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*' Milinda : '* Then why did he forbid things after they had been done by his disciples; would there have been any harm in forbidding them previously P" N^gasena : " There is in this your city a wise physician ; he is acquainted with the properties of all kinds of medicine; does he administer the medicine previous to the disease, or after P" Milinda : " After its ap- pearance." Ndgasena: "Even so, though Budha knew ail things ; he did not forbid that which was done by his disciples previous to the performance of the act, but after it was accom- plished." Another objection was brought by Milinda against the perfec- tion of wisdom claimed by Budha, in this form : " It was VIII. DIGNITY, VIRTUES, AND POWEBS OF BUDHA. 399 declared bj Badha that he perfectly understood all that he taught or eo joined, and that he enjoined nothing whatever that he did not thus understand ; and yet at another time he gave the priests permission, if so disposed, to omit attending to some of the ordinances he had enjoined ; now they must at first have been propounded in ignorance, or without an adequate cause." N^as^na replied, " This was done merely that he might try the priests. Thus, the chakrawartti addresses the prince who is to be his successor, and says. Son you will have to reign over the whole of the people of Jambudwipa; the cares of state are many ; it will therefore be better for you to take no notice of the more barbarous nations. But the prince, from his love of power, pays no attention to this advice. In like manner, though Budha gave permission to his priests to omit attending to some of his ordinances, he knew that they would not do so, from their love to the dharmma, and their wish to be relieved from the evils of existence." The ordination of D^wadatta by Budha was commented on by the king of Sagal, who said to Ndgasena, '^ If Budha knew, when he ordained D^wadatta, that he would cause a division of the priesthood and have to suffer during a whole kalpa the punishment of hell, it cannot be true that he loves all sentient beings, pities them, and turns away the misfortunes that threaten them ; or if he did not know that he could commit the crime, he is not all- wise, and the declaration that he knows all things is false ; if he is all-merciiul he is not all- wise ; if he is all- wise, he is not all-merciful." Kagas^na : ** Budha is all- merciful, and yet he is all-wise, though he ordained Dewadatta, and thus gave him the power to commit the sin for which he must suffer during a whole kalpa in hell. The apparent con- tradiction is thus explained. Budha saw that on account of the sins committed in former births, D^wadatta was doomed to pass from hell to hell, during many lacs of kelas of years, so that his punishment would be almost endless ; but he also saw that if he were ordained, though he would cause a division of the priesthood and thus have to suffer during a whole kalpa in hell, yet that the merit he would gain thereby would set aside the severer punishment, and cut it off, so that it would not have to be endured. Thus, if he had not been ordaiued, his punishment would have been immensely greater than that which he has now 400 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. to suffer ; and it was from seeing this that Bndha ordained him. Therefore Bndha may be all-merciful, and jet all- wise." Milinda : *' Then Budha's mercy is on this wise ; he pnnishes a man, and then anoints his body with sesamnm oil ; he casts him down, and then raises him up; he takes his life, and then causes him again to liye ; see, what mercy ! When he would &your any one, he first causes him sorrow, and the consolation comes afterwards." Ndgos^na : '* When Budha punishes any one, or casts him down, or takes his life, it is that he may be benefited thereby ; for the same reason that a father chastises his child. Budha ordained D^wadatta, because he saw that thereby a great degree of sufiering would be prevented. As when a noble who is in favour at court sees that a relative or friend is about to suffer some severe punishment, he pleads for him with the king, and mitigates the sentence, or obtains for- giveness; so Budha interfered to arrest the punishment that awaited D^wadatta. It was like the act of a skilful physician, who cures a disease by the application of a powerful medicine. When he sees a putrid and offensive sore, he cleanses it, cuts it open with a sharp instrument, and cauterises it ; but will any one say that he does all this wantonly, or that he does wrong ? When a man, carelessly walking along the road, runs a thorn into his foot, and another who follows him sees his misfortune, and with another thorn, or some instrument, extracts the thorn that has caused pain, does he do this wantonly, or from a cruel disposition ? Is it not rather in mercy, that a greater evil may be prevented ? It was for the same reason, and with the same intention, that Budha ordained D^wadatta." When the king heard this explanation, he acknowledged that his doubts were removed. The king of S&gal repeated the question that he had asked on a previous occasion respecting the wisdom of Budha, and again enquired, '* Does Budha know all things ?" N^igas^na replied, ** Yes ; he knows all things, but the power that he possesses is not at all times exercised ; this power is attached to thought, or there must be the exercise of thought in order to discover that which he wishes to know ; what he wishes to know he dis- covers in a moment by the exercise of thought.*' Milinda: *' Then if Budha must seek before he can find ; if that which he sees has to be discovered by searching, he is not all-wise." VIII. DIGNITY, VIRTUES, AND POWERS OF BUDHA. 401 Nagas6na : ** The power of thongbt in Budha is exceedingly quick and subtle. I will explain to yon bow it is, but I can only do it in a very inadequate manner. Tbus, in one gela, or load of rice, tbere are 63,660,000 grains ; each of these grains can be separately considered by Budha in a moment of time. In that moment the seven-times gifted mind exercises this power." {Milinda Frasna.) 2 J) IX. THE ONTOLOGY OF BUDHISM. I. THB BLBlfENTS 07 BXIBTBITOB. — n. THB OBOAiaZBD BODY. — III. 8BV8A- TION. — IV. FBBOBPTION. — ^V. DISOBIMINATION. — TI. 00NSCI01T8NB8B. Til. IDEWTITT ; INDIVIDUALITY ; AND KOBAL BBTBIBUTIOK. — ^Vin. BBPBODVCTION. — ^IX. KABMA. We have now done with the ancient legend, and its super- natural accompaniments. We have to enter into another region, and commence a course of observation that in its character will differ widely from that which we have hitherto pursued. We have, for a time, to shut out from our vision the various orders of existence that have flitted before us in bewildering profusion, and to chain down our attention to a silent contemplation of the elements of our own being. We are still in a world of mystery ; but this arises as much from the difficulty of the subject, as from the manner of its illus- tration. Befoi^e we commence our task, it will be well to ascertain the object, or motive, of our investigation. We should have supposed, from what we have abready seen, that the teachings of Budha were of too practical a nature to allow of much attention being paid to so abstract, and apparently unprofit- able, a subject, as the one now before us. But it is not from a vain curiosity, or to discover new objects of admiration, or to enlarge the domain of science, we are to continue our researches. It is to find out the highest illustration of the great principle, that all being, every possible mode of exist- ence, partakes of " impermanency, misery, and unreality." The Spartan prayer was, " Give us what is good and what is beautiful ;" and Coleridge says, " Poetry has given me the habit of wishing to discover the good and the beautiful in all that meets and surrounds me;" but the Budhist seeks to realise the truth of a more ancient axiom, " All is vanity and IX. THE ONTOLOGY OF BUDHISM. 403 vexation." The essential properties of existence are enu- merated, in order to convince us that there is no self, or soul. We are to contemplate the unreality of our being, that we may learn to despise it, and place ourselves in such a posi- tion that we may live above its agitations and secure its cessation. The elements of sentient existence are called khandas, of which there are five constituents ; literally, five sections, or heaps (1). 1.