225 



Brahmanas comment on the ritual implie(l. We find in the Vedic era, a 

 worship of deity under the powers of nature. We are in a different atmo- 

 sphere from that which surrounds Krishna, Eama, Ganapathi, Hanuman, and 

 even Vishnu, and the other more popular gods and goddesses. We are, 

 most perceptibly, nearer to the early principles of Tsabaism, which was, 

 doubtless, the first departure from the worship of the one true God. With 

 reference to what Mr. Coles has said, I am quite sure he has read a good deal 

 more about Buddhism than I have ; and he is, no doubt, a much better 

 authority than I. But it would appear that Mr. Coles describes what is the 

 Buddhism of to-day. He would take, as I gather from his words, the 

 whole of the Buddhist scriptures and tell you what Buddhism now is. 

 We, however, know that. But the question really is, what was the 

 Buddhism of Gautama Buddha himself ? It should be remembered that 

 no Buddhist book was written within four hundred years of Buddha's 

 death. That, at least, is the tradition of the Singhalese people themselves, 

 and it is probably correct. What we want to know is, what Buddha him- 

 self really taught. That is the point, and there lies the difficulty. I only 

 desired to elucidate one point to-night, and that is, that whether we take 

 Hinduism, Buddhism, or any other religion, they did not spring originally 

 from men's thoughts, but from Eevelation ; and the difi'erences between 

 them are some slight indication of the extent to which that primitive 

 revelation has been overlaid by man's invention. 

 The meeting was then adjourned. 



KRISHNA. 



The author of the Paper has since forwarded the following supplementary 

 remarks : — 



With regard to Krishna, it may be quite true, as Mr. Rhys Davids says, 

 that the legends may have gathered round some real hero or prince, as in the 

 case of Buddha himself. But the question is as to the origiu of the legends. 

 The comparatively modern character of the books in which Krishna is raised 

 to divine honours Avill be conceded, if not insisted upon, by all Sanscrit 

 scholars. The Bhagavat-Glta, with the Purilnas, is placed by Professor !Max 

 Miillcr in what he calls the " modern and artificial period," or, as he also 

 calls it, the " Renaissance " period, commencing not earlier than the third 

 century of the Christian Era. The Bhagavata-Purana, in the tenth book of 

 which is the full story of Krishna, is held by many scholars to have lieen 

 written as late as the tenth century a.d. In the Bhagavat-Gita, of which 

 the opinion of Mr. Monier Williams is, that it is "really a comparatively 

 modern philosophical poem interpolated in the Bhishma-parva," the great 

 peculiarity is the later Hindu doctrine of bhaldi, faith, or devotion. It is 

 the same in the story of Krishna in the Bhagavata Purana. In the latter it 

 is declared that to hear the story of Krishna and to believe is all that is 

 required for salvation (moksha). Faith is the theme throughout. It is also 

 said that, sin having come into the world, the Deity resolved to become in- 



