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ask me what you please respecting your doubts, and I will freely > If this Vatsa be the same as the one alluded to by Wassilief , it would appear that he had been a disciplo, but was condemned for holding here- tical views (Boiiddis/ne, § 57.) 186 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST answer you. Then Vatsa putra said : Gotama, is there a good man (or virtue) in the world ? Yes, Brahmatchari. And is there that which is not good? Yes^ Brahmatchai-i. Gotama, I ask you to give me some rule to know the law of virtue and the law of evil. Buddha said: Illustrious youth! there is much to be said on this subject, but for your sake I will bi-iefly expound it. Illustrious youth ! desire is the source of evil. Those who cast off desire, these are called good. And so with reference to anger and delusion. So, again, 'murder' is evil; and he who kills not is good. And so through all the list of sinful actions, down • to 'heresy,' all these are evil. Thus, illustrious youth, I have declared for your sake the threefold character of virtue and vice {i. e., rejecting desire, anger, aversion), and the tenfold character (^. e., avoiding the ten crimes forbidden by the commandments) ; and I repeat, whoever is able to cast away covetous desire, anger, delusion, and all other sources of moral defect (leaks), and to separate himself from all mundane influences — this man is virtuous. The Brahma- tchari rejoined: And, Gotama, is there one Bikshu in all the company of your followers who has arrived at this condition of virtue? Buddha replied: Illustrious youth! not one only, nor two nor three, but countless numbers of such proficients. [And so he asks if there is a Bikshuni, a Upasaka, or Upa- sika who has arrived at this perfection, and receives similar answers.] Vatsa then replied : Woi'ld-honour'd one 1 may I use a comparison ? Certainly, illustrious youth, as your heart prompts you. World-honour'd one ! just as the Naga KAjah Nandaupanauda sheds down the rain equally, so l^athagata sheds down the rain of the Law, on all alike, justly and without preference. World-honour'd one ! sup- pose the class of heretics desire to become converts, what directions does Tathagata give as to the proper time for such profession. Buddha said : Illustrious youth ! cither of the four mouths (of the Varsha or Wass season), without any preference, is fit for such profession. World-honour'd one ! if so, oh ! would that I might nuw become a disciple SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 187 etc. At this time the worhl-honour'd one spoke thus to Kaundinya : Eeceive this Vatsa putra as a disciple, and dehver to him the five Rules of the lay-disciple. Then Kaundinya, according to Buddha's directions, gave direc- tions, in the midst of the congregation, that there should be a public assembly (sangha-kamma, vide Lotas, 437), whilst Vatsa, fifteen days after his profession of faith, arrived at the condition of a Srotapanna. After this, A^atsa thought thus with himself : If I have indeed attained Su- pr^ie Wisdom, I have attained it from the instruction of Buddha; it behoves me, therefore, to see him at once. Im- mediately going into his presence, he worshipped him pros- trate on the ground, and having completed his act of rever- ence, he remained fixed with unmoved countenance.^ Then he asked Buddha, saying, World-honour'd one ! having attained to my present condition of enlightenment, I further pray that Buddha would instruct me how to reach the supreme condition of unsurpassed wisdom. Buddha said : Illustrious youth ! diligently and earnestly striving after the condition of Samata (Repose) and that of Vipasina (clear sight), then you may advance through every stage of mental advancement, until you arrive at the condition of Buddha himself. Vatsa having heard this, worshipped and de- parted, and taking up his residence in the Sala grove, practised these two rules of Samata and Vipasina, and thus in a short time arrived at the condition of a Rabat. At this time there were countless Bikshus desirous to go to the place where Buddha was. Vatsa then asked them r Virtu- ous ones, where go ye ? To the place where Buddha is, they replied. Vatsa continued: If, virtuous ones, ye arrive there, let it be known that Vatsa, having perfected him- '' This a very curious, though a very common phrase; the original is "chu yih miu." It is translated from the Sanscrit by Burnouf, "he re- mained in a place apart by himself." (Lotus^ p. 272, line 11.) This ren- dering is confirmed by SiJiegel in the Kammavakya (p. 1, Lat. vers., line 8). 2 Pali, Bhante. 183 A CATENA OF DUDBHIST self in tlie two rules, lias obtained supreme wisdom, and now, thanks to Buddha, is about to enter Pari-Nirvana. Then all those Bikshus, coming into the presence of Buddha, spoke thus : Wovld-honour'd one ! Vatsa putra, the Brah- matchari, by practising the two Laws, has obtained Supreme Wisdom, desires to return his grateful thanks to Buddha, ere he enters the final Nirvana. Buddha replied: Illustrious 3'ouths ! Vatsa putra having obtained the condition of a Rabat, ye ought all to go and pay worship to his body. Then the Bikshus, thus commissioned, returned to*the place of his decease, and paid his body every reverence." THE SUTEA OF FORTY-TWO SECTIONS. • 4. The numerous works which are preserved in the Bud- dhist Canon are classed under three divisions or collections, viz.: Worksondiscipliue(Annaya); Dogmaticworks (Sutras); Liturgical and philosophical works (abhidarma). Of these, the first alone can have any claim to authenticity, as em- bodjang the teaching of Buddha. M. Wassilief has stated broadly that Buddha himself left behind him no written document, nor did he preach any other doctrine but the one we have already named, i. e., the vanity of all that belongs to the world.^ But, doubtless, he established certain rules for the conduct of his followers, and enunciated certain broad principles for their instruction and guidance. Some of these are embodied in the Gjithas already quoted, others are found scattered thi'oughout the immense literature which, having been written at a date long posterior to the death of the founder of the Religion, has been attributed to him, as representing the principles and the discipline he recom- mended in his lifetime. There is the Dhammapada, for example, a work found in the Southern Canon, and belong- ing to the Sutra-pitaka, or collection of works on dogma, which, without having any claim to a remote antiquity in ' Buddhisme, p. 90. SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 189 its present form/ yet doubtless embodies the essence of Buddha's teaching. Its very title^ Footsteps of the Laiv, ov, as we might say. Vestiges of Religious Doctrine, seems to imply that its authority is merely that of a late compilation ; and yet it is classed among the Sutras, which, theoretically at least, were delivered by Ananda immediately after Bud- dha's death. With respect to the age when this and similar compilations were reduced to a written form, there is evi- dence to be found in various quarters. With respect to the Dhammapada, the question of age has been considered in an exhaustive manner in the English edition of that work by Prof. Max Miiller (pp. xvi-xvii). But we have positive proof in China that works of this character were found in a written form as early, at least, as the beginning of our own sera. The Siitra named the " Forty-two Sections," which is of a purely ethical character, was brought to China in its present form about a.d. 70. This fact can admit of no dis- pute, for it is recorded in the annals of the country, and a temple was built in memory of it, an account of which is given at large in a well known and authentic work, called the History of the Lo Yang Temples. It is only reasonable, then, to suppose, if this work were so well known in India at the time of the first Chinese embassy, viz., 64 a.d., as to be thought the most proper for translation, in order to exhibit the doctrines of the religion about to be introduced into the country, that it was reduced to the written form in India at an earlier period ; and therefore we cannot be far wrong if we give it an age at least as great as the beginning of the Christian sera.