but it must be observed that fasting is with Jainas a duty incumbent
on all. It is a duty only second to that of not killing. Fasting
(_upav[=a]sa_) is also practised by Hind[=u]s and Buddhists, and held
to be a most effective means of accumulating religious merit. Orthodox
Hind[=u]s fast twice a month, on the eleventh day of each fortnight,
as well as on the birthday of Krishna (_Janm[=a]shtam[=i]_), and the
night sacred to S´iva (_S´iva-r[=a]tri_). On some fast days fruits may
be eaten, but no cooked food of any kind.
With Buddhists and Jainas the season of fasting, religious meditation,
and recitation of sacred texts, far outdoes our Lenten period. The
Buddhists in some parts of the world call their fasting season Wasso
(corrupted from the Sanskrit _Upav[=a]sa_). That of the Jainas is
called Pajj[=u]san or Pachch[=u]san (for Sanskrit _Paryushana_). The
S´vet[=a]mbara Jainas fast for the fifty days preceding the fifth of
the month Bh[=a]dra, the Dig-ambaras for the seventy following days.
In both cases the Pajj[=u]san corresponds generally to the rainy
season or its close. Possibly the practice of fasting during that
period may be intended as an expiation for the supposed guilt incurred
by the unintentional destruction of damp-engendered insects.
In regard to the duty of worshipping images, this also, like the last
duty, is incumbent on all. But it is worthy of remark that images were
at first only used as memorials or as simple decorations, in places
consecrated to pure forms of worship. Idolatry has always been a later
innovation. It has never belonged to the original constitution of any
religious system. One or two differences between Hind[=u], Buddha, and
Jaina images should be noted. Hind[=u] images (excepting that of the
ascetic form of S´iva) are often profusely decorated, while Buddha and
Jaina idols are always left unadorned, though sometimes cut out of
the finest marble, and often having a nimbus[18] round their heads.
Twenty-two of the Jina images, as well as the seven Buddhas, are
represented with a coarse garment thrown over the left shoulder, the
other shoulder being bare. Those of the first and last Jinas (Rishabha
and Mah[=a]v[=i]ra) are completely nude; and Jina images, like some
of those of the Buddha, are often erect. Moreover, the idols of the
Buddha Gautama represent him in four principal attitudes. He is
(1) seated in deep contemplation; or (2) is seated while engaged in
teaching, with the tip of the forefinger of one hand applied to the
fingers of the other hand; or (3) he is a mendicant ascetic in a
standing posture; or (4) he is recumbent just before his decease. In
the first or contemplative attitude, he is indifferent to everything
except intense concentration of thought on the problem of perfect
knowledge. According to others, he is supposed to be thinking of
nothing, or, if that is impossible, his thoughts are concentrated on
the tip of his nose, till he does not even think of that. Or there may
be a modification of this meditative attitude, in which his mind is
apparently engaged in ecstatic contemplation of the short distance
which still separates him from the goal of annihilation. The first
contemplative attitude is by far the commonest. The sage is seen
seated (generally on a full-blown lotus) with his legs folded under
him, the left palm supinate on his lap, and the right hand extended
over the right leg. He has pendulous ears, curly hair, and a top-knot
on the crown of his head. His garment is thrown gracefully over
the left shoulder, leaving the right bare. The modification of this
attitude, representing the sage in ecstatic contemplation, has both
the palms resting one above the other on the lap, and occasionally
holding a circular object, the meaning of which is not well
ascertained. In the second or teaching attitude, the great teacher is
supposed to be marking off the points of his discourse, or emphasizing
them on his fingers. This attitude expresses an important peculiarity,
already pointed out, as distinguishing Buddhism from Jainism--namely,
that it lays more stress than Jainism on the acquisition and imparting
of knowledge. I have never seen a Jina image in a teaching attitude.
The recumbent attitude of Buddha is supposed to represent him in the
act of dying, and attaining Nirv[=a]na. Pious Buddhists regard
this supreme moment in the life of their great leader with as much
reverence as Christians regard the death of Christ on the cross.
Through the kindness of Sir William Gregory, I was taken to see
a colossal recumbent statue of the Buddha, at least thirty feet
long,[19] in the celebrated temple of Kelani, not far from Columbo,
in Ceylon. The image appeared to be highly venerated by numerous
worshippers, who presented offerings at the shrine. On each side were
colossal images of attendants and doorkeepers (_dv[=a]ra-p[=a]la_),
and in other parts of the temple figures of Buddha's demon enemies,
besides idols of the Hind[=u] deities, Vishnu, S´iva, and Ganes´a.
