelm it. +The Buddha is its hero, as Rama of the Ramayana, and it sings the +events of his earlier life in a fine flow of elaborate but impassioned +language. Another of his poems,[206] discovered only a few years ago, +treats of the conversion of Nanda, the Buddha's half-brother. + +Various other works are ascribed to Asvaghosha and for the history of +Buddhism it is of great interest to decide whether he was really the +author of _The Awakening of Faith_. This skilful exposition of a +difficult theme is worthy of the writer of the Buddhacarita but other +reasons make his authorship doubtful, for the theology of the work may +be described as the full-blown flower of Mahayanism untainted by +Tantrism. It includes the doctrines of Bhuta-tathata, Alaya-vijnana, +Tathagatagarbha and the three bodies of Buddha. It would be dangerous +to say that these ideas did not exist in the time of Kanishka, but +what is known of the development of doctrine leads us to expect their +full expression not then but a century or two later and other +circumstances raise suspicions as to Asvaghosha's authorship. His +undoubted works were translated into Chinese about 400 A.D. but _The +Awakening of Faith_ a century and a half later.[207] Yet if this +concise and authoritative compendium had existed in 400, it is strange +that the earlier translators neglected it. It is also stated that an +old Chinese catalogue of the Tripitaka does not name Asvaghosha as the +author.[208] + +The undoubted works of Asvaghosha treat the Buddha with ornate but +grave rhetoric as the hero of an epic. His progress is attended by +miracles such as Indian taste demands, but they hardly exceed the +marvels recounted in the Pali scriptures and there is no sign that the +hero is identified, as in the Ramayana of Tulsi Das or the Gospel +according to St. John, with the divine spirit. The poet clearly feels +personal devotion to a Saviour. He dwells on the duty of teaching +others and not selfishly seeking one's own salvation, but he does not +formulate dogmas. + +The name most definitely connected with the early promulgation of +Mahayanism is Nagarjuna.[209] A preponderance of Chinese tradition +makes him the second patriarch after Asvaghosha[210] and this agrees +with the Kashmir chronicle which implies that he lived soon after +Kanishka.[211] He probably flourished in the latter half of the second +century. But his biographies extant in Chinese and Tibetan are almost +wholly mythical, even crediting him with a life of several centuries, +and the most that can be hoped is to extract a few grains of history +from them. He is said to have been by birth a Brahman of Vidarbha +(Berar) and to have had as teacher a Sudra named Saraha or +Rahulabhadra. When the legend states that he visited the Nagas in the +depths of the sea and obtained books from them, it seems to admit that +he preached new doctrines. It is noticeable that he is represented not +only as a philosopher but as a great magician, builder, physician, and +maker of images. + +Many works are attributed to him but they have not the same +authenticity as the poems of Asvaghosha. Some schools make him the +author of the Prajna-paramita but it is more usually regarded as a +revelation. The commentary on it known as Maha-prajna-paramita-sastra +is generally accepted as his work. A consensus of tradition makes him +the author of the Madhyamika[212] aphorisms of which some account has +been given above. It is the principal authority of its school and is +provided with a commentary attributed to the author himself and with a +later one by Candrakirti.[213] There is also ascribed to him a work +called the Suhrillekha or friendly letter, a compendium of Buddhist +doctrines, addressed to an Indian king.[214] This work is old for it +was translated into Chinese in 434 A.D. and is a homily for laymen. It +says nothing of the Madhyamika philosophy and most of it deals with +the need of good conduct and the terrors of future punishment, quite +in the manner of the Hinayana. But it also commends the use of images +and incense in worship, it mentions Avalokita and Amitabha and it +holds up the ideal of attaining Buddhahood. Nagarjuna's authorship is +not beyond dispute but these ideas may well represent a type of +popular Buddhism slightly posterior to Asvaghosha.[215] + +In most lists of patriarchs Nagarjuna is followed by Deva, also called +Aryadeva, Kanadeva or Nilanetra. I-Ching mentions him among the older +teachers and a commentary on his principal work, the Satasastra, is +attributed to Vasubandhu.[216] Little is known of his special teaching +but he is regarded as an important doctor and his pupil Dharmatrata is +also important if not as an author at least as a compiler, for +Sanskrit collections of verses corresponding to the Pali Dhammapada +are ascribed to him. Aryadeva was a native of southern India.[217] + +The next epoch in the history of Buddhism is marked by the names of +Asanga and Vasubandhu. The interval between them and Deva produced no +teacher of importance, but Kumaralabdha, the founder of the +Sautrantika school and perhaps identical with Kumarata the eighteenth +Patriarch of the Chinese lists, may be mentioned. Hsuean Chuang +says[218] that he was carried off in captivity by a king who reigned +somewhere in the east of the Pamirs and that he, Asvaghosha, Nagarjuna +and Deva were styled the four shining suns. + +Asanga and Vasubandhu were brothers, sons of a Brahman who lived at +Peshawar. They were both converted from the Sarvastivadin school to +Mahayanism, but the third brother Virincivatsa never changed his +convictions. Tradition connects their career with Ayodhya as well as +with Peshawar and Vasubandhu enjoyed the confidence of the reigning +monarch, who was probably Candragupta I. This identification depends +on the hypothesis that Vasubandhu lived from about 280 to 360 A.D. +which, as already mentioned, seems to me to have been proved by M. +Peri.[219] The earlier Gupta kings though not Buddhists were tolerant, +as is shown by the fact that the king of Ceylon[220] was allowed to +erect a magnificent monastery at Nalanda in the reign of Samudragupta +(_c_. 330-375 A.D.). + +Asanga founded the school known as Yogacara and many authorities +ascribe to him the introduction of magical practices and Tantrism. But +though he is a considerable figure in the history of Buddhism, I doubt +if his importance or culpability is so great as this. For if tradition +can be trusted, earlier teachers especially Nagarjuna dealt in spells +and invocations and the works of Asanga[221] known to us are +characterized by a somewhat scholastic piety and are chiefly occupied +in defining and describing the various stages in the spiritual +development of a Bodhisattva. It is true that he admits the use of +magical formulae[222] as an aid in this evolution but they form only a +slight part of his system and it does not appear that the Chen-yen or +Shingon sect of the Far East (the Sanskrit Mantrayana) traced its +lineage back to him. + +Our estimate of his position in the history of Buddhism must depend on +our opinion as to the authorship of _The Awakening of Faith_. If this +treatise was composed by Asvaghosha then doctrines respecting the +three bodies of Buddha, the Tathagatagarbha and the Alaya-vijnana +were not only known but scientifically formulated considerably before +Asanga. The conclusion cannot be rejected as absurd--for Asvaghosha +might speak differently in poems and in philosophical treatises--but +it is surprising, and it is probable that the treatise is not his. If +so, Asanga may have been the first to elaborate systematically (though +not to originate) the idea that thought is the one and only reality. +Nagarjuna's nihilism was probably the older theory. It sounds late and +elaborate but still it follows easily if the dialectic of Gotama is +applied uncompromisingly not only to our mental processes but to the +external world. Yet even in India the result was felt to be fantastic +and sophistical and it is not surprising if after the lapse of a few +generations a new system of idealism became fashionable which, +although none too intelligible, was abstruse rather than paradoxical. + +Asanga was alleged to have received revelations from Maitreya and five +of his works are attributed to this Bodhisattva who enjoyed +considerable honour at this period. It may be that the veneration for +the Buddha of the future, the Messiah who would reign over his saints +in a pure land, owed something to Persian influence which was strong +in India during the decadence of the Kushans.[223] Both Mithraism and +Manichaeism classified their adepts in various ranks, and the Yogacara +doctors who delight in grading the progress of the Bodhisattva may +have borrowed something from them.[224] Asanga's doctrine of +defilement (klesa) and purification may also owe something to Mani, as +suggested by S. Levi. + +In spite of his literary merits Asanga remains a doctor rather than a +saint or poet.[225] His speculations have little to do with either +Gotama or Amitabha and he was thus not in living touch with either the +old or new schools. His brother Vasubandhu had perhaps a greater +position. He is reckoned as the twentieth Patriarch and Tibetan +tradition connects him with the worship of Amitabha.[226] + +Paramartha's life of Vasubandhu represents him as having frequented +the court of Vikramaditya (to be identified with Candragupta I), who +at first favoured the Sankhya philosophy but accorded some patronage +to Buddhism. During this period Vasubandhu was a Sarvastivadin but of +liberal views[227] and while in this phase wrote the Abhidharma-kosa, +a general exposition of the Abhidharma, mainly according to the views +of the Vaibhashikas but not without criticism. This celebrated work is +not well known in Europe[228] but is still a text-book amongst +Japanese Buddhist students. It gained the esteem of all schools and we +are given to understand that it presupposed the philosophy of the +Vibhasha and of the Jnana-prasthana. According to Paramartha the +original work consisted of 600 aphorisms in verse which were sent by +the author to the monks of Kashmir. They approved of the composition +but, as the aphorisms were concise, asked for fuller explanations. +Vasubandhu then expanded his verses into a prose commentary, but +meanwhile his views had undergone a change and when he disapproved of +any Vaibhashika doctrine, he criticized it. This enlarged edition by +no means pleased the brethren of Kashmir and called forth polemics. He +also wrote a controversial work against the Sankhya philosophy. + +Late in life Vasubandhu, moved by the entreaties of his brother +Asanga, became a devout Mahayanist and wrote in his old age +Mahayanist treatises and commentaries.[229] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 187: The uncertainty as to the date of Kanishka naturally +makes it uncertain whether he was the hero of these conquests. Kashmir +was certainly included in the dominions of the Kushans and was a +favourite residence of Kanishka. About 90 A.D. a Kushan king attacked +Central Asia but was repulsed by the Chinese general Pan-Ch'ao. Later, +after the death of Pan-Ch'ao (perhaps about 103 A.D.), he renewed the +attempt and conquered Kashgar, Yarkand and Khotan. See Vincent Smith, +_Early History of India_, 3rd ed. pp. 253 ff.] + +[Footnote 188: See Fa-Hsien, ed. Legge, p. 33, _B.E.F.E.O._ 1903 (Sung +Yuen), pp. 420 ff. Watters, _Yuean Chwang_, I. pp. 204 ff. _J.R.A.S._ +1909, p. 1056, 1912, p. 114. For the general structure of these stupas +see Foucher, _L'art Greco-Bouddhique du Gandhara_, pp. 45 ff.] + +[Footnote 189: _J.R.A.S._ 1909, p. 1058. "Acaryanam Sarvastivadinam +pratigrahe."] + +[Footnote 190: Similarly Harsha became a Buddhist late in life.] + +[Footnote 191: Watters, vol. I. p. 203. He places Kanishka's accession +400 years after the death of the Buddha, which is one of the arguments +for supposing Kanishka to have reigned about 50 B.C., but in another +passage (Watters, I. 222, 224) he appears to place it 500 years after +the death.] + +[Footnote 192: Watters, vol. I. 270-1.] + +[Footnote 193: But Taranatha says some authorities held that it met at +Jalandhara. Some Chinese works say it was held at Kandahar.] + +[Footnote 194: Walters, _l.c._] + +[Footnote 195: Translated by Takakusu in _T'oung Pao_, 1904, pp. 269 +ff. Paramartha was a native of Ujjain who arrived at Nanking in 548 +and made many translations, but it is quite possible that this life of +Vasubandhu is not a translation but original notes of his own.] + +[Footnote 196: Chinese expressions like "in the five hundred years +after the Buddha's death" probably mean the period 400-500 of the era +commencing with the Buddha's death and not the period 500-600. The +period 1-100 is "the one hundred years," 101-200 "the two hundred +years" and so on. See _B.E.F.E.O._ 1911, 356. But it must be +remembered that the date of the Buddha's death is not yet certain. The +latest theory (Vincent Smith, 1919) places it in 554 B.C.] + +[Footnote 197: Chap. XII.] + +[Footnote 198: See Watters, I. pp. 222, 224 and 270. It is worth +noting that Hsuean Chuang says Asoka lived one hundred years after the +Buddha's death. See Watters, I. p. 267. See also the note of S. Levi +in _J.R.A.S._ 1914, pp. 1016-1019, citing traditions to the effect +that there were 300 years between Upagupta, the teacher of Asoka, and +Kanishka, who is thus made to reign about 31 A.D. On the other hand +Kanishka's chaplain Sangharaksha is said to have lived 700 years after +the Buddha.] + +[Footnote 199: See Takakusu in _J.P.T.S._ 1905, pp. 67 ff. For the +Sarvastivadin Canon, see my chapter on the Chinese Tripitaka.] + +[Footnote 200: See above, vol. I. p. 262. For an account of the +doctrines see also Vasilief, 245 ff. Rockhill, _Life of the Buddha_, +pp. 190 ff.] + +[Footnote 201: Its connection with Gandhara and Kashmir is plainly +indicated in its own scriptures. See Przyluski's article on "Le +Nord-Ouest de l'Inde dans le Vinaya des Mula-sarvastivadins," _J.A._ +1914, II. pp. 493 ft. This Vinaya must have received considerable +additions as time went on and in its present form is posterior to +Kanishka.] + +[Footnote 202: The distinction between Sarvastivadin and +Mulasarvastivadin is not clear to me. I can only suggest that when a +section of the school accepted the Mahavibhasha and were known as +Vaibhashikas others who approved of the school chiefly on account of +its excellent Vinaya called themselves Primitive Sarvastivadins.] + +[Footnote 203: See Sylvain Levi, _J.A._ 1908, XII. 57 ff., and +Winternitz, _Ges. Ind. Lit._ II. i. pp. 201 ff.] + +[Footnote 204: The only reason for doubting it is that two stories +(Nos. 14 and 31) in the Sutralankara (which appears to be a genuine +work) refer to Kanishka as if he had reigned in the past. This may be +a poetic artifice or it may be that the stories are interpolations. +See for the traditions Watters on _Yuean Chwang_, II. 102-4 and +Takakusu in _J.R.A.S._ 1905, p. 53 who quotes the Chinese +Samyukta-ratna-pitaka-sutra and the Record of Indian Patriarchs. The +Chinese list of Patriarchs is compatible with the view that Asvaghosha +was alive about 125 A.D. for he was the twelfth Patriarch and +Bodhidharma the twenty-eighth visited China in 520. This gives about +400 years for sixteen Patriarchs, which is possible, for these +worthies were long-lived. But the list has little authority.] + +[Footnote 205: The traditions are conveniently collected in the +introduction to Teitaro Suzuki's translation of _The Awakening of +Faith._] + +[Footnote 206: The Saundaranandakavya.] + +[Footnote 207: See Nanjio, Nos. 1182, 1351, 1250, 1299. It is +noticeable that the translator Paramartha shows a special interest in +the life and works of Asanga and Vasubandhu.] + +[Footnote 208: See Winternitz, _Ges. Ind. Lit._ II. i. p. 211. It is +also noticeable that _The Awakening of Faith_ appears to quote the +Lankavatara sutra which is not generally regarded as an early +Mahayanist work.] + +[Footnote 209: Nagarjuna cannot have been the founder of the Mahayana +for in his Maha-prajna-paramita-sastra (Nanjio, 1169, translation by +Kumarajiva) he cites _inter alia_ the Lotus, the Vimalakirti-sutra, +and a work called Mahayana-sastra. See _B.E.F.E.O._ 1911, p. 453. For +Nagarjuna see especially Gruenwedel, _Mythologie_, pp. 29 ff. and the +bibliography given in the notes. _Jour. Budd. Text. Soc._ V. part iv. +pp. 7 ff. Watters, _Yuean Chwang_, pp. 200 ff. Taranatha, chap. XV and +Winternitz, _Ges. Ind. Lit._ II. i. pp. 250 ff.] + +[Footnote 210: He is omitted from the list of Buddhabhadra, giving the +succession according to the Sarvastivadins, to which school he did not +belong. I-Ching classes him with Asvaghosha and Aryadeva as belonging +to the early period.] + +[Footnote 211: Rajatarangini, i. 173, 177.] + +[Footnote 212: Edited in the _Bibliotheca Buddhica_ by De la Vallee +Poussin and (in part) in the _Journal of the Buddhist Text Soc._ See +too Walleser, _Die Mittlere Lehre des Nagarjuna nach der Tibetischen +Version uebertragen_, 1911: _nach der Chinesischen Version uebertragen_, +1912.] + +[Footnote 213: The ascription of these works to Nagarjuna is probably +correct for they were translated by Kumarajiva who was sufficiently +near him in date to be in touch with good tradition.] + +[Footnote 214: The name of this king, variously given as Udayana, +Jetaka and Satavahana, has not been identified with certainty from the +various transcriptions and translations in the Chinese and Tibetan +versions. See _J. Pali Text Soc._ for 1886 and I-Ching _Records of the +Buddhist Religion_ (trans. Takakusu), pp. 158 ff. The Andhra kings who +reigned from about 240 B.C. to 225 A.D. all claimed to belong to the +Satavahana dynasty. The stupa of Amaravati in the Andhra territory is +surrounded by a stone railing ascribed to the period 160-200 A.D. and +Nagarjuna may have addressed a pious king living about that time.] + +[Footnote 215: For other works attributed to Nagarjuna see Nanjio, +Nos. 1169, 1179, 1180, 1186 and Walleser's introduction to _Mittlere +Lehre nach der Chinesischen Version_ The Dharmasangraha, a Sanskrit +theological glossary, is also attributed to Nagarjuna as well as the +tantric work Pancakrama. But it is not likely that the latter dates +from his epoch.] + +[Footnote 216: Nanjio, No. 1188.] + +[Footnote 217: The very confused legends about him suggest a +comparison with the Dravidian legend of a devotee who tore out one of +his eyes and offered it to Siva. See Gruenwedel, _Mythologie_, p. 34 +and notes. Polemics against various Hinayanist sects are ascribed to +him. See Nanjio, Nos. 1259, 1260.] + +[Footnote 218: Watters, _Yuean Chwang_, II. p. 286. Hsuean Chuang does +not say that the four were contemporary but that in the time of +Kumaralabdha they were called the four Suns.] + +[Footnote 219: For Asanga and Vasubandhu see Peri in _B.E.F.E.O._ +1911, pp. 339-390. Vincent Smith in _Early History of India_, third +edition, pp. 328-334. Winternitz, _Ges. Ind. Lit._ II. i. p. 256. +Watters, _Yuean Chwang_, I. pp. 210, 355-359. Taranatha, chap. XXII. +Gruenwedel, _Mythologie_, p. 35.] + +[Footnote 220: Meghavarman. See V. Smith, _l.c._ 287.] + +[Footnote 221: Two have been preserved in Sanskrit: the +Mahayana-sutralankara (Ed. V. Transl., S. Levi, 1907-1911) and the +Bodhisattva-bhumi (English summary in _Museon_, 1905-6). A brief +analysis of the literature of the Yogacara school according to Tibetan +authorities is given by Stcherbatskoi in _Museon_, 1905, pp. 144-155.] + +[Footnote 222: Mahayana-sutral. XVIII. 71-73. The ominous word +_maithuna_ also occurs in this work, XVIII. 46.] + +[Footnote 223: Vincent Smith, _l.c._ p. 275.] + +[Footnote 224: But there are of course abundant Indian precedents, +Brahmanical as well as Buddhist, for describing various degrees of +sanctity or knowledge.] + +[Footnote 225: The wooden statues of Asanga and Vasubandhu preserved +in the Kofukaji at Nara are masterpieces of art but can hardly claim +to be other than works of imagination. They date from about 800 A.D. +See for an excellent reproduction Tajima's _Select Relics_, II. X.] + +[Footnote 226: See Eitel and Gruenwedel, but I do not know in what +texts this tradition is found. It is remarkable that Paramartha's life +(_T'oung Pao_, 1904, pp. 269-296) does not say either that he was +twentieth patriarch or that he worshipped Amida.] + +[Footnote 227: On receiving a large donation he built three +monasteries, one for Hinayanists, one for Mahayanists and one for +nuns.] + +[Footnote 228: The work consists of 600 verses (Karika) with a lengthy +prose commentary (Bhashya) by the author. The Sanskrit original is +lost but translations have been preserved in Chinese (Nanjio, Nos. +1267, 1269, 1270) and Tibetan (see Cordier, _Cat. du Fonds tibetain de +la Bib. Nat._ 1914, pp. 394, 499). But the commentary on the Bhashya +called Abhidharma-kosa-vyakhya, or Sphutartha, by Yasomitra has been +preserved in Sanskrit in Nepal and frequently cites the verses as well +as the Bhashya in the original Sanskrit. A number of European savants +are at present occupied with this literature and Sir Denison Ross (to +whom I am indebted for much information) contemplates the publication +of an Uigur text of Book I found in Central Asia. At present (1920), +so far as I know, the only portion of the Abhidharma-kosa in print is +De la Vallee Poussin's edition and translation of Book III, containing +the Tibetan and Sanskrit texts but not the Chinese (De la Vallee +Poussin--_Vasubandhu et Yasomitra_, London, 1914-18). This chapter +deals with such topics as the structure of the universe, the manner +and place of rebirth, the chain of causation, the geography of the +world, the duration and characteristics of Kalpas, and the appearance +of Buddhas and Cakravartins.] + +[Footnote 229: See Nanjio, pp. 371-2, for a list of his works +translated into Chinese. Hsuean Chuang's account differs from the above +(which is taken from Paramartha) in details. He also tells a curious +story that Vasubandhu promised to appear to his friends after death +and ultimately did so, though he forgot his promise until people began +to say he had gone to hell.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +INDIAN BUDDHISM AS SEEN BY THE CHINESE PILGRIMS + + +About the time of Vasubandhu there existed four schools of Indian +Buddhism called Vaibhashika, Sautrantika, Madhyamika and Yoga or +Yogacara.[230] They were specially concerned with philosophy and +apparently cut across the older division into eighteen sects, which at +this period seem to have differed mainly on points of discipline. +Though not of great practical importance, they long continued to play +a certain part in controversial works both Buddhist and Brahmanic. The +first two which were the older seem to have belonged to the Hinayana +and the other two even more definitely to the Mahayana. I-Ching[231] +is quite clear as to this. "There are but two kinds of the so-called +Mahayana" he says, "first the Madhyamika, second the Yoga.... These +two systems are perfectly in accordance with the noble doctrine. Can +we say which of the two is right? Both equally conform to truth and +lead us to Nirvana" and so on. But he does not say that the other two +systems are also aspects of the truth. This is the more remarkable +because he himself followed the Mula-sarvastivadins. Apparently +Sarvastivadin and Vaibhashika were different names for the same +school, the latter being applied to them because they identified +themselves with the commentary (Vibhasha) already mentioned whereas +the former and older designation came to be used chiefly with +reference to their disciplinary rules. Also there were two groups of +Sarvastivadins, those of Gandhara and those of Kashmir. The name of +Vaibhashika was applied chiefly to the latter who, if we may find a +kernel of truth in legends which are certainly exaggerated, +endeavoured to make Kashmir a holy land with a monopoly of the pure +doctrine. Vasubandhu and Asanga appear to have broken up this +isolation for they first preached the Vaibhashika doctrines in a +liberal and eclectic form outside Kashmir and then by a natural +transition and development went over to the Mahayana. But the +Vaibhashikas did not disappear and were in existence even in the +fourteenth century.[232] Their chief tenet was the real existence of +external objects. In matters of doctrine they regarded their own +Abhidharma as the highest authority.[233] They also held that Gotama +had an ordinary human body and passed first into a preliminary form of +Nirvana when he attained Buddhahood and secondly into complete Nirvana +at his death. He was superhuman only in the sense that he had +intuitive knowledge and no need to learn. Their contempt for sutras +may have been due to the fact that many of them discountenance the +Vaibhashika views and also to a knowledge that new ones were +continually being composed. + +I-Ching, who ends his work by asserting that all his statements are +according to the Arya-mula-sarvastivada-nikaya and no other, gives an +interesting summary of doctrine. + +"Again I say: the most important are only one or two out of eighty +thousand doctrines of the Buddha: one should conform to the worldly +path but inwardly strive to secure true wisdom. Now what is the +worldly path? It is obeying prohibitive laws and avoiding any crime. +What is the true wisdom? _It is to obliterate the distinction between +subject and object_, to follow the excellent truth and to free oneself +from worldly attachments: to do away with the trammels of the chain of +causality: further to obtain merit by accumulating good works and +_finally to realize the excellent meaning of perfect reality_." + +Such a statement enables us to understand the remark which he makes +elsewhere that the same school may belong to the Hinayana and Mahayana +in different places, for, whatever may be meant by wisdom which aims +at obliterating the difference between subject and object, it is +clearly not out of sympathy with Yogacara doctrines. In another place +where he describes the curriculum followed by monks he says that they +learn the Yogacarya-sastra first and then eight compositions of Asanga +and Vasubandhu. Among the works prescribed for logic is the +Nyayadvara-sastra attributed to Nagarjuna. The monk should learn not +only the Abhidharma of the Sarvastivadins but also the Agamas, +equivalent to the Sutra-pitaka. So the study of the sutras and the +works of Asanga and Vasubandhu is approved by a Sarvastivadin. + +The Sautrantikas,[234] though accounted Hinayanists, mark a step in +the direction of the Mahayana. The founder of the school was +Kumaralabdha, mentioned above. In their estimation of scripture they +reversed the views of the Vaibhashikas, for they rejected the +Abhidharma and accepted only the sutras, arguing that the Abhidharma +was practically an extract from them. As literary criticism this is +correct, if it means that the more ancient sutras are older than the +oldest Abhidharma books. But the indiscriminate acceptance of sutras +led to a creed in which the supernatural played a larger part. The +Sautrantikas not only ascribed superhuman powers to the Buddha, but +believed in the doctrine of three bodies. In philosophy, though they +were realists, they held that external objects are not perceived +directly but that their existence is inferred.[235] + +Something has already been said of the two other schools, both of +which denied the reality of the external world. The differences +between them were concerned with metaphysics rather than theology and +led to no popular controversies. + +Up to this point the history of Indian Buddhism has proved singularly +nebulous. The most important dates are a matter of argument, the chief +personages half mythical. But when the records of the Chinese pilgrims +commence we are in touch with something more solid. They record dates +and facts, though we must regret that they only repeat what they heard +and make no attempt to criticize Indian traditions or even to weave +them into a connected chronicle. + +Fa-Hsien, the first of these interesting men, left China in 399 and +resided in India from 405 to 411, spending three years at Pataliputra +and two at Tamralipti. He visited the Panjab, Hindustan and Bengal and +his narrative leaves the impression that all these were in the main +Buddhist countries: of the Deccan which he did not visit he heard that +its inhabitants were barbarous and not Buddhists, though it contained +some Buddhist shrines. Of the Middle Kingdom (which according to his +reckoning begins with Muttra) he says that the people are free and +happy and neither kill any living creature nor drink intoxicating +liquor.[236] He does not hint at persecution though he once or twice +mentions that the Brahmans were jealous of the Buddhists. Neither does +he indicate that any strong animosity prevailed between Maha and +Hinayanists. But the two parties were distinct and he notes which +prevailed in each locality. He left China by land and found the +Hinayana prevalent at Shen-shen and Wu-i (apparently localities not +far from Lob-Nor) but the Mahayana at Khotan. Nearer India, in +countries apparently corresponding to parts of Kashmir and Gilgit, the +monks were numerous and all Hinayanist. The same was the case in +Udyana, and in Gandhara the Hinayanists were still in the majority. In +the Panjab both schools were prevalent but the Hinayana evidently +strong. In the district of Muttra the Law was still more flourishing, +monasteries and topes were numerous and ample alms were given to the +monks. He states that the professors of the Abhidharma and Vinaya made +offerings to those works, and the Mahayanists to the book +Prajna-paramita, as well as to Manjusri and Kwan-shih-yin. He found +the country in which are the sacred sites of Sravasti, Kapilavastu and +Kusinara sparsely inhabited and desolate, but this seems to have been +due to general causes, not specially to the decay of religion. He +mentions that ninety-six[237] varieties of erroneous views are found +among the Buddhists, which points to the existence of numerous but not +acutely hostile sects and says that there still existed, apparently in +Kosala, followers of Devadatta who recognized three previous Buddhas +but not Sakyamuni. He visited the birth-places of these three Buddhas +which contained topes erected in their honour. + +He found Magadha prosperous and pious. Of its capital, Patna, he says +"by the side of the topes of Asoka has been made a Mahayana monastery +very grand and beautiful, there is also a Hinayana one, the two +together containing 600 or 700 monks." It is probable that this was +typical of the religious condition of Magadha and Bengal. Both schools +existed but the Mahayana was the more flourishing. Many of the old +sites, such as Rajagriha and Gaya, were deserted but there were new +towns near them and Bodh Gaya was a place of pilgrimage with three +monasteries. In the district of Tamralipti (Tamluk) on the coast of +Bengal were 22 monasteries. As his principal object was to obtain +copies of the Vinaya, he stayed three years in Patna seeking and +copying manuscripts. In this he found some difficulty, for the various +schools of the Vinaya, which he says were divided by trivial +differences only, handed down their respective versions orally. He +found in the Mahayanist monastery one manuscript of the Mahasanghika +rules and considered it the most complete, but also took down the +Sarvastivadin rules. + +After the death of Vasubandhu few names of even moderate magnitude +stand out in the history of Indian Buddhism. The changes which +occurred were great but gradual and due not to the initiative of +innovators but to the assimilative power of Hinduism and to the +attractions of magical and emotional rites. But this tendency, though +it doubtless existed, did not become conspicuous until about 700 A.D. +The accounts of the Chinese pilgrims and the literature which has been +preserved suggest that in the intervening centuries the monks were +chiefly occupied with scholastic and exegetical work. The most +distinguished successors of Asanga were logicians, among whom Dinnaga +was pre-eminent. Sthiramati[238] and Gunamati appear to have belonged +to the same school and perhaps Bhavaviveka[239] too. The statements as +to his date are inconsistent but the interesting fact is recorded that +he utilized the terminology of the Sankhya for the purposes of the +Mahayana. + +Throughout the middle ages the study of logic was pursued but +Buddhists and Jains rather than by Brahmans.[240] Vasubandhu composed +some treatises dealing exclusively with logic but it was his disciple +Dinnaga who separated it definitely from philosophy and theology. As +in idealist philosophy, so in pure logic there was a parallel movement +in the Buddhist and Brahmanic schools, but if we may trust the +statements of Vacaspatimisra (about 1100 A.D.) Dinnaga interpreted +the aphorisms of the Nyaya philosophy in a heterodox or Buddhist +sense. This traces the beginnings of Indian logic to a Brahmanic +source but subsequently it flourished greatly in the hands of +Buddhists, especially Dinnaga and Dharmakirti. The former appears to +have been a native of Conjevaram and a contemporary of Kalidasa. Both +the logician and the poet were probably alive in the reign of +Kumaragupta (413-455). Dinnaga spent much time in Nalanda, and though +the Sanskrit originals of his works are lost the Tibetan +translations[241] are preserved. + +The Buddhist schools of logic continued for many centuries. One +flourished in Kashmir and another, founded by Candragomin, in Bengal. +Both lasted almost until the Mohammedan conquest of the two countries. + +From about 470 to 530 A.D. northern India groaned under the tyranny of +the Huns. Their King Mihiragula is represented as a determined enemy +of Buddhism and a systematic destroyer of monasteries. He is said to +have been a worshipper of Siva but his fury was probably inspired less +by religious animosity than by love of pillage and slaughter. + +About 530 A.D. he was defeated by a coalition of Indian princes and +died ten years later amid storms and portents which were believed to +signify the descent of his wicked soul into hell. It must have been +about this time that Bodhidharma left India for he arrived in Canton +about 520. According to the Chinese he was the son of a king of a +country called Hsiang-Chih in southern India[242] and the +twenty-eighth patriarch and he became an important figure in the +religion and art of the Far East. But no allusion to him or to any of +the Patriarchs after Vasubandhu has been found in Indian literature +nor in the works of Hsuean Chuang and I-Ching. The inference is that he +was of no importance in India and that his reputation in China was not +great before the eighth century: also that the Chinese lists of +patriarchs do not represent the traditions of northern India. + +Religious feeling often ran high in southern India. Buddhists, Jains +and Hindus engaged in violent disputes, and persecution was more +frequent than in the north. It is easy to suppose that Bodhidharma +being the head of some heretical sect had to fly and followed the +example of many monks in going to China. But if so, no record of his +school is forthcoming from his native land, though the possibility +that he was more than an individual thinker and represented some +movement unknown to us cannot be denied. We might suppose too that +since Nagarjuna and Aryadeva were southerners, their peculiar +doctrines were coloured by Dravidian ideas. But our available +documents indicate that the Buddhism of southern India was almost +entirely Hinayanist, analogous to that of Ceylon and not very +sympathetic to the Tamils. + +The pilgrims Sung-Yuen and Hui-Sheng[243] visited Udyana and Gandhara +during the time of the Hun domination (518-521). They found the king +of the former a pious Buddhist but the latter was governed by an +Ephthalite chieftain, perhaps Mihiragula himself, who was a worshipper +of demons. Of the Yetha or Ephthalites they make the general +observation that "their rules of politeness are very defective." But +they also say that the population of Gandhara had a great respect for +Buddhism and as they took back to China 170 volumes, "all standard +works belonging to the Great Vehicle," the Ephthalite persecution +cannot have destroyed the faith in north-western India. But the evil +days of decay were beginning. Henceforward we have no more pictures of +untroubled piety and prosperity. At best Buddhism receives royal +patronage in company with other religions; sectarian conflicts +increase and sometimes we hear of persecution. About 600 A.D. a king +of Central Bengal named Sasanka who worshipped Siva attempted to +extirpate Buddhism in his dominions and destroyed the Bo tree at Bodh +Gaya.[244] On the other hand we hear of the pious Purnavarman, king +of Magadha, who made amends for these sacrileges, and of Siladitya, +king of the country called Mo-lo-po by the Chinese, who was so careful +of animal life, that he even strained the water drunk by his horses +and elephants, lest they should consume minute insects. + +We know more of Indian Buddhism in the seventh century than in the +periods which precede or follow it. The epoch was marked by the reign +of the great king, or rather emperor, Harsha-Vardhana (606-648 A.D.), +and the works written by Bana, Bhartrihari and others who frequented +his court have come down to us. Also we are fortunate in possessing +the copious narrative of Hsuean Chuang, the greatest of the Chinese +pilgrims, who spent sixteen years (629-645) in India as well as the +work known as the "Record of the Buddhist religion as practised in +India and the Malay Archipelago," composed by I-Ching who travelled in +those countries from 671 to 695. I-Ching also wrote the lives of sixty +Chinese pilgrims who visited India during the seventh century and +probably there were many others of whom we have no record. + +The reign of Harsha is thus illustrated by a number of contemporary +dateable works unusual in India. The king himself wrote some Buddhist +hymns,[245] and three dramas are ascribed to him but were probably +composed by some of the literary men whom he patronized. For all that, +the religious ideas which they contain must have had his approval. The +Ratnavali and Priyadarsika are secular pieces and so far as they have +any religious atmosphere it is Brahmanic, but the Nagananda is a +Buddhist religious drama which opens with an invocation of the Buddha +and has a Jataka story for its plot.[246] Bana was himself a devout +Brahman but his historical romance Harshacarita and his novel called +Kadambari both describe a mixture of religions founded on observation +of contemporary life. In an interesting passage[247] he recounts the +king's visit to a Buddhist ascetic. The influence of the holy man +causes the more intelligent animals in his neighbourhood, such as +parrots, to devote themselves to Buddhist lore, but he is surrounded +by devotees of the most diverse sects, Jains, Bhagavatas, Pancaratras, +Lokayatikas with followers of Kapila, Kanada and many other teachers. +Mayura, another literary protege of Harsha's, was like Bana a Brahman, +and Subandhu, who flourished a little before them, ignores Buddhism in +his romance called Vasavadatta. But Bhartrihari, the still popular +gnomic poet, was a Buddhist. It is true that he oscillated between the +court and the cloister no less than seven times, but this vacillation +seems to have been due to the weakness of the flesh, not to any change +of convictions. For our purpose the gist of this literature is that +Hinduism in many forms, some of them very unorthodox, was becoming the +normal religion of India but that there were still many eminent +Buddhists and that Buddhism had sufficient prestige to attract Harsha +and sufficient life to respond to his patronage. + +About 600 A.D. India was exhausted by her struggle with the Huns. +After it there remained only a multitude of small states and obscure +dynasties, but there was evidently a readiness to accept any form of +unifying and tranquillizing rule and for nearly half a century this +was provided by Harsha. He conquered northern India from the Panjab to +Bengal but failed to subdue the Deccan. Though a great part of his +reign was spent in war, learning and education flourished. Hsuean +Chuang, who was his honoured guest, gives a good account of his +administration but also makes it plain that brigandage prevailed and +that travelling was dangerous. + +After 643 Harsha, who was growing elderly, devoted much attention to +religion and may be said to have become a Buddhist, while allowing +himself a certain eclectic freedom. Several creeds were represented +among his immediate relatives. Devotion to Siva was traditional in the +family: his father had been a zealous worshipper of the Sun and his +brother and sister were Buddhists of the Sammitiya sect. Harsha by no +means disowned Brahmanic worship, but in his latter years his +proclivity to Buddhism became more marked and he endeavoured to +emulate the piety of Asoka. He founded rest houses and hospitals, as +well as monasteries and thousands of stupas. He prohibited the taking +of life and the use of animal food, and of the three periods into +which his day was divided two were devoted to religion and one to +business. He also exercised a surveillance over the whole Buddhist +order and advanced meritorious members. + +Hsuean Chuang has left an interesting account of the religious fetes +and spectacles organized by Harsha. At Kanauj he attended a great +assembly during which a solemn procession took place every day. A +golden image of Buddha was borne on an elephant and Harsha, dressed as +Indra, held a canopy over it, while his ally Raja Kumara,[248] dressed +as Brahma, waved a fly-whisk. It was subsequently washed by the king's +own hands and in the evening his Majesty, who like Akbar had a taste +for religious discussion, listened to the arguments of his Chinese +guest. But the royal instructions that no one was to speak against the +Master of the Law were so peremptory that even his biographer admits +there was no real discussion. These edifying pageants were interrupted +by disagreeable incidents which show that Harsha's tolerance had not +produced complete harmony. A temporary monastery erected for the fetes +caught fire and a fanatic attempted to stab the king. He confessed +under examination that he had been instigated to the crime by Brahmans +who were jealous of the favours which the Buddhists received. It was +also established that the incendiaries were Brahmans and, after the +ringleaders had been punished, five hundred were exiled. Harsha then +proceeded to Allahabad to superintend a quinquennial distribution of +alms. It was his custom to let treasure accumulate for five years and +then to divide it among holy men and the poor. The proceedings lasted +seventy-five days and the concourse which collected to gaze and +receive must have resembled the fair still held on the same spot. +Buddhists, Brahmans and Jains all partook of the royal bounty and the +images of Buddha, Surya and Siva were worshipped on successive days, +though greater honour was shown to the Buddha. The king gave away +everything that he had, even his robes and jewels, and finally, +arrayed in clothes borrowed from his sister, rejoiced saying "all I +have has entered into incorruptible and imperishable treasuries." +After this, adds Hsuean Chuang, the king's vassals offered him jewels +and robes so that the treasury was replenished. This was the sixth +quinquennial distribution which Harsha had held and the last, for he +died in 648. He at first favoured the Hinayana but subsequently went +over to the Mahayana, being moved in part by the exhortations of Hsuean +Chuang. + +Yet the substance of Hsuean Chuang's account is that though Buddhism +was prospering in the Far East it was decaying in India. Against this +can be set instances of royal piety like those described, the fame +enjoyed by the shrines and schools of Magadha and the conversion of +the king of Tibet in 638 A.D. This event was due to Chinese as well as +Indian influence, but would hardly have occurred unless in +north-eastern India Buddhism had been esteemed the religion of +civilization. Still Hsuean Chuang's long catalogue of deserted +monasteries[249] has an unmistakable significance. The decay was most +pronounced in the north-west and south. In Gandhara there were only a +few Buddhists: more than a thousand monasteries stood untenanted and +the Buddha's sacred bowl had vanished. In Takshasila the monasteries +were numerous but desolate: in Kashmir the people followed a mixed +faith. Only in Udyana was Buddhism held in high esteem. In Sind the +monks were numerous but indolent. + +No doubt this desolation was largely due to the depredations of +Mihiragula. In the Deccan and the extreme south there was also a +special cause, namely the prevalence of Jainism, which somewhat later +became the state religion in several kingdoms. In Kalinga, Andhra and +the kingdom of the Colas the pilgrim reports that Jains were very +numerous but counts Buddhist monasteries only by tens and twenties. In +Dravida there were also 10,000 monks of the Sthavira school but in +Malakuta among many ruined monasteries only a few were still inhabited +and here again Jains were numerous. + +For all Central India and Bengal the pilgrim's statistics tell the +same tale, namely that though Buddhism was represented both by +monasteries and monks, the Deva-temples and unbelievers were also +numerous. The most favourable accounts are those given of Kanauj, +Ayodhya and Magadha where the sacred sites naturally caused the devout +to congregate. + +The statistics which he gives as to sects are interesting.[250] The +total number of monks amounted to about 183,000. Of these only 32,000 +belonged definitely to the Mahayana: more than 96,000 to the Hinayana, +and 54,500 studied both systems or at any rate resided in monasteries +which tolerated either course of study. Some writers speak as if +after our era Mahayanism was predominant in India and the Hinayana +banished to its extreme confines such as Ceylon and Kashmir. Yet about +A.D. 640 this zealous Mahayanist[251] states that half the monks of +India were definitely Hinayanist while less than a fifth had equally +definite Mahayanist convictions. The Mahayana laid less stress on +monasticism than the Hinayana and therefore its strength may have lain +among the laity, but even so the admitted strength of the Hinayana is +remarkable. Three Hinayanist schools are frequently mentioned, the +Sthaviras, Sarvastivadins and Sammitiyas. The first are the well-known +Sinhalese sect and were found chiefly in the south (Conjeevaram) and +in East Bengal, besides the monks of the Sinhalese monastery at Gaya. +The Sarvastivadins were found, as their history would lead us to +expect, chiefly in the north and beyond the frontiers of India proper. +But both were outnumbered by the Sammitiyas, who amounted to nearly +44,000 monks. The chief doctrine[252] of this sect is said to have +been that individuals (puggalo) exist as such in the truest sense. +This doctrine was supported by reference to the sutra known as the +Burden and the Burden bearer.[253] It does not assert that there is a +permanent and unchangeable soul (atta) but it emphasizes the reality +and importance of that personality which all accept as true for +practical purposes. It is probable that in practice this belief +differed little from the ordinary Brahmanic doctrine of metempsychosis +and this may be one reason for the prevalence of the sect. + +I-Ching, though he does not furnish statistics, gives a clear +conspectus of Buddhist sects as they existed in his time. He starts +from the ancient eighteen sects but divides them into four groups or +Nikayas. (_a_) The Arya-Mahasanghika-nikaya. This comprised seven +subdivisions but was apparently the least influential school as it was +not predominant anywhere, though it coexisted with other schools in +most parts. The Lokottaravadins mentioned by Hsuean Chuang as existing +at Bamiyan belonged to it. They held that the Buddha was not subject +to the laws of nature. (_b_) Arya-Sthavira-nikaya. This is the school +to which our Pali Canon belongs. It was predominant in southern India +and Ceylon and was also found in eastern Bengal. (_c_) The +Arya-Mula-sarvastivada-nikaya with four subdivisions. Almost all +belonged to this school in northern India and it was nourishing in +Magadha. (_d_) The Arya-Sammitiya-nikaya with four subdivisions +flourished in Lata and Sindhu. Thus the last three schools were +preponderant in southern, northern and western India respectively. All +were followed in Magadha, no doubt because the holy places and the +University of Nalanda attracted all shades of opinion, and Bengal +seems to have been similarly catholic. This is substantially the same +as Hsuean Chuang's statement except that I-Ching takes a more +favourable view of the position of the Sarvastivada, either because it +was his own school or because its position had really improved. + +It would seem that in the estimation of both pilgrims the Maha-and +Hinayana are not schools but modes in which any school can be studied. +The Nikaya[254] or school appears to have been chiefly, though not +exclusively, concerned with the rule of discipline which naturally had +more importance for Buddhist monks than it has for European scholars. +The observances of each Nikaya were laid down in its own recension of +the scriptures which was sometimes oral and sometimes in writing. +Probably all the eighteen schools had separate Vinayas, and to some +extent they had different editions of the other Pitakas, for the +Sarvastivadins had an Abhidharma of their own. But there was no +objection to combining the study of Sarvastivadin literature with the +reading of treatises by Asanga and Vasubandhu[255] or sutras such as +the Lotus, which I-Ching's master read once a day for sixty years. +I-Ching himself seems to regard the two Vehicles as alternative forms +of religion, both excellent in their way, much as a Catholic +theologian might impartially explain the respective advantages of the +active and contemplative lives. "With resolutions rightly formed" he +says "we should look forward to meeting the coming Buddha Maitreya. If +we wish to gain the lesser fruition (of the Hinayana) we may pursue it +through the eight grades of sanctification. But if we learn to follow +the course of the greater fruition (of the Mahayana) we must try to +accomplish our work through long ages."[256] + +I-Ching observes that both Vehicles agree in prescribing the same +discipline, in prohibiting the same offences and enjoining the +practice of the noble truths. His views, which are substantially +those of Hsuean Chuang,[257] must be those current in the seventh +century when the Hinayana was allowing the Mahayana to overgrow it +without resistance, but the relations of the two creeds are sometimes +stated differently. For instance the Angulimaliya sutra,[258] known +only in a Tibetan translation, states that whereas for the Hinayana +such formulae as the four truths and the eightfold path are of cardinal +importance, the Mahayana does not recognize them, and it is +undoubtedly true that the Vaipulya sutras frequently ignore the +familiar doctrines of early Buddhism and hint that they belong to a +rudimentary stage of instruction. + +I-Ching makes no mention of persecution but he deplores the decay of +the faith. "The teaching of the Buddha is becoming less prevalent in +the world from day to day" he says. "When I compare what I have +witnessed in my younger days and what I see to-day in my old age, the +state is altogether different and we are bearing witness to this and +it is hoped we shall be more attentive in future." Though he speaks +regretfully of lax or incorrect discipline, he does not complain of +the corruption of the faith by Tantrism and magical practices. He does +however deprecate in an exceedingly curious passage the prevalence of +religious suicide.[259] + +Except for progressive decay, the condition of Indian Buddhism as +described by the two pilgrims is much the same. Meals were supplied to +monks in the monasteries and it was no longer usual to beg for food in +the streets, since the practice is mentioned by I-Ching as +exceptional. On Upavasatha days it was the custom for the pious laity +to entertain the monks and the meal was sometimes preceded by a +religious service performed before an image and accompanied by music. +I-Ching describes the musical services with devout enthusiasm. "The +priests perform the ordinary service late in the afternoon or in the +evening twilight. They come out of the monastery and walk three times +round a stupa, offering incense and flowers. Then they all kneel down +and one of them who sings well begins to chant hymns describing the +virtues of the great Teacher and continues to sing ten or twenty +slokas. They then return to the place in the monastery where they +usually assemble and, when all have sat down, a reciter mounting the +lion-seat (which is near the head priest) reads a short sutra. Among +the scriptures for such an occasion the 'Service in three parts' is +often used. This is a selection of Asvaghosha. The first part contains +ten slokas of a hymn. The second part is a selection from some +scripture consisting of the Buddha's words. Then there is an +additional hymn as the third part of the service, of more than ten +slokas, being prayers that express the wish to bring one's merits to +maturity. After the singing the assembled Bhikshus exclaim Subhashita +or Sadhu, that is well-said or bravo. The reader descends and the +Bhikshus in order salute the lion-seat, the seats of Bodhisattvas and +Arhats, and the superior of the monastery."[260] + +I-Ching also tells us of the ceremonial bathing of images and prefaces +his description by the remark that "the meaning of the Truths is so +profound that it is a matter beyond the comprehension of vulgar minds +while the ablution of the holy images is practicable for all. Though +the Great Teacher has entered Nirvana yet his image exists and we +should worship it with zeal as though in his presence. Those who +constantly offer incense and flowers to it are enabled to purify their +thoughts and those who perpetually bathe his image are enabled to +overcome the sins that involve them in darkness."[261] He appears to +contemplate chiefly the veneration of images of Sakyamuni but figures +of Bodhisattvas were also conspicuous features in temples, as we know +not only from archaeology but from the biography of Hsuean Chuang, where +it is said that worshippers used to throw flowers and silk scarves at +the image of Avalokita and draw auguries from the way they fell. + +Monasteries were liberally decorated with statues, carvings and +pictures.[262] They often comprised several courts and temples. Hsuean +Chuang says that a monastery in Magadha which he calls Ti-lo-shi-ka +had "four courts with three storeyed halls, lofty terraces and a +succession of open passages.... At the head of the road through the +middle gate were three temples with disks on the roof and hung with +small bells; the bases were surrounded by balustrades, and doors, +windows, beams, walls, and stairs were ornamented with gilt work in +relief." In the three temples were large images representing the +Buddha, Tara and Avalokita. + +The great centres of Buddhist learning and monastic life, mentioned by +both pilgrims, were Valabhi or Balabhi in Gujarat and Nalanda. The +former was a district rather than a single locality and contained 100 +monasteries with 6000 monks of the Sammitiya school. Nalanda was in +Magadha not far from Gaya. The date of its foundation is unknown but a +great temple (though apparently not the first) was built about 485 +A.D.[263] Fa-Hsien mentions a village called Nala but without +indicating that it was a seat of learning. Hence it is probable that +the University was not then in existence or at least not celebrated. +Hsuean Chuang describes it as containing six monasteries built by +various kings and surrounded by an enclosing wall in which there was +only one gate. I-Ching writing later says that the establishment owned +200 villages and contained eight halls with more than 3000 monks. In +the neighbourhood of the monastery were a hundred sacred spots, +several marked by temples and topes. It was a resort for Buddhists +from all countries and an educational as well as a religious centre. +I-Ching says that students spent two or three years there in learning +and disputing after which they went to the king's court in search of a +government appointment. Successful merit was rewarded not only by rank +but by grants of land. Both pilgrims mention the names of several +celebrities connected with Nalanda. But the worthies of the seventh +century did not attain to more than scholastic eminence. The most +important literary figure of the age is Santideva of whose life +nothing is known. His writings however prove that the Buddhism of this +period was not a corrupt superstition, but could inspire and nourish +some of the most beautiful thoughts which the creed has produced. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 230: See Vasilief, _Le Bouddhisme_, Troisieme supplement, +pp. 262 ff. Koeppen, _Rel. des Buddha_, I. 151. Takakusu in _J. Pali +Text Society_, 1905, pp. 67-146.] + +[Footnote 231: _Records_, translated by Takakusu, p. 15.] + +[Footnote 232: They are mentioned in the Sarva-darsana-sangraha.] + +[Footnote 233: Kern (_Indian Buddhism_, p. 126) says they rejected the +authority of the Sutras altogether but gives no reference.] + +[Footnote 234: See Vasilief, pp. 301 ff. and various notices in Hsuean +Chuang and Watters. Also de la Vallee Poussin's article in E.R.E.] + +[Footnote 235: Hsuean Chuang informs us that when he was in Srughna he +studied the Vibhasha of the Sautrantikas, but the precise significance +of this term is not plain.] + +[Footnote 236: Fa-Hsien's _Travels_, chap. XVI.] + +[Footnote 237: This figure is probably deduced from some artificial +calculation of possible heresies like the 62 wrong views enumerated in +the Brahma-Jala sutra.] + +[Footnote 238: He must have lived in the fourth century as one of his +works (Nanjio, 1243) was translated between 397 and 439.] + +[Footnote 239: Watters, _Yuean Chwang_, II. 221-224. Nanjio, 1237. The +works of Gunamati also are said to show a deep knowledge of the +Sankhya philosophy.] + +[Footnote 240: For the history of logic in India, see Vidyabhusana's +interesting work _Mediaeval School of Indian Logic_, 1909. But I cannot +accept all his dates.] + +[Footnote 241: Dinnaga's principal works are the Pramana-samuccaya +and the Nyaya-pravesa. Hsuean Chuang calls him Ch'en-na. See Watters, +II. 209. See Stcherbatskoi in _Museon_, 1904, pp. 129-171 for +Dinnaga's influence on the development of the Naiyayika and +Vaiseshika schools.] + +[Footnote 242: His personal name is said to have been P'u-ti-to-lo and +his surname Ch'a-ti-li. The latter is probably a corruption of +Kshatriya. Hsiang-Chih possibly represents a name beginning with +Gandha, but I can neither find nor suggest any identification.] + +[Footnote 243: See _B.E.F.E.O._ 1903, pp. 379 ff.] + +[Footnote 244: His evil deeds are several times mentioned by Hsuean +Chuang. It required a miracle to restore the Bo tree.] + +[Footnote 245: See Ettinghausen, _Harshavardhana_, Appendix III.] + +[Footnote 246: The appearance of Gauri as a _dea ex machina_ at the +end hardly shows that Harsha's Buddhism had a Saktist tinge but it +does show that Buddhists of that period turned naturally to Sivaite +mythology.] + +[Footnote 247: Harshacarita, chap. VII. The parrots were expounding +Vasubandhu's Abhidharma-kosa. Bana frequently describes troops of +holy men apparently living in harmony but including followers of most +diverse sects. See Kadambari, 193 and 394: Harshacar. 67.] + +[Footnote 248: It is curious that Bana (Harshacarita, VII.) says of +this prince that from childhood he resolved never to worship anyone +but Siva.] + +[Footnote 249: The Rashtra-pala-paripriccha (Ed. Finot, pp. ix-xi, +28-33) inveighs against the moral degeneration of the Buddhist clergy. +This work was translated into Chinese between 589 and 618, so that +demoralisation must have begun in the sixth century.] + +[Footnote 250: See Rhys Davids in _J.R.A.S._ 1891, pp. 418 ff.] + +[Footnote 251: Hsuean Chuang was not disposed to underrate the numbers +of the Mahayana for he says that the monks of Ceylon were +Mahayanists.] + +[Footnote 252: See the beginning of the Kathavatthu. The doctrine is +formulated in the words Puggalo upalabbhati saccikatthaparamatthenati, +and there follows a discussion between a member of the orthodox school and +a Puggalavadin, that is one who believes in the existence of a person, soul +or entity which transmigrates from this world to another.] + +[Footnote 253: Sam. Nik. XXII. 221.] + +[Footnote 254: This use of Nikaya must not be confused with its other +use to denote a division of the Sutra-Pitaka. It means a group or +collection and hence can be used to denote either a body of men or a +collection of treatises. These Nikayas are also not the same as the +four schools (Vaibhashikas, etc.), mentioned above, which were +speculative. Similarly in Europe a Presbyterian may be a Calvinist, +but Presbyterianism has reference to Church government and Calvinism +to doctrine. + +There were in India at this time (1) two vehicles, Maha-and Hinayana, +(2) four speculative schools, Vaibhashikas, etc., (3) four +disciplinary schools, Mula-sarvastivadins, etc. These three classes +are obviously not mutually exclusive. Thus I-Ching approved of (_a_) +the Mahayana, (_b_) the Madhyamika and Yogacara, which he did not +consider inconsistent and (_c_) the Mula-sarvastivada.] + +[Footnote 255: I-Ching, transl. Takakusu, p. 186.] + +[Footnote 256: Three Asankhya Kalpas. I-Ching, Takakusu's transl. pp. +196-7. He seems to regard the Mahayana as the better way. He quotes +Nagarjuna's allusions to Avalokita and Amitayus with apparent +approval; he tells us how one of his teachers worshipped Amitayus and +strove to prepare himself for Sukhavati and how the Lotus was the +favourite scripture of another. He further tells us that the +Madhyamika and the Yoga systems are both perfectly correct.] + +[Footnote 257: Hsuean Chuang speaks of Mahayanists belonging to the +Sthavira school.] + +[Footnote 258: Quoted by Rockhill, _Life of the Buddha_, pp. 196 ff.] + +[Footnote 259: Chaps. XXXVIII and XXXIX. He seems to say that it is +right for the laity to make an offering of their bodies by burning but +not for Bhikshus. The practice is recognized and commended in the +Lotus, chap. XXII, which however is a later addition to the original +work.] + +[Footnote 260: I-Ching, transl. Takakusu, pp. 153-4 somewhat abridged. +I-Ching (pp. 156-7) speaks of Matricheta as the principal hymn writer +and does not identify him with Asvaghosha.] + +[Footnote 261: I believe the golden image in the Arakan Pagoda at +Mandalay is still washed with a ceremonial resembling that described +by I-Ching.] + +[Footnote 262: I-Ching says that monasteries commonly had a statue of +Mahakala as a guardian deity.] + +[Footnote 263: By the Gupta king, Narasinha Gupta Baladitya. Much +information about Nalanda will be found in Satis Chandra +Vidyabhusana's _Mediaeval School of Indian Logic_, pp. 145-147. Hsuean +Chuang (_Life_, transl. Beal, p. 111) says that it was built 700 years +before his time, that is, in the first century B.C. He dwells on the +beauty of the buildings, ponds and flowers.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +DECADENCE OF BUDDHISM IN INDIA + + +The theme of this chapter is sad for it is the decadence, degradation +and ultimate disappearance of Buddhism in India. The other great +religions offer no precise parallel to this phenomenon but they also +do not offer a parallel to the circumstances of Buddhism at the time +when it flourished in its native land. Mohammedanism has been able to +maintain itself in comparative isolation: up to the present day +Moslims and Christians share the same cities rather than the same +thoughts, especially when (as often) they belong to different races. +European Christianity after a few centuries of existence had to +contend with no rival of approximately equal strength, for the +struggle with Mohammedanism was chiefly military and hardly concerned +the merits of the faiths. But Buddhism never had a similarly paramount +and unchallenged position. It never attempted to extirpate its rivals. +It coexisted with a mass of popular superstition which it only gently +reprobated and with a powerful hereditary priesthood, both +intellectual and pliant, tenacious of their own ideas and yet ready to +countenance almost any other ideas as the price of ruling. Neither +Islam nor Christianity had such an adversary, and both of them and +even Judaism resemble Buddhism in having won greater success outside +their native lands than in them. Jerusalem is not an altogether +satisfactory spectacle to either Christians or Jews.[264] + +Still all this does not completely explain the disappearance of +Buddhism from India. Before attempting to assign reasons, we shall do +well to review some facts and dates relating to the period of +decadence. If we take all India into consideration the period is long, +but in many, indeed in most, districts the process of decay was rapid. + +In the preceding chapter I have mentioned the accounts of Indian +Buddhism which we owe to the Chinese travellers, Hsuean Chuang and +I-Ching. The latter frankly deplores the decay of the faith which he +had witnessed in his own life (_i.e._ about 650-700 A.D.) but his +travels in India were of relatively small extent and he gives less +local information than previous pilgrims. Hsuean Chuang describing +India in 629-645 A.D. is unwilling to admit the decay but his truthful +narrative lets it be seen. It is only of Bengal and the present United +Provinces that he can be said to give a favourable account, and the +prosperity of Buddhism there was largely due to the personal influence +of Harsha.[265] In central and southern India, he tells us of little +but deserted monasteries. It is clear that Buddhism was dying out but +it is not so clear that it had ever been the real religion of this +region. In many parts it did not conquer the population but so to +speak built fortresses and left garrisons. It is probable that the +Buddhism of Andhra, Kalinga and the south was represented by little +more than such outposts. They included Amaravati, where portions of +the ruins seem assignable to about 150 A.D., and Ajanta, where some of +the cave paintings are thought to be as late as the sixth century. But +of neither site can we give any continuous history. In southern India +the introduction of Buddhism took place under the auspices of Asoka +himself, though his inscriptions have as yet been found only in +northern Mysore and not in the Tamil country. The Tamil poems +Manimegalei and Silappadigaram, especially the former, represent it as +prevalent and still preserving much of its ancient simplicity. Even in +later times when it had almost completely disappeared from southern +India, occasional Buddhist temples were founded. Rajaraja endowed one +at Negapatam about 1000 A.D. In 1055 a monastery was erected at +Belgami in Mysore and a Buddhist town named Kalavati is mentioned as +existing in that state in 1533.[266] But in spite of such survivals, +even in the sixth century Buddhism could not compete in southern India +with either Jainism or Hinduism and there are no traces of its +existence in the Deccan after 1150. + +For the Konkan, Maharashtra and Gujarat, Hsuean Chuang's statistics are +fairly satisfactory. But in all this region the Sammitiya sect which +apparently was nearer to Hinduism than the others was the most +important. In Ujjain Buddhism was almost extinct but in many of the +western states it lingered on, perhaps only in isolated monasteries, +until the twelfth century. Inscriptions found at Kanheri (843 and 851 +A.D.), Dambal (1095 A.D.) and in Miraj (1110 A.D.) testify that grants +were made to monasteries at these late dates.[267] But further north +the faith had to endure the violence of strangers. Sind was conquered +by the Arabs in 712; Gujarat and the surrounding country were invaded +by northern tribes and such invasions were always inimical to the +prosperity of monasteries. + +This is even more true of the Panjab, the frontier provinces and +Kashmir. The older invaders such as the Yueeh-chih had been favourably +disposed to Buddhism, but those who came later, such as the Huns, were +predaceous barbarians with little religion of any sort. In Hsuean +Chuang's time it was only in Udyana that Buddhism could be said to be +the religion of the people and the torrent of Mohammedan invasion +which swept continuously through these countries during the middle +ages overwhelmed all earlier religions, and even Hinduism had to +yield. In Kashmir Buddhism soon became corrupt and according to the +Rajatarangini[268] the monks began to marry as early as the sixth +century. King Lalitaditya (733-769) is credited with having built +monasteries as well as temples to the Sun, but his successors were +Sivaites. + +Bengal, especially western Bengal and Bihar, was the stronghold of +decadent Buddhism, though even here hostile influences were not +absent. But about 730 A.D. a pious Buddhist named Gopala founded the +Pala dynasty and extended his power over Magadha. The Palas ruled for +about 450 years and supplied a long and devout line of defenders of +the faith. But to the east of their dominions lay the principality of +Kanauj, a state of varying size and fortunes and from the eighth +century onwards a stronghold of Brahmanic learning. + +The revolution in Hinduism which definitely defeated, though it did +not annihilate Buddhism, is generally connected with the names of +Kumarila Bhatta (_c._ 750) and Sankara (_c._ 800). We know the +doctrines of these teachers, for many of their works have come down to +us, but when we enquire what was their political importance, or the +scope and extent of the movement which they championed we are +conscious (as so often) of the extraordinary vagueness of Indian +records even when the subject might appeal to religious and +philosophic minds.[269] Kumarila is said to have been a Brahman of +Bihar who abjured Buddhism for Hinduism and raged with the ardour of a +proselyte against his ancient faith. Tradition[270] represents him as +instigating King Sudhanvan to exterminate the Buddhists. But nothing +is known of this king and he cannot have had the extensive empire with +which he is credited. + +Sankara was a Brahman of the south who in a short life found time to +write numerous works, to wander over India, to found a monastic order +and build four monasteries. In doctrine and discipline he was more +pliant than Kumarila and he assimilated many strong points of +Buddhism. Both these teachers are depicted as the successful heroes of +public disputations in which the interest at stake was considerable. +The vanquished had to become a disciple of the vanquisher or to +forfeit his life and, if he was the head of an institution, to +surrender its property. These accounts, though exaggerated, are +probably a florid version of what occurred and we may surmise that the +popular faith of the day was generally victorious. What violence the +rising tide of Hinduism may have wrought, it is hard to say. There is +no evidence of any general persecution of Buddhism in the sense in +which one Christian sect persecuted another in Europe. But at a rather +later date we hear that Jains were persecuted and tortured by Saiva +princes both in southern India and Gujarat, and if there were any +detailed account, epigraphic or literary, of such persecutions in the +eighth and ninth centuries, there would be no reason for doubting it. +But no details are forthcoming. Without resorting to massacre, an +anti-Buddhist king had in his power many effective methods of +hostility. He might confiscate or transfer monastic property, or +forbid his subjects to support monks. Considering the state of +Buddhism as represented by Hsuean Chuang and I-Ching it is probable +that such measures would suffice to ensure the triumph of the Brahmans +in most parts of India. + +After the epoch of Sankara, the history of Indian Buddhism is +confined to the Pala kingdom. Elsewhere we hear only of isolated +grants to monasteries and similar acts of piety, often striking but +hardly worthy of mention in comparison with the enormous number of +Brahmanic inscriptions. But in the Pala kingdom[271] Buddhism, though +corrupt, was flourishing so far as the number of its adherents and +royal favour were concerned. Gopala founded the monastery of +Odontapuri or Udandapura, which according to some authorities was in +the town of Bihar. Dharmapala the second king of the dynasty (_c._ 800 +A.D.) built on the north bank of the Ganges the even more celebrated +University of Vikramasila,[272] where many commentaries were composed. +It was a centre not only of tantric learning but of logic and grammar, +and is interesting as showing the connection between Bengal and Tibet. +Tibetans studied there and Sanskrit books were translated into Tibetan +within its cloisters. Dharmapala is said to have reigned sixty-four +years and to have held his court at Patna, which had fallen into decay +but now began to revive. According to Taranatha his successor Devapala +built Somapuri, conquered Orissa and waged war with the unbelievers +who had become numerous, no doubt as a result of the preaching of +Sankara. But as a rule the Palas, though they favoured Buddhism, did +not actively discourage Hinduism. They even gave grants to Hindu +temples and their prime ministers were generally Brahmans who[273] +used to erect non-Buddhist images in Buddhist shrines. The dynasty +continued through the eleventh century and in this period some +information as to the condition of Indian Buddhism is afforded by the +relations between Bengal and Tibet. After the persecution of the tenth +century Tibetan Buddhism was revived by the preaching of monks from +Bengal. Mahipala then occupied the throne (_c._ 978-1030) and during +his reign various learned men accepted invitations to Tibet. More +celebrated is the mission of Atisa, a monk of the Vikramasila +monastery, which took place about 1038. That these two missions should +have been invited and despatched shows that in the eleventh century +Bengal was a centre of Buddhist learning. Probably the numerous +Sanskrit works preserved in Tibetan translations then existed in its +monasteries. But about the same time the power of the Pala dynasty, +and with it the influence of Buddhism, were curtailed by the +establishment of the rival Sena dynasty in the eastern provinces. +Still, under Ramapala, who reigned about 1100, the great teacher +Abhayakara was an ornament of the Mahayana. Taranatha[274] says that +he corrected the text of the scriptures and that in his time there +were many Pandits and resident Bhikshus in the monasteries of +Vikramasila, Bodh-Gaya and Odontapuri. + +There is thus every reason to suppose that in the twelfth century +Buddhism still nourished in Bihar, that its clergy numbered several +thousands and its learning was held in esteem. The blow which +destroyed its power was struck by a Mohammedan invasion in 1193. In +that year Ikhtiyar-ud-Din Muhammad,[275] a general of Kutb-ud-Din, +invaded Bihar with a band of only two hundred men and with amazing +audacity seized the capital, which, consisting chiefly of palaces and +monasteries, collapsed without a blow. The monks were massacred to a +man, and when the victors, who appear not to have understood what +manner of place they had captured, asked the meaning of the libraries +which they saw, no one was found capable of reading the books.