474 BRAHMANISM AND BUDDHISM 



the child Buddha and praises his coining glory? The temptation of 

 Jesus in the wilderness and the temptation of Buddha in solitude by 

 Mara the evil one, the walking of Peter on the sea, the widow's mite, 

 the parable of the prodigal son and the corresponding Buddhistic 

 parallels, what is one to think about all this? Have features been 

 really added to the picture of Christ by the contemplative imagina- 

 tion of the disciples of Buddha living in the monks' abodes along the 

 Ganges? Important as these questions are, 1 naturally have no inten- 

 tion of discussing them here. I merely wish to describe how Indology 

 joins forces with other branches of research in their solution. I desire 

 only to emphasize the following point. When the problem is to de- 

 termine the possible influence of an Indian prototype upon any non- 

 Indian circle of ideas, Indology can never do more than contribute to 

 forming the decision. The decision itself can be reached only within 

 the province covered by the other science. The Indian scholar will 

 determine that the Indian prototype in question has such and such 

 a form and goes, or can go, back to such and such a time. The fellow 

 worker will likewise ascertain corresponding facts regarding the 

 phenomenon that may eventually be regarded as an imitation. When 

 these preliminary questions have bee settled, there then begins the 

 more subtile investigation, which in cases of this kind does not really 

 come within the sphere of Indology. Does the civilization which 

 is so claimed to be influenced, for example the early Christian, pre- 

 sent within itself the conditions by which the phenomena in question 

 can be adequately explained without assuming derivation? Does 

 the configuration of the forms disclose any abnormalities, erosions, 

 joints, fissures, that might give weight to the opinion that foreign 

 elements have been mingled ? Then there still remains the question, 

 in case such an admixture is to be assumed, whether it must be 

 derived precisely from India. The peculiar trend of his imagination. 

 I might almost say a kind of subconscious patriotism, all too easily 

 drives the Indologist to this conclusion. The investigator of a par- 

 ticular field possesses a vivid knowledge of this field alone. Almost 

 inevitably his scales must tip in favor of his own subject, when 

 different ones are claiming to be the point of departure of some 

 historical movement. 



In these last sentences I have touched upon a peculiarity of these 

 investigations which I must not neglect; namely, the subjectivity of 

 the critic and his scientific temperament are wont to play here a par- 

 ticularly dangerous role. We see students, on the one hand, grasping 

 with ready faith at every similarity between widely separated facts 

 and constantly finding traces of historical relationships. The phlegm- 

 atic are also not wanting. They are filled with the greatest mis- 

 trust whenever they are expected to risk a leap or even a step from 

 one sphere of civilization to another. The more anxiously, however, 



