CiiAP. IV.] THE EARLY BUDDHIST MOXOIENTS. 347 



The images of Gotama, wliicli in time became objects ]i,c. 

 of veneration, were but a late innovation \ and a doubt 289. 

 has even been expressed whether the rehgion of Buddha 

 in its primitive constitution, rejecting as it does tlie doc- 

 trine of a mediatorial priesthood, contemplated the exis- 

 tence of any organised ministry. 



Caves, or insulated apartments in imitation of their 

 gloom and retirement, were in all probabihty the first 

 resort of devotees in Ceylon, and hence amongst the 

 deeds of King Tissa, the most conspicuous and munifi- 

 cent were the construction of rock temples, on IVIihintala, 

 and of apartments for the priests in all parts of his 

 dominions.^ 



The directions of Gotama as to the residence of his 

 votaries are characterised by the severest simphcity, and 

 the term " pansala," hterally " a dwelhng of leaves,"^ by 

 which the house of a priest is described to the present 

 day, serves to illustrate the Qiiginal intention that persons 

 dedicated to his ser\'ice should cultivate sohtude and 

 meditation by withdi-awing into the forest, but within 

 such a convenient distance as would not estrange them 

 from the villagers, on whose bounty and alms they were 

 to be dependent for subsistence. 



In one of the rock inscriptions deciphered by Prinsep, 

 King Asoca, in addressing himself to his Buddhist 

 subjects, distinguishes them as " ascetics and house- 

 holdersy In the sacred books a laic is called a " graha 

 pah," meaning " the ruler of a house ; " and in contra- 

 distinction Fa Ilian, the Cliinese Buddhist, speaks of the 

 priests of Ceylon under the designation of " the house- 



^ The precise date of their intro- > were Buddhists or Brahmans; but 



duction is ^mkno^\^l, but the first i the account which he gives of the 



mention of a statue occurs in an in- class of them whom he styles the 



scription on the rock at Mihintala, i Ilvlobii, would seem to identify them 



bearing date a.d. 246, and referring I with the Sramanas of Buddhism, 



to the house constructed over a "passing their lives in the woods, 



figure of Buddha. fwrrec iv rai^ vXatQ, living on fruits 



2 TTJKJfOTTR's Upitome, p. 15. and seeds, and clothed with the bark 



^ It is questionable whether the of trees." — Megasthenes' Indica, 



Sarmanai, mentioned by Megasthenes, &e., Frag-ra. xlii. 