[276] +It was in 1193 also that Benares was conquered by the Mohammedans. I +have found no record of the sack of the monastery at Sarnath but the +ruins are said to show traces of fire and other indications that it +was overwhelmed by some sudden disaster. + +The Mohammedans had no special animus against Buddhism. They were +iconoclasts who saw merit in the destruction of images and the +slaughter of idolaters. But whereas Hinduism was spread over the +country, Buddhism was concentrated in the great monasteries and when +these were destroyed there remained nothing outside them capable of +withstanding either the violence of the Moslims or the assimilative +influence of the Brahmans. Hence Buddhism suffered far more from these +invasions than Hinduism but still vestiges of it lingered long[277] +and exist even now in Orissa. Taranatha says that the immediate result +of the Moslim conquest was the dispersal of the surviving teachers and +this may explain the sporadic occurrence of late Buddhist inscriptions +in other parts of India. He also tells us that a king named +Cangalaraja restored the ruined Buddhist temples of Bengal about 1450. +Elsewhere[278] he gives a not discouraging picture of Buddhism in the +Deccan, Gujarat and Rajputana after the Moslim conquest of Magadha but +adds that the study of magic became more and more prevalent. In the +life of Caitanya it is stated that when travelling in southern India +(about 1510 A.D.) he argued with Buddhists and confuted them, +apparently somewhere in Arcot.[279] Manuscripts preserved in Nepal +indicate that as late as the fifteenth or sixteenth century Bengali +copyists wrote out Buddhist works, and there is evidence that +Bodh-Gaya continued to be a place of pilgrimage. In 1585 it was +visited by a Nepalese named Abhaya Raja who on his return erected in +Patan a monastery imitated from what he had seen in Bengal, and in +1777 the Tashi Lama sent an embassy. But such instances prove little +as to the religion of the surrounding Hindu population, for at the +present day numerous Buddhist pilgrims, especially Burmese, frequent +the shrine. The control of the temple passed into the hands of the +Brahmans and for the ordinary Bengali Buddha became a member of +India's numerous pantheon. Pandit Haraprasad Sastri mentions a +singular poem called Buddhacaritra, completed in 1711 and celebrating +an incarnation of Buddha which apparently commenced in 1699 and was to +end in the reappearance of the golden age. But the being called Buddha +is a form of Vishnu and the work is as strange a jumble of religion +as it is of languages, being written in "a curious medley of bad +Sanskrit, bad Hindi and bad Bihari." + +It is chiefly in Orissa that traces of Buddhism can still be found +within the limits of India proper. The Saraks of Baramba, Tigaria and +the adjoining parts of Cuttack describe themselves as Buddhists.[280] +Their name is the modern equivalent of Sravaka and they apparently +represent an ancient Buddhist community which has become a sectarian +caste. They have little knowledge of their religion but meet once a +year in the cave temples of Khandagiri, to worship a deity called +Buddhadeva or Caturbhuja. All their ceremonies commence with the +formula _Ahimsa parama dharma_ and they respect the temple of Puri, +which is suspected of having a Buddhist origin. + +Nagendranath Vasu has published some interesting details as to the +survival of Buddhist ideas in Orissa.[281] He traces the origin of +this hardy though degraded form of Mahayanism to Ramai Pandit,[282] a +tantric Acarya of Magadha who wrote a work called Sunya Purana which +became popular. Orissa was one of the regions which offered the +longest resistance to Islam, for it did not succumb until 1568. A +period of Sivaism in the tenth and eleventh centuries is indicated by +the temples of Bhuvaneshwar and other monuments. But in the twelfth +and thirteenth centuries the reigning dynasty were worshippers of +Vishnu and built the great temples at Puri and Konarak, dedicated to +Jagannatha and Surya-narayana respectively. We do not however hear +that they persecuted Buddhism and there are reasons for thinking that +Jagannatha is a form of the Buddha[283] and that the temple at Puri +was originally a Buddhist site. It is said that it contains a gigantic +statue of the Buddha before which a wall has been built and also that +the image of Jagannatha, which is little more than a log of wood, is +really a case enclosing a Buddhist relic. King Prataparudra ({~DAGGER~} 1529) +persecuted Buddhism, which implies that at this late date its +adherents were sufficiently numerous to attract attention. Either at +the beginning of his reign or before it there flourished a group of +six poets of whom the principal were Acyutananda Dasa and Caitanya +Dasa.[284] Their works are nominally devoted to the celebration of +Krishna's praises and form the chief vernacular scripture of the +Vaishnavas in Orissa but in them Krishna, or the highest form of +the deity by whatever name he is called, is constantly identified with +Sunya or the Void, that favourite term of Mahayanist philosophy. +Passages from them are also quoted stating that in the Kali age the +followers of the Buddha must disguise themselves; that there are 3000 +crypto-Buddhists hidden in various parts of Orissa, that Hari has been +incarnate in many Buddhas and that the Buddha will appear again on +earth. The phrase "I take refuge in the Buddha, in Mata Adisakti (= +Dharma) and in the Sangha" is also quoted from these works and +Caitanya Dasa describes five Vishnus, who are apparently identical +with the five Dhyani Buddhas.[285] + +Taranatha states that the last king of Orissa, Mukunda Deva, who was +overthrown by the Mohammedans in 1568, was a Buddhist and founded some +temples and monasteries. In the seventeenth century, there flourished +a Buddhist poet named Mahadevadasa,[286] and the Tibetan pilgrim +Buddhagupta visited among other sites the old capital of Mayurabhanja +and saw a stupa there. It is claimed that the tribe known as Bathuris +or Bauris have always been crypto-Buddhists and have preserved their +ancient customs. They are however no credit to their religion, for one +of their principal ceremonies is hook-swinging.[287] + +The doctrine of the Bathuris is called Mahima Dharma and experienced +an interesting revival in 1875.[288] A blind man named Bhima Bhoi had +a vision of the Buddha who restored his sight and bade him preach the +law. He attracted some thousands of adherents and led a band to Puri +proclaiming that his mission was to bring to light the statue of +Buddha concealed in the temple. The Raja resisted the attempt and the +followers of Bhima Bhoi were worsted in a sanguinary encounter. Since +that time they have retired to the more remote districts of Orissa and +are said to hold that the Buddha will appear again in a new +incarnation. They are also called Kumbhipatias and according to the +last census of India (1911) are hostile to Brahmans and probably +number about 25,000. + +Traces of Buddhism also survive in the worship of a deity called +Dharma-Raja or Dharma-Thakur which still prevails in western and +southern Bengal.[289] Priests of this worship are usually not Brahmans +but of low caste, and Haraprasad thinks that the laity who follow it +may number "several millions." Though Dharma has come to be associated +with the goddess of smallpox and is believed even by his adorers to be +a form of Vishnu or of Siva, yet Dhyana, or meditation, forms a part +of his worship and the prayers and literature of the sect retain some +traces of his origin. Thus he is said to be highly honoured in Ceylon +and receives the epithet Sunyamurti. + +A corrupt form of Buddhism still exists in Nepal.[290] This country +when first heard of was in the hands of the Nevars who have preserved +some traditions of a migration from the north and are akin to the +Tibetans in race and language, though like many non-Aryan tribes they +have endeavoured to invent for themselves a Hindu pedigree. Buddhism +was introduced under Asoka. As Indian influence was strong and +communication with Tirhut and Bengal easy, it is probable that +Buddhism in Nepal reflected the phases which it underwent in Bengal. A +Nepalese inscription of the seventh century gives a list of shrines of +which seven are Sivaite, six Buddhist and four Vishnuite.[291] After +that date it was more successful in maintaining itself, for it did not +suffer from Mohammedan attacks and was less exposed to the +assimilative influence of Brahmanism. That influence however, though +operating in a foreign country and on people not bred among Brahmanic +traditions, was nevertheless strong. In 1324 the king of Tirhut, being +expelled thence by Mohammedans, seized the throne of Nepal and brought +with him many learned Brahmans. His dynasty was not permanent but +later in the fourteenth century a subsequent ruler, Jayasthiti, +organized society and religion in consultation with the Brahman +immigrants. The followers of the two religions were arranged in +parallel divisions, a group of Buddhists classified according to +occupation corresponding to each Hindu caste, and appropriate rules +and ceremonies were prescribed for the different sections. The code +then established is still in force in essentials and Nepal, being +intellectually the pupil of India, has continued to receive such new +ideas as appeared in the plains of Bengal. When these ascended to the +mountain valleys they were adopted, with free modification of old and +new material alike, by both Buddhists and Hindus, but as both sects +were geographically isolated, each tended to resemble the other more +than either resembled normal Buddhism or Hinduism. Naturally the new +ideas were mainly Brahmanic and Buddhism had no chance of being +fortified by an importation of even moderately orthodox doctrine. In +the fourteenth century arose the community of wandering ascetics +called Nathas who were reverenced by Hindus and Buddhists alike. They +rejected the observances of both creeds but often combined their +doctrines and, though disavowed by the Brahmans, exercised a +considerable influence among the lower castes. Some of the peculiar +deities of Nepal, such as Matsyendranath, have attributes traceable to +these wanderers. In 1769 Nepal was conquered by the Gurkhas. This +tribe seems related to the Tibetan stock, as are the Nevars, but it +had long been Hinduized and claimed a Rajput ancestry. Thus Gurkha +rule has favoured and accelerated the hinduizing of Nepalese Buddhism. + +Since the time of Hodgson the worship of the Adi-Buddha, or an +original divine Buddha practically equivalent to God, has been often +described as characteristic of Nepalese religion and such a worship +undoubtedly exists. But recent accounts indicate that it is not +prominent and also that it can hardly be considered a distinct type of +monotheistic Buddhism. The idea that the five Dhyani-Buddhas are +emanations or manifestations of a single primordial Buddha-spirit is a +natural development of Mahayanist ideas, but no definite statement of +it earlier than the Kalacakra literature is forthcoming, though many +earlier works point towards it.[292] In modern Nepal the chief temple +of the Adi-Buddha is on the hill of Svayambhu (the self-existent) near +Katmandu. According to a legend preserved in the Svayambhu Purana, a +special divine manifestation occurred in ancient times on an adjoining +lake; a miraculous lotus arose on its surface, bearing an image, over +which a Caitya was subsequently erected. The shrine is greatly +venerated but this Adi-Buddha, or Svayambhu, does not differ +essentially from other miraculous images in India which are said not +to consist of ordinary matter but to embody in some special way the +nature of a deity. The religion of Nepal is less remarkable for new +developments of Buddhism than for the singular fusion of Buddhism with +Hinduism which it presents and which helps us to understand what must +have been the last phase in Bengal. + +The Nepalese Brahmans tolerate Buddhism. The Nepala-mahatmya says that +to worship Buddha is to worship Siva, and the Svayambhu Purana returns +the compliment by recommending the worship of Pasupati.[293] The +official itinerary of the Hindu pilgrim includes Svayambhu, where he +adores Buddha under that name. More often the two religions adore the +same image under different names: what is Avalokita to the one is +Mahakala to the other. Durga is explained as being the incarnation of +the Prajna-paramita and she is even identified with the Adi-Buddha. +The Nepalese pantheon like the Tibetan contains three elements, often +united in modern legends: firstly aboriginal deities, such as Nagas +and other nature spirits: secondly definitely Buddhist deities or +Bodhisattvas of whom Manjusri receives the most honour: thirdly Hindu +deities such as Ganesa and Krishna. The popular deity +Matsyendranath appears to combine all three elements in his own +person. + +Modern accounts of Nepal leave the impression that even corrupt +Buddhism is in a bad way, yet the number of religious establishments +is considerable. Celibacy is not observed by their inmates, who are +called banras (bandyas). On entering the order the novice takes the +ancient vows but after four days he returns to his tutor, confesses +that they are too hard for him and is absolved from his obligations. +The classes known as Bhikshus and Gubharjus officiate as priests, the +latter being the higher order. The principal ceremony is the offering +of melted butter. The more learned Gubharjus receive the title of +Vajracarya[294] and have the sole right of officiating at marriages +and funerals. + +There is little learning. The oldest scriptures in use are the +so-called nine Dharmas.[295] Hodgson describes these works as much +venerated and Rajendralal Mitra has analysed them, but Sylvain Levi +heard little of them in 1898, though he mentions the recitation of the +Prajna-paramita. The Svayambhu Purana is an account of the +manifestation of the Adi-Buddha written in the style of those portions +of the Brahmanic Puranas which treat of the glories of some sacred +place. In its present form it can hardly be earlier than the sixteenth +century A.D. The Nepala-mahatmya is a similar work which, though of +Brahmanic origin, puts Buddha, Vishnu and Siva on the same footing and +identifies the first with Krishna. The Vagvati-mahatmya[296] on the +other hand is strictly Sivaite and ignores Buddha's claims to worship. +The Vamsavali, or Chronicle of Nepal, written in the Gurkha language +(Parbatiya) is also largely occupied with an account of sacred sites +and buildings and exists in two versions, one Buddhist, the other +Brahmanical. + +But let us return to the decadence of Buddhism in India. It is plain +that persecution was not its main cause nor even very important among +the accessory causes. The available records contain clearer statements +about the persecution of Jainism than of Buddhism but no doubt the +latter came in for some rough handling, though not enough to +annihilate a vigorous sect. Great numbers of monasteries in the north +were demolished by the Huns and a similar catastrophe brought about +the collapse of the Church in Bihar. But this last incident cannot be +called religious persecution, for Muhammad did not even know what he +was destroying. Buddhism did not arouse more animosity than other +Indian religions: the significant feature is that when its temples and +monasteries were demolished it did not live on in the hearts of the +people, as did Hinduism with all its faults. + +The relation between the laity and the Church in Buddhism is curious +and has had serious consequences for both good and evil. The layman +"takes refuge" in the Buddha, his law and his church but does not +swear exclusive allegiance: to follow supplementary observances is not +treasonable, provided they are not in themselves objectionable. The +Buddha prescribed no ceremonies for births, deaths and marriages and +apparently expected the laity to continue in the observance of such +rites as were in use. To-day in China and Japan the good layman is +little more than one who pays more attention to Buddhism than to other +faiths. This charitable pliancy had much to do with the victories of +Buddhism in the Far East, where it had to struggle against strong +prejudices and could hardly have made its way if it had been +intolerant of local deities. But in India we see the disadvantages of +the omission to make the laity members of a special corporation and +the survival of the Jains, who do form such a corporation, is a clear +object lesson. Social life in India tends to combine men in castes or +in communities which if not castes in the technical sense have much +the same character. Such communities have great vitality so long as +they maintain their peculiar usages, but when they cease to do so they +soon disintegrate and are reabsorbed. Buddhism from the first never +took the form of a corporation. The special community which it +instituted was the sangha or body of monks. Otherwise, it aimed not +at founding a sect but at including all the world as lay believers on +easy terms. This principle worked well so long as the faith was in the +ascendent but its effect was disastrous when decline began. The line +dividing Buddhist laymen from ordinary Hindus became less and less +marked: distinctive teaching was found only in the monasteries: these +became poorly recruited and as they were gradually deserted or +destroyed by Mohammedans the religion of the Buddha disappeared from +his native land. + +Even in the monasteries the doctrine taught bore a closer resemblance +to Hinduism than to the preaching of Gotama and it is this absence of +the protestant spirit, this pliant adaptability to the ideas of each +age, which caused Indian Buddhism to lose its individuality and +separate existence. In some localities its disappearance and +absorption were preceded by a monstrous phase, known as Tantrism or +Saktism, in which the worst elements of Hinduism, those which would +have been most repulsive to Gotama, made an unnatural alliance with +his church. + +I treat of Tantrism and Saktism in another chapter. The original +meaning of Tantra as applied to literary compositions is a simplified +manual.[297] Thus we hear of Vishnuite Tantras and in this sense there +is a real similarity between Buddhist and tantric teaching, for both +set aside Brahmanic tradition as needlessly complicated and both +profess to preach a simple and practical road to salvation. But in +Hinduism and Buddhism alike such words as Tantra and tantric acquire a +special sense and imply the worship of the divine energy in a female +form called by many names such as Kali in the former, Tara in the +latter. This worship which in my opinion should be called Saktism +rather than Tantrism combines many elements: ancient, savage +superstitions as well as ingenious but fanciful speculation, but its +essence is always magic. It attempts to attain by magical or +sacramental formulae and acts not only prosperity and power but +salvation, nirvana and union with the supreme spirit. Some of its +sects practise secret immoral rites. It is sad to confess that +degenerate Buddhism did not remain uncorrupted by such abuses. + +It is always a difficult and speculative task to trace the early +stages of new movements in Indian religion, but it is clear that by +the eighth century and perhaps earlier the Buddhism of Bihar and +Bengal had fallen a prey to this influence. Apparently the public +ritual in the Viharas remained unchanged and the usual language about +_nirvana_ and _sunyata_ was not discarded, but it was taught that +those who followed a certain curriculum could obtain salvation by +magical methods. To enter this curriculum it was necessary to have a +qualified teacher and to receive from him initiation or baptism +(abhisheka). Of the subsequent rites the most important is to evoke +one of the many Buddhas or Bodhisattvas recognized by the Mahayana and +identify oneself with him.[298] He who wishes to do this is often +called a sadhaka or magician but his achievements, like many Indian +miracles, are due to self-hypnotization. He is directed to repair to a +lonely place and offer worship there with flowers and prayers. To this +office succeed prolonged exercises in meditation which do not depart +much from the ancient canon since they include the four +Brahma-viharas. Their object is to suppress thought and leave the mind +empty. Then the sadhaka fills this void with the image of some +Bodhisattva, for instance Avalokita. This he does by uttering mystic +syllables called bija or seed, because they are supposed to germinate +and grow into the figures which he wishes to produce. In this way he +imagines that he sees the emblems of the Bodhisattva spring up round +him one by one and finally he himself assumes the shape of Avalokita +and becomes one with him. Something similar still exists in Tibet +where every Lama chooses a tutelary deity or Yi-dam whom he summons in +visible form after meditation and fasting.[299] Though this procedure +when set forth methodically in a mediaeval manual seems an absurd +travesty of Buddhism, yet it has links with the early faith. It is +admitted in the Pitakas that certain forms of meditation[300] lead to +union with Brahma and it is no great change to make them lead to union +with other supernatural beings. Still we are not here breathing the +atmosphere of the Pitakas. The object is not to share Brahma's heaven +but to become temporarily identified with a deity, and this is not a +byway of religion but the high road. + +But there is a further stage of degradation. I have already mentioned +that various Bodhisattvas are represented as accompanied by a female +deity, particularly Avalokita by Tara. The mythological and +metaphysical ideas which have grown up round Siva and Durga also +attached themselves to these couples. The Buddha or Bodhisattva is +represented as enjoying nirvana because he is united to his spouse, +and to the three bodies already enumerated is added a fourth, the body +of perfect bliss.[301] Sometimes this idea merely leads to further +developments of the practices described above. Thus the devotee may +imagine that he enters into Tara as an embryo and is born of her as a +Buddha.[302] More often the argument is that since the bliss of the +Buddha consists in union with Tara, nirvana can be obtained by sexual +union here, and we find many of the tantric wizards represented as +accompanied by female companions. The adept should avoid all action +but he is beyond good and evil and the dangerous doctrine that he can +do evil with impunity, which the more respectable sects repudiate, is +expressly taught. The sage is not defiled by passion but conquers +passion by passion: he should commit every infamy: he should rob, lie +and kill Buddhas.[303] These crazy precepts are probably little more +than a speculative application to the moral sphere of the doctrine +that all things are non-existent and hence equivalent. But though +tantrists did not go about robbing and murdering so freely as their +principles allowed, there is some evidence that in the period of +decadence the morality of the Bhikshus had fallen into great +discredit. Thus in the allegorical Vishnuite drama called +Prabodhacandrodaya and written at Kalanjar near the end of the +eleventh century Buddhists and Jains are represented as succumbing to +the temptations of inebriety and voluptuousness. + +It is necessary to mention this phase of decadence but no good purpose +would be served by dwelling further on the absurd and often disgusting +prescriptions of such works as the Tathagata-guhyaka. If the European +reader is inclined to condemn unreservedly a religion which even in +decrepitude could find place for such monstrosities, he should +remember that the aberrations of Indian religion are due not to its +inherent depravity, but to its universality. In Europe those who +follow disreputable occupations rarely suppose that they have anything +to do with the Church. In India, robbers, murderers, gamblers, +prostitutes, and maniacs all have their appropriate gods, and had the +Marquis de Sade been a Hindu he would probably have founded a new +tantric sect. But though the details of Saktism are an unprofitable +study, it is of some importance to ascertain when it first invaded +Buddhism and to what extent it superseded older ideas. + +Some critics[304] seem to imply--for their statements are not very +explicit--that Saktism formed part if not of the teaching of the +Buddha, at least of the medley of beliefs held by his disciples. But I +see no proof that Saktist beliefs--that is to say erotic mysticism +founded on the worship of goddesses--were prevalent in Magadha or +Kosala before the Christian era. Although Siri, the goddess of luck, +is mentioned in the Pitakas, the popular deities whom they bring on +the scene are almost exclusively masculine.[305] And though in the +older Brahmanic books there are passages which might easily become +tantric, yet the transition is not made and the important truths of +religion are kept distinct from unclean rites and thoughts. The +Brihad-aranyaka contains a chapter which hardly admits of +translation but the object of the practices inculcated is simply to +ensure the birth of a son. The same work (not without analogies in the +ecstatic utterances of Christian saints) boldly compares union with +the Atman to the bliss of one who is embraced by a beloved wife, but +this is a mere illustration and there is no hint of the doctrine that +the goal of the religious life is obtainable by _maithuna_. Still such +passages, though innocent in themselves, make it easy to see how +degrading superstitions found an easy entrance into the noblest +edifices of Indian thought and possibly some heresies condemned in the +Kathavatthu[306] indicate that even at this early date the Buddhist +Church was contaminated by erotic fancies. But, if so, there is no +evidence that such malpractices were widespread. The appendices to the +Lotus[307] show that the worship of a many-named goddess, invoked as a +defender of the faith, was beginning to be a recognized feature of +Buddhism. But they contain no indications of left-handed Tantrism and +the best proof that it did not become prevalent until much later is +afforded by the narratives of the three Chinese pilgrims who all +describe the condition of religion in India and notice anything which +they thought singular or reprehensible. Fa-Hsien does not mention the +worship of any female deity,[308] nor does the Life of Vasubandhu, but +Asanga appears to allude to Saktism in one passage.[309] Hsuean Chuang +mentions images of Tara but without hinting at tantric ritual, nor +does I-Ching allude to it, nor does the evidence of art and +inscriptions attest its existence. It may have been known as a form of +popular superstition and even have been practised by individual +Bhikshus, but the silence of I-Ching makes it improbable that it was +then countenanced in the schools of Magadha. He complains[310] of +those who neglect the Vinaya and "devote their whole attention to the +doctrine of nothingness," but he says not a word about tantric +abuses.[311] + +The change probably occurred in the next half century[312] for +Padma-Sambhava, the founder of Lamaism who is said to have resided in +Gaya and Nalanda and to have arrived in Tibet in 747 A.D., is +represented by tradition as a tantric wizard, and about the same time +translations of Tantras begin to appear in Chinese. The translations +of the sixth and seventh centuries, including those of I-Ching, +comprise a considerable though not preponderant number of Dharanis. +After the seventh century these became very numerous and several +Tantras were also translated.[313] The inference seems to be that +early in the eighth century Indian Buddhists officially recognized +Tantrism. + +Tantric Buddhism was due to the mixture of Mahayanist teaching with +aboriginal superstitions absorbed through the medium of Hinduism, +though in some cases there may have been direct contact and mutual +influence between Mahayanism and aboriginal beliefs. But as a rule +what happened was that aboriginal deities were identified with Hindu +deities and Buddhism had not sufficient independence to keep its own +pantheon distinct, so that Vairocana and Tara received most of the +attributes, brahmanic or barbarous, given to Siva or Kali. The worship +of the goddesses, described in their Hinduized form as Durga, Kali, +etc., though found in most parts of India was specially prevalent in +the sub-himalayan districts both east and west. Now Padma-Sambhava was +a native of Udyana or Swat and Taranatha represents the chief +Tantrists[314] as coming from there or visiting it. Hsuean Chuang[315] +tells us that the inhabitants were devout Mahayanists but specially +expert in magic and exorcism. He also describes no less than four +sacred places in it where the Buddha in previous births gave his +flesh, blood or bones for the good of others. Have we here in a +Buddhist form some ancient legend of dismemberment like that told of +Sati in Assam? Of Kashmir he says that its religion was a mixture of +Buddhism with other beliefs.[316] These are precisely the conditions +most favourable to the growth of Tantrism and though the bulk of the +population are now Mohammedans, witchcraft and sorcery are still +rampant. Among the Hindu Kashmiris[317] the most prevalent religion +has always been the worship of Siva, especially in the form +representing him as half male, half female. This cult is not far from +Saktism and many allusions[318] in the Rajatarangini indicate that +left-hand worship was known, though the author satirizes it as a +corruption. He also several times mentions[319] Matri-cakras, that is +circles sacred to the Mothers or tantric goddesses. In Nepal and Tibet +tantric Buddhism is fully developed but these countries have received +so much from India that they exhibit not a parallel growth, but late +Indian Tantrism as imported ready-made from Bengal. It is here that we +come nearest to the origins of Tantrism, for though the same beliefs +may have flourished in Udyana and Kashmir they did not spread much in +the Panjab or Hindustan, where their progress was hindered at first by +a healthy and vigorous Hinduism and subsequently by Mohammedan +invasions. But from 700 to 1197 A.D. Bengal was remote alike from the +main currents of Indian religion and from foreign raids: little Aryan +thought or learning leavened the local superstitions which were +infecting and stifling decadent Buddhism. Hsuean Chuang informs us that +Bhaskaravarma king of Kamarupa[320] attended the fetes celebrated by +Harsha in 644 A.D. and inscriptions found at Tezpur indicate that +kings with Hindu names reigned in Assam about 800 A.D. This is +agreeable to the supposition that an amalgamation of Sivaism and +aboriginal religion may have been in formation about 700 A.D. and have +influenced Buddhism. + +In Bihar from the eighth century onwards the influence of Tantrism was +powerful and disastrous. The best information about this epoch is +still to be found in Taranatha, in spite of his defects. + +He makes the interesting statement that in the reign of Gopala who was +a Buddhist, although his ministers were not (730-740 A.D.), the +Buddhists wished their religious buildings to be kept separate from +Hindu temples but that, in spite of protests, life-sized images of +Hindu deities were erected in them.[321] The ritual too was affected, +for we hear several times of burnt offerings[322] and how Bodhibhadra, +one of the later professors of Vikramasila, was learned in the mystic +lore of both Buddhists and Brahmans. Nalanda and the other viharas +continued to be seats of learning and not merely monasteries, and for +some time there was a regular succession of teachers. Taranatha gives +us to understand that there were many students and authors but that +sorcery occupied an increasingly important position. Of most teachers +we are told that they saw some deity, such as Avalokita or Tara. The +deity was summoned by the rites already described[323] and the object +of the performer was to obtain magical powers or siddhi. The +successful sorcerer was known as siddha, and we hear of 84 +mahasiddhas, still celebrated in Tibet, who extend from Rahulabhadra +Nagarjuna to the thirteenth century. Many of them bear names which +appear not to be Indian. + +The topics treated of in the Tantras are divided into Kriya (ritual), +Carya (apparently corresponding to Vinaya), Yoga, and Anuttara-yoga. +Sometimes the first three are contrasted with the fourth and sometimes +the first two are described as lower, the third and fourth as higher. +But the Anuttara-yoga is always considered the highest and most +mysterious.[324] Taranatha says[325] that the Tantras began to appear +simultaneously with the Mahayana sutras but adds that the +Anuttara-yoga tantras appeared gradually.[326] He also observes that +the Acarya Ananda-garbha[327] did much to spread them in Magadha. It +is not until a late period of the Pala dynasty that he mentions the +Kalacakra which is the most extravagant form of Buddhist Tantrism. + +This accords with other statements to the effect that the Kalacakra +tantra was introduced in 965 A.D. from Sambhala, a mysterious country +in Central Asia. This system is said to be Vishnuite rather than +Sivaite. It specially patronizes the cult of the mystic Buddhas such +as Kalacakra and Heruka, all of whom appear to be regarded as forms of +Adi-Buddha or the primordial Buddha essence. The Siddha named Pito is +also described as the author of this doctrine,[328] which had less +importance in India than in Tibet. + +On the other hand Taranatha gives us the names of several doctors of +the Vinaya who flourished under the Pala dynasty. Even as late as the +reign of Ramapala (? 1080-1120) we hear that the Hinayanists were +numerous. In the reign of Dharmapala (_c_. 800 A.D.) some of them +broke up the great silver image of Heruka at Bodh-Gaya and burnt the +books of Mantras.[329] These instances show that the older Buddhism +was not entirely overwhelmed by Tantrism[330] though perhaps it was +kept alive more by pilgrims than by local sentiment. Thus the Chinese +inscriptions of Bodh-Gaya though they speak at length of the three +bodies of Buddha show no signs of Tantrism. It would appear that the +worship celebrated in the holy places of Magadha preserved a +respectable side until the end. In the same way although Tantrism is +strong in the literature of the Lamas, none of the many descriptions +of Tibet indicate that there is anything scandalous in the externals +of religion. Probably in Tibet, Nepal and mediaeval Magadha alike the +existence of disgraceful tantric literature does not indicate such +widespread depravity as might be supposed. But of its putrefying +influence in corrupting the minds of those who ought to have preserved +the pure faith there can be no doubt. More than any other form of +mixed belief it obliterated essential differences, for Buddhist +Tantrism and Sivaite Tantrism are merely two varieties of Tantrism. + +What is happening at Bodh-Gaya at present[331] illustrates how +Buddhism disappeared from India. The abbot of a neighbouring Sivaite +monastery who claims the temple and grounds does not wish, as a +Mohammedan might, to destroy the building or even to efface Buddhist +emblems. He wishes to supervise the whole establishment and the visits +of pilgrims, as well as to place on the images of Buddha Hindu +sectarian marks and other ornaments. Hindu pilgrims are still taken by +their guides to venerate the Bodhi tree and, but for the presence of +foreign pilgrims, no casual observer would suppose the spot to be +anything but a Hindu temple of unusual construction. The same process +went a step further in many shrines which had not the same celebrity +and effaced all traces and memory of Buddhism. + +At the present day the Buddha is recognized by the Brahmans as an +incarnation of Vishnu,[332] though the recognition is often qualified +by the statement that Vishnu assumed this form in order to mislead the +wicked who threatened to become too powerful if they knew the true +method of attaining superhuman powers. But he is rarely worshipped _in +propria persona_.[333] As a rule Buddhist images and emblems are +ascribed to Vishnu or Siva, according to sectarian preferences, but +in spite of fusion some lingering sense of original animosity +prevents Gotama from receiving even such respect as is accorded to +incarnations like Parasu-rama. At Bodh-Gaya I have been told that +Hindu pilgrims are taken by their guides to venerate the Bodhi-tree +but not the images of Buddha. + +Yet in reviewing the disappearance of Buddhism from India we must +remember that it was absorbed not expelled. The result of the mixture +is justly called Hinduism, yet both in usages and beliefs it has taken +over much that is Buddhist and without Buddhism it would never have +assumed its present shape. To Buddhist influence are due for instance +the rejection by most sects of animal sacrifices: the doctrine of the +sanctity of animal life: monastic institutions and the ecclesiastical +discipline found in the Dravidian regions. We may trace the same +influence with more or less certainty in the philosophy of Sankara +and outside the purely religious sphere in the development of Indian +logic. These and similar points are dealt with in more detail in other +parts of this work and I need not dwell on them here. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 264: Written before the war.] + +[Footnote 265: Even at Kanauj, the scene of Harsha's pious +festivities, there were 100 Buddhist monasteries but 200 Deva +temples.] + +[Footnote 266: Rice, _Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions_, p. +203.] + +[Footnote 267: See the note by Buehler in _Journ. Pali Text Soc._ 1896, +p. 108.] + +[Footnote 268: Rajatarangini, III. 12.] + +[Footnote 269: See for the supposed persecution of Buddhism in India, +_J.P.T.S._ 1896, pp. 87-92 and 107-111 and _J.R.A.S._ 1898, pp. +208-9.] + +[Footnote 270: As contained in the Sankara-dig-vijaya ascribed to +Madhava and the Sankara-vijaya ascribed to Anandagiri.] + +[Footnote 271: Taranatha in his twenty-eighth and following chapters +gives an account, unfortunately very confused, of the condition of +Buddhism under the Pala dynasty. See also B.K. Sarkar, _Folklore +Element in Hindu Culture_, chap. XII, in which there are many +interesting statements but not sufficient references.] + +[Footnote 272: See Vidyabhusana's _Mediaeval School of Indian Logic_, +p. 150, for an account of this monastery which was perhaps at the +modern Parthaghata. I have found no account of what happened to +Nalanda in this period but it seems to have disappeared as a seat of +learning.] + +[Footnote 273: See Taranatha, chap. XXVIII.] + +[Footnote 274: Chap. XXXVI. It is interesting to notice that even at +this late period he speaks of Hinayanists in Bengal.] + +[Footnote 275: Often called Muhammad Bakhtyar but Bakhtyar seems to +have been really his father's name.] + +[Footnote 276: Raverty, _Tabat-i-Nasiri_, p. 552. "It was discovered +that the whole of that fortress and city was a college and in the +Hindi tongue they call a college Bihar."] + +[Footnote 277: Many of them have been collected by Pandit Haraprasad +Sastri in _Jour. As. Soc._ Bengal, 1895, pp. 55 ff. and in his +_Discovery of living Buddhism in Bengal_, Calcutta, 1897.] + +[Footnote 278: Chap. XL _ad fin._ Is the Ramacandra whom he mentions +the last Yadava King (about 1314)? Taranatha speaks of his son.] + +[Footnote 279: Caitanya-caritamrita, chap. VII, transl. by Jadunath +Sarkar, p. 85. This biography was written in 1582 by Krishnadas. +Caitanya died in 1533.] + +[Footnote 280: _Census of India_, 1901: vol. VI. Bengal, pp. 427-430.] + +[Footnote 281: _The Archaeological Survey of Mayurabhanj_ (no date? +1911), vol. I. pp. cv-cclxiii. The part containing an account of +Buddhism in Orissa is also printed separately with the title _Modern +Buddhism_, 1911.] + +[Footnote 282: For Ramai Pandit see Dinesh Chandra Sen, _Hist. Bengali +Language and Lit._ pp. 30-37, and also B.K. Sarkar, _Folklore Element +in Hindu Culture_, p. 192, and elsewhere. He appears to have been born +at the end of the tenth century and though the Sunya Purana has been +re-edited and interpolated parts of it are said to be in very old +Bengali.] + +[Footnote 283: Nagendranath Vasu quotes a couplet from the Mahabharata +of the poet Saraladasa: "I pay my humble respects to the incarnation +of Buddha who in the form of Buddha dwells in the Nilacala, _i.e._ +Puri." The Imperial Gazetteer of India (s.v. Puri Town) states that in +modern representations of Vishnu's ten avataras, the ninth, or +Buddhavatara, is sometimes represented by Jagannatha.] + +[Footnote 284: I give the dates or the authority of Narandra Nath +while thinking that they may be somewhat too early. The two authors +named wrote the Sunya Samhita and Nirguna Mahatmya respectively.] + +[Footnote 285: _l.c._ clxxvi ff., ccxix-ccxxiii, ccxxxi.] + +[Footnote 286: Author of a poem called Dharmagita.] + +[Footnote 287: _l.c._ cxvi ff. and ccxxxii.] + +[Footnote 288: _l.c._ ccxxxiv ff.] + +[Footnote 289: See Haraprasad Sastri, _l.c._ He gives a curious +account of one of his temples in Calcutta. See also B.K. Sarkar, +_Folklore Element in Hindu Culture_ for the decadence of Buddhism in +Bengal and its survival in degenerate forms.] + +[Footnote 290: See B.H. Hodgson, _Essays on the languages, literature +and religion of Nepal and Tibet_, 1874. For the religion of Nepal see +also Wright, _History of Nepal_, 1877; C. Bendall, _Journal of +Literary and Archaeological Research in Nepal_, 1886; Rajendralal +Mitra, _Sanskrit Buddhist literature of Nepal_; and especially S. +Levi, _Le Nepal_, 3 vols. 1905-8.] + +[Footnote 291: S. Levi in _J.A._ II. 1904, p. 225. He gives the date +as 627.] + +[Footnote 292: The doctrine of the Adi-Buddha is fully stated in the +metrical version of the Karanda-vyuha which appears to be a later +paraphrase of the prose edition. See Winternitz, _Gesch. Ind. Lit_. +II. i. 238.] + +[Footnote 293: Compare the fusion of Sivaism and Buddhism in Java.] + +[Footnote 294: Or Vajracarya-arhat-bhikshu-buddha, which in itself +shows what a medley Nepalese Buddhism has become.] + +[Footnote 295: See above chap. XX. for some account of these works.] + +[Footnote 296: Dedicated to the sacred river Vagvati or Bagmati.] + +[Footnote 297: Hardly any Buddhist Tantras have been edited in Europe. +See Bendall, _Subhashita-sangraha_ for a collection of extracts (also +published in _Museon_, 1905), and De la Vallee Poussin, _Bouddhisme, +Etudes el Materiaux. Id._ Pancakrama, 1896. + +While this book was going through the press I received the Tibetan +Tantra called Shrichakrasambhara (Avalon's Tantric Texts, vol. VII) +with introduction by A. Avalon, but have not been able to make use of +it.] + +[Footnote 298: See Foucher, _Iconographie bouddhique_, pp. 8 ff. De la +Vallee Poussin, _Bouddhisme, Etudes et Materiaux_, pp. 213 ff. For +Japanese tantric ceremonies see the Si-Do-In-Dzon in the _Annales du +Musee Guimet_, vol. VIII.] + +[Footnote 299: In ancient Egypt also the Kher heb or magician-priest +claimed the power of becoming various gods. See Budge, _Osiris_, II. +170 and Wiedemann, _Magic im alten Aegypten_, 13 ff.] + +[Footnote 300: The Brahma-viharas. _E.g._ Dig. Nik. XIII.] + +[Footnote 301: Mahasukhakaya or vajrakaya.] + +[Footnote 302: De la Vallee Poussin, _Bouddhisme, Etudes et +Materiaux_, p. 153.] + +[Footnote 303: See _Subhashita-sangraha_ edited by Bendall. Part II. pp. +29 ff. especially p. 41. Parasvaharanam karyam paradaranishevanam +Vaktavyam canritam nityam sarvabuddhamsca ghatayet. See also +Tathagata-guhyaka in Rajendralal Mitra's _Sanskrit Literature in Nepal_, +pp. 261-264.] + +[Footnote 304: For instance De la Vallee Poussin in his _Bouddhisme, +Etudes et Materiaux_, 1896. In his later work, _Bouddhisme, Opinions +sur l'histoire de la dogmatique_, he modifies his earlier views.] + +[Footnote 305: See Dig. Nik. XX. and XXXII.] + +[Footnote 306: Kathav. XXIII. 1 and 2.] + +[Footnote 307: These appendices are later additions to the original +text but they were translated into Chinese in the third century. Among +the oldest Sanskrit MSS. from Japan is the Ushnisha-vijaya-dharani +and there is a goddess with a similar name. But the Dharani is not +Saktist. See text in Anec. Oxon. Aryan series.] + +[Footnote 308: He speaks of Kwan-shih-yin but this is probably the +male Avalokita.] + +[Footnote 309: Mahayana-sutralankara, IX. 46. Of course there may be +many other allusions in yet unedited works of Asanga but it is +noticeable that this allusion to _maithuna_ is only made in passing +and is not connected with the essence of his teaching.] + +[Footnote 310: Transl. Takakusu, p. 51.] + +[Footnote 311: Taranatha, chap. XXII seems also to assign a late +origin to the Tantras though his remarks are neither clear nor +consistent with what he says in other passages. He is doubtless right +in suggesting that tantric rites were practised surreptitiously before +they were recognized openly.] + +[Footnote 312: It is about this time too that we hear of Tantrism in +Hinduism. In the drama Malati and Madhava (_c_. 730 A.D.) the heroine +is kidnapped and is about to be sacrificed to the goddess Canda when +she is rescued.] + +[Footnote 313: See the latter part of Appendix II in Nanjio's +Catalogue.] + +[Footnote 314: _E.g._ Lalitavajra, Lilavajra, Buddhasanti, Ratnavajra. +Taranatha also (tr. Schiefner, p. 264) speaks of Tantras "Welche aus +Udyana gebracht und nie in Indien gewesen sind." It is also +noticeable, as Gruenwedel has pointed out, that many of the siddhas or +sorcerers bear names which have no meaning in Aryan languages: +Bir-va-pa, Na-ro-pa, Lui-pa, etc. A curious late tradition represents +Saktism as coming from China. See a quotation from the Mahacinatantra +in the _Archaeological Survey of Mayurabhanj_, p. xiv. Either China is +here used loosely for some country north of the Himalayas or the story +is pure fancy, for with rare exceptions (for instance the Lamaism of +the Yuean dynasty) the Chinese seem to have rejected Saktist works or +even to have expurgated them, _e.g._ the Tathagata-guhyaka.] + +[Footnote 315: His account of Udyana and Kashmir will be found in +Watters, chapters VII and VIII.] + +[Footnote 316: Traces of Buddhism still exist, for according to Buehler +the Nilamata Purana orders the image of Buddha to be worshipped on +Vaisakha 15 to the accompaniment of recitations by Buddhist ascetics.] + +[Footnote 317: For notices of Kashmirian religion see Stein's +translation of the Rajatarangini and Buehler, _Tour in Search of +Sanskrit manuscripts. J. Bomb. A.S._ 1877.] + +[Footnote 318: VI. 11-13, VII. 278-280, 295, 523.] + +[Footnote 319: I. 122, 335, 348: III. 99, V. 55.] + +[Footnote 320: Also called Kumara.] + +[Footnote 321: Similarly statues of Mahadevi are found in Jain temples +now, _i.e._ in Gujarat.] + +[Footnote 322: This very unbuddhist practice seems to have penetrated +even to Japan. Burnt offerings form part of the ritual in the temple +of Narita.] + +[Footnote 323: See for instance the account of how Kamalarakshita +summoned Yamari.] + +[Footnote 324: So too the Samhitas of the Vaishnavas and the Agamas +of the Saivas are said to consist of four quarters teaching Jnana, +Yoga, Kriya and Carya respectively. See Schrader, _Introd. to +Pancaratra_, p. 22. Sometimes five classes of Tantras are enumerated +which are perhaps all subdivisions of the Anuttara-yoga, namely +Guhyasamaja, Mayajala, Buddhasammayoga, Candraguhyatilaka, +Manjusrikrodha. See Taranatha (Schiefner), p. 221.] + +[Footnote 325: Chap. XLIII. But this seems hardly consistent with his +other statements.] + +[Footnote 326: The Lamas in Tibet have a similar theory of progressive +tantric revelation. See Waddell, _Buddhism of Tibet_, pp. 56, 57.] + +[Footnote 327: In the reign of Mahipala, 978-1030 A.D.] + +[Footnote 328: Taranatha, p. 275. For the whole subject see Gruenwedel, +_Mythologie des Buddhismus_, pp. 41-2 and my chapters on Tibet below.] + +[Footnote 329: Schiefner (transl. Taranatha, p. 221) describes these +Sravakas or Hinayanists as "Saindhavas welche Cravakas aus Simhala +u.s.w. waren." They are apparently the same as the Saindhava-cravakas +often mentioned by Taranatha. Are they Hinayanists from Sindh where +the Sammitiya school was prevalent? See also Pag Sam Jon Zang, pp. +cxix, 114 and 134 where Sarat Chandra Das explains Sendha-pa as a +brahmanical sect.] + +[Footnote 330: The curious story (Taranatha, p. 206) in which a +Buddhist at first refuses on religious grounds to take part in the +evocation of a demon seems also to hint at a disapproval of magic.] + +[Footnote 331: This passage was written about 1910. In the curious +temple at Gaya called Bishnupad the chief object of veneration is a +foot-like mark. Such impressions are venerated in many parts of the +world as Buddha's feet and it seems probable, considering the +locality, that this footprint was attributed to Buddha before it was +transferred to Vishnu.] + +[Footnote 332: There are no very early references to this Avatara. It +is mentioned in some of the Puranas (_e.g._ Bhagavata and Agni) and by +Kshemendra.] + +[Footnote 333: But see the instances quoted above from Kashmir and +Nepal.] + + + + +BOOK V + +HINDUISM + + +The present book deals with Hinduism and includes the period just +treated in Book IV. In many epochs the same mythological and +metaphysical ideas appear in a double form, Brahmanic and Buddhist, +and it is hard to say which form is the earlier. + +Any work which like the present adopts a geographical and historical +treatment is bound to make Buddhism seem more important than Hinduism +and rightly, for the conversion and transformation of China, Japan and +many other countries are a series of exploits of great moment for the +history not merely of religion but of civilization. Yet when I think +of the antiquity, variety and vitality of Hinduism in India--no small +sphere--the nine chapters which follow seem very inadequate. I can +only urge that though it would be easy to fill an encyclopaedia with +accounts of Indian beliefs and practices, yet there is often great +similarity under superficial differences: the main lines of thought +are less numerous than they seem to be at first sight and they tend to +converge. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +SIVA AND VISHNU + +1 + + +The striking difference between the earlier and later phases of Indian +religious belief, between the Vedic hymns, Brahmanas, Upanishads and +their accessory treatises on the one hand, and the epics, Puranas, +Tantras and later literature on the other, is due chiefly to the +predominance in the latter of the great gods Siva and Vishnu, with +the attendant features of sectarian worship and personal devotion to a +particular deity. The difference is not wholly chronological, for late +writers sometimes take the Vedic standpoint and ignore the worship of +these deities, but still their prominence in literature, and probably +in popular mythology, is posterior to the Vedic period. The change +created by their appearance is not merely the addition of two imposing +figures to an already ample pantheon; it is a revolution which might +be described as the introduction of a new religion, except that it +does not come as the enemy or destroyer of the old. The worship of the +new deities grows up peacefully in the midst of the ancient rites; +they receive the homage of the same population and the ministrations +of the same priests. The transition is obscured but also was +facilitated by the strength of Buddhism during the period when it +occurred. The Brahmans, confronted by this formidable adversary, were +disposed to favour any popular religious movement which they could +adapt to their interests. + +When the Hindu revival sets in under the Guptas, and Buddhism begins +to decline, we find that a change has taken place which must have +begun several centuries before, though our imperfect chronology does +not permit us to date it. Whereas the Vedic sacrificers propitiated +all the gods impartially and regarded ritual as a sacred science +giving power over nature, the worshipper of the later deities is +generally sectarian and often emotional. He selects one for his +adoration, and this selected deity becomes not merely a great god +among others but a gigantic cosmical figure in whom centre the +philosophy, poetry and passion of his devotees. He is almost God in +the European sense, but still Indian deities, though they may have a +monopoly of adoration in their own sects, are never entirely similar +to Jehovah or Allah. They are at once more mythical, more human and +more philosophical, since they are conceived of not as creators and +rulers external to the world, but as forces manifesting themselves in +nature. An exuberant mythology bestows on them monstrous forms, +celestial residences, wives and offspring: they make occasional +appearances in this world as men and animals; they act under the +influence of passions which if titanic, are but human feelings +magnified. The philosopher accommodates them to his system by saying +that Vishnu or Siva is the form which the Supreme Spirit assumes as +Lord of the visible universe, a form which is real only in the same +sense that the visible world itself is real. + +Vishnu and Rudra are known even to the Rig Veda but as deities of no +special eminence. It is only after the Vedic age that they became, +each for his own worshippers, undisputed Lords of the Universe. A +limiting date to the antiquity of Sivaism and Vishnuism, as their +cults may be called, is furnished by Buddhist literature, at any rate +for north-eastern India. The Pali Pitakas frequently[334] introduce +popular deities, but give no prominence to Vishnu and Siva. They are +apparently mentioned under the names of Venhu and Isana, but are not +differentiated from a host of spirits now forgotten. The Pitakas have +no prejudices in the matter of deities and their object is to +represent the most powerful of them as admitting their inferiority to +the Buddha. If Siva and Vishnu are not put forward in the same way as +Brahma and Indra, the inference seems clear: it had not occurred to +anyone that they were particularly important. + +The suttas of the Digha Nikaya in which these lists of deities occur +were perhaps composed before 300 B.C.[335] About that date +Megasthenes, the Greek envoy at Pataliputra, describes two Indian +deities under the names of Dionysus and Herakles. They are generally +identified with Krishna and Siva. It might be difficult to deduce +this identity from an analysis of each description and different +authorities have identified both Siva and Krishna with Dionysus, but +the fact remains that a somewhat superficial foreign observer was +impressed with the idea that the Hindus worshipped two great gods. He +would hardly have derived this idea from the Vedic pantheon, and it is +not clear to what gods he can refer if not to Siva and Vishnu. It +thus seems probable that these two cults took shape about the fourth +century B.C. Their apparently sudden appearance is due to their +popular character and to the absence of any record in art. The +statuary and carving of the Asokan period and immediately succeeding +centuries is exclusively Buddhist. No temples or images remain to +illustrate the first growth of Hinduism (as the later form of Indian +religion is commonly styled) out of the earlier Brahmanism. Literature +(on which we are dependent for our information) takes little account +of the early career of popular gods before they win the recognition of +the priesthood and aristocracy, but when that recognition is once +obtained they appear in all their majesty and without any hint that +their honours are recent. + +As already mentioned, we have evidence that in the fifth or sixth +century before Christ the Vedic or Brahmanic religion was not the only +form of worship and philosophy in India. There were popular deities +and rites to which the Brahmans were not opposed and which they +countenanced when it suited them. What takes place in India to-day +took place then. When some aboriginal deity becomes important owing to +the prosperity of the tribe or locality with which he is connected, he +is recognized by the Brahmans and admitted to their pantheon, perhaps +as the son or incarnation of some personage more generally accepted as +divine. The prestige of the Brahmans is sufficient to make such +recognition an honour, but it is also their interest and millennial +habit to secure control of every important religious movement and to +incorporate rather than suppress. And this incorporation is more than +mere recognition: the parvenu god borrows something from the manners +and attributes of the olympian society to which he is introduced. The +greater he grows, the more considerable is the process of fusion and +borrowing. Hindu philosophy ever seeks for the one amongst the many +and popular thought, in a more confused way, pursues the same goal. It +combines and identifies its deities, feeling dimly that taken singly +they are too partial to be truly divine, or it piles attributes upon +them striving to make each an adequate divine whole. + +Among the processes which have contributed to form Vishnu and Siva we must +reckon the invasions which entered India from the north-west.[336] In +Bactria and Sogdiana there met and were combined the art and religious +ideas of Greece and Persia, and whatever elements were imported by the +Yueeh-chih and other tribes who came from the Chinese frontier. The +personalities of Vishnu and Siva need not be ascribed to foreign +influence. The ruder invaders took kindly to the worship of Siva, but there +is no proof that they introduced it. But Persian and Graeco-Bactrian +influence favoured the creation of more definite deities, more personal and +more pictorial. The gods of the Vedic hymns are vague and indistinct: the +Supreme Being of the Upanishads altogether impersonal, but Mithra and +Apollo, though divine in their majesty, are human in their persons and in +the appeal they make to humanity. The influence of these foreign +conceptions and especially of their representation in art is best seen in +Indian Buddhism. Hinduism has not so ancient an artistic record and +therefore the Graeco-Bactrian influence on it is less obvious, for the +sculpture of the Gupta period does not seem due to this inspiration. +Neither in outward form nor in character do Vishnu and Siva show much more +resemblance to Apollo and Mithra than to the Vedic gods. Their exuberant, +fantastic shapes, their many heads and arms, are a symbol of their complex +and multiple attributes. They are not restricted by the limits of +personality but are great polymorphic forces, not to be indicated by the +limits of one human shape.[337] + + +2 + + +Though alike in their grandeur and multiplicity, Vishnu and Siva are +not otherwise similar. In their completely developed forms they +represent two ways of looking at the world. The main ideas of the +Vaishnavas are human and emotional. The deity saves and loves: he +asks for a worship of love. He appears in human incarnations and is +known as well or better by these incarnations than in his original +form. But in Sivaism the main current of thought is scientific and +philosophic rather than emotional.[338] This statement may seem +strange if one thinks of the wild rites and legends connected with +Siva and his spouse. Nevertheless the fundamental conception of +Sivaism, the cosmic force which changes and in changing both destroys +and reproduces, is strictly scientific and contrasts with the human, +pathetic, loving sentiments of Vishnuism. And scandalous as the +worship of the generative principle may become, the potency of this +impulse in the world scheme cannot be denied. Agreeably to his +character of a force rather than an emotion Siva does not become +incarnate[339] as a popular hero and saviour like Rama or Krishna, +but he assumes various supernatural forms for special purposes. Both +worships, despite their differences, show characteristics which are +common to most phases of Indian religion. Both seek for deliverance +from transmigration and are penetrated with a sense of the sorrow +inherent in human and animal life: both develop or adopt philosophical +doctrines which rise high above the level usually attained by popular +beliefs, and both have erotic aspects in which they fall below the +standard of morality usually professed by important sects whether in +Asia or Europe. + +The name Siva is euphemistic. It means propitious and, like Eumenides, +is used as a deprecating and complimentary title for the god of +terrors. It is not his earliest designation and does not occur as a +proper name in the Rig Veda where he is known as Rudra, a word of +disputed derivation, but probably meaning the roarer. Comparatively +few hymns are addressed to Rudra, but he is clearly distinguished from +the other Vedic gods. Whereas they are cheerful and benevolent +figures, he is maleficent and terrible: they are gods of the heaven +but he is a god of the earth. He is the "man-slayer" and the sender of +disease, but if he restrains these activities he can give safety and +health. "Slay us not, for thou art gracious," and so the Destroyer +comes to be the Gracious One.[340] It has been suggested that the name +Siva is connected with the Tamil word _civappu_ red and also that +Rudra means not the roarer but the red or shining one. These +etymologies seem to me possible but not proved. But Rudra is different +in character from the other gods of the Rig Veda. It would be rash to +say that the Aryan invaders of India brought with them no god of this +sort but it is probable that this element in their pantheon increased +as they gradually united in blood and ideas with the Dravidian +population. But we know nothing of the beliefs of the Dravidians at +this remote period. We only know that in later ages emotional +religion, finding expression as so-called devil-dancing in its lower +and as mystical poetry in its higher phases, was prevalent among them. + +The White Yajur Veda[341] contains a celebrated prayer known as the +Satarudriya addressed to Rudra or the Rudras, for the power invoked +seems to be now many and now one. This deity, who is described by a +long string of epithets, receives the name of Sankara (afterwards a +well-known epithet of Siva) and is blue-necked. He is begged to be +_Siva_ or propitious, but the word is an epithet, not a proper name. +He haunts mountains and deserted, uncanny places: he is the patron of +violent and lawless men, of soldiers and robbers (the two are +evidently considered much the same), of thieves, cheats and +pilferers,[342] but also of craftsmen and huntsmen and is himself "an +observant merchant": he is the lord of hosts of spirits, "ill-formed +and of all forms." But he is also a great cosmic force who "dwells in +flowing streams and in billows and in tranquil waters and in rivers +and on islands ... and at the roots of trees ...": who "exists in +incantations, in punishments, in prosperity, in the soil, in the +threshing-floor ... in the woods and in the bushes, in sound and in +echo ... in young grass and in foam ... in gravel and in streams ... in +green things and in dry things.... Reverence to the leaf and to him +who is in the fall of the leaf, the threatener, the slayer, the vexer +and the afflicter." Here we see how an evil and disreputable god, the +patron of low castes and violent occupations, becomes associated with +the uncanny forces of nature and is on the way to become an +All-God.[343] + +Rudra is frequently mentioned in the Atharva Veda. He is conceived +much as in the Satarudriya, and is the lord of spirits and of animals. +"For thee the beasts of the wood, the deer, swans and various winged +birds are placed in the forest: thy living creatures exist in the +waters: for thee the celestial waters flow. Thou shootest at the +monsters of the ocean, and there is to thee nothing far or near."[344] + +These passages show that the main conceptions out of which the +character of the later Siva is built existed in Vedic times. The Rudra +of the Yajur and Atharva Vedas is not Brahmanic: he is not the god of +priests and orderly ritual, but of wild people and places. But he is +not a petty provincial demon who afflicts rustics and their cattle. +Though there is some hesitation between one Rudra and many Rudras, the +destructive forces are unified in thought and the destroyer is not +opposed to creation as a devil or as the principle of evil, but with +profounder insight is recognized as the Lord and Law of all living +things. + +But though the outline of Siva is found in Vedic writings, later +centuries added new features to his cult. Chief among these is the +worship of a column known as the Linga, the emblem under which he is +now most commonly adored. It is a phallic symbol though usually decent +in appearance. The Vedas do not countenance this worship and it is not +clear that it was even known to them.[345] It is first enjoined in the +Mahabharata and there only in two passages[346] which appear to be +late additions. The inference seems to be that it was accepted as part +of Hinduism just about the time that our edition of the Mahabharata +was compiled.[347] The old theory that it was borrowed from aboriginal +and especially from Dravidian tribes[348] is now discredited. In the +first place the instances cited of phallic worship among aboriginal +tribes are not particularly numerous or striking. Secondly, linga +worship, though prevalent in the south, is not confined to it, but +flourishes in all parts of India, even in Assam and Nepal. Thirdly, it +is not connected with low castes, with orgies, with obscene or +bloodthirsty rites or with anything which can be called un-Aryan. It +forms part of the private devotions of the strictest Brahmans, and +despite the significance of the emblem, the worship offered to it is +perfectly decorous.[349] The evidence thus suggests that this cultus +grew up among Brahmanical Hindus in the early centuries of our era. +The idea that there was something divine in virility and generation +already existed. The choice of the symbol--the stone pillar--may have +been influenced by two circumstances. Firstly, the Buddhist veneration +of stupas, especially miniature stupas, must have made familiar the +idea that a cone or column is a religious emblem,[350] and secondly +the linga may be compared to the carved pillars or stone standards +erected in honour of Vishnu. Some lingas are carved and bear one or +four faces, thus entirely losing any phallic appearance. The wide +extension of this cult, though its origin seems late, is remarkable. +Something similar may be seen in the worship of Ganesa: the first +records of it are even later, but it is now universal in India. + +It may seem strange that a religion whose outward ceremonies though +unassuming and modest consist chiefly of the worship of the linga, +should draw its adherents largely from the educated classes and be +under no moral or social stigma. Yet as an idea, as a philosophy, +Sivaism possesses truth and force. It gives the best picture which +humanity has drawn of the Lord of this world, not indeed of the ideal +to which the saint aspires, nor of the fancies with which hope and +emotion people the spheres behind the veil, but of the force which +rules the Universe as it is, which reproduces and destroys, and in +performing one of these acts necessarily performs the other, seeing +that both are but aspects of change. For all animal and human +existence[351] is the product of sexual desire: it is but the +temporary and transitory form of a force having neither beginning nor +end but continually manifesting itself in individuals who must have a +beginning and an end. This force, to which European taste bids us +refer with such reticence, is the true creator of the world. Not only +is it unceasingly performing the central miracle of producing new +lives but it accompanies it by unnumbered accessory miracles, which +provide the new born child with nourishment and make lowly organisms +care for their young as if they were gifted with human intelligence. +But the Creator is also the Destroyer, not in anger but by the very +nature of his activity. When the series of changes culminates in a +crisis and an individual breaks up, we see death and destruction, but +in reality they occur throughout the process of growth. The egg is +destroyed when the chicken is hatched: the embryo ceases to exist when +the child is born; when the man comes into being, the child is no +more. And for change, improvement and progress death is as necessary +as birth. A world of immortals would be a static world. + +When once the figure of Siva has taken definite shape, attributes and +epithets are lavished on it in profusion. He is the great ascetic, for +asceticism in India means power, and Siva is the personification of +the powers of nature. He may alternate strangely between austerities +and wild debauch, but the sentimentality of some Krishnaite sects is +alien to him. He is a magician, the lord of troops of spirits, and +thus draws into his circle all the old animistic worship. But he is +also identified with Time (Mahakala) and Death (Mrityu) and as +presiding over procreation he is Ardhanaresvara, half man, half woman. +Stories are invented or adapted to account for his various attributes, +and he is provided with a divine family. He dwells on Mount Kailasa: +he has three eyes: above the central one is the crescent of the moon +and the stream of the Ganges descends from his braided hair: his +throat is blue and encircled by a serpent and a necklace of skulls. In +his hands he carries a three-pronged trident and a drum. But the +effigy or description varies, for Siva is adored under many forms. He +is Mahadeva, the Great God, Hara the Seizer, Bhairava the terrible +one, Pasupati, the Lord of cattle, that is of human souls who are +compared to beasts. Local gods and heroes are identified with him. +Thus Gor Baba,[352] said to be a deified ghost of the aboriginal +races, reappears as Goresvara and is counted a form of Siva, as is +also Khandoba or Khande Rao, a deity connected with dogs. Ganesa, "the +Lord of Hosts," the God who removes obstacles and is represented with +an elephant's head and accompanied by a rat, is recognized as Siva's +son. Another son is Skanda or Kartikeya, the God of War, a great deity +in Ceylon and southern India. But more important both for the +absorption of aboriginal cults and for its influence on speculation +and morality is the part played by Siva's wife or female counterpart. + +The worship of goddesses, though found in many sects, is specially +connected with Sivaism. A figure analogous to the Madonna, the kind +and compassionate goddess who helps and pities all, appears in later +Buddhism but for some reason this train of thought has not been usual +in India. Lakshmi, Sarasvati and Sita are benevolent, but they hold no +great position in popular esteem,[353] and the being who attracts +millions of worshippers under such names as Kali, Durga, or Mahadevi, +though she has many forms and aspects, is most commonly represented as +a terrible goddess who demands offerings of blood. The worship of this +goddess or goddesses, for it is hard to say if she is one or many, is +treated of in a separate chapter. Though in shrines dedicated to Siva +his female counterpart or energy (Sakti) also receives recognition, +yet she is revered as the spouse of her lord to whom honour is +primarily due. But in Saktist worship adoration is offered to the +Sakti as being the form in which his power is made manifest or even as +the essential Godhead. + + +3 + + +Let us now pass on to Vishnu. Though not one of the great gods of the +Veda, he is mentioned fairly often and with respect. Indian +commentators and comparative mythologists agree that he is a solar +deity. His chief exploit is that he took (or perhaps in the earlier +version habitually takes) three strides. This was originally a +description of the sun's progress across the firmament but grew into a +myth which relates that when the earth was conquered by demons, +Vishnu became incarnate as a dwarf and induced the demon king to +promise him as much space as he could measure in three steps. Then, +appearing in his true form, he strode across earth and heaven and +recovered the world for mankind. His special character as the +Preserver is already outlined in the Veda. He is always benevolent: he +took his three steps for the good of men: he established and preserves +the heavens and earth. But he is not the principal solar deity of the +Rig Veda: Surya, Savitri and Pushan receive more invocations. Though +one hymn says that no one knows the limits of his greatness, other +passages show that he has no pre-eminence, and even in the Mahabharata +and the Vishnu-Purana itself he is numbered among the Adityas or +sons of Aditi. In the Brahmanas, he is somewhat more important than +in the Rig Veda,[354] though he has not yet attained to any position +like that which he afterwards occupies. + +Just as for Siva, so for Vishnu we have no clear record of the steps +by which he advanced from a modest rank to the position of having but +one rival in the popular esteem. But the lines on which the change +took place are clear. Even in his own Church, Vishnu himself claims +comparatively little attention. He is not a force like Siva that makes +and mars, but a benevolent and retiring personality who keeps things +as they are. His worship, as distinguished from that of his +incarnations, is not conspicuous in modern India, especially in the +north. In the south he is less overshadowed by Krishna, and many +great temples have been erected in his honour. In Travancore, which is +formally dedicated to him as his special domain, he is adored under +the name of Padmanabha. But his real claim to reverence, his appeal to +the Indian heart, is due to the fact that certain deified human +heroes, particularly Rama and Krishna, are identified with him. + +Deification is common in India.