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BUDDHISM, IN ITS CONNEXION WITH BRĀHMANISM AND HINDŪISM, AND IN ITS CONTRAST WITH CHRISTIANITY,
BUDDHISM, IN ITS CONNEXION WITH BRĀHMANISM AND HINDŪISM, AND IN ITS CONTRAST WITH CHRISTIANITY,
BY SIR MONIER MONIER-WILLIAMS, K.C.I.E., M.A., HON. D.C.L. OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, HON. LL.D. OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA, HON. PH.D. OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GÖTTINGEN, HON. MEMBER OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETIES OF BENGAL AND BOMBAY, AND OF THE ORIENTAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETIES OF AMERICA, BODEN PROFESSOR OF SANSKṚIT, AND LATE FELLOW OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD, ETC. NEW YORK: MACMILLAN AND CO. 1889. [ All rights reserved. ] NEW YORK: MACMILLAN AND CO. 1889. [ All rights reserved. ]...
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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
The ‘Duff Lectures’ for 1888 were delivered by me at Edinburgh in the month of March. In introducing my subject, I spoke to the following effect:— ‘I wish to express my deep sense of the responsibility which the writing of these Lectures has laid upon me, and my earnest desire that they may, by their usefulness, prove in some degree worthy of the great missionary whose name they bear. ‘Dr. Duff was a man of power, who left his own foot-print so deeply impressed on the soil of Bengal, that its tr
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POSTSCRIPT.
POSTSCRIPT.
Since writing the foregoing prefatory remarks, I have observed with much concern that a prevalent error, in regard to Buddhism, is still persistently propagated. It is categorically stated in a newspaper report of a quite recent lecture, that out of the world’s population of about 1500 millions at least 500 millions are Buddhists, and that Buddhism numbers more adherents than any other religion on the surface of the globe. Almost every European writer on Buddhism, of late years, has assisted in
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RULES FOR PRONUNCIATION.
RULES FOR PRONUNCIATION.
VOWELS. A , a , pronounced as in rur a l, or the last a in Americ a ; Ā , ā , as in t a r, f a ther; I , i , as in f i ll; Ī , ī , as in pol i ce; U , u , as in b u ll; Ū , ū , as in r u de; Ṛi , ṛi , as in mer ri ly; Ṛī , ṛī , as in ma ri ne; E , e , as in pr e y; Ai , ai , as in ai sle; O , o , as in g o ; Au , au , as in H au s (pronounced as in German). CONSONANTS. K , k , pronounced as in k ill, see k ; Kh , kh , as in in kh orn; G , g ,...
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OBSERVE.
OBSERVE.
It is common to hear English-speakers mispronounce the words Buddha and Buddhism. But any one who studies the rules on the preceding page will see that the u in Bud dha, must not be pronounced like the u in the English word ‘ bud ,’ but like the u in b u ll. Indeed, for the sake of the general reader, it might be better to write Booddha and Booddhism, provided the oo be pronounced as in the words ‘wood,’ ‘good.’ ADDENDA and CORRIGENDA. It is feared that the long-mark over the letter A may have b
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LECTURE I. Introductory. Buddhism in relation to Brāhmanism.
LECTURE I. Introductory. Buddhism in relation to Brāhmanism.
In my recent work [3] on Brāhmanism I have traced the progress of Indian religious thought through three successive stages—called by me Vedism, Brāhmanism, and Hindūism—the last including the three subdivisions of Ṡaivism, Vaishṇavism, and Ṡāktism. Furthermore I have attempted to prove that these systems are not really separated by sharp lines, but that each almost imperceptibly shades off into the other. I have striven also to show that a true Hindū of the orthodox school is able quite conscien
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LECTURE II. The Buddha as a personal Teacher.
LECTURE II. The Buddha as a personal Teacher.
