No. 11.— 1858-9.] 



SINHALESE MYTHOLOGY. 



19 



2. The Deity of Brahnianicai faith, the divine cause, and 

 essence of the world, from which all creatures emanate, is 

 Brahma.* He is represented as being 192 miles high, his 

 feet as 30 miles long, and his robes 256 miles. He is looked 

 upon by the Hindus as the creator of man. a doctrine opposed 

 to the tenets of Buddhism, by which the chief " first cause," 

 that of which even a savage has some conception, is ignored. 

 "The beings who were created by Brahma," says Professor 

 Wilson in his Vishnu Parana, " of the four castes, were at 

 first endowed with righteousness and perfect faith ; they 

 abode wherever they pleased, unchecked by any impediment, 

 their hearts were free from guile, they were pure, made free 

 from evil by observance of sound institutes. In their sancti- 

 fied minds Hart dwelt, and they were filled with perfect 

 wisdom, by which they contemplated the glory of Vishnu." 



According to Buddha, Brahma is a believer in his tenets. 

 He is said to be the Deva who received into his arms the 

 infant Siddharta on his birth, and breathed the consolatory 

 words in the ear of his mother : — " Rejoice, for the son thou 

 hast brought forth will be the support of the world." We 

 will not here pause to consider him as the adorer of Buddha, 

 by whom he stood firmly when attacked by Mara ; to whom 

 he made the first offering ; and from whom he first heard 

 the bafia. Suffice it to remark, that the Sinhalese Poets take 

 him in the light in which he is regarded by the Hindus — the 

 personification of Purity, Sanctity and Wisdom. 



" O virtuous Bodhisat ! thou art the very Brahma in purity (and 

 sanctity) ; in brightness and loveliness ; in loneliness of life ; in infinite 

 learning, and great wisdom ; — the theme of the Hishis." 



* In Csoma Korosi's Analysis of the Tibetan annals, the following 

 passage occurs, the genuineness of which is doubted by many Buddhists 

 in Ceylon : " Shaky a asks several questions of Brahma, whether was it 

 he who caused the several revolutions in the destruction and regenera- 

 tion of the world. At last lie himself asks Shakya, how the world was 

 made, — by whom ? Here are attributed all changes in the world, to the 

 moral works of the animal beings, and it is stated, that in the world all is 

 illusion : there is no reality in the things : all is empty." — Asiatic 

 Researches, xx. p. 434. 



