[24]The lengthened description of Buddha’s funeral has suggested the idea of laying before the reader a brief account of the ceremonies observed by Buddhists in Burmah, when funeral rites are performed on the mortal remains of Talapoins, who have been eminent in the profession and have spent their whole lives in monasteries. By comparing the following account with the narrative of the legend, we will see that the rubrics of the funeral service, in our days, are nearly the same as those existing at the origin of Buddhism.When a Buddhist recluse has given up the ghost, the corpse is carefully and diligently washed by laymen, or the younger inmates of the monastery. A large incision is made in the abdomen; its contents are taken out and buried in the earth without any ceremony being observed on the occasion. The empty cavity is filled up with ashes, bran, or some other desiccative substances for preventing putrefaction. The corpse is then tightly wrapt with bands or swathes of a white colour from head to foot, and then covered with the yellow habit of the profession. Sometimes a coat of black varnish is put over and then leaves of gold, so that the whole body is gilt. It is afterwards bound all over with ropes tightened as much as possible, so as to bring it within the narrowest dimensions. When thus prepared, the corpse is placed in an open coffin. The coffin is made of the trunk of a tree, rudely hollowed, and often so imperfectly scooped out as not to afford sufficient room for the corpse. In the middle of the interior part of the coffin, an opening, about two inches in diameter, has been made, to afford issue to the humours that may ooze out through the swathes. The coffin is unceremoniously laid on the floor of the monastery. A bamboo, 7 or 8 feet long, is procured; one of its ends is inserted in the hole made in the coffin, and the other is sunk into the ground below; it is the channel through which the humours flow into the earth. After a lapse of ten or twelve days, the body is supposed to be quite dry; they set about putting a covering over the coffin and effectually shutting it.Whilst residing at Tavoy, I wished, on a certain day, to go and witness all the particulars observed on such occasions. A most opportune event favoured the prosecution of my wishes. A Talapoin of my acquaintance had died a fortnight before, after thirty years of profession. His body, laid in the coffin, was to be for ever concealed from human sight. I went into the monastery, where I met a large party of the brethren of the deceased, who had assembled for the ceremony. Most of them were known to me. My reception was at once kind and cordial. Great was my surprise at seeing, instead of the grief and mourning which the circumstance seemed to demand, laughing, talking, and amusement, going on at a rate which is to be called scandalous. No one appeared to take the least notice of the deceased, whose corpse was lying at our feet. A momentary stop was put to the indecorous behaviour of the assistants by the appearance of two stout carpenters bringing a board four or five inches thick, designed for the cover. They vainly tried to fit it in its place; the hollow of the coffin was neither broad nor deep enough for holding the corpse, though reduced to the smallest proportions. The operation was not a very easy one to bring the board in contact with the sides of the coffin, despite the resistance that was to be offered by the corpse. The carpenters were determined not to be disappointed. At the two ends and in the middle of the coffin, ropes were passed several times round it with the utmost tension, in such a manner as to have six or seven coils in the same place. Enormous wooden wedges were inserted right and left in three places between the sides and the coils. On these wedges the workmen hammered with their whole strength during about twenty minutes, to the great amusement of all the bystanders. Each blow of the hammer lessened the distance between the cover and the brim of the coffin. Every perceptible success, gained over the latent resisting power, elicited a burst of applause, and a cheer to the persevering workmen. At last all resistance being overcome, the cover rested fixedly in its place. It is needless to add that the corpse inside was but a hideous mass of mangled flesh and broken bones.According to the custom observed on such occasions, a rude building was erected for the purpose of placing therein the mortal remains of the deceased, until preparations on a grand scale should have been made for doing honour to the illustrious departed individual. That building, as well as those made for a similar purpose, is but a temporary edifice raised for the occasion, and made of bamboos with an attap roof. In the centre of that large bungalow was erected a kind of estrade, about twelve feet high, well decorated. The upper part is often gilt, but always plated with thin metal leaves and tinsels of various colours. From the sides hang rough drawings, representing animals, monsters of various kinds, religious subjects, and others, but rarely of great indecency. Around this estrade are disposed posts, from the top of which are suspended small flags and streamers of different forms and shapes. On the summit is arranged a place for the coffin, but the four sides at that place are about two or three feet higher than the level whereupon rests the coffin, so that it is concealed entirely from the sight of the visitors.Things remained in that state for four months, that is to say, until all the arrangements had been made for the grand ceremony, the expense of which is commonly defrayed by voluntary contributions. The arrangements being all complete, a day was appointed at the sound of gongs, for burning the corpse of the pious recluse. At noon of that day, the whole population of the town flocked to a vast and extensive plain beyond the old wall and ditch in the north. Men and women, dressed in their finest attire, swarmed in every direction, selecting the most suitable and convenient situations for enjoying a commanding view of thefête. The funeral pile occupied nearly the centre of the plain; it was about fifteen feet high, of a square shape, encased with planks, which gave to it a neat appearance. It was large at the base, and went on diminishing in size in the upper part, terminating in a square platform where the coffin was to be deposited. A small roof, supported on four bamboo posts, elegantly adorned, overshaded the platform. A huge four-wheeled cart, decorated in the most fantastic manner, was descried at a distance; it was drawn by a great number of men, and brought to the foot of the pile. Upon it was the coffin. Immense cheers, shouts of thousands, had announced the progress of the cart with its precious relics, as it passed through the crowd. The coffin was forthwith hoisted on the platform. Mats were then spread round the pile, whereupon sat numbers of Talapoins, reciting aloud long formulas in Pali. The devotions being performed, they rose up and prepared to depart, attended with a retinue of their disciples, who loaded themselves with the offerings made on the occasion. These offerings consisted of plantains, cocoa-nuts, sugar-canes, rice, pillows, mats, mattresses, &c. Masters and disciples returned to their monasteries with their valuable collections.The place being cleared, the eyes were all riveted on two large rockets, placed horizontally, each between two ropes, to which they were connected by two side rings. One of the ends of the ropes was strongly fixed at posts behind the rockets, and the other was made as tight as possible at the foot of the pile. At a given signal, the rockets, emitting smoke, rushed forward with a loud, hissing, and irregular noise, tremulously gliding along the ropes, and in an instant penetrating into the interior of the pile, and setting fire to a heap of inflammable materials, amassed beforehand for that purpose. In a short while the whole pile was in a blaze, and soon entirely consumed with the coffin and the corpse. The bones or half-burnt bits of bones that remained, were carefully collected, to be subsequently interred in a becoming place.[25]In the course of this work, allusion is often made to pounhas who appear to have led a mode of life not altogether the same, but varying considerably according to circumstances. All the pounhas were doubtless religious, who practised certain duties not regarded as obligatory by ordinary people, and lived under certain regulations, which separated them more or less from society, and distinguished them from those who followed the ordinary pursuits of life. The difference among them originated in a sort of religious enthusiasm, which impelled many to perform penitential deeds of the most cruel and sometimes revolting nature.Some of the pounhas are described as living in villages or towns, and wearing a white dress. In many of their practices they appear to have approximated to the Buddhist monks, except that in many instances they married. Others are mentioned as living in a state of complete nakedness, staying in the midst of filth and dirt. It seems that those whom Alexander the Great met in some parts of the Punjaub, belonged to this class. Many of these disgusting fanatics delivered themselves up to cruel tortures, much in the same way as we see some fakhirs and jogies do even in our days, and under our eyes. A third class of pounhas affected to live in lonely places, on high mountains, in small huts made of branches of trees, and sometimes at the foot of trees, exposed to the inclemency of the weather. They were hermits. They clothed themselves in the skins of wild beasts, allowed the hairs of the head to grow to the greatest length, divided them into several parts which they twisted separately like a rope, so that, when looking at them, one would have thought that instead of hairs, several small ropes were hanging down on the back and the shoulders, giving to them the wildest and most fantastic appearance. Some of those hermits, famous for their science, attracted round their persons many pupils eager to acquire science and discipline under them. Such were the three Kathabas, whom Gaudama converted during the first year of his public life. Others travelled through the country, exhibiting themselves in the capacity of preachers and mendicants.[26]The virtuous and zealous Kathaba was at once convinced of the absolute necessity of soon holding a meeting of the wisest members of the assembly, for the purpose of ascertaining, and authoritatively determining, the genuineness of Buddha’s doctrines. Human passions were already at work, deforming more or less in various ways the instructions of the great preacher. Many, laying more stress on their talents than on the authority of their departed instructor, began to entertain on certain questions views and opinions evidently at variance with those of Buddha. The enemies of truth were numerous even during his lifetime, when as yet overawed by his presence and matchless wisdom. Kathaba sagaciously foresees that their number and boldness would soon increase to a fearful extent and threaten the very existence of religion. He was roused to exertions by such considerations, and on that very moment he resolved to assemble the elders of the assembly, as soon as convenient after Buddha’s funeral. He was, it appears, acknowledged by common consent the first of the disciples. He was entitled to that distinction by the renown of his abilities before his conversion, and by his great proficiency under Buddha’s teachings subsequently to that event. But a circumstance related by Kathaba clearly indicates the intimate familiarity existing between the master and the disciple, and the unbounded confidence the former placed in the latter. During a walk, the two friends, if such an expression be allowed, had entered into a more than usual intimate communion of thoughts and feelings; the soul of the one had passed into the person of the other, or rather both souls were blended together, and united so as to become one in the bosom of a virtuous, high, refined, sublime, and philosophic friendship. They made an exchange of their cloaks. Kathaba, by putting on Buddha’s cloak, inherited as it were his spirit and his authority. Hence his legitimate right to be appointed president or head of the first council, assembled a little while after Gaudama’s Neibban.Our author maintains that the first council was held three months after Gaudama’s demise. This important step was taken at Radzagio, the capital of the kingdom of King Adzatathat, who doubtless made use of his royal power to secure tranquillity during the deliberations of this assembly, under the presidency of Kathaba. The number of religious that formed the council is reckoned at five hundred. Its object was, as mentioned by Kathaba himself, to silence the voice of many who wished to innovate in religious matters, and follow their own views, instead of the doctrines of Buddha. They wished to shake off the yoke of authority, and arrange all things in their own way.The second general assembly of the Buddhist religious was held one hundred years later at Wethalie, in the tenth year of the reign of King Kalathoka, under the presidency of Ratha, who was assisted by seven hundred religious. The object of this assembly was to regulate several matters of discipline. It is probable that a spirit of innovation had reappeared and begun to undermine the strictness of the disciplinary institutions, threatening to weaken the ties that kept together the members of the religious body, and deprive it of that halo of sacredness that had hitherto rendered it an object of so profound and general esteem, respect and veneration. The council, moreover, revised the canon of sacred books, and purified it from all the imperfections and spurious writings that had been embodied in it.Two hundred and eighteen years after Gaudama’s death, King Damathoka or Athoka ascended the throne of Palibotra, which was the capital of a vast and powerful empire. It was in the seventeenth year of that monarch’s reign that the third and last general assembly was held at Palibotra, under the presidency of Maugalipata. The last and final revision of the sacred scriptures was made with the greatest care and labour. The pious Athoka lent to the decisions of the assembly the influence of the secular power. The Pittagat, or the collection of the religious books, such as it now exists, is supposed to be the work of that council. In the two following chapters, the subject of the councils shall receive the attention it deserves.There is a most important fact to be noticed here, which must be considered as a most remarkable result of the third assembly. It forms the grandest era in the history of Buddhism, and it is carefully noted down by our Burmese author. I mean the extraordinary zeal and fervour which seemed at that time to have simultaneously and powerfully acted for the bringing about of this mighty but peaceful religious commotion, that was to be felt, not only in the Indian Peninsula, but far beyond the valley of Cashmere, the country of Guzerat in the west and north-west, beyond the snowy ranges of the Himalaya in the north, and the territories and kingdoms in an eastern direction. King Athoka was then at the height of his power. His religious zeal induced him to make use of all the vast resources at his command to favour the development of the comparatively new religion. During the holding of the council, the religious tempered, as it were, their zeal, fervour, devotion, and ardour for their religious creed, in the middle of their conferences. They resolved to propagate with unremitting zeal the tenets of the holy religion, and extend it all over the world. The spirit of Gaudama seemed to have been infused into the soul of every individual religious. His ardent fervour glowed in the soul of all, who from that period had but one desire, that of extending the boundaries of their spiritual empire.This is certainly one of those extraordinary epochs, when the indolent and apathetic mind of the Hindus, after centuries of a profound slumbering, seems on a sudden to awake, and, with an unexpected vigour and youthful energy, bursting forth as a terrific hurricane, brings about the most astounding revolutions, or commotions, that sweep away with irresistible power the old political and religious forms, to establish new ones on the ruins of the former. The religious zeal that seized on the Buddhists of those days, and impelled them with an unheard-of resolution to disseminate their doctrines, coupled with the astonishing success that attended their preachings, forms one of the most prominent periods in the religious history of the world.