It is much to be regretted that among all the sacred books that constitute the Canon of the Southern Buddhists (see p. 61 )—the only true Canon of Buddhism—there is no trustworthy biography of its Founder. For Buddhism is nothing without Buddha, just as Zoroastrianism is nothing without Zoroaster, Confucianism nothing without Confucius, Muhammadanism nothing without Muhammad, and I may add with all reverence, Christianity nothing without Christ. Indeed, no religion or religious system which has
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LECTURE III. The Law (Dharma) and Sacred Scriptures of Buddhism.
LECTURE III. The Law (Dharma) and Sacred Scriptures of Buddhism.
Probably most educated persons are aware that Buddhists have their own sacred scriptures, like Hindūs, Pārsīs, Confucianists, Muhammadans, Jews, and Christians. It is not, however, so generally known that in one important particular these Buddhist scriptures, constituting the Tri-piṭaka ( p. 61 ), differ wholly from other sacred books. They lay no claim to supernatural inspiration. Whatever doctrine is found in them was believed to be purely human—that is, was held to be the product of man’s own
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LECTURE IV. The Saṅgha or Buddhist Order of Monks.
LECTURE IV. The Saṅgha or Buddhist Order of Monks.
Perhaps the first point made clear by the study of the Buddhist Scriptures is, that the Buddha never seriously thought of founding a new system in direct opposition to Brāhmanism and caste. Even his Order or fraternity of Monks, which attained a world-wide celebrity and spread through a great part of Asia, was a mere imitation of an institution already established in India. He himself was a Hindū of the Hindūs, and he remained a Hindū to the end. His very name, Gautama, connected him with one of
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LECTURE V. The Philosophical Doctrines of Buddhism.
LECTURE V. The Philosophical Doctrines of Buddhism.
One of the most noteworthy points in the early history of Buddhistic thought is that while Gautama Buddha denied the existence of Brahmā as a personal Creator, and repudiated the Veda and all Vedic sacrifices and ceremonial observances, he at the same time made the philosophical teaching of the Brāhmans the point of departure for his own peculiar philosophical teaching. Another noteworthy point is that while Buddhism was undoubtedly a modification of philosophical Brāhmanism, the latter was also
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LECTURE VI. The Morality of Buddhism and its chief aim—Arhatship or Nirvāṇa.
LECTURE VI. The Morality of Buddhism and its chief aim—Arhatship or Nirvāṇa.
The first questions suggested by the subject of this lecture will probably be:— How could a life of morality be inculcated by one who made all life proceed from ignorance, and even virtuous conduct in one sense a mistake, as leading to continuity of life, and therefore of suffering? How could the Buddha’s first commandment be, ‘Destroy not,’ when his ideal of perfection was destruction? How could he say, ‘be active,’ when his theory of Karma (pp. 110 , 114 ) made action conduce to misery? The in
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LECTURE VII. Changes in Buddhism and its disappearance from India.
LECTURE VII. Changes in Buddhism and its disappearance from India.
In the preceding Lectures I have confined myself chiefly to the consideration of what may be called true Buddhism as taught by its Founder and developed by his immediate followers and disciples during the first two or three centuries of its existence in the land of its birth, India. To attempt an explanation of all the subsequent phases of Buddhism would, as I have before stated, require the command of unlimited time. All I can hope to accomplish in the concluding Lectures is to give a very gene
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LECTURE VIII. Rise of Theistic and Polytheistic Buddhism.
LECTURE VIII. Rise of Theistic and Polytheistic Buddhism.
In the preceding Lecture we have endeavoured to show generally how Buddhism was evolved out of Brāhmanism, how it flourished side by side with Brāhmanism, and how after a chequered career and protracted senility in the land of its birth—lasting for at least fifteen centuries [77] —it ultimately merged its individuality in Vaishṇavism and Ṡaivism, or, in other words, disappeared and became lost in a composite system called Hindūism. We have now to trace more closely the gradual sliding of a simpl
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LECTURE IX. Theistic and Polytheistic Buddhism.
LECTURE IX. Theistic and Polytheistic Buddhism.
