HE TE MP L E PR I HE R S

SACR E D L IT E RATU R E

by

GEORGE L . B U R ST

PR E F ACE

i s the space at my disposal i t has not been poss ible to domore than trace the out l ines of a vast subject . But l havesought to ind icate the content s of thes e L iteratures so that thereader may appreciate the values and relationships ofthe variousbook s and, if he should turn to the work s themsel ves , readthem by the hel p of modern s cholars hip.T he importance of the Sacred L iteratures for the study of

comparative theology and the h istorical development of rel igion gives thi s sketch its rar

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CON T EN TS

l .—THE SACRED L ITERATUR E O F BRAHMAN ISMrAcs s

T u t V rb As . —T he R ig Ve i la Sanh ita—T he Samaveda SanhitaT he Yagur Veda Sanh ita—T he Ath s rva Veda Sanh ita

T il l h u mmu s —T he Aits reys Brahmana—T he SamavedaBrahmanas—

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he Sats patha Brahmana—T he Oopatha 30-36

a UPAN l t l I ADS .—T ll c A itareya Upanis l

’ta i l-u -T he Bahvrika

T he Khandogya— T he Vayasaneyi—T he Mundalt a

l l .—TH E SACR ED L ITERATUR E O F BUDDH ISMT nv V I N AYA Pas s ion—T he Sut ta V ibhangya—T he Khandakas

T he Parivara Path s 46-5!

T il l Sum-u Pru n e—T he Digha N iltaya—The Majjh ima

N ikaya— T he Samyutta N ikaya

—T he Angutts ra N ihayaT he Khurldak a N iltaya

T ut AamouAMMA Pu ma s— T he Dhammao sangani—T he

V ibhanga—T he Katha-vatthu—T he PuggaIa—T he Dhatukatha—T he Yamaha—T he Pat thana 69-73

l l l .—THE SACR ED LI TERATURE OF PARSI ISMTm . Au st in—T he C athas—T he Yasna—The V isperad

—TheV endidEd—T he L it t le Aves ta 74-85

l v .—THE SACRED L ITERATUR E OF CONF UCIAN ISM

T ut K I NG.—T bc Shu K ing—T he Sh ih K ing—T he L i Ki

T he Y i K ing—T he Kun Kin

CON T EN TS

T ut H s rno K im;

T in Sum—T he Lun Yu—T he Works of Mencius—T he GreatLearning—T he Doctrine of the Mean l ogo!to

V .—THE SACR E D LITERATURE O F THE H E BR EWS

a O LD T l ST AM l N T .—T he Hexateuch— H is torical Book s—T he

Books of the Prophets—T he Poet ical Books—T he Books of

W is dom r t l - t a ;

Ta n a show ing Main Crit ical Resu l ts for the Hexateuch fi ring l I ;

V I . — T I~I E SACR E D L ITERATUR E OF CHR I ST I AN ITYT u t. N ew Tas m an ian —T he Gos pe l s—T he Acts ofthe Apos t les

T he Ep is tles—T he Book of the Revelat ion

V I L—TH E SACRED L ITERATUR E O F MUHAMMADAN I SM

T ue Quu’

i w 1 4 1 -1 45

L I ST or Boox s 1 46- 1 47

I t x 1 49- 1 52

SACRE D L ITE RATUR E

CHAPT E R I

T HE SACR ED L ITERATURE O F BRAHMAN I SM .

Th e Vedas .

T ri s Sacred or revealed Canon of Brahmanism consists of theFour Vedas, each ofwhich comprises a col lection of mantrasor hymns , one or more brahmanas in prose, and one or moreupanishads .T he Vedas are named according to the trad it ional purpose

of their Sanhi tasWa i l sect ions )i . T he R ig eda, the veda of the hymns, for the reciter

at the sacrifice .in. T he Sama Veda, the veda for the singer at the Soma

ofi ering .

i i i . T he Yagur Veda, the veda for t he sacrificer.i v . T he Atharva Veda, the veda of the Atharvans .As a whole the Vedas constituted the l iterature of a high ly

elaborated fai th and ritual . But in their several parts theyrepresent the stages of a long rel igious evolution, during whichthe secular became sacred and final l y sacerdotal . T he primit ive and the phi losophical l ie side by side . T here has neverbeen such a rel igion as the theological resul tant of these bookswould yield . Nor has Aryan society ever worn al l thefeatures they reflect .

Th e Rig Veda Sanh ita .

T he R ig Veda i s the oldest collection . I ts antiquity andits reflections of historical conditions render it pecul iarl yvaluable .

6 SACRED L IT ERAT URE

As a compi lat ion i t is attributed to the rish i Kri s hnaD ivaipayana, whose labour won him the tit le Oyasa

(arranger ) . T radition al so credits h im with the tasky ofsuper intending the arrangement of the other vedas by certainof his pupil s .T here are verses in this col lection , which by the

more ancient d ivis ion— according to authorsh ip— is div idedinto a thousand and twenty-eight hymns grouped in ten

mandalas (circ les ) .A s a systemat ic whole the R ig Veda i s bui l t of six main

groups of hymn s . T he first is an“ eclectic ceremonial

l i turgy (Mandala T he second contains the F ami l yBook s (Mandala I I . T hen fol lows a book of miscel laneous and supplementary hymns (Mandala V I I I . T he

next group cons is ts of hymns celebrating the Soma juice(Mandala IX“)

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l hen fol low two col lect ions of mysticaland mythological h ymns (Mandala X . 1 - 84 ; Mandala X.

85- 1 9 1 .

T he harticulars on which these distinctions are foundeddo not appear, except incidental l y, in the Veda i tself. T heyare suppl ied by a late I ndex , which gives the names of theauthors , the number of s tanzas in each hymn, the class ofmetre used , and the name of the deity addressed .

Manda la l — T he fi rs t Mandala contains a hundredand ninety-one hymns, and constituted “ the veritable prayerbook of the ancient Brahmans rehearsed whi l st performingthe eleven acts which completed the solemn ofiering of thePurolasa.

”

T radition div ides the Mandala between eighteen rishis ,and has set the hymns of each poet together . T he traditionis not whol l y re l iable . T he same hymn occurs under differentauthors hips (cf. 1 3 and D is t inct fragments are unitedin one piece (mg . Some clusters were drawn togetherbecause of common characteris tics (rag . 1 2 7- 1 40 ) a group ofexamples ofan elaborate metre ; (65-70 ) a c luster ofso-cal led

See Mr F . P incott , in vol s . xv i . and x ix . 1 8841 887.

BRAHMAN ISM

ten - s tan za hymns, reall y composed of five s tanzas , which bya l iterary fiction are hal ved and reckoned as two .As we posses s it, the Mandala is not a popular anthology

but an elaborate l iturgy, bui lt about the words which celebrated the culminating act of the Soma Iibation .T he place of honour is held by a remarkable single verse

addres sed to Agni , and ascribed to the r ish i Kasyapa.

Let us cfl'

er l ibat ions to h im who know s al l our weal th,May Agni consume the w eal th of -u, enem ies ,May Agni free us from al l dangers , and cause us to pas s over m is

fortune as a sh ip pas ses over the sea ( too) .

With this verse the Hymn of the F ive R i sh is ( 1 0 1 ) i sas sociated.

On either side of this central group li ve col lections of

hymns are arranged in the fol lowing order

i . Hymns of the V isvam itra fam i ly , 1 - 1 0

i i. Ang iras (Bharadvajas branch) 1 1 -64i ii . V as is tha 65

-73iv . Ang iras (Gautama 74-94v . Kntsa (Bharadvajas 95-99T he H ymns of Kas yapa and the F ive R ish is .

”1 00 - 1 0 1

v . Kutsa (Bharadvajas 1 02 - 1 1 6

iv . Ang iras (Gautama i 1 1 7- 1 2 7i i i . Bhrigus 1 2 8- 1 40

i i . Ang irs s (Gautama 1 4 1 -1 64i . Agas t i 1 65

- 1 9 1

T his arrangement separates the Mandala i nto eleven distinct parts, and serves to explain the saying : the Purolasa isoffered in eleven vessel s . ’ I t suggests that the Purolasa wasa rel igious act, which enumerated all the rishis (seven of theeight famil ies of Vedic poets have their work s inc l uded) , andwith them the enti re people in a ceremonial obse rvance, cons i sting of eleven separate aets , accompanied by the recitat ionofeleven sets of hymns xvi . 1 884, p . 38 1 ,T he nature of the serv ice is indicated by the fact that the

“ li ve rishis ” were not human beings, their names are the

names of the princ ipal acts in the great Horse sacrifi ce , theA svamedha.

8 SACR ED L I T ERAT UR E

I t i s a reasonable conc lusion therefore that th is Mandalawas the r itual book for the supreme sacrifice .Amongst the separate hymns a certain progress may be

made out . T owards the beginning of the l iturgy are

hymns extol l ing the efficacy of ritual Observances . T heseare fol l owed by des criptions of the process of mak ingthe Soma juice . After a laudation of the ful l y prepared juice

(9 1 come suppl ications for forgiveness , and a hymn tel l inghow fi re i s begotten ofwood . T he Kasyapa verse is speedil yfol lowed by further prayers for forgiveness, after which severalinst

inces of the value of sacrifice are recounted .

he majority of the hymns are simple invocations, of thefire, the water, the sky, etc . Some were inspired by thecircumstances and purel y secular concerns of the poets andtheir friends . But such subjects were merel y inc idental .T he main purpose of the hymns was to provide prayers andpraises for divine worship . Agni, the deity of fi re, to whomfifty

-one pieces are ded icated , i s worshipped as “ the highpriest of the sacrifice,

” “ the minister who presents the

offering . ” He was the messenger as wel l as protectorof the home . I ndra is addressed in fifty-eight hymns . Hewas the shedder of rain T he showerer who set openthe cow- pastures,

”and hence the giver of al l good. T he

s ingers ex tol Indra with hymns, the reciters with prayers ,the (priests ) w ith text s

”

References to social conditions abound and show that bythe time the hymns were col lected the Aryan clans hadreached a high level of civ i l isation . Widel y differing stages,however

, are reflected in the various poems . A time waswhen “

a mi lch cow , a swift horse and an able son”

were the mos t des i rable boons Pictures of latercul ture show men l i v ing by “ beautiful l y embanked ri vers

on which vesse l s “ moved by a hundred cars

( 1 1 63 able to float over the sea keeping out t he watersmight gl ide . Towns are portrayed defended by strongholds with mansions “ where there (were ) horses

”

(83) where chariots, prostitutes and gamesters were known,

BRAHMAN ISM 9

and where laws governing inheritance and weal th were inforce .T he sound of the confl ict with earl ier sett lers rings in

many stanzas and the note of intertribal warfare in some .Mandala l h — T he second Mandala is the fi rst of the

s ix fami l y book s which form an important group . T hey areuniform in character and constitute the centre or corpus ofthe whole ” Sanhita. T hey are arranged according to therelationship of thei r respect ive rishis to the important Ang iras

fami l y, under the influence of whose members this Veda seem shave been sys tematised .

T he central Mandala of the group (V . ) i s ascr ibed to theAtris , a family whose ancestor, Atri, appears to have beenthe patron saint of Soma. T he Moon or Soma was spokenof as “ born of Atri (41 . Max M

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til ler, Clips , vol . i v . pp .32 8

On either side are Mandalas ascr ibed to two branches ofthe Angiras . T he V isvamitra famil y, ever the friends of

the Augiras , stand next and are balanced by their great r ival s,the Vasishthas . Outs ide these again i s placed the incons iderable col lection of the Bhrigus . T he miscel laneousPragatha col lection stands as a neces sary counterpoise at the other extremity , al though not one of the famil ybook s . T his arrangement is just what the relative

and mutual r ival ries of the famil ies wouldeces s itate xix .

i . Hymns of the Bhrigus Fam ily (Gritsamarla branch ) I I .

I I. V is vam i tra V is vam itra I I I .

i ii . Aug iras (Gatttama l v .

he Hymns of the A tris V.

i i i . Ang iras ( Bharadvaya V I .

V as ishtha (V as ishtha V I I .

i . T he Pragatha Hymns (not a fam ily book) VI I I .

T he forty- th ree hymns of the second Mandala are

cribed to the rishis Gritsamada ( twenty-one hymns ) ,ahut i (nineteen ) , and K urma ( three . ) Fourteen of

samada’

s poems stand together (30 T he rest are

to SACRED L IT ERAT URE

scattered accord ing to the deity to whom they are

dedicated .

T he artificial sty le of G ritsamada’

s compos it ions maybe seen in the fol lowing s pecimen from a hymn to theA swins

i . “ Descend As w ins , has ten to the presence of the w ea l thy l iketwo Brahmans repeat ing hymns at a sacrifice,

1 1 . Mov ing at dawn l ike two horses in a car, l ike a pair of goat s ,l ike two women , love ly i °~ form , or l ike husband andw ife.

in . Come to us , l ike a pa i r of horns , or a pair of hoofs .iv . Bear us acros s l ike two ves se ls , or the pole of a car be l ike two

dogs w ard ing oti’

injury to our persons,or l ike two coats

ofmai l defend ing us from decay.

v . I rres is t ib le as two w inds,rapid as two rivers , and quick of s igh t ,

come l ike two eyes before us , l ike two hand s , l ike two

feet ( Hymn

T he nineteen hymns attributed to Somahuti (4-2 2 ) are

shorter and s impler than those ofG ritsamada, and each hymnis dedicated to one deity . Somahuti claims for his ownfamily, the Bhrigu, the honour of having fi rst d iscoveredto mortal s the powers ofAgni .

T he Bhrigu w orsh ipping Agni, h ave tw ice made h im manifes t ;I n the abode of the w aters as l igh tning) and amongs t the sonof men as domes t ic fires (Hymn

T he hymns 4- 1 0 are devoted to Agni 1 1 - 2 2 are i n praiof I ndra .

T he picture of the sacrifice afforded by these hymns iss imple one .

“ One pries t announces the offering that he present s , anothperforms the act that apport ions the l imb, a th ird corrects al l theficiencies of e ither

Mandala I l l . contains s i xty-two hymns as sociatedthe V is vamitras . T he r ish i Vis vamitra, the author ofthree of the hymns , is a s trik ing figure inespecial l y in v iew of th

sacerdotal caste .admission

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1 2 SACRED L IT ERAT URE

1 4 .

“ Thou has t s lain the s lave Ssmbara, the son of Kuh tra, hurling h im from off the huge mountain .

1 5. Thou has t s lain the fi ve hundreds and thousand s of the s laveV ach in ( surrounding) h im l ike the fel lies (of a whee l ) .

2 0 I ndra has overturned a hundred s tone-buil t ci ties for Divodas ,the g iver ofoblat ions .

2 1 . H e put to s leep by del us ion, w ith h is des truct ive (weapons )th irty thousand of the serv i le, for the sake of Ds bh itt

(Hymn 4)Manda la V . contains the eighty-seven hymns accred ited

to the Atris, a group of twenty-th ree rishis of that famousfami l y .T hat th is Mandalawas among the later parts of the Veda i s

sugges ted by the dedication of one hymn to the wives of thegods, another to the Apris , a third to Prith ivi . Some expressions sustain this judgment , L g .

“ Manrfes ter of s trength , Agni, ancient worsh ippers have k ind ledthee of old for their preservat ion

Men have es tab l ished thee, Agni, their ancient gues t , as lord of thehouse, the b laz ing-haired, the vas t-bannered , the mul tiform, the dis

penser of wea l thSome hymns, however , display the na 1 vete of primitive

fancy . T hou art born unobstructed of two mothers (i . r. thefires tick s ) , thou hast sprung up from the householder ( 1T he ch ief rish i ofManda la VI . i s Bharadwaja, the re

poted author of fifty-nine of the seventy-five hymns it contains .T he hymns of the other r ishis are gathered into two groups

- 3 1 -36, 44-

52— each group being regarded as the work of

three writers . T he las t hymn of the Mandala i s dedicatedto the Weapons , and as cribed to the rishi Payu .Bharadwaja

’s work is of high qual ity, abounding in rich

fancy and metaphor.

Sharp is h is path , and h is vas t body sh ines l ike a horse champ ingfodder in h is mouth , dart ing forth h is tongue l ike a hatchet

,andburning

t imber to ashes , l ike a goldsm ith w ho fuses (metal s )

T here is an abundance of l egend,but a real interest , never

theles s , in the needs and interest s of ordinary life .T he hymn 75, dedicated to the W eapons, shows how the

au nuams u 1 3

art of warfare had progres sed by the time these verseswere wri tten. I t speak s of the mai led warrior, who seek sspoil with the bow , drawing the bowstring , unti l it approacheshis ear, as wishing to say someth ing agreeable . T he quiver ,parent of many, the sk i lful char ioteer, the horses, the spoi l ,the chariot guards armed with spears, the whip and thearrow with its feathery wing and its charm , are enumeratedamong the equipments of the soldier .T he group of famil y book s i s completed with Man

da la Vl l . , the one hundred and four hymns of whichare as cribed to the typical pries t, Vas ishtha, opponent of theaspiring V isvamitra. T radition credits h is two sons and the

rishi Sakt i wi th a share in the production of th ree of thehvmns .

T he fame ofthe i l lustrious poet andhis sons i s sung in 1 33

8. T he g lory of these Vas ishthas is l ike the g lory of the sun, theirgreatnes s is profound as the ocean .

Your praise V as ish thas has the sw iftnes s of the w ind, by no

other can it be surpassed .

”

Manda la Vl l l . i s a heterogeneous col lect ion of fugiti vepoetry representing al l the different famil ies of ri shis,

” semicanonical , occu ying a place in ecclesias tical opinion midwaybetween divine y inspi red and humanl y invented works . I t ‘

one hundred and eight hymns are more deepl y dyed withlegendary influences than are those of the preceding Mandalas .T he authorsh ip of the Mandala is attributed to the members

of the Kanva fami ly some hymns, however, are ascribed tothe gods , I ndra, K ri shna, Meinys . T he hymns of each rish is tand together .A special characteristic of the book is the metre . Many

hymns are arranged in stanzas cf two verse s each, and were

evident l y designed to be accompanied with mus ic . T he

Mandala i s usual l y cal led Pragathah . T he garhah was a

hymn written by a human rishi . Pragathah impl ies somesuperiority over the ordinary human author’ s work

, but

whether of qual i ty or of age is not clear .

ta SACRE D L lT B RAT URE

T heMandalad isplays advanced theological thought, cg .

Slay us not for one s in, not for two, not for three ; 0 hero, s layus not for many (45W

I ts pantheon is ful l

May the three-and-th irty deit ies s it down upon the s acredgras s

”

T he deit ies are c learl y characteri sed in pointed phrases .Th e Va lak h l ly a Hymns .

—E leven Valakhilya orsupplementary hymns are inserted after the forty -ninth hymnof this Mandala. T hey are a late and independent group,and were not taken into account in the older arrangement ofthe Veda, according to authorship . T hey were added whenthe scholas tic d iv is ion of the R ig , by eighth s (A shtakas ) , andlessons (Adhyayas ) , was made .T heir character may be es timated from the fol lowing

se lection

“ Great indeed is l nd ra’ s m igh t , I have beheld it . T hy g ift apapproaches . 0 foe to the Dasyu.

A hundred w h ite oxen sh ine l ike s tars in the heaven—by the irs ize they have almos t hel d up the heavens .

“ A hundred bamboos , a hundred dogs , a hundred dres sed h ides , ahundred bund les of balbaya gras s , and four hundred red mares

are m ine .

May ye have the gods propit ious to you, 0 descendants of the

Kanva fam i ly, l iv ing through youth after youth , s tep out

v igorous l y l ike s teed s .“ L et them praise the s even yoked s teeds . Great is the s treng th

of that wh ich is no; yet ful l grown ( Hymn 7M) .

Manda la lX.— T he ninth Mandala i s unique in the

Veda, inasmuch as i t is almost exclus ivel y devoted to one

deity . Of the one hundred and fourteen hymns three onl y,

5, 66, 67, are dedicated to a god other than Soma. I ti s pecul iar al so in the arrangement of its hymns . T he fi rstsixty are set in the order of dimini shing length . T he re

mainder show no mark s of order .Whil st it contains some of the mos t ancient pieces in the

R ig Veda the col lection it se lf must be late, s ince its formation

BRARMAN ISM i s

would not have been poss ible unti l the Soma sacrifice hadattained a place of recognised importance, and had inspireda l iterature for it s conduct and celebration . I ts canonicals tatus is somewhat lower than that of the bulk of t he Veda.

T he hymns of this book ascr ibe prai ses to Soma during al lthe processes of the preparat ion of the l iquid which wasvirtual l y identified with the deity . T he question of authorship i s inconsequential as the reputed authors are personal l yunknown .Mos t of the processes of the extraction of the Soma juice

are referred to in the Mandala, ofwhose hymns the fol lowingtypical .

1 . Th is sw ift-dow ing Soma , p laced by the pries ts , al l know ing, thelord of praise s has tens to the wool len fi lter.

a. T he Soma, efl'

used for the gods , flow s into the fi l ter penetrat inga l l its form s .

3. Th is d ivine immortal Soma is bri l l iant in h is ow n p lace, thes layer of enem ies , the mos t devoted to the gods .

4.“ Th is showerer, expres sed by the ten ri ngers , has tens uttering a

sound to the p itchers .Th is purified , al l-contemp lat ing ,

al l -know ing (Soma) , g ivesrad iance to the s un and al l aph

6.“ Th is pow erful , inv incible, purity Soma

, proceeds , the pro

tector of the god s , the des troyer s the w icked (Hymn

Mandala X . differs from the preced ing nine in language,in subject, in sty le of thought . I t contains the L ong and theShort h ymns . I ts cons tituen t poems belong to an advancedperiod of rel igious thought . Many of them are abstrusemetaphysical speculations, their ideas are highl y ph i losophical ,their whole atmosphere is different to that of the otherMandalas . ” Some pieces were designed to assist the practi ceot magic . I n these respects i t approaches most near ly to theAtharva Veda, i n which forty per cent . ofthe hymns borrowedfrom the R ig original l y belonged to th is Mandala.

L ike Mandala I . it contains one hundred and ninety-onehymns . Of these— either whol l y or in part— th i rty-three arededicated to Agni , forty-five to I ndra, twenty seven toVis vadevas , four to theWaters , and th ree to Yams .

1 6 SACRE D L IT ERAT URE

It divides into two parts . T he hymns t -84 form a collection of t he m thological (Apri ) hymns of the Badhyasvasfamily, ar range!according to their authorship and metre .T he other part (hymns contains the Apri hymnsof the Bhrigus famil y . hese hymns are al l ascribed to. lamadagni, andare se t st rict l y in the order of their d imini s hinglength .

Th e Apr!Hymns of th e Badhy as vu ( 1T he col lection of the Badhyasvas , along with a few excel lenthymns to Agni and l ndra, contains many that are sacerdotal ,divinatory and mere poet ical settings of legend .

Much of the later mythology is anticipated in thehymns addressed to the greater deit ies, and the d is tinctionsbetween the local and universa l aspects of the gods are

al ready apparent . I n hymn 9 occur verses used by theBrahmans at their dai l y ablut ions .

May the d ivine waters be propit ious to our worsh ip .May they flow round us and be our heal th and our s afety (v .

T he dialogue between Yama and Yami— the divine ri shisof the hymn l o— is a protest agains t the marriage of brotherand si s ter . I t is one of several hymn s which relate todeath and the power of Yama, the king of death .F ragments addres sed to the spirit of the dying occur in 1 4,

vv . 7 . 8. A hymn connected with the burning of a corpse

( 1 6 ) contains the s trik ing verses

L et the eye repair to the sun,

T he breath to the w ind ,0 0 thou to heaven or to the earth accord ing to thy merit .O r go to the waters if it suit s thee there .

Or ab ide w ith thy members in the plant s .T he unborn port ion . burn that, Agn i, w ith thy heat ,L et thy flames , thy splendour, consume it (W . 3

Agricul ture has some recognition in hymns addressed tothe cows to the shepherd’ s god Pushan tothe rivers A prayer to the dice is an

excel lent del ineation of the t roubles of the gambler, and the

BRAHMAN ISM 1 7

distre s s of his famil y, thrown into rel ief by t he absorbingexcitements of chance .T he last h ymns of the col lection (83-84 ) are addres sed

to Manyu , the god of anger , and were sung during thesacrifice offered to secure the defeat of enemies .Th e Apr

-I Hymns of th e B h rig us (8; -

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he

second col lection ofApri hymns differs from the fi rst in beingmore magical and more metaphysical . I t contains manycharm songs .T he magical aspect of pious exercises is presented in

hymns and rayers, to avert abort ion for thebenedict ion of

Pthe embryo for the cure of con

sumption ( 1 6 1 , for the dissipat ion of baddreamsAlong with such rel ics of popular supers tit ion are others ,

probably prepared to be used as words of power,” but less

grossl y material i sti c , mg . a marriage hymn a hymn concerning the s tate of the dead and chants for securinga rival ’ s destruction ( 1 45Side by side wi th these crude hopes and fear s , are hymn s

of most subt le and refined thought . T he wel l-knownphilosophical hymn of creat ion belongs to this col lection .

I n the beg inning there w as neither nough t nor augh t ;Then was there neither death nor immortal ity ;Then there w as neither day, nor nigh t , nor l igh t , nor darknes sOnly the Ex is tent One breathed calm ly, se lf-contained.

F irs t in h is m ind was formed Des ire, the primal germ

Product ive , w h ich the w ise, profound ly s earch ing , sayI s the firs t s ubt le bond , connect ing Ent ityW ith Nul l ity ( 1 29 )

— Cj . Monier W il l iam s, Hindu i sm, p . 2 6 .

T he same theme appears in the hymn 1 2 1 .

T he lateness of th is anthology is conc lusively establ ishedby the ci rcum stance that it contains the onl y hymn in theR ig Veda which makes any al lus ion to dist inct ions of caste

(HymnW ith Purusha as v ict im they performed

A sacrifice. When they d ivided h im,

H ow did they cut h im up? What w as h is mouth ?

1 8 SACRED L I T ERAT URE

What were h is arms ? and w hat h is th ighs and feet ?T he Brahman w as h is mouth, the k ing ly sold ierW as made h is arm s

, the husbandman h is th igh s ,T he s ervile Sudra is sued from his feet . ”—H indui sm, p . 3 1 .

T h e Samaveda Sanh ita .

T he Samaveda is devoted to the service of the Samasacrifice— Samayaga

—and i s a formal col lect ion of hymnsfor use as a l i turgy . F ifteen hundred and twenty-five of

its verses corres pond with verses in the R ig Veda. T he

remainder are to be found in dupl icate in the Yagur Veda, theA tharva Veda, and the Khi la Hymns . Some few of thehymns common to the R ig and the Sama Vedas , exi s t inthei r more ancient form in the Sama. W hatever mayhave been the basis of the Samaveda, as a col lection , i tis c lear that to some extent its compi lers deal t at first handwith their sources .

T he Samaveda i s div ided in two way s — (a ) T he disciples of the s chool ofRanayaniya; separate its contents intotwo parts and appendices . ( 1 ) F i ve hundred and eightyfive verses are ar ranged in fifty-nine groups in the Arkh ika .

( 2 ) T wel ve hundred and twenty-five verses , gathered intonine chapters, are cal led the Staubh ika. T hese , with twoGanas or song-book s , complete the Sanhita.

T he A rkhika is a col lection of tune verses, or verses usedfor practis ing tune s on . T he tunes are given i n a song-bookSongs to be sung in the v i l lage . ” N eces sary ins truct ions

for modulation, etc. , are prov ided in the Veyagana and the

Aranyagana.

T he Staubhika cons is ts of the texts of the sacred hymns,arranged in the order neces sary for the l iturgy of the Somasacrifi ce . T he verses ofeach hymn are gathered into t ri l et s,the fi rst of the three, “ the parent,

” governing the modulittionand punctuation of the two fol lowing, the chi ldren . ”

T he song-book s , U hagana and U hyagana, belong to th is partof the Veda.

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ao SACRED L I T ERAT URE

Pour out the pure, the cow -

producing u ea l th , pure gol d, purevegetab le, moon plant juice, w h ich i s in term ing led w ith the w aters .Thou, O Soma, art a mos t heroic d ivinity , our pries ts have seated thems e lves to perform thy w orsh ip, Omniscien t one .

“Thou, O Soma, art des ired of al l men in every quarter thou art

the purifier of the waters , to wh ich thou proceedes t in manydrops . L et h im s train out to us pure gol d, w ith al l k ind s of weal th ,and may we be ordained to l ive on earth .

”

Th e Yag ur Veda Sanh ita .

T he body of writings known as the Yagur Veda constitutesthe l iturgical veda par excellence. I t contains the formulasand verses proper to the priests , who prepared the ground forthe sacrifice, dres sed the al tar, s lew the v i ct ims, and pouredout the l ibations . Hence the general t i t l e Yagur , Yajsacrifice .T hi s Veda exi s ts in two independent texts, the B laclt

and the W hite . T he dis t inction i s the resul t of an earl yschism , and has given rise to several explanatory legends, al lequal l y incredible, wuh the exception of a tradition whichfinds in the obscurity of the one recens ion and the c leararrangement of the other, a justificat ion of the tit les .T he two texts differ in arrangement . I n the Blac k Yagur

each formula i s immediatel y fol lowed by the ritual is t ic ex

planat ion (brahmana ) . I n the White Yagur the Sanhitai s entirel y separated from the brahmana, as is the case withthe other Vedas .T he matter of the two texts is practical l y the same, and

al though the B lack Yagur is the more ancient , the fol lowingout l ine refers to the White Yagur, which is avai lable in translation, and more readi l y fol lowed .

Th e W h ite Yag ur Veda Sanh ita .

T hi s Sanhita contains texts and formulas for the Adhvaryus

(offerers ) in a rev ised , sys tematic, and clear connect ion, andconstituted a manual for the offic iat ing priesthood . I t i sascribed to the famous Vajnaval ltya, reputed to be the author

BRAHMAN ISM 2!

of the L aw-book which bears h is name . In i ts present formtherefore the Veda is comparativel y late .I t contains about two thousand verses , and almost as many

sacrificial formulas— the characteristic feature . Many of it snineteen hundred and eighty-seven verses are identical withver ses in the R ig and A tharva Vedas .