[27]It is not easy to determine with precision in what year occurred the conversion of King Adzatathat to Buddhism. Though his father Pimpathara was a zealous Buddhist from the very beginning of the preaching of Gaudama, his son seems to have kept aloof from the religious movement that took place in the royal city of Radzagio, within the precincts of the royal palace, and continued to adhere to the tenets of the ancient creed. His faith, however, in the hitherto national religion, that is to say, Brahminism, does not appear to have been deeply seated in his soul. He was a shrewd, ambitious, and crafty politician; and from what we know of the beginning of his reign, his political principles were of the most elastic nature. Even after his conversion to Buddhism, he does not appear to have scrupled in the least to resort to the most questionable means for satisfying his ambition. The disputes between the upholders of the contending systems had, as is often the case, shaken his former convictions without imparting new ones. Perhaps he remained in that ambiguous position for a political object. He was glad to place himself at the head of the malcontents, who, on account of the king’s religious innovations, must have been numerous. Be that as it may, we see the Crown Prince of Radzagio receiving with open arms Dewadat, the enemy of Buddha, espousing his party, and looking upon him as his spiritual adviser. This occurred about ten or twelve years before Buddha’s death. With the advice of his new friend, he compassed and effected the destruction of his father three or four years afterwards, and became king in the seventh year before Phra’s Neibban. His conversion probably took place after the death of Dewadat, four or five years subsequent to that event; but it appears to have been sincere and earnest. His love for Buddha’s person was so intense that it atoned fully for the harm which, under his name and protection, Dewadat had endeavoured to inflict on his great relative.Adzatathat reigned thirty-two years, that is to say, twenty-five years after Gaudama’s death. Under his reign, the first council was held with his consent, and a promise to make the decisions of the assembly be received with respect and strictly attended to. This is the first direct interference of the secular power in matters of a purely ecclesiastical nature. Adzatathat was, however, too prudent in his policy to persecute directly the holders of anti-Buddhistic opinions, who as yet formed the great mass of the people. He zealously supported the new creed he had adopted, but he left full liberty to the followers of the pounhas. By the advice of Kathaba, Adzatathat fixed the beginning of the religious era in the year of Buddha’s demise. It is the one which is followed by all the southern Buddhists. It was not the necessity of correcting certain errors in the calendar which induced the king to adopt that measure, since a correction had been made a hundred and forty-eight years ago by King Eetzana with the assistance of a celebrated hermit. A religious motive alone induced the king to obtemper the solicitations of Kathaba on this subject, and lay, as the point of departure for the reckoning of years, the great event of the death of the founder of religion.The two names of Pimpathara and of his son Adzatathat are indissolubly connected with the origin of Buddhism and its spread through the Magatha country. To the first, Gaudama owed much for the extraordinary success that attended his preachings and the conversion of remarkable personages. In a country like India, the example of the king must have exerted an extraordinary influence over the courtiers and the wealthy and powerful persons. The second rendered no less important services to the cause of religion, by supporting openly the great Kathaba, the patriarch of Buddhism, and countenancing the decisions of the first council, which secured unity among the members of the assembly at the very time that evil-minded individuals endeavoured to sow the seeds of dissension among the religious, and upset the fabric which Buddha’s genius and zeal had just set up. Under the reign of those two sovereigns religion gained a firm footing in Magatha, and secured for itself an ascendancy which it retained with various successes for many centuries.[28]We are without any direct information concerning the history of Buddhism during the twenty years that elapsed after Gaudama’s death. But we have allusions made in several places which clearly indicate that the new religion had to struggle with many difficulties before it could gain a firm footing in the places lying north of the Ganges. Though they had been the seat of Buddha’s preachings, though the people had been intimately acquainted with all his doings, it appears that the pounhas contrived to thwart to a great extent the results of his labours. At Kootheinaron, on the very spot rendered illustrious by his death, we have seen an individual rejoicing at Buddha’s demise, because he would be now at liberty to act according to his wishes. He was not a solitary instance of open insubordination, since Kathaba felt that it was necessary, in order to check the growing evil, to assemble a council three months after the death of Gaudama. This step does not appear to have produced all the good effects that were anticipated. The patriarch of the Buddhistic Church is represented to us as trembling for the safety of the relics. What could have caused this great anxiety? Doubtless there was a strong party, either within or without the assembly, which was inimical to the worship paid to the remains of Buddha, and aimed at procuring their total destruction. In the relation of Hwen-Thsang the writer has met with a passage in which mention is made of a period of time when the pure doctrine alone was held, and of a subsequent period when the worship of relics would be prevailing. It is not improbable that in this passage allusion is made to the time when the relics were buried secretly, by the care of Kathaba, in the neighbourhood of Radzagio, and remained concealed during two hundred years. The conduct of Kathaba in securing the safety of the relics reveals an important fact, viz., that there existed from the earliest days of Buddhism a great antipathy, in a fraction of the community, against keeping and venerating Buddha’s remains. It created a schism among the disciples which was never healed up, as the sequel will show.[29]In the previous note on Neibban, the writer, having forgotten to mention the application which the Burmese make of this term to three distinct objects, supplies here the omission, in the hope that what follows may enable the reader to come nearer to the true Buddhistic meaning of Neibban.There are, say the Buddhist doctors, three kinds of Neibban respecting the person of Gaudama—the Neibban ofKiletha, or passions; the Neibban ofKhandas, or supports of the existence of a living being; and the Neibban ofDatou, or of the relics.The first took place at the foot of the gniaong or bodi-tree, when Gaudama became Buddha. Then, to make use of the language of Buddhists at that moment, the fifteen hundred passions—that is to say, all passions—were quieted, extinguished, and for ever put an end to.The second kind of Neibban happened near the town of Kootheinaron, when the five Khandas, or the constitutive parts of Gaudama’s being, were quieted, that is to say, ceased to act, and were absolutely destroyed.The third kind will take place at the end of the period of five thousand years, reckoning from the death of Gaudama. This is the period which he has assigned to the duration of his religion. Then all the relics of Buddha that will be still existing will be miraculously congregated on the spot where stood the tree Bodi. After having been the centre of the display of several extraordinary wonders, they will be consumed by a fire that is to come out of them. They will disappear and vanish for ever, as the flame that has consumed them.The idea suggested to us by the application of the word Neibban to these three objects is that of a cessation of action, cessation of existence, and cessation of being. Indeed, it is impossible not to see in the meaning of this word the horrifying idea of absolute annihilation. The writer frankly avows that he has been, during many years, unwilling to adopt a conclusion which the obvious meaning of the words point out in a clear manner. He hoped that a deeper insight into the system of Buddhism would lead him to a conclusion more consonant with reason. But he has been completely disappointed in his expectations. By what process of arguing has the founder of Buddhism arrived to such a despairing terminus? How has he been led into that horrible abyss? How has he contrived to silence the voice of conscience, and set aside the clearest innate notions of the human mind? Gaudama took his departure from a true principle, viz.: that there are miseries in this world, attending the condition of all beings moving within the circle of existences. But ignorant of the real cause that has imported miseries into this world, he never could discover the way by which man can convert them to a useful and beneficial result. He declared that all the efforts of a wise man ought to converge towards one point, that of freeing himself from all the states of existence. The four meggas or ways to perfection lead to that great result. By science, connected with the practice of virtue, the wise man frees himself from all passions, which are the real causes which make a being move in the circle of existences. When they are not subdued but exterminated, there is no longer a cause that impels man into another existence. The end of a being has come. When we speak of the end of a being, we understand its complete and entire destruction, or, in other terms, its Neibban. Nothing remains of him. The materialistic principles of genuine Buddhism forbid us to think of a soul or spiritual substance surviving the destruction of the terrestrial portion of man’s being. When Gaudama unfolds his precepts and maxims for guiding man in the acquisition of science and the destruction of his passions, he elicits the admiration, nay, the astonishment of the reader, at the sight of the profound knowledge of human nature which he displays. But this feeling soon gives place to another of pity, sadness, and horror, when one sees that he has been led to the brink of Neibban.[30]Kathaba speaks of the Pitagat or collection of the scriptures as of a compilation that was to be put in writing for better securing its fixity and permanency, and preventing, as far as human wisdom could reach, the introduction of new and heterodox doctrines. I feel inclined to believe that this expression is put into the mouth of the patriarch, and that in all likelihood he never uttered it. It is probable that, during the first ages of Buddhism, the doctrines were not put in writing, but orally transmitted. For supporting this apparently incredible assertion, we have the testimony of the authors of the Cingalese collection, who distinctly state that, during more than two hundred years after the introduction of the religion in Ceylon, tradition was the only vehicle for transmitting the contents of the Pitagat. Moreover, it is by no means certain that the inhabitants of the Irrawaddy valley possessed a copy of the sacred scriptures previous to the voyage of Buddhagosa from Thaton to Ceylon in the beginning of the fifth century of our era. He went to that island for the express purpose of making a copy of the Pitagat, and bringing it over to his countrymen. Be that as it may, the question on this subject is far from being settled. It well deserves the attention of the learned. A satisfactory solution may throw a much wanted light upon the history of early Buddhism. When we consider that Maheinda, the son of the mighty and pious Athoka, was the head of the mission, which, after the termination of the third council, went to preach religion in Ceylon, it is impossible not to suppose that he would have brought over with him a copy of the collection of the sacred scriptures, had that collection been put in writing at the time that he left Pataliputra on his pious errand.[31]The collection of the Buddhist scriptures is divided into three parts, called the three Pitagats, or the three baskets, respectively named the Wini Pitagat, the Thoots Pitagat, and the Abidama Pitagat. The manuscript that the writer has had for his use, though correct in the main, is certainly defective in the enumeration of the divisions and subdivisions of the three great collections. He will, however, mention them, such as they are enumerated by the Burmese author; the few errors that may be detected can easily be corrected by those who have in their possession the Ceylonese collection, as there is no doubt that the work now under consideration is an abridgment of a more voluminous compilation to be found in Ceylon.The divisions of the Wini are: Bikoo Patimouk, Bikoonee Patimouk, Bikoo Witin (probably Bikoo Win), Bikooni Win, twelve Kandaka, and sixteen Pariwara.The thoots are considered as the instructions orally delivered by Gaudama himself, either to his disciples in private, or to the assembled multitudes, during the forty-five years of his public mission. In this collection the disciples have learned the doctrines of the master, and found all the elements necessary to compose all the treaties, which subsequently have formed the collections called Wini Pitagat and Abidama Pitagat. No one could ever believe that the author of Buddhism could have busied himself in writing treatises on metaphysics, or minutely and elaborately publishing the regulations under which the body of his followers, called the Sanga, were to live and spend their time. In his instructions Gaudama gave utterance to certain principles, which, being appropriated by his disciples and their successors, were enlarged, developed, and reduced to the shape of a treatise. In fact, he sowed the seed which, being let into the soil of the mind of enthusiastic disciples, grew up and multiplied into the voluminous above-named collections. Genuine Buddhism must be found in the thoots of the oldest stamp. Anywhere else we meet with the Buddhism such as it has been developed by doctors and commentators.There are four collections of the thoots, named Nidia Nike, Midzima Nike, Thangoutta Nike, and Engouttara Nike. They are likewise arranged under fifteen heads, called: Koudakapata, Dammapata, Oodana, Ithi, Wouthaka, Thouttanibat, Wi, Mama-wouttoo, Pita-wouttoo, Terakatta, Terikatta, Dzattakani, Piti-sambika, Apadana, Buddha-wattoo.The Abidamma has seven divisions, viz., Dammathingakani, Wittin, Datoogatta, Pouggala-pignia, Kathawattoo, Yamaik, Patan.The attentive reader cannot be but surprised to see how the three great divisions of the Buddhistic scriptures are mentioned by the members of the first council as things already existing and arranged with the same method as they have been disposed during succeeding ages. It is certain that such divisions of Gaudama’s doctrines did not then exist at that time. Are we to conclude therefrom that the fact of the holding of the first council is to be rejected as a mere invention, because the mode of relating some particulars concerning that great assembly is liable to be seriously objected to? It seems that such a conclusion would be a too hasty one.For establishing the fact of the holding of the first council, we have the evidence supplied to us by all the Buddhistic writings, found in the various countries where that religion has been established. Moreover, several monuments of great antiquity allude to that first assembly. We can scarcely raise a doubt upon the existence of the fact. But how are we to account for the manner in which mention is made of compilations which undoubtedly were not existing at that time? The redaction of all the particulars connected with the first assembly must have been made a considerable time after the holding of the said assembly, at an epoch when the Buddhistic scriptures had already been arranged under three distinct heads. The author, familiar with the division or compilation into three parts, called Pitagats, has arranged his narration in such a way as to give it a sort of agreement with a form which he thought must have been as familiar to others as it was to himself. It is probable that most of the points of discussion, such as we find them in the narrative, were actually brought forward before the assembly, but in a shape more simple and general, and less technical and positive. This is what can be said in the present imperfect knowledge of the history of Buddhism, for extenuating the charge of wilful forgery, which might be brought against the author of the redaction. On the other hand, whilst prudent discretion commands us not to be too hasty in passing a sweeping condemnation upon the compilation, we must be very cautious in not admitting at once, and not giving an absolute credit to all that is found in writings which do convey to us many things of great antiquity, but evidently mixed with multifarious details of a comparatively modern origin. This last remark ought to be ever present to the mind of him who peruses some portions of the Pitagats. The huge mass of rubbish which constitutes the largest portion of the scriptures is the production of the various Buddhistic schools which flourished eight and ten centuries after the first council.[32]The few and meagre particulars which we possess respecting the causes that have occasioned the holding of the second council, disclose a curious state of things as existing in the Buddhist community. The disciplinary regulations appear to have occupied a conspicuous part in the discussions that took place during the period of the first century. Some of those regulations were of trifling importance. We wonder how the religious could lay so much stress upon such a trifle as this, “Is is lawful to put salt or other condiments into articles of food, that would have been offered without such requisites?” The activity displayed by both parties in the controversy indicates the gradual working of opinions which in those parts had been always inimical to genuine Buddhism. In Wethalie and Thawattie, the holders of false tenets had been at all times bold and numerous. In the days of Buddha, heretics were swarming in those places. In the beginning of the fifth century of our era, Fa-hian, when he visited those places, says that he found that religion had almost disappeared, and that heretics were prevailing in every direction. We must conclude from these two circumstances that Buddhism never flourished in those places, or, at least, that it was never the prevailing creed of the mass of the people.The disputes that took place in those days were not looked upon as of serious moment, since we see several religious of eminence supporting the anti-orthodox party. King Kalathoka himself was in favor of those whose opinions were condemned by the council. We may also infer from this sate of things, that the disciplinary regulations were far from being settled at that time. It required the experience of succeeding generations to determine exactly what was best fitted for promoting the well-being of the religious body, and causing its members to live agreeably to the spirit which Gaudama desired to infuse into the souls of his followers. It cannot therefore be a matter of surprise to see the assembly striving, in the midst of discussions, to elaborate the framing of the rules destined to guide the religious in the details of their daily duties. Under such circumstances there could not but be a great variety of opinions, supported with that heat and ardour so peculiar to individuals who live estranged from the world. Moreover, the conflicting opinions were maintained by the various schools, which, from the early period of the existence of Buddhism, sprung up and divided the members of the religious body. Circumstantial details respecting the various schools we allude to, would prove of the greatest advantage for elucidating the state of the great religious system under consideration, for enabling us to enter into the history of its internal development, and witnessing the various incidents that have marked its progress through ages, down to the period when it gradually lost its footing in the Indian Peninsula.The eighteen different schools which have obtained celebrity throughout the Buddhist world are mentioned in the Cingalese collection, and in that of all the northern Buddhists, including the Chinese. In the manuscript which the writer possesses nothing is mentioned respecting these schools but their respective names. Had the chief opinions held out by each school been given out, they would have been expounded here at great length and with a scrupulous correctness. Such not being the case, the author has thought that it was useless to the reader to lay before him a dry and uninteresting array of names.