IV. Báudhas to be ignorant of the date of a religion CHAP. which arose among themselves, and at the same time must derange the best established part of the Hindu chronology; or admit that an error must have occurred in Cashmír or Tibet, through which places it crept into the more eastern countries, when they received the religion of Budha many centuries after the death of its founder. As the latter seems by much the most probable explanation, we may safely fix the death of Budha about 550 B. C. The Indian origin of the Báudhas would appear, independently of direct evidence, from the facts that their theology, mythology, philosophy, geo graphy, chronology, &c. are almost entirely of the Hindú family; and all the terms used in those sciences are Shanscrit. Even Budha (intelligence), and Adi Budha (supreme intelligence), are wellknown Shanscrit words. We have no precise information regarding the early progress of this religion. It was triumphant in Hindostan in the reign of Asóca, about the middle of the third century before Christ.* It was introduced by his missionaries into Ceylon in the end of the same century.t It probably spread at an early period into Tartary and Tibet, but was not introduced into China * See Turnour's Mahawanso, and translations of contemporary inscriptions in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta for February, 1838. In 307 B.C. Turnour's Mahawanso, Introduction, p. xxix., and other places. BOOK II. until A. D. 65, when it was brought direct from India, and was not fully established till A. D. 310.* The progress of its decline in its original seat is recorded by a Chinese traveller, who visited India on a religious expedition in the first years of the fifth century after Christ. He found Budhism flourishing in the tract between China and India, but declining in the Panjáb, and languishing in the last stage of decay in the countries on the Ganges and Jamna. Cápila, the birthplace of Budha, was ruined and deserted, -"a wilderness untenanted by man." His religion was in full vigour in Ceylon, but had not yet been introduced into Java, which island was visited by the pilgrim on his return by sea to China. The religion of Budha afterwards recovered its importance in some parts of India. Its adherents were refuted, persecuted, and probably chased from the Deckan, by Sancara Achárya, in the eighth or ninth century, if not by Camarilla, at an earlier period; but they appear to have possessed sovereignty in Hindostan in the eighth century, and even to have been the prevailing sect at Benáres as late as the eleventh century‡, and in the north of Guzerát as late as the twelfth century of our æra.§ * De Guignes, Mémoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, vol. xl. p. 251, 252.; and Histoires des Huns, vol. i. part ii. pp. 235, 236. + Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, No. IX. p. 108, &c., particularly p. 139. Professor Wilson, Asiatic Researches, vol. xvii. p. 282. § Mr. Erskine, Bombay Transactions, vol. iii. p. 533., with Major Kennedy's note. IV. They do not now exist in the plains of India, CHAP. but their religion is the established one in Ceylon, and in some of the mountainous countries to the north-east of the provinces on the Ganges. Budhism is also the faith of the Burman empire, of Tibet, of Siam, and all the countries between India and China. It is very general-in the latter country, and extends over a great part of Chinese and Russian Tartary; so that it has been said, with apparent truth, to be professed by a greater portion of the human race than any other religion. The Jains appear to have originated in the sixth or seventh century of our æra; to have become conspicuous in the eighth or ninth century; got to the highest prosperity in the eleventh, and declined after the twelfth.* Their principal seats seem to have been in the southern parts of the peninsula, and in Guzerát and the west of Hindostan. They seem never to have had much success in the provinces on the Ganges. They appear to have undergone several persecutions by the Bramins, in the south of India, at least. † The Jains are still very numerous, especially in Guzerát, the Rájpút country and Cánara; they are generally an opulent and mercantile class; many of them are bankers, and possess a large proportion of the commercial wealth of India. ‡ * Professor Wilson, Asiatic Researches, vol. xvii. p. 283. + Buchanan, vol. i. p. 81. Tod's Rajasthan, vol. i. p. 518.; Professor Wilson, Asiatic Researches, vol. xvii. p. 294. See also Buchanan's Journey, vol. iii. pp. 19. 76-84. 131. 410. CHAP. V. PRESENT STATE OF PHILOSOPHY. BOOK Six prin cipal schools. THE subject of philosophy is not one upon which Menu professes to treat. It is, however, incidentally mentioned in his first chapter, and it has occupied too great a portion of the attention of the Hindús of later days to be omitted in any account of their genius and character. The first chapter of the Institutes is evidently an exposition of the belief of the compiler, and (unlike the laws which have been framed in various ages) probably represents the state of opinion as it stood in his time. The topics on which it treats the nature of God and the soul, the creation, and other subjects, physical and metaphysical-are too slightly touched on to show whether any of the present schools of philosophy were then in their present form; but the minute points alluded to as already known, and the use of the terms still employed, as if quite intelligible to its readers, prove that the discussions which have given rise to their different systems were already perfectly familiar to the Hindus. The present state of the science will be best shown by inquiring into the tenets of those schools. There are six ancient schools of philosophy recognised among the Hindús. Some of these are avowedly inconsistent with the religious doctrines of the Bramins; and others, though perfectly orthodox, advance opinions not stated in the Védas. These schools are enumerated in the following order by Mr. Colebrooke.* 1. The prior Mímánsá, founded by Jáimani. 2. The latter Mímánsá, or Védánta, attributed to Vyása. 3. The Niyaya, or logical school of Gótama. 4. The Atomic school of Canáde. 5. The Atheistical school of Capila. 6. The Theistical school of Patanjali. The two last schools agree in many points, and are included in the common name of Sánkya. This division does not give a complete idea of the present state of philosophy. The 'prior Mímánsa, which teaches the art of reasoning with the express view of aiding the interpretation of the Védas, is, so far, only a school of criticism; and its object, being to ascertain the duties enjoined in those scriptures, is purely religious, and gives it no claim to a place among the schools of philosophy. On the other hand, the remaining schools have branched into various subdivisions, each of which is entitled to be considered as a separate school, and to form an addition to the original number. It would be foreign to my object to enter on all the distinctions * Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. i. p. 19. CHAP. V. |