I t exists in two recensions . T he text of the Madhyan

dinas i s especial ly favoured in N orthern I ndia. T he othertext i s that of the Kanva school .I t i s div ided into forty book s , and subdivided into three

hundred and th ree portions .T he fi rst eighteen book s have been “ incorporated , dis

sected, and explained , c lause by clause, i n the SatapathaB rahmana ; Books 1 -9 . Although there is no direct evidenceto prove their original l y separate existence, they do form a

dist inct section in th ree arts . Chapters 1 -3 contain the texts ,etc . , necessary for theKlew and F ul l moon sacrifices ; 4- 1 0 ,those requi red for the Soma sacrifice ; r 1 4 8, the formulas,etc . , for the construction of the hear th s or al tars for thesacrificial fi res, detai l s being given for the ceremonial connected with the bui lding of the H igh Altar .T he N ew and Ful l moon sacrifices consisted of an offering

of r ice cake, offered to Agni and Agni Soma, with purifyingceremonial .T he morning and evening burnt-mil k oblat ions, and the

seasonal sacrifices required the three fi res, with which Book 3has to do .Book s 4- 1 0 are connected with the Soma sacrifices . T he

would-be sacrificer, after washing, gi rd s himself, and l ies downto s leep with the prayer

0 Agni, watch thou we l l ,May we take joy in mos t refres h ing s leepProtect us W i th unceas ing care

From s lumber w aken us again .

zz SACRED L IT ERAT URE

the Soma, in the place of sacrifice, needed a ceremony at

which the wind god was invoked, and the offerer consecratedand identified with Agni . T hen fol low an addres s to the

al tar, and a serv ice for the consecrat ion of the eight s ideal tars (Book Book 6 contains the words associated withthe sacrificial stake, the anoint ing, s laughtering , and c leans ingof the v ictim , the c leansing of the sacrificer and his wife, andthe burning of the v ict im , with prayer s for its reanimat ion inheaven . T hen fol low s the preparat ion of the Soma . F or

mulas are prov ided for the Morning Soma pressing , fordrawing the three l ibat ions, and offering them , each ofi

'

eringbeing separatel y addressed , for the Midday pres sing and

the subsequent four l ibations for the E vening pressing , withits eight l ibat ions . T he end of the Soma sacrifice is markedby appropriate texts .A special l iturgy , to be used if the sacrificed cow is found

to be in calf, is appended , and fol lowed 5" formulas appropriate to addit ional Soma sacrifice s , of wh even are noted ,VIZ

T he Six teen hymned .

T he T wel ve-day ceremonial .T he T h ree-day fes tival .T he G reat Vow Iibation.

For D rawing the I nv incible Iibation.

For the rising up of the Sacrificial Session .T o rectify any neglect in the Performance of Sacrifice

(Book s 7T wo important modifications of the Soma sacrifice were

T he Cup of Victory or D raught of Strength , and T he

Consec ration of a King . T hese are prov ided for i nBook s 9- 1 0 .

Bui ld ing the High Altar— with which Books 1 1 - 1 8 dealw as an e laborate ceremony , lasting twel ve months . I t

invol ved the laying of brick s , each with its ownconsecrating text . T he prel iminary preparations and sac rificeshave their formulas and verse s in Book s 1 1A sacrifice fol lowed the laying of the fi rst brick , after

nu nuam sm 33

which the brick s were laid in sets of ten, each set having aname and a series of formulas .Book 1 6 i s a l itany to accompany four hundred and

twenty-fi i e oblations to the hundred R udras . T he completed F ire A l tar personified Agni , who was regarded as

Rudra. T he l itany consists of verses in praise of R udrathe mighty, the beautiful azure-necked , the golden-armedleader . A Song to the pursuer of the Soma juice (vv .

47-63) i s fol lowed by homages to the Rudras of the sky,the air, the earth (vv . 64Propit iatory and preparatory ceremonies connected with

the F ire Al tar are arranged for in Book 1 7.

T he i nauguration ofAgni as k ing of the Altar (Book 1 8)was accompanied by the ceremony of the Stream of

R iches . T his re uired the consecut ive offering of fourhundred and one

c

libations of c larified butter, and the re

petition of sixty-nine petitions .Book s 1 9

- 2 5 contains the l iturgies c f two independentceremonial s . T he Sautramani, a sacrifice designed tocounteract and expiate any over indulgence in Soma-d rinking , has its l iturgy in Books 1 9-2 1 . Many of the introductory verses are addressed to the A swins , the Manes, toYama and to Spirits . T he purificatory ceremonial beganwith Book 2 0, v . 1 4

God s , deit ies , whatever faul t of ours hath s t irred the w rath of gods,May Agni set me free from that iniquity and al l d is tres s .

T hree Apri h ymns occur in the l iturgy (Book2 l

T he)Horse sacrifice, offered by the k ing to obtain power

and glory, has its l iturgy in Book s 2 2 - 2 5.

of the l iturgy is as fol l ows — I ntroduinviting prayers ( 2 2 9 W) , the pr . . i se of Somato be wh ispered to the horse and the BrahmanT hen fol low words of homage to deities and

Book 2 3 contains two discussions one betweenpriests , on doctrine, described as a

“ cosmic charade,” the

24 SACRED L ITERAT URE

other in the form of a catechi sm . Book 2 4 enumerates t hes ix hundred and nine animal s bound to the sacrificial stakes .A short brahmana fol lows ( 2 5m) , and the l iturgy concludeswith a eulogy of the horseT en supplementary Books (26 are inserted at th is

point . T hey neither form a connected group nor refer to as ing le sacrifice .T he four Book s 26-29 were prepared in their present

form for use during the serv ices of the L unar sacrifices, theoblations to the Manes— spirits of the dead , the Agnihotra,the Seasonal Sacrifices , the Ceremonial of the Cup of

Victory, the Altar, the Soma drink ing , and the Horsesacrifice, as occasion requi red .

Books 30-3 1 contain the l i turgy for the emblemat icsacrifice of human beings . T he l i turgy of th is Veda provides for the freeing of the al legorical v ictims who re

presented the self-sacrifice of the I deal man Purusha . T he

famous Purusha hymn of R ig Veda i s given with somevariations in I t occur s again with variant s in theA tharva VedaT his Sacrifice, which was des igned to w in universal

pre-eminence and the bles s ing which the Horse sacrificefai led to secure, was outrival led in value by the Sacrifice forU niversal Succes s and Prosperity, whose ceremonial i s prov ided for in Book s 32 -34 . Book 32 is often cal led a

U pani shad— the T adeva— on account of i t s opening phrase,“ Agni i s T hat . Book 34 is c learl y supplemental . I t

contain s the R ight-intentioned (Sivasankalpa ) U panishad

(vv . 1 so cal led on account of the concluding wordsof the stanzas . T he ceremonial proper i s provided for inBook 33.

Book 35 contains for the most part formulas for use at

funeral services . I t constituted the l iturgical part of theSacrifice offered to the Fathers, or Ancestral Manes .T he Service for the Soma Sacrifice is provided for in

Book s 36-39. A series of prel iminary formulas essential tothe preparatory rites of th is importan t offering is given in

anartmam sm 25

Book 36. T hese utterances are real l y prayers for variousboons, mg . l ong l ife, unimpai red facul t ies, heal th , strength ,prosperity , etc . , preceded by the dec larat ion

Refuge I take in Speech as R ik , refuge in M ind as Yagur tex t ,Refuge in Breath as Sama chant

, refuge in Hearing , and in Sigh t,Speech , energy endowed w ith s treng th, inbreath and outbreath are

i n me .

"

T he formulas to be used during the actual performance ofthe Soma sacrifice, after al l the preparations were completed ,and the foregoing nropitiatory texts recited , are given in

Book s 37-39.

T he F inal Book of the Veda (40 ) is a U pani shad— theI sa- and is not di rect l y associated with any special sacrifice .I ts aim is ,

“ to fix the proper mean between those exelusivel y engaged in sacrificial acts , and those entirel yneglecting them .

”

(See page

Th e Atharv a Veda Sanh ita .

Although the lates t of the Vedas has suffered muchcritic ism , and um a l i tt le contempt , i ts place in the Canon isas sured .

T radition find s the origin of the A tharva in revelationsmade to the descendants of the mythic Atharvan , ofA ng iras

and of Bhrigu, who s ang the hymns during their conduct ofthe sacrificial ceremonial .Crit icism distinguishes those parts of the Veda known as

Atharvan and its Augiras . T he Atharvan verses refer toauspicious and benevolent practices . T he Ang iras are concerned with witchcraft and sorcery .T he A tharvanic rites had to do with such “ incidental and

subs id iary mat ters as tended in the popular esteem to renderthe fi re ofi

'

erings an unqual ified success . T he rites of theAng irases had their origin in the acts of sorcerers and

thaumaturgists . T he wedding of such diverse elements andtheir benediction by the priesthood are not wi thout para l l el sin other ritual s .

26 SACRED L IT ERAT URE

A s a canonical book the A tharva Veda seems to havereceived special favour from members of the royal caste(K shatriyas) . I ts text contain s many “ royal practices.I ts traditions l ink i t to V is vamitra. I t was par ex cel/ma theveda for the royal cha lain or chancel lor (purohita) .T he A tharvanists clhimed for i t the t it le Brahma Veda .

T hey argued that as the hotar was to the R ig so was theBrahman (one versed in vedic knowledge) to the FourthVeda.

T he canonical recension contains seven hundred and

th irty-one hymns dist ributed in twenty books . O riginal l ythere were only s ixteen book s . Book s 1 9-20 were not partof the primitive work . Book s 1 5- 1 6, which are in prose of

suspicious qual ity , and are of uncertain date, w ere probabl yincorporated when the Veda took its final form .

An i n vocat ion forms an introduction to the wholework

N ow may V achaspat 1 as s ign to me the s trength and power of thoseW ho, wearing every shape and form , T he Trip le Seven, are wandering

round .

Come thou again, Vachaspat i, come w ith divine inte l l igenceV asoshpati, repose thou here . I n me be know ledge, yea, in me , etc.

Book s 1 -7 contain a col lection of prayers, benedictions,maledictions, charms, etc . , for persona l and domestic use .T he formulas cover every variety of pleasant and painfulexperience . Detai l s for the practices al luded to , weresuppl ied in the later R itual T ex ts and Commentary .T hus , e.g . , a woman

’s incantat ion against a rival

I have taken to m ysel f her fortune and her glory as a w reath off a

treeL ike a mountain w ith broad founda t ions may she s it a long t ime w ith

her parents .Th is woman sha l l be subjected to thee as thy w ife, 0 K ing Yama,

L et her be fixed to the house of her mother . or her brother, or herfather ( Book 1 M) .

T his i s suppl ied with the ri tual . W hi le recitingth is, the wreath , pi l low, tooth -brush and hai r (of the object )

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28 SACRED L IT ERATURE

which commences wi th a group of three hymns . T he fi rstis very obscure and probably honours T rita and Varuna.

T he second,devoted to I ndra, and the third , which is a

royal hymn for victory , are from the R ig Veda. Five charmsare succeeded by an adoration of Heaven and Earth

and a prayer for protection addres sed to Agni,Yama,

na, and Soma A dialogue between AtharvanandVaruna occupies chapter 1 1 , which i s fol lowed by an Aprih ymn ( 1 2 ) and four charm s ( 1 3 A curse, probanprovoked by the out rage, agains t the abductor ofa Brahman swife ( 1 7 ) and two chapters on the s in of robbing Brahmans

( 1 8 with a series of spel l s, complete the th irty-onechapters .Al l the one hundred and forty - one chapters of Book 6 are

spel l s , with the except ions of a few hymns and two texts .T he hymns of Book 7 are most l y hymns of two stanzas .Six hymns of prai se fol low the introduct ion, which g lorifiesprayer and Agni . Of the rest of the one hundred and ten

pieces the majority are charms and suppl ications .Book s 8- 1 3 mark one of the main div is ions of the Veda.

T he ten hymn s of Book 8 are of considerable length , andwere des igned to s tand in pairs . 1 -2 deal with the recoveryof the dying , 3-4 refer to ev i l spirits , 9- 1 0 are mystica l .Four of the ten hymns of Book 9 (4-7) are praises of the

typical sacrificial bul l , the goat, the hospitable reception of

gues t s,and the bul l and cow . Hymns 9- 1 0 cons titute a

single whole taken from the R ig Veda Two largesections of prose (63

4 0, 7) occur . I n Book 1 0 the fi rs t six

hymns are i ncantations , the seventh honours the D iv ine support of al l , and i s fol lowed by a theoso b ical s peculat ion onthe nature, etc. ,

of the D iv ine being . be las t two hymnsglorify the cow as a sacrifice, and the Odana, a l ibation of

boi led rice and mil k . T he E leventh Book , which al so contains ten l ong hymns , has onl y two of its chapter s devoted tocharms (9 T he fi rst eight chapters consis t of praises ,offered to accompany a rice gift to sacrificing Brahmans .Book 1 2 contains six hymns in prai se of the earth , for

BRAI'IMAN ISM 29

funeral ceremonial , for the householder’s sacrifice, and on the

s in of withholding gifts from Brahmans .Book 1 3 is ent irel y devoted to the praise of Rohita— a

form of fi re and the sun with a separate exis tence , and posses sed of creative power .Book s 1 4

- 1 8 . Another divi s ion of the Veda extendsfrom Book 1 4 to Book 1 8, which are obv ious l y related,al though separated by the three independent book s whichbelong to this fragmentary sect ion .Book 1 4 i s compos ed of two nuptial h mus with formulas .

Much of the fi rst hymn is derived from li ig Veda, X. 85, a

late compi lation describing the bridal of the ideal Surya.

T he second continues the nupt ial ceremony to its conc lus ion .Book 1 5 contain s eighteen remarkable rose pieces , which

ideal ise and praise the Vratya. Relig iousrthe Vratyawas aheretic from the Brahman faith , ethnical y he was the sur

vivor of the races which had not been drawn into the Aryansys tem . He represented the original popular cul tus of h is( l iStrlct.

T he nine hymns of Book 1 6 are al l charms, des igned forthe preparation of hol y water, to secure blessing , l ong l ife,freedom from dreams and from enemies .Book 1 7 contains a sing le hymn offering prayers to I ndra,

who i s identified with Vishnu and the Sun.

Book 1 8, which appear s to be a companion to Book 1 4,

contains four funeral hymns,compi led in t he main from R ig

Veda verses .T he seventy-two hymns of Book 1 9 are mos t l y charms

and prayers for protection and prosperity .Book 2 0 separates into two quite dis t inct parts . T he

hymns , 1 - 1 26, are composite addresses to I ndra, bui l t up fromRig Veda verses . T he second part ( 1 2 7- 1 36) i s a col lect ionknown as T he Kuntapa Hymns , into wh ich are gatheredhymns, sacrificial formulas, incantations , riddles, and odds

and ends ” without any specific rel ig ious character, but prescribed for use after the recitation of hymn 1 26. T his collection is independent but not homogeneous . I t consists of

30 SACRED L IT ERAT URE

a song in prai se of the k ing of the Russ nas sixteenverses supposed to determine the cardinal points of the compas s a minor group preserv ing the obscure T al k of

A itasa ( 1 29- 1 a series of ridd les entitl ed T he F rus t ration( 1 35) and a love poem

The B rahmanas .

T he Brahmanas were the ear l ies t additions made to thesacred text of the Vedas , and make up a much larger part ofsacred (Sruti ) l iterature than the book s in whose interest theywere written . T hey are prose explanat ions giv ing practicalguidance for the conduct of the sacrifices , and “ for wearyprol ixity of expos it ion, characterised by dogmat ic as sert ionand a fl imsy symbol ism , rather than by se rious reasoningare perhaps not equal led anywhere .T hey are the mos t important monuments remaining of the

sacerdotal labours of the Brahmans , who transformed theoriginal nature worship of the Aryans into a s ys tematic ceremonial , based on e laborate theories of sacrifice . T heir regulations concern the ritual of the Srauta or Vaidik sacrifice . whichwas offered by two priv i leged c las ses of Brahmans . But itis pos sible to read between the l ines a more or less connecteds tory of the develo men . of the sacrificial idea which , frombeing that of the o ering of nouri shment to the gods , becamet hat of expiation for ev i l , and final l y and mys t ical l y that ofan intrinsical l y hol y act .Bes ides the regulation of sacrifice, the Brahmanas deal

with question s of interpretat ion in considerable discuss ions .I n such commentary they relate the traditions which attemptedto explain the origin and meaning of the sacrifice . T heymake generou s use of folk - tale and legend by way of

i l lus tration.

Such di scus sion and commentary became so vas t and

technical that the original aim of the Brahmanas was frust rated ,and their direct ions can onl y be understood by the hel p of

j . Eggl ing, Sacred Boots sf the Eas t, vol . 8 1 1 . p . ix .

BRAHH AN ISM 3 1

the Sutras, strings of ru les or aphori sms , produced to serveas

“ manual s of particular systems of teaching , whether inritual , ilosophy, law, or grammar.

”

Ease of the Sanhitas has one or more Brahmanas of itsown.

T he R ig Veda Sanhita has the A itareya and the KaushitakiBrahmanas .

T he Samaveda Sanhita has the Prauda.the Shadvinsa .

the Samavidhana.

the Arsheya.

the Devata-dhyaya.

the Samh itopanish .

the Vausa .

a Brahmana practical l yidentical with the

Khandogya U panishad .

T he Black Yagur the T aittiriya .

T he W h ite the Satapatha.

T he A tharva Veda the Gopatha.

Original l y there was onl y one body of Brahmanas for eachof the fi rst th ree Sanh itas . T he Brahmanas ofthe Bahvrikasbelonged to the R ig Veda Sanhita, those of the Khandogyas to the Sama, and those of the T aittiriyas to the BlackYagur ; the W

'

hite Yagur having as now the Satapatha.

T he present distribution of Brahmanas indicates the decisiveseparations which subsequent l y took place between rivals chool s .

The A itarey a B rahmana .

T he A itareya Brahmana of the R ig Veda i s an interpretat ion, in eight Book s of fi ve chapters each , of the Somasacrifice ceremonial . I t i s ascribed to Mah idasa, and was

cularly favoured by the A s valayaniya school of devoteesof the oldest Veda. I t is a most careful l y planned work .

I ts fi rst subject,the Jyotishtoma, which invol ved seven

separate sacrifices , fol lowed the ceremonial y .

’

the model one

32 SACRED L IT ERAT URE

day sacri lice, the A gnishtoma. T hat r itual i s therefore full ydescribed , the other s ix being des cr ibed onl y where theydiffer from the firs t . T he other ceremonies deal t with in thetreatise are the C avam, the Adityanam, and the Ang irasam

Ayanas .

A sufficient l y accurate v iew of its l i terary and expos itorycharacter w i l l be gained from its opening verses whichdeal wit h the ce remony of c leans ing

,represent ing, by natural

emblem s , the new bi rth of a nov i ce, admitted for the fi rs tt ime to the sacrifi ce .

Agni i s firs t among the god s . V ishnu is las t .Betw een them s tan d a l l other de it ies .

They offer a purolas a to Agn i and V i shnu , w h ich had been

prepared in e leven jars .

They offer it i ndeed to a l l the de i t ie s of th is ceremony ithout

any d ifference .

F or Agn i is a l l the de it ie s . V ishnu is a l l the deit ies .

T hey are the two extrem it ies of the s acrifice,Agn i and V i shnu.

Thus w hen m en cfi er the purolas a to Agn i and V ishnu, theyworsh ip the deit ies at borli end s .

Here they s ay-I f there be a purolasa prepared in e let en jars and

there be two god s , Agni and V i s hnu , w hat ru le is there for the two,or

what d iv is ion ?T he purol as a of eigh t jars be long s to Agn i, for the Gayatri vers e

cons is ts of e ight s y l lables , and the Gayatri is A gni ’s metreT hat of three jars be long s to V ishnu

,for V ish nu s trode three

t imes th rough th i s un i verse .

Th is is the ir ru le here, and th is is the ir d iv is :on .

H e w ho th ink s he is w ithout w ea lth may offer a Charu in ghee .

On th is earth no one succeed s w ho has no w ea lth .

T he ghee in the C li aru is the m ilk of the wom an,the grains

be long to the m an,both together are a pair .

Thus the Charu increas es h im , by th i s very pa ir, w ith progenyandcat t le , so that he may prosper .

H e w ho k now s th is is increased w ith progeny,H e w ho perform s the N ew Moon and Ful l Moon sacrifices has com

m enced w ith the sacrifices and the god s .After hav ing s acrificed w ith the N e w Moon or Ful l Moon ob lat ions

he m ay perform the D ik s h a, on the sam e oblat ion and w ith the

s am e sacr ifica l seat

T he other exi st ing Brahma na of the R ig Veda, T he Kans

BRAHMAN I SM 33

hitak i differs from the A itareya in the number of its chapters ,th irty, and in the arrangement of its matter ; but there are

enough paral lel sentences, comparison s , and i l lust rations, tos how that both the treatises s prang from one and the sameoriginal .

Th e B rahmanas of th e Sama Veda .

Professor Max Mul ler names , as wel l as the eight Samaveda Brahmanas al ready enumerated , the T alavakara, part ofwhich is the Kena U pani shad

,the Satayayana, and the

Bhal lavi , both los t, as be longing to this Sanhita .

N one of them is of great value, with the exception of theSamavidhana, which contains part iculars concerning customs ,which have a hi s torical interes t, and the various l y namedBrahmana, of which eight books, out of ten, constitute theKhandogya U panishad (page

Th e Satapath a B rahmana .

T he Satapatha, Le. hundred path s , is the most elaboratespecimen of th is clas s of treat ise in our posses s ion , and affordsthe best opportunity we have of observ ing “ the gradualaccumulation of var ious th eological and ceremonial t racts ”

of which such works are composed . I t exis ts in two recens ions . T he Kanva text cons is t s of seventeen books ;the Madhyandina text contains twenty book s . T he fi rstnine formed at one time a complete work . T he Mys tery

(Book to) , the E pitome ( H ) , the Supplement ( I 2 - l 4) ,were later additions . But it i s probable that the main bodyof the treatise (Book s 1 contains what we re at one timeseparate work s ; Books 1 -3 a brahmana of the thi rd greatdiv ision ofsacrifices (the H aviryagna) Books 4-5a brahmanafor the Soma sacrifices ; Books 6-9 the brahmana for thebui lding of the fire al tar .B ook: 1 4 corres ad wi th Book s 1 -3 of the \Vh ite

Yagur Veda, and deaim

w ith the offerings made at the time ofthe N ew and Ful l moon . M inute d irections are given forevery detai l of the ceremony .

c

34 SACRED L u au-runs:

After e laborate preparation the prel iminary r ites of theN ew moon sacrifice were undertaken , the instruct ions forwhich begin with Book 1 , chap . 6, brahmana 4.

T he character of the exposit ions of the rites may be unders tood from the fol lowing explanationofthe rice-cake sacrifice .

“ At firs t the god s offered up a m an as a s acrifice . When he wasoffered up the s acrificia l es sence w ent out of h im . i t entered into the

hors e . When it was offered up i t w ent out of it . I t entered into the

ox (etc. , etc. , the es sence pas s ing in succes s ion in to the sheep, the goat,the earth) . They searched for i t by d igg ing . They found it ( in) thosetw o, the rice and barley , therefore even now they obtain these two byd igg ing , and as much efli cacy as al l thos e s acrificed an ima l v ict im s woul dhave for h im

, so m uch effi cacy has th is oblat ion for h im w ho know s

th is . And thus there i s in th is oblat ion al so,that completenes s wh ich

they cal l the fivefol d animal s acrifice"( Book 1

, chap . 2 , brahmana

3: VV '

T he N ew moon sacrifice occupies the eleven brahmanas

(Book 1 , chaps . 64 T he Second Book contains brahmanasfor the es tabl ishment of the young householder’ s sacred fi res

(chaps . i for the Agnihotra— morning and evening mil kIibations (chaps . 2 4 for the oblation to the Fathers (chap .

the offering of fi rs t fruits a special form of theL unar sacrifices the T hree Seasonal Sacrifices, offered inSpring , at the Rainy season, and in Autumn (5B oob 3-5 contain an explanat ion of the Soma sacrifice

ceremonial,fi rst in its ordinary forms , again as the animal

offering, which was sometimes offered separatel y, then as theCup ofVictory and the inauguration of a King ceremonies (cfWhite Yagur Veda, Book s 9 T he last few brahmanasof th is section, Le. Book 5, chaps . 45-5, are concerned withthe three oblat ion s of the Dasapeya, etc .B ook: 6 8 give directions for the bui lding of the F i re Altar .

T h is ceremony extended over twelve months, and invol vednumerous sacrifices . T he prel iminaries were introduced byan explanation of the creat ion of the universe (Book 6, chap .1P 3) . T hen fol lowed the animal sacrifice (Book 6, chap .

the Savitra L ibations (Book 6, chaps . 3 the mak ing of

the tire pan (chap . the init iation (chaps . 6

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36 SACRED L I T ERAT UR E

As a whole, it deal s with the defects in a sacrifice whichhad to be made good by hymns, v erses, formulas ,

” etc .U nl ike the older works of i h zne order, i t was probabl y

compiled to defend the canonic ity of the A tharva. I ts viewof sacrifice is late, approaching that of the U pani shads, thatthe sacrifice is twice offered, once in word s , by the ordinaryworshipper, again by the Brahman al one, in thought .I n its treatment of the ceremonial of sacrifice there is l itt le

difference between i t and the other B rahmanas . But in somerespect s , especial l y in its account of creat ion, i t is unique .T he exis ting text is div ided into two partsPart 1 . contains fi ve prapathakas , notable for their cosmo

gonic speculat ions . T he B rahman -theSe lf- exis ting— burnswith des i re to create, andfrom th is heat sweat is produced .

T he s tream s of sweat are turned into streams ofwater . Brahman, seeing h is refiection in the water , fal l s in love with it .T his is the fi rs t step in the process ofcreation, which , step by

step, leads to the bi rth of Bhrigu and Atharvan. Atharvan is

the real l ord of creation, from h im proceeded the twenty-fourc las ses of poets , whose works form the A tharva Veda.

T hen fol low other series of creat ions . Brahma createsthe earth from his feet, the sky from his be l l y , heaven fromh is head . T he three gods , fi re, wind , and rain, are made,then the th ree vedas , the R ig from fire, the Yagur from wind ,the Sama from the sun.

T he last chapter, which es tabl ishes the ident ity of Purushawith the year , i s the end of the Gopatha B rahmana prope i lyso cal led .

Part I ]. does no‘ exist in a complete form, whatever oncefol lowed the middle of i ts sixth book is now lost .

Th e Upani s h ads .

Appended to , or incorporated in , the Brahmanas are theAranyakas (fores t book s ) , book s intended for those who lefttheir homes for the quiet of the forest . T hese fores t book steach the doctrine of mental sacrifice . T he worshipper hadbut to go through the order of devotion by memory, and he

B RAHMAN ISM 37

could acquire the same merit as if the rites had beenactual l y performed .

T he ideas which developed from this v iew of wors hip gaverise to the instruction contained in the U panishad s . T he can

onical pos it ion for theU panishads is in the F orest Book s . T heyform the highes t, Le. mos t speculat ive, branch of Vedic l iterature, and teach that the object of the wi se man should beto know inward ly and cons cious l y the G reat Soul of a ll , andthat by this knowledge h is indiv idual soul would become unitedto the Supreme Being , the T rue and Absolute Self. ”

T he derivation of the word U pani shad i s rather uncertain .

Hindu scholars under s tand it to mean , that which des troy spass ion and ignorance, or e l se to mean “

approaching,

”

Le. knowledge approaches us or we approach knowledgethrough the U panis hads . E uropean s cholars general l yagree to derive the word from roots s ignifying , to s it downnear, Le. around , a teacher . Hence they understand it tomean “ an assemb l y of pupi l s , or “ to l i s ten attent ivel y . "

T he word is used in four senses : i . Secret or esotericexplanation ; i i . the knowledge derived from such explanat ion ; i i i . the laws which govern wise men ; i v . the bookswh ich contain such wisdom .

T he number ofU panishads is variousl y es timated . T hereis a Southern tradition giv ing the number as 1 08 ; Prof. F .

Max Miil ler counted 1 49, Monier W i l l iams ( 50 , Burne l l1 54, Haug 1 70 , Weber es timated 2 35.

T o fix dates is even less poss ible than to estimate the

number . T he U panis hads embedded in F ores t Book s are

probably earl ier th an B . C . 600 . Many of the others are

much more modern. Mos t profes s to belong to theA tharva Veda, and so stamp themsel ves as late . B ut evenre lat ive dates cannot be given with confidence . Muchtraditional U panishad material must have exis ted long beforeit took the l iterary form in which it now stands . D ifferentrecensions of the same matter , and the appearance of thesame legend in different treatises , show that original sourceshave been mod ified to sui t var ious school s of thought.

3s SACRED L IT ERAT URE

A rough c lassificat ion of these work s div ides them intothree c lasses : Ancient— those which are found in the

Sanhitas , Brahmanas and Forest Books .E arl y— those wh ich are ment ioned in theVedanta Sutras .

L ate— those which bear mark s of s t i l lmore modern times .

O ther c lass ifications arrange them according as they are

written in P ros e, M ixed Prose and Verse, Archaic verse,Smoother verse ; or according to their subject matter ; oragain according to the sect which used them .

T he fol lowing U panishads are out l ined as exam les .Whether they are typical can be determined onl y after all

)

theexis ting work s have been inves tigated and compared . Besidesthese the mos t highl y es teemed U panishads are : T he

Brihad Aran aka, the T aittiriya, Kena, Katha, Prasna and

Mandukya Jpanishads .

Th e A i tarey a Upan is h ad—An interesting exampleof the relations between the U panishads and the ForestBook s exists in the case of the A itareya U panis had . I t i sembedded in , or may be regarded as one of the threedivi s ions ot the Bahvrika U panishad , wh ich again constitutesthe second and th ird parts of the A itareya Aranyaka orFores t Book .

T he Aitareya Aranyaka connects through the Brahmanaof the same name with the R ig Veda hymns , and, in its purel yl iturgical fi rs t part , its l i st of hymns i n the fourth , and

description s in the fifth , deal s with the Mahavrata ceremony,so far as i t concerned the hotri priests . I t i s a compositework , bui l t of material s of val ions dates and different sty les .T he Aitareya Upanirbud proper is des igned to give

knowledge to those who, hav ing forsaken the world and con

centrated thei r thought , des ire to be immediate l y free . I t

consists of three div isions , of which the fi rst contains th reechapters , and each of t iie others one .T he F irs t Adlzyaya (divis ion ) shows how from the

primeval Self al l crea ted th ings proceeded . ( 1 ) T he

B RAHMAN ISM 39

var ious deities c laimed from the Self a place wherein to restandeat . Man was brought, into whom they entered whenceare speech , smel l , sight , hearing, mind , death . Hunger andth irst entered separatel y Mat ter , being born for food ,escaped al l the sen ses except the down-breathing whichis Vayu ( the getter ) . T hen the Selfenteredman and look i ngforth saw himself everywhere widel y s preadI n the Strand Adbyaya the three birth s of man R ig

Veda, i v . are explained . T he fi rst birth is the act ofgenerat ion

,the second is when an infant is elevated by its

father, the third i s when the fathe r dies, leav ing the continuance of good works to h is son.