[33]It has been thought of some importance to mention in a particular note all the principal epochs named in the course of this work, and to show how they stand relatively to the Christian era. As a matter of course, the starting-point for the reckoning and computing of years is the epoch of Gaudama’s death, which is fixed by the southern Buddhists in the year 543B.C.The exactness of this epoch has been contested by A. Cunningham, one of the greatest authorities in such matters. In his opinion, the epoch of Gaudama’s Neibban ought to be placed seventy years later. But as his views on this subject have not as yet been universally received by the learned in Europe, we will remain satisfied with the hitherto generally accepted data.The first era is that of King Eetzana, the grandfather of Gaudama by his mother’s side. It was made by the help and under the guidance of a famous hermit, named Deweela, who is mentioned as highly versed in the science of astronomy, such as it existed in those days. The king’s object was to correct the glaring errors that had crept into the calendar. It is said that he did away with the era 8640 on a Saturday, on the day of the new moon of Tabaong (March), and fixed the beginning of the new era on the following day, that is to say, on a Sunday, the first day after the new moon of the same month. This happened in the year 691B.C.This new reckoning of years lasted only a hundred and forty-eight years, the epoch of Gaudama’s Neibban, 543B.C.The second era, the most celebrated of all, is the religious one. King Adzatathat and the venerable Kathaba, actuated by the desire of rendering ever memorable the death of the founder of their religion, and paying to him a homage that would be re-echoed by succeeding generations, came to the resolution of doing away with the Eetzana computation, and fixed a new reckoning of years, from the annual revolution which witnessed that event, which, in the opinion of Buddhists, is the greatest of all. In the year 148, the first day of the month of Tagoo (April), which fell on a Sunday, was fixed as the beginning of the new computation, emphatically called the era of religion, 543B.C.It is adopted by all the southern Buddhists.In addition to this general era, Buddhist nation has had, for one reason or for another, particular periods, from which they have reckoned time and computed years. It is probable that the reform in the calendar, necessitated by the errors introduced into it owing to incorrect computations, have given rise to several eras, which are generally known by the name of the kings under whose reign they have taken place, and by whose authority they have been introduced and brought into common use.The Burmans have the era called Dandoratha. It was introduced by Thamugdara, or, as spelt by others, Thamugdaritz, king of Prome, in the year of religion 625 = to 81A.D.That monarch is represented as well informed and skilled in the knowledge of the astronomical calculations. The months were no longer in unison with the seasons. What did the royal reformer of the calendar do to remedy the evil? No other particular is mentioned in the manuscript which the writer has in his possession, except that the king did away with 622, and began the reformed computation with two, so that its beginning must be made to agree with the year 79A.D.That era lasted only 562 years. The reformer on this occasion was Pouppa-dzau, king of Pagan, who is represented to us as well versed in the science of astronomical computations. This monarch imitated in this reform the conduct of the king of Prome. He did away with 560 years, and had his new era to begin with two. This happened in the year of religion 1182 = to 639A.D.This is the common era used by the Burmese up to this day, and is known as the Pagan or Pouppa-dzau era.We find also mentioned occasionally the Thaton era. It is made to begin with the year of the arrival of the two Buddhist missionaries, Thauna and Outtara, in the great place of Thaton, in the year of religion 237 = to 306B.C.Thirimathoka was, at that time, king of that country. That period of years has lasted 1362 years. It ended in the year of religion 1599 = 1156A.D., when the king of Pagan, Naurata-dzau, invaded the country, possessed himself of Thaton, and carried away captive the last king, Mein-hnit.It is perhaps as well to mention here an epoch which has been, at all times, famous in the history of Buddhism in Burmah. I allude to the voyage which a religious of Thaton, named Buddhagosa, made to Ceylon in the year of religion 943 = to 400A.D.The object of this voyage was to procure a copy of the scriptures. He succeeded in his undertaking. He made use of the Burmese or rather Talaing characters, in transcribing the manuscripts, which were written with the characters of Magatha. The Burmans lay much stress upon that voyage, and always carefully note down the year in which it took place. In fact, it is to Buddhagosa that the people living on the shores of the Gulf of Martaban owe the possession of the Buddhist scriptures. From Thaton, the collection made by Buddhagosa was transferred to Pagan, 656 years after it had been imported from Ceylon.Without the knowledge of those various epochs, it is difficult to understand with anything approaching to clearness and exactness the dates that we find alluded to and mentioned in the Burmese literary compositions. The foregoing particulars appear to be sufficient for all practical purposes.[34]From this passage we see that, in those days of remote antiquity, there existed in the Indian Peninsula individuals who, led away by a fanaticism still existing in our own days, devoted themselves to rigorous and extravagant penances, often in a state of complete nakedness. In the days of Alexander the Great, the same fanatics were met with in the Punjaub. Such ridiculous and unnatural exhibitions, far from being approved of and countenanced by the founder of Buddhism, were positively prohibited. Though he aimed at subduing passions, and elevating the spiritual principle above the material one, he recommended in the spiritual warfare a line of conduct more consonant with reason, and supplied his disciples with weapons of a far better quality and a superior description.[35]It is much to be regretted that no details concerning that third assembly of the Buddhists in Pataliputra could be found by the writer in the manuscript he has in his possession. The cause that occasioned the holding of the council was the desire to establish a perfect unity in the practices of discipline among the religious, and to come to an agreement on the subject of the genuineness of the scriptures.During the period of 236 years that elapsed from the death of Gaudama, Buddhism seems to have remained confined within the limits of Magatha, that is to say, north and south Behar. Its hold over the mind of the people within those limits appears to have been very imperfect and uncertain, particularly in the parts north of the Ganges. It is from the reign of King Athoka that the propagation of Buddhism in every direction dates. The uninterrupted successes which attended his arms enabled him to afford a powerful support to the propagators of the new religion in the remotest parts which they visited. But we have no reason to suspect that he had recourse to violence in order to gain proselytes. No doubt he protected them, and supplied all their wants on a liberal scale. He does not appear to have extended farther the effects of the countenance he lent to the heralds of the new religion. He built monasteries and dzedis throughout the length and breadth of his immense dominions; he erected stone pillars, which he covered with inscriptions commemorative of his piety and zeal, a few of which exist up to this day. Athoka may be looked upon as a monarch who did more for the propagation of Buddhism in foreign parts than any of those who preceded him or came after him.The establishment of Buddhism in Ceylon is mentioned at great length in the writer’s manuscript, but he has thought it unnecessary to relate all that he has found on this subject, as being foreign to the purpose he has had in view in the publication of this book. In a foregoing note it has been stated how extraordinary is the fact that during more than two hundred years Buddhism was propagated in Ceylon solely by means of oral tradition without writing. The Cingalese authors are so unanimous on this point that it cannot be doubted. But in the Burmese manuscript we have found stated, in unmistakable expressions, that the religious who assembled in the village of Malliya wrote the Pitagat in Sanscrit, and with the Sanscrit characters. The word made use of isSanskarain, which surely is designed to mean Sanscrit. How can this be reconciled with the undoubted fact that all the southern Buddhists have the scriptures in Pali and not in Sanscrit, whilst the northern nations that have embraced Buddhism possess the scriptures in Sanscrit? Until we can obtain further information on the subject, I have no hesitation in stating that the Burmans, ignorant of the existence of the two distinct languages—the Pali and the Sanscrit—are very apt to mistake the one for the other, and that in their opinion what they call the language of Magatha, Pali, and Sanscrit are but one and the same language, to which different names have been given by ancient authors. As the translator of a manuscript, the writer was bound to render into English what he has found written in Burmese. This is the reason why he has, against his intimate conviction, made use of the word Sanscrit, applied to the first compilation of scriptures made in Ceylon under the reign of King Watakamani.
[24]The lengthened description of Buddha’s funeral has suggested the idea of laying before the reader a brief account of the ceremonies observed by Buddhists in Burmah, when funeral rites are performed on the mortal remains of Talapoins, who have been eminent in the profession and have spent their whole lives in monasteries. By comparing the following account with the narrative of the legend, we will see that the rubrics of the funeral service, in our days, are nearly the same as those existing at the origin of Buddhism.When a Buddhist recluse has given up the ghost, the corpse is carefully and diligently washed by laymen, or the younger inmates of the monastery. A large incision is made in the abdomen; its contents are taken out and buried in the earth without any ceremony being observed on the occasion. The empty cavity is filled up with ashes, bran, or some other desiccative substances for preventing putrefaction. The corpse is then tightly wrapt with bands or swathes of a white colour from head to foot, and then covered with the yellow habit of the profession. Sometimes a coat of black varnish is put over and then leaves of gold, so that the whole body is gilt. It is afterwards bound all over with ropes tightened as much as possible, so as to bring it within the narrowest dimensions. When thus prepared, the corpse is placed in an open coffin. The coffin is made of the trunk of a tree, rudely hollowed, and often so imperfectly scooped out as not to afford sufficient room for the corpse. In the middle of the interior part of the coffin, an opening, about two inches in diameter, has been made, to afford issue to the humours that may ooze out through the swathes. The coffin is unceremoniously laid on the floor of the monastery. A bamboo, 7 or 8 feet long, is procured; one of its ends is inserted in the hole made in the coffin, and the other is sunk into the ground below; it is the channel through which the humours flow into the earth. After a lapse of ten or twelve days, the body is supposed to be quite dry; they set about putting a covering over the coffin and effectually shutting it.Whilst residing at Tavoy, I wished, on a certain day, to go and witness all the particulars observed on such occasions. A most opportune event favoured the prosecution of my wishes. A Talapoin of my acquaintance had died a fortnight before, after thirty years of profession. His body, laid in the coffin, was to be for ever concealed from human sight. I went into the monastery, where I met a large party of the brethren of the deceased, who had assembled for the ceremony. Most of them were known to me. My reception was at once kind and cordial. Great was my surprise at seeing, instead of the grief and mourning which the circumstance seemed to demand, laughing, talking, and amusement, going on at a rate which is to be called scandalous. No one appeared to take the least notice of the deceased, whose corpse was lying at our feet. A momentary stop was put to the indecorous behaviour of the assistants by the appearance of two stout carpenters bringing a board four or five inches thick, designed for the cover. They vainly tried to fit it in its place; the hollow of the coffin was neither broad nor deep enough for holding the corpse, though reduced to the smallest proportions. The operation was not a very easy one to bring the board in contact with the sides of the coffin, despite the resistance that was to be offered by the corpse. The carpenters were determined not to be disappointed. At the two ends and in the middle of the coffin, ropes were passed several times round it with the utmost tension, in such a manner as to have six or seven coils in the same place. Enormous wooden wedges were inserted right and left in three places between the sides and the coils. On these wedges the workmen hammered with their whole strength during about twenty minutes, to the great amusement of all the bystanders. Each blow of the hammer lessened the distance between the cover and the brim of the coffin. Every perceptible success, gained over the latent resisting power, elicited a burst of applause, and a cheer to the persevering workmen. At last all resistance being overcome, the cover rested fixedly in its place. It is needless to add that the corpse inside was but a hideous mass of mangled flesh and broken bones.According to the custom observed on such occasions, a rude building was erected for the purpose of placing therein the mortal remains of the deceased, until preparations on a grand scale should have been made for doing honour to the illustrious departed individual. That building, as well as those made for a similar purpose, is but a temporary edifice raised for the occasion, and made of bamboos with an attap roof. In the centre of that large bungalow was erected a kind of estrade, about twelve feet high, well decorated. The upper part is often gilt, but always plated with thin metal leaves and tinsels of various colours. From the sides hang rough drawings, representing animals, monsters of various kinds, religious subjects, and others, but rarely of great indecency. Around this estrade are disposed posts, from the top of which are suspended small flags and streamers of different forms and shapes. On the summit is arranged a place for the coffin, but the four sides at that place are about two or three feet higher than the level whereupon rests the coffin, so that it is concealed entirely from the sight of the visitors.Things remained in that state for four months, that is to say, until all the arrangements had been made for the grand ceremony, the expense of which is commonly defrayed by voluntary contributions. The arrangements being all complete, a day was appointed at the sound of gongs, for burning the corpse of the pious recluse. At noon of that day, the whole population of the town flocked to a vast and extensive plain beyond the old wall and ditch in the north. Men and women, dressed in their finest attire, swarmed in every direction, selecting the most suitable and convenient situations for enjoying a commanding view of thefête. The funeral pile occupied nearly the centre of the plain; it was about fifteen feet high, of a square shape, encased with planks, which gave to it a neat appearance. It was large at the base, and went on diminishing in size in the upper part, terminating in a square platform where the coffin was to be deposited. A small roof, supported on four bamboo posts, elegantly adorned, overshaded the platform. A huge four-wheeled cart, decorated in the most fantastic manner, was descried at a distance; it was drawn by a great number of men, and brought to the foot of the pile. Upon it was the coffin. Immense cheers, shouts of thousands, had announced the progress of the cart with its precious relics, as it passed through the crowd. The coffin was forthwith hoisted on the platform. Mats were then spread round the pile, whereupon sat numbers of Talapoins, reciting aloud long formulas in Pali. The devotions being performed, they rose up and prepared to depart, attended with a retinue of their disciples, who loaded themselves with the offerings made on the occasion. These offerings consisted of plantains, cocoa-nuts, sugar-canes, rice, pillows, mats, mattresses, &c. Masters and disciples returned to their monasteries with their valuable collections.The place being cleared, the eyes were all riveted on two large rockets, placed horizontally, each between two ropes, to which they were connected by two side rings. One of the ends of the ropes was strongly fixed at posts behind the rockets, and the other was made as tight as possible at the foot of the pile. At a given signal, the rockets, emitting smoke, rushed forward with a loud, hissing, and irregular noise, tremulously gliding along the ropes, and in an instant penetrating into the interior of the pile, and setting fire to a heap of inflammable materials, amassed beforehand for that purpose. In a short while the whole pile was in a blaze, and soon entirely consumed with the coffin and the corpse. The bones or half-burnt bits of bones that remained, were carefully collected, to be subsequently interred in a becoming place.
