212 Further Note on the Inscription from Sdrndth. [April, 



by the practice of all virtues, avoidance of all vices, and by complete 

 mental abstraction. More precise, and as usually interpreted here, 

 more theistic too, than the first clause of the inscription is the terser 

 sentence already given ; which likewise is more familiar to the Nipa- 

 lese, viz. " Of all things proceeding from cause ; the cause is the 

 Tathagata :" — understanding by Tathagata, Adi Buddha. And when- 

 fver, in playful mood, I used to reproach my old friend, Amirta Nan- 

 da, (now alas! no more) with the atheistic tendency of his creed, he 

 would always silence me with, " Ye 4 Dharmd hetu-prabhava ; hetun 

 teshdn Tathagata " insisting, that Tathagata referred to the supreme, 

 self-existent {Swayambhu) Buddha*. 



Nor did I often care to rejoin, that he had taught me so to inter- 

 pret that important word (Tathagata), as to strip the dogma of its 

 necessarily theistic spirit ! I have already remarked in your Journal, 

 that the Swobhavika texts, differently interpreted, form the ground- 

 work of the Aiswarika tenets. It will not, however, therefore, fol- 

 low, that the theistic school of Buddhism is not entitled to distinct 

 recognition upon the ground of original authorities ; for the oldest 

 and highest authority of all — the aphorisms of the founder of the 

 creed — are justly deemed, and proved, by the theistic school, to 

 bear legitimately the construction put upon them by this school — 

 proved in many ancient books, both Puranika and Tantrika, the 

 scriptural validity of which commands a necessary assent. As it 

 seems to be supposed, that the theistic school has no other than 

 Tantrika authorities for its support, I will just mention the Sway- 

 ambhu Purdna and the Bhadra Kalpavaddn, as instances of the con- 

 trary. In a word, the theistic school of Buddhism, though not so an- 

 cient or prevalent as the atheistic and the sceptical schools, is as 

 authentic and legitimate a scion of the original stock of oral dogmata 

 whence this religion sprung, as any of the other schools. Nor is it to 

 be confounded altogether with the vile obscenity and mystic iniquity of 

 the Tantras, though acknowledged to have considerable connexion with 

 them. Far less is it to be considered peculiar to Nepal and Tibet, 

 proofs of the contrary being accessible to all; for instance, the 

 Pancha Buddha Dhydni are inshrined in the cave at Bugh, and in the 



* The great temple of Swayambhu Na'th is dedicated to this Buddha : whence 

 its name. It stands ahout a mile west from Kathmandu, on a low, richly wood- 

 ed, and detached hill, and consists of a hemisphere surmounted by a graduated 

 cone. 



The majestic size, and severe simplicity of outline, of this temple, with its 

 burnished cone, set off by the dark garniture of woods, constitute the Chaitya of 

 Swayambhu Na'th a very beauteous object. 