T he Third Dic'iriorr answers the question— W ho i s theSe lf ? I t is not that by wh ich we see, hear , speak , smel l ortaste . N either i s it any of the movements of heart and mind .

T he Self consists of knowledge . I t is Brahman , I nd ra,Pragapati . For everyth ing is produced by knowledge, res tson it, has i ts cause in it . And knowledge is B rahman .Th e B ah vri ka Upan is h ad contains two other parts ,

besides the Aitareya U panishad , which are somet imesregarded as two separate U panishads . T hey are supposed tohave been designed to meet the needs of l ess ambitious mind sthan those provided for in the A itareya.

T here are th ree Adhyayas containing the inferior k nowledge of Brahman as breath or l ife .Part 1 .

— An introductory chapter to the F irst

Div ision points out the true path , Le. kno e of Brahman .T he real significance of the ceremonial hymn is the truth ofB rahman as l ife and the man in whom Brahman dwel l sis the origin of al l seed B rahman as breath enteredsuch a man ( in a former abode ) by the tips of the feet, andascending through the whole bod y is the hymn D ayand night and al l phenomena depend on the breathwhich by speech , its rope, binds everything T he

powers of the universa l spi ri t are manifested in the creat ionsthe earth , fi re. sk y, air, heaven, and the sun which weremade from water, re . the fi ve elements

40 SACRED L I T E RAT U R E

T he Secam l Adbyaya add s other form s of med i tat ion on

the h ymn regarded as Brahman, the l ife or breath . T he sun is

identified with the l iv ing breath which is al so thebringer of offs pring , and the author of the sacred hymnsT he se hymns are food for Indra, as the ri shi V is vamitralearned from the god Breath find s its perfection in theverses, and he w ho knows thi s can say, W hat 1 am that he

(the sun) is , what he is that am I”

I n the ‘T/n'

rd D iaviriou the devotee is taught to know h imse lf as the emblem of Breath I n man the Self develops,and he is therefore so much better than the beas ts and i sever aspi ring T he c lever man mus t know one sacrifice above another and it is s hown how the hymn becomes perfect in a thousand B rihat i verses ( 5 L et thewors h ipper then identify him se lf by meditation W i th bi eathwhich comprehend s al l god sPar t I I .

— T he final sect ion of the Bahvrika U pani shad isse lf-s ty led the U pani shad of the Samhi ta, and is intended,according to tradit ion, for the l owes t c las s of seekers afterknowledge— they w ho des i re prosperity on earth .

I ts F irs t Ad i-l tyo declares the myst ic truth invol ved in the

union of letters , in their separat ion, and in the arrangementwhich mediates between these methods of recitat ion . T he

sacred text may be regarded as half heaven , half earth ,united by ether as Mak shavya taught or by rain as

Sakul ya said Some repeat the sacred text withoutinterval , some word by word . I t is best to interweave bothmethods T he benefi ts of med itat ion may be defendedby imprecations E ach interpretat ion of the union of

word s brings bles s ing for the t rue union i s inspeechMeditations suggested by certain c lasses of letters form the

subject of the Second Addyaya . T he breathing l ife expressesitse lf in sounds , and i s th ree not four-fold I t is l ike thesyl lables T he es sence of al l th ings i s the samewhen the objective and subjective self separate there is death

T his high phi losoph y is forsaken in the remaining

nnanmam sm 4:

chapters for a meditat ion on speech as a whole and

an esoteric doctrine of the letters n and .rb Onl yresident pupi l s of a year ’ s standing might be taught thesetruths .Th e Kh andogy a Upan i s h ad,

so cal led because itembodies the ph i losophy of the Khandoga sect , form s part ofthe Samaveda l i terature, but of a much later age than theSama hymns . I t is one of the mos t important and influentialspecimens of th is type of book , and has exercised a con

s iderable authority over “ the orthodox phi losophy of l ndia .

”

T he object of the U panis had is to explain the differentmeanings which the sacred s yl lable OM may take in themind of the Soma worshipper . T hat s yl lable i s cal ledudgitha, and as sumes various meanings up to its highests ignifi cance, B rahman , i . e. the universal Se lf.T he U pani shad contains eight Prapatnaka or sections , of

which the las t has the appearance of being an Appendix ,added to give a popular setting of the truth reached in thepreceding chapter .In the thirteen portions of the F i rst Pmpatl ml a the

devotee is exhorted to med itate “ on the sy l lable”OM,

the best of all essences r I t took a conspicuous lacein the s trife between the Devas and the Asuras ( z ) .

“glowfol low s a meditation on OM, as it refers to the godsit preserves from death it is the sun and the al tarlire and the body ’ s es sence A d i scus s ion by threeI . t n wel l versed in the matter i s introduced and lead s tothe conc lus ion that the origin of all is ethe r, Le. udgitha, i f .

OM, i . e. B rahman. T wo portions are taken up with thelegend ofU shas ti Kakrayana . T hen fol lows the udg itha of

the dogs and a note on the s yl lables used in the

mus ical recitat ion of the Sama hymnsT he Second Pmpal baéd deal s with the meditat ion of the

devotee on the Samaveda as a whole ( i ) . L et a man th inkof it, in its five sacrific ial purposes, as the fi ve worlds as

rain ( 3 as all waters as the season s in animal san as the senses L et a man th ink of it as seven

42 SAu R E D L IT ERAT URE

fold as the sun as leading beyond death ( to) . T henfol lows the phi losoph i cal explanation of the separate Samans ,the Gayatra ( i i ) , the Rathantra (u ) , the Vamadevya ( i 3) .the Brihat ( i 4) , the Vairupa the Vairaga theSakvari ( i 7) , the Revati ( i 8) , the Yagnayagniya ( i 9) , andthe Ragana I t i s explained that these separate Samansare respective l y interwoven in the senses , fire, generat ion , thesun, the rain-

god, the seasons , the worlds , animal s, themembers of the body, and the deities . Chapte r 2 1 showsthat the whole Saman is interwoven in everyth ing . T h isends the Samopasana.

T he remaining chapters of this sect ion are mis cel laneous ,deal ing with the tones to be used in chant ing the hymnsthe three branches of the L aw , v i z . , Sacrifice, Aus terity , andStudentship and the world of the sacrificerA connected meditat ion on the Sun occupies the fi rs t

e leven chapters of P rapatbal 'a 3. T he meditat ion i s cas tinto a figurat ivel y fanciful form . T he sun is the honey of thedevas ( i ) . I ts south rays are honey cel l s on the right, andthe verses of the Yagur are the bees T he Wes ternrays are the cel l s beh ind , the Saman verses are th e beesT he N orthern rays are the ce l l s on the left , the A tharvaverses are the bees T he U pward rays have the secretdoctrines as the bees T hen fol low fi ve chapters deal ingwith the fi ve nectar s , and teach ing that those who meditate,as directed in chaps . i 5, enjoy reward s in diffe rent worlds,and for diffe rent period s of time, becoming, according to the i rmeditation, one of the Vasus or Rudras , or Adityas , orMaruts , or Sadhyas .

Hav ing reached the h ighes t world the devotee is l i ke the sun,s tanding alone . Unl ike the sun, he neither rises nor se t s ( i i )A s eries of misce l laneous chapters fol low . Sandilya

’s

chapter contains an excel lent epitome of the doctr ineof the whole U panishad .

I . N ow m an is a creature of w i l l . Accord ing to w hat h is w il l isin th is worl d, so w i l l he be when he has departed th is l ife . L et h im

therefore have th is w i l l and be l ief :

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44 SACRED L l T E RAT URE

Pmparbal ri . Narada, who know s the sacred book s , i s an

example of those who with much knowledge do not knowthe Self. Book s are but names ( I ) . But s peech is betterthan a name mind than s peech the wil l than mind

cons iderat ion than wi l l reflection than cons iderat ionunders tanding than reflection power than under

s tanding food than power water than foodfire than water ( 1 l ether than fire memory thanether hope than memory spirit than hopei n the same cumulative fas h ion the doctrine of learning i s

laid down . H e real l y knows who knows that the highes t i st he t rue l n order to proclaim thi s one mus t unders tand it to unders tand one mus t perceive to perceive one mus t be l ieve to bel ieve one need s attend on

a tutor i f . perform al l sacred duties T his isdone when one attains bl is s in oneself Now t he T rueis bl i s s and the T rue or Infinite is t he unseen, the unheard , the incomprehens ible the omnipresentT hi s l ofty teaching i s popularised in the miscel laneous

chapters of the E ig /‘tb Prrzparbal d .

Th e Vajasaney l Sanh i ta Upan is h ad. T he

Vajasaneyi or I sa or I savasya U panishad is of singularinterest and value . I t forms the fortieth chapter of theWhite Yagur Veda Sanhita. And as thi s pos it ion harmoniseswith the pecul iar doct rine of the neces s it y of good work s asa preparat ion for learning the highes t wi sdom , the U panishadforms a valuable l ink in the h i s tory of the rel igion. I t occu

pies a mediating place between the l i turg ical demands of theVeda and the s peculative phi losophy of U panishad doctrine .I t does not condemn work s as useles s , but its eighteen versesenlarge on the theme that “ e verything mus t be h idden i n theL ord .

” One mus t surrender the world before perfect bl issis pos s ible, there is no other way .

”

Th e Mundaka Upan i s h ad.— T he Mundaka U ps h i

s had belongs to the A tharva Veda, and is written in the formof a Vedic mantra. Although i t has the same appearance asa group of hymns, i t was des igned for the purposes of a

nu anam sm 45

Upanishad, not for sacrificial purposes . I ts t it le is pecul iar,i nasmuch as each of it s t hree chapters i s cal led a Mundakam,

and its derivat ion is uncertai i I t i s supposed to mean s having,i . e. it cuts away error l ike a razor .Many of the pr inciples laid down in the book have the

c loses t connection with various points in Buddhism . T he

Upanishad is but one of the l ink s which unite the phi losophyof the Buddhis ts with that of the Brahmans .In t he F irst Section it is s hown how Brahma, the fi rs t of

the Devas , gave the foundation of knowledge to h is eldestsonAtharvan, who pas sed it on th rough a succes sion ofteachersto Saunaka, the great householder . Knowledge is e itherlower (concerned with the four vedas , ceremonia l and scholarship) , or higher (that by wh ich Brahma is seized ) T he

truth of the lower knowledge is , “ the practice of sacrificialwork s leads to the wor ld of good works,

”al l the presc ribed

sacrifices must be offered, al though onl y fool s consider sacrifice and good work s the highest goodT he T ruth of the higher knowledge is taught in the Second

Part . I t i s A s blazing spark s fl y from fire , so from thel ndes tructible are var ious be ings brough t forth— cg . breath .mind , the organs of sense, ether, air, l ight , water, the earth .

”

He is the inner selfof al l th ings We attain the highes t,as men shoot with the bow . H e who hits the mark becomesone with it, as the arrow i s one with the targetT he effect of the highest knowledge is set out in the Third

Divis ion. He who sees the lord of the world as the personwhose source is in Brahma, reaches the highest unity and i sfree from pass ion . When one is purified by the serene l ightof knowledge one sees him And he who knows theSelf, knows the highes t home of Brahma, and becomesBrahma.

CHAPT E R I I

T HE SACRED L IT E RATU RE O F BU DDHISM .

T HERE are two Buddhis t Canons ofSacred books in ex istence,even as there are two main branches of Buddhism itself. But

there i s l itt le doubt that the Canon of the Southern Buddhi s tsis the more ancient and authenti cT he Southern or Pal i Canon is comprised in the T hree

Pitakas (basket s ) , the three bodies of oral t radition, pas sedfrom one generat ion to another . Each of the three Pitakascontains a number of minor col lections and separate work s,as fol lows1 . T HE Vmava P ITAKA .

l . T he Sutta vibhanga, D is courses on the Sys tem .

z . T he Khandakas , Chapters .3. The Parivara patha, Appended texts .

I I . T m: SUTTA P ITAKA .

r . T he D igha nikaya, Col lection of long discourses .

z . T he Majjhima nikaya, medium3. T he Samyutta nikaya, associated

work s .4 . T he Anguttara nikaya, miscel laneous

d iscourses .T he Khuddaka nikaya, les ser works .A BH I DHAMMA P IT AKA .

T he D hamma s angani , E numeration of States .T he V ibhanga, Sys temat ic treati ses .T he D athu ltatha, Account of the elements .T he Puggala pannatti , Declaration concerning

personal i ty .T he Katha vatthu, Book ofmatters for

discussion .6. T he Yamaka,7. T he Patthana

,

B UDDH I SM 47

T here is another distribution of the book s of the Canon,of a somewhat later date, whereby they are arranged in F ivenikayas (col lect ions ) . Four of the fi ve nikayas are, as above,in the Sutta Pitaka ( 1 T he fifth , cal led the Khuddakanikaya, included al l the other book s of the Canon .

Th e Vinaya P itak a .

T he Vinaya Pitaka (the Col lection ofR ules for the O rder) ,is the general name given to a col lect ion of five works,devoted to the regulation of the O rder of the Bhikltus , oneof the oldes t and most influential of the Buddhis t brotherhoods . As a col lection, i t probabl y dates from about 3SO s . e .

But some of its material , especial l y the elementary laws and

formulas, i s much older . I t is one of the mos t val uable partsof the Canon, for the l ight it throws on the l ife and ins titu

t ions of the earl ier perhaps even of the earl iest of

Gautama’ s d isciples . I t containsI . Th e S utta Vibh ang a , which in its present form is

composed of two codes of rules (a) the Paragika, deal ing withoffences which cal led for the excommunication ofthe offender ;and (o) the Pak ittiya, which treat s of offences for which tepentance was demanded . T here are two hundred and

twenty-seven rules in al l , which const itute the c riminal Codeof the Bhikkus . T he work i s the resul t of a l ong proces s ofaccret ion, during which the laws acquired a traditional l y h istorical setting, and an authoritati ve explanation . T he lawsbelong to an authoritat ive, though net canonical , work , thePatimoltkha ( the disburdenment ) . Criticism , therefore, d istributes the material of the Sutta V ibhanga in the order of itsh istory— the text of the Patimokkha, then the commentaryon the text, final l y the historical notes .T he Patimokkha consists of E ight col lections of R ules

(Dhamma)T he Paragika (brin ing defeat ) , 4 rules .

2 . T he Samghadisesa fneeding a meeting ) , t3 rules .3. T he Amyata (undetermined matters ) , 2 rules .

48 SACRED L I T ERAT URE

4 . T he N is sagg iya-Pakk itiya ( invol ving forfei ture ) , 30

rules .5. T he Pak lt ittya ( requi ring repentance ) , 92 rules .6 . T he Patidesamya ( requiring confes s ion ) , 4 rules .7. T he Sekh iya 75 dec larations .8. T he Adhikarana-Samatha regarding the settlement

of cases ) , 7 rules .

T he rules of each Dhamma are preceded by an introductory formula

Here, venerab le Sirs , the mat ters come into recitat ion .

T he recital is ended by a form of questioning

“ Venerable Sirs , the rules have been recited . I n respect or

them I ask the venerab le ones , Are you pure in th is mat ter A s econdt ime I ask the venerab le ones

, A re you pure in th is m at ter ? A th irdt ime I ask the venerable ones , Are you pure in th is mat ter ? T he

venerable ones are pure there in . Therefore do they keep s ilence.

Thus I unders tand .

”

T he l ists of offences are so arranged that the principald ivis ion in each corresponds to the div is ion of the members hip of the O rder . T here is a Bhikku patimoltka (for thebrethren ) , and a Bhikkuni patimokka (for the sisterhood ) .I n these div i sions the c las ses of offences are so set, that theheaviest offence heads the l ist . W ith in these classes thec lauses fol low no invariable rul e .T he Later Commentary mus t be distinguished into at leas t

two strata . I t does not exis t as a separate work, but i s

interwoven among the sections of the original text . I ts

older part probabl y consi sted of purel y verbal interpretat ions,as e.g . on the int roductory sentences used at the Uposatha

Pat imok k ham it is the beg inn ing , it is the face, it is the principalof good qual it ies .

th is refers to the Pat imokkha.

as many as are present in that assemb ly, aged,

young , m idd le-aged, are denoted by al l

of us .

"

we hear it wel l admitt ing its authority, fix ing our m inds on it, werepeat the whole of it in our though ts .

nunnm s u 49

The nature of the commentary in its present form— verbaland h istorical— may be inferred from the fol lowing extract

N ow when the Bles sed One w as alone, andhadret ired into sol itude,the fol low ing cons iderat ion presented it se lf to h is m ind 3 What if Iwere to prescribe that the Bh ikk hus recite as the Patimok kha, the

precepts w h ich I have taugh t themTh is w i l l be their fas t-day service .

And the Bles se d One having left the sol itude in the evening, and inconsequence of that and th is occas ion, after hav ing del ivered a re l ig iousd is course, thus ad dres se d the Bh ik k hus

“When I w as alone etc. , etc. , fas t-day service. I

prescribe you, O Bh ikk hus, to recite the Patimok kha .

“ And you ough t to recite it in th is w ay— L et a learned and com

petent Bh ikkhu proclaim before the As semblyHere fol lows the I ntroductory Chapter of the Patimok ltha,

succeeded by the verba l Commentary i l lustrated above .T he Commentary is always conventional , and often fanei

ful . I ts circumstantial notes and stories are probabl y theimaginations of much later days .i f. Th e Kh andakas .

— T he second part of the VinayaP itaka consists of the Khandakas (chapters ) in two sections ,the Maha-vagga ( larger group) , and the Kul la-vagga ( l essergroup ) . E ach of these sections nominal l y consists of ten

Khandakas . T o the lesser group, however , there are appended a late l ist of the famous ten points of organised Buddh ism, and an account of the Counci l s of Rajagriha and

Vaisali, 380 and 32 0 n. c.

T he aim of the Khandakas is to give “a detai led and

orderl y account of the method of admitting aspirants into theSamgha ( l ocal Order) of the Bhikkus . W ith this are

g iven accounts of the ce remony of the Uposatha (the regularmeeting of the Order) , of the Observances for the beginningand end of the rainy season , of the main points of discipl ine,and the regulat ions touching the medicine, food , houses , anddai l y l ife of t he brethren .

Al l these matters are t reated as having been deal t with bythe Buddha, and have an account of the circumstances underwhich they were fi rst spoken of, attached to them . I n mos t

0

so SACRED L I T ERAT URE

cases these legends lead up to a l iturgical formula by whichthe rule was made effectual .T he greater part of the Maha-vagga i s probabl y very old ,

al though later than the commentary on the Patimokka contained in the Sutta-vibhanga. T he historical settings are lateradditions . T he elementsofthe l i turgies mus t be various l y dated .

(a ) Tbs Mol m-oagg a contains ten Khandakas (chapters ) ,each divided into Bhanvars s . I ts subjects re late to the orderof the Assembly .T he admi s sion of candidates is deal t with in Khandaka t .

Khandaka 2 treats of the U posatha ceremony, but inc ludessections on the D hamma the Patimokka (3 and certai nmatters of casuistry ( 2 2T he fourteen divis ions of Khandaka 3 consider the ques tions

of residence during the rainy season, and the many con

tingencies which might arise when the Bhikkus enteredupon Vasa ” (went into retreat ) . At the end of Vasa thePavarana (ceremony ofconfess ion) was held, and invol ved fourservices . T he right and wrong ways of keeping Pavaranaoccupy the eighteen chapters of Khan. 4 . Sect ion s on F ood,C lothing , Seats, Vehic les , etc . ( Khan. and on Medicine

(Khan . fol low . Khandaka 7 t reats of the Kathinaceremonies, observed when the s tock of dress stuffs for thebrethren was consecrated and distributed . T hi s matter ofdress occupies the thi rty- two sections of Khandaka 8 . T he

Bhikku might wear long robes , a mant le, a s i lk mant le, anduse a fleecy counterpane at night . His wardrobe was , however, l imited to three robes , a double wais t- c loth , a s ingleupper robe, and an under garment .Khandaka 9 gives the law regarding the val id and inval id

acts of the Samgha. Khandaka to is concerned with s ch ism .

( 6) T/re Kul/a- I ’agg a .— T he second section of the

Khandakas i s the Kul la-vagga or lesser group of the rules ofthe order . I t was one of the lates t additions to the exist ingCanon.

I t i s distributed into ten khandakas of varying length .T he fi rst deal s with discipl ine in the forms of R ebuke ( 1

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SACRED L I T ERAT URE

systematic . T hey consist , for the mos t part, of passages tobe committed to memory . E verything is therefore sub

ordinated to th i s purpose . T here is a constant repetit ionof formulas , passages are grouped together under numbers,and mnemonic devices abound , so that a commentary wasrequired by later generations to make the method and meaningintel l igible .T he Five N ikayas or Col lections are products of com

pilation. Some of the d iscourses belong to a t ime afterC autama

’s death , cross references exis t, part s ofone col lection

are referred to by name and chapter in another, ancient piecesare incorporated in late discourses, etc .I n the fi rst two N ikayas the dialogues stand in the order of

diminishing length . T hese Suttas are among the most valuable authori ties on various points of rel igious and ph i losophicalmoment . T hey cover a great variety of subjects, are

always dignified and occasional l y ri se into eloquence . ”

I . Th e D lg h a N i kay a or Col lection of L ong discoursescontains thi rty-four Suttas, in which Gautama occupies theplace of honour . T he dial ogues, etc. , are dis t ributed intothree groups ; T he Si lakhandavagga, T he Mahavagga, and

T he Patikavagga.

i . T he Silakhandavagga contains th irteen Suttas of whichthe fi rst, the Brama Gala Sutta, is important . I t deal s withmatters fundamental to Buddhist eth ics and phi losophy . I ts

sixty-two sections fal l into th re e chapters . Chapter I , thePerfect N et, contains a h istorical introduction, te l l ing howBrahmadatta upheld Gautama against Suppiya. T he Buddhaoverhears the argument and introduces the Si!as .T he Si las, the moral it ies or commandments, is an ancient

eth ical tract containing original l y eight si las or precepts laiddown by Gautama. T wo other commandments were addedlater and the ten rules became the moral law for the Order .T hey are

One shou l d not des troy l ife .

take that wh ich is not g iven.

say that wh ich is not true .

nunnm s u 5;

One shoul d not use intox icat ing drinks .

One should refrain from unlaw ful sexual intercourse .

not eat unseasonab le food at nigh ts .wear garlands or us e perfumes .

use h igh or honourable seats or couches .attend upon dancing, s ing ing, or mas ques .

receive gold or s il ver.T hese rules formed part of the vow taken on admission to

the Order, “ I wi l l observe the Si la that forbids,” etc . , etc .T he ancient tract embedded in the Si lakhandavagga was

in three sections . T he Kul la Si la, short paragraphs in detai led expos ition of Si las 1 -3, 5

- 1 0 . T he Majjh ima Si la,longer paragraph s expounding Si las I , 74 0 . And theMaha Si la, l ong paragraphs giving a l ist of abs t inences frommagic, prophecies, ritual , the worship of gods, etc . T hissection sprang from a se arate origin .T he last part of the ramagala Sutta ( 2 8-37) i s devoted

to posit ive moral teaching .Chapters 2 and 3 contain discourses on speculat ive subjects

infinitude, eternity , causation, etc .T he subjects of t he remaining Suttas in this group are

l‘

he fruits of a recluse’ s l ife ; Pride of bi rth and its fal l ;Characteristi cs of the true Brahman ; T he W rong sacrificeand the R ight ; T he Aim of the Breth ren ; I s the Souldis tinct from the body ; T he naked as cetic ; A T heory of

the Soul ; On Conduct ; Concent ration and inte l lect ; Onthe th ree wonders and the gods ; Some points in the eth icsof teaching ; On those w ho know the T hree (Vedas) .(cf D ialog ues of Me B udd/m. R hys Dav ids . )T he l iterary form of the Suttas var ies but l itt le . T he

words , “ T hus have I heard ” commence an introductorynarrative which describes Gautama’ s presence in such and

such a place wi th h is disciples . T hen some account of thes ituat ion

,doubts , hes i tations , temptations , and ci rcumstances

of his interlocutor i s given . T he meeting of the two i spictured , and the Sutta proper begins, us ual ly with confessionand inquiry from Gautama ’ s visitor . T he doct rine of theBuddha i s general l y impl ied in the las t question, and is repre

S4 SACRED L ITERATURE

sented as winning the respect, more frequentl y the al legiance,of the seeker . A brief c ircumstantial note forms the

conc lusion .i i . T he Mahavagga contains the im rtant Maha

parinibbana Sutta, the book of the G reat ecease . Someindefinite indicat ions of its date appear in references to rel i cwors hip (6

63) and to the reign of an ideal k ing . T he booktook its present form during the latter part of the fourth or theearl ier years of the third century s . c. I t i s anon

ymous, and

cannot be ascribed to the ear l iest c ircle ofGautama s disciples .Many of its sections recur in other parts of the T hreePitakas .T he Book of the Great D isease aims to give a detai led

account of the events leading to and connected withGautama’ s death, and is saturated with the spirit of reverentdevotion. Cha ter I . narrates how the Buddha journeyed toAmbalath ika, blislanda, Pataligama, speaking of right conduct ,earnes t contemplation, and intel l igence . A legend of thefounding of Patna interrupts the s tory in which Gautama at

length reaches the Ganges . Chapter I I . brings h im on hisway to Kotigama, where he taught the F our N oble T ruths ,thence to N adika and on to Vaisal i . D uring the rainy seasonhe lay s ick at Belwa but continued h is teaching , the tenorof which may be gathered from the fol lowingWhoever either now or after I am dead shal l be a lam p unto them

se lves , and a refuge unto thems e lves , and sha l l betake them se lves to no

ex terna l refuge , but hol d ing fas t to the truth as their lam p, and hol d ingfas t to the truth as their refuge s hal l not look to any one bes ide themselves

,it is they w ho sha l l reach the very topmos t heigh t ."

In Chapter I I I . i s an account of how Ananda’ s heart washardened ( 1 and the s tory ofthe Buddha’ s temptation byMara (7 At Mahavana he summar ised h is teaching asdeal ing with the four earnest meditations, the fourfoldst ruggle agains t s in, the four roads to saints hip, the five

moral powers , the five organs of spiritual sens ibi l ity, theseven k inds of wisdom , and the noble eightfold path . Hedeclared h is impending death in the words (66)

BUDDH ISM 55

My age is now ful l ripe, my l ife draw s to a close,I leave you, I depart relying on myse lf alone .

Be earnes t then, 0 brethren, holy, ful l of though t,Be s teadfas t in resol ve, keep w atch o

’

er your own heart s .W ho wearies not, but hol d s fas t to th is truth and law ,

Shal l cros s th is sea of l ife, sha l l make an end of grief. "

Chapter IV . cont inues the narrati ve of his t ravel s .Chapter V . ant icipates the end with various legends .

T he sections 7-44 are interpolated . T he narrati ve is probabl y taken up in 45-47, which tel l how Ananda proc laimedthe sad news in the v i l lage . T he people came together

(48 and learned that t rue saint l iness is not possiblewithout the noble eightfold path (52I n Chapter V I . the Buddha’ s c los ing admonitions ( 1 -9 )

and last wordsDecay is inherent in al l com ponent things .Work out your own salvat ion w ith d i l igence ( I O)

are given .T he account of h i s decease fol lows ( 1 1 T hen

come hymns of eulogy ( 1 4 s tories of the sorrow of thedisciples and the people ( 1 9 of the seven days’ homageto the body ( 2 5 of bui ld ing the funeral pi le (33of the disciples ’ behaviour (36 the burning (48 the

seven days ’ homage to the ashes so) , and a relat ion of howthe eight mounds for the remains were bui l t (51 T he

final section is a verse connected with the seven rel ic sworshipped by devotees .T he Sutta i s of great value as a connected record of one

period of Gautama’ s m inistry,and especial l y as reflecting

the doctrine and ideal s of Buddhism of a th ird or fourthgeneration .11 . Th e Majjh lma N ikay a , or Col lection of Shorter

discourses, contains one hundred and fifty-nine Suttas, which

in their various dis cus sions “ embody the whole of theBuddhist doctr ine . ” I t has not yet been translated intoEngl ish as a whole .L ike those of the D igha N ikaya, it s d iscourses are

fashioned upon the orthodox model of Buddha’ s utterances,

56 SACRED L IT ERAT URE

with introductions relat ing the circums tances under whichthe word s were spoken, and concl ud ing notes .A proportion of the Suttas deal s with the burning ques t ion

of cas te . T he Madhura Sutta (84) -which s peak s of theBuddha as dead— s hows that caste i s i neffective to ensuresuccess in l ife, to save the wicked from future punis hment,to keep th e good from future bl is s, to protect evi l -doersfrom the law, and to add dignity to the trul y rel igious .One di scourse s hows that cas te does not accord with naturalfacts whi l st yet another points out the unscient ificcharacter of caste distinctions .

T his ques tion forms the subject of one of the few trans latedSuttas ,

l the . l iscourse with A s salayana A s salayana,a youth of s ixteen years

,wel l-versed in the three vedas, is

thrice urged by B rahmans to refute Gautama, who taught“ the purity of t he four cas tes . ” T hrice he repl ied , T he

as cetic Gautama is teaching orthodox teaching , I am notable to repl y on this matter but met the Buddha nevertheles s

,and became a dis ciple .

i l l . Th e Samy utta N ikay as contains five main groupsof Suttas , v iz . z— T he Sagatha-vagga, T he N idana- vagga,T he Khandhavara-vagga, T he Salayatana

-vagga, and T he

Mahavara-vagga.

I t has not yet appeared in E ngl ish translation. F or thesubstance of the fifth Sutta of the third vagga, cf . R hysDavid s , B nddbirm, p . 94.

I V . Th e Ang uttara N Ik ay a .— T h is Col lection of

mi scel laneous discourses i s the largest book in the Canon.