[355] It exists to the present day and +even defunct Europeans do not escape its operation. In modern times, +when the idea of reincarnation had become familiar, eminent men like +Caitanya or Vallabhacarya were declared after their death to be +embodiments of Krishna without more ado, but in earlier ages the +process was probably double. First of all the departed hero became a +powerful ghost or deity in his own right, and then this deity was +identified with a Brahmanic god. Many examples prove that a remarkable +man receives worship after death quite apart from any idea of +incarnation. + +The incarnations of Vishnu are most commonly given as ten[356] but +are not all of the same character. The first five, namely, the Fish, +Tortoise, Boar, Man-Lion and Dwarf, are mythical, and due to his +identification with supernatural creatures playing a benevolent role +in legends with which he had originally no connection. The sixth, +however, Parasu-rama or Rama with the axe, may contain historical +elements. He is represented as a militant Brahman who in the second +age of the world exterminated the Kshatriyas, and after reclaiming +Malabar from the sea, settled it with Brahmans. This legend clearly +refers to a struggle for supremacy between the two upper castes, +though we may doubt if the triumphs attributed to the priestly +champion have any foundation in fact. The Ramayana[357] contains a +singular account of a contest between this Rama and the greater hero +of the same name in which Parasu-rama admits the other's superiority. +That is to say an epic edited under priestly supervision relates how +the hero-god of the warriors vanquishes the hero-god of the priests, +and this hero-god of the warriors is then worshipped by common +consent as the greater divinity, but under priestly patronage. The +tenacity and vitality of the Brahmans enabled them ultimately to lead +the conqueror captive, and Ramacandra became a champion of Brahmanism +as much as Parasu-rama. + +Very interesting too is the ninth avatara (to leave for a moment the +strict numerical order) or Buddha.[358] The reason assigned in +Brahmanic literature for Vishnu's appearance in this character is +that he wished to mislead the enemies of the gods by false teaching, +or that out of compassion for animals he preached the abolition of +Vedic sacrifices. Neither explanation is very plausible and it is +pretty clear that in the period when degenerate Buddhism offered no +objection to deification and mythology, the Brahmans sanctioned the +worship of the Buddha under their auspices. But they did so only in a +half-hearted way. The Buddha was so important a personage that he had +to be explained by the intervention, kindly or hostile, of a +deity.[359] + +In his tenth incarnation or Kalki,[360] which has yet to take place, +Vishnu will appear as a Messiah, a conception possibly influenced by +Persian ideas. Here, where we are in the realm of pure imagination, we +see clearly what the signs of his avataras are supposed to be. His +mission is to sweep away the wicked and to ensure the triumph of the +pious, but he comes as a warrior and a horseman, not as a teacher, and +if he protects the good he does so by destroying evil. He has thus all +the attributes of a Kshatriya hero, and that is as a matter of fact +the real character of the two most important avataras to which we now +turn, Rama and Krishna. + +Rama, often distinguished as Ramacandra, is usually treated as the +seventh incarnation and anterior to Krishna, for he was born in the +second age of this rapidly deteriorating world, whereas Krishna did +not appear until the third. But his deification is later than that of +Krishna and probably an imitation of it. He was the son of +Dasaratha, King of Ayodhya or Oudh, but was driven into banishment by +a palace intrigue. He married Sita, daughter of the King of Mithila. +She was carried off by Ravana, the demon tyrant of Ceylon, and Rama +re-captured her with the aid of Hanuman, King of the Monkeys, and his +hosts.[361] Is there any kernel of history in this story? An +examination of Hindu legends suggests that they usually preserve names +and genealogies correctly but distort facts, and fantastically combine +independent narratives. Rama was a semi-divine hero in the tales of +ancient Oudh, based on a real personality, and Ceylon was colonized by +Indians of Aryan speech.[362] But can we assume that a king of Oudh +really led an expedition to the far south, with the aid of ape-like +aborigines? It is doubtful, and the narrative of the Ramayana reads +like poetic invention rather than distorted history. And yet, what can +have prompted the legend except the occurrence of some such +expedition? In Rama's wife Sita, seem to be combined an agricultural +goddess and a heroine of ancient romance, embodying the Hindu ideal of +the true wife. + +We have no record of the steps by which Rama and Krishna were +deified, although in different parts of the epic they are presented in +very different aspects, sometimes as little more than human, sometimes +as nothing less than the Supreme Deity. But it can hardly be doubted +that this deification owes something to the example of Buddhism. It +may be said that the development of both Buddhism and Hinduism in the +centuries immediately preceding and following our era gives parallel +manifestations of the same popular tendency to deify great men. This +is true, but the non-Buddhist forms of Indian religion while not +objecting to deification did not particularly encourage it. But in +this period, Buddhism and Jainism were powerful: both of them +sanctioned the veneration of great teachers and, as they did not +recognize sacrifice or adoration of gods, this veneration became the +basis of their ceremonies and easily passed into worship. The +Buddhists are not responsible for the introduction of deification, but +the fact that it was to some extent the basis of their public +ceremonies must have gone far to make the worship of Rama and +Krishna seem natural. + +It is commonly said that whereas the whole divine nature of Vishnu +was embodied in Krishna, Rama was only a partial incarnation. Half +the god's essence took human form in him, the other half being +distributed among his brothers. Krishna is a greater figure in +popular esteem and receives the exclusive devotion of more +worshippers. The name of Rama commands the reverence of most Hindus, +and has a place in their prayers, but his figure has not been invested +with the attributes (often of dubious moral value) which most attract +sectarian devotion. His worship combines easily with the adoration of +other deities. The great temple of Ramesvaram on Adam's Bridge is +dedicated not to Rama himself but to the linga which he erected there, +and Tulsi Das, the author of the Hindi Ramayana, while invoking Rama +as the Supreme Lord and redeemer of the world, emphatically +states[363] that his worship is not antagonistic to that of Siva. + +No inscriptions nor ancient references testify to the worship of Rama +before our era and in the subsequent centuries two phases can be +distinguished. First, Rama is a great hero, an incarnation of Vishnu +for a particular purpose and analogous to the Vamana or any other +avatara: deserving as such of all respect but still not the object of +any special cult. This is the view taken of Rama in the Mahabharata, +the Puranas, the Raghuvamsa, and those parts of the Ramayana which +go beyond it are probably late additions.[364] But secondly Rama +becomes for his worshippers the supreme deity. Ramanuja (on the +Vedanta sutras, II. 42) mentions him and Krishna as two great +incarnations in which the supreme being became manifest, and since +Krishna was certainly worshipped at this period as identical with +the All-God, it would appear that Rama held the same position. Yet it +was not until the fourteenth or fifteenth century that he became for +many sects the central and ultimate divine figure. + +In the more liberal sects the worship of Rama passes easily into +theism and it is the direct parent of the Kabirpanth and Sikhism, but +unlike Krishnaism it does not lead to erotic excess. Rama +personifies the ideal of chivalry, Sita of chastity. Less edifying +forms of worship may attract more attention, but it must not be +supposed that Rama is relegated to the penumbra of philosophic +thought. If anything so multiplex as Hinduism can be said to have a +watchword, it is the cry, Ram, Ram. The story of his adventures has +travelled even further than the hero himself, and is known not only +from Kashmir to Cape Comorin but from Bombay to Java and Indo-China +where it is a common subject of art. In India the Ramayana is a +favourite recitation among all classes, and dramatized versions of +various episodes are performed as religious plays. Though two late +Upanishads, the Ramapurvatapaniya and Ramauttaratapaniya extol Rama as +the Supreme Being, there is no Ramapurana. The fact is significant, +as showing that his worship did not possess precisely those features +of priestly sectarianism which mark the Puranas and perhaps that it +is later than the Puranas. But it has inspired a large literature, +more truly popular than anything that the Puranas contain. Thus we +have the Sanskrit Ramayana itself, the Hindi Ramayana, the Tamil +Ramayana of Kamban, and works like the Adhyatma-Ramayana and +Yoga-Vasishtha-Ramayana.[365] Of all these, the Ramayana of Tulsi +Das is specially remarkable and I shall speak of it later at some +length. + + +4 + + + +Krishna, the other great incarnation of Vishnu, is one of the most +conspicuous figures in the Indian pantheon, but his historical origin +remains obscure. The word which means black or dark blue occurs in the +Rig Veda as the name of an otherwise unknown person. In the Chandogya +Upanishad,[366] Krishna, the son of Devaki, is mentioned as having +been instructed by the sage Ghora of the Angirasa clan, and it is +probably implied that Krishna too belonged to that clan.[367] Later +sectarian writers never quote this verse, but their silence may be due +to the fact that the Upanishad does not refer to Krishna as if he +were a deity, and merely says that he received from Ghora instruction +after which he never thirsted again. The purport of it was that the +sacrifice may be performed without rites, the various parts being +typified by ordinary human actions, such as hunger, eating, laughter, +liberality, righteousness, etc. This doctrine has some resemblance to +Buddhist language[368] and if this Krishna is really the ancient +hero out of whom the later deity was evolved, there may be an allusion +to some simple form of worship which rejected ceremonial and was +practised by the tribes to whom Krishna belonged. I shall recur to +the question of these tribes and the Bhagavata sect below, but in this +section I am concerned with the personality of Krishna. + +Vasudeva is a well-known name of Krishna and a sutra of +Panini,[369] especially if taken in conjunction with the comment of +Patanjali, appears to assert that it is not a clan name but the name +of a god. If so Vasudeva must have been recognized as a god in the +fourth century B.C. He is mentioned in inscriptions which appear to +date from about the second century B.C.[370] and in the last book of +the Taittiriya Aranyaka,[371] which however is a later addition of +uncertain date. + +The name Krishna occurs in Buddhist writings in the form Kanha, +phonetically equivalent to Krishna. In the Digha Nikaya[372] we hear +of the clan of the Kanhayanas (= Karshnayanas) and of one Kanha who +became a great sage. This person may be the Krishna of the Rig +Veda, but there is no proof that he is the same as our Krishna. + +The Ghata-Jataka (No. 454) gives an account of Krishna's childhood +and subsequent exploits which in many points corresponds with the +Brahmanic legends of his life and contains several familiar incidents +and names, such as Vasudeva, Baladeva, Kamsa. Yet it presents many +peculiarities and is either an independent version or a +misrepresentation of a popular story that had wandered far from its +home. Jain tradition also shows that these tales were popular and were +worked up into different forms, for the Jains have an elaborate system +of ancient patriarchs which includes Vasudevas and Baladevas. +Krishna is the ninth of the Black Vasudevas[373] and is connected +with Dvaravati or Dvaraka. He will become the twelfth tirthankara of +the next world-period and a similar position will be attained by +Devaki, Rohini, Baladeva and Javakumara, all members of his family. +This is a striking proof of the popularity of the Krishna legend +outside the Brahmanic religion. + +No references to Krishna except the above have been found in the +earlier Upanishads and Sutras. He is not mentioned in Manu but in one +aspect or another he is the principal figure in the Mahabharata, yet +not exactly the hero. The Ramayana would have no plot without Rama, +but the story of the Mahabharata would not lose its unity if Krishna +were omitted. He takes the side of the Pandavas, and is sometimes a +chief sometimes a god but he is not essential to the action of the +epic. + +The legend represents him as the son of Vasudeva, who belonged to the +Sattvata sept[374] of the Yadava tribe, and of his wife Devaki. It had +been predicted to Kamsa, king of Mathura (Muttra), that one of her +sons would kill him. He therefore slew her first six children: the +seventh, Balarama, who is often counted as an incarnation of Vishnu, +was transferred by divine intervention to the womb of Rohini. +Krishna, the eighth, escaped by more natural methods. His father was +able to give him into the charge of Nanda, a herdsman, and his wife +Yasoda who brought him up at Gokula and Vrindavana. Here his youth was +passed in sporting with the Gopis or milk-maids, of whom he is said to +have married a thousand. He had time, however, to perform acts of +heroism, and after killing Kamsa, he transported the inhabitants of +Mathura to the city of Dvaraka which he had built on the coast of +Gujarat. He became king of the Yadavas and continued his mission of +clearing the earth of tyrants and monsters. In the struggle between +the Pandavas and the sons of Dhritarashtra he championed the cause +of the former, and after the conclusion of the war retired to Dvaraka. +Internecine conflict broke out among the Yadavas and annihilated the +race. Krishna himself withdrew to the forest and was killed by a +hunter called Jaras (old age) who shot him supposing him to be a deer. + +In the Mahabharata and several Puranas this bare outline is distended +with a plethora of miraculous incident remarkable even in Indian +literature, and almost all possible forms of divine and human activity +are attributed to this many-sided figure. We may indeed suspect that +his personality is dual even in the simplest form of the legend for +the scene changes from Mathura to Dvaraka, and his character is not +quite the same in the two regions. It is probable that an ancient +military hero of the west has been combined with a deity or perhaps +more than one deity. The pile of story, sentiment and theology which +ages have heaped up round Krishna's name, represents him in three +principal aspects. Firstly, he is a warrior who destroys the powers of +evil. Secondly, he is associated with love in all its forms, ranging +from amorous sport to the love of God in the most spiritual and +mystical sense. Thirdly, he is not only a deity, but he actually +becomes God in the European and also in the pantheistic acceptation of +the word, and is the centre of a philosophic theology. + +The first of these aspects is clearly the oldest and it is here, if +anywhere, that we may hope to find some fragments of history. But the +embellishments of poets and story-tellers have been so many that we +can only point to features which may indicate a substratum of fact. +In the legend, Krishna assists the Pandavas against the Kauravas. +Now many think that the Pandavas represent a second and later +immigration of Aryans into India, composed of tribes who had halted in +the Himalayas and perhaps acquired some of the customs of the +inhabitants, including polyandry, for the five Pandavas had one wife +in common between them. Also, the meaning of the name Krishna, +black, suggests that he was a chief of some non-Aryan tribe. It is, +therefore, possible that one source of the Krishna myth is that a +body of invading Aryans, described in the legend as the Pandavas, +who had not exactly the same laws and beliefs as those already +established in Hindustan, were aided by a powerful aboriginal chief, +just as the Sisodias in Rajputana were aided by the Bhils. It is +possible too that Krishna's tribe may have come from Kabul or other +mountainous districts of the north west, although one of the most +definite points in the legend is his connection with the coast town of +Dvaraka. The fortifications of this town and the fruitless efforts of +the demon king, Salva, to conquer it by seige are described in the +Mahabharata,[375] but the narrative is surrounded by an atmosphere of +magic and miracle rather than of history.[376] + +Though it would not be reasonable to pick out the less fantastic parts +of the Krishna legend and interpret them as history, yet we may +fairly attach significance to the fact that many episodes represent +him as in conflict with Brahmanic institutions and hardly maintaining +the position of Vishnu incarnate.[377] Thus he plunders Indra's +garden and defeats the gods who attempt to resist him. He fights with +Siva and Skanda. He burns Benares and all its inhabitants. Yet he is +called Upendra, which, whatever other explanations sectarian ingenuity +may invent, can hardly mean anything but the Lesser Indra, and he +fills the humble post of Arjuna's charioteer. His kinsmen seem to have +been of little repute, for part of his mission was to destroy his own +clan and after presiding over its annihilation in internecine strife, +he was slain himself. In all this we see dimly the figure of some +aboriginal hero who, though ultimately canonized, represented a force +not in complete harmony with Brahmanic civilization. The figure has +also many solar attributes but these need not mean that its origin is +to be sought in a sun myth, but rather that, as many early deities +were forms of the sun, solar attributes came to be a natural part of +divinity and were ascribed to the deified Krishna just as they were +to the deified Buddha.[378] + +Some authors hold that the historical Krishna was a teacher, similar +to Zarathustra, and that though of the military class he was chiefly +occupied in founding or supporting what was afterwards known as the +religion of the Bhagavatas, a theistic system inculcating the worship +of one God, called Bhagavat, and perhaps identical with the Sun. It is +probable that Krishna the hero was connected with the worship of a +special deity, but I see no evidence that he was primarily a +teacher.[379] In the earlier legends he is a man of arms: in the later +he is not one who devotes his life to teaching but a forceful +personage who explains the nature of God and the universe at the most +unexpected moments. Now the founders of religions such as Mahavira and +Buddha preserve their character as teachers even in legend and do not +accumulate miscellaneous heroic exploits. Similarly modern founders of +sects, like Caitanya, though revered as incarnations, still retain +their historical attributes. But on the other hand many men of action +have been deified not because they taught anything but because they +seemed to be more than human forces. Rama is a classical example of +such deification and many local deities can be shown to be warriors, +bandits and hunters whose powers inspired respect. It is said that +there is a disposition in the Bombay Presidency to deify the Maratha +leader Sivaji.[380] + +In his second aspect, Krishna is a pastoral deity, sporting among +nymphs and cattle. It is possible that this Krishna is in his origin +distinct from the violent and tragic hero of Dvaraka. The two +characters have little in common, except their lawlessness, and the +date and locality of the two cycles of legend are different. But the +death of Kamsa which is one of the oldest incidents in the story (for +it is mentioned in the Mahabhashya[381]) belongs to both and Kamsa is +consistently connected with Muttra. The Mahabharata is mainly +concerned with Krishna the warrior: the few allusions in it to the +freaks of the pastoral Krishna occur in passages suspected of being +late interpolations and, even if they are genuine, show that little +attention was paid to his youth. But in later works, the relative +importance is reversed and the figure of the amorous herdsman almost +banishes the warrior. We can trace the growth of this figure in the +sculptures of the sixth century, in the Vishnu and Bhagavata Puranas +and the Gita-govinda (written about 1170). Even later is the worship +of Radha, Krishna's mistress, as a portion of the deity, who is +supposed to have divided himself into male and female halves.[382] The +birth and adventures of the pastoral Krishna are located in the land +of Braj, the district round Muttra and among the tribe of the Abhiras, +but the warlike Krishna is connected with the west, although his +exploits extend to the Ganges valley.[383] The Abhiras, now called +Ahirs, were nomadic herdsmen who came from the west and their +movements between Kathiawar and Muttra may have something to do with +the double location of the Krishna legend. + +Both archaeology and historical notices tell us something of the +history of Muttra. It was a great Buddhist and Jain centre, as the +statues and viharas found there attest. Ptolemy calls it the city of +the gods. Fa-Hsien (400 A.D.) describes it as Buddhist, but that faith +was declining at the time of Hsuean Chuang's visit (c. 630 A.D.). The +sculptural remains also indicate the presence of Graeco-Bactrian +influence. We need not therefore feel surprise if we find in the +religious thought of Muttra elements traceable to Greece, Persia or +Central Asia. Some claim that Christianity should be reckoned among +these elements and I shall discuss the question elsewhere. Here I will +only say that such ideas as were common to Christianity and to the +religions of Greece and western Asia probably did penetrate to India +by the northern route, but of specifically Christian ideas I see no +proof. It is true that the pastoral Krishna is unlike all earlier +Indian deities, but then no close parallel to him can be adduced from +elsewhere, and, take him as a whole, he is a decidedly un-christian +figure. The resemblance to Christianity consists in the worship of a +divine child, together with his mother. But this feature is absent in +the New Testament and seems to have been borrowed from paganism by +Christianity. + +The legends of Muttra show even clearer traces than those already +quoted of hostility between Krishna and Brahmanism. He forbids the +worship of Indra,[384] and when Indra in anger sends down a deluge of +rain, he protects the country by holding up over it the hill of +Goburdhan, which is still one of the great centres of pilgrimage.[385] +The language which the Vishnu Purana attributes to him is extremely +remarkable. He interrupts a sacrifice which his fosterfather is +offering to Indra and says, "We have neither fields nor houses: we +wander about happily wherever we list, travelling in our waggons. What +have we to do with Indra? Cattle and mountains are (our) gods. +Brahmans offer worship with prayer: cultivators of the earth adore +their landmarks but we who tend our herds in the forests and mountains +should worship them and our kine." + +This passage suggests that Krishna represents a tribe of highland +nomads who worshipped mountains and cattle and came to terms with the +Brahmanic ritual only after a struggle. The worship of mountain +spirits is common in Central Asia, but I do not know of any evidence +for cattle-worship in those regions. Clemens of Alexandria,[386] +writing at the end of the second century A.D., tells us that the +Indians worshipped Herakles and Pan. The pastoral Krishna has +considerable resemblance to Pan or a Faun, but no representations of +such beings are recorded from Graeco-Indian sculptures. Several Bacchic +groups have however been discovered in Gandhara and also at +Muttra[387] and Megasthenes recognized Dionysus in some Indian deity. +Though the Bacchic revels and mysteries do not explain the pastoral +element in the Krishna legend, they offer a parallel to some of its +other features, such as the dancing and the crowd of women, and I am +inclined to think that such Greek ideas may have germinated and proved +fruitful in Muttra. The Greek king Menander is said to have occupied +the city (c. 155 B.C.), and the sculptures found there indicate that +Greek artistic forms were used to express Indian ideas. There may have +been a similar fusion in religion. + +In any case, Buddhism was predominant in Muttra for several centuries. +It no doubt forbade the animal sacrifices of the Brahmans and favoured +milder rites. It may even offer some explanation for the frivolous +character of much in the Krishna legend.[388] Most Brahmanic +deities, extraordinary as their conduct often is, are serious and +imposing. But Buddhism claimed for itself the serious side of religion +and while it tolerated local godlings treated them as fairies or +elves. It was perhaps while Krishna was a humble rustic deity of +this sort, with no claim to represent the Almighty, that there first +gathered round him the cycle of light love-stories which has clung to +him ever since. In the hands of the Brahmans his worship has undergone +the strangest variations which touch the highest and lowest planes of +Hinduism, but the Muttra legend still retains its special note of +pastoral romance, and exhibits Krishna in two principal characters, +as the divine child and as the divine lover. The mysteries of birth +and of sexual union are congenial topics to Hindu theology, but in +the cult of Muttra we are not concerned with reproduction as a world +force, but simply with childhood and love as emotional manifestations +of the deity. The same ideas occur in Christianity, and even in the +Gospels Christ is compared to a bridegroom, but the Krishna legend +is far more gross and naive. + +The infant Krishna is commonly adored in the form known as Makhan +Chor or the Butter Thief.[389] This represents him as a crawling child +holding out one hand full of curds or butter which he has stolen. We +speak of idolizing a child, and when Hindu women worship this image +they are unconsciously generalizing the process and worshipping +childhood, its wayward pranks as well as its loveable simplicity, and +though it is hard for a man to think of the freaks of the butter thief +as a manifestation of divinity, yet clearly there is an analogy +between these childish escapades and the caprices of mature deities, +which are respectfully described as mysteries. If one admits the +worship of the Bambino, it is not unreasonable to include in it +admiration of his rogueries, and the tender playfulness which is +permitted to enter into this cult appeals profoundly to Indian women. +Images of the Makhan Chor are sold by thousands in the streets of +Muttra. + +Even more popular is the image known as Kanhaya, which represents the +god as a young man playing the flute as he stands in a careless +attitude, which has something of Hellenic grace. Krishna in this +form is the beloved of the Gopis, or milk-maids, of the land of Braj, +and the spouse of Radha, though she had no monopoly of him. The +stories of his frolics with these damsels and the rites instituted in +memory thereof have brought his worship into merited discredit. +Krishnaism offers the most extensive manifestation to be found in the +world of what W. James calls the theopathic condition as illustrated +by nuns like Marguerite Marie Alacoque, Saint Gertrude and the more +distinguished Saint Theresa. "To be loved by God and loved by him to +distraction (jusqu'a la folie), Margaret melted away with love at the +thought of such a thing.... She said to God, 'Hold back, my God, these +torrents which overwhelm me or else enlarge my capacity for their +reception'."[390] These are not the words of the Gita-govinda or the +Prem Sagar, as might be supposed, but of a Catholic Bishop describing +the transports of Sister Marguerite Marie, and they illustrate the +temper of Krishna's worshippers. But the verses of the Marathi poet, +Tukaram, who lived about 1600 A.D. and sang the praises of Krishna, +rise above this sentimentality though he uses the language of love. In +a letter to Sivaji, who desired to see him, he wrote, "As a chaste +wife longs only to see her lord, such am I to Vitthala.[391] All the +world is to me Vitthala and nothing else: thee also I behold in +him." He also wrote elsewhere, "he that taketh the unprotected to his +heart and doeth to a servant the same kindness as to his own children, +is assuredly the image of God." More recently Ramakrishna, whose +sayings breathe a wide intelligence as well as a wide charity, has +given this religion of love an expression which, if somewhat too +sexual to be perfectly in accordance with western taste, is nearly +related to emotional Christianity. "A true lover sees his god as his +nearest and dearest relative" he writes, "just as the shepherd women +of Vrindavana saw in Krishna not the Lord of the Universe but their +own beloved.... The knowledge of God may be likened to a man, while +the love of God is like a woman. Knowledge has entry only up to the +outer rooms of God, and no one can enter into the inner mysteries of +God save a lover.... Knowledge and love of God are ultimately one and +the same. There is no difference between pure knowledge and pure +love."[392] + +These extracts show how Krishna as the object of the soul's desire +assumes the place of the Supreme Being or God. But this surprising +transformation[393] is not specially connected with the pastoral and +erotic Krishna: the best known and most thorough-going exposition of +his divinity is found in the Bhagavad-gita, which represents him as +being in his human aspect, a warrior and the charioteer of Arjuna. +Probably some seventy-five millions to-day worship Krishna, +especially under the name of Hari, as God in the pantheistic sense and +naturally the more his identity with the supreme spirit is emphasized, +the dimmer grow the legendary features which mark the hero of Muttra +and Dvaraka, and the human element in him is reduced to this very +important point that the tie uniting him to his worshippers is one of +sentiment and affection. + +In the following chapters I shall treat of this worship when +describing the various sects which practise it. A question of some +importance for the history of Krishna's deification is the meaning +of the name Vasudeva. One explanation makes it a patronymic, son of +Vasudeva, and supposes that when this prince Vasudeva was deified his +name, like Rama, was transferred to the deity. The other regards +Vasudeva as a name for the deity used by the Sattvata clan and +supposes that when Krishna was deified this already well-known +divine name was bestowed on him. There is much to be said for this +latter theory. As we have seen the Jains give the title Vasudeva to a +series of supermen, and a remarkable legend states[394] that a king +called Paundraka who pretended to be a deity used the title Vasudeva +and ordered Krishna to cease using it, for which impertinence he was +slain. This clearly implies that the title was something which could +be detached from Krishna and not a mere patronymic. Indian writings +countenance both etymologies of the word. As the name of the deity +they derive it from _vas_ to dwell, he in whom all things abide and +who abides in all.[395] + + +5 + + +Siva and Vishnu are not in their nature different from other Indian +ideas, high or low. They are the offspring of philosophic and poetic +minds playing with a luxuriant popular mythology. But even in the +epics they have already become fixed points in a flux of changing +fancies and serve as receptacles in which the most diverse notions are +collected and stored. Nearly all philosophy and superstition finds its +place in Hinduism by being connected with one or both of them. The two +worships are not characteristic of different periods: they coexist +when they first become known to us as they do at the present day and +in essential doctrines they are much alike. We have no name for this +curious double theism in which each party describes its own deity as +the supreme god or All-god, yet without denying the god of the other. +Something similar might be produced in Christianity if different +Churches were avowedly to worship different persons of the Trinity. + +Siva and Vishnu are sometimes contrasted and occasionally their +worshippers quarrel.[396] But the general inclination is rather to +make the two figures approximate by bestowing the same attributes on +both. A deity must be able to satisfy emotional devotion: hence the +Tamil Sivaite says of Siva the destroyer, "one should worship in +supreme love him who does kindness to the soul." But then the feature +in the world which most impresses the Hindu is the constant change and +destruction, and this must find a place in the All-god. Hence the +sportive kindly Krishna comes to be declared the destroyer of the +worlds.[397] It is as if in some vast Dravidian temple one wandered +through two corridors differently ornamented and assigned to the +priests of different rites but both leading to the same image. Hence +it is not surprising to find that there is actually a deity--if indeed +the term is suitable, but European vocabularies hardly provide one +which meets the case--called Harihara (or Sankara-Narayana), that is +Siva and Vishnu combined. The Harivamsa contains a hymn addressed to +him: fairly ancient sculptures attest the prevalence of his worship in +the Deccan, especially at Badami, he was once the chief deity of +Camboja and he is still popular in south India. Here besides being +worshipped under his own name he has undergone a singular +transformation and has probably been amalgamated with some aboriginal +deity. Under the designation of Ayenar (said to be a corruption of +Harihara) he is extensively worshipped as a village god and reputed to +be the son of Siva and Vishnu, the latter having kindly assumed the +form of a woman to effect his birth. + +Another form of this inclination to combine and unite the various +manifestations of the Divine is the tendency to worship groups of +gods, a practice as old as the Vedas. Thus many temples are dedicated +to a group of five, namely, Siva, Vishnu, Durga, Ganesa and the Sun +and it is stated that every Hindu worships these five deities in his +daily prayers.[398] The Trimurti, or figure of Brahma, Siva and +Vishnu, illustrates the worship of groups. Its importance has +sometimes been over-estimated by Europeans from an idea that it +corresponded to the Christian Trinity, but in reality this triad is +late and has little significance. No stress is laid on the idea of +three in one and the number of persons can be increased. The +Brahma-vaivarta Purana for instance adds Krishna to Brahma, Siva +and Vishnu. The union of three personalities is merely a way of +summing up the chief attributes of the All-God. Thus the Vishnu +Purana[399] extols Vishnu as being "Hiranyagarbha, Hari and +Sankara (_i.e._ Brahma, Vishnu and Siva), the creator, preserver and +destroyer," but in another passage as him who is "Brahma, Isvara and +spirit (Pums), who with the three Gunas (qualities of matter) is the +cause of creation, preservation and destruction...." The origin of the +triad, so far as it has any doctrinal or philosophical meaning, is +probably to be sought in the personification of the three Gunas.[400] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 334: See especially Dig. Nik. XX. and XXXII.] + +[Footnote 335: But the lists may be pieces of folk-lore older than the +suttas in which they are incorporated.] + +[Footnote 336: The Dionysus of Megasthenes is a deity who comes from +the west with an army that suffers from the heat of the plains. If we +could be certain that he meant Siva by Dionysus this would be valuable +evidence. But he clearly misunderstood many things in Indian religion. +Greek legends connected Dionysus with India and the East.] + +[Footnote 337: Macdonell seems to me correct in saying (_J.R.A.S._ +1915, p. 125) that one reason why Indian deities have many arms is +that they may be able to carry the various symbols by which they are +characterized. Another reason is that worship is usually accompanied +by dhyana, that is forming a mental image of the deity as described in +a particular text. _E.g._ the worshipper repeats a mantra which +describes a deity in language which was originally metaphorical as +having many heads and arms and at the same time he ought to make a +mental image of such a figure.] + +[Footnote 338: But some forms of Sivaism in southern India come even +nearer to emotional Christianity than does Vishnuism.] + +[Footnote 339: I cannot discover that any alleged avatara of Siva has +now or has had formerly any importance, but the Vayu, Linga and Kurma +Purana give lists of such incarnations, as does also the Catechism of +the Shaiva religion translated by Foulkes. But Indian sects have a +strong tendency to ascribe all possible achievements and attributes to +their gods. The mere fact that Vishnu becomes incarnate incites the +ardent Sivaite to say that his god can do the same. A curious instance +of this rivalry is found in the story that Siva manifested himself as +Sarabha-murti in order to curb the ferocity of Vishnu when incarnate +in the Man Lion (see Gopinatha Rao, _Hindu Icon_. p. 45). Siva often +appears in a special form, not necessarily human, for a special +purpose (_e.g._ Virabhadra) and some tantric Buddhas seem to be +imitations of these apparitions. There is a strong element of Sivaism +borrowed from Bengal in the mythology of Tibet and Mongolia, where +such personages as Hevajra, Samvara, and Mahakala have a considerable +importance under the strange title of Buddhas.] + +[Footnote 340: The passage from one epithet to the other is very plain +in _R.V._ I. 114.] + +[Footnote 341: Book XVI.] + +[Footnote 342: In the play Mricchakatika or The Clay Cart (probably +of the sixth century A.D.) a burglar invokes Kartikeya, the son of +Siva, who is said to have taught different styles of house-breaking.] + +[Footnote 343: A similarly strange collocation of attributes is found +in Daksha's hymn to Siva. Mahabharata, XII. Sec. 285.] + +[Footnote 344: Atharva, V. xi. 2. 24.] + +[Footnote 345: It is not certain if the Sisnadevah whom Indra is +asked to destroy in Rig. V. VII. 21. 5 and X. 99. 3 are priapic +demons or worshippers of the phallus.] + +[Footnote 346: VII. secs. 202, 203, and XIII. sec. 14.] + +[Footnote 347: The inscriptions of Camboja and Champa seem to be the +best proof of the antiquity of Linga worship. A Cambojan inscription +of about 550 A.D. records the dedication of a linga and the worship +must have taken some time to reach Camboja from India. Some lingas +discovered in India are said to be anterior to the Christian era.] + +[Footnote 348: See F. Kittel, _Ueber den Ursprung der Linga Kultus_, +and Barth, _Religions of India_, p. 261.] + +[Footnote 349: As is also its appearance, as a rule. But there are +exceptions to this. Some Hindus deny that the Linga is a phallic +emblem. It is hardly possible to maintain this thesis in view of such +passages as Mahabh. XIII. 14 and the innumerable figures in which +there are both a linga and a Yoni. But it is true that in its later +forms the worship is purged of all grossness and that in its earlier +forms the symbol adored was often a stupa-like column or a pillar with +figures on it.] + +[Footnote 350: Such scenes as the relief from Amaravati figured in +Gruenwedel, _Buddhist art in India_, p. 29, fig. 8, might easily be +supposed to represent the worship of the linga, and some of Asoka's +pillars have been worshipped as lingas in later times.] + +[Footnote 351: But not of course the soul which, according to the +general Indian idea, exists before and continues after the life of the +body.] + +[Footnote 352: Crooke, _Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern +India_, I. 84; II. 219.] + +[Footnote 353: They are however of some importance in Vishnuite +theology. For instance according to the school of Ramanuja it is the +Sakti (Sri) who reveals the true doctrine to mankind. Vishnu is often +said to have three consorts, Sri, Bhu and Lila.] + +[Footnote 354: _E.g._ Sat. Brah. I. 2. 5. See also the strange legend +_Ib._ XI. 1. 1 where Vishnu is described as the best of the gods but +is eaten by Indra. He is frequently (_e.g._ in the Sata Brah) stated to +be identical with the sacrifice, and this was probably one of the +reasons for his becoming prominent.] + +[Footnote 355: See many modern examples in Crooke, _Popular Religion +and Folk Lore of Northern India_, chap. IV. and _Census of India_, +1901, vol. VI. _Bengal_, pp. 196-8, where are described various +deified heroes who are adored in Bengal, such as Goveiya (a bandit), +Sailesh, Karikh, Larik, Amar Singh, and Gobind Raut (a slayer of +tigers). Compare too the worship of Gopi Nath and Zinda Kaliana in the +Panjab as described in _Census of India_, 1901, vol. XVII. pp. 118-9.] + +[Footnote 356: The Bhagavata Purana (I. iii.) and the Bhaktamala (see +_J.R.A.S._ 1909, pp. 621 ff.) give longer lists of 22 and 26, and the +Pancaratra gives 39. See Ahirbudhnya Samhita, V. 50-55.] + +[Footnote 357: Book I, cantos 74-76.] + +[Footnote 358: A parallel phenomenon is the belief found in Bali, that +Buddha is Siva's brother.] + +[Footnote 359: For Brahmanic ideas about Buddha see Vishnu Purana, +III. 18. The Bhagavata Purana, I. 3. 24 seems to make the Buddha +incarnation future. It also counts Kapila and Rishabha, apparently +identical with the founder of the Sankhya and the first Jain saint, as +incarnations. The Padma Purana seems to ascribe not only Buddhism but +the Maya doctrine of Sankara to delusions deliberately inspired by +gods. I have not been able to find the passage in the printed edition +of the Purana but it is quoted in Sanskrit by Aufrecht, _Cat. Cod. +Bib. Bodl._ p. 14, and Muir, _Original Sanskrit Texts_, p. 198.] + +[Footnote 360: See Norman in _Trans. Third Int. Congress of +Religions_, II. p. 85. In the _Ind. Ant._ 1918, p. 145 Jayaswal tries +to prove that Kalki is a historical personage and identical with King +Yasodharman of Central India (about A.D. 500) and that the idea of his +being a _future_ saviour is late. This theory offers difficulties, for +firstly there is no proof that the passages of the Mahabharata which +mention Kalki (III. 190, 13101; III. 191, 13111: XII. 340, 12968) are +additions later than Yasodharman and secondly if Kalki was first a +historical figure and then projected into the future we should expect +to hear that he will _come again_, but such language is not quoted. On +the other hand it seems quite likely (1) that there was an old +tradition about a future saviour called Kalki, (2) that Yasodharman +after defeating the Huns assumed the role, (3) and that when it was +found that the golden age had not recommenced he was forgotten (as +many pseudo-Messiahs have been) and Kalki again became a hope for the +future. Vincent Smith (_Hist. of India_, ed. III. p. 320) intimates +that Yasodharman performed considerable exploits but was inordinately +boastful.] + +[Footnote 361: Another version of the story which omits the expedition +to Lanka and makes Sita the sister of Rama is found in the Dasaratha +Jataka (641).] + +[Footnote 362: But this colonization is attributed by tradition to +Vijaya, not Rama.] + +[Footnote 363: See especially book VI. p. 67, in Growse's +_Translation._] + +[Footnote 364: See Muir's _Sanskrit Texts_, vol. IV. especially pp. +441-491.] + +[Footnote 365: Ekanatha, who lived in the sixteenth century, calls the +Adhyatma R. a modern work. See Bhandarkar, _Vaishn. and Saivism_, page +48. The Yoga-Vasishtha R. purports to be instruction given by +Vasishtha to Rama who wishes to abandon the world. Its date is +uncertain but it is quoted by authors of the fourteenth century. It is +very popular, especially in south India, where an abridgment in Tamil +called Jnana-Vasishtha is much read. Its doctrine appears to be +Vedantist with a good deal of Buddhist philosophy. Salvation is never +to think that pleasures and pains are "mine."] + +[Footnote 366: Chand. Up. III. 17.6] + +[Footnote 367: The Kaush. Brahm. says that Krishna was an Angirasa +XXX. g. The Anukramani says that the Krishna of Rig Veda, VIII. 74 +was an Angirasa. For Ghora Angirasa "the dread descendent of the +Angirases" see Macdonell and Keith, _Vedic Index_, s.v.] + +[Footnote 368: _E.g._ Dig. Nik. V. The Pancaratra expressly states +that Yoga is worship of the heart and self-sacrifice, being thus a +counterpart of the external sacrifice (bahyayaga).] + +[Footnote 369: Pan. IV. 3. 98, _Vasudevarjunabhyam vun._ See +Bhandarkar, _Vaishnavism and Saivism_, p. 3 and _J.R.A.S._ 1910, p. +168. Sutra 95, just above, appears to point to _bhakti_, faith or +devotion, felt for this Vasudeva.] + +[Footnote 370: Especially the Besnagar column. See Rapson, _Ancient +India_, p. 156 and various articles in _J.R.A.S._ 1909-10.] + +[Footnote 371: X. i, vi.] + +[Footnote 372: III. i. 23, Ularo so Kanho isi ahosi. But this may +refer to the Rishi mentioned in _R.V._ VIII. 74 who has not +necessarily anything to do with the god Krishna.] + +[Footnote 373: See Hemacandra Abhidhanacintamani, Ed. Boehtlingk and +Rien, p. 128, and Barnett's translation of the _Antagada Dasao_, pp. +13-15 and 67-82.] + +[Footnote 374: Apparently the same as the Vrishnis.] + +[Footnote 375: III. XV.] + +[Footnote 376: It would seem that the temple of Dvaraka was built +between the composition of the narrative in the Mahabharata and of the +Vishnu Purana, for while the former says the whole town was +destroyed by the sea, the latter excepts the temple and says that +whoever visits it is freed from all his sins. See Wilson, _Vishnu +Purana_, V. p. 155.] + +[Footnote 377: A most curious chapter of the Vishnu Purana (IV. 13) +contains a vindication of Krishna's character and a picture of old +tribal life.] + +[Footnote 378: Neither can I agree with some scholars that Krishna +is mainly and primarily a deity of vegetation. All Indian ideas about +the Universe and God emphasize the interaction of life and death, +growth and decay, spring and winter. Krishna is undoubtedly +associated with life, growth and generation, but so is Siva the +destroyer, or rather the transmuter. The account in the Mahabhashya +(on Pan. III. 1. 26) of the masque representing the slaughter of +Kamsa by Krishna is surely a slight foundation for the theory that +Krishna was a nature god. It might be easily argued that Christ is a +vegetation spirit, for not only is Easter a spring festival but there +are numerous allusions to sowing and harvest in the Gospels and Paul +illustrates the resurrection by the germination of corn. It is a +mistake to seek for uniformity in the history of religion. There were +in ancient times different types of mind which invented different +kinds of gods, just as now professors invent different theories about +gods.] + +[Footnote 379: The Krishna of the Chandogya Upanishad _receives_ +instruction but it is not said that he was himself a teacher.] + +[Footnote 380: Hopkins, _India Old and New_, p. 105.] + +[Footnote 381: Bhandarkar. Allusions to Krishna in Mahabhashya, +_Ind. Ant._ 1874, p. 14. For the pastoral Krishna see Bhandarkar, +_Vaishnavism and Saivism_, chap. IX.] + +[Footnote 382: The divinity of Radha is taught specially in the +Brahma-vaivarta Purana and the Narada pancaratra, also called +Jnanamritasara. She is also described in the Gopala-tapaniya +Upanishad of unknown date.] + +[Footnote 383: But Kamsa appears in both series of legends, _i.e._, in +the Ghata-Jataka which contains no hint of the pastoral legends but is +a variant of the story of the warlike Krishna.] + +[Footnote 384: Vishnu Purana, V. 10, 11 from which the quotations in +the text are taken. Much of it is repeated in the Harivamsa. See for +instance H. 3808.] + +[Footnote 385: The Muttra cycle of legends cannot be very late for the +inscription of Glai Lomor in Champa (811 A.D.) speaks of Narayana +holding up Goburdhan and a Cambojan inscription of Prea Eynkosey (970 +A.D.) speaks of the banks of the Yamuna where Krishna sported. These +legends must have been prevalent in India some time before they +travelled so far. Some of them are depicted on a pillar found at +Mandor and possibly referable to the fourth century A.D. See _Arch. +Survey Ind._ 1905-1906, p. 135.] + +[Footnote 386: Strom, III. 194. See M'Crindle, _Ancient India_, p. +183.] + +[Footnote 387: Vincent Smith, _Fine Art in India_, pp. 134-138.] + +[Footnote 388: In the Sutta-nipata Mara, the Evil One is called +Kanha, the phonetic equivalent of Krishna in Prakrit. Can it be +that Mara and his daughters have anything to do with Krishna and the +Gopis?] + +[Footnote 389: Compare the Greek stories of the infant Hermes who +steals Apollo's cattle and invents the lyre. Compare too, as having a +general resemblance to fantastic Indian legends, the story of young +Hephaestus.] + +[Footnote 390: Mgr. Bongard, _Histoire de la Bienheureuse Marguerite +Marie_. Quoted by W. James, _Varieties of Religious Experience_, p. +343.] + +[Footnote 391: Vitthal or Vittoba is a local deity of Pandharpur +in the Deccan (perhaps a deified Brahman of the place) now identified +with Krishna.] + +[Footnote 392: _Life and Sayings of Ramakrishna_. Trans. F. Max +Mueller, pp. 137-8. The English poet Crashaw makes free use of +religious metaphors drawn from love and even Francis Thompson +represents God as the lover of the Soul, _e.g._ in his poem _Any +Saint._] + +[Footnote 393: Though surprising, it can be paralleled in modern times +for Kabir (_c._ 1400) was identified by his later followers with the +supreme spirit.] + +[Footnote 394: Mahabhar. Sabhap. XIV. Vishnu Pur. v. xxxiv. The name +also occurs in the Taittiriya Aranyaka (i. 31) a work of moderate if +not great antiquity Nazayanaya vidmahe Vasudevaya dhimahi.] + +[Footnote 395: See. Vishnu Pur. VI. V. See also Wilson, _Vishnu +Purana_, I. pp. 2 and 17.] + +[Footnote 396: Thus the Saura Purana inveighs against the Madhva sect +(XXXVIII.-XL.) and calls Vishnu the servant of Siva: a Puranic legal +work called the Vriddha-Harita-Samhita is said to contain a polemic +against Siva. Occasionally we hear of collisions between the followers +of Vishnu and Siva or the desecration of temples by hostile fanatics. +But such conflicts take place most often not between widely different +sects but between subdivisions of the same sect, _e.g._, Tengalais and +Vadagalais. It would seem too that at present most Hindus of the +higher castes avoid ostentatious membership of the modern sects, and +though they may practise special devotion to either Vishnu or Siva, +yet they visit the temples of both deities when they go on +pilgrimages. Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya in his _Hindu Castes and +Sects_ says (p. 364) that aristocratic Brahmans usually keep in their +private chapels both a salagram representing Vishnu and emblems +representing Siva and his spouse. Hence different observers vary in +their estimates of the importance of sectarian divisions, some holding +that sect is the essence of modern Hinduism and others that most +educated Hindus do not worship a sectarian deity. The Kurma Purana, +Part I. chap. XXII. contains some curious rules as to what deities +should be worshipped by the various classes of men and spirits.] + +[Footnote 397: Bhag.-gita, XL. 23-34.] + +[Footnote 398: See Srisa Chandra Vasu, _Daily practice of the Hindus_, +p. 118.] + +[Footnote 399: II. 1 and I. 1.] + +[Footnote 400: See Maitrayana Up. V. 2. It is highly probable that +the celebrated image at Elephanta is not a Trimurti at all but a +Mahesamurti of Siva. See Gopinatha Rao, _Hindu Iconog._ II. 382.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +FEATURES OF HINDUISM: RITUAL, CASTE, SECT, FAITH + + +1 + + +In the last chapter I traced the growth of the great gods Siva and +Vishnu. The prominence of these figures is one of the marks which +distinguish the later phase of Indian religion from the earlier. But +it is also distinguished by various practices, institutions and +beliefs, which are more or less connected with the new deities. Such +are a new ritual, the elaboration of the caste system, the growth of +sects, and the tendency to make devotion to a particular deity the +essence of religion. In the present chapter I shall say something of +these phenomena. + +Hinduism has often and justly been compared to a jungle. As in the +jungle every particle of soil seems to put forth its spirit in +vegetable life and plants grow on plants, creepers and parasites on +their more stalwart brethren, so in India art, commerce, warfare and +crime, every human interest and aspiration seek for a manifestation in +religion, and since men and women of all classes and occupations, all +stages of education and civilization, have contributed to Hinduism, +much of it seems low, foolish and even immoral. The jungle is not a +park or garden. Whatever can grow in it, does grow. The Brahmans are +not gardeners but forest officers. To attempt a history or description +of Indian creeds seems an enterprise as vast, hopeless and pathless as +a general account of European politics. As for many centuries the life +of Europe has expressed itself in politics, so for even longer ages +the life of India, which has more inhabitants than western +Europe,[401] has found expression in religion, speculation and +philosophy, and has left of all this thought a voluminous record, +mighty in bulk if wanting in dates and events. And why should it +chronicle them? The truly religious mind does not care for the history +of religion, just as among us the scientific mind does not dwell on +the history of science. + +Yet in spite of their exuberance Hinduism and the jungle have +considerable uniformity. Here and there in a tropical forest some +well-grown tree or brilliant flower attracts attention, but the +general impression left on the traveller by the vegetation as he +passes through it mile after mile is infinite repetition as well as +infinite luxuriance. And so in Hinduism. A monograph on one god or one +teacher is an interesting study. But if we continue the experiment, +different gods and different teachers are found to be much the same. +We can write about Vishnuism and Sivaism as if they were different +religions and this, though incomplete, is not incorrect. But in their +higher phases both show much the same excellences and when degraded +both lead to much the same abuses, except that the worship of Vishnu +does not allow animal sacrifices. This is true even of externals. In +the temples of Madura, Poona and Benares, the deities, the rites, the +doctrines, the race of the worshippers and the architecture are all +different, yet the impression of uniformity is strong. In spite of +divergences the religion is the same in all three places: it smacks of +the soil and nothing like it can be found outside India. + +Hinduism is an unusual combination of animism and pantheism, which are +commonly regarded as the extremes of savage and of philosophic belief. +In India both may be found separately but frequently they are combined +in startling juxtaposition. The same person who worships Vishnu as +identical with the universe also worships him in the form of a pebble +or plant.[402] The average Hindu, who cannot live permanently in the +altitudes of pantheistic thought, regards his gods as great natural +forces, akin to the mighty rivers which he also worships, irresistible +and often beneficent but also capricious and destructive. Whereas +Judaism, Christianity and Islam all identify the moral law with the +will and conduct of the deity, in Hinduism this is not completely +admitted in practice, though a library might be filled with the +beautiful things that have been said about man and God. The outward +forms of Indian religion are pagan after the fashion of the ancient +world, a fashion which has in most lands passed away. But whereas in +the fourth century A.D. European paganism, despite the efforts of +anti-Christian eclectics, proved inelastic and incapable of satisfying +new religious cravings, this did not happen in India. The bottles of +Hinduism have always proved capable of holding all the wine poured +into them. When a new sentiment takes possession of men's souls, such +as love, repentance, or the sense of sin, some deity of many shapes +and sympathies straightway adapts himself to the needs of his +worshippers. And yet in so doing the deity, though he enlarges +himself, does not change, and the result is that we often meet with +strange anachronisms, as if Jephthah should listen appreciatively to +the Sermon on the Mount and then sacrifice his daughter to Christ. +Many Hindu temples are served by dancing girls who are admittedly +prostitutes,[403] an institution which takes us back to the cultus of +Corinth and Babylon and is without parallel in any nation on +approximately the same level of civilization. Only British law +prevents widows from being burned with their dead husbands, though +even in the Vedic age the custom had been discontinued as +barbarous.[404] But for the same legislation, human sacrifice would +probably be common. What the gods do and what their worshippers do in +their service cannot according to Hindu opinion be judged by ordinary +laws of right and wrong. The god is supra-moral: the worshipper when +he enters the temple leaves conventionality outside. + +Yet it is unfair to represent Hinduism as characterized by licence and +cruelty. Such tendencies are counterbalanced by the strength and +prevalence of ideas based on renunciation and self-effacement. All +desire, all attachment to the world is an evil; all self-assertion is +wrong. Hinduism is constantly in extremes: sometimes it exults in the +dances of Krishna or the destructive fury of Kali: more often it +struggles for release from the transitory and for union with the +permanent and real by self-denial or rather self-negation, which aims +at the total suppression of both pleasure and pain. This is on the +whole its dominant note. + +In the records accessible to us the transition from Brahmanism--that +is, the religion of the Vedas and Brahmanas--to Hinduism does not +appear as direct but as masked by Buddhism. We see Buddhism grow at +the expense of Brahmanism. We are then conscious that it becomes +profoundly modified under the influence of new ideas. We see it decay +and the religion of the Brahmans emerge victorious. But that religion +is not what it was when Buddhism first arose, and is henceforth +generally known as Hinduism. The materials for studying the period in +which the change occurred--say 400 B.C. to 400 A.D.--are not scanty, +but they do not facilitate chronological investigation. Art and +architecture are mainly Buddhist until the Gupta period (c. 320 A.D.) +and literature, though plentiful, is undated. The Mahabharata and +Ramayana must have been edited in the course of these 800 years, but +they consist of different strata and it is not easy to separate and +arrange them without assuming what we want to prove. From 400 B.C. (if +not from an earlier date) onwards there grew up a great volume of epic +poetry, founded on popular ballads, telling the stories of Rama and +the Pandavas.[405] It was distinct from the canonical literatures of +both Brahmans and Buddhists, but though it was not in its essential +character religious, yet so general in India is the interest in +religion that whole theological treatises were incorporated in these +stories without loss, in Indian opinion, to the interest of the +narrative. If at the present day a congregation is seen in a Hindu +temple listening to a recitation, the text which is being chanted will +often prove to be part of the Mahabharata. Such a ceremony is not due +to forgetfulness of the Veda but is a repetition of what happened long +before our era when rhapsodists strung together popular narratives and +popular theology. Such theology cannot be rigidly separated from +Brahmanism and Buddhism. It grew up under their influence and accepted +their simpler ideas. But it brought with it popular beliefs which did +not strictly speaking belong to either system. By attacking the main +Brahmanic doctrines the Buddhists gave the popular religion its +opportunity. For instance, they condemned animal sacrifices and +derided the idea that trained priests and complicated rites are +necessary. This did not destroy the influence of the Brahmans but it +disposed them to admit that the Vedic sacrifices are not the only +means of salvation and to authorize other rites and beliefs. It was +about this time, too, that a series of invasions began to pour into +India from the north-west. It may be hard to distinguish between the +foreign beliefs which they introduced and the Indian beliefs which +they accepted and modified. But it is clear that their general effect +was to upset traditional ideas associated with a ritual and learning +which required lifelong study. + + +2 + + +It has been well said[406] that Buddhism did not waste away in India +until rival sects had appropriated from it everything they could make +use of. Perhaps Hinduism had an even stronger doctrinal influence on +Buddhism. The deification of the Buddha, the invention of Bodhisattvas +who are equivalent to gods and the extraordinary alliance between late +Buddhism and Sivaism, are all instances of the general Indian view +overcoming the special Buddhist view. But Buddhism is closely +connected with the theory of incarnations and the development of the +Advaita philosophy, and in the externals of religion, in rites, +ceremonies and institutions, its influence was great and lasting. We +may take first the doctrine of Ahimsa, non-injury, or in other words +the sanctity of animal life. This beautiful doctrine, the glory of +India, if not invented by the Buddha at least arose in schools which +were not Brahmanic and were related to the Jain and Buddhist +movements. It formed no part of the Vedic religion in which sacrifice +often meant butchery. But in Hinduism, it meets with extensive though +not universal acceptance. With the Vaishnavas it is an article of +faith nor do the worshippers of Siva usually propitiate him with +animal sacrifices, though these are offered by the Saktas and also by +the small class of Brahmans who still preserve the Vedic ritual.[407] +Hardly any Hindus habitually eat meat and most abhor it, especially +beef. Yet beef-eating seems to have been permitted in Vedic times and +even when parts of the Mahabharata were composed. + +Apart from animal sacrifices Buddhism was the main agent in effecting +a mighty revolution in worship and ritual. One is tempted to regard +the change as total and complete, but such wide assertions are rarely +true in India: customs and institutions are not swept away by +reformers but are cut down like the grass and like the grass grow up +again. They sometimes die out but they are rarely destroyed. The Vedic +sacrifices are still occasionally offered,[408] but for many centuries +have been almost entirely superseded by another form of worship +associated with temples and the veneration of images. This must have +become the dominant form of Hindu cultus in the first few centuries of +our era and probably earlier. It is one of the ironies of fate that +the Buddha and his followers should be responsible for the growth of +image worship, but it seems to be true. He laughed at sacrifices and +left to his disciples only two forms of religious exercise, sermons +and meditation. For Indian monks, this was perhaps sufficient, but the +laity craved for some outward form of worship. This was soon found in +the respect shown to the memory of the Buddha and the relics of his +body, although Hinduism never took kindly to relic worship. We hear +too of Cetiyas. In the Pitakas this word means a popular shrine +unconnected with either Buddhist or Brahmanic ceremonial, sometimes +perhaps merely a sacred tree or stone, probably honoured by such +simple rites as decorating it with paint or flowers. A little later, +in Buddhist times, the Cetiya became a cenotaph or reliquary, +generally located near a monastery and surrounded by a passage for +reverential circumambulation. + +Allusions in the Pitakas also indicate that then as now there were +fairs. The early Buddhists thought that though such gatherings were +not edifying they might be made so. They erected sacred buildings near +a monastery, and held festivals so that people might collect together, +visit a holy place, and hear sermons. In the earliest known +sanctuaries, the funeral monument (for we can scarcely doubt that this +is the origin of the stupa)[409] has already assumed the conventional +form known as Dagoba, consisting of a dome and chest of relics, with a +spire at the top, the whole surrounded by railings or a colonnade, but +though the carving is lavish, no figure of the Buddha himself is to be +seen. He is represented by a symbol such as a footprint, wheel, or +tree. But in the later school of sculpture known as Gandhara or +Graeco-Buddhist he is frequently shown in a full length portrait. This +difference is remarkable. It is easy to say that in the older school +the Buddha was not depicted out of reverence, but less easy to see why +such delineation should have shocked an Indian. But at any rate there +is no difficulty in understanding that Greeks or artists influenced by +Greeks would think it obvious and proper to make an effigy of their +principal hero. + +In these shrines we have if not the origin of the Hindu temple, at any +rate a parallel development more nearly allied to it than anything in +the Vedic religion.[410] For the Buddhist shrine was a monument built +over a receptacle containing relics and the essential feature of Hindu +temples is a cell containing an image or emblem and generally +surmounted by a tower. The surrounding courts and corridors may assume +gigantic proportions, but the central shrine is never large. Images +had no place in the Vedic sacrifices and those now worshipped in +temples are generally small and rude, and sometimes (as at +Bhuvaneshwar and Srirangam) the deity is represented by a block or +carved stone which cannot be moved, and may have been honoured as a +sacred rock long before the name of Vishnu or Siva was known in those +regions.[411] The conspicuous statues often found outside the shrine +are not generally worshipped and are merely ornaments. Buddhism did +not create the type of ritual now used in Hindu temples, yet it +contributed towards it, for it attacked the old Brahmanic sacrifices, +it countenanced the idea that particular places and objects are holy, +and it encouraged the use of images. It is strange that these +widespread ideas should find no place in the Vedic religion, but even +now-a-days whenever the old Vedic sacrifices are celebrated they are +uncontaminated by the temple ceremonial. More than this, the priests +or Pujaris who officiate in temples are not always Brahmans and they +rarely enjoy much consideration.[412] This curious and marked feature +may be connected with the inveterate Indian feeling that, though it is +well to multiply rites and rules for neophytes, no great respect is +due to men occupied with mere ceremonial. But it also testifies to a +dim consciousness that modern temples and their ceremonies have little +to do with the thoughts and mode of life which made the Brahmans a +force in India. In many ways the Brahmans dissociate themselves from +popular religion. Those of good family will not perform religious +rites for Sudras and treat the Brahmans who do so as inferiors.[413] + +The simplest ceremonial in use at the present day is that employed in +some Sivaite temples. It consists in placing leaves on the linga and +pouring holy water over it. These rites, which may be descended from +prehistoric stone worship, are generally accompanied by the reading of +a Purana. But the commonest form of temple ritual consists in treating +the image or symbol as an honoured human being.[414] It is awakened, +bathed, dressed and put to bed at the close of day. Meals are served +to it at the usual hours. The food thus offered is called _prasad_ (or +favour) and is eaten by the devout. Once or twice a day the god holds +a levee and on festivals he is carried in procession. These ceremonies +are specially characteristic of the worship of Krishna whose images +receive all the endearments lavished on a pet child. But they are also +used in the temples of Siva and Parvati, and no less than twenty-two +of them are performed in the course of the day at the temple of +Bhuvaneshwar in Orissa. It is clear that the spirit of these rites is +very different from that which inspires public worship in other +civilized countries at the present day. They are not congregational or +didactic, though if any of the faithful are in the temple at the time +of the god's levee it is proper for them to enter and salute him. +Neither do they recall the magical ceremonies of the Vedic +sacrifices.[415] The waving of lights (arati) before the god and the +burning of incense are almost the only acts suggestive of +ecclesiastical ritual. The rest consists in treating a symbol or image +as if it were a living thing capable of enjoying simple physical +pleasures. Here there are two strata. We have really ancient rites, +such as the anointing or ornamenting of stones and offerings of food +in sacred places. In this class too we may reckon the sacrifice of +goats (and formerly of human beings) to Kali.[416] But on the other +hand the growing idea of Bhakti, that is faith or devotion, imported a +sentimental element and the worshipper endeavoured to pet, caress and +amuse the deity. + +It is hard to see anything either healthy or artistic in this +emotional ritual. The low and foolish character of many temple +ceremonies disgusts even appreciative foreigners, but these services +are not the whole of Hindu worship. All Hindus perform in the course +of the day numerous acts of private devotion varying according to +sect, and a pious man is not dependent on the temple like a Catholic +on his church. Indian life is largely occupied with these private, +intimate, individual observances, hardly noticeable as ceremonies and +concerned with such things as dressing, ablution and the preparation +of food. + +The monastic institutions of India seem due to Buddhism. There were +wandering monks before the Buddha's time, but the practice of founding +establishments where they could reside permanently, originated in his +order. There appears to be no record of Hindu (as opposed to Buddhist) +monasteries before the time of Sankara in the ninth century, though +there must have been places where the learned congregated or where +wandering ascetics could lodge. Sankara perceived the advantage of +the cenobitic life for organizing religion and founded a number of +maths or colleges. Subsequent religious leaders imitated him. At the +present day these institutions are common, yet it is clear that the +wandering spirit is strong in Hindus and that they do not take to +monastic discipline and fixed residence as readily as Tibetans and +Burmese. A math is not so much a convent as the abode of a teacher. +His pupils frequent it and may become semi-resident: aged pilgrims may +make it their last home, but the inmates are not a permanent body +following a fixed rule like the monks of a Vihara. The Sattras of +Assam, however, are true monasteries (though even there vows and +monastic costume are unknown) and so are the establishments of the +Swaminarayana sect at Ahmedabad and Wartal. + + +3 + + +The vast and complicated organization of caste is mainly a post-Vedic +growth and in the Buddha's time was only in the making.[417] His order +was open to all classes alike, but this does not imply that he was +adverse to caste, so far as it then prevailed, or denied that men are +divided into categories determined by their deeds in other births. But +on the whole the influence of Buddhism was unfavourable to caste, +especially to the pretensions of the Brahmans, and an extant polemic +against caste is ascribed (though doubtfully) to Asvaghosha.[418] On +the other hand, though caste is in its origin the expression of a +social rather than of a religious tendency, the whole institution and +mechanism have long been supported and exploited by the Brahmans. Few +of them would dispute the proposition that a man cannot be a Hindu +unless he belongs to a caste. The reason of this support is +undisguised, namely, that they are the first and chief caste. They +make their own position a matter of religion and claim the power of +purifying and rehabilitating those who have lost caste but they do not +usually interfere with the rules of other castes or excommunicate +those who break them.