480 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XIX, 
It has been suggested by Lévi and others (already men- 
tioned) that the light of religion was brought to Nepal by 
Buddhist monks. It may be suggested, that culture also was 
brought by them from India. But such a condition requires 
that the development of Newar society proceeded on different 
lines from what can be inferred from existing facts The 
monks being celibate would leave no descendants! and the 
culture would be given ee to their followers. A real 
imposition of religion requires some {ime and it pre 
sumed that the culture brought w mal also be fairly assimilated 
in that ey After civilization has been brought in this 
vay, the immigration of lay people would not be difficult, for 
the initial difficulties will ee have disappeared. They would 
owever not be able to occupy a greatly superior position to 
the now civilised aboriginal wild tribes. The result of such a 
development would be to have two communities existing side 
by side, the relative positions being determined by the equili- 
brium of the immigrants and their inferior members as well as 
the degree to which the earlier people had assimilated their 
culture. The existing conditions, however, rule out such a°. 
acs ai 
On the other hand, any hypothesis which suggests that 
the religion and material culture come from two different 
sources, ‘has to face a good many difficulties, one of the most 
important being the remarkable homogeneity in manners, 
customs and ideas of religion among all three grades. 
t has been suggested that most of the arts of the Newars 
had ca derived from Tibetans.? The first difficulty that 
such a view has to meet is that it ascribes the introduction of 
religious ideas and material culture to two widely different 
sets of people. For, the birth of Buddhism proper in the low- 
lands to the south of Nepal and the early existence of that 
religion in that country rules out as exceedingy artifical, any 
hypothesis that the religion first went to Tibet and then 
entered Nepal by that route.’ {t is not of course suggested 
that later Tibetan and Chinese influences have not had any 
effect on Nepalese Buddhism. 
Allowing therefore that the religious ideas mainly came 
m India, the difficulty arises as to how in such cases the 
panic iy Bendyss praia to impose their religion to the extent 

TI preclude the theoretical possibility of a wholesale lapse of monks 
pat their vows. Only zealous apostles of religion would go so far out- 
side their country to “aire: eee faith and this minimises the possibility 
f such a downfall. In th e however, they merely take the place of 
the early boldi a ie ead t> take indigenous wives. 
2 . ee ibid., 
Gi inseppe : Asiatic Researches, Vol. (1799) indeed 
suggests th Hare the religion as well as the monastic cou are derive 

