§ 2. The Six Darsanas.—The names and founders of the respective schools were: (1) the Sákhya system, founded by Kapila; (2) the Yoga system of Patanjali; (3) the Nyáya system of Gautama; (4) the Vaiseshika system of Kanáda; (5) the Purva-Mimánsá of Jaimini; and (6) the Uttara-Mimánsá, or Vedánta of Vyása.

The Sankhya and the Yoga are generally classed together, and are, indeed, nearly allied. The Sánkhya, however, appears to have been essentially atheistic; it takes its name from its numeral or discriminative tendencies. The Yoga, on the other hand, is distinctly theistic; it asserts the existence, not only of individual souls with the Sankhya, but also of one all-pervading Spirit free from the influences affecting other souls.

Similarly, the Nyáya and Vaiseshika are commonly classed together. Nyáya is called the logical school'; but this term, of course, refers to its method, not to its aims. It is said to represent 'the sensational aspect of Hindu philosophy,' treating the external frankly as a solid reality. Vaiseshika is called 'the atomic school,' teaching the existence of a transient world composed of varying aggregations of eternal atoms. It is supplementary to the Nyáya.

Both the Purva-Mimánsá and the Uttara-Mimánsá are commonly included in the general term Vedánta—' the end or object of the Vedas,' more strictly applied to the latter only. The aim of both is to teach the art of reasoning as an aid to the interpretation of the Vedas. The principal doctrines of the Vedántá proper are, that God is the omniscient and omnipotent cause of the existence, continuance, and dissolution of the universe. Creation is an act of His will; He is both the efficient and the material cause of the world.' 'At the consummation of all things all are resolved into him.' 'He is adwaita, "without a second."" The famous Sankaráchárya was the great apostle of this school (see Introduction, § 85).

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From an historical point of view the Darsanas are

valuable, both as indicating the early speculative activity of the Hindu intellect, and more especially as illustrating the rise of Buddhism.

CHAPTER IV.

THE RISE OF BUDDHISM.

§ 1. Origin of Buddhism. § 2. Gautama, Buddha.

§ 1. Origin of Buddhism.-The doctrines of Buddhism appear to have been originally those of a philosophical school nearly akin to and perhaps identical with the Sánkhya, described above. Buddhism was at first a system of philosophy, not a religion; and it only became a religion because one of its representatives turned with it to the people, expounded it in a popular form, attached to it the abolition of caste and of other social disqualifications, and combined it with a pure and simple code of morality. It is interesting to observe that the Buddhist legends about their great apostle represent him as a prince of Kapilavastu, the abode of Kapila '-Kapila having been the founder of the Sánkhya school. And with respect to the popular tendencies of the religion it is noteworthy that the Buddhist Scriptures were almost certainly written in the language of the people, and not in the high Sanskrit, which had by this time become unintelligible to all except the learned; for the Scriptures of the Southern Buddhists (of Ceylon, Siam, &c.) were in Páli, the language of Magadha, where Buddhism was first preached; and the Scriptures of the Thibetan Buddhists were in the Sanskrit of Kashmir, where they were first committed to writing.

The date of the promulgation of Buddhism as a religion is not certain, for the various Buddhist eras, which start from Buddha's death (or attainment of Nirváná’) differ widely on the point. The Buddhists of Ceylon, however, are agreed in placing Buddha's death at about 544 B.C.;

and this has been accepted as approximately correct, as it enables the early Buddhist legends to harmonise chronologically with the only Indian date of this period that is historically authenticated, that of Chandragupta (see Chap. VI. § 3).

