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Buddhism turned into pure metaphysics on the one hand and developed on the other into a religion with a growing likeness to Hinduism. It made its appearance as a younger brother, if not the descendant, of Jainism. It had its crigin in the crigin in the same parts; it developed in the in the same circumstances; and its inspiration was always fundamentally similar. In the earlier years the Buddhist apostles imitated the Nirgantha (tieless, naked) Jainas. In the later centuries, however, it Was rather Jainism that modelled its legends and dogmas, and rules of life on Buddhist forms, whose reputation and power of attraction were far greater. Following the Hindu doctrine of Karman (action) before his final birth Buddha transmigrated innumerable times as Bodhisattva who had been miraculously born without 'parental intervention.' Siddhartha Gautama Sakya' was born in 550 B. C. of a Kshatriya prince Suddhodana and queen Mayadevi (divine illusion) in the Lumbini garden in the valley of Nepal. He married Yasodhara who bore him a son Rahula. He renounced the world on the birth of his son at the age of 29 years. He was disturbed at the sight of an old man worn with years (jara), an incurable invalid (duhkha), a death-scene (marana) and an ascetic (mortification). His mission was to seek remedies for these four miseries. He practised austerities for seven years at Urubilva under a fig tree and received full and complete enlightenment (samyak-sambuddhi) assumed the title of Buddha (enlightened). preached his first sermon, known as the Dharma-chakraand He 1 Gantama was the name of a section of the Sikya clan to which Siddhartha belonged.

pravartana (setting in motion the wheel of law) at deer-park in Sarnath, north of Benares. He died and got the Nirvana (cessation of further birth) at Kushinagar, east of Gorakhpur, at the age of 80 in 477 B. C. On the assumption that early Buddhism followed the philosophical categories of Jainism. it also resembles the materialistic principles of the Vaiseshika school of thought, who adopted atomic theory to explain creation without the agency of a personal God. The transmigration as Budhisattvas implies the existence of individual souls, and force of Karman (action) which causes the transmigration indicates another entity which is equivalent to the supreme soul of the orthodox systems. The metaphysical doctrines of Buddhism consist of four noble truths (arya-satyani), viz., all that exists is subject to suffering%; the origin of suffering is in human desires; suppression of suffering and the way which leads to that suppression of suffering comes from the suppression of desires; and the way which leads to that suppression is the eight-fold path comprising rightness of intention, of will, of speech, of action, of life (living), of aspiration, of thought, and of concentration. This path led Buddha himself to rest, knowledge, illumination (bodhi) and salvation (nirvana). Buddhists like the Hindus believe in heaven and hell, and the force of Karman (action) whose reaction causes rebirth. Buddha himself refused to decide whether Nirvana (salvation) is complete extinction or an unevading state of unconscious bliss, which is the view of the Vedanta philosophy according to which the individual soul is merged into supreme soul (Brahman) on attaining salvation. Thus it is difficult to accept the interpretation that "the Buddhist doctrines consist in the denial of soul, momentary existence of all things, and the annihilation of self amounting to salvation." The authorities quoted below will justify the conclusion that at some stage of its development the Buddhism had to admit the self. existent Adi Buddha who is equivalent to the Creator (God) of the orthodox systems. There were also the individual souls who were born and reborn, who went to heaven and hell, who ultimately emerged into the Creator (Gol) and escaped the miseries of life. The third entity, iz. force of Karman (action) which

.25 causes migration of individual souls, is really the same as the Creator God who through the agency of harman action) regulates the individual souls. Thus like the Vedanta Buddhism appears to accept two truths, viz "the higher which ends in the vacuity (sunyata) of all conceptions; and the lower which allows for ordinary life." The Mahavastu, a Vinaya text, supplies a partial Buddha biography including many Jataka stories of the Buddha in previous births, an account of the ten stages through which which a Bodhisattva, miraculously born without parental interventions, must move to achieve Buddhahood. The Lalita-vistara gives a biography of the Buddha which has been altered in the sense of the Mahayana development of Buddhism and reveals the portrait of the Buddha in the Gandhara sculptures. The Mahayana-sraddhotpada of Asvagosha develops a complex system of philosophical thought in which the influence of the Brahmanical absolute appears distinctly operative. "The Divyavadana, Avadana-sataka and several other works explain certain ritual vows. Of the Mahayana-sutras proper the most prominent one, the Sad-dharma-pundarika, displays throughout the ideal of the Bodhisattva and glorifies the Buddha as a being of inaffable glory and might. The Avalokitesvara-guna-karanda-vyaha in prose (before 270 A. D.) recognizes an Adi Buddha or Creator God and contains the story of the visit of Avalokitesvara to the abode of the dead. The Sukhavati-vyuha glorifies the paradise of Amitabha. The Amitayurdhyanasutra, extant in a Chinese version, explains how by meditation on God to attain this paradise. The Karuna. pundarika, translated into Chinese before 600 A. D. describes another heaven known as Padmottara. The Avatansaka-sutra also called Ganda-Vyuha, the chief work of the Ke-gon sect of Japan, rendered into Chinese by 420, records the worship of Manju-sri. The Lankavatara-sutra before 443 is more philosophical and develops the nihilistic and idealistic doctrines. The Dasabhamisvara-mahayana-sutra deals with the ten stages to Buddhahood. The Samadhi-raja deals with meditation. The Prajna-paramitas, the most famous of which, the Vajra-chhedika, spread over Central Asia, China, and Japan, assent that intelligence, the highest of perfections (paramitas)