In the preceding Lecture I have endeavoured to sketch the rise of theistic and polytheistic Buddhism. We have now to turn our attention to its development, especially in regard to the worship of mythical Bodhi-sattvas, and of the Hindū gods and other mythological beings. Some of the Bodhi-sattvas of the Mahā-yāna or Great System were merely quasi-deifications of eminent saints and teachers. Others were impersonations of certain qualities or forces; and just as in early Buddhism we have the simpl
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LECTURE X. Mystical Buddhism in its connexion with the Yoga philosophy.
LECTURE X. Mystical Buddhism in its connexion with the Yoga philosophy.
The first idea implied by Buddhism is intellectual enlightenment. But Buddhism has its own theory of enlightenment—its own idea of true knowledge, which it calls Bodhi, not Veda. By true knowledge it means knowledge acquired by man through his own intellectual faculties and through his own inner consciousness, instincts, and intuitions, unaided by any external or supernatural revelation of any kind. But it is important to observe that Buddhism, in the carrying out of its own theory of entire sel
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LECTURE XI. Hierarchical Buddhism, especially as developed in Tibet and Mongolia.
LECTURE XI. Hierarchical Buddhism, especially as developed in Tibet and Mongolia.
Early Buddhism was, as we have seen, opposed to all ecclesiastical organization. It had no hierarchy in the proper sense of that term—no church, no priests, no true form of prayer, no religious rites, no ceremonial observances. It was simply a Brotherhood consisting of men who had renounced all family ties, all worldly desires—even all desire for life—and were pledged to devote themselves to meditation, recitation of the Law, self-restraint, and the accumulation of merit, not for the sake of sav
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LECTURE XII. Ceremonial and Ritualistic Buddhism.
LECTURE XII. Ceremonial and Ritualistic Buddhism.
Having in the last Lecture described the manner in which hierarchical systems were established in various Buddhist countries, we are naturally led on to consider in the present Lecture the development of what may be called ‘Ceremonial and Ritualistic Buddhism’; for no hierarchy can maintain its hold over the masses anywhere without the aid of outward manifestations, rites, ceremonies, and appeals to the senses. Early Buddhism was, as we have already shown, vehemently opposed, not only to all sac
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Domestic Rites and Usages.
Domestic Rites and Usages.
I now pass on to domestic rites and usages, which are as numerous and important in Buddhist countries as in India. It is said, indeed, that in Tibet and Mongolia no one is so poor as not to possess an altar in his dwelling on which he daily lays his offerings, and before which he performs devotions. In Ceylon and Burma certain ceremonies take place soon after the birth of a child. Mr. Scott, describing those in Burma, says that a fortnight after birth a fortunate day and hour is fixed by an astr
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Formularies of Prayer.
Formularies of Prayer.
With regard to prayer-formularies, there is in modern times a good deal of difference between Southern and Northern Buddhist countries. We have seen that the three-refuge formulary was the sole prayer of early Buddhists. Certain orthodox men whom I met in Ceylon, maintained to me that this is the only legitimate form of prayer that ought to be used even in the present day. It is certainly a form which is accepted and employed by all Buddhists of whatever nationality. Tsong Khapa, it is said, est
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Kapila-vastu.
Kapila-vastu.
Kapila-vastu (in Pāli, Kapila-vatthu) was long searched for by archæologists in vain, but is now identified by General Sir A. Cunningham and Mr. Carlleyle with Bhūila, a village surrounded by buried brickwork in the Bastī district under the Nepāl mountains, about twenty-five miles north-east from Faizābād, twelve north-west from Bastī, and one hundred and twenty north of Benares. Both Fā-hien (Legge, 67) and Hiouen Thsang describe the neighbouring Lumbinī (Lavaṇī) garden, where the Buddha was bo
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Buddha-Gayā.
Buddha-Gayā.
This was the place where the Buddha obtained perfect knowledge and enlightenment after his sexennial course of fasting and meditation (see p. 31 of this volume). It is situated six or seven miles from the town of Gayā, and about sixty miles from Patnā and Bankipur. It is of all Buddhist sacred places the most sacred, and abounds in profoundly interesting memorials of early Buddhism. Of course it was only to be expected that memorial structures intended to mark important epochs in the life of the
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Sārnāth near Benares.
