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In their stead, oar parents, who have assisted us in our infancy, are to be regarded as the east ; our teachers, as being worthy to receive assistance, are to be regarded as the south ; our children, as those by whom we are afterwards to be assisted, are to be regarded as the west ; our friends and rulers, as those who will assist us in times of sorrow and misfortune, are to be as the north ; our servants, salves, and retainers, as being under our authority, are to be as the under side ; and the priests and religious advisers, as assisting us to put away that which is evil, are to be regarded as the upper side. (Singdldwdda-stUra- saime.) * The men and women are seen coming dripping from the banks of the Ghmges. — Ward's Hindoos. X. THE ETHICS OF BUDHISM. 605 As the man whose head is on fire tries to put the flame out qaicklj, so the wise man, seeing the shortness of life, hastens to secure the destmotion of evil desire. As the jessamine is the chief among flowers, and as the rice called rat-hel is the chief among all descriptions of grain, so is he who is free from evil desire the chief among the wise. This advice was given by Budha. He who would attain nirw^na must not trust to others, but exercise heroically and perseveringlj his own judgment. The wagoner who leaves the right path and enters into the untrodden wilderness, will bring about the destruction of his wagons and endure much sorrow ; so also wiU he who leaves the appointed path and enters upon a course of evil, come to destruction and sorrow. The unwise man cannot discover the difEerence between that which is evil and that which is good, as a child knows not the value of a coin that is placed before him ; he cannot tell whether it is gold or copper, or whether it is a genuine coin or a coun terf eit. As the hirala defends its eggs at the risk of its own life, as the Indian yak tries by every means to keep its tail from injury, as the man with only one son is careful of that son, as he who has only one eye takes great pains to preserve that eye ; so ought the wise man continually to exercise thought, lest he break any of the precepts. Even should the forfeiture of life be the consequence, the precepts are to be observed. When acts are done under the influence of favour, envy, ignorance, or the fear of those in authority, he who performs them will be like the waning moon ; but he who is free from these influences, or avoids them, will -be like the moon approaching its fulness. When the seed of any species of fruit that is bitter is sown in moist ground, it gathers to itself the virtue of the water and the earth, but because of the nature of the original seed, all this virtue is turned into bitterness, as will be seen in the fruit of the tree that it produces ; in like manner, all that the unwise man does is an increase to his misery, because of bis ignorance. On the other hand, when the sugar cane, or rice, or the vine, is set in proper ground, it gathers to itself the virtue of the water and the earth, and all is converted into sweetness, because of the sweetness of the original plant or grain ; in like manner, all the 506 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. acts of the wise man tend to his happiness and prosperitj, becanse of his wisdom. The door of the eye* most be kept shut. When the onter gates of the city are left open, thongh the door of eyerj sepa- rate house and store be closed, the robber will enter the dtj and steal the goods ; in like manner, thongh all the observances be kept, if the eye be permitted to wander, evil desire will be pi*oduced. It is better to have a red-hot piece of iron run through the eye, than for the eye to be permitted to waoder, as by this means evil desire will be produced. It must be carefnUy guarded against, or the breaking of all the precepts will follow. The mind will then be like a field of grain that has no fence, or a treasure house with the door left open, or a dwelling with a bad roof through which the rain continually falls. The same may be said of all the other senses. {Wisudhumargga-sannS.) When dissensions take place, the mother is divided against the son, and the son against the mother ; the father against the son, and the son against the father; the nephew against the niece, and the niece against the nephew ; and friend against friend ; as the laden ship beats against the waves, and the fruit upon the tree is shaken by the wind, and the fine gold is worked by the hammer of iron. ( Wisydhi-marggcL-scunnS,) It was declared by Mahanama to his brother Anurudha, that repeated existence is like a mockery ; it appears to the wise man like a ball made of straw, without top or bottom ; or the nest of the bird gula, made without order ; or an entangled thread ; or an oscillating swing ; or an image reflected in a mirror ; a thing utterly worthless. (Fujdwaliya.) 21. The Stla Precepts. The dasa-sil, or ten Obligations binding upon the priesti forbid : 1. The taking of life. 2. The taking of that which is not given. i3. Sexual Intercourse. 4. The saying of that which is not true. 5. The use of intoxicating drinks. 6. The eating of solid food after mid-day. 7. Attendance upon dancing, singing, music, and masks. 8 The adorning of the body with flowers, and the use of perfumes and unguents. 9. * The eje is Bometimes called daiwadfpa, the divine lamp ; or if daiwa be derired from d^wa, an organ of sense, it will be the lamp of the body. I X. THE ETHICS OF BUDHISM. 507 The use of seats or coaches aboVe the prescribed height. 10. The receiying of gold or silver. The first five of these obligations are called the pancha-sil. Thej are repeated by some persons every day at the pansal, especially by the women. The first eight are called the ata-sil, and they are repeated only on p6ya days, or festivals. When taken by a laic, they involve the necessity of his living apart from his family. These obhgations are most nsnaJly taken in the presence of a priest, who may either be a sdman6ra or an upasampadd ; bat they are sometimes received from an npdsaka, withoat the intervention of a priest. The obligations may be taken for a limited period, or for as long as the person has power to observe them, or to be observed nntil death. When they are not taken for a Hmitcd period they are called nitya-sila. They may be taken either separately or together. When taken to be kept separately, thoagh one shoald be broken, it does not impair the merit of the rest ; bat when they are taken to be kept collectively, if one be broken, the whole are im- paired. There are three degrees in the manner of keeping the precepts: — 1. They may be kept inadvertently, withoat any intention of acqairing merit thereby. 2. They may be kept at the recommenda- tion of another, or to please another. 3. They may be kept from free choice, from having seen their excellence or advantage. The third is the saperior sila. There was a man who daring fifty years had gained his living by catching fish, bat he had committed no other crime. When he was near death a priest, who perceived his danger, went to his hoase, bat the man's wife ordered him away. The priest, how- ever, gained access to him, and prevailed on him to repeat the five precepts, by which he received power to be bom in one of the d6wa-16kas; at the very last moment, he again repeated the precepts, and received power to be bom in a d6wa-16ka higher than the former. Bat this species of merit is received by few, as there is freqaently the obstraction of the asaal secretions; dangers from yakas ; the distress of friends ; thoaghts aboat the property that is to be left, aboat his children, and aboat death ; so that the man has not the opportanity of receiving yadiusanna (the merit that is obtained when at the point of death). And 508 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. fiven when he enters a d6wa-16ka from this kind of merit alone, he does not remain there long, but soon falls into helL Its benefit is therefore small. In a former age, there was a king who, with his conrtiers, kept the eight obligations. This was observed by a poor woman, who reflected that if persons so exalted kept the sila, it most be an excellent observance. She therefore kept the ata-sil one daj, for which she was bom in a d^wa-16ka, and afterwards became a rahat.