[24]The lengthened description of Buddha’s funeral has suggested the idea of laying before the reader a brief account of the ceremonies observed by Buddhists in Burmah, when funeral rites are performed on the mortal remains of Talapoins, who have been eminent in the profession and have spent their whole lives in monasteries. By comparing the following account with the narrative of the legend, we will see that the rubrics of the funeral service, in our days, are nearly the same as those existing at the origin of Buddhism.
When a Buddhist recluse has given up the ghost, the corpse is carefully and diligently washed by laymen, or the younger inmates of the monastery. A large incision is made in the abdomen; its contents are taken out and buried in the earth without any ceremony being observed on the occasion. The empty cavity is filled up with ashes, bran, or some other desiccative substances for preventing putrefaction. The corpse is then tightly wrapt with bands or swathes of a white colour from head to foot, and then covered with the yellow habit of the profession. Sometimes a coat of black varnish is put over and then leaves of gold, so that the whole body is gilt. It is afterwards bound all over with ropes tightened as much as possible, so as to bring it within the narrowest dimensions. When thus prepared, the corpse is placed in an open coffin. The coffin is made of the trunk of a tree, rudely hollowed, and often so imperfectly scooped out as not to afford sufficient room for the corpse. In the middle of the interior part of the coffin, an opening, about two inches in diameter, has been made, to afford issue to the humours that may ooze out through the swathes. The coffin is unceremoniously laid on the floor of the monastery. A bamboo, 7 or 8 feet long, is procured; one of its ends is inserted in the hole made in the coffin, and the other is sunk into the ground below; it is the channel through which the humours flow into the earth. After a lapse of ten or twelve days, the body is supposed to be quite dry; they set about putting a covering over the coffin and effectually shutting it.
Whilst residing at Tavoy, I wished, on a certain day, to go and witness all the particulars observed on such occasions. A most opportune event favoured the prosecution of my wishes. A Talapoin of my acquaintance had died a fortnight before, after thirty years of profession. His body, laid in the coffin, was to be for ever concealed from human sight. I went into the monastery, where I met a large party of the brethren of the deceased, who had assembled for the ceremony. Most of them were known to me. My reception was at once kind and cordial. Great was my surprise at seeing, instead of the grief and mourning which the circumstance seemed to demand, laughing, talking, and amusement, going on at a rate which is to be called scandalous. No one appeared to take the least notice of the deceased, whose corpse was lying at our feet. A momentary stop was put to the indecorous behaviour of the assistants by the appearance of two stout carpenters bringing a board four or five inches thick, designed for the cover. They vainly tried to fit it in its place; the hollow of the coffin was neither broad nor deep enough for holding the corpse, though reduced to the smallest proportions. The operation was not a very easy one to bring the board in contact with the sides of the coffin, despite the resistance that was to be offered by the corpse. The carpenters were determined not to be disappointed. At the two ends and in the middle of the coffin, ropes were passed several times round it with the utmost tension, in such a manner as to have six or seven coils in the same place. Enormous wooden wedges were inserted right and left in three places between the sides and the coils. On these wedges the workmen hammered with their whole strength during about twenty minutes, to the great amusement of all the bystanders. Each blow of the hammer lessened the distance between the cover and the brim of the coffin. Every perceptible success, gained over the latent resisting power, elicited a burst of applause, and a cheer to the persevering workmen. At last all resistance being overcome, the cover rested fixedly in its place. It is needless to add that the corpse inside was but a hideous mass of mangled flesh and broken bones.
According to the custom observed on such occasions, a rude building was erected for the purpose of placing therein the mortal remains of the deceased, until preparations on a grand scale should have been made for doing honour to the illustrious departed individual. That building, as well as those made for a similar purpose, is but a temporary edifice raised for the occasion, and made of bamboos with an attap roof. In the centre of that large bungalow was erected a kind of estrade, about twelve feet high, well decorated. The upper part is often gilt, but always plated with thin metal leaves and tinsels of various colours. From the sides hang rough drawings, representing animals, monsters of various kinds, religious subjects, and others, but rarely of great indecency. Around this estrade are disposed posts, from the top of which are suspended small flags and streamers of different forms and shapes. On the summit is arranged a place for the coffin, but the four sides at that place are about two or three feet higher than the level whereupon rests the coffin, so that it is concealed entirely from the sight of the visitors.
Things remained in that state for four months, that is to say, until all the arrangements had been made for the grand ceremony, the expense of which is commonly defrayed by voluntary contributions. The arrangements being all complete, a day was appointed at the sound of gongs, for burning the corpse of the pious recluse. At noon of that day, the whole population of the town flocked to a vast and extensive plain beyond the old wall and ditch in the north. Men and women, dressed in their finest attire, swarmed in every direction, selecting the most suitable and convenient situations for enjoying a commanding view of thefête. The funeral pile occupied nearly the centre of the plain; it was about fifteen feet high, of a square shape, encased with planks, which gave to it a neat appearance. It was large at the base, and went on diminishing in size in the upper part, terminating in a square platform where the coffin was to be deposited. A small roof, supported on four bamboo posts, elegantly adorned, overshaded the platform. A huge four-wheeled cart, decorated in the most fantastic manner, was descried at a distance; it was drawn by a great number of men, and brought to the foot of the pile. Upon it was the coffin. Immense cheers, shouts of thousands, had announced the progress of the cart with its precious relics, as it passed through the crowd. The coffin was forthwith hoisted on the platform. Mats were then spread round the pile, whereupon sat numbers of Talapoins, reciting aloud long formulas in Pali. The devotions being performed, they rose up and prepared to depart, attended with a retinue of their disciples, who loaded themselves with the offerings made on the occasion. These offerings consisted of plantains, cocoa-nuts, sugar-canes, rice, pillows, mats, mattresses, &c. Masters and disciples returned to their monasteries with their valuable collections.
The place being cleared, the eyes were all riveted on two large rockets, placed horizontally, each between two ropes, to which they were connected by two side rings. One of the ends of the ropes was strongly fixed at posts behind the rockets, and the other was made as tight as possible at the foot of the pile. At a given signal, the rockets, emitting smoke, rushed forward with a loud, hissing, and irregular noise, tremulously gliding along the ropes, and in an instant penetrating into the interior of the pile, and setting fire to a heap of inflammable materials, amassed beforehand for that purpose. In a short while the whole pile was in a blaze, and soon entirely consumed with the coffin and the corpse. The bones or half-burnt bits of bones that remained, were carefully collected, to be subsequently interred in a becoming place.
[25]In the course of this work, allusion is often made to pounhas who appear to have led a mode of life not altogether the same, but varying considerably according to circumstances. All the pounhas were doubtless religious, who practised certain duties not regarded as obligatory by ordinary people, and lived under certain regulations, which separated them more or less from society, and distinguished them from those who followed the ordinary pursuits of life. The difference among them originated in a sort of religious enthusiasm, which impelled many to perform penitential deeds of the most cruel and sometimes revolting nature.Some of the pounhas are described as living in villages or towns, and wearing a white dress. In many of their practices they appear to have approximated to the Buddhist monks, except that in many instances they married. Others are mentioned as living in a state of complete nakedness, staying in the midst of filth and dirt. It seems that those whom Alexander the Great met in some parts of the Punjaub, belonged to this class. Many of these disgusting fanatics delivered themselves up to cruel tortures, much in the same way as we see some fakhirs and jogies do even in our days, and under our eyes. A third class of pounhas affected to live in lonely places, on high mountains, in small huts made of branches of trees, and sometimes at the foot of trees, exposed to the inclemency of the weather. They were hermits. They clothed themselves in the skins of wild beasts, allowed the hairs of the head to grow to the greatest length, divided them into several parts which they twisted separately like a rope, so that, when looking at them, one would have thought that instead of hairs, several small ropes were hanging down on the back and the shoulders, giving to them the wildest and most fantastic appearance. Some of those hermits, famous for their science, attracted round their persons many pupils eager to acquire science and discipline under them. Such were the three Kathabas, whom Gaudama converted during the first year of his public life. Others travelled through the country, exhibiting themselves in the capacity of preachers and mendicants.
[25]In the course of this work, allusion is often made to pounhas who appear to have led a mode of life not altogether the same, but varying considerably according to circumstances. All the pounhas were doubtless religious, who practised certain duties not regarded as obligatory by ordinary people, and lived under certain regulations, which separated them more or less from society, and distinguished them from those who followed the ordinary pursuits of life. The difference among them originated in a sort of religious enthusiasm, which impelled many to perform penitential deeds of the most cruel and sometimes revolting nature.
Some of the pounhas are described as living in villages or towns, and wearing a white dress. In many of their practices they appear to have approximated to the Buddhist monks, except that in many instances they married. Others are mentioned as living in a state of complete nakedness, staying in the midst of filth and dirt. It seems that those whom Alexander the Great met in some parts of the Punjaub, belonged to this class. Many of these disgusting fanatics delivered themselves up to cruel tortures, much in the same way as we see some fakhirs and jogies do even in our days, and under our eyes. A third class of pounhas affected to live in lonely places, on high mountains, in small huts made of branches of trees, and sometimes at the foot of trees, exposed to the inclemency of the weather. They were hermits. They clothed themselves in the skins of wild beasts, allowed the hairs of the head to grow to the greatest length, divided them into several parts which they twisted separately like a rope, so that, when looking at them, one would have thought that instead of hairs, several small ropes were hanging down on the back and the shoulders, giving to them the wildest and most fantastic appearance. Some of those hermits, famous for their science, attracted round their persons many pupils eager to acquire science and discipline under them. Such were the three Kathabas, whom Gaudama converted during the first year of his public life. Others travelled through the country, exhibiting themselves in the capacity of preachers and mendicants.