Sārnāth near Benares.
The city of Benares (Banāras, properly Vārāṇasī) is the most sacred place of Brāhmanism [198] , and is certainly the second most holy place of Buddhism. For it was from this centre that the stream of Buddhist teaching first flowed, and in the days of Aṡoka and of his immediate successors, Buddhism must have vied with Brāhmanism in the number of its shrines and sacred objects collected there. We have already seen that memorial Stūpas and temples, not intended to contain relics, were reared at var
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Rāja-gṛiha.
Rāja-gṛiha.
Rāja-gṛiha (Pāli, Rāja-gaha) is the modern Rāj-gīr. The old city had the epithet Giri-vraja, ‘surrounded by hills [201] .’ It was the first metropolis or mother-city of Buddhism, and the original capital of the powerful kingdom of Magadha, when under the rule of the Kings Bimbi-sāra ( p. 48 ) and his son Ajāta-ṡatru, who were contemporaries and friends of Gautama, and converted by him to Buddhism [202] . The sacred character of the place is attested by the ruins of vast numbers of Buddhist Stūpa
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Ṡrāvastī.
Ṡrāvastī.
Ṡrāvastī (Pāli, Sāvatthī), sometimes spelt Ṡrāvasti, has been identified by General Cunningham with a place now called Sāhet-Māhet, about fifty-eight miles north of Ajūdhyā in Oudh. The town is said to derive its name from the fact that it was built by a certain King Ṡrāvasta. Other native authorities derive it from a Ṛishi named Sāvattha, who is said to have resided there. It was certainly the ancient capital of Kosala (Oudh), and was ruled over by King Prasena-jit (Pāli, Pasenadi), who was Gau
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Vaiṡālī.
Vaiṡālī.
Vaiṡālī (in Pāli Vesālī, now Besārh) lies twenty miles north of Hāji-pur, on the left bank of the Ganges, and twenty-seven north-east of Patnā. This town (the city of the Liććhavis) is celebrated as the scene of the second Council ( p. 57 ). Near it, at a place called Bakhra, is a celebrated ancient pillar surmounted by a lion (see Cunningham, i. 59). Vaiṡālī, however, is chiefly noted as one of the places where Gautama often preached and taught, and where he stopped on his way to Kusinārā, the
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Kauṡāmbī.
Kauṡāmbī.
Kauṡāmbī (in Pāli Kosāmbī), now Kosam [210] , on the river Jumnā, about thirty miles from Allahābād, was once a place hallowed by many Brāhmanical associations, and is mentioned in the Rāmāyaṇa. It was the capital of the Kauṡāmba country, and is said to have been founded by Kuṡāmba, tenth in descent from Purūravas. Without doubt it was one of the most ancient cities of India. It was also the city of King Udayana, whose story is alluded to by the greatest of all Sanskrit poets, Kāli-dāsa, in his
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Nālanda.
Nālanda.
Nālanda [214] was the greatest seat of Buddhist learning in India. It has been identified by Sir A. Cunningham with the village of Baragaon, about seven miles north of Rāja-gṛiha, about thirty miles south-east of the modern Patnā, and about forty miles from Buddha-Gayā. Sir Alexander states that Baragaon possesses immense ruins and more numerous specimens of sculpture than any other place visited by him. According to Hiouen Thsang, the Buddha preached the Law there for three months. The vast ext
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Saṅkāṡya.
Saṅkāṡya.
Saṅkāṡya, now called Saṅkisa, about fifty miles north-west of Kanouj, was identified by Sir A. Cunningham in 1842. It was evidently once a large town with many remarkable monuments, and ought to be reckoned among the most sacred places of Buddhism. Hiouen Thsang describes it under the name Kie-pi-tha (Kapitha). It is said that the Buddha’s mother died seven days after his birth (see p. 24 of this volume), and was thus deprived of the advantage of hearing the Law from her son’s lips. To compensat
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Sāketa.
Sāketa.
