208 



reference to duty to God, wliich seem to belong to a different 

 atmosphere from the self-seeking which is prevalent. As, for 

 example, in one of the hymns to the Maruts, or storm-gods, 

 translated by Professor Max Mliller, there is an expression 

 which is rendered, " Thou searchest out sin," rina-yavd, the 

 word rina, meaning really a debt, something owing to the 

 deity : so also there is in other hymns dgas, gziilt, — " Agni, 

 whatever sin [guilt, abomination] we have committed, do thou 

 pardon it,^'^ — ideas that could hardly belong to a constructive 

 religion that had only reached the stage of nature-worship. 

 And so in other instances in the Veda, where sin is conceived, 

 in the words of Max Miiller, ^'^as a bond or chain, from which 

 the repentant sinner wishes to be iveed." * 



20. But we are most concerned with the morality of 

 Buddha. There is one especially remarkable parallel between 

 what I believe to be early Buddhist teaching and what we find 

 in Holy Scripture as a divine command. I refer to the ten 

 precepts, or obligations, which have, no doubt, always formed, 

 and still form, a very prominent feature in Buddhistic teaching. 

 The order, as well as the character of the first four obligations, 

 is particularly observable as compared with the second table 

 of the commandments in the Mosaic law. The latter, begin- 

 ning with the sixth, are against (1) murder, (2) adultery, 

 (3) stealing, (4) false witness. The Buddhist precepts are 

 against (1) killing (animal life included), (2) stealing, 

 (3) adultery and impurity, (4) lying. These are nearly 

 identical, the second and third only changing places. The 

 fact of the Buddhist precepts being ten in number is also in 

 itself suggestive, though the remaining six are very different 

 from the rest of the Mosaic precepts, and are protests against 

 the licentiousness of Buddha^s day.f This striking parallelism 



* See lUg Veda, Max Miiller, vol. i., p. 244, d seq. 

 t The ten precepts referred to are against, — 



1. The taking of life. 



2. Stealing. 



3. Adultery and sexual intercourse. 



4. Lying. 



5. The use of intoxicating drinks. 



6. The eating of food after mid-day. 



7. The attendance upon dancing, singing, music, and masks, 



8. The adorning of the body with flowers, and the use of perfumes 



and unguents, 

 y. The use of liigh or honourable seats or couches. 

 10. The receiving of gold or silver. 

 Every religious or moral movement is, in the first instance, either a 

 protest against some error or abuse that has become intolerable, or an 



