90 



BUDHISM. 



when Goutama Buciha was born, for upon his birth Brah- 

 mans were consulted respecting the fortunes of the new-born 

 prince (2.) ; and it is stated that the progress of Budhism 

 was most rapid among the inferior castes: the Kshatriya or 

 Warrior tribe rejecting it from the pride of birth, and the 

 Brahmans from the pride of learning : but the B rahmanism 

 of that period differed materially from that of the present 

 time ; no trace appearing in the sacred books of the Bud- 

 dhists of the worship of Siva and Vishnu. The God to whom 

 offerings were generally made, was Agni, the God of fire. (3.) 



vailing in Nepaul, Thibet, Mongolia, Corea, China, the Japanese 

 Archipelago, Anam, Cambodia, Siam, the Shan States, Burmah, 

 Arrecan, and Ceylon." 



Sir Emerson Tennent's Christianity in Ceylon, page 199, tells us 

 the followers of Budhism amount to more than one-third of the 

 human race. Hardy's Eastern Monachism says, " It is computed, 

 there are 369,000,000 of Budhists." * 



(2.) On the birth of Siddliarta, 108 Brahmans were brought 

 together, of whom there were eight chiefs ; seven of those having 

 observed the 32 attributes of personal beauty in the prince, lifted 

 each two of their fingers, and pronounced, that if he remained a 

 laic he would be universal monarch ; if he turned priest, he would 

 become Buddha ess^^aado ©Seaes^S Cndi®®>o& S^stea©®^ est^S) 

 cSfc^SBts^S Q^a)o so§esss^ Sache agaran wasissati raja hoti ehak- 

 kawatti. Sache pabbejissati budclhobhawissati," while the young- 

 est Brahman <^«30«s£e)«^a^ Kondanya positively affirmed, that he 

 Would not remain a laic but would become Budhda, and lifted 

 up one finger in token of this. (Manorathepurane <5*<53°j) 



(3.) Professor Wilson, on Rig Veda Sanhita, affirms, that there 



* Max Muller in his Essays on the Science of Religion, p. 214, says 

 that Goutama " became the founder of a religion which after more than 

 2000 years, is still professed by 455,000,000 of human beings." He adds 

 however the following note : u Though truth is not settled by majorities 

 it would be interesting to know which religion counts at the present mo- 

 ment the largest number of believers, Berghaus in his ' Physical Atlas * 

 gives the following division of the human race according to religion. 

 Buddhists . .31*2 per cent. Brahmanists . . 13 '4 per cent. 

 Christians . . 30-7 „ Heathens . . 8*7 „ 

 Mohammedans . 15*7 „ Jews 4 ,0-3 ,, 



"As Berghaus does not distinguish the Buddhists in China from the 