Sāketa is a name of the ancient city Ayodhyā (now Ajūdhyā) described in Valmīki’s great epic the Rāmāyanṇa, and believed to have been founded by Manu, the progenitor of the human race. This renowned city, which was a great centre of Brāhmanism, was also, no doubt, at one time a considerable centre of Buddhism. At all events, the identification of certain Buddhist sites there has been made clear by Sir A. Cunningham, who considers Sāketa to be the same as the Pi-so-kia (Viṡākhā) of Hiouen Thsang
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Kanyā-kubja (Kanouj).
Kanyā-kubja (Kanouj).
Kanyā-kubja [217] is the Sanskṛit name for the ancient city of Kanouj; (often spelt Kanoj), once the capital of Northern India, and said to be the oldest city in India, next to Ayodhyā. When Hiouen Thsang visited this place it was the capital of the celebrated monarch Harsha-vardhana, also called Ṡilāditya (see p. 167 of this volume), whose kingdom extended from Kashmīr to Assam and from the river Narbadā to Nepāl. When he carried off a tooth-relic of the Buddha from Kashmīr, his procession back
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Pāṭali-putra.
Pāṭali-putra.
Pāṭali-putra (now Patnā) seems to have existed as a village at a very early period. Its ancient name was Kusuma-pura. It was enlarged and practically founded about the time of the Buddha’s death by Ajāta-ṡatru [219] , who did not, however, remove there from his own capital city Rāja-gṛiha. One of his successors, the great King Aṡoka, the well-known patron of Buddhism ( p. 66 ), converted Pāṭali-putra into the metropolis of the kingdom of Magadha, and it thenceforward became an important centre o
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Kesarīya.
Kesarīya.
Kesarīya is a large village about thirty miles distant from Vaiṡālī (Besārh). It is chiefly remarkable for a mound of ruined brick-work, 62 feet in height, supporting a solid brick Stūpa (nearly 68½ feet in diameter), which is also partly in ruins. The people call it the Stūpa of the Ćakravartī (Universal Monarch) Veṇa, father of King Pṛithu. In Manu, VII. 41; IX. 66, 67, King Veṇa is described as an arrogant monarch who resisted the authority of the Brāhmans. Probably he favoured the Buddhists.
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Kuṡi-nagara.
Kuṡi-nagara.
Kuṡi-nagara (in Pāli Kusi-nārā) was the place where the Buddha died, or—to speak more correctly—passed away in Pari-nirvāṇa (see pp. 48 , 49 , 140 ). It was long searched for in vain, but has recently been identified by Sir A. Cunningham with the modern Kasia, eighty miles east of Kapila-vastu, and 120 miles N.N.E. of Benares. Neither Fā-hien nor Hiouen Thsang say much about Kuṡi-nagara, except that it was deserted and had few inhabitants; but the latter’s allusion to the Buddha’s passing away o
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Temples.
Temples.
Although temples have been already adverted to as forming an important feature in all monasteries, and often an actual part of the edifice constituting the monastery; it will be worth while to devote a short space of time to their separate consideration. In the earliest days of Buddhism neither temples nor halls nor rooms for meeting together (saṅgha-gṛiha) were much needed. The monk recited the Law in the open air or in the houses of the laity. It was only when collections of monks crystallized
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LECTURE XVI. Images and Idols.
LECTURE XVI. Images and Idols.
On several occasions during my travels through all parts of India, I asked intelligent Paṇḍits how they could reconcile the gross idolatry and fetish-worship which meet the eye at almost every step throughout the length and breadth of their land, with the doctrine repeatedly declared to be the only true creed of Brāhmanism—the doctrine that nothing really exists but the one eternal, omnipresent Spirit of the Universe (named Brahman or Brahmă) [244] . The answer I generally received to this inqui
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Relics.
Relics.
Adoration of relics constitutes an important point of difference between Buddhism and Brāhmanism; for Brāhmanism and its offspring Hindūism are wholly opposed to the practice of preserving the ashes, bones, hair, or teeth of deceased persons, however much such individuals may have been revered during life. I remarked in the course of my travels through India that articles used by great religious teachers—as, for example, robes, wooden shoes, and seats—are sometimes preserved and venerated after
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Sacred Foot-prints.