[419] That is the business of the Pancayat or +caste council. + +Sometimes religion and caste are in opposition, for many modern +religious leaders have begun by declaring that among believers there +are no social distinctions. This is true not only of teachers whose +orthodoxy is dubious, such as Nanak, the founder of the Sikhs, and +Basava, the founder of the Lingayats,[420] but also of Vallabhacarya +and Caitanya. But in nearly all cases caste reasserts itself. The +religious teachers of the sect receive extravagant respect and form a +body apart. This phenomenon, which recurs in nearly all communities, +shows how the Brahmans established their position. At the same time +social distinctions make themselves felt among the laity, and those +who claim to be of good position dissociate themselves from those of +lower birth. The sect ends by observing caste on ordinary occasions, +and it is only in some temples (such as that of Jagannath at +Puri)[421] that the worshippers mix and eat a sacred meal together. +Sometimes, however, the sect which renounces caste becomes itself a +caste. Thus, the Sikhs have become almost a nation and other modern +castes arising out of sects are the Atiths, who are Sivaites, the +Saraks, who appear to have been originally Buddhists, and the +Baishnabs (Vaishnavas), a name commonly given in Bengal to those +followers of Caitanya who persist in the original rule of disregarding +caste regulations within the sect, and hence now form a separate +community. But as a rule sect and caste are not co-extensive and the +caste is not a religious corporation. Thus the different subdivisions +of the Baniyas belong to different sects and even in the same +subdivision there is no religious uniformity.[422] + +Caste in its later developments is so complex and irregular, that it +is impossible to summarize it in a formula or explain it as the +development of one principle. In the earliest form known two +principles are already in operation. We have first racial distinction. +The three upper castes represent the invading Aryans, the fourth the +races whom they found in India. In the modern system of caste, race is +not a strong factor. Many who claim to be Brahmans and Kshatriyas have +no Aryan blood, but still the Aryan element is strongest in the +highest castes and decreases as we descend the social scale and also +decreases in the higher castes in proportion as we move from the +north-west to the east and south. But secondly in the three upper +castes the dividing principle, as reported in the earliest accounts, +is not race but occupation. We find in most Aryan countries a division +into nobles and people, but in India these two classes become three, +the priests having been able to assume a prominence unknown elsewhere +and to stamp on literature their claim to the highest rank. This claim +was probably never admitted in practice so completely as the priests +desired. It was certainly disputed in Buddhist times and I have myself +heard a young Rajput say that the Brahmans falsified the Epics so as +to give themselves the first place. + +It is not necessary for our purpose to describe the details of the +modern caste system. Its effect on Indian religion has been +considerable, for it created the social atmosphere in which the +various beliefs grew up and it has furnished the Brahmans with the +means of establishing their authority. But many religious reformers +preached that in religion caste does not exist--that there is neither +Jew nor Gentile in the language of another creed--and though the +application of this theory is never complete, the imperfection is the +result not of religious opposition but of social pressure. Hindu life +is permeated by the instinct that society must be divided into +communities having some common interest and refusing to intermarry or +eat with other communities. The long list of modern castes hardly +bears even a theoretical relation to the four classes of Vedic +times.[423] Numerous subdivisions with exclusive rules as to +intermarriage and eating have arisen among the Brahmans and the +strength of this fissiparous instinct is seen among the Mohammedans +who nominally have no caste but yet are divided into groups with much +the same restrictions. + +This remarkable tendency to form exclusive corporations is perhaps +correlated with the absence of political life in India. Such ideas as +nationality, citizenship, allegiance to a certain prince, patriotic +feelings for a certain territory are rarer and vaguer than elsewhere, +and yet the Hindu is dependent on his fellows and does not like to +stand alone. So finding little satisfaction in the city or state he +clings the more tenaciously to smaller corporations. These have no one +character: they are not founded on any one logical principle but +merely on the need felt by people who have something in common to +associate together. Many are based on tribal divisions; some, such as +the Marathas and Newars, may be said to be nationalities. In many the +bond of union is occupation, in a few it is sectarian religion. We can +still observe how members of a caste who migrate from their original +residence tend to form an entirely new caste, and how intertribal +marriages among the aborigines create new tribes. + + +4 + + +Sect[424] must not be confounded with caste. Hindu sects are of many +kinds; some, if not militant, are at least exceedingly self-confident. +Others are so gentle in stating their views that they might be called +schools rather than sects, were the word not too intellectual. The +notion that any creed or code can be _quod semper, quod ubique, quod +ab omnibus_, is less prevalent than in Europe and even the Veda, +though it is the eternal word, is admitted to exist in several +recensions. Hinduism is possible as a creed only to those who select. +In its literal sense it means simply all the beliefs and rites +recognized in India, too multifarious and inconsistent for the most +hospitable and addled brain to hold. But the Hindus, who are as loth +to abolish queer beliefs and practices as they are to take animal +life, are also the most determined seekers after a satisfying form of +religion. Brahmanic ritual and Buddhist monasticism demand the +dedication of a life. Not everyone can afford that, but the sect is +open to all. It attempts to sort out of the chaos of mythology and +superstition something which all can understand and all may find +useful. It selects some aspect of Hinduism and makes the best of it. +Sects usually start by preaching theism and equality in the sight of +God, but in a few generations mythology and social distinctions creep +in. Hence though the prevalence of sect is undoubtedly a feature of +modern Hinduism it is also intelligible that some observers should +assert that most Hindus belong to the same general religion and that +only the minority are definitely sectarian. The sectarian tendency is +stronger in Vishnuism than in Sivaism. The latter has produced some +definite sects, as, for instance, Lingayats, but is not like Vishnuism +split up into a number of Churches each founded by a human teacher and +provided by him with a special creed. + +Most Indian sects are in their origin theistic, that is to say, they +take a particular deity and identify him with the Supreme Being. But +the pantheistic tendency does not disappear. Popular religion +naturally desires a personal deity. But it is significant that the +personal deity frequently assumes pantheistic attributes and is +declared to be both the world and the human soul. The best known sects +arose after Islam had entered India and some of them, such as the +Sikhs, show a blending of Hindu and Moslem ideas. But if Mohammedan +influence favoured the formation of corporations pledged to worship +one particular deity, it acted less by introducing something new than +by quickening a line of thought already existing. The Bhagavad-gita is +as complete an exposition of sectarian pantheism as any utterances +posterior to Mohammedanism. + +The characteristic doctrine of sectarian Hinduism is _bhakti_, faith +or devotion. The older word _sraddha_, which is found in the Vedas, is +less emotional for it means simply belief in the existence of a deity, +whereas _bhakti_ can often be rendered by love. It is passionate, +self-oblivious devotion to a deity who in return (though many would +say there is no bartering) bestows his grace (_prasada_ or +_anugraha_). St. Augustine in defining faith says: "Quid est credere +in Deum? credendo amare, credendo diligere, credendo in eum ire, et +ejus membris incorporari."[425] This is an excellent paraphrase of +_bhakti_ and the words have an oriental ring which is not quite that +of the New Testament. Though the doctrine of _bhakti_ marks the +beginning of a new epoch in Hinduism it is not necessary to regard it +as an importation or due to Christianity. About the time of the +Christian era there was felt in many countries a craving for a gentler +and more emotional worship and though the history of Bhaktism is +obscure, Indian literature shows plainly how it may be a development +of native ideas. Its first great text-book is the Bhagavad-gita, but +it is also mentioned in the last verse of the Svetasvatara Upanishad +and Panini appears to allude to _bhakti_ felt for[426] Vasudeva. The +Katha Upanishad[427] contains the following passage: + +"That Atman cannot be gained by the Veda, nor by understanding nor by +much learning. He whom the Atman chooses, by him the Atman can be +gained. The Atman chooses him as his own." Here we have not the idea +of faith or love, but we have the negative statement that the Atman is +not won by knowledge and the positive statement that this Atman +chooses his own. In the Rig Veda[428] there is a poem put into the +mouth of Vac or speech, containing such sentiments as "I give wealth +to him who gives sacrifice.... I am that through which one eats, +breathes, sees, and hears.... Him that I love I make strong, to be a +priest, a seer, a sage." This reads like an ancient preliminary study +for the Bhagavad-gita. Like Krishna the deity claims to be in all +and, like him, to reward her votaries. It is true that the "Come unto +me" is not distinctly expressed, but it is surely struggling for +expression.[429] Again, in the Kaushitaki Upanishad (III. 1 and 2) +Indra says to Pratardana, who had asked him for a boon, "Know me only: +that is, what I deem most beneficial to man, that he should know +me.... He who meditates on me as life and immortality gains his full +life in this world and in heaven immortality." Here the relation of +the devotee to the deity is purely intellectual not emotional, but the +idea that intellectual devotion directed to a particular deity will be +rewarded is clearly present. In the Rig Veda this same Indra is +called a deliverer and advocate; a friend, a brother and a father; +even a father and mother in one. Here the worshipper does not talk of +_bhakti_ because he does not analyze his feelings, but clearly these +phrases are inspired by affectionate devotion. + +Nor is the spirit of _bhakti_ absent from Buddhism. The severe +doctrine of the older schools declares that the Buddha is simply a +teacher and that every man must save himself. But since the teacher is +the source of the knowledge which saves, it is natural to feel for him +grateful and affectionate devotion. This sentiment permeates the two +books of poems called Thera and Therigatha and sometimes finds clear +expression.[430] In the commentary on the Dhammapada[431] the doctrine +of salvation by devotion is affirmed in its extreme form, namely that +a dying man who has faith in the Buddha will be reborn in heaven. But +this commentary is not of early date and the doctrine quoted is +probably an instance of the Hinayana borrowing the attractive features +of the Mahayana. The sutras about Amitabha's paradise, which were +composed about the time of the Christian era and owe something to +Persian though not to Christian influence, preach faith in Amitabha as +the whole of religion. They who believe in him and call on his name +will go to heaven. + +When bhakti was once accepted as a part of Indian religion, it was +erected into a principle, analogous or superior to knowledge and was +defined in Sutras[432] similar to those of the Sankhya and Vedanta. +But its importance in philosophy is small, whereas its power as an +impulse in popular religion has been enormous. To estimate its moral +and intellectual value is difficult, for like so much in Hinduism it +offers the sharpest contrasts. Its obvious manifestations may seem to +be acts of devotion which cannot be commended ethically and belief in +puerile stories: yet we find that this offensive trash continually +turns into gems of religious thought unsurpassed in the annals of +Buddhism and Christianity. + +The doctrine of bhakti is common to both Vishnuites and Sivaites. It +is perhaps in general estimation associated with the former more than +with the latter, but this is because the Bhagavad-gita and various +forms of devotion to Krishna are well known, whereas the Tamil +literature of Dravidian Sivaism is ignored by many European scholars. +One might be inclined to suppose that the emotional faith sprang up +first in the worship of Vishnu, for the milder god seems a natural +object for love, whereas Siva has to undergo a certain transformation +before he can evoke such feelings. But there is no evidence that this +is the historical development of the bhakti sentiment, and if the +Bhagavad-gita is emphatic in enjoining the worship of Krishna only, +the Svetasvatara and Maitrayaniya Upanishads favour Siva, and he is +abundantly extolled in many parts of the Mahabharata. Here, as so +often, exact chronology fails us in the early history of these sects, +but it is clear that the practice of worshipping Siva and Vishnu, as +being each by himself all-sufficient, cannot have begun much later +than the Christian era and may have begun considerably earlier, even +though people did not call themselves Saivas or Vaishnavas. + +Bhakti is often associated with the doctrine of the playfulness of +God. This idea--so strange to Europe[433]--may have its roots partly +in the odd non-moral attributes of some early deities. Thus the Rudra +of the Satarudriya hymn is a queer character and a trickster. But it +soon takes a philosophical tinge and is used to explain the creation +and working of the universe which is regarded not as an example of +capricious, ironical, inscrutable action, but rather as manifesting +easy, joyous movement and the exuberant rhythm of a dance executed for +its own sake. The European can hardly imagine a sensible person doing +anything without an object: he thinks it almost profane to ascribe +motiveless action to the Creator: he racks his brain to discover any +purpose in creation which is morally worthy and moderately in accord +with the facts of experience. But he can find none. The Hindu, on the +contrary, argues that God being complete and perfect cannot be +actuated by aims or motives, for all such impulses imply a desire to +obtain something, whereas a perfect and complete being is one which by +its very definition needs neither change nor addition. Therefore, +whatever activity is ascribed to the creator must not be thought of as +calculating, purposeful endeavour, but as spontaneous, exultant +movement, needing and admitting no explanation, and analogous to sport +and play rather than to the proceedings of prudent people. This view +of the divine activity is expounded by so serious a writer as Sankara +in his commentary on the Vedanta Sutras, and it also finds +mythological expression in numerous popular legends. The Tamil +Puranas describe the sixty-four miracles of Siva as his amusements: +his laughter and joyous movements brighten all things, and the street +minstrels sing "He sports in the world. He sports in the soul."[434] +He is supposed to dance in the Golden Hall of the temple at +Chidambaram and something of the old legends of the Satarudriya hangs +about such popular titles as the Deceiver and the Maniac (_Kalvar_) +and the stories of his going about disguised and visiting his +worshippers in the form of a mendicant. The idea of sport and +playfulness is also prominent in Vishnuism. It is a striking feature +in the cultus of both the infant and the youthful Krishna, but I +have not found it recorded in the severer worship of Rama. + +Another feature of Hindu sects is the extravagant respect paid to +Gurus or teachers. The sanctity of the Guru is an old conviction in +India. By common consent he is entitled to absolute obedience and +offences against him are heinous crimes. But in sectarian literature +there appears a new claim, namely, that the Guru in some way is or +represents the god whose worship he teaches. If the deity is thought +of primarily as a saviour, the Guru is said to deliver from suffering +and hell: if he requires surrender and sacrifice, then person and +possessions must be dedicated to the Guru. Membership of a sect can +be attained only by initiation at the hands of a Guru who can teach a +special mantra or formula of which each sect has its own. In some of +the more modern sects the Guru need not be a Brahman, but if he cannot +be venerated for his caste, the deficiency is compensated by the +respect which he receives as a repository of oral teaching. The +scriptural basis of many sects is dubious and even when it exists, +many of the devout (especially women) have not the inclination or +ability to read and therefore take their religion from the lips of the +Guru, who thus becomes an oracle and source of truth. In Bengal, the +family Guru is a regular institution in respectable castes. In many +sects the founder or other prominent saint is described as an +incarnation and receives veneration after death.[435] + +This veneration or deification of the Guru is found in most sects and +assumes as extreme a form among the Saivas as among the Vaishnavas. +The Saiva Siddhanta teaches that divine instruction can be received +only from one who is both god and man, and that the true Guru is an +incarnation of Siva. Thus the works of Manikka-Vacagar and Umapati +speak of Siva coming to his devotees in the form of the Guru. In the +sects that worship Krishna the Gurus are frequently called Gosain +(Goswami).[436] Sometimes they are members of a particular family, as +among the Vallabhacaryas. In other sects there is no hereditary +principle and even a Sudra is eligible as Guru. + +One other feature of Sectarian Hinduism must be mentioned. It may be +described as Tantrism or, in one of its aspects, as the later Yoga and +is a combination of practices and theories which have their roots in +the old literature and began to form a connected doctrine at least as +early as the eighth century A.D. Some of its principal ideas are as +follows: (i) Letters and syllables (and also their written forms and +diagrams) have a potent influence both for the human organism and for +the universe. This idea is found in the early Upanishads[437] and is +fully developed in the later Sectarian Upanishads. (ii) The human +organism is a miniature copy of the universe.[438] It contains many +lines or channels (nadi) along which the nerve force moves and also +nervous centres distributed from the hips to the head, (iii) In the +lowest centre resides a force identical with the force which creates +the universe.[439] When by processes which are partly physical it is +roused and made to ascend to the highest centre, emancipation and +bliss are obtained. (iv) There is a mysterious connection between the +process of cosmic evolution and sound, especially the sacred sound +_Om._ + +These ideas are developed most thoroughly in Saktist works, but are by +no means peculiar to them. They are found in the Pancaratra and the +later Puranas and have influenced almost all modern sects, although +those which are based on emotional devotion are naturally less +inclined to favour physical and magical means of obtaining salvation. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 401: The population of India (about 315 millions) is larger +than that of Europe without Russia.] + +[Footnote 402: But compare the English poet + + "Flower in the crannied wall, + I pluck you out of the crannies, + ... but if I could understand + What you are, root and all, and all in all + I should know what God and man is."] + +[Footnote 403: Efforts are now being made by Hindus to suppress this +institution.] + +[Footnote 404: In the Vedic funeral ceremonies the wife lies down by +her dead husband and is called back to the world of the living which +points to an earlier form of the rite where she died with him. But +even at this period, those who did not follow the Vedic customs may +have killed widows with their husbands (see too Ath. Veda, XII. 3), +and later, the invaders from Central Asia probably reinforced the +usage. The much-abused Tantras forbid it.] + +[Footnote 405: For the history of the Ramayana and Mahabharata and +the dates assignable to the different periods of growth, see +Winternitz, _Gesch. Ind. Lit._ vol. I. p. 403 and p. 439. Also +Hopkins' _Great Epic of India_, p. 397. The two poems had assumed +something like their present form in the second and fourth centuries +A.D. respectively. These are probably the latest dates for any +substantial additions or alterations and there is considerable +evidence that poems called Bharata and Ramayana were well known early +in the Christian era. Thus in Asvaghosha's Sutralankara (story XXIV) +they are mentioned as warlike poems inculcating unbuddhist views. The +Ramayana is mentioned in the Mahavibhasha and was known to Vasubandhu +(_J.R.A.S._ 1907, p. 99). A Cambojan inscription dating from the first +years of the seventh century records arrangements made for the +recitation of the Ramayana, Purana and complete (asesha) Bharata, +which implies that they were known in India considerably earlier. See +Barth, _Inscrip. Sanscrites de Cambodge_, pp. 29-31. The Mahabharata +itself admits that it is the result of gradual growth for in the +opening section it says that the Bharata consists of 8,800 verses, +24,000 verses and 100,000 verses.] + +[Footnote 406: Hardy, _Indische Religionsgeschichte_, p. 101.] + +[Footnote 407: But some of these latter sacrifice images made of dough +instead of living animals.] + +[Footnote 408: It is said that the Agnishtoma was performed in Benares +in 1898, and in the last few years I am told that one or two Vedic +sacrifices have been offered annually in various parts of southern +India. I have myself seen the sites where such sacrifices were offered +in 1908-9 in Mysore city and in Chidambaram, and in 1912 at Wei near +Poona. The most usual form of sacrifice now-a-days is said to be the +Vajapeya. Much Vedic ritual is still preserved in the domestic life of +the Nambathiri and other Brahmans of southern India. See Cochin, +_Tribes and Castes_, and Thurston, _Castes and Tribes of southern +India._] + +[Footnote 409: The outline of a stupa may be due to imitation of +houses constructed with curved bamboos as Vincent Smith contends +(_History of Fine Art_, p. 17). But this is compatible with the view +that stone buildings with this curved outline had come to be used +specially as funeral monuments before Buddhism popularized in India +and all Eastern Asia the architectural form called stupa.] + +[Footnote 410: The temple of Aihole near Badami seems to be a +connecting link between a Buddhist stupa with a pradakshina path and +a Hindu shrine.] + +[Footnote 411: In most temples (at least in southern India) there are +two images: the _mula-vigraha_ which is of stone and fixed in the +sanctuary, and the _utsava-vigraha_ which is smaller, made of metal +and carried in processions.] + +[Footnote 412: Thus Bhattacharya (_Hindu Castes and Sects_, p. 127) +enumerates eleven classes of Brahmans, who "have a very low status on +account of their being connected with the great public shrines," and +adds that mere residence in a place of pilgrimage for a few +generations tends to lower the status of a Brahmanic family.] + +[Footnote 413: Thus in Bengal there is a special class, the Barna +Brahmans, who perform religious rites for the lower castes, and are +divided into six classes according to the castes to whom they +minister. Other Brahmans will not eat or intermarry with them or even +take water from them.] + +[Footnote 414: This is extraordinarily like the temple ritual of the +ancient Egyptians. For some account of the construction and ritual of +south Indian temples see Richards in _J. of Mythic Soc_. 1919, pp. +158-107.] + +[Footnote 415: But Vedic mantras are used in these ceremonies. The +libations of water or other liquids are said to be accompanied by the +mantras recited at the Soma sacrifice.] + +[Footnote 416: At these sacrifices there is no elaborate ritual or +suggestion of symbolism. The animal is beheaded and the inference is +that Kali likes it. Similarly simple is the offering of coco-nuts to +Kali. The worshipper gives a nut to the pujari who splits it in two +with an axe, spills the milk and hands back half the nut to the +worshipper. This is the sort of primitive offering that might be made +to an African fetish.] + +[Footnote 417: See especially the Ambattha Sutta (Dig. Nik. 3) and +Rhys Davids's introduction.] + +[Footnote 418: See Weber, _Die Vajrasuchi_ and Nanjio, Catal. No. +1303. In Ceylon at the present day only members of the higher castes +can become Bhikkhus.] + +[Footnote 419: But it is said that in Southern India serious questions +of caste are reported to the abbot of the Sringeri monastery for his +decision.] + +[Footnote 420: The modern Lingayats demur to the statement that their +founder rejected caste.] + +[Footnote 421: So too in the cakras of the Saktists all castes are +equal during the performance of the ceremony.] + +[Footnote 422: Some (Khandelwals, Dasa Srimalis and Palliwals) include +both Jains and Vaishnavas: the Agarwals are mostly Vaishnavas but some +of them are Jains and some worship Siva and Kali. Jogendra Nath +Bhattacharya, _Hindu Castes and Sects_, pp. 205 ff.] + +[Footnote 423: The names used are not the same. The four Vedic castes +are called _Varna_: the hundreds of modern castes are called _Jati._] + +[Footnote 424: Sampradaya seems to be the ordinary Sanskrit word for +sectarian doctrine. It means traditional teaching transmitted from one +teacher to another.] + +[Footnote 425: I am discussing elsewhere the possible debt which +Christianity and Hinduism may owe to one another.] + +[Footnote 426: Panini, IV. 3. 95-98.] + +[Footnote 427: Katha Up. I. 1. 2, 23.] + +[Footnote 428: R.V. X. 125.] + +[Footnote 429: Compare too the hymns of the R.V. to Varuna as a +rudimentary expression of Bhakti from the worshipper's point of view.] + +[Footnote 430: _E.g._ Theragatha, 818-841 and 1231-1245.] + +[Footnote 431: I. 2.] + +[Footnote 432: They are called the Sandilya Sutras and appear to be +not older than about the twelfth century A.D., but the tradition which +connects them with the School of Sandilya may be just, for the +teaching of this sage (Chandog. Up. III. 14) lays stress on will and +belief. Ramanuja (Sribhashya, II. 2. 43) refers to Sandilya as the +alleged author of the Pancaratra. There are other Bhakti sutras called +Naradiya and ascribed to Narada, published and translated in _The +Sacred Books of the Hindus_, No. 23. They consist of 84 short +aphorisms. Raj. Mitra in his notices of Sanskrit MSS. describes a +great number of modern works dealing with Bhakti.] + +[Footnote 433: Yet it is found in Francis Thompson's poem called _Any +Saint_ + + So best + God loves to jest + With children small, a freak + Of heavenly hide and seek + Fit + For thy wayward wit.] + +[Footnote 434: Pope, _The History of Manikka-Vacagar_, p. 23. For the +64 sports of Siva see Siddhanta Dipika, vol. IX.] + +[Footnote 435: _E.g._ Ramanuja, Nammarvar, Basava.] + +[Footnote 436: Apparently meaning "possessor of cows," and originally +a title of the youthful Krishna. It is also interpreted as meaning +Lord of the Vedas or Lord of his own senses.] + +[Footnote 437: _E.g._ the beginning of the Chand. Up. about the syllable +_Om._ See too the last section of the Aitareya Aran. The Yoga +Upanishads analyse and explain _Om_ and some Vishnuite Upanishads +(Nrisimha and Ramata-paniya) enlarge on the subject of letters and +diagrams.] + +[Footnote 438: The same idea pervades the old literature in a slightly +different form. The parts of the sacrifice are constantly identified +with parts of the universe or of the human body.] + +[Footnote 439: The cakras are mentioned in Act V of Malati and Madhava +written early in the eighth century. The doctrine of the nadis occurs +in the older Upanishads (_e.g._ Chand. and Maitrayana) in a rudimentary +form.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE EVOLUTION OF HINDUISM. BHAGAVATAS AND PASUPATAS + + +1 + + +India is a literary country and naturally so great a change as the +transformation of the old religion into theistic sects preaching +salvation by devotion to a particular deity found expression in a long +and copious literature. This literature supplements and supersedes the +Vedic treatises but without impairing their theoretical authority, +and, since it cannot compare with them in antiquity and has not the +same historic interest, it has received little attention from +Indianists until the present century. But in spite of its defects it +is of the highest importance for an understanding of medieval and +contemporary Hinduism. Much of it is avowedly based on the principle +that in this degenerate age the Veda is difficult to understand,[440] +and that therefore God in His mercy has revealed other texts +containing a clear compendium of doctrine. Thus the great Vishnuite +doctor Ramanuja states authoritatively "The incontrovertible fact then +is as follows: The Lord who is known from the Vedanta texts ... +recognising that the Vedas are difficult to fathom by all beings other +than himself ... with a view to enable his devotees to grasp the true +meaning of the Vedas, himself composed the Pancaratra-Sastra."[441] + +This later sectarian literature falls into several divisions. + +A. Certain episodes of the Mahabharata. The most celebrated of these +is the Bhagavad-gita, which is probably anterior to the Christian era. +Though it is incorporated in the Epic it is frequently spoken of as an +independent work. Later and less celebrated but greatly esteemed by +Vishnuites is the latter part of book XII, commonly known as +Narayaniya.[442] Both these episodes and others[443] are closely +analogous to metrical Upanishads. The Mahabharata even styles itself +(I. 261) the Veda of Krishna (Karshna). + +The Ramayana does not contain religious episodes comparable to those +mentioned but the story has more than once been re-written in a religious +and philosophic form. Of such versions the Adhyatma-Ramayana[444] and +Yoga-vasishtha-Ramayana are very popular. + +B. Though the Puranas[445] are not at all alike, most of them show +clear affinity both as literature and as religious thought to the +various strata of the Mahabharata, and to the Law Books, especially +the metrical code of Manu. These all represent a form of orthodoxy +which while admitting much that is not found in the Veda is still +Brahmanic and traditionalist. The older Puranas (_e.g._ Matsya, Vayu, +Markandeya, Vishnu), or at least the older parts of them, are the +literary expression of that Hindu reaction which gained political +power with the accession of the Gupta dynasty. They are less +definitely sectarian than later works such as the Narada and Linga +Puranas, yet all are more or less sectarian. + +The most influential Purana is the Bhagavata, one of the great +scriptures for all sects which worship Krishna. It is said to have +been translated into every language of India and forty versions in +Bengali alone are mentioned.[446] It was probably composed in the +eighth or ninth century.[447] A free translation of the tenth book +into Hindi, called the Prem Sagar or Ocean of Love, is greatly revered +in northern India.[448] Other sectarian Puranas are frequently read +at temple services. Besides the eighteen great Puranas there are many +others, and in south India at any rate they were sometimes composed in +the vernacular, as for instance the Periya Purana (_c._ 1100 A.D.). +These vernacular Puranas seem to be collections of strangely +fantastic fairy tales. + +C. The word Tantra originally meant a manual giving the essentials of +a subject but later usage tends to restrict it to works, whether Hindu +or Buddhist, inculcating the worship of Siva's spouse. But there are +exceptions to this restriction: the Panca-tantra is a collection of +stories and the Lakshmi-tantra is a Vishnuite work.[449] + +The fact is that a whole class of Sanskrit religious literature is +described by the titles Tantra, Agama and Samhita,[450] which taken +in a wide sense are practically synonymous, though usage is inclined +to apply the first specially to Saktist works, the second to Sivaite +and the third to Vishnuite. The common character of all these +productions is that they do not attempt to combine Vedic rites and +ideas with sectarian worship, but boldly state that, since the +prescriptions of the Veda are too hard for this age, some generous +deity has revealed an easier teaching. This teaching naturally varies +in detail, but it usually comprises devotion to some special form of +the godhead and also a special ceremonial, which commences with +initiation and includes the use of mystic formulae, letters and +diagrams. Tantras, Agamas and Samhitas all treat of their +subject-matter in four divisions[451] the first of which relates to +the great problems of philosophy, the second to the discipline +necessary for uniting the self and God; the third and fourth to +ceremonial. + +These works have another feature in common, namely that they are +little known except to those Hindus who use them for religious +purposes and are probably not very anxious to see them published. +Though they are numerous, few of them have been printed and those few +have not been much studied by European scholars. I shall say something +more about them below in treating of the various sects. Some are of +respectable antiquity but it is also clear that modern texts pass +under ancient names. The Pancaratram and Pasupatam which are Vishnuite +and Sivaite Samhitas are mentioned in the Mahabharata, and some +extant Vishnuite Samhitas were perhaps composed in the fourth century +A.D.[452] Ramanuja as quoted above states that the Pancaratra-sastra +(apparently the same as the Pancaratra-tantra which he also mentions) +was composed by Vasudeva himself and also cites as scripture the +Sattvata, Paushkara and Parama Samhitas. In the same context he +speaks of the Mahabharata as Bharata-Samhita and the whole passage is +interesting as being a statement by a high authority of the reasons +for accepting a non-Vedic work like the Pancaratra as revealed +scripture. + +As already indicated European usage makes the words Tantra, Tantrism +and tantric refer to the worship of goddesses. It would be better to +describe this literature and worship as Saktism and to use Tantrism +for a tendency in doctrine and ceremonial which otherwise has no +special name. I have been informed by Tamil Pandits that at the +present day the ritual in some temples is smarta or according to +Smriti, but in the majority according to the Agamas or tantric. The +former which is followed by many well-known shrines (for instance in +Benares and in the great temples of south India) conforms to the +precepts of the Puranas, especially on festival days. The officiants +require no special initiation and burnt offerings are presented. But +the Agamic ritual can be performed only by priests who have received +initiation, burnt offerings rarely form part of the ceremony and +vernacular hymns are freely used.[453] + +Such hymns however as well as processions and other forms of worship +which appeal directly to the religious emotions are certainly not +tantric. Tantrism is a species of religious magic, differing from the +Vedic sacrifices in method rather than principle.[454] For all that, +it sets aside the old rites and announces itself as the new +dispensation for this age. Among its principal features are the +following. The Tantras are a scripture for all, and lay little stress +on caste: the texts and the ritual which they teach can be understood +only after initiation and with the aid of a teacher: the ritual +consists largely in the correct use of spells, magical or sacramental +syllables and letters, diagrams and gestures: its object is less to +beseech than to compel the god to come to the worshipper: another +object is to unite the worshipper to the god and in fact transform him +into the god: man is a microcosm corresponding to the macrocosm or +universe: the spheres and currents of the universe are copied in +miniature in the human body and the same powers rule the same parts in +the greater and the lesser scheme. Such ideas are widely disseminated +in almost all modern sects,[455] though without forming their +essential doctrine, but I must repeat that to say all sects are +tantric does not mean that they are all Saktist. But Saktist sects +are fundamentally and thoroughly tantric in their theory and +practice. + +D. Besides the Sanskrit books mentioned above numerous vernacular +works, especially collections of hymns, are accepted as authoritative +by various sects, and almost every language has scriptures of its own. +In the south two Tamil hymnals, the Devaram of the Sivaites and +Nalayira Prabandham of the Vishnuites, are recited in temples and are +boldly stated to be revelations equivalent to the Veda. In northern +India may be mentioned the Hindi Ramayana of Tulsi Das, which is +almost universally venerated, the Bhaktamala of Nabha Das,[456] the +Sur-sagar of Surdas and the Prem Sagar. In Assam the Nam Gosha of +Madhab Deb is honoured with the same homage as a sacred image. The +awkwardness of admitting direct inspiration in late times is avoided +by the theory of spiritual descent, that is to say of doctrinal +transmission from teacher to teacher, the divine revelation having +been made to the original teacher at a discreetly remote epoch. + + +2 + + +In considering the evolution of modern Hinduism out of the old Vedic +religion, three of the many factors responsible for this huge and +complicated result deserve special attention. The first is the unusual +intensity and prevalence of the religious temperament. This has a +double effect, both conservative and alterative: ancient customs +receive an unreasonable respect: they are not abolished for their +immorality or absurdity; but since real interest implies some measure +of constructive power, there is a constant growth of new ideas and +reinterpretations resulting in inconsistent combinations. The second +is the absence of hierarchy and discipline. The guiding principle of +the Brahmans has always been not so much that they have a particular +creed to enforce, as that whatever is the creed of India they must be +its ministers. Naturally every priest is the champion of his own god +or rite, and such zeal may lead to occasional conflicts. But though +the antithesis between the ritualism of the older Brahmanism and the +faith or philosophy of Sivaism and Vishnuism may remind us of the +differences between the Catholic Church and Protestant reformers, yet +historically there is no resemblance in the development of the +antithesis. To some extent Hinduism showed a united front against +Buddhism, but the older Brahmanism had no organization which enabled +it to stand as a separate Church in opposition to movements which it +disliked. The third factor is the deeply rooted idea, which reappears +at frequent intervals from the time of the Upanishads until to-day, +that rules and rites and even creeds are somehow part of the lower and +temporal order of things which the soul should transcend and leave +behind. This idea tinges the whole of Indian philosophy and +continually crops up in practice. The founder of a strange sect who +declares that nothing is necessary but faith in a particular deity and +that all ceremonies and caste observances are superfluous is not in +the popular esteem a subverter of Hinduism. + +The history of both Sivaism and Vishnuism illustrates these features. +Siva begins as a wild deity of non-moral attributes. As the religious +sense develops he is not rejected like the less reputable deities of +the Jews and Arabs but remains and collects round himself other +strange wild ideas which in time are made philosophical but not +ethical. The rites of the new religion are, if not antagonistic, at +least alternative to the ancient sacrifices, yet far from being +forbidden they are performed by Brahmans and modern Indian writers +describe Siva as peculiarly the Brahman's god. Finally the Sivaite +schools of the Tamil country reject in successive stages the grosser +and more formal elements until there remains nothing but an ecstatic +and mystical monotheism. Similarly among the Vishnuites Krishna is +the centre of legends which have even less of conventional morality. +Yet out of them arises a doctrine that the love of God is the one +thing needful so similar to Christian teaching that many have supposed +it must be borrowed. + +The first clear accounts of the worship of Siva and Vishnu are +contained in the epics and indicate the existence of sectarian +religion, that is to say of exclusive devotion to one or other deity. +But there is also a tendency to find a place for both, a tendency +which culminates in the composite deity Sankara Narayana already +mentioned. Many of the Puranas[457] reflect this view and praise the +two deities impartially. The Mahabharata not unfrequently does the +same but the general impression left by this poem is that the various +parts of which it consists have been composed or revised in a +sectarian spirit. The body of the work is a narrative of exploits in +which the hero Krishna plays a great part but revised so as to make +him appear often as a deity and sometimes as the Supreme Spirit. But +much of the didactic matter which has been added, particularly books +XII and XIII, breathes an equally distinct Sivaite spirit and in the +parts where Krishna is treated as a mere hero, the principal god +appears to be not Vishnu but Siva. + +The Mahabharata and Puranas contain legends which, though obscure, +refer to conflicts of the worshippers of Siva with those who offered +Vedic sacrifices as well as with the votaries of Vishnu, and to a +subsequent reconciliation and blending of the various cults. Among +these is the well-known story of Daksha's sacrifice to which Siva was +not invited. Enraged at the omission he violently breaks up the +sacrifice either in person or through a being whom he creates for the +purpose, assaults the officiants and the gods who are present, and is +pacified by receiving a share. Similarly we hear[458] that he once +seized a victim at a sacrifice and that the gods in fear allotted to +him the choicest portion of the offerings. These stories indicate that +at one time Brahmans did not countenance his worship and he is even +represented as saying to his wife that according to rule (dharmatah) +he has no share in the sacrifice.[459] Possibly human victims were +immolated in his honour, as they were in Kali's until recently, for in +the Mahabharata[460] it is related how Krishna expostulated with +Jarasandha who proposed to offer to Siva a sacrifice of captive kings. +In the Vishnu-Purana, Krishna fights with Siva and burns Benares. +But by the time that the Mahabharata was put together these quarrels +were not in an acute stage. In several passages[461] Krishna is made +to worship Siva as the Supreme Spirit and in others[462] vice versa +Siva celebrates the glory of Krishna. Vishnuites do not disbelieve +in Siva but they regard him as a god of this world, whereas their own +deity is cosmic and universal. Many Vishnuite works[463] are said to +be revealed by Siva who acts as an intermediary between us and higher +spheres. + + +3 + + +In the following sections I shall endeavour to relate the beginnings +of sectarianism. The sects which are now most important are relatively +modern and arose in the twelfth century or later, but the sectarian +spirit can be traced back several centuries before our era. By +sectarians I mean worshippers of Siva or Vishnu who were neither in +complete sympathy with the ancient Brahmanism nor yet excommunicated +by it and who had new texts and rites to replace or at least +supplement the Vedas and the Vedic sacrifices. It is probable that the +different types of early Indian religion had originally different +geographical spheres. Brahmanism flourished in what we call the United +Provinces: Buddhism arose in the regions to the east of this district +and both Vishnuism and Sivaism are first heard of in the west. + +The earliest sect of which we have any record is that of the +Bhagavatas, who were or became Vishnuite. At a date which it is +impossible to fix but considerably before the epoch of Panini, a +tribe named the Yadavas occupied the country between Muttra and the +shores of Gujarat. Sects of this tribe were called Vrishni and +Sattvata. The latter name has passed into theology. Krishna belonged +to this sect and it is probable that this name Vasudeva was not +originally a patronymic but the name of a deity worshipped by it. The +hero Krishna was identified with this god and subsequently when the +Brahmans wished to bring this powerful sect within the pale of +orthodoxy both were identified with Vishnu. In the Mahabharata[464] +the rule or ritual (vidhi) of the Sattvatas is treated as equivalent +to that of the Bhagavatas and a work called the Sattvata Samhita is +still extant. Bhagavata appears to be the most general name of the +sect or sects and means simply _of the Lord_ (Bhagavat), that is +worshippers of the one Lord.[465] Their religion is also called +Ekantika dharma, or the religion with one object, that is +monotheism.[466] + +A considerable literature grew up in this school and the principal +treatise is often spoken of as Pancaratra because it was revealed by +Narayana during five nights.[467] The name however appears to be +strictly speaking applicable to a system or body of doctrine and the +usual term for the books in which this system is expounded is +Samhita. All previous discussions and speculations about these works, +of which little was known until recently, are superseded by Schrader's +publication of the Ahirbudhnya Samhita, which appears to be +representative of its class.[468] The names of over two hundred are +cited and of these more than thirty are known to be extant in MS.[469] +The majority were composed in north-western India but the Pancaratra +doctrine spread to the Dravidian countries and new Samhitas were +produced there, the chief of which, the Isvara Samhita, can hardly be +later than 800 A.D.[470] Of the older works Schrader thinks that the +Ahirbudhnya was written in Kashmir[471] between 300 and 800 A.D. and +perhaps as early as the fourth century. It mentions the Sattvata and +Jayakhya, which must therefore be older. + +The most remarkable feature of this literature is its elaborate +doctrine of evolution and emanation from the Deity, the world process +being conceived in the usual Hindu fashion as an alternation of +production and destruction. A distinction is drawn between pure and +gross creation. What we commonly call the Universe is bounded by the +shell of the cosmic egg and there are innumerable such eggs, each with +its own heavens and its own tutelary deities such as Brahma and Siva +who are sharply distinguished from Vishnu. But beyond this multitude +of worlds are more mysterious and spiritual spheres, the highest +heaven or Vaikuntha wherein dwells God in his highest form (Para) +with his Saktis,[472] certain archangels and liberated souls. +Evolution commences when at the end of the cosmic night the Sakti of +Vishnu[473] is differentiated from her Lord and assumes the two forms +of Force and Matter.[474] He as differentiated from her is Vasudeva a +personal deity with six attributes[475] and is the first emanation, or +Vyuha, of the ineffable godhead. From him proceeds Sankarshana, from +Sankarshana Pradyumna, and from Pradyumna Aniruddha. These three +Vyuhas take part in creation but also correspond to or preside over +certain aspects of human personality, namely Sankarshana to the soul +that animates all beings, Pradyumna to intelligence and Aniruddha to +individuality. Strange to say these seem to be the names of +distinguished personages in the Sattvata or Vrishni clan.[476] Mere +deification occurs in many countries but the transformation of heroes +into metaphysical or psychological terms could hardly have happened +outside India. Next to the Vyuhas come twelve sub-Vyuhas, among whom +is Narayana,[477] and thirty-nine Avataras. All these beings are +outside the cosmic eggs and our gross creation. As a prelude to this +last there takes place the evolution of the aggregates or sources from +which individual souls and matter are drawn, of space and of time, and +finally of the elements, the process as described seeming to follow an +older form of the Sankhya philosophy than that known to us. The task +of human souls is to attain liberation, but though the language of the +Samhitas is not entirely consistent, the older view is that they +become like to God, not that they are absorbed in him.[478] + +Thus it is not incorrect to say that the Bhagavata religion is +monotheistic and recognizes a creator of souls. Indeed Sankara[479] +condemns it on the very ground that it makes individual souls +originate from Vasudeva, in which case since they have an origin they +must also have an end. But Ramanuja in replying to this criticism +seems to depart from the older view, for he says that the Supreme +Being voluntarily abides in four forms which include the soul, mind +and the principle of individuality. This, if not Pantheism, is very +different from European monotheism.[480] + +The history of these Bhagavatas, Pancaratras or worshippers of Vishnu +must have begun several centuries before our era, for there are +allusions to them in Panini and the Niddesa.[481] The names of +Vasudeva and Sankarshana occur in old inscriptions[482] and the Greek +Heliodoros calls himself a Bhagavata on the column found at Besnagar +and supposed to date from the first part of the second century B.C. + +The Pancaratra was not Brahmanic in origin[483] and the form of the +Sankhya philosophy from which it borrowed was also un-Brahmanic. It +seems to have grown up in north-western India in the centuries when +Iranian influence was strong and may owe to Zoroastrianism the +doctrine of the Vyuhas which finds a parallel in the relation of Ahura +Mazda to Spenta Mainyu, his Holy Spirit, and in the Fravashis. It is +also remarkable that God is credited with six attributes comparable +with the six Amesha Spentas. In other ways the Pancaratra seems to +have some connection with late Buddhism. Though it lays little stress +on the worship of goddesses, yet all the Vyuhas and Avataras are +provided with Saktis, like the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of tantric +Buddhism, and in the period of quiescence which follows on the +dissolution of the Universe Vishnu is described under the name of +Sunya or the void. It attaches great importance to the _Cakra_, the +wheel or discus which denotes Vishnu's will to be,[484] to evolve and +maintain the universe, and it may have contributed some ideas to the +very late form of Buddhism called Kalacakra. This very word is used in +the Ahirbudhnya Samhita as the name of one of the many wheels engaged +in the work of evolution. + +Though the Pancaratra is connected with Krishna in its origin, it +gives no prominence to devotion to him under that name as do modern +sects and it knows nothing of the pastoral Krishna.[485] It +recommends the worship of the four Vyuhas[486] presiding over the four +quarters in much the same way that late Buddhism adores the four Jinas +depicted in somewhat similar forms. Similarly the Sivaites say that +Siva has five faces, namely Isana or Sadasiva (the highest, +undifferentiated form of the deity) at the top and below Vamadeva, +Aghora, Tatpurusha, and Sadyojata, presiding respectively over the +north, south, east and west. It is thus clear that in the early +centuries of our era (or perhaps even before it) there was a tendency +in Vishnuism, Sivaism and Mahayanist Buddhism alike to represent the +ineffable godhead as manifested in four aspects somewhat more +intelligible to human minds and producing in their turn many inferior +manifestations. Possibly the theory originated among the +Vishnuites,[487] but as often happened in India it was adopted by +their opponents. None of these theories are of much importance as +living beliefs at the present day but their influence can be seen in +iconography. + +As a sect the Pancaratras seem to have been a subdivision of the +Bhagavatas and probably at the present day many Vishnuites would +accept the second name but not the first. The Pancaratra is studied at +only a few places in southern India but its doctrines permeate the +popular work called Bhaktamala and in view of the express approbation +of Ramanuja and other authorities it can hardly be repudiated by the +Sri-Vaishnavas. Bhagavata is sometimes used in the south as a name +for Smartas who practise Vedic rites and worship both Siva and +Vishnu.[488] + + +4 + + +In these early times there were strenuous theological struggles now +forgotten, though they have left their traces in the legends which +tell how the title of Krishna and others to divine honours was +challenged. Amalgamation was the usual method of conciliation. +Several gods grew sufficiently important to become in the eyes of +their worshippers the supreme spirit and at least four were united in +the deity of the Bhagavatas, namely, Vasudeva, Krishna, Vishnu and +Narayana. Of the first three I have spoken already. Narayana never +became like Vishnu and Krishna a great mythological figure, but in +the late Vedic period he is a personification of the primaeval waters +from which all things sprang or of the spirit which moved in +them.[489] From this he easily became the supreme spirit who animates +all the universe and the name was probably acceptable to those who +desired a purer and simpler worship because it was connected with +comparatively few legends. But there is some confusion in its use, for +it is applied not only to the supreme being but to a double +incarnation of him called Nara-Narayana, and images of the pair may +still be seen in Vishnuite temples. They are said to have revealed the +true doctrine to Narada and are invoked at the beginning of each book +of the Mahabharata.[490] One of the main theses of the Narayaniya[491] +is the identity of Narayana and Vasudeva, the former being a Brahmanic, +the latter a non-Brahmanic name for the Deity. + +The celebrated Bhagavad-gita[492] which is still held in such respect +that, like the New Testament or Koran, it is used in law courts for +the administration of oaths, is an early scripture of the Bhagavata +sect. In it the doctrines of Krishna's divinity, the power of faith +and the efficacy of grace are fully established. It is declared to be +too hard for flesh and blood to find by meditation their way to the +eternal imperceptible spirit, whereas Krishna comes straightway to +those who make him their sole desire. "Set thy heart on me, become my +devotee, sacrifice to me and worship thou me. Then shalt thou come to +me. Truly I declare to thee thou art dear to me. Leave all (other) +religious duties and come to me as thy sole refuge. I will deliver +thee from thy sins. Sorrow not." But the evolution of Sankarshana, +etc., is not mentioned. The poem has perhaps been re-edited and +interpolated several times but the strata can hardly be distinguished, +for the whole work, if not exactly paradoxical, is eclectic and +continually argues that what is apparently highest is not best for a +particular person. The Hindus generally regard the contemplative life +as the highest, but the Bhagavad-gita is insistent in enjoining +unselfish action: it admits that the supreme reality cannot be grasped +by the mind or expressed in speech, but it recommends the worship of a +personal deity. Even the older parts of the poem appear to be +considerably later than Buddhism. But its mythology, if not Vedic, is +also hardly Puranic and it knows nothing of the legends about the +pastoral Krishna. It presupposes the Sankhya and Yoga, though in +what stage of development it is hard to say, and in many respects its +style resembles the later Upanishads. I should suppose that it assumed +its present form about the time of the Christian era, rather before +than after, and I do not think it owes anything to direct Christian +influence. In its original form it may have been considerably older. + +The Bhagavad-gita identifies Krishna with Vasudeva and with Vishnu +but does not mention Narayana and from its general style I should +imagine the Narayaniya to be a later poem. If so, the evolution of +Bhagavata theology will be that Krishna, a great hero in a tribe +lying outside the sphere of Brahmanism, is first identified with +Vasudeva, the god of that tribe, and then both of them with Vishnu. +At this stage the Bhagavad-gita was composed. A later current of +speculation added Narayana to the already complex figure, and a +still later one, not accepted by all sects, brought the pastoral and +amorous legends of Krishna. Thus the history of the Bhagavatas +illustrates the Indian disposition to combine gods and to see in each +of them only an aspect of the one. But until a later period the types +of divinity known as Vishnu and Siva resisted combination. The +worshippers of Siva have in all periods shown less inclination than +the Vishnuites to form distinct and separate bodies and the earliest +Sivaite sect of which we know anything, the Pasupatas,[493] arose +slightly later than the Bhagavatas. + + +5 + + +Patanjali the grammarian (_c._ 150 B.C.) mentions devotees of +Siva[494] and also images of Siva and Skanda. There is thus no reason +to doubt that worshippers of Siva were recognized as a sect from at +least 200 B.C. onwards. Further it seems probable that the founder or +an early teacher of the sect was an ascetic called Lakulin or +Lakulisa, the club-bearer. The Vayu Purana[495] makes Siva say that +he will enter an unowned corpse and become incarnate in this form at +Kayarohana, which has been identified with Karvan in Baroda. Now the +Vayu is believed to be the oldest of the Puranas, and it is probable +that this Lakulin whom it mentions lived before rather than after our +era and was especially connected with the Pasupata sect. This word is +derived from Pasupati, the Lord of cattle, an old title of Rudra +afterwards explained to mean the Lord of human souls. In the +Santiparvan[496] five systems of knowledge are mentioned. Sankhya, +Yoga, the Vedas, Pasupatam and Pancaratram, promulgated respectively +by Kapila, Hiranyagarbha, Apantaratamas, Siva the Lord of spirits and +son of Brahma, and "The Lord (Bhagavan) himself." The author of these +verses, who evidently supported the Pancaratra, considered that these +five names represented the chief existing or permissible varieties of +religious thought. The omission of the Vedanta is remarkable but +perhaps it is included under Veda. Hence we may conclude that when +this passage was written (that is probably before 400 A.D. and perhaps +about the beginning of our era) there were two popular religions +ranking in public esteem with the philosophic and ritual doctrines of +the Brahmans. The Mahabharata contains a hymn[497] which praises Siva +under 1008 names and is not without resemblance to the Bhagavad-gita. +It contains a larger number of strange epithets, but Siva is also +extolled as the All-God, who asks for devotion and grants grace. At +the close of the hymn Siva says that he has introduced the Pasupata +religion which partly contradicts and partly agrees with the +institutions of caste and the Asramas, but is blamed by fools.[498] + +These last words hint that the Pasupatas laid themselves open to +criticism by their extravagant practices, such as strange sounds and +gestures.[499] But in such matters they were outdone by other sects +called Kapalikas or Kalamukhas. These carried skulls and ate the flesh +of corpses, and were the fore-runners of the filthy Aghoris, who were +frequent in northern India especially near Mount Abu and Girnar a +century ago and perhaps are not yet quite extinct. The biographers of +Sankara[500] represent him as contending with these demoniac fanatics +not merely with the weapons of controversy but as urging the princes +who favoured him to exterminate them. + +Hindu authorities treat the Pasupatas as distinct from the Saivas, or +Sivaites, and the distinction was kept up in Camboja in the fourteenth +century. The Saivas appear to be simply worshippers of Siva, who +practice a sane ritual. In different parts of India they have +peculiarities of their own but whereas the Vaishnavas have split up +into many sects each revering its own founder and his teaching, the +Saivas, if not a united body, present few well-marked divisions. Such +as exist I shall notice below in their geographical or historical +connection.[501] Most of them accept a system of theology or +philosophy[502] which starts with three principles, all without +beginning or end. These are Pati or the Lord, that is Siva: Pasu, or +the individual soul: Pasa or the fetter, that is matter or Karma.[503] +The task of the soul is to get free of its fetters and attain to the +state of Siva. But this final deliverance is not quite the same as +the identity with Brahman taught by the Vedanta: the soul becomes a +Siva, equal to the deity in power and knowledge but still dependent on +him rather than identical with him.[504] + +Peculiar to Saiva theology is the doctrine of the five kancukas[505] +or envelopes which limit the soul. Spirit in itself is free: it is +timeless and knows no restrictions of space, enjoyment, knowledge and +power. But when spirit is contracted to individual experience, it can +apprehend the universe only as a series of changes in time and place: +its enjoyment, knowledge and power are cramped and curtailed by the +limits of personality. The terminology of the Saivas is original but +the theory appears to be an elaboration of the Pancaratra thesis that +the soul is surrounded by the sheath of Maya. + +The early literature of the worshippers of Siva (corresponding to the +Samhitas of the Pancaratras) appears to have consisted of +twenty-eight works composed in Sanskrit and called Agamas.[506] There +is fairly good evidence for their antiquity. Tirumular, one of the +earliest Tamil poets who is believed to have lived in the first +centuries of our era, speaks of them with enthusiasm and the Buddhist +Sanskrit works called Agamas (corresponding to the Pali Nikayas) +cannot be later than that period. It is highly probable that the same +word was in use among both Hindus and Buddhists at the same time. And +since the Mahabharata mentions the Pasupatam, there is no difficulty +in supposing that expositions of Sivaite doctrine were current in the +first century A.D. or even B.C. But unless more texts of the Agamas +come to light the question of their age has little practical +importance, for it is said by native scholars that of the twenty-eight +primary books there survive only fragments of twenty, which treat of +ritual, besides the verses which form the text expounded at length in +the Sivananabotham.[507] There are also said to be 120 Upagamas of +which only two or three have been preserved entire. Of these two have +been printed in part, the Mrigendra and Paushkara.[508] The former is +cited in the Sarva-darsana-sangraha (about 1330) but does not show +any signs of great antiquity. It is thus clear that the Agamas are not +much studied by modern Sivaites but it is unhesitatingly stated that +they are a revelation direct from Siva and equal to the Veda[509] and +this affirmation is important, even though the texts so praised are +little known, for it testifies to the general feeling that there are +other revelations than the Veda. But the Vedas, and the Vedanta Sutras +are not ignored. The latter are read in the light of Nilakantha's[510] +commentary which is considered by south Indian Pandits to be prior to +Sankara. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 440: An attempt was made to adapt the Veda to modern ideas +by composing new Upanishads. The inspiration of such works is not +denied but they have not the same influence as the literature +mentioned below.] + +[Footnote 441: Sri Bhashya, II. 2. 43. So too the Vishnu Purana, I. +1 describes itself as equal in sanctity to the Vedas. Sankara on Brah. +Sutras, I. 3. 33 says that the Puranas are authoritative.] + +[Footnote 442: See Grierson in _Ind. Ant._ 1908, p. 251 and p. 373.] + +[Footnote 443: _E.g._ the Sanatsujatiya and Anugita (both in _S.B.E._ +VIII.). See Deussen, _Vier philosophische Texte des Mahabharatam._] + +[Footnote 444: Forming part of the Brahmanda Purana.] + +[Footnote 445: See for a summary of them Winternitz, _Gesch. Ind. +Lit._ I. pp. 450-483. For the dates see Pargiter Dynasties of the Kali +age. He holds that the historical portions of the older Puranas were +compiled in Prakrit about 250 A.D. and re-edited in Sanskrit about +350. See also Vincent Smith, _Early History_, p. 21 and, against +Pargiter, Keith in _J.R.A.S._ 1914, p. 1021. Alberuni (who wrote in +1030) mentions eighteen Puranas and gives two lists of them. Bana (c. +620 A.D.) mentions the recitation of the Vayu Purana. The commentary +on the Svetasvatara Upan. ascribed to Sankara quotes the Brahma P., +Linga P. and Vishnu P. as authorities as well as Puranic texts +described as Vishnudharma and Sivadharmottara. But the authorship of +this commentary is doubtful. The Puranic literature as we know it +probably began with the Gupta dynasty or a century before it, but the +word Purana in the sense of an ancient legend which ought to be +learnt occurs as early as the Satapatha Brahmana (XI. 5. 6. 8) and +even in A.V. XI. 7. 24.] + +[Footnote 446: See Dinesh Chandra Sen, _Hist. Bengali Language and +Lit._ pp. 220-225.] + +[Footnote 447: Pargiter, _l.c._ pp. xvii, xxviii. It does not belong +to the latest class of Puranas for it seems to contemplate the +performance of Smarta rites not temple ceremonial, but it is not +quoted by Ramanuja (twelfth century) though he cites the Vishnu +Purana. Probably he disapproved of it.] + +[Footnote 448: It was made as late as 1803 by Lallu Ji Lal, but is a +rendering into Hindi of a version in the Braj dialect, probably made +in the sixteenth century.] + +[Footnote 449: Another Vishnuite work is cited indifferently as +Padma-tantra or Padma-samhita, and the Bhagavata Purana (I. 3. 8) +speaks of the Sattvatam Tantram, which is apparently the +Sattvata-samhita. The work edited by Schrader is described as the +_Ahirbudhnya Samhita of the Pancaratra Agama._] + +[Footnote 450: See for some notices of these works A. Avalon's various +publications about Tantra. Srinivasa Iyengar, _Outlines of Indian +Philosophy_, 118-191. Govindacarya Svami on the Vaishnava Samhitas, +_J.R.A.S._ 1911, pp. 935 ff. Schomerus, _Caiva-Siddhanta_, pp. 7 ff. +and Schrader's _Introduction to the Pancaratra_. Whereas these works +claim to be independent of the Veda, the Sectarian Upanishads (see +vol. I. p. 76) are an attempt to connect post-Vedic sects with the +Veda.] + +[Footnote 451: Jnana, Yoga, Carya, Kriya. The same names are used of +Buddhist Tantras, except that Anuttara replaces Jnana.] + +[Footnote 452: See Schrader, _Introd. to the Pancaratra_, p. 98. In +the Raghuvamsa, X. 27. Agamas are not only mentioned but said to be +extremely numerous. But in such passages it is hard to say whether +Agama means the books now so-called or merely tradition. Alberuni +seems not to have known of this literature and a Tantra for him is +merely a minor treatise on astronomy. He evidently regards the Vedas, +Puranas, philosophical Darsanas and Epics as constituting the +religious literature of India.] + +[Footnote 453: Rajagopala Chariar (_Vaishnavite Reformers_, p. 4) says +that in Vishnu temples two rituals are used called Pancaratra and +Vaikhanasa. The latter is apparently consistent with Smarta usage +whereas the Pancaratra is not. From Gopinatha Rao's _Elements of Hindu +Iconography_, pp. 56, 77, 78 it appears that there is a Vaikhanasagama +parallel to the Pancaratragama. It is frequently quoted by this +author, though as yet unpublished. It seems to be the ritual of those +Bhagavatas who worship both Siva and Vishnu. It is said to exist in +two recensions, prose and metrical, of which the former is perhaps the +oldest of the Vaishnava Agamas. The Vaikhanasa ritual was once +followed at Srirangam but Ramanuja substituted the Pancaratra for it.] + +[Footnote 454: Avalon, _Principles of Tantra_, p. xxvii describes it +as "that development of the Vaidika Karmakanda which under the name +of the Tantra Shastra is the scripture of the Kali age." This seems +to me a correct statement of the tantric theory.] + +[Footnote 455: Thus the Gautamiya Tantra which is held in high +estimation by Vishnuite householders in Bengal, though not by +ascetics, is a complete application of Sakta worship to the cult of +Krishna. The Varahi Tantra is also Vishnuite. See Raj. Mitra, +_Sanskrit MSS. of Bikaner_, p. 583 and _Notices of Sk. MSS_. III. +(1876), p. 99, and I. cclxxxvii. See too the usages of the Nambuthiri +Brahmans as described in _Cochin Tribes and Castes_, II. pp. 229-233. +In many ways the Nambuthiris preserve the ancient Vedic practices.] + +[Footnote 456: See Grierson's articles Gleanings from the Bhaktamala +in _J.R.A.S._ 1909-1910.] + +[Footnote 457: _E.g._ Markandeya, Vamana and Varaha. Also the Skanda +Upanishad.] + +[Footnote 458: Mahabh. Vanaparvan, 11001 ff. The Bhagavata Purana, +Book IV. sec. 2-7 emphasizes more clearly the objections of the Rishis +to Siva as an enemy of Vedic sacrifices and a patron of unhallowed +rites.] + +[Footnote 459: Mahabh. XII. sec. 283. In the same way the worship of +Dionysus was once a novelty in Greece and not countenanced by the +more conservative and respectable party. See Eur. Bacchae, 45. The +Varaha-Purana relates that the Sivaite scriptures were revealed for +the benefit of certain Brahmans whose sins had rendered them incapable +of performing Vedic rites. There is probably some truth in this legend +in so far as it means that Brahmans who were excommunicated for some +fault were disposed to become the ministers of non-Vedic cults.] + +[Footnote 460: Mahabh. II. secs. 16, 22 ff.] + +[Footnote 461: Drona-p., 2862 ff. Anusasana-p., 590 ff.] + +[Footnote 462: _E.g._ Anusasana P., 6806 ff.] + +[Footnote 463: _E.g._ the Ahirbudhnya Samhita and Adhyatma Ramayana.] + +[Footnote 464: Santipar. cccxxxvii, 12711 ff. In the Bhagavad-gita +Krishna says that he is Vasudeva of the Vrishnis, XI. 37.] + +[Footnote 465: Cf. the title Bhagavata Purana.] + +[Footnote 466: Ekayana is mentioned several times in the Chandogya Up. +(VII. 1, 2 and afterwards) as a branch of religious or literary +knowledge and in connection with Narada. But it is not represented as +the highest or satisfying knowledge.] + +[Footnote 467: Even in the Satapatha Br. Narayana is mentioned in +connection with a sacrifice lasting five days, XIII. 6. 1.] + +[Footnote 468: The Samhitas hitherto best known to orientalists +appear to be late and spurious. The Brihadbrahma Samhita published +by the Anandasrama Press mentions Ramanuja. The work printed in the +_Bibliotheca Indica_ as Narada Pancaratra (although its proper title +apparently is Jnanamritasara) has been analyzed by Roussel in +_Melanges Harlez_ and is apparently a late liturgical compilation of +little originality. Schrader's work was published by the Adyar Library +in Madras, 1916. Apparently the two forms Pancaratra and Pancaratra +are both found, but that with the long vowel is the more usual. +Govindacarya's article in _J.R.A.S._ 1911, p. 951 may also be +consulted.] + +[Footnote 469: The oldest are apparently the Paushkara, Varaha, +Brahma, Sattvata, Jaya and Ahirbudhnya Samhitas, all quoted as +authoritative by either Ramanuja or Vedanta Desika.] + +[Footnote 470: It is quoted as equal to the Vedas by Yamunacarya, so +it must then have been in existence some centuries.] + +[Footnote 471: The story of Svetadvipa or White Island in the +Santi-parvan of the Mahabharata states definitely that Narada received +the Pancaratra there.] + +[Footnote 472: There is much diversity of statement as to whether +there are one or many Saktis.] + +[Footnote 473: Vishnu is the name of God in all his aspects, but +especially God as the absolute. Vasudeva is used both of God as the +absolute and also as the first emanation (Vyuha).] + +[Footnote 474: Kriyasakti and Bhutisakti.] + +[Footnote 475: Jnana, aisvarya, sakti, bala, virya, tejas. These are +called gunas but are not to be confounded with the three ordinary +gunas.] + +[Footnote 476: The words seem to have been originally proper names. +See the articles in the _Petersburg Lexicon._] + +[Footnote 477: Narayana like Vishnu is used to designate more than +one aspect of God. Sometimes it denotes the Absolute.] + +[Footnote 478: The above brief sketch is based on Schrader's _Int. to +the Pancaratra_ where the reader can find full details.] + +[Footnote 479: Comment on Vedanta sutras, II. 2. 42.] + +[Footnote 480: And, as Schrader observes, the evolutionary system of +the Pancaratra is practically concerned with only one force, the +Sakti, which under the name Bhuti is manifested as the Universe and as +Kriya vitalizes and governs it (p. 31).] + +[Footnote 481: On Sutta-nipata, 790, 792. The doctrine of the Vyuhas +is expounded in the Mahabharata Santip. CCCXL. 