Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 2

397

Bhag.-gîtâ, XL. 23-34.

398

See Srisa Chandra Vasu, Daily practice of the Hindus, p. 118.

399

II. 1 and I. 1.

400

See Maitrâyaṇa Up. V. 2. It is highly probable that the celebrated image at Elephanta is not a Trimûrti at all but a Maheśamûrti of Śiva. See Gopinâtha Rao, Hindu Iconog. II. 382.

401

The population of India (about 315 millions) is larger than that of Europe without Russia.

402

But compare the English poet

"Flower in the crannied wall,I pluck you out of the crannies,… but if I could understandWhat you are, root and all, and all in allI should know what God and man is."

403

Efforts are now being made by Hindus to suppress this institution.

404

In the Vedic funeral ceremonies the wife lies down by her dead husband and is called back to the world of the living which points to an earlier form of the rite where she died with him. But even at this period, those who did not follow the Vedic customs may have killed widows with their husbands (see too Ath. Veda, XII. 3), and later, the invaders from Central Asia probably reinforced the usage. The much-abused Tantras forbid it.

405

For the history of the Râmâyaṇa and Mahâbhârata and the dates assignable to the different periods of growth, see Winternitz, Gesch. Ind. Lit. vol. I. p. 403 and p. 439. Also Hopkins' Great Epic of India, p. 397. The two poems had assumed something like their present form in the second and fourth centuries A.D. respectively. These are probably the latest dates for any substantial additions or alterations and there is considerable evidence that poems called Bhârata and Râmâyaṇa were well known early in the Christian era. Thus in Aśvaghosha's Sûtrâlankâra (story XXIV) they are mentioned as warlike poems inculcating unbuddhist views. The Râmâyaṇa is mentioned in the Mahâvibhâshâ and was known to Vasubandhu (J.R.A.S. 1907, p. 99). A Cambojan inscription dating from the first years of the seventh century records arrangements made for the recitation of the Râmâyaṇa, Purâṇa and complete (aśesha) Bhârata, which implies that they were known in India considerably earlier. See Barth, Inscrip. Sanscrites de Cambodge, pp. 29-31. The Mahabharata itself admits that it is the result of gradual growth for in the opening section it says that the Bhârata consists of 8,800 verses, 24,000 verses and 100,000 verses.

406

Hardy, Indische Religionsgeschichte, p. 101.

407

But some of these latter sacrifice images made of dough instead of living animals.

408

It is said that the Agnishtoma was performed in Benares in 1898, and in the last few years I am told that one or two Vedic sacrifices have been offered annually in various parts of southern India. I have myself seen the sites where such sacrifices were offered in 1908-9 in Mysore city and in Chidambaram, and in 1912 at Wei near Poona. The most usual form of sacrifice now-a-days is said to be the Vâjapeya. Much Vedic ritual is still preserved in the domestic life of the Nambathiri and other Brahmans of southern India. See Cochin, Tribes and Castes, and Thurston, Castes and Tribes of southern India.

409

The outline of a stûpa may be due to imitation of houses constructed with curved bamboos as Vincent Smith contends (History of Fine Art, p. 17). But this is compatible with the view that stone buildings with this curved outline had come to be used specially as funeral monuments before Buddhism popularized in India and all Eastern Asia the architectural form called stûpa.

410

The temple of Aihole near Badami seems to be a connecting link between a Buddhist stûpa with a pradakshiṇa path and a Hindu shrine.

411

In most temples (at least in southern India) there are two images: the mûla-vigraha which is of stone and fixed in the sanctuary, and the utsava-vigraha which is smaller, made of metal and carried in processions.

412

Thus Bhaṭṭâchârya (Hindu Castes and Sects, p. 127) enumerates eleven classes of Brahmans, who "have a very low status on account of their being connected with the great public shrines," and adds that mere residence in a place of pilgrimage for a few generations tends to lower the status of a Brahmanic family.

413

Thus in Bengal there is a special class, the Barna Brahmans, who perform religious rites for the lower castes, and are divided into six classes according to the castes to whom they minister. Other Brahmans will not eat or intermarry with them or even take water from them.

414

This is extraordinarily like the temple ritual of the ancient Egyptians. For some account of the construction and ritual of south Indian temples see Richards in J. of Mythic Soc. 1919, pp. 158-107.

415

But Vedic mantras are used in these ceremonies. The libations of water or other liquids are said to be accompanied by the mantras recited at the Soma sacrifice.