Sacred Foot-prints.
Next in importance to the worship of relics is that of foot-prints (Sanskṛit Ṡrī-pada or Ṡrī-pāda). Everywhere throughout Buddhist countries the supposed impressions of the Buddha’s feet are as much honoured as those of the god Vishṇu are by Vaishṇavas. When Fā-hien reached Gṛidhra-kūṭa (see pp. 404 , 406 ), he is said to have used words to the following effect: ‘I, Fā-hien, was born when I could not meet with Buddha, and now I only see the foot-prints which he has left’ (Legge, 83). It is well
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Sacred Trees.
Sacred Trees.
We now pass on to a brief consideration of sacred trees. Most persons are aware that the homage offered to trees and plants is not confined to Buddhism. It existed very early in Brāhmanism and is still common everywhere throughout India (see my ‘Brāhmanism and Hindūism,’ p. 330). In point of fact various forms of tree-worship prevail at the present moment in almost every part of the world where superstition and ignorance are ruling influences. Nor can we really condemn, as either unnatural or un
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Sacred Symbols.
Sacred Symbols.
Some of the sacred objects already described may be regarded as symbols. Of those which are more strictly symbols the Tri-ratna ‘three-jewel’ emblem comes first. It is three-pointed, and the three points are simply emblematical of the Buddha, the Law, and the Monastic Order. It is often used as an ornament. Good examples may be seen in some of the Bharhut sculptures (see Sir A. Cunningham’s work). The central point is often the least elevated. The use of this triple symbol is another proof of th
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Sacred Animals.
Sacred Animals.
It may be truly said that all animals are more or less venerated—though not actually worshipped—under the Buddhist system. How can it be otherwise when every Buddhist believes that the Buddha himself was incarnated in various animals during the period of his Bodhi-sattvaship (see p. 111 )? In the same way the Hindūs believe that the god Vishṇu was incarnated in animals, such as a fish, a tortoise, and a boar. Buddhism in this as in other respects is like Brāhmanism and Hindūism. The feeling of r
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Miscellaneous Objects.
Miscellaneous Objects.
Among these may be reckoned bells of various kinds. The prayer-bells common in Tibet, which are held in the hand and used during the chanting of prayers, have been already described ( p. 323 ). In Burma bells abound everywhere. They are of all sizes, and often of immense weight, but are not used in the same way as in Tibet. Nor are they ever rung in peals or with a clapper. Their use is not to call people to religious services. It is no part of the business of monks or priests to summon the lait
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Supplementary Remarks on the Connexion of Buddhism with Jainism[276].
Supplementary Remarks on the Connexion of Buddhism with Jainism[276].
Having during the progress of the foregoing Lectures, incidentally mentioned the subject of Jainism, I ought not to conclude them without explaining some of the chief points of difference between the system of the Jainas (conveniently contracted into Jains) and that of the Buddhists. The Jains in India, according to their own reckoning, number 1,222,000; but this is incorrect, for by the last Census they only number half a million. A great authority (Sir William Wilson Hunter) confirms this. (Se
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POSTSCRIPT.
POSTSCRIPT.
Since the printing of my concluding Lecture, it has occurred to me that I ought to make a few remarks in regard to a very prevalent error—the error that Buddhism still numbers more adherents than any other religion of the world. For these remarks the reader is referred to the Postscript at the end of the Preface ( p. xiv )....
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WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
Brāhmanism and Hindūism , or Religious Thought and Life in India, as based on the Veda and other Sacred Books of the Hindūs. Third and cheaper Edition, with full index. John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1887. 10 s. 6 d. Indian Wisdom , or Examples of the Religious, Philosophical, and Ethical Doctrines of the Hindūs: with a brief history of the chief departments of Sanskṛit Literature, and some account of the past and present condition of India, Moral and Intellectual. Modern India and the Indians :
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