This is the being from whom the enormous number of followers take their
stand, under the title of Bouddhism, and with whom {271} christianity alone
has the power of claiming an equal number of followers.
The books of his priests signalize twelve great epochs in his career,
classed and entitled as follows:--
1. The celestial origin of Buddh.
2. His miraculous and divine conception in the bosom of a mortal mother.
3. His birth.
4. His progress in wisdom.
5. His marriage and royal splendour.
6. His retreat from the world.
7. His life as a hermit.
8. His appearance, whereby he is known as a saint.
9. His predictions.
10. His victory over the six chiefs of the earth.
11. The end of his career.
12. His burial.
The doctrine of this deity is founded on the principle that the universe is
animated by one spirit, and recommends ten precepts, which are,--
1. Not to kill.
2. Not to steal.
3. To be chaste.
4. Not to bear false testimony.
5. Not to speak untruly.
6. Not to swear.
7. To avoid all impure words.
8. To be disinterested.
9. To forgive injuries.
10. Not to be superstitious.
This religion, all peace and all love, prescribes gentleness and pity,
abolishing the brutalizing and tyrannical distinction of castes, and
invites the world to peace, life eternal, and to the identification of
spirits with the supreme essence.
The grand lama is the Supreme priest of one of the great parties of this
church, which has its principal home in Thibet; and the veneration of his
votaries for this human representative of their god, is celebrated over
Europe.
Below this sovereign pontiff, are patriarchs charged with the spiritual
government of the provinces; a council of lamas who {272} assemble in
conclave, and whose insignia answer to those of the cardinals of the Roman
church. They admit oral confession, and make prayers for the dead.
The images of Buddh are multiplied in great numbers in all the pagodas of
India, of Tartary, of China, and the countries of Asia. He is represented
on a mat, his limbs crossed, his bust stiff, and his head elevated in an
imposing attitude, announcing both instruction and education.
[Illustration]
In ordinary cases he is naked and of a black colour, and with the bosom of
a female.
Near him are groups of domestic animals, in allusion to the gentleness of
the worship of this deity, which forbids the shedding of blood.
Beside the superior gods whom we have described, the numerous populations
of India recognize a crowd of secondary divinities, whose history
approaches in many instances to those of the Greek and Roman deities, and
if their legends offer an interest by their singularity, they prove at the
same time, that the founders of these various faiths have sought to give
them a character of obscurity, that they may agree with the general
mysticism of the East.
The fables of India, essentially metaphysical and philosophical, are less
agreeable than those of the people of the West, who indulge their sensual
ideas to a considerable extent.
Below the Supreme being, whose belief is spread among all nations, are
placed the embodyings of the principal god: then, (of {273} an order still
less important,) are placed idols of all kinds, and of all forms, adored by
these ignorant and credulous people.
[Illustration]
Of the many deities of the second category, the most remarkable is Ganga,
who is the river Ganges personified, a river sacred alone to the Hindoos.
"A stream descends in Meru mountain,
None hath seen its secret fountain;
It had its birth, so sages say,
Upon the memorable day
When Parvati presumed to lay,
In wanton play,
Her hands, too venturous goddess, in her mirth,
On Seeva's eyes, the light and life of earth.
Thereat the heart of the Universe stood still;
The elements ceased their influences; the hours
Stopt in the eternal round; motion and breath,
Time, change, and life, and death,
In sudden trance opprest, forgot their powers.
A moment and the dread eclipse was ended,
But, at the thought of nature thus suspended,
The sweat on Seeva's forehead stood,
And Ganges thence upon the world descended,
The holy river, the redeeming flood.
None hath seen its secret fountain,
But on the top of Meru mountain
Which rises o'er the hills of earth,
In light and clouds, it hath its mortal birth:
Earth seems that pinnacle to rear,
Sublime above this worldly sphere,
Its cradle, and its altar, and its throne:
And there the new born river lies,
Outspread beneath its native skies,
As if it there would love to dwell,
Alone and unapproachable."