416

At these sacrifices there is no elaborate ritual or suggestion of symbolism. The animal is beheaded and the inference is that Kâlî likes it. Similarly simple is the offering of coco-nuts to Kâlî. The worshipper gives a nut to the pujâri who splits it in two with an axe, spills the milk and hands back half the nut to the worshipper. This is the sort of primitive offering that might be made to an African fetish.

417

See especially the Ambaṭṭha Sûtta (Dig. Nik. 3) and Rhys Davids's introduction.

418

See Weber, Die Vajrasuchi and Nanjio, Catal. No. 1303. In Ceylon at the present day only members of the higher castes can become Bhikkhus.

419

But it is said that in Southern India serious questions of caste are reported to the abbot of the Sringeri monastery for his decision.

420

The modern Lingâyats demur to the statement that their founder rejected caste.

421

So too in the cakras of the Śâktists all castes are equal during the performance of the ceremony.

422

Some (Khandelwals, Dasa Srimalis and Palliwals) include both Jains and Vaishnavas: the Agarwals are mostly Vaishnavas but some of them are Jains and some worship Śiva and Kâlî. Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and Sects, pp. 205 ff.

423

The names used are not the same. The four Vedic castes are called Varṇa: the hundreds of modern castes are called Jâti.

424

Sampradâya seems to be the ordinary Sanskrit word for sectarian doctrine. It means traditional teaching transmitted from one teacher to another.

425

I am discussing elsewhere the possible debt which Christianity and Hinduism may owe to one another.

426

Pâṇini, IV. 3. 95-98.

427

Kaṭhâ Up. I. 1. 2, 23.

428

R.V. X. 125.

429

Compare too the hymns of the R.V. to Varuṇa as a rudimentary expression of Bhakti from the worshipper's point of view.

430

E.g. Theragâthâ, 818-841 and 1231-1245.

431

I. 2.

432

They are called the Śândilya Sûtras and appear to be not older than about the twelfth century A.D., but the tradition which connects them with the School of Śândilya may be just, for the teaching of this sage (Chândog. Up. III. 14) lays stress on will and belief. Râmânuja (Śrîbhâshya, II. 2. 43) refers to Śândilya as the alleged author of the Pâncarâtra. There are other Bhakti sûtras called Nâradiya and ascribed to Nârada, published and translated in The Sacred Books of the Hindus, No. 23. They consist of 84 short aphorisms. Raj. Mitra in his notices of Sanskrit MSS. describes a great number of modern works dealing with Bhakti.

433

Yet it is found in Francis Thompson's poem called Any Saint

So bestGod loves to jestWith children small, a freakOf heavenly hide and seekFitFor thy wayward wit.

434

Pope, The History of Manikka-Vaçagar, p. 23. For the 64 sports of Śiva see Siddhanta Dipika, vol. IX.

435

E.g. Râmânuja, NammâṛVâr, Basava.

436

Apparently meaning "possessor of cows," and originally a title of the youthful Kṛishṇa. It is also interpreted as meaning Lord of the Vedas or Lord of his own senses.

437

E.g. the beginning of the Chând. Up. about the syllable Om. See too the last section of the Aitareya Âran. The Yoga Upanishads analyse and explain Om and some Vishnuite Upanishads (Nṛisiṃha and Râmatâ-panîya) enlarge on the subject of letters and diagrams.

438

The same idea pervades the old literature in a slightly different form. The parts of the sacrifice are constantly identified with parts of the universe or of the human body.

439

The cakras are mentioned in Act V of Mâlatî and Mâdhava written early in the eighth century. The doctrine of the nâḍîs occurs in the older Upanishads (e.g. Chând. and Maitrâyaṇa) in a rudimentary form.

440

An attempt was made to adapt the Veda to modern ideas by composing new Upanishads. The inspiration of such works is not denied but they have not the same influence as the literature mentioned below.

441

Śri Bhâshya, II. 2. 43. So too the Vishṇu Purâṇa, I. 1 describes itself as equal in sanctity to the Vedas. Śankara on Brah. Sûtras, I. 3. 33 says that the Purâṇas are authoritative.

442

See Grierson in Ind. Ant. 1908, p. 251 and p. 373.

443

E.g. the Sanatsujatîya and Anugîtâ (both in S.B.E. VIII.). See Deussen, Vier philosophische Texte des Mahâbhâratam.

444

Forming part of the Brahmâṇḍa Purâṇa.

