[286:1] "Alexander the Great made his expedition to the banks of the Indus about 327 B. C., and to this invasion is due the first trustworthy information obtained by Europeans concerning the north-westerly portion of India and the region of the five rivers, down which the Grecian troops were conducted in ships by Nearchus. Megasthenes, who was the ambassador of Seleukos Nikator (Alexander's successor, and ruler over the whole region between the Euphrates and India, B. C. 312), at the court of Candra-gupa (Sandrokottus), in Pataliputra (Patna), during a long sojourn in that city collected further information, of which Strabo, Pliny, _Arrian_, and others availed themselves." (Williams' Hinduism, p. 4.) [286:2] Monumental Christianity, p. 151. See also, Asiatic Researches, i. 273. [286:3] See Asiatic Researches, vol. i. pp. 259-273. [286:4] Quoted in Monumental Christianity, pp. 151, 152. [286:5] See chapter xviii. [286:6] See Prichard's Egyptian Mythology, p. 112. [287:1] In speaking of the antiquity of the _Bhagavad-gita_, Prof. Monier Williams says: "The author was probably a Brahman and nominally a Vishnava, but really a philosopher whose mind was cast in a broad and comprehensive mould. He is supposed to have lived in India during the first and second century of our era. Some consider that he lived as late as the third century, and some place him even later, _but with these I cannot agree_." (Indian Wisdom, p. 137.) [287:2] In order that the resemblances to Christian Scripture in the writings of Roman philosophers may be compared, Prof. Williams refers the reader to "Seekers after God," by the Rev. F. W. Farrar, and Dr. Ramage's "Beautiful Thoughts." The same sentiments are to be found in _Mann_, which, says Prof. Williams, "few will place later than the fifth century B. C." The _Mahabhrata_, written many centuries B. C., contains numerous parallels to New Testament sayings. (See our chapter on "Paganism in Christianity.") [287:3] Seneca, the celebrated Roman philosopher, was born at Cordoba, in Spain, a few years B. C. When a child, he was brought by his father to Rome, where he was initiated in the study of eloquence. [288:1] Indian Wisdom, pp. 153, 154. Similar sentiments are expressed in his Hinduism, pp. 218-220. [288:2] Indian Wisdom, p. iv. [288:3] Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. pp. 137, 138. [288:4] Ibid. p. 131. [288:5] Williams' Hinduism, pp. 119-110. It was from these sources that the doctrine of _incarnation_ was first evolved by the Brahman. They were written many centuries B. C. (See Ibid.) CHAPTER XXIX. CHRIST BUDDHA AND CHRIST JESUS COMPARED. "The more I learn to know Buddha the more I admire him, and the sooner all mankind shall have been made acquainted with his doctrines the better it will be, for he is certainly one of the heroes of humanity." _Fausböll._