of the Buddha consists in the recognition of the vacuity (sunyata of everything). These views are more clearly brought out in the Madhyamikasutra of Nagarjuna, a Brahmin of southern India, whose nihilistic or negativistic doctrine accepts, as does the Vedanta, two truths, the higher which ends in the vacuity of all conceptions owing to self-contradiction, and the lower which allows for ordinary life. the The Vijaana-vada school (of Mahayana) is represented by Asanga's Bodhisattva-bhumi, Yogachara-bhumisastra, and the Mahayana-sutralankara. The tenets of the Sarvastivadin and the other schools of the Hinayana are explained by Asanga's brother, Vasubandhu, in his Gatha-samgraha and the Abhidharmakosa. His Paramartha-saptati is an attack on the Samkhya system. The Dharanis implying spells of all kinds occur in Chinese version of the 4 th century. They include magic, eroticism and mysticism in the usual Tantra manner of Hinduism. The Shin-gon sect in Japan rests on Tantras. Japan preserved since 609 the Prajnaparamita-hridaya-sutra where the philosophical doctrines were condensed. Following the Jainism and the Buddhism a few minor schools arose out of the orthodox systems, which were predominantly religious in character. Thus Ramanuja as already referred to combines three separate doctrines of unity, duality and plurality as he admits three independent existences, viz., the supreme Being, the individual souls, and the visible world (drisya-jagat). Madhava-sayana held in their Purva-prajna system Vishnu to be the one eternal Being and Brahma, Siva and individuals as the individuals subject to decay. The Saiva system as expounded in the Agamas admits the existence of their separate entities, viz., the Lord (pasupati), individual souls (pasu), and matter (pasa or fetter), but Nakulesvara excludes matter and admits the Lord and individual souls. How the system of philosophy can degenerate into curious religious observance is illustrated by the mercury (rasa) system which holls that liberation results from knowledge, and knowledge from study, and study from a healthy body. After the acquisition of a divine body by application of mercury (rasa) the light of pure

intelligence shines forth and one can get liberation from the enveloping illusion and attains the absolute." In the Bhagvad-Gita on the other hand a synthetic system was followed. It harmonizes the doctrines of the Yoga, Samkhya, and Vedanta, combining with them the religious dogma of faith bhakti) in Krishna and devotion to duties (dharma). The composite character is revealed in an attempt to establish the three paths of emancipation of individual souls, viz. karman, jnana, and bhakti. In the first six chapters the benefits of the Yoga is shown, pointing out that asceticism and self-mortification or Yoga should be joined with action in performing caste duties (dharma). Thus annihilating individuality one can see God in In the second everything and everything in God. section of six chapters the pantheistic doctrines of the Vedanta are illustrated by admiring Krishna as the great universal spirit. In the last six chapters the Samkhya and Vedanta doctrines are interwoven. It accepts the doctrine of a supreme spirit as the first source of the universe and asserts that Prakriti and Purusha both emanate from the Supreme Being. It also maintains the individual souls. To sum up it may be reiterated that the Samkhya system starts with 24 categories, the Nyaya with 16 categories, the Mimamsa with 8 categories, the Vaiseshika with 7 categories, the Ramanuja with 3 categories and the Vedanta with two categories (chit and achit) 1. The Nyaya assumed a personal Creator, Vedanta an impersonal Brahman, Mimamsa an eternal Veda (or sound); Vaiseshika derived all creations from atoms, and Vedanta from universal spirit. The deduction of Nyaya-Vaiseshika tended towards materialism and disbelief, and those of Mimamsa and Vedanta towards mysticism. Striking similarities between Indian and Greek philosophy are well worth noticing. The parallelism of Vedanta and the Eleatics of Plato has been established. The claim that Pythagoras learned philosophic ideas from India is widely accepted. A wide influence Western systems of philosophy had their own categories, for instance, Aristotle's ten categories include substance, quality, quantity, relation, place, time, fortune, property, activity, and passivity.