A mnemonic verse gives the number of Suttas comprisedwith in i t as nine thousand five hundred and fifty

-seven .T his , however , is exaggeration. T he eleven sections

(nipatas ) in the exis t ing vers ions do not contain more thantwo thousand three hundred and fifty discourses .T he N ikaya exists in three versions, the Singhalese, the

Burmese, and the Siamese, in al l probabi l i ty the fruits of one

parent s tock . T hey agree for the most part in their subjectsTire d ua layanasurtam , Dr. Pe ischel . Chemnitz , 1 880 .

aunom s ss 57

and form , and the variations are readil y accounted for as

s cribal errors and glosses .T he extremel y compos ite character of th is Col lection is

shown by the number of it s paral le l passages . Prof. E .

Hardy estimates that neglecting minor variations and suchamplific i tions as are wanted in order to fi l l up a highernumeral ,

”fifty

-four Suttas are repeated twice, e ight a pearthree times, and four occur four times, besides the b ock ,N ipata which occurs again i n T his tepetition embraces the C athas, or poet ical ieces , ofwhich manyoccur throughout the N ikaya. Seven athas appear twice .

“ T he nearer we draw to the end of the work the morethe creat ive power s hrink s , and in the las t N ipata hard lyanything original i s to be found .

”

T he general plan of the whole is , that the subjects deal twith in the discourses are arranged numerical l y, so that inthe first N ipata s ingle th ings or matters viewed from a singleaspect are deal t with , in the second things in pairs or havinga twofold relation, and so on .I t is most probable that such Abhidhamma book s as the

Dhamma-sangani and the Puggala are based upon thematerial of the Anguttara N ikaya, which has not yetappeared in Engl ish . ‘

V . Th e Kh uddaka N ikay a .—Mos t of the school s of

Buddhism join the Khuddaka N ikaya (M iscel laneous Collection of L esser works ) to the Sutta Pitaka . T he fifteenbooks of this col lection are extremely var ied , and includematerial of very diverse his torical value . I n their presentcol lected form they represent the rel igion of the laity in itssuccessi ve stages .T he col lection contains the fol lowing work si . The Kbuddaka Pat/m, the lesser readings, a de l ightful and

an authoritative book of nine chapters, of which three recurin the Sutta N ipata . T he importance of these readings isat tes ted by the use of seven of them at the ceremony of Pir it .

For an exhaus t ive analys is , (f. Dr. Morris ' Edit ion of the Tex t .Pa l i Tex t Society .

SACRED l J T E RATURE

T he nine cha ters are dist inguished as four readings andfive addres ses . he fi rst reading is a confes s ion of faith ,which, among the Southern Buddhists , i s the best knownand commonest form of prayer .

“ l put my trus t in Buddha.

I put my trus t in the Law .

I put my trus t in the Church (or O rder) .Again I put my trus t , etc. , etc. , etc.

Once more etc. , etc."

T he second chapter contai ns the Ten L aws or Abs tinences for the priesthood , Le. from destroy ing l ife, theft ,iniquit l ying, wine, eating at forbidden t imes, dancing, etc . ,beautifying the person , a large bed , receiving gold or si l ver .T he remaining readings deal with the thi rty-two cons t ituentparts of the body, and questions for novices— ten class ifica

t ions of technical terms .T he five Sutras, or sermons , are excel lent examples of

earl y Buddhis t teaching . T he fi rst, a discourse by Gautama,shows the sources of happines s . T he second, addressed toal l s pirits assembled , those of earth and those of air,

” is arhapsody on the three jewe l s , the Buddha, the L aw , and thePriesthood . T he s pirits of the departed form the subject ofthe third discourse . T hen fol low s a parable of buriedtreasure that i s use les s , and of treas ure - charity , piety, tem

perance, sobernes s - laid up in the heart . T he final sermonhas for its theme goodwil l to al l, or what s hould be doneby him who is wise, in seek ing h is own good .

”

i i . Tl) : Dbamma Pada— perhaps the bes t-known book inthe Canon— i s a col lection of four hundred and twenty th reeverses, gathered from the sayings of Gautama. More thanhalf these verses have been t raced to their sources in otherbooks . A few are not of Buddhis t origin, but represent popalar proverbial phi losophy as i t was adapted to Buddhis t ideas .T he anthology contains the essence ofmoral ity in the form

of poetical aphorisms . T he commentaries connect many ofthe verses with particular incidents i n Gautama’ s l ife, but thebook i s of high interest, even apart from its t raditional back

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SACR ED L IT 'j EZAT URE

was i t said by the Blessed One, and by a brief passage ofcircumstantial notes intended to suppl y a description of thehis torical s ituat ion in which the words were spoken .

(T he book i s not avai lable in an E ng l ish translat ion. )v . Sutta N ipata — T he Sutta N ipata i s a col lection

of se venty-one conversat ions or discourses gathered into fivegroups (vagga) , al l being written in poetry .

(a ) T he U raga-vagga, containing twel ve dis courses .( b ) T he Kul la-vagga, fourteen

(c) T he Maha-vagga, twel ve

( 11 ) T he A tthaka-vagga, s ixteen

(c) T he Parayana-vagga, s eventeen in onepoem , forming almost certainl y an i ndependent work .

T hese Suttas contain some remnants ofprimitive Buddhism ,

along with much that grew about the original e lements ,bringing them into harmony with later conceptions, and

moulding them for devot ional or educational purposes . T heyare characteri sed by much repetition, one of the mnemonicdevices of a wel l-organised sys tem of instruction .T he picture in the Suttas themsel ves is that of the earl y

s tages of Buddhis t monas t icism . T he doctrine corres pondswith that earl y period , as does al so the general style of thelarger part of the col lection .T he discourses embrace almos t every subject of interest,

and, with the exception of those in the Parayana-vagga, arequite miscel laneous .(a ) Tbs Urag a- v agga contains a parable of a snake

s loughing its sk in as an emblem of a man divestinghimself of al l passion ( i ) ; a plea for the sol itary l ifediscourses on true work and on the four classes ofascet ics T he Buddha discusses with a deity gain and

loss in the world defines an outcast (7) and speaks inpraise ofgoodwi l l anda “ boundless mind” T wo Yakkhas

discus s the Buddha’ s qual it ies and consul t h im A lavaka

quest ions Gautama, and i s converted ( i o) . T here is the reflection ofananonymous disc iple on the worth lessness ofthe humanbod y ( i i ) . T he las t d iscourse defines a true thinker or sage .

B UDDH ISM 6 i

(6) TI): Kul/a-v agga opens with the address to s pirit s,concerning sal vat ion in the Buddha, the Law ,

the Order,found al so in the Khuddaka patha (Sutra T hen fol l owthe Buddha’ s declarations, that a bad mind and bad deedsalone defi l e aman on true friendship on the h ighestblessing (Khuddaka Patha, 5) I n discourse with Suk iloma, i t is said that al l passions proceed from the bodyAn exhortation to purity is fol lowed by remark son the customs of the ancient Brahmanas adviceon choosing a good teacher on how to win the h ighestgood and on zeal ( i o) . Rahula receives advice

( i i ) ; Vangisa i s answered concerning the fate of N igrodhakappa ( i a) . T hen fol low remarks on the right path

( i 3) ; and on the l ife of a Bhikku and the l ife of a householder ( i 4) .T he nature of the Sut tas may be i l lustrated by one of the

briefes t— the U tthana-sutta (KuIIa-vagga,

i . R s it up, w hat is the use of your s leep ing ?T o those who are s ick, p ierced by the arrow and suffering, what

s leep is therez . Ri se, s it up, learn s teadfas t ly for the sake of peace .

Let not the king of death , know ing you to be indolent, befool youand lead you into h is power.

3.“Conquer th is des ire wh ich god s and men s tand w ish ing for, and

are dependent upon .

Let not the moment pas s by you, for those who have let themoment pas s w il l gr ieve, when they have been cons igned to

hel l .4. l ndolence is defi lement, cont inued indolence is defilement.

By earnes tnes s and know ledge let one pul l out h is arrow

( i .e. pain) .Utthana-sutta is ended.

(c) In r/x Maba-v agga Gautama’ s rebuke to King Bimbisara ( i ) i s fol lowed by an account of the Buddha’ s temptarations by Mara the evi l spi rit (a) . T hey are dis courses onlanguage on offering oblations on those who are

worthy of offerings Sabhiya has al l his questions answered Sala, wi th three hundred fol lowers, is con

verted T he brev ity of l ife suppl ies a theme Then

SACRED L IT ERAT UR E

come speeches concerning the true Brahmana and thepunishment of backbiters in hel l T he joy of the godsat the Buddha’ s bi rth is recounted ( i i ) ; and the sources ofsuffering are enumerated

(4) Tbs Attbaba-vagga opens wi th a series of practicalspeeches . Avoid sensual ity L et none cleave to ex is tence and pieasure T he Sage i s independent of men ’sjudgment T he true wisdom is the conquest of s inDo not enter into ph ilosoph ical d ispute T he fruit ofs e l fi shness is griefand avarice Sexual intercourse shoul dbe shunned by the Sage D isputat ion does not purifyAn account of Gautama’ s refusal of the daughter ofMagandiya i s given A calm sage is defined T he

origin of contentions is i n “ dear th ings D isput ingph i losophers are unfavourabl y desc ribed they do notlead men to purity T he way to bl is s i s shownthe accompl i shed s age defined the method of a Bhikku’ sl ife detai led(e) Tb: Parayaan-oagg a contain s s ixteen chapters of ques

tion s , together with an introductory chapter giv ing theird

’

e‘

l re, and a conc lud ing sect ion of comment . E achof the s ixteen chapters bears the name of one of the di sciplessent to the Buddha by Bavari , who had been cursed by aBrahmana for refus ing him a loan .

Gautama answered al l the interrogations sat isfactori l y .Probabl y some later ed itor (or editors ) added the twofoldappendix , giving the circums tances with ed itorial comments .vi . Tbe I ’ imana I ’attbu is a late poem , deficient in l iterary

qual ities , and composed for the mos t part according to setpattern , consis ting of legends relat ing to future l ife in theCeles tial mansions . ”

vii . Tbs Peta-Vattbu closel y resembles the foregoingwork in character, formal i ty and date . I ts subject is thed isembodied spirits .v ii i . Tb: Tbem -Gatba , or Songs of the E lder s (brethren

of T he O rder) , contains poems ascribed to a hundred and

seven of the disciples who were al ive dur ing Gautama’ s l ife

BUDDH I SM 63

time . E ach of the songs is furnished with a commentarygiv ing some account of the reputed author .T he poems are al so explained by s tories re lating to their

t erses . A comparison shows that sixteen verses of theT hera-gatha and the D hammapada are either identica l ors imi lar . (Cf. Civ ilis ation of I ndia , pp . 47-48, in this series) .ix . Tbs

'

1'

ber i -Gatba .— A simi lar song-book , containing

seventy-three poems, attributed to fifty-se ven Sis ters who helonged to the Order during Gautama’ s l ifetime . T he planof the book i s s imi lar to that of the T hera-gatha— the hymnsare accompanied by a commentary which concern s the authoressand the detai l s of her work s .

A good many of the T heri-gathas are beautiful in form,

and not a few gi ve evidence of the high mental cul ture of

the singers .No E ngl ish translat ion has been publ ished . (For the

Commentary, rec P roceedings of the O riental Congres s of1 892 , published in 1 894, vol . i . pp . 344x . Tbe Jord a n— T he col lect ion commonl y cal led by this

tit le is properl y entit led T he Commentary on T he Jatakas .I t is the work of an unknown author of the fifth century i i . c. ,

who ar ranged and expounded a mass of material which hadaccumulated during many generations . I t i s a col lection of

fables , fai ry-tal es , ridd les, puzzles , legends , judgments,superstitions and mythological fragments,

” which are st rungtogether on the supposition that the Buddha in one of hisprev ious incarnations was th e hero of the story .I n each of the pieces is a saying in verse attributed to

Gautama. T hese verses onl y belong to the Canon proper .T hey are product ions of the M idd le Country, prior to me.

300 . I t is practical l y certain, however, that they neverformed a di st inct col lection, and have never been transmittedapart from the stories .T here are five hundred and fifty- seven s tories in the work .

T he ear l iest strata i s of folk-tal es pure and simple, taken overbodil y from the folk- l ore of N orth I ndia.

”T hen come

longer stories, some of them as l ong as a modern novelette . ”

64 SACRED L IT ERAT URE

A developed Buddhism took over these popular elements, andadded the verses attributed to Gautama. L ater hands addedintroductory nar ratives and passages of exposit ion . Final l ythe Ceylonese ( i ) author ar ranged the whole i n its present shape ,adding a general prologue .T he plan i s thereforei . A long general I ntroduction.

i i . T he Stories, normal l y arranged

(a ) a narrative giving the occas ion on which thes tory was told .

(b) the story of the present , introducing the s ataka

proper .

(c) the story of the past, the real Bi rth story, theoldest element .

t he identification , the verse spoken by Gautama.

(c) an explanation of the verse .(f ) an explanation of the connection between the

persons spoken of in (a ) and the charactersin (b) and (c) .

T he col lection is divided into twenty- two N ipatas , on theassumption that the stories in the fi rst d ivi sion are those inwhich one verse occurs, in the second division two verses, etc .T his arrangement is quite arbitrary . T he same Jataka i srepeated in d ifferent books, with varying numbers of verses .Some Jatakas are real l y c lusters of stories . Mere referencesto tales elsewhere are counted as Jatakas in some of the divisions . W hen critical l y anal ysed the work is seen to gatherup some “ two or three thousand independent tales, fables ,anecdotes,

” etc .T radition points to the monastery at Jetavana as the place

where four hundred and ten of the stories were recited . T hencome Velmana with forty-nine, Savatth i with six , and otherstopping places i n the course of Gautama’ s wanderings wi thlesser numbers, e.g . Rajagaha five, Vaisali four, Kusa two, etc .According to a l ist drawn up under Spencer Hardy ’s

direction (if Manual , p . 1 00 ) the Bodisat— the Buddha i na previous incarnation—appears in the Jatakas as an ascetic

BUDDH ISM 65

83 t imes, a k ing 58, a tree god 43, a teacher 2 6, a courtier24, a brahman 2 4, a k ing

’ s son 2 4, a nobleman 2 3, a learnedman 2 2 , Sakka 20 , a monkey 1 8, a merchant 1 3, a man ofproperty 1 2

,a deer 1 i , a l ion 1 0, a wild duck 8, a snipe 6,

an elephant 6, a cock 5, a slave 5, an eagle 5, a horse 4, abul l 4, Brahma 4, a

peacock 4, a serpent 4, a potter 3, an

outcast 3, an iguana 3, a fish 2 , an elephant-driver 2 , a rat 2 ,

a jackal 2 , a crow 2 , woodpecker 2 , a th ief 2 , a pig 2 , andonce each as a dog, a curer ofsnake bites , a gambler, a mason ,a smith , a dev i l-dancer, a student, a s i l versmith , a carpenter,a water-fowl , a frog, a bare, a k i te, a jungle-cock , and a

fairy .

Tbc General I ntroduction ( the N idana Katha ) consis ts ofa brief preface and three lengthy sections . T he preface(vv . i - i i ) i s to the effect that

T he Apamaka and other birth s wh ich in t imes gone by were recountedby the great i l lus trious sage w ere al l col lected together and

added to the canon of the Scripture and rehears ed under thename of T he j atakas . I proceed to recite a commentary uponthis jataka based upon the method of expos ition current amongthe inmates of the Great Monas tery. May al l good men lend me

their favourable attent ion w h ile I s peak .

T hen fol low three section s , of which the fi rst deal s withT he D istant E ch , i . e. from the time when the Bodisat,s itting at feet omipankara, resol ved to become a Buddha,to the time of his re-birth in the T us ita heaven . T his contains t he story ofSumedha— a part of the Buddhavamsa— withnotes by the Jataka editor, and gives a l i st of the twenty-fourBuddhas after the D ipankara Buddha . T hese, with theenumeration of the Buddha’ s perfections (vv . 2 53-269) areal so based upon the Buddhavamsa, and explained by editorialnotes, concluding

“Thus shoul d be unders tood the Dis tant E poch .

T he I ntermediate E poch concerns the t ime which transpired from the Bodisat

’s leaving the T us ita heaven , un t i l be

attained omniscience on the throne of knowledge .B

66 SACRED L IT ERAT URE

T hese matters are repeated , with ful ness of detai l , fromthe Buddhavamsa ( 2 70-2

T he L ast E poch , corresponding with the Buddhavamsa( 2 78 covers the period of Buddha’ s seven days’ bl i ssin the joy of N i rvana, the beginning of his work , and theprogres s of his minist ry unti l the day on which AnathaP indikz, presented a monas tery to the members of the O rder .

Th is is the Prox imate Epoch ,N ow we w i l l tel l the s tories of al l h is births .”

Tbe Stories themsel ves are of the utmos t variet y , and of

every possible shade of interest . I n not a few it is poss ibleto read the original s of fables and fol ks-tales universal l yknown, in one shape or another, throughout E urope .Some idea of the ir variety may be suggested by a se lection

of t it les . Holding the T ruth . T he Story of Chul laka theT reasurer . On t rue div inity . T he Happy l ife . T he BanyanDeer . T he greedy Antelope . T he cunning Deer . T he

W ind . On offering food to the dead . T he Monkeys andthe D emon . T he Dog who turned preacher . T he Horseat the ford . T he Ox who env ied the Pig . T he dancingPeacock . T he Ass in the L ion’ s sk in . How a Womanrequites love . T he Hermit and the serpent k ing . T he

jackal and the C row .

T he form of the tales wi l l be seen in the fol l owing epitomeof the fifth Jataka.

“ T he Measure of R ice . ” T he storyof the present

One day a great uproar arose in the eat ing-room of the monastery .

T he Buddha having sent to inquire the reason learned that DabhaMul la, w hose offi ce it was to d is tribute to each person h is port ion of

rice, had g iven great dis sat isfact ion, by h is method of d is tribut ion,hence the d is turbance .

“ T he Bud dha ordered Dabha Mul la to come before h im,d ism is sed

h im from h is emp loyment,and then related the T andudale Jataka.

T he story of the past“ I n days of old a certain fool ish officer, w hose duty it w as to fix a

value upon everyth ing, was tempted by a bribe to value the city of

Bararais and al l it contained at a s ing le measure of rice , in consequence

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SACRED L IT E RAT URE

form the “s tories of the pres ent, introducing the birth

stories of the Jataka Book .xiv . Tbe B uddbo-vnmm— the h istory of al l the Buddhas

gi ves , as its name impl ies, the story of the twenty-fourBuddhas who preceded Gautama. After a metrical versionof the hi s tory of Sumedha, in two hundred and ninety-eightverses

,i t enumerates Gautama’s forerunners .

So the men perfect in every part, and des t ined to Bud dhahood ,Traverse the long road , th rough thousand s ofm i l l ions of ages . ”

T hese h istories are given as a background on which thecharacter ofGautama, the Buddha, might be d isplayed duringthe ages prior to h is appearing on earth .T he Buddhavamsa thus suppl ies the material not only for

the I ntroduction to the Jataka, but al so for twenty-four birthstories concerned with the previous Buddhas, for th irty-fourwhich i l l ustrate the Buddha’ s perfections, as wel l as a few

i solated ones .I t is not yet translated into E ngl ish . T he fol lowing

quotation (Rhys Davids , Hibbert Leet . , pp . 1 90- 1 9 1 ) showsits sty le

As a clod, cas t up in the air, doth s urely fal l to the ground,So sure ly endureth the word of the g lorious Buddhas for ever .As the death of a l l th ings that have l ife is certain and sure,So sure ly endureth the w ord of the g lorious Buddhas for ever.A s, w hen nigh t to its end hath come, the s un shal l certainl y rise ,So s ure ly endureth the w ord of the g lorious Bud dhas for ever.A s the roar of the l ion is s ure, w hen in morn he hath left h is lai r,So sure ly endure th the word of the g lorious Bud dhas for ever.xv . Tbe Cariya P itnba , one of the latest additions to the

Canon, i s an incomplete fragment, containing three chaptersof s hort mnemonic verses , the work of an unknown authorof the fourth century b . C .

A tradition current among the N orthern Buddhists saysthat A svagosha, a famous teacher, began to col lect and putinto verse s tories i l lustrative of the T en Perfections of theB . : i dha. H is desire was to give ten stories for each one ofthe ten perfections , but death ended his labours when he hadvers ified on l y thi rty stories .

BUDDH ISM 69

T he Gariya Pitaka gives colour to the legend . I t containsthree chapters of which the fi rst and second each containsten , and the third fifteen stories of the l i ves in which theBuddha had acquired the last eight perfections .T he ten Perfections were G enerosity, Goodness, Re

nunciation, W isdom, F irmnes s , Patience, T ruth , Resolution ,K indness, E quanimity .T he thirt y-five stories are th i rty-five of the oldest . latakas

taken, in al l probabi l ity, from the sources of the existing. lataka text .Book i . s hows when , and in what Births, Gautama had

a neros ity .

shows when, and in what Births, be attainedGoodness .Book i i i . , which is fragmentary, deal s wi th the other eight

Perfections .I I I . Th e Abh idh amma P l taka .

— T he T hird Sectionof the Canon may be described as the philosophic or metaphys ical port ion . Various explanations of the general t it l ehave been offered , but the word is unique .Mr A . C . T aylor (J . R A . S. , 1 894, p . 56 1 ) sum s the dis

ensaiou up most satisfactori l y in the words : T he outcomewould seem to be that the difference between the Suttas andthe Abhidhamma i s not one of subject matter but oft reatment,and that the Abh idhamma may be considered, in a certainsense, as the complement and expansion of the Suttasto a certain extent, s ystemati sing thei r scattered utterancesT he Abhidhamma Pitaka contains the fol lowing work s

the order and descriptions are given in the Questions of K ingMi l inda, a popular uncanonical book . (Cf. vol .xxx v . page 2 1

%i . T he hamma Sangani , with its great d ivisions intogood , bad, and indifferent qual ities , and i ts subdivis ions into couplets and t riplets .

i i . T he V ibhanga, with its eighteen chapters, beginning wi th the book on the const ituent elementsof being .

SACRED L IT ERAT URE

i i i . T he Dhatu Katha, w i th its fourteen book s,beginning with that on compensation and noncompensation .

i v . T he Puggala Pannatti, with its s ix divis ionsinto discr iminat ion of the various constituentelements, of the various senses , and of the pro

pert ies they apprehend .

v . T he Katha Vatth ti , with its one thousandsections , five hundred on as many points of ourviews , and five hundred on as many ofourOpponents ’

v iews .

v i . T he Yamaka, with its ten divis ions into com

plementary propos it ions as to origins , constituente l ements, etc .

vi i . T he Patthana, with its twenty-four chapters onthe reason of causes , of ideas, etc .

i . ‘Tbe Dbamma Sangani most probabl y belongs to thefourth century s . e. I t gathers up, in the form of a catechism ,

the subs tance of Buddhist teaching concerning sensation, andin its question s and repl ies gives a very searching and com

plete anal ysi s of psychological eth ics from the standpoint ofBuddha’ s ph i losophy .I t is separated into T hree Book s and a supplement, through

each of which the deduc . . e method i s minutel y carried out,

in such a way as to give the various words and ideas used inthe work s of the Sut ta Pitaka a place in a systematicpsychology . “ I ts real t it le l iteral l y translated i s Com

pendium of States (or Phenomena) . I t i s not a treat ise buta manual or text-book . I ts subject i s ethics . I ts method isi n great part an anal ys is of the psychological and ps ychophysical data of ethics . ” (Cf: Mrs R hys Davids, AB udd/ni t Manual of P ryebo/og ieal E tbic: of tbe F ourtb CenturyI t. t

'

.

B)ook 1 , T he Genesis of T houghts, contains th ree parts .

T he fi ve chapters of Part i . deal with good states of consciousnes s under the respecti ve categories of the eight maintypes of thought relat ing to the sensuous universe, with good in

BUDDH ISM 71

relation to the universes of form and of the formless , with degr ees of effi cacy in good relating to the three realms , andwiththoughts engaged upon the higher ideal ( the four ths ) .T he character and method may be real i from the

fol lowing

u n ion 1 Wh ich are the s tates that are good Pniw er . When a good though t concerning the sensuous universehas arisen, w hich is accompanied by happines s and associatedw ith know le ‘

re,and has as its object a s igh t, a sound , a sme l l, a

tas te, a touch , a s tate , or what not, there there is contact, fee l ing ,percept ion, etc. , etc. ( w i th an enumeration of 66 s tates) . N ow

these—or whatever othe r incorporeal, casual ly induced s tatesthere are on that occas ion— these are s tates that are good .

31min” 2 . What on that occas ion is contact i ”newer .

‘The contact wh ich on tha t occas ion is touch ing, thebeing brough t into contact, the s tate of hav ing been brough t intotouch w ith, th is is the contact that there then is . ”

Ques tion 3.—“What on that occas ion is fee l ing i " etc. , etc. , through

57 ques t ions .Here ends the del imitat ion of term s .End of the F irs t Port ion for Recitat ion.

T he Second Part deal s with bad states of cons ciousness inone chapter on the twelve bad thoughts .T he T hird Part, which t reats of the intermediate states of

consciousness is in two chapters , the fi rst i s on effect or resul t,good and bad, the second on action-thoughts .Book 2 i s on Form . I t consis ts of an introduction, and

eleven chapters, which deal respecti vel y with the expositionof form under single, dual , etc . , up to eleven-fold as pects .I ts questions are on posit ive terms and thei r oppos ites , givinga sub-development of the three main ques tions of Book 1 ,

viz . , W hat are the states that are good ? W hat are thestates that are bad ? W hat are the states that are indeterminateBook 3, the division entit led , “ E l imination has “ no

evident ground of l ogic or method ofarrangement . I ts firstPart is a col lection of groups of ques tions on various matters,viz. , T he group on triplets ; the group on cause ; the short

72 SACRED L IT E RATURE

i ntermed iate sets of pairs ; the intox icant group ; the groupsof the fetters, etc .Part 2 , T he Suttanta Pai rs ofT erms, consists ofthirty

seven pai rs of questions ( 1 296 which are miscel

laneous in character and not always logi cal l y opposed.

Immed iatel y fol lowing the text is a Supplement of twohundred and thirt y questions and answers . T he qare taken verbatim from Book 3 and in the same order,but the cros s-ques t ionings on the detai l s of the l ists of termsare omitted L ater infl uences have been at work on theanswers, wh i ch are ex ressed more terse l y and in somewhatd ifferent language. he philosophy of“ States hadbecometled when the supplement was compil ed .

T hroughout the work , the various t it les follow the chaptersto which they belong .i i . I be Vibbanga . are not avai lable for the E ngl ishii i . Tbe Dbatn Katba . reader .i v . Tbe Puggala Pannatti i s a short tract of about ten

thousand words, deal ing with moral d is crimination (pannatti )in res ct of people . I t i s described in the Questions ofMi l in a vol . xxxv . p . 2 1 , m page but thedescription does not agree with the existing text .In it s fi rst divi sion the book enumerates six different sorts

of dis tinctions in individual s . F ive paragraphs onl y are devoted to five of these distinct ions , the remainder of the workenters into detai l concerning the sixth .v . Tbc Katba Vattbu, the Account ofO pinions, i s a book

of controversial apologetics, belonging to 2 50 s . e. T radition ascribed the work to T issa, the son of Moggali (th i rdcentury B . C. ) L ater commentators interpreted the traditionby a l egend which gave Gautama credit for the plan of thebook .

T he aim of the work is to controvert the heres ies of theH inayana ( the col lective title for the seventeen school s ofopinion which grew up between Buddha and Asoka) , and byan appeal to the authoritati ve standards of the fai th —thePitakas -to prove the orthodoxy of the T heravadins .

BUDDH ISM

With this object i n view, it treats such questions asWhether in the h ighest and trues t sense of the word there can be

said to be an ind ividual i . e. a soul P" (chap.“Whether the eye of flesh can, through s trength of the truth,

'

grow

into a d ivine e i"

“Whethet e real isat ion ofArahats h ip includes the fruits ofthe threelower ths f

”

hether know ledge of h is emancipat ion alone makes a man an

Arahat P

Wheth“er s pace is self-ex istent

Whe ther an Arabat can be thought les s or guilty of an offence ?

(3"lWhe ther breaking the fet ters ' const itutes Arahatsh ip, and whether

ins ight into Arahatsh ip suffices to break the fetters

vi . Tbe Tamal e , T he Pai rs, are not avai lablevi i . Tbe Pattbona, T he Book of Origins in E ngl ish .

CHAPT E R I I I

T HE SACR ED L IT E RATU RE OF PARSI I SM

T HE Scriptures of Parsnsm,the rel igion otherwise known as

Magism , Mazdeism , Zarathus trianism , F ire-worship, etc . ,are contained i n T he Aves ta. T he commoner tit le ZendAves ta has ar isen through a mistaken conjunction of Avesta,the s acred text, with the Zend ( interpretation);

the name ofthe translation and expo s ition of the text in the ah lavi dialect .We pos ses s in T he Aves ta the remnants of a wrecked

l iterature . A consensus of G reek , Armenian , and Arabicauthorities , points to the exi s tence at one t ime of twentynine Nosks

,or book s , written during the fourth to seventh

centu ries s . c.

T he preservation of the exis ting Parsee Canon was due tothe devotion of pries ts (Magians) and their royal patrons .King Vologesus is reputed to have begun the task of

col lect ing Zoroas ter ’ s works . He was succeeded by Ardeshir and Sharpar I . , who carried on h is labours . T he

authoritative Canon was brought to completion during thereign of Sharpar l I . (309-380 a . h . )By the hel p of th is fragmentary l iterature, we come into

contact with t he second era of Aryan bel ief, i . r . after it hadbegun to fee l Semitic influences .

Th e Aves ta .

T he Aves ta,proper l y so-cal led , cons ists of

T he C athas .T he Yasna.

T he V isperad.

T he Ventl idi’

id.

With these books, however, T he Younger, or Smal ler, orL itt le , Aves ta is canoni cal l y as sociated , and is es teemed as ofequal authorit y . I t contains

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76 SACRED L I T ERAT URE

A hunavairya formula, i s wr itten in stanzas of three s ixteensyl labled l ines . I ts fi rst live pieces are at tributed to Zoroasterhimself. T he prophet offers a prayer for grace

“W ith venerat ion for th is gracious help, 0 Mazda, and s tretch ingforth my hands, I pra for the firs t of thy Bount iful Spirit .

“ I imp lore from t cc the unders tanding of thy Benevolent M ind, inorder that I may prop it iate the Soul of the K ine .