36 ff., 70 ff.; CCCXLI. +26 ff.] + +[Footnote 482: Lueder's List of Brahmi inscriptions, No. 6, supposed +not to be later than 200 B.C. and No. 1112 supposed to be of the first +century B.C. Sankarshana is also mentioned in the Kautiliya +Arthasastra, XIII. 3.] + +[Footnote 483: Some Samhitas emphasize the distinction between the +followers of the Veda and the enlightened ones who worship the Lord. +See Schrader, _Pancaratra_, p. 97.] + +[Footnote 484: Syam iti Sankalpa, Ahirbudh. Sam. II. 7. In some late +Upanishads (_e.g._ Naradaparivrajaka and Brihatsannyasa) Cakri is used +as a synonym for a Pancaratra.] + +[Footnote 485: The same is true of Ramanuja, who never quotes the +Bhagavata Purana.] + +[Footnote 486: See the quotations from the Sattvata Samhita in +Schrader, pp. 150-154. As in the Pancaratra there is the Para above +the four Vyuhas, so some late forms of Buddhism regard Vairocana as +the source of four Jinas.] + +[Footnote 487: The Manicheans also had groups of five deities (see +Chavannes and Pelliot in _J.A._ 1913, I. pp. 333-338) but they are +just as likely to have borrowed from Buddhism as _vice versa._] + +[Footnote 488: See Bhattacharya, _Hindu Castes and Sects_, p. 565.] + +[Footnote 489: Manu, I. 10-11, identifies him with Brahma and says, +"The waters are called Narah because they are produced from Nara, and +he is called Narayana because they were his place of movement +(ayana)." The same statement occurs in the Narayaniya.] + +[Footnote 490: They are said to have been the sons of Dharma (religion +or righteousness) and Ahimsa (not-injuring). This is obvious allegory +indicating that the Bhagavata religion rejected animal sacrifices. At +the beginning of the Narayaniya (Santip. cccxxxv.) it is said that +Narayana the soul of the universe took birth in a quadruple form as +the offspring of Dharma, _viz._ Nara, Narayana, Hari and Krishna. +Nara and Narayana are often identified with Arjuna and Vasudeva. +_e.g._ Udyogap. xxlx. 19.] + +[Footnote 491: Mahabhar. XII.] + +[Footnote 492: It is an episode in Mahabhar. VI. and in its present +form was doubtless elaborated apart from the rest. But we may surmise +that the incident of Krishna's removing Arjuna's scruples by a +discourse appeared in the early versions of the story and also that +the discourse was longer and profounder than would seem appropriate to +the European reader of a tale of battles. But as the Vedanta +philosophy and the doctrine of Krishna's godhead developed, the +discourse may have been amplified and made to include later +theological views. Garbe in his German translation attempts to +distinguish the different strata and his explanation of the +inconsistencies as due to successive redactions and additions may +contain some truth. But these inconsistencies in theology are common +to all sectarian writings and I think the main cause for them must be +sought not so much in the alteration and combination of documents, as +in a mixed and eclectic mode of thought. Even in European books of the +first rank inconsistencies are not unknown and they need not cause +surprise in works which were not written down but committed to memory. +A poet composing a long religious poem in this way and feeling, as +many Hindus feel, both that God is everything and also that he is a +very present personal help, may very well express himself differently +in different parts. On the other hand the editors of such poems are +undoubtedly tempted to insert in them later popular doctrines.] + +[Footnote 493: The name appears not to be in common use now, but the +Pasupata school is reviewed in the Sarva-darsana-sangraha (_c._ +1330).] + +[Footnote 494: Sivabhagavata, see his comment on Panini, V. 3. 99 and +V. 2. 76. The name is remarkable and suggests that the Sivaites may +have imitated the Bhagavatas.] + +[Footnote 495: I. xxiii. 209. The _Bibliotheca Ind._ edition reads +Nakuli. Aufrecht (_Bodl. MSS._) has Lakuli. The same story is found in +Linga P. chap. XXIV. Lakuli is said to have had four pupils who +founded four branches. Lakulin does not play an important part in +modern Sivaism but is mentioned in inscriptions from the tenth till +the thirteenth centuries. The Sarva-darsana-sangraha describes the +Nakulisa-Pasupata system and quotes Nakulisa who is clearly the same +as Lakulin. The figures on Kushan coins representing Siva as holding a +club may be meant for Lakulin but also may be influenced by Greek +figures of Herakles. See for Lakulin Fleet in _J.R.A.S._ 1907, pp. 419 +ff. and Bhandarkar _Vaishnavism and Saivism_, pp. 115 ff. The coins +of Wema Kadphises bear the title Mahisvara, apparently meaning +worshipper of the Great Lord. Temples in south India seem to have been +named after Kayarohana in the seventh century A.D. See Gopinatha Rao, +_Hindu Iconography_, II. p. 19.] + +[Footnote 496: Mahabhar. XII.] + +[Footnote 497: Mahabhar. XII. 13702 ff. It is recited by Daksha when +he recognizes the might of Siva after the unfortunate incident of his +sacrifice.] + +[Footnote 498: Santi-parvan, section cclxxxv especially line 10, 470 +ff.] + +[Footnote 499: See Sarva-darsana-sangraha, chap. VI. and the comments +of Ramanuja and Sankara on Vedanta Sutras, II. 2. 36.] + +[Footnote 500: _E.g._ Sankara-dig-vijaya. The first notice of these +sects appears to be an inscription at Igatpuri in the Nasik district +of about 620 A.D. recording a grant for the worship of Kapalesvara and +the maintenance of Mahavratins (= Kapalikas) in his temple. But +doubtless the sects are much older.] + +[Footnote 501: The principal are, the Pasupatas, the Saivasiddhantam +of southern India and the Sivaism of Kashmir.] + +[Footnote 502: The Sarva-darsana-sangraha, chap. VII. gives a summary +of it.] + +[Footnote 503: The Pasupatas seem to attach less importance to this +triad, though as they speak of Pati, Pasu and the impurities of the +soul there is not much difference. In their views of causation and +free will they differed slightly from the Saivas, since they held that +Siva is the universal and absolute cause, the actions of individuals +being effective only in so far as they are in conformity with the will +of Siva. The Saiva siddhanta however holds that Siva's will is not +irrespective of individual Karma, although his independence is not +thereby diminished. He is like a man holding a magnet and directing +the movements of needles.] + +[Footnote 504: There is some difference of language and perhaps of +doctrine on this point in various Sivaite works. Both Sivaites and +Pancaratrins sometimes employ the language of the Advaita. But see +Schrader, _Int. to Pancaratra_, pp. 91 ff.] + +[Footnote 505: The five Kancukas (or six including Maya) are strictly +speaking tattvas of which the Saivas enumerate 36 and are kala, +niyati, raga, vidya and kala contrasted with nityatva, vyapakatva, +purnatva, sarvajnatva, sarvakartritva which are qualities of spirit. +See Chatterji, _Kashmir Saivism_, 75 ff., 160, where he points out +that the Kancukas are essentially equivalent to Kant's "forms of +perception and conception." See too Schrader, _Int. to Pancaratra_, +64, 90, 115.] + +[Footnote 506: See for names and other details Schomerus, _Der +Saiva-Siddhanta_, pp. 7, 23: also many articles in the +_Siddhanta-Dipika._] + +[Footnote 507: They are taken from the Agama called Raurava. The +Sivaites of Kashmir appear to have regarded the extant Siva-sutras as +an Agama.] + +[Footnote 508: The Sanskrit text and translation of the Mrigendra are +published in the _Siddhanta-Dipika_, vol. IV. 1901 ff. It is sometimes +described as an Upagama and sometimes as the Jnanapada of the Kamika +Agama.] + +[Footnote 509: So Tirumular. Nilakantha in his commentary on the +Vedanta Sutras says: "I see no difference between the Veda and the +Saivagama."] + +[Footnote 510: Or Srikantha. The commentary is translated in +_Siddhanta-Dipika_, vol. I. ff. In spite of sectarian views as to its +early date, it seems to be influenced by the views and language of +Ramanuja.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +SANKARA. SIVAISM IN SOUTHERN INDIA. KASHMIR. LINGAYATS + + +1 + + +About the sixth century A.D. the decadence of Buddhism and the +invigoration of Brahmanism were both well advanced. The Mahabharata +existed as a great collection of epic and religious poetry and the +older Puranas were already composed. Even at the present day +authorities differ as to whether Siva or Vishnu commands the +allegiance of the majority and naturally it is hard to describe the +distribution of sects in earlier times. The monuments of the Guptas +(for instance the ruins at Eran) suggest that they were Vishnuites but +a little later the cult of Siva becomes more prominent. The Emperor +Harsha (612-648) and his family were eclectic, honouring Siva, the Sun +and the Buddha, but it is not recorded that they worshipped Vishnu. +Bana who lived at his court indicates[511] that Sivaism was the +predominant form of worship, but also mentions Buddhists and +Bhagavatas. Hsuean Chuang on the other hand holds him up as a devout +Buddhist. Great Sivaite shrines in different parts of India such as +the temple of Bhuvaneshwar in Orissa and the Kailas at Ellora were +probably constructed in the seventh century and it is likely that in +the defeat of Buddhism the worshippers of Siva played an active part. + +This conflict is connected with the names of Kumarila Bhatta (c. +725 A.D.) and Sankara Acarya (c. 800 A.D.). It clearly represents +forces which cannot be restricted to the character of individuals or +the span of human lives. The elements which compose Hinduism had been +vigorous long before the eighth century and Buddhism, though decadent, +continued to exist in India later. But probably the careers of these +two men are the best record of the decisive turn of the tide. It is +often said that they revived Hinduism, but however much they insisted +on the authority of ancient tradition, the real result of their +labours was not to re-establish the order of things which prevailed +before the rise of Buddhism, but to give authority and solidity to the +mixture of Brahmanism, Buddhism and popular beliefs which had grown +up. Kumarila is said to have been a Brahman of Bihar who was a +Buddhist monk but became a worshipper of Siva and so zealous a +persecutor of his former faith that he persuaded a king of his time +named Sudhanvan to exterminate it from the Himalaya to Cape Comorin. +This is a monstrous exaggeration but he was doubtless a determined +enemy of the Buddhists, as can be seen from his philosophical +works.[512] He taught little about metaphysics or the nature of God, +but he insisted on the necessity and efficacy of Vedic rites. + +More important both as a thinker and an organizer was Sankara. There +is some discrepancy in the traditions of his birth, but he was +probably born about 788 A.D.[513] in a family of Nambuthiri Brahmans +at Kaladi[514] in the Cochin state. Kaladi occupies a healthy position +at some height above the sea level and the neighbourhood is now used +as a sanatorium. The cocoanut trees and towered temples which mark +many south Indian landscapes are absent, and paddy fields alternate +with a jungle of flowering plants studded with clumps of bamboos. A +broad river broken by sandbanks winds through the district and near +the villages there are often beautiful avenues of great trees. Not far +distant is Trichur which possesses a Vedic college and a large temple, +forbidden to Europeans but like most edifices in Malabar modest in +architecture. This is not the land of giant gopurams and multitudinous +sculpture, but of lives dedicated to the acquisition of traditional +learning and the daily performance of complicated but inconspicuous +rites. + +The accounts of Sankara's life are little but a collection of legends, +in which, however, the following facts stand out. He was the pupil of +Govinda, who was himself the pupil of Gaudapada and this connection +would be important could we be certain that this Gaudapada was the +author of the metrical treatise on philosophy bearing his name. He +wrote popular hymns as well as commentaries on the Upanishads, Vedanta +Sutras and Bhagavad-gita, thus recognizing both Vedic and post-Vedic +literature: he resided for some time on the Narbudda and at Benares, +and in the course of the journeys in which like Paul he gave vent to +his activity, he founded four maths or monasteries, at Sringeri, +Puri, Dwaraka and Badrinath in the Himalaya. Near the latter he died +before he was an old man. On his deathbed he is said to have asked +forgiveness for going on pilgrimages and frequenting temples, because +by so doing he had seemed to forget that God is everywhere. + +It is clear that his work both as an author and organizer was +considerable and permanent, and that much of his career was spent +outside Dravidian lands. His greatest achievement was his exposition +of the Vedanta, of which I treat elsewhere. He based his arguments +unreservedly on the Vedic texts and aimed at being merely +conservative, but those texts and even the ancient commentaries are +obscure and inconsistent, and it was reserved for his genius to +produce from them a system which in consistency, thoroughness and +profundity holds the first place in Indian philosophy. His work did +not consist, as he himself supposed, in harmonizing the Upanishads. In +this department of interpretation he is as uncritical as other +orthodox commentators, but he took the most profound thoughts of the +old literature and boldly constructed with them a great edifice of +speculation. Since his time the Vedanta has been regarded as the +principal philosophy of India--a position which it does not seem to +have held before--and his interpretation of it, though often contested +and not suited to popular religion, still commands the respect and to +some extent the adherence of most educated Hindus. + +In practical religion he clearly felt, as every Indian reformer still +must feel, the want of discipline and a common standard, Though the +Buddhism of his day had ceased to satisfy the needs of India, he saw +that its strength lay in its morality, its relative freedom from +superstition and its ecclesiastical organization. Accordingly he +denounced extravagant sects[515] and forbade such practices as +branding. He also instituted an order of ascetics.[516] In doing this +he was not only trying to obtain for Hinduism the disciplinary +advantages of the Buddhist church but also to break through the rule +prescribing that a Brahman must first be a householder and only late +in life devote himself entirely to religion. This rule did the +Brahmans good service in insuring the continuity and respectability of +their class but it tended to drive enthusiasts to other creeds. + +It does not seem that any sect can plausibly claim Sankara as founder +or adherent. His real religion was Vedantism and this, though not +incompatible with sectarian worship, is predisposed to be impartial. +The legend says that when summoned to his mother's deathbed, he spoke +to her first of the Vedanta philosophy. But she bade him give her some +consolation which she could understand. So he recited a hymn to Siva, +but when the attendants of that god appeared she was frightened. +Sankara then recited a hymn to Vishnu and when his gentler +messengers came to her bedside, she gave her son her blessing and +allowed them to take her willing soul. + +This story implies that he was ready to sanction any form of reputable +worship with a slight bias towards Vishnuism.[517] At the present day +the Smartas, who consider themselves his followers, have a preference +for the worship of Siva. But the basis of their faith is not Sivaism +but the recognition of the great body of Indian traditions known as +Smriti. And that, next to Vedantism, was the essence of Sankara's +teaching: he wished to regard tradition as a coherent whole, based on +the eternal Veda but including authoritative Smriti to be interpreted +in the light of the Veda, and thus he hoped to correct extravagant and +partial views and to lead to those heights whence it is seen that all +is one, "without difference." + +The results of Sankara's labours may still be seen in the +organization of southern Hinduism which is more complete than in the +north. It is even said that the head of the Sringeri monastery in +Mysore exercises an authority over Smarta Brahmans similar to that of +the Pope.[518] This is probably an exaggeration but his decision is +accepted as settling caste disputes, and even to-day the Sringeri +math[519] is one of the most important religious institutions in +India. The abbot, who is known as Jagadguru, is head of the Smarta +Brahmans. The present occupant is said to be thirty-third in +succession from Sankara and numbers among his predecessors +Sayanacarya, the celebrated Vedic commentator who lived in the +fourteenth century. The continued prosperity of this establishment and +of other religious corporations in the Dravidian country, whereas the +Mohammedans destroyed all monasteries whether Hindu or Buddhist in the +north, is one of the reasons for certain differences in northern and +southern Hinduism. For instance in northern India any Brahman, +whatever his avocation may be, is allowed to perform religious +ceremonies, whereas in the Deccan and south India Brahmans are divided +into Laukikas or secular and Bhikshus or religious. The latter are +householders, the name having lost its monastic sense, but they have +the exclusive right of officiating and acting as Gurus and thus form a +married clergy. + +It is possible that the influence of Sankara may have had a +puritanical side which partly accounts for the degeneration of later +Indian art. His higher teaching inculcated a spiritual creed which +needed no shrines, while for those who required rites he recommended +the old Brahmanic ritual rather than the modern temple cultus. The +result of this may have been that piety and learning were diverted +from art, so that architecture and sculpture ceased to be in touch +with the best religious intelligence. + +The debt of Sankara to Buddhism is an interesting question. He +indited polemics against it and contributed materially to its +downfall, but yet if the success of creeds is to be measured by the +permanence of ideas, there is some reason for thinking that the +vanquished led the conqueror captive. Sankara's approval both in +theory and in practice of the monastic life is Buddhistic rather than +Brahmanical.[520] The doctrines of Maya and the distinction between +higher and lower truth, which are of cardinal importance in his +philosophy, receive only dubious support from the Upanishads and from +Badarayana, but are practically identical with the teachings of the +Madhyamika School of Buddhism and it was towards this line of thought +rather than towards the theism of the Pasupatas or Bhagavatas that he +was drawn. The affinity was recognized in India, for Sankara and his +school were stigmatized by their opponents as Buddhists in +disguise.[521] + + +2 + + +The reader will perhaps have noticed that up to the career of Sankara +we have been concerned exclusively with northern India, and even +Sankara, though a native of the south, lived much in the north and it +was the traditional sacred lore of the north which he desired to +establish as orthodoxy. Not only the older literature, Brahmanic as +well as Buddhist, but most of the Puranas ignore the great stretch of +Dravidian country which forms the southern portion of the peninsula +and if the Ramayana sings of Rama's bridge and the conquest of Lanka +this is clearly an excursion into the realms of fancy. Yet the +Dravidian districts are ample in extent, their monuments are +remarkable, their languages are cultivated, and Tamil literature +possesses considerable interest, antiquity and originality. +Unfortunately in dealing with these countries we experience in an +unusually acute form the difficulties which beset every attempt to +trace the history of ideas in India, namely, the absence of +chronology. Before 1000 A.D. materials for a connected history are +hardly accessible. There are, however, many inscriptions and a mass of +literature (itself of disputable date) containing historical +allusions, and from these may be put together not so much a skeleton +or framework as pictures of ancient life and thought which may be +arranged in a plausible order. + +It may be said that where everything is so vague, it would be better +to dismiss the whole subject of southern India and its religion, +pending the acquisition of more certain information, and this is what +many writers have done. But such wide regions, so many centuries, such +important phases of literature and thought are involved, that it is +better to run the risk of presenting them in false sequence than to +ignore them. Briefly it may be regarded as certain that in the early +centuries of our era Buddhism, Jainism and Brahmanism all flourished +in Dravidian lands. The first two gradually decayed and made way for +the last, although Jainism remained powerful until the tenth century. +At a fairly early date there were influential Sivaite and Vishnuite +sects, each with a devotional literature in the vernacular. Somewhat +later this literature takes a more philosophic and ecclesiastical +tinge and both sects produce a succession of teachers. Tamil Sivaism, +though important for the south, has not spread much beyond its own +province, but the Vishnuism associated with such eminent names as +Ramanuja and Ramanand has influenced all India, and the latter teacher +is the spiritual ancestor of the Kabirpanthis, Sikhs and various +unorthodox sects. Political circumstances too tended to increase the +importance of the south in religion, for when nearly all the north was +in Moslim hands the kingdom of Vijayanagar was for more than two +centuries (_c._ 1330-1565) the bulwark of Hinduism. But in filling up +this outline the possibilities of error must be remembered. The poems +of Manikka-Vacagar have such individuality of thought and style that +one would suppose them to mark a conspicuous religious movement. Yet +some authorities refer them to the third century and others to the +eleventh, nor has any standard been formulated for distinguishing +earlier and later varieties of Tamil. + +I have already mentioned the view that the worship of Siva and the +Linga is Dravidian in origin and borrowed by the Aryans. There is no +proof that this worship had its first home in the south and spread +northwards, for the Vedic and epic literature provides a sufficient +pedigree for Siva. But this deity always collected round himself +attributes and epithets which are not those of the Vedic gods but +correspond with what we know of non-Aryan Indian mythology. It is +possible that these un-Aryan cults attained in Dravidian lands fuller +and more independent development than in the countries colonized by +the Aryans, so that the portrait of Siva, especially as drawn by Tamil +writers, does retain the features of some old Dravidian deity, a deity +who dances, who sports among men and bewilders them by his puzzling +disguises and transformations.[522] But it is not proved that Siva was +the chief god of the early Tamils. An ancient poem, the Purra-Porul +Venba-Malai,[523] which contains hardly any allusions to him mentions +as the principal objects of worship the goddess Kottavai +(Victorious) and her son Muruvan. Popular legends[524] clearly +indicate a former struggle between the old religion and Hinduism +ending as usual in the recognition by the Brahmans of the ancient gods +in a slightly modified form. + +We have no records whatever of the introduction of Brahmanism into +southern India but it may reasonably be supposed to have made its +appearance there several centuries before our era, though in what form +or with what strength we cannot say. Tradition credits Agastya and +Parasu-rama with having established colonies of Brahmans in the south +at undated but remote epochs. But whatever colonization occurred was +not on a large scale. An inscription found in Mysore[525] states that +Mukkanna Kadamba (who probably lived in the third century A.D.) +imported a number of Brahman families from the north, because he could +find none in the south. Though this language may be exaggerated, it is +evidence that Brahmans cannot have been numerous at that time and it +is probable that Buddhism and Jainism were better represented. Three +of Asoka's inscriptions have been found in Mysore and in his last +edict describing his missionary efforts he includes "the kings of the +Pandyas and Colas in the south" among the conquests of Buddhism. +Mahinda founded a monastery in the Tanjore district and probably +established Buddhism at various points of the Tamil country on his way +to Ceylon.[526] There is therefore no reason to be doubtful of +Buddhist activity, literary or other, if evidence for it is +forthcoming. Hsuean Chuang in 640 A.D. deplores the decay of Buddhism +and speaks of the ruins of many old monasteries. + +According to Jain tradition, which some think is supported by +inscriptions at Sravana-Belgola,[527] Bhadrabahu accompanied by +Candra Gupta (identified with the Maurya king of that name) led a +migration of Jains from the north to Mysore about 300 B.C. The +authenticity of this tradition has been much criticized but it can +hardly be disputed that Jainism came to southern India about the same +time as Buddhism and had there an equally vigorous and even longer +existence. + +Most Tamil scholars are agreed in referring the oldest Tamil +literature to the first three centuries of our era and I see nothing +improbable in this. We know that Asoka introduced Buddhism into south +India. About the time of the Christian era there are many indications +that it was a civilized country[528] which maintained commercial +relations with Rome and it is reasonable to suppose that it had a +literature. According to native tradition there were three successive +Sanghams, or Academies, at Madura. The two earlier appear to be +mythical, but the third has some historical basis, although it is +probable that poems belonging to several centuries have been +associated with it. Among those which have been plausibly referred to +the second century A.D. are the two narrative poems Silappadhikaram +and Manimekhalai as well as the celebrated collection of didactic +verses known as the Kural. The first two poems, especially the +Manimekhalai, are Buddhist in tone. The Kural is ethical rather than +religious, it hardly mentions the deity,[529] shows no interest in +Brahmanic philosophy or ritual and extols a householder's life above +an ascetic's. The Naladiyar is an anthology of somewhat similar Jain +poems which as a collection is said to date from the eighth century, +though verses in it may be older. This Jain and Buddhist literature +does not appear to have attained any religious importance or to have +been regarded as even quasi-canonical, but the Dravidian Hindus +produced two large collections of sacred works, one Sivaite the other +Vishnuite, which in popular esteem rival the sanctity of the Vedas. +Both consist of hymns, attributed to a succession of saints and still +sung in the temple worship, and in both sects the saints are followed +by a series of teachers and philosophers. We will take the Sivaites +first. + + +3 + + +Their collection of hymns is known as Tirumurai, and was compiled by +Nambi-Andar-Nambi said to have lived under King Rajaraja (_c._ 1000 +A.D.). The first portion of it, known as Devaram, contains the hymns +of Sambandha, Appar and Sundara. These persons are the most eminent of +the sixty-three saints[530] of the southern Sivaites and are credited +with many miracles. Tamil scholars[531] consider that Sambandha cannot +have lived later than the beginning of the seventh century. He was an +adversary of the Jains and Appar is said to have been persecuted by +the Buddhists. Of the other works comprised in the Tirumurai the most +important is the Tiruvacagam of Manikka-Vacagar,[532] one of the +finest devotional poems which India can show. It is not, like the +Bhagavad-gita, an exposition _by_ the deity, but an outpouring of the +soul _to_ the deity. It only incidentally explains the poet's views: +its main purpose is to tell of his emotions, experiences and +aspirations. This characteristic seems not to be personal but to mark +the whole school of Tamil Saiva writers. + +This school, which is often called the Siddhanta,[533] though perhaps +that term is better restricted to later philosophical writers, is +clearly akin to the Pasupata but alike in thought, sentiment and +ritual far more refined. It is in fact one of the most powerful and +interesting forms which Hinduism has assumed and it has even attracted +the sympathetic interest of Christians. The fervour of its utterances, +the appeals to God as a loving father, seem due to the temperament of +the Tamils, since such sentiments do not find so clear an expression +in other parts of India. But still the whole system, though heated in +the furnace of Dravidian emotion, has not been recast in a new mould. +Its dogmas are those common to Sivaism in other parts and it accepts +as its ultimate authority the twenty-eight Saiva Agamas. This however +does not detract from the beauty of the special note and tone which +sound in its Tamil hymns and prayers. + +Whatever the teaching of the little known Agamas may be, the +Saiva-Siddhanta is closely allied to the Yoga and theistic forms of +the Sankhya. It accepts the three ultimates, Pati the Lord, Pasu his +flock or souls, and Pasa the fetter or matter. So high is the first of +these three entities exalted, so earnestly supplicated, that he seems +to attain a position like that of Allah in Mohammedanism, as Creator +and Disposer. But in spite of occasional phrases, the view of the Yoga +that all three--God, souls and matter--are eternal is maintained.[534] +Between the world periods there are pauses of quiescence and at the +end of these Siva evolves the universe and souls. That he may act in +them he also evolves from himself his energy or Paracatti (Sk. Sakti). +But this does not prevent the god himself in a personal and often +visible form from being for his devotees the one central and living +reality. The Sakti, often called Uma, is merely Siva's reflex and +hardly an independent existence. + +The remarkable feature of this religion, best seen in the Tiruvacagam, +is the personal tie which connects the soul with God. In no literature +with which I am acquainted has the individual religious life--its +struggles and dejection, its hopes and fears, its confidence and its +triumph--received a delineation more frank and more profound. Despite +the strangely exotic colouring of much in the picture, not only its +outline but its details strikingly resemble the records of devout +Christian lives in Europe. Siva is addressed not only as Lord but as +Father. He loves and desires human souls. "Hard though it is for +Brahma and Vishnu to reach thee, yet thou did'st desire me." What the +soul desires is deliverance from matter and life with Siva, and this +he grants by bestowing grace (Arul). "With mother love he came in +grace and made me his"; "O thou who art to thy true servants true"; +"To thee, O Father, may I attain, may I yet dwell with thee." +Sometimes[535] the poet feels that his sins have shut him off from +communion with God. He lies "like a worm in the midst of ants, gnawed +by the senses and troubled sore" ejaculating in utter misery "Thou +hast forsaken me." But more often he seems on the point of expressing +a thought commoner in Christianity than in Indian religion, namely +that the troubles of this life are only a preparation for future +beatitude. The idea that matter and suffering are not altogether evil +is found in the later Sankhya where Prakriti (which in some respects +corresponds to Sakti) is represented as a generous female power +working in the interests of the soul. + +Among the many beauties of the Tiruvacagam is one which reminds us of +the works of St. Francis and other Christian poetry, namely the love +of nature and animals, especially birds and insects. There are +constant allusions to plants and flowers; the refrain of one poem +calls on a dragon fly to sing the praises of God and another bids the +bird known as Kuyil call him to come. In another ode the poet says he +looks for the grace of God like a patient heron watching night and +day. + +The first perusal of these poems impresses on the reader their +resemblance to Christian literature. They seem to be a tropical +version of Hymns Ancient and Modern and to ascribe to the deity and +his worshippers precisely those sentiments which missionaries tell us +are wanting among pagans--fatherly love, yearning devotion and the +bliss of assured salvation. It is not surprising if many have seen in +this tone the result of Christian influence. Yet I do not think that +the hypothesis is probable. For striking as is the likeness the +contrast is often equally striking. The deity described in words which +almost literally render "Sun of my soul, Thou Saviour dear" is also +the spouse of Uma with the white breasts and curled locks; he dances +in the halls of Tillai; and the line "Bid thou in grace my fears +begone" is followed by two others indicated by dots as being "not +translateable."[536] Nor can we say that emotional religion here uses +the language of a mythology which it has outgrown. The emotion itself +while charged with the love of god, the sense of sin and contrition, +has in it another strain which jars on Europeans. Siva sports with the +world and his worshippers treat him with an affectionate intimacy +which may be paralleled in the religion of Krishna but hardly in +Christianity.[537] Thus several hymns have reference to a game, such +as tossing about a ball (hymn vii), battledore and shuttlecock (xiv) +or some form of wrestling in which the opponents place their hands on +each other's shoulders (xv). The worshipper can even scold the deity. +"If thou forsake me, I will make people smile at thee. I shall abuse +thee sore: madman clad in elephant skin: madman that ate the poison: +madman, who chose even me as thy own."[538] + +Again, though in part the tone of these poems is Christian, yet they +contain little that suggests Christian doctrine. There is nothing +about redemption or a suffering god,[539] and many ideas common to +Christianity and Hinduism--such as the incarnation,[540] the Trinity, +and the divine child and his mother--are absent. It is possible that +in some of the later works of the Sittars Christian influence[541] may +have supervened but most of this Tamil poetry is explicable as the +development of the ideas expressed in the Bhagavad-gita and the +Svetasvatara Upanishad. Chronologically Christian influence is not +impossible and there is a tradition that Manikka-Vacagar reconverted +to Hinduism some natives of Malabar who had become Christians[542] but +the uncertainty of his date makes it hard to fix his place in the +history of doctrine. Recent Hindu scholars are disposed to assign him +to the second or third century.[543] In support of this, it is +plausibly urged that he was an active adversary of the Buddhists, that +tradition is unanimous in regarding him as earlier than the writers of +the Devaram[544] who make references (not however indisputable) to his +poem, and that Perisiriyar, who commented on it, lived about 700 A.D. +I confess that the tone and sentiments of the poem seem to me what one +would expect in the eleventh rather than in the third century: it has +something of the same emotional quality as the Gita-govinda and the +Bhagavata-purana, though it differs from them in doctrine and in its +more masculine devotion. But the Dravidians are not of the same race +as the northern Hindus and since this ecstatic monotheism is clearly +characteristic of their literature, it may have made its appearance in +the south earlier than elsewhere. + +The Tiruvacagam is not unorthodox but it deals direct with God and is +somewhat heedless of priests. This feature becomes more noticeable in +other authors such as Pattanattu Pillai, Kapilar and the Telugu +poet Vemana. The first named appears to have lived in the tenth +century. The other two are legendary figures to whom anthologies of +popular gnomic verses are ascribed and some of those attributed to +Kapilar are probably ancient. In all this poetry there rings out a +note of almost defiant monotheism, iconoclasm and antisacerdotalism. +It may be partly explained by the fact that in the south Brahmanism +was preceded, or at least from early times accompanied, by Buddhism +and Jainism. These creeds did not make a conquest, for the Dravidian +temperament obviously needed a god who could receive and reward +passionate devotion, but they cleared the air and spread such ideas as +the superiority of good deeds to rites and the uselessness of priests. +Even now verses expressing these thoughts are popular in the Madras +Presidency, but the sect which produced them, known as the +Sittars,[545] is entirely extinct. Caldwell attributes its literature +to the seventeenth century, but the evidence available is small and it +is clear that this theistic anti-brahmanic school had a long life. As +in other cases, the Brahmans did not suppress so much as adapt it. The +collection which goes by the name of Siva-vakyam contains poems of +different ages and styles. Some are orthodox, others have no trace of +Brahmanism except the use of Siva as the name of the deity. Yet it +would seem that the anthology as a whole has not fallen under +sacerdotal censure.[546] + +The important sect of the Lingayats should perhaps be regarded as an +offshoot of this anti-brahmanic school, but before describing it, it +may be well briefly to review the history of orthodox Sivaism in the +south. + +By this phrase is not meant the sect or school which had the support +of Sankara but that which developed out of the poems mentioned above +without parting company with Brahmanism. Sankara disapproved of their +doctrine that the Lord is the efficient cause of the world, nor would +the substitution of vernacular for Sanskrit literature and temple +ceremonies for Vedic sacrifices have found favour with him. But these +were evidently strong tendencies in popular religion. An important +portion of the Devaram and the Kanda Purana of Kachiyappar, a Tamil +adaptation of the Skanda Purana, were probably written between 600 +and 750 A.D.[547] About 1000 A.D. the Tirumurai (including the +Devaram) was arranged as a collection in eleven parts, and about a +century later Sekkilar composed the Periya Purana, a poetical +hagiology, giving the legends of Sivaite saints and shrines. Many +important temples were dedicated to Siva during the eleventh and +twelfth centuries. + +There followed a period of scholasticism in which the body of doctrine +called the Saiva Siddhanta was elaborated by four Acaryas, namely +Mey-Kanda-Devar[548] (1223), Arunandi, Marainana-Sambandhar and +Umapati (1313). It will thus be seen that the foundation of Sivaite +philosophy in Tamil is later than Ramanuja and the first Vishnuite +movements, and perhaps it was influenced by them but the methodical +exposition of the Saiva-Siddhantam[549] does not differ materially +from the more poetic utterances of the Tiruvacagam. It recognizes the +three entities, the Lord, the soul and matter as separate, but it +shows a tendency (doubtless due to the influence of the Vedanta) both +to explain away the existence of matter and to identify the soul with +the Lord more closely than its original formulae allow. Matter is +described as Maya and is potentially contained in the Lord who +manifests it in the creative process which begins each kalpa. The Lord +is also said to be one with our souls and yet other. The soul is by +nature ignorant, in bondage to the illusion of Maya and of Karma, but +by the grace of the Lord it attains to union (not identity) with him, +in which it sees that its actions are his actions. + +In modern times Saiva theology is represented among Dravidians by the +works of Sivananar (1785) and his disciple Kachiyappar: also by the +poems of Rama-linga. Sivaism in Madras and other parts of southern +India is still a vigorous and progressive Church which does not +neglect European methods. Its principal organ is an interesting +magazine called Siddhanta-Dipika or the Light of Truth. In northern +India the Sivaites are less distinct as a body and have less +organization, but temples to Siva are numerous and perhaps the +majority of Brahmans and ascetics regard him as their special deity +and read Sivaite rather than Vishnuite texts. But it is probably also +true that they are not sectarian in the same sense as the worshippers +of Krishna. + +It is not easy to estimate the relative numbers of Sivaites and +Vishnuites in south India, and good authorities hold opposite views. +The Sivaites are more united than the Vishnuites (whose many divisions +and conspicuous sectarian marks attract attention) and are found +chiefly among the upper classes and among ascetics, but perhaps there +is much truth in an opinion which I once heard expressed by a Tamil +Brahman, that the real division is not between the worshippers of Siva +and of Vishnu, but between Smartas, those who follow more or less +strictly the ancient ritual observances and those who seek for +salvation by devotion and in practice neglect the Sanskrit scriptures. +There is little hostility. The worship of both gods is sometimes +performed in the same building as at Chidambaram or in neighbouring +shrines, as at Srirangam. In south Kanara and Travancore it is +generally held that the two deities are of equal greatness and in many +places are found images representing them united in one figure. But +the great temples at Madura, Tinnevelly and Tanjore are all dedicated +to Siva or members of his family. If in the philosophical literature +of the Siddhanta the purity of the theism taught is noticeable, in +these buildings it is rather the rich symbolism surrounding the god +which attracts attention. In his company are worshipped Parvati, +Ganesa, Subrahmanya, the bull Nandi and minor attendants: he is +shown leaping in the ecstacy of the dance and on temple walls are +often depicted his sixty-four sports or miracles (lila). For the +imagination of the Dravidians he is a great rhythmic force, throbbing +and exulting in all the works of nature and exhibiting in kindly +playfulness a thousand antics and a thousand shapes. + + +4 + + +Another school of Sivaite philosophy flourished in Kashmir[550] from +the ninth century onwards and is not yet extinct among Pandits. It +bases itself on the Agamas and includes among them the still extant +Siva-sutras said to have been discovered as revelation by Vasugupta. +He lived about 800 A.D. and abandoned Buddhism for Sivaism. The school +produced a distinguished line of literary men who flourished from the +ninth to the eleventh centuries.[551] + +The most recent authorities state that the Kashmir school is one and +that there is no real opposition between the Spanda and Pratyabhijna +sections.[552] The word Spanda, equivalent to the godhead and ultimate +reality, is interesting for it means vibration accompanied by +consciousness or, so to speak, self-conscious ether. The term +Pratyabhijna or recognition is more frequent in the later writings. +Its meaning is as follows. Siva is the only reality and the soul is +Siva, but Maya[553] forces on the soul a continuous stream of +sensations. By the practice of meditation it is possible to interrupt +the stream and in those moments light illuminates the darkness of the +soul and it recognizes that it is Siva, which it had forgotten. Also +the world is wholly unreal apart from Siva. It exists by his will and +in his mind. What seems to the soul to be cognition is really +recognition, for the soul (which is identical with the divine mind but +blinded and obstructed) recognizes that which exists only in the +divine mind. + +It has been held that Kashmirian Sivaism is the parent of the +Dravidian Saiva Siddhanta and spread from Kashmir southwards by way of +Kalyan in the eleventh century, and this hypothesis certainly receives +support from the mention of Kashmiri Brahmans in south Indian +inscriptions of the fourteenth century.[554] Yet I doubt if it is +necessary to assume that south Indian Sivaism was _derived_ from +Kashmir, for the worship of Siva must have been general long before +the eleventh century[555] and Kashmiri Brahmans, far from introducing +Sivaism to the south, are more likely to have gone thither because +they were sure of a good reception, whereas they were exposed to +Moslim persecution in their own country. Also the forms which Sivaism +assumed in these two outlying provinces present differences: in +Kashmir it was chiefly philosophic, in the Dravidian countries chiefly +religious. In the south it calls on God to help the sinner out of the +mire, whereas the school of Kashmir, especially in its later +developments, resembles the doctrine of Sankara, though its +terminology is its own. + +Before the advent of Islam, Kashmir was a secluded but cultured land. +Its pleasant climate and beautiful scenery, said to have been praised +by Gotama himself,[556] attracted and stimulated thinkers and it had +some importance in the history of Buddhism and of the Pancaratra as +well as for Sivaism. It is connected with the Buddhist sect called +Sarvastivadins and in this case the circumstances seem clear. The sect +did not originate in Kashmir but its adherents settled there after +attending the Council of Kanishka and made it into a holy land. +Subsequently, first Vishnuism and then Sivaism[557] entered the +mountain valleys and flourished there. Kashmirian thinkers may have +left an individual impress on either system but they dealt with +questions which had already been treated of by others and their +contributions, though interesting, do not seem to have touched the +foundations of belief or to have inspired popular movements. The +essential similarity of all Sivaite schools is so great that +coincidences even in details do not prove descent or borrowing and the +special terms of Kashmirian philosophy, such as _spanda_ and +_pratyabhijna_, seem not to be used in the south. + +The Siva-sutras consist of three sections, describing three methods of +attaining _svacchanda_ or independence. One (the gist of which has +been given above) displays some though not great originality: the +second is Saktist, the third follows the ordinary prescriptions of the +Yoga. All Sivaite philosophy is really based on this last and teaches +the existence of matter, souls and a deity, manifested in a series of +phases. The relations of these three ultimates are variously defined, +and they may be identified with one another, for the Sankhya-Yoga +doctrine may be combined (though not very consistently) with the +teaching of the Vedanta. In Kashmirian Sivaism Vedantist influences +seem strong and it even calls itself Advaita. It is noteworthy that +Vasugupta, who _discovered_ the Siva-sutras, also wrote a commentary +on the Bhagavad-gita. + +The gist of the matter is that, since a taste for speculation is far +more prevalent in India than in Europe, there exist many systems of +popular philosophy which, being a mixture of religion and metaphysics, +involve two mental attitudes. The ordinary worshipper implores the +Lord to deliver him from the bondage of sin and matter: the +philosopher and saint wish to show that thought is one and such ideas +as sin and matter partial and illusory. The originality of the Saiva +Siddhanta lies less in its dogmas than in its devotional character: in +the feeling that the soul is immersed in darkness and struggles +upwards by the grace of the Lord, so that the whole process of Karma +and Maya is really beneficent. + + +5 + + +As already mentioned Sivaism has an important though unorthodox +offshoot in the Lingayats[558] or Lingavants. It appears that they +originated at Kalyan (now in the Nizam's dominions) at the time when a +usurper named Bijjala (1156-1167) had seized the throne of the +Chalukyas. Their founder was Basava (the vernacular form of Vrishabha) +assisted by his nephew Channabasava,[559] whose exploits and miracles +are recorded in two Puranas composed in Kanarese and bearing their +respective names. According to one story Bijjala, who was a Jain, +persecuted the Lingayats and was assassinated by them. But there are +other versions and the early legends of the sect merit little +credence. The Lingayats are Puritans. They reject caste, the supremacy +of the Brahmans, sacrifices and other rites, and all the later +Brahmanic literature. In theory they reverence the Vedas but +practically the two Puranas mentioned are their sacred books.[560] +They are strict vegetarians and teetotallers: they do not insist on +child marriages nor object to the remarriage of widows. Their only +object of worship is Siva in the form of a lingam and they always +carry one suspended round the neck or arm. It is remarkable that an +exceptionally severe and puritanical sect should choose this emblem as +its object of worship, but, as already observed, the lingam is merely +a symbol of the creative force and its worship is not accomplished by +indecent rites.[561] They hold that true Lingayats are not liable to +be defiled by births or deaths, that they cannot be injured by sorcery +and that when they die their souls do not transmigrate but go straight +to Siva. No prayers for the dead are needed. + +Though trustworthy details about the rise of the Lingayats are scarce, +we can trace their spiritual ancestry. They present in an organized +form the creed which inspired Pattanattu Pillai in the tenth +century. About a hundred years later came Ramanuja who founded a great +Vishnuite Church and it is not surprising if the Sivaites followed +this example, nor if the least orthodox party became the most +definitely sectarian. + +The sectarian impulse which is conspicuous after the eleventh century +was perhaps stimulated by the example of Mohammedanism. There was +little direct doctrinal influence, but a religious people like the +Hindus can hardly have failed to notice the strength possessed by an +association worshipping one god of its own and united by one +discipline. Syrian Christianity also might have helped to familiarize +the Lingayats with the idea of a god not to be represented by images +or propitiated by sacrifices, but there is no proof that it was +prevalent in the part of the Deccan where they first appeared. + +The Lingayats spread rapidly after Basava's death.[562] They still number +about two millions and are to be found in most Kanarese-speaking districts. +They are easily recognizable for all carry the lingam, which is commonly +enclosed in a red scarf worn round the neck or among the richer classes in +a silver-box. It is made of grey soapstone and a Lingayat must on no +account part with it for a moment. They are divided into the laity and the +Jangams or priests. Some of these marry but others are itinerant ascetics +who wander over India frequenting especially the five Simhasanas or +Lingayat sees.[563] They are treated with extreme respect by the laity and +sometimes wear fantastic costumes such as plates resembling armour or +little bells which announce their approach as they walk. + +In doctrine the Lingayats remain faithful to their original tenets +and do not worship any god or goddess except Siva in the form of the +Lingam, though they show respect to Ganesa, and other deities as also +to the founder of their sect. But in social matters it is agreed by +all observers that they show a tendency to reintroduce caste and to +minimize the differences separating them from more orthodox sects. +According to Basava's teaching all members of the community both men +and women are equal. But though converts from all castes are still +accepted, it was found at the last census that well-to-do Lingayats +were anxious to be entered under the name of Virasaiva Brahmans, +Kshatriyas, etc., and did not admit that caste distinctions are +obliterated among them. Similarly though the remarriage of widows is +not forbidden there is a growing tendency to look at it askance. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 511: In various allusions to be found in the Kadambari and +Harshacarita.] + +[Footnote 512: The best known of these is the Tantravarttika, a +commentary on the Purva-mimamsa.] + +[Footnote 513: This is the generally accepted date and does not appear +to conflict with anything else that is at present known of Sankara. An +alternative suggestion is some date between 590 and 650 (see Telang, +_I.A._ XIII. 1884, p. 95 and Fleet, _I.A._ XVI. 1887, p. 41). But in +this case, it is very strange that I-Ching does not mention so +conspicuous an enemy of the Buddhists. It does not seem to me that the +use of Purnavarman's name by Sankara in an illustration (_Comm. on +Vedanta Sut._ II. i. 17) necessarily implies they were contemporaries, +but it does prove that he cannot have lived before Purnavarman.] + +[Footnote 514: Another tradition says he was born at Chidambaram, but +the temple at Badrinath in the Himalayas said to have been founded by +him has always been served by Nambuthiri Brahmans from Malabar. In +1910 a great temple erected in his honour was consecrated at Kaladi.] + +[Footnote 515: His conflicts with them are described in works called +Sankara-vijaya of which at least four are extant.] + +[Footnote 516: They are called Dasanamis which merely means that each +ascetic bears one or other of ten surnames (Sarswati, Bharati, Tirtha, +etc.). See for a further account of them Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya, +_Hindu Castes and Sects_, pp. 374-379. + +The order in all its branches seems to have strong pantheistic +inclinations. They mutter the formula Sivo'ham, I am Siva.] + +[Footnote 517: I have been told by south Indian Pandits that they +think Sankara was bom in a Bhagavata family and that there is some +evidence his kinsmen were trustees of a temple of Krishna. The +Saktas also claim him, but the tradition that he opposed the Saktas is +strong and probable. Many hymns addressed to Vishnu, Siva and various +forms of Durga are attributed to him. I have not been able to discover +what is the external evidence for their authenticity but hymns must +have been popular in south India before the time of Sankara and it is +eminently probable that he did not neglect this important branch of +composition.] + +[Footnote 518: See Bhattacharya, _Hindu Castes and Sects_, p. 16.] + +[Footnote 519: This math has an endowment of about L5000 a year, +instituted by the kings of Vijayanagar. The Guru is treated with great +respect. His palankin is carried crossways to prevent anyone from +passing him and he wears a jewelled head-dress, not unlike a papal +tiara, and wooden shoes covered with silver. See an interesting +account of Sringeri in _J. Mythic Society_ (Bangalore), vol. VIII. pp. +18-33. + +Schrader in his catalogue of the Sanskrit MSS. in the Adyar Library, +1908, notices an Upanishad called Mahamayopanishad, ascribed to +Sankara himself, which deals with the special qualities of the four +maths. Each is described as possessing one Veda, one Mahavakyam, etc. +The second part deals with the three ideal maths, Sumeru, Paramatman +and Sastrathajnana.] + +[Footnote 520: There is some reason to suppose that the Math of +Sringeri was founded on the site of a Buddhist monastery. See _Journal +of Mythic Society_, Bangalore, 1916, p. 151.] + +[Footnote 521: Pracchanna-bauddha. See for further details Book IV. +chap. XXI. _ad fin._] + +[Footnote 522: The old folk-lore of Bengal gives a picture of Siva, +the peasant's god, which is neither Vedic nor Dravidian. See Dinesh +Chandra Sen, _Bengali Lang. and Lit._ pp. 68 ff. and 239 ff.] + +[Footnote 523: _J.R.A.S._ 1899, p. 242.] + +[Footnote 524: See some curious examples in Whitehead's _Village Gods +of South India._] + +[Footnote 525: Rice, _Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions_, pp. 27 +and 204.] + +[Footnote 526: The early Brahmi inscriptions of southern India are +said to be written in a Dravidian language with an admixture not of +Sanskrit but of Pali words. See _Arch. Survey India_, 1911-12, Part I. +p. 23.] + +[Footnote 527: See Rice, _Mysore and Coorg_, pp. 3-5 and Fleet's +criticisms, _I.A._. XXI. 1892, p. 287.] + +[Footnote 528: The various notices in European classical authors as +well as in the Sinhalese chronicles prove this.] + +[Footnote 529: Except in the first chapter.] + +[Footnote 530: A complete list of them is given in Foulkes, _Catechism +of the Shaiva religion_, 1863, p. 21.] + +[Footnote 531: _Tamilian Antiquary_, 3, 1909, pp. 1-65.] + +[Footnote 532: Edited and translated by Pope, 1900.] + +[Footnote 533: Established opinion or doctrine. Used by the Jains as a +name for their canon.] + +[Footnote 534: Thus the catechism of the Saiva religion by Sabhapati +Mudaliyar (transl. Foulkes, 1863) after stating emphatically that the +world is created also says that the soul and the world are both +eternal. Also just as in the Bhagavad-gita the ideas of the Vedanta +and Sankhya are incongruously combined, so in the Tiruvacagam (_e.g._ +Pope's edition, pp. 49 and 138) Siva is occasionally pantheized. He is +the body and the soul, existence and non-existence, the false and the +true, the bond and the release.] + +[Footnote 535: _E.g._ Hymn vi.] + +[Footnote 536: Pope's _Tiruvacagam_, p. 257.] + +[Footnote 537: Yet I have read that American revivalists describe how +you play base ball (an American game) with Jesus.] + +[Footnote 538: Pope's _Tiruvacagam_, p. 101.] + +[Footnote 539: It does not seem to me that the legend of Siva's +drinking the hala-hala poison is really parallel to the sufferings of +the Christian redeemer. At the most it is a benevolent exploit like +many performed by Vishnu.] + +[Footnote 540: Although Siva is said to have been many times incarnate +(see for instance _Catechism of the Shaiva religion_, p. 20) he seems +to have merely appeared in human form on special occasions and not to +have been like Christ or Krishna a god living as a man from birth to +death.] + +[Footnote 541: The lines which seem most clearly to reflect Christian +influence are those quoted by Caldwell from the Nana nuru in the +introduction to his _Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian languages_, +p. 127, but neither the date of the work nor the original of the +quotation is given. This part of the introduction is omitted in the +third edition.] + +[Footnote 542: _Tamilian Antiquary_, 4, 1909, pp. 57-82.] + +[Footnote 543: _Ib._ pp. 1-57; Sesha Aiyer gives 275 A.D. as the +probable date, and 375 as the latest date.] + +[Footnote 544: The Saiva catechism translated by Foulkes says (p. 27) +that Siva revealed the Tiruvacagam twice, first to Manikka-Vacagar and +later to Tiru-Kovaiyar.] + +[Footnote 545: Sanskrit, _Siddha._] + +[Footnote 546: Space forbids me to quote the Siva-vakyam and +Pattanattu Pillai, interesting as they are. The reader is +referred to Gover, _Folk-Songs of southern India_, 1871, a work which +is well worth reading.] + +[Footnote 547: The date of the Skanda Purana creates no difficulty +for Bendall considered a MS. of it found in Nepal to be anterior to +659 A.D.] + +[Footnote 548: One of his maxims was _adu, adu adal_, that is the mind +becomes that (spiritual or material) with which it identifies itself +most completely.] + +[Footnote 549: It is contained in fourteen sastras, most of which are +attributed to the four teachers mentioned above.] + +[Footnote 550: For the Kashmir school see Barnett in _Museon_, 1909, +pp. 271-277. _J.R.A.S._ 1910, pp. 707-747. Kashmir Sanskrit series, +particularly vol. II. entitled _Kashmir Saivism_. The Siva sutras and +the commentary Vimar'sini translated in _Indian Thought_, 1911-12. +Also Srinivasa Iyengar, _Outlines of Indian Philosophy_, pp. 168-175 +and _Sarva-darsana-sangraha_, chap. VIII.] + +[Footnote 551: Among them may be mentioned Kallata, author of +the _Spanda Karikas_ and Somananda of the Sivadrishti, who +both flourished about 850-900. Utpala, who composed the +Pratyabhijna-karikas, lived some fifty years later, and in the +eleventh century Abhinava Gupta and Kshemaraja composed numerous +commentaries.] + +[Footnote 552: Kashmirian Saivism is often called Trika, that is +tripartite, because, like other varieties, it treats of three +ultimates _Siva_, _Sakti_, _Anu_ or _Pati_, _Pasu_, _Pasa_. But it has +a decided tendency towards monism.] + +[Footnote 553: Also called the Sakti or Matrika.] + +[Footnote 554: See _Epig. Carn._ VII. Sk. 114. 19, 20 and _Jour. +Mythic Society_, 1917, pp. 176, 180.] + +[Footnote 555: To say nothing of Sivaite temples like the Kailas at +Ellora, the chief doctrines and even the terminology of Sivaite +philosophy are mentioned by Sankara on Ved. Sutras, II. 2. 37.] + +[Footnote 556: In the Samyuktavastu, chap. XL. (transl. in _J.A._ +1914, II. pp. 534, etc.) the Buddha is represented as saying that +Kashmir is the best land for meditation and leading a religious life.] + +[Footnote 557: Chatterji, _Kashmir Saivism_, p. 11, thinks that +Abhinava Gupta's _Paramarthasara_, published by Barnett, was an +adaptation of older verses current in India and called the Adhara +Karikas.] + +[Footnote 558: See Thurston, _Castes and Tribes of southern India_, +s.v. vol. IV. pp. 236-291 and _Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency_, +vol. XXIII. article Bijapur, pp. 219-1884.] + +[Footnote 559: An inscription found at Ablur in Dharwar also mentions +Ramayya as a champion of Sivaite monotheism. He is perhaps the same as +Channabasava. The Lingayats maintain that Basava merely revived the +old true religion of Siva and founded nothing new.] + +[Footnote 560: They have also a book called _Prabhuling-lila_, which +is said to teach that the deity ought to live in the believer's soul +as he lives in the lingam, and collections of early Kanarese sermons +which are said to date from the thirteenth century.] + +[Footnote 561: The use of the Linga by this sect supports the view +that even in its origin the symbol is not exclusively phallic.] + +[Footnote 562: Their creed is said to have been the state religion of +the Wodeyars of Mysore (1399-1600) and of the Nayaks of Keladi, Ikken +or Bednur (1550-1763).] + +[Footnote 563: At Kadur, Ujjeni, Benares, Srisailam and Kedarnath in +the Himalayas. In every Lingayat village there is a monastery +affiliated to one of these five establishments. The great importance +attached to monastic institutions is perhaps due to Jain influence.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +VISHNUISM IN SOUTH INDIA + + +1 + + +Though Sivaism can boast of an imposing array of temples, teachers and +scriptures in the north as well as in the south, yet Vishnuism was +equally strong and after 1000 A.D. perhaps stronger. Thus Alberuni +writing about north-western India in 1030 A.D. mentions Siva and Durga +several times incidentally but devotes separate chapters to Narayana +and Vasudeva; he quotes copiously from Vishnuite works[564] but not +from sectarian Sivaite books. He mentions that the worshippers of +Vishnu are called Bhagavatas and he frequently refers to Rama. It is +clear that in giving an account of Vishnuism he considered that he had +for all practical purposes described the religion of the parts of +India which he knew. + +In their main outlines the histories of Vishnuism and Sivaism are the +same. Both faiths first assumed a definite form in northern India, but +both flourished exceedingly when transplanted to the south and +produced first a school of emotional hymn writers and then in a +maturer stage a goodly array of theologians and philosophers as well +as offshoots in the form of eccentric sects which broke loose from +Brahmanism altogether. But Vishnuism having first spread from the +north to the south returned from the south to the north in great +force, whereas the history of Sivaism shows no such reflux.[565] +Sivaism remained comparatively homogeneous, but Vishnuism gave birth +from the eleventh century onwards to a series of sects or Churches +still extant and forming exclusive though not mutually hostile +associations. The chief Churches or Sampradayas bear the names of +Sanakadi, Sri, Brahma and Rudra. The first three were founded by +Nimbaditya, Ramanuja and Madhva respectively. The Rudra-sampradaya was +rendered celebrated by Vallabha, though he was not its founder. + +The belief and practice of all Vishnuite sects alike is a modified +monotheism, the worship of the Supreme Being under some such name as +Rama or Vasudeva. But the monotheism is not perfect. On the one hand +it passes into pantheism: on the other it is not completely disengaged +from mythology and in all sects the consort and attendants of the +deity receive great respect, even if this respect is theoretically +distinguished from adoration. Nearly all sects reject sacrifice _in +toto_ and make the basis of salvation emotional--namely devotion to +the deity, and as a counterpart to this the chief characteristic of +the deity is loving condescension or grace. The theological philosophy +of each sect is nearly always, whatever name it may bear, a variety of +the system known as Visishtadvaita, or qualified monism, which is not +unlike the Sankhya-Yoga.[566] For Vishnuites as for Sivaites there +exist God, the soul and matter, but most sects shrink from regarding +them as entirely separate and bridge over the differences with various +theories of emanations and successive manifestations of the deity. But +for practical religion the soul is entangled in matter and, with the +help of God, struggles towards union with him. The precise nature and +intimacy of this union has given rise to as many subtle theories and +phrases as the sacraments in Europe. Vishnuite sects in all parts of +India show a tendency to recognize vernacular works as their +scriptures, but they also attach great importance to the Upanishads, +the Bhagavad-gita, the Narayaniya and the Vedanta Sutras. Each has a +special interpretation of these last which becomes to some extent its +motto. + +But these books belong to the relatively older literature. Many +Vishnuite, or rather Krishnaite, works composed from the eighth +century onwards differ from them in tone and give prominence to the +god's amorous adventures with the Gopis and (still later) to the +personality of Radha. This ecstatic and sentimental theology, though +found in all parts of India, is more prevalent in the north than in +the south. Its great text-book is the Bhagavata Purana. The same +spirit is found in Jayadeva's Gita-govinda, apparently composed in +Bengal about 1170 A.D. and reproducing in a polished form the +religious dramas or Yatras in which the life of Krishna is still +represented. + + +2 + + +The sect[567] founded by Nimbarka or Nimbaditya has some connection +with this poem. Its chief doctrine is known as dvaitadvaitamata, or +dualistic non-duality, which is explained as meaning that, though the +soul and matter are distinct from God, they are yet as intimately +connected with him as waves with water or the coils of a rope with the +rope itself. This doctrine is referred to in the religious drama +called Prabodhacandrodaya, probably composed at the end of the +eleventh century. The Nimavats, as the adherents of the sect are +called, are found near Muttra and in Bengal. It is noticeable that +this sect, which had its origin in northern India, is said to have +been persecuted by the Jains[568] and to have been subsequently +revived by a teacher called Nivasa. This may explain why in the +twelfth century Vishnuism flourished in the south rather than in the +north.[569] Less is known of the Nimbarkas than of the other sects. +They worship Krishna and Radha and faith in Krishna is said to be +the only way to salvation. Krishna was the deity of the earliest +bhakti-sects. Then in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries there was +a reaction in favour of Rama as a more spiritual deity, but +subsequently Vallabha and Caitanya again made the worship of Krishna +popular. Nimbarka expressed his views in a short commentary on the +Vedanta Sutras and also in ten verses containing a compendium of +doctrine.[570] + + +3 + + +As among the Sivaites, so among the Vishnuites of the south, history +begins with poet-saints. They are called the twelve Arvars.[571] For +the three earliest no historical basis has been found, but the later +ones seem to be real personalities. The most revered of them is +Namm'arvar also called Sathagopa, whose images and pictures may be +seen everywhere in south India and receive the same reverence as +figures of the gods.[572] He may have lived in the seventh or eighth +century A.D.[573] + +The chronology of the Arvars is exceedingly vague but if the praises +of Siva were sung by poet-saints in the seventh century, it is +probable that the Vishnu worshippers were not behindhand. Two +circumstances argue a fairly early date. First Nathamuni is said to +have arranged the hymns of the Arvars and he probably lived about +1000 A.D. Therefore the Arvars must have become classics by this +date. Secondly the Bhagavata Purana[574] says that in the Kali age +the worshippers of Narayana will be numerous in the Dravidian +country, though in other parts found only here and there, and that +those who drink the water of the Kaveri and other southern rivers will +mostly be devotees of Vasudeva. This passage must have been written +after a Vishnuite movement had begun in the Dravidian country.[575] + +The hymns attributed to the Arvars are commonly known by the name of +Prabandham or Nalayiram and are accepted by the Tengalai Vishnuites as +their canonical scriptures. The whole collection contains 4000 verses +arranged in four parts[576] and an extract consisting of 602 verses +selected for use in daily worship is in part accessible.[577] This +poetry shows the same ecstatic devotion and love of nature as the +Tiruvacagam. It contemplates the worship of images and a temple ritual +consisting in awakening the god at morning and attending on him during +the day. It quotes the Upanishads and Bhagavad-gita, assumes as a +metaphysical basis a vedantized form of the Sankhya philosophy, and +also accepts the legends of the pastoral Krishna but without giving +much detail. Jains, Buddhists and Saivas are blamed and the repetition +of the name Govinda is enjoined. Though the hymns are not +anti-brahmanic they decidedly do not contemplate a life spent in +orthodox observances and their reputed authors include several Sudras, +a king and a woman. + +After the poet-saints came the doctors and theologians. Accounts of +them, which seem historical in the main though full of miraculous +details, are found in the Tamil biographies[578] illustrating the +apostolic succession of teachers. It appears fairly certain that +Ramanuja, the fourth in succession, was alive in 1118: the first, +known as Nathamuni, may therefore have lived 100-150 years earlier. +None of his works are extant but he is said to have arranged the poems +of the Arvars for recitation in temple services. He went on a +pilgrimage to northern India and according to tradition was an adept +in Yoga, being one of the last to practise it in the south. Third in +succession was his grandson Yamunarcarya (known as Alavandar or +victor), who spent the first part of his life as a wealthy layman but +was converted and resided at Srirangam. Here he composed several +important works in Sanskrit including one written to establish the +orthodoxy of the Pancaratra and its ritual.[579] + + +4 + + +He was succeeded by Ramanuja, a great name in Indian theology both as +the organizer of a most important sect and, if not the founder,[580] +at least the accepted exponent of the Visishtadvaita philosophy. +Ramanuja was born at Sriperum-budur[581] near Madras, where he is +still commemorated by a celebrated shrine. As a youth he studied +Sivaite philosophy at Conjeevaram but abandoned it for Vishnuism. He +appears to have been a good administrator. He made the definitive +collection of the hymns of the Arvars and is said to have founded 700 +maths and 89 hereditary abbotships, for he allowed the members of his +order to marry. He visited northern India, including Kashmir if +tradition may be believed, but his chief residence was Srirangam. +Towards the end of the eleventh century however, the hostility of the +Chola King Kulottunga, who was an intolerant Sivaite, forced him to +retire to Mysore. Here he was protected by King Vittala Deva whom he +converted from Jainism and on the death of Kulottunga in 1118 he +returned to Srirangam where he ended his days. In the temple there his +tomb and a shrine where his image receives divine honours may still be +seen. His best known work[582] is the Sri Bhashya or commentary on the +Vedanta sutras. + +The sect which he founded is known as the Sri Sampradaya and its +members as the Sri Vaishnavas. As among the Sivaites revelation is +often supposed to be made by Siva through Sakti, so here the Lord is +said to have revealed the truth to his consort Sri or Lakshmi, she to +a demigod called Visvaksena, and he to Namm'arvar, from whom Ramanuja +was eighth in spiritual descent. Though the members of the sect are +sometimes called Ramaites the personality of Rama plays a small part +in their faith, especially as expounded by Ramanuja. As names for the +deity he uses Narayana and Vasudeva and he quotes freely from the +Bhagavad-gita and the Vishnu Purana. Compared with the emotional +deism of Caitanya this faith seems somewhat philosophic and reticent. + +Ramanuja clearly indicates its principal points in the first words of +his Sri Bhashya. "May my mind be filled with devotion towards the +highest Brahman, the abode of Lakshmi; who is luminously revealed in +the Upanishads: who in sport produces, sustains and reabsorbs the +entire universe: whose only aim is to foster the manifold classes of +beings that humbly worship him."[583] He goes on to say that his +teaching is that of the Upanishads, "which was obscured by the mutual +conflict of manifold opinions," and that he follows the commentary of +Bodhayana and other teachers who have abridged it. + +That is to say, the form of Vishnuism which Ramanuja made one of the +principal religions of India claims to be the teaching of the +Upanishads, although he also affiliates himself to the Bhagavatas. He +interprets the part of the Vedanta Sutras which treats of this +sect[584] as meaning that the author states and ultimately disallows +the objections raised to their teaching and he definitely approves it. +"As it is thus settled that the highest Brahman or Narayana himself +is the promulgator of the entire Pancaratra and that this system +teaches the nature of Narayana and the proper way of worshipping him, +none can disestablish the view that in the Pancaratra all the other +doctrines are comprised."