Tempo:
—
OLD INDIAN CREEDS
CHAP. II
19
^^^^'
turies before Christ, when Alexander conquered, and "^
even seven hundred years afterwards, when the obscure and"^characFahian travelled and studied, there were kingdoms teristics.
ruled by others than 'Aryas'; and ceremonial Buddhism,
with its indistinct apprehensions of a divinity, had more
votaries than the monotheism of the Vedas, which
admitted no similitude more gross than fire, or air, or
throughout the land; but their superior learning became of
help to their antagonists, and Gautama, himself a Brahman
or a Kshattriya, would appear to have taken advantage of
the knowledge of the hierarchy to give a purer and more
to Buddhism, and thus to become its great
[The whole subject, however,
succeeding times.
is complicated in the extreme; and it is rendered the more so
bj' the probability that the same Gautama is the author of
the popular 'Nyaya' system of Philosophy, and that Buddha
himself is one form of the favoiirite divinity Vishnu; although
the orthodox explain that circumstance by saying the Preserving Power assumed an heretical character to delude Deodas,
king of Benares, who by his virtues and authority endangered
the supremacy of the Gods. (Cf. Kennedy, Res. Hind. Mythol.,
J.D.C.] Of the modern faiths, Saivism perhaps
p. 248, &c)
(Cf.
most correctly represents the original Vedic worship.
Wilson, As. Res., xvii. 171, &c., and Vishnu Puran, preface,
Ixiv.) Jainism and Vaishnavism are the resultants of the two
scientific
apostle
form
in
•
—
beliefs in a Buddhist and Brahmanical dress respectively,
while Saktism still vividly illustrates the old superstition of
the masses of the people, whose ignorant minds quailed before
the dread goddess of famine, pestilence, and death. The most
important monument of Buddhism now remaining is perhaps
the 'tope' or hemisphere, near Bhilsa in Central India, which
it is a disgrace to the English that they partially destroyed a
generation ago in search of imaginary chambers or vessels
containing relics, and are only now about to have delineated,
and so made available to the learned. The numerous hasreliefs of its singular stone enclosure still vividly represent
the manners as well as the belief of the India of Asoka, and
show that the Tree, the Sun, and the Stupa (or 'tope') itself
apparently the type of Meru or the Central Mount of the
World were, along with the impersonated Buddha, the principal objects of adoration at that period, and that the country
was then partly peopled by a race of men wearing high caps
and short tunics, so different from the ordinary dress of
Hindus. [It is now usually accepted that by about 600 B.C.
—
—
Brahmanism was ge.ner.ally the chief religion of India, and the
probable date of the birth of Gautama (567 b.c.) makes
Buddhism the younger of the two religions. It seems hardly
necessary to add that, since the author wrote the above note,
our knowledge of Buddhism in India has been enormouslyincreased by the careful researches of the Archaeological
Department. These have resulted in the discovery of a very
large niimber of Buddhist remains which in great contrast
to the iconoclastic vandalism mentioned by the author^ have
been carefully preserved. Collections of such remains may
be seen in many museums in India there is one typical collection in the Central Museum in Lahore
and to such collections
and the various descriptive works on the subject the reader
—
—
is
referred.
^Ed.]
—
—
OLD INDIAN CREEDS
CHAP. II
19
^^^^'
turies before Christ, when Alexander conquered, and "^
even seven hundred years afterwards, when the obscure and"^characFahian travelled and studied, there were kingdoms teristics.
ruled by others than 'Aryas'; and ceremonial Buddhism,
with its indistinct apprehensions of a divinity, had more
votaries than the monotheism of the Vedas, which
admitted no similitude more gross than fire, or air, or
throughout the land; but their superior learning became of
help to their antagonists, and Gautama, himself a Brahman
or a Kshattriya, would appear to have taken advantage of
the knowledge of the hierarchy to give a purer and more
to Buddhism, and thus to become its great
[The whole subject, however,
succeeding times.
is complicated in the extreme; and it is rendered the more so
bj' the probability that the same Gautama is the author of
the popular 'Nyaya' system of Philosophy, and that Buddha
himself is one form of the favoiirite divinity Vishnu; although
the orthodox explain that circumstance by saying the Preserving Power assumed an heretical character to delude Deodas,
king of Benares, who by his virtues and authority endangered
the supremacy of the Gods. (Cf. Kennedy, Res. Hind. Mythol.,
J.D.C.] Of the modern faiths, Saivism perhaps
p. 248, &c)
(Cf.
most correctly represents the original Vedic worship.
Wilson, As. Res., xvii. 171, &c., and Vishnu Puran, preface,
Ixiv.) Jainism and Vaishnavism are the resultants of the two
scientific
apostle
form
in
•
—
beliefs in a Buddhist and Brahmanical dress respectively,
while Saktism still vividly illustrates the old superstition of
the masses of the people, whose ignorant minds quailed before
the dread goddess of famine, pestilence, and death. The most
important monument of Buddhism now remaining is perhaps
the 'tope' or hemisphere, near Bhilsa in Central India, which
it is a disgrace to the English that they partially destroyed a
generation ago in search of imaginary chambers or vessels
containing relics, and are only now about to have delineated,
and so made available to the learned. The numerous hasreliefs of its singular stone enclosure still vividly represent
the manners as well as the belief of the India of Asoka, and
show that the Tree, the Sun, and the Stupa (or 'tope') itself
apparently the type of Meru or the Central Mount of the
World were, along with the impersonated Buddha, the principal objects of adoration at that period, and that the country
was then partly peopled by a race of men wearing high caps
and short tunics, so different from the ordinary dress of
Hindus. [It is now usually accepted that by about 600 B.C.
—
—
Brahmanism was ge.ner.ally the chief religion of India, and the
probable date of the birth of Gautama (567 b.c.) makes
Buddhism the younger of the two religions. It seems hardly
necessary to add that, since the author wrote the above note,
our knowledge of Buddhism in India has been enormouslyincreased by the careful researches of the Archaeological
Department. These have resulted in the discovery of a very
large niimber of Buddhist remains which in great contrast
to the iconoclastic vandalism mentioned by the author^ have
been carefully preserved. Collections of such remains may
be seen in many museums in India there is one typical collection in the Central Museum in Lahore
and to such collections
and the various descriptive works on the subject the reader
—
—
is
referred.
^Ed.]
—
—
©
2026
Lehal.net