1854.] On the Ballads and Legends of the Punjab. 87 



only to lay side by side the doctrines of the Gnostics and those of 

 the Boodhists, to be convinced that they have a common origin, or 

 that the one is derived from the other. 



According to the Boodhist, Adi Budha, the supreme, self-existent 

 God, infinite, eternal, without members or passions, dwelling in 

 unbroken peace and in unbounded happiness, conceiving the desire 

 to create, brought into existence five Dhyani Boodhas, or Divine 

 intelligences, each of whom produced a son or Booclhisatwa. These 

 were the actual creators of the universe, its preservers and de- 

 stroyers. 



The soul is part of the essence of Adi Boodha or the Almighty, 

 allied to the material creation by misfortune and error. (How mis- 

 fortune or error could happen to the Almighty is not explained.) 



Adi Boodha although acknowledged as God, is never worshipped. 



By abstinence from evil and meditation upon God, the soul is at 

 length freed from its union with the flesh, and reunited to the 

 Almighty. 



There is a heaven for those who free themselves from the evil. 



A hell for those who remain unfreed. 



According to the Gnostic. The supreme self-existent God, infi- 

 nite, eternal, without members and without passions gave forth a 

 succession of emanations from himself called iEon (Atwv.) These 

 acting upon matter which was eternal, but lay in a state of chaos, 

 reduced it to order, and thus the universe had being. The iEon 

 who effected this was the Demiurgos. As Lord supreme of 

 matter, he is at variance with the supreme spirit ; and it is the 

 triumph of spirit over matter which is to restore the spiritual nature 

 of man to the Pleroma or heaven of the Almighty spirit. 



According to the Manichaeans, a branch of the Gnostics, Manes 

 (perhaps the Munnoo of the Hindoo and the Mani or Mooni of the 

 Boodhist) was the Comforter promised by our Saviour, when he left 

 his disciples in despair at his loss. The Boodha closely assimilates 

 to this character. He was a messenger from heaven. Not a God. 

 Nor yet a mere man. A comforter and a teacher — but not an object 

 of worship. The Hindoo Pundit if asked to describe the Munnoo 

 says, " The Munnoo is neither God nor man. He appears from 

 time to time and by him the universe is held together. This is the 



