170 
that it is not very select. To have kept the ten commandments of Buddh- 
ism under all these circumstances does not indicate that a very lg on 
morality is rendered necessary in so doing. . ' , 
But there is much more than this to he noted, for the very vir ues y 
he was entitled to become a Buddha, are full of trampling on the nghts of 
others In order to renounce the world, he gave in alms or as charity 
his eyes head, flesh, Wood, children, wife, and substance, whether personal 
Olf otherwise?, * * * § as in the Khadirangara birth* The sufferings of the poor 
children given away by the heartless father + to a tyrannical Brahmm n 
order that the former might attain Buddhaship, are told m a way 
our compassion.” % • QTU i 
In various other births he accumulated a great amount of virtue and 
set his mind to what is excellent-giving away that which he enjoyed aid 
the necessities of others, and regarding with an equal mind those who 
termed upon him the most severe cruelties, and those who assisted him 
"re 2nd. This may be all very well for a Stoic, but falls far short of 
Christian forgiveness of injuries. What shall we say to the Tmduka toth,§ 
in which the Bodhisat appears as the king of 80,000 mon ey , 
sets fire to the house of an old woman in order to rescue his troop from 
danger they had incurred in a plundering expedition . , „ 
Itarn from all this and come to the records of the actual life of Buddha o 
earth; in which, rejecting an the absurd fables about his conception i an 
birth (“ effected without pain,” p. 145), I learn the same lessons. On the day 
on which he was bom he walked seven steps towards the north, a lotus g 
up at every step, after which he exclaimed, “ / am the most exalted m the 
world ; I am chief in the world ; I arm the most excellent m the world t here- 
after there is to me no other birth ! ”|| “ It was at the utterance of these words 
which were spoken as with a voice of a fearless lion, and rolled o » 
of the brahmalokus, that the Brahmas and Dewas assembled to do homage 
to the new-born prince.” . , 
Need I point out the contrast as to the lessons to be learned from the birth 
of o«r Lord, and with his words, “ Come unto me, all ye that labour and are 
heavy laden, and I will give you rest, Take my yoke upon you, and learn 0 / 
me, for I am meek and lowly of heart.” What is more evident than that this 
is the very thing which poor sin-ruined man needs-EEST 4 If itwer^not 
for this promise, I think Nirwana might be the height of his ambition 
object of hope,— if hope that may be called where hope is none ^ 
Bor all the woes of the world Buddhism affords no balm. Stolid resig- 
nation is all that it can teach. Attainment it has none, except for those 
who enter upon and continue in the four paths that lead to Nirwana. 
* Pape 102. t Page 121. . ,, 
+ The father tears the children from his embrace a,nd gives them up 
to cruel slavery, exclaiming “ May I by this become the All-knowing. 
§ Page 113. II Page 146. 