”

T hen fol lows T he Wai l of the Kine prompted bydist ress and assaul t , and answered by the d iv ine righteousness,at whose bidding Zoroas ter undertook the tas k of championing the oppres sed . He taught them the fundamental doctrineof dual ism in i ts s impl icity .

“ T he primeval spirits, who as a pair and independent in act ion,have been famed (of old) .They two (are) a bet ter and a worse, as to though t, as to word , as

to deed”

T he progress of the new cause is sung in confidence ,piety chose the husbandman as a hol y mas ter,

” never shal lthe thiev ing nomad s hare the good creed (3t ) . H ymns ofpraise reflect the assurance of success .

F or these g ifts , Immortal ity, the R igh teous Order, the K ingdom of

We l l-be ing, w h ich thou, Ahura Mazda, has t g iven .

G ifts shal l be offered to thee in returnUnto thee w il l we offer the meat offering w ith s elf-humbl ing

praise

H . Th e Gath a Us tava l tl (Yasna, 43 containsfour hymns which reflect the s t ruggles of Zoroas ter beforehe attained unques t ioned supremacy . T he new doctrine wasfor al l who bel ieved that the prophet ’ s honour might bes hared by every wi l l ing soul AhuraMazda’ s greatnes sis thus extol l ed (44)

H ow may one praise arigh tH ow may one serve the Supreme

W ho w as the firs t F ather of the R igh teous Order,W ho gave the s un and s tars the ir w ay, save theeW ho es tabl ished that whereby the moon waxes and wane sW ho from beneath sus tains the earth and the clouds

T he nex t hymn s hows that dual ism ex i s ts i n the human

PARS I ISM 77

consc iousness . N either our thoughts, nor commands, norour understand ings, nor our bel iefs, nor our deeds, nor ourconsciences, nor our souls , are at one T hen fol lows ahymn in which suffer ing for the good can. e i s made thesubject of patheti c, hopefu l prayerI I I . Th e Germs Spent: Ma lay a (Yasna, 47 te

fleets the prevalence of distres sful st rife, during which thefaith ofMazdeism did not want for champions .Bel ievers were indebted to the bountifulness of Ahura for

every blessing and in thei r anticipat ion of st ruggle theynatural l y turned in prayer to the gracious giver

“L et the good k ing ru le us .

L et not the evi l monarchs govern us .

Let the w rath demon of rap ine be cas t out,Sm ite ye agains t the envious

T he hymn recording the people’ s tribute of prai se totheir champions, fal l s i nto two sections . I ts last verse belongs to the next hymn, which consists of prayer and thank sgiving . I t is not unl ikely that these fragments, origina l l yseparate, deal t with di verse subjects .I v . Th e 03 th : Voh u Kh s h arh rem (Yasna, i s a

s ingle piece containing a declarat ion of passionate devotion toAhura Mazda, and a searching inquiry into the sinceri ty andloyal ty of those who accounted themsel ves upright, and fi ttedfor the great cause . ”

v . Th e Oath s Vah l s ta l s tl s (Yasna, 5 relates tothe marriage of the prophet

’

s daughter . I t i s a marriagehymn deepl y tinged with pol itico- rel igious sentiment , and of

more dramatic arrangement than either of the earl ier C athas .

Th e Yas na .

T he C athas form the nuc leus of T he Yasna, a hetero

geneous col lection of prayers prepared at various times to beoffered during the SQCTIIlCC, and al so for consecrat i ng the

water, the bund le of s prink l ing twigs ( the baresma) , thehaoma (soma) , the cakes, etc. T he seventy-two sections

78 SACRED L IT ERAT URE

corres pond with the number of the seasons occupied in thecreat ion of the world s .T hree main s trata are distinguishable

I . T he F ive C athas .2 . T he Seven-Chapter Yasna (Yasna, 353. T heYounger or L aterYas na (Yasna, l

Th e S even-Chap ter Yasms , the Yasna H aptanghaiti ,

al though neares t to T he C athas in age, differs wide l y fromthem in tone and spirit . Many of the later features of thefaith are lack ing from the picture given in these petition s .But the myth-mak ing proces s had been at work i n theinterval between the Gathic and the Yasnic periods . T he

s piritual l y conceived attributes of Ahura Mazda had becomepe rsonified in the Bount iful Immortal s ; the faith had growntheologica l and s ys tematic, and al though its language re

tained much of its old form , its pris tine spirit had gone .T hes e prayers are offered to A hura, to the hol y creat ion ,

to the fravashis of the just, to the Bount iful I mmortal sto the earth and the sacred waters to the soul of theKine to Ahura as k ing , l ife, and rewarder Asupplementary chapter is added in 42 . Chapter 40 , a

prayer for helpers, was , in al l probabi l ity , part of a now lostserv ice for the admis sion of neo hytes to the order . T he

general characte r of the Seven hapter Yasna i s wel l represented in the Yasna, 37

Here I now praise Ahura Maz da,w ho has created the cat t le, who

has created purity, the w ater and the good trees .

W ho created the splendour of l igh t , the earth, and al l good .

T o h im be long the k ingdom,the m ight, the power .

W e pra i se h im ,firs t among the adorable be ing s ( L t . gen it) ,

Wh ich dwe l l together w ith the cat t le .

We praise h im w ith the A hurian name— M azda .

W e praise h im w ith our own bod ies and l ife .

T he fravash is of the pure men and w omen w e praise .

We pra ise the perfect Purity.

What is faires t , w hat pure, what immorta l ,What bri l l iant , al l that is good ( we praise) .T he good sp irit we honour, the good k ingdom we honour,A nd the good law , and the good rule, and the good k ingdom .

PARSI ISM 79

Th e Young er Yum a — T he Younger or L ater Yasna,consist ing of Yasna, 1 -2 7, 54-72 , is made up of “ more orles s mutual l y adapted fragments of different ages and modesof composit ion ,

” written in the prose of the ordinary Zendlanguage . I n its complete form it const ituted the chietl iturgy of the Zoroas trians . Al l the fami l iar e lements ofl iturgical compilations exi s t in it— confess ions, invocations,prayers, exhortations , prai ses , etc . T hat i t s present condition does not represent its original plan i s certain. T he

proceedings of the sacrifice, for which it suppl ied the ritua l ,are interrupted by the intrusion of foreign matter . Someof the chapters are dupl icates, tag .

Others are merel y col lect ions of fragment s , e.g .

63, 64, 67, 69 . Commentaries upon sacred formula , withcatechet ical additions, or in the form of catechism occur, e.g .

1 9, 20 , 2 1 .

T he earl ier sections of the Yasna fol low a s imple ceremonyof sacrifice . T he worshipper inv ites and announces (hisYasna) to Ahura, Vohu-mano, A rdibeh is t, Shahrevar,Spenta A rmaiti, and the other lords of the ritual order ( 1T he objects of propitiation offered in the sacrifice are

named and the offering is madeA ful ler, perhaps later, recens ion of the sacrificial ritual i s

given fol lowed by the l i turgy for the pries t’ s offering ofthe various gifts T he meat offering has a Yasna toitse lf T he Yast , or prayer, to the Haoma is introduced at th is point, and continued in chapter 1 0 . As inthe Vedic sacrifice so here the ceremony culminated in the

l ibation. Yasna 1 1 furnishes a prelude , then fol lows a con

fes s ion then prayers of i nvocation , etc . ( 1 3 afterwhich the sacrifice took place ( 1 5Here the order seem s to break down. T he c lue to the

misce l laneous chapters 1 7- 2 1 is l os t . Probabl y in theoriginal l i turgy the sacrifice continued afte r the Haomaoffering

,in honour of the F ravashis of the saints, for whose

approach a prayer is prov ided and in whose prai se thefinal chapter of th is sect ion was wri t ten.

80 SACRED L IT ERAT URE

T he Yasna 54, the Airyemo-ishyo, is one of the mostancient parts of T he Younger Yasna. I t is written inprimitive metre, in the same dialect as the C athas, and rank svery high in Parsee esteem . I ts introduct ion signal ises anew departure . T he l iturgy of the sacrifice has ended . Al iturgy of prai se beginsWe worsh ip the praises of the Yasna, wh ich were the product ions

of the ancient worl d .

T his l i turgy os tens ibl y begins with the Srosh Yas t, a pieceof sub-Gath ic antiquity devoted to the praise of Sraosha

(obedience or penitence) in th irteen sections Chapter56 serves as an introduction to it, and it i s fol lowed by aser ies of unimportant chapters , on the t ypical Mazdean saint ,mutua l bles sings, prayers for the homes of the pious, and

praises 58T he remaining sections of the Younger Yasna (62 -7 1 ) are

without ritual istic order . T hey are addressed to the fi rethe waters , “wide flowing , heal ing in influence,

effi cacious against daevas , devoted to Ahura’ s love

the Ahurian one (66, the bount ifu l Immortal sand the institutions of re l igion Yasna 7 1 deal s wi ththe conc lusion of the ceremonial , and gives a generalsummary of the sacrifice in a series of repl ies .

Th e V is perad.

T he V isperad i s a col lect ion of prayers, after the type andin the language of the Younger Yasna. L ater than theYasna, upon which it depends for its arrangement, i t may beregarded as a supplement designed to ensure a recognition ofthe s pir itual beings who were interested in the worship andwelfare of bel ievers .

T he name (al l the ch iefs) indicates the urely l iturgicalcharacter of the twenty- three chapters . he chiefs, thelords of the r itual order, were the spiritual givers of milk ,pasture, and corn, who res ponded to the rol l - cal l of the priestat the haoma ofiering .

PARS I ISM 81

Chapter 1 gives a l is t of the lords of the ritual order ,“announced to the yearl y festival . ” Chapter 2 is planned

for an act of reverence . Chapter 3 i s devoted to the rol lcal l of the presiding priest at the beginning of the haomaoffering, and i s i n rol l -cal l form .

“ T he Havaman I would have h im here I w i l l come.

I woul d have the fire-feeder here I w il l come .

”

and so in succession the water-carrier, washer, mixer ,penitentiary, layman, fire-priest , warrior, house- lord , etc .T he remaining chapters are addresses of prayer and praise

to the bountiful Immortal s, to the Haoma, to the Sac rifice,the F ire, Ahura Mazda, the Sacrificial W ords correct l yuttered , etc . ; al l of which were doubtless assimi lated to theidea of the Ameaba Spentas .

Th e Vendidad .

In the Vendidz’

sd (the name is a corrupt ion of V idz vo

datem the anti-demonic law ) , we have the onl y book whichauthorit ies regard as wearing the form in which it left thehands of the pre-Alexandrian magi .

“ T he Pentateuch of the Zoroast rian canon, it contain sthe most complete systemat ic v iew of the rel igion and its

sacred , civi l , and criminal laws . W hat the C athas and

Seven-Chapter Yas na are for the spirit of Magism, theVendidad is for i t s form .

I t opens with an exhaust i ve account of the good creat ionsofAhura Mazda, who made every land dear to its dwel lers,

”

and of how Angra Mainya brought evi l into these s ixteencountries . T he plagues of witchcraft , the river serpent ,winter, the death-deal ing fl y, s inful lust, corn-carrying ants ,unbel ief, mosqui toes, pride, unnatural s in, burial of the dead ,wizardry, burning of the dead , foreign oppress ion, heat andcold , are enumerated among the creat ions of the E vi l One .T he Second Chapter, based upon an earl ier poet ic version

of its subject, displays the prowes s of the myth ical Yima, thesupernatural shepherd who for six hundred winters gaveprosperi ty to the earth .

82 SACRED L IT ERATURE

T he ground-work of T he Vendidz'

td i s a col lection of

L aws (chapters 4- 1 7) covering Contrac t s OutragesG eneral U nc leanness U nc leanness arising from

death (6 with an addition (85) on unlawful lus ts , times ofuncleannes s, etc . (chapters 1 2 and

Chapter 9 g ives a detai led legis lation for the Barashnftm .

T he place and the ceremonial are des cribed vv . 1 -36 ) ,the legalfees ordained (vv . 37 and, in a misplaced section (vv .

47-57) punishment is pres cribed for the charlatan who fal sel y

professes to purify . During the ceremonial sacred spel l s wereneces sary . T hey are furnished in chapters 1 0- 1 1 . Manyof them (mg . chapter 1 0 ) are fragments of the C athas whichhad in course of time acqui red a sacrosanct authority . Somewere a pointed to be repeated twice— these were borrowedfrom asna 35

8. 394. 4 1

3, 4 1

5. s”, 53

'

Others were repeated th ree t imes (Yasna,O thers again requi red a fourfold repetit ion (Yasna,

57‘) o

T he special sacrednes s of the dog is set forth in chapters1 3

- 1 4, where the animal is placed upon a leve l wi th W omen,to whom chapter 1 5 is devoted .

T his most characteris tic sect ion of the Aves ta probabl yenshrines the remnants of a double rel igious legi s lation.

T he ceremonial for purification i s the resul t of the Magisrendering of an earl y s imple ri te of c leans ing after contactwith a corpse . T hi s l ine of evolut ion reaches its height in1 7. On the other hand , t races of an ear l y and entirely civ i llaw exis t s (4 , 1 3, 1 4 ,T he remaining chapters of the Vendidad are compos ed of

mi scel laneous rel ics of various date s .

T h e L itt le Av es ta .

T he Aves ta proper comprises a l iterature des igned for theuse of a pries t l y cas te . T he Khordah or L itt le Aves ta wasprobabl y prepared for the use ofthe laity as wel l as of pries ts,perhaps as a hand - book of devotion . T he s kein of it s

al lus ions is by no means unravel led. Many de tai l s of &e

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84 SACRED L i T B RAT URB

worsh ippers . T he law of sacrifice is laid downT he cosmological confl ict between T is trya, the rain-bringer,and Apaosha, the demon of drought, i s pictured T he

chief heroes of Magian myth— H aoshyangha, Yima,T hra-taona, Haoma, H usravah , Zarathus tra, V is taspa are

honoured by these prai ses . M ith ra, god of heaven l y l ight ,al l- seeing witnes s of truth , revenger of bad faith , des t ined erehis course was run to take a place among the cul t s of Rome,is wors hipped ( to) . T here i s a sketch of the moral h ierarchy T he fi rs t man, Gaya Maretan, is described T he ten incarnat ions of Verethraghnaand his mighty deeds a his tory of the I ranianmonarch y, an abridged Shah Nameh , and the exhortationsoffered to K ing Gus htasp by Zoroas ter, find a place amongthese dai l y devotions .T he remaining Yas ta are des ignated as fol lows — ( r) T he

O rmazd ; ( z ) T he H aptan ; ( 3) A rdibehist, to the praiseof the A iryaman prayer (4) Khordad , the genius of heal thand the water s ; (6 ) Khors hed , to the sun ; (7 Mah , tothe moon ; (8 ) T ir ; (9 ) Gos , the cow goddes s o the animalk ingdom ; ( to) Mih ir, to the god of heavenl y l ight ; ( I!)Srosh , to the ange l of div ine worship ; ( 1 2 ) Rashu, to theT ruth ( 1 3) F arvard in , to the fravashi , i . e. the inner powerin every being ; ( L t ) Bah ram , to the genius of victory ;( I 6) D in, to the gen ius of the a4th day, the impersonat ionof L aw or R el igion ; ( 1 8) A s tad , to T ruthful ness ; ( s o)Vanant, to that which overcomes 2 1 - 2 2 ) fragmentary Yasta;( 2 3-24 ) benedictions ofZoroas ter upon King V is taspa .

T he forms of the Yasta are of the utmos t variety , that ofT he Ormazd Yas t being among the s imples t , and interes tingas an indication of the e laborat ion of rel igious ideas .

Zoroas ter s aid Revea l to me thy name , 0 Ahura Mazda, that i sgreates t , bes t , faires t, mos t effect ive, fientl-sm it ing , bes t -hea l ing , thatbe s t de s troyeth the mal ice ofDaevas and men .

"

Ahura Maz tla My name is , the One of w hom ques t ions are as ked .

My second name is T he Herd Giver," etc. , etc. (w ith an enumerat ion ofnineteen names) .

PARSHSM 85

Worsh ip me, O Zoroaster, day and night w i th offerings . I am the

Keeper, the Creator, the Maintainer, the D iscerner,” etc“ H e w ho shal l pronounce these names w hen he u ses , l ies down,

bind s on the sacred g ird le, unbinds it, etc. , that man shal l be woundedneither day nor nigh t by the weapons of the foe .

"

I I I . Th e Ny l y la.— T he F ive N yasia (nyayis , i . e.

begging , as opposed to s itayis , i . s . prais ing ) are petitionsaddressed to the Sun, M ith ra, t he Moon, the W aters andF ire . T he dut y of recit ing the N yayis was binding uponever la man of eight years old and upward .

he Lyayis for the Sun and Mithra were offered at sunri se , at noon, and at th ree P . M . T hat to the Moon was

recited when the moon was ful l or on the wane . T he otherswere appointed for repet it ion once a day . T hey are simple

l

re

fques ts for heal th , hel p, advice, and the common blessings of

I e .I v . Th e Gem— Another series of prayers was provided

in the five G fth , which are addres sed to the guardians of t hehours of the day and night . T he H avini covered the hoursof 6- 1 0 A . M . T he Rapith ivina, l o A. M .

-3 P . M . ; T he

U zayeirama, 3-6 P . M . ; T he Anvisnuthrima, 6- t z P . M . T he

U s hah ina, l a P . M .-6 A. M .

T hey are simple addresses of reverence, introduced by thephrase U nto Ahura Mazda be propit iation .

v . Th e Afrigans .-T he T hree Afrigans , vi z . ,

Rapithvin, Gatha, and G ahanbar, are bless i ngs ordained forpronunciation over a meal of wine, mil k , and fruit , offered tohonour an ange l , or the spiri t of a dead person . T heseceremonial feas ts were furnished at certain seasons of eachyear . T he Rapith vin was spread on the third day of thefi rs t month , and its Afrigan was the word revealed byAhuraMazda to be spoken at Rapith ivina t ime .

”During the

las t l i ve days of the year the feast was s pread “ i n honour ofthe F ravash is of t he saints, the Amesha Spentas and the hol yC athas and the Gatha Afrigan was rec ited .

T he Gahanbar Afrigan was pronounced s ix t imes during ayear, alway s between the morning hours of s ix and ten.

CHAPT ER I V

l H l' SACR ED L IT E RATU RE b F CON FUC IAN ISM

T m»: work s inc luded in the Canon ofConfuc iani sm are div idedinto two main c las ses . I n the fi rs t c las s are T he F ive King

(c las s ical or canonical ) texts ofpre-eminent authorit y , v i z .I . T he Shu King ; T he Book of h is torical records .i i . T he Shih King ; T he Book of poet ry .

i i i . T he L i Ki ; T he Record of rites .iv . T he Yi King ; T he Book of changes .v . T he Kun Kin ; T he Annal s of Spring andAutumn.

T he H s iao King— the Book of F i l ial P iety— although thefi rst book to be dignified with the tit le King , is not countedin the Canon of the F ive .

l n theSeconddiv i s ionareT he Four Shu, or Records , v ia. 1

i . T he L un Yu ; T he Analects .

i i . T he Work s ofMencius .

i i i . T he T a H s io ; T he G reat L earning .iv . T he Kung Yung ; T he Doctrine of the Mean.

T he original c las s ic s , the Shu, the Sh i, the Yi , and the L i

Ki , have not reached us in their original form . T hey pas sedunder the expurgat ing editorial hand of Confucius (Kung-futsze, i . e. , Kung the Sage ) , 551 -478 H. C who remode l led themaccording to h is own theories of good government and personal v irtue .

T H E F IVE K I NG .

i . Th e Sh u King .

T he Shu King,or Book of H i s torical documents , is prob

abl y the mos t ancient , and certainl y the mos t honoured of

the Chinese T ex ts .I t is os tensibl y based on the records of Court Annal ists,

86

CON E UC IAN ISM

whose ofiicial ex istence dates as far back as the Kau dynasty

( s . e . 1 1 2 2

T radit ion lind s traces of their work as far back as s . e . 2697,but the evidence for their ex is tence between that date andt. . e . 1 1 2 3 i s of the s lenderes t character .During the l iterary rev ival under the H an dynas ty, twenty

nine document s containing, in thirty-li ve books , the Shu

of the modern text,

” were recovered and placed in safety .

Twenty-five or thirty years later the text be long ing to the

famil y of Confucius was unearthed from a hole in the wal l oftheir house ( s . e . 1 40 I t was w r itten in archaic characters, and probabl y dated from the sth century s . e .

T he work contains five col lections of book s or parts :Part i . T he Book of T hang .

Part i i . T he 4 ) Books of Yu.

Part ii i . T he 4 ) Books of H s ia .

Part iv . T he t r Books of Shang .

Part v . T he 30 Book s of Kau.

T hese Book s are composed of records of various ordersand values . T hose worthy ofgreates t regard are the Canons ,then fol low Counse l s, Speeche s , I ns truct ions , Announcements ,and final l y Charges, which rank lowest in popular es teem .

I . Th e B ook of Th a rp — T he Book of T hang is a

work in three chapters, al l of which are devoted to the praiseofYao,

“ the exal ted One.

”T hey extol the perfectness of

his character, the bless ings of his rule, his regulation of thecalendar , and his anxious concern for a worth y succes sor,whom he discovered in Shun .I I . Th e B ook s of Yu .

-Yu - the dynast ic title of thesucces sor of Yao— is the name given to four Book s whichre late to Shun . ( I ) T he Canon of Shun i n s ix chapters tel l sof his v irtues, adminis tration, acts , and death . ( 2 ) T henfol low the pol it ical counsel s of his successor Yu ; and (3)those of Kao Yao, h is m inis ter of crime, in book which isstil l revered as a model for the adminis trat ion of just ice . T he

last book contains the counse l s of Shun ’ s forester , Yi, and hismini ster of agricul ture, Ki .

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CON F UC IAN ISM

Between Book s 9- 1 0 another hiatus occurs , no mentionbeing made of seven k ings who preceded Shau (me . 1 1 541 the las t of the l ine of Shang .

V . Th e B ook s of Ka l b — Kati is the dynas tic tit le ofthe new roya l l ine founded by King Wu, who overthrewShau, and whose house he l d the sovereign power for morethan eight hundred years ( s . e . 1 1 2 2 T radit ion dec lares that in the original Shu the his tory of th i s dynasty wasrecorded in th i rty-eight differen t documents ; ofthese, twentyeight surv ive in the thi rty book s of the col lection .T he fi rs t three book s are given up to T he Great Declara

tion made by W u prior to the war, to a des cript ion of theintolerable wickedness of Shau, and his downfal l .T hi s part of the Shu King contains some of the bes t-known

port ions of the Chinese c las s i cs . T he G reat Plan forms t hefourth book . I t i s a t reati se in nine divisions , embracingques t ions of phys ics, as trology , div ination , moral s, pol it ics,and rel igion. T he fifth part on royal perfection is the heartof the treatise , the four preceding part s show how the royalperfection is to be won , the four fol lowing treat of its maintenance .

T he nine parts are ent it led— i . T he fi ve elements ; 1 1 . T he

five personal matters ; i i i . T he e ight objects of government ;iv . T he fi ve div iders of time ; v . T he es tabl is hment and use

ofRoyal perfection ; vi . T he three v irtues ; v i i . T he examinat ion of doubt s ; v i i i . T he various verifications ; ix . T he five

sources of happines s and s ix sources of suffering . T hese aredistributed into th ree chapters .

An era of mis rule produced certain notable books . T he

Hound s of L ii, Book 5, contains the protest of the G randGuardian agains t the K ing ’ s acceptance of a present of dogsfrom the wild tribes of the West . T he Announcement aboutD runkenness

,Book 1 0 , points out the right use s of spi rits,

but declares that indulgence was the cause of the downfal l ofthe Hsia and Shang dynast ies . A s imi lar protes t againstluxurious case is found in Book 1 5, the seven chapters ofwhich were addressed to K ing Khang by the D uke of Kan.

SACRED L IT ERAT URE

T hree Book s are concerned with L o, the new capital .Book 1 2 t reats of its bui lding ; Book 1 3, of the K ing ’ sres idence in it , and the sacrifices he offered ; Book 1 4 is

addres sed to the higher c las ses of the people , urging them tomake the new city their home .A fresh dynas ty comes to the front with Book 1 8, and the

E s tabl ishment ofGovernment . Book 1 9 s hows how good rulemay be maintained . T h is Book has suffered in transmis sion ,its text i s in disorder, and the s ix chapters are not connected .

T woBook s havebeen l os t between the exis ting Book s , 20-2 1 .

King Khang , the founder of the Kau dynas ty , del iveredthe tes tamentary Charge of Book 2 2 , after a reign of th i rtyseven years ( s . e . 1 1 1 6 H e was succeeded by h is sonKao (s . e . 1 078 Among the Book s concerned withthis dynas ty Book 2 7, containing the Charges and Punishmentprepared by the Marqui s of L ii for his sovereign , King Mii( s . c. is the mos t important . I t is quoted in the L i Kias Yu on Punishment, and received the s tanding of a c las sicalauthority . I t contains , after an introductory chapter, a rev iewof the ant iquit i es of its s ubject (chapters 2 s how s howpunishments may be a boon (chapters 4 point s out theirright use (chapter 6) and extol s the ancient mode l s as worthyof imitat ion (chapterBook 2 9, which treats of mil itary Operat ions agains t the

wild tr ibes of the w ti river, is misplaced . I t belongs tothe reign of Khang , whose Announcement and Charge are

found in chapters 2 - 2 4.

T he B ook s of the Shu King furnish way-mark s of thecourse of Chinese hi s tory . T hat course is pictured as a

s teady dec l ine from the period of the ideal rulers , Yao, Shun,and Yii ( s . c. 2 356 in whose reigns “ no door wass hut at night for fear of thieves . ”

i i . Th e Sh i h King .

T he Shih King , or Book of Poetry, i s one of the numerousexamples which indicate that ancient l iterature took its ri sefrom the communal songs of the people .

CON F UC lAN ISM

T radition explains that each feudal state possessed officialmusic mas ters, who gathered the bes t specimens of localpoetry

, and presented them to the G rand Mus ic Master onthe occas ion ofh is yearl y visi t to each prov ince . T hese localpoems were examined by roya l officers, and the choices t ofthem were prese rved in the Court archives . A memoir ofConfucius, written about s . e . 1 00 , s tates that the number ofthe se old poems amounted to more than three thousand ,

”

and that “ Confucius se lected in al l three hundred and fivepieces , which he sang over to h is lute to bring them intoaccordance with the mus ical sty le of the Shao , the W u, the

Ya, and the Fang . ” T h is s tatement is general l y acceptedby Chinese his torians, but its accuracy is doubtful .T he exi s ting “ Sh i h is a fragment of various col lections

made during the ear l y reigns of the kings of Kau, and addedto at interval s , especial l y on the occurrence of a prosperousreign i i i .T he dates of the poems range over the long era, s . c.

1 766-586 .

T hey have a rich variety of subject and form , and havebeen clas sified (cf. x v i . 457. 1 884) as I dyl s , warsongs

,praise odes, moral pieces , fes tal and sacrificial poems ,

and final l y fragmentary or corrupt verses .

I n the received text (that of Mao the G reat) , the poemsare dis t ributed in four Books .

1 . The Kw o F ang , N ationa l Bal lads or Lessons from theStates, contains one hundred and s ix ty poem s in fifteen book s .

2 . The H riao Ta , L es ser E ulogies or Odes of the K ingdom

, a col lection of s ixty-four songs arranged in eigh t book s ,nominal l y decades .

3. 76: Ta ra, G reater E ul ogies or Major Odes , thirt yone songs in th ree book s, al so nominal l y decades .4 . The Sung , Songs of Homage, or Odes of the T emple

and Altar , a col lect ion of forty odes in th ree book s .I . Th e Kwo F ang contains fifteen books . A spi rit of

feudal s impl icity marks most of the pieces .

Some of them are of a purel y personal character, cg . bridal

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CON F UC IAN ISM

T hey celebrate his virtues , dec lare his div ine appointment , relate the r ise of his house, rejoice over the di vinefavour given to h is dynas ty , and are lav ish in the ir praises ofhis person.

T ogether with the F i rs t Decade , the fi rs t eight odes of theSecond Decade cons titute what are known as the Correctodes . T hose that fol low belong to a different and a degenerate period , and are cal led the Changed major odes .T he Correct odes bring us down to the t ime of Khang, thesucces sor ofWu the las t of them Decade 2 , ode 8) being anaddress to Khang by the Duke of Shao . T hey sus tain thejubi lant note throughout .T here is an interval of about two hundred years between

the happy condition refl ected in the Correct odes and themise ries of which the Changed odes speak . T he fi rs t of theChanged odes (Decade 2 , ode is a cal l for reformat ion ,directedagainst the misgovernment of King L i s . e . 878

T he las t poem of thi s book lament s the prevai l i ng misery ofthe time in which it was sung .

T his melanchol y sub'

ct forms the subs tance of the ear lypieces of T he T ang . l:the second poem the D uke W u of

Wei counse l s h imself to preserve h is personal vi rtue .T he remainder of this Decade (odes 4- 1 deal s with the

fol lowing reign , that of H s iian (B . c. 82 7 whose appealto the gods , on the occas ion of a drought in s . e . 82 2 , formsthe fourth ode . T hree odes celebrat ing h is minis ters are

succeeded by a poem on a mil itary expedition undertakenagains t the southern tribe s of the province of Hwai . T he

book end s on the note of lamentation.

I v . Th e Sung — T he fourth d iv is ion of the Shih K ingis ent itl ed T he Sung , and contains th irty- s ix poem s connectedwith the ances t ral wm ship of the sovereigns of the Shang andKau dynas ties , to w h ich four odes in praise of certain Mar

quises of L ii are attached .

T here are five pieces under the tit le of the Sacrificial odesof Shang . T wo of them deal with the Mus ic, t he Spiri ts ,the Offer ings, and the Reverence suitable for the royal sacri'

SACRED L IT ERAT URE

fice. T he others are songs in honour of royal personages ,thei r relati ves , and great offi cers .T he Sacrific ial Odes of Kau, th i rty-one in number, are

gathered into three book s , of which the fi rs t contains excel lentexamples of the true spirit of ances tor worship .T he hymns of the Second Decade refer mainl y to

nature and agricul ture . In the third book the sentiments ofKing Khang, uttered in the temple devoted to the memoryof h is father, King Wu , form the subject matter of threeodes , a fourth being concerned with the king

’

s confes s ion of

pas t error .T he las t four h mm are celebrations of the four great

sovereign s of the lZau dynas ty . T wo odes in this book are

especial l y interes ting , the fifth , a ploughing song written forthe end of the winter, and the s i xth , a harvest song addressedto the s irits of the land and the grain. Such songs refl ectearl y v i lage l ife, and make it pos s ible for the modern readerto conjure up a picture of the conditions of the people,1 400

- 1 1 00 s . e .