[26]The virtuous and zealous Kathaba was at once convinced of the absolute necessity of soon holding a meeting of the wisest members of the assembly, for the purpose of ascertaining, and authoritatively determining, the genuineness of Buddha’s doctrines. Human passions were already at work, deforming more or less in various ways the instructions of the great preacher. Many, laying more stress on their talents than on the authority of their departed instructor, began to entertain on certain questions views and opinions evidently at variance with those of Buddha. The enemies of truth were numerous even during his lifetime, when as yet overawed by his presence and matchless wisdom. Kathaba sagaciously foresees that their number and boldness would soon increase to a fearful extent and threaten the very existence of religion. He was roused to exertions by such considerations, and on that very moment he resolved to assemble the elders of the assembly, as soon as convenient after Buddha’s funeral. He was, it appears, acknowledged by common consent the first of the disciples. He was entitled to that distinction by the renown of his abilities before his conversion, and by his great proficiency under Buddha’s teachings subsequently to that event. But a circumstance related by Kathaba clearly indicates the intimate familiarity existing between the master and the disciple, and the unbounded confidence the former placed in the latter. During a walk, the two friends, if such an expression be allowed, had entered into a more than usual intimate communion of thoughts and feelings; the soul of the one had passed into the person of the other, or rather both souls were blended together, and united so as to become one in the bosom of a virtuous, high, refined, sublime, and philosophic friendship. They made an exchange of their cloaks. Kathaba, by putting on Buddha’s cloak, inherited as it were his spirit and his authority. Hence his legitimate right to be appointed president or head of the first council, assembled a little while after Gaudama’s Neibban.Our author maintains that the first council was held three months after Gaudama’s demise. This important step was taken at Radzagio, the capital of the kingdom of King Adzatathat, who doubtless made use of his royal power to secure tranquillity during the deliberations of this assembly, under the presidency of Kathaba. The number of religious that formed the council is reckoned at five hundred. Its object was, as mentioned by Kathaba himself, to silence the voice of many who wished to innovate in religious matters, and follow their own views, instead of the doctrines of Buddha. They wished to shake off the yoke of authority, and arrange all things in their own way.The second general assembly of the Buddhist religious was held one hundred years later at Wethalie, in the tenth year of the reign of King Kalathoka, under the presidency of Ratha, who was assisted by seven hundred religious. The object of this assembly was to regulate several matters of discipline. It is probable that a spirit of innovation had reappeared and begun to undermine the strictness of the disciplinary institutions, threatening to weaken the ties that kept together the members of the religious body, and deprive it of that halo of sacredness that had hitherto rendered it an object of so profound and general esteem, respect and veneration. The council, moreover, revised the canon of sacred books, and purified it from all the imperfections and spurious writings that had been embodied in it.Two hundred and eighteen years after Gaudama’s death, King Damathoka or Athoka ascended the throne of Palibotra, which was the capital of a vast and powerful empire. It was in the seventeenth year of that monarch’s reign that the third and last general assembly was held at Palibotra, under the presidency of Maugalipata. The last and final revision of the sacred scriptures was made with the greatest care and labour. The pious Athoka lent to the decisions of the assembly the influence of the secular power. The Pittagat, or the collection of the religious books, such as it now exists, is supposed to be the work of that council. In the two following chapters, the subject of the councils shall receive the attention it deserves.There is a most important fact to be noticed here, which must be considered as a most remarkable result of the third assembly. It forms the grandest era in the history of Buddhism, and it is carefully noted down by our Burmese author. I mean the extraordinary zeal and fervour which seemed at that time to have simultaneously and powerfully acted for the bringing about of this mighty but peaceful religious commotion, that was to be felt, not only in the Indian Peninsula, but far beyond the valley of Cashmere, the country of Guzerat in the west and north-west, beyond the snowy ranges of the Himalaya in the north, and the territories and kingdoms in an eastern direction. King Athoka was then at the height of his power. His religious zeal induced him to make use of all the vast resources at his command to favour the development of the comparatively new religion. During the holding of the council, the religious tempered, as it were, their zeal, fervour, devotion, and ardour for their religious creed, in the middle of their conferences. They resolved to propagate with unremitting zeal the tenets of the holy religion, and extend it all over the world. The spirit of Gaudama seemed to have been infused into the soul of every individual religious. His ardent fervour glowed in the soul of all, who from that period had but one desire, that of extending the boundaries of their spiritual empire.This is certainly one of those extraordinary epochs, when the indolent and apathetic mind of the Hindus, after centuries of a profound slumbering, seems on a sudden to awake, and, with an unexpected vigour and youthful energy, bursting forth as a terrific hurricane, brings about the most astounding revolutions, or commotions, that sweep away with irresistible power the old political and religious forms, to establish new ones on the ruins of the former. The religious zeal that seized on the Buddhists of those days, and impelled them with an unheard-of resolution to disseminate their doctrines, coupled with the astonishing success that attended their preachings, forms one of the most prominent periods in the religious history of the world.
[26]The virtuous and zealous Kathaba was at once convinced of the absolute necessity of soon holding a meeting of the wisest members of the assembly, for the purpose of ascertaining, and authoritatively determining, the genuineness of Buddha’s doctrines. Human passions were already at work, deforming more or less in various ways the instructions of the great preacher. Many, laying more stress on their talents than on the authority of their departed instructor, began to entertain on certain questions views and opinions evidently at variance with those of Buddha. The enemies of truth were numerous even during his lifetime, when as yet overawed by his presence and matchless wisdom. Kathaba sagaciously foresees that their number and boldness would soon increase to a fearful extent and threaten the very existence of religion. He was roused to exertions by such considerations, and on that very moment he resolved to assemble the elders of the assembly, as soon as convenient after Buddha’s funeral. He was, it appears, acknowledged by common consent the first of the disciples. He was entitled to that distinction by the renown of his abilities before his conversion, and by his great proficiency under Buddha’s teachings subsequently to that event. But a circumstance related by Kathaba clearly indicates the intimate familiarity existing between the master and the disciple, and the unbounded confidence the former placed in the latter. During a walk, the two friends, if such an expression be allowed, had entered into a more than usual intimate communion of thoughts and feelings; the soul of the one had passed into the person of the other, or rather both souls were blended together, and united so as to become one in the bosom of a virtuous, high, refined, sublime, and philosophic friendship. They made an exchange of their cloaks. Kathaba, by putting on Buddha’s cloak, inherited as it were his spirit and his authority. Hence his legitimate right to be appointed president or head of the first council, assembled a little while after Gaudama’s Neibban.
Our author maintains that the first council was held three months after Gaudama’s demise. This important step was taken at Radzagio, the capital of the kingdom of King Adzatathat, who doubtless made use of his royal power to secure tranquillity during the deliberations of this assembly, under the presidency of Kathaba. The number of religious that formed the council is reckoned at five hundred. Its object was, as mentioned by Kathaba himself, to silence the voice of many who wished to innovate in religious matters, and follow their own views, instead of the doctrines of Buddha. They wished to shake off the yoke of authority, and arrange all things in their own way.
The second general assembly of the Buddhist religious was held one hundred years later at Wethalie, in the tenth year of the reign of King Kalathoka, under the presidency of Ratha, who was assisted by seven hundred religious. The object of this assembly was to regulate several matters of discipline. It is probable that a spirit of innovation had reappeared and begun to undermine the strictness of the disciplinary institutions, threatening to weaken the ties that kept together the members of the religious body, and deprive it of that halo of sacredness that had hitherto rendered it an object of so profound and general esteem, respect and veneration. The council, moreover, revised the canon of sacred books, and purified it from all the imperfections and spurious writings that had been embodied in it.
Two hundred and eighteen years after Gaudama’s death, King Damathoka or Athoka ascended the throne of Palibotra, which was the capital of a vast and powerful empire. It was in the seventeenth year of that monarch’s reign that the third and last general assembly was held at Palibotra, under the presidency of Maugalipata. The last and final revision of the sacred scriptures was made with the greatest care and labour. The pious Athoka lent to the decisions of the assembly the influence of the secular power. The Pittagat, or the collection of the religious books, such as it now exists, is supposed to be the work of that council. In the two following chapters, the subject of the councils shall receive the attention it deserves.
There is a most important fact to be noticed here, which must be considered as a most remarkable result of the third assembly. It forms the grandest era in the history of Buddhism, and it is carefully noted down by our Burmese author. I mean the extraordinary zeal and fervour which seemed at that time to have simultaneously and powerfully acted for the bringing about of this mighty but peaceful religious commotion, that was to be felt, not only in the Indian Peninsula, but far beyond the valley of Cashmere, the country of Guzerat in the west and north-west, beyond the snowy ranges of the Himalaya in the north, and the territories and kingdoms in an eastern direction. King Athoka was then at the height of his power. His religious zeal induced him to make use of all the vast resources at his command to favour the development of the comparatively new religion. During the holding of the council, the religious tempered, as it were, their zeal, fervour, devotion, and ardour for their religious creed, in the middle of their conferences. They resolved to propagate with unremitting zeal the tenets of the holy religion, and extend it all over the world. The spirit of Gaudama seemed to have been infused into the soul of every individual religious. His ardent fervour glowed in the soul of all, who from that period had but one desire, that of extending the boundaries of their spiritual empire.
This is certainly one of those extraordinary epochs, when the indolent and apathetic mind of the Hindus, after centuries of a profound slumbering, seems on a sudden to awake, and, with an unexpected vigour and youthful energy, bursting forth as a terrific hurricane, brings about the most astounding revolutions, or commotions, that sweep away with irresistible power the old political and religious forms, to establish new ones on the ruins of the former. The religious zeal that seized on the Buddhists of those days, and impelled them with an unheard-of resolution to disseminate their doctrines, coupled with the astonishing success that attended their preachings, forms one of the most prominent periods in the religious history of the world.
[27]It is not easy to determine with precision in what year occurred the conversion of King Adzatathat to Buddhism. Though his father Pimpathara was a zealous Buddhist from the very beginning of the preaching of Gaudama, his son seems to have kept aloof from the religious movement that took place in the royal city of Radzagio, within the precincts of the royal palace, and continued to adhere to the tenets of the ancient creed. His faith, however, in the hitherto national religion, that is to say, Brahminism, does not appear to have been deeply seated in his soul. He was a shrewd, ambitious, and crafty politician; and from what we know of the beginning of his reign, his political principles were of the most elastic nature. Even after his conversion to Buddhism, he does not appear to have scrupled in the least to resort to the most questionable means for satisfying his ambition. The disputes between the upholders of the contending systems had, as is often the case, shaken his former convictions without imparting new ones. Perhaps he remained in that ambiguous position for a political object. He was glad to place himself at the head of the malcontents, who, on account of the king’s religious innovations, must have been numerous. Be that as it may, we see the Crown Prince of Radzagio receiving with open arms Dewadat, the enemy of Buddha, espousing his party, and looking upon him as his spiritual adviser. This occurred about ten or twelve years before Buddha’s death. With the advice of his new friend, he compassed and effected the destruction of his father three or four years afterwards, and became king in the seventh year before Phra’s Neibban. His conversion probably took place after the death of Dewadat, four or five years subsequent to that event; but it appears to have been sincere and earnest. His love for Buddha’s person was so intense that it atoned fully for the harm which, under his name and protection, Dewadat had endeavoured to inflict on his great relative.Adzatathat reigned thirty-two years, that is to say, twenty-five years after Gaudama’s death. Under his reign, the first council was held with his consent, and a promise to make the decisions of the assembly be received with respect and strictly attended to. This is the first direct interference of the secular power in matters of a purely ecclesiastical nature. Adzatathat was, however, too prudent in his policy to persecute directly the holders of anti-Buddhistic opinions, who as yet formed the great mass of the people. He zealously supported the new creed he had adopted, but he left full liberty to the followers of the pounhas. By the advice of Kathaba, Adzatathat fixed the beginning of the religious era in the year of Buddha’s demise. It is the one which is followed by all the southern Buddhists. It was not the necessity of correcting certain errors in the calendar which induced the king to adopt that measure, since a correction had been made a hundred and forty-eight years ago by King Eetzana with the assistance of a celebrated hermit. A religious motive alone induced the king to obtemper the solicitations of Kathaba on this subject, and lay, as the point of departure for the reckoning of years, the great event of the death of the founder of religion.The two names of Pimpathara and of his son Adzatathat are indissolubly connected with the origin of Buddhism and its spread through the Magatha country. To the first, Gaudama owed much for the extraordinary success that attended his preachings and the conversion of remarkable personages. In a country like India, the example of the king must have exerted an extraordinary influence over the courtiers and the wealthy and powerful persons. The second rendered no less important services to the cause of religion, by supporting openly the great Kathaba, the patriarch of Buddhism, and countenancing the decisions of the first council, which secured unity among the members of the assembly at the very time that evil-minded individuals endeavoured to sow the seeds of dissension among the religious, and upset the fabric which Buddha’s genius and zeal had just set up. Under the reign of those two sovereigns religion gained a firm footing in Magatha, and secured for itself an ascendancy which it retained with various successes for many centuries.
[27]It is not easy to determine with precision in what year occurred the conversion of King Adzatathat to Buddhism. Though his father Pimpathara was a zealous Buddhist from the very beginning of the preaching of Gaudama, his son seems to have kept aloof from the religious movement that took place in the royal city of Radzagio, within the precincts of the royal palace, and continued to adhere to the tenets of the ancient creed. His faith, however, in the hitherto national religion, that is to say, Brahminism, does not appear to have been deeply seated in his soul. He was a shrewd, ambitious, and crafty politician; and from what we know of the beginning of his reign, his political principles were of the most elastic nature. Even after his conversion to Buddhism, he does not appear to have scrupled in the least to resort to the most questionable means for satisfying his ambition. The disputes between the upholders of the contending systems had, as is often the case, shaken his former convictions without imparting new ones. Perhaps he remained in that ambiguous position for a political object. He was glad to place himself at the head of the malcontents, who, on account of the king’s religious innovations, must have been numerous. Be that as it may, we see the Crown Prince of Radzagio receiving with open arms Dewadat, the enemy of Buddha, espousing his party, and looking upon him as his spiritual adviser. This occurred about ten or twelve years before Buddha’s death. With the advice of his new friend, he compassed and effected the destruction of his father three or four years afterwards, and became king in the seventh year before Phra’s Neibban. His conversion probably took place after the death of Dewadat, four or five years subsequent to that event; but it appears to have been sincere and earnest. His love for Buddha’s person was so intense that it atoned fully for the harm which, under his name and protection, Dewadat had endeavoured to inflict on his great relative.
Adzatathat reigned thirty-two years, that is to say, twenty-five years after Gaudama’s death. Under his reign, the first council was held with his consent, and a promise to make the decisions of the assembly be received with respect and strictly attended to. This is the first direct interference of the secular power in matters of a purely ecclesiastical nature. Adzatathat was, however, too prudent in his policy to persecute directly the holders of anti-Buddhistic opinions, who as yet formed the great mass of the people. He zealously supported the new creed he had adopted, but he left full liberty to the followers of the pounhas. By the advice of Kathaba, Adzatathat fixed the beginning of the religious era in the year of Buddha’s demise. It is the one which is followed by all the southern Buddhists. It was not the necessity of correcting certain errors in the calendar which induced the king to adopt that measure, since a correction had been made a hundred and forty-eight years ago by King Eetzana with the assistance of a celebrated hermit. A religious motive alone induced the king to obtemper the solicitations of Kathaba on this subject, and lay, as the point of departure for the reckoning of years, the great event of the death of the founder of religion.
The two names of Pimpathara and of his son Adzatathat are indissolubly connected with the origin of Buddhism and its spread through the Magatha country. To the first, Gaudama owed much for the extraordinary success that attended his preachings and the conversion of remarkable personages. In a country like India, the example of the king must have exerted an extraordinary influence over the courtiers and the wealthy and powerful persons. The second rendered no less important services to the cause of religion, by supporting openly the great Kathaba, the patriarch of Buddhism, and countenancing the decisions of the first council, which secured unity among the members of the assembly at the very time that evil-minded individuals endeavoured to sow the seeds of dissension among the religious, and upset the fabric which Buddha’s genius and zeal had just set up. Under the reign of those two sovereigns religion gained a firm footing in Magatha, and secured for itself an ascendancy which it retained with various successes for many centuries.