All around the walls of the temple were fresco representations
of incidents in the life of the Buddha. A huge bell-shaped Dagoba
(_Dh[=a]tu-garbha_), of massive masonry, covered with chunam, was in
the garden, on the right side of the temple. It doubtless enshrined
ashes or relics of great sanctity. But in all these Dagobas there is
no passage to any interior chamber: whatever relics they contain have
been bricked up for centuries, and no record is preserved of their
history or nature. On the left of the temple were the residences of
the high priests and monks, in a well-kept garden overshadowed by
an immense P[=i]pal tree, supposed to represent the sacred tree of
knowledge. Both Buddha and Jina images have always certain objects
or symbols (_chihna_) connected with them. Those of the Buddha are
generally associated with the tree of knowledge, or a hooded serpent,
or a wheel, or a deer.[20] The seventh T[=i]rthan-kara of the Jainas
is specially associated with the Svastika cross--an auspicious symbol
common to Hind[=u]ism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Worshippers in Buddhist
and Jaina temples may be seen arranging their offerings in the form of
this symbol, which is shaped like a Greek cross, with the end of each
of the four arms bent round in the same direction. The question as to
the origin of the emblem has called forth many learned dissertations
from various scholars and archæologists. For my own part, I am
inclined to regard it as a mere rude representation of the four arms
of Lakshm[=i], goddess of good fortune, the bent extremities of the
arms denoting her four hands.
With regard to the adoration of relics, one or two points of
difference between the systems may be pointed out. The Hind[=u]s
wholly object to the Buddhist practice of preserving and worshipping
the ashes, hair, or teeth of their departed saints. I remarked in
the course of my travels that articles of clothing, especially wooden
shoes and cloth slippers, used by holy men during life, are sometimes
preserved by the Hind[=u]s in sacred shrines, and held in veneration.
They must, of course, be removed from the person before actual death
has supervened; for it is well known that in the minds of Hind[=u]s
an idea of impurity is always inseparable from death. Contamination is
supposed to result from contact with the corpses of even their dearest
relatives. The mortal frame is not held in veneration as it was by
the ancient Egyptians, and as it generally is in Christian countries.
Every part of a dead body ought to be got rid of as soon as possible.
Hence, it is burnt very soon after death, and the ashes scattered on
the surface of sacred rivers or on the sea. Nevertheless, the bodies
of great ascetics are exempted from this rule. They are generally
buried, not burnt; not, however, because the mere corporeal frame is
held in greater veneration, but because the most eminent saints are
supposed to lie undecomposed in a kind of trance, resulting from the
intense ecstatic meditation (_sam[=a]dhi_) to which during life they
were devoted. In former days great ascetics were not unfrequently
buried alive, and that, too, with their own consent. A crowd of
admiring disciples was always ready to assist at the entombment, and
it might be said in excuse that the holy men really appeared to be
dead, though they were merely speechless, motionless, and senseless,
in a kind of meditative catalepsy.
The Jainas hold views similar to those of the Hind[=u]s in regard to
the treatment of dead bodies. They never preserve the ashes of their
saints in St[=u]pas, Chaityas, or Dagobas, or worship them, as the
Buddhists do.
In connection with this subject I may remark, that what may be called
"foot-worship" (_p[=a]duk[=a]-p[=u]j[=a]_), or the veneration of
footprints, seems to be common to Hind[=u]s, Buddhists, and Jainas.
Even during life, when a Hind[=u] wishes to show great respect for
a person of higher rank or position than himself, he reverentially
touches his feet. The idea seems to rest on a kind of _a fortiori_
argument. If the feet, as the lowest members of the body, are treated
with honour, how much more is homage rendered to the whole man.
Children honour their parents in this manner. They never kiss the
faces of either father or mother. In some families, sons prostrate
themselves at their fathers' feet. The arms are crossed just above the
wrist, both feet are touched, and the hands raised to the forehead.
The notion of honouring the feet as the highest possible act of homage
runs through the whole Hind[=u] system. Small shrines may often be
observed in different parts of India, sometimes dedicated to holy men,
sometimes to Sat[=i]s, or faithful wives who have burnt themselves
with their husbands. They appear to be quite empty. On closer
inspection two footprints may be detected on a little raised altar
made of stone. These are called P[=a]duk[=a], "shoes," but are really
the supposed impression of the soles of the feet. In the same way, the
wooden clog of the god Brahm[=a] is worshipped at a particular shrine
somewhere in Central India, and we know that the footprint of both
Buddha and Vishnu at Gay[=a], and that of Buddha at Adam's Peak, are
objects of adoration to millions.