445

See for a summary of them Winternitz, Gesch. Ind. Lit. I. pp. 450-483. For the dates see Pargiter Dynasties of the Kali age. He holds that the historical portions of the older Purânas were compiled in Prakrit about 250 A.D. and re-edited in Sanskrit about 350. See also Vincent Smith, Early History, p. 21 and, against Pargiter, Keith in J.R.A.S. 1914, p. 1021. Alberuni (who wrote in 1030) mentions eighteen Purânas and gives two lists of them. Bâṇa (c. 620 A.D.) mentions the recitation of the Vâyu Purâṇa. The commentary on the Śvetâśvatara Upan. ascribed to Śaṇkara quotes the Brahma P., Linga P. and Vishṇu P. as authorities as well as Puranic texts described as Vishṇudharma and Śivadharmottara. But the authorship of this commentary is doubtful. The Puranic literature as we know it probably began with the Gupta dynasty or a century before it, but the word Purâṇa in the sense of an ancient legend which ought to be learnt occurs as early as the Śatapatha Brâhmaṇa (XI. 5. 6. 8) and even in A.V. XI. 7. 24.

446

See Dinesh Chandra Sen, Hist. Bengali Language and Lit. pp. 220-225.

447

Pargiter, l.c. pp. xvii, xxviii. It does not belong to the latest class of Purâṇas for it seems to contemplate the performance of Smârta rites not temple ceremonial, but it is not quoted by Râmânuja (twelfth century) though he cites the Vishṇu Purâṇa. Probably he disapproved of it.

448

It was made as late as 1803 by Lallû Jî Lâl, but is a rendering into Hindi of a version in the Braj dialect, probably made in the sixteenth century.

449

Another Vishnuite work is cited indifferently as Padma-tantra or Padma-samhîtâ, and the Bhâgavata Purâṇa (I. 3. 8) speaks of the Sâttvatam Tantram, which is apparently the Sâttvata-saṃhitâ. The work edited by Schrader is described as the Ahirbudhnya Saṃhitâ of the Pâncarâtra Âgama.

450

See for some notices of these works A. Avalon's various publications about Tantra. Srinivasa Iyengar, Outlines of Indian Philosophy, 118-191. Govïndacarya Svâmi on the Vaishnava Samhitâs, J.R.A.S. 1911, pp. 935 ff. Schomerus, Çaiva-Siddhânta, pp. 7 ff. and Schrader's Introduction to the Pâncarâtra. Whereas these works claim to be independent of the Veda, the Sectarian Upanishads (see vol. I. p. 76) are an attempt to connect post-Vedic sects with the Veda.

451

Jñâna, Yoga, Caryâ, Kriyâ. The same names are used of Buddhist Tantras, except that Anuttara replaces Jñâna.

452

See Schrader, Introd. to the Pâncarâtra, p. 98. In the Raghuvaṃsa, X. 27. Âgamas are not only mentioned but said to be extremely numerous. But in such passages it is hard to say whether Âgama means the books now so-called or merely tradition. Alberuni seems not to have known of this literature and a Tantra for him is merely a minor treatise on astronomy. He evidently regards the Vedas, Purâṇas, philosophical Darśanas and Epics as constituting the religious literature of India.

453

Râjagopala Chariar (Vaishnavite Reformers, p. 4) says that in Vishnu temples two rituals are used called Pâncarâtra and Vaikhânasa. The latter is apparently consistent with Smârta usage whereas the Pâncarâtra is not. From Gopinâtha Rao's Elements of Hindu Iconography, pp. 56, 77, 78 it appears that there is a Vaikhânasâgama parallel to the Pâncarâtrâgama. It is frequently quoted by this author, though as yet unpublished. It seems to be the ritual of those Bhâgavatas who worship both Śiva and Vishṇu. It is said to exist in two recensions, prose and metrical, of which the former is perhaps the oldest of the Vaishṇava Âgamas. The Vaikhânasa ritual was once followed at Śrîrangam but Râmânuja substituted the Pâncarâtra for it.

454

Avalon, Principles of Tantra, p. xxvii describes it as "that development of the Vaidika Karmakâṇḍa which under the name of the Tantra Shâstra is the scripture of the Kali age." This seems to me a correct statement of the tantric theory.

455

Thus the Gautamîya Tantra which is held in high estimation by Vishnuite householders in Bengal, though not by ascetics, is a complete application of Śâkta worship to the cult of Kṛishṇa. The Vârâhi Tantra is also Vishnuite. See Raj. Mitra, Sanskrit MSS. of Bikaner, p. 583 and Notices of Sk. MSS. III. (1876), p. 99, and I. cclxxxvii. See too the usages of the Nambuthiri Brahmans as described in Cochin Tribes and Castes, II. pp. 229-233. In many ways the Nambuthiris preserve the ancient Vedic practices.