T he las t div is ion of the Sung is entit led T he Praise Odesof L u. I t contains four poetical tributes to the exce l lence ofcertain worthy Marqui se s whose good work s won them passingfame.

i i i . Th e L i Ki .

In T he L i Ki , the mos t important l iterature on the important subject of Ceremonial is gathered together . I t is a

col lection made by the s cholars of the H an dynas ty, express

ing the i r conceptions of the forms of worship and sacrifi ces,and regis tering the h ighes t point in the evolution of ceremonywhich had been going on from the earl ies t t imes . I f thereader keeps before his mind the fact that he is deal ing witha l ate s ys temat ic work , compi led under authority, and wi ththe purpose of s tereotyping ceremonial usages , he wil l findthat more may be learned about the re l igion of the ancientChinese fro m thi s c lass ic , than from all the Others together . ”

I t is “ the most exact and complete monograph which the

CON F UC IAN ISM

Chinese nation has been able to g ive of itself to the res t of thewor ld ,

”for it is in ceremonial that the soul of the Chinese

expres ses its rel igious sent iment .T he word L i may mean R ite, Ceremon E t iquette,

Courtes y, Form , Duty, R ight , U sage , etc. he word K imeans recording things one by one .

”Each of the forty

s ix books is a Ki , a record . T hey form a unity , because theof each is L i .col lect ion is the resul t of much l iterary activity .

K ing Wan ordered the Royal Ordinances to be col lated .n. c. 1 64 .

K ing H s ien , of the same l ine , col lected one hund red andth i rty-one treati ses composed by the second generation of

Confucian dis ciples , and these formed the nucleus of the

exist ing work . A literary Catalogue, of n. c. 26, mentionsone hundred and ninety-nine L i records . T hese werediges ted , by the s cholar T a T ai, into eighty-five treat ises .A second recens ion by a later editor reduced the K i to fort ys ix , i n which form the C lass ic has descended to us .Ch inese ceremonial is comprised under fi ve categories , v i z. ,

i . T hat which is Auspicious , ( .g . sacrifices ; i i . T hat whichi s i naus picious , e.g . mourning and degradation ; i i i . Hospita l it y, which inc ludes the payment of taxes and one

'

s appearance at Court ; iv . War, with its accompaniments ofweapons ,char iots , banners , etc. ; v . Fes ti vi ty, embracing the serv iceof others, reverence , the giv ing of pre sents , and marriage .

Al l these matters , down to the ir veries t detai l , are deal twith in the L i Ki , in proverbs, maxims , his tories , ques tions ,t reat i ses , mi scel laneous records , reported conversat ions , book sof rules , ex planat ion s , moral instruction s , etc etc.

In the firs t Book an accurate summary of the rules of

ceremonial i s given. D r. L egge cons iders it to be a trans cription of the Khu L i, one of the three R itual s which havecirculated as authori tative in China. I t deal s with a mas s ofsubjects , ranging from the dut ies of youths to their elders

,

parents and teachers , to revenge, national defence, the behaviour of k ing s , the conduct of sacrifice and of div inat ion .

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CON F UCIAN ISM

Of al mos t equal importance for the study of Confucianismis Book 39, another genuine monument of the Sage'steaching, transmitted to posterity by another grandson ,Khung K i .T he record of Studies (Book I 6 approaches these two

books most near l y in importance an interes t . I t t reat s ofeducat ion as it was ins tituted by the ear l y sovereigns, and

lays down the laws to be observed by teachers and learners .T h roughout the rather bewildering mas s of subject s with

which the L i K i is concerned, the main principle of ceremonial rites is cons i stent l y taught : “ Al l rites are uselesswithout truth and reverence . ” Humanity is R ight, theembodiment of i t i s Deferent ial consideration .

IV . Th e VI King .

T he Vi K ing , or Book of Changes, i s a work connectedwith the practice of divination .T he names of three Vi occur in Chinese l iterature . One

i s mentioned as the L ien-shah ; another as the Kwei-tshang,and the third the L i of Kau, the original of the exist ingtex t . N othing is known of the other two ; they exist onl yas names . But the text of the L i of Kau i s quoted inl iterature as ear l y as s . e . 672 -564, and in some form probablyexisted centuries ear l ier .T he div iner’ s art was carried on by means of the mark s on

a tortoise shel l , with the help of forty -nine s ta l k s of thePtarmica Sibirica plant . Each stalk was manipulated threetimes . T hey are laid on Oppo s ite s ides , and placed one upone down to make sure of their numbers , and the changesare gone through wi th in this way t i l l they form the figurespertaining to heaven and earth ” (Yi, Append . 5, sect . r,

r . 6 spa

T l . e)diagrams of the Yi exhibit “ the s pirit-l ike and in

tel ligent operations in nature (Appendix 3, sect . 2 , par. 1 r)in a manner exact and wise,

”as compared with the ver

satile and spi r it- l ike qual it y of the stalks .

SACRED L l T E RATU RE

According to a t radition— written c. s . e . 450— the basesof the Yi King figures were trigrams symbol is ing nature .

T he names of the trigrams were heaven, water, fi re, wind ,rain, s t reams , a mountain, and earth . T hey served to determine the good and ev i l ( i s sue of event s ) , and from this determinat ion there en sued the great busines s of l ife. (Appendix3, sect . r, pars .

T he elaboration of the primit ive trigrams into the hexagrams of the Yi King is ascribed to King W

'

an, founder of theKau dynasty . Imprisoned by the tyrant Shan (c. s . e .

Wan turned to the work of Pao-h s i, the mo s t ancient personin Chinese hi s tory , and bui l t up from h is eight three- l inedfigures , the figures of the C las s ic, and wrote for each fi gure a

brief explanatory paragraph (T hwan) .With this brief manual of div ination as a foundat ion,

T ao,the son ofWan, produced the present text . H e wrote foreach l ine a lengthy interpretation, as h is father had writtenbriefl y for each fig ure.

T rad ition dates the Yi King in “ the midd le period of

antiqui ty,”i . r . about the end of the twelfth century s . c.

T he Yi cons i s ts of s ix ty-four l ineal figures of s ix l ineseach, accompanied by an explanation of each figure by KingWan, and a further es say of explanat ion for each l ine byTao h is son. T o these s ixty-four chapters were added T en

Appendices .T he text is d iv ided into two Sections , of which the fi rs t

contains thirty, and the second thirty-four chapters .

E ach chapter i s complete in itse lf and each fi gure mus t beinterpreted by itse lf. T he oth ma be taken as an i l lus t ration. T he Hexagram is the H s ifio K

yhu, which means smal l

restraint I ts arrangement rs King Wan’

s

note is to the effect that H s iao Khu i nd icates that therewil l be progres s and success . D ense c louds but no raincoming from our borders in the wes t . ” T ao ’ s remark sare as fol lows

CON F UC IAN ISM

i . T he firs t l ine und ivided show s its subject returning andpursuing h isow n course . What m is take shal l he fal l into? There w i l l be goodfortune .

i i . The second l ine und ivided show s its subject , by the attract ion ,returning . There w i l l be good fortune .

i ii . T he th i rd l ine und iv ided s ugges ts the idea of a carriage, the s trapbeneath wh ich has been removed , or of a husband and w ife look ing on

each other w ith averted eyes .iv . T he fourth l ine divided s how s i ts subject pos sessed of s incerity.

The danger of blood shed is thereby averted and h is apprehens ion dis

m is sed . There w i l l be no m is tak e.

v. T he fi fth l ine und iv ided show s its subject pos ses sed of s incerity, anddraw ing others to un ite w ith them . R ich in resources , he emp loys h isneighbours .

v i . T he topmos t l ine und iv ided s how s how the ra in has fal len , andthe (progress ) is s tayed , (so) mus t w e va lue the ful l accumulat ion of the

v irtue (of the upper trigram ) .

I n a simi lar way the Yi deal s with such subjects as command , subordination , st ruggle, inexperience, waiting , contention, union , what is hazardous , a want of good understandingbetween men, the union ofmen, prosperity , humil ity, service,contemplation, adorning, fal l ing , simpl ic ity , etc etc .Th e Ten Appendices .

- T he ten treatise s which fol lowthe text of the Yi King are ascr ibed by all orthodoxauthorities to Confucius . T his judgment is not sustained byfacts . A ndices th ree and four are s pecial l y attributed toKhien . {fine of the others bears the superscription of Confucina, and the frequent use of the d is ciples ’ phrase, “ theMas ter said ,

” makes it impossible for us to give credit to thetraditional assumpt ion .A s their name sugges ts, T he T en Appendices supply

additional guidance for the unders tanding of the Yi . T heircontents are briefl y as fol lowsAppendices i -z deal s with K ing Wan's explanat ions of

the entire hexagram s ; e.g . the section devoted to the othhexagram (p . 98 ) says

i . “ I n H s iao Khu the weak ( d ivided ) l ine occup ies its proper pos it ionand ( the l ines ) above and below res pond to it . Hence comes the

name .

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CON F UC I AN ISM

v . Th e Kun Kin .

T he Kun Kin— Annal s of Spring and Autumn— is theonl y original contribution made by Confucius to the F iveKing . And it is the onl y original work which can be rightl yascribed to the Sage . O ther book s have been associatedwith his name by tradit ion, but crit icism has properl y disputedhis tit le in every case . I n the Annal s , however, what waswritten he wrote, what was erased was erased by him .

”

And he prophesied— wrongl y as events have shown— thatposteri tv would judge h is character and teaching by thebook .

T he work is absolutel y lacking in l iterary grace and

his torical value . I t i s an annal is t ic supplement to the ShuK ing , regis tering event s in the State of L u from 72 2 to 48!s . e. T he fol lowing is a typical portion

I . I n the fifteenth year, in spring , the Duke w ent to T se .

2 .

“ A body of men from T su invade d Su .

"

3. I n the th ird month , the D uke had a mee t ing w ith the Marqu is

of T se and others , w hen they m ade. a covenant. ”

4. K ing s un Gau led a force and w ith the great offi cers of the otherprinces endeavoured to rt l ieve Su .

"

5. I n the summer in the fifth month the sun w as ecl ipsed .

6 .

“ I n autumn in the s eventh month an army of T se and an army of

T su invaded L i . "

7 . l n the e igh th month there w ere locus t s .

T H E H SI AO K I N G .

T i ts H s iao King or Book of F i l ial Piet y , i s a late work ,based upon conversations between Confucius and T sang- ts ze ,a disciple . T radition describes it as the work of disciples ofT sang- taze, who c las s ified the report s of Confucius

’

sayings asthey were repeated to them . T he l iterary his tory of thework i s s omewhat obscure . References to a work on F il ia lpiety exis t within a century of Confucius ’ death . In n. c.

407 a col lect ion of chapters on the subject had attai nedc lass ical rank , and was honoured by a commentary from the

pen of the Marquis W i n. T he tit les of the chapters, however, are not found earl ier than 7 i 3 AU ) .

SACRED L I T ERAT URE

T he critic ism of the c lass ic dates from A . D . 1 1 86, whenKu H s i, a Court minister, sugges ted that the quotations inthe book were late additions . H e divided the text into twoparts : i . A clas s ical chapter (combining chapters 1 and

i i . fourteen chapters of later commentary and i l lus tration .Ku H s i right l y at tributed the clas s ical chapters to Confucius ,the main part of the rest of the book to the school of T sangts ze, and the remainder to the scholars of the H an dynasty

( s . e .

After an introductory chapter on the N ature of F i l ialpiety, in wh ich thi s v irtue is described as the root of benevolence, righteousnes s , propriety, knowledge, and fidel it y,the sage sets out s ys tematical l y the form s it takes in the fi vegreat sect ions of society .F i l ial piety in the Sovereign displays i t self as a pattern to

al l within the four seas . I t is l ove and honour to parents .

In the Princes of States i t is to preserve the al tars of theland and grain, and to secure harmony among their peopleand offi cers .

”

I n High Minis ters and G reat Ofiicers i t does not permitthem to wear long robes or speak other than al lowableword s or do exceptional acts .

”

In Inferior O ffi cers i t shows itse lf in love and reverenceto the i r rulers as to morher and father . ”

By i t the Common people obey the seasons , observe thesoil , and are careful of conduct and expenditure . ”

T he sub-Confucian chapters extend this c las s ificat ion and

show the v i rtue in relation to the th ree powers of Heaven,E arth , and Man.

“ I t i s the method of H eaven, therighteousnes s of E arth , the duty ofMan.

”I n Government

it secures that no dis res pect shal l be shown to minis ters ofsmal l s tates , to widowers , widows, s laves

,or concubines ;

hence real is ing harmony and prosperity . By it the Sagescarried on thei r ideal reigns (chapters 8T he Acts of Fil ial iety are enumerated (chapter

and it is s hown in its relationships with T he F i ve Punishments (chapter Reproof and Remonst rance (chapter

CON F UC IAN I SM

chapters 1 2 . 1 3, 1 4 ampl ify chapter 1 and explainF i l ial piety as T he Al l-embracing rule of Conduct , “ reverence to the few and pleasure to the many,

”as the Perfect

Virtue, and as mak ing our name famous . I ts influenceregulates the relations of government , wins response fromheaven and earth , reaches even “ to spiritua l intel l igencesand diffuses thei r l ight , so that they penetrate everywhere. "

I t control s the superior man’

s serv ice to h is ruler (chapterand regulates the crowning expres s ion of love— mourning

for parents .

TH L FOUR SH U .

i . Th e Lun Yu .

T H!fi rst of the Four Books— the scriptures of the secondqual it y among the fol lowers of Confucius - is the L un Yu,universal l y known as T he Analect s , a work of memorabi l iagathered by devoted di sciples of the sage after his death .

I t is an al together unsys temat ic work .

I t exis ted in two recens ions,one from the State of L u

in twenty book s , the Othe r from the State of K i in twentybook s , with two book s as an Appendix .

I n al l probabi l i ty the work is based on firs t-hand tradition ,gathered and written down by dis ciples of the secondgeneration.

T he mos t l ikel y date i s about the end of the fifth or thebeginning of the fourth century D. C .

T he twenty chapters are mainl y concerned with the personand character of Confucius , h is sayings , and h is dis ciples .T he picture of the Sage, which is given in his word s con

cerning himse lf, is part of the mos t valuable material in the

A s a transmitter and not an originator, and as one whobe l ieved in and loved the ancients ,

” he compared himselfwitha certain P ’

ang . He was a quiet brooder and memoriser,a s tudent never sat i s fied with learning , an unwearied monitorof others .

”H is great heav iness was h is fai lure to improve

in the virtues,fai lure to di scus s what was learnt , inabi l ity to

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CON F UC IAN ISM

his work s had won both fame and authority . L ater teferences speak of other four now lost book s, vi z. 1 . A discus s ion of the goodness ofman ’ s nature ; a. An explanat ionof terms ; 3. A work on F il ial Piety ; 4. On the Practice ofGovernment .T he Seven exist ing books arei . K ing Hui of L iang ; in chapters and sentences ; con

taining Part 1 , 7 chapters . Part 2 , 1 6 chapters .

1 1 . Kung-sun Kau ; in chapters and sentences ; Part 1 ,9 cha

&ers . Part 3 , 1 4 chapter s .

iii . Duke an of T ang ; Part 1 , 5 chapters . Part 2 ,1 0 chapters .

T he remaining book s are sometimes (uncri ti cal l y )“

al led

the Second or L ower Parts of the Works ofMencius .i v . T he L i Lau ; Part 1 , 2 8 chapters . Part 2 ,

33 chapters .v . Wan Kang ; Part 1 , 9 chapters . Part 2 , 9 chapters .vi . KaoT aze ; Part 1 , 20 chapters . Part 2 , 1 5chapters .vii . T sin Sin (or Kin H sin) ; Part 1 , 46 chapters .

Part 2 , 38 chapters .

I . King Ha l of L ing derives its tit le from the rulerwho inquired of Mang by what means he might profi t hisk ingdom . T he Sage objected to the idea of profit, and

ex unded the ideal of government .he Second Part deal s with King Hsuan of K i, to whom

Mang show s that a people ’ s d iscontent is the resul t of theruler ’ s selfishness .I I . Th e Kung -s un Kan contains Mang ’ s answer to a

disciple, who asked what the Sage would do if he occupieda ruler’ s place . His repl y i s that he would he himself. Hehad attained an unperturbed mind , and would choose h is ownway . T his leads to instruction as to how such a mind isattained , to a judgment of the e rrors of Kao, and a description of Mang’ s way as a fol lower of Confucius . T henfol low a di st inction between the subjection that i s accomplished by force, and that which is attained by vi rtue, a

c riticism of the existing government and praises of goodness .

SACRED L I T ERAT URE

m. Th e Duk e Warnof Tong a—T h is Book is comparedby the commentator with chap . 1 ; of the Analects . I t contains an example ofMang ’ s favourite doctrine— the nature ofman is es sential l y good . Duke W an sought h is counse l onthe death of h is father , and recei ved the adv ice that a rulers hould attend to h is people’ s affai rs .

The Second part of the book gives his conception of a

great man

To dw e l l in the w ide house of the worl d , to s tand in the correctplace, to walk in the great path w hen he at ta ins h is des ire to pract iseh is principles for the good of the people, and w hen that des ire is disappointed to pract ise them a lone ; to be above the pow er of riches and

honours to make h im d is s ipated , of poverty and mean cond it ion tom akeh im s werve from principle, and of pow er and force to m ake h im bendthese characteris t ics cons t itute the grea t man .

"

Iv . Th e L I La y ,the firs t book in the so-cal led Second

Part of the Works, derived its name from a celebrated ancient,pos ses sed of remarkable powers of s igh t .T he s ubject is good government . A ruler mus t be active

as we l l as v irtuous , for good law s are not se lf-acting . L et

h im fi rst know himself,for the indiv idual is the root of the

famil y, the s tate, the k ingdom . T he book contains manycomparisons and contras ts between the people and the ruler .A good ruler mean s a happy people, a los t people i s a los tthrone ; as the eye is the heart

’

s index , so are deeds s igns ofinward goodne s s .

T hese subjec t s are cont inued in the second part , whichs hows that t ime and place do not al ter good principles .

V . Wan Kong is a record of various discus s ions aboutShun and other worthies , wi th Wan Kang as chief questioner .Mang extol led Shun’ s sorrow at h is parent ’ s want of affect ion,h i s righteousnes s in break ing common rul es, his treatment ofh is evi l brother, and his conduct toward s h i s k ing , and on hise lection to the throne . T he rest of the book consist s in themain of v indicat ions of l Yin, Confucius , and Pai- l i .T he second part contains mi sce l laneous teaching on dignities

CON F UC IAN ISM

and rewards,friendsh ip, office, etiquette for s cholars, and the

duties of ministers .VI . Kat) Ts ze.

— T he philosopher Kao engaged Mangin a discuss ion on the real character of human nature in itsrelations to good and ev i l . I t was by h is pecul iar doctrineof the goodness of human nature that Mang attained h is highplace as a teacher . T he fi rs t part of the book contains a

dialogue in which the doctrine that man’ s nature tend s togoodness ” i s expounded . Al l men are the same in mind,but inborn goodnes s is weakened in some for lack of nurture,and by neglect of the nobi l ity of heaven .T he second part i s taken up with practical les son s and

examples .VI I . Ts in S in, i . e. the exhaus t ing of al l the mental con

s titution, i s, for the greater part , a col lection of brief enigmatical sentences , supposed to convey Mang ’s v iews on humannature T radition says that it was written during the phi losopher s old age ; that, after he had completed the previoussix books, th is grew up under h is penci l just as he wasmoved to write . ” T he tradition find s some just ification inthe utter abs ence of arrangement .T he pith of the matter is in chapter i . By the s tudy of

oursel ves we come to a knowledge of heaven, and heaven isserved by our obedience to our true nature .

”T he remaining

chapters ampl ify and i l lus trate the contents of th is doctrine .T he Second part opens wi th a condemnation of K ing H ui ,

of L iang , who sacrificed his people and h is son to ambition.

I t contains some emphatic dicta“ I t woul d be bet ter to be w i thout the Book of H is tory than to g ive

ent ire cred it to it .

”You may he lp a m an

, you cannot make h imable .

” “ T he t imes w i l l not corrupt the v irtuous . A sage is the

teacher of a hundred generat ions .” “ Bene ttolence is man .

"U se

keeps the w ays of the m ind clear .

’ “Good words are s imple w ordsw ith far-reach ing mean ings . T o nouris h the m ind there is noth ingbetter than to make the des ires few .

"

T hroughout T he Seven Books ofMencius , quotations fromthe Book of Poetry (Shih K ing ) , are frequent l y used as

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CON F UC IAN ISM

ning to know what is fi rst and what is las t wi l l lead near tothe teaching of the G reat L earning .

Paragraphs 4-7 i l lus t rate these maxim s by the actions oftheancients, with part iculars .i i i . A concl uding note by Ku H s i

“ T he preced ing chapter of Clas s ical text is in the word s of Con

fucius , handed dow n by the ph i losopher Tsang . T he ten chapters of

exp lanat ion w h ich fol low , conta in the v iew s ofT s ang, andwere recordedby h is d i scip les . ”

i v . T he Commentary of the phi losopher T sang in tenchapters ; but from the end of the chapter of C las s ical text tothe s ixth chapter of the Commentary, there are onl y a fewdisarranged fragments .T he nature of the Commentary wi l l be seen from the

notes on mak ing the thoughts s incere (chap .What is meant is the a l low ing no decept ion, as we hate s badsme l l,

and w e love w hat is beaut ifu l . Th is is cal le d se lf-enjoyment . Therefore the superior man mus t be w atch fu l over h im se lf w hen he is a lone .

There is no ev i l to w h ich the m ean man dwe l l ing ret ired w il l notprocee d , but w hen he sees a superior m an be ins tant ly tries to d isgu iseh im se l f, conceal ing h is ev i l and d isplay ing what i s good . T he other hehol ds h im as if he saw h is heart. Of what use ( is the d isguise ) ? Th isi s an ins tance of the saying ,

‘What tru ly is w ith in w . l l be s hown w i thout .

’ Therefore the superior m an m us t be w atchful over h ims el f when

he is a lone.

”

iv . The Doctrine of Th e Mean .

T his work const itutes the th i rt y-firs t chapter of the L i Ki .I t has , however, a quite independent character . Crediblet radition ascribes it to T s ze-s s e , the grand son ofConfuc ius .T he present text— edited by Ku H s i— is in thirty-th ree

chapters ; tradit ion says that the work original l y cons isted of

forty-nine p ’ ien. According to the philosopher Khang , itfir s t speak s of one principle, it nex t spreads this out, “ and

embraces al l th ings, final l y it returns and gathers them upunder one principle . ” T he book is composed ofi . T he T it le, variousl y trans lated as T he Doctrine of the

Mean, T he State ofEqui l ibrium or Harmony, T he ConstantMedium .

SACRED L ITERATURE

i t. An I ntroductory note by Ku H s i

Th is work contains the law of the m ind , as it was handeddovi n fromone to another in the Confucian school, t i l l Tu e-s ac, fearing les t incourse of t ime errors s hou ld arise about it, comm itted it to writ ing, andde l ivered it to Mencius . T he re l ish of it is inexhaus t ible. T hew hole of it is sol id learningi i i . T he T ext, dis tributed into F ive part sPart 1 , containing chapter 1What heaven has conferred is ca l led the nature, an accordance w ith

th is nature is ca l led the Path , the regu lat ion of th is Path is cal led l ns truct ion. When there are no s t irring s of p leasure, anger, sorrow ,

or

joy, the m ind may be said to be in the s tate of Equil ibrium . When thesefeel ings have been s t irred, and they act in the ir due degree, thereensues w hat may be cal led the s tate of harmony. Th is Equi l ibrium is

the great root, and th is harmony is the universa l Path .

"

Part 3 contains chapters 2 - 1 1 . T he chapters 2-9 containsayings of Confucius .In chapter 1 0, T sze-lu engages the Mas ter in a discuss ion

about energy .Part 3, chapters 1 2 - 20 . T he twelfth cha er contains

words of T s ze-sze in i l l ustration of chap. 1 . he fol lowingchapters contain i l lustrative sayings of the Master .Part 4 embraces chapters 2 1 -33 . I t opens with a dictum

of T s ze-szeWhen we have inte l l igence resul t ing from s incerity, this cond it ion

is to be ascribed to nature .

When w e have s incerity result ing from intel l igence, th is condit ionis to be ascribed to ins truct ion . But g iven the s incerity, and there shal lbe intel l igence, g iven the inte l l igence, and there shal l be the s incerity .

"

I n chapters 2 2 - 2 7T s ze-sze enlarges upon and explains thisprinciple . Songs of Confucius are given in chaps . 2 8-29,and an extended panegyric on the sage occupies the last threechapters .Part 5 consis ts of the final chapter 33, which teaches that

the superior man conceal s his vi rtue .“ T he doings of heaven have ne ither sound or smel l Tha t is perfect

v irtue .

"

i v . A note by Ku-Hsi describing the last chapter .

CHAPT E R V

T"!SACRED L ITERATURE 0 ? TH!H EBR EWS

T it s Hebrew Canon , commonl y known as T he Old'

l°

estament , contains twenty-four books in three groups .

i . T it s L aw containsGenes is , Exodus, L evit icus ,N umbers, Deuteronomy .

ti . T i ts Paom s‘

r s— (a ) T he Former Prophets, viz . ,Samuel , K ings .

(6) T he L atter Prophets , v iz . , I saiah ,jeremiah , E zek iel , and the

twe l ve Minor Prophets .i i i . T u: W am uc s , d iv ided in three sect ions

(a) Psalms, Proverbs , Job .

(6) T he Rol l s , viz . , Canticles , Ruth ,L amentat ions, E cc lesias tes ,E sther .

(c) Daniel , E zra, N ehemiah ,Chronicles .

T he greater part of the Old T es tament is in Hebrew, themain exceptions be ing the A ramaic passages (E zra

Jeremiah Danie l 2 4A s tudy of the fi rst six book s shows that they form a

l i terary whole . T radition has al ways regarded the Pentateuch— the fi rst five books— as a unity ; modern crit icism showsthat the ties which l ink the Pentateuch extend to and embraceJoshua al so .

T hree main streams of tradition fl ow through the Hexateuch . T hey are “ distingui shable by the many repetit ions,the frequent discrepancies and i nconsistencies, the want ofcontinuity and order in the narrative, and by differences of

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2 7 1 34 6

1 31 1 7 1 2 ; -h a 32

I!)zzh zu

I “

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H E BREW S

t ions of t he t ime of the Second Temp le, and surv ives as thel i tera ry monument of the Hebrew pries thood .

Th i s Code ( L ev i t icus 1 7 usual ly known as the Lawof Hol ines s , is d i s t ingui s hed by the ad vanced t hought tha thol ines s , moral as wel l as ceremonia l , w as character is t ic of

Jehovah and I s rae l . I ts variou s ord inances originated i n anage ear l ier than that in w h ich they were cod ified and ed ited .

They have been modified so as to agree with the remarkabler itua l i n wh ich they s tand .

That r i tua l cover s the whole of Lev i t icu s , and the h i s torica lnarrat ive prepared for it s setting may be traced in s cat teredport ions over a large part of t he O ld Tes tament . Thenar rat ive i s s ys temat ic , abs t ract , s tat i s t ical , r ich in chronological detai l and genea logies . I t is the outcome of therel igious movement wh ic h began in Baby lon among the ex i les ,and at tained comp letenes s i n E zra ’ s re f o rms . Th i s e lementof the Hex ateuch i s symbo l i sed as P .

T he accompany ing T ab le g ives in brief the ma in res ults of the

crit icism of the Hexateuch . T he m inut ia: ot editoria l work are not

noted . Read from Left to R igh t the T ab le show s the succes s ive s tratain each book . R ead from T op to Bottom it g ives the more or les sorig inal sources as cons ecut i ve w holes .

Th e Book s of th e Hexateuch .

t l t i I .— I n its present form the Book of Genesi s , theHebrew t i t le of which i s “ i n the beginni ng,” is an art is t i cuni ty , and dea l s with the beginning s of h is tor y— the c reat ionof the wor ld , a genera l del uge , and the eart h ’ s repopula t ion(chaps . l - l t ) and with the s tor ies of I s rae l

’ s th ree pa tr iarchs,

Abram , I saac , and Jacob (chaps . 1 2The na rrat ives of both these histor ies are ar ranged in an

ed i toria l framework bu i l t of ten tables of genea l ogy . Thesetables are i ntroduced by the formu la, These are the generat ions of” (ff. 2 4, 69 , ro

‘, I t

”, i 1

27, 36

'

Genes i s is the repos i tory of ear l y Hebrew legend . I ts s toriesbe long to the genera l stock of Semit ic t rad i t ion . To d i s

H

SACR E D L ITE RATURE

t inguish what is h is tor ica l from the mvthical and legendar ye lement s is a lmos t impos s ible .

l in de n— The hi s tor y of I s rael is cont inued th roughoutthe l look of Exodu s , t he per iod covered being that from thedeath of Joseph

,who sett led the H ebrews in l i gypt, to t he

erection of the Tabe rnac le in the W i ldernes s atter t hei remancip i tion. The Book d iv ides i nto three main sect ion s ;i . chaps . l i i . chaps .

- 1 8 ; i i i . chaps . 1 9-

40 .

I n s ection i i i . four of the ear l ie s t codes of H ebrew legis lat ion are found— t he L aw of t he T en Word s t heDecalogue The Book of the Covenant ( 2 0 2 22 2

“ l”, 2 3

' the Book of judgments (a tl i xodus contains th ree d ifferen t record s of t he period i t

cover s , so i nfl uenced by the writer s ’ own t imes and ci rcums tances, that much of the mater ial “ requires carefu l s i ttingbefore it can be regarded as h i s tor y .

Lw il icm .—T he Book of L ev i t i cu s contain s a more or less

ideal s ketch of the legi s la tive organi sat ion of ear l y I s rae l .T he product of a Pr ies t l y s chool of writer s (ac. 540

i t re llects a late ecc les ias t ica l ambit ion rather t han a primit iveh i s tor y . The origina l tex t was worked over by writer s of

the t ime of the de s t ruct ion of the Temple, a second t ime afterthe res torat ion, and final l y by a succes s ion of s cribes who gavethe book its present form .