of the Simkhy a on Greece is not dubious to many. The influence on Heraklietos, Empedokles, Anaxagoras, Demokritos, and Epikuros is undeniable. An influence of Indian thought on the Gnostics and Neoplatonists is also plausible to a certain extent. On the other hand 'suggestions are so often made to fix in Greece the origin of Indian logic or strong influences on its develop ment, or again the source of the atomic doctrine which is accepted by the Jains and the Vaiseshika School'. "We may regard such influences as reasonable", says Professor Keith, "but we must admit its real proof is wanting. If India borrowed, she had the power to give her indebtedness a distinctive character of its own and a certain argument against indebtedness can be drawn from cases in which Indian borrowing is undoubted." Indian influence is noticed elsewhere also. "In Persia Indian doctrine doubtless had considerable influence, but it is extremely difficult to assign to India views which may not have been originated in Persia or Asia Minor." Theology, it may be noted, is the science which treats of God, and of man's duty to him. It is known as Natural when it is discoverable by the light of reason alone; it is Positive or Revealed when it is based on the study of divine revelation. As a science proper it has affinity with the orthodox schools or the Theistic systems of philosophy. The various forms of religion developed out of the Positive or Revealed theology. The treatises on theology are 'often closely allied with Vedanta ideas, powerfully affected by the Simkhya, and have strong affinities to the conceptions of which the Yoga philosophy is an ordered exposition.' The earliest text is the Yogavasishtha which is reputed as an appendix to the Ramayana. It is not much distinguished from the Vedanta. It deals with all manner of topics including final release. The Yogavasishtha-sara of Gauda Abhinanda (9 th century) is a summary of the older text. The Jaimini Bharata, an imitation of the Mahabharata, is intended as the earliest text-book of a Vaishnava sect. The Pancharatra school of Vaishnavas is represented by a large number of Samhitas (compilations) of very early age. The Ahirbudhnya which probably belongs to the period of the Mahabharata mixes

Vedanta and Sankhya ideas. The Narada-pancharatra (16 th century) gives the best account of the school. The Igvara samhita which is quoted in the 10 th century and the Brihat-Brahma-samhita allude to the doctrines of Ramanuja; these doctrines gave rise to divergent schools of thought whose differences were based on minor points such as the necessity or otherwise of activity by the soul which sought salvation or as the position of Lakshmi, wife of Vishnu. The doctrines of Ramanuja as already stated admit of three independent existences, viz, the Supreme Being (Vishnu), the individual souls, and the visible world. The system of Madhava-sayana is on the other hand a do trine of duality, Vishnu being held to be the one eternal Being and the spirits of men being distinct from the spirit of Gol. The Bhaktisastra ascribed to Narvia, and the Bhaktisutras of Sandilya are late production. The Hindi Bhaktimala which is quite modern is interesting as it supplies the technical explanations of the doctrine of faith which is the chief feature of Vaishnavism. Two schools of Saivism with close affinity to the Vedanta developed in Kashmir The Siva-Sutra of Vasugupta (9 th century) on which Kshemaraja commented in the 11 th century, and the Spandakarika of Kallata represent the first school. Here God (Siva) appears as Creator without material cause or the influence of the past action (karman); He creates by the mere effort of His will. The other school is represented by the Pratyabhijia-astra which owes its fame to the Sivadrishti and the Paramarthasastra of Somananda (900) and the Isvara-pratyabhijna a-sutra of his pupil Utpaladeva. It is also briefly summerized in the Virupaksha-panchasika of Virupakshanatha. According to this system it is necessary for man to realize that he has within him the perfections of God, so that he may enjoy the delight of identity with God. Of the other Saiva system Srikantha Sivacharya who wrote a Saiva-bhas ya on the Brahi.a-Sutra of Vedanta, and Appayya Dikshita 16 th century) belonged to the Vira Siva or Lingayata school of Southern India, in which Bhakti towards Siva is specially inculcated. According to the system of the Siva Agamas there are three entities, iz., the Lord (Pasupati or Siva), the individual soul (pasu), and the matter (pasa or fetter); the liberation of soul (pasu) is obtained by its four feet, - 42

viz, jnana (knowledge), kriya (ceremonial action), yoga (meditation), and charya (practical duty). The Pasupata system of Nakule vara as noted above excludes matter and holds the Lord (pati) as the Creator and cause of all things (pasu). The Rasesvara system as stated above holds that liberation results from knowledge, knowledge from study, and study from healthy body. The divine body is obtained by application of mercury (rasa), on which the light of pure intelligence shines forth. Thereafter one can get liberation from the enveloping illusion and attain the absolute. Like the Vaishnavas and Saivites, there are the Saktas who are the worshippers of Sakti, the female energy. They are divided into two classes, viz. Dakshinacharis and Vamacharis The latter group derived their authority from the Tantras and followed the fierce form of the Saktis and the licentious form of worship with wine, woman, fish, flesh and flesh and mystic gesticulation (mudra). The other group represents the real Saktas. They personify the two fold nature, gentle as Uma. and and fierce as Kali. The essence of the Tantras, however, is to clothe in the garments of mysticism the union of the soul with the Goi or the Absolute. The Tantra literature is sufficiently old of which manuscripts existed from 609 onwards. They include the Kula-chudamani-tantra, the Kularnava, Juanarnava, Taitraraja, Mahanirvata, etc. The Lingayatas of the South have a Vira-mahesvara-tartra