456

See Grierson's articles Gleanings from the Bhaktamâlâ in J.R.A.S. 1909-1910.

457

E.g. Mârkaṇḍeya, Vâmana and Varâha. Also the Skanda Upanishad.

458

Mahâbh. Vanaparvan, 11001 ff. The Bhâgavata Purâṇa, Book IV. sec. 2-7 emphasizes more clearly the objections of the Rishis to Śiva as an enemy of Vedic sacrifices and a patron of unhallowed rites.

459

Mahâbh. XII. sec. 283. In the same way the worship of Dionysus was once a novelty in Greece and not countenanced by the more conservative and respectable party. See Eur. Bacchae, 45. The Varâha-Purâna relates that the Śivaite scriptures were revealed for the benefit of certain Brahmans whose sins had rendered them incapable of performing Vedic rites. There is probably some truth in this legend in so far as it means that Brahmans who were excommunicated for some fault were disposed to become the ministers of non-Vedic cults.

460

Mahâbh. II. secs. 16, 22 ff.

461

Droṇa-p., 2862 ff. Anusâsana-p., 590 ff.

462

E.g. Anusâsana P., 6806 ff.

463

E.g. the Ahirbudhnya Saṃhitâ and Adhyâtma Râmâyaṇa.

464

Śântipar. cccxxxvii, 12711 ff. In the Bhagavad-gîtâ Kṛishṇa says that he is Vâsudeva of the Vṛishṇis, XI. 37.

465

Cf. the title Bhâgavata Purâṇa.

466

Ekâyana is mentioned several times in the Chândogya Up. (VII. 1, 2 and afterwards) as a branch of religious or literary knowledge and in connection with Nârada. But it is not represented as the highest or satisfying knowledge.

467

Even in the Śatapatha Br. Nârâyaṇa is mentioned in connection with a sacrifice lasting five days, XIII. 6. 1.

468

The Saṃhitâs hitherto best known to orientalists appear to be late and spurious. The Bṛihadbrahma Saṃhitâ published by the Anandasrama Press mentions Râmânuja. The work printed in the Bibliotheca Indica as Nârada Pâncarâtra (although its proper title apparently is Jñânamritasâra) has been analyzed by Roussel in Mélanges Harlez and is apparently a late liturgical compilation of little originality. Schrader's work was published by the Adyar Library in Madras, 1916. Apparently the two forms Pâncarâtra and Pâncarâtra are both found, but that with the long vowel is the more usual. Govindâcârya's article in J.R.A.S. 1911, p. 951 may also be consulted.

469

The oldest are apparently the Paushkara, Vârâha, Brahma, Sâttvata, Jaya and Ahirbudhnya Saṃhitâs, all quoted as authoritative by either Râmânuja or Vedânta Deśika.

470

It is quoted as equal to the Vedas by Yâmunâcârya, so it must then have been in existence some centuries.

471

The story of Śvetadvîpa or White Island in the Śânti-parvan of the Mahâbhârata states definitely that Nârada received the Pâncarâtra there.

472

There is much diversity of statement as to whether there are one or many Śaktis.

473

Vishṇu is the name of God in all his aspects, but especially God as the absolute. Vâsudeva is used both of God as the absolute and also as the first emanation (Vyûha).

474

Kriyâśakti and Bhûtiśakti.

475

Jñâna, aiśvarya, śakti, bala, vîrya, tejas. These are called guṇas but are not to be confounded with the three ordinary guṇas.

476

The words seem to have been originally proper names. See the articles in the Petersburg Lexicon.

477

Nârâyaṇa like Vishṇu is used to designate more than one aspect of God. Sometimes it denotes the Absolute.

478

The above brief sketch is based on Schrader's Int. to the Pâncarâtra where the reader can find full details.

479

Comment on Vedânta sûtras, II. 2. 42.

480

And, as Schrader observes, the evolutionary system of the Pâncarâtra is practically concerned with only one force, the Śakti, which under the name Bhûti is manifested as the Universe and as Kriyâ vitalizes and governs it (p. 31).

481

On Sutta-nipâta, 790, 792. The doctrine of the Vyûhas is expounded in the Mahâbhârata Śântip. CCCXL. 36 ff., 70 ff.; CCCXLI. 26 ff.

