Buddhism, in Its Connexion with Brahmanism and Hinduism, and in Its Contrast with ChristianityMonier-Williams, Monier, Sir
Religion
Buddhism, in Its Connexion with Brahmanism and Hinduism, and in Its Contrast with Christianity
Monier-Williams, Monier, Sir
Buddhism; Buddhism -- Relations -- Christianity; Christianity and other religions -- Buddhism; India -- Religion
Hence we find that the Khuddaka-pāṭha or ‘lesser readings[80]’ of the
fifteen divisions of the Khuddaka-nikāya (p. 63) begins thus:—
‘I put my trust in the Buddha, in the Law, in the Order’ (repeated three
times).
‘Ye beings (Bhūtāni) here assembled of earth and air, let us bow, let us
bow before the Buddha, revered by gods and men. May there be prosperity!
‘Ye beings of earth and air, let us bow before the Law.
‘Ye beings of earth and air, let us bow before the Order of Monks.’
When Fā-hien was on his return home and in great peril at sea, he
committed his life to the protection of the Saṅgha, saying:—‘I have
travelled far in search of the Law, let me, by your dread and
supernatural power, return from my wanderings and reach my
resting-place.’
And again, on ending his travels, he gratefully acknowledged that he had
been guarded in his perils by the dread power of the ‘three honoured
ones’ or ‘three precious ones’ or ‘three Holies’—thus acknowledging the
personality of the Law as well as of the Buddha himself and of the
Saṅgha or collective body of Monks[81].
But it must be borne in mind that this did not necessarily imply any
worship of images. It is certain that for a long time even Buddha
himself was not represented visibly. This is proved by the sculptures on
the Bharhut Stūpa. Even in the present day the simple expression of
trust in the three revered ones constitutes the only formula of worship
current in Ceylon. It is true that images of the Buddha are now common
in that country, and while travelling there I saw numbers of persons
offering homage and flowers to these images. But no prayer was addressed
to them, and I noticed no visible representations of the personified Law
or Saṅgha[82].
Nor, when I was at the Buddhist monastery near Darjīling, did I see any
image of the Law side by side with that of Gautama, though every book
examined by me in the temple-library began with the words:—Namo
Buddhāya, ‘reverence to the Buddha;’ namo Dharmāya, ‘reverence to the
Law;’ namo Saṅghāya, ‘reverence to the Order.’ The only visible symbol
of the three so-called ‘Holies’ was a long staff with three prongs, like
the Indian Tri-ṡūla.
It seems clear, therefore, that while, in process of time, images of
Gautama Buddha were multiplied everywhere—and, as we shall see, in
various attitudes and shapes—images of the personified Law and Saṅgha
were never common, and indeed rarely found, except among Northern
Buddhists. Those images of the Law which I have examined are in the form
of a man[83] with four arms and hands, two of which are folded in
worship, while one holds a book (or sometimes a lotus) and the other a
rosary[84].
Sometimes, however, the representation of a book alone is held to be a
sufficient symbol of the Law.
The Saṅgha, on the other hand, is generally symbolized by the image of a
man with two arms and hands, one of which, as in the images of Buddha,
rests on the knees and the other holds a lotus.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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