by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XXII
A MERE STATEMENT ABOUT BUDDHISM
"I looked into a Hindu temple this morning while I was walking about," saidLouis Belgrave, after the jugglers had been discussed a while. "I saw somevery ugly-looking idols; and I should like to ask if they really representindividuals, or are creatures of the imagination."
"Both," replied Sir Modava with a smile; "there are, as you have been toldbefore, a great many different sects, and a system of mythology. About allthe gods and goddesses known to the Greeks and Romans have an existence inthe Indian mythology more or less similar to them. Indra, the counterpartof Apollo in some of his functions, drives the chariot of fire that lightsthe day.
"Rhemba was born of the sea, and is the Indian Venus; Cama is Cupid;Parvati, whose image you saw at Elephanta, is Ceres; and so on to the endof the chapter. These divinities are represented in the temples, but theyare without form or comeliness."
"They are not much like the beautiful statues of the Greeks," added Louis.
"The most prominent Indian sects are the Saivas, or worshippers of Siva;the Vaishnavas, who bow down to Vishnu under his several incarnations, likeKrishna, whom you could not greatly respect; and the Jains, allied to theBuddhists, found mostly in the northern sections of India. They occupyimportant positions, and possess wealth and influence. There aresubdivisions into sects among them, and it would be quite impossible tofollow them through the mazes of belief to which they adhere. There is agreat deal of philosophy among many of the sects."
"But what are the Buddhists?" inquired Dr. Hawkes.
"Buddhism is quite as much a philosophy as a religion. It is not asprevalent in India proper as formerly; though it is still dominant inCeylon, Napaul, Burma, and in the more northern countries of Asia. Itshistory is somewhat indefinite. Gautama, of whom a great many prettystories are told, is sometimes regarded as the founder; though some whohave studied the history of the sect, or order, do not believe that theBuddha was a real person, but an allegorical figure.
"Those who give a personal origin to the system, now said to be thereligion of one-third of the human race, begin with Prince Siddhartha, ayoung man disposed to be an ascetic, and inclined to retire from the world.In order to wean him from his meditative tendency, his father, in order tocure him, and prevent him from forsaking his caste, married him to abeautiful princess, and introduced him to the splendid dissipation of aluxurious court. A dozen years of this life convinced him that 'all wasvanity and vexation of spirit,' and he became a sort of hermit, a religiousbeggar, and spent his time in dwelling upon the miseries of human life.
"He used up years in this manner, and after much reasoning, came to theconclusion that ignorance was misery. He gave himself up to study, and atlast came to believe that he had reached the perfection of wisdom. The treeunder which he sat when he reached this result was then called_Bodhidruma_, or the tree of intelligence; and the Buddhists believethe spot where it grew to be the centre of the earth. A tree that passesfor this one was discovered by a Chinese, still standing twelve hundredyears after the death of the Buddha; and the bo-tree of Ceylon is regardedas its legitimate descendant. You have been told something about it.
"In Benares, having ascertained the cause of human misery, and learned theremedy for it, the Buddha began to preach his peculiar salvation. In thephrase of his religion he 'turned the wheel of the law.' One of his titlesis _Chakravartin_, which means 'the turner of a wheel.' The doctrinesof the Buddha are written out on a wheel, which is set in motion with acrank, though it is sometimes operated by horse-power; and such machinesare sometimes seen in front of religious houses in Thibet, and the monkshave portable ones."
"I thought the religion of Thibet was the worship of the Grand Lama,"suggested Louis.
"That is a form of Buddhism. The most important of the converts of theBuddha was the Rajah of Magadha, or Behar, on the Ganges, which gave him agood start, and it has since made almost incredible progress. It would taketoo long to state the doctrines in detail of this sect, and you get an ideaof what it must be from what I said of its founder. Its leading doctrine isthe transmigration of souls, also called by that tough word,metempsychosis, though other Hindu systems adopt this belief. It seems toinclude the recognition of the immortality of the soul, which at the deathof the body passes into another form of existence,--a man, a woman, a loweranimal, or even a tree or other plant. The Buddha claims to have been bornfive hundred and fifty times,--a hermit, a slave, a king, a monkey, anelephant, a fish, a frog, a tree, etc. When he reached his highestcondition of perfection, he could recall all these different states ofbeing; and he has written them out.
"Some of the negroes of Africa have this belief, and when a child is bornthey decide upon the ancestor whose soul has returned to the flesh in thisworld. There are one hundred and thirty-six Buddhist hells, regularlygraded in the degree of suffering experienced and the length of time itendures, the shortest term being ten million years. A good life secures anelevated and happy life on earth, or as a blessed spirit in one of the manyheavens, where existence is continued for a bagatelle of ten billion years.When the _karma_ is exhausted"--
"What in the world is that?" asked Mrs. Blossom, who was struggling tounderstand the subject.
"It is the allotted term of existence, including the manner of living,whether in bliss or misery. The person must be born again, and then becomea god, or the vilest creature that crawls the earth, according as he hasbehaved himself. The Buddhists do not appear to have any idea of a personalGod; and they are practically atheists, though there are many good thingsin their system. They recognize no omniscient, omnipresent, all-powerfulSupreme Being, who presides over the universe and all that is in it. Theyare pessimists, and believe that life, on the whole, is misery, a curserather than a blessing. I have given you only a faint outline of whatBuddhism is. It has points in which it resembles Christianity. Buddha isdead and gone; but his followers put up petitions to him, though there isno one to hear and answer their prayers. But I must stop for the want oftime rather than because there is nothing more to be said; and I have doneno more than touch the subject."
