the city and the Gijjhakuta bill. Maddakuchchhi* was, it appears, immediately at the foot of the mountain. A Migadāya or deer forest is associated with this low valley and it was one of Buddha's favourite places of residence. Buddha was first taken to the valley below Gijjhakūta after the accident, and thence to Jivaka's ambavana where he could be most conveniently attended to by the great physician.

The following account of the Ambavana-Vihāra is given in the commentary on the Samaññaphala Suttat :

"So tasmin ambavane rattiṭṭhāna-divaṭṭhāna-lena-kuti― mandapadini sampādetva, Bhagavato anuchchhavikam gandhakutin kārāpeṭvā, ambavanam aṭṭhārasa-hatthubbedhena tambapatta-vannena pākārena parikhipäpetva, Buddha pamukhassa Bhikku-samghassa civara-bhattena santappetvā dakhinnodakam pätetva viharam niyyātesi." This means:-" After having made places of rest for the day and the night, retreats, closets, pavilions and a perfumed sanctuary worthy of the Lord, and surrounded the mango grove with a wall which was eighteen cubits high and of the colour of copper plate, he entertained Buddha and the Bikkhus at a feast, and gave them pieces of cloth, after which he solemnly made over the mango grove to them, pouring water in ratification of the donation ".

Maddakuchchhi literally, soft belly' (madda being a derivative of mṛdu), perhaps means a hollow in the valley with soft alluvial soil overgrown with luxuriant vegetation and a favourite haunt of antelopes.

† Samaññaphala Suttassa Aththakathā, page 107 (Burmee Edition).

ÍÍ.—Buddhism and Vedantism: A Paral

lel.

By D. N. Sen, M.A.

I.

It is a puzzle that a religion like Buddhism, which, in its earlier and purer form, did not inculcate either prayer or worship could grow upon Indian soil. As prayer and supplication are considered to be the very essence of religious doctrine and ritual, how could India, which is supposed to be essentially a religious country, evolve a faith which does not consider this phase of religion to be of vital importance?

There comes a time in the life of every race, as it does in the life of every thoughtful person, when it is felt that the ordinary interpretation of the world we live in, and the standard of values by which we estimate the ends or ideals we pursue in life, should be revised and reconstructed. We find clear indications of such a movement of thought in the Upanishads.

In the famous discourse which Yajnavalkya delivered to Maitreyi on the eve of his retirement from the world, we have the following:-

r

" सा हो वाच मैचेयो यन्नु इयं भगोः सव्वा पृथिवी वित्तेन पूर्णा स्यात्स्यां न्वहं ते नाम्डताऽऽहो ३ मेति नेति होवाच याज्ञवल्क्यो यथैवो पकरणवतां जीवितं तथैव त े नोवितं स्यादम्टतत्वस्य तु ना शास्ति वित्त मे वि । खा हो वाच मैत्र यो येनाहं नाम्टता स्यां किमहं तेन कुर्य्या यदेव भगवान्व े स्थ aça à far sìfa 1”

She (Maitreyi) replied, "Lord, if all the earth full of wealth were mine, through it shall I become deathless?" Yajnavalkya said, "No, no, your life will be like the lives of persons who

have wealth. Wealth, on the other hand, destroys deathlessness.” She (Maitreyi) said, “What shall I do with that which cannot make me deathless? Lord, tell me all that you know about it."

So, in the Upanishads, they sought for deathlessness, for Amritatvam. They asked for something that would place them beyond the power of death.

In the Chhandogya Upanishad, the question is asked as to what is happiness (सुखं ) ? The reply is as follows :

“ यो + भूमा तत् सुखं माष्ये सुखमस्ति भूमैव सुखं भूमान्वे व विजिज्ञासितव्य इति भूमानं भगवा विजिज्ञास इति ।

"

“ That which is Great is joy, there is no joy in the Little. The Great alone is joy, therefore, ask about the Great.” "Respectful Sir, I ask about the Great."

"जो व्यवमिह महिमेत्याचचते हखिहिरण्य' दाखभार्य क्षेत्राण्यायतनानीति । नाहमेव ववीमि । "

"Here people call kine and horses Greatness,-elephants and gold, slaves and wives, fields and houses. I do not say so, I do not say so."

They anxiously enquired as to what true happiness was. They had found that it did not consist in possessing the good things of the world.

