﻿398 ON THE RELIGION AND MANNERS 



to all the oods ; lie is, however, not what we mean 

 by a god, being inferior to them in some things, 

 and above them in others. He is not purely a spirit, 

 as he lias a body ; he over-runs the diifercnt worlds 

 ■with rapidity, in the same manner as the geniuses in 

 the Arabian Tales, well beloved by Vismnou, and 

 aided by his power. He governs the bad spirits, who 

 have withdrawn their allegiance from the gods, 

 and wlio are hurtful to men : yet he is the son of 

 a king, a husband, a father, and a pilgrim. He is 

 eighteen cubits in height, eats rice and vegetables, 

 and has several of the attributes of humanity. He 

 is called Sam an the Saint by E.vcellence. I have 

 made every inquiry, and have been informed that 

 there is no etymology for the word Boudhou in the 

 ancient languages of Ceylon. Whatever may be the 

 opinion of the Singalese respecting him, we shall 

 consider him as a man. As Brahma is an idea, 

 and not a being, there can be no question about: 

 whether Boudhou lived before or after what never 

 existed as a ueino-. But it would be well worth 

 ascertaining which of the two religions, ot Brahma 

 or of Boudhou, is the more ancient. From the 

 similarity of the two religions, there can be no 

 doubt but that the one is the child of the other; but 

 it is hard to know which is the mother. We find the 

 religion of Boudhou in ancient times extending 

 from the north of Tar tar y to Ccylnn, and from the 

 Indus to Siam, (I will not say as far as China, be- 

 cause I do not believe that Foe and Boudhou were 

 the same person.) In the same manner we see that 

 of Brahma followed in the same countries, and for 

 as long a space of time. It is, therefore, not in 

 liistory, but in the precepts of the two religions, 

 that are to be found the data by \\hich to decide this 

 question. According to the Bralunins, a being ex- 

 isting of itself hatched an c^^^ on a riower of a lotas 

 that was floating on the waters, and out of this e^s,^ 

 tame the world : if they were asked whence came 