§ 2. Gautama, Buddha.-The Buddhist legends about their great apostle's life are briefly to the following effect: Early in the sixth century B.C. a young prince was born to the Rájá of Kapilavastu, whose dominions were in Nepál or Gorákhpur, at the foot of the Himálaya Mountains, north of Oudh. This prince was named Sakya Muni, or Gautama: it was only in later life, after long years of preparation and meditation, that he claimed the sacred title of BUDDHA, 'the enlightened.' He belonged, of course, to the Kshatriya, or soldier caste, but from his youth upward he was much addicted to study and contemplation. At an early age, though happily married and blessed with every earthly blessing, his observations of poverty and old age and death impressed him with the nothingness of earthly things; he forsook his kindred and his father's palace in order to become a devotee, first as a disciple of the Bráhmans, and afterwards in a lonely hermitage. It may be noticed that the writings of Yajnavalkya, one of the greatest of the Yoga school of philosophers (see last chap.), show that the doctrine of the vanity of the world, and in connection with it the practice of subsistence on alms, as ‘Bhikshu,' formed a prominent feature in the Yoga system. Finally, Gautama announced that he had attained to true knowledge; he assumed the title of Buddha, entered vigorously on the work of evangelising India, and proclaimed his doctrines as those of a new religion. These doctrines are succinctly summarised by Weber in the following words: 'Men's lots in this life are conditioned and regulated by the actions of a previous existence; no evil deed remains without punishment, and no good deed without reward. From this fate, which dominates the individual within the circle of transmigration, he can only escape by

directing his will towards the one thought of liberation from this circle, by remaining true to this aim, and striving with steadfast zeal after meritorious action only; whereby finally, having cast aside all passions, which are regarded as the strongest fetters in this prison-house of existence, he attains the desired goal of complete emancipation from rebirth. This teaching contains, in itself, nothing absolutely new; on the contrary, it is entirely identical with the corresponding Bráhmanical doctrine; only the fashion in which Buddha proclaimed and disseminated it was something altogether novel and unwonted. For while the Bráhmans taught solely in their hermitages, and received pupils of their own caste only, he wandered about the country with his disciples, preaching his doctrine to the whole people, and (although still recognising the existing caste-system, and explaining its origin, as the Brahmans themselves did, by the dogma of rewards and punishments for prior actions) receiving as adherents men of every caste without distinction. To these he assigned rank in the community according to their age and understanding, thus abolishing, within the community itself, the social distinctions that birth entailed, and opening up to all men the prospect of emancipation from the trammels of their birth. This of itself sufficiently explains the enormous success that attended his doctrine: the oppressed all turned to him as their redeemer. If by this alone he struck at the root of the Bráhmanical hierarchy, he did so not less by declaring sacrificial worship (the performance of which was the exclusive privilege of the Bráhmans) to be utterly unavailing and worthless, and a virtuous disposition and virtuous conduct, on the contrary, to be the only real means of attaining final deliverance. He did so further by the fact that, wholly penetrated by the truth of his opinions, he claimed to be in possession of the highest enlightenment, and so by implication rejected the validity of the Veda as the supreme source of knowledge.'

We shall see hereafter that the Bráhmans only recovered

their popular influence, after many centuries of eclipse, by a counter-appeal to the people, before whom they placed the worship, powerfully attractive to human sympathies, of the avátars or incarnations of Vishnu, Krishna, and Ráma.

Buddha's death-his attainment of Nirvána, extinction, or final deliverance from existence-is now generally placed in the year 504 B.C. From that time to the present the places connected with the most important events of his life had been the goal of innumerable pilgrims from the various countries which have accepted his religion-the subHimalayan scenes of his birth and early youth; Rájagriha, where he became a religion mendicant, or Bhikshu; Pátaliputra, where he converted the King of Magadha ; the jungle of Gaya, where he attained to enlightenment as a Buddha; and the deer-forest near Kási, or Benares, where he first proclaimed his gospel.

CHAPTER V.

GREEK CONNEXION WITH INDIA.

§ 1. Historical importance of the Greek Episode. § 2. The Invasion of the Punjab by the Persians. § 3. The Invasion of Alexander the Great. § 4. The Invasion of India by Seleukus. § 5. The Bactrian Greeks. § 6. Greek accounts of the Ancient Hindus.

§ 1. Historical Importance of the Greek Episode.— The Greek connexion is a most important episode in early Indian history. It gives us glimpses of the condition of India, and of current Indian history, in the trustworthy pages of Arrian and other classical writers; but, above all, it gives us a link by which we can connect the legends and traditions and coins of the Hindus with the events of Greek history, and thereby obtain a basis for Indian chronology which otherwise would be absolutely wanting. This very necessary link is afforded by the identification of the

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