[585] + +The true tradition of the Upanishads he contends has been distorted by +"manifold opinions," among which the doctrine of Sankara was no doubt +the chief. That doctrine was naturally distasteful to devotional +poets, and from the time of Nathamuni onwards a philosophic reaction +against it grew up in Srirangam. Ramanuja preaches the worship of a +loving God, though when we read that God produces and reabsorbs the +universe in sport, we find that we are farther from Christianity than +we at first supposed. There is a touch of mythology in the mention of +Lakshmi[586] but it is clear that Ramanuja himself had little liking +for mythology. He barely mentions Rama and Krishna in the Sri +Bhashya nor does he pay much attention to the consort of the deity. On +the other hand he shows no sign of rejecting the ritual and +regulations of the Brahmans. He apparently wished to prove that the +doctrine of salvation by devotion to a personal god is compatible with +a system as strictly orthodox as Sankara's own. + +I shall treat elsewhere of his philosophy, known as the +Visishtadvaita or non-duality, which yet recognizes a distinction +between God and individual souls. The line of thought is old and at +all periods is clearly a compromise, unwilling to deny that God is +everything and yet dissatisfied with the idea that a personal deity +and our individual transmigrating souls are all merely illusion. +Devotional theism was growing in Ramanuja's time. He could not break +with the Upanishads and Vedantic tradition but he adapted them to the +needs of his day. He taught firstly that the material world and human +souls are not illusion but so to speak the body of God who comprises +and pervades them: secondly this God is omniscient, omnipresent, +almighty and all-merciful, and salvation (that is mukti or deliverance +from transmigration) is obtained by those souls who, assisted by his +grace, meditate on him and know him; thirdly this salvation consists +not in absorption into God but in blissful existence near him and in +participation of his glorious qualities. He further held[587] that God +exists in five modes, namely: (_a_) Para, the entire supreme spirit, +(_b_) the fourfold manifestation as Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna +and Aniruddha, (_c_) incarnations such as Rama and Krishna, (_d_) +the internal controller or Antaryamin according to the text[588] "who +abiding in the soul rules the soul within," (_e_) duly consecrated +images. + +The followers of Ramanuja are at present divided into two schools +known as Tengalais and Vadagalais, or southern and northern.[589] The +double residence of the founder is one reason for the division, since +both Mysore and Trichinopoly could claim to have personal knowledge of +his teaching. The really important difference seems to be that the +Tengalai or southern school is inclined to break away from Sanskrit +tradition, to ignore the Vedas in practice and to regard the Tamil +Nalayiram as an all-sufficient scripture, whereas the Vadagalais, +though not rejecting the Nalayiram, insist on the authority of the +Vedas. But both divisions are scrupulous about caste observances and +the ceremonial purity of their food. They are separated by nice +questions of doctrine, especially as to the nature of prapatti, +resignation or self-surrender to the deity, a sentiment slightly +different from bhakti which is active faith or devotion. The +northerners hold that the soul lays hold of the Lord, as the young +monkey hangs on to its mother, whereas the southerners say that the +Lord picks up the helpless and passive soul as a cat picks up a +kitten.[590] According to the northerners, the consort of Vishnu is, +like him, uncreated and equally to be worshipped as a bestower of +grace: according to the southerners she is created and, though divine, +merely a mediator or channel of the Lord's grace. Even more important +in popular esteem is the fact that the Vadagalai sectarian mark ends +between the eyebrows whereas the Tengalais prolong it to the tip of +the nose. _Odium theologicum_ is often bitterest between the sects +which are most nearly related and accordingly we find that the +Tengalais and Vadagalais frequently quarrel. They use the same temples +but in many places both claim the exclusive right to recite the hymns +of the Arvars. The chief difference in their recitation lies in the +opening verse in which each party celebrates the names of its special +teachers, and disputes as to the legality of a particular verse in a +particular shrine sometimes give rise to free fights and subsequent +lawsuits. + +The two schools reckon the apostolic succession differently and appear +to have separated in the thirteenth century, in which they were +represented by Pillai Lokacarya and Vedanta Desika[591] +respectively. The Tengalai, of which the first-named teacher was the +practical founder, must be regarded as innovators, for in their use of +Tamil as the language of religion they do not follow the example of +Ramanuja. Lokacarya teaches that the grace of God is irresistible and +should be met not merely by active faith, but by self-surrender,[592] +and entire submission to the guidance of the spiritual teacher. He was +the author of eighteen works called Rahasyas or secrets[593] but +though he appears to have been the first to formulate the Tengalai +doctrines, Manavala Mahamuni (1370-1443 A.D.) is regarded by the sect +as its chief saint. His images and pictures are frequent in south +India and he wrote numerous commentaries and poems. Vedanta Desika, +the founder of the Vadagalai, was a native of Conjeevaram but spent +much of his life at Srirangam. He was a voluminous author and +composed _inter alia_ an allegorical play in ten acts, portraying the +liberation of the soul under the auspices of King Viveka +(discrimination) and Queen Sumati (Wisdom). + +At the present day the two sects recognize as their respective heads +two Acaryas who are married, whereas all Smarta Acaryas are +celibates.[594] The Tengalai Acarya resides near Tinnevelly, the +Vadagalai in the district of Kurnool. They both make periodical +visitations in their districts and have considerable ecclesiastical +power. In the south Srirangam near Trichinopoly is their principal +shrine: in the north Melucote in the Seringapatam district is esteemed +very sacred. + + +5 + + +It was only natural that Ramanuja's advocacy of qualified non-duality +should lead some more uncompromising spirit to affirm the doctrine of +Dvaita or duality. This step was taken by Madhva Acarya, a Kanarese +Brahman who was probably born in 1199 A.D.[595] In the previous year +the great temple of Jagannatha at Puri had been completed and the +Vishnuite movement was at its height. Madhva though educated as a +Saiva became a Vaishnava. He denied absolutely the identity of the +Supreme Being with the individual soul and held that the world is not +a modification of the Lord but that he is like a father who begets a +son. Yet in practice, rigid monotheism is not more prevalent among +Madhva's followers than in other sects. They are said to tolerate the +worship of Sivaite deities and of the lingam in their temples[596] and +their ascetics dress like Saivas. + +Madhva travelled in both northern and southern India and had a +somewhat troubled life, for his doctrine, being the flat contradiction +of the Advaita, involved him in continual conflicts with the followers +of Sankara who are said to have even stolen his library. At any rate +they anathematized his teaching with a violence unusual in Indian +theology.[597] In spite of such lively controversy he found time to +write thirty-seven works, including commentaries on the Upanishads, +Bhagavad-gita and Vedanta Sutras. The obvious meaning of these texts +is not that required by his system, but they are recognized by all +Vaishnavas as the three Prasthanas or starting-points of philosophy +and he had to show that they supported his views. Hence his +interpretation often seems forced and perverse. The most extraordinary +instance of this is his explanation of the celebrated phrase in the +Chandogya Upanishad Sa atma tat tvam asi. He reads Sa atma atat tvam +asi and considers that it means "You are not that God. Why be so +conceited as to suppose that you are?"[598] Monotheistic texts have +often received a mystical and pantheistic interpretation. The Old +Testament and the Koran have been so treated by Kabbalists and Sufis. +But in Madhva's commentaries we see the opposite and probably rarer +method. Pantheistic texts are twisted until they are made to express +uncompromising monotheism. + +The sect is often called Brahma-sampradaya, because it claims that its +doctrine was revealed by Brahma from whom Madhva was the sixth teacher +in spiritual descent. Its members are known as Madhvas but prefer to +call themselves Sad-Vaishnavas. Its teaching seems more rigid and +less emotional than that of other Vishnuites and is based on the +Pancabheda or five eternal distinctions between (_a_) God and the +soul, (_b_) God and matter, (_c_) the soul and matter, (_d_) +individual souls, (_e_) individual atoms of matter. God is generally +called Vishnu or Narayana rather than Vasudeva. Krishna is adored +but not in his pastoral aspect. Vishnu and his spouse Lakshmi are +real though superhuman personalities and their sons are Brahma the +creator and Vayu.[599] Peculiar to this sect is the doctrine that +except through Vayu, the son of Vishnu, salvation is impossible. Vayu +has been three times incarnate as Hanumat, the helper of Rama, as +Bhima and as Madhva himself.[600] Souls are separate, innumerable and +related to God as subjects to a king. They are of three classes: those +who are destined to eternal bliss in the presence of God: those who +revolve eternally in the maze of transmigration: and those who tending +ever downwards are doomed to eternal suffering. + +This last doctrine, as well as the doctrine of salvation through Vayu, +the wind or spirit, has led many to suspect that Madhva was influenced +by Christian ideas, but it is more probable that he owed something to +Islam. Such influence would no doubt be distant and indirect, for a +Brahman would not come into contact with Moslim doctors, though it is +said that Madhva could speak Persian.[601] But some Moslim ideas such +as the absolute separation of God from the world and the +predestination of souls to eternal happiness and misery may have +entered Brahman minds. Still, nearly all Madhva's views (with the +possible exception of eternal punishment) have Indian analogies. The +Yoga teaches that there are innumerable souls distinct from one +another and from God and though salvation through the spirit sounds +Christian, yet the Upanishads constantly celebrate Vayu (wind) and +Prana (breath) as the pervading principle of the world and the home +of the self. "By the wind (Vayu) as thread, O Gautama, this world and +the other world and all creatures are bound together."[602] Thus the +idea that the wind is the universal mediator is old and it does not +seem that Madhva regarded Vayu as a redeemer or expiation for sin like +Christ. + +The Madhvas are still an energetic and important sect. Their +headquarters are at Udipi in South Kanara and they also hold an annual +conference at Tirupati at which examinations in theology are held and +prizes given. At Udipi are eight maths and a very sacred temple, +dedicated by Madhva himself to Krishna. The head of each math is +charged in turn with the supervision of this temple during two years +and the change of office is celebrated by a great biennial festival in +January. The worship is more puritanical than in the temples of other +sects, dancing girls for instance not being allowed, but great +importance is attached to the practice of branding the body with the +emblems of Vishnu. The sect, like the Sri Vaishnavas, is divided +into two parties, the Vyasakutas who are conservative and use Sanskrit +scriptures,[603] and the Dasakutas who have more popular tendencies +and use sacred books written in Kanarese. Neither the Sri Vaishnavas +nor the Madhvas are numerous in northern India. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 564: Such as the Vishnu Purana, Vishnu Dharma, said to be +a section of the Garuda Purana and the Bhagavad-gita.] + +[Footnote 565: The Hindus are well aware that the doctrine of Bhakti +spread from the south to the north. See the allegory quoted in +_J.R.A.S._ 1911, p. 800.] + +[Footnote 566: Thus Ramanuja says (Sri Bhashya, II. 2. 43) that the +Vedanta Sutras do not refute the Sankhya and Yoga but merely certain +erroneous views as to Brahman not being the self.] + +[Footnote 567: It has been described as the earliest of the Vishnuite +Churches and it would be so if we could be sure that the existence of +the doctrine called Dvaitadvaita was equivalent to the existence of +the sect. But Bhandarkar has shown some reason for thinking that +Nimbaditya lived after Ramanuja. It must be admitted that the worship +of Radha and the doctrine of self-surrender or prapatti, both found in +the Dasasloki, are probably late.] + +[Footnote 568: See Grierson in _E.R.E._ vol. II. p. 457.] + +[Footnote 569: The Church of the Nimavats is also called +Sanakadi-sampradaya because it professes to derive its doctrine from +Sanaka and his brethren who taught Narada, who taught Nimbarka. At +least one sub-sect founded by Harivamsa (born 1559) adopts a doctrine +analogous to Saktism and worships Radha as the manifestation of +Krishna's energy.] + +[Footnote 570: Called the Dasasloki. It is translated in Bhandarkar's +_Vaishn and Saivism_, pp. 63-5.] + +[Footnote 571: Also spelt Alvar and Azhvar. The Tamil pronunciation of +this difficult letter varies in different districts. The word +apparently means one who is drowned or immersed in the divine love. +Cf. _Azhi_, the deep sea; _Azhal_, being deep or being immersed.] + +[Footnote 572: An educated Vaishnava told me at Srirangam that devas +and saints receive the same homage.] + +[Footnote 573: It is possible that the poems attributed to Namm'arvar +and other saints are really later compositions. See _Epig. Ind_. vol. +VIII. p. 294.] + +[Footnote 574: XI. 5. 38-40.] + +[Footnote 575: Bhandarkar (_Vaishn. and Saivism_, p. 50) thinks it +probable that Kulasekhara, one of the middle Arvars, lived about +1130. But the argument is not conclusive and it seems to me improbable +that he lived after Nathamuni.] + +[Footnote 576: The first called Mudal-Ayiram consists of nine hymns +ascribed to various saints such as Periyarvar and Andal. The second +and third each consist of a single work the Periya-tiru-mori and the +Tiru-vay-mori ascribed to Tiru-mangai and Namm'arvar respectively. +The fourth part or Iyar-pa is like the first a miscellany containing +further compositions by these two as well as by others.] + +[Footnote 577: Nityanusandhanam series: edited with Telugu paraphrase +and English translation by M.B. Srinivasa Aiyangar, Madras, 1898.] + +[Footnote 578: The best known is the Guru-parampara-prabhavam of +Brahmatantra-svatantra-swami. For an English account of these doctors +see T. Rajagopala Chariar, _The Vaishnavite Reformers of India_, +Madras, 1909.] + +[Footnote 579: Agamapramanya. He also wrote a well-known hymn called +Alavandar-Stotram and a philosophical treatise called Siddhi-traya.] + +[Footnote 580: He states himself that he followed Boddhayana, a +commentator on the Sutras of unknown date but anterior to Sankara. He +quotes several other commentators particularly Dramida, so that his +school must have had a long line of teachers.] + +[Footnote 581: See _Gazetteer of India_, vol. XXIII. s.v. There is a +Kanarese account of his life called Dibya-caritra. For his life and +teaching see also Bhandarkar in _Berichte VIIth Int. Orient. +Congress_, 1886, pp. 101 ff. Lives in English have been published at +Madras by Alkondaville Govindacarya (1906) and Krishnaswami Aiyangar +(? 1909).] + +[Footnote 582: He also wrote the Vedartha Sangraha, Vedartha Pradipa, +Vedanta Sara and a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita.] + +[Footnote 583: _S.B.E._ XLVIII. p. 3.] + +[Footnote 584: II. 2. 36-39.] + +[Footnote 585: II. 2. 43 _ad fin._] + +[Footnote 586: Ramanuja's introduction to the Bhagavad-gita is more +ornate but does not go much further in doctrine than the passage here +quoted.] + +[Footnote 587: This fivefold manifestation of the deity is a +characteristic Pancaratra doctrine. See Schrader, _Int._ pp. 25, 51 +and _Sri Bhashya_, II. 242.] + +[Footnote 588: See Br. Ar. Up III. 7. The Sri Vaishnavas attach great +importance to this chapter.] + +[Footnote 589: Only relatively northern and southern. Neither flourish +in what we call northern India.] + +[Footnote 590: Hence the two doctrines are called markata-nyaya and +marjara-nyaya, monkey theory and cat theory. The latter gave rise to +the dangerous doctrine of Doshabhogya, that God enjoys sin, since it +gives a larger scope for the display of His grace. Cf. Oscar Wilde in +_De Profundis_, "Christ, through some divine instinct in him, seems to +have always loved the sinner as being the nearest possible approach to +perfection in man.... In a manner not yet understood of the world, he +regarded sin and suffering as being in themselves beautiful holy +things and modes of perfection.... Christ, had he been asked, would +have said--I feel quite certain about it--that the moment the prodigal +son fell on his knees and wept, he made his having wasted his +substance with harlots, his swine herding and hungering for the husks +they ate beautiful and holy moments in his life."] + +[Footnote 591: Also called Venkatanatha. For some rather elaborate +studies in the history of the Sri-Vaishnavas see V. Rangacharis' +articles in _J. Bombay R.A.S._ 1915 and 1916 and _J. Mythic Society_, +1917, Nos. 2 ff.] + +[Footnote 592: Prapatti and acaryabhimana.--The word _prapatti_ seems +not to occur in the Sri Bhashya and it is clear that Ramanuja's +temperament was inclined to active and intelligent devotion. But +_prapatti_ is said to have been taught by Nathamuni and Sathagopa +(Rajagopala Chariar, _Vaishnavite Reformers_, p. 6). The word means +literally _approaching._] + +[Footnote 593: The Artha-pancaka and Tattva-traya are the best known. +See text and translation of the first in _J.R.A.S._ 1910, pp. +565-607.] + +[Footnote 594: Ramanuja set less store than Sankara on asceticism and +renunciation of the world. He held the doctrine called _samucchaya_ +(or combination) namely that good works as well as knowledge are +efficacious for salvation.] + +[Footnote 595: Also called Anandatirtha and Purnaprajna. According to +others he was born in 1238 A.D. See for his doctrines Grierson's +article Madhvas in _E.R.E._ and his own commentaries on the Chandogya +and Brihad Ar. Upanishads published in _Sacred Books of the Hindus_, +vols. III. and XIV. For his date Bhandarkar, _Vaishn. and Saivism_, +pp. 58-59 and _I.A._. 1914, pp. 233 ff. and 262 ff. Accounts of his +life and teaching have been written by Padmanabha Char. and Krishna +Svami Aiyer (Madras, 1909). His followers maintain that he is not dead +but still alive at Badari in the Himalayas.] + +[Footnote 596: See Padmanabha Char. _l.c._ page 12. Madhva condemned +the worship of inanimate objects (_e.g._ com. Chand. Up. VII. 14. 2) +but not the worship of Brahman _in_ inanimate objects.] + +[Footnote 597: In a work called the _Pashanda capetika_ or _A Slap for +Heretics_, all the adherents of Madhva are consigned to hell and the +Saurapurana, chaps. XXXVIII.-XL. contains a violent polemic against +them. See Jahn's _Analysis_, pp. 90-106 and Barth in _Melanges +Harlez_, pp. 12-25. It is curious that the Madhvas should have been +selected for attack, for in many ways they are less opposed to +Sivaites than are other Vishnuite sects but the author was clearly +badly informed about the doctrines which he attacks and he was +probably an old-fashioned Sivaite of the north who regarded Madhvism +as a new-fangled version of objectionable doctrines. + +The Madhvas are equally violent in denouncing Sankara and his +followers. They miswrite the name Samkara, giving it the sense of +mongrel or dirt and hold that he was an incarnation of a demon called +Manimat sent by evil spirits to corrupt the world.] + +[Footnote 598: See his comment on Chand. Up. VI. 8. 7. Compare +Bhag.-g. XV. 7. The text appears to say that the soul (Jiva) is a part +(amsa) of the Lord. Madhva says it is so-called because it bears some +reduced similitude to the Lord, though quite distinct from him. +Madhva's exegesis is supported by a system of tantric or cabalistic +interpretation in which every letter has a special meaning. Thus in +the passage of the Chand. Up. mentioned above the simple words _sa ya +eshah_ are explained as equivalent to Sara essence, yama the +controller, and ishta the desired one. The reading atat tvam asi is +said not to have originated with Madhva but to be found in a Bhagavata +work called the Samasamhita.] + +[Footnote 599: In his commentary on the opening of the Chand. Up. +Madhva seems to imply a Trinity consisting of Vishnu, Rama (=Lakshmi) +and Vayu.] + +[Footnote 600: This is expressly stated at the end of the commentary +on the Brih. Ar. Upan.] + +[Footnote 601: _Life and teachings of Sri-Madhvacharyar_ by Padmanabha +Char. 1909, p. 159. Some have suspected a connection between Madhva's +teaching and Manicheism, because he attached much importance to an +obscure demon called Manimat (see Mahabh. III. 11, 661) whom he +considered incarnate in Sankara. It is conceivable that in his Persian +studies he may have heard of Mani as an arch-heretic and have +identified him with this demon but this does not imply any connection +between his own system (or Sankara's either) and Manicheism.] + +[Footnote 602: Brih. Ar. Upan. III. 7. 2.] + +[Footnote 603: Among them are the Manimanjari, the Madhvavijaya and +the Vayustuti, all attributed to a disciple of Madhva and his son.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +LATER VISHNUISM IN NORTH INDIA + + +1 + + +With the fifteenth century Hinduism enters on a new phase. Sects arise +which show the influence of Mohammedanism, sometimes to such an extent +that it is hard to say whether they should be classed as Hindu or +Moslim, and many teachers repudiate caste. Also, whereas in the +previous centuries the centre of religious feeling lay in the south, +it now shifts to the north. Hinduism had been buffeted but not +seriously menaced there: the teachers of the south had not failed to +recognize by their pilgrimages the sanctity and authority of the +northern seats of learning: such works as the Gita-govinda testify to +the existence there of fervent Vishnuism. But the country had been +harassed by Moslim invasions and unsettled by the vicissitudes of +transitory dynasties. The Jains were powerful in Gujarat and +Rajputana. In Bengal Saktism and moribund Buddhism were not likely to +engender new enthusiasms. But in a few centuries the movements +inaugurated in the south increased in extension and strength. Hindus +and Mohammedans began to know more of each other, and in the sixteenth +century under the tolerant rule of Akbar and his successors the new +sects which had been growing were able to consolidate themselves. + +After Ramanuja and Madhva, the next great name in the history of +Vishnuism, and indeed of Hinduism, is Ramanand. His date is +uncertain.[604] He was posterior to Ramanuja, from whose sect he +detached himself, and Kabir was his disciple, apparently his immediate +disciple. Some traditions give Prayaga as his birthplace, others +Melucote, but the north was the scene of his activity. He went on a +lengthy pilgrimage, and on his return was accused of having infringed +the rules of his sect as to eating, etc., and was excommunicated, but +received permission from his Guru to found a new sect. He then settled +in Benares and taught there. He wrote no treatise but various hymns +ascribed to him are still popular.[605] Though he is not associated +with any special dogma, yet his teaching is of great importance as +marking the origin of a popular religious movement characterized by +the use of the vernacular languages instead of Sanskrit, and by a +laxity in caste rules culminating in a readiness to admit as equals +all worshippers of the true God.[606] This God is Rama rather than +Krishna. I have already pointed out that the worship of Rama as the +Supreme Being (to be distinguished from respect for him as a hero) is +not early: in fact it appears to begin in the period which we are +considering. Of the human forms of the deity Krishna was clearly the +most popular but the school of Ramanuja, while admitting both Rama and +Krishna as incarnations, preferred to adore God under less +mythological and more philosophic names such as Narayana. Ramanand, +who addressed himself to all classes and not merely to the Brahman +aristocracy, selected as the divine name Rama. It was more human than +Narayana, less sensuous than Krishna. Every Hindu was familiar with +the poetry which sings of Rama as a chivalrous and godlike hero. But +he was not, like Krishna, the lover of the soul, and when Ramaism +was divested of mythology by successive reformers it became a +monotheism in which Hindu and Moslim elements could blend. Ramanand +had twelve disciples, among whom were Kabir, a Raja called Pipa, Rai +Das, a leather-seller (and therefore an outcast according to Hindu +ideas) as well as Brahmans. The Ramats, as his followers were called, +are a numerous and respectable body in north India, using the same +sectarian mark as the Vadagalais from whom they do not differ +materially, although a Hindu might consider that their small regard +for caste is a vital distinction. They often call themselves +Avadhutas, that is, those who have shaken off worldly restrictions, +and the more devout among them belong to an order divided into four +classes of which only the highest is reserved to Brahmans and the +others are open to all castes. They own numerous and wealthy maths, +but it is said that in some of these celibacy is not required and that +monks and nuns live openly as man and wife.[607] + +An important aspect of the Ramat movement is its effect on the popular +literature of Hindustan which in the fifteenth and even more in the +sixteenth century blossoms into flowers of religious poetry. Many of +these writings possess real merit and are still a moral and spiritual +force. European scholars are only beginning to pay sufficient +attention to this mighty flood of hymns which gushed forth in nearly +all the vernaculars of India[608] and appealed directly to the people. +The phenomenon was not really new. The psalms of the Buddhists and +even the hymns of the Rig Veda were vernacular literature in their +day, and in the south the songs of the Devaram and Nalayiram are of +some antiquity. But in the north, though some Prakrit literature has +been preserved, Sanskrit was long considered the only proper language +for religion. We can hardly doubt that vernacular hymns existed, but +they did not receive the imprimatur of any teacher, and have not +survived. But about 1400 all this changes. Though Ramanand was not +much of a writer he gave his authority to the use of the vernacular: +he did not, like Ramanuja, either employ or enjoin Sanskrit and the +meagre details which we have of his circle lead us to imagine him +surrounded by men of homely speech. + +One current in this sea of poetry was Krishnaite and as such not +directly connected with Ramanand. Vidyapati[609] sang of the loves of +Krishna and Radha in the Maithili dialect and also in a form of +Bengali. In the early fifteenth century (c. 1420) we have the poetess +Mira Bai, wife of the Raja of Chitore who gained celebrity and +domestic unhappiness by her passionate devotion to the form of +Krishna known as Ranchor. According to one legend the image came to +life in answer to her fervent prayers, and throwing his arms round her +allowed her to meet a rapturous death in his embrace. This is +precisely the sentiment which we find later in the teaching of +Vallabhacarya and Caitanya. The hymns of the Bengali poets have been +collected in the _Padakalpataru_, one of the chief sacred books of the +Bengali Vaishnavas. From Vallabhacarya spring the group of poets who +adorned Braj or the Muttra district. Pre-eminent among them is the +blind Sur Das who flourished about 1550 and wrote such sweet lyrics +that Krishna himself came down and acted as his amanuensis. A +somewhat later member of the same group is Nabha Das, the author of +the Bhakta Mala or Legends of the Saints, which is still one of the +most popular religious works of northern India.[610] Almost +contemporary with Sur Das was the great Tulsi Das and Grierson[611] +enumerated thirteen subsequent writers who composed Ramayanas in some +dialect of Hindi. A little later came the Mahratta poet Tukaram (born +about 1600) who gave utterance to Krishnaism in another language. + +Tulsi Das is too important to be merely mentioned as one in a list of +poets. He is a great figure in Indian religion, and the saying that +his Ramayana is more popular and more honoured in the North-western +Provinces than the Bible in England is no exaggeration.[612] He came +into the world in 1532 but was exposed by his parents as born under an +unlucky star and was adopted by a wandering Sadhu. He married but his +son died and after this loss he himself became a Sadhu. He began to +write his Ramayana in Oudh at the age of forty-three, but moved to +Benares where he completed it and died in 1623. On the Tulsi Ghat, +near the river Asi, may still be seen the rooms which he occupied. +They are at the top of a lofty building and command a beautiful view +over the river[4]. + +His Ramayana which is an original composition and not a translation of +Valmiki's work is one of the great religious poems of the world and +not unworthy to be set beside _Paradise Lost_. The sustained majesty +of diction and exuberance of ornament are accompanied by a spontaneity +and vigour rare in any literature, especially in Asia. The poet is not +embellishing a laboured theme: he goes on and on because his emotion +bursts forth again and again, diversifying the same topic with an +inexhaustible variety of style and metaphor. As in some forest a +stream flows among flowers and trees, but pours forth a flood of pure +water uncoloured by the plants on its bank, so in the heart of Tulsi +Das the love of God welled up in a mighty fountain ornamented by the +mythology and legends with which he bedecked it, yet unaffected by +them. He founded no sect, which is one reason of his popularity, for +nearly all sects can read him with edification, and he is primarily a +poet not a theologian. But though he allows himself a poet's licence +to state great truths in various ways, he still enunciates a definite +belief. This is theism, connected with the name Rama. Since in the +north he is the author most esteemed by the Vishnuites, it would be a +paradox to refuse him that designation, but his teaching is not so +much that Vishnu is the Supreme Being who becomes incarnate in Rama, +as that Rama, and more rarely Hari and Vasudeva, are names of the +All-God who manifests himself in human form. Vishnu is mentioned as a +celestial being in the company of Brahma,[613] and so far as any god +other than Rama receives attention it is Siva, not indeed as Rama's +equal, but as a being at once very powerful and very devout, who acts +as a mediator or guide. "Without prayer to Siva no one can attain to +the faith which I require."[614] "Rama is God, the totality of good, +imperishable, invisible, uncreated, incomparable, void of all change, +indivisible, whom the Veda declares that it cannot define."[615] And +yet, "He whom scripture and philosophy have sung and whom the saints +love to contemplate, even the Lord God, he is the son of Dasarath, +King of Kosala."[616] By the power of Rama exist Brahma, Vishnu and +Siva, as also Maya, the illusion which brings about the world. His +"delusive power is a vast fig-tree, its clustering fruit the countless +multitude of worlds, while all things animate and inanimate are like +the insects that dwell inside and think their own particular fig the +only one in existence."[617] God has made all things: pain and +pleasure, sin and merit, saints and sinners, Brahmans and butchers, +passion and asceticism. It is the Veda that distinguishes good and +evil among them.[618] The love of God and faith are the only road to +happiness. "The worship of Hari is real and all the world is a +dream."[619] Tulsi Das often uses the language of the Advaita +philosophy and even calls God the annihilator of duality, but though +he admits the possibility of absorption and identification with the +deity, he holds that the double relation of a loving God and a loving +soul constitutes greater bliss. "The saint was not absorbed into the +divinity for this reason that he had already received the gift of +faith."[620] And in a similar spirit he says, "Let those preach in +their wisdom who contemplate Thee as the supreme spirit, the uncreate, +inseparable from the universe, recognizable only by inference and +beyond the understanding; but we, O Lord, will ever hymn the glories +of thy incarnation." Like most Hindus he is little disposed to enquire +what is the purpose of creation, but he comes very near to saying that +God has evolved the world by the power of Maya because the bliss which +God and his beloved feel is greater than the bliss of impersonal +undifferentiated divinity. It will be seen that Tulsi Das is +thoroughly Hindu: neither his fundamental ideas nor his mythological +embellishments owe anything to Islam or Christianity. He accepts +unreservedly such principles as Maya, transmigration, Karma and +release. But his sentiments, more than those of any other Indian +writer, bear a striking resemblance to the New Testament. Though he +holds that the whole world is of God, he none the less bids men shun +evil and choose the good, and the singular purity of his thoughts and +style contrasts strongly with other Vishnuite works. He does not +conceive of the love which may exist between the soul and God as a +form of sexual passion. + + +2 + + +The beginning of the sixteenth century was a time of religious +upheaval in India for it witnessed the careers not only of +Vallabhacarya and Caitanya, but also of Nanak, the founder of the +Sikhs. In the west it was the epoch of Luther and as in Europe so in +India no great religious movement has taken place since that time. The +sects then founded have swollen into extravagance and been reformed: +other sects have arisen from a mixture of Hinduism with Moslem and +Christian elements, but no new and original current of thought or +devotion has been started. + +Though the two great sects associated with the names of Caitanya and +Vallabhacarya have different geographical spheres and also present +some differences in doctrinal details, both are emotional and even +erotic and both adore Krishna as a child or young man. Their almost +simultaneous appearance in eastern and western India and their rapid +growth show that they represent an unusually potent current of ideas +and sentiments. But the worship of Krishna was, as we have seen, +nothing new in northern India. Even that relatively late phase in +which the sports of the divine herdsman are made to typify the love of +God for human souls is at least as early as the Gita-govinda written +about 1170. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the history of +Krishna worship is not clear,[621] but it persisted and about 1400 +found speech in Bengal and in Rajputana. + +According to Vaishnava theologians the followers of +Vallabhacarya[622] are a section of the Rudra-sampradaya founded in +the early part of the fifteenth century by Vishnusvami, an emigrant +from southern India, who preached chiefly in Gujarat. The doctrines of +the sect are supposed to have been delivered by the Almighty to Siva +from whom Vishnusvami was fifteenth in spiritual descent, and are +known by the name of _Suddhadvaita_ or pure non-duality. They teach +that God has three attributes--_sac-cid-ananda_--existence, +consciousness and bliss. In the human or animal soul bliss is +suppressed and in matter consciousness is suppressed too. But when the +soul attains release it recovers bliss and becomes identical in nature +with God. For practical purposes the Vallabhacaris may be regarded as +a sect founded by Vallabha, said to have been born in 1470. He was the +son of a Telinga Brahman, who had migrated with Vishnusvami to the +north. + +Such was the pious precocity of Vallabha that at the age of twelve he +had already discovered a new religion and started on a pilgrimage to +preach it. He was well received at the Court of Vijayanagar, and was +so successful in disputation that he was recognized as chief doctor of +the Vaishnava school. He subsequently spent nine years in travelling +twice round India and at Brindaban received a visit from Krishna in +person, who bade him promulgate his worship in the form of the divine +child known as Bala Gopala. Vallabha settled in Benares and is said to +have composed a number of works which are still extant.[623] He gained +further victories as a successful disputant and also married and +became the father of two sons. At the age of fifty-two he took to the +life of a Sannyasi, but died forty-two days afterwards. + +Though Vallabha died as an ascetic, his doctrines are currently known +as the Pushti Marga, the road of well-being or comfort. His +philosophy was more decidedly monistic than is usual among Vishnuites, +and Indian monism has generally taught that, as the soul and God are +one in essence, the soul should realize this identity and renounce the +pleasures of the senses. But with Vallabhacarya it may be said that +the vision which is generally directed godwards and forgets the flesh, +turned earthwards and forgot God, for his teaching is that since the +individual and the deity are one, the body should be reverenced and +indulged. Pushti[624] or well-being is the special grace of God and +the elect are called Pushti-jiva. They depend entirely on God's grace +and are contrasted with Maryada-jivas, or those who submit to moral +discipline. The highest felicity is not _mukti_ or liberation but the +eternal service of Krishna and eternal participation in his sports. + +These doctrines have led to deplorable results, but so strong is the +Indian instinct towards self-denial and asceticism that it is the +priests rather than the worshippers who profit by this permission to +indulge the body, and the chief feature of the sect is the extravagant +respect paid to the descendants of Vallabhacarya. They are known as +Maharajas or Great Kings and their followers, especially women, +dedicate to them _tan_, _dhan_, _man_: body, purse and spirit, for it +is a condition of the road of well-being that before the devotee +enjoys anything himself he must dedicate it to the deity and the +Maharaj represents the deity. The daily prayer of the sect is "Om. +Krishna is my refuge. I who suffer the infinite pain and torment of +enduring for a thousand years separation from Krishna, consecrate to +Krishna my body, senses, life, heart and faculties, my wife, house, +family, property and my own self. I am thy slave, O Krishna."[625] +This formula is recited to the Maharaj with peculiar solemnity by each +male as he comes of age and is admitted as a full member of the sect. +The words in which this dedication of self and family is made are not +in themselves open to criticism and a parallel may be found in +Christian hymns. But the literature of the Vallabhis unequivocally +states that the Guru is the same as the deity[626] and there can be +little doubt that even now the Maharajas are adored by their +followers, especially by the women, as representatives of Krishna in +his character of the lover of the Gopis and that the worship is often +licentious.[627] Many Hindus denounce the sect and in 1862 one of the +Maharajas brought an action for libel in the supreme court of Bombay +on account of the serious charges of immorality brought against him in +the native press. The trial became a _cause celebre_. Judgment was +delivered against the Maharaj, the Judge declaring the charges to be +fully substantiated. Yet in spite of these proceedings the sect still +flourishes, apparently unchanged in doctrine and practice, and has a +large following among the mercantile castes of western India. The +Radha-Vallabhis, an analogous sect founded by Harivamsa in the +sixteenth century, give the pre-eminence to Radha, the wife of +Krishna, and in their secret ceremonies are said to dress as women. +The worship of Radha is a late phase of Vishnuism and is not known +even to the Bhagavata Purana.[628] + +Vallabhism owes much of its success to the family of the founder. They +had evidently a strong dynastic sentiment as well as a love of +missionary conquest--a powerful combination. Vallabhacarya left behind +him eighty-four principal disciples whose lives are recorded in the +work called the _Stories of the Eighty-four Vaishnavas_, and his +authority descended to his son Vithalnath. Like his father, Vithalnath +was active as a proselytizer and pilgrim and propagated his doctrines +extensively in many parts of western India such as Cutch, Malwa, and +Bijapur. His converts came chiefly from the mercantile classes but +also included some Brahmans and Mussulmans. He is said to have +abolished caste distinctions but the sect has not preserved this +feature. In his later years he resided at Muttra or the neighbouring +town of Gokul, whence he is known as Gokul Gosainji. This title of +Gosain, which is still borne by his male descendants, is derived from +Krishna's name Gosvamin, the lord of cattle.[629] He had seven sons, +in each of whom Krishna is said to have been incarnate for five +years. They exercised spiritual authority in separate districts--as we +might say in different dioceses--but the fourth son, Gokulnathji and +his descendants claimed and still claim a special pre-eminence. The +family is at present represented by about a hundred males who are +accepted as incarnations and receive the title of Maharaja. About +twenty reside at Gokul[630] or near Muttra: there are a few in Bombay +and in all the great cities of western India, but the Maharaj of Nath +Dwara in Rajputana is esteemed the chief. This place is not an ancient +seat of Krishna worship, but during the persecution of Aurungzeb a +peculiarly holy image was brought thither from Muttra and placed in +the shrine where it still remains. + +A protest against the immorality of the Vallabhi sect was made by +Swaminarayana, a Brahman who was born in the district of Lucknow +about 1780.[631] He settled in Ahmedabad and gained so large a +following that the authorities became alarmed and imprisoned him. But +his popularity only increased: he became the centre of a great +religious movement: hymns descriptive of his virtues and sufferings +were sung by his followers and when he was released he found himself +at the head of a band which was almost an army. He erected a temple in +the village of Wartal in Baroda, which he made the centre of his sect, +and recruited followers by means of periodical tours throughout +Gujarat. His doctrines are embodied in an anthology called the +Sikshapatri consisting of 212 precepts, some borrowed from accepted +Hindu scriptures and some original and in a catechism called +Vacanamritam. His teaching was summed up in the phrase "Devotion to +Krishna with observance of duty and purity of life" and in practice +took the form of a laudable polemic against the licentiousness of the +Vallabhis. As in most of the purer sects of Vishnuism, Krishna is +regarded merely as a name of the Supreme Deity. Thus the Sikshapatri +says "Narayana and Siva should be equally recognized as parts of one +and the same supreme spirit, since both have been declared in the +Vedas to be forms of Brahma. On no account let it be thought that +difference in form or name makes any difference in the identity of the +deity." The followers of Swaminarayana still number about 200,000 in +western India and are divided into the laity and a body of celibate +clergy. I have visited their religious establishments in Ahmedabad. It +consists of a temple with a large and well-kept monastery in which are +housed about 300 monks who wear costumes of reddish grey. Except in +Assam I have not seen in India any parallel to this monastery either +in size or discipline. It is provided with a library and hospital. In +the temple are images of Nara and Narayana (explained as Krishna +and Arjuna), Krishna and Radha, Ganesa and Hanuman.[632] + + +3 + + +The sect founded by Caitanya is connected with eastern India as the +Vallabhis are with the west. Bengal is perhaps the native land of the +worship of Krishna as the god of love. It was there that Jayadeva +flourished in the last days of the Sena dynasty and the lyrical poet +Chandidas at the end of the fourteenth century. About the same time +the still greater poet Vidyapati was singing in Durbhanga. For these +writers, as for Caitanya, religion is the bond of love which unites +the soul and God, as typified by the passion[633] that drew together +Radha and Krishna. The idea that God loves and seeks out human souls +is familiar to Christianity and receives very emotional expression in +well-known hymns, but the bold humanity of these Indian lyrics seems +to Europeans unsuitable. I will let a distinguished Indian apologize +for it in his own words: + +"The paradox that has to be understood is that Krishna means God. +Yet he is represented as a youth, standing at a gate, trying to waylay +the beloved maiden, attempting to entrap the soul, as it were, into a +clandestine meeting. This, which is so inconceivable to a purely +modern mind, presents no difficulty at all to the Vaishnava devotee. +To him God is the lover himself: the sweet flowers, the fresh grass, +the gay sound heard in the woods are direct messages and tokens of +love to his soul, bringing to his mind at every instant that loving +God whom he pictures as ever anxious to win the human heart."[634] + +Caitanya[635] was born at Nadia in 1485 and came under the influence +of the Madhva sect. In youth he was a prodigy of learning,[636] but at +the age of about seventeen while on a pilgrimage to Gaya began to +display that emotional and even hysterical religious feeling which +marked all his teaching. He swooned at the mention of Krishna's name +and passed his time in dancing and singing hymns. At twenty-five he +became a Sannyasi, and at the request of his mother, who did not wish +him to wander too far, settled in Puri near the temple of Jagannath. +Here he spent the rest of his life in preaching, worship and ecstatic +meditation, but found time to make a tour in southern India and +another to Brindaban and Benares. He appears to have left the +management of his sect largely to his disciples, Advaita, Nityananda +and Haridas, and to have written nothing himself. But he evidently +possessed a gift of religious magnetism and exercised an extraordinary +influence on those who heard him preach or sing. He died or +disappeared before the age of fifty but apparently none of the stories +about his end merit credence. + +Although the teaching of Caitanya is not so objectionable morally as +the doctrines of the Vallabhis, it follows the same line of making +religion easy and emotional and it is not difficult to understand how +his preaching, set forth with the eloquence which he possessed, won +converts from the lower classes by thousands. He laid no stress on +asceticism, approved of marriage and rejected all difficult rites and +ceremonies. The form of worship which he specially enjoined was the +singing of Kirtans or hymns consisting chiefly in a repetition of the +divine names accompanied by music and dancing. Swaying the body and +repetition of the same formula or hymn are features of emotional +religion found in the most diverse regions, for instance among the +Rufais or Howling Dervishes, at Welsh revival meetings and in negro +churches in the Southern States. It is therefore unnecessary to seek +any special explanation in India but perhaps there is some connection +between the religious ecstasies of Vaishnavas and Dervishes. Within +Caitanya's sect, caste was not observed. He is said to have admitted +many Moslims to membership and to have regarded all worshippers of +Krishna as equal. Though caste has grown up again, yet the old +regulation is still in force inside the temple of Jagannath at Puri. +Within the sacred enclosure all are treated as of one caste and eat +the same sacred food. In Caitanya's words "the mercy of God regards +neither tribe nor family." + +His theology[637] shows little originality. The deity is called +Bhagavan or more frequently Hari. His majesty and omnipotence are +personified as Narayana, his beauty and ecstasy as Krishna. The +material world is defined as _bhedabhedaprakasa_, a manifestation of +the deity as separate and yet not separate from him, and the soul is +_vibhinnamsa_ or a detached portion of him. Some souls are in +bondage to Prakriti or Maya, others through faith and love attain +deliverance. Reason is useless in religious matters, but _ruci_ or +spiritual feeling has a quick intuition of the divine. + +Salvation is obtained by Bhakti, faith or devotion, which embraces and +supersedes all other duties. This devotion means absolute +self-surrender to the deity and love for him which asks for no return +but is its own reward. "He who expects remuneration for his love acts +as a trader." In this devotion there are five degrees: (_a_) santi, +calm meditation, (_b_) dasya, servitude, (_c_) sakhya, friendship, +(_d_) vatsalya, love like that of a child for its parent, (_e_) +madhurya, love like that of a woman for a lover. All these sentiments +are found in God and this combined ecstasy is an eternal principle +identified with Hari himself, just as in the language of the Gospels, +God is love. Though Caitanya makes love the crown and culmination of +religion, the worship of his followers is not licentious, and it is +held that the right frame of mind is best attained by the recitation +of Krishna's names especially Hari. + +The earlier centre of Caitanya's sect was his birthplace, Nadia, but +both during his life and afterwards his disciples frequented Brindaban +and sought out the old sacred sites which were at that time neglected. +At the beginning of the nineteenth century Lala Baba, a wealthy +Bengali merchant, became a mendicant and visited Muttra. Though he had +renounced the world, he still retained his business instincts and +bought up the villages which contained the most celebrated shrines and +were most frequented by pilgrims. The result was a most profitable +speculation and the establishment of Caitanya's Church in the district +of Braj, which thus became the holy land of both the great Krishnaite +sects. The followers of Caitanya at the present day are said to be +divided into Gosains, or ecclesiastics, who are the descendants of the +founder's original disciples, the Vrikats or celibates, and the laity. +Besides the celibates there are several semi-monastic orders who adopt +the dress of monks but marry. They have numerous maths at Nadia and +elsewhere. Like the Vallabhis, this sect deifies its leaders. +Caitanya, Nityananda and Advaita are called the three masters (Prabhu) +and believed to be a joint incarnation of Krishna, though according +to some only the first two shared the divine essence. Six of +Caitanya's disciples known as the six Gosains are also greatly +venerated and even ordinary religious teachers still receive an almost +idolatrous respect. + +Though Caitanya was not a writer himself he exercised a great +influence on the literature of Bengal. In the opinion of so competent +a judge as Dinesh Chandra Sen, Bengali was raised to the status of a +literary language by the Vishnuite hymn-writers just as Pali was by +the Buddhists. Such hymns were written before the time of Caitanya but +after him they became extremely numerous[638] and their tone and style +are said to change. The ecstasies and visions of which they tell are +those described in his biographies and this emotional poetry has +profoundly influenced all classes in Bengal. But there was and still +is a considerable hostility between the Saktas and Vishnuites. + + +4 + + +A form of Vishnuism, possessing a special local flavour, is connected +with the Maratha country and with the names of Namdev, Tukaram[639] +and Ramdas, the spiritual preceptor of Sivaji. The centre of this +worship is the town of Pandharpur and I have not found it described as +a branch of any of the four Vishnuite Churches: but the facts that +Namdev wrote in Hindi as well as in Marathi, that many of his hymns +are included in the Granth, and that his sentiments show affinities to +the teaching of Nanak, suggest that he belonged to the school of +Ramanand. There is however a difficulty about his date. Native +tradition gives 1270 as the year of his birth but the language of his +poems both in Marathi and Hindi is said to be too modern for this +period and to indicate that he lived about 1400,[640] when he might +easily have felt the influence of Ramanand, for he travelled in the +north. + +Most of his poetry however has for its centre the temple of Pandharpur +where was worshipped a deity called Vitthala, Vittoba or +Pandurang. It is said that the first two names are dialectic +variations of Vishnu, but that Pandurang is an epithet of +Siva.[641] There is no doubt that the deity of Pandharpur has for many +centuries been identified with Krishna, who, as in Bengal, is god +the lover of the soul. But the hymns of the Marathas are less sensuous +and Krishna is coupled not with his mistress Radha, but with his +wife Rukmini. In fact Rukminipati or husband of Rukmini is one of +his commonest titles. Namdev's opinions varied at different times and +perhaps in different moods: like most religious poets he cannot be +judged by logic or theology. Sometimes he inveighs against +idolatry--understood as an attempt to limit God to an image--but in +other verses he sings the praises of Pandurang, the local deity, as +the lord and creator of all. His great message is that God--by +whatever name he is called--is everywhere and accessible to all, +accessible without ceremonial or philosophy. "Vows, fasts and +austerities are not needful, nor need you go on pilgrimage. Be +watchful in your heart and always sing the name of Hari. Yoga, +sacrifices and renunciation are not needful. Love the feet of Hari. +Neither need you contemplate the absolute. Hold fast to the love of +Hari's name. Says Nama, be steadfast in singing the name and then Hari +will appear to you."[642] + +Tukaram is better known than Namdev and his poetry which was part of +the intellectual awakening that accompanied the rise of the Maratha +power is still a living force wherever Marathi is spoken. He lived +from 1607 to 1649 and was born in a family of merchants near Poona. +But he was too generous to succeed in trade and a famine, in which one +of his two wives died, brought him to poverty. Thenceforth he devoted +himself to praying and preaching. He developed a great aptitude for +composing rhyming songs in irregular metre,[643] and like Caitanya he +held services consisting of discourses interspersed with such songs, +prepared or extempore. In spite of persecution by the Brahmans, these +meetings became very popular and were even attended by the great +Sivaji. + +His creed is the same as that of Namdev and finds expression in verses +such as these. "This thy nature is beyond the grasp of mind or words, +and therefore I have made love a measure. I measure the Endless by the +measure of love: he is not to be truly measured otherwise. Thou art +not to be found by Yoga, sacrifice, fasting, bodily exertions or +knowledge. O Kesava, accept the service which we render." + +But if he had no use for asceticism he also feared the passions. "The +Endless is beyond; between him and me are the lofty mountains of +desire and anger. I cannot ascend them and find no pass." In poems +which are apparently later, his tone is more peaceful. He speaks much +of the death of self, of purity of heart, and of self-dedication to +God. "Dedicate all you do to God and have done with it: Tuka says, do +not ask me again and again: nothing else is to be taught but this." + +Maratha critics have discussed whether Tukaram followed the monistic +philosophy of Sankara or not and it must be confessed that his +utterances are contradictory. But the gist of the matter is that he +disliked not so much monism as philosophy. Hence he says "For me there +is no use in the Advaita. Sweet to me is the service of thy feet. The +relation between God and his devotee is a source of high joy. Make me +feel this, keeping me distinct from thee." But he can also say almost +in the language of the Upanishads. "When salt is dissolved in water, +what remains distinct? I have thus become one in joy with thee and +have lost myself in thee. When fire and camphor are brought together, +is there any black remnant? Tuka says, thou and I were one light." + + +5 + + +There are interesting Vishnuite sects in Assam.[644] Until the +sixteenth century Hinduism was represented in those regions by +Saktism, which was strong among the upper classes, though the mass of +the people still adhered to their old tribal worships. The first +apostle of Vishnuism was Sankar Deb in the sixteenth century. He +preached first in the Ahom kingdom but was driven out by the +opposition of Saktist Brahmans, and found a refuge at Barpeta. He +appears to have inculcated the worship of Krishna as the sole divine +being and to have denounced idolatry, sacrifices and caste. These +views were held even more strictly by his successor, Madhab Deb, a +writer of repute whose works, such as the Namghosha and Ratnavali, are +regarded as scripture by his followers. Though the Brahmans of Assam +were opposed to the introduction of Vishnuism and a section of them +continued to instigate persecutions for two centuries or more, yet +when it became clear that the new teaching had a great popular +following another section were anxious that it should not pass out of +sacerdotal control and organized it as a legitimate branch of +Hinduism. While fully recognizing the doctrine of justification by +faith, they also made provision for due respect to caste and Brahmanic +authority. + +According to the last census of India[645] the common view that +Sankar Deb drew his inspiration from Caitanya meets with criticism in +Assam. His biographies say that he lived 120 years and died in 1569. +It has been generally assumed that his age has been exaggerated but +that the date of his death is correct. If it can be proved, as +contended, that he was preaching in 1505, there would be no difficulty +in admitting that he was independent of Caitanya and belonged to an +earlier phase of the Vishnuite movement which produced the activity of +Vallabha and the poetry of Vidyapati. It is a further argument for +this independence that he taught the worship of Vishnu only and not +of Radha and discountenanced the use of images. On the other hand it +is stated that he sojourned in Bengal and it appears that soon after +his death his connection with the teaching of Caitanya was recognized +in Assam. + +At present there are three sects in Assam. Firstly, the Mahapurushias, +who follow more or less faithfully the doctrines of Sankar and +Madhab. They admit Sudras as religious teachers and abbots, and lay +little stress on caste while not entirely rejecting it. They abstain +almost entirely from the use of images in worship, the only exception +being that a small figure of Krishna in the form of Vaikuntha +Natha is found in their temples. It is not the principal object of +veneration but stands to the left of a throne on which lies a copy of +the Namghosha.[646] This, together with the foot-prints of Sankar and +Madhab, receives the homage of the faithful. The chief centre of the +Mahapurushias is Barpeta, but they have also monasteries on the Majuli +Island and elsewhere. Secondly, the Bamunia monasteries, with a large +lay following, represent a brahmanized form of the Mahapurushia faith. +This movement began in the life-time of Madhab. Many of his Brahman +disciples seceded from him and founded separate communities which +insisted on the observance of caste (especially on the necessity of +religious teachers being Brahmans) but tolerated image-worship and the +use of some kinds of flesh as food. Though this sect was persecuted by +the Ahom kings,[647] they were strong enough to maintain themselves. A +compromise was effected in the reign of Rudra Singh (1696-1714), by +which their abbots were shown all honour but were assigned the Majuli +Island in the upper Brahmaputra as their chief, if not only, +residence. This island is still studded with numerous _Sattras_ or +monasteries, the largest of which contain three or four hundred monks, +known as Bhakats (Bhaktas). They take no vows and wear no special +costume but are obliged to be celibate while they remain in the +sattra. The Mahapurushia and Bamunia monasteries are of similar +appearance, and in externals (though not in doctrine) seem to have +been influenced by the Lamaism of the neighbouring regions of Sikhim +and Tibet. The temples are long, low, wooden buildings, covered by +roofs of corrugated iron or thatched, and containing inside a nave +with two rows of wooden pillars which leads to a sanctuary divided +from it by a screen. The third sect are the Moamarias, of political +rather than religious importance. They represent a democratic element, +recruited from non-Hindu tribes, which seceded even in the life-time +of Sankar Deb. They appear to reject nearly all Hindu observances and +to worship aboriginal deities as well as Krishna. Little is known of +their religious teaching, if indeed they have anything worthy of the +name, but in the latter half of the eighteenth century they distracted +the kingdom of Assam with a series of rebellions which were suppressed +with atrocious cruelty. + +Caitanya is said to have admitted some Mohammedans as members of his +sect. The precedent has not been followed among most branches of his +later adherents but a curious half-secret sect, found throughout +Bengal in considerable numbers and called Kartabhajas,[648] appears to +represent an eccentric development of his teaching in combination with +Mohammedan elements. Both Moslims and Hindus belong to this sect. They +observe the ordinary social customs of the class to which they belong, +but it is said that those who are nominal Moslims neither circumcize +themselves nor frequent mosques. The founder, called Ram Smaran Pal, +was born in the Nadia district about 1700, and his chief doctrine is +said to have been that there is only one God who is incarnate in the +Head of the sect or Karta.[649] For the first few generations the +headship was invested in the founder and his descendants but +dissensions occurred and there is now no one head: the faithful can +select any male member of the founder's family as the object of their +devotion. The Karta claims to be the owner of every human body and is +said to exact rent for the soul's tenancy thereof. No distinction of +caste or creed is recognized and hardly any ceremonies are prescribed +but meat and wine are forbidden, the mantra of the sect is to be +repeated five times a day and Friday is held sacred. These observances +seem an imitation of Mohammedanism.[650] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 604: See Bhandarkar, _Vaishn. and Saivism_, pp. 66 ff., +Grierson in _Ind. Ant._ 1893, p. 226, and also in article Ramanandi in +_E.R.E._; Farquhar, _J.R.A.S._1920, pp. 185 ff. Though Indian +tradition seems to be unanimous in giving 1299 A.D. (4400 Kali) as the +date of Ramanand's birth, all that we know about himself and his +disciples makes it more probable that he was born nearly a century +later. The history of ideas, too, becomes clear and intelligible if we +suppose that Ramanand, Kabir and Nanak flourished about 1400, 1450 and +1500 respectively. One should be cautious in allowing such arguments +to outweigh unanimous tradition, but tradition also assigns to +Ramanand an improbably long life, thus indicating a feeling that he +influenced the fifteenth century. Also the traditions as to the number +of teachers between Ramanuja and Ramanand differ greatly.] + +[Footnote 605: One of them is found in the Granth of the Sikhs.] + +[Footnote 606: Ramanand's maxim was "Jati pati puchai nahikoi: Hari-ku +bhajai so Hari-kau hoi." Let no one ask a man's caste or sect. Whoever +adores God, he is God's own.] + +[Footnote 607: Bhattacharya, _Hindu Castes and Sects_, p. 445.] + +[Footnote 608: Thus we have the poems of Kabir, Nanak and others +contained in the Granth of the Sikhs and tending to Mohammedanism: the +hymns wherein Mira Bai, Vallabha and his disciples praised Krishna +in Rajputana and Braj: the poets inspired by Caitanya in Bengal: +Sankar Deb and Madhab Deb in Assam: Namdev and Tukaram in the Maratha +country.] + +[Footnote 609: See Beames, _J.A._ 1873, pp. 37 ff., and Grierson, +_Maithili Christomathy_, pp. 34 ff., in extra No. to _Journ. As. Soc. +Bengal_, Part I. for 1882 and Coomaraswamy's illustrated translation +of Vidyapati, 1915. It is said that a land grant proves he was a +celebrated Pandit in 1400. The Bengali Vaishnava poet Chandi Das +was his contemporary.] + +[Footnote 610: See Grierson, Gleanings from the Bhaktamala, _J.R.A.S._ +1909 and 1910.] + +[Footnote 611: _Modern Vernacular Literature of Hindustan_, 1889, p. +57.] + +[Footnote 612: Similarly Dinesh Chandra Sen (_Lang, and Lit. of +Bengal_, p. 170) says that Krittivasa's translation of the Ramayana +"is the Bible of the people of the Gangetic Valley and it is for the +most part the peasants who read it." Krittivasa was born in 1346 and +roughly contemporary with Ramanand. Thus the popular interest in Rama +was roused in different provinces at the same time. + +He also wrote several other poems, among which may be mentioned the +Gitavali and Kavittavali, dedicated respectively to the infancy and +the heroic deeds of Rama, and the Vinaya Pattrika or petition, a +volume of hymns and prayers.] + +[Footnote 613: See Growse's _Translation_, vol. I. pp. 60, 62.] + +[Footnote 614: Ib. vol. III. p. 190, cf. vol. I. p. 88 and vol. III. +pp. 66-67.] + +[Footnote 615: Ib. vol. II. p. 54.] + +[Footnote 616: Ib. vol. I. p. 77.] + +[Footnote 617: Growse, _l.c._ vol. II. p. 200, cf. p. 204. Maya who sets +the whole world dancing and whose actions no one can understand is +herself set dancing with all her troupe, like an actress on the stage, +by the play of the Lord's eyebrows. Cf. too, for the infinity of +worlds, pp. 210, 211.] + +[Footnote 618: Growse aptly compares St. Paul, "I had not known evil +but by the law."] + +[Footnote 619: Ib. vol. II. p. 223.] + +[Footnote 620: Ib. vol. II. p. 196.] + +[Footnote 621: The Vishnuite sect called Nimavat is said to have been +exterminated by Jains (Grierson in _E.R.E._ sub. V. Bhakti-marga, p. +545). This may point to persecution during this period.] + +[Footnote 622: For Vallabhacarya and his sect, see especially Growse, +_Mathura, a district memoir_, 1874; _History of the sect of the +Maharajas in western India_ (anonymous), 1865. Also Bhandarkar, +_Vaishn. and Saivism_, pp. 76-82 and Farquhar, _Outlines of Relig. +Lit. of India_, pp. 312-317.] + +[Footnote 623: The principal of them are the Siddhanta-Rahasya and the +Bhagavata-Tika-Subodhini, a commentary on the Bhagavata Purana. This +is a short poem of only seventeen lines printed in Growse's _Mathura_, +p. 156. It professes to be a revelation from the deity to the +effect that sin can be done away with by union with Brahma +(Brahma-sambandha-karanat). Other authoritative works of the sect are +the Suddhadvaita martanda, Sakalacaryamatasangraha and +Prameyaratnarnava, all edited in the Chowkhamba Sanskrit series.] + +[Footnote 624: Cf. the use of the word poshanam in the Bhagavata +Purana, II. X.] + +[Footnote 625: Growse, _Mathura_, p. 157, says this formula is based +on the Naradapancaratra. It is called Samarpana, dedication, or +Brahma-sambandha, connecting oneself with the Supreme Being.] + +[Footnote 626: For instance "Whoever holds his Guru and Krishna to +be distinct and different shall be born again as a bird." Harirayaji +32. Quoted in _History of the Sect of the Maharajas_, p. 82.] + +[Footnote 627: In the ordinary ceremonial the Maharaj stands beside +the image of Krishna and acknowledges the worship offered. Sometimes +he is swung in a swing with or without the image. The hymns sung on +these occasions are frequently immoral. Even more licentious are the +meetings or dances known as Ras Mandali and Ras Lila. A meal of hot +food seasoned with aphrodisiacs is also said to be provided in the +temples. The water in which the Maharaj's linen or feet have been +washed is sold for a high price and actually drunk by devotees.] + +[Footnote 628: Strictly speaking the Radha-Vallabhis are not an +offshoot of Vallabha's school, but of the Nimavats or of the +Madhva-sampradaya. The theory underlying their strange practices seems +to be that Krishna is the only male and that all mankind should +cultivate sentiments of female love for him. See Macnicol, _Indian +Theism_, p. 134.] + +[Footnote 629: But other explanations are current such as Lord of the +senses or Lord of the Vedas.] + +[Footnote 630: See Growse, _Mathura_, p. 153. I can entirely confirm +what he says. This mean, inartistic, dirty place certainly suggests +moral depravity.] + +[Footnote 631: His real name was Sahajananda.] + +[Footnote 632: Caran Das (1703-1782) founded a somewhat similar sect +which professed to abolish idolatry and laid great stress on ethics. +See Grierson's article Caran Das in _E.R.E._] + +[Footnote 633: But Vishnuite writers distinguish _kama_ desire and +_prema_ love, just as [Greek: _eros_] and [Greek: _haghape_] are +distinguished in Greek. See Dinesh Chandra Sen, _l.c._ p. 485.] + +[Footnote 634: Dinesh Chandra Sen, _History of Bengali Language and +Literature_, pp. 134-5.] + +[Footnote 635: For Caitanya see Dinesh Chandra Sen, _History of +Bengali Language and Lit._ chap. V. and Jadunath Sarkar, _Chaitanya's +Pilgrimages and teachings from the Caitanya-Caritamrita_ of Krishna +Das (1590) founded on the earlier Caitanya-Caritra of Brindavan. +Several of Caitanya's followers were also voluminous writers.] + +[Footnote 636: He married the daughter of a certain Vallabha who +apparently was not the founder of the Sect, as is often stated.] + +[Footnote 637: The theology of the sect may be studied in Baladeva's +commentary on the Vedanta sutras and his Prameya Ratnavali, both +contained in vol. V. of the _Sacred Books of the Hindus_. It would +appear that the sect regards itself as a continuation of the +Brahma-sampradaya but its tenets have more resemblance to those of +Vallabha.] + +[Footnote 638: No less than 159 padakartas or religious poets are +enumerated by Dinesh Chandra Sen. Several collections of these poems +have been published of which the principal is called Padakalpataru.] + +[Footnote 639: See Bhandarkar, _Vaishn. and Saivism_, pp. 87-90, and +Nicol, _Psalms of Maratha Saints_ which gives a bibliography. For +Namdev see also Macauliffe, _The Sikh Religion_, vol. VI. pp. 17-76. +For Ramdas see Rawlinson, _Sivaji the Maratha_, pp. 116 ff.] + +[Footnote 640: Bhandarkar, _l.c._ p. 92. An earlier poet of this country +was Jnanesvara who wrote a paraphrase of the Bhagavad-gita in 1290. +His writings are said to be the first great landmark in Marathi +literature.] + +[Footnote 641: There is no necessary hostility between the worship of +Siva and of Vishnu. At Pandharpur pilgrims visit first a temple of +Siva and then the principal shrine. This latter, like the temple of +Jagannath at Puri, is suspected of having been a Buddhist shrine. It +is called Vihara, the principal festival is in the Buddhist Lent and +caste is not observed within its precincts.] + +[Footnote 642: Quoted by Bhandarkar, p. 90. The subsequent quotations +are from the same source but I have sometimes slightly modified them +and compared them with the original, though I have no pretension to be +a Marathi scholar.] + +[Footnote 643: Called Abhangs.] + +[Footnote 644: See Eliot, Hinduism in Assam, _J.R.A.S._ 1910, pp. +1168-1186.] + +[Footnote 645: _Census of India_, 1911, Assam, p. 41.] + +[Footnote 646: Some authorities state that the sacred book thus +venerated is the Bhagavad-gita, but at Kamalabari I made careful +enquiries and was assured it was the Namghosha.] + +[Footnote 647: Especially Gadadhar Singh, 1681-96.] + +[Footnote 648: See _Census of India_, 1901, Bengal, pp. 183-4 and +Bhattacharya, _Hindu Castes and Sects_, pp. 485-488.] + +[Footnote 649: Karta, literally doer, is the name given to the +executive head of a joint family in Bengal. The sect prefer to call +themselves Bhabajanas or Bhagawanis.] + +[Footnote 650: Another mixed sect is that of the Dhamis in the Panna +state of Bundelkhand, founded by one Prannath in the reign of +Aurungzeb. Their doctrine is a combination of Hinduism and Islam, +tending towards Krishnaism. See Russell, _Tribes and Castes of Central +Provinces_, p. 217.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +AMALGAMATION OF HINDUISM AND ISLAM. KABIR AND THE SIKHS + + +1 + + +The Kartabhajas mentioned at the end of the last chapter show a +mixture of Hinduism and Mohammedanism, and the mixture[651] is found +in other sects some of which are of considerable importance. A group +of these sects, including the Sikhs and followers of Kabir, arose in +the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Their origin can be traced to +Ramanand but they cannot be called Vaishnavas and they are clearly +distinguished from all the religious bodies that we have hitherto +passed in review. The tone of their writings is more restrained and +severe: the worshipper approaches the deity as a servant rather than a +lover: caste is rejected as useless: Hindu mythology is eschewed or +used sparingly. Yet in spite of these differences the essential +doctrines of Tulsi Das, Kabir and Nanak show a great resemblance. They +all believe in one deity whom they call by various names, but this +deity, though personal, remains of the Indian not of the Semitic type. +He somehow brings the world of transmigration into being by his power +of illusion, and the business of the soul is to free itself from the +illusion and return to him. Almost all these teachers, whether +orthodox or heterodox, had a singular facility for composing hymns, +often of high literary merit, and it is in these emotional utterances, +rather than in dogmatic treatises, that they addressed themselves to +the peoples of northern India. + +The earliest of these mixed sects is that founded by Kabir.[652] He +appears to have been a Mohammedan weaver by birth, though tradition is +not unanimous on this point.[653] It is admitted, however, that he was +brought up among Moslims at Benares but became a disciple of Ramanand. +This suggests that he lived early in the fifteenth century.