No. 25—1882.] 



nikvAjsta, 



165 



Madhyamikas are found scattered in the polemical literature of 

 the Bralimanas, such as the writings of Kum&rila Bhatta.* 



Though the researches of eminent scholars have accom- 

 plished much in elucidating the subject of Buddhistic Nirvana, 

 yet the water sheds of Brahma nic, Jaina, and Buddhistic literature 

 are not reached and investigated. What is known is, however, 

 sufficient to show the series of transformations the doctrine of 

 Nirvana has passed through between 1,000 B. C. (the time of 

 the Upanishad literature), and 1,200 A. D. (the time of 

 Brahmanic and Jaina revival.) 



II. A position stated. — A doctrine like that of Nirvana, 

 accepted and acted upon by the masses of people in different 

 countries of the world, is not a mere accident ; it is a growth 

 determined by the environment of those who maintain the 

 doctrine— an environment involving historical conditions and 

 circumstances, and originating in a many-sided revolution. 

 Buddhism is a popular revolt against the exclusive A ryan 

 conquerors. It is a rebellion of the proleteriat against the upper 

 classes. It is the polity of absorption determined to upset the 

 polity of exclusion. It is the masses (Sangha) in opposition 

 to the upper classes (Udgha). It is a socialistic movement 

 against the hereditary aristocracy of ancient India and its 

 prior rights. The sequel will elucidate and support this view of 

 Nirvana. 



III. Summary of the differences between the Buddhists and 

 Vedists. — There were conservative and liberal AVvasf ; the 

 former attempted to exclude half-castes from their schools : the 

 latter encouraged them to learn and gave them instruction 4 

 The Sangha or a class — consisting of the AVvanized non-Aryas, 

 half-castes and degenerated AYvas — was distinguished from the 

 higher classes or genuine A'ryas §. The leaders of the Sangha 

 gradually grew in intelligence and pressed forward, claiming 



* See Madhava Sayana's Sarva Darsana Sangraha, which offers a 

 summary of their doctrines. 



f The Purva Mimansa (VI. 1, 26, 27.) 

 I Chhandogya Upanishad (IV. 4. 1.) 

 § Panini's Sutras (III. 3, 86.) 