[28]We are without any direct information concerning the history of Buddhism during the twenty years that elapsed after Gaudama’s death. But we have allusions made in several places which clearly indicate that the new religion had to struggle with many difficulties before it could gain a firm footing in the places lying north of the Ganges. Though they had been the seat of Buddha’s preachings, though the people had been intimately acquainted with all his doings, it appears that the pounhas contrived to thwart to a great extent the results of his labours. At Kootheinaron, on the very spot rendered illustrious by his death, we have seen an individual rejoicing at Buddha’s demise, because he would be now at liberty to act according to his wishes. He was not a solitary instance of open insubordination, since Kathaba felt that it was necessary, in order to check the growing evil, to assemble a council three months after the death of Gaudama. This step does not appear to have produced all the good effects that were anticipated. The patriarch of the Buddhistic Church is represented to us as trembling for the safety of the relics. What could have caused this great anxiety? Doubtless there was a strong party, either within or without the assembly, which was inimical to the worship paid to the remains of Buddha, and aimed at procuring their total destruction. In the relation of Hwen-Thsang the writer has met with a passage in which mention is made of a period of time when the pure doctrine alone was held, and of a subsequent period when the worship of relics would be prevailing. It is not improbable that in this passage allusion is made to the time when the relics were buried secretly, by the care of Kathaba, in the neighbourhood of Radzagio, and remained concealed during two hundred years. The conduct of Kathaba in securing the safety of the relics reveals an important fact, viz., that there existed from the earliest days of Buddhism a great antipathy, in a fraction of the community, against keeping and venerating Buddha’s remains. It created a schism among the disciples which was never healed up, as the sequel will show.
[28]We are without any direct information concerning the history of Buddhism during the twenty years that elapsed after Gaudama’s death. But we have allusions made in several places which clearly indicate that the new religion had to struggle with many difficulties before it could gain a firm footing in the places lying north of the Ganges. Though they had been the seat of Buddha’s preachings, though the people had been intimately acquainted with all his doings, it appears that the pounhas contrived to thwart to a great extent the results of his labours. At Kootheinaron, on the very spot rendered illustrious by his death, we have seen an individual rejoicing at Buddha’s demise, because he would be now at liberty to act according to his wishes. He was not a solitary instance of open insubordination, since Kathaba felt that it was necessary, in order to check the growing evil, to assemble a council three months after the death of Gaudama. This step does not appear to have produced all the good effects that were anticipated. The patriarch of the Buddhistic Church is represented to us as trembling for the safety of the relics. What could have caused this great anxiety? Doubtless there was a strong party, either within or without the assembly, which was inimical to the worship paid to the remains of Buddha, and aimed at procuring their total destruction. In the relation of Hwen-Thsang the writer has met with a passage in which mention is made of a period of time when the pure doctrine alone was held, and of a subsequent period when the worship of relics would be prevailing. It is not improbable that in this passage allusion is made to the time when the relics were buried secretly, by the care of Kathaba, in the neighbourhood of Radzagio, and remained concealed during two hundred years. The conduct of Kathaba in securing the safety of the relics reveals an important fact, viz., that there existed from the earliest days of Buddhism a great antipathy, in a fraction of the community, against keeping and venerating Buddha’s remains. It created a schism among the disciples which was never healed up, as the sequel will show.
[29]In the previous note on Neibban, the writer, having forgotten to mention the application which the Burmese make of this term to three distinct objects, supplies here the omission, in the hope that what follows may enable the reader to come nearer to the true Buddhistic meaning of Neibban.There are, say the Buddhist doctors, three kinds of Neibban respecting the person of Gaudama—the Neibban ofKiletha, or passions; the Neibban ofKhandas, or supports of the existence of a living being; and the Neibban ofDatou, or of the relics.The first took place at the foot of the gniaong or bodi-tree, when Gaudama became Buddha. Then, to make use of the language of Buddhists at that moment, the fifteen hundred passions—that is to say, all passions—were quieted, extinguished, and for ever put an end to.The second kind of Neibban happened near the town of Kootheinaron, when the five Khandas, or the constitutive parts of Gaudama’s being, were quieted, that is to say, ceased to act, and were absolutely destroyed.The third kind will take place at the end of the period of five thousand years, reckoning from the death of Gaudama. This is the period which he has assigned to the duration of his religion. Then all the relics of Buddha that will be still existing will be miraculously congregated on the spot where stood the tree Bodi. After having been the centre of the display of several extraordinary wonders, they will be consumed by a fire that is to come out of them. They will disappear and vanish for ever, as the flame that has consumed them.The idea suggested to us by the application of the word Neibban to these three objects is that of a cessation of action, cessation of existence, and cessation of being. Indeed, it is impossible not to see in the meaning of this word the horrifying idea of absolute annihilation. The writer frankly avows that he has been, during many years, unwilling to adopt a conclusion which the obvious meaning of the words point out in a clear manner. He hoped that a deeper insight into the system of Buddhism would lead him to a conclusion more consonant with reason. But he has been completely disappointed in his expectations. By what process of arguing has the founder of Buddhism arrived to such a despairing terminus? How has he been led into that horrible abyss? How has he contrived to silence the voice of conscience, and set aside the clearest innate notions of the human mind? Gaudama took his departure from a true principle, viz.: that there are miseries in this world, attending the condition of all beings moving within the circle of existences. But ignorant of the real cause that has imported miseries into this world, he never could discover the way by which man can convert them to a useful and beneficial result. He declared that all the efforts of a wise man ought to converge towards one point, that of freeing himself from all the states of existence. The four meggas or ways to perfection lead to that great result. By science, connected with the practice of virtue, the wise man frees himself from all passions, which are the real causes which make a being move in the circle of existences. When they are not subdued but exterminated, there is no longer a cause that impels man into another existence. The end of a being has come. When we speak of the end of a being, we understand its complete and entire destruction, or, in other terms, its Neibban. Nothing remains of him. The materialistic principles of genuine Buddhism forbid us to think of a soul or spiritual substance surviving the destruction of the terrestrial portion of man’s being. When Gaudama unfolds his precepts and maxims for guiding man in the acquisition of science and the destruction of his passions, he elicits the admiration, nay, the astonishment of the reader, at the sight of the profound knowledge of human nature which he displays. But this feeling soon gives place to another of pity, sadness, and horror, when one sees that he has been led to the brink of Neibban.
[29]In the previous note on Neibban, the writer, having forgotten to mention the application which the Burmese make of this term to three distinct objects, supplies here the omission, in the hope that what follows may enable the reader to come nearer to the true Buddhistic meaning of Neibban.
There are, say the Buddhist doctors, three kinds of Neibban respecting the person of Gaudama—the Neibban ofKiletha, or passions; the Neibban ofKhandas, or supports of the existence of a living being; and the Neibban ofDatou, or of the relics.
The first took place at the foot of the gniaong or bodi-tree, when Gaudama became Buddha. Then, to make use of the language of Buddhists at that moment, the fifteen hundred passions—that is to say, all passions—were quieted, extinguished, and for ever put an end to.
The second kind of Neibban happened near the town of Kootheinaron, when the five Khandas, or the constitutive parts of Gaudama’s being, were quieted, that is to say, ceased to act, and were absolutely destroyed.
The third kind will take place at the end of the period of five thousand years, reckoning from the death of Gaudama. This is the period which he has assigned to the duration of his religion. Then all the relics of Buddha that will be still existing will be miraculously congregated on the spot where stood the tree Bodi. After having been the centre of the display of several extraordinary wonders, they will be consumed by a fire that is to come out of them. They will disappear and vanish for ever, as the flame that has consumed them.
The idea suggested to us by the application of the word Neibban to these three objects is that of a cessation of action, cessation of existence, and cessation of being. Indeed, it is impossible not to see in the meaning of this word the horrifying idea of absolute annihilation. The writer frankly avows that he has been, during many years, unwilling to adopt a conclusion which the obvious meaning of the words point out in a clear manner. He hoped that a deeper insight into the system of Buddhism would lead him to a conclusion more consonant with reason. But he has been completely disappointed in his expectations. By what process of arguing has the founder of Buddhism arrived to such a despairing terminus? How has he been led into that horrible abyss? How has he contrived to silence the voice of conscience, and set aside the clearest innate notions of the human mind? Gaudama took his departure from a true principle, viz.: that there are miseries in this world, attending the condition of all beings moving within the circle of existences. But ignorant of the real cause that has imported miseries into this world, he never could discover the way by which man can convert them to a useful and beneficial result. He declared that all the efforts of a wise man ought to converge towards one point, that of freeing himself from all the states of existence. The four meggas or ways to perfection lead to that great result. By science, connected with the practice of virtue, the wise man frees himself from all passions, which are the real causes which make a being move in the circle of existences. When they are not subdued but exterminated, there is no longer a cause that impels man into another existence. The end of a being has come. When we speak of the end of a being, we understand its complete and entire destruction, or, in other terms, its Neibban. Nothing remains of him. The materialistic principles of genuine Buddhism forbid us to think of a soul or spiritual substance surviving the destruction of the terrestrial portion of man’s being. When Gaudama unfolds his precepts and maxims for guiding man in the acquisition of science and the destruction of his passions, he elicits the admiration, nay, the astonishment of the reader, at the sight of the profound knowledge of human nature which he displays. But this feeling soon gives place to another of pity, sadness, and horror, when one sees that he has been led to the brink of Neibban.
[30]Kathaba speaks of the Pitagat or collection of the scriptures as of a compilation that was to be put in writing for better securing its fixity and permanency, and preventing, as far as human wisdom could reach, the introduction of new and heterodox doctrines. I feel inclined to believe that this expression is put into the mouth of the patriarch, and that in all likelihood he never uttered it. It is probable that, during the first ages of Buddhism, the doctrines were not put in writing, but orally transmitted. For supporting this apparently incredible assertion, we have the testimony of the authors of the Cingalese collection, who distinctly state that, during more than two hundred years after the introduction of the religion in Ceylon, tradition was the only vehicle for transmitting the contents of the Pitagat. Moreover, it is by no means certain that the inhabitants of the Irrawaddy valley possessed a copy of the sacred scriptures previous to the voyage of Buddhagosa from Thaton to Ceylon in the beginning of the fifth century of our era. He went to that island for the express purpose of making a copy of the Pitagat, and bringing it over to his countrymen. Be that as it may, the question on this subject is far from being settled. It well deserves the attention of the learned. A satisfactory solution may throw a much wanted light upon the history of early Buddhism. When we consider that Maheinda, the son of the mighty and pious Athoka, was the head of the mission, which, after the termination of the third council, went to preach religion in Ceylon, it is impossible not to suppose that he would have brought over with him a copy of the collection of the sacred scriptures, had that collection been put in writing at the time that he left Pataliputra on his pious errand.
[30]Kathaba speaks of the Pitagat or collection of the scriptures as of a compilation that was to be put in writing for better securing its fixity and permanency, and preventing, as far as human wisdom could reach, the introduction of new and heterodox doctrines. I feel inclined to believe that this expression is put into the mouth of the patriarch, and that in all likelihood he never uttered it. It is probable that, during the first ages of Buddhism, the doctrines were not put in writing, but orally transmitted. For supporting this apparently incredible assertion, we have the testimony of the authors of the Cingalese collection, who distinctly state that, during more than two hundred years after the introduction of the religion in Ceylon, tradition was the only vehicle for transmitting the contents of the Pitagat. Moreover, it is by no means certain that the inhabitants of the Irrawaddy valley possessed a copy of the sacred scriptures previous to the voyage of Buddhagosa from Thaton to Ceylon in the beginning of the fifth century of our era. He went to that island for the express purpose of making a copy of the Pitagat, and bringing it over to his countrymen. Be that as it may, the question on this subject is far from being settled. It well deserves the attention of the learned. A satisfactory solution may throw a much wanted light upon the history of early Buddhism. When we consider that Maheinda, the son of the mighty and pious Athoka, was the head of the mission, which, after the termination of the third council, went to preach religion in Ceylon, it is impossible not to suppose that he would have brought over with him a copy of the collection of the sacred scriptures, had that collection been put in writing at the time that he left Pataliputra on his pious errand.