Analogous ideas and practices prevail in Roman Catholic countries.
There is a wooden image of Christ on the cross in a church at Vienna,
which is so venerated that, although it is a little elevated, some
worshippers stand on tiptoe to kiss its feet, while others touch its
feet with their fingers, and then raise their fingers to their mouths.
Similarly, at Munich, in Bavaria, numbers of worshippers may be seen
kissing the feet of an image of the Virgin Mary, and most travellers
can testify that images of St. Peter, not to mention the living
representative of St. Peter, are treated in a similar manner.
Nothing, however, comes up to the veneration of footprints among
Jainas. I visited the magnificent temple erected by H[=a]thi-Singh at
Ahmedabad, as well as the underground shrine dedicated to [=A]dinath,
and another great Jaina temple at Kaira. The first consists of a large
quadrangle, approached by a beautifully carved marble gateway. The
principal shrine is in the centre. All around the quadrangle is a
kind of cloister, in which are about thirty subordinate shrines, each
containing the image of a particular Jina or T[=i]rthan-kara. All the
images appeared to me to be of one type, and to resemble those of
the contemplative (Dhy[=a]n[=i]) Buddha. All are carved out of fine
marble, generally of a light colour, and all represent the ascetic,
in his sitting posture, wrapped in profound meditation, indifferent
to all external phenomena--calm, serene, and imperturbable. The
attendants of the temple were either very ignorant or very unwilling
to impart information. No one could tell me whether all the
twenty-four Jinas had a place in the shrines. One image of perfectly
black marble was described to me as that of P[=a]rs´van[=a]th.
The other temples were not very remarkable, except as affording good
illustrations of "foot-worship." In one shrine I saw 1880 footprints
of Nemi-n[=a]th's disciples. In another, 1452 footsteps of the
disciples of Rishabha. They were covered with offerings of grain and
money. All the names of these holy disciples are given in the Jaina
sacred works, and it may be remarked that the disciples of Jinas,
however celebrated, are never represented by images. That privilege is
reserved for the twenty-four supreme Jinas themselves. I noticed that
many Hind[=u] idols were placed outside the shrines.
Certainly Jainism, when regarded from the stand-point of a Christian
observer, is the coldest of all religions, if, indeed, it deserves
to be called a religion at all. Yet the number of temples in certain
centres of Jainism far exceeds the number of churches and chapels in
the most religious Christian districts. Every Jaina who lays claim to
an excess of piety or zeal builds a temple of his own. It never enters
into his head to repair the temples of other religious people. At
P[=a]lit[=a]na, in K[=a]thi[=a]w[=a]r, there is a whole city of Jaina
temples, some new, others decaying, and others quite dilapidated. It
is by no means necessary or usual that every temple should possess
either priests or worshippers. I can certify that I saw fewer
worshippers even in the most celebrated Jaina temples than in any of
the Buddhist temples at Columbo or Kandy. Those who came contented
themselves with bowing down before the idols, and placing flowers or
grains of rice and corn on the footprints of the saints.
The Yatis have a kind of liturgy, partly in Sanskrit, partly in the
Jaina form of M[=a]gadh[=i] Pr[=a]krit, partly in a kind of archaic
Gujar[=a]t[=i]. No real prayers are offered, but stories of the
twenty-four Jinas and their disciples are recited, with singing and
an accompaniment of noisy instrumental music and beating of cymbals.
Religious festivals and processions are also common. I witnessed one
in the town of Kaira, on the anniversary of the death of a celebrated
Yati. An immense multitude of men and women paraded the streets,
preceded by a very demonstrative band of musicians. In the centre
was an apparently empty palanquin, borne by six men. It contained the
supposed footprints of the deceased Yati in whose honour the festival
was held.
A few short extracts from the Kalpa-s[=u]tra (Stevenson, p. 103) will
give some idea of the rules of discipline by which the lives of the
Yatis are required to be regulated, as follow:--
"Self-restraint is to be exercised by each man individually.
Self-control is the chief of all religious exercises. If a
quarrel arise, mutual forgiveness is to be asked. Three daily
cleansings are enjoined, morning, mid-day, and evening. A
period of rest and fasting is to be observed yearly in the
four months of the rainy season. During this period, male
and female ascetics should by no means partake of rice,
milk, curds, fresh butter, melted butter, oil, sugar, honey,
spirits, and flesh. They must never use any angry or provoking
language, on pain of being expelled from the community.