[654] +Another tradition says that he was summoned before Sikander Lodi +(1489-1517), but the details of his life are evidently legendary. We +only know that he was married and had a son, that he taught in +northern and perhaps central India and died at Maghar in the district +of Gorakhpur. There is significance, however, in the legend which +relates that after his decease Hindus and Mohammedans disputed as to +whether his body should be burned or buried. But when they raised the +cloth which covered the corpse, they found underneath it only a heap +of flowers. So the Hindus took part and burnt them at Benares and the +Moslims buried the rest at Maghar. His grave there is still in Moslim +keeping. + +In teaching Kabir stands midway between the two religions, but leaning +to the side of Hinduism. It is clear that this Hindu bias became +stronger in his followers, but it is not easy to separate his own +teaching from subsequent embellishments, for the numerous hymns and +sayings attributed to him are collected in compilations made after his +death, such as the Bijak and the Adi-granth of the Sikhs. In hymns +which sound authentic he puts Hindus and Moslims on the same footing. + +"Kabir is a child of Ram and Allah," he says, "and accepteth all Gurus +and Pirs." "O God, whether Allah or Ram, I live by thy name." + + "Make thy mind thy Kaaba, thy body its enclosing temple, + Conscience its prime teacher. + Then, O priest, call men to pray to that mosque + Which hath five gates. + The Hindus and Mussulmans have the same Lord." + +But the formalities of both creeds are impartially condemned. "They +are good riders who keep aloof from the Veda and Koran."[655] Caste, +circumcision and idolatry are reprobated. The Hindu deities and their +incarnations are all dead: God was not in any of them.[656] Ram, it +would seem, should be understood not as Ramacandra but as a name of +God. + +Yet the general outlook is Hindu rather than Mohammedan. God is the +magician who brings about this illusory world in which the soul +wanders.[657] "I was in immobile and mobile creatures, in worms and in +moths; I passed through many various births. But when I assumed a +human body, I was a Yogi, a Yati, a penitent, a Brahmacari: sometimes +an Emperor and sometimes a beggar." Unlike the Sikhs, Kabir teaches +the sanctity of life, even of plants. "Thou cuttest leaves, O flower +girl: in every leaf there is life." Release, as for all Hindus, +consists in escaping from the round of births and deaths. Of this he +speaks almost in the language of the Buddha.[658] + + "Though I have assumed many shapes, this is my last. + The strings and wires of the musical instrument are all worn out: + I am now in the power of God's name. + I shall not again have to dance to the tune of birth and death. + Nor shall my heart accompany on the drum." + +This deliverance is accomplished by the union or identification of the +soul with God. + + "Remove the difference between thyself and God and thou shalt be + united with him.... + Him whom I sought without me, now I find within me.... + Know God: by knowing him thou shalt become as he. + When the soul and God are blended no one can distinguish them."[659] + +But if he sometimes writes like Sankara, he also has the note of the +Psalms and Gospels. He has the sense of sin: he thinks of God in vivid +personal metaphors, as a lord, a bridegroom, a parent, both father and +mother. + + "Save me, O God, though I have offended thee.... + I forgot him who made me and did cleave unto strangers." + "Sing, sing, the marriage song. + The sovereign God hath come to my house as my husband.... + I obtained God as my bridegroom; so great has been my good + fortune." + + "A mother beareth not in mind + All the faults her son committeth. + O, God, I am thy child: + Why blottest thou not out my sins?" ... + + "My Father is the great Lord of the Earth; + To that Father how shall I go?"[660] + +The writings of Kabir's disciples such as the Sukh Nidhan attributed +to Srut Gopal (and written according to Westcott about 1729) and the +still later Amar Mul, which is said to be representative of the modern +Kabirpanth, show a greater inclination to Pantheism, though caste and +idolatry are still condemned. In these works, which relate the +conversion of Dharm Das afterwards one of Kabir's principal followers, +Kabir is identified with the Creator and then made a pantheistic deity +much as Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita.[661] He is also the true Guru +whose help is necessary for salvation. Stress is further laid on the +doctrine of Sabda, or the divine word. Hindu theology was familiar +with this expression as signifying the eternal self-existent +revelation contained in the Vedas. Kabir appears to have held that +articulate sound is an expression of the Deity and that every letter, +as a constituent of such sound, has a meaning. But these letters are +due to Maya: in reality there is no plurality of sound. Ram seems to +have been selected as the divine name, because its brevity is an +approach to this unity, but true knowledge is to understand the +Letterless One, that is the real name or essence of God from which all +differentiation of letters has vanished. Apart from some special +metaphors the whole doctrine set forth in the Sukh Nidhan and Amar +Mul is little more than a loose Vedantism, somewhat reminiscent of +Sufiism.[662] + +The teaching of Kabir is known as the Kabirpanth. At present there are +both Hindus and Mohammedans among his followers and both have +monasteries at Maghar where he is buried. The sect numbers in all +about a million.[663] It is said that the two divisions have little in +common except veneration of Kabir and do not intermix, but they both +observe the practice of partaking of sacred meals, holy water,[664] +and consecrated betel nut. The Hindu section is again divided into two +branches known as Father (Bap) and Mother (Mai). + +Though there is not much that is original in the doctrines of Kabir, +he is a considerable figure in Hindi literature and may justly be +called epoch-making as marking the first fusion of Hinduism and Islam +which culminates and attains political importance in the Sikhs. Other +offshoots of his teaching are the Satnamis, Radha-swamis and +Dadupanthis. The first were founded or reorganized in 1750 by a +certain Jag-jivan-das. They do not observe caste and in theory adore +only the True Name of God but in practice admit ordinary Hindu +worship. The Radha-swamis, founded in 1861, profess a combination of +the Kabirpanth with Christian ideas. The Dadupanthis show the +influence of the military spirit of Islam. They were founded by Dadu, +a cotton weaver of Ahmedabad who flourished in Akbar's reign and died +about 1603. He insisted on the equality of mankind, vegetarianism, +abstinence from alcohol and strict celibacy. Hence the sect is +recruited by adopting boys, most of whom are trained as soldiers. In +such conditions the Dadupanthis cannot increase greatly but they +number about nine thousand and are found chiefly in the state of +Jaipur, especially in the town of Naraina.[665] + + +2 + + +The Sikh religion[666] is of special interest since it has created not +only a political society but also customs so distinctive that those +who profess it rank in common esteem as a separate race. The founder +Nanak lived from 1469 to 1538 and was born near Lahore. He was a Hindu +by birth but came under Mohammedan influence and conceived the idea of +reconciling the two faiths. He was attracted by the doctrines of Kabir +and did not at first claim to teach a new religion. He wished to unite +Hindus and Moslims and described himself simply as Guru or teacher and +his adherents as Sikhs or disciples. + +He spent the greater part of his life wandering about India and is +said to have reached Mecca. A beautiful story relates that he fell +asleep with his feet turned towards the Kaaba. A mollah kicked him and +asked how he dared to turn his feet and not his head towards God. But +he answered, "Turn my feet in a direction where God is not." He was +attended on his wanderings by Mardana, a lute-player, who accompanied +the hymns which he never failed to compose when a thought or adventure +occurred to him. These compositions are similar to those of Kabir, but +seem to me of inferior merit. They are diffuse and inordinately long; +the Japji for instance, which every Sikh ought to recite as his daily +prayer, fills not less than twenty octavo pages. Yet beautiful and +incisive passages are not wanting. When at the temple of Jagannath, he +was asked to take part in the evening worship at which lights were +waved before the god while flowers and incense were presented on +golden salvers studded with pearls. But he burst out into song.[667] + + "The sun and moon, O Lord, are thy lamps, the firmament + thy salver and the orbs of the stars the pearls set therein. + + "The perfume of the sandal tree is thy incense; the wind is + thy fan; all the forests are thy flowers, O Lord of light." + +Though Nanak is full of Hindu allusions he is more Mohammedan in tone +than Kabir, and the ritual of Sikh temples is modelled on the +Mohammedan rather than on the Hindu pattern. The opening words of the +Japji are: "There is but one God, whose name is true, the +Creator"[668] and he is regarded rather as the ruler of the world than +as a spirit finding expression in it. "By his order" all things +happen. "By obeying him" man obtains happiness and salvation. "There +is no limit to his mercy and his praises." In the presence of God "man +has no power and no strength." Such sentiments have a smack of +Mohammed and Nanak sometimes uses the very words of the Koran as when +he says that God has no companion. And though the penetrating spirit +of the Vedanta infects this regal monotheism, yet the doctrine of Maya +is set forth in unusual phraseology: "God himself created the world +and himself gave names to things. He made Maya by his power: seated, +he beheld his work with delight." + +In other compositions attributed to Nanak greater prominence is given +to Maya and to the common Hindu idea that creation is a self-expansion +of the deity. Metempsychosis is taught and the divine name is Hari. +This is characteristic of the age, for Nanak was nearly a contemporary +of Caitanya and Vallabhacarya. For Kabir, the disciple of Ramananda, +the name was Ram. + +Nanak was sufficiently conscious of his position as head of a sect to +leave a successor as Guru,[669] but there is no indication that at +this time the Sikhs differed materially from many other religious +bodies who reprobated caste and idolatry. Under the fourth Guru, Ram +Das, the beginnings of a change appear. His strong personality +collected many wealthy adherents and with their offerings he purchased +the tank of Amritsar[670] and built in its midst the celebrated Golden +Temple. He appointed his son Arjun as Guru in 1581, just before his +death: the succession was made hereditary and henceforth the Gurus +became chiefs rather than spiritual teachers. Arjun assumed some of +the insignia of royalty: a town grew up round the sacred tank and +became the centre of a community; a tax was collected from all Sikhs +and they were subjected to special and often salutary legislation. +Infanticide, for instance, was strictly forbidden. With a view of +providing a code and standard Arjun compiled the Granth or Sikh +scriptures, for though hymns and prayers composed by Nanak and others +were in use there was as yet no authorized collection of them. The +example of Mohammedanism no doubt stimulated the desire to possess a +sacred book and the veneration of the scriptures increased with time. +The Granth now receives the same kind of respect as the Koran and the +first sight of a Sikh temple with a large open volume on a +reading-desk cannot fail to recall a mosque. + +Arjun's compilation is called the Adi-granth, or original book, to +distinguish it from the later additions made by Guru Govind. It +comprises hymns and prayers by Nanak and the four Gurus who followed +him (including Arjun himself), Ramanand, Kabir and others, amounting +to thirty-five writers in all. The list is interesting as testifying +to the existence of a great body of oral poetry by various authors +ranging from Ramanand, who had not separated himself from orthodox +Vishnuism, to Arjun, the chief of the Sikh national community. It was +evidently felt that all these men had one inspiration coming from one +truth and even now unwritten poems of Nanak are current in Bihar. The +Granth is written in a special alphabet known as Gurmukhi[671] and +contains both prose and poetical pieces in several languages: most are +in old western Hindi[672] but some are in Panjabi and Marathi. + +But though in compiling a sacred book and in uniting the temporal and +spiritual power Arjun was influenced by the spirit of Mohammedanism, +this is not the sort of imitation which makes for peace. The +combination of Hinduism and Islam resulted in the production of a +special type of Hindu peculiarly distasteful to Moslims and not much +loved by other Hindus. Much of Arjun's activity took place in the +later years of the Emperor Akbar. This most philosophic and tolerant +of princes abandoned Mohammedanism after 1579, remitted the special +taxes payable by non-Moslims and adopted many Hindu observances. +Towards the end of his life he promulgated a new creed known as the +Din-i-ilahi or divine faith. This eclectic and composite religion +bears testimony to his vanity as well as to his large sympathies, for +it recognized him as the viceregent or even an incarnation of God. It +would appear that the singular little work called the Allopanishad or +Allah Upanishad[673] was written in connection with this movement. It +purports to be an Upanishad of the Atharva Veda and can hardly be +described as other than a forgery. It declares that "the Allah of the +prophet Muhammad Akbar[674] is the God of Gods" and identifies him +with Mitra, Varuna, the sun, moon, water, Indra, etc. Akbar's +religion did not long survive his death and never flourished far from +the imperial court, but somewhat later (1656) Muhammad Dara Shukoh, +the son of Shah Jehan, caused a Persian translation of about fifty +Upanishads, known as the Oupnekhat,[675] to be prepared. The general +temper of the period was propitious to the growth and immunity of +mixed forms of belief, but the warlike and semi-political character of +the Sikh community brought trouble on it. + +Arjun attracted the unfavourable attention of Akbar's successor, +Jehangir,[676] and was cast into prison where he died. The Sikhs took +up arms and henceforth regarded themselves as the enemies of the +government, but their strength was wasted by internal dissensions. The +ninth Guru, Teg-Bahadur, was executed by Aurungzeb. Desire to avenge +this martyrdom and the strenuous character of the tenth Guru, Govind +Singh (1675-1708), completed the transformation of the Sikhs into a +church militant devoted to a holy war. + +Though the most aggressive and uncompromising features of Sikhism are +due to the innovations of Govind, he was so far from being a +theological bigot that he worshipped Durga and was even said to have +offered human sacrifices. But the aim of all his ordinances was to +make his followers an independent body of fighting men. They were to +return the salutation of no Hindu and to put to death every +Mohammedan. The community was called Khalsa:[677] within it there was +perfect equality: every man was to carry a sword and wear long hair +but short trousers. Converts, or recruits, came chiefly from the +fighting tribes of the Jats, but in theory admission was free. The +initiatory ceremony, which resembled baptism, was performed with sugar +and water stirred with a sword, and the neophyte vowed not to worship +idols, to bow to none except a Sikh Guru, and never to turn his back +on the enemy. To give these institutions better religious sanction, +Govind composed a supplement to the Granth, called Dasama Padshah ka +Granth or book of the tenth prince. It consists of four parts, all in +verse, and is said to inculcate war as persistently as Nanak had +inculcated meekness and peace. To give his institutions greater +permanence and prevent future alterations Govind refused to appoint +any human successor and bade the Sikhs consider the Granth as their +Guru. "Whatsoever ye shall ask of it, it will show you" he said, and +in obedience to his command the book is still invested with a kind of +personality and known as Granth Sahib. + +Govind spent most of his time in wars with Aurungzeb marked by +indomitable perseverance rather than success. Towards the end of his +life he retired into Malwa and resided at a place called Damdama. The +accounts of his latter days are somewhat divergent. According to one +story he made his peace with the Mughals and accepted a military +command under the successor of Aurungzeb but it is more commonly +asserted that he was assassinated by a private enemy. Even more +troublous were the days of his successor Banda. Since Govind had +abolished the Guruship, he could not claim to be more than a temporal +chief, but what he lacked in spiritual authority he made amends for in +fanaticism. The eight years of his leadership were spent in a war of +mutual extermination waged with the Moslims of the Panjab and +diversified only by internal dissensions. At last he was captured and +the sect was nearly annihilated by the Emperor Farukhsiyar. According +to the ordinary account this victory was followed by an orgy of +torture and Banda was barbarously executed after witnessing during +seven days the torments of his followers and kinsmen. We read with +pleasure but incredulity that one division of the Sikhs believe that +he escaped and promulgated his peculiar doctrines in Sind. Asiatics do +not relish the idea that the chosen of God can suffer violent death. + +The further history of the Sikhs is political rather than religious, +and need not detain us here. Despite the efforts of the Mughals to +exterminate them, they were favoured by the disturbed state of the +country in the early decades of the eighteenth century, for the raids +of Afghans and Persians convulsed and paralyzed the empire of Delhi. +The government of the Khalsa passed into the hands of a body of +fanatics, called Akalis, but the decision of grave matters rested with +a council of the whole community which occasionally met at Amritsar. +Every Sikh claimed to have joined the confederacy as an independent +soldier, bound to fight under his military leaders but otherwise +exempt from control, and entitled to a share of land. This absolute +independence, being unworkable in practice, was modified by the +formation of Misals or voluntary associations, of which there were at +one time twelve. From the middle of the eighteenth century onwards the +Sikhs were masters of the Panjab and their great chief Ranjit Singh +(1797-1839) succeeded in converting the confederacy into a despotic +monarchy. Their power did not last long after his death and the Panjab +was conquered by the British in the two wars of 1846 and 1849. + +With the loss of political independence, the differences between the +Sikhs and other Hindus tended to decrease. This was natural, for +nearly all their strictly religious tenets can be paralleled in +Hinduism. Guru Govind waged no war against polytheism but wished to +found a religious commonwealth equally independent of Hindu castes and +Mohammedan sultans. For some time his ordinances were successful in +creating a tribe, almost a nation. With the collapse of the Sikh +state, the old hatred of Mohammedanism remained, but the Sikhs +differed from normal Hindus hardly more than such sects as the +Lingayats, and, as happened with decadent Buddhism, the unobtrusive +pressure of Hindu beliefs and observances tended to obliterate those +differences. The Census of India,[678] 1901, enumerated three degrees +of Sikhism. The first comprises a few zealots called Akalis who +observe all the precepts of Govind. The second class are the Guru +Govind Sikhs, who observe the Guru's main commands, especially the +prohibition to smoke and cut the hair. Lastly, there are a +considerable number who profess a respect for the Guru but follow +Hindu beliefs and usages wholly or in part. Sikhism indeed reproduces +on a small scale the changeableness and complexity of Hinduism, and +includes associations called Sabha, whose members aim at restoring or +maintaining what they consider to be the true faith. In 1901 there was +a tendency for Sikhs to give up their peculiarities and describe +themselves as ordinary Hindus, but in the next decade a change of +sentiment among these waverers caused the Sikh community as registered +to increase by thirty-seven per cent. and a period of religious zeal +is reported.[679] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 651: It is exemplified by the curious word an-had +_limitless_, being the Indian negative prefix added to the arabic word +_had_ used in the Sikh Granth and by Caran Das as a name of God.] + +[Footnote 652: See especially G.H. Westcott, _Kabir and the Kabir +Panth_, and Macauliffe, _Sikh Religion_, vol. vi. pp. 122-316. Also +Wilson, _Essays on the religion of the Hindus_, vol. I. pp. 68-98. +Garcin de Tassy, _Histoire de la Litterature Hindoue_, II. pp. +120-134. Bhandarkar, _Vaishn. and Saivism_, pp. 67-73.] + +[Footnote 653: The name Kabir seems to me decisive.] + +[Footnote 654: Dadu who died about 1603 is said to have been fifth in +spiritual descent from Kabir.] + +[Footnote 655: From a hymn in which the spiritual life is represented +as a ride. Macauliffe, VI. p. 156.] + +[Footnote 656: But Hari is sometimes used by Kabir, especially in the +hymns incorporated in the Granth, as a name of God.] + +[Footnote 657: Though Kabir writes as a poet rather than as a +philosopher he evidently leaned to the doctrine of illusion +(_vivartavada_) rather than to the doctrine of manifestation or +development (_Parinamavada_). He regards Maya as something evil, a +trick, a thief, a force which leads men captive, but which disappears +with the knowledge of God. "The illusion vanished when I recognized +him" (XXXIX.).] + +[Footnote 658: He even uses the word nirvana.] + +[Footnote 659: From Kabir's acrostic. Macauliffe, VI. pp. 186 and 188. +It is possible that this is a later composition.] + +[Footnote 660: Macauliffe, vi. pp. 230. 209, 202, 197.] + +[Footnote 661: Westcott, _l.c._ p. 144, "I am the creator of this +world.... I am the seed and the tree ... all are contained in me--I live +within all and all live within me" and much to the same effect. Even +in the hymns of the Adi Granth we find such phrases as "Now thou and I +have become one." (Macauliffe, vi. p. 180.) + +This identification of Kabir with the deity is interesting as being a +modern example of what probably happened in the case of Krishna. +Similarly those who collected the hymns which form the sacred books of +the Sikhs and Kabirpanthis repeated the process which in earlier ages +produced the Rig Veda.] + +[Footnote 662: "The Atma mingles with Paramatma, as the rivers flow +into the ocean. Only in this way can Paramatma be found. The Atma +without Sabda is blind and cannot find the path. He who sees Atma-Ram +is present everywhere. All he sees is like himself. There is nought +except Brahma. I am he, I am the true Kabir." Westcott, p. 168.] + +[Footnote 663: The Census of 1901 gives 843,171 but there is reason to +think the real numbers are larger.] + +[Footnote 664: Consecrated by washing in it wooden sandals supposed to +represent the feet of Kabir. It is stated that they believe they eat +the body of Kabir at their sacred meal which perhaps points to +Christian influence. See Russell, _l.c._ pp. 239-240.] + +[Footnote 665: See Russell, _Tribes and Castes of Central Provinces_, +p. 217, where it is said that some of them are householders.] + +[Footnote 666: See especially Macauliffe, _The Sikh Religion_, six +volumes.] + +[Footnote 667: Macauliffe, I. p. 82.] + +[Footnote 668: The original is Karta purukh (=purusha), the creative +male. This phrase shows how Hindu habits of thought clung to Nanak.] + +[Footnote 669: The Guru of the Sikhs are: (_a_) Nanak, 1469-1538, +(_b_) Angada, 1538-1552, (_c_) Amardas, 1552-1575, (_d_) Ramdas, +1575-1581, (_e_) Arjun, 1581-1606, (_f_) Har-Govind, 1606-1639, (_g_) +Har-Rai, 1639-1663, (_h_) Har-Kisan, 1663-1666, (_i_) Teg-Bahadur, +1666-1675, (_j_) Govind Singh, 1675-1708.] + +[Footnote 670: Amritasaras the lake of nectar.] + +[Footnote 671: It appears to be an arbitrary adaptation of the +Deva-nagari characters. The shape of the letters is mostly the same +but new values are assigned to them.] + +[Footnote 672: This is the description of the dialect given by +Grierson, the highest authority in such matters.] + +[Footnote 673: See Rajendrala Mitra's article in _J.A.S.B._ XL. 1871, +pp. 170-176, which gives the Sanskrit text of the Upanishad. Also +Schrader, _Catalogue of Adyar Library_, 1908, pp. 136-7. Schrader +states that in the north of India the Allopanishad is recited by +Brahmans at the Vasantotsava and on other occasions: also that in +southern India it is generally believed that Moslims are skilled in +the Atharva Veda.] + +[Footnote 674: _I.e._, not the Allah of the Koran.] + +[Footnote 675: This Persian translation was rendered word for word +into very strange Latin by Anquetil Duperron (1801-2) and this Latin +version was used by Schopenhauer.] + +[Footnote 676: He is said to have prayed for the success of the +Emperor's rebellious son.] + +[Footnote 677: This Arabic word is interpreted in this context as +meaning the special portion (of God).] + +[Footnote 678: _Census of India_, 1901, Panjab report, p. 122.] + +[Footnote 679: _Provincial Geographies of India_, Panjab, Douie, 1916, +p. 117.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +SAKTISM[680] + + +Among the principal subdivisions of Hinduism must be reckoned the +remarkable religion known as Saktism, that is the worship of Sakti or +Siva's spouse under various names, of which Devi, Durga and Kali are +the best known. It differs from most sects in not being due to the +creative or reforming energy of any one human founder. It claims to be +a revelation from Siva himself, but considered historically it appears +to be a compound of Hinduism with un-Aryan beliefs. It acquired great +influence both in the courts and among the people of north-eastern +India but without producing personalities of much eminence as teachers +or writers. + +It would be convenient to distinguish Saktism and Tantrism, as I have +already suggested. The former means the worship of a goddess or +goddesses, especially those who are regarded as forms of Siva's +consort. Vishnuites sometimes worship female deities, but though the +worship of Lakshmi, Radha and others may be coloured by imitation of +Saktist practices, it is less conspicuous and seems to have a +different origin. Tantrism is a system of magical or sacramental +ritual, which professes to attain the highest aims of religion by such +methods as spells, diagrams, gestures and other physical exercises. +One of its bases is the assumption that man and the universe +correspond as microcosm and macrocosm and that both are subject to the +mysterious power of words and letters. + +These ideas are not modern nor peculiar to any Indian sect. They are +present in the Vedic ceremonial, in the practices of the Yoga and even +in the teaching of the quasi-mussulman sect of Kabir, which attaches +great importance to the letters of the divine name. They harmonize +with the common Indian view that some form of discipline or physical +training is essential to the religious life. They are found in a +highly developed form among the Nambuthiris and other Brahmans of +southern India who try to observe the Vedic rules and in the Far East +among Buddhists of the Shingon or Chen-yen sect.[681] As a rule they +receive the name of Tantrism only when they are elaborated into a +system which claims to be a special dispensation for this age and to +supersede more arduous methods which are politely set aside as +practicable only for the hero-saints of happier times. Tantrism, like +salvation by faith, is a simplification of religion but on mechanical +rather than emotional lines, though its deficiency in emotion often +finds strange compensations. + +But Tantrism is analogous not so much to justification by faith as to +sacramental ritual. The parallel may seem shocking, but most tantric +ceremonies are similar in idea to Christian sacraments and may be +called sacramental as correctly as magical. Even in the Anglican +Church baptism includes sprinkling with water (abhisheka), the sign of +the cross (nyasa) and a formula (mantra), and if any one supposes that +a child so treated is sure of heaven whereas the future of the +unbaptized is dubious, he holds like the Tantrists that spiritual ends +can be attained by physical means. And in the Roman Church where the +rite includes exorcism and the use of salt, oil and lights, the +parallel is still closer. Christian mysticism has had much to do with +symbolism and even with alchemy,[682] and Zoroastrianism, which is +generally regarded as a reasonable religion, attaches extraordinary +importance to holy spells.[683] So Indian religions are not singular +in this respect, though the uncompromising thoroughness with which +they work out this like other ideas leads to startling results. + +The worship of female deities becomes prominent somewhat late in +Indian literature and it does not represent--not to the same extent as +the Chinese cult of Kwan-yin for example--the better ideals of the +period when it appears. The goddesses of the Rig Veda are +insignificant: they are little more than names, and grammatically +often the feminine forms of their consorts. But this Veda is evidently +a special manual of prayer from which many departments of popular +religion were excluded. In the Atharva Veda many spirits with feminine +names are invoked and there is an inclination to personify bad +qualities and disasters as goddesses. But we do not find any goddess +who has attained a position comparable with that held by Durga, Cybele +or Astarte, though there are some remarkable hymns[684] addressed to +the Earth. But there is no doubt that the worship of goddesses +(especially goddesses of fertility) as great powers is both ancient +and widespread. We find it among the Egyptians and Semites, in Asia +Minor, in Greece, Italy, and among the Kelts. The goddess Anahit, who +was worshipped with immoral rites in Bactria, is figured on the coins +of the Kushans and must at one time have been known on the +north-western borders of India. At the present day Sitala and in south +India Mariamman are goddesses of smallpox who require propitiation, +and one of the earliest deities known to have been worshipped by the +Tamils is the goddess Kottavai.[685] Somewhat obscure but widely +worshipped are the powers known as the Mothers, a title which also +occurs in Keltic mythology. They are groups of goddesses varying in +number and often malevolent. As many as a hundred and forty are said +to be worshipped in Gujarat. The census of Bengal (1901) records the +worship of the earth, sun and rivers as females, of the snake +goddesses Manasa and Jagat Gauri and of numerous female demons who +send disease, such as the seven sisters, Ola Bibi, Jogini and the +Churels, or spirits of women who have died in childbirth. + +The rites celebrated in honour of these deities are often of a +questionable character and include dances by naked women and offerings +of spirituous liquors and blood. Similar features are found in other +countries. Prostitution formed part of the worship of Astarte and +Anahit: the Tauric Artemis was adored with human sacrifices and Cybele +with self-inflicted mutilations. Similarly offerings of blood drawn +from the sacrificer's own body are enjoined in the Kalika Purana. Two +stages can be distinguished in the relations between these cults and +Hinduism. In the later stage which can be witnessed even at the +present day an aboriginal goddess or demon is identified with one of +the aspects (generally a "black" or fierce aspect) of Siva's +spouse.[686] But such identification is facilitated by the fact that +goddesses like Kali, Bhairavi, Chinnamastaka are not products of +purely Hindu imagination but represent earlier stages of amalgamation +in which Hindu and aboriginal ideas are already compounded. When the +smallpox goddess is identified with Kali, the procedure is correct, +for some popular forms of Kali are little more than an aboriginal +deity of pestilence draped with Hindu imagery and philosophy. + +Some Hindu scholars demur to this derivation of Saktism from lower +cults. They point to its refined and philosophic aspects; they see in +it the worship of a goddess, who can be as merciful as the Madonna, +but yet, since she is the goddess of nature, combines in one shape +life and death. May not the grosser forms of Saktism be perversions +and corruptions of an ancient and higher faith? In support of this it +may be urged that the Buddhist goddess Tara is as a rule a beautiful +and benevolent figure, though she can be terrible as the enemy of evil +and has clear affinities to Durga. Yet the history of Indian thought +does not support this view, but rather the view that Hinduism +incorporated certain ancient ideas, true and striking as ancient ideas +often are, but without purging them sufficiently to make them +acceptable to the majority of educated Indians. + +The Yajur Veda[687] associates Rudra with a female deity called Ambika +or mother, who is however his sister, not his spouse. The earliest +forms of the latter seem to connect her with mountains. She is Uma +Haimavati, the daughter of the Himalayas, and Parvati, she of the +mountains, and was perhaps originally a sacred peak. In an interesting +but brief passage of the Kena Upanishad (III. 12 and IV. 1) Uma +Haimavati explains to the gods that a being whom they do not know is +Brahman. In later times we hear of a similar goddess in the Vindhyas, +Maharani Vindhyesvari, who was connected with human sacrifices and +Thugs.[688] Siva's consort, like her Lord, has many forms classified +as white or benignant and black or terrible. Uma belongs to the former +class but the latter (such as Kali, Durga, Camunda, Canda and Karala) +are more important.[689] Female deities bearing names like these are +worshipped in most parts of India, literally from the Himalaya to Cape +Comorin, for the latter name is derived from Kumari, the Virgin +goddess.[690] But the names Sakta and Saktism are usually restricted to +those sects in Bengal and Assam who worship the Consort of Siva with +the rites prescribed in the Tantras. + +Saktism regards the goddess as the active manifestation of the +godhead. As such she is styled Sakti, or energy (whence the name +Sakta), and is also identified with Maya, the power which is +associated with Brahman and brings the phenomenal world into being. +Similar ideas appear in a philosophic form in the Sankhya teaching. +Here the soul is masculine and passive: its task is to extricate and +isolate itself. But Prakriti or Nature is feminine and active: to her +is due the evolution of the universe: she involves the soul in actions +which cause pain but she also helps the work of liberation.[691] In +its fully developed form the doctrine of the Tantras teaches that +Sakti is not an emanation or aspect of the deity. There is no +distinction between Brahman and Sakti. She is Parabrahman and +_paratpara_, Supreme of the Supreme. + +The birthplace of Saktism as a definite sect seems to have been +north-eastern India[692] and though it is said to be extending in the +United Provinces, its present sphere of influence is still chiefly +Bengal and Assam.[693] The population of these countries is not Aryan +(though the Bengali language bears witness to the strong Aryan +influence which has prevailed there) and is largely composed of +immigrants from the north belonging to the Tibeto-Burman, Mon-Khmer +and Shan families. These tribes remain distinct in Assam but the +Bengali represents the fusion of such invaders with a Munda or +Dravidian race, leavened by a little Aryan blood in the higher castes. +In all this region we hear of no ancient Brahmanic settlements, no +ancient centres of Vedic or even Puranic learning[694] and when +Buddhism decayed no body of Brahmanic tradition such as existed in +other parts of India imposed its authority on the writers of the +Tantras. Even at the present day the worship of female spirits, only +half acknowledged by the Brahmans, prevails among these people, and in +the past the national deities of many tribes were goddesses who were +propitiated with human sacrifices. Thus the Chutiyas of Sadiya used to +adore a goddess, called Kesai Khati--the eater of raw flesh. The rites +of these deities were originally performed by tribal priests, but as +Hindu influence spread, the Brahmans gradually took charge of them +without modifying their character in essentials. Popular Bengali +poetry represents these goddesses as desiring worship and feeling +that they are slighted: they persecute those who ignore them, but +shower blessings on their worshippers, even on the obdurate who are at +last compelled to do them homage. The language of mythology could not +describe more clearly the endeavours of a plebeian cult to obtain +recognition.[695] + +The Mahabharata contains hymns to Durga in which she is said to love +offerings of flesh and wine,[696] but it is not likely that Saktism or +Tantrism--that is a system with special scriptures and doctrines--was +prevalent before the seventh century A.D. for the Tantras are not +mentioned by the Chinese pilgrims and the lexicon _Amara Kosha_ +(perhaps _c_. 500 A.D.) does not recognize the word as a designation +of religious books. Bana (_c_. 630) gives more than once in his +romances lists of sectaries but though he mentions Bhagavatas and +Pasupatas, he does not speak of Saktas.[697] On the other hand +Tantrism infected Buddhism soon after this period. The earlier Tibetan +translations of the Tantras are attributed to the ninth century. MSS. +of the Kubjikamata and other Tantras are said to date from the ninth +and even from the seventh century and tradition represents +Sankaracarya as having contests with Saktas.[698] But many Tantras +were written in the fifteenth century and even later, for the Yogini +Tantra alludes to the Koch king Bishwa Singh (1515-1540) and the Meru +Tantra mentions London and the English. + +From the twelfth to the sixteenth century, when Buddhism, itself +deeply infected with Tantrism, was disappearing, Saktism was probably +the most powerful religion in Bengal, but Vishnuism was gaining +strength and after the time of Caitanya proved a formidable rival to +it. At the beginning of the fifteenth century we hear that the king of +the Ahoms summoned Brahmans to his Court and adopted many Hindu rites +and beliefs, and from this time onward Saktism was patronized by most +of the Assamese Rajas although after 1550 Vishnuism became the +religion of the mass of the people. Saktism never inspired any popular +or missionary movement, but it was powerful among the aristocracy and +instigated persecutions against the Vishnuites. + +The more respectable Tantras[699] show considerable resemblance to the +later Upanishads such as the Nrisinhatapaniya and Ramata-paniya, +which mention Sakti in the sense of creative energy.[700] Both classes +of works treat of magical formulae (mantras) and the construction of +mystic diagrams or yantras. This resemblance does not give us much +assistance in chronology, for the dates of the later Upanishads are +very uncertain, but it shows how the Tantras are connected with other +branches of Hindu thought. + +The distinction between Tantras and Puranas is not always +well-marked. The Bhagavata Purana countenances tantric rites[701] and +the Agni Purana (from chapter XXI onwards) bears a strong resemblance +to a Tantra. As a rule the Tantras contain less historical and +legendary matter than the Puranas and more directions as to ritual. +But whereas the Puranas approve of both Vedic rites and others, the +Tantras insist that ceremonies other than those which they prescribe +are now useless. They maintain that each age of the world has its own +special revelation and that in this age the Tantra-sastra is the only +scripture. Thus in the Mahanirvana Tantra Siva says:[702] "The fool +who would follow other doctrines heedless of mine is as great a sinner +as a parricide or the murderer of a Brahman or of a woman.... The +Vedic rites and mantras which were efficacious in the first age have +ceased to have power in this. They are now as powerless as snakes +whose fangs have been drawn and are like dead things." The Kularnava +Tantra (I. 79 ff.) inveighs against those who think they will obtain +salvation by Vedic sacrifices or asceticism or reading sacred books, +whereas it can be won only by tantric rites. + +Various lists of Tantras are given and it is generally admitted that +many have been lost. The most complete, but somewhat theoretical +enumeration[703] divides India and the adjoining lands into three +regions to each of which sixty-four Tantras are assigned. The best +known names are perhaps Mahanirvana,[704] Saradatilaka,[705] Yogini, +Kularnava[706] and Rudra-Yamala. A Tantra is generally cast in the +form of a dialogue in which Siva instructs his consort but sometimes +_vice versa_. It is said that the former class are correctly described +as Agamas and the works where the Sakti addresses Siva as +Nigamas.[707] Some are also called Yamalas and Damaras but I have +found no definition of the meaning of these words. The Prapancasara +Tantra[708] professes to be a revelation from Narayana. + +Saktism and the Tantras which teach it are generally condemned by +Hindus of other sects.[709] It is arguable that this condemnation is +unjust, for like other forms of Hinduism the Tantras make the +liberation of the soul their object and prescribe a life of religious +observances including asceticism and meditation, after which the adept +becomes released even in this life. But however much new tantric +literature may be made accessible in future, I doubt if impartial +criticism will come to any opinion except that Saktism and Tantrism +collect and emphasize what is superficial, trivial and even bad in +Indian religion, omitting or neglecting its higher sides. If for +instance the Mahanirvana Tantra which is a good specimen of these +works be compared with Sankara's commentary on the Vedanta Sutras, or +the poems of Tulsi Das, it will be seen that it is woefully deficient +in the excellences of either. But many tantric treatises are chiefly +concerned with charms, spells, amulets and other magical methods of +obtaining wealth, causing or averting disease and destroying enemies, +processes which even if efficacious have nothing to do with the better +side of religion.[710] + +The religious life prescribed in the Tantras[711] commences with +initiation and requires the supervision of the Guru. The object of it +is _Siddhi_ or success, the highest form of which is spiritual +perfection. _Siddhi_ is produced by _Sadhana_, or that method of +training the physical and psychic faculties which realizes their +potentialities. Tantric training assumes a certain constitution of the +universe and the repetition in miniature of this constitution in the +human body which contains various nervous centres and subtle channels +for the passage of energy unknown to vulgar anatomy. Thus the Sakti +who pervades the universe is also present in the body as Kundalini, +a serpentine coil of energy, and it is part of Sadhana to arouse this +energy and make it mount from the lower to the higher centres. +Kundalini is also present in sounds and in letters. Hence if +different parts of the body are touched to the accompaniment of +appropriate mantras (which rite is called nyasa) the various Saktis +are made to dwell in the human frame in suitable positions. + +The Tantras recognize that human beings are not equal and that codes +and rituals must vary according to temperament and capacity. Three +conditions of men, called the animal, heroic and divine,[712] are +often mentioned and are said to characterize three periods of +life--youth, manhood and age, or three classes of mankind, +non-tantrists, ordinary tantrists, and adepts. These three conditions +clearly correspond to the three Gunas. Also men, or rather Hindus, +belong to one of seven groups, or stages, according to the religious +practices which it is best for them to follow. Saktists apparently +demur[713] to the statement commonly made by Indians as well as by +Europeans that they are divided into two sects the Dakshinacarins, or +right-hand worshippers, whose ritual is public and decent, and the +Vamacarins who meet to engage in secret but admittedly immoral orgies. +But for practical purposes the division is just, although it must not +be supposed that Dakshinacarins necessarily condemn the secret +worship. They may consider it as good for others but not for +themselves. Saktists apparently would prefer to state the matter thus. +There are seven stages of religion. First come Vedic, Vishnuite and +Sivaite worship, all three inferior, and then Dakshinacara, +interpreted as meaning favourable worship, that is favourable to the +accomplishment of higher purposes, because the worshipper now begins +to understand the nature of Devi, the great goddess. These four kinds +of worship are all said to belong to _pravritti_ or active life. The +other three, considered to be higher, require a special initiation and +belong to _nivritti_, the path of return in which passion and activity +are suppressed.[714] And here is propounded the doctrine that passion +can be destroyed and exhausted by passion,[715] that is to say that +the impulses of eating, drinking and sexual intercourse are best +subjugated by indulging them. The fifth stage, in which this method is +first adopted, is called Vamacara.[716] In the sixth, or +Siddhantacara,[717] the adept becomes more and more free from passion +and prejudice and is finally able to enter Kaulacara, the highest +stage of all. A Kaula is one who has passed beyond all sects and +belongs to none, since he has the knowledge of Brahman. "Possessing +merely the form of man, he moves about this earth for the salvation of +the world and the instruction of men."[718] + +These are aspirations common to all Indian religion. The peculiarity +of the Tantras is to suppose that a ritual which is shocking to most +Hindus is an indispensable preliminary to their attainment.[719] Its +essential feature is known as _pancatattva_, the five elements, or +_pancamakara_ the five m's, because they all begin with that letter, +namely, _madya_, _mamsa_, _matsya_, _mudra_, and _maithuna_, wine, meat, +fish, parched grain and copulation. The celebration of this ritual +takes place at midnight, and is called _cakra_ or circle. The +proceedings begin by the devotees seating themselves in a circle and +are said to terminate in an indiscriminate orgy. It is only fair to +say that some Tantras inveigh against drunkenness and authorize only +moderate drinking.[720] In all cases it is essential that the wine, +flesh, etc., should be formally dedicated to the goddess: without this +preliminary indulgence in these pleasures is sinful. Indeed it may be +said that apart from the ceremonial which they inculcate, the general +principles of the Tantras breathe a liberal and intelligent spirit. +Caste restrictions are minimized: travelling is permitted. Women are +honoured: they can act as teachers: the burning of widows is +forbidden:[721] girl widows may remarry[722] and the murder of a woman +is peculiarly heinous. Prostitution is denounced. Whereas Christianity +is sometimes accused of restricting its higher code to Church and +Sundays, the opposite may be said of Tantrism. Outside the temple its +morality is excellent. + +A work like the Mahanirvana Tantra presents a refined form of Saktism +modified, so far as may be, in conformity with ordinary Hindu +usage.[723] But other features indubitably connect it with aboriginal +cults. For instance there is a legend which relates how the body of +the Sakti was cut into pieces and scattered over Assam and Bengal. +This story has an uncouth and barbarous air and seems out of place +even in Puranic mythology. It recalls the tales told of Osiris, +Orpheus and Halfdan the Black[724] and may be ultimately traceable to +the idea that the dismemberment of a deity or a human representative +ensures fertility. Until recently the Khonds of Bengal used to hack +human victims in pieces as a sacrifice to the Earth Goddess and throw +the shreds of flesh on the fields to secure a good harvest.[725] In +Sanskrit literature I have not found any authority for the +dismemberment of Sati earlier than the Tantras or Upapuranas (_e.g._ +Kalika), but this late appearance does not mean that the legend is +late in itself but merely that it was not countenanced by Sanskrit +writers until medieval times. Various reasons for the dismemberment +are given and the incident is rather awkwardly tacked on to other +stories. One common version relates that when Sati (one of the many +forms of Sakti) died of vexation because her husband Siva was insulted +by her father Daksha, Siva took up her corpse and wandered +distractedly carrying it on his shoulder.[726] In order to stop this +penance Vishnu followed him and cut off pieces from the corpse with +his quoit until the whole had fallen to earth in fifty-one pieces. The +spots where these pieces touched the ground are held sacred and called +piths. At most of them are shown a rock supposed to represent some +portion of the goddess's body and some object called a bhairabi, left +by Siva as a guardian to protect her and often taking the form of a +lingam. The most important of these piths are Kamakhya near Gauhati, +Faljur in the Jaintia Parganas, and Kalighat in Calcutta.[727] + +Though the Sakti of Siva is theoretically one, yet since she assumes +many forms she becomes in practice many deities or rather she is many +deities combined in one or sometimes a sovereign attended by a retinue +of similar female spirits. Among such forms we find the ten +Mahavidyas, or personifications of her supernatural knowledge; the +Mahamatris, Matrikas or the Great Mothers, allied to the aboriginal +goddesses already mentioned; the Nayakas or mistresses; the Yoginis or +sorceresses, and fiends called Dakinis. But the most popular of her +manifestations are Durga and Kali. The sects which revere these +goddesses are the most important religious bodies in Bengal, where +they number thirty-five million adherents. The Durgapuja is the +greatest festival of the year in north-eastern India[728] and in the +temple of Kalighat at Calcutta may be seen the singular spectacle of +educated Hindus decapitating goats before the image of Kali. It is a +black female figure with gaping mouth and protruded tongue dancing on +a prostrate body,[729] and adorned with skulls and horrid emblems of +destruction. Of her four hands two carry a sword and a severed head +but the other two are extended to give blessing and protection to her +worshippers. So great is the crowd of enthusiastic suppliants that it +is often hard to approach the shrine and the nationalist party in +Bengal who clamour for parliamentary institutions are among the +goddess's devotees. + +It is easy to criticize and condemn this worship. Its outward signs +are repulsive to Europeans and its inner meaning strange, for even +those who pray to the Madonna are startled by the idea that the divine +nature is essentially feminine.[730] Yet this idea has deep roots in +the heart of Bengal and with it another idea: the terrors of death, +plague and storm are half but only half revelations of the +goddess-mother who can be smiling and tender as well. Whatever may be +the origin of Kali and of the strange images which represent her, she +is now no she-devil who needs to be propitiated, but a reminder that +birth and death are twins, that the horrors of the world come from the +same source as its grace and beauty and that cheerful acceptance of +the deity's terrible manifestations is an essential part of the higher +spiritual life.[731] These ideas are best expressed in the songs of +Rama Prasada Sen (1718-1775) which "still reign supreme in the +villages" of Bengal and show that this strange worship has really a +hold on millions of Indian rustics.[732] The directness and childlike +simplicity of his poems have caused an Indian critic to compare him to +Blake. "Though the mother beat the child," he sings, "the child cries +mother, mother, and clings still tighter to her garment. True, I +cannot see thee, yet I am not a lost child. I still cry mother, +mother." + +"All the miseries that I have suffered and am suffering, I know, O +mother, to be your mercy alone." + +I must confess that I cannot fully sympathize with this worship, even +when it is sung in the hymns of Rama Prasada, but it is clear that he +makes it tolerable just because he throws aside all the magic and +ritual of the Tantras and deals straight with what are for him +elemental and emotional facts. He makes even sceptics feel that he has +really seen God in this strange guise. + +The chief sanctuary of Saktism is at Kamakhya (or Kamaksha) on a hill +which stands on the banks of the Brahmaputra, about two miles below +Gauhati. It is mentioned in the Padma Purana. The temples have been +rebuilt several times, and in the eighteenth century were munificently +endowed by an Ahom king, and placed under the management of a Brahman +from Nadia in Bengal, with reversion to his descendants who bear the +title of Parbatiya Gosains. Considerable estates are still assigned to +their upkeep. There are ten[733] shrines on the hill dedicated to +various forms of the Sakti. The situation is magnificent, commanding +an extensive prospect over the Brahmaputra and the plains on either +bank, but none of the buildings are of much architectural merit. The +largest and best is the temple dedicated to Kamakhya herself, the +goddess of sexual desire. It is of the style usual in northern India, +an unlighted shrine surmounted by a dome, and approached by a rather +ample vestibule, which is also imperfectly lighted. An inscription has +been preserved recording the restoration of the temple about 1550 but +only the present basement dates from that time, most of the +super-structure being recent. Europeans may not enter but an image of +the goddess can be seen from a side door. In the depths of the shrine +is said to be a cleft in the rock, adored as the Yoni of Sakti. In +front of the temple are two posts to which a goat is tied, and +decapitated daily at noon. Below the principal shrine is the temple of +Bhairavi. Human sacrifices were offered here in comparatively recent +times, and it is not denied that they would be offered now if the law +allowed. Also it is not denied that the rites of the "five m's" +already mentioned are frequently performed in these temples, and that +Aghoris may be found in them. The spot attracts a considerable number +of pilgrims from Bengal, and a wealthy devotee has built a villa on +the hill and pays visits to it for the purpose of taking part in the +rites. I was informed that the most esteemed scriptures of the sect +are the Yogini Tantra, the Mahanirvana Tantra, and the Kalika +Purana. This last work contains a section or chapter on blood,[734] +which gives rules for the performance of human sacrifices. It states +however that they should not be performed by the first three castes, +which is perhaps a way of saying that though they may be performed by +non-Aryans under Brahmanic auspices they form no part of the Aryan +religion. But they are recommended to princes and ministers and should +not be performed without the consent of princes. The ritual bears +little resemblance to the Vedic sacrifices and the essence of the +ceremony is the presentation to the goddess of the victim's severed +head in a vessel of gold, silver, copper, brass or wood but not of +iron. The axe with which the decapitation is to be performed is +solemnly consecrated to Kali and the victim is worshipped before +immolation. The sacrificer first thinks of Brahma and the other gods +as being present in the victim's body, and then prays to him directly +as being all the gods in one. "When this has been done" says Siva, who +is represented as himself revealing these rules, "the victim is even +as myself." This identification of the human victim with the god has +many analogies elsewhere, particularly among the Khonds.[735] + +It is remarkable that this barbarous and immoral worship, though +looked at askance except in its own holy places, is by no means +confined to the lower castes. A series of apologies composed in +excellent English (but sometimes anonymous) attest the sympathy of the +educated. So far as theology and metaphysics are concerned, these +defences are plausible. The Sakti is identified with Prakriti or with +the Maya of the Advaita philosophy and defined as the energy, +coexistent with Brahman, which creates the world. But attempts to +palliate the ceremonial, such as the argument that it is a +consecration and limitation of the appetites because they may be +gratified only in the service of the goddess, are not convincing. Nor +do the Saktas, when able to profess their faith openly, deny the +nature of their rites or the importance attached to them. An +oft-quoted tantric verse represents Siva as saying _Maithunena +mahayogi mama tulyo na samsayah_. And for practical purposes that is +the gist of Saktist teaching. + +The temples of Kamakhya leave a disagreeable impression--an impression +of dark evil haunts of lust and bloodshed, akin to madness and +unrelieved by any grace or vigour of art. For there is no attempt in +them to represent the terrible or voluptuous aspects of Hinduism, such +as find expression in sculpture elsewhere. All the buildings, and +especially the modern temple of Kali, which was in process of +construction when I saw the place, testify to the atrophy and +paralysis produced by erotic forms of religion in the artistic and +intellectual spheres, a phenomenon which finds another sad +illustration in quite different theological surroundings among the +Vallabhacarya sect at Gokul near Muttra. + +It would be a poor service to India to palliate the evils and +extravagances of Saktism, but still it must be made clear that it is +not a mere survival of barbaric practices. The writers of the Tantras +are good Hindus and declare that their object is to teach liberation +and union with the Supreme Spirit. The ecstasies induced by tantric +rites produce this here in a preliminary form to be made perfect in +the liberated soul. This is not the craze of a few hysterical +devotees, but the faith of millions among whom many are well educated. +In some aspects Saktism is similar to the erotic Vishnuite sects, but +there is little real analogy in their ways of thinking. For the +essence of Vishnuism is passionate devotion and self-surrender to a +deity and this idea is not prominent in the Tantras. The strange +inconsistencies of Saktism are of the kind which are characteristic of +Hinduism as a whole, but the contrasts are more violent and the +monstrosities more conspicuous than elsewhere; wild legends and +metaphysics are mixed together, and the peace that passes all +understanding is to be obtained by orgies and offerings of blood. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 680: See also chap. XXIV. as to Saktism and Tantrism in +Buddhism. Copious materials for the study of Saktism and Tantrism are +being made available in the series of tantric texts edited in Sanskrit +and Tibetan, and in some cases translated by the author who uses the +pseudonym A. Avalon.] + +[Footnote 681: See _Annales du Musee Guimet_, Tome VIII. +Si-Do-In-Dzon. Gestes de l'officiant dans les ceremonies mystiques des +sectes Tendai et Singon, 1899.] + +[Footnote 682: See Underhill, _Mysticism_, chaps. VI. and VII.] + +[Footnote 683: See Dhalla, _Zoroastrian Theology_, p. 116.] + +[Footnote 684: Specially Ath. Veda, XII. 1.] + +[Footnote 685: Village deities in south India at the present day are +usually female. See Whitehead, _Village Gods_, p. 21.] + +[Footnote 686: Thus Candi is considered as identical with the wood +goddess Basuli, worshipped in the jungles of Bengal and Orissa. See +_J.A._ 1873, p. 187.] + +[Footnote 687: Vaj. Sanh. 3. 57 and Taittir. Br. I. 6. 10. 4.] + +[Footnote 688: Crooke, _Popular Religion of Northern India_, I. 63. +Monier Williams, _Brahm. and Hinduism_, p. 57 gives an interesting +account of the shrine of Kali at Vindhyacal said to have been formerly +frequented by Thugs.] + +[Footnote 689: This idea that deities have different aspects in which +they practically become different persons is very prevalent in Tibetan +mythology which is borrowed from medieval Bengal.] + +[Footnote 690: Though there are great temples erected to goddesses in +S. India, there are also some signs of hostility to Saktism. See the +curious legends about an attendant of Siva called Bhringi who would +not worship Parvati. Hultzsch, _South Indian Inscriptions_, II. ii. p. +190.] + +[Footnote 691: There is a curious tendency in India to regard the male +principle as quiescent, the female as active and stimulating. The +Chinese, who are equally fond of using these two principles in their +cosmological speculations, adopt the opposite view. The _Yang_ (male) +is positive and active. The _Yin_ (female) is negative and passive.] + +[Footnote 692: The Mahanirvana Tantra seems to have been composed in +Bengal since it recommends for sacrificial purposes (VI. 7) three +kinds of fish said to be characteristic of that region. On the other +hand Buddhist works called Tantras are said to have been composed in +north-western India. Udyana had an old reputation for magic and even +in modern times Saktism exists in western Tibet and Leh. It is highly +probable that in all these districts the practice of magic and the +worship of mountain goddesses were prevalent, but I find little +evidence that a definite Sakta sect arose elsewhere than in Bengal and +Assam or that the Saktist corruption of Buddhism prevailed elsewhere +than in Magadha and Bengal.] + +[Footnote 693: But the Brahmans of isolated localities, like Satara in +the Bombay Presidency, are said to be Saktas and the Kanculiyas of S. +India are described as a Saktist sect.] + +[Footnote 694: The law-giver Baudhayana seems to have regarded Anga +and Vanga with suspicion, I. 1.13, 14.] + +[Footnote 695: See especially the story of Manasa Devi in Dinesh +Chandra Sen (_Beng. Lang. and Lit_. 257), who says the earliest +literary version dates from the twelfth century. But doubtless the +story is much older.] + +[Footnote 696: Viratap. chap. VI. (not in all MSS.). Bhishmap. chap. +XXIII. Also in the Harivamsa, _vv._ 3236 ff. Pargiter considers that +the Devi-Mahatmya was probably composed in the fifth or sixth century. +Chap. XXI. of the Lotus Sutra contains a spell invoking a goddess +under many names. Though this chapter is an addition to the original +work, it was translated into Chinese between 265 and 316.] + +[Footnote 697: But he does mention the worship of the Divine Mothers. +Harshacar. VII. 250 and Kadamb. 134.] + +[Footnote 698: Hymns to the Devi are also attributed to him but I do +not know what evidence there is for his authorship.] + +[Footnote 699: As pointed out elsewhere, though this word is most +commonly used of the Sakta scriptures it is not restricted to them and +we hear of both Buddhist and Vaishnava Tantras.] + +[Footnote 700: The Adhyatma Ramayana is an instance of Saktist ideas +in another theological setting. It is a Vishnuite work but Sita is +made to say that she is _Prakriti_ who does all the deeds related in +the poem, whereas Rama is _Purusha_, inactive and a witness of her +deeds.] + +[Footnote 701: XI. iii. 47-8; XI. V. 28 and 31. Probably Vishnuite not +Saktist Tantras are meant but the Purana distinguishes between Vedic +revelation meant for previous ages and tantric revelation meant for +the present day. So too Kulluka Bhatta the commentator on Manu who +was a Bengali and probably lived in the fifteenth century says (on +Manu II. i.) that Sruti is twofold, Vedic and tantric. _Srutisca +dvividha vaidiki tantrikica._] + +[Footnote 702: II. 15.] + +[Footnote 703: See for full list Avalon, _Principles of Tantra_, pp. +lxv-lxvii. A collection of thirty-seven Tantras has been published at +Calcutta by Babu Rasik Mohun Chatterjee and a few have been published +separately.] + +[Footnote 704: Translated by Avalon, 1913, also by Manmatha Nath Dutt, +1900.] + +[Footnote 705: Analysed in _J.A.O.S._ XXIII. i. 1902.] + +[Footnote 706: Edited by Taranatha Vidyaratna, with introduction by A. +Avalon, 1917.] + +[Footnote 707: See Avalon, _Principles of Tantra_, p. lxi. But these +are probably special meanings attached to the words by tantric +schools. _Nigama_ is found pretty frequently, _e.g._ Manu, IV. 19 and +Lalita-vistara, XII. But it is not likely that it is used there in +this special sense.] + +[Footnote 708: Edited by Avalon, 1914.] + +[Footnote 709: Satirical descriptions of Saktism are fairly ancient, +_e.g._ Karpura Manjari, Harvard edition, pp. 25 and 233.] + +[Footnote 710: Tantrism has some analogy to the Feng-shui or geomancy +of the Chinese. Both take ancient superstitions which seem +incompatible with science and systematize them into pseudo-sciences, +remaining blind to the fact that the subject-matter is wholly +imaginary.] + +[Footnote 711: For what follows as for much else in this chapter, I am +indebted to Avalon's translation of the Mahanirvana Tantra and +introduction.] + +[Footnote 712: Pasu-, vira-, divya-bhava.] + +[Footnote 713: Avalon, Mahan. Tan. pp. lxxix, lxxx.] + +[Footnote 714: "The eternal rhythm of Divine Breath is outwards from +spirit to matter and inwards from matter to spirit. Devi as Maya +evolves the world. As Mahamaya she recalls it to herself.... Each of +these movements is divine. Enjoyment and liberation are each her +gifts." Avalon, Mahan. Tan. p. cxl.] + +[Footnote 715: Yair eva patanam dravyaih siddhis tair eva +codita--Kularnava Tantra, V. 48. There is probably something similar +in Taoism. See Wieger, _Histoire des Croyances religieuses en Chine_, +p. 409. The Indian Tantrists were aware of the dangers of their system +and said it was as difficult as walking on the edge of a sword or +holding a tiger.] + +[Footnote 716: Vamacara is said not to mean left-hand worship but +woman (vama) worship. This interpretation of Dakshina and Vamacara is +probably fanciful.] + +[Footnote 717: Sometimes two extra stages Aghora and Yogacara are +inserted here.] + +[Footnote 718: Mahan. Tan. X. 108. A Kaula may pretend to be a +Vaishnava or a Saiva.] + +[Footnote 719: Although the Tantras occasionally say that mere ritual +is not sufficient for the highest religions, yet _indispensable +preliminary_ is often understood as meaning _sure means_. Thus the +Mahanirvana Tantra (X. 202, Avalon's transl.) says "Those who worship +the Kaulas with _panca tattva_ and with heart uplifted, cause the +salvation of their ancestors and themselves attain the highest end."] + +[Footnote 720: But on the other hand some Tantras or tantric treatises +recommend crazy abominations.] + +[Footnote 721: Mahanir. Tant. X. 79. Bhartra saha kulesani na dahet +kulakaminim.] + +[Footnote 722: _Ib._ XI. 67.] + +[Footnote 723: _E.g._ It does not prescribe human sacrifices and +counsels moderation in the use of wine and _maithuna._] + +[Footnote 724: See Frazer's _Adonis, Attis and Osiris_, pp. 269-273 +for these and other stories of dismemberment.] + +[Footnote 725: See Frazer, _Golden Bough: Spirits of the Corn_, vol. +I. 245 and authorities quoted.] + +[Footnote 726: Images representing this are common in Assam.] + +[Footnote 727: Hsuean Chuang (Walters, vol. I. chap. VII) mentions +several sacred places in N.W. India where the Buddha in a previous +birth was dismembered or gave his flesh to feed mankind. Can these +places have been similar to the piths of Assam and were the original +heroes of the legend deities who were dismembered like Sati and +subsequently accommodated to Buddhist theology as Bodhisattvas?] + +[Footnote 728: It is an autumnal festival. A special image of the +goddess is made which is worshipped for nine days and then thrown into +the river. For an account of the festival which makes its tantric +character very clear see Durga Puja by Pratapachandra Ghosha, +Calcutta, 1871.] + +[Footnote 729: One explanation given is that she was so elated with +her victories over giants that she began to dance which shook the +Universe. Siva in order to save the world placed himself beneath her +feet and when she saw she was trampling on her husband, she stopped. +But there are other explanations. + +Another of the strangely barbaric legends which cluster round the +Sakti is illustrated by the figure called Chinnamastaka. It +represents the goddess as carrying her own head which she has just cut +off, while from the neck spout fountains of blood which are drunk by +her attendants and by the severed head itself.] + +[Footnote 730: Yet the English mystic Julian, the anchoress of Norwich +(c. 1400), insists on the motherhood as well as the fatherhood of God. +"God is our mother, brother and Saviour." "As verily God is our +father, so verily God is our mother." + +So too in an inscription found at Capua (C.I.N. 3580) Isis is +addressed as _una quae es omnia_. + +The Power addressed in Swinburne's poems _Mater Triumphalis, Hertha, +The Pilgrims_ and _Dolores_ is really a conception very similar to +Sakti.] + +[Footnote 731: These ideas find frequent expression in the works of +Bunkim Chandra Chatterjee, Dinesh Chandra Sen and Sister Nivedita.] + +[Footnote 732: See Dinesh Chandra Sen, _Hist. Beng. Lang, and Lit_. +pp. 712-721. Even the iconoclast Devendranath Tagore speaks of the +Universal Mother. See _Autobiog._ p. 240.] + +[Footnote 733: So I was told, but I saw only six, when I visited the +place in 1910.] + +[Footnote 734: Rudhiradhyaya. Translated in _As. Researches_, V. 1798, +pp. 371-391.] + +[Footnote 735: See Frazer, _op. cit._ p. 246.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +HINDU PHILOSOPHY + + +Philosophy is more closely connected with religion in India than in +Europe. It is not a dispassionate scientific investigation but a +practical religious quest. Even the Nyaya school, which is concerned +chiefly with formal logic, promises that by the removal of false +knowledge it can emancipate the soul and give the bliss of salvation. +Nor are the expressions system or school of philosophy, commonly used +to render _darsana_, altogether happy. The word is derived from the +root _dris_, to see, and means a way of looking at things. As such a +way of looking is supposed to be both comprehensive and orderly, it is +more or less what we call philosophical, but the points of view are so +special and so various that the result is not always what we call a +philosophical system. Madhava's[736] list of Darsanas includes +Buddhism and Jainism, which are commonly regarded as separate +religions, as well as the Pasupata and Saiva, which are sects of +Hinduism. The Darsana of Jaimini is merely a discussion of general +questions relating to sacrifices: the Nyaya Darsana examines logic and +rhetoric: the Paniniya Darsana treats of grammar and the nature of +language, but claims that it ought to be studied "as the means for +attaining the chief end of man."[737] + +Six of the Darsanas have received special prominence and are often +called the six Orthodox Schools. They are the Nyaya and Vaiseshika, +Sankhya and Yoga, Purva and Uttara Mimamsa, or Vedanta. The rest are +either comparatively unimportant or are more conveniently treated of +as religious sects. The six placed on the select list are sufficiently +miscellaneous and one wonders what principle of classification can +have brought them together. The first two have little connection with +religion, though they put forward the emancipation of the soul as +their object, and I have no space to discuss them. They are however +important as showing that realism has a place in Indian thought in +spite of its marked tendency to idealism.