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



the essence of A'di-Buddiia. Body, as created out of the elements, perisheth: 

 soul, as a particle of the divine spirit, perisheth not ; body is subject to 

 changes — to be fat and lean, &c. ; soul is unchangeable. Body is different in 

 all animals ; soul is alike in all, whether in man or any other creature. But 

 men have, besides prdna, the faculty of speech, which other animals have 

 not ; according to the sloca, of which the meaning is this : " Deha is derived 

 from the five Bhutas, and Jiva from the Angas of SwAYAMBHTi." (See note 11.) 



Question IV. 

 Is matter an independent existence, or derived from God ? 



Answer. 



Body, according to some, depends upon the inhaling and exhaling of 

 the Prdna- Vdi/ u ; and this inhalation and exhalation of the breath is 

 by virtue of the soul (prd)ia'), which virtue, according to some, is derived 

 from God, and according to others (see note 12), is inherent in itself: 

 there is much diversity of opinion on this subject. Some of the Bitddha- 

 nidrgis contend that deha (the body) is Sxvahhdvaka ; i. e. from the copulation 

 of males and females, new bodies proceed ; and they ask who makes the 

 eyes, the flesh, the limbs, &c. of the foetus in the mother's womb ? Swab- 

 hdva ! And the thorns of the desert, who points them ? Sivabhdva ! And the 

 timidity of the deer kind, and the i'ury of the ravenous beasts, whence are 

 they ? from Swabhdva ! 



And this is a specimen of their reasoning and proofs, according to a 

 sloca of the Bitddha-charita-1,dvya. (See note 13.) Some again say, that 

 deha and sansdra are Aishxvariha (see note 14), i.e. produced by Iswaua, or 

 A'di-Buddha, according to another sloca. 



Some again call the world and the lumian body Kdrmika, i. e. that Karma 

 is the cause of this existence of deJia and sansdrn ; and they liken the first 

 deha to a field (^kshetra), and works to a seed. And they relate, that the 

 first body which man received was created solely by A'di-Buddha ; and at 

 that time works aflfected it not : but when man put off" his first body, the next 

 body which he received was subject to Kanna, or the works of the first body 

 (see note 15) ; and so was the next, and all future ones, until he attained 

 to ■'Mukti and Mdksha : and therefore they say, that whoever would be 

 free from transmigration must pay his devotions to Buddha, and con- 

 secrate all his worldly goods to Buddha, nor ever after suffer such tilings to 

 excite his desires. And, in the Biiddlia-Charita-Kdvya it is written, that 