Ascetics must carefully avoid contact with minute insects,
small animals, small seeds, small flowers, small vegetables,
&c. No ascetic must do anything whatever, or go out for any
purpose whatever, without first asking permission of the
Superior of the Convent. The head must be shaved, or the hair
constantly clipped. No ascetic must wear hair longer than that
which covers a cow."
With regard to the last injunction, it may be mentioned that the
ceremony of initiation (_d[=i]ksh[=a]_) usually takes place at the
age of twelve or thirteen, and that part of the rite once consisted in
forcibly pulling out every hair of the head (_kes´a-lunchana_). In the
present day ashes are applied, and a few hairs torn out by the roots
before the scissors are used.
It remains to state that the Jainas of the present period are leaning
more and more towards Hind[=u] ideas and practices. They have their
purificatory rites (_sansk[=a]ras_), and a modified caste system.
Not unfrequently Br[=a]hman priests are invited to take part in
their marriage ceremonies. Indeed, it is by no means uncommon for
intermarriages to take place between lay Jainas (_s´r[=a]vakas_) and
lay Vaishnavas, especially in cases when both belong to the Baniya or
merchant caste.
In short, Jainism, like Buddhism, is gradually drifting into the
current of Hind[=u]ism which everywhere surrounds it, and, like
every other offshoot from that system, is destined in the end to be
reabsorbed into its source.
I must reserve the subject of the Indo-Zoroastrian creed, and modern
P[=a]rs[=i] religious usages, for treatment in my next paper.
MONIER WILLIAMS.
[Footnote 1: If an orthodox Br[=a]hman is asked to describe
his religion, he calls it [=A]rya-dharma, that is, the system
of doctrines and duties held and practised by the [=A]ryas. He
never thinks of calling it by the name of any special founder
or leader. Be it noted, however, that Dharma implies more than
a mere religious creed. It is a far more comprehensive term
than our word "religion."]
[Footnote 2: In many images of the Buddha he is represented
with the sacred thread over the left shoulder and under the
right arm, according to orthodox Br[=a]hmanical usage.]
[Footnote 3: Since the Buddha became absolutely extinct, and
since his system recognised no Supreme Soul of the Universe,
there remained nothing for his followers to venerate except
his memory. The mass of his converts, however, did not long
rest satisfied with enshrining him in their minds. First they
made pilgrimages to the Bodhi-tree, or "Tree of Knowledge,"
at Gay[=a], under which their great teacher obtained supreme
wisdom. There they erected tumuli, or graves (variously
called dagobas, chaityas, and st[=u]pas), over his relics, and
worshipped, these. Then adoration was paid to his foot-prints,
and to the wheel or symbol of the Buddhist law. Finally,
images of his person in different attitudes (to be described
subsequently) were multiplied everywhere. Temples, at first,
were unknown. There were rooms, or places of meeting, for
Buddhist congregations to hear preaching; but it was not till
a later period that these were used to enshrine images and
relics. A vast period of development separates the original
Sangha-griha from such a temple as that erected over the
eye-tooth of Buddha, at Kandy, in Ceylon, which is a costly
edifice, containing images and a library, as well as the
far-famed relic shrine behind thick iron bars.]
[Footnote 3: The expression, Jainism, corresponds to
Vaishnavism and S´aivism just as the term Jaina does to
Vaishnava or S´aiva. Of course consistency would require
the substitution of Bauddhism and Bauddha for Buddhism and
Buddhist, but I fear the latter expressions are too firmly
established to admit of alteration.]
[Footnote 4: There is one place in India where the growth of
Vaishnavism out of Buddhism, and their near relationship, are
conspicuously demonstrated. I mean Buddha-gay[=a], with the
neighbouring Vishnu temple of the city of Gay[=a].]
[Footnote 5: In the Caves of Ellora, Br[=a]hmanism, Buddhism,
and Jainism, may be seen in juxtaposition, proving that at
one period, at least, they existed together, and were mutually
tolerant of each other.]
[Footnote 6: Their names at full are:--1. Rishabha; 2. Ajita;
3. Sambhava; 4. Abhinandana; 5. Sumati; 6. Padma-prabha;
7. Sup[=a]rs´va; 8. Chandra-prabha; 9. Pushpa-danta; 10.
S´[=i]tala; 11. S´reyas; 12. V[=a]sup[=u]jya; 13. Vimala; 14.