[738] They are concerned +chiefly with an examination of human faculties and the objects of +knowledge, and are related to one another. The special doctrine of the +Vaiseshika is the theory of atoms ascribed to Kanada. It teaches that +matter consists of atoms (anu) which are eternal in themselves though +all combinations of them are liable to decompose. The Sankhya and +Yoga are also related and represent two aspects of the same system +which is of great antiquity and allied to Buddhism and Jainism. The +two Mimamsas are consecutive expositions of the teaching scattered +throughout the Vedic texts respecting ceremonial and the knowledge of +God respectively. The second Mimamsa, commonly called the Vedanta, is +by far the more interesting and important. + +The common feature in these six systems which constitutes their +orthodoxy is that they all admit the authority of the Veda. This +implies more than our phrases revelation or inspiration of the Bible. +Most of the Darsanas attach importance to the _pramanas_, sources or +standards of knowledge. They are variously enumerated, but one of the +oldest definitions makes them three: perception (pratyaksha), +inference (anumana) and scripture (sabda). The Veda is thus formally +acknowledged to have the same authority as the evidence of the senses. +With this is generally coupled the doctrine that it is eternal. It was +not composed by human authors, but is a body of sound existing from +eternity as part of Brahman and breathed out by him when he causes the +whole creation to evolve at the beginning of a world period. The +reputed authors are simply those who have, in Indian language, seen +portions of this self-existent teaching. This doctrine sounds more +reasonable if restated in the form that words are the expression of +thought, and that if thought is the eternal essence of both Brahman +and the soul, a similar eternity may attach to words. Some such idea +is the origin of the Christian doctrine of the Logos, and in many +religions we find such notions as that words have a creative +efficacy,[739] or that he who knows the name of a thing has power over +it. Among Mohammedans the Koran is supposed to be not merely an +inspired composition but a pre-existing book, revealed to Mohammed +piecemeal. + +It is curious that both the sacred texts--the Veda and the Koran--to +which this supernatural position is ascribed should be collections of +obviously human, incongruous, and often insignificant documents +connected with particular occasions, and in no way suggesting or +claiming that they are anterior to the ordinary life of man on earth. +It is still more extraordinary that systems of philosophy should +profess to base themselves on such works. But in reality Hindu +metaphysicians are not more bound by the past than their colleagues in +other lands. They do not take scripture and ask what it means, but +evolve their own systems and state that they are in accordance with +it. Sometimes scripture is ignored in the details of argument. More +often the metaphysician writes a commentary on it and boldly proves +that it supports his views, though its apparent meaning may be +hostile. It is clear that many philosophic commentaries have been +written not because the authors really drew their inspiration from the +Upanishads or Bhagavad-gita but because they dared not neglect such +important texts. All the Vedantist schools labour to prove that they +are in harmony not only with the Upanishads but with the +Brahma-sutras. The philosophers of the Sankhya are more detached from +literature but though they ignore the existence of the deity, they +acknowledge the Veda as a source of knowledge. Their recognition, +however, has the air of a concession to Brahmanic sentiment. Isolated +theories of the Sankhya can be supported by isolated passages of the +Upanishads, but no impartial critic can maintain that the general +doctrines of the two are compatible. That the Brahmans should have +been willing to admit the Sankhya as a possible form of orthodoxy is +a testimony both to its importance and to their liberality. + +It is remarkable that the test of orthodoxy should have been the +acceptance of the authority of the Veda and not a confession of some +sort of theism. But on this the Brahmans did not insist. The Vedanta +is truly and intensely pantheistic or theistic, but in the other +philosophies the Supreme Being is either eliminated or plays a small +part. Thus while works which seem to be merely scientific treatises +(like the Nyaya) set before themselves a religious object, other +treatises, seemingly religious in scope, ignore the deity. There is a +strong and ancient line of thought in India which, basing itself on +the doctrine of Karma, or the inevitable consequences of the deed once +done, lays stress on the efficacy of ceremonies or of asceticism or of +knowledge without reference to a Supreme Being because, if he exists, +he does not interfere with the workings of Karma, or with the power of +knowledge to release from them. + +Even the Vedanta, although in a way the quintessence of Indian +orthodoxy, is not a scholastic philosophy designed to support +recognized dogma and ritual. It is rather the orthodox method of +soaring above these things. It contemplates from a higher level the +life of religious observances (which is the subject of the Purva +Mimamsa) and recognizes its value as a preliminary, but yet rejects +it as inadequate. The Sannyasi or adept follows no caste observances, +performs no sacrifices, reads no scriptures. His religion is to +realize in meditation the true nature, and it may be the identity, of +the soul and God. Good works are of no more importance for him than +rites, though he does well to employ his time in teaching. But Karma +has ceased to exist for him: "the acts of a Yogi are neither black nor +white," they have no moral quality nor consequences. This is dangerous +language and the doctrine has sometimes been abused. But the point of +the teaching is not that a Sannyasi may do what he likes but that he +is perfectly emancipated from material bondage. Most men are bound by +their deeds; every new act brings consequences which attach the doer +to the world of transmigration and create for him new existences. But +the deeds of the man who is really free have no such trammelling +effects, for they are not prompted by desire nor directed to an +object. But since to become free he must have suppressed all desire, +it is hardly conceivable that he should do anything which could be +called a sin. But this conviction that the task of the sage is not to +perfect any form of good conduct but to rise above both good and evil, +imparts to the Darsanas and even to the Upanishads a singularly +non-ethical and detached tone. The Yogi does no harm but he has less +benevolence and active sympathy than the Buddhist monk. It was a +feeling that such an attitude has its dangers and is only for the few +who have fought their way to the heights where it can safely be +adopted, that led the Brahmans in all ages to lay stress on the +householder's life as the proper preparation for a philosophic old +age. Despite utterances to the contrary, they never as a body approved +the ideal of a life entirely devoted to asceticism and not occupied +with social duties during one period. The extraordinary ease with +which the higher phases of Indian thought shake off all formalities, +social, religious and ethical, was counterbalanced by the +multitudinous regulations devised to keep the majority in a +law-abiding life. + +None of the six Darsanas concern themselves with ethics. The more +important deal with the transcendental progress of sages who have +avowedly abandoned the life of works, and even those which treat of +that lower life are occupied with ritual and logic rather than with +anything which can be termed moral science. We must not infer that +Indian literature is altogether unmoral. The doctrine of Karma is +intensely ethical and ethical discussions are more prominent in the +Epics than in Homer, besides being the subject of much gnomic and +didactic poetry. But there is no mistaking the fact that the Hindu +seeks for salvation by knowledge. He feels the power of deeds, but it +is only the lower happiness which lies in doing good works and +enjoying their fruits. The higher bliss consists in being entirely +free from the bondage of deeds and Karma. + +All the Darsanas have as a common principle this idea of Karma with +the attendant doctrines that rebirth is a consequence of action and +that salvation is an escape from rebirth. They all treat more or less +of the sources and standards of knowledge, and all recognize the Veda +as one of them. There is not much more that can be said of them all in +common, for the Vedanta ignores matter and the Sankhya ignores God, +but they all share a conviction which presents difficulties to +Europeans. It is that the state in which the mind ceases to think +discursively and is concentrated on itself is not only desirable but +the _summum bonum_. The European is inclined to say that such a +state is distinguished from non-existence only by not being permanent. +But the Hindu will have none of this. He holds that mind and thought +are material though composed of the subtlest matter, and that when +thought ceases, the immaterial soul (purusha or atman) far from being +practically non-existent is more truly existent than before and enjoys +untroubled its own existence and its own nature. + +Of the three most important systems, the Sankhya, Yoga and Vedanta, +the first and last are on most points opposed: both are ancient, but +perhaps the products of different intellectual centres. In one sense +the Yoga may be described as a theistic modification of the Sankhya: +from another and perhaps juster point of view it appears rather as a +very ancient science of asceticism and contemplation, susceptible of +combination with various metaphysical theories. + + +2 + + +We may consider first of all the Sankhya.[740] Tradition ascribes its +invention to Kapila, but he is a mere name unconnected with any date +or other circumstance. It is probable that the principal ideas of the +Sankhya germinated several centuries before our era but we have no +evidence whatever as to when they were first formulated in Sutras. The +name was current as the designation of a philosophical system fairly +early[741] but the accepted text-books are all late. The most +respected is the Sankhya-pravacana,[742] attributed to Kapila but +generally assigned by European critics to the fourteenth century A.D. +Considerably more ancient, but still clearly a metrical epitome of a +system already existing, is the Sankhya-Karika, a poem of seventy +verses which was translated into Chinese about 560 A.D. and may be a +few centuries older. Max Mueller regarded the Tattva-samasa, a short +tract consisting chiefly of an enumeration of topics, as the most +ancient Sankhya formulary, but the opinion of scholars as to its age +is not unanimous. The name Sankhya is best interpreted as signifying +enumeration in allusion to the predilection of the school for numbered +lists, a predilection equally noticeable in early Buddhism. + +The object of the system set forth in these works is strictly +practical. In the first words of the Sankhya-pravacana, the complete +cessation of suffering is the end of man, and the Sankhya is devised +to enable him to attain it. Another formula divides the contents of +the Sankhya into four topics--(_a_) that from which man must liberate +himself, or suffering, (_b_) liberation, or the cessation of +suffering, (_c_) the cause of suffering, or the failure to +discriminate between the soul and matter, (_d_) the means of +liberation, or discriminating knowledge. This division obviously +resembles the four Truths of Buddhism. The object proposed is the same +and the method analogous, though not identical, for Buddhism speaks as +a religion and lays greater stress on conduct. + +The theory of the Sankhya, briefly stated, is this. There exist, +uncreated and from all eternity, on the one side matter and on the +other individual souls. The world, as we know it, is due entirely to +the evolution of matter. Suffering is the result of souls being in +bondage to matter, but this bondage does not affect the nature of the +soul and in one sense is not real, for when souls acquire +discriminating knowledge and see that they are not matter, then the +bondage ceases and they attain to eternal peace. + +The system is thus founded on dualism, the eternal antithesis between +matter and soul. Many of its details are comprised in the simple +enumeration of the twenty-five Tattvas or principles[743] as given in +the Tattva-samasa and other works. Of these, one is Purusha, the soul +or self, which is neither produced nor productive, and the other +twenty-four are all modifications of Prakriti or matter, which is +unproduced but productive. Prakriti means the original ground form of +external existence (as distinguished from Vikriti, modified form). It +is uncreated and indestructible, but it has a tendency to variation or +evolution. The Sankhya holds in the strictest sense that _ex nihilo +nihil fit_. Substance can only be produced from substance and properly +speaking there is no such thing as origination but only manifestation. +Causality is regarded solely from the point of view of material +causes, that is to say the cause of a pot is clay and not the action +of the potter. Thus the effect or product is nothing else than the +cause in another shape: production is only manifestation and +destruction is the resolution of a product into its cause. Instead of +holding like the Buddhists that there is no such thing as existence +but only becoming, the Sankhya rather affirms that there is nothing +but successive manifestations of real existence. If clay is made into +a pot and the pot is then broken and ground into clay again, the +essential fact is not that a pot has come into existence and +disappeared but that the clay continuously existing has undergone +certain changes. + +The tendency to evolution inherent in matter is due to the three +_gunas_. They are _sattva_, explained as goodness and happiness; +_rajas_, as passion and movement; and _tamas_, as darkness, heaviness +and ignorance. The word Guna is not easy to translate, for it seems +to mean more than quality or mode and to signify the constituents of +matter. Hence one cannot help feeling that the whole theory is an +attempt to explain the unity and diversity of matter by a phrase, but +all Hinduism is permeated by this phrase and theory. When the three +gunas are in equilibrium then matter--Prakriti--is quiescent, +undifferentiated and unmanifested. But as soon as the equilibrium is +disturbed and one of the gunas becomes preponderant, then the process +of differentiation and manifestation begins. The disturbance of +equilibrium is due to the action of the individual Purushas or souls +on Prakriti, but this action is mechanical and due to proximity not +to the volition of the souls and may be compared to the attraction of +a magnet for iron.[744] Thus at the beginning of the evolutionary +process we have quiescent matter in equilibrium: over against this are +souls innumerable, equally quiescent but exerting on matter a +mechanical force. This upsets the equilibrium and creates a movement +which takes at first the form of development and later of decay and +collapse. Then matter returns to its quiescent state to be again +excited by the Purushas and commence its world-making evolution anew. +The doctrine that evolution, dissolution and quiescence succeed one +another periodically is an integral part of the Sankhya.[745] + +The unmodified Prakriti stands first on the list of twenty-five +principles. When evolution begins it produces first Buddhi or +intellect, secondly Ahamkara, which is perhaps best rendered by +individuality, and next the five Tanmatras or subtle elements. +Buddhi, though meaning intellect, is used rather in the sense of +ascertaining or perception. It is the faculty by which we distinguish +objects and perceive what they are. It differs also from our +conception of intellect in being, like Ahamkara and all the +subsequent developments of Prakriti, material, and must not be +confused with the immaterial Purusha or soul. It is in fact the organ +of thought, not in the sense of the brain or anything tangible, but a +subtle substratum of all mental processes. But in what sense is it +possible to say that this Buddhi exists apart from individuals, who +have not come into being at this stage of cosmic evolution? This +difficulty is not met by talking, as some commentators do, of cosmic +as well as individual Buddhi, for even if all Prakriti is illuminated +by Buddhi at this stage it is difficult to see what result can occur. +To make the process of development coherent we must think of it not as +a series of chronologically successive stages but rather as a +logically connected series and an analysis of completely evolved +beings, just as we might say that bones are covered with flesh and +flesh with skin, without affirming that the bones have a separate and +prior existence. Ahamkara, which is, like Buddhi, strictly speaking a +physical organ, means Ego-maker and denotes the sense of personality +and individuality, almost the will. In the language of Indian +philosophy it is the delusion or misconception which makes the soul +imagine itself a personal agent and think, _I_ see, _I_ hear, _I_ +slay, _I_ am slain, whereas the soul is really incapable of action and +the acts are those of Prakriti. + +The five subtle elements are the essences of sound, touch, colour, +savour and odour conceived as physical principles, imperceptible to +ordinary beings, though gods and Yogis can perceive them. The name +Tanmatra which signifies _that only_ indicates that they are concerned +exclusively with one sense. Thus whereas the gross elements, such as +earth, appeal to more than one sense and can be seen, felt and smelt, +the subtle element of sound is restricted to the sense of hearing. It +exists in all things audible but has nothing to do with their +tangibility or visibility. There remain sixteen further modifications +to make up the full list of twenty-four. They are the five organs of +sense,[746] the five organs of action,[747] Manas or mind, regarded as +a sixth and central sense, and also as the seat of will, and the five +gross elements--earth, water, light, air and ether. The Sankhya +distinguishes between the gross and the subtle body. The latter, +called lingasarira, is defined in more than one way, but it is +expressly stated in the Karikas[748] that it is composed of "Buddhi +and the rest, down to the subtle elements." It practically corresponds +to what we call the soul, though totally distinct from Purusha or soul +in the Sankhya sense. It constitutes the character and essential +being of a person. It is the part which transmigrates from one gross +body to another, and is responsible for the acts committed in each +existence. Its union with a gross body constitutes birth, its +departure death. Except in the case of those who attain emancipation, +its existence and transmigration last for a whole world-period at the +end of which come quiescence and equilibrium. In it are imprinted the +Samskaras,[749] the predispositions which pass on from one existence +to another and are latent in the new-born mind like seeds in a field. + +By following the evolution of matter we have now accounted for +intellect, individuality, the senses, the moral character, will, and a +principle which survives death and transmigrates. It might therefore +be supposed that we have exhaustively analysed the constitution of a +human being. But that is not the view of the Sankhya. The evolution +of Buddhi, Ahamkara, the subtle body and the gross body is a physical +process and the result is also physical, though parts of it are of so +fine a substance that ordinary senses cannot perceive them. This +physical organism becomes a living being (which term includes gods and +animals) when it is connected with a soul (purusha) and consciousness +depends on this connection, for neither is matter when isolated +conscious, nor is the soul, at least not in our sense of the word. +Though the soul is neither the life which ends at death (for that is +the gross body) nor yet the life which passes from existence to +existence (for that is the subtle body) yet it is the vitalizing +element which renders life possible. + +The Sankhya like Jainism regards souls as innumerable and distinct +from one another. The word Purusha must have originally referred to +the manikin supposed to inhabit the body, and there is some reason to +think that the earliest teachers of the Sankhya held that it was +infinitely small. But in the existing text-books it is described as +infinitely large. It is immaterial and without beginning, end, parts, +dimensions, or qualities, incapable of change, motion, or action. +These definitions may be partly due to the influence of the Vedanta +and, though we know little about the historical development of the +Sankhya, there are traces of a compromise between the old teaching of +a soul held in bondage and struggling for release and later +conceptions of a soul which, being infinite and passionless, hardly +seems capable of submitting to bondage. Though the soul cannot be said +to transmigrate, to act, or to suffer, still through consciousness it +makes the suffering of the world felt and though in its essence it +remains eternally unchanged and unaffected, yet it experiences the +reflection of the suffering which goes on. Just as a crystal (to use +the Indian simile) allows a red flower to be seen through it and +remains unchanged, although it seems to become red, so does the soul +remain unchanged by sorrow or joy, although the illusion that it +suffers or rejoices may be present in the consciousness. + +The task of the soul is to free itself from illusion, and thus from +bondage. For strictly speaking the bondage does not exist: it is +caused by want of discrimination. Like the Vedanta, the Sankhya +regards all this troubled life as being, so far as the soul is +concerned, mere illusion. But while the Vedanta bids the soul know its +identity with Brahman, the Sankhya bids it isolate itself and know +that the acts and feelings which seem to be its own have really +nothing to do with it. They are for the soul nothing but a spectacle +or play originating in its connection with Prakriti, and it is +actually said,[750] "Wherefore no soul is bound, or is liberated or +transmigrates. It is Prakriti, which has many bodily forms, which is +bound, liberated and transmigrates." It is in Buddhi or intellect, +which is a manifestation of Prakriti, that the knowledge of the +difference between the soul and Prakriti must arise. Thus though the +Sankhya reposes on a fundamental dualism, it is not the dualism of +good and evil. Soul and matter differ not because the first is good +and the second bad, but because the first is unchangeable and the +second constantly changing. Matter is often personified as a woman. +Her motives are unselfish and she works for the liberation of the +soul. "As a dancer after showing herself on the stage ceases to dance, +so does Prakriti cease when she has made herself manifest to the +soul." That is to say, when a soul once understands that it is +distinct from the material world, that world ceases to exist for that +particular soul, though of course the play continues for others. +"Generous Prakriti, endowed with Gunas, causes by manifold means +without benefit to herself, the benefit of the soul, which is devoid +of Gunas and makes no return."[751] The condition of the liberated +soul, corresponding to the _mokska_ and _nirvana_ of other systems, +is described as Kaivalya, that is, complete separation from the +material world, but, as among Buddhists and Vedantists, he who has +learnt the truth is liberated even before death, and can teach others. +He goes on living, just as the wheel continues to revolve for some +time after the potter has ceased to turn it. After death, complete +liberation without the possibility of rebirth is attained. The +Sankhya manuals do not dwell further on the character of this +liberation: we only know that the eternal soul is then completely +isolated and aloof from all suffering and material things. Liberation +is compared to profound sleep, the difference being that in dreamless +sleep there is a seed, that is, the possibility of return to ordinary +life, whereas when liberation is once attained there is no such +return. + +Both in its account of the world process and in its scheme of +salvation the Sankhya ignores theism in the same way as did the +Buddha. Indeed the text-books go beyond this and practically deny the +existence of a personal supreme deity. We are told[752] that the +existence of God cannot be proved, for whatever exists must be either +bound or free and God can be neither. We cannot think of him as bound +and yet he cannot be free like an emancipated soul, for freedom +implies the absence of desire and hence of the impulse to create. +Similarly[753] the consequences of good and evil deeds are due to +Karma and not to the government of God. Such a ruler is inconceivable, +for if he governs the world according to the action of Karma his +existence is superfluous, and if he is affected by selfish motives or +desire, then he cannot be free. It is true that these passages speak +of there being no proof of God's existence and hence commentators both +Indian and European who shrink from atheism represent the Sankhya as +suspending judgment. But if a republican constitution duly describes +the President and other authorities in whom the powers of government +are vested, can we argue that it is not unmonarchical because it does +not expressly say there is no king? In the Sankhya there is no more +place for a deity than for a king in a republican constitution. +Moreover, the Sutras endeavour to prove that the idea of God is +inconceivable and self-contradictory and some commentaries speak +plainly on this subject.[754] Thus the Sankhya-tattva-kaumudi +commenting on Karika 57 argues that the world cannot have been created +by God, whether we suppose him to have been impelled by selfishness or +kindness. For if God is perfect he can have no need to create a world. +And if his motive is kindness, is it reasonable to call into existence +beings who while non-existent had no suffering, simply in order to +show kindness in relieving them from suffering? A benevolent deity +ought to create only happy creatures, not a mixed world like the one +we see.[755] + +Arguments like this were not condemned by the Brahmans so strongly as +we should expect, but they did not like them and though they did not +excommunicate the Sankhya in the same way as Buddhism, they greatly +preferred a theistic variety of it called Yoga. + +The Yoga and Sankhya are mentioned together in the Svetasvatara +Upanishad,[756] and the Bhagavad-gita[757] says that he sees truly who +sees them as one. The difference lies in treatment rather than in +substance. Whereas the Sankhya is mainly theoretical, the principal +topic of the Yoga is the cultivation of that frame of mind which leads +to emancipation and the methods and exercises proper to this end. +Further, the Yoga recognizes a deity. This distinction may seem of +capital importance but the god of the Yoga (called Isvara or the +Lord) is not its foundation and essence as Brahman is of the +Vedanta.[758] Devotion to God is recognized as one among other methods +for attaining emancipation and if this particular procedure, which is +mentioned in relatively few passages, were omitted, the rest of the +system would be unaffected. It is therefore probable that the theistic +portions of the Yoga are an addition made under Brahmanic influence. +But taking the existing Sutras of the two philosophies, together with +their commentaries, it may be said that the Yoga implies most of the +Sankhya theory and the Sankhya most of the Yoga practice, for though +it does not go into details it prescribes meditation which is to be +perfected by regulating the breathing and by adopting certain +postures. I have already spoken of the methods and discipline +prescribed by the Yoga and need not dwell further on the topic now. + +That Buddhism has some connection with the Sankhya and Yoga has often +been noticed.[759] Some of the ideas found in the Sankhya and some of +the practices prescribed by the Yoga are clearly anterior to Gotama +and may have contributed to his mental development, but circumspection +is necessary in the use of words like Yoga, Sankhya and Vedanta. If +we take them to mean the doctrinal systems contained in certain +sutras, they are clearly all later than Buddhism. But if we assume, as +we may safely do, that the doctrine is much older than the manuals in +which we now study it, we must also remember that when we leave the +texts we are not justified in thinking of a system but merely of a +line of thought. In this sense it is clear that many ideas of the +Sankhya appear among the Jains, but the Jains know nothing of the +evolution of matter described by the Sankhya manuals and think of the +relation of the soul to matter in a more materialistic way. The notion +of the separate eternal soul was the object of the Buddha's persistent +polemics and was apparently a popular doctrine when he began +preaching. The ascetic and meditative exercises prescribed by the Yoga +were also known before his time and the Pitakas do not hide the fact +that he received instruction from two Yogis. But though he was +acquainted with the theories and practices which grew into the Yoga +and Sankhya, he did not found his religion on them for he rejected +the idea of a soul which has to be delivered and did not make +salvation dependent on the attainment of trances. If there was in his +time a systematic Sankhya philosophy explaining the nature of +suffering and the way of release, it is strange that the Pitakas +contain no criticism of it, for though to us who see these ancient +sects in perspective the resemblance of Buddhism to the Sankhya is +clear, there can be little doubt that the Buddha would have regarded +it as a most erroneous heresy, because it proposes to attain the same +objects as his own teaching but by different methods. + +Sankhya ideas are not found in the oldest Upanishads, but they appear +(though not in a connected form) in those of the second stratum, such +as the Svetasvatara and Katha. It therefore seems probable, though +not proven, that the origin of these ideas is to be sought not in the +early Brahmanic schools but in the intellectual atmosphere +non-theistic, non-sacerdotal, but audaciously speculative which +prevailed in the central and eastern part of northern India in the +sixth century B.C. The Sankhya recognizes no merit in sacrifices or +indeed in good works of any kind, even as a preliminary discipline, +and in many details is un-Brahmanic. Unlike the Vedanta Sutras, it +does not exclude Sudras from higher studies, but states that there are +eight classes of gods and five of animals but only one of men. A +teacher must have himself attained emancipation, but there is no +provision that he must be a Brahman. Perhaps the fables and parables +which form the basis of the fourth book of the Sankhya Sutras point +to some more popular form of instruction similar to the discourses of +the Buddha. We may suppose that this ancient un-Brahmanic school took +shape in several sects, especially Jainism and Buddhism, and used the +Yoga discipline. But the value and efficacy of that discipline were +admitted almost universally and several centuries later it was +formulated in the Sutras which bear the name of Patanjali in a shape +acceptable to Brahmans, not to Buddhists. If, as some scholars think, +the Yoga sutras are not earlier than 450 A.D.[760] it seems probable +that it was Buddhism which stimulated the Brahmans to codify the +principles and practice of Yoga, for the Yogacara school of Buddhism +arose before the fifth century. The Sankhya is perhaps a somewhat +similar brahmanization of the purely speculative ideas which may have +prevailed in Magadha and Kosala.[761] Though these districts were not +strongholds of Brahmanism, yet it is clear from the Pitakas that they +contained a considerable Brahman population who must have been +influenced by the ideas current around them but also must have wished +to keep in touch with other Brahmans. The Sankhya of our manuals +represents such an attempt at conciliation. It is an elaboration in a +different shape of some of the ideas out of which Buddhism sprung but +in its later history it is connected with Brahmanism rather than +Buddhism. When it is set forth in Sutras in a succinct and isolated +form, its divergence from ordinary Brahmanic thought is striking and +in this form it does not seem to have ever been influential and now is +professed by only a few Pandits, but, when combined in a literary and +eclectic spirit with other ideas which may be incompatible with it in +strict logic, it has been a mighty influence in Indian religion, +orthodox as well as unorthodox. Such conceptions as Prakriti and the +Gunas colour most of the post-Vedic religious literature. Their +working may be plainly traced in the Mahabharata, Manu and the +Puranas,[762] and the Tantras identify with Prakriti the goddesses +whose worship they teach. The unethical character of the Sankhya +enabled it to form the strangest alliances with aboriginal beliefs. + +Unlike the Sankhya, the Vedanta is seen in its most influential and +perhaps most advantageous aspect when stated in its most abstract +form. We need not enquire into its place of origin for it is clearly +the final intellectual product of the schools which produced the +Upanishads and the literature which preceded them, and though it may +be difficult to say at what point we are justified in applying the +name Vedanta to growing Brahmanic thought, the growth is continuous. +The name means simply End of the Veda. In its ideas the Vedanta shows +great breadth and freedom, yet it respects the prejudices and +proprieties of Brahmanism. It teaches that God is all things, but +interdicts this knowledge to the lower castes: it treats rites as a +merely preliminary discipline, but it does not deny their value for +certain states of life. + +The Vedanta is the boldest and the most characteristic form of Indian +thought. For Asia, and perhaps for the world at large, Buddhism is +more important but on Indian soil it has been vanquished by the +Vedanta, especially that form of it known as the Advaita. In all ages +the main idea of this philosophy has been the same and may be summed +up in the formula that the soul is God and that God is everything. If +this formula is not completely accurate[763]--and a sentence which +both translates and epitomizes alien metaphysics can hardly aspire to +complete accuracy--the error lies in the fact to which I have called +attention elsewhere that our words, God and soul, do not cover quite +the same ground as the Indian words which they are used to translate. + +Many scholars, both Indian and European, will demur to the high place +here assigned to the Advaita philosophy. I am far from claiming that +the doctrine of Sankara is either primitive or unchallenged. Other +forms of the Vedanta existed before him and became very strong after +him. But so far as a synthesis of opinions which are divergent in +details can be just, he gives a just synthesis and elaboration of the +Upanishads. It is true that his teaching as to the higher and lower +Brahman and as to Maya has affinities to Mahayanist Buddhism, and that +later sects were repelled by the severe and impersonal character of +his philosophy, but the doctrine of which he is the most thorough and +eminent exponent, namely that God or spirit is the only reality and +one with the human soul, asserts itself in almost all Hindu sects, +even though their other doctrines may seem to contradict it. + +This line of thought is so persistent and has so many ramifications, +that it is hard to say what is and what is not Vedanta. If we take +literature as our best guide we may distinguish four points of +importance marked by the Upanishads, the Brahma-Sutras, Sankara and +Ramanuja. + +I have said something elsewhere of the Upanishads. These works do not +profess to form a systematic whole (though later Hinduism regards +them as such) and when European scholars speak of them collectively, +they generally mean the older members of the collection. These may +justly be regarded as the ancestors of the Vedanta, inasmuch as the +tone of thought prevalent in them is incipient Vedantism. It rejects +dualism and regards the universe as a unity not as plurality, as +something which has issued from Brahman or is pervaded by Brahman and +in any case depends on Brahman for its significance and existence. +Brahman is God in the pantheistic sense, totally disconnected with +mythology and in most passages impersonal. The knowledge of Brahman is +salvation: he who has it, goes to Brahman or becomes Brahman. More +rarely we find statements of absolute identity such as "Being Brahman, +he goes to Brahman."[764] But though the Upanishads say that the soul +goes to or is Brahman, that the world comes from or is Brahman, that +the soul is the whole universe and that a knowledge of these truths is +the one thing of importance, these ideas are not combined into a +system. They are simply the thoughts of the wise, not always agreeing +in detail, and presented as independent utterances, each with its own +value. + +One of the most important of these wise men is Yajnavalkya,[765] the +hero of the Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad and a great name, to whom are +ascribed doctrines of which he probably never heard. The Upanishad +represents him as developing and completing the views of Sandilya +and Uddalaka Aruni. The former taught[766] that the Atman or Self +within the heart, smaller than a grain of mustard seed, is also +greater than all worlds. The brief exposition of his doctrine which we +possess starts from and emphasizes the human self. This self is +Brahman. The doctrine of Uddalaka[767] takes the other side of the +equation: he starts with Brahman and then asserts that Brahman is the +soul. But though he teaches that in the beginning there was one only +without a second, yet he seems to regard the subsequent products of +this Being as external to it and permeated by it. But to Yajnavalkya +is ascribed an important modification of these doctrines, namely, that +the Atman is unknowable and transcendental.[768] It is unknowable +because since it is essentially the knowing subject it can be known +only by itself: it can never become the object of knowledge and +language is inadequate to describe it. All that can be said of it is +_neti_, _neti_, that is no, no: it is not anything which we try to +predicate of it. But he who knows that the individual soul is the +Atman, becomes Atman; being it, he knows it and knows all the world: +he perceives that in all the world there is no plurality. Here the +later doctrine of Maya is adumbrated, though not formulated. Any +system which holds that in reality there is no plurality or, like some +forms of Mahayanist Buddhism, that nothing really exists implies the +operation of this Maya or illusion which makes us see the world as it +appears to us. It may be thought of as mere ignorance, as a failure to +see the universe as it really is: but no doubt the later view of Maya +as a creative energy which fashions the world of phenomena is closely +connected with the half-mythological conceptions found in the +Pancaratra and Saiva philosophy which regard this creative illusion as +a female force--a goddess in fact--inseparably associated with the +deity. + +The philosophy of the Upanishads, like all religious thought in India, +is avowedly a quest of happiness and this happiness is found in some +form of union with Brahman. He is perfect bliss, and whatever is +distinct from him is full of suffering.[769] But this sense of the +suffering inherent in existence is less marked in the older Upanishads +and in the Vedanta than in Buddhism and the Sankhya. Those systems +make it their basis and first principle: in the Vedanta the +temperament is the same but the emphasis and direction of the thought +are different. The Sankhya looks at the world and says that salvation +lies in escape into something which has nothing in common with it. But +the Vedantist looks towards Brahman, and his pessimism is merely the +feeling that everything which is not wholly and really Brahman is +unsatisfactory. In the later developments of the system, pessimism +almost disappears, for the existence of suffering is not the first +Truth but an illusion: the soul, did it but know it, is Brahman and +Brahman is bliss. So far as the Vedanta has any definite practical +teaching, it does not wholly despise action. Action is indeed inferior +to knowledge and when knowledge is once obtained works are useless +accessories, but the four stages of a Brahman's career, including +household life, are approved in the Vedanta Sutras, though there is a +disposition to say that he who has the necessary religious aptitudes +can adopt the ascetic life at any time. The occupations of this +ascetic life are meditation and absorption or samadhi, the state in +which the meditating soul becomes so completely blended with God on +whom it meditates, that it has no consciousness of its separate +existence.[770] + +As indicated above the so-called books of Sruti or Vedic literature +are not consecutive treatises, but rather _responsa prudentium_, +utterances respecting ritual and theology ascribed to poets, +sacrificers and philosophers who were accepted as authorities. When +these works came to be regarded as an orderly revelation, even +orthodoxy could not shut its eyes to their divergences, and a +comprehensive exegesis became necessary to give a conspectus of the +whole body of truth. This investigation of the meaning of the Veda as +a connected whole is called Mimamsa, and is divided into two +branches, the earlier (purva) and the later (uttara). The first is +represented by the Purva-mimamsa-sutras of Jaimini[771] which are +called earlier (purva) not in the chronological sense but because they +deal with rites which come before knowledge, as a preparatory stage. +It is interesting to find that Jaimini was accused of atheism and +defended by Kumarila Bhatta. The defence is probably just, for +Jaimini does not so much deny God as ignore him. But what is truly +extraordinary, though characteristic of much Indian literature about +ritual, is that a work dealing with the general theory of religious +worship should treat the deity as an irrelevant topic. The +Purva-mimamsa discusses ceremonies prescribed by an eternal +self-existing Veda. The reward of sacrifice is not given by God. When +the result of an act does not appear at once, Jaimini teaches that +there is all the same produced a supersensuous principle called +_apurva_, which bears fruit at a later time, and thus a sacrifice +leads the offerer to heaven. This theory is really tantamount to +placing magic on a philosophic basis. + +Badarayana's sutras, which represent the other branch of the +Mimamsa, show a type of thought more advanced and profound than +Jaimini's. They consist of 555 aphorisms--less than a fifth of +Jaimini's voluminous work--and represent the outcome of considerable +discussion posterior to the Upanishads, for they cite the opinions of +seven other teachers and also refer to Badarayana himself by name. +Hence they may be a compendium of his teaching made by his pupils. +Their date is unknown but Sankara evidently regards them as ancient +and there were several commentators before him.[772] Like most sutras +these aphorisms are often obscure and are hardly intended to be more +than a mnemotechnic summary of the doctrine, to be supplemented by +oral instruction or a commentary. Hence it is difficult to define the +teaching of Badarayana as distinguished from that of the Upanishads +on the one hand, and that of his commentators on the other, or to say +exactly what stage he marks in the development of thought, except that +it is the stage of attempted synthesis.[773] He teaches that Brahman +is the origin of the world and that with him should all knowledge, +religion and effort be concerned. By meditation on him, the soul is +released and somehow associated with him. But it is not clear that we +have any warrant for finding in the sutras (as does Sankara) the +distinction between the higher and lower Brahman, or the doctrine of +the unreality of the world (Maya) or the absolute identity of the +individual soul with Brahman. We are told that the state of the +released soul is non-separation (avibhaga) from Brahman, but this is +variously explained by the commentators according to their views. +Though the sutras are the acknowledged text-book of Vedantism, their +utterances are in practice less important than subsequent explanations +of them. As often happens in India, the comment has overgrown and +superseded the text. + +The most important of these commentators is Sankaracarya.[774] Had he +been a European philosopher anxious that his ideas should bear his +name, or a reformer like the Buddha with little respect for antiquity, +he would doubtless have taken his place in history as one of the most +original teachers of Asia. But since his whole object was to revive +the traditions of the past and suppress his originality by attempting +to prove that his ideas are those of Badarayana and the Upanishads, +the magnitude of his contribution to Indian thought is often +under-rated. We need not suppose that he was the inventor of all the +ideas in his works of which we find no previous expression. He +doubtless (like the Buddha) summarized and stereotyped an existing +mode of thought but his summary bears the unmistakeable mark of his +own personality. + +Sankara's teaching is known as Advaita or absolute monism. Nothing +exists except the one existence called Brahman or Paramatman, the +Highest Self. Brahman is pure being and thought (the two being +regarded as identical), without qualities. Brahman is not intelligent +but is intelligence itself. The human soul (jiva) is identical with +the Highest Self, not merely as a part of it, but as being itself the +whole universal indivisible Brahman. This must not be misunderstood as +a blasphemous assertion that man is equal to God. The soul is +identical with Brahman only in so far as it forgets its separate human +existence, and all that we call self and individuality. A man who has +any pride in himself is _ipso facto_ differentiated from Brahman as +much as is possible. Yet in the world in which we move we see not only +differentiation and multiplicity but also a plurality of individual +souls apparently distinct from one another and from Brahman. This +appearance is due to the principle of Maya which is associated with +Brahman and is the cause of the phenomenal world. If Maya is +translated by illusion it must be remembered that its meaning is not +so much that the world and individual existences are illusory in the +strict sense of the word, as phenomenal. The only true reality is +self-conscious thought without an object. When the mind attains to +that, it ceases to be human and individual: it _is_ Brahman. But +whenever it thinks of particular objects neither the thoughts nor the +objects of the thoughts are real in the same sense. They are +appearances, phenomena. This universe of phenomena includes not only +all our emotions and all our perceptions of the external world, but +also what might be supposed to be the deepest truths of religion, such +as the personality of the Creator and the wanderings of the soul in +the maze of transmigration. In the same sense that we suffer pain and +pleasure, it is true that there is a personal God (Isvara) who emits +and reabsorbs the world at regular intervals, and that the soul is a +limited existence passing from body to body. In this sense the soul, +as in the Sankhya philosophy, is surrounded by the _upadhis_, certain +limiting conditions or disguises, which form a permanent psychical +equipment with which it remains invested in all its innumerable +bodies. But though these doctrines may be true for those who are in +the world, for those souls who are agents, enjoyers and sufferers, +they cease to be true for the soul which takes the path of knowledge +and sees its own identity with Brahman. It is by this means only that +emancipation is attained, for good works bring a reward in kind, and +hence inevitably lead to new embodiments, new creations of Maya. And +even in knowledge we must distinguish between the knowledge of the +lower Brahman or personal Deity (Isvara) and of the higher +indescribable Brahman.[775] For the orthodox Hindu this distinction is +of great importance, for it enables him to reconcile passages in the +scriptures which otherwise are contradictory. Worship and meditation +which make Isvara their object do not lead directly to emancipation. +They lead to the heavenly world of Isvara, in which the soul, though +glorified, is still a separate individual existence. But for him who +meditates on the Highest Brahman and knows that his true self is that +Brahman, Maya and its works cease to exist. When he dies nothing +differentiates him from that Brahman who alone is bliss and no new +individual existence arises. + +The crux of this doctrine is in the theory of Maya. If Maya appertains +to Brahman, if it exists by his will, then why is it an evil, why is +release to be desired? Ought not the individual souls to serve +Brahman's purpose, and would not it be better served by living gladly +in the phenomenal world than by passing beyond it? But such an idea +has rarely satisfied Indian thinkers. If, on the other hand, Maya is +an evil or at least an imperfection, if it is like rust on a blade or +dimness in a mirror, if, so to speak, the edges of Brahman are weak +and break into fragments which are prevented by their own feebleness +from realizing the unity of the whole, then the mind wonders uneasily +if, in spite of all assurances to the contrary, this does not imply +that Brahman is subject to some external law, to some even more +mysterious Beyond. But Sankara and the Brahma-sutras will not +tolerate such doubts. According to them, Brahman in making the world +is not actuated by a motive in the ordinary sense, for that would +imply human action and passion, but by a sportive impulse:[776] "We +see in every-day life," says Sankara, "that certain doings of +princes, who have no desires left unfulfilled, have no reference to +any extraneous purpose but proceed from mere sportfulness. We further +see that the process of inhalation and exhalation is going on without +reference to any extraneous purpose, merely following the law of its +own nature. Analogously, the activity of the Lord also may be supposed +to be mere sport, proceeding from his own nature without reference to +any purpose."[777] This is no worse than many other explanations of +the scheme of things and the origin of evil but it is not really an +explanation. It means that the Advaita is so engrossed in ecstatic +contemplation of the omnipresent Brahman that it pays no attention to +a mere by-product like the physical universe. How or why that universe +with all its imperfections comes to exist, it does not explain. + +Yet the boldness and ample sweep of Sankara's thought have in them +something greater than logic,[778] something recalling the grandeur of +plains and seas limited only by the horizon, nay rather those abysses +of space wherein on clear nights worlds and suns innumerable are +scattered like sparks by what he would call God's playfulness. +European thought attains to these altitudes but cannot live in them +for long: it demands and fancies for itself just what Sankara will +not grant, the motive of Brahman, the idea that he is working for some +consummation, not that he was, is and will be eternally complete, +unaffected by the drama of the universe and yet identical with souls +that know him. + +Even in India the austere and impersonal character of Sankara's +system provoked dissent: He was accused of being a Buddhist in +disguise and the accusation raises an interesting question[779] in the +history of Indian philosophy to which I have referred in a previous +chapter. The affinity existing between the Madhyamika form of Buddhist +metaphysics and the earlier Vedanta can hardly be disputed and the +only question is which borrowed from the other. Such questions are +exceedingly difficult to decide, for from time to time new ideas arose +in India, permeated the common intellectual atmosphere, and were +worked up by all sects into the forms that suited each best. In the +present instance all that can be said is that certain ideas about the +unreality of the world and about absolute and relative truth appear in +several treatises both Brahmanic and Buddhist, such as the works of +Sankara and Nagarjuna and the Gauda-padakarikas, and of these the +works attributed to Nagarjuna seem to be the oldest. It must also be +remembered that according to Chinese accounts Bodhidharma preached at +Nanking in 520 a doctrine very similar to the _advaita_ of Sankara +though expressed in Buddhist phraseology. + +Of other forms of Vedantism, the best known is the system of Ramanuja +generally called Visishtadvaita.[780] It is an evidence of the +position held by the Vedanta philosophy that religious leaders made a +commentary on the Sutras of Badarayana the vehicle of their most +important views. Unlike Sankara, Ramanuja is sectarian and identifies +his supreme deity with Vishnu or Narayana, but this is little more +than a matter of nomenclature. His interpretation is modern in the +sense that it pursues the line of thought which leads up to the modern +sects. But that line of thought has ancient roots. Ramanuja followed a +commentator named Bodhayana who was anterior to Sankara, and in the +opinion of so competent a judge as Thibaut he gives the meaning of +Badarayana in many points more exactly than his great rival. On the +other hand his interpretation often strains the most important +utterances of the Upanishads. + +Ramanuja admits no distinction between Brahman and Isvara, but the +distinction is abolished at the expense of abolishing the idea of the +Higher Brahman, for his Brahman is practically the Isvara of Sankara. +Brahman is not without attributes but possessed of all imaginable good +attributes, and though nothing exists apart from him, like the +antithesis of _Purusha_ and _Prakriti_ in the Sankhya, yet the world +is not as in Sankara's system merely Maya. Matter and souls (_cit_ +and _acit_) form the body of Brahman who both comprises and pervades +all things, which are merely modes of his existence.[781] He is the +inner ruler (antaryamin) who is in all elements and all human +souls.[782] The texts which speak of Brahman as being one only without +a second are explained as referring to the state of pralaya or +absorption which occurs at the end of each Kalpa. At the conclusion of +the period of pralaya he re-emits the world and individual souls by an +act of volition and the souls begin the round of transmigration. +Salvation or release from this round is obtained not by good works but +by knowledge and meditation on the Lord assisted by his grace. The +released soul is not identified with the Lord but enjoys near him a +personal existence of eternal bliss and peace. This is more like +European theism than the other doctrines which we have been +considering. The difference is that God is not regarded as the creator +of matter and souls. Matter and souls consist of his substance. But +for all that he is a personal deity who can be loved and worshipped +and whereas Sankara was a religious philosopher, Ramanuja was rather +a philosophic theologian and founder of a church. I have already +spoken of his activity in this sphere. + + + +4 + + +The epics and Puranas contain philosophical discussions of +considerable length which make little attempt at consistency. Yet the +line of thought in them all is the same. The chief tenets of the +theistic Sankhya-Yoga are assumed: matter, soul and God are separate +existences: the soul wishes to move towards God and away from matter. +Yet when Indian writers glorify the deity they rarely abstain from +identifying him with the universe. In the Bhagavad-gita and other +philosophical cantos of the Mahabharata the contradiction is +usually left without an attempt at solution. Thus it is stated +categorically[783] that the world consists of the perishable and +imperishable, _i.e._, matter and soul, but that the supreme spirit is +distinct from both. Yet in the same poem we pass from this antithesis +to the monism which declares that the deity is all things and "the +self seated in the heart of man." We have then attained the Vedantist +point of view. Nearly all the modern sects, whether Sivaite or +Vishnuite, admit the same contradiction into their teaching, for they +reject both the atheism of the Sankhya and the immaterialism of the +Advaita (since it is impossible for a practical religion to deny the +existence of either God or the world), while the irresistible tendency +of Indian thought makes them describe their deity in pantheistic +language. All strive to find some metaphysical or theological formula +which will reconcile these discrepant ideas, and nearly all Vishnuites +profess some special variety of the Vedanta called by such names as +Visishtadvaita, Dvaitadvaita, Suddhadvaita and so on. They differ +chiefly in their definition of the relation existing between the soul +and God. Only the Madhvas entirely discard monism and profess duality +(Dvaita) and even Madhva thought it necessary to write a commentary on +the Brahma-sutras to prove that they support his doctrine and the +Sivaites too have a commentator, Nilakantha, who interprets them in +harmony with the Saiva Siddhanta. There is also a modern commentary +by Somanaradittyar which expounds this much twisted text agreeably to +the doctrines of the Lingayat sect. + +In most fundamental principles the Sivaite and Saktist schools agree +with the Visishtadvaita but their nomenclature is different and their +scope is theological rather than philosophical. In all of them are +felt the two tendencies, one wishing to distinguish God, soul and +matter and to adjust their relations for the purposes of practical +religion, the other holding more or less that God is all or at least +that all things come from God and return to him. But there is one +difference between the schools of sectarian philosophy and the Advaita +of Sankara which goes to the root of the matter. Sankara holds that +the world and individual existences are due to illusion, ignorance and +misconception: they vanish in the light of true knowledge. Other +schools, while agreeing that in some sense God is all, yet hold that +the universe is not an illusion or false presentment of him but a +process of manifestation or of evolution starting from him.[784] It is +not precisely evolution in the European sense, but rather a rhythmic +movement, of duration and extent inexpressible in figures, in which +the Supreme Spirit alternately emits and reabsorbs the universe. As a +rule the higher religious life aims at some form of union or close +association with the deity, beyond the sphere of this process. In the +evolutionary process the Vaishnavas interpolate between the Supreme +Spirit and the phenomenal world the phases of conditioned spirit known +as Sankarshana, etc.; in the same way the Sivaite schools increase +the twenty-four _tattvas_ of the Sankhya to thirty-six.[785] The first +of these _tattvas_ or principles is Siva, corresponding to the highest +Brahman. The next phase is Sadasiva in which differentiation commences +owing to the movement of Sakti, the active or female principle. Siva +in this phase is thought of as having a body composed of _mantras_. +Sakti, also known as Bindu or Suddhamaya, is sometimes regarded as a +separate _tattva_ but more generally as inseparably united with Siva. +The third _tattva_ is Isvara, or Siva in the form of a lord or +personal deity, and the fourth is Suddhavidya or true knowledge, +explained as the principle of correlation between the experiencer and +that which is experienced. It is only after these that we come to +Maya, meaning not so much illusion as the substratum in which Karma +inheres or the protoplasm from which all things grow. Between Maya and +Purusha come five more _tattvas_, called envelopes. Their effect is to +enclose and limit, thus turning the divine spirit into a human soul. + +Saktist accounts of the evolutionary process give greater prominence +to the part played by Sakti and are usually metaphysiological, if the +word may be pardoned, inasmuch as they regard the cosmic process as +the growth of an embryo, an idea which is as old as the Vedas.[786] It +is impossible to describe even in outline these manifold cosmologies +but they generally speak of Sakti, who in one sense is identical with +Siva and merely his active form but in another sense is identified +with Prakriti, coming into contact with the form of Siva called +Prakasa or light and then solidifying into a drop (Bindu) or germ +which divides. At some point in this process arise Nada or sound, and +Sabda-brahman, the sound-Brahman, which manifests itself in various +energies and assumes in the human body the form of the mysterious +coiled force called Kundalini.[787] Some of the older Vishnuite +writings use similar language of Sakti, under the name of Lakshmi, but +in the Visishtadvaita of Ramanuja and subsequent teachers there is +little disposition to dwell on any feminine energy in discussing the +process of evolution. + +Of all the Darsanas the most extraordinary is that called Rasesvara +or the mercurial system.[788] According to it quicksilver, if eaten or +otherwise applied, not only preserves the body from decay but delivers +from transmigration the soul which inhabits this glorified body. +Quicksilver is even asserted to be identical with the supreme self. +This curious Darsana is represented as revealed by Siva to Sakti and +it is only an extreme example of the tantric doctrine that spiritual +results can be obtained by physical means. The practice of taking +mercury to secure health and long life must have been prevalent in +medieval India for it is mentioned by both Marco Polo and +Bernier.[789] + + +5 + + +A people among whom the Vedanta could obtain a large following must +have been prone to think little of the things which we see compared +with the unseen of which they are the manifestation. It is, therefore, +not surprising if materialism met with small sympathy or success among +them. In India the extravagances of asceticism and of mystic +sensualism alike find devotees, but the simple philosophy of Let us +eat and drink for to-morrow we die, does not commend itself. +Nevertheless it is not wholly absent and was known as the doctrine of +Brihaspati. Those who professed it were also called Carvakas and +Lokayatikas.[790] Brihaspati was the preceptor of the gods and his +connection with this sensualistic philosophy goes back to a legend +found in the Upanishads[791] that he taught the demons false knowledge +whose "reward lasts only as long as the pleasure lasts" in order to +compass their destruction. This is similar to the legend found in the +Puranas that Vishnu became incarnate as Buddha in order to lead +astray the Daityas. But though such words as Carvaka and Nastika are +used in later literature as terms of learned abuse, the former seems +to denote a definite school, although we cannot connect its history +with dates, places or personalities. The Carvakas are the first system +examined in the Sarva-darsana-sangraha, which is written from the +Vedantist standpoint, and beginning from the worst systems of +philosophy ascends to those which are relatively correct. This account +contains most of what we know about their doctrines,[792] but is +obviously biassed: it represents them as cynical voluptuaries holding +that the only end of man is sensual enjoyment. We are told that they +admitted only one source of knowledge, namely perception, and four +elements, earth, water, fire and air, and that they held the soul to +be identical with the body. Such a phrase as _my body_ they considered +to be metaphorical, as apart from the body there was no ego who owned +it. The soul was supposed to be a physical product of the four +elements, just as sugar combined with a ferment and other ingredients +produces an intoxicating liquor. Among verses described as "said by +Brihaspati" occur the following remarkable lines: + + "There is no heaven, no liberation, nor any soul in another world, + Nor do the acts of the asramas or castes produce any reward. + If the animal slain in the Jyotishtoma sacrifice will go to heaven, + Why does not the sacrificer immolate his own father? + While life remains let a man live happily: let him feed on butter even + if he runs into debt. + When once the body becomes ashes, how can it ever return?" + +The author of the Dabistan, who lived in the seventeenth century, also +mentions the Carvakas in somewhat similar terms.[793] + +Brahmanical authors often couple the Carvakas and Buddhists. This +lumping together of offensively heretical sects may be merely +theological animus, but still it is possible that there may be a +connection between the Carvakas and the extreme forms of Mahayanist +nihilism. Schrader[794] in analysing a singular work, called the +Svasamvedyopanishad, says it is "inspired by the Mahayanist doctrine +of vacuity (_sunya-vada_) and proclaims a most radical agnosticism by +asserting in four chapters (_a_) that there is no reincarnation +(existence being bubble-like), no God, no world: that all traditional +literature (_Sruti_ and _Smriti_) is the work of conceited fools; +(_b_) that Time the destroyer and Nature the originator are the +rulers of all existence and not good and bad deeds, and that there is +neither hell nor heaven; (_c_) that people deluded by flowery speech +cling to gods, sacred places, teachers, though there is in reality no +difference at all between Vishnu and a dog; (_d_) that though all +words are untrue and all ideas mere illusions, yet liberation is +possible by a thorough realization of _Bhavadvaita_." But for this +rather sudden concession to Hindu sentiment, namely that deliverance +is possible, this doctrine resembles the tenets attributed to the +Carvakas. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 736: In the Sarva-darsana-sangraha, the best known +compendium of Indian philosophy.] + +[Footnote 737: J.C. Chatterji's definition of Indian philosophy (in +his _Indian Realism_, p. 1) is interesting. "By Hindu philosophy I +mean that branch of the ancient learning of the Hindus which +demonstrates by reasoning propositions with regard to (_a_) what a man +ought to do in order to gain true happiness ... or (_b_) what he ought +to realize by direct experience in order to be radically and +absolutely freed from suffering and to be absolutely independent, such +propositions being already given and lines of reasoning in their +support being established by duly qualified authorities."] + +[Footnote 738: See Chatterji's work above cited.] + +[Footnote 739: It is this idea which disposes educated Hindus to +believe in the magical or sacramental power of mystic syllables and +letters, though the use of such spells seems to Europeans incredible +folly.] + +[Footnote 740: See especially Garbe, _Die Sankhya Philosophie_, 1894; +and Keith, _The Sankhya System_, 1919, which however reached me too +late for me to make any use of it.] + +[Footnote 741: _E.g._ in the Bhagavad-gita and Svetasvatara Upanishads. +According to tradition Kapila taught Asuri and he, Pancasikha, who +made the system celebrated. Garbe thinks Pancasikha may be assigned to +the first century A.D.] + +[Footnote 742: This appears to be the real title of the Sutras edited +and translated by Ballantyne as "The Sankhya Aphorisms of Kapila."] + +[Footnote 743: Or topics. It is difficult to find any one English word +which covers the twenty-five tattvas, for they include both general +and special ideas, mind and matter on the one hand; special organs on +the other.] + +[Footnote 744: Sankh. Pravac. I. 96.] + +[Footnote 745: Garbe, _Die Sankhya Philosophie_, p. 222. He considers +that it spread thence to other schools. This involves the assumption +that the Sankhya is prior to Buddhism and Jainism.] + +[Footnote 746: Ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose.] + +[Footnote 747: Voice, hands, feet, organs of excretion and +generation.] + +[Footnote 748: Verse 40.] + +[Footnote 749: Cf. the Buddhist Sankharas.] + +[Footnote 750: Sankh. Kar. 62.] + +[Footnote 751: Sankh. Kar. 59-61.] + +[Footnote 752: Sankh. Pravac. I. 92-95.] + +[Footnote 753: Sankh. Pravac. V. 2-12.] + +[Footnote 754: Thus Sankh. Pravac. V. 46, says Tatkartuh +purushasyabhavat and the commentary explains Isvara-pratishedhad iti +seshah "supply the words, because we deny that there is a supreme +God."] + +[Footnote 755: Nevertheless the commentator Vijnana-Bhikshu +(c. 1500) tries to explain away this atheism and to reconcile +the Sankhya with the Vedanta. See Garbe's preface to his edition +of the Sankhya-pravacana-bhashya.] + +[Footnote 756: VI. 13.] + +[Footnote 757: V. 5.] + +[Footnote 758: Isvara is apparently a purusha like others but greater +in glory and untouched by human infirmities. Yoga sutras, I. 24-26.] + +[Footnote 759: It is a singular fact that both the +Sankhya-karika-bhashya and a treatise on the Vaiseshika philosophy +are included in the Chinese Tripitaka (Nanjio, Cat. Nos. 1300 and +1295). A warning is however added that they are not "the law of the +Buddha."] + +[Footnote 760: See Jacobi, _J.A.O.S._ Dec. 1910, p. 24. But if +Vasubandhu lived about 280-360, as is now generally believed, +allusions to the Yogacara school in the Yoga sutras do not oblige us +to place the sutras much later than 300 A.D. since the Yogacara was +founded by Asanga, the brother of Vasubandhu.] + +[Footnote 761: I find it hard to accept Deussen's view (_Philosophy of +the Upanishads_, chap. X) that the Sankhya has grown out of the +Vedanta.] + +[Footnote 762: See _e.g._ Vishnu Purana, I. chaps. 2, 4, 5. The +Bhagavad-gita, though almost the New Testament of Vedantists, uses the +words Sankhya and Yoga in several passages as meaning speculative +truth and the religious life and is concerned to show that they are +the same. See II. 39; III. 3; V. 4, 5.] + +[Footnote 763: It is perhaps hardly necessary to add that there has +been endless discussion as to the sense and manner in which the soul +is God.] + +[Footnote 764: Brihad Aran. IV. 4. 6; _Ib._ I. iv. 10. "I am +Brahman."] + +[Footnote 765: See above Book II. chaps. V and VI.] + +[Footnote 766: Chand. Up. III. 14.] + +[Footnote 767: Chand. Up. VI.] + +[Footnote 768: See Deussen, _Philosophy of the Upanishads._] + +[Footnote 769: Ato'nyad artam. Brihad Ar. III. several times.] + +[Footnote 770: Maitrayana. Brah. Upanishad, VI. 20. "Having seen his +own self as The Self he becomes selfless, and because he is selfless +he is without limit, without cause, absorbed in thought."] + +[Footnote 771: There is nothing to fix the date of this work except +that Kumarila in commenting on it in the eighth century treats it as +old and authoritative. It was perhaps composed in the early Gupta +period.] + +[Footnote 772: Keith in _J.R.A.S._ 1907, p. 492 says it is becoming +more and more probable that Badarayana cannot be dated after the +Christian era. Jacobi in _J.A.O.S._ 1911, p. 29 concludes that the +Brahma-sutras were composed between 200 and 450 A.D.] + +[Footnote 773: Such attempts must have begun early. The Maitrayana +Upanishad (II. 3) talks of Sarvopanishadvidya, the science of all the +Upanishads.] + +[Footnote 774: See above, p. 207 ff.] + +[Footnote 775: The same distinction occurs in the works of Meister +Eckhart ({~DAGGER~} 1327 A.D.) who in many ways approximates to Indian thought, +both Buddhist and Vedantist. He makes a distinction between the +Godhead and God. The Godhead is the revealer but unrevealed: it is +described as "wordless" (Yajnavalkya's _neti_, _neti_), "the nameless +nothing," "the immoveable rest." But God is the manifestation of the +Godhead, the uttered word. "All that is in the Godhead is one. +Therefore we can say nothing. He is above all names, above all nature. +God works, so doeth not the Godhead. Therein are they distinguished, +in working and in not working. The end of all things is the hidden +darkness of the eternal Godhead, unknown and never to be known." +(Quoted by Rufus Jones, _Studies in Mystical Religion_, p. 225.) It +may be doubted if Sankara's distinction between the Higher and Lower +Brahman is to be found in the Upanishads but it is probably the best +means of harmonizing the discrepancies in those works which Indian +theologians feel bound to explain away.] + +[Footnote 776: Vedanta sutras, II. 1. 32-3, and Sankara's commentary, +_S.B.E._ vol. XXXIV. pp. 356-7. Ramanuja holds a similar view and it +is very common in India, _e.g._ Vishnu Pur. I. chap. 2.] + +[Footnote 777: See too a remarkable passage in his comment on +Brahma-sutras, II. 1. 23. "As soon as the consciousness of +non-difference arises in us, the transmigratory state of the +individual soul and the creative quality of Brahman vanish at once, +the whole phenomenon of plurality which springs from wrong knowledge +being sublated by perfect knowledge and what becomes then of the +creation and the faults of not doing what is beneficial and the +like?"] + +[Footnote 778: Although Sankara's commentary is a piece of severe +ratiocination, especially in its controversial parts, yet he holds +that the knowledge of Brahman depends not on reasoning but on +scripture and intuition. "The presentation before the mind of the +Highest Self is effected by meditation and devotion." Brah. Sut. III. +2. 24. See too his comments on I. 1. 2 and II. 1. 11.] + +[Footnote 779: See Sukhtankar, _Teachings of Vedanta according to +Ramanuja_, pp. 17-19. Walleser, _Der aeltere Vedanta_, and De la +Vallee Poussin in _J.R.A.S._ 1910, p. 129.] + +[Footnote 780: This term is generally rendered by qualified, that is +not absolute, Monism. But South Indian scholars give a slightly +different explanation and maintain that it is equivalent to +_Visishtayor advaitam_ or the identity of the two qualified +(_visishta_) conditions of Brahman. Brahman is qualified by _cit_ and +_acit_, souls and matter, which stand to him in the relation of +attributes. The two conditions are _Karyavastha_ or period of cosmic +manifestation in which _cit_ and _acit_ are manifest and +_Karanavastha_ or period of cosmic dissolution, when they exist only +in a subtle state within Brahman. These two conditions are not +different (_advaitam_). See Srinivas Iyengar, _J.R.A.S._ 1912, p. 1073 +and also _Sri Ramanujacarya: His Philosophy_ by Rajagopalacharyar.] + +[Footnote 781: Compare the phrase of Keats in a letter quoted by +Bosanquet, _Gifford Lectures for 1912_, p. 66. "As various as the +lives of men are, so various become their souls and thus does God make +individual beings, souls, identical souls of the sparks of his own +essence."] + +[Footnote 782: This tenet is justified by Brihad Aran. Up. III. 3 ff. +which is a great text for Ramanuja's school. "He who dwells in the +earth (water, etc.) and within the earth (or, is different from the +earth) whom the earth knows not, whose body the earth is, who rules +the earth within, he is thyself, the ruler within, the immortal."] + +[Footnote 783: Bhag.-gita, XV. 16, 17.] + +[Footnote 784: The two doctrines are called _Vivartavada_ and +_Parinamavada._] + +[Footnote 785: These are only the more subtle _tattvas_. There are +also 60 gross ones. See for the whole subject Schomerus Der +Caiva-Siddhanta, p. 129.] + +[Footnote 786: It also finds expression in myths about the division of +the deity into male and female halves, the cosmic egg, etc., which are +found in all strata of Indian literature.] + +[Footnote 787: An account of tantric cosmology can be found in Avalon, +_Mahan. Tantra_, pp xix-xxxi. See also Avalon, _Prapancasara Tantra_, +pp. 5 ff.; Srinivasa Iyengar, _Indian Philosophy_, pp. 143 and 295 +ff.; Bhandarkar, _Vaishn. and Saivism_, pp. 145 ff.] + +[Footnote 788: Sarva-darsana-sangraha, chap. IX. For this doctrine in +China see Wieger _Histoire des Croyances religieuses en Chine_, p. +411.] + +[Footnote 789: See Yule's _Marco Polo_, II. pp. 365, 369.] + +[Footnote 790: See Rhys Davids' note in his _Dialogues of the Buddha +on Digha Nikaya_, Sutta V. pp. 166 ff. He seems to show that Lokayata +meant originally natural philosophy as a part of a Brahman's education +and only gradually acquired a bad meaning. The Arthasastra also +recommends the Sankhya, Yoga and Lokayata systems.] + +[Footnote 791: Maitr. Up. VII. 8.] + +[Footnote 792: See also Suali in _Museon_, 1908, pp. 277 ff. and the +article Materialism (Indian) in _E.R.E._ For another instance of +ancient materialism see the views of Payasi set forth in Dig. Nik. +XXIII. The Brihad Ar. Up. III. 2. 13 implies that the idea of body +and spirit being disintegrated at death was known though perhaps not +relished.] + +[Footnote 793: Translation by Shea and Troyer, vol. II. pp. 201-2.] + +[Footnote 794: _Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Adyar Library_, 1908, pp. +300-1.] + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Hinduism And Buddhism, Volume II. 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