Mr. B. H. Hodgson's Sketch of Buddhism. 235 



at length, that, when a i^QVf of these beings, wlio, though half males and 

 half females, had never yet, from the purity of their minds, conceived the 

 sexual desire, or even noticed their distinction of sex, came, as usual, 

 to the earth, A'di-Buddha suddenly created in them so violent a longing 

 to eat, that they ate some of the earth, which had the taste of almonds, 

 and by eating it they lost their power of flying back to tlieir Bhuvana, and 

 so they remained on the earth. They were now constrained to eat the fruits 

 of the earth for sustenance ; and from eating these fruits they conceived 

 the sexual desire, and began to associate together : and from that time, and 

 in that manner, the origin of mankind commenced from the union of the 

 sexes. (See note 9.) 



When the beings above-mentioned came last from Abhdsxcard, Maha 

 Samvat was their leader, and he was the first king of the whole earth. 



In another Tantra it is written, that A'di-Buddha is the immediate 

 creator of all things in heaven and earth. 



With respect to time we conceive the Satya-yuga to be the beginning of 

 time, and the Kali-ijiiga the end of it : and the duration of the iour yitgas, 

 the particulars of which are found in the Brahmanical scriptures, have no 

 jjlace in our's: in wliich it is merely written that there are four yiigas ; and 

 that in the first, men lived 80,000 years; in the second, 10,000; in the 

 third, 1,000: and the fourth is divided into four periods; in the first of 

 which, men will live 100 years ; in the second, fifty years ; in the third, 

 twenty-five years ; and in the fourth, when the close of the KaU-yiiga is 

 approaching, seven years only ; and their stature will be only the height 

 of the thumb ; and then all things will be destoyed, and A'di-Buddha alone 

 remain : and this period of four yugas is a Pralaya. A'di-Buddha will then 

 again create the four yugas, and all things else to live in their duration, 

 which when completed, all things will be again destroyed, and thus there 

 will be seventy-one pralayas, or completions of the four yugas, when Mdha 

 Pralaya will arrive. How many revolutions of the four yugas (i. e. how 

 many pralayas) have now passed, and how many remain to revolve, is 

 nowhere written. 



Question III. 



What is matter, and what spirit ? 



Answer. 



Body (see note 10), which is called Sarira and Deha, was produced from 

 the five elements and soul, which is called prdna a,nd jiva, and is a particle of 



2 H 2 