[31]The collection of the Buddhist scriptures is divided into three parts, called the three Pitagats, or the three baskets, respectively named the Wini Pitagat, the Thoots Pitagat, and the Abidama Pitagat. The manuscript that the writer has had for his use, though correct in the main, is certainly defective in the enumeration of the divisions and subdivisions of the three great collections. He will, however, mention them, such as they are enumerated by the Burmese author; the few errors that may be detected can easily be corrected by those who have in their possession the Ceylonese collection, as there is no doubt that the work now under consideration is an abridgment of a more voluminous compilation to be found in Ceylon.The divisions of the Wini are: Bikoo Patimouk, Bikoonee Patimouk, Bikoo Witin (probably Bikoo Win), Bikooni Win, twelve Kandaka, and sixteen Pariwara.The thoots are considered as the instructions orally delivered by Gaudama himself, either to his disciples in private, or to the assembled multitudes, during the forty-five years of his public mission. In this collection the disciples have learned the doctrines of the master, and found all the elements necessary to compose all the treaties, which subsequently have formed the collections called Wini Pitagat and Abidama Pitagat. No one could ever believe that the author of Buddhism could have busied himself in writing treatises on metaphysics, or minutely and elaborately publishing the regulations under which the body of his followers, called the Sanga, were to live and spend their time. In his instructions Gaudama gave utterance to certain principles, which, being appropriated by his disciples and their successors, were enlarged, developed, and reduced to the shape of a treatise. In fact, he sowed the seed which, being let into the soil of the mind of enthusiastic disciples, grew up and multiplied into the voluminous above-named collections. Genuine Buddhism must be found in the thoots of the oldest stamp. Anywhere else we meet with the Buddhism such as it has been developed by doctors and commentators.There are four collections of the thoots, named Nidia Nike, Midzima Nike, Thangoutta Nike, and Engouttara Nike. They are likewise arranged under fifteen heads, called: Koudakapata, Dammapata, Oodana, Ithi, Wouthaka, Thouttanibat, Wi, Mama-wouttoo, Pita-wouttoo, Terakatta, Terikatta, Dzattakani, Piti-sambika, Apadana, Buddha-wattoo.The Abidamma has seven divisions, viz., Dammathingakani, Wittin, Datoogatta, Pouggala-pignia, Kathawattoo, Yamaik, Patan.The attentive reader cannot be but surprised to see how the three great divisions of the Buddhistic scriptures are mentioned by the members of the first council as things already existing and arranged with the same method as they have been disposed during succeeding ages. It is certain that such divisions of Gaudama’s doctrines did not then exist at that time. Are we to conclude therefrom that the fact of the holding of the first council is to be rejected as a mere invention, because the mode of relating some particulars concerning that great assembly is liable to be seriously objected to? It seems that such a conclusion would be a too hasty one.For establishing the fact of the holding of the first council, we have the evidence supplied to us by all the Buddhistic writings, found in the various countries where that religion has been established. Moreover, several monuments of great antiquity allude to that first assembly. We can scarcely raise a doubt upon the existence of the fact. But how are we to account for the manner in which mention is made of compilations which undoubtedly were not existing at that time? The redaction of all the particulars connected with the first assembly must have been made a considerable time after the holding of the said assembly, at an epoch when the Buddhistic scriptures had already been arranged under three distinct heads. The author, familiar with the division or compilation into three parts, called Pitagats, has arranged his narration in such a way as to give it a sort of agreement with a form which he thought must have been as familiar to others as it was to himself. It is probable that most of the points of discussion, such as we find them in the narrative, were actually brought forward before the assembly, but in a shape more simple and general, and less technical and positive. This is what can be said in the present imperfect knowledge of the history of Buddhism, for extenuating the charge of wilful forgery, which might be brought against the author of the redaction. On the other hand, whilst prudent discretion commands us not to be too hasty in passing a sweeping condemnation upon the compilation, we must be very cautious in not admitting at once, and not giving an absolute credit to all that is found in writings which do convey to us many things of great antiquity, but evidently mixed with multifarious details of a comparatively modern origin. This last remark ought to be ever present to the mind of him who peruses some portions of the Pitagats. The huge mass of rubbish which constitutes the largest portion of the scriptures is the production of the various Buddhistic schools which flourished eight and ten centuries after the first council.
[31]The collection of the Buddhist scriptures is divided into three parts, called the three Pitagats, or the three baskets, respectively named the Wini Pitagat, the Thoots Pitagat, and the Abidama Pitagat. The manuscript that the writer has had for his use, though correct in the main, is certainly defective in the enumeration of the divisions and subdivisions of the three great collections. He will, however, mention them, such as they are enumerated by the Burmese author; the few errors that may be detected can easily be corrected by those who have in their possession the Ceylonese collection, as there is no doubt that the work now under consideration is an abridgment of a more voluminous compilation to be found in Ceylon.
The divisions of the Wini are: Bikoo Patimouk, Bikoonee Patimouk, Bikoo Witin (probably Bikoo Win), Bikooni Win, twelve Kandaka, and sixteen Pariwara.
The thoots are considered as the instructions orally delivered by Gaudama himself, either to his disciples in private, or to the assembled multitudes, during the forty-five years of his public mission. In this collection the disciples have learned the doctrines of the master, and found all the elements necessary to compose all the treaties, which subsequently have formed the collections called Wini Pitagat and Abidama Pitagat. No one could ever believe that the author of Buddhism could have busied himself in writing treatises on metaphysics, or minutely and elaborately publishing the regulations under which the body of his followers, called the Sanga, were to live and spend their time. In his instructions Gaudama gave utterance to certain principles, which, being appropriated by his disciples and their successors, were enlarged, developed, and reduced to the shape of a treatise. In fact, he sowed the seed which, being let into the soil of the mind of enthusiastic disciples, grew up and multiplied into the voluminous above-named collections. Genuine Buddhism must be found in the thoots of the oldest stamp. Anywhere else we meet with the Buddhism such as it has been developed by doctors and commentators.
There are four collections of the thoots, named Nidia Nike, Midzima Nike, Thangoutta Nike, and Engouttara Nike. They are likewise arranged under fifteen heads, called: Koudakapata, Dammapata, Oodana, Ithi, Wouthaka, Thouttanibat, Wi, Mama-wouttoo, Pita-wouttoo, Terakatta, Terikatta, Dzattakani, Piti-sambika, Apadana, Buddha-wattoo.
The Abidamma has seven divisions, viz., Dammathingakani, Wittin, Datoogatta, Pouggala-pignia, Kathawattoo, Yamaik, Patan.
The attentive reader cannot be but surprised to see how the three great divisions of the Buddhistic scriptures are mentioned by the members of the first council as things already existing and arranged with the same method as they have been disposed during succeeding ages. It is certain that such divisions of Gaudama’s doctrines did not then exist at that time. Are we to conclude therefrom that the fact of the holding of the first council is to be rejected as a mere invention, because the mode of relating some particulars concerning that great assembly is liable to be seriously objected to? It seems that such a conclusion would be a too hasty one.
For establishing the fact of the holding of the first council, we have the evidence supplied to us by all the Buddhistic writings, found in the various countries where that religion has been established. Moreover, several monuments of great antiquity allude to that first assembly. We can scarcely raise a doubt upon the existence of the fact. But how are we to account for the manner in which mention is made of compilations which undoubtedly were not existing at that time? The redaction of all the particulars connected with the first assembly must have been made a considerable time after the holding of the said assembly, at an epoch when the Buddhistic scriptures had already been arranged under three distinct heads. The author, familiar with the division or compilation into three parts, called Pitagats, has arranged his narration in such a way as to give it a sort of agreement with a form which he thought must have been as familiar to others as it was to himself. It is probable that most of the points of discussion, such as we find them in the narrative, were actually brought forward before the assembly, but in a shape more simple and general, and less technical and positive. This is what can be said in the present imperfect knowledge of the history of Buddhism, for extenuating the charge of wilful forgery, which might be brought against the author of the redaction. On the other hand, whilst prudent discretion commands us not to be too hasty in passing a sweeping condemnation upon the compilation, we must be very cautious in not admitting at once, and not giving an absolute credit to all that is found in writings which do convey to us many things of great antiquity, but evidently mixed with multifarious details of a comparatively modern origin. This last remark ought to be ever present to the mind of him who peruses some portions of the Pitagats. The huge mass of rubbish which constitutes the largest portion of the scriptures is the production of the various Buddhistic schools which flourished eight and ten centuries after the first council.
[32]The few and meagre particulars which we possess respecting the causes that have occasioned the holding of the second council, disclose a curious state of things as existing in the Buddhist community. The disciplinary regulations appear to have occupied a conspicuous part in the discussions that took place during the period of the first century. Some of those regulations were of trifling importance. We wonder how the religious could lay so much stress upon such a trifle as this, “Is is lawful to put salt or other condiments into articles of food, that would have been offered without such requisites?” The activity displayed by both parties in the controversy indicates the gradual working of opinions which in those parts had been always inimical to genuine Buddhism. In Wethalie and Thawattie, the holders of false tenets had been at all times bold and numerous. In the days of Buddha, heretics were swarming in those places. In the beginning of the fifth century of our era, Fa-hian, when he visited those places, says that he found that religion had almost disappeared, and that heretics were prevailing in every direction. We must conclude from these two circumstances that Buddhism never flourished in those places, or, at least, that it was never the prevailing creed of the mass of the people.The disputes that took place in those days were not looked upon as of serious moment, since we see several religious of eminence supporting the anti-orthodox party. King Kalathoka himself was in favor of those whose opinions were condemned by the council. We may also infer from this sate of things, that the disciplinary regulations were far from being settled at that time. It required the experience of succeeding generations to determine exactly what was best fitted for promoting the well-being of the religious body, and causing its members to live agreeably to the spirit which Gaudama desired to infuse into the souls of his followers. It cannot therefore be a matter of surprise to see the assembly striving, in the midst of discussions, to elaborate the framing of the rules destined to guide the religious in the details of their daily duties. Under such circumstances there could not but be a great variety of opinions, supported with that heat and ardour so peculiar to individuals who live estranged from the world. Moreover, the conflicting opinions were maintained by the various schools, which, from the early period of the existence of Buddhism, sprung up and divided the members of the religious body. Circumstantial details respecting the various schools we allude to, would prove of the greatest advantage for elucidating the state of the great religious system under consideration, for enabling us to enter into the history of its internal development, and witnessing the various incidents that have marked its progress through ages, down to the period when it gradually lost its footing in the Indian Peninsula.The eighteen different schools which have obtained celebrity throughout the Buddhist world are mentioned in the Cingalese collection, and in that of all the northern Buddhists, including the Chinese. In the manuscript which the writer possesses nothing is mentioned respecting these schools but their respective names. Had the chief opinions held out by each school been given out, they would have been expounded here at great length and with a scrupulous correctness. Such not being the case, the author has thought that it was useless to the reader to lay before him a dry and uninteresting array of names.
[32]The few and meagre particulars which we possess respecting the causes that have occasioned the holding of the second council, disclose a curious state of things as existing in the Buddhist community. The disciplinary regulations appear to have occupied a conspicuous part in the discussions that took place during the period of the first century. Some of those regulations were of trifling importance. We wonder how the religious could lay so much stress upon such a trifle as this, “Is is lawful to put salt or other condiments into articles of food, that would have been offered without such requisites?” The activity displayed by both parties in the controversy indicates the gradual working of opinions which in those parts had been always inimical to genuine Buddhism. In Wethalie and Thawattie, the holders of false tenets had been at all times bold and numerous. In the days of Buddha, heretics were swarming in those places. In the beginning of the fifth century of our era, Fa-hian, when he visited those places, says that he found that religion had almost disappeared, and that heretics were prevailing in every direction. We must conclude from these two circumstances that Buddhism never flourished in those places, or, at least, that it was never the prevailing creed of the mass of the people.
The disputes that took place in those days were not looked upon as of serious moment, since we see several religious of eminence supporting the anti-orthodox party. King Kalathoka himself was in favor of those whose opinions were condemned by the council. We may also infer from this sate of things, that the disciplinary regulations were far from being settled at that time. It required the experience of succeeding generations to determine exactly what was best fitted for promoting the well-being of the religious body, and causing its members to live agreeably to the spirit which Gaudama desired to infuse into the souls of his followers. It cannot therefore be a matter of surprise to see the assembly striving, in the midst of discussions, to elaborate the framing of the rules destined to guide the religious in the details of their daily duties. Under such circumstances there could not but be a great variety of opinions, supported with that heat and ardour so peculiar to individuals who live estranged from the world. Moreover, the conflicting opinions were maintained by the various schools, which, from the early period of the existence of Buddhism, sprung up and divided the members of the religious body. Circumstantial details respecting the various schools we allude to, would prove of the greatest advantage for elucidating the state of the great religious system under consideration, for enabling us to enter into the history of its internal development, and witnessing the various incidents that have marked its progress through ages, down to the period when it gradually lost its footing in the Indian Peninsula.
The eighteen different schools which have obtained celebrity throughout the Buddhist world are mentioned in the Cingalese collection, and in that of all the northern Buddhists, including the Chinese. In the manuscript which the writer possesses nothing is mentioned respecting these schools but their respective names. Had the chief opinions held out by each school been given out, they would have been expounded here at great length and with a scrupulous correctness. Such not being the case, the author has thought that it was useless to the reader to lay before him a dry and uninteresting array of names.