Ananta; 15. Dharma; 16. S´[=a]nti; 17. Kunthu; 18. Ara;
19. Malli; 20. Suivrata; 21. Nimi; 22. Nemi; 23.
P[=a]rs´van[=a]tha; 24. Mah[=a]v[=i]ra, or Vardham[=a]na. The
first of these lived 8,400,000 years, and attained a stature
equal to 500 bows' length. The age and stature of the second
was something less. The twenty-third lived a hundred years,
and was little taller than an ordinary man. The twenty-fourth
lived only forty years, and was formed like a man of the
present day. The Buddhists hold that their Buddha Gautama was
much above the usual height.]
[Footnote 7: When Buddhism merged in Vaishnavism, its symbol
of a wheel (_chakra_) was adopted by the worshippers of
Vishnu.]
[Footnote 8: The word T[=i]rtha may mean a sacred ford or
crossing-place on the bank of a river, or it may mean a holy
man or teacher.]
[Footnote 9: This is by some interpreted to mean--Reverence to
the creative energy inherent in the universe.]
[Footnote 10: The actual colour of an ascetic's dress is a
kind of yellowish-pink, or salmon colour. Pure white is not
much used by the Hind[=u]s, except as a mark of mourning, when
it takes the place of black with us.]
[Footnote 11: There is also a very low, insignificant, and
intensely atheistical sect of Jainas called Dhundhias. They
are much despised by the Hind[=u]s, and even by the more
orthodox Jainas].
[Footnote 12: This term, as well as Up[=a]saka, is also used
to designate the Buddhist laity.]
[Footnote 13: From the Sanskrit root, _yam_, to restrain. The
Buddhists call their monks S´ramanas; from the root _S´ram_,
"men who work hard at austerities," or Bhikshus, "mendicant
friars." Their laymen are S´r[=a]vakas, like the Jaina laymen,
but are also called Up[=a]sakas.]
[Footnote 14: Also written Ap[=a]s´raya.]
[Footnote 15: When so attired they may be called
P[=i]t[=a]mbaras, or Kash[=a]y[=a]mbaras, though they belong
to the S´vet[=a]mbara, or white-clothed party.]
[Footnote 16: Dr. Stevenson conjectures that As´oka's famous
edicts were similar proclamations, embodying all the commands
and prohibitions of Buddhism and Jainism, engraved on stone to
secure their permanence.]
[Footnote 17: It is doubtless intended as a Jaina satire on
the worship of deceased parents and ancestors enjoined by
the Br[=a]hmanical system, and commonly practised by true
Hind[=u]s.]
[Footnote 18: The idea of encircling the heads of saints
with a disc of light probably existed in India long before
Christianity.]
[Footnote 19: Buddhists believe that the stature of the
Buddha far exceeded that of ordinary men. Muslims have similar
legends about the stature of Moses.]
[Footnote 20: There is a legend that the Buddha taught first
in a deer-park near Benares.]
LORD BEACONSFIELD.
I.--WHY WE FOLLOW HIM.
A writer in the last number of this REVIEW, when giving a portraiture
of Mr. Gladstone, pointed out that that right honourable gentleman was
a bundle of persons rather than one. It will not, I hope, be thought
a very gross plagiarism if I say that Lord Beaconsfield's fame may be
divided into four or five distinct reputations, any one of which,
in the case of a smaller man, would be thought enough for enduring
celebrity. If Mr. Disraeli had never succeeded in making his way into
Parliament, he would still, without needing to add another volume to
the books he has written, have had to be taken account of as one of
our foremost men of letters. Supposing that, having entered the House
of Commons, he had not attained office, he would yet have always been
remembered as the keenest Parliamentary debater of his time. If his
public life had ended in 1852--that is, more than a quarter of a
century ago--without his having become a Minister, he would have stood
recorded as the most skilful leader of an Opposition which our history
has known. Had he never passed a measure through Parliament, he
must have been referred to by all political thinkers as a strikingly
original critic of our Constitution. Such trifles as that, being
born in the days of dandyism, he ranked among the leaders of fashion
directly after he was out of his teens, and that he has been a leading
social wit his whole life through, may be thrown in without counting.
But add the above items together, and fill in the necessary details,
and what a startling result we have!
It is very obvious that I cannot here trace Lord Beaconsfield's career
in detail. The chronicle is much too rich for that. The better plan
will be to make the subject group itself around three or four chief
topics--say these: His public consistency; his personal relations with
Peel and other leaders; his political and social views regarded as a
system; and his recent foreign policy.