238 Mr, B. H. Hodgson's Sketch of Buddhism. 



jn-avntti, which is multipHcity, may be distinguished in all things. And 

 in this latter view oi pravritti, A'di-Buddha may be considered a king, who 

 gives orders ; and the five Eiiddhas, and other divinities of heaven, his 

 ministers, who execute his orders ; and we, poor mortals, his subjects, ser- 

 vants, and slaves. In this way the business of the world is distributed among 

 the deities, each having his proper functions ; and A'di-Buddha has no con- 

 cern with it. Thus the five Biiddhas give miikti (see note 19) and mbksha to 

 good men : Brahma, by the orders of Padma-Pani, performs the part of 

 creator ; Vishnu, by the same orders, cherishes all beings ; and Maha 

 Deva, by the same orders, destroys ; Yama takes cognizance of sins, and 

 punishes sinners ; Indua and Var^na give rain ; and the sun and moon 

 fructify the earth with their rays ; and so of the rest. 



Question VII. 

 Who is Buddha ? Is he God, or the creator, or a prophet or saint ; born 

 of heaven, or of a woman ? 



Answer. . 



Buddha means, in Sanscrit, the wise ; also, that which is known by 

 wisdom ; and it is one of the names which we give to God, whom we also 

 call A'di-Buddha, because he was before all, and is not created, but is the 

 creator : and the Pancha Buddhas were created by him, and are in the 

 heavens. Sakya, and the rest of the seven human Buddhas* are earth-born 

 or human. These latter, by the worship of Buddha, arrived at the highest 

 eminence, and attained Nirvana Pad {i.e. were absorbed into A'di-Buddha). 

 (See note 20.) We therefore call them all Buddhas. 



Question VIII. 

 What is the reason for Buddha being represented with curled locks ? 



Answer. 

 A'di-Buddha was never seen. He is merely light. (See note 21.) But 

 in the pictures of Vairochana, and the other Buddhas, we have the curled 

 hair ; and since in the limbs and organs we discriminate thirty-two 

 (Jacshaiias) points of beauty, such as expansion of forehead, blackness of the 

 eyes, roundness of the head, elevation of the nose, and archedness of the 

 eve-brows ; so also the having curled locks is one of the points of beauty and 



* See Plate IV, fig. /. 