[33]It has been thought of some importance to mention in a particular note all the principal epochs named in the course of this work, and to show how they stand relatively to the Christian era. As a matter of course, the starting-point for the reckoning and computing of years is the epoch of Gaudama’s death, which is fixed by the southern Buddhists in the year 543B.C.The exactness of this epoch has been contested by A. Cunningham, one of the greatest authorities in such matters. In his opinion, the epoch of Gaudama’s Neibban ought to be placed seventy years later. But as his views on this subject have not as yet been universally received by the learned in Europe, we will remain satisfied with the hitherto generally accepted data.The first era is that of King Eetzana, the grandfather of Gaudama by his mother’s side. It was made by the help and under the guidance of a famous hermit, named Deweela, who is mentioned as highly versed in the science of astronomy, such as it existed in those days. The king’s object was to correct the glaring errors that had crept into the calendar. It is said that he did away with the era 8640 on a Saturday, on the day of the new moon of Tabaong (March), and fixed the beginning of the new era on the following day, that is to say, on a Sunday, the first day after the new moon of the same month. This happened in the year 691B.C.This new reckoning of years lasted only a hundred and forty-eight years, the epoch of Gaudama’s Neibban, 543B.C.The second era, the most celebrated of all, is the religious one. King Adzatathat and the venerable Kathaba, actuated by the desire of rendering ever memorable the death of the founder of their religion, and paying to him a homage that would be re-echoed by succeeding generations, came to the resolution of doing away with the Eetzana computation, and fixed a new reckoning of years, from the annual revolution which witnessed that event, which, in the opinion of Buddhists, is the greatest of all. In the year 148, the first day of the month of Tagoo (April), which fell on a Sunday, was fixed as the beginning of the new computation, emphatically called the era of religion, 543B.C.It is adopted by all the southern Buddhists.In addition to this general era, Buddhist nation has had, for one reason or for another, particular periods, from which they have reckoned time and computed years. It is probable that the reform in the calendar, necessitated by the errors introduced into it owing to incorrect computations, have given rise to several eras, which are generally known by the name of the kings under whose reign they have taken place, and by whose authority they have been introduced and brought into common use.The Burmans have the era called Dandoratha. It was introduced by Thamugdara, or, as spelt by others, Thamugdaritz, king of Prome, in the year of religion 625 = to 81A.D.That monarch is represented as well informed and skilled in the knowledge of the astronomical calculations. The months were no longer in unison with the seasons. What did the royal reformer of the calendar do to remedy the evil? No other particular is mentioned in the manuscript which the writer has in his possession, except that the king did away with 622, and began the reformed computation with two, so that its beginning must be made to agree with the year 79A.D.That era lasted only 562 years. The reformer on this occasion was Pouppa-dzau, king of Pagan, who is represented to us as well versed in the science of astronomical computations. This monarch imitated in this reform the conduct of the king of Prome. He did away with 560 years, and had his new era to begin with two. This happened in the year of religion 1182 = to 639A.D.This is the common era used by the Burmese up to this day, and is known as the Pagan or Pouppa-dzau era.We find also mentioned occasionally the Thaton era. It is made to begin with the year of the arrival of the two Buddhist missionaries, Thauna and Outtara, in the great place of Thaton, in the year of religion 237 = to 306B.C.Thirimathoka was, at that time, king of that country. That period of years has lasted 1362 years. It ended in the year of religion 1599 = 1156A.D., when the king of Pagan, Naurata-dzau, invaded the country, possessed himself of Thaton, and carried away captive the last king, Mein-hnit.It is perhaps as well to mention here an epoch which has been, at all times, famous in the history of Buddhism in Burmah. I allude to the voyage which a religious of Thaton, named Buddhagosa, made to Ceylon in the year of religion 943 = to 400A.D.The object of this voyage was to procure a copy of the scriptures. He succeeded in his undertaking. He made use of the Burmese or rather Talaing characters, in transcribing the manuscripts, which were written with the characters of Magatha. The Burmans lay much stress upon that voyage, and always carefully note down the year in which it took place. In fact, it is to Buddhagosa that the people living on the shores of the Gulf of Martaban owe the possession of the Buddhist scriptures. From Thaton, the collection made by Buddhagosa was transferred to Pagan, 656 years after it had been imported from Ceylon.Without the knowledge of those various epochs, it is difficult to understand with anything approaching to clearness and exactness the dates that we find alluded to and mentioned in the Burmese literary compositions. The foregoing particulars appear to be sufficient for all practical purposes.
[33]It has been thought of some importance to mention in a particular note all the principal epochs named in the course of this work, and to show how they stand relatively to the Christian era. As a matter of course, the starting-point for the reckoning and computing of years is the epoch of Gaudama’s death, which is fixed by the southern Buddhists in the year 543B.C.The exactness of this epoch has been contested by A. Cunningham, one of the greatest authorities in such matters. In his opinion, the epoch of Gaudama’s Neibban ought to be placed seventy years later. But as his views on this subject have not as yet been universally received by the learned in Europe, we will remain satisfied with the hitherto generally accepted data.
The first era is that of King Eetzana, the grandfather of Gaudama by his mother’s side. It was made by the help and under the guidance of a famous hermit, named Deweela, who is mentioned as highly versed in the science of astronomy, such as it existed in those days. The king’s object was to correct the glaring errors that had crept into the calendar. It is said that he did away with the era 8640 on a Saturday, on the day of the new moon of Tabaong (March), and fixed the beginning of the new era on the following day, that is to say, on a Sunday, the first day after the new moon of the same month. This happened in the year 691B.C.This new reckoning of years lasted only a hundred and forty-eight years, the epoch of Gaudama’s Neibban, 543B.C.
The second era, the most celebrated of all, is the religious one. King Adzatathat and the venerable Kathaba, actuated by the desire of rendering ever memorable the death of the founder of their religion, and paying to him a homage that would be re-echoed by succeeding generations, came to the resolution of doing away with the Eetzana computation, and fixed a new reckoning of years, from the annual revolution which witnessed that event, which, in the opinion of Buddhists, is the greatest of all. In the year 148, the first day of the month of Tagoo (April), which fell on a Sunday, was fixed as the beginning of the new computation, emphatically called the era of religion, 543B.C.It is adopted by all the southern Buddhists.
In addition to this general era, Buddhist nation has had, for one reason or for another, particular periods, from which they have reckoned time and computed years. It is probable that the reform in the calendar, necessitated by the errors introduced into it owing to incorrect computations, have given rise to several eras, which are generally known by the name of the kings under whose reign they have taken place, and by whose authority they have been introduced and brought into common use.
The Burmans have the era called Dandoratha. It was introduced by Thamugdara, or, as spelt by others, Thamugdaritz, king of Prome, in the year of religion 625 = to 81A.D.That monarch is represented as well informed and skilled in the knowledge of the astronomical calculations. The months were no longer in unison with the seasons. What did the royal reformer of the calendar do to remedy the evil? No other particular is mentioned in the manuscript which the writer has in his possession, except that the king did away with 622, and began the reformed computation with two, so that its beginning must be made to agree with the year 79A.D.
That era lasted only 562 years. The reformer on this occasion was Pouppa-dzau, king of Pagan, who is represented to us as well versed in the science of astronomical computations. This monarch imitated in this reform the conduct of the king of Prome. He did away with 560 years, and had his new era to begin with two. This happened in the year of religion 1182 = to 639A.D.This is the common era used by the Burmese up to this day, and is known as the Pagan or Pouppa-dzau era.
We find also mentioned occasionally the Thaton era. It is made to begin with the year of the arrival of the two Buddhist missionaries, Thauna and Outtara, in the great place of Thaton, in the year of religion 237 = to 306B.C.Thirimathoka was, at that time, king of that country. That period of years has lasted 1362 years. It ended in the year of religion 1599 = 1156A.D., when the king of Pagan, Naurata-dzau, invaded the country, possessed himself of Thaton, and carried away captive the last king, Mein-hnit.
It is perhaps as well to mention here an epoch which has been, at all times, famous in the history of Buddhism in Burmah. I allude to the voyage which a religious of Thaton, named Buddhagosa, made to Ceylon in the year of religion 943 = to 400A.D.The object of this voyage was to procure a copy of the scriptures. He succeeded in his undertaking. He made use of the Burmese or rather Talaing characters, in transcribing the manuscripts, which were written with the characters of Magatha. The Burmans lay much stress upon that voyage, and always carefully note down the year in which it took place. In fact, it is to Buddhagosa that the people living on the shores of the Gulf of Martaban owe the possession of the Buddhist scriptures. From Thaton, the collection made by Buddhagosa was transferred to Pagan, 656 years after it had been imported from Ceylon.
Without the knowledge of those various epochs, it is difficult to understand with anything approaching to clearness and exactness the dates that we find alluded to and mentioned in the Burmese literary compositions. The foregoing particulars appear to be sufficient for all practical purposes.
[34]From this passage we see that, in those days of remote antiquity, there existed in the Indian Peninsula individuals who, led away by a fanaticism still existing in our own days, devoted themselves to rigorous and extravagant penances, often in a state of complete nakedness. In the days of Alexander the Great, the same fanatics were met with in the Punjaub. Such ridiculous and unnatural exhibitions, far from being approved of and countenanced by the founder of Buddhism, were positively prohibited. Though he aimed at subduing passions, and elevating the spiritual principle above the material one, he recommended in the spiritual warfare a line of conduct more consonant with reason, and supplied his disciples with weapons of a far better quality and a superior description.
[34]From this passage we see that, in those days of remote antiquity, there existed in the Indian Peninsula individuals who, led away by a fanaticism still existing in our own days, devoted themselves to rigorous and extravagant penances, often in a state of complete nakedness. In the days of Alexander the Great, the same fanatics were met with in the Punjaub. Such ridiculous and unnatural exhibitions, far from being approved of and countenanced by the founder of Buddhism, were positively prohibited. Though he aimed at subduing passions, and elevating the spiritual principle above the material one, he recommended in the spiritual warfare a line of conduct more consonant with reason, and supplied his disciples with weapons of a far better quality and a superior description.
[35]It is much to be regretted that no details concerning that third assembly of the Buddhists in Pataliputra could be found by the writer in the manuscript he has in his possession. The cause that occasioned the holding of the council was the desire to establish a perfect unity in the practices of discipline among the religious, and to come to an agreement on the subject of the genuineness of the scriptures.During the period of 236 years that elapsed from the death of Gaudama, Buddhism seems to have remained confined within the limits of Magatha, that is to say, north and south Behar. Its hold over the mind of the people within those limits appears to have been very imperfect and uncertain, particularly in the parts north of the Ganges. It is from the reign of King Athoka that the propagation of Buddhism in every direction dates. The uninterrupted successes which attended his arms enabled him to afford a powerful support to the propagators of the new religion in the remotest parts which they visited. But we have no reason to suspect that he had recourse to violence in order to gain proselytes. No doubt he protected them, and supplied all their wants on a liberal scale. He does not appear to have extended farther the effects of the countenance he lent to the heralds of the new religion. He built monasteries and dzedis throughout the length and breadth of his immense dominions; he erected stone pillars, which he covered with inscriptions commemorative of his piety and zeal, a few of which exist up to this day. Athoka may be looked upon as a monarch who did more for the propagation of Buddhism in foreign parts than any of those who preceded him or came after him.The establishment of Buddhism in Ceylon is mentioned at great length in the writer’s manuscript, but he has thought it unnecessary to relate all that he has found on this subject, as being foreign to the purpose he has had in view in the publication of this book. In a foregoing note it has been stated how extraordinary is the fact that during more than two hundred years Buddhism was propagated in Ceylon solely by means of oral tradition without writing. The Cingalese authors are so unanimous on this point that it cannot be doubted. But in the Burmese manuscript we have found stated, in unmistakable expressions, that the religious who assembled in the village of Malliya wrote the Pitagat in Sanscrit, and with the Sanscrit characters. The word made use of isSanskarain, which surely is designed to mean Sanscrit. How can this be reconciled with the undoubted fact that all the southern Buddhists have the scriptures in Pali and not in Sanscrit, whilst the northern nations that have embraced Buddhism possess the scriptures in Sanscrit? Until we can obtain further information on the subject, I have no hesitation in stating that the Burmans, ignorant of the existence of the two distinct languages—the Pali and the Sanscrit—are very apt to mistake the one for the other, and that in their opinion what they call the language of Magatha, Pali, and Sanscrit are but one and the same language, to which different names have been given by ancient authors. As the translator of a manuscript, the writer was bound to render into English what he has found written in Burmese. This is the reason why he has, against his intimate conviction, made use of the word Sanscrit, applied to the first compilation of scriptures made in Ceylon under the reign of King Watakamani.
[35]It is much to be regretted that no details concerning that third assembly of the Buddhists in Pataliputra could be found by the writer in the manuscript he has in his possession. The cause that occasioned the holding of the council was the desire to establish a perfect unity in the practices of discipline among the religious, and to come to an agreement on the subject of the genuineness of the scriptures.
During the period of 236 years that elapsed from the death of Gaudama, Buddhism seems to have remained confined within the limits of Magatha, that is to say, north and south Behar. Its hold over the mind of the people within those limits appears to have been very imperfect and uncertain, particularly in the parts north of the Ganges. It is from the reign of King Athoka that the propagation of Buddhism in every direction dates. The uninterrupted successes which attended his arms enabled him to afford a powerful support to the propagators of the new religion in the remotest parts which they visited. But we have no reason to suspect that he had recourse to violence in order to gain proselytes. No doubt he protected them, and supplied all their wants on a liberal scale. He does not appear to have extended farther the effects of the countenance he lent to the heralds of the new religion. He built monasteries and dzedis throughout the length and breadth of his immense dominions; he erected stone pillars, which he covered with inscriptions commemorative of his piety and zeal, a few of which exist up to this day. Athoka may be looked upon as a monarch who did more for the propagation of Buddhism in foreign parts than any of those who preceded him or came after him.
The establishment of Buddhism in Ceylon is mentioned at great length in the writer’s manuscript, but he has thought it unnecessary to relate all that he has found on this subject, as being foreign to the purpose he has had in view in the publication of this book. In a foregoing note it has been stated how extraordinary is the fact that during more than two hundred years Buddhism was propagated in Ceylon solely by means of oral tradition without writing. The Cingalese authors are so unanimous on this point that it cannot be doubted. But in the Burmese manuscript we have found stated, in unmistakable expressions, that the religious who assembled in the village of Malliya wrote the Pitagat in Sanscrit, and with the Sanscrit characters. The word made use of isSanskarain, which surely is designed to mean Sanscrit. How can this be reconciled with the undoubted fact that all the southern Buddhists have the scriptures in Pali and not in Sanscrit, whilst the northern nations that have embraced Buddhism possess the scriptures in Sanscrit? Until we can obtain further information on the subject, I have no hesitation in stating that the Burmans, ignorant of the existence of the two distinct languages—the Pali and the Sanscrit—are very apt to mistake the one for the other, and that in their opinion what they call the language of Magatha, Pali, and Sanscrit are but one and the same language, to which different names have been given by ancient authors. As the translator of a manuscript, the writer was bound to render into English what he has found written in Burmese. This is the reason why he has, against his intimate conviction, made use of the word Sanscrit, applied to the first compilation of scriptures made in Ceylon under the reign of King Watakamani.