482

Lüder's List of Brahmi inscriptions, No. 6, supposed not to be later than 200 B.C. and No. 1112 supposed to be of the first century B.C. Sankarshaṇa is also mentioned in the Kauṭilîya Arthaśâstra, XIII. 3.

483

Some Saṃhitâs emphasize the distinction between the followers of the Veda and the enlightened ones who worship the Lord. See Schrader, Pâncarâtra, p. 97.

484

Syâm iti Sankalpa, Ahirbudh. Sam. II. 7. In some late Upanishads (e.g. Nâradaparivrâjaka and Bṛihatsannyâsa) Cakrî is used as a synonym for a Pâncarâtra.

485

The same is true of Râmânuja, who never quotes the Bhâgavata Purâna.

486

See the quotations from the Sâttvata Saṃhitâ in Schrader, pp. 150-154. As in the Pâncarâtra there is the Para above the four Vyûhas, so some late forms of Buddhism regard Vairocana as the source of four Jinas.

487

The Manicheans also had groups of five deities (see Chavannes and Pelliot in J.A. 1913, I. pp. 333-338) but they are just as likely to have borrowed from Buddhism as vice versâ.

488

See Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and Sects, p. 565.

489

Manu, I. 10-11, identifies him with Brahmâ and says, "The waters are called Nârah because they are produced from Nara, and he is called Nârâyaṇa because they were his place of movement (ayana)." The same statement occurs in the Nârâyaṇîya.

490

They are said to have been the sons of Dharma (religion or righteousness) and Ahiṃsâ (not-injuring). This is obvious allegory indicating that the Bhâgavata religion rejected animal sacrifices. At the beginning of the Nârâyaṇîya (Śântip. cccxxxv.) it is said that Nârâyaṇa the soul of the universe took birth in a quadruple form as the offspring of Dharma, viz. Nara, Nârâyaṇa, Hari and Kṛishṇa. Nara and Nârâyaṇa are often identified with Arjuna and Vâsudeva. E.g. Udyogap. xxlx. 19.

491

Mahâbhâr. XII.

492

It is an episode in Mahâbhâr. VI. and in its present form was doubtless elaborated apart from the rest. But we may surmise that the incident of Kṛishṇa's removing Arjuna's scruples by a discourse appeared in the early versions of the story and also that the discourse was longer and profounder than would seem appropriate to the European reader of a tale of battles. But as the Vedânta philosophy and the doctrine of Kṛishṇa's godhead developed, the discourse may have been amplified and made to include later theological views. Garbe in his German translation attempts to distinguish the different strata and his explanation of the inconsistencies as due to successive redactions and additions may contain some truth. But these inconsistencies in theology are common to all sectarian writings and I think the main cause for them must be sought not so much in the alteration and combination of documents, as in a mixed and eclectic mode of thought. Even in European books of the first rank inconsistencies are not unknown and they need not cause surprise in works which were not written down but committed to memory. A poet composing a long religious poem in this way and feeling, as many Hindus feel, both that God is everything and also that he is a very present personal help, may very well express himself differently in different parts. On the other hand the editors of such poems are undoubtedly tempted to insert in them later popular doctrines.

493

The name appears not to be in common use now, but the Pâśupata school is reviewed in the Sarva-darśana-saṅgraha (c. 1330).

494

Śivabhâgavata, see his comment on Pâniṇi, V. 3. 99 and V. 2. 76. The name is remarkable and suggests that the Śivaites may have imitated the Bhâgavatas.

495

I. xxiii. 209. The Bibliotheca Ind. edition reads Nakulì. Aufrecht (Bodl. MSS.) has Lakulî. The same story is found in Linga P. chap. XXIV. Lakulî is said to have had four pupils who founded four branches. Lakulin does not play an important part in modern Śivaism but is mentioned in inscriptions from the tenth till the thirteenth centuries. The Sarva-darśana-saṅgraha describes the Nakulîśa-Pâśupata system and quotes Nakulîśa who is clearly the same as Lakulin. The figures on Kushan coins representing Śiva as holding a club may be meant for Lakulin but also may be influenced by Greek figures of Herakles. See for Lakulin Fleet in J.R.A.S. 1907, pp. 419 ff. and Bhandarkar Vaishṇavism and Śaivism, pp. 115 ff. The coins of Wema Kadphises bear the title Mahiśvara, apparently meaning worshipper of the Great Lord. Temples in south India seem to have been named after Kâyârohana in the seventh century A.D. See Gopinâtha Rao, Hindu Iconography, II. p. 19.