"But it is not very different from Brahminism," suggested Professor Giroud.
"You are quite right, Professor," replied Sir Modava. "Brahma means theuniversal spirit; but it is not a personal divinity to be worshipped. Ibelieve there is not an idol or sculpture in all India that representsBrahma. Something that passes for this mystic spirit is represented withfour heads."
"But is there not a new church or philosophy of recent date--I mean BrahmoSomaj?" inquired Dr. Hawkes.
"Rammohun Roy, or Rajah Ram Mohan Rai, was a Hindu ruler in the Presidencyof Bengal, born in 1772. His ancestors were Brahmins of high birth. Hestudied Sanskrit, Arabian, and Persian, and was a profound scholar andphilosopher. When he began to have some doubt about the faith of hisfathers, he went to Thibet to study Buddhism, where he was so outspokenthat he offended the priests and others, and his religious belief broughtupon him the enmity of his own family. In 1803 he lived in Benares, andheld a public office at one time. He published works in the languages withwhich he was familiar, directed against idolatry, which he labored touproot.
"He succeeded to abundant wealth at the death of his brother in 1811. Hisinfluence assisted in the abolition of the suttee, and in bringing aboutother reforms. He published 'The Precepts of Jesus,' accepting hismorality, but denying his divinity and the truth of the miracles. More thanfifty years ago he started an association which became the Brahmo Somaj,which is a living and working society still. He went to England in 1831,and was received with great respect and friendliness. I have greatreverence for the man, though I do not accept all his religious views."
"Lord Tremlyn informed this company in regard to the divisions of caste, sothat I think we have a tolerable idea of the matter," said CaptainRinggold, reading from a paper in his hand. "But all these sects and castesare divided again into tribes and trade so
cieties. Then there is aconsiderable portion of the people who, though they are fully recognized asHindus, are outside of the pale of this multiform organization."
"I should say that all this would make endless complications in businessand society. Each of these societies, or whatever you may call them, isindependent, and has its own regulations. None of its members can marryinto another caste, or even eat with those of a lower rank. A man born intoone of these associations having a particular business cannot take upanother calling without being pinched by the social law in all that heholds dear in life. His wife deserts him, his children refuse toacknowledge him as their father, and his property is absorbed by hissociety or caste. All this for no crime, no immorality; and he may be anoble and true man. If he chooses to be a tinker, instead of a trader, allthe gods of Hindu antiquity light upon his head, and worry him to thefuneral pyre by the shore."
"That is quite true, Captain, and I join with you in condemning thisgrossly heathen institution," added Sir Modava. "But time and Christianitywill yet do their work, and my country will be saved. But I submit, my dearCaptain, that there is another side to the question."
"Quite true, and I was about to state it. The man who remains faithful tothe requirements of the society is protected and supported. Wherever hegoes, at whatever distance from his country he may be, he finds a roof anda hearthstone which he may make his own for the time. If gone for years, hewill find the house and the field of his fathers undisturbed, of which hemay take possession. This institution may remove care and anxiety from themind of the man, and make him, as we find here, calm and contented, butwithout the ambition of the business-man. I have taken most of this from abook I found in Bombay."
"The most influential caste here are mostly Jains and Buniahs; and thoughthey belong to different tribes, they are united in business matters. Theywear their own costumes; but they have done more than any others for theprosperity of the place," said Lord Tremlyn. "They are the speculators incottons and other goods, and many of them have immense wealth. The Buniahsare always intelligent, and somewhat aristocratic. You may know one of themby his tall turban, like a shako, though sometimes it is rolled like aconch-shell. Around his dress he wears a red band, which he twists abouthis limbs, and has a long calico tunic closely fitted to his chest. Hischosen calling is that of a commercial broker.
"These rich Hindus, while adhering to everything required by theirreligion, adopt English fashions, and revel in British luxuries. You willsee them late in the afternoon on the public roads, in elegant carriages,drawn by the finest horses, and attended by servants in rich liveries.Their houses are magnificent, furnished like the Parsee's we visited theother evening. The social intercourse between them and their Europeanneighbors is very limited.
"The Mohammedans here are an important class of people, and some of themare very wealthy, and are honest and upright merchants. They are verystrict in the observance of their religion, and not one of them would eatpork or drink wine or liquors. If it were the beginning of their year,which is different from ours, you might witness a celebration of the day.It is called the Mohurrum, and takes place on the shore of the Back Bay.They construct a great number of temples of gilt paper, and after marchingwith them in procession through the city, they cast them into the sea. I donot quite understand what it means; but the first month is usually a timeof mourning and fasting in commemoration of the sufferings of the twonephews of the Prophet. The ceremony at the water is very ancient."
"The wives of Mussulmans here have more liberty than in most Easterncountries. They go about the streets with their faces uncovered, and areclothed for the most part like the Hindu women. As they appear in thestreet they are not so neat as the other native females, who spend muchtime in bathing, and are always clean and tidy. I have nothing more to sayat present."
"I have an announcement to make," said Captain Ringgold. "To-morrowforenoon we shall return to the Guardian-Mother, and sail for Surat."
The party spent the rest of the day in excursions about Bombay in threeparties, each under the direction of one of the hosts.