The Kathopanishad tries thus to answer the question :

“ तद तदिति मन्यन्तेऽनिर्देप्रयंम्परमं सुखम् । कथन तदिजानीयां किस भाति विभाति वा । न तत्र स य भाति न चन्द्रतारक मा विद्युतो भान्ति कुतोऽयमग्मिः । तमेव मान्तमनुभाति सर्व्वमिदं विभाति । ”

"It is this that is considered to be Ineffable, Supreme Bliss. Oh, how should we know it, does it shine or manifest itself ? The sun does not shine there, nor do the moon and the stars, there the lightning does not spread its rays, nor has the fire any place there. All things shine by His light, His rays make all this manifest.”

+ Sankara says : तस्तस्मिन्नल्प सुखं नास्त्रि, व्यल्पस्याधिकटष्णा हेतुत्वात् । तृष्णा च दुःखवोजम् । न हि दुःखवोनं सुखं हर जरादि लोके । तस्माय ुक्त ं नाल्प संख म् । वातो भूमैव सुखम् । "

They sought the Ineffable Supreme Bliss which lay beyond this world of the sun, moon and stars, fire and lightning. The same thought finds expression in another form in the Praśnopanishad :

"Just as these rivers, as they flow on towards the sea, disappear as they find the sea, their names and forms are destroyed and they are spoken of as the sea; so it is with the perfect seer whose 16 kalās (phases), as they approach the Purusha (the Self), on reaching the Purusha (the Self), lose themselves, their names and forms are destroyed and they are spoken of as the Purusha (the Self), and he becomes phase-less and deathless."

They sought that which was beyond name and form, and into which all things ultimately proceed and lose themselves and become deathless. The Bliss and the Reality which they enquired about, they found to be Transcendental.

The Mandukya Upanishad speaks thus of the fourth state of the Atman:

'नान्तः पुचं न वहिःप्रचं नोभयप्रतं न प्रज्ञानधनं न प्रज्ञे नाप्रज्ञं ।

"It has neither inner consciousness, nor outer consciousness, nor a combination of both, nor a condensed consciousness, neither consciousness nor not-consciousness."

They finally aimed at attaining a state of Consciousness which was Transcendental.

Their ultimate goal was the Self which is described as below in the Chhandogya Upanishad

:

a Almisqgaqrar fari faza föîñîsfafqazsfqme: सत्यकामः सत्यसङ्कल्पः सोऽन्वं वृव्यः सविजानि सतयः । "

"The Self who is sinless, not subject to decay, death, sorrow, hunger and thirst, whose desires and resolutions are right,—He is to be sought, He is to be asked about."

II

Let us now consider what was the interpretation of life according to Buddha and what was the ultimate object to attain which he and his followers laboured.

These are the first words which Tathāgata addressed to the five Bhikkhus in the Deer Park at Benares:

"Ōdahatha Bhikkhave sōtam. Amatamadhigatam."

"O Bhikkhus, listen. I have found amatam, i.e., the drink which makes one deathless."

This was the cheerful gospel of great hope which Buddha preached. There is no fer like the fear of destruction and no joy like the joy which the assurance of immortality brings

to man.

In the four "noble truths" which Buddha preached to the five Bhikkhus, in his first famous sermon, he explains how life is misery and how the misery can be removed:

(a) “Dukkham ariyasaccam: jāti pi dukkhā, jarāpi dukkhā, byadhipi dukkha, maranampi dukkham.”

Misery is a noble truth: birth is misery, decay is misery, disease is misery, death also is misery."

(6) "Dukkha-samudayam ariyasaccam. Yayam tanha ponobbhavika nandirāga sahagatā tatra tatrabhinandini: seyyathidam kāmatanhā, bhava-tanhã, bibhavatanhā."

"The origination of misery is a noble truth. It is desire which causes rebirth, which is accompanied by pleasure in and attachment to things, and which takes delight in various objects, e.g., the desire for objects of sense, desire for life, desire for wealth."

(c) "Idam kho Bhikkhave Dukkhanirodham ariya saccam: Yo tassă eva tanhāya asesa virāganirodho, cago, paținisaggo, mutti, anālayo.”

"O Bhikhus the suppression of misery is a noble truth; the suppression of desire through freedom from various kinds of attachment, renunciation, deliverance, emancipation, freedom from attachment."