F our div i s ions are read i l y not i ced — i . The L aw of Sac r il i ce ( chaps . r- 7 ) containing a manual for wors hippers ( 1 —67)anda manua l for pries t s (6

3- 7) i i . The Law of the Consecra

t ionof the Pr ies thood (chaps . 8 i i i . The L aw ofC leanandU nc lean (chap s . r l - t 5) with an append ix (chap . iv . TheL aw of Hol ine s s (chaps . 1 7- 2 6) with an ap ndix ( chap .

The nuc leus of the book is the Law of ol ines s .

N umbrrr. —The repeated numberings of the t ribeshave given to the book which notes them its t it le . Numbersrecord s the march of e vent s during— i . The E ncam mentat Sinai (chaps . t The W ander ing in the i lder

nes s ( chaps . 1 0”- 1 9) i i i . The Ha l t in Moab (chaps .

20

HE B REW S

Th is h istory was produced from fragments the various datesof which range from 850 s . c.

-450 s . e. The resu l tant

pi cture is nevertheles s on the whole re l iable .Deuteronomy con tain s t he trad i t ions of the las t word s of

Moses and is k nown in Hebrew as These are the W ord s "or “The Words .

" The his torica l s i t uat ion is the same asthat des cr ibed i n the latter pa rt ofNumbers .The plan correspond s to the I nt roduct ion (chapter s

The ma in part cons is t s of th ree d is coursesi . chapters 1

6-

443 i i . chapters 4

4 -2 8 ; i i i . chapter s29

-

30 . To th i s main mas s is added a misce l laneouscol lect ion of pieces, v iz . , Moses

’

F a rewe l l theDel iver y of the Law the Commis s ion to Joshua

3 Song (3 1 3° a B les s ingand an account of t he Death 0 MosesThe l iterary h i s tory of Deuteronomy is thus excel lent l y

summar ised . Some l i tt le t ime after t he kerne l 5- 26, 2 8 )was composed , i t was en larged by a second writer ,” whoadded pas sages of his own,

“ excerpts from JE , the Songwi th its se t t ing F ina l ly, at a st i l l

later date the whole thus con s t i tuted was brough t forma l l yin to rela tion with t he l i terary framework of the Hexa teuchas a whole, by the add it ion of the ex tract s from P .

”(D ri ver ,

Daub , p . l xx v i i . )Jarban.

—The Book of Jos hua conta i ns the ear l y h is tory ofI s rael , during the period i n wh ich the t ribes , more or l es seffectua l l y , conquered W estern Pa les t i ne (chapters l - l z ) ,d iv ided the land (chapters 1 3 and sufl

'

ered Jos hua ’ sguidance on controverted point s ( chapter s 2 2An inves tigat ion of the material of the Book shows tha t

two d ifferent concept ions of the Conques t l ie s ide by side .The later v iew, common to D and P , s upposes a completev i ctor y over a l l t he inhabi tants , by a united I s rae l commandedby Joshua . The earl ier s tory, J and B , shows the Conuest to ha ve been gradua l and pa rt ia l , and due to the individua l efforts of the different t r ibes .The Book , not completed unti l perhaps the th i rd century

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HE BREWS

E arlier Sed rom .— I . 9

' 1 3W “

; S3

o s w b'6 l 4 J]

,l RS ' I 20 30

, zol0 l 50; 42

2 2l 4d 1- l flls zo-2J

; 2 3' I QQ

; 2 6 , 3 7, 2 9-

3 1 .

l' ‘0 l o’ s l 7

' 27 ;l Ob s l 1 ‘33 ; 3, 4’

6, 94 I , 1 2

1 4 1 . 1 3 1 1; l 3

l~

20l ' 2 2

.

L tfff r Srctiom .— l . 2

" i t 1 2 ,

| 52

_u; i 7

1 -1 1 . 1 1 5h I t“s . 1 3 1 1 1; | 9

1 . s“

Comps/era, 1 0 1 1'

2 01 1 1 7. so sa ; 2 2

1 u

l l .I ) . I . 4

I I .

The remainder , inc l ud ing the Append i x ( I I . con

si s t s of edi tor ia l addttions .

King : I and 1 1 .— The s tory of I s rae l ' s fortune s from the

nominat ion of King Dav id ’

s s ucces sor to the yea r 562 s . e . , is

to ld i n K ings, original l y a united work . The l ife and reign ofSolomon occupy I , chapter s 1 - 1 1 . The paral le l h is tor y ofthed iv ided k ingdoms , I srael and Judah , cover s I , chapter s 1 2

I I , cha pters 1 - 1 7 . The h i s tory ofJudah , I I , chapters 1 8-2 5,completes the work .

The authorit ies upon wh ich the h i s tory depend s are specifica l l y ment ioned (tag . I , chap . 1 chap . chap .

Thi s materia l is on the whole re l iab le, and Ki ng s takes fir s trank among the h i s tor ica l documents of the Old Tes tament . "Cbronic/rr.

—' I

'

he book ed ited as I and I I Chroni c less urveys the h i s tory from Adam to the fi rs t year of Cyrus ,k ing of Pers ia ” The writer drew upon ear lymaterial wh ich he worked up i nto an idea l s tory with s pecia lre l ig ious theor ies as its bas is .

A date between s . e . 300 and s . e . 2 50 i s required by thegovern ing ideas , t he pecul iar language, and the specificreferences (tag . I , I I ,E z ra — P robably the same writer is respons ib le

SACRED L ITE RATURE

for the book s of Ezra and Nehemiah , wh ich were or ig inal lyone book , and probabl y a th ird sec t ion of Chronic les . TheChronic ler ’ s h istory is cont inued in th is work i n theChronic ler ’ s s ty l e , the per iod covered b e ing the year s a. c. 537

432 . The work con s i s ts of a number of d is t inc t piecesi . Origina l and authent ic memoirs ; E zra Neh .

1 "1 7 43 . 341 1

i i . A firman ofArtaxerxes i n Aramai c ; Ii zrai i i . Part of an Aramai c h is tory ; E zra 4”- 1 6 'iv . E dited memoirs ; E zra 1 0 , Neh . 8- 1 0 , 35

.

v . A col lect ion of fragment s ; Neh . 1 -4' 7

.

v i . An ed i toria l in troduct ion ; EzraThe rema i nder i s due to the compi ler and later ed i tors ,

who may have used written sources for thei r work .

Two other book s c la iming hi s tor ic i ty ex i s t i n R uth andE s ther .Ruth — Rut h is a gracefu l pas tora l idy l , probab l y of pos t

exi l ic date, and i ntended as a protes t aga ins t the E zraNehemiah 1 eforms .

B arber .—L s ther ts an example of Jewis h s tor y founded

upon one of t hose s emi h is tori ca l i nc ident s of which thePer s ian Chron ic les seem to have been ful l .

Th e Book s of th e Proph ets .

The l iterature of Hebrew P rophecy may be ch ronologica l lygrouped as s

i . Prop/Jet: of the As sy rian Age— Amos (760-750 Bx . )

Hosea (750-737 I sa iah (740-700 M icah(72 4 Zephaniah (62 7 Nahum (6 1 0-608

i i . P rapbeu of tbe Cl io/Jean alg a— Jeremiah (6 1 6- 586

H abak k uk (60 5-600 E zek ie l (593-573i i i . P rop/m: of tbe Pers ian Age.

— l saiah ( chapters 1 3- 1 4,2 1

'

34 I I I sa iah , chapters 40-66 (540 B . C . ) Hagga iandZechar iah , chapters 1 - 8 (520 Malach i (460-450

1v . P ropbetr afl er (be R ertoratioa .— Joe l Jonah Obad iah

I saiah ( chapters 24 Zechar iah (chapters 9da mn— Amos, a Judean s hepherd , alarmed at the cam

I!E BRBW Spaigns ofeither Shalmanese r I I I . orA s surdanil ( 783-755broke in upon the wors h ip i n t he k ing ’ s c hape l at Bethe l , todec lare coming ca lamitie s for I s rae l . His book records histwo d iscourses ( chapters 3 and h is live v is ion s (chapter s7 with an I nt roduct ion (chapter s and the s tory of

his expul s ion from the s acred prec inctsH arem—Hosea, a nat ive or t he Norther n Ki ngdom , u sed

h is pathet ic fami l y h is tory ( 1 3 9 , 3) to i l l us trate h is v iew or thenat ion ’ s re l ig ious p l igh t th rough idolat r

yI raiab.- l saiah , a patr iot ic c1tizenot erusalcm, is as soc iated

with the various col lect ion s of orac les bear ing h is name . Thecol lection obv ious l y d iv ides i nto two mai n groups . Chaps .1 -39 have i n general a pre -ex i l ic background . Chaps . 40 -66

s tand ove r again s t h is tor ica l condit1ons wh ich obtained i nex i l ic and pos t-ex i l ic per iod s . These two ma i n sect ions are

themse lves col lect ions ofwork s of d ifferen t authors and date s .Chaps . 1 -39 may be rough l y d iv ided as fol lows - 1 - 1 2 ,

1 3- 23, 24-

35, 36-

39 . Chaps . 1 - 1 2 . A genera l introduct ion of rebuke ( t ) prepares t he wa for an O rac le concerningJ udah and Jerusa lem ( 2 4

3 is a later append ix . Asepa rate song i s fol l owed by a ser ies of s ix woe s (5“The section 3° is probably mi sp laced , and s hould fo l low9" The s tory of I saiah ’ s cal l is to ld i n chap . 6 .

An exce l lent example of t he re la t ion s between h is tor y andprophecy occurs in the pas s age which dea l s wi t h the th rea tenings of Syria (7 An orac le aga i ns t Northern I s rae l(cf - 1 04 is a fragmentary in se rt ion . The promi se ofan Ass yr ian invas ton.

with the v is ion of I s rae l ’ s s ubsequentrebir th and glory ( 1 05- 1 2 ) completes the section . Chaps .

1 3- 2 3 conta in a series of Burdens, or orac le s agai ns t foreign

peoples . 1 4244 7

, 1 425 33

, 1 8, 20, are later append icesor add it ion s . Chaps . 2 4

-

35 a re compos ite . An inde odentapocal ypt ic prophec y occupies 24 - 2 7. 2 8-

33 was ited as

a separate book , but i s not a unit y . I t contains a se ries ofd iver se orac les - 2 8 on the impend ing fa te ofSamar iaa warning to Jerusa lem ;

-

3 1 a protes t agains t int r iguewith Egypt a Mess ianic v is ion ; 32 ‘H o a ca l l to women

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HE BREW S

this were added minor col lect ion s , v iz . , 1 8 - 20 . 2 1 - 2 2 7- 29,

30 -33. The product underwent various modificat ions . and received cha ter s 1 0 ' 1 6" 50

-

52 , . 1 s add it ions . T he

whole wor tinal l took i ts present form under ed itoria l hands .

Habal l ul . abakkuk i s repre sented by a book compr i sing a d ia logue between Jehovah and the prophet , and fi vewoes d i rected aga i ns t the Cha ldean power .Ezel irL— The book of E zek ie l is the authent ic work of

t he prophet , and i s pract ical l y intac t . l t regi s ters the suc

cess ive phase s of the progre s s of a pr ies t ’ s idea l .Haggai .— Hagga i undertook the ta s k of encouraging the

returning ex i les to res tore the Temple at . l erusalem, al te rthe si x teen year s ’ delay . compe l led by the oppos i t ion of

Samar i tan s , t he mi l itary operat ion s of Pers ia , bad sea son s ,and offi cial i ndolence . The four appea l s of h is book coverthe months September -December , 520 s . 1

‘

.

Zerbariab.- Zechar iah . who seconded Micah 's effort s . left

thentic prophec ies i n chapter s 1 -8 of the book which bearshis name .”buri al— The book of t he unknown Malach i - my

messenger— is an argument again s t t he degenerate piety of

a later day .

The sp. ; 1t of the Res torat ion per iod is reflected inJoeI .— a homi l y on a l oc us t swarm ;

Jonah — 4 folk - tale recount ing the ad venture r

of a pro

phetic hero ;06adr

'

ab.—a dec larat ion of Edom’

s downfa l l[raid/a (ebapr . 24 an Apocal yps e of the wor ld 's judg

ment ; andZeebariab (Maps . a col lect ion of oracles of var ious

dates , the spir i t and tone of which s how that the era ofprophec y was pas t, ha v i ng given p lace to anonymous eschatologica l wr it ing .

”

Th e Poet ica l Book s .

The Hebrew sacred book s are not except iona l to the r ul ethat the earl ies t form of nat iona l l iterat ure 1 s poet ical . F rag

SACR E D L ITE RATUR E

ment s of fo l k - song ex i s t in t he Song of t he W e l l (Number sV intage Song ( I saiah Sheep- shear ing Songs

( I Samuel I I Samuel Taunt Song ( I saiahG nomes (Judges Orac les (Genes i s Number s

etc .

Traces of t he ex is tence or a real l y nat iona l poetry are tobe seen in t he references to now los t co l lect 1ons , and i ns uch pas sages as Genes i s 2 5

23,

N umber s 2 37A few h i s torica l poems are preserved , mg . j udges 5,

Psa l ms 1 05- 1 0 7 .

The pure l y poetica l book s of the O ld Tes tamen t arePs a l m s , The Song of Song s , Lamentat ion s , but a largequant i ty of poet ical wr iting i s found in Job, P roverbs ,E cc le s ias tes .

T/ae B aal of Pr. z/mr .

— l n its present fot 1 1 1 the Psa l terrepresents the h ymn book compi led after t he Res torat ion foruse in the Second Temp le .

T he co l lect ion d iv ides into fi ve book s— i . l ’s alms 1 -

4 1

i i . P8" 42-

72 ; i 1 i . I’s" 73- 89 ; iv . I’s" 90 - 1 06 ; v . P s

1 07- 1 50 .

The proce s s of growth may be rough ly ind icated in out l ine,thu s z— Psalm s 1 -4 1 were col lected soon after the return fromE x i le ( 534 The nuc leu s of another col lect ion was

formed by grouping , P s “ 51 -7 2 . A combination of theL ev i t ica l groups (a ) the Psalm s of Korah , 4 2 -49 ; (6) thePsa lm s of Asaph , 50 , 73 was a th ird s tep . The secondand th ird col lect ions were then combined , ed i ted , and s upp lemented by the addit ion of P s“ 84

-89 . Then came thecol lec tion of 1 ’ s" 90

- 1 50 , based upon s hor ter independentg roups , 9: - 1 1 8 ; 1 zo - 1 1 0 +

1 38- 1 45. F ina l ly thes e variou s groups were ed ited as awhol e .A few P salm s s ugge s t the s i tuat ion wh ich occa s ioned t hem ,

ing . P s . 46, the overth row ofSennacher ib ; P s“ 48-60 , 74-76,79-83, the per iod of t he Maccabees ; Ps . 68, the t ime ofthe Second Temple . Mos t of the pre-ex i l ic P sa lms must be

H E BREW S

assigned to a date subsequen t to the eighth century s . e . Alarge majority of t he h ymns be long to the E x i l i c , Pers ian ,and G reek period s, a few are product s of t he th ird , or perhaps second centur s . e .

L amm tal iom . he Book of Lamentat ions con s is t s of fivei nde ndent poem s re lat ing to the capture of Jerusa lem by theChalil

C

eans (586 The poems are wr itten in the measurepecu l iar to Hebrew E legy— each l ine being broken into twounequa l pa rts .I n the fi rs t four E legies t he ini t ia l l etters of the verses

form the Hebrew alphabet . Th i s acros t i c format ion distinguishes certa i n Psal m s a l so, mg . 9

- 1 0 , 2 5, 34, 37, 1 1 1 ,

The book is the product of a h igh l y art ific ia l and elaboratemethod, andafford s li ne examp les of poet r y of the Res torat ion

Canticlea—The Song of Songs or Song of Solomon isei ther a co l lect ion of wedd ing songs of a late period ,” oraccord ing to the more genera l v iew, a dramat1c poem withcons istent d ia logue, act ion , and characterAs a drama , i t may be d iv ided thu sAct i . Scene 1 , Chap . Scene 2 , Chaps . l"- 2 7

Act i i . 234 7

;

Act I l l .1 9 +

1 7.

Scene 3, Chaps . 48 Scene 4,

Chap . 53 3

.

Act i v . Chaps . 5"-63

,Scene 2 , Chap .

Scene 3, Chap . Scene 4, Chaps .

Joi n— Job may proper l y be c las sed with d rama , and al t houghsome pas sages (chapters 1 -2 , 42

7 W) , a re in prose , it is ,as a who le, t he fines t prod uc t of poet ic s k i l l i n the O ldTe stament . The rose Prologue (chapters 1 is fol lowed by aL ament of ob

’

s (chap . Three col l oquies (chapters4- 1 4, 1 5-2 1 , 2 2 are succeeded by a later inse rt ion ( 3a37 ) Chapter s 38-426 are devoted to a theophany , and are

tol lowed by a prose E pi logue ( 43 7-1 7)

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H E B REW S

appears in the book of E cc les iastes (Qohelet h a preacher ordebater ) , a work of t he G reek per iod (c . 2 00 as its

unique language ind icates . The argument is not s ystemat ica l l y ,or even cons i s tent l y , developed , bu t the conc lus ion is defini te ,Al l is vani t y .

” Thi s pe s s imi sm harmon i s es with the po l it i

cal cond it ion picture l . The t ime was one of mi s rule , serv itude , i nju s t ice, oppres s ion,

and hopeles s acquies cence .The imperf ect l i terary form of the book has s ugges ted more

than one s cheme of recon s t ruct ion , but with the except ion ofa few ques t ionab le interpolat ions 8" ‘i

,

the i ntegrit y of the book i s general l y acknowledged .

D aniel — The lates t book i n t he O ldTes tament— the bookof Danie l ( 1 75- 1 63 is t he fl ower of H ebrew Apocalypse . Th is t ype of wri ting occurs in E zek ie l andZechariah .

I ts ch ief character i s t ic s are t he use of e laborate s ymbo l ism ,

and the transference of the cause ofGod ’

s peop le to the hand sof d iv ine power s , who wi l l des t roy ev i l and es tabl i sh righ teousnes s .

The book i s in two par ts i . chaps . 1 -6, Legends of

Daniel ; i i . chaps . 7- 1 2 , A series of V is ions , the interpre

tation of which has been one of the mos t vexed of O ld

Tes tament problems .

CHAPTER V I

T H I SACR ED L ITERATU R E O F CHR I ST IAN ITY

T ue canoni cal Sc riptures of Chr i s tiani t y are conta i ned i n t . e

twent y - seven book s of the New Te s tament . They are named ,and may be grouped as fol low sTI M F our Gorpr/r, accord ing to Matthew

,Mark , L uke,

John .

8 00!of ( l ? Ad : of flat“ Afar/la .

Epi s tle”

; (a ) of Paul to the Roman s , Corinth iansl and I 1 , G alat ians , E phes ians,Phi l ippians , Colos s ian s , Thes salonians I and I I

,to T imoth y I

and I I , Titu s , Phi lemon .

(b) (of Pau l to the H ebrews .

(c) of James .of Peter I and I I .

(a) of John I , I I , and I I I .U ) of Jude .

R ev elation

Th e Gos pe l s .

The four biographies of Jes us , which form the fi rst sect ionof the New Tes tament , contain al l the informat ion we pos ses sconcerni ng the l ife of the F ounder of Ch ris t iani t y . Although ,as fi ni s hed work s , they are of later date than some otherbook s i n t he Canon , t hey expres s the ear l ies t Chr i s t ian idea sconcern ing the Mas ter , and preserve fragment s of the ear l ies tl i terar y activ i t y among Ch r i s t ians .

Their chronol ogica l order is Mark , Matthew , Luke, and,after a long inter val , John .

M :r l‘. —The Gos pe l accord ing to Mark is subs tant ia l l y a

unity . W ri t ten a l i t t le before the dest ruction of Jerusa l emit conta ins a mas s of narrat i ve taken d irect l y from

the recol lect ion of an eye-witnes s of the caree r of Jesus .

1 26

CH R IST IAN ITY

I ts plan i s eminent l y s imple . After an int roduct ion dea ling with John t he Baptisté

l' i t g i ves the s tory of the

mini s t ry of Jesus in Eas t . 1 l ilee ( U I Then came atour of North Gal i lee (7

34 A journey through Pereais chronicled in and fol lowed by the record ofa Judeanmini s t ry The dai l y incidents of the las t weekof the Mas ter ’ s l ife are recorded with cons iderable detai l( 1 1

'

W i th th i s narrat i ve for an out l i ne we can t race the mos tl ike l y s ucces s ion of events .

The work is not free from i nterpolat ions . Ch ief amongthese is the so-cal led Sma l l Apocalypse ( 1 37

8 '

which appear s i n more primit ive form in Matthew 2 4 .

The s t y le of the d i s course in which thi s Apoca l yps e occu rsindicates a source other t han that which l ies behind

the res t of the Go spe l .Other add itions , by later hand s than Mark , ex is t in

Traces of dependence u on writtensources occur in 1 4

' 1. The mind 0 the author

s hines t h rough h is notes of exp lanationéc/I among others

12 2, 1

1 4, 2

24, 3

1 0 1 2, 3

30, 5

21 1, S

30,

34, 73 G IOSSC S

upon the tex t , ins er ted by later hand s and i l l us t ra ti ve of laterthought s , occu r i n 1

' latter part, 54, 644,

93m

. l 4“’

The concl ud ing sect ion s of the Gospe l do notcome under either of the above categor ies of addit ions . Theyrepresent an evangel i c t rad i t ion of t he fi rs t quarter of thesecond centu ry A . D. , of wh ich onl y t h i s res urrect ion fragmentremai n s .

Marmara — As compared with Mark , the Gospe l of

Mat thew is a h igh l y compos ite and art i s t ic work . Amongit s written s ou rces was an important s y s temati c col lect ionof the say i ngs of jesus (Logia ) (cf 1 3

53,

Mark ’ s Gospe l was a l so of con spicuou s serv i ce. A ser ies oft rad it ions , la ter than t hose used by Mark , gave usefu l materia l

22-1 2

’ L428 3 1

, 1 724 27

, 2631 -53

, 2 751

-

53, 2 7

1 1 266,

The wr iter a l so incorporated an offic ial bir th-rol l ( 1 ‘W) , and

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CHR IST IAN ITY

pecu l ia r to L uke . R ather more than one ha lf of the booki s not found e l s ewhere . C]: 1 - 2 3

m “; 3

33 38;

51 -1 1

; 71 1 1 7

; 95 1 50

; [028 43

i t“; 1 2 47 5

0

; 1 3' ‘7

;33; l S

IB1 6 1

-1 2; “flu

-31; 1 77

- 1 9; I 8‘1 4 ; 1 9

1 27;

1 9394 4 ; 2 2

373 2; 2 3

37 3 1; 2 3

39 43; 24

0 53.

Bes ides these sect ion s of nar ra t ive, there are about ah und red and twent y verses pecu l iar to L uke , al though embedded ia mater ia l common to another Gospe l , Ag .

633 ; xx'; 1 3

32 33; 2 2 43 44 .

The auth or made con s iderab le use of the Gos pe l of Mark ,and ev identl y had a t h is d isposa l the co l lect ions of Say ing s(L og ia ) , wh ich s uppl ied Matthew with muc h mater ia l . Thememories of per sona l fr iend s he lped h im , r]. 3

‘97“ 2

H is a s soc iat ion with Pau l the Apos t le was a l so va l uab le( 2 1 34 = x Thes s . 2 2 W“

1 Cor . 2 434= 1 Cor .

1 55; I O

7 = I T im . to“= 1 Cor . 1 0 27 ; 1 2 35 : Eph .

Notes of per sonal in terpretat ion and commen t frequent l yoccur ( 2

2 135; 4

33; 4

41 43594 0

; 729 1 0

;

(R .V . 1 889 ; A few interpolat ions betray the hand s of later ed itors or commentator s( 1 3

1 3 3; I l 4

‘f‘

53; 2 243

’

4l

Some parts of th is Gospe l have been pecu l iar ly subject tocri t ica l controversy , and there can be no doubt that they holdthe key to some diflicult New Tes tament problems . Such ,for examp le, are the poet ica l sect ions 1 4

"55; The

former passage i s a Chr i s t ian hymn in four st rophes (46-48,49

-

50 , 5 1 -53, 54 ba sed upon O ld Testament mode ls .

The second conta i ns a h ymn in three s trepi res (68-69,

70- 72 , 73 and a passage in two s t rophes by a dilTerentauthor .Joh n— The my s tical , or ph i losoph ica l e lement, i n the

F ourth Gospe l ra ises many d iffi cul t ies for l i terary and h istorical s tudents . The v iew t ha t the book , as i t now ex is ts ,is the work of one author cannot we l l be ma in tained . Thework is composite, based upon a narrative, probabl y wri ttenby John the Apostle, and comp leted by the add ition of the

SACR ED L ITE RATUR E

theo logica l i n terpretat ion s . The larger mas ses of th i s late:e lement may be d i s t ingui shed from the re s t rained his toricanarrat ive , ( X

1 0 1“ 5 1; 3

0 . v. 1 3 2 1 3 1 -30423 2 ;

52 1 23, -2 1 ; \7'

4n . 4“ 1 01 7 l “ 2 7 l 1

2 :1 2 4

6 go.

Such observat ion s as the fo l lowing are obv ious com

II I C I'

I I , 21 7; 2

2 1; 2

253M

4 SI RJ O

; 5fi g s , 627i; 66 2

72 2 . i n)

; 327. 35 30 ; 1 0 1

1 1 1:

1 0; l 3

3 1 32

and be long to the same “ s chool of t houghas t hat wh ich produced and used the theosoph ical s peeches .These notes of ed itor s h ip w i l l be d is t ingui shed without

great d ifficu l t y from the ex p lanat ions , et c added by tht

author of the basal h i s tor y , ( .g .42 h 44 ‘r l l . -3b

!2 xl 's 24; 4

2 » 40 44 0 6“ I S 7 l o

72 : 10

; l oh

,

; l iq l fi l

.“N

I a, ni s ,o 1 3 ; 3 q t; 1 5

25

l-l

'

2 5 'Q

)\

t 2 c 80[ 5 4

l ) , 1 4.

1,‘s 3 l b l ()

2b 4 2l -‘s I f)

L ater interpolat ions crept into the book as into thc

other Gospe l s , Ag . 6 33 ; wh ich be trayed h im| 9

33 37 ; 2 124

.

T hat some v io lence has been done to the order of the orig inanar rat ive s eem s obv iou s . Chap . shou ld fo l low 547, ( ins ubjec t of the Temple teach ing be ing taken up a t 7Chap . is a fragment int rod uced from a d is t inc t sourceChap . is the i nterpretat ion of a now l os t pa rab leThe succeedrng pas sages are rather confused ; v v . 1 7- 1 2

carr y on t he though t of v . 1 5 v . 1 6 has its comp lement I Iv v . 2 7- 29 . The s tory of chaps . 1 3- 1 6 becomes consecu'

t ive it chaps . 1 5- 1 6 fol low The d i fficu l t ies in

are re l ieved cons iderab l y by plac ing vv . 1 9- 2 4 after v . 1 3

the latter part of v . 1 8 i s ident ica l w ith v . 2 5. Chapter 2 1

is a later appendtx ( 1 05- 1 2 0 A . D . ) added after the Apost le ’death .

W hi l s t t he wor k of John requires a date c. 80 - 1 00 A . n .

i t is not neces sary to demand that date for t he completet

Gospe l .The p lan of the Gospe l i n its present form is s imp le

After an introduct ion ( 1 ‘ the s tory of t he m in i s try ofJesus ttold ( rm as a tes t imony awor k 1 1 57) , a judg

CH R ISTIAN ITY

ment The Second ma in d i v i s ion treat s of the i s s ue s ofthe min i s t ry as i t concerned the di s c ip les ( 1 3 Thepersona l i t y of the Mas ter appears in H is las t d is cour s es

( 1 3 i n H is pas s ion t rial and death ( 1 9 and inH is resur rectionW hatever quarries may have y ie lded the mater ia l , the

work is t he mos t perfect s pec imen of ph i losophical nar ra t i vep oduced in the interes t s of the ear l y Ch r i s t ian faith .

Tb: B aal of t/a: f 1d : of ( I) : Aport/a .- The for tunes of the

d iscip les of Jesus , from the day of H is a s cens ion down to t heimpr i sonment of Pau l in Rome are re la ted by L uke ,the aut hor of the T h l rd Gospe l , i n t he Book of t he Act s of

the Apos t le s . Th is is the on ly hi s tory ot the ear l y Churchthat can make an y c laim to be “ authent ic . \Vhatever

cr it ic i sm may be di rected aga i n s t t he materia l of which thebook i s composed , there i s no reason to ques t ion the L ucanauthors h ip , or to doubt the s impl ic it y and s i ncer i ty of the

wri ter’ s purpos e .The Acts connect s wit h the Third Gospe l by means of an

i ntroduct ion the main mas ses of t he s ubsequent nar ra .

t ive being as fol lows — The h i s tor ies of the Churches in l owsalem ( 1

' S i ) ; i n Samaria (8 L ! i n Ant ioch ( 1The s tory of Paul ’ s t h ree m i s s ionar y journey s t hen dominatesever y th ing : the fi r s t journey , 1 3

4 - 1 535; the second , 1 5

3"

the t h ird 1 833- 2 1 ” Th is interes t in “ t he A pos t leto the Genti les is s u s tained i n the record s of h is presencein Jerusa lem imprisonment i n RomeI t is obv ious that al l the part s of th i s h is tor y are not equa l l y

re l iable . Certain sect ions— know n as the “ W e sect ions2 7

'as soc iate the author wit h

the events re lated . These pas s ages have the va l ue of fi rs thand record s .

I f the s e sect ion s represent the h ighes t h is tor ica l qual i t ie s ,the chapter s 1 - 5 probabl y repres ent the lowes t . Some of itspas sages conflict with the Gospe l s ( U SN —Matt . 2 7

7

another is bui l t upon a misconcept ion of a phrase d.

1 Cor . a th ird is overflowing with anachronisms

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CHR IST IAN ITY

The final sentence of z'“ is an interpolat ion later than

70 . i s a second-century note .

1 1 Tbrrra/onianr .- The Second Epi st le obvious l y depend s

upon the F irs t (rf. I I , and l , 4‘ l l , 1"wi t h I , a" ; I I , 3"

with l , and man y verbal aral lel s ) .Nevertheles s there i s a d ifference the tone is more

offi cia l , the feel ing les s v i v id , the sentences more i nvolved ,and there is a lack of point and d i rectne s s .

