﻿400 ON THE RELlGIdN^ AND MAXXERS 



that it may be easily imagined that very fe\\^ of their 

 wise men understand them. There are traces, how- 

 ever, of the Brahmin calculations to be found in 

 those of the Boudkists. The Brahmms and Boud- 

 hists are equally bigoted and extravagant, with this 

 difference, tiiac in tlie former religion are found very 

 deep ideas of astronomy, in the latter none: I liave^ 

 till now searched in vain for an instructive work in 

 Singalese, relative to the heavenly bodies, and have 

 only found uninteresting speculations on the in- 

 fluence of the stars on the affairs of the world ; the 

 Brahmins respect fire, the Boudhistfi do not. The 

 former eat of no animal, the latter are re&tricted 

 only to the not partaking of the flesh of nine, of 

 which the ox is the principal. 



I AM rather of opinion, upon a comparison of the 

 two religions, that that of Boudhou is the more an- 

 cient, for the following reasons — The religion of 

 Boudhou having extended itself in very remote 

 times, through every part of India, was in m.any re- 

 spects monstrous and unformed. An uncreated 

 world and mortal souls, are ideas to be held only in 

 an infant state of society, and as society advances 

 such ideas must vanish. — A fortiori, they cannot be 

 established, in opposition to a religion already pre- 

 vailing in a country, the fundamental articles of 

 ^'hich are the creation oF the world and the immor- 

 tality of the soul. Ideas in opposition to all religion 

 cannot gain ground, at least cannot make head, 

 when there is alread}'' an established faith ; whence 

 it is fair to infer, that if Boudhism could not have 

 established itself among the Brahmins, and if it has. 

 been established in their country, that it must be 

 the more ancient of the two. 



In looking into the Singalese books, we find 

 several strikino: resemblances between their astrono-. 

 mical system, and that of the Brahmins) for ni- 



stance. 