" The s pec ia laspect of the expecta t ion of the Second Coming of J esus , sopronounced i n t h i s letter . has no paral le l i n t he unques tionedE pis t les of Pau l . I f t h is i s from h is pen it represents a moodwh ich soon left h im , and enunciates doctr ines afterwardsgrea t ly mod ified.

The letter i s an expression of pra i se and prayer, on beha lfof t he Thes sa l onian Chri s t ians , together wit h a reque s t forthei r in teres t in the writer , and thei r obedience to h is mora ljudgments . I n the s ubs tance of the note the author has embedded a lur id picture ofD i v ine wrath , fo l lowed by a portraya lof the way i n which it wi l l vi s i t the earth .

I t i s a lmos t impos s ible to see in any of i ts obv ious l y guardedreferences (ff . a l l us ion s to men or matters of the per iod ,un less the date of it s compos i t ion is put later than 68.

Galatians .— The E pi s t le to the Galat ian s i s the fi rs t

member of the great quad r i lateral of Ch rist ianity to wh ichI and I I Cor inth ians and Romans a l so be long . I t s authent icity i s unimpeachab le . I t was addres sed to a group of

Churches i n P i s id ia and L y caonia whose membe rs were pervert ing from the doc tr ine preached by Pau l during h is twov is i ts to them .

After an i n t roduct ion ( 1 ' 5) the letter record s the pe rsona lexpe r ience on which the Apost le based h is teach ing ( 1”-z ) ,and s hows tha t the Jewis h law was prov i s iona l and had beens upe rseded by the Spi rit The Epis t le cont inues wi thvar ious ethical counse l s (5 and conc l udes wi th an e l oquen t epilo eI t was a most certa in l y wri tten at Antioch , but the date

i s variously est imated between 46 and 58

SACRE D L ITE RATURE

Corintbiam .—The Epi s t le s to the Corint h ian Chri s t ian

dea l with a les s ser ious t heological s i tuat ion, but one comp l icated by grave mora l is s ues .I n the F i rst E pis t le Pau l confront s a spir i t of re l igion

fact ion and of mora l lax it y which threatened h is author ityand teach ing . The Church had recei ved v i s i t s from variouspreachers s ubsequent to the Apos t le’ s departu re, and s ch i smwas rife . Paul combats the fact ionaries ( 1 and has tens ont o address h im se lf to the mora l confu s ion wh ich had ari sen( 5 M uch of the letter (7 is i n answer to i nquiriesfrom t he Church concerning marr iage, food devoted to idol s ,wor s h ip, the doctr ine of res urrect ion , and a lm sgiv ing .There are but few i nterpo lat ion s , but cf .

‘7, 1 4

33 1

The E pis t l e is notable as conta ining some of the fi nes t passages in the New Tes tament ; (I: 1 3,An I ntermediate L etter to the Corinthian s has found its way

into the Second E pis t le, chaps . 1 0 W r itten 54-

5; A . O. ,

thi s Note was car r ied to Corinth by T itus . I t i s ch iefly concerned wit h Pau l 's s tand ing as a pe r sona l fr iend with apostol i cauthor i ty . I ts notable pas sages refer to h is s ufferi ngs ( 1his v is ions ( 1 and his i nfi rmit y ( 1 2 71 I Cor intbiane.

— The Second Epi s t le refl ects a change forthe better in t he Church . The Corinth ian Chr ist ians werereconci led to the po s it ion and r u l ing of t he Apos t l e, who heredec lares h is anxiet y to s pa re t hem as much as pos s ible ( 1 - 2 )as sert s afres h the g lory of h is mini s t r y (3 and its sea l ins uffer ing and urges his persona l c la im to the Church ’ sl ove and honour The letter c loses wi th an appea lto t he generos i ty of t he Church (8 and a personal farewel l( 1 3

1 1

The pas s age -7' is a quotat ion int roduced by a later hand .

Romani a— “ The E pis t le to the Romans ma rk s the exactpoint a t wh i ch controversy resolves itselfnaturally intodogma .

”

In i t s present form it has served as the text -book of Chr ist iantheo logy . I t treat s of the theology of redemptionthe theology of the Ch ris t ian l ife (6 and the theology ofh is tory (9- 1 The rema inder of the letter is devoted to

CH R IST IAN ITY

e th ica l exhortat ions . l t exp lai n s , comp letes and ex tend s theteach ing ofGa lat ian s , its double edge be i ng d irected equa l lyaga in s t G entile and Jew .

I n the canonica l E pi s t le there are i nterpol . ion s , 1 7 (to al l

t ha t are in Rome ) , ( t hat are i n Rome ) , A briefnote to Ephes us i s introd uced ( 1 6 ' The s tate of the texti n 1 5- 1 6 is ext reme ly confused ; the c los i ng pas sageis e ither d i sp laced . inter po lated or a dup l i cate .A ttempt s have been made to t race two separate E pis t les

t h rough t h i s uncertainty - ( a ) 1”- 1 1 3

"(6)

1 7‘

1 2' '

4 ; or F our encyc l ical letters(41 ) 1 1 62 1 -7

; (6) 1 1 - 1 4. 1 6' . (d)1 1 1 , 1 5.

Many pas sages of t h i s doct rina l c las s i c are jus t l y famous ;mg . t he de s cr ipt ion of the heathen wor ld the arraignment of t he Jew t he Ch r i s t ian contidencc ( 5

'on

unit y u ith the Ch r i s t (6‘N ) , on t he work of t he L aw ( 77 K ) ,the contras t between the natura l and the ps ych ic l ife ( 8‘ thehe lp oi t he Spir i t (H M O

) , the Chri s t ian'

s s ecurit y (83‘ etc .

'

ote to Eplvetur .

-

' I’

bi s br ief let ter of i nt roduction(Rom . was probab l y written from Kenchreze 55- 56,for the use of the woman l ’h i t he , who ca rried i t to the Ch ri st ians at Ephes us .

TheSecondMa i n G roupofthe Paul ine E pis t les contains :—

'

I'he letter to Colos sm gi ve s “ the fi rs t s ketchof Chr i s t ian eth ics as appl 1ed to the elementar y form s of sociall ife . ” T h e idea l of the let ter i s ba sed upon a phi losophy ofthe relat ion of t he Chri s t t o the universe and to t he Church .

Tha t ph i losophy was though t out as a cont rad ic t ion to Gnos ti cteach ing W ) t he watchword s of wh ich are frequent l yemployed , and t he tendency of which i s d irect l y resi sted( 2

3 1 6

The mora l consequences of the Chr i s t ian phi losoph y aredes cr ibed, with exhortat ion s , as freedom from ceremonia l

and from v i ce ( 35 7 ) the cu lt ivat ion of t he mi lderv i rtues ( 3

" domes t ic happines s -4'

and piet y (4Ep/miam .

— U pon the much -ques tioned a s s umpt ion that

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CH R ISTIAN ITY

with specia l reference to the organisation and act ivi t ies of theChurches . Certain “ fa i thful s ay ings ( 1 T im .

I I T im . cf. T itus perhaps pa rt s of a creed usedi n catech i sm , furnis h mot ives for the Appea ls .

The theologica l s tandpomt i s furnished i n the hymn( I T im . as a lso in I Tim . and I I T im .

Titm . The authenticity and i ntegr ity of th is essent ia l l ypr ivate ” letter have been seriously ques t ioned . A Paul inenote to T i tus a t Corin th i s found in the pas sages2 -3

7 ; The res t of the note is assigned to the end ofthe fi rst centur y .

I f i t i s from Pau l ’ s hand , it was probabl y writ ten wh i lstT i tu s was in C rete . I ts object was “ to set in order theth ings that were want ing .

” After the i nt roduc tion ( 13?it

dea l s with the appointment of worth y men to Church o cesand wi th Chr ist ian characte r ( 2

Péi/m on i s t he on l y private l etter preserved from Paul ’ scorrespondence . I t is addressed to a friend , perhaps a bus ines s par tner , and concerns the future of a runaway s lave,Onesimus , for whom Pau l a sk s forgiveness .

I I . HEBR EW S.

”draw n— Th is great work is certa i nly not a produc t oft he genius of Paul . I t is very general l y att ributed to Apol los

,

or to those who fol lowed h is Alexandr ine method of thought .But the i ntegr i t y of the Epis t le i s doubtful . Some pas sages

break the argument (mg . a” ; 3' Chaps . 3

is a separate homi l y concern ing the hope of Rest ; 5" i sa probabl y i nterpolated appea l for progres s i n knowledge .The E pi st le i s an e laborate appea l for fa i t h i n Jesus , who

is dec lared to be a Son of God better than angel sfi rst among men e i s the h igh pries t of

hris tians 4” His pr ies thood , however, i s not

Lev it ical , but of the order of Mel ch izedek and isexercised i n heaven Al l need of sacrifice i s doneaway, because of the sac rifice He made U pon thi sstatement of the superiority of Ch rist ianity the author bui lds

SACRE D L ITE RATURE

an appea l for fai t h to'W S) and urges the appea l by referr ing

to ear l y heroism reca l l ing the his tory of past hel ievers ( n ) ; and expla i n ing the purpose of the trials

,then

tes t ing the fa i t h of h is reader s ( rz ) . The las t sect ion of theE pis t le is taken up with friend l y counse l s . The c losingsentence s or 2 1 25) are regarded by some as inter

polated i n order to secure be l ief in the Pau l ine authors h ip ofthe whole .The ques tion of date d i v ides scholars i nto two s chool s ,

one of wh ich argues for a date prior to a . o . 70 , the othercontends t hat A . l ) . 80 -

90 better suits the c i rcums tancesadd res sed .

I l l . CATHOL IC .

The rema ining Epi s t les of the New Tes tament—dis t ingui shed as The Cathol ic E pi st les— are as soc ia ted with othermembers of the Apos tol i c company . They are seven innumber, and t rad i t iona l l y as cr ibed to James ; 2 to Peter ;3 to John ; 1 to Jude .L im a — Trad i t ion and s cholars hip are agreed tha t t he

brother of Jesus was the au thor of th is E pi s t le . Th isopinion is reinforced by the harmonies between the let ter andthe Logia i n Matthew .

The E pis t le may be desc r ibed as the New TestamentBook ofW isdom . I ts object was to encourage the Chris t ianJews of the D i spers ion to bear t r ia l , and to guard themse l vesaga ins t s erv i l i ty toward s weal th (z' d i s regard of mora lbehav iour ungoverned s peech ( 3' quarrel somenessand wor ld l ines sI Peter .

- The persecut ion of 64 AJ ) . and the resu l t i nga larm and confus ion (cf: form the h is tor ica lbackground of th i s E pi s t le . I n v iew of th is s i tuat ion thewriter dec lared the Chri st ian hope ( 1 3 l z) and i ts obl igat ions( r" and then des cribes the Chri s t ian eth ic in deta i l( 2" The problem of persecut ion is t reated a t leng th

and the lat ter is ended with an appeal to Churche lder s ( 5'

CHR IST IAN ITY

l l Perm —W h i lst no good reason for deny i ng theauthentici ty of I Peter ex is ts , the ev idence i s aga i ns t thegenuineness of the Second E pi st le . Both t ime and p lace ofits compos i t ion are unknown , the mos t probable date be ing1 50- 1 75 A . O .

The letter fal l s into th ree pa rt s wh ich concer n D iv inegift s fa l se teachers and the Second Comingof t he LordI , 1 1 , I I I Jal m. No explana t ion of the origin of the

E pist l es ” as cr ibed to the Apost le John “ fits t he facts sowel l as ” the trad it iona l one . The note of the Johann ineschool i s obv ious . I n the F i r s t E pi s t le a few large ideasru le, mg . God is l ight , l ove is the ch ief law, eterna l l ife is int he Ch ri s t . The object of t he let ter is to emphas ise t heantagonisms be tween Chris t and anti-Chris t , be l ievers andthe world ,

’ r igh teous ness and ev i l , l igh t and darkness .The Second and Third Epist les were pri vate communica

t ions to the elect lady,” and Ga ius the be loved ,” concerni ng the essent ia l doctr ine of the fa i t h ( I I ) , and the dut y ofrece iv i ng and encouraging the “ breth ren ( I l l ) .J ada— In th is E pi s t le we have the origina l protes t aga i ns t

t he influence of heathenism, wh ich the writer of I I Peter usedfor h is letter . This E pi s t le , probably authent i c, writ ten75-90 a . o. , i s a cogent p lea for an uncorrupted orthodoxy(vv . 3 in v iew of the depraved spiri t at work amongGen t i le Chr i s t ians .

Th e Book of th e Rev e lat ion .

O f t he many Apocalyses treasured by separate Chr ist ians ects

,t h is a l one has won Canonica l ran k among the Western

Churches . I t i s not authent i c . I ts authors hip is unknown .

The most probable date for its complet ion is 95- 1 00 A . D.

Some of its section s were not produc ts of Christ ian though t,

cg . l 1 2 1 3 I 7 . O th er parts were probabl yborrowed from ear l ier work s of a l ike character , mg . 1 8 2 0 ;

2 1 9 - 2 2 5. E ar ly Chris t ian apoca lypt i ca l wr it ing i s repre

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CHAPTE R V I I

T H!SACRED L ITERATU R E O I" MU HAMMADAN ISM

T ue Qur’an (read i ng ) , Otherwi se ca l led E l F urquan (thedi scr im inat ion ) , E l Mus

’

haf (the volume ) , E l Kithab (thebook ) , Edh D

’

H ikr (the reminder ) , was given by Muhammadto h ts fo l lowers as a trans cr ipt of reve lat ions from heaven(Suras,His words were remembered or commit ted to wr iting, and

after hi s death the book was compi led by h is fol lowers .Theoret ical l y the Qur ’an is an earth l y copy of a di vine

orig inal (Suras , 433, 5577, once shown ent i re to the

prophet by Gabr ie l , the archange l,and subsequent l y com

municated piecemea l (Sura,W ith the except ion of a few passages (Suras 1

2 793 ; 428; 1 9

65; 37

m ; its words c laim to beactua l orac les of Al lah .

There are no v arious of the Qur ’an . After the batt le ofYemama (633 when man y of the bes t reciters of thes acred book were k i l led , Ka l iph Abu Bak r persuaded Zeidihn-Thabit to search out the Qur’an, and bring it together.The res ul t was recogn ised a s authoritat ive during the Kal i

phates of Abu Bak r (632 -634 and Omar I . (634643 I t was the fir s t book in the language . Copieswere mu l tipl ied as Muh ammadanism spread , and with the

i ncrease of copies, various read ings crept i n . Ka l iphOthman I . (644-655 was i nduced to i nterfere i n thei nterests of a pure tex t .A careful rev i sion was made under the s uper intendence

of Ze id, and co ies were despatched to the three ch ief citiesof the Mus l im ingdom

— Damascus, Basra , and Kufa . All

ear l ier versions were burned , and the standard tex t has re

manned uncorrupted.

SACR E D L ITE RATURE

The Qur 'an con s i s ts of 1 1 4 Suras or chapter s ( l itera l lyrow s or series ) es t imated to contain abou t 62 2 5

’

ayat or verses( l i tera l l y s igns ) which i n mos t cases mark a pause i n therh ythm .

'

l'

hese suras are not homogeneous , but are un

s ys temat i c c lus ters of fragments . Muhammad d irected eachfres h revelat ion to be “ entered in such and s uch a Saraand there is no c l ue, save that of congru i ty , to the prope r contex t of any ind iv idual sentence .

The book is formal l y d iv ided into 60 equa l part s, eachpart be ing subd iv ided into 4 parts . Another d iv is ion madeto faci l itate t he read ing of t he who le d ur ing Ramadham

arranges the work in 30 sections which are subd iv ided intoac ts of bowing .

A semi - poe t i cal form , natu ra l to the vehemen t rhetoric of

t he ear l ier Suras , wh ich are i n spired by a wi ld force ofpass ion and a v igorous imaginat ion , is ma intai ned th roughout .The Suras i ncrease in length as the book proceed s . The

fi rs t twent y-two conta i n on an average five l ines each . Thenex t twent y have s i xteen l ines . The fo l low ing fifty havean average of sevent y l ines . The a verage length of thes uras written at Med i nah is a hund red and ten l ines . ”

The compos it ion of t he Qur ’an covered the whole prophetic ca reer ofMuhammad (6 1 0 - 632 and by far thelarger number of Suras bear some ind ica t ion s of the per iodor c i rcum s tances i n connect ion w i t h wh ich they sprang i ntobeing .

[Vii/deb arr ived at the fo l l owing cr i tica l and mas ter l yre-arrangementA . Sum : delivered in Mecca 6 1 0 -62 2 AJ ».

i . F irs t Pe’riad, 6 1 0 -6 1 5 . 4. h .—96, 74, 1 1 1 , 1 06, 1 08,

1 04, 1 07, 1 0 2 , 1 05, 9 2 , 90 , 94, 93, 97, 86, 9 1 , 80 , 68,871 851 731 1 0“ 99 1 82 , s ' i 539 84 1 l oo, 799 779

78, 88, 89, 75, S3, 69 , 51 , 51 , 56,1 1 4, 1 .

i i . Second Period, 6 1 5-6 1 6 amp—54, 37, 7 1 , 76, 44, 50 ,20, 1 9, 38, 36, 43, 72 , 67, 2 3, 2 1 , 2 7, 1 8.

MUHAMMADAN ISM

i i i . Tbird Period, 6 1 7-62 2 A . D.—32 , 4 1 , 45, 1 6, 30 , 1 1 ,

'41 ” a 40 1 381 39 1 1 90 3"43 1 'O’ 349 351 7. 46 ,61

1 3E . Sara: defivered inMefi naly

,62 2 -632 ( 1 - 1 1

z. 98. 64. 62 . 8 . 47. 3. 6 1 . 57. 4. 6s . 59 . 33. 63. 24. 58.2 2 , 48, 66, 60 , 1 1 0 , 49, 9 , 5.

Mair gives t he approx imate chronolog i ca l order of theSuras as fol lowsA. Mecu m Surat .

i . F in ePeriod, 600 -6 1 0 A . l '.— I O3, 1 00 , 99, 9 1 , 1 06, 1 ,

1 0 1 , 95, 1 0 2 , 1 C4, 82 , 92 , 1 05, 89 , 90 , 93, 94, 1 08.

i i . Second Period 6 1 3-6 1 5 4 1 1 — 96, 1 1 3, 74, 1 1 1 .

i i i . Tbird Period— 87, 97, 88, 80, 8 1 , 84, 86, 1 1 0 , 8 5,

83s 78, 77s 76: 751 70 1 '091 '07’ 559 56

iv . F our Period— 67, 53, 32 , 39, 73. 79. 54, 34 , 3 1 ,69. 68. 4 1 . 7 l

v . F ife!»Period— 46, 72 , 35, 36, 1 9, 1 8, 27, 38 ,2 5, 2 0 , 43, 1 2 , 1 4, 6, 44, 2 8, 2 3, 2 2 , 2 1 , 1 7, 1 6,

1 3, 29, 7 . I ndeterminate, 1 1 3, 1 1 4.

B . Medina/J Suras .

i . F irs t Period, 62 2 -6 27 A . D.-

98, 2 , 3, 8, 47, 62 , 5, 59,

41 582 659 63s 249 339 57s 6 I .

i i . Serene!Period, 6 2 7-632 A . b .—48, 60 , 66, 49, 9.

Rodwe l l g ives the fol lowing l i s t of the ma i n event s wi thwhich the Suras stand in connection .

The v i sions , the period of menta l depression and reas surance, the Patrah or pause , during which M uhammad wa itedfor a repet i t ion of the angel ic v is ion , h is labours i n comparat ive privacy , h is st rugg les with the Meccan unbel ief, fol lowedby the period ofh is second v i sion, t he first em igrat ion, referenceto Jewis h and Ch ris t ian h is tory , conversion ofOmar (6 1 7journey to Ta ’ if (620 intercourse with Meccan pi lgr ims, v ision of the midn ight journey, meeting at Ak aba,command to the faithful to emigrate to Ya thrib (afterwardsrenamed E l Med inah , the c i ty, or Med inat-en-nabi, the ci tyof the prophet) , esca of Muhammad from Mecca, the

Hegira , treaties wi th hristian t r ibes , increasing acquaintance

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MUHAMMADAN ISM

the be l ievers were enjoi ned to accept as t he word ofG od onpena l ty of he l l .The col lapse of t he confederacy agains t t he new fa ith ,

620 A. o. , is refl ected i n the increas ingl y bold tone of theSuras of the pe riod But a season of d is appointmentfol l owed , dur ing wh ich the prophet a lmos t los t hear tHope returned , and from the first p ledge ofAkaba , 62 1the fortunes of I s lam rose stead i l y . Content ion with t he nabe l ievers was unceasing (6, 35, 64, The prophet ’s endeavour to conci l iate Jews and Chr is t ians has i t s reflect ion ina lav i sh use of their l egend s ( 1 9, 1 1 , 1 2 , Mecca he ldou t in obs t inate refusa l to adopt t he new fa ith , and after menfrom Medinah had taken a second pledge, the Hegira began ,62 2 a . n. , Muhammad , with Abu Bakr be ing the las t oft he emigrant s .The Qur’an g ives a suffi cient l y c lear out l i ne of the las t ten

years of the prophet ’s l ife— spent i n h is adopted city . H is

labour s for the convers ion of the popul a t ion , espec ia l l y theJewi sh e lement , were protracted and earnest (2 , But

I s lam was ra idly becoming a new peop l e, and new laws werenecessar he l ength y Suras of th is pe r iod form the basisof all uhammadan custom, ritua l and law ( 2 , 4, Theposition of women (4, the laws of i nheri tance the

regulat ions for pi l grimage for mar riage or war

and its spoi ls (3, 8, 47, have each th ei r place .

I n c ivi l law, as i n re l igion, the Qur’an holds the p lace

ass igned to i t by Muhammad i n h is final address during thepi lgrimage 1 0 z

Veri ly I have fu lfi l led my miss ion, I have left among you a p laincommand, the Boolr of A l lah , and manifes ted ordinances , wh ich , if yehol d fas t, ye s hal l never so as tray

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Abh idhamma, 46, 69Acts of Apos t les, 1 31

Adhvaryu, 30Adhyaya, 1 4, 1 9Aff it‘n s 751 85Agur, 1 34Ahura Ma de, 75, 78, 8 1

A itareya, 3 1 , 38

Amos, 1 1 8

Analects , 86, 1 03, 1 08Ang ira, 7, 9, a;Angutts rs , 46, 56

Annals of Spring, 86, 1 0 1Apadana, 67Apocalypse, 1 3 5. 1 37, 1 39Apost les, Acts of, 1 3 1

Append ices , Ten, 99Apri, 1 6, 1 7, 2 3Aranyaka , 36, 38Aranyagana, 1 8

Ark h ik s , 1 8

Ashtaks s, 1 4Atbaf V' . s, ‘S’ 1 8, 3 5, 3 1 .Atharvan, as, 3 8, 36. 45Atthaks vsggs , 6a.

Atri, 9Autumn, Annals of, 86, 1 0 1Aves ta, 74

Bs dhys s vas , 1 6

Bah vrika, 3 1 , 38, 39Baras hni

'

im , 82

Bu il t“71 1 6, '7Bls ek Yagur, 20 , 31Book of Changes , 86, 97

INDEX

Book of Covenant, 1 1 1 , 1 1 4Decease, 54F il ia l Piety, 86, 1 0 1Poetry , 86, 90 , 1 07R ites , 86, 94

Books , Fores t , 35, 37Brahmana, 3, 20 , 30

Brihad Aranyaka, 3;Buddhavams a

,65, 66 , 68

Cant icles , 1 1 1 , 1 3 3Cariya pitaka, 68Cathol ic Ep is t les , 1 38Chronicles , 1 1 1 , 1 1 7Coloss ians Ep is t le, 1 26, 1 35, 1 36Corinth ians Ep is t les , 1 1 6,

I ntermediate letter, 1 34

Danie l , 1 1 1 , 1 3 5Dathu katha, 46, 70 , 7:Deuteronomy , 1 1 1 , 1 1 1 , 1 1 ;Dhammapada, 58, 63Dhammasangan i . 46, 69, 70

Digha nihaya, 46, 53 , 55Doctrine of Mean, 86, 1 09Duke Wan of T ang

, 1 05, 1 06

Eccles ias tes, 1 1 1 , 1 3 3 , 1 2 ;Ephes ians Epis t le, 1 2 6, 1 3;Ephesus , Note to, 1 3;Epis t les , 1 36, 1 3a

Es ther, 1 1 1 , 1 1 8

Exodus,1 1 1 , 1 1 4

Ezek ie l , 1 1 1 , 1 1 8, 1 2 1 , 1 3 ;Ezra, 1 1 1 , 1 1 3, 1 1 7

N 9

F i l ial Piety , Book of,86

,1 0 1

F ores t books , 35, 37

( h it, 751 85Ga lat ians , 1 2 6, 1 33, 1 34Gana, 1 8

Oath“ . 57. 74. 75. 8:Gayatri, 32Genes is , 1 1 1 ,Gopatha, 3 1 , 35Gos pe l s , 1 2 6, 1 3 1Great Decease , Book of, 54

L earning , 86, 1 08

G ri tsamada, 9, 1 0

Habakkuk , 1 1 8, 1 2 1

H agga i, 1 1 8, 1 2 1

H aptanghait i Y asna , 78

H ebrew s Epis t le, 1 2 6,1 37

I Iexateuch,1 1 3

i l ija,1 44

Hosea , 1 1 8, 1 1 9I I s iao, n , 86, 1 0 1

Ya, 9 1 . 9 2

h a s 2 51 44I s a iah ,I s lam , 1 44, 1 45I t i vuttakam , 59

james Ep is tle, 1 26, 1 38

jataka, 63jerem iah , 1 1 1 , 1 1 8, 1 20j ob , 1 2 3joe l , 1 1 8. 1 2 1

john , 1 26, 1 2 9, 1 39jonah , 1 1 8, 1 2 1josh ua, 1 1 1 , 1 1 5jude , 1 26, 1 39judges , 1 1 1 , 1 1 6 , 1 24

Kanva, 1 3, 2 1Kao T u e, 1 05, 1 07Katha dathu, 46, 70 , 7 2

nidana, 65vatthu , 46 , 70 , 72

INDEX

Nahum, 1 1 8, 1 20

Kaush itak i, 31 , 32

Kena, 33Khandaka , 6 4

Khandogya, 3 1 , 4 1

Kh i la,1 8

Khordah,82

Khuddak a nikaya, 46, 57K i . 95K in I l s in, 1 0 5K ings ,K ing H u i, 1 0 5

H s iao, 86, 1 0!Sh i h , 86, 90 , 1 07

Shu,86

,1 0 1

Y i , 869 97Kui la s agga . 49, 50 , 6!Kun K in

,86 , 1 0 1

Ku o F ang . 9 1

Lamentat ion s , 1 1 1 . 1 2 2 . 1

Learning , Great, 86, 1 08

L evnicus , 1 1 4I . i K i, 86, 94, 1 08

L i L au, 1 0 5, 1 06

L og la, 1 2 7, 1 2 9, 1 38

Luke, 1 2 6 . 1 2 8, 1 3 1

Lun Yu , 1 0 3

Maha parinibbana, 54

$9vagga

, 491 50 1 82 1 54r 6 'Madhyandina, 2 1

Majjh 1ma n ikaya, 46 , 55Ma lach i, 1 1 8, 1 2 1

Manda la,6

Manduk ya , 38

Mang-tsze, 1 04Mantra, 5Mark , Gos pe l of, 1 2 6 , 1 2 9Matthew ,

Gospe l of, 1 2 6, 1 2 7 , 1Mean, Doctrine of, 86 , 1 09Mencius , 86, 1 04M icah , 1 1 8. 1 2 0

Muhammad . 1 4 1

Mundaka, 44

INDEX

Nehemiah , 1 1 1 , 1 1 7 Robita, 2 9N ew Tes tament , 1 1 1 Romans , 1 26, 1 33, 1 34N idana katha, 65 Ruth, 1 1 1 , 1 1 8

N iddesa,67

N ikayas , 52

Num bers,

1

N yayis , 75, 85

Obad iah, 1 1 8, 1 2 1

O ld T estament , 1 1 1Ormuzd , 75, 84

Pah l i v i, 74I’ak ittiya, 47l ’Sl i , 46

Parag ika, 47I ’arayana vagga, 62Parivara patha , 46, 51Pas tora l Ep is t les , 1 36Pat imokkha, 47 , 49Patisambh ida, 67Patthana, 46, 70 , 73Pentateuch , 1 1 1Peta vatthu, 62

Peter Ep is t les , 1 2 6, 1 38Ph ilemon, 1 2 6, 1 37Ph i l ipp ians , 1 26, 1 36

P itakas , 46, 47Pitaka sutta, 46

cariya, 68

Poetry, Book of, 86, 90 , 1 07Pragatha, 9Prasna, 38

Prophets , 1 1 1 , 1 1 8Proverbs , 1 1 1 , 1 2 2 , 1 24Psalms , 1 1 1 , 1 2 2Puggala pannatti, 46, 70, 72

Purolasa, 6, 7, 32

Qoheleth , 1 2 5 U dana, S9Qur

’an, 1 4 1 Uhagana, 1 8

Uhyagana, 1 8

Ranayaniyas , 1 8 Upanishad , 34s 3 51 36Revelation, 1 26, 1 39 Un a -u m . 6°

R ib 51 '41 3'R 1tes , Book of, 86 Vachs spati , 36

Sama, 5, 1 8, 4 1

Samayaga , 1 8

Samue l , 1 1 1 , 1 1 6Samyutta , 46. 56

Sanh tta , 5Satapatha, 2 1 , 3 1

Sh ih, K ing , 86, 90 , 1 07Shu

,K ing , 86, 1 0 1

Shu, 86, 1 0 3S i la, 52Silakhandavagga, 52

Sirozah , 75, 83Solomon’

s Song , 1 2 3Soma, 9, 1 5, 2 1 , 24Staubh ik a, 1 8

Srauta, 30 , 35Srosh Vas t, 80Sruti, 30S IN K. 93Sutta p itaka, 46, 5 1

av ibhanga. 46 . 47

T ang t 93 1 93

T a Ya, 9 1 , 92

T aittiriya, 3 1

T hera gatha, 62T heri 63T hessalonians , 1 26, 1Thwan, 98

T imoth y , 1 2 6, 1 36T itus , 1 26, 1 37T sang-tsze, 1 0 1 , 1 02T s in Sin, 1 05, 1 07

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